Harry Potter and the Mind Mage
By James Milamber
A/N: Another day, another chapter. Enjoy!
dree: Yes, I have read the Artemis Fowl books (the first two, anyway - been meaning to read the third, maybe it's time I did) so I'd love to take a look at your story. And don't stop with the spelling mistakes, if you point them out I can fix them!
Lady Arwen of Rivendell: One update, served on a silver plater to your...erm...computer screen. No mickey taking extremes required! Yessir!
Blue Firefly: You wanna kill Quick Edit? Can I watch? Maybe hold your jacket for you while you carry out God's work?
Tanydwr: Rambling is good. Big words are good. As for the twins, well...let's just say it's a secret.
Luna Lovegood2: She sounds like a teacher! Get her!
gpotter: Frustrating is exactly the word I would have used. Oh well. PoA was good, but I don't really think the movies do the books justice (in any way, shape or form) so I only saw it once. Awesome? Aww, now I feel all warm and tingly... (scrolls down to the bottom of the chapter and reads) Oh dear...erm...not what I meant! Bloody hell...
The first week of classes seemed to fly by, and the weekend was soon upon them. Harry felt that the week was particularly pleasant as at one point he had not seen Snape for three whole days. His decision not to take Potions this year was, to his mind, a brilliant one. Lord knew he'd never liked Potions in the first place, and it wasn't like he really needed to take the class. His conviction was strengthened when he saw the huge pile of homework Hermione brought back from her first class with Snape. Instead, he spent his spare classes preparing for his own class. He spent some time talking with James and Tonks about what to teach, and by the end of the week had hammered together a rough plan for the year.
He saw Cho a few times in the corridors, but she passed him with her head down, pretending she hadn't seen him. He didn't mind; it was one less problem for him to worry about, although he still felt a small twinge of guilt whenever he saw her.
Although he hadn't been avoiding Ginny as such, he hadn't really seen much of her, either. She had her own friends back at the castle now, so her time with the trio was limited. Even so, she smiled at Harry every time they saw each other, and her found his heart leaping every time. He wasn't sure what he wanted, and he wasn't sure what she wanted, but he was sure that the whole dating thing was much overrated after his disastrous time with Cho. So why did he constantly feel like something was missing when she wasn't around?
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He had scheduled the Gryffindor Quidditch trials for the first Saturday afternoon. Saturday morning saw he, Ron, Jack Sloper and Andrew Kirke on the Quidditch pitch, devising tests for each position's candidates.
Although the two Beaters had improved dramatically over the last year, Harry didn't have the heart to tell them that he was on the lookout for replacements. As good as they were they were still nothing on the Weasley twins, and Harry desperately wanted to put together a team good enough to win the cup this year.
Ginny, Alex and Cassie showed up just after lunch. Harry waved from his position near the far goal posts, then flew over to greet them.
'All set Ginny?' he asked, dropping to the ground in front of her.
She smiled and held up her Lightningbolt. 'Ready,' she confirmed, then mounted her broom and flew to where Ron was hovering in front of the goals.
'Thanks for asking us,' Alex said, holding up his own broom.
'You play?' Harry asked, a little surprised. As far as he knew, Quidditch wasn't very big in Australia.
'Of course,' Cassie said with a slightly superior smile.
'Yeah, it's really big in Melbourne,' Alex confirmed.
'Not so much in the other states, though,' Cassie added.
'Umm…okay,' Harry shook his head slightly. Talking to these two was worse than talking to the Weasley twins. 'What position do you play?'
'Guess,' Alex said with a cheeky smirk.
'Please tell me you play Beaters,' Harry almost begged.
'Bingo,' Cassie said.
'Got it in one,' Alex added.
'Thank Merlin,' Harry breathed a sigh of relief. 'Those two are hopeless,' he indicated Jack and Andrew, who were currently racing each other up and down the pitch.
'Don't panic,' Cassie winked.
'We'll show them how the game is played,' Alex jumped onto his broom and shot into the air, blasting past both Beaters and blowing them a kiss as he passed. They stared after him, glanced at each other, and sped off after him.
'What type of broom is that?' Harry asked, noticing the odd construction of Alex's broom. It was thicker than usual, and the wood was a very deep red.
'It's a Holden GTS,' Cassie said, holding her own broom out for inspection. 'It's made by a car company. A few years back they hired a wizard who told the CEO about the wizarding world, and how he could make more money by making brooms as well as cars. They have a whole range for sale in Australia now.'
'It's certainly fast,' Harry noted, although he also noted that it wasn't as fast as his Firebolt or Ginny's Lightningbolt.
'Not the fastest,' Cassie caught his expression. 'But it's moves well, so it's good for Beaters. We used them in games back home.'
'Better than Kirke and Sloper,' Harry indicated where Alex had just flown a tight figure eight through the goal hoops and the two Beaters had tried to follow, resulting in them colliding when they tried to go through the hoop at the same time.
Alex swooped down to where they stood, pulling his broom up to hover in front of them.
'Pitiful,' he said disdainfully, watching the Beaters trying to untangle themselves.
