Quidditch Spectator Ravenclaw vs Gryffindor - Winter 2023

It was one of those mornings where the sun was happy to shine in your eyes without doing a single thing to warm you up. Climbing to the top of the stands, Adam could see his breath with every step. His hands were clutched tightly around a cup of hot chocolate; his blue scarf, both a show of house pride and an extra layer against the cold, was wound closely around his neck. With any luck, Ravenclaw would catch the Snitch quickly today — very quickly. Otherwise, he was afraid he might freeze his ears off.

The game had already begun by the time that the sixth-year reached the top of the stairs, and he hurried to find a seat among the crowd of Ravenclaw fans. He hadn't been to a Hogwarts Quidditch game in a long time; still, it only took a few moments for everything to come back to him. Blue and red blurs on broomsticks chased each other around the pitch while the announcer's amplified voice narrated their every move. The hoops, guarded by their keepers, waited for some brave chaser to try and score. With every pass, interception, jostle, and blatching, a burst of noise rose from the crowd: cheering, booing, chanting. It wasn't long before Adam wasn't thinking about the cold anymore.

He took a swig of hot chocolate as he searched the Ravenclaw players in the air for particularly familiar faces. Jorah Moussa, who he was sure he'd met a few times outside the common room, had taken a hard hit from a bludger, but Adam was sure that he'd be beating it right back in no time. He struggled to put names to the faces of the younger players, but their team of chasers was older and a bit more recognizable. He knew Sylvain and Lavinia, didn't he? Knew of them, at least. And — of course — the third chaser and Ravenclaw team captain was none other than his best friend, Cecily Quinn. She was about ninety percent of the reason that he'd hiked across the grounds to be here. He had a habit of swearing that he'd be at her next game and then, for some reason or another (usually homework-based), not being there. Not today, though! It was way worth a sniffle to see Cecily and the eagles take flight.

Adam let out a loud cheer as his friend collided with one of the Gryffindor players, knocking the lion off her broom, which turned into a gasp as someone else knocked the Ravenclaw captain off her broom. His hands squeezed his cocoa cup until his knuckles turned white. Years ago, when he'd been on the Quidditch team, falling had always been his biggest fear. He'd never had to experience it, thankfully, because he'd been on the bench the whole time. But his heart didn't stop threatening to beat out of his chest until both of the blatched students were caught.

He sat back with a sigh of relief, glancing up at Gryffindor's goals just in time to see Lavinia score. Yes! Just like that, he was back to cheering: alternating, as the action unfolded, between "Quinn! Quinn! Quinn!" and a more general "Rav-en-claw! Rav-en-claw!"

The game was tied. There was plenty of time to go. If Ravenclaw won this match, Adam promised himself that he'd never miss another one — not even if it meant trudging through a hurricane to see it.