"Merlin's beard, that's a lot of people..." Florence mumbled as she walked into the pitch with Cho Chang. Earlier, she had the biggest and most confident smile on her face, which seemed to falter with every step she took closer towards their destination. "That's a lot of people," she said again, in a lower voice, feeling a rave of emotions at the pit of her stomach, "I can't do this."

"Yes you can," Cho Chang retorted, "Come on, you're not a stranger to a crowd of people. You've been a Chaser ever since second year."

"I'm not worried about the people that way." she mumbled, pulling down the hem of her jumper, "There's a lot of them... What if we don't choose the right ones?"

"We trust your judgement. And you trust ours. I know that Duncan, Jason, and Grant were basically like family to us, but we will be able to find someone as good as they were."

"You're right. No need to be nervous." she huffed, looking around for her other teammates, "Where's Jeremy and Roger?"

"Here, captain!" Jeremy chimed in, Florence swiveling around to find the two of them carrying the ball trunk, pleasant looks on their faces. They walked over to the center of the field, setting the equipment down as Cho and Florence started to silence the crowd. A lot more people came as they expected, and Roger couldn't help but grunt at the sight of this.

"Looks like we're going to be here for awhile."

"Sure does." Jeremy chuckles, "Say, I haven't had the chance to ask you yet, but how does it feel to be dethroned?"

"It kind of hurts, I'll admit, especially since I'm still actually playing for the team. But not as much, knowing it's in good hands. Flitwick chose right."

"Would you have said the same if he chose me?" he asked, making Roger smile. "I'll trust any of you three to manage the team."

"Awww, that was very flattering, ex-capt."

"Alright!" Florence yelled, the wave of murmurs dying down as soon as she stepped forward. Her eyes skimmed through the people in the front row, seeing familiar faces in the crowd. She cleared her throat, before she spoke, "For some of you who are unfamiliar as to who I am, my name is Florence, this year, I will serve as the Ravenclaw team captain. On behalf of my team, I am very thankful to see such a wonderful turn-up today, despite the early time frame—" she paused, eyeing three boys as the ran up to the crowd, late as ever.

"What I would like you all to do now is group yourselves according to which position you're applying for. Beaters," she pointed to her left, "Gather here, while Keepers, form your group to my right."

The crowd disbanded for a moment as they walked over to their designated areas, Florence smiling as it was going well so far.

"Now, the tryouts will be split in to four phases. Each phase will be harder than the last, and as each phase ends, people will be eliminated from the lot." she informed them, roaming back and forth, "But before the official tryouts will commence, we shall start with phase one, warm-ups."

Murmur started to erupt from the crowd, but was promptly shut down by Cho, who then turned to Florence as she continued to speak, "Now there won't necessarily be an elimination in this phase. All Quidditch games and practices always start with warm-ups, and we consider this routine very vital to all athletes."

"So, with your groups, I would like you to come up with exercises to warm up your muscles. You will be given thirty minutes to do so. Davies, Stretton, Chang and I will be roaming around to meet some of you while this is happening. You may begin."

"That was nice handling, Flo." Davies said, patting her on the shoulder, "You're doing great. Keep it up."  he said, before disappearing to trail Cho, leaving her with Jeremy.

They strolled around the groups, talking casually about who looked physically fit for a certain position when one of the boys from the ones who came in late called Jeremy's attention. As he was more than happy to chat, Florence proceeded inspecting how the others were doing.

"All I'm saying, mate, you would have made a better captain than Florence..." she overheard the boy tell Jeremy as she passed by them, meaning to go up front, as warm ups were nearly over. She paused in her track, and instead made a detour over to Jeremy, who was now chuckling awkwardly, "I appreciate the vote of confidence, but," he smiled as Florence came to view, "I assure you, this team is in good hands."

The boy looked at Florence, not at all looking worried with whether or not she had overheard them, continuing on with their conversation, all the while acknowledging her presence. "I know, but no offense," he told her quickly, "Females tend to be a tad bit more emotional, don't you think?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Florence asked, an unreadable expression on her face. The boy chuckled, looking her straight in the eye, "I just think it gets in the way of making firm decisions. And Quidditch is all about firm decisions. I just don't think that the captaincy should fall in the hands of a girl if we want to win this year's cup." his friend sniggered behind him, watching the expression on her face shift to a deadly sort of calm.

She feigned a pleasant smile, "And who might you be?"

"Aiden Cortland. I'm in the 6th."

"Aiden," she repeated, as if testing out the name, "Do you know who's replacing Cedric Diggory and Oliver Wood as team captains of Hufflepuff and Gryffindor respectively?"

They shook their heads.

"Olivia Banks has been appointed as captain of the Hufflepuff team, Angelina Johnson is Gryffindor's captain. They're both female too. Infact, the only male captain playing this year is Montague of the Slytherins."

"I didn't know that..." Aiden chuckled nervously, turning to his friends, "Looks like there will be a lot of crying during the games then."

Jeremy frowned at this, "That's not a nice thing to say, mate." he said, stepping in to defend Florence, however she held him back.

"Tell me," she continued, "What position are you trying out for?" Florence asked, Aiden looking over at his companions, believing her to have asked a stupid question. "Oh, uh, I'm trying out for the keeper position...But you're supposed to know that, aren't you? Since you sorted us in to groups."

"I do know that," she replied dismissively, "I was just checking... After all, you and your friends were late. Could have missed some of my instructions."

"We didn't," Aiden scoffed, "It was only a minute."

"A minute can be a matter of winning and losing in a Quidditch match, don't you think?"

He was silenced, watching her carefully, "Look, Florence, you're great and all, I've seen you play in previous games but in my preference, I really don't think females make great captains."

"I understand," she nodded her head, "That your beliefs are...as some say, old school. So used to the patriarchy..."

