A/N: Here's another chapter for you all finally - hopefully as exams come to an end I'll have more time for writing than I have had recently. I know this chapter doesn't contain much substance to the overall story, but rest assured, the main plots will be coming back shortly. Incidentally, if anyone has any ideas for good pranks, I'm all ears... (Disclaimer in Chapter 1).
Chapter 16 - Extracurricular Activities
The rest of the week passed very quickly, with new lessons and homework consuming most of Harry and Ginny's free time. However, they still managed to find time to ferry more of their belongings down to their new rooms. Before long, Saturday morning had arrived, and found both Harry and Ginny walking down to the Quidditch Pitch, ready for practice.
Harry had found Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain, earlier in the week to suggest the idea of some reserves. To be honest, Harry wasn't sure why it hadn't been thought of before - really, given the rate of accidents and injuries during Quidditch, reserve teams would be a logical addition. It had taken some persuading, but with a reminder of what had happened at the end of Harry's first year, when he was in the Hospital Wing unable to play in Gryffindor's final game, even Wood was forced to admit that reserves were a good idea. So by that evening, a notice had gone up on the Common Room Noticeboard, stating that tryouts for reserves would take place on Saturday at 9AM.
They arrived at the Quidditch Pitch just before 9. Most of the rest of the current team were already waiting on the pitch, while looking behind him, Harry could see a small group of hopefuls walking down the hill to tryout. A few other Gryffindors were waiting in the stands to watch the tryouts, but luckily, there was no sign of anyone from any of the other three houses.
When everyone had arrived, Wood called the hopefuls to order. "Hopefuls, listen up!" He shouted. "As you should already know, we are only fielding a reserve team at these tryouts - our starting team is already full. If anyone has any problems with this, I suggest you leave now." He went silent, but nobody moved. "Alright then. It was under the suggestion of our Seeker that we hold these tryouts, as I'm sure we remember what happened two years ago when he was stuck in the Hospital Wing unable to play. As Harry pointed out, it is always good to have a contingency plan. So, due to the possibility of any of the reserves plying in any game this year, the usual rule of no first years will apply. Could any first years head to the stands now please." Again he went quiet, and this time two young boys moved off, upset.
"OK. We seem to have quite a few of you left, so we're going to split this up. Could I have Chaser hopefuls in the middle, Beaters at that side," he pointed to the right, "Keeper tryouts at the far rings, and any Seekers to stay where you are." There was a small amount of chaos as everyone trying out moved around the pitch, making sure they were in the correct place for their position.
Once everyone had moved, Wood turned to speak to his team. "Ok Harry, there don't appear to be any Seeker hopefuls, so you can help Fred, George and me with the Chasers. Then we'll move onto the Beaters and Keepers, having Katie, Alicia and Angelina playing along with the successful reserves against each Keeper tryout, while the Beaters get a bit of practice aiming the Bludgers. Sound good?"
Everyone nodded in agreement, although Harry did speak up. "I know that Ginny hadn't totally decided what position she wanted to tryout for - Chaser or Seeker. Her preferred was Chaser, so that was the group she went with, but I think she would be an excellent Seeker if we came down to needing one last minute. I'll try my best not to get injured this year however."
"Ok, that sounds good. Tryouts probably won't last until 11, so if you want, you could give Ginny a bit of practice Seeking once we are done." Wood suggested.
"I can deal with that." Harry said with a smile.
"Alright then." Wood shouted to the field. "We're going to start with the Chasers, so if everyone else can move into the stands closest to where you are, we'll begin." He walked over to the Chasers as the other hopefuls moved off the pitch. "Each of you are going to be playing alongside our three current Chasers, and trying to score against me. We'll be trying to find those who can not only score the most, but assess the situation and make appropriate decisions."
One by one, the Chasers took it in turns to tryout, each spending about 10 minutes in the air. To Harry, it didn't feel like much time had passed when all six hopefuls had finished. Ginny had been last, and had not only scored every hoop she attempted, but also set up some nice passes to the other Chasers as well. Wood flew back down to the ground, and gathered his team together.
