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Championship Match
Author: Viktor Krum
Date: 05-16-19 18:04
Anticipation is high for today's championship quidditch match. Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw faced off for the cup last year with Ravenclaw emerging victorious. The Ravenclaw players are determined keep the championship title. The Hufflepuff team is equally determined to claim the 2012-2013 Quidditch Cup.
For today's game Viktor is assisted by both Marjani and Pyrrhus Fine. Theodosia wanted to help but took a spill late yesterday that resulted in a fractured wrist. She's not allowed to fly, even though it's only for refereeing, for another day or two to give the Skele-Gro time to full heal the bones.
Once more Ollie Choate is the game's announcer and once again Fleming Olofson is broadcasting on a WWN station to a wider audience.
The Ravenclaw players - chasers Chloe, Seth, and Jordan, followed by beaters Kurt and Noah, then keeper Eileen, and seeker Bran - emerge from the locker room, zipping around the pitch as Ollie calls out their names. They're followed by Hufflepuff's players: beaters Conrad and Tessa, keeper Rex, seeker Bertie, and chasers Cornington, Kaycee, and Duncan. As the name of each player is announced, the stadium erupts into loud cheers, Ollie playing up to the crowd.
Captains Duncan and Kurt meet with Viktor, shaking hands and nodding as he reminds, "Let's play a clean match."
The players take to the air and the balls are released, the red quaffle last, Viktor sending it soaring up, up, up to be converged on by the six chasers, Viktor on his own broom intently watching the action to see who takes possession first.
(Tessa) Ready to Win It All
Author: Bronwyn Dewhurst
Date: 05-17-19 16:51
Tessa was glad to be in the championship match once more, though she was hoping for a better outcome this year. The Hufflepuffs were still riding high from their recent win over Slytherin, so they felt like their chances were good at claiming the Quidditch Cup.
Tessa herself was especially hoping for a win, because Will, Kate, and Kate's boyfriend Mark were in the stands. Mark was a former Slytherin and probably would have preferred to see his own house in the final match, but she knew she probably had his support all the same.
She had written Will to invite him to the match and had extended the invitation to Kate and anyone else who might like to come. Tessa had been tempted to mention what Magnus McCourt had done in her letter to Will, because she generally felt comfortable talking to him about anything, but she didn't end up including any of it. It was probably better as a face-to-face conversation, or maybe she'd just tell Kate about it later.
After Blakeney learned about the peeping Tom incident, she dreamed up an elaborate story about how Magnus, though only a second year student, probably had a huge crush on Tessa. Being an investigative reporter for the Hogwarts Herald, he certainly knew she didn't have a boyfriend and thought he would take his chances, even though their age difference wasn't exactly small.
Tessa, as usual, didn't agree with Blakeney's wild imaginings. She figured he'd made a mistake as soon as she saw the look on his face after Kaycee pointed her wand at him. He'd probably been after a story and had wound up in the wrong place at the wrong time. Poor kid.
The quaffle went into the air, with Duncan being the first to get a firm hold on it. He immediately lobbed it to Cornington, who passed it long to Kaycee. Cornington almost over shot, and the quaffle seemed to bounce on Kaycee's fingertips a little bit before she someone managed to get her around it.
Tessa, meanwhile, made a beeline towards the bludger Kurt just aimed at Kaycee. She intercepted it easily and batted it towards Conrad, who redirected it at Seth when he closed in on Kaycee. Kaycee held onto the ball for only a moment longer before launching it at Duncan, but Chloe plucked it out of the air, turned her broomstick abruptly around, and zoomed for the Hufflepuff goal hoops.
Tessa raced for a bludger simultaneously with Noah, reaching it just moments before he could. She batted it at Conrad, who was nearer to that one than the other one. He knocked it hard towards Chloe, but she changed course enough so that the black ball merely tickled the bristles of her broomstick. She wobbled a tiny bit, but she held firmly onto the quaffle.
Suddenly, the other bludger cut right across her path, causing her to put on the brakes so severely that she nearly flew forward over her broomstick. She dropped the quaffle in her urgency to grip onto the shaft of her broom, allowing Duncan to scoop it up and turn around towards the Ravenclaw hoops.
Duncan drove hard for the goals, with Kaycee and Cornington quickly falling into formation on either side of him. Kurt picked Kaycee off with one of the bludgers, which Tessa then whacked at Eileen, just as Duncan let the quaffle fly. Eileen took the bludger just below her shoulder, and got nudged back a little bit from the impact. The quaffle sailed through the hoop without touching any rim.
"Dippet scores! Hufflepuff leads the championship match!" Ollie cried out.
McCourts at the Championship Match
Author: Sophie McCourt
Date: 05-18-19 03:06
Despite the fact her sister Eileen was playing today, Sophie wanted Hufflepuff to win. Her last year at Hogwarts was almost at an end and she couldn't think of a better way to end it than with the Great Hall decorated in yellow and black. Eileen was a second year, so she still had a lot of chances to become a champion again.
