Harry felt somewhat drained when he woke up on Friday morning, his hand still stinging. He realised that the bleeding had long stopped, and so concluded that hopefully, the Burn Paste would still work, if he kept layering it up.
He had almost finished the whole tube before the carved writing could no longer be seen. "It will have to do," he said quietly, as he decided to get dressed.
He was quite early going down to breakfast, but he was soon joined by Ron and Hermione. Ron still had the Quidditch book in hand, and was reading it whilst he ate his pork sausages (to the disgust of Hermione). Sirius soon came down via the door behind the staff table, and sat down near Professor Babbling. Harry still couldn't get over how Sirius was now a teacher - sure, his godfather was very good at it, but why had he not mentioned it? And since when did he have an interest in Astronomy?
He was brought out of his thoughts when Amelia and Dorea came down and sat next to them. The Great Hall was now getting a bit busier. "Do you think we should tell Hermione about your detentions?" Ron whispered from next to him.
Harry shook his head. "No. Not here anyway, she'll make a scene." Knowing Hermione, she would probably storm right up to the staff table and challenge Umbridge herself.
Ron sighed a little. "You can't keep it from her forever. I'm sure she already knows something is up."
"I'll tell her when I'm ready," Harry whispered, as they got up to go to first period, which was double Care of Magical Creatures. Once again, they had Professor Grubbly-Plank, who still had the Bowtruckles, but it would be their last period studying them. They focussed on feeding the Bowtruckles and covering other aspects of their diet.
After morning interval was History of Magic, however Amelia, Dorea and Hermione had Arithmancy - as did a good chunk of the class, due to the fact that they'd already had their double period for History earlier in the week. Besides, they didn't miss that much, as Binns was again droning on about Giant Wars. Harry tried his best to focus as he jotted down notes from the textbook, but even as he ignored the ghosts sleep-inducing voice, he found himself slowly losing concentration. However, he managed to get through a section with plenty of time remaining. Their Astronomy Theory lesson was again quite fun, as Sirius kept on poking fun at Dorea. Half the female members of the class were trying their hardest to mask their fancy for his godfather, but Harry secretly found it hilarious.
Lunch was a quick affair, and after it they had Herbology. Every once in a while he noticed that two boys in Slytherin were looking over at him - Blaise Zabini and Theodore Nott, who he'd never really spoken to before. He knew that Theo's dad was a Death Eater, but the boy was weirdly staying a bit silent whenever Draco whispered something to Crabbe and Goyle that were definitely aimed at him. He was half-tempted to ask Daphne who all had signed up from Slytherin, as he wondered if the two boys had…
They unfortunately had Defence after Herbology, and Harry was reminded that tonight was their last detention with Umbridge. He vowed to himself that he would definitely try and hold his tongue, else he would risk getting in more, and as of next week he really couldn't afford to get more detentions, what with Quidditch practise starting up, the Junior Defence Association group also starting on Monday, homework… He was struggling enough as it is.
They were once again reading through the textbook that Umbridge had assigned, which was almost as boring as a lesson with Cuthbert Binns and as interesting as a Flobberworm. He was almost falling asleep, and could no longer focus on a single sentence, so elected to stare down at the desk. Every once in a while he could feel Professor Umbridge's eyes stare in their vicinity, but he kept his cool. As they were leaving for the last period of the week - which was thankfully Ancient Runes, Umbridge said to them as they were leaving, "I'll see you three at five."
Runes was a more active affair, as the class wasn't boring. They finished off the translation that was assigned as homework, as Babbling understood they had been assigned lots, so they just finished it to lessen their workload, which the class was thankful for. They took their time going over the translation, as Babbling explained the new runes they had come across in it. At the end of the period, they had a page full of new notes, and thankfully one less homework task to do.
Their first week of classes over and done with, they walked to the Great Hall for dinner. They'd finished Runes slightly earlier than normal, so Amelia, Harry and Dorea had a bit more time to eat their food before detention. It wasn't long before they had to part from their steak and kidney pie to head up to the third floor for hopefully the last time that week.
"I've had to watch my hand constantly," Amelia declared, "it keeps breaking out and bleeding a bit every so often."
