An American At Hogwarts: Book Three

Chapter Thirty-One

A/N: IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!

I'm officially back! Yay! I'm so excited to continue this story you guys, omg. My semester is starting back up (and I'm overloading, ugh), so to make sure I don't ghost you guys for a few months due to outside stress, updates are officially going to be once a week. New chapters of the Wild Adventures of Alexa, coming to you every Tuesday (US Eastern Time)!

And with that out of the way, I hope you enjoy!

****************

I made it back into the locker room just as Angelina was getting into her pre-match speech. She walked us through what we should expect of Slytherin's lineup, and unlike Oliver, she seemed to get quieter as the time for the match neared. Finally, with the sounds of the rest of the school echoing loudly into the locker room from outside, Angelina glanced at her watch then looked back at all of us.

"It's time," she said, her voice hushed. "C'mon everyone... good luck."

Everyone stood silently and hefted their brooms, then turned to walk towards the tent. The atmosphere felt heavy, and far more grim than a day like this should be.

"Let's go Gryffindor!" I shouted from the back of the line. The twins, Alicia, and Katie took up my cheer with plenty of energy, and Harry joined in despite sounding a little shaky. Angelina and Ron couldn't even muster a smile.

A roar of cheers greeted us as soon as we stepped onto the field, and I looked into the stands to see the whole school here, on their feet and screaming for all they were worth. Slytherin stood in the middle of the pitch waiting for us, some weird silver badge fastened to their robes.

Another strange thing about Quidditch: in every other contact sport, jewelry and metal objects had to come off. Apparently not here though, since Madam Hooch wasn't saying a word.

I surveyed the Slytherin team as we all came to a stop in front of them. Draco had a smug look on his face, along with the rest of his team, and I knew that couldn't mean anything good for us.

"Captains shake hands," said Madam Hooch. Angelina and the Slytherin captain, Montague, reached out and clasped hands. In true Oliver-Flint style, they both gripped as hard as they could, each trying to make the other flinch.

Of course, neither of them did.

"Alright, mount your brooms..." ordered Madam Hooch. I took a half step back as my team got ready to fly. The stadium seemed to hold its breath as Hooch raised the whistle to her lips, and then a second later, the sharp whistle blast pierced the air.

All my friends were off like a shot. The balls launched into the air, and I let out a cheer as I watched them go. I moved backwards to take my place on the sideline as a substitute, slipping on my Stark glasses as I went. I tried to follow all the action at once as Lee's voice came over the speaker.

"And it's Johnson, Johnson with the Quaffle, what a player that girl is, I've been saying it for years but she still won't go out with me-"

"JORDAN!"

"Just a fun fact, Professor, adds a bit of interest-"

I smiled to myself. One of my favorite parts of Quidditch was listening to Lee announce the games, especially when McGonagall had to interject every few sentences because he said something or other she didn't approve of.

That kid really should consider a career in media.

The game continued as the Quaffle quickly switched back between our team and theirs. Angelina, Alicia, and Katie were in rare form, racing up and down the pitch as fast as the wind, working like a well oiled machine. The twins were providing the perfect support system too, and even Ron looked solid hovering in goal.