A/N: OK, about the names of the people – I'm sorry if they sound stupid in any possible way, but I suck at inventing names, so you'll have to deal with that. If you have a better suggestion for a name (even yours, if you want to), just say so in your review (by the way, make sure you review) and I'll be more than happy to change it.

Chapter 13: Quidditch tryouts

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It was Friday morning, and Harry was very nervous. After school, he was supposed to choose the new Gryffindor Quidditch players, and he was sure that something'd go wrong. Sure, he was a good player, but that didn't mean he could do well as a captain – what was McGonagall thinking when she appointed him?

"She thought that somebody who proved that he could teach others and somebody who was the youngest seeker in a century, would also be able to be the team captain," said Hermione when Harry finally told her what was bothering him. "It's not like it's the first time that you lead other people, what are you worried about?"

"You're probably right," muttered Harry, "I have nothing to worry about…"

But saying it was one thing, and feeling it was another. The day's lessons passed slowly, and he couldn't concentrate on anything other than the Quidditch tryouts. On his and Ron's free hour (Hermione had Arithmancy), Ron suggested that they'd go down to visit Hagrid. Harry almost refused, but then thought that it might relieve the tension he was in, and agreed.

"It's you!" said Hagrid cheerfully, when he opened his cabin's door and saw them. "Abou' time, I wondered where you'd been. Come'n, I'll make tea."

"Thanks, Hagrid. Hey, how's Grawp?" asked Harry, suddenly remembering Hagrid's smaller brother.

"Yeh should see him, he's already sayin' whole sentences!" Hagrid went on talking about Grawp for what seemed like hours. Then they talked about school – just like Harry thought, Hagrid was OK with the fact that he dropped Care of Magical Creatures. Harry has already managed to forget about the trials, but then Hagrid said, "But enough abou' this, yeh're havin' the Quidditch tryouts today, don't yeh?"

"Yes," said Harry miserably. "And I'm going to suck as a captain."

During the next ten minutes, Hagrid tried desperately to convince Harry that everything will be fine and that he has nothing to worry about. Needless to say, he failed, and when Harry and Ron left his cabin, Harry was all anxious. He could barely eat something during the dinner, and left the Great Hall shortly after arriving there. He, Ron and Ginny quickly got their brooms from their dormitories, and went to the Quidditch pitch. Madam Hooch was already there, but none of the students has come yet.

"You see, I told you something would go wrong," said Harry desperately. "Nobody wants to come – it's just the three of us."

"Are you out of your mind?" asked Ginny. "We're half an hour earlier than we should be, there's still enough time for them to come. In the meantime, I want you to test me, so I can be in the team."

"You're already in the team, what are you talking about?" said Ron.

"Yes, but I want it to be fair – I should be tried for the position of the Chaser," said Ginny.

"Whatever," shrugged Harry apathetically, "we have to wait anyway, let's do it now. Ron, you go and keep, and Ginny will try to score. I'll be a chaser too, you can't play one on one." Ron and Ginny mounted their brooms, and Harry took the Quaffle out of its box and threw it over to Ginny. He then took his Firebolt, and felt it vibrating slightly. He mounted it, and kicked off the ground. The feeling was wonderful – he only now realized how badly he missed flying. He flew around the pitch, and returned to the hoops, where Ron and Ginny were already in play.

"I'm here," he yelled soaring through the air towards them.

"About time," Ginny shouted, throwing him the Quaffle, "I thought you left me to face him alone." Harry caught the Quaffle swiftly and turned towards the right hoop. However, Ron was already there, facing him and grinning. Harry threw the ball back to Ginny, who threw it into the hoop, but Ron was quick – he caught the Quaffle easily. They continued playing for ten minutes. Ginny scored twice and Harry scored once, but apart from that, Ron saved every ball. The game was enjoying, and when they landed, laughing, they saw that a couple of people were already sitting in the stands nearby. Fifteen minutes later, ten people were assembled there, waiting restlessly, each one of them holding a broom. When Harry started speaking, he didn't even remember his anxiousness – he was still euphoric from the game.

"All right, everyone, gather here. I'm Harry Potter, the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain and Seeker. This," he indicated Ron, "is Ron Weasley, our excellent Keeper, and this," he pointed on Ginny, "is Ginny Weasley, one of our Chasers. Today we'll be picking two more Chasers and two Beaters. Now, I want everyone to tell me his or her name and year, and what position he or she is willing to take. Obviously, only four of you will be chosen, but we might also choose somebody to be a substitute player. OK?" Harry looked around. Everybody was nodding, and Harry could see how nervous all of them were. One by one, they approached Harry and the Weasleys.

"Hi, I'm Dora Wood," said a small girl that approached them. She seemed to be almost the only one who seemed confident in herself. "I'm in the second year, and I want to be a Chaser," she said conversationally.

"Wood? Are you Oliver's relative?" asked Harry.

"His sister," she smiled.

"Really? Well, good luck. Who's next?" he asked as Dora Wood moved aside.