"OK. What are your thoughts? Katie, Angelina, Alicia - yours are the most important as it will be you that any reserve Chaser may have to play with. Who fit in best?"
Angelina spoke up first. "Ginny, without a doubt." Her fellow Chasers nodded in agreement.
"She set up some amazing passes to us, not to mention failed to miss a shot against you Oliver." Katie elaborated.
"I know, I'm shocked. I'm glad I won't be playing against her, although I do realise that more practices may be in order!" The team groaned. "But I agree, Ginny will definitely be on the reserves. In fact, girls, the only reason that she isn't a starter right now is solely because you three got here first." Harry just smiled to himself - he knew Ginny deserved this. "OK, what about the other two?"
"Neil Randall managed to make a lot of hoops, but we couldn't really work with him. It seemed he was more eager to attempt the shot himself, even when it would have been better to pass it to one of us." Alicia commented.
"I noticed that Natalie Fairbourne missed all but one of her shots." Fred observed. "I don't know how well she worked with you three in the sky," he admitted, "but I don't think she's worth the effort."
"Are they required to attend all our practices as reserves?" Katie asked.
"That would be the idea." Oliver clarified. "Why?"
"I was speaking to Vicky Frobisher and Anna Mirfield before breakfast. They admitted that they would choose Charms over Quidditch practice if there was a clash - they're both part of the club, you know."
"That would be problematic, given how often Charms meets." Oliver agreed. "Vicky was trying out for Keeper, but I think we can agree that Anna is out?" With nods from the rest of the team, he continued. "That settles it then. Dean Thomas and Demelza Robins will be the final two reserve Chasers."
He turned to the group of hopeful Chasers. "Quiet everyone!" He shouted. "We've reached a decision. The reserve Chasers will be Ginny Weasley, Dean Thomas and Demelza Robins. Thank you everyone who tried out, if you were unsuccessful you are welcome to stay in the stands and watch the rest of the tryouts. Our three new reserves, get in the air with Katie, Alicia and Angelina. Keeper and Beater hopefuls, come over to me."
Oliver and Harry waited in the centre of the pitch, along with Fred and George, as the now six Chasers rose to the sky. Once the Beaters and Keepers had arrived, Oliver spoke again. "OK then. We're going to have all Beater hopefuls in the air at once, using the two Bludgers against the six Chasers up there waiting. Keepers, we'll have you one at a time, blocking from all six Chasers. You'll have 10 minutes each. Weasley, you're up first."
Harry did a double-take. 'Weasley?' He thought. Turning around, Harry saw Ron mounting his broom nervously. It was obviously a borrowed school broom - a Shooting Star if Harry guessed correctly - the thing looked like it would barely stay in the air. Harry silently thanked Fate that he and Ginny had gotten to the broom shed first, so that she could get the best broom of the lot, a Nimbus 1700, the predecessor of Harry's Nimbus 2000. It still wasn't anywhere near as good as the rest of the team's brooms, but Ginny's skill out balanced that. Harry frowned slightly as he watched his former friend wobble into the air, and up to the hoops. Ron still hadn't spoken to Harry or Ginny since their confrontation after Care of Magical Creatures the previous week.
Harry turned to watch Ron in front of the hoops. He wasn't sure how he felt about the youngest male Weasley being on the Quidditch team, even if it was the reserves. Truthfully, he'd been so concentrated on Ginny earlier in the tryouts that he hadn't noticed that Ron was even there.
Throughout the next ten minutes, Ron managed to make five saves, of the ten shots aimed at him - it wasn't brilliant, but anyone had the potential of getting better with a bit of practice. Oliver called the next hopeful into the air, "McLaggen, you're next!" Cormac McLaggen, a rather large, wire haired fourth year rose into the sky on his own broom, a Cleansweep 7, the same broom as Fred and George had. Again, Harry turned to the sky. He knew that it was down to him and Oliver to choose the reserve Keeper, as the twins were busy watching the Beaters, but he kept getting distracted by Ginny's amazing flying, with her long red hair streaming behind her.
