Betrayal of the Black

eight

IT HAD BEEN THIRTY-TWO YEARS SINCE there was a woman on the Slytherin Quidditch team. Celestia wasn't sure if that was because no woman were trying out, or they just weren't being accepted on the team. Either way, thirty-two years is way too long, and Celestia was determined to be the get on the team.

At first, she had kept the decision to herself. It was only on the Saturday morning, the day of Slytherin Quidditch team try-outs, did she finally tell her friends. She had done it at breakfast, and Pansy had squealed so loud in excitement that half of the table had turned to look at her. Because of her loud squeal, it wasn't long before the entirety of Slytherin had heard that Celestia was trying out for the Quidditch team.

As soon as breakfast was finished, nearly every single Slytherin were heading towards the Quidditch pitch to watch the try-outs. In fact, Celestia was sure that some students from the other houses had come to observe as well. This all put a ton of pressure on the brunette. She wasn't sure if they were here to support her, or to watch her downfall.

Standing in a line among men, Celestia was unsurprisingly the only woman trying out. The team's really only looking for two Beaters and a Keeper, but Duncan Urquhart had put every spot back on the line. Duncan was the new captain, and it was Slytherin tradition to put all the spots on the line at try-outs in some odd way to prove that they already had the best positions filled.

"Listen up!" Duncan bellowed, glaring at the group of Slytherins. "I don't care if you had a position last year, or if this is your first year trying out, this team needs to have the best players we can get. Prove to me that you deserve a spot on the team above anyone else. Prove to me that you can beat the Gryffindor's, because if you can't, then you're off the bloody team."

Crabbe was standing on Celestia's left, and she saw that he was already sweating despite the fact that they had yet to start. On her right stood Theo, who has been a Chaser since second year. Besides Theo was Draco and Blaise. Blaise had intended to join the Quidditch team last year, but the Triwizard Tournament had put a fork in his plan, so he too was trying out for the first time this year.

"Give me four loops around the pitch," yelled Duncan, blowing a whistle.

Celestia had been ready for the command as she had watched every time Draco and Theo tried out for the team, and in a flash she was on top of her Firebolt and was looping around the pitch. However, some of the boys had not been ready for the order and were stumbling around to mount their own brooms. Draco, Theo, Blaise and a couple other Slytherin's were right beside her, or trailing behind. They weren't that high off of the ground, but still the fact she was flying sparked a thrill in the girl.

By the time Celestia and her group began their second loop, most of the other Slytherins had reached them. When she had glanced back to look behind her, she saw twenty or so people following her and she nearly laughed; they looked like a swarm of bees. Though, there were still some stragglers behind their large group.

The third loop was the same, but by the fourth loop, Celestia had lagged back slightly. She was surrounded by a ton of Slytherin boys that she could not remember the names of. One or two of the boys had tried to pull her back by her broom, but she ended up kicking both of them. They were nearly ending the fourth loop when Theo fell back to ride beside her.

"That's the best you can do?" he yelled teasingly.

Glaring at him, she pushed forward. Reaching the end of the loop, she was the second student to touch down, followed immediately by Theo, and then by Draco and Blaise. She grinned largely at Theo, before falling in line in front of Duncan.

A couple minutes later everyone had completed the warmup, and Duncan sent off all of the people who didn't meet his standards. There were now roughly fifteen competitors left, and Duncan announced that they were going to do practice games to see who did the best, and how well they worked in a team.