Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling and not myself (which as I am posting under a fanfiction site should be obvious).
Quidditch Weekly
Harry Potter signs with Ballycastle!
The Ballycastle Bats have announced their newest signing, Britain's own Harry Potter. For those who are unaware Harry Potter played Seeker for the Gryffindor house team while attending Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where he became the youngest Seeker to play on a house team since Sylvia Miller played for Hufflepuff in 1887 after the previous seeker was attacked by a heard of Thestrals during a match. Potter impressed many scouts at Hogwarts and was considered by this publication to be the best Seeker at this year's Quidditch Camp, hosted by the British Quidditch League. Potter's contract with the Irish club is rumored to be record setting for a rookie, and rumors about Bat's Seeker Juan Rodrigues' imminent departure to the South American League seem to be confirmed. Potter is just the latest of a series of moves by the Bats, who will enter this season the youngest team in the league, with an average age under 23. (see page 3 for more on the youth movement in Ballycastle)
The Bats released this message as a part of their announcement on Monday. "The Ballycastle Bats are pleased to welcome promising Seeker Harry Potter into our family. Our goal as an organization has always been to bring the title to our fans here in Ballycastle and around the world, and this is just the latest move in our efforts to do so. Mr. Potter impressed our coaches during his play at Hogwarts and will be a valuable part of our team for years to come."
Potter also released a statement through his agent, Queenie Greengrass of the firm Greengrass & Davis. "I would like to thank the Ballycastle Bats organization for the opportunity and for their warm welcome to the team; I look forward to wearing the Black and Scarlet for years to come. To the fans I want to reaffirm the team's goal of bringing a championship to Ballycastle, nothing is more important to me than being the best Seeker and teammate possible and winning the British Quidditch League. The Bats have a long history of excellence, and I am honored to be a part of their prestigious history."
For more on how Potter's signing affects the odds in this year's British Quidditch League see page 2. I
Exiting the locker room, dressed for the first time in the Bat's kit: black robes with crimson seams on the sleeves and a crimson bat logo on his chest and back, and with his new Nimbus 2002 in his hand, Harry made his way to the practice pitch. It had been a week since he had signed with the Bats and it was finally time to meet his new teammates.
He had arrived early, nervous about his first team practice and hoping to let off some of his anxiety by getting in some flight time on his new broom before anyone else was on the pitch. During the last week Harry had become used to his new broom and had quickly fallen in love with it. He had used the new Nimbus at the camp of course, but he hadn't had much time to really enjoy flying it. While he still loved his Firebolt that Sirius had gotten him for Christmas during his third year, the Nimbus 2002 could easily keep pace with it, and the Nimbus' turning capabilities were incredible. While he still thought the Firebolt might have a bit more speed and acceleration capabilities, his new broom was far more maneuverable, which he had found particularly useful for an agile seeker like him.
After a half hour of warming up and riding his broom around the pitch, Harry noticed his teammates exiting the locker room to join him for the days practice. In addition to working with his new team's coaches and learning some of their preferred tactics over the last week, much of his time had been spent in learning about his new teammates and the styles and positions they played.
Leading the group of veterans was the team captain, Keeper Priyanka Malhotra, entering her fifth year with the Bats since being signed as a 19 year old from a second tier Indian Quidditch League team where she had surprised scouts with her superb athleticism and strong arm capable of passing a Quaffle to a Chaser halfway across a pitch with ease. The second string Keeper, Slyvester Solarian trailed behind the captain, talking to the second string Chasers, Helga Smith and Prince Parker. The three starting Chasers, Hengist Diggle, Raven Ivanoff and the leader of the line Brian Bole, were already tossing a Quaffle around, playing a game of keep it up by rapidly passing the ball to an unsuspecting target. The last group of players was comprised of the Beaters, Leroy Petit, Jessica Miller and Min Chang, and the starting Seeker, Juan Rodrigues.
"Ah there he is, the man of the hour!" The captain said with a smile upon seeing Harry. "Alright gather round you lot, it's time for introductions to our newest teammate."
Landing over by the group of players, Harry saw curiosity in the eyes of most of his new teammates. The exceptions were Bole who looked unimpressed and somewhat annoyed by his presence and Rodrigues who seemed thrilled to have another Seeker on the team.
It was Rodrigues who approached Harry first holding out his hand in greeting.
