"What do you mean?" Frisk demanded. "Did she actually say that?"
Asriel let out a long drawn out sigh. "No, she didn't. Not directly." he admitted. "It was in her eyes. I mean... you should have seen her face when I walked into the room. Her eyes were narrowed, her lips pursed, and she just stared. She stared right at me. I... I could feel her anger wash over me. Frisk, I'm not joking. I felt so uncomfortable."
Frisk closed her eyes and took a deep breath. This couldn't be right, could it? How could anyone hate someone for just being... here? "Do you want to ask someone about this? I mean, I think you should. Either the headmaster or Professor McGonagall."
"I don't know," Asriel said, as they rounded a corner towards the grand stairwell.
"Asriel," Chara said, and there was an edge to her voice.
"I mean it, Chara, I don't want to cause trouble. I mean, they still think of me as an... what's the term? An examination?"
"An experiment," Frisk said quietly.
"Right, that they want to be sure that monsters manage well at Hogwarts. If I do something to get kicked out..."
"Asriel?" Chara said crossly, "Do you think there's something wrong with acting to be treated fairly?"
"No," Asriel replied, looking down at the floor for a moment. "But, Chara, the professor hasn't actually done anything yet. I mean, I know how she looked at me, and I know how I feel about it. But I don't want to complain that her stare made me uncomfortable. It was just a look. I don't want to be known as a monster who... uhm..." he floundered, looking for the phrase.
"Cried wolf," Frisk supplied quietly. She wasn't sure who she agreed with. Chara had a point, that it was not for the professor to treat anyone with the suspicion it sounded like Asriel had received. But... what if the two of them didn't know something? What if it hadn't meant for him, but she had... well, Frisk wasn't sure what might have happened. And Frisk understood where Asriel was coming from too. He wasn't just trying to protect himself, he was thinking of all the future monsters that might not be able to come to Hogwarts if he complained too much.
"Asriel," she said as they were about to reach the ground floor and the great hall. "I would tell Professor McGonagall at least. If you ask her to keep it quiet, I'm sure she'll keep it confidential, and only act if she thinks if she has to."
"Frisk, I'm the only monster in the school," Asriel said, wrinkling his nose. "Exactly how would she keep it confidential?"
"I mean," Frisk explained, "That she won't tell anyone else, least of all Ms. Umbridge,"
"Fine. I'll think about it," Asriel said. His tone, and the fact they were starting to move into a crowd, suggested that should be the end of that conversation.
They entered the great hall, and took seats at their table among the other students of their house. The conversation around them had settled into some of Gryffindor's new favorite topics, that they weren't learning anything from their new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, and the speculation on who might just be the new Gryffindor keeper.
On that latter subject, there were a number of upperclassmen bandied about. Frisk only recognized one of them, Cormac McLaggen. "I won't be able to cheer for Gryffindor if he makes the team," Chara told her brother. "You'll have to make sure you do better than he does."
"Ah," Asriel said, shrinking back slightly from the interested looks of his classmates. "No pressure then."
Asriel exited the castle on Friday, to find a pleasant early September afternoon The sky was just overcast enough to keep the sun from beating down too heavily, and a light breeze complimented everything, keeping the temperature merely warm, instead of insanely hot.
They stopped by the broom closet, each of them collecting their personal Nimbus 2001. Only Asriel had planned to make use of his, but you never knew. When they reached the pitch, they found a sizable portion of Gryffindor had turned out to watch the tryouts, including most of the current Gryffindor team. There was only one notable missing person. "Where's Harry?" Asriel whispered. The butterflies had begun to flutter in his stomach. It had taken both Frisk and Chara working together to convince Asriel that he would regret it if he didn't at least try.
"He's still working off detention with Ms. Umbridge, I think," Frisk said, looking over her shoulder, back up at the castle, where presumably Harry was being forced to do... something unpleasant. At least Frisk had gotten the blood-quill taken away.
A sharp whistle pierced the air, causing the conversations to stop and everyone to pay attention. The whistler was a tall, dark skinned female upperclassmen. Her long black hair had been done up in no nonsense braids. "That's the captain," whispered Asriel, to no one in particular, "Angelina Johnson."
"Alright everyone!" Angelina called. "Everyone who's trying out for keeper this afternoon, gather over by Fred and George, please." The word 'please' belied the crisp nature of Angelina's commanding tone. "Everyone else can head to the stands."
"Okay," Asriel said, taking a deep breath. "Wish me luck?"
Chara and Frisk both reached out a hand to clasp their brother's arm, and Asriel went out to meet the twins.
"Hey there, Asriel. Going to try out?" One twin asked.
"Would be something," the other noted, "having the first monster in Hogwarts on..." his voice petered out. "Ron?" he said in surprise.
Asriel turned, standing next to him was one of the people who had been kind – and brave – enough to gamble his soul on bringing Asriel back from the darkness. He also happened to be the twins' younger brother. "Oh. Howdy, Ron. You going to try out as well?"
