The Difference One Choice Makes
5th August 1996
"Here we are… Number 96" said the short, slightly frumpy, red-haired, 46-year-old, Molly Weasley as she led Ron and Ginny up the alley towards Fred and George's new joke shop Weasley Wizard Wheezes.
With bright purple bricks and orange wooden framed windows, Weasley's Wizard Wheezes was an eyesore to behold, with the crowning jewel of its appearance being the large head and arms of one of the twins, lifting a hat up and down from its head, causing a moving white rabbit to appear and disappear each time the hat was placed on the head.
Dozens of joke items lined the windows of the shop, ranging from skiving snackboxes to muggle-themed joke products like joy buzzers and card tricks.
"Whoa!" said Ron in amazement.
Walking through the door into the shop, it became clear just how popular the new joke shop was, with it being hard to spot single faces across the crowded room.
The inside of the shop itself was two stories tall, with shelves lined with every joke product they ever invented including, buckets of fake wands, skiving snackboxes for all potential ailments, reusable hangman sets, punching telescopes, joke cauldrons, decoy detonators and headless hats.
Fred and George were dressed in sparkling dragon-hide suits and were standing on the centre of the stairs looking around their busy shop with looks of great pride on their faces.
"Step up, step up… we've got everything pranksters need!" shouted the Twins at the same time.
"We've got fainting fancies!" shouted George.
"And just in time for school!" shouted Fred.
"Puking pastilles!" shouted George.
Moving down the stairs together, the two reached a young brown-haired teenage boy who had just swallowed a puking pastille.
"Into the cauldron handsome" said the Twins at the same time, with Fred handing the boy an empty cauldron to throw up into.
"By yer thumbs in the dungeons… I'll hang yer by yer thumbs in the dungeons" said a snide voice, similar to the one of the school caretaker Mr Filch, which was coming from a six-inch tall figurine of Mr Filch, several of which were taking up a full shelf in the shop.
Moving through the shop, Fred and George came across Ginny who was standing looking at the supply of love potions, holding one with a wary look on her face in the company of Hermione and Janet Spinnet who were also holding the small potion bottles in their hands.
"Hello ladies" said the Twins at the same time.
The three girls placed the love potions back on the stands and turned to the twins.
"Love potions eh?" said George.
"Yeah, they really do work" said Fred.
"Though from what we hear sis" said George.
"You're doing just fine on your own" said the Twins at the same time.
"And what's that supposed to mean?" said Ginny with a slightly annoyed tone to her voice.
"Ron told us that you're dating Josh Sloper now" said George.
Ginny turned a little bit pink before fixing the twins with a small glare.
"That's none of your business, nor is it Ron's business" said Ginny moving away from the love potions stand followed shortly after by Hermione and Janet.
As the twins made their way back towards the stairs, the appearance of Ron, holding onto a headless hat and a bag of Peruvian instant darkness powder got their attention.
"How much for these?" said Ron.
They looked down at him and made a mental note of what he had in his arms.
"Three Galleons and eight Sickles" said the Twins at the same time.
Ron's face faltered slightly.
"How much for me?" said Ron flatly.
"You can have them for three Galleons" said Fred.
"But I'm your brother" said Ron with a hint of pleading to his words.
"You can pay ten Galleons for them then" said the Twins at the same time before they continued on up the stairs.
Ron grumbled and turned back to Neville, Hermione and Janet, with Neville having rejoined his girlfriend after looking around the shop with Frank Jr and their mother.
"Come on, let's get out of here" grumbled Ron, putting the hat and bag of darkness powder on a nearby shelf.
As the four walked towards the exit of the shop, Ron was surprised when Lavender Brown called out to him in a slightly nervous voice.
"Hi Ron!"
Ron turned to her.
"Hi" said Ron nervously before he carried on walking, not noticing the glowing look that Lavender was sending his way as he left.
1st September 1996
Euphemia returned to her compartment after a fairly brief meeting with the rest of the Prefects along with the Head Boy and Girl in the Prefects Carriage, to find her boyfriend Zacharias Smith looking out of the compartment window with a small scowl on his face.
Upon finding out that her fellow fifth-year Prefect was Lucas Cole, Euphemia had been pleased, knowing that the hard-working student had been rewarded with a Prefect badge, given that he always applied himself in every subject even when he found the work difficult at times.
"Back already?" said Zacharias in a bored tone with a hint of iciness to it.
Upon hearing the iciness in his voice, Euphemia sighed and placed her hands on her hips in slight frustration.
