Chapter 99

CHARLIE POV

I stormed into the locker room, with the cheers of the Slytherin supporters reverberating in my ears. I flung myself on the bench, the cold metal biting into my back but the heat of frustration was burning hotter within me.

"Ahhhh!" I screamed as I stamped my foot on the ground, like some temperamental toddler, when they didn't get their way. It sounds pathetic, but that's all I could do. Things started off so well, but everything crumbled before my eyes. We had given it our all, but Slytherin were better than us. They had more experienced players, and they had better equipment. 

The weight of expectation and the dreams dashed against the cold reality of the game settled on my shoulders. I closed my eyes, taking slow, deliberate breaths to rein in the tumult of emotions. But, just like every other Weasley, hiding our emotion just wasn't for us. Anger bubbled inside me yet again, and without looking around or paying attention, I threw my helmet across the room.

"Bro, watch out!" I heard Mark scream at me. "You're not the only one disappointed at themself. We all are."

"What happened out there? Why did you punch Locke?" Irene asked. "But I have to give it to you; it was a good swing."

— FLASHBACK —

"That was reckless and inappropriate. You could have taken someone's life. And you have to say for yourself, 'It was an accident. I didn't mean to hit me.' I saw you. I know of your house rivalry. Emotion may have clouded your judgement, but this is unacceptable. Mark, I'm sorry, but you have to retire for the rest of this match. The heads of house later will determine your punishment. For now, get off this pitch right now. Captains, follow me," Madam Hooch said as she gestured us over away from our team mates.

"Locke, Charlie. I expect you to rein your teammates in. We're playing in the bloody snow. There is a seriously high risk that you will injure yourself and those around you. I don't want this to happen again. Do you understand?" Madam Hooch said as she glared at us one by one.

"Yes, Madam Hooch," Locke said.

"Charlie?"

"I understand."

"Good. I'll check on Montague, and you two speak to your teams. Locke, you'll probably need to use up one of your substitutions now," Madam Hooch as as she flew off.

"Wow! Imagine my surprise. The 'good' guys are using the dark arts. Some follower of the 'holy paragon of justice' you are!" Locke said.

"At least my family didn't become slaves to the Dark Lord," I replied.

"At least my family didn't exile someone who joined Gryffindor," he replied.

I looked at him in confusion. 'When did my family exile someone for joining Slytherin?' I thought. Then he smirked.

"Oh, you don't know about your cousin Malafa Weasley? Would you like me to tell you her story?" He said it with a snake-like grin.

I knew it was a trap, but I was in too deep. My clouded emotions would not let me think straight.

"Your cousin Mafalda Weasley was sorted into Slytherin, and your family exiled her. This was straight after the war. Do you know what we did to blood traitors amongst our ranks? She was a good sport, from what my brothers tell me. She could not return home at all. And nobody 'knows' what happened to her when she graduated. Would you like to guess what happened to her?"

I knew what he insinuated, but I could not believe what he said. The thought of my family doing something like that to our own blood just broke something inside of me. Then he smirked again. He took two steps towards me.

"Don't you have a sister? What was her name? Ginger? No, it was Ginevra, or Ginny, as she likes her friends to call her. From what Hier Malfoy and Heiress Greengrass have told me about her, she's a split image of Mafalda. She's as ambitious as Mafalda. Doesn't she want to marry the boy who lived? She's as cunning as Mafalda. Doesn't she manage to get new toys out of your family instead of hand-me-downs? I wonder how she'll fit in Slytherin…"

The flood gates opened, and I needed something to take the brunt of it. Locke was in front of me. He was the perfect target, and I just hit him. He didn't fight back. I hit him again and again, until Professor Mcgonagall arrived and pulled me away. She dropped a blob of water at me to wake me up. I knew what I had done. I had let my team down. No, I let my house down.

"Mr. Weasley, what in Merlin's name have you done?" Professor McGonagall said with disappointed clear in her voice.

I recalled what the snake said. "Is it true?"

"Unfortunately so, Mr. Weasley. Every family has dark secrets and actions they regret. The last time I heard of Mafalda was during her graduation ceremony. We have no idea where she is. But still, Mr. Weasley, that is no reason to stroke another pupil. An incident like that will never happen again. As for you, Mr. Madoo, I expect better from you. Mr. Weasley, I will see you in the changing room and take the boy with you. I will be speaking to Albus about this," Professor McGonagall said.

"Is everything okay, Minerva?" Madam Hooch said as she approached us.

"Yes, Rolanda, everything is just peachy. I will like to use our stoppage allowance now. Will that be okay?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"Yes, you have fifteen minutes," Madam Hooch replied.

"Ask Severus the fix Mr. Madoo up," Professor McGonagall said

"Right away, Minerva. Are you still free this evening?"

"Yes, I'll speak to you again soon."

— END FLASHBACK —

"Charlie, is what you're saying true?" George asked.

"Unfortunately, it is Mr. Weasley. Every family has their secrets. Don't worry, as the headmaster has spoken some sense in your family since that incident," Professor McGonagall said as she entered the locker room. "Mr. Anderson, hurry and get changed. I've spoken to the headmaster, and he has permitted first-year students to play. You can use Mr. Weasley's broom."

"But I hate the cold. That means I'll have to take off my enchanted coat," Albert said as he picked up his kit from one of the lockers.

"Once you have finished changing, I will enchant your kit so you do not catch a cold. Now, Mr. Weasley, who else are you bringing on?" Professor McGonagall said as she looked at me.

"We'll take off Oliver and have Kyle play as goalkeeper, while Angelina will replace Mark. Angelina, go get ready. You can use Mark's broom," I said as I took my goggle off.

