บท 372: Harry Potter wins by K.O.
With an eighty-point lead, the most reasonable course of action would have been to cut her losses and accept that not every goal could be saved, but Astoria wanted her first game as Keeper to be perfect. She was now between the middle hoop and the leftmost hoop (from her perspective), but Pucey was coming up from her right.
To save this goal, she would have to fly laterally very quickly. But the problem with that was that brooms weren't too good at performing those kinds of movements; they were mostly designed to go forwards, as well as up and down.
Since Astoria couldn't turn fast enough with her broom without wasting too much time, which would also get her struck by a Bludger as a result, she made the split-second decision to leap off her broom.
Astoria sailed through the air before everyone's incredulous eyes… and dropkicked the Quaffle that Adrian Pucey was holding in his arms. (Not a foul, by the way!) Then, in an inhuman feat of athleticism, she lightly stepped off the Quaffle and flipped backwards, catching hold of the rightmost goalpost to prevent herself from falling to her death. She then wrapped her legs around the pole and slid down firefighter-style, watching gleefully as the K.O.ed Pucey, the Quaffle and both of their brooms plummeted towards the ground.
Lee Jordan, the commentator, was so shocked that for a few moments, he couldn't even find the words to announce Gryffindor's victory; Harry had ended up catching the Snitch mere moments after Astoria's incredible save. It was only when the stunned crowd finally exploded into cheers that he finally managed to regain his voice.
"GRYFFINDOR WINS!" Lee shouted as he wrapped his arms around Professor McGonagall's old bones in a bear hug. "A PERFECT GAME, AND WHAT A SAVE!"
"Yay me!" Astoria cheered from the ground, pumping her little fists in the air.
The rest of the team soon joined her on the pitch; Fred and George hoisted her up on their shoulders and paraded her around while whooping loudly. The other Gryffindor students in the stands were beginning to swarm onto the field, cheering and laughing all the while.
Astoria looked at the Slytherin stands and saw Oleandra and Tracey waving their arms at her.
"I did it, Sis!" Astoria shouted. "I didn't let a single goal in!"
Meanwhile, the remainder of the Slytherin team had landed not too far away from them. Warrington had propped the dazed Pucey onto his shoulder, but all they could do was glower at her powerlessly. Attacking her during the match was fair game, but since they thought Daphne was the Dark Lady, they didn't want to offend her sister for no good reason.
However, Captain Malfoy had a murderous glint in his eyes. His shoulders were heaving and he was breathing heavily, and yet a nasty sneer was drawing itself on his lips.
After all, why should he be afraid of a Dark Lady's sister? His family had the backing of the Dark Lord, and he was much more real than an illusory promise of a future threat!
"Weasley chickened out, I suppose?" Malfoy spat at the Gryffindors. "I had this whole song prepared for him, but now that I think about it, I shouldn't be too surprised that he'd be too much of a coward to risk his neck against us."
Astoria was shocked; she had never interacted much with Malfoy in school, but he'd visited the Greengrass household a few times in the past, and he'd always been a perfect gentleman those times. He'd always been charming and handsome, but for the first time, Astoria felt like she was seeing him for what he truly was.
Fred and George gently lowered her to the ground and stared at Malfoy, as if daring him to keep going.
"But that's fine," Malfoy shrugged nonchalantly. "Weasleys and Greengrasses are pretty similar, if you think about it— I can easily change the song to make it fit. Deviants, Muggle lovers and mutants— you're all the same, and soon, there won't be any of you left. Prewetts, Weasleys… good riddance, I'd say."
Fred and George lunged at Malfoy's neck, but they were quickly stopped in their tracks by their teammates.
"Oh?" said Malfoy mockingly. "Didn't like that one, did you? That's fine, I've got plenty more."
"Leave it!" said Angelina urgently. "Everyone's watching, don't let that jumped-up little creep get the best of you!"
"You should know that the Greengrass family isn't to be trusted," said Malfoy, who was now openly grinning. "They like to make friends with everyone, and then use them for all they're worth. But you like having friends, don't you, Potter? Is that why you keep these Mudbloods and mutant freaks around you? Are you collecting them, like Chocolate Frog cards? I get it, I really do. If I had been raised by Muggles, I suppose I wouldn't know any better, either."
"Harry? HARRY! George, NO!"
Harry had been the one restraining George, while the Gryffindor Chaser girls had been the ones holding Fred. But now, Harry had let go, and both of them charged headlong into the Slytherins, catching them by surprise. Harry punched Malfoy in the stomach, and when he doubled over as a result of being struck, Harry kneed him in the face, drawing blood from his nose. Malfoy fell on his side, but Harry continued punching him, while George viciously kicked him in the kidneys.
"Impedimenta!"
Before the Slytherins could come to their Captain's aid, Madam Hooch cast an Impediment Jinx between the three, forcing them apart with a temporarily conjured invisible wall.
What happened next felt like a blur to Astoria…
After Madam Hooch's intervention, Harry and George were sent away, and then she accompanied Malfoy to the Hospital Wing. Then, Astoria somewhat remembered Katie and Alicia taking her by the arm and dragging her back to their common room, and then…
"Is this my fault?" the shellshocked Astoria blurted out.
Astoria was the very definition of a sheltered girl; she knew how to defend herself, having duelled her sisters and having a few RC (Temp) sessions under her belt, but that had all been lighthearted and fun. Seeing the Cruciatus Curse performed a spider the previous year had shocked her, but all of the blood, the pure unadulterated hatred and the wanton violence… she had no idea what to make of it all.
"How could it be your fault?" said Katie crossly. "You didn't do anything wrong!"
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