Disclaimer: Not mine�J.K�s. Except of course our beloved blistered Trent�who is absolutely mine.
Chapter Nine: In Exactly Four Seconds
Trent�s face was set in a menacing growl as he waited for Madam Hooch�s whistle to signal the start of the game. He looked up at the score board. The Hufflepuffs were at a hundred points. A hundred to none�this was humiliating.
He looked up to see Malfoy high in the air, watching the Weasley girl from the corner of his eye. Trent knew of course, that Malfoy had a soft spot for her. It was obvious.
Hooch�s whistle went off and soon, Trent was in a roll. He flew faster than anyone had ever seen him fly before. He was determined to score�it was win or kill.
He glanced at the Hufflepuff Chasers. As usual, they were getting into position. There was no way they could be ready for this.
�Remember,� Ginny whispered urgently as the team moved in closer into her circle, �I�m sure those Hufflepuffs are going to do the same thing again. If there�s one thing about that team that makes them win�it�s Cedric Diggory. Cedric�s long gone, bless his gentle soul, and as far as I�ve heard from Ernie, that team is wicked and�sorry for the term�dumb.�
�Once they think something works, they�ll keep on doing it,� Bole, their beloved beater, said, �no offence but they�re real slow.�
�Exactly,� Ginny agreed, nodding her head enthusiastically, �and their slowness is what we�ll take advantage of. Remember�let them score twice�and then never let them score again��
Trent watched maliciously as the Chasers formed the Hawkshead formation once more, this time without anyone disturbing them. Not a member in the Slytherin team was moving, except for Malfoy, who was zooming up and down, trying to lead Kevin Whitby, the Hufflepuff�s Seeker, into believing that he had found the miniscule Snitch.
�Keep the opposing Seeker distracted, Malfoy,� Ginny ordered, her eyes narrowed in determination, �the Hufflepuffs are in lead by a hundred points�we can�t afford losing the Snitch��
�I know,� Malfoy smirked.
Trent watched, along with the other members, as Margarita Impel once more, dropped the Quaffle below Helen Troutdale. As she did, Trent counted silently in his head, �One banana, two banana, three banana��
The Quaffle landed on Helen�s hand.
�Four.�
The Hufflepuffs scored.
�To be able to initiate the Porskoff Ploy properly, there must be an exact time limit in which the Chaser above drops the Quaffle to the Chaser below,� she explained hastily, �count how many seconds it takes before Margarita drops the Quaffle to Helen. The seconds must be exact.�
�How?� Malfoy asked, �How should we know how to count at the same speed?�
�Add banana to the end of the number,� she answered.
�One banana, two bananas�� Trent began.
�No�no s,� she interrupted, �the s adds a millisecond. Remember, no s.�
�No s,� the whole team repeated.
�110 points for Hufflepuffs, and nothing to the Slytherins! I bet this is going to be the toughest game the Slytherins have ever seen!� Finnigan announced with a huge grin plastered on his face. Trent chose to ignore this�favouritism. He looked around and found the other two Chasers, Warrington and Montague, on either side of the field.
All three of them were holding up four fingers.
The Hufflepuffs began to form their attack once more.
The Slytherins waited.
�Let the Hufflepuffs score again,� Ginny said.
�Why? Why can�t we just attack after the count?� Montague argued, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
�We have to be sure�to be accurate,� Ginny replied encouragingly, �or else our attack would be useless.�
�The girl has a point,� Malfoy agreed, nodding, �let the idiots score twice�then we attack. Understood?�
�One banana,� Trent whispered as he watched Margarita prepare to drop the Quaffle, �Two banana, three banana��
Trent grinned wickedly as he counted the last number, �Four.�
The Hufflepuffs scored again, making their score a critical 120. Michael Corner, the Hufflepuff�s Quidditch Captain, was bobbing up and down in his broom unreservedly, acting as if they already won.
Trent merely leered.
�Idiots,� he whispered as he prepared for their assault.
�Malfoy, who�s the fastest person on a broom in your team?� she asked.
