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Oliver had a problem.
It was a terrible, horrible, no good sort of problem.
And he just knew it would strike this upcoming term as well.
You see, last school year Harry missed a handful or so of quidditch practices and games in the aftermath of dealing with the injuries that came as a result of whatever You-Know-Who’s latest plot was. Instead of breezing around on his broom, preparing to crush those slimy snakes, he was laying around in the hospital wing under Madam Pomfrey’s watchful eye. Now, Oliver certainly held respect for the matron, being that she patched him and the rest of the team up over the years, but come on . She held no concern whatsoever for the fact that Harry needed to continue training. Sure, sure, recovery was important but what good was it to be alright physically when the Slytherins could use this to their advantage and win? She wouldn’t even let Oliver bring the parchment of plays to Harry to look over, for Godric’s sake!
He had to resort to sneaking in during the middle of the night, hiding in the shadows and crawling on the floor to ensure Harry got it. It scared the boy half to death, him standing up slowly with his face obscured by the darkness at the exact moment Harry had cracked open his bleary eyes.
But he’d gotten it. That was all that mattered.
As this term was coming to a close, so was quidditch. Oliver’s nerves were on edge as the days slowly faded and melted into a new one, just imagining when that time would come and his star seeker would have his focus elsewhere.
Was no one else really worried about this? Was Oliver the only one? It appeared so. Some people got shirty with him when he brought it up. He needed to let it go and to get his priorities straight . Honestly. They were straight. He wasn’t going to get recruited for Puddlemere United by lazing around, that was for sure.
There was a good chance, a high chance that this would happen yet again. It couldn’t. It shouldn’t. This was his last year, his last chance to win the Cup. It was Flint’s last year as well, of course that wasn’t a guarantee. He’d seen the bloke’s grades, which were less than stellar. There was absolutely no way he was going to give that tosser any chance of winning. He’d rub it in their faces until the end of time. Until they took their last dying breath and even then, even when their flesh decayed away and their souls left the earth, Flint would find a way to follow his soul wherever it went to brag about it some more.
He shuddered at the thought.
Oliver adored his team. They were the best but were definitely at a disadvantage without Harry.
Up in his dormitory, he paced and he paced and he paced some more, all the while Percy sat on his bed in their dormitory, unbothered and shifting through his notes for their upcoming History of Magic exam. Every once and a while, he’d lift his eyes to watch Oliver, looking extraordinarily unimpressed.
“Something the matter?” The red-head said flatly.
“I’m having a horrible day, Perce,” he said forlornly. “Do you ever just feel like your whole life is going wrong and you’re powerless to stop it?”
Percy hummed.
“I would have assumed you’d be in a much happier mood given the match this weekend.”
“How can I be?” Oliver exclaimed. “Harry’s going to end up in the hospital wing again, I just know it!”
“Then I suggest you cut down on the amount of practices you’ve got going on,” Percy made an offended noise when Oliver yanked the notes away from him, throwing off to the other side of the room, floating back down to the floor. “Oliver!”
“It’s got nothing to do with practices!” Oliver bellowed, his eye twitching.
For most people, they probably would have looked at him like he was a complete nutter. Fortunately, Percy was long used to this, so he was only slightly annoyed. “You need to get a grip.”
“A grip? A grip? I need to get a grip?” He was nearly hysterical.
“Just a few more weeks...” Percy was muttering to himself. “A few more weeks until I’m free.”
“Tell me, Perce,” Oliver took in a deep breath, but his eyes were still wide and wild looking, “how can I get a grip when Harry’s missed quidditch? He’s missed the last game in the past two years from being in the hospital wing.”
“After being gravely injured,” Percy interjected dryly.
“What of it?” Oliver brushed that off. “Madam Pomfrey could have fixed him up faster if she tried harder.”
Percy rolled his eyes.
“You need help. Desperately .”
“What I need ,” Oliver emphasized, “is for Harry not to get distracted by that bloody You-Know-Who nonsense.”
“ Nonsense-?”
Oliver was pacing once again, brows furrowed in concentration. “I’ve got to do something about this. This can’t keep happening. I will not lose the cup to Flint. I won’t!”
“And what exactly do you plan to do?” Percy arched his brow.
