Hidden Talent
A series written and compiled by Amy Black
Chapter 10
Natural Ability
James hadn't forgotten about his plan, and sure wasn't going to give up. He felt Snape and company deserved it more than anyone.
"So what is this big 'plan', James?" said Remus, eyeing them suspiciously. He, James, Sirius, and Peter were walking down the fifth floor corridor to History of Magic.
"Oh, you'll love it!" said Sirius with a twisted smile. His eyes were twinkling.
"OK, here's how it is," he started, "you have to ask Riley to do us a big favor, or else it won't work,"
"What is it?"
"Well, we were thinking," he glanced at Sirius and Peter, "that if we give him the money, on the next trip to Hogsmeade, he could, you know, pick us up some stuff at Zonko's, the prank shop,"
"What sort of stuff?"
"Well you know, they have all kinds of stuff there," he explained, "Filibuster's Fireworks, Imitation Beans, Flaming Fireballs, Dung bombs..." His eyes had a faraway and dreamy look to them.
"Well what are we going to do with them?" asked Remus. Sirius sighed loudly.
"Well isn't it obvious!" exclaimed Peter.
"Use them on Snape and company, of course!" said James happily. Remus stared.
"Well that isn't a plan, you guys!" he said incredulously. "And how do you reckon we are supposed to-"
"Remus, Remus," Sirius shook his head and grinned, "Here's how: next Potions class we're making a Shrieking Solution right? Well, unfortunately I sit next to Snape. The main ingredient in the potion is dragon kidney, and," he said, grinning even wider, "you know, I could just accidentally slip a few Filibusters inside the kidney, and when he puts it in-"
"BOOM!" James shouted happily. Remus looked uncertain.
"I don't know you guys what if we-"
"Oh, Remus, you worry too much!" said Peter, "Relax, it can't go wrong!" James, Sirius, and Peter all nodded happily.
"Oh, all right, I'll ask Riley," he finally gave in.
"YESSS!" They slapped each other high fives. They had reached the History of Magic classroom, and reluctantly stepped inside. It had to be the most boring subject ever invented. Luckily, they all sat together and usually talked through the whole lesson, stopping occasionally to copy down a name or date. They sat down in their seats in the back.
"So what're we going to do to Evelyn and Malfoy?" asked Remus.
"Well we haven't figured out Evelyn's yet," said James, "but we were thinking-"
"We could put a Forgetfulness Charm on Malfoy so he wouldn't be able to remember anything for the test tomorrow in Herbology," finished Sirius. Remus snickered.
"Settle down everyone," Professor Binns, the History of Magic teacher droned, "Take out your notes from yesterday..."
***
Evilla slithered down the dark deserted hallway. She must not be seen. She looked over her shoulder and quickly rushed up the staircase that lead to the top of the South Tower. The only problem was, there was no staircase. It was as simple as that, it was there and then it wasn't. She gasped as she felt the floor give in under her weight. Her jet-black hair flew upward as she fell down, farther and farther...
THUMP. Evilla finally hit bottom. She landed on something soft and squishy.
"Ohhh," she moaned, "What happened? Where am I?"
"Shut your mouth, girl, do you want us to be heard?" said the all-to-familiar voice of Master. She looked around and saw that she was in a dimly lit room, about the size of one of the dungeons. In fact, it was a dungeon, but Evilla had never been in this one.
"I told you we had to find a new place for your training," he growled, "We are in a dungeon that was closed off because of the fire that happened here years ago," Evilla turned toward where his voice was coming from, and sure enough, there hung the oil painting on the wall, with Master inside, pacing. Evilla bowed to Voldemort, and took out her wand.
"Would you like me to practice that Servello Curse you taught me last week, Master?" she asked dryly. Evilla swung her hair behind her, and rolled up the sleeves of her black robes.
"Perhaps," he said, and looked up at Evilla with his blazing red eyes, "We shall start something new," Evilla nodded.
"Did they teach you the Leg Locker curse in this filth you call a school?" he sneered.
"Oh, yes," said Evilla brightly, "I'm very good at them, would you like me to-"
"SILENCE!" he roared. Evilla gulped. As loyal as she was to Master, she never liked it when he yelled.
***
After the day's classes were over, James and his friends had something to look forward to: Quidditch tryouts. Peter had just made the cut, and would be trying out with James, Remus, and Sirius. They would take place at seven o'clock that night, right after dinner. The four friends were sitting around lazily in the common room, reading up on Quiddtich strategies.
"It says here," said Remus, peering into a dusty old brown book labeled Quidditch Through the Ages "that seekers are light and speedy, and are usually the smallest player on the team,"
"That's you, James," Sirius joked. James stared off into space thoughtfully. He was daydreaming about him being a Quidditch Keeper, saving the Quaffle, winning them the house championship. Everyone was cheering and shouting, "James! James! James!"
"JAMES!" yelled Sirius. He was dragged out of his fantasy.
"Sorry," he apologized, "I uh, must have dozed off, heh," Sirius shook his head, sending his black hair flying. Peter was lying on the couch; an open book sprawled across his chest. James laughed as he saw that Peter was asleep.
"Tut, tut," said Remus, "poor old chap's been up studying all night,"
"Don't pity him, the fool!" James said playfully, and bounded up the stairs. Remus and Sirius exchanged puzzled looks. James emerged carrying a large blue bucket full of water, which was sloshing out at the sides. Remus fell back in his chair and slapped his hand to his forehead. Sirius exploded with silent laughter. Ever so carefully, James slid the book off Peter's chest. He closed it and laid it on the side table. He raised his eyebrows at his two friends, who nodded. James turned the bucket over, spilling its contents on the slumbering Peter, who sprang up immediately, soaking wet. Remus and Sirius were howling, James was on the floor, banging his hands on the ground. Peter looked shocked.
