Foreshadowing the Past

Chapter 3

My father didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.
-Clarence Budinton Kelland

Sunday morning was sunny and cool, and the Gryffindor table was the loudest in the Great Hall at breakfast time. All the talk seemed to be focused on the Quidditch tryouts scheduled for later that morning, and everyone seemed excited about it. There were two open spots for Chasers, and the team's captain, Mariah Rexhall would be leaving at the end of the year, as would one of the current Beaters. There were no reserve players at the moment, and Mariah wanted each player on the team this year to have a reserve counterpart; she did not want to have to play a man short again as had happened last year when one of their Chasers had been badly injured and unable to play. That meant that in addition to the two Chaser spots that were open, seven other hopefuls had a chance of making the reserve team. An added bonus to having fourteen players at each practice was that they could play as two teams against each other, and Gryffindor would benefit, no matter who won. This news had brought out a lot of Gryffindors to try out, and even more to cheer on those who were trying out. It looked like it was going to be a long day, and Connor was looking forward to it, as he hadn't been on a broomstick for weeks.

"Do you guys want to go down to the pitch early to get in a little extra flying time?" he asked the others who were gathered around.

"I do," Ivy said immediately. "I'm sure I'm a bit rusty. My dad doesn't like to fly, and Mum rarely has time, but they don't want me going up on my broom alone."

"I'm game," Quentin said with a nod. He was feeling more nervous than he had expected to. His father had sent him an owl telling him he'd be fine, and that he couldn't go wrong with a father who was a great flier, and a sister that scored more than any of the other Chasers on the Slytherin team. Somehow those words didn't comfort him much now that he'd had time to think it over; what if he didn't make the team at all, even as a reserve?"

"Good luck, Leo," came Vanessa's taunting voice from behind him. He turned to see his sister smiling evilly down at him, with a smirk on her face. "I hope you make the team. Then everyone in the school will be able to see who the better Malfoy is."

"We already know who the better Malfoy is," Zack said with a sneer, coming to Quentin's defense.

"You wouldn't know a decent Quidditch player if one bit you in the.... Oh! Hello Professor Lupin," Vanessa's voice had changed from venom to mild in an instant.

"Miss Malfoy," he greeted her casually.

Vanessa spared one last angry glare for the Gryffindors before departing with her head held high. Lupin, feeling that his job was done, also departed with a wink at the group.

"Don't listen to her," Ivy said, seeing Zack's unhappy expression.

"She's right," he said with a disgusted sigh. "I can't even stay on a broom for five minutes without falling off."

"You just need practice," Quentin told him firmly. He was touched that Zack had braved his sister's considerable wrath to defend him. Not many of the Gryffindors had been eager to befriend the son of an ex-convict and former Slytherin, and he was grateful for every one of his Gryffindor friends. Zack had not listened to some of the other kids' stories about the type of man his father had once been, and had introduced himself right away.

"I think I need more than that," Zack said ruefully.

"Like a healthy dose of self-esteem?" Ivy chided. "You should come down to the pitch with us before try-outs and have a go on one of the school brooms."

"Yeah," Connor agreed. "If we make the team, maybe we can try to get in a little flying time before practices, and you'll improve in no time."

"Even if we don't make the team, we can try to get out on weekends," Quentin said.

"This is so unfair," Rachel growled.

"Rachel," Connor said impatiently. "Just because first years aren't allow their own brooms, doesn't mean they're not allowed to fly at all. Go ask Lupin or McGonagall if you can borrow a school broom and come with us!"

Rachel grinned, and hopped up from the table, heading to the Staff Table where both professors were having breakfast. Jarod Weasley sat down in the place she had just vacated and picked up a piece of discarded bacon. Biting into it, he said to Connor, "That...cousin of ours scored a 105% on her last Charms test."

"Well look at her Mum!" Connor said with laugh at the disgust in the other boy's tone. "She's bound to be brilliant, isn't she?"

"I suppose," Jarod sulked. "My dad wanted me to tell you that he's sending a Halloween box for all of us, but that one of the older kids will have to pick it up in Hogsmeade. He says it's probably best if McGonagall and Lupin don't see it."

"Excellent!" Connor grinned. "Fireworks?"

"That's my guess. Him and Uncle George were working on something new just before school started, but they weren't saying what. I thought Mum was going to have a fit the third time the basement exploded, though." Jarod smiled at the memory, then vacated Rachel's seat as she returned looking triumphant. "They said yes!" she said happily.

