Third day of July Isle of Man
Astoria did not dare accompany Draco and Scorpius to the Puddlemere United practice facility. She was worried about not being able to control her emotions and embarrassing Scorpius before the coaches and his team mates, so she remained in London, claiming that someone needed to stay behind to run the Potion shop.
Draco tried to change her mind, but he couldn’t get her to come along. Since she would be alone in the shop, he couldn’t help but worry about what his father might do to Astoria; so he arranged with Hoyle Grindus for a pair of private security wizards to watch her and the shop while he was gone. At least he and Astoria had been able to keep up the ruse on nonchalance about the family security. The boy had enough on his mind without worrying about his parents and his own safety.
Draco, Scorpius and multiple rucksacks, containing everything Astoria deemed necessary for the ten days her son would be away, bounced off the inside of multiple fireplaces across Britain until they reached their destination. Holding three sacks each, the pair arrived via Floo powder into the entrance hall of the Puddlemere United training facility.
As they entered the lobby of the offices, Draco and his son were both stunned by its beauty. The lobby walls were painted a deep Navy blue, the thick carpet was golden coloured and in between the large couch and chairs across from a wall mural of seven flying players were giant terracotta vases full of bulrushes representing both the colours and logo of their host team. The realism of the players flying off of the mural caused even a seasoned Wizard to be momentarily surprised.
It was Scorpius who first saw a sign affixed to the wall which gave the office number for checking in, the Malfoys walked until they found the corresponding office. When they entered through the doorway, they found Ginny Potter seated at a wooden desk in front a long scroll and looking over her shoulder, there was a bald man with grey fringes of hair that barely touched the top of his ears. The pair looked up from the desk simultaneously as the Malfoys entered the room. Potter placed a mark with her quill pen on the scroll before she stood and walked over to greet the visitors.
–Bobby Devon, may I introduce you to Scorpius Malfoy and his father, Draco.â€
Devon seemed to bounce over to meet them with his hand extended. –Scorpius Malfoy, Gryffindor Seeker, right?â€
–Yes. I made the team, but didn’t get to play.â€
–I know all about the intruder business. The stories were all in the Prophet.†Devon’s sunburned, bald head seemed to bob with every word he spoke, as if it were on a spring. The coach released Scorpius’ hand and took Draco’s right hand. The man’s grip was strong, showing what the last half-decade of gripping and swinging a Beater’s bat could do for you. Draco smiled. trying not to wince at the power of the distracted man’s grasp.
A female voice spoke from behind Draco near the doorway, –When I’m made the Gryffindor Captain, Scorpius will play Beater. I don’t know what Freddy Weasley was thinking about when he let him try out as a Chaser.â€
Devon, whose view of the doorway was blocked by Draco, let a snarl came to his lips. Speaking blindly towards the door, Devon said, –You have to be Kaitlin Jones. Only a Jones knows everything about Quidditch and can’t wait to point out to everyone all of your numerous faults.†Devon leaned around Draco so he could see who had just arrived. Draco saw the snarl on the man’s lips disappear and a large crooked toothy smile appeared in its place.
–Gwenog, I was expecting to have ‘the genius’ bring his own daughter to the tryouts, not his big sister.â€
–The genius is up in Tutshill hosting the under-eighteen tryouts for their tournament at Mount Olympus.†Gwenog walked over to shake the hand of her old adversary and Quidditch World Cup teammate. Gwen next looked to Devon’s left, –How’re you doing, Red? You’re finally going to be a coach. Of course, it’s a decade or two later than you could have been if you re-signed with the Harpies.â€
Draco noticed Potter’s mouth make a slightly sour look. –I’m ready to teach, lead, and yell. Just like you taught me,†Ginny replied to her old captain. The two women shared a half a hug.
As they pulled apart, Gwenog nodded toward Scorpius. –How are the two of you going to manage to coach these teenagers? I thought leading fourteen grown Quidditch divas with the Harpies was a tough job. I can’t imagine coaching all of these kids with their unformed skills, fragile egos, and raging hormones.â€
–As I recall, we had a few cases of raging hormones also. You must remember the time that you were showing the Clifford sisters the improvements they had paid for in the locker rooms and you caught me and Harry in the laundry room-– Ginny stopped, and her faced turned a bright red.
