From the Daily Prophet of 30 July, 2000

Seeking a Seeker

Potter, Diop set to duel for place with Puddlemere

By Mike Thalia

PUDDLEMERE, England -- There are many issues lurking as the Puddlemere United Quidditch Club prepares to open training next week. Are the veteran Chasers too old to keep their starting positions? Can Keeper Oliver Wood match the brilliance he displayed last winter? Will any of the Beaters fare well enough to end the team's tradition of disgraceful defence? Is this finally the year the wait for a trophy ends?

But even the last question, which supporters of Britain's oldest club have been asking for more than two decades, has been relegated to secondary status this summer. All eyes are now on the Golden Snitch -- or at least the men trying to catch it.

With much-celebrated hero Harry Potter joining Samuel Diop on the roster, Puddle U. has the potential for a serious Seeker controversy. As the team gathers for the first time at Nimbus Arena on Tuesday, manager Glenn Watson faces the difficult task of choosing a starter in what might be the most anticipated training camp in the history of the Quidditch League of Great Britain and Ireland.

"It's exciting to be here now," Watson told a gathering of reporters in his office Saturday as maintenance wizards were busy casting Scouring Charms on the locker rooms across the corridor. "We have more talent on this team now than we have at any point in my four years here. That certainly includes Seekers. What manager wouldn't be delighted to have the world's most famous wizard and the league's finest player at the same position?"

The Puddlemere boss is certainly delighted, considering he's built a winner at United around superb Seeking.

"It takes a lot of goals to overcome those 150 points if you don't get the Snitch," Watson said. "The easiest way to win in this game is to have a good Seeker. Or two good Seekers," he added with a chuckle.

That Watson actually has two good Seekers is hardly a given. In spite of all the ballyhoo his arrival has caused, Potter has never kicked off from a professional pitch. Still, few in the Puddle U. camp doubt there will be a fierce struggle for the position throughout the coming month of training.

"The lad has proven he will not give up," United captain Siobhan Moran said, alluding to The Boy Who Lived's long battle against the Dark Side. "I think Samuel could be in for a most-spirited challenge."

Diop is the known factor in the Puddlemere Seeking corps and has had the better of many previous challenges. The tall and wiry Senegalese sensation is widely credited with having the quickest reflexes in the league. He also seems to have an almost superhuman sense for finding the Snitch -- to the tune of 36 captures in his two seasons at Nimbus Arena.

"I try to be fast," Diop said from his home outside Kaolack in his native country. "That is my only secret. If I get the Snitch quickly, my team wins the match."

It's a simple strategy, but it works. United has won 32 times in the last two winters and Diop caught the Snitch in every one of those games. He's been so successful opposing teams often change their tactics against Puddlemere.

"Everyone knows our strategy is to outscore teams," Montrose captain David Adams said. "We usually don't pay much attention to what the Seekers are doing. But if you let (Diop) go, the match could be over in minutes. We have our Beaters make sure he has to work for the Snitch against us."

"He's brilliant," Watson said of Diop, the man who has been his first-team choice 48 matches in a row. "His flying skills are exceptional and his instinct for finding the Snitch is even better. The other side almost always concentrates on stopping him and he still gets the capture."

The man seeking to capture Diop's job last put on Quidditch robes for Gryffindor House at Hogwarts more than two years ago. Potter signed with Chudley after leaving school but opted to spend the next 23 months hunting Dark wizards for the Ministry instead of on the pitch. Earlier this summer, successive twists saw the Boy Who Lived transferred to Puddle U. for 100,000 Galleons and forced from the Auror Division by Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge. He is entering his first professional training camp.

As a Gryffindor, Potter was noted for his daring and spectacular catches in a seven-year career. He missed the Snitch just once in 12 matches and was the hero in his House's Quidditch Cup victories in 1994 and 1998. However, he had a history of sitting out crucial games, including matches that decided the school title in 1992 and 1996.

Just one league Seeker has played against Potter and he was not impressed by the national hero's skills.

"Potter's nothing special," said Draco Malfoy, 20, who faced the Boy Who Lived six times as a member of the Slytherin team and spent last season with the Wimbourne reserves. "He nearly got himself killed making a couple of lucky captures in school and now everyone thinks he's going to be a star. Well, they're all in for a major disappointment, because that's the only thing Potter has the talent to give them."

But Wood has a much different opinion of his former Gryffindor team-mate.

"Harry's a natural," the United Keeper said enthusiastically. "I was there when he first started playing and I've never seen anyone pick up the game faster. By his second match he was a star. Give him a bit to adjust to professional matches and he's going to be one of the best here too."

Whether or not Potter gets an adjustment period will be just part of the decision Watson has to make in the weeks ahead. Saturday, the United boss reiterated the indecision he has been publicly expressing all summer about the team he will take into the season opener at Portree.

"I won't start making decisions about the squad until after the first few days of training camp," Watson said. "As far as I'm concerned, we have seven Seekers who could be on the pitch on the 2nd of September. Everyone is talking about Sam and Harry, but Gregg (Knapp) did well for our reserves last year, (Gwen) Ayres has a pretty good CV from Holyhead and our scouts who saw (Ekaterina) Petrova play in school last year had nothing but praise for her. I wouldn't be surprised if any of them made the squad."

But the record number of witches and wizards who have bought tickets to see Puddlemere in the upcoming season have done so to see Potter. That makes it is almost inconceivable he (or Diop, given his past success) will not be among the three Seekers on United's final 20-wizard roster.

Still, only one of them will start for the first team. It's a role both Potter and Diop hope to earn, and the two stars are excited for Tuesday's first opportunity to distinguish themselves.

Said Diop, "It is good to be starting again. I am ready. I want to do well and help my team win."

The Boy Who Lived expressed a similar sentiment in a press release issued Friday by his agents, Fred and George Weasley. "I feel honoured and privileged to be attending the Puddlemere United training camp. I look forward to meeting the rest of the team and the challenges Tuesday's first session is sure to present. … I hope I can make a respectable showing and compete for a place with the squad."

Thousands of Puddlemere supporters are expecting far more than respectable showings from both men as United begins its season.

"The pressure is on them," Watson said. "The fans are going to want them to produce. I think they will."

It wouldn't be a Seeker controversy if he didn't.

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Mike Thalia covers Puddlemere United for the Daily Prophet. Owl him at thedpreportingyahoo.com

A/N: First of all, thanks to everyone who has reviewed. The response to the last two chapters has been overwhelming and I am truly grateful. You guys are the best for not giving up on me!

Now, a lot of you have been asking about the romantic side of this fic, so I figured it's about time for me to respond. Very vaguely. Yes, as I've pointed out in my summary, our young hero's love life will be addressed. However, this is going to be a long fic (unless I change plans, at least 70 articles), so that side of things will come when it comes. This much I will say though: You'll learn as soon as the Daily Prophet does. ;)

Thanks also go to my ever-intrepid betas, Nancy, Lady Chi and Promethean Alchemist. They're the people working hard in the background while I (gladly) take all the credit.