The Apprentice Piece
by Jardyn39
Part One of "The Apprentice Piece"
Chapter 8: Saturday Practice
Harry woke early on Saturday and couldn't get back to sleep. Eventually he got up, quietly dressed and went down to the common room. He sat down and pondered. The Creevey brothers and their friends wanted to start Quidditch practice early. He smiled to himself remembering their enthusiasm.
As he couldn't think of anything else to do, Harry decided he would make a start on his Transfiguration essay. He grabbed his bag and was about to unpack when he thought he might as well take everything down to the Great Hall. It was early and would be quiet. He could have some breakfast while doing the essay.
About an hour and three cups of tea later, Harry had almost finished his essay. As he was thinking about his conclusion, he was joined by Hermione. She too was carrying her bag and looked surprised to see anyone else up so early.
"Hi," she said sitting down opposite. She leaned over and raised her eyebrows when she saw his essay title. "I haven't even started that one yet!"
"Morning, Hermione," he said, looking up and stretching. "Couldn't sleep and couldn't think of anything else to do." He yawned widely as Hermione started to unpack her bag. "Tea, coffee or juice?"
"Er, pumpkin juice please," she answered from deep inside her bag. Harry poured a goblet of juice and placed it in front of Hermione. "Thanks," she said smiling as she emerged with both hands full.
Harry was about to go back to his essay when a small group entered the hall chattering excitedly and made straight for them. Harry guessed there were about twenty of them including First, Second and Third years.
"Hi, Harry!" shouted Colin and Denis at the same time as soon as they saw him.
"Sorry, Hermione, quiet time is over," Harry mumbled.
She smiled and shook her head.
Harry got up and started to pack away his things. Some of the group had started to split off and go to their own house table but were called back by Denis Creevey saying "Let's sit together so we can agree teams." He then looked uncertainly over at Harry, "Er, is that okay, Harry?"
"Good idea," said Harry immediately, "but let's give Hermione some space to do her work."
"Have fun," Hermione said smiling down at her essay.
He grabbed his bag and joined the others at the end of the Gryffindor table. He sat down and became aware that everyone was looking at him expectantly. He felt he ought to say something.
"Grab something to eat and drink and we'll decide what we're going to do."
Harry looked on in bemusement as each member of the group scrambled to grab something to eat and drink. As suddenly as they had sprung into action, they became still again, each clutching their chosen food item and goblet. Harry forced himself not to smile and thinking it would be impolite not to join them, poured himself a cup of coffee.
"I thought that as we're only practising today, we shouldn't have fixed teams and we won't be keeping score. Unless anyone especially wants to play in a particular position, we should also rotate around. Give everybody a chance," said Harry.
There was a general nodding of agreement.
"Now just for today, I don't think we should worry about playing tactics and the like. If you agree, we should only play with one bludger too. We won't be playing proper rules, as this is just a friendly, but how about if someone commits a foul they just get substituted early?"
Again everyone nodded.
"Okay, good. Unless you've got anything to add, I'm going to dump my bag and get changed. Finish your breakfast and then meet me down on the Quidditch pitch," said Harry. As an afterthought he added, "Oh yeah, Madam Hooch said we could borrow some spare pads she has, but there aren't enough robes. Just wear jeans and a tee shirt or something."
*
Harry stood on the Quidditch pitch looking up at the hectic play and grinning. He looked down at his watch and blew his whistle to indicate another rotation. The players all flew down to form the new teams and Harry took the opportunity to speak to them.
"That was really good!" Harry said enthusiastically before proceeding to confirm the new players and positions. Soon they were off again.
The quality of play varied significantly. Some players were very good while others were poor. Harry had decided to concentrate his efforts coaching those players that looked like they weren't enjoying themselves rather than those that were good or bad. He was determined that this should be fun.
A lot of the time he felt that the problems stemmed from a lack of confidence in the air. He would choose a player and shadow them, not actually taking part in the game. Some, especially First Years, were poor flyers. He would fly next to them at low level around the pitch talking them through simple manoeuvres. Some were clearly more experienced and this involved dodging in and out of the play.
He derived particular satisfaction when a Second Year beater whose initial terror of the bludger was transformed into a zeal Fred and George would have been proud of. Harry only momentarily wished she were in Gryffindor.
At the end of the session, Harry blew his whistle for the last time and called everyone back down. He looked around the group to see them all beaming back at him. Several were rather muddy, thanks to over enthusiastic dives, but there had been no injuries.
"Well, I enjoyed that. I hope you did too," said Harry, grinning and looking around. Everyone nodded.
"How about next week, Harry?"
"Well, the try-outs will be coming up soon. The House Teams will get pitch priority for practice."
"None of us will get on the House Teams," a Second Year said dejectedly.
"That's not true. Several of you are good enough now and all of you have the potential once you grow in confidence," Harry said. He meant it too but some of them still looked down.
"Tell you what. I'll ask Madam Hooch if we can practise outside the Quidditch pitch when it's being used by a House Team. If I get back on the House team I won't have much time to practise with you, but I promise I'll spend as much time with you as I can."
*
"How was practice?" asked Hermione as she, Harry and Ron ate dinner in the Great Hall that evening.
"It was good, they really enjoyed it," said Harry smiling.
"They weren't very good," Ron said coldly. "I was watching from the stands," he answered in response to Harry's raised eyebrows.
"You should have come and joined in. I thought some of them were very good, actually, but that wasn't the point. It was about enjoying playing, not being good."
