Harry wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. Generally, whether there were openings or not, so many people wanted to be on the Gryffindor Quidditch team that tryouts were held by invitation only. When they did open them up, such as when they needed to finally replace Wood last year, dozens of people showed up. It took forever and there were more people trying out than there were brooms to go around.

Why, then, was this year proving so difficult? There were several Chasers in the House with varying levels of experience, but he hadn’t heard for sure whether any of them would actually be playing this year. The girls mumbled vaguely about needing to focus on their N.E.W.T.s for the future and Dean wouldn’t say anything at all. It was possible that his dorm mate had finally decided that Harry was crazy. Either way he wasn’t expected here today.

All of this had combined to cause Harry to actually post an open announcement of tryouts on the noticeboard in the common room. Even that hadn’t garnered much interest however. Either the entire school finally realized that is was generally unsafe to be in the same space as Harry or they were all intimidated to be the ones who broke the streak of amazing Gryffindor teams. Either way, Harry’s first goal wasn’t winning the Quidditch Cup; it was actually filling his team. After that, he would focus on getting that team in shape to try and win, but first, he needed to actually get enough Chasers and Beaters to play.

He strode onto the pitch, half an hour before tryouts were to start, the crate with the balls under one arm and a whistle in his mouth. He had to tell Ginny and Ron tryouts were later than they actually were to stop the two of them from already being here. He really couldn’t take any more of their competition to be his assistant Captain, or whatever it was that they were doing. He just wanted some peace and to play quidditch. Of course, nothing could ever be that simple for Harry, but at least he could pretend it until the first person showed up for the tryout. The world owed him that much.

Crimson stretched his arms out in a wing like fashion as he flexed the muscles in his back, the tryouts were today and he wanted to keep as relaxed as possible he didn’t want to go off and blow this up like everything else he does. As he reached the top of the hill he caught site of the quidditch pitch, he smiled and took off jogging there was only about 50 yards between him and the pitch Crimson covered it quickly, he whistled as he approached the pitch it seemed to get bigger and bigger every year.

Crimson found the entrance to the pitch and walked in, he navigated his way throw the paths to the pitch as he stepped out the smell of fresh cut grass filled his nose as he took a deep breath in and slowly letting it out. He had gotten there early hopping to get a little practice in, he smiled as he looked to the skies you couldn’t ask for a more beautiful day to fly on. He smiled and sat down his broom and bag he pulled off his robes and dress shoes. Once again he stretched his armed back and forth as he did he revealed a long and thick dark pink scare that ran the length of his back which he had gotten from getting to close to a baby Chines fireball pup.

Sitting on the Ground Crimson began to strap on his gear starting with his boots then his shin and thigh guards, standing up he slipped on t a black muscles shirt before putting on the shirt of padding and the red Griffendor robed he had grabbed from the team’s locker room, it was a tight fit but he would manage. He reached into eh back and pulled out his gauntlets and gloves and strapped them in place before reaching for beater’s bat he had also got from the locker room, he gave it w few test swings before smiling to himself and picking up his broom and mounting it.

He was just about to kick off when he noticed Harry Potter the captain of the team in the middle of the pitch, looking at the guy she smiled and waved. He kicked off the ground and hovered in the air for a bit before he started to drift to Harry, when he had reached the boy he touched back down and dismounted the broom. Taking both the bat and broom in his left hand he extended his right hand to Harry, ”names Crimson Braveheart or Crim for short.” He said with a easy going grin, ”your Harry right,” he asked. Of course he know who he was but he thought it would be nice for just a normal talk instead of one where everyone flipped out over him.

It was the day of the gryffindor team try outs and Ron had all but given up his personal agenda and competition with his younger sister. The red head had realized how useless and what a waste of time it was to be angry for something he had practically done himself. It wasn't Gin's fault she had been the better friend and had been there for Harry when he wasn't. The truly amazing part was that he had come to this realization on his own without anyone's help and for that alone he was proud of himself.

So by the time he was making his way down to the pitch dressed in his gryffindor quidditch uniform he was more excited to just be back on a broom and in the air with his best mate playing the game they both loved and the weather seemed to be good and that made his mood that much better. He would've been happy in the rain too but he preferred not to be soaked through if it were possible. With his cleansweep in one hand and a stack of parchment in his other Ron trudged onto the field grinning like a madman when he saw Harry and some younger kid he assumed was going out for beater since he held one of the bats in his hand.

