Chapter 182: Finals, Life, Crash... (1/2)
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The link is also in the synopsis.
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Bam, B-Bam, Bam, B-Bam.. .
Boom.. . Boom.. . Boom.. .
The quidditch stadium was filled to the brim, and then some with Hogwarts students and outsiders — the entire crowd was dressed in the colors of red-&-pewter and black-&-green; the two groups of colors dominated the stands, diving the stadium right into two associations.
Bam, B-Bam, Bam, B-Bam.. . the sounds of drums from the red-&-pewter side as the supporters of Treacherous Barons roused up the stands with huge drums strategically placed around their side with students sounding them in perfect, rhythmic coordination.
Boom.. . Boom.. . Boom.. . countering the drums were loud boom from large, shiny-black, smoking cannons, firing blanks at regular intervals for the rilled-up, rowdy crowd sporting Trolling Boogey's black-&-green who were waving black flags with neon-green trolls dancing on them.
Quinn watched the ambiance of the stands from the sky above and outside of the stadium while sitting on a broom. Taking in things for one last time before he had to go in and host his quidditch tournament one last time. It had been a long few months since the start of the tournament. Week after week, Quinn had come across a new problem that he solved and, in doing so, enjoyed/hated the process of organizing something of this scale.
”One last time,” he sighed with a slight smile on his face, ”ah, this time went by too quickly — should've enjoyed it a bit more.” Quinn shook his head before breathing out — he was ready.
He steered his broom and entered the stadium, flying into the center of everything. Quinn raised a hand, and the cannons stopped shooting blanks, also the drums stopped beating.
”Welcome all,” he said, his voice sounding far and wide, ”welcome to the finals of the best quidditch tournament the world had ever seen. Through the journey past seventeen weeks, we have seen everything — blowouts, last-minute stands, amazing goals, ever-amazing saves, crazy snitch races, and so many exciting things that made me get up from my seat and constantly be on edge.. .. I swear some of the games weren't good for my health — I definitely lost a few years of my life since the start of the tournament.”
As he spoke, Quinn had a genuine smile on his face as he recalled all the times he had gone beyond enjoying hosting and got swept by excitement while watching amazing plays — sports tend to have that effect on people, and Quinn was no different.
”Today is the last day I'll have the pleasure of hosting all of you people,” he smiled, ”the last day that we will get to experience a format of quidditch which inspires excitement and thrill — focusing on providing the maximum entertainment possible per every second of the game.”
Slowly he descended down on the ground and took a deep breath, filling his lungs to the limit.
”So! Let's make this one more special than ever! Raise those voices! Let everyone hear that this is the place to be! Let them hear what they're missing! Let's make some noise and get this party started!”
And oh boy, they did make some noise! They made a lot of noise.
Quinn raised his hands wide, and fireworks shot from the edges of the stadium, and the student volunteers flew above the stadium in intricate formations shooting smoke trails behind them.
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- (Scene Break) -
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The inside the Trolling Boogeys locker room was quiet, which was strange for them.
The keeper looked to the center of the room before nudging Cedric, who was checking doing a final check on his equipment. ”Do you know what's wrong with him? He's never this quiet — ever, especially before a game.”
Cedric glanced to the room's center, where Eddie sat with his head down and shook his head, ”I don't know — we can always ask him, but it looks like he's concentrating, so let him be.”
Suddenly, Eddie stood up, and everyone twitched, thinking that he would finally return start and return to give speeches aimed to inspire them, but Eddie didn't speak up and started to perform the last check on his equipment.
”There's definitely something different about him today.”
Cedric studied the silent Eddie and smiled, ”Yes, there's something different about him today.. .” 'He's already in his game mode,' he thought.
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The ambiance in Treacherous Barons's locker was militant — matching the leading style of the captain, Victor Krum.
”Our playstyle is opposite to that of Boogeys',” said Krum, addressing his team, ”unlike them, we're a defensive team with me trying to get the snitches for our team for scores and the chaser squad working on counters and interceptions.”
It was a playstyle from the Bulgarian team that Krum had adjusted for the current team. It heavily depended on the beaters hindering the chasers and chasers constantly on the lookout for pass steals. More importantly, Krum had to get multiple snitches for the team to win because, unlike the pro-format, format-Quinn only gave fifty points per snitch.
