12/9/22

AN Sorry for splitting it here, but it seemed to be getting a bit long and i want the match to be it's own chapter.

Jack went down to breakfast early the next morning, and was halfway through his morning meal when the other boys in his dormitory entered, in a sort of parade sort of way, leading Harry, who was carrying in his Firebolt, in.

Rolling his eyes, Jack returned to his food, blueberry pancakes with raspberry jam, and only gave a small hello when Harry sat down next to him and Oliver Wood (without asking the others at the table) cleared a space for the lump of wood to show it off, turning the handle so the name and number faced upwards.

"I was about to help myself to some of those crumpets, Oliver," Alice Williams, a 6th year who was in the 'cleared' space area, said unimpressed.

"You can have some of mine, if you like," Jack said holding out his side plate which held three plain crumpets.

Thanking him, Alice took one, still shooting a glare at Oliver Wood, who was too busy fawning over the broomstick and talking to/managing the other Quidditch Players who were coming to see it.

One of them was Cedric Diggory who was congratulating Harry on getting such a good replacement for his old broom.

Percy's Ravenclaw girlfriend, Penelope Clearwater, even came over with Elisa and Luna and asked if she could actually hold it.

"Now, now Penny, no sabotage," Percy said heartily, as she inspected it carefully. "Penelope and I have a bet on," he told the team "Ten Galleons on the outcome of the match!"

"I didn't even know you had ten Galleons to give away Perce," Jack said from where he was finishing his orange juice.

There was a mummer and Penelope looked to her boyfriend, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Well, Percy, do you have ten Galleons' to give me if you loose?" she asked the nervous looking Weasley.

"Honestly Percy, rule one on betting," Fred said liking this "Make sure you can pay up your side of the bet if you loose."

"Yeah, man I hope you didn't make the bet using the Ancient Rules," George said as he cure into his bacon "Or else Mum would only have you revived, just so she can give a good yelling to you."

While everyone left Percy to his dilemma, Elisa came to sit next to Jack.

"Nervous?" she asked smiling.

"Me? Me be nervous?" Jack asked making sure he understood the question. "Why would I be nervous?"

"Oh I don't know, I hear you still have no idea who our new Seeker is," Elisa said smiling "What if they're so awesome they catch the snitch before Harry even has a chance to look for it?"

"Snowflake, please, as far as I can tell, no one here is that good." Jack said, frowning when three all-to-familiar and unwelcome boys in green came over to talk to Harry about the Firebolt.

"Well if no one is that good..." Elisa said drawing him back to their conversation "Then Harry must have been cheating all this time. I knew it, I bet it's his glasses. I heard there are these special magical glasses that let you see way, way better than before or without them. No wonder he's so good at describing things and picking out every little detail in everything."

"What?" Jack asked confused and looking to Harry who had shooed Draco away "You think Harry's glasses are the reason we win all out matches?"

Elisa smiled and nodded.

"I would like to remind you, Elisa Dale," Jack said getting the table to turn to them now "That two of Gryffindor's past Quidditch Match wins were down to me. When he was knocked out in the hospital wing at the end of the year, two years ago, and when I had to stand in because of that rouge blunger last year."

"And all the other times, not counting last year's final matches, or this years opening, it's always been Harry," Elisa said sticking to her point. "In fact if I remember correctly in your first year Hufflepuff and Gryffindor match it didn't even go on for five minutes before he caught the walnut with wings. I say, that his glasses need to be checked for cheating charms before we play today."

"They won't be any charms on them whatsoever, because he got them from a muggle opticians, right Harry?" Jack asked looking to Harry for support.

"Um, well I'm not actually sure where they came from," Harry said taking his glasses off to look at them "Aunt Petunia went into a charity store one day, when I was 7, when the school I was going to said I needed glasses, and gave them to me. She said it was cheaper and less of a fuss than actually getting a proper eye test by them."

