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Author: jedi34 Story: Flying Free Rating: Teens Setting: AU Status: Completed Reviews: 12 Words: 69,057
AN: Hello everyone. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. This one came out quicker than I expected, I hope you all don’t mind :). I can’t thank the folks who took time to review this enough. I really love to hear all your thoughts, so please keep it up. Thanks as always to Arnel, my great Beta. If you haven’t checked out her latest work in progress, Summer Story, you’re missing out! ~*~ Harry groaned as his magically enhanced alarm sounded for the third time. He rolled over and opened his eyes, freezing as he momentarily forgot where he was. It took him a few more seconds to realize that he no longer lived in the safe house with Remus and that he had a flat in London. He glanced at the glowing numbers floating in the space above his nightstand. 9:30 Harry sat up abruptly. He couldn’t believe he had slept so late; he hadn’t slept in this late since he was a small child. Harry stretched and scooted out of bed, stopping to stretch again when his feet hit the floor. Despite the debacle of women at the Ministry last night and the Firewhiskey shots, Harry felt good. Rested. He moved into the kitchen, nodding appreciatively to Kreacher who had breakfast ready. Harry sat at the table, pouring himself a glass of pumpkin juice while reaching for the morning Prophet. As Harry’s eyes scanned the headlines, he froze in mid-swallow, letting the rest of the juice run out of the corner of his mouth and down his chin. “In Merlin’s name!” Harry exclaimed as he wiped his mouth, reading the article in earnest. His stomach lurched as he continued as his eyes scanned the page. “Oh no, Ginny Weasley…” Harry shook his head from side to side. He had never met the youngest Weasley, but he had heard stories from his friends in the Order. The Weasley family had been one of the strongest supporters of the light, and of Harry personally during the war. Harry knew Arthur and Bill Weasley very well. They had both been high up in the Order and had fought with Harry in many battles. Bill had been part of Harry’s team during the decisive Battle of Hogwarts. Sirius had always spoken highly of the family as well. “I owe them more than this,” Harry mumbled to himself. “Even if she was being a bit of a scarlet woman.” Harry continued reading the article, trying to remember exactly how the conversation between him Miss Weasley had gone. Ginny had walked up to him and started in on how she was nervous to talk to him... Then…then…Harry was having trouble remembering. The she had said something inappropriate…hadn’t she? Harry remembered getting angry because she was suggesting that he… Harry shook his head. He couldn’t remember Ginny suggesting anything at all. All he could remember was getting angry and yelling at her. Harry began to get a sinking feeling in his stomach. Was it possible that he had been the one to over react? Had he made a terrible mistake? Harry checked the clock on the wall. He had most of the day off. The team had a walk through at four before travelling to the hotel where they would be staying for the Puddlemere game the following afternoon. He had time to stop by the Weasley’s residence and apologize. He remembered how fiercely protective Bill had been of his sister during the war. He sincerely hoped he could get his apology out before he was cursed into oblivion. “Right,” he called out to the kitchen. “Kreacher, I need to visit the Weasley residence. Do you know where they Weasley family home is?” “Yes, Master Harry,” Kreacher croaked bowing. “The blood traitors live in a shack called ‘The Burrow’ Master.” Harry smiled at Kreacher. What had started out as a genuine prejudice on his elf’s part had turned into running joke between himself and Harry. “Begging your pardon, Master Harry,” Kreacher said bowing again. “It might be best for you to not visit the Weasley home. You might not get the reception you expect after the events of last night.” Harry smiled at his elf again. “I appreciate the concern, but as Dumbledore taught me long ago, what is right is not always easy.” ~*~ Ginny Apparated into the Harpy lobby and stormed toward the locker room for the morning practice. The Harpies had been scheduled for the game later on in the week, and as such Gwenog Jones (who was acting Coach as well as Captain) had decided to hold full practices until Wednesday. Ginny paused outside of the locker room door, and took a deep breath before pushing it open and