Chapter 246: Quidditch Cup Finals (1/2)
If you want to read ahead, you can check out my Patreón @
[ ]
The link is also in the synopsis.
.
-*-*-*-*-*-
.
Quinn walked into the Hogwarts library, the single largest ”room” in Hogwarts solely dedicated to books. He passed by the long front desk, manned by the eagle-eyed Madam Pince, who peered into the soul of everyone who entered her dominion, trying to instill the fear of horrible demise if any of her dear children were harmed.
He strode through the sturdy bookshelves packed with thick tomes — dictionaries, encyclopedias, and historical texts — that lined the walls, marched across the floors in rows, forming a maze of sorts for the Hogwarts student to navigate to the reading areas.
The sound of his footsteps against the marble floor could be heard as well as the sound of someone as much as clearing their throat a few bookshelves away. He entered the reading area, the most ”noisy” part of Hogwarts, with the students collaborating in hushed tones while others scribbled over their parchment hunched over some book that they had picked out for their assignments.
Quinn looked around, searching for the person he had come to meet. It didn't take more than a few seconds — she sat in the same place they occupied every day since the start of their meetings.
”Good evening, Daphne. How're you today?” Quinn said, carefully pulling out the chair to not make any noise.
”Good evening,” she said, looking up from her cache of AID notes.
”Only eight weeks remain to your OWLs,” he said, ”how do you feel about that? Ready to knock it out of the park?”
Daphne nodded.
”Excellent, what do you want to cover today?” asked Quinn, settling himself in the chair as he peeked over to what she had opened in the AID notes.
”Arithmancy: The Law of Quadruple Pairings.”
”Ah, no wonder. That one's a bit tricky, but I do have a trick that'll help you get a grasp of things. You actually don't need to.. .”
In the library, with a ward around them stifling all outgoing sound, Quinn tutored Daphne while clearing any doubts she footed. It wasn't difficult for Quinn to teach someone smart like Daphne, who had basics down; as such, time passed quickly, with Quinn enjoying going over some topics he himself hadn't touched in some time.
”I guess that's it for today,” said Quinn. He pushed the parchment with a solved example towards Daphne. ”Your Arithmancy just needs practice. Solve some more problems, and that'll get the concepts clear.”
Daphne nodded while comparing what she had done with Quinn's work.
Quinn tilted his head. There was something different about Daphne today, he thought. His eyes slightly narrowed, wondering what it was, trying to pinpoint why it seemed so distant today.
”Daphne,” he called.
”Yes?”
”Please, look at me.”
The quill in Daphne's hand stilled. She glanced up from her work and looked at Quinn as he asked. ”Yes?” she asked.
”Is there something wrong?” he asked. ”Why does it seem that you're avoiding eye contact with me, and you haven't spoken much today.”
”It's nothing like that. You must be imagining things.”
Quinn stared at Daphne, but the girl went back to taking notes. There was once again a silence between them. Quinn took account of the three-quarter of the hour they had spent together; Daphne hadn't spoken to him other than asking questions. Something was clearly bothering her.
”Daphne,” he said again.
”How're things going at AID?” Daphne asked but didn't look away from her work. ”I heard you sold a lot of notes after the reopening. You're again going to get busy.. .”
Quinn opened his mouth only to close it. There was clearly something bothering her, but he couldn't tell what it was. He tried to think if he missed something — her birthday, no, that had already passed; had he promised something, not that he could remember.
A silence settled between them as Quinn gazed at Daphne while she never looked up at him. Then it struck Quinn, and he knew he shouldn't, but it did turn his frown upside down.
”Daphne.. . I'm still going to teach you, you know,” he said, leaning towards her with his cheek resting on his palm. ”This isn't going to end just because AID reopened.”
Daphne's quill stopped, and she finally looked up from her work. ”You don't have to do tha —.”
”We're going to continue this,” said Quinn, cutting her off and intertwining his fingers with hers. ”This might have started because AID got closed, but that doesn't, in any way, mean that it has to stop now that AID reopened.”
Daphne grasped Quinn's hand back.
”You're cute worry about silly things,” said Quinn, grinning. ”If you don't like something, you can always-always tell it to me.”
Daphne nodded, ”It's just that, I enjoy our time a lot and.. . but you get busy so.. .”
”I do too, so very much, and if I want to spend time with you, then I'll take out time to do so — no excuses.”
In the quiet library, two people grew closer than they were before.
- (Scene Break) -
With the OWLs, NEWTs, and the rest of the end-of-term examinations right on the horizon, it was time to pack up the extra-curricular and co-curricular activities for the year and go into study mode. In Hogwarts, there was no bigger out-of-curriculum as Quidditch, and today, was the day for its biggest game of the year.
”YEAH, HEHEHE-AH!! Hogwarts! Are! You! Ready! For the biggest game of the season?!”