"You said Quidditch is all about making firm decisions, correct?"

He and his cronies nodded.

"Well see here, you're about to see me make my first firm decision as captain." she smiled sweetly at them, before gesturing to the exit point of the pitch, "You and your friends may take your brooms and leave the pitch silently. You are dismissed."

"What?" he asked incredulously, the tip of his ears now pink as other people started to stare, "You can't do that!"

"I can," the corner of her lips curled upwards, "And its final. See? Firm decision."

"We haven't even auditioned yet! Isn't skill what you're looking for in a Keeper?"

Florence made a face, "It is what you need to be a Keeper. But in order to play in a team, with a team, you need to have character too. I'm sorry but I don't think any one of you qualify for that due to your problems with female authority, and in order to bag that Quidditch Cup, I have to remove people that I know won't work well with me."

Aiden looked indignant, his face now red all over, "Your such a fucking bitch!" he yelled in frustration, causing Roger to charge over to them, "You watch your mouth—"

"Stop," Florence snapped, eyes averting back to Aiden, "I'm done playing nice with you, you sexist piece of shit. Now get the fuck off the pitch before I drag you out by your gel-saturated hair myself."

He stood in his place, glaring fiercely at Florence, and by doing so, he was testing her patience.

"Did I fucking stutter, Mr. Cortland? Get out!"

He and his friends walked away like children throwing temper tantrums, walking briskly off of the pitch as many pair of eyes followed them on their way out. Florence exhaled, squaring her shoulders before turning to the mass of people who were still awaiting her instructions.

"All right, before phase two, I would like to say, id anyone has a problem with female captaincy, then you are free to join Cortland and his friends. I will not let another scene like that stall our tryouts, so please, if you have any problem with me at all, just go."

No one budged from their spots, which Florence took as a good sign. "Thank you. Now, Keeper lot to Davies, beaters to Stretton. Chang and I will keep judge of your performance. Phase two will be an hour long and will test your endurance."

The crowd shuffled towards their designated leaders, the Keepers sauntering over to circle around Roger. One of them approached her gingerly, her soft voice calling her attention. "Hey, I'm sorry for the way my brother acted."

She stared at the redhead girl, "Aiden is your brother?"

She nodded her head, "Yeah. I'm Samara Cortland, I'm in my fifth year. Aiden, he's...he's always been a jerk. Our father was a bad example for him."

"I see. Well, thank you for apologizing on his behalf." Florence said sincerely, excusing herself from the conversation in order to walk over to Cho, picking up her firebolt from the broom rack.

She whistled in appreciation, "That is one sweet ride, Florence. Now Gryffindor's not the only one with a firebolt. I assumed it took a lot of begging and pleading to get that?"

She chuckled, "You'd be surprised to know how easy it was. So, have any of them caught your eye?"

"Yeah, this chap named Anthony Goldstein. He's trying out for one of the Beaters slot. Quick reflexes, looks physically fit enough. And that red haired girl you were just talking too. I met her awhile ago, and she seems nice."

"I kinda like her too. But we'll have to see how she does."

                                           -------

The elimination process within every phase was physically and emotionally draining, especially when she had to watch a lot of people with disappointed—some angry— expressions on their faces. Samara was eliminated at the third phase, since all of the Quaffles seemed to have sailed into the hoops rather than her catching it.

However, a young second year student had caught Florence's interests. She was small, but was able to catch all the Quaffles in an agile manner, which made Florence keep her around for phase four. Anthony Goldstein was also particularly impressive, exceeding the expectations that they had. Even Roger had voiced out his favor towards him, Cho Chang agreeing as well.

"Okay, so, who are we choosing for the Beaters?" Jeremy asked as the four of them had a quick meeting a distance away from the remaining people, who were now sitting on the grass, tired from everything.

"I'd definitely say Anthony," Cho said merrily, "And, maybe Benjamin Dansfort?"

"I don't really think Benjamin's good. What about Owen? He's in his fourth year but boy can he use that bat."

"I like Owen too..." Florence said, as she had been watching them carefully during the last phase, "He reminds me a lot of how Duncan used to play."

"Definitely Owen." agreed Jeremy.

"So Anthony Goldstein and Owen Hughes? Final? Any oppositions?"

"I suppose not."

"Good. For the Keeper. I say Ivy Buchanan."

"The second year girl?"

"Yeah," agreed Cho, "She is pretty good. I like her."

"Isn't she too...small...for the job?" Roger said uncertainly, "Not that size matters but she might easily get hurt in the field. She's only twelve."

"We were only twelve when we first joined the team. I think we should be gracious enough to give the younger people a chance, like how the former players chose us before." Florence said.

"Yeah. Perhaps you're right. Then she should have the slot."

"Perfect," she clasped her hands together before they marched over to the small group of people, who hurriedly got to their feet at the sight of them approaching.

"Everyone," Roger began, "I would just like to thank you for taking the time to come out here today. For those who will not be chosen, please do not be discouraged, as you can always try out again next year, unless you're in your final year."

"The results are based on our observations regarding your performance in the four phases. As difficult it is to choose three people from a wonderful lot, there were really people who stood out."

"So congratulations," Florence smiled, "To Ivy Buchanan, our new Keeper. And Anthony Goldstein and Owen Hughes, our new Beaters."

The second year girl beamed with pride. As short as she was compared to the rest of the people, the joy and glee on her face was very prominent.

"You think this will be a good year, Jer?" she whispered, to which he smiled, "You bet it is. We're taking that trophy back to Flitwick's study before we go."

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a.n: 50k! 50k! 50K!!!!! I was going to publish this tomorrow but I (somehow) managed to get 3k reads overnight. Crazy! I love you all, thanks so much ❤

-Denise