The House Cup

Ravenclaw: 47 (30 points gained from tournament placements)

Hufflepuff: 46 (26 points gained from tournament placements)

Slytherin: 46 (34 points gained from tournament placements)

Gryffindor: 33 (30 points gained from tournament placements)

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The tournament weekend saw a great mix up in the standings, with Slytherin's point advantage evaporating due to the loss of 11 points. The Slytherin students, however, were not very upset with the loss of first place, as the results of the dueling tournament proved what they had always thought; Slytherin is the strongest house in Hogwarts.

For the weeks leading up to the Hallowe'en feast, all four houses saw a consistent decrease in house points. The Slytherins constant bragging about how well their house did in the dueling tournament had gotten on the nerves of the other three houses.

The Gryffindors, brash as they are, started getting into more and more fights with the Slytherins the day after the tournament ended. The loveable Hufflepuffs lasted a week before they too started getting into squabbles with the Slytherins. The Ravenclaws, aloof and uncaring, were able to ignore the Slytherins and their bragging for a fortnight before they couldn't take it anymore and joined the fray. These constant squabbles caused all the houses to lose house points, the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs more so than the Slytherins and Ravenclaws. Mr. Filch and Mrs. Figg had their hands full patrolling the hallways, breaking up fights, and giving students detentions. 

When Vice Headmaster McGonagall brought up the issue with Headmaster Gage, he simply chuckled and replied, "Don't worry Minverva, once Hallowe'en passes and Quidditch starts, the students will have other priorities."

And so, in this chaotic atmosphere, the Hallowe'en feast came and went with little fanfare.

The following day, November 1st, marked the start of the quidditch season, with afternoon classes cancelled to accommodate for the first match of the year between Charlie Weasley's Golden Lions (Gryffindor A) and Brennan Doyle's Silver Eagles (Ravenclaw A). 

This match would see the previous year's top two battle for supremacy.

Golden Lions Team Members:

Seeker: Charlie Weasley (6th year Captain)

Keeper: Oliver Wood (3rd year)

Main Chaser: Alexander Gregory (7th year)

Left Chaser: Tenebrius Lock (6th year)

Right Chaser: Jeffrey Jackson (3rd year)

Left Beater: Braden Prewett (6th year) 

Right Beater: Joseph Blanc (7th year)

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Silver Eagles Team Members:

Seeker: Lisa Ryan (4th year)

Keeper: Brennan Doyle (7th year Captain)

Main Chaser: Zahir Frange (4th year)

Left Chaser: Ashe Lux (5th year)

Right Chaser: Dervin Manger (6th year)

Left Beater: Colin Harte (6th year)

Right Beater: Simon Lowe (7th year)

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() = Tonks announcing (she will be play by play)

{} = Justin announcing (he will be the color analyst)

(Hello everyone, I am your co-host for this fiery quidditch match, Tonks, along with my partner, the headmaster's son himself, Justin Gage.)

{Hello y'all}

(While we have some time before the match starts, who do you think is the key player for both sides?)

{For the Golden Lions, it is obviously their star seeker Charlie Weasley, his excellence is the reason why we were able to win the Quidditch tournament at IWSI last year. However, I would also like to call attention to the Golden Lions' keeper, Oliver Wood, he is the youngest on the Golden Lions team, and he will have his work cut out for him trying to deal with the high-powered offense of the Silver Eagles. Speaking of the Silver Eagles, their key player is beater, Colin Harte, whether or not he can keep the Silver Eagles offense safe and prevent seeker Charlie Weasley from gaining an advantage over the young Lisa Ryan will depend on him.}

(Very interesting, Justin. We did a vote on who the Hogwarts students think will win this match and found that 70% believe that Charlie Weasley will lead the Golden Lions to victory. Interestingly, students believe that aside from seeker, the Silver Eagles are superior in every other position. Nevertheless, the match should live up to the hype.)

{We shall see}

(Alright, Madam Hooch has approached the quaffle and thrown it into the sky signaling the start of the game. Ravenclaw chaser, Zahir Frange, caught the quaffle first giving the Silver Eagles possession. He passes to Ashe Lux, who speeds forward before the Golden Lions can set up a proper defense)

{This is clearly a designed play}

(She is now challenging keeper Woods in a 1v1, a huge disadvantage for the 3rd year keeper, she pumps fake and scores! Just 15 seconds into the game, the Silver Eagles demonstrate why they are known for having the best offense in the league.)

