Disclaimer: I still don't own Harry Potter, still wish I did.

Author's Note: Hope you liked that last one, although I would've liked to gotten more reviews over it, but that's okay. I'll give you this chapter to redeem yourselves. Special thanks to Ying-Yang-sama who pointed out my critical errors from last chapter. The one with the "Daily Prophet" was half way acceptable seeing as it was eventually posted in that newspaper towards the end of the book, but the Leaky Cauldron! I should be taken out and shot. Anyways, here's the chapter.

Chapter 7: Quidditch Tryouts

Quidditch came, but first, Harry had a rather interesting day. He could tell it was going to de good when a second year Gryffindor successfully knocked out a third year Slytherin during his class with a stunning spell, and he was even awarded 50 points for performing an exploding spell that Flitwick hadn't meant anyone to be able to do for two weeks. Hermione wasn't talking to him at lunch over it, but that was okay because people kept asking him about dueling slots. "You'll find out on Tuesday!" he kept on having to repeat.

By the time Harry got to Transfiguration, he was almost drowning in happiness. This was mostly due to fact that he had just spent the last two hours with Cho during his break.

Ron was frustrated because he couldn't turn his cloak into a tablecloth. It kept on staying a cloak, but getting lace on it. Hermione kept scolding him that he was only thinking of the pattern and not the material. Harry couldn't perform this task either, but he didn't seem to care, so Hermione left him alone.

As they were leaving the class, McGonagall called after them, "Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, will you come here for a moment?" Harry's smile became a look of worry. McGonagall noticed and chuckled, "Don't worry Harry, I want to speak with you about Quidditch. Now, what you know about this years team is that no one knows who the captain is, and that tryouts are today. Am I correct?"

"Yeah, I figured the captain would show him or herself at tryouts today," Harry responded.

"Well, the truth is that I haven't chosen a captain yet. Harry, I would naturally pick you, but I feel you're so weighted down this year. I think that your skills would be more needed at the House Dueling Competition and teaching, so, Mr. Weasley, I hope that you can lead us to another Quidditch Cup again this year." Ron's eyes got so big, you could have put a Quaffle in the socket. Also, his mouth wouldn't seem to close. "Shut your mouth boy, you are this years Quidditch Captain and you had better start acting like it. I still want you to heed Harry's advice though. Good luck to you both. Now run along to potions before your late. That's the one class I forbid you to get into trouble in.'

"I'll go to my teaching class first." Harry thought that that was a good plan, and McGonagall agreed. "See you in a couple hours, Ron."

"I'll see you in a few minutes."

"Right you are." They shared a laugh and then parted ways. Harry was surprised at how quickly time passed, and before he knew it, he was turning back the Time Turner. Everything was going in reverse around him as he walked towards his class, and when things stopped and returned to normal, he was walking just behind Ron. "Wait up!"

"I told you I'd see you in a few minutes! How'd class go?"

"Great. Congratulations on Quidditch Captain."

"Yeah, I know! I'm going to send mum an owl straight after lessons. Do you think I could borrow Hedwig? I think this is a good enough occasion."

"Yeah, sure. But let's get to the dungeons." All Ron could talk about was what he was going to do with the team this year. He had just gotten through asking Harry for help with the 'Allucionas' spell for tryouts when Snape yelled at them and took away 15 points.

That night, Harry and Ron ate quickly and didn't hardly talk, (which astounded Hermione that Ron could stay quiet that long.) Tryouts were looming after dinner, and since their two beaters from last year were dreadful, and all three of there Chasers graduated, Harry and Ron were all they had left, and they had to hold tryouts for the rest of the team members. They were in a hurry to get ready for the Annual rush of would-be Quidditch players, and so after they ate, they changed into their robes and jogged to the pitch.

Ron drug out the crate of balls while Harry started warming up. Ron soon joined him, and they were starting to get into the more difficult maneuvers when Harry noticed the large crowd of students looking up at them in awe. "I think it's time to land and get started Ron." The two teammates touched down, and Ron immediately took on the captains role, "Okay, I'm Ron Weasley, and I'll be your Quidditch Captain this year. We're going to start with a bludger dodging test that everyone has to pass to continue. You'll have to dodge for a solid minute without getting hit once. You have five minutes to warm up. Go!" Ron was pleased with himself as the some 50 students took off into the air. Harry called after them, "Go even beyond the pitch so everyone isn't clustered up."

