Chapter 2

"Penderghast, Willow!"

It was the second time she'd called me when I finally understood that it was my name she'd said. After a clearing of my throat and a high pitched "yes!" for reply, I began the long journey toward the stool. Quite desperately I argued with reality that no one was looking at me. When I sat down and turned to face the crowd I could no longer argue. Reality had won and all eyes were on me.

I remember feeling like everyone cared so much. Cared who I was and if I was going to be a Gryffindor like my brothers were or a Slytherin like… no one I knew really, but I hadn't missed the stereotypes people perpetuated. Later in life I would realise they weren't just stereotypes, but misconceptions as well, I would also come to find out that, contrary to my 11 year old self's belief, no one cared. No one cared who that little kid up there was, and they didn't give a damn if I was a Gryffindor like my brothers were, nor would my brothers themselves. The only thing they cared about was how many kids were left until they could get some well-deserved food after a long train journey through England. I was only a number to them.

When the hat called out, "Hufflepuff!" and everyone clapped on demand, the Hufflepuff table cheering, I felt sort of numb. My whole world had just tumbled over and the only thing I could do was try not to think of what this would mean. The house I was sorted into did after all decipher who was going to be my family for the next seven years, who I was going to go to classes with and spend most of my time with; who I was going to play Quidditch with, and against. Saying it's a big deal was fair indeed.

It's not that I didn't like Hufflepuff. I had just never considered the possibility that I would be one. When I think back to it, it seems kind of silly. I had thought of the possibility of me being in every house, every house — except for Hufflepuff house. How had I not considered that a possibility? How had I not even thought the thought?

Graham broke me from my daydream with a poke in my side. My mind flew back to the current place I was in, the potions classroom. The rain was coming down with force on the window beside me. "He's been eyeing you for a while now. Better stay alert, it's only a matter of time before he makes a scene." He whispered, keeping his eyes pointed forwards to be discrete.

"Thanks." I whispered back. Snape, whom he was talking about, would gladly take any arising opportunity to make a scene, and one better not be the one who gives it to him.

Keeping my head mostly faced forward I glanced at Graham next to me. My thoughts returned to where they'd previously been. Another thing I had come to realise later in life was that I had been wrong about one other thing, one's house doesn't decipher whom one spends their time with, I had made sure to not let it. When I, seven years later, think of my friends, they're not all strictly Hufflepuff, not nearly. My conclusion is that my eleven-year-old self was close-minded, and that I like my 17-year-old self much better. Smiling, I focused back on what Snape was saying in the front of the class. Our eyes met and he probably wondered why I looked so happy in the middle of his boring speech.

"Alright, give me a word!" Said Bianca. She put some food into her mouth and clapped her hands together, leaning back a bit so that we could study her. She watched us with expectant eyes.

"Hmm." I uttered while I tried to concentrate, it was hard, being as on edge as I currently was. Although the game helped, which was probably why Bianca had suggested it. She usually suggested mini-games while we had lunch, but today I could sense that no one was really feeling it. Bianca had pushed on though and I guessed it was for my sake, to take my mind off the try-outs.

"Frabjous." Came PJ with.

I raised my eyebrows. "Frabjous? Really?" I sputtered at her. She had a pleased gleam in her eyes. "That's the PJ vocabulary for you." I turned to Bianca, who looked unhappy with the word having been handed to her. PJ's vocabulary took us all of guard sometimes. Her short name had been handed to her in juxtaposition to her personality. It was the initials of her name: Polly Jansson. The thing about PJ was that she was intelligent, just not pretentious, she never flaunted it on purpose and she would never just assume someone didn't know something. Having said that, she was wearing a big smirk at the moment.

"How am I supposed to even know if that describes me?" Bianca complained and picked at her food without tasting it. "Stop reading." She ordered PJ.

"Why?" PJ laughed.

"Because then I won't be put me in situations like these were I don't know what you think of me."

"You know I would certainly never say anything cruel about you Bianca, especially not to you." She smiled.

"Tell me what it means then." Bianca replied.

"Why don't you look it up?"

Bianca opened her mouth then closed it. "Why don't you tell me?" She finally said.

"Independent." Said Wright. PJ had been about to reply when Wright had put an abrupt stop to their heated discussion with her own contribution. She smiled proudly at having had this effect on them and I grinned back at her. She flicked her hair and waited for Bianca's reply, which came quickly.

"Independent?" I could see her thinking this over. "Yeah, I can roll with that. Who wouldn't want that word to define them?" She asked herself more than anyone else.

