Matilda Matlock

Quidditch

So there Matilda was, walking briskly to the courtyard briefly after the school day's final bell, her Hufflepuff robes blowing back a bit in the autumn breeze and her brain swimming with possibilities.

The Hufflepuff Quidditch captain wanted to see her. For what? For Quidditch?

She may have been famous, but how could he want anything to do with her if he hadn't even seen her fly a broom or play the sport? Not only that, but she had no idea how to play the sport at all...

Entering the courtyard, Matilda's eyes fell upon Leo Chapman, casually leaning against a column as students were scattered about, laughing and talking after a long day of classes. Matilda took a breath, stepped forward, and continued into the courtyard, waiting for him to notice her.

He did, when she neared him enough, and he pushed off the column to approach her.

"Hi there," he greeted. "Thanks for meeting me."

"No probl-"

"Alright, listen here, Matlock," he said, his voice low and steady under the sound of the casual bustle of the courtyard. "I don't like wasting time, so I'm going to be straight with you."

Matilda stared at him blankly. "Okay, then."

"You ever played Quidditch before?"

Matilda swallowed. "N-no..."

"Ever flown a broom before?"

"Yes, I have."

"D'ya wanna be seeker for our Hufflepuff team?"

Matilda's eyes went wide.

She parted her lips to speak, but then closed them again due to not knowing what exactly to say... she opened them again, then closed them, and felt rather stupid standing there with no words coming out-

Leo scoffed. "Blimey, it's not like I'm asking you to chop off my head, I said, do you want to be Quidditch seeker?"

"No, I just... I..." Matilda stammered, blinking rapidly, "...I'm just not sure I understand... you want me... to be... on the team?"

"As of right now, yes," he answered bluntly.

"But... but you've never even seen me play!" Matilda blurted out.

Leo shifted on his feet sucking in a breath and shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Alright, listen," he said, darting his eyes around the courtyard briefly as if checking to see if no one was listening. "I saw that whole thing go down by Hagrid's place. A couple hours ago? I saw that."

Matilda stared at him, not knowing what to respond with.

"Do you know how impressive that was, Matlock?" he asked plainly.

"Erm, well, I mean..." she said awkwardly, "...it was just... dumb luck, honestly, I wasn't really-"

"No, no, you don't understand," he cut her off. "That took incredible speed, and agility. Like I said, I'm a fourth year. Two years ago, I studied the same creature in that class... Tailflyer, right?"

Matilda nodded.

"Right," he continued. "Those things move. I mean, you- Matlock, you were perfectly tracking it. I saw you. Every time it moved, you knew where it went... those things are nearly impossible to follow, and so bloody fast that... well, you get the point. It was impressive. Incredibly impressive."

Matilda felt a pink rise in her cheeks. "Thank you."

"But I'm not here to flatter a second year student," he went on with a determined tone in his voice. "I want you to be our seeker."