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Quidditch

“Look out!” A loud crack echoed across the stadium as April knocked a bludger off its course.

“Thanks April!” It was April’s first Quidditch practice. Tomorrow was the first match of the year: Gryffindor verses Slytherin. The Hufflepuff captain, Jessica Fletcher, had booked the Quidditch pitch for practice so that they’d be ready for the Hufflepuff-Ravenclaw match in November, right before the Christmas break. As April knocked another bludger away, she heard faint cheering from one of the stands.

“Go April! Hit that metal thing!” April recognised Linda’s voice and glanced over her shoulder. Linda, Vayvar, Izzy and Andy were jumping around, and Ellura was writing something in a small, tattered journal. April waved with her bat before turning her attention back to practice.

When Jessica blew the whistle for a break April flew up to her friends.

“How long have you guys been here?” she grinned. Linda was still jumping up and down from excitement.

“Since you started!” she squealed. “Quidditch is so exiting, I’ll have to tell my parents all about it!” April laughed.

“I’ll lend you my copy of ‘Quidditch Through The Ages’ if you want. By the way, the metal things are called ‘Bludgers’.” Ellura closed her book and looked up at April.

“You’re very good at defending your team, and an exceptional flyer.” Even though she didn’t smile, her voice sounded happy.

“Thanks, Ellura. That means a lot coming from you.” The edge of Ellura’s mouth twitched faintly. Izzy tugged at the edge of April's canary-yellow robes.

“Hey April, can I hold your bat?” As soon as the red-haired witch got her hands on the steel-enforced wooden bat, an evil smile spread across her face. “Hey Andy, come here a second...” As Andy was chased out of the stadium by a crazy redhead witch, Jessica flew up to them.

“You did really well today, April. I’m glad Cedric found you.” April turned to thank the Quidditch captain, but out of the corner of her eye she saw a bludger shooting toward her. The young Hufflepuff shoved Jessica out of the way, and narrowly missed the bludger herself. The other Beater, Anthony Rickett, flew after it. Jessica and April had fallen into the seats beside the other Hufflepuffs. Jessica laughed as she picked herself up and helped April to her feet.

“Well, you’re like your mum: I'll give you that much.” April looked up at the Hufflepuff captain.

“You know my mum?” Jessica shrugged slightly.

“Only from her reputation. I almost broke her record for broken bones last year, but I missed it by five breaks. We were playing against Slytherin, and I was scoring a lot. Some stupid Beater, no offence, hit a Bludger in my direction. I woke up in the Hospital wing about a week later. The rest of the team threw me a party.” Vayvar rolled her eyes.

“Please don’t give her ideas: I want to get through my first year at Hogwarts with all my friends in one piece, please.” Jessica laughed.

“I can’t promise you that - Quidditch is a rough game. Every player is hurt at least once a year.” April playfully nudged the Quidditch captain.

“Don’t tell her that - she’ll never let me on the pitch again!” Jessica shrugged and raised her hands.

“You’ll see at tomorrow’s match: it’s Gryffindor against Slytherin so there’s going to be a lot of injuries - accidental and not. The Slytherin team are pretty rough opponent, and they don’t like losing.” Vayvar pulled out her wand and pointed it at April.

“Whenever Hufflepuff versus Slytherin, I’m tying you up in the Common room.” April jumped back with her hands in the air.

“Don’t point that thing at me - you don’t know what it’s going to do!” Vayvar just glared. April knew she was just playing, so she didn’t draw her own wand. Instead, she tried to talk her way out. “But I need to play: imagine what the Slytherin team would do if we only had one Beater! My job is to keep people from getting hurt. Do you want me to sit out and let people get hit by Bludgers?”

“No!” She quickly answered before crossing her arms. “I hate it when you guilt-trip me.” She grumbled. April smiled and hugged her.

“If I didn’t, you’d have probably killed me by now.”

It was the day of the match and April was putting up her Quidditch posters around her bed when Vayvar walked in.

