Raindrops on Roses

Chapter 3: Second Year Part 2: Little Boys

2018-2019

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The tryouts for the Ravenclaw team were held in the first week of October. Albus managed to talk both his friends into coming with him, despite Rose's reservations about time management and Scorpius' insistance that he wasn't that great a flyer. "It's not about getting in," Albus told them. "They hardly ever let second years in, anyway. Its about showing them you're keen so they remember you, next year."

"You do want to get in though," Rose pointed out. Albus shrugged. Of course he wanted to get in, but he wasn't going to get his own hopes up by admitting as much. Being Quidditch mad was practically a pre-requisite of being a Potter, or a Weasley, and he was both. Both his parents and all his uncles bar one had been on their house teams, and now it was his turn. He had been flying, quite literally, since before he was born, and he'd been trained by the best, from his point of view.

The only problem was that Ravenclaw already had a full team, made up of sixth and seventh years, and there would be dozens of younger students jostling for reserve positions. "But," he explained to Scorpius as they walked out onto the pitch, "that means half the team will be gone next year, and there'll be more places open." In his right hand he carried a brand-new Firefly 10, a twelfth birthday present from his parents. Rose had a Firefly 4, and Scorpius was borrowing an old school broom, a rather battered looking Cleansweep 7. They joined the group of about twenty Ravenclaw hopefuls.

"Right then kids." The Ravenclaw captain was a tall, lanky girl with long blonde hair pulled back into a perfectly straight ponytail. "I'm Olivia Drummond. We're trying to fill four reserve spots for this year, and if you're good enough we might train some extras, just in case. Of course, if any of you are really brilliant we might have to bench some of our old-timers altogether." The crowd tittered. Albus noticed that the rest of the team did not laugh, but regarded the newcomers critically.

First of all, Olivia got them to line up and mount their brooms, then hover just above the ground. They had done this on their very first flying lesson, but some people still managed to fall off. Olivia sent them off the field, shaking her head. "There's always some," she sighed. "Right, the rest of you, in the air at goal height. You're going to do laps, Alex will lead you." A tall, dark chaser stepped forward, broom in hand, a Firefly 7. "We're going to be watching your conformation and balance so no tricks and no speeding, please. Just keep pace until we tell you otherwise."

Albus felt his stomach do a little flip as he kicked off the ground with the others. He wasn't sure why he was nervous - he could fly laps in his sleep. They set off around the pitch, starting off at a leisurely pace before speeding up. The team, clearly visible in their blue and silver Quidditch robes, flew up to hover in the middle of the pitch to watch. Every now and then one of them would fly forward and pull someone out of the group. The rejected players went to sit in the stands, looking disappointed.

Albus tried to concentrate on flying, but after a while he started to get bored. He looked over at his friends. Rose was a natural flyer. She soared easy alongside him, her wave of bushy, fire-red hair streaming out behind her. Scorpius, despite his protests to the contrary, wasn't at all bad in the air, even if the increased speed was starting to take its toll on his old school broom.

Suddenly Albus was forced to pull his broom up quickly, a few seconds too late, as he realised Alex had stopped. He looked around quickly to see if anyone had noticed. There were perhaps ten left in the group, but luckily no one was looking at him.

Alex paired them up and the team tossed them some Quaffles, which they were set to throwing and catching. Albus' partner was a fourth year boy whose catching was all right, but his throws were so wide-ranging that Albus was forced to zoom right and left in order to catch them. After a while though, Olivia tapped him out and partnered Albus herself. After a few throws she caught the ball and grinned evilly at him. "Think fast," she said, and tossed the Quaffle over her shoulder.