Fire Griffins

Harry was angry. No, he was furious. He thought over everything that had happened over the years at Hogwarts. First year, the most powerful wizard in the world fails to notice that one of his teachers was possessed by the darkest wizard of the time, while storing and incredible valuable and dangerous thing in the same castle! Then, the protections on it were weak enough for three 11 year olds to pass them! That was irresponsible enough. Second year, the same man failed to notice that a giant (and ancient) Basilisk was loose in his castle petrifying his students… and the same three (now 12 year old) students not only work out what it is, but kill it! 3rd year, he was forced to use a Patronus charm twice while on the grounds, and attacked by Dementors three times! That was the tamest year. The last year to date, his fourth year, Dumbledore has somehow failed to prevent a Death Eater in disguise from entering his name into a dangerous and deadly tournament designed for students that were of age… not 14 year olds. The man had also failed to pull him out of the tournament, instead making him face dragons, merpeople, a sphinx and many other extremely dangerous creatures- to end up being somehow transported to a graveyard to watch his mortal enemy be reborn and kill the boy who was there by coincidence. Yet still, the man refused to tell him why Voldemort was trying so hard to kill him. It was infuriating! He knew that Dumbledore had made some major mistakes and had a lot to answer for… and Harry was not going to trust him until he atoned. His thoughts then turned to his friends. Were they his friends? Harry had noticed them giving him some strange looks over the years, like they didn't want to be around him. Then, Ron had abandoned him over petty jealousy- because Harry was being forced to participate in a tournament well above his skill level! Hermione had gone with Ron even though she didn't agree with him. Harry held himself back in classes so he didn't offend Hermione as he knew she would hate to be beaten- and Ron, who Harry sometimes wondered if he even had a brain that could be used for anything other than chess and Quidditch strategy, was jealous if Harry beat him in class too often, so Harry held himself back even more. Is that what real friends do for each other? Somehow, Harry didn't think so. He decided then and there that he wasn't going to put up with it this year. He was his own person and he wasn't going to hold himself back in class to please his friends. He was sick of pretending he couldn't do spells, of purposely adding the wrong ingredients- or amount to his potions, of rewriting essays over and over again so that they didn't look to intelligent. He was sick of Ron's jealousy and Hermione always believing that she knew better than anyone- she had only been in the wizarding world for just over 4 years! No. Harry was going to perform at his full potential and Ron and Hermione could either accept that, or he could find new friends. Neville was always nice to him…

His thoughts turned again, this time to Cedric. At first, he had blamed himself, but his parents had soon knocked that thought from his head. The guilt was gone, but he was still filled with grief when he thought of him. Cedric hadn't deserved to die; he was only killed for being in the way… because Voldemort was a ruthless killing machine that didn't deserve to be called human. Harry remembered what the centaurs had said in his first year; Always the innocent are the first victims… so it has been for the last age, so it is now… at the time, he had thought they were referring to the unicorns, but… had they known Cedric was going to die? It was possible. They claimed to see the ebb and flow of war; of good and evil. Surely they had seen this war coming, and that an innocent would die first. Harry shuddered and realised that he was definitely going to need to improve this year as Voldemort was clearly trying to kill him, and he wasn't going to wait for Harry to be ready. He shivered again before a huge wave of anger rose in him. Voldemort. He was the reason for all of this. The reason that he was an orphan… Neville's parents didn't recognise him… Cedric was dead… Susan Bones lived with her Aunt… Molly Weasley had no brothers… so many people had their lives ripped apart for good. Harry growled softly. He knew now, that he was going to kill Voldemort. That… thing… was not going to stop until he died, and he knew that he wanted to survive this war. The only way that was going to be possible would be to kill the murderer. Almost as soon as he had that thought, bile rose in his throat. He was contemplating killing someone. No, he thought, Voldemort is not a 'someone,' he is a ruthless killing machine that needs to be stopped. No one will think any les of Voldemort's murderer. Harry vowed to himself that Voldemort would die… but he wasn't going to put his life on hold. There was a chance that he wouldn't survive the war, and he needed to live before he could die. He then remembered that the Wizarding World didn't even believe him. They all thought that Voldemort was dead. He shivered again, knowing that the longer they denied it, the stronger they allowed the creature to get. Harry went to sleep that night recalling every spell he had learnt… including Wingardium Leviosa. Who knew? He might be duelling on the edge of a cliff. Once he had gone through them all, his thoughts became dreams and his mind went from spells to Quidditch… he fell asleep with a slight smile on his face.

