Charles Chandler and the Staff of Fury

Chapter 6

On Monday afternoon, the bulletin board in the common room had a notice posted for the first years. It read "Flying Lessons, on Friday after lunch. Please be prepared to be outside for a few hours. Gryffindor House will be taught at the same lessons."

"This is great!" Stephen exclaimed. "I haven't been allowed to fly a broom since I left home...what's the matter?"

Charles was starting to look a little ill. He wasn't too sure he would enjoy being off the ground supported by only a broomstick. Stephen slapped him on the shoulder and said "Cheer up; we're getting out of History of Magic for a day."

Charles smiled wanly, "That is something to look forward to..."

The flying lessons were all the first years could talk about for the whole week. Stephen showed his excitement more as the days progressed. He leapt into any conversation that started on the subject of flying.

Charles, on the other hand, turned green whenever the subject was brought up. Justin picked up on this, and began to talk about nothing else for the entire week. Consequently, Charles tried to redirect the conversation quickly. He also started to have "accidental" spills into Justin's food. All of this culminated into a nasty incident on the day flying lessons began.

It all started with Justin's customary snide remarks toward Charles. Charles, feeling more nervous than usual, lost his temper and knocked Justin's breakfast into his lap. Justin leapt to his feet spluttering in anger and moved towards Charles with an angry look on his face.

Charles rose quickly as Justin threw a punch at him. Charles stepped back and started to swing back, but a tug on the back of his robes prevented him from connecting with his punch. A quick jerk of his shoulders freed Charles from what held him back. William and Matthew were restraining Justin. Charles looked over his shoulder and saw that Helena and Stephen had grabbed on to his robes again trying to hold him back.

The entire hall was looking at this exchange, including the teachers. Professor Flitwick moved swiftly toward the two fighting boys with a furious look on his face. "In my office, now!" he squeaked angrily.

Charles sighed and began to follow Flitwick. Justin shook off Matthew and William's grip and moved to follow looking very sullen. He quickly caught up with Charles and shoved past him. Charles, not willing to put up with any more guff from Justin, tripped him.

Justin stumbled and crashed to the floor. With a growl, Justin stood and leapt at Charles. Justin, being a rather small boy, was caught in mid-leap by Charles. Charles was so shocked by Justin's attack that he didn't act until he was kneed in the ribs and elbowed in the head. Charles dropped Justin and clutched his head.

Justin got to his feet and moved towards Charles with his arm pulled back to throw a punch. Charles saw the smaller boy moving at him with a raised fist and cringed. Suddenly, Charles heard Flitwick shout, "Petrificus Totalus!" and he saw Justin freeze in mid-stride.

Flitwick was seething, his wand pointed at Justin. "Twenty points each from Ravenclaw and you will both receive a detention," he said angrily. "You will now come to my office so we can sort out this nonsense."

Flitwick ended the spell holding Justin and told him to get in front. He made Charles stay behind a few steps so that the boys couldn't reach each other over his head. Flitwick glanced back and forth at the two boys, this time with disappointment mixed with anger.

When they reached Flitwick's office, Charles had a queasy feeling in his stomach. Justin continued to shoot Charles nasty looks. Flitwick noticed this and said, "Mr. Chandler, wait outside until I call for you."

Charles slid down the wall to sit on the floor by the door as the other two entered the office. He put his head in his hands and moaned, "Why did I let him get to me?" Charles sat there so lost in thought that he didn't see Justin storm out of the office nor did he hear Flitwick calling him.

Charles was snapped from his reverie by Flitwick. The tiny wizard still looked furious. "Get into my office, Mr. Chandler," he demanded angrily. Charles got shakily to his feet and walked into the office.

When Charles got into the office, he looked around and was startled by all of the magical objects in the room. In one corner was an old oil lamp and on one of the walls was a poster that read "World Championships of Dueling: Final Match." On the poster were the pictures of two wizards. One of them looked like a young Flitwick. The young Flitwick was bowing and assuming a stance similar to a fencer's stance.

Flitwick moved around his desk and sat down. This desk was also quite unusual because it and everything on it was scaled to fit the tiny professor. It felt a little strange to Charles to be standing in front of a desk that looked like it was made for a child.

"I want you to tell me why you and Mr. Chamberlin decided to disrupt everyone's breakfast," Flitwick said.

Charles took a deep breath and started to explain what happened. "It seems that ever since Justin learned that I was scared of the flying lessons, he's done nothing but harass me about them. I'm so nervous about the lessons. Almost everyone in my class has ridden broomsticks already. I seem to be the only one coming in with no experience whatsoever."

