The Try-outs
The four sat at their usual small table in the kitchens as the house-elves ran around them, carrying plates and dishes to be set for the Sunday morning breakfast that would begin upstairs at any moment.
'You're all in rather early today,' Grindl squeaked as he ran past, his arms laden with a plate loaded with a pile of bacon that towered over his head.
'Merida and I have quidditch try-outs today,' Jack yelled after him, nodding towards the two brooms leaning on the table.
'Jack's got his first thing this morning and then it's Gryffindor before lunch,' Merida clarified as the elf raced back to fetch more forks.
'And we're here to support them,' Hiccup added while Rapunzel nodded, her mouth currently full.
'How is that going to work, if you don't mind my asking?' a second, female elf called Elise asked as she passed them. 'After all you are from different houses.'
Elise was Grindl's wife, or at least they were the closest thing to married that house-elves got. The ceremony had been set in the four's second year and both had invited the four which meant that they had been the first humans to see a house-elf wedding for over fifty years. It had been a short ceremony where Merida had NOT CRIED, followed by a moderate feast cooked by the bride and groom themselves.
'Rapunzel and I are going to wear our normal house colours but she's painting red and gold stripes on her cheeks for Merida and I'm painting mine green and silver for Jack,' Hiccup told her, having to swivel in his seat awkwardly to keep Elise in view as she passed.
'That way they both get a supporter and we can still cheer for our own houses at the same time,' Rapunzel added as she twirled her blue and bronze Ravenclaw scarf in her fingers.
The kitchens began to settle down then as the food and drinks vanished from the tables and reappeared above, giving the elves some rest time before their next duties. Grindl and Elise sat at the table and asked if they might eat with the four.
'Grindl, it's been two years, ye don't have to ask our permission ta eat with us,' Merida groaned in exasperation. House-elves may have gained better rights but they hadn't fully mastered the idea of equality yet.
'How are your new lessons?' Grindl asked after Merida was forced to give permission to let them sit. 'You were all very excited about them yesterday.'
'Arithmancy was fantastic,' Rapunzel replies excitedly, 'it's so interesting, it's all about using magical and mathematical formula to predict the future. I prefer it to Divination although Merida seemed to hate it more.'
'Ha! Damn right. That crack pot Trelawney told me I was goin' ta die but I didn't believe her for a minute.'
'Yes you did, you only stopped shivering after Toothiana told you Trelawney said it to a student every year,' Hiccup reminded her helpfully.
'How would you know Haddock? Ye don't even take Divination!'
'Trelawney kept looking at me funnily,' Rapunzel mused, 'Do you remember what she was like when she saw me Merida? She would keep looking over at me and she got really excited over when I saw something in the tea leaves.'
'She's crazy,' was all Merida could give in answer. 'And Ancient Runes isn't any easier; I have to learn to translate the damn things by readin' all these musty old books.'
Merida wasn't sure why she'd chosen Study of Ancient Runes in the first place, she only chose Divination because it had seemed easy at the time but it was as if she had been drawn to Ancient Runes like a moth to flame.
'I told her it was a bad choice,' Jack told the elves, 'She should have come to Care for Magical Creatures with me and Hiccup, although Hiccup was a total show off.'
'I just know a lot about magical creatures is all,' Hiccup protested, 'After all, I was apprenticed to the teacher for most of my life.'
'He was totally showing off,' Jack whispered to Rapunzel and Pascal who both giggled at the look of indignation on Hiccup's face.
'Shouldn't we get going anyway,' Hiccup huffed in annoyance as Merida joined in with the laughter.
'Aye, Hiccup's right you're gonna be late Jack,' Merida agreed, still smirking slightly.
'Good luck at the try-outs,' Grindl and Elise called aster them they left.
'Thanks, and thanks for the food as usual,' Jack called back as the painting closed off the kitchen entrance.
The four hurried down the corridor and back up the stairs that would lead to the exit to the courtyard. They ran out into the morning sunlight, probably some of the last sun they'd see as autumn and winter took hold. They began to head down to the quidditch pitch until Jack sprang into the air in his excitement and whipped up the winds to propel him faster towards the pitch, forcing the others to run after him. It was because of this that he ended up arriving five minutes early for the start of the try-outs anyway and had to wait for the others to catch up, panting as they did.
'Come on guys, hurry up it's going to start at any minute,' he urged as the three caught their breath, leaning on the wall or resting their hands on their knees.
'Go on without us Jack, we have to watch from the stands anyway,' Rapunzel returned, pushing him towards the entrance to the pitch.
Jack gave them all one final look as they hurried up the stairs of one of the raised stands to get good spots before turning and heading out onto the pitch. There were a few applicants already ahead of him and they were all lining up in front of the current Slytherin quidditch captain James Turner. He took his place among the rest of the applicants, holding tightly on to his new Nimbus 3000 in eagerness for flight.
