Chapter Eleven
Better Brooms and Full Moons
The Understanding the Ways of Muggles classes would not begin until the end of their second week. Even though Goku had lived most of his life with Muggles, he still was in the class. And, much like their Defense Against The Dark Arts class, all fourth year students from all four houses had class together. A lot of students who had grown up in Muggle households were taking it anyway. Some of them figured it would be an easy way to earn points for their houses, but many others were simply curious. Professor Daikon was proving to be an unusual teacher for Defense Against The Dark Arts; many wanted to see how he would teach this.
However, before that class would begin, there were other events that were scheduled to happen before. A week before, Goku had his first flying lesson with a broomstick. Since all the first year Gryffindors and Slytherin's were having their first lesson together, Vegeta would be included as well. Ron and Harry got out of their last class before the lessons ended, so they went to the field to watch.
When they got there, Madam Hooch was still going over the finer points of how to handle a broom. Vegeta was not looking happy at being surrounded by the younger children, and being told how to hold a broom. In fact, Vegeta looked like he would rather not be learning this at all.
"How could anyone not want to learn to fly?" Ron asked, shaking his head. "I couldn't wait to learn."
"I don't get it either," Harry said. He remembered the first time he had ridden a broomstick. He had gone chasing after Draco Malfoy, who had taken Neville's Remembrall. (A small ball that appeared to be made of glass, which turned red if the person holding it had forgotten anything. Neville was notorious for forgetting things, which meant the ball was almost always red when he held it.) It was his first time flying, but it came as natural to him as, well, as breathing. Flying was about the only thing that Harry really felt he excelled at. He didn't know how he would have made it at Hogwarts without Quidditch, since he wasn't exactly an honor student in most of his classes.
In total contrast to Vegeta, Goku was bouncing on the soles of his feet, looking eager and excited. It was obvious that he was so excited that he was forgetting to listen, because Madam Hooch was constantly correcting him.
"Let's try it again," she said to him, the faint traces of irritation showing on her face. "Right hand out like such, and simply say, 'up'."
Goku put out his right hand. Obviously he had been having some trouble with this and figured that maybe shouting would help, because he drew in a deep breath and bellowed at the top of his lungs, "UP!" Several of the other students were so frightened, they dropped their brooms and Madam Hooch flinched. Goku's broom, however, seemed to like being screamed at, because it rose from the ground, into his hand. "Yay!"
"Finally, boy," Madam Hooch said. "But the next time, don't shout. It isn't deaf you know."
"I'm sorry!" Goku's voice was extremely cheerful and his tail wagged furiously behind him, belittling the apology.
Madam Hooch closed her eyes for a brief moment longer than a normal blink, but when she opened them, she looked the same as she always did, as she looked around at the other students.
"I feel sorry for them," Harry commented to Ron as he looked at the brooms. "Those brooms are pitiful."
"Yeah," Ron said, his lips twisting into a bitter grin. "They're almost as bad as mine."
Harry said nothing, because unfortunately, Ron was right. His ancient Shooting Star was impossibly slow. In its day, it had been no more than an average broom. Magic had improved so much; it didn't stand a chance next to brooms like Harry's Firebolt or the new Nimbus 2002. Even a Clean Sweep four would have been an improvement.
"If I don't make it on the Quidditch team, it'll be because my broom is garbage," Ron muttered.
Harry thought desperately. "Look, Ron, maybe you can use my broom for tryouts," he suggested.
Ron brightened for a moment, and then shook his head. "No good. It would work for tryouts, but not if I make the team, cause you'll need your broom."
"Well, you can use one of the school brooms. They aren't great, but they are better than yours."
Ron shrugged. "Yeah. Not much though. He sighed and sat down on the grass, ignoring the class they had come to watch for a moment. Harry sat beside him. "Sometimes…" Ron began, and then stopped.
"Sometimes what?" Harry prompted him.
"Sometimes it sucks being poor," Ron said in one rushing gulp. Ron was fiercely prideful, and Harry knew the admission had to rankle a little.
Harry nodded, feeling a lump in his throat. If Ron would accept it, he'd buy him a broom. What was the point of having all this money in his vault if he couldn't use it to make his friend's lives a little better? But he knew Ron wouldn't take it. It had taken a lot to convince him that he should accept the dress robe from him and Goku, and a broom, even a used one, was quite a bit more money. There has to be a way, he thought. Quidditch tryouts were next Wednesday. Maybe, if Ron really showed promise as a Chaser, the school would get a decent broom for him. After all, that's how Harry had gotten his first broom, the Nimbus two thousand.
If that didn't work, Harry thought there had to be another way to get Ron a good broom. His mind was so busy working out ideas, he stopped paying any attention to Goku's flying class until Ron jabbed him in the ribs.
"Trouble!"
Harry looked over. Vegeta was standing on the ground, holding his broom as though it were a piece of nasty trash he had just pulled out of the sewer. "You expect someone to fly with this?" he roared. "I have never seen such a piece of crap in my life and I refuse to ride it. I don't need it!" He tossed the broom off to the side and started to storm off.
"Get back here, boy!" Madam Hooch called. "Class isn't over, and all students need to learn to fly."
"Class is over for me," Vegeta snarled, still heading off. "I can fly just fine without a stupid broomstick."
"Twenty points from Slytherin!" Madam Hooch called after him.
"Make it twenty thousand, I don't care!" Vegeta snapped.
Several of the first year Slytherin's groaned at the taking of points, but no one dared to challenge Vegeta.
Madam Hooch watched him for a moment, as if debating if she should go after him and then shrugged and turned back to the class. "Okay, let's try this again… everyone, push off, gently, like this…"
Harry turned to Ron. "What happened? I wasn't paying attention."
Ron grinned. "Vegeta took off and his broom veered sharply to the right. He must have gotten a bad one, cause he seemed to be doing it correctly, the broom just had it's own ideas of how things should be done. He almost hit a tree." From the expression on his face, Harry figured Ron was rather disappointed the broom hadn't succeeded.
