Dawn slept in on Saturday morning. She didn't get out of bed until nine. (She was a little bemused that she now considered getting up at nine to be 'sleeping in.') Ginny and Hermione were already gone when she got up, and went to have her morning shower.
There was no sign of any of her friends in the common room either, so Dawn went down to the Great Hall on her own. She found Hermione at the Gryffindor table with Parvati and a couple of other girls that she didn't know very well. "Where's Ron and Harry?" she asked.
"Slytherin are having tryouts for a couple of positions on their team this morning," said Hermione. "They're down at the pitch, checking them out. Ginny's with them."
"So what do people who aren't mad about Quidditch do for fun around here?" asked Dawn.
"There's lots to read in the library," said Hermione.
Dawn saw Parvati and the other girls roll their eyes. "Uh-huh. And I spend enough time there doing homework. What else?"
"There's hanging out with your friends, lots of clubs for people interested in other things besides Quidditch," said Parvati. "We get to go down to Hogsmeade a couple of weekends each term."
"Only a couple of weekends?" asked Dawn.
"Seventh years can go pretty much any time they like," said Hermione. "Once they're of age… You should be able to go too."
"I'm of age?" asked Dawn.
"Wizards consider seventeen to be 'of age,'" said Hermione. "As far as the wizard world is concerned, you're an adult."
"Cool!" said Dawn. "But you guys are all still sixteen, right?"
"My sixteenth birthday is still a couple of weeks away," said Hermione. "It's on the nineteenth."
"So, I'd be wandering around town without any of my friends. I think I'd rather stay here."
They stayed in the Great Hall, just hanging out and talking about stuff, all morning. Harry, Ron and Ginny came in just as lunch was starting. "So how does the Slytherin team look?" asked Dawn.
"Their new Keeper isn't anywhere near as good as Ron," said Ginny.
"Yeah, but they've picked up a Chaser who looks like he might have potential," said Harry. "How'd you guys spend your morning?"
"Oh, just hanging out," said Dawn.
Jack and Andrew joined them, and they spent the lunch discussing the plan for the tryouts. Hermione had more forms prepared, with everyone's names already filled in. Instead of her and Dawn doing the scoring now it would be the other members of the team. Jack and Andrew were surprised to see Harry's name on the Chaser evaluation forms.
"What's going on?" asked Jack.
"You saw my little contest with Ginny last night, right?" asked Harry. Jack and Andrew nodded. "Well, we had a talk after it was over, and Ginny wants to be Seeker. I've been doing it for five years, and I'd like to try playing Chaser. You've seen what Ginny can do. She beat Summerby and Cho last year, and Cho can beat Malfoy, so I know Ginny can too…and she's gotten a lot better over the summer, so we've got no worries with her playing Seeker.
"Wood and Angelina liked to mix things up in practices sometimes, so I've played Chaser with the old team. I'm pretty good at it. I've been working with the new kids during the practice sessions, and I know I'm every bit as good as they are, so I'm trying out for Chaser."
"Captains don't try out," said Andrew.
"This one is," said Harry. "My playing Seeker doesn't give me an automatic bye into one of the Chaser slots. I have to be seen to earn it. I want you all to mark me just like you'd mark the others."
"What if you don't make the grade?" asked Jack.
"Then I'll be really, really embarrassed, and Ron can try his hand at captaining," said Harry.
Dawn put her arm around Harry. "Don't worry. You'll make the team."
"Thanks," said Harry.
"You know he's just feigning insecurity to get hugs from you, right?" asked Ron.
Dawn put on an expression of mock surprise. "Why Ron! How could you accuse your best friend of such devious behaviour!"
"Because I've been watching him be devious for five years," said Ron.
They finished their lunches, and got up from the table. It was nearly time to head out to the Quidditch pitch for the Gryffindor tryouts. Harry saw Dennis Creevey sitting a little way down the table with Bruce Lightbody and Lindsey Fulford—the other two Gryffindor's trying out for the Seeker spot. He walked over to them. "You guys better get moving. The tryout starts in fifteen minutes."
None of them looked very happy. "What's the point?" asked Lindsey. "We aren't anywhere near as good as you or Ginny."
"The point is that one of you is going to be our reserve Seeker," said Harry. "Ginny wasn't born good. She got good through lots of practice. I've been watching you. With practice you can be just as good as she is. We need to get you practicing now so you'll be ready when you're needed to take Ginny's place. Now get off your duffs, and go get your brooms! I want to see all of you down on the pitch before I get there!"
Dennis, Bruce and Lindsey all jumped to their feet and ran out of the hall.
"You're turning into a regular Captain Bligh," said Ron behind Harry.
Harry looked around at Ron, a puzzled look on his face. "Where did you hear about Captain Bligh?" Ron was usually the last person to come up with any Muggle references.
