On Sunday, I headed to Quidditch tryouts. I wasn't sure what I was doing, or why I was even there other than the fact that I said that I was going to try out for the position of seeker. I would probably make a fool of myself on the broom considering that I had never ridden one before. Though, maybe since my character had ridden them before, I would be able to go on instinct or something. I also didn't know anything about the Ravenclaw Quidditch team or who was on it. I only knew who wasn't on it and that was all of my roommates. It seemed that none of them were interested in playing Quidditch.
"Hello everyone, welcome to Quidditch tryouts." A blonde girl replied. I wasn't sure who she was in the story, but she was definitely played by Claire Holt, which was surprising considering that she was Australian. I supposed she did a nice British accent though. "For those of you who don't know, my name is Penelope Clearwater, I am your captain."
So, she was Quidditch captain along with being Head Girl. That was interesting. I still probably stressing out a little too much about the fact that she was played by someone who was not British. I just hoped that I wouldn't make a fool of myself in front of her. I knew quite a few things about Penelope, even though she wasn't even mentioned in the movies. She used to date Percy Weasley, and she was petrified alongside Hermione.
"Now, I want all of you to separate by the position that you're trying out for." Penelope explained. "This year I will be looking for two new starters, but all positions are open. Just because you were on the team last year doesn't guarantee you a spot this year. You all of you trying out for seeker, come forward."
I stepped forward before I realized that I was the only one. That seemed like the story's way of telling me that I was going to be seeker. I didn't think that I would be just get it by default. That seemed a little bit cheap. Also why was I even doing this because they didn't even play any quidditch in this book because of the tournament? It seemed like this was meaningless filler to me.
"Adelaide Corner, I have heard good things about your flight skills, but I still need to see them in action." Penelope replied. I blushed when she said my name. It was weird how people just seemed to know who I was.
I nervously prepared to get on the broom. I hoped that I wouldn't get hurt, even though I knew that I could be healed pretty easily. Of course, if I landed the wrong way, it could probably kill me, but as far as I knew, quidditch-related deaths were rare because they were never really ever mentioned.
"You can start any time." She told me. I took a deep breath and got on the broom and to my amazement, I was flying. I was actually flying. I then noticed that the balls started flying at me and I began to dodge them. I was really good at it. I couldn't believe that I was so good at it. I then landed after a few minutes. I supposed if I was going to be a seeker, it would make sense for me to be a good one, even though I still wasn't sure why we were doing it. "Okay, it looks like we have our seeker."
Well that seemed like a given since no one else bothered to try out. The only way that I wouldn't be was if I was just so bad that she decided to pass on me.
When I got to the ground, I couldn't help but notice that someone was there that wasn't there before: my brother. How had I not noticed him before?
"Michael, when did you get here?" I asked.
"I was always here." Michael declared as he showed me a pendant. "Invisibility Charm. I wanted to watch you but I also didn't want to make you nervous. I knew you would be great at it. It'll be fun for us to play together."
So, that meant Michael played Quidditch. I did remember that he and Ginny broke up over a Quidditch match, so them being on rival teams would make more sense than if he was just a fan because them being on rival teams increased the stakes. I couldn't help but wonder if he and Ginny were still going to date or if me being here had changed that, though that was probably still a ways away.
"So, are you going to try out for a new position this year?" I questioned, mainly because I was hoping he would tell me what position he played. There really wasn't a ton about his character, so how was I supposed to know what position he played?
"No, I think I am going to stay as keeper." He replied. You know it was a great way to get exposition by just talking to people or listening to people talking to them. "Mum will be so excited when she finds out that you made the team."
I couldn't help but wonder if I was going to get a chance to see my fictional parents. I imagined one of them was blonde and the other was a brunette unless I used a spell to change my hair color. I probably wouldn't actually get to meet them unless they came here.
After the tryouts, we immediately went into a practice, and I learned something that I should have known: quidditch practice was exhausting. I felt like I needed a nap or a bath or both afterwards. I trudged into my dorm and laid down on the bed.
"How was the tryout?" Upton asked. She was the only one in the room.
"Tiring." I answered before I laid my head down on the pillow.
"Did you make the team?" She questioned.
"Yeah." I replied before I put my head back down. "I feel like I need a bath."