"Mr. Weasley, are you sure about those two?" Professor McGonagall asked as soon as Angelina entered the girl's changing room.

"To be completely honest, no. Don't get me wrong, they are both talented, and maybe we need the unpredictability of those two. However, I don't think we'll win today. They'll do a better job than us," I said with a depreciated smile. Silence hung in the room until both Albert and Angelina entered the room again. "Here, take my goggles. It was always my good-luck charm. I don't expect you to win, but get stuck in. Have a good go at it. I'm sure Professor McGonagall will give a lot of points if you two play well."

"Needless to say, both of them received 50 house points each for being the youngest players in their respective positions. Again, I don't expect you to win, but I'm sure you'll do better than these guys."

"Don't worry miss, we'll win for you. Isn't that right Albert?"

"Yep. And I'll catch the snitch in record time and win us the game.."

END OF POV

"Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen. We've just received team updates from the Gryffindor side. Kyle of Gryffindor, the backup chaser, will be playing as goalkeeper while we'll be seeing two new faces make their debuts. Hogwarts, please give a warm round of applause to the youngest seeker and chaser in the history of this school. Angelina of Gryffindor will replace Mark of Gryffindor, while Albert of Gryffindor will replace the Gryffindor Captain. Irene of Gryffindor will take the captain's armband. Mason, tell us what the Crows have found out about Angelina Johnson and Albert Anderson. Angelina Johnson restarts the game from Gryffindor. While that is happening, let's speak about the two debutants."

"Angelina Johnson is a half-blood with a decent academic record so far. She seems to be one of the most talented chasers Gryffindor has seen in the past 15 years, according to our source. Our Crows were also able to speak with her father, and this is what he had to say. 'Angelina is a very humble girl. She's been on the radar of clubs since she was nine years old, so she's used to the attention. But what is best about her are her parents and the way they have brought her up. They're dedicated to her, and they support her in every way possible. They focus on his education because they want her to have a safety net, and they've kept her humble, which is something he is going to need now that she's been thrust into the public eye. They are constantly in the school, checking if she's falling behind. Her father said that if Angelina didn't pass her end-of-year exams, he wouldn't let him play for Gryffindor. Her father told me something that has stuck in my mind, which is the triangle: family, discipline, and education. If you have those three pillars, you have a humble spirit. That's what Angelina is.' Alaric, would you like to read the Crows report on Mr. Anderson?"

"All we found out was that he's muggle-born. He excels at most magic and recently joined Professor McGonagall's exclusive club, the transfiguration club. Even I didn't know that existed until a few minutes ago. The crows said he was a natural on the broom, and that's it. That's all we have on him."

"That's a pretty limited list. Why do you think they decided to play them?"

"The unpredictably and giving a chance for the future generation. The reason why Slytherin is so well prepared for all of Gryffindor's advances is because they know everything about their opponents. Due to this, they prepare effective counters and come across as the dominant side. And we are seeing this in action. Angelina of Gryffindor is taking on the Slytherin defence, and she manages to weave through the Slytherin low block. She's now one-on-one against the keeper. She shoots, and... GOAL! Could this be the start of Gryffindor's comeback? They are now a meagre 90 points behind. The whole Gryffindor is embracing the goal scorer while the Slytherin captain is having words with his team."

"Slytherin restarts the game, and they start by going directly for the goal. The Slytherin captain is charging at the young chaser. She is dragged back and caught on the back foot. Slytherin goes around and prepares the shot. The captain takes aim, and… GOAL! Who else but Locke Madoo? He manages to restore Slytherin's 100-point lead."

"Because Gryffindor has brought on an unexperienced player, Slytherin can target her and overload her. With the talent inside the Slytherin team, they can take advantage of this fact, and they did exactly that! Angelina of Gryffindor is on the back foot again, but this time she does not have anyone to cover her. The Slytherin captain goes around and… GOAL! 110 points ahead. Slytherin has this in the bag unless the Gryffindor seeker has something to say about it. The game restarts, and Gryffindor shifts their players closer. I think they're doing this to reduce the chance of that happening again."

"A smart play, but a useless play. A wayward pass travels towards a Slytherin player. They are on the front foot, and they are playing wider than normal. They stretch the play, and Gryffindor leaves the left-hand side completely defenceless. The Slytherin captain receives the ball and heads towards the goal. He takes aim, shoots, and… GOAL! 1! 2! 0! They are 120 points ahead.

Gryffindor restarts the game. Angelina of Gryffindor tries to take on the Slytherin defence but Slytherin have two players on her. They are closing the gap and somehow manage to muscle the ball off her without getting a foul called against over. The Slytherin captain receives the ball again and travels towards the goal. He manages to get past the two remaining defenders. He shoots and… GOAL! This is getting tiring. Slytherin has a 130-point lead. Gryffindor restarted the game with demoralised faces."

"All except the Gryffindor seeker. I think he spotted the golden snitch. The young seeker zooms to the other side of the pitch and takes a steep dive. He reaches the hand out and… GOAL! Slytherin scored. It was almost game-over. The young Gryffindor seeker almost caught the golden snitch. Unfortunately, the game restarts, and that means so does the golden snitch."

"All eyes are on the seekers. The golden snitch has been spotted again. Both seekers head towards it. The Gryffindor seeker makes a sudden, steep dive, and the Slytherin chaser follows him, but the younger seeker makes an even steeper incline. He reaches out, and he catches it. It is Anderson. Gryffindor. The theatre is living its dream. Both sets of fans are in jubilation."

"Both sets of fans are in jubilation? What have we missed?"