Chapter 4
"Oh, and Courtney won a potion!" Brittany was telling the group how their day went.
"That's cool, are you guys ready for actual class tomorrow?" Roger asked.
"Yes!" Dallas jumped.
The electric vibe was consistent throughout the group.
"Alright. Well me and Brittany are supposed to play some sort of boardgames with the twins," Courtney and Brittany waved goodbye and left. Dallas had to go too since James was going to give her some insiders on making the team. So Caitlin, Roger, Mac and Shane started to walk back to the common room. As they were walking past the courtyard, Shane noticed a girl hanging her feet over a tower and reading a book.
"I'll catch you guys in the Common room, I have to go see something," "Are you sure you don't want us to come with you?" Caitlin asked.
"No I'm good, thanks." Shane then took a left, leaving the others by themselves.
"Darn it, we lost again!" Courtney watched as her piece on the board was put up in flames.
"You guys are really good at this game," Brittany told the twins. "Would you guys like to go on a walk?" Lysander asked the two girls. "Sure," Courtney agreed. All four of them went on a stroll through the castle. The twins took them to a large rock outside the castle that had a great view of the sunset. They talked for an hour or two until the had to get ready for dinner in the great hall.
"Do you usually read on top of large towers?" Shane asked the girl who was still dangling her feet. She turned around to see the boy walking towards her.
"Maybe, who's asking?"
"Shane Moore. Slytherin."
"I can see the tie, it kinda gives it away," she laughed.
"May I ask who you are?" Shane questioned the girl.
"Lily Potter, Gryffindor"
"The tie gives it away," Shane pointed. Lily looked at Shane not knowing whether to trust him or not. "Any way related to Albus Potter?" Shane asked Lily about his new fiend.
"I'm his younger sister, my oldest brother is James. Our dad's the chosen one but he's just dad to me," "Albus told me your dad was kinda famous."
"Well it's a long story really."
"I have time." Shane sat on the edge next to Lily, letting his feet dangle just like hers. For a brief moment, she flashed a breathtaking smile.
"Where do you think he went?" Roger was curious where Shane had gone. He, Mac and Caitlin were relaxing in the Slytherin common room.
"I don't know, you know how he his," Caitlin got up. "I'm going to try to organize some stuff before we have class."
She then left. Roger and Mac sat down and kicked their feet up on the small table in front of the fire. The warm crackling was such a relaxing tune that Roger quickly fell into a slumber. Mac eventually noticed that Roger had fallen asleep and decided to take a look at the common room library. He made his way up the pearl tinted spiral steps to the sanctuary of books. Title by title he scrolled through the novels,flipping through and previewing the ones he had interest in. He kept walking in between the shelves until he noticed one book on the top shelf that was almost falling off. He took a ladder and reached up to grab it. The book was a dark emerald color and had the texture of rippling leather. He placed it on one of the libraries tables. With the aid of a candle at Mac's side, he examined the book. There was no title but it was fairly large. Mac opened to the first page. There was a note on it that had blocked the words printed underneath. The note said "I'll show you on the bridge tonight at 11 o'clock," Then it had today's date. Mac realized someone was using this book to communicate. Mac hurriedly put the book back in its original spot when he heard footsteps coming up the stairs. He then swiftly hid underneath the table. Mac wasn't quite sure who the person was, but when they left the book Mac had placed on the shelf was gone.
"And that's the legacy of Harry Potter..."
"Wow, your dad seems like an amazing guy!" Shane exclaimed in awe.
"I'm sure you have an amazing story,"
"Me? No, I lived in the muggle world. Never in a million years could you tell me I'd be here,"
Lily countered, "Well you are here now. I can only imagine how hard it is to take all of this magic in at one time." Lily was different from any other Potter. She was very unique in her own special way. Her bright blue eyes peered into Shane's soul.
"I guess, I mean, I could be in a coma right now, wake up and still be that brown headed kid from Brooklyn."
"You coming here doesn't change who you are. If anything it gives you more of a chance to be yourself. That's what makes magic interesting I suppose, you control it. You can do anything you want with your abilities. But you're still gonna be that kid from Brooklyn."
