Saturday dawned brightly at Hogwarts, much too brightly in Harry’s opinion, as he still blinked sleepily against the glaring morning light that shone through the windows into their common room. He was holding a steaming mug of black coffee in one hand, while trying to keep a much more awake baby-Harry from falling off his lap with the other and at the same time trying to listen to what his parents were talking about. Harry realized that multitasking definitely was hard to achieve that early in the morning.
If he had known that his parents would visit him this morning, and so early on top of that, Harry wouldn’t have spent half the night correcting all the essays he had collected from his students over the course of the week. He had no idea, when exactly he had finally finished the last essay and gotten to bed, but he knew for sure that he hadn’t gotten enough sleep when there had suddenly been a knock at his door and his father’s head peeking into his room with a mischievous grin on his face.
Harry suppressed a sigh, as he took another sip of his black coffee, before exchanging the cup in his hand with a piece of the croissant the house-elf had brought up, and dipped it into the jam. His parents had just wanted to surprise him, wanting to have breakfast with him and then spend some more time with him, before the try-outs for the Hogwarts Team began. Harry could even understand them, as they hadn’t seen much of each other in the past few weeks, apart from a Floo-call or an owl now and then. But still, did they have to come so incredibly early at eight o’clock? It was Saturday for Merlin’s sake.
At least Ron and Hermione were still asleep and they would be so for another few hours, if Harry had any say in it. He had even made sure of this and placed Silencing Charms on their doors, so that they wouldn’t be woken up by Harry and his parents. Both of them had suffered enough, Ron already almost the whole week and Hermione the day before. Even though Ron had spent the whole day in bed on Friday, he had still been exhausted at night, and Hermione had also looked pretty tired after having suffered the Cruciatus Curse three times in his classes. They deserved the rest and to give them this respite was the least he could do to begin to make up for what he had put them through.
Harry still wasn’t sure, if he could ever forgive himself for this.
But at least his method seemed to have been successful. He had shocked his students and he was sure that they were now regarding the Unforgivable Curses much more warily than before. They knew now, why those curses were forbidden, what they could do, how much they hurt other people. Harry hoped that this would make a difference, even a small one, to the students, especially to the ones from Slytherin, who were, sadly enough, the most susceptible to the Dark Arts.
“Harry? Are you listening?”
Harry looked up, as Lily’s voice startled him out of his thoughts. The baby Harry was tugging at the collar of his black T-shirt, gazing up at him with wide green eyes. “Sorry,” he shook his head. “What did you say?”
“I told you, Lily, that we should wait until lunch to come over,” James said chuckling. “Harry’s about to fall asleep again.”
“It’s okay…” Harry smiled slightly. “Just give me some more coffee and the caffeine will keep me awake long enough to get through this day.”
James laughed loudly, which earned a delighted squeak from little Harry. “That’s the spirit. But, just be glad that it isn’t you today out there on the brooms.”
Grinning, Harry put the piece of croissant into his mouth and now used both hands to keep little Harry from wriggling free. It had taken some time, and it was still somewhat weird, but Harry had finally gotten used to seeing and playing with his baby self. His mother had even once commented, when she had seen them together, that he would make a great father. (Harry had only blushed and mumbled, “Maybe someday.” But at the same moment images of red haired and green eyed children had flashed in front of his eyes.) Once he had securely wrapped both of his arms around the little boy on his lap and therewith preventing him from breaking free, Harry said, “Yeah, but I’ll be up there soon enough. And with Ron as Captain, I’m sure he will put us through the mill.”
“Is he that bad?” Lily asked, sounding somewhat worried.
James and Harry exchanged a quick glance, before both of them suddenly burst out laughing. Lily immediately crossed her arms over her chest and began to scowl, which just softened slightly, as James kissed her on the head. “Lily, pet, I love you dearly, but you just don’t know anything about what it means to play Quidditch.”
