24 Chapter:24 Quidditch Troubles
It was afternoon now and the students who had missed breakfast were taking their time with a hearty lunch.
The group of five friends collapsed on one side of the table and began to pile their plates with all sorts of tasty food. Well... not really. Victoire spotted something that looked oddly similar to gelatin and yet when she observed it closely, she spotted chunks of what looked like fish.
"That's jellied eel, Mum makes them when Dad goes fishing with his ministry friends."
And George took a large bite from one of the pieces that Fred just passed him.
Yeah, NO, her appetite just did a nose dive and she carefully asked them for an explanation of every dish there was on the table before eating or even touching them.
There was something called 'Toad in the Hole' which she realized was a rather exotic dish, and contrary to its name, doesn't contain any amphibian. It was, she had to reluctantly admit, somewhat delicious.
Just when she thought that she simply might have had a bad first impression of British food, something called Haggis popped up in front of her, and her opinion did a nosedive again.
"So you left those three poor blokes hanging from the ceiling."
Asked, or rather said, Fred in amazement as his brother stuffed a half-eaten Yorkshire pudding into his mouth.
"There's nothing 'poor' about those three twats, and Tory said the spell would lift in about twelve hours or until someone finds them and uses a counter curse."
Retorted Angelina, now looking as though she regretted not getting a hit in on the three Slytherins.
" "Wicked!" "
Exclaimed the twins in unison before turning to look at Victoire, who was enjoying a swing of her coffee along with a piece of fruitcake.
"You gotta teach us that sticking charm!"
Said one of the twins, it was George,
"No, the blackening one!"
Said the other with a similar gleam in his eyes,
The look in their eyes was seriously creeping her out, it was the similar look she had adopted with her father, those blasted puppy dog eyes, but when coming from the twins, it looked more like a pair of abandoned kittens who had just spotted an adopter,
"Okay, but only if you two master ze Wand-Lighting, Red-flare, and Green-Flare spells before our first charms class."
Which was on the day after tomorrow, not an easy task but possible if they ask for their older brother Charlie's help.
"Is that a challenge?"
"I think it is."
Said the twins one after the other,
" "You're On!" "
They exclaimed loudly which in turn drew the attention of others seated beside them. Ignoring the strange look that the others were sending their way, the twins hurried off toward their elder brother who was busy talking to his girlfriend.
Lunch ended around 2 in the afternoon, and no more heavy food was available on the Great Hall tables except for some desserts and beverages.
Charlie, quite annoyed that his alone time with Isabella was interrupted by his brothers, offered to give the first years a general tour of Hogwarts. But as it turned out, most of the first years were content with exploring the castle by themselves.
He, however, was not at all disappointed, instead it looked as though he appreciated the denial of his offer. When most of the first years had dispersed, he leaned in and explained that this was a task appointed to him by McGonagall, and now that he was free, he had something much more interesting to show them,
"Glad that's over with,"
He sighed contently before leaning in and motioning for the remaining five first years to follow him,
"Come along now, I got something better to show you."
And he led them out of the Great Hall, to the right and through the Entrance Hall then through the 'Quad' or the open ground, above the suspension bridge, and then through what is known as 'Defence Against the Dark Arts Corridor'. Past the corridor, they reached the 'Middle Courtyard' where they were met by four of the burliest boys and girls they had seen in the Gryffindor house.
"Who did you bring along this time, Charlie?"
sighed an unmistakably girlish voice coming from the biggest student standing in front of them.
"Ah, these are my baby brothers and their classmates, you don't mind if they tag along do you, Megan?"
Asked Charlie as he introduced them to the muscle mania group which was most likely the Gryffindor Quidditch team.
"Not at all. And if they are your brothers, then I expect they will be joining us soon."
Said Megan as she screened the twins with her heavy brown eyes before returning them to the trunk that another member of the Quidditch team was carrying with him.