'Well, well, well. If it isn't Jack Frost,' said a voice Jack recognized immediately.
'Mulcaster, I thought I smelled something rotten,' Jack replied jovially to the fourth year who was leering down at him.
'You're not honestly going to try out for this are you?' Mulcaster sneered, 'You need to have some actual talent at flying to even have a chance at being accepted.'
'And yet you're still here,' Jack replied calmly, causing some of the other applicants to chuckle hesitantly until Mulcaster gave them a silencing look.
'Make jokes while you can Frost, there's no way they're going to let a muggle-lover on the team,' Mulcaster taunted, making Jack's fist clench just a little tighter around his broom.
Before he had a chance to reply the last applicant arrived and the try-outs began. James ticked off the last name from the applicant list and stepped forward to address the nine students standing before him.
'For those of you who don't know, I'm James Turner the team captain,' he began, walking back and forth in front of the students. 'We've got an opening for a seeker and a chaser this year so we're going to start off with some routine passes to warm you up for the tougher stuff.'
He and the nine, as well as the two chasers already part of the team who were helping out, rose into the air. One of the team's beaters, Thomas Carrington, opened the chest that contained the quidditch balls and tossed up two quaffles to the chasers. The aim of the first exercise was to catch the ball the chaser threw to you and throw it back, easier said than done as the chasers made their tosses more difficult with each round eventually forcing applicants to dive and swerve to catch the ball before it hit the ground.
Several applicants dropped their quaffle as the exercise grew steadily harder but Jack caught all of his, diving, swooping and in one case spinning in a loop before throwing the quaffle back at the chaser. Mulcaster was doing well too, he hadn't dropped any balls yet either and the two were soon the only two able to keep up with the chasers who continuously added extra velocity and spin to each throw. Eventually James stopped the exercise when he'd seen enough before either Mulcaster or Jack could drop a single ball which made Jack grit his teeth as he'd hoped to beat Mulcaster at the first opportunity he had.
After that the applicants had to fly through different sized hoops that magically raised themselves to fly above the pitch, some wide enough to let three in at a time and some so small Jack could barely fit through them as he flew. Finally, their last test was to catch small practice snitches that James and the chasers threw erratically around the field. None of the applicants could catch one except Jack and Mulcaster. Jack had caught three of the small orbs and could see James throw the last one of the lot high into the air.
He lifted the head of his broom upwards and zoomed after it, the air roaring in his ears as he accelerated. Mulcaster flashed in front of him suddenly and he was forced to pull back to prevent a crash. He scowled angrily and urged his broom to go faster as Mulcaster gained on the small orb.
Suddenly he felt it, a small but significant change in the air currents that signalled the winds were going to change. He'd grown so used to controlling the winds to fly that he had begun to learn to read the air currents subconsciously and right now they were telling him that the wind was going to change course at any moment. He smiled and let Mulcaster pull ahead, hearing the cheer of triumph from the boy who believed he was victorious as he reached out to grab his prize. The winds changed right then, blowing in from the west and causing the ball to slip away from Mulcaster's fingers. It began to fall back to the ground away from Mulcaster, who was desperately trying to turn his broom around in time to fly after it, and right towards Jack. He met the ball coming up as it fell and caught it in one hand, raising it up in victory he heard the cheers below him from the others who were all waving or clapping their hands in praise.
He descended ahead of the cursing Mulcaster and handed his four balls to James, who nodded approvingly and joined the rest of the applicants who were watching him with a mixture of the usual disdain and an admiration that they probably hoped he wouldn't see. Mulcaster joined them a second later, scowling at Jack as James placed his three practice snitches back in their pouch.
'Good work all of you,' James told them happily, 'I'm going to spend a few minutes discussing my choices with the rest of the team and then I'll tell you the final decision.'
At that he went into a huddle with the rest of the quidditch team and all of the members began to talk animatedly at once while the applicants began to mutter quiet encouragement to each other.
'They're going to make me seeker for sure,' Mulcaster boasted at Jack who rolled his eyes in response.
He looked over at the stands and saw the others standing at the edge of one waving down and giving him thumbs up in encouragement. He smiled and waved back happily in response as the Slytherin team broke apart and James walked back to the applicants.
'It's settled then,' he announced cheerily, 'for the chaser we've decided Ted Mulcaster and the seeker will be Jack Frost.'
'What!' Mulcaster yelled in anger as Jack punched the air in joy at the news, not only was he seeker but in addition Mulcaster wasn't going to be, which just made the appointment that much sweeter.
'For those of you who didn't make it, please apply to act as subs for our team if you want,' James continued, speaking to the rest of the applicants whose faces shared similar looks of disappointment which did lighten at the unspoken compliment that James still thought they were good enough to play for the team.
