Crumpled Horn Plot Bunnies
By Andrew J. Talon
Disclaimer: I do not and probably never will own Harry Potter or any other copyrighted works mentioned in this story. I am not writing this for profit.
Time for some proper sports at Hogwarts...
Dean Thomas was outside, looking a bit depressed as he stared out at the courtyard. He was looking so down that even Harry, obsessed with his own demons, couldn't help but take notice.
That, and Ron was being a bit of a prat lately after the Goblet had burped out his name.
"Dean?" Harry asked. Dean looked up with a frown. Harry cleared his throat. "You all right, mate?"
"I, yeah, I guess," Dean muttered. "Nothing that you should worry about."
Harry recalled himself saying those words, so many times. He found himself sitting next to Dean.
"Doesn't mean I can't listen," Harry reasoned. Dean glanced up at Harry, then nodded.
"West Ham's having a great season," Dean sighed. "My dad's sending me news in his letters, but... I wish I could at least hear the games on the radio, ya know? Or talk to someone about it!" Dean huffed. "But no, it's just quidditch, quidditch, quidditch! Er, no offense."
"No, no, I get it," Harry said carefully. "Or um, I don't take offense to that."
Dean looked out to the mountains beyond the courtyard.
"I've been a Hammers fan since before I could walk, you know," Dean said softly. "My whole family was in on it. We'd go to the games, tailgate, party. Even at their lowest, the team still fought on. My mum, my grandparents, my cousins... It was something we could all agree on, ya know? Something that brought us all together. Hell, my dad was a fan-Left me a signed jersey from Geoff Hurst."
Dean looked down.
"I just feel a little... Out of it. Isolated," Dean admitted. Harry nodded.
"I get it," he said softly. Dean snorted and looked away.
"Well... I mean, it doesn't compare to... Everything you've gone through-"
"You're still alone and depressed," Harry stated firmly. He hesitated, before he lifted a hand and rested it on Dean's shoulder. Dean looked back at Harry, who continued.
"You know, the happiest times I had in school? Were when I was playing football," Harry admitted. "Out during break time, they needed players. Sure, I got picked last, but I still played. And when we worked together, we could win. That kind of connection... For a while, it didn't matter who my guardians were. It was just... The grass, the dirt, the ball, the game."
Dean smiled, his eyes nearly glowing. He nodded solemnly.
"Exactly," he said. He looking thoughtful, before he pulled out some sheets of paper from his ever-present sketchbook. He waved his wand, concentrated, and did a few spells. A nearly-regulation football was soon sitting in his lap, and Dean gave Harry a grin.
"What do you say?" Dean asked, "little one on one?"
Harry grinned back. They got up, and began kicking the ball back and forth. Harry soon recovered his kicking skills, and Dean was a pretty good teacher when it came to basic dribbling and strikes. A few more students saw them kicking the ball around, and joined in. Despite the ill feelings many students may have had towards Harry, many more were rather indifferent to the whole Triwizard-Most of them Muggleborn, and thus enthusiastic about the game.
Harry ended up captain of one team, while Dean took the other. The doors of the courtyard were the goals, and the game began in earnest. A number of other students just watched-A few Slytherins trying to pretend they weren't interested. Harry managed to captain decently, despite his lack of experience, but Dean's team made short work of his-Three points scored in about twenty minutes.
All the same, Harry and Dean were grinning happily. Some other kid from Ravenclaw, Terry something? Had joined in, and was panting alongside. He chuckled and shook Dean's hand right after Harry.
"Damn, you are good," Terry said. "We gotta set up a proper club! Hogwarts FC!"
"Yeah," Dean said with a grin, "so, who you root for in the League?"
Terry grinned broadly.
"Millwall! The Lions, of course! Who do you follow?"
Dean's eyes narrowed. His face became stormy.
"The Hammers. West Ham," Dean growled.
Terry's eyes widened, and then narrowed. Their hands began to clench tightly, as though they were trying to break eachother's hands.
"Only gits support West Ham," Terry snarled.
"Funny, only cheaters support Millwall," Dean hissed back.
Harry winced. He hadn't wanted the position of peacekeeper, but...
"Mates, mates, come on," Harry said, "maybe some rivalries can... Wait for later?"
The two looked at Harry, and then back at each other. They still scowled at each other, but withdrew their hands.
"Fine," Dean said, "but we run the club together. No dirty Millwall rubbish!"
"That's fine! I'll have to keep your West Ham nonsense in check!" Terry shot back.
Harry shook his head. He was a buffer for Hermione and Ron's fights, no way was he getting in the middle of this...
In case it wasn't obvious, West Ham and Millwall FCs have a bitter rivalry.
Honestly I'm a basketball and hockey fan so "association football" doesn't do it for me, but I get the appeal of sport and more sports competing at Hogwarts could allow for lots of fun story concepts. It might be nice to explore other broomstick sports, too. Like Quodpot. Though rather than bothering with the potion and junk, just say that's how it was originally played.
Modern quodpot would be more akin to basketball: Five-six man teams, the Quod (ball) gets brighter and closer to exploding as a form of shot clock. Get the ball through a hoop to score points and reset the clock. The Quod looks more like a fireball (like the basketball in NBA Jam) the longer the game goes on. Have different points for different forms of scoring, or something. Having more variety in the sports at Hogwarts would let you flesh the world out more in different ways-Ways Rowling wasn't able to.
