Full Time Keeper, Part Time Chaser: Self Para
The nerves that Annie felt that morning were long gone. Now, she was completely focused on the close game as she hovered in front of her three rings. Earlier in the game, the cold had been bothering her, but by now she was used to it. The snow was a small obstacle and didnât obstruct her vision too much. If worst came to worst, sheâd at least be able to see dark figures moving toward her and that was enough to keep the quaffle from going through the rings.
Now, the dark figures were more toward the other end of the pitch and she could only assume that her team had possession and were trying for a goal. Scoring today wasnât too much of an issue, since Gryffindor only had their reserve keeper for the match. Despite her teamâs advantage, Gryffindor was still close behind Hufflepuff.
Annie sat on her broom patiently, straining her eyes to see what was happening on the other side of the pitch. She waited for some kind of confirmation that her team had scored, like a sudden outburst from the Hufflepuff stands. There was a sudden uproar, but not from the Hufflepuff fans. Instead, it was the Gryffindor fans. Annie saw the red-robed chaser speeding toward her with the quaffle under her arm.
It was a one on one moment between Annie and the chaser. The chaser sped toward her at an intimidatingly fast rate, but the Hufflepuff keeper stubbornly stayed in her position where she could reach any of the rings at an equal distance. The chaser finally attempted to launch the quaffle into the right ring, but Annie met it. She punched it out in front of her before she caught it, and when she did catch the quaffle, she tucked it under her arm.
A small smirk played on Annieâs lips as she bolted through the air toward her opponentâs rings. Sheâd been wanting to try this for a while, but knew that sheâd have to practice to get faster. It finally seemed like her practice had paid off. She almost naturally dodged Gryffindor players that came at her. The moment felt surreal. She was actually on the other side of the keeperâs line and was actually going to score.
Once she had easily flown down to Gryffindorâs side of the pitch, she nearly blanked out. She never thought that sheâd ever actually get this far. Was she supposed to pass? Was she supposed to just go for it and throw the quaffle at the rings?
The reserve keeperâs positioning was off, and Annie noticed that almost immediately. The other keeper seemed to be favoring the left ring, hovering almost directly in front of it. Annie sighed at the simple mistake done by most of the inexperienced keepers.
Taking the opportunity that was practically placed in front of her, she wound her arm back and launched the quaffle at the right ring. The reserve keeper easily flew to grab the quaffle in front of the right ring as if he had expected her to do that. The quaffle wasnât in his hands for long, and he passed it out to one of his chasers, who was already zipping toward Annieâs unguarded rings.
There wasnât even enough time for Annie to think about how she had fallen for the keeperâs baiting, which was one of the easiest tricks in the book. Instead, she focused her mind on getting back to defend her rings. The chaser was still a bit in front of her, but she was quickly gaining on them. The quaffle left the chaserâs hands and soared surely toward the middle ring. In a sudden burst of speed, Annie punched the quaffle away from the ring. However, another Gryffindor chaser quickly rebounded the quaffle and threw it at one of the rings before Annie had any time to reset. She felt a bit disoriented and her heart was pounding louder than it ever had before as she tried to see where the quaffle was. Annie spotted it and caught the quaffle in her arms right before it could go through the left ring.
Letting out a long held sigh of relief, she started to calm down from the intensity of the play. Her calmness made it easier to scour the field for her teammates and easier to pass the quaffle off to her Captain, who was able to secure a goal for their team.
After the goal, the referee blew the whistle and Annie saw Cygnus on the ground, hunched over. She had been so focused on her own part in the game that she didnât even notice the strong hit that had taken Rokonski out. The ref called a time out in order to deal with the injury and Annie flew down to where the rest of her team was meeting on the ground.
The game was far from over, and Annie didnât like to assume things, but based off of Gryffindorâs disadvantages and Annieâs performance so far, it seemed like her team would be able to win this one.