Chapter 109: Playing for Time
Life settled into a routine or as routine as it can be in a magic school with ghosts, magical creatures, a half-giant and a headmaster with a beard below his navel. Every one of the professors loaded them up with homework in preparation for their upcoming O.W.L.s with each one stressing their importance.
In their mastery program, Flitwick also pushed them harder and harder , giving them more complicated and complex tasks, getting them to speed up their casting and build more diversity in their spell repertoire. They were no longer allowed to duel him together and had to take him on solo. Thus far, each had only had minimal success.
Harry was grateful for Daphne and Hermione's organization as they helped him stay on top of his homework as Quidditch was about to begin. That's why Harry was out on the frigid pitch applying warming charms to take the edge off the freezing wind, as he watched the prospective players do laps around the goalposts. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Angelina pinch her nose in frustration.
"Bloody brainless idiots," Angelina grumbled. "I said straight and then around the posts, not straight into the posts."
Katie giggled as she watched two of the prospective chasers shake their head and pick themselves up from the grass.
"Remind me why I let you convince me to build a reserve team?" Angelina asked Katie.
"You're leaving next year," Katie said. "Same with Alicia, Fred and George. We're already trying to replace Ollie. I want to keep our winning streak going long after you're gone."
"By long you mean one year?" Angie retorted. "You're almost as old as me, might I remind you."
"Yeah but we need to set Wonder Boy here up for success," Katie pointed at Harry's shivering body. "He's probably going to be the captain after you."
"No, it should be you," Harry said.
"Please," Katie rolled her eyes. "You've basically been co-captain since Wood brought you on. Remember the Slytherin match where you fired up the team and we trounced them despite their new brooms? Yeah, you've been co-captain and just never knew it."
"What's the matter," Angelina said. "Chosen One suddenly ducking the responsibility?"
"Just add it to the pile, I guess," Harry said as two more chaser hopefuls missed the Quaffle and hit one another. "But I sure hope we find some talent."
"I like Peakes and Coote as the new beaters," Katie said. "We can task Fred and George to get them up to speed."
The four of them turned to see the reserve beaters deep in conversation with the Weasley Twins. Fred gave Peakes a few tips on how to hold the bat and Coote and George were laughing as they chatted.
"That or they're inducting them to the New Marauders," Harry offered. "Either way they'll be a lot of fun, I agree. Seamus did rather well. I think Demelza and Ginny are two of the reserves. After that, I think Dean would be the third pick. His length would be nice.
"Not to mention easy on the eyes," Katie said. "I might have to sneak into your showers with him on the team."
"He's taken, I think," Harry said. "Fay and him have been rather close."
"Just let a girl dream a minute, Potter," Katie said. "I think we're about to start Keepers."
Angelina addressed the Chaser hopefuls, sending all but the three selections home.
"What about Seeker?" Harry asked.
"Oh that's easy," Angelina said. "The third year Brittany Stevens."
Harry looked over at the seekers and the blonde third year did stand out the most. She had a slight build and her speed and instincts were unmatched.
"It'll be tough to break it to Romilda though," Alicia said as she nudged Harry's shoulder with her shoulder. "I think she was looking forward to being mentored by you."
Harry shuddered as he tried to ignore Romilda's intense stare.
"Granger would have incinerated her," Angelina said. "I won't have that kind of drama on the team."
"Who is our first match against?" Harry asked more to change the subject than anything.
"Hufflepuff," Angelina said. "Professor Sprout thought it would be a good match to kick things off."
"Makes sense," Harry said, though he cringed inwardly. He still sought out Cedric in the Great Hall, expecting to see him at the Hufflepuff table.
"Head out of the clouds, Potter," Angelina pulled him out of his miserable musing. "Keeper tryouts coming up."
"Who do you like?" Alicia asked.
"If he's got the goods, Longbottom's size is enticing," Angelina said. "He almost blocks two rings at once."
"He's good," Harry said making the rest of the team whip their heads toward him. "We played a pickup game for my birthday before fourth year. McGonagall roped him into playing Keeper. I think she wanted to scout him. He was good once he settled in, stopped an unbelievable Flitwick attempt."
"Wait…" Angelina stopped him. "Are you saying you played Quidditch against McGonagall AND Flitwick?"