"I'll come with you." She offered. I gave her a look. "Don't look at me like that. You know they have public baths here and it would give us some time to talk more. I know it'll be a little weird, but we have to get used to these bodies."
"I think right now I'd prefer to go by myself. It's more peaceful that way." I answered. I did not want her to see me in the bath. I was still a little uncomfortable about taking a bath. I was pretty sure a lot of girls were insecure about their bodies when they were 13, but I was insecure for a completely different reason in that my body was nothing like it was before and I was still getting used to it.
The following night, Dumbledore called everyone to the Great Hall, as in everyone from all of the schools.
"Attention, everyone." He said. "In a few moments we will be taking sign-ups for the participation in the Triwizard Tournament. To enter you will place your name into the Goblet of Fire and at the end of the week, it will spit out three names. However, there is a stipulation for those looking to enter. In order to compete in this year's tournament, you must be at 17 years of age. The Goblet has been enchanted not to allow anyone who is under the age of 17 to put their names inside."
Yet there was the loophole that someone older than 16 could put the name in for you, like Barty Crouch Jr. was going to do to Harry. I couldn't believe that they hadn't thought of that. I also couldn't help but wonder how it knew to only spit out one name from each school and how that managed to get overridden with a spell.
"I would also like to introduce our judges for the tournament." Dumbledore continued. "Please give a warm welcome to Mr. Ludo Bagman."
Ludo was a good-looking guy. He was also fairly young. There was much applause when he was introduced. He had been a former Quidditch star. He looked a lot like Tom Hiddleston. He was not in the movie, but I had read a lot about him in the book.
"Also, please give a warm welcome for Mr. Bartemius Crouch." Dumbledore responded. The response for him was not as warm because he was obviously not a young-looking guy. I still clapped him even though I know before the end of the story he would be dead. It was pretty bad that he was going to be killed by his own son.
After the ceremony was over, most of the students left. A few older students stayed to put their names in the goblet. Some of the younger ones tried, but the professors escorted them out. I was a bit surprised that they didn't just want to show what would happen if they did try.
"So what do you think will happen if someone tries to put their name into the fire who isn't eligible?" Luna asked as we headed to the library. We were going to be doing our homework in there. It seemed to be a thing that Ravenclaws did together.
"It's probably not something that you should attempt." Mandy replied. I wonder why we were just going to be bystanders to the main story. It seemed a little cheap for us to be there and not do anything important. "So, what assignment do you think we should do first?"
"It'll probably spit fire out at whoever tries to put their name in." Upton declared. I was pretty sure that Fred and George were going to try to put their names in, but I didn't remember what had happened to them because I didn't memorize everything that happened in the books. "It sounds like it might be kind of terrifying to be in the tournament."
"I don't think it would be as terrifying as being chased by that basilisk." Maria remarked. So that was an interesting piece of information. I was pretty sure that the basilisk would be after Upton because she was a Muggleborn. "I was so terrified that we were going to end up petrified or dead."
"We weren't petrified?" Upton repeated in surprise. It was a bit surprising that she was a Muggleborn character who hadn't been petrified, but I was pretty sure that there were other Muggleborns at the school who also weren't petrified. Only four people had been petrified and I was pretty sure that Penelope being petrified was completely coincidental.
"Yeah, don't you remember?" Maria replied. "It came after you and Hermione. You had the idea that we should split up and we managed to escape while it went after Hermione and Penelope. I was so scared that I went home after that."
"I guess I blocked that part out." Upton stated. That seemed like a good reason for her to not remember it.
"Girls, we shouldn't talk about this in front of her." Mandy said. I then realized that she was looking at me. Why was she looking at me? There was no way that I was supposed to be the who opened the Chamber of Secrets, was there?
"Oh my god, Addie, I'm so sorry." Maria apologized. "I forgot that you did that. It must have been so awful."
That was when I realized that it was true. I had opened the Chamber of Secrets, not Ginny. I was the one who was under Voldemort's control, not Ginny. I was the one who had almost killed my best friend. I knew none of had really happened but I was finally seeing some importance in my character…and it was devastating. I didn't want to be this character anymore. I didn't even care as much about being a girl as I just wanted to be anyone else.
"I'm fine." I declared. I could use the fact that it hadn't happened as consolation, but I still felt hurt by it. The thoughts of what I thought could have happened to play in my mind. The acts that I was doing against my will, to people that I cared about.