"And what about you? Knowing about magic your whole life must leave you calm and unworried about class tomorrow." Shane questioned. "Well I guess there are two sides to it. I am absolutely terrified about tomorrow. On the other hand, I just realize I'm just trying to work out how to be myself." Lily smiled. "That's a good mind set." He responded.
"I try to stay optimistic. I know this is probably a lot of pressure but pressure makes diamonds," Lily shrugged. This made Shane break out into laughter.
A few hours passed until Mac shook Roger awake.
"What?"
"I need you to find Caitlin and Shane!" Mac said.
"Why?" Roger grumbled.
"Just focus on finding them," Mac then ran off to his room and pulled out a large piece of paper. He was sketching a map of the school. "Mac, you're scaring me man," Roger said walking into their room. "I'm sorry. I just need Caitlin and Shane here ASAP!"
Roger started to look for them. He found Caitlin in the courtyard talking to other first years from other houses.
"What's up?" She said curiously.
"I need you to follow me."
Caitlin was now a little uneasy. "Okay."
"I can't find Shane, but I did find Caitlin." Roger informed him.
"Well I'm not going to wait all day for him," Mac said not even looking up at Roger. They both stepped out of the dorm into the common room to see Caitlin with her arms crossed. "Is everything okay?" She asked. "I'm going to ask you guys to do something risky," Mac requested in a serious tone.
Chapter 5
"I just don't understand why we need to do this." Caitlin was a bit concerned that Mac had officially lost it.
"Please! Something is going to happen on that bridge tonight." Mac begged Caitlin and Roger to follow his plan.
"Hold on Mac, we could literally be expelled and we haven't even started the first day of class during our first year!" Roger exclaimed. All other Slytherins looked at Roger.
"Sorry..." Roger apologized for his noise level. Mac looked at both Caitlin and Roger, knowing they would never agree. So he switched up his tactics.
"Can you two at least cover for me here?" Mac asked. Caitlin and Roger glanced at each other. It was as if they both knew what the other was thinking.
Then they answered "Yes" simultaneously.
Dallas was back in her room reading a book titled "50 Things You Need to Know About Hogwarts". It was a novel that Dallas's mother had given to her before she left. Dallas was already on number 45 and decided that she could finish the rest tonight. She closed the velvet book and placed it back onto her shelf. She walked out into the common room to see that everyone had left. There was no noise except the low, crackling sound of the fire. She was then struck in the back of the head causing her to fall face first onto the hardwood floor, knocked out cold.
"So where are you from Becca?" Lysander asked.
"Oh my parents own a small apartment in Diagon Alley," Becca took a bite of an apple. All of the houses were in the great hall having dinner. However, Dallas, Shane and Lily were missing.
"I don't see Dallas." Courtney peered over at the table next to them.
Brittany attempted to relax her,"I'm sure she's fine Courtney."
"What if she's not?!" Courtney worried. Lysander handed Courtney a cup of some mysterious liquid. It was bright purple and had the smell of grapes.
"What is this?" Courtney questioned Lysander.
"Just drink it." Lysander pushed the glass even closer. Courtney held the glass up to her lips, only taking a small sip. Her body began to relax.
"It's Grumple Juice, a concoction to calm the nerves," Lysander explained.
"It works." Courtney took a deep breath. Brittany took Courtney's juice and had a sip of it. Becca laughed as Brittany went back for a second sip.
"It even tastes great as well"
When the Gryffindors got back to their common room they saw Dallas sprawled across a couch, bleeding from the back of her head. Fred picked her up and ran to the hospital wing while James went to find Ms. Granger.
"Somebody help!" Fred yelled as he placed Dallas in an empty bed. A nurse ran over to Fred and the poor girl. She told Fred to get 3 drops of Hypocis potion and to place it in a vile. She then turned Dallas head so she could see the gash. The Nurse quickly cast a spell to mend the skin back together. Then she took the potion from Fred and poured it on the wound. A sizzling sound was heard followed by a little blue light that faded into the skin. The nurse then tried searching for a pulse.
The sunset faded into a dark black sky. The stars were glowing bright like diamonds as the full moon lit the pathways of Hogwarts. Mac, Caitlin and Roger were reviewing the plan one last time.
"If I'm not back by 12, I'm dead or kidnapped. I will try my best to get back in time," Mac grabbed his wand.
"What do we say when they ask where you are?" Caitlin questioned Mac.
