|
|
Supporting Slytherin
Author: Johanna Steele
Date: 05-05-08 14:03
“And 10 points to Slytherin. A fantastic goal by Griet Vanderbilt !” Said Freya.
Johanna and the other Slytherins roared in euphoria. The atmosphere was really intense on that side of the tier. Green flags and scarves everywhere… Now and then some posters with a serpent.
Johanna hoped that her House won the cup. It was her first year in Hogwarts and it would be perfect going on holidays with the feeling of being part of the champion house. On the other hand losing would be like a humiliation for her. Her half- brother would tease her next time they met. Even now that he was in St. Emrys , John showed himself like an Hufflepuff and ,of course, an anti-Slytherin.
“Slytherin! Slytherin!”
Johanna joined her Housemates’ chants. The Slytherin’s supporters were in minority so the many noise and support they make for their team the better.
Not Going To Be The Reason (Alexa)
Author: Aaron Miller
Date: 05-05-08 16:09
Alexa had been extremely nervous before the match began. More nervous than when she played her first game. She's not sure why other than perhaps it's that this is the match for all the lasting glory. The match that will yeild a large trophy in one of the glass cases in the castle, engraved with the winning team's house and the year. Alexa doesn't want to be the reason that her team doesn't get that trophy.
As the game has progessed, her nervousness has slowly abated. Alexa knows that doesn't mean much. She could be calm, cool, and collected and still play badly. There are so many distractions. Family members missing. Friends with missing family. Friends who have no homes to go to once tern ends. Hogwarts staff who use curses indiscriminately and other horrible disciplinary tactics. Nons may be their main focus but they dole it out to Pures they feel deserving as well. The pressure and stress of final exams are already being felt even though Alexa's exams aren't until the end of the month.
It's all too much. Focusing on something like Quidditch has become increasingly difficult.
As difficult as it is to keep her mind on playing, Alexa forces herself. She keeps repeating that she will not be the cause of Slytherin's failure.
Alexa pulls herself together again, clearing her mind and bringing everything into sharp focus as Phin nears with the quaffle. She hadn't been paying enough attention to know how he got here so quickly and with the other chasers still only at mid-pitch. Phin lets the quaffle fly. Alexa blocks but the quaffle bounces off her fingers. Phin dives for it, nearly missing a bludger on the way.
The Ravenclaw rises swiftly from the dive, quaffle in hand, prepared to make another goal attempt. Another bludger sails past but this one is coming straight at Alexa. She dodges to the side then just as quickly darts back to where she'd been, once again preventing the quaffle from going through one of the hoops.
By this time the others have reached them. Mortimer flies by Alexa and takes the quaffle in an easy hand-off before shooting off towards the opposite end of the pitch. Watching the receding figures, Alexa starts repeating her mantra again about not being the reason Slytherin loses - IF it loses that is.
Frustration
Author: Phinfilius
Date: 05-05-08 16:57
Phin let out a groan of frustration when Alexa blocks both his shots. He'd managed to get away from the pack and getto the hoops all alone and she stopped both his efforts. Sure the score is only 10 to 0, Slytherin's favor but Phin would like nothing more than to build up Ravenclaw's score so that even if Slytherin gets the snitch, it's still a close game, possibly with Ravenclaw enough ahead that they would win whether Slytherin gets the snitch or not. It's happened before though none of the school matches this season have had a team with so many points that the team getting the snitch still lost.
Phin sprints after Mortimer then changes to going after Berengaria after Mortimer passes off to her. Phillipa send a bludger at him but Alastor intercepts and sends it at Griet who's moving in to take the quaffle from Berengaria. The bludger gets Griet and Deak ends up with the quaffle in a steal because Berengaria had already thrown the quaffle for the pass.
Deak pivots and in an underhanded toss, gives Jack the ball. Mortimer moves to get in close to Jack but Fritz runs interference, swinging his bat as though hitting a bludger but in really just keeping Mortimer from getting to Jack from that side. Phin comes in from that direction and Fritz gives him the room needed to help Jack work the quaffle down pitch.
Jack passes Phin the ball and in turn Phin passes to Deak. Phin ducks under Basil's dangling legs then climbs to put himself between the bludger Basil's hitting at Deak. Fritz gets their first, hitting the bludger away from Deak. Phin's glad of that, not really wanting to have purposely let a bludger hit him, even if it meant Deak got all that closer to making a goal attempt.
Deak cocks his arm back to throw the quaffle in hopes of putting Ravenclaw on the board when, in a very slick move, Griet plucks the ball right from his hand and steaks off for the other end of the pitch. Going low over his broom, Phin rockets at her, catching up then passing her. Cutting in front of Griet, Phin puts on the brakes, forcing her to slow down. She slows but also swerves around him then comes to a stop altogether when Alastor puts a bludger in her path.
