Disclaimer: Harry Potter isnt mine…But Shawn and Salem and everything you don't know about are…
Chapter 10: Make Like Geese
Last Time:
"BOOH-YAH!" Mason screamed as he and Troy shared a high-five. I jumped up and down as Troy pulled me into a hug.
"Nick, Alex, Kevin…out to the track, the rest of you guys have the day off, congratulations." Coach Shand said begrudgingly. I shook it off, who cared? WE WON!
--Now--
"Wanna play some Egyptian Rat Screw?" Troy asked as he shuffled a deck of cards. Apparently we're talking again; however, because of that, Nick's stopped talking to me.
Boys are stupid.
"Sure." I said as he dealt me in. We were currently sitting on the plane that would take us to Hogwarts. We had taken off about two hours ago, but with added Wizarding technology, we were set to arrive in about two hours
"Students, gather around, we have to go over our formation." Madame Johanson said as she walked into the student section of the plane. Three teachers have come along with Madame J so that two could teach the healers and two could teach the defensemen. Unfortunately, they have enlisted help from the accelerated as well.
"Okay, this is how we will start out." She pulled out a white board with 8 'X's drawn on it, in a 'V' formation.
"We will begin in a flying V. Shawn, you and Derek will be at the head, followed by Nick and Tory and Troy and Carmen. The rest of you will follow in the order up here. Now, you will fly in this V formation for 150 yards before Shawn will lead you into a sharp downwards turn, at about 45 degrees. You will continue in this V, until the ends fly forward, and you fall into a line. Kevin, you will be at the right end of the line, and the rest of you will turn around Kevin so that you will form a vertical line. Shawn, you will break ranks and fly towards the front once again. Fly in three spirals, and then you should be at estimated touch down point. You will be playing our school song, which I know you all know so well. Any questions?" She asked pleasantly as she stepped away from the board. It was now littered with X's and black lines.
No one made a move.
"Okay, you can all come up here and see who you are flying with. I will alert you when there is 30 minutes until drop-off." She said before walking off to another part of the plane. Troy smiled at me, and I looked over to Nick. He was glaring hard at Troy.
"What is going on with you two?" I asked quietly as Derek and Carmen joined in on our game.
"Nothing." He said shortly.
"Tell me later." I persuaded.
"Fine, just don't say anything to him." He pleaded.
"Like he would talk to me anyway." I retorted. He looked thoughtful, but nodded. The four of us played cards for about an hour before Madame J came by again.
"Guys, you should start getting ready, the band uniforms are in the front, and the flyers uniforms are in the back." She walked out again. Troy and I got up and said good-bye to Carmen and Derek before walking to the back of the plane.
Behind the separator was basically a locker room. There were 8 little cubicle things that contained our jerseys, pants, shoes, hair-ties, gloves, and basically everything else you could think of. Obviously, this was a very serious part of the entire tournament.
Lame.
I walked over to the cubicle that had 'BLACK' strewn across the top. It was right in between Troy's and Nick's….Great.
I pulled out the jersey; it looked like a basic soccer/quidditch jersey. The basic body was black, to represent the badgers. There was a thick line of silver that went from the collar down to both sleeves, which represented the snakes. 'Salem' was written in bold bronze across the front to represent the eagles. And the stitching of the whole shirt was in gold, for the lions. Our school crest was put on the back, and it was huge. Across the shoulders of mine was 'S. Black,' and on the left breast was a silver 'C' to represent Captain. I smiled, it was beautiful.
The pants were white jeans, which were kinda weird, but I guess its okay. We had black flying boots (they look like combat boots, only hotter) and our flying gloves were white fingerless ones. Our goggles were black, like most goggles, and all the girls had white hair-ties that had white ribbon coming off the sides, saying their name and team in their colors. Overall, we looked pretty hot.
Everyone managed to get dressed fairly quickly, and just as I was buckling my boots, I heard a shriek come from Kevin.
"Um…are you okay Kevin?" I asked skeptically as I pulled out my wand.
