The Wand Makers Apprentice

Chapter 14

 Rosie made her way down to the Lake for her evening swim a little earlier than she normally would've, skipped dinner altogether. She wipped off her clothes to reveal her costume underneath and swam up and down in the luxorious water, washing away all her problems.

 She stop for a breath and a drink of pumpkin juice from her flask as she looked over to the Quiditch pitch. She saw a little figure zooming around above the stands. The thought of been that high up made Rosie cringe and she dived back under the water and began to swim once again.

 "Gryffindor!" Said a tired whining voice from the side of the lake. Rosie jutted up and swam to the bank to where Oliver Wood was stood.

 "Come and see the new seeker with me!" He pleaded. "I need a second opinion."

 "As long as I don't get nay broom of any shape or form in a two meter diameter of myself." She said.

 "I promise!" He said. "Now Hurry, I'm mean't to be there now."

 As they ran down to the pitch, Rosie pulled on her oversized top as to not get her robe wet by her fish tail braid and her flip flops. 

 "Aren't you cold in that?" He asked as they came into the grounds. "Hey, Potter, come down!"

Harry landed down next to Oliver and he put down the big wooden box which he'd been carring, probably containing the balls.

 "Very nice," said Wood, his eyes glinting. "I see what McGonagall meant... you really are a natural. I'm just going to teach you the rules this evening, then you'll be joining team practice three times a week." He opened the crate. Inside were four different-sized balls.  "Right, this is my good friend Rosie who will be just watching. Just ignore her, everyone else does." said Wood. "Now, Quidditch is easy enough to understand, even if it's not too easy to play. There are seven players on each side. Three of them are called Chasers."  

 "Three Chasers," Harry repeated, as Wood took out a bright red ball about the size of a soccer ball.  "This ball's called the Quaffle," said Wood. "The Chasers throw the Quaffle to each other and try and get it through one of the hoops to score a goal. Ten points every time the Quaffle goes through one of the hoops. Follow me?"  "The Chasers throw the Quaffle and put it through the hoops to score,"

 Harry recited. "So -- that's sort of like basketball on broomsticks with six hoops, isn't it?"

 "What's basketball?" said Wood curiously, Rosie narrowed her eyes at the strange word as Wood glanced over at her.

 "Never mind," said Harry quickly.  

 "Now, there's another player on each side who's called the Keeper -I'm Keeper for Gryffindor. I have to fly around our hoops and stop the other team from scoring."  

"Three Chasers, one Keeper," said Harry, who was determined to remember it all. "And they play with the Quaffle. Okay, got that. So what are they for?" He pointed at the three balls left inside the box.  

 "I'll show you now," said Wood. "Take this."  He handed Harry a small club, a bit like a short baseball bat.  "I'm going to show you what the Bludgers do," Wood said. "These two are the Bludgers."  He showed Harry two identical balls, jet black and slightly smaller than the red Quaffle. Harry noticed that they seemed to be straining to escape the straps holding them inside the box and that Rosie had edged closer into Wood and was now grabbing his robes.

 "Stand back," Wood warned Harry. He bent down and freed one of the Bludgers.  At once, the black ball rose high in the air and then pelted straight at Harry's face. Harry swung at it with the bat to stop it from breaking his nose, and sent it zigzagging away into the air -- it zoomed around their heads and then shot at Wood, who dived on top of it and managed to pin it to the ground.