Fifth year Quidditch practice
Fred Weasley and the rest of the Griffindor Quidditch team were all gathered in their changing room, just having put on dry clothes after their overcast practice. All eyes were on Oliver Wood, who had just informed the group that he had some bad news to share.
“We’re not playing Slytherin!” he told them, looking furious. “Flint’s just been to see me. We’re playing Hufflepuff instead.”
“Why?” chorused the rest of the team.
“Flint’s excuse is that their Seeker’s arm’s still injured,” said Wood, grinding his teeth in anger. “But it’s obvious why they’re doing it. Don’t want to play in this weather. Think it’ll damage their chances…”
“There’s nothing wrong with Malfoy’s arm!” said Harry Potter heatedly. “He’s faking it!”
“I know that, but we can’t prove it,” said Wood bitterly. “And we’ve been practicing all those moves assuming we’re playing Slytherin, and instead it’s Hufflepuff, and their style’s quite different. They’ve got a new Captain and Seeker, Cedric Diggory-”
Hearing that name struck an image in Fred’s head of a very handsome fifth year with thick dark hair and piercing eyes. His cheeks flushed brilliant red at the mere thought, though he didn’t know why. Angelina, Alicia, and Katie suddenly giggled.
“What?” said Wood, frowning at this lighthearted behaviour.
“He’s that tall, good-looking one, isn’t he?” said Angelina. Fred could feel his cheeks get warmer.
“Strong and silent,” said Katie, and they started to giggle again. Fred realized with a start that someone may have seen his reaction to the mention of Cedric. Refusing to be put in alignment with the giggling girls, he decided to speak up.
“He’s only silent because he’s too thick to string two words together,” said Fred, hoping his words masked his thoughts. “I don’t know why you’re worried, Oliver, Hufflepuff is a pushover. Last time we played them, Harry caught the Snitch in about five minutes, remember?”
“We were playing in completely different conditions!” Wood shouted, his eyes bulging slightly. “Diggory’s put a very strong side together! He’s an excellent seeker-” Fred willed the color not to return to his cheeks- “I was afraid you'd take it like this! We mustn’t relax! We must keep our focus! Slytherin is trying to wrong-foot us! We must win!”
“Oliver, calm down!” Fred decided to solidify his indifference to the Hufflepuff team with a small joke. “We’re taking Hufflepuff very seriously. Seriously.”
The day of the match came very wet and dark. Ominous clouds that hung over the castle cast a dreary mood over the team. The game itself was very confusing, as no one could see much of what was going on for the heavy sheets of rain. After the miserable end of the match, George was ranting furiously to Fred for the whole walk up to the hospital wing to check on Harry.
“And it’s completely unfair that that git Diggory decided to catch the Snitch once the dementors came, I don’t know what he-”
“It wasn’t his fault, and you know it,” Fred said without thinking. “No one could see anything in that weather; he wouldn’t have caught it if he knew what was happening.”
“Yeah, whatever,” was all George had to say in reply.