Training

The day went quite quick considering the borring classes. You remembered you were to meet Wood on the Quidditch field at seven o'clock, before you got ready for training you wanted to unwrap your new broom you had left it wrapped as something to look forward to. When you got to your dorm you imediantly reached under your bed and placed the wrapped Nimbus on the bed, You ripped into the brown rough parcel paper to unveil the Nimbus, it 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, It looked so much better than the school ones that you had used.

As seven o'clock drew nearer, You left the castle and met with Harry before setting off in the dusk toward the Quidditch field. It was the place you had made it onto the team only this time 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 the three golden poles with hoops on the end.

You could tell Harry was eager to fly you gave him a nudge and a knowing look, Harry mounted his broomstick and kicked off from the ground. He swooped in and out of the goal posts and then sped up and down the field.

"Hey, Potter, come down!" Oliver Wood shouted giving you a shock, he had just arrived. He was carrying a large wooden crate under his arm. Harry landed next to you.

"Very nice," said Wood, his eyes glinting. "I see what McGonagall meant... you really are a natural. I'm just going to teach you the rules this evening potter, then you'll be joining team practice three times a week like Gaunt here." He said placing his hand on your shoulder.

He opened the crate. Inside were the Quaffle, two Bludgers, and a Golden Snitch four different-sized balls, you would be focusing on the Quaffle and Harry the Snitch.

"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."

"Three Chasers," Harry repeated, as Wood took out a bright red Quaffle.

"Gaunt here is one of the Chasers." He highlighted to Harry

"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?"

"The Chasers throw the Quaffle and put it through the hoops to score," Harry recited.

"Gaunt here will demonstrate." Wood insisted.

You mounted your new Nimbus and flew a few meters into the sky before Wood threw the Quaffle at you, Catching it you spun your broom about 180° in the air and sped towards the hoops, You noticed the Nimbus Two Thousand turned wherever you wanted at the lightest touch and movement. When you were close enough you threw the Quaffle through the hoop, While the Quaffle was moving towards the hoop you decided to test the speed of the Nimbus and sped round the hoops to meet and catch the Quaffle in mid air, This broom was quick. You returned to Wood and Harry, Throwing Wood the Quaffle so he could put it away and landing again.

"That's what the Chasers do." Wood continued to explain the game to Harry.

"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 teams Chasers like Gaunt from scoring in any of the hoops." He said

"Three Chasers, one Keeper," said Harry. "And they play with the Quaffle. Okay, got that. So what are they for?" Harry pointed at the three balls left inside the box.

"I'll show you now," said Wood. "Take this." He handed Harry a small club.

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

"Stand back," Wood warned You and Harry, You knew what these could do they were probably the most dangerous thing about Quidditch that and the massive falls. Wood bent down and freed one of the Bludgers.

At once, the black ball rose high in the air and instead of going for Harry went for you, You ran behind Harry and the Ball then went straight at Harry who you were hiding behind. Harry swung at it with the bat, and sent it zigzagging away into the air -- it zoomed around your 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 you knelt down and helped wood in 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.

Wood reached into the crate and took out the fourth and last ball, The Golden Snitch. 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.

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

Harry shook his head.

Wood decided to train Harry a little, Wood pulled a bag of ordinary golf balls out of his pocket and a few minutes later, he and Harry were up in the air you were just watching, Wood throwing the golf balls as hard as he could in every direction for Harry to catch. Harry didn't miss a single one.

"That Quidditch Cup'll have our name on it this year," said Wood happily as you trudged back up to the castle. "Gaunt you seem like a brilliant Chaser you may even become legendary the way you are going, and Harry I wouldn't be surprised if you turn out better than Charlie Weasley, and he could have played for England if he hadn't gone off chasing dragons."

You were finished with the first training session of many, You wanted to prove that you deserved to be on the team.