Chapter 2

"Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four essential food groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat."

-Alex Levin

The next morning saw a very tired Gryffindor table. They had celebrated until the early hours of the morning, and only gotten three hours sleep before they woke for class. Once most of the students were in the hall, Dumbledore stood up and signalled for quiet. When the students were ready, he smiled to every table and began speaking.

"As most of you know, Harry Potter spent most of the year training to get a place at The Elite Quidditch Academy. It is my honour and pride to announce that not only was Harry accepted but so were Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini who had also been down as candidates!" At the end of his announcement the Headmaster reclaimed his seat and sat back to watch the various reactions.

Most of the students wanted to cheer and be happy for Harry, but they were confused and shocked that two Slytherin's were also offered spots. The Slytherin table were immensely proud that two of their members were chosen, and they hid their shock, since they also had not known they were up for consideration. Finally, a lone clap started at the Ravenclaw table, and everyone turned to see Luna Lovegood standing and clapping for the three-quidditch players.

Seeing her applaud the three students, the rest of the Ravenclaw house started clapping as well. Hufflepuff soon followed them, and the Slytherin's applauded softly. The Gryffindor house were still exhausted from the night before, so the either clapped softly or waved in a silent cheer. When they settled down, Dumbledore smiled and reminded them that class started soon.

The Gryffindor's were upset that Malfoy and Zabini seemed to have stolen Harry's thunder and paid someone off to get in, and the Slytherin's were immensely smug that two snakes were chosen. Harry ignored all this and kept to his strict training regime. According to Oliver, on August 1st, he would start at EQA, but he knew his position could be taken away if he got lazy now.

Harry spent a lot of time on or near the pitch. He finally started to take notice of Malfoy and realized that the boy trained just as hard as he did. Zabini was often with him, and the both them seemed to be pushing themselves to the limit every time. Slytherin was in the lead for the Quidditch Cup, since they beat Ravenclaw, but Harry tied the score after they beat Hufflepuff. Slytherin also destroyed Hufflepuff taking the lead, but once Gryffindor beat Ravenclaw they were tied again. It came down to the last game, and like before, Harry was nervous about facing Malfoy.

Harry was shocked and pleased at the end of the game, when he once again held the snitch. There were a few times when he was positive that Malfoy would catch it first, but in the end, it was clutched in his hand. Taking initiative, Harry landed and walked towards the blond.

"Hey Malfoy!" When the blond turned around Harry presented his hand. "Good game."

Malfoy briefly glanced over his shoulder to the back of the stands before focussing back on Harry. "You too, Potter," and shook his hand. Malfoy dropped his hand and quickly left for the change rooms. Harry watched him go and didn't miss the hand gesture he made to the spot behind the stands. It looked like he was telling someone to wait five minutes. Shrugging it off, Harry returned to his change room and got ready for the party that was starting in the tower. In two months, Harry was scheduled to start at the most prestigious quidditch school ever founded, and he couldn't be any more excited.

August 1st arrived and Harry could barely contain his excitement. The night before he had a small birthday gathering, and went to bed early. Now he was waiting in the kitchen of the Wales cottage, for his escort to arrive. Oliver stopped by two weeks prior to inform him that he would receive an escort that would take him to the academy. Sirius was sitting with Harry, nursing a cup of coffee, as the both waited for someone arrive.

Finally, a knock on the front door startled both men, and they bolted out of their seats to answer it. On the doorstep was a short girl with a short edgy haircut. Her hair was white -like paper white- with a single chunk dyed black her left side. She had a golden brown tan, and dark brown eyes. She wore tight black riding pants, a dark short sleeved green shirt, a black belt with a 'Star Wars' belt buckle and a sleeveless white quidditch robe over top the entire thing. Smiling at them both, she spoke.

"Hi! I'm O'Reilly and I am here to pick up Harry." She continued to smile at the pair, as she waited for a response.

"Um. . ." Harry managed to say.

"Hello! I'm Sirius and Harry is my godson. It's nice to meet you O'Reilly, are you one of the students at EQA?" Sirius asked as he stepped forward to shake the girl's hand.

"Nice to meet you Sirius, no I'm not a student I'm an instructor! My sponsor has been at the academy for a week now, so I offered to pick up Harry for Ollie, when he mentioned he had other business to attend to today." She explained to the two men.

