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Of Cuckoo Embers and Laurels


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Jake and Juno stared in horror from their parchments of homework as Janna plummeted to the pitch "what is she doing!?" Juno yelped, trying to follow Janna as she shot down from her high perch she had been a few moments ago.

   "She's..." Jake analysed her point of direction, which only seemed to be directly down, not like the curving angle he was used to seeing with Quidditch champions "Falling?" Jake said with his head tilted to one side. Then his eyes widened, he then shot up out of his seat, spilling his parchments everywhere, "we need to go get broomsticks" Jake grabbed Juno's elbow, they scurried, turning their heads urgently to see if Janna was still falling. As they took a turn down the stairs as Janna came a few feet to the ground, they froze.

Above the ground Janna felt herself pull up, she could see the golden ball again, she continued to pull up but she could feel the broom struggle to lift up, her body was mere inches from the ground, above her the two others were also focused on the ball but still chasing Janna who they thought was chasing a different ball, which seemed to be an easier catch. Suddenly Janna felt weightless as she was pulled up by the broom, she saw the ball take a sharp turn down passing her shoulder.

As though in slow motion her hand stretched out to the ball, she hung onto the broom with one hand, but the ball was too far so she jumped out—her body fell off the broom with her one hand still hanging on. Between her fingers the ball was trapped before could zoom off, she chuckled nervously, looking down at the two older years who were scattered on the pitch, maybe they hadn't lifted up in time.

Now Janna hung off her broom, she pulled her elbow over, hooking her other hand in the stick, she clenched the ball tightly in her fist. Her elbow hung onto the slowly tilting broom which threatened to let Janna slide off so she stuffed the golden ball in her sock to gain her other hand. Her now free hand clenched the tail of the broom, she pulled herself over the tail and slid up. Behind her she heard Juno and Jake cheering, she turned the broom to see the two were on the stairs which were below the high stands where their parchments blew in the wind. She shot her fist up, howling at them, feeling a surge of adrenaline in her body, they responded back, a little less like a howl and more like a shout.

Over the stands she saw a second ball, she zoomed towards it, another player was going to get the ball so there was no time for tricks. Just like catching a squirrel... Janna told herself but this one can move far more quickly. She looked at her vying contender, the boy was a seventh year who seemed to be far more experienced on his broom, but Janna knew how to hunt small creatures, hunt them from above or behind, she pulled her broomstick up, the ball most possibly sensed the seventh year coming for it so it zoomed sharply to the left, past the seventh year.

Janna knew this was now or never, she shot down from her descent, feeling as though she was floating so she clenched one hand to the broom, letting the other reach out to the ball which was at the boy's shoulder, she began to fall off her broom, it entangled at her shins as she fell past his shoulder. Her palm slammed the gold ball so she clenched her hand in pain. Her free hand tried to grab the broom handle but she felt the handle hitting her knees, slipping from between them.

Janna saw the ground was coming closer, she should have hit the ground by now... But a bright blue mist seemed pulled the broom to her hand, she grabbed instinctively, the pitch only a few feet away, she yanked the broom up, seeing that the mist had faded away. She floated up for a bit, the boys were leaning over the railings to watch as Janna looked around her frantically.

   "Did you see a blue thing, like a cloud or-or something?" Janna asked as she came up to them both of them shook their heads.

   "You possibly got lightheaded and saw dots from the drop" Juno shrugged, Janna shook her head disagreeing with his claim.

   "This cloud moved my broomstick to my hand, my eyes couldn't have done that" Janna hurriedly zoomed over the field as she saw a third ball on the far end of the field where there was a trio of hoops which were guarded by, what Janna knew as, the keepers, the hoops were being aimed at by the chasers with large balls which Janna was certain were called Quaffles.

The ball glinted like a penny in a fountain pond of green that had been spilled from the slopes, kept in by the walls of the forest, she leaned fowward, her hand already reaching out to the ball as she haphazardly flew leaning to the left to dodge the feet of the other players she zipped under. Between the hoops to the right the ball zipped like a hummingbird in too many directions.

The ball was clenched in Janna's palm and barred in by her long fingers, she shoved that ball into her sock with the other two golden balls. Janna turned up into the air, soaring smoothly—WHOOSH! Something as big as a blood orange with a dark skin shot past Janna's ear, the thing flew so fast past her that it caused her hair to swat her on her nose.

    "Sorry Janna!" Called Orion from behind her, she looked back at him over her shoulder, he was grinning like an idiot and holding the bat behind his head. Janna gave him a wave as she heard Jake laughing.

After the near death events of the practice Laura blew a very high pitched whistle, which made Janna hold her ears as it rang, the other players gathered around Laura who had a clipboard in her hands, Janna landed next to Orion who she patted quite roughly on his back, hard enough to make him wince, a little revenge for the scare.

