Unexpected consequences

Ch. 3 quidditch

The next few days went by pretty uneventful for Abby. She met a few other people that were in other houses and continued to avoid the ones in her own. The only person she really talked to was Neville and she was quickly finding out that he is a very good friend.

After she had been at school for about 2 weeks she got a letter from her father. It was simple and to the point, "I hope you are keeping up with your end of the bargain as I have been, you are not to remove the spells at any time. Remember that I know when you remove them. I will not permit it any more."

Abby signed and put the letter down. There wasn't even any kind of closing at the bottom of it. She was reminded to hide who she really is and not to let any of her friends know her real name or what she really looks like. She did feel a little bit guilty about taking off the spell at night for a while a few days ago. She had promised her father that she would not take it off in any circumstance.

She looked around at the people sitting around her. That morning when she woke up she had been the first one in the great hall and Hedwig had been there waiting for her. She thanked the family pet but was not exactly happy to hear from her father, she never was.

There were now a few people who were sitting around the table with her but she didn't even know who they were. One of them was a girl that she knew is in her year and her house but she had no clue what her name is. There were a few other boys sitting farther down the table talking about the upcoming quidditch tryouts.

She had heard her father talk about quidditch before to a few people but she never played it before. She knew that her father had been on the team in his school years but she didn't know if he had been any good or not.

A sudden thought struck her and she grabbed her bag while she stood up and made her way out the door. When she got out the door she stopped and looked around to see if there was anyone who could help her out at all. She went up to one of the paintings on the wall and asked for directions like she had learned to do pretty quickly after she got here.

Following the directions of the old man whose painting had been hanging outside of the great hall she soon found herself in the trophy room. She started doing some quick math in her head and found what she was looking for pretty quickly.

Her fathers name was written in little gold letters for the quidditch cup for one of the years that he had attended school. A little more math told her that is was his third year. She also saw his name again a few years later. That was all she needed to see, she was going to try out for the quidditch team. All she had to do was get a broom somehow.

20 minutes later Abby was sitting in the great hall again but this time she had Neville sitting next to her. The two of them were contemplating how to get her a broom that she could practice on and try out with. Neville came up with the idea to ask Professor Malfoy if she could borrow his.

"I know he has one in his office I've seen it. I had a detention with him once because of some unfinished homework and it was sitting there as if he had been riding it earlier that day. I think it's a Nimbus 2001 but I could be wrong. You do know that that broom is the second best in the world? The only one better is the fire bolt! NO one has been able to come up with any way to improve it since the Firebolt came out years ago…"

Neville went on and on about the Firebolt and all the different brooms that were possible. Abby had a pouch with some coins in it but she didn't think they would be enough for any good broom.

"Ok Neville…. Neville… NEVILLE!" Abby had to get his attention before he talked himself into a pit. "I will ask Professor Malfoy and if I cant borrow his just until tryouts in 2 days then I will think of something else."

Abby stood up and started walking away but was stopped by Neville's strange look. "What?"

"Where are you going?"

"To ask if I can borrow the broom…"

"Now?"

"Yes now, is there a problem with that?"

"Well no I just don't think he would like you coming to his room this early."

"Well I don't care. He's probably up so I am going to go now, good bye."

Abby walked out of the great hall and down to the dungeons where Professor Malfoy had his office. She stopped outside of the office and listened for a minute to make sure he was awake before she knocked.

The door opened and a surprised looking Malfoy was standing in front of her. "Is there something wrong?" he asked her with a look of concern.

"Well no not really but I wanted to ask you something…"

She was let inside and Malfoy went back to where he had been sitting behind his desk grading papers and waited for her to ask him.

"Well… I wanted to know if I could borrow your broom to practice."

Malfoy was shocked at her boldness and considered it for a minute. This year the team needed a seeker and one other person trying out made things that much better, there was a possibility that she had talent…

"I am going to overlook the fact that none of the students are supposed to know that I have a broom and ask you what happens if you make the team? Will you have a broom of your own?"

Abby looked a little embarrassed and said, "I think my dad will get me one. He loved to play when he was here so he might have one from his time that I can us until he can get a better one."

"Are you SURE your father would buy you a broom if you made the team? They tend to be really expensive…"

"Yes I'm sure." Abby didn't want to say anything that would mess up her chances of trying to fly a little bit. She didn't think that she would make the team but she just wanted to say she had tried.

"And if somehow you destroy my broom?"

"I will get you a new one sir. No questions asked."

Malfoy thought about it for a minute. Abby had shown a great deal of responsibility with everything in class so far… so he knew she would take care of his broom. "Alright, you can borrow it. If you mess it up I expect payment."

