Chapter Thirty Five - Tryouts

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter universe belongs to JK Rowling, Scholastic, Bloomsbury, Warner Bros and some other high falutin' companies. Me, I'm just a PR professional. I don't profess to own - and would never dream of making any money off - JKR's wonderful world. However, its her sandbox and she's left the gate unlatched so we can go in and play a bit. Which, I've done.

Chapter Thirty Five - Tryouts

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

\""/

Once in the Room, they saw Susan and Hannah talking with Neville and Hermione. Hermione had her class schedule on the table in front of her.

Walking up Harry looked down at Hermione's schedule and saw that the DADA lessons all had little hearts and sparkles around them.

"Oh, dear," said Harry.

Hermione, finally noticing Harry was leaning over the back of her chair gave a little "Eep!" sound before scooping up her schedule and stuffing it between the pages of a text book.

Harry sighed and walked around her chair to occupy another.

"How did DADA go?" asked Neville.

"As expected," said Daphne. "Lockhart is a fraud."

"What?" gasped Hermione. "But - he can't be! He - He's written all these books..."

"Hermione," said Daphne, cutting the poor girl off before she had an anxiety attack or something.

"What?" gasped the girl.

"He's a fraud, Hermione," said Daphne as gently as she could. "Harry's right. He couldn't even control a bunch of Cornish pixies. He fled the room and left it to us three to clean them up and dump them into a cage."

"But - his books - he wrote..." tried Hermione again.

"They're fiction, Hermione," said Harry. "Just like those books written about me. They're all - Wait a minute!"

"What is it, Harry?" asked Tracey.

"Roy E. Gild," replied Harry, smacking himself in the forehead. "The one who supposedly wrote most of those books about me. The author's name was supposedly Roy E. Gild; but, no one had even heard of him. And the publisher was keeping his yap shut.

"Hang on!" he said, reaching for and into his book bag. He drew out one of Lockhart's books and turned to the inside cover where the details of the book are always written. "Yeah, I thought so. It's the same publisher; Obscurus Books in Diagon Alley."

"There's not that many wizarding world publishers in Britain, Harry. What's the big deal with this one?" asked Daphne.

"The name of the author of those fantasy works we've been trying to track down to sue? Roy E. Gild? What's the first name of our new DADA Professor - who also happens to have his books published through the same publisher - and has experience writing fiction to make it look like fact?"

"Gilderoy," said Hermione, before she gasped.

"Exactly," said Harry. "Roy E. Gild is Gilderoy. Lockhart's the - mongrel - we've been trying to find."

"But, there are witnesses to much of what Professor Lockhart wrote about," tried Hermione. "There's evidence."

"That may be, Hermione," said Harry. "But there are also inconsistencies in the very books themselves that show them to be fiction."

"What? - But - Where?" she stuttered.

Harry sighed and pulled the books out of his bookbag. He then laid them out and started flicking through them. He stopped in one book and said to Hermione, "Here, read this about the dates, and where it supposedly occurred."

While Hermione was reading that, he picked up another and flicked through it until he landed on the right page. He held it open while Hermione read.

When she'd finished, Harry placed the next book on top of the one still in her hands and said, "Now read this one. Take note of the dates and where it was supposed to have occurred."

Harry then reached for a third book and started flipping through it before he found the page he wanted.

She read through the section Harry had indicated in the second book and looked up at him in confusion. "But, that's not possible," she said.

"There's more," he calmly said, offering her the third book before taking the first two off her. "Read from the second paragraph on the left."

Then he pulled out a fourth book and flipped through it quickly finding the right page.

When Hermione looked up in further confusion, Harry offered her the fourth book and said, "Right hand page third paragraph."

Bending her head to, once again, read, Hermione took note of what Harry had pointed out.

Finally, Harry pulled out his copy of Magical Me! and started flipping through it. He found the first of what he wanted and, as Hermione looked up, almost in tears, handed her the book and said, "Left hand page, first paragraph."

Hermione read through it. When she looked up, he said, "Page 48, second paragraph."

Hermione quickly flipped through the book until she found the right paragraph; and read that and the next few.

When she finished, she didn't look up - only lowering the book to her lap - and quietly said, "He lied. Over and over again, he lied."