Flitwick sighed, "What you did was wrong. I know how hard it can be for young people some days. I think that the best way for you and Mr. Chamberlin to stop fighting is for you to become more familiar with each other.

"So for your detention, I want you and Mr. Chamberlin to interview each other and learn as much as you can about each other."

Charles grimaced and opened his mouth to complain, but Flitwick cut him off. "Mr. Chamberlin tried to argue as well. Neither of you will get me to change my mind. Now, let's go to class."

Charles went to Charms with a frown on his face. Flitwick ignored it, but Stephen and Helena whispered questions through the beginning of the lessons trying to learn what happened. They finally stopped when Charles said he would tell them later.

The day progressed too quickly for Charles's taste. Charms was soon over and he found himself wrapping up his story of what happened with Flitwick. He looked at his wrist nervously and realized he had forgotten his watch. Charles turned towards Stephen and asked, "How much longer until the flying lessons start?"

Stephen grinned as he looked at his watch. "There's about fifteen minutes until the lessons. You may want to consider eating something, Charles, seeing as how you missed breakfast.

Charles grimaced and said, "No, I don't think I'd enjoy seeing my lunch twice."

Fifteen minutes later, Charles and the other first years were standing next to a line of brooms. Across from them were the Gryffindor first years. Looking up and down the line of Gryffindors he saw a rather cute girl, but Charles's attention was pulled away by the arrival of the teacher.

The teacher was rather tall with short grey hair. She walked down the line and began lecturing at once. "Good afternoon class, my name is Madam Hooch and welcome to Flying Lessons. First off you want to call the broom to your hand, so extend your right hand and say, 'Up!'" she said.

All at once, the students shouted, "Up!" For the most part, the brooms stayed on the ground. One or two students had their broom leap into their hands immediately. Charles's broom shook slightly.

Charles yelled, "Up!" one more time and the broom flew into his hand. He gave a relived grin to Stephen, who had managed to get his broom up before Charles. Helena, on the other hand, was still trying to get her broom off the ground.

Eventually all of the first years managed to get their brooms off the ground. At this point, Madam Hooch began to bark more instructions. "Kick off the ground, float for a little while, and then resettle on the ground," she ordered

Each student managed to accomplish this with very few problems. Madam Hooch looked pleased. "Excellent, by now I usually have at least one student fall off a broom and hurt themselves or go off rocketing around the yard because they think they're ready to play Seeker. Trust me, you are no Edward Plimpton, not yet anyway," Madam Hooch said with a broad grin.

"Alright class, I want you to line up. You're going to make a lap of the grounds and then we're done for today."

Charles's flight was a little shaky. The broom twitched a lot and occasionally jerked about a bit. After he completed his circuit, he wanted to have another go, but Madam Hooch shook her head and told him, "Wait quietly off to the side while the rest of the students have their turn."

Once everyone had completed their flight, Madam Hooch announced to the class that everyone did quite well. "Quite a few of you have the makings of excellent Quidditch players. Others of you will have to practice a lot if you wish to play at this school. These are school brooms and you may use the school brooms to practice with my permission."

"That wasn't so bad," Helena said after they left Madam Hooch. "Certainly nothing to get in trouble over."

Charles grinned sheepishly and a pinkish tinge rose in his face. "No, Miss Howard, it certainly doesn't seem like it."

"So what are you going to do tonight?" Stephen asked.

"Well, I get to interview Justin. Flitwick seems to think that will make us like each other," Charles answered.

Stephen just shook his head. Helena frowned and said, "That boy is just...creepy."

"You just need to get past his gruff exterior. I'm sure on the inside there's a lot of creamy caramel and fluffy nougat," Charles said his grin growing a little on his face.

"The nougat he's filled with will not be fluffy. It'll be more like a brick" Stephen replied.

"Well...at least there will be something on the inside," Charles countered.

Stephen shrugged, "Okay. Don't expect much different from Justin. I've known him for a long time. He's been like that since he was little."

They got to the Common Room and promptly flopped down into the nearest chairs. Kieran wandered up and hopped into Charles's lap (he had chosen to be a Jack Russell terrier). Charles moved Kieran to his left knee, pulled out a quill and parchment, and began to write.

Charles wrote for almost three hours coming up with questions. He found that it wasn't so hard to come up with questions. There were a lot of things in the wizarding world that he could probably ask Justin. He was just afraid that Justin would sneer even more at him for this curiosity.

Charles continued scribbling while eating dinner. He ignored all of the conversation around him and focused on writing the questions. Charles did look up when he noticed Justin walking past him. Justin was carrying a quill and ink. He sat down and also began to write furiously.