"What's wrong now?" said Euphemia flatly.
Zacharias scowled.
"Who are the Hufflepuff Prefects?" said Zacharias flatly.
"Daisy Woodcroft and Cameron Summerbee… why?" said Euphemia testily, watching her boyfriend's face for any type of reaction.
Zacharias scowled once again.
"I should have been made a Prefect… I get good grades and I work hard at everything I do" said Zacharias, voice laced with bitterness and jealousy.
"And Cameron doesn't?" said Euphemia frostily, fixing him with a fierce glare.
Zacharias turned to face her.
"Professor Sprout told me last year that if I kept up my good work and grades then she would consider making me a Prefect, it's so unfair to see someone else get it when I've worked so hard" said Zacharias.
"I'm sure Professor Sprout had her reasons… I was surprised when I got the badge given that Lacey has much better grades than me" said Euphemia flatly, trying to keep the situation calm.
Hearing those words caused Zacharias to scoff.
"Easy for you to say when your mum and dad are old friends with Mcgonagall" said Zacharias, with his jealousy bubbling to the surface.
Taken aback, Euphemia snarled.
"And what is that supposed to mean?" snarled Euphemia.
Knowing that he had just said the wrong thing and gotten himself into a deep hole with his girlfriend. Zacharias held his hands up against his chest in defence and paled slightly.
"Nothing babe I swear" said Zacharias, sounding slightly worried now.
"I thought so" said Euphemia bitterly, pulling her trunk down from the overhead rack and picking up the cage containing her tawny owl named Circe.
Zacharias spluttered as she moved towards the still open compartment door.
"Where are you going?" said Zacharias in shock.
"To sit with my brother… and don't you dare follow me, I'll see you up at the castle" spat Euphemia.
With that she left the compartment, knowing full well that Zacharias would not dare follow her, out of fear of coming face-to-face with Harry after what he had just said.
Of course, her brothers had never liked Zacharias from the start, near enough giving him a heart attack last year when they gave him what they described as his first and only warning about treating Euphemia properly.
Or as Edward was quoted saying to Zacharias "If you so much put one tear on her face… we'll feed you to the accromantula's in the Forbidden Forest" which scared Zacharias so much that he avoided the Potter brothers whenever they were in close proximity to each other.
2nd September 1996
"Your subjects Mr Potter?" said Professor Mcgonagall with her wand in one hand and a stack of parchment timetables in the other.
Harry finished his cereal before turning to look up at his Head Of House, with, Hermione, Neville, Ron and Janet Spinnet who were sitting near him also looking up at Professor Mcgonagall.
Having already finished her own breakfast, Katie had gone off to her Charms lesson with Leanne Porter and Ellie Duggan after they had received their own timetables from Professor Mcgonagall.
"Defence, Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, Arithmancy, Care Of Magical Creatures and Duelling" said Harry.
Professor Mcgonagall nodded with approval, tapping his timetable with her wand before handing it to him.
Harry glanced down at his timetable to see what lesson he had first.
Potter – Harrison, James (Sixth-year)
Monday
9 AM to 11:30 AM – Charms (double)
(Lunch)
1:30 PM to 2:30 PM – Transfiguration
3 PM to 4 PM – Care Of Magical Creatures
4:30 PM to 5:30 PM – Free period
Tuesday
9 AM to 11:30 AM – Transfiguration (double)
(Lunch)
1:30 PM to 4 PM – DADA (double)
4:30 PM to 5:30 PM – Free period
Wednesday
9 AM to 11:30 AM – Potions (double)
(Lunch)
1:30 PM to 2:30 PM – Care Of Magical Creatures
3 PM to 4 PM – Charms
4:30 PM to 5:30 PM – Free period
Thursday
9 AM to 10 AM – Arithmancy
10:30 AM to 11:30 AM – DADA
(Lunch)
1:30 PM to 2:30 PM – Free period
3 PM to 5.30 PM – Duelling (double)
Friday
9 AM to 10 AM – Duelling
10:30 AM to 11:30 AM – Care Of Magical Creatures
(Lunch)
1:30 PM to 2:30 PM – Arithmancy
3 PM to 4 PM – Free period
4:30 PM to 5:30 PM – Potions
"Your Arithmancy lesson will be starting soon… don't be late" said Professor Mcgonagall.
She reached into one of the pockets of her teaching robes.
"Here is the list of all the people looking to try out for the Gryffindor Quidditch Team… let me know when you want to hold try-outs so I can book the pitch for you" said Professor Mcgonagall pulling out a folded up piece of parchment and handing it to him.