"Yeah, same here, my hand bleeds every time I slightly strain it." Dorea grumbled.
"Ron found out about my hand," Harry said,
"What?!" Amelia said, as she looked shocked at her brother, "I thought we weren't telling anybody about this?"
"I didn't even realise it was bleeding," Harry declared, "he spotted it, and when I tried to rub it away, the burn paste also came away. But I think he'll keep it quiet."
Amelia groaned, as she knew it was kind of inevitable that people would start finding out about their detentions. It was hard enough convincing Hermione that they did nothing but lines.
They entered Umbridge's dreaded office, and took their seats at the round table, where their parchment and quills were waiting for them. "I'm sure you know your task well enough by now," Umbridge said sweetly, "so I'll let you three get on with it."
When the ghastly woman stopped them at midnight, the three of them silently agreed that they were glad that was now all over and done with. They would be having no more detentions, and more importantly, no longer under the stress of those damn quills that drank their blood up. God knows how bloody deep the message has gone into the skin, Amelia wondered, as she stood up slowly.
Blood was running a little too freely from all of their hands. Amelia was startled when she looked to Dorea, for her godsister was still sitting, but was furiously wiping her face of tears. Harry too looked drained, but he was trying to stay strong.
Umbridge had noticed Dorea's silent tears, "Oh dear, it's okay, it's all done with now." To somebody that didn't know her, you would have thought that Umbridge was sounding very caring.
"It stings so much now…" Dorea had stopped crying, but was clearly gritting her teeth. In truth, Amelia's was stinging like a bitch too - it was like stomach cramps, but in her hand.
Professor Umbridge just sat staring as Harry and Amelia helped Dorea to her feet. Dorea handed the woman the parchment. As Harry and Amelia turned towards the door to leave the room for the last time, they heard a rather loud thump.
They were shocked as they whipped back around, for Umbridge had Dorea up against the wall and had grabbed her by both shoulders. "Get off me-"
"-You're pathetic," Umbridge growled, shaking Dorea by the shoulders "you're a disgrace to the House of Black, and you're not worthy of the name. Your mother and her family deserved to die like the pigs they were-"
Amelia charged straight at the woman, as did Harry. However, the woman pointed her wand at them, and they suddenly felt themselves fall backwards and onto the carpet floor. Amelia didn't even care at the small wave of pain that coursed through her - Dorea was being manhandled by that woman, and verbally abused.
When the twins got back to their feet, Umbridge was no longer restraining Dorea, - the girl was now being shoved out of the room. Amelia wished she brought her wand - for now was a perfect time to get the woman restrained and reported.
Umbridge stalked towards them and shoved them out the room as well. When they turned back to challenge her, the woman said "Not a single word to anybody, or you'll be getting detention for the rest of term." before slamming the door shut.
Dorea wasn't crying, but she looked very shaken. All three of them were, in fact. Umbridge was a teacher, a person entrusted to the care of students, yet she had just proven how much she liked abusing that position with the backing of the Ministry. Amelia was rambling in her head all sorts of choice words for that despicable woman. This has to end, she thought, before she gets another chance to hurt somebody else.
They were that furious they forgot about their hands, which were still bleeding like mad. There was no point putting the burn paste on just now, as it would just mix with the flowing blood and not cover it up. "We need bandages of some sort," Harry commented, as they descended the stairs.
"Where do we get them?" Dorea asked, sniffling a bit.
"I might have plasters that could stop the bleeding…" Amelia offered.
Saying the password to the Fat Lady, they stepped into the common room. They froze a bit when they realised that Hermione was sitting on the couch waiting for them.
"I know fine well you don't just do lines," said Hermione, "she has you writing with a quill that writes with your blood and carves the message into your hand."
They meekly nodded. "That's why you always look so drained," Hermione added. "I did some reading - she has you write with something called a Blood Quill, which is practically illegal to use on underage witches and wizards without their parents or guardians being present. It's only used at places like the Ministry and Gringotts to sign important documents."
"Oh.." Was all Harry could say to that.
"So that is why this," Hermione gestured to their bleeding right hands, "needs to be reported as soon as possible."
