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Championship Match Underway (Theodosia)
Author: Viktor Krum
Date: 06-02-10 16:37
Guest referee Hilda Ruiz-Márquez, who used to be a professional player but is now a professional referee as well as an experimental potions mistress in Malaga Spain, has just signaled for a quick time out to check Daniel Gelson's broom after the Ravenclaw Keeper smacked into one of the goal posts when a bludger blow knocked him while Daniel was in the process of blocking the Quaffle on a goal attempt by Wiggy Hodfuffer. Hilda had been close enough to the incident to hear a crack she didn't like and from the way she's frowning, Theodosia takes it that Daniel's broom may not be safe to use for the rest of the match. Theodosia flies closer to have a look herself. After a moment she says, "Sorry, Daniel. It's going to need more than a quick patch up charm." Theodosia summons one of the school brooms and within minutes Daniel is on the replacement and the Hogwarts Quidditch Championship match is back under way.
The match began approximately a half hour ago in the usual manner with both teams taking the pitch as each was announced. There's Gryffindor, the leading scoring team this season, with captain and Keeper Ronan Eastwick, Beaters Blake Holloway and Ella Harville, Chasers Etta Wynbourne, Wiggy Hodfuffer, and Theosodia's sister Marjani Batuti, and Seeker Charisma Stone. For Ravenclaw there's captain and Beater Coco Nutt, Keeper Daniel Gelson, the other Beater Fritz Schnackenpfefferhausen, Chasers Deak Bennett, Jack Emerson, and Hadrian Rabnott, and Seeker Christopher Chant.
Coco and Ronan shook hands and bid each other good luck then got in place to be ready for when the Quaffle, Bludgers, and Snitch were release, with Ronan heading for the Gryffindor hoops to protect. Jack Emerson had been the first to gain possession of the Quaffle. In the thirty minutes since. it has changed hands a number of times with both teams making goal attempts though as yet, none have been successful.
As she watches Coco and Fritz working well together to team up to put more power behind batting a Bludger, Theodosia wonders whether next year's Ravenclaw Beaters will work as well together as those two. Gryffindor will have to find a new Keeper. Of the other two teams, only Emerald Green of Hufflepuff is also a seventh year. That doesn't mean, of course, that those four are the only ones who will be replaced on their respective teams or that everyone who played for Slytherin will be back on the team again come fall. For instance, she's not sure Slytherin will want Zuberi back even though he was allowed to remain on the team this term.
Hadrian Rabnott has the Quaffle now but Wiggy Hodfuffer has come close twice to stealing it right out of Hadrian's grip. Hadrian shoots forward, pulling ahead of Wiggy in a burst of speed and takes the opportunity of being free from Wiggy being all over him to pass. The Quaffle goes to Deak Bennett but Etta Wynbourne, with a cheeky grin at the whom most everyone knows by now is her boyfriend, grabs it out of the air before it's within Deak's grasp. She jets ahead, tucking the Quaffle against her side, heading back in the direction of Daniel Gelson.
Go Gryffindor
Author: Ella
Date: 06-02-10 18:04
When Julietta snatched the quaffle from Deak before he could get a firm grasp on it after Hadrian's pass, Ella changed tactics. Before, she'd been determined to deter the Ravenclaw chasers from getting any farther with the red ball. She'd also tried her hardest to protect her chasers so that they could do exactly what Etta had just done.
Now Ella needed to defend the Gryffindor chasers so that they could get all the way to the Ravenclaw goal hoops with the quaffle. She also had to take out anyone trying to prevent them from doing so. Fritz Schnackenpfefferhausen reached a bludger as it arced far and wide from the pack of chasers. Ella, spotting him and anticipating his movements, prepared to intercept the black ball before it could do any damage.
It did exactly what she thought it would–-made a path for Etta, who still had possession of the quaffle. Ella swooped in right on time and whacked the bludger hard, sending it on a course toward Deak, who obviously wanted the quaffle back, if his outstretched hands were any indication. The minute the bludger entered his periphery, however, he rolled away, narrowly missing the impact.