I was quiet for the rest of the night, only answering questions about the homework. No one tried to console me. They decided to just let me be. I hoped no one would mention it to anyone else. I was feeling things that it made sense for me to feel. I was pretty sure shame was the dominant feeling.
However, when I woke up in the morning, I realized that I had to throw all of that out the window. I needed to be more than the girl who was a puppet in a scheme to kill all Muggleborns. As far as I knew, Ginny didn't let it hang over her and I couldn't either. I couldn't feel sorry for myself for something that hadn't happened. I had to try to move on from these feelings.
"So, I guess we're more important than we thought." Upton told me on the way to class. "If that was what happened in our first year, I wonder what happened last year."
"I don't know if I want to know because it didn't happen." I declared. Was I a bit curious, yes, but I didn't want to know in case it was something else that was bad. "There's knowing about ourselves and there's knowing that people remember different versions of important events than us because we were involved."
"Just because that's how people remember it doesn't mean that's how it happened." Upton reminded me. I wasn't quite sure what she meant by that. I didn't think it was some sort of spell that made everyone at the school think that something had happened when it really hadn't, unless she meant that we weren't there when this stuff happened, so it didn't actually happen, which did make me feel better about it.
"I know." I declared. "I just feel like I have to do something big to make up for it. Maybe I can be the best seeker Ravenclaw has ever had."
"I don't know if that would work, but you can give it a shot." She offered. "There's not even supposed to be any games this year."
I was pretty sure that there were called matches.
That night, I was reminded of what would happen to who put their name in The Goblet of Fire that wasn't old enough. Fred and George had tried to do it once and they were temporarily turned into old men. I wanted to be older and a man, but I didn't want to be that old. I would just watch like I was supposed to.
My main concern was changing the story further. I just wanted things to go on how they were supposed to go. By the end of the story, Upton and I would find our way back home somehow and everything would be good. Well Cedric would be dead, but I didn't think saving him would even be worth it considering that he probably wouldn't have any impact on the later books. Plus, him being alive meant that Harry wouldn't date Cho and while I wasn't a fan of them, it still needed to happen. I did seriously wonder what Harry had ever seen in Cho, but maybe I would get a chance to know her better now that I was in the same house as her.
Classes really weren't that exciting to talk about. I hadn't had the class where Barty Crouch aka Moody used the curses yet and there really wasn't anything to talk about because that was the only plot relevant class in the book, or at least it was the first one. It was definitely fun learning the spells, but I didn't like to talk about them. Most of them I probably wasn't going to use outside of school, because I would be back in the real world with no magic, so there really wasn't a point.
On Friday night, everyone gathered in the Great Hall again. It was the ceremony where they were going to announce the participants of the tournament. If I hadn't been required to be there, I wouldn't have considering that I already knew what was going to happen. I was pretty sure that all of the participants in the tournament were going to be the same. They probably just wanted all of us to be there to cheer on our champions.
"Good evening, everyone." Dumbledore greeted us. "We're here to announce the participants in this year's Triwizard tournament. Now our first contestant from Durmstrang…Mr. Viktor Krum."
There was clapping and cheering, especially from the girls, probably more from the girls from Hogwarts than the guys from Durmstrang. He probably did the biggest fan club of any of the contestants, which was ironic considering that he was the least popular of the contestants in the real world, mostly because he didn't appear in any other books.
"Now from Hogwarts…" Dumbledore said before the name flew out of the fire. "…Mr. Cedric Diggory."
At that point, the Hufflepuff table began to loudly cheer. They deserved to cheer because that was the only thing that Hufflepuff was going to get in the whole series.
"And finally from Beauxbatons...Miss Fleur Delacour." He declared. "Now please give a round of applause for the participants of this year's Triwizard tournament."
At that point, a fourth name flew out of the fire. This was the part where Harry was going to be announced to be joining the tournament. Dumbledore caught it in his hand.
"Whose name is on the paper, Albus?" Moody asked. If he was trying to hide it, he was not doing a very good job.
"Adelaide Corner." Dumbledore declared. Oh fuck.
So Addie found out that she's more important than she thought she was. Not only did she open the Chamber of Secrets, but she's also going to be in the tournament. How will she deal with that? Please don't forget to review.