Matthew Woodward
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The Quidditch Cup Final
🕑 Added 2022-04-19 01:30:28 +0000 UTCIt was coming near the end of Spring. Summertime was just around the corner, and the temperature was starting to pick up; it was much warmer than the freezing Winter they had that school year. But one thing was certain when the school term was coming to an end — the Quidditch Cup final was upon them. The buildup to the event was typical, though the atmosphere was much bigger than before; students were excited because for the first time in ten years, Ravenclaw could potentially be a victor once again. Last time they made it into the final was roughly six years before. One more match — one more step to victory. There was only one team standing in their way: Gryffindor.
After breakfast, the Ravenclaw players rallied up in the changing room after getting dressed in their Quidditch attire and gathered around the board where Jan was waiting patiently.
“Sixty points,” said the lioness. “That’s how much Gryffindor is in the lead with.”
Unfortunately, she was right; Gryffindor were first place with five-hundred-and-seventy points, and Ravenclaw were placed second with five-hundred-and-ten. In order for Ravenclaw to win the Quidditch Cup, they had to beat Gryffindor by at least seventy points in that match.
“Y’know what this means, guys. We’ve gotta make sure we win by at least seventy points ahead of them — with or without the snitch. It’s gonna be tricky — I’m not gonna lie — but I know we can do this. You have all proven that you’re remarkable on the field, and we’ve got what it takes to win this year. Seven, Pyro — we’re gonna have to up our A-game for this. We CANNOT let them score more than us. Ty, Lee — knock those bludgers into them as much as you can.”
“Don’t worry, Jan — we’ve got this!” Said Ty, him and Lee whacking their bats together.
“And Matthew,” she turned towards the wolf. “If all else fails, you remember what we talked about: wait until we’re eighty points behind them or less, and then grab that snitch, that way we’ll still be seventy points ahead when you’ve got it. We’re counting on you this game. We need you more than EVER.”
The stakes were high for that game. Matthew had to time his catch of the snitch just right, but there was just one problem: Gryffindor’s Seeker.
“So with that said...let’s go show them how we Ravenclaws play.”
Shortly after, the familiar bass drums began pounding on the pitch,
and a crowd full of cheers was followed closely behind.
“Alright, boys...it’s game time.”
One after the other, the seven of them flew out onto the field with their brooms and were greeted with immense applause. As always, both halves of the stadium’s audience were dressed for the occasion: one side with Ravenclaw’s familiar colours, and the other this time, a solid red and gold. Thankfully, the weather was a much better improvement compared to the harsh Winter they had to play in a few months prior. It was a rather hot day — so hot that students were sweating bullets. Good thing Matthew and his team were playing that day; they were able to use the fresh air as a natural fan to blow through their fur and keep them cool.
The Gryffindor players (wearing scarlet robes) were already out on the pitch and spiralling around the towers, showing off their skills to the crowd.
“Welcome, everyone, to the final Quidditch match of the season. For today’s game, we’ll be witnessing the ultimate showdown: Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw!”
Once both teams were high in the air, they all circled around the centre of the pitch. Beneath them on the ground was Madam Hooch with the crate containing the balls required in the game, and one-by-one, they were released into the air except for the quaffle.
“Alright, you lot — you know the rules!” Reminded the cloaked hawk from below.
A few moments later, the referee took the quaffle from the chest and stepped directly into the centre before tossing it up in the air for the players. Once it reached their height, the Quidditch Final had officially begun.
“And they’re off! The quaffle is acquired by Chaser Deborah Thompson of Gryffindor and is speeding down the field — she quickly passes to fellow Chaser Freya and makes her way to the hoops — oh, a lovely dodge from her there! She passes back to Thompson, and — She scores! That’s ten points to Gryffindor!”
Already, the red pride were showing their capabilities and the game had barely even started; they were proving to be a difficult challenge for them.
“Keeper Nefaris of Ravenclaw passes the quaffle to captain Jan Titus and off she goes — oh, she just barely manages to dodge past the lot of them — she passes to Seven, who then passes to Navalia and books it down to the goals, and — OH, and Gryffindor Keeper Exarion successfully saves a goal for their team. The quaffle’s back in the Chasers’ hands, this time being held by Aethem Val’ryn — lovely dodging there from him — he’s coming up to the hoops, but Titus tackles him and retrieves the ball for the team — she flies down the pitch and manoeuvres past the Chasers, knocking anyone who’s in her way — there’s no stopping her — she passes to Seven — he passes back — she shoots — SHE SCORES — that’s Ravenclaw’s first ten points!”
Meanwhile, high up in the hair, Matthew remained still and scanned the stadium for any sign of the snitch; one golden glint of light, and he’d be on his way towards it. But he had to keep in mind: he could NOT grab it until they’d surpassed the other team by sixty points in order for them to win the Cup. In the meantime — since the snitch could not be seen at that moment — all he heard was the loud speakers of the commentator from below.
