Anna 5
"Are you guys sure about this?" Kristoff sounds nervous. Friday afternoon has finally rolled around, and the six of us met up after lunch by the doors of the Great Hall. We went out to the Quidditch hut, got some rental brooms (Astrid, Merida, Emma, and I all have our own brooms, but our parents haven't sent them yet), and now we're heading out to the Quidditch pitch. Every moment of free time we had this week was spent at either the library, where we explained Quidditch to Kristoff and Rapunzel, or out on the lawn, teaching them the basics of flying. We got passes from Toothiana after our first flying lesson, and she was happy to see us trying to help our friends, even though we weren't all in the same house. She even conjured up some Muggle sports equipment to practice with. Since we couldn't actually use the Bludgers and Snitch without the chance of losing one and getting killed by the others, a couple of soccer balls, a basketball, and a golfball were good substitutes. But even though Kristoff has one heck of a Bludger whack, he was still a little hesitant.
"Are you kidding? You'd be a great Beater!" Emma says
"She's right." Astrid speaks up "And Hufflepuff is going to need a great Beater after the three of us," She throws her arms over Emma's and Merida's shoulders, "make the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw teams."
Kristoff sighs "Fine. Quit twisting my arm already, would ya?"
I stick my tongue out at him, and he rolls his eyes in response. We all giggle a little at that. When we make it to the Quidditch pitch, we see that everyone is split up according to house, seated on the ground in front of a group of older students, two per house, dressed in quidditch robes . We split up, and Merida tells me and Astrid who the older students are.
For Gryffindor, it's the team Captain, Ariel Lantica, a cheery red-head I've seen in the common room. She's a Chaser. Next to her is Gryffindors current Seeker, another red-head (what is it with Gryffindor and red hair?) named Amy Pond.
According to Merida, Amy fought hard to get the spot this year, because a curse finally wore off. The Gryffindor Seeker from a few years ago was dating Slytherins captain. The Gryffindor dumped the Slytherin right before the big match, and he was so distraught it messed up the whole Slytherin team. Gryffindor won the Cup, but after that some one on the Slytherins team found (or made) this really dirty curse, and now not a single Gryffindor Seeker has caught a Snitch. They've still won games, but the Snitch has remained out of reach. But Ariel got an anonymous letter at the end of last year saying that the curse should wear off before the first game of this year. Every Gryffindor is excited about it.
Next to us are the Hufflepuffs. Their team Captain is actually Amy's boyfriend, Rory Williams. He's Keeper. And the assistant he chose is Hiccup. Believe it or not, Hiccup is a Hufflepuff Beater. Weird, right?
Ravenclaws Captain is Kidagakash Nedakh. She goes by Kida, thankfully, and she's one of the best Chasers at Hogwarts. Her second in command is the Ravenclaw Keeper, Tadashi Hamada. I think he has a first year brother in Ravenclaw.
And finally, Slytherins team is Captained by Fa Mulan, a Chaser, and River Song, my sisters best friend and the most feared Beater to ever fly a broom at Hogwarts, is her helper. River is the Quidditch player who worries me the most by far. But I think Astrid and Merida will be able to handle her, with a little more practice.
Professor Toothiana flies onto the field, smiling widely and showing perfectly straight, white teeth "All right everyone! It is so great to see this big of a turn out! Sorry I'm a little late, I had to help clear up a little rainstorm in the hallway. Since we've lost a few minutes, let's jump right in and-"
"Sorry we're late!" A loud voice interrupts Toothiana. All heads turn towards two figures walking along the pitch. One's a strutting Slytherin with mussed up brown hair, and the other is and uncomfortable looking Ravenclaw with her head down. Jack and Elsa.
"Jack, what an unusual surprise." Toothiana sounds just as confused as I feel "What are you and Elsa doing here?"
"Kida asked me to get a fresh look at the newbies and it seemed like a good time to explain the rules of Quidditch to my girlfriend. So she knows when to cheer for me." Jack says it all with an easy smile, but Elsa keeps her head down staring solidly at her feet. Never looking up, never even trying to see me.
