HP 6 - A different Half-Blood...

The Quidditch Try-Outs

They were just finishing lunch when Colin Creevy came over. "Wotcher, Harry!" he said excitedly.

"Hi, Colin," Harry responded in the same exasperated way since his second year, when Colin arrived.

"Guess what!" Colin exclaimed.

"What?" Harry said, lazily.

"I'm the commentator for Quidditch, now! Lee's gone now, so I went to McGonagall and she said ok! Isn't it great!" he said breathlessly.

"Congratulations. I'm sure you'll do well," Harry said, faking enthusiasm.

"Thanks Harry! See you later," he said, practically running over to the rest of the fifth year Gryffindors to tell them.

"Well, I'm sure he won't be impartial at all!" Ron said sarcastically, smiling at Harry.

"Shut up," Harry responded, slightly irritated. Colin had been hero-worshipping him since he had arrived. He thought by now he would have stopped.

"Let's go practice after classes tonight, and then do some scouting for players for the team," Ron said, still smiling.

"Who said I was going to help you with that?" Harry said, returning Ron's jab with a smile.

"You are kidding, right?" Ron asked uncertainly and looking to Hermione.

"Well, you're the captain," Hermione chimed in.

"Alright, Harry, you have to help me or I'll kick you off the team, how about that!" Ron said defiantly.

"Yeah sure, I'll help you," Harry said laughing.

They got up and went to classes. After dinner, they got their broomsticks and went down to the Quidditch pitch. Hermione came along, even though she was not playing. They practiced for about an hour, until it got dark. They had to get in by curfew. They headed back toward the castle going through the available players for the team. They needed a Beater or two, (they were not sure about Sloper) and a Chaser. They agreed that they did not have any new players pre-selected. There were not any reserves, and no one had shown any real promise in last year's try-outs. They would have to wait and ask people to come.

By that point, Hermione demanded they start on their Defense Against the Dark Arts essay. They read the chapter and could not believe some of the spells in there. There was a curse to make the person say things that you are saying and another that made the person think the opposite of what they want. It was difficult to separate all of them and had confusing instructions on how to work them. Some it required more wand movement, like spells they used in Charms. All of them required deep thought and focus.

Ron was still in a state of disbelief. He still did not understand why they needed to learn illegal spells, but Harry thought that as long as no one used them on humans, they were legal. He read about a spell that can put the person or creature into a trance and remembered at the Triwizard Tournament when Fleur Delacour put her dragon into a similar trance. It was helpful then, and putting someone into a trance does not look illegal.

On Monday, it was another grueling Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Again, Harry was the first to affect his animal, which turned out to be a mouse. He did it on his first attempt. He did it a few more times increasing the length of time he put the curse under the mouse. By the end of class, he had left the curse on the mouse for about ten minutes without recasting the spell. He could make it do anything at his whim. Run, walk, jump, roll over. He just used his mind.

When he finished, he looked over his shoulder and saw Snape. He looked away and called an end of class. Harry had a feeling Snape was watching him the whole time, but Snape said nothing to him. Then, in Transfiguration, McGonagall set them working on Conjuring Spells.

"We are going to try to work the spell today. Conjuring Spells are most difficult to operate. I will be amazed if any of you manage to conjure anything in the first few tries. It takes a great deal of focus. You must picture what you are going to conjure. We will not conjure items without the incantation until next semester. We are starting with imamate objects and working toward bigger items, and then invertebrates. Focus strong on what you are trying to conjure and begin," she ordered.

They were supposed to be conjuring toothpicks, but no one was having any progress. Harry was watching everyone and thought, This is just like using the Imperious Curse, focus....

He emptied himself of emotion and focused solely on a toothpick, and then conjured a toothpick out of thin air. Hermione looked at him, amazed, and Ron's mouth was open in shock. He again performed a new spell on the first time. Professor McGonagall came over and looked at Hermione, who shook her head and pointed at Harry.

"Well, Mr. Potter, ten points to Gryffindor. I'm impressed," she said and after looking at him for a couple seconds, then swooped off to check on the rest of the class.

"Wow, Harry you are really getting these spells down," said Ron.

Class ended with everyone, except Harry, with homework to practice Conjuring. Ron complained about the mountain of homework and difficult spells they had to do, and by the time try-outs came around, Ron was exhausted. He was behind on his homework and losing sleep to researching Quidditch techniques.

On the day of the Quidditch try-outs, they had just finished Transfiguration, when they went up to Gryffindor tower to change. Harry looked out the window. It was good weather for the try-outs. The Captaincy had been agitating Ron. He had stayed up late the past week studying new moves, training strategies and techniques. Harry knew that Ron would do better than he would have, but Ron had resumed his defensive mechanism of not speaking.

They changed and headed down to the Quidditch pitch. Harry had not seen last year's try-outs, because he was in detention. Hermione, Ginny, Katie Bell, Neville and many other Gryffindors came down with them.