"Oh, Hermione-"
"No, I don't care, she is abusing and torturing you three using that quill continuously!" Hermione was adamant. "God knows how long it will take your skin to heal!"
"Fudge will silence any criticism against her, and you know it," Amelia cut in quickly, "and we cannot risk getting someone like McGonagall, Flitwick or Sirius sacked. We can't even risk telling Dumbledore."
"Then who do we tell?" Hermione crossed her arms.
"Leave that to us," Harry decided, "she's doing it to us, so we should report it to someone."
"And when will that be?"
"We could do it anonymously." Harry suggested, "but we'll tell McGonagall privately so she knows it's from us."
Hermione nodded, but didn't look too convinced. "I have a feeling this won't be getting reported until a few weeks from now."
"No, we will do it," Harry said, "we just need time. And we need our bed, it's after midnight and I've got the Defence club tomorrow evening which I still need to plan for. Goodnight."
With that, Harry walked up the stairs to the boys dormitory. Hermione stayed with them and they walked up to the girls dorm together.
"Does she do anything else to you?" Hermione asked in a sympathetic tone as they quietly slipped into the dormitory, for Lavender and Parvati were seemingly sound asleep.
"We'll talk about it another time," Dorea whispered, as they got changed for bed.
Amelia didn't get to sleep until after one, as that was when the cramp in her hand started to die down. She put two plasters on the carved writing and hoped it stopped the bleeding overnight, so she could apply a burn paste in the morning to conceal it.
She went to bed that night dreaming about Umbridge getting sacked publicly, and being led away from Hogwarts crying, whilst the whole Hogwarts population cheered wildly.
Harry was thankful that it was now the weekend, but he had tonnes of work to catch up on. He had a vague idea what he was going to do for the first DA lesson, now only a few hours away, but first he had to tackle the homework that the Gryffindor fifth years had to do.
After breakfast, the five of them spent their time in the common room working through various homework tasks. It seemed both the fifth, sixth and seventh years were bombarded with work, as even Fred and George were working through homework with Lee Jordan (a rare sight). Harry decided to get Binns' essay on Giant Wars out of the way, so spent the best part of an hour working through that with Ron. Amelia, Dorea and Hermione were working through Arithmancy together, and Harry realised that he had homework for Vector as well. He would ask them about it later.
Giant Wars essay done, he passed it to Ron so he could copy it and started on Flitwick's mountain of Charms work. That took the better part of an hour, and he wasn't that confident it was 100% right, but he shrugged that off and started on the Herbology essay. They finished that just before lunch.
At lunch, they had just sat down and started eating when McGonagall strode towards their table. Thankfully, she didn't order them out of the hall, but she had parchment paper in her hands. "Potter, I have initial numbers for both the Junior and Senior groups for your club, and their names,"
"Oh, thank you," Harry gladly took the papers, eager to find out who had signed up.
He started looking at the Senior group sign-ups, with Ron, Hermione, Amelia and Dorea hovering over his shoulders trying to see who all had added their name. Harry went straight to the Slytherin sheet, and was pleasantly surprised with the initial numbers.
Of the Senior group, Daphne Greengrass's name was one of the first, like she said, but he was glad to see the names "Blaise Zabini" and "Theodore Nott" staring back at him. He glanced over at the Slytherin table, and the two boys were there, but they seemed engrossed in their own food and conversation. He also seen the name "Tracey Davis", and was pleasantly surprised to see Astoria Greengrass's name in the Junior group, as well as Barnaby Lee, who was apparently a very strong dueller.
"Christ, I don't envy you, having to learn all their names," Ron said, as he got a hold of the Hufflepuff sheet, where there were quite a lot of names, and it turned out that Zacharias Smith had signed up. Harry wondered if he was going to be a tricky customer.
He was that engrossed in looking for names that he recognised that he almost forgot about his pea soup. He had to gulp it down as lunch was almost over, and took his scone with him as they went back up to Gryffindor Tower for another few hours of homework.
When he stepped in, he was met immediately by Fred and George. "Mate, you know how you said that you'd be interested in hearing about our new developments and products?" George said quietly, as Hermione was in the vicinity.
