The Beast Within

Quidditch try-outs

The next day, I woke up to Ava violently shaking me.
"I'm up, I'm up, calm down Ava." I mumbled.
"You've got to get up, you need to have breakfast and then go to the try-outs. Me and Remus are going to come with you. We'll be in the audience." She said.
"You will be the audience. Not many people go to the try-outs." I muttered, sliding off of my bed and landing on the floor with a loud crash. "I'm fine!" I called, raising my hand. She laughed and helped me up.
"I'll wait in the common room." She said.
"M'kay" I yawned. She left and I got changed into my quidditch gear. I took the snitch out of my trunk and gazed at it. I hugged it to my chest and put it on the side. Grabbing my broom, I left for the common room. Brendon was talking to Renn and Blaise, all in their kit.
"Let's go." I said opening the door. "Ladies first." I added, bowing graciously and gesturing for Brendon to go through.
"Ha ha." He said, sarcastically, climbing through the doorway.

We sat down in the great hall. I grabbed a plate and began to eat a bacon and egg bagel. Brendon was trying to give me tips for quidditch.
"I thought you weren't going to give me any special treatment." I said, raising my eyebrows at him.
"What? Of course I'm not giving you special treatment. I-I've given everyone these tips." He spluttered.
"Sure." I said, sceptically. I wolfed down my bagel and reached for some pumpkin juice. Drinking it, I looked around. There were a few Hufflepuffs in quidditch gear. Not too many though. I noticed Elsie and Sophie were in quidditch gear along with a few other Hufflepuff boys who seemed to be our age. Some were a lot older. One blonde haired boy who looked as though he was a 6th year was also in quidditch gear. I finished my drink and got up. We walked down to the quidditch pitch. Remus and Ava ran upstairs into the stands along with a few others including Jack. Brendon walked to the front and turned to face us.
"As you know, today we will be doing the quidditch try-outs. Only six of you, will be joining me on the Hufflepuff team. Two chasers, two beaters, a keeper and a seeker." He said glancing at me. "You will choose a position and will be competing against the others for that position. I will judge who gets to be on the team, my judgement will be based purely on talent. There's no point in having team of friends if we can't even catch a quaffle. So, choose a position and we'll get started." He said. People began to walk around looking for people with the same position.

Eventually everyone had chosen and grouped up in their position. Sophie and Ellen had chosen to be beaters along with Chase, a red haired boy and another girl. They looked menacing with their bats. The chasers were Renn; Blaise; a raven haired girl; another, shorter girl with brown hair and a boy who seemed to be our age. There were only two keepers, a 6th year girl and a boy who I guessed was one of Brendon's friends as he kept chatting to him. I was against the tall blonde boy I had seen earlier and a short chestnut haired boy about my age.
"Okay." Brendon said. "Keepers, you try to block the goals, whoever gets more saves will be the winner, chasers try to score, whoever scores most wins, beaters try to knock each other off your brooms," He said, "Please stay close to the ground, I don't want any injuries." He added. He turned to us. "Seekers, I will release the snitch. Whoever catches it first will be on the team." He said, staring into my eyes. We nodded and everyone mounted their brooms. He blew the whistle and everybody soared into the air. He threw the quaffle into the air and untied the bludgers, stepping back to let them fly into the air. He waited a few seconds for the beaters and chasers to clear the area and released the snitch.

I pointed my broom into the air and soared up into the sky, looking for the snitch. The younger boy looked terrified but the older boy was far from it. He had a smug grin on his face as he looked at us. I scanned the pitch, keeping a serious expression. I looked at Ava and Remus. Remus had his nose in a book but Ava was watching intently, her eyes flicking from me, to Brendon, to Sophie and Ellen and back to me. I spun around. Suddenly, the familiar glint of gold appeared the the corner of my eye. I flew towards it. The others caught on and followed. I sped up. I caught sight of the snitch again and turned to follow it. The other two were catching up. I squinted my eyes and leaned forward on the broom, trying to go even faster. The wind whipped through my hair, howling and whistling. I felt something crash into my side. It was the younger boy. I kicked him away but felt another crash on my other side. I pushed back on the older boy. He was grinning as I slowly moved further and further left. I kicked at his broom but he dodged it. We were approaching the stand where Ava and Remus were sitting. I waited until the last moment and flew around the stand, outside the pitch. I soared back in, slamming into the blonde boy. The snitch flew towards the ground. We dived down, still pushing against each other. The younger boy followed. He was catching up, flying on my left side. I would be crushed if I didn't think of something quickly. I pulled up just as he reached my side. He crashed into the older boy at full force and fell off of his broom.

The older boy was dazed and slowed down. I looked up. The snitch had gone. I flew back up into the air, the blonde boy in hot pursuit. I scanned the pitch again. At this rate I would never catch the snitch. I thought. Suddenly, it hit me. I had heard of a move used in quidditch, famously used by Victor Krum, a famous Bulgarian seeker. The Wronski Feint. I looked for the snitch. Eventually I spotted it once again. It was time. I began to move, first further up into the sky. I watched as Ava, nudged Remus, getting him to look at me. I pointed my broom down and soared to the ground, pretending to focus on something. The boy took the bait and flew down. We reached our top speed and just before hitting the ground, I straightened my broom, the boy slamming into the ground. I raced after the snitch. Reaching out for it I grabbed it. Holding it up triumphantly, I landed. I had won.