Ron went back to his dinner but Harry noticed Hermione giving him an appraising look.
"They want to carry on. It worked quite well changing sides and positions but they'll need to stay in position so they can learn to play better," he said. He would normally discuss Quidditch with Ron but as he wasn't interested and he wanted to keep talking about it, he spoke to Hermione.
"Will you divide the teams into houses?" she asked.
"No," Harry replied at once. He had been giving this some thought. "Several of them will be on House Teams anyway and we won't have enough people to maintain full sides. I think it should be anything but house teams. Besides, the comment I heard most often today was how friends in different houses never get to play on the same side."
Hermione smiled. "Have you thought about organising a league or a challenge cup?"
Harry considered this. "No, I hadn't," he said and paused. "The problem is that the less experienced players would be disadvantaged. They might even be put off joining in. I want to keep things strictly non-competitive for now."
She nodded.
"I thought I'd split each session into two halves. The first will be coaching on a specific aspect of the game followed by a free-for-all game like we had today, except that people will just be substituted and change sides rather than play in different positions too. I'm going to start with flying practice next week, Hermione, so mark it in your diary!"
Hermione laughed and shook her head. Even Ron, who had been pretending to ignore the conversation, looked up smiling at this.
"Hey, Ron. How about you doing some goalkeeper coaching?" Harry asked hopefully.
Ron's face grew serious again and he returned to his dinner. "The House Team takes priority, Harry. I may not be time."
*
On Monday morning, Harry, Denis and Colin were discussing organising their Quidditch practice schedule over breakfast. Denis had just finished explaining that now that news of their last practice was out, a few more people were interested in joining in.
"How many more?" asked Harry and he watched as Colin and Denis exchanged a look.
"Just a few," Colin said evasively.
"Potter, I'd like a word," rapped Professor McGonagall and all three of them jumped. "Please see me in my office at morning break."
Harry watched her go up to the staff table wondering what on earth he could have done already.
Draco Malfoy sauntered past and paused with a sneer on his face. He had Crabbe and Goyle in tow as usual.
"I hear you're giving Quidditch lessons, Potter," he drawled. "Must have been trying for you, you know, getting the retards to understand the rules." Draco suddenly stopped as he became aware that he was surrounded by the very people he had just insulted. Several had turned around and more than a few stood up. Crabbe and Goyle didn't look like they had noticed yet.
Harry smiled. "No, Malfoy, they are Rebels not retards. I'm afraid you wouldn't make it into the squad. You'd be more than welcome to join the remedial flyers though, Malfoy. Next practice is on Saturday."
"Oh, sure," spat Malfoy. "How many remedial flyers are there?"
"If you came," said Harry indicating a mock thought, "It'd be a class of one. All the others are too good for the remedial class." Draco blanched as laughs and sniggers surrounded him.
"Crabbe and Goyle would be welcome in the intermediate class, of course," continued Harry laughing. He laughed harder when Crabbe and Goyle both put on expressions of surprised pride until they caught Malfoy's scowl.
As they sloped off, Harry couldn't resist calling after them, "Malfoy, the remedial flyers are doing take-offs on Saturday, so mind you revise the concepts up and down!"
*
Harry knocked on the door to Professor McGonagall's office. She opened the door and let him in.
"Please sit for a moment, Potter," she said as she closed the door and returned to her desk. "I have discussed the Quidditch team captaincy with Katie Bell. She has told me she doesn't wish to continue on the team."
Harry nodded. "I heard she wants to concentrate on her exams. She is a good player and would have made a good Captain too."
"Indeed. I didn't offer her the Captaincy but I did ask who she would nominate."
Harry frowned.
"She and I believe you would benefit from that role. Potter, I would like to make you Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team."
"Me?" he said blankly. "What do you mean, I would benefit?"
"It would give you an opportunity to learn and practice leadership. You need to exercise planning, delegation and management skills. All of which you will need to apply off the Quidditch pitch as well. If you happen to win the Cup as a by-product it wouldn't be too bad, either."
Harry snorted but then asked seriously "But Professor, I think Ron thinks -"
"He won't get the Captaincy even if you refuse it, Potter. He's only played three games and played badly in two. I would rather appoint a younger Captain so the team has consistency for a longer period."
"He was just nervous," Harry said loyally. He paused and said, "He's going to hate me. He'll think I took it away from him."
"No, being Captain won't be easy. Will you take it?"
"Thank you, Professor. Yes, I'll take it," he said quietly.
"Good. Now I've seen Denis Creevey practice. He's very good. Try him out in different positions, don't assume he needs to match Colin Creevey. Ginny will make an excellent chaser, as will Colin. Beaters will need to be a lot better than last year."
Harry nodded.
"Find your own style of management," she said more gently. "I was watching Saturday's practice, Potter. Your leadership made it inclusive, fun and safe. It was entirely appropriate for players with such a range of experiences. The House Team will need something more. You will need to motivate to win." She got up and Harry followed.
"I trust you will be continuing to coach your rebels as well?" she asked with a smile. "I've heard about nothing else all morning."
*
Harry stepped out of the office and closed the door, thinking more about what he was going to say to Ron than anything else.
He looked up to see Colin and Denis Creevey looking at him expectantly.
"Well?" Colin mouthed. They looked too excited to speak.
Harry could not help it. A smile grew across his face and he nodded.
Everyone in the corridor stopped to look as both brothers ran off cheering and yelling at the top of the voices.