slipping inside. Immediately a shout arose as her teammates saw who the new arrival was. “OHHHHHH…” “Saucy…” “You go for it Ginny, you’ll get him between the sheets sooner or later!” Ginny blushed as her teammates’ catcalls continued as she made her way to her locker. “Merlin’s striped pants, Ginny. What did you do to the poor boy?” smirked Emmeline. “I put my knickers in his pocket and I didn’t get the response that you did. I can only imagine what it took to get that reaction…” she trailed off suggestively. Ginny turned her back on the team’s Keeper and began to violently shove her change of clothes into her locker as her teammates laughed uncontrollably in the background. “Here I was thinking little Ginny was a bit of a prude, looks like she had us all fooled!” someone shouted behind her. Ginny spun angrily around, a retort already on her lips. “Easy Weasley,” murmured Gwenog as she walked by Ginny’s locker. “Alright you lot, that’s enough. The league has spoken on the incident last night, we need to not let this be a distraction and get ready for the Falcons this week. You all know that any match with the Falcons is going to be a physical, demanding game,” she said as the team’s mirth faded into seriousness. “Let’s get our heads on straight and have a great practice.” As her teammates began moving out towards the pitch, a few stopped by with a quick, “Sorry, Ginny.” Ginny sighed as she finished changing into her practice outfit, cursing Harry Potter as she walked out onto the pitch. ~*~ Having never been to the Burrow before, Harry only had a few options on getting there. He didn’t relish the idea of Flooing over, especially when he didn’t really know the family that well, and of course because he had besmirched the honor of their only daughter. Instead, he called in some favors from some Order members, one of which had supplied him with a memory of the Apparition point for the edge of the Burrow. Harry had appeared at the edge of the Weasley property at around noon, and nervously made his way to what appeared to be a kitchen door. He slowly approached and knocked solidly on the wooden frame. The door opened and staring at him in shock was a red-headed man that Harry vaguely remembered from the Ministry event as having been named as the new UK League director. “Ron Weasley?” Harry asked hesitantly. “Blimey…” the man breathed, “you’re Harry Potter.” The next thing Harry saw was an arm coming around and then darkness. Harry groaned in pain. There was a wet cloth on his head, and he was lying on a couch, but he wasn’t sure where he was. “I can’t believe you, Ronald!” he heard an extremely angry woman screech. “What on earth possessed you to hit Harry Potter on our front steps!” Harry perked up at this. So he had been punched in the nose. He shrugged his shoulders unconsciously. It wasn’t anything he most likely didn’t deserve. “I’m sorry, Mum, I wasn’t thinking,” said someone whom Harry assumed was Ron Weasley. “I didn’t even mean to, I just saw him there and I was thinking about Ginny and it just kind of happened.” Harry heard a loud sigh. “Ronald, I appreciate you being protective of your sister, but this is Harry Potter. What if you lose your job for breaking his nose like that?” Harry reached up and felt his nose. There was some tenderness, but otherwise it seemed to be in good order. He finally opened his eyes and sat up. His movement did not go unnoticed by Ron and his mother. “Oh, Mister Potter, I am so sorry for the outrageous behavior of my son…” Mrs. Weasley started as she moved toward Harry, trailing off at his upraised hand. “It’s not a problem, Mrs. Weasley. I’m sure I probably deserve it.” Harry stood and walked over to the table and stood next to where Ron was still sitting. “I actually came over here to apologize to your family and your daughter for that regrettable scene last night.” Ron and Mrs. Weasley exchanged uneasy glances. “I’m positive it was a misunderstanding, Mr. Potter. I know my daughter and that is not something that she would suggest.” “I’m sure you are correct, Mrs. Weasley. Unfortunately in my…rudeness… I didn’t let Ginny finish her thoughts. I’ve already sent a statement to the Prophet saying so, but I wanted to apologize to your family personally. I suppose it’s too much to hope that Ginny is actually here, is it?” Harry asked hopefully. “No Mr. Potter,” Mrs. Weasley said slowly, “She lives with Ron in London.” “She’s actually at practice this morning,” Ron said when the other’s eyes slid to him. “I see,” Harry said thoughtfully. “Well, then. The Weasley family’s