Quidditch World Cup 9 Everything Thread

[A m e n r i a]

Academy of Magical Arts, Free Republics
Seoul N-Forcers Match Highlights

It was the third win in a row for the new Quidditch team, showing that technological prowess can go toe-to-toe with magic. So far, the team has suffered no losses and has a guaranteed position in the round of 16. Before the start of every match, one member of the team would hold a bottle of cold, refreshing Juche Juice Leninade soda, showing the audience their sponsors' product as a form of ironic comedy. This sponsorship is one of the rare examples of interaction between Amenria and Pan-Asiatic States that involved no bloodshed.

Versus Free Republics

A bludger flies towards beater Son Jongmin. Just as it was about to hit him, he dodged to the right, pulled his left arm, where his shield was strapped to, and hit it hard. The trajectory was unexpected though, as he aimed the bludger not at an opponent, but at teammate Jeon Jaesun, who, naturally, put his shield up and covered himself with it to deflect the incoming ball. Son proceeded to fly towards where the bludger was heading, and again, hit it with his shield towards the fellow beater of his team. This game of pinball continued until the unfortunate seeker from the home team happened to be too engrossed in her pursuit of the quaffle to notice the iron ball flying towards her side, slamming her hard and allowing Shin Ryujin to pass her and catch the golden snitch.

Versus Abanhfleft

Chaser Kim Mingyu had his hand on the quaffle and gazed at the opposing keeper. With one hand, he gave the enemy keeper a "come at me" gesture. The keeper did a battle cry, which was reciprocated with Kim's own battle cry and the roar of his hoverbike's engine. As the two were about to collide, with the keeper attempting to knock the Amenrian chaser off his vehicle, Kim jumps off his hoverbike, letting the enemy's arm go through the space between his feet and his seat, before throwing the quaffle at the goal post and scoring.

Versus Endem

Shin Ryujin eyes the golden snitch and tries to race her opponent to it to the best of her ability. However, a bludger coming straight at her threatened to make her attempt futile. In addition, she was too far from the beaters to have them protect her - or so she thought. Seeing his teammate in trouble, Son Jongmin threw his shield at the bludger, knocking it to another direction and saving Shin.

[Kriegiersien]

The typical tavern, the whole team is assembled.

“Wow, we even made it into the Nightly Bugle on Page 13. Kriegiersien Muggleteam loses in Quidditch World Cup 0-160 against Ko-oreien.”
Rink was reading in his Crystal Ball.

“The first time they mention us at home and then just because they think we are Muggles playing the sport. And they wrote Ko-oren wrong”, said Tim, looking over his shoulder.
“They write Kriegiersien wrong all the time, too. However, they then make fun about how clumsy this Muggles look in this sport and wonder what tech they use to make the brooms fly. Ha.”
Kraven laughed.
“We wouldn’t look clumsy if someone wouldn’t have drugged himself.”
“I may or may have not forgotten which cup I enhanced when I went drinking with the seeker from Ko-oren”, said Imoen.
“You fell from your broom by yourself in the match, so that we had to play with one player less nearly the whole game. We still conceived only one goal, thanks to a great keeper...”, started Shao.
“And you still would have won if someone had gotten the snitch”, claimed Imoen.
“So it is my fault now? The one who catched you when you tumbled to the ground? Sorry that I couldn’t repair all of your mistakes”, snarled Anora.

“Mr. Skinner? Armin Skinner?”

Shao turned around.
“Ah, yes, that is me.”
“Hello, I am from the press. Maria Peverell. I am from a newspaper. Could I have a moment for an interview?”
“Oh...ok.”
The rest of his teammates did retreat.

“I would like to know from you how you got the idea to participate in this sport? It is a curious sport for m...man, right?”
“From what newspaper are you again?”
“Ah, you wouldn’t know it. The nightly bugle. Very small.. However, isn’t that an exotic sport for you… You?”
“Yes, but we play it now a while for fun in our com..college.”
“Ah, the Dogwarts School of Strangeness and Sorcery. Do you really believe in magic?”
“Errr…. Yes, yes we do. Magic is in us all and we can use it if we just want.”
“So did you really use magic? Can you show me a trick?”
“Well, no… but we are sure we can … transcendent to a higher level if we just try hard enough and don’t stop to believe in ourselves.”

“How do you make your brooms levitate?”
“Oh...that is ...technology you wouldn’t understand.”
“Why?”
“Because it is very complicated. And a secret.”
“A pity. Aren’t you surprised about the .. skills the other people showing here? They must be overwhelming for a .. person coming from .. southern Kriegiersien.”
“It is, but we aren’t that bad either. We trained hard in this sport whenever we had time.”
“And you also won a game. Do you think you can win another one?”
“Why not? It is no magic what the others are showing, I mean… they are only humans…. They are nothing special either. Right?”
“Fascinating that you came so far with your .. possibilities.”
“Thank you. Well, I have to go and prepare for the match against Nilrahrarfan...”
“But I have so much more questions about you...”
“Maybe later..”
“Maybe tomorrow evening? I know a nice restaurant here.”

The rest of the team was watching the scene from afar.

“Do you think she could blow our cover?”
“Na, how should she? Just some muggles playing real Quidditch, a nice story, but that can happen. Some gossip and then the Wizardworld goes on. No one else here got it until now.”
“He is coming.”

Shao strolled over.

“Why that face?”, asked Kraven.
“I… I think I have a date.”
“Congratulations”, said Imoen.
“Why?”, Tim groaned.
“I couldn’t avoid it. Well, maybe but… all will be ok... We just eat, drink, small talk. What should go wrong? Let’s prepare for our last match. If we smash them, we can still advance.”

[Sarzonia]

The clerk didn't recognise the tall man as he walked into the office.

The man was well dressed in a tailored navy blue suit with pinstripes, wearing a hat and sunglasses as if he were trying to hide something. He walked slowly toward the front of the waiting area, as there was no one else waiting to be served.

"May I help you?" The man took that as his cue to walk toward the clerk, and he lowered his voice into little more than a whisper.

"I'm here to file a lawsuit."

The clerk didn't bat an eyelash. He reached over to his right and picked up forms to hand to the man.

"Please fill these out and hand them to me when you're finished," the clerk said.

"I've already finished that paperwork. I got the forms on your website and I've filled them out and I have them right here." The man then reached into his briefcase and pulled out the folder containing the completed paperwork, then handed it to the clerk. He looked through and everything was in order except for one form.

"You forgot to sign this one," the clerk said, handing one of the forms back to the man. He quickly signed it. The clerk then looked at the signature, raised an eyebrow slightly, then proceeded to feed the papers into a scanner.

"If you take a seat over in the waiting area, Attorney Clay will be with you shortly." The man nodded, then turned and walked over to the waiting area, taking care to sit down in a seat that had no one around it. He looked at the number on the ticket he'd drawn. N56. He looked up and saw E25 and grimaced, wondering how long he'd have to wait before being seen by an attorney. He soon had his answer.

"Now serving: N56," the computer voice intoned before the man put a single ear bud into his left ear to listen to music while he waited for what he expected would be all day. He put the ear buds back in his coat pocket and walked toward the door. He saw a woman who appeared to be in her late 50s walk out and extend her hand.

"Hi, I'm Annette Clay," she said. The man shook her hand. She said, "right this way," and motioned with her right arm toward her office. After she led him into her office, she closed the door.

"Have a seat," she said, motioning toward one of the two chairs that sat across from her desk. He sat down. "If you'll excuse me for a moment, I'm just finishing up some notes," she said. She did some typing, then clicked the mouse near her desktop computer a few times. Then she was ready.

