Exhibition is a Right: Chapter 18 Early Release (Patreon)

"Trials and Teamwork"

All individuals depicted are over the age of consent. All acts are conducted with the consent of those involved.

The rest of the week passed by fairly uneventfully. The only real excitement had consisted of Harry's first Defence against the Dark Arts class.

Knowing that Moody was really Crouch Jr. In disguise had made acting normal somewhat difficult. All he had really wanted to do was curse the man in the back, to then be able to free the real Moody from his trunk. There were several reasons he held back from doing so, however.

First, he simply couldn't risk the possible collateral damage. In a class setting such as this, it would be easy for Crouch to use his classmates as a hostage or distraction. Not many of his fellow classmates were likely to be able to react, or put up a fight, against a skilled death eater.

Second, this fake Moody was playing the “constant vigilance” card well. The man never turned his back in the class and he was seldom seen out and about on his own in the castle much. He was only reliably seen during classes and mealtimes. 

“Probably so he can conserve his supply of Polyjuice potion…” Harry mused. The class itself had been much the same as he remembered, with Moody feeling the need to teach the class about the unforgivable curses. 

One notable change, however, had been that the man hadn't actually cast the spells in front of the class using spiders, as he had previously. Instead, he had gone into great, and sometimes disturbing, details about some of the criminals “Moody” had caught in his time as an Auror.

Harry still wasn't sure if that was better or worse than seeing them first hand. Certainly, Neville had been just as pale as the first time around when the cruciatus curse was being described. Still, much like last time, “Moody” had whisked him away for a chat after class, meaning Harry was unable to offer his own support.

“At least he hadn't actually talked about Neville's parents or Bellatrix…that would've been too far” he mused.

Shaking his head of such depressing thoughts, Harry pushed open the door to the Quidditch changing rooms once more. Today was the day of the Hogwarts Quidditch team trials. 

The pitch had two changing rooms, one each end for the two teams that usually competed. In the case of the upcoming trials, prospective players were allowed to use either.

 Inside, Harry blinked upon seeing Cho wearing nothing but a sports bra and panties, currently in the process of pulling up her tight Quidditch leggings.

He briefly admired her toned thighs and full, round bottom before the material made an effort to hide it. “Man…past me had some good taste, Cho really is attractive. Shame she's already taken. Speaking of…” 

Harry went over to his locker. “No Cedric yet? I thought he was still going to lend a hand with these trials” he called, as he began to get changed himself. He consciously tried not to look at Cho as he was getting undressed. The last thing he wanted was to show off his growing erection before he could get his own gear on.

“Ced’s out on the pitch already. As he won't be in the team, he's not actually going to be flying. He'll be watching from the ground so he can catch anything we miss.” Cho replied, finishing getting dressed before waiting for Harry by leaning against the doorframe.

Harry swiftly finished changing, and the pair left together. Out on the pitch, Cedric was currently milling next to an already changed Draco. “Must have used the other changing room. You won't hear me complaining.” 

The pair weren't particularly chatting, so upon their approach the both of them looked at Cho expectantly. Cho coughed, clearly feeling a little nervous.

“Right, well. Those trying out will be here soon. Are we clear on the basic plan?” Cedric and Harry nodded while Draco slightly rolled his eyes. At Cho’s expectant look, he sighed.

“Me and Cedric will trial the Chasers while you and Potter trial the Beaters. Then we'll pit the Chasers against the Keepers to test their skill. No Seeker trials as we already have two. That the jist?” He rattled off in a bored monotone.

Cho nodded. “Yep. I put on the notice board that keeper trials were later, so they shouldn't start turning up yet.”

Movement caught everyone's eye, and as they turned it was to see the first prospective players wander out of the changing rooms. In this case, the Gryffindor Chasers as well as a couple of the Hufflepuff team. They were chatting and seemed to be egging each other on good naturedly.