bravery and defense of the Light is well known to all. I sincerely apologize for the embarrassment I’ve caused your family. You deserved more from me than that,” Harry said with his face pointed firmly at the floor. “Please let Ginny know that I will be in touch with her shortly to offer my apologies to her in person. In the meantime, I realize that you have Ministry tickets to most of the games for yourself Ron, but I would like to offer team box seats for your family for the entire Appleby season as a small measure of my regret.” Harry said to Ron. “Really, Mr. Potter you don’t have to do that,” Mrs. Weasley said firmly. “Mum!” Ron interjected. “If the man wants to give us box seats, then we should let him.” Harry laughed at the outraged and embarrassed expression the Weasley matriarch’s face. “It’s not a problem. Mrs. Weasley. The tickets are at the team office; you can pick them up at your convenience.” “Well, thank you, Mr. Potter. I’m quite sure that your apology would have been enough.” Harry walked back to the door, turning again before he left. “Also, please pass my regards on to your husband and Bill. I wouldn’t have them angry with me. They are true heroes and I owe them both much.” Harry walked out and past the garden in the Burrow. It had felt good to get the apology out in the open, but he wouldn’t feel right until he actually talked to the girl herself. He hoped that she would as understanding as her family. ~*~ Ginny grunted in pain as a Bludger glanced off her left thigh while she dove to the right. It was the third scrimmage of the practice and her first chance in over a week to actually work out with the first team unit. She was determined to make a good showing. She spied her fellow Chaser up and to her right in a long curve. Ginny cut up at an angle so that her teammate would intersect her path just a tad behind. Ginny looked the opposing Chaser off to the left with her eyes, then suddenly passed the Quaffle back and over her shoulder without looking, trusting her instincts and timing that the pass was right. Ginny heard a whoop as Angelina Johnson, a friend of Ginny’s from Hogwarts, caught the Quaffle exactly where Ginny thought she would be. The practice Chasers were taken off guard by the sudden pass, allowing Angelina to pull to the left in an open break. Ginny pulled hard on her broom, turning sharply trailing Angelina a few feet behind. Angelina raced toward the hoop and rifled a shot toward the middle goal. The practice Keeper was on form and managed to knock the Quaffle back with a lighting left fist. Ginny, following behind, quickly dove, caught the rebound and shot a rocket toward the left goal, which went through unopposed. “WEASLEY!” the voice of her Captain echoed across the pitch. “That was brilliant. Did you lot see how she kept the defense from closing in on Angelina by using her eyes and body language?” Jones shouted. “Did you see how she followed the break at the right distance for the rebound?” She turned and said in a much quieter voice to Ginny. “Keep this up, Weasley, and you’ll be starting before the end of the year.” Ginny smiled to herself as play resumed. To hell with Saint Potter, this was going to be a great season for Ginny Weasley. ~*~ Ginny walked into her flat after a long, but satisfying practice. She had performed well in her opinion. Merlin’s beard she loved Quidditch! “Ron!” Ginny yelled, looking for her brother. “Where is that boy?” she asked out loud. Ginny made her way to her room, dropping her bag by her bed. Walking back into the living area, she noticed a note on the counter. Ginny – Gone to the Burrow. I’ll be back later or you can come over when you get this. Ginny sighed to herself. Her brother had been spending way too much time at their parents’, grubbing off their food. “Well, I’m not going to be like that,” she promised herself, opening up the fridge and glaring at the meager offerings. “Although Mum does know how to put a dinner together,” she mumbled her resolve wavering. “GINNY!” Ron’s voice bellowed throughout their flat. “Ron! I’m right here, you twit,” Ginny said in exasperation to her brother’s head that was poking through the fireplace. “Hey Gin, you have got to come over to the Burrow,” Ron said excitedly. “Ron, we can’t keep living off Mum and Dad. We moved out for a reason, remember?” “No, no, you don’t understand. You’ll never guess who came over today to apologize. Harry Potter!” Ron said as if offering Ginny a great prize. “What did you say? I hope you gave him the broom right back out the door!” Ginny shrieked. “Well, now