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Chapter 81: “Discussion”
🕑 Added 2024-02-25 16:41:39 +0000 UTC"Bob! How are you?" greeted James with a smile. After Gwen and Erika, Bob was the closest person to James from the Dragon Club.
"Good. Hi Gwen," Bob said as he looked at the blonde girl who didn't look at him and had a slight frown on her face.
Seconds passed, and Gwen didn't respond. Bob scratched his cheek and asked, "Hey James, do you want to go practice a little in the dueling room?"
Practicing with Bob a third-year student (more fourth than third), was very beneficial to James, but as he was about to speak, Gwen spoke in a cold tone, "He can't. We're reading."
"Oh well... sorry for interrupting. See you," Bob said quickly and embarrassed as he walked out of the library.
"What's wrong with you? Why are you treating him like this?" asked James with a frown, looking at Gwen, who looked as if nothing had happened. He noticed the contemptuous tone in Gwen's voice.
"Don't you know? His family is Muggle," Gwen replied scornfully looking at her nails.
James didn't know about this information. He hadn't spent that much time with Bob to learn about his family's origins. He had forgotten about this part of Gwen's personality.
"So what's wrong with his family being Muggle?" asked James, trying to control his anger.
"Ugh... same conversation again," said Gwen, sighing with irritation.
"What did good old Bob do to you to make you treat him like that?" continued James, trying to talk some sense into his friend.
"He didn't do anything to me! But that's not the point. We're two different kinds of people," said Gwen, trying not to raise her voice. By different kinds of people, she meant that she as a pureblood was superior to a mudblood. People who are a disgrace to the magical world.
"If he is an inferior person. How did he get into the dragon club? Wasn't it an exclusive club? Tell me, the other pureblood students who don't get into any of the three clubs are they inferior to him?" asked James.
Gwen frowned at this question. James had a point, but she wasn't planning on agreeing with him. "I only get into the club because of Erika and her Ravenclaw friends. They're moralists who think we're all the same" Gwen replied.
James couldn't believe how biased Gwen was making such cheap excuses, "Do you listen to the idiotic things you say?" asked James, getting angrier and angrier.
"Don't say I'm talking nonsense! You and I are superior people to them. Why can't you see that? Just look at our talent and theirs. The answer is clear!" exclaimed Gwen, getting up from her seat and glaring at James.
"Not true!" exclaimed James, also getting up from his seat and scowling at Gwen.
"Then name me a mudblood who is on par with us!" demanded Gwen irritably.
"Come on, speak up!" insisted Gwen at James' silence.
"Lily Evans, she's superior to many students from pureblood families!" replied James. The first person that popped into his head was the red-haired girl.
In an instant, the air grew thicker. Gwen, feeling angrier for some reason repeated the name in a different tone, "Lily Evans?" she muttered slowly, her lips speaking the name with fury and a hatred she hadn't felt before.
The Ravenclaw boy who was reading stopped his activity and watched the fight as if it were a spectacle. He didn't mind them raising their voices. He preferred gossip.
"Who is she?" asked Gwen in a low, cold tone looking at James.
"I told you! A person who outranks many heirs of pureblood families," said James still angry and not noticing Gwen's change.
James angrily closed the book put it on the shelf, and walked out of the place angrily, leaving Gwen at the table alone.
Gwen couldn't believe she had been left alone especially when she had so many more questions about Lily Evans. It was similar to the time she walked out of classroom 11 and left James alone, but now it happened to her.
Two days passed since the argument between James and Gwen, and since that day they stopped talking to each other. If he was in the dragon clubhouse they ignored each other and did not practice together anymore.
James, these days was in a very bad mood. He didn't like that discussion at all, especially because of Gwen's position, who was one of his first friends and whom he valued very much.
Another problem came to James' mind these days. Lupin, and his lycanthropy. He didn't know how to approach him to talk about it, which put him in a bad mood. All the attempts to talk about personal problems with his friends ended badly, and he didn't want to fight with Lupin.
Luckily, today was the day of the match: Gryffindor vs Hufflepuff. There was a great atmosphere at breakfast in the large hall. The day was sunny and without a cloud in sight, perfect weather to send off the last Gryffindor quidditch match.
Minutes before the start of the match, the stadium was already packed. The Gryffindor crowd was cheering and chanting without stopping for a second. If they could get a good result they could have minimal hopes of winning the coveted title.
On the other hand, the Slytherin stands were booing and whistling at the top of their lungs. The Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw stands were quieter, as they couldn't win the championship at this point.