"What do you suppose he meant by fly without a broom?" Harry wondered.
Ron shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe his family had a flying carpet or something. Yes, they're illegal, but a lot of families still own them."
"Maybe," Harry agreed. But he had a feeling Vegeta would find a flying carpet about as ridiculous as a broom.
By the end of the lesson, Goku was beginning to get the basic idea, but admitted to both of them that it was a lot harder to fly a broom than it was to operate his "Flying Nimbus."
"You're just used to the cloud," Harry said, trying to make him feel better. "Give it some time, you'll get it."
Goku shrugged. "I suppose I will. Is it dinner time yet?"
Ron grinned. "Almost. Let me guess, you're starved!"
Goku nodded. "I sure am. C'mon, let's go! Maybe we'll be first in the line-up!" Before Harry and Ron could say anything else, Goku took off across the yard towards the Great Hall.
After dinner, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Goku went to the library to work on their homework. But Harry found he really couldn't concentrate. He was thinking about Ron's broom problem, and what he could do to resolve it. Sirius had bought him his Firebolt last year, and sent it to him anonymously. He wondered if he could do the same thing, order Ron a broom and have it sent to him. Would Ron accept it? Ron hadn't had a problem with Harry getting a broom anonymously, would he feel the same about one for him?
He accepted the owl from Sirius, Harry thought. Maybe I could write Sirius and ask him if he could get a broom for me, if I offer to pay- He shook his head, dismissing the thought quickly. Sirius was on the run and had risked quite a bit to send Harry his Firebolt, Harry wasn't going to have him risk himself any further to get Ron a broom. Someone else then, he thought. The problem was that Harry didn't know a lot of folks outside of Hogwarts in the magical community. Unlike Ron, who had his entire family, and their friends who were all wizards.
He's got two older brothers, you'd think one of them might be able to- he thought, and then stopped. He looked over at Ron, who was trying to "predict" what would be happening to him for the next few months, using the star charts from Professor Trelawney's class. "Ron?"
"Yeah?" Ron looked up and sighed. "This is stupid. If I'm reading it right, I'm going to have an easy time of things the next few months. Trelawney will never go for that."
"We'll make something up then," Harry said, grinning.
Hermione looked up from one of the huge volumes she'd borrowed and scowled. She did not approve of Harry and Ron "faking" their homework, but she said nothing. Goku was studying his Beginner Transmogrifications book, and absentmindedly twirling his wand in his fingers.
"What did you want?" Ron asked, remembering Harry had called to him.
"Nothing," Harry shrugged, trying to sound casual. "I was just wondering, did you tell your brothers you were trying out for the Quidditch team this year?"
Ron looked at him, his brows raised. "Well, seeing that Fred and George are on the team and trained me, I kind of gathered they figured it out."
"Not those brothers," Harry said. "Your older brothers, Charlie and Bill."
Ron snorted. "Until you came along, Charlie was the best Seeker Gryffindor had seen in a long time. Probably since your father. Bill was a Keeper and captain of the Quidditch team. I don't even know if I have a chance at making it, and I'm gonna write them and tell them I'm trying out? Why, so if I fail, they can all have a good laugh? I had to bribe Fred and George to keep their mouths shut until after tryouts and to keep them shut if I don't get on the team."
"Your folks know you're trying out, don't they?" Hermione asked.
"No, I didn't mention it to them either," Ron stated flatly.
Harry thought for a moment, and then realized Ron was right. All the time he'd spent with the Weasleys this summer, and they had never mentioned it to Ron's parents. Every time the subject has been brought up, Ron had found a way to quickly change it to something else. That was when Harry fully realized what this meant to Ron, and how terrible he would feel if he didn't make it. It made trying to get him a decent broom more difficult, but it also made him more determined than ever to do so. In the meantime though, he had to get Ron a decent broom to try out with. If he could get him through tryouts, Harry thought he might have a good chance of getting him a broom he would accept.
Each house was to have tryouts on a different day. Ravenclaw on Wednesday, Slytherin on Thursday, Gryffindor on Friday, and Hufflepuff on Saturday. Harry thought his best bet would be to see if he could borrow a broom from a player from another house for Ron. That way, no one from Gryffindor would have to give up his or her own broom. The problem was, deciding who he should ask. Some players were very protective of their brooms, and would not be too happy about lending them to someone else, someone they could very well end up playing against. Many others had various superstitions attached to their brooms, much like other sports players, even those in the Muggle world did.
He dismissed everyone in Slytherin without a second thought. Any member of Slytherin seeking a place on their house Quidditch team would be about as happy to lend Harry their broom as -- well, as happy as Harry would be to lend them his. That left Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, and he didn't really feel he had close enough friends in either of them to consider—
"Hi, Harry!"
He looked up towards the sound of the voice. He, Ron, Hermione, and Goku were headed to their next class. Harry had been so lost in his own thoughts, he had barely notice what he was doing until the voice interrupted him. When he saw who it was, he found his face turning red in spite of himself.
"Hi, Cho," he called out; praying silently that his voice didn't suddenly change and sound stupid. It seemed fairly normal to his ears, maybe a bit higher than normal. Cho Chang was the Seeker for Ravenclaw, and in Harry's opinion, the prettiest girl in the school.
She walked past him with her group of friends, obviously heading to another class. Cho seemed to always be surrounded by people, if Harry remembered correctly. He had a sudden urge to turn around and join her, but knew that being late for his next class would not be very smart.
"She's pretty," Goku commented, shortly after they passed. "And she knows your name. Is she your girlfriend?"
"No!" Harry said, a bit too quickly. Hermione looked at him with a quizzical expression, but said nothing. Ron snorted. "She's the Seeker for the Hufflepuff team," he added, hoping this would satisfy Goku.
Right after the words were out of his mouth, they repeated themselves in his head. Cho was a Quidditch player for another house. Therefore, Cho had a broom. Maybe he could ask her if Ron could borrow it? It would be a good solution, except Harry would have to come up with the nerve to talk to her about it.
"Does that mean she can't be your girlfriend?" Goku asked.
