"Your Dad was on the team? You never said anything about that?!" Ron said.

"... I didn't know..." she said in a pained voice.

The fact that her parents weren't there was painful enough. But this had made Megan see once again that she barely knew anything about them... that was hard to deal with. She didn't even know which she looked like. Did she have her father's nose, her mother's face? She had no idea...

"Did I say something...?" Ron asked, looking uncomfortable.

"No, I'm fine."

She forced a smile. She didn't want to sound whiny, so she didn't tell them that she wished she knew where she could find out more about them, or at least a picture... The only thing that she had that reminded her of her mother was the lullaby, her bracelet and her pendant. And she didn't have a thing of her father's... it almost felt like... like being nobody. Not that she wasn't used to similar, but... she had hoped that would be different here. She finally turned to her package.

"I'll head to the common room to open this," she told them.

"We'll go with you." Hermione said.

And they did. It was a long thin package, which she carried out and into the common room. They still had half an hour before their next lesson, so they sat down comfortably on cushions on the floor. Then, slightly nervous, Megan pulled the paper off. A shiny mahogany handle broomstick with a neat set of twigs at the end, and two metal bars to put your feet against fell into her lap. There was a handle to grip on, probably to prevent slipping if the weather was bad.

"Wow! That's a beautiful broom!" Hermione said.

"It's more than a broom, it's a Nimbus Two Thousand!" Ron gasped in awe.

Megan could tell he would have loved the money to buy one. She would have been more than happy to give it to him, but... if she wanted to even try and play Quidditch, she would need a broom.

"That's the best there is!" Harry said. "You'll be unbeatable on that."

After lunch, they went up to the common room to wrap up a piece of homework so they could relax over the weekend, and even though she was glad of the prospect of visiting Hagrid, she wasn't sure she could ask him about her parents yet.

"Oh, hi, there. Just a sec... gotta get Fang outta the way... Fang, back!"

He finally let them in and Megan introduced them. When Mira saw her, she jumped to her.

"Hi, Mira! I missed you too."

"Ah, she's been finding it a little difficult with ol' Fang. He's no' a bad mutt, just a little overenthusiastic."

Fang was a large black boar hound Mira was eyeing suspiciously.

"So, how're ye finding life at Hogwarts?" he asked as he poured tea.

"It's really different from anything I've ever known," Megan said. "But in a good way. I feel great."

"Good. How about you?"

"The classes are fascinating, except flying, perhaps..." Hermione said.

"Oh, come on, that's the best!" Harry said.

"You're just saying you don't like it because you can't learn it off by heart." Ron teased.

"Now, come on, don't be mean, we all got our differences." Hagrid said.

"Speaking of, Megan made the team!" Ron said excitedly.

"Ron, that's supposed to be secret until the next match!" Harry exclaimed.

"Besides, I won't be on the team until Wood gives his green light, so I'm not actually there yet," Megan reminded.

"Don't ye worry, I won't tell a soul." Hagrid said. "I can't wait ter see the look on them Slytherin faces when you beat them!"

"... How d'you know I'll beat them?" Megan asked. "I've never even played Quidditch!"

"Because plenty of people who grew up as Muggles became very good players themselves," Harry answered.

"Exactly. Plus they're so full o' themselves they won't watch out fer ye."

Megan wished she could share their confidence. But she supposed she would just have to wait and see what tonight's training session brought out.

Mira and Fang seemed to finally get acclimated to each other and lay side by side on the floor by their owners' feet. They told Hagrid about their impressions. How Snape didn't seem to like Megan for some reason, to which Hagrid answered he didn't like anyone really.

"Never been much of a social bloke, Snape. I wouldn't worry meself about it."

"I guess you're right," Megan agreed.

"And are they givin' yeh much homework?"

"Not really. But magic is very different from what I expected." Megan said.

"Ah, that's cos yeh've grown up with the wrong idea of it," Hagrid said. "It's a lot more difficult than just saying the words o' the spell. A lot o' mental work that goes with it, see."