"Instructor but you can't be a day over seventeen." Sirius had seemed to take over for Harry, since the dark-haired youth still seemed unable to speak.

"Oh that's quite the compliment," Harry watched as a light blush appeared on O'Reilly's cheeks. "I'm nineteen actually. Anyways ready to go Harry? We have a long flight ahead of us." She announced.

Still startled by the appearance and personality of the girl, Harry only nodded and turned to gather his trunk and broom.

"Well prongslet, I'm going to miss you. You better write and more than you did at Hogwarts too!" Sirius told him. Harry only smiled at his godfather and gave the older man a bear hug.

"I promise Padfoot." Turning towards his escort, he nodded. "Okay I'm ready to go."

"Good! Shrink your trunk, and stuff it in a pocket. We're going to fly east first and than northish. Well depends where we end up really, but I know we will stumble upon that school at some point! Right mount your broom, and up, up, and away!" Harry could only give the girl a weird look as she took off. Sending one last smile to his godfather, Harry turned and took off after the strange girl leading him to school.

Harry couldn't properly describe the girl he was following. She was energetic, but not hyperactive; she liked to sing and talk to herself, but did not give off crazy vibes. She acted carefree as she led them, but still managed to look like she knew exactly where she was going when she closed her eyes and let her broom drift side to side. He had lost interest in the scenery they were flying over and decided to study the design on the back of her quidditch robe. It was a large green and black dragon, which appeared to be in mid-flight. He didn't know which type it was; just that it looked majestic and fierce. The detail in the design was amazing, and it appeared alive as her cloak whipped around in the wind.

After two hours of flying, Harry started getting uncomfortable. A broom wasn't exactly the softest thing to spend hours sitting on and he hoped they would arrive soon, and it was nearing lunch. As if sensing his desire, O'Reilly started diving towards a courtyard, which to Harry seemed to suddenly appear. Following her, he landed but stumbled slightly since he had been flying for hours. O'Reilly motioned for him to follow her, and he was led into what looked like the dorms.

"Right, so this is the dorms. All EQA students reside here it is a co-ed building. Each room has private bathroom, so don't worry about walking in on a girl showering. First floor is reserved for all seekers, second floor is Keepers, third and fourth are for Chasers and the fifth floor are the Beaters. You will be in room two, and you will be served lunch in there while you unpack. At 1 o'clock, there will be a seeker meeting on pitch five. There will be map in your room to help you get around, but if you have any more questions, the lovely boy in room 1 should be able to answer them. Right, I'm off to tell admin that you arrived safely." O'Reilly gave him a big smile before swiftly leaving him in the middle of the hallway.

Approaching the door labelled '2' Harry tested the door handle to discover it unlocked. Entering he found a fair sized bedroom. There was a double sized four-poster bed, a desk, wardrobe, and bookcase. There was a door on the right side of the room that he assumed led to the bathroom, and a white sheepskin carpet in the middle of the floor. The walls were a grey brick, and the window looked out into the courtyard. The sheets were white with a charcoal grey comforter and pillowcases. Overall, it wasn't half-bad.

Harry resized his trunk and started putting his clothes away. At 12, a small pop made him turn around to spot a tray full of food waiting on his desk. He ate the grilled chicken and steamed vegetables quickly, but left the roasted potatoes. Once he was finished, he went about decorating his room. Quarter to one he stopped and picked up his map. Locating pitch five, he shoved the map into his pocket and left the room. O'Reilly never mentioned needing anything so he left his broom in the room. He figured that if he needed it, he could summon it later.

Arriving at the pitch, he found five other people already waiting there. Malfoy - part of the five- was standing off to the side, away from the others, and gave nothing away with his neutral mask. Malfoy barely spared him a glance when he arrived, so Harry approached the other four. Just as he reached them, a strong voice rang across the pitch.

"Everyone line up and be quiet." Everyone instantly obeyed and formed a single line. Harry was standing next to Malfoy and girl with black hair who was around the same height as him. Looking forward he saw six people approaching from the other side of the pitch. Five of them were wearing that dark charcoal grey colour, but one in the middle was wearing a white sleeveless quidditch robe. Harry knew that was O'Reilly, but was curious of the other people. He wanted to know why she was wearing a different coloured quidditch robe, but figured they would explain everything.