"No, it doesn't mean that at all," Ron said, his voice a little too pleasant. "It means that she isn't Harry's girlfriend, but he kind of wishes she were."
"Shut up," Harry suggested, feeling his face turn red. "We'd better hurry, don't want to be late for Daikon's class."
While Professor Daikon had totally recovered from Goku's attack, for his second lesson, he didn't seem too eager to see if any of the students could get the best of him. Instead, he started having them focus on finding their "inner energy" or what he called, their Ki. Apparently, your Ki was what made you able to manipulate magic. And even Muggles had Ki, everyone did, but what separated those who could do magic and those who couldn't was the power of their Ki.
"All of you have a Ki that's much more powerful than the average human walking around this mud ball," Professor Daikon explained.
Hermione's hand shot up in the air. Professor Daikon nodded towards her, which the class learned was his way of saying, "Go ahead and ask."
"So folks with a high Ki are magic users?" She asked, "I'm sorry, but I'm a bit confused. No books I've ever read on magic ever talk about this."
Professor Daikon gave her one of his totally sincere, but rare smiles. "I'm not surprised. A lot of what I'm teaching you are theories I've come up with myself, or with the help of my father and some others I've studied with. But to answer your questions, no. Some folks with a high Ki do other things. Some are expert fighters." He shot a look over to Goku who was bouncing in his seat happily, when the word "fighter" was said. "Yes, Goku, I know, you're an excellent fighter."
"Fighting is fun!" Goku blurted out. "My grandfather was a legendary martial arts expert and so is Master Roshi and both of them said I'd surpass them someday!"
"I'm sure you will," Daikon said. "But this isn't the time to discuss this. Stop bouncing." Goku frowned for a brief second and slumped in his seat. His tail however, kept wagging happily. "There are other things folks with a higher Ki do as well," Daikon continued, "but since this is a school for magic, and since all of you are being trained to use your Ki to manipulate the forces of magic, that's what this class will concentrate on."
He then started teaching the class how to relax, something that rather surprised many of them, because most of them felt they were experts at knowing how to relax. But not the way Professor Daikon wanted them to. He took them all to the room across the hall, which was as big as his classroom was, but instead of having tiers of tables, it was empty. The walls seemed to be made of brick, but painted a soft, off-white color. On the floor were what looked to Harry to be gymnasium mats, but a bright purple in color. The ceiling of the room had been enchanted just as the Great Hall was, and on this day, the room was filled with pale yellow sunshine.
Professor Daikon had them sit on the floor with their legs crossed and then had them close their eyes and try to think about nothing at all. Harry found this a lot harder than he thought he would. It seemed that if you tried to think of nothing, you started thinking of everything. It seemed that there were a lot of others in the class who were having the same trouble, because there was a lot of fidgeting being done. The only people who seemed to grasp the concept were Goku and Vegeta. Vegeta sat apart from everyone, legs crossed, eyes closed. While he looked relaxed, Harry still had the impression of a snake, just waiting to strike if anyone went to near him.
Goku was sitting remarkably still for Goku; even his tail was wrapped around his waist, not even flickering. He sat up straight, his palms pressed together in front of him, his eyes closed, his breathing gentle and even.
Harry and everyone else tried to keep their eyes closed, but failed. However, when class ended, Professor Daikon told them he was pleased with what they had done. He then gave five points to Slytherin and Gryffindor for how well Vegeta and Goku had done and dismissed the class, telling them they should practice relaxing whenever they got the chance.
"I believe he's trying to teach us how to meditate," Hermione remarked as they headed down the hall.
Goku looked at her with an expression of disbelief, as if she had suddenly transformed herself into a very young and not-so-bright child. "Well, yeah," he said, shaking his head. "Of course he is."
Harry and Ron looked at each other and tried not to laugh. Goku knowing more than Hermione did about something? "Have you done this before?" Harry asked, when he could keep a straight face.
Goku nodded. "Sure. You have to meditate and be able to center yourself if you want to be a good fighter. Everyone knows this. And I guess you should be able to do it if you want to be a good magic user too. I'm starved, I'm gonna get something to eat before my next class."
"Goku, dinner isn't for awhile," Hermione reminded him.
"So?" Goku shrugged. "I'll just go to the kitchen and get something. The house elves are always willing to give me something to eat. They like me."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione stared at each other. "You've been in the kitchens?"
Goku nodded. "A few times. I was real hungry one night and I woke up and started wandering around, looking for food. And I found the kitchen!"
"How?" Ron asked. "I mean, I know Fred and George know how to get there, but I thought the ways to the kitchen were almost impossible to find."
Harry thought about the marauder's map and remembered that the kitchens were well hidden. He knew he would only be able to find them with the help of the map and quite a bit of luck.
Goku shrugged. "When it comes to food, trust me, I can find it. Does anyone want to come with me?"
"No!" Hermione said, quickly. "Students aren't supposed to be in the kitchen, it's against the rules. "
"Tell the house elves that," Goku suggested. "They love it when I visit, and they always give me such great things to eat." He looked at Ron and Harry. "You guys wanna come?"
Harry and Ron both would have loved to come, but they had a class. "Aren't you supposed to have your make up classes?" Ron asked.
"Make up?" Goku scoffed. "Girls wear make up, not boys. Didn't you know that?"
"He means your catching up classes," Harry said.
"Oh!" Goku nodded. "Yeah, but I've got half an hour and this won't take long. And if I'm just a little late, it's okay. Professor Sprout won't mind. I've got herbology catch up today."
Harry was pretty sure Professor Sprout wouldmind, but he knew better than to argue with Goku. Hopefully, he wouldn't cost them too many points. "Well, Ron and I have to be in our next class now, so we'd better pass. Maybe another time?"
Goku nodded. "Sure, any time you want to go, just ask me. Those house elves like to feed people. They think I'm wonderful cause I eat so much. See you guys later!" He turned and ran off, like a blur, through the halls.
