Arithmancy_Girl
Pince's Pal
Floo Ferret
THE VOICE“PENALTY! THAT SHOULD BE A PENALTY!” Dean Thomas screamed into the magical megaphone.
“Mr. Thomas!” Professor Minerva McGonagall chastised. “If you can not control yourself, I am afraid I can not continue to let you commentate on this game.”
“I can’t help it, Professor,” Dean said. “They’re cheating!”
Professor McGonagall sighed and surveyed the Quidditch Pitch with a stern eye. She could not deny what Dean had said. The match had just begun and already the Slytherin team had resorted to using less than fair means to accomplish their goal of winning the Quidditch Cup. The Gryffindor players were much too honorable to sink to such a level, which meant they were losing the game, Forty to Zero.
The athletic Ronald Weasley was making every effort to defend Gryffindor’s three golden rings. However, he was much too distracted by the sight of his younger sister on the pitch to successfully keep the goals. Ginny Weasley had tried out for and secured the position of Chaser on the Gryffindor team at the beginning of the year. She was unequivocally the best Chaser Gryffindor had. Unfortunately, this made her the main target for the two gorilla-like Slytherin Beaters, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle.
Crabbe and Goyle were currently swinging at Ginny’s head with their bats. It seemed they had conveniently forgotten the bats were supposed to be used for hitting bludgers, not other players. Poor Ron was so torn between helping Ginny and protecting the goals, he was not doing a very good job of either. The crowd groaned and Dean swore under his breath and into the megaphone as Ron missed the quaffle and Slytherin scored yet again.
“Language, Mr. Thomas!” Professor McGonagall exclaimed.
“Sorry, Professor,” Dean said, not feeling sorry at all. When he had taken over the position of Commentator, he had not realised how hard it would be to remain objective. The look Professor McGonagall was giving him clearly indicated that he had better make more of an attempt if he wanted to keep his job.
“Another goal for Slytherin! That makes the score Fifty to Zero,” Dean called.
The Slytherin spectators began a chorus of “Weasley is Our King”, to the horror of all. Slytherin could be accused of many things, but singing well was not one of them.
Dean continued his commentary. He spoke loudly in hopes of drowning out the atrocious singing, especially the loud and obnoxious voice of Pansy Parkinson. Pansy was not only the worst singer in the spectator stands, but quite possibly the worst singer in the entire world.
“Ginny Weasley with the Quaffle. She passes. Great Teamwork!" Dean shouted. "It is as if they have been playing together for years. But as we all know, the graduation of certain students last year led to a complete revamping of the Gryffindor team. Many fine additions were made though, thanks to Gryffindor’s Co-Captains, Ronald Weasley and Harry Potter. Speaking of Harry, the Gryffindor Seeker is flying higher above the pitch than normal today. No worries, he knows what he's doing. Harry hasn't missed the snitch yet this year. Amazing!”
Cheers erupted in the Gryffindor stands at the mention of Harry’s name. Slytherin halted their singing long enough to boo and hiss in response.
“On the other hand, it looks like Slytherin Seeker Draco Malfoy is keeping with his usual seeking tactic- following Harry. Most Quidditch players stick to riding a broom, rather than another player’s coattails, but not Draco Malfoy! He has no trouble letting someone else do the work in hopes that he gets the glory. Amazing!” Dean said, snickering at his own joke.
“That will do, Mr. Thomas,” Professor McGonagall scolded, the corners of her thin lips trembling involuntarily.
Dean lowered the megaphone and stared at Professor McGonagall.
“You were about to laugh,” Dean said, shocked that the usually serious Professor appreciated his sense of humour.
“I most certainly was not! I was…well, I was….trying not to sneeze,” Professor McGonagall finished lamely, before putting the snap back in her tone. "You just never mind me, call the game!"
"Right," Dean said lifting the megaphone. "Ginny Weasley again with the Quaffle, still well outside the scoring area. What's this? Ginny Weasley sends a long goal towards Slytherin's central hoop. She made it! She scores! The Slytherin Keeper never saw it coming. Fifty to Ten! Slytherin will now have possession of the quaffle. And they waste no time, they're heading straight for Ron Weasley. Weasley is attempting to use the famous Double Eight Loop to protect the goals. Will it work?"
Dean heard the crowd grow even louder. Professor McGonagall seemed to be holding her breath in anticipation. Turning his attention back to the game, he saw Ron was still circling the hoops and Goyle had begun flying right behind him. Just as Ron leaned out to catch the quaffle, Goyle swung his bat, hitting the end of Ron's broom, sending him into a dangerous tailspin. The quaffle sailed through the right hoop as Ron desperately tried to gain control of his Cleansweep Eleven.