This put Oliver into deep thought. This couldn’t just be a silly old plan. Too much was at stake. Quidditch was at stake.
Then, he looked up with a grave expression.
“I know what we have to do.”
*
“Ow, watch where your knees are going-”
“My arm’s being squashed!”
“It’s too dark in here!”
“Merlin, Oliver. What have you done now ?”
“....Percy? What’re you doing in the quidditch shed?”
“ Lumos.” The tip of Oliver’s wand lit up, revealing his face amongst the darkness of the shed. With enough light now, the others could untangle themselves and stand properly, most of whom were shooting him a glare.
“ Oliver ,” Angelina was deceptively calm, her eyes glinting dangerously which the keeper was completely oblivious to. “What’s going on?”
“Why did you drag us here?” Katie complained. “I was in the middle of my Transfigurations essay.”
Oliver began to chuckle. A crazed sort of laugh that the others didn’t even react to. “Why did I bring you here?” He said rhetorically. “Do you even realize how close we are to our last match?”
Those of the team furrowed their brows, looking at one another. Percy just sighed.
“What does that have to do with me, then?” He didn’t give Oliver a chance to respond. “If this is still about Harry-”
“ What about Harry?” Alicia interrupted with a concerned frown.
“He thinks Harry’s going to end up in the hospital wing.”
“What?” The team looked worried on Harry’s behalf. Oliver threw his arms in the air.
“Harry’s fine. But we can’t risk him missing Quidditch.”
Several sighs were heard.
“This is why people think you’re a nutter,” Fred - or was it George? - told him.
“Say what you want,” Oliver said. “But it’s because of me-” he jerked his thumb toward himself, “that we’re going to win!”
“A spot in St Mungus for you to be institutionalized?” Katie said dryly. Oliver ignored that.
“I’ve devised a plan. We can’t let Harry get distracted this year, not when it’s my last chance to win the cup,” he rattled off.
“You mean our chance?” George - or maybe it was Fred? - clarified.
He yelped when Oliver got right up in his face, his twitching eye more prominent. “It’s my chance, do you hear me? Mine! ”
“Alright, keep yer hair on,” George grumbled, wiggling away from him.
“Do I dare ask what sort of plan you’ve come up with?” Percy said, acting as though Oiver’s heavy breathing was a normal occurrence
“We have to kill You-Know-Who, of course.”
The whole shed fell into silence. Oliver was sent looks of disbelief, as if he’d reached utter insanity.
“... What ?” Katie said.
“What do you mean kill You-Know-Who? ”
“Have you lost your bloody mind ?”
“I reckon he has, Angie.”
“Lost it a long time ago, actually.”
“The Imperious Curse doesn’t sound too bad right now.”
Everyone looked at Percy, who folded his arms over his chest and glared back.
“It’s an intrusive thought. Get over it!”
Alicia shook her head, focusing back on Oliver. “What are you even talking about? How can we defeat You-Know-Who?”
“He’s kind of unbeatable, mate,” one of the twins piped up. “Besides with Harry.”
“Kind of pathetic he couldn't even kill a baby, innit, Fred?”
“I agree, George.”
“That’s because he hasn’t met the likes of me,” Oliver’s determined expression swept over them. If this was a movie, there’d be music playing in the background to boost everyone's morale, as the camera zoomed closer to him. “I will not rest, I will not stop and I will not give up until that noseless git is gone and leaves my seeker alone!”
A loud clap of thunder commenced, causing everyone besides Oliver to look confused.
“How is there dramatic thunder? There’s nothing but sun outside....” Angelina muttered to herself.
“Listen to me,” Oliver reeled them back in, “we’re going to win and you know why?”
One of the twins raised his hands. “Because we’re Gryffindors that don’t give up?”
“Because I am an excellent planner,” Oliver said as if he hadn’t spoken.
Katie rolled her eyes and muttered to Alicia, “Would it kill him to give us a little credit too?”
“Okay, hold up,” Angelina waved her arms. “We’re not done talking about this.”
“Quite right,” Percy was looking at him critically. “I’d certainly like to know how you think you’re going to win against him when even the strongest of Aurors can’t.”
