Making the Team
by: Amy Waller
9/20/89

Delenna Wolfram shifted uneasily as she watched the tail end of Keeper tryouts. She wasn't exactly sure what she was doing here again. She'd tried out for the Ravenclaw Quidditch team for the past two years and not made it, why should this year be any different? But here she was, clutching a borrowed broom in one hand and a beater bat in the other, waiting for her chance to try out for the third time. She could feel her palms starting to sweat, making her grip on the bat slippery. She wished that everyone else would hurry up so she could try out and go curl up back in her room. There was nothing worse than having to stand around and just wait.

"Wolfram, you're up!" Richard Hopkirk, the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain, barked.

Delenna started slightly. She'd been so wrapped up in her own thoughts she hadn't realized that the Beater tryouts had started. She gave herself a little shake and mounted her broom. She nodded to Hopkirk, indicating her readiness and kicked off the ground.

"Bludgers away then" Hopkirk said, when Delenna had gotten a decent height off the ground. He undid the clasps on the two quivering gray balls, which immediately went whizzing off towards Delenna.

Gripping her broom tightly, Delenna yanked upward to dodge the first Bludger. She had to throw herself sidewise to avoid the other and nearly fell off her broom. Both Bludgers shot past for the moment, and she adjusted her grip on the bat, in preparation for their return. The first one came flying straight for her head. She hit it away with a solid backhand, sending the metal colored ball spinning off towards the goal posts. The second came at an awkward angle, forcing Delenna to pull her broom around and smack the Bludger down towards the ground where it just missed Hopkirk before tearing a furrow in the turf of the Quidditch pitch.

"Point is to hit 'em towards the other team Wolfram!" Hopkirk shouted, as he freed the grounded Bludger from the turf.

Up on her broom, Delenna flushed, and muttered a curse at the slow reaction time of the school brooms. She pressed her lips tightly together, her tongue just barely sticking out the corner of her mouth. She would not screw this tryout up. Not this year. She got a few more solid hits in, as well as a couple near misses before Hopkirk called her down and chained the Bludgers again.

"That'll do Wolfram. Results'll be posted in the common room sometime later today." Hopkirk said.

Delenna nodded mutely. He didn't seem very impressed by her performance. Still, hope sprang eternal. She put her broom and bat back in the school locker before going back to her room. There were still three chapters of History of Magic she had to try to struggle through before lunch.
The History of Magic book lay forgotten on her bed when Delenna heard the slight swell of noise from the common room that heralded the Quidditch results being posted. Her desire to run down and see if her name was on the list warred with the fact that Tatiya, her pet rat, was currently trying to make a bid for freedom down the bed linens. Delenna sighed and lunged forward to scoop up the wriggling rat and deposit her back in her cage. Tatiya chattered a bit and looked disapprovingly at Delenna.

"Sorry mate, I'll let you out again tonight," she promised before half walking half running out the dorm room and down into the common room. There was a large crowd of people gathered around a floating piece of parchment.

"Hopkirk's showing off his Charms again" Delenna heard one student say and she edged through the crowd to get close enough to read the parchment. There couldn't have been more than ten or fifteen people trying to read the list, but they were all crushed so close together Delenna felt like she would suffocate. Finally she managed to edge close enough to read. She scanned down the list, bracing herself for disappointment. But no, there at the very bottom it read
Beater # 2: Delenna Wolfram
Delenna let out a very uncharacteristic whoop of joy and shove back through the crowd. She had to owl her parents about this! She had to tell Liriel! Finally, finally, after two years of trying out, she'd finally made the team! She was there, her name was there in ink; she was a Quidditch player!

Back in her room she pulled out some parchment, inked her quill and quickly scribbled a note to her parents. Now she just had to find her sister and get permission to send the letter home via Wika, her sister's owl. Of course, finding Liriel tended to be a difficult task, especially on the weekends.

"Someday I'm going to slap a tracking charm on her," Delenna muttered as she waved the parchment gently to dry the ink. Tatiya chittered in agreement, running back and forth by the cage door. Delenna smiled and folded the now dry letter into thirds and slipped it into one of the preaddressed, pre-stamped envelopes that her mother always provided her with in a vain attempt to get her to write home more often.
Finding Liriel proved to be easier than expected. Delenna had just rounded the corner when she almost literally ran into her sister coming out of the library.

"What's up?" Liriel asked.

"I made the Quidditch team finally," Delenna answered with barely controlled enthusiasm. "Can I use Wika to send a letter home to mum and dad?"

"Congradulations! See, I told you you'd make it this year. Third time's always the charm," Liriel said.

Delenna flushed slightly under her sister's praise. "Thanks. Um, well, I really want to get this letter off, so I'll um, see you later or something." Delenna always felt slightly inferior next to her more popular, prettier sister.

Liriel didn't seem to notice her sister's discomfort. Instead, she gave her sister a big hug. "Go get that letter off to Mum and Dad. I've got a huge essay to write. These NEWT levels are killer." Delenna nodded and Liriel headed back towards the Hufflepuff common room.

Delenna sighed and then shook herself. Even the usual feelings of inadequacies compared to her sister couldn't bring her down today. She was a Quidditch player! She bolted down the halls towards the owlery.

Return to the library.