The crowd gasped and then sighed with relief when Ron finally came safely to a halt in the air. Madam Hooch blew loudly into her whistle and acknowledged the foul that had nearly unseated Ron.
“Penalty shot awarded to Gryffindor,” Madam Hooch yelled before flying towards Goyle. Though her voice could barely be heard above the din, it was clear to anyone observing that Goyle was on the receiving end of a stern reprimand for blatantly cheating and purposely endangering the other players. Of course, when Madam Hooch turned away from the Slytherin Beater, he immediately began laughing and started taunting Ron.
Dean shook his head in disgust, wondering why the Slytherin team was allowed to play when they repeatedly displayed such poor sportsmanship. If their behaviour continued, one of the Gryffindor players could be seriously injured or worse. Was Quidditch really that important? Was winning?
Dean looked at his megaphone, contemplating the irony of the situation. As Commentator, he had the ability to be heard by every person in the stadium, but was there anything he could say that would make a difference? Probably not. It seemed to Dean that Wizards enjoyed Quidditch even more than Muggles enjoyed football, which was saying something.
Professor McGonagall suddenly nudged Dean with one of her sharp elbows and pointed towards the pitch.
“Do you intend to continue, Mr. Thomas?” Professor McGonagall asked.
“Uh, right,” Dean replied, noticing Ginny had just scored her penalty shot. “Ginny Weasley makes another goal. The new score is Fifty to Twenty in Slytherin’s favor. Gryffindor fans can thank Gregory Goyle for the last ten points. His use of brute force against their keeper awarded that penalty shot. Slytherin Captain, Draco Malfoy, needs to remind his beaters which team they are on. Obviously, there is some confusion.”
Malfoy flew past the Commentator's Box, shaking his fist at Dean. For Gryffindor's sake, Dean was hoping that his last comment would make the violent Slytherin team see that fouling the other players may not help them win. Unfortunately, the underlying implication of the statement must have been a bit above Crabbe and Goyle’s level of intellect, as it did not seem to have any effect on them. They were still swinging their bats like uncouth heathens. Hopefully Harry would catch the snitch soon.
“Slytherin has possession of the quaffle. Their passing abilities are unrivaled here at Hogwarts, but can they score?” Dean paused a moment, watching the action unfold before continuing, “They go for the goal, but Ronald Weasley of Gryffindor says no! Weasley has successfully blocked the attempted goal with a tricky maneuver known as the Starfish and Stick. In six years at Hogwarts, I have never seen that move attempted! Absolutely brilliant!”
The crowd cheered and Slytherin finally ended their horrific rendition of “Weasley is Our King”. A golden blur passed the Commentator's Box at a high rate of speed before returning to hover directly in front of Dean.
Before he knew what he was doing, Dean screamed into the megaphone, "The snitch!"
Every player on the pitch turned their attention to the Commentator's Box. With growing horror, Dean realised his folly. Malfoy was still hovering near him. Harry was halfway across the pitch. Even with the fastest racing broom in the world, Harry would never reach the snitch before Draco.
Malfoy must have also been confident of this. He took a moment to sneer at Dean before reaching for the snitch.
"Thanks, Thomas," Malfoy laughed.
The moment of arrogance cost him. The tiny golden ball seemed to flutter easily away from his grasp. Hearing Professor McGonagall gasp, Dean thought Malfoy had caught the snitch after all, but then he saw Harry. Having crossed the pitch at an unbelievable rate of speed, Harry was rapidly approaching the Commentator's Box. Dean closed his eyes and braced himself, anticipating a collision. Instead of the expected crashing noise, cheers rang through the air. Dean opened his eyes and saw a smiling Harry hovering in front of him, the golden snitch clenched tightly in his fist.
Sighing with relief, Dean issued his final comment, "Gryffindor Wins!"
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Scrimgeour, Brutus. The Beaters' Bible
Umfraville, Quintius. The Noble Sport of Warlocks
Whisp, Kennilworthy. Quidditch Through The Ages
Whisp, Kennilworthy. Which Broomstick
Round Four - The Quidditch Match, Short Story Challenge
evlpez Round Four - The Quidditch Match Oct 23 2004, 01:45 AM
Oct 23 2004, 01:45 AM
Unlike Round 3 (The Magic Box Challenge), the submissions for this challenge do not make a continuing story. Each submission must stand alone as a short story.
Note to ferrets: Remember that you are writing fan fiction as though you are the Floo-Between user you've chosen. This means that if you've chosen Snape, you are writing as though Snape is writing fan fiction, not as though he is a part of the story. Each character may write as many submissions as they wish for this challenge, as long as each submission is significantly different from their others. The deadline for submissions is Wednesday December 1st.