When dinner was finished, Harry went down to the Quidditch field alone to watch the Ravenclaw tryouts. Goku had detention with Professor Snapes for his disaster in his first potions class. Ron and Hermione were headed to the library. Harry was glad neither Ron nor Hermione had asked what he was doing, because he really didn't want Ron to go along with him.
When he got to the field, he saw only one other person from Gryffindor, Katie Bell, who was also one of the Chasers. She saw him and waved him over. "Come down to see the competition?" she teased.
Harry shrugged. "I was bored, so I figured I might as well," he lied. He was not going to tell her that he was hoping to talk to Cho afterwards and see if she would lend her broom to Ron. "Is that why you're here?"
Katie nodded, not even taking her eyes off the field, where the Ravenclaws were playing a mock game of Quidditch to test potential players. "I want to be team captain," she said.
"Really?" Harry asked. He supposed since Oliver had graduated, someone would have to want to be team captain.
Katie nodded again. "Professor McGonagall and Madam Hooch say that as long as everyone on the team votes me in, I'll get it too. Can I count on your support?" She still refused to take her eyes off the field.
Harry's eyes were not exactly on the field; they were more focused on Cho. She really knew how to handle a broom. "I-I can't see why not," he said. "Does anyone else want to be captain?"
"No," Katie said quietly. "Unless you do."
"No," Harry said. He loved being Seeker, he loved playing Quidditch, but he didn't really feel he had the drive necessary to be the team captain. Oliver Wood seemed to have focused his entire self on being team captain. He lived, slept, ate, and breathed Quidditch. There was a rumor going around that he was on his way to becoming a professional player.
Katie breathed a sigh of relief, but continued watching. "Alicia is going to try to become Keeper," she continued. "That leaves one spot open for another Chaser and Fred and George are saying Ron is going to try for it."
Harry nodded. "We've been practicing with him all summer. He's gotten really good, we think he has a really good chance."
"I hope so. With Alicia going to Keeper, we'll need another strong Chaser for the team." Her eyes narrowed as she watched a second year Ravenclaw student who was trying out for Chaser take a shot at the goal. The Keeper stopped the Quaffle easily and slammed it back. "A lot stronger that she is," Katie said, pointing to the student.
Harry looked over briefly and nodded, then went back to looking at Cho. They weren't using a real snitch for the mock game, but every once in awhile, Madam Hooch would toss out an ordinary golf ball. If Cho could catch the ball before it hit the ground that meant she caught the snitch. If the ball made it to the ground, it meant the snitch had escaped. Madam Hooch was timing when she threw the ball very carefully, to make sure the try-out players had a chance to see how distracting it could be to suddenly have a Seeker go zooming right by you.
It took less than an hour for Cho to swoop down and catch the golf ball in her hands. Harry wasn't sure if he could have done much better. As Madam Hooch gathered all the players around her to make announcements, Katie stood up. "I'm going to head back. You coming with me?"
"No," Harry shook his head, hoping his voice sounded casual. "I think I'll stay a moment. I wanted to ask Cho something."
"Suit yourself," Katie shrugged and left the field.
Harry waited until Madam Hooch announced that the team roster would be posted outside her office door in a week and dismissed the team. As the players started heading away, Harry knew this was his chance. Drawing in a deep breath he called out to her. "Cho!"
She stopped and turned around. When she saw it was he, she smiled and waited for him to catch up to her. "Hi, Harry."
"Uh, hi," Harry said. I will not turn red, I will not get tongue-tied, he ordered himself. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Sure." She turned to the rest of the members of her team and the ones trying out, who were waiting for her to join them. "I'll catch up with you in a minute." When they started walking away again, she turned back to Harry. "What do you want to talk about?"
Keep focused. "Uhm, you did a good job tonight. I'm impressed." Well, he thought. A little small talk wouldn't hurt.
"Thanks." Her smile deepened. "Coming from someone as good as you, I consider that a compliment."
Harry was suddenly glad it had gotten dark, cause he could feel the blush starting on his cheeks. Steady, she's just a girl. Sure, the prettiest girl in Hogwarts, but just a girl!
An awkward silence had fallen over them. They stood there for a moment, and then Cho finally cleared her throat. "So, uhm, is that all you wanted to say?"
"Uh, no," Harry said. "Uh, I wanted to ask you a favor."
"What?" She tipped her head to one side, looking at him, still smiling.
Harry took a deep breath. This was it. "Cho… I know it's a lot to ask, and you can say no, but is there any chance you'd lend Ron your broom for tryouts?" He gulped and added quickly, so there would be no mistake, "It would be just for tryouts and he'd give it right back when he was done."
"My broom?" Cho looked over at her broom, which she had been holding, then back to Harry. "Why would Ron want to borrow my broom? He should have his own, right?"
"Yeah," Harry said, trying to think as quickly as possible. He didn't think Ron would appreciate Harry telling Cho about his family's financial problems. "Uh, he's getting a real good one, but it's still on order." He crossed his fingers without even realizing he was doing it. It's not really a complete lie. He will be getting a good broom, if I have to buy it myself and charm him into accepting it. "And tryouts are this Friday, so he's sort of in a bind. He can't borrow his brothers' or mine, cause we'll need ours."
Cho nodded. "This is just for try-out's right?" she asked.
Harry nodded. "I promise. If his broom isn't in by the time Gryffindor has their first game, we'll think of something else, but we won't borrow yours."
She hesitated for a few seconds, which for some reason seemed like a few days to Harry. Then she finally nodded. "All right. Since it's just for tryouts. But he'll treat it carefully, won't he? I mean, I know it's just a Nimbus 2001, and not nearly as nice as your Firebolt, but I'm still very fond of it."
Harry nodded, feeling a sense of relief rushing through him. "He'll treat very carefully, Cho, I promise. In fact, if you'd feel better, I'll borrow your broom and lend him my Firebolt. My first broom was a Nimbus 2000."
Cho smiled deeply, and shook her head. "No, that's okay. If you say Ron can be trusted with my broom, I don't have a problem with that. Shall I give it to him Friday morning?"
