Harry Potter and the Original Tribrid

Chapter 8 - The Trials

Quidditch. That was the one thing on Hope's mind the following day. Initially, she had been hesitant. But after the previous day's excitement in the evening, she was hooked. The classes seemed to go a lot slower that day, but she didn't let it affect her. Herbology and Transfiguration in the morning blurred together and she nearly blurted out the name of a magical plant when Professor McGonagall was asking around about the spell they had used the previous day in transfiguration. Fortunately, she got her sense back at the last moment and didn't make a fool of herself.

The practice in the evening after the regular classes was much slower than she would have preferred. Professor McGonagall had convinced Madam Hooch to give Harry and herself a few extra lessons every other day so that they wouldn't be at the trials just with their instincts to guide them. But Madam Hooch was anything but excited. The entire time, she kept mumbling about breaking rules, no respect for the art of flying, thinks flying is a child's play and whatnot. Hope guessed it was because Quidditch made everyone lose their minds, even Professor McGonagall, who would never favor students including Gryffindors, but was now going out of her way to get Harry and Hope on the team. Madam Hooch started the lesson with the basics, from mounting the broom to dismounting properly, gaining height, and maneuvering the broom by feeling the wind. Only when she was utterly sure that they had grasped it, did she move on to more advanced lessons. Towards the end of the lesson, Madam Hooch was making them endure strong winds, which she had conjured with her wand, which changed directions randomly and told them to hover at the exact same spot in the air, no matter what. Both Harry and Hope had trouble doing it though, and kept gliding far away from where they were supposed to be, and Madam Hooch took that as her point made and ended the lesson.

At midnight that day, they had their first Astronomy lesson, which mainly consisted of staring at stars and constellations, which didn't pique Hope's interest, not when she had other things on her mind. She was surprised, however, when she noticed that Hermione was nowhere to be seen until the lesson had begun. She was never one to break the rules from what Hope knew of her, and she had just blatantly broken the curfew, but Hope couldn't care less, not when she knew that Hermione was still researching about her.

On the next day, Hope had pretty much the same routine. She had a double History of Magic in the morning, which continued to be boring despite the fact that it did mention events that involved her family. Apparently, the founding of Hogwarts by the four founders was not just about having a secure place for the young generation to learn magic, but also to teach them to do it right, and not end up creating a bloodsucking species, which had happened not long before Hogwarts was founded. After History of Magic, they had double Transfiguration, in which Hope continued to excel, and Hermione was not far behind, but the rest of the class was still lagging behind. Lastly, they had double Defense Against the Dark Arts after lunch, and it was becoming increasingly evident that Professor Quirrell was terrified of the Mikaelsons, as he tried his best not to engage with Hope if he could help it, going so far as to downright ignore it when Hope had asked a question.

In the evening, Hope and Harry went to the grounds by themselves to practice with the brooms, as Madam Hooch was too busy to spare any time for the extra lesson. They practiced for an hour to build up endurance like Madam Hooch had told them to do if she wasn't there. Without any instruction, and no Quidditch equipment, the session was too simple but neither of them wanted to miss out on the extra practice, as they were still new to flying.

At dinner, both of them were extremely tired with the packed schedule that they had. But much to Hope's surprise, Ron Weasley, whom Harry had become fast friends with, had agreed to a wizard's duel against Malfoy, on Harry's behalf.

"What is a wizard's duel?" Harry was saying. "And what do you mean, you're my second?"

"Well, a second's there to take over if you die," said Ron. "But people only die in proper duels, you know, with real wizards. The most you and Malfoy'll be able to do is send sparks at each other. Neither of you knows enough magic to do any real damage. I bet he expected you to refuse, anyway."