'Looks that way,' his sister agreed with him.
'Come on then,' he floated away. Cassie smiled quickly at Harry, climbed onto her broom and kicked off, following her brother.
Half an hour later, Harry, Ron, Andrew and Jack stood in front of a small crowd of people, all holding brooms and looking hopeful. Ginny and the Milton twins stood slightly off to one side. Watching from the stands were most of Gryffindor house.
'Right!' Harry called the group's attention. 'Well, welcome to the Quidditch trials! We've devised different tests for each position, so we'll watch you play and then decide on the best people at the end. You will be evaluated not only on your skill, but on your teamwork, because if we're going to win the cup this year it's going to take a strong team that can work well together. Any questions?' There were none. 'Okay then, Chasers to Ron, Beaters to Andrew and Jack, and Seekers to me!' They had decided to try for a full reserve team this year, after the disasters last year with Harry and the Weasley twins being banned. That and Harry had a nasty habit of ending up in the hospital wing on the day of the final.
Unfortunately, there were no candidates for a reserve Seeker. The assembled group split up into two, one half going to Ron and the rest going to Andrew and Jack.
'Oh well,' Harry shrugged. 'Makes my job easier.' He kicked off, coming to a stop about fifteen feet above the centre of the pitch. He smiled briefly at Ginny, who waved back, then he straightened on his broom.
'Okay then! Chasers, you have to try and score against Ron in groups of three, while two Beaters try to stop you and I run interference.' He smiled at the looks of apprehension as he said the last bit. Everyone knew how good a flyer he was. 'It's as close as we can come to real game conditions for a test, and later we'll put the best of you into a mock game and see how you do. Okay? Everyone got that?' There was a chorus of 'yes's' from the crowd. Harry glanced down at the sheet of paper in his hand. Every candidate had written their name and what position they were trying out for on it as they had entered the stadium. 'First Chasers are Ginny Weasley, Evan Goody, and Jane Watson, and the Beaters are Alex and Cassie Milton.'
The five he had named flew up to take their positions. Evan Goody was a third year, although he was fairly big for his age. Jane Watson, on the other hand, was tiny. She was a fourth year, but she looked like a second year at best.
'Ready?' Harry called. Everyone nodded, and Jack threw him the Quaffle from the ground. 'Go!' he called, passing the Quaffle off to Ginny and then flying directly after it. Ginny snagged the Quaffle and easily dodged him, passing to Jane who passed to Evan. The third year freaked out when he saw Harry flying directly towards him and missed the catch, cursing and diving to catch up with the scarlet ball.
'Keep your head, Goody!' Harry shouted. He nodded, looking embarrassed, and passed off to Ginny, who reverse passed back to Evan. Ron was constantly adjusting his position in front of the goal hoops, his eyes intently on the approaching Chasers.
'Now!' Harry yelled, and Jack and Andrew released the Bludgers. Alex and Cassie were on them almost before they were out of their box, sending them rocketing at the Chasers. Ginny easily dodged the first while Jane, who now had the Quaffle, narrowly avoided the second.
It was Evan who had the first shot onto Ron's goal. He feinted left and threw right, but Ron was ready and easily saved it.
'Bad luck Evan!' Ron tossed the Quaffle back to him.
'Back to the middle!' Harry yelled. 'Try again!'
On this approach they had the Bludgers to contend with the whole way. Alex and Cassie were superb, and Harry had to wonder if there was something about twins that made them such great Beaters. There had been so many narrow misses that Harry knew it was deliberate, and each miss made Evan and Jane lose their nerve a little more. Ginny, on the other hand, easily dodged the Bludgers and made the first score on Ron.
'Way to go Ginny!' Harry yelled as the Quaffle sailed straight through Ron's outstretched fingers and through the centre goal hoop. She did a little loop the loop of sheer delight, grinning back at him.
They went on for a few more minutes. Jane managed to score once, Ginny several times, but Evan was by now too frightened of the Bludgers, flinching violently every time one passed and dropping the Quaffle if he had it.
'Time!' Harry blew the whistle Madam Hooch had given him, and Alex and Cassie each dove on one of the Bludgers, wrestling them back to the ground and holding them. Harry hadn't told them to do that, although the Weasley twins had done so frequently at practices; more evidence that they were good Beaters.
'That was good,' Harry said as the players approached him. 'Alright, go sit down while we test these others.' He glanced at his list again. 'Next Chasers are Dean Thomas, Greg Redfield, and…' he stared at the paper, trying to make sure he hadn't misread the name. 'Melinda Chang?' He swallowed hard. Cho had a sister? She was in Gryffindor? How had he missed that? 'Umm…Beaters are Seamus Finnegan and Euan Waterhouse.'
Melinda was a second year, built like her sister. She smiled impishly at him as she took her position, snatching the Quaffle as he threw it and speeding off towards the goals, Dean and Greg trailing along behind.
By the end of the day, after a quick mock game, he had his new team firmly chosen. He motioned for Ron, Andrew and Kirke to follow him.