Harry thought for a moment, and shook his head. "No, why don't you give it to me, Friday morning and I'll give it to him before Try outs." That'll give me time to get Ron used to the idea, he thought.
"Okay." They both nodded, which seemed to confirm the agreement. "I'll give it to you before Breakfast, meet me outside of the Great Hall early."
"Thanks," Harry said, that feeling of relief still rushing through him. "I really appreciate that. And if there is anything I can ever do for you, just ask."
It was Cho's turn to hesitate, and even though he could barely see it was so dark, Harry would have sworn her cheeks turned faintly pink. "Well, there is one thing…"
"Name it," Harry said. At that point, he probably would have agreed to kiss Snape; he was so happy and relieved.
"Uhm, I've never ridden a real, professional Quidditch broom before," Cho said. "Do-do you think I could try riding your Firebolt someday?"
"Sure!" Harry had let Fred, George, and Ron ride his broom countless times, he wouldn't mind letting Cho have a turn. "Some afternoon, when they're not using the field we can come down and I'll let you ride it."
"Thanks!" Cho looked positively delighted at the idea.
"Oh, no problem at all."
They stood there for a moment, neither of them knowing what to say. Finally, Harry realized someone had to end this, or they might get in trouble for being out so late. "Uhm, we should get back to the castle. It's almost time for bed."
"Of course!" Cho quickly agreed. "We don't want to get in trouble."
Harry woke up the Friday morning of the Gryffindor tryouts feeling vaguely guilty. He had yet to mention to Ron that he was borrowing Cho's broom for him to use. He sat up in bed, looking around. No one else was up yet. Ron was curled up, mumbling something. From the way his bedclothes were tousled, Harry had the feeling he hadn't slept very well. He was nervous about tryouts and as the day had drawn closer, had gone from being overly enthusiastic, to moody. He was sure that his old broom would cost him a chance on the team. Fred and George had gone through the school brooms and found the best one of the lot, but the best of that lot, everyone knew, was still a poor broom.
Harry rose from his bed and got dressed quickly. He wanted to get down and intercept Cho before Ron joined him. He was just leaving the room, when Goku sat up, rubbing his eyes. "Hi, Harry!" he called out. "You're up early!"
Harry turned around and put his finger to his lips. "Shh!" he whispered. "Ron was up late, I don't want to wake him!"
"Oh, I understand," Goku said, lowering his voice maybe a fraction of its normal tone, as he leaped out of bed. "You heading to breakfast? Wait up, I wanna go too!"
"Uhm, that's not a good idea," Harry said, looking over at Ron, hoping he didn't awaken. "I-I've got someone I have to meet with before breakfast."
"Who?" Ron said, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.
Oh, isn't this just great, Harry thought. "Just-Just someone," He said. "Look Goku, Ron's waking up, why don't you and him get ready? I'll meet you both in the Great Hall."
"Okay," Goku said, shrugging. "But who are you going to meet?"
"Just… someone," Harry said. Why couldn't he just get out of this mess? Just walk away.
Ron yawned lazily. "Probably wants to meet with Hermione to go over his homework," he said.
Harry seized the opportunity. "Ron's right, and I'd better hurry. I'll see you guys later!" He turned and hurried from the room and down the stairs.
As he was heading towards the Great Hall, Harry saw Filch coming from the Slytherin dorms, holding a bucket and looking upset. Mrs. Norris was walking alongside him. "These little brats can't learn for nothing. Getting sick in the common room, can't they find a bathroom for these problems?" he was muttering to the cat. "In all my years, I've never seen this happen. Almost every morning, I'm sent up to clean up vomit. Back in the old days that never would have happened-" His eyes narrowed as Harry tried to walk past him, casually. "Where you going?"
"To breakfast," Harry said. Without waiting for a response, he hurried along.
"Stay out of trouble!" Filch snapped.
Cho was waiting for him, outside the Great Hall, holding her broom. "Thanks," Harry said gratefully, as he took it. Now he just needed to sneak it back into his room without running into Ron or Goku and he'd be fine.
"I polished it last night and went over it carefully," Cho said. "It's in perfect working order."
"And it will be in the same condition when you get it back tonight, Cho, I promise."
Harry didn't stay to talk to her as long as he would have liked to. Instead, he hurried back to the Gryffindor dorm, to hide the broom in his room. When he saw Ron and Goku heading to the Great Hall, he ducked behind a suit of armor until they passed him. Let's just hope they haven't run into Hermione, he thought.
His luck was holding steady, because when he entered the common room, Hermione was just coming down from the girl's dorm. "Hi, Harry," she said, and then looked at what he was holding. "Nice broom."
"Thanks," Harry said. "It's Cho's. She's letting Ron borrow it for Tryouts tonight."
Hermione frowned. "Is that right?" she asked. "I mean, if he makes the team, he'll still need a decent broom and he can't go using Cho's all the time."
"It's okay," Harry said. "Somehow, we're going to get him a better broom. I just want to get him through the tryouts first. I'll worry about that later."
Hermione sighed. "Well, I suppose. Does Ron know?"
"No," Harry shook his head. "I'll tell him just before tryouts. He won't say no. This is a Nimbus 2001."
Hermione nodded, although Harry suspected she really didn't know much of a difference between brooms. "It looks like a good one."
"It's about the best you can get before the Firebolt," Harry said, then changed the subject. "Are you heading for breakfast?"
Hermione nodded.
"Can you let me put this in my room?" Harry asked. "I'll be right down and we can go together." Without waiting for a reply, he turned and ran up the stairs to his room and put Cho's broom in his trunk, with his Firebolt. When he came back down, Hermione was waiting for him. They went to breakfast together.
The day seemed to drag out, waiting for Quidditch try outs. The last class of the day was the Understanding The Ways of Muggles. This class was to take place in another classroom, not the same one where Defense Against The Dark Arts was taught, but off the same hallway.
"It must be the room across the hall, the one he took us to start teaching us to relax," Hermione commented as they headed to the class. "It's the only other room in the hallway."
"Unusual room to hold a class in," Ron commented. "No desks, I guess we'll all sit on the floors. Are Muggle schools like that?"
