Off the Pitch

Chapter 3: Quidditch

It was Sunday morning. I woke up fairly early and headed down to breakfast by myself. The try-outs would start at nine, so I still had a good hour and a half to prepare myself. I ate without any rush and then headed back into the common room. Fred, George and Lee passed me in the corridor. 

"Nervous about the try-outs?" Lee asked as they walked by. 

"Not really", I replied honestly. 

"See you there", George said. 

I made my way into my dormitory and switched into more suitable clothing. I tied my hair up on a ponytail and grabbed my beloved broom, before heading out to the Quidditch pitch. I was way too early, but had nothing better to do so I figured I'd warm up a bit before the actual try-outs. I got to the court and took off on my broom. 

Flying felt good; it had been a few months since I had last flown around on a broomstick, but I quickly got the grip of it. 

I had circled around the stadium for a good ten minutes when I heard someone shouting at me from below. A tall boy wearing a red Quidditch uniform waved his hand at me. 

I landed on the ground next to him. 

"Impressive, I must admit", the boy said and reached out his hand: "Oliver Wood." 

"Amelia Urquart", I said as I shook his hand. 

"You're trying out for the team, right?" he asked. 

I nodded quickly: "Yes." 

"Great", he said and looked around. "The others should be here any minute now. Come on, let's go wait for them over there." 

We walked to the other side of the field. Oliver Wood glanced at the stands and raised his brows in surprise: 

"Why is McGonagall here?" he questioned. "This is a first..." 

I shrugged my shoulders but flashed a smile at McGonagall when Wood wasn't looking. 

After a few minutes of waiting, the rest of the team and the other applicants had arrived. 

"Alright, welcome everyone!" Wood said loudly, "I am Oliver Wood and this is my third year as the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team." 

Fred and George started clapping and whistling, and Wood gave them a scowl before continuing: 

"There are two spots open this year, we are looking for two new Chasers." 

I looked around. There were five other students besides me trying out for the spot. I only recognized two of them: Katie Bell and Angelina Johnson, who were also fifth-grades. I then turned around to check who were already part of the team, besides the twins and Oliver Wood of course. I saw Harry Potter, who was apparently the Seeker, and Alicia Spinnet, who I figured must have be one of the three Chasers. 

"Okay, let's begin!" Wood interrupted my trail of thought and gestured towards the field. 

The try-outs lasted for 45 minutes; we flew around the stadium and everyone tried scoring on their turn while the twins distracted us with the Bludgers and Wood tried to stop us from getting the Quaffle through the hoops. I managed to score every time, and so did Angelina Johnson. 

"Great job, everyone!" Wood clapped as we landed and got off our broomsticks. 

"We will announce who made the team at the start of next week, so expect an owl from McGonagall – professor McGonagall", he corrected quickly as he saw her walking towards us. 

I left the field with Harry and the twins, while McGonagall and Wood stayed behind to discuss the try-outs. 

"You were great", Fred said as we were walking back to the castle. 

"Yeah, you even managed to dodge the Bludger I aimed straight at you", George grinned and I punched him playfully in the arm. 

Harry laughed. "I'm sure you'll get in", he said. 

I smiled at him. 

"Thanks." 

Two days after the try-outs Oliver Wood stopped me on my way to charms class. 

"Hey, Amelia!" he shouted from afar and ran up to me. 

I turned around in surprise: "Yeah?" 

Oliver leaned in closer to me and lowered his voice: 

"You didn't hear this from me, okay?" 

I nodded and looked at him impatiently. 

"Welcome to the team", he grinned. 

My mouth fell open. 

"I– Are you serious?" I couldn't believe my ears. "I got in?" 

"Come on, don't act so surprised", he teased me and then added: "You were great, honestly." 

I looked up to his eyes and smiled. "Thank you." 

A moment of silence followed and neither of us broke the eye contact. 

Wood twitched. "Oh, um– I have to go. I'll see you around!" 

"See you", I said and watched him rush off. 

For a moment I forgot where I had been on my way to. 

"Shit", I gasped when I looked around and realized that the corridor was empty. 

"Sorry I'm late, professor." 

"That's alright, miss", professor Flitwick said, "Please take a seat." 

I sat in between Fred and George. They turned to me as soon as Flitwick started speaking. 

"Where were you?" Fred asked. "You were right behind us in the corridor." 

"Wood wanted to have a word", I grinned and whispered: "I got into the team." 

The twins looked excited. 

"Wicked!" George breathed. 

"But he wasn't supposed to tell me", I lowered my voice, "so keep your mouths shut." 

Fred locked his mouth with an imaginary key and pretended to throw it away.