Patrick Stump and the Flying Car Brigade

Chapter 16

Chapter 16

A few days later, I was eating my breakfast when Andy came up to me. "Hey Patrick," he said. "Are you going to the Quidditch game tonight?"

"I wasn't planning to go," I told him. "I was going to go to Hogsmeade to visit my parents and buy a new fedora. Gabe Saporta accidentally burned my other one."

"You can do that and go to the Quidditch game," Andy said. "Come on. It's going to be so much fun. Everyone is going."

"You really should cheer on your house," Miss Jackson said. "We're totally going to beat you, Andy."

"No you're not," Andy said. "Ravenclaw has a better team this year."

"You won the Quidditch Cup last year," Miss Jackson said. "There's no way that you're going to win two years in a row."

"We can do it," Andy said.

"I'll go to the game," I told Andy and Miss Jackson.

"Great. We'll see you there," Andy said as he returned to the Ravenclaw table. Miss Jackson continued to blabber on about the game all throughout breakfast. I didn't care all that much about Quidditch, but I was so good at sports as a kid that I started a band, so it didn't matter all that much.

Later that day, I went down to Hogsmeade and purchased a brand new black fedora from Gladrags Wizardwear. The cashier asked me if I wanted it to be personalised, so I changed my mind and ended up buying two matching fedoras - one for myself and one for Pete. I had my name written on one of them, and Peter Lewis Kingston Wentz III on the other. I figured that I could save the hats for our anniversary, which was coming up in a few months.

After my stop at Gladrags, I went to my parents' house and had lunch there. Then, I went to the Quidditch pitch to watch the game. The Hufflepuff section was ridiculously crowded, and I had a very difficult time finding a spot where I could see. It seemed that I wouldn't be able to see the match no matter where I sat.

I felt a pair of arms behind me lifting me up, and I knew exactly who it was. "Thanks Pete," I said, looking out over the pitch. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm cheering on Andy," he said.

"Then why are you in the Hufflepuff section?" I asked.

"I wanted to see my Pattycakes," Pete said. He set me down and kissed me, but Tyler, Josh, and Joe interrupted us in the middle of it.

"Pete! Patrick!" Josh shouted. "It's so good to see you."

Pete broke the kiss and then said, "It's good to see you too."

"I bet Ravenclaw's going to win," Joe said. "They're got Andy and Dallon."

"We'll see," I said, not wanting to insult my friends or criticise my own house.

The game began, but I still couldn't see all that well. I cursed my shortness and stood on my tiptoes, hoping that this would give me a better view. I spotted some of the players, including Miss Jackson, who was the Hufflepuff Seeker. Andy was waiting in front of the goalposts as Winona Youngblood carried the Quaffle across the field. All of a sudden, our Beater whacked a Bludger toward her, but she narrowly avoided it and threw it towards our goal post. Marigold Abbott, our Keeper, caught the Quaffle and tossed it towards the centre of the pitch. Then, Ivan Ledbury caught it and the match continued.

To be honest, the match wasn't all that exciting at first. In fact, I was feeling like the whole thing was dead on arrival when I finally took a look at the scoreboard. Hufflepuff was winning, 70-20.

"Just one mistake is all it will take for Ravenclaw to win," Pete reminded me.

"I know Pete," I said.

I continued to watch the match. Dallon was chasing after the Quaffle, but one of our Beaters was right behind him. Then, out of nowhere, Winona flew into the scoring area along with Dallon and tried to push Marigold out of the way. Madam Hooch blew her whistle. "Why did they even try that?" Joe mumbled. "They should know that Stooging is against the rules."

Hufflepuff was given a penalty shot, and we scored, so we got even further ahead. The match went on, and Ravenclaw did score a few more times, but we still maintained the lead. By the time I looked at the scoreboard again, it was 90-50.

All of a sudden, I spotted a little golden ball flying around the field. It was the Golden Snitch, and Ravenclaw's Seeker was flying after it. Miss Jackson followed her, and the two of them chased after the Snitch, trying to fly faster and faster to catch the Snitch and win the game.

Ravenclaw's Seeker turned sharply, and Miss Jackson rose up in the air in an attempt to get to the Snitch, but it was too late. The Seeker reached out and raised up her hand, showing that she had caught the Snitch. The match was over and Ravenclaw had won.

My fellow Hufflepuffs weren't exactly happy about the outcome of the match, but Pete and Joe were thrilled. As soon as the Ravenclaw Quidditch Team got off the pitch, they ran up to congratulate him. Meanwhile, Tyler seemed to be talking to himself. "I know I'm only at it again as an addict with a pen, but I've got another great idea. There are just so many great things we can do with the Flying Car!"

I ignored him and returned to the Hufflepuff Common Room. The Common Room was surprisingly quiet, as we all complained about our house's Quidditch defeat. If we were lucky, we could make a comeback, but that seemed unlikely. It didn't matter though. One day our house would win the Quidditch Cup. The only sad thing was that I probably wouldn't be around to see it.