♕ twenty eight

"This is not a tea party," Harry shouted to the dozens of students lined up on the field, all clutching brooms and looking equally excited and terrified. Everyone from first years to seventh years had come to participate in Gryffindor's Keeper tryouts, and the captain was not messing around. Nor, it seemed, was his girlfriend. 

"If you came here to have fun and get some fresh air," Ginny yelled, "then you might as well pack your trunks and fly your arses to London, because we mean business."

Harry stepped forward. "Now: first, we'll have you all practice defending some shots against me, a rather terrible chaser. Those of you who last long enough, will defend shots against Ginny here.  Anyone who is still alive after that has a decent shot at becoming Gryffindor's new Keeper. Everyone mount your brooms." 

Hermione watched as fifty pairs of legs swung over broomsticks and everybody readied themselves. 

"Fourth years and below, will come with me to the north goalposts. Fifth years and above, go with Ginny to the south ones. We'll start tryouts from there." 

Barely ten minutes in, the crowd of eager keepers was thinning. Already two girls had trudged off the field with rather heavy nosebleeds, and one boy was even brought to tears of joy when he miraculously blocked one of Harry's shots. He had to be carried off the field after a few minutes to be give a Calming Draught from Madame Pomfry; and many followed him back up to the castle when Ginny started taking shots at the goalposts. Only a few players actually blocked the shots, but with Ginny on offense, getting a finger to brush the quaffle was now considered an enormous accomplishment. One girl, Ginny's friend Harriet, managed to block eight out of ten shots; and Harry was looking  very hopeful as Harriet performed a rather complicated maneuver with her broom, swooping down and clutching the quaffle in one swift motion. She was definitely younger, and would need to train hard; but she was certainly the best of the lot. 

Harry looked ready to welcome her to the team, when they heard a voice from the ground. 

"Sorry to interrupt, Potter," McLaggen said as he swaggered onto the field. The team flew down to see who had arrived. 

"But you've got one more act to see." 

Both Harry and Ginny, who had heard about McLaggen's disgusting personality from Hermione, wore identical expressions of displeasure. . 

"Where've you been, McLaggen? Tryouts started an hour ago." 

McLaggen smirked. "Had to deliver some news." Hermione frowned down at her hands, folded in her lap, as the remaining people mounted their brooms and flew off toward the goalposts.

"Alright, McLaggen, let's see how you fare against Ginny here."

Hermione knew that Harry hadn't given McLaggen time to warm up, but right now she didn't care about playing fair. She only wanted to see that idiot crash and burn. 

But to Hermione's, and apparently the whole team's utter disappointment, McLaggen managed to succeed in blocking all but three of Ginny's shots. 

With two clear choices for the Keeper position, Harry dismissed the rest of the students and allowed Harriet and McLaggen to play against Ginny once more. 

The first few shots, Harriet was confident and ready. She circled the goalposts like a hawk and snatched the quaffle out of the air with a more death-defying save every time. Hermione was even more pleased to see McLaggen fidgeting his hands and looking rather nervous; but they weren't out of the woods just yet. Harriet still had to block two more shots; and as much as she hated McLaggen, Ginny wasn't going to cheat and go easy. 

Hermione cringed inwardly as one of Ginny's quaffles sailed past Harriet's fingertips and soared through the goalpost, causing Harriet's confidence to plummet and her demeanor to sadden noticeably. She was so anxious that by the last shot, it was a piece of cake for Ginny to send the quaffle flying into the center hoop. Harriet flew down and began to apologize quickly to Harry and the rest of the team, but was instantly reassured. After all, blocking eight shots against Ginny Weasley was certainly no small feat. 

Now it was McLaggen's turn, and there was a less cheerful mood hovering over the Gryffindor quidditch team. Those who had stayed to watch the end of tryouts were few and far between; but none of them seemed to be interested in what McLaggen could do. It seemed as though no one cared, nor wanted him to succeed; but if he was better than Harriet, then he was what would be best for the Gryffindor team. 

Ginny's first attempt, it seemed as though she took a rash shot out of pure anger and missed the goalpost by a couple of inches. McLaggen smirked haughtily and Ginny gave him a glare that would've made a basilisk wither. 

Her other shots were much more impressive, as she forced McLaggen to fly all over the place. She would feign a throw to the right hoop and then spin in midair as the quaffle sailed toward the left goalpost. Her broom would zip past McLaggen and swoop back around for a lightning quick approach. 

But no matter which way she threw it, McLaggen blocked all of Ginny's shots.

Every single one. 

Without a murmur of recognition or applause, McLaggen returned to the grown juggling the quaffle in one hands smiling at the team, he spread his hands and turned to Harry, who was standing there, mouth agape but no words coming out. He, like Hermione, seemed completely shocked and angry at the same time: but he, unlike Hermione, was trying his very best to control that anger. 

"So?" McLaggen asked, tossing the quaffle to Dean.

Harry closed his mouth and gave a smile that looked more like a forced grimace. 

"Welcome to the team, McLaggen."