Ella allowed herself a quick moment to glance around the Pitch. She hadn't mentioned that Gryffindor would be going to the championship match to her father, in case he got it in his head to watch her play. She certainly didn't mind him coming, but she knew that he wouldn't come alone. Ella didn't care for Delilah, who didn't seem to care that much about Quidditch anyway.
Ella also hadn't mentioned the match to Zane. If she had, she knew he would be in attendance, and that he would be waiting for an answer from her about whether or not she wanted to renew their relationship.
Ella had mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, she was ready to move on and put Zane in her past, but on the other hand she had had strong feelings for him and felt like it could get rekindled if only she would let it happen.
Ella's eyes fell not on her father nor Zane, neither of whom were at the match today, but on Francis. Next to him was a very pretty girl, Ashleigh, who his parents had fixed him up with last weekend. Evidently, the blind date had been a total hit.
Ella had met up with Francis in the afternoon of the Hogsmeade trip. He had come to Burger Wizard on his own but with the most dreamy expression on his face. "Wow," he kept saying, over and over again. "Just, wow."
At first, Ella had made fun of him, in a loving and playful sort of way, but as the week went by and Francis continued to talk about all the wonders that were Ashleigh, Ella started to get a bit annoyed. Francis was supposed to be thinking about the upcoming O.W.L.s or even the championship match and the possibility of Gryffindor taking the Quidditch Cup, but not about some girl his mother wanted him to marry one day. Anyway, Ella didn't really care to hear all about someone she didn't even know.
Francis and Ashleigh weren't arm and arm or anything like that. There seemed to be a reasonable amount of space between them, but it was obvious from the brief look Ella shot him that Francis was absolutely smitten with the girl sitting next to him. Ashleigh seemed just as pleased to be in his company.
Ella hadn't formally met her yet, but figured she might after the match. Hopefully Francis and Ashleigh wouldn't be making lovey-dovey eyes at each other, or Ella might have to throw up.
She redirected her gaze to the game play, just in time to intercept one of the bludgers.
Mad, But Not Really (Jack)
Author: Kody
Date: 06-02-10 18:50
Deak is ticked at having the ball plucked away just as it was reaching him. He's not angry with Etta in the real sense of the word. It's the type of irritation against an opposing team that goes with competitive play. Anyway, Etta's his girlfriend so it's not like he would have stayed angry with her even if he really were pissed at her right now. Away from the pitch, they don't always agree on everything, what Saffron would say isn't always hearts and roses, and on the pitch, one of the things Deak's always liked about Etta is her competitive nature and her abilities at Quidditch. He can't really fault her for the misfortune of having been sorted into Gryffindor.
That gets Deak to wondering if Etta would be on the Ravenclaw team if they were in the same house and in what position. Having both Jack and Hadrian as the other two chasers this term has been great fun and it's hard to imagine having Etta in the place of either of them. Deak doesn't for once think Jack and Hadrian would still be on the team with Etta and he'd be the one off.
Etta's passed to Wiggy with Deak unable to grab the quaffle back. Wiggy's gotten in range of the hoops to take a shot through it's still far to throw, which means there would be a greater chance of the quaffle not making it that far. As Deak expects, Wiggy moves in closer. Deak dashes forward to put himself between Wiggy and the hoops, creating yet another obstacle for his Gryffindor friend.
Wiggy makes as if to take a shot only to quick as a blink throw to Marjani instead. Hadrian dives to intercept but misses, with the momentum from the dive carrying him into a barrel roll. That in turns causes him to narrowly miss being hit with a bludger aimed at stopping him from harassing Marjani.
Marjani's zooming forward so also doesn't git clipped by the bludger that wasn't meant for her anyway. Jack's doing his best to keep Etta covered as Deak stays on Wiggy. Hadrian rights himself and zips forward to try and keep Marjani from taking the goal shot. He can't reach her in time and she lets the quaffle go just as one of the bludgers does make contact this time.
The hit comes too late to mess up Marjani's throw but Daniel comes through, using his body to block the quaffle. It rebounds, with Deak scrambling to get it before Wiggy. Victorious, Deak clutches the red ball tightly against him and takes off with ever increasing speed in as straight a line for the other end of the pitch as he's able to fly.
