#“of all the gryffindors you just HAD to pick the seeker cas? | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

carewyncromwell · 4 years

Text

((Previously on “Quest for the Quidditch Cup”...))

At long last, the long-awaited Quidditch Final had arrived. There was an astounding energy in the air, the likes of which could only have been built up over the course of years. Slytherin hadn’t been so close to winning the Quidditch Cup in a decade, and all of the students lined up in the green-and-silver-decked stands were pumped up.

As the crowd roared, commentator Murphy McNully took hold of the megaphone, his dynamic voice booming out over the stands effortlessly.

“Witches and wizards! Professors, students, caretakers...Mrs. Norris! The time has come! The match that will decide which House team wins the Quidditch Cup is upon us!”

Murphy directed his gaze to the entrance of the Quidditch pitch.

“Presenting your reigning Quidditch champions...Ravenclaw!”

Seven blurs dressed in blue robes slashed through the air, fluttering around the goal hoops at the left end of the pitch and over the blue-decked Ravenclaw stands. They came to a halt in their starting positions, with Andre as Keeper guarding the three goal hoops and their three Chasers at the center of the pitch, with Erika Rath and her Beater cohort flanking their left and their Seeker on their right.

“And the challengers to the title,” said Murphy, unable to hide his clear excitement, “...Slytherin!”

The Slytherin stands began to cheer as their seven players flew out onto the field like emerald-colored hawks in flight.

Carewyn felt like her ears had been completely stoppered by the deafening applause from her house. She flew in formation as she’d seen the Slytherin team do many times before from the audience, stopping near the center of the pitch with Orion and Cara, while Night and Quinn flew to their right and Kaylisa stayed on their left. Ashok had already separated from them, no doubt heading for the Slytherin goal posts.

“Two teams, vying for the Quidditch Cup trophy and glory for their house!” cried Murphy. “Who will be victorious?”

The entire stands were in a frenzy now. Carewyn glanced at the red and yellow sections that belonged to the two houses not competing. She was surprised how many green-and-silver banners she saw -- even Gryffindor, which usually considered Slytherin their mortal enemy, had a few.

‘I guess there are some Gryffindors who want Ravenclaw to lose even more than they dislike us,’ thought Carewyn dryly.

When she looked at the Gryffindor stands more carefully, though, she was a bit taken aback.

One of the largest green and silver banners was being held by a familiar young man with a ginger ponytail, a “C”-initialed maroon sweater, and an army green jacket.

“KICK THEIR SORRY ARSES, CAREY!” Carewyn could just barely make out what Charlie was mouthing as he waved up at her.

Jae, who was sitting on Charlie’s right side, waved too. Ben, who was on Charlie’s left, didn’t wave, instead sitting back with his arms crossed and looking very focused -- he was probably a bit nervous, but trying to show a brave face all the same.

Carewyn waved down at them, her red lips spreading into a tiny smile too.

“Referee Madame Hooch steps out onto the field!”

Murphy’s lively commentary brought Carewyn back down to earth. She turned away from the stands, facing the Ravenclaws on the opposite end of the Quidditch pitch.

Carewyn immediately met Rath’s eyes. The Ravenclaw Beater’s gaze was as fierce as a tiger’s.

Carewyn met that gaze with a steely blue look of her own.

‘I might not have any bad feelings toward you, Rath...but I will NOT let you get in the way of us winning this match.’

“The Bludgers are up!” cried Murphy. “As is the Golden Snitch!”

Carewyn watched both Bludgers bounce off through the air. She thought she saw the Snitch too, but the flicker of gold moved so fast that she had no idea what direction it was heading in before it disappeared completely.

The Snitch, however, wasn’t her focus. Her “gold” at the moment -- if one followed the idea of being as tenacious as a Niffler -- was the scarlet-colored ball Madame Hooch lifted out of the Quidditch trunk with both hands. Her hawk-like eyes drifted from Ravenclaw to Slytherin to back again: then, abruptly, she flung it up into the air.

“The Quaffle is released -- AND WE’RE OFF!”

Immediately one of the Ravenclaw Chasers, Liddell, snatched up the Quaffle. Before she could get far, however, Cara swerved in front of her to block her -- Carewyn then barrel-rolled up from below, snatching the Quaffle out of Liddell’s hands, darting back toward the Ravenclaw goal posts.

“Cromwell’s taken hold of the Quaffle -- moving up the pitch -- she just barely dodges Urquart when he tries to steal! She passes to O’Donnell -- O’Donnell passes back to Cromwell, avoiding Liddell -- Cromwell passes to Amari -- Amari heads for the goal hoops -- ooh hoo! Amari whips out his trademark move, Inspired Broom Surfing! He weaves -- he shoots -- score! Slytherin takes an early lead, 10-0!”