Jasper had come to watch the match with her. Sophie had still some NEWT study to do, but she just couldn't miss this match. Jasper had committed himself to the Hufflepuff cause, and he was wearing bright yellow robes, for the occasion. That made Sophie love him even more. The two of them were seated together and they celebrated when Duncan scored. Then Sophie realized that she could be at the pitch today, and her smile died.
"What is wrong?" Jasper promptly asked, noticing the change in his bride's face.
"I just miss playing Quidditch," she told him in a low voice. She didn't want Jasper to be upset with her.
"It's all right darling, I understand. But I am really glad you are not playing." He passed his arm around her. "I like to have you here, closer to me. You know how it worried me to see you up there, knowing you might get injured. I just didn't want you to get hurt." He did not tell her how he was afraid a bludger might damage her pretty face or her body. He did not wish to have an ugly wife.
Jasper kissed Sophie's cheeks and his words were enough to rest her. She smiled again, and they continued to watch the match.
Patricia too was at the stands. She had planned to stay on the library and study for her OWLs but Hercules convinced her to see the match. His argument was that it was not everyday your house was present at a Championship match. He knew what he was talking about because it has been years since Gryffindor had such a chance. Hercules also told her she would be supporting her sister Eileen. When Duncan scored the first goal, Patricia politely clapped her hands, but without much enthusiasm.
"What are you doing?" Hercules asked. "This is not some fancy show where you have to clap your hands not to offend anyone. This is Quidditch and you're a Ravenclaw! Your poor sister was hit by a bludger. Next time they score, you boo them!"
Patricia laughed.
"I am not a savage. I have manners."
"There isn't such a thing in Quidditch," Hercules told her. Yet he was charmed by Patricia's poise."Just look at Belinda."
Belinda had taken a seat not far from where Patricia and Hercules were. She went to see the match with Julia Vernon and other fellow Slytherins. Naturally, Belinda was supporting Hufflepuff, because of Conrad. She would rather be the girlfriend of a Quidditch champion than to have Eileen being the first of her siblings to be twice a champion.
"Go Ellis! Yes, that's it, smash them!" she shouted when his bludger hit Seth on the back, making him drop the quaffle. She blow him a kiss. She was proud of her boyfriend.
But something that made her even prouder was her nomination as the next leader of Team Delta Echo. Belinda had accepted right away Malden's nomination and he was already training her for the next school year. One of her main tasks would be the recruiting of new members. Belinda was very relieved to know that the Dark Lord and the Death Eaters were all right. Maurice's dark mark had impressed her for she had never met a Death Eater before. She too wanted to get her dark mark. However she felt bad for Sam, that is Menelaus McGonagall. The truth of his identity did not bother Belinda at all. He was very eloquent in his speeches and his words had touched Belinda. She hoped he would be released soon.
While her sisters were watching, Eileen was playing. After the first goal, she wasted no time and offered the quaffle to Jordan. Jordan gained some altitude to avoid colliding with Cornington who was blocking his way. He then kept flying toward the other side of the pitch, the nose of his broom turned down, as he recovered the previous altitude. Cornington managed to catch him, and before the Hufflepuff chaser could try and steal the quaffle, Jordan throw the red ball to Chloe. Chloe caught it, and held the quaffle tight under her left arm. Kaycee flew next to her but sensing her presence, Chloe swapped the quaffle from one arm to the other. Then after flying a few more meters she passed the quaffle to Seth. He sprinted with his broom, and he was getting close to Rex. Eileen watched, hoping that soon the match would be tied. Unfortunately, Conrad had sent a bludger that Seth was not able to dodge. It hit Seth's back and feeling the pain, he was not able to hold the quaffle. The red ball descended at great speed. Seth tried to amend the loss and went down to fetch it, but Duncan was there as well and he won the duel. The Hufflepuff captain got the quaffle and the direction of the match shifted.
Eileen watched as the chasers approached. Duncan passed the quaffle to Cornington, who passed to Kaycee, who then passed it back to Cornington. Eileen's eyes were locked on the quaffle. Noah sent a bludger to Cornington but Tessa deviated it with her bat. The bludger had been meant to hit Bran, but he easily get out of its way. His search for the snitch had been interrupted for a few seconds, but luckily during that time Bertie did not caught any sight of the golden snitch.
Cornington still had the quaffle and he passed it to Kaycee. She was very close to Eileen's position, and she thought Kaycee was here for a possible rebound, and that Cornington would either try to score or that he would hand the red ball to Duncan who managed to get free from Jordan who was covering him. Kaycee got the quaffle and shot to the very hoop Eileen was in front of. Kaycee seemed to have a surgical eye, for the quaffle was sent to the down left corner of the metal hoop. Eileen tried to defend using her foot, as it made no sense to use her hand, because she would never get there on time. Unfortunately her footwork was weak, and the quaffle slipped into the hoop.
"Sickleby scores! Hufflepuff is getting closer to the title!" Ollie exclaimed to the cheering crowd.