Championship Game - First Ten Points (Blake)
Author: Charisma Stone
Date: 06-03-10 16:18
The game had started similar to every other game that had been played this year, however -this- was the game that truly mattered. It was the championship game, and decided who got the Quidditch cup at the end of term feast in a couple of weeks.
This was a good break, something to break the monotony of study sessions. For now, he needed to focus his attention on the game, ensuring that Gryffindor got the victory over the other team. But he knew that there would be no hard feelings no matter which team won or lost.
Currently, he was helping Ella Harville, the other Gryffindor beater keep the bludgers away from the trio of Gryffindor chasers when they were in possession of the bright red quaffle. All the while, the pair of beaters from Ravenclaw, seventh years, Fritz and Coco, were attempting to keep the quaffle in Ravenclaw's possession throughout the game.
High above all of it the pair of seekers hovered on their brooms - it ultimately perhaps rest on their shoulders as to who would gain the title of Champion this season. If one of them caught the little golden ball, it would be one hundred and fifty points and the end of the game. Charisma for Gryffindor and Christopher Chant were both scanning the pitch, patiently.
The passing of the quaffle - zig zagging back and forth between the six chasers on the pitch - bludgers being batted back and forth, trying to force the quaffle into a side change up and down the length of the pitch. One of the bludgers came toward Blake and he took a swing with the bat to connect with the bludger as the other was hit by Coco and sent to disrupt a pass of the quaffle from Deak to Jack - Blake's intention to send it into the hands of Gryffindor chaser Etta or Wiggy and Coco's intention was to deflect the initial bludger shot by Blake, and ensure that the quaffle remained in Ravenclaw's hands.
However, Blake's bludger would get there a moment or two before Coco's and the quaffle would be sent off its course and was soon enough in the hands of Gryffindor chaser Etta Wynbourne who was rapidly heading down the pitch. She passed the quaffle to Wiggy, before it was passed once more as they neared the Ravenclaw hoops guarded by Keeper Daniel Gelson.
Within minutes the quaffle was sent soaring, and Gryffindor would lead the game by ten points. The first ten points scored of the game! A cheer rose up and penants bearing the crimson and gold of Gryffindor would be waved. Soon enough, however the quaffle was back into play and all attention was back on the motion of Chasers and Beaters and the bludgers and that bright red quaffle.
Seeking the Snitch - Sweet Wrapper Count Seventy-Five
Author: Charisma Stone
Date: 06-03-10 16:34
Find the snitch. That was all she had to do. No pressure. Just like every other match that she'd played this year. Right? Wrong. This was like the ultimate quidditch game - the final game of the season, the Championship match and it was between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. Already Gryffindor had scored the first ten points of the game thanks to steallar work between the chasers and beaters, deflecting attempts to jostle passes and send the bright red quaffle into the hands of the Ravenclaw chasers.
She looked down from her higher vantage point and watched the constant back and forth, zig and zag of the chasers and beaters. Tongue dancing against her lips as she remained balanced on her broom - waiting, watching for a glimpse of that glittering golden ball that was worth one hundred and fifty points and would bring about the end of the game.
She changed her vantage point every now and then, never lingering in the same place for more than perhaps the span of ten or fifteen minutes. Even once of twice she was perched near Christopher Chant of Ravenclaw as they both hunted through the air.
However, at one point, down closer to the ground she caught sight of something glittery, guilded and rapidly moving. She darted toward it, closed her hand around it and cursed lightly beneath her breath - it was just another sweet wrapper. This brought her mental tally of all the sweet wrappers she'd mistaken for the snitch to seventy five throughout the current season.
Letting the wrapper go she would once more move upward, narrowly missing getting hit with a stray bludger before she would hover on her broom once more, shifting restlessly on her broom while she watched the game go on, all the while searching for the snitch in hopes that Gryffindor will become the champions this year.
How Could I Forget My Gloves? (Jack)
Author: Kody
Date: 06-03-10 17:36
His hand on the quaffle slick with sweat from where he'd stupidly pushed his hair off his brow and him not wearing any sort of gloves today has Jack attempting to readjust his hold on the ball while hurdling around the perimeter of the pitch as breakneck speed with Marjani so close he could probably, by turning his head slightly, whisper in her ear. He had had his gloves out to put on, intending to put them when putting his arm guards as. When he mentally retraces his steps, Jack cannot figure out how he managed to put on one without the other and not notice. He doesn't remember being that distracted but he supposes he must have been. The gloves can get slick but not like a bare hand can and especially a hand use to shove dripping hair off a dripping brow.
