On a warm August morning, while eating breakfast, Damian Zamojski noticed an owl flying toward the kitchen. When it landed on the open window, the boy unhooked a letter addressed directly to him. It bore the stamp of Durmstrang, depicting a two-headed eagle. Then he tore open the envelope and unfolded the parchment .
RESULTS OF THE EXAMINATION FOR THE LEVEL OF WIZARDING ABILITY REQUIRED (WAR)
Pass marks Negative marks
Masterful (M) Unsatisfactory (U)
Proficient (P) Poor (P)
Satisfactory (S)
DAMIAN ADRIAN ZAMOJSKI RECEIVED:
Astronomy (M)
Black Magic (M)
White Magic (M)
Herbology (M)
History of Magic (M)
Potions (M)
Care of Magical Creatures (M)
Divination (P)
Transfiguration (M)
Runes (M)
Arithmancy (M)
Pretty good, I'm glad I got top grades in my favorite subjects, thought Damian, who was looking forward to learning these magical skills at Hogwarts.
At that moment, Wladyslaw entered the kitchen and noticed his son reading the letter. Curious, he asked:
"What's that?"
"My WARs," answered Damian.
"Your what?" answered the surprised Wladyslaw.
At that moment, Damian hit his forehead with his hand. He should have known that dad didn't have a head for such unimportant things as education. Then he sighed, answering
"Wizarding Ability Required, exams after the fifth year."
Vladislav finally remembered. From what his memory told him, he had only passed three subjects. Even then, he had a completely different idea about life.
"How did it go?" He asked after a moment of silence.
"Quite well," answered the boy, handing the parchment to his father.
When Wladyslaw started reading, he thought:
On Merlin's beard he has the highest marks!
Shocked, he handed the letter back to his son, then declared:
"You've definitely gotten into Mom."
Marta had returned from her job at the Department of Magical Concealment. She had held the office of head of that department for over ten years. She coordinated all the activities that prevented muggles from seeing the existence of the wizarding community. She really enjoyed her work, although sometimes she felt that she should have gone much higher. It was thanks to her intervention that the location of the new headquarters of the Polish Ministry of Magic was changed.
It took me a surprisingly long time to persuade the Minister to build a building near the Palace of Culture and Science, she thought, recalling her fierce discussions with the most important mage in the country.
She was thinking about submitting her resume to the internal recruitment for the position of Deputy Minister of Magic. There was a vacancy there after Janusz Chocimski emigrated to the United States. That's why she originally didn't pay attention to the parchment lying on the kitchen table. Only after a while did she see the letter from Durmstrang. She took it in her hand, when she saw that it was the equivalent of Hogwarts OWLs she closed her eyelids and thought:
God, make him get good grades.
She then began to read, her surprise increasing with each new line. When she finished, she thought:
Ten Outstandings and one Exceeded Outstandings and one above expectations!
She couldn't believe it, Damian had exactly the same grades as she did at his age. The only difference was that she Exceeded Expectations in Arithmancy and her son in Divination.
After recovering from the initial shock, she wondered about the subjects he should pursue.
He mentioned working as the healer or an auror. That meant he should choose...
"Damian! Come downstairs, please," Marta called out to the son.
When Damian came, he saw his mother run up to him and then embrace him tightly. Surprised by his mother's behaviour, he hesitantly returned the hug. At that moment Marta whispered:
"Congratulations on your exam results. They are really amazing."
No exaggeration, the boy thought, but in spite of everything, he felt extremely happy.
Then, Marta answered:
" Last time you said that you were hesitating between the professions of Auror and Healer."
Damian sighed, announcing:
"I still have no idea what I should choose."
Unexpectedly, Marta smiled at him and said:
"If you choose the right subjects you will have two more years to think about it."
The boy sat down on a chair and Martha replied:
"You definitely have to choose Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Herbology and Potions. You can't go without those."
So they don't teach Black Magic at Hogwarts? That's good to know, thought the boy, who was disgusted by the cruel spells of Durmstrang.
"What are your favourite subjects apart from the ones mentioned above?" asked Marta
I really like numerology, it's very complicated, but that's what turns me on about it. Every assignment is an amazing puzzle. Runes are great too. I like to learn new things about ancient magic, thought Damian
"Runes and Arithmancy."
Martha nodded her head, saying:
"Here is the ultimate proof that you are my son."
The boy, who was already used to his mother's strange jokes, smiled and retorted:
"Did you have any doubts?"
"If you knew what used to happen in maternity wards, you would have had some doubts too," she answered, winking.
A few days later, lying on a hammock, Wladyslaw noticed an owl. When he turned his head towards it, it immediately flew towards him. It had Vladislav's favorite magazine in its talons: the Quidditch World. After paying with a gold coin with a crown on the obverse and a portrait of Antoni Cichy - the first Polish Minister of Magic - on the reverse, he started reading. While flipping through the magazine, one article caught his eye.
