Disclaimer: The Harry Potter Series (1997-2007) and any characters and original locations within the books belong to JK Rowling. I own my original characters and my plot twists. I am not trying to pass any of these characters or copyrighted ideas off as my own and therefore it isn't plagiarism or copyright infringement.
Chapter Twelve – Quidditch
Friday arrived and Harry still had to go to detention at five pm and had to miss the tryouts for the new Keeper. Leo approached Angelina, the Gryffindor team captain. "Look, I know that Harry is the Seeker for our house, but I was wondering if I could be an alternate. I wouldn't mind flying in his place for any practices he misses. I'm sure he's the better out of the two of us, but I was a Seeker on my house team back at the Academy."
The black haired, milk chocolate complected, Quidditch captain raised an eyebrow. "How do I know you were any good?"
"Just let me show you tonight at the Keeper tryouts. I have no problem being benched but we all know that sometimes things happen to players. It might be good to have me on the sidelines. I'll only practice with the team when Harry cannot attend like tonight's practice," he tried his best puppy dog pout.
"You look just like Malfoy, you know that?" He nodded his head, how could he deny the obvious. "Do you play as well as him?"
Leo chuckled, "I'd say yes because I didn't have to buy my way onto my old team."
She rolled her eyes, "Fine then, I'll consider tonight as you're alternate tryout, as well."
Soon time for the tryouts came. Leo ran up stairs after dinner and grabbed his Nimbus 2002. He was looking forward to flying with a team again even if it were for practice. He wouldn't try to take Harry's position and he knew he wasn't any good at playing Keeper. He met the team on the Quidditch field near the forbidden forest. Fred and George looked back and forth before speaking.
"Ah so you've come to try out for keeper?"
"I thought you played Seeker."
Leo tried to hide a blush, "Well, I'm here as an alternate. I'm just going to fly in Harry's place since he couldn't be here for practice."
The twins looked between each other, "Another seeker who looks just like Malfoy."
"I'd love to see that on the field. Could you imagine the confusion?"
Leo crossed his arms, "Not really because we'd be in different colored robes."
Angelina magnified her voice, "I'm glad to see that everyone who was able to make it is here. This is keeper tryouts for the Gryffindor team. We have Leo here standing in for our missing seeker, but he's also trying out to be an alternate. It depends on how well he does. Okay, for those trying out please line up. I want all of the members of the team and our stand in seeker in the air. I will then call each of you up one at a time. You will play keeper for twenty minutes and then we'll switch."
Leo hopped on his broom and flew into the sky after they'd released all of the balls. Angelina and Katie Bell were busy shooting goals at the first person to try out, who was no good. Katie was able to score two goals within a couple of seconds. The second did pretty well but was knocked off his broom by a Bludger while concentrating on the movement of the Quaffle. The third guy was Ron and he did a pretty good job when he thought no one was looking. The fourth person was just as terrible as the second. The fifth did a good job at dodging a Bludger sent his way by George but then fumbled what anyone would've considered an easy save. The sixth one was really good but whined about everything. When it started getting two dark and after Leo had managed to catch the Snitch five times, Angelina called the tryouts over and told Ron that he was the keeper. They all headed in to change and shower.
On the way back to Gryffindor tower, Angelina pulled Leo aside, "I wanted to let you know that you're good. You're not as good as Harry, but you're good enough to be a stand in or an alternate."
Leo smiled, "Thank you."
As everyone celebrated, Leo sat in one of the chairs and began doing his Arithmancy homework. He noticed how tired Hermione looked holding a butterbeer loosely in one hand as she dosed off. Harry came into the room and Leo felt his own weariness hit him. He shut his book and walked up the stairs to bed. He knew he wouldn't be missed because he was the new guy who looked too much like Malfoy.
Leo spent all day Saturday in the library making sure his homework was finished and accurate. He went down for meals. After all of his scrolls were done and his spells practiced, he researched Animagus. He checked out a couple of books on it for a bit of light reading and headed back up to the Gryffindor tower. He sat up in his dorm room and studied the steps to learning how to become one. It was very advanced magic. Just because one was talented with Transfiguration, didn't mean it wouldn't take quite a bit of time to master.
He spent Sunday outside enjoying the nice weather. He walked around the school grounds and once again bumped into Draco, who was surrounded by his gang of friends which included Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy Parkinson. Draco decided to be particularly nasty, "I don't know much about you. However, I told my father about you and he's looking into your background. He was interested that there was a person out there that looks so much like me and so much like him. Guess what he told me?"
He rolled his eyes, "What did dear ol' da tell ya?"
"You're parents are still in France. They're still living in the south of France. If they moved they would've had to register with the Ministry and well there wasn't any," he crossed his arms.
"Ah, yes that would be true if they had bought a new home, however they're staying in my mother's family home. You see my maternal grandmother was muggleborn and thus the house was her parents. My grandparents managed to add all of the Wizarding necessities to it, including all of the wards and muggle deterrents. Oh and it's unplottable, so I reckon the Ministry wouldn't know about it."