When the group reached them, Harry noticed that O'Reilly was the only female. The six of them seemed to be studying the student seekers before O'Reilly had a huge smile on her face and stepped forward.

"Welcome everyone to The Elite Quidditch Academy! We will go over rules and whatnot soon but first I want everyone to introduce themselves, starting with the lovely gentleman on the end." O'Reilly pointed towards Malfoy. "First and last name, sponsor, and which school you came from." She stated.

"Draco Malfoy, my sponsor is Heather O'Reilly, and I went to Hogwarts in Scotland." Malfoy drawled. Harry stared at him but then noticed everyone looking at him expectantly.

"Harry Potter, sponsor is Oliver Wood, and I also went to Hogwarts." Harry was glad when no one gawked at him, or searched for his scar. Instead, they all turned their focus to the girl beside him.

"Susan Blackcastle, Jerry Teatle, Salem in the United States." Harry blinked at her quick answers, and the fact she was American. He hadn't realized this was an international school, but he probably should have researched it more. Moving on the other three were introduced

"William McVean, Oscar Hubble, Sydney School of Magic in Australia."

"Sven Schmidt, Benjamin Hubble, Stärke in Germany."

"Patty Canon, Frank Conroy, and I'm from Kennis in South Africa."

"Wonderful! Okay now for our turn." O'Reilly motioned for a man at the end of the line to start.

"Oscar Hubble, Seeker Instructor." They rest just continued after him.

"Ben Hubble, Seeker instructor."

"Jesse Laughton, Seeker Instructor." They skipped over O'Reilly.

"James Thana, Seeker Instructor."

"Chris Lamarre, Seeker Instructor."

"And I am Heather O'Reilly, the Seeker Quidditch Master!" O'Reilly introduced while giving a deep bow to the students. Harry just stared at her as he processed what she said. His escort had turned out to be the Seeker Quidditch Master, and Malfoy's sponsor. He briefly considered if the entire experience was a dream since the short energetic girl, he previously met was apparently one of the best seekers in the world.

"Let's jump into this. I am the Seeker Quidditch Master, which means I decide everything you do. Whether I want you to spend the day swimming laps, or counting beans, you will not question my choices." Harry noticed as the smile dropped from her face to be replaced with the hard mask of a leader. "Every morning before breakfast you will meet on this pitch for PT. After you will shower and depending on the day change into the appropriate clothes. Monday, Wednesday and Friday, you will all have physical fitness in the morning after breakfast, after lunch you will have quidditch specific classes. Tuesday and Thursday morning after breakfast, you have healing and quidditch strategy class. Afternoon you will change into your quidditch robes for various quidditch classes based on where I assign you. Most Saturdays will have a quidditch game, and Sunday the entire school sits and breaks down the match, where the players went wrong, how to improve, and where they did a good job. Only healing will you six have together. Other classes you will be split into threes, twos or individually. Everyone understand?" O'Reilly stared at everyone before she continued.

"Next everyone has a sponsor to help them on their free time. Some sponsors are here for different positions, it doesn't matter, and your sponsor is there to help you. Before you even think of approaching me, talk to your sponsor or one of the instructors. Remember though we all have lives and responsibilities outside of this school. The only student that is allowed to approach me directly is Malfoy." Harry glanced at Malfoy quickly, only to see a blank face,

"There will be no smoking, drinking, or drugs in this school. This is a clean school; we pride ourselves in turning out the best. Those substances only hinder your performance. Next, there is no rule against having sexual relations with other students. I will warn you though, that if you are caught, whatever consequences you face afterwards is completely your fault." Pausing in her speech again, she allowed anyone to ask a question. Seeing the girl beside him raise her hand, Harry waited for O'Reilly to acknowledge her. "Yes Miss. . ."

"Blackcastle, Quidditch Master. I was wondering why we are taking healing classes." She spoke in that quick sharp tone she used before.

"I don't know about you but I get injured when I play. We teach you to heal yourself here. You can't always rely on medi-witches and wizards to be around. Any other questions?" When no one raised his or her hand, she went on.

