NOTES:

Obligatory Hogwarts AU (In which Mike is a 5th year, captain of the Hufflepuff team and a Keeper (Ha ha). Ginny's a second year.

Other house sortings and quidditch positions (If applicable).

Blip: Hufflepuff (Chaser) 4th year.

Evelyn: Gryffindor 4th year

Rachel: Slytherin 5th year

Amelia: Slytherin 3rd year

Elliot: Ravenclaw 1st year

Will: Slytherin 4th year

Salvamini: Hufflepuff (Beater) 4th year

Sonny: Hufflepuff (Chaser) 3rd year

Voorhies: Hufflepuff (Beater) 4th year

Livan: Hufflepuff (Seeker) 2nd year


Blip sat next to Mike at the Hufflepuff table. "Quidditch tryouts today." He said, grabbing a plate of waffles. Mike glared at him.

"Really." He said, his tone flat. "I had no idea. Being the captain, I'm not aware of these things."

Blip rolled his eyes. "What Luongo thought when he promoted you, I'll never know."

"Probably that he's sick of losing to Gryffindor and the snakes." Mike mumbled, stabbing his bacon with a fork. Blip arched an eyebrow.

"So they're the snakes now." He said, earning himself another glare from Mike. "You know it's not healthy to glare at them." He nodded to the Slytherin table where Rachel was giggling with Dave.

"Just imagining what his face would look like if I hexed him." He muttered.

"Maybe you should focus on building a new team?" Blip suggested. "If we embarrass Slytherin in front of the entire school, then-"

"Maybe Rachel will dump that loser?" Mike said hopefully.

"Actually I was thinking maybe professor Luongo might give us less homework." Blip rolled his eyes. "There's more to life than girls, Lawson."

Mike was shaking his head when he caught sight of someone walking into the great hall and smirked. "Bet you change your tune in 3...2..."

Blip frowned. "What are you talking about- EV." He stood and knocked his plate over, having caught sight of Evelyn Walker going over to the Gryffindor table. "Hi, Ev." He waved. Mike smirked as Evelyn gave Blip a smile.

"How are you boys today?" she asked, "getting ready to assemble a losing team?"

"Watch it." Mike grumbled earning himself an elbow in the ribs from Blip. "I mean, definitely. We don't want to beat your team." He glared at his friend.

"You only need 2 new players, right?" Evelyn asked. "Seeker and Chaser?"

Blip nodded, looking at her completely smitten. Mike rolled his eyes. "Enough flirting with the enemy." he said, standing up and grabbing Blip by the collar. "You and me have tryouts." Mike walked down the side of the table, smacking the other members of the team on their backs as he walked out of the great hall. Sonny, Salvamini, and Voorhies shuffled out.


"Alright badgerlings." Mike shouted, pacing in front of the students. "I am sick and tired of losing to the other houses. They think that Hufflepuff is a joke. They think we're cute and cuddly. That's the furthest thing from the truth. Badgers are vicious with sharp teeth. And they eat snakes."

There was a small titter of laughter from the other members of the team before Mike glared at them. Turning to face the others.

"We need a chaser and a seeker." Mike said, scrutinizing the students. One of them, a cocky second year with gel hair was smirking. Mike tried to remember his name. Levine? Whatever it was, he silently hoped he wasn't that good. "So let's see what you've got."

10 minutes later Mike was dodging a bludger that one of the chaser hopefuls had released after missing the hoop and throwing the quaffle at the box housing the balls.

"Sal, Blip." He said, waiting until the beaters went after the bludgers before glaring at the third year who'd thrown the quaffle. "You, hang up your broom."

"Hey Lawson." Livan Duarte was smirking on his broom. He waved, holding the snitch in one hand. Mike grit his teeth. He'd let the snitch out and told all those who wanted to be seeker to catch it. The person who caught it the most times when Mike ended try outs, got the position.