The next morning, Harry woke to an incessant tapping on his window. He grumbled to himself, moaning that it was too early to get up before he looked out the window and saw a large black owl tapping wearily on the window. It was obvious the owl had flown a long way. Curious, Harry went to the window and opened it, but was wary of the letter. He detached it carefully and let the owl rest in Hedwig's cage to have a drink and turned his attention to the letter. It was addressed to Harry Potter- nothing else. He stared at the handwriting, but was unable to recognise it before he flipped it over. His heart leapt at the crest. Many people at Hogwarts longed to receive a letter with it on it. Harry almost laughed- he was almost certain that the letter was safe. He broke the seal hastily and ripped the letter out. He quickly read the letter and a huge grin spread over his face. The summer was about to get interesting.

Dear Mister Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been invited to attend our Summer Camp.

As you have no doubt realised, we at the American Camp for Quidditch Prodigies

invite talented amateur Quidditch players to attend over the course of a summer to learn new

Quidditch skills along with magic- as it is important to have a fall-back plan!

If you would like to attend, this letter is a portkey that will drop you off at Camp. We are

expecting you in approximately 5 hours upon receiving this letter.

If you decline, just ignore the letter- although we sincerely hope that you decide that attendance is worthwhile, as we rarely invite students from the UK.

An equipment list is enclosed.

Sincerely,

American Camp for Quidditch Prodigies.

Harry's grin looked as though it was about to split his face in half. There is no way that I'm going to miss this, he though happily, ignoring the small voice announcing that Ron would be jealous. He had already made a decision about Ron's jealousy issue the night before and he was sticking to it. He pulled the second sheet of parchment out.

American Camp for Quidditch Prodigies

Seeker Equipment List;

Practice Snitch

Broom (preferably a Nimbus 2002 or a Firebolt)

Quidditch Through the Ages

Cauldron

Potions Ingredients

Wand

Quidditch robes

casual clothing

glass of crystal phials

brass scales

OPTIONAL

sword (required if taking sword fighting elective)

familiar

Harry glanced at his watch and realised that 5 minutes had already passed- and he didn't own the necessary equipment. He grabbed a piece of ripped parchment out of his trunk and a pencil that had been thrown in the room by Dudley years ago. He scribbled a note to Dumbledore. saying that he was leaving for the summer and would be back for the start of school. He gave it to Hedwig, telling her to wait 6 hours or so before she took the note to Dumbledore. He quickly threw the few things that had come out of his trunk back in, thanking the fact they had only left Hogwarts the daw before and tapped it with his wand, thanking the Weasley twins for their present. When he had given him the Triwizard money, they had decided to charm it so that when he tapped the trunk with his wand, it would shrink to the size he was picturing, and it wasn't registered as doing magic. He stuck his wand, money bag and trunk in his back pocket before racing down to the street where he summoned the knight bus, promising to pay them double if they got him to the Leaky Cauldron as fast as possible... and didn't mention having him on the bus to anyone. They agreed, and within 15minutes of receiving the letter, Harry was giving Stan 22 sickles as he jumped of the bus and raced into the back room of the bar. He tapped the bricks and raced through the alley thanking the Camp for sending it so early- there was hardly anyone around to spot an out of breath Harry Potter racing through the Alley at a quarter past 5 in the morning. He raced up the Gringotts steps, knowing that none of the other stores would open for almost an hour. He told the goblins his name, and to his surprise, they asked him which vault he wanted to enter.

"I only have one, though," he said slowly. Griphook smirked at him.

"The Potter family is one of our wealthiest clients, with only the Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, Emrys and Black vaults having more. Which, now I come to think of it, you could possibly claim them if you did the inheritance test. Anyway, you have three vaults currently. The one you have already visited is your trust vault; you then have the family vault and the one belonging to your father."

"Errr… can I combine them all and visit the combined vault?"