"Right now, boxes are being placed in front of your doors. In them, you will find three pairs of grey sweatpants, three grey t-shirts, one grey hoodie, four pairs of light grey quidditch robes, and two grey and blank school uniforms. The instructors will explain when to wear which uniform, and other important facts. The second last thing I will tell you is that whatever broom you brought with you is now useless. You will fly the broom we issue you." O'Reilly waved her wand and six brooms flew out and hovered in front of each student.

"This is the Firebolt 1.5 design, and the broom you will be using for the year. They all have your names engraved on the handle and a colour strip at the base. They colour is also significant. That will be your identification colour." Waving her wand a second time, a coloured scarf appeared around everyone's wrist. "These scarves are a test. They are spelled to never fall off, and you can't remove it. Only another seeker or instructor can remove the scarf. It's a game really. The object is throughout the year, to steal another seekers scarf. For example" O'Reilly walked forward and removed the black scarf from Malfoy's wrist. "I have Malfoy's scarf so he now owes me a favour. All favours will be quidditch related and nothing sexual or embarrassing. I will just add this to the list of other favours you owe me since we started training Malfoy." O'Reilly replaced his scarf and walked back to her original position.

"Once you take another seekers scarf, report it to an instructor, and then return it. Last thing, I have been working with Malfoy since last October, he is the seeker to beat. Your goal for the year is to try and be better than Malfoy." Harry looked over expecting a smug smirk on the blonds' face, but it remained stoic. O'Reilly started to speak again when she was interrupted.

"How do ve know he ist the seeker to beat? Ve could be better than you, und you vouldn't know it." Harry saw the brief flash of anger on Malfoy's face before it went blank again. Directing his focus down the line, Harry saw that it was the German boy speaking.

"Well, that is a valid question, and I will demonstrate. Malfoy other side of the pitch, Instructors get the snitches ready, and you five mount your brooms." O'Reilly ordered. Everyone did as she said and waited. Once Malfoy was in place and the instructors back with four crates, she spoke again.

"We will release a hundred snitches in the air. You five will attempt to catch as many as you can. You are a team. Your goal is to catch more than Malfoy. When you catch one it will turn your colour, and all you have to do is drop it and it will fall to the pitch floor. Whichever team has caught the most snitches in the end wins. Team Malfoy against Team Five." Seeing everyone understood, she signalled for the snitches to be set free.

Harry watched fascinated as the sky was filled with a hundred golden snitches. Looking at Malfoy, he saw the same blank mask on his face as he casually leaned on his broom. Harry saw the black scarf on his wrist and finally looked at his own. His was white. Harry was startled out of his thoughts when O'Reilly yelled 'Start'. Harry followed the other four in the air as they flew out to start catching as many snitches as they could.

Harry caught his second snitch when he looked down to see Malfoy still standing on the ground. Looking back at O'Reilly, she seemed fine with the whole situation, until she caught Harry looking back and forth between her and Malfoy. She sent him a smirk and signalled for Malfoy to begin. Harry was impressed when Malfoy quickly rose and started catching snitches with ease. Watching the blonds' skill, Harry came to one conclusion. 'Malfoy is a lot better than I remember'. He was still watching Malfoy sweep across the pitch when another seeker crashed into him and yelled at him to start catching. Harry nodded and set out to beat Malfoy.

When the last snitch dropped from Malfoy's hand, the seekers landed to see the smug look on O'Reilly's face. "Team Five caught 42 snitches and Team Malfoy caught 58. I believe I proved my point."

"Mate, good onya!" the Australian seeker stepped forward and clapped Malfoy on the back. Malfoy nodded his head in return, and focused back on O'Reilly.

When no one spoke, O'Reilly smiled. "I told you to never question my choices. Good now you are dismissed and tomorrow we start classes. Schedules on your desks. Malfoy come with me."

As the other seekers left, Harry watched as Malfoy walked towards their Quidditch Master. They started walking side by side off the other side of the pitch, talking, and it made Harry think. He saw two flashes of white at Hogwarts, and was now convinced it had been O'Reilly that he had chased. There was more going on here than he knew, and he was missing some information. When they disappeared, Harry turned to walk back to the dorms and already composing a letter to Ron and Hermione in his head.

