There’s nothing quite as exciting, nothing as sure to get your blood pumping as a nice match of Quidditch and there’s few games as exciting as the first of the year! The stands were packed as students of all houses gathered to see school rivals Gryffindor and Slytherin take to the pitch and face off.
Led by Captain Eilidh Dashwood the Gryffindor team was composed of Chasers Jericho Rothenberg, Aleksei Ashworth, and Isabella Watson with Eilidh herself and Amrishaya Kol serving as beaters. Reese McKay took up the position of Keeper while Foster Cobris returned for his second year on the team to serve as seeker.
On the other side, Slytherin was led by Link Delitch who chased alongside Abigail Bluetooth and Lilee Morris, while Almeda Peyroux and Ashley Lee beat, Aiyana Peyroux-Dubois played Keep Out, and Alexandra Allaire stood opposite Cobris.
The game started off fast, with Delitch getting hands on the quaffle first, though he was no match for McKay’s blocking skills. Rothenberg took the first score of the match and thus began a feud like no other while the teams battled for supremacy. It was a fast paced back and forth leaving commentator, Nora Clements fumbling to keep up as Slytherin scored 10 to Gryffindor’s 30- not that the lead lasted long.
Bludgers were flying wildly throughout the match, Kol taking the first bludgering with Dashwood following up- both focusing on Delitch. Unfortunately, this focus on the Slytherin captain seemed to open up for Bluetooth to score a few solid goals, bringing the team up 90 to 70 in Slytherin’s favour.
Despite the rough start for Slytherin, this was where they began to shine- with Bluetooth scoring goal after goal on McKay. Rumours spread throughout the stands of a disillusionment charm being in play, but I’ve been assured that Slytherin denies all claims. In fact, Bluetooth was reached out to for comment and had this to say:
“If that is what people think, that is on them. There is no challenge in cheating and I love my challenges.”
While Gryffindor Keeper McKay was unavailable for comment, Chaser and Co-Captain Jericho Rothenberg said this:
“It was really odd, ya know? I ain’t got nothing against Bluetooth, I rather like her, but she’s got nearly TRIPLE the scores of the other two chasers on her team. She’s also got nearly double the score of two of the Gryffindor chasers, two of which were part of the highest ranks last year and helped Gryffindor have an undefeated season- especially Ashworth. Ashworth’s a freak of nature on the pitch, and she managed to outscore him nearly double? She wasn’t pulling numbers like this last year or the year before to my knowledge. I heard a couple people mention the quaffle was real hard to make out this game. Some of the Slytherins have been real intense this year- you know the ones. It wouldn’t be weird if they disillusioned the quaffle, ya know?”
Regardless, the match continued on with Cobris diving for and losing the snitch a handful of times, while Allaire seemed to be having a hard time managing- in part due to the bludgers coming her way and knocking her from the air. Don’t get out your copies of Quidditch through the Ages in outrage though! As Clements informed the stadium, Rosewood- current head of the DMGAS- recently removed the no bludgering seekers rule. That didn’t stop Slytherin from being called on it though, as Gryffindor called a time out to argue the excessive bludgering and have refs inspect the bludger- 45 minutes into the match. Before play resumed, Slytherin beater Ashley Lee ended up receiving a warning for excessive targeting of Cobris and after five minutes both teams were in the air once more.
The match continued on, with Slytherin steamrolling Gryffindor- a surprising change, given Ashworth’s reputation with the Quaffle, but maybe the bloke’s losing his touch or maybe it had to do with Lee and Peyroux focusing him hard. The teams were 310 to 200 with Slytherin in the lead when a greensparking was called and Morris was grounded for 10 minutes with Gryffindor taking a penalty shot. Despite these concerns, Dashwood put Ashworth up for the shot and he did score, bringing the game to continue once more.
I’ll be honest, I’ve never seen a match as exciting as this one. With Dashwood doing her best to absolutely batter the emerald team and McKay’s protection rate picking up, it became an intense standoff with both teams racking up points.
The score was sitting pretty at 480 to 350 when both seekers shot off after it. Allaire was on its tail when something caused her to veer off, quickly landing with her hands covering her head. At the same time, Cobris pulled a surprisingly daring dive to catch the snitch in that trademark claw, securing the victory for Gryffindor 510 to 480- a mere 30 point difference. The excitement didn’t end there though as Allaire seemed to collapse on the pitch, leading in healers rushing to her side. Don’t know what happened there, but it was a thrilling end to an electric game. Hope the girl’s okay, shame on Delitch letting her play when she was clearly unwell.
For those of you interested in stats and MVPs, here’s a few shoutouts.
Most Quaffle Catches:
Aleksei Ashworth – 45
Most Steals:
Abigail Bluetooth – 7
Most Passes:
Lilee Morris – 9
Most Shots Taken:
Abigail Bluetooth – 43
Most Goals Made:
Abigail Bluetooth – 28
Most Bludgers Hit:
Ashley Lee – 34
Most Bludger Hits Taken:
Link Delitch – 28
Most Goals Blocked:
Aiyana Peyroux-Dubois – 26
With all the excitement from the prior game, fans are chomping at the bit for tomorrow’s match where Ravenclaw faces off against Hufflepuff. I managed to catch up with the captains and if their words are anything to go by, it’s going to be a violent one tomorrow.
Bobby Billings, 6th Year Captain and Beater of the Hufflepuff promised fans this much:
“I’m gonna clip [Chalamet’s] wings, that’s what. Wait and see. I love Cy, but on the pitch he’s just another bird waiting for a bludger. I’m dedicating the win to my team. They deserve it.”
When I informed the sweet and not-to-mention good looking 6th Year Ravenclaw Captain and Chaser, Cypress Chalamet of the threat on his life he assured me this:
“I don’t think Bobby would do that to me, not on my birthday, at least! But I do have some shoulder and arm protection I’ll be wearing for the game, just to be safe. He’s pretty strong, so it could happen on accident.”
I certainly would hate to see Chalamet get his pretty face bashed in, but it seems he’s at a disadvantage, lacking the blood-thirstiness of his opponent. Though rumour has it, Chalamet’s just playing diplomatic and in reality, he’s called for Billings’ head on a platter as the Birthday Gift he’s most wishing for tomorrow. I guess we’ll see who’s serving up violence and victory on the pitch tomorrow! Stay tuned!