He feels the quaffle slipping a little more and grunts aloud at the effort to not drop it though with all the noise, including that of air whipping past ears as the players shoot around the pitch on their brooms, his grunt is hard for Jack to hear. Not that it matters what with the various noises all the players make while playing, not to mention the myriad of other sounds that go with any Quidditch practice or match.
Marjani's reaching to take the quaffle from him, pretty as you please, but tenuous grasp or not, Jack's not about to let her pluck the quaffle from his hand. He shifts his body lower over his broom while bringing the quaffle in closer to his torso, pushing it with the palm of his hand as much as carrying it in close at that point. Once he's got it right next to his stomach, Jack leans further over, effectively pinning the quaffle against him in such a way that he can wipe his hand off. It also serves to block Marjani from grabbing it because the only way she can get it now is if she reaches over and shoves her hand into the fold created by his chest and stomach, legs, and broom handle. That would be a deliberate foul and Jack doesn't think that's something Marjani would since it would keep the quaffle in Ravenclaw's possession without serving any purpose to Gryffindor and it would tick off her sister who happens to be Quidditch coach Theodosia Batuti. There are times when a deliberate foul would benefit the team making the foul. This isn't one of them so what's the point?
Jack's right and Marjani backs off slightly, sticking close enough to hinder at any opening she spots. She could still foul him of course but it wouldn't be intentional.
Hand somewhat dry now thanks to wiping it back and forth several times on part of his Quidditch uniform, Jack reaches to grab the quaffle from its secure spot so that he can pass off to Hadrian. Jack doesn't see the bludger coming that hits him in the shoulder but that's okay because he's already got the pass off. Hadrian makes a good catch, getting in front of Wiggy just when Wiggy thought he had an interception. Jack's teammate immediately tosses the quaffle to Deak who then shoots for a goal.
Much to the disappointment of all the Ravenclaws, Ronan blocks the shot by catching it. He puts it back into play with a pass to Marjani. Now it's Jack's turn to shadow her as closely as she'd shadowed him!
Back, Forth, Forth, Back (Etta)
Author: Jared
Date: 06-03-10 19:51
Gryffindor was able to maintain the quaffle all the way to the other end of the pitch. By then Wiggy had the ball and took a shot. Daniel's block came in the form of kicking the quaffle, which everyone could tell hadn't been how he intended to do it but for Ravenclaw that didn't matter. All that mattered was that the quaffle had been stopped from going through one of the hoops. The kick had sent the quaffle straight back to Wiggy, who'd thrown again only to have the shot go wide. It ricocheted off with Etta catching it, though Hadrian got fingers on it before it was obvious it was Etta's ball. She supposed at the time that he could have forced the issue and in turn that would have resulted in a blown whistle, either Coach Batuti or Referee Ruiz-Márquez taking it and doing a toss up. Seeing as how Etta's own shot also rebounded off a hoop after Daniel's hand knocked it off course and the rebound was caught by Hadrian, then maybe a toss up with have been the better option.
In the twenty minutes since, the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw chasers and beaters have been up and down the pitch several times. Neither Ronan nor Daniel has allowed the quaffle to get past, not since Daniel missed blocking earlier in the match. Gryffindor has the 10 points from that goal with Ravenclaw having yet to score. Etta wishes they could get more shots past Daniel but since they haven't had any luck with that, she's happy it's Gryffindor with the ten points on the board and not Ravenclaw.
Deak has the quaffle again with bludgers coming at him from two different directions. He hurridly passes but in his haste it's a bad throw. Coco gets to one of the bludgers but the other hits Deak before he's fully out of its path. Meanwhile, because of the bad pass, the quaffle went over Hadrian's head, just out of arm's reach. With the trajectory of the quaffle and Hadrian's position, there hadn't been time for him to go high enough to get it there nor was he able to jerk his broom around and go to where the quaffle was arcing downward. Wiggy and Marjani were both in the way for him to do that.