Soon, McLaggen was finished, saving seven of the twelve shots made. He landed at the side of the pitch looking very smug and full of himself. "Frobisher, your turn!" Oliver shouted. She took to the sky on her borrowed Cleansweep 5. Harry looked on, trying hard not to get distracted by a Bludger flying quite close past Ginny as she raced towards the hoops with the Quaffle. She aimed to the right, and threw the ball. Vicky Frobisher flew to block it, and the ball sailed straight through the hoop to the left. "A perfectly executed feint." Oliver said quietly, as Harry grinned.
Once her time was up, Frobisher returned to the ground and Oliver called all the other players down. The six Chasers walked over to join the rest of the team, as the Beater and Keeper hopefuls grouped up a short distance away. "Alright then," Oliver called for the attention of the group. "Let's discuss the Keepers first. We'd already mentioned that Frobisher might not be worth it, given her commitment to the Charms Club. So that leaves it down to Ron Weasley and Cormac McLaggen. Any thoughts?"
"McLaggen saved a larger number of his shots." Harry commented.
"Yes, although he seems to have a bit of an attitude, I noticed." Angelina said.
"That's true. Not only do we need a good player, we need one who could work well with the team. Personally, I think we need to go for Ron. I'm not sure I could work with McLaggen without someone getting seriously injured." Oliver said.
"I agree with that." Katie input, while Alicia and Angelina nodded alongside her.
"Ron will need a bit of work." Ginny noted. "He only managed to save half his shots."
"While that's true," Oliver said, "we've got several weeks until our first match against Slytherin. A lot of improvement can be made in that time. And even then, I'm not planning on being injured any time soon. This needs to be a team agreement. It seems like whoever we pick will result in problems, but that's to be expected. Who do you reckon is best to go for?"
"Ron." Katie started.
"Ron." Alicia, Ginny and Demelza agreed.
"Cormac. He was better, just, and we can try to get him to lose his attitude." Angelina justified.
"I agree with Angelina." Said Dean.
"Ron." Fred and George decided.
Harry sighed. Unfortunately, it was a matter of picking the lesser of two evils, even if one of those was his former best friend. "Ron, I guess. He'll be better for the team in the long run, but I hope he doesn't get on my nerves too much first."
"I reckon Ron is best as well, so as a majority that's decided." Oliver concluded. "Now, Fred and George - what were your opinions of the Beaters?"
"Jack Sloper and Geoffrey Hooper -" Fred started.
"- were definitely better, they were -" George continued.
"- hitting the Bludgers stronger."
"But they didn't work well together -"
"- as a team. Colin Creevey and -"
"- Ritchie Coote worked better together -"
"- and would probably be the best bet -"
"- with a bit of training up." George finished.
"So Colin Creevey and Ritchie Coote would be the best choice then?" Oliver confirmed. At their twin nods he continued, "Well, you'll have to train them up during practices, so if you think you can get them to be the best players they can be then we'll go with them. Everyone OK with that?"
When everyone had agreed, Oliver turned to address the waiting hopefuls. "Listen up!" He shouted, over the general hum of chatter as they awaited the team's decision. "Our reserve Keeper will be Ron Weasley, and our reserve Beaters are Colin Creevey and Ritchie Coote. Thank you everyone for coming out. Can the new team wait on the pitch, everyone else can head back up to the castle - I'm sure you'll appreciate a nice shower now."
When the unsuccessful hopefuls had all left, he spoke to the remaining group. "Our first practice will be next Wednesday at half seven, after dinner, and will last an hour. All of you will be expected there, as everyone needs to train as much as possible. Any of you reserves could be playing if one of our starter team is injured, so you have to be prepared. Harry, Ginny, wait for a second, everyone else can go get changed."