"Well, if you sit over there and behave, I think that will be allright." Toothiana points at the bleachers, and Jack saunters that way, one arm over Elsa's shoulders. When they pass by the Gryffindors, I think I see Elsa raise her head, but I can't tell from the angle she's at. The bleachers they were heading for had already began to fill up. Everyone a bit curious to see what new talent is now here. I held my head high, determined. This is my opportunity. After they sit, Toothiana separates us based on position, so I follow Amy and a couple other boys from other Houses over to a corner of the pitch.
"All righ' you four. I'm Amy, and what'r your names?" She says it quickly, a little impatiently, and between her accent and her hair, I'm thinking she may be related to Merida. Two of the boys are Slytherins, an impish looking red-head named Peter, and a cutish one name Hans. The other boy is Tadashi's younger brother, Hiro from Ravenclaw. Hiro, Peter and I all hold borrowed brooms, but Hanses is an Andromeda 35. Nice broom, if a little outdated.
"Line up. We're gonna see how fast you are." Amy drags her broom handle in the soft dirt, drawing a starting line. "Start here, fly to the end of the pitch, circle the goal posts, an' come back. Let's see who's the fastest. And no cheatin'!"
I get stuck between Hiro and Hans. Hans looks at me out of the corner of his eye "Isn't Quidditch a little rough for little girls?" He says it cockily, and I start to think he's not so cute.
"Maybe. Why don't we see after the race?" I try and match his tone, but without being as mean. I know how fast I am, and I know I can win this race, even with a shoddy broom.
"Ready?!" Amy calls out and we bend over our brooms
"Set!" She raises her hand in the air
"GO!" Her hand comes down, and we take off. Hans takes an early lead, Hiro and I are neck-and-neck right behind him, and Peter is just behind us. Hans has the advantage on the straight parts, but Mom showed me a trick for keeping speed through corners. I can make up time there. I start to pull ahead of Hiro, but Hans is steadily getting further and further away from me. I adjust my grip on the broom, and press into the splintery wood more, trying to be more streamlined. Just like Mom taught me. Hans is rounding the goalposts, but he's going too wide. Its killing his momentum, and it's letting me close the gap between us.
I make it to the goalposts, and then, instead of making a wide turn, I can almost hear Mom's voice cheering me on as I pull hard on my broom, slide by the goal posts side-ways, like a car drifting on a highway. I lean forward again, pushing my broom, and then I pull ahead of Hans. He hasn't gotten back up to speed yet, and I can see the shock on his face as I go by him. I think I can win this!
Then, I hear shouting over by the Chasers. I look over, and see that two Chasers had crashed. One of them stayed on their broom, but the other one is falling, and I can see a thick, impossibly long golden braid trailing behind her. Rapunzel.
I steer towards her, shouting her name as loud as I can, and her head turns towards me. I'm over her now, which is good, because I need to match her speed and then slow us both down or we're gonna dislocate each others arms. I dive down, parallel to her, and we manage to grab each other's forearms. I pull out of the dive, but my broom starts vibrating under me. I'm pushing the old twig to hard, but I can't do anything about it. I try and level out, but my broom starts to jump under me. I hold on to Rapunzel and my broom through the first few lurches, but then the broom practically falls ten feet.
I twist off of my broom, but manage to hold on with one hand. Now, I'm dangling from my broom, Rapunzel's clinging to me, and we're still at least fifty feet in the air. And I'm slipping. I try and hold on, but the broom slips out of my grasp. Rapunzel and I plummet...and then crash into four kids on brooms. I lose my grip on Rapunzel, but she gets grabbed by Astrid and Emma. Merida's broom catches me in the gut, and it knocks the wind out of me. Kristoff grabs the back of my robe, but I slip out of his grip. My heart flies up into my throat, and I fall...and land in a twenty-foot pile of... snow?