Charles finally ran out of ideas and began to eat dinner. He looked about and saw Cecil reading. Charles looked at him curiously. Cecil had been steadily improving since the loss of his father, but in that time it seemed that an obsession had developed. He was always reading a book about one type of magical creature or another.

"What are you reading today?" Charles asked Cecil.

Cecil grinned slightly and showed him the cover of the book. It read Trolls: Their Habitat and Behavior.

"What are you reading that for?" Charles asked.

"I want to try and get into the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures when I leave Hogwarts. That isn't too far away, so I decided to start reading as much as I can on the subject." Cecil replied.

Charles saw Flitwick step down from the High Table and approach the Ravenclaw table. Flitwick approached Justin and spoke to him briefly and then moved down the table. He stopped next to Charles and said, "It's time to go. The sooner we start the sooner this will all be over." He gave Charles a small grin. "Don't forget your list of questions."

Flitwick escorted the two boys to his office. In front of his desk were three chairs, a pot of tea, and three cups. Flitwick directed the boys to sit in the two chairs facing each other and sat down in the third.

"Here's how this is going to work. You will ask a question. After the other person is done answering the question, he will ask you a question. This will continue until I am satisfied. If you do not have enough questions written down, you will just have to make them upon the spot," Flitwick explained. "Now Mr. Chamberlin, since you were sorted into Ravenclaw first, you will start."

Justin gave a heavy sigh and read off his parchment, "What is your favorite football team?"

Charles grinned slightly. His first question was almost identical, only it asked about Quidditch. He decided to skip it when it was his turn. "The Arsenal Gunners. What position do you play in Quidditch?"

"Chaser mostly, Seeker when my team really needed one." Justin didn't even glance at his parchment before asking his next question. "Are you going to try-out for the Quidditch team this year?"

"No way, I just learned to fly. I wouldn't be any good."

"That's true, you probably would make a fool of yourself," Justin said without a trace of malice.

Charles gave a half-grin, and then asked, "Would you be willing to teach me how to play Quidditch? I bet the house teams have reserve squads or something. That's how football teams train their young players."

Justin looked thoughtful, and then replied, "Okay, we just need to find a position for you. Seeker is right out. Most people your size are Beaters...or Keepers."

Justin and Charles talked about sports for a long time. Professor Flitwick smiled and sipped his tea. "Works every time," he murmured as he listened to Justin talk about all of the moves that a Keeper had to know.

By the end of their detention, Justin had convinced Charles to try-out for the Ravenclaw House Team. Both knew he had no chance of making it, but he needed to be seen by the Captain to improve his chances next year.

Charles, in his turn, managed to convince Justin to read a Muggle book called The Hobbit. Justin was reluctant to try it at first, but agreed eventually. Justin's interest in the book increased when Charles described some of the story.

Flitwick took this latest lull in the conversation to announce that their detentions were over and it was time for them to go to bed.

Justin and Charles nodded, stood up, and walked towards the door. They both said good night to Professor Flitwick and headed towards the Common Room. Justin and Charles continued to talk about the books they had read until they reached their dormitory.

When they finally climbed into bed, Charles couldn't help feeling that he had just made a new friend. As strange as Justin seemed, it was nice to know he didn't hate Charles.

As the week progressed, Charles could see where his strengths were. It usually only took him a lesson or two to properly transfigure an object, once he got the theory down. Charms were even easier to master. The hardest part with that magic for Charles was to remember the specific wand movements for each spell. For Charles, Herbology was fun, but he saw no real purpose to it, except to grow Potion ingredients. Defense against the Dark Arts was interesting, but Quirrell never really taught them any practical defenses. Almost everything came from the textbook that he had assigned them.

Potions on the other hand, Charles could never make it out of a class without causing a spill or an explosion. He was too accident-prone and soon Charles began to dread every Potions lessons. The inevitable mistakes caused Snape to glare and then snap at Charles. No matter how hard he tried, Charles could not seem to ever get a potion right the first time. Only Stephen's skill at potion-making helped Charles get through the class; Snape seemed on the verge of telling Charles to forget about coming back.

There was a bright beacon of hope on the horizon for Charles: the Quidditch try-outs. He knew there was no way that he was going to make the team, but over the last couple of weeks, he and Justin had been practicing with the school brooms. "I was using better brooms when I was three. These...brooms are not much better than kindling," Justin complained.

Stephen and Helena came out to watch as Justin and Charles swooped around a tree with a basket in it. Justin had brought his own Quaffle from home and was trying to throw it into the basket. Charles, on the other hand, was buzzing back and forth trying to block Justin's shots. Justin was having an easy time beating Charles at first, but as their scrimmage progressed, Charles began to stop more and more shots. They continued like this for almost twenty minutes before Justin called to Charles and said, "Let's quit, my arm is tired."