Soon it was just the three of them left, and Oliver addressed Ginny. "Harry mentioned that you were undecided about Chaser or Seeker. As we didn't have anyone turn up to try out for reserve Seeker, I'm giving you the opportunity to take on the role, in addition to reserve Chaser."
"Let's face it - I am the most likely to be injured." Harry pointed out with a wry grin on his face. Ginny frowned, she didn't like to think of Harry getting hurt, but knew it was inevitable, and so eventually nodded in agreement.
Oliver continued. "Harry, you've got another half hour of the pitch being booked, make the most of it to get Ginny practicing as a Seeker. That is, if you do want to take it on?" He asked Ginny, turning to her.
"Of course I do!" Ginny said excitedly.
"Well that's decided then." Oliver smiled. "I'll see you later." He walked off into the changing rooms at the end of the pitch.
Ginny turned to Harry. "You told him that I was interested in both positions?" She asked him.
"Yes, no one came to try out, and I mentioned that you had been thinking about it, and that I thought you would be great in either position."
"You do? Thank you thank you thank you!" She said quickly, giving him a hug.
"You're welcome!" Harry laughed. "Now, let's get in the air and get some practice done - we have the pitch all to ourselves so we can have some fun!" He shot of into the air, with Ginny quick to follow behind him. "Let's start with Follow the Leader, I'll lead first then we'll swap over." Harry said.
He started off slowly, and gradually increased his speed as he led Ginny through an increasingly difficult routine of turns, swoops and feints that he'd had to use in games. He was pleased to see that Ginny followed him perfectly through all of them - many were designed to be used in order to get the opposing Seeker of one's tail. He decided to make one last turn, barrelling vertically up into the air before levelling out behind himself, so he was hanging down off of his broom. After flying along a little way, he twisted, righting himself, then flew back down to where Ginny had stopped to watch him.
"That was excellent Ginny!" He praised. "But why didn't you follow me for the last one?"
"I didn't know if I could, to be honest. I mean, I know I can do similar moves on the brooms at home, but this broom is so old that I'm not sure it could have handled that without stopping flying, so I didn't want to risk it." Ginny answered.
"Good thinking. It's always important to know the limitations of the broom you're flying. You don't want to try something like that in a match, then have the broom splutter out beneath you, letting you plummet to the ground." Harry said. "Now it's your turn to lead for a bit."
Ginny flew off, and also gradually picked up speed as she continued, like Harry had. Harry followed her through the first few turns and feints, then became mesmerised by her long, fiery red hair flying behind her and the joyous look on her face. Without realising it, he slowly pulled to a stop, hovering in midair, and just watched Ginny enjoying herself flying around the pitch.
Soon Ginny noticed that she was no longer being followed. She slowed to a halt next to Harry, and asked with a smile on her face, "What's wrong? Why did you stop?"
"I stopped because I kept getting distracted by you. Your hair looks wonderful streaming behind you in the wind." He replied lovingly, reaching out a hand to run through it.
"I think you're barmy, but thank you anyway. However, I do need you to follow me at some point, so I can see if I can lose you, oh Youngest Seeker of the Century, on some of those turns."
"There's not much point as I see it at the moment. You're more than able to, I can see that much, but the broom is holding back your ability - it's too slow. As it is, I could follow you through anything I've seen before, but I know if you were able to fully let your ability reign free, I wouldn't have a chance."
"Oh. What can I do then? It's not like I'm just able to get a broom." She asked dejectedly.
"Next practice, I'll see if I can get hold of some golf balls. That's how Oliver taught me to find and catch the Snitch. And we'll see if we can work on some new moves for our first match, so that if you do end up playing Seeker you will have an arsenal of feints and turns that the opposition will struggle to follow you through, even on that old broom." 'And hopefully by that point I'll have had the chance to buy you your own broom.' He added in his mind.
Late the next morning, Ron was just waking up. Obviously, being a weekend, he wasn't going to get out of bed before he needed to. When he finally made his way downstairs, his mind was preoccupied with thoughts of the Quidditch Tryouts the day before.