Harry then reached out and took the book from her loose fingers, closing it and placing the lot back on the table. "Yes. He lied. There are also others, but those are the main points. I daresay those feats in his books were accomplished. But not by him."

"No," said a quite sad Hermione. "He couldn't have been in two places at once. Once may have been a publishing error, but not more than once, and over and over again.

"Unless they're clearly identified as fiction, books should be about educating the reader with facts. You're supposed to be able to trust they're the truth. I'm - I'm supposed to be able to trust they're the truth."

"Well, here we have an author who doesn't believe that. Plus, he's clearly being abetted by the publisher," replied Harry. "Now that we know the true identity of Mister Gild, I'll be letting Cygnus know so we can go after him."

"I doubt, once this all comes out, our dear Professor Lockhart will be DADA Professor for much longer," said Susan. "Part of the requirements for the job, any job at Hogwarts, is a sterling reputation."

Neville snorted and said, "Our dear Headmaster and Professor Snape, aside."

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

\""/

Daphne drafted the letter to her father while Harry wrote down all the conflicting 'facts' across the books. It took him a while and Daphne had long since finished while Harry was still writing.

He had only just managed to have everything written down when they had to leave hurriedly to get down to the Great Hall for dinner. If they hadn't used the shortcuts through the castle they would have been late.

Daphne carried both the letter and a copy of Harry's notes after he'd used the Copy Charm on them. His own copy was in his bookbag.

Down at the Great Hall they decided to take seat at the Slytherin table for dinner. The new Firsties all looked at them rather oddly but didn't say a word, merely gave them room.

Harry turned to the Firsties as a whole and said, "You don't have to sit at your own House table for all meals; only the Sorting and Leaving Feasts. At all other meals you can sit where you like.

"So, if you have friends in other Houses, you can go and sit with them for meals, if you like. Don't ever allow anyone to tell you any different, alright?"

He received just under a dozen nods back from the wide-eyed Firsties. "Thank you," said one young girl.

As he was talking, Hedwig entered through the owl entry ports at the peak of the roof and flew down to land in front of him. As a snowy owl, she flies silently. His only indication she'd arrived was the sound of her landing just in front of his plate.

"Hello, girl!" he said to her, pulling an owl treat out of his robes and offering it to her. "Daphne has a letter for you to take to Cygnus. Alright?"

Hedwig bobbed her head once and turned to Daphne. She then tilted slightly to her side and lifted her, now higher, wing to allow the harness on that side to be accessed.

Quite amused, Daphne attached the letter, combined with Harry's notes, to Hedwig's harness. And, said to the owl, "Thank you for doing this, Hedwig."

Standing back up straight Hedwig hopped up onto Daphne's shoulder and gave her cheek a bit of a rub before taking wing and flying back into the rafters.

"Wow, she's really smart!" said one of the Firsties.

Harry smiled back and said, "Hedwig is my bonded familiar, as well as being the owl of a Head of House. She's very intelligent."

From behind, Harry heard Snape say, "You're not attempting to corrupt my little snakes are you, Potter?"

Harry smiled and turned to look at the man standing behind him. "Certainly not, Professor. I am, in fact, providing them with information concerning the relationship between myself and my bonded familiar; my owl, Hedwig."

Snape just huffed before moving away again.

Speaking along similar thoughts to his own, Tracey said, "You've got to admit, he might be a cranky mongrel at times; however, he sure takes looking after the members of his House quite seriously."

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

\""/

A few days later, on the Saturday, Harry was walking with the others from the Great Hall after enjoying dinner, down to the secret passage from the dungeons to the seventh floor when he heard a loudly whispering voice. It was a voice, a voice to chill the bone marrow, a voice of breathtaking, ice-cold venom. §Come - come to me - Let me rip you - Let me tear you - Let me kill you... §

Harry came to a sudden halt in the middle of the corridor in shock. Susan walked into his back, not expecting him to suddenly stop.

"Merlin, Harry!" she said a bit cross. "Why'd you stop like that?"

"What?" he asked, trying to concentrate on what he heard.

"I asked you why you stopped like that," said Susan.

"No," said Harry frantically. "That voice!"

"Sorry?" said Susan, looking puzzled. "What voice?"