“What do you mean? You don’t think I can do it?” Oliver grew offended as they all shook their heads, a murmur of, “No, not really,” was heard. “I’ll have you know I can . My mum says I can do anything I put my mind to!”
“I’m not sure that’s not what she meant-” Angelina’s eyebrows soon shot up when she was swiftly cut off.
“ I am speaking now!”
She crossed her arms. “ Hmmm .”
“And you don’t have to worry about any of that, Perce. With all of us, there’s no way we can lose.”
“That’s it?” Percy said incredulously. “You don’t even have a real plan!”
“I have a plan,” he insisted. “We find him and we attack!”
“That’s not a plan!” Percy shrieked.
“Sod off, Perce. You’re just jealous you didn’t think of it first!”
“Jealous ? Are you mad?”
“With power,” came a response from one of the twins. Oliver couldn’t help but preen a little.
“Okay, even with your...plan,” Katie said, though she still didn't seem to fully believe him. “We don’t even know where You-Know-Who is .”
“That’s alright,” Oliver said. “I know exactly where we can go to find out.”
*
Minutes before practice was starting, Marcus Flint was in the Slytherin locker room, shoving his clothes into his school bag when he felt a wand press against the back of his neck.
“I’m only going to ask you this once, Flint,” Oliver whispered right next to his ear. “And you better answer truthfully.”
“ Wood ? What the hell are you doing in here?”
“I’m asking the questions!”
“I think Oli just wanted an excuse to see Flint in his ruggedly handsome glory,” Fred piped up as the whole team, plus Percy entered.
“I always wondered about them,” George added, nudging his twin. “They always spend too much time with those handshakes.”
“Too right, my dear brother. Too much sexual frustration in front of the kiddies.”
“Ew,” Alicia grimaced. “Oliver and Flint? ”
“Sod off,” Flint sneered at them. “Wood’d be lucky if he had me. I’m a catch.”
“For troll catchers, maybe,” Katie said. The twins and Alicia cracked up.
Oliver slowly turned to face them, his wand still on Flint. “Are you forgetting why we’re here?” His eye was twitching again . “Do you realize our chance at the cup is at stake and you’re making jokes!”
“Merlin, Wood. Are you off your rocker?”
“Yes,” the Gryffindor Quidditch team and Percy answered.
Right at that precise moment, Terence Higgs and Adrian Pucey came into the locker room, dressed in their uniforms.
“What’s taking you so long-oh,” Pucey said flatly. He wasn’t surprised to find them all there, or even the fact that Oliver was holding his friend and captain at wandpoint.
“Can’t you just do this later?” Higgs sighed.
“You’re not even surprised?” Angelina said.
“We expected it to happen eventually.”
“Not with an audience, though,” Pucey’s eyes flickered to the other Gryffindors.
“What?” Flint and Oliver were shocked. Then annoyed they’d spoken at the same time. “We’re not together!”
“Could have fooled me,” Percy grumbled. “You complain about him enough.”
Katie leaned in to whisper to Alicia. “It’s like that enemies to lovers trope in my favorite book.”
“Oh, that’s good,” Alicia said, watching the two captains closely. “I can see it.”
“What are you here for then?” Higgs asked.
Right . Oliver straightened up. “We need to know where You-Know-Who is and you’re-” he dug the wand a little more into Flint’s neck, “going to tell us!”
“Why do you want to know?” Pucey said after a tense silence from the Slytherin’s.
Percy informed him, sounding bored, “He wants to defeat him so Harry is available for Quidditch.”
“ What ?”
“Yeah. It’s a whole thing,” Fred said casually.
“But-”
“We don’t understand it either,” George said.
Pucey dragged a hand down his face.
“Why should we tell you anything?” Flint shoved the wand away from him. “Less competition for the cup, that way.”
“Uh, oh,” Angelina rolled her eyes when Oliver’s whole body started to shake.
“What’s happening exactly?” Higgs was bewildered.
“An epic Oliver Wood tantrum!” George said enthusiastically.
“Haven’t had one of these in a bit.”
“Quite right. I’ve almost missed it.”
The shaking grew worse and worse. Oliver’s breathing picked up, his grip on his wand tightened and then he opened his mouth.
To scream .
