7. Undiscovered Talent
A boy in his early teens stood beside his younger sister, her golden locks flapping in the sudden gust of wind. His shards of blonde hair blended with his familiar pale skin, almost an exact match of his sister's pallor.
"You ready Mora?" he asked the girl, handing her a moderately short broom that fit her size perfectly.
"Yeah! Let's Go! Let's Go!" the little girl chirped, hoping happily onto her broom. Her brother planted his feet firmly on the ground, his broom grasped tightly in his hand.
"Now," he began, ready to instruct his younger sister as if he himself were a professional flyer. "The tricky part of this all is…"
"C'mon slow poke!" a voice called from the skies. The boy shot his head up in the air to see his little sister all ready hovering above him. "Get up here already!" Mora squeaked. Rolling his eyes, Mora's brother kicked off the ground, joining his sister in the air.
"Well Ardien, it took you long enough!" she giggled, circling above his head.
"C'mon Mora! Do you want me to teach you or not?" Ardien pouted slyly. He motioned for his sister to come over.
"I'm sorry Ardien! Please teach me how to play Quidditch!"
"Well, if you insist," Ardien laughed. He pointed his wand to the large case on the ground, snapping open the large lid.
"OOOOOO! Dad says you can't do magic outside of school!"
"Yeah, well dad's not here," Ardien implied. "Anyway, you know all about the three posts quaffle, blah blah blah, seeker, blah blah," he mumbled, not really caring about the information he was skipping. "But the only thing that we really care about is beating." Mora's hazel eye's swelled in her head, glowing with awe. Ardien pointed his wand towards the chest, sending two bats hurling into the sky. The boy caught them both in one hand, much to the girl's delight.
"Now these," he began, "Are the beaters' bats. Beaters use them to hit the buldger towards the other team, and away from their team." He tossed one bat to his sister. Lurching forward, she caught the stick, feeling the coarse wood rest in the palm of her hand.
"This is the true Cartea legacy," Ardien exclaimed proudly. "Everyone in our family has been a beater. Grandpa was one, dad was a beater, and now I'll be one to, as soon as I get to school." He turned back to his sister, who was in awe of his story.
"And if you play your cards right, Mora, you'll be one too," he smiled.
"Really?" she excitedly yelped, her voice squeaking over the craning maple trees.
"Really, which is why we have to start training right now!" He flew alongside his sister. "Now, the entire trick of this is in the wrist," he explained, smacking his club in the air. "See?"
"Uh-huh…" Mora trailed, duplicating her brother's motion.
"Good," Ardien complimented, much to the delight of his younger sister. "And now, for the buldger. Stand back sis, I don't want you to get hit during your first lesson," he warned.
Instantly, Mora hovered back a few good feet, while her brother casted his wand at the chest again. Suddenly, a heavy, grayish orb rocketed out of the crate. Plummeting into the sky, it soared towards Ardien. Mora's eyes began to well up with fear, preparing to see the harsh impact. But it never came. Confidently, Ardien whacked to buldger with his bat, the sound echoing through the air as the buldger sunk out of the clouds.
"That was brilliant Ardien!" Mora yelped, clapping madly on her broom. Ardien looked over to Mora, happy to see his act had given his sister this much joy. Ardien gave a mock bow, his sense of pride and accomplishment building inside him. Suddenly, a strange whizzing sound filled the air again. There, up out of the clouds, soared back the buldger, hungry for vengeance. It flew towards Mora, who had not even flinched.
"Mora, look out!" Ardien screamed, trying to reach his sister in time. Turning over her shoulder, Mora brandished her beater's bat. Instinctively, she struck the buldger, using every aspect of strength within her. The buldger snapped back into the ground, this time being forced back into the crate. The lid fastened closed after it, securing the buldger once again.
Ardien store dumbstruck at Mora, who was playfully spinning the bat between her pink fingers. "That was fun! What's next?" she excitedly buzzed, as if her amazing skill at the game already wasn't really all that important.
"What's next?" Ardien echoed. "What's next for you little sis is the Quidditch World Cup!" he happily screamed into the air, amazed that his own younger sister had already exceeded his ability at the game.
Mora strode quietly onto the Quidditch pitch, a definite chill in the early October air striking the back of her neck. The memory still stung in the back of Mora's mind, driving her pace down the pitch faster and faster. Clutching her shoulder tightly, she stood out onto the middle of the field, gazing up to the sky above. Muggy grayish clouds clung over Mora's head, reading for a mid autumn shower very soon by the looks of it. The sun could not be seen, but the faintest glow of its rays etched over the school grounds, signaling the end of another day of festivities at Hogwarts. Just another, routine day. Well, for everyone except Mora at least.
Mora searched the rest of her brain for any trace, any sign of her brother. But each time she came up with nothing, only the images of her most recent memory flooding her mind. "Ardien," she whispered softly, her words silenced by the sudden howl of wind. "Ardien, where could you be?"
