The Chambers doing

Chapter 16 - Extracurricular Activities

The rest of the week passed very quickly, with new lessons and homework consuming most of Harry and Ginny's free time. However, they still managed to find time to ferry more of their belongings down to their new rooms. Before long, Saturday morning had arrived, and found both Harry and Ginny walking down to the Quidditch Pitch, ready for practice.

Harry had found Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain, earlier in the week to suggest the idea of some reserves. To be honest, Harry wasn't sure why it hadn't been thought of before - really, given the rate of accidents and injuries during Quidditch, reserve teams would be a logical addition. It had taken some persuading, but with a reminder of what had happened at the end of Harry's first year, when he was in the Hospital Wing unable to play in Gryffindor's final game, even Wood was forced to admit that reserves were a good idea. So by that evening, a notice had gone up on the Common Room Noticeboard, stating that tryouts for reserves would take place on Saturday at 9AM.

They arrived at the Quidditch Pitch just before 9. Most of the rest of the current team were already waiting on the pitch, while looking behind him, Harry could see a small group of hopefuls walking down the hill to tryout. A few other Gryffindors were waiting in the stands to watch the tryouts, but luckily, there was no sign of anyone from any of the other three houses.

When everyone had arrived, Wood called the hopefuls to order. "Hopefuls, listen up!" He shouted. "As you should already know, we are only fielding a reserve team at these tryouts - our starting team is already full. If anyone has any problems with this, I suggest you leave now." He went silent, but nobody moved. "Alright then. It was under the suggestion of our Seeker that we hold these tryouts, as I'm sure we remember what happened two years ago when he was stuck in the Hospital Wing unable to play. As Harry pointed out, it is always good to have a contingency plan. So, due to the possibility of any of the reserves plying in any game this year, the usual rule of no first years will apply. Could any first years head to the stands now please." Again he went quiet, and this time two young boys moved off, upset.

"OK. We seem to have quite a few of you left, so we're going to split this up. Could I have Chaser hopefuls in the middle, Beaters at that side," he pointed to the right, "Keeper tryouts at the far rings, and any Seekers to stay where you are." There was a small amount of chaos as everyone trying out moved around the pitch, making sure they were in the correct place for their position.

Once everyone had moved, Wood turned to speak to his team. "Ok Harry, there don't appear to be any Seeker hopefuls, so you can help Fred, George and me with the Chasers. Then we'll move onto the Beaters and Keepers, having Katie, Alicia and Angelina playing along with the successful reserves against each Keeper tryout, while the Beaters get a bit of practice aiming the Bludgers. Sound good?"

Everyone nodded in agreement, although Harry did speak up. "I know that Ginny hadn't totally decided what position she wanted to tryout for - Chaser or Seeker. Her preferred was Chaser, so that was the group she went with, but I think she would be an excellent Seeker if we came down to needing one last minute. I'll try my best not to get injured this year however."

"Ok, that sounds good. Tryouts probably won't last until 11, so if you want, you could give Ginny a bit of practice Seeking once we are done." Wood suggested.

"I can deal with that." Harry said with a smile.

"Alright then." Wood shouted to the field. "We're going to start with the Chasers, so if everyone else can move into the stands closest to where you are, we'll begin." He walked over to the Chasers as the other hopefuls moved off the pitch. "Each of you are going to be playing alongside our three current Chasers, and trying to score against me. We'll be trying to find those who can not only score the most, but assess the situation and make appropriate decisions."