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Chapter 21: “Quidditch World Cup II”
🕑 Added 2024-01-05 20:10:11 +0000 UTCAll the spectators shouted and applauded with excitement. Thousands of flags waved, and the anthems of their nations joined the hustle of the crowd. On a huge panel, it said the following: AUSTRALIA: 0; FRANCE: 0.
"Without wasting any more time, let me introduce Australia's team mascots!" the announcer said in an excited tone. The right-side grandstand who was a solid block of yellow and blue roared their approval.
A puff of smoke appeared on the field, and when it dissolved a line of magical creatures led by several wizards dressed in Australia's colors could be noticed. James had never seen such strange creatures, 'Kangaroos...?' he thought puzzled, only the top part looked like normal kangaroos.
The out-of-place thing was that they had wings on their backs, like those of a bat, and their hind legs were more delicate and had silvery claws that glinted like silver. James at this time did not devote time to the study of magical creatures, so he did not know which creature it was.
Fortunately, his grandfather answered his question, "Oh, it's Kangurillaurs! I haven't seen one in a long time, and they are a large herd" said Henry who had his omni-glasses on to get a closer look at the spectacle.
The herd of Kangurillaurs led by the magicians left a scintillating trail as they flew. The flashes created magical patterns in the sky, forming the Australian Quidditch team crest.
The crowd applauded in satisfaction at the Kangurillaurs' magical show, the only ones who booed were the French.
The blonde woman a few seats to James' right said in a dismissive tone, "Hmph they're just kangaroos in different colors." James managed to hear her, he noticed she was speaking in French and understood her perfectly, as it was a language, he was fluent in.
"Don't say that honey, the magical world is amazing... I still can't get used to seeing such creatures" said the man in amazement, his French wasn't as good as the woman's, they looked like they were a couple of foreigners.
"Yes, mom. They are so cute!" said the little girl in English.
'They seem to be cheering for France' thought James who was listening and at the same time watching the Australian pet show.
"And now...!" bellowed the presenter's voice, "Let's welcome... France's national team mascots!"
Instantly, a multi-colored blue, white, and red comet appeared as it shot into the stadium, circled the field, and then headed high into the sky. Forming the flag of France, James with his omniculars could finally see that they were birds, hundreds of them, some were blue, some red, and some white. He didn't know how so many birds could be controlled, but the spectacle was incredible, they formed images in the air while moving nimbly.
The crowd exclaimed 'Oooooh!' and 'Aaaaah!' as if they were watching a fireworks display. All at once they came together and finished the show by creating the French Quidditch shield.
"Wonderful!" exclaimed the blonde woman in French.
"And now, ladies and gentlemen, let's give a warm welcome to the French national quidditch team!"
The announcer began naming name by name, and the players entering the field cheered by their home crowd and booed by the opposing stands. The same went for the Australian team. Finally, the referee was introduced, carrying a wooden box under one arm and his flying broom under the other. He mounted his broom and opened the box with a swipe of his leg: four balls were free at that moment: the quaffle, red in color; the two black bludgers, and the winged, golden, tiny snitch that disappeared in a jiffy.
"Game on!" shouted the referee. Everyone took off from their brooms, each player to their position. James watched without taking his eyes off the pitch, he didn't want to miss a single play, they were professionals, much better than him, and he could learn a lot from this match.
The skill of the players was extremely high, their level was the best in the world, and they had reached the final for a reason. When a play was too fast to understand, James pressed the play-by-play button to watch the game in slow motion, then he would return it to normal when he understood it.
He was doing this because he didn't have enough time to watch the game in slow motion, so he was trying to analyze it as fast as he could.
"Jérémie scores!" bellowed the commentator and the entire stadium vibrated with cheers and applause, "Ten-nil in favor of France!"
James, Henry, and Fleamont clicked their tongues. Next to them, the blonde woman was screaming her head off, her family was clapping too, but not as enthusiastically as she was.