–Go on! It sounds like a good story,†said Devon in a teasing tone. The older man looked over at Scorpius and Kaitlin and sighed. –Oh right, young ears have loose lips.â€
–As I recall, Red also had a pair of those.â€
Draco noticed that Gwenog Jones seemed to have a twinkle in her eye and enjoyed publicly embarrassing Ginny Potter. He wondered if there had been any truth in the old rumours that Rita Skeeter had printed in her book about Gwenog Jones.
Scorpius twisted the side of his face and asked, –Hey, Kitty-Kat have you seen James yet? He probably has a couple of new insults ready for you.â€
–Tell him that the only insult he has that can hurt me is how badly he plays Seeker.â€
–Okay, enough, enough,†said Devon his hands waving surrender in the air. –You may have a point, Gwen. I may be a bit too old for all of this.â€
Gwen shook her head. –No, Bobby you’re perfect for this lot. When you led the Wasps, you always managed to get top notch results in spite of the mediocre talent. You’ll find a way to get them straightened out.â€
Ginny pulled the scroll around and with her quill checked Kaitlin in as present. –Scorpius, you will be in room six with Albus Potter and Nicholas Austin.â€
Scorpius perked up; he and Albus would be rooming together. With Jimber and his family leaving England from their exile from ‘The Island’, Albus was his only true friend in the world, outside of Rose anyway.
–Is Rose Weasley here yet?†He tried to ask the question as if the answer was unimportant to him.
–Hermione and Rose came down with me and the boys. Kaitlin, you will be sharing room twelve on the second floor. Your roommates will be Rose Weasley and Gretchen Smythe.â€
–Smythe! The ‘Ravencrawl’ Seeker? She can barely stay on her broom in a strong wind! What idiot invited her?†Kaitlin spoke in a near shout with her hands on hips.
All of the adults gave Kaitlin a quick hard look. Even Kaitlin realized she must have stepped out of bounds. The icy silence lasted about a minute.
–I did,†replied Bobby Devon. –She’s a good, solid Seeker. She has shown great improvement during her last two matches. Even if she is a work in progress, we will need numbers to practice properly.â€
Scorpius turned toward Kaitlin. –She’s not that bad a player, Kitty-Kat. I remember that James helped her after you beat them so they could defeat Slytherin. He said she was a quick learner. And I recall he told Jimber that he thought she was kind of cute.†Scorpius added the last just to see if Rose’s guess about Kaitlin was true. He could feel the wave of heat coming from her in response to his statement.
–Kaitlin, settle down! Remember, team chemistry is often more important to victory than raw talent,†admonished her aunt, Gwenog. –I remember when Beth Grim threatened to quit when I promoted Red over her to starting Chaser during Ginny’s first year. It took half a season for the other veterans to accept her. It was only after they accepted her did we start to win.â€
–Sorry, Auntie Gwen, you’re right.†Everyone in the room knew that she had said she was sorry, but no one really believed she meant it.
Ginny Potter cleared her throat and looked at her old mentor. –By the way, your brother, Ioan, left the facility about ten minutes ago, so it’s safe to take your time and look around,†she advised. Gwen nodded in appreciation.
Following a map that Coach Potter had given them, Draco and Scorpius walked down an outside corridor until they found the proper room. Draco knocked on the door, but no one answered. Scorpius gave his father a dismissive shake of the head and just opened the door. Albus and Nicholas were lying in the top two bunk beds; they were talking about James and Kaitlin when the Malfoys entered the room. There was no clear pathway to the bunk beds, because even though the room had three dressers large enough to neatly store their clothes, the two boys had just dropped their bags in piles at the foot of their beds. The two Malfoys wormed their way around and over the collection of rucksacks and clothes to the empty bed under Albus. Draco stayed long enough with his son to make sure, Scorpius that put all of his things away proper and even folded the empty rucksacks and placed them into the top drawer.
