Chapter 65: World cup Finals
As Ireland won against France, then, they moved to the Quarterfinals where they faced Egypt. Neal once again proved his ability by scoring 7 goals against them. Then, in the semi-finals, Ireland crushed Peru with a score of 450-20, Neal alone scoring 19 goals moving to the finals.
Every newspaper in their respective nations had headlines about Neal. While some go like "Flashcutter Slytherin", "The Quidditch child of the century", "Neal Slytherin vs Viktor Krum. Who is the real genius?", etc...
A few others say "Who is Neal Slytherin?", "is he the real heir to the House of Slytherin?", "Ministry refuses to divulge about Neal Slytherin's parents?", "Who is Berry Slytherin?", "Who is Dewy Avery?", "Leon Avery kills Berry Slytherin and Dewy Avery?".
There are a lot of reporters who also wanted to cover his past especially Rita Skeeter but the British Ministry and Quidditch Association strongly disapproved of it. Still, a few reporters ug up some information about him being an Orphan but no one has the dare to visit Tagues village and ask Oakley, "why didn't Avery family left him in the Orphanage for 11 years?" or their recent acquisition of 30 sq.km large-area from the muggle government.
Meanwhile, as the day of the finals coming near, Weasleys brought away from the Dursleys to their home. In their house, Ron and the twin Weasleys were arguing about who's going to win. While Ron said, "Of course Bulgaria. They have Krum" while the twin Weasleys argued, "please, Ireland team have 7 great players, unlike Bulgaria. Didn't you see how they crush Peru in the semi-finals?".
Everyone packed their necessary luggage before the sun rose. Harry whispered Ron, "where's Bill, Charlie, and Percy?", Ron shrugged his shoulders, "Merlin knows".
Fred who heard it replied with a wide grin, "of course they are going to apparate". Ginny who woke yawned while rubbing her eyes, "why do you wake up me this early, Mom?", Mrs. Weasley replied, "we need to walk to see the finals". Then Harry asked in a surprise, "and we have to walk to the stadium?".
Mr. Weasley replied, "no, of course not. It's miles away. We only need to walk a short way. It's just that it's very difficult for a large number of wizards to congregate without attracting Muggle's attention. We have to be very careful about how we travel at the best of times, and on a huge occasion like the Quidditch World Cup".
While they met Amos Diggory and Cedric Diggory and used a Portkey to teleport to nearby the stadium, At the campsite outside the stadium, lots of Ireland team supporters bought the green tents to show their support which attracted other people.
In the evening, in one of those tents, Oakley, Neal and his friends and their families are just talking with the rest of his teammates who were a bit overwhelmed seeing lots of important people before them.
As the sunset and the sky got dark, the team made their way into the waiting room. Aidan looked at everyone, "this is it guys, one last match. Neal, are you sure you mastered the new technique". Neal nodded with a smile, "no problem. I only hope Krum doesn't catch the snitch very fast".
Quigley waved his hand, "Oh please. You don't need to worry about him. That's us, beaters job to make sure he's distracted". Meanwhile, on the Bulgarian side, Alexi Leviski, the team captain said, "Krum, you have to catch the snitch as soon as you can.
There's no team in the world that can stop their offensive for long. With the addition of that Slytherin, they became even more unstoppable. I'm sure that I told you Aidan Lynch, their team seeker's weakness. Make proper use of it".
Ludo Bagman, the head of the Department of Magical Game sand sports, whipped out his wand, directed it at his own throat, and said "Sonorus!" and then spoke over the roar of sound that was now filling the packed stadium; his voice echoed over them, booming into every corner of the stand they entered the stadium riding on their brooms painted in red leaving the trails with fireworks.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to the final of four hundred and twenty-second Quidditch World Cup". As the spectators clapped, he continued, "And now without further ado, let me introduce Bulgarian National Team Mascots".
A hundred Veela glided out onto the field and started dancing along with the music started in the background. Every male in the stadium erupted with cheers and angry yells filled the stadium when their performance stopped.
Ludo cleared his throat, "that's a wonderful performance. Now, kindly put your wands in the air for the Irish National Team Mascots".
Now, what seemed to be green and gold comet came zooming into the stadium and after making one circuit around the field once, it flies into the sky and bursts and a huge image of Leprechaun formed in the sky.
