~~Harry's POV~~~~
Harry thought about this assignment long after the teacher had left. It was very comfortable just sitting in the stands, alone with his thoughts, with nothing else that he had to be doing, free to make his own choice of activity. Finally, with a good idea of all of his teams already thought out, he returned his borrowed broom to the Gryffindor broom shed and went up to the common room to start work on writing it all down.
It was a very nice idea for an assignment, considering who'd set it, and Harry was sure that he was going to give Snape a few surprises, since he wasn't planning to stick to players already on the teams. One product of his 'thinking time' had been the realization that lots of players from all of the houses had been overlooked, either for their youth, lack of ambition or lack of connections. Blaise Zabini, for example, was a brilliant player - Harry had watched him train a couple of times - but he was a Slytherin from a very minor pureblood family and couldn't hope to compete with a boy like Draco Malfoy.
Now equipped with paper and quill, Harry started with the Gryffindor team, deciding to cover one team every day. This one was likely to be the easiest, since there were already a lot of good players on the team, and he knew all of the candidates very well.
Chaser - Katie Bell (Capt.)
Chaser - Ginny Weasley
Chaser - Euan Abercrombie
Beater - Dennis Creevey
Beater - Kirsten Newton
Keeper - Ronald Weasley
Seeker - Harry Potter
This was no time for false modesty, after all, and he was the best Seeker in the school without a doubt. Katie Bell, now a seventh year, had been playing since her second and was certain to be the next captain. Unfortunately, the other two members of the unbeatable Gryffindor trio of Chasers had left, but she was still going strong. Ginny Weasley was an excellent flyer; she'd played on the team before and knew what was needed. Euan Abercrombie was the one Harry wasn't sure about. He was very young, only in his second year, and small for his age. However, he was promising, being fast and accurate.
Dennis Creevey was someone that most people might not have thought of, since he was generally very hyperactive and tagged along after his older brother all the time. Colin was known to be completely inept on a broom, but Dennis was fast and had been playing baseball for years, so he was well able to whack a bludger hard enough. Kirsten Newton was a fourth year, a shy, quiet girl who Harry had caught watching them training with an envious look. The few times she'd been coaxed into the air by her less self- conscious friends, she'd amazed them all by having perfect accuracy with a bludger.
Ron, of course, was the Keeper, now that he'd finally stopped being so embarrassed playing in front of the audience, and Harry was sure that he'd do the team proud. It would be very interesting to know if the new players selected for the Gryffindor team matched his guesses.
It was strange, knowing that he was the only one in the Gryffindor tower. Ron and Hermione weren't going to come bursting in, Fred and George weren't plotting in the corner. . . (dunce, Harry thought to himself, they've left now anyway).
"Harry!" a boy called. Harry looked up, very startled, to see Mark climbing awkwardly in, brandishing a wand. "Diagon Alley's brilliant, isn't it? We went to the sweet shop, the joke shop, the Quidditch shop, the ice cream place and the wand shop!"
"Professor McGonagall took you to the joke shop?" Harry asked incredulously.
"Yeah, why shouldn't she?" Mark replied, completely oblivious to the teacher's reputation in school for being against such irresponsible things as jokes. "I didn't buy anything because she was there, but when we go again I'm going to. I mean, it wouldn't be any use if she knew what I had. Look, I've got a wand too. Eleven inches, willow with a unicorn core. It was the nineteenth wand I had to try - I counted. Shall we go and play Quidditch now? I can't wait! I didn't think it would be so cool until I saw the pictures in the shop, but it looks even better than football!"
Harry grinned, and packed away the potions essay he'd just got out. He led the boisterous Mark down to the Quidditch pitch and found him the best school broom available.
"We'll start by getting you flying, okay?" Harry began. "Once you're okay at that, I'll explain the rules and we can start playing, but that might take a while. Stand next to the broom, it's a good one, a Cleansweep 7, if that means anything to you, and say 'up'."
Mark looked at him doubtfully. Harry remembered that the kid was new to the wizarding world.
"I'll show you," he said, putting his Firebolt carefully on the ground and demonstrating exactly what he wanted. Mark nodded and tried himself. The broom shot into his hand.
Harry smiled encouragingly, delighted by this fast progress, and helped Mark to mount safely, showing him the proper grip to use. They practiced going up and landing a few ties, then flew a few low, very slow laps of the pitch, with Harry staying close to Mark with his wand out in case of any trouble.
When they came back to their starting point again, Mark was even more hyper than before, and Harry not much less so. He'd never tried coaching Quidditch before, and this was a definite success so far. But then, he had been taking DA for almost a year now, and that had to have helped.
"Well done Mark, that was great! You'll be on the Quidditch team of your house by the time you're in third year, I'm sure. We'd better stop now though, Dumbledore won't be happy if we're late for dinner tonight."
"Why, what will he do?"
"Extra lessons, probably. That's what he wanted to talk to me about earlier. Will your dad be there, or has he gone?"
"Professor Flitwick took him straight home. He said I'd be fine and that I'd have more fun here than back home trying to avoid Big D all summer."
"We'll work on it, kid, so you don't have to do that at Christmas. Dudley won't know what's hit him."
Harry looked down at Mark's beaming face and grinned himself. He'd always envied Ron his family, and now it seemed like he was finally getting a proper one of his own (the Dursleys didn't count, of course). If there had been one thing that he'd wished for every year when he'd been at the Dursleys, it was to find someone else he could live with - totally unrealistic, as he realized now, but when he turned seventeen, the spell would go anyway. Mark was turning out to feel like a younger brother already, even though they'd only just met. No other kid had ever aroused this much protectiveness in him before.
