Chapter 3- Your in!
Harry was lounging on his couch as he flicked through a Quidditch magazine what had come with his morning post. Even though he was doing another sport on a broomstick. He still liked to keep up to date with the sport he started out in.
Harry then heard the fire place flair into life and Ron stepped out with a slight frown on his usually jubilant face nowadays.
"Hi" greeted Ron who looked a little apprehensive as he stared down at Harry.
"Morning" answered Harry, without looking up from his magazine.
"Listen, about what happened the other day at the Burrow, the thing is.." he never got to finish as that is where Harry looked up from the magazine and interrupted him.
"Forget it. Water under the bridge" interrupted Harry who got up from the couch and started to make his way through to the kitchen.
"Really?" Asked Ron in surprise.
"Yep. It never happened as far as I'm concerned" assured Harry but his face and the sarcasm in his voice told a different story.
"Ginny was out of line…"
"Ron, drop it" said Harry who whipped around to look at his best friend in the eyes.
"Alright" surrendered Ron who held his hands up in the air in a surrendering gesture.
"Good" said Harry who then went back to making himself breakfast.
"Haven't the Thunder Fox's got a preseason friendly tomorrow?" Asked Ron who looked down at the Quidditch magazine on the table where Harry had dumped it.
"Yeah, that's why the team are all being dragged in today when there isn't a practice on" responded Harry who turned back around and started eating a sandwich he had made at the counter.
"Why you being dragged in?"
"So they can tell us which five will be travelling tomorrow" informed Harry as he glanced up at Ron.
"You going?" Asked Ron with exciement.
"Unlikely" was the response from Harry.
"You know what, something occurred to me the other day" started Ron who had a thoughtful look on his face.
"Why do I get the feeling I should be dreading this?" Asked Harry who had rolled his eyes where Ron couldn't see.
"I reckon you need to get yourself a girlfriend" stated Ron with an emotionless look on his face as he said it.
"I beg you pardon" said Harry with raised eyebrows.
"Well you're not exactly the most carefree bloke in the world at the moment" responded Ron with a smirk.
"Do you know what I'm doing to earn money?"
"Yes, but I still think you need to get yourself one, it would be more beneficial to you" added Ron.
"Oh really, I thought it would be better for you" smirked Harry who had just finished his sandwich and was heading back through to the other room.
"You know what I mean."
"Sorry, I might have to end this enlightening conversation here because have to head to the stadium" informed Harry who was heading over to the fireplace.
"Where is the friendly tomorrow and who's it against?" Asked Ron who was right behind Harry.
"In Germany against a team called The Red Dragons" explained Harry.
"Oh right" was the only response what Ron gave. "Hey, you know those tV things that the Ministry has created and it has all those sports channels on there?" Added Ron.
"Yeah" answered Harry in an uncertain voice.
"Do you think it would come up on the news if you were selected?"
"Yes because they do that on the dedicated channel for all the teams. So yes, if I am selected for tomorrow then you will soon know about it" confirmed Harry with a nod.
"Cool, cant wait to hear the good news then" chirped Ron.
"I wouldn't get the hopes up, I am new remember" reminded Harry with a sign of a grin on his face.
Harry then grabbed some flu powder and disappeared into a cloud of ash as he headed to The Den (the Thunders Fox's stadium). Ron stood there for a few moments and then travelled back to where Hermione was waiting for him back at his own home.
"Harry, good to see you" greeted Martin who rushed over from near the tunnel where the players go out onto the pitch.
"Hey, where are we all meeting for when the boss tells us who's going?" Asked Harry uncertainly.
"Oh yeah right, just follow me to the dressing rooms and he will tell us in there" supplied Martin.
"Are we doing a practice then?"
"No, they just always do it in there, I have no idea why" responded Martin with a slight shrug of the shoulders.
Martin and Harry made it to the dressing rooms where they were one of the last few in. the boss hadn't arrived yet and that was lucky for them as he hated people being late for anything, let alone for this,.
Sure enough, before long, he came through the white door and stood in front of them all.
"Alright folks, today is the day where I shall be telling you which five of ya will be going with me to Germany for tomorrows friendly. Now see here, I want all of ya who go to treat it like a proper match as that is what your fans expect of this club. Do em proud" called out Florenza.
"Now remember, this was the managers call with my advisement" added Florenza as if he expected some people to protest.
"Alright, the five players who shall be travelling to Germany will be Ross who will be captain, Jameson who will be doing the singular sprint. Then there will be Linman who shall be doing the endurance race (50 laps of the circuit). Then Smith will be leader of the shift race. Then I want Potter doing time trial. All five of you will be competing in the shift and relay as per usual. For those five I have called out, turn up at the stadium tomorrow at eight in the morning with an overnight bag and we shall flu to Germany. We will flu to the hotel and then some kind of magical bus will take us outside of the stadium where we shall walk in, signing autographs and things like that on the way in. equipment will be there for you. Gooday folks" and with that, the boss left through the same door he came in via.