'Ginny, Melinda and Greg for Chasers,' he said firmly. The other three nodded.
'Good choices,' Ron said, glancing back over his shoulder at the milling crowd.
Harry hesitated before saying the next bit. 'The Milton twins for Beaters,' he smiled apologetically at Andrew and Jack.
'Hey, we know when we're outclassed,' Jack said, motioning at the twins, who were chatting with Ginny. 'They're way better than we could ever hope to be.'
'And we can still play reserves,' Andrew added.
'Thanks guys,' Harry said gratefully.
'We want Gryffindor to win the cup too, you know,' Jack said with a half smile.
Harry nodded. 'Ginny, Melinda, Greg, Alex and Cassie then,' he said, and the others nodded.
'Okay!' Harry called when they returned to the group. 'We have three new Chasers: Ginny Weasley, Greg Redfield, and Melinda Chang. The new Beaters are Alex and Cassie Milton. Sorry to the rest of you, but we're still looking for reserves, so there will be another tryout in a few weeks for the reserve team. Hope to see you there!'
There was some muttering about favourism in the departing crowd, but for the most part they took their dismissal well.
Harry addressed the team. 'I checked with Madam Hooch, the first match is against Slytherin in November. We'll have practice once a week until it gets a bit closer, okay?' They all nodded. 'Let's head back to the castle. Ron, could you help me carry the balls back to the shed?'
'Sure,' Ron grabbed one end of the heavy chest as the rest of the team left. Together they carried it over to the storage shed and shoved it away.
'See you in a bit,' Harry said as Ron secured his Cleansweep 7 in the broom shed. When Ron looked at him questioningly, Harry held up his Firebolt.
'Right,' Ron nodded. 'See you.'
They headed up to the castle together, parting ways in the Entrance Hall. Harry climbed the marble staircase, heading for Gryffindor Tower, while Ron went into the Great Hall.
Harry stowed his Firebolt in his dormitory. When he came back down to the Common Room, he found Ginny waiting for him.
'Why aren't you at dinner?' he asked as she fell into stride beside him.
'Same reason you aren't,' she said. 'I'm not leaving my broom in the broom shed.'
'Fair enough,' Harry said, and they fell silent. They were almost back to the Entrance Hall when Ginny grabbed Harry's wrist and stopped him.
'Harry…' Her eyes were wide, and she was shaking slightly.
'What?' Harry asked, concerned. 'What's wrong?'
She turned away from him. 'Did you…did you put me on the team just because I'm your friend?'
The question caught him completely off guard. It wasn't quite what he had been expecting.
'Of course not,' he assured her, placing one hand on her shoulder. 'You made the team fair and square on you own skills.'
She seemed to sigh softly, and under Harry's hand her shoulder slumped. He didn't know whether it was relief or not.
'Why did you put Cho's little sister on the team?' she asked suddenly.
'Same reason I put you and Greg on the team, because she's good.'
'It doesn't have anything to do with Cho?' she pressed.
'Of course not,' Harry was by now growing alarmed. 'You know I don't like her that way any more.' Once again he found himself wishing for a window into her head so he could see what she was thinking.
She turned to face him, and Harry was startled to see tears in her eyes. 'This is hopeless,' she declared. 'I…'
Whatever she had been about to say was cut off by a loud laugh. Peeves shot through the wall, stopping abruptly when he saw Harry and Ginny.
'It's wee potty Potter!' he cackled.
'Get lost Peeves,' Harry turned away, placing one hand around Ginny's shoulders and making to lead her away. There was a sharp pain in the back of his head, and he turned abruptly in time to catch an ink pellet in the forehead.
'Peeves!' he yelled angrily. Peeves cackled and swooped towards him, abruptly vanishing through the ceiling with a curse. Harry turned to see Professor Milton striding down the corridor towards them.
'Thrice damned poltergeist,' he muttered, snapping his fingers in Harry's directing. The ink on his forehead vanished.
'Thanks,' Harry said gratefully.
'No problem. Shouldn't you two be at dinner?' He raised his eyebrows at them.
'We were just going,' Ginny said, throwing a glance at Harry. She gasped to see him standing rigidly straight, his scar glowing with a red light. He gasped, and would have collapsed if Ginny hadn't caught him.
'Hospital wing,' James said tersely, draping one of Harry's arms over his shoulders. Ginny took the other side, and together they half carried Harry through the castle.
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Before Harry was really aware, he knew where he was. I should have my own bed here, he thought groggily.
Suddenly his mind awoke, and his dream came back to him in stark clarity.
His eyes flew open to find Ginny hovering over him anxiously.
'Harry!' she cried in relief, hugging him tightly. He felt warm and tingly all over, and he knew exactly what he had to do. He gently reached up and disengaged her arms from around his neck, pushing her away slightly. Her eyes widened, as if she could pick up on his thoughts. He smiled gently, braced himself, leaned forward, and leapt into the void.
He kissed her.
A/N: Longest chapter yet! Don't worry, you'll find out what happened in the dream in the next chapter...if you're good. Muahahahahaha!
gpotter: Happy now?
