As if under perfect understanding the two teams swam in formation around the other like they were sizing up the other side before suddenly swimming straight into each other as if to clash. Instead of colliding however the two teams broke formation at the same time and the members glided through the water past the members of the other team before perfectly settling into positions on the field to start the game. The exceptions to this were the goalies that needed to swim a bit longer to reach their respective goals. -
"I will be serving as the referee of this match as well as the server for the ball so without further delay lets begin the match!" Nick said as he stored the broom in the realm and fell down into the field himself. He had on a highly visible silver body suit that had a large black badge pattern on the chest and back to show his role in the game. He gracefully swam down to the platform in the middle of the field with Malfoy and Seamus at either side of him. "This is the first match of this game ever so play well and make it one these people won't forget , got it?" Nick said seriously and both captains nodded seriously.-
Nick didn't say anything else after that but took the ball out of the realm and crouched down to serve it. He threw the ball straight up with a whistle and the game began as both Seamus and Malfoy shot up after it. "Malfoy gets the ball and immediately passes to Laret!" Lee Jordan narrates the match from the stands like he normally would for quidditch. Nick meanwhile had immediately swam towards the bottom of the field so he could see everything better.-
It was clear that both teams had trained hard with the time he gave them as they started the match out strong. The left attacker for the dragons who had the ball was making a beeline for the leviathans goal but was stopped by the right attacker and defender from the leviathans who moved to tackle. The dragons attacker clearly wanted to break through the two tackles however but failed and lost the ball to the defender of the leviathan who threw it to Seamus who was still at mid field waiting. The throw was just strong enough for Seamus to receive it and he shot towards the dragons goal.-
Malfoy was not far behind alongside the right defender as the other two available players were too far away to assist. Seamus got within scoring distance and stopped to try and make a goal when Malfoy and the defender got between him and the goalie. Seamus grinned and lightly tossed the ball upward before leaning backwards as he brought his feet up and his arms outwards. Malfoy looked confused at this until it finally happened , Seamus rocketed his feet out in a double kick to the ball that was bulleted forward.-
The ball was moving far too fast and Malfoy far to slowly so a loud "THUD!" sounded out as the ball impacted his face before ricocheting backwards. Seamus had backflipped into an upright position by this time and moved to reobtain the ball as the defender also scrambled to get it. The defender got his hand on the ball but Seamus changed to a tackle and slammed into his opponent. "GAH!" the defender yelled upon impact but passed through the tackle without losing the ball and immediately threw the ball to the the right attacker of the dragons.-
The crowd was watching this match at the edge of their seats as the ball got passed around and there were a few near misses when someone went to score. The final result of the first quarter was the leviathans leading at three points to the dragons two. The second quarter was also the final as the dragons managed to eek out a close victory at the last moment of the quarter with the final scores being eight to seven. Once the match was over the two teams shook hands to show that there was no hard feelings and swam to the bottom of the field and the out of it.-
As the players and Nick left the field it was time for the most irritating part of any sport , dealing with the crowd. "Mr. Ravenclaw , a word please!" "Captain Malfoy a quick interview!" shouts of this sort filled the air as the journalist all scrambled to get a scoop. Those not aware of the heartless nature of the press from the teams fell prey to the reporters but both Malfoy and Nick knew better than to stop to talk with any of them.
To be more specific they both knew that the trick to dealing with the press was to get them in a controlled environment. Once the reporters were in an environment that was controlled they had to maintain a certain level of civility unlike when they were out in the open in a large crowd and could overwhelm someone with questions. Malfoy was definitely not going to miss this chance to raise his own prestige by using the media to his advantage like his father had taught him. Nick on the other hand would prefer to not deal with the reporters at all but he needed to as the creator of this new and clearly well received sport.-
The reporters also knew this which is why they weren't bothered by him ignoring them while they had the advantage. It helped that interviewing him was not high on the list of priorities at the moment what with the match needing to be reported first. The visitor that Nick was most interested in meeting was none other than Ludovic Bagman , the head of the games department at the ministry. Bagman was a gambling addict and was almost constantly in debt as a result which made him easy to manipulate if the correct means was used.-
As the head of the games department Bagman actually had quite a heavy amount of power when it came to matters involving sports in the british community. If he wanted to he could ban blitzball in the isles entirely since it wasn't large enough yet to cause him problems for doing it. Nick doubted the man would do something like that though considering the sheer pressure Fudge would put on him for such an action. Without a single doubt in his mind Nick knew for a fact that Fudge was definitely thinking about the sheer profit this new sport would bring to the british isles.-
How could he not when the other ministries would get word of this new sport and all come scrambling to him to get a slice of this new and tasty pie. Nick wasn't wrong either as over the next month the magical community was going ballistic over the new sport. Petitions to have the sport introduced to these other countries flooded the various ministries. Fudge and Bagman of course came calling at about the middle of the month along with about twelve different reporters from different news agencies to discus the future of blitzball.-
"With how often you seem to have these little meetings with me I am tempted to have a minister of magic seat specially made for you here." Nick joked with Fudge as the man entered the workshop. "It can't be helped I'm afraid , you keep doing things that require my presence here." Fudge said exasperated. Nick was aware that this exasperation was less because he was tired of dealing with the consequences of Nicks actions but because Nick was rapidly turning into another hegemonic entity like Dumbledore in the British isles which made him feel threatened.-
The problem was that Nick wasn't involved in the political scene despite his growing power there and Fudge refused to make a move that would potentially cause Nick to utilize that power against him. It was a classic rock and hard place type scenario as on one hand Fudge wanted to curb Nicks rise to power but on the other he might accelerate it instead if he moved against him. Nick was aware of this problem that fudge was having but had only disregard for the mans foolish thoughts.-
Nick could care less about the petty politics of the world at this moment when in a few years the whole world is going to be operating on a totally different form of governance. Whether it was Zeus or himself in the end one of them will end up taking the crown on the entire world in some way or another. "Lets get straight to the heart of the matter shall we? Blitzball , I have it and the whole world wants it." Nick said casually. The reporters were writing furiously in their notebooks while Fudge and Bagman both sighed when they realized that this wasn't going to be easy.-
Nick had the absolute upperhand in this conversation since he and he alone knew the true details of the games mechanics. "I won't lie and say that isn't true as the various ministries all over the globe have indeed requested access to the game. Mr. Bagman and myself are here to try and convince you to turn over the game to the ministry so that we can handle it on a wide scale." Fudge said honestly. "And what do you have to offer for such a thing and don't try to say glory and gratitude because I already have plenty of that?" Nick asked calmly.