Harry was in shock, never did he expect to be in the starting five in his first ever game. And doing time trial as well which was known to be incredibly hard. Overall the player did five laps in total. After every lap they did they would clock a time and then the other player would try and beat it. Each would have five runs and whoever had the quickest time at the end of the five runs one the event.
Harry then remembered than Ron was likely to be ecstatic.
Ron was sat in the sitting room with Hermione leaned on the doorframe, gazing at his TV in excitement. Then they started announcing teams for friendlies the next day.
"Turn it up Hermione turn it up!" Yelled Ron frantically.
"Calm down Ronald" scolded Hermione with a chuckle at him.
"Alright and now we come to the Thunder Fox's team to face The Red Dragons in Germany tomorrow. And the lineup for the Thunder Fox's is Ross, Jameson, Linman, Smith and making his debut, Potter" at that Ron leaped up and started doing a dance in the middle of his sitting room. You could see a video of Harry walking out from the changing rooms whilst talking to another man Ron assumed to be part of the team.
"He did it Hermione, he actually did it" screamed Ron who started running around the house in excitement.
Hermione just chuckled and followed him through to the kitchen which was where he was most likely heading for.
Harry woke up in the morning and it took him a few minutes to remember what was happening today. He then grinned and jumped up from his bed.
Before long he had everything packed and he had his IPod, which he had gotten working in the Wizarding world, in one hand and earphones in the other with a rucksack over his back.
He then heard the flu go and Hermione step out. She took one look at him before taking him into a big hug.
"Good luck and I know you will do all of us proud" she whispered as he pulled away.
"Why do you sound like a mother at this point?" Harry chuckled as he hugged her back.
"We will all be watching from the Burrow, when I mean everyone, I mean everyone" she commented with big eyes just to emphasise her point.
"No pressure then. Hang on, are they broadcasting the whole thing live on the TV?"
"Yep, your match is the only live one being shown" she informed him with a slight smirk.
"Joy" he muttered under his breath. Hermione then noticed the rucksack on his back.
"Staying overnight then?" She asked with raised eyebrows in question.
"Yeah, staying in a hotel near there, everyone who is going is as they don't expect the match to be over until late afternoon" answered Harry with a shrug.
"Alright, good luck" she said again before making her way over towards the flu and barely a second later, she was gone in a cloud of ash. Harry then took a deep breath and apparated away after he was clear of the wards around his apartment.
He found himself on the pitch of The Den stadium and some of the players going around him. Diana Linman then came up to him.
"Good luck on your debut, it was risky of the club to give it to you but a friendly is the best time to take a risk I suppose" she said as she shrugged her shoulders.
"Yeah, I suppose. I saw you in training the other day, your endurance is remarkable" commented Harry.
"Thanks, I saw your times as well, they were impressive. Oh and by the way, Jameson will be retiring soon so you might be playing in the sprint before you know it" she winked and then left to go and talk to Sheila Smith who nodded at him. Martin then appeared and gave Harry a manly hug before doing the same to Donald Jameson. Then Peter Florenza popped in.
"Alright you lot, follow me" he commanded and before long they had reached the flu. He went first and was then followed by Sheila, Jameson, Martin and then it was just Diana and Harry.
"Remember to pronounce it right" she smirked at him before going in.
"Oh don't I know it" remarked Harry to himself, remembering what happened to him when he was twelve.
Harry was on the bus towards the stadium, well aware that there was a crowd making their way towards it. He had his earphones in and was listening to his most loved music, EDM (electronic dance music). It always succeeded in getting him pumped up.
The bus then stopped and the coach stood up and gestured for them all to get off. Harry then walked down the stairs off the coach and was met with a sea of people taking photos, shoving photos of himself at him, trying to shake his hand. He shook some peoples hands and signed some photographs but he mostly just waved as he kept his earphones in and tried to concentrate on the job in hand.
He went through the front gates and followed his coach towards the away dressing room. He entered and took his earphones out and saw Diana right behind him and Martin not to far away either. He then looked around and saw number 31 on a shirt in between shirts labelled Linman and Ross. Martin's also had the captains armband next to it. He walked over and traced his hand over the shirt. Diana smiled at him. She was a redhead who had a rather athletic figure and you could tell she trained a lot.
She took her stuff and took it onto a side room. She left her shoes and other equipment apart from immediate clothing in the main changing room where the boys got changed. Sheila followed her into the side room as well.
Minuets later, Harry sat on the bench with Martin on his right and Diana on his left. The coach stood in the middle of the room, overly big for just six people to fit in, five players and a coach.
"Alright you five, show that German team why we are so good at what we do, show them, why the Thunder Fox's are considered to be one of the best teams in the world. The red Dragons are a brilliant team, make no mistake about it, but when its our day, we are better!" He roared the last bit and the team all yelled back and they all grabbed the tear shaped helmets and made there way into the tunnel.