"Mr. Flanagan," she said. "I see here that you're looking to file suit against the Sarzonian national quidditch team for wrongful termination," she said. "I also see here that you are suing Christopher Earl Entwistle and Edwin Thomas Nash for creating a hostile working environment and Elynn Pat Davis for discrimination."

"That's correct, Ms. Clay," he said.

She drew her breath in slightly.

"As far as wrongful termination is concerned, that's going to be an extremely difficult case to win. Sarzonian labour law isn't exactly favourable in wrongful termination cases when the employee being terminated was fired for cause," she said. "On what grounds do you want to argue that particular charge?"

"The team's rules do not specify anything about 'gender non-conforming' in its anti-discrimination language," he said. "Besides, the coach made no effort to resolve thing between me and it." Clay looked up with a scowl that even the hulking Flanagan recoiled from straight away.

"If you're going to use 'it' to describe a human being, I will not even consider taking your case. Do you understand?" she said, adding a strong edge to her voice that made it clear Flanagan crossed a line.

"Between me and -- Elynn," Flanagan said. Clay shot Flanagan side-eye for a few seconds before turning back to her computer.

"As for the hostile working environment, you can make an argument for that, but if I were you, I'd prepare for a counter-argument that you were the one creating the hostile working environment, not just for Elynn, but also for Edwin Nash and the rest of the team," she said. "And the discrimination charge against Elynn is, and I'm going to be completely transparent, laughable," she said.

Flanagan sat, unmoving, and Clay studied the look on his face. He sat with a pretty good poker face, but she could tell his vision of getting his spot back on the team and getting an expensive payday as the result of a lawsuit were fading fast.

"I'll take the case," she said, "even though I don't know if you'll get anything close to what you hope for. However, I will make one condition. I don't ever want you to refer to another human being, regardless of gender, as 'it'. You say that one more time and you're going to have to find yourself another attorney."

The conversation continued for another hour and a half before Flanagan finally stood up and extended his hand toward Clay for a handshake. The resulting handshake was a brief, curt one.

Annette Clay would have a new client. Ken Flanagan would have his lawsuit, but neither one would be particularly happy with the other.

[Ko-oren]

To: Guild of Legislators, Guild of Messengers

As it turns out, we cannot discuss any private matters, or even team-related matters, through these communications. A trustworthy source, media by the name of the Nightly Bugle, has let me know that the Kriegiersien team managed to get a hold of my earlier writing, even discussing it at length. Something that has come from it that is in any way positive is that I will have to proof-read my copy better. In my earlier writing, I made multiple mistakes in one of hour honorable opponent's nation's name. I've also heard from my credible source that even the Kriegiersien team does not know how brooms manage to stay in the air. As in, they sound like they know but it is apparent from their manner of talking that they clearly have no idea.

On the matter of mistakes in writing, I suppose it is clear why I am a member of the Guild of Messengers, not of the Guild of Writers. As we all know, a single mistake from one in that Guild would likely result in the demise of several brave Explorers, Cartographers, and depending on how long it takes before the mistake is found, we might even lose Extractors, or even members of the Minor Guilds. I believe I have now used enough jargon so that anyone listening in will have surely lost track of the story.

Well, on to the match itself. The brave purple-clad players once again found ways to completely outperform their opponents, as said, from Kriegiersien. Injuries on their side did not help their case, but the Worlds have executed everything beautifully. Kisihidh scored the only goal of the day, before the opposing Keeper put up a masterclass, yet Pinahgu still snatched the Snitch away before their Seeker was properly back in the game. In all of 15 minutes, the team have not only won, they have also created a 7-point (that is a win including all possible bonus points) gap between them and the next best team, Kriegiersien. And then we still have a game in hand.

We cannot expect every single battle to go our way this splendidly. In this last one, we had a lot of luck due to personnel issues on their side. Our remaining opponents are Shapoer and the Equestrian States, the teams that currently occupy the bottom two places in our group's table. I might not have told you, but there are more than just these five teams at the Quidditch World Cup. There are Taeshan, the Purple Knights that just might create some confusion later if both of our teams go very far. Anthor, too, and Sarzonia, as well as Kita-Hinode all teams that do about as well as us but severely seem to outperform us in terms of experience at this level. And then there is Amenria, who are the only team that are already assured of a place in the next round.

Could it be possible to send us a small overview of what has happened in our home Worlds while we have been gone? It is hard to relay news between here and where you are and back if I have not much information on what has passed in your Worlds. And that while Zagehl's brother is currently occupied with the Opening of a new World, linking his native World of Rozodhin to a new Resource World, or so I have heard. Zagehl is very curious to hear how that has ended.

Would it be acceptable if I show some magic communities here some items that have to do with our kind of 'Magic' (World writing)? It is very hard to find common ground with the other teams as long as we are not Muggles (magic-less people, or the inhabitants of World Zero in our case) but we are also not capable of using wands and the typical idea of Magic.

[Free Republics]

Quidditch World Cup 9
Logo created by Velestria

MD4 Results

Group A:

Abanhfleft 70–200 Free Republics
Rakivland 240–120 Endem
Amenria 10–150 The Valley Vuus

                  G W D L   PF   PA   PD Points
1         Amenria 4 3 0 1 1050  600 +450 21
2      Abanhfleft 4 2 0 2  790  610 +180 14
3  Free Republics 4 2 1 1  800  740  +60 11
4           Endem 4 1 0 3 1060 1190 -130  7
5 The Valley Vuus 4 2 0 2  620  980 -360  7
6       Rakivland 4 1 1 2  770  970 -200  6

Group B:

Pius Desurongcrandis 230–730 Sarzonia
Bisim 300–690 Starblaydia

                       G W D L   PF   PA    PD Points
1             Sarzonia 3 3 0 0 1520  530  +990 21
2    The Sherpa Empire 3 2 0 1 1170  770  +400 14
3          Starblaydia 3 2 0 1  980  690  +290 12
4 Pius Desurongcrandis 3 1 0 2 1250 1610  -360  7
5                Bisim 4 0 0 4  960 2280 -1320  0

Group C:

Banija 700–770 Taeshan
Darmen 320–70 Velestria

            G W D L   PF   PA   PD Points
1   Taeshan 3 3 0 0 1230  820 +410 17
2    Darmen 4 2 0 2  870 1050 -180 10
3  Zwangzug 3 1 0 2  660  540 +120  7
4    Banija 3 1 0 2 1190 1240  -50  5
5 Velestria 3 1 0 2  280  580 -300  5

Group D:

Kita-Hinode 210–20 Mughals Royal
Greater Vakolicci Haven 160–610 Anthor

                          G W D L   PF   PA   PD Points
1                  Anthor 3 3 0 0 1060  200 +860 19
2             Kita-Hinode 3 3 0 0  990  600 +390 15
3                  Sajnur 3 1 0 2  410  560 -150  7
4 Greater Vakolicci Haven 4 1 0 3 1090 1500 -410  7
5           Mughals Royal 3 0 0 3   70  760 -690  0

Group E:

Equestrian States 310–870 Ko-oren
Kriegiersien 10–150 Nilrahrarfan

                    G W D L   PF   PA   PD Points
1           Ko-oren 3 3 0 0 1360  370 +990 21
2      Nilrahrarfan 3 2 0 1  360  340  +20 10
3      Kriegiersien 4 1 0 3  490  580  -90  7
4           Shapoer 3 1 0 2  310  670 -360  3
5 Equestrian States 3 1 0 2  690 1250 -560  3

Clinched advancement to Round of 16
Cannot advance to Round of 16

[Sarzonia]

He was almost too tired to make his way toward the press scrum, but he knew he had no choice, so Chris Entwistle addressed the assembled media following Sarzonia's 730-230 victory over Pius Desurongcrandis that officially extended the national quidditch team's stay by at least one more match day.