Harry and Hermione both shook their heads. "Muggle classrooms have desks," Hermione said.
"That's okay," Goku said, cheerfully. "I like sitting on the floor!"
As it turned out though, the classes were to be held in a completely different room, further down the hall, that none of them had noticed both times they had come for the Defense Against The Dark Arts class.
As they walked inside, Harry looked around and grinned. The room looked very much like a Muggle classroom, with what appeared to be cinderblock walls and very ordinary student desks. The ceiling even seemed to be an ordinary "drop ceiling" with long, fluorescent lights hanging from them. The lights were not on and the room was rather dark and cold appearing as they filed in.
Professor Daikon was sitting on the top of the teacher's desk, facing the classroom. "Take a seat," he said, as the students were filing in. "Class will begin when you're all sitting."
Everyone scrambled for seats. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Goku found a group of seats together and sat down. Harry looked around the room a bit more, as he settled in his seat. One wall of the classroom had shelf upon shelf of what were probably ordinary Muggle books. On the walls were posters from movies, music concerts, and plays. There was one bulletin board with advertisements for all sorts of products and services. They looked as if they had been cut out of magazines and tacked up on the wall. Several of the students were looking at the ads with puzzled expressions on their face. Goku was staring at an ad for a restaurant, which showed beautiful colored pictures of the many choices. His tail wagged furiously. Harry figured if he wasn't distracted soon, Goku was going to start drooling and complaining he was hungry.
When the last student had filed in and found a seat, Professor Daikon stood up and walked over to the wall. Everyone watched as he flicked an ordinary light switch. Instantly, the lights above them came flickering to life. Students like Harry barely registered this, but many were looking puzzled.
"Lesson one," Professor Daikon said. "That's how Muggles light up a room. No spells, no candles, although they do use candles, but that's more for mood or if the electricity goes out."
"Electricity?" someone asked.
Professor Daikon nodded. "There's no magic involved at all. And at some point, I'll be giving you all a brief explanation of how it all works, but many Muggles themselves don't even know how it works. They just know it does work, as long as you pay the electric bill or a storm doesn't come along and knock out the power."
He walked to the chalkboard, and wrote on the chalkboard, "Understanding the Ways of Muggles" Unlike in his Defense Against The Dark Arts class, the chalk worked like ordinary chalk did, scratching and squeaking on the board. A few of the students, including Vegeta and Goku flinched at the sound. When he was done, he shrugged and turned back to the class. "That's the name of the class, and that's basically what it's about."
He walked back to the desk and sat down on the top of it again. "Okay, a lot of you may be wondering why bother with this class, right?" He paused, looking around as several of the students nodded. "Well, there's something you have to understand, the Muggles outnumber wizarding folk by a significant margin. So, the chances are pretty good that most of you will have to interact with Muggles, in their world, and it's for the best that you're prepared for this. By the end of this class, all of you should be able to interact in the Muggle world, with enough ease and confidence that most folks will never suspect. That's a good thing, because the Ministry of Magic gets a little tired of having to spend their time getting perfectly innocent magic users out of the hands of Muggle hospitals for the mentally ill. Not to mention, having to perform countless memory charms on the psychiatrists who've examined these unfortunate wizards."
He went on to explain what he hoped to accomplish with these classes. Unlike his first Defense Against The Dark Arts classes, Harry found this one rather dull. He hoped it would get more interesting as it went along, or he might end up dropping it. He wasn't really obligated to take it. Some of the other students, the ones who had grown up in entirely magical households, like Ron, seemed a little more interested. Especially when Professor Daikon passed around several Game boys and let them all play Tetris for a bit.
Harry found his own thoughts wandering to the Quidditch field, where try outs would be taking place that night for Gryffindor. He was really hoping that Ron would get on the team. Not only for Ron, but for himself too. It would be nice to have that to share with Ron too, not to mention it might make Ron feel less overshadowed by Harry if he were on the team as well.
When class ended, it was time for dinner. Ron was almost beside himself with worry and excitement, despite assurances from Fred, George, and Harry himself that he would do just fine. He was so sure that the school broom would cost him his place on the team, that during breakfast, Harry finally gave up and confessed. "Ron, you aren't going to try out on the school broom," he blurted out.
Ron looked up from picking at his treacle pudding and shook his head. "Sure, Harry. We went over this before; I'm not going to let you lend me your broom. You need it."
"No, you're not going to use my broom either," Harry explained. "I-I borrowed someone else's broom. It's not a Firebolt, but it's a Nimbus 2001. A lot better than a school broom."
"Who did you borrow it from?" Ron asked, suspiciously.
"No one from Gryffindor, so they don't need it for tonight," Harry assured him.
Harry's assurance wasn't enough. "Whose broom is it? I know Malfoy didn't lend you his," Ron probed.
Harry tried not to get annoyed. What did it matter, as long as Ron had a broom for try outs? "If you must know, I'm borrowing it from Cho," he finally said, trying not to sound exasperated.
Ron grinned for a quick moment, then his expression changed to worried again. "No, that won't work. What about after tryouts? Cho can't lend me her broom all the time."
"Oh who cares?" Harry said, fighting the urge to yell. "The important thing is that you get on the team. We'll worry about the boom later. Even if you get stuck using the school broom, you'll still be on the team. We'll have lots of practice time after that to get you really used to the school broom. This is just for tryouts, Ron."
"That's not a bad idea at all," Fred said.
"Right," George nodded. "It's just to get you through tryouts. After that we'll work something out."
"Why does it always seem that I'm trouble?" Ron muttered.
"You aren't trouble except when you're being stubborn!" Harry said, knowing his voice was rising higher than it should. "Look, I got you a better broom for tryouts, just accept it and try out and get on the team. We need you. With Oliver gone, and Alicia taking his position, we need a good chaser. We need you. And I don't want to see something as stupid as a broom keep you from getting on the team!"