"I'm Simon Peterson, fifth year, and I'd like to be a Beater," said the next boy, winking to Ginny. Next, came Lucy Starlight from third year, who wanted to be a Chaser, and then Christopher Klerist from the fourth year, who wanted to be a Chaser as well.

"Hello to you, I'm Triny Dovellyn, from fifth year, and I'm here to try for the Beater position. But I can play any other position, if you want to," said a tall girl with wavy black hair. Harry was surprised – girls usually didn't play as beaters. But she must be a good player, he thought, if she says that she can play any position. After Triny came Jerry Trest and Will Nimfenius, both from fourth year and intending to try for a Beater, too, and afterwards came Natalie McDonald from third year, Euan Abercrombie from second year and Coral Miller from fourth year, all of whom wanted to be Chasers.

"Ok, so we have… six Chasers and four Beaters – oh, that's excellent. We'll split you into two teams, and then you'll play against each other. Ron and Ginny will be the Keepers. Now, the teams, will be… let me see… Coral, Natalie, Euan, Jerry and Simon will be with Ron, and Lucy, Dora, Christopher, Will and Triny will be with Ginny. Everybody understood? Good," he said as everyone murmured in agreement, "let's go then."

The game has started. Harry was in the air, watching the players in play. Soon, he could already tell who were the best players – Dora had her brother's talent for Quidditch, Triny was indeed as good as she said she was, and Jerry was an excellent Beater, too. A few minutes passed, and Harry was having troubles to decide who will be the last Chaser – Natalie and Christopher were both flying very well, and both of them were good as Chasers. I'll see what Ron has to say about it, and then I'll decide, he thought to himself. Suddenly, he felt a painful twinge in his scar. He landed, clutching his scar, but a second later the pain was gone. I should get used to it, he thought, it won't be getting better anytime soon.

"Ok, everybody, that's enough," he shouted shortly afterwards, forgetting about the scar. "Ron, Ginny, come here. So," he said when they got nearer, "What'd you think?"

"That Triny girl was amazing," said Ron, "I never saw a girl who could be such a Beater before. And Simon was pretty good, too."

"Yeah, Triny is great," smiled Ginny, "I saw her playing even better than she played now."

"I've already decided to take her," said Harry, "And I also decided to take Dora Wood and Jerry Trest. Simon will be the substitute Beater, I think. I need your help with the last Chaser – should we take Christopher or Natalie?"

"Natalie" "Christopher"

Harry laughed. "Great, that's a lot of help. You know what, I think it'll be Natalie – she did score that last one, it was quite surprising."

"When you're right, you're right – I didn't expect her to turn to the left that quickly, I was going to the right," said Ginny, frowning.

"Fine, so it's decided – Natalie will be the Chaser and Christopher will be the substitute," said Harry. "Are you OK with that, Ron?"

"What? Oh, yeah, sure," said Ron, who was staring at Triny.

"Ron, stop it, she's my friend," said Ginny indignantly.

"So what? You had a crush on my friend, as well," said Ron. Ginny blushed, but didn't say anything.

Harry was gathering everyone around him. "First of all, I'd like to say that all of you played very well today, and I wish I could take you all on the team. But I can't. So, if you weren't chosen, please don't be upset – it doesn't mean that you can't play Quidditch, it only means that the rules should be changed, so that there'd be thirteen players on the team." Most of the people laughed. "Right, so the new players are Dora, Natalie, Jerry and Triny, and our substitutes are Simon and Christopher. We'll let you know about the first training, so be prepared. Thank you all, and goodbye!"

The students who didn't get on the team headed towards the castle, and the others hang behind to thank Harry. Ginny and Ron waked Madam Hooch, who was asleep all that time, and they returned to the dormitories.

~*~*~*~*~

"So, how was it?" asked Hermione during breakfast next morning.

"It was great," beamed Harry. "I think we'll have a superb team."

"I don't want to say 'I told you so', but I told you so," said Hermione, smiling. "What're we going to do today?"

"I dunno, but not homework," said Ron. "Anything but homework."

"Come on, Ron, you have lots of it, you have to do it now, or you'll regret it."

"I didn't notice that you're getting the paper again," said Ron, ignoring Hermione's last comment, as a big brown owl landed on the table, carrying an issue of the Daily Prophet.

"Well, you never notice such things, do you?" said Hermione, opening the paper. Next, she was gaping at the front page, looking horror-struck. "Not again," she whispered.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A/N: He he he he he…. *evil Voldemort laugh* We'll leave it here, shall we?

Originally, I intended to put the Quidditch tryouts in the 12th chapter, and to write chapter 13 about the nice cliffhanger that I left you. But then, I wanted to post the previous chapter ASAP, so I decided to write both about the tryouts and about the ****** (I won't tell you what it is) in this chapter, and to make it really long. But then, as I was writing the last lines, I saw that it's long enough to post it, and I thought that it'd be much more interesting to put in an evil cliffie. So I did. And don't forget – I gave you a reason to review, so do it! Then maybe you won't have to wait that long to find out what happened.