~NEWS~

NOTICE: We will be focusing on Sports due to the finals and semifinals of the Quidditch World Cup 2014. We will work on the News section when the World Cup ends. Thank you for reading Wizarding Weekly.

~SPORTS~

THE SEMIFINALS OF THE QWC: USA VS. BRAZIL

 The semifinals of the United States and Brazil had first started out filled with errors, and went for more than a day. Mercy Wardwell of the United States had repeatedly hit her head on her broom until stopped by the Seeker, Darius Smackhammer, after she dropped her Quaffle for the fifth time. Meanwhile, Brazil was fighting for their first final after the World Cup of 1982. A Bludger was mistakenly sent from the Brazilian Beater Lucas Picquery to the face of the Keeper Susan Blacheflower, a fellow member of Picquery's Brazil team. 

 After the night, Keeper Raul Almeida blocked all shots from the United States, but the US Seeker Smackhammer spotted the Snitch in the twentieth hour, but was stopped by Brazilian Beaters Clodoaldo and Santos. Soon, Smackhammer and Brazilian Seeker Silva raced for the Snitch, but in the end, Silva's risky shot toward the scoreboard had won Brazil's victory. 

 Brazil will go against either Japan or Bulgaria, and the United States will participate in a battle to determine third place of the World Cup.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE 2014 QWC

By Molly O'Gorman, Edited by Ellen Kingman, Mary Hardcastle, and Fritz (Mariah) Riles

Tension mounts in the Patagonian Desert in Argentina this year as the quarter-finals of the 2014 Quidditch World Cup draw to a close. The qualifying stage for this year's cup began in 2012 and was fraught with tension and controversy from the outset. Who can forget the international media storm when Liechtenstein qualified over China (2010's runners-up) or when Moldova (2010's winners) were struck down by dragon pox (and the subsequent inquiry)? Rumours abounded about Haiti's use of Inferi (the I.C.W.Q.A. described these as 'baseless') whilst Welsh manager Gwenog Jones came to blows with Brazilian manager José Barboza after he described the Welsh Chasers as nothing more than "talentless hags."

The mascot-themed opening ceremony kicked off the tournament on the 12th April earlier this year, which went down in history after the Norwegian Selma and Fijian Dukuwaqa began fighting in the small lake that they shared. Brazilian Curupiras attacked handlers attempting to break up the fight and there was a stampede, injuring mascots, participants and audience members. Brazilian Sasabonsams joined the stampede due to the amount of bloodshed, and Haitian Inferi revealed themselves and joined in the attack, resulting in 300 casualties. The disaster that was the opening ceremony left its mark upon the crowd - in the first match (Norway vs. Ivory Coast), wizards in the crowd twice attempted to jinx Norway's Lundvekdam as a result of the catastrophe of the previous day. However, this did not prevent Norway from flying through to the next round after just over two hours of play.
Fijian Seeker, Joseph Snuka, long dubbed a glory-seeker, caught the Snitch but lost the game for Fiji against joint favourites Nigeria in the second match of the competition. The third match featured the first incidence of cheating in this year's cup when Haiti's Beater, Bloncourt, captured the Snitch illegally. He has now been suspended from play - an official statement says that he is hiding in "an undisclosed location." During the match, Bloncourt managed to break the nose of the Haitian Keeper and knock out Jolicoeur, their Seeker. Due to Haiti's disqualification, Brazil went through to the next round. 
An inquiry followed the U.S.A.'s match against Jamaica when Jamaican Keeper Bailey unexpectedly fell off her broom as Kowalski scored for the U.S.A., but it turned out that Bailey had sustained a Sasabonsam bite during the opening ceremony which had become infected. The U.S.A. continued into the quarter-finals. 
Meanwhile, the match between Chad and Liechtenstein lasted for three days (rumour says that Liechtenstein's Otmar fell asleep during the match) but Liechtenstein eventually won through despite Chad being narrowly ahead on goals. After just over two hours, Bulgaria ousted New Zealand for a place in the quarter-finals. 
Possibly the best-played match so far, however, was Japan vs. Poland, which pitted the legendary Seeking skill of Polish Wolfke and the best Beater duo since Volkov and Vulchanov, Japan's Hongo and Shingo, against one another. Wolfke failed to catch the Snitch (Japanese Seeker Sato was considered lucky that Wolfke was not on top form) and Japan made it through. 
The final game of this round was between Wales and Germany, in which German Seeker Pfeffer unsuccessfully tried the dangerous Wronski Feint and suffered life-threatening injuries, although it was later reported that Pfeffer would in fact live. He has broken almost every bone in his body and is under the illusion that he is a budgerigar by the name of Klaus.
The most memorable game so far, however, has been the first of the quarter-finals, Brazil versus Wales. Tension had been high between the teams since Barboza's insult to the Welsh team (and Jones's response) and Jones was prevented from entering the stadium wearing a t-shirt that read, “It Should Have Been Haiti!” Welsh Beater Rice showed a flagrant disregard for the rules, sending a Bludger away from the Quaffle at the head of the Brazilian Keeper, but was not sent off. Jernigan's goal from a distance of fifty yards has ensured her a place in Quidditch history, whilst Beater Floyd did more for the Welsh defence than any Keeper. However, Brazilian seeker Silva caught the Snitch and won the game for the Brazilians, leading Jones to attempt to keep her promise to curse the face off Barboza. (Barboza, we are informed, will make a full recovery now that his skin has almost regrown.) 

Bulgaria versus Norway had a shocking result when Bulgaria, the outsiders even in the qualification stages, beat Norway, the favourites, thanks to the experienced Seeking skills of Krum, the oldest player in the competition and one whose place has not been without its controversies. However, even Krum's Seeking was outdone by the United States' Smackhammer, who (in U.S.A. versus Liechtenstein) flew through the path of two oncoming Bludgers and a Chaser to catch the Snitch and win the game. Smackhammer's victory was celebrated, as the U.S.A. is not noted for its Quidditch skills - this is the first world cup in which they have a significant chance at the title. The celebrations that followed the match, however, have caused significant upset as many Muggle memories have had to be modified and there have been fierce negotiations over the kidnapped Liechtenstein mascot.
The final match so far pitted Japan against Nigeria for a place in the semi-finals. Nigeria was the favourited team in the tournament at this stage (as Norway had been knocked out a few matches earlier) but were knocked out of the running by Japan after an impeccable performance from the Japanese side. International authorities acknowledge that this match contained what were possibly the four best Beaters of the twenty-first century, and that Nigeria's loss was due to their decision to place their team on Thunderbolt brooms, which partially broke when the Thunderbolt VII of Equiano (Nigerian Seeker), had its tail knocked off. (An inquiry is under way at present, but Thunderbolt sales have significantly dropped since.) The Nigerians lost control of the game whilst trying to save Equiano, and in the midst of the chaos Sato caught the Snitch. The Japanese team is to play Bulgaria in the semi-finals, where the U.S.A. will face Brazil. This year has defied all expectations, and all is very much still to play for. Who will be the Quidditch World Cup Champions 2014?

~APPENDICES~

Enchantment For the Bewitching Mind
By Soccorso Micheli Di Spirito de Cruz

~COMICS~

WIZARDING WEDNESDAY

By Timothy Winchester

NO ROOM FOR MAGIC

By Adrian Ramos