He could feel the wind whipping through his hair. He reached his hand, stretching further than he thought he could. He was just about to close his hand around the snitch. His fingers were closing…
Charlie felt the cold jet of water from someone's wand hit him. He sputtered and sat up, whipping his head around, looking for the owner of the wand that woke him so rudely. In his dream, he was just about to catch the snitch, and win the World Cup for England.
"Sorry, mate. It's time to go to breakfast. Then we've got Herbology with the Hufflepuffs."
"Right, right, I'm up…" Charlie got out of bed, and started to the door, pulling on his clothes as he went.
They found their friends at the table, and grabbed a quick breakfast. They were late, so they ate as they walked to Herbology. They walked into Greenhouse 3 and saw a pile of earmuffs. It wasn't particularly warm out, but it certainly wasn't cold enough for earmuffs, so Charlie's interest was peaked. He and Eric took their usual places with Tonks and Peyton, and said their hellos.
"What happened with you and the slimy serpent in Potions, yesterday? We heard Nudds cursed your nose off, but, apparently THAT isn't the case…so what really happened?"
"Well, the Nudds and the nose part are accurate. You know how Snape take points from Gryffindor for everything, right. So we all make sure we're well prepared for class. Apparently, I prepared too well for class yesterday, and Nudds decided I was trying to suck up, and he made my nose turn brown. It really was childish, and Madam Pomfrey put me to rights in about a minute."
Professor Sprout called for their attention, and gave them their assignment for the morning. They would be transplanting Mandrakes from one pot to another. She cautioned them to wear their earmuffs, because the cry of a Mandrake could kill. These Mandrakes were too young to kill, but could knock someone out for a few hours. Professor Sprout mentioned that one of her students yesterday hadn't listened to the warning, and didn't don his earmuffs correctly, and was recovering in the Hospital Wing. Charlie thought he saw the professor wink in his direction, but he wasn't sure.
"Hey, Eric," Charlie spoke in a whisper, "reckon it's Nudds in the Hospital Wing?"
"Dunno, but I don't want to be the first Gryffindor to end up there, so let's pay attention."
They donned their fuzzy earmuffs; Tonks had practically run to the front to get the pink ones. They watched Professor Sprout firmly pull the Mandrake out of its pot, and then quickly stuffed it into another one, packing dirt around it. Eric tugged at Charlie's arm, and pointed at the bottom of the plant. Charlie raised his eyebrows and shrugged. They looked like babies. Screaming babies. Charlie thought of his siblings as babies and smirked…he would have liked earmuffs to protect him from THEIR screaming.
They transplanted several of the Mandrakes before Professor Sprout indicated that they were to finish and remove their earmuffs. She cast a scourgify spell on the class before they left. Charlie and Eric bid good-bye to Tonks and Peyton, and hurried to Transfiguration.
Charlie wasn't sure how he was going to make it through the rest of the week. He was anxious about the Quidditch trials. He hadn't been aware that last years Seeker was leaving school, and really was only planning to try out for the practice. Now, he wondered if he had a real shot at making the team. Second year students rarely even made the Reserve team and Charlie kept telling himself that he wouldn't be disappointed if he were passed over.
Saturday morning, at breakfast, Charlie received an owl from Hagrid. He told Charlie that there were some new Unicorn foals in the Forest, and he wanted Charlie to see them. Normally, Unicorns don't trust men, but this herd trusted Charlie, after all the time he spent exploring the Forest with Hagrid. Hagrid mentioned in the note that he hoped that the Unicorns would allow Hagrid to check over the foals, if Charlie was with him. Charlie responded that he would be there as soon at the trials were finished. He couldn't help thinking that at least he had something to look forward to, when he totally blew his first chance at the Quidditch team.
Eric forced a bit of toast on Charlie, and then walked with him toward the Pitch. Charlie looked like he was either going to be sick, or run away. In fact, when he saw the older students lined up to enter the Pitch, he turned on his heel, and started to go back. Eric grabbed his shoulder, and turned him back around.
"Charlie, you'll do fine. Tonks was telling us about her visit over the summer. She say's you're BRILLIANT in the air. You've got no worries…you won't make a fool of yourself out there."
"Maybe I won't make a fool of myself, but I won't make the team either. I should just wait until next year."
