I do not own Harry Potter, only the OC
Hello guys, Badger here. Back again, with a new chapter. Before we begin, I should apologise. This chapter was supposed to be published yesterday, but I got distracted and made a new video for my Youtube Channel. However, the video was placed on a review list, due to music I used in the video. Because of this, I made another one, as I waited for the response on the other video. Thankfully I was in the clear and no copyright claims or strikes were placed. Because of that however, I forgot to post this chapter and I am sorry.
Anyway, I did have to go through a small rewrite with this chapter, mainly because I wanted to change or add a few things, but I think you'll like what I have for you lot today. So, sit down, read on and I hope you enjoy and, of course, I will see you at the end.
Chapter 63
Quidditch problems
Harry sighed as he read through the list in his hands, currently alone in the library. Whilst being the Quidditch Captain sounded like fun, there were some duties he wasn't going to enjoy, this is one of them.
"Something wrong Harry?" Neville asked, as he came round the corner of a nearby bookshelf
"Quidditch Captain duties" Harry replied, holding up the list "All these names are Slytherin students trying out for the team this year"
Neville took the list and looked through its contents, his eyes almost bulging at the amount of names written on there.
"Merlin" He said "It's almost every student from second year up"
"Tell me about it" Harry sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, as he felt a headache coming up "There is no way I am having them try out all at once, I'm going to split the group in two, have Second to Fourth years try out on day and then Fifth to Seventh years on another…it will help with my sanity that's for sure"
"Seems like a good idea" Neville nodded "So how is the team currently?"
"Well Marcus graduated" Harry replied "so did the Beaters, Michael Crawford and Theodore Levin and our Keeper, Miles Bletchley chose to drop out, James replaced Adrian Pucey in our Third Year and most of the reserve team are gone too, besides myself, only James and Terrence Higgs remain on the team"
"Yikes" Neville winced "You have a lot of spots to fill"
"Tell me about it" Harry said, stuffing the parchment in his pocket "Come on, lunch is starting soon, I'm getting hungry"
…
Michael Badger growled to himself, as he hushed one of the Death Eaters accompanying him for the seventh time. He hated working with men like this. All brawn but no brains. Unlike them, he had both, making him more deadly. Still, Voldemort had his uses for him. But, what Michael didn't understand was the large snake that accompanied them. Nagini, it's name was. It freaked Michael out a bit. He didn't know why Voldemort had the large snake around, and he wouldn't tell him either. Shaking his head, Michael turned his attention back to their target. He along with the other Death Eaters, were waiting in the shadows. The prophecy Voldemort wanted, was currently guarded by two individuals. After a lot of waiting, they found that the guards were frequently switched. Michael decided that they should wait, to see if there was a time when there were no guards and if there wasn't, then they would just have to act quickly. Then again, if it meant he would get to kill someone, he had no problem with that.
…
Harry shivered slightly, as he ate his lunch. A shiver that caught James' and Daphne's attention.
"You okay Harry?" Daphne asked
"Yeah, I'm fine" Harry replied "Just had a random chill"
Daphne and James shared a look, but chose to drop the matter and continued eating. As he was cutting into his food, Harry saw Cedric talk to his friends for a moment, before he stood up and made his way over.
"Hey Harry" He said
"Oh, hey Cedric" Harry replied "What's up?"
"I wanted to thank you again…about the dragons" Cedric said "We never really had a chance to talk after…You-Know-Who…anyway, I'd thought I'd let you know, if you need anything, just ask and I will gladly help"
"I will keep that in mind" Harry smiled "Thank you Cedric"
Cedric nodded, before he walked back to the Hufflepuff table, not saying a word.
"What was that about?" Daphne asked
"No clue" James replied "His dad, Amos, works in the Ministry, no doubt Cedric was told something and, whatever it was, it probably wasn't good…keep him on your good side Harry, it would be great having Cedric's help should the need arrive"
Harry nodded, where he then noticed Sirius enter the Great Hall. Everyone watched, intrigued, as he made his way over to the Slytherin table, stopping in front of James and Harry.
"Boys, it's time for your next lessons" He said
Harry and James nodded, finishing their meal and followed Sirius out, not noticing the burning glares coming from Umbridge, or the confused looks from most of the Great Hall.
"So, who is teaching us today?" Harry asked
"I don't know" Sirius replied "With Dumbledore busy and Moody currently posted somewhere for a few weeks, they brought in some stand ins"
They entered the same room as their previous lesson, where they saw two people waiting for them. One was a man in his mid to late twenties, with long, ginger hair, flowing freely past his shoulders, with a chiseled jawline and stubble, deep blue eyes and a dragon tooth necklace, possibly from the same dragon that made his dragon hide coat and boots. The other person in the room was a female in her early twenties, dressed in Auror robes, with dark twinkling eyes and shoulder length, bubble-pink hair, that framed a heart shaped face. Sirius' eyes widened upon seeing the female.
"Nymphadora!" He exclaimed, rushing to her, his arms out wide
Within seconds, the woman flicked her wand into her hand and shot Sirius in the crotch with a stinging hex, causing Sirius to fall to the ground, howling in pain, as he rocked back and forth. The men in the room winced, with Harry and James crossing their legs.
