Chapter 7. Quidditch Tryouts

Maura cleared her throat. She was standing next to Snape's desk, who was, again, making her wait.

The Potions lesson had just ended, in which Maura and Blaise had worked together on a Wiggenweld Potion, which was a healing potion with the power to cure injuries. Maura had tried her very best, not just to impress Snape, but also because she thought this potion would come in handy sooner or later with a brother like Neville. Maura had been very annoyed with the instructions, which was a long list of almost twenty steps in which you constantly had to watch for the potion to change colour. The few mistakes Maura had made were because she had little patience; like not stirring long enough, not adding enough salamander blood or taking the cauldron off the fire too quickly. Blaise and Snape had corrected her during these moments and fortunately they had been easy-to-fix mistakes. When she had handed in their vial, Snape had nodded approvingly.

This had given her the confidence to step up to him after class.

"Yes, Miss Longbottom?

"Professor Snape, I wanted to talk to you about a concern I have regarding one of our classes, and because you are the Head of our House, I thought you would probably want to hear it," Maura said, trying to get her voice to sound as confident as possible.

"And what concern may that be?"

"It's about Defence of the Dark Arts, sir. I believe..." Maura faltered. She was afraid she would be going too far. Snape raised his eyebrows.

"Believe what?" Snape asked. Maura took a breath.

"I believe Mr. Quirrell might be incapable to teach us effectively, sir." Maura checked Snape's expression for any signs of anger, but his face was blank.

"And where does this concern come from, Miss Longbottom?"

Maura started pacing a bit out of nervousness.

"He doesn't know anything about it, sir. I believe he deliberately teaches us the wrong information sometimes, and all we do is write essays and read books. We're not using magic at all during his lessons and he doesn't give us anything to practice with," she explained. She stopped pacing and waited for Snape's response. Snape was quiet for a few seconds. Maura didn't know what he was thinking, which made her heart bounce in her throat.

"I can't do anything about Dumbledore's choice to have Professor Quirrell teach Defence Against Dark Arts, if that was what you were expecting out of this conversation."

Maura quickly shook her head. "No, sir, I was actually wondering if you were willing to teach me some things. Things I can actually practice and get better at."

Snape looked at her in confusion. "Why would you think I would do that?" he asked slowly.

Maura's mind raced. She didn't want to tell him she had heard older Slytherins talk about how he had wanted to be the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher for years, but failed. That could make him mad. But she needed to convince him that she wanted extra lessons.

"Sir, I just thought... You are clearly one of the best teachers at this school, and I thought you might also know about Defence magic. It would obviously be more than Quirrell knows." This was a wild guess, but if the rumours were true, and Snape actually wanted that job, he would probably be the teacher who knew the most about the subject out of all the teachers at Hogwarts.

"And as Head of our House I know you want us Slytherins to excel in all subjects, including Defence Against the Dark Arts," Maura finished. She looked at Snape, her body tense.

"...sir," she added quickly.

Snape's glare was piercing. With every passing second, Maura lost her hope that Snape would agree to her request.

"Meet me in my office at 8 o'clock on Monday evening. Don't. be. late," Snape finally said.

Maura felt her face split into a grin. "Thank you professor!" she said.

Snape waved his hand and started wiping the chalkboard. Maura was dismissed and she quickly left the Potions classroom.

Maura didn't want to tell Blaise yet about the extra lesson she was going to get from Snape. She didn't even know if Snape would appreciate her telling others that he was going to teach her Defence Against the Dark Arts. Maybe it was unfair not to tell him, but she wanted to find out what Snape's lesson was going to be about first. She would teach Blaise what she'd learned later.

On Saturday morning Maura woke up with a jolt. Today were the Quidditch tryouts. She quietly cursed herself for agreeing to participate last minute, while she threw off her blanket and got out of her four-poster. Maura heard a small protesting meow coming from the other side of the bed.

"Oh, sorry Salem. Didn't see you there," Maura said while giving Salem a scratch under his chin. Salem pretended to be grumpy by not looking at her, but Maura saw he enjoyed the scratches. Then he put his head down again and closed his eyes.

Maura went to the chest in front of her bed and tried to find some of her most comfortable clothing pieces. During the flying lesson Maura had worn her normal school outfit, but it had been quite uncomfortable on a broom. Now she picked out a pair of black leggings and a loose jumper. Over it she put on her normal robes.

"Where are you going this early?" Lily Moon asked while she stepped out of her bed. Maura looked up in surprise. Lily didn't talk to her much usually.

