Raju almost shouted in pure frustration. The Bludger was coming for him again and he was certain it was a rogue one. In was coming in fast. Raju was forced to do am odd looking roll and dodge. In the process, he saw this as lost time. Time that would have allowed him to take a go at any passes England would make. Alas, it was not to be but he could not allow another bludger blow to take him. For the moment, he would focus on saving himself.

Renee took a quick look around the pitch, searching for Lamberto or Leontius. Misra seemed distracted, but he could come back at any moment. As she was thinking this, Aparna appeared out of nowhere, attempting to cut her off. She pulled up on her broom at the last moment, narrowly avoiding the nearly-inevitable collision. She couldn't be too angry -- she'd tried that same move on Misra earlier in the game. Hey, if it worked, it worked. Truthfully, it was only luck that saved her from dropping the Quaffle or smashing into the Indian chaser.

Dipping back down to a reasonable height, Renee continued her search for a teammate to hand off to. Being in possession of the Quaffle for too long was as good as wearing a giant sign that said, "Hey, hit me with a Bludger!" No thanks.

As Lamberto smirked after successfully transitioning the Quaffle to Renee the light chirping of the snitch fluttered by. The snitch! The Englishman was hopeful his fellow seeker would snag it once more.

Bludger! There was a bloody BLUDGER aiming straight towards him. "Oh shoot! Shoot! Shoot!" Lamberto took off at lightning speed zooming by players! Not today bludgers, not today. Along his route of escape from the bludger he searched for Renee who was still in possession of Quaffle.

Perfect, there was Lamberto. (Being chased by a Bludger, but there nonetheless.) Renee swooped her broom to get closer to him, trying for another handoff. They were getting pretty good at them, after all. Avoiding the bludger narrowly, she stretched her hand out sneakily, trying not to draw the attention of any Indian players. Let them think she still had the Quaffle, and she would lure them -- and the Bludgers -- away from Lamberto while he scored. She hoped he knew what she was trying to do.

Lamberto narrowed his eyes and surged onwards. He gave her a nod as they soon joined side by side. Making sure nothing would interfere with the exchange he brushed by her, discretely taking the Quaffle and tucking it tightly against his chest.

This strategy seemed to be working for them so far. Still holding on to the Quaffle Lamberto was in route for the goal posts in a zig zag, not giving way of which ring he would be aiming towards exactly and took a shot for the right.

Arjun had not picked up a groove in this game and he feared that the nerves he had hidden in the hours before had caught up to him. Fans could be brutal and as established as his quidditch career was, Arjun had not yet had a game like this one. Would he be blasted when they returned home? Would their Captain be hailed for holding them together when it had always been a team effort? Probably.

But he was in the air and these thoughts could not come to beat him.

Arjun was aware that Raju had taken a hit and had noticed the difficulty he was having with his hand. That would require a healer post-match or even during the match if anything else happened to him. He straightened up to watch the quaffle after Urupi had thrown it towards the hoops, hoping for it to miss or for Priya to do what she did best.

Her worry must be messing with her mind, thinking that move was going to work. Of course it didn't and now she had to watch the English Chasers complete another perfect pass, while it seemed that the rogue bludger now had it out for Raju. Well, you could say this for the thing: it seemed to be going after both teams equally.

Aparna made to follow Urupi and the quaffle, knowing that there was nothing she could do about the bludger, as she was a chaser, not a beater. Come on, drop it! was her thought process. No such luck, as the English chaser made it to the goals with the ball and threw. She was ready for the catch, though.

Was Geffard finally catching on to the oddity of the bludger's balls actions? Pavel could only hope as he watched one of the bludgers do a weird twitching motion in the air before it attacked Misra again. Poor bloke he had time to think before he with a yelp had to dodge and drop in height to not collide with either Renee or the Indian's Aparna. The chasers we're playing fierce.

Spotting the bludger that Cynthia had knocked in the direction of Misra that was now on it's way towards Lamberto, Pavel was momentarily distracted as the snitch flew by him towards the grass. Blinking he hoped Nyx had seen it as he chased after the bludger. As he came up next to the bludger Pavel gave it a solid whack with his bat aiming it at Aparna and away from Lamberto's broomstick.

Nyx had only a few moments to catch her breath before a glimmer of light caught her eye. She turned, eyes scanning the area. THERE. She saw it! The little shimmer of gold that caught the light was unmistakable.

Perhaps she would be able to wrap this game up faster than she had anticipated.

Smirking to herself, she leaned down and took off towards the snitch. As she got closer, she picked it out over the heads of a few of the papers who were flying around, focusing on bludgers and quaffles and unaware to what was happening above them. She followed it through the air, flying up and down as she gained on the snitch, making sure she stayed far away from the other English players so she didn't distract them. She got closer and closer, gaining on it, her arm outstretched as she beared down upon it...

Becoming more and more frustrated with the bludger situation she paused near the side of the pitch. Nila knew she needed to get her emotions under control and refocus her energy on protecting her team. Her pause had been quite beneficial as she was able to see Torben make contact with a bludger that had a chance of heading towards Aparna.