Everything had happened so quickly that Griet hadn't gotten a firm hold on the quaffle nor had she tucked it safely against her body. Before she puts her broom in motion again, Phin steals the ball back, arcing around to start back the other way, more determined to get ten points on the board for Ravenclaw.
Goal (Deak)
Author: Kody
Date: 05-05-08 18:56
Phin passes to Jack, who ducks and rolls to avoid a bludger. Before coming up from the roll, Jack drops the ball down to Deak.
Deak zig zags around Mortimer and Philippa, leaning far to the left to get out of reach of Philippa's bat. She was in the process of swinging it and not where she would have seen Deak coming up on her so it was up to him to make sure her bat didn't knock him into next week.
Griet comes up fast but Deak's passing the quaffle off on his other side, effectively blocking her for the moment from stealing the ball. Jack swerves around Mortimer, tossing the quaffle to Phin as he does. Phin dodges a bludger sent by Basil then passes back to Deak.
Deak's path ends up being a semi-circle as he darts around bludgers, beaters, and Slytherin chasers. He passes again to Phin, getting bumped in the process by Mortimer, though it's not a foul. This makes the pass bad, the quaffle wobbling off kilter. Instead of going to Phin, the ball ends up going more towards Berengaria. She snatches it up, instantly away, heading back towards Megara and the hoops Megara guards.
Deak reaches Berengaria first, harassing her as best he can without getting a foul called. Fritz aids things by hitting a bludger into Berengaria's path. She alters course abruptly but doesn't see the bludger. It hits her solidly in the side and Deak's close enough that he can hear the loud expulsion of air from her lungs followed by her rasping gasp to breathe.
Deak uses the opportunity to pluck the quaffle from Berengaria's hand. With a series of passes between Jack, Phin, and Deak, the three Ravenclaw chasers work the quaffle back down to where Alexa waits. When the quaffle is within a good goal attempt range, it's Deak who is in possession. The wind chooses right then to buffet him around. Deak still takes the shot, compensating for the wind he hopes.
Alexa throws herself at the quaffle as it soars by but can't get her hands enough in the way of it to stop the shot. Deak elatedly pumps a fist and Freya announces, "Bennett scores! That makes it a tie game, folks at ten points each!"
Scowling (Basil)
Author: Jared
Date: 05-06-08 11:25
Basil's worn a scowl since Ravenclaw scored, making the game 10 to 10. He had little use for the clods. Worse though are the Nons mucking up the game, including the ones on his own team. At least wolf girl made herself useful by scoring Slytherin those ten points. Now if only her sister would get the snitch and end the game so the Slytherin celebration might begin.
He'd never say it to Cornelia's face, as she'd inflict physical pain on him if he did, that he feels sorry for her. It's bad enough having a Non for a sister but to have that sister also be a half-breed? Basil shudders at that thought. He thinks he'd deny being cousins with Etta and Jared if they were Nons much less foul half-breeds of some sort.
Swinging his bat back for a double handed hit to send a bludger smashing into the back of that worthless Non Jack Emerson, Basil's scowl deepens. He really wishes Gryffindor were in this game instead of Ravenclaw. Getting to hit his cousins with bludgers as often as possible would be a nice way to end this Quidditch season in Basil's opinion.
The scowl lightens when the bludger hits Jack with enough force to cause him to lose possession of the quaffle, something he'd stolen from Berengaria in the first place. Mortimer swoops in to grab the ball before it falls very far. His grip is tenuous at best so Mortimer quickly chucks the quaffle at Griet. She takes it firmly in hand, swerving to go around Deak. That Ravenclaw makes a grab at the ball but Griet's got it tucked in close.
Basil approaches a bludger at the same time Philippa does. In wordless agreement, they use the Dopplebeater Defense* to keep Phin from interfering with a pass between Griet and Berengaria. They can't help but grin at each other when the force of the bludger knocks Phin into a rolling spin. The pass is successful and now Berengaria is streaking towards Megara and the hoops.
Philippa and Basil go after the other bludger together, again using the Dopplebeater Defense but this time against Megara. Fritz and Alastor both sprint to block when they see what their Slytherin counterparts are doing. Alastor has his bat ready to hit the bludger off course and while he does do that, the energy of the bludger shoves him backwards.
Megara, determined this time not to let a bludger coming at her be the cause of her not blocking a goal attempt, put her trust in the two Ravenclaw beaters to stop the bludger shrieking her direction. She keeps her eyes on Berengaria, looking for telltale body language as to which hoop Berengaria's aiming the quaffle. Because of this, she doesn't see Alastor knocked backwards and ends up getting an accidental smacking from his broomtail.