�Technically, it�s me�but since I can�t interfere with the scoring since I�m the Seeker, my best bet would be Trent.�
�Trent, listen carefully�this is very important.�
�I�m listening.�
Trent waited until the Hufflepuffs formed the all-too-familiar arrangement again. He hunched forward as he geared himself up for one hell of a ride. At the corner of his eye, he saw Montague and Warrington tense up.
It was their turn to score.
As soon as the Hufflepuffs� structure was readily set, Trent zoomed forward, all the while counting, �One banana��
�You count as you fly towards them�and remember, you have to be real fast!�
�Two banana��
�You only have a few seconds to counter-strike their attack�every second counts!�
�Three,� Trent was only a few inches away from his attackers. Within the last second�he screamed, �Banana!!!�
�Attack at one second before the Quaffle lands on Helen. The seconds you counted before was how long it would take before Helen gets hold of the Quaffle�which means, you have to attack even before Helen gets the Quaffle.�
�Why can�t I strike before Margarita actually drops the Quaffle to Helen??�
�Because Eleanor�s still at Margarita�s left side. That�s her purpose�protect the Quaffle from being stolen. I bet you Eleanor�s the fastest person in their team.�
�That�s why you�re attacking at the last second Trent,� Malfoy explained, backing Ginny up, �within one second, they won�t have time to react.�
�Indeed,� Trent agreed, beginning to understand.
Trent felt as if the whole crowd was staring at him as he expertly caught the Quaffle in his arm as he whizzed between the little space Margarita and Helen were making.
�Gregory Trent, after shouting the word �banana�, amazingly steals the Quaffle from the opposing team!� Finnigan shouted excitedly, momentarily forgetting about his I-hate-Slytherin motto, �Is banana a signal for the other members of team? Go, Trent, goooo!�
Professor McGonagall was in too much shock to reprimand Finnigan about not taking sides. Tiny Professor Snape who was behind her, was grinning his lips out. Professor Dumbledore was silently clapping, nodding his head as if he expected all of this the whole time.
Trent felt the wind pass through his face as he rocketed back to the Slytherin�s goal, his heart pounding out of his chest. The whole team depended on him.
He just had to make it through all this.
�One banana�� he began to count again.
�Trent, fly as fast as you can towards the goal post,� Ginny droned on, �Montague, Warrington�count 20 seconds with the word banana and keep flying at his back,�
�Why?� Warrington asked.
�Because that�s where you come in.�
�Nineteen banana�� Trent whispered.
As expected, the two Hufflepuff beaters were waiting for him at the front of their goal post, about to steal the Quaffle away from him.
That wasn�t in the plan though.
�Twenty!!� Trent screamed.
Without turning around, Trent passed the Quaffle to his back, expecting Warrington to catch it.
�An excellent manipulation of the Reverse Pass!� Finnigan screamed, �This is the best game I have ever seen!�
�Reverse pass,� Ginny said, her eyes sparkling, �this move would stupefy any Hufflepuff anytime. Warrington, be sure to catch it. Trent, as soon as you pass the Quaffle to Warrington, you have to make sure you move to the left. Montague, stay in your position in the right. And you, Warrington, you�re in the middle.�
�Why? What�s with all these positions?� Trent asked.
�If you haven�t noticed yet, you�re forming the Hawkshead Attack.�
Trent was all smiles as the whole school watched in awe as the three Chasers advanced to the scoring area. Five bananas after, Montague flew below Warrington and within three bananas, the Quaffle was dropped in Montague�s hands.
Montague threw the Quaffle towards the post.
The Hufflepuff Keeper was watching Warrington all the time. He didn�t see the Quaffle from below.
�Slytherin scores!!!� Finnigan announced, jumping up and down in animation.
Far below, Ginny was having a racket. She was skipping barbarically around with Ron, Harry, Colin and Neville. They were bouncing heartily, as if it was their own house that scored. Neville and Harry were screaming so loud that they felt their throat slowly sore. Colin was clicking away furiously with his shutter, not daring to miss any parts of the soon-to-be best Slytherin Quidditch game in the history of Hogwarts ever since James Potter�s era. Ginny and Ron were dancing around inside each other�s arms, both too happy to even squeak.