Harry could hear the crowd outside but he could still hear the hammering in his chest. He was second in line behind Martin who would be leading them out.
"Good luck" said Martin over his shoulder as the signal was given for the away team to march out. Harry followed Martin as they made there way onto the pitch. A cacophony of noise met Harry's ears and he couldn't hear himself think. Even though it was still day, he felt like it was night for some reason.
He could then hear the commentators voice, "Now the first event is the endurance race" announced the commentator and Diana stepped up from where they were all seated on the bench, waiting for there event. Some didn't have individual events but some of them did. Like Harry who was doing the time trail.
Diana put her helmet on and she laid down on her broom and got in the right position and took flight along with her German counterpart.
It had been about thirty laps and Diana was slightly behind the German and that was when she started to make her move, she started to pull alongside the German for around five laps and then started to create a gap. It was the last lap where the whole team, including Harry, got to there feet to cheer her on. She won easily and showed her experience.
She touched down and dismounted and pulled of her helmet with a huge smile o her face.
"well done, never doubted ya" smiled Harry as he high fived her.
"You will do just as well, believe me" she smiled at him and took a seat next to him. He hoped she was right.
"Alright, up next is the Time Trial" announced the commentator and Harry felt his legs turn to jelly. They certainly weren't working anymore. Martin gave him a pat on the shoulder as Harry grabbed his helmet and his broom and pulled his helmet on so the visor was covering most of his face. The German would be doing his lap first and then it would be Harry's turn. The German took to the air to do his first attempt over one lap.
Once the German crossed the line, Harry looked up to the big screen to see he did a 13.85. Harry paled, he had never done one that fast before.
He got in the right position and took off, flat on his broom. He body completely stretched and not hunched at all. He started his first run and he didn't feel like he had picked up enough momentum and was trying to catch up with his time all through the lap but when he finished the first run, he looked up and saw 15.43. He looked down annoyed.
It had been three runs and he only had two left. The German hadn't improved on his time easier which was the only bonus. Harry took to the skies again and he felt he had built up enough momentum this time and his lap was a lot cleaner, even though it was just an oval. He looked up and saw 14.12. It hadn't beaten the German but it was a lot neared. He nodded his head in acceptance.
The German then posted a time on his last run of 12.98. Harry was slightly dejected as he saw that. Then Diana came over just before he was about to kick off, he was laid flat on his broom when she came over and bent over him, so only he could hear.
"Remember, you can don't it" she whispered and then went over to the bench who were all standing up and cheering him as he took off. He gained a lot of momentum and roared all around the lap as he emptied his energy tanks and lunged across the line. He looked up and saw 12.67. He screamed in euphoria.
He landed and Diana hugged him and smiled. Martin clapped him on the back and cheered.
"Yes mate, what a time, what a time!" He said as he took him into a one armed hug.
Harry took a seat still a little dazed but he still had two more event to do, the shift race and the 1 by 25 relay where everyone had to do 5 laps each.
Jameson was up next and he took to the sky's quickly and was racing the German over 5 laps. He easily beat them and the Thunder Fox's were leading 3-0.
"Alright, now it's time for the shift race" announced the commentator.
Smith stood up first as he would be leading them all through the laps. Then Jameson stod up and went directly behind him and mounted his broom. Then Martin stood up and went third in line. Diana stood up and Harry then followed as he would be the last one in line. They all took to the sky along with the Germans and the Germans lined up on one side of the loop and they lined up on the other. Like the team pursuit in cycling but with five members. A canon then went off and Smith left his position first and then Jameson, Martin, Diana and last Harry.
They started out slow as this was a race where you had to use strategy to try and trick the other team into thinking your team are going at full pace and to try and wear the other team out faster.
Smith then started to pick up the pace at the front and the others followed. The Germans then started picking up pace as well and then a canon went off and signalled the final lap. That's when the sprint started and Smith shot off and the rest followed. Harry then veered out of line and the rest behind Smith did the same and they all did a flat out sprint for the line. They went across the line and Harry looked up to the board and saw that they had finished well before the Germans.
He knew what was last to come, the relay. They each had to do five laps. It was the 5 by 5 relay. Diana was going to go first and then Smith, then Jameson, then Martin and Harry was going last.
Diana got them off to a good start. However, she was just ahead of the German when she completed her five and Smith started his five laps. Smith got overtaken after the five laps and Jameson got them back into contention after his go. Martin was even with his German counterpart and then touched Harrys shoulder and Harry then started his. Harry flat out sprinted for the line on his final lap and looked around him when he went over the line, he saw the German around a metre back and knew that they had won.
A/N- My longest ever chapter has now been written and I hope you enjoyed it. Please review if you can.
Signing off,
Chaser10
HHhihih