The night around dinnertime, one of the Hubble brothers came by and collected the seekers. Harry noticed that Malfoy was missing, but it apparently didn't bother Hubble when he pointed it out. The group were led to the schools own Great Hall. Unlike Hogwarts, it was set up more like a muggle cafeteria, with small square tables for four people, or round tables to seat eight. There were two lines to collect food, and then a drink station. Once everyone was through, Hubble directed them to one of the round tables to give out more instructions and rules.

As everyone settled in to wait for Hubble, Harry found himself seated next to the Australian seeker. Observing the boy, he found him to be a bit big by seeker standards, but he had a kind face and tanned features. He had dirty blond hair and warm blue eyes. Noticing himself being watched the other boy turned towards Harry.

"G'day, I'm Will." He held out his hand to Harry with a big smile. Smiling in return, Harry took his hand.

"Harry and it's nice to meet you."

"Holy Dooley! Can't believe I got here." Harry blinked at his different accent, but decided to smile and keep talking.

"I can't believe I got here either. I think I'm still in a state of shock." Harry replied simply.

"Were you as gobsmacked at Malfoy?"

"Um . . . more so than everyone else really. . ." Harry lowered his head as he felt heat rise in his cheeks. He was amazed at Malfoy's skill, but it was also mixed with confusion and a little shame. Malfoy could not have gotten that good in two months, which means either Harry had the best luck in the world, or Malfoy purposely lost their last match. Harry was leaning towards the latter.

"Did you not attend the same school? You should have been aware of his talent." Blackcastle spoke up. Harry was startled when she spoke, since he completely forgot the other seekers were there.

"Truthfully, for the last six years I had always beaten him at quidditch. Seeing him today I don't think I would stand a chance." Harry replied.

"I'm glad to see you taking this revelation so well Potter." Harry froze. He knew that aristocratic drawl anywhere. In fact, Harry could probably leave for ten years, return, and still be able to identify the speaker without hesitation. Turning around, Harry saw Malfoy and O'Reilly standing behind him. Harry could only stare at the blond, as his brain refused to assemble an appropriate response.

Malfoy stepped forward and between Harry and Will. Harry was further stunned when Malfoy placed a hand on his shoulder and leaned towards the table. Malfoy extend his free hand towards Harry tray, and Harry followed its movement. Harry blocked out everything else as those familiar pale fingers moved forward and quickly snatched Harry's dinner roll. He watched as the pale hand that was curled around the bread retreated and was brought up to Malfoy's pale pink lips. He watched as those lips moved, forming words, but his ears did not hear them. Finally, when Malfoy took a bite of the bread did Harry snap out of his daze. Realizing Malfoy was speaking he opened his awareness and caught the tail end.

". . . oa."

"What?" Harry asked.

"I said, Potter that the favour you owe me is to get two cups of hot cocoa." Malfoy repeated. Harry saw that familiar smirk, and got angry.

"Malfoy, you can't order me around. I am not some slave for you to command!" He responded heatedly.

"No, but as per the rules of the game, you owe me one favour." Harry didn't understand until Malfoy raised a familiar white scarf. Looking down Harry paled when his wrist was empty. Thinking quickly, Harry concluded Malfoy managed to snag it while he had been distracted with the bread incident. Cursing softly under his breath, he stood before a thought struck him.

"Malfoy, I acknowledge I owe you a favour, but the favours are supposed to be quidditch related." Hearing a snicker, Harry glanced over to see O'Reilly watching the conversation, with an amused smile on her face.

"Well Potter, you aren't as daft as I thought. Well that is true, but since I am requesting two cups of cocoa, one for myself and the other for the Seeker Quidditch Master, I believe that qualifies as quidditch related." Malfoy's smirk was still in place, as his eyes dared Harry to refuse. Conceding to the blond, Harry gave a small sigh. After all, he could have asked for worse, like demanding Harry polish all his quidditch gear.

"Fine, where do I get the cocoa." Harry asked.

"Ask the witch at the drink station. She normally has it ready by this time." Harry nodded and left to retrieve the cocoa. He didn't want to take orders from the blond, but he had lost his scarf. Harry flushed with embarrassment when he realized, he was probably the first student to lose their scarf, and it was taken in front of his Quidditch Master and other seekers.