After breakfast, the five of them walked out to the Quidditch pitch. Connor had the best broom in the world, in his opinion. It was one of his father and Uncle Ron's own creations, made especially for him, a gift to him when he had been accepted to Hogwarts. No kid, outside of the Potter or Weasley family owned a broom like it, because there wasn't another one like it. His dad and uncle's specialty was making custom brooms for professionals, built to fit each individual and react to individual riding styles and postures. Of course he hadn't been allowed to bring it to Hogwarts as a first year, but he had spent the better part of the two weeks before term started on it, and his summer holidays after. Today would actually be the first time he would ride this broomstick at Hogwarts, and he was looking forward to it. He walked with it slung over his shoulder, running his fingers over the gold lettering that spelled out his initials in the handle: "CJP."

Quentin eyed the broomstick over Connor's broom with a twinge of jealousy. Not because his friend's broom was any faster or newer than his own, but because it was special. His father and uncle (who owned one of the most popular broom manufacturers in all of Britain) had actually designed and built that broom specifically for him; who wouldn't love that? Still, his father, not wanting to be too far outdone by a Potter or a Weasley, had bought both of his children a Wind Blazer 5000, the best brooms on the market not made by the men in question. Aiden Weasley was a Beater for the Gryffindor team, and his broom was also custom-made, so if Quentin and Connor made the team, they would have three of the best brooms in the school on their side. He grinned widely in this knowledge and felt some of his nerves melt away.

Ivy had her own broom, which was quite good, if not as good as Connor or Quentin's. She had saved her pocket money for a whole year, and did odd jobs around her parent's greenhouses, in order to buy it over the summer holidays. Her dad had made the deal with her that he would match the amount of whatever she earned toward the purchase of a new broom, even though he worried himself to death every time he watched her fly. She had been beside herself with delight the day he took her to Quality Quidditch supplies in Diagon Alley and helped her to purchase her brand new Sirius Elite, which had only been on the market for a few weeks when she bought it. She had wondered at the time if Connor would have been amused by the fact that she had worked so hard for one of the models his own father had developed and helped build. She had only had a few days on it before she had been forced to pack it away and come to school, and she couldn't wait to get on it again, whether she made the team or not.

They stopped at the broom shed that housed the school brooms, and checked out two Cleansweeps, before heading for the Quidditch pitch. Ivy was the first one up in the air, and let out a whoop of joy and she circled the nearest set of scoring hoops. Quentin mounted his own broom with a grin and took off after Ivy, doing a couple of loops in the air just for the sheer fun of it. Connor was about to mount his own broom, but Rachel stopped him.

"Go on, Connor!" she wheedled. "Let me take your broom up. You'll get to ride it all day, and I won't get a chance to ride a decent broom again until Christmas!"

Connor sighed as she gave him her most pathetic look, and swapped brooms with her in defeat. Zack grinned at him, and called him a pushover.

"She's right though," Connor said. "This is pretty much her last chance to ride a good broom for a couple of months. Bring your broom out onto the pitch, and I'll see if we can figure out why you keep falling off."

For the next hour or so, Connor worked with Zack, and the others also made suggestions on how to improve his skill. They discovered that for the most part, his problem was balance, and worked to correct it.

"Your problem is that you're trying to sit on a broomstick handle," Connor told him. "That's not all there is to it. Brooms have built it charms for things like speed, maneuverability, stopping, and stuff like that. Now that I've watched you a bit, I think you're having trouble with the cushioning charm, and you're not centering right."

"So how do I fix that?" Zack asked. He really wanted to learn this, and he figured that if Connor's father built the things for a living, Connor just might have an idea what he was talking about.

The rest of the Gryffindors could be seen in the distance, making their way toward the pitch for the try-outs, and so Connor said, "Let me think about it; we'll figure something out."

Zack and Rachel returned their brooms to the broom shed, and joined their housemates in the stands, waiting to cheer on their friends. Mariah led her team out onto the pitch and consulted her clipboard before calling out the names of two of the hopefuls for the Chaser position. It looked like there were eight people in all trying out for that particular spot, and so they played in ten minute increments, focusing on passing the Quaffle back and forth to each other, while the Beaters worked to hit Bludgers at their own team, to see who was best at avoiding them. Each of the eight got to go up in pairs, and as luck would have it, Quentin and Connor got to try out together. Ivy, Rachel and Zack, along with most of the Weasleys, all cheered them on, and the spectators could tell that the boys had a good rhythm going as they smoothly passed the Quaffle between themselves and the third Chaser, a fourth year girl named Amanda Barton. A Bludger grazed Connor in the last few seconds of play, knocking the Quaffle from his hands, but he caught it again after a slight bobble, and Mariah blew her whistle.

