Marauders to the End: Year One, Chapter Ten
TITLE: A Secretary for Anny
FANDOM: Harry Potter
CHARACTERS: Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, Andromeda Black, OCs
RATING: PG-13
WARNINGS: None
SUMMARY: A Quidditch game is played and Remus proves his brilliance at physics.
AUTHOR COMMENTARY: Again, a "plot" relevant chapter. Isn't it sad that my plot revolved around Quidditch.This was around the time I started writing one-shots, which were always more serious.
For their second prank, James and Sirius got another detention from Professor McGonagall, who was starting to get annoyed with them. Unfortunately, she couldn’t hate them. James was top in her class, and Sirius was very charming, so she couldn’t bring herself to give them more than one detention. After all, when she thought about it, it did take talent to train moths to do anything. She knew that well enough. Teenagers were the same way.
Peter found this prank funnier than the last one, and Remus even had to admit it was pretty good. They were both happy to be part of the group that was now experiencing the most popularity of any to date. Not only were James and Sirius popular, but older students were actually asking them for advice on how to get even with people or just how to pull a good prank. The result was an outbreak of small incidents between students, all following the directions of first year masterminds.
The moths were released into the forest before James and Sirius could recover them from the teachers, who had had a hell of a time catching the insects after they gave the message. It wasn’t for a lack of trying that the boys couldn’t get them back, but since the pair of them had hightailed it out of the Great Hall while it was still dark, there was no chance of catching them. Although, as Sirius pointed out, it was unlikely that they would be able to retrain such stupid moths when it took most of a month to train them in the first place. James had to agree, so they decided to give the pranks a rest and worry about the upcoming Quidditch match between the worst team Gryffindor had seen in a long time and a very well trained Slytherin team.
Anny had experienced a brief bout of comic relief while her sister was having a prank pulled on her, but now she was in a mood that was so awful that even Sirius was afraid of her, and she was his least frightening relative. Team practices were being held every day now, and James and Sirius were watching all of them. They were appalled at what they saw to a point where they wanted to go out on the field, grab someone’s broom, and show them how to play. On the team, there were three Chasers, two of whom couldn’t fly straight; a Keeper who was so slow Moth One Hundred Twenty-Three could have easily out flown him; two Beaters, both of whom were under one hundred and fifty pounds; and a Seeker who was blind in one eye.
James at least wanted to do something to soothe Andromeda’s nerves, but as Saturday got closer, that was becoming more and more dangerous. Remus missed a day of this for the full moon by saying his Aunt Anae was ill and he had to go see her, but Sirius had given up his research for the moment.
The last practice before the game didn’t do much to raise anyone’s hopes. Anny put forty-seven goals past Tyler Wilkins without the other two Chasers noticing. Bludgers went everywhere unchecked, and even if they were hit it made little difference. James and Sirius, despite being in the stands, were in as much danger as the players on the field, and to top it all off, Alice Baily (Seeker) crashed head first into a goal post because her good eye was fixed on the Snitch. Luckily, none of her injuries were serious. (She later explained to James that, yes, the fact that she was blind in the right eye was because of Quidditch. A Snitch had hit her in the eye her first match.)
Finally, it came. The Gryffindor team came down to breakfast looking thoroughly miserable, except Anny, who looked thoroughly insane. James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter looked at each other apprehensively, but decided not to say anything to her for the next two or three days.
At ten o’clock the entire school went down to the pitch to watch the game. James had considered skipping the game, but Sirius made him come so they could see how bad Slytherin was. The grass crunched pleasantly under their feet as they went down, and the commentator’s words were booming across the pitch, sounding ridiculously cheerful.