"Quidditch tryouts," Maura answered with a small uncomfortable smirk. Lily raised her eyebrows.

"As a first year?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm kind of regretting the decision right now," Maura replied with a shrug. Lily laughed.

"Don't. Imagine making the team and being the youngest player in years!"

Maura wasn't thinking about that at all, because she doubted she would make it far into the tryouts. From the stories Blaise had told her, he had been playing Quidditch almost every day of his life before Hogwarts. Maura didn't have that same kind of experience.

"Please don't tell Pansy," Maura whispered while eyeing Pansy's closed curtains. "I don't want to give her something to tease me about."

Lily snorted. "I won't. Good luck."

"Thanks." Maura smiled, put on her shoes and made her way to the common room.

Blaise was already waiting for her. He looked really nervous and was pacing back and forth close to the stone passage, to other students' annoyance, who wanted to go out for breakfast. He was wearing sweatpants and a tight T-shirt under his robes, which hung loosely around his shoulders, unlike Maura's which she had buttoned closed against the cold.

"Nervous?" she asked when she joined him and they left stepped through the stone passage.

"Can you tell?" Blaise grumbled.

During breakfast Maura and Blaise didn't speak much. There was loud excited chatter around them from other Slytherins who looked like they had risen early to participate in the tryouts as well. Maura didn't recognise any of them so far, which meant they were all from higher years. This didn't make her feel better at all.

Maura felt like she was going to be sick while they made their way towards the Quidditch pitch with school brooms clutched in their hands.

"Can I still withdraw?" she asked. Her legs felt more like jelly with every step she made.

"No," was Blaise's curt answer. Maura sighed. Why had she agreed to this, why had she agreed to this, why had she agreed to this?

When they arrived at the Quidditch pitch there was already a small gathering of Slytherins. Blaise and Maura looked nervously at each other. Everyone was clearly older and bigger than they were, even though Blaise was quite tall. Maura rolled her eyes when she noticed most of them were boasting about their flying skills or trying to belittle others, to make them feel more nervous.

"Oi! First years! Did you get lost on your way to your first Flying lesson?" someone shouted at them. They ignored it.

"Shut up everyone!" someone bellowed. It was a tall, muscular boy with terrible looking teeth. "I'm Marcus Flint, the captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team. Today we're beginning with the Chasers. We're looking for two new ones. Everyone who is here to try out for Chaser step forward."

With her head high, Maura stepped forward. Blaise and a few others did as well. Flint picked up a Quaffle.

"When it's your turn, fly around the pitch once, then try to score through one of the three goal hoops. The ones who are fastest, go to the next round."

Maura looked at the hoops, which stood at different heights on either side of the pitch. Someone behind her got on his broom and shot from the ground with a burst. He circled around the hoops on one side of the pitch and stopped his broom when he was right in front of them. He was the Keeper.

"You first," Flint threw the Quaffle with force at a boy standing in front of Maura. When he took the Quaffle under one arm and mounted his broom, Maura saw it was the boy who had spoken that Muggle quote to them in the common room last week.

Flint blew on his whistle and the boy shot away from the ground. He circled the Quidditch pitch at a terrible speed, stopped in front of the goal hoops and the Keeper, and threw the Quaffle. He scored.

Maura felt like clapping, but she didn't. This was the level she was supposed to be at to even stand a chance in order to make the team.

The boy returned to the group and dismounted his broom with a grin on his face.

"What's your name?" Flint asked.

"Adrian Pucey," the boy replied. Flint nodded and wrote his name down on a piece of parchment. Pucey returned the Quaffle to Flint.

"Okay, next." Flint threw the Quaffle at Blaise this time. The Quaffle hit Blaise's stomach, but he caught it without a flinch.

The whistle sounded again and Blaise was gone. Maura marvelled at Blaise's speed. She didn't know he was that fast. Blaise got to the goal hoops, threw the Quaffle, but the Keeper caught it. Blaise came back down with a scowl on his face.

"Name?" Flint asked.

"Blaise Zabini," Blaise grumbled.

Next was a girl who must be in her fourth year. She circled the Quidditch pitch, but she wasn't as fast as Pucey and Blaise had been. The Keeper also caught her Quaffle.

Maura felt her hands get sweaty and she quickly tried to wipe them on her leggings. That Keeper was good and the chance would be small that she was going to score. So to make up for that, she needed to be fast. Really fast.

