The First Quidditch Match

Once November came, it started to become much colder. The mountains surrounding Hogwarts became icy grey, with snow appearing at its peaks and the lake was frozen over. The sun could be seen rising above the horizon from the Ravenclaw tower as the sky lit up. For muggles, this time of year would mean the countdown for Christmas. But for witches and wizards, this meant something else...the Quidditch season had begun.

It was the morning of the first match. After weeks of training, Matthew was about to play his first ever game for the Ravenclaw quidditch team as their new seeker. He woke earlier than the others and watched as it brightened outside from his dorm’s window. He was excited for the game, yet incredibly anxious, nervous of the many things that could possibly go wrong: What if he were hit by a bludger? Or wasn’t able to catch the snitch? The pressure was on his shoulders, and he was scared for the worst.

The Great Hall was full of freshly-cooked breakfast on the tables and the sounds of students cheerfully chattering about the upcoming match: Hufflepuff vs Ravenclaw. Matthew sat there with a fork in his hand, barely able to eat the food on his plate.

“You should really try to finish that,” Lanya lectured by his side. “You’re gonna need all the energy you can get.”

“I’m just really nervous...” explained the wolf.

“You’re gonna be great, Matthew. Chin up!” the Shurian said with that enthusiasm Hufflepuffs were known for, tapping the underside of his snow-white chin.

“Why are you here, anyway? I thought you’d be supporting your own house.”

“‘Cuz you’re my friend,” she answered back, her loyalty showing confidently.

“She’s right, you know,” said Skylar, a fellow Ravenclaw on the other side of the table. “You were really good in tryouts! There’s a reason why you made the team.”

Despite their attempts to lift up his spirits, he remained silent. Matthew continued to eat his beans and scrambled eggs at a slow pace, the negative thoughts etched into his mind.

By eleven o’clock the entire school were out in the stands around the Quidditch pitch. The parents and teachers up in the towers while the students were on the benches surrounding them. The stadium was an oval shape with a set of three hoops on each end of the pitch, several feet above the ground. Many students had binoculars in their hands — their seats might’ve been raised high up, but it was still difficult to see what was occurring sometimes.

The teams’ supporters were split into their own halves of the stadium, where they’d take sides and join their friends to watch the game commence. Students had banners supporting their favoured teams, some with their faces painted of the house colours and mascot. Gryffindors would be split between sides due to their relationships with other students and the same goes for Hufflepuffs, however most of them would support their own house for obvious reasons. As for Slytherins on the other hand, there would still be many to be seen in the stands, but some would skip the match since their house wasn’t competing.

Meanwhile, in the locker room, Matthew and the rest of his team began changing into their navy-blue Quidditch robes (Hufflepuff would be playing in yellow). The wolf tightened the straps of the pads around his forearms while listening to the crowd outside the tent. His heart was pounding. In just a few moments, he would be out on that pitch in front of the whole school.

“You look tense,” said Jan, the team’s captain. She knew something was wrong.

“I just...I feel pressured,” he admitted. “I feel like I’m gonna let you down if I don’t catch the snitch.”

“Math...” The lioness took a seat next to him.

“We’re not gonna be disappointed in you,” she reassured him. “We’re here to have fun...it’s not about winning. It’s about trying our best...can you do that for me?”

The wolf nodded back at her slightly, raising his head up with less stress on his face.

“Good,” the lioness patted his shoulder with a smile, as a way to encourage him. “You’ve got this.”

Once Jan got back up on her feet — before she headed towards the board — she looked back at Matthew.

“Besides...there’s a reason I chose you as our seeker,” she said with a soft smile and a wink, bringing some light to his face.

“Gather around, boys,” ordered the captain.

Matthew took a seat in front of her while the others began to group up, a hyena and a red saber-toothed tiger sitting beside him on both sides.

“You ready for your first Quidditch match?” asked Lee, the hyena on his right.

With a more enthusiastic kick into his mood, Matthew nodded with a soft smile across his face.

“No pressure, dude!” said Nefaris, the tiger on his left, informing the wolf with a soft nudge into his torso. Both his friends were also in their third year, along with Matthew. But they’d joined the team the year prior.

“Alright. This is it,” said Jan. “The first game of the year. This is a great team we’ve got here, and I know we’ve got what it takes...remember what we’ve practiced...as long as we stick to what we’ve learned, we’ll do just fine...now let’s show them all what we can do!”

“Ooh-rah to that,” said fellow Chaser Seven, a sixth year who had been on the team since before Matthew had even entered Hogwarts.

The lioness nodded with approval. “It’s time. Good luck out there, all of you.”