Harry nodded to her before putting the parchment list of names in his book bag.
Professor Mcgonagall then turned to Neville.
"Mr Longbottom?" said Professor Mcgonagall.
Neville straightened up as he finished his goblet of pumpkin juice.
"Defence, Charms, Transfiguration, Herbology, Potions, Duelling and Care Of Magical Creatures" said Neville.
Neville had been relieved to discover that when his Owl results arrived in July, that he had not only achieved Exceeds Expectations grades on both his Transfiguration and Potions Owls. But that he had also achieved Outstanding grades in both of his favourite subjects DADA and Herbology.
Like with Harry, Professor Mcgonagall gave him an approving nod, feeling proud of the man Neville was turning into.
"You have a free period before your DADA lesson… you may use the time however you wish, though I would advise that you use it to study" said Professor Mcgonagall tapping Neville's timetable with her wand.
Once she had handed Neville his timetable, Professor Mcgonagall turned to Hermione.
"Defence, Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, Herbology, History Of Magic, Ancient Runes and Duelling" said Hermione politely.
Janet was the next to receive her timetable, choosing to take DADA, Charms, Transfiguration, Duelling, Astronomy and Arithmancy at Newt level. Ron was the last of the five to receive his timetable, electing to take DADA, Charms, Transfiguration, Herbology, Potions and Duelling at Newt level.
Once the timetables had been handed out, Harry and Janet left the others to head off to their Arithmancy lesson, saying they would see the others at their DADA lesson later that morning.
Just over one hour later…
"Books away… and wands out" said Professor Moody in a gruff voice as he watched his sixth-year Newt class take their seats in his classroom, with pictures of witches and wizards in several dark situations lining one of the walls of his classroom.
The few students including Hermione who had taken their books out of their bags put them away without another word.
Once all of them had their wands in their hands, Professor Moody limped around the classroom past the pictures on his wall.
"Looking at these pictures… you get a chance to see what fate befalls those unfortunate souls who suffer from…" said Professor Moody.
He gestured his head to a picture of a witch lying huddled and blank-eyed slumped against a wall.
"The Dementor's Kiss… the Cruciatus Curse" said Professor Moody, gesturing his head towards a picture of a wizard shrieking in agony when referencing the Cruciatus Curse.
"Or fall foul of an aggressive Inferius" continued Professor Moody, gesturing his head to the last picture which featured a bloody mass with scattered body parts on the ground.
Limping back to the front of his classroom, he ignored the few shudders echoing around his classroom.
"Now you've covered a wide range of defensive spells and curses in your previous years… but you are novices when it comes to silent casting… anyone want to tell me the advantage of using silent casting?" said Professor Moody, turning to face the class.
As per usual, Hermione's hand shot into the air.
"Very well, Miss Granger" said Professor Moody gruffly.
"Your adversary has no warning about what spell you are about to cast, giving you a split-second advantage" said Hermione clearly.
"A textbook answer" said Professor Moody gruffly which caused a few snickers to be heard around the classroom, specifically from Lucan Malfoy, Felix Lestrange and Pansy Parkinson.
Snickers that were silenced when Professor Moody sharply turned to face them.
"But correct… take five points Miss Granger… yes, silent casting or non-verbal spells do give you an advantage in a fight… the most powerful Death Eaters and even Voldemort himself were masters of silent casting in the last war" said Professor Moody, with Voldemort's name causing shudders around the classroom, proving that even in death, the name of Voldemort will always be feared.
He limped towards the desk where Ron was sitting next to Janet at the front.
"Silent casting can be very difficult to do… the sheer amount of willpower and concentration required is extreme, no matter how hard you try some of you may never achieve this feat… on your feet all of you" said Professor Moody gruffly.
The sounds of chairs scraping across the classroom floor filled the air for a few seconds before Professor Moody clasped his hands together.
"Get into pairs… you will take it in turn to non-verbally jinx each other while the other tries to repel the jinx in equal silence… begin" said Professor Moody.
No spells burst from wands as every student in the class tried hard and failed to cast their spells silently.
Later that evening…
"I spoke to Mcgonagall… we're having tryouts on Saturday morning after breakfast" said Harry sitting down at a table in Gryffindor Tower where Katie was writing on a large scroll of parchment.
Turning her attention away from her homework for a while, Katie turned to Harry with a small smile on her face.
"I hope I don't let you or myself down when I have my try-out" said Katie softly, glancing at the Quidditch Captain badge on his robes with a proud look on her face.