He arrived just as the kid introduced himself and threw his own name out for the kid's sake. "I'm Ron Weasley." He stated as he sidled up next the boy and nodded to Harry holding out the tack of parchments. "Good day for quidditch mate. I hope we get a decent turn out today." He said unable to keep the excitement from his face and voice. "Oh, right. Those are some strategies I came with. Thought you could use them." Ron really meant it. He wasn't giving them to Harry just to try and gain the upper hand on co-captain. He had developed them over the summer and had always intended to give them to him because even then he had been sure Harry would make captain and Ron wanted to see Gryffindor win just as much as his best mate did. His earnest and excited expression said it all.

It was time for quidditch try outs and Avery was pleased that he would actually be able to try out this year. To be fair he could have tried out any other year too but he favored the beater position and let's face it there was no point in trying out when the Weasley twins were around. They were the best of the best as far as talent in that position went and he would've been passed up if he had tried out so he never did.

This year was different because the Weasley twins had moved on to bigger and better things and both beater spots were open which meant Avery might actually have a shot. He dressed for quidditch and left to the pitch where any gryffindor who was trying out would be. He carried his nimbus 2000 easily across his broad shoulders and approached the group of participants gathering. Avery reached down to grab a beater's bat and grinned at them all. "Avery. It's nice to meet you all." It looked like everyone had introduced themselves so he figured might as well since it really couldn't hurt even though he knew who Potter and Weasley both were.

Ginny wasn’t even mad. She was hurt. She’d been getting ready for try outs when she’d peered outside and noticed most of the Gryffindor team and wannabe team on the pitch already. Harry had told her it wasn’t set to start for another twenty minutes, yet there they were, and ‘they’ included her brother. It stung, and she figured this meant Harry had made his decision as far as his assistant captain was concerned.

She had to reign in her magic as she felt the telltale sign of accidental magic coursing through her veins. Most people outgrew it, but it seemed her temper got the better of her often enough that she still had bouts like a child at times. Once it was all under control, Ginny sighed and donned her quidditch gear, smirking at her own job of transfiguring the ‘SEEKER’ label from last year to read ‘CHASER’. She had no doubts about her position since she’d been training with her brothers since she could fly. If Harry didn’t put her on as his number one chaser, then he was a fool.

Without another thought on her friend or the pain he’d caused her, the redhead bounded out of Gryffindor tower and down the stairwells, jumping most of the stairs so that she could reach try outs faster. Once she was outside, Ginny summoned her broom and skidded to a stop just before knocking into half the people already on the field. She shot a heated glare at Harry as she set down her broom and tied her hair up in a messy ponytail to keep it out of her eyes.

”I’m pretty sure everyone knows the current slag of Gryffindor,” she growled haughtily, shooting a similar glare toward her brother even though they hadn’t had a heated conversation since that day in the tower when she’d yelled at him for calling her a scarlet woman. ”Ginny. Weasley, of course, though I’m damn better on a broom than that sod.” Yes, she was being mean, and yes, it was unnecessary, but she was hurt and her brother hadn’t even bothered to talk to her since their huge spat.

”Now are we getting in the sky or what? If I have to keep proving my worth to you, I’d like to get it over with. Maybe I can find a friend to spend the rest of my day with.” Her tone was full of ice cold rage and sparks flew from her fingertips as she summoned her broom from the ground and made to mount it, figuring she could hover a while until Harry was done with whatever ridiculous speech he intended to make before she took off and gave them all a good show.

Harry just shook his head as everyone came in and started talking. Ron seemed to be making great progress at letting things go. His sister, meanwhile, seemed to be getting angrier and angrier about whatever was going on. That was going to make things exceedingly awkward when he named Ron his assistant eventually, but it was a necessary move. He needed someone to help him with strategy, and Ron was the best. He just hoped Ginny would aim her anger at the other teams, not her own.

In the past his fame, plus the reputation of the team in general had made tryouts packed and crazy. Now that it had finally swung the other way and scared everyone off, he wasn’t really sure how to handle it. He’d have to just do the best he could and hope more people showed up as they went along. If not, he’d have to hunt down the people who had chased some in the past but weren’t here now and force them to play whether they wanted to or not.

He stepped up to the small group and cleared his throat. “I’m not one for big speeches and half of you have heard everything I have to say anyway. We’re gonna treat tryouts like a game. Ron, guard the posts on this end. Ginny, try to score. I’m only gonna release one bludger and the quaffle. Braveheart, it’s your job to try and knock Ginny out of the sky if you can. Verona, it’s your job to keep her in one piece. I’ll be above you watching everything. Play until I blow the whistle again.” With that he released the balls he had mentioned, blew his whistle, and kicked off hard. Hopefully this went better than expected.