The seven players went to their lockers and grabbed their broomsticks before heading towards the exit of the tent. Once they were ready, they mounted their brooms and flew out to the field in the air, and were greeted by overwhelming, loud cheers.

“Hello, and welcome to Hogwarts’ second Quidditch game of the season! Today, we’ll be witnessing: Hufflepuff versus Ravenclaw!” Announced the commentator of the match — his name was Chazra Dorvak — over the speakers, followed by another set of loud roars from the crowd below.

The referee for the game was flying instructor Madam Hooch, waiting in the centre of the field as the fourteen players formed a circle above her.

“Alright, you lot, you know the rules,” informed the cloaked hawk from below. “A nice, clean game.”

Beside her was a brown wooden chest rumbling on its spot. With a kick on the side, the top of it sprung open and released the bludgers and snitch, allowing them to soar through the air while Hooch grabbed hold of the leather quaffle still inside. The crowd were anticipating the moment at the start along with the players themselves, wondering who would get it first. If the snitch were to be caught by the one team, the game would end immediately, but the other can still beat them with enough points scored beforehand.

With a high toss directly upwards from the centre, the quaffle was released and the game commenced.

“And they’re off! The quaffle is taken immediately by Ravenclaw Chaser Pyro vi Navalia — an excellent snatch from the fifth year!“

The school cheered down below with excitement as Pyro soared down the pitch towards Hufflepuff’s end, the leather ball tucked underneath his armpit.

“The opposing chasers are gaining up on him — Navalia passes to captain January Titus, the sole female of the eagles — oof, what a dodge from the Ravenclaw! The quaffle back to Pyro — he shoots, and — RAVENCLAW SCORES!”

The crowd underneath them screamed as loud as they could for the team to hear, cheers and boos from both sides.

Meanwhile, Matthew was high above the other players, his eyes scanning the stadium for the snitch, but no luck so far. He clapped for his team as they scored their first goal, not even two minutes into the game. But he couldn’t focus on that. He had to keep his eyes peeled.

“Hufflepuff takes possession of the quaffle, now in the hands of Chaser Accalia Isobel — these teams are gonna need some really good cooperation to succeed in this game! Isobel passes to Kintama Ryo — woah, a lovely dodge of the bludger by Mr. Ryo there!”

The Hufflepuff chasers began swerving in between the stands to distract the Ravenclaws, successfully passing the quaffle back to one another, until getting close to the Eagles’ hoops.

“They’re closing in on Ravenclaw’s goals — the quaffle passed to Ryo — now to Isobel — passes Navalia — she shoots— and sc–no, an outstanding save by Ravenclaw Keeper Nefaris! Wonder what he had for his breakfast today!”

The crowd of Hufflepuffs booed and awed from down below as the red saber-toothed tiger passed the ball back to the Chasers, continuing the match.

“The quaffle now back in the hands of Ravenclaw, held by Chaser Seven and followed closely behind by Titus and Navalio. Seven passes to Titus — the Hufflepuffs are overwhelming her — passes back to Seven — OUCH, a precise shot in the side by a bludger from Lucy Hamaya, that must’ve hurt! Hufflepuff claims the quaffle once again — some insane dodging from Esper — he’s closing in, he shoots — Nefaris misses — Esper scores! That’s ten points for Hufflepuff!”

The house of badgers let out cheers of joy as their team scored their first goal. Still not even five minutes into the game, and both teams are already looking to have an intense competition. Neither side were going down without a fight.

After roughly thirty minutes into the game, Ravenclaw were beating Hufflepuff — the total score being: 130 – 100. Both teams put up a good fight, but the eagles were just able to overcome their opponents in the match...Well, when it came to goals.

Matthew remained high in the sky watching over the other players for the slightest hint of the snitch. Even after half-an-hour — even in that clear weather — nobody had managed to see it.

‘Come on now,’ the wolf thought to himself.

But just as he let those words float through his mind, his eye caught a flash of gold beneath the tackling chasers. That was it — the golden snitch.

Wasting no time at all, Matthew leaned forward hard on his Windsurfer and dove straight down into the ongoing match, managing to swerve past his fellow teammates as they continued to defend their goals.

“Oh, looks like the Ravenclaw seeker has seen the snitch!” Announced Chazra over the speakers.

He kept his gaze on the tiny, golden ball and chased after it, only a few feet off the ground; he could let his legs hang and his own paws would’ve been brushing against the grass. Expecting him to arrive soon, Hufflepuff’s chaser came swooping in from above, now taking the lead of the chase.

“And now Hufflepuff’s seeker Javen Rowell is after the snitch — the chase is on!”