"That's rubbish, Charlie, and you know it" A female voice came from behind them. Tonks and Peyton had come down after they finished breakfast as well.
"You're brilliant at Seeker. I've flown with you remember. You were catching the golf ball I threw to you." She turned to Eric and Peyton, "Every single time…he never missed once. I think he's got a real chance."
The girls, and Eric took seats in the bleachers, and Charlie joined the queue of hopefuls. He watched the Chasers make their attempt. There were about twelve good candidates. Charlie wasn't envious of the Captain, having to make that decision. There was only one Keeper hopeful, and he was a returning player. There were five Seeker hopefuls. Charlie moved to the back of the queue, so he could watch the others before making his attempt.
The first Seeker fell off her broom. Charlie didn't think he needed to worry about HER making the team. The second Seeker to attempt flew well, but didn't seem to understand that they needed to look for the snitch. The captain, Mick Murphy, then sent the remaining Seeker hopefuls into the air, hoping that one of them would grab the snitch before it flew away from the pitch.
Charlie flew up, above the other players, and hovered on his broom. He scanned all around the Pitch, looking for the glint of gold. At one point, he thought he saw a flash, and started flying toward it, but stopped when he realized it was just the sun reflecting off another player's hair. Charlie had been in the air for fifteen minutes, and it appeared that no one had even SEEN the snitch. He slowly started to circle the Pitch, varying his height in the air. He looked around one more time, and was sure that he saw it. He sped up, and raced across the Pitch, changing direction so quickly, that the other players were too surprised to react at first. The snitch took off across the pitch, and Charlie turned his broom around on the spot, and followed.
By now, the other players saw the snitch was well, but Charlie had a head start on all of them. He also appeared to have more talent on the broom than any other player on the pitch. He could dodge and weave around the players without losing speed. He kept one eye on the snitch, and his other on the other players. After chasing the snitch over the pitch several times, Charlie decided it was time to end the chase. He put on a burst of speed and reached his arm out. His fingers brushed the wings on the snitch, and he quickly closed his hand around it. He turned around, and flew back to the captain. He dropped the snitch in the captain's hand, and smiled.
"Well, since none of the rest of you lot came even close, Weasley is our new Seeker." He turned to look at Charlie. "You've got to work on catching it faster, though, or we'll still finish at the bottom of the Quidditch Cup standings…" He dropped his eyes and his voice, "again."
"I will, and thank you. I'll work hard; I won't make you sorry you chose me."
"I couldn't very well choose any of the others, could I?"
Charlie shrugged and walked to the changing rooms. Eric and the girls hurried up to him.
"Charlie, you were brilliant. I told you that you had nothing to worry about."
Charlie blushed at the compliment. Tonks slapped his head.
"Wh-what was THAT for?"
"For being a right idiot before the trials. We all knew you would be great. Congratulations on being made Seeker." She started to walk back to the castle. She looked back over her shoulder and winked at Charlie. "Too bad Hufflepuff's going to flatten you."
"If I hadn't told Hagrid I'd go into the Forest with him, you'd be in trouble, Tonks. As it is, you'd better watch yourself."
She stuck her tongue out at him, and set off for the castle at a jog. Charlie couldn't help but laugh when she tripped on her robes, and landed in a heap on the lawn. He shook his head, and started to walk toward Hagrid's hut.
"Charlie…glad yer here. The Unicorns won't let me near the foals. Thought maybe they'd let me if you were with me."
"I'm glad to go into the Forest with you Hagrid…but I don't know what I can do to help."
"The Unicorns trust ya, Charlie. They seem to sense something about ya."
They walked together into the Forest. Hagrid kept Fang, his boarhound, with them for protection. They walked for about ten minutes, until they reached a small clearing. In the centre, Charlie saw several adult unicorns circling around two golden hued foals. A male unicorn walked to the edge of the clearing, blocking the mother and foals. Charlie reached out his hand, and hoped for the best. Charlie waited until the male unicorn stepped aside, then he and Hagrid entered the clearing. The female unicorns also stepped aside, and allowed Hagrid to examine the unicorn foals. He declared them healthy, and the duo left the Forest.
"Yeh'll be starting Care of Magical Creatures next year, yeh have quite a way with magical creatures. Yeh'll do well in that class."