"Okay, Duarte." He said. "Let it go and wait a minute before trying to find it." He turned back to the chaser try outs and sighed. The truth was he'd figured out from the second they'd kicked off that none of them had it. A chaser had to be able to fly with ease. They needed sharp eyes, quick reflexes and fast thinking. None of these guys fit the bill.

"Excuse me." A voice shouted from the ground. Mike turned and looked towards the person who had spoken. There was a Slytherin girl standing in the center of the quidditch pitch. "I've got your new chaser."

Mike landed and shook his head. "I think you have the wrong try outs."

"No." The blonde tossed her hair and grinned. "I think I'm exactly where I need to be." She motioned behind her where a Ravenclaw boy was walking towards them and behind him was a Hufflepuff girl, a second year...Mike struggled to find her name, Gabby?

"Ginny!" Blip landed next Mike and grinned at the girl. She looked at him, a nervous smile. "Get your big old bubble butt over here." Blip said, opening his arms. Ginny grinned and Mike was momentarily stunned by the most radiant set of dimples he'd ever seen. She jumped up and hugged Blip.

Mike looked over Ginny, assessing her before turning back to the Slytherin girl. "Look-"

"Amelia." She said, holding out her hand. "Amelia Slater and I'm Ginny's manager."

"Manager?" Mike said slowly. "I'm sorry, I want to look a gift viper in the mouth, but how do I know she can throw?"

Amelia smirked. "Because I've seen her do it. Last year she was sneaking out and practicing so she could make the team. Which is why I am her manager. This girl's going places."

"With what broom?" Mike asked.

"Her brother's. He's a Slytherin as well. I heard him complaining about Ginny's skills in the common room after she borrowed his broom without asking."

"Her brother is...?" Mike asked.

"Will Baker." Amelia said. Mike didn't recognize the name, he looked at Ginny skeptically before turning to the Ravenclaw.

"And you are...?"

"Eliot." He said. "I'm her data analyst." He started rattling off Ginny's stats. "Hey, did you know that Seekers aren't actually the most important player of the game? If a team has good chasers, even with 150 extra points, the other team won't win. There's actually been 53 instances of it happening during world cup games, 36 of them during final games. There was this particular time in 1903-" Mike rubbed his forehead and groaned.

"Fine, fine, just..." He looked over at Ginny. "Get in the air and we'll see what you've got." He kicked off, shaking his head. Blip flew up after him. "Can this girl throw?"

"Yup." Blip said, smiling. "She went to the same muggle school that I went to and she was on the baseball team."

"Baseball?" Mike asked.

"Muggle sport." Blip said, watching as Ginny kicked off. "She's exactly what this team needs."

Mike grunted. "Alright." he shouted, looking at the line of potential chasers. "There are 6 of you. I'm assigning each of you a number, then I want you to get into a circle and toss the quaffle to each other based on the number I call out. Anyone who drops or fails to catch the quaffle is automatically disqualified."

He had them count off then watched as they arranged them selves into a circle. If he could eliminate at least 3 people with this exercise, he'd be happy. "5" he shouted and threw the quaffle at Tommy Miller. Miller caught it. "3...4...2...5..." He leaned back on his broom. "1" The quaffle flew to Ginny, but Tommy had thrown it off, making it difficult to catch. Ginny lurched and almost rolled off her broom before grabbing the ball. Holding the quaffle she righted herself and glared at Miller. Mike's eyes narrowed, he didn't approve of someone deliberately sabotaging a rival.

"Miller, a throw like that could cause us to lose possession of the quaffle in a game." He looked over at Ginny and gave her a small nod. "Good catch, Baker." He leaned back and cross his arms. "6" Ginny threw the quaffle and the person who tried to catch it, fumbled and dropped it. Ginny dove and caught the quaffle before it hit the ground. Flying up to meet the others, she looked over at Mike. He gave her a nod. She had good instincts and there was no doubt she could fly. He glared at number 6 before pointing to the ground.

"Lawson." Duarte shouted. Mike looked over his shoulder and tried not to growl. He'd caught the snitch again.

