Sterling scowled as he stalked onto the Quidditch field, his Star Chaser in hand. Apparently, the team thought he had become too cocky. The boy shook his head as he stood among the younger Hufflepuffs, all vying for their shot on the team. He was confident, not cocky. He knew good and well he wasn't the best player there ever was, he just also knew he was among one of the top players at Hogwarts. Nevertheless, the team was forcing him to go through tryouts again, supposedly to make him feel more "humble".
Sterling wasn't worried by any means. He had secured the position in his second-year and wasn't about to give it up. The others that were trying out were almost all second or third years. There were a couple fourth-years and a fifth-year, but all in all, he felt like he had a decent chance against the youngsters. Then again, he thought to himself, that may have been what the older Hufflepuffs were thinking to themselves the year he tried out.
Arnold, Hufflepuff's team captain, cleared his throat and looked over the decent sized group.
"As you all know," he began,
"There are only two positions open today, Seeker and Keeper. That means out of you thirteen only two will make it onto the team. While I wish you all the best of luck I know only the most skilled of you will win." The boy continued on but Sterling tuned him out. He knew exactly the odds he was up against and he was confident. Or, Arnold would say, cocky.
"Please split into two groups. If you're trying out for Keeper you can go wait in the locker room. If you're trying out for seeker stay here." Sterling's feet remained firmly planted. No way was he going to try out for anything but the position he already knew was his. He looked around, surprised to see only four others standing with him. He supposed the Keeper position may have been easier, and maybe even less dangerous, depending on how dangerously and fiercely you played for the snitch.
Arnold looked at the group and nodded.
"Here's how this is going to work. You will go two at a time and compete against each other to obtain the snitch. The one who wins will advance, the other is eliminated. In each round, I will release the snitch and give it a head start. When I blow the whistle you may go after it." Sterling nodded as he spoke, but was only really half listening. He had been through all of this before and wasn't worried.
He looked around at his nodding competitors. Two of them were second-years, there was one of the third-years, and the last was the fifth-year. Shouldn't he be studying for exams? From the looks of him and his fancy broom, he was pretty confident. The other three were using school brooms and looked completely nervous. Chances were they would fall off their broom before they had the chance to even touch the snitch. Sterling nodded to himself, ok, he admits it, that sounded cocky.
The fourth-year snapped back into focus as Arnold called two names from the signup sheet. Both the second-years stepped forward, eyeing each other. Arnold instructed them to step into the middle of the field and they obeyed, kicking off and rising a little bit before looking down to see when the snitch would be released.
Arnold watched the two, making sure they were both ready before he released the snitch. Sterling clutched his broom tighter, having the urge to fly after it immediately, but kept his feet on the ground. It wasn't all about him he reminded himself as he heard the boy blow the whistle that Sterling could swear he slept with.
The first of the two young boys, a scrawny black-haired fellow who Arnold had called Jacob, clicked into gear quickly, swooping after the little gold speck as fast as his broom would take him. The second one, a chubby red-head named Alexander, stared at the snitch and the other boy dumbly for a moment before a lightbulb seemed to go off in his brain and he sped after it, quite a ways behind the gangly kid.
The snitch zipped across the arena, followed closely by Jacob who was followed by Alexander a ways back. Sterling shook his head. No way was that red-head moron gonna get it, the other kid was too close already. But, it seemed Sterling was wrong. As the snitch turned sharply one way, Alexander turned and cut it off, snatching it up and holding it tight in his sausage fingers.
The whistle sounded once again and Sterling nodded. It wasn't the best performance he'd seen or even the best he himself had performed, but he had to admit the kid had done ok. Both of the kids came back to the group and dismounted. Jacob looked like he could cry and Alexander beamed. He almost told him not to be so happy yet but stopped himself. No need to be rude, he would get beaten eventually, and Sterling refused to believe otherwise.