Eileen frowned, quite upset. So far the match was not being very promising to Ravenclaw.
As Eileen passed the quaffle to Seth and the match continued, Elmer too was not happy with the result. Today he was supporting Ravenclaw, because Eileen was playing and he wanted his sister to win. He looked down to the trunk of spare Quidditch balls on the floor. Elmer had been responsible for the third bludger, on the match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. He had assisted Coach Krum the night before polishing and storing the balls. Unfortunately, he did not lock one of the bludgers properly. The bludger went loose during the match, and Elmer felt very guilty. He even left before the match ended, indisposed. He was sure he was going to be punished for what he did and that his house would loose points on his account. He decided not to tell anyone about it, but as time passed he got consumed by guilt. Since that day whenever Coach Krum asked him to assist him with any Quidditch equipment he would refuse. Yesterday he made the same request to Elmer and not able to control himself he started to cry and confessed everything to Coach Krum. As a Gryffindor he had been brave enough to confess. If he were a Slytherin he would most likely never say a word about his actions.
Coach Krum wasn't mad with Elmer. In fact, he taught him a simple spell that would reinforce the bludgers' straps, so they would not get loose. Everything ended up well, and he looked again at the trunk, hoping his spell had been good enough and this time no accident would happen.
(Conrad) Ouch
Author: Ellis
Date: 05-18-19 06:52
After Kaycee's goal, Conrad shot a quick look into the stands, where he knew his father was sitting with younger siblings Gavin and Haley, who were starting at Hogwarts in September. Alys, Blakeney, Daphne, Emily, and Franklin were also seated there. Blakeney was dressed in Hufflepuff colors, while Alys and Franklin were wearing blue in support of their own house team, Ravenclaw.
Conrad supposed he couldn't blame them for wanting Ravenclaw to win, but he had a pretty good feeling that they would leave the match disappointed today. Already, their faces showed some signs of disappointment. After all, Hufflepuff was ahead by a solid twenty points.
Conrad also quickly looked around for Belinda, who was seated with some of her Slytherin friends. Last weekend, they had gone to Hogsmeade together, but had parted ways briefly so she could attend a top secret meeting with her band. She'd returned to Conrad looking extremely pleased with herself and only alluded to the fact that the band had big plans for the future. Conrad didn't ask any prying questions. He was just glad that she was happy.
Now that Seth had the quaffle, Conrad raced after one of the bludgers and gave it a quick, hard whack at the Ravenclaw chaser. Seth, however, threw the ball to Chloe, who passed it on to Jordan. Jordan swerved to avoid Duncan, who deliberately cut across his path, and then passed the quaffle back to Chloe.
Conrad and Noah converged on the same bludger. Noah got to it a mere second before Conrad, who was just slightly behind and off to the side of the Ravenclaw beater. When Noah swung his bat back to strike the bludger, he ended up hitting Conrad across the face. Conrad felt pain blossom across his nose, which started to bleed.
Referee Pyrrhus Fine blew his whistle to call a time out and flew over to check on Conrad's face. He performed a simple spell to stop Conrad's nose bled. Conrad assured him could still play, even though his face throbbed, and after a brief assessment, he was cleared to continue in the match. Referee Fine blew on his whistle, resuming the match.
Conrad's face and the front of his robes were a mess. He tried not to think about how he felt and had no real idea how he looked, since he couldn't see his own appearance. He took note of who had the quaffle (Chloe) and looked for the two bludgers, flying after the one Noah had just targeted Kaycee with. Kaycee avoided the hit and resumed harassing Chloe for the quaffle. Chloe flew quickly towards the Hufflepuff hoops, where Rex hunkered down and got ready to defend his goals.
Hoping To Win (Seth)
Author: Blossom
Date: 05-18-19 19:41
Rex deflects Chloe's effort to put Ravenclaw on the scoreboard. His move sends the quaffle straight into Cornington's arms. Cornington sprints away, quaffle tucked in close. Just past mid-center Seth tries to intercept Cornington's pass to Duncan but Tessa clips him with a bludger. It's not a hard hit as bludger hits go but it served the purpose of slowing him just enough that the quaffle went right by, out of arm's length, allowing Duncan to successfully catch Cornington's pass.
As Duncan approaches Eileen he passes to Kaycee. This time it's Chloe who tries to intercept but Conrad flew right in front of her, forcing Chloe to either deviate or risk crashing into him. She wisely chose to deviate but that slight diversion allowed Kaycee to take possession of the quaffle, driving in closer to the hoops.
As Kaycee maneuvers to throw the quaffle in a goal attempt, a well timed and well placed bludger from Kurt pops the ball lose from her grip. She fumbles for it but can't regain her hold on the quaffle before Jordan plucks it away. Jordan immediately throws to Chloe and she takes off heading away from Eileen, flying an uneven zigzag towards Rex.
Tessa sends a bludger after her but Noah is able to get to the black ball and redirect it in Duncan's direction. Chloe flies near enough to Seth that she's able to literally hand off the quaffle to him. He accelerates away, angling around Conrad and then climbing over Bertie, who seems so intent on his search for the snitch Seth doesn't know if Bertie is even aware that several chasers just whipped by him.
