"The match is reaching its climax now!" Avery's co-commentator which I came to learn during the course of the match to be Thomas Moonridge yelled enthusiastically.
"Slytherin might have been in the lead but the match is far from over," Avery spoke in her usual neutral way. It was difficult to tell that she was a member of Slytherin from the unbiased way that she ran her commentary.
"As of now, the team members of Gryffindor are trying their hardest to score a last goal or two in even as their Seeker, Ryan struggles neck and neck with the Slytherin Seeker, Jason."
I had to rely on the commentary to keep track of the chase between the Seekers because, in the last moments of the match, we were almost evenly matched with Gryffindor.
They were putting their all into the match and even I had a hard time keeping the balance.
"The Snitch is in sight! Both Seekers nosediving for the evasive golden ball! Who will come out victorious?!"
"Is it? I think… Is it what I think it is?!!" Avery roared as the crowd waited with bated breaths.
Even Avery forgot herself for the moment. "The Snitch has been caught! I tell you it has!"
"But by who?" Thomas quipped, they sounded like they were all straining to see and I did the same.
Everyone else's attention on the pitch had been caught by the information of the Snitch being caught.
Jason was zooming around in spirals waving his right hand!
"Oh my! Oh my! Slytherin's Seeker, Jason is in possession of the Snitch! Unbelievable! Slytherin has won the first match of the season!" Avery paused for theatrical effect. "IN A LANDSLIDE!!!"
Thunderous cheers enveloped the Quidditch pitch, chanting coming from the Slytherin stands as they celebrated their victory.
Blair immediately shot in Jason's direction, the rest of us following closely behind her.
She slammed into him in a bear hug, while still in the air, the both of them barely managing to stay afloat.
All players eventually dropped to the ground and the pitch overflowed, Slytherin House members rushing from the stands to celebrate with the winning team.
There was so much going on that I couldn't even keep track of, I quickly lost sight of the other team members as we were all hoisted up in the air.
It eventually settled down and we were able to escape into the locker rooms.
I rubbed my sore arms and back from where I was pulled and tossed, especially me because it seemed like everyone wanted to get their hands on me.
Jason was the first in the locker rooms, then Tanner and I snuck in, Blythe and Crawley close behind us.
"There's our Snitch catcher!" Tanner cheered afresh, running forward much to Jason's horror to engulf him in another hug.
Blythe and Crawley followed his lead, jumping on the poor scrawny boy. I wasn't left behind, joining in the celebration.
To my surprise, Ji-hun gingerly sat on my back when we were all piled up.
It was to this scene that Blair came in to see, she stopped when she saw us, surprise painted on her bright face.
Jason immediately reached out to her for help. "C-Captain!" He wheezed from the weight of the entire team on him. "Help m-me!" He begged dramatically, putting out a hand. "My spine is going to…"
"Oh? Are you guys doing a dogpile without me?" She asked in a way too bright voice, doing a running start before smacking into Ji-hun who tried to escape.
Tanner and the Beaters already shifted in a way that Jason didn't get the full impact of our combined weights but he still made a fuss nonetheless.
"You all did it!" Blair exclaimed when we all scrambled to our feet, trying to hug all of us at once.
"Not quite, we all did." Tanner corrected her.
Blair took a step back, her head down. "Y-Yeah, you're right, we all did."
"Blair?" Tanner stepped closer to her.
"Stay back a moment…"
"Captain?"
"Is something wrong?" The rest of the team started on to catch on to what was happening.
I was relaxed however, knowing what was coming next.
"I'm fine!" She sobbed out, looking up. "I'm just really happy." She wiped at her eyes furiously.
Matching gasps of horror spread through the team, Blair never cried. Well, except that one time before the match when she got teary.
But the Slytherin Captain was such a sturdy boulder that the team was rightfully horrified when she cried.
An awkward silence fell over the locker room as we all watched on in concern as she cried a bit.
"What are you all idling around for? Get cleaned up, we have celebrations at hand!" She cheered in a much clearer voice.
Her eyes were still glassy but her voice was steady, her cheeks a healthy red.
This side of Blair the team could handle and we all cheered before dispersing to do as she ordered.
I planned to check up on Blair but Tanner was already heading in her direction so I let them be.
I felt itchy and sweaty from the match and I could wait to take a shower. I was also unbelievably hungry.
By the time we were all cleaned up and back in the common room, it was almost time for lunch.
The members of Slytherin had been waiting impatiently with crackers and streamers to continue the celebrations from where it stopped on the Quidditch pitch.
Green and silver ribbons were hung all over the dungeons, giving the gloomy room a touch of festivity.
The fireplace crackled in the corner, adding to the celebratory air.
Fortunately, the bell for lunch cut short the rest of the celebrations, and the Slytherin Quidditch team was finally released.
We made our way to the Great Hall as a team, our presence attracting stares.
It had truly been a mindblowing match which was the goal.
At the end of the match, we had racked up a staggering 360 points to Gryffindor's 50 points, we were sufficiently far ahead of the competition already.
It was a nice kind of exhaustion that settled over us after we brought home the win but we had played to win, there was no other option.
The one thing I didn't see coming was random students I'd never spoken to before coming up to me to congratulate me, a few even asked for an autograph.
"Congratulations on your win." Roxana walked up to us after we were seated in the Great Hall.
It was still a thing of surprise to see Roxana interact with other people, she was always on the quieter calmer side whenever she talked to me but when she spoke to other people, it was easy to see how she was one of the most popular students.
She held conversations flawlessly and was nice without being a pushover.
"I didn't know you could play like that." She drifted closer to me to say, appreciation twinkling in her light eyes.
I scratched my head at the teasing tone in her voice but before I could reply a couple of people walked up to us.
"Congratulations on winning the match." Hazel's voice interrupted, I looked up to find her walking up with Witter in tow.
Witter looked unimpressed like he would rather be anywhere else but he couldn't leave Hazel's side, especially not when she was coming to me.
"You don't have to force yourself to say that," Blair said kindly.
"Oh it's fine, I can give appreciation to whom it's due and Audric played spectacularly out on the pitch today."
Witter's expression only got darker, his green eyes growing cold as Hazel kept talking.
"Thanks, lunch is about to start though so we should talk later." I cut off the conversation before it entered dangerous territory.
Lunch was indeed about to start and the tense atmosphere dissipated as food appeared on the table.
We were ravenous, having had to skip out on breakfast so the conversation got stilted as we concentrated on filling ourselves up.
I took a deep breath, my first one ever since I woke up this morning. Losing was definitely not an option and I had come to learn to rely on the rest of the team.
I might be a really good player by myself but if the team was awful, we would have lost the match.
So losing or winning hadn't been up to me to decide, it required all of us doing our part to guarantee it.
"You're still taking us to Hogsmeade, right Captain?" Crawley reminded Blair.
"Of course! The Captain never goes back on her word!"
We cheered to her words with goblets of butterbeer.
"Right after lunch, we should be raring to go." She decided, raising her goblet one last time.