Albus introduced Scorpius to Nicholas and the Scorpius added to the talk about James and Kaitlin from her reaction to his little dig in the office. Draco was amazed. Since when do boys gossip? The only gossip he had been part of was starting rumors designed to embarrass Potter or Weasley and maybe blackmail Pansy Parkinson into doing certain things for him.
Draco bid the little gang goodbye. He turned to go back to the team office, to insure that he had signed all of the paperwork and to get a schedule of the upcoming events. As he approached the stairs from the second floor, he was almost run over by Rose Weasley who gave a quick wave to him as she apologized for bumping him. Draco watched as she, without knocking, walked into Scorpius’ room.
On the first day of tryouts the whole team met for breakfast in the cafeteria. A grand total of fourteen had been invited. Five Gryffindors, Kaitlin Jones, Scorpius Malfoy, Albus and James Potter, and Rose Weasley; three Hufflepuffs, Rhys Jones, Christopher Welk, and Marian White; four Ravenclaws, Nicholas Austin, Bryn McGlothen, Gretchen Smythe, and Bailey Williams; two Slytherins: Geoffrey Grindus and Nate Nott.
The players, by habit, sat at different tables by the school houses. They stayed that way for about two minutes after the coaches arrived with their trays of food.
Looking down on a little board with a golden clip on the top, Coach Devon announced, –Here are your permanent sitting assignments. You will sit this way until the final roster is set. At table number one, I want both of the Keepers: Rose Weasley and Christopher Welk. At table two will be the Seekers: Rhys Jones and James Potter. Table three will be the Beaters: Geoffrey Grindus, Bailey Williams, Bryn McGlothen, and Scorpius Malfoy. And fourth table will be the Chasers: Nicholas Austin, Kaitlin Jones, Nate Nott, Albus Potter, Gretchen Smythe, and Marian White. You will do everything in these groups. You will eat together by positions. You will study together by position. And if one of you needs to use the loo, you better go together.â€
James snorted in response to that. Devon seemed confused for a second and then brightened. –Well, you best not do the loo together. It might get embarrassing.â€
Amidst the scrapping of chairs and the bumping of tables, the players mumbled about their new assignments. Scorpius, who was already sitting at table three, glared at Kaitlin as she stood up. She returned his glare with an I-told-you-you-were-a-Beater smile as she moved to her new table.
Scorpius looked around at the other three Beaters. Grindus was a distant relative whom he had not talked to since the explosion during the last D.A.D.A. class before Christmas during their first year. The other two sitting at the table were both fourth year Ravenclaw Beaters. All three of the others had played at least one full season as a Beater. The only time that he had used a Beater’s bat was during their first year, when he used to warm up Jimber.
–He couldn’t believe that they brought him here to be embarrassed by playing him out of position and then cut him.†Had Rose convinced her Aunt to invite him as a favor? He hoped not. He didn’t want to have to tell his ‘proud’ parents about it if it turned out to be true.
Just before the food was delivered to the tables, Coach Potter waved her wand and a stack of books appeared in front of her. She levitated the books and they floated in front of each of the players. Scorpius looked down at the binder. The cover showed a large cup sitting below the Union Jack. The task awaiting them suddenly became very clear to him. He wasn’t here to make a team. He was here to prepare to win a tourney. As he looked around at the other beaters, he heard pages being turning and knew that Rose was already leafing through the pages. He couldn’t help but smile at her wonderful predictability.
After a big breakfast, the team walked into the locker rooms. The girls went down the hallway on the left and the boys walked to the right.
Donning their new practice tunics, the players walked out of the locker rooms to a large classroom. In the front of the room a stocky man with grey hair stood in front with crates. Geoffrey Grindus waved towards the man who waved back.
Mrs. Potter walked to the front of the room and shook the hand of the stranger by the crates. –Everyone, I’d like to introduce you to Hoyle Grindus. Mr. Grindus is the founder and owner of Comet Broomworks. You will be flying his brooms in the tournament.â€
–Hello, I want all of you, except Geoffrey, to call me Hoyle. Geoffrey has to call me Grandfather.†The old man smiled and a slight groan came from Grindus who sat in the chair to Scropius’ right.
