SIX DEGREES ; rp.

HOLYHEAD -- HARPIES NEW SEEKER PROVES HER WORTH

This year's mid-season break had been relatively quiet for the British & Irish Quidditch Leagues, until early this morning. Holyhead Harpies Captain Gwenog Jones released a statement on behalf of the team stating that the team's troubled Seeker Orla Quirke had been released and given a reservist's position until further notice. No mention was made in the statement about Quirke's replacement- and rumors quickly spread as to who might take the pitch against Caerphilly today.

There were gasps of surprise and disbelief when it was Tina Lundstrøm, veteran Danish Seeker from the Nordic National Quidditch team, who joined her new teammates for a brief photo-op before taking to the sky to meet her new Welsh rivals. Captain Jones assured reporters that Holyhead had made the right decision- indeed, Lundstrøm was specifically sought out to replace Quirke, and had only arrived in Holyhead the day before when the deal had been finalized.

Loyal Harpies fans watched with bated breath for most of the game- all eyes were on Lundstrøm. Lundstrøm, for her part, showed nothing but grace under pressure, and caught the Snitch within forty minutes of play. Holyhead defeated Caerphilly by a score of 210-70.

LONDON -- EAGERLY AWAITED ALBUM TO BE RELEASED

Felicity Eastchurch, former violinist and pianist of The Unicorns who split with the band three months ago citing artistic differences, has finished her first solo album, reports our source at Leviosa Records.

The Unicorns experienced a surge of popularity following the release of their album Peeved in 2003, but had not released a follow-up album. In an interview late last month Eastchurch is reported to have said, "It was just always a difficult time getting everything together to finish studio work. I still love my bandmates, and I wish them the best."

Without a Broom, Eastchurch's debut album due to be released on July 15, is being touted as "the next evolution of magical folk-rock." The first single from the album, the hauntingly romantic "Pretty Pensieve" will debut on the WWN this weekend.

GALWAY -- KENMARE CHASER'S RELATIONSHIP CAUSES CONTROVERSY

In a surprising bit of news from from Kenmare, Kestral's Chaser Kevin Entwhistle has been confirmed to be involved in a romantic relationship with Jonathan Sloper, an employee of the Ministry of Magic. This news was first brought to our attention when the couple attended the wedding of Holyhead player Ginny Weasley and war hero Harry Potter together, and since the sighting many have come forward to claim that the pair have been seen in one another's company various times over the last several months.

Earlier this year it was reported that Entwhistle might be in a romantic relationship with fellow Kenmare Chaser Tamsin Applebee, which both players denied. On the subject of Entwhistle's recent revelation, Applebee could not be contacted for comment.

Aidan Kiely, Kenmare Seeker, was the only member of the team willing to answer our questions on the matter, though his response was curt. "Kevin's a private bloke, and his private life's no one's business but his. It doesn't affect the way he plays, and I don't think any of his teammates care a whit about who he's dating," Kiely said.

Fans of the Irish league team might not feel the same way. Doyle O'Neill, a longtime Kestrals supporter, wrote to say "I'm a good Catholic wizard, and I take my children to these games. What sort of example is that setting for them?" Other fans expressed concern that Entwhistle's preoccupation with his relationship might be the cause of the Kestral's recent decline in the league standings, leaving them near the bottom of the pack in the current standings after leading the league earlier in the season.

LONDON -- KENMARE CHASERS EAGER FOR MORE

Kenmare Chasers Kevin Entwhistle and Tamsin Applebee may have a bit more to celebrate than just their team's meteoric rise to the top of the standings after Saturday's game against the Caerphilly Catapults, or even the Kestrel's undefeated beginning to this year's season.

Rumour has it that the Chaser duo was spotted Saturday evening at The Drunken Duck. Were they celebrating? According to our sources, the night was far more involved than a few celebratory drinks. The two reportedly spent a good deal of time very close to one another, and Applebee was seen more often than not in Entwhistle's lap.

Is there something the star Irish Chasers are keeping from their fans? This reporter thinks that there definitely might be something more romantic behind their recent success. Perhaps they're both flying a bit better this year because they've found something special together.

LONDON -- ELEVENTH HOUR TRADES BRING SURPRISES

It has long been a tradition that there are to be no player trades in the last week before the opening matches of the British and Irish Quidditch League.  This tradition, however, often leads to a number of trades or deals being conducted at the last minute- and such was the case last night, in Pitches all across Britain and Ireland.  Most of these transactions involved lower-stringed players and undisclosed sums of money (see complete list, page T7), but one in particular caught our attention.  Quinn Abercrombie, formerly of the Ballycastle Bats, was traded to the Montrose Magpies in exchange for Montrose's Beater Jenkinson and two other unnamed amateur players.  The trade, like all others finalized last night, is effective immediately.