Draco glared, "Why do I feel like you're hiding something?"
Leo rolled his eyes, "What do you have some sort of gut feeling?" He smirked, "Wouldn't you want to know if I were hiding something." He walked past the group and since he was looking over his shoulder he bumped into a weedy tall person with black shoulder length hair. His gray eyes peered out from his pale complexion and he wore Slytherin robes. The boy landed on his butt in the grass and looked up with a scowl. Leo held out his hand, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bump into you. I was a bit distracted."
The boy mumbled, "Draco has the tendency to do that."
It took Leo a moment but he quickly recognized the boy, "Wait, your Theodore Nott. We're in the same Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Care of Magical Creatures classes."
He raised a dark eyebrow and narrowed his eyes, "You're a Gryffindor, why are you speaking to me in such a friendly manner?"
"I've noticed that you're a bit of a loner. I guess I was wondering if you had any friends," Leo smiled.
"I don't need friends. I have plenty of acquaintances though."
"I wasn't trying to insult you. I understand how it's sometimes nice to be alone. I have a bit of a tendency to spend hours in the library by myself. If you ever wanted to talk or something, I'm all ears. Oh, and don't worry about Draco and my relationship. He just has a bit of a jealousy issue and tends to pick on others to make him feel better about himself. I have a large target on me because I look just like him. Little does he know, I also think just like him." Leo shrugged, "Well what can you do? I guess I'll see you around Theo." He turned and headed back to the castle.
He heard a whisper on the wind, "Yeah, see you around."
He looked back for a moment and noticed that Theo was walking toward the lake with his shoulders slightly hunched. He couldn't help but observe something seemed to bug Theo. He couldn't help but wonder if things at home were bad for him. He didn't seem to have the same spoiled streak that Draco had. He was quiet, and the loner type. Leo couldn't help but think that perhaps he just needed a friend.
Monday came and Leo sat next to Harry and Ron when Hermione received the Daily Profit. Leo listened to the article she read about Umbridge being made the High Inquisitor and felt something in the pit of his stomach drop. So, not only had the toad woman insured they'd learn nothing in D.A.D.A., she was now in charge of inspecting the other more proficient professors. He followed them to their History of Magic class after breakfast where he decided to take a bit of a nap after charming his quill to take notes.
They soon arrived in potions. Leo decided he'd cross house lines and sit next to Theo as the seat next to him was open. Theo looked at him for only a moment. Snape handed back their scrolls and announced that he was grading per O.W.L. standards. Leo sighed when she saw an A, as he would've preferred an O or an E. He'd just have to work harder on the next essay.
Snape turned to face the class on his heel, "The general standard of this homework was abysmal. Most of you would have failed had this been your examination. I expect to see a great deal more effort for this week's essay on the various verities of venom antidotes, or I shall have to start handing our detentions to those dunces who got D's."*
He smirked and Draco sniggered, "Some people got D's? Ha!"*
Leo looked around the room and noticed Harry looked a bit glum. He wouldn't put it past Snape to give Harry a poor grade just because he could. He shook his head and made a note to help Harry with his next potions essay. Leo read the directions and proceeded to create the potion required. He looked over and noticed that Theo's Strengthening Solution was just as turquoise as his. He filled and delivered his flask to Snape before following the others out of the room and to the dining hall for lunch. He sat and listened to the discussions of grades. O for outstanding, E for exceeds expectations, A for Acceptable, P for Poor, D for dreadful, and T for troll. He soon left the hall with Hermione as they walked to their Ancient Runes lesson.
When they reached Defense class later, Harry and Ron were busy telling them about what occurred in Divination when Umbridge questioned Professor Trelawney. Soon the toad of the teacher came in the room and gave her usual wands away speech and assigned reading from the book. Leo rolled his eyes; he had read the book from cover to cover the previous night after getting back to the tower. It was all useless theory and he wasn't surprised when Hermione kept her book closed and raised her hand. He listened to the conversations, which Umbridge was carrying on in whispers.
"I've already read chapter two,"* Hermione answered Umbridge's whispered question.
"Well then, proceed to chapter three."*
"I've read that too. I've read the whole book."*
Leo watched as Umbridge blinked for a moment stunned but quickly recovered, "Well, then, you should be able to tell me what Slinkhard says about counterjinxes in chapter fifteen."*
"He says that counterjinxes are improperly named,"* Hermione promptly answered. "He says 'counterjinx' is just a name people give their jinxes when they want to make them sound more acceptable."* Umbridge raised her eyebrows but attempted to hide her impressed state before Hermione continued, "But I disagree."*
"You disagree?"*
"Yes, I do,"* Hermione projected her voice and had the rest of the class' attention. "Mr. Slinkhard doesn't like jinxes, does he? But I think they can be very useful when they're used defensively."*
"Oh, you do, do you?" Umbridge forgot to whisper and stood up to her full height, which was still quite short. "Well, I'm afraid it is Mr. Slinkhard's opinion, and not yours, that matters within this classroom, Miss Granger."*
"But-"*
"That is enough," she walked back to the front of the class and looked over the class. "Miss Granger, I am going to take five points from Gryffindor House."*
Everyone in Gryffindor muttered and the Slytherins snickered.
