Flying Aftermath
"You've got to be joking."
Harry's grin only widened at Ron's flabberghasted expression, while Tom simply grumbled: 'I wish that were the case.' He'd been smiling ever since Professor McGonagall had dismissed him, just in time for dinner - naturally, every Gryffindor who had either been at the Flying Lesson or had heard about his stunt had begun questioning him on what had happened, and for once, Harry did not mind all the attention, and he gleefully recounted what had happened.
"Nope", he said in response as he sipped his juice.
"But - Seeker?", Ron continued. "But I thought first years never - man, you gotta be the youngest - "
"The youngest house team player in a century?", Harry completed. "Yeah, Wood told me so."
Fred and George laughed. The two of them had already heard about it from Wood himself and had been able to back up Harrys account of what had transpired. "Well done, kid", George said. "You sure managed to impress McGonagall with yer flying, then."
"Nevermind Wood", Fred added. "Guy nearly keeled over when he told us, you gotta be good. I'll say, we're gonna win the cup this year."
Surprisingly enough, Percy Weasley also entered the discussion. "It would certainly be a refreshing change of pace, after the disasters of the last few years", the prefect grumbled as he adjusted his glasses. "Still, you got pretty big shoes to fill. Our older brother Charlie was the best seeker Gryffindor had in recent years, and I already know folks will compare your performance to his."
Ron shook his head. "Percy, you didn't see what I saw", he said, visibly starstruck. "He caught Nevilles Remembrall in a fifty foot dive without even brushing the ground - and that thing was transparent! Not even Charlie could've pulled that off on first try!"
"I still don't see why Professor McGonagall would just reward you for breaking the rules", Hermione grumbled. She was probably the only Gryffindor who was not elated at the news that Harry had not only been let off the hook, but had actually come away with a spot on the Gryffindor team. "What kind of example does that set?"
And since the day didn't already hold enough surprises, Percy was the one to answer. Adjusting his glasses again, he explained: "Harry essentially stood up for another classmate against a bully - yes, he did break the rules, but so did Malfoy. Now, Malfoy will likely get away with it, what with his father being on the Board of Governors, but undoubtedly, this'll come in exchange to get Harry onto the team without anything more than some grumbling. And you also need to consider what the Quidditch Cup means to the houses - it's a matter of honor and prestige. Now, Gryffindor hasn't won the cup since Charlie last played, in '88, and we were absolutely humiliated last year by Slytherin, so, Wood, and more importantly, Professor McGonagall, are itching for payback, and if that means bending the rules a bit to let what seems to be a natural talent onto the team... and besides, training under Oliver can very well be considered punishment enough", he added with an eyeroll and a knowing smirk.
Fred sighed dramatically. "You know what, Harry? Better run as fast as you can."
"Oliver Wood is ruthless when it comes to training. Getting up at four in the morning..."
"Running a hundred laps around the pitch..."
"Push-ups..."
"Cardio..."
"Training no matter the weather..."
"From dusk till dawn..."
"Shouldn't it be from dawn to dusk?"
"He does both, so why does it matter?"
"Ignore these two", Percy instructed with an eyeroll. "Though yes, Oliver can get quite fanatical when it comes to Quidditch - I've shared a dorm room with him ever since we both came to Hogwarts, and have gotten a good look at what his training regiment looks like."
"You've gotten a good look at it?", George echoed.
"We've lived through it!", Fred added.
"We've been in the trenches and the mud!"
"We've seen worse things than anyone who lived through the past few wars!"
'I highly doubt that', Tom - who had actually lived through a World War - commented.
Hermione meanwhile sniffed in displeasure, and Harry sighed. "Look, I get it, Hermione", he said. "I let my temper get the better of me with Malfoy, I admit, and I probably shouldn't get 'rewarded' for it - but I'm just tired of having to put up with bullies like him all the time."
The bushy-haired girl sniffed again in displeasure. "Well, next time, try to let him get himself caught", she advised.
"I'll give it a try", Harry said, though he seriously doubted that anything would come of it - it had never worked with Dudley and gang, after all.
And just as if on cue, Malfoy - now once again with his two goons at his side - prounced past the Gryffindor table. "Enjoying your last meal, Potter?", he drawled. "When's your train back to Muggleworld leaving?"
Harry allowed himself a thin smile. "You sure do get a lot braver with your two little friends by your side", he snarked back. "Did they already change your pants? I imagine they were quite full by the time you landed."
