And above it all, Gilderoy Lockhart suddenly folded forward on his broom and plunged toward the ground as though he had finally spotted the Snitch, causing Regulus Black to curse under his breath before immediately dropping after him as both Seekers tore downward through open air with their robes snapping violently behind them while thousands of spectators leaned forward in anticipation.
"Lockhart has seen something!" Xenophilius announced excitedly from the commentary box. "Either the Snitch or a particularly fascinating patch of grass!"
The pitch rushed upward beneath them.
Fifty feet.
Forty feet.
Thirty feet.
Neither Seeker showed any intention of pulling away, and a ripple of alarm spread through the stands as students began rising from their seats while Madam Hooch herself narrowed her eyes at the increasingly reckless dive.
Twenty feet.
Ten feet.
At the very last moment Gilderoy's broom tilted upward and skimmed across the grass so closely that the bristles brushed the pitch before carrying him safely away, while Regulus was forced to wrench his own broom upward a heartbeat later, his sleeve scraping against the ground and sending dirt spraying on him before he finally managed to recover.
Laughter immediately broke out across the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw sections.
Regulus climbed back into open air and swung his broom around sharply.
"Did you just try to pull a Wronski Feint on me, Lockhart?"
Gilderoy looked back with a perfectly innocent expression.
"Whatever do you mean, Black?"
Regulus continued staring at him for several seconds as though weighing the advantages of murder against the consequences of committing it in front of the entire school, and before he could say another word Gilderoy suddenly folded forward and dove again.
"HE'S DOING IT AGAIN!" Xenophilius shouted so loudly that his voice echoed around the entire stadium. "I am beginning to suspect Mr. Lockhart has developed an unhealthy fascination with the Hogwarts lawn!"
The crowd exploded with laughter as Regulus followed again, although noticeably slower than before, and when Gilderoy pulled away from the ground at the final moment for a second time, several students actually groaned while others began cheering every dive as though it were becoming part of the match itself.
By the third attempt Regulus no longer looked amused, and when both Seekers returned to altitude there was a visible tightness around his jaw that had not been there earlier, while Gilderoy appeared to be enjoying himself far more than anyone pursuing the Snitch had any right to.
Pandora slipped between two Slytherin Chasers and fired a pass toward Miriam, who redirected it toward Cedric almost before the Quaffle had properly settled into her hands, and the three Ravenclaw Chasers continued weaving across the pitch with the sort of coordination that only came from years of flying together.
Every time Slytherin thought they had closed one passing lane another seemed to appear from nowhere, because Pandora was already moving before Cedric released the ball, while Miriam constantly shifted position to offer a safe outlet whenever the defense began closing in.
Selwyn eventually abandoned any pretense of subtlety. The moment Pandora received possession near midfield, the Slytherin Chaser drove directly into her side with enough force to make several students in the stands gasp, and Pandora's broom dipped sharply before she managed to recover her balance.
Madam Hooch's whistle shrieked instantly.
"FOUL!"
A wall of boos crashed down from Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw alike.
"Another foul for Slytherin," Xenophilius announced cheerfully. "At this point Madam Hooch may wish to simply keep the whistle in her mouth permanently and save valuable time."
"Mr Lovegood," McGonagall's amplified voice echoed across the stadium.
"Yes, Professor?"
"Please stop being rude to Madam Hooch."
"I was merely suggesting ways for Madam Hooch to improve efficiency, Professor. The whistle appears to be seeing more action than the Quaffle."
Laughter erupted from three quarters of the stadium loud enough to drown out most of the furious booing coming from the Slytherin section.
Pandora handed the Quaffle over for the penalty shot, and Cedric immediately accelerated forward with the confidence of someone who had practiced this exact situation hundreds of times. Rosier launched himself toward the left hoop the instant Cedric released the ball and somehow managed to get his fingertips onto the Quaffle, knocking it away at the last second and drawing a triumphant roar from the Slytherin section.
Unfortunately for them, Pandora had already anticipated the save.
Before the Quaffle had even begun falling she was moving, diving beneath two surprised Slytherin Chasers and snatching it out of the air before anyone else could react. Rosier was still recovering from his dive when Pandora spun her broom sideways and fired the Quaffle through the center hoop.
The Slytherin celebration died almost instantly.
"And Ravenclaw scores anyway!" Xenophilius declared happily. "A deeply unfortunate sequence of events for approximately one quarter of the stadium."
The roar that followed shook the stands.
The Quaffle changed hands twice before reaching Travers, who surged through the opening with enough speed to force Adrian Chambers into action.