Hoyle Grindus called each player by name and they went into the room he pointed to. The list began with Seekers, followed by Chasers, and the Beaters. Malfoy and Grindus were called up together and they walked through the door on the left.
A woman pointed Geoffrey to the left and him to the right. Out of nowhere, a thin yellow piece of material with little numbers on it wrapped around his forehead. The measuring tape yelled a number and an old wizard who sat on a bar stood holding a scroll and quill pen wrote down the measurement.
The old wizard said, –Next!â€
The talking tape measured Scorpius around the shoulders, stomach, hips and his in-seam. When the tape was done, it flew on its own back into the pocket of the old man. The old wizard walked over to an open crate. Consulting his notes, the old man waved his wand over the contents of the box and he beckoned for Scorpius to come over. In the box, a white uniform with the Union Jack on the chest and ‘MALFOY’ was across the back in bright blue letters. Under the uniform was a shiny new broom. The old man motioned for him to pick up the broom.
Scorpius picked up the broom. He put his feet into the footholds. The fit was perfect. He kicked off and rose into the air. The old man waved for him to land. Reluctantly, he touched down.
Holding his new broom, Scorpius walked out of the door at the other end of the room and onto the pitch. The grass was greenest that he had ever seen and, looking up, he saw Devon flying with the Chasers and Seekers. He mounted his new broom and joined the formation.
The first two day’s practices were tough on Scorpius. The rainy, windy weather made for conditions where Scorpius’ flying ability could not be featured and his lack of expertise with the bat was. Everyone brightened when the weather forecast for overcast in morning and warming in the afternoon was posted on the board in the lunch room.
Everyone knew, include himself, that he was the number four Beater; the real issue was who the second Beater was. Grindus was easily the best of the four. Williams and McGlothen were almost a matched set. They had learned to be Beaters at home as younger brothers getting revenge on their older siblings for all of the times they had been beat up or tricked. When they got to Hogwarts, they met during the Ravenclaw tryouts. They practiced before the tryouts and even after, when the returning seventh years beat them out. Over the last two years, they had been the backbone of a brutal Ravenclaw defensive attack. The two boys flew the same, struck the ball the same and sometimes even finished the sentences the other had started.
James said that they reminded him of his Weasley grandparents and Kaitlin dubbed them ’The Twins’. The more he watched them in practice, the more Scorpius began to feel his making the team was hopeless. At the end of Tuesday afternoon’s practice, he confided this to Albus, but he refused to listen.
–Meet me on the pitch after supper and bring your bat,†said Albus.
–Why are we going to beat up the twins?†he asked.
Albus laughed. –If this doesn’t work, we’ll try that on Friday.â€
After supper, Scorpius and Albus arrived on the pitch. The sun broke through the overcast and was just beginning to drop below the stands to the west. Waiting for them on pitch stood Rose, James and Kaitlin.
–What are all of you doing here?†Scorpius asked.
Kaitlin shook her head as if the question was really stupid. –We’ve got to get you up to speed for the season. Also, I told everyone you were the best Beater material in the school. If the twins beat you, it makes me look bad.â€
Albus leaned in to whisper, –Forget, Kitty-Kat. Scorp, if you don’t make the team there’ll be no living with Rose. She’ll mope around and we’ll get beat by pygmies or something in the first round. And my mum will never let me forget how I was part of the team that let her down.â€
He looked past Albus to see Rose. He recognized the little ticks on her face that she got when an unannounced test occurred. Rose was at the top of the year on her results of the standard subject tests. However, she almost always scored low during ‘surprise’ tests. She tended to needlessly spend time fretting about not being ready enough and she would struggle to finish the questions. If she was acting this way now, she might not win the Keeper position and that would be a disaster for the team. Rose was twice the keeper that Welk was.