"First of all, I'm very pleased with how we looked out there offensively," he said. "We did well with our runs, we scored, what 58 goals? There's a lot of positives that come with how we looked offensively. Defensively, there are a couple of areas I'd like to tighten up, but we're making steady progress with what we're trying to do out there.

"I'm really happy with Tommy [Entwistle, his younger brother and the team's seeker] and his sense for when to make his run to capture the snitch," he said. "I know he's my brother, but he just seems to have a knack for seeing the pitch and knowing what the right run is, how to dodge the bludger, and he even has the toughness to handle himself if he's hit by a bludger, sometimes. I'll open it up to questions."

"Coach, you talked a little bit about your team's defence. Only a couple of teams in the current competition have conceded less than your team has so far. What areas do you think are lacking?"

"There isn't any one thing in particular," Entwistle said. "Just a matter of making sure we communicate when their chasers are making the runs at Eddie [Edwin Nash, the team's goalkeeper], and making sure Eddie gets them in the right place at the right time. They're doing better at it, even if the results aren't exactly showing as they did earlier in the tournament."

"Coach, it looks like scoring is up this matchday compared to earlier in the tournament. Could the higher numbers merely be a matter of better offence all around and not necessarily defensive failings?"

"That's a valid point," Entwistle said. "I'm pleased to see that we've kept pace with the stingier defensive teams in this tournament and we're now what, two? Three? in total offence?" He looked down at the statistics sheet handed to him by the team's sports information officer. "Number one? Really?

"We had to be careful coming in because PD was now playing with urgency after a loss to The Sherpa Empire. Now we really have to be wary in order to ensure a favourable position in the Group of 16." Entwistle allowed himself a moment to soak in those words. His Stars became the fifth side to qualify for the Round of 16. They still had to face The Sherpa Empire to determine which side would capture Group B and the spoils that go with it. The easiest math would be a Sarzonia victory or a draw would give the Stars the group title without reaching into the tiebreaking procedures. Even a loss wouldn't automatically wrest the group title from the Stars, as each of Sarzonia's victories have given the team the maximum number of standings points.

A victory for The Sherpa Empire by anything less than 151 points would still ensure a Sarzonian group stage title, as the notes directly below the statistics from the match indicated. The Sherpa Empire would then have to beat Sarzonia by more than that to potentially wrest the group title from the Stars.

"Any thought about playing Angel Gonzalez in the finale?"

"I haven't really thought too much about it," Entwistle said. "Ed would probably kill me," he said, drawing a chuckle from one reporter familiar with Entwistle's humour.

"Coach, any reaction to the lawsuit?"

The wry smile Entwistle wore for most of the press conference melted away and the gleam in his eyes turned dark as his eyebrows creased together.

He fought the instinct to momentarily play dumb and force the reporter to actually state which lawsuit. He knew it was disingenuous to do that. He also knew it would be seen as an insult to the intelligence of the reporters. The story was all over Sarzonian media by now. Talking heads wagged extensively over the legal merits and over Ken Flanagan's bigoted statements being brought to light in the ugly way they did.

"On the advice of my counsel, I will not comment on pending litigation. I recommend you speak with Sarzonian Quidditch about the issue."

He could almost read the reporter's reaction.

What counsel? He knew he didn't have an attorney, although he knew he would have to hire one. He was also being sued personally in addition to the team as a whole being sued. The day in court would come, but right now, Chris Entwistle had a lot of other things on his mind.

****************************

Following the press conference, the Sarzonian manager finally made his way back to his hotel room. As he changed out of his suit and into his pyjamas, he heard a knock at the hotel room door.

Strange, he thought. He knew the media weren't given his hotel room number. Not only that, but no one outside the team would even know which hotel the team would be staying in. He pulled on his pyjama bottom, then walked over and opened the door slightly.

It was his brother.

"Tommy! What are you doing here?"

"Checking up on my big bro. What's up?"

The two exchanged a brief bro hug, then Tommy walked in.

"Long day," Tommy said.

"You said it. I thought you'd be in bed by now."

"There's a party going on in the room. Everyone but Elynn is in there."

Tommy saw the look of concern that suddenly creased his brother's face.

"Don't worry. He," Tommy began before a flash of embarrassment crossed his face, "I mean they decided to turn in early. We all wanted to make sure they were welcome if they changed their mind." He saw the look of relief on his big brother's face, then paused for a second.

"I heard about the question at the press conference," he said, lowering his voice to a whisper. "I know you can't say much because of pending litigation."

"I don't have a lawyer yet, Tommy. I felt like a fucking liar when I said that."

"Maybe you bent the truth on that sentence," Tommy said. "But surely, a lawyer would have given you that very advice."

Chris nodded.

"I'm just sick of this whole thing. I'm sure he's hoping we'll settle out of court so he can get a payday and feel like he won something, but that sounds like we'd reward bigotry, and that just bothers me."

"Me too," Tommy said. "It'll be a hollow victory considering the cold shoulder he's probably getting from his neighbours. Not to mention the hostility if he ever crosses the southern border."

The two brothers gave each other a look and finally allowed themselves to smile. They knew the hostility the Delaclavs would be more than willing to demonstrate to a bigoted Sarzonian. And they knew the poetic justice the shunning Flanagan would receive from Delaclavs would provide. The thought was almost better than the victory over PD itself.

[The Sherpa Empire]

‭The Sherpas were grateful to have a day off and get some rest, but Pasang Nair was anxious about the upcoming game against Sarzonia. Sarzonia was undefeated and looked like they would be a tough opponent. If the Sherpas lost, there was a possibility that it might be their last game. If they didn't make it to the knock-out rounds, Nair didn't think the Duke of Delhi would recognize him as his son.

‭"Why do you think you're the illegitimate son of the Duke of Delhi anyway?" Tshering asked.

‭"Because my mother worked in the palace around the time I was born and nobody else in my family has blood magic," said Nair.

‭"If you have spiritual powers when they don't run in your family, it means you're a Bodhisatva, not the bastard son of a duke," said Tshering.

‭"You don't think it's more likely that the duke is my father and I inherited my powers from him?" said Nair.

‭Tshering shrugged. "I think if the duke wanted to claim you as his son, then he would have. It doesn't matter if the duke is your biological father, or if he thinks he is -- it only matters if he wants to claim you or not, and I think it's obvious he doesn't."

‭"But..."

‭"Nobility isn't really a matter of blood," said Tshering. "It's a matter of legal status. I could adopt you and you'd be nobility even if your parents were a couple of drunks out of the gutter, or the Duke of Delhi can ignore you and it doesn't matter if you're his son."

‭Nair looked dejected. He wanted to keep arguing, but he couldn't find any flaw in Tshering's reasoning.

‭"Tell you what," said Tshering. "When we go home, if the duke still doesn't want you, I'll write you a recommendation letter and help you look for a nice job. Don't worry so much about the noble titles and stuff. But first, we've got to beat the Sarzonians!"

[Taeshan]

To say the matchup between Banija and Taeshan was intense and long, and fairly even would be a discourteousness to long, intense and even matches. This was the battle of the bulge, the unstoppable offense meeting an evenly unstoppable offense. It did help that both keepers were pretty quickly dispatched to the sidelines with rather harsh injuries, but bones grow back after all. The Knights did their best to keep up with the powerful offense only down 70 goals to 62 at the catching of the snitch, but the Knights by that time had also lost Richard Owlet to a rather nasty bludger hit and went from playing a keeper down, to playing a keeper and chaser down.

