Between the Lines and Lies

Halloween

(Outside in the Quidditch field, it is daytime. Oliver and Harry appear, carrying a trunk. They put it down.)

Oliver: Quidditch is easy enough to understand. Each time has seven players, 3 chasers, 2 beaters, 1 keeper and a seeker. That's you. There are three kinds of balls. (picks up a red ball) This one's called the Quaffle. Now, the chasers handle the Quaffle and try to put it through one of those three hoops. (Points to the hoops in the Quidditch pitch in the distance.) The keeper, that's me, defends the hoops. (throws ball to Harry.) With me so far?

"Ooh, are we seeing your first Quidditch practice?" James asks.

"Duh," Harry replies with a roll of his eyes.

Harry: (Throws ball back) I think so.

"Ya think?! Ya think?!"

Harry: What are those? (He points to two squirming chained down balls.)

Oliver: You better take this. (hands Harry a small bat. He bends down and releases one ball. With an angry growl, it flies off into the air. The two boys watch it.) Careful now, it's comin' back. (The balls comes whizzing down, and Harry cracks at it with the bat. The ball soars off through a statue, surprisingly without damaging it.) Eh, not bad, Potter, you'd make a fair beater... Uh-oh. (The ball zooms down, and Oliver grabs it, wriggling to get it back in the box. He succeeds and is out of breath.)

Harry: What is that?

Oliver: Bludger. Nasty little buggers. But you are the Seeker and the only thing I want you to worry about is this... the Golden Snitch. (He hands Harry a walnut sized golden ball.

Harry: I like this ball.

"You won't on the field," James Sirius mutters, thinking back to his experience on the Quidditch pitch. It was a good thing he picked up his parents' talents on the pitch.

Oliver: Ah, you like it now. Just wait. It's wicked fast and damn near impossible to see. 

Harry: What do I do with it?

Oliver: You catch it... before the other team's Seeker. You catch this, the game's over. You catch this, Potter, and we win.

"Not if you're Krum," Fred mumbles. George nods his head in agreement.

(The ball flutters out two delicate wings and jumps into the air. Harry keeps an eye on it.)

Harry: Whoa.

(The scene fades to Professor Flitwick's class. Filtwick is very short, and is standing on a bunch of books to make up for his stature and to see his class.)

Flitwick: One of a wizard's most rudimentary skills is levitation the ability to make objects fly. Uh, do you all have your feathers? (Hermione raises hers.) Good. Now, uh, don't forget the nice wrist movement we've been practicing, hmm? The swish and flick. Everyone.

All (including Flitwick): The swish and flick.

Flitwick: Good. And enunciate. Wingardium Leviosa. Off you go then.

(The class begin to enunciate and doing the movements on their feathers.)

Draco: Wingardium Levio-saaa

Ron: Wingardium Leviosar! (He waves his wand really fast numerous times. Hermione stops him.)

"That is no way to behave, Ronald!" Molly exclaims.

Hermione: Stop, stop, stop. You're going to take someone's eye out. Besides, you're saying it wrong. It's Levi-o-sa. Not Leviosar. 

Ron: You do it then if you're so clever. Go on, go on.