"Yeah…" Harry replied hesitantly.
"And you're just telling us now!?" Angelina shouted. "Do you know how long I've been trying to get McGonagall to fly with us? She was an incredible chaser back in the day."
"It was fun," Harry said.
"You're inviting us to your next birthday party, Potter," Angelina huffed. "Well, we'll see how Longbottom does. Weasley has the Quidditch bloodlines and I like how Derek Anderson looks too."
Harry took a critical look at the third boy. His dark complexion stood out from the other two and his long, braided hair looked a lot like Angelina.
"Alright," Angelina addressed the Keepers. "Everyone mount your brooms and make a lap around the pitch and stop exactly at this spot."
The six hopefuls all kicked off and Harry could instantly see the three that would be cut. One ran himself into the right hoop, another ran herself into the ground and the third one went up and then did a lazy circle around the perimeter of the pitch.
For the three serious contenders, Ron took an immediate lead, flattening himself to the handle of his broom. Derek's hair whipped behind him as he drafted behind Ron while Neville lagged behind. Harry noticed Ron wobble a little coming out of the second corner and Derek used that to draw even. Neville also pushed harder down the length of the pitch to draw closer. Neville used Derek's trick on the man himself and drew even through the final corners. When they arrived back at the starting point, Neville heaved his broom up and stopped on the exact spot. Ron tried the same but drifted past the spot and Derek completely forgot that detail and blew past it.
"Alright," Angelina said. "Now I want to see your Keeper skills. You'll each have to defend six penalty shot attempts, one from every chaser on the team."
As with the lap, the three Harry could tell weren't Keeper material struggled. Only one of them made a save and in doing so, he flung himself off the broom to the point that Harry had to whip out his wand to catch him before he hit the pitch head-first.
Next came Derek who stopped Alicia, and gave up a goal to Angelina after she feinted toward the right hoop and completed a reverse layup to the left hoop. Katie tried to throw one by him at range but he maneuvered the broom into the path to swat it away. After that, Angelina had Ginny, Demelza and Dean go with Ginny scoring and Derek stopping the other two.
"Stopped 4 out of 6," Angelina called out. "Not bad."
Next was Ron whose look of sheer determination Harry found intimidating, although it looked like he was trying to cover up his nerves. That became apparent when he whiffed on Alicia's attempt, letting it go between his outstretched hands into the center hoop. Then, Angelina caught him leaning toward the left hoop but his reaction allowed him to tip the Quaffle away from the right hoop. Katie tried a speed attack that Ron seemed ready for, throwing his body in the way of the attempt. Demelza he stopped and Dean scored. When Ginny grabbed the Quaffle, Harry held his breath. What came next was something Harry had never seen before. Ginny rocketed up, attacking from above. She faked a shot toward the right hoop and, when Ron bit on the fake, she threw it behind her back, spun her broom in a circle and punched the ball through the open center hoop. An involuntary cheer rang through the stadium at the play.
Ron landed with a huff and threw his broom away in frustration.
"3 of 6," Angelina said. "Though you had some spectacular saves, Weasley. Well done. Longbottom, you're up."
"Where'd you learn to do that?" Harry asked Ginny as she landed next to him.
"I had a lot of time when Ron left," Ginny said. "I put a sleeping draught in mum's tea and spent a lot of time practicing."
"It shows," Harry said as he patted her on the shoulder.
Harry turned back to the pitch as Neville took off, his hair whipping behind him.
"Go get 'em, Nev," a third year Ravenclaw shouted from the stands.
"Whether you make it or not, we'll be here for you," another Ravenclaw called out to him.
Looking over his shoulder, Harry could see Hannah's annoyed look. Even with Susan trying to calm her down, Harry could feel her aggravation. Turning his attention back just as Alicia advanced, Harry felt his breath catch.