“Back by popular request, this it Henny McKenny of Ravenclaw, your Quidditch commentator for our very first game, Gryffindor vs. Slytherin! We’re all interested to see how Andromeda Black has shaped up Gryffindor’s team this year, since they’ve had a twelve year losing streak, but a new captain always helps! Unfortunately, Slytherin team captain Lucius Malfoy has also put together a strong front of trolls, so we’ll see how Black’s team holds up! And here they come! Black, McDowell, Jenkins, Longbottom, Tonks, Wilkins, and Baily on the Gryffindor side! As for the Slytherins, it’s Malfoy, Selwyn, Lestrange, Avery, Goyle, Crabbe, and Mulciber!”
The teams came out on the field to applause and jeers. Madame Hooch made the captains shake hands, and it was obvious that Malfoy was trying to break Anny’s. She didn’t seem to mind. She looked too sick to notice anything except the exact position of a Quaffle.
“And they’re off! And it’s McDowell with the Quaffle, Heather McDowell of Gryffindor in possession, and she’s flying down the field as fast as any Gryffindor in recent years, drifting slightly to the right, and she approaches the goal hoop and... Lestrange intercepts her, Rabastan Lestrange of Slytherin in possession, he’s streaking down field, the goal hoop’s in sight, he shoots, and it’s up to Tyler Wilkins and... Wilkins misses. Slytherin scores! Ten-zero to Slytherin!”
James swore in anger, not shock. Tyler Wilkins was the worst Keeper James had ever seen. Remus, however, looked thoughtful for a moment then pulled a quill, ink, and parchment out of his bag and started writing something and muttering to himself. Sirius and Peter contented themselves with ugly grimaces.
“Gryffindor back in possession and it’s Andromeda Black with the Quaffle, Black headed towards the goal posts and... Crabbe hits a Bludger in her direction... miss, but she drops the Quaffle and it’s intercepted by Avery of Slytherin who instantly turns around...”
Remus continued muttering and writing. “If Wilkins accelerates to the correct intercepting speed within forty-five seconds...”
“And Slytherin scores again! Twenty-zero to Slytherin.”
A few minutes later, Anny managed to put one past Mulciber, bringing the score up, but Slytherin kept scoring due to Wilkins’s inability to block one goal hoop, much less three. Remus kept muttering and writing to a point where the other three boys ignored him.
“And it’s two hundred sixty- fifty to Slytherin with Lucy Jenkins in possession...”
“We know, McKenny,” Sirius muttered through clenched teeth. “You’re thrilled to death that your team’s gonna beat us in March.”
Jenkins missed the goal hoop and Selwyn took possession of the Quaffle, threw it easily through the other goal hoop, bringing the score up to two hundred and seventy-fifty. Anny was looking furious.
“If she had had a slightly higher angle of entry...” Remus muttered, writing something down. Then he noticed Alice Baily and a glint of gold, and started working the figures. When he finished, he nudged James and said, “According to my calculations, if she continues on her current parabolic course, her right index finger shall collide with the spherical object in motion in approximately thirty-seven point five seconds.”
“What?” James snapped, and then he looked at what Remus was writing and back at the game, and understood fully. He started to laugh.
“What’s wrong?” Sirius asked. “I mean, besides the fact that you’ve learned to speak Smart Person.”
“Sirius, mate,” James said. “Pretend that the outcome of this game is getting you to breakfast.”
Sirius looked at the notes and then he knew. “We can’t win,” he muttered. “But we can end it on our terms.”
“Ten,” Remus muttered. “Nine... eight... seven... six...”
“Five...” James murmured. “Four... three... two...”
The whistled sounded as Alice’s hand closed around the Snitch.
The Gryffindor common room that night was rather subdued. Everyone congratulated Alice on her catch, but the fact remained that they had still lost. Everyone had been expecting this, but it was still a blow. The team sat around the fire, not speaking, except Anny, who hadn’t come back yet. Sirius suspected that she was trying to kill herself, and hoped she’d get back soon so Remus could tell her what he had discovered about the team and how they could improve immensely.
Remus wasn’t so sure about this. He didn’t want to be the one to criticize Anny’s training program, especially sense she was liable to kill anyone who got within twenty feet of her.