Harry hesitantly told the witch at the drink bar, that he was asked by Malfoy to get two cups of Hot Cocoa. The witch gave him a knowing look after she glanced at his wrist, and swiftly left to retrieve the cups. Returning she handed him two large emerald green mugs, almost over flowing with the hot liquid treat. Cautiously carrying the cups back to the table, he noticed Hubble had returned, and that the only empty seat was the one he left. He placed both mugs down and moved them toward Malfoy before reclaiming his seat, and avoiding the blond.

"Oh thanks!" He heard O'Reilly say. Harry looked up just in time to see her take a large drink from the cup and give a whimper when she burned her tongue. Harry gave her a baffled look when Malfoy spoke.

"Every time . . ." Harry turned fast enough to see the small smile on the blonds face before it disappeared.

"Shush you! Now Oscar was about to have a meeting. Please start Oscar." O'Reilly lightly slapped Malfoy's shoulder, before directing the group's attention to the seeker instructor.

"Thanks O'Reilly. Although if you're here you could probably explain better than I could." Hubble told her.

"Nope, I just came to drop off the little bear; I got a message from Kody about Barky getting hurt and something about the budget. I need to rush off, but I couldn't miss tradition." O'Reilly took another two large drinks from her cup and whimpered each time, before she stood. "Right enjoy your meeting!" She winked at Hubble and squeezed Malfoy's shoulder, before taking off.

"I think she ist mental." The German seeker spoke. Harry, who was still staring at Malfoy from the corner of his eye, saw the flash of anger in the other boys face. Deciding to think on it later, he focussed on the others.

"Now don't be a whacker. I think she's ace!" Will spoke up.

"Yes whatever McVean said, which I assume was in defence of our Q.M, you should give her the upmost respect Schmidt, and keep your opinions to yourself." Malfoy snarled at the German boy.

"Now now, calm down boys." Hubble spoke. "We have a lot to discuss and arguing wont further our purpose tonight." Schmidt and Malfoy continued to glare at each other for the entire meeting, while Harry tried to focus on Hubble.

Hubble told them that the quidditch matches wouldn't start until Halloween, to give the second year's time to train with their teams. On Halloween, the school would be holding a mini tournament to kick off the season. Apparently, the four Quidditch Master would bring in a professional team to play with, and they played against each other. Hubble hinted that O'Reilly was rumoured to be the favourite, but they were to focus on their studies. They were given information on which uniform to wear when and which classes, which pitches they were allowed to practice on, and wrapped up the meeting by telling them they were expected on pitch 5, at 5:30 am.

Harry noticed that halfway through Hubble's explanations, Malfoy had reached over and grabbed O'Reilly's half-full mug. Malfoy had cast a charm to warm the drink, before he finished it off. After the meeting, he grabbed both empty mugs, and returned them to the drink bar. Malfoy had not spoken a word to anyone, after his comment to Schmidt, and he had left immediately after.

Harry had started to walk back to the dorm, when an arm draped across his shoulder. He tensed before looking up -he noticed that the arm was attached to Will. Harry had already noticed he was the shortest of all the seekers. Even if at first Blackcastle appeared to be the same height, he learned she was in fact an inch or two taller. Harry already resigned himself to being shorter than everyone else, and smiled up at the taller seeker.

"Hey Will, what do you think about the Halloween tournament?" he asked while subtly moving out of his arm.

"I think she'll be a beaut! But I'm sure you're a larrkin, and we need to do something about the boy." Harry hoped that by the end of the year, he would understand Will's crazy slang, but for now, he needed clarification.

"Huh?"

"Sorry, forgot you ain't from down under. Larrkin is a prankster and the boy is that dipstick Schmidt."

"So you want us to prank Schmidt?" Harry responded slowly.

"Yup, I'm bored shitless, and I figure Schmidt deserves it. I already have a plan." Harry listened as the Australian detailed his plan quietly, on the walk back to the dorm. They slipped into Harry's room to prepare, and kept watch to see which room belonged to Schmidt. Once they assembled their supplies, and located the Germans room. They sat down to talk until they were certain their target was asleep.

Harry spent the night slowly getting used to Will's speech, but only after the Australian started making an effort to speak in more understandable terms. Around midnight, they crept out of Harry's room and prepared their prank. After ten minutes of hard work, they bid each other good night and fell asleep.

Apparently people enjoyed this so Yay!

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Still un-beta'd so ignore any mistakes, I did try though.

Grab some hot cocoa and enjoy.