It was incredible how much faster a real Quidditch match felt, in comparison to the friendlies Carewyn usually played in. It felt like there was never any time to breathe -- as soon as one goal was scored, you almost immediately had to try to find a way to snatch the Quaffle back again, purely due to how fast the turnover was between rounds. Soon Ravenclaw and Slytherin were at each other’s throats, with their Chasers fighting over the Quaffle as if it were made of pure gold.

“Cromwell’s in possession -- Rath hits a Bludger at Cromwell -- yes! Cromwell dodges! That could’ve been nasty! Cromwell still in possession, Urquart and Trotter on her tail -- passes to Ama -- NO! Intercepted by Liddell! Liddell’s taking the Quaffle back up the field, toward the Slytherin goal posts -- dodges a Bludger hit by Rhea -- O’Donnell tries to steal -- OUCH! O’Donnell just barely avoids another Bludger hit by Rath -- Liddell in possession, she shoots -- score! 10 points to Ravenclaw! Slytherin still leads 80-60!”

‘We need an at least 70 point lead,’ Carewyn recalled.

She glanced at the Slytherin stands. Somewhere down there, she knew Skye was watching.

Her bright red lips spread into a huge smirk, and in a second, she’d flown after Orion, flying alongside him.

“Orion, let’s pince him!”

Orion’s smirk was even whiter and brighter than Carewyn’s as he took off again. Nearly in tandem, he flew down and slammed his side up against Urquart’s right side, while Carewyn pinned him on his left. Having figured out what her fellow Chasers were up to, Cara dived right at them, knocking Urquart up off his broom from below and making him drop the Quaffle as he struggled to regain his posture.

“A perfectly executed Parkin’s Pincer! Skye Parkin must be full to the brim with pride! O’Donnell’s in possession -- passes to Amari -- he Broom-Surfs up and over Trotter -- passes to Cromwell! Ooh, but it looks like Cromwell’s got Urquart and Trotter on her tail again -- how’s she gonna get out of this?”

‘Buzz off!’ Carewyn thought with an irritable glance over her shoulder at the two male Ravenclaw Chasers.

Her blue eyes narrowing, she kept her focus straight ahead, heading straight for Andre at the goal posts. Andre was already guarded, preparing to block her if she shot the Quaffle at the center hoop --

‘Sorry, Andre -- can’t play nice today!’

Just when she should’ve thrown the Quaffle, Carewyn flew right past the goal hoops, drifting backward on her Comet broom so she could loop around in a backwards “C” and shoot for the far left hoop instead.

“WHOA! Cromwell both shakes off the Chasers and sideswipes the Keeper with broom-drifting! 10 points to Slytherin! Slytherin leads 90-60!”

There was an electricity in the air. It crackled not just through the stands but through the Slytherin team themselves, energizing them and making them feed off of each other’s enthusiasm in a seemingly endless feedback loop. Soon they were all bouncing off each other.

Carewyn swooped in to help Ashok defend his right goal hoop by knocking the Quaffle out of the way with her broom so Cara could catch it and take it back up the pitch. Night tossed her Beater’s bat to Orion so he could defend himself from a Bludger hit by Ravenclaw’s other Beater, Crane. And with every passing minute, Slytherin’s Chasers kept scoring -- 100 points -- 110 -- 120 --

“Score! 10 points to Slytherin! Slytherin leads Ravenclaw 130 to 60!”

The Slytherin stands were in a frenzy by now. If their team caught the Snitch now, they’d actually win the Quidditch Cup!

The Ravenclaws seemed to sense that the tide had fully turned against them. Despite their best efforts to take down Slytherin’s Chasers, Cara, Orion, and Carewyn were too strong of a unit for them to pick apart. Even though Andre had always been a talented Keeper, Ravenclaw’s Chasers just couldn’t keep up with Slytherin’s, and Andre could only do so much to prevent them from scoring on his own. But as long as Ravenclaw caught the Snitch before Slytherin did, the Slytherin Chasers’ work would be all for naught --

Carewyn had taken her position in center field, just as planned, while Cara and Orion played keep-away with the Quaffle. It was as she watched the perimeter that she spotted Kaylisa going into a sharp dive.

‘She’s seen the Snitch!’

Carewyn shot her head around, looking for Quinn and Night. Night had hurried to protect Ashok from a Bludger hit by Crane -- Quinn was closer, but had been forced to smack the other Bludger at Liddell before she could steal the Quaffle from Cara, so she was still about fifty feet away.

