Patronus1709
patreon
A Simple Change of Mind - Chapter 11
🕑 Added 2023-11-26 18:05:45 +0000 UTCHearing something from his right side, Harry turned around and looked around with his wand raised to find nothing there.
Still feeling as if he were being watched, Harry walked out of his room and down the stairs quietly while keeping his eyes all around him for any movements.
When he stepped on the ground floor, he noticed a shadow from the corner of his eyes.
He threw himself at the ground, swiftly rolling, and fired a flame of fire from his wand, burning the shadow and banishing it out of his mind.
With a gasp, Harry opened his eyes and sat up on his chair, taking deep breaths.
He then looked at the headmaster, Dumbledore, in front of him in his chair, rubbing his temple.
"That was a great effort, Harry," Dumbledore groaned, feeling the pain from Harry's mental defence. "You managed to throw me out of your mind even when you were asleep in just a few seconds. That’s impressive considering this is only your fifth try."
"I know, professor." Harry sighed and rubbed his eyes. "But from what you have told me about Voldemort and how he is a master at legibility, I need to be even better than that.”
"Harry, you do know that Voldemort is not, in reality, alive right now, and you don’t have to worry about him,” Dumbledore said kindly.
Hasty shook his head with a frustrated expression. "You and I both know that he may not have a human body right now, but the truth is, he is alive,” he stubbornly replied.
"And why would you think so?” Dumbledore raised his eyebrow.
"Because I saw him and have faced him by myself in two of three years here in the wizarding world, professor,” Harry grits his teeth. "I have seen him with my own eyes and even talked with him; if there is someone who knows he is not dead, it’s me.”
Dumbledore sat silently for a few seconds, eyeing his clearly frustrated student, and he could understand Harry’s frustration very clearly.
After all, it had happened so many times with him in the past that people didn’t believe him when he told them the truth just because they didn't want to believe it.
Sensing an opportunity here, Dumbledore decided to test Harry to see how far he had come in his magical education.
"Do you have a reason as to why he is not dead?”
Harry's face turned into a thoughtful and nervous expression, as if he knew something but was afraid to say it.
Dumbledore let him take his time because he knew Harry would tell him for sure.
After a long silence, Harry sighed and nodded. "I do.”
"And what is that?”
"I believe the reason he is still alive is because his body may be dead, but not his soul,” Harry answered, staring at Dumbledore to catch any emotion on his face.
And there was.
It might have been for just a second, but Harry saw it clearly.
Dumbledore's eyes had opened wide for a moment, but they told Harry all he wanted to know.
His guess was closer to what Dumbledore's was, which would mean it was closer to the truth as well.
"What made you think that?” Dumbledore stared intensely at him with his piercing gaze.
But Harry didn’t feel intimidated at all, and he replied to the old wizard.
"Because it’s proven that the killing curse kills a person's soul, killing him instantly without any marks left in their bodies, which should have happened with Tom when the curse rebounded off me and shot at him.”
"But evidently, it didn't, as he is still alive.”
"Which makes me think his soul didn’t die and only his body did, and now he is roaming around searching for a host for his soul,” Harry finished, keeping his eyes on Dumbledore to follow the emotions on his face.
Dumbledore didn’t show it, but he was immensely impressed and proud of his favourite student.
Harry didn’t know how close he was to the actual truth, and Dumbledore didn’t think even he was that sharp and smart at Harry’s age.
But the unfortunate thing for him was that he couldn’t tell Harry what he knew because this wasn’t the time, and he didn’t want Harry to worry about that matter right now.
He wanted Harry to live this year as he wanted it and enjoy it.
"An interesting theory, I must say, Harry," Dumbledore hummed, "but it’s a theory we don’t have any proof of.”
"So you don’t believe it,” Harry said irritatingly.
"I never said that,” Dumbledore said, shaking his head. "I also do believe that Tom’s soul is still alive, which is why he is not dead, but I am not sure if I know how he achieved something like that.”
Harry narrowed his eyes at his headmaster. He could tell that Dumbledore wasn’t lying to him, but he was also not telling him everything he knew.
He wanted to force him to open up and tell him, but Harry let it go for now.
If Dumbledore didn’t want to tell him yet, he must have had a reason for that, and Harry respected that.
