Rivilis Amiculus

Quidditch Tryouts

~Armin~

"You want me to go to tryouts with you!" I told Connie about Quidditch and asked him to go with me. He wasn't fond of the idea.

"Come on, I don't want to do it alone. Besides, Hanji said three players graduated last year, including the seeker," I replied.

"You think I'd be a good seeker?" He asked laughing a little. "Do you even know what that is?"

"No... She made it sound like an important role..."

"It is an important role! The most important, in fact," He replied.

"Please! I can't go there all by myself. What if I fail?"

"Armin, you were one of the best in flying last year. You think you're going to fail?"

"You were the first one to get control over your broom."

"It also hit me in the face when I said 'Up!' for the first time and yours just flew up into your hand."

"Connie!" I shouted. "I'm scared! I want to do something impressive for once and I can't do it alone," I said. "Please?" He went silent for a moment.

"...Okay, I'll go with you, but don't go encouraging them. I can't go begging my mum for a broom all of a sudden," He said. I sighed in relief.

"Thank you."

The week passed and it was time for tryouts. A few other Ravenclaw students including Reiss went for the tryouts too.

"Welcome! Welcome!" Hanji greeted everyone once we were in the Quidditch robes and had a broom. "I see many of you are second year's so, let me explain what Quidditch is.

"Quidditch is a sport that has been played by Hogwarts students for centuries. In each team, there are seven players, two of which are beaters. Zeke here is one of them." She gestured to Zeke. "The beater's job is to knock the opposing team's players off their brooms. They do this by using their bat to hit the Bludgers." She opened a box and pointed at the three balls the size of a baseball in the corner. "They may look small, but they're fierce! You, what's your name?" She pointed to Connie.

"Springer," He replied. Hanji waved her hand.

"Come," She said. Connie walked over to her and she dropped one of the bludgers in his hands. He almost fell to the ground with it. "See what I mean?" Connie nodded his head an gave the ball back to her.

"Next, there are three chasers. Our job is to get the Quaffle and throw it into the hoops." She turned around and pointed to the hoops. "This is the quaffle." She picked up the largest ball and showed it to us. "Each time the quaffle gets thrown into a hoop, the team earns 10 points. Right now we have Rico and me as chasers. Our other one graduated last year."

"Then there is one Keeper. Their job is to defend the hoops from the opposing team. They oftentimes get hurt the most so they wear protective clothing over the robes." Zeke pushed a dummy with a leather vest and helmet.

"And lastly... There's the Seeker," Hanji said. "The seeker is the most crucial member of the team. Their job is to find and catch this." She took the smallest golden ball from the box and it sprouted wings and began to flap them vigorously. "The Golden Snitch. The team that catches the snitch gets 150 points and ends the game. The team with the most points wins."

"So! Who wants to try out for a Keeper?" Rico asked. Nobody seemed interested.

"I'll... I'll go..." I said.

"Great! Let's get this vest on you," Hanji said and picked up the vest. They fitted it on me and I put the helmet on my head.

"Mount your broom."

"Up!"

"Best of luck," Hanji said and mounted her broom. I flew up into the air and the Quaffle was released. I had both Hanji and Rico against me but I tried my best. I managed to block the quaffle 3 times out of 5. I probably could have done better if I didn't have to avoid the bludgers too. "That was really good Armin!" Hanji said to me as I took off the helmet.

"Thanks..." I said. I didn't think I was that good. Most of my attempts were very clumsy and I knew that the last one was better.

"Okay, Chasers!" Rico announced. Reiss volunteered to go, but Rico hesitated. "Actually... I'll wait on you. I want to test you for the Seeker," She said. "Springer!" She shouted. Connie raised his head surprised. "You're up!"

"Wh- Wait! I-"

"Armin, you're our new Keeper. You'll continue defending the hoops for the Chaser tryouts. Springer, mount your broom," She said. I put the helmet back on.

"Sorry, mate," I said. He sighed but mounted his broom. I managed to block most of his throws, but it was obvious he wasn't trying. Rico sighed and moved to Reiss.

"Okay, we'll release the practice snitch. Historia, right?" She nodded her head. "Best of luck," Rico said and released the snitch. Historia mounted her broom and began to look for the snitch. We were still up in the air doing our jobs and Zeke was still with his bat and the bludgers. Historia did eventually find the snitch, but as she lifted one hand to grab it, she didn't notice the bludger coming towards her and nearly fell off her broom. Rico blew her whistle and called for a pause.

"Are you okay?" Zeke asked as we all approached her. She managed to stay on her broom but she fell pretty far down.

"Yeah, I'm fine," She said.

"Okay, maybe Seeker isn't for you. Let's try Chaser," Rico said. She nodded her head and we put the snitch away. Historia performed a lot better than Connie did. She scored 4 times out of 5 even with my best efforts. Everyone else tried out for different roles, leaving Connie, who didn't volunteer.

"Are you sure you don't want to be on the team?" I asked. "It's actually really fun."

"You still haven't tried for Seeker," Rico said. Connie sighed.

"Come on, at least try to have fun?" I asked.

"Fine," He replied. When he gave effort, he was amazing at Quidditch. He was completely aware of his surroundings and dodged all of the bludgers sent his way. He kept going at it and eventually, he got the snitch.

"Springer!" Rico flew over to him with a big smile. "That was amazing! You're a natural!" I also flew over to him.

"It was fun, right?" I asked.

"Yeah... But I don't have a decent broom," He replied.

"My sister is on the Slytherin team and she's a Seeker. She rides a Nimbus 2001. Do any of you need help with payments?" Zeke asked.

"I don't need anything fancy... I could do with this one," I replied.

"No, you can't. All of the other players on the other teams have their own," Rico said.

"I can't really afford much..." I said.

"The least you can get is a Cleansweep. I'll help with payments if needed, but I can't go begging my dad for three brooms," Zeke replied.

"I can get one myself. It shouldn't be a problem," Historia said.

"My family can afford it but it would be a big problem. We can't just buy a broom whenever we feel like it," Connie said.

"You're the Seeker. You need to be fast. At the very least you'll need a Nimbus 2000. You'll be slower than my sister but speed doesn't mean anything if you don't have skill," Zeke replied.

"My family's budget is very low," I said.

"What's your annual income?" Zeke asked.

"Galleons or pounds?"

"Galleons."

"None," I said.

"What?"

"I live with my muggle Grandpa. My parents died when I was 8 and we weren't a high-class family," I said.

"Well, I'll do the best I can to help you guys out," He replied. "In the meantime, welcome to the Quidditch team."