The fact that Harry was informed that he was going to advance some courses again did not mean anything out of the ordinary within the school. There were many who had already become accustomed to seeing him jumping from one course to another, with relative ease. Even for Harry, it wasn't too abrupt a change to see himself in that routine again. Since he was already accustomed to the previous course, the change was within his plans.
What had definitely not entered into his plans was that Richard Morris, the captain of the quidditch team, began practically stalking him while begging him to try out for the team. To tell the truth, it had not been the first time he had asked him to join, the previous year, he had been very disappointed when he found out that they would not make exceptions for him. He should have been prepared, but the truth is that he had believed that he had already forgotten who he wanted to join the team.
"Please, Harry, you have to accept." He told him every time he saw him. " You promised me last year, you told me you would join."
"I didn't promise anything. I just said that I would take it into account, there is a difference."
"But you have to accept... Please."
"I will think about it…"
"But…"
"I said, I'll think about it. I have many things to take into account. You already know that I have other ways of doing classes that are harder than for others."
"Very well…"
He had this persecution every time he had the opportunity. Almost every time he finished a class, he was there, begging him to join the team. Harry felt bad, on the one hand, he wanted to be able to meet all the people's expectations, but on the other hand, he wanted to have some peace of mind this year. He knew that if he agreed to join the team, he would hardly have any free time for himself. Plus, there was the fact that his friends weren't helping either. Every time they saw the captain they kept urging him to accept the test to join the team... It was quite frustrating, because it was like fighting a two-front battle. Finally, after only a week of constant siege, he surrendered.
"Very well, Richard, you win," he said after two hours of constant pleading on the part of the captain.
He was in the common room and had been doing his homework there, for the first time in a long time. He had wanted to get away from his brother, but instead, he found himself harassed by Morris who was determined to have him on the team. So, for two straight hours, he had found himself bombarded by pleas… Normally you could ignore them, but when you were trying to concentrate on writing a particularly complicated potions essay, in the end, you had no choice but to give in.
"Really?" He asked excitedly. "Are you going to try out for the team? You promise?"
"Of course, I promise, but that doesn't mean I'm going to get in."
"Of course you'll get in!" He exclaimed. "Harry, Hooch wanted to put you on the team last year... Hooch never intercedes for the students!"
"But that…"
"That means you're damn good." He stated before getting up. "I'll wait for you on Saturday at ten... don't be late."
"Wait! You haven't told me what positions are free!" He exclaimed but it was too late, he had already left.
"There is a chaser's position and another seeker's position." Another voice responded.
He turned around surprised and there he found one of his current classmates, Cedric Diggory, who was smiling with amusement at the situation the boy was in. Harry didn't know much about him, only that he was quite popular and a good student... The truth is that he didn't know much about his classmates because they hardly lasted him.
"I'm sorry, but we were all wondering how long Richard's stalking would take before you fell." He laughed. "I'm also going to try my luck... I'll try to get the position of seeker, but if not, let's see if I'm a chaser."
Harry didn't know how, but the news that he was going to try out for the Quidditch team spread like wildfire. Everywhere he went everyone was talking about it.
Given the persecution to which Morris had subjected him, it was normal that it was the reason for the conversations, the strange thing would have been the opposite. The bad thing about that was that there were many people who wanted to go see the test, since if the captain of the quidditch team had come to stalk him to try it, he would have to be pretty good, right? It was for this reason that in the end, Morris had to prohibit anyone who was not going to try to enter during the tests, in order to have some privacy.
On Saturday morning there were many who tried to avoid the ban, but they encountered the rather surprising presence of Mrs. Hooch and finally had to give up, leaving a rather empty Quidditch field. It was in that way that all those who were going to try out for the team found it and although there were people who felt quite disappointed, there were many more who felt relieved.
"Very good..." Morris began. "First we will try the ones that will be tested for seekers, so chasers please step aside."
There was a group of five people who remained in the field and who were obviously going to be the ones to try out for Seeker Positions. Harry was among the group, much to the captain's pleasure, although he wouldn't say it out loud or have a cruciatus thrown at him.
"Perfect." Morris said. "Now, to select our seeker, we will use a very simple, but effective method. We will let the snitch free and the one who takes the least time to capture it will be our new seeker. Let's get started!
