Au Revoir - Chapter Nine
CHARLOTTE REMEMBERED THE FIRST TIME she flew a broom.
It was an old Shooting Star from the 1950s that her grandmother owned back then. It was passed to the young Timolthy Odell Andrews, who then passed the broomstick to his only child; Charlotte Juliet Andrews.
At the tender age of nine, the young Andrews girl used to sneak outside the comforting walls of her home and into the dark woods of Albania past her usual time of sleep. Her father was out working with another one of his 'investigations', and Blubby the house-elf was stuck next to her so she found it hard to sneak out.
Charlotte wanted to try something new and exciting. She knew she was being reckless; it was her impulsive nature taking over her.
As she mounted her broom, she kicked off the ground, hovering six feet above the ground. She was wobbly and scared at the start but nevertheless she learned to control the broom and began to fly around the small cottage that she called home for the past two years. From sixth feet to ninth feet. She began to get comfortable with the broom that had the speed of the snail.
She remembered the feeling of the wind beneath her fingertips. The tingling feeling in her fingertips sent her into a euphoria of emotions. She remembered the way her blonde hair whipped around wildly, probably looking like as mess. But she didn't care. She felt infinite.
Watching the Bulgarian and Irish players fly their brooms gracefully sent her feelings soaring like a Phoenix who bore the most enthralling set of feathers that shined in gold. The feeling that she felt during her first flight came crashing down on her; she felt excitement.
"Theeeeeeeey're OFF!" screamed Bagman. "And it's Mullet! Troy! Moran! Dimitrov! Back to Mullet! Troy! Levski! Moran!"
The Irish Quidditch players played gorgeously in the air. Troy, Mullet, and Moran had managed to throw the Quaffle to each other at a fast pace that Charlotte mastered to follow in years of watching Quidditch games with her father. The crowd cheered, Charlotte following their lead while watching with her Omnioculars.
Charlotte watched the three magnificent Irish players that she adored since she got into Quidditch. Troy was in the center ahead of Mullet and Moran, bearing down upon the Bulgarian players.
Troy made as though to dart upward with the Quaffle, drawing away the Bulgarian Chaser and dropping the Quaffle to Moran.
A Bulgarian beater swung his club at the Bludger towards Moran, who merely ducked and thankfully avoided the Bludger. But to Charlotte's dismay, Moran dropped the Quaffle and one of the Bulgarian chasers soaring beneath her caught it. Troy swooped up and stole the Quaffle, making his way towards the Goalposts and threw the Quaffle, the Bulgarian keeper failing to catch the ball.
"TROY SCORES!"
Charlotte cheered, along with the other Irish supporters. "Ten zero to Ireland!"
"What?" Harry yelled, looking wildly around through his Omnioculars. "But Levski's got the Quaffle!"
"Don't watch it at a slow speed, you're going to miss a lot! Trust me!" Yelled the blonde, watching Troy doing the lap of honor around the field. Charlotte was now jumping up and down, feeling giddy. She couldn't wait to get her silver sickles from Ronald. The leprechauns in the sidelines rose into the air and formed another gigantic, glittering shamrock.
The game continued, the Irish Chasers worked fabulously and flawlessly- especially Troy, wink wink- in passing the Quaffle to one another. Ten minutes into the game, Ireland had managed to score two more, bringing them to the lead with thirty to zero. The Irish supporters gave a thunderous tide of roars and applause, shaking the arena. Charlotte could tell that Ron was not happy at all.
As the match went on, it became ten times fast and more brutal. The Bulgarian Beaters were in for blood, whacking the Bludgers hard as possible at the Irish Chasers, preventing them from unleashing the best of their abilities. One of the Bulgarian chasers managed to dodge the Irish Keeper, Ryan; and score a ten for the Bulgarian team.
Ron cheered loudly, Bulgarian supporters roaring loudly. "Fingers in your ears!" bellowed Mr. Weasley to the Weasley boys and Harry as the veela started to dance in celebration.
A few seconds passed and the veela had stopped dancing, and Bulgaria was again in possession of the Quaffle.
"Dimitrov! Levski! Dimitrov! Ivanova - oh I say!" roared Bagman.
The crowd gasped, watching Krum and Lynch plunge through the Chasers. Charlotte felt over the edge. She nibbled on her bottom lip and picked the tip of her index finger with her thumb and middle finger. She pressed the Omnioculars to her eyes, observing Krum. Charlotte gasped-
"They're going to crash!" screamed Hermione next to her.