"Yeah?" Harry said expectantly, smiling.
"Well, come and have a look at what we've planned." Fred steered him over to the corner, where Lee Jordan was also seated.
"Good luck for the club's first session tonight, Harry." Lee said as he handed him a sheet of paper.
"Cheers Lee," Harry tried to sound confident, but his heart rate rose a bit every time he thought about having to teach tonnes of people. He took the paper into his hands and read the writing.
"Okay, so you've got the Skiving Snackboxes, and the Puking Pastilles?" Harry summarised quietly.
"The Snackboxes are nearly done, we just need to secretly get some testers," Fred said, referring to the fact that Hermione stopped them testing the sweets on first years earlier in the week, "and we've improved the Pastilles so that they last a bit longer."
"How's the premises hunting coming along?" Harry asked. He had given the twins his Triwizard winning at the end of fourth year, which they were hoping to use to buy premises for their shop.
"Now that we're at school, a lot slower." George added. "We've put an advert in the Daily Prophet, which we know mum doesn't read anymore since they started their smear campaign against you, so we won't get caught."
"Have you planned for when she does inevitably find out?" Harry smirked, but immediately felt a bit horrible - what if he indirectly caused a Percy-like estrangement when Mrs Weasley found out he was helping her son's fund a career she thought quite unsuitable? What if Fred and George got kicked out because of it?
"We don't plan to actually go into business until after seventh year anyway," Fred commented, "so we practically have a year to prepare."
Harry nodded, and heard their suggestions for new products which were in the pipeline. He quite liked having a say in their business, if he said so himself. He left them with a farewell so he could get back to his homework. Hermione didn't look too pleased.
Now that they didn't have a translation to finish for Babbling, Harry got to work on the Arithmancy homework whilst Ron decided to do his dream diary for Divination. Hermione gave him some hints and tips, whilst Amelia and Dorea just wanted him to copy theirs, but Hermione insisted he do it for himself. It took until two o'clock to finish off, but when he found himself done homework-wise, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Dinner time was upon them quicker than he wanted, and found that he almost couldn't eat, for at seven, the first DA session would commence in the Transfiguration classroom, which he hoped was big enough to accommodate for the Senior group. "Nervous?" Ron said knowingly from across the table.
"Just a bit," Harry chuckled. "I barely bloody know half the people that signed up, and the ones whose names I recognise I only know to see them!"
"You'll be fine," Ron brushed off his concern, "if you get through tonight, then I can get through Keeper tryouts."
He noticed that a lot of eyes were on him still, and he had no clue if they were poking fun at him or not. He caught eyes with Daphne, who gave him a small reassuring smile, and Ernie turned in his seat to pat him on the shoulders as he got up to leave.
At half past six, he went to the Transfiguration class early to set up. When he got there, Flitwick had just arrived. "Ah, Mr Potter, you're here." The Charms teacher chirped kindly.
"I thought to get here early to set up," he said as he stepped inside, "for I don't plan on using the desks."
"Not to worry, I'll get them out the way for you," Flitwick pulled out his wand, "Locomotor desks!"
In an instant, the desks all started floating in the air, and Flitwick waved his wand in the direction of the door to guide them outside the class. He then went to stack them up, and soon came in to do the same with the chairs. Soon enough, the Transfiguration classroom was practically bare, with only the blackboard and McGonagall's desk remaining. It felt far more cavernous than it had before. Harry went to perch himself upon the desk, for his legs were feeling like jelly.
"I can tell this will be a bit nerve-wracking for you, Mr Potter," Flitwick noticed.
"Well, I know a good chunk of those attending, but the ones I don't know are all strangers, and in the years above me." He got that off his chest.
"You're well within your rights to feel that way," Flitwick emphasised, "even I get nerves every once in a while when I'm teaching a new group of students. It's natural to feel a bit intimidated by them, especially the sixth and seventh years."
Harry nodded, understanding. He then remembered his plan. "I brought with me a list of spells that I plan to teach them."
Flitwick took the piece of paper and cast his eyes over it. "Which spell are you planning to start with in today's session?"