She kicked it into high speed and blasted off on a course to intercept the bludger. She dodged high then low to miss colliding with the chasers on the field, eyes glued to the bludger. She drew nearer and got her bat ready. She hoped she would make it in time.

Things were getting out of hand and Geffrard knew he had to do something. His eyes stayed focused on pitch so he could see everything, but mostly that bludger. All equipment went through testing and approval, so how could this have gotten into the stadium. Moving closer to the players something caught his eyes just as he was seeing the bludger take it's path again at the same player.

His whistle was in his mouth and he was blowing it, but not just for the snitch being caught by England's Seeker again and the Quaffle headed through the hoops for the first quaffle score of the game. No, he was blowing his whistle and moving his hands for the entire match to stop. Dropping the whistle from his lips he leaned on his broom and took off after the bludger. Two other officials were on their brooms and going after the bludger as well. Once caught the other officials headed back to the ground to take care of it as Geffrard took hold of the quaffle.


His wand out and up to his neck he addressed the players and the crowd. "We have had a rouge bludger on the playing field. With that being said we will be taking off all bludger points from the game since many came from tampered equipment. " His eyes were on the ground and nodded when he saw the readied workers. "On my whistle we have a new bludger coming and I will toss the quaffle just like the beginning of the match."

He positioned himself and nodded to make sure all were ready. Was Misra recovered from all of that? He knew the Ministry would be getting to the bottom of it and he had a match to get back to. His whistle blew, the bludgers took off, and the quaffle was thrown.


Official Score:

England: 110
India: 0

Oh?

Now they realised they had a rogue bludger on the loose? Raju gritted his teeth to avoid saying anything inappropriate. His arm still stung but he refused to be taken out of the game even if India was terribly behind. He was not one to give up easily.

His focus was on the Quaffle. The minute it was thrown, Raju dove forward. It was now safely under his uninjured arm.

Oh thank Merlin! More like thank Pavel for that amazing bludger hit, that saved Lamberto from a potential nasty hit.

SCORE!!!!

"Aw yeah!" Lamberto clapped his hands cheering for both himself, Nyx and the team. He SUCCESSFULLY shot the Quaffle through the hoops earning England's first Quaffle points. He felt accomplished, he also searched for Renee to give her a thumbs up for her amazing team work!

Wait, what the heck just happen?

Lamberto paused as the game was momentarily stopped per Geffard's request. Furrowing his eyebrows he listened to what was being said, apparently (to no surprise) there was a rogue bludger on the field.

Licking his lips and gripping his broom, Lamberto positioned himself and prepared for the start of the game again. As the Quaffle was thrown to the open air the English chaser took off like rocket! However it was recovered by Misra. Lamberto was on the prowl as he flew in a slithering formation attempting to deviate and intercept Misra. Along the way he searched for his fellow chasers as well.

As soon as the snitch was in her hand, Nyx had heard the whistle being blown. She was beaming, a giant grin stretching from ear to ear, but she quickly realized that that was...not the only reason the whistle was being blown. She was relieved to see that she had been awarded her justly earned points for the catch, but apparently, one of the bludgers had gone rogue. THAT was obviously why she had gotten hit as well - because generally, Nyx was able to dodge them. That had to be the ONLY explanation that she'd gotten hit by it.

She released the snitch and watched as play resumed a few moments later. Just one more time, that was all she needed and the cup was THEIRS...

Nyx had caught the second snitch, and Lamberto had scored. Leontius punched his fist into the air, letting out a cheer before doing a loop-the-loop. The victory was so close he could almost taste it, but he wasn't about to celebrate that prematurely. No - they needed to maintain their focus: it wouldn't do to be this close and lose based on lax play.

He was relieved that the official had finally stopped play for the rogue bludger, though. Misra's hit looked painful, and Leontius was impressed by the way he carried on. Powering through such an injury was the sign of a top player. Leon could easily admit that about his competition.

With the release of new bludgers and the quaffle back into play, Leontius flew forward and joined Lamberto. Hopefully they could distract the opposition and regain the quaffle.

"Oop!" Torben had whacked the bludger her direction, which she couldn't really blame him for, he was just playing the game. Luckily, Nila knocked it back before it could hit, Aparna gave her a grateful look. Between her foot and Raju's arm, they couldn't afford any more injuries.

Oh, so that idiot announcer finally realized that something was up with the bludger? Better late than never, she guessed?

Once the quaffle was released again, she headed towards it. But before she could reach it, it had been caught, luckily by Raju. So, she changed course and went after McKay and Urupi to distract them from trying to distract her teammate.

They we're on the right track! Nyx had caught the second snitch and Lamberto had finally scored the first quaffle goal. Pavel cheered and bumped his fist in the air! They we're now closer to winning the championship leading India with 110 - 0. Pavel knew though how fast a quidditch match could turn so it wasn't a time to slack off.

The match was though momentarily stopped as referee Geffard and his colleagues finally took care of the rouge bludger on the pitch. It had been plain to anyone that that bludger had been tempered with. Once the game resumed and the balls we're released in the air again Pavel flew after the nearest bludger and smacked it with his bat in the direction of Misra and the quaffle. Now where was the second bludger?