Malfoy's face grew even paler before it flushed red with anger as snickering could be heard from the surrounding students - even Hermione faked a cough, and Percy cleared his throat while the corners of his mouth twitched a bit.
"Oh, I'll gladly take you on alone any day", he heatedly said. "We can go at it this night, if you want. Wizarding duel, at midnight, in the Trophy Room - only wands, nothing else. Oh, right, you probably have never heard of such a thing, have you?"
"Of course he has, Malfoy!", Ron angrily said before Harry could say anything. "I'll be his second! Who're you gonna pick?" Malfoy eyed his two goons before picking Crabbe.
'Is that Weasley serious?', Tom asked. 'I have never seen a more obvious trap in my life!'
Percy cleared his throat again, louder this time - and without his mouth surpressing a smile. "I would certainly hope", he said, sounding even more serious than usual, "that this is nothing more than first years boasting."
Ron, clearly embarrassed by his older brother having overheard him, blushed and suddenly became very small. Malfoy meanwhile eyed Percy before smoothly saying: "But of course, prefect."
The glare Percy shot the ferrety boy was pretty close to one of Professor McGonagalls glares. "Good", he said. "Because I would hate to pester Professor McGonagall with this and interrupt her dinner, or to hold you back so that you may explain yourself, and derive you of your precious sleep, or to dock house points to for insulting and threatening other students - in the presence of, as you have so astutely observed, a prefect, no less."
Malfoy blanched again as he realized the extent of his blunder. "Y-yes, that would be rather, ah, inconvenient", he stammered before barking at his two goons that it was time to leave.
Percy pinched his nosebridge. "What an idiot", he grumbled, and, when the collected students around him stared at him, "What? He announced an intention to break the rules in front of a prefect!"
"I never thought I would say that..."
"But thank magic for prim and proper prefect Percy."
"Ooh, that's a good tonguetwister!"
"You thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Let's see if we can make it work."
"I do not want to know what you two are planning", Percy announced. "As in, if you're going to do something shameless, do not do it - or do it when I'm not around, if you cannot help yourselves."
"Why Percy, all we do is shameless!"
"And we take great pride in our work!"
Percy sighed. "Get out of here before I give you two clowns detention."
Fred and George simply laughed as they got up and left, while their older brother groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose again.
"Honestly, though", Harry said. "Did Malfoy really think this would work? I mean, apart from announcing it in front of a prefect, did he really think I'd take the bait?"
Ron looked puzzled. "What are you talking about, mate?"
'That one should watch out he doesn't fail his classes', Tom commented. 'For someone who's seemingly so good at Wizard's Chess, he sure is oblivious.'
Harry sighed. "Ron, did you really think that Malfoy would show up if you and I did?"
"Err... why wouldn't he?"
'Oh my, he really doesn't get it? Well, at least now we know why he wasn't sorted into Ravenclaw.'
Hermione groaned. "Maybe because if he were caught, he'd get into a boatload of trouble? And considering that, it'd be easy for him to alert Mr. Filch or someone else to the fact that two dunderheaded Gryffindors are begging to get themselves into trouble by showing up to a supposed duel in the Trophy Room", she explained.
Rons turned an awful shade of red when he realized he'd nearly walked into a trap and grumbled something along the lines of "no one asked your opinion" before stuffing his face with dinner again.
"It's the oldest tactic in the bully handbook", Harry grumbled. "A shame you didn't alert Professor McGonagall, Percy."
Percy shrugged. "If I had, I'd have to explain Rons eagerness to partake in the whole affair, and that would've landed him in trouble, too." He sighed. "His heart's in the right place, but he really needs to think things through."
'He first needs to start thinking at all', Tom snarked.
Sure enough, when night came, no one in the Gryffindor tower decided to leave. The only major upheaval was when Katherine, who was on patrol that night, came back early for a second with Neville in tow. "Found him just outside", she explained. "Apparently, Madam Pomfrey decided to release him after dinner, but he'd forgotten the password, and the Lady wouldn't let him enter and then decided to leave."
'And that is why having a bloody portrait guard the entrance to your Common Room is a bad idea', Tom smugly observed. 'Especially one as flighty as the Fat Lady.'
Of course, in spite of the dressing down he'd received from Percy, Malfoy seemingly still had expected Harry or at least Ron to show up to the supposed duel, and was thus fairly surprised when both were still present at breakfast, and slightly worried when Filch eyed him with a poisonous glare - apparently, the caretaker had spent the night running across Hogwarts in search of the students who were supposedly out of bed and headed to the Trophy Room after having been tipped off.
