Scarlett truly hated playing against the Wasps. Ludo Bagman’s face on that gigantic screen brought literal pains to her chest, and it was as if he made it a point to be in her line of vision just to flash her that
smirk of his. Ugh. Playing for the Wasps had been the worst season of her life and she hated having to relive it every time they played in Wimbourne.
It was probably an attempt at a scare tactic, she thought as she readied herself for the quickly approaching swarm of players. Bagman was trying to get into her head so that she got distracted, but Scarlett was better than that. It was going to take more than his ugly face to get that quaffle through one of her hoops. Left, right, left, she watched the red ball get tossed back and forth, just out of the grasp of their chaser. Carys was going to swoop in at any second from below, and Tristan from the top, but until then---
She winced at the sight of a bludger smacking the Wasps’ chaser straight in the gut, sending him flying off his broom. Her eyes followed the quaffle that had dropped down with him. Scarlett lurched forward to accept the ball from Carys (coming from below, as she had predicted), and it was only because of the gasp of the crowd that she looked up and managed to see the broomstick before it hit her.
( The crowd fell silent. )