Chapter 4
"You need to eat." Padma said to Maryam, who was just looking at her plate. It was Saturday, and today there would be tryouts for the Ravenclaw house team. After the incident with Hannah, Maryam had been praised by the deputy headmistress and her head of house.
First years were not normally allowed to try out for the Quidditch team, but they had made an exception for her. To say she was nervous would be like saying the sun was lukewarm.
What if she messed up and made a fool of herself? People already stared at her; if she made a big lump of herself, the stares would be exchanged for mocking laughter. She did not want that again; she was at a new school, and she had a new chance.
She blinked and saw that someone piled food on her plate, she looked at her other side.
"Eat." Sue said simply. She had the same expression she had when Maryam was forced to see the nurse. She sighed and tried to eat and actually managed to eat it all.
"You will do amazingly!." Lisa said, as they were making their way to the Quidditch pitch, to Maryam's big surprise, her Ravenclaw yearmates had all followed to watch and offer support.
This was a bit overwhelming for her; she was not used to people rooting for her. Even if it made her feel warmth, it also made her more nervous; she didn't want them to see her fail.
They split up when they came to the pitch, the other first years walked off to sit in the stands, and she walked to the other hopefuls. She got a few strange looks, especially from the older Ravenclaws.
The captain of the team came up to her. He was a seventh-year boy, he towered over her and looked even bigger with his broad shoulders. He had brown eyes and short, dark brown hair and gave her a quizzical look.
"Potter, I was told to expect you from Professor Flitwick and that you were to be allowed to try out." He gave her a slightly stern but not unfriendly look. "You will be allowed to try out just as the rest, but you will not get any special treatment, If you are not the best for the position, you will not be picked. Is that understood?"
Maryam nodded at him, he didn't seem impressed by her, and this was a bit of a relief. She would not want to be picked because of her fame, if they lost a match because of her... best not think of it.
"My name is Andre Egwu, and I play keeper. You look way too small to play beater, so I think you should try either chaser or seeker."
Maryam nodded to him again, she did not think either beater or keeper would fit her. She wondered which of the other roles would fit her best, she didn't have a lot of experience with balls, or quaffles as it was called here.
"Everyone gather around," Andre called out, and the around 20 Ravenclaws that wanted to try out gathered around.
"We will begin with easy flight exercises, just to see that you lot can fly. Any questions?"
One Ravenclaw boy a few years older than Maryam spoke up. "How come we have a little firsty here? They are not allowed to play." There were some murmurs and stares at Maryam, she tried to be as small as possible in a vain attempt to not be seen.
"This one is." Andre said simply.
"Is it because she is the girl-who-lived? Is fame a requirement now?" The same boy asked again. Maryam looked down, feeling her face heat up, she wanted nothing more than to run and hide.
"Flitwick vouched for her, and that should be enough for you. I don't want to hear another word about this, now grab your brooms." Andre said and glared at the boy until he nervously looked away.
Maryam picked up a school broom and kicked off with the others, almost everyone else had their own broomsticks that looked way better than the school ones.
The first exercise was to follow Andre as he did more and more advanced flying. It started easy, but it got rather tricky towards the end, her broom did not like taking quick turns, and she had to fight it. When they got a bit higher, the broom vibrated uncontrollably, but she somehow kept up.
When they landed, 7 were sent off as their flying wasn't good enough.
The beater tryout was first, and it didn't take long for Duncan Inglebee and Jason Samuels to get the positions.
Then came the chaser tryouts. It started with simple passes, Maryam did fumble.
the quaffle quite a few times but wasn't alone, what she didn't have in a steady hand, she had in positioning, where she always flew to the right place to catch the ball.
The next step was where penalty shots against Andre, she did not score against him; her broom wasn't fast enough, and her throwing arm wasn't strong, so she did not get past him.
Roger Davies, Jeremy Stretton, and Randolph Burrow got the positions.
Lastly, it was time for seeker tryouts. It was Maryam, a second-year girl, and the boy that had complained about her being there left.
The task was simple: catch the snitch. Andre would release it, and the one who caught it got the position.
The task sounded easy, just catch it as it is released, but when the snitch was released, it just vanished, so Maryam and the two other hopefuls flew up and started to circle the pitch looking for the snitch. After some flying around, Maryam saw it close to one of the goalposts and dived for it. Catching the eyes of the other two seekers, she got closer to the snitch, it suddenly jolted left, so she turned her broom to follow. The broom, however, fought her, so she missed it.
