Chapter Nine: Great Potential
Though many of those involved had questioned whether James' scheme would have quite the level of impact that he had said it would, it quickly became evident that there was nothing they could have done that could have created such a fervor of panic and distress in the Castle! Students everywhere were in a state of panic, each and every one of them dying to know what had become of their precious broomstick!
The worst of the lot were the players on the various House Teams, all of whom knew that they were losing out on valuable practice time before the rapidly approaching Quidditch season, but they were far from the only people worried by what had happened. At least two-thirds of the Castle played Quidditch, and just about each and every one of them had nearly gone into shock at the realization that their broomstick was missing.
Of course, a massive search effort was mounted from each of the four Houses, all of them accusing members of opposite Houses of having stolen their broomsticks. Slytherins, of course, were the preferred targets of most – but the fact that their broomsticks were missing too was a pretty insurmountable obstacle to anyone who wanted to pin it on them, though that did not stop them from trying.
It was in this spirit of chaotic worry that Fred gave James a satisfied grin on the third day since the broomsticks had vanished and said "I gotta hand it to you Jamsie, this was a pretty well thought out number you pulled."
"I have no idea what you're talking about." James said innocently, sipping on his pumpkin juice with a satisfied grin. Over at the Ravenclaw Table, Erin Jason and the others were doing a very convincing job of feigning concern and indignation at the disappearance of their broomsticks – a fact which he was very proud of.
Everyone had fulfilled their part far better than James could have ever have anticipated. With this many people involved he had been certain that someone would have caved and told their friend, but the operation had run so smoothly that not even James would have believed it at first. He had been certain that someone would have let slip what was going on – perhaps to a friend who was particularly worried – but there was not so much as a whisper as to what had happened.
"When do you reckon that they'll figure out where we hid them?" Jeremey asked, struggling to suppress a smirk and look sufficiently downcast. The Great Hall as a whole was very crestfallen by this time, with almost everyone having fallen under the depressing umbrella of the recent turn of events.
For as much as they would love to step up and take credit for their prank they could not, not yet anyway. Once things had died down a bit and everyone had their brooms back then maybe they could reveal what they had done, but at the moment that was too dangerous of a proposition.
"It shouldn't take too long." James replied with a smirk, "Though when they do they're all going to feel like the biggest bunch of idiots in the history of Wizardkind." It seemed that this idea filled James with a sense of glee, as he was humming pleasantly to himself at the very idea of how stupid everyone was going to feel in a very short amount of time.
"And so will we." Zach warned sharply, "Remember, we didn't know any more than they did." Zach had been very worried about the possibility of them getting caught, and what would happen to them if everyone found out. Not about what the teachers would do – they didn't care about that – they were afraid of what the older students would do to them.
Still though, there were rumors flying around that they had been involved in some way, despite their best efforts to make people believe the contrary. A prank of this magnitude would need a large group of experienced pranksters, and it had not escaped anyone's notice that Fred Weasley was now once again singing the praises of his cousins and their friends. It did not take much sense to put it together, Fred Weasley had been the one fatal link in their chain.
Fortunately though, those people who had been able to string what had happened together seemed content to just wait things out. After all, if James Potter and his friends were behind this then there was little doubt that everyone's broomsticks would turn up in a short time in perfect shape. After all, there was no way that someone who loved Quidditch so much could possibly do any lasting harm to a broomstick – that would be sacrilege!
They were right of course, no one's broomsticks were even remotely damaged. In fact, in a strictly literal sense, they were not even missing. For while everyone had been running about the Castle looking for their brooms in a horrified frenzy, their brooms had all been hidden in plain sight the entire time.
The broomsticks were hidden in the last place that anyone would have ever thought to look. Each and every broomstick was carefully tucked away in the student-supply-closet in the Common Room which its owner called home.
It was a brilliantly simple plan, and James himself was amazed that he had even thought of it. Each Common Room contained a small closet which was filled with quills, rolls of parchment, and spare textbooks – but they were never used. It was considered taboo for any student to use any of the supplies that had been stored there, as they were stocked by teachers and therefore – as far as any student was concerned – could not be trusted!
James' one fear had been the brooms that were hidden in Ravenclaw House, which he had been certain would be discovered after barely an hour had passed. Though Nick had assured them that not even he used the supplies stored there, James had been convinced that some low-life snitch in Ravenclaw House would stumble upon them before the first day was out.
But his suspicions had proven to be false, as the brooms were still just as absent as they had been the morning that everyone had awoken to find that the school's brooms were missing. And now, with Quidditch Tryouts just days away, people were beginning to worry that they would not be found in time.