"I was thinking today, we could start with basics - perhaps the Disarming Charm? I know it will probably sound really simple, but I plan to get them to partner off with somebody they've never worked with before, to start building the unity early. It will probably take a few sessions, and conflict will probably arise, but it's just a thought." He explained.
Flitwick looked very impressed. "It's a brilliant plan for the first session!"
With ten minutes to go until seven, people started arriving. Hermione, Ron, Amelia and Dorea all came in early, and gave him reassuring thumbs up as they stood near the front. Fred, George and Lee came in next, soon followed by Angelina, Katie, and Alicia. Neville and Dean arrived together as well, but Harry felt a bit deflated when Seamus wasn't with them. Who am I kidding, he still can't bare to look at me, he thought, brushing it away. Parvati came in, and Harry expected her to be alone, but somehow Lavender was with her. Harry had heard from Hermione that Lavender thought him to be a liar and a fool. Maybe she's come around..
Ernie and the fifth year Hufflepuff's turned up, with a reluctant looking Zacharias Smith. Why on earth did he even sign up if he doesn't want to do it? He wondered. Anthony Goldstein arrived with Terry, Padma, and a few others he didn't really recognise. His heart danced a bit when Cho arrived with her friend Marietta.
The pale blonde hair of Daphne soon came through the door, with Tracey Davis and a few other Slytherin's, none more so than Blaise and Theo. He nodded at them in welcome, but was a bit taken aback when they only looked at him and went to stand near the back. More sixth and seventh year students turned up, but they were all just faces to him - he really needed to learn their names.
At seven on the dot, did the last few students enter. The room stopped chattering as Harry went to stand up. Sound confident, Potter, his mind screamed at him, they'll laugh at you if you keep stuttering and sound unprepared!
Taking a deep gulp, he started speaking. "Hello everyone," he was met with a few hello's and nodding of heads. "Welcome to the first session of the Defence Association. As you know, my name is Harry Potter, and the aim of this club is not only to teach you potentially life-saving offensive and defensive spells, but to also make new friendships with people you never expected to even interact with."
He was met with encouraging smiles and looks of interest as he continued. "I am very pleased that a good chunk of Slytherin students took the initiative to sign up - for I know with that House in particular, I hope you don't mind me saying, there are certain individuals that hold some stereotypes towards other houses." Daphne and Tracey shared a look of agreement, but Blaise and Theo, and a few of the other Slytherin's, just stared at him nonplussed.
"Before we get started, does anyone have any questions?" He asked, and was met with a bit of silence, but soon Zacharias Smith spoke up.
"I'm not so sure I want to work with those snakes after all," was the boy's comment.
Immediately, people rounded on the Hufflepuff boy. Some Slytherin sixth and seventh years went up to Zacharias and started sneering in his face, whilst members of the other houses went to put themselves between them.
"Settle down!" Harry tried to be the voice of authority, but barely anybody listened to him.
Flitwick soon waved his wand and put some distance between Zacharias and the people ganging up on him. Harry nodded a thanks at his Charms teacher as the room settled down again.
"If anyone else in this room does not wish to work with people just because of their House, they are free to leave," he said in a slightly annoyed tone. It wasn't the best of starts, but he plugged on. "I actually have a little exercise I want us to do before we start using magic and working with each other. Dean," he called out to his fellow Gryffindor, who looked slightly alarmed, "be honest, what is your opinion of Blaise?"
Dean glanced across the room at Blaise Zabini, who looked a bit confused as to why he'd been picked. "I only know him from a few classes, but from what I've observed… He seems to keep himself to himself, and elsewise keeps to his own friends. I'd say he's quietly smart as well." Dean answered, a bit unsure, but Blaise only graced him with a slight incline of the head.
"Seems like a Ravenclaw trait, yeah?" Harry said, and Blaise looked a bit affronted, but he quickly moved on, "Daphne, what's your opinion of Amelia?"
Daphne Greengrass gladly spoke up at once, "we don't know each other that well, but I can tell she's very kind, loyal to both friends and family, and defends them at every opportunity."