Krum pulled out of the dive and soared up at the last second. Lynch hit the ground with a thud.
"No!" Groaned Charlotte, along with the Irish supporters.
"Fool!" moaned Mr. Weasley. "Krum was feinting!"
"It's time-out!" yelled Bagman's voice, "as trained mediwizards hurry onto the field to examine Aidan Lynch!"
Charlotte watched as the mediwizards ran into the field, where Lynch laid on. It was a nasty crash. "Is he going to be alright?" she asks worriedly to no one in particular. Charlotte looked over the side of the box and saw Ginny looking horror-struck.
"He'll be okay, he only got ploughed!" Charlie said reassuringly "Which is what Krum was after, of course...."
Lynch was surrounded by mediwizads who were giving him cups of potions. Krum was circling above Lynch, looking around for the Snitch.
"Blimey! I can't believe he used the Wronski Feint! He pulled it off at that!" Gushed Charlotte, looking wide-eyed as she observed Krum.
No wonder he's crowned the best Seeker in the world! Krum has the skills. He was an amazing player, and Charlotte respected that.
The green-clad supporters cheered loudly as Lynch got up to his feet and mounted his Firebolt. Charlotte sighed in relief, putting a hand in her fast-beating heart.
Mostafa blew his whistle and the game resumed. The Chasers zoomed in the air, flawlessly gliding through the Bulgarian players.
Fifteen minutes passed and Ireland scored ten more goals. They lead a hundred and thirty points to ten. The game began to get more brutal as the game went on.
Mullet shot toward the goal post, the Quaffle clutched under her arm. The Bulgarian Keeper flew out and elbowed Mullet as she tried to score. The Irish crowd let a scream of rage, Charlotte found it preposterous and joined in the yelling of the crowd.
"Charlie, come back here!"
She hadn't noticed that she was hanging by the rails; one push and she'd be falling off the railings. Hermione pulled her back, away from the railings.
The leprechauns rose angrily into the air and joined in the madness. They too were as mad as the green-clad supporters.
"And Mostafa takes the Bulgarian Keeper to task for cobbing - excessive use of elbows!" Bagman informed the roaring spectators. "And - yes, it's a penalty to Ireland!"
Charlotte gave a loud "HA!" while jumping and pointing at the field like a child on Christmas morning. The leprechauns in the air, flew around together to form the words "HA, HA, HA!"
Charlotte laughed, as the veelas tossed their hairs off their shoulders and sent a nasty glare at the leprechauns and started to dance again.
The Weasley boys and Harry stuffed their fingers into their ears as the veelas danced. Mostafa, the referee, hadn't get the memo and walked towards the dancing veelas with a dazed look. Mostafa flexed his arms trying to woo the veelas.
Charlotte and Hermione were a giggling mess.
Charlotte tugged Harry's arm, who had his eyes closed and fingers stuffed into his ears. He turned to look at her, sending her a confused look. Charlotte rolled her eyes and pulled his fingers out of his ears.
"Look at the referee!" she says, giggling with Hermione.
Harry's eyes darted down at the field, where Mostafa was smoothing his mustache, raising his eyebrows seductively.
Tears of joy fell off Charlotte's eyes. She dramatically wiped them off and pretended to sniff.
"Now, we can't have that!" said Ludo Bagman, though he sounded highly amused. "Somebody slap the referee!"
That was a bad thing to say because Charlotte started to give another howl in laughter. Her giggles filled the box, Ginny too was laughing along with the others in the box.
A mediwizard came out with his fingers stuffed to his own ears. Charlotte watched as the wizard kicked Mostafa in the chins, breaking off the trance the veelas created.
Charlotte squinted and saw the referee shout at the veela who had stopped dancing, with subversive looks on their faces.
"And unless I'm much mistaken, Mostafa is actually attempting to send off the Bulgarian team mascots!" said Bagman, Charlotte gave another laugh, but it wasn't as hard as before. "Now there's something we haven't seen before...Oh this could turn nasty..."
The Bulgarian Beaters hopped off their brooms and began to argue with Mostafa while clutching the broomsticks in their hands. The pointed towards the leprechauns who had formed the words "HEE, HEE, HEE." In the sky.
Charlotte groaned, "Just continue the bloody game!" She yelled furiously. Mostafa jabbed his finger into the air, telling them to go back to flying again. The Beaters shook their heads in protest. Mostafa gave two blasts on his whistle signaling everyone that the Irish earned two penalties.