'Now you two can join us,' James told Jack and the dumbstruck Mulcaster as the others left, 'we're going to stay on to watch the Gryffindor try-outs. It's always good to get a look at the enemy's new recruits.'
He led them to one side of the pitch that acted as the entrance to the Slytherin changing rooms as well as an area to watch the match with wooden seats lining the walls that would be protected from most of the wind. He sat Jack and Mulcaster down and introduced them to the rest of the team who waved and said hello before turning to watch the Gryffindor team stroll onto the field, followed by their own applicants, Merida among them.
She looked around her at the other applicants who either ignored her or gave her the usual look of general dislike that the house seemed to have reserved specially for her and the others. After five minutes of preparation the Gryffindor captain walked over and addressed them like James had the Slytherins. Her name was Alice Chang, a seventh year, who looked each of the applicants over appraisingly as if to judge their skill from the way they stood alone.
Eventually, however, she smiled and thanked them all for coming in a kindly but business-like tone. From what Merida had heard while Chang was a fun person to hang out with she took the game very seriously and would work her team hard every training session to ready them for a match. Merida remembered watching some of the team coming in from a practice session that had been booked during a hail storm, soaked in water, sweat and mud, so exhausted they barely had the energy to crawl through the entrance way.
'We've got three openings this year for a keeper, chaser and beater. Could you all organise yourselves into two groups, one for chasers and keepers over here and the other for beaters over there,' she indicated two separate spots and there was a short scramble as everyone except Merida went to the chaser spot.
'What? Only one beater applicant?' Alice asked in surprise before shrugging and saying jokingly to Merida, 'Oh well, we'll just have to hope you're good.'
'You can go and work with our other beater and he'll test if you right for the job,' she added, pointing to another team member before returning to the chaser and keeper applicants.
Slightly miffed, Merida walked over to the guy that Alice had pointed out, a fourth year that she had seen around but never spoken too before. He was a tall, lanky boy with red hair like Merida, except his was closer to orange than her crimson tangles. He smiled at her as she approached and shook her hand in mock professional enthusiasm when she got close enough.
'Fred Weasley,' he said by way of introduction.
'Merida Dunbroch,'
'So you must be here because you want to smash some balls,' Fred joked cheerily as the group behind her began to mount their brooms.
Merida tried and failed to stifle a snort which made Fred smile even more. He took her over to the side of the pitch while the rest of the applicants were flying around one of the goal posts, performing catches and scores.
'Aren't you the girl who hangs out with the Slytherin and those other two all the time?' He asked with interest as he stopped and began to undo the latches of the trunk.
'Yeah, what of it?' Merida asked a little angrily.
'I'm a fan of your work,' he told her, smiling. 'You guys are pretty inventive when it comes to practical jokes.'
'We don't do it all the time,' Merida replied defensively, 'just when someone deserves it.'
Fred laughed at that as he opened the trunk and revealed the two bludgers straining at the straps that kept them tightly imprisoned.
'How do you feel at giving these bad boys a try?' he asked temptingly as he began to undo the straps. 'I'll release them and we can fly up and give them a good few hits, just so you can prove to me that you're worthy of joining the ranks of Alice's quidditch bitches.
'Bring it,' Merida challenged as she grabbed a bat and leapt on her Cinderbolt to rise into the air.
With a final pull from Fred the last straps were free and a bludger soared up into the sky, soon joined by Fred who rose to meet Merida, his own bat in hand.
They could see the bludger soar around one of the goal posts and turn to barrel down towards the two, accelerating eagerly to knock them off their brooms.
'It's all yours,' Fred called to Merida as it neared.
Merida readied herself as the ball closed in on her, raising the bat in preparation. With one swing she sent the bludger flying back and through the central goal post with a loud THWACK that echoed across the pitch. Hiccup and Rapunzel cheered at the sound and pumped their fists in the air in support of Merida who was circling round to get another shot at the bludger as it returned.
'Holy hell,' Fred said, impressed.
'Did you hear that?' James said to the Slytherins watching Merida take another successful shot, 'We're going to have to keep an eye on her.'
'That'll be easy for Jack,' Mulcaster taunted from the side, 'he's friends with that Gryffindor.'
'Really? Great, maybe she'll go easy on you in a match,' James said eagerly to Jack to Mulcaster's dismay.
'Somehow I don't think so,' Jack replied as he watched Merida deliver another strong blow to the bludger as it went for her side.
After another twenty minutes of hitting the ball around Fred and Merida descended, Fred wrestling with the bludger until he managed to trap it back into its usual spot in the trunk where it vibrated angrily against the clasps.
'That was great!' he cheered happily, 'You're definitely in, no question.'
Merida whooped in joy and hugged Fred quickly before racing off to tell the others with a blushing Fred yelling after her, 'Alice will put practice times on the board in the common room, don't be late!'
