On Sunday morning, after retrieving his breakfast from his owl, Ari used the owl to send notes to Justin and Dean, asking them to meet him after breakfast with whichever friends they could convince to play muggle sports. It was an interesting group that showed up; all five Ravenclaw boys were there, although Stephen was dragged there very reluctantly, Justin brought Ernie, a fellow Hufflepuff, and Dean brought Seamus.

"So, there are nine of us," Ari said, taking a quick inventory. "That means a team of five and a team of four."

"I don't have to play," Stephen said. "I'm only here because there's nobody else to hang out with if you're all here, but I could join the girls instead."

"Aren't Ravenclaws supposed to want to learn?" Ari challenged. "You should want to learn about muggle sports. Think of it as getting a head start for Muggle Studies in third year."

"I doubt they talk about sports," Ernie said. "I think the class is more about how muggles manage without magic."

"It should be about sports," Ari said. "Sports are an important part of life. If there was a wizarding class for muggles, don't you think they would mention quiddich?"

"Definitely," Michael said. "Quiddich is an important part of our culture, but the only reason I'm here is because I know you won't shut up about how much fun I missed, and I prefer to experience it then to hear about it."

"One of my roommates is giving me a hard time about my soccer posters," Dean admits.

"That's his loss," Ari said. "He won't ever learn to have fun if he never tries."

"Why do you call it soccer?" Justin asked. "It's called football. Only Americans call it soccer."

"It goes by both names," Ari said. "The British stopped using the term soccer in the 1980s to differentiate themselves from Americans, but it still goes by both names."

"Besides," Dean said, "If I say football, some Americans would picture a different game."

"There aren't any Americans here," Terry scorned. "They go to school in America."

"Are there really magical schools all over the world?" Dean asked.

"Of course," Ernie said. "Britain's not the only country with magic."

"So should we start with soccer?" Ari asked, looking meaningfully at Dean.

"No, we should start with football," Justin argued.

"Whatever," Dean said. "Let's play."

"Ravenclaws against Hufflepuff and Gryffindor?" Ari suggested.

They all agreed and both teams selected goalies while the muggle raised tried to explain the rules of the game to their friends. Ari removed some cones from his sports bag to set up goals.

Ari got the ball first and kicked it very hard at the goal. Ernie, who was playing goalie, actually ducked out of the way when he saw the force of the kick, allowing Ari to score an easy goal.

"I can't play against you," Ernie complained. "You're going to kill me."

"You'll get used to it," Ari said. "I'll try to aim away from you and get easier goals."

Dean had a hurried conversation with Ernie and the game continued. Ernie threw the ball back in, and once again, Ari managed to get a foot on it. Another hard kick earned him another easy goal.

"I have to stay on you," Dean said. "The rest of my team is scared of you."

"Too bad," Ari said. "I guess they would prefer rugby."

Ernie threw the ball back in and Michael caught it.

"Drop it!" Ari called frantically. "No hands!"

"Free kick," Dean said, eagerly taking his shot and scoring for his team. He made sure to cover Ari when Kevin threw the ball back, leaving Michael to try to get it without using his hands. Michael managed to get a foot on the ball, when Dean ran over and kicked it to the goal again, tying the score. Kevin threw the ball back, and Terry got it this time.

"Help, what should I do?" he called frantically, trying to keep his foot on the ball so Dean can't steal it.

"Kick it toward the goal," Ari reminded him.

Terry managed a weak little kick before Ari and Dean battled over the ball. After a few more minutes, it was obvious that most of the players still didn't know what was going on so they decided to stop and try something else.

"What now?" asked Justin.

"How about baseball?" Kevin suggested.

"Whatever for?" asked Dean.

"I like it," Kevin said.

"Me too," Ari added. "I play all sports during the summer, including baseball."

"I want to explore the third floor corridor," Seamus said. "Is anyone else interested?"

"Interested in dying a painful death?" Ari said. "You gotta be kidding me. I'm planning on living a lot longer than eleven years."

"What do you think they have there?" Dean asked.

"Probably some dangerous creature wandered into the forbidden forest," Michael suggested, "and the school is keeping it locked there until they find a safe way to remove it."

"I thought it sounded more like a dare," Seamus said. "Dumbledore was challenging us to try to find what is in that corridor. Why else would he mention it at the welcome feast?"

"So nobody would end up there by mistake and die!" Justin exclaimed. "You can't keep dangerous creatures around and not warn people! Why do you think so many houses have signs 'Beware of Dog'?"

"I never saw such a sign," Ernie said.

"Me neither," said Stephen. "It must be a muggle thing."

"So, should we check it out?" Seamus asked.

"No!" Ari, Justin, Kevin and Stephen all said the same time.

"Chickens," Seamus taunted. "You coming with me, Dean?"

"Please don't," Ari begged. "If you do, I'll have nobody to play soccer with again."

"That's what's important?" Ernie scorned.

"How about we teach them to play rugby?" Ari suggested, trying to get away from the topic of the corridor.

"If they're scared of your soccer kicks, there's no way anybody could take you for rugby," Justin told him.

"Baseball," Ari suggested.

"I'm in," Kevin said eagerly.

"I'm not," Justin said. "I never played it in my life."

"First time for everything," Ari said cheerfully.

"Why?" challenged Justin. "So you could swing a bat at us instead of kicking a ball at us?"

"I'm not that scary," Ari said. "Most of my friends are better than me. I just like sports. How about basketball?"

"Do you have a hoop?" asked Dean.

"Maybe we could use a quiddich hoop," Ari thought aloud.

"How do you play basketball?" Seamus asked.

"You throw the ball in the basket," Ari said simply.

"While standing on the ground?" asked Seamus.

"Unless you can jump high," Ari told him.

"In quiddich, we use brooms," Michael said.

"We start flying lessons this week," Seamus said eagerly. "Maybe we could start using the quiddich pitch."

"The house teams will want it for practice," Ernie said. "While I like the idea of having an interhouse activity, I don't think sports will work for most of us."

"I don't care about interhouse," Ari said. "I care about the sports part."

"I noticed," Stephen said, "But the rest of us don't."

"Speak for yourself!" Dean said angrily. "I'll play soccer any time Ari's available."

"Fine," Stephen said. "You and Anthony go play soccer together. I'm going back to the dorm."

"I don't really understand muggle sports," Michael said apologetically. "I only grew up knowing about quiddich."

"We could still hang out together sometimes," Ernie said. "We just can't compete with you in sports."

"I guess I'll play soccer with Dean every Sunday morning," Ari said, "and catch using a baseball with Kevin every Sunday afternoon. Justin, do you play rugby?"

"Not at your level," Justin said. "Like you, I plan to live more than eleven years."

"Fine," Ari said with a grin. "Contact me on your twelfth birthday and we'll play a game."

"I could think of other things I would prefer as birthday presents," Justin replied. "But I'll keep it in mind."

As the group dispersed, Ari wondered how his classmates survived eleven years without sports.