It was odd to see John standing there, giving the captain’s speech. It wasn’t meant in a bad way, but last year Louis had got used to Clark being the captain, and John being his fellow beater, albeit a far more experienced beater, and also the assistant captain. Still, in all the previous years he’d adjusted quickly to having a new captain, and he saw no reason as to why this year would be any different.

His musings were interrupted by hearing John refer to him and Jack as ‘sub-captains’. Aha! So John had talked to Jack, then, and presumably some sort of conclusion had been reached. John’s training plan sounded pretty similar to last year’s, so nothing too new there. And last year’s game had got them to the championship game, even if they hadn’t quite managed to cinch a win.

Louis wasn’t sure if he was meant to introduce himself or not, seeing as John had already vaguely done so, but he figured that it was good to make sure everyone knew that his face was that of Louis Valois, to avoid confusion. Once the introductions were done, he grabbed his broom and flew the three laps around the pitch. Age and experience meant that he was one of the faster fliers, so he decided to use the time before their next task productively.

“Hey Jack,” he said, walking over to stand next to the older boy. “What’s the situation with this sub-captain business? I hope you don’t think I’m trying to usurp you, or anything – I don’t know why Professor Carter nominated me as assistant captain, and I’m happy to step down from any sort of extra role if that’s easiest.”

Part of Louis wanted to be the assistant captain, of course. However, he was happy to wait another year in the interest of fairness. He was pretty much guaranteed to have his turn, anyway, and he didn’t want Jack to be disadvantaged just because the substitute professor had made a mistake. It wasn’t worth it, both for the sake of the team and for the sake of his friendship with Jack.