Madam Hooch had divided the pitch in half. Ravenclaw and Slytherin, who only had one position trying out, were on one half of the field, and Gryffindor and Hufflepuff were on the other. One team would go first and then the other. Hufflepuff had already finished and left when they got there. Almost the whole Gryffindor House showed up to tryout. They had to find Beaters and Chasers out of the mess.

"Alright Harry, separate them into who is trying out for Chaser and who's trying out for Beater, and get ready to test the Beaters. Ginny and Katie you are going to test the Chasers, alright? I'll watch and you guys tell me what you think," Ron said.

They nodded and went off on their broomsticks, doing as he said. Most of the people Harry tested were not even as good as Sloper, who assumed he was still on the team and did not even show up for try-outs. Ginny and Katie Bell were not doing any better, from the looks of it. Ron, who was watching, shook his head. They would have to pick someone eventually.

Harry sent a Bludger to a person, who was about halfway through the line, and he nailed it. It went soaring through the air back at Harry, who had to urge his Firebolt out of the way.

Harry flew over to him, glad that he found someone that was worth asking their name, and asked, "What's your name?"

"Sean Williams," said a small musky-haired boy, nervously.

"You ever played on a team before?" Harry asked.

"Yah, the youth league in me area. I didn' try out las' year caus it was me firs' year," he said.

"You were a Beater?" Harry asked.

"Yah," Williams said.

"Ron!" Harry called out, who came quickly over, grinning, along with Ginny and Katie. "I think we found us a Beater. Show 'em what you got," Harry said, pointing over his shoulder as the Bludger was coming back toward them. "Hit it toward the middle ring."

Sean Williams wound up and whacked it strong through the hoop. Ron was clearly overjoyed, which reminded Harry of Oliver Wood, when McGonagall told him about his new Seeker.

"Well, I can say welcome to the team! You do want to, right?" Ron asked, not believing it.

"Yah! I love Quidditch," he responded, completely thrilled.

"Do you know anyone else who is a Beater?" Ron asked.

"No," he said.

"Alright, you can stay and help out Harry. We might be replacing a Beater, too. If you see anyone who looks good, point him out. What's your name?" Ron asked.

"Sean Williams," he repeated, still dubious about his luck.

Ron, Ginny and Katie zoomed away happily. Their team had at least one good Beater on it, now. Harry and Sean tested the remaining players, but none of which showed much promise. When they were finished, they headed over to where Ginny and Katie were testing. Harry noticed that some that tried out for the Beater position had gotten into the Chaser line. Harry remembered Malfoy once said it was a disgrace not to be picked for their House. Perhaps, they thought similarly. Ron flew over to meet them.

"I have seen a few good ones, but none that match Angelina or Alicia. We got a few more," Ron said.

They watched one that missed all five shots and another who had problems flying. A third year girl almost fell off her broom. Most had problems catching and throwing. There was about ten more left, when their fellow sixth year, Seamus, came up to try out. He missed one shot, but made four other difficult shots. He ducked the Bludger that Williams whacked over at him and caught all the throws. He flew rather well and Harry was impressed.

Ron called Seamus over. He did not look as thrilled as he was with Sean, but relieved that they found a Chaser. Ron had not entirely forgiven Seamus for how he treated Harry last year, although Seamus had apologized.

"Hey, Seamus, how long have you been playing Quidditch?" Ron asked cautiously.

"Since I can remember. It only took six years for a Chaser position to open up," he said, slightly disappointed by that fact.

"Alright, well, good job, we'll finish testing these guys and let you know," Ron said, avoiding Seamus's eyes and looking over at the remaining Chasers.

"Ok," Seamus said, uncertain if it was good sign or not. He probably figured that after seeing the others, Ron would pick him in a heartbeat.

Harry was looking at Ron, but he was staring resolvedly at the next person. It confused Ginny, Alicia, and Sean, too, but they went on testing anyway.

"Waiting to decide or what?" Harry said to him quietly on the side. Ron turned to face him and realized he would have to rationalize his decision.

"Well, I'm not sure he can be a team player, after last year..." Ron said, and Harry realized he was looking out for him.

"I'm sure I can handle him and he seems convinced that I'm telling the truth, now," Harry said, sarcastically.

"Well, I don't trust him," Ron said, indignantly.

"Let's see what these other players can do," Harry said, repressing a laugh.

The rest did as dismally as the others had done. One did show some promise, and he was another second year that Sean Williams pointed out. Ginny, Alicia, and Sean came over to conference about who to pick. Ron was shifty. Alicia and Sean did not know why he would not want to pick Seamus.

"Well, that Euan kid looked alright," Ron started. Alicia, however, did not take to his line of thinking.

"Yeah, alright, but not as good as Seamus did. Why not pick him? He just needs little training, and he'll be good," she said. The others agreed and Ron looked at Harry, who nodded.

"Alright... Sean, you can tell Euan he can be a reserve. Practice is on Sunday morning. Let's go in," Ron surrendered. Wood and Angelina always put Quidditch above everything else. Ron knew he had to do it, too. They all headed up to the castle.