"Oh My MERLIN! We've got STRIKERS!" He sounded extremely girlish as he said this, but I swear to you, he's straight.
I think.
"No way!" Travis, a seventh year Eagle, shouted joyously as he dug into his locker. He pulled out a sleek black broom. This was the Lightning Striker Heavy-Duty Full Throttle Dark Trotter XLS. Also known as the Striker. It was the successor to my current broom, the Canadian Lightning Striker, and has only been released in British Columbia.
"How the hell…?" I wondered out loud. I was answered by shrugs and a chorus of similar notions.
The broom was completely black, made of ebony, and the twigs were cut and polished into a sleek curve. The tip of the tail was white, as was the tip of the handle. It was standard broom length, about five feet, and was the second lightest broom on the market. As well as the second fastest. This broom was built for beaters and chasers. Its brother broom, the Lightning Striker Light Weight is built for seekers, and was the lightest on the market. They had a whole line for keepers as well, the Lightning Striker Blocker XLS, which was longer and had a sturdier tail.
Overall, the Lightning Striker is amazing and no one should ever be able to tell you otherwise.
"So basically, the board spent all this money on us, when really this money could have gone to fund our schools gobstone club? Dang…the boys aren't going to be pleased." I said softly. This earned a few chuckles from the rest of the group as we all grabbed our brooms and walked out of the room, me in front. When we got out there, we were greeted by the band.
They were dressed in basic marching band uniforms (minus the feathered hats) and their color scheme was like ours. Their whole uniform basically matched ours except they had fingered gloves, and had black drumsticks. They were laden with their symbols, quads, and snares. And we all sat down with our partners, waiting for our cue to head out.
I sat next to Derek, and noticed that he, like me, had a glimmering letter on his chest, only his was gold, and was an 'M', to symbolize Major.
"You ready for this?" He asked me quietly.
"I don't know, music is something you always remember, so you guys have it easy. But the flyers haven't practiced this. Yeah, we're all capable, but we've only ever seen it on paper." I confessed my fears to him. He nodded in understanding.
"Yeah, I know what you mean. I can't believe I'm major though, that's going to be tough, directing a band and holding on to a broom at the same time." He looked uneasily at me.
"I think that's why she chose me as captain. Even though I do crazy things on a broom, my ride is smooth, so don't even worry about a thing. You guys have put sticking charms on your equipment right?" He nodded. "Then you'll be fine, just leave it all up to me." I smiled comfortingly.
"You'll do fine too, I mean, all you guys have to do is make like geese and fly in a V!" He laughed playfully. I quirked an eyebrow at him and let out a chuckle.
Madame J told us all to gather around the exit door. I grabbed my broom and pulled Derek up with me as we all stood around her.
"Okay, flyers, you all know the routine?" There was a series of nods. "Then I want you all to follow any movement that Shawn makes alright? Everything she does, you repeat, do you all understand?" Once again, there was a series of nods.
"Good luck, I will see you all down there." She nodded to me and Derek. One by one we all mounted our brooms. All of the band kids were facing forward, except for Derek who was turned around to direct the band. I slid my goggles into place and flexed my fingers before re-strapping my gloves.
Madame J nodded once more as she opened the door. I saluted her mockingly, before nodding to Derek and kicking off.
The first thing I realized was that it was freezing, and I should have put a warming charm on myself. But I shook it off; we had a job to do. I set out in the original formation. I could hear the band playing behind me, but I didn't chance a look back. We traveled in the V for about 200 yards, before I turned the broom down. I heard a sharp gasp come from Derek, but I ignored him as I flattened myself against my broom. This was my element.
When I could see the grounds surrounding Hogwarts and the students began to look like ants, I waved an arm in the air, signaling for the ends to come forward. Troy and Nick's brooms were by my side instantly as the rest of the team began to fall in. We turned gracefully into a straight line, before I managed to dislodge myself and fly out to the front of the line. I could feel Derek go off balance behind me.
"Hold on!" I shouted. I wasn't sure if he heard me, but I gripped the broom tightly and led the team in a spiral. That's where things went wrong.