"Come on Penny, why don't you party more enthusiastically?" the woman asked her oldest daughter.
"Yes, sorry... Yei...!" said the girl Penny without so much enthusiasm, her mother as she was absorbed in the match did not give it much more importance.
The match continued, but the intensity never dropped, France took a 30-0 lead to the surprise of many, but Australia reacted and managed to tie it. The girl named Penny and her father seemed to be celebrating Australia's goals a lot more, something that angry her mother, but she didn't say anything.
James was celebrating when Australia scored, but not as much as if it had been his national team that had made it to the final. At one point the match reached new levels of ferocity. The referee began to call numerous fouls.
This was because the French players argued fiercely with the referee for calling a penalty in Australia's favor, which led to the referee calling one more penalty in Australia's favor and Australia taking the lead.
After almost 3 hours of the match, the score was 300-200 in Australia's favor, however, if the French seeker caught the snitch he would win the match, so they could not be confident.
"Look, he saw the snitch!" shouted Henry pointing to the French seeker. Very few spectators noticed this.
James, Fleamont, and Euphemia looked with their omnichromes to where Henry was pointing, the blonde family next door overheard the conversation and quickly looked that way as well.
"Damn it, where's the Australian seeker?" asked Fleamont urgently.
The French supporters rose like a blue and red wave, shouting for their seeker to catch the snitch and end the match. Luckily, the Australian seeker noticed this and went after him.
The Australian seeker managed to get behind the Frenchman, but it looked like he wasn't going to make it, "Catch it!" shouted the blonde woman in French.
James felt his heartbeat faster, it seemed to be the end for Australia, and the damn French would win on home soil. However, at the last second, the snitch made a sudden and swift turn, escaping from the Frenchman's fingers.
"Quoi!" exclaimed the French seeker, his mistake was to follow the snitch with his eyes, not realizing that in front of him was one of the goalposts. Because of the speed at which he was going he couldn't break in time and crashed.
A metallic noise was heard throughout the stadium, James saw through the omnichannels how the broom broke, and the seeker's expression turned to pain, as he hit a metal post at more than 120 kilometers per hour.
The entire stadium fell silent, especially the French stand, on the one hand, they felt sorry for the hit of their seeker, but above all for letting such a good opportunity pass by.
The Australian seeker didn't mind the accident at all and nimbly doubled without losing sight of the snitch, the Australian stand began to shout excitedly, and the tables were turned.
"It's now!" exclaimed James seeing the Australian seeker stretching his hand towards the snitch.
He finally made it, it didn't slip away, he closed his hand tightly and rose into the air smoothly and gracefully, fist raised high and a flash of gold inside his hand.
The board announced: AUSTRALIA: 450; FRANCE: 200 to the crowd that was still open-mouthed, it all happened so fast. The poor French seeker was still lying unattended on the floor of the field.
Suddenly a roar went up among the supporters of the Australian team, and it grew louder and louder until it turned into shouts of joy.
"AUSTRALIA WON!" the commentator shouted, causing the cheers to increase.
James, Fleamont, and Henry were also clapping excitedly, though not as much as the Australians. The blonde girl and her father also had smiles; the blonde woman looked at them with a frown.
"It was magnificent, wasn't it?" asked Euphemia looking at James who nodded several times very happy to see the match.
"I hope that player is okay" added Euphemia looking towards the field, where several healers were making their way towards him to heal him.
"And as the Australian team takes a lap of honor around the field, escorted by their mascots, the Quidditch Cup arrives!" the commentator bellowed.
In a grandstand not far from where they stood a large gold cup appeared carried by two wizards who handed the cup to a woman dressed in a very elegant robe. James recognized her immediately, the British Minister of Magic: Eugenia Jenkins.
Her hair was gray, but she had a dignified and elegant bearing and expression, she held the cup and waited for the players to arrive before handing it over. Finally, the captain of the Australian team raised the cup in the air and the crowd thundered its approval.