Ginny,” Ron stumbled suddenly nervous, “he was very polite and apologetic. He also gave the entire family box seats to every Appleby game, including the away ones.” “You and Mum turned them down off course,” Ginny said gritting her teeth. Even through the sickly green flames, Ginny saw her brother turn noticeably paler than he had. “They are very good seats, Ginny,” Ron quietly said, his face starting to twitch in terror at the murderous expression now staring at him. “Move your lumpy arse out of the way, I’m coming through,” Ginny yelled, grabbing a pinch of powder and quickly stepping into the flames. Ron didn’t move fast enough and quickly found himself flat on his back, his sister towering over him with wand in hand. “Now, dear brother,” Ginny said with quiet steel. “Explain to me again how you took that bribe, when you weren’t the one that was embarrassed nationally.” “Ginny Weasley, you put your wand away this instant, young lady,” Molly called as she bustled in the kitchen. “Mr. Potter was extremely courteous, considering that the first thing your brother did was break his nose as he was standing on our steps.” Ginny glanced down at the still pale face of her brother, and smiled slightly. “You broke his nose?” “Yep. Saw him standing there and I just lost it,” Ron said sheepishly. “Oh Ron,” Ginny sighed. “How can I be angry with you now?” she said forlornly. “I was so looking forward to getting you with a good bat bogey.” Ron laughed shakily as his sister offered him her hand and pulled him to his feet. Together they moved over to the kitchen table, which had already began to show signs of the approaching supper. “Do you two want to enlighten me on what happened?” Ginny asked as she reached for a roll as a pre-supper snack. “It’s like I said, Gin,” Ron said with his mouth already full with a roll as well. “He came by and apologized. He looked pretty contrite, but that might have been the after affects of the broken nose.” Ginny giggled at her brother as she thought of stupid Harry Potter lying on the ground bleeding. “He gave us box seats, but said he still wanted to apologize to you personally,” Ron pointed to a book of tickets that was sitting on the kitchen counter. “I went over to the Arrow office and picked them up today.” “If I never see that git again, it will be too soon,” Ginny said her anger returning. Ginny reached over to the counter and grabbed the tickets. “Where’s that bloody owl when you need him,” she growled, hastily scribbling off a note. Dear Wanker, My family and I do not need any of your tickets, nor will we be bribed by such a humongous, towering git. I’ve returned your tickets, and I warn you not to come here again. If I see you, I won’t be responsible for my actions. Git. Yours truly, Ginny Weasley P.S. git, git, git, git, git “Here,” she said attaching the note and tickets to the family owl. “Take this to Harry Potter and don’t wait for a response.” Ron stared out the window as the owl flew off into the distance. “It’s too bad you’ve got a temper sis. They really were great tickets. SHITE!” Ron yelled as he was hit from behind with the Bat Bogey. ~*~ Harry sat down in a comfy couch in the team meeting room at the hotel where the Arrow’s were staying. The team had traveled by Portkey together after the morning’s walk through and now were relaxing and having an early dinner. The walk though was interesting for Harry. He had worked with the first team on formations and calls for about half of the practice, splitting time with Jacob. He had asked Matt if he knew as team captain why Harry was getting so much time during the walk though with the starters, but Mike had only shrugged. “You never know what’s going to happen, mate,” he said before turning back to the team formations. Harry hadn’t gone to the pre-game press conference, so he wasn’t sure what the Coaches had told the press about him. Coach Smith and Mr. Bellmby had decided to withhold their newest Seeker from the press until after the first match. Harry eyed the buffet that had been set up from his perch on the couch. He really was hungry but didn’t feel like getting out of his seat. “Mr. Potter?” a bellboy asked in awe as he approached with a letter in hand. “This just came for you, sir. It passed all the security checks.” “Thank you,” Harry said, uncomfortably at the hero-worship evident in the young man’s face. “I’m not sure how this works. Do I need to tip you?” “No sir!” the young man looked appalled. “I mean normally folks do, but I couldn’t take anything from you. No sir, just helping out is enough