1
Pitch Magic
Chapter 1
He knew that it was going to rain today, but he made the decision to walk home from the practice pitch. Now as he was soaked to the bone and incredibly cold, he regretted it entirely. March was a perfectly shitty month for football, if anybody had ever thought to ask him, but indeed they hadn't.
When he had made the decision to walk, his flat had seemed a few blocks away but in torrential rain it was quite a different story. Grudgingly he trudged up the street, keeping his head down to keep the rain from his eyes. Out of nowhere a large fleshy something crashed into him.
"Oh sorry"
Harry looked up to see a rather well fed gentleman wearing an odd purple robe and to cap off the bizarre outfit he had a pointy hat on. The man looked him square in the eyes for a moment before they widened with a sense of knowing.
"Oh Lord, Your Harry Potter"
"Yeah I am, are you a fan?"
"Well of course I'm a fan, great things you've done"the man stumbled out with confusion.
"Well expect greater things to come next week against Fulham"
"What? Who?"
"We have Fulham at home next week"
"Oh" the man replied with obvious confusion.
Harry simply walked off after that, confused and a little bit freaked out. After another block of rain he had come to the simple conclusion that the man in the robes had obviously been on some sort of illegal narcotic such as marijuana or cocaine or maybe he had a few too many drinks, either way as soon as he got into his flat he locked the door behind him.
Nothing out of the ordinary happened for another week but as they took to the pitch for the match against Fulham, he looked up into the stands to see more people in the same strange outfits as the man on the street.
The site of them in the stands distracted him for most of the game, his shot was off and his technique was sloppy. Three shots went over the crossbar and another rolled straight across the empty box and out for a goal kick.
When he looked up after the final whistle he saw that the group was gone from their seats. He shook his head, fans didn't leave late in a tied game, otherwise you might miss something but everything about those people was strange, why not leave the game early.
The manager wasn't happy with the draw and ranted for a while on the importance of this game, we were tied with Liverpool for the last spot for European qualification, and they had won 2-1 over Arsenal earlier, making the next three matches, including a matchup against liverpool at Anfield, the most important matches of the season.
Harry gathered his gear from the locker and went to his car, the beautiful mercedes he had purchased with his first contract bonus with Cardiff City. As he got into the car he noticed a note on his steering wheel. "The Port of Call, one hour", He knew the place, a small rundown pub near the wharves.
He sat in the car debating whether to go or not, finally he decided to go, incase maybe this message was left by an incredibly beautiful lonely model looking for companionship but he knew who it was from, the odd people in the robes.
The drive was a short one, the wait in traffic was a different story, the post-match madness outside the stadium was in full force, he reached the pub with a few minutes to spare and observed it in silence for a moment.
He parked nearby, in case a quick exit was needed and walked to the door, inside it looked like what it was, a run down pub with a small tv and a few tables.
"Harry Potter?"
He turned quickly to see, not a beautiful lonely nympho model but instead a worn down middle aged man in the same strange apparel as the others.
"Do I know you?"
"No but you look so much like your father"
Harry was shocked, his father had died in a car accident along with his mother, leaving him with his aunt and uncle.
"How?"
"We, went to school together"
Harry was suddenly infused with a curiousness, his legal guardians refused to talk about his parents other than when telling stories about their many faults, such as their drunkenness and being prone to petty theft.
"Let's sit down"
They sat down at a table near the tv and they each ordered a pint, the man was obviously a nervous and a little uncomfortable as well.
"Who are you exactly?" Harry questioned.
"Remus Lupin"
The m"What school did you go to with my dad?"
an's grey eyes were solemn, the bags under his eyes testimonial to hard times.
"We went to prep school together, in Scotland, I met your mother there as well"
"Oh, so did you go to school with my Aunt Petunia as well"
"No, Hogwarts is a specialty school, I don't think your Aunt Petunia attended"
"Hogwarts? Thats a rather silly name for a school"
"Indeed"
They laughed at the joke and soon their pints had arrived, the talk continued over the brew.
"What kind of specialty school?"
"That'll be explained later, I'd suggest laying your head down on the table to avoid a nasty accident when you pass out.
"Wha..."
With a thud Harry's head hit the table.