"What for?"* Harry fumed.
Leo didn't hear what Hermione whispered but it seemed to quiet Harry quickly.
"For disrupting my class with pointless interruptions. I am here to teach you using a Ministry-approved method that does not include inviting students to give their opinions on matters about which they understand very little. Your previous teachers in this subject may have allowed you more license, but as none of them – with the possible exception of Professor Quirrell, who did at least appear to have restricted himself to age-appropriate subjects – would have passed a Ministry inspection-"*
"Yeah, Quirrell was a great teacher," Harry spoke loudly, "there was Just that minor drawback of him having Lord Voldemort sticking out of the back of his head."* Everyone in the room was dead silent after that remark, and Leo wasn't sure if it was because of the surprise of the comment or the anticipation of Umbridge's response.
"I think another week's detentions would do you some good, Mr. Potter,"* Umbridge sleekly remarked.
Saying Angelina's reaction to the news the next day was dreadful was an understatement. She made such a racket squawking at Harry that Professor McGonagall came over and took away points from the house. When the professor heard about the reason for the racket she took an additional five points away from Gryffindor. They all went to charms where Harry gave Hermione the silent treatment. Leo could only guess it had something to do with Hermione's remark that Harry needed to control his temper in Umbridge's class.
When they arrived in Transfiguration, Professor Umbridge, was waiting to observe McGonagall. Ron seemed excited to see the interaction as he was quite certain McGonagall would set Umbridge straight. Oh and soon Umbridge learned that interrupting the Transfiguration teacher during a lesson was a very bad idea. McGonagall had given them rats to vanish stating that the larger and more complex the animal the more difficult it was to perform the spell. By the end of class Leo and Hermione both managed to successfully perform the vanishing spell on their rats.
Ron held up a wiggling tail, "Well it's a start."
Umbridge continued with the questioning at the end of class. Leo noticed that the others hung around to hear the questions, but he left the room. He wanted to eat lunch and then perhaps practice the transfiguration spell for becoming an Animagus. He knew it was crazy to attempt it at such a young age when so few Animagi existed, but he really wanted the ability to transform. When he succeeded he'd wait to register with the Ministry because he didn't want the knowledge to slip into the wrong hands.
Soon he was walking down to their Care of Magical Creatures class, and he quickly noticed the toad faced woman was there with her clipboard in hand. Leo rolled his eyes and stood next to Nott as Umbridge questioned Professor Grubbly-Plank. Nott looked over at him with apprehension but continued to stand where he was. After asking about where Hagrid might be and not getting the answers she wanted, she continued to question about the direction of the class. She seemed interested in the curriculum.
"Oh, I'll take them through the creatures that most often come up in O.W.L,"* Professor Grubby-Plank explained. "Not much left to do – they've studied unicorns and nifflers, I thought we'd cover porlocks and kneazles, make sure they can recognize crups and knarls, you know…"*
"Well, you seem to know what you're doing, at any rate,"* Umbridge wrote on her clipboard before turning to Goyle. "Now, I hear there have been injuries in this class?"*
Goyle only grinned stupidly and Malfoy quickly answered, "That was me. I was slashed by a hippogriff."*
"A hippogriff?"* She quickly scribbled.
"Only because he was too stupid to listen to what Hagrid told him to do,"* Harry venomously spat.
Leo joined in with the simultaneous groan with Ron and Hermione, as Umbridge turned her head slowly in Harry's direction, "Another night's detention, I think."* She then turned back to the professor, "Well, thank you very much, Professor Grubbly-Plank, I think that's all I need here. You will be receiving the results of your inspection within ten days."*
Leo spent the next four practices standing in for Harry, as he finished off his earned detentions. He enjoyed the time in the sky, but felt bad for his reason for being there. He was only there because Harry was busy writing lines in his own blood. Apparently Umbridge thought everything that came out of Harry's mouth was a lie. Leo began to suspect that she was a willing agent of Voldemort. She seemed to share in the same prejudices as the Death Eaters. She resembled a toad as much as he resembled a snake. He thought the two probably should court as they'd make the perfect salamander children.
One evening Leo had joined Harry, Ron, and Hermione in the library to look up potion ingredients for Snape. When Hermione broke his train of thought by asking Harry about teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. Leo thought it was an excellent idea and offered to assist with the Patronus Charm if needed. He listened to their idea of meeting in Hogsmeade to discuss the idea further. Leo kept that date in mine and was thankful his Aunt had signed the permission slip for him to attend.
A/N: I know I'm following the book, but at the same time I'm leaving some stuff out because I'm concentrating on Leo. I'm rereading the book because I read it when it first came out and I haven't really read it sense. It's giving me some great ideas. I'm trying to catch the fan fiction chapters up with what I've read. Also I'm not sure what changes will be made.
* All of this dialog is quoted from chapter fifteen of The Order of the Phoenix (2003) and thus belongs to JK Rowling, page 309 – 324 of my copy respectively.