HARPER MADE HER WAY towards the Great Hall the next morning and had a hard time keeping her eyes open. She was happy they hadn't been caught the previous night, though they got to meet some adventure along the way.
When she entered the Great Hall, she looked at the Slytherin to spot a certain blond haired boy. She grinned broadly when she saw the shocked expression on his face. Still smiling, she collapsed on the seat next to Ron.
"Just seeing the look on Malfoy's face makes our near death experience totally worth it," she said dreamily.
Harry turned his head to look at Malfoy. "I bet he thought we would get caught."
"That little git," Harper muttered under her breath. "Is there anyone that actually likes him?"
"Probably his mum," Ron said, shrugging.
Harper laughed and laughed up when the owls arrived. She saw Dale and Hedwig each carrying a large packet and she frowned.
What could that be?
They dropped the packages in front of them together with a letter. Harper took it and started reading it to Harry and Ron.
"DO NOT OPEN THE PARCEL AT THE TABLE.
It contains your new Nimbus Two Thousand, but I don't want everyone knowing you've got a broomstick or they'll all want one. Oliver Wood will meet you two tonight on the Quidditch Field at seven o'clock for your first training session.
Professor McGonagall"
Her head snapped up and she smiled brightly at Harry and Ron.
"Nimbus Two Thousand! I have never even touched one," Ron moaned.
"Let's go then!" Harper said while carefully grabbing the package and dashing out of the Great Hall. Just as they were about to take the stairs, Crabbe and Goyle showed up, blocking their way. Malfoy snatched Harry's package out of his hands and felt it.
"That's a broomstick," he said with a mix of jealousy and spit, while throwing it back to Harry. "You'll be in for this time, Potters, first-years aren't allowed to have broomsticks."
"Those aren't any old broomsticks," Ron piped up. "They're Nimbus Two Thousands. What did you say you've got at home, Malfoy, a Comet Two Sixty?" He grinned at Harry and Harper. "Comets look flashy, but they're not in the same league as the Nimbus."
"What would you know about it, Weasley, you couldn't afford half the handle," Malfoy snapped back. "I suppose you and your brothers have to save up twig by twig."
Before Harper could defend Ron, Professor Flitwick came by.
"Not arguing, I hope, boys and girl?"
"The Potters has been sent broomsticks, Professor," Malfoy almost squealed, trying to get them in trouble.
"Yes, yes, that's right," Professor Flitwick said. "Professor McGonagall told me all about the special circumstances, Potters. What model are they?"
"Nimbus Two Thousand, sir," Harper replied proudly, trying not to laugh at the face Malfoy made. "It's all thanks to Malfoy here we got them in the first place."
Harry, Ron and Harper still laughed when they ran upstairs. "What you said, was true," Harry noticed. "If Malfoy didn't snatched Neville's Remembrall, we would never have made the team."
"Ah," Harper sighed. "Are you going to say we should thank him? I can ask Fred and George for a nice gift."
The two boys laughed but were interrupted by an angry voice.
"So, I suppose you two think that's a reward for breaking the rules?" Hermione stomped past them, looking at the packages with a disapproving look.
Harper ignored her, not wanting to start a fight but Harry wasn't as clever.
"I thought you weren't speaking to us?" he asked bluntly.
"Yeah, don't stop now," Ron added. "It's doing is so much good."
Okay that was mean.
She stormed away and Harper glanced at Ron. "Kindness is not you strongest point, is it?"
Ron just shrugged. "She started it."
Harper rolled her eyes and they continued their walk to the common room.
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AFTER CLASSES AND DINNER, Harry, Ron and Harper stormed out of the Great Hall to Gryffindor Tower.
"I'll meet you in the Common Room," Harper yelled while running upstairs to get her broom. She slammed the door open and took the package. She carefully unwrapped it and her eyes sparkled when the Nimbus Two Thousand became visible. It truly was a sight.
She snapped up from the drooling over her new broom and changed clothes. She took the Nimbus Two Thousand and ran downstairs, almost bumping into her brother.
"Let's go!" Harper squealed happily, already leaving the common room. They arrived at the Quidditch Pitch two minutes later. Harper quickly mounted her broom and kicked off the ground.
"Catch me if you can!" she yelled, already flying through the air.
"Hey! That's not fair!" Harry protested. He mounted his broom and soon enough Harper had him on her tail.
"Come on, come on," she whispered to her broom, as she enjoyed the wind that made her red hair fly back. She held her broom back and gave Harry the chance to fly next to her.
"Dive to the ground?" he proposed. Harper grinned and the both of them dived to the ground. They exchanged glances, trying to see who would be the first to pull up and Harper laughed when they pulled up at the same time.