Somewhere in the moment where my body was turned upside down, Derek fell back against me and knocked me from my seat. I fell forward over the handle and gripped my broom tightly, hanging by it. I turned slightly to see the rest of the flyers doing this as well, giving me murderous looks. I shook my head and swung myself back over. There was slight difficulty, and I could see Derek looking angry, but I brushed it off and led my team in two more spirals.
"Touch down!" I warned Derek as we skimmed past the Hogwarts wards. I felt the coolness wash over me before I touched down in a small clearing, about 100 feet away from the students. As soon as my boots hit the ground I could hear seven other dull thuds behind me, I looked to see the rosy cheeks and winded smiles before releasing a small smile. Derek clapped my shoulder.
We had done it.
The team began to trek over to the students; each of us had a secretive smile on our faces. I pulled my goggles from my eyes as Troy came up next to me, slipping an arm around my waist.
"Great job, but what the hell was that?!" He asked angrily. I could totally see him smiling though.
"I fell." I said bluntly. He chuckled at me and nodded, before we arrived before Madame J.
"All present and accounted for Madame." I said formally as I stood at about-face. This is how we were taught to act in front of others, as ambassadors to the school.
"Thank you Miss Black, you may lead the team into the Great Hall, just follow the Hogwarts students." She said with a nod. I nodded in affirmation before I motioned for the group standing behind me to follow.
"That was incredible."
"I don't think I've ever seen flying like that."
"Honestly, how many quidditch stars are going to be here this year?" The whispers flowing through the students of Hogwarts were honestly quite laughable. I could see Troy laughing quietly as he sent a cheeky--no--mocking grin at me. I laughed along with him as we arrived in the Great Hall. No one really knew where to sit, so we just sat at the first one we arrived to. I looked up at the banner above us.
Gryffindor.
Great, I'm sitting in enemy territory.
"That was brilliant!"
"Fantastic broommanship--"
"--We do believe."
"I'm Fred--"
"--And I'm George--"
"Weasley." I looked questioningly between the two red heads that had squashed me in between them. Troy sat across from me looking stunned.
"I'm Shawn, Shawn Black." I said quietly.
"Pleasure to meet you--"
"--Miss Black." Fred--no--George started. I am certain, however, that the other one finished the sentence.
"Now tell me, Shawn, do you play quidditch?" One of them asked.
"Of course she does Fred, honestly, you've never heard of this girl? She's the beater for the Canadian Flyers!" George said incredulously. I was stunned that people knew me by name.
"Oh…so, do you play quidditch?" Fred continued. I giggled slightly and as I was about to answer, Dumbledore stood up.
"Welcome students! Today, we will have a feast in honor of the Quad-Wizard tournament! Tonight, the judge will be unveiled, and tomorrow, Halloween, it will choose a champion from each house. This champion is bound to compete in each of the three tasks, before a winner can take home the trophy, 1000 galleons, and the glory for their school!" There was a cry of cheers.
"Now, as you all know, students must be 17 years of age to enter the tournament. Be aware that this tournament is not for the fair-hearted. Once you enter your name, if you are chosen, you are magically bound to compete." He took on a somber expression, but no one seemed to notice as the students let out more cheers.
"Before we can begin the feast, we would like to ask that the Salem students take seats at their traditional team tables in order to save space." He asked not unkindly. I sighed and said good-bye to those that I sat near. Troy sent me a sad look that I returned as he walked away towards the Ravenclaw table. I walked to the other end of the hall to find the Slytherins.
Lo and behold, there was Viktor Krum. And my ever favorite cuzzy.
Draco Malfoy.
FIN
A/N: Sorry this took so long to get out. This was an incredibly boring chapter for me to write, but after this things begin to really get interesting. Thanks to those few who reviewed last time, I really do appreciate it. Please let me know if you have anything that I could fix with this story, I love criticism!
WE'RE IN DOUBLE DIGITS PEOPLE!!
Rockin.
-Shawn
