Sunday, November 6, 1972.
The day of the match arrived. Today was the day James and Sirius would make their debut on the Gryffindor team. At breakfast, there was great excitement for the quidditch season to begin.
James noticed Sirius' hand trembling as he brought his tea to his mouth. His expressionless face did not accompany his trembling hands.
"Don't be nervous, Sirius. Everything will go as planned. If you stick to the plan," William said as he saw Sirius's trembling hands.
A new ritual William started was for all members to eat breakfast together before a game. All eyes of the Gryffindors students were on them. Now and then they would shout encouraging comments at them.
"I'm not n-nervous..." said Sirius, trying to sound confident, but his stutter gave him away.
"With that Parkinson, you won't even score a goal," joked Fabian to lighten the mood a bit.
"Anyway, don't worry. Our new star seeker will lead us to victory!" exclaimed Gideon, placing his hand on James' shoulder.
The other team members nodded. They were very confident in James. In practice, he was unstoppable and always caught the snitch.
"We trust you, James," said Annabeth seriously.
"I'll do my best," said James, feeling no nerves. More than nerves, he felt excitement and desire to play his first official match for good.
"Don't put pressure on him. You must protect him and don't let any Bludger hit him," said William as he started talking about strategy for the twelfth time.
While William was talking about complicated tactics, Shadow entered the dining room and left several letters for James. One was from his father and mother wishing him success for his first match. His father seemed more excited than he was. Another was from his grandfather, who, in addition to wishing him luck, replied about the request he had made.
James had told him what he had to go through because of Professor Eustace Burke and asked his grandfather for a list of ingredients to make the laxative potion and get revenge. He didn't lie to him. He told him it was for the laxative potion.
Henry was furious. Not because James wanted to make his professor take laxatives. He was furious with Eustace and insulted him in different languages. He told him that the next day, he would get the ingredients, he needed and that he should prepare very well. He couldn't get caught or they would both be in big trouble.
Henry was confident in James' abilities. His grandson had killed a stronger-than-average troll at the age of eleven, and he also had an invisibility cloak. He knew he wouldn't get caught.
Another letter to James' surprise, was from Gwen. It had a simple message: Good luck.
'How kind of her...' thought James with a strange smile. She couldn't even wish him good luck in front of the others. It was a peculiar situation.
William had them finish breakfast before the other students. He took them to the locker room to get ready and to continue talking to them about tactics.
In the locker room, James changed into the scarlet and gold Gryffindor uniform. It was the first time he would wear it. It could only be worn in official matches.
'Finally...' thought James as he grabbed his Nimbus 1001. He noticed his friend Sirius sitting on one of the benches looking at his hands that were covered by gloves.
"Think what your mother would say if you led Gryffindor to victory," said James, patting Sirius' shoulder.
"You're right... She'll be furious!" said Sirius, regaining his smile and getting up a little more animated.
"Gather around everyone," said William, calling everyone over.
The team members stood around and looked at their captain waiting for his harangue.
"The weather is better than I thought. No excuses," William began his motivational speech.
"If we stick to the plan everything should go perfectly. We are lions, and we will eat badgers! Let's crush them!" shouted William, and everyone else yelled loudly.
"Let's go!" said William, walking out onto the pitch followed by everyone else.
James as he stepped onto the Quidditch pitch noticed a huge crowd shouting, whistling, cheering. Standing in the middle of the pitch being watched by hundreds of eyes was a very different feeling to training.
James had always imagined this moment, but he had fallen short. Sirius walked with more confidence, but he looked nervous.
As for James, he should have been more nervous, as his position is the most important, and as soon as he catches the snitch it's game over.
Why did he choose this position? Exactly because of this. What was the point of being a chaser? He could score 140 points if he was on his best day, but as soon as the opposing seeker catches the snitch it's game over.
As long as there wasn't a big difference between the teams, i.e. they didn't score too many goals and the keeper along with the batsmen were decent, it would always be all down to the seeker.
James understood this problem in the rules of Quidditch, but there was only so much he could do. A game hundreds of years old with the same rules. You go and try to change them.
He already had enough of defeating the most powerful dark, and wacky wizard of recent times.
What the chasers could have importance in is all the games in general, since in the tables you win by the sum of all the goals the team scored in all the games, but the importance of the seeker is the most determinant by far.
"Mount your brooms," said Hooch.
Within seconds everyone was mounted. James and Sirius were among the few who had a Nimbus 1001. Amos had one too. It seemed his father was just as fanatical.
Hooch gave a long whistle with her dish whistle, and they all rose high into the air. With the wind blowing in his face, James began to focus on the game and lost what few nerves he felt about being watched by hundreds of eyes. Now, he had to do what he knew how to do.
"First match of the season begins!" exclaimed Murphy McNully, who was the official commentator for all quidditch matches. James had met him, as Murphy had invited him to the Sphinx Club, but he ended up joining the Dragon Club.
