Hello!Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters other than Emma, all of the belong to Her Majesty J K Rowling. I also do not own the storyline, yet. At the beginning of each chapter im going to write a positive note. Hello, and I hope you have a wonderful day! :> ~ JK

_=-=_=-=_=-= Day before Halloween with Gryffindors=-=_=-=_=-=

"What do you think it is?" asked Ron. We were talking about the package that Harry and Hagrid had taken out. "I don't know, but it's either really valuable, or really dangerous" I commented. "Or both" Harry added. "Well, let's see what we know about it, it is 2 inches long, that's it?" I said, discouraged.

Neither Hermione nor Neville wanted to know what the dog was gaurding, and that was good. I didn't want my nosy sister involved. Hermione also refused to talk to any of us, so she wouldn't be involved. I couldn't even  imagine Malfoy's face when he saw that we are still here. I smirked at the thought.

"What's so funny?" asked Ron, noticing my face. "Nothing I said. SQUA! (Heh heh>:>) The morning's mail was coming and I saw Athena and Hedwig carrying HUGE packages, with letters. Athena accurately dropped the package, as for Hedwig, not so much. The letter said:

DO NOT OPEN PARCEL AT TABLE

It contains your new Nimbus Two Thousand, but I don't want everybody knowing you've got a broomstick or they'll all want one. Oliver Wood will meet you tonight on the Quidditch field at seven o'clock for your first training session.

Professor McGonagall

We beamed. "Wow, I've never even touched one of those" Ron said, as he basked in the glory.

They left the hall quickly, wanting to unwrap the broomstick in private before their first class, but halfway across the entrance hall they found the way upstairs barred by Crabbe and Goyle. Malfoy seized the package from Harry and felt it.

"That's a broomstick," he said, throwing it back to Harry with a mixture of jealousy and spite on his face. "You'll be in for it this time, Potter, first years aren't allowed them."Ron couldn't resist it.

"It's not any old broomstick," he said, "it's a Nimbus Two Thousand. What did you say you've got at home, Malfoy, a Comet Two Sixty?" Ron grinned at Harry. "Comets look flashy, but they're not in the same league as the Nimbus."

"What would you know about it, Weasley, you couldn't afford half the handle," Malfoy snapped back. "I suppose you and your brothers have to save up twig by twig."Before Ron could answer, Professor Flitwick appeared at Malfoy's elbow."Not arguing, I hope, boys and girl?" he squeaked, referring to me.

"Granger's been sent a broomstick, Professor," said Malfoy quickly."Yes, yes, that's right," said Professor Flitwick, beaming at me. "Professor McGonagall told me all about the special circumstances, Granger, and Potter. And what model are they?"

"A Nimbus Two Thousand, sir," I said, fighting not to laugh at the look of horror on Malfoy's face. "And it's really thanks to Malfoy here that we've got them," Harry added.

We headed upstairs, smothering our laughter at Malfoy's obvious rage and confusion.

"Well, it's true,"he chortled as we reached the top of the marble staircase, "If he hadn't stolen Neville's Remembrall I wouldn't be on the team..."

"So I suppose you think that's a reward for breaking rules?" came an angry voice from just behind us. Hermione was stomping up the stairs, looking disapprovingly at the package in our hands."What do you want?!" I groaned

"Yeah,I thought you weren't speaking to us?" said Harry.

"Yes, don't stop now," said Ron, "it's doing us so much good." I laughed, and Hermione looked like she was ashamed.

Hermione marched away with her nose in the air."Good riddance" I said, glad she was gone. "Someone's mad at their sister" said Harry. "Shut up" I said, and shoved his arm.

***

Harry and I had a lot of trouble keeping our minds on our lessons that day. It kept wandering up to the dormitory where our new broomsticks were lying under our beds, or straying off to the Quidditch field where we'd be learning to play that night. We bolted our dinner that evening without noticing what we were eating, and then rushed upstairs with Ron to unwrap the Nimbus Two Thousand at last.

"Wow," Ron sighed, as the broomstick rolled onto the common room couch.

Even I, who knew nothing about the different brooms, thought it looked wonderful. Sleek and shiny, with a mahogany handle, it had a long tail of neat, straight twigs and Nimbus Two Thousand written in gold near the top.

As seven o'clock drew nearer, Harry and I left the castle and set off in the dusk toward the Quidditch field. We'd never been inside the stadium before. Hundreds of seats were raised in stands around the field so that the spectators were high enough to see what was going on. At either end of the field were three golden poles with hoops on the end. They reminded Harry of the little plastic sticks Muggle children blew bubbles through, except that they were fifty feet high. When he told me this, I cracked up.

Too eager to fly again to wait for Wood, Harry mounted his broomstick and kicked off from the ground. He looked like he was having fun, so I joined him, and I realized that flying was amazing.

"Hey, Potter, Granger, come down!"

Oliver Wood had arrived. He was carrying a large wooden crate under his arm. We landed next to him.