"Penderghast." Came Oliver's voice from behind me, interrupting our game. I turned around and gave him a quick smile before I remembered that I had declared us enemies yesterday. Eh, who cares, I was never going to keep that charade up anyway, I thought. "Oliver." I greeted him. "Aren't you banned from the Hufflepuff table? I mean we are enemies apparently." I said passive aggressively.

"We're not close enough for you to call me by my first name." He declared flatly before replying to my question. "I came over to wish you luck. The weather is ghastly and I thought you might need some encouragement." But there wasn't much encouragement in his tone; neither was it mocking, so I couldn't really decipher what he actually wanted.

"Thanks Oliver, but if you want us to be rivals, how come you're wishing me luck?" The question came out of me sounding surprisingly genuine; I just didn't understand his intentions.

"Isn't there such a thing as civilized rivalry?" He broke into a small smile and I had to force one back. We were holding each other's gazes when I began to feel the presence of someone else.

"Having a chat between captains without me?" Said a burly voice.

Oh no, I thought, did Flint have to join the conversation?

The slight chance of this meeting ending well was out the window. "Flint." Oliver and I greeted him with at once, switching to our formal voices. I spared a quick glance over to the Ravenclaw table where I found the person I had been searching for: Roger Davies, the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain and the only one missing from our gathering. He had noticed us, and was looking right back at me, although my guess is he was smart enough not to join us. Truth be told, if I could've left, I would've, although I couldn't precisely leave my food and my friends.

"Oh, right. I haven't been able to properly congratulate you on joining the big boys." Flint began. I didn't like where this was going, and I especially didn't like the use of the term 'big boys'. As if I was some less worthy individual who had for some reason been handed the great privilege of being in this position alongside him and Oliver and Davies.

"Can't say I wasn't surprised at first. But then I came to my senses. It is the Hufflepuff team you're captain of, after all." He stopped to let out a small laugh. "Who cares anyway?" He looked at Oliver with a big grin at his face, as if he expected him to laugh with him. But Oliver only looked searchingly at him. He was studying Flint with the same expression Bianca typically wore at Quidditch matches: utter incomprehension.

"Okay." Was all I nonchalantly replied with and I looked Flint straight in the eye while I said it, my face void of feeling.

"What do you mean okay?" He asked confusedly.

I paused, as if not quite understanding why he would ask that question. It was all an act though. "Okay, I hear what you're saying." I then turned around and faced my friends who had been quiet during the entire interaction. I directed my attention toward my food while I heard them disperse behind me.

I let out a breath.

His words had felt like a punch to the stomach and I had to keep telling myself he doesn't matter, he doesn't matter. In a little while, I would start believing the words and the feeling would go away. This sort of thing had happened before and I knew how to handle it. The worst thing he'd done was how he had tried to make Oliver take his side. The way he'd smiled at Oliver flashed into my memory again. He and Oliver were usually archenemies, that sort of thing. But now that "the girl" had tried to join "the big boys" he felt that they needed to become a team and make her the outcast. But I wasn't having it. I felt relieved Oliver hadn't taken that bait. In fact, I may have even been able to spot a small smile playing at his lips when I had nonchalantly turned away from them.

"Damn. That was awesome." Bianca said in that odd way British people say awesome. I smiled.

"So Wood is a strange bloke." Wright steered the conversation.

"Yeah." I said, defeated. "I don't understand where we stand, really. He wants us to be rivals, but I can't be bothered to be. Although every time we do talk, it's like he brings it out of me, I feel the rivalry."

"I mean…" Wright said, with a pondering expression. "He doesn't seem to be going over to any of the other captains and wishing them good luck."

"What's your point, Wright?" I asked in an impatient sort of way.

She searched my face before she answered. "Just doesn't seem like a thing an enemy would do is all." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and turned to look over at where Oliver was sitting.

Looking at my wristwatch, I saw that I needed to leave for the try-outs. "Got to go." I said and stood up, not needing to tell them where I was going as two thirds of them were going with me anyway. I noticed that me standing up caused others alongside the Hufflepuff table to rise and gather their things as well, which was an abnormal cultivation that had started ever since I got back for my seventh year with the captain title attached to my name, one I had not gotten used to quite yet.

"Already?" Wright asked as she and PJ stood up as well.

"You always underestimate the time it takes to get down to the pitch. It's a big castle, you know. Perhaps it's slipped your notice." I said sarcastically.

"You haven't given me a word yet Willow!" Bianca said anxiously.

"Colourful." I announced after a moment's thought. I grabbed my bag and chucked an extra sandwich in there to have for later. It was always too long between lunch and dinner at Hogwarts.

