[A/N. I noticed that so far in this story I've not really written much
about the classes like I did in the other one. To tell you the truth some
of the classes and things they learnt in the real novels used to fascinate
me which is why there was a bit of it in my first Sam Potter fiction, but I
don't think it really matters that it's different in this one.]
Chapter Six: The new seeker and Keeper.
I didn't sleep much that night, I was so nervous about making the team. Even though Dad would never say it I thought that if I didn't make it I would somehow be letting him down. After all it was a hard act to follow- the youngest seeker in a century. But then again Dad in general was a hard act to follow. There was not a person in our world who didn't know all about the famous Harry Potter. Dad told me that coming to Hogwarts where he found out he was famous was quite a shock to him at first, although he never let it get the better of him, and even managed to defeat Voldemort on a few occasions. In the end I got up and went downstairs to the common room where the fire was still glowing slightly, and curled up in a chair beside it with a book on the Quidditch World Cup.
"Can't sleep?" asked a voice suddenly and I jumped a mile. Georgia Weasley was coming down the stairs from the girl's dormitory.
"Not really." I admitted. "What are you doing up?"
She bit her lip and then came over to sit near the fire, warming her hands in front of it. "Stuff on my mind." She finally said.
I marked the page in my book and put it aside. As the youngest Weasley in such a huge family Georgia was often overlooked, although Greg generally adored her. But I'd found her to a genuinely nice and funny person. "What's up? I thought you were enjoying it here?" I asked. "Are you homesick?"
"I AM enjoying it here," Georgia hastened to assure me. "And I'm certainly not homesick after two days- although I've already got homework!"
I laughed. "So have we, we got some in DADA yesterday and also some in potions. I think Professor Selwyn got a bit annoyed with us Gryffindoors because we were all thinking about tryouts."
Georgia smiled, but I had the impression it was simply a polite smile and she wasn't too concerned about the tryouts, nor how much homework we got. She looked like there was something on her mind but from experience I knew you wouldn't get anything out of a Weasley unless they wanted you to get it out of them. Eventually she sighed and said "Sam, what do you know about Salazar Slytherin?"
I frowned. "The usual- that he was one of the founders of Hogwarts along with Godric Gryffindoor, Helga Hufflepuff and Rowena Ravenclaw. Because he was famous for being a parseltongue the Slytherin mascot is a snake. Salazar ended up leaving the school because he wanted to only admit magical students, whereas the others believed learning could be from non-magical families as well." I said.
"Yes, and he left the Chamber of Secrets behind and it's been opened twice right? And when it was opened it said on the wall for enemies of the heir beware?" Georgia asked.
"Yes, the first time by Voldemort and the second time- well that's pretty hush hush." I said, wracking my brains. I knew that Dad, Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione had been involved when the Chamber was opened for the second time and had actually saved the life of someone whilst defeating the basilisk, the huge snake which dwelt in the chamber. But like the first time the details were all kept very quiet and I didn't know much more than that. "Georgia, why do you want to know?"
She sighed again, and then reached into her dressing gown pocket and handed me a note. It was written on what looked like old parchment and it said, "The serpent of Slytherin is back. Enemies of the heir beware."
"Georgia where on earth did you get this?" I demanded.
"It was on my bed, like someone put it there for me to see." Georgia said. "And I started thinking about it all, and I have to admit I'm a little scared."
"It's probably a joke." I assured her. "And a silly one at that."
"Mm." She agreed getting up. "I just wanted to give it to you."
"Me?" I asked surprised. "Why me? Why not Greg or Francine? Or even Jenny?"
Georgia pushed her hair back from her face and shrugged. "To tell you the truth I don't know.... it's weird really, I just felt like I had to give it to you..maybe it's because of your Dad and all?"
I went red, and stuffed the note into my own dressing gown pocket. "Well don't worry about it Georgia, I'm sure it's just a stupid joke."
"Right. Goodnight Sam." She said sleepily.
"'night Georgia." I replied as she went back up to her room. I opened the book again, but soon fell asleep whilst reading it. The note went out of my mind when I was woken by Henry in the morning.
"Was I snoring again Sam?" Henry asked sheepishly. "Dad does too- terribly. He said when he was here your Father and Ron used to get so annoyed with him. And then Dean and Seamus actually made a potion in their fifth year to stop him snoring. Unfortunately it didn't go as planned and Dad ended up passing wind for the next five hours straight instead."
"You weren't snoring Henry." I assured him. "I just couldn't sleep."
"Quidditch right?" Henry said nodding. "I saw them all sitting there last night working out who they were going to pick today."
I looked surprised. "I thought we had more trials today." I said.
Henry shook his head. "No, they're going to announce it. Maybe they'd seen all they needed to see?"