"You'll think of something. I trust you two," Mac then opened the hidden door and ran out. Roger shut it tight as quickly as he could.
Courtney and Becca were the only ones left in the Ravenclaw common room. Everyone else had gone to sleep while they were wide awake. Becca was reading a book on unicorns while Courtney was staring blankly out a window. A few minutes passed until she noticed two figures sitting on top of one of the nearby towers.
"Is that Shane?" She thought to herself. Once she got a sure glance she could tell for sure it was her Slytherin friend.
"What is he doing?" Courtney whispered quietly to herself. The curiosity was going to kill her.
"I have to see what he is doing, I'll be right back," Courtney told Becca.
"No no no no, You can't just leave. Curfew was an hour ago," Becca tried to stop Courtney.
"I'll be right back. This is our little secret,okay?" Courtney tried to calm Becca down. She nodded as Courtney walked out. Becca was very nervous. She's not very good at lying. She started to shake a little as she picked up her book and tried to keep reading.
"Go over that one. One more time," Shane kindly asked Lily.
"Okay, you point. Don't start with your wand out. You have to fling it in a straight line and yell, 'stupefy'."Lily was teaching Shane a few spells before tomorrow. Shane faced the open area of the tower while Lily watched far behind him.
"Stupefy!" A blast of light came from Shane's wand into the air.
"Oh my gosh! It worked!" Shane was amazed.
"Now try it on me" Lily stood 5 yards in front of Shane.
"What?" The boy was confused.
"You heard me. 'Stupefy' me" Lily confidently demanded.
"Listen,I just met you...I just can't-"
"Just do it," Lily interrupted. Shane took a deep breath and gave a little prayer that he wasn't going to hurt this girl.
"Stupefy!" Shane yelled. The blast came hurling at Lily.
"Protego" Lily waved her wand across her body creating a blue shield that blocked Shane's spell.
"Wow!" Shane was beyond impressed. Lily skipped her way back to Shane. He clapped as she walked closer.
"You could kick my butt in a duel" Shane placed his wand back in a little holster in his belt.
"You should see when I go up against Albus! It gets ugly." Lily laughed. She then turned to look at the sky but instead saw a boy running through the corridors.
"Do you see this?" Lily moved out of the way so Shane could see. At first he couldn't tell what Lily was talking about, but then he saw that the boy was Mac.
"You should go back to your House" Shane told Lily.
"Why?" Lily knew something was wrong.
"I have to go" Shane gave Lily one final smile then ran down the tower stairs.
Courtney saw Shane run out of the base of the tower.
"Shane!" Courtney exclaimed as loud as she could without making too much noise. The boy halted and ran in her direction.
"What are you doing out here?"
"Do not worry about me. We have to find Mac. He went this way!" Shane began to sprint again, but Courtney was right behind.
Roger and Caitlin were playing a game of checkers in the common room. Caitlin had won the past four times and had grown tired of the game. They were the only two in the common room with only the light of a fire. Caitlin looked up at the large window to see mermaids gliding across the glass trying to get her attention. She eagerly ran to the glass. This mermaid was a magnificent specimen with a silver tail and bright blue hair that shimmered. The creature put their hand up against the wind spreading its webbed fingers out. Caitlin placed her hand in the same spot on the glass. The mermaid tilted her head to examine Caitlin. She looked up and down, then into her eyes.
"Caitlin, someone is coming" Roger startled the mermaid, making it swim away. Caitlin and Roger had to think of something couldn't really hide in time so Caitlin created an idea.
Caitlin grabbed Roger and pulled him in for a kiss. Whoever it was that was walking into the room immediately turned around and left. Caitlin pulled away and stared back into the glass as if nothing had happened. While Roger was frozen in the same position with his eyes shut.
"What are you doing?" Caitlin asked Roger with her eyebrow raised. He opened his eyes and tried to play it off cool.
"Nothing."
Courtney and Shane were trying to catch up to Mac, but he was moving too fast. Once Mac got to the bridge, he saw two cloaked figures standing in the middle of it. He had to find a better way to listen to the conversation they were having. So he hopped onto the roof. Each step he took with ease and precision, making sure he didn't slip and fall to his death.
