Falling into the "Dark Art" of Broom Racing
Harry Potter was on his way to the Quidditch pitch when he saw it. The Hogwarts Broomula Junior League.
Since the death of his best mate, Ron Weasley, and his ex-girlfriend, Ginny Weasley, at the Battle of Hogwarts, he had decided that he needed to go back to Hogwarts, to take his NEWTs.
But at the same time, he returned to the school because his other best friend, Hermione Granger, had pursuaded him to.
Not that Harry minded. During the Horcrux hunt, he had fallen in love with her.
Watching the second years who were taking part in the Broomula Junior league, Harry remembered his second year, when it was an informal competition, which Harry had won the various competitions, gaining several cards for his card collection from the Chocolate Frogs he won. But now, the Broomula Junior League was a serious event. It was the equivalent of the Gryffindor House Quidditch team's match against Slytherin...
And Harry was hooked.
Heading over, he saw that the broom racers were all on the same type of brooms - the Cleansweep Eleven-R. They looked like the standard Cleansweep Eleven but they had been modified for use of broom racing.
Heading over to the instructor to watch, he saw one of the second years, a Gryffindor named Paul di Resta was in the lead.
"He's fast!" Harry muttered under his breath, watching as Di Resta flew around the course, unaware that the instructor had heard him.
"Harry Potter." the instructor had said, turning to Harry, shaking his hand. "Son of James Potter, the Broomula 2 champion, a man who was well on his way to winning the Broomula 1 Championship in his rookie year, back in 1981, until his passing at the British Grand Prix. He was the first Hogwarts Quidditch player who had made the move into professional broom racing."
"You knew my dad?" Harry asked, curious.
"Not personally, but I saw one of his races, and he had talent." the instructor said. "Sorry, I meant to introduce myself. I'm Christian Horner, and I'm the head of a broom racing team called Arden Racing. I'm actually here to see what talent there is in this year's crop of second years, and have that talent for broom racing nurtured through the ranks. We're hoping to get some of them into the top flight, into Broomula 1 eventually, and we need some top quality players..."
"Well, looking at that second year, Paul, he looks fast."
"Yeah, he does..." Horner replied. "We've got our eye on him already. He's a bit small, maybe, but he's got a great head on him. A quick learner too, so he'll be ready to make the jump up in a few years. I saw you once, in a Quidditch game, and you have talent. What do you say? Are you interested?"
Harry thought for a moment. Broom racing wasn't something that he had been aware of that was a profession, but in a way, having defeated Voldemort, chasing Dark Wizards didn't look exactly attractive. And so, he had given in.
"I'll do it."
His broom racing career began two days later, when he was taken by Horner down to the practice area, who had set a course up.
"First thing I want you to do, Harry, is to pick a broom. I know you are good on the Firebolt and the Nimbus, but in the current BP2 league, the series that replaced Broomula 2, we use a broom made by a manufacturer named McLaren Brooms called the BP2-96. It is intended for racing around circuits.
Harry looked at the various BP2-96 brooms, and saw that they had an orange finish, with a silver stripe along the side of the broom, and a red light on the back of the broom, which was similar to the one that he had seen the first year students using.
As he picked one of the brooms, he felt a connection to it, almost as if it were familiar to him. As he tried it out, he realized that he did feel at home on it.
"What do you think?" Horner asked him.
"It feels right." Harry replied.
"Good. Now, let's see how you can handle it. I've had a course set up similar to a race we've done this season in BP2, its a course based on the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, a Belgian race circuit. Its got chicanes, its got some straights, and a hairpin. What I want you to do is complete 5 laps of the circuit, and I will time you. If you can beat the time that was set at the actual race, then I will be really impressed."
Harry took off and headed to the start line, where there was someone else waiting for him.
"Hi, I'm Juan." the other broom racer said. "I competed in the Belgian BP2 race earlier this year, and Christian has asked me to see if you can keep up against me.
Harry shook his opponents hand. "I'll try" he said, smiling.
The two raced off, heading towards the hairpin. Taking the inside line, Harry managed to round the hairpin first, heading into what was a slight downhill section.
His opponent managed to catch up to him by time he had reached the first chicane, and was ahead going into the next corner, but by time they had reached the second chicane, the one that led into the home straight, Harry had retained the lead.
By the time they had hit the end of the final lap, Harry had extended his lead, and crossed the finishing line first.
"Wow!" Juan exclaimed, surprised that he had been beaten. "And to think I won the BP2 Championship!"
The two racers flew down to Horner who looked surprised.
"You were faster than Juan! That was amazing!"
"Thanks." Harry replied.
"You'd be good in the BP2 season next year!" Horner said to Harry. "If your dad was here to see you do this, I'm sure he'd be having you join the team as a full fledged professional! Merlin, you'd be able to beat David Coulthard in a Broomula race, easily!"
Harry nodded, realizing that if his dad had been alive to see him race, he would surely have wanted him to continue with the sport.
"Alright, I'll give it a shot." he said.
Horner grinned. "Great! Come back tomorrow, and we'll practice some more. You'll have to get used to the courses that we use, but I guarantee that I can get you a spot in next years BP2. The other teams won't know what hit them!"
Over the following week, Harry practiced on the various Broomula courses, learning how to race properly, with each race having an increase in lap numbers. At the end of each day's training, Horner would take him aside and tell him about what he needed to work on, and Harry would go away and practice those skills.
One day, Harry was practicing with Juan again when Horner approached them.
"Hey, Harry. Your results are quite impressive. I was thinking, maybe you might want to come along with us to a big event. We're going to an Broom2 event in Houston, Texas, called the Texaco Grand Prix of Houston, and I was wondering, would you like to make your broom racing debut there?"
Harry was flattered. To be invited to such a prestigious event, he couldn't refuse.
"Yes please!" he said excitedly.
"Good man!" Horner said, clapping Harry on the shoulder. "Now, just a word of warning. This isn't a normal race. It's like no broom race you've ever seen before. There won't be any pit stops. It's a points-based race, so you don't have to worry about fuel economy. The racing is fast, and furious, and there is no room for error. You'll be racing as part of the Arden Brooms team, so I'll be there to back you, but if you can manage to win the race, it will open up a lot of doors for you."
Harry nodded. "I'm ready."
"Good, good. I'll be here on the morning of the 2nd, ready to Floo over to the Ministry, then its an International Floo to the MACUSA, the Magical Congress building in New York, and then another Floo journey to the TEXCON, the Texas Congress building, where we can then head to the hotel we've booked before the race."
"Sounds good." Harry replied, smiling.