Caution: some Ron Bashing ahead
Chapter 6: The Tryouts
Deepvoice surveyed the table. Lord Voldemort was at the head, with all of his most loyal followers – both marked and unmarked – closest to him. Then there were the fresh escapees from Azkaban, whose escape the Ministry had decided not to make public, and a few new recruits.
As for Deepvoice, he had not even earned a spot on the table, but was instead hovering behind some of the newcomers. He hoped that his Master's attention wasn't drawn to him; while he was good at Occumancy, he still feared that the Dark Lord would discover his planned betrayal.
"You have all done well my loyal followers" The Dark Lord addressed the table "so many muggles dead, and now the mudbloods and muggle-lovers will be panicking."
"My Lord" Avery said "may I make a suggestion?"
"Of course."
"The muggles will continue to pack themselves into trains no matter what" Avery said "I suggest we use this to cull them quickly and efficiently. We won't even need to herd them in. If we target multiple trains a day, we can reduce the number of muggles in London drastically, and once they do get the message, their ability to move around the country will be compromised."
"Yes" The Dark Lord agreed "culling them through attacks on trains and other modes of mass transport would be the most effective way to eradicate them from London. However at the moment we will be risking having too many people captured. While we have nothing to fear from Azkaban, it must be an inconvenience having to constantly escape." he looked towards the new escapees as she spoke, many of whom laughed along with him.
"What about after we have strengthened our position within the Ministry My Lord?" Avery asked.
"We will carry out extensive muggle culling after we have control of the ministry." The Dark Lord announced "Narcissa! How is the work going with Thicknesse?"
"I am working on an Imperio Pin for him night and day My Lord" Narcissa Malfoy explained "by the end of the month it will be ready."
"I say we just use the Imperious Curse and start straight away." Avery protested.
"Do you want our puppet in the Ministry resisting us?" She protested "Or do you want to risk the caster weakening? No! Our control of Thicknesse has to be complete and permanent."
"People can still resist Pins" Avery said.
"Not when I make them" Narcissa said "Thicknesse will be ours within the month; and at first no-one will even notice the difference. Not even him. You just focus on how you'll get him to the top once I make him ours."
"Narcissa, you have been instrumental in converting people into our ranks" The Dark Lord said "I am trusting that you will do an exceptional job with Thicknesse. You and your son both have such important jobs to complete for us; I would hate to see either of you fail."
Deepvoice hated to think of what would happen to the Malfoy Family if either Narcissa or Draco failed their missions.
:Meanwhile at Hogwarts:
Harry surveyed the Quidditch Pitch. Quidditch had always been one of his favourite things at Hogwarts, and as he thought about the up-coming season he found himself feeling happier than he had in months.
"Looks like some people are already here" Katie Bell said, pointing to the stands.
"I hope they're not just here because I'm the Captain" Harry said "Anyway Katie, you really don't have to try out. I already know that you're a good Chaser."
"Nah, I'll try out" Katie said "and if I'm not good enough you shouldn't let the past few years influence your decision."
"I won't" Harry said "now why don't you go get ready?"
Katie thanked Harry and then went to join the growing group of Gryffindor Team hopefuls by the goals. Harry turned back to the rest of his friends. Ron, Ginny, and Dean had come out with him, and would soon be trying out.
Also accompanying him was Hermione, Theo and Blaise. Hermione's original plan had involved a study session with Theo; a decision that had gotten Ron's complete disapproval.
"Hermione this is Harry's first time hosting tryouts." he had said "his Quidditch Captain! You have to come and watch!"
"I'm sorry guys, alright?" she said "I completely forgot about it ok. I'll go tell Theo and arrange to see him another night."
Theo seemed a bit disappointed by her change of plans, but understood how important it was for her and her friends. Blaise then suggested that they could do homework at the pitch if it was that important to them, and then invited himself and Theo along to the tryouts.
Harry had to admit that it felt strange having two Slytherins in his entourage, but he really didn't mind. Blaise had always been someone who could make him laugh, and this past week he had noticed himself talking to the Slytherin almost as much as he had been talking to Ron.
"Well mate, we'd better let you set up" Ron said.
"Ok" Harry said "good luck you guys."
Ron, Ginny, and Dean followed Katie to the goal posts, and Harry was left alone with the non-flyers. He suddenly remembered the key that Madam Hooch had given him earlier that day, and handed it to Hermione.
