A/N: Harry meets his clubmates for the first time in this chapter. Amy's, Susan's, and Hannah's first meetings with their clubs will be shown in separate future chapters.
As the students at Skyward School of Practical Sorcery filed out of the Eating and Meeting Hall and headed for their initial club meetings, the four members of the Yellow Quartet were the very last to rise.
Harry, Amy, Susan, and Hannah all got up from their table quite slowly.
Over the past year, the bond between the Yellow Quartet had become one of the strongest bonds in the history of mankind. Harry, Amy, Susan, and Hannah had become inseparable except when sleeping or taking alone time.
What REALLY proved how close the Yellow Quartet really were with each other, how strongly bonded they were with each other, and how genuine their friendship was the fact that between the four of them, Harry, Amy, Susan, and Hannah had NEVER yelled at each other, NEVER fought with each other, and NEVER had a falling out.
As Harry, Amy, Susan, and Hannah now embarked on the journey that was making new friends and having different experiences independently of each other, they all felt an odd sense of loss. Even Amy, who was by far the member of the Yellow Quartet who was most on board with the concept of each of the four of them joining a different club without the other three, felt quite awkward at this nanosecond.
Hoping to reassure one another, Harry, Amy, Susan, and Hannah gave each other small smiles, and all said, "Good luck!" in upbeat voices as they now went separate ways for the first time since becoming the Yellow Quartet.
Harry felt nervous as headed off to the Student Club Areas and found the room tagged Broom Club Room.
Entering the Broom Club Room, Harry saw there was a long black rectangular surrounded by brown chairs.
Sitting at one on the ends of the table was Sirius.
Looking around, Harry saw three people sitting on one side of the table and two on the side nearest to him. There was an empty chair at the far left of this side of the table and Harry took a seat there.
"Good afternoon," said Sirius happily, "In addition to being Skyward School of Practical Sorcery's flying teacher, I am also going to be in charge of the Broom Club. Now, I believe introductions are in order. Would everybody please introduce himself or herself?"
"I'm Harry Potter, " said Harry quickly, "I'm a second year. I was actually homeschooled by Heather along with my three BFFs, Amy Alworth. Susan Bones, and Hannah Abbott at Abbott Manor most of last year after Heather Abbott and Amelia Bones decided to pull the Yellow Quartet from Hogwarts. I never became interested in Quidditch after learning how violent and dangerous the sport is. However, I LOVE flying on racing brooms and I'm really looking forward to learning more about different types of brooms and the history of the flying broomstick. "
"So, " spoke the boy sitting next to Harry, who Harry now realized he recognized, "My name is Cedric Diggory. I'm in fourth year. While I did play Quidditch for Hufflepuff at Hogwarts, I was never obsessed with it. There were people, like Oliver Wood of Gryffindor, who cared about nothing but Quidditch. For me, Quidditch was something I did as a diversion from thinking about schoolwork. Academics have always been my top priority, but sometimes even the most academically minded amongst us need a break from thinking about academics. Quidditch was a great outlet for that. That said, I don't miss Quidditch. The Broom Club will just as good a release for me. "
"You don't have to play an inhumane game to enjoy flying, " said Harry bluntly.
Sitting to Cedric's right was a tall bald black boy with black eyes who revealed, "This is Scott Swerve here. I'm in sixth year but this is my first time away at school. So, I'm a half blood wizard with a muggle mom and wizard dad. However, dad has homeschooled me the previous five years. You see, daddy refused to allow me to attend Hogwarts mostly due to Dumbledore's continuing employment of Snape. On my eleventh birthday, daddy showed me my Hogwarts letter to show me I'd been accepted. But he also explained that he had made the decision to homeschool me. He told me point blank that he "could never trust a Headmaster who was employing a known Death Eater." When Skyward School of Practical Sorcery was announced, daddy told me he was going to do some diligence on it and consider sending me to Skyward School of Practical Sorcery if he felt he could trust the Headmistress with my well-being. After doing his research, daddy concluded that he could trust Madam Abbott. In fact, Madam Abbott's requirement that all students at Skyward School of Practical Sorcery would be required to join a school club actually sealed the deal on daddy sending me here. While I, humbly I say this, am a good student, daddy feels the social interactions I will naturally incur by being at Skyward School of Practical Sorcery will be good for me. Daddy never let me play Quidditch and hated the sport himself, but he loved flying and racing brooms and passed the love of flying on to me from the time I was a toddler. When I was two, I had a broom that only rose a few feet into the air and let my feet skim the ground."
"Your daddy is a fantastic thinker, "Harry told Scott kindly, "You know, the social aspects of being at a public school was originally the reason Heather chose to found Skyward School of Practical Sorcery rather than continue on with homeschooling me, Amy, Susan, and Hannah. I'm already beginning to see she was right. Your dad clearly had the same idea. It's also a nice father-son thing that your dad passed his love of flying on to you."
Scott gave Harry a small smile.
Meanwhile on the other side of the table, sitting across from Harry was an average sized averaged heighted boy with medium brown hair and brown eyes.
"GOOD AFTERNOON!" piped up this boy enthusiastically, "I am known by the name of Anthony Angle. So, I'm muggleborn. I'm a third year. As there are no magical schools in my homeland of Nebraska, I went to Hogwarts the last two years. With Hogwarts shuttered, admittedly rightfully, I had to find somewhere to go to school and learn magic. Seeing as both my parents are muggles, they can't homeschool me. So, Skyward School of Practical Sorcery it is."