Elsa 6
I walked through the motions the rest of the week. Still my dazed self constantly contemplating life and the world around me. My lunch table has grown increasingly irritable of my non book reading antics, but I just brush Belle and her posse aside as nothing more important than buzzing, hissing flies with fantastic hair.
Come tuesday, It was a pleasant surprise to find that I have herbology with Hufflepuff because they always seem to know what they are doing. I had my first Arithmancy class on thursday and it has definitely peaked my interest. I don't know why wizards got rid of math all those years ago. The award for most boring class had to go to History of Magic. I may be the top in my class, but that does not mean I am enthralled with every class I come in contact with.
I sat back, ready for a weekend after my final Friday class, History of Magic. The class quickly emptied until I sat alone. Professor Sourbill even felt the need to escape the drudgery and so I was left in the old fashioned room all by myself and I caught some silence.
My deaf Astrology teacher, Professor Sandman hobbled in through the door along with his assistant, Rashmi. I stood quickly, surprised and almost afraid that I had been caught doing something wrong. "Oh! Professor. I'm sorry I was just heading out. Professor Sourbill went that direction if you were looking for him." I pointed toward the door Professor Sourbill had just disappeared behind, then busied myself packing up my stuff to avoid further eye contact.
Rashmi signed to him what I said. I had just collected my stuff and shouldered my satchel when a low chuckle came from across the room. I looked up in surprise and watched as he signed to Rashmi, enchanted by the silent movements.
Finally Rashmi spoke, but it wasn't what I expected, "Slappe av barn."I was surprised for a moment. She just spoke Norwegian to me. "He came to see you. You speak Norwegian I presume? He told me to say it in that language first."
I finally found my voice "Y- Yes I do, but how could he have possibly have known that?"
"He is observant. The whole isolating of senses thing. Now there is a reason he has come, though this chit chat has been fun…" She leaned onto one hip popping it out. She was one large contrast. Her hair was short and a bright green. One eye a vibrant purple and the other a viper green. Her robes and skin were clean of fault, but she topped the look off with a pair of combat boots that her wand stuck out of.
"How can I assist you?" I asked unsure how to proceed.
"He is recruiting people for his next project." She paused choosing her words carefully. She spoke so elegantly and each movement and word she utilized had a precise meaning associated. "He wants to create a marching band. He got the idea from the muggles studies teacher who just won't stop talking about the magic-less."
I stood there nodding and observing every movement she made and compared it to my own. Am I that precise? I realized that she had finished talking and flustered to think of something to say other than 'um sure.' Finally I picked myself back up again. "A marching band?" and then proceeded to fall apart once more. "That's an interesting choice assuming…" I trailed off and my face burned bright red. I watched as Rashmi signed my awful words.
Professor Sandman smiled knowingly and nodded thoughtfully before turning back to a very attentive Rashmi. She takes such good care of him. If there is one thing she excels at, it's what she is doing right now. I want to find my calling.
Rashmi's words startled me out of my wandering thoughts. "Don't be embarrassed, it's a good question." Her words soothed me. I knew they were his, but just coming from her made me feel like everything is suddenly ok. "He loves music, or rather the vibrations it makes and this idea intrigued him because a marching band is a loud group, hence lots of vibrations, that work toward helping people see the music. He wouldn't be teaching music, just sponsoring it."
I smiled delighted with, not only the cause, but with with the fact that he sought me out specifically to ask me to join. "Yes sir. It is a great idea and I would be delighted to join."
"Great." Rashmi continued for him. "It probably won't happen for a while since it still needs to be arranged with Nor- I mean Headmaster North, but he just wanted to see how many students would be interested before he went through the trouble."
I felt slightly awkward with the two of them, not exactly sure who to talk to. "yes sir. It is a brilliant idea sir."