"Certainly." Griphook called for another goblin and asked him to combine the Potter vaults while they went and did the inheritance test. Griphook summoned a piece of parchment and a knife, before instructing Harry to prick his finger and smear the blood on the parchment. Harry did so nervously before handing the parchment back to the goblin, who looked at it closely, his eyes bugging out slightly.

"Well, Mr. Potter, it appears that you actually hold claim to all of the vaults that I mentioned earlier… well… I will give you the heir rings which you can put on at a later time as they put you to sleep for 7 hours after they are all on your finger." Harry gasped, shocked, before nervously accepting a stack of 7 small boxes. A goblin then walked into the room and announced that the Potter vaults were combined. Harry then realised that it was now 5:30 and was suddenly feeling as if the Gringotts carts should go faster.

"Griphook," he said slowly, "you once said that the carts are one speed only…" The goblin grinned and pulled a lever- suddenly the cart was going at twice the speed and Harry grinned. Within 10 minutes the cart was pulling to a stop outside of vault number 7. Harry followed Griphook out of the cart and they walked up to the door. Griphook stroked it and the door seemed to melt away. Harry gasped. Inside was a massive cavern. In one corner, there was huge mountains of gold- a lot more that had been in his trust vault, but that was only a small portion of the vault. There was jewels, books, potions equipment, weapons, furniture, scrolls- anything Harry tried to name was there. He walked over to the trunks and quickly noticed one that had 2 compartments- with extra hidden ones as well, and the same charm that the twins had put on his old one. Harry picked it up and placed his still shrunken trunk into one of the compartments, along with the 7 boxes with heir rings in them. He walked around the vault as quickly as he could, stopping once in a while to look at things, realising that he could get most of his things from the vault, making his life much easier. He collected scales, phials and a cauldron as well as potions ingredients, thanking the stasis charm. Quidditch Through the Ages was in the book section. He decided to buy a practice snitch as he wanted a fast one and they were made faster every year- he could get a professional level one! Robes were better bought as well. He walked up and down in front of the swords, trying to decide which one to get when he saw instructions- instructions on the wall. It told the person seeking a weapon to close their eyes and use their magic to find the right one. Harry did as instructed and very soon felt a strong 'pull' from several of the weapons. The sword was beautiful. It looked almost identical to Gryffindor's sword except the rubies were emeralds. When he picked it up, he felt his magic link with it and his name appeared on it where Gryffindor's had been on that sword. Harry smiled at it. it was his, and something told him that he could never lose it as it would come on command. He turned his attention to the other 'weapons' and noticed that the 'pull' was also coming from a pair of daggers- and a staff. He picked up the daggers and felt the same magic connection with them, before he turned his attention to the staff. He looked at it before nervously holding his hand out towards it. The staff jumped into his hand and Harry felt amazing! It was the same feeling as when he found his wand- but magnified. Sparks began to fly from it and he felt his magic link with it as well. It would obey his command. Harry watched in amazement as the staff shrunk itself to be the perfect size for him- then; on command, shrunk to the size of a wand. He noticed a slip of parchment that had been beside it and added it to the trunk along with his new weapons. Harry turned to leave the vault before he felt something else tug at his magic. It was beside the door, explaining why he hadn't seen it earlier- a large red and gold egg. He had no idea what it was, but felt as though it couldn't be left in the vault, so he picked it up carefully and placed it in the trunk before shrinking it. He then exited and enjoyed the wild, 10 minute ride to the surface of the vault. He thanked Griphook before stepping out into the 7am sunshine. He had 3 hours remaining. Harry raced towards Madam Malkin's and stepped inside. The assistant spotted him almost immediately.

"Uh… hi," he said shyly, "I need to buy some Quidditch robes… actually, I need to buy a whole new wardrobe, but I don't have that much time. The Quidditch robes are the most important, though. Can you do that, please?"

"Of course! We can do that in under an hour, actually," she said cheerfully.

"Great!" said Harry happily.

"So… what colours? We can also add a growth charm for an extra sickle each if you're planning on growing much in the next few years."

"Ummm… I have bad taste in clothing, to tell you the truth, so I'll leave that up to you… and the growth charms would be brilliant!"

"Alright, stand up here so I can get your measurements," she said and Harry subjected himself to the assistant's torture that most people called shopping for clothes.