"I'm sure you remember Sirius, do NOT call me Nymphadora!" The woman said
"Got it Tonks" Sirius replied, his voice much higher than usual "Won't happen again"
"That warning goes to you to" She continued, glaring at Harry and James
"We understand" James replied, holding his hands up, in a surrendering gesture
"Good" Tonks said, her gaze softening, a small smile on her face
The red haired man cleared his throat, averting everyone's attention onto him, whilst Sirius slunk to a nearby corner, in pain.
"Now that's out the way" He said "I am Bill Weasley and this, as I'm sure you now know, is Tonks"
"You're Fred and George's brother?" James asked "I haven't seen you before"
"Yes, I work as a Curse Breaker" Bill replied, a smile on his face "I am often abroad…Fred and George have spoken highly about you two"
"So, what will you be teaching us today?" Harry asked
"Well, every Auror trainee has to go through a duelling program" Tonks replied "I thought it would be fair to give you the same training for today, so we can test your duelling skills"
"And I agreed" Bill continued "Before we begin, get into your duelling stances, so we can see if anything needs improvement"
Harry and James nodded, as they pulled out their wands. James got into his signature stance, which Harry first saw him use during the Duelling Club in their Second Year, and has used it ever since. Harry, meanwhile, adopted a stance which he has started using more often, designed to not only reduce the size of the opponents target, but also keep him light on his feet and have the ability to cast a Shielding Charm, should the opponent fire the first spell, before he could. Bill and Tonks examined the stances, both seemingly happy with what they saw.
"Nice stance Harry" Bill said "Whilst it is commonly used, it is still effective"
"I agree, though I have never seen James' stance before" Tonks replied
"My dad owned a few rare books on duelling" James shrugged "The stance I use has always been my favourite and has proved effective on occasion"
"Well, it seems that way" Bill said, pulling out his wand "Now, we will be having one on one duels, to test your strengths and weakness; me against Harry, and Tonks against James, does that seem fair?"
With nods all around, they got into position. Sirius gave them a small countdown, before spells began to fly.
…
James winced, as he took of his shirt, to get ready for bed. Tonks packed a serious stinging hex in that wand of hers. No wonder Sirius was in so much pain. Still, the lesson was fun and both Bill and Tonks were impressed with their duelling skills. James also found out that Tonks was a little clumsy. She tripped on her Auror robes about three times, giving James a quick and easy win with a stunner. After the lesson was over, both of them decided to head to bed, due to how tired they were. Though, if James was being honest, he wasn't looking forward to sleeping. He hadn't told Harry, or even Luna, but his nightmares have come back. Nightmares of his sisters death. Seeing Nott all the time, doesn't help that either. He was one of the bullies responsible for Aila's magical backlash. If James remembers correctly, the Nott's mind was modified of the event, due to head trauma, from the small explosion that happened during the incident, meaning he has no memory of Aila or the incident. James always wondered why Nott had a grudge against himself and his sister, until he read in one of his fathers journals, that during a Death Eater attack, his father had almost killed Nott's father with a cutting curse and since then, Nott has always held a bit of a personal vendetta against him. Brushing those thoughts aside, for now, James got into bed, turning off the light. With any luck he will have a quiet night.
…
New chapter...done!
What did you guys think? I did plan to add Cedric again earlier in the story, but forgot about him, so I added him here. Before you say anything, I know Cedric was a Seventh Year in canon, but I had more planned for his character, so pretend he was a sixth year in GOF okay? In fact, the moment at the beginning regarding Harry's Quidditch duties was shared between Harry and Cedric, but then I remembered Neville hadn't had much 'screen' time in a while, so changed it and added the small section with Cedric in the Great Hall afterwards. Maybe this is why J.K only had Ron and Hermione as Harry's best friends. Just too many characters to keep track of. Anyway, time for:
QUESTION OF THE CHAPTER - With the small mention of Nagini in this chapter, do you think there is going to be a similar situation where Harry sees Mr Weasley, or some other character being attacked? [Do let me know, down below]
Speaking of characters mentioned. We have been introduced to Bill and Tonks. Yay! I'm not sure how important they will be later on, but I do have a future story planned with Bill being an main character. With Tonks, I always think of the movie version, just because I had a crush on the actress. In fact, Tonks was the first character I wrote a fanfiction on, though I never published it or anything. I also originally planned for Tonks to be a love interest for either Harry or James, but felt like it would be too late in the story line for that to happen. Also, let me know who you would've paired her with: Harry or James?
Finally, the ending. This part didn't exist originally. However, someone [Sorry, I can't remember who right now] wanted to know why James and Nott had a rivalry and I thought it would be a good place to put it. What do you think of this reveal. Yes I know, Nott having his memories modified doesn't seem that realistic, but I needed a reason for why Nott has never mentioned James' sister, as we all know he would've mentioned her, just like how Malfoy mentioned Harry's mum on occasion in canon.
Anyway, sorry about the long ramble. That is all for today, I hope you enjoyed and I will see you in the next one.
Badger out!
