Chapter 12: Quidditch
Later that day, with Oliver supervising, the Gryffindors held tryouts for the Quidditch team. Before they started, though, there was a teeny issue to discuss...
"As everyone knows, Gryffindor no longer has a team captain since the new one last year, Angelina, left," the handsome nineteen-year-old pointed out. "McGonagall has chosen Harry as the new captain."
Harry looked completely taken aback.
"Huh?"
"Harry, are you ready to accept the immense responsibility?" Oliver asked, a teasing twinkle in his eyes..
"Wait...what?!" Harry burst out.
"McGonagall believes you should be the new captain," Oliver explained. "I think so, too. Do you want to be? Or should we have her pick someone else?"
"Yes! I mean, no! No, don't pick anyone else! No, no, no, no, no!" Harry exclaimed joyously.
"Well, then, everyone, meet Harry Potter, the Gryffindor Seeker and new team captain!" Oliver announced as if the people trying out hadn't been listening raptly. Suddenly, Harry disappeared under all the people hugging and congratulating him. After several minutes of mini celebration (the real thing would be going on later in the common room), Oliver clapped his hands for attention. "Okay. Harry, let's get these tryouts started!"
"I don't know what to do," a startled Harry told Oliver.
"Calm down, I'm just kidding," Oliver reassured. "You're gonna help me. Okay, everyone trying out for Chaser, go over here. Everyone trying out for Beater, go over here. Everyone trying out for Keeper, go over here." Everyone trying out nodded and headed off to the designated areas, and everyone that was just watching backed off to the side. "Good."
Oliver spoke to Harry for a few moments before jumping onto his broom and zooming up into the air.
"Great. Okay, we'll start off with Chaser tryouts how about...Seamus to start? Seamus?" Harry called. Seamus picked up his broom and trotted over to where Harry stood waiting with the Quaffle. "Okay, you get five tries to make a goal. Whoever makes the most goals is the new Chaser," the Seeker instructed, addressing the other four people trying out also.
Seamus climbed onto his broom with the Quaffle under his arm and a determined look on his face and kicked off hard, soaring into the sky. After a moment, the Irish boy flew in towards the middle hoop and threw the ball as hard as possible. Alicia dove and caught it easily. Backing up, Seamus tricked Alicia into thinking he was going to try and get through the left hoop when he turned sharply towards the right and managed to score. The next two times he missed and the fifth, he scored. Seamus then flew back down to land next to Dean.
"All right, good job, Seamus," Harry said as he decided who to call up next. "Colin Creevey, come on down!" Colin jumped up excitedly and tripped over his feet in his hurry to get to Harry. "Calm down, there. We have all afternoon," Harry warned him jokingly. Colin blushed a bright red from having made a fool of himself in front of everyone, especially his idol, as he jogged over to the captain. He mounted his broom and kicked off. When he landed five minutes later, he had only scored once. Harry looked incredibly skeptical as he made notes on his clipboard.
"O—kay. Um, how about Kara Simmons?" Harry asked, referring to the third year Gryffindor blonde. Kara stood up and brushed off her robes as she confidently walked over to the starting point. She set off and, with amazing grace, speed, and skill, easily made 4 out of the 5 shots. Harry looked at her approvingly.
"Excellent, Kara, very good," Harry applauded. Kara's friends hurried over to congratulate her before receiving a stern look from Harry. Apparently, he wanted the tryouts to be a success. Melissa had to hide a grin from her twin and noticed Ron and Hermione were trying to do the same thing.
"Ron, let's go! Your turn!" Harry called to his best friend. Ron swallowed nervously and walked to his friend. He pushed off and immediately shot a goal. In the next few minutes, he had the same score as Kara, four out of five. Harry congratulated Ron on a good job and consulted his clipboard for a moment before saying, "Mel, your turn!"
Melissa felt her heart quicken with nervousness as she stood up and walked over to Harry. Harry smiled at her and, barely moving his lips, said, "Good luck." Melissa nodded and smiled also as she mounted her DragonSpeed 480 (the newest broom on the market). It was nearly identical to and made by the same company as the Firebolts. She kicked off and felt energy and adrenaline flow through her veins, felt the wind whip through her loosened hair, heard the gasps of the small, but gathering crowd beneath her as she executed several flips and turns to shake off her anxiety.
"Damn, can she fly!" Melissa heard someone exclaim (Seamus, she thought) from below, making her smile with pride and satisfaction.
