Davies opened a small box, and instantly five small gold balls with wings escaped before disappearing out of view.
"Go!" Shouted Davies, and the six Seeker candidates jumped in the air on their brooms.
Once at several feet over the ground, Alexandra began to forget her earlier apprehensions. The air rushing in her face, the sensations of broom-riding and liberty, the sheer speed of her Nimbus 1500 compared to the obsolete school brooms she had been forced to use until there, all of it came back in a flow and she realised after a brief period of thoughtless elation she genuinely loved Flying. A lot.
Avoiding a Bludger sent by Samuels on her right, Alexandra dived quickly and began her search of a Golden Snitch.
It revealed not to be an easy task. Alexandra understood rapidly why Seekers took so much time in a Quidditch match to catch the little ball, and it wasn't because they were lazy. The gold targets were incredibly fast, swift, nimble and manoeuvred frankly well better than the better broom available in the shops selling Quidditch supplies. The Beaters were also not helping, Alexandra had been forced several times to abort the hunt of one Snitch to evade just in time a well-adjusted Bludger which would have sent her straight to the tender care of Madam Pomfrey.
The second-year Ravenclaw had not taken her watch with her this morning, but she was accurately aware the time was passing fast. The sun had risen a long time ago, and would soon reach its zenith.
At last, Alexandra saw a Golden Snitch flying near the posts and after a very long chase which saw her evade Bludgers three times and Chasers shooting penalties twice, she finally managed to catch the Snitch. Decreasing noticeably her speed, she passed near Davies and gave him the Snitch.
"Good job, Potter!" Shouted the older Ravenclaw. "Now try to catch another!"
Alexandra accelerated again, really intending to do so. But it was even more difficult now. Two of the boys in concurrence with her for the Seeker place had noticed her success, and were now sticking to her like glue. In the first seconds, the Potter Heiress thought it was somewhat flattering. It turned rapidly to annoying, as the Beaters could not honestly miss such a large group and were now sending Bludgers in their direction with an alarming regularity.
Finally, after one of the fourth-years boys tried to ram her when she had her back turned, Alexandra decided fair play was only useful if all parties agreed to it. Feigning to have noticed the Snitch, she dived at full speed towards the back of the stand, before at the last second climbing up vertically and avoiding a spectacular collision with the wooden wall.
CRASH! CRRRAAASSSH!
The loud noise of wood shattering behind her confirmed the two Ravenclaw boys had not managed to brake in time. Now ridden of her competition, the Potter Heiress used the full speed of her broom and soon was able to catch another Snitch. Five seconds after she did, a loud trill sounded and the magically amplified voice of Roger Davies resonated in the stadium.
"TRY-OUTS ARE OVER! GATHER IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PITCH!"
Throwing a glance which was absolutely not sorry at the two aspirants Seekers who now were walked on levitating tenders to the Hospital Wing after their smash against the base of the stands, Alexandra lost altitude and descended from her broom near Morag in the middle of the pitch.
"I see your trial went better than mine." Smiled the red-haired Ravenclaw. "I only scored five goals in the free shots and none in the free-for all."
"Caught two Snitchs and sent two guys to the infirmary." Replied Alexandra, in a light tone. "Any idea what the others did?"
"I think Chang caught two too." Admitted Morag.
There was not a need to pursue the conversation.
Roger Davies descended from his broom in front of the assembled players to communicate them.
"All right! It was a nice session of try-outs, though I remind you it was only that: try-outs. Potter, making a Wronski Feint is authorised by the rules, but try not to send other players crashing next time. Or I will have to explain to Madam Pomfrey why so many of our players are in the infirmary."
Alexandra felt her face redden, as the crowd and the other players assembled laughed.
"Our new Chaser for the season is Jeremy Stretton, who marked ten out of ten free shots and scored five more goals in the free-for all. The Seeker will be Cho Chang, who caught three Snitchs in the time allowed."
Alexandra felt a point of disappointment, as the rather attractive third-year girl rose her hands in triumph. Still, there was nothing to say. She had been beaten fair and square. Once the acclamations for the two new players had lowered a bit, the Ravenclaw Captain continued.
"The reserve Chaser will be Raymond Bradley. For Second Keeper and Third Beater, Elliot Denald and Kurt Waltford. The Reserve Seeker will be Alexandra Potter. Next training for the titular team will be on Wednesday. The reserves will join us on Saturday afternoon. Thanks for your presence and your support!"
The last sentence did seem more to be addressed to the members of Ravenclaw House who had come in mass in the stands. Watching them for a moment as she left the pitch with Morag by her side, Alexandra estimated nearly three-quarters of Ravenclaw had come to see the try-outs, and there were many Hufflepuff and Gryffindor too present.
"Is it usual to have so many spectators for our try-outs?" She asked Morag.
"Not really, no." Replied the other girl, who seemed to have had the same reflexions, as her blue eyes were calculatingly evaluating the mass of cheering students. "But neither Gryffindor nor Slytherin have organised try-outs this year, so it is somewhat understandable."
"Well, now this over." Alexandra said with a relieved breath.
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T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
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If you guys wanna check it out.