"Yeah, but this is different," Ron protested. "You never had to borrow-"
Before he could continue, Hermione spoke up, loudly. "Ron, Harry went to a lot of trouble to make this arrangement, and he did it because he's your friend. Can't you just accept that and be glad he did it?"
Ron quieted down and stared at her. She looked back at him steadily, and continued. "It's just a tool, Ron, nothing more. It would be the same if he found someone to lend you a better quill or parchment before a class test. It's still your skill that's going to win you the place on the team. Not the broom."
Ron started to open his mouth again, then looked around the table. Everyone but Goku (who was still eating, rather oblivious to what was going on) was looking at him expectantly. He bit his lower lip, his face flushing almost as red as his hair, then he sighed. "All right." He looked at Harry. "Thanks. I-I'll thank Cho later."
Harry breathed a sigh of relief and made a mental note to thank Hermione later, in private.
After dinner Harry joined his teammates and the other students from Gryffindor who wanted to try out for the one position open. There were about seven other students along with Ron, trying out.
Many fellow Gryffindor students who weren't trying out were there as well, to watch. Harry looked around and saw a few other students, mostly members of the other house Quidditch teams as well. Harry grinned, knowing they were here to check out the competition, much as Katie had done with the Ravenclaw team.
"Gather 'round!" Madam Hooch called. Professor McGonagall was there as well. "All present team members, gather 'round. Those trying out can stay over there for now."
The team members gathered around Madam Hooch and Professor McGonagall. "Katie Bell has expressed an interest in becoming team captain," Professor McGonagall explained. "Since Katie has shown herself to be an enthusiastic player and also shown me qualities of leadership before, I think she would make an excellent captain. So, I will ask you now if anyone has any objections, or is anyone hoping for the position themselves?"
Everyone shook their heads on both accounts. Harry had a feeling even if one of them might have been harboring a secret desire to be team captain; they decided it would be best to keep it a secret. It was quite clear that Professor McGonagall thought Katie was best for the job.
"Well, if there are no objections, let's bring it to a vote. All in favor of Katie Bell becoming the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team say aye."
Katie was not allowed a vote, but it didn't matter. Everyone said "Aye" rather quickly. Professor McGonagall beamed at them. "Very good. I think you made the best choice."
Madam Hooch looked pleased as well. She blew her whistle. "All students trying out please gather 'round!"
The other students came over. Madam Hooch explained that they were going to have a mock Quidditch game to test them. She organized them into two very strange teams. There was only to be one Seeker (Harry) in this mock game and only two beaters. She explained that they would not be using a real Snitch, but golf balls instead. Then she ordered everyone on his or her brooms to play.
For Harry, this mock game was almost boring. He didn't have to constantly look around to see where the Snitch might be; he only had to keep his eyes on Madam Hooch and wait for her to toss it in the air. She deliberately tossed it quite low at the beginning, so Harry wouldn't have the time to get it before it fell to the ground. Harry still tried though; knowing the point of it was to see how the students trying out would react to suddenly having the Seeker zooming by them at top speed.
Although he knew he should keep his eyes on Madam Hooch, Harry couldn't help but look around a bit. Ron was assigned to the team that had to get the Quaffle past Alicia. Since Alicia was trying out to be Keeper, she was giving it everything she had. Katie and Colm (also trying out) were the other two Chasers for this "Team." Madam Hooch thought it was only fair that they should have the other "real" Chaser, since the Keeper they had to get past was also an experienced player.
Sitting astride the Nimbus 2001, Ron looked a lot more confident than Harry had thought he'd look. Harry had half expected him to look nervous, but sitting aside a very good broom was doing wonders for him. He seemed totally focused on the game, intent on getting the Quaffle past Alicia and through the hoops.
If this had been a real Quidditch game, Ron's team would have been getting slaughtered. The "Keeper" for Ron's team was Lavender Brown. Harry knew there was no way she was going to make it. Fred and George might be tempted to vote her in, simply because she was beautiful, but in all honesty, the girl just could not play Quidditch. The "other" team was getting past her too easily. The only thing that kept them from scoring was that most of them didn't seem to quite have the knack of getting the Quaffle through the hoops.
Harry grinned as he watched Katie gain control of the Quaffle and beat it over to Ron, who was in danger of being hit by a Bludger. Ron acted as if he didn't even notice it coming towards him; he was confident of his brother's ability to take care of it. Besides, he'd dealt with a human Bludger named Goku all summer, what was an ordinary Bludger compared to that? He whacked the Quaffle over to Colm, who was near the scoring area easily.
Suddenly out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Madam Hooch toss a ball. He kicked his broom into action and went racing past Colm, not too close, but not too far either, diving to get it. Colm nearly fell off his broom, but fortunately, Katie had been racing over and was able to grab him and steady him. Harry reached for the ball, but it was too close to the ground and he missed. He had to pull up sharply on his broom to keep from hitting the ground himself.
Madam Hooch blew her whistle and motioned for Colm to come down. Colm was quickly replaced with another student trying out.
The game seemed to go on forever. Harry knew that Madam Hooch was deliberately tossing the balls too low and from too far a distance to catch them, but he still felt a little bad. He was awful glad this wasn't his try-out, cause he'd probably fail.
Some of the other tryouts were called out and replaced. Ron never was though, which made Harry glad.
The "other" team (Even though, Harry wasn't officially on either of the teams, he couldn't help but feel that he was a member of Ron's team) took the Quaffle to their hoops and aimed, missing terribly. When the Quaffle went back into play, Ron went flying towards their goal. Katie gave the Quaffle a terrific hit, which sent it to Ron. Ron was close enough to shoot for the goal, but only barely, and he'd have to hit it just right to compensate for the angle he was at. This was not going to be easy at all. Harry had a bad feeling this was going to be it. His eyes quickly darted over to Madam Hooch, who had moved across the field a bit closer to Ron. She threw the "Snitch Substitute" in the air, right in Ron's direction.
