The Family that Chooses You

Chapter 5: Internal Disagreement

"Let me get this straight, you think Harry shouldn't be Seeker?"  Alicia looked up at the glowering fourth year.  She tried hard to keep her annoyance from her face and she knew she failed with how the fourth year glared at her.

"He's a weedy little firstie!  He shouldn't be on the team."

Alicia made a show of looking at the older boy's front.

"What...what are you doing?" he asked, confused.

"I'm looking for your Captain's badge."

His face reddened and a few onlookers chuckled.  "It's because I don't have one," he said with gritted teeth.

"Oh, well that's why I can't find it," Alicia said with false sincerity.  "So that means you're not Captain of the team?"

"No.  I'm not."

"In that case I don't think you have anything to say about the team then, and who should or shouldn't be on it."

He slammed his hand on the table in front of her.  "I'm entitled to an opinion!"

Alicia did not flinch at the gesture nor the resulting sound.  "You sure are.  Doesn't mean I have to listen to it or agree to it."  She sighed and looked down at her work.  "Why are you hassling me anyways?  Do you see a badge pinned to me?"  Before he could talk she cut him off.  "No you don't and believe me, I know you've been looking."

His red face was now due to embarrassment rather than anger and the onlookers whispered unflattering things.

"You didn't see him practice and yes he's a first year.  Yes he's new.  But he's a decent flyer and The Team," she put an emphasis on the words, "thinks he'll be fine.  Why do you care anyways?  You don't play Seeker, Morgan."

Morgan looked mutinous.  "I bet I could play better than him."

"Why didn't you try out when Wood put the notice up earlier this year?"

"I didn't know he'd be so desperate to have a firstie play.  I bet the only reason Potter's on the team is he's the Boy-Who-Lived.  Little spoiled git."

Alicia rolled her eyes.  "That's stupid and you're stupid for thinking it.  Just let Harry be and wait for us to play our first game."

"Fine, I'll wait and see us get slaughtered and be the laughing stock at Hogwarts over it."

"You're used to being a laughing stick Morgan so won't be much different for you now will it?"  Alicia smiled to herself as the others laughed loudly at the angry Morgan, making him sputter and stomp off.

If she was being honest, she had those thoughts at first when she found out Harry was going to be Seeker.  First years are usually not allowed on the House team to give them a chance to get used to school and to let them grow a bit more.  There were also enough people who wanted to play within the House to fill the positions usually.

Ever since the legendary Charlie Weasley graduated, the Gryffindor Quidditch team had fallen on hard times.  No one really wanted to take the Seeker position after Charlie and those that were brave enough to try played dismally.  The team had suffered with poor captains and poor players for a long time.

Oliver had tried to turn the team around and he had done a good job overall.  He was fair and passionate, some might say fanatical, and did his best to build as strong as a team as he could.  Granted the team still lost more often than not, but they were much closer loses.

When Oliver had announced Harry was joining the team Alicia thought it was because of the Boy-Who-Lived influence.  This boy, the ender of the First Wizarding World, had some kind of pull that allowed the rules to be bent.  He must have arrived as a Quidditch prodigy, some special top of the line racing broom, and wanted glory on the pitch.