"We'll do more tomorrow, only this time we're gonna use two baskets..." Justin said as he grabbed his Quaffle and broomstick before leaving.

"You two have made quite a turnaround," Helena said, looking at Justin's departing back with disapproval.

"He's not so bad once you get past the fact that he's one giant pain in the bum," Charles answered. "The problem is that not many people can get past that fact."

Stephen chuckled to himself while Helena simply glowered at Justin's back. Charles gathered up the broomstick he was using so that he could follow Justin to the Quidditch equipment shed.

"So, you're really going to try to make the house Quidditch team?" Stephen asked. "You know first years never make the team."

"Yeah, I know, but Justin seems to think this will improve our chances next year," Charles responded. "Besides, I've never played before today. I need all the practice I can get right now."

Justin and Charles continued practising for the next week. Stephen turned out to be very knowledgeable about the various Quidditch moves and how to perform them. Stephen spent much of his free time coaching Justin and Charles. Helena, surprisingly, started getting into the game and began to point out flaws in Justin's playing style.

The Quidditch try-outs for Ravenclaw began on Saturday. Neither Justin nor Charles felt much pressure. Their fates were already decided as far as they were concerned. Their biggest problems were that first years never made the team and they had to use inferior school brooms.

The two of them picked out the best brooms that the school had (a difficult task considering the condition of the school brooms) and headed out to the Quidditch pitch. They chatted about tactics they wanted to try and hope they impressed the team captain.

When they reached the pitch, Charles spotted a familiar shape in a blue robe. Cecil was standing by a goal post directing the other people who showed up for the try-outs. He glanced up and noticed the two first years.

"Charles! Justin! Over here!" Cecil called. When the pair of them walked up, Cecil glanced at the brooms on their hands and gave a small grin. "I'm guessing you two aren't planning on making the team."

"I plan on trying as hard as this Shooting Star lets me," Justin replied determinedly.

Charles just shrugged, "I've never really played, so I just want to get some practice."

Cecil's grin blossomed into the first true smile Charles had seen in almost a month from him. "Well, most people don't know this, but we actually have two practice squads for those younger students we think will make good players with a little practice."

Justin and Charles looked at each other and exchanged small smiles. "They turned back to Cecil and Justin asked, "Where do we go?"

"Well, that depends on the position you want to play. Seekers should go towards those goal posts," Cecil gestured towards a group of about ten students across the field, all of varying ages. "The Beaters are gathering next to the stands, the Chasers are down towards the middle of the field, and the Keepers are meeting right here."

Charles looked around Cecil and saw two older boys standing nervously by the goal posts. He waved to Justin and went to stand in line. He noticed that these two had their own brooms.

"Well, that will make it harder for me to get on the team..." Charles thought.

After Cecil finished directing the last of the students who showed up for the try-outs, he headed over to the Keepers. "You three will be going up against the Chasers," Cecil said pointing at the twenty people standing in the middle of the field. "Each of them will take five shots against you. You will face ten shots at a go and then switch with the next person in line. Obviously, the more shots you stop, the better you've done. Alright, we'll start with the oldest first."

Cecil pulled Charles aside and told him, "Just do your best. I think you have a chance to make one of the practice squads." He then patted Charles on the shoulder and moved off for a better view of the players.

Charles watched Cecil walk away and thought he had very little chance. The other two had better brooms and more experience playing Quidditch. Charles shook his head and watched the first Keeper take his turn.

The first two Chasers were superb. Each of them managed to put four shots past the first Keeper. The second Keeper faired a little better stopping half the shots he faced.

Now Charles rose into the air to face his first Chaser. He juked and swooped as Charles tried to stay between the Chaser and the goal. Suddenly, the Chaser zipped to Charles's left so quickly that Charles couldn't cover the exposed hoops.

Charles's delay turned out to be a boon. The Chaser's move was a feint and he shot it back towards Charles's right. Charles just happened to be in the right place and stopped it easily. He tossed it back to the Chaser and set up for the next shot.

On the next shot, the Chaser plowed straight ahead and flung the Quaffle as hard as he could. Charles moved vainly to cover the hoops, but he could not stop the Quaffle due to his broom's age. The shot zipped past Charles and into the hoop on his left.

Charles grimaced and moved back towards the hoops to get ready for the next shot. The Chaser just received the ball when Charles heard Justin yell, "Move around a bit!" Charles looked down and saw Justin make a figure eight pattern with his finger.