"That - that voice that said - didn't you hear it?"

"What are you talking about, Harry?" asked Daphne.

Harry didn't answer. He was straining his ears to hear the voice again, but there was no sound now except for the others all asking what he was talking about.

Shaking his head, he replied, "It - must have been nothing. I just thought I heard a voice..." Shaking his head again he said, "Forget it. I must be hearing things," and started walking again.

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

\""/

Two weeks later, Harry kept his promise to Hermione of the previous year. On her birthday he gifted her with a necklace. What he didn't tell her, but Daphne knew, it was from the Potter vaults and had certain charms placed upon it.

Along with the normal anti-theft charms it had a certain amount of protection from Hexes and Curses. It would also alert Harry, through his Head of House ring, if she was attacked by such anywhere within the castle or the close surrounding grounds.

The necklace had a large pyrope garnet shaped in a tear drop. It was a very dark red that worked well with her brown eyes and hair. It was encased in a nine carat gold basket frame and suspended on a twelve carat gold chain.

On seeing it, Hermione nearly burst into tears. Daphne hung it around her neck as the girl was unable to concentrate enough to operate the tiny clasp.

Holding the stone in the palm of her hand, Hermione said, "It's beautiful."

"It is," said Hannah. "And perfect for you."

Turning to Harry, she said, "You have excellent taste, Harry."

With a shrug, he replied, "Well, one of my ancestors did. I just saw it and thought how it suited Hermione. That's why I've gifted it to her. Besides, as her Protector, I have to go just that bit beyond the normal with gifts for her."

Hermione reached out and grabbed Harry on his forearm. "No, you don't," she said. "Making - no - accepting me as your protectee is more than enough."

Harry just chuckled and said, "No, I'm sorry; it doesn't work that way. I have to show everyone else I'm still fully committed to my role as your protector. The little bauble I've given you is a mark of that."

When Hermione looked to the others for confirmation as she withdrew her hand, they nodded back.

Daphne said, "It's a beautiful gift that sends just the right message, Hermione. It's a very astute move on Harry's part; which is why I also agreed with it. Though he didn't need my permission, anyway."

"I'm glad you agreed with it," said Hermione softly. "I wouldn't want to accept such an expensive gift if it made you feel - uncomfortable."

Daphne giggled and said, "I do not doubt Harry's love for and dedication to me, Hermione. Have no fear of that."

That earned Daphne a kiss from Harry. It was the first time he'd ever initiated a mouth to mouth kiss. And Daphne realised it.

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

\""/

Straight after the giving of gifts for Hermione's birthday, Harry had to grab his broom and head down to the Quidditch pitch for tryouts for the Ravenclaw team. Simone Martin, now a Seventh Year, had kept his promise and offered Harry the chance to tryout for the seeker spot.

When he arrived he received death glares from no less than three Third Year girls. One was Cho Chang, and the other two were clearly her friends as well as dorm mates.

Martin, in order to gauge the skills of the two seekers, sent them both aloft at the same time. He told them the snitch would become visible exactly thirty seconds after he released it. Which would be as soon as they rose into the normal seeker overwatch position.

As Martin was giving them their instruction the rest of the group came down to watch. "Hey!" he yelled at them. "No spying!"

"We're not!" called back Daphne. "We hope you kick Slytherin butt!"

Martin, not knowing how to respond to that, thought better of whatever he was going to say and ignored them.

The group headed into one of the tribunes to watch.

Harry asked for a chance to warm up a bit before taking to the overwatch position and was given the okay. Cho joined him.

Harry shot into the air at a great rate of knots. As soon as he reached the middle of the pitch he immediately pointed his broom straight up. At about two hundred feet up he cancelled all forward momentum and allowed the broom to fall backwards out of the sky before flipping it over backwards and pointing straight down.

Accelerating down he corkscrewed the broom before pulling up a bare three feet off the grass and heading straight up again, corkscrewing all the way.

At about fifty feet up he looped the broom up and over before pulling out and completing a second one. As he pulled out of the second, at speed, he heel-pushed the back of the broom out and skidded it across the sky. At the time, he was completely out of the 'saddle' of the broom and it was only his back foot and one hand on the handle that showed he hadn't simply lost control and was about to fall off.