“I’M WARNING YOU RIGHT NOW, FLINT. YOU BETTER TELL ME WHERE THAT BASTARD IS OR I WILL TAKE ALL OF THE TROLL BLOOD OUT OF YOUR BLOODY BODY MYSELF!”
“At least it’s not directed at us this time,” Alicia remarked. The others definitely agreed.
“I WILL NOT LET MY SEEKER BE DISTRACTED. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME!”
Unfortunately for Oliver, he didn’t see the way Flint’s fist curled.
WHAM!
The girls winced. Fred and George let out whistles while Oliver laid on the ground, moaning in pain.
“Could you do that one more time?” Percy asked Flint. “Just one more so you knock him out?”
“Got Quidditch. Maybe after,” Flint stepped right on Oliver’s hand on the way out. Higgs followed, but Pucey lingered, as if he wanted to say something.
“Listen. If you really want to find him,” he said, his tone suggesting the idea was stupid as hell, “you can probably catch him at Malfoy Manor.”
“I knew it,” the twins said simultaneously.
“Why are you helping us?” Angelina asked, eyes narrowed.
“So Wood doesn’t do something even more stupid than going up against Flint,” Pucey said, leaving them there as he joined the other Slytherins.
It was quiet and then-
“Going up against Flint is worse than You-Know-Who?” Katie wondered, confused.
No one answered her.
*
“This is the stupidest thing we’ve ever done,” Alicia whispered harshly. “We’re gonna get caught and Snape will keep us in detention until we graduate!”
Being unable to apparate on Hogwarts grounds, the seven of them had snuck out of Gryffindor Tower shortly after curfew, going through the Forbidden Forest with brooms clenched in their hands. Oliver was right up front as the leader. They trudged through the trees, shoes crunching on broken twigs and animal bones. It was mostly quiet in the forest, except for an owl hooting here and there.
“If I get my badge taken away for this, I will personally hold you responsible,” Percy grumped. He made a disgruntled noise when the twins came on either side of him.
“Why’s that, Percy?”
“It seems Wood’s already brought you to the dark side.”
“Why, I can just imagine what McGonagall would say if she knew what her favorite student was up to!”
“I concur, George. The horror! ”
Percy sighed for the umpteenth time that day. “Why am I here, Oliver? Surely anyone else could be of better assistance.”
“Now’s not the time for self depreciation, Perce!” Oliver said firmly. “We have to save quidditch.”
“....And you don’t think you’re being the slightest bit dramatic about this?”
Oliver stopped suddenly, then turned. Very, very slowly.
“Here comes another fit,” Angelina muttered.
“Dramatic?” Oliver said, voice devoid of anything. “You think I’m being dramatic?”
“That’s a rather charitable explanation of my thoughts right now,” Percy said coolly.
A soft gust of wind swept through, rustling the trees.
“I suppose my dreams don’t matter then,” Oliver’s eyes were practically glowing manically. “I suppose I ought to forget joining Puddlemore, ay?”
“Now you know that’s not what I said!”
“You might as well have! If I don’t do this, all my hard work, all my blood, sweat and tears-”
“You mean our tears,” Alicia scoffed.
“-will be all for nothing! I’ll be nothing but a loser and I’ll probably have to beg on the streets of Knockturn Alley just to earn some sickles!” Oliver’s eye twitch was back. “Is that what you want? Is that what you want, Percy? ”
Silence fell over the group.
“Well, if I never have to hear you use that blasted whistle again, then yes.”
*
They flew out to Malfoy Manor. Their brooms gliding in the night sky overhead all of the trees. The others were growing a bit nervous as they approached but Oliver paid no mind. He was a man on a mission.
This was personal .
As they lowered to the ground, Percy said, voice hushed and tinged with slight annoyance, “I hope you have an actual plan for this. I will not die for you, Oliver. I hope you realize that.”
“Neither will your quaffle,” Fred said under his breath, eliciting snickers from the others.
Oliver didn’t even acknowledge this. He stared up at Malfoy Manor with determination. Brandishing his wand, he took a deep breath.
“Let’s go.”
He unlocked the front door with alohomora , causing the door to open just slightly. With everyone else behind him, Oliver stepped in, looking around for any signs of Malfoy or Death Eaters. When the coast was clear, he mentioned for everyone to follow him.