Later that day Abby was out on the quidditch field with Neville trying to figure out how to fly. "You have NEVER been on a broom before and you want to try out for the quidditch team in 2 days? How do you know you will be any good?"

"I've just got a feeling is all… I have to try."

"OK then. I have only flown a couple times so I'm no genius in the air but I can tell you the basics."

Abby was not listening to Neville one bit. He kept going on and on about the right grip so you don't fall off of the broom and how to steer it. He looked up at Abby and saw that she was not next to him any more. He looked around and tried to find out where she was but didn't see her.

He heard her giggle from… the air? He looked up and sure enough she was sitting on the broom as if she had done it a million times and was completely comfortable with being 20 feet above ground.

"Hey you better not hurt yourself!"

"I wont!" She was then flying around the pitch, weaving her way through the goal posts and suddenly diving straight towards the ground. Neville looked as if he was going to faint but then she pulled out of the dive in enough time to not hit and was close enough to the ground that she could stick her hand out and she could touch the grass.

Abby laughed and swooped a couple more times before landing next to Neville again.

"How did you know how to do that?" He asked with a shocked look on his face.

"I have no idea…"

Two days later Abby was standing on the quidditch pitch with a dozen other Slytherins who wanted to try out. The captain, Mariah, started out by asking how long everyone had been flying.

"One person said, "13 years." Another "4 years" and then Abby "3 days…ok 2"

Mariah raised an eyebrow and looked at Abby like she wanted to get her done and gone. "Ok you do first. I wasn't to see you in action. I am going to release the snitch right in front of you and you have to follow it and catch it as fast as you can. Got it?"

Abby smiled and nodded. She glanced at professor Malfoy, who was standing not to far away supervising, and saw that he looked pissed. 'Maybe I should have mentioned to him that I hadn't ever used a broom before…' she thought as she watched Mariah take out the snitch.

Mariah smirked and threw the snitch so that Abby could take off after is. Abby's skills rivaled those of the greatest seeker of all time, Harry Potter, and she found and caught the snitch within about 30 seconds of having it released.

"That was an easy one. Test her the right way next time!" one of the boys yelled. Abby glared but agreed to be tested again.

This time she had to stand with her back to the field and wait a full minute before turning around, mounting, and searching for the snitch. Abby was soon swooping through the sky again, searching for the snitch. She was moving so fast that no one knew how she could be looking while she flew. She did one last swoop and landed on the ground by the rest of the people there.

"Give up already?" Mariah asked. Abby shook her head and held out her hand. She had found the snitch. "That took her… 53 seconds. Who wants to go next?"

The quidditch tryouts took another hour or so to complete and by the end of it Abby had been chosen as the next seeker for Slytherin.

Abby was on her way back to her common room when professor Malfoy showed up behind her suddenly. "So why didn't you mention that you had never done anything on a broom before when you asked to borrow mine?"

Abby shrugged, "I didn't think you would loan it to me if I had."

"You're probably right…"

A few simple good byes and congratulations later Abby was in her common room. She looked around and saw that there was no one else there. She ran up to her dorm and checked there too, no one.

She rummaged through her trunk and pulled out her cell phone. She dialed quickly and after it rung twice a familiar voice answered the other side.

"Hello?"

"Hi Daddy, its me. How you doing?"

"Pretty good how about yourself?" Abby laughed. It was formal answer but she could hear the smile in his voice.

"I'm great. Guess what I did today!"

A few seconds of silence and she heard, "I don't know. I'm no good at guessing games. Why don't you just tell me?"

"I tried out for the quidditch team!"

"Really? How did that go?"

"I am officially the new seeker for Slytherin house."

Her father was thrilled to put it lightly. She knew he would be. They spent the next hour talking about quidditch and school and everything in between.

"So did you make any friends since we last talked?"

"Only this one guy named Neville… He's pretty cool. He says that his dad went to school with you."

"Yea, I knew a Neville. I have one more question. Where did you get a broom from?"

Abby hesitated and said, "well Professor Malfoy let me borrow his for tryouts but I need to get one of my own… I can't use his all season…"

Harry laughed. "He actually let you touch his precious broom? Well no worries… I have one that you can borrow. If you decide that you really don't want to use it then I will get you a new one but I must say that there is nothing wrong with it."

"Thanks daddy! I am really happy I made the team… I was worried that I would suck."

"Of course you wouldn't suck. You ARE the daughter of Harry Potter after all."

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SO how did you like that chapter? I am sorry to say that I am going on vacation a week from today and I probably will not be able to update before then... I am going to florida for a week with my brother and sister in law so I will not be able to do any writing while I am gone either... I really am sorry! I promise to work real hard when I get back to update as fast as I can!

SO now that you know, PLEASE REVIEW! Tell me what you think about it!