Bachelors resignation, Chudley Cannons seek new coach!
One of the latest news regarding the British and Irish Quidditch League is the dismissal of Chris Bachelor, the acting coach of the Cannons. According to local press reports, the decision was prompted by a conflict with the board over the transfer budget. It is speculated that Bachelor demanded a sum of two hundred thousand galleons. The difference of opinion resulted in this, and not another, choice of the club's board. Below we quote a statement from the Chudley Cannons:
"We are sad to announce the dismissal of Chris Bachelor. Unfortunately, differing visions on how the club should operate, caused Chris to part ways with our team. We've had a lot of great times with Chris and believe that he will have many more successes - both on and off the field."
The search for Bachelors' successor is currently underway. Everyone is eagerly anticipating who will take the hottest job in the league this time around. Over the past fifteen years, the Cannons have already fired twenty-six coaches. Last season, ending with a minus five thousand two hundred points, was the worst in Cannon history and the second-lowest in league history.
It's a hopeless situation, they're as poor as church mice, plus they have terrible management, thought Wladyslaw, then a wide smile appeared on his face.
This is my dream job! Wladyslaw said in his mind as he prepared to write a request to be considered.
After two days Wladyslaw, sitting in the living room, heard loud knocking on the window. He walked towards it and saw a brown owl with a letter tied to its leg. He opened the window, then glanced at the envelope. It showed an orange crest with wings, two yellow cannons in the center, and stars around them. It was written on it:
Mr Wladyslaw Zamojski
Lipowa 4 Street
Grodzisk
Excited, Wladyslaw unrolled the parchment on which the message was written:
Dear Mr Zamojski,
We accept your proposal with great honour and interest. We are very willing to meet with you regarding the position of our team manager. We believe that we will work out a common vision of the club for the next season.
With best regards,
Garry MacGuire
Owner of the Chudley Cannons
P.S. We propose to meet on August 9 at 11:00 a.m. at the club's offices at 31 Artemisia Lufkin Street.
After reading the letter, Wladyslaw squeezed his hand triumphantly. He really wanted this job, he believed it would give him a lot of satisfaction. Then he thought:
I need to talk to Marta and Damian. I hope they will understand my motives.
A couple of hours later, when he and Marta and Damian were sitting down to dinner, Wladyslaw said:
"There is something I need to tell you."
Marta and Damian immediately turned their faces toward him. They looked extremely nervous:
Please, don't let this be news of some serious illness, thought the terrified Marta.
He probably wants to resume his career, he's addicted to it, Damian said to himself, which made him sad. In recent years Wladyslaw had been more and more frequently injured by Bludgers.
"Chudley Cannons want me to take over their first team. I have an interview in two days. What do you think?"
Marta sighed with relief and then declared:
"You've always dreamed of a job like this. How could I stop you?"
He then looked at Damian, the boy looked like he was having second thoughts. A few seconds later Damian declared:
"In my opinion, this is a bad idea. The Cannons have the worst team in the league and a terrible financial situation. Besides, they change coaches like clothes. You'll get more stress and nerves than it's worth."
At that moment Wladyslaw smiled and said:
" I haven't been under fire from the media for a long time. Two weeks is definitely too long."
August 9, 10:55 a.m., Chudley, headquarters of the Chudley Cannons
Wladyslaw, dressed in his favorite navy blue evening wear, fetched himself to the address given. Opposite him was a two-story orange building. To his right he spotted monuments to club legends. One depicted the illustrious Keeper Charles Jennings - who played from 1720 to 1732 and won as many as five championships with the Cannons - reaching for the pile with the tips of his fingers. Another statue depicted a stocky, mustachioed wizard hoisting the League Cup trophy.
Dominic Thomson, played here as a Beater for 14 years. During that time he won four championships. He reached for the last of these in 1892. It was the last Cannons title in the club's history.
Next to the avenue he walked were at least a dozen more monuments to deserving players. Braves Seekers desperate to reach for the Golden Snitch, Chasers throwing magnificent goals, Keepers making daring parades, and strong, muscular Beaters When he found himself right at the door, he thought:
It's sad that one of the biggest clubs in England is now being treated like a laughing stock. I will do everything in my power to change this state of affairs, thought Wladyslaw
After knocking on the door, he heard the sound of footsteps. Then he saw a very pretty brunette about ten years younger than him, dressed in a white robe, who answered:
"Good morning, Mr. Zamojsky. The management is expecting you in the office on the second floor."
She then escorted him towards the elevator. Wladyslaw noticed tapestries on the walls depicting scenes from the most famous matches. To the left, the Chaser of Cannons were executing a magnificent combination that completely baffled the Holyhead Harpies' defense.
