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by hvgwcrts

by hvgwcrts

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
✧
-: seventh year :-

── IN WHICH TACTICS
ARE DISCUSSED

. . .

Following their announcement of what exactly what they were going to do in the future, Charlie and Kaida set about spending the rest of their visit in Hogsmeade as they usually would; joining their friends in a Three Broomsticks booth with tankards full of the sweet drink.

Then, that was followed by them making their way through the rest of the shops in the village, but although they were very much present, every time one of the members of the group would look back Charlie and Kaida would be muttering stuff to each other, their focus very much elsewhere.

And it was like that for a next few days, all either of them could ever really talk about being dragons or Quidditch. It was rather annoying for a while, until their friends got used to it. But then the teachers started noticing as well.

It didn't help that when it had come to choosing their OWL subjects in third year that it had only been natural to Charlie and Kaida to pick the exact same as each other. And then they had done the same for their NEWTs.

Which meant that now, both of them were in the same classes, and it was the same teachers watching out of the corners of their eyes as the best friends sat with their heads far too close together to be properly walking, and even when there was silence there was always some sort of quiet muttering coming from the back of the classroom.

Of course, neither were that self-centered that they ended up completely ignoring their friends, but when they weren't talking to their friends then they were talking about it.

It was all dragons this or dragons that. That was their newest focus. They had discussed their NEWTs ages ago, and it didn't seem like that they were too much bothered with it.

But one thing they were truly bothered about - the very one thing - was Quidditch.

And seeing as it had just been the Hogsmeade visit, it meant that Halloween was soon, which signalled the beginning of November. Which ultimately meant only one thing.

The very first Quidditch match of the year. Between Slytherin and Gryffindor. And for now at least, Charlie and Kaida would forget about dragons.

"Alright you lot!" Kaida shouted, clapping her hands together. In front of her was their Quidditch team, Charlie currently retrieving the practise set of balls from the storage cupboards.

"Go on Kai." Fred clapped, a grin on his face as he nudged George to get his attention as well. Oliver was already standing up straight with a look of utmost concentration and seriousness. Rosa.. who still looked as scary as ever and the very last chaser - Angelina Johnson was clutching onto her broom rather tightly.

"I understand that we're all rather nervous for our first match of the season, especially given that we have taken a chance that the other teams haven't with choosing some younger students for our team, but I know we can all win it easily, no worries at all." Kaida smiled. "But even if me an Charlie have all the confidence in the world that we'll win, that doesn't mean we're going to go easy on your for these last two practises."

"But now, we're going to talk tactics." Charlie walked up beside her, clutching the handle on the box. "I think we all know by now that Slytherins don't care about the rules."

"They play dirty." Kaida emphasised. "Almost incredibly so. They're not afraid of anything, let alone Madam Hooch."

"But what we're not going to do, as tempting as it may be, is rise to it." Charlie looked rather proud of himself at his own inspirational words. "So, get your broomsticks, and what we're going to do is practise, until we have an airtight play. We're going to come up with how we're going to score, how we can get from one set of hoops to another."

"Rosa, Angelina, we need to work as a team." Kaida turned to the girls, as Charlie took on talking to the twins and Oliver. "There are certain tactics we can use to dodge Bludgers and miss opponents trying to attack. But first, I need to test your core strength."

"Why?" Rosa spoke up.

"Because how are you supposed to dodge a Bludger properly if you can't let go of your broom and hang upside down every once in a while?" Kaida grinned. "These practises might be important, but they're not going to be just playing games, got it?"

"Got it."

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