James was flying around, looking for any trace of the snitch. He didn't hear the comments, only the shouting of the crowd. He could see that, in the Gryffindor stands, painted red and gold, were his friends with banners. There was a large student who had a giant banner and was carrying it back and forth while shouting.
'Whoa he's fanatical,' thought James in amazement.
"Watch out!" shouted William towards James. An angry Bludger was heading towards him at full speed.
James out of the corner of his eye noticed the Bludger, quickly braked and soared higher into the sky. He dodged the Bludger as it passed and flew away without being able to keep track of it.
The match continued. James and Amos searched for the snitch and kept their guard up in case a Bludger was thrown at them. The score was even. Hufflepuff was leading 40 to 30.
"Shit! That fat fucker!" cursed Sirius as he saw his Quaffle intercepted by the Hufflepuff keeper.
"I was all alone!" complained Annabeth, who was a few feet away from an unprotected goal.
Sirius out of thirty points had managed to score two of them. Each goal was worth ten points. So, he was overconfident and decided to be selfish.
"Sorry..." said Sirius with a frown as he chased after a chaser to take the quaffle from him.
The match continued frantically. Gryffindor couldn't draw and was always 10 points behind Hufflepuff.
James at one point noticed a flash of gold pass behind the Hufflepuff keeper. Behind the hoop, he was guarding. At full speed, he headed towards the opponent's hoops.
Amos noticed that James suddenly accelerated, and his expression turned ugly and nervous. He quickly followed. The attention of the entire stadium was on James and Amos, who were chasing him but couldn't cover the distance between the two.
"Looks like Gryffindor's new seeker, James Potter, saw something!" exclaimed Murphy excitedly. He didn't begrudge James for not picking his club. He was a professional.
The Hufflepuff keeper decided to stop guarding the hoops and shut James down. He was willing to collide with James if it would serve to stop him from catching the snitch.
"That cheater!" shrieked Peter nervously from the Gryffindor stands.
"Is that legal?" asked Lily with clenched hands. Even though she wasn't a quidditch fan the entire Gryffindor house was flocking to the match, and they were rubbing off on her enthusiasm.
James didn't slow down. He even sped up and kept heading towards the Hufflepuff keeper, who looked fearfully at James, as the collision would be very painful, and they would fall from many feet in the air.
At the last moment, as they were about to collide, James made a quick maneuver. A masterful dodge rarely seen before. He rounded the keeper with astonishing agility before straightening back into his trajectory, keeping his gaze fixed on the coveted Snitch.
The Hufflepuff boy's face was cold with sweat, and he stood static on the spot. He felt a great fear. They were nothing away from crashing and seriously injuring themselves.
'Bloody madman!' thought the Hufflepuff boy, who was pale.
Thanks to James' speed, he caught the snitch quickly and stopped before crashing into the wall. He then reversed with a big smile on his face and his hand raised, but what he saw left him bewildered.
Everyone in the stands was silent as was the Hufflepuff keeper. They were still in awe of James' dangerous dodge, even the Gryffindor stand.
"T-the Seeker James Potter caught the Snitch! In all my years as a commentator, I have never seen such a spectacular dodge!" exclaimed Murphy, bringing the entire crowd back to reality.
The Gryffindor stands began to scream and cheer like crazy. The flag boy was carrying back and forth the flag and shouting non-stop, "We're the lions!
"Well done, you crazy bastard!" said Sirius, landing on the grass and running towards James, who had already landed and had the snitch in his hand.
"Gryffindor 210 - Hufflepuff 70! The lions win the match!" exclaimed Murphy, and the Gryffindor stands exploded in cheers again.
William and the Prewett brothers hugged James roughly. Within minutes all of Gryffindor was in the common room celebrating the win.
James had a hard time making his way out of the Gryffindor common room to the library. The Prewett brothers grabbed him every time he wanted to sneak out, but with the help of Lupin, who distracted them, he managed to get out.
It was Sunday, and he had to fulfill his study hours. He had celebrated enough. To his surprise, as he was walking to the library. Shadow appeared, leaving him a new letter.
"Another letter? Thanks, Shadow. You've worked hard today," said James, stroking his owl gently.
Again it was Gwen. She was summoning him at this moment to meet on a balcony that was tucked away on the fourth floor. The letter gave very detailed instructions on how to get there. It wasn't very easy to access.
'She's with the cards full on today. A while won't be bad. There's still time left,' James thought as he made his way to the place.
On the fourth floor tower, James headed towards a painting of a charming landscape. The entrance was cleverly disguised. On a small owl in flight in the painting was a small, barely visible camouflaged button.
He pressed the button, and the picture moved silently to the side. Revealing a door, behind it was the balcony which had a beautiful panoramic view.
Gwen was watching the scenery, her blonde hair being blown gently by the wind.
"Who knew it would be so hard to access a balcony?" said James, approaching Gwen, who turned her head and looked at him.
"Yes. I found it by coincidence. That makes it all the more special. Not everyone gets to look at these views," said Gwen, looking again at the beautiful scenery.