Pack!

               Chapter Thirty-Two

               Just outside Hogwarts, Day Two, 10:30 AM

               Oliver heard Bill’s call and looked over, then made his way towards him with a murmured comment and pat on the shoulder to Mr. MacPherson, whom he’d sought out and been conversing with since directly after leaving the Great Hall, with a break for Oliver to take part in the Compass Rose ritual. They’d been running over various aspects of livestock care and he’d wanted to bring up a possibility for the dairy operation. He knew Einstein Calhoun on the Ballycastle Bats team was from a hardscrabble farming family in the States, and had talked to him at breakfast, seeing if he might be interested in taking on the MacPherson’s dairy, maybe as a team setup as well, so he was prepping the ground with Mr. MacPherson just in case he made an offer. If he had to guess, it looked promising.

               Ollie was confident in his own livestock knowledge, but horses had never been the family business, just a side interest of his, so he was sure there were things he didn’t know he didn’t know and they’d been discussing that as well, soaking up what he could in the short amount of time he’d had and having plans to pick through his parents’ knowledge in the next day or two as well. There were a few that he knew of amongst his teammates who already had at least basic equine knowledge, but he had grand plans for their stock. The Puddlemere team was going to have the best bred and best trained horses anyone could ever ask for, Harry included, of course. Frankly, Oliver already considered him part of the team, they just hadn’t formalized it. Oliver had been treating him like a kid brother ever since he’d met him as a tiny little firstie, all big green eyes and a complete belter on a broom. Even after Oliver had graduated, he’d impatiently been waiting for Harry to do so as well. He’d spent the time crafting multiple strategies to lure him to the Puddlemere team, or wherever else he happened to be. Funny how he’d always placed Harry and quidditch together in his mind. Almost like you couldn’t have one without the other, or maybe that was just an Oliver thing, he considered.

               “Hey Bill, what can I do for you?”

               “Set up a quidditch pitch and have a game this afternoon, yeah?” We need to start up some opportunities to get people out of the castle without encouraging wandering and let them blow off some steam.”

               Ollie took a moment to process, then his smile nearly lit the morning all on its own. Radiating excitement, he answered, “On it!” He considered for a moment, running through scheduling and factoring in the noon meeting that might run a bit long. “Coin toss will be at 2:00 PM this afternoon for a two hour exhibition game, and barring any instructions to the contrary, we’ll set additional games for the next four days, same time. If you want to set specific hours for outside activities of any sort involving the pitch, let me know and I’ll ask for volunteers from the quidditch teams to monitor the field for safety.”

               Bill hesitated, then answered, “No decisions on that yet, but yes to four more afternoon games. I’ll announce this one at lunch, and this evening we can have everyone discuss setting up options for other sorts of outdoor activities.”

               Oliver headed back to the castle, considering and discarding various plans before settling on an approach. Should they open the games up to pickup games of everyone who wanted to play, or limit the exhibition to just the pro teams? No, it should be just the pros for these five games, he thought. Bill wanted people’s attention focused on something other than getting into mischief due to boredom, and the faster pace of a pro game was better suited for that. So. There were 35 starting players from five teams, plus the 15 reserve players. Puddlemere had all seven of their reserves, but other teams only had between one and three. If they played by teams, not everyone would get a fair chance, even subbing others in still wouldn’t give everyone equal time. He decided to draw names for each game. All beaters would put their name in a hat, all chasers in a different one, and so on. That would allow everyone to have their name chosen as part of the seventy players needed, and those who’s name had already been drawn wouldn’t be eligible again until all names had been chosen, then everyone’s would go back in again to fill the twenty remaining spots. No hard feelings that way, and they could have up to five different teams represented on each roster, which would be a entertaining change of pace. And they needed to set up a league manager to take this kind of stuff on; Ollie just wanted to play, not handle paperwork.

               A tempus charm showed as 10:45 AM, so he dashed to the Room to dig into his luggage, grabbing a few sheets of parchment and a never out quill, then jogged back down to the Great Hall where he appropriated one of the small sideboards. On it, he conjured four small and differently colored boxes, labeling each individually as Keeper, Beater, Chaser, Seeker. He tore a couple of parchments into strips, leaving them in a heap beside the boxes. On the last sheet, he divided it horizontally into five sections, then vertically into two. Labeling the first section as day one, team one and team two, he continued down through day five, team one and team two.

               He went looking for Lennox Campbell; he’d heard a rumor before they left that Montrose had managed to Pack! their entire pitch and he needed to know if it was true. He also kept an eye out for his teammate Kent Smithfield, who had their equipment locker in one of his bags. If the Montrose rumor didn’t pan out, they had some shrunken practice hoops they could use in a pinch.