"You are right." Harry muttered, rubbing his eyes, feeling sleepy because of how late it was. "It's not the time to worry about Tom."
"Exactly, Harry," Dumbledore smiled warmly. "And I think it’s time for you to go and take your rest; you will need it for tomorrow,” he added with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.
Harry frowned. "Why? Whats tomorrow”
"Now, Harry, I can't just tell you that." Dumbledore innocently smiled, "You will have to wait and see it for yourself tomorrow.”
Harry grunted and rolled his eyes at the old man, who was still so energised to joke like that.
Because for him, all he wanted right now was to go to bed and sleep the night.
And that’s exactly what he did—without even stopping and letting Dumbledore say anything else, he left the room, knowing the odd wizard wouldn’t mind it.
And if he did...... well, Harry couldn’t care less.
Dumbledore chuckled at seeing his favourite student drag himself to his dorm, full of tiered
He knew how busy Harry had been this year with everything.
Not only was he attending every class, but he was also training daily alone and sometimes with some of his new female friends he had started to spend time with.
But he knew they were more than just friends. Dumbledore snickered, thinking back to how he had seen Harry surrounded by the three girls from different houses who wanted to be more than just his friends, going by the look they always gave him.
'Just like his godfather,' Dumbledore thought, shaking his head, although he knew Harry wouldn’t play with their feelings and would actually love them like they wanted, unlike Sirius.
Noticing the time, Dumbledore decided to end the day and go to his bed as well, but not before doing one last thing.
Summoning his personal Pensieve, he poured in the memory he was last looking at and dove in.
To say he was shocked by how close Harry was to the truth today would be an understatement. He didn’t expect Harry to deduce the truth about Tom's mysterious survival so easily and so early.
And it was for that reason he knew he had to look in the memories he has and find out everything he could about Tom Horcruxes.
Because once the time came to tell Harry, he would have to have every little thing that could help them find the cursed object, and by the look of it, that time wasn’t that far.
And he knew that once he finally put out all the things he was still hiding from Harry, that young man wouldn’t stop until he destroyed all the horcruxes, which would lead to killing Voldemort once and for all.
-
The next morning, Harry was making his way to the great hall for breakfast.
It was Saturday, the start of the weekend, which was why he had been so up late with Dumbledore yesterday night because he wanted to get all his lessons done to keep his weekend free.
Although he was regretting staying up so late because he was late for breakfast, something hadn’t happened the whole year.
Yawning, he entered the hall and saw his friends sitting at the Hufflepuff table today.
He walked up to them and plumped down on the bench beside Susan with a morning greeting.
"Morning girls”
"Good morning, Harry." Daphne, Hermione, and Padma greeted him back with a smile.
Susan, on the other hand, scooted closer to him, their legs touching with her hand on his thigh, and she kissed him on the cheek with a whispered greeting.
Harry hid a smile, as he knew she did that to not only show the intimacy between them since that day of their personal training, but she did this mostly to make her friends jealous.
And it always worked, given the glare Daphne and Padma were throwing at her.
"Harry, why are you so late today?” As was always the case, Hermione interrupted before their friends could get into a fight.
"I was up too late last night with Professor Dumbledore,” Harry answered while filling his plate.
"I still can’t believe you are being taught by Albus Dumbledore himself." Daphne sighed with a bit of envy but mostly pride in Harry.
"Trust me, it's not as enjoyable as it sounds." Harry shook his head. "Dumbledore is a slave driver; he trains me until there is no strength left in me.”
"That's why he is the best Harry," Padma remarked quietly.
True," Harry nodded. “So what’s on the agenda today?” he asked, looking at his friends.
Hermione shrugged. "I don’t know, but it does look like something is going to happen as all the professors are here for the breakfasts, which is very rare and only happens when an announcement is to be made.”
Harry looked at the teacher's table and noticed she was right—all the professors were present for the breakfast.
Seeing Dumbledore talking with McGonagall, Harry remembered something from last night.
"Dumbledore did tell me something interesting is going to happen today,” he told the girls while finishing his breakfast.
“what Harry?” Susan asked from his right, with her hand still on his thigh, rubbing it gently.
"I don’t know,” Harry shook his head. "He didn’t tell me anything, but he may –“
He was interpreted by Dumbledore, who stood up and tapped his goblet with the spoon, catching everyone's attention.