“April, what are you doing? We’ve gotta get to the pitch soon or we won’t get good seats.” April stood on her toes so she could make sure one of her posters wouldn’t fall down. It was hard because of how many warm clothes she was wearing - it didn’t get this cold back home, so she wasn’t used to it

“I’ll be there in a sec: I’ve just gotta put my Heidelberg Harriers posters up - they’re my favourite team. They were supposed to come yesterday, but my owl got lost.” April turned around to see Vayvar looking at the posters and thinking about something. A faint sound of classical music came from her pocket. April sighed as she grabbed her friend by the arm. “Come on,Vayvar, you’re thinking too hard again: your wand’s playing music.” Jessica was waiting in the common room with the rest of April's friends around her. She looked up at April and smiled.

“I made the mistake of telling your friends that I got them tower seats with the rest of the team.” Vayvar gasped.

“Tower seats? With Cedric?” Jessica reluctantly nodded and Vayvar squealed. Andy looked over at them with a bright grin.

“Yeah, we’ll be able to see the whole game from there!” Vayvar stuttered.

“Oh yeah, that too.”

The Gryffindors cheered as a Slytherin crashed onto the ground, and some of the Hufflepuffs did too. Vayvar just squeaked and hid her eyes, only to open her fingers and keep watching. Izzy, Andy and Linda went ballistic whenever anyone scored, but the Hufflepuffs usually cheered for both sides of any match, even at their own matches. Some of them were even waving Gryffindor and Slytherin flags while in their warm Hufflepuff robes. Linda was watching the entire game with a face that should have belonged on a Ravenclaw, however April was just watching the beaters on either side, trying to learn a few things from the older Beaters. The twin Gryffindor Beaters worked really well as a team, while the Slytherin Beaters just cheated most of the time; but they did have some good tactics. April looked at the rest of the game just in time to see the Gryffindor Keeper whack the Quaffle away from the goal hoops with his broom; two Gryffindors passed the Quaffle between each other until they finally scored. Amongst the cheering, Jessica leant down to April’s ear.

“Watch out: things are about to get really messy - I know Marcus is scheming, even from here.” The look on her face showed she was speaking from experience.

When the Gryffindor Keeper once again blocked the Quaffle one of the Slytherins snatched a Beater's bat right out of his hands and knocked a Bludger into the Keeper’s gut.

“Oliver!” Before he even hit the ground Jessica was off, pushing through the crowd to the stairs. She looked more panicked than when anyone else was hit. April looked back just in time to see the Slytherin team score: with no Keeper, they easily caught up on points. April watched Oliver being taken out of the pitch with Jessica holding his hand.

“Someone’s messing with Potter’s broom!” the normally quiet Ellura shouted, her pointed finger following the red and black blur backwards and forwards. His broom was making it hard for him to stay on, and suddenly he was hanging from one arm. The crowd gasped but Harry still held on. The broom pulled him within metres of where April and her friends were sitting. The Hufflepuffs froze as the broom stopped bucking around and Harry jumped back on.

The cheering was almost deafening as he resumed chasing the snitch around the pitch. April gripped the wooden barrier tighter as she watched the two seekers barge into each other.

The two boys began to dive sharply, as they speed towards the ground the Slytherin seeker pulled up early. Harry looked like he was about to run straight into the ground when he pulled up at the last second. April held her breath as the Gryffindor seeker stood on his broom, reaching out at something she couldn’t quite see. Suddenly Harry stepped too far and he fell forward, tumbling end over end, but as he stood up April knew he wasn’t hurt too badly. She let out her breath in a sigh of relief.

Unexpectedly he began holding his stomach and lurching forward: it looked like he was about to be sick. Everyone was leaning forward just as a little golden ball popped out of his mouth. There was a moment of disbelief before a voice was heard over the stadium:

“He's got the Snitch! Harry Potter receives 150 points for catching the Snitch!” Cheers erupted from three of the four houses as Harry Potter, the youngest Seeker of the century, holds his prize high over his head.

April looked around at her friends surrounding her: Linda had grabbed the closest person - Ellura - and was holding her tightly as she bounced around. Ellura herself seemed less enthusiastic about having a blur of pink holding her, but her eyes held a certain softness that showed she wasn’t against the celebration, Andy and Izzy were tangled up in there own streamers, and Vayvar looked like she was wondering whether to celebrate or go help the people who were hurt.

She vaguely heard one of the Hufflepuffs behind her mention a party tonight, but she didn’t pay attention. Every other Quidditch game she’d attended, she'd had no one her own age to share her excitement with. And now she did.