"You. Next." The Quaffle shot towards Maura and she caught it between her arm and stomach. Flint really knew how to throw with force. Maura let out a long breath and mounted her broom with the Quaffle clamped under her arm. She waited for the whistle.

When it came she kicked off from the ground as hard as she could. She shot into the air and steered towards the outer border of the field. She laid down flat on the broom to build up as much speed as she could, but there was something wrong with it. It had a strong pull to the left, which Maura had to compensate for. She cursed under her breath. This cost her speed. However, she pushed through as hard as she could. The wind roared in her ears and she forgot about the group of Slytherins looking at her down below. Maura circled the pitch as fast as she could, meanwhile focusing on the goal hoops at the end of her round. She turned her broom sharply to face the hoops, took the Quaffle in her right hand and made a movement as if to throw it. The Keeper shot into the direction she had made the feint, and Maura threw the Quaffle with all her might to the hoop he had left open. She scored.

"Nasty one. I like it," the Keeper shouted at her. Maura grinned and flew after the Quaffle. It was still on its way down. She caught it and returned to the center of the pitch where the other Slytherins stood. When she got off her broom, she threw the Quaffle at Flint, who lazily caught it with one hand.

"Maura Longbottom," Maura said before Flint could ask her for her name. Flint snorted and wrote down her name.

"Nice throw," Blaise said when she stood next to him again. Maura smirked and mouthed a 'thanks' in return.

There were two more people who tried out for Chaser. They were both quite fast, but not as fast as Blaise or Pucey had been. They also didn't score.

After everyone was back on the ground, save for the Keeper, Flint clapped in his hands.

"Okay, through to the next round are Pucey, Zabini and Longbottom. The rest can go piss off," Flint shouted. There were loud exclamations of protest, but Maura and Blaise cheered and gave each other a high five.

"What!? The first years?" someone asked angrily. Flint looked at the boy in question with an annoyed expression.

"They were faster on the wretched school brooms than you were on your Nimbus 2000, Snyde," Flint shot back. The boy left the field sulking. After less than a minute all the other students who had tried out for Chaser had left as well.

"Listen," Flint began. "You three will play the Quaffle and try to score as if it's a normal game of Quidditch. My two beaters will try to knock you off your broom with the Bludgers. This is not about who scores the most, but about collaborating and evading. Understood?"

The three of them nodded and mounted their brooms. The two Beaters shot into the air. Flint threw the Quaffle at Blaise and put his whistle at his lips and blew.

Maura kicked off the ground again and created some distance between her, Blaise and Pucey. Once they had all made some height, Blaise threw the Quaffle at her and she caught it. She tried to close some distance between her and the goal hoops, meanwhile trying to steady her broom which was acting up again. In her peripheral vision she paid attention to where Blaise and Pucey were flying. Blaise had to dodge a Bludger, but he was unaffected. Pucey was closest to the goal hoops, but the Keeper wasn't paying attention to him, because he kept his eye on Maura, who quickly threw the Quaffle at Pucey. Fortunately he immediately took advantage of the opening and scored. Blaise cried out in excitement.

Suddenly Maura saw a Bludger flying towards her and she quickly shot out of the way. Her broom vibrated in protest. She cursed at it once more and focused on the Quaffle again, which was in the hands of Blaise again. He was going for the hoops at a terrible speed and for a second Maura thought he was going to collide with the Keeper, however he made a sharp turn while throwing the Quaffle at one of the hoops and scored. Maura smiled. He was probably showing off to make up for the missed goal in the previous round.

The Keeper retrieved the Quaffle and threw it at Pucey, who caught it and immediately had to dodge a Bludger that nearly hit his head. Pucey zigzagged around the Beaters who were focused on hitting him off his broom. He made eye contact with Maura. She nodded and he threw the Quaffle at her. She caught it and made for the goal hoops again, this time dead set on scoring, however a Bludger shot towards her and hit her knee. Maura cried out in pain, but kept focusing on the goal hoops and the Keeper that was now getting ready for her to make a shot. She made a turn in front of him and threw the Quaffle. However, her broom suddenly jerked to the left again and the Quaffle flew over the goal hoops.

"YOU FOUL TWIG!" Maura cursed at the broom. She turned around and took her place in the field again. She caught Blaise's eyes, who was looking at her with raised eyebrows. Maura made a vague gesture towards her broom and Blaise nodded sympathetically. His broom was probably acting the same way, albeit he didn't show it.