Laura looked at all her onlookers, down to her board then up again to use her quill to point the feather at a few students "Alright, Riverton, Scott and Clemmet, go away, you did your worst and I need new talent," A young girl with ginger hair was about to open her mouth but was interrupted by Laura "Miss Scott, you and Clemment have costed my team enough points in past games with your gawking looks at each other"

    "But Laura, we had a plan to be an item!" Argued the second year as the third year couple left, as the boy continued to argue Laura took out a bottle with a R shaped contraption on it, similar to the one Janna would use to spray the windows at the Winslows' house to clean them. Laura squashed the tail of the R on the contraption, a jet of mist shot at him, he shuddered in the mist before holding his hands over his hair, as though protecting it from the water.

    "You are too trustworthy Riverton... You told me that your hair curls at the slightest touch of water" Laura looked at the bottle and lovingly at the contraption "I borrowed this from my mother's greenhouse" she shook the bottle close to her ear "I'm not sure if there is actually water" Riverton's face fell in horror.

   "M-m-m-my—"

   "Use your words, lovey... But if I were you I would check my scalp for fertiliser burns" Laura said deviously leaning her elbow on her broom with the bottle, leaning her body forwards to make her face dim with darkness... Janna looked at Orion who was looking right back at her as the boy screamed and shot off the field to run to the locker room bathrooms the two of them shared an exchange of what have we gotten ourselves into? looks.

Laura stuck the bottle back onto her belt and covered herself with her robe again, her  chagrin shadowed face turned into a brightly lit one "alright, my lucky ones, welcome to the Gryffindor team. Now, my firstees, if you annoy me in any manner I will possibly kick you off this team or threaten you with your worst daymare—Yes... Er" Laura's voiced lowered as Rose put up her hand, thinking "ginger... Oh!" She then nodded at Rose "Granger-Weasley!"

   "Yes..." Rose lowered her hand "aren't you not allowed to take someone off the team if they only annoy you—"

   "Ah, good question my ginger firstee, those three didn't preform on the field as I needed them to, I actually spoke to Madam Hooch who gave me the power of doing so, since I have been captain from my second year" Laura spoke of actually as though speaking to Madam Hooch was something she did rarely.

   "What! That makes so much sense, you're the first year who was off her trolley for actually taking over the team since you captain refused to play against the team of 'fourteen, your strategy won you a Quidditch Codification Accolade, first class at the age of eleven!" Orion turned to Janna who was confused unlike the rest of the team who was in awe of Laura, even though three of them already knew.

Laura nodded humbly "You're quite sharp Mr Cintola... I like your brains, kid" she grinned, blushing a little before looking at the clipboard "Alright, Chasers are, Laura Rosslyn, big surprise, Patrick Clubb and my old man Dorain Ridgeway, I hope you appreciate this last year of Quidditch with us, stay on top of your N.E.W.T.s but don't got weak at the ankles...." Laura pursed her lips and looked at James and Orion "you two maniacs, James Potter and Orion Cintola—huh, like the Death Eater?"

Orion shook his head "Nah, my pa is a new man, he has my maw to love for that" 

    "Oh cool, then you'll scare everyone in the games," Laura chuckled deviously again "I think you and Potter will get on like a house on fire!" The rest of the group caught her attention again "Alright then, Rose No Stranger-Weasley," Laura snorted at her own play on words "Keeper... And our own Julianna Black! A Seeker! I've gotta ask... How are you even alive?"

   "Erm... I think in the file it said I was frozen in my mum for a while...um Professor Potter said it was because of the Dementors in Azkaban at the time before the ban was in affect—"

   "So is your dad the notorious Sirius Black or Regulus Black, the one who gave up Voldy?" Laura leaned in over the clipboard, interested like the rest of the the group, except for Rose who was glaring at Janna for stealing Laura's short attention from her.

Janna felt comfortable with the group, especially because she knew this was just loose knowledge from history books "Regulus Black is my father—"

   "Yes! I was hoping so—well, your uncle is known for being a Beater but Slughorn has an ancient Slytherin Quidditch Team photo of 'seventy-six, your father was the Slytherin seeker! He was quite giddy when he heard you had been found, Sluggy loves to collect students, his dinners are a little too big but I think he might be coming after you and your friend, Orion" Laura shoved the clipboard under her arm, showing no parchment, just doodles of trees, stars and other objects, Janna began to think that Laura might have a loose screw; if Laura was a lunatic Janna was quite happy to know that she wasn't the only one, in a less clinical definition of course. "Alright, we will have practise on Wednesdays at three and on Sundays at twelve..." Laura became stern again, but she still had a cuckoo ember in her eyes "Don't come a minute later!"

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