Ron had a not quite stable look that made Asriel think he was feeling slightly sick. It was a feeling Asriel felt all too much kinship with at the moment. "Yes," was the only word he managed to get out.
"Alright, this should be interesting," grinned his old brother, nodding to both of them, and going to address some of the other people who had come down to the pitch.
"Hey, Ron? It'll be okay," Asriel said. "You'll do fine. You took the lead in that Quidditch event last year."
Ron turned him, startled. "Oh. Thanks Asriel, yeah. That's what inspired me to try out." He gave the monster a weak grin. "You did a good job yourself. So, uh, good luck."
Asriel nodded. "Good luck to you too, Ron."
A few other people had gathered around, but Asriel was glad to see that, as far as he could tell, Cormac was not among them. This was one of those small favors. That's when he saw the other two chasers of Gryffindor's quidditch team, and realized they were in full red quidditch robes. "Who should go first?" came Angelina's call.
The twins looked at each other, then at the five gathered students. "How about... you, Iain?" said one of the twins, picking at what appeared to be at random. "You can go first."
The older human nodded, swallowed heavily, and took to the sky. The rest of them sat back and watched as the three chasers of Gryffindor: Angelina, Katie Bell, and Alicia Spinnet followed him up.
The other prospective keepers headed to the stands as the girls took positions in the middle of the pitch. Asriel had never seen them in action before, his one real experience with competitive quidditch was at the World Cup last year, and that had been at a far enough distance that it didn't seem real.
Iain tried, valiantly, to block the first shot that came towards the goals. He missed, barely, the quaffle bouncing through the rightmost hoop. The shot wasn't nearly as fast as the national teams had been, but it was still much faster than Asriel had been seeing with his friends and siblings. But he blocked the next two.
As Asriel watched the tryout continue, he felt his stomach continue to do flips. What had he been thinking? This was going to be beyond him! He was lost in this thought, absently staring up at the action, when Ron nudged him. "You're up, mate."
Asriel's eyes went wide, shocked back to the present. "Oh, right, thanks." He stood up from the stands, holding his Nimbus in a deathgrip. He stepped on to the pitch, mounted his broom. He had to tell his broom 'Up' twice before he was lifted into the sky. He guided himself to the goalpost. He closed his eyes, and took a single deep breath. He remained gripping the broom with his left paw, opened his eyes, and waved his right paw in a symbol of readiness.
He really wasn't. There wasn't any deception to this first shot on his goals, they just started at about midfield, heading straight for him, and the ball came at him from the cannon that was Angelina's arm. He reacted in time, just barely getting the pads of his right paw on the edge of the ball. It wasn't that he really got enough force to block the ball, so much that it was just enough off target that he managed to force it to bounce harmlessly off the edge of the hoop.
As much jubilation as he felt that he actually blocked the first shot was tempered by the fact he couldn't continue as he started. The next two shots – though he managed to touch one of them, were perfectly placed so that it didn't matter as the gently bounced through the goals.
He gritted his teeth. As much as he expected to get shown up, that doesn't mean he had to like it. Angelina passed the quaffle forward to Katie, she threw the ball straight up, where Alicia caught and threw it at the center upper hoop in one smooth motion. This time, Asriel was up to the task, pulling his broom up and managing to catch this one, cradling the quaffle against his body.
He could hear cheering coming from below, but he forced himself to only give a quick wave to his sisters down below, tossed the ball back to the chasers, and got back into his position for the next assault.
However, having proven their prospective keeper could defend the center ring, the attacking Gryffindor team focused on the other two. This tested Asriel and he ran just slightly better than one for every three shots. After about twenty overall, Angelina tossed the ball to Katie and flew up to Asriel. "That wasn't bad, Asriel, but it's time to give the others a go."
"It wasn't bad," Asriel mumbled to himself, as he brought his Nimbus 2001 to a landing, "It was terrible.
"I think you did alright," Chara said, as they jogged up to him and the third applicant took to face the trial by Quaffle fire.
"Did I?" mumbled Asriel.
"I think you did okay too," Frisk told him. "I mean, you blocked more than the first person did."
"Really? How many more?" Asriel asked, rising slightly out of his funk.
"One," Chara admitted. "Look, we're second years. You're the youngest person trying out. You knew that Asriel. It's okay. You did your best."
They took seats in the stands and watched the remaining tryouts. It became clear that it wasn't that the keepers were bad... it was that the Chasers were that good. "You know, it's actually easier for them like this," Chara remarked as the fourth person went up for her go. "There's no other chasers trying to knock the ball loose and above all, no bludgers. They can focus on the shots."
Ron was the player to take to the sky, and it was clear that from the get go that he was the most experienced player of all of the people trying for the positions. He didn't center himself between the goals, like Asriel and the others had, but patrolled between the three hoops, continually changing direction. He also mostly didn't keep a hand on his broom, directing it only with his knees. While this reduced his stability, it gave him far more ability to defend his goals.