They traveled in silence, although Wladyslaw had the impression that the woman wanted to ask him something. Before he could think about it any longer, they stood on the second floor. The brunette led him towards the oak door, opened it and then said:
"Good luck"
"Thank you," said Wladyslaw. For some reason he felt like a noodle was stuck in his throat.
The first thing that struck Wladyslaw was the size of the office. The room was at least fifty square meters. He then noticed portraits of various wizards, most likely former trainers and members of the Cannon board. At that moment, a tall man with a long black beard approached him, speaking:
"Hello, Mr. Zamojsky," After which he extended his hand, declaring: "Garry MacGuire."
Wladyslaw shook it and replied:
"Pleased to meet you."
They then walked toward the board members. After greeting them, Wladyslaw sat down in a comfortable leather chair. Next to him stood freshly brewed coffee and cookies. After Wladyslaw took a sip of his drink, MacGuire replied:
"When I received a letter from you two days ago, I was really surprised. Everyone knows that our club is not in an easy situation, so the candidacy of such a well-known figure in the Quidditch world is a real opportunity for us. What motivates you to work for us?"
Wladyslaw had a prepared answer to this question. To tell the truth, he didn't know if it would satisfy the management of the Cannons, but at least it was one hundred percent honest.
" I want to bring a deserving club out of its knees. Just now I was looking at the monuments and tapestries. This building is brimming with greatness, which I want to restore. I believe I am the right man to do it."
MacGuire nodded, then replied:
"What kind of Quidditch do you prefer? What is most important to you?"
Wladyslaw replied:
"First and foremost, players need to think creatively. I don't want to have donkeys on my team mindlessly following orders. All the best teams, apart from learned schemes, can improvise. They perform individual actions or block their rivals to make a throw. For example, I would like to teach your players to pass the Quaffle without catching it."
"What's that!" shouted the elderly wizard on the right, followed by half the porters at the back of the office.
Undeterred by these reactions, Wladyslaw continued his argument:
"During a match, the Chasers always catch the pile and then throw it to a teammate. If our players would learn to bounce it, every action would be much faster and harder to predict."
A surprised MacGuire countered:
"Do you really think something like that is feasible? It's extravagant to say the least, and we've already been bruised enough by the media."
Wladyslaw countered:
"I have never been more sure of anything. Moreover, I would like to teach the team how to steal the Quaffle quickly. Thanks to that we could significantly strengthen our defense and gain a lot in attack. In addition, the Keeper should come out frequently to erase long throws behind the defensive line."
An amazed MacGuire said:
" It sounds like you want to revolutionize not so much our club, but Quidditch as a whole!"
A wide smile appeared on Wladislaw's face:
"And I will, as soon as you give me the chance."
August 9, 12:30 p.m., Chudley, headquarters of the Chudley Cannons
After Wladyslaw left the office, MacGuire asked the other council members:
"What do you think of him?"
The first to speak was the club president, George Sullivan:
"To me, this guy is completely nuts. The wizarding community has been playing Quidditch for over five hundred years, and he thinks his ideas will work better than what leads the best to victory."
Vice President Dominic Rebby then gave his opinion:
"We are in a very difficult situation, and Zamojski has eaten his teeth in this sport. We are talking about a man who played at international level for years. Moreover, you can see an incredible passion in him. Team would follow him into the fire."
Martin Ross, the sports director, was next in line.
"Our players have never worked with someone with such a high reputation in the Quidditch world. Plus, the guy has an extremely open mind. Would it have occurred to you that you could pass the Quaffle without catching it first?"
Everyone looked in MacGuire's direction. The fate of Zamojski's candidacy depended on his opinion. The man sighed, then replied:
"To tell the truth, I'm not one hundred percent convinced of him. His eccentric methods and personality could be the nail in our coffin. But there is a chance that a different outlook will work, and then much better times await us. Never before has our club had such low ratings, we must grasp at everything to change that."
At the same time another owl flew into the Zamojski house. Excited Damian, he thought:
It must be a letter from Hogwarts!
He instantly opened the letter, which said.
Dear Sir,
I am sending you a list of textbooks for your sixth year at Hogwarts. Also, please let me know what subjects you wish to study at our school.
My best regards,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Damian looked at the titles of the books curiously. He didn't know any of them.
So cool! So many new books to read! - said Damian.
I would love to make some friends at Hogwarts. Bullying the younger students or testing spells on House-elf didn't encourage me to integrate, Damian thought, remembering his years at Durmstrang with distaste.
In truth, he was furious with himself for only deciding to transfer to another school after five years. All along, he had been afraid of confronting his dad, who had decided on the institution. However, this summer he was ripe for a serious conversation and to defend his opinion.