"Come on team! If we win by a good score we'll pass Slytherin and have a chance to win the championship!" cheered William in the locker room as they were about to leave.
James was there with the whole team, even though he would not be playing. Fabian and Gideon Prewett had exasperated faces. It was 15 minutes ago that William was giving a motivational speech.
"They know the plan! Axel will try to catch the Snitch when we have a good points lead, in the meantime don't take your eye off the Hufflepuff seeker," said William, looking at Fabian and Gideon.
"Yeah..." said the brothers vaguely.
'This is my last chance...' thought Alex, gripping his broom tightly.
The strategy was to get the snitch once they had a good amount of points. It was a risky strategy, but if it went well they could overtake Slytherin by a large amount of points and increase the chance of them not catching them.
"Let's go!" said William excitedly walking out of the locker room.
"YES!" they all exclaimed in unison as they walked out onto the pitch and were cheered by all of Gryffindor. James then went to the stands with the marauders and watched the match nervously.
With the referee's whistle, the match began. Gryffindor didn't mind conceding goals as long as they were up on the scoreboard. Fabian kept looking at the opposing seeker.
William was having a great match, as the batsmen were not so attentive to the chasers, he had to save many more quaffles than usual, and none of them escaped him. Earning a lot of applause from the Gryffindor stand.
Thanks to William's incredible saves they managed to take the lead on the scoreboard, "Don't take your eye off him!" shouted Gideon to his brother while he was heading for a Bludger.
The score was increasing in favor of Gryffindor. However, Hufflepuff was on their heels: 10 to 0, 20 to 10, 30 to 20, and so on.
'Good... it's better if the snitch doesn't show up,' thought James without taking his eyes off Alex.
To his bad luck a shout was heard, "Look at that! I think it's the snitch!" exclaimed a Gryffindor boy.
It was indeed the golden snitch which was very difficult to track with the eyes because of its incredible speed.
"Don't catch it yet!" shouted William in the direction of Alex, who flew with incredible speed to the snitch.
They needed more goals. Every goal was a higher percentage for Slytherin not to pass them when they beat Ravenclaw. No one believed the eagles could beat the snakes.
Between Fabian, Gideon, and Alex they tried to stop the opposing seeker by getting in his way or throwing an angry Bludger at him.
"Damn, he's sneaky!" cursed Fabian as he saw his Bludger being dodged by the skin of his teeth.
Time continued to pass and it was getting harder and harder to try and stop the opposing seeker as he was being helped by his team. He wasn't alone.
"William at this rate, they'll catch the snitch!" shouted Gideon urgently. He knew it would be more dangerous if they kept playing with fire.
"One more goal!" said William, refusing to end the match.
All of Gryffindor screamed in fright and covered their eyes when they saw that the Hufflepuff seeker was about to catch the snitch. Toby had his back turned. He didn't want to see.
Lupin clutched his robes tightly. Sirius wanted to look calm, but every time, he sighed calmly because the opposing seeker missed giving him away. Peter was biting his nails and trembling slightly.
As for James, he noticed that his heart was beating very fast, something unusual for him, not even against the Slytherin match did such a thing happen to him.
"GRYFFINDOR GOAL!" shouted Murphy McNully with excitement in his tone. Even though he was from Hufflepuff he was very professional at his job, as he wanted to be the best quidditch commentator.
"With this goal, Gryffindor reaches 110 points! An unbelievable score! Wait, look! HUFFPELUFF GOAL! Chaser Ryan doesn't stand still and attacks immediately. 110 to 100! In favor of Gryffindor!"
"Do it, Alex!" shouted William. It was time to end the match.
At the go-ahead a smile formed on Alex's face. Finally, he could act and not stand on the sidelines trying to defend the snitch. A race began between Alex and the rival seeker.
In a moment two Bludgers were headed for them, one to each of them. Alex managed to dodge by the skin of his teeth. However, it was not the same for the long-haired Hufflepuff boy. The Bludger barely touched the tip of his broom, but it was enough to knock him off balance.
This small slip, served to Alex managed to get ahead and catch the snitch spinning to avoid crashing. Alex raised his fist and with his broom flew high for all to see.
"The golden snitch was caught by the Gryffindor seeker, Alex!" exclaimed Murphy and all of Gryffindor was filled with cheers, applause, and whistles.
"End of the match: Gryffindor 260 - Hufflepuff 100!"
