Harry Earns a Broom; Percy Earns a Punishment
"Excuse me, Professor Quirrell; may Oliver Wood step outside for a moment?" Professor McGonagall said as she entered the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, where Professor Quirrell was giving his usual theoretical lessons with a book in his hand.
"Y… y… yes, of c… c… course," Quirrell replied with his characteristic stutter.
Harry had no idea what was going on; he thought they were going to take him to the Headmaster's Office… and instead, they had come directly there. And Wood… Harry remembered he was a Gryffindor student, since he had seen him several times in the common room talking about Quidditch.
Oliver Wood stepped out of the classroom with firm strides, following Professor McGonagall's call. His figure stood out among the rest of the students; tall, with a straight back and the muscles in his arms tensing beneath the rolled-up sleeves of his uniform. His dark brown hair was slightly messy, as if he had just run a hand through it nervously, and he wore an expression of confusion at having been summoned by McGonagall in the middle of class.
"Hello, Professor McGonagall; do you need me for something?" he asked respectfully.
"That's right, Wood; both of you, follow me," she said seriously as she began to walk through the corridors, with the two students behind her. Wood glanced at Harry from time to time, curious.
They were taken to an empty classroom… well, not entirely empty, because Peeves was there, apparently writing insults on the blackboard.
"Out, Peeves," Professor McGonagall shouted instantly upon seeing the mischievous poltergeist. Peeves gave a small jump, surprised at being caught in the act. He left while muttering curses, but still obeyed, proving that McGonagall might scare him almost as much as the Bloody Baron. Harry had seen many students and even teachers try to drive him away, only for Peeves to mock them several times before leaving; but with McGonagall, he didn't dare push his luck.
She turned toward the boys, looking at them seriously.
"Potter, this is Oliver Wood, captain of the Quidditch team," she said, introducing the other student. Then she turned to Wood. "Wood, I think I've found you a Seeker," she added with a slight smile that seemed almost excited; something unusual on McGonagall's normally stern face.
Wood looked at Harry instantly, intrigued.
"Are you sure, Professor?" he asked right away, with a hint of delight in his voice; like someone who had been searching for water in the desert and finally found it.
"Indeed," McGonagall said. "He just did something nearly impossible; tremendous speed and control, and all of that using only one of those shabby brooms used in flying classes. You know exactly what I mean, Wood."
The pitiful state of the school's training brooms was something everyone knew about.
"Have you flown before, Potter?" McGonagall asked.
"Uh… ah, yes. My godfather is always trying to play Quidditch with my brother and me; but Percy really doesn't like heights, so I usually ended up being dragged into it myself. But since we were only two people, it wasn't really a match; more like a flying game," Harry said, sharing his broom experiences, which were basically Sirius pestering him to play, not knowing any other way to bond with his godson at the time. That had happened practically on the second day after reuniting with Harry.
After the meeting at the Dursleys' house years ago, Sirius had suddenly arrived with three brooms; one for Percy and one for Harry, trying to get on the good side of both children. He understood that Harry was very attached to his brother, which earned him a point in Harry's favor… but not in Percy's, since Percy didn't like flying.
But since Sirius had brought even a broom for Percy, Harry had agreed to fly with him; while Percy stared at Sirius as if sending him a silent message. And still, the connection through flying was what really bonded Harry and Sirius faster; along with Sirius's natural childishness, which matched perfectly with that of the two kids. Even now, Percy enjoyed playing pranks on him, and Harry always went along with it.
"Godfather… I see; you're talking about Mr. Black," McGonagall said while nodding, with a faint spark of happiness, exhaustion, and amusement in her eyes, as if remembering things from the past. "That's good; if it was him, he surely taught you a lot. Although I hope it was something good, unlike certain things from his youth," she added, shaking her head.
Of course, neither Wood nor Harry could understand what she meant.
"He caught the ball with his hand after moving with incredible speed, just before he crashed into the castle wall; stopping only a few centimeters away. That quick reaction and those reflexes are exactly what we need; not even Charlie Weasley would have done it better," the professor said to Wood, her expression filled with excitement.
Hearing the explanation and the comparison, Wood seemed just as excited. He walked in a quick circle around Harry, looking him up and down.
"He has the build for a Seeker," he said, increasingly convinced, as if already imagining him on the team. "Light, fast. We'll need to get him an appropriate broom, Professor McGonagall; maybe a Nimbus Two Thousand," he added quickly.
"I will speak with Professor Dumbledore to see if we can change the rules forbidding first-years from owning brooms. We really need a better team than last year; we were crushed by Slytherin in that last match. I couldn't look Severus Snape in the eye for weeks," McGonagall said seriously while looking at Harry.
"I want to see you training hard, Mr. Potter; or I will reconsider your punishment," she added before smiling with memories and a touch of nostalgia. "Your father would be so proud; he truly was a great Quidditch player," she said while looking at the boy, seeing in his face an exact copy of James Potter.
After talking a little more with Professor McGonagall and Wood, she finally dismissed them.
Harry practically ran out, eager to find his brother; he was basically praying that Percy hadn't done something crazy. Knowing him, and with no one watching him, he didn't doubt it at all.
He sprinted through the corridors, obviously breaking the rule about running. He rushed forward, but when he turned a corner, he crashed straight into someone and fell to the ground. He grabbed his head; it seemed they had bumped headfirst into each other. The other person was also on the floor, holding his head.
