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Chapter 38: Rough Play
Quidditch Field, Friday Afternoon
Gryffindor vs. Slytherin, sixty minutes in, score: 50 to 120.
"This is not good…" Peter muttered. "If we can't score a lot of points soon…"
"There's no way for that to happen," Frank Longbottom said. "Remember, unlike the official adult tournaments, these games end after ninety minutes."
"So they need to score eight times in thirty minutes…" Alice added.
"And Sirius can't let a single point in…" Frank said.
"That does seem unlikely," James commented.
"Shouldn't you be down there?" Peter glanced at him.
"Why? Our seeker is already playing," James pointed out.
"And he's our only chance of winning at this point," Remus said.
"That's right! If Brian Jones can get the Snitch, we'll get a hundred and fifty points and end the game immediately," Peter said excitedly.
"You think the Slytherins don't realize that? Look." Frank pointed to where the two seekers were flying.
One of the Slytherin beaters had left his normal position and moved closer to the seekers. Even the three chasers kept glaring in that direction.
Their intentions were obvious...if the Snitch were to appear, they were going to charge straight for the enemy seeker to prevent any catch.
"There it is…" As soon as James said it, they spotted a golden glimmer appearing from within the clouds.
"Finally!" Peter said excitedly.
The golden ball had flown upward at the beginning of the game and waited until now to make an appearance.
As expected, both seekers went directly for it without wasting a second.
Brian Jones, the seventh-year seeker from Gryffindor, seemed to have a slight advantage but was closely followed by the Slytherin seeker.
Once he was close to the Snitch, he reached out to grab it.
"Ahhh!" A Bludger hit his back and made him lose his balance.
"Those cheaters!" Peter shouted in frustration.
"That's not cheating," James pointed out. "At most, it could be considered rough play since that guy was originally aiming for his head, but didn't account for the wind."
Brian recovered and resumed the pursue of the Snitch. This time, he was the one right behind his opponent.
They both kept on chasing it as it began to make sharp turns and descended toward the audience stands.
"He's getting closer!" Peter stood up from his seat.
"Our seeker seems to be a much better flyer after all," Frank commented.
"More experienced as well," James added. "But still very naive."
Remus glanced at James after his last comment. "What do you… oh." Then he saw it.
On the other side of the stands, one of the Slytherin chasers and a beater were floating, waiting for the right moment.
The Slytherin seeker came out right after the Snitch, but when Brian was about to emerge, he found himself on a collision course with the chaser.
He quickly corrected his broom to avoid the chaser, but just then, the beater used his bat to hit Brian's broom, sending him flying downward.
"Now that… is cheating," James pointed.
The grounds of the Quidditch field were enchanted with a softening charm, but falling from that height and at that speed was still extremely dangerous.
Poor Brian Jones broke both legs as soon as he landed, and the subsequent tumbling dislocated his shoulder, as well as causing dozens of bruises all over his body.
The poor boy was laying on the ground and screaming in agony.
"Stop the game!" The voice of the Headmaster resounded across the stadium.
All the players stood in place while the school nurse rushed across the field to reach the fallen player.
"That's awful…" Lily covered her mouth in shock.
None of them had ever seen a player get hurt this badly.
"Is he going to be okay?" Peter asked.
"I'm sure the healer can fix him. Right?" Alice wasn't sure.
"If not, they'll send him to St. Mungo's. Let's just hope he doesn't end up with any permanent injuries," Frank said.
As soon as the Headmaster called for the game to stop, the referee took control of the balls and reset their positions while waiting for further instructions. "Mister Dumbledore? Should we cancel the game, or…?"
Dumbledore glanced at the referee. "Get those two players involved off the field. And I want to see them in my office before curfew."
"You two, out!" He pointed at the Slytherin chaser and beater before approaching the Gryffindor team captain.
"Mister Bell, do you have a replacement for the position of seeker? If not… I'm afraid…"
"We do have one… a replacement," Charlie Bell said, looking toward the stands where he knew James was sitting.
"Well… James, it appears you're needed," Remus said, nudging him.
"James is finally going to do something! That's awesome!" Peter exclaimed.
"Don't be afraid of messing up, James. Just go out there and play the best you can," Frank said, trying to sound reassuring.
James nodded and stood up.
'I bet no one is expecting much from a reserve…' he thought.
He made a gesture with his hand, and the miniaturizing charm he had placed on his broom was removed, allowing it to return to its normal size.
James placed the broom against the railing, put one foot on it, and made it levitate.
On the Slytherin stands, three sisters were watching the game together.
"I can't believe they did that to the poor boy," Andromeda frowned.
"That's the game. He should have been better prepared," Bella huffed.
"Do they even have a replacement seeker? Or is the game over already?" Narcissa asked.
"I heard they did recruit a replacement, but… I've never seen him," Lucius told her.
"Wait, there's someone taking off from the Gryffindor stands," Andromeda pointed out.
"That's…" Bella looked in shock at who it was.
"Potter?!" Lucius's expression turned into a scowl. He hadn't forgotten the humiliation he had suffered at this boy's hands.
"If he's one of the players… why was he sitting in the stands?" Narcissa asked.
"Perhaps he never expected to play," Andromeda said.
"That must mean he's terrible… this will be over quickly," Narcissa said before looking at Lucius. "Then we can go on a romantic walk through the gardens…" she added, though Lucius wasn't paying her any attention.
Bella stared at the floating figure of James Potter as he moved toward the other players.
'Can he actually play Quidditch?' Right now, she couldn't imagine James doing anything other than brewing potions.
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