( Quidditch pitch )
"Now, all of you here are interested in playing for Ravenclaw, so sort yourselves out into the position you want to try out for. Seekers on the left and chasers on the right," Roger ordered the group.
Harry stepped to the left as instructed, into the by far larger of the two groups. Examining both groups, he realized that there appeared to be a distinct lack of older students. The oldest one was only a fifth year, with the rest being fourth years down to second years.
Almost immediately, he realized why. Since Ravenclaw was the house of knowledge, naturally the older students would be more inclined to prepare for their OWLs and NEWTs than play sports.
Of course, this worked out to his advantage, since it meant his competition had less experience on average. He would happily accept any advantage he could get.
"Now that you're sorted, chasers take to the air and fly laps until I call you down. If I call you down, it's because you're out," the captain said to the group. "The rest of you will have to wait, so stay quiet."
The next couple of hours passed slowly as Roger ran them through flying drills designed to remove the weaker flyers from the pack. He then debated his choices with the returning players on the Quidditch team to get their thoughts. It was clear, at least from his viewpoint, that the Ravenclaw Quidditch team was more like an open forum.
Lazily drifting in the air, Harry was tired of all the pointless exercises. It would be far better to just do some quick one-on-one competitions, and the last man or woman standing got the position. But that didn't happen; instead, they went by the drill book, going through each flying drill and exercise.
Looking over at the stands, he could see Penny and Tonks chatting, whilst Padma was talking to Terry and a couple of other second years who had failed to make the cut. The rest of the stands were scattered with different groups watching, some there supporting friends, whilst others just wanted to have something different to do for the day rather than being indoors.
Strangely enough, the first year he had met was watching with her haunting blue eyes, standing in the shadow of a stairway.
Off in one of the far corners, he could see the Gryffindor captain with one of their chasers, who had a notebook and quill in her hand. She was acting like a secretary, noting down whatever Wood was commenting on.
Finally, it came down to the final four.
"Now, one of you four will be our seeker. This is what's going to happen. You are going to be paired off against each other, and the first person in each pair to catch the snitch will go up against each other to decide who gets the spot. All clear?" Roger asked, getting a round of nods from the four seeker hopefuls. Harry couldn't help but grin like a madman, which clearly unnerved the third year he was put up against.
"Ready?" Roger asked.
"Go!" he shouted while releasing the snitch. The following chase was short and very one-sided. As soon as Harry had locked onto the snitch, he closed the distance relentlessly, like a wolf chasing down a deer. Each time the snitch changed directions, he was immediately behind it again. It was all over in less than three minutes.
The next pair of contenders took almost twenty minutes before Cho Chang successfully caught the snitch. She just barely succeeded, though, since the fourth-year girl she was up against seemed to be willing to knock her off her broom if necessary.
"Five-minute break, so Chang can get her breath," Roger said, causing him to mentally sigh. He was in the zone and didn't want to waste time sitting about. After the last two chases, the stands were packed, and everyone was waiting impatiently with a restless energy.
Eyeing Cho, he knew he had the advantage, both due to his broom and his own physical fitness and energy levels. He was certain that he would beat her. The odds were in his favour.
And he was right. The chase lasted just under ten minutes as soon as the snitch was located. He had Chang's number even though the snitch started closer to the Asian girl. The speed and daring as he nosedived after the snitch toward the ground, barely pulling up meters from the ground at full speed, made the difference in catching the snitch.
"It's not fair, I should be seeker. He only won because he had a faster broom," Chang protested to Roger.
"Are you going to use that same excuse then when you lose to Longbottom or Malfoy? Both of them have Nimbus 2001s, same as me, so you'll still be at the same disadvantage," he said to Chang, but the statement was more for Roger's benefit. "If you want to win, I'm your best choice. Plus, I won fair and square, and frankly, I don't bitch about stuff."
"He's right," Roger said, before turning to the tearful third year. "Sorry, Chang, I have to think about what is best for the team, even if our families do business."
"Roger, she could always be a reserve player for the position, in case I'm ever injured and can't compete," he answered, throwing the girl a bone, hoping she wouldn't break down in the middle of the pitch, blaming him for her loss. After all, he had enough concerns to worry about, rather than having to concern himself with a revengeful girl.
"Good point. Let me think about it," Roger said, taking the offered way out.
...
The first month back had been rather uneventful for the most part, and he had finally begun to relax since there, so far, had been no signs of Lord Malfoy's plot. Still, there was plenty of time left; the school year had barely started.
He was walking around the grounds, enjoying the chance to enjoy the good weather and be able to walk outside before autumn changed into winter, forcing him indoors.
Hearing the sound of voices, he turned to find the Gryffindor Quidditch team training, getting ready for their first game. Debating whether he could get close enough to watch so he could gather any insight into their style of play, he quickly dismissed the idea, since there was no way he could get across the grounds without being spotted by one of the players.
He made a mental note in his codex to check when the Quidditch pitch was next booked before carrying on with his walk around the grounds. However, his walk was interrupted when he heard another group of students off in the distance heading down to the pitch.
Watching the group as they marched towards the lions, he could make out the green robes of the Slytherin team. He could easily predict what was about to unfold, since the two Quidditch teams' rivalry was legendary in its own right. Even before you added Neville and Malfoy to the equation—who themselves were quickly becoming legends.
He decided to move closer, using the distraction the Slytherin team would provide to get into a spot where he could observe the players. He could use some entertainment since the day had been rather boring so far. Both of the boys seemed to be in constant contest to try to outdo each other—it was almost worthy of a TV drama. He quickly moved into the stands now that attention was diverted.
Reaching the top of the staircase, he carefully placed himself in the shadow of the staircase, allowing himself to watch the unfolding drama without being spotted by either side. Smirking from his vantage point, it was like having box seats for a premier game. He threw up an Eavesdropping Charm, allowing him to hear what was going on down below. 'Mental note, thank Daphne for teaching me that charm.'
Much amusement was had by the raven-haired boy as the insults started to fly between the squads before Flint finally pulled out a piece of paper. It wasn't too long before he could hear several moans and groans coming from the Gryffindor players, culminating in the Gryffindor captain, Oliver Wood, explaining the note was from Professor Snape giving the Slytherin team permission to train, under the excuse of having a new seeker... Draco.
'Sneaky bastard,' he thought, before suddenly zoning back in on the action as he saw the first wands being drawn after a remark he missed.
The next thing that happened was a full-blown seven-on-seven skirmish before his very eyes. He began focusing his mind and magic on recording the memory in detail. He didn't pay much attention to individual fights, more concerned about getting as much detail to memory. Later, he could review the memory and watch individual duels, but for now, he just wanted to capture everything.
However, he was more than willing to admit he wanted to watch Longbottom and Draco the most since they were in his year. Plus, he wanted to see how advanced Neville's training really was, after the Charms Master's remarks about his advanced tutoring before school.
Longbottom quickly overpowered Draco, catching the Slytherin seeker off guard with a surprisingly fast Stunning Charm. The outcome was kind of expected, considering he had already received training in duelling. Longbottom then turned his attention towards his teammates' battles and helped where he could.
It was surprising that Draco hadn't received any instruction from his parents or his godfather.
Harry was also amused to note that no one attempted to revive Draco. As the two teams faced off, with Gryffindor working more as a team and Slytherin acting more as individual duelers.
Despite the superior Gryffindor tactics, the fight was rather evenly matched, even with Slytherin being one man down. However, they had the advantage of most of their players being in their NEWT years, with Wood being the only NEWT student on Gryffindor's side.
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