Ron's silence to Anna continued into the next day. Only did it end
the last class of the day (potions) when he asked her to pass an empty
vial. Harry presumed this was because he now knew that he had a lot of
competition going for the position of keeper. And Harry's presumption was
confirmed when Ron left lunch early. Harry had sneaked out after him and
saw him go to the broom shed then head outside. Apparently he was
practicing hard.
The day of the tryouts had finally come and the Quidditch team was making their way into the stadium an hour ahead of time to plan the arrangements. They sat down on the benches in the locker room and a few seconds past until Harry broke the silence.
"So....um...how do you want to do this?" He asked them.
"Don't ask us Harry. You're the captain." George replied grinning.
Harry thought for a moment. "Ok. How about we split them up. Angelina can take one group, Alicia another, and Katie the last one. You three can take shots on each of them in turn. Um... Take ten shots on each person. Since Fred, George, and I don't take shots we'll each go with a group and we can record the person's name and how many shots they saved." He paused and looked around. "Is that alright?"
Katie spoke up. "Saving shots isn't the only thing we need to test them on. We've got to test them on their flying skills too."
"You've got a point." Harry said. He thought for another moment. " Ok, we've still got about half an hour until they get here. We can go set up a series of magical hoops in the air for them to fly through. Like the ones Madam Hooch used during broomstick practice. We can time them and have a look at how agile they are."
Everybody agreed with him so they set off out onto the field and mounted their brooms with their wands in one hand. They created a course with twenty-five rings to fly through. The course included tight curves ways, ups, downs, and straight-aways. They were just finishing up and were quite pleased with their handiwork when loads of Gryffindors started pouring out of the castle each with a broomstick in his or her hand.
"Wow." Said Alicia.
"That's a lot more people than I expected." George said astonished.
"Well, better get out there and give them instructions." Harry said.
They all flew down to meet the crowd now streaming onto the field before them. It seemed that every Gryffindor in the school (besides the first years) had come. But when Harry turned around he realized that he had made a mistake. All the first years were sitting in the stands behind him watching. Hermione was also in the stands watching the tryouts.
Harry turned his attention back to all the people standing before him. He wasn't quite sure how to begin.
Angelina leaned over to Harry and whispered in his ear. "Go on, tell them what we're going to do."
"Oh right." He said snapping out of it. "Alright everyone. We are first going to split you up into three groups. Each group will be with one of the chasers, Angelina, Alicia, or Katie. They are going to take ten shots on each of you in turn and we'll see how you do. Then we'll make are way over to these." He gestured to the rings. " You're going to fly through all twenty-five of them in turn. We're going to award you points on your time and how well you can steer. Everyone got that? Ok then. Split up." He ordered.
The crowd parted almost evenly into three groups, each lined up in front of a chaser.
"Fred go with Angelina to that set of hoops." Harry directed. "Katie and George can start at the rings. And Alicia and I will go to the other goals."
Harry and Alicia flew up to the goals with a piece of parchment and a quill in his hands and started taking everyone's name. Ron was in Angelina and Fred's group along with Anna. Unfortunately the Creevy brothers were in Harry's group.
"Hi Harry!" They positively yelled.
"Hullo." He rather reluctantly greeted them back.
A third year boy was up first. Apparently he had not practiced very hard for he had only saved two of the shots. Next was a seventh year that saved five. Then was a sixth year girl who saved three. The practice went by fast and smooth much smoother than Harry expected. Harry certainly didn't think that one of the Creevy brothers were going to make the team. Colin had only saved two and little Dennis (in his second year now) hadn't saved any at all. The only person who had stood out was a sixth year boy named Mark Gombus who had saved nine out of the ten shots. Everyone else had saved seven or less.
George flew over to Harry. "Are you guys done? We are. Lets switch. I don't think Angelina and Fred are done yet, they may have gotten a few more people."
"Ok. Yeah were done, let's switch." Harry called his group over and they made their way to the course of rings. Alicia now hovered next to him with a quill in her had as well.
"We'll go in the same order as the shooting." He called out.
When the first person had taken their place Harry shouted "Get ready! GO!" They took off. Ten people later Colin was up, again, he didn't do very well and neither did Dennis Creevy he kept flipping over in the air and got the all-time low time, five minutes and twelve seconds. The high however was again set by the sixth year Mark Gombus. His time was fifty-one seconds. It looked to Harry that his only weakness was sharp turns. By the time they had finished Angelina and Fred's group had come over. They were the only group left to do the rings course so the other two groups landed their brooms and sat in the bleachers to watch.
Harry sat down next to Hermione, "So how did the other groups get on?"
"Well," She started, "I wasn't watching George and Katie's group very much, but most of the people in Angelina and Fred's group did at least fairly well. Most of them saved at least six or seven."
"Really?" Harry interrupted her. "Looks like we're going to have a hard time deciding."
"I wasn't finished." She continued. "I watched both Ron and Anna and they both saved nine out of ten!"
"Wow. Ok we are definitely going to have trouble deciding. I only had one person stand out in my group, a sixth year named Mark. He saved nine too and he got the best time as well."
Hermione sort of grimaced. "This is going to be tough Harry. If Ron doesn't make the team I'm not so sure how he's going to take it. He might get really mad at you......" She paused thoughtfully, ".....Or Anna."
Harry sighed, "I just can't play favorites though."
"I know that." Hermione said sternly. "I just don't know if Ron does...." She trailed off.
"Well, we'll just have to see how it works out." Harry said, and he sighed again.
Five minutes later Hermione pointed to the rings. "Look! It's Ron's turn!" She shouted.
Harry looked up; Ron was just positioning himself at the starting point. Then he heard Angelina yell, "GO!" and Ron positively took off. Harry started keeping time in his head. Ron, unlike Mark, seemed to do pretty well on the sharp turns and finished with an excellent time of forty-four seconds, much better than Mark's time. Anna took her place at the starting point three people after Ron and her run was absolutely flawless. Her final time was somewhere around thirty-three seconds, it was the best by far. By the time all the runs were finished no-one had even come close to Ron's time, never mind Anna's.
Harry then said see you later to Hermione and flew back out onto the field with the rest of the team and the potential team.
"Ok everyone, thanks for coming we will post the notice for the call backs tomorrow morning on the bulletin board." Harry dismissed them. Then the team trooped back into the locker room and sat down on the benches.
Fred and George both handed him their piece of parchment with the statistics on it and Harry skimmed them.
"Well, " Harry said, "It looks like Katie and George's group isn't very qualified, most of them saved six shots or less. My group didn't do much better; I think the only one we should call back is this Mark Gombus guy he saved nine shots and had an ok time. Lets see," He flipped to Angelina and Fred's group. "This group did loads better. Ron and Anna have the highest scores. I think we should call those three back, Ron, Anna, and Mark."
Everyone nodded his or her head in agreement.
"Ok then," Harry continued. "Who wants to make the bulletin?"
The day of the tryouts had finally come and the Quidditch team was making their way into the stadium an hour ahead of time to plan the arrangements. They sat down on the benches in the locker room and a few seconds past until Harry broke the silence.
"So....um...how do you want to do this?" He asked them.
"Don't ask us Harry. You're the captain." George replied grinning.
Harry thought for a moment. "Ok. How about we split them up. Angelina can take one group, Alicia another, and Katie the last one. You three can take shots on each of them in turn. Um... Take ten shots on each person. Since Fred, George, and I don't take shots we'll each go with a group and we can record the person's name and how many shots they saved." He paused and looked around. "Is that alright?"
Katie spoke up. "Saving shots isn't the only thing we need to test them on. We've got to test them on their flying skills too."
"You've got a point." Harry said. He thought for another moment. " Ok, we've still got about half an hour until they get here. We can go set up a series of magical hoops in the air for them to fly through. Like the ones Madam Hooch used during broomstick practice. We can time them and have a look at how agile they are."
Everybody agreed with him so they set off out onto the field and mounted their brooms with their wands in one hand. They created a course with twenty-five rings to fly through. The course included tight curves ways, ups, downs, and straight-aways. They were just finishing up and were quite pleased with their handiwork when loads of Gryffindors started pouring out of the castle each with a broomstick in his or her hand.
"Wow." Said Alicia.
"That's a lot more people than I expected." George said astonished.
"Well, better get out there and give them instructions." Harry said.
They all flew down to meet the crowd now streaming onto the field before them. It seemed that every Gryffindor in the school (besides the first years) had come. But when Harry turned around he realized that he had made a mistake. All the first years were sitting in the stands behind him watching. Hermione was also in the stands watching the tryouts.
Harry turned his attention back to all the people standing before him. He wasn't quite sure how to begin.
Angelina leaned over to Harry and whispered in his ear. "Go on, tell them what we're going to do."
"Oh right." He said snapping out of it. "Alright everyone. We are first going to split you up into three groups. Each group will be with one of the chasers, Angelina, Alicia, or Katie. They are going to take ten shots on each of you in turn and we'll see how you do. Then we'll make are way over to these." He gestured to the rings. " You're going to fly through all twenty-five of them in turn. We're going to award you points on your time and how well you can steer. Everyone got that? Ok then. Split up." He ordered.
The crowd parted almost evenly into three groups, each lined up in front of a chaser.
"Fred go with Angelina to that set of hoops." Harry directed. "Katie and George can start at the rings. And Alicia and I will go to the other goals."
Harry and Alicia flew up to the goals with a piece of parchment and a quill in his hands and started taking everyone's name. Ron was in Angelina and Fred's group along with Anna. Unfortunately the Creevy brothers were in Harry's group.
"Hi Harry!" They positively yelled.
"Hullo." He rather reluctantly greeted them back.
A third year boy was up first. Apparently he had not practiced very hard for he had only saved two of the shots. Next was a seventh year that saved five. Then was a sixth year girl who saved three. The practice went by fast and smooth much smoother than Harry expected. Harry certainly didn't think that one of the Creevy brothers were going to make the team. Colin had only saved two and little Dennis (in his second year now) hadn't saved any at all. The only person who had stood out was a sixth year boy named Mark Gombus who had saved nine out of the ten shots. Everyone else had saved seven or less.
George flew over to Harry. "Are you guys done? We are. Lets switch. I don't think Angelina and Fred are done yet, they may have gotten a few more people."
"Ok. Yeah were done, let's switch." Harry called his group over and they made their way to the course of rings. Alicia now hovered next to him with a quill in her had as well.
"We'll go in the same order as the shooting." He called out.
When the first person had taken their place Harry shouted "Get ready! GO!" They took off. Ten people later Colin was up, again, he didn't do very well and neither did Dennis Creevy he kept flipping over in the air and got the all-time low time, five minutes and twelve seconds. The high however was again set by the sixth year Mark Gombus. His time was fifty-one seconds. It looked to Harry that his only weakness was sharp turns. By the time they had finished Angelina and Fred's group had come over. They were the only group left to do the rings course so the other two groups landed their brooms and sat in the bleachers to watch.
Harry sat down next to Hermione, "So how did the other groups get on?"
"Well," She started, "I wasn't watching George and Katie's group very much, but most of the people in Angelina and Fred's group did at least fairly well. Most of them saved at least six or seven."
"Really?" Harry interrupted her. "Looks like we're going to have a hard time deciding."
"I wasn't finished." She continued. "I watched both Ron and Anna and they both saved nine out of ten!"
"Wow. Ok we are definitely going to have trouble deciding. I only had one person stand out in my group, a sixth year named Mark. He saved nine too and he got the best time as well."
Hermione sort of grimaced. "This is going to be tough Harry. If Ron doesn't make the team I'm not so sure how he's going to take it. He might get really mad at you......" She paused thoughtfully, ".....Or Anna."
Harry sighed, "I just can't play favorites though."
"I know that." Hermione said sternly. "I just don't know if Ron does...." She trailed off.
"Well, we'll just have to see how it works out." Harry said, and he sighed again.
Five minutes later Hermione pointed to the rings. "Look! It's Ron's turn!" She shouted.
Harry looked up; Ron was just positioning himself at the starting point. Then he heard Angelina yell, "GO!" and Ron positively took off. Harry started keeping time in his head. Ron, unlike Mark, seemed to do pretty well on the sharp turns and finished with an excellent time of forty-four seconds, much better than Mark's time. Anna took her place at the starting point three people after Ron and her run was absolutely flawless. Her final time was somewhere around thirty-three seconds, it was the best by far. By the time all the runs were finished no-one had even come close to Ron's time, never mind Anna's.
Harry then said see you later to Hermione and flew back out onto the field with the rest of the team and the potential team.
"Ok everyone, thanks for coming we will post the notice for the call backs tomorrow morning on the bulletin board." Harry dismissed them. Then the team trooped back into the locker room and sat down on the benches.
Fred and George both handed him their piece of parchment with the statistics on it and Harry skimmed them.
"Well, " Harry said, "It looks like Katie and George's group isn't very qualified, most of them saved six shots or less. My group didn't do much better; I think the only one we should call back is this Mark Gombus guy he saved nine shots and had an ok time. Lets see," He flipped to Angelina and Fred's group. "This group did loads better. Ron and Anna have the highest scores. I think we should call those three back, Ron, Anna, and Mark."
Everyone nodded his or her head in agreement.
"Ok then," Harry continued. "Who wants to make the bulletin?"