Finally, the portrait hole opened and Anny came in, looking very, very angry and rather depressed. Sirius grabbed Remus by the wrist and pulled him over to her. Before Remus could open his mouth, Sirius had already started talking.
“Anny,” he said. “Remus here has figured out exactly what needs to happen for you to win the next game.” He gave Remus a little push.
Anny raised her eyebrows. “I’m listening.”
“Well,” Remus began. “What really needs to be accomplished is an increase in reaction times between the Chasers and the Keeper. If Wilkins could learn more acceleration, he could defend the scoring area with increased accuracy. I also noted that the Chasers besides yourself weren’t giving their complete attention to what was happening around them...” Remus began fumbling with his notes and pulled out a diagram he had hastily scribbled during one section of the game. “I noted that Jenkins does not search for Bludgers that could apprehend her...”
He continued in this vein for quite a while, handing his notes to Anny whenever necessary. Sirius had fallen asleep by the word “increase,” but Anny understood everything Remus was explaining. After the complete analysis, she looked at Remus with a thoughtful expression on her face.
“Lupin,” she said. “Do you know how to play Quidditch?”
Remus was taken aback. “I’m familiar with the rules,” he said. “But I can’t fly worth a damn. So, no, I have never actually played Quidditch.”
“I’m not asking you to play,” she said. “I’m wondering if you could attend practices and take notes and analyze all our plays and such. You know, write down what we need to work on, my pep speeches, what happens in each game... stuff like that.”
“Like a secretary?” he asked.
“Exactly,” Anny said. Sirius jerked back to attention suddenly.
“Did you just name Remus team secretary?” he asked.
“Yes,” Anny answered patiently. “I’d have asked you or James, but you’ll be playing next year and I want someone who can watch the game from the audience and keep notes... and work out physics quickly. We’ll draw up a contract right now.” She dropped into a chair and started writing. Sirius hurried back to James and Peter to tell them the news while Anny wrote. Remus sat down across from her and waited. The rest of the team came over to see what was going on. They were shocked; Anny wasn’t shouting at them.
A few minutes later, Anny stopped writing and pushed the new contract over to Remus. He looked it over carefully.
Contract for the Gryffindor Quidditch Team Secretary:
1. The Secretary will keep detailed notes of every move made on the Quidditch field (including those of games that Gryffindor does not play.)
2. The Secretary will keep detailed notes on everything the Captain says on the pitch or in the locker rooms.
3. The Secretary will keep detailed notes on all members of all the Quidditch teams (physical attributes, strengths and weaknesses, etc.)
4. The Secretary will share the above-mentioned notes with the Captain and offer suggestions on what should be done.
5. The Secretary will note all complaints from team members.
6. In the rare event that a team player cannot play in a particular game and no substitute can be found one week before the game, the Secretary will play as a reserve.
7. The Secretary will be able to re-negotiate his contract when there is a change in Captains.
8. The Secretary is considered a member of the team when he signs his name and shall have all the privileges and rights of the other team members.
9. The Secretary will attend all practices to be sure he completes his notes.
Signed,
_______________
There was a blank line for Remus to sign. He looked up at the rest of the team, which had read the contract over his shoulder. “Do I have to adhere to article six?” he asked.
Anny nodded. “The only way I can justify you having the same rights as other team members is if there is a distinct possibility that you might play. I seriously doubt you’ll ever have to.”
Remus looked around at the other team members. They all nodded their approval. Remus hesitated a moment longer, wondering how many practices he’d miss due to the full moon, then signed his name, rolled up the contract, and handed it to Anny.
She held it over her head and shouted to the room at large, “Attention, Gryffindor! We now have a team secretary who will bring improvement to our playing!”
The room erupted in cheers and perplexed looks. Remus felt elated. Somehow, he’d gotten onto the Gryffindor Quidditch team before James and Sirius without having to fly three inches in the air.