"He's angry." Courtney whispered but before she knew it Shane was climbing on to the roof as well. She shook her head then started to climb. Shane pulled her up, and they both made their way toward Mac. Once Mac was directly over the unknown people, he put his ear down to get a closer listen.
"Did you find it?"
"It's harder than you think"
"You fool, Master will not be pleased"
"It's too small to find. Not to mention that the other half of one is in the lake somewhere"
"Shhhhh, we are not alone" The figures vaporized and reappeared on the roof in front of Mac.
"MAC, RUN!" Shane screamed. Mac jolted up to see the figures were wearing dismembered masks that had been sewed together. Mac ran as fast as he could to Shane and Courtney. One of the masked men threw a blast of fire at Mac causing his body to fall off of the bridge, but Courtney had caught him in just enough time. Shane went to help Courtney but one of the men had teleported to him. The man grabbed Shane by the collar and lifted him into the air.
"Don't let go!" Mac's yell echoed.
"Wasn't planning on it!" Courtney screamed back.
The man held Shane over the edge of the bridge. Shane struggled gain control, but the man was too strong. Courtney reached into her pocket and pulled out her potion of luck and had a quick swig. She pulled Mac back onto the roof. Shane managed to get a punch on his attacker causing him to fall back. Mac grabbed Shane while Courtney kicked the mysterious man. They managed to run fast enough to get off of the roof before the attackers could get another spell on men did, however, teleport to the children in front of the doors of Hogwarts.
"You kids are going to die!" The shorter man yelled. Shane,Mac and Courtney had their wands at the ready.
"So um, do you two know any spells?" Mac asked. Courtney tossed the rest of the potion at Mac who took a sip. Then he tossed it to Shane who had a bit as well.
"You really think a silly potion will help you get out alive?" The evil doers took their wands and pointed it at the children. One shot a bolt of lightning at Mac, but Mac successfully dodged it.
"Stupefy!" Shane swung his wand in the direction of the man that had tried to hit Mac. It landed causing the cloak figure to fall onto the ground stunned. But Shane had no time to celebrate
"Stupefy!" The last Figure hurled the stunning spell Shane had just used back at him.
"Protego" Shane blocked the attack with his wand. There was a long pause as Shane stared blankly into the mask.
"Shane! That was a nice trick and all but do you know any other spell to ya know... hurt this guy?" Mac asked.
"No."
"Where's Courtney?" Mac noticed she was missing. Then the mysterious man fell to the ground. Behind him was Courtney with a torch. She had managed to knock him out.
"Well done" Mac applauded Courtney.
Shane and Mac dropped Courtney off at Ravenclaw tower, and manage to sneak back into the dungeons.
Chapter 6
Mac didn't get much sleep that night. He kept tossing and turning. The mysterious men's words constantly going through his head. Who was their master? Who were they?
"Mac!" Roger shouted.
Mac woke up in a haze. It was the first day of classes, and he was running on 2 hours of sleep. Shane slipped on his black pants and white button up shirt. He then took his tie and wrapped it around his collar.
"We have to wear the robes, right?" Shane asked Roger.
"Yes. During class you must wear the robes," Roger threw Shane and Mac their robes. Mac was still moving like molasses in winter so Shane went to find Albus.
"Do you have a potion or something to help us wake up Mac?" Shane didn't want to see Mac get in trouble in his classes for sleeping. Albus found some water and boiled it. Than he placed some brown powder in the pot. He stirred for a minute then put it in a mug. They walked back to Mac who was slowly tying his tie. Albus gave him the cup which Mac started to gulp down.
"Not too fast" Albus told Mac.
"What is it?" Roger was curious of the mixture Albus had made.
"Coffee," he answered.
After breakfast it was time for class. Brittany, Dallas, and Caitlin had Professor Burke for Wizard literature. Brittany and Caitlin did notice that Dallas was missing though. Mr. Burke slammed large textbooks onto each table.
"In this class we will be studying writings and excerpts throughout history. If you all behave, we can end the year with a unit on muggle literature. Let's open to page 4 and start with 'The Red Bird'". Caitlin and Brittany realized that this class was going to be a total bore.
The other 4 had Potions with Ms. Brown first period of the day. She handed each student a book and asked each of them to grab a partner. Shane sat down next to Roger. While Courtney and Mac sat next to each other. Ms. Brown went over the things that will be covered in this class and how it would help in the future. As she was talking Shane and Roger were whispering about last night.