Description
Quidditch

“Look out!” A loud crack echoed across the stadium as April knocked a bludger off its course.

“Thanks April!” It was April’s first Quidditch practice. Tomorrow was the first match of the year: Gryffindor verses Slytherin. The Hufflepuff captain, Jessica Fletcher, had booked the Quidditch pitch for practice so that they’d be ready for the Hufflepuff-Ravenclaw match in November, right before the Christmas break. As April knocked another bludger away, she heard faint cheering from one of the stands.

“Go April! Hit that metal thing!” April recognised Linda’s voice and glanced over her shoulder. Linda, Vayvar, Izzy and Andy were jumping around, and Ellura was writing something in a small, tattered journal. April waved with her bat before turning her attention back to practice.

When Jessica blew the whistle for a break April flew up to her friends.

“How long have you guys been here?” she grinned. Linda was still jumping up and down from excitement.

“Since you started!” she squealed. “Quidditch is so exiting, I’ll have to tell my parents all about it!” April laughed.

“I’ll lend you my copy of ‘Quidditch Through The Ages’ if you want. By the way, the metal things are called ‘Bludgers’.” Ellura closed her book and looked up at April.

“You’re very good at defending your team, and an exceptional flyer.” Even though she didn’t smile, her voice sounded happy.

“Thanks, Ellura. That means a lot coming from you.” The edge of Ellura’s mouth twitched faintly. Izzy tugged at the edge of April's canary-yellow robes.

“Hey April, can I hold your bat?” As soon as the red-haired witch got her hands on the steel-enforced wooden bat, an evil smile spread across her face. “Hey Andy, come here a second...” As Andy was chased out of the stadium by a crazy redhead witch, Jessica flew up to them.

“You did really well today, April. I’m glad Cedric found you.” April turned to thank the Quidditch captain, but out of the corner of her eye she saw a bludger shooting toward her. The young Hufflepuff shoved Jessica out of the way, and narrowly missed the bludger herself. The other Beater, Anthony Rickett, flew after it. Jessica and April had fallen into the seats beside the other Hufflepuffs. Jessica laughed as she picked herself up and helped April to her feet.

“Well, you’re like your mum: I'll give you that much.” April looked up at the Hufflepuff captain.

“You know my mum?” Jessica shrugged slightly.

“Only from her reputation. I almost broke her record for broken bones last year, but I missed it by five breaks. We were playing against Slytherin, and I was scoring a lot. Some stupid Beater, no offence, hit a Bludger in my direction. I woke up in the Hospital wing about a week later. The rest of the team threw me a party.” Vayvar rolled her eyes.

“Please don’t give her ideas: I want to get through my first year at Hogwarts with all my friends in one piece, please.” Jessica laughed.

“I can’t promise you that - Quidditch is a rough game. Every player is hurt at least once a year.” April playfully nudged the Quidditch captain.

“Don’t tell her that - she’ll never let me on the pitch again!” Jessica shrugged and raised her hands.

“You’ll see at tomorrow’s match: it’s Gryffindor against Slytherin so there’s going to be a lot of injuries - accidental and not. The Slytherin team are pretty rough opponent, and they don’t like losing.” Vayvar pulled out her wand and pointed it at April.

“Whenever Hufflepuff versus Slytherin, I’m tying you up in the Common room.” April jumped back with her hands in the air.

“Don’t point that thing at me - you don’t know what it’s going to do!” Vayvar just glared. April knew she was just playing, so she didn’t draw her own wand. Instead, she tried to talk her way out. “But I need to play: imagine what the Slytherin team would do if we only had one Beater! My job is to keep people from getting hurt. Do you want me to sit out and let people get hit by Bludgers?”

“No!” She quickly answered before crossing her arms. “I hate it when you guilt-trip me.” She grumbled. April smiled and hugged her.

“If I didn’t, you’d have probably killed me by now.”

It was the day of the match and April was putting up her Quidditch posters around her bed when Vayvar walked in.