"Thanks, Harry. I had forgot about that."

"It's fine. You handled yourself well, and starting with the bludger test is brilliant. That'll save us some time." Ron smiled at Harry's praise, and when five minutes were up, he blew his whistle which brought everyone back in. "Alright. Take a seat on the ground. Each of you will come one by one and dodge the bludgers. Harry will be beater for the first half while I judge your flying, and then we'll switch. Got it?" They all nodded. "Who wants to go first?" He said as he released the bludger. No one seemed to want to volunteer. A small boy stood up almost as in defiance, and walked forward, "I'll go first." Harry recognized him as Gaylon Malfoy, and he was impressed. "Good luck, Gaylon."

"Thanks, Mr. Potter." Harry cringed as he took off from the ground. He didn't like having the respect of a teacher when he wasn't teaching. He heard Ron's whistle blow to indicate the start of time. Harry took off towards the bludger that was flying around in the distance. Once he reached it, he flipped around it, spotted Gaylon, and hit it towards him. If he couldn't maneuver around it, it would hit him. Harry took off for the rebound, so he could hit it back at the small Gryffindor boy. Gaylon didn't even realize that Harry had reached the bludger, much less already batted it at him, and so he was caught off guard when he looked to the side and a bludger was flying squarely at his head. He rolled in the same direction that the bludger was moving in so he wouldn't be struck in the temple. Within seconds, Harry was on the bludger again. Man this kid id a good flier, was Gaylon's thought before it was interrupted by his dive to avoid a strike from the side. After a few more passes, a minute was up, and Gaylon hadn't been hit. He didn't even have another close call. Gaylon was received with a hero's welcome back on the ground, and other students now lined up to take their tests. The ones that were hit, were excused, and the ones that weren't, stuck around. After everybody had their turn, roughly half of the participants were eliminated.

Ron started back in on his talking, "Tomorrow, you will tryout for a position on the team. Tonight however, you will go through a training clinic. If you want to try out for Seeker, go with Harry, and if you want to tryout for Keeper, come with me. Beaters and Chasers, come back in an hour. If a few people who know lighting charms wouldn't mind lighting up the Quidditch pitch for us, we'd be grateful. Let's go!"

Harry noticed that very few kids came with Harry for the Seeker clinic as he bewitched the Snitch to only fly on one half of the pitch. "There's not that much to be taught. The main objective is to stay out of your teams way, while you look for any gleam of gold on the pitch. For the hour, we will go up in pairs and try to catch the Snitch before your opponent. Tomorrow, this will be done in tournament fashion, so that's how we will do it today." Harry flicked his wand, and a bracket appeared in mid-air. "Approach this bracket and state your name, and it will place you randomly at the bottom. The overall winner will challenge me, and we will repeat it tomorrow for the Seeker title. I'll shout advice tonight, but tomorrow, you're on your own. Let's get started."

The kids spoke their names to the bracket, and the tournament was underway. Harry shouted advice as he saw fit, but nobody was doing absolutely horrible. A fourth year named Alison Hutch won the tournament, and Harry told her to release the Snitch. Ten seconds later, the two Gryffindors shot off from the ground. There was no team to get in the way for tryouts, and so Harry did low circles around their half of the pitch. Alison took off like a bolt of lightning, and Harry quickly followed. He didn't see the Snitch ahead, so he fell back, assuming it was a feint. As soon as Harry fell back, though, Alison took a hard left and reached out her hand. Harry was astonished as she flew over to place the writhing Snitch in his hand. "That was excellent, Alison."

"Thanks, Harry."

"How'd you do it? Was it luck that the Snitch was there, or were you really tracking it?"

"When I spotted it, I took off at an angle, keeping you on the other side of me so you couldn't spot it. I kept one eye on it, and so when you fell back, I went for it."