               *-*-*-*-

               Lunch was a raucous event as quidditch players from all the teams all had visible smiles, chattering and full of enthusiasm for this afternoon’s match. They’d all been sure to drop their names in their respective boxes, and had mentally checked the whereabouts of their gear. The Magpies had indeed managed to bring their pitch. Some bright spark had thought to team up with a few others to conjure a tent over the grounds, tying it to the substantial cork layer that was just under their artificial turf. Since the box encasing the shrunken pitch had a stasis charm built in, the conjured tent was in no danger of fading and they’d have no problem unPack!ing it, so long as they properly leveled the ground. The hoops should sink themselves back into the earth; Oliver reminded himself to do a stability check on them.

               At 12:30, Bill called for attention, telling everyone they were welcome to keep eating while he made some announcements. “I know we’re all looking forward to the game, but we have some village housekeeping to do before we get to the fun stuff, I’m afraid. First item, Newt Scamander and his grandson Rolf, along with Luna Lovegood have been evaluating the small game catches the owls have brought them. So far, and I do emphasize the “so far”, there’s been nothing larger than a rabbit, no meat eaters, and nothing inherently harmful beyond it’s ability to bite. It will be quite some time before we have a complete handle on the local wildlife though, so don’t go poking interesting bugs with a stick to see what they’ll do, let’s leave that to the experts, please.”

               “Second item regards those who allowed Remus temporary ownership of their luggage in order to have it travel with the castle. It’s been an unfortunate discovery that any magical labels dropped off during the transition, and Remus relinquishing ownership didn’t bring them back. That also includes all the community supplies items. So please, for the love of Merlin, don’t disturb the luggage piles unless you’re absolutely sure it’s your luggage. Physically marked items and any with physically attached labels have survived just fine, though.”

               “Which leads to the third item, please claim your new room before the evening meeting, and move any luggage that’s yours, or that your still sorting through to separate out community supplies to your new room. Tomorrow I’m going to ask Fred and George Weasley to start reconfiguring the room to get people back onto a single floor on the main room walls The stairs to the second tier rooms are fun, but still a safety hazard. We’ll be removing the initial room setups and moving the new rooms back into those vacated spaces.”

“Fourth item, as of tomorrow morning, any luggage remaining on the main floor will be considered community supplies and turned over to the inventory team. If they later find something that is personal luggage instead, they’ll return it to the identified owner, but they have a lot of inventory to sort through first. The inventory team will be working in a designated room starting this afternoon. You can start giving them known supply storage items to them this afternoon, we’ll have the door marked for you.”

               “Fifth item, and I don’t want anyone to stress about this please, but we’re encountering difficulties with apparition. More to the point, it doesn’t seem to be working so please don’t attempt it for the time being. We’re going to be doing what testing we can safely do, but we have competing priorities and limited manpower with spell crafting experience. We’ll do our best to evaluate the issue and get back to you with results but it’s unlikely to be a quick fix. In the meantime, we have a small number of flying carpets that have been made available, and no, Sirius, we’re not using yours, I very nearly classified it as a Dangerous Object. You’re not to put anyone on it unless you personally are in control and you’re to take nobody up that’s under the age of fifteen and even then they need parental permission if they’re under eighteen, is that understood? Other than that, please don’t hesitate to ask a neighbor or friend for a broom ride, we can affix a pillion pad quite easily, and they’re remarkably comfortable for those that have never ridden a broom before.”

               “Sixth item, the map ritual from this morning has so far worked, the map is developing nicely although it’s not yet complete and still quite patchy. By this evening, we expect to have it laid out for examination, and I’ll be asking for five people that have wilderness experience to lead small teams in exploration of the nearby areas. Nothing farther out than a four hour walk for the time being, you’ll be reporting back on wildlife as sell as sampling vegetation. I’d also like our village planners that we’ll be nominating shortly to take time tomorrow to study the map in detail, and propose potential village sites you feel might meet our needs. Once we have those, we can send a team out to put eyes on it and work from there.”

               “Seventh, I have a signup sheet in the room for ten spell testers. Nothing to do with the apparition issue apart from our realization that if one thing doesn’t work we need to know what else may be affected. I’d like those who volunteer to run through all the standard books of spells, you’re looking for unexpected or abnormal results. You’ll be working in shielded rooms for safety’s sake, so yes, the job could be hazardous. Think carefully before you sign up, please.”