Closing in on Rex, Seth sends the quaffle to Jordan, whose current position is better for hopefully getting Ravenclaw some points on the board. In case Rex blocks Jordan's shot, Seth maneuvers his broom to be where he might be better able to get to the rebounding quaffle before Kaycee, Duncan, or Cornington does.
Another Goal
Author: Mildred
Date: 05-19-19 03:29
Chloe watches with anticipation, as Jordan makes his goal attempt. Seth is in position, in case the quaffle rebounds. The red ball pierces the air at high speed. Rex had calculated its trajectory. For a moment it seems like he is not going to be able to make a defense, but on the very last second his hands secure the quaffle.
"Applewhite avoids the goal! What an impressive defense," Ollie declares. "Hufflepuff is still leading the match by 20 points."
Rex throws the quaffle to Duncan. Jordan bravely stands in front of him, blocking his way. Duncan is a seventh year, while Jordan is a first year. The constitution of the two chasers couldn't be more different. Duncan pushes his broomstick forward, but Jordan doesn't move an inch. At the last minute Duncan moves to the left to avoid a collision. He flies a few meters, but Jordan doesn't give up and he glues himself to Duncan. Duncan makes a pass to Kaycee.
Kaycee receives the quaffle. A bludger sent by Noah comes in her direction. She lowers her body against the cable of her broom, managing to avoid being hit. She recovers her position, but she is no longer alone. Seth is close, and tries to steal the quaffle from Kaycee. She holds it tight for a moment, but then feeling it slipping for her her grip, and knowing Seth is not going to give up, she passes the quaffle to Cornington. Cornington then passes it back at Duncan, who then throws it to Kaycee. Chloe intercepts the pass. She grabs the quaffle and shifts her broomstick.
The Ravenclaw chasers initiate a new attack. Chloe flies as fast as she can. When she feels Cornington presence behind her, she passes the quaffle to Seth. He then passes to Jordan, who then offers it back to Chloe. Chloe looks at the hoops, feeling she has a good angle to shot. She lifts her right hand, and a second before she throws the quaffle, she hears a crack. Involuntary tears reach her eyes. She feels the pain in the upper part of her arm, and she only realizes what happened because of Ollie.
"A bludger sent by Ellis hits Campbell's arm! The quaffle is dropped and Marchbanks seizes it."
There is a time out, as her arm is analyzed by Pyrrhus Fine. Seth, Jordan, Noah and Kurt surround Chloe.
"Is it broken?" Kurt asks concerned.
"There seems to be a small fracture..." Mr. Fine says.
Chloe feels the panic taking over her. She wants to keep playing! She tries to move her arm. Despite the intense pain, both her hand and arm seem operational enough, even if it is clearing swelling.
"Please, I want to continue," she begged.
All the Ravenclaws wait as Pyrrhus makes a decision.
"I'll allow it," he finally declared. "Just try not use your arm, if you can."
Chloe nodded and the match continued. Cornington had the quaffle and he sprinted towards Eileen's hoops. Seth went in his pursuit, but Cornington passes the quaffle to Duncan. Once again Jordan tries to block him, but this time Duncan pushes forward. They don't collide because Jordan moves out of the way on the last second. Duncan passes to Kaycee. Chloe tries to steal her the quaffle. She is still adjusting to the pain on her arm, and she realizes her movements are limited and that she needs to spare her right arm. She uses her left hand to try and get the quaffle but to no avail. Kaycee, gets closer to the hoops and then she passes the quaffle to Cornington who is free. Cornington aims at the left hoop. Eileen dives, but she isn't able to get there on time.
"Marchbanks scores for Hufflepuff!" The crowd roars. "They are getting closer and closer to victory."
Chloe and her teammates looked at each others, frustrated. Things didn't seem to go as they wished.
Meanwhile, Mildred was at the stands. When she learned Ravenclaw was to dispute the Championship match she decided to attend the match, to see her cousin play. As the match proceeded she looked around the stands and recognized Jasper. He was seated with a blonde girl. Mildred recognized her as being his fiancée Sophie McCourt. She knew who Sophie was because she had been Hufflepuff's seeker, when Mildred had played for Gryffindor.
As if sensing they were being watched Jasper turned his head to Mildred. Their eyes met. His face showed no emotion, and she looked away pretending she did not know him. Mildred had been aware of Jasper's relationship with Sophie, long before the hunting trip. When he took her to his bedroom and before anything happened he told her he was engaged. Mildred told him she was already aware of it. When her friend Melpomene learned Mildred and Queenie were hanging out with Jasper and his friends she had stormed into their bedroom with a pile of magazines. There were several articles on Jasper and his engagement to Sophie. Melpomene was shocked that after gazing over the magazines Mildred declared she did not care about Jasper's love life. Melpomene had asked Mildred if she had lost her mind, but Mildred just shrugged her shoulders. Since then they were not speaking with each other.