for me,” he said firmly. Harry sighed, he had been getting a lot of this treatment lately and he really didn’t like it. He glanced down at the letter and saw the tickets he had reserved for the Weasleys attached. “Hold on, kid,” Harry said as the young man began to turn away. “Here, take this and enjoy it.” Harry tore off a ticket for the Appleby box from the book that Ginny had returned to him. “Here take another and bring a friend,” Harry said handing him two tickets. “Mr. Potter, I don’t know what to say,” the young man gulped. “Don’t worry about it, just go have fun,” Harry said, pleased that at least someone would enjoy the tickets. “Yes, sir!” the boy squeaked, clutching the tickets to his chest as if he was afraid someone was going to take them from him. Harry turned to the letter in his hand scowling as he read the letter. “So much for apologizing. I swear all witches are crazy.” “What’s that, Potter?” Matt asked as he sat down next to him with a plate of food. “Having MORE witch problems?” he sniggered. Harry glared at him before crumpling the letter in his hand and incinerating it with a burst from his wand. “Stuff it, Matt,” he growled, walking toward the food. “Don’t worry, Potter. You’ve always got me,” Alison laughed, kissing his cheek as he walked by. “That’s great, just what I need. A psychopathic midget with a Beater bat. I’ll be the envy of the locker room,” Harry responded grumpily. The room went suddenly quiet, and then burst into laughter as Harry barely dodged a plate of food that Alison threw at him. Harry laughed out loud as he sprinted around the room, Alison hot on his heels behind him. It felt good to be normal for once. Harry didn’t even really mind when Alison finally managed to shove his face into the cake that was supposed to be for dessert. He put all thoughts of the Weasleys out of his mind and just enjoyed being part of the team. ~*~ Ginny and Ron had decided to stay at the Burrow that night considering that most of their family was coming over in the morning. Their brothers, Fred and George, had owled everyone asking them to be at the Burrow for a big surprise. Ginny awoke early and decided to go for a run around the paddock. She had never been a morning person, or a running person for that matter, but a month of Quidditch training and early practices had changed that. By the time she was finished and showered, the rest of her family was already downstairs in the sitting-room. Fred and George had moved the furniture around so that it was facing a wall. There was a large something underneath a sheet, with Fred and George standing beside it impatiently. “Finally, now that our dear little sister has joined us…” started Fred. “…just in time too, I might add, brother,” George finished. “We only have about ten minutes before the first Quidditch game of the season, so I’m afraid that this presentation will be condensed from what we had planned,” mourned Fred. “It’s very sad, you see. We had fireworks and music all lined up, but leave it to Gin to hold everyone up,” George said with mock indignation. “Can we please get this over with?” Bill growled. “I agree. I would like to get to listen to the opening game of the season,” Ron chimed in. “Even if it does include Harry Potter,” Ginny said under her breath. “Fine by us, family. After working during the war on inventions to help the Order, we had a brilliant idea on the next generation of Wizard entertainment,” Fred said, his face actually serious. “Truly brilliant,” George added. “We realized that the Wizarding world had nothing like the Muggle Television that all our Muggle friends go on and on about. In fact, all we have is the Wizard Wireless Network. So we thought, why not?” “But George,” Hermione hesitantly said from her seat next to Ron. “Electronics won’t work around magic.” “Too right, oh smart bushy girl,” George agreed. “Give her a biscuit,” Fred said. “Will you two please just get to the point? I really have better things to do than to listen to your drivel all day,” Percy sniffed. “Oh, look! Percy actually has something to do other than kiss Ministry behind!” George exclaimed. “I wonder what it could be Forge?” Fred asked with disbelief. “That’s enough you two!” Bill said again, his patience wearing thin. “PLEASE get on with it.” “We figured out a way to charm the two-way mirrors that the Order used to carry,” Fred said getting straight to the point. “Now one mirror will send an image one-way to multiple other mirrors at a time. We devised a way to get it to capture a better picture and… I give you MirrorVision!” George