Bab 82: Chapter 82
The two of them talked about quidditch until bedtime and didn't stop even while having dinner. Days passed by quickly and Alex had to postpone Neville's lessons for another week as their team had gotten permission to practice from three to six as the match was nearing.
Their seniors didn't do much other than complain once and let it go when Flitwick ignored their pleas.
The stands were filled just like when there was an official Quidditch match but the atmosphere was less toxic as there were no houses involved. Fred and George stood along with McGonagall in the commentary booth while the teams were getting ready.
Roger's team sat on a bench in the Slytherin locker room which was "Generously" donated by Snape for their match. Everyone looked nervous as they held their brooms and the atmosphere seemed to be affecting Alex too as he polished his self-made broom.
Aman stared at the ground and spoke, not moving his head even an inch, "Hey guys, we have to win this. I want to become the greatest goalkeeper in the world and to do that, the first step is to win. I'll stop every single quaffle so, don't worry about me and bury them. Let's show the whole school that the old team will. Be. Replaced."
All of them looked at each other's faces and chucked as Aman was the only one who was sweating bullets. No one knew why, so they attributed it to his nervousness.
The group left the room five minutes early and arrived at the empty ground. The chatter of all the people in the stands, regardless of whether them being their supporters or not, calmed their nerves.
"Hey hey hey hey! Look who's here everybody! The team was made by Professor Flitwick to kick the old underperforming team that was as good as trash in front of the two leading quidditch teams.", One of the twins began as they spotted the team, and the other continued.
"I don't care as long as they beat those snakes for-"
"George! Conduct yourself." Professor McGonagall said furiously, "Lee would've been a better pick instead of you two."
"I'm Fred professor. We promise to make sure that it will be entertaining." He said while McGonagall glared at him sternly.
"And?"
"And not make rude comments?"
"Good."
While the team waited, Jason nudged Alex from behind and whispered, "Hey, are we really going to do it?"
Alex nodded in reply before speaking, "We have two options. Play safe by hiding our tricks and potential to risk a loss or show everything off and have a higher chance of winning along with making people actually fear us."
Roger seemed to have heard the two of them as he suddenly turned behind, "Guys, forget about hiding stuff and just show off all that you have. If the stuff that Alex said is true, we have a very high chance of winning but we don't have to risk it."
All of them nodded and waited silently for a few minutes and to their expectations, their seniors arrived exactly on time. Madam Hooch looked at both the teams and said, "To your goalposts and turn to the other side. Eyes closed."
Both the groups complied and did as they were told to. Hooch released the bludgers and the snitch before holding the red quaffle in her hands and waited for a few seconds before shouting, "Turn around!"
The teams did as they were told and the six chasers focused on the red ball that was in Hooch's hand. She counted for three and threw the quaffle high up in the air, officially starting the match as all the players took up their positions and the chasers raced towards the red ball that was still flying upwards.
Alex and Jason flew together fast towards the bludgers and Alex said, "Alright, as per our plan, you just do your thing and I'll strike when there is a good opportunity."
Jason nodded before flying away from him, towards Su Li as he spotted a bludger flying in her trajectory.
Cho Chang circled high up in the air along with the other seeker while Alex began blocking the bludgers from hitting his teammates while he listened to the twins' commentary.
"-is now in the hands of team red's captain, Joseph, and look at him zoom straight towards the, on never mind, I knew he was blind but this confirms it."
"Fred!!"
"Yes professor, it just slipped off of my tongue. Anyway, the quaffle is now in Su Li's hand from the blue team, and what a wonderful pass that was. Roger Davies speeding up towards the hoops and IS ABOUT TO SCORE! OH, TOM IS TRYING TO INTERCEPT HIM AND IT LOOKS LIKE HE HAS A HIGH CHANCE OF SUCCEEDING! OH…. That was… brutal."
The stands went quiet while both the teams froze except Tom, who was falling straight down with Alex who zooming towards him. Catching him in the nick of time, he flew over to the stands and tossed Tom, whose entire face looked bloodied towards the people sitting below.
Hooch didn't stop the match as none of the rules were broken but the dread in people's hearts could not be erased. Even Roger stood still until Jason nudged him, prompting him to try and score the goal which he failed spectacularly.
It took both the teams a few whole minutes to recover but the opponents' focus was partially on the bludgers which impeded their performance even more on top of the loss of a good chaser.
The substitute was nowhere near as good as Tom and was he was also not able to work well with the team. They struggled for three whole hours, not being able to score a single goal while team Blue scored three hundred twenty in those few hours and they decided to let the Red team take the snitch as it didn't matter anymore.
The win didn't feel too much like a celebration but all the members of the team felt nice when they saw everyone erupt in loud cheers.
Aman nudged Alex with his elbow and whispered, "We did it, didn't we?"
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone