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Chapter 13: Quidditch
"You wanted to see us, Professor?" I asked, glancing up at the infamous painting of fruit that hung on the wall. Harry seemed preoccupied with toying with his robes. I could tell he was nervous.
"Yes, Miss Galis. You see, Madam Hooch has informed me that she saw the two of you at your first flying lesson," she began. Well, duh, I thought, Hooch is the teacher. "She said she noticed that the two of you had very immaculate abilities on a broom. I've spoken with Wood, our Griffindor House Quidditch Captain, and he's asked for you to join him on the field tonight at six o'clock."
"Y-You mean...we could be on the Quidditch team?" I whispered, my eyes wide. "But...aren't you only looking for a Seeker?"
"Well, no," she grimaced lightly. "Two of our Chasers met terrible accidents over the summer. Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet are incapable of flying for at least a year."
"Oh, no, are they all right?" I asked worriedly. Angelina, in particular, had been one of my favorite girl characters, even though the books hadn't necessarily focused on her for any amount of time.
"They're alive, if that's what you mean," she answered evasively. I blanched a little, but inside I was jumping up and down.
"But wait, what about the last Chaser?"
"We haven't seen anyone who seems to possess any natural talent..."
"My brother and Ron are both very good candidates," I offered immediately.
"Very well. I will inform Wood that the four of you will be on the field. Don't be late."
With a swish of her emerald cloak, she had gone.
"What's Quidditch?" Harry asked me.
***
"Hello, hello," said Wood as he came out onto the field. He had enlisted me to help him carry the heavy box, which contained all four Quidditch balls. "I can't tell you how pleased I am to see four people dedicated to help our cause." He winced a little. "It is very bleak."
"Not with us around," David grinned. He seemed to be jumping up and down with excitement inside, and trying to keep it there.
"Okay, now, Quidditch is very, very simple," Wood began. "You've got your Quaffle, which two of you will be handling on the field. You try and get it past the Keeper and through those three hoops." He pointed across the field.
"And then you've got the Bludgers," I put in. "They try and knock people off their brooms. The Beaters keep them away from their teams and aimed for other players."
"Precisely," Wood continued. "And last is the Golden Snitch, which the Seeker must catch. One of you will be the Seeker, in charge of catching it."
"Mount your brooms and let's see what you've got. Hey, Katie, come on out!"
"You asked Katie to help?" I turned to Wood. "You could have let us know from the beginning."
He flushed red.
"First we'll run through some moves with the Quaffle," Wood announced.
After a long time of passing the Quaffle around, which felt a great deal like a basketball or volleyball, Wood called us back to the ground.
"You're as fast as Madam Hooch said, Potter," Wood smiled at him.
"Just like your dad," I put in.
"Dad?" Harry, Wood, and Katie turned to look at us.
"Yeah," I flushed pink. "James Potter. He helped Griffindor win the Cup several times."
"Then so will Harry," Wood smirked. "That settles it, Potter. You'll definitely make a great Seeker. Now, Miss Galis..."
"Angel's fine, Mr. Oliver," I put in abruptly.
"Then Oliver's fine with me," he added. "You're a quick one, and a natural on that broom. That old model Shooting Star even sings when you've got it. So you're going to be our replacement for Angelina on this team."
I grinned broadly, then glanced at David and Ron. Oh...neither of them would be very happy if they didn't make the team.
"I just can't say no to either of you," Wood said finally. "You're both good. I definitely want Angel on the team, but it's a toss-up between you two."
Ron and David stared at each other.
"Why don't we trade off?" David said finally. "We probably have different strengths. So maybe one of us is better against any one team, you know?"
"Gotta hand it to you two Galis kids," Oliver grinned. "It's a done deal."
David and Ron shook hands and grinned. I think Ron was very proud of himself, but David was ecstatic. It was the one thing he'd ever wanted to do, was play on his school basketball team or soccer team, because it was the closest thing to Quidditch. Now he had what he wanted, and I was happy for him.
I was a whole different story, however. This was one thing I hadn't really planned on, ever. Back in my world, I'd been too fat to be on any team, and too shy. Now it was here for the taking and I had taken it, but reluctantly. Somehow, this whole thing did not feel right. Both Alicia and Angelina getting hurt during the summer? It just didn't add up. It did not make any sense at all.
That Friday morning was an interesting one. Four owls flew through the windows and dropped four obvious parcels onto the Griffindor table. Keiko, David's owl, flew up to McGonagall, where she sat being petted quietly by our teacher.
"Four Nimbus Two Thousands..." I said dumbly, staring at them in awe. Where had Professor McGonagall gotten the money for this? What had possessed her to do it? I know she had done it for Harry in the book, but still...
Oh, well.
Guess who was the talk of the tables? Draco, a person I now found very intriguing and kind, congratulated me on making the team. He smiled and walked back to his seat, where he now sat alone. Crabbe and Goyle had abandoned him, and all the other Slytherins seemed to think he had some kind of rabies or something.
"Great job, you four," Fred and George were both grinning madly at us, as though they were going to pounce at once. "Wood's told us all about it. And now you've got Nimbus Two Thousands, too!"
Ron clutched his new broom possessively. I smiled at him.
"What, afraid your brothers will steal it or something?" Ron nodded, making the whole table laugh.
***
That night, the eight of us held our first official practice. I don't think anything I can say can describe the sensation of flying to anyone. At once, it's like your stomach drops out of you, but at the same time like your head is gonna spin forever. Then you feel like time itself has stopped and nothing else in the world is gonna stop you now.
Until a Bludger nearly scalps you, that is.
Katie, Ron, and I seemed to be in perfect unison, but so did Katie, David, and I. Both David and Ron were excellent players, and both would be good in a match. Oliver was flipping head over heels about the whole thing.
Our first match would be against Hufflepuff. I was glad that it would be against one of the easier teams.
Glad because I did not want to go against Slytherin just yet.
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Who knew the Quidditch thing was coming up? Come on, tell me, who knew that me and Dee and Ron were gonna be on the team? BE HONEST!
See ya later, guys, hope you enjoyed it. We are ruled by CODE RED AND SKITTLES AND HAPPINESS OF A JOB WELL DONE!