The Gryffindor common room was buzzing with excitement. There was to be a Goofball match the next day, the first organised one at Hogwarts.
"Man, I love Fred and George! They're the cleverest brothers in the world!", screamed Ginny. At once, nods of approval met her statement. Ron frowned for a moment, and then burst into am maniacal grin again. It was impossible to be sulky on such a day.
The Weasley twins, Fred and George, had opened up a new aspect of business. With Weasley's Wizard Wheezes being established at Hogsmeade, and a comfortable business running, they had decided to give vent to some of their creativity and create a new game. It was based on Quidditch, but the rules were crazy... like the twins themselves!
The game was all about speed and maneuvering. Two teams of seven would compete against each other in this game. Players would rise on their brooms at a whistle and a ball would be set free. The objective was to shoot the ball into a goal high up in the air. The goal moved freely and erratically. It would zoom around for a minute, and then come to a dead standstill for a few seconds. Shooting was indeed difficult, and each goal fetched your team a hundred points. Meanwhile, one person on each team could use a chameleon charm to blend themselves into the background and seek the snitch, which would be let out at the game's beginning. The objective of the chameleon charm was to hide each Seeker from the other's eyes.
This game created a lot more injuries than others, especially for the Seekers and hence, the usage of shield charms and flexibility charms was allowed.
So Fred and George had taught the Gryffindors the game in their last Hogsmeade visit and had also given them free equipment. The Gryffindors had tried the game out and found it immensely entertaining. The other houses had caught on soon enough, and now there was to be an informal Goofball tournament at Hogwarts.
But on the insistence of teachers, and with the approval of Fred and George, they had decided that teams would span houses. Each person could make a team if he/she wished to and could involve members of any house. This was the first game at Hogwarts where all houses cooperated and played together. To Harry's surprise, Hermione had agreed to try the game out, and had proved herself a wonderful shooter. So the teams were decided, and the next day was to be the first Goofball match of the tournament and all students were equally excited.
"We have to win it, Harry," Hermione said, her cheeks flushed. "Don't worry, we will. After all, you have the best seeker in the century in your presence here!" declared Harry. After defeating Lord Voldemort, he had grown more confident and accepted his talents for what they were. But he had also grown very thoughtful and sober, and at times, he would be physically present on Earth, but his mind would be elsewhere.
Today, though, Harry was geared up and ready to go. As the Captain of his team, he had taken lead and set an example by conducting school-wide tryouts. The usual barriers between houses were lowered and eager to be in Harry's team, people from all houses turned up for tryouts. Since he was first picker, Harry's team was the best, but there were some others which would give stiff competition and Harry was looking forward to the next day...
AUTHOR'S NOTE : I wanted both the Weasley twins alive for this story, so consider Fred alive. So far, the rest of the characters are the way they are. And please do review if you like the story, or even if you don't. And I'm asking again - should Percy and Annabeth be brought in after the Titan war, or after the Giant war?