"I wish I had that confidence," Asriel said in wonder, not able to keep a touch of envy from seeping into his voice. "How is he managing to stay upright?"
"I don't know," Chara admitted, admiration in her words. "I know I couldn't do that."
Which wasn't to say Ron was infallible, all though he blocked the first three on the spin, he then missed the next two consecutive ones, both of which fell through the scoring hoops. He regained his form after that and went on another tear of blocking a number of shots in a row before the Gryffindor chasers really started ramping up their shots. Asriel could absolutely see the difference. Now that they were going full tilt, Ron was having problems keeping up, though he was still saving more than he was letting score.
Despite Ron's audition going on longer than anyone else's, and the outcome not really being in any doubt, the siblings didn't leave. They waited for the players to land their brooms. There was a perfunctory huddle between the girls and the twins, ostensibly to decide who was getting the position. But Asriel was pretty sure there was only one possible answer.
"After careful consideration," Angelina announced, "We have selected Ron Weasley as our new keeper. Congratulations, Ron, and thanks everyone for coming out!"
Ron stood on the pitch, looking somewhat glassy eyed. Asriel and his sisters went over to congratulate him. "Great job, Ron," Asriel said, holding out a paw to shake.
Ron took it, still looking shell shocked. "Thanks... I'm having trouble believing it."
"Believe it, little brother," said one of his twin brothers, coming over and punching his shoulder in congratulations.
"This makes up for your prefect badge!" remarked the other twin, punching Ron's other shoulder. "Come on, let's go up to the common room and celebrate. We'll get you a butterbeer to celebrate! After we clean up, anyway."
As the crowd began to disperse, Asriel was struck by a thought, he jogged to catch up with Angelina before she could vanish into the showers. "Excuse me, Angelina?" Asriel asked.
Angelina stopped, looking around at the monster. "Yes?"
"Uhm, I'm sorry. I just wanted to ask if there was any way I might practice with you. I still want to be a keeper, maybe in a few years. Do you think that could be a possibility?"
Angelina cocked her head, looking around at her teammates. "We are allowed a reserve in each position. We don't normally but there's really no reason not to. Would anyone object if we put him on the roster as a reserve?"
"Oh!" Chara said excitedly. "Do you have a reserve beater?"
Angelina laughed. "Sure. Why not? But I need to make this clear, if there is an opening on the team, I'm going to hold open tryouts. I mean, there were better players than you, not just Ron. But they're gone, and you stuck it out to ask. I think it feels right to reward that. Besides, it'll give Fred and George someone to work against in practice." She looked over at Frisk. "Do you want to join us too?"
Frisk backed up, shaking her head negatively. "No! I mean, no thank you, Angelina. I... don't really like flying."
Angelina laughed again. "With your size... I'd think you might make a good seeker. Harry needs someone to practice against too. But okay. I'll be in contact with you two then with the practice schedule, though the first one will be tomorrow. But for now, I really do need to get cleaned up. Excuse me, please."
"Thank you again!" Chara said, nodding her head. Asriel echoed her, and they headed back up to Gryffindor tower.
Frisk's second week of classes were a lot quieter than her first week. Her homework increased, but she was able to pretty well clear the majority of her list each night. Asriel and Chara, on the other hand, were being slightly overwhelmed with their new practice schedule as reserves on the Gryffindor quidditch team. The complaints about Ms. Umbridge's "teaching", or more honestly, the lack of it, had increased in volume and tone, but Frisk didn't add to it. She thought it was important to keep her head down.
Thus, it was to Frisk's surprise, that after her Friday afternoon transfiguration class, involving the starting steps of transfigurating a tortoise into a teapot that Professor McGonagall had tapped her on the shoulder. "I need to speak to you after the bell, Ms. Dreemurr."
With this being the fourth time in three years, being pulled aside was becoming a little tradition of Frisk's. As her best guess as to why she was being pulled aside had to do with telling the headmaster about the blood quill, Frisk was not feeling especially comfortable. Frisk had frantically searched her thoughts, but as she hadn't had another altercation with Draco or Cormac, and she didn't even need an excuse to go to Hogsmeade this time around, she came up empty. When the professor charmed the door to close with a thud, Frisk looked up at her apprehensively.
"Ms. Dreemurr, I have a question for you." The professor took a second to focus on her, adjusting her spectacles. "Do you recognize the name 'Macintosh'?"
Frisk felt her mouth drop open in shock. "How..." she sputtered. "How do you know that name? My family doesn't know... that was from before I fell into the Underground." She took a deep breath to regain her composure. "I do... they were one of the foster families I had. They were American... and they had to give me up when they went back to the States. Why... why are you asking about them?"
"Because they've come looking for you." Prof. McGonagall replied tersely. Frisk could feel her heart skip a beat. There was something in Prof. McGonagall's voice that… well, Frisk wasn't sure what it meant. It seemed extra 'crisp'. "You will be meeting with the minister himself on Saturday."