Gritting his teeth as Mayur pulled his broom to a stop, he huffed under his breath ranting internally over the current score and the rogue bludger. That explained a lot - but Merlin... they needed to get their heads back into this game. They needed to shake it off, and get points.

At least six or seven goals were needed if they even wanted a shot. At least.

So yes. Gritting of his teeth was happening. He wouldn't be sent off for doing something stupid. Not today. Not at all if he could help it.

Eyes narrowed, he moved quickly towards Misra, protecting him as Torben aimed a bludger at his captain. Nuhuh Torben. Waiting until the bludger was close enough, Mayur took aim and thwacked it away from his own Chasers, pressing it in the direction of the English Keeper.

Mayur was close to him no doubt aiming to protect Raju from further bludger injuries. Raju noted Aparna a little distance away from him. He closed in a little. As he did so he took aim. The quaffle was thrown in her direction. India may be considerably down at the moment but Raju was still determined to go down fighting.

Lamberto gave a nod to Leontius and was momentarily interrupted by Aparna. Breaking formation from his fellow chaser to pull away from the Indian chaser, he dropped low and away keeping his distance.

Pulling up once again and weaving his way through the players he surged forward very quickly. Spotting Misra with the Quaffle the Englishman zoomed his way across the field as the ball was thrown. Slithering then maneuvering in a variety of moves he scooped the Quaffle and pressed it tightly under his arm, rolling like a tornado and shifted back around to India's goal posts.

Geffrard might have had his broom twisted as his mood had taken a very big nose dive after the bludger issues. What an amazing and intense game that was going on. Not only had the chasers been amazing, but the beaters as well and when in history could a Quidditch official say that their World Cup score was in the negatives? Now, it was all because of bludger that he should have noticed sooner.

Now the official noticed that both teams seemed to be getting winded or the excitement was dying out because they were seeming slower as the game went on. He glanced around to look for India's seeker, she had been hiding from the bludgers for a bit, he wondered what plan she had up her sleeve.

It didn't take long for the quaffle to be scooped up by Misra as he seemed to be one of the fastest on the pitch and had the biggest number of touches on the ball. He flew quickly past the beaters and chasers trying to get in his way with ease, but unfortunately his pass was intercepted by Urupi


Now that the bludgers were behaving the beaters had full control and they seemed to be out for revenge from that bad bludger. Torben quickly heading for one and Anand ready to guard it. Her hit did send it straight at Snow. The second bludger loose moved in the path it had started which was right at Urupi hitting his broom.

Was there a hint of gold close to the pitch?

BLUDGER!

Lamberto noticed the bludger heading straight for him. The Englishman did his best to try and swerve out of the path from that dreadful thing. Unfortunately his broom was struck! Oh great.

"Shoot!" He roared as he threw the Quaffle hopefully in the direction of his fellow English chasers. Some nerves kicked in when he spun and went down, survival mode kicking in and Lamberto held tightly on to his broom and worked his way to steadying himself and hoping the English beaters are around.

"Look out!" Renee cried too late, watching Lamberto's broom get taken out by a Bludger -- thankfully not a rogue one anymore, just a well-hit one. On the bright side, she had been nearby when he'd flung the Quaffle out of the self-preservation, which she didn't blame him for. She caught the ball and continued in the path he'd been blazing, not waiting for him to recover. No time. The Bludgers were flying, the competition was fierce... Just the way she liked it.

Hopefully Leontius was somewhere close. It would probably take Lamberto a moment to recover, and she knew she needed to pass soon. Although she and Lamberto had nearly perfected the art of sneaky passes, so perhaps it would be to their advantage if he could regain control of his broom soon...

On the bright side, she wasn't too worried about the Bludgers that were bouncing around. She hadn't been hit once yet. Her team's Beaters were too good. She made a mental note to thank Cynthia and Pavel later for protecting her lovely face. (It was the moneymaker, after all.)

There was no time to beat herself up. Priya repeated this to herself once as the quaffle had gone through her hoops, and then once more when she glanced up at the scoreboard. Gritting her teeth, she shook off the guilt and focused on the game, rolling her eyes when the rogue bludger was finally pointed out, and grunting in frustration as they lost the quaffle again.

Here we go again. The quaffle would stay out of her hoops. She glanced around for the beaters on the pitch, and any bludgers that may be heading her way. She couldn't get hit now, she needed to keep her goalposts clear. It was a small bonus to see one of the English chasers go down. More hits like that, please.

Lamberto managed to steady himself and his broom, regaining composure. Not gonna lie the hit to his broom shook his nerves a bit but wasn't going to dwell on it.

The Englishman grinned once he saw Renee take the Quaffle. Thank Merlin! Also thank Golzio! Lamberto pulled back up slow and steady to begin then picked up the pace and weaved his way through the players as he's done before. At the same time he was on the look out for those darn bludgers! Bearing down on his broom, narrowing his eyes and pursing his lips together in deep focus and concentration, he jetted down the path Renee was on. He was mentally and physically prepared to catch the Quaffle at any given time.