"That was brilliant. I hope you don't do something like that tomorrow, for my sake."

"And I hope I do, for my sake." He smiled at her and then dismissed everyone before heading for the lockers. Ron dismissed shortly after and joined Harry. "hey, did that girl beat you?"

"Yeah, she sure did."

"I hope you don't get kicked off the team tomorrow."

"Hey, if she beats me, she deserves it."

"I suppose so, but it wouldn't feel right without you. Anyway, what do you want for the second clinic, Beaters, or Chasers?"

"Beaters."

"Okay then, I'll take the Chasers, and halfway through, your Beaters can try to take out my Chasers while we keep."

"Sounds good." The two friends walked out together to greet the Gryffindors that came back for their clinics, "Beaters with Harry; Chasers with me. Let's go!" A large group came with Harry this time, and it included Gaylon Malfoy. Harry had seen Ginny go over with Ron for the Chasing clinic. "Obviously, the objective of Beating is to injure, or disable opponents, and to protect your teammates. We'll start by everyone hovering in a big circle. Grab a bat and get in the air." Harry flew up and watched them and commented when necessary on their techniques and strengths.

Soon enough, the joint session had started, "We are going to split up into teams and play some matches. It will be exactly like Quidditch without Seekers. Harry and I will tend the rings." Ron went around and divided the kids into four groups. "Each team will play three matches of five minutes. We have 35 minutes left, so let's hurry!" Harry liked this. Gaylon and Ginny ended up on the same team, and Gaylon protected her a couple of times, giving Ginny the chance to score four goals in their first match. Harry was ecstatic at the raw, brimming talent that seemed to pour out of the Gryffindor trainees. He almost burst when a group of Slytherins came to poke fun at them, but couldn't find anything to make fun of. Instead, they resorted to making fun of Gaylon. Draco was among their midst. Gaylon smiled at Harry, then hit a bludger squarely at Draco's face. Draco barely dodged it, and when Gaylon went to retrieve the imbedded bludger, Draco went off on him. It looked like it might get physical, so Harry flew over to Gaylon's side. "I knew it. Potter just has to stick his filthy nose into everything."

"At least my very name isn't disgraced by the fact that my father is a Death Eater. At least my father died instead of being a coward and retreating to Voldemort's side. Bloody hell, Malfoy! My mother wouldn't even back down from Voldemort! Lily Potter was stronger than your so called father." Draco was dumbfounded as Harry and Gaylon started back to the pitch. Gaylon ventured a look back and gave a cry. Harry had his wand out in a second and heard Draco mutter some incantation that was incoherent from that distance. "Protego. Expellarmus!" Draco's wand went soaring almost as far as Draco. "Go fetch your wand Draco. You might need that later." Gaylon was beaming at him as they flew back to resume the matches.

After the matches were over, Ron told everyone to be back at ten in the morning for their tryouts and to get plenty of rest. Harry's four poster bed never felt so good as when he crawled into it that night. He was just so immensely happy at the happenings of his first week. Just so happy. So… Harry was running around after a lawn gnome at the Burrow, trying to catch it for a reason unbeknownst to him. As he ran, several of his friends started running beside him. Neville, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and Gaylon were all running beside him, looking worried. He barely thought about why they seemed so distraught when he noticed he wasn't at the Burrow anymore. He was running down the Entrance Hall, towards the Great Hall. Out of one room, several death eaters came forth. Harry thought he counted five. He heard Ron's voice, "We got this cow fodder. You need to go on. Don't let us down!" Somehow, Harry knew what Ron was saying was right, and he charged on into the Great Hall to be met by a tall figure with red slits for eyes.

"HARRY!" Ron's face materialized out of his dream. "We've got to get to breakfast so we can start tryouts, man. Let's go!" Apparently, Harry's dream hadn't entered enough of a fitful state to worry Ron, but it nagged at the back of Harry's mind and made him feel a little uneasy as he dressed.