"Can I have your attention, please?”
“- now” Harry finished with an amused smile as all five of them turned to the teacher's table to hear what the headmaster had to say.
"Now that I have your attention,” Dumbledore smiled. "I want to inform all of you that the selection test for the three events of the Tri-Wizard Tournament starts today.”
He stopped and let the students digest the news as an excited buzz spread through the whole hall as everyone began whispering and muttering among them.
"Please let me finish first, and then you can talk among yourself." Dumbledore spoke loudly over the murmur of students and got their attention back.
"So, as I was saying,” he continued, "the trial for selection will start today, but before that, you will first have to register your name for the competition you want to compete in.”
"For the Quidditch team, 14 players would be chosen to represent our school, and in the quiz, 5 students would be chosen for the team from every student from every year.”
"And for the duelling, instead of it being 1v1, the competition would be between all the school teams, which would have 7 students in them. In this, two teams will face each other, with each team sending their fighter one at a time, and the winner will be the team that has eliminated every fighter of the opposition team.”
Harry had to agree that it sounded much more challenging and harder than a 1v1 challenge. He really can’t wait for these competitions, but the one he was most excited about was definitely the duelling competition.
"Now all the head houses here will begin collecting all of your names for the competition you want to participate in, so with that, I wish all of you very best luck for your trials." Dumbledore finished his speech and sat down on his throne with an excited smile, eager to see how capable and talented his students really were.
And just like that, every student went into a frenzy as they tried to enter their name as fast as they could.
‘As if that would make it more likely for them to be selected’ Harry scoffed as he thought while looking around, everyone fighting to be the first one to register their name.
Thankfully, McGonagall had enough and silenced the hall with a single shout, and after that, no one dared to do anything foolish, and the registration began smoothly.
Harry turned to the girls and saw them excitedly talking among them.
"So, have you decided which competition you are taking part in?” Harry asked intruingly.
"I am only going to write my name in quiz one,” Hermione replied.
"Me too." Padma nodded.
Harry hummed as he thought it made sense that both of them would enter the quiz, and he was confident that both of them would be selected for the final team.
He then turned to the remaining two girls and raised his eyebrow at them, silently asking.
"I will enter the duelling competition,” Susan excitedly said, and Harry was confident she would be selected based on what he had seen in their training.
“I will enter in both quizzes and duelling," Daphne confidently said.
Harry was not surprised by her confidence because if there was one girl who was talented in different magical areas, it was Daphne.
“Are you sure?” He asked her to test her.
"I am,” Daphne nodded without hesitation.
"Good, you should be." Harry smiled encouragingly. "I know you will easily get selected in the quiz, but the duelling will be a challenge, though I know you will do your best.”
“Thank you, Harry." Daphne smiled prettily at him.
Harry had to avert his eyes from her to not get distracted. Such a gorgeous smile on a beautiful face like Daphne shouldn’t be allowed.
“And what about you, Harry?” Padma asked.
Harry shrugged. “You already know Quidditch and duelling."
“And it's obvious you will get selected in both." Susan told him with absolute certainty, making Harry blush and rub his head.
“I hope so,” he chuckled. “Now let's go and get our names in as well.”
"Yes, the line does seem to be getting thin; we will be wasting time if we don't do it right now,” Hermione told them, looking at the line of students.
So with that, all five stood and joined the back of the line of their own houses and waited for their turn.
They had to wait a while for their turn, as the line was still quite long and it seemed as if everyone wanted to participate in the tournament.
Finally, it was Harry and Hermione's turn, and Hermione went first and then Harry.
“In duelling and Quidditch, I believe," Professor McGonagall said, raising her eyebrow at him.
Harry nodded. "Yes, professor.”
"I am warning you once again, Harry. You should be on both of those teams, is that clear?” She asked sternly.
“Don't worry about it, professor." Harry smirked. “It's not too hard for me.”
Minerva snorted and shook her head, muttering ‘just like his father’ and writing his name in, and then shooed him away.
Harry walked to where his friends were waiting for him but stopped when he saw Ginny with Luna on the Ravenclaw table.
He recalled if he saw her entering her name, and his memory came blank.
Changing his mind instead of the girls, he made his way to Ginny and sat beside her.
“How are you two doing?” Harry asked cheerfully, leaning on the table.