Draco didn't say a word before he strode off down the field, the Quaffle under his arm. Cedric paused long enough to give Cho a quick peck on the lips. “Don't worry, I'll make sure he chooses fairly.”

After her grateful nod, he turned and strode off. Harry saw the Gryffindors look his way apprehensively after realizing that Draco of all people would be choosing the Chasers for the team. 

Harry gave them an apologetic smile, before gesturing to Cedric with a thumbs up. Their smiles returned, and they paid attention to Draco as more chasers joined the group.

 Cho sighs before turning towards Harry. “Ready?”

“As I'll ever be for getting ready to evade far too many bludgers. You?” Cho chuckled and gave him a “so so” hand gesture, making him laugh in turn.

Before long, there was a group nine strong bunched up in front of them. There were the Weasley twins, laughing and joking with the Beaters from the Ravenclaw team. Hufflepuff’s beaters were nowhere in sight, and only Crabbe had turned up from the Slytherin team, standing at the edge of the group and eyeing them all with a scowl on his face.

Though only half the group were current team members, several new faces had turned up to give it a go. Harry didn't recognise them beyond having seen them about the castle occasionally. There were two older Hufflepuff, seventh years Harry suspected, as well as a younger Ravenclaw and Slytherin.

Cho clapped to get their attention. “Right, here's what we’ll be doing. The bludgers are going to be released, and you'll all be flying at the same time attempting to hit them at your targets. Your targets…will be me and Harry. You'll get a point for each time you get close to us, two if you actually manage to hit. The four beaters with the most points, get on the team. Understood?”

Most of the group nodded, with Crabbe losing his scowl for the first time since he got here. The Weasley twins both smirked. “More opportunity to hit bludgers at Harry? Is it my birthday Fred?”

“If it is, you forgot mine again George” the other twin bantered. Before they could get carried away, Harry stepped forwards. “Birthday or no, we want to see you all at your best. Remember, you're competing for a spot. Even your teamwork doesn't guarantee that you'll both make it on together, guys” he said, specifically eyeing the two team pairs that are used to flying together.

The twins eyed each other, before nodding firmly. Cho then walked towards the slightly rattling Quidditch trunk. “Good. Also, any bludgers that disturb the chaser trials going on at the same time will lose you points. Any questions?”

As the group shook their heads, Cho kicked the trunk open, releasing the two bludgers into the air. At the same moment, both Cho and Harry mounted their brooms and shot off in different directions.

The Beaters paused, before glancing at each other. Realising the trial had started, there was a scrum to grab a beater bat each before launching off after the seekers.

With only two bludgers between the nine of them, it was a challenge to actually reach a bludger to hit. This was part of the plan Harry and Cho had devised. It would help emulate beating a rival beater to the bludger in a match.

Fred and George soon fell into their usual rhythm. Competition or not, the pair knew each other well, and could work together better than any of the others there. 

Often, one twin would hit the bludger towards their twin, only for them to then redirect it at a surprise angle towards Harry or Cho. This method netted them more than a few points…though Harry couldn't honestly tell which twin was scoring what.

The Ravenclaw beaters were also putting in a respectful showing, but had fallen foul of their competitive nature. They seemed eager to interrupt each other's plays…though at least they seemed to be doing so in good spirit. They were constantly throwing good natured insults at each other and laughing each time they got in the other's way.

The surprise, at least in Harry's mind, was one of the older Hufflepuff lads. He didn't get to the bludger as often as some, but when he did…he was amazingly accurate. And he got hard!

After finally getting tagged properly for the first time, wincing at the bruise forming on his thigh at the impact, he flew a bit nearer.

“Hell of an arm there, why the hell aren't you in the Hufflepuff team?” Harry called over the wind rushing by. The guy shrugged. “Was focusing on exams. After O.W.L.s I was going to try to join…but we already had two beaters. I felt bad trying to replace either of them.”

