The following week went by very quickly. Emaline spent most of her free periods in the library, that and also with Quidditch practice. But she could not get over the fact that she would be allowed to return to America for Thanksgiving next week. She missed home. But what the entire school was looking forward to was the Quidditch match between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. There was an air of tension across Hogwarts. According to Flitwick, it was probably the fiercest Quidditch rivalry in Hogwarts. Emaline spent the morning sleeping after Astronomy class last night and she had the Ravenclaw Common Room, consuming almost book she could get her hands on from the enormous library, full of thousands of books on every subject imaginable. Hermione asked her if she could find anything on Nicolas Flamel. So far, nothing came up.
On the day before the Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff game, and it was snowing, Emaline was called up by Skye for a trip to Hogsmeade after the last team practice before the match. There was a special team meeting happening at The Three Broomsticks Pub and it was mandatory. It was snowing outside. The lake was frozen. As soon as she walked inside, "There she is!" said Jason Samuels. "She walked over to the place where her teammates were sitting and all of them were drinking Butterbeer. "Hey, Madam Rosmerta!" said Roger, who was a tad bit drunk, "Get our friend here a Butterbeer."
"Do they have Butterbeer in America, Emaline?" said Katherine Parsons.
"They do actually," she replied. "But from what I've heard, you have to go to the original source. In England, where it's at its best."
"Well, you got that right, didn't ya?" said Jeremy Stretton. Everyone else laughed.
"I heard this is where the portal to Hogwarts from America is located," said Cho, "Is that right?"
"No, it's actually at Honeyduke's Sweet Shop. You end up over in Chicago. Speaking of that, I'm actually going home for Thanksgiving."
"What? You can't go, Em!" Skye said surprisingly, "We need you over here!"
"It's just for a week, Skye," said Emaline. "Plus, it's after the big game." Madame Rosmerta brought over a pint glass full of cold, frosty Butterbeer. "Thank you. So, what's the Hufflepuff team like?"
"They're actually not that bad," said Skye, "They don't play dirty as we saw with Slytherin last week. And their Keeper is good. Really good, also their Captain. It's Herbert Fleet. Their Chasers are Heidi MacAvoy, Tamsin Appleby, and Christopher Flack, their Beaters are Christopher McManus and Maxine O'Flaherty.
"And they got a new Seeker," said Cho.
"Who is it?"
"It's Cedric Diggory. He's a third-year," said Cho. "Got a picture of him right here."
She handed Emaline a moving picture of a handsome young boy with chiseled features, dark hair, and bright grey eyes.
"Handsome, isn't he?"
"Yeah. He sure is. I thought Seekers were supposed to be small and lightweight." Cho shrugged her shoulders. She took a sip of her Butterbeer. When Emaline was with her team, she felt as if she was at home.
The next morning dawned overcast and it was very cold. There was a fresh blanket of snow on the Quidditch Pitch. In the Great Hall, there was the smell of fresh hot chocolate and freshly- brewed coffee wafting through the air. Unlike the Gryffindor-Slytherin match the week before, the atmosphere was intense. Students from Ravenclaw were giving the ones in Hufflepuff a scorned look as they walked by. By eleven o'clock, everyone was heading down to the Quidditch Pitch. It was hard to see what was going on because it was snowing so hard.
As a surprise for Emaline, Harry, Ron, and Hermione helped Tulip, and several other Ravenclaws in painting a large banner the day before and brought it to the stadium. She helped paint the first-years faces blue and silver. They rolled out the banner which read "Emaline Goode for President!" in blue and silver letters, painted with stars and planets. Dean Thomas helped out by painting a large head of a raven underneath. Hermione had performed a tricky little charm so that the paint flashed different colors. In the stands was Ilvermorny's Headmaster Alister Breckenridge, as well as Emaline's teacher, Agilbert Fontaine. In the locker room, Emaline and the rest of the team were changing into their blue Quidditch robes (Hufflepuff would be playing in yellow). It was cold inside.