On the fourth morning since James and his friends had hidden the brooms, just when he was beginning to wonder if perhaps it would be best to just have Rose 'stumble upon' the hiding places so that Quidditch Tryouts could proceed as scheduled, there was an excited shrieking in the Great Hall as a Ravenclaw girl came running into the Great Hall – clearly thinking that she was going to be seen as some kind of hero.
"Everyone!" She shouted, "I know where the brooms are hidden!" drawing the attention of every student in the Great Hall to her. It was clear that she had not realized just how much attention was going to be directed her way. The entire Great Hall had fallen dead silent, and everyone was looking at her with ravenous expression on their faces.
The girl paused for a moment, looking over the sea of faces with a petrified expression. At last though, she cleared her throat and said excitedly "The Grey Lady told me," to which every student who knew anything about the Ravenclaw House Ghost let out an audible gasp of surprise. The Grey Lady did not talk to most students at all, let alone revealing any kind of information – no matter what it was. The fact that this girl had gotten her to divulge any kind of knowledge was quite an impressive feat.
James was still thinking to himself that this girl was worth getting to know when Albus poked him on the shoulder and whispered in a strangely croaky voice "That's Kim Brady, she's in my year." and indeed, James did remember hearing her name mentioned somewhere. If he was not mistaken it had been something that Luke had said to Albus, but he was not positive.
Either way, the girl was now beginning to look like she was going to be able to finish her sentence without balking at the number of people staring at her, and announced "They're hidden in the supply closets in the Common Rooms!"
There was immediately a rush as students raced out of the Great Hall to be the first back to the Common Rooms to get their brooms before anyone else could dare to touch them! Everyone was – quite naturally – afraid that their brooms would go missing again if they did not get them immediately, and so the Great Hall was mostly empty in a matter of seconds.
James however did not rush to get out, he was too busy walking across the Great Hall to where the girl was being commended by a large number of – more sensible – older students for her impressive feat.
"Nice find." James said, "Looks like we all owe you one." Of course, James had no intention of repaying any kind of debt with this girl, but it was good to make sure that she knew who he was and that he was impressed with her. He had quite enjoyed the operation that they had recently pulled off, and he was already planning another large multi-House prank for which a girl with this kind of ingenuity would be very helpful.
And of course, there was no question that she would join right in if James Sirius Potter himself asked her to. He was the king of the school, at least as far as he was concerned – when he asked, people acted!
Kim's gaze slid right past him to something behind him before coming back and saying, "Oh, you're Albus' brother right?"
James looked over his shoulder and saw Albus grinning feebly at them, and gaped in shock. Had he just been referred to as 'Albus' older brother'? Albus was his younger brother, not the other way around! He was not to be referred to as some kind of accessory to Albus, as though he were less important than his younger brother!
Albus clearly noticed that James was about to yell, and so he dragged his brother out of the Great Hall saying rather quietly "Good going Kim, I'll see you in Potions."
As the brothers left the Great Hall, Albus shoved James aside and said with a chuckle "You looked like a bull about to charge Jamie, take it easy next time."
"'Albus' younger brother'" James muttered to himself, still feeling quite annoyed at the way that this Kim girl had addressed him. She would not be working with the Golden Marauders after that, James would make sure that she lived to see the error of her ways.
In a way it was funny how much power James thought he had over other people, especially in times when they clearly displayed a lack of interest in what he was doing. For it was times like those, as had just happened, when James began to really lose it – and it would not be far off to suggest that Kim was lucky to still have her head attached to her body!
"Oh come off it James!" Albus said with a roll of his eyes, "Do you know how many times I've been called 'James Potter's little brother'? It happens when you talk to people who have known me longer than they've known you so just get over yourself!" It was hard to argue with Albus when he got so agonizingly logical like that, which was probably why James hated it when he got like that. He did not like to be proven wrong, and Albus seemed determined to do exactly that, and do it without any apparent difficulty.
"Alright fine." James groaned as they began making their way towards Gryffindor Tower, knowing that this was an argument that he was destined to lose. He knew why this really bothered him, and so did Albus. He already had to deal constantly with being called 'Harry Potter's son', and so he did not like being referred to by comparison to other people when he didn't have to be – Albus was of course the very same way.
Sometimes, he just wanted to be James Potter – but sometimes it seemed that it was very hard to be just him, and not part of someone else.
"Well, let's hurry up." James said with a half-forced grin, "I won't ever forgive you if my Nimbus 3000 gets scuffed up because I was hanging around talking to you!" and without another word, the two brothers darted for Gryffindor Common Room.