{Keeper Woods showed his youth there and bit on the pump fake, it was a hopeless situation though.}

SE 10 : GL 0

(The game now restarts, with the Golden Lions taking possession. The quaffle is in the hands of Tenebrius Lock, who is being harried by bludgers. The Silver Eagle beaters have begun to assert their presence on the game.)

{Beater Blanc looks absolutely helpless out there; it is clear that the Golden Lions' strategy is to focus on catching the snitch as soon as possible. They have on beater assigned solely to protecting Weasley.} 

(It is certainly an interesting strategy, certainly. Ooh, a brutal hit that was, as a bludger sent by Harte collides with young Jackson)

{He might be out for a while; Madam Pomfrey will have to check on him before he can rejoin the fray}

(Yes, a bad start to his debut. The Golden Lions offence has been stifled and the quaffle has been turned over. Frange passes to Lux, who takes advantage of the extra man to loop a through pass through the Golden Lions defense. Manger is with the quaffle now, only Gregory and Wood remain in front of him and Frange. An excellent bludger shot from Harte causes Gregory to dodge allowing Manger to be through on goal. He makes the extra unselfish pass to Frange, who easily scores for his first of the match.)

{Harte is proving once again why he is the key player of the Silver Eagles. It is too easy for them right now, only 2 minutes in and the score is already 20-0}

SE 20 : GL 0

(Yes, at the rate of scoring the Silver Eagles are putting up, Weasley will may end up being a non-factor in this game. Adding to their woes, Madam Pomfrey has confirmed the young Jackson has broken his arm. Therefore, Quenton Quinzel, a sixth year, will be replacing the unlucky debutante. The game resumes, with the quaffle being immediately placed into the hands of Gregory, who appears to want to go it alone. He goes into his signature sloth grip roll as he bypasses the initial defense of Lux. He proceeds to attempt a Wollongong Shimmy, but is blocked by the experienced Lowe, who forces Gregory into a physical confrontation. Gregory finds an outlet in the form of the recently subbed on Quinzel, who rockets forward and drives towards the hoops. Oh my! What a play by Frange to rob Quinzel of the quaffle)

{Frange just performed a Starfish and Stick maneuver, where he hangs off the end of his broom with only one hand and one foot giving him more reach. Excellently done and now the Silver Eagles look to fast break}

(Frange immediately passes the quaffle, as if it was made of lava, to Lux, who was sitting in the Golden Lions' front court all alone. She dodges a bludger sent by Prewett, who is trying to offer his team a little support while protecting his seeker. Lux is now once again one on one with keeper Wood. Simple and easy, Lux scores the second goal the day. That was taken with some confidence!)

{Yup, no pump fake or anything, just an immediate shot before Wood could close in on her to cut of the hoops. She made that look simple. The Silver Eagles are starting to run away with this game. Oof! That was unfortunate! Charlie Weasley just performed a Wronski Feint, which Lisa Ryan fell for and took a tumble. Now Weasley will have a bit more freedom to look for the snitch while Lisa Ryan gets checked up by Madam Pomfrey.}

SE 30 : GL 0

(The quaffle is back in play as Lock brings the quaffle into the frontcourt. He makes a back pass to Wood, who has come forward to aid in the attack.)

{Wood appears to have shifted into more of a sweeper keeper role, clearly the Golden Lions are trying to slow down the pace of the match, to give their star man a better chance at evening the score.}

(Wood passes to Gregory, who successfully bypasses Lowe this time before performing his signature sloth grip roll to dodge a bludger. It always amazes me how he is able keep up his speed with performing that maneuver. He performs a wall pass with Lock to bypass the defense Frange, leaving him and Quinzel in a two on two with Doyle and Manger. Oh, my what a play! Harte's bludger knocks down the pass from Gregory to Quinzel giving the Silver Eagles possession once more.)

{It might have cost them though, as it looks like Weasley has seen the snitch, with Lisa Ryan still sidelined and Harte now out of position, it is now up to Lowe to stop Weasley.}

(Very true, meanwhile, the Silver Eagles have taken advantage of the fact that the Golden Lions' beaters are now focused on allowing Weasley to catch the snitch and have bypassed the sole defender, Lock, leaving keeper Wood is a hopeless situation where he has to defend against both Lux and Frange. Wood, helpless is unable to prevent Frange from giving the extra pass to Lux, who scores her third goal of the match.)

{Weasley just caught the snitch! The game has been turned on its head}

SE 40 : GL 50

(Yes, now there is a five-minute wait period before the next snitch will get released, Gryffindor will hope to retain their lead during this period.)