Chapter Ten: Teams, Quidditch or Otherwise
That Saturday was the day of the Slytherin Quidditch team tryouts. Harish got up reasonably early that morning and changed into his Quidditch robes. Then, he ate a slow breakfast before heading down to the Quidditch pitch. As no one was there yet, Harish climbed aboard his broom and flew several exhilarating loops around the stadium.
One of the things about having a broken leg was that he had been forbidden to fly. The cast made him unbalanced and more likely to crash and hurt himself more, or that was at least what his father had told him. That meant that this was the first time Harish had gotten on his broom since the summer before his sixth year; they hadn't had any Quidditch that year because of the Triwizard Tournament, obviously.
It felt good to be on a broom again.
After Harish touched down and walked to stand in the center of the field, people started showing up for the tryouts. Among them were Draco, Fred, George, Pucey, Warrington, and several others. But it also seemed that the entire Slytherin House had shown up, proving this to take all morning.
Harish decided to start with the Chasers. He told everyone that was trying for a different position to clear off, and then started with a basic test, having the ones who were trying for Chaser (which was the most out of all the applicants) to fly once around the Quidditch pitch in groups of tens.
This turned out to be a good decision, for the first group comprised of first years that couldn't keep their brooms straight. Only one boy had managed to remain airborne and he was so surprised that he had promptly crashed into one of the goalposts.
The second group was a large gaggle of girls from ages fourteen to sixteen who, when he blew his whistle, merely fell about giggling and clutching one another. When he told them to leave the pitch, they did so cheerfully and went to sit in the stands.
The third group had a pileup halfway around the pitch. Most of the fourth group had come without broomsticks.
After two hours, many complaints, and several tantrums, one involving a crashed Nimbus 2000 and several broken teeth, Harish had found himself three Chasers: Draco, who returned to the team after an excellent trial, Hubert Warrington, who proved to be a better flyer than he let on, and Ginny, who had out-flown all of the competition.. This of course did not make Pucey very happy, and he stormed off the pitch, raging about how Harish had let a Weasley beat him.
Harish was partly glad to see him go. He didn't act very sportsman-like.
Pleased as he was with his choices, Harish had also shouted himself hoarse at the many complainers and was now enduring a similar battle with the Beaters.
"That's my final decision and if you don't get out of the way for the Keepers, I'll hex you," he bellowed.
Of course for the Beaters he had chosen the twins. And he had not just done it because they were his friends; the twins worked together like an unbeatable, well-oiled machine. That didn't stop the outcry of many bigoted Slytherins at the appointment of three Weasleys on the team.
After a short competition, Miles Bletchley was reinstated as the Slytherin Keeper. He proved that he had not lost his old brilliance and no one had managed to beat him.
Of course there were no try-outs for the Seeker position, as that was what he was himself. So, with the try-outs finally done, Harish told his new team that there were going to have practices every Wednesday. Then, in the two weeks leading up to the first match of the season, they were going to have practices three times a week. With that said, he let them go and he, the twins, Draco, and Ginny were joined by Daphne and Hermione on the way back to the common room.
When they entered the common room, Harish told everyone, "Clear out."
Not surprisingly, all of the other Slytherins hopped out of their seats as if burned and scuttled off to their dormitories. Then, Harish settled himself on a chair and turned to his friends.
"For those of you who do not know," (which meant everyone but the twins), "I have decided to start a secret army in order to train students to think individually for themselves."
"Yes," Hermione said. "I was starting to think of something like that, except I was going more along the lines of a secret class taught by you."
"Out of curiosity," Harish said. "Why me?"
"Well," Hermione said. "I mean you've done all that stuff. Stole the stone, defeated the diary, got rid of all those dementors, and you made it through the tournament pretty well, not to mention held your own when you were attacked immediately afterward."
Harish nodded.
"So, what I was thinking," he continued. "Was that we gather a list of those who we might invite, watch them for a week or so, and when we determine that they won't tell on this secret group (mainly to Umbridge) we could invite them to the Room of Requirement to settle things."
"So who would you invite?" George questioned.
"Oh, I have just a few people in mind," Harish replied with a smile.
Meanwhile, Neville and Ron were sitting in the Gryffindor common room. Ron was once again regaling the story of how he made Keeper for the Quidditch team to any of those who would listen. Seamus was encouraging him while Dean sat nearby, rolling his eyes. Why Angelina let that braggart on the team was beyond him. When he had asked her about it, she had told him:
"I know he's got some issues with his ego," Angelina said. "But he did win at the try-outs."
Of course what she meant by ego was unclear. The seventh year could have been speaking of the boy's swollen head. How he had been bragging about it to anyone who would listen for the past week and a half. Or, she could have been referring to the fact that when he was nervous (which was basically when anyone was watching) Dean's year mate could not save a single goal, nor catch a Quaffle when it is tossed lightly to him.
"During the match," Angelina said to him. "You'll just have to catch that Snitch as soon as possible; before the Slytherins can score any goals."
Dean nodded sadly, knowing then that it was futile. He was up against Harish Blake, after all. With that young man, the Slytherin team was practically unbeatable. No wonder he had been chosen as Slytherin's team captain.
"…of course," Ron was saying. "Slytherin won't stand a chance. Not while I'm on the team. Not a single ball will get past me."
"Well," Dean said, finally fed up, as he turned to face Ron. "You sing an entirely different tune during practice. Didn't poor Katie get sent to the Hospital Wing because you beaned her with the Quaffle."
"It was an accident," Ron said. "I just got a little excited, is all."
"What about the one hundred and thirteen times you've dropped the Quaffle? Yes, I've been counting."
"You just don't support me because of Blake," Ron growled.
"Do I?" Dean asked. "Well, maybe I'm friends with him for a good reason."
"What reason would that be?" Ron asked sarcastically.
"Because you're a prat and I don't see how all the boys in our year hang out with you."
Ron's mouth dropped open, but he quickly closed it.
"Ron—" Neville tried to say, but the Weasley cut across him.
"Why don't you stay out of this, Neville?" Ron retorted. "You wouldn't understand."
Everyone nearby got the message Ron was sending across loud and clear; obviously he thought Neville was too dumb to understand. He thought Neville was just someone that would follow Ron because he had no guts or ambition to do anything else. Well, Neville decided that that was going to change today.
Didn't it seem like Blake, the boy Ron had said was going Dark for ages, was nicer than his own friend? Dean himself wasn't all that bad either. And Neville noticed for the first time that Dean had no friends in their house. In their first year, Dean had hung out with Seamus, but he had always seemed like a loner. Then, when Seamus started hanging out with Ron, Dean had started hanging out with Blake.
Well, Neville had made up his mind.
He stood up and asked coolly, "I wouldn't would I? Well, I understand enough that I can do better than have a horrible friend like you."
And he strode over to Dean and stood in front of him.
"Do you know where I could speak to Harish Blake?"
Dean grinned.
"That I do, my friend."