Alicia tested his reflexes with a late move toward the right hoop but Neville moved quickly to stop her. Angelina played her shot slow, trying to get him to commit but he just waited her out. She still slipped a shot under his arm, through the left hoop but Harry could see she was impressed. Katie tried her signature corkscrew attack but Neville came out to meet her, blocking the Quaffle the moment she came out of her spin. After that Dean scored on a nifty loop-di-loop followed by a shot through the center hoop right by Neville's ear. After him, Ginny tried to attack from an angle but Neville's size gave her nothing to shoot at. As Demelza shot, Harry saw Neville drift toward the right hoop. Hoping to catch him, Demelza attempted to score on the open left hoop but it looked like Neville was hoping for that as a burst of speed and a precision stop put him right in the path.
"4-of-6 saved," Angelina said. "Thank you to all who tried out. Give us a moment to talk."
Angelina turned back to the group.
"Alright I know there's a lot of bias here," she said. "Fred and George, I know Ron is your brother, and Harry, Neville is your best mate. Objectively what did you think?"
"I liked Derek," Harry said. "He's got speed and I liked his agility. He seems to lose focus so that's an issue. Ron is great at sizing up opponents, but nerves are an issue. I'd hate to see what happens when he gets rattled. As for Neville, he's got the size but his starts and stops are what impress me. He also seemed the most calm of the three. I think I'd go with Neville with Ron being in reserve."
"I personally liked Derek," Katie said. "He's got a lot of potential and being so young, he'd be great to train up."
"Yeah he's got potential," George said. "But Ron has more upside, I think. When he's on his game, he's almost unbeatable."
"Agreed," Fred said. "Though Neville is my pick to start."
"Feel the same," Alicia said. "So who's our reserve?"
"I vote Ron," Harry said. "Like the upside."
"I vote Derek," Katie said.
"Derek for me too," Alicia said.
"Ron for me," George said.
"Derek," Fred said. "Ron's too unpredictable."
"Well I concur," Angelina said. "Also didn't like Ron's outburst after Ginny's goal."
Angelina turned back around and addressed the Keepers.
"After discussion," she saw the three true contenders tense. "We have chosen Neville Longbottom as the starter and Derek Anderson as our reserve. Thank you all for coming out."
Ron slumped his shoulders, called his broom to his hand and walked out of the stadium. Harry wanted to watch him go but a blonde blur knocked him off balance as it slammed into Neville.
"Congrats, Nev!" Hannah said as she kissed him heatedly. "I knew you could do it. Though don't think this changes anything: Hufflepuff is still taking you down first game."
"They can try," Neville said with a smile. "Come on, I'm famished."
"You? Hungry?" Hannah said with a smile. "Never heard that before."
As the group trooped back toward the castle, Colin tapped Susan on the shoulder.
"Yes, Colin?" Susan asked the boy who looked torn between being sick and constipated.
"Woo-would you go to Hogsmeade with me next weekend?" Colin asked.
Susan's eyes widened in shock. After last year, she thought Colin had given up. Which suited her fine because she just couldn't bring herself to care for him the way he cared for her.
"Oh I'm sorry, Colin," Susan said. "Ernie asked me the other night and I accepted his invitation."
"Oh… okay," Colin said as he toed the ground with his shoe.
"Maybe next time?" Susan offered kindly.
"Yeah, sure," Colin said, sounding rather put out.
Up at the castle, Harry arrived in the Entrance Hall just as Vinny and Greg both sped out of the Great Hall with mischievous looks on their faces.
"Where are you two going?" Hermione asked.
"Nowhere," Vinny said.
"The library," Greg said.
"Neither of those are believable," Harry said.
"Oh, why not?" Vinny asked. "We read."
"Yeah and I need to go find that book," Greg said. "See you all later. Don't sit at the Slytherin table."
Greg pushed Vinny onward and without another word, they were gone.
"They're looking more and more like the Weasley Twins every day," Hermione groaned. "You don't think they've done anything serious, have you?"
"No, they won't go that far," Harry said, not sounding too certain. "Let's go; I'm starving."
As they sat down and served themselves, they kept an eye on the Slytherin table. Midway through his stew, Harry's ears perked up.
"What's this?" A Slytherin third-year asked as he picked up a tube-shaped object.
"Don't mess with it!" A fourth-year shouted and tried to wrench it from his grasp.
"Why not? It's just sitting here," the boy said. "Not like it's harming anyone!"
"Josh give it to me!" Another boy said as they started to fight over it. "It's not even yours!"