He'd seen Ginny up in the air trying out for Chaser, and was shocked. As far as he knew she'd never flown before, but the moves she had been pulling off spoke of someone who'd had a lot of practice, regardless of the quality of broom she'd been riding.
It had upset Ron a little to see her there actually. This had been his first chance to try out for Quidditch, something to make him stand out more, and also give him more time to try and get friendly with Harry again. After all, what with them both being on the Quidditch team they'd be spending much more time together. But when he'd turned up to see Ginny waiting, her one hand clasped tightly in Harry's and the other holding one of the school brooms - and a Nimbus 1700 at that, much better than the Shooting Star he'd been left with - he'd been annoyed. And jealous, probably, although he still wasn't ready to even properly consider that emotion, let alone admit it. It was clear she'd got to the broom shed before he had, as by the time he had gotten there none of the remaining brooms were anywhere near that good.
As he reached the common room, the sound of an intense conversation broke through his thoughts. He noticed a group of people crowded around the notice board. Wondering what could be on there, he made his way over to look. He could only see one new notice - the Quidditch Team. Turning away, he wondered what the fuss was about - after all, everyone had known there had been Quidditch Tryouts. Then, he heard a bit clearer what one of the voices was saying.
"She's got two positions. Sure they're both reserves, but that's got to be unusual."
Confused, Ron turned back. He hadn't been aware of anyone getting two positions. Of course, no one had even tried out for reserve Seeker, but still. He looked over the list, and his emotions started to swirl inside him. The list read:
Position . . . . . . . Name
(S) Chaser . . . . . . Angelina Johnson
(S) Chaser . . . . . . Alicia Spinnet
(S) Chaser . . . . . . Katie Bell
(S) Beater. . . . . . . Fred Weasley
(S) Beater. . . . . . . George Weasley
(S) Keeper . . . . . . Oliver Wood (C)
(S) Seeker. . . . . . . Harry Potter
(R) Chaser . . . . . . Ginny Weasley
(R) Chaser . . . . . . Dean Thomas
(R) Chaser . . . . . . Demelza Robins
(R) Beater. . . . . . . Colin Creevey
(R) Beater. . . . . . . Ritchie Coote
(R) Keeper . . . . . . Ron Weasley
(R) Seeker. . . . . . . Ginny Weasley
His sister had gotten two positions on the team, and so was that much more likely to play that year, especially given how frequently Harry got injured. Ron spun and quickly left the common room, heading for an abandoned classroom he knew was just down the hall.
By the time he reached the room, the maelstrom of emotions swirling inside him had settled somewhat into just one - anger.
'How did she get two positions?' He thought to himself. 'The reserve team is new this year as well - there should have been loads of people trying out. And she can't even play Quidditch anyway - I've never seen her fly before yesterday.'
It didn't take long for Ron to realise why he was so annoyed. Getting on the Quidditch Team had been a goal of his, and now Ginny had sort of beaten him to it. She was younger, and had two positions instead of the usual one. Ginny was going to become the centre of attention for the reserve team, while he, Ron, was pushed to the side. It didn't occur to him that there were five other players on the reserve team that also wouldn't be getting much recognition.
All of his brothers had stood out in someway - Bill and Percy as Head Boys, Charlie as Quidditch Captain, and even Fred and George as infamous pranksters. Now Ginny would be standing out from her appointment to two positions on the reserve team this year, and some pretty much guaranteed time playing in one of their matches that year. She could be playing if one of four players was injured, whereas he would only get the chance if Oliver was injured and unable to play. Given he was the captain of the team, that seemed unlikely.
Ron sat brooding a while longer, until his stomach decided to make itself known. Realising he'd been distracted on his way to breakfast and that it was now almost lunchtime, he quickly made his way to the Great Hall so as to be one of the first able to eat.
A few Sundays later found Albus Dumbledore, esteemed Headmaster of Hogwarts, dressed up as a a short elderly witch. It had quickly become apparent the first weekend of term that possibly a wizard as well-known and revered as himself would draw a large amount of attention buying a love potion, and there might be questions asked as to its purpose.