"What did you do that for?" he demanded, looking quite shocked, and quite wet.
"You w-were sleeping, and we had t-to wake you up," James managed to sputter in between laughs.
"You better go change," Remus advised, who was the first one to recover, "you don't want to go to dinner looking like that," Peter stomped up the stairs, scattering droplets of water with every step up. He reached the dormitory and slammed the door.
Remus looked worried. "Wasn't that a little mean, guys? Maybe we were too harsh, we are his friends you know," he bit his lip.
"Remus, once again, you worry too much," said James, pushing his glasses up his nose.
***
After dinner, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter (whom they had apologized to under Remus's orders) gathered outside on the Quidditch Field. A good number of students showed up, which included Lily Riddle, who waited with them.
"How are we all supposed to get a chance?" she mumbled, tossing back her curly red hair.
"There are a lot of people out here," Sirius agreed.
"ATTENTION!" yelled a voice, magically magnified. There chatter died down to a murmur, and eventually the stadium became silent.
"Now," it said again. It seemed to be coming from a short lady with auburn hair and yellow eyes like a hawk. "I am Madam Hooch, the Quidditch referee. I am going to ask you to split up into your houses," and she pointed to where each of houses to go. Everyone wished Lily good luck, and hurried off into the opposite direction.
The Gryffindor Quidditch captain was a short sixth year boy with brown hair and glasses, and introduced himself to be Jon Creevey. Jon was one of the team's chasers. He explained that there were two open spots on the team, the Seeker and a Beater. He explained to them all the rules of Quidditch and strategies, like they hadn't already known.
"Since you've all had flying lessons before," he squeaked, "The first thing we are going to be looking for is your ability on a broomstick," James heard Peter make an indistinct noise in his throat. It was probably because Peter fell off his broom when they had flying lessons. James gave him an encouraging smile, and Peter seemed reassured.
"All right, now everyone go grab a broom, that's it, don't drop them, they don't like to be dropped," Jon instructed. James walked over to a tattered old broom labeled in peeling gold letters, Lightning Bolt 12. He picked it up uncertainly.
"You are going to fly around the stadium, trying to catch as many of these," he pointed to small red golf balls, "as possible," He handed out bags to every person explaining to put the ball in the bag when you capture it.
"The balls will be scattered all around the stadium, and we are going to take five people at once. You, you, you, you, and you!" he said, pointing to five nervous looking Gryffindors, which included Remus and James. "Don't worry, the other houses' will be practicing at different times so you won't run into anyone," James gave Remus what he hoped was an encouraging smile.
"Mount your brooms!" Jon shouted, "3…2…1…GO!" James pushed up from the ground. He was flying higher and higher. The wind rushed past him making him shiver. It was the most extraordinary thing he had felt in his whole life! It was a feeling of being free, zooming through the air without a care in the world, like a dragonfly. He didn't even have to try to do this; it came naturally. James wondered if it was this easy for everyone else. He remembered what he had to do, and darted through the stadium, squinting for bits of red. The broom turned with his lightest touch. He spotted a golf ball by a goal post, and flew as fast as he could towards it. James snagged the golf ball, narrowly missing the goalpost. He glanced down, and saw that one of the Gryffindors that Jon called on wasn't even off the ground yet. James continued on, grabbing three more golf balls, one of which was very close to the ground. It was funny; he hadn't seen anyone else anywhere near him. He shrugged it off and flew on.
James lie flat on the broom, making it go faster and faster. He saw a speck of red way below him and leaned downward, making the broom take a nosedive. He was getting closer, closer, and…YES! He grabbed it, once again zooming high into the air. What a feeling! James heard a faint whistle, which had to be Jon's signaling to come down. He slowed down and landed on the soft ground with a slight thud. Red faced and breathing hard, James sauntered over to Jon, whose jaw was close to hitting the floor. Bag in tow, he handed it to Jon, who closed his mouth and was now grinning.
Over by the front row seats sat Sirius and Peter. James spotted them and jogged over to where they were sitting. "Hi," he said cheerfully.
"You-you w-were f-fl-" Peter managed to sputter. He didn't understand why everyone was so surprised with him. Didn't everyone find flying that easy?
"James…" was all Sirius said. He shook his head.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Y-you were incredible, James!" said a familiar voice. James turned around and saw Remus, his gray eyes shining. He didn't think he did that well. Just because flying came naturally to James didn't mean he was any better than anyone else had been.
"Well, um, so were you," he said politely.
"What?" Remus said, looking confused, "I couldn't even get my broom off the ground!" he laughed.
"Oh, um, well I-" James muttered.
"It's ok," he grinned, "at least we know one of us made it on to the team,"
"The remaining five Gryffindors, please come over here!" shouted Jon from a distance.
"We'd better be going," said Sirius, standing up. James and Remus wished them luck, and they were off.
End Ch. 10
Disclaimer: You know what? I'm sick of these things! This disclaimer applies to my whole story! I own nothing that appears in the Harry Potter series; J.K. Rowling owns that. There!
Author's Note: You may notice a change in the format of this, its because I got an updated version of Word (the '96 version just had to go!) And it let me save it in html format. Actually, I have no idea if it's going to show up ok, I hope it does. Enough about that. Anyway, the chapters are going to be coming out a lot slower than they have been, for this is all I have written so far, and I wasn't writing it at the same time they were being released. In other words, you may not see chapter 11 for a while. Well, never mind about that, I have most of it written. Man, I can babble a lot can't I?! Its time to end it now. Please review telling me what you like and don't like, or email me at Slytherin816@mediaone.net . Here's my new deal: If you tell me exactly what you like and don't like about my story, I will return the favor. Simple, right? Ok I am really going on and on now, so BYE!