Success lasted only a moment before reality practicality returned. The Snitch was in his hand, but he was still hurtling across the pitch at the same speed he'd been carrying during the chase.
Gilderoy hauled back on the broom handle and fought to slow the Cleansweep, yet the ground was already beneath him. His shoulder struck first, and momentum carried him into a rough roll across the grass while dirt sprayed behind him and his broom skidded several yards away before finally toppling onto its side.
Gilderoy pushed himself upright and looked around if anyone had seen him, only to discover that the match above him had descended into such complete chaos that almost nobody had noticed what had happened.
Pandora appeared to be in the middle of a heated argument with Selwyn, Madam Hooch was shouting furiously at someone near the hoops, and the crowd seemed divided between booing Slytherin and finding new reasons to boo Slytherin even louder.
For a moment Gilderoy simply stood there with the Snitch clenched in his fist. Despite the fact that he had just caught the Snitch and ended the Quidditch Final, the match overhead had become so chaotic that nobody seemed to have noticed.
Well, that's awkward.
Gilderoy brushed the dirt from his robes, though it only smeared further instead of coming off cleanly, before climbing to his feet and raising the hand holding the Snitch high above his head. Several seconds passed without the slightest reaction, and he had begun wondering whether he would need to start waving it around like a flag when Emma Halloway suddenly spotted him from the Gryffindor section.
Her eyes widened instantly and she jabbed a finger toward the pitch so abruptly that several nearby students turned to follow her line of sight.
"The Snitch!"
Emma practically climbed onto her seat.
"THE SNITCH HAS BEEN CAUGHT! RAVENCLAW WINS!"
The shout carried across the stadium with surprising effectiveness, and within moments confusion gave way to realization as students throughout the stands began turning toward the lone figure standing on the pitch with a golden ball raised triumphantly above his head. One section noticed, then another, and then another, until the discovery spread through the stadium faster than any announcement could have managed.
Silence followed.
Not the gradual quieting of a crowd, but complete silence, the kind that swept through a stadium so suddenly that it felt unnatural. The shouting stopped, the arguments stopped, and even the constant booing that had dominated the latter half of the match vanished as though someone had cast a Silencing Charm over the entire pitch.
Every player seemed to freeze in place, every head turned toward the same spot, and even Madam Hooch broke off whatever reprimand she had been delivering as the realization slowly spread through the stands.
Then they saw it.
Gilderoy Lockhart stood on the pitch with one arm raised above his head, and protruding from between his fingers were unmistakable golden wings.
"RAVENCLAW WINS! TWO HUNDRED AND FORTY POINTS TO FIFTY!" Xenophilius 's voice boomed across the stadium, abandoning every attempt at neutrality as excitement overwhelmed him.
"RAVENCLAW HAS WON THE QUIDDITCH CUP!"
The explosion that followed nearly shook the castle.
Ravenclaw erupted first, blue and silver supporters leaping to their feet as years of frustration, hope, and disbelief poured out in a single deafening roar. Gryffindor joined almost immediately, while Hufflepuff followed a heartbeat later, and together the combined celebration crashed across the stadium with enough force to drown out every other sound.
Students climbed onto benches. Scarves flew through the air. Someone's robes did too. Blue sparks shot upward from one section, red sparks followed from another, and somewhere in the chaos somebody managed to set off a shower of silver stars above the Ravenclaw stands. Nobody cared whether it was allowed. Nobody cared whether it was sensible.
Ravenclaw had won.
Any protests coming from the Slytherin section were swallowed instantly beneath the celebration.
Nearby, Regulus Black remained motionless on his broom.
For the briefest moment frustration flickered across his face as he looked toward the Snitch trapped inside Gilderoy's hand, and Gilderoy could not help noticing how different the expression looked from the calm confidence Regulus had carried throughout most of the match. The crack lasted only a second before he masked it and the familiar pure-blood composure returned.
Regulus gave him a single nod and turned his broom away and flew toward the Slytherin changing rooms.
Gilderoy barely had time to appreciate the victory before the rest of Ravenclaw descended upon him.
Pandora was circling above the pitch screaming in triumph, and the next she had abandoned all dignity and launched herself directly at him. Gilderoy barely managed to keep his footing as she crashed into him, her arms locking around his neck while laughter poured out of her.
"We WON!!!!"
"We actually WON! Do you have any idea how long I've wanted to see Slytherin's faces after losing a final?"
Miriam arrived a second later and nearly collided with both of them, while Cedric followed immediately behind looking as though he was still trying to process the fact that the match was actually over.
Alaric landed laughing so hard he almost dropped his heavy bat on top on Gilderoy's leg, Catriona was shouting something completely unintelligible at the top of her lungs as she joined in the team hug.
Adrian landed last.
For a moment he simply stood there looking at the team surrounding Gilderoy, looking at the Snitch, and looking at the scoreboard still displaying Ravenclaw's overwhelming lead as though he was trying to convince himself it was real.
Gilderoy grinned, then hooked an arm around Adrian's shoulders and dragged him into the middle of the team celebration, where Pandora, Miriam, Cedric, Alaric, and Catriona were already talking over one another while trying to congratulate him at the same time.
Before long, however, his attention drifted beyond the crowd of teammates and immediately found Amelia.
She was already running towards him, weaving through the growing crowd of students pouring onto the pitch, and somehow the sea of bodies seemed to part in front of her without anyone consciously deciding to move. Within seconds she had crossed the distance between them, and neither of them spoke because there was nothing left to say after everything that had happened throughout the year. The look on Amelia's face carried enough joy, relief, pride, and affection to make words completely unnecessary.
The moment she reached him, Amelia launched herself forward.
