A Quidditch Story
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor do I pretend to. Any settings, characters, etc. you recognize from the Harry Potter world belong to JKR and I am just playing in the fun sand box she created.
Authors Note: This concept is one I have tried to do previously but life and school happened at that time and the story was never finished. I thought about completing that one (Quiddich Days) but when reading it back I realized I didn't like the setting timeline for it, so I decided to rewrite it and set it after/during 7th year. Currently both stories are up but that one will be deleted very soon. Some of the concepts and quidditch match scenes will be merged into this story. Pretty much everything else is different though so, if you have read that story give this one a try as well.
Anyway, without any further delay – happy reading!
Chapter 1: Prologue – Harry
Harry stood battered and bleeding surrounded by his closest friends. In front of him was a pile of robes that used to belong to the most feared wizard in history. Around him bodies lay unmoving. A large chunk of the castle crashed to the ground and startled everyone gathered. It was over, the war was finally over. The year away from Hogwarts that Harry, Ron, and Hermione took hunting down the Horcruxes was all worth it. Voldemort was finally defeated for good. Lives were lost on both sides of the war but, at the end light won over darkness. Now all that was left was for the stray death eaters that fled the final battle to be rounded up and thrown in Azkaban. Hogwarts was a little battered and broken but nothing too bad that had to delay the start of the school year too much. There were losses; Dumbledore was gone and so was Severus Snape. And there were injuries, lots of injuries, most notably Fred and Remus were both injured pretty badly and were transported to St. Mungo's for their treatment and recovery.
It's now 8 months after the final battle and both Fred and Remus were almost fully recovered. It's after a visit to St. Mungo's to check on them that we find Harry, stood in the entry way at number 12 Grimmauld Place after just having finished yet another shift of hunting down the remaining Death Eaters. Harry, along with Ron, had volunteered immediately after the final battle to join the task force dedicated to hunting down the scattered Death Eaters. It had been months since then and the time on the task force was now coming to an end since most of the Death Eaters have been rounded up and the few that remain in hiding will be tracked down by the Aurors. Harry was now left with the decision of what to do next. He knew that Hermione and Ginny had both volunteered to help with the rebuilding of Hogwarts and through conversations with them he knew that Hogwarts was set to reopen in a few of months. His experience on the task force showed him that a life of hunting down criminals was not what he wanted anymore. He wasn't sure what he wanted but he knew that being an Auror wasn't it.
Harry walked into the kitchen and grabbed a butterbeer; it has been years since he first tasted it and it was still one of his favorite drinks. He looked at the unopened letter from Hermione he had received on Monday and decided that now was as good a time as any to read it.
Dear Harry,
Been a few weeks since we last saw each other. Hope you are doing well and taking care of yourself. You know I worry about you being by yourself at Grimmauld Place. But I promise I won't badger you about that anymore. As you know, we have been working hard to repair and rebuild Hogwarts and we have finally done it. The castle is as good as new. Just yesterday McGonagall told me that the letters will be sent out this coming week inviting everyone back for classes. How exciting is that? She even mentioned that there will be a combined 6th and 7th year class for those of us that wish to return to finish our 7th year. I of course plan on returning but I am hoping that you will too. I plan on speaking with Ron this week about it as well. Wont you consider it? We can have a year at Hogwarts as normal teens not hunted by an evil dark lord.
Anyway, McGonagall said that the letters will be going out in a week, so you should see yours shortly. She mentioned a surprise will also be in the letter, something about quidditch.
Oh, and before I forget, Mrs. Weasley says she misses you greatly and expects you at family dinner on Sunday. I have been staying at the Burrow for the last 2 weeks and will be here until the start of the school year.
Write back soon and come to dinner on Sunday!
Love,
Hermione
A smile spread on Harry's face as he read the letter. He really did miss Hermione greatly. Guess, he would have to go to Sunday dinner. It didn't seem like Mrs. Weasley would let him miss another. Harry wrote a quick note back.
Hermione,
I miss you as well! I will be there on Sunday and look forward to catching up with you and everyone. School starting up again is fantastic. I will have to give it some thought.
See you Sunday,
Harry
Following what has become his typical Wednesday routine, Harry finished up his butterbeer and went up the stairs to change into his workout clothes. In the months spent at Grimmauld Place, Harry had taken to clearing out the old worn nasty furnishings and reorganizing and redecorating the place. Most of the house was still empty; he really hadn't spent that much time on it. But the main areas; entry hall, living room, kitchen, his bedroom and 2 spare rooms had all been redone with new paint and furnishings. It made being in Grimmauld place less depressing. One of the spare rooms he had made into a home gym.