So then it was a good thing in this rather evenly matched game that the Knights would even up the injury count with a strong hit from Benjamin Alvarez knocking out Banija seeker, Jordan Bina with the Knights down 650-610. Giving Ollivander Williams time to get the snitch before the Chaser advantage would affect the result too much. It would be 6 goals later when the masterful Taeshani Captain won his third match of the season with an impressive diving catch just behind the northern stands of the stadium. The Taeshani Captain advanced the side back to the Round of Sixteen after some rough tournaments and have now pushed themselves beyond some of even their best historic results in the tournament.

[Pius Desurongcrandis]

Jonathan Filmen, Head Coach sat the Piesian National Quidditch team down and told them "Even though you won the first game and played really well, you can't get cocky. The past two games you played haven't been great, and I know this team can play a high caliber game of Quidditch, but you got to try." He turns to Jason Arma and says "Arma! You are supposed to be a prodigy seeker, your an amazing Seeker and leader, that's why you were named Captain. You can't let the fame get in your head, you need to lead this team to not be cocky and go for the cup. Now let's go Practice so we can win our next game against Starblaydia."

[Zwangzug]

Matthias Vanderwaal was a vineling. His mother, Samantha Drexel, was a witch, and from her he had been immersed in magical culture, learning how many gimbles to a sabaot and how to feed a bowtruckle.

But he had no-maj family, too. And he had also grown up in Zwangzug, learning their sports culture: the Zebras' broadcasting "curse" and the national football team's idiosyncrasies, the ubiquity of broomball in the north and the hatred between 102d and Bassabook, the specific nuances of following Rovers United or Ephesian FC.

He was a quiet person; he always had been. But he was many other things, too, including quite tall. Playing Quidditch had not made him tall, had it? Whizzing around as a child on his own toy broomstick perhaps had been good for exercise, and so had his scrimmages at Warzenhund, before he'd gotten his adolescent growth spurt. But that alone could not account for his height. Perhaps if he had not grown so quickly he would have gone out for Seeker. Or if Isaac Kearns had been injured during his third year. Not that Matthias would have wanted that, Isaac was a nice guy. Besides, how would he have hurt himself, hit himself on the head with a telescope during Astronomy observations?

"What's on your mind?" Enzo asked him.

Matthias blinked, snapping to attention. "Correlation...does not imply causation."

"Well, yes. That is how the saying goes."

"Okay." Matthias nodded.

Enzo shrugged and walked on.

[Sajnur]

The Sajnuran Quidditch team has found themselves in a good position to reach the knockout stages of the Quidditch World Cup. Despite winning just one out of three matches, the team only needs to avoid losing to Mughals Royal by 160 or more points to take third spot in Group D as Sajnur's 250-70 victory over Greater Vakolicci Haven (GVH) places Sajnur ahead of them in a one on one head to head comparison. However, the Nerar must not be complacent as a three way head to head, which will happen if Mughals take seven points, will almost certainly see GVH take third thanks to their 400-50 victory over Mughals, who can only overturn their deficit and progress by beating Sajnur by at least 530 points.

The first match against Anthor heralded a poor start to the tournament as the current table toppers won 300-40, with Elaiokh seeing 15 goals go through her hoops despite making many saves and tackles. Duke Sjovan scored three goals, with Aravinda scoring the fourth. It was the second match against GVH, though, where Sajnur found a rhythm, but even that was a close match before the snitch catch, the score standing at 100-70 before Marquess Sirsje's hands clasped the snitch. Sjovan scored five goals, with Aravinda scoring four and Isabel Amaqiel scoring the tenth. A new speed record was set by Sirsje in her pursuit of the snitch, her final prolonged dive from 1000m above the pitch reaching a speed of 370 km/h. Professional quidditch players wear copious amounts of headgear for a reason, or two reasons as demonstrated by Omar Jahel's pinpoint bludging of GVH keeper Julius Brask to clear Aravinda's path for his third goal. The third match was an annoying defeat to Kita-Hinode, the joy of being up 120-40 dashed by the sight of their seeker bringing the snitch to the ground. Aravinda scored half a dozen goals, with Sjovan and Isabel scoring hattricks too, but the snitch is worth 150 points, and alas it was defeat for the Nerar.

[Ko-oren]

From: Guild of Legislators, Guild of Messengers

To: Guild of Messengers' member at Quidditch World Cup

Dear member of the Guild of Messengers, your compliment to the Guild of Writers has been well received and passed on to their various members across the Worlds. On a personal note, Zagehl's brother is still involved with the Opening of a new World but it is going very well. Rozodhin has successfully added their thirty-first Resource World to the collection, the World consisting of a small rocky surface, one quarter limestone required as a building material, the rest could be utilised for various purposes. The Guild of Extractors has taken a few samples of algae-like plants back to Rozodhin in order to find out their features, as they seem to be unlike anything the Rozodhin Guild of Botanists has ever seen before.

We are very happy with your writing on the World Cup! The news has been received extremely well across all Worlds involved, it has made some members of the Guild of Explorers anxious to visit these places you've named. They certainly seem to have more evocative names than our own places, at times.

As far as your request to show some of our Worlds' items, we want to grant you the request but also ask you to be very cautious of what you show and realise what those items can be used for. As you rightfully remarked, the tools of our Art can be extremely powerful in the right or wrong hands. You should be in possession of a Linking Book back to your World, we ask you not to show that. If it were to be taken from you unknowingly, you might be stranded with a small chance of returning. Of course, it would also grant an unknown entity entry into your native World, with results that are impossible to predict. We cannot gauge the power and scale of the "Magic" that is performed by other teams at the World Cup, but they seem far more volatile than our Art.

A more practical advice to your request: we can allow you to show an empty book, including the materials used to produce it, as well as the ink. If you know some phrases often used to describe the Worlds, you could even demonstrate the difference between World Books, used to create the World, and the Linking Book, used to transfer the user between Worlds. You, as a Guild of Messengers member, are probably the perfect person to explain the feeling you get when transferring between Worlds. We do not know if you are also aware of how World Zero ties into this, but that is the World you are in right now so you might as well mention it. Also remember that every person is part of a World, their native abode, and a Guild, of which there are 16 Major ones and 15 Minor ones - for now.

[Free Republics]

Quidditch World Cup 9
Logo created by Velestria

MD5 Results

Group A:

Free Republics 230–50 The Valley Vuus
Endem 180–70 Abanhfleft
Amenria 160–0 Rakivland

                  G W D L   PF   PA   PD Points
1         Amenria 5 4 0 1 1210  600 +610 28
2  Free Republics 5 3 1 1 1030  790 +240 18
3      Abanhfleft 5 2 0 3  860  790  +70 14
4           Endem 5 2 0 3 1240 1260  -20 12*
5 The Valley Vuus 5 2 0 3  670 1210 -540  7
6       Rakivland 5 1 1 3  770 1130 -360  6

Group B:

Sarzonia 30–150 The Sherpa Empire
Starblaydia 300–530 Pius Desurongcrandis

                       G W D L   PF   PA    PD Points
1             Sarzonia 4 3 0 1 1550  680  +870 21
2    The Sherpa Empire 4 3 0 1 1320  800  +520 19
3 Pius Desurongcrandis 4 2 0 2 1780 1910  -130 14
4          Starblaydia 4 2 0 2 1280 1220   +60 12*
5                Bisim 4 0 0 4  960 2280 -1320  0

Group C:

Taeshan 170–30 Zwangzug
Velestria 70–340 Banija

            G W D L   PF   PA   PD Points
1   Taeshan 4 4 0 0 1400  850 +550 22
2    Banija 4 2 0 2 1530 1310 +220 12
3    Darmen 4 2 0 2  870 1050 -180 10
4  Zwangzug 4 1 0 3  690  710  -20  7
5 Velestria 4 1 0 3  350  920 -570  5

Group D:

Mughals Royal 170–520 Sajnur
Anthor 800–360 Kita-Hinode

                          G W D L   PF   PA    PD Points
1                  Anthor 4 4 0 0 1860  560 +1300 26
2             Kita-Hinode 4 3 0 1 1350 1400   -50 15
3                  Sajnur 4 2 0 2  930  730  +200 14
4 Greater Vakolicci Haven 4 1 0 3 1090 1500  -410  7
5           Mughals Royal 4 0 0 4  240 1280 -1040  0

Group E:

Ko-oren 300–100 Shapoer
Nilrahrarfan 520–310 Equestrian States

                    G W D L   PF   PA    PD Points
1           Ko-oren 4 4 0 0 1660  470 +1190 28
2      Nilrahrarfan 4 3 0 1  880  650  +230 17
3      Kriegiersien 4 1 0 3  490  580   -90  7
4           Shapoer 4 1 0 3  410  970  -560  3
5 Equestrian States 4 1 0 3 1000 1770  -770  3

*Endem lost their match against Rakivland 240-120 so, for purposes of breaking the tie for the best 4th place team, Endem and Starblaydia are level at 12 points. They are also level with 2 wins. Thus, it comes down to overall point difference. For the sake of this tiebreaker, Endem's 120 point loss to Rakivland is excluded so they have a point difference of +100 which is better than Starblaydia's +60. Endem advances to the Round of 16 as the 16th seed.

---

Seeding Table

-                           G W D L   PF   PA    PD Points
 1                  Ko-oren 4 4 0 0 1660  470 +1190 28
 2                   Anthor 4 4 0 0 1860  560 +1300 26
 3                  Taeshan 4 4 0 0 1400  850  +550 22
 4                 Sarzonia 4 3 0 1 1550  680  +870 21
 5                  Amenria 4 3 0 1 1050  600  +610 21
 6        The Sherpa Empire 4 3 0 1 1320  800  +520 19
 7           Free Republics 4 3 0 1  820  580  +240 17
 8             Nilrahrarfan 4 3 0 1  880  650  +230 17
 9              Kita-Hinode 4 3 0 1 1350 1400   -50 15 
10                   Banija 4 2 0 2 1530 1310  +220 12
11                   Sajnur 4 2 0 2  930  730  +200 14
12     Pius Desurongcrandis 4 2 0 2 1780 1910  -130 14
13                   Darmen 4 2 0 2  870 1050  -180 10
14             Kriegiersien 4 1 0 3  490  580   -90  7
15               Abanhfleft 4 1 0 3  540  740  -200  7
16                    Endem 4 2 0 2 1120 1020  +100 12

Round of 16

1) Ko-oren (E) v. 16) Endem (A)
8) Nilrahrarfan (E) v. 9) Kita-Hinode (D)

4) Sarzonia (B) v. 13) Darmen (C)
5) Amenria (A) v. 12) Pius Desurongcrandis (B)

3) Taeshan (C) v. 14) Kriegiersien (E)
6) The Sherpa Empire (B) v. 11) Sajnur (D)

2) Anthor (D) v. 15) Abanhfleft (A)
7) Free Republics (A) v. 10) Banija (C)

Adjustments will be made to matches where necessary and possible to prevent group stage rematches. Otherwise, there will be no reseeding.

[Sarzonia]

Carelessness. Simple carelessness.

Chris Entwistle was left fuming after a very brief match. His Stars scored three quick goals and were taking the match to The Sherpa Empire. They looked like they were running rings around the Sherpas.

There was one problem he was trying to call out. He tried to get his beaters' attention, but they looked for all the world like they were distracted with a focus on trying to keep their opponents away from Edwin Nash's goal.

From that perspective, they were accomplishing their mission. However, no one was paying attention to Prince Wangdi sneaking through the Sarzonian defence to make a run at the snitch. The closest to Wangdi, in fact, was the Sarzonian seeker, Tommy Entwistle.

"Tommy!" Chris called out! "Look out!"

Tommy was preoccupied with a couple of Sherpan beaters who were focusing their energies on preventing Tommy from making a run at the snitch, so Tommy couldn't hear his older brother until he looked and saw Wangdi mere millimetres away from the snitch.

"LOOK OUT!" he shouted to his teammates, but it was too late. Wangdi made the capture and the referee signaled the end of the match.

"The Sherpa Empire win the match. Congratulations," he said.

It was the first group stage match the Stars had lost since the fourth Quidditch World Cup, hosted by rival Starblaydia, but when the tables were shown on the scoreboard, it didn't matter a whole lot. Sure, Sarzonia were prevented from an unblemished group stage and were level in win-draw-loss record with The Sherpans, but the Stars (3-0-1, 21 points) had three wins of over 150 points each. By virtue of this 150-30 setback, The Sherpa Empire only had two such victories. Thus, Sarzonia were Group B winners on the strength of their overwhelming victories over the other teams in the group. The Sherpa Empire (3-0-1, 19 points) were group runners up. Pius Desurongcrandis earned the third Group B slot in the Round of 16.

As for the rest of the tables, there was a delay of several minutes as the numbers crunchers initially included Starblaydia in the Round of 16. The rumour mill being what it was, the Sarzonians quickly got wind of what the question mark was.

"So, they're saying that Endem and Starblaydia are level on points, but Endem had an additional match," Nash said as he and beater Elynn Davis were talking.

"And their loss came against Rakivland," they said in response. "By tournament rules, that result will be thrown out and they're trying to determine which team gets in without it."

"That doesn't seem right," Nash said. "They played that match and they lost. Their overall record including that match is 2-0-3. Starblaydia is 2-0-2 and has a plus-60 point differential. They should go through, not Endem."

"The hosts were clear from the very beginning about the tournament rules. Without that loss to Rakivland, they're trying to determine whether Endem get in."

Finally, the announcement of the Group of 16 flashed on the big screen. Endem were through as the sixteenth seeds. Starblaydia were out.

Endem's "reward" as the best fourth placed side would be a matchup against top overall seed and Group E champions Ko-oren, which went through as one of three unbeaten sides in the group stages.

Sarzonia earned the fourth overall seed and would face Darmen, which finished with a 2-0-2 record and were the third placed team in the Group C table. The Sherpas gained the sixth seed and would battle Group D third place side Sajnur, which came in with a plus-200 point differential. Pius Desurongcrandis were the twelfth seed and would face Group A winners Amenria.

The Stars had a little history with Darmen, having lost to them back in the group stage of the third Quidditch World Cup 160-90. The Stars also faced Taeshan during that group stage, falling 190-40. The Stars ended up winning the third place playoff against The Babbage Islands, marking the second consecutive bronze medal for the Stars in quidditch before their lengthy absence.

Meanwhile, Chris Entwistle had to again fend off questions about the lawsuit filed by Ken Flanagan, and the Sarzonian Quidditch decision to reject a proposed out of court settlement.

As for Flanagan, his conversation with his lawyer when she broke the news to him that their hoped for settlement fell through wasn't exactly pleasant.

She called out his bigoted stance and, by the end of the two-hour meeting in her office, Flanagan was out of options and no longer had the services of Annette Clay. He was lost in thought as he walked toward an intersection and wasn't paying attention when an oncoming car barreled into him.

[The Sherpa Empire]

‭On the last day of the group stage, Wangdi had no reason to ask questions about what kind of snitch they were using. He spotted it before too long, and, unlike the last two games, he caught it on his first try. It was a good thing too, since Nash was doing some good goaltending.

‭After the game, Tshering told the rest of the team to go ahead to the locker room without him and he would catch up with them later. Most them did, but Changjun stayed back. "What kind of intrigue are you sticking your nose in this time?" she asked. Tshering was a bit of a do-gooder with a habit of sticking his nose in other people's business.

‭"There's no intrigue," said Tshering. "I just want to talk to Chris Entwhistle."

