The game

I was just about to head off to the Great Hall for lunch after Transfiguration class ended when McGonagall called me back. In my head I was looking for things I might have done wrong in class. Or maybe… maybe Katie finally talked to McGonagall about the harassment from Flint, but she wouldn't do that without telling me. Or otherwise Angelina or Alicia would have told me.

'Wood, I received word this morning from professor Snape, Mr. Malfoy has not yet recovered from his injuries on his arm. So he will not be able to play this Saturday, Gryffindor will play Hufflepuff instead.'

I couldn't believe my ears when McGonagall told me. Her lips were stretched thin when she told me, so she was angry about this new too.

'But professor, they can't… they can't cancel the match. They have to play right?' I asked McGonagall.

'I am afraid they can switch the date on which they play, since this is the first match of the season they can trade with Hufflepuff to play Ravenclaw instead next month.' She informed me. 'And Mr. Diggory has already consented.'

I just could not believe it, there was no turning back now.

'Thank you, professor.' I said, and I ran off to find Flint.

I found Flint 5 minutes later walking into the Great Hall.

'Flint!' I yelled angry. 'What are you doing? Your seeker is perfectly able to play with his arm!'

Flint smirked. 'His arm still hurts a lot Wood, there is really nothing we can do about it. Have fun playing in this weather Saturday!' and he walked away. I gave him one more angry look and went off to find my team and tell them the bad news. I was furious, we just spend two months training to play Slytherin. Their tactics and based on their players. Now we had only one more training to adjust to playing Hufflepuff. And we had to win this game, or the whole competition would already be over for us before it even begun. I thought about Hufflepuff's new captain, Cedric Diggory. He was their seeker last year, furthermore I vaguely knew him from around school. Diggory was two years below me, but in the same year as the twins. I would have to ask them for some more information about Diggory.

That evening I told the rest of my team that we would be playing Hufflepuff instead of Slytherin. What angered me even more was the fact that the girls were just swooning over Diggory, and the twins wouldn't take the fact that we are playing Hufflepuff seriously.

'Oliver, calm down!' Fred told me after I yelled at them. We are taking Hufflepuff very seriously. Seriously.'

On the day of the match the rain was pouring down as if the sky was coming down. I got dressed and headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast. But once I sat down I couldn't get anything down my throat.

'It's going to be a though one' I said thinking aloud. 'Stop worrying Oliver,' said Alicia, 'we don't mind a bit of rain.'

Even though the weather was horrible, almost the whole school showed up to see the match. After we changed into our quidditch uniform I wanted to give my usual pre-match pep talk, but nothing came out. I just shrugged and gestured for the team to follow me onto the pitch. Once we were up in the air I was barely able to see anything, I was lucky to stop the quaffle at all. After twenty minutes Gryffindor was up by fifty points and then the thunder started. I gestured Madam Hooch for a time out and had my team on the ground within no time.

'Come under here!' I called my teammates under a large umbrella at the side of the pitch.

'What is the score?' Harry asked. 'We're up by fifty points,' I told him, 'but unless we get the snitch soon, we'll be playing into the night.' At that point Harry's bushy haired friend appeared. 'Give me your glasses Harry, I have an idea.' She tapped them and said 'Impervius!'

'There!' she said, handing them back over to Harry. 'They'll repel water now.'

That was the most genius thing I've seen her do since I met the girl.

'Brilliant!' I told her. 'OK, team, let's go for it!' I yelled and we were back up in the air.

Minutes went by and it kept getting harder and harder to see anything. With the quaffle on the Puff's half of the pitch I scanned around to see what Harry and Diggory were up to. And then I saw it, Diggory made a dive towards the ground.

'Harry!' I yelled. 'Harry behind you!' He looked around and dove after Diggory towards the snitch. Thank Merlin he heard me through the noise of the rain and the thunder. Just when Harry was closing in on Diggory the air turned even colder than it already was, and I heard Julia's screams in my head. The next I saw was Harry falling towards the ground and Diggory catching the snitch. Dumbledore was able to catch Harry with a levitation charm before he hit the ground. My first feeling was relieve that my seeker probably wasn't hurt too badly from his fall. Then the disappointment came... we lost. From Hufflepuff.

The rest of the team was swarming around Harry, I looked at them from a small distance, as soon as Madam Pomfrey confirmed that Harry had no broken bones or anything I told the team that I was going to take a shower and would check up on Harry later. The others followed Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey inside.

I walked to the changing rooms and I couldn't even be bothered to undress before I stepped under the shower. I just couldn't believe we had lost this game. The chances that we would win this year's competition were practically over, even if this was the first match of the year.

'Oliver? Oliver!' I heard Katie call and my heart made a little jump. If there was one person who had the ability to make me feel even the slightest bit better, it was her.

'Oliver, are you still in here?' She asked. 'Yeah Kitty, I'm here.' I called out weakly.