His suggestion made my stomach lurch. I was convinced I hadn't done my best the day before. For the rest of the day I worried, despite many people telling me there was no question about it- I'd be on the team. I didn't even pay any attention to "Mitchell" in charms, and in History of Magic I fell asleep (although this wasn't exactly unusual for this class). After lunch we had transfiguration and Herbology and I managed to concentrate a little more, although my wrong answer when we were discussing what we'd learnt the year before in Transfiguration earnt me a dirty look from the headmistress. "Are your brains still on holidays Mr. Potter?" She asked me. "No they're on the Quidditch pitch miss." Alex Thomas replied and both the Gryffindoors and the Ravenclaws laughed. "Ah, that's right," The headmistress said. "They're going to decide the replacements today. I hope we do as well as we did last year or Professor Snape will never let me forget it."
Finally it was afternoon and along with most of the Gryffindoor house we made our way to the pitch where the team were waiting. Greg was telling me he'd been speaking to Norman Johnson before and they had decided that they didn't need to see any more, they'd seen all they needed, so the ten of us called back didn't carry our broomsticks with us. I was still a bit disappointed because I thought it would be nice to have another chance to impress them, but also I thought it was the perfect day for flying. Dad often decides it's a perfect day for flying and goes off on his own for a ride even now. Mum told me once he likes to think alone about things, but she didn't specify what exactly.
"Right, gather round, gather round." Johnson called. "We don't want to drag this out and torture you..."
A few people laughed, but Jenny and I exchanged nervous looks. I was still also surprised about her being called back. It was certainly a turn up for the books when you thought back to the first flying lessons we had the year before and Jenny's broom had taken off leaving her terrified.
"Okay we'll start with the keeper. This young man impressed us from the very start with his amazing skills. To tell you the truth we had a hard time deciding which position he was fit for, especially when we considered his pedigree, but then we decided that he was best for the spot of keeper. Therefore Gryffindoor's new keeper is none other than Sam Potter!" Johnson called loudly.
I was shocked. I'd made the team as a keeper. I didn't know whether to be happy or not. Then I decided that at least I was on the team, and Dad had always said he hoped I'd be on the team, and he'd never specified that he hoped I'd be made seeker! So with a big grin I went and joined my teammates. As soon as I got back up to the school I'd have to send my parents an owl telling them that their son was now part of the Gryffindoor Quidditch team!
"Right, well the first thing for me to say is that we haven't had a female seeker in almost thirty-five years, but tonight we're going to change this. When we saw this young lady fly we thought that whilst not technically perfect she was pretty damn good. And in fact in the snitch exercise she was the only one to get all four caught." Johnson said. While he was speaking I'd been watching Jenny, and when he said the last bit her face went red, telling me before he even announced that "the new Gryffindoor seeker is Jenny Weasley. Another one following in the footsteps of relatives. Her Father was on the team at the same time as Sam's father was, as were her uncles."
Jenny came up to join the team and her face was positively glowing. I managed to congratulate her, but I wasn't sure how I really felt about it, after all I'd had my heart set on being seeker and here was Jenny, someone who didn't even know how to fly before the summer, getting the position I'd so desperately wanted.
"So here you are Gryffindoors- the team which is going to win this years championship. Myself as beater, Luke Wilks as the other beater, our chasers Jessica Bell, and Emily Brown, our keeper Sam Potter and our seeker Jenny Weasley." Johnson cried and everyone started cheering.
Greg made his way back to me. "Come on Sam- we're going to celebrate this." He said.
I shrugged his arm off and muttered that I had to send an owl to my parents first and then I'd join the celebrations. I didn't notice that Jenny followed me as I left the group and headed towards the owlery.
"SAM!" She called. "Wait for me. I've got to send an owl as well."
I sighed and reluctantly waited for her. "Bet your parents will be shocked." I said as we walked.
"Sure, but Dad's going to be over the moon. I don't think anyone back at The Burrows is going to hear the end of it for awhile. Dad will probably think it competes with Paul being made head boy." Jenny said with an embarrassed grin.
I managed another smile, but then we walked in silence for a bit before Jenny spoke. "Are you mad at me Sam?" She asked.
I was shocked at her upfront question, but I shook my head. "No, I'm not mad, I'm just..well I'm a little bit disappointed, but I'm also pretty shocked. I guess I always just assumed I'd be made a seeker not a keeper."
"Well at least you're still on the team." Jenny said. "And we're going to have so much fun Sam. We've just got to kick Slytherin's butt so we can wipe that smile off Alforth's ugly face."
I laughed. "That's the spirit." I said, and I decided that I wasn't upset about Jenny being made seeker. After all being a keeper would probably be better for me in the long run anyway since nobody would be comparing me with Dad all the time and I knew there was no way as a seeker that I could ever be as good as Dad had been. "We better put that in our owls also. Dad and Uncle Ron will love that idea!"