The idea for a home gym came to him after only a couple of weeks on the task force. Harry was never in prime shape growing up being that he was malnourished over the summers when he spent them with the Dursleys. But, a couple of weeks on the task force showed him that if he was going to be an auror that he would need to be in top physical shape. Fighting dark wizards day in and day out was tiring work.
It was around the same time that he realized he couldn't just allow despair to envelop him. Grimmauld place belongs to him and he needed to make it a home or get rid of it. So, the renovation of Grimmauld place started. It took about 3 weeks to fully complete, what with how much stuff he had to get rid of but in less than a month the place looked like new and it was somewhere Harry looked forward to coming home to. Hermione, Ron, and Ginny had visited him a couple of times, but they still didn't much like that he was alone. Harry didn't mind it as much. He worked long days and on especially stressful days he found that having the home gym was great for stress release. Harry quickly fell into a routine of working out 4-5 times a week. Wednesday was leg day.
It was Saturday afternoon when the Hogwarts letter finally arrived. Harry was in the midst of him morning cardio workout when he saw the brown barn owl fly in through the open window of his gym, land on the bench press, and stick its leg out for him to take the letter. After Harry took the letter the owl flew out the window it came in through.
Smiling, Harry opened the Hogwarts letter.
Mr. Harry Potter,
It has been quite a few months since the final battle and in that time the professors and volunteers have been hard at work to restore the castle so that classes may resume. It is now my honor to announce that Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry will be once again open for classes.
There are a few changes that will be taking place this next year; 1) we will be allowing students that should have graduated last year but were impacted by the war to return to school and finish their final year of schooling; 2) there will be several classes offered that will have mixed level students (6th and 7th years mainly) due to the irregularities in last school years curriculum; 3) students can request to sit an exam for OWL or NEWT credit without attending class if the student has displayed real life experience on the subject matter. For example, say the student defeated one of the darkest wizards of our generation said student can sit for the NEWT Defense Against Dark Arts exam without taking that course; and 4) Quidditch will return to Hogwarts in a new form. As the new headmistress I have decided to enter Hogwarts in a newly started quidditch tournament for this coming school year. This tournament will be against different Wizarding schools across the world. The hope for this tournament is to allow our students and those of other schools worldwide to enrich their schooling experience by allowing them to visit other countries and cultures. The school team will compose of students from all four houses and will travel all over the world in this next year. All current members on each of the house quidditch teams must try out again as we now will have coaches for each house. The identity of the coaches will be revealed to the prospective players at the try out and the rest of the students at the start of term feast.
All houses will continue to have their own teams and play against each other for the house cup as normal; although more frequently than in previous years and now they will not only have a Capitan leading them, they will have coaches training them as well. There will be three house quidditch games a month and one school game, sometimes maybe more as the tournament progresses.
The school team will be decided and chosen from the players on each house team. The best for each position will take the position on the school team, and they will be trained and play for the honor of the school against other schools across the world. However, all the players will be decided by the coaches of the school team; professors, and other people have no say in this.
If planning to participate in Quidditch this year we recommend that you don't take too many classes and suggest taking only those needed for graduation. We recommend this because the quidditch players will have a very rigorous schedule to follow and their training will be very time consuming. Also, academic success will be a determining factor for whether one is eligible to be on the team or not. If a player is failing any class he or she is not eligible to play for the next game, and it is up to the coaches' discretion whether to keep the player on the team or find a replacement. So, we suggest not taking more than 5 courses this year, but you cannot take less than 3. We also suggest that you train in these next 2 months, seeing as all positions need to be filled on every house team, as well as the school team.
Please respond to this letter within the week if you plan on returning to Hogwarts and if you plan on participating in quidditch. If you do want to participate in quidditch then a follow up letter will be sent with the information and dates of the tryouts.
Sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Headmistress, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Harry reread the letter 3 times to make sure that he really understood. He had been thinking if returning to Hogwarts would be a good idea since reading Hermione's letter but now with the prospect of playing quidditch and traveling to other countries he was almost certain he was going back to Hogwarts. He was planning on speaking with Ron about it tomorrow when he saw him at dinner. This was exciting news for sure.
AN2: Thoughts? Comments? Feedback is appreciated. Thanks!