Instead, he had spent the past month brewing Polyjuice Potion. He had retrieved some of the ingredients from his Potions Master, and procured the others himself, so as to avoid suspicion. It was for this reason that he hadn't just asked Severus to brew the Polyjuice for him, or even the love potion - while he trusted Severus not to say anything, the use of a love potion was illegal, and Dumbledore wanted to cover all traces of having anything to do with it, if its use were even to ever come to light.
That morning, he had transfigured a old set of his robes into much shorter, new, witch's robes, in preparation, and had then downed a dose of the Polyjuice, gagging slightly at the taste. Knowing he only had an hour, he quickly changed into the robes and flooed from his office to the Leaky Cauldron.
He had retrieved the hair for his potion from an elderly witch at the ministry the previous day, on one of his regular trips there for Wizengamot Meetings. One of the unfortunate by-products to his position as Chief Warlock was the requirement to be present at all Wizengamot Meetings, which were incredibly frequent, given how much actually got decided at them.
The witch had been on her way to St. Mungo's having received some minor spell damage from a malfunctioning paper airplane message, that was shooting mild hexes everywhere it went. She had accidentally knocked into him in the Atrium, and when she had seen who it was, had started apologising profusely, until Dumbledore had patted her shoulder, saying "No harm done." When she had continued on her way, Albus stealthily pocketed the strand of hair he had collected from her shoulder in a small vial, and continued onto the Wizengamot Meeting.
With a final spell aimed at his throat, to temporarily alter his voice, Albus stepped through the magic brick wall into Diagon Alley. He made his way along to the end, and into Knockturn Alley, trying to be careful to stay in character, adding a slight hobble to his step. Although love potions were technically illegal, like anything, there was a black market for them. And after all, one didn't simply live over 150 years without learning some things.
While Mr Mulpepper's Apothecary on Diagon Alley sold only legal potions and ingredients, his branch in Knockturn Alley had a backroom dedicated to the potions of a more questionable nature. Of course, they didn't come cheap, but the Dumbledore family went back a long way, and with Albus' many roles in the current society, he had accumulated a reasonable amount in his vault.
Making his way through the main shop into the backroom, he spoke to the wizard behind the small, rickety counter. "I don't suppose, you have any love potions do you?" He asked, his altered voice rather squeaky, as he pulled the transfigured shawl closer over his face.
The expression of the man behind the desk didn't falter, as he continued reading his magazine. "How do I know you're not someone from the Ministry?" He asked. This was the limit of the black market's intelligence - leave nothing on display, and ensure no one from the Ministry purchased anything.
Albus withdrew a small pouch from his pocket, and upturned it on the counter. "30 Galleons, and you don't ask any questions." He squeaked.
The young wizard, perfectly demonstrating his greed for money, turned and eagerly scooped it into his palm. "No questions." He agreed quickly. He reached under the table, and withdrew a small vial, with a pink heart on the cap. He held onto it as he said, "That will be another 30 Galleons."
Albus inwardly winced, but showed no exterior emotion. It pained him to be spending this much on the potion when he could have bought the ingredients and brewed it himself for a meagre 2 Galleons. However, that wasn't an option, so he withdrew another pouch, and set it on the table, holding onto it.
They both slid their possession towards the middle of the table, swapping which one they were holding at the same time as each other to avoid being tricked by the other. When he had the potion, Albus turned and left, saying "Thank you sir."
"Have a nice day madam."
Albus hurried back towards the Leaky Cauldron, stuffing the potion vial into his pocket before emerging into the light of Diagon Alley. He flooed back into his office with a carefully cast silencing charm on the floo, so nobody would hear where he went. And just in time, as he stumbled out the Polyjuice started to wear off, leaving the venerable wizard standing where a witch had been just seconds earlier. Now all he had to do was get it into Harry's drink. That could take a few days, so he resigned himself to a bit more waiting.