Life and Love After Voldemort

If there was anything Harry wouldn't miss when he became a full-time Auror, it was the pomp and circumstance surrounding the supposedly grand events that had become a staple in Harry's daily life since the defeat of Voldemort. He had to wear special robes and accept giant scrolls and keys, all while listening to public officials drone on and on endlessly without actually saying anything worthwhile. The only thing worse was when Harry had to make a speech himself about leaving the past behind while remembering our goals and working for a better tomorrow. He'd had to endure the presence of more shallow blowhards than he deserved to meet in a lifetime, and there were none more shallow or untrustworthy than Rita Skeeter.

Rita had been trying to foster a barnacle-like attachment of herself to Harry since the Battle of Hogwarts, and it took all of Harry's strength (and some quick reminders of his ties to the Ministry and her dependence on continuing as a secret Animagus for most of her scoops) to refrain from casting a Bat-Bogey Hex on her. (Ginny had assured him that she'd be fine if he practiced her signature curse on the likes of Rita.) As usual, Rita had situated herself next to Harry before the start of the event and was peppering him with questions left and right, trying to provoke a reaction.

"How you do feel about your closest friend going on to bigger and better things while you serve as a mouthpiece for the Ministry? And what about your former sweetheart, that Granger girl? She made a cute couple with Weasley, but I hear she's the 'forgotten woman' now that the King has his bachelor pad in full swing!"

Harry usually let her jabs bounce off of him, but she was getting too personal this time given what was going on with Ron and Hermione. He leaned towards Rita's ear so that no one else could hear his reply. "Believe me, Rita; nothing would make me happier than to re-acquaint you with Hermione Granger. What say I have her stick you in a jar with some freeze-dried Thestral droppings for the next 20 years, hmm?" Rita shot daggers from her eyes at Harry, but Harry shot them back.

"Now be a nice little dung beetle and clam up!" Rita moved to speak, but she thought better of it. She clammed up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harry was pleased that the length of the opening ceremony was being cut short because of the Chudley Cannons' planned late arrival owing to other commitments. Even though the team was again in last place, the Cannons still arrived in style, stretch-carriages gleaming and floating high above the lake as they approached the school grounds. The assembled crowd applauded and snapped pictures as the players and coaches emerged from the carriages. A loud cannon crack rang out when the door of the last carriage opened, and out stepped a freckled young man with sweeping orange and black robes, dragon-hide boots, and associated finery. Next to emerge was an oversized jaw followed closely by the face of one Ludo Bagman. Ludo helped out of the carriage a glamorously-dressed woman who had an oddly serene expression on her face, all while he managed to keep his head pointed towards the cameras. Harry wondered if he'd seen as many teeth in one head since the heyday of the mentally-departed Gilderoy Lockhart.

Harry glanced down at Rita Skeeter's Quick-Quotes Quill, which was going a mile a minute across her notepad:

"'BAGS' TO RICHES: LUDO'S BACK! In the aftermath of war, rumors run rampant and tales are told tall. So it is with the stories and scandals swirling around Ludovic Bagman, a lovable rogue to some and a notorious scoundrel to others. Whether or not the average Sneak-O-Scope whistles or lies still when he walks by, few of us would bet that Ludo's return to prominence doesn't have a touch of larceny to it.

"Ludo left his post as head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports under a cloud of suspicion in the wizarding community shortly after the disastrous Triwizard Tournament. A goblin who does not wish to be identified asserts that Bagman had gambling debts himself and went on the run after disputing the terms of a bet made on the tournament. Bagman faded from the public eye as quickly as the leprechaun gold with which he allegedly tried to settle his debts until earlier this year, when word broke that the Chudley Cannons had appointed him manager at the request of the team's owner, the stylish heiress and socialite Clytemnestra "Nessie" Chudleighton. Thought to be a desperate attempt by the Cannons to sell tickets to see their dreadful product by trading on the name of a former Quidditch star, the arrival of Ludo soon bore success of another stripe, as he escorted Ms. Chudleighton down the aisle two months later. My sources tell me that the Chudleighton family account was tapped to pay for the wedding band, so there's no fear of it disappearing from her finger the way certain magical metals might.

"Bagman continued to grab headlines with every move he made, from playoff format changes designed to maximize profits that will be shared with charitable causes to luring the best friend of the Boy-Who-Lived onto the Chudley side with a 10-year contract to play Keeper. It was barely a week after Ronald Weasley was signed that Ludo had let it slip to this reporter while criticizing the existing Chudley Seeker that he had a contract waiting for Potter at an asking price and start date he could name ("though I'm counting on Harry's love of the game to keep him from bankrupting us!" Bagman had added). Today's match will feature Potter's first appearance as Seeker since..."

Harry's concentration was broken by a familiar "Oi!" Ron had bounded onto the dais and strode up to Harry with Bagman by his side. "Harry! Great to see you, mate! By the way, you remember Ludo!"

Bagman stuck out his enormous paw and Harry shook it quickly. "Can't wait to see you play, m'boy! Still remember the remarkable way you handled your Firebolt to get by that Hungarian Horntail!" Bagman pounded Harry on the back, did the Sonorus charm on his throat, and spoke for the next half-hour about what Hogwarts and the Cannons meant to the wizarding community.

"See you on the pitch, then!" Ron said and gave Harry thumbs-up as he and Bagman headed for the Quidditch stadium to begin warm-ups. Harry didn't detect any of the pre-game anxiety Ron had always displayed even before matches that Gryffindor was favored to win by hundreds of points.

Well, overconfidence is one way to get rid of the butterflies! Harry wasn't exactly racked with anxiety himself, and with good reason. He'd had only a few minutes one afternoon to watch the 3-D projections of the Cannons' last two matches, but he'd seen enough to know that aside from Ron and a spark of talent shown by the Left Chaser, Chudley looked awful. Their Seeker was so bad that he had grabbed a shiny wasp off of an old woman's headdress against Wimbourne, thinking it was the Snitch. Harry walked off the platform and made a beeline for Ginny, who was standing with the other Hogwarts All-Stars. The pair locked hands, and the students made their way slowly towards the stadium.

"What did Ron have to say?" Ginny asked.

"He says you throw like a girl and he's going to shut you down completely," Harry replied with a grin. Let's do this.