FANDOM: Harry Potter
CHARACTERS: Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, Andromeda Black, OCs
RATING: PG-13
WARNINGS: None
SUMMARY: A Quidditch game is played and Remus proves his brilliance at physics.
AUTHOR COMMENTARY: Again, a "plot" relevant chapter. Isn't it sad that my plot revolved around Quidditch.This was around the time I started writing one-shots, which were always more serious.
For their second prank, James and Sirius got another detention from Professor McGonagall, who was starting to get annoyed with them. Unfortunately, she couldn’t hate them. James was top in her class, and Sirius was very charming, so she couldn’t bring herself to give them more than one detention. After all, when she thought about it, it did take talent to train moths to do anything. She knew that well enough. Teenagers were the same way.
Peter found this prank funnier than the last one, and Remus even had to admit it was pretty good. They were both happy to be part of the group that was now experiencing the most popularity of any to date. Not only were James and Sirius popular, but older students were actually asking them for advice on how to get even with people or just how to pull a good prank. The result was an outbreak of small incidents between students, all following the directions of first year masterminds.
The moths were released into the forest before James and Sirius could recover them from the teachers, who had had a hell of a time catching the insects after they gave the message. It wasn’t for a lack of trying that the boys couldn’t get them back, but since the pair of them had hightailed it out of the Great Hall while it was still dark, there was no chance of catching them. Although, as Sirius pointed out, it was unlikely that they would be able to retrain such stupid moths when it took most of a month to train them in the first place. James had to agree, so they decided to give the pranks a rest and worry about the upcoming Quidditch match between the worst team Gryffindor had seen in a long time and a very well trained Slytherin team.
Anny had experienced a brief bout of comic relief while her sister was having a prank pulled on her, but now she was in a mood that was so awful that even Sirius was afraid of her, and she was his least frightening relative. Team practices were being held every day now, and James and Sirius were watching all of them. They were appalled at what they saw to a point where they wanted to go out on the field, grab someone’s broom, and show them how to play. On the team, there were three Chasers, two of whom couldn’t fly straight; a Keeper who was so slow Moth One Hundred Twenty-Three could have easily out flown him; two Beaters, both of whom were under one hundred and fifty pounds; and a Seeker who was blind in one eye.
James at least wanted to do something to soothe Andromeda’s nerves, but as Saturday got closer, that was becoming more and more dangerous. Remus missed a day of this for the full moon by saying his Aunt Anae was ill and he had to go see her, but Sirius had given up his research for the moment.
The last practice before the game didn’t do much to raise anyone’s hopes. Anny put forty-seven goals past Tyler Wilkins without the other two Chasers noticing. Bludgers went everywhere unchecked, and even if they were hit it made little difference. James and Sirius, despite being in the stands, were in as much danger as the players on the field, and to top it all off, Alice Baily (Seeker) crashed head first into a goal post because her good eye was fixed on the Snitch. Luckily, none of her injuries were serious. (She later explained to James that, yes, the fact that she was blind in the right eye was because of Quidditch. A Snitch had hit her in the eye her first match.)
Finally, it came. The Gryffindor team came down to breakfast looking thoroughly miserable, except Anny, who looked thoroughly insane. James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter looked at each other apprehensively, but decided not to say anything to her for the next two or three days.
At ten o’clock the entire school went down to the pitch to watch the game. James had considered skipping the game, but Sirius made him come so they could see how bad Slytherin was. The grass crunched pleasantly under their feet as they went down, and the commentator’s words were booming across the pitch, sounding ridiculously cheerful.
