Emerline walked over to them for one last word. Albus remembered hearing that this was her first time hosting tryouts and she wouldn't be as professional as her predecessors.

He looked around at the other potential seekers. There was James of course; acting as confident as ever, and there was also a girl he didn't know who looked almost ashamed to be there.

"Alright," said Emerline, pausing to look at each of them before continuing, "This is it. I'm going to release the golden snitch and you'll all try and catch it. We're going to do this three times and remember, I'll be watching technique as well as who actually makes the catch. All right? Good. Get ready."

Albus was about to fly up into the air when James came over for one last word, "I wouldn't worry about Robin," he told him, pointing to the other girl. "She was on the team last year and thanks to her we lost the Quidditch cup to Slytherin, during the very last match too. It was horrible! I really thought we had a chance until-"

But James was interrupted by Emerline's whistle. She had released the snitch and the contest had begun. Albus flew up above James, who had flown left of him. He looked down as he circled the pitch, he couldn't see the snitch anywhere.

Then Robin caught his eye. She was diving down beneath him.

She must have seen it, thought Albus and followed in pursuit, even though he himself saw nothing.

Robin pulled away several feet from the ground but Albus kept going, it has to be here somewhere. Why can't I see it?"

He didn't pull out of the dive until the last second, still wondering why he hadn't spotted the snitch when he heard Emerline's whistle once more.

He looked over at Robin but it was James who had caught it. Robin looked both disappointed and slightly satisfied.

It suddenly dawned on Albus that Robin hadn't seen the snitch at all and was just faking to distract him. His face burned with embarrassment over falling for her simple trick. In the stands he could hear James's friends cheering for him and was reminded once more of his sibling rivalry.

Emerline blew her whistle and again released the snitch. This time Albus was determined to catch it and didn't loose sight of it as it left her hand. He flew at top speed over to it and caught it in record time. A considerably quieter applause followed as he returned the snitch to Emerline, but he knew Rose would be there, cheering for him.

For the last time Emerline blew her whistle. This time Albus lost sight of it right away. He circled higher and higher, never pausing in his search.

Robin flew tauntingly back and forth beneath him, but he had learned the hard way not to follow her example.

Finally he spotted it. He chased it until he was almost close enough to touch it when he was knocked of course.

It was James, who shrugged as if to say "no hard feelings," as he flew off.

Albus wanted to follow him and get him back, but there wasn't time. He searched desperately again but couldn't find it.

Wait, what's that? He spotted it, or he thought he did, right behind Robin. But how could she miss it?

He took the long way toward her, hoping to fake out James. When he was close enough he sped up as fast as he could and grabbed the snitch out of the air just as Robin was finally turning around to see what he was after.

He had done it; he had beaten James. He flew down to the ground and again returned the snitch to Emerline.

"Well done everyone!" she said, "I'll let you know tomorrow if you made the team, but don't get discouraged if you don't, okay?"

Rose ran out to meet him, "You were amazing, Albus!" she said happily. "You're defiantly making the team."

"We don't know that yet," said James behind them, then added to Albus, "Good job Albus, even if you did just get lucky." Then he walked off to speak with his friends.

Albus and Rose were just beginning to walk back up to the castle when Sienna caught up with them. "Wow, Albus, you were so amazing," she said, "and did you see Elizabeth? I was so impressed. No wonder James is so hot for her."

"Well, no, I wasn't really paying attention," said Albus.

"I was," said Rose, "Elizabeth could probably make Quidditch her career. But
I doubt our head of house would accept that as a career choice in her fifth year."

"I know, I know," said Sienna, "anyway, I have to go find Perkins. I hope she hasn't found her way into the owlery." Sienna ran off to the castle calling out to her cat.

"Actually, I better go with her," said Albus. "We haven't finished our essay yet…" He shoved seeker tryouts out of his mind, afraid to hope, afraid of disappointment.

Rose walked back up to the castle alone until she ran into Nyla, who was trying to read her magazine while she walked and as a result ended up tripping on the first step of the staircase.

"Are you alright, Nyla?" asked Rose, trying to mask her amusement with concern.

"Oh, yes," said Nyla, "I was just reading about a huge scandal involving Knuts transfigured into Galleons. It's really very horrible."

"I'm sure it is," said Rose, slightly surprised Nyla was so amused with something that resembled a serious news story.

"And they ended up spending them on shoes that wouldn't let you stop dancing!" continued Nyla enthusiastically.

"Oh," said Rose. There was the Nyla she knew. She was still wondering why anyone would want shoes like that when someone else caught her attention…