The Keeper shot the Quaffle towards Blaise, who passed it to Pucey, who passed it to Maura again. Meanwhile the hostile Bludgers flew around the field, the Beaters hitting them as hard as they could with their bats. One of them hit Maura in the shoulder, while she was holding the Quaffle and she dropped it. Pucey shot towards it and caught it. Maura sighed in exasperation and wiped away droplets of sweat which at begun pooling on her forehead, this time cursing at herself for not evading the Bludger. Her knee was still hurting terribly from the first time the Bludger hat hit her and now she felt a throbbing pain in her shoulder as well.

Maura tried to get closer to the goal hoops again, while Pucey and Blaise passed the Quaffle back and forth twice. Blaise threw it at Maura again, who tried to steady her broom to catch it. She did and turned around towards the goal hoops. The Keeper was right in front of her and she didn't have a clear shot, but she was determined on scoring this time, so she shot towards the other side of the goal hoops. Her broom was shaking violently from the intensive manoeuvres, which it was probably not used to. Despite that she was still faster than the Keeper and threw the Quaffle towards the free hoop.

Suddenly there was an immense impact on the back of her head and all Maura saw for a second was a bright flash. Then her vision turned to black and a sharp pain in her head followed the impact. Maura felt herself slipping off her broom, which didn't do much to steady her by jerking left and right.

The fall seemed to take ages. Maura faintly heard people shouting above her. She fervidly tried to blink away the black spots in her eyes and when it worked for a fraction of a second she saw Blaise and Pucey both trying to race towards her. Pucey had his wand out.

"Arresto Momentum!" he shouted.

When Maura hit the ground, all the air left her body. Her vision swam in and out of focus again, but she tried to stay conscious.

Suddenly everyone was standing around her.

"Maura!" Blaise said while shaking her shoulders. This caused another twinge of pain through her head. She hissed and Blaise quickly let go.

"Nice spell, Pucey." It was Flint's voice.

"Sorry man, I didn't mean to target her head, but that broom of hers was jerking all over the place," someone else said.

"She needs to go to the hospital wing," she heard Pucey's voice say. She vaguely saw Flint nod and turn around to address the other students who had been waiting to try out for the other roles.

"Tryouts are over for today! We're continuing next week!" Maura heard him shout. Meanwhile she felt herself being lifted by her shoulders and her legs. The movement made her vision go black again and she lost the struggle against unconsciousness.

She woke up in the hospital wing with Madam Pomfrey fussing over her.

"Welcome back, dear. You've been out for quite a few minutes after these two boys carried you in," she said while dabbing her forehead with a wet washcloth. "Your collar bone was broken as well, but that was easily mendable.

Maura shrunk back at the sharp pain that shot through her head. Her shoulder and knee hurt less than she remembered, but they still felt sore as well. Madam Pomfrey saw her wince and quickly gave her a painkiller and a glass of water.

"I'm afraid the headaches will stay for a while. I'll give you a bottle with some more painkillers once you're strong enough to leave the hospital wing," she said before she walked away.

At once Madam Pomfrey's place was taken by the forms of Blaise and Pucey.

"Hey there," Blaise said with a worried look on his face.

"Who won?" Maura asked with a cracked voice. Blaise snorted.

"That's the first thing you want to know after falling a hundred feet from the air? You could've been dead if it wasn't for Pucey's spell."

"Yeah, that was a nasty blow to the head you got. I wouldn't want to be in your shoes right now," Pucey said.

Maura nodded weakly. "Nevermind that," she croaked.

"Zabini and I made the team," Pucey answered her question with a weary look after he and Blaise glanced at each other. The first thing Maura felt was a pang of disappointment that she hadn't made the team herself, but it quickly made place for joy. Simultaneously she felt that the painkillers started working and that the pain in her head slowly ebbed away. The soreness in her shoulder and knee were gone as well.

"You did it, dude," she said to Blaise with a smile on her face. Blaise grinned. Maura turned to the other boy.

"Thanks for saving me, Pucey," she said to him. He grimaced.

"Please just call me Adrian," he replied, "and you're welcome. I wouldn't want my competitor to die, before I could rub in the fact that I beat her."

Why were Slytherins such insufferable assholes? If Maura had the strength, she would punch him on the arm. That seemed to be the way she made friends lately anyway.

"If Slytherin isn't going to win the Quidditch cup this year, I'm blaming it on both of you," she grumbled at which Blaise stuck out his tongue and Adrian snorted.