The Ravenclaw captain launched himself across the goalmouth just as Travers released his shot, and for a moment the Quaffle seemed destined for the center hoop before Adrian managed to brush the leather with the very tips of his fingers. The shot clipped the rim instead of passing cleanly through, spinning away harmlessly as the Ravenclaw supporters erupted in approval.
"Magnificent save by Chambers!" Xenophilius shouted. "The man appears determined to show why he is the Captain of the Ravenclaw team."
Cedric gathered the rebound before the cheering had even faded and immediately transformed defense into attack. A long pass found Miriam racing down the left side of the pitch while Pandora climbed steadily higher, drawing both Lyra and Travers after her as though she were intentionally acting as bait.
The trap worked perfectly.
Both Slytherins committed.
Pandora suddenly cut back toward the center.
Miriam saw the opening immediately and sent the Quaffle through it without hesitation, while Pandora dropped into position to receive the pass. Rosier reacted exactly as she had hoped, abandoning the right hoop the instant he saw her lining up for a shot, but Pandora never intended to score herself and instead flicked the Quaffle behind her shoulder without even looking.
Cedric arrived precisely where he needed to be.
The Quaffle slammed through the unguarded hoop.
The stadium exploded.
"Remarkable teamwork from Ravenclaw," Xenophilius observed. "They continue demonstrating the controversial theory that passing to teammates is useful."
Far above the action, Gilderoy folded forward on his broom once more.
"Oh dear," Xenophilius sighed dramatically. "He's doing it again."
Laughter immediately spread through the stands because everyone already knew what was coming.
Both Seekers plunged downward through open air as thousands of eyes tracked their descent, and the ground rushed upward at an alarming speed before Gilderoy tilted his Cleansweep upward at the final moment, skimming only inches above the grass. Regulus was forced into a sharper correction that left the sleeve of his robes brushing the pitch before he managed to recover, drawing another wave of laughter from the crowd when both Seekers climbed back into the sky.
Gilderoy looked entirely too pleased with himself.
Regulus looked increasingly less pleased.
Below them the match showed no signs of slowing. Alaric drove a Bludger toward Selwyn with enough force to send the Slytherin Chaser into an awkward barrel roll, while Catriona spent the next several minutes making life miserable for anyone unfortunate enough to be wearing green and silver. One particularly vicious strike sent a Bludger screaming directly through Burke's flight path and forced him into such a desperate evasive maneuver that even several Gryffindors applauded the effort.
Then Gilderoy saw it at last, a brief flash of gold near the Slytherin goalposts that vanished almost immediately among the constant movement of players and Bludgers, yet his eyes remained fixed on the spot because his Animagus-enhanced vision had already identified what everyone else had missed.
The Snitch was hovering dangerously close to Regulus Black, so close that Gilderoy nearly laughed aloud, because after spending half the match being dragged into fake dives and pointless pursuits, the Slytherin Seeker was now practically sharing airspace with victory while remaining completely unaware of it.
Although his heartbeat quickened, nothing showed on his face as he adjusted his grip on the broom and guided it toward the Slytherin end of the pitch. Regulus noticed him immediately, and the irritation that had been building throughout the match returned the moment he saw Lockhart approaching him yet again. From his perspective there was only one possible explanation. Lockhart had come to waste more of his time, perform another fake dive, and attempt another ridiculous Wronski Feint that would accomplish nothing except test his patience.
Gilderoy continued forward at an unhurried pace until he was almost level with him, and only then did he suddenly fold forward and send his broom into a steep descent.
"Not this time," Regulus muttered, refusing to move.
The Snitch chose that exact moment to dart downward.
What had begun as another apparent attempt at bait instantly became something else entirely, because the tiny golden ball shot away from the goalposts and plunged toward the pitch with Gilderoy directly behind it. The roar of the crowd faded into the background while every other concern vanished from his thoughts, leaving only the Snitch weaving through the air ahead of him as it twisted through a series of erratic turns in a desperate attempt to escape.
It cut sharply left, then right, before dropping even lower toward the grass, yet Gilderoy stayed with it through every change in direction while his broom skimmed closer and closer to the ground. By now the angle had become dangerous, and a small part of him recognized that he was rapidly running out of space, but there was no possibility of abandoning the chase when victory was only feet away.
Gilderoy lunged forward after it, stretching his arm as far as it would go. The next instant his fingers closed around cold metal and the frantic buzzing of golden wings vanished inside his gloved fist.
---
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