Then, slowly, it dissolved into thousands of actual leprechauns who threw out something while they landed on the ground. Thousands of galleons seemed to fall from the sky into the stands and the field. Everyone enthusiastically caught the gold coins especially Ron who don't know that they are actually Leprachaun gold which will disappear after a few hours.
"And now, ladies and gentlemen, kindly welcome the Bulgarian National Team". As the crowd cheered, seven scarlet robed players entered the stadium, "Krum, Krum...", Ron and Harry were cheering along with the audience while standing at the very top box of the stadium. Then, Ludo Bagman, the commentator shouted, "now, here comes Ireland".
Aidan leads the seven of them in a V shape while the spectators erupted in cheers, "Ireland, Ireland, Slytherin, Slytherin..." Seeing the audience going out of control chanting Neal's name, Harry and the others were overwhelmed.
Harry asked, "Is he that popular?". Fred replied, "of course he is, you didn't read Daily prophet all these days, right? They call him the best chaser in the world, although many would still argue about it. Aside from him, Krum is undoubtedly the best seeker in the world. Well, everyone is betting only one thing. Will Krum catch the snitch first or will Ireland make 160 point difference first".
As Ludo screamed, "they are off. Neal has the possession of Quaffle. I need to mention one special thing though. Until now, no one managed to steal the Quaffle away from Slytherin's possession. And the first goal has always been in the very first minute. Will Bulgaria break that myth?
Merlin's here it is, the burst speed passes of the Ireland chasers. Flash Cutter Slytherin evaded Dimitrov and passed to Troy, no wait, it's already in Slytherin's possession. Everyone who has a hard time following, please look at it with Omniculors". Harry looked at the match through Omniculars and set in slow motion. "Wow, what a high pace match. Neal has improved tremendously. I wonder if winning the Quidditch cup is possible for Gryffindor?".
Then, Ludo screamed, "and Slytherin scores. Ten zero to Ireland. Once again, Ireland opened the score with just 30 seconds into the match. That continuous lightning cut and burst skill combo made Slytherin's attack unstoppable".
Fifteen minutes later, as Ireland pulled ahead by 10 goals, the Bulgarian team started to use a few underhanded tactics. Krum used Wronski's defensive feint against Aidan and made him fall on the ground.
It is a dangerous tactic done by a seeker to use a fake dive and made it seems like he's catching the snitch. As the opponent team seeker also followed you from behind, the seeker will immediately change his direction at the end and make the opponent team's seeker crash on to the ground.
Then, later, the Bulgarian Beaters who got control over the bludger began to target Neal along with using elbow attacks. Because of his high reflexes, Neal managed to escape and started scoring the goals even faster with Troy and Mullet's help using Hawkshead Attacking Formation.
Neal flew in the center slightly ahead of Troy and Mullet. As the opponents came forward to defend, Neal simply threw the Quaffle behind without even looking. While both Troy and Mullet used burst skill on their Firebolts and went forward, Neal's broom moved at the same speed in reverse as he caught the Quaffle. Then he used the flash cut while dodging the surprised opponent passing it to Troy who then passed it to Mullet.
As Dimitrov elbowed her, she loses the Quaffle while everyone is shouting it's a foul, Neal quickly caught the Quaffle before Ivanova from Bulgaria catches it. As Ivanova tried to block in the front and the other chaser Levski block in the behind, Neal tried to pass through him with a flash-cut but his move was anticipated by Ivanova and guessed the right side. To his surprise, Neal smirked while he changed his direction to the left in the middle of accelerating to the right side and passed through him and enter the scoring area and then scored the goal".
Half an hour later, Ludo screamed, "Krum gets the snitch but Ireland Wins with a score of 320-160. Krum saved the team's dignity which was almost crushed by Ireland today, good lord, I don't think anyone of us was expecting a match like this. Good job, Krum. Once again, great applause to Neal Slytherin for showing us a wonderful match today.
As all the spectators screaming, "Ireland, Ireland, Slytherin, Slytherin..." the Irish players were dancing gleefully in a shower of gold descending from their mascots around Neal who was looking at the crowd and waving his hands with a big smile on his face.
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