Lily Potter And The Secret Bewitchment

Chapter Nine - Quidditch Tryouts

The next weeks passed in a blur. Lily and Hugo had solidified their friendships with Oli, George and Jayla, and before Lily had time to think, she was awake on the morning of the Thirtieth of September, Quidditch Day.

There was a slight tension over breakfast, as Lily and Hugo both knew they were competing for one spot on the team. Not much was said, except by Jayla, who told Lily and Hugo she would be watching from the stands, and by the boys, backing her up and agreeing that they would be there as well. By nine O'clock, Lily found herself standing on the pitch,  with just over twenty other potential players including Hugo. Molly, along with her two remaining team mates, the seeker, Lily's brother James, and James' friend Julian, who played the only chaser.

"Right, you lot, listen up!" Molly shouted over the chatter. "First things first, get into groups of five." There was a scuffle as everyone moved around. Lily and Hugo were in a group with two fifth years and a fourth year. "OK!" Molly shouted again. "Basic test. Fly around the pitch once and make sure you are firstly all at the same speed, and secondly all land in one straight line to my left. If you don't co-operate with your group, you aren't fit for this team. Got it?" Everybody nodded and the fourth year girl whispered to the group,

"Everybody fly in a straight line, and keep the pace of whoever happens to be in the middle, OK."

"Right!" Molly said, after everyone had finished discussing tactics. "Go first, please." She pointed at the first group, next to Lily's.

Unfortunately, the first, nor second groups could remain in the same line. Three of the five players in group three were good enough, but the last two went zooming off round the pitch. The fourth group all got accepted, and then it was Lily's team. As agreed, they formed a line, with Lily in the centre.

"Go!" She called out, and along with the rest of her group, kicked off from the ground. Lily set a slow pace, ensuring everyone could keep up. She slowed down even more around the corners, and when she was ten feet away from Molly, she shouted out, "Start the descent!" and all of her group followed her lead and landed not even millimetres in front or behind her. Molly beamed at them, and James gave Lily and Hugo the thumbs up.

"Well done. Now," Molly turned to the rest of the accepted players. "Could you stand behind James if you want to be a keeper, me if you want to be a beater and Julian for chaser."

Four of the thirteen remaining players wanted to be keeper, seven wanted to be one of the chasers, and only Lily and Hugo wanted the beater spot.

"Right." Molly said, casting an eye over her younger cousins. "Lily, Hugo." She lowered her voice. "Any decision I make is not personal. I'm going to assess you on what I see today, and nothing else. OK," She spoke in normal tones again. First of all, I'm going to assign you chasers into two groups. One will be three, the correct number, and one will be four. Either Lily or Hugo will be protecting your team from a bludger, and they will alternate teams to prevent any unfairness, as our numbers are uneven. Keepers are going to try to prevent you scoring, they will alternate, two for each team. So, here are your teams.

Lily was first given the task of protecting the fourth year girl and  two fifth year boys. The two keepers, a second and fourth year, hovered by the goal posts. Molly decided their team was going to go first, so blew the whistle to start the one-sided game of Quidditch. She also released the bludger. And, in that moment, Lily forgot all about the game, or who was scoring. Her only job was to stop that ball from hurting her team. Using all her training, she made sure to calculate the distance between her bat and the players, so she didn't accidentally unseat anybody. By the time the whistle blew, the bludger was at the other end of the pitch.

"Excellent job guys." Molly called. "Carry on, but Lily, switch with Hugo please." Glad of the break, Lily landed, only skidding very lightly, next to Molly and James.