Chapter dedicated to GoldenGirl2, my 1700th reviewer!!
In Every Darkness
Chapter Forty Five: Quidditch Trials
17.9.1996
"A few oddballs and unexpecteds here," Harry muttered to his friends, who nodded in agreement, all of them looking more than a little surprised by the turnout.
There was Colin and Dennis Creevy – Harry wasn't sure if they were here to try out for the team or to take pictures of Harry. There was also Neville, who was more than a little surprising.
There was a girl that he did not know by name, but she was a forth year this year, Harry knew her to be incredibly shy and timid. There were a few third years, and two second years, all of whom he didn't know very well at all.
Harry felt somewhat nervous – what was he going to do with all of these people? He was a little nervous, but then, he had taught DA, hadn't he? He could handle this.
He stood straight and lifted his voice to carry over to the group of people. "Good afternoon, all of you!" he decided to start with a greeting.
There were called greetings in response. "Um, we need to replace the three chasers, and two beaters. If people trying out for either of those positions could come over here?"
He waited as the group divided itself, roughly two thirds coming over to Harry and his two companions. "Ron, you test out the new Chasers, and get Ginny to help," Harry muttered to his friend, who nodded. "I'll go and see what the others are going to do – we need a full team of reserves as well."
"Remember, I'm being a chaser when I'm not a seeker," Ginny told him. "I'll help Ron with these guys for the minute. Give me a yell if you need help with the rest."
"I will," Harry promised, beckoning the other students over to him as Ron and Ginny organised the beaters and chasers.
There were another five people clustered around Harry now. "Ok, what do you want to try out for?" he asked them. "One at a time," he added quickly, "you first," he pointed at one.
"I want to try out for Keeper," the boy said.
"Keeper," agreed the next one.
"Seeker," said the third.
"Any position, I can play all of them," said the forth.
"Beater or seeker," finished the fifth.
"Those of you who want to try out for seeker, come over here please. I'm going to have to ask the rest of you to wait for a little while, until we have a chaser," Harry said.
The two remaining people just nodded and went to sit down for a while.
"Ok, I'm not going to let the snitch out – it's too dark, and I wouldn't want to lose it. I'm going to do what the captain did for me when I joined the team back in my first year," he told them.
"But I thought that first years couldn't play Quidditch?" one said.
"They made an exception for me," Harry replied. "Any of the older students would be able to tell you why and how, I'd rather concentrate on Quidditch now."
"So what are we gonna do?" a girl asked, her voice somewhat no-nonsense. She was the one that said she could play any position.
"I'm going to throw golf balls at you," Harry replied. "or rather, around the pitch – you guys have to catch them."
"Sounds cool," the girl said with a shrug. "Let's get started!"
"Since you're so eager, why don't you be first, I'll throw golf balls at you for a while, then you can throw at one of the others in the group, and I'll do the same, until we're all throwing golf balls everywhere and absolute mayhem erupts."
"I like the sound of that!" someone – a boy – agreed, and the rest pretty much fell into place after that.
Two hours later the group of Gryffindors headed up towards the castle. They had found two new chasers and two reserves, as well as two beaters and one reserve, and Harry had found two good seekers, in case he and Ginny both were unable to play.
The girl who could play any position had been quite right in saying that she could. She was an all-round replacement, and there were two new keeper replacements also.
Harry was happy – now they just had to train. He wanted to beat the Slytherins so badly that the other team wouldn't know what happened. This was mainly because Malfoy was the captain for this match.
"Come on Harry, let's get back, so Hermione can't yell at us for now doing homework," Ron advised. The new team and the reserves laughed at that.
"I'm glad you find it amusing," Harry muttered under his breath, and he and Ron hurried off, leaving the team to wander their way back to the Gryffindor tower slowly.
"Well, that was a good nights work," Ron remarked, smiling slightly. "Now we have a full team, and almost a full set of reserves."
"A very good nights work," Harry agreed, a smile playing at lips. "Now the training can start."
"Why don't I like the sound of that," Ron quipped, but he laughed as he spoke.
"Because I'll work you to the bone," Harry replied, eyes sparkling.
"Then I can get you back when it's my turn to be captain," Ron reminded him.
Harry laughed. "So you can," he agreed. "Come on, race you back to the Common Room," he added, and the pair of them took off.
Outside the portrait of the fat lady, Hermione was waiting for them, an amused but disapproving look on her face. "Isn't sixteen a little too old for doing things like that?" she demanded tartly.
"Of course not!" a voice from behind them called.
"Never to old to have fun," added a second.
"Fred and George?" Hermione demanded, as Harry and Ron wheeled around.
Sure enough, it was the Weasley twins, large as life and grinning mischievously, still dressed in the nasty looking dragon hide suits. They were standing in a small passageway that led off the main corridor towards the Gryffindor common room.
Harry hadn't seen them there, but then, he'd been concentrating on racing Ron. At the same time, he knew that he should have realised they were there … what if they'd been Death Eaters? He and his friends would have been dead or imprisoned by now …
"We were trying out our invisible sweets," Fred said, and Harry's raging thoughts lagged suddenly. So they had been clocked by some sort of magic? That was ok then … No it wasn't! a Death Eater could do the same. He had to find some way of seeing them, even if they were supposed to be invisible.
"Well, they seemed to have worked," he told the twins, tone carefully neutral, hiding the fury and self hate that raged through his mind at not being able to do anything against Death Eaters who concealed themselves as the twins had just done.