Megan thought about that. It made sense, after all, she said to herself as she stroked Mira's head, resting on her lap, otherwise, anyone could do magic. It was best that only some people were predisposed for it. Of course, just like anywhere, there were good people and bad people. But she believed that one couldn't appreciate the good aspects of life, if you didn't have the bad.

"And she'd not even been here a few days that she's already found a boyfriend!" Harry teased.

"Eh?" What's this abou'?"

"Cedric is not my boyfriend, Harry, cut it out!" Megan said, flushing. "We're friends."

"Cedric? Tha' wouldn't be Amos Diggory's kid, would it?"

"Yeah, why?"

"He's a good kid. Not surprised yeh hit it off."

Megan flushed.

At five, they left Hagrid and headed up the Gryffindor Common room to pick up her broom. It was light and fit perfectly to her grasp, as if it had been made for her. She admired it a moment and then, they headed down to the Quidditch Pitch.

"We're not allowed in the pitch," Harry said. "But best of luck."

And to Megan's surprise, he leaned forwards and put his arms around her for a few seconds. She hugged him back, and smiled.

"See you later."

The training pitch was empty when she arrived. She was impatient to try her broom, so she slid her leg gracefully over it and kicked hard off the ground. She soared upwards, the wind wiping through her robes and hair, which she had let loose. She did a few circles, leaning downwards or upwards, or turning around. Just then, she heard a voice call her name.

"Megan! Down here!"

She looked down. It was Wood. Blushing, she hurried downwards and hopped off perfectly.

"Very nice. You're really a natural. You sure you've never flown before?"

"Absolutely." she said.

"Okay. D'you know anything about Quidditch?"

"Well, I know that it's a really popular game and the rules. But I've never really seen a game or anything."

"Okay. Let's see how well you know the game. What's this?"

Megan then noticed the large crate beside him. He had opened it and pulled out a large red ball.

"That's the ball you score with. The... the... Chasers throw it to each other and put it through hoops to score. Right?"

"Yes. D'you remember it's name?"

"The Quaffle." she said.

"Very good. And what about these bad boys?"

Megan looked at where he was pointing.

'Are those the Bludgers?!" Megan said, amazed.

"Yes, they are," he answered approvingly. "Now, I'll show you exactly why they're called that."

He unlatched the bindings on one of the two balls and it shot immediately up into the air. Megan watched as it zoomed around trying to find something to knock. Then, it zoomed towards them. Megan, not sure what to do, only narrowly avoided being pelted by the beast as Wood shouted:

"Careful!"

Pulling her aside, he then leaped onto the ball and managed, not without difficulty, to wrestle it back into the crate. Then, he stood up.

"See? But you shouldn't need to worry too much about those two buggers. The Weasley twins are our Beaters, which are?"

"The two players who knock the bludgers away from their team," Megan said.

"Excellent. Now which is the most important one among the three?"

"None. The Snitch is."

"Very good, you saw my trap." Wood said approvingly. "We won't try with it today, we may loose it. We'll see what you can make of these."

He pulled out a bag of golf balls, and they got onto their brooms. And he spent the next hour throwing them in different directions, different speeds, as hard as he could or just tossing it ahead of him. Megan didn't miss a single one.

"Those darn Slytherins won't know what hit them!" Wood said excitedly, as they climbed off their brooms.

"You really think I'm good enough?"

"Yes, definitely." he assured her. "Welcome to the team, Megan."

He shook her hand, and she smiled warmly.

"First practice Thursday at six."

"Got it." Megan said.

They parted and Megan met Ron, Harry and Hermione who were waiting to hear the verdict.

"I'm in," she said with a wide smile.

"Great! Congratulations!" Harry said.

"Yes, congratulations!"

"Yeah, now you'll have something more to beat Malfoy at!"

"He's not on the team," Megan reminded, smiling.

"No, but he's in Slytherin." Ron said.

They laughed and headed to the Great Hall for dinner.