"Caitlin kissed me last night!" Roger was still shocked about what happened in the common room.
"She just did it randomly?"
"Well, no she did it because someone was coming" Roger backtracked. Shane laughed and shook his head.
"She didn't want to kiss you. It was something she had to do" Shane explained.
"But how do you know that?" Roger asked. Shane laughed even harder. Too loud in fact, because Ms. Brown yelled at them.
Classes felt so long as if they would never end. Shane ran into Lily in the hallway, almost passing her.
"Hey"
"Dallas is in the hospital wing" Lily quickly told Shane.
"What? Why?"
"I have to get to class. I'll see you on the tower at lunch"
"Okay."
Each of the friends excelled in different areas of magic. Caitlin was a master of potions; while, Brittany answered most the questions in Literature. Mac was advanced in History, and Roger was the first to successfully perform Transfiguration spells. Shane and Courtney loved Defense Against the Dark Arts.
At lunch, Shane was perched on top of the tower, waiting for Lily. She arrived shortly after, a bit winded.
"So how is she?" He frantically asked.
"She's okay now. She'll be back in class by tomorrow" Lily relieved him.
"Can we see her?" Shane asked.
"No, only members of her house can. I don't make the rules. They said that she had been struck in the head with a hard edge of something"
"So you're telling me a person did this?!" Shane was now getting angry.
"Yes but-" Lily grabbed Shane's wrist before he hit a wall.
"She's okay, Shane." He ripped his hand out of Lily's grasp.
"I bet it has to do with the men from last night..." Shane wondered. He looked down and started walking in circles. He pointed in the, something had clicked in his head. ****what?
"Do you have paper?" He asked Lily.
"Sure."
She pulled out a piece of paper from her notebook. Shane took a quill and started writing directions down. It was as if the writing utensil had a mind of its own. A minute or two later, he handed her the paper.
"Don't read this until you are next to Dallas," Shane ordered.
Lily quickly slid the piece of paper into her bag. Shane then exited the tower rushing back to class. He broke the news to the rest of them, spreading like wildfire. What Gryffindor would do such a thing?
Caitlin was relieved to hear the final bell. She grabbed all her books and made her way back to the Slytherin house. Caitlin saw Shane walking on the library balcony, so she placed her books down in her room and walked back to the common room. She made her way to the library where Shane was now sitting down at a table, watching a screen. On the screen was Dallas talking to Lily.
"Dallas, do you recall anything from last night?" Lily asked sitting down next to her roommate.
"No, I'm sorry Lily" Dallas answered. Lily looked down to think. She then looked back up at the injured girl.
"What's the last thing you remember?" Lily said slowly.
"I was... I remember a book from last night!" Dallas celebrated. She could only remember the book,but it was something.
"Do you remember what this book looked like?"
"Green, no, blue. I could see it out of the corner of my eye. I'm sorry Lily. It was one of the two. I wish I could give you more information," Dallas's facial expression melted back into a frown.
"That's more than enough. Thank you, Dallas." Lily gave her a reassuring smile. Shane turned the screen off.
"That's definitely not enough information." Caitlin said as she took a seat across the table from Shane.
"You're right, but it's better than nothing." Shane told Caitlin.
She then saw something on a bookshelf. She went up and grabbed a book and pushed it back onto the shelf. It was hanging down and distracting Caitlin.
"What did you just do?" Shane asked.
"I just pushed a book in" Caitlin didn't know what Shane's fuss was about. The boy shot up and pulled the novel out slamming it onto the table. Caitlin was a bit stunned.
"Why do you need this book?" Caitlin tapped Shane on the shoulder. Roger then walked up the stairs.
"Where's Mac?!" Shane shouted.
"Sleeping... what's wrong?" Roger saw the crazy look Shane had in his eyes.
"Let him sleep. He needs it."
Shane turned his attention back to the book. He ran his fingers across the rippling green cover.
"What is it?" Caitlin examined it.
"It's the book! Mac said that it's what caused the mess last night!"
"I don't recall him saying that, Shane," Roger raised his eyebrows.
"He talked about it in his sleep. I don't see how you could've slept last night."
