Chapter 47: Good Brothers

"Over there! Over there!"

"Nice turn!"

"Ahhh! I'm about to hit it!"

"How did you manage to dodge that?"

A crowd of watching Gryffindors shouted from the Quidditch practice field.

After two rounds of preliminary tryouts, it had been decided that the Gryffindor house seeker would be decided between Harry Potter and Alicia Spinnet, but Captain Wood and Professor McGonagall were still unsure who to give the position to.

In terms of flying, the difference between Harry Potter and Alicia Spinnet was not yet apparent, but it was a testament to Harry's talent for flying that he had only had one flying lesson.

But while Alicia had the advantage of experience in flying and playing the game, Harry didn't even know the exact rules of Quidditch, and the fact that he was still a first year made Wood hesitate.

"Why don't we have a mock match?" George and Fred, who weren't interested in being a seeker, saw Wood's hesitation and suggested it right away, "Maybe they could perform better against each other"

There was very little to see simply searching for and chasing the Snitch, so Wood was quick to follow the twins' advice.

He split Harry and Alice into two teams and added two Bludgers, allowing George and Fred to join both teams with Ron and Seamus as batsmen, respectively.

Because it is mainly to select the Seeker and test the situation of the two in the showdown, the Quaffle and the Chaser are excepted for scoring.

The main reason was that they didn't have enough people to form two full teams.

And so began an abbreviated version of a mini-match.

The difference between Harry and Alice was soon revealed as soon as they entered the competition.

The surprise was that Harry Potter, a very inexperienced rookie, demonstrated an endurance and a talent for flying that he had not quite been able to demonstrate before by dodging the errant ball, performing one amazing flying maneuver after another in the air and easily escaping multiple bludger attacks.

In contrast, Alicia was a bit more expressionless at this point, and while she had successfully dodged several bludger attacks, she was still significantly less adaptable than Harry, making her need the batter's help more than Harry.

While Alice was still concentrating on dodging the bludger, Harry had already spotted the Snitch, and drove another bludger into Alice's side before quickly separating on a nearly ninety-degree rise.

After breaking free of the two Bludgers' pursuit, he took control of the broom without hesitation and raced towards the Golden Snitch.

"It's Potter! It's Harry Potter who has caught the Golden Snitch."

A few moments later, Harry was holding the Snitch in his hands, causing the young lions below to applaud.

Calming his excitement, Harry took control of his flying broom and slowly descended from the sky.

"Harry! You were great!", Ron jumped down from his broom and hugged Harry, excitedly shouting, "You're the future Gryffindor seeker!".

Aside from Ron, the rest of the Gryffindor team gathered around, chatting with Harry, even Alicia Spinnet, who had lost to him, seemed delighted.

As players, they could sense Harry's talent for finding the Snitch with ease.

"Professor McGonagall, I have a bold idea!", Wood, the team captain, didn't rush to Harry's side with his teammates, but said with a twinkle in his eye to Professor McGonagall at his side, "I'd like to make Harry the team's seeker right away!"

"It's been a long time since a first year student has been a regular player..." professor McGonagall's mouth curved slightly, "but, I agree, Wood, I'll talk to Dumbledore, Gryffindor will do great things in the Quidditch Cup this year. Gryffindor is going to do great things."

"That's right!", Wood nodded his head vigorously, full of pride.

He really didn't think that even with the loss of Fish, the flying genius, that Harry, the talented seeker, could be chosen among the first years, and Wood was glad he had made this selection because of Fish.

And in addition to Harry Potter, the twins' younger brother, Ron Weasley, has some talent for flying and could join the training as a substitute first.

"Next we'll have to get Harry a decent broom, Professor: let's see, a Nimbus 2000 or a No. Seven Sweeper," Wood looked away from Harry, who was surrounded, and muttered, "It wouldn't do for a Seeker not to have a broom fast enough."

Professor McGonagall said nothing as she walked toward Harry Potter, "Potter."

Professor McGonagall's arrival silenced the Gryffindors around them.

"Wood and I have decided that you will be the Gryffindor seeker," Professor McGonagall's stern gaze settled on Harry through the glasses, "I expect you to train hard afterwards and not let me change my mind."

"Yes, yes, Professor!" replied Harry nervously, standing up.

Professor McGonagall looked at him with a serious expression for a few moments, until sweat began to form on Harry's forehead, and then she broke into a slight smile, "Your father would be proud of you," she said, "he used to be a great Quidditch player."

With that, Professor McGonagall left a distraught Harry and turned to leave the Quidditch pitch.

"Oh my God, Harry, did you hear that? you've become a Seeker, not a substitute! You're an official Seeker," Ron shouted as he jumped on his back excitedly, "You must be the youngest player on the house team in many years!"

"A century, to be exact," A smiling Wood reached over, reaching out to pat Harry's shoulder, and then to an excited Ron, "Besides, I think you could make the House team, but now that it's full, you'll have to start from the bench."

"Sure! I mean.... No problem!", Ron was so shocked by this huge surprise that he got a little dizzy.

He had only done slightly better than Seamus at the tryout, and had thought he was just a contestant, but he hadn't expected to be included on the Academy team.

Just as Ron was rejoicing, two familiar arms were draped over his shoulders, one left and one right.

"Oh, my dear red-headed No. 4, we're going to be as good a team as we were with Charlie," George said with a mischievous grin.

"But before that happens, we have to train hard," Fred, who also had evil intentions, continued, adding more emphasis on the word "hard."

"And of course, don't worry, we'll take good care of you as brothers," George also added emphasis to the word "care".

With the two "good brothers" saying the same thing, Ron's giddy emotions cooled at a noticeable rate.

The thought of having to spend all of his Quidditch training with his twin brothers made Ron Weasley suddenly feel that being on the House team was nothing to be happy about.