You're a protagonist Harry
Chapter 19 – You thought this would be FUN
…
"You're really gonna come watch us train?"
"Course I am."
"Watch us, train?"
"You make it sound weird."
In his mind it was weird. He could understand going to watch an actual game, but watching people learn to play a game? Just went to show he was not hardcore enough yet.
"I don't get it."
"S'not so hard to understand," said Ron. "It's like a story. It wouldn't be any good if the hero saved the day, just like that. You wanna see him work for it."
"I'm the hero then?" he said with evident disbelief.
"You are the Seeker," Ron reminded. "Game doesn't end till you put that ball through a hoop."
"Or the other guy does."
"Yeah, you wanna avoid that," said the ginger as they came out to the pitch. "So, you remember the combo's I taught you?"
Harry nodded, "All two of them."
"Well, good," he said. "I'll be up in the stands. Try not to die."
Harry growled at his friend's retreating back, "Just had to say it."
It's not that he was overly afraid of dying, but the idea of dying for a game, that was just too mortifying to contemplate.
Putting such thoughts out of his mind like an annoying relative who has waaaaaaaay overstayed their welcome, he marched onto the pitch where most of the team stood waiting, including a pair of familiar gingers.
"There he is."
"The man of the hour."
"He's quick."
"He's dashing."
"The ladies swoon as he passes."
"Wizards look at their wands and cry."
"The marvelous."
"The fabulous."
"Are you two done?"
The twins grinned while looking at him like they were seriously considering the question.
"Don't mind them Harry," said a dark-skinned girl he recognized as one of the first-string chasers. "They were just born defective."
"Angie! We're hurt!"
"Gravely wounded!"
"Right here."
"The kidneys?"
"I thought that was the liver."
"No, no, it's some sort of bladder."
"Pay them no mind," said the Chaser, slinging her arm over Harry's shoulder and leading him away from the twins and their anatomical discussion.
"Bit much, are they," Harry opined.
"It's an excess of personality," she philosophized, "two peoples worth but only one brain between them to hold it all."
" "We heard that!" "
"Good for you!" she shouted back, then promptly ignored them. "I'm Angelina Johnson," she properly introduced. "These are my girls, Alicia Spinnet, and Katie Bell."
The two girls smiled and waved and, being the 'gentleman' he was, he replied in kind, but more. "Three lovely ladies, all to myself. I'm not gonna question it, who wants to go first."
To his great fortune, they chose to find his less than subtle form of flirting funny rather than annoying.
"You're just lucky you're cute," said Angelina, giving his cheek a good poke.
"I am?" he cheered, giggling the girls yet again.
"Cassidy was right," said Alicia, "he is trouble."
"Cassidy's just upset I blew up the family room."
"She mentioned that," said Katie. "How'd you pull that off."
"I have no idea."
It was a conundrum he'd mulled over several days. His lacking understanding of magic made it an exercise in futility, but he didn't feel too bad about it. Seamus had exploded spells five times by then, including one not two minutes prior, and Harry's eyebrows had grown back by morning.
"Alright you scrummy lot! Gather round!"
The assembled players of first and second string trotted over to their bellowing captain who stood next to a pair of equipment chests.
"Glad to see you all showed up."
"Any reason you thought we wouldn't?" said Harry.
"Yeah. My first year on the team the whole second string was a no show for our first practice, cept me. Bunch a malcontents. That said, I'll be expecting a lot better out of all you than that bunch."
"Sounds like we're already exceeding expectations," said one of the second-string Chasers, a name Harry swore he'd learn… eventually.
"I got some idea what you all can do at tryouts. But that was individually. Time to see how you function as a team. We'll try without the runer, so Seekers, you're gonna play number four chaser. Got it?"
Harry and his second-string counterpart Kyle (because he had learned that name) nodded. This was basic starting formation, as Ron had explained to him. Most games didn't see the rune ball in play for at least fifteen minutes. The longest time recorded had been five hours, at which point they realized the ball was defective and got another one.
"Balls up!"
The bludgers shot into the sky, followed by the quaffle and the game was on. If you can call a one-sided trouncing a game. The first string proved why they were the first string. The second string rarely had the ball and fumbled around like they couldn't tell their heads from their arse.
Harry felt a bit overwhelmed at first too, but his teammates were quick to bring him in and make him part of the plays, however badly he fumbled in the beginning. But lo and behold, the longer he played, the less he fumbled, the more he shot, and the more he scored.
"TIME! Alright, bring it in everyone. Bring it in!"
The second string was more than happy to 'bring it in' as they were told. Most of them looked like they were ready to pack it in as well.
"Alright everyone, that was pretty good."
"Pretty good!" cried the second-string keeper. "They beat us up one side and down the other."
Wood nodded, "About what I expected."
The looks on their faces were horrified. The Chasers tittered at the expressions.
"Come on now, you're second string for a reason," said Angelina.
"You haven't even started training," added Katie.
"Speaking of which. Now that you've all had your fun, time to get down to business."
"FUN!" the second string exclaimed and were promptly ignored.
Fun was the last thing they'd be having as Wood set them to their drills. Harry and Kyle were given a singe rune ball and set to chase it. Wood punched in a specific combination and the ball took off, zipping around the stadium like a drunken horsefly.
"Have at it."
And have at it they did. Both were flying the same sort of school standard broom, so as far as equipment went, they were perfectly matched. That was as far as it went.
Kyle was a year older than Harry and clearly knew how to fly, but Harry, who had spent perhaps six hours total in an airborne state, made the older boy look like it was his first flying lesson. And what's worse, he wasn't even trying to.
The objective was simple, chase the ball, catch the ball, release the ball, repeat, and Harry went at this exercise with great gusto. He coaxed out of the old broom more speed and maneuverability than it had seen in its entire existence.
The rune ball was wily, swooping and swirling, ducking and dodging around everything and anything it could put between it and its pursuers, but never did it manage to lose Harry for long. Seven times it was caught and released before Harry saw Ron waving to him.
"This one's all yours Kyle," he told his fellow seeker, hovering down to the stands to see what had his friend all excited.
"That was awesome, you're really doing great Harry!"
Harry snickered at his friend's exuberance, "Think so?"
"Absolutely. This is almost as good as that time I got to watch the Chudley Cannons practice."
Harry didn't understand it but if it made his friend happy, who was he to judge. "Hope the real thing won't be a disappointment."
"Nah, you still got almost a month before the first game of the season. You should be, uh, hold on, incoming."
Harry glanced back to see the rune ball heading straight for them at breakneck speed, at least it would, if it had a neck it could break.
"I got it." Reaching out he caught the ball and let it spin him around his broom. It fought him as he hadn't put his fingers in the hole and wasn't planning to, making to release the rambunctious thing when something clobbered him from behind.
Kyle, having finally caught up, crashed into the hovering Harry, knocking them both into the stands, Harry on the bottom.
"I almost had it."
A more blatant lie he'd never heard, "Get off me!"
Slow to respond, Harry bucked him off instead, "Idiot. Watch where you're going."
"Hey Harry, look what I got."
The rune ball struggled in his grip as he punched in a new combination, "What're you doing?"
"You've just been going after the standard chase array. This'll be more of a challenge," he said, punching the last rune and letting the ball go, "It's called the Star Chaser."
Apt, since the first thing the ball did was shoot for the heavens.
"Well, go get it Harry. Oh, and uh, you too, I guess."
Harry sighed as he snatched up his broom, "Ron, we're mates and all, but do me a favor, stop trying to help," he said, and shot after the much more energetic rune ball.