Open It'll Be My Turn Soon Enough

[Oliver Harper]

It wasn't long until it was Oliver's turn to go to Hogwarts. He had heard about it all while his brother was here during his break, and the more Oliver had heard about it, the more excited he had become. Oliver was most excited for the Quidditch portion of Quidditch. He couldn't wait to do the Quidditch part of it all. His brother was an alternate on the Ravenclaw team, and Oliver knew he, too, wanted to be on the team. The boy was quite obsessed with the sport. Oliver stood in front of the Quality Quidditch Supplies store with amazement, his face almost pressed against the glass. The equipment in the store looked quite cool, and wish he could get his hands on it all. But all he could do at the moment was imagine himself playing quidditch with the equipment.

 

[Natsuko Hirano]

Natsuko had enjoyed her ice creams and getting to meet some new people. She was excited about the magical world, excited just to wander the streets, wondering if she should go and get her wand when she stopped in front of a store. She didn't notice the person who had stopped as well, her eyes trailing over the broomsticks in the window. Would Natsuko learn to ride one of those too? She looked at the craftsmanship, imagining the feel of the wood in her hands. "Wow," she said in a hushed wonder, still somehow failing to notice the boy.

 

[Oliver Harper]

Oliver had been so immersed in the store in front of him, he hadn't noticed there was someone near him until he had heard them speak. He kept looking at the few selected broomsticks that were placed in the window display. "So cool, aye?" Oliver says with amazed, eyes wide, still imagining himself on the broomsticks that were on display. "Do you play?" Ollie says as he then turns to the person, noticing that it was a girl who looked roughly about his age. He guessed there were a lot of people who were into Quidditch.

 

[Natsuko Hirano]

"So cool!" Natsuko replied enthusiastically. She then blinked a couple of times when asked if she played. She smiled faintly, rubbing the back of her head nervously. "I've never actually been on a broom," she said sheepishly. "But it looks really cool! You can just fly through the air and go anywhere you like! Wait," she paused, realising the boy had asked if she 'played' not if she 'flew'. "Is there a game with brooms?" she asked, extremely curious.

 

[Oliver Harper]

Oliver's jaw dropped a little when the girl mentioned she hadn't been on a broom before. He closed his mouth quickly. If his mum were here, she'd tell him off for being rude. But then it hit him that the girl may not have been familiar with the magical world. Oliver grins, and the girl speaks about flying on a broom. "That's exactly what it feels like, really. It's so cool!" Oliver grinned excitedly. He and his brother would fly a little in their backyard, which Oliver was always excited about. Oliver's grin went wider. Oh, he loved talking about Quidditch. It was his favourite thing ever. "Yup! It's called Quidditch! It's a really cool sport! One of my favourites actually"

 

[Natsuko Hirano]

Natsuko nodded, wide-eyed as she listened. "It sounds great! Quid-ditch?" she repeated, trying out the word in her mouth. She thought it was a bit of a funny name but at the same time very much shrouded in intrigue. "You play it then? Oh! Do they play it at Hogwarts? That's where I'm going. The one here, in New Zealand. I think there's another one somewhere else? But anyway, I'm really excited. Name's Natsuko, by the way." She didn't know if she'd be any good at it, but if it was a magical sport Natsuko would give it a go. Not that she was usually any good at any sport, but this one was different. It was for wizards and witches.

 

[Oliver Harper]

Oliver grinned as her listened to the girl. "Yup! That's the one!" Oliver says with a grin. Oliver didn't mind talking about Quidditch. He could go on for hours about talking about it. "Not so much, just some small fun games with my older brother. I usually like to play beater" Oliver says with a smile. He usually played some light games in the backyard with his older brother. They usually tried to get their younger sister involved, but she never had any interest in the sport or sports in general. "Yeah! They play it at Hogwarts! My brother was on one of the teams, on the Ravenclaw team to be exact" Oliver says with a smile. He thought it was cool that his brother was on the team, even though it was only for an alternate role. "I'm going there too! I'm Oliver. But you can call me Ollie if you want"

 

[Natsuko Hirano]

"Beater?" Natsuko repeated. "That sounds violent. It isn't tackling people and that sort of thing, is it?" she asked curiously. She wasn't a fan of violence, and generally liked everyone to get along - which wasn't really the point of sport, so she never invested too much time into it, but with a magical sporting she thought she might be swayed. "Wow, they play it at Hogwarts," she repeated. She was very impressed that Ollie had had a brother on one of the teams. "Oh that's so cool!" Natsuko exclaimed upon hearing he was also going to Hogwarts. "I'm really excited about going. I guess you'll be trying out for the team?" She took a mental note to call him Ollie - she thought that sounded good.

