When Two Worlds Meet
Pikachu
Part 3

Thursday November 10, 2005

Once again, an update, or should I say revision is in order. Let’s see if I can 
keep my current level up. ^^

	So far throughout the week, Ash had been careful to heed Hermione’s 
advice. While they had only had Potions once after the disastrous episode, Snape 
had lost no time in trying to get him to retaliate again. He had tried thinking 
about his Pokemon but that had only caused him to become annoyed since he did 
not have them with him. The only good thing was that he had somehow managed to 
survive the week. Even more astounding, he had actually been able to catch on 
fairly quickly in some of the classes and had even managed to find his way down 
to The Great Hall without getting lost. It was now Friday evening and all of 
them were sitting at one of the Common Room tables, working on their homework. 
Ron peered over Ash’s shoulder, who promptly covered his answers. Hermione 
frowned.

	“What are you doing?” Ash asked, pushing Ron’s reddish head away from him. 
Ron sank back into his chair.

	“Trying to copy, what does it look like? This is taking forever.” Ron 
pouted. Hermione rolled her eyes.

	“Why would you think about copying from me when this is only my first week 
here?” Ash asked. Ron shrugged his shoulders.

	“It gets worse at exam time. But I doubt you really know what studying 
is.” Hermione said jokingly to Ron. Harry chuckled, causing Ron to become 
slightly irritated. Ash rolled his eyes and continued working on his homework, 
now for Snape. They had to write about the uses and effects of the Confusing 
Potion and so far, only Hermione had even gotten far. Ash had gotten about 
halfway done when Hermione rolled up her essay and tucked it back into her bag. 
Ron eyed the bag but Hermione threw him a dirty look.

	“Don’t even think about it cheater.” Hermione snapped.

	“I just want to know what a Confusing Potion does!” Ron said in a 
thoroughly unconvincing pleading voice. Harry pushed Ron back into his seat.

	“It confuses people Ron! Honestly!” Hermione snapped.

	“It’s called being sarcastic, something you should try for a change!” Ron 
retorted. Ash leaned closer to Harry.

	“Do they always argue like this?” Ash asked. Harry chuckled again. Neither 
Hermione nor Ron noticed since they were still squabbling.

	“Yes. It can get annoying after a time. Overall you get used to it.” Harry 
replied.

	“I’m going to bed!” Hermione snapped. She snatched up her book bag and 
stormed up through the girl’s dormitory and out of sight. Ron watched her go 
with an irritated expression on his face.

	“I honestly don’t understand girls sometimes.” Ron said, shaking his head. 
Ash though he heard the faint slamming of a door. He yawned and rolled up his 
essay. Perhaps he would finish it tomorrow.

	“Ash. We’re talking to you.” Harry said. Ash blinked and looked around.

	“We were thinking you should try out for the new Gryffindor Beater 
position tomorrow. It’d be fairly easy to get you a broom if you made it.” Harry 
said. Ash considered the possibility. While he had already found out what 
Quidditch was, he wasn’t so sure if he actually wanted to try out to be on a 
team.

	“What are you getting at?” Ash asked suspiciously. Harry and Ron laughed. 
Obviously he was being incredibly stupid.

	“Obviously we want you to try out!” Ron snorted. Harry was still laughing. 
Ash thought about what it would actually feel like to fly on a broom. A faint 
smile crossed his face and he nodded at the other two.

	“I guess I could give it a shot. Nothing to lose really.” Ash said. Harry 
patted his shoulder.

	“Good decision Ash.” Harry replied.

************************************************************************

	It was just after breakfast the next morning when Ash strode down to the 
Quidditch field. Obviously nervous, he wondered if anything bad would happen to 
him during the tryout. Harry had warned of the accidents that Quidditch could 
cause which did not appeal to Ash to be perfectly honest. As he made his way 
into the pitch, he saw a number of fellow Gryffindors lined up alongside brooms. 
Ash tried to look like he knew what he was doing. The referee, Madam Hooch, 
waited for a few minutes for more stragglers. When none appeared to be showing, 
she turned to face them.

