Chapter 106

Hedwig tried to give him an angry hoot, but it sounded more like a very happy and very un-owl-like trill.

"Now, just let me seal this, then I can have you take it to Andromeda, alright?"

Hedwig gave him an affirmative hoot/trill, and Harry stopped stroking her head to grab the envelope next to the letter.

He carefully placed the letter in the envelope, then sealed it using the spell he had been taught by the recipient of the letter. The spell conjured a blob of melted wax that attached to the closed envelope and soon took the form of the Potter Crest: a coat of arms shaped like a roman kite shield with a Griffin being enveloped by the wings of a Phoenix in the center. Below the shield was the family motto: Audentes Fortuna Iuvat, Fortune Favors the Bold.

The moment Harry sealed the letter, Hedwig stuck her leg out, making it quite clear what she wanted. Harry withheld a chuckle as he attached the letter to her leg. It was amusing to see the owl getting so impatient, but then, that was Hedwig for you.

"Be safe," Harry said as he finished tying the letter to Hedwig's leg. The snowy owl gave a soft hoot, nipped his finger, then took off, flying out of the very window she had used to enter.

Harry looked out of the window for a second, wondering what he should do while waiting for Neville and everyone else to wake up. Perhaps he could read a good book...

XoX

Time passed and Harry found himself becoming extremely busy. Between spending time with his friends, working in class, his own private studies and now the new and insane Quidditch practice developed by Oliver Wood, Harry had discovered that despite only catching four hours of sleep each day, he was having difficulty keeping up with everything.

The biggest problem, Harry thought, was most definitely the new Quidditch practice that Oliver was putting him and the rest of the team through. The man was truly fanatical when it came to the sport, even more so than Tracey! Only now, after having suffered under the man's tutelage, did Harry realize what those shudders Fred, George, Angelina, and Alicia had given meant when they saw that maniacal gleam in the Gryffindor Quidditch captains eyes.

Quidditch practice was always held five times a week and was always first thing in the morning at five o'clock sharp. Harry was very glad he woke up earlier than that because he had seen, or rather heard, Oliver's wake up call for the other members of their team and it was not pleasant in the least.

Oliver was a very hard task master when it came to training. The training sessions lasted from five o'clock to seven, two hours of what the other members described as the most hellacious torture they had ever endured. Harry didn't think it was torture, but he would admit that most normal people would never dare to think of doing some of the things Oliver had them do.

One of Oliver's favorite mottos seemed to be 'a strong body equals a strong player,' because for the first hour of their training it was all physical work outs. Running laps around the Quidditch Pitch, push ups, sit ups, squats, crunches, you name it, Oliver would most likely have them do it. During these times the only two people who did not suffer from exhaustion was Oliver himself, who did nearly twice as much as everyone else, and Harry who, while not in good of shape as Oliver, was still able to complete all the exercises and then some.

Oliver had never been so happy to find someone who believed in exercise just as much as he did that he nearly cried. It had actually been kind of frightening.

The last hour was always a mix of things. Sometimes they would have a strategy session, others they would practice Quidditch Plays.

This was the hardest part for Harry. Despite being a good athlete and in great shape, he had never played Quidditch before. It wasn't like football where you only had to watch one ball, the other players, and make sure the ball got into your opponents goal while making sure to keep it away from your own goal. There was so much more involved in the sport. The Chasers had to constantly keep an eye out for the Bludgers, the other players, the Quaffle, and the goal posts while trying to score a point by getting the Quaffle into their opponent's post. Meanwhile, the Beaters had to keep the Bludgers away from their Chasers and Seeker, while also trying to break up the plays of the other team by sending the Bludgers at them. It wasn't as hard as the Chaser position, but it still took quite a bit of work.

The Seeker, in some ways, had the easiest job. All they had to do was find and capture the Snitch before the other team's Seeker did. Once that happened it was almost guaranteed that that team who caught the Snitch would win, provided the other team didn't have a 160 point lead.

Of course, all that became irrelevant when Harry had scowled at Oliver and told him they would be making plays that involved him working with the Chasers, as well as helping the Beaters break up the other teams plays. The two of them had argued about it for some time, Oliver being of the belief that Harry should focus on finding the Snitch, and Harry believing he should help the team until the Snitch presented itself to him...