They ate a quick breakfast, and soon the uneasiness of his dream was replaced by the uneasiness of the possibility of him losing the Seeker spot on Gryffindor's Quidditch team. The duo got to the locker room and started to prepare. Ron had the crate of balls out, and Harry was getting changed for the tryouts. "What do you want to do first?" Ron inquired.

"Seeker."

"Want to get it out of the way, huh. I can see why," Ron chuckled.

"I don't want to try and make decisions with that looming over my head, that's all."

"No, I understand." They walked out to greet the already growing number of students on the pitch. "Let's do our warm-ups. Come on." The two Gryffindor fliers took to the skies, but it became apparent that they would need to land soon. When Ron was satisfied with the number of people there, he began, "The first position we will try out for is Seeker. As we want to see how you would do under normal game environments, Harry has found a little spell that will make you see people in the stands, yelling and screaming. Everyone will be required to tryout under the effects of this spell, so if the hopeful Seekers would come forward, we will cast the 'Allucionas' spell on you. As for the people trying out for the other three positions, stay and watch as the Seekers will be doing the same for you today."

The Seeker tournament was underway, and Alison Hutch was in the first pair. She won easily. In fact, she won all her matches easily, right up to her last one, which was with Harry. "Are you ready, Alison?"

"Are you?"

"You can bet your life on it."

"Likewise."

"Good luck then." Ron's whistle blew, and the two Seekers shot off the ground. Harry's Firebolt let him rise faster than Alison, and he lost her in a couple of seconds. Harry wanted to end this quickly; he didn't want to risk losing something he loved so much. He looked down on Alison to see how she was doing. She seemed to have the same idea Harry did as she was hastily looking and dodging around for the Snitch. Harry noticed that Alison was wearing robes that had a picture of a moving Snitch on them. He was quite surprised however, when the picture moved down her robes and slightly to the left. That's the real Snitch! It's flying along behind Alison! Who says that these things don't have a sense of humor. It's almost like the thing is mocking her!

Harry flew towards the would be Gryffindor Seeker at a reasonable speed for a Firebolt as to not alert the girl. He glided down in front of her and looked back. Alison realized that Harry was looking beyond her, though, and not at her, and so she whirled around, spotting the Snitch. She grabbed at it and would've had it in that moment that Harry's heart sunk, but the Snitch darted away. Harry and Alison both shot after it like stunners. They were neck and neck with Harry on Alison's right side. The Snitch dodged left in Alison's favor. She had the upper hand now, and she intended to use the head start to win, but Harry had other things in mind. He rolled over her, preventing her from pursuing the fleeting gold object, and made a grab for it, feeling the ball enclosed within his hand. Harry lost his balance however, and had to release the Snitch in order to grab his broom in time. Alison tried to make use of this blunder. Harry turned sharp, batting the Snitch with his broom handle, and shot off in the direction he had hit it, catching it quickly. He was still Gryffindor's Seeker. I am still Gryffindor's Seeker!

"Nice match, Alison."

"I suppose."

"There's always next year, and, hey, if worst comes to worst, I'll be gone in two years." She gave him a smile, "Yeah, I suppose I'd be alright to be your successor." They shared a laugh while they flew back to the awaiting crowd. "That was bloody brilliant, Harry! That knocking it with your broom handle! Great tactics!"

"Thanks. Let's do Keeper next, Ron. It'll do you good to get that over with as well, I imagine."

"Your right there."

"I didn't realize how unnerving that 'Allucionas' spell can be!"

"And imagine, if you will, you put me through that torture for a month!"

"Hey, that month is about to save your skin!"

"Let's hope."

"It will, but we need to get started," Harry turned to the awaiting students. "Okay, all the Keepers will be tried out next. I will judge, and since Ron is our reigning Keeper and King, he gets to chose what position he'll try out in. What'll it be, Ron?"

"Last"

"Okay then, you will be judged on speed, agility, and of course, how many balls you prevent from scoring. Ginny Weasley, you threw well yesterday, you will throw. Keepers, come and get the 'Allucionas' spell cast on you, and we'll be on our way." One by one the students took their turn at the rings. They were all horrible save one, but Ron would beat him easily. No wonder Ron wasn't nervous. He saw them play yesterday!