"What?" asked Ron. "Everyone knows about Todd Bligh! He was captain of the Chudley Cannons from 1926 to 32. It was the last time they even came close to winning the league!"
There were quite a few people in the stands when Harry arrived at the Quidditch pitch. Most of the members of the other house teams were all there, no doubt checking out what sort of competition Gryffindor would be this year. Most of Gryffindor was there, including Professor McGonagall. Hagrid, Professor Lupin, and Madam Hooch were there too. If he was about to make a fool of himself as a Chaser, he'd have a big audience.
He looked away from the stands, putting the people watching out of his mind. He found doing that to be much easier now, since he'd been taking his Occlumency lessons with Dumbledore. He just shunted all those thoughts aside, and didn't let his mind dwell on them.
He turned his attention back to the pitch, looking it over to make sure that everyone was there who was supposed to be there. He saw that Dennis, Bruce and Lindsey were all there, and chasing a bird—Harry thought it might be some sort of swallow—around the pitch as if it were the Snitch. He remembered that in the early years of the game they had indeed used a bird—the Golden Snidget—instead of the Snitch, until it had been nearly driven to extinction, and the Snitch was substituted. The Snidget was now a protected species, its numbers still not having recovered.
Harry blew his whistle and called for everyone who was there to try out to come over to him. He also told a couple of kids who were flying around the pitch on their brooms, but weren't there for the tryouts, to clear off it.
Harry started by explaining to everyone how they were going to be scored. They would be going through all the drills they had been doing in the practices, and the members of the team would be keeping track of how well they did, as Dawn and Hermione had been doing during the practices.
"Now, some of you may have heard that there's been a bit of a change," announced Harry. "We all saw how well Ginny Weasley did against me chasing that practice Snitch last night, so we've decided that she is going to be our Seeker this year." Harry couldn't help hearing the gasp of surprise that came from the audience behind him. "That leaves me trying out for Chaser…and I am trying out for that spot just like the rest of you. I'll be scoring those of you who are trying for Keeper, Beaters, and Seeker, but I won't be scoring the Chasers. We're going to be scored by Ron, Ginny, Jack and Andrew. For those of you trying out for Keeper: don't try to get on my good side by letting me score against you. It won't help. And for the Beaters…If you manage to knock me off my broom during your offensive drills, I might give you bonus points."
Harry reached into his pocket. "For the three of you trying out for Seeker, we have this…" Harry held up the Golden Snitch. Its wings beating rapidly, trying to escape from his grasp. "When I let go of it, it's going to fly off and disappear. It is going to be reappearing about a dozen times over the next three hours, and when it does, all three of you are going to be trying to catch it…just as you were trying to catch that poor bird a few minutes ago, and in the future I don't want to see any of you doing anything like that again!" Harry glared at his three Seeker candidates, and saw that they were all looking suitably guilty.
"Alright! Let's get this show on the road!" Harry released the Golden Snitch. It took off, flying a quick circuit around them all, its wings beating so rapidly it sounded like a humming bird, before it flew off and disappeared.
Dawn and Hermione sat behind the members of the Quidditch team watching each exercise along with them. When each exercise completed they collected the score sheets from the team members to tabulate the results. It was plain to them very quickly that Harry had no worries about making the grade as a Chaser. He was clearly much better than the others. The choice for the other two Chaser positions was a lot tougher, as was the choice for the various reserve spots.
Every once in a while there would be a sudden scramble among the Seekers as the Snitch appeared and they all started chasing after it. The first time it happened everyone trying out for the other spots on the team stopped what they were doing to watch, until Harry blew his whistle and started to yell at them. "What do you think you're doing? The game doesn't stop when the Snitch shows up! A Keeper who stops to gawk at the Seekers is going to have the Quaffle flying past them! A Chaser's liable to have a Bludger take his head off! A Beater could let one if his Chasers have their head taken off!"
Everyone scrambled to get back to their drill: three Chasers practicing an attack on a Keeper while two opposing Beaters tried to stop them. Harry watched the Seekers chase the Snitch. Lindsey and Dennis were neck and neck with Bruce close behind them. They followed it right through the middle of the group of Chasers and Beaters. Harry was happy to see that they continued to concentrate on their current drill, with enough awareness of the Seekers to get out of their way.
It was close between Lindsey and Dennis, with Bruce slowly falling farther behind them. In the end it was Dennis who came up with the Snitch…mainly because it zigged instead of zagged. If the Snitch had gone the other way it would have been Lindsey.
Dennis was very pleased with himself. He started to do a victory lap around the pitch until Harry yelled at him. "We all saw it Dennis! Let it go!"
Dennis released the Snitch and it flew off and vanished again. He resumed cruising around over the pitch, looking for it to reappear. Harry watched how he moved, always cruising around, looking in every direction, never letting himself get distracted by the action going on below him, but not unaware of it either. He dodged Bludgers that came flying his way more than once.