Feeling slightly shocked at her words, Harry shifted closer to her.
"What are you talking about, you don't need to try out, I've seen you play for five years" said Harry.
Katie folded her arms with a stern look on her face.
"You shouldn't start off like that… a lot of teams get ruined because Captains keep choosing old faces or letting their friends in" said Katie sternly.
Sat on the armchair not too far away, Ron suddenly felt slightly uncomfortable and got up walking towards Harry and Katie.
"For all you know… there might be someone better than me out there" said Katie softly.
"But… I thought you wanted to go pro?" said Harry warily.
Katie managed a small nod.
"I do… please Harry, let me earn my place on your team, let me prove that I deserve to be there… not just to you but also to myself" said Katie softly.
Harry nodded.
"All right… but will you help me choose the players, I would really appreciate your input… and your opinion" said Harry softly.
"Of course I will" said Katie before she turned to face Ron who had just reached the table.
"When are try-outs Harry?" said Ron.
Glancing at Katie for a moment, Harry took note of her previous words and turned back to Ron.
"Tomorrow after breakfast mate" said Harry.
Ron nodded.
"I know we won the Cup last year… but I want to try out for the team again, to show people that the Ravenclaw match wasn't a fluke, otherwise those people like Smith and Malfoy are going to be on my case about only getting on the team because we're friends" said Ron nervously.
"Suit yourself Ron… but I wouldn't listen to what they say anyway" said Harry flatly.
Having said what he needed to say, Ron left them, walking back over to the armchair he had been occupying previously and dropped down into it.
Deciding to make a start on the long essay due for Arithmancy next week, Harry opened his bookbag retrieving some parchment, his Arithmancy textbook, quill and an inkpot to make a start on the homework.
4th September 1996
When Harry made his way onto the Quidditch Pitch that morning, clad in his Quidditch robes with his Captains badge gleaming proudly on his left upper chest, he was surprised and even mildly shocked to see exactly how many people had turned up to try out for the team.
There were at least thirty students who were stood together in a cluster, making a lot of noise as they pushed against each other.
Harry was pleasantly surprised to see some familiar faces in the group of try-outs including Ron, Ginny Weasley, Janet Spinnet, Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan.
There was also a lot of noise coming from the stands with a lot of students taking seats so they could watch and support their friends during the try-outs.
"Good turnout this year" said Katie sarcastically, who was standing next to Harry, dressed in her own Quidditch robes holding onto a brand new Nimbus 2004 broomstick, which was Nimbus's latest racing broom.
Harry cleared his throat in an attempt to silence the group but it did not work.
"So this morning, I'll be putting you all through a few drills just to assess your strengths… quiet, please?!" said Harry loudly, which had little effect.
"Shut up!" shouted Katie.
With that, the group fell silent and started to pay attention to Harry.
"Thanks" said Harry glancing at Katie for a few moments.
He cleared his throat.
"All right then… I want you to fly two laps around the pitch in groups of six first, just so I can see how well you fly… is that clear?" said Harry.
No one made a sound.
"Good" said Harry before walking towards them to separate them into smaller groups.
Harry felt thankful that he made the students separate into smaller groups for the first part of tryouts, with six second years being the first to fly around the pitch with disastrous results.
Five of the six managed to crash into each other as they took off while the one boy who did remain airborne for more than a few seconds proceeded to crash into one of the goalposts.
The second group consisting of third, fourth and fifth years were not much better, with two of them being giggling girls who fell to the ground laughing as he blew his whistle to signal them to start flying.
"Out!" shouted Harry, rubbing his temple in frustration before the two girls went back to stands, still giggling away at themselves.
The only good fliers to come out of that group were a pair of third-year boys named Jimmy Peakes and Ritchie Coote who flew fairly well, with Harry telling them to stand to one side after they had returned to the ground.
The third group was perhaps the worst of the lot, with all six students being from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw House who ran off the pitch, snorting with laughter after Harry shouted at them to leave.
"You can join this group if you want" said Harry, turning to Katie as the fourth group consisting of fourth and fifth years including Ginny got ready to take to the skies.
"Try not to stare at my arse too much… you have to observe the others as well" said Katie teasingly.
"Don't tell me not to ogle my girlfriend… and good luck" said Harry teasingly.
"Thanks" said Katie softly before she walked towards the group, ready to begin her try-out.
Watching her with pride, Harry was happy to see Katie outshine the other people in the air, with only Ginny coming close to her in terms of flying ability.
