“Now if we follow this diagram, Ravenclaw doesn’t stand a chance! Are we ready?”
Enthusiastic replies came from the other six players. Ginny, however, was the first on her feet. She stood next to Harry supportively. “He didn’t hear you, mates! ARE YOU READY?”
They all screamed this time, jumping to their feet and huddling up for a group chant. They jogged out of the locker room, Harry staring at Ginny admiringly. He couldn’t help but notice that if it was one of them, it was only given a half effort. But when the two of them got together, there was no stopping them.
That was what made them such great Quidditch players.
The team made their way out to the field. Harry and the Captain of the Ravenclaw team shook hands. Mounting their brooms, they kicked off into the air. The crowd cheered so loudly that Harry was sure his ears would start bleeding. Ginny smiled at him from a distance and she did a few dips on her broom before the teams flew to the circle, waiting for the game to begin.
Before any of them knew it, the Snitch flew out of the box and away into the distance, the Bludgers erupted from the case, and the Quaffle was in the air. Ginny’s sole purpose was to have that red leather ball in her arms.
Ginny wasn’t even thinking when she came up behind the first Ravenclaw Chaser and bunched the ball out of the crook of his arm. She watched it fly just into her grasp as she reached out and caught it. A smile of triumph on her face, she saw one of the other Gryffindor Chasers, Andrew Shelley, steer up ahead of her. Tossing the Quaffle forward, she saw Andrew grab it and duck below her. She raced quickly toward the hoops and caught the Quaffle unexpectedly, sliding it through the right hoop before the Ravenclaw Keeper had a chance to realize what was happening.
“Ginny Weasley scores! Ten points to Gryffindor!”
The crowds cheered loudly. Ginny could see the boy with the black hair and glasses wave at her down the field. He was still in his mad search for the Snitch but had time to stop and watch her goal. This pleased her very much.
The Quaffle ended up in the hands of a Ravenclaw Chaser before Ginny had a chance to look away from Harry. She shook off the fog in her head and got back to the game. She leaned forward and shot after the Chaser. He released the Quaffle to one of his teammates up the field and Ginny halted in the air. The Chaser he had thrown it to was right next to one of Gryffindor’s Beaters, a third year named Carly Stevens. She was fortunate enough to be the owner of a Nimbus 2001, which was an older model compared to Harry’s Firebolt, but still ranked high in agility and speed. She ducked underneath the Chaser and then advanced on him so quickly that he had to look around when she took the Quaffle.
Ginny saw her opportunity and sped up to get back to the posts. Carly threw the Quaffle at Andrew, who happened to be speeding by right at that moment and tossed it off to Ginny. She scored again.
“Ginny Weasley scores another ten points for Gryffindor!”
All Ginny could see was a sea of red and gold flags and scarves all over the place. She smiled at the crowd and heard behind her, “Good game, J.”
Her red ponytail whapped her in the face as she swiveled her head to see Harry speeding by. It looked like he was having trouble finding the snitch.
Harry tried to get out of Ginny’s way as soon as possible. Having her on the team was a great advantage. She was wonderful at strategizing, maneuvering, and keeping her head on smartly instead of letting the adrenaline sink to it like so many other Chasers did. However, the more Harry thought about it, she was a complete distraction. It seemed to him that she got cleverer with each passing day.