“Very fine, Harry." Luna replied in her dreamy tone with her ever-present smile, “Although there are some nargles on Ginny's head.”
“That was why I came here,” Harry turned to Ginny, “why haven't you written your name for Quidditch?”
"It's pointless, Harry; I won't be selected,” Ginny sighed with a down face.
"Bullshit!” Harry narrowed his eyes at her, making her finch. "I have seen you fly with my own eyes. You have the potential to be the best chaser in the school, and of course you will be selected once they see you in the air.”
“Harry-“
“Is it about your brothers?” Harry asked softly.
Seeing her avoid his eyes was his answer to the question.
“For fuck’s sake, Ginny, I thought you would be better than that." Harry grabbed her shoulder and made her face him. “Fuck what your brothers think; it doesn't matter if they want you playing or not. You are your own person. I thought you were past caring about what your brother's opinion was.”
“And really speaking, Fred and George, I am sure, wouldn't even mind it, and who gives a shit to what Ron thinks?” Harry passionately said, making Luna giggle and even Ginny's lips curled into a smile.
He let Ginny think about what he said and make up her mind.
He knew he was successful in motivating her when he saw Ginny straighten up with a confident face, and she nodded.
“You are right, Harry. I want to play, and I will play." Ginny grinned and said, “Fuck my brothers.”
“That's the spirit." Harry smiled proudly, patting her shoulder. "I'm so proud of you,” he added, mockingly sobbing, and wiping fake tears.
“Shut up, you prat." Ginny smacked him lightly with a smile, and then, after a kiss to Luna, she went to enter her name.
“Thank you, Harry.” Luna smiled gratefully at him, and Harry nodded.
“Anytime Luna”
He then stood up and walked to his girls, who were shaking their heads when he reached them.
“Never change, Harry,” all four said together, smiling fondly at him.
-
In the morning of the next day, Harry was on his way to the Quidditch ground for the Quidditch tournament trials.
Once the name submission yesterday was finished, the trials began swiftly after that.
The first was the trial of the magical knowledge quiz.
Harry and Susan had sat on the side of the hall that was transfigured into a stage for quiz trials.
They both sat there for many hours yesterday, leaning into each other while supporting their friends.
In reality, to be honest, their friends didn't really need their support anyway.
And as Harry had predicted, all three—Daphne, Padma, and Hermione—were selected to be on the final team.
It was a shock for everyone to see not one but three fourth-year students being chosen when so many students who were older than them were there for the trials.
But for Harry, it wasn't a shock.
Hermione with her magical textbook knowledge, Padma with her swift thinking and knowledge-filled mind, and Daphne with her cunning, sharp mind and all-around knowledge, it was obvious that those three would be selected.
And now it was the girls turn to cheer him on for his Quidditch trials.
Although, in Daphne's words, he didn't need it as he was already the best Quidditch player in the school.
Harry wouldn't claim it was true, but he does appreciate the absolute trust Daphne has in him.
Arriving at the Quidditch stadium, he saw the ground was crowded with all the participants in their kits, with their brooms in hand, and stands filled with eager, excited students here to cheer their favourites.
Jogging to the huge crowd of the students present for the trial, Harry went to Ginny, recognising her with her bright red hair at the back of the group.
Reaching her, he slung his arm around her shoulder and leaned in. "What's going on? Did I miss something?”
Ginny shook her head and smiled up at him. "Nothing, Madam Hooch, isn't here yet.”
Miraculously, right at that moment, Hooch came in with her whistle in her mouth.
“Attention everyone” She barked at them, “Welcome to this year's Tri Wizard Quidditch Tournament Trials."
"Now I can see there are too many of you here." She told them while sweeping her cat-like eyes at all the participating students.
"And I know many of you don't even know how to fly and are here just because you think you can play." She narrowed her eyes, seeing a few of the younger ones shaking and realising their mistakes.
“But don't worry, once the trials start, we will easily set the weed apart from the true talent,” she told them, and then whistled sharply.
“Now the trial for each position will happen in order." Hooch informed them firmly, “First it will be for the keepers, then beaters, then chasers, and then, in the end, seekers.”
Harry groaned, realising that he had to wait so long for his trials; beside him, Ginny rubbed his back comfortingly while her own face was soured by the order of the trials.
