Chapter 6
A/N: La la la, here's chapter 6.
"Mr. Potter!"
Harry turned to see Madam Hooch walking briskly towards him. "Good morning, Professor," Harry said.
"I assume that you remember you're the only member of the Gryffindor team left, correct?" she asked.
"Um, yes ma'am," he said.
"Well then, you understand that you're captain and you need to hold tryouts to fill the rest of the positions on the team," she said. "Would you like to schedule a time to use the field?"
"Oh yeah.....um...how 'bout Saturday, since there are no classes," Harry suggested.
"Very well then," Madam Hooch said. "Tryouts on Saturday. Be sure to inform your house."
Harry nodded. She smiled and walked off. It was Sunday morning, and Harry was walking to breakfast. He entered the Great Hall, and was greeted by various comments and congratulations. Apparently, everyone was stoked about last night. He flopped into his seat with a "Hullo," to Ron and Hermione, and rifled through his bag for a piece of parchment.
"Wha' 'choo doingk Harry?" Ron asked through a mouthful of porridge.
"Making a notice about Quidditch tryouts," he said, pulling various colored ink quills out of his bag. Ron almost choked.
"Quidditch tryouts?!" he demanded. "When did you decide on this?!"
"Just a moment ago, I was talking to Madam Hooch and she asked-" Harry explained.
"Bloody hell, I've got work to do, catch you all later!" Ron exclaimed, jumping up from the table. He turned around and almost bumped into Kat. "Oh, hey Kat, gotta go!"
"Okie dokie!" she said, and he tore off.
"Geez, why's Ron in such a hurry?" she asked Harry.
"He's just found out that I'm holding Quidditch tryouts on Saturday, so I guess he's going to go practice," he replied.
"Ah. You gonna go out for the team Hermione?" Kat said, nudging her.
"Of course not, I can't play at all..." Hermione said loftily, obviously very involved in the book she was reading.
"Oh," Kat said. "Well, I'ma grab some food and bounce, better see how Ron's doing out there."
"Oh, okay," Harry said, a tint of disappointment in his voice.
"Ah, don't worry, I'll be back later," she said with a grin. "Wouldn't dream of leaving my favorite Gryffindors hangin'." She waved bye, grabbed a slice of toast, and skipped out of the hall.
"Funny," Hermione muttered.
"What's funny?" Harry asked.
"Well, it's the first time since we've been back that Katherine's been over here and Malfoy-"
"What about me Granger?"
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Spoke too soon."
Draco stood behind them, arms crossed. "Where's Kat?" he demanded.
"Like I'd really tell you," Harry scoffed.
"She's down at the Quidditch pitch with Ron," Ginny said, walking up.
"Gin!" Harry exclaimed.
"Oops, sorry Harry," she said.
Hermione looked up from her book and sent her a look. Ginny stared defiantly back at her. She didn't look sorry at all, and it wasn't like Ginny to do something against Harry.
"Hmmm. Thank you, Virginia. Maybe your family isn't so worthless after all."
"Shove it, Malfoy," Ginny growled. "And don't call me Virginia."
He shrugged. "As you wish, firebug." He turned to Harry. "If anyone needs me, I'll be snogging with Kat."
"Ha, in your dreams, Malfoy," Harry said with a glare.
"You're SO right!" Malfoy answered, smirking at him as he walked off.
"Grrr, I can't STAND that guy!" Harry growled in his direction.
"One thing's for sure, his insults are certainly losing their touch," Ginny said dryly.
Grabbing his stuff, Harry turned to Hermione. "I'll see you later, 'Mione." Not waiting for an acknowledgment he rushed off after him.
Hermione rolled her eyes and went back to her book.
"Figures..."
The days past, and in the evenings you could usually find Ron and Harry out on the Quidditch pitch practicing.
"Ron I'm gonna throw it again, see if you can block it!" Harry hollered from mid-field.
"Right!" Ron yelled back from the goal posts.
Harry never really considered himself much of a Chaser, but Ron had to practice. Tomorrow though, the old Chasers, Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson, and Alicia Spinnet were going to be there to test the aspiring Keepers. Madam Hooch agreed to play Keeper for the auditioning Chasers.
Harry sped towards the goals where Ron was hovering, when he dropped down suddenly, reappeared on the left, went over, dropped again, to the right, up over, and Ron looked from left to right, following Harry with his eyes, when Harry suddenly threw the ball, and Ron dived to block it, whacking it back with the tail of his broom, almost missing it.
"Not bad, Ron," Harry said with a grin. "Accio Quaffle!" The Quaffle zoomed back into his hands.
"Harry, what the hell was that?" Ron asked, flying up to him. Harry grinned.
"Little maneuver I came up with. Call it the Figure 8. I have a whole bunch more in my head for the year."
"Very effective," Ron said with a smile.
They drifted to the ground and stepped lightly off their brooms. "So, think I stand a chance?" Ron asked.
"Definitely," said Harry. "But I'm not allowed to play favorites."
"Yeah, I know," Ron said with a sigh. "But, the best man'll win, right?" he said brightening up.
Harry laughed. "Yeah."
"Cool. Let's get going, I gotta get some sleep for tomorrow," Ron said. Harry agreed and they put their stuff and made their way to the castle.
They didn't see someone skitter down from the stands and run up to the castle behind them.
And that person didn't see someone also come down from the stands and run back to the castle.
"Good morning Gryffindor House!" Harry said cheerfully. Saturday morning. Quidditch tryouts. And what a turn out.
There were many students that he knew like Seamus, Dean, Ron, and surprisingly Neville, and the Creevey brothers, and Ginny, and numerous other students from the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th years.
"Um, I'm Harry, the team captain-" he began.
There was a cheer from Ron and them, along with a number of shrieks from the girls. He smiled sheepishly and continued. "-and we're here today to determine which of you few will be appointed to play on our house team.'
"There are 6 positions open, and they are the Chasers, the Beaters, and the Keeper," he said, ticking the positions off on his fingers. "The Chasers handle the Quaffle," here he held up the bright red ball, "and they try to get it through those hoops over there. If they do, they get 10 points.'
"The Keeper-"
Cheer from Ron.
"-flies around the goal posts and tries to prevent the Chasers from scoring."
He indicated to the bludgers. "Now, I'm not gonna take these out yet, as my old captain told me they're 'nasty little buggers', and I don't want anyone to get hurt. These are bludgers. They fly around the field trying to knock you off your broom,"
"But don't worry," he added hastily at the look of sudden fear on some of the new second years who had never even HEARD of Quidditch faces, "because we have people who keep them in check. They are called Beaters. They fly around with a big stick and hit the bludgers at the opposing team.'
"And the last position is Seeker. That's me," he added with a smile that about knocked out half the 3rd year girls in the front row. A roar of laughter from Ron and Harry rolled his eyes, a slight blush on his face. He still found it peculiar his affect on most girls.
"Anyway, the Seeker flies around the whole entire game, searching for this-"
He opened a little door in the box of Quidditch balls and pulled out the walnut sized ball. "The Golden Snitch. If the Seeker catches it, you get 150 points. He catches this, the game is over. If I catch this.." he paused here for dramatic effect, " we win."
Everyone cheered again.
"The problem is that it's wicked fast and damn near impossible to see, but I can usually manage," he said, flashing his dashing smile again.
There was a thunk as a second year fell out of her seat, then promptly got herself settled again. Harry hit his head with his hand and reminded himself not to be so DAMN charming anymore.
"Right, so any questions?" he asked, scanning the crowd for hands. One popped up from the very back. "Yes, hand in the very back."
The owner of the hand stood up. Harry did a double take; it was Hermione!
"What about commentator? Lee left remember, so we don't have one."
"What are you getting at here?" Harry asked, amazed.
She rolled her eyes, hands on her hips. "Well, I wouldn't be asking if I wasn't interested in the position, now would I?"
Harry still continued to gaze confusedly up at the stands. "You- you're interested in trying out for commentator?"
It made no sense. Hermione didn't like Quidditch. She had always made that quite clear. She thought it was dangerous and didn't see why Harry enjoyed 'risking his life' like that . As far as he knew, she had never even TOUCHED a Quidditch book. She couldn't even say Wronski Feint right.
"Me too Harry!"
Harry turned crimson and turned to the direction of the voice. Kat was waving at him from the bleachers.
"K-Kat?"
"Yeah! Wassup bro?" Kat grinned, again, decked out in Gryffindor colors.
"Erm....Kat, you're not even in Gryffindor, what are you doing here?" Harry asked. "Not that I mind you being here," he added quickly.
"Well, as I understand, commentator just announces what's going on, right? So why does it matter what house that person is in?" she explained.
Harry looked to Madame Hooch for help, because he was thoroughly confused. She nodded, so he said, "Okay, you can try out for commentator."
"Whoo-hoo!" Kat yelled. "You're off the heezy-fo'-sheezy, Harry!!"
Harry blushed, assuming this to be a compliment (which it was), much to Hermione's annoyance.
"What about me?!" she demanded, scaring some of the students in front of her.
"Yeah, you can, too," Harry said warily.
She sat down satisfied.
"Shut up Ron!" Harry said, before Ron could even start laughing. Ron waved cheerily at him.
"Okay.....with that established...shall we begin?"
"Mount your broom, and begin on my whistle. 3, 2, tweet!!"
It went on like this all morning, Madame Hooch, Harry, Alicia, Angelina, and Katie judging the students on things like technique, flying ability, speed and talent. They'd seen a number of spectacular candidates, and some....not so spectacular....
"Bobby, watch where you're going!" Harry yelled.
"Huh?" yelled Bobby, 3rd year, who was trying out for Beater. Except he wasn't paying attention, and didn't see the Bludger fly straight at him, knocking him off his broom.
"Shit," Harry muttered and hopped on his broom, and zoomed to where Bobby was falling and caught him and floated back to the ground. Madame Hooch took care of the bludger.
Amid cheers of relief, Harry landed and sat Bobby on the ground. "You ok?" he asked.
Bobby nodded. Harry tried looking stern, but failed miserably. He instead smiled. "Listen, I know you're probably excited about this, but don't get so excited that you forget where you are, ok?"
Bobby nodded again and smiled weakly up at Harry.
"You'd better go see Madame Pomfrey just in case, ok mate?" Harry said, helping him up.
Bobby ran off and Harry turned back to the list of people. "Ok, next is, Ronald Weasley," he said.
Ron hopped down from the stands and ran over to stand in front of Harry. "Which position are you trying out for Ron," Harry asked with a smile.
"Keeper, sir," Ron answered, trying hard not to laugh.
"Ok, go over there then and wait for Madame Hooch's instructions."
Ron ran with his broomstick over to the end of the field by the goal posts.
"Mount your broom," Madame Hooch called. "On my whistle begin. 3, 2, tweet!!"
Ron shot into the air and hovered in front on the goal posts, a look of determination on his face.
"Go Ron, kick some ass!"
Kat.
Alicia, Angelina and Katie flew into the air, Katie with the Quaffle.
"Goooooood Morning Gryffindor House!! Welcome to today's show, Ron Weasley vs. Ex-Chasers Alicia Spinnet, Angelina Johnson, and Katie Bell!! We're sure in for a show today!"
Harry turned to look at the stands to see that Kat was standing, hands cupped around her mouth, yelling at the top of her lungs.
"Um, Katie has the Quaffle, and is zooming towards the up-and-coming keeper, Ron Weasley!"
Harry turned again, as he saw that Hermione was also standing up.
"Bell passes to Spinnet, Spinnet to Johnson, and back to Spinnet, she shoots and-"
"Ohh! Nice save by Weasley!" Hermione interrupted. "Looks like they're going to regroup and try again..."
Kat looked at her in amazement, then grinned. Hermione glared defiantly back.
Madame Hooch nodded her head in approval at Ron's block and wrote some stuff down.
Tired of yelling, Hermione pointed her want at her throat and said "Sonorous!" and her voice amplified throughout the field. "Bell zooming toward the goal-"
Kat, seeing what she did, performed the spell too, and said "But she's not getting' past Weasley's quick reaction time and fast reflexes!"
Another goal blocked by Ron. The crowd cheered, they were really getting into this. Ron was doing quite well.
It almost felt like a real Quidditch game. Harry had even started to unknowingly look around for the Snitch. Kat and Hermione were doing an excellent job, and he supposed that they thought that what they were doing was some kind of audition.
He yelled out to the girls from the side of the field. "Hawkshead Attacking Formation!" He had picked this one up from the Quidditch World Cup in fourth year.
The girls zoomed closely together, Angelina in the center, slightly ahead of Katie and Alicia, bearing down upon Ron.
"Ah! The Hawkshead Attacking Formation!" Kat said. "Classic maneuver used frequently by the Irish National Quidditch Team!"
Angelina made as though to dart up with the Quaffle, and dropping it to Katie.
"Porskoff Ploy!" Hermione exclaimed. "A tricky little maneuver meant to confuse the opposing teams Chasers on who really has the Quaffle, leaving the real one open to score!"
Since when did Hermione know so much about Quidditch, Harry asked himself. He was impressed. And Kat, too, who came from America, where Quidditch wasn't really the national sport.
Katie passed to Alicia, who dropped it to Angelina who had backed down and in front of the girls, and threw with all her might towards the goal. Ron was about to block it, but noticed Katie coming out of nowhere to smack the ball into the hoop on his left. He backed up and shot downwards as Katie hit the ball towards the goal with her tail, Ron catching it just barely.
"Another brilliant save by Keeper Ron Weasley!" Kat and Hermione exclaimed.
All right, time to try one of my new formations, Harry said to himself. "Potter Ploy!"
The girls nodded and all of a sudden rushed the goal post, passing the ball so fast Ron was having a hard time keeping up.
"Potter Ploy! Must be new, they're moving as fast as lightening!" Kat said.
"Correction, lightening BOLTS, as in the scar on Harry's head!" Hermione said.
The ball was shot, Ron dived, but missed by an inch.
"Ooh, too bad!" Kat said.
"So close!" Hermione added.
The onlookers cheered anyway and Harry sent out another command. "Figure 8,"
Ron grinned and got himself ready.
"Version 2!"
Ron looked surprised, he had been setting himself up for the original Figure 8 Harry had taught him yesterday. Now, all 3 Chasers were moving in a complicated Figure 8 and Ron was having a bit of trouble seeing where the ball was.
"Ronnie is the best, better than the rest! He's the best from east to west!" Kat encouraged.
Ron narrowed his eyes and out of the corner of his eyes saw the ball zoom toward the right side goal. He dived for it, let go of the broom, jumped for the hoop, swung up and around knocking the ball out of the way.
"Holy crackers and cheese, WHAT A SAVE!" Kat exclaimed.
The crowd below exploded with cheers and Harry stared at Ron in amazement.
"O-okay. Great! Come on down then," Harry said, clapping his hands.
Ron pulled out his wand and said "Accio Broomstick!" and the Cleansweep came soaring towards him. He jumped on, and floated slowly to the ground.
Angelina, Katie and Alicia came over to Harry. "He's bloody excellent Harry. We gave it our all." Harry nodded. Ron came over to them, and Harry grinned. "Very good Ron, nice job." He quietly added to him "Way to smash the competition, eh mate?"
Ron grinned in response, an took another bow as the crowd cheered again. Kat and Hermione seemed to be winding down. "That looks like that's it for the spectacular show put on by Ron Weasley," Hermione said.
"So, thank you Gryffindor House, and Good Night!" Kat finished, waving.
There were more assorted cheers commending Kat and Hermione for their excellent job. Harry had a sudden inspiration and ran over to talk to Madame Hooch. She nodded, and Harry grinned. He returned to the crowd and said "Well, I hope Ron's audition didn't put any of you off about trying out," Harry said jokingly. "Without further ado, how about our next person, Virginia Weasley?"
The remainder of the auditions were relatively uneventful. Ginny tried out for Chaser, and did a decent job of getting the ball past Madame Hooch. A little boy named Joey, second year, also tried out for Chaser, and for being such a small kid he did a pretty good job. Neville went for Chaser as well, as did Seamus, Dean was just there to watch. The Creevey brothers tried out for Beaters, and they were doing great; it seemed brothers tended to have a certain connection with each other that was essential to being a Beater. That was until Dennis hit the bludger in the wrong direction, towards the crowd, and it looked as though it was going to hit, when Colin dived out of nowhere and smacked the bludger out of the way. Dennis laughed weakly and scratched his head. "Oops. Sorry!" There were a few more promising candidates, too.
At the conclusion of the auditions, which was late that afternoon, Harry addressed the crowd. "Well, I'd like to congratulate all of you on the great job you've done! Positions should be up by tomorrow morning, and for those who make the team, there's a mandatory meeting Monday evening. All right then? Good. See you all later!"
Everyone started to disperse from the stands, and Madame Hooch turned to Harry.
"I think you're going to have a very strong team this year, Mr. Potter," she said, shaking his hand. "Come to my office this evening so we can discuss it." Harry agreed, and asked Katie, Alicia, and Angelina if they could come, too. They said sure, they were planning on staying in Hogsmeade that evening anyway.
Harry had a pretty good idea how the team would turn out. He had seen many good candidates, but he was confident that Madame Hooch and the girls had seen the same stuff he had.
Ron, Hermione, and Kat came up to greet him.
"Harry, way to moderate this whole lil' shindig," Kat said impressed. "You have a real leader streak in you."
Harry blushed again. "Yeah, well..."
Hermione rolled her eyes.
"And YOU," Kat said, turning to Ron. "What the hell was THAT?! That was freakin' off the HOOK, yo!" she exclaimed, patting him on the back. "That kamikaze leap at the end, I was like 'DUDE, what the rabid chipper monkey is he doing?!' You kicked some serious boo-tae, bud!"
Ron grinned. "Thanks Kat."
"How'd you like my commentating Harry," Hermione asked.
"I didn't know you knew that much about Quidditch. You don't even like it! But I am impressed," Harry said.
"How 'bout me? Think I was loud enough?" Kat asked thoughtfully.
"Oh yeah, you were great!" he said enthusiastically. "You're really great at, um, narrating action and making it sound interesting!" he said, nodding his head like there was no tomorrow. Hermione narrowed her eyes, but Kat looked ecstatic.
"Wow, you think? Thanks so much!" she grinned and threw her arms around his neck. He adopted a very goofy grin and he felt like melting right there into a puddle of mush, while Ron was trying very hard to keep a straight face (and failing horribly might I add), and Hermione was staring daggers at Kat. Kat released him and said "Well, it's getting late, almost time for dinner. Should we get going?"
"Probably. I'll have to put this stuff away first though so-" Harry began.
"That's ok, we can go over without you!" Kat said cheerily. "You can catch up when you're done. Don't worry, we'll be fine," she assured him at the look of protest on Harry's face. "Shall we be off then?" she said, turning to Ron.
Ron looked to Harry. "You going to be all right mate?"
"Yeah...this shouldn't take very long," Harry sighed.
"No, I meant...erm..." He looked pointedly at Hermione who looked like she wanted to hurt something.
"Oh. Er, I should be ok.....I hope," he added as an afterthought.
"Ok then mate," he said and walked with Kat back to the castle.
Harry turned to Hermione. "Erm..."
"I'm going to the library," she announced, and spun on her heel and marched off.
"O......k" said Harry, a bit confused. He then sighed as he realized he had to put everything away himself. "Should've seen that one coming a mile away..." he said dryly.
Sunday morning found crowds of Gryffindor students pushing their way to the front of the hoard trying to see the results of the Quidditch tryouts.
"Shove over, c'mon, let me through!" said Ron, elbowing people out of the way.
Harry was actually at the very back of the common room, smiling to himself, watching the crowds of excited people.
There was a triumphant yelp from the front of the crowd which could be recognized as Ron's.
"Yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes, YES!!! Whoo-hoo!" he exclaimed, jumping up and down like a maniac, waving his hands, and hugging people, while those who had been at the auditions clapped and cheered. Ron bounced over to Harry and swept him up in a huge hug, picking him up off the ground and dancing around yelling "Thank you! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!!"
Harry laughed and Ron put him down. He stuck out his hand and said "Welcome to the team, mate."
Ron grabbed his hand and shook it heartily, all the while a huge grin plastered on his face. He then gave another whoop, and ran off to go write a letter to his parents.
Harry smiled and shook his head, then looked over a the rest of the students.
The Creevey brothers were dancing around in a circle; they had been appointed Beaters.
Ginny and Neville were chatting happily. It surprised everyone at the tryouts that Neville did such a good job on his audition for Chaser, considering his awful experience with a broomstick in 1st year. Madame Hooch was a bit wary about it, but Katie, Angelina, Alicia and Harry convinced her to at least let him try.
Seamus was joking around with Dean. He hadn't made it, but he seemed to be taking it well.
Little Joey was smiling in a chair by the fireplace. He was the only 2nd year on the team. That didn't mean to say he would suck, he'd make an excellent Chaser, and seeing as he was the youngest, he'd probably end up Captain eventually.
"Good Mornin' Gryffindor Tower!" a voice rang out.
Harry turned pink, looking around for the source of the voice.
Heads turned as Kat strolled through the confused faces of the Gryffindors. How the hell did she get in?
"Hey, how ya doing?" she greeted. "Nice to see you. What's up? Just here to check something. Hey Harry!"
"H-hey Kat," he said, cursing himself for how nervous and floaty he got around her. "What are you doing here? And what's more, how'd you get it?"
"Just here to check how I did. And in answer to your other question, Ronnie let me in. He was on his way to deliver a letter so I bumped into him coming up here and he let me in," she explained, grinning at the end. "So, where's dat there list...." she said, setting off to locate it.
It was now that Hermione decided to come downstairs.
"Good morn-what the hell is SHE going here?!" she exclaimed, running down the stairs and stopping with her hands on her hips in front of Harry.
"Um, well, she's kind of here to see how she did yesterday," Harry said nervously.
"Hey, is that Hermione? Hey Hermione! Hey, look! Listen! Hey, hey, hey! Look, listen, hey, look, hey-"
"I get the point Katherine," Hermione said, glaring in her direction.
(Hehehe, sorry, little Navi moment there.....you DO know who Navi is right?? Annoying little fairy from Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time? No? OK, NEVERMIND then.....)
Hermione walked over to the back of the room where Kat was looking at the list.
"Looks like we're gonna be partners," Kat said cheerily, grinning like a Cheshire cat.
"Excuse me?" Hermione said, an eyebrow raised.
Kat pointed at the paper, and Hermione narrowed her eyes at it, scanning it.
Seeker- Harry Potter Chaser(s)- Joseph Cantrelli Virginia Weasley Neville Longbottom Beater(s)- Colin Creevey Dennis Creevey Keeper- Ronald Weasley Commentator(s)- Hermione Granger Katherine Love
Her eyes went huge.
"WHAAAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!!!!!!"
Somewhere in the depths of the castle, Professor Dumbledore stared fixedly at his chess game.
"It seems Miss Granger has just found out she and Miss Love are commentating," he said dryly.
"I would deem that correct," Professor McGonagall said loftily. "Your move."
Hmmm....I'm not exactly too happy with this chapter, but hey, at least I'm actually having some kind of inspiration ^_^;;;;;;. Stay tuned for chapter 7 (which I have to find because I've lost it or something.....)
A/N: La la la, here's chapter 6.
"Mr. Potter!"
Harry turned to see Madam Hooch walking briskly towards him. "Good morning, Professor," Harry said.
"I assume that you remember you're the only member of the Gryffindor team left, correct?" she asked.
"Um, yes ma'am," he said.
"Well then, you understand that you're captain and you need to hold tryouts to fill the rest of the positions on the team," she said. "Would you like to schedule a time to use the field?"
"Oh yeah.....um...how 'bout Saturday, since there are no classes," Harry suggested.
"Very well then," Madam Hooch said. "Tryouts on Saturday. Be sure to inform your house."
Harry nodded. She smiled and walked off. It was Sunday morning, and Harry was walking to breakfast. He entered the Great Hall, and was greeted by various comments and congratulations. Apparently, everyone was stoked about last night. He flopped into his seat with a "Hullo," to Ron and Hermione, and rifled through his bag for a piece of parchment.
"Wha' 'choo doingk Harry?" Ron asked through a mouthful of porridge.
"Making a notice about Quidditch tryouts," he said, pulling various colored ink quills out of his bag. Ron almost choked.
"Quidditch tryouts?!" he demanded. "When did you decide on this?!"
"Just a moment ago, I was talking to Madam Hooch and she asked-" Harry explained.
"Bloody hell, I've got work to do, catch you all later!" Ron exclaimed, jumping up from the table. He turned around and almost bumped into Kat. "Oh, hey Kat, gotta go!"
"Okie dokie!" she said, and he tore off.
"Geez, why's Ron in such a hurry?" she asked Harry.
"He's just found out that I'm holding Quidditch tryouts on Saturday, so I guess he's going to go practice," he replied.
"Ah. You gonna go out for the team Hermione?" Kat said, nudging her.
"Of course not, I can't play at all..." Hermione said loftily, obviously very involved in the book she was reading.
"Oh," Kat said. "Well, I'ma grab some food and bounce, better see how Ron's doing out there."
"Oh, okay," Harry said, a tint of disappointment in his voice.
"Ah, don't worry, I'll be back later," she said with a grin. "Wouldn't dream of leaving my favorite Gryffindors hangin'." She waved bye, grabbed a slice of toast, and skipped out of the hall.
"Funny," Hermione muttered.
"What's funny?" Harry asked.
"Well, it's the first time since we've been back that Katherine's been over here and Malfoy-"
"What about me Granger?"
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Spoke too soon."
Draco stood behind them, arms crossed. "Where's Kat?" he demanded.
"Like I'd really tell you," Harry scoffed.
"She's down at the Quidditch pitch with Ron," Ginny said, walking up.
"Gin!" Harry exclaimed.
"Oops, sorry Harry," she said.
Hermione looked up from her book and sent her a look. Ginny stared defiantly back at her. She didn't look sorry at all, and it wasn't like Ginny to do something against Harry.
"Hmmm. Thank you, Virginia. Maybe your family isn't so worthless after all."
"Shove it, Malfoy," Ginny growled. "And don't call me Virginia."
He shrugged. "As you wish, firebug." He turned to Harry. "If anyone needs me, I'll be snogging with Kat."
"Ha, in your dreams, Malfoy," Harry said with a glare.
"You're SO right!" Malfoy answered, smirking at him as he walked off.
"Grrr, I can't STAND that guy!" Harry growled in his direction.
"One thing's for sure, his insults are certainly losing their touch," Ginny said dryly.
Grabbing his stuff, Harry turned to Hermione. "I'll see you later, 'Mione." Not waiting for an acknowledgment he rushed off after him.
Hermione rolled her eyes and went back to her book.
"Figures..."
The days past, and in the evenings you could usually find Ron and Harry out on the Quidditch pitch practicing.
"Ron I'm gonna throw it again, see if you can block it!" Harry hollered from mid-field.
"Right!" Ron yelled back from the goal posts.
Harry never really considered himself much of a Chaser, but Ron had to practice. Tomorrow though, the old Chasers, Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson, and Alicia Spinnet were going to be there to test the aspiring Keepers. Madam Hooch agreed to play Keeper for the auditioning Chasers.
Harry sped towards the goals where Ron was hovering, when he dropped down suddenly, reappeared on the left, went over, dropped again, to the right, up over, and Ron looked from left to right, following Harry with his eyes, when Harry suddenly threw the ball, and Ron dived to block it, whacking it back with the tail of his broom, almost missing it.
"Not bad, Ron," Harry said with a grin. "Accio Quaffle!" The Quaffle zoomed back into his hands.
"Harry, what the hell was that?" Ron asked, flying up to him. Harry grinned.
"Little maneuver I came up with. Call it the Figure 8. I have a whole bunch more in my head for the year."
"Very effective," Ron said with a smile.
They drifted to the ground and stepped lightly off their brooms. "So, think I stand a chance?" Ron asked.
"Definitely," said Harry. "But I'm not allowed to play favorites."
"Yeah, I know," Ron said with a sigh. "But, the best man'll win, right?" he said brightening up.
Harry laughed. "Yeah."
"Cool. Let's get going, I gotta get some sleep for tomorrow," Ron said. Harry agreed and they put their stuff and made their way to the castle.
They didn't see someone skitter down from the stands and run up to the castle behind them.
And that person didn't see someone also come down from the stands and run back to the castle.
"Good morning Gryffindor House!" Harry said cheerfully. Saturday morning. Quidditch tryouts. And what a turn out.
There were many students that he knew like Seamus, Dean, Ron, and surprisingly Neville, and the Creevey brothers, and Ginny, and numerous other students from the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th years.
"Um, I'm Harry, the team captain-" he began.
There was a cheer from Ron and them, along with a number of shrieks from the girls. He smiled sheepishly and continued. "-and we're here today to determine which of you few will be appointed to play on our house team.'
"There are 6 positions open, and they are the Chasers, the Beaters, and the Keeper," he said, ticking the positions off on his fingers. "The Chasers handle the Quaffle," here he held up the bright red ball, "and they try to get it through those hoops over there. If they do, they get 10 points.'
"The Keeper-"
Cheer from Ron.
"-flies around the goal posts and tries to prevent the Chasers from scoring."
He indicated to the bludgers. "Now, I'm not gonna take these out yet, as my old captain told me they're 'nasty little buggers', and I don't want anyone to get hurt. These are bludgers. They fly around the field trying to knock you off your broom,"
"But don't worry," he added hastily at the look of sudden fear on some of the new second years who had never even HEARD of Quidditch faces, "because we have people who keep them in check. They are called Beaters. They fly around with a big stick and hit the bludgers at the opposing team.'
"And the last position is Seeker. That's me," he added with a smile that about knocked out half the 3rd year girls in the front row. A roar of laughter from Ron and Harry rolled his eyes, a slight blush on his face. He still found it peculiar his affect on most girls.
"Anyway, the Seeker flies around the whole entire game, searching for this-"
He opened a little door in the box of Quidditch balls and pulled out the walnut sized ball. "The Golden Snitch. If the Seeker catches it, you get 150 points. He catches this, the game is over. If I catch this.." he paused here for dramatic effect, " we win."
Everyone cheered again.
"The problem is that it's wicked fast and damn near impossible to see, but I can usually manage," he said, flashing his dashing smile again.
There was a thunk as a second year fell out of her seat, then promptly got herself settled again. Harry hit his head with his hand and reminded himself not to be so DAMN charming anymore.
"Right, so any questions?" he asked, scanning the crowd for hands. One popped up from the very back. "Yes, hand in the very back."
The owner of the hand stood up. Harry did a double take; it was Hermione!
"What about commentator? Lee left remember, so we don't have one."
"What are you getting at here?" Harry asked, amazed.
She rolled her eyes, hands on her hips. "Well, I wouldn't be asking if I wasn't interested in the position, now would I?"
Harry still continued to gaze confusedly up at the stands. "You- you're interested in trying out for commentator?"
It made no sense. Hermione didn't like Quidditch. She had always made that quite clear. She thought it was dangerous and didn't see why Harry enjoyed 'risking his life' like that . As far as he knew, she had never even TOUCHED a Quidditch book. She couldn't even say Wronski Feint right.
"Me too Harry!"
Harry turned crimson and turned to the direction of the voice. Kat was waving at him from the bleachers.
"K-Kat?"
"Yeah! Wassup bro?" Kat grinned, again, decked out in Gryffindor colors.
"Erm....Kat, you're not even in Gryffindor, what are you doing here?" Harry asked. "Not that I mind you being here," he added quickly.
"Well, as I understand, commentator just announces what's going on, right? So why does it matter what house that person is in?" she explained.
Harry looked to Madame Hooch for help, because he was thoroughly confused. She nodded, so he said, "Okay, you can try out for commentator."
"Whoo-hoo!" Kat yelled. "You're off the heezy-fo'-sheezy, Harry!!"
Harry blushed, assuming this to be a compliment (which it was), much to Hermione's annoyance.
"What about me?!" she demanded, scaring some of the students in front of her.
"Yeah, you can, too," Harry said warily.
She sat down satisfied.
"Shut up Ron!" Harry said, before Ron could even start laughing. Ron waved cheerily at him.
"Okay.....with that established...shall we begin?"
"Mount your broom, and begin on my whistle. 3, 2, tweet!!"
It went on like this all morning, Madame Hooch, Harry, Alicia, Angelina, and Katie judging the students on things like technique, flying ability, speed and talent. They'd seen a number of spectacular candidates, and some....not so spectacular....
"Bobby, watch where you're going!" Harry yelled.
"Huh?" yelled Bobby, 3rd year, who was trying out for Beater. Except he wasn't paying attention, and didn't see the Bludger fly straight at him, knocking him off his broom.
"Shit," Harry muttered and hopped on his broom, and zoomed to where Bobby was falling and caught him and floated back to the ground. Madame Hooch took care of the bludger.
Amid cheers of relief, Harry landed and sat Bobby on the ground. "You ok?" he asked.
Bobby nodded. Harry tried looking stern, but failed miserably. He instead smiled. "Listen, I know you're probably excited about this, but don't get so excited that you forget where you are, ok?"
Bobby nodded again and smiled weakly up at Harry.
"You'd better go see Madame Pomfrey just in case, ok mate?" Harry said, helping him up.
Bobby ran off and Harry turned back to the list of people. "Ok, next is, Ronald Weasley," he said.
Ron hopped down from the stands and ran over to stand in front of Harry. "Which position are you trying out for Ron," Harry asked with a smile.
"Keeper, sir," Ron answered, trying hard not to laugh.
"Ok, go over there then and wait for Madame Hooch's instructions."
Ron ran with his broomstick over to the end of the field by the goal posts.
"Mount your broom," Madame Hooch called. "On my whistle begin. 3, 2, tweet!!"
Ron shot into the air and hovered in front on the goal posts, a look of determination on his face.
"Go Ron, kick some ass!"
Kat.
Alicia, Angelina and Katie flew into the air, Katie with the Quaffle.
"Goooooood Morning Gryffindor House!! Welcome to today's show, Ron Weasley vs. Ex-Chasers Alicia Spinnet, Angelina Johnson, and Katie Bell!! We're sure in for a show today!"
Harry turned to look at the stands to see that Kat was standing, hands cupped around her mouth, yelling at the top of her lungs.
"Um, Katie has the Quaffle, and is zooming towards the up-and-coming keeper, Ron Weasley!"
Harry turned again, as he saw that Hermione was also standing up.
"Bell passes to Spinnet, Spinnet to Johnson, and back to Spinnet, she shoots and-"
"Ohh! Nice save by Weasley!" Hermione interrupted. "Looks like they're going to regroup and try again..."
Kat looked at her in amazement, then grinned. Hermione glared defiantly back.