Just under 45 minutes later, Harry left the store with 5 pairs of Quidditch robes in various bright colours, including Gryffindor red and gold. He had 2 pairs of duelling robes- dark blue and black, casual robes in red, blue, green, gold, grey and black- potions robes, dress and formal robes and some more robes for school as he had outgrown his old ones. He got several winter cloaks- a black one for school as well as a few others. He bought a few more pairs of dragonhide boots and gloves. He very quickly discovered that Madam Malkin's also sold muggle clothing, and so had also collected jeans, t-shirts, tracksuit pants, shorts, singlets, socks and underwear, swimming trunks, pyjamas, jackets and the like. He put them all in his trunk and left the shop 201 galleons poorer- though his moneybag weighed the same and Harry thanked Griphook for his suggestion of linking the bag to his vault ensuring that he drew directly from there instead of having to continuously stop at Gringotts for moneybag refills. It was then a quarter to 8, so Harry rushed into Quality Quidditch Supplies. He grabbed a top of the range practice snitch, and then- remembering the Whomping Willow incident in his 3rd year, bought a second Firebolt hoping he wouldn't ever have to use it. He spent a few minutes browsing the store as he had everything he needed and selected a few Quidditch posters featuring both his team- the Appleby Arrows- and the team that had accepted Oliver Wood, Puddlemere United. Some new seeker gloves and he was done. He stood in the Alley for a minute deciding where he was going to go next when he remembered his desire to not hold back any longer- and moved towards Flourish and Blotts. There, Harry picked up several books on Defence, Potions, Charms, Transfiguration, Care of Magical Creatures and History. He decided that Divination was a waste of time at school, so decided to learn about Hermione's favourite subject- Arithmancy, and her other (less liked) elective- Ancient Runes, and picked up books on both of them. It was then that Harry realised he knew almost nothing about the wizarding world, so he picked up many books on culture and status, realising that being a Potter meant a lot. On his way to the counter, he spotted a book on staffs and books on other weapons- then one that made him slightly angry; A Muggleborn's Guide to the Wizarding World by Professor Burbage. He picked it up, annoyed that it wasn't on the list of books for first years- or recommended for those that grew up with Muggles. Even Hagrid could have pointed it out to him. He remembered from 3rd year that Professor Burbage was the Muggle Studies professor, so the book was not all that likely to be biased. He dropped his pile of over 50 books on the counter and paid for them before putting them back in his trunk. It was 8:30, and Harry was tired. He went into a side alley and pulled out his staff, thinking… It couldn't possibly have the Trace on it, so surely he could do magic with it and not be detected… He opened his trunk and thought about the compartments. The two visible were general storage compartments. There was also 5 hidden ones. one was for potions supplies. There was one for weapons. Two of the compartments were a library and wardrobe respectively- there was one with a bedroom (already furnished) in it! There was also an empty compartment. He thought about it for a while, before he decided what it was going to be. Harry placed a stasis charm over the entire compartment sing the staff (shrunken down to wand-size) before he wandered over to the wizarding supermarket and stocked up on everything he thought that he would need from there- to last him a long time. He made sure that his trunk was organised, and by then he only had an hour left- and he knew how to spend it. Harry went to a shop that was hidden beside the back- the oculist. He had already proven that glasses were bad for Quidditch.

"Can I help you?" The owner was on him almost immediately. Harry looked up at the fit, middle aged man and smiled at him.

"I would like to get rid of these glasses, but I don't know what to replace them with," he said, waving the aforementioned glasses around in front of him.

"I have potions that can fix your eyesight if you like, but I need to do some tests first," he said, "so if you would like, I'll ask you to sit down and close your eyes." Harry nodded and did as he was told, trusting the man. He felt the wand tip press against each of his eyelids and felt a spell hit each of them- but it didn't seem to do anything.

"You can open your eyes now, Harry." Harry jumped, and groaned internally. The man had recognised him.