“It’s a dangerous sport,” Lily muttered irritated. “I can’t even remember, how often you had to visit the Hospital Wing after a match! And I don’t even want to know, how often you had to spend time there, Harry. Really, I never saw the sense in this game. What makes it so interesting to see fourteen men fly around on brooms and try to catch and avoid flying balls?”
Harry and James just gaped at her in mock astonishment, before James shook his head. “How can someone not like Quidditch?”
“It happens,” Harry shrugged, having to suppress a yawn. “Just look at Hermione… She’s never been really excited about it before. But at least Ginny loves Quidditch.”
The moment those words escaped his lips, Harry knew that he had said too much in his sleep deprived state. Until now, all of them had carefully avoided mentioning Ginny. The Weasleys were still thinking that Molly was expecting another boy and they wanted them to be surprised, when she gave birth to a girl in August. Besides, Harry didn’t know, if he felt comfortable about his parents knowing the name of the girl he wouldn’t mind spending the rest of his life with. Who knows what would happen in this time later, if, no, when Harry had killed Voldemort “ his parents might get the crazy idea to play matchmaker between his younger self and the Ginny of this time.
The grin on James’ face was wolfish, as he teased, “So, that’s the name of the young woman you fancy?”
“James,” Lily admonished him, though there was also a secret and slightly teasing smile on her face. “I’m sure Harry will tell us about Ginny, when he’s ready.”
“Oh, come on, Lils!” James exclaimed. “I’ve been fishing for some information about this mystery girl for so long, and now, when our son finally talks about her, you don’t want to hear it?”
Harry felt his face heat up and simply knew that his whole face was as red as a beetroot. Why couldn’t he have just watched what he was saying? It was bad enough that his father was often dropping not so subtle hints about wanting to know more about Harry’s ‘mystery girl’, but having gotten himself into this situation was even worse. “Can we please not talk about this?” he muttered, staring down at the mop of black hair on baby Harry’s head.
“See, James? Now you’ve embarrassed him!” Lily scolded her husband and whacked him over the back of his head.
“Oi, woman! That hurt!”
“I hope so,” Lily sniffed indignantly. “That will teach you to interrogate your son, as if he were a criminal.” Harry was grateful for her words, hoping that his father would now really finally stop, but somehow he already knew that his hopes would be in vain. He had gotten to know his father quite well in the course of the last few months and from what he had learned he could tell that James Potter was not going to give up “ not, when he could use the information for further teasing. However, when Lily turned towards Harry, and he saw the mischievous smirk on her face, Harry almost groaned. “However, Harry, I can understand, if you don’t want to tell your father about things like that, but you know that you can always come to me, when you want some advice.”
After hearing her words, Harry actually had to groan, and hung his head, wondering why the ground wouldn’t swallow him, when he so desperately wanted it to. All the time, he had envied the relationship Ron had with his parents, even if they were embarrassing him, but now that he had first-hand experience of it, he wished he didn’t have to go through that.
Okay, Harry didn’t really mean that. A small grin lit up his face, as he looked down at the squeaking and wriggling baby on his lap. Of one thing, Harry was sure. When they left this time in a few months, when the potion was finished, he would never forget the time he had been able to spend with his parents.
It was almost time for lunch, when the door to Ron’s room finally opened and the redhead entered the common room with a loud yawn. His hair was still slightly damp from a shower, and Harry had to admit that his friend already looked a lot better than the day before, but the dark shadows underneath Ron’s eyes were still too visible for his taste. Still, when Harry looked into his friend’s eyes, he could see the sparkle of anticipation for what would take place this afternoon “ the try-outs.
“Good morning!” he greeted them loudly, after he had hesitated for a second, when he had seen Lily, James and baby Harry in the room.
The youngest Potter was currently sitting on Hermione’s lap, who had taken him immediately after she had joined them in the common room at about half past nine. While Harry was getting used to spending time with his baby-self, it was still a bit embarrassing to see one of his friends playing or holding him. It reminded him somehow of that one awkward time, when Remus had shared some old baby-pictures of him with his friends.
“Good day, Ron,” Harry replied with a smirk. “You’re just in time. We just wanted to go to the Great Hall for a quick lunch before the try-outs.”