‭Entwhistle was busy with the Sarzonian press, but Tshering waited patiently until he could have a quiet word without any reporters interrupting him, shoving cameras in his face, or recording the conversation. "Hey, can I talk to you for a minute about that Flanagan business?" Entwhistle didn't seem enthusiastic to talk about "that Flanagan business," but Tshering went on anyway: "I can help you if you'd like to stash some money offshore where he can't get at it."

‭[...]

‭When Tshering and Entwhistle had finished their conversation, Changjun gave Tshering a dirty look and asked, "How is that not intrigue?"

‭By the end of the day, it looked like it was all going to be moot anyway since Flanagan had been hit by a car in an accident that was likely to be fatal.

‭(OOC: I had this idea about offering to stash money in a Sherpa bank before I knew Sarz was going to have Flanagan hit by a car, but I decided to go ahead with it because Tshering wouldn't find out ICly until after he made the offer.)

[Pius Desurongcrandis]

Jonathan Filmen sat the team down again and said "Good job team, you guys played well against Starblaydia and clinched for the Round of 16. Even though you did a good job today doesn't mean you can get cocky again. We still have to play Amenria who were ranked 5th, we ranked 12th. This Quidditch team has a lot of talent and if you try can beat Amenria. Let's prove our Nation proud as we GO FOR THE CUP!"

[Sarzonia]

There was one more duty for Annette Clay to perform, even though she removed herself from Ken Flanagan's case.

Technically, Sarzonian law gave next of kin the option to continue legal actions for decedents. Ken Flanagan's father Matt, his mother Gina, and his younger brother Troy sat across from Clay less than 24 hours after they identified his body at Woodstock General.

"Mr. Flanagan, first of all, I'm really sorry about your son's loss."

Matt simply nodded and croaked out a "thank you."

"According to the Next of Kin Jurisprudence Act of 2007, you as his next of kin are entitled to attempt to pursue the lawsuit he filed, even though I decided to remove myself as counsel yesterday," she said. Before he got killed she thought.

Matt's first instinct was to speak up immediately and emphasise that he did not support his son's bigoted viewpoints, that he did not support his decision to file the lawsuit, all of it. However, he had to consult with the other immediate family members. His girlfriend Candice wasn't technically included in the decision since they hadn't gotten a civil partnership nor an engagement ring. However, Matt knew she didn't agree with Ken's lawsuit and she'd refused to attend any of the meetings with Clay.

"Gina?" Matt said, even though he knew Gina's answer.

"If anything, I'd want us to go in and request the lawsuit be dismissed," she said. "I didn't raise Kenneth to be like this. Nor did Matt."

Clay then looked at Troy. He looked at his parents.

"I'm only 12," he said.

"Even so," Matt said, "from what I understand from Ms. Clay, if you want this, she'll represent you in court."

Gina looked in her younger son's eyes and could see he was overwhelmed with thoughts racing through his head. She also knew he was nothing like his brother in terms of Ken Flanagan's bigotry.

Troy's best friend was another gender non-conforming kid. They did everything together. Troy even punched his older brother for making an offhand comment about Troy's friend. Matt happened by before Ken could hit back. Another best friend was a female to male transgender boy. Still another was a gay boy who was attracted to him.

"I don't want this lawsuit," Troy said, confirming the obvious for his parents. "It's stupid."

"Very well," Annette said. "I'll bring the motion in court to officially dismiss the lawsuit."

"Can you do us a favour?" Matt asked. He looked down at Troy, then smiled a wan smile.

"Sure."

"Can you have the motion be made in Troy's name?"

************************************************************************

The young copy editor going over the story budget for the local newspaper ticked down the list of stories. A preview of the quidditch match between Sarzonia and Darmen. A look at the Darmen side. A feature on Elynn Davis. A breakdown of the tiebreaking procedures in the World Cup.

"OK, nothing big here," he said, until he saw a middle-aged woman handing him a piece of paper with a look of urgency in her eyes.

"Former Sarzonia beater Ken Flanagan confirmed dead after being hit by a car," the note said.

"Geoff!" he shouted. "Geoff!"

"What is it, Mark?"

"Have a look at this!" He handed Geoff Bridegum, the assistant managing editor, the update about Ken Flangan's death. Police were investigating angles including possible homicide, potential suicide, or simple neglect, whether it be on the driver's part or on Flanagan's.

"OK, I'll give this to Clara." He then took the paper and ran up to Clara Benedetti's office. She was the news editor, and it was clearly a story that belonged in the A section. Police lieutenant Marta Longwell was already talking with reporters about the investigation, giving as much information as she felt free to share. After she hung up the phone, she saw a sergeant who was assisting with the investigation.

"Here's the video," he told her. "From the looks of it, he was completely oblivious to the traffic lights," and the car was less than one metre from him when he crossed the street. There was no way the driver could have stopped in time." He saw the look on Longwell's face.

"Based on what I see from the look in his eyes, it didn't appear to be deliberate on his part. He was in a mind of his own.

"We can rule out vehicular homicide. Hell, we can also rule out involuntary vehicular manslaughter. That driver didn't have a chance to stop the car in time. Look, I know a lot of things could point to suicide. Based on the deposition I got from his father, he was told Sarzonian Quidditch was going to fight the lawsuit in court. The judge assigned to the case wasn't exactly friendly toward this kind of lawsuit and was likely going to dismiss it anyway. His attorney decided she wasn't going to represent him because he's a bigoted asshole.

"Based on the sworn affidavits I have from the driver and from his father, this couldn't be a suicide."

"I see," Longwell said. "Thank you."

******************************************************************

Entwistle wanted the press conference to be over with, and he didn't even hide the smirk on his face when the team's press information officer told the assembled media that his media availability was over for the day. He walked out of the room and was looking forward to going back to his makeshift office within the team's dressing room when he saw a man he didn't recognise stop him.

"Hey, can I talk to you for a minute about that Flanagan business?"

Entwistle scowled. He really wanted to say, go fuck yourself, but stopped himself short.

"I'm Tshering of Fuzhou," he said. "I'm the Sherpa team captain." Suddenly, Entwistle raised an eyebrow. He didn't recognise Tshering without his matchday robe on, but he'd spent hours gameplanning against him.

Fighting his own instincts to dismiss his opponent, he quietly said, "what do you have in mind?"

"I can help you if you'd like to stash some money offshore where he can't get at it," Tshering said.

Offshore bank accounts. He knew the Sarzonian equivalent of the Internal Revenue Service would pepper him with questions about it even in the best of times. In a situation where he was trying to evade legal actions, he knew it would violate Sarzonian law. If it could be determined that Entwistle sent even so much as a penny to an offshore bank account in a country that wasn't on tge pre-approved list of nations, he could wind up in jail.

Second tier countries such as Isselmere-Nieland, Praetonia, or Pacitalia could receive small amounts from Sarzonians, just as long as the money didn't exceed $1,000 Sarzonian. Anything above that was still subject to taxes. For the only first tier nation, Delaclava, there wasn't a limit as long as the money was reported. It was standard Delaclav practice to send the tax revenue from the Sarzonian-held accounts there to Sarzonia's Office of Revenue.

Still, the prospect that Ken Flanagan couldn't get to his money was tempting as hell.

"Let me think about it," he said. Before he could turn to go back to the dressing room, he saw Tim Custer run toward him frantically.

"What's going on? You look like you saw a ghost."

"Ken Flanagan died."

"WHAT?"

"He got hit by a car."

"How? What happened?"

"We're still waiting on press reports, but rumour has it he walked in front of an onrushing car."

