NOTE: Now I'm on a Harry Potter fix! Hooray for that! How many of you can't wait for Pottermore? I know I can't! Also please note that I would like to avoid Lockhart some, as I believe he's an annoying git. And yet, I still like him. Now that's how you know that Jo Rowling did her job fantastically.
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Valentine woke up at six thirty on the morning of the Quidditch trials and couldn't get back to sleep. After trying in vain to sleep for a half hour, she decided to get out of bed and take an early shower to try and calm her nerves before the trials.
When she came back to the common room, Terry was sitting in front of the fire. He looked up. "Morning, Val."
"Morning, Ter," said Valentine, blushing slightly. "I'm...gonna go get dressed..."
Terry blushed madly. "G-go for it. I'll be here."
Valentine nodded and dashed madly up the stairs to the girls' dormitory. She arrived and rapidly closed the door behind her in relief. Padma was just waking up and noticed Valentine's slightly disconcerted face.
"Morning, Val. What's up?" asked Padma.
"I took a bath to try and calm down before the trials, and when I came back, I ran into Terry in the common room."
Padma nodded. "That can be...uh..." She gestured vaguely with her hands in place of a word.
Valentine grinned. "At least you understand." She pulled on her uniform, minus the tie.
She and Padma came downstairs a few minutes later, to find Terry still on the couch.
"Ready to go?" asked Valentine.
"Yeah," said Terry, rising off the couch. "Let's eat!"
The three went downstairs tot he Great Hall, to find it already populated with students, mainly from Ravenclaw. Valentine spotted Angela and Percy, already at the Gryffindor table, and Annabeth sitting with Chip at the Ravenclaw table. Valentine dashed over to Angela and Percy.
"Morning, you two!" She greeted each of them with a hug.
"Morning!" said Percy.
"Hey, Val!" said Angela.
"You guys gonna come and watch the trials?" asked Valentine.
"Why else would we be up at seven on a Saturday?" asked Percy jokingly.
"I'll see you on the pitch," said Valentine nervously.
"Don't worry, Val. You'll do great! Just remember, not everyone got training from Aunt Evelyn and Uncle Oliver this summer," said Percy with a grin.
Valentine brightened at the thought. "This is true. See you later!" She, Terry and Padma sat across from Annabeth and Chip. "Morning!"
"Morning, you three!" said Annabeth with a smile. "We're going to watch the trials."
"Great!" Valentine loaded her plate with eggs, bacon, and a bit of toast and filled her goblet with some orange juice and ate with gusto. As she was about halfway done, Cho Chang walked up. Valentine glanced up, and upon seeing who it was, glared. "Chang."
"Lynn," said Chang contemptuously. She crossed her arms. "You still trying out for Seeker?"
"Yeah." Valentine stood up. "And you're going down."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah."
"How do you know?" asked Chang. "I'm a fantastic Seeker!"
"Not as good as me," said Valentine smugly. "I got some great training over the summer."
"With who? A family get together, I suppose?"
"Of sorts. I trained with Evelyn Thomas and Oliver Harris."
"You're lying."
"I'm not. Evelyn's my aunt and she and Oliver are getting married," said Valentine.
"Liar."
Annabeth, seeing the need to intervene, stood up and leaned over the table towards Chang. "Chang, she's not lying."
"Oh, is she now?" said Chang, rounding on Annabeth. "Well, I see. I've always had some respect for you, Lynn, and I might be inclined to believe you."
"You should, as we're not lying. Please go now," said Annabeth.
Chang nodded and turned to Valentine. "I'll see you on the pitch."
Valentine glared in return. Chang left.
Once she was gone, Valentine fumed. "I am not going to lose to her!"
Terry patted her shoulder. "You won't. You're too good."
Valentine took a deep breath.
"Yeah, you just need to have confidence in yourself," said Chip. "You're fantastic!"
"Thanks, guys," said Valentine.
Valentine and gang finished eating relatively quickly after that, and they headed down to the broom shed to retrieve their brooms. They got them and went to the pitch. Annabeth, Percy, Chip and Angela gave Valentine a hug and a last word of encouragement and went to sit high in the stands. Valentine and Terry took deep breaths and shouldered their brooms. In the middle of the pitch stood Ravenclaw Quidditch Team Captain, seventh year Grant Paige and several hopefuls. He turned and grinned.
"Early. I like that in new players," said Grant, shaking hands with each of them. "What positions are you each trying out for?"
"Chaser," said Terry.
"Seeker," said Valentine.
"Chasers are over there, and Seekers are over there," said Grant, pointing to the groups on the left and right. There were six prospective Chasers, two tall girls, Terry and three other boys; and there were three Seekers, Valentine, Chang and another girl that Valentine didn't know.
As nine thirty came, the rest of the prospective players arrived, along with a portion of Ravenclaw house, and some Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs. In all, there were four Beaters, no other Keepers (as Grant Paige was Keeper), three Seekers, and the six Chasers.
