Entry for "Defense Against the Dark Arts" at "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Challenges and Assignments)"
Task: This jinx literally knocks back an opponent or an object. Write about a character which has failed to cross the hurdle or obstacle in their life, goals, or dreams. The character must experience being setback in their plans. Min 300 words.
Entry for the "Chocolate Frog Card Club" at "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Challenges and Assignments)"
(Bonus!) James Sirius Potter; Challenge: Write about James Sirius Potter.
James could not believe it. Staring blankly at the list that had been pinned to the Notice Board of the Gryffindor common room only moments ago, he felt something like a kick into his gut.
His dream, the one his parents had supported so much, had, for now, received a setback.
Ever since he had been old enough to mount a toy broom, or at least since he had been able to understand what Quidditch was, he had dreamed of becoming a professional player, like his mother. He wanted to be as successful as she had been, playing for the best teams in the British League, and also as quick and talented as his father. Really, everyone had believed that he kind of was destined to have it in his blood, being the son of the youngest seeker in over a century and one of the most successful players of the Holyhead Harpies.
James himself had never really doubted that he would not be able to pursue his dream. During his first year at Hogwarts he had been very eager to show during the Flying Class that he was already an experienced flier, and he had hardly been able to wait until his second year in which he would "finally" be eligible for the Quidditch Team of his house.
Together with his father, he had already planned everything out, had dreamed around a lot, imagining himself becoming even better than his parents and therefore filling the big footsteps the name Potter seemed to bring with it.
Whenever he had a free minute, he would train to make his plan even more possible – in his second year, he wanted to be on the team as a seeker, win the Quidditch Cup of Hogwarts at least once during the following five years, and also become the team captain, of course. Because of his hard work, the professional Quidditch teams, always on the hunt for new talents during the school games, would discover him and after graduating, he would turn professional.
His grandmother Molly would always smile and call him her ambitious little boy when he babbled about his dream or took her and his grandfather Arthur outside to show them his newest trick. It was as if she did not fully believe it would go as planned, but she did not wanted to discourage him by telling him what she really thought.
No, Molly would only smile and show him that she was proud of him. She did even sent him a postcard wishing him good luck on the evening before the try-outs, soothing his nervous mind a little bit.
He had been extremely motivated during the try-outs, he had given his best, trying to impress the team captain with the skills he had practiced with his parents so much... James really had had a good feeling about his performance on that slightly foggy Saturday morning, sure that he had done well.
But still, it obviously had not been enough.
There, on the list that showed this years team formation of Gryffindor, he was only listed as the second alternate for the seeker's post.
It felt like something had been taken away from him, even though he should remember that he had never had a guarantee to be on the team. But still, he could not help himself but feel like he had been robbed.
To him, everything had just been clear, he had seen it in front of him, he had seen himself being on the team...
Of course there still was enough time to get on the team, it was re-selected every year and he was only in his second year here at Hogwarts, he still had some time to develop his skills, and there even had been cases where the coaches of the professional teames had been watching the try-outs to find their talents there and in the end had choosen a student who had never played on her house team...
His parents would tell him this too, for sure, but this knowledge simply could not change the fact that it felt like the carefully built dream castle of his' was shaking dangerously.
Maybe this was because whenever one has a dream, he wants to have it fulfilled as soon as possible, and when the first step towards it does not happen immediately, it feels like a huge step backwards.
Patience is the answer.