"How'd I do?" Ron asked promptly upon his arrival on the ground. "You're still on the team, but nothing will be announced officially until this afternoon."

"Right. Chasers?"

"Sounds good.."

"Alright, I need all the Chasers to come forward. You will be given five passes at the rings. You will be judged on speed, maneuverability, and how many goals are scored. I will keep, and Harry will judge. Let's go!" Ron flew to the rings while Harry cast the 'Allucionas' spell on the first person, Jake Evans. He didn't do too bad. His speed and agility were amazing, and he made four of five goals as Ron was going a tad easy for tryout purposes. "Larry Shipman." "Whitney Cates." "Ginny Weasley." Harry looked down at her, "You ready, Ginny?"

"I hope. Ron is a good keeper, but I've played with him quite a bit at home, and he seems to be going easy today."

"Well. good luck. Allucionas people!" Ginny started looking around as Harry handed her the Quaffle. She performed perfectly, making all five goals. "Good show, Ginny." Harry whispered to her as she passed back by him. With that, Chaser tryouts were over, and Ron looked at the three top names on the list. "Okay, just Beaters left then. Beaters," he called out to the group of students, "your tryout is to hit one of three Chasers. Remember that you can only hit the Chaser that possesses the Quaffle. You have five minutes to hit the correct Chaser. You will be judged on speed, strength, and accuracy. Let's begin." Gaylon Malfoy popped off the ground like popcorn to volunteer to go first. Two spells were cast this time. One to make him see people, and one to make him see the three Chasers. "Good luck, Gaylon."

"Thank you, Mr. Potter." I'm going to have to speak with that boy if he makes this team. The bludger was released and Gaylon rocketed towards it when the whistle sounded. He reached it quickly and smashed the beater stick hard in his efforts. The bludger struck a Chaser, and the imaginary flyer went down, a red ball rolling out of his hands when he hit. "Bloody hell! That was fast!

"On hit, just one hit!" Harry and Ron were ecstatic. "Well done, Gaylon, well done indeed." Harry greeted him as the first year was met with zealous applause.

"The other Beaters lined up and took their tests. "Summer Lee." "Ryan Head." And with, "George Linthall, the tryouts were finally over. Ron announced the new team, "Thank you all for coming out, and I'd give a speech right now, but I'm just as tired as you, so Harry and I will stay on the team this year. Our new Chasers are, Whitney Cates, Jake Evans, and Ginny Weasley. Our Beaters are Ryan Head, and Gaylon Malfoy. Looks like a first year has made it. You'll need to get a different broom than the lousy school ones. I'd like to see my team here now before dinner, but everyone else is dismissed." The newly formed team remained while the disappointed Gryffindors left.

Ryan Head was a burly seventh year, and looked abnormally large next to first year Gaylon. Whitney Cates was a dainty fourth year, but despite her fragile and gorgeous appearance, she was tough as nails. Jake Evans was a third year klutz who could barely walk on level ground, but he was as graceful as a thestral when in the air. Ginny was Ginny, and that pretty much explains her. Harry decided after this quick look through, that they had a decent team this year.

"Our first match is in four weeks against Hufflepuff. With so many new members, we need to practice often. I booked the pitch all day tomorrow, and so we will practice all day tomorrow. Get some dinner and some rest, because you'll need it for tomorrow. See you all then."

Harry walked back to the castle with Gaylon as Ron had to stay back to lock up the locker room. "How are you liking it?"

"It feels really good, Mr. Potter."

"Gaylon, you're the first, first year player since me, and I was the first in a century. So please refer to me as Harry, unless we're in the classroom. We're special, you and I. There are not many of us. Enjoy it, and don't call me Mr. Potter."

Dracosgurl4evaneva: Thanks for the high praise. I truly appreciate it. If mine is one of the best though, you need to read the HP fic by The Shadows. Find it in my C2.

Ying-Yang-sama: you didn't offend me at all. It's reviews like that that will keep me from making to many more mistakes. Thank you so much, and keep reading.

That's all the reviews for chapter 6, TWO! Please, people, more reviews!