“Stop crying!” Hooch yelled, “You will have to wait for your trial; your crying will not make it faster.”
“Now I want all the students you are here to trial for the keeper position to step forward.”
At once, a bunch of students stepped forward, making it obvious that the keeper position might have the fewest students trying for it.
Harry and Ginny, along with the other students, walked to the side of the ground and stood there waiting for their turn while watching the keeper trials.
“So who do you think should be chosen for the keeper?" Ginny asked Harry while leaning on him.
“If Wood was still here, he definitely would have been selected,” Harry smiled, thinking about his strict but passionate captain.
Ginny snorted, “There is no doubt he would have put his life on the line for this, but among these, who do you think is the best?”
"Hmm,” Harry hummed as he stared at the keepers doing their best to stop the ball from going in.
“I think that the Slytherin keeper is the best among them." He answered, staring at the big seventh year who was covering his goal hoops strongly.
"I think so too." Ginny nodded. “He has definitely got the build."
“And his reflexes are fast for someone his size,” Harry added.
And they were proven right when, after the keeper trial, Slytherin was the one who saved the most shots.
Even though Harry believed Wood would have done better, he still wouldn't be disappointed with him as the starting keeper.
After that, it was the beaters turn, and this time a few more students entered the ground for the trial.
For Harry, it was already clear to him before the trial who would be chosen.
“There isn't even a need for beaters trials,” Harry muttered.
“Why is that?" Ginny looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.
“Fred and George would definitely be the chosen pair; there is no doubt about that,” Harry claimed confidently.
“Are you sure?”
"Ginny, I'm pretty sure that even the two opposing school teams won't have beaters as good as the twins.”
Ginny smiled at Harry for the trust he had in her brother, even when she didn't have so much trust in those two idiots.
After the trial was complete, her smile turned into pride as she clapped when Fred and George passed their trials with complete dominance over other players.
Then came the time for the chaser's trial, and Ginny began doing streches to get her body ready for the trial.
Once the chasers were called, she picked up her broom and took a step to make her way to the ground, but was stopped by Harry with a hand on her shoulder.
"What's wrong, Harry?" she asked, turning back to him.
“You are going to fly on that broom?” Harry asked, nodding at the old, tettered school broom in her hands.
"Yes, Harry, this is the broom I got from the school shed.”
“You are not using that broom,” Harry said, shaking his head.
"Harry, I don't hav-“
“I am saying you are not going to use that broom because you will use this one.” Harry smirked, pulling out something from his pocket and handing it to Ginny.
Ginny took the small wooden thing and looked at it incredulously. “How am I supposed to fly on this?”
"Idiot!" Harry snorted, flicking her forehead. “Tap it with your wand.”
Staring suspiciously at Harry, Ginny pulled out her wand and did what he told her, and her eyes widened as the small wooden object in her hands enlarged into a mahogany broom.
And it wasn't just a normal broom; it was Nimbus 2000.
Or, more specifically, Harry's Nimbus 2000.
She caressed the broom reverently with her eyes still wide in awe and then stared up at Harry. “Harry.. what.. Why?”
“Don't question it; this is your broom now." Harry grinned widely.
“but-“
"I mean it, Ginny." He cut him off gently. "I have mine, Firebolt, and you need this broom more. Take it as my early Christmas gift to you.”
Ginny clutched the broom to her tightly and then jumped at Harry, hugging him with her whole strength, trying not to let tears fall from her eyes.
“Thank you” She murmured in his chest, hiding her moist eyes.
Harry wrapped his arms around her petite body. “There is no need, just a gift to my best friend." He whispered and rubbed her back comfortingly.
"Now I don't think you want people to think you are crying, do you?" Harry chuckled in her ear. “Because Hooch and others are waiting for you and staring at you.”
Ginny pulled back, and with a swipe of her hand, she wiped the tears away, and with one last wide smile at Harry, she ran to the ground with her new broom in her hands.
Harry leaned back on the stands and saw the chaser trial with a smile, happy to see Ginny standing confidently among the other chasers.
He knew that, other than Hermione and Luna, he was the only one who knew Ginny could fly and loved to play Quidditch.
After all, they both had snuck out secretly countless times in the last, and this year's summer break was while they were at the burrow.
It had started when, one day previous year, Harry noticed Ginny staring longingly at him and her brothers playing Quidditch at the burrow.