"All right, ladies and gentlemen," said Skye. "This is it. The one we have been all waiting for. We are gonna win! This team is better than the one we had last year! Our quest to repeat begins TODAY!" The team cheered, "Emaline is here with us today and she is going to help us get there." Madam Hooch blew her silver whistle, which was loud, signaling that the match was about to begin.
"All right guys. It's time! Good luck, all of you!" Emaline walked behind Jason and Katherine out of the locker room hoping her knees weren't going to give way, walked onto the field to loud cheers. The Hufflepuff team lined next to Ravenclaw and the doors opened. A powerful blast of freezing cold air hit the fourteen Quidditch players. Emaline put on a ski mask to protect herself from the snow. "You're Emaline, right?" said Heidi MacAvoy, who had blonde hair. She looked to be about 14 years old. Emaline only nodded, "Best of luck to you." They shook hands and then walked out on the field, "Same to you." she replied. Emaline seemed confused but also impressed. For such a hated rival, these players from Hufflepuff seemed awfully nice.
"Mount your brooms!" said Madam Hooch, whose figure was hard to see in the heavily falling snow. Emaline clambered onto her broom "Starwatcher" and fourteen people rose up high into the brisk, frigid air, blinded by the falling snow. She then saw the banner that her friends made just her. She felt much more confident. And then she looked ahead and saw her mom. They waved. And she waved back.
"Who were you waving to up there, Em?" Skye asked.
"Oh. That was my mom."
"Your mom is here? Well, let's put on a show that she will never forget."
"Hello, everyone, and welcome to the second Quidditch game of the season." said Lee Jordan, "This one is one of the most anticipated matches of the entire season: It's Hufflepuff vs. Ravenclaw! And making her Hogwarts Quidditch debut, from Ilvermorny School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry: Emaline Goode!"
Madam Hooch threw the Quaffle into the air and blew her silver whistle. The game had begun.
"And they're off! The Quaffle is taken by Ravenclaw's veteran captain, Skye Parkin! And she's really belting along up there, a neat pass to Roger Davies, a good find of Skye Parkin, last year only a reserve - back to Parkin and - no, the Hufflepuffs have taken the Quaffle, Heidi MacAvoy gains the Quaffle and off she goes - MacAvoy passes to Christopher Flack, Emaline attempts a tackle, she misses, Flack takes a shot, but, OH!, saved by the rookie Grant Page! Page passes it to the newcomer from America, Emaline Goode. She jukes MacAvoy, jukes Appleby, passes it back to Parkin. Parkin shoots! Herbert Fleet dives - he misses - GOAL! RAVENCLAW SCORES!"
Ravenclaw cheers filled the freezing air. There were plumes of blue and silver smoke. "YES!", Harry cheered. After Skye scored, she passed to the ball back to Emaline. Tamsin and Heidi lunged right her but, in an act of desperation, passed back to Skye but Heidi kicked the ball to Christopher Flack, then Skye turns and flies above him, where she performs a barrel roll, snatching the ball from Christopher. She paused then took a shot, Fleet stopped with his broomstick but Emaline headed the ball in, like in soccer. She just scored her first goal of the game.
"EMALINE GOODE SCORES!!" said Lee Jordan. "Another 10 points for Ravenclaw!"
She breathed a sigh of relief. "All right there, Em?" said Katherine. She had time to yell before she beat the Bludger furiously toward Tamsin Appleby.
"Hey, Em!" said Skye, Emaline turned around, "Nicely done."
"Hufflepuff takes possession of the Quaffle." said Lee Jordan, "Fleet passes to Christopher Flack. He dodges two Bludgers, dodges Samuels and Parsons, speeds towards the goals, dodges Goode, Flack passes to Appleby - Goode attacks Appleby - Appleby dodges, she shoots, she scores! Hufflepuff is on the board!" The Hufflepuffs, led by Pomona Sprout, was cheering. Cho, meanwhile, was chasing Cedric Diggory for the Snitch, he was ahead of her. Emaline had possession of the Quaffle but was then tackled by Tamsin Appleby, hard and came hurtling towards the ground, which was covered in snow but she did not crash. Tamsin then passed the Quaffle to Heidi and scored the tying goal. She had a very crazy idea. Emaline took a running start with her broom in her hand. She missed a Bludger, hit by Michael McManus of Hufflepuff.