"Oh Madam Hooch gave me this" he said "it unlocks the top box. Why don't you three sit up there for a better view?"
"Up… there?" Blaise asked, his voice raising an octave.
"You alright?" Hermione asked.
"Yah I'm 'right. Why don't you and Theo go up? I'll be alright in the grandstand. A bit closer to the ground."
"Blaise has a debilitating fear of heights" Theo explained.
"It's not a debilitating fear!" Blaise protested "I'm just not really that fond of being up high."
"Oh, that's why you never came to any of the flying lessons back in first year" Hermione said "Well we'll stay with you. Don't worry about it. Thanks for the offer Harry."
"Oh Merlin, what type of poor excuse for a wizard gets scared of heights?" a familiar drawl said "though I guess if I had such weak magic blood I'd be afraid of falling too."
"Shut up Malfoy" Blaise said. Malfoy was once again flanked by Pansy Parkinson and the Slytherin girls, but Crabbe and Goyle were nowhere in sight.
"I used to jump out of my bedroom window when I was little" Parkinson teased "there was always a house elf around to stop my fall. I guess kids raised in muggle environments must feel scared all the time; with no magic around to save them."
"Does that mean that Pureblooded children always have someone holding their hand?" Blaise asked "Damn it must be a shock to come into the real world after being babied for so long. No offence Theo."
"None taken" Theo said "no-one in my family ever encouraged stupidity."
"No, you had muggle so-called culture to do that Pimpleface" Davis sneered.
"Leave him alone" Hermione said "true stupidity is calling one of the highest achieving students in the year stupid."
"So the two of you are study-buddies now?" Bulstrode said "How cute. Well be careful Granger; if you sit too close to Nott you'll get lice."
"Why are you all here" Harry said "I'm trying to hold Quidditch tryouts."
"And sorry Malfoy, but you can't buy your way into the Gryffindor team as well." Blaise added.
"Oh shut up Zabini" Malfoy said "I don't need my flying abilities criticised by someone who has a panic attack while hovering off the ground. And Potter, I am allowed to check out the competition."
He sounded more board then usual, and Harry got the impression that he sincerely didn't want to be here. Harry was glad that Malfoy didn't see too interested in causing trouble today; while the 'strange day' that Hermione had predicted at breakfast never happened, the tension amongst members of Slytherin house was thick. Even now, Harry felt as if he was standing in the middle of a battlefield, waiting for a war to start.
"Come on" Parkinson said, grabbing Malfoy's hand and pulling him closer to herself "We don't need to listen to these muggle-lovers."
"True, though I think some people need to see how real Slytherins act" Malfoy said as he drew his wand "we don't want Potter and Granger here to think that Nott and Zabini really belong in our house now do we?"
"Draco, there's a horde of angry Gryffindors running towards us!" Lilith Moon shrieked "They're going to kill us!"
"RUN!" Draco shouted, as he took off, almost dragging Parkinson behind him. Moon and Davis took off after them, not bothering to look back at the mob. Bulstrode looked at the approaching Gryffindors with hate. She was a fighter, but she knew when she was outmatched. Instead she turned around to face Harry and his friends, and looked the four of them over as if making a tough decision. Before Harry could ask her what she was looking at, she seemed to make up her mind, and shot a mouthful of spit at Theo, before running after her friends.
"Whoa are you guys ok?" Ron asked as he reached them "what were those gits doing here?"
"Apparently checking out the competition" Harry said "we're alright though, except well…,"
"Except Theo may need to be quarantined" Blaise said "who knows what was in the spit."
"I should be fine" Theo said, looking around at the large crowd of Gryffindors gathered around him.
"I can't believe that cow" Hermione said "why would she do that to you? Disgusting!"
"She's always hated me" Theo explained, keeping his eyes to the ground, "because I'm Pureblood and friends with Blaise… and she also really thinks my mother was one of the greatest witches in modern times, so well, you know."
"Hey, you guys have Quidditch tryouts!" Blaise announced "Hop to it! Come on Theo, Hermione, let's find a place to sit."
"Good luck everyone" Hermione waved to the crowd as she walked off with the Slytherin boys. Harry waved to her, then turned to the mob. He noticed Ron at the front, looking after Hermione with a sour expression on his face.
"Ok!" Harry called out to the crowd "now that we're all ready, let's start the tryouts!"
There was a cheer from the crowd and Harry felt himself smile. First of all he got all the students to form groups and fly around the pitch once. It was a basic thing, but it proved to be very helpful in weeding out those with little flying experience.