"Welcome to the Bats Potter! I've heard good things about your Seeking skills and look forward to working with you. Last year our other Seeker was not the greatest, so I wound up having to play almost every game, hopefully this year we will both be able to play and get the rest we need."
The rest of the team welcomed Harry to the team and then formed a circle around their captain.
"So last year we did not meet our goals," Malhotra started her speech. "Obviously our goal every year is to be at the top of the table at the end of the season. Last year we finished 9th. That is not the kind of Quidditch the Bats fans want to see, our fans expect excellence on all parts of the pitch every game. Individual successes are to be celebrated, but we live and die as a team. This year I want to see improvement from each and every one of you. Potter, you are new here and new to the league but don't think that we will give you any slack. The coaches plan to have you play at least 15 games this year, and expectations for you are sky high. Don't squander that opportunity and the trust this organization has placed in you.
"Rodrigues, your play last year was at a high level. Hopefully with a better rotation this year you will be even better. We've talked about you working with Potter to get him up to speed, so for the next few weeks he is all yours.
"Chasers, last year was a massive improvement for us. Bole had an outstanding year, but let's not take anything for granted this season. Diggle, Ivanoff, Smith and Parker I want to see you take advantage of the opportunities that defenses give you by focusing on Bole. We may be a defensive oriented team, and on that note, Diggle and Ivanoff had an excellent year, but there is room for improvement on offense.
"Beaters you are in many ways the strength of this team. All three of you had a spectacular year, and I know how hard you have been working this summer to maintain that excellence. I expect nothing but the best from all of you.
"As for us Keepers, we are going to need to work on our communication with the other players and with our understanding of tactics when facing teams that crash the hoops. That was a major weakness of ours last year and cost us games against the Harpies and the Arrows.
"This year I want to see this team crack the top 5 and qualify for the Euro League. I want to see our defense be among the best in the league and I want to see us build towards a championship in the future."
The team split off into groups for each position, with Rodrigues dragging Harry over to the center of the pitch.
"Ok Potter, let's get started. For today we are going to try and get you used to the speed and nature of the game. The best way to train for us Seekers is to chase a snitch against an opponent, so that is what we are going to do." Rodrigues grinned at Harry and took a golden snitch out of his robes, which speed away from the two seekers the instant it was released. "Loser buys the other dinner," Rodrigues said with a smirk, before shooting off on his own Nimbus 2002.
With a wild grin of his own, Harry shot after him, doing his best to stay on Rodrigues' tail. His new coaches had been tutoring him on the various common tactics that they wanted him to use in certain situations, and this was his first opportunity to put some of that into practice. Harry's small stature made him faster than many of the Seekers around the league, and this situation, being behind the opposing Seeker in the chase for the snitch, called for the Seeker to try and closely tail behind his opponent, conserving his energy by staying in his tailwind, binding time in order to jump in front of him when the snitch was within striking distance or to block his Opponent from successfully finding the snitch.
Of course given his experience, Rodrigues was well aware of this tactic, and quickly began corkscrewing and making sharp turns, attempting to gain distance away from Harry. The two fliers zipped around the pitch at a breakneck pace, winding in and out of the goal posts only to dive down and skim the grass before soaring into the clouds high above the stadium. For an hour the two kept up this frantic pace, meandering around the pitch, twisting and turning like a dogfight between ace pilots.
Sweat pouring down his face from the incredibly exertion that maintaining such a rapid pace took on his body, Harry knew that he still had a ways to go before his endurance could match his teammates. He was in a war of attrition with Rodrigues and he was steadily losing ground. His only hope was to change tactics and try a feint, trying to get his opponent to give him an opening to have a clear path to search for and catch the snitch.
The two seekers had lost sight of the snitch during their marathon flight around the pitch, and Rodrigues had spent the last few minutes just trying to lose Harry and gain some distance between them in order to find the snitch himself. Just as the two seekers reached the top of a loop high above the hoops, Harry suddenly peeled off, diving straight down towards the scoring area in front of the second hoop.
Hot on his heels, Rodrigues followed Harry in his dive, slowly gaining on Harry as his greater mass allowed him to pick up speed just a bit quicker. Just as he was about to hit the ground, Harry pulled up and rolled away, shooting up and away towards the central circle in the middle of the pitch.
