Kristen Gets a Broomstick
Before Kristen can begin Chaser training, she needed a broomstick. Tobias told her to meet him in Diagon Alley at Gringotts. When she got there, she waited on the bank's marble steps for him.
"Hey Tobias." Kristen greeted.
"Hello Kristen." said Tobias. "I thought while we are here, we can get our school things as well. I need a need broomstick too. My Comet two-sixty is not perfect to be a seeker. I'm getting a Cleanpsweep Seven."
"Are you trying out for the Ravenclaw team this year." Kristen asked.
"Yeah." he answered. "I know I won't make seeker. Cho Chang is the Ravenclaw seeker next year. I will probably be her reserve. If I am, I might get a couple of games."
They went into Gringotts and got some of their wizard money from their family vaults and then when to Quality Quidditch Supplies. Tobias stopped in his tracks when he saw something in the window.
"Wow!" he exclaimed. "The new broom model. A Firebolt. It looks better than the picture I seen of it." He sighed. "It's too expensive. I have to clean out my gold to pay for it and I need the money for Hogwarts for six more years."
They entered the shop. Around the shop were Quidditch robes, boxes for Quidditch balls, bats for beaters, broomsticks, and everything needed for Quidditch. The shop had also had supplies for Quodpot.
"Tobias," said Kristen. "What's Quodpot?"
"It's a sport that is very popular in America." Tobias explained. "There are eleven players on each side. They play with a modified Quaffle called a Quod and they pass it from team member to team member to get it in a pot on the other end of the pitch to score a point. If a team member is caught with the Quod when it explodes, the person is off the pitch. The game is over when all the members of one team is off the pitch."
"Oh."
"I heard that they are playing it at the games. Now on to the brooms."
Kristen looked at the brooms. There were so many to choose from. There were Oakshafts, Moontrimmers, Cleansweeps, Comets, Tinderblasts, Swiftstick, Twiggers, and Nimbus'. She looked over at Tobias, who was looking at the Cleansweep Sevens.
She picks up a Nimbus 1700. She like it. Tobias got his Cleanpsweep Seven. They paid for the brooms and then sat outside at a table outside the ice cream shop and waited for Shannon, Sean, Keven, and Steven.
While they were waiting, a boy and an old lady walked by them until they reached the potion store.
"Logan wait out here." she coaxed him. "I will be back in a few minutes. Stay near the shop."
The boy walked over to where Kristen and Tobias were sitting and sat at the table beside them. He didn't look too happy.
"What's wrong?" Kristen asked.
"My grandmother is strict." Logan answered in a low voice. "She never let me do anything without her approval."
"The same with my mother." Tobias replied. "My mother a muggle she doesn't really like me going to a Academy for witchcraft and wizardry. She also hates the idea of Quidditch."
"My grandmother doesn't like Quidditch either." Logan added. "Before I came to live with her, my dad trained me as a beater. When I came to live with her she forbid me to play. I wanted to go to Hogwarts but she put in a private school for wizards."
"Do they play Quidditch there?" Kristen asked.
"No." Logan answered sadly. "Headmaster Hellibore doesn't have sports at his school. I waited for days to get my letter from Hogwarts. Then my world came crashing down when my grandmother told me I was going to Hellibore's Academy For Wizards. My dream was to play for one of Hogwarts House teams. My grandmother just wants to make my life miserable."
"What is it like?" Tobias inquired.
"Hellibore's school is strict." Logan replied. "He wants all his students to be perfect wizards. I had only one friend there. His name is Merlin Longstaff. He is a year older than me and he is now an apprentice for a wizard. Do you go to Hogwarts?"
"Yes." Tobias answered. "Is it just you and your grandmother at your place?"
"Yep. It would have been three but Muggles took her away."
"Her?" Kristen asked. "A sister?"