Not that they were nervous or anything, just to be on the safe side.
The day had come at last, with everyone's brooms returned to them the House Quidditch Team tryouts were able to proceed as scheduled – though there had been a few changes to the way that such matters were taken care of at Hogwarts.
When not a single student had dared return their broomsticks to the school's broom cupboard, Professor McGonagall had finally announced to the school that each and every broomstick would be protected with an anti-theft charm once they were placed back in the broom cupboard, and that the shed would be locked securely with magic that a student could not reverse.
The broom cupboard had filled right back up after that – as it was still safer and easier than just keeping it in your dormitory all the time. Besides, if what Professor McGonagall had said was true then they would not need to worry about any such thefts again in the future.
The first House to hold their Quidditch tryouts was Slytherin, who made but very few changes, as opposed to last season when half of their team was either replaced or changed position over the summer. This year they had made but two new additions, replacing the hated Remington Parker as Seeker, and his best friend Richard Gomez – who was a Chaser.
Much to the boy's shock, Slytherin's new Captain – the thuggish Anthony Peirce – had chosen Nicolette Evermore to fill the vacant Seeker spot left by Parker's departure. The boys had not seen much of Nicolette outside of the classroom, though from what they understood her English had improved somewhat. Much more interesting – and distressing in some ways – as far as James was concerned was Slytherin's new Chaser, Leon Bartlett.
None of the boys had spoken with Leon since their falling out the year before, and Scorpius had told them that he was still as moody as ever. James felt bad for Scorpius, whom he knew had been competing with Leon for that Chaser spot, but felt some sick pleasure in the knowledge that he would soon be able to try and knock that good for nothing snot off of his broom!
It upset James greatly that Leon – with whom he had once been friends – he know regarded as such a hated foe that he would like nothing more than to knock him off of his broom. He had long held out hope that they could reconcile their differences, but it seemed that the chance for such a coming together had long since passed them by.
"I know it sucks." said Zach as he tugged his Quidditch robes on in the changing room. "But it's nothing that we can change. Look on the bright side, I'm gonna absolutely whale on that punk when we play Slytherin!"
The thought did cheer James up somewhat, but not by all that much.
The Gryffindors were the last team to have their tryouts, and had three slots open in their roster. Mitchel Gate, the new Gryffindor Captain, had made it clear that James Jeremey and Zach's spots were already written into the roster next to his, and they would not be in jeopardy of losing them.
"You guys are the future of Gryffindor's Team." He had told them, "So I'd be crazy to let any of you go over one lousy practice – assuming that's what happens." He said, noting the indignant expressions that had crossed each of their faces after this.
"We don't need any favors Mitchie." Jeremey said in a grumble. "We can earn our spots just like everyone else." Zach nodded once at this sentiment, and James chimed in "You can't honestly thing that this was necessary."
Mitchel refused to back down, and just shrugged saying "I'm only covering all my bases here guys. You're probably right, you probably will be fine anyways. But I just wanted to make sure we were all on the same page."
James had to admit that he had a point, even if he was loath to admit it. Hufflepuff Captain Scott Nash had not even bothered to hold tryouts, their roster had been set before the year had even started. Everyone who had played on their team the year before was still in Hogwarts, and after the efforts they had put towards improving the year before they were not going to change that now. In fact, Hufflepuff's team was still the exact same one that had won the Quidditch Cup in James' First Year, and if the stories about Christian's improved condition was true then they were well positioned to do it again.
The Hufflepuff's biggest asset though, was still Billy Hewitt – the legendary Seeker who had so completely baffled Jeremey during their First Year at Hogwarts. He was still considered the best Seeker in Hogwarts, especially with Remington Parker gone, though Justin Shindler was also exceptionally good.
James had teased Jeremey about this as they were getting ready to head out. "You know Jer," he said slyly "You know what this means that Parker's gone, right?"
Jeremey, of course, had not the slightest idea what James was talking about, and so he gave his friend a look of confusion and shrugged.
Looking surprised, James exclaimed "Jer? How could you not know? It means that you're the 3rd best Seeker in Hogwarts now!"
In all fairness, this was probably not too outrageous of an assertion. In fact, you could argue that it was in fact entirely true. Jeremey's record against Billy Hewitt was still 1-2, and both Seekers had won the Quidditch Cup for their House – in fact Justin had done it twice!