Harry had to roll under another shot aimed at him from Crabbe trying to take advantage of his distraction. Fair play, it was worth a point still. “Well if ever you did, Hufflepuff's team would be better for it!” He then went into a dive to shake off another team effort by the twins from working.

After another half hour of play and several points racking up, Crabbe decided to try a different tactic. Clearly having realized that the twins had racked up the most points by far, he chose to aim a bludger at them instead of Harry or Cho, interrupting their play.

Not expecting a bludger from anywhere but their own twin, the bludger struck him in the arm with a smack. Yelping and missing his own swing, the twin in question looked at the source and gestured angrily.

“Hey! That's bang out of order that is!” he yelled, before looking to the nearest captain. “Are you gonna dock him points for that?”

Cho just smiled at him. “Now, did we say that wasn't allowed? After all…you'll need to be careful of bludgers in a real match, won't you?” She then soared off with a laugh, avoiding a shot from the younger Slytherin in the process.

The two twins exchanged looks, before looking back towards Crabbe with a smirk each. Crabbe blinked slowly, just now fully realising what a can of worms he had opened…

The rest of the trial was a bit of a mess, with the bludgers flying far less frequently towards the seeker pair. Still, this gave them the opportunity to really watch their playing and judge their flying ability.

After the whole hour was up, Cho blew her whistle and gestured the whole group to land. “Well done all. We'll now tot up scores and deliberate. Go and wait by the bleachers and we'll call you back soon.”

She gestured to the side, where the chaser try outs were already gathered round a table with some basic refreshments. Harry saw that Ginny had now joined the Gryffindor chasers, and he returned the wave they threw his way.

As the beaters left, Cedric and Draco wandered over to meet them. “So…got the beaters sussed?” Draco drawled out. Harry and Cho exchanged looks, before nodding.

“Pretty much. The twins are a no-brainer. Doesn't matter which ones scored which points, the pair got almost half the total points between them. That teamwork alone is invaluable.” Harry said, smiling with pride that his teammates had done so well.

“Yes, well as much as I'd love to call you out on your favouritism…” Draco said, and Harry tensed, ready to argue in regards to their choice. “The same can, annoyingly, be said of the Gryffindor girls. They were the best trio out there, even if they weren't the best players on their own” he finished, though he looked like he was sucking a lemon in order to admit as such.

Harry blinked, surprised at his comment. He looked over to Cedric, who was smiling calmly. “Even Draco here can't fault a perfect flight with an 85 percent accuracy” he chuckled.

Draco scoffed. “Fine, they're good, I admit. Still, I'll be on the starting team, so we'll be having to break the trio up somewhat. Just hope they can keep up with me.” 

The others rolled their eyes at this. “So, we're agreed on the team's starters. What about the reserves?” Harry asked.

After another ten minutes discussion, the full team of chasers had been decided. After calling everyone back over, Cho stood in front of them and looked over the slightly nervous group.

“Ok, we've decided on our choices. Please remember, you all played well. It was refreshing not to have people try out that hadn't even flown properly before.” Several chuckles met this comment.

Draco stepped forwards then. “Chasers. Starting team will be me, Johnson and Spinnet.” The two girls whooped and celebrated, before realising that their third team member had not been announced. They then turned and each wrapped an arm around Katie's shoulders.

Harry saw Ginny look frustrated but accepting. Katie glanced his way in an apologetic manner, but Harry just smiled and winked, before gesturing towards Draco again. 

“Reserves. Bell, Weasley and Zabini. That's all. Everyone else, clear the pitch to make way for the keeper trials.” Draco then stepped back towards the captains. Angelina and Alicia swamped Katie and Ginny in a group hug while laughing in joy. 

The remaining tryouts left with small grumbles and sighs. Harry looked towards the dark skinned Blaise, who was calmly nodding to someone congratulating him for making the team.

“Huh…didn't even know Blaise flew. I'll have to ask the girls how good he is” Harry mused. A nudge from the side had him looking to see Cho gesturing him forwards. Seems he would be the one announcing the Beaters.