“Gryffindor takes possession of the quaffle — Freya passes to Captain Amy Page — lovely corkscrews there! She passes to Freya — she passes to Aethem — dodges a tackle from Navalia — back to Freya — she shoots — oh, and Keeper Nefaris of Ravenclaw saves the shot. He tosses the ball to Titus who then swerves it past Thompson, but is tackled by Freya — all six Chasers are now tackling each other for the quaffle — and Val’ryn reigns victorious! He zooms down the pitch — Navalia catches up and tries to snatch the quaffle off him, but is SMACKED by a bludger — Val’ryn shoots — HE SCORES — another ten points to the Red Pride!”
Roughly an hour later, the Gryffindors were proving to be extremely talented with their Quidditch skills; their Chasers were agile with the quaffle and were excellent at passing to each other, the Beaters were dead-accurate with their swings, and the Keeper was constantly saving shots. Matthew could only imagine what their Seeker was like. Ravenclaw had scored ninety points, while Gryffindor were in the lead with a whopping TWO-HUNDRED, meaning the Eagles had to shrink the gap between them to at least eighty points.
“No sign of the snitch yet?” Asked Jan who swooped up next to him.
“No, not yet.”
“Well, keep a close eye out, especially on Balvenie. We gotta score three more goals before you can catch it.” And with that said, she swooped back down into the action.
It was a complete shocker to everyone, including Matthew, that the snitch hadn’t been seen by anyone an hour into the game. However, a few minutes later, he heard the familiar fluttering of its wings — it was right there, flying just inches away from him, almost as if it was begging to be taken. He was so tempted to grab it, but he knew he couldn’t, at least not yet; he was just hoping no one else would see it…
Thankfully, the tiny, golden ball flew away from him, but remained high in the sky where not many people were paying attention. Balvenie, further down to crowd, was also keeping an eye out on the pitch, oblivious to the snitch that remained up in the air with Matthew.
“A fantastic corkscrew tackle from Titus, who immediately passes to Seven — then passes to Navalia — he kicks Thompson away — now back to Titus — she tosses it over Page, and — WOAH! Titus scores yet ANOTHER goal for Ravenclaw! They were not letting Gryffindor catch the quaffle that time!”
Yes — another ten points for Ravenclaw! Now all the Chasers needed to do was score just two more times. Matthew pumped his fist in the air with optimism as looked down at the pitch. But unfortunately, despite only taking his eyes off the snitch for just a brief moment, he looked back up to see it was gone. He panicked as his eyes darted all across his surroundings and not a single sign of it being anywhere near him, which meant that—
“AHA! The snitch! And Gryffindor’s Seeker Balvenie is on the move!”
The anxious wolf looked down to see the doberman chasing after the snitch. Immediately, Matthew pointed his Windsurfer directly down towards the pitch below him, plummeting him deep into the action — the chase was on.
Going down, he knew what his number one priority was: don’t let Balvenie catch the snitch. Once low enough, he began to lean back on his broom to straighten up while remaining on track. He caught up to Balvenie and they were neck-and-neck for a moment, but her Firebolt Supreme was faster than his broom, allowing her to pass by. The wolf quickly adjusted his angle and flew straight towards an area further ahead of them; thankfully, that allowed him to catch up to her once again, but she kicked him away. Not even a moment later, he came back barging into her, knocking the doberman off course. She looked in front of her after regaining control of her broom, but was unable to see where the snitch had gone, relieving some stress from Matthew since he no longer had to fly after her.
“And Seven scores another goal for Ravenclaw, now with a hundred-and-ten points!” Informed Dorvak over the speakers.
He constantly scanned around the pitch, but there was no sign of the ball. But wait — he heard a noise coming from behind him. Was it the fluttering of the snitch’s wings? Worse — the whistling sound of a bludger, and it was coming right towards him.
The wolf swerved to the side and watched as the iron ball bolted past, just inches away from his face. He turned around to see Tanro, one of Gryffindor’s Beaters, hovering above him, twirling the wooden bat in his hand. He suddenly began to hear the whistling of the bludger once again as it made its way towards the Beater, which lead to Matthew fleeing from him; however, that didn’t seem to stop Tanro from chasing after him. He swung his bat hard at the bludger coming towards him and shot it directly down at Matthew, which he barely dodged. Thankfully, the Beater flew after that swing, putting the grey wolf’s mind at ease. However, that didn’t last long.
Shortly after, along with Tanro, came Arby Smith, Gryffindor’s second beater, and the pair had their bats ready for a swing.
“Aw, crap…” The wolf muttered to himself.
The canine turned in the opposite direction and flew in between the stands with both Tanro and Smith following closely behind him, attempting to get them off his tail. The two were incredibly skilled with their shots, being able to pass the bludger back-and-forth between each other to keep it on course with Matthew. Once he reached the final stand at the end of the pitch, Smith wacked the iron ball straight towards the wolf. He quickly looped and changed direction to the other end of the field, successfully dodging it, but the Beaters were persistent in following him; clearly, they were determined to get Ravenclaw’s Seeker out of the competition.
“…She dodges past Seven — barges past Titus — she shoots and — Page scores another ten points for Gryffindor!”
Tanro and Arby were closing in on him with their bats at the ready — Matthew heard the ominous whistle of the bludger once again — he then heard the collision of the bat and ball, but despite attempting a dodge to avoid it, the bludger never came. What happened? Did they misdirect the shot?
