The Chaser's Heart

Year 3: Slytherin

'Right, now remember they'll be covering Skye more than Nora,' Orion said as we prepared to walk on to the pitch. 'They're used to her, but Nora's still a bit of a wild card. You both know the signals?'

Skye and I nodded, Skye rolling her eyes.

It was the morning of our match against Slytherin. Orion had been preparing us for weeks. The Slytherins were the defending Quidditch Cup Champions and Erika Rath, who played Beater, was ruthless.

'Make sure you keep extra sharp for Bludgers today,' Orion warned me. 'No one's been able to knock you off your broom yet and Rath will see that as a challenge.'

'Right,' I nodded. McNully had told me the same thing multiple times in the weeks leading up to this match.

It was hard not to worry about Rath. Normally I was pretty aware of Bludgers and what was happening around me. But after my spiral diving incident, I wasn't so sure of myself.

'It'll be fine, Nora,' Skye slapped me on the back. 'Just keep doing what you're doing and we'll work together as a team, right, Orion?'

'Precisely,' Orion grinned. 'Alright, team, let's go!'

Orion mounted his broom and flew out onto the pitch first, followed by myself and Skye and then Chris, Seth, Irina and Sean.

The Slytherin team were already there doing their warm ups. We did a couple laps before Sean settled into his position by the goal hoops and the rest of us met the Slytherin team at the centre of the pitch. Orion touched down and met Rath where the pair shook hands and then kicked off again.

'And they're off!' Murphy McNully's booming voice filled the pitch as Madam Hooch released the balls. 'Ravenclaw versus Slytherin, both teams undefeated, though they've each only played one match so far in this season. Only one will remain undefeated by the end of today!
And no shocker there, it's Parkin with the Quaffle, to Amari... ooh, brilliant Bludger work there by Rath, deBoer's snatched up the Quaffle, to O'Connell, to- oh! Intercepted! Excellently agile snag out of midair by Nora Knight! Quick dodge and a pass back to Parkin, to Amari, he shoots- blocked by Jankowski!'

I had been warned, but now I was experiencing just how strong the Slytherin team was personally. I'd caught a glimpse of it back in November when they'd played Gryffindor. The crack of Rath's bat connecting with a Bludger echoed through the entire pitch. She was strong and the Bludgers flew quickly, but the crack was a good indicator that I should duck or else I'd likely be in a lot of pain.

The Slytherins took possession and scored a quick goal, taking the lead, and Skye managed a breakaway with Chris and Seth defending her to even the score.

I hadn't noticed this during the first match of the season, but deBoer, one of the Slytherin Chasers, was incredibly easy to steal the Quaffle from. I was looking for any sort of weakness in the team and his was only too easy to spot. I intercepted no less than three of his passes in the first fifteen minutes of the match. Perhaps he was just having an off day, which was bad luck for Slytherin and great luck for us.

'Nora!' Orion flew past me, making the signal for the Hawkshead Attacking Formation. I nodded in understanding and tore off after the Quaffle, which conveniently enough, deBoer had.

I heard the unmistakable crack of Rath's bat against a Bludger and ducked just in time. To my dismay, the Bludger hit deBoer instead, knocking the Quaffle free. I dove and caught it then turned hard and drifted so I was headed for the opposite goal.

Skye and Orion were almost instantly at my side, throwing me off for a fraction of a second. Each time we'd practiced the Hawkshead Formation, Skye had been the one with the Quaffle. I didn't dwell on it for long, Seth and Chris weren't far off, defending the formation from Bludger attacks.