"A cousin. Long before I came to live with my grandmother,
she took care of my cousin because her parents disappeared. Muggles took
her away from the house when she was two years old. The Muggles thought
she was a crazy old lady and her house was no place for a child. I bet of
she was still around, grandmother would sent her to Miss Cackles. She is probably
in Hogwarts like you too. You're lucky. Do you play Quidditch? What position do
you play?
"I play seeker."
"I'm in training to be a Chaser. We are playing in the Young Wizard and Witch games."
"Wow!" Logan exclaimed. "I'm going to those games too but I don't have a team to join. All teams need eight people."
"Our team has only seven." Tobias said with a smile. "Maybe you can join our team."
"Really!" he said.
"I'm the captain of the team and we have been looking for an eighth player." Tobias explained. "What games are you playing?"
"I signed up for all the 100-1500 dash races, cross country, magic without wands, and potion brewing."
"That's a lot." Kristen said surprised.
"Good thing Muggle sports are in the morning, magic is the afternoon, and Quidditch is at night." Tobias exclaimed.
"Logan!" The old lady came out of the shop. "We are going now."
"Grandmother I found a team to join for the games." Logan told her.
"Really." she answered. "As long as you are not playing Quidditch it's fine with me. Who is the team captain?"
"I am." Tobias replied. "My friend and I are just waiting for the rest of team to arrive for a meeting."
"What school do you two go to?"
"Hogwarts." Kristen answered. "I'm a Hufflepuff and he's a Ravenclaw."
"While then, Logan you can go to the team meeting." she told them. "I will be back after my shopping is done."
Not long after she left the other team members showed up. They went into the Leaky Cauldron. The others were glad to meet Logan.
During the meeting they discussed what the team is going to be called. Sean already designed the logo. It had the animal of each of their houses at Hogwarts. It had the Hufflepuff badger on the left, Gryffindor lion on the right, and the Ravenclaw eagle flying overhead. The team name was the Animagi.
"I sent an owl of the person in charge of the game at the department of magical games," said Sean. "He gave me a list of colours used already by teams. Each team must have two colours. The robes for teams are going to be reversible so if a team the same colour as us we can use another colour. He put a charm on the parchment so it can be up to date."
"What about navy blue and orange?" Amy suggested as she looked on the list. "No one has those color combinations."
They all decided on those colours. Sean went to owl post to get their letter for to the Ministry of Magic's department of Magical Games and Sports. While Sean was gone, they talked about Quidditich.
"Hufflepuff has a new captain and seeker this year." Keven announced. "Celtic Diggery is taking over."
"I wish I can play Quidditch again." moaned Logan.
"You should stand up to your grandmother." Tobias spoke up. "It's your life."
"Every time I try I get scared." replied Logan. "Where are we training anyway?"
"At my place." answered Shannon. "It's near Ottery St Catchpole. My family shares a paddock surrounded by trees with the Weasleys. We can practise Quidditch there as long as we fly low. My father can put some anti-muggle charms and repell charm on the paddock so we can play a game with my step-brothers, step-sisters, and half-brother."
Tobias was shocked. "How many actually live in your house?"
"I have two step-brothers, three step-sisters, half brother, and my parents. Daniel and Tina are gone. Daniel works with Charlie Weasley in Romania. Tina works with the Committee of Experimental Charms. Brian, Jessica, Erin, and Cody are still around. Brian, Erin, and Jessica go to Hogwarts too. This year Brian is a seventh-year Gryffindor, Jessica is a sixth year Slytherin, and Erin is a fifth-year Ravenclaw. Cody is starting this year."
"I guess family members don't always get into the same house." mumbled Kristen.
"We live in a big house." Shannon continued. "My parent divorced my mother was pregnant with me. I was sent to live with my father when I was three after my mother disappeared."
"How will we get there?" Kristen asked.
"Floo powder, of course." Shannon answered.
Kristen didn't really like floo powder. She, Sean, and Shannon
used floo powder to get to classrooms faster when they knew they were going to
be late.