Marjani was the one who snatched up the ball, angling around to get back down to where Daniel awaits. Etta poured on the speed to get ahead, wanting to be ready for a forward pass should Marjani want to make a pass and have the opening for it. Before Marjani can do much of anything though, Hadrian's stolen the quaffle from her. Etta puts on the brakes just long enough to do a sharp whip around then races back to cover Deak.
Hadrian passes to Jack who moves the ball forward, getting the quaffle ever closer to Ronan's position. Deak keeps trying to move up to assist but Etta's flying in close, weaving, and bobbing, making it difficult for Deak to get around without having to go far wide. Deak climbs only to have Etta climb right with him. He tries diving but she sticks with him. At one point he grins at says loudly enough for her to hear over the wind whistling in their ears, "It's a bloody good thing I like you." Etta had laughed at that and grinned back but she also stuck to him.
Just when Jack looks to be setting up to throw the quaffle in hopes of scoring, he fumbles. This allows Wiggy to dart in and steal the ball. Wiggy wheels his broom around and starts racing back across the pitch. The other five chasers join in with Deak dogging Etta the whole way, much as she'd just done him.
Keeping Busy
Author: Ronan Eastwick
Date: 06-04-10 06:40
Ronan had lost count how many times the Ravenclaw chasers had tried to get the quaffle past him. They'd definitely kept him on his toes, though. There were games where he hardly saw any gameplay, and others, like the current match, where he constantly found himself in the middle of the action. He liked it this way, even if it meant that Ravenclaw might get the chance to score.
But so far they hadn't. Ronan had blocked every goal attempt, sometimes rather easily, sometimes not so much. He felt like he was getting a great workout and felt very sorry that this would be his very last Quidditch match ever as a member of Gryffindor. It would make a win bittersweet and a loss all the more disappointing. Ronan definitely wanted to end his run at Hogwarts on a high note.
Currently, Gryffindor had the quaffle, so Ronan could relax just a little bit. He knew there was always the possibility that Wiggy could fumble the ball or a pass to another Gryffindor chaser could get intercepted, or even one of the Ravenclaw chasers would outright steal the quaffle, so Ronan needed to be ready in case the pack made an immediate beeline right back towards him.
It seemed as if the Gryffindor chasers had a solid lock on the ball right now, though. Wiggy dodged between Coco, when she pulled in front of him to intercept one of the bludgers. He rolled out of the way when she tried to clip him with the ball. As he exited the roll, he handed the ball off to Marjani, who tore ahead on a fresh burst of speed. She flew over Deak as he tried to cut off her path and flew around Fritz when he tried to do the same thing Coco had attempted with Wiggy.
When she got within scoring range, she fired the quaffle at the same time Ella tried to distract Daniel with a bludger. He took the hit in his shoulder but managed to stop the quaffle with the palm of his hand. It fell back into play, but before one of the Gryffindor chasers would collect it and try again, Jack had the quaffle.
Ronan immediately got ready, even though the pack was on the opposite end of the field. He watched as the Ravenclaw chasers worked the quaffle across the Pitch. It flew quickly from hand to hand, sometimes almost faster than the eye could see. As they approached, he kept a lookout for the Ravenclaw beaters and the position of the black bludgers, knowing that they would soon be aimed at him.
In seconds, the pack was upon him. Jack had gotten hold of the quaffle again and made to throw for the left-most hoop. Ronan started to go for it, but then he noticed that Jack flicked his hand toward Deak. Ronan already started to shift position in anticipation of Deak's goal attempt, but then a bludger courtesy of Fritz struck him in the collar bone.
Ronan hissed through his teeth and tried to bat the quaffle with his arm, but the movement caused him even more pain. The bottom of the red ball nonetheless struck him, but it had been aimed low, and the impact caused it to bounce up and over and through the hoop.
Professor Batuti blew her whistle to call a time out, just as the announcer shouted, "Bennett has tied up the match, 10-10!"
The Quidditch coach flew over to Ronan to make sure he was okay. He thought maybe he'd broken his collar bone, and though it was painful, Ronan thought it would probably subside a little after a while. He didn't want to sit out the game, and though Professor Batuti looked a little skeptical, she allowed him to stay in for now.
She blew her whistle to resume the match.