Gilderoy caught her instinctively, his arms wrapping around her as her legs locked around his waist, and before anyone nearby could offer a comment, a cheer, or an interruption, she pulled him into a deep celebratory kiss.
The reaction from the students was immediate, because subtlety had never survived particularly long at Hogwarts.
A chorus of wolf whistles erupted from somewhere behind them, laughter followed from every direction at once, and within moments a large portion of the students on the pitch appeared to have temporarily forgotten Ravenclaw had just won the Quidditch Cup because this had suddenly become far more entertaining. Pandora's laughter carried across the pitch loudly enough that several nearby students turned toward her, while Racenclaws immediately began chanting Lockhart's name with all the restraint of an exploding Firework.
By the time they finally separated, Amelia's face had turned a shade of red that would have impressed a Gryffindor banner, while the cheering from the surrounding students showed absolutely no sign of stopping.
Gilderoy lowered her carefully onto her feet, although his arm remained comfortably around her waist, and Amelia made no attempt whatsoever to move away from him despite the attention currently directed at both of them.
If anything, she shifted slightly closer.
Around them the celebrations continued growing rather than fading as scarves flew through the air, somebody's trousers somehow joined them in air to Gilderoy's complete bewilderment, students shouted congratulations across the pitch.
Then another surge of excitement swept through the Ravenclaw players as they spotted Professor McGonagall approaching across the pitch with the Quidditch Cup resting in her hands while Professor Dumbledore walked beside her, his beard practically bouncing with every step as he smiled at the chaos surrounding them.
Professor McGonagall was approaching across the pitch carrying the Quidditch Cup, its polished silver surface gleaming beneath the afternoon sunlight, while Professor Dumbledore walked beside her with the faint smile that usually appeared whenever Hogwarts students managed to exceed expectations.
The sight of the trophy alone nearly caused a second celebration.
Adrian looked completely stunned.
Pandora actually squealed.
"prof… Professor Dumbledore," Adrian managed to stammer.
"Congratulations," Dumbledore said warmly as he approached the group.
"A magnificent performance from all of you. I believe it has been quite some time since Ravenclaw supporters enjoyed an evening quite this much. Or should I say the eagle ate the snake."
The laughter rippled through the group like a wave that refused to settle, even as McGonagall pressed her lips together in an attempt to regain some semblance of discipline.
"Really, Albus," she said, though there was no true heat in it, only the exhausted patience of someone who had long accepted that control over situations like this was purely theoretical. "Students do not require… metaphors involving snakes being eaten."
Dumbledore inclined his head with serene composure. "My apologies, I was merely making a harmless analogy involving house mascots."
"What topic were we on again? Oh yes!"
His gaze eventually settled on Gilderoy.
"And an excellent catch, Mr Lockhart. The timing was rather dramatic. No one was watching you."
"You were watching me, Professor?" Gilderoy questioned.
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled.
"Oh, yes. I was. Especially you crashing spectacularly into the dirt after catching the Snitch."
More laughter followed, including a snort from Pandora that she immediately failed to disguise.
Dumbledore accepted the Quidditch Cup from Professor McGonagall before turning toward Adrian once more.
"You have led your team exceptionally well this year, Mr Chambers. Discipline, composure, and consistency are qualities often overlooked in Quidditch, yet they remain every bit as valuable as talent."
For a moment Adrian looked completely unprepared for the praise.
Then Dumbledore extended the trophy toward him.
The Ravenclaw Captain simply stared.
Perhaps he had imagined this moment too many times. Perhaps after months of practices, strategies, injuries, and matches, it no longer felt entirely real.
Eventually both hands closed around the Cup.
"Thank you, Professor," Adrian said quietly.
"Your team has entirely earned it." Dumbledore replied, his eyes warm behind his half-moon spectacles.
For a second Adrian simply stood there holding the Quidditch Cup while the deafening celebration around him seemed to fade into the background, because seven years of early morning practices, crushing defeats, near misses, and watching Slytherins celebrate had finally led to this moment. Ravenclaw had spent years promising itself that next season would be different, only for the trophy to end up somewhere else, yet now the silver-and-blue Cup rested firmly in his hands, its reassuring weight finally proving that this victory was real.
"Captain?"
Pandora's voice broke through his thoughts.
Adrian blinked, lowered his gaze toward the trophy, and then looked at the six teammates gathered around him. A slow smile spread across his face as he took in the sight of them standing together on the pitch they had spent the entire season fighting across.
"Everyone."
The Ravenclaw players immediately crowded around him, with Pandora squeezing in from one side next to Gilderoy while Miriam and Cedric pressed in beside her. Alaric and Catriona came in next to Cedric.
"Hands on the Cup," Adrian ordered.
Seven pairs of hands settled onto the trophy, and for a brief moment the team simply stood together staring at the object they had spent months chasing. Pandora looked as though she might explode from excitement at any moment, Miriam's eyes had grown suspiciously bright, Cedric kept shaking his head as if he still expected somebody to announce this had all been a misunderstanding, and even Alaric's usual confidence had vanished beneath a grin so wide it threatened to split his face in half.
"Ready?" Adrian asked.
Nobody answered aloud, but the answer was written clearly across every face surrounding him.
Together they raised the Quidditch Cup high above their heads.
"RAVENCLAW!"
The roar that answered them shook the stadium.
Hundreds of voices joined together at once as blue-and-bronze scarves flew through the air, students climbed onto benches, and magical fireworks exploded overhead all around the stadium. Gryffindor and Hufflepuff were cheering almost as loudly as Ravenclaw, while even students who barely followed Quidditch appeared delighted by the outcome after spending months watching Slytherin throw its weight around the pitch.
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