"So, didn't see any other Beaters?" he asked Harry, who said no.

They were stuck with Sloper. Hermione came down. She had been watching from the stands with some of the other Gryffindors, including the Creevy brothers.

"So, how'd it go?" she asked.

"We picked that kid, Sean, as a Beater. He's pretty good, but we didn't find anyone else to be another Beater, and Seamus is the new Chaser," he finished, exhaustedly.

"Well, at least Seamus believes Harry, now," Hermione said.

"Yeah," Ron grumbled.

"Was he any good?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, pretty good," he admitted, as though wishing it were not true.

Hermione spotted Ron's lack of enthusiasm and did not mention it again. They talked about Gryffindors' chances of winning all the way up to the common room. Ron and Harry went quietly up to their room, and found Seamus and Dean there. Seamus looked up anxiously.

"You're on the team, if you still want to be," Ron said.

"Sounds good to me," Seamus said, grinning wildly.

"First practice is on Sunday morning," Ron said, turning to his put his Quidditch robes away.

"No problem," Seamus said, happily, though a brief silence followed.

"What kind of broom you got?" Harry asked Seamus to ease awkwardness.

"A Nimbus Two-Thousand and One! Me mum can't really afford a Firebolt," he said smiling at Harry. Harry could tell he was to get on his good side.

"Well, we need to get our homework done and Hermione's waited for us," Ron said and they walked downstairs, giving one last look at Seamus.

On Sunday, they practiced and it went well. Harry was glad to finally play Quidditch again. Ron was directing and was still the Keeper, too. Ginny, Katie, and Seamus were learning each other's moves and techniques. Sean and Jack Sloper were doing the same. The longer they practiced, the better they got. Ron stopped in the middle of practice and showed them some different scoring and defending strategies that he was working on. They seemed simple, yet effective, and by the end of practice, they had gotten all of them down.

When they met up with Hermione afterward, Ron was still glowing. The furor from the practice was still in him. Hermione was glad to see him happy and she sat next to him at lunch. Ron's nervousness over becoming the captain had diminished and Harry felt he had done something right in letting Ron have the Captaincy. It was a great practice.

Ron had not mentioned what had happened in McGonagall's office, yet, and Harry was not about to bring it up. The next few practices went just as well. Ginny, Katie and Seamus were moving like a unit, and Sean Williams and Jack Sloper were not as good as Fred and George, but were better than before. Perhaps the Cup would remain in Professor McGonagall's study for another year.

* * * * *

The number of times he dreamt of Voldemort and Sirius had diminished, but occasionally still stung him like clockwork. When school started, it was a change in his schedule. He had a lot more moving around and studying. He became tired easier and slept longer than when he was at home. He still woke up before everyone else, and had problems falling asleep, but it became worse and worse as time went by. His body seemed to have gotten use to the extra exercise. His eye and another bruises healed up, and his leg was getting better, though it still hurt.

He had started to wake up in the dead of the night, again. He was not sure if Ron knew how much sleep he was getting. A few times, he could have sworn that Ron heard him, but he never said anything. Harry tried to figure out if he stopped talking in his slept, but there was no way he could know, and Ron never said anything about that either.

Snape and McGonagall were working as one to force them to use their minds to do spell work. After the first few lessons, the students started to understand how to work this complex type of magic and were catching up to Harry, who was now doing worse. The less sleep and more dreams he had, the harder it was for him to work the spells. The work had become redundant and boring. Class work seemed meaningless. All he had to do was learn Avada Kedavra, right? His mood greatly affected his behavior. Most of the time, he was quiet and avoided conversation.

Snape stopped ignoring Harry, now that he was doing worse. However, every time Snape belittled him, he rose to the occasion and performed his task without difficulty. His hatred fueled him enough to try.

Ron and Hermione said nothing about his behavior and had not mentioned Sirius, yet. It did not sound remotely interesting to talk about. He also noticed that either one of them were with him all the time. He was starting to get sick of it. He wanted to be alone. The only time that he was alone was when he woke up early. He never left his bed until Ron got up, and in those early morning hours, he just stared at the ceiling. There was nothing else he could do. Days had started to become routine. He only went around with Ron and Hermione to avoid a confrontation.

Classes grew worse and worse. Potions was the most difficult. Snape had more reason to criticize him. Potions were not as easy as working spells. So, Harry could not use his anger to work it out. Charms had moved into Muggle Repelling Charms. They were complex to work and required tricky wand movements. Care of Magical Creatures was becoming difficult as well. They naively thought that Blast-Ended Skewts was the worst Hagrid could find. He brought in more dangerous creatures for them to discover how many different ways the 'interesting' creatures could hurt them.

Hermione had gotten a nasty bite from a graffar beast and had to be in the hospital wing for the weekend, and the dread of the upcoming study of dragons was enough to make them all nervous. Even so, the classes were bearable, even Potions. Harry tuned out everything. Most of the time, he was not even listening, which of course, affected his grades, but the eventual would happen. Ron and Hermione were going to ask him to talk eventually.