Just as the broom was about to come to a complete stop he pulled the broom back under him and let it fall out of the sky before swooping towards the three goals at the nearer end of the field.

He flew through the middle ring before looping up and over and ducking through the second, then the third.

Heading into his third loop he, instead, Immelmann turned and headed back to the middle of the field, pulling a sloth grip roll for the fun of it.

Diving steeply he hopped up out of the saddle and planted his left foot on top of the knot above the brush twigs, pushing down with his foot while pulling back with his right hand causing the broom to flare out.

Just as he was about to hit the ground at barely walking pace he dropped back into the 'saddle' and said to the now mouth-gaping Martin, "Thanks! That should do it," before hurtling back into the sky to the overwatch position.

When he reached height he was met with a scowling Chang who then turned her nose up at him and flew away to the other end of the field.

As soon as he knew the snitch was released, he began a count down in his head and hoped his timing wasn't too far off.

Just in case, he began searching the sky for the elusive little golden winged ball at twenty-five in his count.

A few seconds later, he saw it over near one of the tribunes and took off after it.

Hard on it's winged 'heels' he brushed against the walls of one of the tribunes and followed it as it ducked down almost a foot off the grass.

Taking a moment he glanced to see Chang diving towards him from on high but nowhere near him yet.

When the snitch suddenly changed direction by shooting straight up he caught it by just about leaping out of his broom and snatching it overhead with one hand pulling up on the handle and pushing down with his feet.

Returning to Martin he handed off his prize with a big grin on his face.

Now stationery he could hear the group cheering wildly up in the tribunes.

"Merlin, Potter!" said Martin. "When your Slytherin girl said you could fly..." He shook his head in wonder.

When Chang joined them Martin said, "Alright. You may be able to fly and focus on finding the snitch. But, how well will you do when there are a couple of beaters and a bludger to deal with."

He then pointed to two guys dressed as Ravenclaw beaters and said, "You two. I want you up in the air with a bludger. Your job is to make life hard for both seekers."

The two looked each other before grinning and taking to the air with their bats. They carried the bludger aloft with them.

Martin then said, "Alright. Same as last time. In the air and I'll release the snitch. It will be visible after thirty seconds. Go!"

Harry and Chang immediately took off with Harry easily outstripping Chang in getting into the overwatch position.

"Go!" called Martin with a Voice Amplifying Charm, as he released the snitch.

Harry immediately dove between the two beaters and pulled up drawing the bludger after himself. And flew straight at Chang. The Third Year had to suddenly dive in order to avoid the bludger following Harry and flew straight at one of the beaters to get it off her tail.

Harry used the opportunity to start scanning the sky.

When he saw the bludger heading his way again, he allowed it to pass over him as he performed a stationary sloth grip roll and pointed the broom straight down knowing the iron ball would perform a sharp loop and come back at him again.

Instead of using one of the beaters to draw the ball off his tail, he immediately headed for Chang, who was heading back up. It, again, changed players and started after her.

As soon as he managed to get the bludger off his tail he sped towards the other end of the field. Whereupon he caught sight of the snitch down low next to the goal posts. And, he was after it.

As he raced to the other end he saw the snitch suddenly dart back towards him. However, he was unable to get his hand down fast enough as it passed directly under his broom.

Skid turning the broom he quickly had it around and heading back the other way when he saw the bludger heading almost directly straight at him, and he accelerated straight back at it. At a height of about four feet off the ground he performed another sloth grip roll at high speed, allowing the bludger to pass over the broom, and allowed his eyes to scan the area ahead for the elusive little golden ball.

Knowing the bludger would have turned around by now he angled his broom upwards towards the beaters and saw Chang diving down on the other side of them.

Changing course he did a lazy barrel roll over the nearest beater and hared down after Chang allowing the speed of the broom coupled with gravity to allow him to come over the top of her.

Seeing the snitch make a sudden sweep turn he stayed with it and found himself ahead of the Eurasian girl.

A few moments later he had the snitch firmly in his hand.

Returning to the ground next to Martin he, again, handed the snitch off.

Chang landed next to him and cast murderous eyes back at him. "You could have killed me flying over me like that! What if I had to suddenly pull up?"