"When was the last time you had your eyes checked? Wait, don't answer that, I don't think I want to know. These glasses have been making your eyesight steadily worse for years and they are not suited for you. Good news for you is we have a potion that can fix your eyesight- only just, though. Any worse and I wouldn't have been able to use it. If you had waited even 6 months, you wouldn't be getting this potion," he said softly. Harry gulped, and nodded. The man went to the back of the store and came back holding a phial of emerald green potion. Harry shivered and accepted it. He drank it down, gagging at the taste before he felt his eyes start to sting. He quickly shut them and felt a burning sensation go through them. After a while, the pain subsided and then was gone. He slowly opened his eyes and gasped. Everything was so clear! He couldn't remember the last time he had seen everything in such clarity. He thanked the man profusely and handed over his money before walking back out into the Alley with a new appreciation for its beauty. He walked around the alley for the next half an hour drinking in the sights and new colours before he pulled out the parchment. It was 10am. He stared at it for a few seconds, wondering what he was supposed to do before he felt a hook behind his navel. Panicking, he just managed to grab onto his trunk before he disappeared in a swirl of sound and colour. He felt himself being pulled along further than he had ever travelled by portkey. Harry landed as ungracefully as usual in a corner of a small hall. As he watched, almost 50 people his age and older landed around him. He looked around. The first thing he spotted was a window- it was pitch black outside. He realised that he had forgotten about the time differences between London and America. Everyone else was looking around awkwardly and Harry realised that no one had friends come with them. After about a minute, a tired-looking man came into the hall. The first thought that came into his head was that man's a beater.

"Welcome to Quidditch Camp! You are currently in Hawaii- yes, Hawaii. It is currently… 11pm and for the person who came from London, yes you have gone back a day. We're going to use a spell to make you all feel as though you're tired from a long day so you don't all suffer from jet-lag, but first; there are exactly 50 of you all… and one of me. Thankfully, there are other Professors here as well. We've split you all up into teams, and you will sleep, eat, train and learn magic with your team- as well as anything else. 49 of you are Quidditch players, and one of you is an announcer- you will have your own room wherever you are, but will have lessons with the team in dorm 7. Youngest player here is almost 15-" Harry blushed at that- "while the eldest people here are around 21, so there isn't much of an age difference. Teams are based on age as you will learn magic together as well, but I guarantee you- age is no indicator of skill. We have the youngest seeker in a century here this year, and the youngest chaser in half a century as well. So please don't underestimate the team in dorm one, which is Lachlan Jones! Lily Taylor! Rose Taylor! James Martinez! Rachael Moore! Catherine Smith! Harry Potter! Team 1- you can decide your own name, you're dorm 1, which is the red door over there- red is your team colour. you guys can go, we'll come 'round in half an hour to place the spell on you, and breakfast is at 7am in here tomorrow morning. There's some parchment and forms in there that you need to read tonight, but you won't need instructions… I hope." Harry picked up his trunk and quickly shrunk it before walking over to the red door. He was glad that no one made a fuss over his name. Harry was the first to get to the dorm, so he opened the door. Inside was very simple. There was seven 4 poster beds with red hangings and a door labelled 'bathroom.' There was space for everyone to place their trunk and desks on one side of the room. Harry stood in the middle of the room and waited for the rest of the team to arrive. They didn't take long. Harry noticed that he was the shortest by a long way. Everyone was tall, thin and muscular- obvious Quidditch players.

"Hi, I'm Catherine Smith, I'm 15 and I play chaser," said a tall blonde girl.

"James Martinez, I play chaser as well, and I'm also 15," a darker skinned boy said.

"Lily Taylor, Beater-"

"Hey! Rose Taylor, Beater-"

"We're 15 as well!" two brunette girls- obviously twins piped up.

"Lachlan Jones, I just turned 16 a few days ago, and I play keeper," said the tallest person in the room. Harry had already guessed his position when he walked in the room, and was glad to be proven right. He cleared his throat.

"I'm Harry Potter; I'm 14 and I-"

"Play seeker!" the twins piped up.

"Yeah," Harry agreed and the team laughed, making him relax a little.

"My name's Rachael Moore, I'm 14 as well, and I play chaser- which you all knew already," said the last girl shyly. Harry looked over at her and was amazed. She had shiny dark hair just past her shoulders and clear blue eyes that- although she was shy at the moment, still sparkled with mischief. Harry smiled at her.

"There's parchment over here!" piped up Lily.

"It's got writing on it," added Rose.

"It says that we have to choose a name-"

"and a captain!" They all looked at each other.