Despite Harry's best efforts, Rodrigues was easily able to pull out of his dive as well, electing to fall into a figure eight searching pattern, circling the pitch looking for the elusive golden ball.
This was the kind of tactical play that characterized how seekers practiced their art. Moves and countermoves, each designed to try and gain even the smallest advantage over their opponent. Unlike the other positions, Seekers were very much in a solitary battle for control over the sky. Like a chess match, every move was made with the next in mind, willing to make sacrifices and take risks if necessary to try and deceive their opponent into making a big mistake.
In the end, Rodrigues experience trumped Harry's immense skill. Just as Harry had turned his head to look towards the away team's side of the pitch, Rodrigues took off towards the snitch he had spotted minutes before. This split second advantage gained as Harry was facing the other direction, before he noticed Rodrigues' dive and caught sight of the snitch was more than enough to allow Rodrigues to catch the snitch.
Despite his understanding that he was not yet at the same level as his teammate, Harry was angry with himself over his loss. It was the first time he had failed to catch a snitch when facing another Seeker, baring extenuating circumstances like the Dementor attack in his third year match against Hufflepuff.
"Not bad Potter," Rodrigues said. "You surprised me with that feint, a bit more work on selling it and you might have had me. You pulled up just a bit too early, and you didn't do enough to block my view from seeing if there was a snitch in front of you. Besides that, you kept up with me for most of the time we flew and showed a good mind for the game. Endurance is still an issue, and you got yourself into a tight situation by sticking to the center of the pitch. It was a conservative tactic that might work for some Seekers, but doesn't fit your aggressive style. Good work! Let's hit the showers and then you can buy me my dinner," he continued with a wide smile. "Have you had the chance to check out the city yet? Meet some of our fans? I know a great pub."
Somehow between the team's showers and the pub, buying Rodrigues dinner for beating him to the snitch turned into the rookie buying dinner for the team. While Ballycastle wasn't an all magical village like Hogsmead, it did have the largest community of magicals in Ireland. The team wound up in a pub on the magical side of town called Barney's Cave, a popular pub for supporters of the team located not far from the stadium.
"So Rodrigues," Bole drawled, shooting a smug look at Harry, "how did the kid do for his first practice?"
"He did well Bole, much better than your first practice," responded the veteran Seeker. With a thoughtful tilt of his head, he continued, "if I remember correctly didn't you fall off your broom during your first practice? He's got a lot of growing to do of course, but our rookie managed to keep up with me for most of the practice. I can't wait to see how good he will be once he has more experience and improves some of his fundamentals."
"Enough bickering boys," Malhotra chided. "This is an opportunity to get to know our new Seeker a bit better."
"I have a question actually," said the third Beater Min Chang, who Harry realized looked a good deal like his secret crush Cho Chang. "The papers have been all over the place about you over the last year. First you were the bad boy who snuck into that Triwizard tournament for the glory, then you were in a weird love triangle with Victor Krum and some plain muggleborn of all people. Then," Chang stressed, "you were announced as the winner of the tournament, the press is suddenly singing your praises and rumor has it that you are going to be awarded an order of merlin for assistance to the safety of the Magical World and services rendered to Wizarding Britain. At the same time my cousin's boyfriend is mysteriously murdered during the third task and all anyone knows is that the whole thing has been declared unutterable by the British Unspeakables and by order of the ICW.
"Now I get that you can't talk about anything that was classified, Merlin knows I don't want the Unspeakables to come down on my head, but is there any chance you could talk to my cousin when you are back at Hogwarts? She's been inconsolable with grief all summer, she blames herself for his death since one of the reasons Cedric entered that stupid tournament was to try and impress her."
While annoyed by her jab at Hermione, Harry's sense of Gryffindor chivalry was stirred by Cho's plight. He had struggled with no small amount of guilt himself throughout the summer, and had been besieged with nightmares of a cold cruel voice ordering Wormtail to "kill the spare" and what might have happened if he had not overpowered the weak willed man. He hadn't even considered what Cedric's loved ones might be going through in their own grief over the loss of his fellow champion.
"I'll see what I can do," Harry promised. "There's a lot I can't talk about, but I will talk to her about what I can."
The rest of the team watched on, wide eyed by the turn the conversation had took. The rest of the meal was spent in a somewhat awkward atmosphere, each member deep in thought about their new mysterious teammate.