Chapter Six: The new seeker and Keeper.
I didn't sleep much that night, I was so nervous about making the team. Even though Dad would never say it I thought that if I didn't make it I would somehow be letting him down. After all it was a hard act to follow- the youngest seeker in a century. But then again Dad in general was a hard act to follow. There was not a person in our world who didn't know all about the famous Harry Potter. Dad told me that coming to Hogwarts where he found out he was famous was quite a shock to him at first, although he never let it get the better of him, and even managed to defeat Voldemort on a few occasions. In the end I got up and went downstairs to the common room where the fire was still glowing slightly, and curled up in a chair beside it with a book on the Quidditch World Cup.
"Can't sleep?" asked a voice suddenly and I jumped a mile. Georgia Weasley was coming down the stairs from the girl's dormitory.
"Not really." I admitted. "What are you doing up?"
She bit her lip and then came over to sit near the fire, warming her hands in front of it. "Stuff on my mind." She finally said.
I marked the page in my book and put it aside. As the youngest Weasley in such a huge family Georgia was often overlooked, although Greg generally adored her. But I'd found her to a genuinely nice and funny person. "What's up? I thought you were enjoying it here?" I asked. "Are you homesick?"
"I AM enjoying it here," Georgia hastened to assure me. "And I'm certainly not homesick after two days- although I've already got homework!"
I laughed. "So have we, we got some in DADA yesterday and also some in potions. I think Professor Selwyn got a bit annoyed with us Gryffindoors because we were all thinking about tryouts."
Georgia smiled, but I had the impression it was simply a polite smile and she wasn't too concerned about the tryouts, nor how much homework we got. She looked like there was something on her mind but from experience I knew you wouldn't get anything out of a Weasley unless they wanted you to get it out of them. Eventually she sighed and said "Sam, what do you know about Salazar Slytherin?"
I frowned. "The usual- that he was one of the founders of Hogwarts along with Godric Gryffindoor, Helga Hufflepuff and Rowena Ravenclaw. Because he was famous for being a parseltongue the Slytherin mascot is a snake. Salazar ended up leaving the school because he wanted to only admit magical students, whereas the others believed learning could be from non-magical families as well." I said.
"Yes, and he left the Chamber of Secrets behind and it's been opened twice right? And when it was opened it said on the wall for enemies of the heir beware?" Georgia asked.
"Yes, the first time by Voldemort and the second time- well that's pretty hush hush." I said, wracking my brains. I knew that Dad, Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione had been involved when the Chamber was opened for the second time and had actually saved the life of someone whilst defeating the basilisk, the huge snake which dwelt in the chamber. But like the first time the details were all kept very quiet and I didn't know much more than that. "Georgia, why do you want to know?"
She sighed again, and then reached into her dressing gown pocket and handed me a note. It was written on what looked like old parchment and it said, "The serpent of Slytherin is back. Enemies of the heir beware."
"Georgia where on earth did you get this?" I demanded.
"It was on my bed, like someone put it there for me to see." Georgia said. "And I started thinking about it all, and I have to admit I'm a little scared."
"It's probably a joke." I assured her. "And a silly one at that."
"Mm." She agreed getting up. "I just wanted to give it to you."
"Me?" I asked surprised. "Why me? Why not Greg or Francine? Or even Jenny?"
Georgia pushed her hair back from her face and shrugged. "To tell you the truth I don't know.... it's weird really, I just felt like I had to give it to you..maybe it's because of your Dad and all?"
I went red, and stuffed the note into my own dressing gown pocket. "Well don't worry about it Georgia, I'm sure it's just a stupid joke."
"Right. Goodnight Sam." She said sleepily.
"'night Georgia." I replied as she went back up to her room. I opened the book again, but soon fell asleep whilst reading it. The note went out of my mind when I was woken by Henry in the morning.
"Was I snoring again Sam?" Henry asked sheepishly. "Dad does too- terribly. He said when he was here your Father and Ron used to get so annoyed with him. And then Dean and Seamus actually made a potion in their fifth year to stop him snoring. Unfortunately it didn't go as planned and Dad ended up passing wind for the next five hours straight instead."
"You weren't snoring Henry." I assured him. "I just couldn't sleep."
"Quidditch right?" Henry said nodding. "I saw them all sitting there last night working out who they were going to pick today."
I looked surprised. "I thought we had more trials today." I said.
Henry shook his head. "No, they're going to announce it. Maybe they'd seen all they needed to see?"