Charles began to zoom around the front of the hoops in a figure eight pattern, not too sure how he was going to be able to guard all of the hoops at once like this. The Chaser began to bear down on him, flung the Quaffle at the hoops...and missed. The ball sailed high over Charles's head and the middle hoop.

Charles kept up the swooping and managed to block one more shot and force the Chaser to put a shot wide. He was feeling pretty good about his chances and he could hear Justin applauding and cheering for him.

Charles luck took a turn for the worse with the next Chaser. Charles was in position for the first three shots, but each one was just out of his reach. Charles missed the fourth shot entirely because the Chaser got him completely turned around with a very impressive feint and behind-the-back shot. Charles flushed and was determined that the next shot was not going to get past him.

The Chaser moved ahead for his final shot. He again made quick movements in an effort to get Charles out of place. Charles zoomed in a figure eight pattern around the goals in an effort to block as much area as possible. The Chaser shot at the hoop just below Charles. Charles pulled a Starfish and Stick, one of the few tricks that Justin could teach him, and snatched the shot out of the air with his right hand.

When he sank to the grass, Cecil approached him and gave him a good-natured slap on the back. "Excellent work, Charles. You managed to stop three shots and cause two misses, plus you were in position for most of Roger's shots. Not only that but you did it on a school broom! I can't wait to see how you do with a real broom."

Charles grinned slightly, still shaking a lot from the adrenaline from his go as Keeper. He then looked at Cecil who was grimacing at the first Keepers performance. "How are you so sure that I won't make the team?" Charles asked Cecil.

Cecil looked at Charles with a grin. "Three reasons," he answered. "One, you're a first year, and no first year has made a house team in a century. Two, I'm the starting Keeper from last year. Finally, I'm the Captain of the team." He winked at Charles and went back to watching the Chasers and Keepers.

Each Keeper had seven tries to show their mettle. The Chasers got easier to block as they went down the line of potentials...until Justin came up and put five shots past the first Keeper.

Charles applauded and cheered as Justin made each shot. "I'm glad I didn't have to try and stop him..." Charles muttered to himself. When he landed ten yards away, Justin had a grin on his face so big that Charles could see it quite clearly.

When all the Chasers had their turn, Cecil motioned to the three Keeper candidates. "You all did well," Cecil began, "I'm glad the three of you tried out. Keeper is probably the least glamorous position in Quidditch, so not many people want to try for it. Tonight the three returning team members and I will post who we want to show up tomorrow for the starting team and two practice squads. That means that one of you will not make it on to any of the teams.

Charles was pretty sure who was going to be left off. "I've never played football as poorly as I played out there today," he thought dejectedly.

Justin jogged over to Charles. "You did great! Much better than that git I faced."

"Are you taking the mickey out of me? I was awful? Almost everyone scored on me," Charles replied in disbelief.

"Maybe, but you never let five shots from one person get past you. You might not have been the best Keeper out there, but you were certainly better than the first guy.

"Besides, you just need a better broom. No one plays well on a Shooting Star. Now let's go get lunch," Justin finished.

The two of them walked silently into the castle, still carrying the brooms they used in the try-outs. They approached the Great Hall when they heard a familiar low voice come from behind them.

"And where do you think you are going with those broomsticks?" came Snape's voice from behind them.

Charles jumped in surprise while Justin calmly turned around and faced Snape. "Sorry, Professor," Justin began. "We forgot to return them."

Justin tried to continue but Snape cut him off. "I suggest you return them to where you got them. Now." With that, he moved past them and into the Great Hall.

Charles sighed heavily, and then grinned at Justin. "Race you!" he said and bolted for the doors. The minute he exited the castle, Charles hopped on his broom and zipped off towards the broom storage area.

Justin caught up quickly and zoomed past Charles. He landed in front of the storage shed and held the doors open for Charles. Charles landed and went inside. He stowed the two brooms and left. He passed Justin and gave him a half-grin. "Cheeky git. Now we get to walk back slowly," Charles said.

"Lunch will still be there. Though at the rate you move, it'll be dinner."

***

Charles, Stephen, Justin, and Helena met in the Common Room that evening. They had a quiet, but animated, discussion over how to complete McGonagall's latest homework. Charles looked up from the discussion to see Cecil posting three lists on the board. Cecil gave him a small wave and walked down to the dormitories.

Charles's curiosity got the better of him and he stood up to go check the board. On the list were the people who had made the starting squad and the two reserve squads. On the first list, Charles saw Cecil's name at Keeper. He skipped to the second list and saw Justin's name as one of the three Chasers.

His spirits were low by the time he reached the third page. "There is no way a team would select a first year with no broom over an older student with a better broom," he thought.

He skimmed down to the bottom of the page and saw:

Keeper

Charles Chandler