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The Slytherin Chasers having been unable to pulverise the team spirit of the Lions Chasers, so no one really believed in the chances of Helga's House. As unfair as it was, it was the painful truth. Hufflepuff had only one good player in its roster: Cedric Diggory, the Seeker. Unfortunately, the rather good-looking boy had a challenging counterpart with Neville Longbottom...and his Comet 260 was utterly outclassed in a straight-up race against the Nimbus 2000 of the Boy-Who-Lived. In difficult weather conditions, maybe Diggory would be able to offset these drawbacks. But today there was a beautiful sun, a clear sky and the wind was low. Every factor favoured the Gryffindor Seeker.
The others six yellow-robed players in the current roster were described as...very average. The Hufflepuff team had not a high level of coordination or skill. The match against Ravenclaw had seen a high proportion of missed passes and Bludgers sent everywhere but the opponent. Everyone in the school agreed Hufflepuff had probably the best team spirit of the four Houses, and the students from first-year to seventh were two hundred percent behind them. Too bad it was all they had. Well, the sympathy of most of the public too. Ravenclaw House saw nothing wrong cheering their friendly rivals, and for the Snakes, everyone was better than Gryffindor.
Otherwise, the atmosphere was rather festive. There had been no petrifaction attacks of any sort in the last month, and while messages in bright or livid green colours continued to be painted in abandoned corridors glorifying the Heir of Slytherin, the tensions between the Houses were at a normal level – the feud between Gryffindor and Slytherin continued but they left the two other Houses out of it.
Large banners of Lions and Badgers floated largely in the stands under the light wind. The Gryffindors stands were a sea of gold and red; the Hufflepuff crowd was a bright yellow. A murmur of excitation permeated the stands, devolving in a burst of applauds when fourteen students in Quidditch gear left the lockers to set foot on the well-maintained grass.
"Here comes the team of Gryffindor!" Exclaimed the habitual commentator Lee Jordan, the black-skinned Gryffindor still in charge of the score and the animation despite oratory performances which could not be described as anything but biased.
"Captain Wood, Johnson, Bell, Spinnet, Weasley and Weasley and...Longbottom!"
The last name was pronounced with the dramatic effect it deserved, and the Lions screamed their joy to the heavens. A thunder of applauds sounded, small red fireworks were fired up, lions mascots made their appearance...the hooligans of many football teams would have recognised the Gryffindor as worthy of their friendship, had they been aware of their existence.
"And of course their opponents, Hufflepuff! Captain Diggory, Preece, Macavoy and Herbert as Chasers, McManus and Rickett as Beaters, with Fleet guarding the goals."
"Hufflepuff, do your stuff!" Chanted the crowd in yellow, raising a huge banner where several badgers were represented slaying lions and diverse felines.
Acclamations came from everywhere on the pitch, save a majority of Slytherin, that obviously weren't going to cheer for anything as vulgar and common as Quidditch when none of the two teams playing belonged to the Snake's Den.
All the boys and girl on the pitch rapidly formed two neat lines under the watchful eye of the referee Professor Hooch. A thrill of Professor Hooch and fifteen brooms soared in the air, with the Quaffle, the Bludgers and the Golden Snitch being released under a golden sun and a blue sky.
"And the third match of the season has begun! Hufflepuff has grabbed the Quaffle with Preece, but it doesn't last, interception by the lovely Chaser Angelina Johnson! Why this girl doesn't want to date me, I will never understand..."
"JORDAN!"
"Perhaps, Lee shouldn't try to propose Angelina every time there is a Quidditch match." Advised Nigel, on Alexandra's left.
"Perhaps." Acknowledged the Ravenclaw witch. She had no experience in that sort of things, but screaming you wanted to date a girl with the next best thing to a magical megaphone in front of all the teachers and the students...they were not a lot of methods more likely to fail. It was also not very flattering, a lot of Ravenclaw girls - and Alexandra included herself in this number - found that Lee was talking about dates and invitations for Hogsmeade with girls like one bargain for a piece of meat at the butcher.
"But I think Angelina has her eye on one of the Weasley Twins. That's the rumour anyway."
"GOAL! GOAL of Katie Bell for Gryffindor! Gryffindor leads by 10-0!"
The two friends redirected their attention to the match. The youngest chaser of the Lions had indeed opened the score, evading the vigilance of Keeper Fleet. It was not an extraordinary shoot, but the Hufflepuff had been unable to see through the series of feints, no matter how evident they were.
This augured badly for the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. What followed didn't reassure their supporters. With a supernatural rapidity betraying a long practise and long hours spent flying in all weather conditions, the Gryffindor Quidditch team regrouped and on the signal of its captain, the fanatic known by most of the school as Oliver Wood, the Lions formed a new attack pattern before rushing to the offensive again.
The passes were realised with fluidity and precision. The Bludgers were hurled by the Weasley Twins with improbable angles, disrupting entirely the strategy of the yellow players. It showed on the score. Contrary to Slytherin, the Badgers did little to no fault and the game was continuous without any opportunities to catch up or retake breath.
Katie Bell marked another goal. Then Angelina Johnson. One minute later, Alicia Spinnet opened her personal goal count.
40-0 for Gryffindor. And the match had not reached the ten minutes mark.
"This is not a match. It's a beating." Remarked sadly Alexandra. Despite the annoying pack-mentality of the Hufflepuff, the twelve-year old witch had found the qualities valued by Helga's House were worthy of recognition. She did not want to see a humiliation against the Boy-Who-Lived and his team.
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