Cursed With Curious Minds | Hp Next Generation

44 - You Shouldn't Be Flying Here

As hard as James had been trying, it was proving quite difficult for him to forget about the room, so as a compromise the group promised him an early birthday celebration towards the end of the holidays.

"What have you got planned for me?" James asked Delilah in the morning.

"Wait and see!" she said, for the fifth time. "Merlin, you are impatient."

Delilah was leading James blindfolded through the castle, and for a bit of fun had taken him around a multitude of corridors that were quite unnecessary. She had to be sure that he had completely lost his sense of direction. Judging by the fact he was asking their location for twenty minutes, Delilah assumed she had succeeded, and felt that it was safe to take James outside.

"I know! We're heading towards the black lake, aren't we?" James said confidently, the moment he felt soft ground beneath his feet.

Delilah stayed silent.

"I'm right aren't I?" James said, and after another silence from Delilah he muttered to himself. "I'm right."

He was not right.

Delilah was actually taking James towards the quidditch pitch. Since it was the holidays, and there would be two quidditch captains there, the group assumed it would be safe to use the pitch without any interruptions.

"And here we are!" Delilah announced, pulling the blindfold off.

"The quidditch pitch?!" James said, both excited and disappointed. He was annoyed that he was so confident in the black lake, considering he had been proven wrong, but at the same time the quidditch pitch was a much better place to be.

Delilah chucked a broomstick at James. "We're gonna split into teams and play some practice games. One quaffle. No bludgers. No snitch."

James caught the broomstick and grinned.

By the time he had geared up for the match, Astrid, Ophelia and Toby had appeared with their brooms and the quaffle. Toby was looking particularly anxious.

"You alright there, Toby?" James asked.

"Haven't ridden a broom since first year." He replied.

Astrid patted him on the back. "Me neither mate, we're in this together."

The other three were looking at them with shock. None of them could imagine not having ridden a broom for such a long period of time. Especially James, who had grown up in a household of particularly passionate quidditch players.

"We're an odd number, so we've agreed it's only fair that Toby and Astrid are in the team of three, considering neither of them have ever played properly before," Delilah explained. "So that just leaves us."

"I'll be in the team of three, thank you." James said. "More players, better chance at winning."

"Alright then." Ophelia laughed, walking over to Delilah. "Your loss."

"Hey!" Astrid objected, even thought she was fully aware that her quidditch skills were not up to par with the others.

James quickly pulled Astrid and Toby to the side, and started whispering. "Ok, Astrid you can be our keeper, and Toby I want you to pass the quaffle to me any time you get it, provided it is safe to do so, and won't be intercepted."

Toby was looking quite overwhelmed by James's instructions, but nodded.

James put his hand into the middle. "Are we ready to win this, team?"

Astrid and Toby exchanged worried looks; they were not very confident. "Yeah..." They both replied half-heartedly, and put their hands over James's.