“Back by popular request, this it Henny McKenny of Ravenclaw, your Quidditch commentator for our very first game, Gryffindor vs. Slytherin! We’re all interested to see how Andromeda Black has shaped up Gryffindor’s team this year, since they’ve had a twelve year losing streak, but a new captain always helps! Unfortunately, Slytherin team captain Lucius Malfoy has also put together a strong front of trolls, so we’ll see how Black’s team holds up! And here they come! Black, McDowell, Jenkins, Longbottom, Tonks, Wilkins, and Baily on the Gryffindor side! As for the Slytherins, it’s Malfoy, Selwyn, Lestrange, Avery, Goyle, Crabbe, and Mulciber!”
The teams came out on the field to applause and jeers. Madame Hooch made the captains shake hands, and it was obvious that Malfoy was trying to break Anny’s. She didn’t seem to mind. She looked too sick to notice anything except the exact position of a Quaffle.
“And they’re off! And it’s McDowell with the Quaffle, Heather McDowell of Gryffindor in possession, and she’s flying down the field as fast as any Gryffindor in recent years, drifting slightly to the right, and she approaches the goal hoop and... Lestrange intercepts her, Rabastan Lestrange of Slytherin in possession, he’s streaking down field, the goal hoop’s in sight, he shoots, and it’s up to Tyler Wilkins and... Wilkins misses. Slytherin scores! Ten-zero to Slytherin!”
James swore in anger, not shock. Tyler Wilkins was the worst Keeper James had ever seen. Remus, however, looked thoughtful for a moment then pulled a quill, ink, and parchment out of his bag and started writing something and muttering to himself. Sirius and Peter contented themselves with ugly grimaces.
“Gryffindor back in possession and it’s Andromeda Black with the Quaffle, Black headed towards the goal posts and... Crabbe hits a Bludger in her direction... miss, but she drops the Quaffle and it’s intercepted by Avery of Slytherin who instantly turns around...”
Remus continued muttering and writing. “If Wilkins accelerates to the correct intercepting speed within forty-five seconds...”
“And Slytherin scores again! Twenty-zero to Slytherin.”
A few minutes later, Anny managed to put one past Mulciber, bringing the score up, but Slytherin kept scoring due to Wilkins’s inability to block one goal hoop, much less three. Remus kept muttering and writing to a point where the other three boys ignored him.
“And it’s two hundred sixty- fifty to Slytherin with Lucy Jenkins in possession...”
“We know, McKenny,” Sirius muttered through clenched teeth. “You’re thrilled to death that your team’s gonna beat us in March.”
Jenkins missed the goal hoop and Selwyn took possession of the Quaffle, threw it easily through the other goal hoop, bringing the score up to two hundred and seventy-fifty. Anny was looking furious.
“If she had had a slightly higher angle of entry...” Remus muttered, writing something down. Then he noticed Alice Baily and a glint of gold, and started working the figures. When he finished, he nudged James and said, “According to my calculations, if she continues on her current parabolic course, her right index finger shall collide with the spherical object in motion in approximately thirty-seven point five seconds.”
“What?” James snapped, and then he looked at what Remus was writing and back at the game, and understood fully. He started to laugh.
“What’s wrong?” Sirius asked. “I mean, besides the fact that you’ve learned to speak Smart Person.”
“Sirius, mate,” James said. “Pretend that the outcome of this game is getting you to breakfast.”
Sirius looked at the notes and then he knew. “We can’t win,” he muttered. “But we can end it on our terms.”
“Ten,” Remus muttered. “Nine... eight... seven... six...”
“Five...” James murmured. “Four... three... two...”
The whistled sounded as Alice’s hand closed around the Snitch.
The Gryffindor common room that night was rather subdued. Everyone congratulated Alice on her catch, but the fact remained that they had still lost. Everyone had been expecting this, but it was still a blow. The team sat around the fire, not speaking, except Anny, who hadn’t come back yet. Sirius suspected that she was trying to kill herself, and hoped she’d get back soon so Remus could tell her what he had discovered about the team and how they could improve immensely.
Remus wasn’t so sure about this. He didn’t want to be the one to criticize Anny’s training program, especially sense she was liable to kill anyone who got within twenty feet of her.