Harry turned his attention to Lindsey. She was flying much the same way as Dennis. Both of them kept their eyes moving, systematically sweeping and resweeping the entire pitch looking for the Snitch.
Bruce was a different story. There really didn't seem to be any method to how he moved. Sometimes he'd go a couple of minutes without ever looking behind him to see if the Snitch might be back there. He would become engrossed with the drills going on below him, becoming more of a spectator than a participant at times. Other times, he'd attach himself to Dennis or Lindsey, following them around, hoping they'd lead him to the Snitch. Harry was familiar with the tactic. Malfoy had tried to use it against him from time to time.
It was Harry's turn to take the field, so he put the Seekers out of his mind and flew out to take his turn in the drill. He, Seamus and Lavender maneuvered together, passing the Quaffle back and forth, attempting to get one of them into the scoring area, while the Beaters tried to keep them out.
On one attack Harry, Lavender and Seamus flew down the field together, passing the Quaffle back and forth, trying to keep the Beaters guessing about who would make the actual attempt to score. Harry was in the center with Lavender to his right and Seamus to his left. Harry could see that the Beaters were concentrating on him, considering him to be the most serious threat. As they closed on the goals he passed the Quaffle to Lavender. One of the beaters moved to cut her off, while the other stayed in front of Harry in case Lavender passed the Quaffle back. Harry turned, moving closer to Lavender, and the Beater guarding him followed, putting Seamus entirely into the clear. Lavender passed the Quaffle across to him. Her pass was right on target, but Seamus fumbled the catch. The Keeper, Christine Bedley, had moved out, cutting off his angle by the time he had recovered and was in perfect position to block his shot.
Harry recovered the Quaffle and they returned to the center of the field to reform and start a new attack.
The tryout went on all afternoon. Everyone was getting tired toward the end, which was one of the things Harry wanted. Quidditch games could go on for hours. He wanted to see what everyone's stamina was like. How well their performance held up in the long haul. Four o'clock finally came and Harry started to raise his whistle to his lips to signal the end. He stopped when he spotted a glint of gold. The Snitch was back, and its position was interesting. It was about twenty feet below and behind Dennis Creevey, which was pretty much the hardest place for him to be able to see it. Bruce was shadowing Dennis again, and only watching to see what Dennis did, he wasn't looking for the Snitch at all. Lindsey was all the way across the pitch, over three hundred feet away.
The contest between Dennis and Lindsey had been close all afternoon. She'd caught the Snitch five times, and he'd caught it six. Every time it had been a close thing between them, except when fortune had caused the Snitch to appear in a position that gave one or the other a clear advantage. Bruce had managed to catch it once. When it had popped up almost right under his nose at a time when he wasn't shadowing Dennis or Lindsey.
This time Dennis had a clear positional advantage…if he saw the Snitch. Lindsey was in a much better position to see it though.
Lindsey'd spotted the Snitch. Her broom suddenly accelerated, and she started to dive. Not toward the Snitch but at a place about half way between her and Dennis, in the shadows of the stands at the western edge of the pitch. Harry smiled. She was feinting, trying to draw Dennis and Bruce away from where the Snitch really was, to give herself a chance to get it…and it looked like it was working. Dennis was accelerating and diving too, heading for the same place. Harry could see his eyes were trying to probe the shadows, and find the Snitch. Bruce was a little slower off the mark, but he was chasing after Dennis too.
Harry watched as they all dived toward the ground. He could see that Dennis was starting to look around more. He knew he should be able to see the Snitch himself if it was really where Lindsey seemed to be going. He was wondering if she was trying to bluff him. Harry knew that he only had a couple more seconds to realize what had happened, and get himself turned around.
He didn't figure it out in time. Lindsey suddenly turned and rocketed upward. Dennis reacted instantly, but it was too late. All of his momentum was going in the wrong direction, and by the time he got himself turned around Lindsey had a commanding lead that he couldn't hope to make up. That didn't stop him from trying though. He chased after Lindsey, and Harry could hear him cursing his stupidity.
Bruce just threw up his hands and gave up. He didn't even bother trying to join in the chase.
It really wasn't much of a chase to join. Lindsey caught the Snitch easily before Dennis could get anywhere close to it. Harry blew a long blast on his whistle. "Lindsey, hold on to that Snitch! We're done! Everybody come over here!" Harry flew over and landed in front of the team of judges. He waited for everyone to come and land in front of him.
"I'd like to thank you all for coming out today. You all have worked really hard and Ron, Jack, Andrew, Ginny and I have got some tough decisions to make. It won't be easy picking out the best of you, because you're all pretty good. I want you all to go have a nice, hot shower, and a good supper. We'll be announcing our decision in the common room at eight o'clock tonight. I'll see you all then."
Everyone started to climb onto their brooms to fly back up to the castle. "Oh, Lindsey, don't forget to give me the Snitch," said Harry. "You can't keep it."