Krum looked at the beaters and instructed, ”Focus on Eddie Carmichael. You have to make sure he doesn't fly comfortably around the pitch; don't give him any space to move. Allowing Eddie Carmichael freedom can and will make things a little too tight to my liking.”
The beaters nodded and glanced at each other. If Krum had said the same thing to them at the start of the tournament, they would have raised their hand in thumbs up and given a guarantee that Eddie wouldn't get the chance to get in the rhythm, but right now, things had changed — Eddie Carmichael was THE threat on Trolling Boogeys — he was a super scorer who consistently matched what team seekers snitched together.
”I will take care of Cedric Diggory, so make sure everyone does their job. If everyone does their job, we will definitely win.”
”Yes!”
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Quinn sat down in his commentator chair and beamed, feeling the similar metal railing in front of him and the scoreboard that hung on the opposite side of the stadium.
He glanced back and greeted his constant companions, accompanying him every week during the games. ”Oh, my, professors — all of you look sharp today.”
For the last day, the professors had decided to put on their freshest robes. The tournament had grown so big that it had long since surpassed in popularity of the Tri-wizard tournament. Outsiders could come to the games on a weekly basis, which granted it greater visibility, and with a well-established betting system in place, the popularity only increased more.
”Well, I hope all of you have placed your bets; the money in play today surpasses every other game by great margins,” continued Quinn, ”it's a pity that I can't bet — it would've been fun to take part in the festivity.”
The professors stared at Quinn as if he was joking. All the profit that the ”house” made went directly to Quinn as he was the ”house.” It was his money that started the betting system, and every knut of the profit went into Quinn's pocket. They could only imagine how much money Quinn had made from the quidditch tournament.
If someone asked Quinn, he would pull on a fat smile and reply with, ”A lot of money,” while patting his stomach as if have eaten a sumptuous meal, ”enough to fill so many bathtubs.”
”Now, let's get started!” grinned Quinn with the sonorous took effect, ”let the finals begin — hold on to your seats, people, because things are going to fly.”
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”Yeah! Go, Eddie!” yelled Tracey. She was wearing a black-&-green jersey with Eddie's name on the back and had put cute little greens strips on her cheeks.
She looked and her side and urged, ”Come on, Daphne. Wave that flag with some enthusiasm. We have to support Eddie to the best of our ability.”
Daphne stared at the flag in her hand, ”It's really heavy.”
”Choose better excuses,” pouted Tracey, ”lighten it up with a spell and get your hands moving,” she then smirked, ”or maybe it's because Krum is playing and he was your date.. .. ufufu.”
The words irked Daphne — Tracey knew that she liked Quinn, and yet she was teasing her. But it worked as she lightened up her flag and started to wave it gently.
'Hehe, I knew that would work,' chuckled Tracey in her mind. Daphne had been very annoyed by people pairing her with Krum, and Tracey knew to employ that to her advantage. ”Yeah, let's make some noise!”
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”You don't look happy at all,” commented Ron looking at his best friend.
Harry had crossed his hands and grumbled, ”I want to play. Cedric and Krum are playing —”
”You missed Carmichael.”
”Why would I care what he does,” Harry clicked his tongue, ”he can die in a ditch for all I care.”
”Don't be a sore loser; it's unsightly,” said Ivy, wearing green-&-black colors as Trolling Boogeys was a ”Hogwarts” team.
”Like you get to talk,” Harry quipped back, ”I had seen enough of you being a sore loser when we were little.”
Ivy glared at her twin. It wasn't her fault that Daphne tried to do whatever she did; her trying to one-up her was only normal.. .. Yeah, it wasn't her fault, she thought.
”Okay, stop it,” the sane voice of the group raised her voice to stop the fighting. Hermione gave them all a look saying that she wasn't in the mood to deal with a squabble, ”let's just enjoy the game — it's the last game of this year, we won't be able to see any more games after today.”
Harry sighed and nodded, ”Yeah, you're right.”
”Of course, I am,” said Hermione, ”also enjoy the game because we're going back to the library after this to study for the third task.”
”Ugh,” groaned Harry. He had been spending a lot of time in the library ever since the task had been revealed.