Bella and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Chapter Forty

Me, Harry and the rest of the Gryffindor Team entered the Great Hall the next day to enormous applause. I couldn't help grinning broadly as I saw that both Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables were clapping us, too. The Slytherin table hissed loudly as we passed. I noticed that Malfoy looked even paler than usual.

Wood spent the whole of breakfast urging us to eat while touching nothing himself. Then he hurried us off to the pitch before anyone else had finished, so we could get an idea of the conditions. As we left the Great Hall, everyone applauded again.

"Good luck, Harry!" Cho Chang yelled, and I saw Harry blush. 

I glared at Cho. Back off bitch! You ain't getting him!

Gee, the jealousy can get really annoying sometimes.

"Ok...no wind to speak of...sun's a bit bright, that could impair your vision, watch out for it...ground's fairly hard, good, that'll give us a fast kick-off..."

Wood paced the pitch, staring around with us all behind him. Finally, we saw the front doors of the castle open in the distance, and the rest of the school spill onto the lawn.

"Changing room," Wood said tersely.

None of us spoke as we changed into our scarlet robes. I wondered if they were feeling like I was; as though I'd eaten something extremely wriggly for breakfast. In what seemed like no time at all, Wood was saying, "OK, it's time, let's go..."

We walked out onto the pitch to a tidal wave of noise. Three-quarters of the crowd were wearing scarlet rosettes, waving scarlet flags with the Gryffindor lion upon them or brandishing the banners with slogans such as 'GO GRYFFINDOR!' and 'LIONS FOR THE CUP!' Behind the Slytherin goalposts, however, two hundred people were wearing green; the silver serpent of Slytherin glittered on their flags, and Professor Snape sat in the very front row, wearing green like everyone else, and a very grim smile. 

"And here are the Gryffindors!" Lee Jordan yelled, who was acting as a commentator as usual. "Potter, Swan, Bell, Johnson, Spinnet, Weasley, Weasley and Wood. Widely acknowledged as the best side of Hogwarts has seen in a good few years -"

Lee's comments were drowned by a tide of 'boos' from the Slytherin end. 

"And here come the Slytherin team, led by captain Flint. He's made some changes in the line-up and seems to be going for size rather than skill -"

More boos from the Slytherin crowd. I, however, thought Lee had a point. Malfoy was easily the smallest person on the Slytherin team; the rest of them were enormous.

"Captains, shake hands!" Madam Hooch said.

Flint and Wood approached each other and grasped each other's hands very tightly; it looked as though each was trying to break the other's fingers.

"Mount your brooms!" Madam Hooch told us. "Three...two...one..."

The sound of her whistle was lost in the roar from the crowd as fifteen brooms rose into the air. I felt my hair fly back off my forehead, my nerves left me in the thrill of the flight, I glanced around and spotted Harry looking for the Snitch. Good. He's alright.

Let the game begin.

"And it's Gryffindor in possession. Alicia Spinnet of Gryffindor with the Quaffle, heading straight for the Slytherin goalposts, looking good, Alicia! Argh, no - Quaffle intercepted by Warrington, Warrington of Slytherin tearing up the pitch - WHAM! - nice Bludger work there by George Weasley, Warrington drops the Quaffle, it's caught by - Johnson, Gryffindor back in possession, come on, Angelina - nice swerve round Montague - duck, Angelina, that's a Bludger! - SHE SCORES! TEN-ZERO TO GRYFFINDOR!"