In the scuffle, the top popped off the tube and three full-grown snakes popped out. Students scurried away, most opting to stand on the benches and the tables as the snakes slithered through the Great Hall.
"Stand back," the Slytherin prefect pulled his wand. "Evanesco."
Instead of vanishing, the snakes tripled and nine snakes now made their way through the Great Hall. Ernie gave a high-pitched yelp and hid behind Susan as one of the snakes approached.
"Thanks for protecting me, oh brave one," Susan said as she looked over her shoulder while drawing her wand. "How would I ever survive a day without your gallant self?"
As one, all of the snakes stood on its tail and blew a very human raspberry before bursting into confetti with a celebratory horn blast. Laughter followed as some of the students took to pointing at their friends and their ridiculous reactions.
Once things calmed back down, Harry couldn't help but chuckle.
"I never should have shown Fred and George those muggle pranks," Harry said.
"Just be glad they don't know about the game Barrel of Monkeys," Hermione said.
"Barrel of what now?" George popped his head up seemingly from nowhere.
"This one is on you," Harry said with a laugh.
"So these monkeys," Fred slid down the bench to sit next to her. George pushed Harry down the bench to sit on Hermione's other side. "How do they work?"
"Nope," Hermione shook her head.
"Come on," George pleaded.
"Noooo," Hermione crossed her arms and shook her head more vigorously.
"Hermione," Fred started.
"Our favorite," George picked up.
"Most intelligent,"
"Beautiful,"
"Prefect," they finished together.
"No" Hermione narrowed her eyes at the twins.
"Well, if you won't tell us," Fred said.
"Then we will have to make it up," George said.
"Oh no," Lavender said as her eyes widened. She dropped her fork, hopped to the other side of the table and shook Hermione. "You have to tell them. Before they decide what it might be!"
"Fine," Hermione relented. "So, it's a child's game. You have this barrel, and it is filled with plastic monkeys…"
Hermione went on to explain the game and by the end, the twins were disappointed.
"That's lame," Fred said.
"I like our version better," George replied. "To the lab?"
"To the lab!" Fred shouted and together they both sprinted from the Hall.
"What have we done," Hermione whispered, more to herself.
"We?" Parvati said. "Don't try to wrap the rest of us up in this. Girl this one's all you."
"I for one can't wait," Neville said which drew every head in his direction. "Oh don't look at me that way. You all know they're mostly harmless and Hogwarts is more fun with their inventions."
"You just like the whoopie cushion that plays different noises each time," Parvati said.
"That is fun, yes," Neville said with a faraway look in his eye.
"So what's Dumbledore going to teach tonight," Luna asked to change the subject.
"We're not sure," Hermione said. "We are meeting in his office so it won't be anything wanded."
"Maybe it'll be theory-based?" Parvati suggested.
"Maybe," Hermione said. "It doesn't help that Harry still can't trust the man. Every meeting is just anxious and strained. Like Harry's waiting to catch him in a lie."
"You can't fault him for that," Luna said. "Dumbledore's done a lot to harm Harry. I don't blame him."
"I just don't know why the latest betrayal hurts him more," Hermione said.
"Dumbledore was preparing for him to die," Luna said. "Harry was trying to plan his life and his future- with you specifically- and Dumbledore was planning on letting him die."
"Never thought of it that way," Hermione said. "I admit I am wary but Harry's trust issues run deeper than mine and a lot of them fall at Dumbledore's feet. It's just tense."
"You'll know in a few hours," Lavender said. "Would you mind coming back to the dorm? We have a new lip gloss we'd like to try."
"That'd be nice," Hermione said. "Lead the way."
Even with the distraction, Hermione couldn't help but wonder what Dumbledore had in store for them.
(A/N: I am back. To paraphrase Ian Malcom "Life, uh, gets in the way." Just completed a big task that's taken up a lot of my time the last year and I'm carving out time in my schedule to write as it gives my brain a nice break. I'm still stuck at the next chapter, which was going to be part of this one but I am stuck. I'm trying to crawl into the brain of Tom Riddle and it's hard. The good part is that the next two chapters beyond that are coming together. Thank you for all your comments while I was away. It kept me going when I wanted to give up at times. And thank you to all the writers who continue to write and inspire others to write.