Okay, just to get things straight: I do NOT own Harry Potter, I do NOT own Quidditch, and I do NOT own Hocksworth, Vosper or any of those folks. Another thing, if you are planning on reading a ficcie about Harry Potter and his life at Hogwarts, then this fic is not for you cuz this is going to be specifically about the English Quidditch team on their way to the championships, inspired by the Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup game on my GameCube.
So, now that that's settled, get to the reading already!
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Erica Henson nervously sat down in the change rooms at the English Quidditch stadiums. Newly out of Hogwarts, she came to the stadium today after hearing about the new opening for a Seeker on the team. She was so pumped when she read about it in the Daily Prophet classifieds, but now that she was here she could practically feel the butterflies fluttering in the pit of her stomach. At last, she took a deep breath, gathered up her courage and stepped out into the halls, prepared for the job interview of a lifetime.
It seemed like hours before her name was finally called. One of the judges entered the hallway, clipboard in hand. "Erica Henson? Would you please step out into the Quidditch pitch for your evaluation?"
Erica shakily stood up, clutching her Nimbus2001 in her right hand. You can do this, Erica, she assured herself as she walked out the doors, feeling the eyes of all the other people in the hall watching her as she left. She stepped outside, seeing first the two other judges seated at a long table adorned with a scarlet oriental tablecloth.
You can do this…
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The man who had led her outside briskly shook her gloved hand. "Well now, well now!" he exclaimed a bit too cheerily. "So you're Erica Henson, are you? It says on your papers that you're just out of Hogwarts, am I right? My name is Ludo Bagman! Now, not that I'm trying to intimidate you or anything, but new graduates from wizard school hardly ever make the national teams—but I certainly wish you luck! Oh, wait a minute, I'm one of the judges, aren't I? Ha ha ha ha ha…"
"Th-thanks," Erica said, slightly more nervous than she was in the beginning. She also wished he would stop shaking her hand; it felt like her arm was barely attached to her shoulder by now. "Uh, sir…would you please…?"
"What? Oh, yes, of course dear…" He let go of her hand (none too soon, either). "…so, why don't you go and mount your broom, we'll let go of the Snitch, and see what you can do, alright?"
Erica nodded and mounted her broom. She watched intently as the only woman judge, whose name was Jacqueline, lift a small, ancient wooden trunk atop the table and unlatch it. Removing the lid, Jacqueline picked up the walnut-sized golden ball and let it go.
The Snitch flitted directly in front of Erica's face, zipping from side to side in an attempt to stay out of reach. The girl's eyes followed it as it flitted about for a few seconds. Finally the Snitch zoomed upward into the skies, but not too suddenly for Erica. The experienced Seeker expertly weaved between the goal posts, closely behind the Snitch all the way. Then, just was the Snitch was about to zip through the middle goal post, Erica swiped at the air while holding onto her broom with one hand and closed her fingers around the flying gold ball.
Ludo and the other man clapped politely as she drifted slowly to the ground. Jacqueline, however leaped to her feet with a girlish shriek of delight. "Wonderful! Ze catcheeng of ze Snitch is amazing! I LOVE eet!" she screeched in her thick French accent.
The man sitting next to her gently showed her back to her seat. "Now now, Jacqueline," he muttered. "Ve all see the girl's talent very vell, but if you could please calm down a little…."
"But Arnold! Thees girl is fantasteec! She must be on ze Quidditch team!"
Arnold rolled his eyes and managed to keep Jacqueline in her chair as she attempted to leap up again. Erica raised an eyebrow as she distractedly returned the Snitch to Bagman. She surely hoped that not anyone on the team would be anything like Jacqueline; it would be way too much of a distraction.
"Well then," Bagman said as he led Erica back through the doors. "We'll keep in touch with you and drop you a line if we want you on the team, all right?" Erica nodded. "Okay…Vincent Rolfe?"
A gangly man carrying a Nimbus2000 exited the room with Bagman and Erica returned to the change rooms to gather her things and leave. She really did hope that she would make the Quidditch team. It was a commitment that she was willing to make.
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Well, that's it for now. Hopefully I'll update soon, so keep watching for new chapters! This is my first Harry Potter fic ever, so pleez be gentle! I think that it's a nice change from writing CATS fics, and besides I'm beginning to run out of ideas anyway, so I'm trying something new. That's all I gotta say for now…
~Teazer