She leveled herself off and faced Oliver, who tossed her the Quaffle, grinned, and called, "Good luck, Mel."
"Thanks, Ol," Melissa replied, grinning in response. Suddenly, she was off. She performed a complicated set of twists, turns, dives, and direction-changes before successfully distracting Oliver and scoring her a goal. The former captain handed her the Quaffle as Melissa passed by her. The next three shots proved to be successful also; she had thoroughly accomplished baffling Oliver. The fifth and final shot confirmed that Oliver was trying her very best to try and block Melissa's shot, but without achieving it.
The cheers and screams below were deafening as a flushed, grinning Melissa landed gracefully and dismounted. Harry looked thrilled and stunned all at the same time. It was a good thing Melissa was the last one trying out, because no one would have been able to get a word in edgewise. She sat down next to Hermione, Seamus, and Ron as the tryouts for Beaters and the Keeper continued. Finally, the tryouts finished and he noise died down and Oliver, who had been standing off to one side conversing with Harry, announced that they had made a decision.
"We're pleased to announce that our new Gryffindor team Chasers—" Harry started. Oliver cut him off at this point, a serious look on his face.
"We want you to know, that for those of you that don't get chosen, and for the three that do, it as nothing to do with the their connection on the team," he said quietly. "It just means these people was the best in the air and handling the broom. Sorry, Harry, go on."
"Thanks, Ol," Harry replied wryly. "Anyway," he continued with a pointed look at a slightly embarrassed Oliver, "our new Chasers are…Kara Simmons, Ron Weasley, and Melissa Potter!" Oliver held up his hand to halt the cheers as Harry continued the announcements. "Our new Beaters are…Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas!" Dean and Seamus high-fived each other; Seamus had tried out for all three of the open positions. "Our new Keeper is…Lavender Brown!" Everyone applauded those that had made the team. Oliver wouldn't let there be much celebration; he said that's what the common room is for. He handed the new team a copy of practices before ushering all the students back to the castle. Harry gave Melissa huge hug.
"Mum and Dad would be so proud if they were here, don't you think?" Harry asked, his arm draped around her shoulders.
"I wish they could be here," Melissa whispered, staring straight ahead. "I wish Liz and Jeff could be here, too," she added, tears welling up in her eyes. Harry turned his head and stared out into the distance before whipping it back around.
"Did you know Dad was on the Gryffindor Quidditch team?" he asked her. Melissa shook her head mutely. "Hm." Harry said no more. At this time, Ron and Hermione finally pushed their way through the crowd to reach their friends.
"Congratulations, both of you!" Hermione cried.
"Yeah, that's awesome," Ron echoed. "Mel, you have to show me some of those moves sometime."
"Sure!" Melissa replied enthusiastically as she received a hug from Ron. "And congratulations to you, too! We're both Chasers!" Ron grinned in response.
Harry had pulled Hermione aside and now was talking urgently to her. Finally, she nodded and both came back over to their friends.
"Mel, I've got something to show you," Harry said when they reached the castle.
"Come on, Ron, let's go play a game of chess," Hermione remarked casually, yet her voice hinted that this was meant to be family moment. Ron got the picture and headed towards Gryffindor tower with Hermione and everyone else.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Harry brought Melissa to the trophy room where the Quidditch awards were. In a corner, hanging on the wall, was the award for when James Potter was a Gryffindor Chaser. Melissa stood, rooted, to the spot where she was. After a moment, she walked to the trophy and lightly touched her father's name.
"Dad was a Chaser?" she whispered almost inaudibly.
"Mm-hm," Harry replied, crossing the room to stand next to his sister. "McGonagall said he was one of the best."
"He-he was?"
"Yup. Seems his talent is showing through in us both," Harry stated, giving Melissa a hug.
They stayed there for several more minutes, brother and sister standing side-by-side, before leaving to go to the party in Gryffindor Tower.
A/N: How'd you like it? Sorry it took so long. I had the WORST writer's block and on top of that, I went on vacation for three days to visit my mom's friend and her family in Washington, D.C. Then, we drove to Wrightsville Beach in North Carolina for two weeks, my family coming down after one week. So you can imagine how much I was distracted, what with pedicures, manicures, shopping, cute beach guys, the beach itself, the pool, tons of my friend's relatives, and other stuff. I did find time to write, although most of the time it was between 10:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. Oh, well! Lata!