Harry thought about this assignment long after the teacher had left. It was very comfortable just sitting in the stands, alone with his thoughts, with nothing else that he had to be doing, free to make his own choice of activity. Finally, with a good idea of all of his teams already thought out, he returned his borrowed broom to the Gryffindor broom shed and went up to the common room to start work on writing it all down.
It was a very nice idea for an assignment, considering who'd set it, and Harry was sure that he was going to give Snape a few surprises, since he wasn't planning to stick to players already on the teams. One product of his 'thinking time' had been the realization that lots of players from all of the houses had been overlooked, either for their youth, lack of ambition or lack of connections. Blaise Zabini, for example, was a brilliant player - Harry had watched him train a couple of times - but he was a Slytherin from a very minor pureblood family and couldn't hope to compete with a boy like Draco Malfoy.
Now equipped with paper and quill, Harry started with the Gryffindor team, deciding to cover one team every day. This one was likely to be the easiest, since there were already a lot of good players on the team, and he knew all of the candidates very well.
Chaser - Katie Bell (Capt.)
Chaser - Ginny Weasley
Chaser - Euan Abercrombie
Beater - Dennis Creevey
Beater - Kirsten Newton
Keeper - Ronald Weasley
Seeker - Harry Potter
This was no time for false modesty, after all, and he was the best Seeker in the school without a doubt. Katie Bell, now a seventh year, had been playing since her second and was certain to be the next captain. Unfortunately, the other two members of the unbeatable Gryffindor trio of Chasers had left, but she was still going strong. Ginny Weasley was an excellent flyer; she'd played on the team before and knew what was needed. Euan Abercrombie was the one Harry wasn't sure about. He was very young, only in his second year, and small for his age. However, he was promising, being fast and accurate.
Dennis Creevey was someone that most people might not have thought of, since he was generally very hyperactive and tagged along after his older brother all the time. Colin was known to be completely inept on a broom, but Dennis was fast and had been playing baseball for years, so he was well able to whack a bludger hard enough. Kirsten Newton was a fourth year, a shy, quiet girl who Harry had caught watching them training with an envious look. The few times she'd been coaxed into the air by her less self- conscious friends, she'd amazed them all by having perfect accuracy with a bludger.
Ron, of course, was the Keeper, now that he'd finally stopped being so embarrassed playing in front of the audience, and Harry was sure that he'd do the team proud. It would be very interesting to know if the new players selected for the Gryffindor team matched his guesses.
It was strange, knowing that he was the only one in the Gryffindor tower. Ron and Hermione weren't going to come bursting in, Fred and George weren't plotting in the corner. . . (dunce, Harry thought to himself, they've left now anyway).
"Harry!" a boy called. Harry looked up, very startled, to see Mark climbing awkwardly in, brandishing a wand. "Diagon Alley's brilliant, isn't it? We went to the sweet shop, the joke shop, the Quidditch shop, the ice cream place and the wand shop!"
"Professor McGonagall took you to the joke shop?" Harry asked incredulously.
"Yeah, why shouldn't she?" Mark replied, completely oblivious to the teacher's reputation in school for being against such irresponsible things as jokes. "I didn't buy anything because she was there, but when we go again I'm going to. I mean, it wouldn't be any use if she knew what I had. Look, I've got a wand too. Eleven inches, willow with a unicorn core. It was the nineteenth wand I had to try - I counted. Shall we go and play Quidditch now? I can't wait! I didn't think it would be so cool until I saw the pictures in the shop, but it looks even better than football!"
Harry grinned, and packed away the potions essay he'd just got out. He led the boisterous Mark down to the Quidditch pitch and found him the best school broom available.
"We'll start by getting you flying, okay?" Harry began. "Once you're okay at that, I'll explain the rules and we can start playing, but that might take a while. Stand next to the broom, it's a good one, a Cleansweep 7, if that means anything to you, and say 'up'."
Mark looked at him doubtfully. Harry remembered that the kid was new to the wizarding world.
"I'll show you," he said, putting his Firebolt carefully on the ground and demonstrating exactly what he wanted. Mark nodded and tried himself. The broom shot into his hand.
Harry smiled encouragingly, delighted by this fast progress, and helped Mark to mount safely, showing him the proper grip to use. They practiced going up and landing a few ties, then flew a few low, very slow laps of the pitch, with Harry staying close to Mark with his wand out in case of any trouble.
When they came back to their starting point again, Mark was even more hyper than before, and Harry not much less so. He'd never tried coaching Quidditch before, and this was a definite success so far. But then, he had been taking DA for almost a year now, and that had to have helped.
"Well done Mark, that was great! You'll be on the Quidditch team of your house by the time you're in third year, I'm sure. We'd better stop now though, Dumbledore won't be happy if we're late for dinner tonight."
"Why, what will he do?"
"Extra lessons, probably. That's what he wanted to talk to me about earlier. Will your dad be there, or has he gone?"
"Professor Flitwick took him straight home. He said I'd be fine and that I'd have more fun here than back home trying to avoid Big D all summer."
"We'll work on it, kid, so you don't have to do that at Christmas. Dudley won't know what's hit him."
Harry looked down at Mark's beaming face and grinned himself. He'd always envied Ron his family, and now it seemed like he was finally getting a proper one of his own (the Dursleys didn't count, of course). If there had been one thing that he'd wished for every year when he'd been at the Dursleys, it was to find someone else he could live with - totally unrealistic, as he realized now, but when he turned seventeen, the spell would go anyway. Mark was turning out to feel like a younger brother already, even though they'd only just met. No other kid had ever aroused this much protectiveness in him before.