“Merlin’s beard — a cracking shot from Foxglove right there! Smith might need to go to the Hospital Wing, though…”
Matthew turned around, only to see Arby had crashed into the grass below. The bit of the bat wasn’t from either Tanro or Smith — it was from Lee!
“You okay, dude?!” Asked the hyena.
“Yeah, I’m alright — thanks!”
When Ty was flying by, Lee got his attention and glided up towards him.
“I’ll cover Matthew, they’re trying to knock him off his broom,” he informed the tiger.
“Got it,” he responded, flying off in an instant to get back in the game.
“Oh, and Balvenie seems to have found the snitch yet again!”
The wolf quickly located the doberman’s whereabouts and zoomed straight towards her and catching up in no time. The two were at it again, knocking into each other, trying to send the other away from the chase, but neither Seeker were allowing that happen. Suddenly, the snitch redirected its route into the centre of the action; Matthew flew under the traffic, meanwhile Balvenie dove into the thick of it. She managed to keep up with the tiny ball, but the lupine had very little struggle shifting himself back on course.
“…Navalia swerves past Freya and passes to Seven — then passes to Titus — she dodges past Page — she shoots — SHE SCORES! There’s no stopping her today!”
The snitch began to make its way up towards the sky once more with both Seekers gaining on it. Bal was close enough that she reached out her hand to grasp it in her palm, but the ball suddenly shot back down to the field yet again. Thanks to the Windsurfer, Matthew was able to seamlessly make a sharp turn and nosedive back down to the field, gaining the lead in the chase. But as soon as he made it back to pitch-level, he was unexpectedly bashed off the track by Bal, who managed to zoom past him due to her broom’s speed.
“Titus passes to Navalia and — GOAL! Navalia scores another goal for Ravenclaw!”
Shortly after the announcer had finished speaking, he then heard Jan yelling from above.
“MATTHEW! GRAB THE SNITCH!”
It was time — Ravenclaw had closed the gap enough for them to win the Cup if Matthew caught the snitch, and he had to get it, NOW.
He looked down to the other side of the field and saw Bal closely behind the snitch, and they were heading towards him. Matthew put on a burst of speed and launches down to the centre. The doberman was just inches away from having it in her grasp and the wolf was approaching them at an alarming pace, but he had a risky trick up his sleeve. Bal was growing concerned as he persisted on his route with no sign of him moving out of the way, but she refused to leave; nothing was going to stop her from grabbing it. And just as they were about to collide into one another, Matthew suddenly corkscrewed over her head, and he felt the snitch land in his palm while he was upside down.
“W-what did I just witness?! Matthew Woodward just pulled off an outstanding corkscrew and CAUGHT THE SNITCH?! WOW!” Dorvak expressed over the speakers.
The entire stadium roared with applause at Matthew’s catch, chanting, “MATTHEW! MATTHEW! MATTHEW!” repeatedly as the wings of the snitch retracted in the wolf’s hand while he descended onto the grass.
“Wait…so that means…with two-hundred-and-eighty-points at the end of the match…and beating them by just TEN points in the Quidditch Cup…RAVENCLAW WINS!!!”
The entirety of Hogwarts, including the teachers, stood up from their seats and cheered loud for the flock of Eagles, hands clapping and chanting all around. Matthew was in disbelief; he was responsible for winning the Quidditch Cup for Ravenclaw, and it happened on his first year of competing in the sport!
The whole team came running towards him with wide smiles on all their faces, and Jan dove right into him for a crushing hug.
“You did it, Math — you did it!” She yelled with excitement, the rest of his teammates nudging him and petting his head playfully.
Even the Gryffindors came down from the air to congratulate the them. Balvenie specifically walked up to Matthew and extended out her arm.
“What a catch!” She shouted.
“Heh, thanks!” He responded as they both shook hands.
The teachers came out shortly after, Professor McGonagall front and centre with the Quidditch Cup being levitated with her.
“Congratulations, Ravenclaws,” said McGonagall with a smile across her feline face.
Jan grabbed the Cup and turned around with it immediately, handing it over to Matthew. He looked at her as if to say ‘no’ since SHE was the captain, but she insisted with the biggest smile he had ever seen on her face.
“Go on, you earned it!”
The team swept him off his feet and raised him up for the crowd to see. Matthew didn’t do anything for a moment, but when he looked down at her again, she gestured her hands upwards as if to say ‘lift it up’. With encouragement, he finally raised the Cup high and proud as students all around clapped and chanted his name once again. He had never felt so alive — so beloved by students he had grown up with for those first three years, and he loved it.
“Well, Ravenclaws — get the butterbeer ready, ‘cuz there’s gonna be a celebration tonight!”
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Finally — I’ve done a game of Quidditch for each of the four houses! I’ve had a lot of fun doing the Quidditch stories and I hope you’ve enjoyed reading them! Maybe I’ll be doing more set a few years in the future when Matthew’s older :D
FANTASTIC pic done by Jailbird!
The Gryffindor Beater featured in this pic is my friend, Tanrowolf!