Later that day, with Oliver supervising, the Gryffindors held tryouts for the Quidditch team. Before they started, though, there was a teeny issue to discuss...
"As everyone knows, Gryffindor no longer has a team captain since the new one last year, Angelina, left," the handsome nineteen-year-old pointed out. "McGonagall has chosen Harry as the new captain."
Harry looked completely taken aback.
"Huh?"
"Harry, are you ready to accept the immense responsibility?" Oliver asked, a teasing twinkle in his eyes..
"Wait...what?!" Harry burst out.
"McGonagall believes you should be the new captain," Oliver explained. "I think so, too. Do you want to be? Or should we have her pick someone else?"
"Yes! I mean, no! No, don't pick anyone else! No, no, no, no, no!" Harry exclaimed joyously.
"Well, then, everyone, meet Harry Potter, the Gryffindor Seeker and new team captain!" Oliver announced as if the people trying out hadn't been listening raptly. Suddenly, Harry disappeared under all the people hugging and congratulating him. After several minutes of mini celebration (the real thing would be going on later in the common room), Oliver clapped his hands for attention. "Okay. Harry, let's get these tryouts started!"
"I don't know what to do," a startled Harry told Oliver.
"Calm down, I'm just kidding," Oliver reassured. "You're gonna help me. Okay, everyone trying out for Chaser, go over here. Everyone trying out for Beater, go over here. Everyone trying out for Keeper, go over here." Everyone trying out nodded and headed off to the designated areas, and everyone that was just watching backed off to the side. "Good."
Oliver spoke to Harry for a few moments before jumping onto his broom and zooming up into the air.
"Great. Okay, we'll start off with Chaser tryouts how about...Seamus to start? Seamus?" Harry called. Seamus picked up his broom and trotted over to where Harry stood waiting with the Quaffle. "Okay, you get five tries to make a goal. Whoever makes the most goals is the new Chaser," the Seeker instructed, addressing the other four people trying out also.
Seamus climbed onto his broom with the Quaffle under his arm and a determined look on his face and kicked off hard, soaring into the sky. After a moment, the Irish boy flew in towards the middle hoop and threw the ball as hard as possible. Alicia dove and caught it easily. Backing up, Seamus tricked Alicia into thinking he was going to try and get through the left hoop when he turned sharply towards the right and managed to score. The next two times he missed and the fifth, he scored. Seamus then flew back down to land next to Dean.
"All right, good job, Seamus," Harry said as he decided who to call up next. "Colin Creevey, come on down!" Colin jumped up excitedly and tripped over his feet in his hurry to get to Harry. "Calm down, there. We have all afternoon," Harry warned him jokingly. Colin blushed a bright red from having made a fool of himself in front of everyone, especially his idol, as he jogged over to the captain. He mounted his broom and kicked off. When he landed five minutes later, he had only scored once. Harry looked incredibly skeptical as he made notes on his clipboard.
"O—kay. Um, how about Kara Simmons?" Harry asked, referring to the third year Gryffindor blonde. Kara stood up and brushed off her robes as she confidently walked over to the starting point. She set off and, with amazing grace, speed, and skill, easily made 4 out of the 5 shots. Harry looked at her approvingly.
"Excellent, Kara, very good," Harry applauded. Kara's friends hurried over to congratulate her before receiving a stern look from Harry. Apparently, he wanted the tryouts to be a success. Melissa had to hide a grin from her twin and noticed Ron and Hermione were trying to do the same thing.
"Ron, let's go! Your turn!" Harry called to his best friend. Ron swallowed nervously and walked to his friend. He pushed off and immediately shot a goal. In the next few minutes, he had the same score as Kara, four out of five. Harry congratulated Ron on a good job and consulted his clipboard for a moment before saying, "Mel, your turn!"
Melissa felt her heart quicken with nervousness as she stood up and walked over to Harry. Harry smiled at her and, barely moving his lips, said, "Good luck." Melissa nodded and smiled also as she mounted her DragonSpeed 480 (the newest broom on the market). It was nearly identical to and made by the same company as the Firebolts. She kicked off and felt energy and adrenaline flow through her veins, felt the wind whip through her loosened hair, heard the gasps of the small, but gathering crowd beneath her as she executed several flips and turns to shake off her anxiety.
"Damn, can she fly!" Melissa heard someone exclaim (Seamus, she thought) from below, making her smile with pride and satisfaction.