Harry had asked her that time if she wanted to play with them, but instead of her, it was the twins and Ron who answered and told him how she didn't know how to fly and play Quidditch.
But from the anger on Ginny's face, Harry knew that was a lie.
Which was why on that night, Harry had Ginny sneakily sneak out of the house with him while everyone was sleeping, and both had gone to fly on their brooms.
And since then, Harry knows one thing: Ginny was born to play Quidditch.
With her petite and nimble body, Ginny was like a fly as she flew through the air, and she even made Harry force himself to beat her in the air.
Although Harry was still significantly faster and sharper in the air than her, she was still nothing to scoff about.
And in a way, it did make sense because, as a seeker, Harry needed to be faster and sharper with his movement on the broom to catch the snitch.
Ginny, on the other hand, was perfect for the chaser position; she was too quick and smart for others to defend against her, and her arms had some surprising power to throw the quaffle powerfully and accurately.
Harry was sure that even with the school old broom, she would have defeated everyone here, but now, with Nimbus in her hands, he was relaxed that she was on even footing with others.
Madam Hooch blew her whistle and explained what the trial was for the chasers, and Harry looked interestingly at the parkour track she had erupted on the field.
It was filled with loops, bars, beams, and even some soft walls, all of them scattered throughout the long course.
Looking closely, he also noticed some yellow flags tied to the loops, some to the bars, and a few that were even stuck to the wall.
From what he could see, Harry thought that the objective of the course was for players to weave their way through the obstacle track while collecting the flags, and they had to try to finish as fast as they could.
And his guess was proven right by Madame Hooch.
“All right, everyone, listen carefully." She said loudly, "Your objective is to go from this end to the other hand and to come back here while passing through this obstacle-filled course without hitting any obstacle because if you did, 5 seconds would add to your time for each hit.”
“And if you look closely, there are 20 yellow flags tied to the obstacles, and for every flag you could bring back here, 1 second will be minus from your final time. Is that clear?” Hooch asked sternly.
Every player nodded, though some did so hesitantly, clearly not believing in themselves that they could pass the test.
After that, Hooch blew the whistle, and the trial started.
All in all, it was safe to say that many of the participants were there in the hope that they could get selected luckily or that they were their only because they were arrogant enough to actually believe they were good.
Most of them didn't even complete the whole route, while for some who did, they had hit more than half of the obstacle with only a few of the flags on their hands.
Some of them, Harry noticed, were even from the first year, and those were so bad that they didn't even pass the first obstacle.
But Harry's eyes weren’t on them; they were on the best of the best among them.
And a few of them were really in a different league than others.
Three of them were obviously the Gryffindor star chaser trio: Angelina, Alicia, and Katie.
The next two were Roger Davies from Ravenclaw and Cassius Warrington from Slytherin.
And the last was Ginny.
And for Harry, it was safe to say Ginny was the best among them.
The way she was flying through the whole course, weaving between the obstacles while keeping the same increasing speed, was awe-inspiring.
She finished the course not only with the fastest time but also with the most flags, and she only hit obstacles twice.
After her, it was Angelina who finished narrowly behind her, followed by Cassius, Katie, and Alice in that order.
So in the end, it was clear that those six of them were chosen for the chaser spots.
And then finally, it was seekers turn.
Hooch whistled loudly and yelled, “Seekers on the ground quickly.”
Pushing himself off the hard wood, Harry stretched the joints from his body, and then, after picking up his firebolt, he walked to the ground where Madam Hooch was waiting.
He passed by Ginny, gave her a wink and a smile, congratulating her, and got a wide, happy grin back from her.
"Alright, listen up,” Hooch began speaking while eyeing them. “If we are being honest, seeker is the most important position in Quidditch.”
“Every position has its uses and is important to the team. You can't win a game without having good players in every single position, but seekers are the only ones who could completely change the game and win it by themselves.”
“And because of that, I only want the best of the best. That's why, before we even go for trials, I want all the players here who were not on the house Quidditch team last year to stand there,” Hooch ordered, pointing to the side.
The students who were told to do so did so and stood separated from the group of four: Harry, Cedric, Cho, and Draco.
"Now I want all of you to get on your brooms and show me how good you are in the air,” Hooch told them, and one by one, the selected students did as they were told.