It had been close but not close enough, and now the snitch was gone again.
"Potter!" A voice yelled for her, and she looked down and saw the captain waving her down. She flew down wondering what it was about; had she missed so hard that she was disqualified?
"That was some nice flying, but I don't think you will be able to catch the snitch," Andre said when she landed. She was right then, she felt crestfallen.
"That broom is not fit for the task, so I am going to let you use mine for this exercise." He said.
Maryam blinked and looked at him.
"You have talent, I see why Flitwick sent you, but you have no chance on that broom. So I will let you use mine, it is similar to the other two. If you break it, however, I will kill you."
Maryam thought the last part was a joke as he had a slight smirk, but she didn't want to find out.
"Hurry now," he said, holding out the broom. "The others are still seeking."
Maryam took his broom, kicked off, and felt a world of difference, the broom actually followed her commands, and it was also much faster. She flew around looking for the snitch. When she saw the boy dive, she looked and saw he was diving towards the snitch, so she followed. She was too far behind; her only chance was if he missed. She also saw the second-year girl flying towards the same direction.
The snitch flew around the goalpost, and the boy had to quickly turn not to crash into it. This was her chance, she lay flat on the broom to get as much speed as possible. She rounded the pole, feeling her robe hitting it, held out her hand, and...
Screams exploded from the stands when she caught it, she looked and saw how her year mates were jumping up and down. She held the struggling snitch tightly and flew down and held it up to Andre.
"Very well done!" He clapped, smiling.
The other two seekers landed; the girl gave her a pat on the shoulder, she smiled, but it looked a bit forced.
The boy, however, looked angry.
"I thought you said no special treatment," he growled.
"There was no special treatment." Andre answered calmly.
"You let her use your broom."
"That was so she would have an even playing field with you. There was plenty of time for you to catch the snitch while she changed brooms; if anything, you had the better treatment." Andre said, and the other boy stormed off.
Andre gathered his team. "Well, most of you are back from last year, it is good to see you two new faces as well. I have a good feeling about this year."
When the team was dismissed, Maryam stayed behind and gave her new captain a note.
'Sorry I didn't tell you earlier, I can't speak.
Thank you so much for the chance and for letting me use your broom.'
"What? Well, alright, that should not hinder you as a seeker, so you are in the clear there. It is strange, I thought something like that would be common knowledge."
Maryam shook her head.
"We will have to tell the team at practice. Looks like you have people here for you," Andre pointed at the group of Ravenclaw first-years hurrying towards her.
"I said you would be amazing!" Lisa threw her arms around Maryam, she awkwardly hugged Lisa back.
She was slapped in the back by the boys, only flinching a little, reminding herself that it was friendly, they didn't want to beat her up.
The way back to the castle was filled with excited chatter, Maryam was content just following along.
Maryam popped another chocolate frog in her mouth as she made her way to the library. Mandy had given her a bag of them, saying she saved them for a special occasion. Maryam had given her a big smile, Mandy always seemed a little grumpy, but she was nice.
Somebody who was grumpy and not always nice was Madam Pince, the librarian.
Maryam had found some charms books meant for 6th and 7th years, looking for information about nonverbal spellcasting. Except for making her broom jump at her hand, she had still not succeeded with any spells and started to get very worried.
The library was quite busy, but she found a table in a corner and opened up the first book and tried to find tips.
After a while, a bushy-haired girl stopped by her table holding a book under her arm. Maryam recognized her and realized she had taken the table she always sat at. So she closed her book and picked her books to move.
"You don't have to move on my account, I don't own this table. Mind if I sit here? The girl asked.
Maryam gestured to an empty chair.
"Splendid," the girl said and took a seat at the table. "I have never seen you make much noise, so I don't think you will disturb me, but if you want any help, just tell me." The girl was speaking fast, just like on the train, Maryam tried to remember her name.
The girl opened her own book and read quietly for herself, every now and then writing down things in a notebook.
Maryam herself tried to make heads or tails of the charms book, it was much more advanced than making your wand light up. Then she found it. A section about nonverbal magic, she was halfway through it, not finding anything new when Madam Pince stopped at the table. She looked at the books with a stern expression.
"Any reason you are reading NEWT-level books? These are far too advanced for you."