	“You are all here for the tryout of the Gryffindor Beater position is that 
correct?” Madam Hooch asked. There was a murmur of agreement. Madam Hooch nodded 
approvingly.

	“First will be a basic skills test. This is the part where if you cannot 
achieve what is being asked of you, you are eliminated. Everyone put your hand 
over your broom and say up!” She commanded. Everyone did as they were told. As 
soon as all brooms were in hand, she blew her whistle.

	“I want all of you to take off now. I have bewitched the brooms to bring 
the rider back down should they make a big error.” Madam Hooch told them. She 
blew her whistle and everyone took off. Ash was positively surprised by how easy 
flying was. Straightening his broom, Ash sped off towards the other side of the 
field and whipped around to come back. Ash could see some brooms flying towards 
the ground. Obviously some people weren’t the best. One person actually had 
tried to do a hand stand on their broom in mid-air and had nearly fallen off in 
the process. Madam Hooch blew her whistle again, signaling them to fly down. 
Only four other people besides Ash remained. The others were sadly tromping 
towards the Castle, their heads bowed or else looking towards the field with 
resentment. It was clear they all thought that Madam Hooch had been mistaking 
their potential as mistakes. Madam Hooch said an incantation and the broomsticks 
vibrated. The enchantment for the skill test had been removed. She then paced in 
front of them.

	“The last and final part of the test is the skill that you need to become 
the new Beater. I will test your ability against one of the Bludgers. Should you 
prove superior to the others, you will win the position. If not, obviously you 
will have to wait for tryouts again.” She told them. This was the part that Ash 
had been nervous about. He wasn’t at all sure how good of a Beater he was. He 
had gotten this far though so he should have a standing chance shouldn’t he? Not 
necessarily. The first two tryoutee’s missed almost every pass the Bludger made 
past them. They more seemed to be swinging at thin air more than anything. One 
actually somehow managed to swing the bat into his face, causing a big black and 
blue welt to form around his eye. Madam Hooch had blown her whistle and told him 
he needed the hospital wing. He grudgingly tromped off after he was told he 
would not be making the team. The third had more skill than the other two but 
still missed a fair amount of relatively close encounters. She had almost his 
the front of her broomstick off on a number of occasions. The third person 
landed, looking slightly anxious. Madam Hooch then turned to Ash.

	“Are you ready?” She asked. Ash nodded. Madam Hooch blew her whistle and 
Ash rose into the air. She blew her whistle again and motioned for Ash to come 
down. Utterly confused, he followed. When he had landed, she handed him a wooden 
bat.

	“You can’t really beat a Bludger without this.” She said with a smile on 
her face. Ash laughed and flew back into the air, this time with bat in hand. 
Madam Hooch blew her whistle again and released the Bludger. It pelted straight 
at Ash who swung with a huge force.

THWACK!!!!!!

	The bat had found its’ mark and had slapped the Bludger away from Ash with 
a sickening noise. The others below seemed to have winced as the Bludger came 
pelting at him again. Each time it attempted to swing by him, Ash stopped it and 
swung it in the direction it had just come from. Finally, Madam Hooch blew her 
whistle, signaling Ash to come back down. He was grinning from ear to ear as he 
had not missed a single shot.

	“I think you deserve the Beater Position. Do you accept?” Madam Hooch 
asked Ash. He grinned even more.

	“Sure. Why not?” He replied. Madam Hooch nodded and dismissed them. Ash 
made his way back up to the Castle, a bit farther from the rejected Beaters who 
seemed to be mumbling, probably about how he had “gotten lucky”. Ash didn’t care 
though. All he kept thinking was how he had earned a spot on a sport team when 
he was still learning the sport.

To be continued…

Okay. 4 pages is a bit out of hand. Okay, not really. Anyway, review! ^_^