It was barely eight in the morning, and the Quidditch pitch was still quiet. Lynn sat in the very top row of the stands, a pocket full of pebbles in his lap. Ten meters in front of him, Cho was hovering on her broom, perfectly steady.
"Heads up—this time it's three!"
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
With a flick of his mind, Lynn sent three stones shooting off in different directions.
Cho narrowed her eyes, spotted their paths in an instant, and nudged her Cleansweep into a smooth turn. Before the pebbles had fallen even halfway, she'd snatched every single one out of the air.
"Make it four," Lynn called.
"Bring it!" Cho grinned, rolling her shoulders. She was already warmed up, and this pebble-catching game was the perfect way to get her reflexes firing.
But the more stones he threw, the harder it got. From the top of the stands to the ground was about fifty feet—roughly fifteen meters. A pebble took around 1.7 seconds to hit the grass. Add the hang-time after the throw, and she had maybe two and a half seconds total to grab them all. At six stones, even Cho started struggling if they spread too wide.
"You guys are out here already?"
Hallie's voice rang out from behind them. She climbed the steps with Neville, Seamus, Hermione, and a few others trailing behind.
"Lynn, are you helping Cho train?" Hallie asked.
"Yeah, just getting her hands back in the game. Catching a Snitch has to be way tougher than pebbles."
"But there's only one Snitch," Cho pointed out, drifting down a bit. She'd been flying hard and was breathing faster now. "Six is probably my limit. Any more and I'd be flailing."
"That's still incredible," Hallie said loyally, though her eyes were glued to Cho's broom. "I bet no one trying out for Ravenclaw this year flies half as well as you."
Cho noticed the staring immediately. "Hallie… wanna give it a go? I could use a breather before trials anyway."
"I thought you'd never ask!" Hallie's whole face lit up. She yanked her hair into a high ponytail, practically vibrating with excitement. "Flying lessons are so boring when we're only allowed ten feet off the ground. I've been practicing loads on my own, you know."
(She meant the bamboo-copter trick she'd been secretly using all summer—flying at night with Hedwig and Siegfried, racing them to the treetops. The girl had zero fear.)
Lynn raised an eyebrow. "Start with three?"
"Pfft, make it five. Three's for babies."
Hallie swung a leg over the broom like she'd been born on it. "Come on, Lynn. Hit me!"
"Here we go!"
Five pebbles exploded outward in a wide fan.
Hallie didn't even hesitate. She shot forward like a bullet, twisted mid-air, and scooped all five clean out of the sky in one smooth arc.
The group on the stands went dead quiet for half a second, then erupted.
"Did you SEE that?!"
"Okay, I take it back. I definitely underestimated you," Lynn laughed.
"Hallie, that was insane!" Cho said, eyes wide.
"Her dynamic vision is nuts," Hermione said proudly. "It's just a gift."
"Again! Again!" Hallie yelled from the air, grinning like a maniac. "That all you got, Lynn?"
Oh, it was on.
Lynn grabbed a huge handful. "You're dead, Potter!"
Eight pebbles this time, spread even wider.
Hallie laughed and dove.
Sharp stops, tail slides, turns so tight the broom groaned—she pulled every trick she'd learned on that bamboo-copter without even thinking. The old Cleansweep she was riding might've been last year's model, but in her hands it danced like a Firebolt.
Down on the stands, jaws were on the floor.
Because Lynn wasn't letting up. He kept chucking more—three in one direction, then spin and fling four behind her. The difficulty had gone off the charts.
But Hallie? She was having the time of her life.
She flipped, rolled, dove straight at the ground to snatch a pebble inches from the grass, then yanked the broom into a perfect V-pull-up and drifted into a stylish landing right on the stands, boots touching down light as a cat.
"Whew!" Her cheeks were flushed, chest heaving, eyes sparkling. "Dropped four that time, but next round I'll get them all."
She shook her bulging pockets, pouring a waterfall of pebbles into Lynn's lap.
"So?!" She planted her hands on her hips, beaming. "Pretty awesome, right?"
"Awesome? That was bloody brilliant!"
The voice didn't belong to any of them.
They all spun around.
A tall, broad-shouldered guy in Gryffindor Quidditch robes was standing there, hair a mess, eyes blazing with pure excitement—not because Hallie was cute (though she was), but because of what she'd just done in the air.
"Oliver Wood," he announced, striding forward and sticking out his hand. "Gryffindor captain and keeper this year."
He seized Hallie's hand and shook it like he was trying to pump adrenaline straight into her.
"Join the team. Right now. We need a Seeker who can win us the Cup."
"But first-years—" Hermione started.
Wood cut her off with a wild wave. "Doesn't matter! I'll march straight to McGonagall. Age means nothing. Talent means everything!"
He stared at Hallie like she was the answer to every prayer he'd ever had.
"You're the second natural I've seen in my time here—the kind of flyer who's born to be stared at on a Quidditch pitch."
Hallie blinked. "Who was the first?"
"Charlie Weasley. Our old captain. But he's off at Durmstrang for the Tournament now. Last year without him… we didn't win the Cup."
Wood's voice dropped. "Gryffindor can't lose Charlie and the Cup in the same year."
He looked back up, fierce. "Charlie was incredible. Got offers from half the pro teams in Britain before he even graduated—plus the Ballycastle Bats, twenty-seven-time league champs. But Charlie decided dragons were more fun than brooms and buggered off to Romania."
Fred and George appeared behind Wood, grinning proudly.
"Our brother's a legend," Fred said.
"Absolute Seeker god," George added.
Wood gripped Hallie's shoulders. "You're the one who can fill his spot. I swear it. This year—the Cup is coming home."
Cho folded her arms, smirking. "Ravenclaw has no plans to lose, you know. But… Hallie, you really should try out. You're amazing up there."
All her friends started cheering her on at once.
Hallie didn't even hesitate.
"If Professor McGonagall says yes—I'm in!"
"I'm going to McGonagall right now!" Wood spun on his heel. "Fred, George—handle tryouts later. We've still got one reserve spot open. Find me someone good."
"On it, Captain!"
"We've got you covered!"
As Wood sprinted off toward the castle (probably still in his Quidditch robes), Hallie looked up at the sky again, cheeks still pink, grin unstoppable.
She was going to be Gryffindor's new Seeker.
And she could not wait.