Chapter 101

"Of course," Harry said smoothly, giving a serene smile at his accomplishment. Now all he had to do was prove his skills on a broom; an easy enough task to accomplish so long as McLaggen's talent as a braggart was not matched by his talent on a broom.

Quidditch try-outs started soon after. Harry was forced to listen to Cormac MgLaggen brag about how he was going to beat Harry and get his rightful position on the team. Harry wished he could ignore the boy, and cursed his eidetic memory for burning this conversation—if the act of one person talking about his own greatness for the sole purpose of hearing himself talk while the other tried to ignore him could be considered a conversation—into his memory.

Thankfully, Harry had a lot of practice at pretending to ignore people, and so while he was not able to get the braggart's continued speaking out of his head, he was still able to focus on the rest of the try-outs.

He had never questioned that Fred and George Weasley would get the Beater positions. Aside from the fact that they were a two-for-one package as they worked quite flawlessly together, probably because they were twins, there was only one other person trying out for the beater position, and Jason Swann simply didn't have the extraordinary ability to work in perfect synchronicity with either of the twins that they had with each other.

Of those who tried out for Chasers, Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet soon proved to be the obvious choices for two of the three spots available. From what he knew the pair had already been on last years team with Fred and George. They certainly showed a lot of talent and teamwork skills when their time came to show what they could do.

The other position as Chaser was given to Katie Bell. She was not as good as Angelina or Alicia, and technically speaking Carl Hopkin was better. However, while the pureblood student had more talent on a broom, Katie was more compatible and better able to work with the other two girls than he was. And in a position where teamwork meant everything, the ability to work with those you play alongside of is more important than your talent flying a broom.

After nearly two hours of watching the other students try-outs and listening to the incredibly long-winded McLaggen boasting about how he was going to beat Harry, the time finally came for the two going out for the Seeker position to put their skills to the test.

By now, all of the people who had been chosen to be on the team were near the stands so they could watch on and see who got the position, while those who lost had dejectedly made their way back to the common room.

Harry could see Fred and George talking with Angelina and Alicia while Katie watched on in obvious amusement. He wondered what the twins were doing. If they were anything like the Marauders, they were probably taking bets on which one of them would get the Seeker position, he reasoned.

"Alright you two, mount your brooms," Oliver instructed them as he knelt down next to the trunk he had brought. As Harry mounted his broom, he saw Oliver unlock a clasp that kept the tiniest of the balls used for Quidditch, the Snitch.

Quidditch was a sport that had three different types of balls that were kept in play. Bludgers, large leathery balls that would attack the players. It was the Beaters job to keep them away from the players on their team and, if possible, hit them at the players on the other team. The Quaffle, which Harry likened to a football, was the object that the three Chasers focused on, and it was their job to get the Quaffle through one of the three hoops while the Keeper tried to keep the Quaffle from entering.

The snitch was the smallest of the three. It was a tiny golden ball smaller even than Harry's palm. On either side it possessed a pair of wings that fluttered and beat with speeds of a hummingbird. It was the job of the position he was going out for, the Seeker, to find and catch the snitch before the other team's Seeker did. Doing so would not only end the game, but gave the team whose Seeker caught it 150 points, which most often but not always won the game. This was why the Seeker's position was so important.

Beside Harry, Cormac MgLaggen also mounted his broom, while Oliver looked at the pair with a disturbing maniacal gleam in his eyes.

"I'm going to release the snitch," Oliver informed them both, holding up the fluttering ball as it tried to squirm out of his grasp. "The one who catches the Snitch two out of three times will be the one who gets the Seeker position. You got that?"

"Of course," MgLaggen said in a pompous voice. "Just save that position for me after I finish showing young Harry how a real Seeker plays."

Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he focused on Oliver.

"I'm ready."

"Right." Oliver released the Snitch and let it fly off. He brought a whistle to his lips. "When I blow this whistle, you two are to start looking for the snitch. On my mark..."

Harry took a deep breath and let his body relax as he prepared to kick off. Beside him, Cormac MgLaggen tightened his grip on the handle of his broom.

"Three...".