𝗗𝗜𝗘 𝗔 𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗟𝗘 ☼ 𝗚𝗲𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲 𝗪𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘆

↘︎ chapter seventeen

there's a/n at the end. READ IT!

17 | The Quidditch tryouts

It was already dark when the Hogwarts Express stopped at Hogsmeade. Ginny Weasley went to Hagrid, who was taking the traditional boat trip to the school. Marley Маcmillan still remembered hers as having as it happened yesterday - how everyone was afraid to get on the boats, and she was the first to be, after all.

After everyone arrived at the castle, they put on their robes and their pointed hats, hurrying to dinner in the Great Hall. Everything went as planned, the twins and Marley sat down at the table, and soon Angelina Johnson and Lee Jordan joined them, the first year students came and passed the Sorting ceremony. It was no surprise that Ginny was sorted in Gryffindor.

Marley saw Noen Black at the Ravenclaw table, which was still strange to many of the students at Hogwarts, Sirius Black's son at Ravenclaw. By the end of the festive dinner, she saw nowhere Harry and Ron, only Hermione Granger, who was very distracted and disturbed. After dinner was over, everyone went to their dormitories. Marley and Angelina went directly to their rooms and the girl told her friend about her visit to Fred and George's home and how hard she trained to get into the Quidditch team. Tryouts would soon be back and Marley was well aware that she had no more than a month to prepare.

Marley's first day overall went very well and there was still nothing to complain about. It was lunch already, and she was sitting with the usual people beside her, Neville Longbottom and Seamus Finnigan nearby. Harry and Ron were here, Hermione too. There was a sensation as how Harry and Ron arrived at school - using the Weasley family's flying car Ford Anglia, crashing into the Whomping Willow, and almost nothing left of the car.

Suddenly, Erol, the Weasley family owl arrived at the Great Hall, carrying a red letter in his neb. The old bird crashed into the Gryffindor table and felt unconsciousness right next to Marley. The girl whispered some soothing words and helped the bird while Ron was taking the letter and he stared at it like it was something he had received from the Satan himself.

"Is this a Howler?" frowned Neville Longbottom. "You better open it. Once I didn't open from my grandma and... uhm, you don't wanna know what happened."

Ron opened the letter with trembling hands, his face paler than ever. He was so frightened and while Marley was carefully fondling Erol's wing, she heard the screams of Mrs. Weasley. The letter was hovering in the air and almost looked like a person, who was yеlling. "RONALD WEASLEY?! HOW COULD YOU STEAL THE CAR? I'M SO DISAPPOINTED. NOW YOU'LL FATHER WILL BE INVESTIGATED AT WORK. AND YOU'RE ONLY GUILTY! IF YOU BREAK ANOTHER RULE, WE'LL GET YOU HOME, ALRIGHT?"

And with that words, the message to Ron ended, the letter cut by itself. Everyone in the Great Hall was silent and no one dared to talk. Erol simply spread his wings and flew off, and then again in the Hall everyone started talking as if nothing had happened. For some reason, Marley's cheeks were red, and she buried her nose in her textbook on the Study of Ancient Runes.

***

Marley was more than nervous, trying to breathe evenly. After so many training sessions, the tryouts finally came. She believed she would succeed, but still her whole body was trembling with nerves. Team captain Oliver Wood (a Keeper) would watch her and about four other players in one trial game. Alicia Spinnet, the Chaser, had become a reserve of the team, and the team was mostly looking for a place for a main Chaser, so Marley would play with the others as well, and she would fight for a place on the team. But first she would some some exercise.

It was around the beginning of October and it was pretty cold outside. There was a strong wind and it was cloudy, but at least it wouldn't rain. Although Marley didn't expect to have any tryouts, she still trained very hard, but Alicia's sudden departure from the team opened the way for Marley to join. Another Chaser was Katie Bell from her year and Angelina Johnson, her best friend.