Grant walked out front of the group and spoke to them. "This is how the trial is going to work. I'm going to play Keeper, and all the Chasers are going to try and put five penalty shots past me. Got it?" The Chasers nodded, Terry feeling confident.
All seven of them rose into the air, Grant clutching the Quaffle to his side. The Chasers flew up with him to the goal posts. Grant stationed himself in the middle of the hoops. He pointed at one of the girls. "You first." He tossed the Quaffle to her and she caught it. "The rest of you, move to the side." They did.
The girl did decently, scoring three goals out of five. One of the boys tried next and got four goals in. Grant nodded in approval. One of the other boys, not Terry, tried next and only got two in. The other girl tried and got three. The last boy tried, and missed only one. At last, it was Terry's turn. He flew in front of Grant and caught the Quaffle. He took a deep breath and shot left, but threw to the middle goal post. He made the shot. Valentine cheered from the ground. His next shot missed, but his next three went in.
Grant nodded in approval. "My Chasers are Terry, Jeremy and Roger," said Grant, pointing at the three. "Good job, boys. Now come down with me. The rest of you, either leave or sit in the stands." They did, and without complaint.
Grant and the Chasers landed in front of the rest of the hopefuls. Valentine grinned at Terry, nonverbally congratulating him. He grinned in return.
"This is how the Beater trial is going to work. I'm going to have the Chasers and flying around the pitch. I'll release one Bludger, and the Beaters, in groups of two, will attempt to hit one of the Chasers. First one in each trial to do it will make the team. Got it?" The Beaters nodded. "Good." Grant strode to the middle of the field, where he'd placed the ball trunk and turned to the Beaters. "Come 'ere," he said. The Beaters came over, and he handed the bats to a sixth year and a third year. After they were done, the sixth year won, and the last two Beaters had a go. Another sixth year won that one. They landed and Grant pointed at the two winners. "Julian, Erin, congrats!"
He turned to his prospective Seekers. "This is how your trial will work. I want all of the team members flying around the field, with both Bludgers and the Quaffle. I want everyone except the Seekers, who will be trying to find the Snitch, to create as much chaos as humanly possible. Hit Bludgers at them, block them, you get the idea?" The Chasers and Beaters nodded. He rose his voice. "And you guys in the crowd, yell, jeer, cheer, and be as loud as you can! The point is to distract the Seekers. Got it?" Several members of the crowd shouted at Grant that they did. Grant lowered his voice and turned to the Seekers. "Good luck, Seekers. Give the Snitch a minute before you take off." Grant released the Snitch. After a minute, he took off as well, having released the second Bludger, and tossed the Quaffle to one of his Chasers. "All right, Seekers, off you go!" yelled Grant.
Valentine kick off from the ground as hard as she could and rose to view the chaos from above, circling the pitch like a hawk. At all times, she kept an eye on Chang and the other girl, whose name turned out to be Tessa Martin, a fifth year.
Chang and Martin were both weaving in and out of the chaos, searching for the Snitch somewhere in there. Valentine scoffed slightly and kept her eyes out for a flash of gold. Her eyes turned to the goal posts at the other end of the field. There it was. Valentine pressed herself against her broomstick, keeping an eye on the Snitch. As she neared the center of the field, a Chaser flew in front of her and Valentine did a hairpin turn to avoid him. She glanced to the enemy goal posts. The Snitch had moved.
She turned around and flew up again, to observe the din from above. She spotted the Snitch again, this time towards the part of the stands. Valentine shot towards it again, Chang and Martin hot on her tail.
As Valentine got closer, she stretched out her hand and could see Chang falling behind on her Comet 260. She and Martin were now neck and neck, arm and arm. Valentine urged her broom forward and bashed into Martin. Martin bashed her in return.
Their feet were nearly level with Annabeth, Chip, Angela and Percy's heads, who yelped and ducked, all while keeping their eyes on the Seekers. The Snitch curved back into the pitch and Valentine turned sharply, Martin and Chang right on her tail.
A Bludger came her way and used a Sloth Grip Roll to avoid it. Martin, however, was not so lucky. The Bludger unseated her. Chang merely dodged it and continued to chase the Snitch.
Valentine urged her broom onwards, trying to overtake Chang. They were neck and neck, arm and arm, and finally, Valentine's hand closed around the golden ball, and Chang's hand grazed the back of Valentine's.
Valentine raised her hand with the Snitch gripped in it and a loud cheer went up from the crowd. Grant blew his whistle and all stopped. "She got the Snitch!" yelled Grant for all to hear. He beckoned at Valentine and the rest of the team to come to him. "I give you your 1992 Ravenclaw Quidditch team! Grant Paige, Keeper! Jeremy Stritten, Roger Davies and Terry Boot, Chasers! Julian Walker and Erin Samuels, Beaters! And Valentine Lynn, Seeker!" Cheers punctuated each name and Cho Chang could be seen angrily stalking off the field.
It was a great victory.
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NOTE: I think that was a great place to end it, no?
