All he could manage was a nod. There was no way he was going to be able to say anything other than duh or naturally. As in his opinion if he was going to do something he was going to make sure he never looked bad at it. In his opinion bad days were best spent in bed, or somewhere else out of sight. To him unless it served his purposes to be average he had every intention of looking good.

Dakota said " Best not to think about it." Of course the fact that to him it was nearly impossible not to think of things like that. It was one of the side effects of his concentration to stay in the background. Which not only required looking good enough to be thought of positively, but also required purposely not doing things as well as he knew he could. Something that was rarely used for an excuse when he was not actually good enough to do them.

Dakota said " Exactly, spying will be at the next Slytherin practice if they bother having one. " As considering his house teams success this season part of him wondered if they actually practiced. Well, besides having them scheduled naturally. Not that he would ever say that especially around his housemates who actually played the game.

Trent's interest in trying out was going to help him a lot in his own quest to get on the team. Naturally he had no intention of telling Trent this until summer at the earliest. Though once he was home for summer he probably would forget to mention it then as well.

Now how to get him ready. Dakota said " Well you already have your brothers for practice avoiding bludgers. " It was certainly a good start and to much time with a bat in front of Trent would probably hint at how good he was at playing beater. Something that would work best as a surprise during try-outs. Dakota said " We are fifteen year old boys we are supposed to be into flying and sports. So practicing will gain us little notice. "

He had to toss the doubts of that out of his head as he continued " Plus as seeker maneuvering and speed is key so practicing could really be racing around the grounds on various school brooms. That was one of my mothers secrets to practice on different brooms so you can handle anything. Plus it forces good flying technique. " He would really have an issue if Trent went out for beater. As he was spilling more information than he was used to. At least his friend was doubting himself which made things easier.

Dakota said " Tryouts are in months plenty of time to think. Avoiding bludgers takes the same agility and speed that catching the snitch does. Just one your going away from and is easier to see." Now he had to figure out a way to get Trent's brothers to help. Naturally in a way that would prepare his friend for tryouts. Dakota said " They enjoy arguing with you a bit. So you can always bait them into it. Say they cant catch you or that they will miss aiming at you. Though be careful with the second one."

At least there would be plenty of positions open for the both of them.

off-hand answers are often rather deceiving.
as there is usually a reason they were not washed away