Charmolypi

Chapter 13

Harry and Oliver were seen carrying a trunk into the courtyard.

James and Sirius turned excitedly to each other.

"We're going to see the first practice!" the cheered as they started jumping of joy.

"Quidditch is easy enough to understand. Each team has seven players: Three chasers, two beaters, one keeper, and a seeker. That's you Harry." Oliver told the boy. He proceeded to open the trunk, revealing three balls. "There are three kinds of balls. This one is called a 'quaffle.' The chasers handle the quaffle and try to put it through one of those three hoops." He points towards the quidditch field, where the hoops are high in the air. "Now, the keeper -that's me- defends the hoops. With me so far?"

"I think so. What are those?" Harry asked, pointing at the balls that were chained down in the trunk. Oliver set down the quaffle and picked up one of the bats.

"You might want to hold onto this for now." He said right before he released one of them, causing it to start soaring through the air. "Careful now. It's coming back." Harry stepped forward, hitting the flying ball away, making it pass through the opening of a statue. "Not bad, Potter. You'd make a fair beater." In the distance the bludger was zooming towards the pair. "Uh-oh. Oof!" Oliver caught the ball and wrestled it inside the trunk.

"He gets that from me!" Sirius jumped up pointing at himself, causing a few people to snicker. Remus rolled his eyes before he pulled his friend down into his seat.

"What was that?" Harry asked the older boy.

"A bludger. Nasty little buggers." Oliver took out a small golden ball that was tucked safely in a small pouch. "Buy you, Harry... are a seeker. The only thing I want you to worry about is this... the golden snitch." Harry looked fascinated at the small golden ball in the boy's hand.

"I like this ball." He said not taking his eyes off it.

"Ah, you like it now. Just wait. It's wicked fast and damn near impossible to see."

"What do I do with it?"

"You catch it before the other team's seeker. You catch this, the game's over. You catch this, Potter, and we will win."

The wings of the little ball unfold, and it started hovering in the air, Harry's eyes following it as it zooms around.

The scene changed to a group standing the quidditch field, wearing red robes.

"We get to see Thea's as well!" James and Sirius high-fived each other and turned back to the screen.

Regulus sat up straighter and became more attentive at what was happening in the movie.

"Listen up everyone, this is Thea Potter, she's our new chaser." Everyone applauded and cheered. "Those are your fellow chasers, Angelina Johnson and Katie Bell. You already know Fred and George Weasley, they're the beaters, and I'm the keeper." Oliver took out the quaffle from the trunk. "We're going to start with a little warmup before we move to flying."

The entire team ran around the pitch five times, while throwing passes at each other. By the time they had finished, they were drenched in sweat and were panting heavily.

"Alright. Everyone drink some water, grab your brooms and get ready to fly." Oliver told them, and they did just that. When they were in the air, they practiced passing to each, and communication for about an hour till they were all comfortable with the new team dynamics. "We're going to play a mock game." Oliver said, before turning to the twins "Fred, George, get you bats and the bludgers ready." He turned back to the chasers. "Try to score as many times as you can, Thea. It's your first practice, so no pressure."

Unknown to Oliver, when he had dismissed possible failure, it ignited a sense of extreme competitiveness in the girl.

"Make sure you don't go easy on us, Wood." Thea told him as she smirked. She turned to the other chasers, only to find them looking at her with pride.

"That's my kid!" James jumped up, puffing his chest.

The twins released the bludgers and everyone got in position waiting for Oliver's mark. When they heard the whistle, the three chasers soared through the field passing each other the quaffle and expertly dodging the bludgers that were being sent their way. At one point, when they were on their way to the goal hoops, both twins aimed the bludgers at Thea at the same time, Katie passed her the quaffle, too high for her to reach. Without thinking, she stood on her broom and jumped, catting the quaffle at the same time that the bludgers collided with one another, right where her shoulder would have been. Using everyone's shock to her advantage, she aimed at one of the hoops and scored. The team was in uproar at the newcomer's skill.

There were three major reactions across the hall. People were either cheering, or were stunned into silence, or were worried at the danger of the sport.

James and his friends were a mix of all three of these reactions.

Regulus on the other hand, was stunned into silence, but his curiosity in the girl kept increasing.

"Where'd you learn to do that?" Asked George as he flew to her.

"That was wicked!" Angelina said, beaming at the girl.

"That was bloody amazing! Let's run it again!" Oliver told them as he gave the chasers the quaffle. Over the following hour, the group drill after drill, and Thea managed to score almost every shot she threw at Oliver, which surprised not only the team's keeper, but everyone else as well. By the end of practice, Oliver was beaming at the thought that they would win the quidditch cup thanks to the two Potters.

"Oi, Potter! I need you to pass by the captain's office after you shower." The keeper told her before he left to put the trunk away. After showering and getting dressed, Thea went to the captain's office, to find a cleaned Oliver writing down plays on a board. When he heard her come in, he stopped what he was doing and turned around. "Good job today. McGonagall's pick was very effective. I wanted to officially congratulate you on joining the team." He said and pulled out a red and gold quidditch uniform. "This is the only uniform that I could find in your size."

She held up the jersey with a gold '13' at the center. She grinned at the older boy. "Thank you, Wood. I won't let you down." With that, she left the office and went back to the castle.