Entwistle knew that meant the lawsuit, which he had heard from Sarzonian Quidditch's legal counsel was not likely to go forward, was dead in the water. He knew Matt Flanagan wasn't interested in the lawsuit and had asked his son to request its dismissal. He didn't know Gina as well, and he knew nothing about Troy.

He was left to walk slowly toward the dressing room with his mind swirling with thoughts and emotions.

[Taeshan]

The Knights had already advanced to the next round no matter the result of their final group stage matchup against Zwangzug and likely to finish first as well the last matchup saw most of the subs get their first action of the season. Kaitlyn Exeter started in goal for Dakota Lyle, perhaps the weakest link of the starters so far, Albert Hancock moved from Chaser to Seeker for the match giving Ollivander Williams a rest, with Shanonah Wilder coming in for Everett MCCleary, and finally Jeremiah Caldwell in for Richard Owlet and Jack Milton taking Albert Hancock's position. Maxwell Chance remains the only player yet to see the air this season.

The subs proved rather fruitless in the end, as none of the players got all that much match time. Jack Milton would score twice, as would Samantha Van dyke, but the game was rather short lived as Albert Hancock made it 4/4 for Taeshani seekers on the year only 23 minutes into the game, with 7 goals scored and 4-3 for the Knights. It was a less than stellar match overall for Zwangzug and the loss sees them knocked out. The undefeated Knights finish 3rd overall after the groupstage which sees them pitted against a struggling Kriegiersien in the next round. At 1-0-3 the Kriegiersien side limps into the next round as the best of a sorry lot at the bottom of that group, but the Knights have gone undefeated in Group stages before only to slip at the playoff hurdle. Hopefully some much needed rest for the starters will give them a good chance headed into the next round.

[Ko-oren]

To: Guild of Legislators, Guild of Messengers

We are in the final 16! It is incredible how far the sport has come. Brooms are obviously still imported from the other magical communities, but how the sport has evolved from a Quidditch-type game played on the low-gravity or hot-air fields that even had built-for-purpose Worlds written for it, to a sport in which we can measure ourselves with other communities, it is simply amazing.

In the past few days, I have shown our items to scientists and inventors of the other communities, and they were very impressed. They had not thought that writing a World into existance would work, similar to how I had not expected their spells to work. Maybe some will try to experiment with the Art of writing, though I sincerely doubt that they will formally ask the Guild of Writers for their help in this. From my point of view, it cannot be seen as a problem or a threat that they will start their own research into this, separate from our knowledge on Writing.

On that topic, I would like to breach another subject. In order to keep our Worlds safe and our players as good as they seem to be right now, would it be possible to build a World that is accessible to all, as a sports academy and stadium World for our league to play in? Currently, the league organisers place every match in the World of one of the teams involved, but sometimes Legislators feel the need to cancel a match in order to protect their World - fearing the visitors. In a central stadium World, all matches can be organised properly and even the smaller Worlds and Guilds can host their games without problems.

It might very well be that my advice is superfluous. You must know, that as a member of the Guild of Historians, I obviously do not have proper insight in the current projects of the Guilds of Writers, Maintainers, Archivists, Architects, Legislators, and others. I feel like this issue would be best brought up with those Guilds, but from my lowly position in my Guild - a Minor Guild, even - I cannot put this on the agenda of the Major Guilds. And even if I had been part of a Major Guild, it would still have been difficult if not impossible. So, through this medium, as I record the events and actions at the Quidditch World Cup for posterity, I would like to ask you to formally consider Writing a neutral World for the sake of Quidditch.

If I were to be needed to bring a full argumentation, I am happy to take this burden on myself to explain myself in front of whatever Guild is necessary. Let us strike the iron while it is hot.

[Free Republics]

Quidditch World Cup 9
Logo created by Velestria

Round of 16 Results

Ko-oren 40–150 Endem
Nilrahrarfan 210–40 Kita-Hinode
Sarzonia 750–750 Darmen*
Amenria 520–640 Pius Desurongcrandis
Taeshan 260–440 Kriegiersien
The Sherpa Empire 410–220 Sajnur
Anthor 260–100 Abanhfleft
Free Republics 350–760 Banija

*As Sarzonia and Darmen played to a draw, a replay of their match started immediately after the capture of the snitch.

Sarzonia 230–110 Darmen

---

Quarterfinals

16) Endem (A) v. 12) Pius Desurongcrandis (B)*
4) Sarzonia (B) v. 8) Nilrahrarfan (E)*

14) Kriegiersien (E) v. 6) The Sherpa Empire (B)
2) Anthor (D) v. 10) Banija (C)

*Pius Desurongcrandis and Nilrahrarfan have been swapped to avoid a group stage rematch.

[Sarzonia]

"What the FUCK?"

"Are you fucking kidding?"

"Unbelievable!"

The decision handed down by the Sarzonian Department of Health and Athletics shook the team to the core. Goalkeeper Edwin Nash's suspension earlier in the year wasn't only upheld, but it would be enforced for the Round of 16 match against Darmen.

There was no more appeal process. The court system consistently upheld whatever decisions were handed down by the Department since they were determined to have final jurisdiction on anything sport related. Department Vice President Carter Marshall made it known he would not get involved, even though his lone coaching experience was the inaugural quidditch side. Lieutenant President Brian Patrick had no interest in sport whatsoever. And President Grant Haffner was concerned about precedents. Founding President Mike Sarzo had been dead for nearly a dozen years.

That meant Angel Gonzalez would play his first-ever match in as high pressure a situation as it got. Nash was not able to suit up, even in an emergency situation. If Gonzalez got hurt, the team would have to send in Matt Spencer, a reserve beater. That meant Sarzonia wouldn't have their unofficial defensive captain. Nash sullenly looked out at the pitch, mindlessly staring out at the action while his siblings were pouring out their blood, sweat and tears. He felt like he wasn't part of anything.

Meanwhile, the nerves never went away for Gonzalez, who was clearly overwhelmed the moment. Darmen jumped out to a massive 16-goal lead before Sarzonia registered its first goal. Finally, seeker Tommy Entwistle flew up to Gonzalez.

"Man, we got this. Don't worry. Hang in there."

Easy for you to say, Gonzalez thought glumly as seemingly goal after goal flew past him and into the netting behind him. Eventually, though, he made a fairly easy save, and glumly noted the sarcastic applause from Stars supporters who looked up at the scoreboard and saw Sarzonia down 750-460.

However, that simplest of saves seemed to galvanise the Stars, who began an improbable rally, scoring goals until Darmen's defence finally stiffened with the score Darmen 750, Sarzonia 600.

Entwistle then saw the snitch seemingly being overlooked by Darmen beaters.

Now's the time, he thought. Then he made his run, bulldozing through Darmen's beaters and lunging for the snitch. To his -- and his brother Chris's -- great relief, he'd grabbed the snitch with his non-dominant left hand.

"That's the match!" the referee shouted. "Both teams are level! Prepare for the replay."

"Coach!" Delaclav assistant manager Anthony Christensen shouted, frantically tapping Entwistle on the shoulder.

"It's a replay! That means we can send Eddie back in!"

"I don't follow."

"He's suspended for one match. Since that match ended in a draw, he's eligible to play right now." Christensen pulled up the rule on his tablet computer."

"You're right! Eddie! Get your robe on and get out there!"

That snapped Nash out of his reverie. He was more than happy to make the change into his goalkeeper's robe and fly out to his position. He bumped fists with Gonzalez to encourage him and went into position with a look of steely determination in his eyes.

The beaters and the rest of the Sarzonian team saw the look in his eyes and smiled.

We got this, they remembered Tommy Entwistle telling Gonzalez. They began to feel it themselves. Even though Nash was a little shaky at the beginning, allowing some goals he normally would have stopped, he also made an acrobatic how the hell did he save THAT?! kind of save to keep Sarzonia down just three. That's when Tommy Entwistle looked around after fending off a Darmen beater and then he realised there's the snitch!. He reached out and grabbed it.