She leveled herself off and faced Oliver, who tossed her the Quaffle, grinned, and called, "Good luck, Mel."
"Thanks, Ol," Melissa replied, grinning in response. Suddenly, she was off. She performed a complicated set of twists, turns, dives, and direction-changes before successfully distracting Oliver and scoring her a goal. The former captain handed her the Quaffle as Melissa passed by her. The next three shots proved to be successful also; she had thoroughly accomplished baffling Oliver. The fifth and final shot confirmed that Oliver was trying her very best to try and block Melissa's shot, but without achieving it.
The cheers and screams below were deafening as a flushed, grinning Melissa landed gracefully and dismounted. Harry looked thrilled and stunned all at the same time. It was a good thing Melissa was the last one trying out, because no one would have been able to get a word in edgewise. She sat down next to Hermione, Seamus, and Ron as the tryouts for Beaters and the Keeper continued. Finally, the tryouts finished and he noise died down and Oliver, who had been standing off to one side conversing with Harry, announced that they had made a decision.
"We're pleased to announce that our new Gryffindor team Chasers—" Harry started. Oliver cut him off at this point, a serious look on his face.
"We want you to know, that for those of you that don't get chosen, and for the three that do, it as nothing to do with the their connection on the team," he said quietly. "It just means these people was the best in the air and handling the broom. Sorry, Harry, go on."
"Thanks, Ol," Harry replied wryly. "Anyway," he continued with a pointed look at a slightly embarrassed Oliver, "our new Chasers are…Kara Simmons, Ron Weasley, and Melissa Potter!" Oliver held up his hand to halt the cheers as Harry continued the announcements. "Our new Beaters are…Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas!" Dean and Seamus high-fived each other; Seamus had tried out for all three of the open positions. "Our new Keeper is…Lavender Brown!" Everyone applauded those that had made the team. Oliver wouldn't let there be much celebration; he said that's what the common room is for. He handed the new team a copy of practices before ushering all the students back to the castle. Harry gave Melissa huge hug.
"Mum and Dad would be so proud if they were here, don't you think?" Harry asked, his arm draped around her shoulders.
"I wish they could be here," Melissa whispered, staring straight ahead. "I wish Liz and Jeff could be here, too," she added, tears welling up in her eyes. Harry turned his head and stared out into the distance before whipping it back around.
"Did you know Dad was on the Gryffindor Quidditch team?" he asked her. Melissa shook her head mutely. "Hm." Harry said no more. At this time, Ron and Hermione finally pushed their way through the crowd to reach their friends.
"Congratulations, both of you!" Hermione cried.
"Yeah, that's awesome," Ron echoed. "Mel, you have to show me some of those moves sometime."
"Sure!" Melissa replied enthusiastically as she received a hug from Ron. "And congratulations to you, too! We're both Chasers!" Ron grinned in response.
Harry had pulled Hermione aside and now was talking urgently to her. Finally, she nodded and both came back over to their friends.
"Mel, I've got something to show you," Harry said when they reached the castle.
"Come on, Ron, let's go play a game of chess," Hermione remarked casually, yet her voice hinted that this was meant to be family moment. Ron got the picture and headed towards Gryffindor tower with Hermione and everyone else.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Harry brought Melissa to the trophy room where the Quidditch awards were. In a corner, hanging on the wall, was the award for when James Potter was a Gryffindor Chaser. Melissa stood, rooted, to the spot where she was. After a moment, she walked to the trophy and lightly touched her father's name.
"Dad was a Chaser?" she whispered almost inaudibly.
"Mm-hm," Harry replied, crossing the room to stand next to his sister. "McGonagall said he was one of the best."
"He-he was?"
"Yup. Seems his talent is showing through in us both," Harry stated, giving Melissa a hug.
They stayed there for several more minutes, brother and sister standing side-by-side, before leaving to go to the party in Gryffindor Tower.
A/N: How'd you like it? Sorry it took so long. I had the WORST writer's block and on top of that, I went on vacation for three days to visit my mom's friend and her family in Washington, D.C. Then, we drove to Wrightsville Beach in North Carolina for two weeks, my family coming down after one week. So you can imagine how much I was distracted, what with pedicures, manicures, shopping, cute beach guys, the beach itself, the pool, tons of my friend's relatives, and other stuff. I did find time to write, although most of the time it was between 10:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. Oh, well! Lata!