Shane read the sentence from the first page out loud:
"If you get involved in this, you will die."
"What does that mean?" Roger asked.
"They wanted us to grab this book!" Shane quickly hurled the book back at the wall.
Chapter 7
The group had just unwillingly entered a war. The friends were now faced with two different dilemmas. Ignore the problem and have the possibility of safety or take action to result in possible justice for Dallas. The next day at noon Lily met all of the group on the tower where she and Shane had their meetings.
"Did you do it?" Shane asked Lily.
"It wasn't easy, but I got it while the nurse wasn't looking," Lily pulled out a photo of Dallas's cut in her head. The nurse was required to take photos of wounds before she fixed them. Shane told Lily how to steal one on the piece of paper he had written to her. Lily handed the photo to Brittany who shook her head.
"How could someone do this to another person?" Brittany then handed it to Courtney. Mac grabbed the book out of Shane's hand.
Then he took the photo, and compared the book to the photo.
"You see it too?" Shane could see Mac's wheels turning in his head.
"It's all connected," Mac mumbled in shock. Shane pointed at a corner of the book. Mac looked there and jumped.
"Oh my gosh! This corner had blood on it!" Mac finally put it together. The corner Shane had pointed to was a brighter green than the rest of the book.
"There's no blood stain there." Roger was confused about what was so exciting.
"There was obviously blood there." Mac pushed the book closer to Roger's face.
"There's no spell to take blood out of something," Roger wasn't trying to be rude. He just thought Shane and Mac had gone crazy.
"I get it!" Brittany shouted in understanding. "There was no magic performed on the cover of that book. In the human world, we have this solution called bleach and it's very chemically based. In fact it's so strong it can absorb the color of an item it's being used on."
"Someone didn't want us tracking the magic." Caitlin took a look at the book.
"So this was the weapon used on Dallas. Have any of you actually read the book?" Caitlin sifted through the pages. She saw that past the first page was a story.
"A story?" Courtney ran up behind her sister.
"My gosh, she's right!" Courtney was astonished.
"We don't have enough time to read it right now; we have to get back to class. We have to decide whether or not if we want to go deeper into this mystery, cause if we do, the outcome could end up being far worse than a cut on the back of the head." Roger looked around the group for an answer. Lily put her hand out in the middle of the group. it was then followed by Mac and Shane's hands. Caitlin, Courtney, and Roger's hands went to the center, quickly behind. Brittany looked at the stack of hands, pondering if they were doing the right thing.
"You guys saw what they did to Dallas. What if we bring her more harm? What if she doesn't recover next time?" Brittany cried out. Then another hand joined the circle, but it wasn't Brittany's.
"Don't worry about me. Let's catch these jerks." Dallas had randomly appeared with a white bandage on the back of her head. Brittany immediately placed her hand on top of the hands once she saw Dallas.
" 'Team' on three?" Caitlin wasn't sure what to do. She counted to three and they all simultaneously shouted "Team!".
After dinner Lily helped Dallas back to their house. Everyone clapped as she walked past her fellow housemates and into their room. Lily locked the door behind them for security. Once Dallas was resting comfortably, Lily took off her satchel and threw it on her bed. She dug through it and eventually pulled out the green book. Lily handed it to Dallas.
"The group decided you should read it first, since it was in your head already" Lily laughed. Dallas smiled and opened to page one.
You may wonder what would happen next for this mystery, But in all actuality, things became calm. Dallas just realized the book that caused so much drama was just a copy of Alice in Wonderland. As the year went on the curriculum started getting harder. There was no further evidence for them to track the goons that had attacked Dallas.
A month had passed before it was time for Quidditch tryouts for all the houses. Gryffindor only had one spot open and it was for seeker. The goal of the Seeker is to catch the Golden Snitch. They play a crucial role in Quidditch, as a game does not end until the Seeker catches the Snitch. A team whose Seeker catches the Snitch receives 150 points, which almost always wins the match for that team. Dallas's wound had finally healed and she had her eye on the seeker position. In practice laps,she finished first. This definitely caught the captain's attention. There were 6 people going for the spot, but in each and every race, drill, and practice game, Dallas was the fastest. Lily sat in the stands and cheered her roommate on as Dallas caught the snitch in the final mock-game.