Mildred told Jasper that it did not bother her that he was going to marry in the summer. All she wanted was to spend time with him. She said she would not make a scene if he decided after the wedding not to see her again. Their relationship was based on lust and she knew it. Jasper was surprised with her reaction and quite pleased. After the hunting trip they started to see each other with frequency and she would often spend the evenings in his apartment.
She continued to watch the match hoping that Ravenclaw would bounce back.
Kaycee - Momentum
Author: Lee Sickleby
Date: 05-19-19 06:28
Kaycee was feeling good about Hufflepuff's chances of taking the Quidditch Cup this season. The team was ahead in points, and the momentum of the win against Slytherin was definitely carrying over into the championship match. Kaycee was in high spirits, and probably for the first time wasn't giving Gerry and Will's potential antics any thought.
The only boys who did cross her mind were Magnus, who had the audacity to enter the girls' locker room, and Chip, who was now Kaycee's official boyfriend.
If Kaycee didn't know better, she would think Magnus had been convinced to enter the locker room by Gerry and Will. Kaycee was pretty sure they didn't associate with each other, though, and besides, it was fairly obvious Magnus had been chasing a news story. Why he thought it was a good idea to enter an area where girls took showers and changed clothing was anyone's guess.
When Kaycee told Chip about the encounter during their visit to Hogsmeade, he sounded impressed by how she took charge upon finding Magnus in the locker room. Kaycee told him that she supposed she'd had to toughen up in the years since starting at Hogwarts, if only to fend off jerks like Gerry and Will.
Chip told her he thought she'd always been tough. It was evident in how she played Quidditch, and it was a trait he admired in her. They were sharing a booth at The Three Broomsticks at the time of the conversation. Since he was already complimenting her, he thought he might as well just go for it and ask her out. He did, and she said yes.
Eileen handed the quaffle to Seth. Seth darted away from the hoops, dodging around Conrad and then Bertie before throwing the quaffle to Jordan. Jordan held onto the long enough for Duncan to come up beside him. When Duncan swiped his arm out to dislodge the red ball, Jordan quickly switched arms and then threw the quaffle at Chloe.
Chloe, with only one good arm, struggled to make the catch. Kaycee was right there and easily snatched the quaffle away, securing it tightly against her body. She flattened herself across the shaft of her broomstick and torpedoed across the Pitch, swerving only once when Kurt aimed a bludger at her.
When Noah also targeted her with a bludger, Kaycee threw the quaffle at Duncan. Duncan passed it to Cornington, who drove hard for the Ravenclaw goals. Conrad aimed a perfectly-timed bludger at Eileen. Cornington, meanwhile, pretended to go for a goal but at the last second threw to Kaycee. Eileen dodged Conrad's bludger, but she was so focused on stopping Cornington's goal attempt that she ended up reacting too late. Kaycee scored easily.
Last House Match As A Student (Duncan)
Author: Briar Rose
Date: 05-19-19 14:54
In his last house match as a Hogwarts student and as captain of the Hufflepuff team, Duncan is pleased with how the team is doing against Ravenclaw. He also knows that unless Bertie catches the snitch very soon, things could turn around with Ravenclaw surging ahead in goals or by Bran catching the snitch instead of Bertie.
Jordan has the quaffle now with Duncan dogging him as much as he was dogging Duncan what seems like ages ago now but was really only a few minutes. A bludger from Kurt has Duncan pulling away enough that Jordan takes the opportunity to pass to Seth. Kaycee is all over Weasley but Seth continues accelerating down the pitch like he's trying to set a speed record. When he nears Rex, he makes the surprising move of tossing the quaffle to Chloe even though he has a direct line of sight to one of the hoops.
Using her left arm rather than her injured right, putting on a good show of not being in as much pain as Duncan thinks she has to be, Chloe sends the quaffle on what at first looks like a straight trajectory to one hoop but that somehow curves around to pass through the next hoop instead. Rex had been moving to get in front of the ring he thought the quaffle was going towards and can't veer back the other way to stop the quaffle.
Duncan frowns as all of Ravenclaw and their other supporters erupt into loud cheers, Ollie proclaiming, "Campbell scores! Ravenclaw trails Hufflepuff 10 to 40!"
Taking the quaffle from Rex, Duncan lobs it to Cornington. Flying past Coach Krum he can't help but notice the way the older wizard is checking out Chloe, probably making sure she's still good to stay in the match. He's noticed the same studious looks in Conrad's direction after Conrad was hit by Noah's bat. Duncan doesn't envy Krum's, Fine's, and Batuti's positions of having to determine if someone's able to continue playing or needs to be sent from the match. If the wrong decision is made and it comes back on them later, ultimately, it would fall on Coach Krum's shoulders as he is the one in charge.
