Lockhart chose that moment to appear at the scene, obviously heading for lunch himself, and heard the last comment. "Oh, signed photographs? Who's giving signed photographs? Come on, Mr Creevey. A double portrait; can't do better than that. We'll both sign it for you!"
"I don't think so," Harry interrupted, pushing past the new teacher. "I don't have the time or the patience to indulge in this nonsense. Get yourself someone else to bolster your fame, Professor Lockhart. I'm not available."
Harry didn't even wait for the man's response because he was already heading towards the Slytherin table in the Great Hall. He sat down next to Daphne and began piling his plate with food.
"Trouble?" asked Daphne hesitantly.
"Some Gryffindor twit decided to take photographs of me in the middle of the corridor," said Harry angrily. "Then Jones acts like a jealous arsehole. That's when Lockhart shows up and annoys me even more. That guy is a moron. Who the hell made him a teacher?"
"I'll tell you who," Theo Nott answered as he sat opposite to them. "It's someone with a long white beard who calls himself the headmaster. Lockhart was horrible. We had him just last period."
"What did he do?"
"What did he not do?" exclaimed Daphne. "He let a bunch of Cornish pixies loose in the classroom. The pixies destroyed the room, picked up poor Neville and hung him from the chandelier and caused mayhem. The idiot professor decided to flee rather than help. Granger said he was giving us ' practical experience ' ."
"Any chance we could get rid of him?" asked Harry hopefully.
"No," said Blaise Zabini. "All teachers have a contract. Unless Lockhart does something drastic, we're stuck with him for a year."
"Great," muttered Harry. "Dumbledore just had to pick the worst teacher possible for my O.W.L. year. How are we going to cope?"
His question was met with silence from the others.
...
A week later, Harry found himself at the Quidditch pitch for the try-outs for the Ravenclaw House team. While he couldn't be bothered if his House won the Quidditch Cup or not, he couldn't ignore the fact that he greatly enjoyed the game. So, after some encouragement from Sirius and Daphne, he decided to give it a try.
Holding his new Nimbus Two Thousand and One in his hand, Harry stood with the rest of the potential players who were trying for Seeker. The spot was already occupied by a third-year girl named Cho Chang, but traditionally, try-outs were held for all positions, except for the captain's. And since the captain of the Ravenclaw team was a Chaser and not a Seeker, he had a chance to take Cho Chang's place.
The try-outs began for Chasers and Beaters first, followed by the Keeper. Once the rest of the team was formed, the captain, a sixth-year girl by the name of Abigail Turner, turned her attention to the Seekers. After a few rounds of elimination, only two remained - Harry and Cho.
"Alright, you two, I'll keep this simple. You have to qualify two more rounds - catch the snitch once without the bludgers and catch it again with the bludgers. Up in the air!" she shouted.
Harry gripped his Nimbus Two Thousand and One as he shot off into the air. He flew to an impressive height and stopped.
"I'm releasing the golden snitch - NOW!"
The small golden snitch disappeared immediately so there was no point in looking for it. But Harry did not like waiting for the snitch to appear, with nothing to do. He flew around the pitch for a few minutes, diving and ascending. Finally, he saw the snitch near the ground at the end of the goal posts. He quickly accelerated and could sense Chang behind him. He dived at a sharp angle to throw her off, but she was relentless. He approached the ground with speed; he could hear a few girls scream in fright, but he suddenly pulled up, with his gloved fist in the air, holding the golden snitch.
He approached the captain who looked slack-jawed at his performance.
"You could have killed me!" cried a furious Cho Chang, who landed next to him. "What do you think you were doing, diving at such speed?"
"That's the point; the opposing Seeker would not be able to follow me. Captain, could you please release the bludgers?"
Abigail Turner grinned. "Boys, give him the best you've got," she said to the beaters. The Beaters took their bats and released the bludgers. Harry and Cho took their positions and Turner released the snitch again. Immediately, both Seekers found bludgers headed their way and had to dive to get away. Harry again started flying from one end of the pitch to the other. After five minutes of dodging bludgers, he spotted the snitch. He immediately darted towards it, but could sense a bludger coming his way. He slowed down, spun three hundred and sixty degrees in mid-air and hit the bludger with the tail of his broomstick so that it would trouble Chang instead, and his aim was accurate as it did hit her. He dived and caught the snitch.
When he landed, people were applauding.
"That was awesome, Potter! Not only did you get the snitch, but you sent the bludger away too! Welcome to the team," said Turner.
Harry smiled.
....
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