“Ok, Beaters next. Starters will be Weasley and…er…Weasley. Man, we're going to need first names on the shirts for this aren't we?” He chuckled as the twins celebrated with an impromptu dance with linked arms, to the amusement of most. Crabbe just scowled a little harder.

“Reserves will be…Brittlewood and Crabbe. Well done everyone else.” As the rest filtered out, Harry saw that Vincent looked almost stunned. Sam Brittlewood, the sixth year Hufflepuff that had the impressive aim, had been dragged into the twins dance, though he seemed good natured enough to laugh and allow it.

Harry, seeing that Vincent still looked surprised, stepped a little closer. “You alright there Crabbe?” The heavyset Slytherin jumped slightly at being addressed, before focusing on him.

“Er…fine. You chose me? Why?” He muttered. Harry shrugged. “You scored more than enough. We may not get on, but this tournament is bigger than house rivalries, yeah? Just…play as a team and we'll be fine.”

Vincent nodded, before heading over to the other players, standing near to Blaise. Harry looked over to the changing rooms to see that there was now a gathering of more players now changed and ready. The Keepers.

“Are we ready to get the last two teammates?” Harry called out to the captains. The other three nodded. “I'll tell the Chasers that they'll be needed for this bit, you go say hi to the Keepers” Cedric said, before strolling over to the group.

The other three headed to the group of Keepers. As Harry cast his eye over the group, he frowned. There were five currently lined up, and annoyingly one of them was Cormac McLaggen…but Ron was not among them.

“Huh…I would have thought this would be something he wouldn't want to miss…ah, wait, there he is.” Harry shook his head fondly as his friend came stumbling from the changing room. Clearly the classic Weasley timekeeping had kicked in.

“Hey, what are you doing here? Go back inside!” Draco shouted. Looking to the source of the noise, he watched as Draco was confronting one of the other Keepers. A fellow Slytherin, Tracy Davis, who has a fiercely affronted look on their face.

“And why the hell should I, Malfoy? I have every right to try out like everyone else” she scowled. Draco stepped towards her, showing how much taller he was than her.

“No girls on the team, you know this rule, Tracy. Montague put it in place, and I've chosen to uphold it.” Tracy looked mutinous, but before she could reply, Harry stepped between them.

“That may be the rules for Slytherin, Malfoy. But not here.” He said firmly, drawing Draco’s ire his way.

“You don't get to judge how things work in Slytherin, Potter” he scowled. Harry bristled. “In case you've forgotten, Malfoy, this isn't Slytherin's team.”

Before the two could start trading insults, however, Cho intervened. “But, as Captain, I get to decide who can try out for the Hogwarts team. Get in line, Tracy, you're free to try out” she said, giving a smile to the girl. Tracy nods gratefully to the two of them before joining the other Keepers.

Draco, scowled at Cho, who simply raised her brow at him. “Fine, you do the Keepers. See you at practice.” He then shouldered his broom and stormed off towards the changing rooms. Harry just shook his head. “And here I thought Draco was starting to grow up.”

At this point Cedric arrived. “All ok, that sounded heated.” Harry just shrugged. “Nothing much. The Chasers ready?” At his nod, they strode forwards to explain the tryout to the players.

Essentially, the six chosen Chasers were going to spend 5 minutes per player trying to score as many hoops as possible, with the keeper doing their best to save as many as possible. The Keepers with the best save ratio would make it to the team.

Now, most players were used to defending from three chasers, not five. So it was certainly challenging. Some of them were clearly just trying their luck, perhaps believing keeper to be the easiest position. They were soon finding that this was not the case as they continually let in goals as the Chasers worked together surprisingly well.

To Harry's frustration, Cormac was doing fairly well. Though Harry could tell his penchant for trying to tell everyone else how to play, the Chasers included, was grating on all players involved.