"Well I will see you Monday Miss Arendelle." Rashmi and the Professor made their way to the door when Professor Sandman suddenly stopped and added on as if an after thought, through Rashmi. "I heard there is some quidditch thing going on. You should check it out." Then without waiting for a response he hobbled out with Rashmi right at his heels.
There is something inspiring about Rashmi. She is so different yet intelligent and precise. She doesn't let anything stand in her way. I stood there stupidly, considering Rashmi and realized she is what I want to be, that's why I find her so intriguing.
With my mind momentarily settled I headed out. I wondered if it was the thing Jack was trying to organize. I figured I would go drop off my books and check it out. Anna will definitely be there, but I'm not sure if that statement made me want to go more or less.
As I walked down the hallway Jack came jogging around the corner at a cool pace. "Hey there you are! I was coming to find you, We are going to drop off your stuff in your common room and then head over to the First Year Quidditch thing, but we have to hurry because it's going to start soon."
He started to move away when I stopped him. "Oh this isn't the thing you planned? I was only going to go to see you being all authoritative. I'm not sure I really want to…"
"We are going." Jack gave me a wink "Hows that for authoritative? Anyway I have to inspect the newbies. River was the one chosen to be Mulan's assistant." He added this last part with a little scorn. I frowned a little surprised. He perked back up with a quirky "Consider it a date." He bowed then started his light jog again. He called behind him "Meet me in the Great Hall in five minutes!" Then rounded the corner and disappeared. I couldn't help but smile at his charismatic nature and quickened my pace.
Five minutes later I stood in the Great Hall and looked around aimlessly. Jack rushed in only a minute or two later with a woven basket hanging around his right wrist. He cried out "You beat me! Sorry I'm late. Oh I'm awful. Late to a date! You might as well just break up with me now." He dramatically grabbed his head with his free left hand, yet the distinguished glint in his eye gave him away as he slowly moved toward me.
When he was close enough, quick as a whip, he grabbed my arm and with a jaunty laugh pulled me towards the door shouting "Let's get moving! It has already started." Slightly startled my feet flew underneath me as if my body knew what it was doing and I couldn't control the giggles that escaped. And just like that, we ran all the way to the Quidditch Pitch.
When we came into view of all the first years crowded around Professor Toothiana, we slowed to a sophisticated walk. My giggles, and lightheartedness stopped abruptly as the all the first years turned our direction and scrutinized our every move.
I hate being the center of attention and my vision began to blur. I put my head down trying desperately to block out the judging eyes and clutched Jack a little harder. Jack was a natural at this. With a large smile he walked up the the group and pronounced our arrival. ""Sorry we're late!"
Professor Toothiana looked down confused as to why she was interrupted. "Jack, what an unusual surprise. What are you and Elsa doing here?"
In a cool, confident voice he replied, "Mulan asked me to get a fresh look at the newbies and it seemed like a good time to explain the rules of Quidditch to my girlfriend. So she knows when to cheer for me." I wondered why we couldn't have just snuck into the stands like the other spectators, but I guess that wasn't Jack's style.
"Well, if you sit over there and behave, I think that will be alright." Professor Toothiana sounded impatient and confused as to why we had to cause a disruption to her event. I agreed and burned with embarrassment.
I continued to grip his shirt, positive I was wrinkling the fabric, until he put his arm over my shoulder starting to guide me away. As we passed the Ravenclaws, Emma waved excitedly, and I lifted my head long enough to accompany Jack in waving back.
When we passed the Gryffindor section I spotted Anna along with her bright headed friend immediately and began to wave, but realized I was making a fool out of the both of us. She wasn't paying attention and probably didn't want to be associated with the girl who interrupted Professor Toothiana's Quidditch Event. I can tell she is already determined to get a spot on the team.
We made our way to the filled up stands and climbed the steps to join the other spectators. With each step I felt the heat leave my face until we sat on the cool stands. While the event was being set up, Jack whipped out from the basket two plates and a mini feast of crackers and cheese, grapes, and a slice of chocolate cake.