"Yup," Fred nodded in cheery agreement. "We just went to tell Dumbledore about them … Well, we were supposed to be telling him about a meeting we had with some fiery friends, but yeah."
For a moment, Harry was confused, then he realised, they were talking about the Order of the Phoenix, and had been conveying either some results from a former meeting, or the date of a new one. They were concealing their words so that if any Death Eater were listening, they wouldn't be suspicious … at least, not much.
George checked his watch. "Oh! We better go!" he said quickly. "We said we'd open the store again at eight, and it's nearly that now!"
"How's business going?" Harry asked, as they all headed into the Gryffindor common room so that the twins could use the fire to get back to the shop.
"Booming," Fred replied.
"We open late three nights a week now," George added. "We're making loads!"
"Toodles!" both cried together, disappearing through the fireplace suddenly.
"Those two," Hermione sighed softly, but her heart wasn't it, both boys could tell.
"I'm going to bed," Harry told his friends suddenly. He wanted to be alone for a while, chat with Grypis, maybe go to sleep and dream of Sirius.
"Your friends worry about you, you know," Grypis told him. "They do not let it show, but it clouds the air, and I can feel it. They have been worried the entire time I have known them, and you. I don't think they even know what they worry about."
"They shouldn't worry," Harry told the griffin. "I'm fine, I don't need them to worry over me."
"You need them more than you will ever know," Grypis responded, mind voice almost sharp. "You forget, I know you better than anyone else ever could, and I know them, as well. They need you and you need them, for what purpose I do not know, but without them you will die."
"I don't see how you could tell that," Harry replied, not wanting to think that he needed anyone. If he needed people, that need could used against him.
"You are just in a mood," Grypis told him. "When you come out of it, you will realise that I am right."
"What do you mean, I'm in a mood?" Harry demanded.
"Not knowing Fred and George Weasley were there has made you feel that you are a failure. It shouldn't – you cannot be expected to know everything, you are only young."
"You are young too, and you seem to know everything," Harry pointed out.
"I am a griffin, you are human, there is a distinct difference between the young of our two people."
"Did you know they were there?" Harry asked, not wanting to draw his griffin friend into an argument like this one.
"Of course. No spell exists that can blind a griffin. But I knew them to be friends, so I didn't think to warn you. Had I know you would react as you did, I would have," the griffin replied.
"I wish I could see with a griffins eyes," Harry thought to the creature that the closest thing he'd ever had to a brother, closer even than Ron.
"You could," Grypis told him, shocking the boy completely.
"How?" Harry's mind voice was almost feverish in his excitement.
"Easily. By wearing a griffins feathers, willingly given, near to your eyes. It will transfer some of a griffins powers to your eyes, enough to see through petty illusionment spells, at least."
"Wow," Harry muttered. "How should I put them there though? I'd look stupid, wearing feathers taped to my face."
"I'm not sure, I'll think about it though. There will be a way, I just have to find it," Grypis replied. "Sleep now, you are tired. Perhaps you and I will meet up with Sirius."
Harry smiled at the griffin. Hew knew that Grypis would help him in any way he could. "Until I find a way to fasten the feathers to your face so that you may see what others cannot, I will let you know if I see any concealment charms."
"Thanks," Harry told his friend, redressing for bed.
"Sirius?" Harry called softly, looking around himself and checking that his shield was tightly in place.
"Hey kid!" Sirius bounded over to Harry's side, appearing suddenly. "How's things?"
"Alright," Harry said, smiling slightly. No matter how many times he saw Sirius in his dreams, he was always delighted to see him again.
"Alright?" Sirius repeated. "Only alright?"
Harry sighed and sat down on a chair that appeared obligingly, and Sirius fell into a similar one across from him.
Harry told Sirius first about the Quidditch trials, which his godfather more than enjoyed hearing about, and then about the upcoming court case with "Aunt" Marge.
"That disgusting … person," Sirius sounded as if he'd been about to use a much stronger word than 'person' Harry was fairly sure he knew what that word would have been.
"I'm not sure what I should do in the case," Harry admitted. "Dumbledore told me some, but I don't really understand," he let his head drop his hands in weariness.
"Here's the best piece of advice I can give you, Harry: play the helpless, bewildered and upset child, and leave the rest to Dumbledore – he knows what he's doing, and whatever you do don't get angry."
"Why play helpless, or upset?" Harry asked curiously.
"Your guardians just died," Sirius pointed out. "You are supposed to love them … not that anyone could find them lovable. As for helpless, the judge and jury are only people, if you look like you're still in a bit of shock and you don't know what's going on, they are more likely to take your side."
"I get it," Harry said, smiling slightly. "Sounds like a good plan to me – I'll do that."
Sirius laughed. "Good man! Now, how about some Ancient Runes work? I'm really getting into this!"
Harry chuckled, then outright laughed. Somehow nothing seemed so bad when he was with Sirius.
The next morning Harry woke, feeling groggy, but happy. He petted Grypis's head gently, then a thought struck him – hard.
Today was the day the court case began.
***
Hehe, I think I'll leave it there!
Guess what! *excited* I flew today! *points to sky* right up there! In a glider! For free – my dads friend has one. I even got to steer for a while! Have you got any idea how FUN that is?! *wants to learn to fly gliders*.
Exactly fifty reviews for the last chapter! I've got 1718 now, so let's try and get to 1760 – it's only forty eight reviews away! REVIEW PLEASE!!
Thanks on the next chapter!
~WolfMoon~