Chasers: Angelina Johnson (captain), Alicia Spinnet, and Katie Bell/ Cynthia Radcliff, Mark Sanders, and Denise Davis
Beaters: Fred Weasley and George Weasley/ Joann "Johnny" Parker and Matthew Wilson
Keeper: Ginny Weasley/ Colby MacGuiness
Seeker: Harry Potter/ Daniel Harper (captain)
Slytherin English/AmericanChasers: Montague, Warrington, and Blaise Zabini/ Donald James, Kyle Martin, and Maynard Allen
Beaters: Bole and Derrick/ Simon Baker and Jennie Morgan
Keeper: Bletchley/ Liana Jones (captain)
Seeker: Draco Malfoy (captain)/ Macy Danvers
Hufflepuff:
Seeker: Cedric Diggory (deceased)
RavenclawSeeker: Cho Chang
(captain): Roger Davies
Welcome Home, Harry
"I hate to think of what Quidditch is going to be like without Oliver Wood as captain," Harry Potter says as he settles into his first breakfast with Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. It's a brand new year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and the threesome are already well up to date on their summer activities and are looking forward to an exciting year with no tragedies as their first four years had been filled with.
"Yeah, but at least maybe now you can sleep in with Angelina Johnson as the new captain," Ron says. "But I heard that Professor Dumbledore has something special planned for this year's tournament to make up for not having one last year."
"Really?" Harry asks excitedly, He looks up from his breakfast eagerly. "What is it?"
Hermione smiles a bit. "I know. Viktor was saying something about wishing that he could be involved. You're really going to like it, I think."
Ron gazes at Hermione for a moment. He shakes his head and grins. "You know something about Quidditch that Harry and I don't? I don't believe it."
Hermione frowns. She gets up hastily, dropping a few books. "Fine. Make fun if you'd like. But now you have to wait for Dumbledore to announce this year's Quidditch tournament information, won't you?"
She gathers a few of her books and storms off. Harry reaches down and picks up a book that she's left behind. "Basic Quidditch: Facts Any Spectator Should Know."
"What does she want to know Quidditch for?" Ron asks.
Harry grins broadly. "Maybe she wants to impress you."
Ron flushes an ugly shade of red. "Come off it, Harry. Let's go give her the book back."
The pair gets up to move on when Draco Malfoy intercepts them. They groan as Crabbe and Goyle join him. "What do you want?" Ron asks in annoyance.
"Just thought I'd fill you in on the information your Mudblood friend won't give you, Potter," Draco says snidely. He grins. "Not that I want to be the one to give you any sort of good news, mind you. It's just that you might want to be prepared, that's all."
"Prepared for what?" Harry asks, genuinely concerned. If Malfoy wants to warn him, there's something definitely wrong. Of course, Draco could just be putting him on, to get his hopes us and then have them be dashed when he's proven wrong. Harry crosses his arms to hide his earlier eagerness.
Draco chuckles. "American Quidditch players are coming to Hogwarts. Apparently their tactics are different than ours, being new to the sport and all. They're to learn a few of our tricks and maybe teach us a few things."
"An American school?" Ron asks. "American Quidditch?"
"You catch on quick, don't you, Weasley?" Draco says crossly. "Anyway, reckon we can teach the American Slytherins how to pound the American Gryffindors the way we lay into you."
Harry lets his lip curl derisively. "I highly doubt it, Malfoy."
Harry and Ron walk away from Draco, who is still going on about the new school. They rush after Hermione, who is in the library. She is talking to Madame Pince. "I swear, Madame Pince, I had the book right here a second ago."
"But I snatched it before you left, Hermione. Bit of a joke, you know?" Ron says, handing the book to Madame Pince, who looks less than amused. "You run out of things to read, Hermione? Never thought you'd ever get into Quidditch."
"I'm not… I just thought that it was time I showed a little house pride and understand the sport a bit more… well, more than the official aspects of it," Hermione says quickly, blushing a bit. She sighs. "Besides, with the new teams coming to the school from America…"
"We heard," Harry says, grinning. "Malfoy told us. Not really sure why, but I'm actually glad it's true."
"Glad?" Hermione asks in horror. "Glad that those beastly North Americans are going to have run of Hogwarts?"
"Huh?" Ron and Harry are both startled at her less than tolerant attitude toward the North Americans.
Hermione shakes her head. "Never mind. "I've got to get to work on my Arithmancy work. If you'll excuse me."
"But we haven't has any classes yet!" Ron exclaims loudly, receiving an angry glance from Madame Pince. He and Harry rush out of the room. "Wonder when the North Americans are to arrive. And why wasn't anyone told?"
"Because, Mr. Weasley, it is to be announced at the first day of Quidditch practice Monday afternoon. The Quidditch players are supposed to be the first ones to know about it," Madame Hooch says suddenly from behind them. "Who told you about this?"
The boys glance across at each other, smiling slightly. "Draco Malfoy, ma'am," Ron replies.
Madame Hooch shakes her head angrily. "I do wish his father would let things be a surprise for the students once in a while. I'll have to go have a talk with that young man before news spreads even further. Mind you, don't be telling anyone else about this. It's a secret for a reason!"