"Although, I expect they won't be able to get a test flight till they at least attend the first flying lesson."
She added as a matter of fact.
Now that Charlie had found who he was looking for, he and his team led the first year out through the right-hand side tunnel and onto the school grounds.
A wide expanse of green lay in front of them, going as far as the ring of wooden seats that was the Quidditch Stadium. And Victoire found out where the rest of the school had disappeared.
The morning drizzle had let up and the sun was shining down on the lawn. Students of all years were sitting around in groups, obvious scorch marks indicate that they flame-dried the ground before sitting on it. Overall, it was a dull, lazy evening that was to be spent under the sun's gentle care.
Victoire was nearly ready to find a good spot and take a nap but the loud voice of Megan kept that dream buried.
"What are you dilly-dallying for? Gather around!"
She shouted at the other Quidditch players who might have had the same idea as Victoire because one of them had whipped his wand out and was about to cast a drying, or maybe fire-conjuring, charm to dry up the ground.
For the rest of the day, Victoire and her small group of friends watched the Gryffindor Quidditch Team in action.
Soon it became apparent why Megan was rather bulky, she was the beater of the team and each time she swung her bat, there was a crack of lightning as the bludger ripped through the air and flew towards her teammates.
Not like the rest of the team was anything to scoff at, there were three chasers, Elliot Gardner, a rather short boy of around 5'4 with dirt brown locks on his head. Then there was Dylan Crawford, a lanky boy, around 5'8 or 5'9 with golden matted hair that stuck to his face.
The last chaser was a girl named Lucy Quinn, the skinniest, according to the rest of her teammates, and the player with the sharpest mind. She stood around 5'6 with bluish-black hair. Her specialty was flying so hitting her became almost impossible and Megan was forced to target the two boys instead.
Last but not least, Charlie Weasley, the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain, and Goal Keeper. No one was able to get by him unless Megan was attempting to bash his head in, and that too only worked once or twice after which he was back in the flow.
"We are still missing a seeker and a beater, John and Alice graduated last year and we haven't found anyone to fill in for them."
Complained Megan when they all stopped practicing for the day,
"Not really, I got a good candidate for the goalkeeper, once he is accepted through the try-outs, I will be free to act as the seeker."
Beamed Charlie, much to the relief of his teammates. However, Megan still had something to say,
"As much as I'd like to be the only one bashing some skulls, we need another beater."
This seemed to dampen their mood once again and the members started to mutter names for a qualified beater.
"What about them?"
Pointed Lucy at the group of first years observing them and Megan, along with Eliot and Dylan, burst into a mad laugh.
"Yeah, right, and I suppose those first years are secretly Bludger-whisperers, huh?"
Quipped Megan only to make the others laugh even more heartedly,
"Not really, no, but I have seen Fred and George fly, give them a year and some practice and they would fit in like a pair of gloves."
Charlie vouched for his brothers,
"But it's this year we need to worry about."
Eliot said, concern evident in his voice.
They were all silent for a while before Dylan thought of something,
"We can always use one of the substitutes."
"They don't aren't nearly enough to play against the other teams, you dimwit."
Lucy cursed only to be interrupted by Charlie who appeared to have just found an excellent plan, he turned to Megan and asked,
"Megan, can you hold back the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw beaters on your own?"
"Is that a question?"
Grinned the bulky beater,
"Then we can use a spare substitute to play against them but the Slytherins..."
"Would be a problem, yeah. If it's a fair fight, then even I can easily run them over but the trick is that those scoundrels like to play dirty. Remember what they did to John's cat last year, although their captain was suspended, 'Snape' allowed him to play."
Lucy completed Charlie's plans, she said the word 'Snape' with quite a bit of hostility.
"It won't happen again this year, the Headmaster gave them a final warning."
Charlie assured her before continuing with his planning.
Meanwhile, Victoire dosed off on the lap of a Sixth-year Hufflepuff, the poor girl looked ready to faint at any moment.
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