As Morris had indicated, this was a very simple and at the same time very effective method, since it was very easy to know who had the potential to be a seeker and who did not. Of the five that were testing, it was clear that the first two did not have any type of potential to play in that position, when thirty minutes after having released the snitch, they still did not know how the hell to catch the golden ball. The third had better chances, that was clear... after all, he did achieve his goal of catching it, although it took twenty-five minutes to pass.
Very soon everyone could see that the duel for the seeker position was going to be between the last two: Cedric Digorry and Harry. There was no reason to deny it, Cedric was good... he managed to capture the snitch in just twelve minutes and everyone thought he would be the new seeker since that was impossible to overcome.
Harry also thought so himself and internally he was glad for this, because it would mean that he would have much more time for his things, which he would not have if he were admitted, so he prepared to do the test very calmly and enjoy the sensation of flying, although he preferred flying in his phoenix form.
It was fantastic, almost as if everything else had ceased to exist, that was always what flight meant to him. For a few moments, his brother and his parents ceased to exist and only the broom and him were what mattered. He wasn't even making an effort to look for the golden ball, for what? It had become clear that Cedric was going to win the spot... a slight flicker of gold to his right made him discover the elusive ball and he rushed out to grab it. It was fast, he had to admit, but he would be faster... just a few seconds later he achieved his goal and when he turned to descend he discovered, to his surprise, that the stopwatch that had appeared to count the time impartially, showed that he had managed to capture the snitch. In just seven minutes and twenty-six seconds… he had just joined the team.
"Very good!" Morris said enthusiastically. "We now have a new seeker! Harry Potter just made the team." There were several people here who cheered, many of whom had tried out for that position themselves. Now we will begin the tests for the position of chaser.
The chaser trials were a bit of a blur for Harry. If someone had asked him what happened, he would not have known what to answer, because he paid little, or rather, no attention. He still couldn't believe he was going to play with the team. He had participated in the tests to fly! Finally, once the captain had finished the selection of the chasers, Harry had mulled it over enough to accept it and find out that Cedric had managed to get the position of chaser... apparently, something predictable since he was the best on the broom.
"Very good, thank you very much to everyone who has tried for the available positions... even if you have not entered this year you can always try the next year."
Maybe there were a few people angry for not being able to make the team, but everyone had to agree that none of them had done better than the two chosen, so as far as possible they were satisfied. Of course, that also meant that in a very short time, the entire school would know who was going inside.
"For the team, you should know that practices will be on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays at 4:00 p.m...."
"Morris… I sometimes have classes at that time." Harry cut him off. "How do you want me to attend practices if I'm in class?"
"Shit... I had forgotten." He muttered thoughtfully. "And at 5:00 p.m.?"
"At that time I'm free," he answered with a resigned sigh. Goodbye to a few free hours.
As he guessed, when he arrived at lunchtime, practically the entire school knew that he was going to be the new seeker for Hufflepuff, and although most people did not hesitate to congratulate him (especially his friends), there were also those who weren't happy... come on, Oliver Wood, a sixth year Gryffindor, who was the team captain, almost started crying when he found out. Then, there was also his brother, who did not hesitate to use this new information to mess with him, although of course that did not cause him any type of distress... it was more of a slight annoyance.
There was also the fact that his brother was much more full of himself than usual. Apparently, his flying lessons would begin the next day, and since he'd been doing it almost since he learned to walk, he figured he'd be the best of them all. There was also the fact that he hoped he could dazzle Mrs. Hooch with his technique and that she would allow him to join the Quidditch team.
"Is he as good as he says?" Athenea asked on Monday during breakfast.
"Yes, he is. Flying is one of the things where he doesn't exaggerate." Harry answered.
"But... is he as good as you?" Asked Cedric, who was sitting next to him.
"I don't know... The two of us have never flown together. So I can't compare."
Apparently, Brian really had reason to boast about his abilities, if what the early years rumors were true. They said that while Mrs. Hooch had taken a first year to the infirmary, Brian had disobeyed a direct order and taken to flying, proving that he had been right when he had been showing off his skills with a broom. Of course, it was also true that the shot had backfired on him, because McGonagall had caught him and despite his excuses had taken him away.
Harry briefly wondered what could happen to his brother for disobeying a teacher, although he knew enough. Brian was the Twinkle in Headmaster's right eye and he would make sure that nothing bad happened to him. An idea that was confirmed later, when Ginny Weasley came furiously to sit with Harry and his Hufflepuff friends.