Harry could have waited, pretended he hadn't seen it and let it fall to the ground, but he knew that wouldn't be fair. He shot off after the ball, whizzing so close to Ron as he passed that he could almost feel his breath on him. The ball was beginning to fall to the ground, quite rapidly. Harry dived for it as fast as he could, and reached forward, catching it in the tips of his fingers. Drawing it into the palm of his hand, he looked quickly over his shoulder, just in time to see the Quaffle go safely through the middle hoop.
Madam Hooch blew her whistle sharply and yelled, "Game over!" Harry was awfully glad; it was getting quite dark out. He dismounted from his broom and walked over with the rest of his team and the ones trying out to where Professor McGonagall and Madam Hooch were.
"Congratulations," Professor McGonagall said. "You all did very well. It's going to be quite hard to decide who will be on the team. However, there is only one opening, so only one person will be able to join the team. But I want you to know that make it or not, you all did your best and it shows. You should all be very proud."
When she finished talking Madam Hooch announced that the team roster would be posted outside the door to her office by next Friday. Then, tryouts were over.
"You're in," Fred said to Ron, when the other students trying out had walked away. "You are so in it isn't funny."
"You might as well tell Mum and Dad," George agreed. "That last goal you scored was brilliant."
"Nothing is decided until next Friday," Ron said, trying to sound casual. Harry could still hear the excitement in his friend's voice.
"Just a formality, brother," George said. "We know a Chaser when we see one and none of the other kids trying out even began to compare with you."
Ron shrugged, trying to look as if he didn't care, but failing miserably. He looked at Harry. "You got bloody close to me that last time. I almost lost it for a moment."
"Yes, but you didn't," Harry reminded him.
Hermione and Goku came down from the stands and went over to join them. Goku cheerfully admitted that while he didn't fully understand the game, he thought Ron did great. Hermione agreed that Ron did wonderful.
Cho had been watching with the Captain of her team. Ron spotted her walking off and ran over to give her back her broom. Harry debated if he should go with him, but decided Ron would rather thank her in private. Harry, Hermione, and Goku decided to wait for him.
Although Ron didn't spend too much time thanking Cho, by the time he returned, they were the only ones left. They started heading back to the castle.
"It's a really beautiful night," Hermione said, looking up at the sky. "The moon is perfectly full and bright."
Harry and Ron looked up and shrugged. The moon was quite full and bright, but they didn't see what the big deal was.
"We should hurry then!" Goku said, suddenly. His tail began waving furiously and he seemed to be trying to look everywhere but up in the sky.
"It's okay, Goku," Hermione said. "The castle isn't far and everyone knows tonight was Quidditch tryouts for Gryffindor. We're not going to be in trouble for getting in so late."
"That's not it," Goku said, shaking his head. "It's the full moon. We all need to get safely inside before the monster comes out."
"The monster?" Ron asked.
Goku nodded, walking a bit faster. "If you look at the moon when it's full, you can summon this terrible monster. The biggest monster anyone ever saw."
Hermione tried not to smile. "Goku, full moons are bad if you're a werewolf, but I don't think looking at a full moon summons a huge monster," she explained gently.
"Yes it does!" Goku said. "I know because my grandfather was trampled to death by that monster. And my friends have seen him too. He destroyed Emperor Pilaf's castle like it was just a child's toy, that's what they told me. And he almost ruined the Tenkaichi Budoukai one year. I've never seen him, I always seem to fall asleep when he comes, but my friends don't lie and neither did my Grandfather. He's the one who told me that if you look at the full moon, you summon the monster!"
Hermione opened her mouth to dismiss his story again, then stopped and looked at Harry and Ron. Harry could tell what she was thinking, because his thoughts were similar and he knew Ron's were as well. If there was a werecreature around that they hadn't heard of, for them to look at the full moon wouldn't be bad, only if the actual werecreature looked at the –
"Uh oh," Hermione mumbled softly. "We'd better get going." She looked over at Goku. "You're right, we should hurry then."
"It's probably too late," Goku said, shaking his head. "I saw all of you looking at the moon."
"No we weren't," Ron said hastily.
"Yes you were!" Goku said. "Hermione mentioned how full it was and both you and Harry looked up—" He paused and looked up at the sky.
"Goku, don't!" Harry shouted.
It was as if Goku didn't hear him. He was staring at the full moon, looking totally transfixed to the spot. His tail was barely moving and his eyes looked glazed over. He said nothing, just stared.
"Well, that's creepy, but at least he's not transforming," Ron said, with a sigh of relief. He reached out and tapped Goku on the shoulder. "That's enough, Goku. It's very pretty and all such, but we have to get back."
Still staring at the moon, Goku's arm shot out, knocking Ron's arm off his shoulder and knocking Ron to the ground. Harry barely noticed, because he was watching Goku.
For a moment, Goku's skin seemed to ripple. His body began to get bulkier, and his nose began to enlarge and push out from his face. Coarse, brown hair began springing from every part of his body. Then, he started to grow, getting bigger and bigger with every passing second. His cloak and uniform ripped away from him as if it were tissue paper and fell to the ground in scraps. Without even thinking about it, Harry grabbed Ron and yanked him into a standing position and ran back, to avoid being in the same space as Goku transformed.
In less than a minute, Goku was gone and in his place was the biggest monkey any of them had ever seen. He stood over a hundred feet high.
"Holy shit," Ron cursed, unable to stop himself. While Harry didn't say it out loud, his thoughts were exactly the same.
"Goku!" Hermione shouted at the top of her lungs, "Goku, it's us!"
The creature that once was Goku turned in the direction of her voice. For a moment, hope rose in the three of them. Even though he had changed his appearance, maybe Goku still knew who they were. Maybe they could reason with him while one of them ran to get help.
Suddenly, "WereGoku" opened his mouth. A brilliant yellow energy beam shot from his mouth, right at them. They barely had time to leap out of the way. If WereGoku knew who they were, it didn't matter. In this state, everything moving was his enemy.
"This is really bad!" Hermione exclaimed. "This is worse than the mountain troll!"
"Yeah," Ron said, staring up at WereGoku. "And I don't think Wingardium Levoisa is gonna be of much help this time."
End of Chapter Eleven.