"This is wonderful Jack! Thank you!" I said gratefully. It was what I needed after a long day. He gave a shy smile, then grabbed a cracker and munched on it as he pulled out a small journal. Flipping to the next open page he settled in. At this point Anna had gone with the fiery Amy Pond and three other children. Jack had already begun to furiously write and I was hesitant to interject.
"So… what exactly is happening?" The embarrassment had completely left me and I felt so light sitting next to Jack.
He paused in his notes with a smile, happy that I was taking an interest. "Well they just split up into the positions they think they want. The point of today is to figure out their skills and we will probably press them to do other positions than just the ones they are interested in. My job is to do the research of which ones should be recruited for next year. I am watching their starting skill, their practice level, their learning speed, cooperation, determination, intelligence, even their love lives. I hope to fill this book cover to cover with every training session and piece of gossip I can get on the Slytherin Quidditch hopefuls throughout this year. Each house has someone doing it."
"Why does someone's love life matter?" I asked
"Couple of reasons. If they are constantly in and out of relationships that's how you make enemies. Or if they react bad to an end of a relationship then it is something to consider. The biggest reason, though, is a couple years ago a Gryffindor girl was dating a Slytherin guy. Then before the biggest game of the year she broke up with him. We still aren't sure if it was done maliciously, but the Gryffindors swear it was just teenager drama. As revenge the boy laid a spell on the Gryffindor Seeker position that made it almost impossible to catch the snitch and the spell could only be reversed when he decided it was time or it wore off after seven years. They still won games, but they haven't taken home the cup since the spell was laid. This year marks the seventh year, so next year the Gryffindors are going to be harder to beat than ever. Nobody wants to take the chance of being cursed."
"Ah…" I sat back contemplating his words as we munched in silence. He had resumed scribbling away.
"I can't wait until I'm Captain and get to do this." Jack said suddenly sounding very content.
I laughed "You're pretty confident you're going to become Captain." I teased, though I didn't doubt it. He laughed shyly then turned his attention back toward the notebook as the bludgers got started with their activity.
We finished all the crackers and grapes and Jack and I split the cake as Anna and her competitors sped off around the outside of the pitch.
"Check out the seekers!" Jack called excitedly, but I happened to already be focusing on them and was watching with a surprising amount of delight. It was like watching Anna race Mom at home. I liked to watch them from the back porch, or from the large window in father's study. Anna had such ease on that broom.
One Slytherin boy who was competing with Anna had a fancy broom that let him speed out in front of the other three. All I could think was how unfair it was that he got to use a better broom.
Then it came to the corners. I held my breath as Anna swiftly took the corner tightly and passed the rich child. My heart leaped in excitement and I felt pretty confident that she didn't need my protection, just this once. I couldn't help but mutter "Amazing" to Jack who smiled and responded "Your sister is way better than you are. I didn't know she was this talented!"
"I did." I responded proudly, not being able to contain the glimmer in my eye. Suddenly, a commotion began in the peripherals of my eye. A Ravenclaw hopeful chaser... Rapunzel!... and another one, had collided. The other chaser gripped their broom and managed to not fall, but Rapunzel had no such luck. I grabbed Jack's arm as she made her descent, a trail of long blonde hair following behind her.
Next thing I know Anna, always the hero, made a mad dash toward the scene and came crashing in to save her. I jumped to my feet as Anna joins Rapunzel in a ridiculous game of vertical dominoes. They in turn crash into four more stupidly heroic first years who manage to catch Rapunzel, but allow my sister to continue her descent to her inevitable doom. Nobody was going to be able to get there in time. Toothiana had realized too late what was going on. It was up to me.
Acting on instinct I felt my body suddenly vibrate with energy. A chill ran up my spine and down my arm to developed into a tingle through my fingertips. A blast of snow appears and encircles Anna still twenty feet high in the air.
Silence rang cleanly through the spectators as they looked about confused, wondering who laid the spell. Nobody in our area had a wand out.
That's because I hadn't used one.