"That's the match! Sarzonia win it!"

The team surrounded Nash as they saw the swirl of emotions finally began to ebb away into joy. Relief. Elation. They would get ready to face eighth seeded Nilrahrarfan in the quarterfinals because event organisers wanted to avoid a rematch of their group stage match-up with Pius Desurongcrandis. Meanwhile, PD would face controversial 16th seed Endem in that round, as the lone fourth place side shocked the field by knockout out top seeded Ko-oren 150-40. Meanwhile, PD sent the fifth seeded Amenria home, setting up what otherwise would have been a clash between group opponents. Kriegiersien dealt Taeshan their first defeat of this ninth edition of the Quidditch World Cup, sending home the No. 3 seed.

Thus, the matchups in the quarterfinals would feature the highest remaining seeds Anthor against No. 10 Banija, the fourth seeded Stars facing off against No. 8 Nilrahrarfan, No. 6 The Sherpa Empire against No. 14 Kriegiersien, and No. 12 PD against Endem.

The Stars, meanwhile, got to exorcise a bit of history. They and Delaclava were the first teams to face a replay due to a draw in the knockout rounds. The Phoenixes slaughtered the Stars in that first re-play. This time, the Stars were the victors in a situation that brought dread to their supporters. But now, all that was a fading memory as they cheered and saw their heroes mobbing Tommy Entwistle and Edwin Nash.

The emotions of the day were such a swirl because they began with a sombre moment of silence before the start of the match against Darmen. Even though Ken Flanagan wasn't exactly close to them, and even though his bigotry was against the values of essentially everyone else on the team, he was still a comrade of theirs, a teammate of theirs, a man with a family. A man whose parents had to bury their oldest child.

There would be no dedicating the match to him. There would be no patches on the uniform robes in his memory. But his absence would be felt nonetheless.

[Pius Desurongcrandis]

"Good job guys, Good job!" Said the Piesian National Quidditch Team Head coach as he entered the room. "That was some amazing Quidditch out there on the pitch, and we move on to the Quarterfinals! You guys where the underdogs and you won. We have the advantage of being the better ranked team."

[The Sherpa Empire]

‭Some of the Sherpa quidditch team's family and friends had come to cheer them on. Wangdi's family could not come because they were busy with their royal duties, and Namgyal and Nair's families could not come because they were busy keeping food on their tables -- but Changjun, Dai, Tshering, and Tashi all had friends and relatives in the audience when they took to the sky against Sajnur.

‭"It's such a weird game," Thundu of Fuzhou said as he watched the players zipping about overhead. He still didn't understand why his son insisted on flying around on a broom and schmoozing with Changjun Ihawa instead of looking for a chance to marry up into a family of higher rank. Sure, Changjun was gorgeous, but she was a commoner, and she wouldn't stay so pretty forever.

‭"I don't care for it, to be honest," said Jamling Ihawa. "The strategy isn't very interesting because the snitch counts for too much -- but Changjun likes it, and it's how she met Lord Tshering." He too seemed to be more concerned with what was going on between Tshering and Changjun than how the game was going.

‭Thundu sighed. There was no avoiding the elephant in the room. "Do you think they have a future together?"

‭"They've been together for years now," said Jamling. "It'd be stupid to think anything else."

‭"You don't worry that when they get older and the hormones subside he will think he's married beneath him?"

‭"My lord, with all due respect, that's a stupid thing to worry about. Is it against the rules for people in the audience to yell at the seeker and tell him where the snitch is?"

‭"How should I know?"

‭Wangdi spotted the snitch on his own before they figured out if it was legal to point it out to him. He dove after it and only narrowly missed planting his broom handle-down in the grass, but he came up with the snitch, securing the win for the Sherpas.

[Free Republics]

Quidditch World Cup 9
Logo created by Velestria

Quarterfinals Results

Endem 310–260 Pius Desurongcrandis
Sarzonia 500–110 Nilrahrarfan
Kriegiersien 20–210 The Sherpa Empire
Anthor 300–110 Banija

---

Semifinals

16) Endem (A) v. 4) Sarzonia (B)
6) The Sherpa Empire (B) v. 2) Anthor (D)

[Sarzonia]

The recipe was there for a shock result. It was there for Sarzonia's first early departure from a Quidditch World Cup in its history.

It was there, but the wizards that be didn't use it. At least not yet.

Sarzonia faced the eighth seed, even though the normal matchup would have called for a second encounter with PD, as the Stars have taken to calling Pius Desurongcrandis. However, hosts and organisers Free Republics had a rule against rematches from the group stages. It was a rule Sarzonia were familiar with owing to their close ties with Delaclav sporting events, but it still meant they would face the eighth seeds Nilrahrarfan instead.

It didn't matter. Not on a day when the Stars offence flowed nearly as easily as they did during their miraculous comeback against Darmen in the first Round of 16 fixture. It didn't matter when the defence shut the proverbial door in front of Edwin Nash. It didn't matter when Tommy Entwistle captured the snitch with his team comfortably in front 350-110, turning a laugher into a rout. The Stars didn't even seem tired after they congratulated each other briefly.

After the group realised they weren't guaranteed anything more than one match together, they banded together as families sometimes do. And now, they were guaranteed two more matches with each other. They would face No. 16 seeds Endem, which defeated PD in another shock result, marking a matchup against the only fourth placed side in the field with one of the two remaining group winners. The other, undefeated Anthor, defeated Banija 300-110, and would face Sarzonia's group mates The Sherpa Empire after they made quick work of Kriegiersien 210-20.

For his part, coach Chris Entwistle was not taking Endem lightly.

"They made it this far," he said. "We're going to be spending a lot of time studying them. We're more familiar with PD because we played them during the group stage, but even so, everything's different in the knockout rounds."

Chris Entwistle would know. He played on the two previous Sarzonia quidditch sides, both the team that belied its status as grounded Muggles in Delaclava thanks to host nation assistance and finished a shock third in the second World Cup and the team that came in third in Starblaydia despite no one considering them the longshots. Now, the team could easily dismiss any notion that they were flukes in the quidditch world.

"You make it once as a team no one saw coming, that's one thing," Chris Entwistle said, smiling at the memory of his team's unblemished run to the semifinals before it drew Delaclava and then lost the replay. "You make it a second time when teams are gunning for you, that's a whole different story." Make it a third time, with Delaclava not even part of the field?

"Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good," he said. "We've banded together really well when this team could have easily folded their tents after the Ken Flanagan situation."

Ah, the Ken Flanagan situation. The team paid its respects before the Darmen fixture with a moment of silence, but other than that, they barely noted his absence from the team. He wasn't close to anyone on the team, and no one from the team even attempted to contact him after Chris Entwistle dismissed him. So it was a complete surprise when Entwistle answered a knock on the door and saw his younger brother Troy there.

"Uh, may I help you?"

"I'm Troy. Ken's brother."

I know that, Chris thought as his eyes widened.

"I just wanted you to know my family is very sorry for all the pain my brother caused. Can I talk to Elynn?"

"Uh, I'll check with hi-- uh, them. Elynn? Can I see you for a moment?" The two talked to each other for a few moments while Troy looked on anxiously. He saw Elynn nod their head, then he saw Chris Entwistle motion for him to come over.

"Do you need privacy? You can use my office," Chris said, motioning to the door for the two of them to talk in private. Both nodded, then walked in and shut the door. After 20 minutes, the door opened, and the two hugged.

"Best of luck to the team," Troy said. He smiled, then walked out the door. And finally, the Stars hoped they could get some closure on the "Ken Flanagan situation" once and for all.