Harry Potter: The Invincible Stag

Disclaimer:

Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.

I own nothing but the original characters I create.

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

-Author notes-

Chapter 11: Trials, Part 1

"Come on, wake up already, James!" Sirius shook him for the third time, giving him no choice but to admit he was awake.

"What is it? It's Saturday, let me sleep!" James grunted, burying his face into his pillow.

"Don't tell me you've forgotten about it! Today is Quidditch trials! We talked about it last night during dinner!" Sirius sounded completely outraged at his friend's behavior, not to mention, his lack of enthusiasm for quidditch.

"Oh… right, I remember now," James muttered, though the truth was he had completely forgotten.

This was the year they'd finally decided to try out for the team. He vaguely recalled Sirius mentioning something about it earlier in the week.

In his defense, the first week back at Hogwarts had been overwhelming. He'd grown accustomed to a far more relaxed lifestyle in his later years, complete with assistants to handle any heavy lifting.

But now? This week had been nothing but a whirlwind of classes, homework, social interactions, and running between classrooms.

School was far more exhausting than he recalled. And now, Quidditch trials...first thing in the morning.

"Alright… let's get this over with," he grumbled, dragging himself out of bed.

'Maybe I'll have time for a nap later.' He could only hope.

"Come on, man!. It's going to be great!" Sirius, however, was very much hyped up by the idea of joining the team.

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The Quidditch pitch looked just as he remembered it. Hogwarts wasn't a place that changed much over the years, which suited him just fine. Seeing familiar places was comforting.

The people, however, were entirely different, and that was something that would take time to get used to.

Among the group of students gathered for the trials, James vaguely recognized one boy and one girl from his classes. The rest were complete strangers.

"Recruits! Line up over there, please!" an older boy in the team's uniform instructed.

There were only five new recruits, including James and Sirius. That seemed like a small number, considering Hogwarts had more students now than in the nineties.

"Everyone, over here, please. Let's start with introductions. I'm Charlie Bell, the new team captain. The previous captain graduated last year." Charlie paced in front of the recruits, radiating energy and enthusiasm.

He stopped in front of the only female recruit...the girl James had recognized from class.

"You first. Name, year, and speak the position you want to play," Charlie instructed, his tone crisp and commanding.

The girl straightened, looking serious, almost like a military cadet.

"Marlene McKinnon, fourth year, Chaser!"

Charlie nodded approvingly.

"Good. Next!" He pointed to a younger boy beside Marlene.

"Geoffrey Fawley, second year, Chaser!" the boy exclaimed, his voice brimming with excitement.

"Another Chaser, huh? You'd better be ready for some competition." Charlie then turned to Sirius. "Pretty boy, you're next."

Sirius chuckled.

"Sirius Black, fourth year, and single," he said with a wink toward Marlene.

"Oh, and I'll be your Keeper."

"Such confidence! I like your attitude. But I hope you've got the skills to back it up because we need a good Keeper this year."

Charlie's eyes landed on James. "Next."

"James Potter, fourth year… Seeker."

"What?" Sirius looked at him, completely taken aback.

"Seeker? You always said you wanted to be a Chaser!"

"I know, but… after thinking about it, I decided to go for Seeker. Sorry, I didn't tell you," James admitted. He'd made up his mind, that if he was going to play Quidditch, he'd stick to the position he knew best. He had little experience playing as a chaser and it would be a chore to learn it.

"Well, we already have a decent Seeker, but if you can prove yourself… who knows? At the very least, you've got a good chance at reserve," Charlie said encouragingly.

Finally, Charlie turned to the last boy.

Seeing him up close, James noticed how similar he looked to the captain.

"John Bell, fourth year, Beater."

"Good luck with that, bro," Charlie said with a grin.

'John and Charlie Bell… of course,' James realized. 'They must be related to Katie Bell, my old teammate.'

By their ages, one of them was likely her father, though James didn't know which one.

He regretted not getting to know his old teammates better back in the day, other than the Weasleys, of course. He vaguely remembered hearing that much of Katie's family had been killed during Voldemort's war, like so many others.

'Something that can hopefully be avoided this time,' he thought grimly.

Charlie and another team member, Arthur Brown, put the recruits through a series of tests.

So far, all of them had been accepted, including Sirius, who was beyond thrilled.

James was the last to be tested.

The others stayed to watch, even though they didn't have to. A small crowd of students had also gathered in the stands, including Remus, Peter, Lily, Alice, and Frank.

"Go on, James! You've got this!" Sirius cheered loudly.

James gripped his Comet 220 tightly. It was a decent broom for the time, but it paled in comparison to the models he was used to.

It didn't even come with a built-in cushioning charm, so he'd had to add one manually.

The broom's speed was nothing extraordinary, but he suspected the Golden Snitch had been modified to match the era's slower broom speeds. Otherwise, catching it would be nearly impossible.

"Potter, pay attention! I'm about to release the Snitch. Try not to lose track of it," Charlie advised.

"Got it. I'm ready." James gave him a thumbs-up.

'Let's see how this goes.'

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