"Ginny... What's happening?"
"What happened? On top of your brother disobeying the rules, McGonagall has put him on the quidditch team! Brian is the new seeker!"
"What!?" Athenea exclaimed. "It has to be a joke, right?"
"No."
"But they didn't let Harry in last year and it was Hooch and Sprout who asked the director!" Jonathan added.
"That's favoritism! It's not fair!"
Yes, it was favoritism, and Harry knew it as well as anyone else, but he also knew why Dumbledore showed such an amount of favoritism towards his brother, even though he wouldn't be the one to say it out loud. What was clear was that now the youngest Potter would be unbearable, and that he would be even more unpleasant towards Harry.
...
The next day, Harry was preparing to go to his Quidditch practice, while trying not to think about Brian. As he had assumed, his younger brother had been unbearable and that was an opinion shared by everyone within the Hogwarts student body. In fact, he knew that more than one of them had had to restrain themselves from throwing two or three curses at him every time they ran into him in the hallways, and the funny thing was that more than one of them was giving him their deepest condolences for having such horror of a younger brother. There were many who were unable to understand how they were related, much less being brothers.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
The spell caught him completely by surprise, something that disconcerted him. He should have noticed someone approaching him! He had been able to do it since he was very little!
Had he been so immersed in his own thoughts that he had been unable to notice someone sneaking up behind him? Apparently yes.
He was quite lucky, as he fell on his back instead of face down. At least he had saved himself from breaking his nose and that was something. Now he just had to wait to find out what his brother wanted, because he had recognized his brother's voice with complete clarity. He didn't have to wait long, Brian showed up right away and to his surprise, he seemed angry... actually, angrier than he had ever seen him until now, and what he said seemed to be focused on him didn't seem like a good omen.
"You'd be proud, wouldn't you?" Brian said, looking at him and leaving Harry disconcerted. "Yes... you must be very proud... You've achieved what you've wanted all your miserable and disgusting life."
Then to Harry's horror, his own brother kicked him in the ribs with all his might. It hurt… Oh, Merlin, how it hurt. But perhaps what scared him most was seeing the incredible amount of hate directed towards him. What could have happened to him to make him blame him and hate him for it?
"What's happening? Don't you know what the hell I'm talking about? " Brian asked before kicking him again. "I'm talking to you about Quidditch, you idiot! You must be very proud... How long did it take you to run up to Sprout and convince her to complain about favoritism? I bet it didn't take you five minutes once you found out I was going to make the team."
Harry was barely aware of what Brian was telling him, since he could only concentrate on the pain caused by the continuous kicks he was giving him. He had also hit his head a couple of times and everything had become hazy, while he tried not to lose consciousness. However, he was somewhat aware that in the end, Brian was not going to make the Quidditch team. Apparently, his Head of House had complained about favoritism, supported by Flitwick and Snape, and of course, Brian decided to blame him for a change.
Brian, for his part, when he noticed that Harry was losing consciousness, took the opportunity to hit him even harder, while calling him all kinds of insulting names. Not even when he saw that he was no longer conscious did he stop his attack on his brother, on the contrary, he increased it.
To tell the truth, Brian Potter wanted revenge on his brother for everything that had been happening to him since he arrived at school. Since he was little, his parents had taught him that he was much better than others and that therefore he had the right to behave like someone superior, but since he had arrived at school things had not gone like that... he was not the best in his class, he had no friends and now he wasn't even on the quidditch team, while his brother, who had never been anything but a failure, was turning out to be all of those things and it was for that reason that he hated him.
Just like what had happened to his brother a while ago, Brian also didn't hear someone approaching from behind, he was too busy hitting Harry, so it came as a surprise to him when he heard a surprised and horrified scream.
"Mr. Potter! Immovilus!" Not two seconds later, Professor Snape appeared in front of him. "I hope you realize that you are in big trouble, Mr. Potter... After this, I will do everything in my power to have you expelled!"
[T/N: YEAH!!! SNAPE's THE GOAT!!!!!!!!! Now Brian's gonna get it! This has been therapeutic for me, it brought me great joy. If you feel bad for Harry and want to share your sorrow then let us know so we can talk, if you feel bad for Brian then comment on this and let us know so we can tell you to F*ck off! Please drop some stones, please! Also, join the P@treon or the Ko-fi for an early sight of Brian's coming demise!]
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