The Rivalry Games
The school year was winding down. The Fifth Years felt a great relief that, for better or for worse, the O.W.L. exams were behind them. It was hard for them to focus any further on their classwork. The teachers, anticipating this, spent the last few weeks of classes preparing them for their N.E.W.T. studies.
Each teacher made a pitch for their own N.E.W.T. subjects, how the class would be structured, what areas of magic they would be focusing on and what the assignments would be like. Unlike the O.W.L. years, N.E.W.T. level classes had a more individualized curriculum, and the assignments were project-based rather than the “read the chapter and answer the questions” variety the Fifth Years were used to.
Towards the end of the week, the Fifth Years began meeting with their Head of House to determine their schedules for the next two years. O.W.L. scores would not be released until the middle of the summer, but many students still had a good idea of what subjects they would be advancing to N.E.W.T. level and which they would be dropping.
When Liam met with Professor Meadows, on the Monday after the game with Slytherin, he came in with some strong opinions. “I am not going on with Ancient Runes,” he said.
“Are you sure?” she asked, “Do you want to wait to see what your scores will be?”
“No, I’m ready for a change. I want to take the Granger for Magical Creatures.”
She laughed. “It’s called an ‘O.W.L. Condensed class. It’s funny that you call it that. Granger was a young witch who wanted to take every class Hogwarts offered. When McGonagall became Headmistress, she developed the O.W.L. Condensed classes to accommodate students who wanted as broad an education as possible. I’m not sure who first called them Grangers, but the name certainly stuck.”
“Will I be taking the O.W.L. then, at the end of it all?”
“Yes. In the Spring of your Seventh Year, you will be taking a mix of O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T exams. So, Ancient Runes is out, and Magical Creatures is in. Is there anything else you’re considering dropping?”
“Charms, I guess,” said Liam. “The rest is still pretty interesting to me. I think I could get better at Fig – Transfiguration, I mean, begging your pardon.”
“No offence taken,” said Meadows, with a laugh. “We called it that, too.”
“As much as we all loved Professor Sprout, I learned loads from Professor Longbottom. I’d like to have more classes with him. Defence is still really important. You never know, right, what you’re gonna need to do? I think I did alright on that practical final, so I should be good to take the N.E.W.T.”
“You did very well, yes, as I recall.”
“And Potions, o’ course.”
“Of course. Since you mentioned it, Professor DeVere asked if you would consider being his teaching assistant. You could help out during First Year practicals and maybe run a study session in the evenings.”
“I’d be fine with that.”
“Professor Binns is also looking for an assistant, but I don’t want to over-schedule you.”
“Yeah, let’s pass on that one.”
“That leaves Arithmancy.”
“Bill Weasley said the Goblins like to see high Arithmancy scores, and so does Ministry. He said it was more of a hurdle than anything. It’s not like you use it every day. But having N.E.W.T. Arithmancy scores tends to weed some people out.”
“That it does. So, pending your O.W.L. scores, you’ll be taking Potions, Defence, Fig,” she said with a smile, “Herbology and Arithmancy. Plus, you’ll be DeVere’s TA. I don’t think we have any doubt about that. DeVere doesn’t ask just anyone to TA for him. He’s been very impressed with you from the beginning.”
After the meeting, Liam conferred with Philip, Michael and Fortney. Both Michael and Fortney were dropping Divination, but they were continuing on in Magical Creatures, as was Philip. Philip, depending on his O.W.L. scores, planned to continue with Arithmancy. Philip told the others, “I’ve spoken to Madam Pince about being one of her library assistants.”
Michael wrinkled his nose. “Why would you wanna do that?”
“I’m looking for experience with administrative responsibilities,” answered Philip. “It will look good on my CV.”
“That sounds like something Felwich would say,” said Michael. “That girl’s having a bad influence on you.”
“Or a good influence,” countered Philip, “if one actually wants to make it into government.”
Liam looked at him shrewdly. “I bet he’s hoping a certain someone will be a library assistant, too.” This made Philip blush.
“Not MacDougal!” said Michael. The boys laughed.
“No, not Rhiannon,” said Philip, flustered. “But, someone.”
Indeed, both Rhiannon and Morwena had hinted to Philip that he should sign up to be a library assistant, and thus, be able to spend time with the beautiful Pauline Langlet.
Rivalry Weekend arrived. Hufflepuff v Ravenclaw was on Saturday afternoon, while Gryffindor v Slytherin was on Sunday. The Hufflpuffs were as loud and excited for this game as any in Liam’s memory. After the surprise win over Slytherin, everyone expected the Badgers to win again.