Amelia grinned at Daphne. Harry made a quick connection, "That to me sounds like a Hufflepuff trait," he paused, as more people in the room seemed to understand the point of this exercise. "Megan, what's your opinion of Tracey?"
Megan Jones racked her brain as she looked over at Tracey Davis, "I'm aware that she's quite daring with her career hopes and studies, and also seems very determined to pass her OWLs this year to progress on to her NEWTs."
"Ah, I can tell she represents a bit of Gryffindor." Harry said, and Tracey nodded with a smile. Lastly, he turned to Terry. "Terry, what's your opinion of Zacharias?"
Terry Boot straightened up, and looked towards the Hufflepuff boy, who still held a bit of a scowl from his earlier scuffle. "He just demonstrated a few minutes ago that he has self-preservation, but I also think he holds his own kind of ambition and cunning."
"Ironically, they are Slytherin traits," Harry said, and then went on to conclude the exercise, "we all just observed our peers, and noted their qualities that we've picked up on over the years here. What has just been proven is that we share something in common with at least one other Hogwarts house that isn't our own - which says something, doesn't it? We all have our own opinions on Gryffindor's, Slytherin's, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw's, and for some of us our opinions on other houses may be ones that are lowly and hateful, despite the fact we share traits in common with either of the other houses. What I am trying to say here is this - we may be all our own people, mostly represented by our sorted Houses, but we all hold other qualities which we may choose not to acknowledge. It's what makes us somewhat the same, but likewise on different tangents. I don't want to ramble on into a long-winded speech, but it is important that we all understand something about the Hogwarts houses. Not all Slytherin's for example are nasty - I do not see why ambition or resourcefulness are bad things. We need to be resourceful every day of our lives, whether it's at school or home, and ambition is needed to progress on to future jobs and what not. Bravery and courage aren't meek things to have either, for I'm sure we've all had moments in our lives where we've had to be brave and face our fears. Likewise with wit and learning, Ravenclaw traits, we all study at some point in our lives to better our intellect, and as for Hufflepuff - we all have friends, yeah? We're always kind to our friends, and fight their corner when they're in a sticky situation." Harry paused, as most of the room were giving him thoughtful looks, "When I look out and see you all together in this room, I do not see good or bad House, pure-blood, half-blood or muggleborn, I just see Hogwarts students, and I know that you all would have joined this club for different reasons, but I just hope that this proves an opportunity to come together and realise that we're much better together than divided."
He finally finished speaking, and it seemed he didn't lose anybody, for half the room clapped, and the other half were varying degrees of impressed. Harry felt his face flush slightly. When the clapping finished, he clapped his own hands together and spoke. "Well, I think that's enough talking for one evening. Let's get started on actually learning some magic, yeah?" He paused, "I want us to pair off and practise the Disarming Charm on each other - I know it seems simple, but it's a good spell to start with. But before we pair off, I want us to partner up with somebody who we may never have worked with before. It can be anyone in the room, from any house."
Some people looked a bit reluctant or shy to do that, but some did the task right away. Amelia paired up with Megan Jones, whilst Dorea went with Susan Bones. Ron decided to pair up with Ernie, whilst Hermione interestingly paired up with a Ravenclaw fifth year who Harry recognised as Sue Li, who did Ancient Runes and was also apparently in the Arithmancy class. Neville looked a bit lonely, but Anthony Goldstein soon offered to be his partner. Near the back of the class, Blaise Zabini looked like he would rather die than pair up with a stranger, but soon made a beeline for Terry, whilst Theodore Nott paired up with Dean, which was fascinating as Dean was a muggleborn, whilst Theo's father was a Death Eater..
Interestingly, nobody really paired up with anyone outside of their year group. Harry wondered if that was something psychologically ingrained. He soon made his way around the room to see how everyone was getting on. Flitwick accompanied him on the rounds as well, and gave tips regarding stances, incantations and wand movements. Soon, the room was filled with the word "Expelliarmus!" and occasionally the sound of wands clattering on the floor. Some had more success than others. The sixth and seventh years were getting it no bother, he noticed, but that was probably due to their years of experience.