Cornington sends the quaffle to Kaycee who angles around Tessa going after a bludger. Duncan catches up to and loops around Jordan, spotting Bertie as he does. His team's seeker is bent low over his broom, creeping along at a snail's pace, head slowly moving from one side to the other in his quest for the snitch. In a way, Duncan hopes Bertie catches the snitch soon as he should get in some NEWT studying today. Duncan also hopes the game extends for hours so that he has a good excuse for not holing up in a nice spring Saturday to prepare for the Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests.
Catching the quaffle when Kaycee directs a pass his way, Duncan surges forward, closing the distance to where Eileen, who is frustrated he's sure at allowing the quaffle by her four times so far. If he has his way, Kaycee, Cornington, and he are going to frustrate her even more with a fifth goal here in a few more seconds.
Near Miss (Jordan, Kurt, Rex, Bran)
Author: Saffron
Date: 05-19-19 19:58
Just as Duncan throws the quaffle at the hoop on Eileen's right, Jordan zips in front of Duncan and catches the ball. The maneuver was unexpected enough that Jordan is able to put some distance between the Hufflepuff chasers and himself. Not seeing either Seth or Chloe for a pass he keeps going, dodging a bludger he thinks might have been hit by Tessa but he's not certain.
When he reaches Rex, others have begun to catch up with him but rather than wait Jordan lets loose the quaffle. He gnaws his lower lip as Rex dashes to make the block. Jordan's sure that his throw is no good so he prepares to fight for the quaffle when Rex knocks it away from the hoop. Rex's confidence at having the block is evident on his face. That expression turns to shock when seemingly out of nowhere a bludger clobbers him in the side with enough force it affects his balance. The quaffle goes right by him, skimming the rim of the hoop in the process but go in it does.
"A goal for Blackthorn! That's 20 points for Ravenclaw but Hufflepuff still leads with 40!"
Rex stops rubbing his side long enough to hand Kaycee the quaffle. Kurt hopes the hit doesn't do more than leave a bruise if that. He hates the thought of causing someone to a break or dislocation. Some players do those things on purpose though as far as he knows none of the current Hogwarts house team members are that sort.
He approaches the bludger he'd hit a moment ago at Rex, his eyes going from it to Kaycee, who still has the quaffle. He starts to hit it with Kaycee in mind as the target but suddenly shifts his bat just enough to hit the bludger at a slightly different angle. Rather than send it on course to hopefully hit Kaycee, Kurt instead gives the bludger a good wallop to send it after Bertie who seems to be flying very determinedly after something. In Kurt's mind that means Bertie may have spotted the snitch. Can't have that. Ravenclaw's going to win the cup again this year, not Hufflepuff.
Kurt scowls when Conrad intercepts the bludger well before it reaches Bertie. He swivels looking for the other bludger, expecting at any second a pronouncement from Ollie that Bertie's on the snitch's trail or, worse, that he's caught it. Spotting the second black ball, Kurt speeds for it only to slow when he realizes that Bertie is now hovering, his face screwed up in puzzlement. Either he lost sight of the snitch or he caught up with what he thought was the snitch only to find it wasn't the winged ball. Letting out a breath of relief, Kurt does a quick assessment of where the quaffle is and what the chasers are doing. Cornington has the red ball now so that's where Kurt sends the bludger.
As Cornington goes to pass to Duncan, the bludger from Kurt skims by one shoulder. His throw is still a good one but Chloe still gets in between the two Hufflepuff chasers at just the right moment to catch the quaffle instead of Duncan. She bolts back the other direction, Duncan and Cornington right behind.
Chloe, Jordan, and Seth rapidly close the distance to Rex with a series of quick passes. Each time one of them passes, Duncan, Cornington, or Kaycee tries to steal the quaffle back but the Ravenclaw chasers manage to hold them off. Rex is ready for them when they reach him, the quaffle in Chloe's hands.
Correctly anticipating the direction of Chloe's throw, Rex smacks the quaffle away from its target. Duncan and Seth both gets a hand on it with Seth able to jerk the ball away before Duncan can secure a grip on it. Seth lobs the quaffle, sending it streaking for the middle hoop. Dodging a bludger Rex is again able to knock the quaffle away. He makes a face when the ball goes straight into Seth's arms. Once more Seth immediately throws. The quaffle is headed for the hoop farthest from Rex. He's not fully back around yet from the block he just made so he hastily jerks his broom around and dashes for the quaffle. He reflexively slows for a half second when a bludger crosses in front of him.
Such a short time to slow but it's enough. The quaffle goes through the hoop. Ravenclaw has chipped away a bit more at Hufflepuff's lead, bringing the team to within 10 points. Handing the quaffle to Cornington, Rex sighs. Maybe the three Ravenclaw chasers will suddenly and unexpectedly all get so sick they have to leave the match, allowing Hufflepuff to run up the score. He could hope for Bertie to hurry up and catch the snitch, but the thought of Hufflepuff making about fifty more goals is far more amusing to consider while sitting here watching the action moving off in Eileen's direction.
