PotterGang

Quidditch Wars: GryffinPuff Strikes Back

If Albus Potter accomplished anything during his first year at Hawgwarts, he proved that family legacy means almost nothing. Sure, his father's father was a talented Quidditch player, and passed that talent on to his son, Harry, but the same didn't go for Albus. Al and his parents proved that two rights can make a wrong.

It took some convincing for Albus to be allowed to tryout for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, but he eventually was. It was probably only because they knew for a fact that he wouldn't make it, but somehow, they were wrong.

Albus, during only the first twenty minutes of tryouts, watched his brother James effortlessly fly around on his broomstick. Al spent another twenty minutes after that trying to figure out why his broom wouldn't lift off the ground, until someone pointed out that he was sitting on it backwards. He eventually, finally, began to rise into the air, or at least he thought so. He discovered that the team captain had a few of the players hold up the back of the broom in an attempt to make it stay airborne.

Albus never once flew, or even came within ten feet of a ball, with an exception of the time that an out of control bludger hit him in the head. The whack seemed to make Al smarter, though, somehow. By the time tryouts were over, all the Gryffindors were drenched in sweat and satisfied with their performances.

***

The results were posted the next morning. There was no list of names. The paper just read: EVERYONE MADE IT. (Yes, even you, Albus.)

It turned out that there weren't enough people at tryouts to pick from, and Al made it exactly enough for a team. He wasn't sure if he should be happy or nervous, especially since, for some reason, they made him the Gryffindor Quidditch team seeker. Everyone on the team protested this, but some of the Hawgwarts teachers were confident in his Quidditch-positive genes.

The team had practice nearly every day, and eventually Albus was half-decent. He could actually work his broom, and that was a start. The first game of the season came around, and Al was confident that, even if he didn't catch the snitch, he might not make a complete fool out of himself. He could see his family and friends in the crowd, cheering him on excitedly. His father was decked out in Gryffindor attire, and was waving a flag that read: Hufflepuffs suck!

That's right. The first game of the season was against Albus' own house: the Hufflepuffs.

Everyone else on the team was celebrating, as if they'd already won. Hufflepuffs were nothing to worry about when it came to Quidditch, explained James. Sadly, the team would soon figure out that James was wrong.

Both teams flooded onto the field, broomsticks ready. The game begun, and Albus was focused on catching the snitch.

Except, Albus realized, he couldn't remember which ball the snitch was.

He panicked, turning his broom in the air in every direction, attempting to identify all of the balls being smacked around the field. There was a wave of confusion in the crowd as everyone tried to figure out why Al was flying absolutely still. Even some of the Gryffindor players began to look at him with wide eyes.

Albus scanned the air. There were some of the Gryffindors flying around, the Hufflepuff seeker chasing a tiny golden ball, some of the Hufflepuffs flying around, and THERE! There it was plain as day, the big heavy ball that was smacked around with the clubs: the snitch. He locked his eyes onto it and began to fly towards it confidently. All the players stopped to watch him. He reached out for the iron ball, it was already in a player's hands, but that player wasn't the seeker.

Idiot, thought Albus.

He grabbed the ball and lifted it in the air.

"I got it! I got the snitch!"

"HUFFLEPUFF GOT THE SNITCH. HUFFLEPUFF WINS!" Al heard over the loud speaker. The crowd gleamed with yellow as Hufflepuffs hugged each other and celebrated, or maybe the gleam was from Lil Voldy's head as he jumped up and down. The Gryffindors all sat still, reflecting the defeat.

***

Still, somehow, Albus was kept as the seeker. He learned which ball was actually the snitch, though it didn't improve his performance any. The Gryffindors lost game after game during the season, and Al never stopped receiving death threats.  People actually began to appreciate the Hufflepuffs, and it seemed that Albus had been disowned by his own house.

The Gryffindors lost every game that year, and when the points were tallied up to see who would get the Quidditch cup, the Gryffindors already had one foot out the door, literally. The headmaster stood to announce the winner.

"Attention! The Hawgwarts Quidditch cup goes to..."

Everyone held their breaths.

"Ravenclaw, Slytherin, AND Hufflepuff!"

There was a moment of confusion, and the headmaster explained.

"All three houses beat Gryffindor so badly that we're going to award the Quidditch cup to all of them!"

All the students stood and cheered, except for the Gryffindors and Albus. The team captains each grabbed a corner and lifted the huge cup into the air.

Suddenly, the door boomed open and everyone turned to see Old Man Hagrid standing there.

"I s'pose this'd be a good time ta tell yer all that Albus and his frens snuck out of tha school tha other night."

The room went silent as Old Man Hagrid turned and left without another word.

***

Albus, Rose, James, Trixie, and Lil Voldy sat in the headmaster's office quietly as they waited for their punishment.

"This is all your fault, Albus," Rose said.

"Lil Voldy is the one that got us caught!" Albus yelled back.

"Hey! Don't blame this on him. He could've tried out for the Gryffindor team and we probably would've had a better chance at winning at least one game," James snapped. 

Lil Voldy was silent, focusing on Trixie, who was slithering around his head.

The headmaster entered the office, sat down in front of the children, and began speaking in the familiar monotone voice.

"I suppose I don't have to ask for an explanation as to why you all snuck out of the school after hours. You are your parents' children, after all. I do, however, have to ask Albus why he absolutely sucks at Quidditch."

"Right? That's what I said!" James exclaimed.

"Old Man Hagrid told me to win Gryffindor the Quidditch cup or he would turn us all in. I tried to tell everybody that I sucked but they wouldn't listen."

"Well, I suppose the embarrassment and shame of losing to the Hufflepuffs is punishment enough. You're all free to go. Don't let this happen again."

Suddenly, Lil Voldy stood up, his pale head a deep shade of red.

"STOP DISRESPECTING HUFFLEPUFFS. WE ARE THE BEST HOUSE, AND IF YOU DISAGREE, REMEMBER THAT I HAVE A PET SNAKE. I'M STARTING A PROTEST AND THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT."

He turned and ran out, Trixie clamped on his head like a ponytail, and holding on for dear life.