Maryam opened her mouth and looked for her own notebook.
"If you don't have a reason, then I will take them back." She took the books and walked off. Maryam held up a hand, but the librarian did not see it.
"You need to speak up when it comes to Madam Pince, she is rather stern. Why did you have those books anyway? Are you already done with our yearbooks?" The girl asked, looking up from her book.
Maryam shook her head.
"Then why go for the most advanced books? You will have no chance of learning them if you don't know the basics." The girl had a very lecturing tone; if she couldn't remember the name, she could always be called the mini professor.
Maryam sighed. She took up her wand, the girl looked warily at it. Magic in the library wasn't against the rules per se, but if you did any damage, you would be in big trouble.
Maryam did the movement and willed 'Lumos,' but nothing happened.
"Your wand movement was correct, but you need to say the incantation. Lumos!" The tip of the girl's wand lit up.
It frustrated Maryam how easily the girl made it look, it wasn't her fault she couldn't say the spell. She did the movement again and willed the light, but only a small white spark showed.
The girl put her book on the table and gave her full attention to Maryam. "You need to be very meticulous with your incarnations. It isLumos." She did the spell very slowly.
Maryam tried again, and in her head tried to say it so exactly as she could, and the tip of her wand blinked, it was not a strong light, but it had lighted up briefly. It was her best result yet.
"That is better, but you are still not saying the spell, it helps!"
Maryam knew saying the spell out loud would help, she was the worst in her year, and her year being first meant... she was the worst in the whole school.
The girl was still explaining the importance of incarnations, so Maryam took her notebook and once again let her secret out, it would not be long before everyone knew.
'I can not speak, I am trying the spell, but I can not speak it.'
She passed the notebook to the girl, who curiously read what it said and frowned.
"None of the books says that... you didn't say a word on the train, I have never heard you say anything to your friends while studying here. I thought you just respected the library." The girl was babbling and then looked at Maryam with an expression like Christmas had been cancelled.
"Was the reason you were looking at the advanced books to learn silent casting?"
Maryam nodded at the girl.
"Well, we will just have to figure it out!"
We? Did this girl want to help her just like that? They were not even in the same house. Maryam pointed a finger between them and looked questioningly at the girl.
"Yes, we, if you don't mind that is," the girl deflated a bit.
Maryam made a 'thank you' gesture.
The girl smiles happily and left the table to pick up some books.
After a while Maryam had asked the girl her name, Hermione Granger. She was a bit ashamed to have forgotten, but it had been a long day with many names, Hermione had not seemed offended.
They had not found any helpful books among the first-year books, but it had still been a nice time.
One big, exciting thing about being on the house team was that she was allowed to have her own broomstick.
Andre, her captain, gave her a catalog where she could mail order a broom. She sat in a corner in the room looking at the different models, Comets, Silver Arrows, and Cleansweeps with different numbers, the best, however, was the Nimbus 2000.
She was reminded of Diagon Alley, where she had seen some kids looking at one in the window.
It would be the best broom, but it was by far the most expensive one.
"Are you finding anything?" Padma asked and sat down next to Mariam and looked at the catalog.
Maryam shrugged. She wasn't sure what to get, she knew which one she wanted the most, but it might be a waste of money to go for the most expensive one.
"Are you having a hard time choosing?" Maryam nodded at Padma's question. "We could start with the budget, which is the most expensive one you can afford."
Maryam pointed at the Nimbus, and Padma's eyes widened. "Are you sure? That is a rather expensive one."
Maryam simply nodded again, she wasn't exactly sure how much she had in her vault, but from what shopping from her first year had cost her, she could easily afford school. Getting the best broom would make her have an edge in the game and be less likely to mess up.
"Do you love flying?" Padma asked, and Maryam thought for a moment and then eagerly nodded her head with a smile. She loved the feeling of flying, it was a free feeling. She was like a raven flying free. She had sometimes looked out the window on Privet Drive, seeing ravens; she had raven hair and had sometimes felt a kinship with the birds, or maybe just jealousy that they could fly free while she was stuck at the Dursleys.
Padma had seen Maryam lose her focus. "You still there?"
Maryam blinked, and Padma laughed.
In the end, Maryam ordered the Nimbus 2000.
A/N
I was very unhappy with this chapter so it never got uploaded, I have a couple more done that just need to be cleaned up.