While quickly jogging over to the school's quidditch field, Julius pulled out his wand and used the loce spell, a modified version of the point me spell specifically created to find people or objects.
Immediately after Julius finished the incantation his wand began to pull into the direction his friends were presumably at so Julius just softened his grip on the wand enough to be able to follow it quite easily and climbed the stairs to the stand he had been lead to, before beginning his search in earnest in the huge crowd of students which had already amassed before the game even began.
A few minutes later he found the two sitting in the right corner of the front row, already excitedly talking about quidditch though not really about the upcoming match as everyone was already sure who the winner would be, with the badgers not having a great seeker in ages there just wasn't all that much they could do if they couldn't just completely overwhelm the lions.
Since there was no empty seat left, Julius just stood next to them and a bit later was also complaining about the rules, containing to the seeker and how those just made the seeker the most important player by far, able to easily decide the whole match.
Then the start of the match was announced by the commentator, an upperclassman from Slytherin who seemed to be very annoyed that he had to be there, as both teams came onto the fields.
"As the commentator for today's Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, I must confess, I'd rather be sorting Flobberworms than narrating this event. But alas, here I am.
The teams take to the pitch, Gryffindor with their usual smug confidence and Hufflepuff... well, they're here too, I suppose. The game begins, and Gryffindor takes possession, as if that's any surprise."
Julius watched excitedly as the players of both teams quickly spread out to get to their positions as the Gryffindor seeker designated to this task barely manages to snatch the quaffle from directly in front of the opposing Hufflepuff, as Hooch obviously didn't manage to throw it up perfectly straight, only wondering on the side how the commentator didn't appear even the slightest bit intimidated by the presence of the exceedingly strict Head of the Gryffindor house right next to him.
For a while the trend of Gryffindor completely dominating the field continued, as they scored goal after goal, basically unhindered by the completely overwhelmed Hufflepuff keeper, but surprisingly the Hufflepuffs put up quite the fight, not through any great plays of course, but through their superior teamwork and tactics, also managing to score a goal every now and then.
"Ah, but wait, Hufflepuff seems to have found a shred of talent amidst their mediocrity! They're showing some surprising teamwork, managing to sneak in a goal against Gryffindor's overrated keeper. Gryffindor still leads, of course."
And just like that the game continued.
"Oh, look at that! Another goal for Gryffindor. Shocking, isn't it? It's like watching a kneazle toy with a mouse. Hufflepuff manages to keep up the pretense of competition, though, adding another goal to their tally. I'll give them that, they're persistent, if nothing else."
Then something exciting happened, apparently even exciting enough for the commentator to try a bit harder, not speak of the viewers, who, including the three friends and especially Habol, all followed the happenings breathlessly.
"Ah, Gryffindor in possession once more, weaving their way through Hufflepuff's defense like they're mere dandelions in the wind. But what's this? A surprising move from Hufflepuff's Beater, Bellows, who manages to deliver a well-aimed Bludger straight into the path of one of Gryffindor's Chasers, sending them spiraling off course! Could this be a glimmer of hope for Hufflepuff?
Yes, it seems so! With Gryffindor momentarily disoriented, Hufflepuff's Chasers seize the opportunity, passing the Quaffle with a newfound sense of purpose. Their coordination is surprisingly tight, reminiscent of a well-oiled clock mechanism ticking away. And there it is! A sensational shot from Hufflepuff's leading scorer, sending the Quaffle sailing past Gryffindor's keeper and into the goal!
Marvelous teamwork from Hufflepuff, orchestrated by Bellows' impeccable timing with that Bludger. Gryffindor may still lead, but Hufflepuff is proving they're not to be dismissed so easily. Perhaps there's a shred of dignity left in this match after all."
As the Hufflepuffs landed that goal, only some of the Gryffindors weren't cheering or at least clapping reluctantly and of course Habol shot up and cheered the loudest from probably everyone outside of the Hufflepuff stands.
Disappointingly for the next few minutes the game cooled down with the most interesting thing being the beaters of both teams which were for some reason completely ignoring the chasers by now and only trying to fuck each other over.
Then the Snitch made its first appearance, right as one of the Gryffindor beaters apparently decided he would like to try and participate in the game again.
"Now, here's where things get interesting, and by interesting, I mean marginally less tedious. The Snitch appears, and Gryffindor's seeker goes tearing after it like a bat out of the Forbidden Forest. But wait! What's this? The Hufflepuff seeker nearly collides with the stands in a desperate attempt to reach the elusive Snitch. It seems a Gryffindor beater finally stopped their embarassing display and actually managed to do his job for once.
And there you have it, folks! Gryffindor snatches victory from the jaws of predictability as their seeker captures the Snitch, bringing this torturous display of Quidditch to an end. Gryffindor wins, as expected, but let's give a half-hearted round of applause to Hufflepuff for at least pretending to put up a fight.
This has been Horace Flint, your ever-so-thrilled commentator, signing off until the next inevitable Quidditch match. May Merlin spare us all."
Despite the commentator's obvious disdain, the viewers very apparently didn't think like him and the whole stadium cheered, even the Hufflepuffs, who, seemingly very satisfied with their team's performance praised them as if they had actually won the game.
The final score was 240 points for Gryffindor against 70 for Hufflepuff, if one were to subtract the 150 points for catching the snitch, it had actually been quite a close game.
As the three friends returned to their house's common room to flee the cold November winds, even the usual relatively gloomy atmosphere there had turned extremely lively, with conversations abut quidditch and praises for the Hufflepuff team replacing the usual socialisation and scheming of pureblood heirs who took themselves to be far more important than they actually were.
To make the best of this exceptional atmosphere, the three decided to take the opporunity and also mingle a bit, finding a, for Slytherin, surprising amount of obsessive Quidditch fans.
All in all the day could be called a complete success and a great start into the Quidditch season.
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I didn't think I'd write another chapter this quickly but since I felt sick today and stayed home, I had the time and the energy to write another chapter. Though, I didn't really feel motivated enough to write one about Julius finally starting to learn legilimency so I just made the whole chapter about Quidditch and I personally think that was the right decision as I feel like I don't have enough casual chapters like this in this fanfiction.
Anyways, thanks for reading and see you in the next chapter :)