The first group were all nervous first years, and only one small boy even made it around the pitch. The second group consisted of giggling girls who kept giving Harry strange lovey-dovy looks. Most of them were hopeless too. The third group were Hufflepuffs.
"Ok" Harry called out over the crowd "anyone not in Gryffindor please go to the grandstand to watch."
The next few groups were a bit more promising, and once Harry had a good number of skilled flyers, he called up the Chasers and got them to fly around the pitch again; this time passing Quaffles and dodging enchanted Bludges that Harry sent after them. From this he choose Katie Bell and Ginny straight up as his first two Chasers, but had a tough time deciding between Dean and a third year named Demelza Robins who was exceptionally good at dodging Bludges. In the end he went with Demelza, much to her delight.
Next off he tested the Beaters, and chose second-years Jimmy Peakes and Ritchie Coote. While they were not as great as Fred and George had been, Harry could defiantly see a lot of potential in them.
Finally it was time to try out the Keepers. Harry had deliberately left this position until last in the hope that everyone would have gone by now, but if anything it looked as if the crowd had grown bigger. Harry hoped that Ron would be alright; Harry knew that there was a good chance of the crowd psyching him out now that he was on his broom
He whittled down the Keepers to just two; Ron, who was performing at his best, and a seventh-year named Cormac MacLaggan who also showed plenty of skill.
"Hey, was MacLaggan in the tryouts last year?" Harry asked Katie.
"No he wasn't" Katie said "he was in the Hospital Wing at the time."
"Oh I see."
He got Ron and MacLaggan to do one final round together; each would have five Quaffles thrown at them, and whoever caught the most would be on the team. Ron went first and caught all five; however the last catch was a bit dodgy.
Harry looked over the grandstand as he announced that MacLaggan needed to save all five goals, and caught sight of Hermione. She was still with Blaise and Theo, and the three of them were seated a bit away from the rest of the crowd. Harry was glad to notice that Hermione and Theo were actually watching the tryouts instead of doing homework.
Now MacLaggan flew up to the posts, and the newly appointed Chasers sent five Quaffles his way. MacLaggan did well on the first four, but on the fifth shot he seemed to get confused and skirted off in the opposite direction.
Ron seemed happy to have regained his place on the team; as did Ginny and Katie, who flew up to Ron and both tried to hug him at once. Harry heard a scream coming from the crowd and looked down to see Lavender Brown jumping up and down and waving madly at Ron.
Harry looked back to Hermione. It was getting dark so he couldn't see her face, but she seemed to be explaining something important to the boys. Harry could just make out Zabini pointing at MacLaggan.
"Hay mate, great tryouts!" Ron said as he flew towards Harry "Let's celebrate the new team!"
"Ron we've just picked a team, let's keep the celebrating until after we win." Harry said "and congratulations on making it."
"Ah it was no problem. Especially after MacLaggan let in that last shot. It looked like he was confounded or something."
They landed on the ground and mingled for a while with the crowd. They met up with Hermione and the boys. Hermione seemed a bit sheepish, while Theo began stuttering worse then Professor Quirrell while he congratulated Ron. As Ron started talking about how close he had been to missing, Theo began to get very jittery. More jittery than Harry had ever seen him before. Harry would have just chalked it up to another oddity about him, if Hermione hadn't also been acting a bit evasive.
"It's great Ron" she told him "you're a great Keeper, and you'll do even better this season then you did in the last one." Her voice sounded happy enough, but Harry noticed that she didn't look either of them in the eye, and kept fidgeting with her wand.
Blaise acted the most normal of the three, but he did seem to have a bit on his mind. Just as the sun was finally going down Blaise pulled him away from the crowd.
"Hey Harry, you're a great Captain" Blaise started "and it looks like you chose yourself a great team, and I really hate to rain on your parade…,"
"What is it Blaise?"
"Well, MacLaggan didn't really miss that last shot; Hermione confounded him."
"What?"
"Yah, she figured that no-one need know, but well, the way she and Theo acted, I figured you'd probably guess something was up."
"Yah, I noticed they were both acting strange. Damn, Hermione cheated?"
"Look, I know that that kind of thing isn't looked on very well in Gryffindor, or Quidditch in general" Blaise said "but there's still about a fifty-fifty chance that Weasley would have made it anyway, and besides, skill isn't everything. MacLaggan is the reason I dropped out of music; he is an amazing pianist, but he used to come into the Music Hall whenever he had a free and tell everyone how they should be playing."