Even though at first it sounded like an odd thing to do before the trials, soon it was obvious why Hooch was doing this.
Almost all of them were not good enough in the air and were struggling to even stay on their broom.
It was really a poor showing of skills, and Harry had to wonder how many of them only came here for fun, knowing they would never be selected.
"Enough," Hooch called the drill off.
"I think it should be obvious now why I decided to do that." She said sternly, glaring daggers at the ashamed students who were squirming under her gaze, “Now all of you get out of here; expect you three.”
She said this while pointing at the three students, each from Gryffindor, Slyhterin, and Ravenclaw.
The rest of them left the pitch head-down.
“Now the trials will begin for seekers,” Hooch said, opening the box on the ground, and then seven shiny gold snitches came out, flying and fluttering their wings.
“As you can see,” Hooch began explaining, pointing at the snitches flying around her, “there are seven snitches, and each of you will be given a single chance to go up in the air and catch how many of these snitches you could catch in 5 minutes.”
All the players except Harry’s eyes widened a little as they heard the difficult test they were given.
To catch one snitch in five minutes is difficult enough already, but to catch seven of them was an impossible feat to do.
"Now, one by one, you will be called for your turn,” Hooch told them, and then the trial began.
First, the new ones went for the trial.
And all three of them were not overly impressive, but they were still good enough for someone who hadn't played seeker for their house.
But in Harry's eyes, the most impressive of them was the Gryffindor girl.
If Harry remembered her correctly, she was a second-year student, and already he could see the great potential she had.
With her small size, she was like a bullet on her broom in the sky. Even her reflexes were great, but the only fault Harry could find was a clear lack of experience.
She finished her trial with two snitch caught in five minutes, which was the best among the rookie three where the other two didn't even catch one.
Harry smiled and clapped for her, feeling glad that there was someone who could take his place in the future as the seeker.
The second-year girl, whose name was Sarah, blushed and shyly smiled back at him.
After that, it was the turn of the experienced seekers.
Cho went first and gave a very mediocre attempt compared to her standard, as she finished her trial with only two snitches caught.
It looked like the pressure of the trial shook her and made her perform at a level she would be very disappointed with.
Next was Draco, and let's just say he definitely won't show his face for some time after the hall of shame performance he gave.
In the whole five minutes, he failed to catch even one snitch.
Head down, embarrassed with a red face, he left the field with the crowd laughing at him.
“His father won't hear about that,” Harry muttered, snickering.
Hearing a chuckle beside him, he turned to Cedric.
"It seems it's between you and me for the spot on the team," Harry said.
“Look like it." Cedric nodded. “May the best one win.”
"Oh, don't worry, I will” Harry smirked.
Cedric laughed, shaking his head, and then went for his trial as Madam Hooch called his name.
Harry stood with narrowed eyes as he focused on his only challenge for the spot of seeker in the team.
After five minutes, Harry was smiling excitedly at the challenge that was put in front of him by Cedric.
As he had expected, Cedric gave an impressive performance and caught four snitchers in the full five minutes.
The challenge was set, and Harry could feel his hands shaking and his nerves buzzing with excitement and hunger to defeat his opponent and make his claim on the spot that was his and only his.
On the order of Hooch, he sat on his firebolt and took the sky.
Up in the sky, he breathed in the fresh air and felt right at home. There were two times when Harry felt undefeatable.
One when his wand was in his hand, and two when he was up here in the sky.
And today, he would prove that he was the best seeker Hogwarts had ever seen.
Holding his precious firebolt tightly, Harry leaned in, ready to fly, and on the whistle of madam Hooch, Harry went flying like a thunderbolt soaring through the air in the search of all seven snitches.
And what happened in the next few minutes stunned the whole crowd.
Without even stopping once, Harry zipped through the air, catching snitches left, right, and centre.
No matter what the snitch tried to do to divert him, Harry was too used to its sudden movement and too quick for the snitch to escape.
Having seven snitches instead of one snitch in the sky made it easier for Harry to notice them.
Because finding a single snitch in the vast area was harder than finding seven shiny golden snitches.
The other player might have found it harder for them to focus on one snitch to catch while others were flying around, but Harry's focus was always on two or more snitches at the same time.