Still, this was not the kind of thing that you wanted to hear from your best friend, and Jeremey was understandably annoyed by what James had said. But, of course, James was not going to let it die at that. "Although, you may still be dead last for all I know." James muttered, "You really are quite pathetic …"
Jeremey was about to shoot back a fiery retort, and indeed the two may have come to mock blows before long had it not been for a thundering voice from the Pitch. "IF YOU TWO DUNDERHEADS DON'T GET OUT HERE RIGHT NOW I SWEAR TO MERLIN I WILL CUT YOU BOTH!"
And so without another word the two boys jammed the rest of their uniforms on and raced out onto the Pitch so fast that they may as well have Apparated.
Gryffindor had the most open slots of any team, as Ravenclaw's tryouts the day before had yielded only one new addition to the team, Melinda Thomas who would be replacing former Captain Andy Malone at Chaser position. Justin Shindler would – at long last it would seem – assume the mantle of the Captaincy in his 7th Year.
There was quite a turnout, including many people that James himself knew from around Gryffindor House. Most notable were Andrew – the last of the Golden Marauders left off the team, as they reminded him often – Albus, Fred, and … wait, who had he just seen.
For the briefest of moments he had believed that he had seen a familiar brown-haired girl standing amongst the crowds, and indeed he noticed that Andrew looked as though he were ready to kill the first person foolish enough to come near him.
Julie Knight was there to tryout for the team!
Before sending any of the returning players into the air, Mitchel had tinned the prospects considerably by putting them through some basic flying exercises. After dismissing those who clearly could not fly well enough to have a chance at making the team, he set the remaining recruits to work testing out their more fine-tuned abilities in the air.
James was so busy watching Albus, who was squaring off against Elizabeth Robinson and an older girl named Emma Burrows for the final Chaser spot that he did not pay much mind to how Fred, Julie, or Andrew were doing. He was concerned about the others, but Albus was just a little bit more important.
He had to admit, that Albus was looking pretty spectacular. His form was absolutely flawless, his flying superb, and his abilities with a Quaffle were quite impressive. Still, that was nothing more than James had expected. If you wanted to survive in the Weasley Quidditch Pitch back at the Burrow you needed to know what you were doing – their Uncles had not pulled any punches (metaphorically speaking) in their father-son games.
When he did take the time to look back at how the others were doing, he noticed that Fred was looking extremely flustered. It seemed to him that Fred was not at all well suited to be a Beater, as he could not control where he sent the Bludger, and kept sending it off at sharp angles. Andrew on the other hand was hitting the Bludger back to Zach so well that it was like the two were playing catch.
It pained James to admit it – but Fred was probably not going to be on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team this year. In fact, until he came to terms with the fact that he was not going to be a Beater, he was probably never going to make the mark.
Fred wasn't his father, or his namesake – just like James and Albus weren't either – he just hadn't quite accepted it just yet.
James didn't pay much attention to how the Keepers were doing, he did not want bias to come into play when he took his shots. He wanted the best Keeper – even if that was Andrew's stupid little sister.
"It'd be cool if they both made the team, wouldn't it?" Jeremey asked James as the two passed in midair. "Andrew and Julie that is." He added to clarify a moment later, a statement which left James staring after his best friend in disbelief. Jeremey had not been given very much to do, there was no point in sending him after the Snitch and Mitchel did not want to use him to test Keepers as he wasn't sure what kind of shot Jeremey had. As such, he had mainly just flew around and watched people's form.
"Dude, you actually want Julie to make the team?" James asked with a tone that suggested that Jeremey had mentioned that he'd like to see Remington Parker drop by for a visit.
Jeremey just shrugged, a rather impressive feat considering that they were balanced on broomsticks over a hundred feet up in the air and replied "I dunno, Julie's alright I mean …"
But James was not going to let him finish "Dude, she's Andrew's younger sister. He can't stand her, so we can't stand her." That was how it worked of course, didn't Canadians learn anything about how life worked?
"But –" Jeremey began before immediately being silenced by a glare from James. There was no arguing that point, they all had to agree on such matters – back each other up so to speak.
The next morning, a large group of Gryffindors were crowded around a notice which had been posted in Gryffindor Common Room, announcing at last the roster which would – with any luck – lead Gryffindor one step closer to the Quidditch Cup!
Though he knew that – as much as he had wanted to prove that he still deserved it – his spot on the team had been marked down before tryouts even opened, James was still just as interested in seeing the results as he had been when it had been he himself trying out for a spot one the team. He knew too many people who had tried out not to be invested in the outcome, and he knew that at least one of them were going to walk away disappointed.
As James was making his way towards the bulletin board where the results had been pinned, he heard a loud and jubilated shout coming from the front of the mob, followed moments later by somewhat more subdued whoops of encouragement moments later.