yelled pulling away the sheet. Sitting in the corner of the sitting-room was a large shining mirror. Fred touched the mirror with his wand and suddenly it came alive with a view of the Puddlemere stadium. “We’ve gone into partnership with the Wizard Wireless Network. The Puddlemere/Arrows game is going to be the first ever Wizard video broadcast. The mirrors went on sale this week, we can’t keep them in stock,” Fred said proudly. “Well, I’ll be,” Arthur said in shock. The entire family was silent for a few seconds then exploded into unintelligible noise as everyone spoke at once. “Quiet everyone!” Fred managed over the ruckus. “We’re starting up a whole production studio, pretty soon ‘All my Witches’ and others will be moving from the Wireless to MirrorVision.” “We are so proud of you,” Molly said tearing up. “Yes, we are,” Charlie finally spoke up. “If you don’t mind though, let’s all be proud later, the match is starting!” Fred touched his wand to the mirror again and suddenly the voices of the WWN Quidditch announcers filled the room while the mirror showed the stadium as the teams entered. Welcome to the first ever MirrorBroadcast brought to you by the Wizard Wireless Network and W3 Productions! “That’s us,” interjected Fred to a loud chorus of “sssshhhs” from the rest of the Weasleys. Today we are proud to bring you the opening match of the season as our first broadcast, featuring last year’s UK league champions Puddlemere United who will be facing off against the newly revamped Appleby Arrows. Today’s match has a lot of excitement as it features last year’s Quidditch World Cup MVP Oliver Wood, as well as the first time many of us will get to see Harry Potter in person. Any chance that Harry Potter will see the pitch today, John? Mostly likely not, James. The Arrows are retuning last year’s Seeker, Jacob Ashford, who helped the team make it to the semi-finals before losing to this very United team. However, we have heard good things from the Appleby team regarding Potter in his only week in training, so we’ll just have to see. Both teams have some great players taking the pitch today. Let’s take a look at our starting line up comparisons brought to you by Comet brooms. If it’s got to be fast, it’s got to be a Comet. Puddlemere comes into today with two key strengths; their Keeper and Seeker play has been outstanding. Oliver Wood had the highest save to shot ratio of any Keeper in the league last year at just under 80%. Amazing. United’s Seeker, Megan Smith also has an exceptional catch rate, with ten come from behind victory catches last year, and another twelve while in the lead. She does tend to be a much more aggressive Seeker chasing the Snitch and running interference quite well. The Arrows Seeker is also quite experienced. His catch rate was quite a bit lower than Megan’s, but Jacob Ashford specializes in defending against the other team’s Seeker, preventing them from catching the Snitch. This plays right into the Arrow strength, which is their Chaser play. Matt Jones, Collin Colroy, and John Michael are arguably the best Chasers in the league right now. If Ashford can keep Smith at bay long enough, the Arrows have a good shot at building a commanding lead. All in all, it’s going to be a great match up. The opening toss is coming up after this word from our sponsors. “I can’t wait to see the Arrow Chasers against Wood,” Bill said excitedly. “I know, did you see the save Wood made in the Cup last year, the one where he was upside down and turned sideways?” exclaimed Charlie. “Forget that rubbish, I want to see what Potter can do on a broom,” said Ron. Everyone got quiet and glanced at Ginny. “I don’t care, Ron. I hope he gets hit with a Bludger to the head,” Ginny said stubbornly. “Ginny, don’t be that way,” admonished Arthur. “I know Harry quite well and I’m sure it was just a misunderstanding.” “It’s back on,” yelled Percy, having forgotten all the important things he was supposed to do that afternoon. And we are back. The starting lineups are about what we expected. Harry Potter is indeed listed as reserve Seeker. I still feel like Ashford is outclassed by Smith. I agree, John, we’ll just have to see if his defensive skills can hold on long enough. And the Snitch is released… there go the Bludgers… and the Quaffle is in the air. The Arrows take the Quaffle and quickly move down the right side, Jones to Colroy, Colroy to Jones, back across to Michael. Ohh, Michael drops the Quaffle due to a great interference run by Smith. Smith is up and around, flying hard with Ashford right