At that moment a low rumble came from Ron’s direction and he sheepishly scratched the back of his head. “Lunch? Sounds great. I’m starving! I could eat a whole Hippogriff!”
“I don’t doubt that, mate,” Harry laughed. Turning to his parents, he smiled, “Are you coming, too?”
“Of course,” James winked at him. “I would never want to miss the excitement of the kids… You still haven’t told anyone, who that impartial judge will be, have you?”
Harry laughed, while Ron had to suppress a snicker. Hermione simply rolled her eyes, muttering something about making such a big deal out of such a small event. Harry rolled his eyes good-naturedly, when he heard her mutterings, but Lily, who obviously shared Hermione’s sentiments, simply exchanged one look with the other young woman. Both of them giggled and then strode off, climbed through the portray that was guarding their rooms and disappeared in the direction of the Great Hall. The three remaining men just shook their heads and turned to follow them.
“Women,” Ron mumbled. “I don’t think I’ll ever understand them.”
“Well, Ron,” James put a hand on his shoulder, “I’ve been married to one for a couple of years and I still don’t get her most of the time. But thanks to those lovely ladies, none of you answered my question.”
Ron grinned at James wickedly. “Nope,” he said, plopping the ‘p’, “no one knows but the professors and some other staff at Hogwarts. We really didn’t want the word to get out. It will be a huge surprise and I want to see the faces of the students, when we introduce her.”
“It’s a woman?” James asked astounded.
Harry and Ron exchanged a quick grin. “Well,” Harry answered, sounding completely innocent. “Didn’t I just prove to you a few hours ago that there are also women who like Quidditch?”
“W-wait!” James sputtered, as they turned another corner on their way to the Great Hall. “You’re not saying that this… Ginny… is the impartial judge! But when you… in your time… she has to be… old!”
Harry saw Ron turning to him again, this time with a confused look on his face. The redhead mouthed ‘Ginny?’, but Harry simply smirked, giving his head a light shake. Without saying a word, he put his arm around his friend’s shoulders and picked up the pace, leaving a very stunned James Potter behind. The smirk grew wider, when he heard his father call after him and then caught the sound of faster footsteps behind him. Let him believe what he wanted to believe, Harry thought, still smirking, at least as long as it was still possible, seeing as the try-outs for the students’ Quidditch team was after lunch. Because then his father would find out that the name of the judge wouldn’t be Ginny. However, Harry was still looking forward to not just seeing the students’ faces, but also his father’s face.
The Great Hall was already full and as if Dumbledore had already expected it, the High Table was already extended for the guests and Lily and Hermione were already waiting. James had caught up to them in the meantime, but he was sulking, as he followed the two friends to the High Table. Harry sat down on one of the free chairs, with Ron next to him. There was another free chair between him and Lily, which James took.
Upon seeing the pout on her husband’s face, Lily asked, “What’s happened?”
“Harry’s,” he shot Harry a dark look, “mystery girl appears to be at least twice his age!”
Hermione, who hadn’t heard this conversation, immediately began to cough violently on the bite of the sandwich she had just taken. Lily gently clapped her on the back, instructing her to take deep breaths through the nose. Even though her face was dark red, Hermione eventually nodded that she was alright. After having taken another deep breath, she just sputtered, “What? How did you get this idea?”
“Well… he said… and I… I just…” James turned towards Harry, who had by now a really wide grin on his face, as finally the pieces clicked into place. “You… I can’t believe it! You pranked me!”
“I learned from the best,” Harry simply said and winked at him. “Not to forget two other persons, who I’d rather not name now, but who will be infamous in their own way, I promise.”
“I can’t believe it…” James mumbled, shaking his head in disbelief. Harry began to grin widely. He was sure that it didn’t happen often, that the leader of the infamous Marauders got pranked. However, the shocked look on James’ face was quickly replaced by a wicked smirk, as he retaliated: “Well, you know what this means… war.”