"Two penalties for Ireland!" shouted Bagman, and the Bulgarian crowd- including Ron- howled with anger.
"And Volkov and Vulchanov had better get back on those brooms...yes...there they go...and Troy takes the Quaffle..."
The game began to get more barbaric by the minute. The two agitated Bulgarian Beaters showed no mercy in swinging their clubs to the Irish players. Dimitrov shot straight at Moran, who had the Quaffle, nearly knocking her off her broom.
"THAT WAS A BLOODY FOUL!" Yelled Charlotte, standing up from her seat.
"Foul!" echoed Bagman. "Dimitrov skins Moran - deliberately flying to collide there - and it's got to be another penalty - yes, there's the whistle!"
As the leprechauns rose into the air, Charlotte suddenly saw a flash of gold by the corner left of the field.
Its silhouette was in the shape of a great lion. Charlotte gave a small gasp, almost dropping her Omnioculars in shock. She blinked and the lion disappeared.
Charlotte figured it was a fragment of her imagination. Maybe the mysterious golden lights were charmed.
Charlotte looked up at the leprechauns who formed a middle finger towards the veela across the field. The veelas transformed to their original form and seethed in anger and launched themselves and threw handfuls of fire at the leprechauns in the air.
"And that, boys," yelled Mr. Weasley over the tumult of the crowd below, "is why you should never go for looks alone!"
"Here, here!" added Charlotte, raising her fist in the air.
The Ministry wizards struggled to separate the veela and the leprechauns from each other. The game continued above them where the Quaffle was bouncing from Chaser to Chaser with the speed of a bullet.
"Levski - Dimitrov - Moran - Troy - Mullet - Ivanova - Moran again - Moran - MORAN SCORES!"
"MORAN!" Cheered Charlotte happily jumping up her seat, hugging Hermione out of joy while cheering for the Irish.
Ron roared angrily along with the Bulgarian supporters. The veelas shrieked in anger as the Irish celebrated. The game recommenced immediately; now Levski had the Quaffle, now Dimitrov –
Quigley swung the Bludger heavily towards the direction of Krum, who did not duck quick enough before the Bludger hit him full in the face.
Charlotte gaped as she watched Krum through her Omnioculars. The was blood pouring out of his nose, his nose appeared to be broken from the impact. Charlotte knew how painful it is to be hit by a Bludger. It hurt like a bitch.
Mostafa hadn't blown the whistle, as one of the veelas threw a ball of fire and set his broom tail ablaze.
"Stupid veela! If she hadn't thrown that stupid fire at Mos-"
"Time-out! Ah, come on, he can't play like that, look at him -"
"Look at Lynch!" Harry suddenly yelled.
Lynch had suddenly dived, defying gravity with the speed of his Firebolt. His green robes whipped behind him as he soared trying to catch the golden snitch.
"He's seen the Snitch!" Harry shouted from beside her. "He's seen it! Look at him go!"
Charlotte fiddled with her device, she tapped her shoes into the floor of the box and nervously pursed her lips watching Lynch.
The Irish supports rose in another wave of green, cheering on their Seeker.
Charlotte hadn't notice Krum, who was on his tail with flecks of blood flying through the air behind him. He caught up with Lynch, the pair of them nearing the ground again, looking as if they were going to crash.
"They're going to crash!" shrieked Hermione who must've felt over the edge at the intensity of the game.
"They're not!" roared Ron from her other side.
"Lynch is!" yelled Harry.
"Bloody Lynch!" cursed Charlotte.
The Irish Seeker has always had the tendency to crash during a match. Lynch hit the ground with so much force, that you could hear the loud and painful thud around the huge stadium.
The horde of angry veelas stampede the poor Seeker who laid on the ground helplessly.
"The Snitch, where's the Snitch?" bellowed Charlie Weasley, along the row.
"He's got it - Krum's got it - it's all over!" shouted Harry from the right of Charlotte.
Krum had blood over his scarlet robes. His nose bled down from his nose to his chin as he rose gently into the air with a familiar golden ball in his fist.
The scoreboard flashed BULGARIA: 160, IRELAND: 170 across the crowd of wizards and witches who were stunned by the two Seekers. Charlotte jumped up from her seat along with the others in her row that supported Ireland.
Charlotte suddenly pulled Harry in for a bear hug, tears of joy came pouring out of her eyes.
The Ireland supporters screamed in delight as they took notice of the scoreboard.
"IRELAND WINS!" Bagman shouted, who like the Irish, seemed to be taken aback by the sudden end of the match.
