Adventures of the Marauders

Chapter 5-Sirius: The Quidditch Tryouts

Sirius
Sept 12, 1975

James had woken Sirius and half of Gryffindor up at 5 am for the 7:00 quidditch tryouts. As captain, James had been preaching all week how important the trials were and that he must construct the best team possible, and even if you were already on the team you had to try out again to ensure the best team possible, blah blah, blah.

So Sirius was out on the pitch at 6:45 just like James said to be, and had already eaten a solid breakfast. McGonagall and Madame Hooch were standing next to James. They were there to help advise him on the best team, but the ultimate decision lied with James. He stood next to Marlene McKinnon, his friend and fellow beater for the past two years. They watched on the side of the fence as James tried keepers, and they started to chat.

"How much you want to bet that guy falls off his broom?" Marlene asked him as they watched a second year feebly attempt to keep the quaffle out of the goal posts.

"Two sickles." Sirius responded.

"You're on." Marlene said.

"Are you sticking with Care of Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes for your electives?" Sirius asked.

"Yep. You sticking with Arithmancy, Divination, and Care of Magical Creatures?" Marlene asked.

"Yeah. How are you feeling about O.W.L.s?" Sirius asked.

"Nervous. I study best with a good study group. I already talked to Lily, Mary, and Remus about starting a study group. Do you want to join?" Marlene replied.

The second year fell off his broom. "You owe me two sickles, Sirius." Marlene said snidely.

Sirius smiled. "Yeah, I'll join."

The Keeper trials ended, and James started trying Chasers. Sirius tried out for chaser as a second position, just in case James found better beaters. But that was a pretty hard ask.

So Sirius flew his best, but clearly wasn't as good a chaser as he was a beater. He spotted 3 different really solid candidates that James could easily pick and have the best chasers in Gryffindor. But none of them were quite on James's skill level.

"That was decent." Marlene said.

"Good thing I'm a better beater than a chaser." Sirius said with a smirk.

Next it was the seeker trials. This was Marlene's back up position, so she got up there. She did fairly decent, but she was also a better beater than a seeker. But she was the best one trying out. Everyone else was complete rubbish.

Finally, it was time for Beater trials, so Marlene and Sirius both hit the pitch. They were no match for the other beaters, and flew circles around all the other competitors. And their team work was incredible. When they worked together, they were unstoppable, and not a single bludger got past them.

As James talked to McGonagall and Madame Hooch, Sirius and Marlene sat back, proud of their work. "We make a pretty sweet team." Marlene said.

"I think we would make a good team on and off the pitch. Will you go to Hogsmeade next weekend?" Sirius asked.

"Sure." Marlene replied coolly.

After they waited a few more minutes, James made his was to the commentator's podium.

"Alright this year's Gryffindor Quidditch team is: Keeper: Marie MacBride. Chasers: Sasha Brogan, Lou MacIntosh, Hestia Jones. Beaters: Sirius Black and Marlene McKinnon. Seeker: James Potter. Alternates: Lysistrata Perrot, and Chris Gwyn. To everyone else, thanks for trying out, and better luck next year." James announced.

"Seeker, huh? What happened to being the best Chaser in all of Hogwarts?" Sirius asked when James finally rejoined him.

"Did you see the crop of seekers? I could do much better than that. And I trust the Chasers I picked to do way way way better than any of the potential seekers we saw. It's what's best for the team." James explained.

"How selfless of you." Sirius replied sarcastically.

"Do ya think Lily will be impressed?" James asked.

"About as impressed as she always is." Sirius answered.

"Shove off. Anyway, how about we celebrate next trip to Hogsmeade?" James asked.

"No can do, Jamesie boy. I've got myself a date with Marlene." Sirius said.

"Alright, so the ladies man finally chose one. Marlene is a great choice at that." James said.

"You can tell everyone you know: Sirius Black is off the market." Sirius boasted.

"Alright lover boy, let's go get some lunch. I'm starving." James replied.