"Hear ye! Hear ye! The Trial of one Sirius Orion Black, on the 22nd of August 1995, for the crimes of the Murder of the wizard Peter Pettigrew, 12 counts of the Murder of a Muggle and for the breach of the International Statue of Secrecy Statue of Secrecy on November the 1st in the year 1981. Presiding is Judge Richard Abbot, Interrogators: Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister for Magic; Amelia Susan Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; Dolores Jane Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister; Unspeakable number one, the Wizengamot's liaison to the Department of Mysteries. Court Scribe Percy Ignatius Weasley.
"Defending Mr. Black is Barrister Tonks, witnesses for the Defense: Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Chief Warlock of this Wizengamot, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Order of Merlin First class; Unspeakable number two, Mr. Black's voice on events covered by the National Secrecy Acts, appointed liaison to the Department of Mysteries; Harry James Potter, heir to the Noble House of Potter, Order of Merlin First Class to be appointed at a later date."
Harry's Godfather, Sirius Black, sat in a chair in front of the Wizengamot, tied in chains. He had turned himself in to the DMLE just that morning for his trail and was holding out hope that he might finally be free. His godson sat on a bench off to the side of the room next to his favorite cousin's husband Ted Tonks and the courtroom was full of reporters and members of the public, who had been informed of the trail just the day before and had shown up in mass to see the notorious mass murderer's trial. The papers had been in a frenzy since it was announced he had never received a trial before being sent to Azkaban all those years ago, and the public was captivated by the possibilities his trial portrayed. Had an innocent man been sent to Azkaban? Was he the right hand to the Dark Lord as they had all been told or was there something more going on? The night the Dark Lord was defeated had already become legend, and the chance to gain insight on the events surrounding the tragedy of the Potter's deaths captured the public's eye like nothing else ever could.
Before the Investigators for the ministry could get started, to the surprise of everyone, Unspeakable number two stood up and approached the bench.
"The Department of Mysteries absolves Mr. Black of the murder of Peter Pettigrew. During events that have been deemed Unutterable, Mr. Pettigrew was bound into our care and has since been executed under the aegis of the ICW and The Department of Mysteries for crimes under our jurisdiction. We cannot speak of the other crimes charged to Mr. Black, as they fall outside of our jurisdiction." With that said the Unspeakable gave a nod to his colleague acting as investigator and walked out of the courtroom, pausing only briefly to give another nod to Harry Potter.
Stunned by the revelations from the Unspeakable, Minister Fudge sputtered, "V-Very well, Scribe Note that the charges for the murder of Peter Pettigrew have been dropped."
With the main charge dropped and suspicious cast by the Unspeakables on the validity of the rest of the charges, along with the high esteem most Wizards and Witches held both Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter in, the case went quickly from there and Sirius was cleared of all charges, and remanded to St. Mungos for medical treatment. Harry Potter returned to his apartment that night with a wide smile on his face. His godfather was free. His Quidditch career was blooming and best of all there was no Dark Lord trying to kill him.
In my mind chief warlock is much like the position of Speaker of the House in the USA. The head of the majority party in the legislative branch. His judicial powers are the same as any member, he can vote guilty or not during trials. My thoughts on this are, yes anyone could plausibly become a legislator due to fame and a good campaign and seats in the Wizengamot are in my head canon mostly hereditary with a mix of a few elected seats, so it's not like everyone has to be a seasoned politician to be a sitting member. However, being a judge on the other hand, is much more of a specialized profession, needing a degree in law and practice in that field. Dumbledore could presumably be elected to, inherit or be granted a seat in the legislative body, but to be a judge, as many have thought the Chief Warlock title denoted sounds unlikely. Although the weird crossover of being a member of the legislative branch and also effectively serving as the jury during trials is an odd one. On the Potter's being nobility, I think that would just mean that they have a hereditary seat on the Wizengamot. With their wealth, google harry potter wealth reddit for an interesting look at how wealthy Harry appears to be, and history, ie their relation to the creators of the Deathly Hallows, they would almost certainly have a seat on the body. If they didn't before this generation, I am sure someone looking for good press would have called for them to appoint the Potters a seat for Harry defeating Voldemort as a child, he did save their way of life after all.
Next chapter, Hogwarts and the start of the Quidditch Season.