Quidditch

The house rules for Quidditch had been changed and the first years were now allowed to try out after they had their first flight lessons and passed a flight security test after one month of Flight classes.

One morning, when Sirius, Lex, Rob and Baldric ran down the stairs to the common room, they spotted several new notes on the notice board. The first one announced the earlier flight test and included a list where the pupils could sign up for it. All other students had time to take the flight security test at the beginning of December before the weather would become too cold for the lessons outside.

Sirius put down his name and then handed his quill to the other three. Baldric was exited, Rob and Lex were a bit more sceptic about passing the test.

The second poster was green with a broom painted above the title: "Slytherin Quidditch Team Try-Out!"

"You'll be there, little cousin, won't you?" Amanda had sneaked up on the four boys and now tried to ruffle Sirius's hair.

He swiftly ducked out of her way. "Who're you calling little, Amy?" Though he was three years younger, he was a good deal taller than her.

"Hey, no disrespecting the team captain!" Amanda grinned and stood on her toes to make herself taller. "What about you, guys? The try-out is next Saturday. We got a lot of free positions since so many players graduated last year."

"We'll have to pass the flight test first", Rob said less optimistic.

"You still got another ten days to train for the test", Amanda tried to cheer him up. "Plus, me and your prefects are going to offer an extra training session for all the first-years who want to do the earlier test. No need to worry."

Not only Amanda and the prefects, but also Professor Krum offered an extra training for those who wanted to take the earlier test.

Though Sirius didn't think that he needed the practise, he and Baldric still went with Rob and Lex to support them.

The extra training with Krum was on Sunday afternoon. Besides the Slytherin first-years the kids from the other Houses filled the Quidditch field. After a while on the field, Sirius sat down with Rose, James, Vicky and Baldric on the stands to watch their friends fly through hoops or practise the security checks on their brooms.

The autumn sun was shining and they had a good time sharing the raisin-and-almond cookies that James had received via owl from his mom.

"What position will you try-out for?" James asked his cousins.

"Keeper!" Rose shouted the same time Sirius blundered out "Seeker!"

"What about you, James?" Sirius added.

"Seeker, of course. Not that there's any pressure in the family or something." James grinned. Both his parents had held the position of the Gryffindor Seeker, though his mom had occasionally played Chaser. Like his father Harry, he was middle-sized and lean, perfectly built for racing on a broom and chasing the Golden Snitch.

"I wanna be a Chaser", Vicky decided. "One Seeker in the family is more than enough."

On the morning of the Flight Security Test Rob and Lex barely touched their breakfasts. Sirius and Baldric dug in as usual.

The students had to take turns while Professor Krum and Professor McGonagall watched them inspect their brooms before take-off, fly slalom, or transport small objects with their brooms.

The pupils who had taken the test had to sit on the stands and wait for the others to finish. All of the testees would learn their results together.

Rob sat next to Sirius, shivering from nervousness and cold, biting his fingernails. "Oh god, did you see me fly into that post? Oh god, I so failed!"

"Your robe touched the post, that's all! You passed, you'll see!" Sirius told his friend. "At least you didn't fall off the broom like Philia." The poor girl had to be brought to the infirmary after she had crashed head-first into an obstacle.

When all students had taken the test, McGonagall and Krum conferred for several minutes. The headmistress then told the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs to come to her, while Krum assembled the Ravenclaws and Slytherins around himself.

All the boys from Sirius's dorm had passed the test successfully.

The try-outs were held separately for each team and visitors from other Houses were not allowed, so the Weasley siblings weren't able to cheer for each other.

The Slytherin try-outs took place at nine in the morning. It was a bit chilly outside because the sun had not much energy yet, but Sirius thought that the cold air helped him to stay focused.

Team captain Amanda announced the order in which the try-outs for the different positions would be held: first the Beaters, then the Chasers, the Keeper and last the Seeker.

Amanda had enchanted additional Bludgers to attack the Beaters, the Chasers had to dodge the Bludgers and score with the Quaffles, the Keepers had to guard the three goal posts and the Seekers had to catch at least three of the five Golden Snitches that Amanda set loose at the same time.

Sirius, who was the first Seeker to try-out, caught four Snitches. The last one he caught had him hanging on to his broom with just one leg, but he got the little bastard. The fifth Snitch made no appearance whatsoever while it was his turn. When he landed on the grass, he had no clue how well he had performed. As it turned out, he had done a better job than his competitors from second and third grade.

Amanda announced that he had made it to the starting team. Lucinda would be one of the reserve Beaters and Vicky one of the reserve Chasers.

In the evening of the same day, Sirius waited in the Entrance Hall for his sister Rose to return from the Gryffindor try-out. Rose beamed at him. The Gryffindors had a strong team already, most of the players being in fifth, sixth or seveth grade. Rose still had managed to become a member of the team as one of the substitute Chasers. James was the new first Seeker for Gryffindor and his adopted brother Teddy stayed on the team as Keeper.

The next Flight lesson with Krum was the last for many of the Slytherin kids. As a celebration for those who passed the early exam, Krum brought special aircrafts out on the Quidditch field: magical carpets.

Enchanted carpets were officially banned from transport in Britain, but they could be used on sports fields.

The class had a lot of fun while all of them, including Krum, tried to tame the carpets. They buckled and attempted to shake of their passengers. Sirius gripped the fringe of his carpet and held onto it. After a while the carpet seemed to get used to him and he could sit on it and fly up between the goal posts.

Professor Krum laughed out loud when he fell off his carpet after trying to "surf" with his two feet standing on a Persian.

Sirius thought about his Halloween costume that he would need in a few days. He had no clue yet. Maybe he should ask Vicky what she would wear, and if she wanted to go with him to the dance in the Great Hall.