JAMES POTTER AND THE VAULT OF DESTINIES

team, if I do say so myself. You may be just enough to push us over the top this year.'

       Zane screwed up his face in an effort not to laugh.

       'We'll put you Zombies in your place!' Norrick announced brashly from a nearby easy chair.

       Jazmine, the rather portly Veela, sat across from him. 'Er, in the nicest possible way, of course,' she said, and grinned sheepishly at Zane.

       'It takes more than excellent flying to win at Clutch,' Zane said lightly, not meeting Norrick's eyes. 'Zombie's magic game is going to be especially strong this year. What do you Bigfoots have planned in that department?'

       'Wouldn't you like to know!' the small boy, Wentworth, interjected from his own chair, sitting up straight and puffing out his narrow chest.

       'I sure would,' Zane agreed with a smile. 'And I bet you would too!'

       'Enough, Mr. Walker,' Wood sighed. 'Let's keep the trash talk on the course. Bigfoot House prides itself in an honest game, pure and simple. Good fundamentals are our primary strategy.'

       Zane shrugged and flopped low onto the sofa so that only the top of his head was visible. 'That's done wonders for you so far,' he said in a muffled voice.

       'Tomorrow is Saturday,' Wood announced, ignoring Zane. 'Let's meet at Pepperpock Down after breakfast, shall we? We'll give you a crash course on the basics of the game before the official practice begins. You'll be up to speed in no time.'

       'I'll come too,' Ralph smiled crookedly. 'And I'll bring my wand. You never know when it'll come in handy.'

       James shook his head ruefully but couldn't help smiling at the bigger boy. So much for his Saturday off, he thought, but it did feel quite good to be prized as a member of the team. He determined he would do everything he could to master the sport of Clutchcudgel in as short a time as possible. With his help, maybe the team could even win the tournament and unseat the reigning Werewolf champions. That would certainly put Albus in his place, if nothing else.

       'All's fair in love and war,' he muttered to himself as he climbed the steps to his dormitory room, Clutchcudgel rulebook in hand. 'We'll see how you feel about it when the tables are turned on you, little brother.'

       As the days passed and James attended Clutch practices with the rest of team Bigfoot, he did indeed come to feel confident that he might help propel the team to victory over the course of the year.

       'So now you know about the three positions in Clutchcudgel,' Wood explained to him as they walked back from practice one chilly autumn afternoon. 'Clipper, Bully, and Keeper. Clippers are the offense, Bullies and the Keeper are defense. You'll notice, though, that you haven't been assigned to any of those positions.'

       'Yeah, I did notice that,' James agreed, walking along with the grey breeze in his face. 'I've been playing every part in every practice. But so has everyone else. Even Mukthatch gets pulled out of Keeper every now and then, which I don't understand at all since those Bigfoot arms of his are about as long as broomsticks and as strong as tree trunks. What's the point?'

       'The point is, on Bigfoot team, everybody is trained to play every position,' Wood nodded, looking aside at James. 'That way we don't have any weak links. With the other teams, if their star Clipper gets sidelined by an injury or a well-placed hex, the whole team suffers the loss. A team is only as strong as its strongest player, you know. In Bigfoot House, every player is as strong as the others.'

       James frowned as he thought back on the skills of his teammates. 'Which is how strong, exactly?'

       'Well,' Wood replied, taken aback, 'strong enough, at least. Quite solid, if you ask me. The point is, if we lose one member of the team, any other member of the team is prepared to take their place. Even Mukthatch on goal. Harold Gobbins has nearly as good a reach and Jazmine Jade has the strength of any two boys her size, although she'd hate it if anyone knew it. Frankly, though, I'd be hard-pressed to find anyone as solid on the skrim as you are, my boy. You do your old dad proud. Why, I wager you might even beat him, skrim to broom!'

       Wood clapped James heartily on the shoulder as they walked and James grinned even as his face flushed. The two walked in silence for a while, passing knots of students as they made their way across campus. Finally, James glanced up at the professor.

       'So you knew my dad when he was a kid, then?'

       Wood laughed. 'That I did. Taught him to play Quidditch, just like I'm teaching you to play Clutch. Wheels within wheels is what it's like, eh? Fate has a sense of humor.'

       James was thoughtful. 'What was he like as a kid?'

       Wood looked down at James. 'A lot like you, I suppose. He looked a lot more like your brother, though.'

       'That's what everybody says,' James replied, shaking his head.

       'And I imagine you get right tired of hearing it too,' Wood agreed seriously. 'But to tell you the truth, I see a lot more of him in you, as far as the kind of man you're growing up to be. He was rather intense, but you couldn't really blame him, not after all he'd been through, and what with his family situation.'

       'The Dursleys,' James sighed. 'I've heard about them. A little, at least.'

       'You never see them?'

       James shook his head. 'Never once. Dad's Uncle Vernon died a few years back, and Dad and Mum went to the funeral. I heard that Petunia Dursley barely said a word to either of them, although his cousin, Dudley, was decent enough. Invited Mum and Dad both to his house for tea after the graveside service. Dudley's all grown up with kids of his own these days. Mum said that it'd be poetic justice like if one of Dudley's kids was a witch or wizard, but nothing of the sort, apparently. His wife was nice, although she didn't know anything about Mum and Dad being magical. She thinks they're insurance salespeople or something. That's what Dudley told her.'

       'One shouldn't be too hard on them,' Wood said stoically. 'It's rather a hard thing for many Muggles to deal with us magical folk. It puts their world a bit on its ear, if you know what I mean.'

       James shrugged. As they neared Apollo Mansion, he spoke up again. 'So what brought you here, Professor?' he asked. 'To the States, I mean. If you don't mind me asking.'

       Wood drew a deep breath and looked up at the grey sky. 'My parents, actually,' he answered on the exhale.

       James was curious. 'What for?'

       Wood looked down at him then, as if weighing how he should answer. After a moment, he sighed again and looked away. 'It's a bit complicated, I suppose. On the surface of it, they thought that if they brought me here, I could get a good advanced degree from the graduate school, further my learning, and become a teacher, like they'd always hoped. But that wasn't the real reason for the journey, really.'

       James waited, but Wood didn't seem to have anything else to say on the matter. Together, they approached Apollo Mansion where it sat like a giant brick beneath the low sky. Wind soughed noisily beneath the eaves and carried dead leaves up into the air. After a moment, James realized that Professor Wood had stopped walking. Curiously, he looked back to see the man standing in the middle of the narrow path, smiling very slightly.

       'My parents were afraid,' Wood said quietly, lowering his eyes to meet James'. 'I guess it's really as simple as that. You probably wouldn't understand it, but it was a frightening time to be a witch and wizard, or even a Muggle, although very few of them knew it.'

       Wood stopped again and looked away, out over the campus. He chewed on his words for a moment, and then went on. 'It was the time of Voldemort's return, after all. No one knew what was going to happen. The