Hearing Ollie announce Ravenclaw's third goal of the match, Bran smiles. Because Hufflepuff had scored four goals before Ravenclaw managed to get any points he had been starting to worry that some of his teammates were feeling the pressure of retaining the championship title. Of course, it's easy for him to question or even critique others when he's not one of six chasers all trying to gain possession of the quaffle. Of course, at that point, before Ravenclaw got its first goal, if Bran had managed to catch the snitch, it wouldn't have mattered whether any of them were letting the pressure of winning get to them.
Managing to find the snitch is the real challenge he decides as he completes another up and down lap. Catching it is difficult but you can't catch something if you can't find it.
As if reading his mind the snitch appears a little ahead of the nose of Bran's broom. He surges forward, hand reaching for it. The snitch is having none of that. It surges forward at an even faster speed. Bran follows, increasing speed in an effort to catch up.
He glowers, upper lip curling when Bertie swiftly joins in the chase. The snitch takes them high above the chasers, turning at the Rex's end of the pitch to take them the other direction, one of Bran's feet skimming the rim of one of the hoops. By the time they approach Eileen's end of the pitch, the snitch, Bertie and he are probably double Hagrid's height above the ground. Not far, but far enough.
Bran leans far over his broom to stretch for the snitch. Bertie does the same and that's when Bran realizes that since the Ravenclaw-Hufflepuff match back in December, Bertie's grown some, or at least his arms seem a little longer. Right then both bludgers come at them.
Bran dodges to avoid the bludger nearest him, his eyes never leaving the snitch. At the same time Bertie angles to avoid the bludger coming in the side away from Bran. Too late they register that Bran's moving towards Bertie and Bertie is moving towards Bran.
Their sides collide, both struggling to pull apart before they become entangled. They get their brooms on divergent paths, each also trying to keep an eye on the snitch. Each now hastening to widen the distance between them as the post to one of the hoops looms large.
Bran skids along one side of the loop and he thinks Bertie as done the same on the other but Bertie isn't on the far side of the post now like Bran is. Shouts and screams are coming from the stands and Ollie is yelling, "NUTCOMBE IS DOWN! NUTCOMBE IS DOWN!"
Bran is nearest and reaches Bertie first, breaking at least one rule by dismounting from his broom to kneel by Bertie's side. In the very short time, a second or two at most, that it takes the three referees to reach them Bertie is sitting up, rubbing his forehead where a bright red ostrich egg sized lump is already visible from where he slammed into the post.
Several minutes later, after assuring everyone that he's fine, nothing broken, Bertie is back on his broom. He still looks a little dazed but is begging Coach Krum to let him continue. Bran, on his own broom again, can't blame him. If Bertie is sidelined, the only way Hufflepuff can win is to run up enough goals to make Bran's eventual catching of the snitch meaningless. That or Bran would have to also be injured in such a way that he's not allowed to continue. Both scenarios are possible but neither is probable.
After another minute or so of Coach Krum talking with Bertie and with referees Batuti and Fine, Bertie is allowed to continue. Coach Krum blows his whistle for the match to resume, Bertie and Bran promptly searching the area for the snitch, both disappointed that it's nowhere to be seen.
Deciding to restart his search by flying from one side of the pitch to the other instead of from end to end, Bran is glad Bertie doesn't seem to be seriously injured but fervently wishes he'd been able to catch the snitch before his near miss, and Bertie's head on crash, with the post. He so wants that cup again and, also, he's ready for a snack. Bran is starting to get seriously hungry.
(Noah) The Tables Are Turning
Author: Lysander Stratford
Date: 05-20-19 11:15
Noah started to believe that Hufflepuff had gotten too sure of their assumed position as Quidditch champions after Ravenclaw's third goal. They all looked decidedly less confident now that a mere ten points separated the two teams. The Ravenclaws, meanwhile, had gained confidence and were ready to earn the cup for the second year in a row.
Just a few minutes ago, it seemed like it might all be over. The seekers were in a race to catch the snitch, and then they crashed and Bertie hit the ground. Was it wrong of Noah to hope that Bertie wouldn't be able to return to the match? He supposed he had a little bit of Slytherin in him, even if the Sorting Hat put him in Ravenclaw.
The timeout was over and Hufflepuff had possession of the quaffle. Duncan passed to Cornington, who threw overhand to Kaycee. Kaycee tossed the ball back to Duncan, and so on. Noah watched their movements closely as he flew toward one of the bludgers. He wasn't sure his timing would be right, given how quickly the ball was changing hands, but it was worth a try.
He gave the bludger a solid whack and then watched as it arced towards Duncan, who had just accepted Kaycee's pass. Conrad was suddenly there, though, and he redirected the bludger at Seth. Kurt deflected it and aimed for Cornington. Tessa got to it before it could do any damage and targeted Chloe with it.
There was a lot of back and forth with the bludger and no hits on either side until Noah finally got Kaycee in the upper arm. Kaycee was in the process of accepting Cornington's pass, but the hit caused her to miss. The quaffle sailed right into Jordan's open arms. He spun his broomstick around and made a beeline for the Hufflepuff hoops.
