The Order of Mischief I

2.10

Anya's arm swung, and the quaffle collided with the bat. The echo was loud enough to confuse many of the players on the field, who paused to see what was happening. James' strength had forced the ball to swing quickly, but it was stopped by a Zion's strength. The quaffle flew across the pitch, past wide-eyed Potter, and landed in the ready Kylennia Krakkof's arms. She grinned as she caught the ball and threw it straight into one of the rings that was not guarded by the Gryffindor keeper.

"Ten point to Ravenclaw!" The words were shouted into a magical mic that amplified the words across the stadium. And loud cheers followed soon after, with everyone celebrating the first ten points. Anya screamed cheerily as she raised her hands in the air to celebrate the small victory. Her enthusiasm was met with her equally proud parents, who were applauding and cheering from the side.

"Nicely done, Zion," James Potter said as he flew towards Anya. The girl looked to him and bowed her head with a smile, not bothering to be humble about her gameplay. The short interaction ended as soon as it had begun for the two players split up and moved to two different parts of the field.

"I see it! I see the snitch!" Phoebe shouted from behind, her hands pointing to the space above Anya's head. The Zion girl looked up and saw the golden ball hovering above her head, its wings flapping so fast that she almost believed they did not exist.

"Oh no," Anya whispered to herself as she looked ahead and found the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor seekers flying towards her, as quickly as they could. The world stilled around Anya as she realised how fast the seekers were required to be. With mere seconds on her, Anya drove towards the ground, flying straight towards it. She held her breath and avoided screaming as she focused her gaze on the fast-approaching ground.

"Anya!" A familiar voice shouted as she approached the ground. Anya pulled the front of her broom upwards and straightened herself as quickly as she could, the end of her broom grazing the ground as she flew in a parallel line to the ground. The young girl's bun had become loose, threatening to come undone, as she almost snapped her head to look behind her, there were no balls behind her, or around her for that matter. She was safe to catch her breath and calm down for a while, as she continued to fly five feet above the ground.

When she finally calmed down, she rose herself higher into the air and caught a glimpse of her parents. Her mother held her hand to her chest and her face was red with worry. Beside her, Anya's father was staring at her with a shocked expression. Anya's stomach sunk for she knew she would end the evening with a scolding from her parents. But she chose to ignore it by smiling at them and re-joining the game. She flew beside Sirius who was staring at her with a mortified expression. But he said nothing as she smiled at him, instead, he patted her shoulder and nodded, acknowledging that she was now alright.

The game continued with Gryffindor securing a couple more goals, pushing them in the lead. The rest of the match followed the same pace, with the quaffle flying through each goal in turn, once for Gryffindor, once for Ravenclaw, and then for Gryffindor again, and also Ravenclaw. Around the chasers and keepers, the seekers flew in circles, ignoring the other players and chasing the golden snitch. The beaters would occasionally play dirty and push the bludgers in the way of another member. More specifically, the dirty gameplay came from both Sirius and Anya, especially as their opponents came close to the goalposts. Their arms would swing in a frenzy, sending bludgers in the direction of those whose movements they wanted to stop altogether.

The game developed, growing more aggressive and competitive as the gap between the scores increased. Ravenclaw were in the lead by fifty points. But that did not stop the team from being determined to win, for the seeker had the power to change the game and end it altogether. So, the children continued to play, all their minds now trained to ignore the crowd that watched them. They blocked out the noises of disappointment and excitement from the audience. The anxiety in their blood had evaporated as they drilled themselves to trying to win the game. But there were moments when the players would be drawn out of the zone of focus and would be amused or shocked by the events that took place.

At one point, a bludger flew past James Potter's head, missing him by mere inches. The young boy ducked out of the way and he threw the quaffle through a ring, securing another ten points for his house. As soon as Gryffindor began cheering for James, he looked up and glared at Anya, who was too busy scowling at Sirius Black. He drew his gaze upon Sirius who wore a shocked expression. And the young boy was left feeling confused, uncertain about who threw the bludger in his direction. And neither of the two beaters paid any attention to him. And it dawned on him: it could have been the other beaters in the two houses who hit the bludgers in his direction, although he doubted it.

Opposite him, Phoebe Stevens scowled as the red players celebrated another goal. For a second-year student, she was doing a brilliant job at playing keeper, especially since she managed to prevent more balls from flying past her. She was determined to keep catching every ball thrown her way. She flew after the quaffle and caught it. She floated in front of her post and scanned for her available peers. She wasted no time to wait for Gryffindor to get over their celebratory moment, for it would give her the advantage. Smiling to herself, realising that the ever-so-cocky James Potter was backing her, she swung the ball towards her house captain, Amelia Alves.

James stood still as the celebratory moment came to an end. Ravenclaws flew past him, holding the quaffle in their arms. The red ball was passed around from one player to another, the three chasers flying after it. Amelia caught it in her arms, before throwing it to another chaser, Eric Elyas. The pair flew ahead, on two opposing sides of the pitch, throwing it back and forth, while the third chaser flew behind them. Peter Harding zoomed past the two players, intercepting the players, and catching the red ball in his hands, before he threw the quaffle into a goalpost, earning his team of blue and bronze another ten points.

The audience rose to their feet as another point was made. Anya used this as an opportunity to find her parents. They were smiling at her, their cheeks squished to the side of their faces for their mouths were stretched with pride. Beside them, she noticed James Potter's parents. They were an older couple who were enjoying the game as much as her parents were, however, James' father was enthusiastically invested in the game. He was frowning a bit as he watched his son's opponents lead the game.

"Catch the snitch!" Amelia's voice squealed as she flew past many players. The players across the field scattered, turning themselves into obstacles to slow down the seeker from the opposing house.

The Ravenclaws had switched up their gameplay, spreading out as far as they could. Marcus Bianchi and Anya Zion dedicated most of their energy to sending the quaffle in the direction of any Gryffindor player that intended to stop the Ravenclaw seeker from catching the snitch. Beneath the seekers and the beaters, the chasers slaved away at trying to secure as many points as they could before the game could come to an end. Their efforts forced their keepers to work overtime. High above, the seekers desperately flew behind the golden snitch, stretching their arms to reach it. They flew side by side as they competed to end the game altogether.