"Mora?" Tom called, heading out onto the pitch. He clutched not two, but three brooms in his hands. Eric hurried behind him, a somewhat familiar crate of equipment cradled heavily in his arms. Mora looked confusedly at Eric, whom she did not expect to come with Tom. She felt a little nervous to now be in front of another person instead of just the familiarity and somewhat warmth of Tom's presence.
"I…needed help with the equipment," Tom confessed dryly. Mora accepted his explanation, carefully taking a broom from him. "Mora, do you really think this is a good idea?" Tom insisted, "I mean you really should get checked out before…"
"Tom!" Mora cut him off, impatience growing in her voice. "Please, just trust me," she soothed, lowering her tone. She hoped onto the broom, jetting up into the sky.
"Are you two coming or not?" she called down to the earth. Tom looked cautiously to Eric, who simply gave an encouraging nod. Each boy took a broom and slowly joined Mora in the sky, unaware of what Mora wanted them to witness.
Mora soared in the sky above, watching as the two Slytherin boys made their way up through the air. A concerned look was plastered onto Tom's face, who obviously didn't approve of the entire situation. Eric, on the other hand, was smiling with eagerness, not sure what was going to happen next. All of this somehow felt amusing to him.
"Mora," Tom started, "What…."
But before Tom could even trace his words together, Mora flashed her wand out from her robes. Quickly, she pointed it to the crate below, like her brother had all those distant years ago. A sole beater's bat soared directly into her hand.
"You're not going to do what I think you are…" Eric trailed off, staring at Mora with a strange sense of awe.
Her expression filled with determination, Mora pointed her wand one more time at the equipment before safely storing it back inside her robes. A buldger jumped off the earth, ripping through the murky clouds. Mora could see the two boys out of the corner of her eye lurch forward. Ignoring their protectiveness, Mora watched as the buldger hurl itself at top speed towards her head. Quickly, Mora met the buldger head on, the impact of the orb with her bat ear shattering. The buldger bounced back harshly, but quickly regained strength. It came charging towards Mora again. Like before, she whacked it back, forming a large gaping hole in one of the clouds.
But this buldger wasn't finished. It returned a third time, fiercer and seemingly angrier than before. Forming a zig-zag like path, the buldger zoomed back. Shooting itself at Mora's skull, Mora stuck the buldger one final time. Just as it happened in her memory, the buldger harshly sunk to the ground, being struggled back into the trunk. The trunk snapped shut, shaking up and down from the buldger's protest.
Flipping the bat into her opposite hand, Mora turned back to Eric and Tom, whose mouths seemed to for perfect O's. The each store back at Mora, their expression filled with a strange, new sense of awe.
"Is that…" Tom started, trying to put his question of her memory in terms that Eric wouldn't really understand. Mora, much to Tom ease, understood his question.
"Yes," she said softly, "That's what I saw."
"You could play Quidditch like that and you never told any of us?" Eric asked, missing the entire exchange that had just occurred between the other two. Mora nodded. "Well for how long have you been playing?"
"Since I was little," she explained. "Apparently everyone else in my family was a beater." Tom did not move, not being able to discern the right way to react. Eric, however, continued his excited buzzing.
"Alright then…you're in," he said assumingly.
"What?" Tom asked, his eyes shooting over to his somewhat oblivious friend.
"She's perfect mate," he explained. "The open beater position on the Slytherin team!"
"Oh, no…. I couldn't…..really…." Mora stammered nervously, not liking the idea of being pushed into this all far too quickly.
"Oh come on!" Eric nagged sweetly, "You're bloody amazing! And besides, you said it's in your blood to! You have to join!" he insisted.
"Really, I shouldn't -"
"Listen, I'm the captain. And what I say goes," Eric said proudly. "Although I did say El could have that position…..Oh what the hell! He'll understand once he hears how brilliant you are!" Eric complimented. Not sure of how to respond, Mora floated on her broom, her mouth gawking wide open.
"Alright, then it's settled!" Eric concluded. "First games against Gryffindor tomorrow morning!"
"Tomorrow?" both Mora and Tom franticly questioned in a strange, unplanned unison.
"Yup. Well see you in the morning!" Eric shouted as he descended back to the ground. Mora tried calling after the boy, but he either ignored her protests or was too far away to hear them.
Now all that was left in the sky was Mora and Tom, their feet dangling out into the air. "Well….." Tom started, "Now will you go see Dippet?"
Mora sighed. "All right fine!" she said as she began to sink back through the clouds. Tom followed, still clinging to his broom. He hadn't heard all of Mora's memory, but he had seen enough to know the jist of it. And now, more than ever, Tom was starting to worry about what other secrets could be uncovered by Mora's sudden visions.