“Did you bring the stuff?” He said to Fred and George. Prior to leaving Hogwarts, he instructed them to bring a list of items to help in their quest.
George unshrunk a bag from his trouser pocket, holding it up for Oliver to see. “Right here, Captain.”
They crept through the manor, staying closely together. It was big and dark and Slytherin-like.
“I can’t believe we’re doing this,” Katie whispered.
“You and me both,” Angelina glared at the back of Oliver’s head.
“ Ay ,” Oliver whispered back at them, “you’ll all be thanking me when we have the cup.”
“Shut up, Oliver,” several of them said, voices hushed.
Down in the depths of the manor, Old Snake Face was seated at the head of the table, fingers interlaced as he faced a handful of his Death Eaters. He’d been in the middle of a spiel about taking over the world and Potter, as per usual when the door, revealing the quidditch players and Percy.
Voldemort rose to his feet and several heads swiveled in their direction, chairs pushed back as everyone else had gotten up as well. “And what,” Voldemort said softly, “is the meaning of this?”
“We’re so dead,” Alicia was muttering to herself.
“Well, nice knowing you, Fred.”
“You too, George.”
Oliver walked in slowly, his head held high, eyes steely. The temperature in the room plummeted .
“I’ll tell you what; you’ve been distracting my seeker .”
The Death Eaters looked at one another, confused and whispering amongst themselves. Even You-Know-Who was growing agitated.
“What are you talking about?” He sneered.
Lucius Malfoy’s eyes were darting between the teenagers and You-Know-Who. “My Lord, those are Harry Potter’s...friends. They play on the quidditch team.”
“Except me,” Percy cut in.
“Is that really important right now?” Angelina said, rolling her eyes.
“I’m just clarifying,” Percy shrugged.
“ Right now ?”
“ Yes -”
“Silence!” Voldemort snapped. It immediately became quiet. He stepped out from the table, his wand out. “Well, well. It seems Harry Potter’s friends have some for a little visit. Let’s see how they can hold up against all of us.”
As the dark side drew up their wands, so did the Gryffindors.
“We better make it out of here, Oliver,” Angelina said through grit teeth.
“Agreed,” Percy breathed.
Voldemort sent off a spell. They all dodged it. Oliver bellowed out, “ Confringo! ”
It missed, but hit the wall. Pieces of it came flying in their way.
His players and Percy handled the Death Eaters- throwing out stink pellets and as many spells as they could.
While Oliver handled Voldemort.
He let out a screechy battle cry, jumping onto the dark wizard flying squirrel style before the other man could even try to retaliate. You-Know-Who was caught off guard, emitting a pained oof as he was crushed under the weight of Oliver.
Then, without wasting any time, Oliver grabbed Old Snake Face by the head, repeatedly slamming it against the floor.
“You sick bastard!” He cried out, getting hysterical once more. “YOU DON’T MESS WITH QUIDDITCH!”
For a split second, all the fighting behind him stopped, everyone staring.
“That boy is quite obsessed,” Lucius said, not sure what to make of it.
“You get used to it,” Fred shrugged.
“Sort of,” Percy said.
“He’s more insane than I am,” Bellatrix Lestrange added.
The fighting resumed.
By now, Voldmort was barely conscious, overcome with dizziness and pain. Oliver was still going on, eyes showing a manic gleam.
“Say goodbye you crazy bastard,” he was laughing crazily. “ Avada Kedavra .”
And that was how Lord Voldemort ended up dead. Not by the means of Harry Potter or Albus Dumbledore, but by one very....passionate quidditch enthusiast.
*
The next morning at breakfast, Oliver dropped Voldemort’s broken wand in front of Harry’s plate, much to the bewilderment of him and his mates.
“What is this?”
“You-Know-Who’s wand,” Oliver said. “He’s dead.”
The piece of bacon in Ron’s mouth fell out.
“What?” The three thirteen year olds exclaimed.
Oliver nodded gravely.
“But how ?” Hermione Granger was greatly confused. “I don’t understand.”
Oliver was going to walk back to where the other team players and Percy were at the end of the table, looking over his shoulder at them. “No one gets in between my seeker and quidditch.”
Utter silence.
“Be on the pitch in ten, Harry,” Oliver said cheerfully as he walked back.