"My friend Amy Alworth was in the same boat of going to Hogwarts because there are no magical schools in her homeland, in her case, Arizona, though, like myself. Susan, and Hannah, Heather and Amelia got her out of Hogwarts quickly, " explained Harry.
"I was in Gryffindor, " said Anthony matter of factly, "I enjoyed flying lessons in first year and in second year I went out for Quidditch but failed to make the team. I was beaten out for the final Chaser spot by a girl named Katie Bell, who was in my year in Gryffindor. I have to be honest, only after realizing what Skyward School of Practical Sorcery is going to be like I have I come to appreciate how flawed Hogwarts was. The bad teachers and inadequate curriculum at Hogwarts were bad, but, in my opinion, the very worst part of Hogwarts was the house system, which naturally created rivalries and tensions between groups of students while simultaneously raising students to be prejudiced in favor of people like themselves. Skyward School of Practical Sorcery being houseless is the biggest thing Madam Abbott got right."
"So?" Cedric asked Anthony, "What are your thoughts on Quidditch not being offered at Skyward School of Practical Sorcery?"
"I'm a little disappointed, " admitted Anthony, "I always enjoyed watching the Quidditch matches at Hogwarts and would have loved a chance to play. I know Quidditch isn't exactly risk free, but I always thought goal scoring would be fun. It is what it is."
"Do you actually you think you could make a Quidditch team if we had Quidditch here?" Scott grilled Anthony.
"I think it would've been a fifty-fifty proposition, " admitted Anthony honestly, "But I'd have loved the chance to go for it. That said, I think being a member of Broom Club is going to be a satisfying experience. "
In the chair next to Anthony's was a petit Asian boy.
"Um, " said the Asian boy shyly, "I'm a fifth year called Katsumi Ishikawa."
Noticing the boy's shyness, Harry's said encouragingly, "It's okay, Katsumi, you are wanted and welcomed here. Tell us a little more."
"My family has lived in the UK for a few generations now, but we are of Japanese descent. If I actually lived in Japan, I'd have gone to Mahoutokoro. That said, while we've lived in the UK for a while now, we've kept using Japanese names, " answered Katsumi, "I was in Ravenclaw at Hogwarts. I was a straight O student in all subjects. I never tried out for Quidditch. My mom and dad have always empathized the importance of academics. At Hogwarts I was always strictly focused on academics and made a small group of friends who were likewise academically obsessed. Madam Abbott forced my hand by requiring all students to join a school club. At this nanosecond, I'm taking a see how it goes attitude towards being a member of a club. Though, I do enjoy the idea of learning how flying brooms developed over time."
"You'll get more comfortable with us as we have a few more meetings, " said Cedric reassuringly.
Katsumi nodded at Cedric.
The was one person left to introduce herself. She was the only girl in this club. Sitting to Katsumi's left was a pale average sized average heighted girl with brown hair and hazel eyes.
"It's lovely to meet you all, " said the girl warmly, "I'm just starting out my magical education. I'm a first year. My name is Heidi Macavoy. The Macavoys are a pure blood wizarding family. However, we reject the idea of pureblood supremacy. We respect people from all backgrounds. Now, the Macavoys have always loved everything to do with brooms: Quidditch, other broom games, racing, flying, even the brooms themselves. This club is right up my alley. I even own a diverse collection of vintage broomsticks."
"OOH!" remembered Harry suddenly, "Heather told me that someone in this club would bringing vintage broomsticks to show us."
"That's me, " said Heidi glowingly, "Sharing the things you love with other people is a terrific way to bond and have fun at the same time. I can't wait to show you guys my vintage broomsticks and let you hold them and examine them."
Harry, Cedric, Scott, Anthony, and Katsumi all smiled broadly at Heidi.
"So, " interjected Sirius, "Yours truly is Sirius Black and I am Harry Potter's godfather. Now, I will be running the Broom Club. Can the six of you please all shake hands with each other?"
Harry, Cedric, Scott, Anthony, Katsumi, and Heidi all exchanged handshakes and spatterings of "nice to meet you!"
Sirius smiled.
"I'm happy to see the six of you all clearly getting along well with each other, " said Sirius radiantly, "Heidi, can you bring one of your vintage broomsticks along to the next meeting of the Broom Club?'
Heidi's face lit up.
"I'd be delighted to share one of my vintage broomsticks with Harry, Cedric, Scott, Anthony, and Katsumi so soon!" cooed Heidi eagerly.
"Excellent, " said Sirius with a smile.
"I have something I'd like to share today," said Heidi, reaching left hand into her left hand pocket and pulling out seven broom shaped pretzels.
Heidi handed one broom shaped pretzel each to Harry, Cedric, Scott, Anthony, Katsumi, and Sirius while keeping one for herself.
"My mom loves to bake, " explained Heidi, "So she made some broom shaped pretzels for us. She asked Madam Abbott how many members of Broom Club there would be including me, and Madam Abbot told her seven including Sirius."
Harry, Cedric, Scott, Anthony, Katsumi, Sirius, and Heidi all ate the pretzels and enjoyed them immensely.
Though there was mostly quite as they ate the delicious pretzels, there was a natural feeling in the air of pleasant bonding.
The pretzels were a nice touch on the first meeting of the Broom Club.