"Very nice," said Wood, his eyes glinting. "I see what McGonagall meant... you two really are naturals. I'm just going to teach you the rules this evening, then you'll be joining team practice three times a week."

He opened the crate. Inside were four different-sized balls.

"Right," said Wood. "Now, Quidditch is easy enough to understand, even if it's not too easy to play. There are seven players on each side. Three of them are called Chasers. That's you Granger"

"Three Chasers," Harry and I repeated, as Wood took out a bright red ball about the size of a soccer ball.

"This ball's called the Quaffle," said Wood. "The Chasers throw the Quaffle to each other and try and get it through one of the hoops to score a goal. Ten points every time the Quaffle goes through one of the hoops. Follow me? Granger this is the only ball you have to focus on." I nodded "Yes sir"

"The Chasers throw the Quaffle and put it through the hoops to score," Harry recited. "So -- that's sort of like basketball on broomsticks with six hoops, isn't it?"

"What's basketball?" said Wood curiously.

"Never mind," I said quickly.

"Now, there's another player on each side who's called the Keeper -- I'm Keeper for Gryffindor. I have to fly around our hoops and stop the other team from scoring."

"Three Chasers, one Keeper," said Harry, who was determined to remember it all. I wasn't reciting because I was a quick learner. "And they play with the Quaffle. Okay, got that. So what are they for?" He pointed at the three balls left inside the box."I'll show you now," said Wood. "Take this."

He handed us a small club, a bit like a short baseball bat.

"I'm going to show you what the Bludgers do," Wood said. "These two are the Bludgers."

He showed us two identical balls, jet black and slightly smaller than the red Quaffle. I noticed that they seemed to be straining to escape the straps holding them inside the box.

"Stand back," Wood warned us. He bent down and freed one of the Bludgers.

At once, the black ball rose high in the air and then pelted straight at my face. I swung at it with the bat to stop it from breaking my nose, and sent it zigzagging away into the air -- it zoomed around their heads and then shot at Wood, who dived on top of it and managed to pin it to the ground.

"See?" Wood panted, forcing the struggling Bludger back into the crate and strapping it down safely. "The Bludgers rocket around, trying to knock players off their brooms. That's why you have two Beaters on each team -- the Weasley twins are ours -- it's their job to protect their side from the Bludgers and try and knock them toward the other team. So -- think you've got all that?"

"Three Chasers try and score with the Quaffle; the Keeper guards the goal posts; the Beaters keep the Bludgers away from their team," Harry reeled off.

"Very good," said Wood.

"Er -- have the Bludgers ever killed anyone?" Harry asked. "Never at Hogwarts. We've had a couple of broken jaws but nothing worse than that. Now, the last member of the team is the Seeker. That's you Potter. And you don't have to worry about the Quaffle or the Bludgers--"

"-- unless they crack my head open."

"Don't worry, the Weasleys are more than a match for the Bludgers -- I mean, they're like a pair of human Bludgers themselves."

Wood reached into the crate and took out the fourth and last ball. Compared with the Quaffle and the Bludgers, it was tiny, about the size of a large walnut. It was bright gold and had little fluttering silver wings.

"This," said Wood, "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. You've got to weave in and out of the Chasers, Beaters, Bludgers, and Quaffle to get it before the other team's Seeker, because whichever Seeker catches the Snitch wins his team an extra hundred and fifty points, so they nearly always win. That's why Seekers get fouled so much. A game of Quidditch only ends when the Snitch is caught, so it can go on for ages -- I think the record is three months, they had to keep bringing on substitutes so the players could get some sleep. "That's a long while" I joked "Harry you better not make our game that long, understand?" 

"Well, that's it, any questions?"

Harry shook his head. He understood what he had to do all right, it was doing it that was going to be the problem.

"We won't practice with the Snitch yet," said Wood, carefully shutting it back inside the crate, "it's too dark, we might lose it. Let's try you out with a few of these."

He pulled a bag of ordinary golf balls out of his pocket and a few minutes later, he and Harry were up in the air, Wood throwing the golf balls as hard as he could in every direction for Harry to catch.

Harry didn't miss a single one, and Wood was delighted."Granger, you will use the Quaffle, andI will try to stop you from getting in the goals." I didn't miss a single one either. After half an hour, night had really fallen and we couldn't carry on.

"That Quidditch Cup'll have our name on it this year," said Wood happily as they trudged back up to the castle. "I wouldn't be surprised if you turn out better than Charlie Weasley and Alicia Spinnet. Charlie could have played for England if he didn't like dragons so much."

As Harry and I walked back to the castle I had another realization. I loved Hogwarts more than ever, even if my family didn't like me.

~

Ello! Another chapter for ya! A(2001 words) long one too. Im trying to do a chapter a day, so this book can finish quickly and we can start the Chamber of Secrets, cuz I'm excited for that one ;> Please vote(it would make my day), comment(I want to see your opinions, and criticism) and follow(I will have friends) Thank you! ~ JK