Scorpius smiled over to Albus and slapped his shoulder. They boys took about five paces away from Scorpius. James went to his left and Albus walked off to his right. Kaitlin and Rose stayed where they were. The two girls dug into little brown leather bag slung around their necks. When their hands came out of the bag, each of them, were holding a black ball about the size of a Bludger.
Kaitlin had an evil grin on her face as she and Rose turned toward him. Rose’s left hand and Kaitlin’s right held the ball and their arms were cocked as if they were frozen in mid-toss. Kaitlin said, –Three. Two. One. Defend yourself.â€
The two girls began throw the faux-Bludgers at him. As they threw their balls each girl yelled the name of the boy Scorpius was suppose to target with his strike.
–James,†shouted Kaitlin.
–Albus,†shouted Rose.
Kaitlin’s throw struck Scorpius in the middle of the chest. He did get his bat on Rose’s toss, but the ball just bounced back at the thrower.
By the time he was trying to return his bat to a neutral position, the two girls had reloaded and thrown two more balls. Kaitlin repeated James’ name and Rose shouted, –Kaitlin!â€
Ready this time, Scorpius struck Kaitlin’s toss knocking it in the general direction of James. The other ball he struck and it actually touched Kaitlin on the ankle, but only after the ball had bounced on the ground.
It took another frustrating twenty minutes before Scorpius hit both announced targets. He was just getting to feel good about his progress, when Albus and James began to slowly walk in a circle around him. It took the rest of the early evening until he was beginning to be able to hit the ball within an arm’s length of the correct teammate.
Scorpius’ elation turned into the most pain that he had ever known. The muscle in his right arm began to seize up. The bat dropped from his hand and onto the pitch. Kaitlin, not Rose, walked over and began to massage his bicep and rotate his shoulder loosing it up. While the brothers went to find what food was left in the dining hall, the two girls helped Scorpius work the knots out of his muscles.
In the morning, Scorpius woke up and had trouble even lifting his arm off of the bunk bed. He looked down at it, willing it to move. The messages from his brain did not seem to reach his fatigued arm. Slowly, motion and feeling returned to the limb.
Scorpius almost forgot to sit with the other Beaters. He really wanted to talk to Rose.
After the breakfast was served, coaches Devon and Potter walked into the room. Devon had a strange smile on his face. Thirty minutes were allowed for the team to eat. Devon used his napkin to wipe his mouth, slid his chair back and stood up. –When I call out your name, I want you to sit at table one. If I do not call your name please move to table four.â€
Scorpius looked across the room to see Rose’s nervous face. She turned toward him. He smiled back at her and she seemed to settle down.
Devon shouted, –Weasley, Malfoy, Williams, Albus Potter, Smythe, White, and James Potter.†The two teams moved to their assigned tables. Scorpius looked over at the other team; Kaitlin was the lone Gryffindor on the other team. Her cousin, Rhys, was holding court at the table. Kaitlin looked very uncomfortable not being her usual center of attention.
–Follow me,†said Ginny Potter to her brood at table number four and they followed her through the right hand door.
Devon stood and his team followed him to the left hand door. Once in the hallway, the seven young people walked into a classroom. On the board were little squiggly lines drawn upon a pitch shaped board.
–Who recognizes this formation?†asked Devon.
Rose’s hand shot up. Devon nodded toward the girl with the only raised hand. –The Whirlwind, a smothering defense created by Owain Jones for the Tutshill Tornados-–. Rose stopped talking when she saw her coach’s hands waving in surrender.
–What is the most important part for a successful whirlwind?†Rose, Scorpius and Smythe all raised their hands. Devon looked over the waving arms. –Malfoy.â€
Scorpius took a deep breath. Rose had gone over the whole playbook from a Beater’s perspective with him two nights before. She had sneaked down to the boys’ room to help him get up to speed. She was certain, based on Kaitlin’s opinion, that the Whirlwind was going to be the team’s base defense. Rose told him that she thought he was way smarter than the other three Beaters. If he learned the book, it might give him a chance to impress Devon and Weasley. While he drank in every word, he moved his hand to his side and allowed his pinky to caress her little finger. What really stuck with him as he was sitting on the thinly carpeted floor with his back on his bunk bed next to her was that she did not think he was a lost cause. Rose did not think he was a loser.