The last group were equally as successful as the fourth group with all six participants progressing through to the next part of the try-outs.
Narrowing the initial thirty students down to around eighteen, Harry decided to hold the try-outs for each position one at a time.
"Alright… Beaters first, everyone else wait in the stands until I call you down" said Harry.
With most of the students making their way over to the stands, Harry was left with six people hoping to try out for the position of Beater including Janet.
Testing them two at a time, Harry sped around the stadium on his Firebolt, seeing how many times each Beater could hit him with both Bludger's, knowing that if they could hit a player on a Firebolt, then they would be good enough to be on the team. He was also taking note of their aim and strength, making sure that had the right attributes for the position.
Nursing a few bruises, Harry finally found himself two new Beaters in the form of the broad-chested third-year named Jimmy Peakes, who managed to give Harry a fist-sized bruise on his shoulder after one ferocious hit. With Janet taking the other spot, having a wicked aim and an equally deadly left hook.
While neither of the two had the experience or the brilliance of Fred and George, Harry felt confident with both of them, knowing that they were the best Beater's he could have chosen from.
Unsurprisingly, he had to deal with the beaters who did not manage to make the team as soon as he announced his decision, with three of them confronting him, trying to intimidate him.
"I've made my decision and it's final… now get out of my face before I hex you" said Harry, sounding really annoyed.
He called all nine of the students who wanted to try out for the Chaser positions down to the pitch next, taking up the unfamiliar role of Keeper, while separating the Chasers into groups of three, deciding to judge them on their passing and teamwork as well as their goalscoring. Having Jimmy Peakes and Janet pelting Bludgers at them as they flew proved to be an even better judge of ability as his Beaters managed to unseat three of the Chasers with relative ease.
Though it was not his natural position, Harry felt that he was able to give each person trying out for the spot a decent test, with the exception of Ginny who scored seventeen goals out of twenty past him, beating Katie's score of thirteen.
After testing all nine Chasers, Harry found himself two in Katie and Ginny but was at a slight loss on who to pick for the third spot.
"You're on the team, Ginny too… but I'm a little unsure of who to give the last Chaser spot to" said Harry to Katie as she gave him a hug.
"Who do you have in mind?" said Katie as Ginny made her way over to them, pleased at having made it onto the team.
Harry glanced at where the remaining Chasers were stood, anxiously awaiting his decision.
"Demelza Robins scored nine goals, she's great at dodging Bludgers too… Dean Thomas scored ten… and he can take a hit from a Bludger" said Harry, turning back to Katie.
Katie glanced at the Chaser's, ready to give Harry her own advice and input.
"Personally… I'd go with Demelza, she's a good team player which is what you need from a Chaser, dodging Bludgers is great as well" said Katie.
Harry nodded to her and turned back to the other Chasers before clearing his throat.
"All right… I've made my decision, the third Chaser will be Demelza Robins… come over here Demelza" said Harry.
Thankfully, the students who did not become Chaser's were more accepting of his decision, leaving the pitch without confronting him as the blonde-haired, fourth-year Demelza Robins made her way over to them.
Once the other students had left the pitch, Harry called the remaining three students hoping to try out for the Keeper position down to the pitch.
Geoffrey Hooper who tried out for the team last year went first, saving four out of the eight shots sent his way before trudging back to the stands moaning about something or other.
Ron went next and managed to save seven out of eight shots before the final student trying out for the Keeper position took his place guarding the hoops.
Cormac Mclaggen.
Though he failed to save his first shot from Katie, he managed to save the next six shots with ease, leaving him with one last shot to save.
As Ginny flew towards him with the Quaffle under her arm, Cormac watched her carefully.
What Harry was not expecting, however, was for Ginny to recreate one of the goals Alicia Spinnet scored in their match against Ravenclaw last April by flying around the back of the hoops and tossing the Quaffle over the top of them for Demelza to catch and score through Cormac's unprotected left hoop.
With that goal, Ron managed to keep his place as the Gryffindor Keeper and he joined his new teammates feeling overjoyed and slightly nervous when Janet pulled him into a hug and congratulated him.
Of course, Cormac was not so pleased and tried to argue with Harry about how he should be on the team instead of Ron but Harry told him that his decision was final and that he should leave.
Once Cormac was gone, Harry asked Katie to take Janet, Ginny and Demelza to the changing rooms to see if they could find any Quidditch robes that fit them, while he and Ron did the same for Jimmy Peakes.
Once the entire team had been fitted into their new robes, Harry had them all take to the skies so they could practice.