His suggestion made my stomach lurch. I was convinced I hadn't done my best the day before. For the rest of the day I worried, despite many people telling me there was no question about it- I'd be on the team. I didn't even pay any attention to "Mitchell" in charms, and in History of Magic I fell asleep (although this wasn't exactly unusual for this class). After lunch we had transfiguration and Herbology and I managed to concentrate a little more, although my wrong answer when we were discussing what we'd learnt the year before in Transfiguration earnt me a dirty look from the headmistress. "Are your brains still on holidays Mr. Potter?" She asked me. "No they're on the Quidditch pitch miss." Alex Thomas replied and both the Gryffindoors and the Ravenclaws laughed. "Ah, that's right," The headmistress said. "They're going to decide the replacements today. I hope we do as well as we did last year or Professor Snape will never let me forget it."
Finally it was afternoon and along with most of the Gryffindoor house we made our way to the pitch where the team were waiting. Greg was telling me he'd been speaking to Norman Johnson before and they had decided that they didn't need to see any more, they'd seen all they needed, so the ten of us called back didn't carry our broomsticks with us. I was still a bit disappointed because I thought it would be nice to have another chance to impress them, but also I thought it was the perfect day for flying. Dad often decides it's a perfect day for flying and goes off on his own for a ride even now. Mum told me once he likes to think alone about things, but she didn't specify what exactly.
"Right, gather round, gather round." Johnson called. "We don't want to drag this out and torture you..."
A few people laughed, but Jenny and I exchanged nervous looks. I was still also surprised about her being called back. It was certainly a turn up for the books when you thought back to the first flying lessons we had the year before and Jenny's broom had taken off leaving her terrified.
"Okay we'll start with the keeper. This young man impressed us from the very start with his amazing skills. To tell you the truth we had a hard time deciding which position he was fit for, especially when we considered his pedigree, but then we decided that he was best for the spot of keeper. Therefore Gryffindoor's new keeper is none other than Sam Potter!" Johnson called loudly.
I was shocked. I'd made the team as a keeper. I didn't know whether to be happy or not. Then I decided that at least I was on the team, and Dad had always said he hoped I'd be on the team, and he'd never specified that he hoped I'd be made seeker! So with a big grin I went and joined my teammates. As soon as I got back up to the school I'd have to send my parents an owl telling them that their son was now part of the Gryffindoor Quidditch team!
"Right, well the first thing for me to say is that we haven't had a female seeker in almost thirty-five years, but tonight we're going to change this. When we saw this young lady fly we thought that whilst not technically perfect she was pretty damn good. And in fact in the snitch exercise she was the only one to get all four caught." Johnson said. While he was speaking I'd been watching Jenny, and when he said the last bit her face went red, telling me before he even announced that "the new Gryffindoor seeker is Jenny Weasley. Another one following in the footsteps of relatives. Her Father was on the team at the same time as Sam's father was, as were her uncles."
Jenny came up to join the team and her face was positively glowing. I managed to congratulate her, but I wasn't sure how I really felt about it, after all I'd had my heart set on being seeker and here was Jenny, someone who didn't even know how to fly before the summer, getting the position I'd so desperately wanted.
"So here you are Gryffindoors- the team which is going to win this years championship. Myself as beater, Luke Wilks as the other beater, our chasers Jessica Bell, and Emily Brown, our keeper Sam Potter and our seeker Jenny Weasley." Johnson cried and everyone started cheering.
Greg made his way back to me. "Come on Sam- we're going to celebrate this." He said.
I shrugged his arm off and muttered that I had to send an owl to my parents first and then I'd join the celebrations. I didn't notice that Jenny followed me as I left the group and headed towards the owlery.
"SAM!" She called. "Wait for me. I've got to send an owl as well."
I sighed and reluctantly waited for her. "Bet your parents will be shocked." I said as we walked.
"Sure, but Dad's going to be over the moon. I don't think anyone back at The Burrows is going to hear the end of it for awhile. Dad will probably think it competes with Paul being made head boy." Jenny said with an embarrassed grin.
I managed another smile, but then we walked in silence for a bit before Jenny spoke. "Are you mad at me Sam?" She asked.
I was shocked at her upfront question, but I shook my head. "No, I'm not mad, I'm just..well I'm a little bit disappointed, but I'm also pretty shocked. I guess I always just assumed I'd be made a seeker not a keeper."
"Well at least you're still on the team." Jenny said. "And we're going to have so much fun Sam. We've just got to kick Slytherin's butt so we can wipe that smile off Alforth's ugly face."
I laughed. "That's the spirit." I said, and I decided that I wasn't upset about Jenny being made seeker. After all being a keeper would probably be better for me in the long run anyway since nobody would be comparing me with Dad all the time and I knew there was no way as a seeker that I could ever be as good as Dad had been. "We better put that in our owls also. Dad and Uncle Ron will love that idea!"