–The Beater must attack the off Chasers to insure the Quaffle carrying Chaser has no escape pass. With the other Chaser dodging Bludgers or actually getting struck by the aimed shots, the Chaser with the ball can be surrounded. When that occurs, it leaves the ball carrier only contested passes or retreat.†Scorpius seemed confident in his answer.
Coach Devon gave a series of quick nods during the explanation. The answer seemed to give the Coach a burst of energy. –Correct! You, Beaters, must be merciless in your strikes and as soon as the ball leaves your bat. You must be already flying to the position to set up the next Bludger strike. Our Beaters must always be on the move. If you want to watch a Quidditch match, I’ll get you a ticket and you can sit in the stands.†Devon looked at his two Beaters.
Williams looked from the coach up at the diagrams on the board. His face was confused. Had the boy not studied his playbook?
When the clock reached nine forty, a bell sounded. Everyone in the classroom, except the Coach, jumped at the high pitched ringing noise that so jangled their nerves.
–Leave you books at your seats.†Devon lifted his wand from his desk and two boxes and some navy blue partitions appeared in the corners of the room. Devon reached in and threw the golden uniform tunic with a number one on it to Rose along with an empty sack with the same number on it. He pointed to the corner for her to change there. Scorpius received the golden number five and walked to the opposite side. He stuffed his regular clothes in the little bag and walked out from behind the blue wall.
Rose, who had finished adjusting Albus’ number two uniform, walked over to give him a review. –At least, you’ve learned to dress yourself.â€
Scorpius smiled at her. Albus was famous for having his shirts crookedly buttoned and his belt skipping loops so his trousers often hung funny. By the time he had passed the inspection, Devon opened the door and led them down the hallway out toward the pitch. As they walked onto the pitch, they passed the crates holding their brooms. Each player picked up their mounts and headed to the center of the field.
The other team was wearing Navy blue practice tunics. He looked across the pitch to see his opposite numbers, Grindus and McGlothen, talking to each other. Scorpius looked over at Williams. Williams seemed off-put. Maybe it was his detailed answer in the class. Maybe it was that he was not used to not being with McGlothen. Scorpius reached his bat over to his teammate, expecting a tap in return. Williams ignored the offer.
Gwenog Jones, who was refereeing the practice, whistled as she released the balls. The players pushed off and Scorpius rose to a point about a third of the way up from Rose and Blue’s hoops. Williams sat at the mid-pitch.
Albus took the Quaffle and rushed up the pitch. He drew the defense toward him. From his perch in the back, Scorpius saw that the blue was not playing the Whirlwind. They were playing the Harris double zone. Thinking back to Rose’s description of the zone, he knew the blue Beaters would be attacking the ball carrier. Scorpius ducked low on his broom and flew toward McGlothen. If he was to protect Albus, he had to keep the Bludgers away from him. Just as the Bludger came within the other team’s batting zone, Scorpius intercepted the ball driving it toward the other end of the pitch. He marked McGlothen and blocked another Bludger as Smythe shot the Quaffle past Welk into the left hoop.
Scorpius flew back to the center of the pitch readying for the Whirlwind. Williams’s miss-hit his first chance to hit Kaitlin, but Scorpius almost unseated Nott as a pass from Kaitlin flew over his head. Smythe captured the errand pass. She blindly threw the ball to Albus. White caught Albus’ pass and who scored the second goal.
For the next hour, Scorpius rushed from place to place. He lost track of the score and even the time. All he knew was he had to attack. He was only certain that one out of four went toward his target. Finally, the air was filled with whistles from the stands where the coaches were and from Ms. Jones.
As they walked into the locker room, Scorpius noticed that he was really hungry and thirsty. When he saw Rose through a dry throat he croaked at her. –Who won? What score?â€
–Blue. One Hundred Sixty to Ninety. Rhys caught the snitch.†Rose looked somewhat disappointed.