"I like magical creatures. I still can't believe the unicorns let us in. They don't really like men very much. I guess, maybe because I'm still a kid, it made it ok?"
"Dunno why they trust ya…but they do. Creatures know more than we give 'em credit fer. Yeh have a gift, Charlie Weasley, a gift. Better get back to the castle fer lunch. Thank yeh for yer help."
Charlie went back to the castle, and met his friends in the Great Hall. He told them about the unicorns and the foals. The other students were quite interested in magical creatures as well, and the Muggle born girls, especially, were very interested in unicorns. Charlie was happy to tell them about his venture into the Forest with Hagrid. In fact, Charlie was going to ask Hagrid if he could bring a friend along on his visits from now on.
The rest of the month seemed to creep by. Charlie was to start Quidditch practice the first Saturday of October, and he was anxious to do a good job. He had spent some free time flying around the pitch. Charlie was aware that the captain had taken a chance by putting him on the team. He was sure he wouldn't win every match, but he didn't want to lose them all either. The spent the rest of the time with classes and visiting Hagrid. On occasion, either Eric, or one of the girls would accompany him. On those days, they didn't go into the Forest. Hagrid was actually quite selective about which students he brought into the Forest.
Finally, the first practice came, and Charlie hurried through breakfast. He took off for the pitch, and joined the rest of the team. They listened as the captain outlined his game plan for the Quidditch season.
"We lost a lot of good players last year. We need to learn to work together as a team. We'll be on this pitch every Saturday morning, right after breakfast, no exceptions." Mick looked sternly at two of his Chasers. "Tegan, Naomh…You are on a team…this isn't the Tegan/Naomh show. Let us all do our jobs, and we might just win some games this year."
Charlie remembered Bill and then Mick, mentioning that Gryffindor finished the season at the bottom standings, having lost every game they played. He hoped that they wouldn't have a repeat of last season.
"Charlie, can you throw a Quaffle? I want our Keeper to get some practice, but I need to get these Chasers whipped into shape."
"I'm a fair hand with the Quaffle, not Chaser quality, but I'll be able to hit the rings."
"Great, you head to the other end of the pitch with David. We'll get you some Seeker practice too, but this is where I need you right now."
"That's fine; I'll do what you need me to do. We play pick up games at home, so I'm all right with all the positions.""Good to know Weasley…good to know. Now get to the other end of the pitch and throw the Quaffle"
Charlie helped the Keeper practice, until they both decided that Charlie wasn't actually good enough to give him any real practice. David, the Keeper, signalled Mick to come over.
"Can I let the snitch out for Weasley? I'm just blocking everything he's throwing anyway…and he doesn't need to learn to be a Chaser. S'not his position."
Mick appeared to be considering the option, and then he nodded his head. "Go ahead, Ritter. You know where we keep the practice snitches, right? They're charmed not to leave the pitch, but sometimes, if you take too long, they'll fly away. Don't let that happen, Weasley. Madam Hooch will have my badge if I lose snitches."
David released a snitch, and a moment later, Charlie was in the air. He again hovered above the pitch. He thought it might be a bit easier to see it with less people in the air. He wasn't sure whether that was an advantage or a disadvantage, because during a game, there would be two full teams flying around, and he'd have to avoid Bludgers too. He caught a glint of gold down near the ground, and flew toward it. He wasn't daft enough to do a full out dive, but he was determined to catch it. He barely touched the snitch, and it flew up and away across the pitch. Charlie turned on his broom and went racing after it. A few moments later, he reached the snitch and snatched it out of the air.
"It took you less time this time, Weasley."
"I found it a bit easier with less people playing Seeker. I'm sure I'll get better in time. I told you I wouldn't make you sorry for picking me."
"The more I watch you fly, the more I know you were the best choice, not just the 'best of what I had to choose from' choice. Head back to the castle, practice is over for today."
Charlie landed his broom and went to the changing room. He stowed his Quidditch gear and his broom, and headed back to the castle. He hurried back to the Common Room where he found his friends building card houses with Exploding Snap cards. He watched for a few minutes before he tried to add a card, and exploded the entire building. They all groaned, and cleaned up the mess. As a group, they all went down to the Great Hall for lunch.