Charlotte pulled away from Harry and cheered, wiping the tears that wouldn't stop leaking from her eyes.
"KRUM GETS THE SNITCH - BUT IRELAND WINS - good lord, I don't think any of us were expecting that!" bellowed Bagman.
"What did he catch the Snitch for?" Ron bellowed, applauding with his hands over his head. "He ended it when Ireland was a hundred and sixty points ahead, the idiot!"
"He knew they were never going to catch up!" Harry shouted back over all the noise, also applauding loudly. "The Irish Chasers were too good...He wanted to end it on his terms, that's all."
"They weren't just good," Charlotte started, still overwhelmed with emotions her coming at her like a storm, "they were magnificent! The way Troy stole the Quaffle from that Bulgarian Chaser was phenomenal! I almost did not catch it happening... It was all too fast!" Charlotte rambled, still jumping up and down.
"He was very brave, wasn't he?" Hermione said, leaning forward to watch Krum land with mediwizards blasting a path through the arguing leprechauns and veelas to get to him. "He looks a terrible mess...." she trailed off as she observed the Seeker.
"He's an amazing player! No wonder he's got the title of best Seeker in the world. He really does live up that title!" Praised Charlotte, leaning in to watch with Hermione.
Leprechauns happily skipped in the air feeling absolutely delighted with their win. Charlotte watched as the Irish players danced happily in the shower of gold from their own mascots.
She fiddled with her Omnioculars to look for Troy, who she idolized for as long as she could remember. He had a gleeful smile curved on his face. He laughed at what one of his teammates told him.
She looked down at the field where the mediwizards surrounded Krum, who looked sullen and dejected as his teammates.
The Bulgarian and Irish flags were waved all over the stadium, the Irish national anthem blared around them. It was a big win for Ireland.
"Vell, ve fought bravely," said a gloomy voice behind Harry and Charlotte; it was the Bulgarian Minister of Magic.
"You can speak English!" said Fudge, sounding outraged. "And you've been letting me mime everything all day!"
Charlotte gave a light-hearted chuckle at the sly Bulgarian minister who shrugged and said "Veil, it vos very funny,"
"Your players have played beautifully," Charlotte complimented, meaning every word. The Minister beamed at the small blonde, accepting the compliment.
"And as the Irish team performs a lap of honor, flanked by their mascots, the Quidditch World Cup itself is brought into the Top Box!" roared Bagman.
Charlotte was suddenly blinded by a bright white light; the Top Box was magically illuminated that gave everyone in the stands a view inside. Two wizards carried a golden cup into the box, that they handed to Cornelius who looked aggrieved that he used sign language with the Bulgarian Minister who knew how to speak English, for nothing.
"Let's have a really loud hand for the gallant losers - Bulgaria!" Bagman shouted.
The seven Bulgarian players came up the stairs into the box. Charlotte applauded respectfully along with the Bulgarian supporters. They filled the rows of seats and as Bagman called out their names, they each shook hands with the Bulgarian Minister.
Krum looked like a mess, he had two black eyes and a bloody face. He appeared to still hold the Snitch in his hand.
Charlotte thought he played wonderfully, as it was his first World Cup ever. His performance was just as outstanding as the Irish Chasers.
When Krum's name was called, the whole stadium gave an ear-shattering roar. Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Charlotte clapped along with them.
The Irish team came in. Aidan Lynch looked dazed, the second crash must've been worse than the first. Moran and Connolly were next to him, supporting Lynch, who was unable to walk properly. Troy and Quigley lifted the Cup into the air, cheers from everyone below were loud, Charlotte cheered along with them. Feeling genuinely happy.
"You know," said Charlotte, facing her friends. "I want to be a Quidditch player after seventh year."
Charlotte had a determined look on her face. Quidditch has always been a part of her life. It was her past, present, and maybe... future.
Harry, Hermione, and Ron grinned and patted her on the back.
Soon enough, the Irish team left the box to perform another lap of honor on their brooms. Lynch sat behind the back of Connolly, who held his waist and grinned at the crowd. Bagman pointed his wand at his throat and muttered, "Quietus."
Charlotte thought it must've been tiring to commentate a game. "They'll be talking about this one for years," said Bagman hoarsely, coming face to face with Fred and George who had identical grins plastered on their faces and hands outstretched. "a really unexpected twist, that....shame it couldn't have lasted longer...Ah yes...yes, I owe you....how much?"
And suddenly, it hit her...
"Hey, Ronald?"