 

[Oliver Harper]

Oliver chuckled a little. "Just a bit violent. Not exactly tackling" Oliver explains, thinking of a way to explain it to the girl. "Basically, a beater holds a bat, and they have to use the bat to hit these balls called bludgers. They're crazy cos they move around like crazy. You have to aim the ball at other players" Oliver says, as he tries to explain, hoping that he has explained it the best he could. He wasn't exactly the best at explaining things. Oliver grins. "Yup! They have four different teams at the school for the different houses they have there" Oliver says with a nod. He had remembered when his brother had explained it all to him a while ago. "Yeah! I really wanna try out! I heard first years can't try out unless you get like really special permisson to"

 

[Natsuko Hirano]

"Oh," Natsuko said with wide eyes, listening. Maybe quidditch was a bit more violent than she'd originally thought, even without tackling. "So it's sort of like softball or baseball but the balls move and hit people?" she double-checked. She was a bit surprised but for some reason it didn't diminish her interest. "Oh, I've heard about these houses! Do you have an idea which one you'll be in?" Natsuko said excitedly, happy that she knew something at least in this conversation. "Special permission...Well, I hope you get in if they let you try out!" She wondered if she should try at all or just be a bystander. The latter might be safer, with these bludgers flying around hitting people.

 

[Oliver Harper]

Oliver nodded. "Sort of! Depends on the position you play. There's different. positions that do different things. You've got the beaters with the bats. The chasers are the ones who do the scoring at the goals with a different ball called a quaffle. A keeper, you watch the goals, trying to block the other team from scoring. And then you have the seeker. Seeker is an important job because they have to catch a small golden ball that has wings and zips everywhere. Once the seeker catches the ball, which is called a Golden Snitch by the way, the game is over and that seeker's team wins" Oliver says, trying to briefly discuss about the sport. He wasn't really sure if he had overwhelmed the girl, but he had the tendency to be unaware about that aspect anyway.

Oliver grins and shrugs. "I dunno what house. Nothing in particular, I'm not fussed. My brother is in Ravenclaw, the blue house. It would be cool to be sorted with him, but I don't think I'd be suited for that house" Oliver says with a chuckle. Oliver knew that he wasn't as smart as his brother and that the vibe of it all just didn't really suit him. "Oh thanks, we'll see" Ollie says with a grin. "Are you excited for Hogwarts? Any house you wanna be sorted in? Anything you're excited for?"

 

[Natsuko Hirano]

Natsuko nodded along, kind of wishing she had a notebook to take down notes because this was a lot to take in. Her eyes widened at the idea of a golden ball with wings. "The golden snitch sounds cool!" she said with enthusiasm. She imagined something really pretty. Gold was a nice colour anyway, and presumably that was the colour of something called a golden snitch.

"The blue one..." Natsuko really should have been taking notes because she couldn't exactly remember what that one was about. But it sounded like Ollie didn't expect to be in it anyway. "I'm really excited to just be there!" Natsuko said impulsively. "Just to be in a magical world sounds incredible. I guess classes will be important, but if they're like normal school then blergh." Natsuko wasn't big on school. "And I don't really know what house, I just hope they don't send me home and tell me it was a mistake!" Natsuko laughed. "But I don't think that'll happen," she said.

 

[Oliver Harper]

"The golden is so cool! It's so tiny, though, that it's hard to catch. And if you do see it, you only see it for like a second before it zooms away from you" Oliver says with a chuckle. He couldn't see himself being a seeker. It seemed like a hard job to do. Oliver quickly shook his head. "Nah, I don't think they'll send ya home. As long as you get the letter, you should be sweet, I reckon" Oliver says with a nod. Oliver hadn't heard anyone going to the school, and then suddenly turned down because it was a mistake. That sounded like a disaster. Oliver scrunched up his face. He wasn't the biggest fan when it came to schoolwork or academics. He wasn't the best at it, if he was being honest. "I mean, I reckon it's like normal school, just the classes aren't like maths and history, instead you have like charms and history of magic, and other subjects. I'm excited for charms though, that seems fun"

 

[Natsuko Hirano]

Natsuko looked impressed, thinking how small the snitch must be, and potentially how big the game area was. Did they have pitches like other sports? "That sounds tricky to catch! No wonder it's worth so many points," she said. "No more maths, that's a relief," Natsuko said cheerfully. "Did you go to, uh, muggle school or is there somewhere magical kids go to?" Natsuko asked curiously. "Charms," Natsuko repeated, trying to guess what that'd be. She'd seen the list of subjects along with books but wasn't particularly any the wiser. She was starting to feel a little bad that she knew so little, but Ollie didn't appear to mind explaining it all, which was a relief.