Javen owned a Firebolt, the fastest brand of brooms in the world; this gave him a higher advantage in speed when it came to catching the snitch, which lead to him winning many games for Hufflepuff during his time playing Quidditch.

Matthew tried to catch up to the opposing seeker, but was still a few metres away from him, the distance between them growing longer ever so slowly. The Windsurfer was no match against the Firebolt — as Rowell got closer to the snitch, Matthew thought the game was about to end, until —

*WHAM*

Rowell had been hit hard by a bludger to his side, sending him spinning on his broom.

“WOW — Rowell has just taken a critical hit from a bludger by beater Tyger Denoir! What a fantastic shot!”

As the Hufflepuff seeker regained control of his broom, he took a look around for the snitch; unfortunately for him, there was no sign of it.

With the two of them now searching the tiny ball, the match continued. That thing was nearly impossible to see — you could blink for just a moment and you’d lose sight of it completely as if it disappeared. Both seekers went their own separate ways, their eyes peeled now they know the snitch was on the loose.

Only a few minutes passed by and Javen had already got the snitch in his sights, speeding up on it fast.

“Alexi scores! Another ten points for Hufflepuff!”

He wasn’t going to give up — Matthew instantly went zooming down the pitch towards the opposing seeker, the pair now neck-and-neck in the race for the ball. It didn’t take long for the Hufflepuff to trail past him — his Windsurfer didn’t stand a chance.

Once again, he thought the match was over at that point. Unless one of the beaters could manage to hit him again, there was no way Matthew was going to win. BUT...he soon thought of a clever idea: if he can’t compete with speed, he can most certainly compete with skill.

And with that mindset, the wolf flew off in another direction...

Everybody was confused — he could hear the crowds screaming at him, “Where are you going? The snitch is THAT way!”

Meanwhile, Javen was swerving in between the stands, his eyes locked onto the snitch; he was so close he could hear its wings flutter.

“A lovely save by Hufflepuff keeper Aleshka Alejandra!”

Things were intense. The main match was going on between the rest of the players, and Rowell was close to the snitch. But Matthew? Nobody knew what he was doing.

But suddenly, the crowd began to erupt with anticipation — Matthew had gone for a shortcut to Javen, coming at the snitch in a complete different direction. The students were up on their feet, their cheers growing louder by the second as the Ravenclaw got closer to the snitch — even passing Rowell now. Beyond his belief, his plan worked.

“He’s got it! Matthew Woodward has earned one-hundred-and-fifty points for catching the snitch!”

Once it was confirmed by Dorvak over the speakers, the high-pitched sound of Hooch’s whistle echoed across the pitch.

“RAVENCLAW WINS!!!”

With three simple words, the entire school roared with applause. Matthew looked down at his clutched hand with his fingers wrapped tightly around the golden ball before looking around the stadium, his cheeks turning red as he saw everybody’s eyes laying on him. He could hear them all chanting his last name.

“Woodward! Woodward! Woodward! Woodward!”

He saw his fellow teammates flying straight towards him, Jan tackling him to embrace him in a tight hug.

“What did I say, huh?! What did I say?!” She yelled at the wolf with a humongous grin on her face, making him crack a wide smile.

“Dude, that was amazing!” Said Nefaris to his left, the pair exchanging fist bumps.

Not so long after, he saw a member of the Hufflepuff team coming his way — it was Rowell. He came over with a rather tame smile, his arm extending out to him.

“Well played, man,” he said, offering a respectful handshake. Delighted by the offer, he gladly accepted and they both shook hands.

“Thank you,” said the grey wolf, giving an appreciative smile back at him before Javen flew towards the rest of the Ravenclaws.

“C’mon, Math, show ‘em the snitch!” Seven encouraged him.

Matthew raised his arm up into the air and proudly showed what he had achieved. After constantly worrying the night before, all that stress was taken away in an instant.

“Looks like the Ravenclaws are definitely gonna be throwing a party in the common room tonight!” Darvak stated over the speaker.

As it turned out, the silly wolf had worried over nothing after all.

_______________________________________

Finally, I’ve been able to post this story! I’ve been waiting to get an edited version of the original piece before posting this and I only just got it last night, so I apologise for that.

This story was INCREDIBLY fun to write! Harry Potter was a huge part of my childhood, so this story really means a lot to me. This is another storyline you’ll see Matthew in! All these Harry Potter stories will be set during Matthew’s seven years at Hogwarts School or Witchcraft and Wizardry, from 2010 – 2017, and will focus on self-contained stories about his experiences and relationships in that school. I really hope you guys enjoy them! Many more stories coming soon!

AMAZING piece by my wonderful friend Jailbird!

Thank you to all my friends who allowed me to feature them in these stories! <3