Hi, it's me Michael here. First, since I last updated this thread, Things That Should Have Happened in Cannon has surpassed the 40000 view milestone and currently sits at 40643. Thank you to everyone responsible for Things That Should Have Happened in Cannon surpassing this wonderful milestone.
A follow up on Chapter 16: Some fanfiction writers have written for Harry to refuse to participate in the Triwizard Tournament after his name comes out of the Goblet of Fire, however, I always believed the "binding magical contract" meant that if you broke the contract you died, hence why I believe supervision on the Goblet of Fire was even more important.
It was Thursday, August 1st, 1996, and Katie Bell was sitting alone in a chair in her bedroom munching on a bag of Hershey's Kisses when she noticed a tawny owl carrying a letter bearing the Hogwarts Crest approach her window.
Realizing that this owl was carrying her Hogwarts letter for the upcoming school year, Katie put the bag of Hershey's Kisses down on her desk, got up, and opened her window to let the owl in.
The tawny owl dutifully dropped the letter into Katie's hands and quickly took off again.
As Katie opened the letter, she discovered a surprise inside.
Katie had been made the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain for the upcoming school year.
Within a nanosecond, Katie found herself engulfed in all sorts of emotions. Katie felt simultaneously happy, sad, and proud.
She was certainly happy to be made a Quidditch Captain, especially since she knew that this in essence gave her Prefect privileges.
But the pang of sadness Katie felt was very real. Four of her teammates, Fred, George, Alicia, and her most recent captain Angelina had all now graduated and would not be returning to Hogwarts for the 1996-97 school year. Katie had been particularly close with Alicia and Angelina and the realization that she would never see Alicia or Angelina ever again stung her worse than any bee or wasp ever could.
Katie had memories flash through her head of the times she had spent with Alicia and Angelina, especially as teammates. The reality of those friendships being in the rear view mirror sank into Katie like a stone.
But there also that feeling of pride at being named Gryffindor Quidditch Captain.
What made Katie swell with pride in herself most of all was the fact that she had remained on the team long enough and proven herself trustworthy enough to be granted the honor of Gryffindor Quidditch Captain.
The two traits Katie most prized were dedication and trust and Katie knew that both dedication and trust were necessary conditions to being considered for the role of Quidditch Captain.
Katie knew that one of the reasons she'd earned the position of Gryffindor Quidditch Captain was that she'd returned to the team year after year, proving her commitment to the team.
She also realized that her being named Gryffindor Quidditch Captain meant that she had proven herself trustworthy. Trustworthy enough to give some responsibility to. Katie knew that she had been judged to be trustworthy and that meant everything to her.
Katie put the Captain's Badge on and went and picked a mirror up off her desk.
Seeing the badge on herself, Katie felt a sort of humble happiness wash over her.
She was pleased about the opportunity but knew it was nothing to boast about. This position came with responsibility and Katie felt quietly confident that she could live up to that responsibility.
Sitting back down and grabbing her bag of Hershey's Kisses back off of her desk, Katie started to think about her strategies for team dynamics.
I don't feel as strongly about this one as some of the others, but I do believe that Katie rather than Harry should have been Quidditch Captain. Katie was a year older than Harry and I believe seniority should matter when it comes to the captain position. Also, not something I delve into here, but, for the record, I've always believed that having been teammates with them for five years that Harry should have had more of a relationship with Alicia, Angelina and Katie.