"Colourful?" She said dismissively while I packed my bag. "Describe me in one word I tell you, and you go with colourful? That's the least descriptive word I've ever heard of!"

I shrugged. PJ took a swig of her water and gave Wright and me a look that said: "Ready to leave?"

We said goodbye to Bianca and headed down to the pitch. In situations like these, I always sort of felt sorry for Bianca who didn't have the same Quidditch interest as us. We had all three joined the Hufflepuff Quidditch team in our second year, it was quite extraordinary actually, seeing as most second years don't make it into Quidditch at Hogwarts at that age. Bianca however, had never even been interested in sitting on a broom, and boy had I tried to convince her to try it, but she was stubborn.

That was always Bianca. She went her own way. She was the most confident person I'd ever met. People called her "bossy" behind her back, and she knew, but that was the thing: she didn't care.

I had to admit it; I had been just as reluctant to her confidence at first as everyone else. But I eventually realised that her confidence was amazing. Confidence is one of those things that are often mistaken for arrogance. It's way too often dismissed when it should be applauded.

My nerves took over as we were walking through the dark and dimly lit corridor. It was lunchtime during September yet the weather conditions caused a lack of light. I observed PJ and Wright as they were mocking about in the corridor, doing impressions of various creatures.

"This is a grindylow!" PJ said gleefully, and her bag flapped against her legs as she wildly made the impression. They were walking slightly ahead of me. They knew to give me space given how nervous I seemed. I couldn't help but feel envious of their carefreeness. To them, this was yet another year of Quidditch try-outs, not a big deal, just the same as they did every year. To me however, I now had to take on the responsibility of telling everyone what to do, and they were supposed to listen to me and I would have to try and earn their respect. Maybe I would get loads of cocky little third years that would question everything I said. (It was common knowledge at Hogwarts that third years were the worst.)

None of my nightmares came true though. I mean, there was some complaining on the weather conditions, but I wasn't going to cancel my try-outs because of rain. No way. It was only weather after all. I didn't even regret it afterward when I was back in the locker-room with the team I had gathered to go through the schedule for the season and my fingers were so cold that Cedric had to help me get the feeling back in my fingers using a heat spell.

"All right guys." I began once I'd warmed my hands enough. I clasped them together, feeling the warmth radiating inside my veins from the spell.

"There isn't much to say, really. Just… welcome to the team! I try and always book the practises for Tuesdays and Thursdays. I will always tell you when there's practise, never assume that there is a practise and never assume there isn't a practise… And always tell me as soon as you can if you can't make it to one as I have to plan what we are going to do every practise. That's pretty much it!" I smiled at them and made my exit into the girl's locker-room, leaving them confused at my conciseness, but I didn't care, I was longing for a hot shower.

As I let the hot water pour down on my hair and shoulders, slowly swaying, I felt relieved, I had managed to get a team that was, not only a good team, (which should be the main priority I guess,) but they were a team of my friends. Which gave me hope that maybe this Quidditch year wouldn't just be about strategy but also about having fun all the while.

PJ and Wright had made the team on their usual positions. This was an advantage for two reasons: First of all, having to turn down my friends for the Quidditch positions they'd had had for five years would have been awkward and not a conversation I'd like to have. Second of all, having played Quidditch together for as long as we had meant that we were synchronised on the pitch, we knew each other's plays.

PJ was our keeper and Wright was our beater. One of the few female beaters, but she had the muscle and the talent for it. The other beater was Jason Caulfield who I hoped wouldn't clash with Wright seeing as she liked things a certain way, as last year's beater and her had not worked well together and it had caused countless long lasting arguments on the field.

Peter Griffith was whom I had picked for one of the chasers. He, like me, enjoyed having a laugh. Our previous captain hadn't let him on the team, which I thought was a big mistake. So it felt good to be able to redeem her mistake.

Hamish Edinger had made our second chaser. He had been late to the try-outs, but whatever. Better late than never. I was beyond happy when he'd showed up, and even happier when I saw that he could fly really well. He was this cute, skinny little fourth year that some people made fun of, but he was so good. I love an underdog.

Then we had Cedric Diggory as seeker. I could go on and on about Cedric. I really liked Cedric. I sort of looked up to him. He was the talented Hufflepuff seeker, a prefect. He was in the top of his classes and an all around nice person who treated everyone equally. Always did the right thing and was as loyal as they came. He was just simply an emblem for Hufflepuff house, represented the best of us.

Lastly we had me as our third chaser. The captain. The title had begun to fit.

6 September 2018