"What on earth is she doing?" said Roger.
"I think she's up to something," said Skye, "Let's give her a hand."
"Right!" he agreed
"Looks like Emaline is up to something." said Lee Jordan, "She's running towards the Hufflepuff goal line, broom in hand, Parkin is chasing Flack, she tackles him - Parkin throws the ball...what's this? - Towards the ground - Emaline appears to be taking a batting stance. Here comes Skye!"
Like a baseball player waiting for his pitch, ready to strike, Emaline had her broom in a batting stance. Emaline took a deep breath. Skye threw at the Quaffle at her and, at just the right time, took a large, heavy swing. The ball went so fast, Fleet dived to try to stop it but it was too late, the Quaffle went into the hoop. It was a goal. The Ravenclaw crowd roared.
"That's a magnificent goal for Emaline Goode! And it's the most American goal we have ever seen! The Ravenclaws are going nuts!"
Emaline got back on her broom and her teammates gather around her, patting her on the back and giving high fives. She looked over to where Professor Fontaine was sitting, next to Dumbledore, and he gave a thumbs up. Emaline smiled.
The game went on for another 3 solid hours. The snow kept falling. Ravenclaw held a commanding 230-to-150 lead. Grant made some spectacular saves, Skye scored 7 more goals, Roger scored 4 and Emaline, also 4. It was one of the most exciting games that anyone had ever seen at Hogwarts. Ravenclaw was winning but Cho was still unable to catch the Snitch, which also constantly eluded Cedric Diggory. Everyone in the stands was cold and getting tired. The sun was about to set. A murmur ran through the crowd as Heidi dropped the Quaffle, too busy looking over her shoulder at the flash of gold that had passed her left ear.
Cho saw it. In a great rush of excitement, she dived downward after the streak of gold. Hufflepuff Seeker Cedric Diggory had seen it, too. Neck and neck they hurtled toward the Snitch - all the Chasers seemed to have forgotten what they were supposed to be doing as they hung in midair to watch.
Cho was faster than Cedric - she could see the little round ball, wings fluttering, darting up ahead - she put on an extra spurt of speed - performing a quick power-dive and managed to, at the last minute, catch the Snitch before crashing into the snow.
"Come on, Cho," Skye muttered desperately.
The crowd gasped. Half-buried, a hand, and then a body emerged from the snow with Golden Snitch. It was Cho's hand. She raised the Snitch up into the air. The game was finally over. Cho arose from the snow unhurt.
"And it's over!" said Lee Jordan, "Cho Chang catches the Snitch! After an exciting 4-hour match, She scores 150 points for Ravenclaw! Ravenclaw wins!!"
As the crowd realized what happened, a great holler went up that almost drowned out the whistle that ended the game. Students from Ravenclaw and Gryffindor clamored onto the pitch in celebration. Emaline and Cho found themselves trapped in the middle of a mass mid-air hug with the rest of the team. Hufflepuff hung their heads in shame, but everyone else began throwing snowballs at everyone. This was the first time that Ravenclaw and Gryffindor have come together in unity. "Good game, Skye," Herbert said.
"You too," she said back. They both gave each other a fist bump. The rest of the Hufflepuff team came together and shook hands with Ravenclaw. "Hey, Emaline.," Heidi said.
"Yes?"
"I thought I'd come and tell you that you are one of the best Quidditch players I've ever played against. Congrats."
"Thank you," she said. The two shook hands. "Let's get out of here. It's cold." As they walked into the tent, it began to snow again.
In the locker room, the atmosphere was jubilant. Everyone was hugging and congratulating each other on a great game. "Party up in the common room, Roger said," yelled Grant exuberantly. "C'mon Cho, Jason, Katherine, and Emaline. Let's celebrate!" She followed her teammates out of the locker room.