Secrets Only Trouble Knows - George Weasley

12 - The Jinxed Broom

After Halloween had passed, I started to do much better mentally.

Though I was still a little shaken up from having been way too close to a troll for my liking, I was at least feeling a lot more like myself again. I knew that it was perfectly normal and healthy to have emotional days every now and then where insecurities came over me and I really longed for my dad, but I couldn't allow myself to get trapped in those thoughts for too long. I couldn't dwell. Like I always did, I needed to pull myself up by the bootstraps and move on.

And that's just what I did. I focused on other, normal things; one of which being the Pranking War. But as the first week of November steadily came and went, not many more pranks were pulled between our two teams. That was because today, Saturday the 9th, was the first Quidditch match of the season. Oliver Wood had demanded his team practice and train every free moment found of every day leading up to the big event so they'd be adequately prepared to face Slytherin. My brother, the twins, Kol, and Harry therefore didn't have much time to spare for pranking. The girls and I certainly didn't complain about this, though.

When it came to Quidditch, I had no interest in playing the game myself. Being on a broom so high up in the sky unfortunately made me extremely queasy, and for that reason I liked to avoid it as much as I could. Not to mention there'd been an accident once when I was younger, around the age of six, when I'd lost my balance, fell off my broom, and broken my arm— badly enough to permanently scar my memory. So, I stuck to watching my brother and friends play the sport instead. But I was content with that. I happily enjoyed Quidditch matches from up in the massive stands.

Today, however, I was even more excited than usual to watch the sport, seeing as it was Gryffindor and Slytherin facing off. Not only were our two Houses rivals, which always made our matches infinitely more thrilling for spectators, but it would be Harry's first ever game on the team too. I couldn't wait to see him play and prove himself. I was so proud and happy for him. I knew he'd absolutely fall in love with the sport, which would be really good for him, and that he would turn out to be something extraordinarily special for Gryffindor too. He'd already made history becoming the youngest seeker in a century, but I had a feeling he still had more in store for him. More to offer. And I couldn't wait to witness it.

This morning was bright and cold, the skies clear enough that flying conditions ought to be excellent for the upcoming match. In the Great Hall, which was littered with rays of sunlight streaming in through the giant stained-glass windows, every student was chattering about the game over their breakfast, eager for it to kick off.

The only people who didn't seem to share in that excitement were Harry, Fred, George, Jasper, and Kol. I wasn't sure I'd ever seen them so nervous prior to a match. Gryffindor hadn't won the Quidditch Cup in years because Slytherin was just that good. I think now that Harry was on the team, which obviously shocked many people and built up expectations about our success this season, they felt as though a lot more pressure was on them to win today.

I knew they were more than prepared; they'd trained hard these past few weeks under the commands of their captain Oliver Wood. Not to mention each and every one of them were exceptionally qualified and talented enough to play the sport and do their very best. Even still, they were visibly riled up with anxiety, clearly thinking otherwise. Poor Harry couldn't even eat any of his breakfast, he was so nervous. Hermione and Seamus Finnigan, a fellow Irish first-year, tried to convince him to have just a bite of toast, but he couldn't seem to stomach it.

When the clock struck eleven, what felt like everyone in the entire school began making their way down the hills surrounding the castle to the Quidditch pitch. The pitch was a long, oval-shaped field with a scoring area at each end consisting of three hooped goal posts, each at varying heights but all decently high above the ground. Because Quidditch was an aerial sport, encircling the pitch were gigantic towers for spectator seating at high vantage points, which was where my friends and I would be watching the game from.