–One sixty? Only one got past you, good playing,†he replied.
–Only had four blocks, the defense kept them bottled up. And the one that got through was Kaitlin’s only shot on goal.â€
The coaches stood in the locker room directing the blue and the gold teams back to their original classroom. Scorpius was rubbing his right arm as he moved into the class. Coach Devon had a snarl on his lips. –You lost. I don’t like losing. Weasley get to classroom one, meet with Gillette Pierce.â€
Rose perked up, –Jill Pierce? Sure.†She grabbed her playbook and bounced out the door.
–Chasers, classroom two. Meet with Glinnis Quimby.†The three left the room.
–Potter, classroom three, meet with your mother.â€
–You two stay put.†Devon went to over to the table. He waved his wand. A large glass pitcher of ice water and two plates of cheese and sliced fruit appeared on the table.
The hungry boys didn’t need any prompting. Scorpius filled his cup with water and filled a plate with apple, banana, pear, and kiwi slices. As they were returning to their chairs, McGlothen and Grindus joined them in the room and stocking up on the food. Grindus looked at the coach.
–Is this all?†asked the chunky boy.
–That is enough for now. I need you to fill your brain and not you belly, boy†Devon dropped the smile and a grim look appeared. He looked down on a wooden board and read off what was written there. –Beaters are judged by how many Bludgers they could have possibly hit, number struck, number of hits that caused effect on the other side and number of opponents hit. Grindus: forty possible chances, thirty-two were struck, ten strikes with effect and seven hits. Malfoy: seventy-eight possible, fifty-nine struck, thirteen with effect and five hits. McGlothen: twenty-two possible, twenty struck, fifteen with effect and seven hits. Williams: twenty-nine possible, twenty-five struck, fifteen with effect and seven hits.â€
Scorpius felt the air come out of him. He had been last in effect and hits, and he had the most possible chances. With all of the work his friends had put him through, he felt like he had let them down.
–Williams, you and Malfoy were part of the same defense. Why did he have almost three times the number of possibles than you did?â€
Williams, with an apple slice in his hand, placed the fruit down on a plate. He chewed what was in his mouth. –Malfoy was out of position. He just batted balls away not toward the others.†The coach waited a couple of more seconds like he was waiting for more information.
–Malfoy, why did you have so many possible but so few strikes?†Devon said turning toward him.
–They were playing the Harris double defense. It needs the Beaters to blast the ball carrier. I kept McGlothen from getting to the Bludgers. It gave our Chasers a chance to score.â€
–McGlothen, what is your opinion of Mr. Malfoy’s comment.â€
McGlothen looked up. –I couldn’t get past him. He kept bumping me. I waited for the call, but none came.â€
Scorpius felt blood rush to his face. –What call? I didn’t foul you!â€
–That’s your opinion,†answered McGlothen.
Scorpius found he was standing in front of McGlothen. He had no memory of standing or walking in front of McGlothen. –My opinion doesn’t matter. The referee’s does and she didn’t call anything.â€
McGlothen stood up and Grindus stepped in between them. Williams walked over next to McGlothen, –If Bryn said you fouled him, you fouled him.â€
–Hey, you’re my teammate not his!†Scorpius replied.
An ear piercing shriek came from the front of the room. Scorpius turned to see Devon with a brass whistle in his mouth. He reached up with his right hand to remove it. –Malfoy and Williams get back in your seats. McGlothen, sit, now!â€
The boys all sat. Devon talked for about ten minutes, but Scorpius did not hear a word. All he heard was the thumping of his heart in his ears. Scorpius emptied his water glass in a sloppy gulp.
Finally, the door opened and the Beaters escaped to the lunch room. Once they got there, they realized that they were expected to sit by position. The Twins sat together opposite from Scorpius. They shared whispers and killer stares at Scorpius. For his part, Scorpius just concentrated on the roast beef sandwich and chips that were on his plate.
Day Eight, Ten O’clock at night
Bobby Devon and Ginny Potter looked up at the board. On the board was a representation of the pitch and to the right of the board were fourteen pieces of paper each with a name on it. Devon flicked his wand and two of the pieces flew by the hoops.