He put them on again, backing into the table a little at all the stares he was getting from everyone.

"But, I'm sure they're not magic, I mean the charity shop was in a Muggle town, right?" he asked nervously.

"That not the problem bud," Bunny said coming over with the other Guardians who had just arrived. "It's the fact that you may possibly, not have the correctly prescription glasses, and have had them since you were seven."

"So?" Ron asked not understanding the problem. "Glasses are glasses right?"

"There are lots of different pairs of glasses Ron," Hermione spoke up from behind her books "There are short-sighted ones for people who can't see things that far away from them, long-sighted ones for people who can't see thing near them, and then there are reading-glasses which are just like magnifying glasses to help you see words on a page or any kind of written text better." she explained "And you need the correct kind of glasses for your needs, or you might really strain and hurt your eyes, and maybe get headaches."

"Plus you should really have a new eye test, if you need glasses, every few years." Annie who was sitting next to Ginny, said. "Grandpa Bob had 3 – 5 different pairs of glasses, all to the same prescriptions, while he was a kid and teenager."

"Getting back to my glasses," Harry said reminding everyone of the situation "I am sure that they are not magic."

"Let's test them then," Elisa said holding out her hand and pulling out her wand.

"Ah, no." Oliver Wood said quickly. "No, sorry Elisa, but no Ravenclaw will mess with Harry's glasses before the match. No offence."

Huffing, Elisa put her wand away and went back to her table.

"You're going to regret that Oliver Wood," Luna said slowly standing up too and following Elisa to their table, Penelope already having gone back.

"How about if a Hufflepuff checked them?" Cedric, who was still there, asked holding out his hand.

Just so that this could be over with, Harry gave his glasses Cedric, squinting as he watched a fuzzy black and yellow blur tap them with their wand, hearing him mutter a few things, before he felt Cedric take his hand and place the set of eye-wear back in them.

"No cheat-charms whatsoever." he clarified. "There seems to be a water-repellent charm, and sliver of magic on them, but I think that's just Harry's magic making them work for him seeing as, as we've learnt they're just a pair his aunt randomly got from a charity shop."

With that he went back to his table to finish his now, soggy cereal.

o0o

At a quarter to eleven, the Gryffindor team set off to the changing room. The weather couldn't have been more different than how it was from their match against Hufflepuff.

It was a nice clear cool day, with a light breeze, there would be no visibility problems at all this time.

As the team was testing out the field, and then getting dressed, they could hear the rumble of the rest of the school coming down and filling the stands.

As they changed out of their black school robes and into their scarlet Quidditch ones, Jack and Harry took their wands and stuffed them up their sleeves, with the minor hope that they won't need them.

"You think Lupin will come this time?" Harry asked Jack.

"I'm sure he wouldn't miss a chance to see his honorary nephew playing Quidditch unless it was of absolute necessity," Jack said testing he could move the arm which had his wand up it.

"Wait, what?" Harry asked not understanding this, but Jack was cut off from explain by Wood saying:

"You all know what we've got to do. If we lose this match, we're out of the running. Just – just fly like you did yesterday, and we'll be ok."

"No need to sound so worried Oliver," Jack said in his usual happy mood "As long as nobody says 'We've got this!' or 'What could possibly go wrong?' or 'This is gonna be easy.' we won't get jinxed by the laws of fate and we'll be fine."

"Mate you just said all of those things," Fred said the only one speaking up from the rest who were looking worried.

"No... I didn't say them, because I was saying as long as nobody else says them, we'll be fine," Jack said finishing putting on his Chaser outfit "Besides, this isn't the first match of the year, so nothing should happen here right?"

"Does that count as a jinx too?" Katie Bell asked unsure.

But all too soon the time had come to come out of the changing rooms and get onto the pitch.

As the red team marched along the nice dry field to meet up with the blue team, Jack was looking along the line to try and find the new Ravenclaw Seeker and was surprised by what he saw.