And because of that, whenever he caught a snitch, he was already on the move for the other he was focusing on, and before the snitch could even dodge him, they were already in his fingers.
And that’s how Harry shocked the crowd by not only catching all seven snitches but by also finishing his trial in 4 minutes, 30 seconds instead of the 5 minutes given.
Coming out of their shock, the crowd exploded in cheers, with his friends being the loudest.
Harry smiled and waved at them, then landed gracefully from his broom and handed all the snitches to the still shocked madam hooch.
As he had wanted, he didn't leave anything to debate about who should be the seeker of the Hogwarts team.
-
After the trials were finally over, Harry and the other players were standing together in waiting as Madam Hooch was ready to announce the team.
"Alright, you lot,” Hooch began. “As headmaster Dumbledore had already told you, there will be 14 of you chosen for the squad; 7 will be for the starting team and 7 for the reserve, with 1 player in reserve for each position.”
She then opened her list and started calling out names.
"The starting keeper will be Miles Bletchley." The big seventh-year Slytherin Harry and Ginny were impressed with “And the reserve keeper will be Ethan Bailey," a Hufflepuff fifth-year student.
"Beaters,” Hooch continued, “Fred and George Weasley." Harry fist bumped the grinning twins, and Ginny hugged her brothers.
“And in reserve, Lucius Bole and Duncan Iglebee." Slytherin and Ravenclaw Beaters
“Now for the chasers." Hooch said, turning the page, “Angelina Johnson, Cassius Warrington, and Ginevra Weasley."
Harry smiled and hugged the proud and flushed Ginny, who was also getting cheering from her brothers.
"And in the reserve, Katie Bell, Alicia Spinet, and Roger Davies.” The Ravenclaw captain was clearly not happy with the decision, but at least he was smart to not open his mouth.
“And finally, the seeker." Hooch said, putting away the list and looking at them, “Starting will be Harry Potter, and the reserve is Cedric Diggory."
Harry tried his best to remain stoic and not smile, but Ginny on his side, pocking his rib and wiggling her eyebrows, was making it harder to not bask in pride.
“And Potter, you will be the captain,” Hooch told him.
Harry's eyes widened as he heard her declare him the captain.
“Are you sure?” he asked in shock.
“Are you doubting my decision?" Hooch raised her eyebrow.
"No, of course not." Harry shook his head.
“Good then, because yes, you are this year's Hogwarts Quidditch captain,” Hooch told him with a small smile.
This time Harry couldn't stop his smile from his face under the praise of his friends.
Although he didn't know how to feel about being chosen as the captain, on one hand, he liked being only a seeker and doing just his job without having to face any other responsibility, especially that of managing the team.
But on the other hand, being the captain was the most prestigious and honoured position, something everyone wanted to be.
And Harry remembered Sirius telling him how his father was also the captain of the Gryffindor team during his time at school.
So with that in mind, Harry stood tall in pride as he accepted the position of captain.
"Alright, now listen up." Hooch said, gaining their attention, “Practices will be on every Thursday evening and Saturday morning, and you have to come in every practice on time.”
She then turned to Harry, “And it's your responsibility as a captain to make sure they come in time, Potter."
“I will.” Harry nodded.
“The trials are over; now go take a shower; all of you stink." Hooch smiled playfully and waved them away.
Harry wrapped his arm around Ginny's shoulder as they trodded to the locker room for their shower.
Ginny nudged him and smirked at him. "Captain, huh?”
"Yep, I am.” Harry puffed his chest with a smug smile. "From now on, you should make sure to do as I told you on the pitch.”
“Or what are you going to do, punish me?” Ginny purred playfully.
"Nope, I will not,” Harry smirked and leaned closer. "But I will make sure Luna will. I have heard she loves to spank you." He whispered in her ear.
“Harry!” Ginny exclaimed, hitting his chest.
Harry burst out laughing at her red face, and soon Ginny, despite trying to pout, joined in.
Today went better than Harry expected.
He knew he would be chosen for the seeker, but the captain position was definitely an unexpected surprise, but a good one.
And now tomorrow would be the trial of duelling, for which Harry was even more excited as he couldn’t wait to see how good he was compared to every student at Hogwarts.
Comments
Lakadit17
🙏🙏🙏
J T
Awesome chapter!
Lakadit17
Thank you!
Romavictrix
Great chapter