"Potters!" We turned around and saw Oliver standing on the ground under us. The two of them flew towards him and dismounted their brooms. "I see what McGonagall meant," he said, "you two are naturals."
Harper smiled, happy about the compliment.
"I'm just going to teach you the rules this evening," he continued, "then you two will be joining the team practice three times a week."
He then looked down at her. "Harper, I presume you already know the rules?"
She nodded and smiled. "Yeah, Charlie taught me."
He nodded approvingly. "Good." He then turned to Harry and opened the wooden crate. "Quidditch is easy enough, even if it's not easy to play. There are seven players: three Chasers—one of them will be you, Harper, two Beaters, one Keeper and one Seeker—that'll be you Harry." Oliver took out a large red ball, the Quaffle.
"This one's called the Quaffle." He explained, throwing the Quaffle to Harper. She easily caught it. "The Chasers throw the Quaffle to each other and try and get it through one of those three hoops." He pointed at the three large hoops. "The Keeper—that's me—defends the hoops. With me so far?"
"I think so," Harry said while nodding and Harper threw the ball back to Oliver who caught it with a smile. Harry looked down into the wooden crate. "What are those?" Harper followed his gaze and saw him looking at the Bludgers. She grinned, this was going to be fun.
"Er . . ." Oliver hesitated while grabbing a Beater's bat. "One of you better take this."
"I'll do it," Harper volunteered while grasping the bat in her hands.
Oliver carefully opened the chain, releasing the Bludger as Harper watched it fly upwards to come down immediately. She tightened her grip and took a swing.
The Bludger flew to the other side of the field, barely avoiding a statue. "Huh," Oliver said, clearly impressed. "You make a fine Beater."
Harper bowed mockingly. "Well thank you, if Chaser doesn't work out for me, maybe I'll try out for Beater."
He chuckled but that quickly stopped when the Bludger came back. The Bludger made contact with Oliver and fell to the ground, struggling to get the fierce ball back inside the crate.
Harry looked at the Bludger in shock while Harper just swung the bat over her shoulder, standing casually.
"What was that?" he finally asked.
"Bludgers," Oliver replied, panting slightly. He looked at Harry. "Nasty little buggers."
Oliver stood back up. "The Bludgers rocket around, trying to knock players of their broom. That's why you have two Beaters on the team—the Weasley twins are ours—it's their job to protect their side from the Bludgers and try to knock them towards the other team."
Harry paled. "Er—have the Bludgers ever killed someone?"
"Never at Hogwarts," Oliver assured Harry. "We've has a couple of broken jaws but nothing worse than that. Now, the last member of the team is the Seeker. That's you. And you don't have to worry about the Quaffles or the Bludgers."
He opened the small hatch of the Hogwarts Crest. Inside, Harper could see the Snitch.
He took it out. "This is the golden Snitch. It's the most important ball of the lot. It's very hard to catch because it's so fast and difficult to see. It's the Seeker's job to catch it. You've got to weave in and out of the Chasers, Beaters, Bludgers and Quaffle to get it before the other's team Seeker, whoever catches the Snitch, wins his team an extra hundred and fifty points, so they nearly always win.
"That's why Seekers get fouled so much. A game of Quidditch only ends when the Snitch is caught, so it can go on for ages—I think the record is three months, they had to keep bringing on substitutes so the players could get some sleep."
Harper elbowed Harry. "You better catch that Snitch."
Harry rolled his eyes and looked back at Oliver.
"Any questions?"
Both of them shook their heads.
"We won't be practicing with the Snitch yet, its to dark and we might lose him." He turned to look at Harper. "Harper, we'll start with you."
· · ───── · ☆ · ───── · ·
TWO HOURS LATER, Harry and Harper stumbled into the Common Room, exhausted but happy. She fell on the couch, face first.
"I'm so tired," she huffed.
Harry collapsed in the armchair. "Yeah, me too."
"Harper! Harry! How was practice?" Harper lifted her head up and saw Ron walking towards them.
"Amazing!" she squealed, forgetting my tiredness. "I'm gonna be the best Chaser Hogwarts has ever seen!"
Ron and Harry laughed at her enthusiasm. She smiled and took her broom. "If you don't mind, I'm gonna head to my bed."
The two of them bid her a good night and she climbed the stairs. She carefully opened the door to my dormitory and entered. Hermione looked up from her book and slightly smiled. Harper smiled widely back, forgetting about their fallout, and fell on her bed.
Not yet five minutes later, she was asleep.
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November 5th 2021
I hope you enjoy it & tell me what you think of it! :)