The crowd parted, and Andrew Knight practically fell out of their midst, stumbling as he rushed past James yelling "I MADE THE TEAM!" this news apparently causing too much excitement to allow him time to stop and greet his dormmate. Barely a second later, Zach came rushing out of the crowd after Andrew yelling "Yea well let's see just how much of a shelling you can take!" but he was wearing a wide grin on his face.
It was with a sunken heart then that James approached the board, knowing already that Fred's bid to make the House Team would have to wait for at least one more year. It was nothing more than he had expected after having watched the way that Fred had performed at the position of Beater, but he still could not help but feel terribly for his cousin's situation.
He noticed that Fred was nowhere to be seen, and assumed that he must have left long before – no doubt he was still terribly upset by what had happened.
At last, James managed to battle his way through the crowd to the bulletin board, reading down with some sense of excitement still brewing despite his sympathies for Fred.
2018-2019
Gryffindor House Quidditch Team
[Captain: Mitchel Gate]
Seeker: Jeremey Hall
Beater: Andrew Knight
Beater: Zachary Tolentino
Keeper: Julie Knight
Chaser: Mitchel Gate
Chaser: James Potter
Chaser: Albus Potter
James allowed himself a triumphant grin as he read the last name; Albus had made the team – as James had known all along that he would! The brothers had spent so many years playing Quidditch together that they could practically read each others' minds when they were on the Pitch together, and James knew that they were going to tear the competition apart once they got airborne!
James immediately went looking for his younger brother, which admittedly was not that hard. After making his way past the throng of people who were questioning Andrew and Zach about the team's chances, James found his brother attempting to hide from an even larger crowd of Gryffindors – all determined to ask him about whether he thought that he would be able to help Gryffindor to victory.
"Alright you lot better clear off if you want Gryffindor's new players to keep their composure long enough to play so much as a single game." James said, eying the onlookers who surrounded Albus – and Julie as well as he had just recently noticed – with a look of annoyance as the students around him began to grumble and move away. Sure what James had said was probably nonsense, but in case it was not no one wanted to be the guy who ruined Gryffindor's chances.
James smirked and gave Albus a knowing look as he said "I told you that you were a shoo-in to make the team." The fact that James had been nervous just moments before was no longer important, as far as he was concerned there had never been any doubt now that everything was behind them.
Albus however, was not quite so sure, as he gave James a rather reproachful look and said "Fred's real beat up about it you know."
James said nothing, he did not know what to say to make it any better that Fred was left as the odd man out after he had been so desperate to make the Quidditch Team on his first attempt. He knew that Fred must have been absolutely devastated, and he wished that Fred would come and be up front with him about what he was feeling.
"Where is he?" James asked, not meeting Albus' eye as he spoke. He wondered if Fred blamed him – thinking that James could have pulled some strings with the Captain to get him on the team. But no, Fred must have known that James would have done anything he could to help his family get on the team.
"He's off with Luke and Darren." Albus explained, "Neither of them are any good at Quidditch, so I reckon they'll do a right job of helping him get over it." though from his tone it was clear that he was not altogether convinced of his roommates' abilities to accomplish such a feat. There was little in the world that was more important to Fred than Quidditch, and that was not something that was going to change very quickly. Still, it might be for the best if he had some people to talk to about it.
Then again, for all James knew, it could have been a terrible idea too. He was not really the best of people when it came to these kinds of sentimental things, he was never sure if what he was thinking was the right thing to do, or if it would just make everything ten million times worse!
Still, Albus seemed to think that this was a good idea, and Albus usually knew what he was talking about. James supposed that he would have to accept that Albus knew what he was doing and hope for the best. After all, if Albus didn't know what was the right thing to do then he most certainly didn't.
Turning his attention to Julie, James muttered quietly "So, you're on the team too." His tone was neither annoyed nor excited; it was entirely neutral – which was a big step up for him.
Julie seemed to know what James had been thinking about her though, as she turned her nose at him and said "Yes I am James, and I would thank you not to make any snide remarks about it with Andy or Albus and I may just have to make a few … improvements … to your hair."
And without another word, Julie swept from the Gryffindor Common Room, followed closely by Albus who gave James a cheeky wink as he left.
Dear Merlin, what unholy terror had he unleashed in those two?
Sorry that the Monday update of the James Potter and the Continuous Legacy Reboot was missing, my laptop crashed Monday morning and I didn't get it back until Thursday, which is why this update is coming in so late tonight. I had to work around the clock to get it all done properly, but here it is!
Next week I should be right back into the grove of things, thanks to everyone who has been following, love you long time, and please REVIEW! :)
