Everlasting ⁂ Harry Potter [1]

Chapter Thirty Three

The entire castle was buzzing with excitement, every student rushing around happily as people made their way towards the Quidditch pitch. It was the first match of the year, one between Slytherin and Gryffindor, and everyone was excited to see how it would turn out. The Gryffindor team had been hard at work ever since the majority received new brooms, and most students, aside from Slytherins, were all happy for the team and excited to see them play.

The stands themselves seemed fuller than ever before, although Liv suspected it may be due to the high turnout of parents. On her way to the pitch she had seen Malfoy's father moving with the crowd, and when they reached it she also patiently waited for Gwen to say hi to her own parents as Nadia, Nicholas and Henry had all cleared their schedules to come and watch this particular game. And Olivia had her suspicions as to why. However, she hadn't yet brought them up to her friend and instead they all focused on the game.

Standing among Gryffindors in the stands, since Olivia suggested they watch the game with Hagrid, Hermione and Ron, their surroundings were filled with passionate commentary, cheers and happiness every time that Gryffindor scored a goal, and high claims of displeasure when the Slytherins would manage to do so, or worse someone spotted one of their cheating tactics.

In Hagrid's own words, Slytherins were flying as if they had dragon's fire in their brooms, but Gryffindor was just as good. The score was almost even, but Slytherin still had twenty points more than Gryffindor, making the spectators highly outraged as they watched a Bludger smash into the Gryffindor Captain's side sending him flying into one of the stands and forcing him out of the game. But the Bludger's attack wasn't done just yet.

"How the bloody hell is it moving like that? I thought you had to hit it?" Olivia questioned in surprise as they watched the Bludger pursue Harry who flew as fast as he could, taking turns and changing directions, in an attempt to evade it. But nothing seemed to work. When Harry turned, the Bludger did too, when he flew up or down, the Bludger did the same. It was following him as if Harry was its only target.

"Harry's got 'imself a Rogue Bludger!" Hagrid announced as he watched the scene unfold through his binoculars. "That's been tampered with! That has!"

The group of five watched with worry as Harry swerved dangerously once the Bludger came much too close. The enchanted ball was fixed on him, not caring for the other players which may intercept its path, both Slytherin and Gryffindor alike.

"I'll stop it." Ron decided, pulling his wand from his robes. It wasn't clear who reached to stop him first, Olivia, Hermione or Gwen, making the ginger send all three girls questioning looks.

"No! Even with a proper wand, you could risk hitting Harry." Hermione was the one to explain their actions, and begrudgingly, Ron put away his wand, reducing them to simply watch and hope Harry didn't get hit. Ron even took the binoculars from Hagrid, but instead of watching Harry he took a moment to search through the stands occupied by the adults, both teachers and parent spectators.