The Quidditch Finals (Patreon)

The following story is the sequel to The Hospital Heist. If you haven’t read the story, please do. Set at the end of Harry’s first year.

Link for The Hospital Heist:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/hospital-heist-95976215?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

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“I want a fair game, all of you.” Hooch’s hawk-like eyes swept across the gathered teams. “May the best team win.”

The whistle blew and Madam Hooch tossed the quaffle in the air.

“AND THEY ARE OFF!” Jordan roared over the microphone. “THE RACE FOR THE QUIDDITCH CUP HAS BEGUN!”

Angelina snatched the Quaffle before Ravenscroft could get his hands on it, tossing it to Katie who soared past Harry and caught it, tucking it under her arm.

“Johnson takes the quaffle and passes it to Bell who tosses it to Spinnet, barely avoiding the bludger. Pass back to Johnson— rather lovely girl that, who looks like an angel as she—-”

“JORDAN!” McGonagall yelled and Harry stifled a laugh as he flew above the players, his eyes searching for the golden snitch.

The Ravenclaw seeker was hovering on the opposite side of the pitch, searching near the Ravenclaw goalposts. Harry darted through the air, his eyes scanning the field below for any sign of the elusive golden snitch.

His attention was drawn as the Gryffindor side erupted in cheers, a sea of red-cloaked students leaping to their feet and shouting at the top of their lungs.

“DAVIES MISSES AND BELL SCORES! TEN-NIL TO GRYFFINDOR!” Jordan’s voice boomed. “Davis gets the quaffle and passes it to Belfort who avoids a bludger from Weasley— nice work there! Ravenscroft catches the quaffle and is flying across the field, Spinnet hot in pursuit!”

Harry turned around to look at the chasers, who were after the quaffle, which was tucked safely in the Ravenclaw captain’s arm as he hurtled across the field toward the Gryffindor goalposts where Wood hoovered.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a blue blur streak across the field, heading toward the Gryffindor goalpost and whirled around.

“They are going for the decoy dunk.” Harry muttered as he watched Stebbins gain altitude, while Wood was oblivious to it, his eyes fixed on Ravenscroft, as the Ravenclaw captain weaved through a second bludger and Alicia’s wide grab.

‘Ravenscroft will pass to Belfort who will make a long, high pass to Stebbins.’ Harry leveled his broom and shot forward.

The wind whistled in his ears as he flattened himself against the handle of his broom. Ravenscroft pulled back, tossing the Quaffle to Belfort, who caught it and spun around, throwing the ball high.

‘I can’t touch the ball with my hands.’ Harry slid forward on his broom, his eyes pinned on the crimson ball before he spun his Nimbus around in a wide arc, hitting the quaffle with its bristles.

Harry felt the broom slip out of his control and spiral down the world around him a swirl of red, blue and green. 

“WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT!” Jordan’s voice boomed as Harry firmly yanked his broom, stopping it in mid-air. “POTTER IS PLAYING THE INTERFERING SEEKER!”

Harry breathed heavily, watching as Katie took hold of the quaffle, before a bludger knocked it out of her hands and Belfort took it back, passing it to Stebbins. Harry kept half an eye on the Ravenclaw seeker as he flew over the stands, performing a lap around the Quidditch field as he gained altitude, searching for the snitch.

“Ravenscroft takes the shot but Wood saves!” Jordan yelled. “Score remains ten-nil. Quaffle to Spinnet— nice defense there by Fred Weasley— and ouch, that must’ve hurt. Belfort gets hit by a bludger, remains on his broom and continues playing. Quaffle to Bell to Johnson and— saved by Davies. But that was a great try, Angelina!” 

Suddenly, the Ravenclaw seeker shot past him, dipping his broom sharply toward the ground, weaving between Fred and Belfort, continuing his dive.

Harry followed, clutching the mahogany handle of the Nimbus 2000 tightly, his knuckles whitening. The wind roared in his ears as his eyes narrowed, looking for the golden hint of the snitch as the ground neared.

“IT SEEMS BELBY AND POTTER ARE AFTER THE SNITCH!” Jordan yelled into the microphone. “AND BELBY HAS A HEADSTART ON HIM!”

‘Why can’t I see the snitch?’ Harry frowned as his broom edged closer to Belby’s, his handle nearly touching Belby’s bristles. ‘Is it a feint?’

A second later, only a few feet away from the ground, Harry pulled up, just before Belby did, who flew up and looked behind, his face falling.

“Belby seemed to be trying to pull a Wronski feint on Potter. But it would take more than that to fool the youngest seeker in a century, folks!”

Harry grinned, flying a spiral around the pitch, glancing at the scoreboard which now showed 10-10. Meaning Ravenclaw had scored a goal.

Harry turned on his spot, looking for the snitch, spotting a hint of gold at the base of the Ravenclaw goalposts. Adrenaline surged through his body and before he knew it, he was speeding toward the speck, flat against his broom.