June 28th, 1996
That day Damian was extremely nervous. He was going to tell his parents about his intention to change schools. While waiting for his mother to return from work, he read a book entitled: 100 Useful Spells in Everyday Life. Some of them seemed completely pointless to the boy, such as the charm for tying shoelaces, but most of them were really useful. Damian really liked the spell for self-massage.
I definitely need to try these out, he thought, imagining the bliss after saying this spell.
Then he heard the sound of a door opening.
It's definitely mom, thought the boy, who again felt the piercing stress.
Damian decided to wait about fifteen minutes, then he took a deep breath in and out and went downstairs. When he arrived in the kitchen he saw his mom cooking dinner and his dad reading the newspaper.
"Hi, honey! How was your day?" said Marta, smiling.
"We need to talk about something," said Damian.
What could he be talking about? Marta was frightened.
The boy sat down on the chair, he felt that his body was completely paralyzed and his cheeks were burning. Then he swallowed his saliva and declared:
"I would like to change school."
Wladyslaw immediately took his eyes off the Voice of Grodzisk, he had absolutely no idea what had gotten into his son. So he asked:
"On what grounds?"
Shocked, Marta thought:
Something really awful must have happened. I knew Hogwarts would have been a better place for such a sensitive boy.
Upset by the dismissive tone of Dad's voice, Damian clenched his fists, saying:
" In Durmstrang, the stronger ones bully the weaker ones, and the school management does nothing about it. They didn't pick on me, but one of my friends was set on fire. The headmaster paid his parents a pile of gold to keep it out of the media. I don't want to learn in such a place."
Shaken, Wladyslaw couldn't make out a word. Various things happened in his time. For example, blowing up doors with magic firecrackers or waking up friends with levicorpus, but setting fire to a student? Twenty years ago such a delinquent would have been punished with a whipping by the tutor of the year. At the very least.
"All right, we'll sign the appropriate form allowing you to transfer to another school," said Vladislav, shocked.
Surprised by this turn of events, Damian thought:
That's it!? No more texts like: "Life is a jungle where the strongest survive" or "In my time..."? All you had to do was simply state your opinion clearly?
"Why? Why didn't you mention it before? If you had just said one sentence, you would have been studying at Hogwarts long ago," asked a tearful Marta.
Damian felt a crushing sense of guilt.
I was too much of a coward to talk to them about a really difficult subject, he thought sadly.
"I couldn't tell you about it. I was afraid of your reaction...I'm sorry," he said, lowering his head.
Marta stroked his head, saying:
"Don't think about it anymore. Things are going to change starting in September. Hogwarts is a really great place. You'll be enchanted, you'll see."
August 10, 1996, 5:00 p.m.
Wladyslaw wondered if he had revealed too many revolutionary ideas during his interview. In his opinion, Quidditch could develop in many ways, but revealing that to people who had fired dozens of coaches probably wasn't the smartest move.
Well tough, at least I was one hundred percent honest. I can't be any different, thought Wladyslaw.
Looking out the window, he spotted a brown owl in the sky. He immediately opened it wide and the bird landed on the window sill. It had a letter tied to its leg, which bore the coat of arms of the Chudley Cannons.
Wladyslaw felt his heart begin to beat much faster. With slightly trembling hands he unrolled the parchment and began to read.
Dear Sir Zamojski,
It is with great pleasure that I inform you of the positive outcome of the interview for the position of coach of the first team of the Chudley Cannons. We would very much appreciate your feedback on whether you accept our offer. If yes, a press conference will be held on August 15 at 15:00 to sign the contract.
Best regards,
Garry MacGuire
Owner of the Chudley Cannons.
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" roared Vladislav, raising his hand in triumph.
He didn't care that he was offered only a one-year contract with an option of extension for another season. The salary of two hundred galleons a week - the lowest among coaches in the entire league - didn't deter him either. He had a head full of ideas that he was going to put into practice.
During a family dinner, Vladislav announced the good news.
"Today I received an answer about the job for Armat," said Wladyslaw with a stone face.
"And what?" asked Marta, she knew very well how much Wladyslaw wanted the job.
They must have refused him, he doesn't look happy, thought upset Damian.
"Unfortunately..." started Wladyslaw.
That's what I expected, thought Damian, thinking of a way to cheer up his dad.
I'm so sorry, thought the distressed Marta.
"I'll be away from home for the next year! I got the contract!" finished Wladyslaw with a wide smile on his face.
"You know what?! What are you scaring us for!" shouted delighted Marta.
"Congratulations," answered Damian. To tell the truth, the boy had mixed feelings. Of course, he was happy about his father's happiness, but he knew the situation of the Cannons and it was very difficult.
The weakest players in the league plus dad's hot temper, let's hope it won't be a big disaster, Damian thought.