Harry saw that his mother and Hermione rolled their eyes, but when he exchanged a quick glance with Ron, the redhead was grinning, his blue eyes sparkling with interest in the most-likely soon to be ensuing prank war. Reaching with his hand over, to shake his father’s hand, Harry said, “Let the best pranker win.”
James shook his son’s hand eagerly. “Your funeral.”
“Oh, believe me, James,” Harry grinned and gesturing subtly to the scar on his forehead. “I’m not that easy to kill.”
When the lunch hour was slowly coming to an end, Harry noticed that slowly more and more students left the Great Hall “ a bigger group much sooner than the others - instead of lingering until the end. It was weekend after all, but he knew just like everyone else that this afternoon, in not even half an hour to be precise, something much more exciting than the usual weekend activities was taking place.
Nearly every Quidditch player, no matter if regular or reserve, and even some other students, who weren’t on a team, had put down their names on the list they had hung on the notice boards in the four common rooms. All in all, about fifty people would come to the pitch to try out for the Hogwarts Team. All of them were eager to play against the Teacher’s Team, hoping that they would win. Well, they hadn’t trained yet, but Harry was sure that their team would prove to be a challenge for the students.
Finally it was time to go, as Ron got up to prepare everything. Harry had agreed to help him setting everything up and most importantly meeting their impartial judge. Until now, only Ron had talked to her, but Harry had to admit that he too was looking forward to meeting her. And then he couldn’t wait to see the expression on his father’s face, as he had found out that James was secretly a huge fan of her.
When he noticed that Harry and Ron were getting up, James also jumped up from his seat, eagerly rubbing his hands. Harry thought that James reminded him of a small child on Christmas morning. “You ladies going to come, too?” James asked Lily and Hermione.
“No, I don’t think so,” Hermione answered. “I’m going to keep Draco some company.” She shook her head with a small grin on his face. “If Poppy keeps him much longer in the Hospital Wing, I swear he’ll get even crankier. He’s already almost insufferable. Especially seeing as he’d really like to be a part of the Teacher’s Team.”
“Well, you have to be a bit more understandable, Hermione,” James said, returning her grin. “If I were in his place, I would have already fled, no matter how much Poppy threatens me.”
“Believe me,” she chuckled. “He’s tried.” Dapping the corner of her mouth with her napkin, she too rose from her seat, followed by Lily.
“Wait,” James suddenly said, when he saw that his wife was about to follow Hermione. “Don’t tell me that you’re going to miss this!”
“Why not? I think I’d rather spent some time visiting a poor soul in the Hospital Wing than spending the afternoon watching people get knocked off of broomsticks. We’ll see you later, when you boys are finished playing ball.” Winking at James, Lily settled Harry comfortable on her hip and strode off to the doors of the Great Hall. Hermione simply shrugged with an apologetic smile before following her.
One again, James simply shook his head. “Women…” However, as soon as they were out of sight, he turned to Harry and Ron with an eager grin on his face. “Okay… Let’s get this started! I finally wanna know, who this mysterious judge is!”
The stands at the Quidditch pitch were already filled with many curious spectators, but if they were all there because they wanted to know who was going to make the team or if they just wanted to see who the judge was going to be, Harry didn’t know. Maybe a bit of both and at least one of those mysteries was going to be resolved in just a few minutes.
The three men walked to the trainers’ locker room underneath the stands, where she was told to wait for them. And just as he had expected, Harry saw her standing in her full Quidditch dress “ dark green robes with a golden talon upon her chest. Next to her, one of the best brooms of this time was lying “ the Meteor. She smiled at them, as they stepped inside.
Ron immediately went up to her and shook her tanned hand, returning her smile fully. “Samira, I’m so glad you could make it!”
“Nice too see you again, Ron,” she replied, and tossed her long blonde braid over her shoulder, as she let go off his hand. “I’ve heard there are quite a few volunteers.”
“Oh yes, there are,” Ron grinned. “Samira, I’d like to introduce two friends of mine. First my best mate Harry and then his second or third cousin once or twice removed James.” He motioned at the two young men, but while Harry already knew, who was going to be the judge and politely greeted the woman, James was openly gaping at her.