Thankfully, his comments to the Chasers merely spurred them on to try harder, and by the end of his five minutes he had let in far more goals than he had at the beginning.

Ron went next, and Harry watched with baited breath. While it was obvious he was nervous, this time there wasn't a stand full of Slytherins all singing to distract him.

While he let a few early goals in, he soon found a rhythm and was blocking the majority of shots. By the time he had finished, he had easily scored the best so far.

Then, the final player took to the hoops. Tracy was a complete unknown, though from how she was waiting to start it was clear she was confident on a broom.

This was further proved when the five minutes started. She immediately blocked the first few shots, only letting her first in thanks to a complicated bluff from the Gryffindor trio.

From there however, the Chasers were having to get increasingly inventive to be able to get the Quaffle past her. Her small size meant she was able to turn fast, so even bluffing was getting less successful against her.  

After a particularly impressive show of flexibility that had Tracy kicking the ball away from the furthest hoop,the whistle blew in her five minutes.

As she landed, several of the other keepers approached and commented on her performance…though Cormac was clearly giving his usual “constructive criticism” unlike the others.

Harry and Cho landed by Cedric, though neither really had to deliberate that much. With little more than a glance, Harry was striding up to the players.

“Ok, great job. Some really good flying there. We've made our choice.” As the players quietened, he continued.

“Starter Keeper, Davis. Reserve, Weasley. Sorry everyone else.” Tracy raised her hands and whooped in joy, drowning out Cormac's complaints about not being chosen. “Ha! Take that Malfoy! Who says girls can't fly!”

The Gryffindor girls all approached and started congratulating her, agreeing with her sentiment entirely. Ron simply looked relieved, even if he only made Reserve. When he looked his way, Harry gave him a thumbs up which was returned with a smile.

Cho then stepped forwards. “Okay, enough celebrations. You're free to go, keep an eye on your common room noticeboards for the next team practice.”

The various players all started to disperse, with Cedric offering to gather up the equipment as he didn't need to get changed.

As Harry and Cho headed into the changing room, chatting amiably about the upcoming tournament, he was met with an impressive array of females getting changed.

It seemed that this side of the Quidditch pitch housed the four Gryffindor girls, all happily stripping down to their underwear while laughing and joking with each other.

The only two guys this side were Ron and Sam, who sat off to the side having a conversation about their favourite teams. Needless to say, Sam was giving Ron a bit of ribbing for supporting the Chudley Cannons.

Cho headed towards the other girls, stripping off with equal comfort despite the three blokes in the room. Despite this impressive view, Ron and Sam barely did more than look over appreciatively before heading into the showers.

Harry chuckled to himself, before starting to strip down to his boxers himself. As he pulled his shirt over his head, he felt a gentle pinch to his buttocks.

Removing the shirt fully, he saw the girls giggling and retreating to their own showers. He had no idea which girl had goosed him, but he found he didn't really care. He just winked at the group as they disappeared.

After a long hot shower, far longer than Ron and Sam remained, Harry emerged with his towel around his waist. He was almost disappointed to see that the changing room was empty when he emerged, with Katie clearly having chosen not to wait behind this time.

“That's a shame…still, there's always the next training session.” Harry sat on the bench and finished drying himself. Just as he pulled his trousers back on, he heard the door to the changing room open behind him.

Without turning, he smirked. “And here I thought you'd gone ahead without me.” He heard the sound of clothing being removed and dropped, before feeling a pair of hands reach out and grasp his shoulders, running up and down his muscled back.

“Didn't know you were expecting me Potter…” Harry's eyes widened at the voice. “Wait…that's not Katie…”

Turning around in his seat, he came face to bare chest with a fairly large, pert set of breasts. Looking up, he saw the soft dark tresses and dark brown eyes of Tracy Davis looking back at him.

She smirked, leaning closer towards him with a sultry gaze. “Perhaps you're not as clueless about women as you appear to be…”