"We normally make the seeker captain 'cause it's easier for them to fly around and talk to the other team members- their only moment of play is going for the snitch so they're in a better position to observe our game. Better them than have a beater fly away from a bludger to talk to the keeper- or the keeper leaving the rings, or a chaser deserting the quaffle- nothing against seekers, of course. They're usually faster than the other players as well, which is an advantage. Plus, no one can really train with them, so they're not letting others down when they lead training," said Lachlan.

"That makes sense," said Catherine, "and now that I think of it, our captains are usually seekers."

"Sounds good to us! Doesn't make sense to choose between twins for the position, anyway," said the twins. Rachel and James both voiced their agreement.

"Errr… thanks! You all realise that you just made the youngest player captain don't you?"

"The guy outside said not to worry about age!" said Lily cheerfully.

"Ok," said Harry, "but I might be terrible at this."

"You might be brilliant!" said Rose equally cheerfully.

"Thanks. Err… we need a name as well," said Harry, "probably one that relates to red as well, like phoenix or griffin or something. Fire."

"Animals are fine with me," said James.

"Fire Griffins," said Catherine.

"Cool! Fire Griffins!" cheered the twins.

"Fine by me," said Lachlan, "although it's a cop-out- basically Harry's suggestion."

"I like it," said Rachael.

"Ok, hi Fire Griffins! Who wants first pick of the beds? I'll go last," said Harry. Lily and Rose quickly grabbed the beds nearest the door, followed by James, then Lachlan and Catherine. Rachael picked hers, leaving Harry with the one in between the two female chasers. Harry un-shrunk his trunk and placed it at the foot of the bed before he pulled back the hangings to spot another slip of parchment.

Subjects taken at the American Camp for Quidditch Prodigies

Compulsory Subjects;

Ancient Runes- Professor Arkwright

Arithmancy- Professor Idoni

Broom Crafting- Professor Smith

Charms- Professor Alvey

Mind Arts- Professor Brown

Potions- Professor Brauer

Quidditch- Professor Hooch

Transfiguration- Professor McGonagall

Trick Flying- Professor Barone

Elective Subjects;

You may pick as many as you like, but 5 or less is the recommended amount.

Care of Magical Creatures- Professor Bagley

Divination- Professor Devinson

Duelling- Professor Black

Herbology- Professor Warren

Magical History- Professor Wakahisa

Sword Fighting- Professor Kardos

Transportation- Professor Arterberry

Wandless Magic- Professor Guillory

Wizarding Culture- Professor Ayers

Name: HARRY JAMES POTTER

Please mark the box next to each elective you wish to take, and then draw a line through the word done at the bottom of the page when you are finished.

DONE

Harry stared at the list for a while, before finally making his decision. He marked the boxes next to Duelling, Sword Fighting, Transportation, Wandless Magic and Wizarding Culture before crossing out the word DONE. The parchment, quill and ink disappeared just as the man walked in.

"I'm going to cast the spell now, you'll all feel as if it's 11 thirty at night- which it is! Breakfast is at 7, so I suggest you all get some sleep today. Hopefully you've all sent in your elective choices so that we can hand out your timetables tomorrow! Mutarius Tempus! Goodnight, dorm 1."

"We're the Fire Griffins," said Rose sleepily. The man chuckled.

"Goodnight, Fire Griffins." Harry watched the door shut before falling asleep straight away, without bothering to get changed. The spell worked.

The next morning, Harry was woken by an overly excited voice that he recognised as one of the twins. He groaned.

"Tempus," he said, forgetting that he needed a wand. 5:24am flashed up in front of him. He groaned again.

"Lily! Rose! Whoever it is- Taylor! How can you be so cheerful, it's so early," he grumbled. He heard groans of acknowledgement, meaning that the rest of the team had been woken by a hyperactive twin.

"It's Lily! And it's not too early! If everyone gets up now, we won't look sleepy in front of the rest of the teams. Besides, WE'RE AT QUIDDITCH CAMP! Get excited already. It's only the most renowned and prestigious Quidditch Camp for amateurs in the world!"

"Fine, fine, you've made your point; I'm up," said Harry, getting up slowly, "who wants a shower?"

"You have one, Harry, the rest of us are still asleep," groaned Catherine.