"That was the whole point, Miss Chang," replied Harry, coolly. "I could have, if I wanted to, run you straight into the side of one of the towers. However, I did not. You had room to pull up simply by turning away."

As he was responding to the furious girl, the two beaters landed nest to him. One of them, Roger Davies, said, "Bloody Hell, Potter! That was some incredible flying."

"How high up were you when you pulled that roll down near the ground?" asked the other.

"About four feet!" exclaimed Martin. "Four bloody feet off the ground, and he pulls a move like that!"

"Well?" asked Harry. "Are we going again?"

"No," said all three. When Martin glared at them the two beaters had the decency to look abashed.

Turning to Chang, Martin said, "As I promised, there's a spare slot in the chasers. Do you want to try out for it?"

"Yes," snarled Chang.

"Right, then," said Martin, before turning to other hopefuls for the chaser and keeper slots. "All those who want to try out for the vacant chaser position, up in the air! All those trying out for keeper, up in the air!"

Turning back to Harry, he said, "Training starts Monday morning with fitness training. It's also a 'getting to know each other' time. Meet us in the Entrance Hall at 6.30am sharp. Don't be late."

Knowing a dismissal when he heard one, Harry remounted his broom and flew up into the tribune where he knew Daphne and his friends would be. He landed next to them a few moments later.

Looking at their hopeful faces he grinned and said, "I got it."

With a squeal of joy, Daphne threw herself into his arms before kissing him with abandon.

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

\""/

The next morning, the rest of the group entered the Great Hall to find Harry half-sprawled off the Ravenclaw table onto the bench seating.

Daphne and Harry were the first to arrive and found him like that.

Daphne sat down next to her betrothed and gave Harry a little shake, thinking him asleep.

"Ow!" he said. "Hurts!"

"Harry?" she asked. "Somebody hex you? I didn't feel my ring tell me."

"No," he moaned. "Quidditch training."

Tracey started chuckling. "Come now, Harry. It couldn't have been that bad."

Harry lifted his head a little and glared at the 'filthy snake' sitting opposite. "Martin said it was just going to be a 'getting to know each other' session," he whined. "He told me it was just going to be a 'little bit of a workout' to 'knock the rust off our lazy summers'. He told me it was only to gauge our inherent fitness levels. He's a filthy liar!"

Harry saw that other members of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team were taking seat at the table down it's length. Except for Martin, they all glanced back with shared pain and sympathy.

By the time Martin himself turned up, the rest of their group had assembled. Daphne and Tracey told them why Harry appeared half-dead.

When he finally felt he could lift his head without too much pain, Harry cried out, "Simon Martin is a dark lord in disguise!" And promptly dropped his head back onto the table top.

His words were greeted with laughter from the others on the table. Even Martin grinned in response.

"Come now, Potter," he said. "A little light workout is good for the soul."

Harry flipped him the two-fingered salute; which earned him more laughter.

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

\""/

On the Sunday afternoon, a week later, Harry and Daphne were early to their second club meeting of the year. Unsurprisingly many of the First Year muggle-born and -raised had attended. When asked what led them to attend, they all said it was older students who had attended the previous year said they should.

That sort of recommendation made both their hearts soar with pride. It's one thing for the Professors to recommend the club; but, when the previous - or ongoing - members are the ones doing the recommending, that's high praise, indeed.

And this time they also welcomed those from the previous year who had wanted to attend but either didn't get started early enough, or their numbers would have exceeded their self-imposed limit to membership numbers. Harry made sure that those who had wanted to join the previous year, and couldn't, were each sent personal invitations to attend this year.

When they saw one of the earliest to attend on the first day was a Ravenclaw in the year above Harry, and had judiciously attended each and every club meeting, Harry looked at him askance with a small smile. "And just what brings you here, Mister Bradley?"

"Errr - Refresher course, Harry," the boy said brightly, while trying to look innocent.

Harry burst out laughing and said, "A refresher course, eh? Less than four months since you attended the last meeting of the first intake; and you call yourself a Ravenclaw."

The boy had the decency to look abashed.

"Take a seat, Bradley," said Harry, still laughing. "However, if we need to watch our numbers, you're gone. But, don't worry, we'll also by then be looking at the alternate Sunday idea of having an advanced club for those who've already been with us for a year."

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

\""/