Ron walked to the great hall with leaden feet. He knew Harry and Hermione were already there waiting for him, and they'd walk down to the Quidditch pitch afterward breakfast…trouble was he didn't feel like eating. Quidditch matches always made him feel like he had no stomach and like all his limbs were made of stone.

"Ah, Mr. Weasley. Looking forward to the match today? Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw I believe?" Ron turned to see Dumbledore heading for the great hall and looking at him with a twinkle in his eye. Ron just swallowed and nodded, trying to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

"You know, I think Gryffindor has a wonderful chance of keeping the Quidditch cup this year." said Dumbledore airily. Ron just made a non-committal noise in response.

"I myself was always dreadful at Quidditch. While a student, my friends on the team would often ask me to practice with them, despite my aversion for the game. I remember once, in my second year they had me play chaser, and to my surprise, I scored quite a few goals. As it turned out the captain had been watching and offered me a position on the team." Dumbledore talked, matching his pace with Ron. Ron waited for him to continue, but when he didn't, "Well...Sir, what happened? Did you tell the captain you couldn't?"

"Of course I did! I told him if he put me on his team we were liable to lose the whole season! But he didn't listen to me and made me take the position anyway."

"That must've been a pretty awful year." Ron gave a small smile.

"Not really. We won the cup that year, and every year after while I was on the team." Dumbledore strode on while Ron stopped, looking at Dumbledore with a mix of confusion and shock.

"But Sir! You said you were awful at Quidditch!"

Dumbledore stopped and turned to look at Ron. "I did say that, didn't I?" then he walked on, leaving Ron to think on what he said.