The quaffle sails past Megara, cleaning going through the center of the middle hoop. Basil's scowl is completely gone now and the score stands at Slytherin 20 - Ravenclaw 10.
*Dopplebeater Defense Beater is a tactic which involves both Beaters hitting the same Bludger at the same time, resulting in a particularly nasty attack. from Quidditch Through The Ages
Wanting The Championship (Alastor)
Author: Aaron Miller
Date: 05-06-08 13:46
Putting the quaffle back into play, Megara winces. Before flying away in pursuit of a bludger to hit or in need of blocking one from hitting one of the other Ravenclaws, Alastor makes sure he hadn't seriously hurt her. If he'd had any inkling the double hit bludger sent at Megara by Basil and Philippa would cause him to hit the Ravenclaw keeper with his broom, Alastor would have tried to position himself differently when intercepting that bludger. Megara smiles to show she's not angry with Alastor nor badly bruised. Relieved, he turns, spots a free bludger, and darts after it.
Alastor fervently wants Ravenclaw to win this match so that he can say he was on a championship team. He may not ever get another opportunity. If things in this next fall goes as they did last year Alastor will have to try out for the team again and with him now being considered a Non, there's a good chance he'd not make the roster this next go around. For the first time Alastor feels bloody awful for taking away Coco Nutt's spot on the team and for having felt infinately superior at the time over his attitude of his then pureblood status granting him privilages and rights denied others. Things he felt he was owed simply because his bloodline was at that time considered to be an excellent one, without taint.
Reaching the bludger, Alastor lines himself up to put the ball where he wants it to go - Mortimer - and cracks it with his bat. He watches for a second to see if the bludger is on target then goes after the other bludger, which just come sailing through the pack of chasers without connecting with any of them.
Alastor swings around to pursue it so doesn't see that the first bludger hits Mortimer on the shoulder just as the green and silver clad player was in the process of raising his arm to pass the quaffle. The force of the blow throws off the pass and the quaffle literally drops straight into Jack's hands.
Winding his arm back to hit the other bludger, Alastor aims for Griet, who's fast approaching Jack, hand outstretched to grab the red ball away from him. Jack dodges Griet, passes to Phin, then shoots ahead to help clear Phin a path to Alexa. Phin hurls the quaffle at the hoop to his right but Alexa easily body blocks the shot.
Deak is first to the quaffle as it bounces free of Alexa. Fritz knocks a bludger at her but it's stopped by Philippa. Alexa bats the quaffle away from the hoops and there's a scramble to retrieve it. Berengaria emerges victorious, dashing forward to put distance between the Slytherin tended hoops and the quaffle.
Alastor beats Basil to a bludger, hitting the hard, black ball with as much force as he's able. Basil sprints after it to keep it from Berengaria, reaching it before it does any interference. Alastor's was already on the move so now he's the one flying to block a bludger. He gets there in time to keep the bludger from connecting with Deak's head, sending the ball right back at Berengaria.
Berengaria flings the quaffle to Griet half a second before the bludger clips her arm. Make a face, Alastor races to get to the bludger again before Basil, catching sight of Daria as he does, mentally urging the seeker to hurry up and find the snitch to bring the match to an end with a Ravenclaw victory.
Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are (Daria)
Author: Blossom
Date: 05-06-08 15:08
Other than a less than fleeting glimpse of the snitch about two minutes into the game, Daria's not spotted the little bugger at all. Cornelia may have but so far Daria's not sensed the younger girl getting a good bead on the winged ball.
With the school year being less than a happy one, Daria would love nothing more than to end her Quidditch career at Hogwarts with a championship for Ravenclaw. In the grand scheme of things, winning the Quidditch cup her seventh year is relatively minor. With the current state of things it would still be a very bright spot in an otherwise extremely dark year.
Daria diligently scans the air above the pitch for any glimmer of gold. At this point even jewelry down in the grass or the inside of a crisps packet would be exciting; however, there's nothing. Nothing sparkling. Nothing glittery. Nothing glimmering. Nothing remotely golden other than the bright sunlight in contrast to fluffy white clouds scudding across the sky.
Daria leans low over her broom when a bludger whistles by exactly where her head would be if Fritz hadn't yelled at her to watch out. She stays stretched out over the broom handle, thinking that with the way things are going she might as well stay that way and take a nap. That's when she finally catches sight of something gleaming and golden.
"About bloody time," Daria says with more than a hint of impatience.
Tracking the glinting object with her eyes, Daria remains stationary for a few seconds longer, making sure it is indeed the snitch. Then she's off in a blurred streak of blue, in hot pursuit of the prize.
