Flying

Today was the day that I'd finally got the chance to try out for the Ravenclaw Quidditch team.

I wasn't able to trial in my first year and I'd broken my arm playing muggle Rugby the year after, so this is the first chance I've had to trial since starting at Hogwarts. I grew up playing Quidditch in the backyard and I've always been quite good at it. I'd been trying to keep my hopes down, but I really wanted to make this team.

The trial arrived, and I walked down to the Quidditch pitch with my best friend, Tom, who was also trialing, and my broom – a Nimbus 1500 I'd received for my last birthday.

When we got down there, I got my first look at the pitch from ground level. It was exquisite and possibly the best thing I'd ever seen. The captain, Amelia Davies, was standing at the front of the group with her broom in hand. There was someone next to her whom I assumed was already a member of the team.

The chatter amongst the other students eventually died out and Amelia cleared her throat.

"Hello all, my name, as you know, is Amelia Davies. I'm the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain and with me is Matthew Lewis, the vice-captain. I play Beater and Matt plays Chaser; thus, we only have two Chaser spots and one Beater spot. We won't be looking at any first years and we would prefer if you rode your own broom. Now I'm going to show you the different balls and their jobs."

I already knew what they did and who could touch them, but many people here were first-timers, so I understood why they had to explain it.

Amelia took the Quaffle out of the box and held it up. "This is the Quaffle. The Quaffle is thrown around by the Chasers until they reach the goal end where they shoot in one of three hoops. There, the Keeper will try to stop the ball going in the hoop. In this respect, it is quite similar to muggle football."

She replaced the Quaffle and produced a bat. "Before you ask what the bat is for, I'll ask you all to stand back while I get the Bludger out." Amelia bent down and carefully opened the latch that would let the Bludger out. Bracing herself, she went to hit the Bludger with the bat. She connected, and it flew up into the stands.

Breathing slightly heavier than she had been, she said "That was a Bludger. In a Quidditch match, there are two. Their sole purpose is to knock players off their brooms. As a Beater, it's my job to protect the players, mostly the Seeker, with this bat."

That moment, the Bludger came flying back and Amelia wrestled it back in the case. Once she had succeeded, she opened the compartment that held the Snitch.

Holding the tiny ball up to audible gasps, she spoke. "This... is the Golden Snitch, and it's the most important ball of the lot. It's very hard to catch because it's so fast and difficult to see. It's the Seeker's job to catch it."

Being a Chaser, I thankfully never had to catch the Snitch unless I had to fill in for someone. It was deadly fast and Scotland was always raining – sometimes you'd barely be able to see the Quaffle.

After explaining the positions, Amelia told us to separate into our preferred positions. Tom went over to the other Keepers and, after wishing him luck, I went to the Chasers.

The trial went well, and I made a few new friends in older grades. At the end of the trial, Amelia called us all back to the centre circle for the team announcement.

"Thank you all for coming today." she started. "It has been a very hard decision, but we've come to an agreement as to who we are picking. Remember, if you don't get picked, it's not the end of your career." She paused before pulling a sheet of paper out from her blue robes. "Okay, so we're going to start with the Keeper, followed by the Beater, the Chasers and the Seeker." She cleared her throat before continuing. "The Ravenclaw keeper for the 2017-2018 school year is Tom Horton!"

Tom had a large smile on his face as he went to stand up next to Amelia and Matthew. I just hoped that I'd be joining him.

"This year's second Beater is Omar Phillips!" Omar, whom I had not previously met, walked up.

Time for the Chasers.

"The three Chasers this year are Matthew Lewis, as you know, Emily Moore and Genevieve Bond!"

I made the team! I walked up with possibly the biggest grin I've ever had and shook both Amelia and Matthew's hands. I stood next to Tom and smiled at him. He smiled back and I knew in that moment that Ravenclaw was going to win this year.

(The Seeker was a boy named Jake Knight who was a year below Amelia and Matthew.)

|----------------------|

The first game of the year against Slytherin arrived quickly and to say I was nervous was an understatement. By 11am on game day, I'd already eaten a loaf of toasted bread and three glasses of apple juice and I'd been throwing the Quaffle up and catching it for about an hour when Tom coaxed me into going down to the Quidditch pitch.

When we arrived there, only Emily wasn't present. She arrived a few minutes later and we started warming up. I could hear the crowd arriving above us and the nerves came back in great hordes.

Trying to calm myself down, I paced around the room a couple of times and shook my arms out. It seemed to work to some degree and I felt ready.

We walked out of the changing rooms to massive cheers and I heard Amelia wish us all luck. The captains shook hands and Madam Hooch blew the whistle. I flew into the air and grabbed the Quaffle. Speeding forwards, I passed it on to Matthew who passed it to Emily. I flew off my marker and called for the ball. Emily saw me and passed, giving me a relatively clear shot at goal. I shot and scored. I was over the moon, but the celebrations were short-lived as Slytherin hit back with two goals.

The game seesawed back and forth until finally our Seeker caught the Snitch. We won the first game of the season 280-140! It was the happiest day of my life so far. We celebrated with our friends in the common room, and it was fair to say that Quidditch was my new favourite sport.