1Chapter Thirteen
It was a bright, sunny day - perfect flying conditions. Not a cloud in the sky. Minerva could not help but feel confident as she headed down to the field, which was probably all Albus's doing. Speaking of which...
Minerva looked out to the field, and saw Albus standing amidst a gaggle of underclassmen, next to the quidditch captain, Devlin Murray. How he beat her to the pitch, she had no idea, except for an inkling suspicion that he knew many more secret passageways throughout the school. He had a sly smile on, and pretended not to notice Minerva arriving.
"All right, I've got Professor Dumbledore here to make sure none of you try anything underhanded to get your position," growled Devlin. "Plus he was a fair player back in the day, so he can help me decide...hope you've all been performing well in transfiguration."
There were a few nervous mutterings. Devlin laughed.
"Right then, potential chasers follow me!"
Minerva made her way to the side of the field to wait for seekers to be called. There she saw Myrtle, grinning madly.
"Wow, if Dumbledore is judging I say you've got a fair chance, Min!"
More than fair, she thought to herself. "I guess."
"He always talks about how great you are," she continued. "He told me about one time when you transformed a lampshade into a replica of the Great Pyramid..."
"But transforming a lampshade into the Great Pyramid isn't going to help me find the snitch."
Myrtle laughed and they sat down to watch everyone fly. It was a bit of a joke. Many second years obviously did not know one end of their broom from the other. A few Hufflepuffs arrived by mistake (Myrtle kindly corrected them that their tryouts were the next day.) One muggle-born brought a muggle broom, and was most disappointed when it did not lift off the ground. Even Minerva had to laugh at that.
Finally after exhausting all the possibilities of Chasers, Beaters, and Keepers, the Seekers were called. With another 'good luck' from Myrtle, Minerva headed to the center of the field. Only three Seekers were trying out - herself, a fourth year named Angelina, and a fifth year named Daniel.
"Right, I'm going to let Dumbledore run this section of tryouts, since he was a Seeker himself," said Devlin, "But mind you, I'm watching too!"
Albus smiled. "I'm going to take turns flying up with each of you into the air and throwing a snitch sized ball at you, to test your sight and reflexes. Who wants to go first?"
Angelina promptly stepped forward. "I will, professor." Albus inclined his head and mounted his broom, while Angelina mounted hers. Then they were up in the air, and Albus was throwing the ball at her. She was fairly good, but did fumble a few tries that Minerva believed she could've caught. Still, Angelina seemed moderately happy with her outcome as she touched down after the test.
Daniel stepped forward next. He was very fast - he was a blur as Albus threw the balls to each side, trying to throw him off. Still, he did not fumble one until the end, when Daniel had to dive for the ball and didn't manage to catch it. Somehow it managed to land in Minerva's hands, and she threw it back up to Albus.
"Nice catch, Miss McGonagall!" he shouted down. She couldn't help but grin.
Finally, it was Minerva's turn. Albus looked her in the eye, his face still holding a sly smile. "Well, Miss McGonagall?"
Minerva returned the smile. "Only if you can catch me, Professor."
She darted up into the sky, the wind blowing back her ponytail. Albus was right behind her. Minerva swirled her broom around and put a safe distance between them. Then it began.
Always Minerva had been of a competitive nature, but this was different. Somehow this tryout connected in her mind with letting Albus down, which was something she could not and would not do. The ball was like fire between them, shooting back and forth. Minerva was fine with this - she knew she was excellent at catching close range. However, she knew Albus knew that also, and knew he would try and trip her up as he did with Daniel.
He raised his hand up to throw the ball down, and Minerva began her rapid descent. It was only a foot out of reach - an inch -
Then again, so was the ground, but that didn't matter...
She slammed into the ground, falling off her broom but still catching it. Calmly she stood up and threw it back at him with such force he almost missed it. "Impressive," he shouted from the air, before also landing.
"Professor Dumbledore and I will discuss the results and come back to you and tell you who's in," Devlin said. They walked away from the group a little.
Daniel looked at Minerva. "I heard that this is the first time you've flown since your first year," he said.
"I flew once a week or so ago, but other than that, yes," Minerva confirmed.
His eyes widened. "That's really good...I've never seen anyone go in a dive like you did."
She laughed. "Probably because I've never been trained otherwise, so I just rely on instinct."
Albus and Devlin came back within five minutes. "After careful deliberation, we've decided on Minerva as out seeker," said Devlin, "On account of she did not miss any shot, and had impressive reflexes."
She smiled. "Thanks. So when's practice?"
"First one is Monday at 4."
"I'll be there, then," she said, before turning to tell Myrtle the good news.