'I'm in!' She cried as she neared Hiccup and Rapunzel who cheered along with her as Jack ran over from the Slytherin area.
'Don't think I'm goin' ta go easy on ye Frost,' Merida added as he arrived, making him laugh.
'I wouldn't have it any other way,' Jack said happily, 'Now who wants to go get some lunch? I'm starving.'
'It'll have to be quick, Merida and I are going to the library again today,' Rapunzel told them as they began to head back the way they'd come a few hours before.
'Wow, Merida going to the library willingly. I never thought I'd see the day,' Hiccup joked, hiding behind the others as Merida tried to punch him.
By the end of the day Merida and Rapunzel hadn't found anything, their search was becoming more desperate every week as they began to run out of any book that concerned magical beasts and beings. They'd had to call it a day after Merida began to see white flashes in front of her eyes whenever she looked at a page and Rapunzel had left to spend some extra time at the hospital wing, leaving Merida to entertain herself for a while.
Jack and Hiccup had gone out to see who was faster, Toothless or the Nimbus, and had spent the rest of the day racing one another outside. Merida wondered pleasantly if a race was the only reason Hiccup wanted to spend time with Jack before shaking off the thought and heading out to the courtyard for a walk.
As she stepped outside she was intercepted by Fred Weasley who called out to her from the Grand Staircase.
'Hey Fred,' she said as he caught up, 'what's up?'
'Want to see something cool?' He asked mysteriously, holding out his hand for her to take.
Merida looked him over warily for a second, unsure of where Fred was going to take her and in any case she wasn't sure if she was willing to just let him pull her along by the hand. After thinking it over for a second she shrugged and took his hand, allowing him to take her through a series of corridors and down a number of stairs until they arrived at a door marked Trophy Room.
'Quidditch trophies?' Merida asked sceptically. 'I was hoping for somethin' a little cooler.'
'Trust me,' Fred laughed, 'you'll know what I mean when you see it.'
He opened the door to reveal a room stacked with glass cases of trophies and medals as well as the armoured statues that lined much of Hogwarts. Fred guided her to a case in the middle that contained a large trophy and a picture of the team that won it.
Merida looked closely and saw written along the plaque at the base of the trophy – Fergus Dunbroch. She turned to look at the moving picture propped next to it and saw her father twenty years younger. He hadn't grown his stubbly beard and moustache yet but a smattering of stubble around his cheeks suggested it soon would be a reality. He stood in the middle of his team and was pushing them playfully, clearly just victorious in his last game. Merida thought something about him looked strange until she realised he had both legs back then, the left one would only be lost later when defending her.
'I knew I'd heard the name Dunbroch before,' Fred told her enthusiastically as she stepped back to see the trophy and photo together. 'You're father was a beater too, like mine.'
'Alright, it is pretty cool,' Merida conceded as he beamed at her.
'Told you,' Fred returned proudly before looking back at the photo and asking, 'Do you know who the two in the back are? I think this is the only photo here that has more than just the team.'
Merida looked back and saw the man and woman Fred was pointing at. They were standing to the side a little as if they had been waiting for one of the team and hadn't realised they were caught in the picture. Recognising one Merida pointed to the woman and said certainly, 'That one's my mum.'
She knew it as easily as she knew the back of her own hand. She could see through twenty years of change that Elinor still held herself in the same dignified way she did today. Her face was less aged in the photo but still clearly that of her mother and her hair was shorter than it was today. Merida watched her for some time with curiosity, she'd never really thought of her mother at a young age before and it was…strange to see what she had been like.
'I don't know the other one,' she continued as she tore her eyes from her mother and focused on the man. He was large, like Fergus was, with black hair and his own black stubble beginning to grow across his face.
'What is it?' Fred asked curiously as she continued to stare at the man as if hypnotized.
'I don't know, I've never seen him before but it's like I recognise him,' Merida answered, still looking at the man who barely moved as he watched Fergus and his team horse around.
Suddenly a banging and the sound of footsteps came from the doorway making both of them start and breaking Merida out of her near trance. They looked at their watches and realised they'd stayed too long and curfew had begun as the echo of the footsteps came closer.
'Shit, it's probably Filch,' Fred hissed.
'Quickly, hide here,' Merida ordered pointing to a space between two cabinets that would just fit them and keep them out of sight from Filch as long as he didn't look too carefully around the room. They hurried and squeezed into the gap, barely breathing as the footsteps came closer and stopped at the door.
Sorry this chapter took so long. The last few days have been really busy and I had a small case of writer's block but, no worries, we're back on track.
Anyway, yay, Fred the Second's appearance. I had wanted to have this character in the story because the death of the first Fred really took me by surprise so when I found out George had a son he named Fred I couldn't resist but make him a character :P
Until next time, see you guys and thanks for reading :)