Madame Hooch nodded her head in approval at Ron's block and wrote some stuff down.
Tired of yelling, Hermione pointed her want at her throat and said "Sonorous!" and her voice amplified throughout the field. "Bell zooming toward the goal-"
Kat, seeing what she did, performed the spell too, and said "But she's not getting' past Weasley's quick reaction time and fast reflexes!"
Another goal blocked by Ron. The crowd cheered, they were really getting into this. Ron was doing quite well.
It almost felt like a real Quidditch game. Harry had even started to unknowingly look around for the Snitch. Kat and Hermione were doing an excellent job, and he supposed that they thought that what they were doing was some kind of audition.
He yelled out to the girls from the side of the field. "Hawkshead Attacking Formation!" He had picked this one up from the Quidditch World Cup in fourth year.
The girls zoomed closely together, Angelina in the center, slightly ahead of Katie and Alicia, bearing down upon Ron.
"Ah! The Hawkshead Attacking Formation!" Kat said. "Classic maneuver used frequently by the Irish National Quidditch Team!"
Angelina made as though to dart up with the Quaffle, and dropping it to Katie.
"Porskoff Ploy!" Hermione exclaimed. "A tricky little maneuver meant to confuse the opposing teams Chasers on who really has the Quaffle, leaving the real one open to score!"
Since when did Hermione know so much about Quidditch, Harry asked himself. He was impressed. And Kat, too, who came from America, where Quidditch wasn't really the national sport.
Katie passed to Alicia, who dropped it to Angelina who had backed down and in front of the girls, and threw with all her might towards the goal. Ron was about to block it, but noticed Katie coming out of nowhere to smack the ball into the hoop on his left. He backed up and shot downwards as Katie hit the ball towards the goal with her tail, Ron catching it just barely.
"Another brilliant save by Keeper Ron Weasley!" Kat and Hermione exclaimed.
All right, time to try one of my new formations, Harry said to himself. "Potter Ploy!"
The girls nodded and all of a sudden rushed the goal post, passing the ball so fast Ron was having a hard time keeping up.
"Potter Ploy! Must be new, they're moving as fast as lightening!" Kat said.
"Correction, lightening BOLTS, as in the scar on Harry's head!" Hermione said.
The ball was shot, Ron dived, but missed by an inch.
"Ooh, too bad!" Kat said.
"So close!" Hermione added.
The onlookers cheered anyway and Harry sent out another command. "Figure 8,"
Ron grinned and got himself ready.
"Version 2!"
Ron looked surprised, he had been setting himself up for the original Figure 8 Harry had taught him yesterday. Now, all 3 Chasers were moving in a complicated Figure 8 and Ron was having a bit of trouble seeing where the ball was.
"Ronnie is the best, better than the rest! He's the best from east to west!" Kat encouraged.
Ron narrowed his eyes and out of the corner of his eyes saw the ball zoom toward the right side goal. He dived for it, let go of the broom, jumped for the hoop, swung up and around knocking the ball out of the way.
"Holy crackers and cheese, WHAT A SAVE!" Kat exclaimed.
The crowd below exploded with cheers and Harry stared at Ron in amazement.
"O-okay. Great! Come on down then," Harry said, clapping his hands.
Ron pulled out his wand and said "Accio Broomstick!" and the Cleansweep came soaring towards him. He jumped on, and floated slowly to the ground.
Angelina, Katie and Alicia came over to Harry. "He's bloody excellent Harry. We gave it our all." Harry nodded. Ron came over to them, and Harry grinned. "Very good Ron, nice job." He quietly added to him "Way to smash the competition, eh mate?"
Ron grinned in response, an took another bow as the crowd cheered again. Kat and Hermione seemed to be winding down. "That looks like that's it for the spectacular show put on by Ron Weasley," Hermione said.
"So, thank you Gryffindor House, and Good Night!" Kat finished, waving.
There were more assorted cheers commending Kat and Hermione for their excellent job. Harry had a sudden inspiration and ran over to talk to Madame Hooch. She nodded, and Harry grinned. He returned to the crowd and said "Well, I hope Ron's audition didn't put any of you off about trying out," Harry said jokingly. "Without further ado, how about our next person, Virginia Weasley?"
The remainder of the auditions were relatively uneventful. Ginny tried out for Chaser, and did a decent job of getting the ball past Madame Hooch. A little boy named Joey, second year, also tried out for Chaser, and for being such a small kid he did a pretty good job. Neville went for Chaser as well, as did Seamus, Dean was just there to watch. The Creevey brothers tried out for Beaters, and they were doing great; it seemed brothers tended to have a certain connection with each other that was essential to being a Beater. That was until Dennis hit the bludger in the wrong direction, towards the crowd, and it looked as though it was going to hit, when Colin dived out of nowhere and smacked the bludger out of the way. Dennis laughed weakly and scratched his head. "Oops. Sorry!" There were a few more promising candidates, too.
At the conclusion of the auditions, which was late that afternoon, Harry addressed the crowd. "Well, I'd like to congratulate all of you on the great job you've done! Positions should be up by tomorrow morning, and for those who make the team, there's a mandatory meeting Monday evening. All right then? Good. See you all later!"
Everyone started to disperse from the stands, and Madame Hooch turned to Harry.
"I think you're going to have a very strong team this year, Mr. Potter," she said, shaking his hand. "Come to my office this evening so we can discuss it." Harry agreed, and asked Katie, Alicia, and Angelina if they could come, too. They said sure, they were planning on staying in Hogsmeade that evening anyway.
Harry had a pretty good idea how the team would turn out. He had seen many good candidates, but he was confident that Madame Hooch and the girls had seen the same stuff he had.
Ron, Hermione, and Kat came up to greet him.
"Harry, way to moderate this whole lil' shindig," Kat said impressed. "You have a real leader streak in you."
Harry blushed again. "Yeah, well..."
Hermione rolled her eyes.