Ivy was next to try out, along with a third year named Carolyn Scott. This round of play didn't go as smoothly, and though it was obvious that Ivy was a good flyer, she was having trouble catching the Quaffle when it was passed to her. By the end of the ten-minute session, Ivy wore a look of frustrated disappointment, and knew that she had done poorly. As the rest of the Gryffindor team touched down, Mariah approached her.

"Look," Mariah told her quietly. "I can see that you're good on a broom. Have you thought of trying out for reserve Beater?"

Ivy thought about it for a moment and then shrugged, "I'll give it a try."

The hopeful Chasers soon returned to the air, taking turns at trying to get past the Keeper. Quentin scored the most goals successfully of the group, but Connor and two others weren't far behind. Mariah asked the Chasers to leave the pitch, explaining that the results would be posted on the Common Room notice board in the next couple of days.

Once the Chaser try-outs were over, it was time for the Beaters to take the pitch. Mariah and the Gryffindor Seeker, Whitney Glendale, would be watching the proceedings carefully from a spectator's viewpoint, so that they could judge who the best candidates were. Ivy followed the others out and mounted her broom again, figuring that the worst that could happen would be that she didn't make the reserve for this position either. She was to be in the first pair to try out, and so made sure that her hair was pulled tightly back from her face, and wrapped the bat's strap around her wrist. She listened to the instructions that Aiden Weasley gave her, and nodded. All she needed to do was chase the Bludgers as they zoomed around, and keep them from the Chasers that would be traveling up and down the pitch. Aiden, and Jeremy Ogden (the other Gryffindor Beater) joined Amanda Barton to act as Chasers, so that the practice would simulate a real match as much as possible. Because there were only half as many players on the field, the Bludgers would undoubtedly be more aggressive, so those acting as Beaters would have plenty of opportunities to show their skill. Everyone flying over the pitch carried a Beater's bat, incase those trying out were unequal to the task of blocking Bludgers threatening the 'Chasers.'

Ivy's last thought before the Bludgers were released was, "If Dad knew I was trying out for a Beater's position, he'd probably confiscate my broom!"

Connor and Quentin had gone to sit with Rachel and Zack in the stands to support Ivy in her try-outs.

"How do you think she'll do?" Quentin asked, sounding a bit nervous. "Those things are made of iron."

"She should do all right," Connor said. "Even if she's not really strong, she should be able to keep from getting hurt."

Zack looked up at Ivy, and thought that she might actually do better than 'all right'. She might have a bit of a round face, but she was far from being fat or lazy; and she had pretty muscular legs, as well. Not that he'd looked the time he'd seen her in Muggle clothing on the train to Hogwarts, of course. Connor and Quentin had been really good in their try-outs, and Zack thought they would most likely get the starting Chaser positions out of all of the others. It would be nice for Ivy to make the team as well, even if it was only as a reserve.

They all looked out at the players as the Bludgers were released, and the acting Chasers sped up and down the field. Connor was surprised and impressed as he saw Ivy dive in front of a Bludger and knock it hard in the opposite direction. He cheered with the others as she made hit after hit, making the other Beater seem as though they weren't even trying. She didn't seem to have a problem hitting the large iron balls well away from the other 'players' during her ten minutes over the pitch. By the time Mariah blew her whistle, Ivy was exhilarated and pink cheeked. She flew to the ground and grinned happily as Quentin and Zack hugged her and Conner smiled and said, "I'm impressed! If it were up to me, I'd kick one of the other Beaters back to the reserves and give you his spot!"

Rachel put a friendly arm around her and agreed whole-heartedly with her cousin, "You'll get one of the reserve spots for sure!"

Her hand was still stinging, and she knew her arm would ache later from the reverberation of the bat hitting the Bludger, but she knew that she had done a good job. The group went back to the stand to watch the rest of try-outs, and then traveled back up to the castle for lunch.

"How come they didn't have seeker try outs today?" Zack asked as they sat in their usual spots.

"The reserve seeker will be chosen at the next regular practice," Connor said around a mouthful of bread. "They didn't want to release the Snitch today, because of the ten-minute increments for the other positions. They want to see how they fly with the whole team in a regular playing situation."

"How come you didn't want to try out for Seeker, Con?" Quentin asked.

"Probably for the same reason as you," he answered. "My dad played that position, and everyone would be comparing me to him."

"Yeah." Quentin agreed, and then added mentally, 'As much as I love my dad, I don't want to be constantly compared to him.'

After dinner, Connor stretched and groaned. "Well come on," he said tiredly. "We need to get back to the Common Room to study. Professor Thompson is going to spring a test on us tomorrow to see if we can change the buttons from last lesson back into beetles."

With a collective groan, his friends followed him back to Gryffindor Tower.