APPLEBY -- ALL-STAR MATCH DRAWS RECORD CROWD

Not since the Arrows' famed 1932 defeat of the Vratsa Vultures had the Appleby Pitch seen such a crowd as was gathered today for the inagural British and Irish Quidditch League All-Stars match. The match was officially sponsored by Diagon Alley businesses, two of whom secured naming rights for the teams... Scribbulus Writing Instruments presented Scribbulus' Scoundrels, in navy blue and maroon robes, and Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes gave us Weasley's Wheezers, in pink and lime green robes.

As was expected of such a star-studded roster, the game was a hard-fought one on both sides. The luck of the draw was in the Wheezers' favor as they fielded 2005 championship Harpies Chasers Montgomery, Spinnet, and Weasley, still a formidable combination despite having not played in this year's pre-season matches. They combined for eighty points in the game's first half hour before Scoundrels Keeper McCormack seemed to finally remember how to do her job.

Though Scoundrels Chasers Entwhistle, Griffiths, and Wood were all from different teams, they were able to make up ground against Wheezers Keeper Wood- the Scoundrels pulled ahead by a score of 170 to 120 after two hours of play.

The scores stayed tightly matched through the rest of the match, and both teams' Beaters helped trade (mostly minor) injuries all around. Scoundrels Beater Inglebee broke one of Wheezers Beater Abercrombie's bats with a bludger seemingly aimed at Abercrombie's head- perhaps a retaliation for Inglebee's Montrose teammate's earlier pre-season injury at Abercrombie's hands? Scoundrels Beater Jones and Wheezers Beater Jenkins exchanged hits that eventually resulted in Jenkins' removal from the game due to a broken leg. Wheezers Beater Abercrombie returned the favor to Scoundrels Chaser Griffiths ten minutes later.

The score was tight, though in the Wheezers' favor at 300 to 280 when Scoundrels Beater Inglebee hit a bludger to Wheezers Keeper Wood, breaking his arm. Just after this, the Snitch was finally spotted (after nearly three hours of play). Scoundrels Seeker Quirke had the first sighting, and Wheezers Seeker Williams stayed close on her tail as she tracked it... ( Read more... )

LONDON -- ALL-STAR CHASER ARRESTED FOR BRAWLING

While onlookers at the Leaky Cauldron last night, late, gathered around, a brawl broke out among two of the patrons; Terrence Higgs, 28 and Ella Montgomery, 24. A witness stated that Montgomery was "looking" for a fight, having approached multiple others about such before Higgs showed up, jumped up on a table and challenged Montgomery to the fight for which she had been looking.

In the tuffle, no bystanders were injured, though the pair did do minimal damage to a table and a chair, the damages for which both Higgs and Montgomery are being made responsible, according to the reports filed by the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

Higgs and Montgomery were detained by authorities approximately twenty minutes after the brawl broke out and charges include being drunk and disorderly and assaulting detaining officers. The pair spent the evening in a holding cell at the Ministry, only to be released early this afternoon. Both are pending hefty fines, though no sentence in Azkaban is expected.

Montgomery is known for her position on the championship Quidditch team, the Holyhead Harpies and her spot in the All Stars game fast approaching on the nineteenth of February. Word from the team's Public Relations representative noted that, since early news broke about last night's events, ticket sales for the All Stars game and pre-season ticket sales have increased, though it is speculated that the increase in sales has less to do with the misdemeanor and more to do with Montgomery's comment on playing in the nude at the former.

There has not yet been any word from Higgs, though we here at the Prophet suspect that this is exactly the type of behavior that would be expected from a stuntsman. However, after a little digging on this reporter's part, it was found that Higgs' Public Relations representative has been released from Higgs' employment effective immediately.

KENMARE -- Starting Chaser Benched Before Big Game

Kevin Entwhistle, starting chaser for the Kenmare Kestrals and for the first All Start Team, suffered an injury yesterday during Kenmare’s morning practices and has reportedly been benched while he recovers.

Chaser Entwhistle could not be reached for comment but mediwizard for the Kestrals, Seamus Finnigan, stated "As always we're being cautious as we don't want to lose a player in the preseason." This injury comes only five short days before the Kestral’s preseason game against the Wigtown Wanderers, and there has been no official statement from the team as to whether or not Entwhistle will be on the bench during that game.

MONTROSE -- Quidditch Player Injured In Match

Montrose Magpies Chaser Regan Wood was injured in a pre-season quidditch match against the Ballycastle Bats today.  Quidditch injuries are more the rule of the game than the exception, of course, but this one has left Wood hospitalized in London for "at least a few days, just to be safe," according to the team's trainer.  Ballycastle was leading Montrose by a score of 200-170 when Wood (who was recently selected to the League's All-Star Team) was injured on a bludger hit from Bats' Beater Quinn Abercrombie (also an All-Star).  Montrose went on to beat Ballycastle by a score of 320-250.  Abercrombie, when reached for comment after the match, told this reporter, "kindly shove off."  It it this reporter's humble opinion that sportsmanship has given way to the perpetuation of old Hogwarts rivalries.  Such a shame.