"Alright, then," he said, before pulling jeans and a t shirt out of his trunk and heading to the bathroom. It reminded him of the Prefect's bathroom at Hogwarts, except for a shower in the corner of the room as well. He dumped his clothes and got in. 5 minutes later, he was feeling significantly more awake and he got changed into his fresh clothes, leaving his hair wet.

"I'm out, who's next?" he said cheerfully.

"Not another cheerful one!"

"It's the shower, James, blame it on the shower." Harry walked over to his trunk and pulled out the first book that caught his eye- the one for Muggleborns, which held his attention until 5 to 7, when the man- Professor Barone came in to announce breakfast. The Fire Griffins came out, and snickered when they saw how exhausted the other teams looked. The teams introduced themselves, youngest team to oldest, which meant that Harry was first.

"Chasers; Smith, Moore and Martinez! Beaters; Taylor and Taylor! Keeper; Jones, and Seeker; Potter! We're the Fire Griffins," he said, and each player stood and waved at their name.

"We're the Bumblebees; Chasers are Clark, Lee and Walker! Beaters are Myself- Young, and Lopez! Keeper is Green and Seeker, Mitchel!" Once again, each player stood and waved at their name.

"I'm Evans, a Beater and Captain of my team, the Grasshill Warriors. My teammates are; Chasers- Phillips, Campbell and Parker, the other Beater is Sanchez, Keeper is Morgan and Murphy is Seeker!"

"We're the Lions! I'm Cox- chaser. The others are Cooper and Ward- also chasers. Peterson and Ramirez are Beaters, Keeper is Brooks and Sanders is seeker."

"We're an all-female team called the Bluebelles! Chasers are Price, Bennet and Ross, Beaters; Henderson and Coleman, Keeper; Jenkins, and I'm the Seeker and Captain Powell!"

"Badgering Badgers! Chasers; Patterson, Flores and Gonzales, Beaters; Myself- Griffin and Hamilton, Keeper; Sullivan and Seeker; Cole!"

"Our Chasers are Owens, Reynolds and Gibbson, Beaters are Cruz and Crawford, I'm the Keeper, Lopez, and our seeker is Robertson. We're the oldest team, the Silver Dragons! Also, the announcer stays in out dorm. Tayla Hawkins!" By the end, everyone was snickering at the ridiculous team names before breakfast appeared on the table in a similar fashion to Hogwarts. The teams cheered and began to eat with gusto while the few Professors in the hall attempted to hand the timetables out to students they didn't recognise. Harry soon got his;

