International Love | Fred Weasley

Chapter 34

"What do you mean? 'They can't play anymore', does that mean-"

With wide eyes, I stare between the two red-haired boys and Angelina who are seated on the couches. Angelina has a devastated look on her face like her whole future just got ruined.

After the fight on the Quidditch pitch, I had returned to the Ravenclaw common room with my friends. A note came from Angelina with the news and I had headed straight for the Gryffindor common room where I had found the whole Gryffindor team.

"We have a lifetime ban from Quidditch," Fred mutters and George continues sourly: "And our broom are confiscated."

Shocked, I sit down on the couch beside Fred. The boy wraps an arm around my waist and leans his head on my shoulder. I stare at Angelina and ask: "Can Umbridge do that?"

Angelina nods without saying a word. 

"But Fred didn't even do anything, why has he a ban too?" Alicia looks angry and punches one of the pillows close to her with her fist. From my shoulder, Fred mutters: "If Elena wasn't there, I would have punched Malfoy too. Insulting my girlfriend, who does he think he is."

I wonder if Umbridge did that because the twins are known to switch places. They tried that once with me, but I had picked out George immediately. They haven't tried it since.

There are tears forming in Angelina's eyes.

"What are you going to do now?" I ask her.

Angelina shrugs and hastily whips away a tear. "We have no Beaters. No Seeker. I have no idea what to do next."

Alicia places a hand on her friend's arm in an attempt to comfort the captain.

"Don't you have extra players on the bench?" I ask, "You just held trials. I'm sure there were some good Beaters and a Seeker among the candidates."

Angelina's head snaps up and she stares at me with wide eyes. "Elena, that's an amazing idea!"

The girl jumps up and heads to her room. Alicia smiles at me before following her friend to figure out who could replace the missing players in their team. I spend the rest of my day in the Gryffindor common room and head back to my own room right before curfew.

Roger calls a team meeting the following morning after breakfast. We gather in the common room, in one of the corners. Roger has pulled out the board he uses during training and has his clipboard in his hands.

"I took notes of yesterday's match and we're going to use them to change our tactic," Roger lifts up his clipboard and gestures to the board behind him, "During training, we'll practice different formations."

From my seat on the couch beside Tom, I say: "You need to take into consideration the new Beaters and Seeker of the Gryffindor team."

All players look at me and Roger frowns.

"Fred, George, and Harry aren't allowed to play Quidditch anymore. Umbridge banned them for life."

Roger summons a quill and quickly writes it down on his clipboard. "Well, that will make things a lot easier."

"Why don't we hold an open strategy meeting," Chambers, one of the Chasers, suggests, "It turned out to be a nice addition to our strategy two years ago where we defeated Hufflepuff."

The others begin nodding and I look at Tom. When he sees my confused expression, he explains: "During an open strategy meeting, any Ravenclaw student is allowed to make suggestions about our team strategy. We learned from experience that fresh perspectives often help."