Arnold nodded to Jacob as Alexander high-fived the third-year. Upon closer inspection, it became clear the two were related. They had the same hair color and the same eyes. The third-year was the next to be called, as well as Sterling. He walked out into the middle of the field along with the girl, who the Quidditch captain had called Sophia. He nodded to her and wished her good luck, he was somewhat a gentleman after off. With that he kicked off, pulling up to hover in the air with the girl, watching Arnold for when the quaffle would be released.
The boy flinched as the second-year below started cheering for his sister, jumping up and down. Arnold scowled at him before looking back to Sterling and the girl, making sure they were ready before releasing the snitch. The boy nearly lunged into action but remembered he had to wait for the whistle. He followed the snitch easily with his eyes, tuning out the girl he would be competing against.
He heard the whistle and he dropped into a nosedive, gaining speed as his broom glided smoothly through the air. he pulled up a couple feet above the ground, racing along slightly below the snitch. He saw the girl speeding towards him out of the corner of his eye and pulled up as the girl flew past the exact spot he had just been in. She didn't even seem to know where the snitch was, she was just aiming for him.
He pulled up a bit more and didn't let himself focus on the girl for a moment. He had lost the snitch as he had avoided the girl and scowled, now scanning the field for the little gold thing. The sun caught something near the goals to his right and he squinted towards them, only needing a moment before he found it.
He shot towards it, moving to cut it off as it sped towards him, cursing to himself as it made a sharp turn. He followed it, broom gliding a wide turn, as he was still a ways behind it. He picked up speed, adjusting his position so he was behind him and slightly to the left, causing the snitch to go to the right. He grinned and swooped down, cutting through one of the goals and around another to the point he was right behind. He grinned triumphantly and reached one hand out.
The girl pulled up in front of him, and he dodged to the side. He went around her and continued after the snitch, looking over his shoulder to see her right behind him. He scowled and tried to speed up, glad that he was at least in front of her, and hadn't lost any of his momentum. He reached out one hand again right as the thing dropped.
He didn't think, he just dove, leaning down close to his broomstick and reaching one hand out again. He picked up speed as he plummeted, catching up to the thing quickly, as he was obviously heavier and he caught it in his hand, pulling up and lowering to the ground slowly, a small smirk on his face as his heart beat fast with adrenaline in his chest.
Arnold blew his whistle and nodded to Sophia. She glared at Sterling and he glared right back. She would have had a better chance if she had been aiming for the snitch instead of trying to knock him off his broom, so he didn't feel the slightest bit sorry for her as she hugged her brother and left the field.
Next up was Alexander again, and the fifth-year, who Arnold called Ethan. Sterling didn't honestly pay much attention throughout the tow's match until the whistle blew. Ethan flew to the ground and dismounted his broom, scowling. Arnold ran to the other boy, who Sterling hadn't seen until he looked to team captain.
The sight of the boy, even from the distance he was at, was enough to make the boy flinch. One arm was obviously broken and he didn't seem conscious as Arnold tried to shake him awake. He turned on Ethan as Sterling watched and was yelling at him fiercely. The older boy yelled back and Arnold pointed to the locker rooms. Ethan yelled at him again before stomping off the field, his face twisted in fury.
Arnold jogged up to Sterling.
I suppose you win mate. We can't have someone on the team who would kick someone else's broom, even if they were on the other team, enough to injure them this badly, and we can't have someone who can't recover fast enough to stay in the game, he had plenty of time to regain control of his broom. Help me take him to the Hospital wing, would you? Sterling grinned and nodded quickly.
"Thank you, you won't be disappointed."* * * * * *
Sterling was leaving the Hospital wing, a smug grin on his face when Arnold called his name. He turned to look at the boy, one eyebrow raised.
"Just remember, I kicked you off the team and you were lucky to get a chance to take your place back. Next time I won't be so lenient." Sterling clenched his jaw and had to fight the urge to roll his eyes as he nodded. He turned away again, heading back to his Common Room. Arnold's words had knocked the smug look from his face, but lucky for him, he had a smaller smug look under it, that was just as satisfying.
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