“You’re Samira Masen!”
“So I was told,” Samira grinned, obviously already used to such behaviour of her fans. “Samira Masen, Captain of the Holyhead Harpies, at your service. But most people simply call me Samira.”
Harry looked at his father and saw something that he had never expected to see. His father was blushing, his face a deep red colour, as he shook hands with Samira. And the relief was evident in his eyes, when Ron began to talk again.
“Well,” he rubbed his hands eagerly, “what do you think, Samira? I believe we’ve let the kids wait long enough.”
“Okay, then let’s get going!” Her good mood and enthusiasm was infectious and Harry found himself grinning along with her. She reminded him slightly of a hyperactive child, even though she was athletically built and rather tall for a woman.
The four of them left the locker room and walked out to the pitch, where the large group that had signed up was waiting already, brooms ready in their hands. James quickly excused himself and went up the stands to watch the spectacle from above. Seeing as Samira was walking behind Ron and Harry, who were still a bit taller than her, no one saw her until all three of them came to a stop directly in front of the group.
Some students gasped in surprise, when they saw her, alerting some other volunteers. But it wasn’t until Ron cleared his throat and all eyes were directed at them that everyone saw her. Ron’s grin grew even wider, if possible. “Hello, everybody!” he greeted them. “I know you’re all terribly excited and because of this, I don’t want to let you wait any longer! Please welcome our impartial judge, who will also be your trainer in the following weeks “ Samira Masen, Team Captain of the Holyhead Harpies!”
A loud cheer went not just through the group, but also through the stands, and Samira was welcomed with much more than just a simple applause, which wouldn’t stop until Ron blew the whistle he had conjured.
“Thank you, everybody!” Samira said smiling. “Now, this is going to be easy. First of all, I want you all to fly a few laps around the pitch. I will fly with you and those who I tap on the shoulder come into the next round. I will tell you when to stop and I ask those that I didn’t tap to move back onto the stands, so that we have enough space with the next drills. And now, up into the air with you!”
It quickly became evident that not all of those who had signed up for the Team really had the talent for playing Quidditch. Especially the first years were having a hard time flying the laps, but also a few others. While Ron and Harry were watching from the ground, Samira was in the air with the students, scrutinizing each and every one of them. And Harry could tell that she really knew what she was doing, that she had the eye for talents among the students, as only fifteen minutes later she called the students to a halt and about half of the students retreated disappointedly to the stands.
“Now, before I continue, I want to tell you something, so that you can make a decision, if you want to go on or not.” She cleared her throat. “My training will be really hard. I don’t tolerate tardiness or laziness. We will train in all kinds of weather “ no matter if the sun is beating down on you or if there’s a blizzard freezing everything in sight. Now, if you’re not ready to give your all during training, I also have to ask you to go to the stands.” When no one moved, she smiled again. “I really should have known that there are more people out there who are as crazy about Quidditch as I am.” This drew some laughs out of the students and the whole atmosphere immediately became a lot more relaxed. “Great… Let’s go on! All of you who want to be Chasers go over there. Seekers over there, Beaters over there and Keepers to that side!”
The group immediately parted to go to their assigned places and just a short moment later, Harry watched in fascination, how she professionally put each of them through their paces. There was no chaos, no complains from a student, when she told them that they had to improve and were unfortunately not yet good enough to play. He was deeply impressed by how much respect the students were having and how they listened to each and every word from her.
Asking her to do this was really one of Ron’s best ideas.
The sun was slowly starting to sink, when finally the Hogwarts Team was complete. There had been a draw with the Seekers “ between Charlie Weasley and the Slytherin Seeker, Lisa Scarborough. In the end, after a tough race after the Snitch, Charlie hat secured the spot on the team, with Lisa being a reserve. That’s also one thing Harry liked about Samira “ she had not just put together a team, but also found a reserve for each player. And not just that “ there were players from all four houses on the team.