"Let it go, count to a hundred and then start looking for it again." He turned his attention back to the chaser try outs. After the end of 3 minutes, 3 more had been eliminated, leaving only Baker and Miller. Mike already knew who he'd prefer to be on the team, but Ginny needed to prove herself. "Alright." Mike said. "Fly down to the over goal posts then fly towards me, passing the ball back and forth."

Neither of them dropped the ball, but Mike noticed how much faster Ginny's reflexes were. He also didn't fail to notice that Tommy deliberately gave her difficult throws.


Ginny hadn't said anything to Lawson since she'd entered the Quidditch pitch. She didn't want to socialize, she just wanted to play. She knew she was better than the others who were trying out. And Miller. He made her want to reconsider becoming a beater. When they made it to the other side of the field, Lawson gave them a grunt and waving over the other two chasers. "Okay." Mike said. "This time it's going to be a bit more difficult. Sonny, you're with Baker. Voorhies, you're with Miller. You need to work together to get the quaffle to the goal and try to score."

Ginny looked over at Sonny. He was tall and seemed more built to be a beater than a chaser, but she'd seen him play. He was fast and he could throw pretty well. It also helped that he had a strategy of flying straight at the opposing team, scaring them into dropping the ball. He gave her a smile. "You ready, Baker?"

She nodded.

"Lawson." Livan called out from the opposite side of the field, holding up the snitch. Ginny tried to fight back a laugh; he was such a show off. Livan winked at her. "Looking good, Mami."

"You're supposed to be looking for the snitch, not checking out other potential teammates." Lawson snapped. Livan shrugged and let go of the snitch.

Flying next to Sonny she swallowed, trying to fight the nerves. Blip was waiting on the other side of the field. "Ready?" He asked, giving her a smile of encouragement. She nodded. He tossed the quaffle up into the air. Ginny flew up and grabbed the ball, throwing it towards Sonny. He caught it and flew towards Lawson, dodging a bludger. He dropped the quaffle in surprise, Ginny dove for it, about to reach it, when MIller slammed into her and knocked her off course. Her broom spun out of control and she almost hit a goal post before turning to glare at Miller who smirked at her before flying towards the goal post. Ginny hissed out an angry breath; he wasn't going to get away with that. Speeding after him, she dodged a bludger and punched the quaffle out of Miller' arms. It flew through the air. Ginny caught it and headed straight to the goal posts. swerving past Salvamini, She held up the quaffle. Lawson was in the center of the goals. She pretended to aim for the right goal. Mike moved over slightly, going towards the right ring, Ginny threw the quaffle. It was a special technique that her father had taught her. With the right spin on a quaffle, it would fly straight, then abruptly change angles. Mike saw it going towards the right hoop and dove, only to brake as it spun off into the middle goal post. Mike wheeled around, gaping as it went through. His mouth hung open. The entire field was silent.

Ginny looked around nervously, The other members of the team and the other tryouts were gaping at her with shock, except for Blip and Livan. Blip was grinning and Livan was impressed. From the stands, Amelia and Eliot were clapping.

"She used magic." Miller shouted. "She cheated." He flew towards her, red in the face. "She definitely has her wand."

"I do not." Ginny glared at him before looking at Mike. "It isn't magic, it's practice."

"There was no way you could have made that shot." Miller sneered.

"It's called physics." Ginny shot back. "My dad taught me how to incorporate muggle science into quidditch tactics."

"That's even worse."

Ginny resisted the urge to punch him in the face.

"Do it again." Lawson's rumbling voice cut off her retort. Ginny looked at him; he seemed, skeptical, but there was something else in his eyes. He flew towards her and handed her the quaffle. Ginny took it and flew up. Throwing the ball again, it spun towards the goal post, then veered off and went into the central hoop. A glowing smile broke over Mike's face. Turning to Ginny he said, "Welcome to the team, Baker."

"Hey Lawson." Livan shouted from the other side of the field, holding up the snitch. Mike glared at him.

"And you too, Duarte." He muttered.