I give you – Weasley !
A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed the 2nd
chapter. PhoeniX, who are you ?? Please tell me, I've got simply no idea !
Saturday was approaching quickly – too quickly, according to the twins. They were becoming more and more nervous during the week and were caught almost every day at playing their jokes.
So when their weren't having their detentions,
they were practising. Since there was no point of speed training with
Cleansweep Fives, they decided to improve their aiming skills by releasing the
Snitch and trying to hit it with the Bludger. It wasn't easy, but on Thursday
and Friday they were doing quite well.
Finally it was Saturday.
The participants were supposed to meet at the
Quidditch pitch at 10 o'clock.
Fred and George were descending the marble
staircase so fast that they could almost be envied by Carl Lewis ( a famous
athlete ). It was five minutes to ten. The twins had been practising very late
into the night and so they had overslept !
When they had woken up at 9.50, they had been
slightly panicking. After throwing on their robes and grabbing their brooms,
they hurried down and ran outside to the pitch.
Oliver Wood was standing there, surrounded by a
crowd of students, nearly all of them older than the twins. But there were a
few second- years as well and Fred and
George sighed with relief. Fred sighed for another reason, too. Among the
participants there was a very pretty second-year girl named Angelina Johnson
and Fred was rather fond of her.
George had noticed that long before and had
teased his brother often. But Fred hadn't cared when he was being teased and so
George had given up after few days.
Now he wondered aloud whether Angelina was
going to apply for Chaser or Beater.
" I hope she's gonna be a Chaser. It would be
wonderful – we could play together in the Team and I would protect her from the
Bludgers ...." mused Fred.
George rolled his eyes and hurried towards the
crowd.
" Ok, lads, those who want to be a Chaser, go
over there and the Beater applicants, come with me. Your selection will be the
first !" announced Wood and beckoned them to follow him. They walked over to
the edge of the Forbidden Forest and saw immediately how the selection was
going to be performed.
Wood had indeed designed a route through a part
of the Forest and was now giving everyone a Beater's bat ( A/N: I don't really
know what's it called, so forgive me if it's wrong. ).
" So, that's what you'll have to do: You must
fly the route as fast as you can, but attention : there are quite a lot of
obstacles which you must avoid AND you have to strike the Bludgers on your
whole way. I'll watch and take notes. But remember: speed's NOT everything !
And now – we're gonna start. I'll call you in alphabetical order –"
Fred and George grinned. They would be among
the last to call, as always.
" – but I'll do it in a bit of an unusual way
and start from the end – Zachary, John !" said Wood and gestured a fifth- year
to go to the start.
The twins looked at each other, horrified.
They would be the very next ! No time for
mental preparation ! George looked like he was going to be sick and Fred paced
restlessly around, clutching fis broomstick and cursing softly.
But they hadn't much time to be really nervous.
Soon Oliver called again. " Weasley, George !"
George was chalk – white as he walked over to
the start and gave his brother a desperate look. They had watched Zachary when
he had been nearly knocked off his broomstick and then almost crushed into a
rock that had suddenly appeared in front of him. The route was difficult, no
questions.
Fred mouthed " Good luck !" to his brother and
then turned around. " Better if I don't see it." he thought, wishing that
George wouldn't get injured.
A few minutes later, Wood called Fred to the
start and grinned at the younger boy. " Easy, kid, there's nothing to worry
about. Your brother's been pretty good and if you're about as skilled as he is,
then I guess you've got a real chance to become members of the Team. Off you go
!"
Fred flew off, surprised. Wood has praised
George ? Hey, if that wasn't a good omen ... !
He flinched as something soared past his left
ear – right, the Bludgers !
For the next few minutes Fred was very busy
striking the Bludgers which came from every side and avoiding the obstacles that
were appearing in front of him. There were rocks, branches and even whole trees
in the middle of the way, but the boy managed not to fall from his broomstick.
Finally, Fred reached the finish where George
was standing and grinning at him.
" You were pretty good, bro' ! The way you
avoided the obstacles – with your Wronski Feint you could be a Seeker !"
" Wood said you were pretty good, too – I haven't
been watching 'cos I simply couldn't ...." replied Fred a bit breathlessly.
" How can he see us flying the whole route,
anyway ?" he asked.
George pointed at the sky where Oliver was
hovering on his broom and scribbling something on his writing pad. Then he flew
down to the start again and called the name of the next participant.
The twins figured that they were supposed to
wait at the finish and lay down on the grass. Sonn more people came after
finishing the route and they started to discuss the difficulties of the
Selection, Wood's "great" idea of placing a huge rock right in the middle of
the way and the mistakes they had made.
Fred and George participated eagerly at the
conversations and they earned praise from the older participants for they
performance, too, which caused them to blush furiously.
Finally, the last participant arrived and so,
shortly after him, did Oliver Wood.
Several pairs of eyes were staring at him
intently. You could have heard a needle falling to the ground.
The Quidditch captain cleared his throat.
" Pals, it hasn't been an easy decision, I can
tell you that. I was amazed how talented some of you are and –" He was cut off by an third – year who couldn't
bear the suspense anymore. " C'mon Oliver, who is it ?"
Oliver hesitated. He would've wanted to finish
his small speech, but since everyone seemed so eager to know the new Beaters,
he decided to skip it.
Instead, he turned to face the twins and said
solemnly, " Fred and George Weasley, welcome to the Gryffindor Quidditch Team !"
The twins' eyes went wide and they gasped.
Suddenly they let out two identcal shouts of
joy and embraced each other, while the other competitors were applauding
politely.
Wood smiled. " I hope you'll help us to beat
the Slytherins, you two. Now excuse me, all of you – there's another selection
to make." With that, he flew over to the waiting Chaser applicants. The other
Beater competitors started to walk towards the castle, some complaining about
the race and Wood and some just relieved that their selection was over.
George was whistling the " Triumphal March"
from Aida, but a sudden blank loo on his brother's face caused him to stop and
ask alarmedly, " Hey, bro' , what's up ? Winning's getting too much for you ?"
Then he got even more startled when Fred began
to laugh madly. He wouldn't stop and so George shook him, getting annoyed. "
What the hell's so funny, huh ?"
Fred chuckled and shoved something into his
brother's hand.
George looked at it, his eyes widening.
It was the small bottle with the Accelerating Potion
Unopened. Unused.
George started to laugh, too. They had toally
forgotten to use the Potion ! And they'd won even without it ! It was like a
dream.
" Incredible, ainnit ? C'mon, let's go to
Honeydukes. An event like that should be celebrated !" suggested Fred, getting
on his feet.
" How very true." George agreed and the twins
started to head for the castle with broad grins on their faces.
A/N: Okay, okay, I know this has been cliché,
but winning with the help of the potion would've reduced them to ordinary, bad-
charactered cheaters. And they simply aren't like that, don't you think so ?
As always – please review ! Do you want me to
write about their first match ? I'll do it when you're interested.
Silver