–Our first choice is our easiest one: Rose Weasley. Gillette was right about her. She’s the first Keeper her age I’ve seen out-think the offense. Her catching skills need to improve, but she’s worlds better than Welk is.†Rose’s paper adhered to the board in front of the hoops. Welks flew to the far left column marked Reserves.
Devon’s wand flicked again, the paper with Rhys Jones and James Potter flew to the middle of the pitch. –Choosing Rhys is easy. I think he might make the National team, if he was old enough. Yet, James is such a natural.â€
Ginny Potter sighed; she knew her son was outclassed by Jones. She loved James for his never say die attitude and flying ability, but he was the number two Seeker. –However, he was second best.â€
Devon paused and flicked, Rhys Jones’ slip flew to top of pitch. However, James flew just to the right of the Reserves column. Ginny looked over at Devon. She saw a twinkle in his eye.
–Beaters.†The four slips with the names of the Beaters moved to the bottom of the board. The slip for Grindus moved to the center and the other three moved next to the Reserves column next to James.
Ginny spoke up. –If we give an award for most improved player or hardest trying player, it would be a tossup between Malfoy and Smythe.†She saw the other nod in agreement. –He gets to so many Bludgers, it’s just he can’t consistently bat them home.â€
–True, but McGlothen and Williams are so passive. Technically, they are two of the best ball strikers we got here. However, they have to get to the ball. They don’t bust a gut to get to a Bludger. I’m afraid that if we need them to do something different, they couldn’t. Do you know what I mean?â€
Ginny nodded. Grendel Amick, Kaitlin’s mother, had been that way on the Harpies. You couldn’t point to any one thing that she did wrong, but the things she did right were not enough for her to remain on the team.
McGlothen and Williams slips moved to the Reserve column, but Malfoy’s did not move across the board to sit next to Grindus. It moved left, resting under James Potter.
Finally, the Chasers moved to the center of the board. Without comment, the slips of paper for Nicholas Austin, Nate Nott and Marian White moved to the Reserves column. Devon looked at Ginny. She nodded her approval. The Chasers were going to be Jones, Smythe, and Albus. Ginny blinked in surprise as she watched the Gretchen Smythe slip move under James and Scorpius.
–Kaitlin Jones, damn, I hate making ‘the genius’ happy, but we can’t punish the girl for having picked an arse, like Owain, for a father. Also, I can’t punish poor Albus for having a mother who beat me in my last appearance in the League finals.†He looked over his shoulder toward Ginny Potter. Ginny was doing a bad job at hiding her smile.
–Bobby, you’ve left two open positions and we’ve got three players.†Ginny returned his look. She was not going to lobby for James. He had to make it on merit.
–As I see it, it’s either Malfoy as Beater and James at Chaser. Or it’s going to be James as Beater and Smythe at Chaser.â€
–James has never held a bat as far as I know,†advised Ginny.
–The son of Ginny Weasley and Harry Potter, he’d learn fast just to shut Kaitlin Jones up. However, I don’t think we can afford two projects with him as Beater and Smythe as a Chaser.†James’s paper moved next to his brother’s and Scorpius moved next to Grindus.
–I’ll tell Smythe, if it’s all right with you, Bobby. According to James, she had an old team photo of our last Harpies championship in her room. Maybe, I can get it autographed by Gwen and myself. I’ll also let her know she was the last cut,†said Ginny.
–Aren’t you afraid that she’ll blame you for both your sons making it?†Ginny Potter shook her head. Even if Gretchen did blame her, she would tell the truth and take the heat. Taking the heat was why she had signed up to coach Quidditch and not just write about it. With her Lily going to Hogwarts’ in the fall and Harry buried in his Auror work, she had to do something which brought passion back to her life.
–We’ll start the day tomorrow like it’s just another scrimmage. We’ll call this lot in and give them the bad news. I don’t look forward to this,†said Bobby Devon, as he checked his pocket watch.