(Cornelia) Go, Fight, Win!
Author: Griet
Date: 05-06-08 17:45
Cornelia flew up and down the length, width, and depth of the Quidditch Pitch, systematically searching for any sign of the golden snitch. Usually throughout the course of a match, she might spot it a few times before getting her hand on it. So far, Cornelia hadn't laid eyes on it at all. She'd begun to wonder if the snitch had ever even been released with the other balls, when she saw Daria darting after something out of the corner of her eye. Instantly alert, Cornelia abandoned her systematic search to verify that Daria was indeed in hot pursuit of the winged ball, and then she tore after it herself.
In the three years Cornelia had been at Hogwarts, Slytherin hadn't made it to the championships. Just before the start of the match, Griet had mentioned remembering that Slytherin had made it to the championships during her first and second year, prior to her joining the team herself. Both were glad now to have a chance at the Quidditch Cup themselves, but between the two, Cornelia longed for it more. She hated losing!
She navigated her way towards the runaway snitch, which flitted this way and that in an attempt to lose Daria. Cornelia knew that she would have less of a chance gaining on the snitch if she followed Daria's same course. Daria was more than likely to catch it if Cornelia played follow the leader.
Instead, Cornelia worked her mind as she flew, drawing up different paths she could take to cut off the snitch and catch it before Daria could scoop it up for Ravenclaw. Luckily, Basil noticed the seekers flying after the snitch and aimed a bludger at Daria. The distraction was enough to slow her down a little bit, but not by too much. Nonetheless, Cornelia gained some ground on the golden orb. She curved around to meet it, realizing that there was a strong possibility she and Daria might have a head-on collision.
Cornelia refused to give way, and neither did Daria. Practically leaping from her seat, Cornelia stretched her arm and fingers as far as they would go and charged for the snitch, just as Daria did the same. Too bad there wasn't any wind to give Cornelia the necessary push towards the snitch. Luckily, Basil was on top of things again. He aimed another bludger at Daria. This one cut right in front of her nose, causing her to instinctively flinch and pull the nose of her broomstick up. Cornelia flattened herself against the shaft of her broom, kept her hand out, and scooped up the snitch as she flew right under the bristles of Daria's angled broomstick.
Grinning wildly, Cornelia sat up and raised her hand up high so that all could see the shimmering, glittering golden snitch in her hand. Slytherin had just won the Quidditch Cup!
At The Game In Body
Author: Bailey
Date: 05-06-08 17:49
Bailey's been sitting in the stands since a good fifteen minutes before the players were introduced. He hasn't gotten up a single time during the match. Even so, Bailey could not more tell anyone what the score is, who's scored which goal, if there've been any fouls, if there've been any injuries of note, or how many times the snitch has been spotted.
Bailey's only at the pitch today because he knows he's under scrutiny and that attending the championship game is expected of someone who was on the Gryffindor team. Jane would be here as well, cheering on her team, if not for having slipped this morning and broken both her radius and ulna as well as some of the bones in her wrist.
Bailey misses Jewel. He'd said all along that he understood the reason behind what she and Doug were planning but had wanted her to stay, at least until closer to end of term. He thought that perhaps they could come up with a failproof plan for her to get out of Britain. Bailey wishes he had access to a time turner so he could go back and warm them.
Jane still has Doug. Sure, she can't risk seeing him, if he were still around that is. Phin's family helped Doug get to the States. Before that, for the short time Doug was still hiding in the restaurant in Hogsmeade, Jane nor Bailey dared go see him. They were both being closely watched - Bailey because of being the boyfriend of someone in Ministry custory and Jane because she's the girlfriend of someone identified as the girlfriend of a person wanted by the Ministry.
After Doug hadn't returned to school and after Professor Parkinson's memory was jogged of who Doug is by being shown a picture of him, the Ministry categorized Doug as a dangerous criminal. Bailey still finds it difficult to believe Professor Parkinson didn't show any sign of recognizing Doug's name despite the fact that he's one of her Muggle Studies students. Just goes to show just how much she looks down on Nons.
As soon as his parents had learned of Jewel's arrest, Lisbeth had owled Bailey about how thrilled Ian and she are that he's free of that undesireable girl. Bailey owled them back to tell them to feck off. All that accomplished was Lisbeth coming in person to let her son know that his parents understand that he's upset over the loss, in time he'll see what a positive event it really was, and they forgive him for everything. Do well on his NEWTs, make them proud.
People jumping up and down, either booing or cheering, didn't get Bailey's attention. They'd been doing that all match. It's only when the stands start to empty and Emerald Green taps Bailey on the arm that he realizes the match is over. Following behind Emerald to exit the stand, Bailey doesn't even know who won and can't find the energy to care.