Monday

5-6 Broom Crafting

6- Breakfast

6.30-8 Trick Flying

8-11 Quidditch

11-12 Ancient Runes

12-1 Lunch

1-2 Arithmancy

2-5 Trick Flying

5-6 Broom Crafting

7- Dinner

Tuesday

5-6 Broom Crafting

6- Breakfast

6.30-8 Trick Flying

8-11 Quidditch

11-12 Potions

12- Lunch

1-2 Transfiguration

2-5 Quidditch

5-6 Broom Crafting

7- Dinner

Wednesday

5-6 Broom Crafting

6 Breakfast

6.30-8 Trick Flying

8-11 Quidditch

11-12 Charms

12 Lunch

1-2 Mind arts

2-5 Trick Flying

5-6 broom crafting

7 Dinner

Thursday

5-6 Broom Crafting

6 Breakfast

6.30-8 Trick Flying

8-11 Quidditch

11-12 Duelling

12 Lunch

1-2 Sword Fighting

2-5 Quidditch

5-6 Broom Crafting

7 Dinner

Friday

5-6 Broom Crafting

6 Breakfast

6.30-8 Trick Flying

8-11 Quidditch

11-12 Transportation

12 Lunch

1-2 Wandless Magic

2-5 Trick Flying

5-6 Broom Crafting

7 Dinner

Saturday

5-6 Broom Crafting

6 Breakfast

6.30-8 Trick Flying

8-9 Wizarding Culture

9-12 Quidditch

12 Lunch

7 Dinner

8- Sword-fighting Competition

Sunday

7 Breakfast

8-12 Quidditch Competition

12 Lunch

1-5 Quidditch Competition

5-7 Optional Referee Course

7- Dinner

8- Duelling Competition

Harry grinned. It was a good schedule, and even better, today was Monday! Because they had only arrived at camp the day before, they were starting courses at 8, meaning the first class for the Fire Griffins was Quidditch… for 3 hours! At 8 o'clock they all raced out to the Quidditch Pitch in Quidditch robes- (they didn't have team robes yet- they would be given them on Saturday) to meet Professor Hooch, who happened to be cousins with the Flying instructor of Hogwarts. The class was great. They spent it flying around, learning how the other members of the team played and getting advice from the Professor. Harry had always known he was a good player, so it was incredible to hear the amount of suggestions she could make! It didn't hurt that she herself was a seeker. When the lesson was almost over, the team was dismissed to the changing rooms to have time to shower before their next lesson- Ancient Runes. Harry was way behind in this subject as everyone apart from Rachael had taken it before- and he was told to expect the same in Arithmancy, but with Catherine instead. Harry found, though, that the Runes were easy to pick up. Lunch was brilliant and everyone was starving from the Quidditch earlier, but soon they were in Arithmancy. Harry was stuck. It was so complicated! The others all seemed to know exactly what was going on. Professor Idoni was really good about it, though, and by the end of the lesson Harry and Catherine knew they had the basics down. Trick Flying and Broom Crafting finished off the day, both of which Harry was pleased to note that he was the best in both subjects- though he was being a little biased in Broom Crafting as the only way to tell was from half-finished sketches. After dinner, the Fire Griffins went back to their dorm to get to know each other a little better. Harry liked all of his team mates, but Rachael was definitely the one he liked the most. Classes continued in the same manner. Trick Flying and Quidditch were the team's two favourite classes by a long way, followed by Broom Crafting. Professor Brauer was an incredible Potions Professor, in Harry's opinion. Their first class was spent learning how ingredients reacted with each other, why and how the heat level affected potions, why different methods of cutting were more or less effective and why the direction, speed and number of stirs affected their brews, something the Professor announced should be taught to all students before they are shown to a cauldron. Professor McGonagall turned out to be Minerva McGonagall's nephew who was just as brilliant at transfiguration, and Harry discovered that in both his subject, and Professor Alvey's charms, he was in front of his teammates. Mind Arts was incredibly interesting, although in the first lesson they were only told what they would be learning- occlumency, telepathic communication and possibly Legilimency. In both Duelling and Sword Fighting, Harry was the only one in the class as the rest of the team were in either Magical History or Herbology. This gave him private lessons with the Professors Black and Kardos who were tough but Harry liked them. He learnt really quickly in their classes and enjoyed the challenge- he was told he was going to build muscle fast. Transportation was apparition, teleportation and shadow walking- the last two were almost impossible to ward against and Professor Arterberry was amusing. Wandless magic was interesting. Harry was originally in the class with Lily, Rose and Catherine, but the three girls were all told that they didn't have the required magical power to do more than a few simple charms wandlessly- so they dropped the course, leaving Harry to another private lesson with Professor Guillory. Wizarding Culture was the last elective he had chosen, and it was just him and Rachael in the class. Professor Ayers began with teaching them the social standings of the different wizarding families and how to behave around different people depending on their blood and socioeconomic status. On Saturday night, Harry entered the sword fighting competition. He won the first round against Sanchez, but his lack of experience, height and muscle saw him lose the second round to the older Lopez. Finally, Sunday came around. There were two pitches, but only one would be in use after lunch. As the youngest team, the Fire Griffins had a bye. The first round of matches was the Silver Dragons vs. the Bumblebees with Hawkins announcing on the first pitch and the Badgering Badgers vs. the Grasshill Warriors with Professor Hooch announcing on the second pitch. The Silver Dragons won in 3hours and 7minutes with a score of 110-460, while the Grasshill Warriors took 2hours and 57minutes to secure their win of 120-280. After lunch Tayla Hawkins went back to announcing the final match of the day, which was the Lions vs. the Bluebelles. They timed out at 4 hours, but the all-female team had the higher score; 320-530. After dinner, the duelling competition began, and Harry once again- entered. His first round was against John Cox, the Captain for the Lions. Harry was glad- Cox was exhausted enough to give Harry an easy victory in just under 10 minutes. He won the second round as well against Sandy Young from the Bumblebees, but was beaten in round three by the Badgering Badgers captain Louise Griffin.