               “Eighth. I’m sending a sheet of paper to each of you over age sixteen, along with a pencil.” he said, waving the army of levitated pages out into the crowd. “On it you will find a list of known offices that need to be filled. Right below that, please write in any additional offices you think we may need, and beside each office, if you know of someone, please indicate a person you feel would serve that area of expertise well. Yes, you can write in yourself. If we come out with a majority vote for that office or need more information from a candidate, please bear in mind that we will still ask people if they wish to serve that temporary appointment, it’s not an automatic assignment. They have the right to refuse without needing to justify that choice to the rest of us. Get busy writing, I’m not going to let Ollie draw names for the game this afternoon until I have at least one hundred of my papers back.” he said with a laughter in his voice, completely unsurprised when papers started immediately drifting back to him with hurriedly scrawled notes. He counted them out loud, with people inching towards the edges of their seats as the count rose to the eighties, then the nineties, then counting with Bill in unison, ”… Ninety eight, ninety nine, one hundred!”  

               “Good job, keep sending them back to me, I’m not leaving the room, but…Ollie, you’re cleared to launch!” came from Bill, giving Oliver the go ahead.

               Oliver had been standing by the sideboard, he’d enlarged his five day team rosters and temporarily stuck it to the wall. At Bill’s command, he started with day one team one, drawing Einstein Calhoun and Sassy Wiggins as beaters, Gerard Condon, Penelope O’Madden, and Fabius Watkins as chasers, Erica Walker as seeker, and Victor O’Hurley as keeper. That put four out of five teams represented on team one, only Puddlemere being absent. Team two was Mya Wilson and Lara Gleeson as beaters, Sienna Clark, Aurora McDermott, and Senen Kerrisk as chasers, Aubrey Barnes as seeker, and Esmae Dawson as keeper. All five teams appeared on the team two roster.

               Players scheduled for this afternoon scrambled for the room exits, stampeding upstairs to retrieve gear, planning to huddle up shortly to pick their captains and discuss their strategy for the game.

               The remaining names were quickly assigned; Oliver would play on day three and five. He sent Lennox Campbell to fetch the Montrose pitch and check with Bill on where he wanted it placed, at least for now. He asked Kestrels coach Aisling Byrne if she wanted to referee at least today’s match, preferably all five? She agreed to the five games, but made it clear she would not be doing so permanently, she was focused on keeping her team up and running, still plotting how to keep the team cohesive. Oliver told her about Puddlemere taking on a business, and the possibility that Ballycastle might do the same. If Kenmare could locate something that was profitable enough to sponsor the team at some future point, that might work for them. Depending on what expertise was already present within the players, it might lead them to all sorts of possible options.

Just Outside Hogwarts

               2 PM

               The air was electric as the two teams stepped onto the field for the inaugural quidditch match. The crowd was roaring and the players were pumped up, ready to give it their all. The chosen captains, team one’s Fabius Watkins, wearing a red scarf as were all his temporary teammates, and team two’s Aurora McDermott, wearing blue, faced each other in front of Aisling Byrn. Coach Byrne was holding a galleon, ready to flip it once heads and tails had been assigned, allowing the winner to choose which end of the pitch they preferred. Aurora won the toss choosing to defend the visitor end of the pitch, with a wink at Fabius, allowing him the “home” end of the pitch. It was a courteous gesture from one player to another, as Fabius not only played for the Montrose Magpies, he’d been the one to come up with the idea of Pack!ing their pitch.

               The game got off to a speedy start and was soon in full swing as the chasers from both teams whizzed around the field, dodging bludgers and performing some impressive maneuvers as they worked to score points for their respective teams.

               In short order, team one’s chaser, Penelope O’Madden, was rocketing towards the hoops with the quaffle in hand, zigzagging through the opposing team’s beaters, at one point even swinging down into a perfect starfish when a bludger got too close. Back atop her broom, she continued her path up the pitch and once in position, faked a throw to the left, then changed course to the right. The keeper misread the maneuver, and was thrown off balance when she attempted to correct her orientation. Seeing the opportunity, Penny aimed and threw the quaffle with all her might towards the middle hoop. The keeper of team two, Esmae Dawson, tried to intercept the shot, but Penny’s throw was spot on, and the quaffle sailed straight through the middle hoop, scoring the first goal of the game to very enthusiastic cheers from the crowd.