Finally, the portrait hole opened and Anny came in, looking very, very angry and rather depressed. Sirius grabbed Remus by the wrist and pulled him over to her. Before Remus could open his mouth, Sirius had already started talking.
“Anny,” he said. “Remus here has figured out exactly what needs to happen for you to win the next game.” He gave Remus a little push.
Anny raised her eyebrows. “I’m listening.”
“Well,” Remus began. “What really needs to be accomplished is an increase in reaction times between the Chasers and the Keeper. If Wilkins could learn more acceleration, he could defend the scoring area with increased accuracy. I also noted that the Chasers besides yourself weren’t giving their complete attention to what was happening around them...” Remus began fumbling with his notes and pulled out a diagram he had hastily scribbled during one section of the game. “I noted that Jenkins does not search for Bludgers that could apprehend her...”
He continued in this vein for quite a while, handing his notes to Anny whenever necessary. Sirius had fallen asleep by the word “increase,” but Anny understood everything Remus was explaining. After the complete analysis, she looked at Remus with a thoughtful expression on her face.
“Lupin,” she said. “Do you know how to play Quidditch?”
Remus was taken aback. “I’m familiar with the rules,” he said. “But I can’t fly worth a damn. So, no, I have never actually played Quidditch.”
“I’m not asking you to play,” she said. “I’m wondering if you could attend practices and take notes and analyze all our plays and such. You know, write down what we need to work on, my pep speeches, what happens in each game... stuff like that.”
“Like a secretary?” he asked.
“Exactly,” Anny said. Sirius jerked back to attention suddenly.
“Did you just name Remus team secretary?” he asked.
“Yes,” Anny answered patiently. “I’d have asked you or James, but you’ll be playing next year and I want someone who can watch the game from the audience and keep notes... and work out physics quickly. We’ll draw up a contract right now.” She dropped into a chair and started writing. Sirius hurried back to James and Peter to tell them the news while Anny wrote. Remus sat down across from her and waited. The rest of the team came over to see what was going on. They were shocked; Anny wasn’t shouting at them.
A few minutes later, Anny stopped writing and pushed the new contract over to Remus. He looked it over carefully.
Contract for the Gryffindor Quidditch Team Secretary:
1. The Secretary will keep detailed notes of every move made on the Quidditch field (including those of games that Gryffindor does not play.)
2. The Secretary will keep detailed notes on everything the Captain says on the pitch or in the locker rooms.
3. The Secretary will keep detailed notes on all members of all the Quidditch teams (physical attributes, strengths and weaknesses, etc.)
4. The Secretary will share the above-mentioned notes with the Captain and offer suggestions on what should be done.
5. The Secretary will note all complaints from team members.
6. In the rare event that a team player cannot play in a particular game and no substitute can be found one week before the game, the Secretary will play as a reserve.
7. The Secretary will be able to re-negotiate his contract when there is a change in Captains.
8. The Secretary is considered a member of the team when he signs his name and shall have all the privileges and rights of the other team members.
9. The Secretary will attend all practices to be sure he completes his notes.
Signed,
_______________
There was a blank line for Remus to sign. He looked up at the rest of the team, which had read the contract over his shoulder. “Do I have to adhere to article six?” he asked.
Anny nodded. “The only way I can justify you having the same rights as other team members is if there is a distinct possibility that you might play. I seriously doubt you’ll ever have to.”
Remus looked around at the other team members. They all nodded their approval. Remus hesitated a moment longer, wondering how many practices he’d miss due to the full moon, then signed his name, rolled up the contract, and handed it to Anny.
She held it over her head and shouted to the room at large, “Attention, Gryffindor! We now have a team secretary who will bring improvement to our playing!”
The room erupted in cheers and perplexed looks. Remus felt elated. Somehow, he’d gotten onto the Gryffindor Quidditch team before James and Sirius without having to fly three inches in the air.