It was Percy.
Apparently, both of them had been running through the corridors, worried about each other.
"Percy!" Harry said when he recognized him, letting out a sigh of relief. "Good thing you didn't do something stupid; for a moment I was worried you had attacked Draco and his little servants," he said while calming down.
Percy, who was still rubbing his head, looked at his brother before shifting his gaze to the walls, as if the castle had suddenly become the most interesting thing in the world.
"Yeeah… you know how I am. A great guy," he said, lying terribly. He was one of the worst liars.
Harry's expression turned more serious as he stared at him.
"What did you do?" he asked immediately, giving him no chance to escape.
"What? Nothing," Percy said, not looking him in the eyes, attempting to whistle awkwardly… forgetting he still didn't know how to whistle. "It's not like I'm being expelled; they just punished me for a while," he muttered under his breath.
But Harry heard it perfectly.
"I'll tell Mom," Harry said, standing up from the floor with a serious expression.
"Ah!" Percy shouted, looking at him as if he couldn't believe his own brother would betray him like that. "If you tell Mom, you're a snitch. A mommy's boy," he said, trying to attack Harry's pride.
It didn't work at all.
"So are you," Harry replied without denying it. Even so, he was genuinely relieved that neither of them had been expelled from Hogwarts.
"Harry, please. I'll take you to the kitchen; there are lots of snacks," Percy said, trying to bribe him. But that kind of bribe would only work on himself.
Harry looked at him for a moment, with a villainous smile that clearly said Percy's fate was in his hands. Then he ran off.
"Ahh, Harry, please!" Percy yelled, running after him, truly worried.
…
During dinner, Harry was telling Ron what had happened. Ron was shocked, eyes wide, forgetting to lift the food from his fork to his mouth.
"Seeker?" he asked, half excited and half surprised. "But first-years never… then you'd be the youngest player in…"
Ron paused, thinking.
"A century," Harry said with a smile while putting a piece of pie in his mouth. "Wood told me," he added.
Ron was truly surprised and excited for his friend. Percy wasn't with them, since he had gone to check if Neville was okay; they had taken him to the infirmary. On the way, he ran into Grover, so they went together. Percy had even asked Harry to get him something to eat for when he came back, in case he didn't make it in time to the Great Hall.
At that moment, George and Fred Weasley suddenly approached and patted Harry on the back.
"Well done, Potter. Wood told us; we're on the team too," one of the twins said with a grin. "We're Beaters."
"Wood was practically jumping from excitement, thinking we might finally win the Quidditch Cup. You'd better work hard, yeah?" said the other.
But they left quickly, since they had plans with their friend Lee Jordan.
…
Percy was walking with Grover toward the infirmary while lightly chatting about, for some reason, mythological monsters. Grover had brought up the topic, and Percy seemed to respond pretty well; their mom loved telling Percy and Harry Greek mythology stories as they grew up. And Aunt Mor had that strange habit of talking about monsters' weak points… although she didn't limit herself to one culture, but to every creature that could possibly exist in the wizarding world and even in legends. She seemed able to list their weaknesses just by hearing their names.
"I'm telling you: my Aunt Mor said the weakness of a sphinx is its head. You just blow it up and that's it; they're useless without it," Percy said with complete seriousness, crossing his arms and nodding.
"And I'm telling you that any living being is useless without its head. That doesn't count as a weakness. Do you think it's that easy to make one of those creatures' heads explode?" Grover said, arguing with him.
"Mmm… you're right," Percy admitted after thinking about it. "But if I have a sharp enough sword, I think I could manage."
"Well… yeah. Technically it should be possible," Grover conceded, although it was still madness, especially considering Percy was an eleven-year-old kid.
The two kept chatting until they reached the infirmary door. Since the nurse wasn't there, they just went inside.
There were only two people in the beds, without visitors. Neville was in the bed closest to the door, waiting quietly, with a potion bottle beside him that had a lid shaped like a bone. In a farther bed was Draco Malfoy, who was writhing in exaggerated "pain." He had two large ice packs on his face, although his cheeks were already less swollen and not as red. Obviously he was faking it to impress anyone who entered.
Draco's eyes widened completely when he saw that it was Percy Jackson, the boy who had attacked him, and another kid; not the professors who were supposedly coming to take his statement and "help" get Percy expelled.
"What are you doing here? If you came to apologize to avoid being expelled, don't waste your breath. Although if you kneel down and bang your head against the floor, maybe I'll think about it a little," Draco said quickly, arrogant as always, sitting up slightly to glare at him.
"Looks like those hits affected your brain," Percy said, ignoring him completely before walking toward Neville. "Hey, Neville; we came to see you," he added. Grover approached too.
"What? Why are you still in the castle?" Draco continued when he saw Percy ignoring him. "You'd better be thrown out quickly before you put another student in danger."
Neville didn't understand what had happened. He had only seen Draco come in with swollen, almost deformed cheeks… and then lie there, groaning in exaggerated pain, while the nurse warned him to stop making noise or he would be kicked out.
"Uh… Madame Pomfrey said that after I take the bone-recovery potion I can leave. How about we go?" Neville said tactfully, also feeling annoyed by Malfoy's presence. He wasn't exactly his favorite person in the world.
"Sure," Grover and Percy said.
The three of them walked out while Draco kept shouting useless nonsense after them that all three ignored completely.