As captain, Liam bore the burden of all these expectations. He drilled his team hard in the days leading up to the match. “We’ve got to come into this match thinking it will be as much of a fight as the Serpents gave us. Expect them to play us tough. We are going to play them tough. I want to go after their lead Chaser like he’s Rhiannon MacDougal.”
Bell got the honour of playing Ravenclaw’s star, Larry Durrell. Larry played right wing. Liam had Bell fly down the pitch with the Quaffle with Stacy harassing her from one side and Stephanie from the other. Bell flew as fast as she could, darted left and right, and fired off shot after shot. She was now practicing the 180-degree flip that she debuted in the previous game, as well as over-hand and side-arm shots. Even with the double-team, she often found a way to score.
The actual game had none of the drama of the earlier match against Slytherin. Larry Durrell flew time and again, straight at the Badgers’ Berlin Wall. When Stephanie and Stacy closed in on him, he would try to pass back to his Center Chaser, but Bell often intercepted him. Once, Stephanie stripped the ball from him.
The few times Durrell or the other Chasers got a shot off, they failed to score. The Eagles made strong, hard throws, but they were textbook, overhand shots. Liam watched their broomstick tips, jumped the right way each time and made the save.
Bell was fearsome on the counterattack. Once she had intercepted the Quaffle, she sped down the center of the pitch. Though the Eagles Chasers had comparable brooms, none of them flew with Bell’s fearless abandon. As soon as she was past the quarter pitch flag, she would move either to the left or the right, but as soon as the keeper committed, she would dart the other direction and toss the ball through the open hoop. She scored three goals this way. For her third attempt, she flipped to her left hand as she darted to the left and tossed the ball left-handed through the hoop.
Philip, meanwhile, kept an easy pace as he patrolled the stadium alongside the Eagles Seeker, a Sixth Year Ravenclaw girl named Cheri Dillard. He and Cheri spotted the Golden Snitch at the same time, glittering at the far end of the pitch from where they were flying. Some members of the crowd saw it too and began calling out to the players.
At first, the race to the Snitch seemed even, but Philip pulled steadily ahead. He swooped over the crowd and snatched the Snitch out the air with a clean swipe. As he held his fist aloft, Madam Hooch blew her whistle. The Badgers had won, 180-0, after barely 30 minutes of play. Liam Wren had the first clean sheet of his career, with four saves.
The following afternoon saw the match between Gryffindor and Slytherin. For the first time in many years, the Silver Serpents were facing the Lions with a loss on their record. Their only hope for a title was to create a three-way tie, with both Gryffindor, Slytherin and Hufflepuff finishing the season at 2-1.
In cases like this, the tiebreaker is total points scored. Here was the challenge for Slytherin. The Lions had beaten Hufflepuff by 310 points, while the Serpents had only managed 20 points against the Badgers in their loss. That created a massive points deficit. Though all three teams had beaten the Eagles, Slytherin’s victory had been particularly brutal. Still, to win the title, the Serpents needed to score a dozen goals on top of the 150 points earned for capturing the Snitch.
The Lions, on the other hand, had no interest in deciding the Cup based on points differential. They wanted to win it outright, with their seventh consecutive undefeated season.
The Rivalry Weekend games were always well attended. For alumni, it served as a Homecoming game. People from the town came to these games as well, particularly the ones between Gryffindor and Slytherin, which were always hotly contested.
On the day of the game, Gillian suggested a last-minute change of strategy. She said to Galbraith, Beater and Team Captain, “I want MacDougal. I want to get right in her face and see if I can knock her off her game.”
“You think you can keep up with her on her Firebolt?” asked Galbraith.
“I’ll keep up with her,” said Gillian. “I’ll stay close and try to knock the ball out of her hands.”
“Better you than me,” said Mullen. As the Right Wing, Larry Mullen would normally draw the assignment. “Just watch out for her elbows.”
“If she gets rough,” said Gillian, “I will get rough.”
The Serpents had first possession in the game. Only then did they realize the change. Mullen was in center, with Roycester to the right. The first time Cole tried to pass the ball to Rhiannon, Gillian intercepted it. Gillian raced up field, but before she could reach the quarter-pitch flag, Rhiannon overtook her. Rhiannon came up on Gillian’s right side and stripped the ball away with a fearsome sweep of her left hand.
Rhiannon passed the ball to Cole and then jetted forward on the give-and-go. Cole fired the pass to her, but once again, Gillian, trailing behind Rhiannon, moved up and made the interception.
Gillian raced down the center of the pitch. When she heard Rhiannon coming up behind her, she moved the Quaffle to her left hand and prepared for a stiff-arm block. Instead of coming up alongside, as she had done before, Rhiannon came right behind Gillian. Reaching out with her left hand, Rhiannon punched the ball away from Gillian.
