She sat down beside him. Then she noted that Mahou's hat had flown off and was sitting looking rather forlorn. The Irish girl's elven ears were visible. It wasn't clear whether Mahou had noticed in the heat of the game.

Nimue took out her wand, "Accio Mahou's Hat!" The hat flew into her hand. She hoped she might get Mahou's attention - maybe the girl could do some fancy seeker move and pluck it from her hand. However, Sarah Taverner couldn't have failed to notice Mahou's ears which meant the entire school would probably hear about it at dinner!

*********

Jian tentatively raised his hand. He did not know why he did so. He was very surprised to hear himself speak in a clear voice:

"Madame Hooch? If you will allow me, might I be given the chance to act as a Chaser?"

He stole a glance at the blank-faced Japanese girl hovering by the goals and realised he had not done anything like this before.

Madame Hooch looked at Jian with a little impatience. Why couldn't students do as they were asked, quickly and efficiently.

"Yes, yes, I supposed you can. Then Shinrei can be chaser for you. Come on then, we don't have all night you know. It's going to be dark soon."

The Quaffle felt strangely soft in his hands, as if the barest thought would allow him to shape it as he willed. Jian nodded wordlessly at Madame Hooch's remark, and obediently directed his broom forward. Why did the world suddenly become so silent, as if the breeze was waiting, too, with bated breath?

Shinrei found it difficult to hide her surprise when she heard him volunteer to become Chaser against her. Her grip considerably tightened on the handle of the Rakurai and she could feel something like a battle of heat and freezing cold inside her.

"So be it, Hupi-san," she said softly, in Japanese. "Kossawa against Mian-Ju-Tao, ne? A strangely fitting thing to happen."

Instinct took over as her eyes locked firmly and keenly on the approaching Jian. As in all other fights, a good warrior needed to read his or her opponents' moves to be always one step ahead. Kanjou had once said that the only way to win a battle is to be one with your opponents' soul.

Think like him. Think like Jian.

As she watched him in her usual blank fashion, she found it difficult to fathom him. He was moving with a serenity and certainty that seemed out of place in Quidditch.

Jian also did not know what to make of the Keeper who was ready to defend the hoops. Too empty. There was no challenge, no fear, no courage, no readiness in her stance and her face. She was like a beautiful stone effigy, but so remarkably light it had been swept up by the breeze.

She looked like this back on the train, he thought. Right after she received news of her betrothal...she looked like this. But he decided quickly.

Jian bent his body low over the handle, allowing the broom to accelerate. He charged straight for the goal at the centre. It was a simple plan. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line.

Hsing Yi, Shinrei realised, a technique that believes a line is the most direct and powerful attack. //Jian practices Hsing Yi?// The only difference between him and an actual Hsing Yi fighter was that he was on a broom and his "weapon" was the Quaffle, but all the same...

The Rakurai sped smoothly towards the centre of all three goals. Shinrei steered it forward. Better be closer to him, not to a goal. He might see an opening if he knows I //know// where he will shoot.

She knows, he thought, just as I expected her to. He charged on, then raised his arm with the Quaffle, then made a move to release it---

Shinrei reacted. To the left. A straight path to the left, very fast, aiming for the centre goal. She directed the Rakurai sideways. She had to catch the Quaffle with both hands, to be sure--

It was the moment he was waiting for. From his straight path, Jian very quickly steered it almost off-course, lurching slightly in the air. The path turned into an arc, steering him and the Quaffle towards the goal to Shinrei's right. He had faked the Hsing Yi--

The change of course became evident to her a few milliseconds later. Of course. Hsing Yi does not fit him. He is //not// like that. Shinrei, too, changed directions fast, but fluidly, thanks to having such a special broom--

Jian threw the Quaffle, the ball tracing a rainbow-shaped course through the air. It was a fair enough shot for him, but to everyone else the ball looked more like a red rocket from his strength. Could she defend the goal still--

He blinked.

She dived for the Quaffle. She held her breath, made an entreaty in her subconscious. //Make me quick enough to reach it. My arms may be short, but...//

There was a distinct swishing sound, followed by the slap of flesh on a harder object.

Shinrei was hovering by the goal previously to her right, hugging the Quaffle close. Her slender shoulders were heaving slightly.

She had defended the goals against him. His eyes widened with amazement. //She might have realised my tactic at the very last moment...//

"You do not practice Hsing Yi, Hupi-san," she said. "It does not seem to suit someone like you."

The sides of his mouth quirked upward in his version of what was supposed to be a smile. "Mian-Ju-Tao advocate Bagua Zhang, Miss," he replied as she came closer. "The circle, the yin and yang, and the harmony in all things."

Nodding to Madame Hooch and gesturing that she and Jian were switching places, Shinrei flew past Jian and waited for him to take the Keeper position.

Shinrei did not look at the others watching their little "one-on-one." She could //feel// many eyes on her. She was certain there were whistles when she caught the Quaffle.

She was thinking about Bagua Zhang. She knew this technique in theory and its integration into several martial arts forms she was actively training in...but she had never met an actual practitioner before. Then again, she had never met someone like Jian Hupi before.

Jian directed the Cleansweep to the front of the goals, hovering to and fro a little uncertainly. He liked flying fast better. It gave him a sense of freedom, and even a bit of feeling invincible, as if he was a spirit with no earthly ties.

Shinrei turned to face the goals, the Quaffle still clutched tightly to her body. Kanjou had always said that never release a weapon unless you were two-hundred-percent certain it would hit the target, or else others will take advantage of your uncertainty and take the weapon away from you.