“April, what are you doing? We’ve gotta get to the pitch soon or we won’t get good seats.” April stood on her toes so she could make sure one of her posters wouldn’t fall down. It was hard because of how many warm clothes she was wearing - it didn’t get this cold back home, so she wasn’t used to it

“I’ll be there in a sec: I’ve just gotta put my Heidelberg Harriers posters up - they’re my favourite team. They were supposed to come yesterday, but my owl got lost.” April turned around to see Vayvar looking at the posters and thinking about something. A faint sound of classical music came from her pocket. April sighed as she grabbed her friend by the arm. “Come on,Vayvar, you’re thinking too hard again: your wand’s playing music.” Jessica was waiting in the common room with the rest of April's friends around her. She looked up at April and smiled.

“I made the mistake of telling your friends that I got them tower seats with the rest of the team.” Vayvar gasped.

“Tower seats? With Cedric?” Jessica reluctantly nodded and Vayvar squealed. Andy looked over at them with a bright grin.

“Yeah, we’ll be able to see the whole game from there!” Vayvar stuttered.

“Oh yeah, that too.”

The Gryffindors cheered as a Slytherin crashed onto the ground, and some of the Hufflepuffs did too. Vayvar just squeaked and hid her eyes, only to open her fingers and keep watching. Izzy, Andy and Linda went ballistic whenever anyone scored, but the Hufflepuffs usually cheered for both sides of any match, even at their own matches. Some of them were even waving Gryffindor and Slytherin flags while in their warm Hufflepuff robes. Linda was watching the entire game with a face that should have belonged on a Ravenclaw, however April was just watching the beaters on either side, trying to learn a few things from the older Beaters. The twin Gryffindor Beaters worked really well as a team, while the Slytherin Beaters just cheated most of the time; but they did have some good tactics. April looked at the rest of the game just in time to see the Gryffindor Keeper whack the Quaffle away from the goal hoops with his broom; two Gryffindors passed the Quaffle between each other until they finally scored. Amongst the cheering, Jessica leant down to April’s ear.

“Watch out: things are about to get really messy - I know Marcus is scheming, even from here.” The look on her face showed she was speaking from experience.

When the Gryffindor Keeper once again blocked the Quaffle one of the Slytherins snatched a Beater's bat right out of his hands and knocked a Bludger into the Keeper’s gut.

“Oliver!” Before he even hit the ground Jessica was off, pushing through the crowd to the stairs. She looked more panicked than when anyone else was hit. April looked back just in time to see the Slytherin team score: with no Keeper, they easily caught up on points. April watched Oliver being taken out of the pitch with Jessica holding his hand.

“Someone’s messing with Potter’s broom!” the normally quiet Ellura shouted, her pointed finger following the red and black blur backwards and forwards. His broom was making it hard for him to stay on, and suddenly he was hanging from one arm. The crowd gasped but Harry still held on. The broom pulled him within metres of where April and her friends were sitting. The Hufflepuffs froze as the broom stopped bucking around and Harry jumped back on.

The cheering was almost deafening as he resumed chasing the snitch around the pitch. April gripped the wooden barrier tighter as she watched the two seekers barge into each other.

The two boys began to dive sharply, as they speed towards the ground the Slytherin seeker pulled up early. Harry looked like he was about to run straight into the ground when he pulled up at the last second. April held her breath as the Gryffindor seeker stood on his broom, reaching out at something she couldn’t quite see. Suddenly Harry stepped too far and he fell forward, tumbling end over end, but as he stood up April knew he wasn’t hurt too badly. She let out her breath in a sigh of relief.

Unexpectedly he began holding his stomach and lurching forward: it looked like he was about to be sick. Everyone was leaning forward just as a little golden ball popped out of his mouth. There was a moment of disbelief before a voice was heard over the stadium:

“He's got the Snitch! Harry Potter receives 150 points for catching the Snitch!” Cheers erupted from three of the four houses as Harry Potter, the youngest Seeker of the century, holds his prize high over his head.

April looked around at her friends surrounding her: Linda had grabbed the closest person - Ellura - and was holding her tightly as she bounced around. Ellura herself seemed less enthusiastic about having a blur of pink holding her, but her eyes held a certain softness that showed she wasn’t against the celebration, Andy and Izzy were tangled up in there own streamers, and Vayvar looked like she was wondering whether to celebrate or go help the people who were hurt.

She vaguely heard one of the Hufflepuffs behind her mention a party tonight, but she didn’t pay attention. Every other Quidditch game she’d attended, she'd had no one her own age to share her excitement with. And now she did.