on her tail. She’s quickly taken the initiative, no surprise there, and Ashford has set himself up in inside defensive position. Are you surprised that Puddlemere has come out in a man-to-man defensive strategy, James? I really am, Michael. The Arrow Chasers are clearly the better flyers here, I would have thought that they would have settled into a moving zone around the hoop to support Wood in order to keep the overall score low while relying on Smith to score the big points with the Snitch. It seems to me that they are playing right into the Arrow strengths here, but maybe they are counting on Wood to keep it tight without the zone support. United turns it over at mid-pitch with a great move by Jones as he intercepted the cross-pitch pass. Jones hits Colroy on a break down the right side, Colroy dodges a Bludger, passes around and over Smith, WHAT A GREAT MOVE, over to Jones who shoots! Blocked by Wood at the middle hoop, but it was close. Rebound to United who takes it back down right side. OH! A vicious Bludger from Jackson knocks loose the Quaffle. Picked up by Michael for the Arrows, he’s left, fakes right, he shoots to the left. BLOCKED BY WOOD. Rebound to Jones on the left side, he SHOOTS! ARROWS SCORE, ARROWS SCORE! This is exactly what I mean, James. If United stays in this man up pattern, the Arrow Chasers are going to have a record day. After forty minutes of play the Arrows are on top 260-130 James. United is still holding to their starting game plan, but something has got to change. Three more goals and the Arrows will be ahead more than 150 and Puddlemere will really be in trouble. What do you think of Wood’s play so far? He’s played well, but he’s gotten zero support from his Chasers and the overall game plan. Smith has been able to run some good interference or the match would be out of reach. Our stats man tells us that Wood is at 67% save rate for the day, and while lower than his average from last season is still good considering the barrage he has faced this afternoon. Puddlemere is returning from the timeout and yes they are changing their formation. They’ve gone to a zone defensive pattern around the hoop. “Finally!” shouted Ron. “What in the bloody hell took them so long?” “Can someone explain to me what that means?” Hermione asked. “The zone will really limit the Arrow Chasers scoring breaks since the United Chasers will be supporting the Keeper. It also allows the United Beaters to set up on either side of the zone and blast Bludgers into the formation,” Ron explained. “The problem is that it limits their own Chasers ability to break out themselves,” Charlie added. “Overall it slows the scoring down, but frees up the Seekers to really go after the Snitch.” “Which is what they should have been doing in the first place with the tossers that they have for Chasers,” Ron said. With the support that Wood is getting, it’s going to be hard for the Arrows to continue scoring. This really puts the pressure on Ashford to keep Smith from grabbing the Snitch. It also allows Smith to disrupt the Arrow Chasers since she doesn’t have to worry about Ashford as much. It is going to be interesting to see how the Arrows respond to this development. It’s good coaching on United’s part. I just feel like it should have happened sooner. Puddlemere has scored five quick goals to bring the score to 260-180, thanks to some great passing. The Arrow Chasers have really been stymied by the zone, Wood’s Keeper play, and Smith’s interference. Ashford seems outclassed in a straight out Seeker to Seeker race for the Snitch. I agree, James. It seems like at this point we are just waiting for Smith to catch the Snitch and end it. I’m surprised that the Arrow’s Coach Smith doesn’t have an answer for this. This is exactly how Puddlemere knocked them out of the playoffs last season. The Arrows have called a timeout, so we’ll take one with them. Back after this break. “Merlin’s great gangly goat, I knew better than to think the Arrows could knock United down,” Ron said glumly. “It’s all but over the way things are going,” Bill agreed. “Good,” laughed Ginny, “Serves Potter right.” We are back again, and ladies and gentlemen the Appleby Arrows have made a substitution. That’s right, Harry Potter has gone into the game as the Seeker for the Arrows. I am just giddy with anticipation to see what this kid can do. The Quaffle is back in the air, and they are off. Harry Potter is playing in his first professional Quidditch game! What a moment! “Balls,” hissed Ginny.
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