It was no different in Quidditch.

She gave Jian a slight nod of her head, an indication that she would begin the attack. An honourable gesture in battles.

Jian watched closely as she began to fly towards the goals in a lopsided sort of cutting motion, veering from left to right, as if trying to create the illusion that there was more than one of her. Perhaps to the untrained eye she would indeed appear to have doubled.

Shinrei watched his reactions closely. He was still too focused, rapt in expecting the unexpected. She felt very comfortable in her zigzagging motion now, her eyes never leaving the target. The Quaffle relaxed in her grip, sliding between her palms, as if she was praying and the ball was a string of beads.

//Hupi-san is left-handed,// she thought. She would shoot on the goal to his left. Most people would shoot to his right if they knew that. Something she once learned about people...their weaknesses were truly the source of their strengths.

Jian caught something like realisation flit across Shinrei's face. Something about //him//. He steered the broom forward.

Shinrei lurched in the air as she commanded the broom to pull upward. Draw him away from the goals...

Jian followed, hovering on the same level with her.

It was the moment she was waiting for. It was a Chaser attack she had made over the summer. Being one with the Quaffle, she called it. Being //the//Quaffle.

In exact antithesis to her movements before, she directed the broom in a very straight line towards him, set in a direct collision course.

Blessed Buddha. What was she doing? Jian felt his heart stop when he saw her charge towards him. What was she thinking? It was a dangerous move--

And she was loving every moment of it. Shinrei charged on. It was a simple plan--get as close as possible then force the Keeper to get out of the way to save his life. Something in that regard. The beauty was in the execution.

He saw the determination in her eyes. He had never seen her so passionately absorbed in doing something.

Jian was more than willing to face up to that determination. He had not been //chosen// at random to go to Hogwarts. He was selected because he had...determination. The Sorting Hat saw that in him.

"Come here, syaujye," he whispered, using an old Chinese honorific in addressing a young woman. It was a battle of wills and he would not be the one to back down.

//Kami-sama, he would not budge.// Shinrei changed her strategy at the final moment, dropping the height of her broom's flying level and cutting back on speed.

One shot. It was very clear--

It was a change of tactic, he thought dazedly--

It was time. Shinrei drew back her arm for momentum, then threw, aiming for the centre goal--

//The centre of the Bagua Zhang circle is the most vital, yet the one that has to be the most carefully guarded.//

The adage flashed in slow motion in his mind as his eyes followed the direction of the Quaffle.

//Guard your centre, more than you would your life. Only your centre will make you whole, complete.//

There was no other way to describe what Jian did. He dove for the Quaffle, his right arm outstretched, not caring if the broom could take the sudden change in direction.

Shinrei watched, riveted, as Jian made a very risky dive for the Quaffle. He and Quaffle tried to outrun each other to the goal.

It may be too late, but there was only one way to find out...

He stretched his arm, his eyes narrowed. "Come here, Quaffle," he whispered. One final intake of breath, one final exertion of pure will, one final contract of his body with the elements before...

When his vision cleared, he was holding the Quaffle tentatively in both hands, staring into space. He floated a few meters away from the goals. He had caught the Quaffle, but barely...

On the earth below, he could hear his Hufflepuff friends cheering.

"Sugoi." Awesome. This was the only word Shinrei could say, very softly.

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

For his part, Anders didn't even seem to notice Mahou's little dilemma. He watched quietly, his attention flitting around the sky from player to player, his blue eyes intent on what was going on. The hand that held Nimue's never once moved, except to occasionally stroke the back of her hand with his thumb.

He pulled out his scrap of paper and, with his free hand, began making more notes. He had a fairly good idea now of how the two teams would go and he nodded across to signal to Madam Hooch that it was, perhaps, time to call an end to the trials.

As the last two keepers tried their positions Madame Hooch watched. When they were done she moved to the centre of the pitch and blew her whistle.

"Listen up!" She quickly gathered the students around her and explained how she wanted to re-arrange the chasers and beaters in the two teams.

After a few more demonstrations of different students playing chasers and beaters she was happy that she knew enough about the various flyers to make the choices.

She blew the whistle again. "Thank-you all for coming. I think we have seen enough now. The results will be on the notice board as soon as we have finalised them."

With that she turned to Anders. "Shall we find somewhere more private to discuss the outcome?"

Anders nodded and gave Nimue a lingering kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you before I leave to go home," he promised. "I have a mass of studying to do, but I reckon I can afford to take half an hour out."

He got to his feet and joined Madam Hooch, his hastily scribbled list clutched in his hand.

Nimue blushed slightly at the kiss and nodded her agreement to see Anders later. She then walked over towards Mahou Amberstone with the Irish girl's hat in her hand.

Morticia rushed over to Nathan and Drake and they chattered about moves and everything concerning Quidditch, quickly ending at discussing teams and star players. Then they walked back into the castle, where Drake left them for his study/bedroom and the two Lagrands moved on to the Slytherin common room.

Likewise Sarah having been pronounced merely bruised rather than broken bounded over to where Kat and the others had landed.

"That was brilliant play. Luis, if we'd been playing on the same side I'd give you a hug but as my right arm is still a bit dangly I don't think I could do it justice. Kat, you *have* to make the team!"

She looked around for Nathaniel and Raphael not wanting to leave them out of the discussions.

Note: The outcome of the trial and the continuation of this evening continues in Transcript 43.