"Thank you all for trying out. There will be a list in the common room tomorrow morning to tell you who has the seeker position. We will also choose two alternates in case the seeker cannot play." Fred dismissed the Gryffindor Quidditch team and the hopefuls.
Courtney stepped onto the pitch smelling the freshly cut grass. She had a quick moment to close her eyes and get rid of her nerves. Brittany stood in the stands with a giant 'GO COURTNEY' sign. There were only 2 spots open: one for a beater and one for keeper. There are two Beaters on every Quidditch team, and they are the only players on the pitch who have bats. Their job is to keep the Bludgers away from their team and at the same time try to aim the Bludgers towards the opposite team. There is one Keeper per team, and it is their job to guard the three goal posts attempting to stop the other team's Chasers from scoring. Courtney was going to go for the keeper position.
"Alright Courtney, You're up!" One of the captains yelled in an assertive tone.
CfCourtney lifted up onto the broomstick and glided in front of the three goals. A member of the team swooped across the pitch had zoomed in on one of the goals. Courtney blocked the ball with ease, watching as her new attacker came closer. The player launched the quaffle at the lower post. Courtney swung down and kicked it out of the way. Almost out of no where, another ball flew from the sky and struck Courtney in the chest. It knocked her so hard that she fell off her broom and fell toward the ground at a fast rate. Before she hit the ground meeting her untimely demise, Lorcan had swung by and caught her by the hand. He slowly placed her onto the ground and then grabbed her broom stick from the air.
"Nasty fall," Lorcan hopped off of his broom.
"Nice catch" Courtney was taking deep breaths to recover from the adrenaline rush.
"Great job defending, by the way," Lorcan complimented Courtney.
She raised her eyebrow in confusion.
"The last one knocked me off"
"-but it didn't go in" Lorcan made a valid point.
"Are you going for the beater position?" Courtney asked.
"No, they always say every year that no spot is guaranteed except for the captain's. So I'm going for one of the chaser spots."
"You're definitely fast enough" Courtney laughed.
Lysander took a seat next to Brittany and her giant sign.
"Good thing your brother was there to save her!" Brittany was still a little shocked.
"Yeah, he's quick like that." Lysander grabbed the sign and started to wave it around for Brittany and her tired arms.
The Ravenclaws ended tryouts with a trial game. Courtney hadn't missed a block yet and her team's seeker was fingertips away from the snitch. Courtney saw Lorcan, who was on the other team, heading straight at her with the quaffle. She thought of every possible move Lorcan could possibly make. He bolted left so Courtney shadowed his movement. Lorcan saw an opening to the right so he threw the quaffle. Courtney pulled her broom back to try and stop the ball. This caused her to flip backwards and barely miss the ball. Courtney's team seeker eventually caught the snitch causing them to win the game, yet she was still mad about missing Lorcan's shot. They had to clear the field immediately so Hufflepuff could have their tryouts. Lorcan and Courtney hopped off their brooms and walked out of the arena together, catching up with Brittany and Lysander.
After the Hufflepuff tryouts, the sun had finally set and the moon had risen. The lights around the arena were turned on, causing the field to glow. Albus and Scorpius led Shane, Caitlin and Roger onto the field. The Slytherins liked to do their tryouts during night time; they believed it provided more of a challenge. Brittany, Courtney, Mac, Lily, and the twins sat and watched. The tryouts went well for the three of them. Roger and Caitlin were the best chasers the house has had in a while. Shane had an eye for the snitch and was great at seeking.
The morning the Gryffindor postings for the Quidditch were posted on the board by the fire. Dallas scanned for her named
Seeker...Dallas Kirkland
"Yes!" Dallas leaped for joy.
Courtney was nervous to look at the list when she awoke. She woke up Brittany who tried to calm her down and held onto her shaking hand as they walked into the Ravenclaw common room. Lysander and Lorcan were talking to Becca by the fire place. Courtney wanted to ask them if she had made the list, but she knew she had to see it herself. Brittany walked her over to the large parchment in front of a very large white bookcase. Courtney saw her name at the bottom of the list.
Keeper...Courtney Cartwright
Albus gave Shane and Roger the good news that they had made the team in the morning. Sophia, one of Albus's best friends told Caitlin she had made it. For once, things were peaceful.