"I'm still going to have to do something about this" Harry said "I mean, it isn't fair to MacLaggan, or the team."
"Having MacLaggan on the team just because his a slightly better Keeper won't do your team any good if none of you can work with him" Blaise said "I don't want to tell you what to do with your team, but trust me, MacLaggan is a one-man show. His tried to join just about every band that's ever formed in Hogwarts, but he always gets kicked out because he can't work with other people. If you want to do the honourable thing and redo the tryout, then I guess that's just you, but I think you made the right choice."
"Oi Harry, where are you?" Ron's voice called out "Oh, you're with Zabini."
"Hi Weasley" Blaise said "great flying today."
"Yah thanks" Ron said, his dislike for Blaise overshadowed by his pride "you know Zabini, you really aren't as bad as some of the other Slytherins around."
"Well if you are comparing me to Malfoy then I'd have hoped you had noticed that before."
"Well, your not like Malfoy… but well, hay, want to go flying together some time? As long as you don't go tell the Slytherin Quidditch Team about it though."
"Urgh... No thanks."
"Oh fine" Ron said "I make a peace offering and you don't want anything to do with it."
"Why do you need to make a peace offering?" Blaise asked "I have nothing against you, except when you're pinning over my mother."
"You're a bloody poser" Ron replied "I guess going flying with the likes of Ron Weasley wouldn't do much for your fan club!"
"I don't have a fan club. A fan club would be cool… though weird. And you need to stop making out like everyone is against you. I don't want to go flying with you because I can't fly! If you got your act together then maybe I wouldn't mind going swimming or playing chess with you."
"Bullshit, anyone can fly. And what do you mean 'get my act together'? Shall I start acting like some stuck-up woman-chasing prince?"
"I am not a 'stuck-up woman-chasing prince'! You need to stop acting like some whinny little kid who thinks the world revolves around them!"
"I am not a –"
"Ok guys this is getting stupid!" Harry said "What the hell happened between you two anyway?"
"I wish I knew" Blaise said.
"Oh stop playing dumb!" Ron said.
"I seriously don't know what's gotten you so bitchy."
"I am not bitchy!"
"Yes you are. You're like, the male counterpart of Pansy Parkinson when it comes to bitchyness!"
"That's it! Let's go Harry!"
"Ok, umm… see you Blaise, thanks for the advice."
"I'll see you in class tomorrow" He said "bye Weasley!"
Ron didn't answer, and Harry followed him through the corridors in silence for a while. It wasn't until they were half-way to the Common Room that Harry decided to ask Ron what his problem with Blaise was.
"Well Harry don't you think that his well…, that his kinda…,"
"Kinda what?" Harry asked.
"Kinda stealing Hermione from us?" Ron concluded.
"Stealing Hermione?" Harry asked in disbelief.
"Well, she does spend a lot of time with him and Nott."
"Yah, but that's really her choice."
"I know, but what if it's not?"
"What about him? I thought we were talking about Zabini?"
"Not that Nott, I mean not as in not, not Nott… gah, you know what I mean." Ron sighed "though I think it's a bit suspicious that Hermione is fond of him. But what I mean is well, what if being attracted to Zabini isn't Hermione's conscious choice. What if he has like, Veela charm or something else. You heard Ginny say that he was 'perfect looking'"
"Well, so you really do think that Hermione is attracted to Blaise?"
"It fits in. His so good at Transfiguration that he has to be getting help from Hermione, and you know she doesn't usually tutor people. Oh and what about Nott? He seems so awkward around the two of them; he must know and not know how to deal with it."
"I guess it does fit" Harry said "except Blaise is with Xanthe Rivers."
"I know, that's why it's so bad. Oh, and when was the last time you saw them walking around the hall holding hands and stuff?"
"They only got together just before the holidays" Harry defended "and we've been back less then a week."
"I think his going to end up breaking Hermione's heart."
"I'm sure that's not the case. Hermione is way too smart to let that happen to her, and so is Xanthe. It doesn't seem like Blaise anyway."
"How do you know what 'seems like Blaise'?"
"Oh I don't know. But then again neither do you."
"I think I have a pretty good idea."
"No you don't. Hay, why don't you take him up on his offer and play chess with him?"
"I don't really feel like playing games with that git."
"Afraid he might win?"
"Ok, fine. I'll ask him for a match. I doubt he would accept anyway."