Malfoy stayed at his spot, eyeing Ginny with admiring eyes. He was grinning from ear to ear.
The Slytherin�s pandemonium was thunderous in Trent�s ears. He gave Malfoy a thumbs-up before going back into position. This was going to be one hell of a game.
�Slytherin scores!! 30 against 150�can the Slytherins catch up??�
Trent was doing his victory dance after Montague expertly scored once more.
�Who�s your daddy?� He shouted sarcastically to the Hufflepuff Keeper, �Oh yeah, who�s your daddy?�
�Time-out!!� Michael Corner yelled angrily, his face set in a scowl.
�Uh-oh,� Montague said beside him, �what now?�
Trent watched nervously as the Hufflepuffs formed a tiny circle on the ground. It was obvious that they were having a heated argument, judging by the fact that Corner was waving his arms up and down like a windmill, and that their Keeper was shouting foul words at him. Trent looked up at Malfoy, asking him through his eyes if their plans were going to change,
Malfoy stubbornly shook his head no.
�Listen Trent,� Warrington called, beckoning him over.
�Yes?�
�These idiots will obviously try our move out,� Warrington whispered, flashing dirty looks at their group, �if ever you see one of them steal the Quaffle even before I give it to Montague�make sure you grab it back, okay? Remember what that Weasley girl said, the fastest flyer is on the left, so that they can steal the Quaffle back�that�s why you�re on the left.�
�I know�I know�� Trent brushed him off.
After a few minutes, the Hufflepuffs were back on track. They had determined faces which scared Trent out of his skin. He didn�t like all these mysteries.
At Hooch�s whistle, both teams rose upwards. Warrington caught the Quaffle easily as soon as Hooch threw it in the air. Automatically, Trent flew to the left while Montague flew to the right. Just as Warrington was about to drop the Quaffle to Montague, Eleanor moved in unexpectedly just as Trent did, and caught the Quaffle for herself.
Anger filled Trent�s mind.
�They stole our plan,� he murmured to no one in particular, �they stole our plan��
Seeing red, Trent soared like a bullet towards his fellow Slytherin beater, Bole, and grabbed the bat from him. As a Bludger came towards him, he purposely hit the Bludger towards the speeding Eleanor.
An angry turbulence from the Hufflepuffs was heard as soon as the Bludger hit Eleanor in the back, knocking her off her broom.
It happened so slowly.
Eleanor�s black hair floated in the wind as her body fell helplessly from her broom. She dropped fifty feet from the air to the ground, the Quaffle still in her hands. Luckily, Hooch was able to catch her in her hands just in time. The impact of the Bludger hitting her back though was enough to knock anyone out. No one ever heard Finnigan swear as much after what happened. He was so angry that McGonagall actually had to snatch the mike from him. The five Gryffindors below were frozen, their faces shocked.
�FOUL!!!� the Hufflepuffs shouted as one.
�FOUL!!� Hooch screamed angrily as soon as Madam Pomfrey walked in the field to take care of Eleanor.
Trent threw the bat back to Bole in disgust, rolling his eyes in anger.
After the teachers had a little meeting over the matter, McGonagall gave the mike back to Finnigan and whispered something to him.
Finnigan�s smile was not a good sign.
�Foul for thirty points!!� he announced.
Trent closed his eyes in hatred. Thirty points�if Margarita scores, the Hufflepuffs will be ahead by 180 points. If Malfoy catches the Snitch, that would make their score 180 too.
A frigging tie.
Trent swore loudly.
Of course Margarita scored thirty points for her team. Tracey Bale, the Slytherin keeper, was as dumb as the goal post she was guarding. She won�t protect anything that�s within an inch beyond her nose.
Just as things were getting worse, something very terrible happened.
As soon as Margarita scored, Trent saw Malfoy immediately zoom towards a golden spark in the ground.
�Malfoy, no!� he heard Ginny scream.
Trent�s eyes widened as he realized that Malfoy was speeding towards the Snitch. Not yet, he thought desperately, Malfoy, oh please not yet�don�t catch the Snitch�
But Malfoy kept on going.
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