"And YOU," Kat said, turning to Ron. "What the hell was THAT?! That was freakin' off the HOOK, yo!" she exclaimed, patting him on the back. "That kamikaze leap at the end, I was like 'DUDE, what the rabid chipper monkey is he doing?!' You kicked some serious boo-tae, bud!"
Ron grinned. "Thanks Kat."
"How'd you like my commentating Harry," Hermione asked.
"I didn't know you knew that much about Quidditch. You don't even like it! But I am impressed," Harry said.
"How 'bout me? Think I was loud enough?" Kat asked thoughtfully.
"Oh yeah, you were great!" he said enthusiastically. "You're really great at, um, narrating action and making it sound interesting!" he said, nodding his head like there was no tomorrow. Hermione narrowed her eyes, but Kat looked ecstatic.
"Wow, you think? Thanks so much!" she grinned and threw her arms around his neck. He adopted a very goofy grin and he felt like melting right there into a puddle of mush, while Ron was trying very hard to keep a straight face (and failing horribly might I add), and Hermione was staring daggers at Kat. Kat released him and said "Well, it's getting late, almost time for dinner. Should we get going?"
"Probably. I'll have to put this stuff away first though so-" Harry began.
"That's ok, we can go over without you!" Kat said cheerily. "You can catch up when you're done. Don't worry, we'll be fine," she assured him at the look of protest on Harry's face. "Shall we be off then?" she said, turning to Ron.
Ron looked to Harry. "You going to be all right mate?"
"Yeah...this shouldn't take very long," Harry sighed.
"No, I meant...erm..." He looked pointedly at Hermione who looked like she wanted to hurt something.
"Oh. Er, I should be ok.....I hope," he added as an afterthought.
"Ok then mate," he said and walked with Kat back to the castle.
Harry turned to Hermione. "Erm..."
"I'm going to the library," she announced, and spun on her heel and marched off.
"O......k" said Harry, a bit confused. He then sighed as he realized he had to put everything away himself. "Should've seen that one coming a mile away..." he said dryly.
Sunday morning found crowds of Gryffindor students pushing their way to the front of the hoard trying to see the results of the Quidditch tryouts.
"Shove over, c'mon, let me through!" said Ron, elbowing people out of the way.
Harry was actually at the very back of the common room, smiling to himself, watching the crowds of excited people.
There was a triumphant yelp from the front of the crowd which could be recognized as Ron's.
"Yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes, YES!!! Whoo-hoo!" he exclaimed, jumping up and down like a maniac, waving his hands, and hugging people, while those who had been at the auditions clapped and cheered. Ron bounced over to Harry and swept him up in a huge hug, picking him up off the ground and dancing around yelling "Thank you! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!!"
Harry laughed and Ron put him down. He stuck out his hand and said "Welcome to the team, mate."
Ron grabbed his hand and shook it heartily, all the while a huge grin plastered on his face. He then gave another whoop, and ran off to go write a letter to his parents.
Harry smiled and shook his head, then looked over a the rest of the students.
The Creevey brothers were dancing around in a circle; they had been appointed Beaters.
Ginny and Neville were chatting happily. It surprised everyone at the tryouts that Neville did such a good job on his audition for Chaser, considering his awful experience with a broomstick in 1st year. Madame Hooch was a bit wary about it, but Katie, Angelina, Alicia and Harry convinced her to at least let him try.
Seamus was joking around with Dean. He hadn't made it, but he seemed to be taking it well.
Little Joey was smiling in a chair by the fireplace. He was the only 2nd year on the team. That didn't mean to say he would suck, he'd make an excellent Chaser, and seeing as he was the youngest, he'd probably end up Captain eventually.
"Good Mornin' Gryffindor Tower!" a voice rang out.
Harry turned pink, looking around for the source of the voice.
Heads turned as Kat strolled through the confused faces of the Gryffindors. How the hell did she get in?
"Hey, how ya doing?" she greeted. "Nice to see you. What's up? Just here to check something. Hey Harry!"
"H-hey Kat," he said, cursing himself for how nervous and floaty he got around her. "What are you doing here? And what's more, how'd you get it?"
"Just here to check how I did. And in answer to your other question, Ronnie let me in. He was on his way to deliver a letter so I bumped into him coming up here and he let me in," she explained, grinning at the end. "So, where's dat there list...." she said, setting off to locate it.
It was now that Hermione decided to come downstairs.
"Good morn-what the hell is SHE going here?!" she exclaimed, running down the stairs and stopping with her hands on her hips in front of Harry.
"Um, well, she's kind of here to see how she did yesterday," Harry said nervously.
"Hey, is that Hermione? Hey Hermione! Hey, look! Listen! Hey, hey, hey! Look, listen, hey, look, hey-"
"I get the point Katherine," Hermione said, glaring in her direction.
(Hehehe, sorry, little Navi moment there.....you DO know who Navi is right?? Annoying little fairy from Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time? No? OK, NEVERMIND then.....)
Hermione walked over to the back of the room where Kat was looking at the list.
"Looks like we're gonna be partners," Kat said cheerily, grinning like a Cheshire cat.
"Excuse me?" Hermione said, an eyebrow raised.
Kat pointed at the paper, and Hermione narrowed her eyes at it, scanning it.
Seeker- Harry Potter Chaser(s)- Joseph Cantrelli Virginia Weasley Neville Longbottom Beater(s)- Colin Creevey Dennis Creevey Keeper- Ronald Weasley Commentator(s)- Hermione Granger Katherine Love
Her eyes went huge.
"WHAAAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!!!!!!"
Somewhere in the depths of the castle, Professor Dumbledore stared fixedly at his chess game.
"It seems Miss Granger has just found out she and Miss Love are commentating," he said dryly.
"I would deem that correct," Professor McGonagall said loftily. "Your move."
Hmmm....I'm not exactly too happy with this chapter, but hey, at least I'm actually having some kind of inspiration ^_^;;;;;;. Stay tuned for chapter 7 (which I have to find because I've lost it or something.....)