               Meanwhile, the beaters of team two were wreaking havoc on the field, sending bludgers hurtling towards team one’s chasers. One of the bludgers came dangerously close to hitting Gerard Condon, but he dodged it at the last second, the move sending him into a spinning dive when he flung himself to the side trying to avoid getting hit. Team one’s beaters were relentless in their turn, trying in turn to knock team two’s chasers off their brooms at every opportunity. As the game progressed, the seekers of both teams were engaged in a fierce battle high up in the air, each in constant motion as they quartered the sky, looking to catch the snitch. They were diving and weaving, each trying to outmaneuver the other.

Suddenly, the crowd erupted in a roar as the team two seeker, Aubrey Barnes, spotted the snitch hovering near the top of the stadium. He accelerated towards it at breakneck speed, narrowly avoiding a collision with Erica Walker of team one. It was a nail-biting moment, and the crowd leaning forward as one, watching the two seekers race forward. Erica was gaining on the snitch, her smaller size and lighter weight paying dividends, and she reached out with one hand to grab it. The snitch, however, was too quick, and it darted away at the last second, leaving Erica grasping air. Aubrey took advantage of the situation and made a reckless forward lunch towards the snitch, determined not to let it slip away. In an incredible display of skill and agility, and to be fair because he was off balance and tipped forward (not that he’d admit to that at the post game party), Aubrey did a mid-air somersault, reaching out with both hands to grab the Snitch just as it started to once again switch direction. The crowd erupted in cheers as team two celebrated their victory with a lap around the pitch, laughing and jostling each other as they went. It had been a riveting game to watch, full of amazing plays and demonstrating the skill of all the players on the field.

               Just inside Hogwarts

               2 PM

               Bill was using the now quiet great hall to go through the paperwork with Percy, transferring all the names and additional offices submitted to a master sheet. He’d have loved to be out there enjoying the game, but needs must. For one job and one job only, there was a unanimous vote: For Government setup, the name submitted on every single sheet but one was Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth. He suspected the one line left blank was Queen Elizabeth herself’s form, and that only because she was not well acquainted with most of the settlers as yet. Social and Community Management, with it’s attendant description of: An office to look after those who needed aid and community welfare as a whole, had resulted in a very strong consensus for Arthur Weasley. Bill was floored by that; he had no idea how seventy two people, most of whom he’d never met, knew his dad well enough to slot him into such a place. His dad adored children and had a knack for setting everyone he met at ease, so on the one hand nominating him made perfect sense, but... Bill wondered if those same people had ever encountered his dad’s thoroughly ruthless streak. It would come front and center when faced with someone trying to take advantage or impose injustice, which, after several moments of consideration, also made perfect sense for the position.

               Percy had a small, soft smile on his face when he saw the prevalence of people voting for his dad. He’d had his eyes opened quite a bit while assisting Headmaster Dumbledore and the Ministry during the evacuation, and sorely regretted having been so easily caught up in the tumult. Timing it just right, as Percy, Molly and Ginny had approached the portal to leave, Arthur had swooped in. Putting an arm around Percy, he gently guided him out of the portal doorway while using the turn to extend an elbow just enough to nudge Molly, and by consequence Ginny who had her hand tightly grasped in Molly’s, into a stumble through the portal. Once he realized why his dad had towed him out of the crowd, he couldn’t have been more grateful. Removing Molly and Ginny from his life filled him with nothing but relief. His two youngest siblings were absolute nightmares of misbehavior and repellent attitude, and it was patently clear to the rest of the family it was Molly who had allowed and encouraged it. The five elder Weasley brothers and father were all as tight as ticks, differences in personality making no difference to them, but the two youngest Weasleys had killed off any family feeling early and utterly.

               Bill was feeling rather satisfied at the moment. He had twelve people to talk to for ten positions, (there had been two offices that had tied on number of submitted votes), and another eighteen names in reserve if the primary choice declined. He really hoped Her Majesty would take on Government, he couldn’t think of anyone else better suited. Moving on to his second self assigned task, He asked Percy to get a sheet for exploration volunteers going, specifically looking for five team leads. Should those people have recommendations, Bill wanted a total of five teams, each with four people.

               Bill then summoned the map and, pushing two of the large tables together, rolled it out. It was looking more and more complete, although still not fully developed as yet. With the plethora of blue patches, it seemed like they might be on an island, one that so far contained interesting amounts of topography. There were mountain ridges, rivers, lakes, forests, and large swaths of presumed grassland already in evidence. Remus had told him what scale was requested, although it hadn’t yet marked itself in the corner, nor had the legend, but at one foot for one hundred miles, the map could potentially cover 1000 miles by 600 miles. They’d have to wait out the remainder of the process to get the final details.