“CARA!” Carewyn bellowed.

Cara caught sight of Carewyn waving widely up at her. Unfortunately Carewyn hadn’t been the only one to spot Kaylisa -- Rath had too. The Ravenclaw Beater dived, heading straight for the Slytherin Seeker.

Once Cara spotted Kaylisa and Rath, she chucked the Quaffle at Orion, who immediately tore off toward the goal hoops, while she quickly flew up to get Quinn’s attention.

“QUINN!” Carewyn just barely made out Cara yelling. “CENTER FIELD, RIGHT EDGE!”

“ON IT!” Quinn shouted back.

The Slytherin Beater dived. Carewyn watched anxiously as Quinn flew as fast as she could toward them -- Rath was coming up on Kaylisa very fast -- she was only about twenty feet away now -- fifteen -- Rath looked up and around, and then down at Kaylisa -- she raised her bat --

‘Quinn’s not going to make it!’ Carewyn thought in alarm. ‘And Rath’s too close -- even if I try to distract her now, she’ll see me long before I reach her!’

Kaylisa had stretched out her hand -- Rath swung her bat up over her head --

Carewyn made up her mind very quickly.

‘There’s no other choice!’

Charlie being knocked off his broom in the last Quidditch Final flitting through her mind, Carewyn flew out from the perimeter, not at Rath, but so that she would be on a collision course with the Bludger Rath smacked at Kaylisa.

Unfortunately, Carewyn had waited just a tiny bit too long. Rather than ending up in the same position Charlie had been in the last Quidditch Final and getting knocked off her broom when the Bludger collided with her back, the Bludger instead slammed full-force into Carewyn’s chest.

“URGH!”

Carewyn somehow managed to subconsciously wrap her arms around both her broom and the Bludger in a hug-like vice grip as she fell. She landed four feet below, landing in a crumpled heap on her side.

Somewhere very, very far above her, Carewyn could hear Murphy’s voice ringing out like an excitable cluster of church bells.

“UNBELIEVABLE! CROMWELL INTERCEPTS THE BLUDGER HIT BY RATH, ALLOWING FORTESCUE TO CATCH THE SNITCH! SLYTHERIN WINS! SLYTHERIN WINS THE QUIDDITCH CUP!”

The Bludger wrenched itself out of Carewyn’s arms and squiggled away through the air.

Carewyn coughed, her arms still clutched around herself tightly. The upper left side of her chest was throbbing with pain.

‘I really shouldn’t have done that,’ she thought to herself grumpily.

She tried to get up, but she couldn’t quite figure out what way was up. Her heart was beating so fast -- she gasped for air, clutching her chest that bit more tightly as she tried to get up again.

“Carewyn! Carewyn, are you okay?!”

Quinn’s voice echoed overheard. Carewyn blinked up at the navy-haired Beater, offering her bravest, prettiest smile.

“Ow...now everyone...can see why I’m not a Beater...”

The last word came out of her throat very badly. Carewyn choked, trying to get a better breath, but it came out as a wheeze -- she hacked up some dark liquid onto the sleeve of her Quidditch robes --

“Carewyn!”

Quinn’s voice sounded panicked.

“WE NEED A HEALER! GET US SOME HELP HERE, NOW!”

The world was spinning -- Carewyn’s heart was pounding in her ears so loudly, it almost deafened her to the sounds of the cheering crowd somewhere far above them --

“Carewyn!”

Was that Kaylisa and Night? Carewyn wasn’t quite sure...she thought she saw several emerald-colored blurs diving toward her, but she couldn’t tell who they were -- one of the blurs collided with the ground very sharply several feet away, while the other three all landed right next to her, coming right up beside her --

“Help me carry her!”

“Orion, help us -- ”

“We’ve got you, Carewyn -- ”

“Careful -- ”

“Orion!”

The female voices overhead were all blurring together, dissolving away into the loudly echoing heartbeat in her ears. Soon Carewyn couldn’t hear them at all -- she couldn’t see them at all -- and she knew no more.

((OOC: Sorry for the cliffhanger. Next update’s tonight/tomorrow morning, I promise. T.T

MC Slytherin players included are, once again, Cara O’Donnell @unfortunate-arrow, Night Rhea @nightrhea-hphm, and Sabrina “Quinn” Mercurenius @danceworshipper!))

#hphm #hogwarts mystery #my writing #roleplaying #gameplay #quest for the quidditch cup #carewyn cromwell #erika rath #orion amari #cara o'donnell #murphy mcnully #sabrina mercurenius #night rhea #other people's mcs #charlie weasley #ben copper #jae kim

27 notes · View notes