“POTTER HAS SPOTTED THE SNITCH!” Jordan hollered.

The snitch darted around for a moment as Harry neared, as if afraid of being caught before rising upwards.

Harry followed, his eyes fixed on the elusive golden ball.

WHAM!

Something huge slammed into Harry throwing him off course. And in the blink of an eye, the snitch had disappeared.

“FOUL!” Jordan screamed. “Davies slams into Potter, not only leaving his post but violating rules! That's right! Two penalty shots for Gryffindor in addition to the goal Spinnet scored.”

Harry scowled and flew higher, continuing his search for the snitch, while the match below progressed. 

Both penalties were scored easily by Gryffindor raising the score to 40-10, in their favor.

“TAKE THAT YOU FILTHY CHEATING SCUM!” Jordan yelled, dancing away from McGonagall’s grasp. “Ravenclaw gets what they deserve as both Spinnet and Johnson score. The match continues, as Davies throws to Ravenscroft who— A SPLENDID SHOT BY GEORGE! And the quaffle is back with Bell who throws and— oooh, Davies saves.”

The Quaffle flew back and forth between the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw Chasers, each team vying for dominance, trying to score while Harry and Belby flew above them, searching for the snitch which had now disappeared.

Soon, the match was running eighty-thirty, in favor of Gryffindor before Wood called for a time-out.

“Alright people,” Wood panted. “We are doing good so far. But we need to up the score more. Harry, I need you to catch the snitch as fast as you can now. If we go on for longer, we will need to substitute at least one player.”

Alicia gave a nod at that, clutching her ribs where the bludger had hit. 

“Harry, if someone gets in your way, punch them if you want but I want that cup.” Wood said. “But get that snitch.”

“Or die trying.” One of the twins added with a grin. “You already came close a couple of days ago.”

Angelina slapped him on the back of his head. “Shut up, Fred.”

“I am George.”

“No, you aren’t,” she said. “I can read your jersey.”

A shrill, short whistle blew, signaling there was only a minute left for the game to resume.

“Keep your head in the game, everyone. This is our first chance to get that cup since Charlie Weasley left. Let’s get it. FOR GRYFFINDOR!”

“FOR GRYFFINDOR!” The team yelled, followed by loud cheers from the Gryffindor house as they mounted their brooms again and shot off into the air.

“And the game resumes!” Jordan announced. “Hooch tosses the quaffle, snatched up by Stebbins who passed to Belfort to— Bell intercepts and drops the quaffle down to Spinnet.”

Harry turned around, glancing at Belby who was hovering near the teacher’s stand, looking around.

“Ravenscroft scores. Eighty-forty, still in the favor of the Lions.” Jordan announced and the Ravenclaws cheered. “Wood passed to Spinnet, who throws to Bell, back again to Spinnet to Johnson, who avoids a bludger—”

That was when Harry spotted the snitch, hovering next to Madam Hooch’s broom, only a little distance away. The next second, he shot forward, stretching his arm.

“BELL SCORES! Gryffindor is in lead by fifty po— POTTER HAS SPOTTED THE SNITCH.”

Across the field, Belby whirled around but he was too far. Harry was only a few feet away from the snitch, his arm outstretched. The golden ball tried to flutter up again but Harry caught it in time, just as Hooch moved.

Harry went spinning, sliding down his broom, as he held the snitch in one hand, yanking the broom up by the other.

Silence reigned for a second as Harry straightened out before raising the snitch.

Cheers erupted like a landslide from the Gryffindor stands as they began to run down the stand, waving their red scarves and flags, onto the pitch.

“I CANNOT BELIEVE IT! AFTER EIGHT YEARS, GRYFFINDOR HAS WON THE QUIDDITCH CUP!”

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AND… DONE! Hope you all liked the story.

Yes, I decided to make The Hospital Heist a two-shot. I liked it enough but it felt incomplete… so, I decided to rectify the problem. Plus, it had been a while since I wrote a Quidditch game. 

Also, before one of you graciously reminds me, yes, I am aware PJO won the fandom poll last time. But I didn’t write a PJO story for one simple reason: The next update is going to be of LoSP, which will be followed by the LoSP Side Story, which I have kept hanging for a while now.

And writing a single fandom over and over again is one sure-shot way to burn out, which I am avoiding. That is why, I am pushing the PJO short piece back for now. The idea is on the back-burner but it will have to wait.

LoSP takes precedence in PJO. Short-pieces are more of amusing past-time stories right now. Like a palate cleanser between meals.

(Though, I do request you all to drop a like/ comment if you liked a particular story or a chapter. It provides me a clearer idea of what you are liking and what you aren't. If you did not like a particular thing/ concept, feel free to let me know that too. I always welcome constructive feedback. It helps me know my readers better and improve the quality of my content.)

Edited by Nanu and Mughil.

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Stay Happy! Stay Safe! Keep Smiling! Keep Reading!

HPfanfictioner66