Madame Hooch rushes off to find Draco. Harry grins. "It's about time his mouth got him into some trouble."
"I'll say. After making the slugs come out of mine and making Hermione's teeth grow, his mouth had better take some damage before we graduate!"
Monday afternoon doesn't come quickly enough. Harry sits on the grass of the pitch but fidgets eagerly. Madame Hooch walks over to them, holding the familiar box that held the balls for the Quidditch games. There are three balls: The Bludger, which is hit by the team's Beaters, the Quaffle, which is used by the Seekers to score ten points by throwing it into one of the three hoops on each team's side of the pitch, and the Golden Snitch, which the Seeker chases and earns the team one hundred and fifty points when s/he catches it. Harry, being the Gryffindor Seeker, has had to go through crazy stunts to catch the Snitch on many an occasion.
Harry looks over at Ginny Weasley, the new Gryffindor Keeper. She looks very nervous and almost ill. She's always played Quidditch with her brothers so when George and Fred, her two older brothers and Beaters for the Gryffindor team, suggested she be given a tryout for Keeper, Angelina had jumped at the chance to fill the position. Harry suspects that maybe she wants someone there who won't snag her position as team captain away. She had always had a bit of a grudge against Oliver, who had gotten captain just by being older.
Ginny gives Harry a half hearted smile and then goes back to listening Madame Hooch. Harry realizes that he's missed quite a bit of what she's been talking about. "And so, at the headmaster's request, we've invited the American Quidditch teams to play in a further attempt at bridging the gaps between the wizarding communities."
Harry is actually excited to see that Draco is right about something for once. He gives up a cheer with the rest of the teams. Even the Slytherins seem to be happy for a change. "Now, I want you to look at this year's schedule. To avoid past incidents, everyone has specific practice times, as before, but we also have specified extra practice time. You may only hold extra practices during your allotted time slots. They are not mandatory but no one may take another team's extra time slot, regardless of whether they are using it or not. Is that clear?"
The team captains nod sullenly, glaring at each other in annoyance. Harry doesn't care, though, because now he knows that Saturday mornings are his to sleep in on.
After another half hour's worth of talk, Madame Hooch allows the teams to go back to their day. Harry catches up with Ginny, who is heading toward the school. "When did Madame Hooch say that the North Americans were coming?"
Ginny rolls her eyes. "Honestly, Harry, weren't you listening?"
Harry grins. "You learned that trick from Hermione, didn't you? Come on, tell me!"
Ginny laughs a bit. "In a month. We're to have practices with the American Gryffindors for their first month here, then they take all of our extra practice slots. Where was your head while she was explaining all this?"
"I just…" Harry actually feels rather foolish. His cheeks flush. "I didn't know the North Americans had a wizarding school," he changes the subject quickly.
"They've only been in operation for about twenty years or so… but that's relatively new when you think that Hogwarts has been around for over a thousand," Ginny says. "It's practically an exact duplicate of this Hogwarts, too. I imagine it's because they haven't got enough experience to do anything on their own yet."
Harry furrows his brow, letting his glasses slip down his nose. "What do you mean?"
Ginny looks as though she loves explaining things to Harry. That must also be a trait that she got from Hermione. The pair of them had spent most of the summer holiday together. Hermione had spent the second half of the summer with the Weasleys and the two girls had practically been inseparable.
"Harry!" Ginny snaps. She had been explaining and Harry hadn't been listening again. "Do you want to know or not?"
"Sorry," Harry mumbles, stifling a chuckle. Ginny's face had flushed an angry shade of red, making her freckles less noticeable on her pale face.
Ginny shakes her head. "There really weren't many wizards in the United States. Probably because they were too busy hiding from the trials and such that happened throughout the years. You read about the Salem Witch trials in Massachusetts in your Wizarding History class, right?"
Harry nods, though he honestly hasn't a clue what she's talking about. He just doesn't feel like getting scolded again. "So, they stayed hidden. Until about fifty years ago, a member of their Ministry of Magic, I forget his name, went over there on holiday and was very upset that there was no one there to accommodate him. There were no magic towns, no schools, and no wizards. So, he proposed searching for Muggles-Who-Had-Done-Strange-And-Bizarre-Things. Some of these people were just con-artists trying to rob people but the genuine wizards were brought to Europe for formal training. There was an adult course for about twenty years for wizards and witches who were found too late to attend any of the proper schools. A G.E.D. course for wizardry, as you would."
"And those wizards and witches founded the North American Hogwarts?" Harry finished.
Ginny laughs. "You're quick to catch on, aren't you?"
"Where are the Americans staying?" Harry asks.
Ginny shrugs. "Haven't the foggiest. But you'd best be keen during practice. I hear the Americans are quite rough in their Quidditch matches. We may want to get some pointers from the American Gryffindors for playing against their Slytherin counterparts."
"They've got the same houses?" Harry asks, shocked.
Ginny shakes her head. "I told you, they're identical to us for the most part. If you want more details on their school, talk to Hermione. I'm sure she knows all about them. I don't pay much attention to the other schools except when it comes to Quidditch," with that said, Ginny gets on her broom and soars toward the castle.