After ten to fifteen minutes of the exercise, he found he was quite enjoying seeing people progress and develop. Neville had managed to disarm Anthony three times, which was an improvement from his efforts in Charms class. "The only thing Longbottom lacks is confidence," Professor Flitwick said to him quietly as they found themselves back at the front of the room, electing to just observe the class.
"I can already tell he's going to improve leaps and bounds from this club," Harry noted, and Flitwick agreed. Harry also noticed that friendships were already starting to form - for Daphne was chatting very easily with her partner, Padma Patil. Hermione and Sue were also talking to each other as they worked. Lavender looked quite comfortable with Tracey as well, although she was only thinly smiling.
At half past eight, Harry concluded the first session of the Club. He was rather surprised that most people were actually hoping it would last a bit longer, but nonetheless everybody disembarked the class. Most of them waved him goodbye and commented how much they enjoyed it as they left. Before they all left, he reminded them that the next session would be held at the same time, same place next week. Hermione, Ron, Amelia and Dorea stayed behind to wait for him.
"What did you think, Professor?" Harry asked Flitwick.
"I honestly don't think you'll need my intervention at all for future sessions, Mr Potter!" the Charms teacher said with a grin, "You handled that superbly, considering you were teaching almost seventy people. You should give yourself a massive pat on the back."
"You're joking!" Harry gaped at him in surprise.
"He's right you know," Ron praised from next to him, "that first exercise you had us do really put a perspective on things, and made me realise."
"I can't wait for next week's session now!" Dorea looked elated.
Harry grinned as he walked up to Gryffindor Tower with his friends. When they got back, the common room erupted in cheers, and he mockingly bowed to their praise, which made them all chuckle. It was only nine at night, so they elected to stay up a little while longer, but not too late, as Ron wanted to get a good night's sleep for the Keeper tryouts tomorrow at ten. As they sat on the couch, Ron soon pulled out the Quidditch book Harry had got him, which he'd been reading since yesterday. Hermione looked aghast. "I've never seen him read so much." She said.
The next morning at breakfast, the five of them were among the first people down in the Great Hall. Harry thought Ron must've slept with the quidditch book by his side, as it was still in his hands as he ate. He was sure Hermione was about to make a remark, but Sirius came striding into the Hall and grinned at them. "How did the Club go last night? I had an evening class with the third years, so I haven't heard."
"I received some brilliant feedback, it was really good for the first session, and an eye-opener for some as well. I just hope the Junior group goes as well on Monday night." Harry explained as he swallowed his hash brown.
Sirius looked elated. "Oh, fantastic! I just knew it would be a big hit! You'll have to let me come to one of the sessions and spectate one day."
Harry grinned. "Yeah, maybe one day, when everything's settled."
With that, Sirius went up to the staff table, but not before hugging Dorea and Amelia and telling Ron good luck for the tryouts. Ginny soon came down and sat with them, as did Fred and George - the former almost gave Dorea a kiss on the head before he realised Sirius was in the room.
At nine fifty, they went down to the Quidditch pitch, and Hermione left them to sit in the stands as they got changed. Ron took his new Cleansweep out of its case as if it was made of glass, and almost dropped it when Angelina came in. "Right, are most of us here? We're just waiting on the other hopeful Keeper's to arrive, and then we can get started."
The whole Gryffindor Quidditch team was soon in the changing room, as well as the Reserve's, as Angelina wanted to see how the hopeful Keeper's fit into the team dynamic - and that meant the whole team.
There were six people trying out to be Keeper, and one of them - a sixth year boy, Adam, was almost late, which wasn't a good start. However, they soon took to the air and got started. "Right, each prospective Keeper will be involved in a ten minute game to test their skills. Vicky, you're up first." Angelina said, and pointed to the only girl among the people trying out.
"We'll play a game of official team versus the Reserves," Angelina also said, "Reserves, shove a yellow bib on so we can distinguish who's on what team. When Hooch blows the whistle, we'll start."
Harry looked over at Ron, who was hovering near the other hopefuls at the side. He gave him one last nod of good luck before Hooch blew the whistle.