Noah did his best to assist, deflecting Conrad's bludger when it came at Jordan and then using it to distract Rex. Rex twisted to avoid the hit and still managed to block Jordan's goal attempt. The rebound went straight into Jordan's arms. He didn't waste a second and tried for another goal, this time succeeding when Kurt distracted Rex with the other bludger.
Now the match was tied.
Another Goal (Cornington)
Author: Phinfilius
Date: 05-20-19 18:35
Cornington isn't sure what happened. One minute his team was up by 40 and the next it's a tie game. Frustrating how that goes sometimes but that's quidditch for you. He supposes it's likely true of many sports.
Hufflepuff takes possession of the quaffle again after Ravenclaw's fourth goal. Duncan hands off to Kaycee who passes to Cornington. They fly a tight formation, passing the quaffle back and forth between them, thwarting the efforts of Jordan, Chloe, and Seth to intercept any of those passes or to steal the ball out of any of the Hufflepuff chasers' hands.
They're three-quarters of the way to Eileen when a bludger, Cornington thinks from Kurt, smacks into his side just as he accepts a pass from Duncan. Taking advantage of an opening to regain the quaffle Chloe darts in close, snatches the quaffle in such a way he knows it's got to make her injured arm hurt all the more, then zooms away. Cursing under his breath, Cornington pivots to follow.
Just past mid-pitch Chloe passes to Seth. At the same moment Seth catches the quaffle, a bludger comes straight for him so that he ends up catching it as well with an explosive grunt as the force of the bludger knocks the air from him. In letting go of the bludger and trying to get his breath back, Seth loses hold of the quaffle. Kaycee's now the one doing the darting in and grabbing of the red ball.
Kaycee hangs on to the quaffle until face-to-face with Eileen again. She starts to throw off to her left but abruptly sends it straight on towards the center ring. Eileen's able to not only stop the forward momentum of her broom but she backs it up rapidly enough to swat the quaffle away with the tail of her broom.
Cornington throws himself at the quaffle, snagging it with one hand. Before he's upright and in a good position to throw for goal he slings the quaffle back to Kaycee. After catching the quaffle she fires it off so quickly it's hard to tell that she actually takes careful aim. Thanks to an assist from Tessa with a bludger, Eileen's not able to get enough of a hand on the quaffle to send it back.
The score is now 50 to 40 with Ravenclaw clearly determined to bring the match back to a tie game.
The Championship [Bertie]
Author: Georgia Copperpot
Date: 05-20-19 20:27
Bertie's head, neck, and a number of other body parts are hurting enough that he's well past the excitement of playing in his first championship match. At this point he's ready to go crawl into bed and stay there for a week or three. His crash was bad enough, spectacular enough that he's still sort of surprised his mum didn't come rushing from the stands to personally escort him to the hospital wing.
Ever so slowly turning his head to one side, Bertie feels like he's squinting but as his nose hurts he's thinking there's some swelling around his eyes. At least his nose isn't broken, or if it is he hurts enough other places, especially the lump on his forehead, that his nose seems like just another bruise or scrape.
As he creeps by Marjani Batuti she asks, "Doing all right? Any nausea?"
"Fine, miss, thanks," he replies, wondering again why they keep asking him if he's nauseous. A few seconds late he says aloud though there's no one to hear, "Duh. Concussions can cause nausea." This epiphany has him worried that despite having experience no nausea so far, he'll start spewing chunks at any moment.
At the exact same moment he thinks, "It's time to get this match over with so I can go wallow in misery," the snitch flits into his line of sight.
Groaning at the increase in pain and discomfort brought on by his sudden, rapid acceleration towards the snitch, Bertie does his best to ignore an ever so brief sensation of vertigo when he leans low over his broom.
Nearing the snitch he becomes aware of Bran coming up on his left side. Bertie fights the urge to look knowing that taking his eyes off the snitch could well mean the blink and you'll miss it snitch would be gone again. Bertie does his best to block out everything, even the pounding in his head that seems so loud to him he wouldn't be surprised if Bran can hear it too.
The pain is enough now that he's starting to have hazy black splotches across his vision. Beside him Bran surges slightly ahead. Gritting his teeth, Bertie accelerates more and lunges over his broom, arm outstretched, hand reaching for the snitch.
Fingers closed around the snitch, the stadium erupting all around him, Bertie stops his broom so rapidly it seems his brain sloshes around in his skull. He offers a weak smile when Bran says, "Congratulations!"
Bertie starts to nod but if he nods his head might fall off altogether. He makes it to the ground, avoiding being jostled by his jubilant teammates. Bertie knows that Chloe will visit Madam Pomfrey soon for her arm and Conrad may because of his nose where Noah's bat smacked him. Maybe they'll be nice enough to help him get there. Bertie will jump up and down and dance in celebration tomorrow over Hufflepuff's 200 to 40 point win over Ravenclaw. And not just any win, the championship! The Hogwarts Quidditch Cup! Definitely going to celebrate after he's curled up and died for a day or two.