From Gryffindor there was Charlie Weasley as Seeker and the third year girl Emerson as one Chaser. One other Chaser was from the Slytherin team, Denton, and the last one was Jonathan Kane from Hufflepuff. The Keeper was a surprisingly small, but really agile girl from Slytherin, who wasn’t even on the House Team. But even Harry had to admit that this girl, Winters, showed a lot of promise. And then there were the Beaters. One of them came from the Hufflepuff House Team. Lizzy Brandon was in her fifth year and her new fellow Beater was Gwenog Jones, a Ravenclaw in her seventh and last year at Hogwarts. And after Harry had seen them fly together just a few minutes ago, he had to admit that they would be a really good team.
Harry realized suddenly that the Hogwarts’ Seven were going to be a force to be reckoned with.
“Hey!” Harry suddenly heard Samira call, but she didn’t seem to be angry, as she walked up to the group of Beaters and reserve Beaters. A smirk spread over Harry’s face, as he realized who was going to be her target. Samira looked a bit smug, as she stopped in front of a seventh year, a pale girl with long chestnut coloured hair. “Jones, right?”
“Y-Yes?” the girl replied, looking at Samira, most likely her idol, with wide eyes.
“Trainer Clapp told me about you,” she said smugly. “He’s met you last year at old Sluggy’s summer party and he’s said that you’ve got promise. And I must say, I’ve gotta agree with him.”
“Th-thanks…”
“You’re in your last year, aren’t you?” The girl nodded affirmatively. “Do you have any plans for what you’re going to do after Hogwarts?”
“I’m not sure…” the girl answered, suddenly blushing. “The only thing I’ve ever been interested in is Quidditch.”
As if she had waited for his answer, Samira’s face broke out into a huge grin, as she grabbed the girl’s shoulder. “Well, let me tell you something. One of our Beaters has just retired, which means that we need some fresh blood on the team, and if you’re flying in our training and in the game just as well as you did just now…” Samira let the sentence trail off, but she winked at the girl before she turned around and walked back towards Harry, Ron and James. “Hey, Weasley!” she called with a smug smirk. “Are you ready to get your arse kicked?”
“Dream on!” Ron called back, grinning widely. “Your team will be squashed! But come on, let’s get some dinner first!”
The weekend passed much too quickly for Harry’s taste and soon it was already Monday evening, time for the weekly staff meeting. And the Monday wasn’t starting off too well. All of the important things concerning school had been talked about and the only persons who still remained in the staff room were the members of the Quidditch team of the staff, who had all somewhat gloomy looks on their faces.
“Well,” Ron cleared his throats, as he looked around at the six other persons in the room. “As it appears, we need a new Chaser.”
Harry nodded grimly along with his announcement. Earlier in the meeting Elizabeth Thatcher, Arithmancy professor and Chaser on their team, had announced that she unfortunately couldn’t play in the match. Actually, considering the reason for this, this was happy news for her, but not so good for the team, because just the night before, after she had gone to the Hospital Wing with some stomach troubles, Poppy had announced that the professor was expecting a child and should under no circumstances play a sport as dangerous as Quidditch.
And now, they didn’t know what to do about the open spot. No other teacher felt capable of filling the spot, as most of them had never played in a game and weren’t that good on a broom anyway. At least not good enough to make them competent players in the next few weeks.
“What about recruiting someone else, someone who isn’t part of our staff?” Flitwick suggested. “James Potter for example. I believe that he might make a good addition to our team.”
McGonagall shook her head sadly. “I don’t think this would be fair. This tournament is supposed to be students against teachers and not students against teachers and old students.”
Suddenly, after the occupants of the room had fallen into a thoughtful silence, each of them wondering how to solve this problem, the door swung open. Harry looked up, startled out of his thoughts, and upon seeing the person standing in the doorway, a grin began to spread across his face, as he realized what this meant.
Draco Malfoy, dressed in black robes and looking as if he had never been sick, had his arms crossed over his chest and was looking at them with a superior smirk on his face. “A little bird whispered to me that you need a Chaser. Well, here I am.”