After the ten minutes was up, Harry felt a bit nervy, as the girl Vicky managed to save quite a lot of the goals, and he could tell Ron was nervous still. He just hoped luck was on his friend's side today…
The boy Adam wasn't bad, but missed quite a lot of goals that would have been easy saves, and wasn't the quickest at moving between hoops. The next two hopefuls, called Derek and Michael, were a bit poor, and the other boy Ross, a seventh year, was more strength than speed, so only managed to save a few goals.
Last to go was Ron. As he flew up to the goal posts, Harry heard him complain. "Oh Harry, this was a waste of time, I'm going to be more crap than Ross…"
Hooch blew the whistle, and Harry found himself having to take off. "Just remember what the book told you, Ron, you'll be fine."
Harry, as he flew around trying to find the Snitch with Amelia hot on his heels, managed to see Ron in action. He pulled off a spectacular quick reverse to stop the quaffle going into the left hoop at the last minute, and even managed to beat the quaffle away with his own hand at one point. When the ball did go in, he could tell Ron was losing heart, but when the ten minutes was up, he'd only managed to miss about four saves.
Angelina concluded the tryout, and instructed the team to meet her in the changing room for a meeting, to decide who the new Keeper was going to be. "Right, speak to me," their captain said, wanting the team's opinions, "what did we make of Vicky?"
"She was good," Alicia noted, and everybody nodded agreement, "but I've heard her comment that if quidditch clashes with her Charms Club, she would choose Charms Club instead."
Angelina didn't look too pleased. "So she wouldn't be willing to prioritise her team. Not a good sign. What about Adam?"
"He missed a few easy saves," Harry spoke up, and Angelina nodded at his predicament, "however, he wasn't that bad overall."
"He lacks quick reflexes and thinking, though." One of the Reserve Beaters added. Harry thought his name was Bole, but couldn't be sure.
"I think we can rule out Derek and Michael," Angelina said, and everyone immediately nodded their heads. "Ross couldn't defend the hoops quick enough. Still, I wouldn't mind having his strength as a future Beater though…"
"That brings us to Ronnikins," George said, and they laughed.
"I'm not just saying this because he's my friend, but he was probably the best of the bunch." Amelia voiced her opinion.
"Yeah, he's been reading a quidditch book the last few days to prepare himself for this. His only weakness is that he's prone to nerves." Harry said in agreement with his twin.
"That settles it then," Angelina clapped her hands together, and looked happy, "another Weasley on the team!"
Fred and George looked happy, as did Ginny, in fact everyone else looked relieved. They all exited the changing rooms and went back on to the pitch, where the Keeper hopefuls were. "We can happily announce that the new Gryffindor Keeper is… Ron Weasley!" Angelina announced, and Ron looked genuinely shocked. Hermione came running down from the stands and added her congratulations to the others. Slightly windswept, they made their way back up to the castle.
"I thought for sure that Vicky girl was going to get it instead of me!" Ron sounded aghast.
"You were brilliant, Ron," Hermione said, smiling.
"I didn't feel brilliant, I just did what I felt was right. Could have kicked myself when I let that last one go in… Oh, mum and dad will be thrilled, I bet."
When they were celebrating in the common room, Angelina came up to him. "Hey, Harry, I don't think I ever said how enjoyable your club was last night. It's stressful, managing a quidditch team and what not. But listen - I think Ron needs a bit more work before he's up to my desired standard."
Harry nodded, understanding, and even though Ron made the team, his tryout wasn't the most fabulous. "Even though you gave him that book, which probably did help him, I think he needs a bit more encouragement practically. Do me a favour, and help him as much as you can, okay? I know your schedule is quite tight, but do make time for him, even if it's just an hour a week or something. Also, next Quidditch practise will be on Wednesday at seven, please make sure you don't get more detentions." Angelina continued, as she looked at Ron over the rim of her glass.
Harry vowed to himself silently that he would help his best friend at quidditch, no matter what it took, and to make him less nervous. Who knows, with a proper crowd watching, what if Ron completely fell apart? What if he let in every single goal every match and they ended up last in the Quidditch Cup? Harry didn't want his friend to face that level of humiliation.
"Okay, I will." Harry agreed, taking a swig of his butterbeer. "I'll see you on Wednesday at practise."