As he raced to the other end he saw the snitch suddenly dart back towards him. However, he was unable to get his hand down fast enough as it passed directly under his broom.
Skid turning the broom he quickly had it around and heading back the other way when he saw the bludger heading almost directly straight at him, and he accelerated straight back at it. At a height of about four feet off the ground he performed another sloth grip roll at high speed, allowing the bludger to pass over the broom, and allowed his eyes to scan the area ahead for the elusive little golden ball.
Knowing the bludger would have turned around by now he angled his broom upwards towards the beaters and saw Chang diving down on the other side of them.
Changing course he did a lazy barrel roll over the nearest beater and hared down after Chang allowing the speed of the broom coupled with gravity to allow him to come over the top of her.
Seeing the snitch make a sudden sweep turn he stayed with it and found himself ahead of the Eurasian girl.
A few moments later he had the snitch firmly in his hand.
Returning to the ground next to Martin he, again, handed the snitch off.
Chang landed next to him and cast murderous eyes back at him. "You could have killed me flying over me like that! What if I had to suddenly pull up?"
"That was the whole point, Miss Chang," replied Harry, coolly. "I could have, if I wanted to, run you straight into the side of one of the towers. However, I did not. You had room to pull up simply by turning away." As he was responding to the furious girl, the two beaters landed nest to him. One of them, Roger Davies, said, "Bloody Hell, Potter! That was some incredible flying."
"How high up were you when you pulled that roll down near the ground?" asked the other.
"About four feet!" exclaimed Martin. "Four bloody feet off the ground, and he pulls a move like that!"
"Well?" asked Harry. "Are we going again?"
"No," said all three. When Martin glared at them the two beaters had the decency to look abashed.
Turning to Chang, Martin said, "As I promised, there's a spare slot in the chasers. Do you want to try out for it?"
"Yes," snarled Chang. "Right, then," said Martin, before turning to other hopefuls for the chaser and keeper slots. "All those who want to try out for the vacant chaser position, up in the air! All those trying out for keeper, up in the air!"
Turning back to Harry, he said, "Training starts Monday morning with fitness training. It's also a 'getting to know each other' time. Meet us in the Entrance Hall at 6.30am sharp. Don't be late."
Knowing a dismissal when he heard one, Harry remounted his broom and flew up into the tribune where he knew Daphne and his friends would be. He landed next to them a few moments later.
Looking at their hopeful faces he grinned and said, "I got it."
With a squeal of joy, Daphne threw herself into his arms before kissing him with abandon. The next morning, the rest of the group entered the Great Hall to find Harry half-sprawled off the Ravenclaw table onto the bench seating.
Daphne and Harry were the first to arrive and found him like that.
Daphne sat down next to her betrothed and gave Harry a little shake, thinking him asleep.
"Ow!" he said. "Hurts!"
"Harry?" she asked. "Somebody hex you? I didn't feel my ring tell me."
"No," he moaned. "Quidditch training."
Tracey started chuckling. "Come now, Harry. It couldn't have been that bad."
Harry lifted his head a little and glared at the 'filthy snake' sitting opposite. "Martin said it was just going to be a 'getting to know each other' session," he whined. "He told me it was just going to be a 'little bit of a workout' to 'knock the rust off our lazy summers'. He told me it was only to gauge our inherent fitness levels. He's a filthy liar!"
Harry saw that other members of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team were taking seat at the table down it's length. Except for Martin, they all glanced back with shared pain and sympathy.
By the time Martin himself turned up, the rest of their group had assembled. Daphne and Tracey told them why Harry appeared half-dead.
When he finally felt he could lift his head without too much pain, Harry cried out, "Simon Martin is a dark lord in disguise!" And promptly dropped his head back onto the table top. His words were greeted with laughter from the others on the table. Even Martin grinned in response.
"Come now, Potter," he said. "A little light workout is good for the soul."
Harry flipped him the two-fingered salute; which earned him more laughter.
On the Sunday afternoon, a week later, Harry and Daphne were early to their second club meeting of the year. Unsurprisingly many of the First Year muggle-born and -raised had attended. When asked what led them to attend, they all said it was older students who had attended the previous year said they should.
That sort of recommendation made both their hearts soar with pride. It's one thing for the Professors to recommend the club; but, when the previous - or ongoing - members are the ones doing the recommending, that's high praise, indeed.
And this time they also welcomed those from the previous year who had wanted to attend but either didn't get started early enough, or their numbers would have exceeded their self-imposed limit to membership numbers. Harry made sure that those who had wanted to join the previous year, and couldn't, were each sent personal invitations to attend this year.
When they saw one of the earliest to attend on the first day was a Ravenclaw in the year above Harry, and had judiciously attended each and every club meeting, Harry looked at him askance with a small smile. "And just what brings you here, Mister Bradley?"
"Errr - Refresher course, Harry," the boy said brightly, while trying to look innocent. Harry burst out laughing and said, "A refresher course, eh? Less than four months since you attended the last meeting of the first intake; and you call yourself a Ravenclaw."
The boy had the decency to look abashed.
"Take a seat, Bradley," said Harry, still laughing. "However, if we need to watch our numbers, you're gone. But, don't worry, we'll also by then be looking at the alternate Sunday idea of having an advanced club for those who've already been with us for a year."
October faded to the end of the month when the annual Halloween Feast was to be held. Thankfully, it was on a Saturday, this year.
Harry spent the day walking with Daphne along the edge of the lake for a while, then with the others in the Come and Go Room. HI was quite maudlin for a while but the others did their best to lift his spirits.
This year, Harry was not 'summoned' by the Headmaster to attend the feast. Clearly, the man could actually learn his lesson. However, he couldn't sleep either. So, he went for a walk down to look in on the feast.
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