Chapter 5

Practice commenced a few days later and could only be described as

"interesting." Colin sincerely doubted that the other people in the park had

ever seen such a bizarre mix of teenagers, balls, and bats in their lives. He

knew he hadn't. He could only hope they'd get used to it over time. After a few

hours, though, Colin was thoroughly frustrated. He swung desperately at the

soccer ball that Dennis had sent hurling at him and Agnes had easily dodged.

"Umpf!" He hit it and it flew away..one foot...two feet...three feet...it was

around the third foot that it began to lose velocity and height. By the forth,

it hit the ground, bounced a bit then lay defiantly still. "That's it! I give

up!" He threw the bat down in disgust and walked up to the soccer ball and

kicked it. "If only you could kick the bludger instead of hit it, you would be

in good shape," Agnes commented as the ball soared across the park and landed in

some bushes, narrowly missing some picnickers. "Like I'd want to. The bludgers

are made out of iron. I'd break my foot before I'd kick it anywhere."

Agnes looked surprised. "Iron? And these things fly?"

"Yeah, it's called magic, remember? They're bewitched to try to hit the

nearest player and the Beaters, theoretically Dennis and I, have to hit them as

far away from the our players as possible while aiming at the players on the

other team."

Dennis came over to where the other two were standing and tore off the

facemask he had insisted on wearing. "Well, that wasn't so bad. I mean, in

comparison to the bowling ball, this one actually went somewhere." They had,

despite Agnes' looks of misgiving, decided to start off with a ball that would

be most like a bludger and it never occurred to them how accustomed they had

been to magic until the moment they tried hitting the darn thing. The ball had

promptly fallen down onto the ground, or rather, where the ground would have

been had Dennis' foot not been there instead. It was then that Agnes brought up

the point that in the "real world, you can't hit bowling balls with cricket bats

and expect to get any sort of result." Dennis had stopped swearing about his

foot long enough to tell her off, saying that if she knew of anything better,

she could just go ahead and help them. She had promptly turned around and left

the park, returning just as Colin was congratulating Dennis for getting rid of

her once and for all. She was the one who brought the variety of balls that

impressed Colin and now the three of them stood there staring at their remaining

options, trying to decide which ball to try next.

"We could try the cricket ball, I mean, they are made for cricket bats

after all. Then maybe people would stop giving us such strange looks," Agnes

suggested hopefully.

"And here I'd thought you were immune to strange looks," Colin mocked

"Only when pursuing rightfully nerdy pursuits. That doesn't count cricket

bats and bowling balls," she answered stuffily. "That's dotty."

Dennis frowned and picked up a tennis ball. "This might work, though

somehow it strikes me as something better used to train a really bad seeker..."

His stomach rumbled loudly and he threw the ball in a bad. "Here, I've got a

better idea. Why don't we take a break and go grab some lunch? I'm starved."

"We could go to my house," Agnes suggested quickly, "It's not to far

away." Colin gave Dennis a look telling him to refuse along with him but Dennis

simply grinned maliciously. "Sounds great," he answered. "Then we can finally

see your house." Agnes looked pleased and Colin, disgruntled.

"Okay, here are the sandwiches and drinks," Agnes announced, setting down

a tray with a flourish. "So what do you think?"

"Very...interesting," Colin said, glancing around her room. "Who's the

bloke you've got plastered all over your walls?"

Agnes blushed a bit as she handed out food. "That's Legolas," she

explained, "of the Woodland realm. One of the members of the Fellowship of the Ring."

Colin stared at it, rather unimpressed. "What's wrong with his ears?"

"He's an elf!" She exclaimed distraught. "Don't tell me you've never heard

of elves."

"Of course we have," Dennis answered hotly, taking a bit of his sandwich.

"It's just that real elves aren't quite as...tall. Or well dressed."

"Or well groomed," Colin added. "What exactly does he do with all that

long, flowing hair, anyway?"

She glared at them both. "He's an expert archer, if you must know, and one

of the most valuable members of the Fellowship." Colin couldn't help but smile.

"So this is a...Fellowship of the Ring, as you called it?"

"Oh, come on, you have to have heard of the Lord of the Rings," Agnes said

desperately, sitting down on her bed. "Everyone's heard of the Lord of the

Rings."

Colin searched his head. "Um...is he a jeweler?" He answered finally.

"NO! Really! A jeweler! How could you not know any of this, I mean, even

if you are a real magician-"

"Wizard," Colin cut in, annoyed.

"Wizard, you should still have heard of Tolkien's masterpieces. I'd think

they'd be assigned reading or something."

"Oh, so they're books..." Dennis said, fishing a copy off of the bookshelf

near his seat on the floor. "Blast, did he write enough there?"

"Don't you guys spend any time in the real world at all? I mean, not even

knowing about Lord of the Rings!"

Colin was highly offended. "The wizarding world is just as real as your

world is, even if the only place you muggles have encountered it is in fantasy

novels."

"You know what I mean. I just doesn't seem real that someone could exist

in a place where' they'd never even heard of Lord of the Rings. I mean it's

everywhere!"

"Everywhere but Hogwarts," Dennis told her. Agnes frowned.

"Well, I guess I'll just have to change that then. Here," she fished out a

couple of books off of another shelf. "This is from my loaner set; I keep them

specifically to loan out to people. I expect you to read it and report back."

The two of them stared at her in disbelief. Finally, Dennis leafed through

the books doubtfully before responding. "Look, if I wanted to read a book that

had poetry, long descriptions and that sort of thing in it, I would do my

History of Magic homework."

Colin groaned as Agnes perked up. "History of Magic? That sounds

intriguing! What's it about?"

"Well, generally speaking, it's about history....of magic."

"In practical terms," Colin broke in, "it's the most boring class on

Hogwarts' green grounds, covers mostly Goblin rebellions and is taught by the

most dull dead person I've ever had the pleasure of meeting."

Agnes forgot all about history. "Dead? You mean, he's a ghost?"

"Yes, though I suppose he would probably be less interesting were he

alive..."

"That's amazing! Ghosts really do exist then? I've got to go to Hogwarts!"

Colin sighed. Nothing it seemed would make Agnes less keen on the

wizarding world.