Quinn's voice riding on the loudspeaker pitched to every corner of the packed stadium — Hogwart students wearing their team colors, carrying rain gears in case of a downpour, holding their bottles, mugs, and glasses of butterbeer while screaming and chanting through their freshly painted faces. Pennants and flags flew throughout the stands as the Hogwarts crowd sat shoulder-by-shoulder, showing camaraderie among even the most estranged housemates — half-naked boys could be seen dotting the crowd with their bellies painted with numbers and letters, offering the most excitement many had shown through the entire year, while some threw food at anyone who wasn't in their camp.
”Yeeessss! Oh boy, now I'm regretting skipping the last game,” Quinn grinned into the microphone. ”The game hasn't even started yet, but I can already tell that it's going to be a great one! And putting a little sparkle into this game, I'm happy to announce that for this season's finale — Ravenclaw versus Gryffindor, I'll be joined by a guest announcer. Give it up for the one-and-only, Head Boy, Captain of the Hufflepuff's, Champion of Hogwarts — CEDRIC DIGGORY!!!”
A crackle coughed in the stadium as Cedric amped up the second microphone. ”Thank you for that introduction, Quinn. It's an honor to be a part of this game, but I would like to start with correcting you on something — I'm no longer the Captain of the Hufflepuff Quidditch Team, I stepped down from that position after our last game.”
Cedric's voice caused the Hufflepuff crowd to burst into applause, whistles, shouts, and cheers for the best player and Captain they had in years.
”Ever so noble, aren't you, Mr. Diggory. Well, nevertheless, your contribution to Hufflepuff Quidditch and Hogwarts Quidditch as a whole can't be ignored,” Quinn flipped over a sheet on his little commentator's table. ”You're Hufflepuff's all-time top-scoring Seeker with most the most snitches caught in the least games played. Your Hogwarts career spans over five years — six if we include last year's Quidditch Tournament, and you were made Captain when you were in your fourth year and have held onto the posting till this year — in that time, you led Hufflepuff to their highest win-to-loss percentage in a century — an impressive resume no matter how you look at it.”
”You flatter me. I couldn't have done it all alone. I have my team members having my back on the pitch and the entire house supporting me to thank for. They have been with me every step of the way.”
”My magic, you're humble. Have you thought of joining politics? I predict you'll do great there. Ah, it seems we have to cut this conversation here as Ravenclaw and Gryffindor have entered the field,” he added at the end, seeing the entry signal.
Both teams flew out of their corners, emerging out of blue and red fogs, as they flew low, nearer to the ground, just below where the stands started, circling around the pitch in formation, giving the people a glance at the two teams competing for the Cup and the position of the best team.
”Today's game is quite exciting even without the final tag attached to it,” said Quinn. ”First of all, we have to talk about the Weasley twins.”
”Yes, we have to,” said Cedric. ”Today can't be talked about without mentioning those two. It's their last game today, after all.”
”Yes, the Weasley twins, Cedric, I apologize for the analogy I'm about to use, but if you're a historical figure in Hufflepuff Quidditch, then the Weasley twins are going down as historical figures in the annals of Hogwarts Quidditch.”
”I forgive you,” said Cedric, chuckling.
”Fred and George Weasley are all-time great Beaters in Hogwarts history. They're the best duo in a very long time, a couple of centuries, to say the least. I have some data, but that doesn't do both of them justice; they have been consistently phenomenal in their six years of their playing. They have been terrifically effective against Chasers squads no matter what the year, no matter what house. It has been a pleasure watching them play, and I regretfully say that after today, Gryffindor is going to lose an asset that had been their backbone for years, going back to the Oliver Wood era.”
”I agree wholeheartedly with you, Quinn. But, as we are talking about last games, it's the last game for Angelica Johnson and Alicia Spinnet as well. After today, Gryffindor will not only lose the Weasley menace, they'll also lose two-thirds of the Gryffindor Vixens, leaving only Katie Bell as an experienced Chaser.”
Quinn nodded deeply. He wasn't a huge Quidditch buff, but when you had been doing commentary for years, it was inevitable that he had become knowledgeable about the sport. ”After today, Gryffindor is going to lose their long-standing continuity and will need to rebuild. I just hope they'll be able to come together strong as ever the next year.”
”And, we can't ignore his return to the Quidditch field,” said Cedric, and the crowd knew exactly who he was talking about.
Quinn smiled, ”On the orders of Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, the season-long ban on Harry Potter, the Gryffindor Seeker, has officially been lifted for the final game of the season. He'll be replacing Ginny Weasley, who had been seeking for Gryffindor in Potter's absence.”
Harry Potter flew in the front of the Gryffindor Team, one of his hands gripping his Firebolt, while the other waved to the crowd as both teams stood in the center of the pitch.
”But today, they're going to be facing Ravenclaw,” said Cedric, a bitter smile on his face.
”Yes,” Quinn chuckled, ”with four Gryffindor players retiring today, I fear that it might turn out to be the feel-good ending they're aiming for.”
”No, not with how he's playing,” said Cedric, ”it'll take a titanic effort for them to overcome this Ravenclaw Team.”
On the field, the two teams faced each other, waiting for Hooch as she performed a pre-game check on the game balls.
”So, Johnson,” said Eddie, making Angelilook at him, ”you decided to put Potter on the field, huh. Are you sure that's a smart decision?”