'And apparently, the ferret didn't make it an anonymous tip', Tom stated. 'He really, really should know better than that.'
'Hey, now he's in hot water', Harry replied. 'Just what he deserves.'
The following week, Harry received his broom - a Nimbus 2000, as Ron enviously explained. Naturally, Malfoy, smelling a chance to get Harry into trouble again, snitched on him to Professor Flitwick, but the short teacher had already been informed of the circumstances by Professor McGonagall, and did nothing other than ask Harry what model it was.
'And of course you get the newest, fastest broom there is', Tom grumbled. 'So that you can break your neck at even higher speeds.'
'Oh, lighten up, I know what I'm doing', Harry replied as he headed down to the pitch for his training with Wood.
'Yeah, I heard that before - and it's usually followed by disaster.'
Still, for once, Tom was wrong - Harry's semi-boasting was not followed by disaster, and if anything, he only got better at flying. If Wood had any reservations left about letting Harry onto his team, they were gone by the time the special training session was done, and he was positively giddy about introducing Harry to the fold.
Of course, there were quite a few jealous looks from other students, mainly the older ones who had wanted the Seeker position for themselves. Nothing came of it, though, between the three elder Weasleys backing Harry's appointment - and if Percy and the Twins agreed on anything, the matter may as well be foolproof. And Harry found that he actually didn't quite care if other students were jealous of his appointment - he was more worried about the first game, which would take place in November.
Unfortunately, Hermione was still rather displeased by Harry's 'reward' for breaking the rules, even though Harry did agree it was a bit unfair, all things considered. Still, she eventually came around to the idea as well, even if she wasn't thrilled by it - it helped that Harry somehow managed to still keep up with his classes, even with practice in his schedule.
The first practice session with the remainder of the team also proved to be something - while Wood and the twins had been sold on the idea of Harry playing Seeker, he had been unsure about how the other three team members would react. The three chasers - Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet and Katie Bell - were at first not exactly thrilled to have a first year on their team, but were won over by his natural skill eventually.
He did, however, have a few problems while practicing. Percy and the twins hadn't been kidding, Wood's training regime was strict, and hard, and while Harry wasn't in too bad shape, he did struggle to keep up a bit. Another issue lay with a habit most of the players, but especially Angelina, had: the tendency to slap people on the back. In theory, Harry knew this was meant as a friendly gesture, but he absolutely hated it, and he couldn't stop himself from tensing up whenever one of his teammates did that, especially when that slap was a bit harder than it was meant - he'd had far too many 'gestures' of that sort between uncle Vernon and Dudley for him to enjoy them. Someone on the team must've noticed his displeasure, as their shows of appreciation for his skills became less physical and more verbal - Harry wasn't sure how he felt about that.
'It's not like I'm made of sugar', he told Tom once. 'I can take that sort of stuff, I just... need to get used to it.'
'You know, it might be easier if you simply told them why you don't like too much physical contact', Tom suggested.
Harry had to surpress an eyeroll. 'Yeah, because no one will go run to a teacher, who'll look into it and be fooled by Dursley shite, and paint me as an attention seeking liar. Tom, you know as well as I do how these things go.'
'I don't know, you saw how Rubeus acted when he came to fetch you. If you were to tell the truth about how these muggles treated you, I think people would actually take you serious.'
'And what makes you think he didn't already tell, and that simply nothing came of it? I don't know about you, but I have yet to receive a notification that I won't be returning to them next summer.'
Tom didn't know how to respond to that.
One hilarious (minor) difficulty he encountered during practice was Toms fear of flying - the usually so well composed soulshard tended to screech and cuss whenever Harry attempted any sort of slightly dangerous maneuver, leading to Harry learning quite a few new curse words and finding out that he could, in fact, concentrate under massive pressure.
'You know, I probably should mention that I'm pulling all this off with a soulshard screaming his lungs out in my head', he teased during a break.
Tom was not amused. 'You do that, and I swear, I will find ways to wrestle control away from you mid-air.'
'Come on, you gotta admit that it's hilarious that you can talk about gruesome murder and meddling with the souls of people all day without issue, but then turn into a screaming little girl whenever I go a bit faster than running pace.'
'Call me a little girl again, I dare you.'
Truth be told, Harry barely noticed how quickly time passed, and before he knew it, first September ended, and eventually, October reached its end, as well - and everything went to hell.