The two raced for the loose Quaffle, but Rhiannon was again the quicker flyer. She swept around and headed up the pitch. This time, she did not bother to pass to Cole, but headed up alone at a break-neck pace straight at keeper Paul Hewson waiting at the center hoop. A slight flinch to the left was all it took. Paul shot to the left hoop, and Rhiannon, with a sharp correction, fired the ball through the open center hoop. 10-0 Serpents.
The Serpents lead grew to 30-0 and then 50-10. Yet, it was not enough. No one felt the pressure of the day more than Anita Soulspring. She rarely paid attention to the score during a match. Her whole focus was on finding the Snitch. This day, she knew she had to somehow stall Alma Krauss, the Gryffindor Seeker, until the Serpents overcame their points deficit.
But there was one overriding imperative: Anita had to catch the Snitch. The whole House was counting on her to win the game for them.
Then, with the score still at 50-10, Anita spotted the Snitch. She hesitated, hoping that Alma wouldn’t see it, but right away, the Gryffindor Seeker sped towards the golden glimmer. Anita sped up, pulled alongside Alma and gave her a hard bump, hip to hip. Alma skittered to the right but stayed on course. Gordon Sumner, a beater that year, sent a Bludger towards Alma, but she corkscrewed out of the way. As the two girls closed in on the Snitch, Anita gave Alma another hard bump.
Anita was sure that, if the Snitch stayed between them, she could beat Alma to the catch. If the Snitch moved left, Anita would stall to see if the Chasers could score another goal or two.
Instead, as they were almost right upon it, the Snitch flicked to the right, towards Alma and away from Anita. Alma made a quick swerve, blocking Anita’s path. Alma reached out her hand and plucked the Golden Snitch out of the air.
Madam Hooch blew her whistle, and the stadium erupted in cheers. The Gryffindor end broke out into song. Anita let out a shriek of frustration. She hung in the air, afraid to land and face the wrath of Cole and the others.
Rhiannon was the first to approach her. She flew alongside and pulled Anita into a hug. Tears streamed down Anita’s face. “The Snitch flicked to the right. I couldn’t get to it. It went right into her hand.”
“You did the best you could,” said Rhiannon.
Below them on the grass, Alma Krauss was being tossed in the air by her jubilant team- mates. The other Slytherins were already heading for the showers. There had been no post-match handshake between the captains.
Paul Hewson flew up to Rhiannon, the Quaffle under his arm. He offered her the ball in a symbolic gesture of respect for the five goals she had scored against him. She accepted it, and the two shook hands. “Brilliant flying, Mac, as usual.”
“Thank you, Hewson.”
He flew down to join his teammates, and the two girls headed off to the showers.
Liam enjoyed the game immensely. He found it exciting and suspenseful. He was rooting for Slytherin if only so that the Badgers, Lions and Serpents would all finish 2-1. He had more friends on the Lions’ team, however, so he was happy for them that they won.
He exited the stadium with the crowd, but instead of heading straight back to the castle, he hung around the locker rooms. He wanted to shake hands with the players as they came out of the locker rooms. He greeted Gordon and Rhiannon, Adam, Larry and Dave, then Paul and finally Gillian and Alma.
The girls had changed from the trousers they wore during the game to their plaid school skirts. Gillian had rolled up her skirt at the waist, pulling the hem high off the knee. Liam smiled to see her pale, freckled legs, free except for little white socks at her ankles.
After he shook Alma’s hand, he put his arm around Gillian, and she nestled into his shoulder. “God, MacDougal kicked our asses today!” she said.
“Yeah, but you still won,” said Liam.
“I thought the guys wouldn’t want to get physical with a girl, the way they would play against another guy. I thought I’d have a better time containing her. That obviously didn’t work.”
“You can’t keep someone like Mac down for long. She’s going to score her points. Your best chance is to do exactly what you did – keep it close and get the Snitch.”
“Aren’t you the font of Quidditch wisdom these days, Captain,” she said teasingly.
The weather had been pleasant during the game, but a cold wind was sweeping down from the north, bringing dark clouds. They hurried towards the castle doors.
There were others lingering outdoors on the lawn in front of the castle. Sadie came up to congratulate Gillian and Alma. Sadie received the same gloomy report that Gillian had given Liam, and she gave almost identical advice. Liam saw Lara and Stacy nearby as well, and noted Q was not with them. The Slytherins have all gone down to the dungeons, I guess.
Just then, the door of the Entrance Hall burst open. At the top of the steps was little Richie “Goonah” Parker. Pointing back to the Entrance Hall, he called out, “Liam! Fight!”