|
|
Mouth Breather
Author: Viktor Krum
Date: 12-18-09 13:57
Marjani could really use something to drink right about now. She's so stuffed up that she's having to breath through her mouth and in this crystal cold air whooshing around her as she flies from one end of the pitch to the other that means her already dry, sore throat is steadily becoming drier and more sore. She fumbles for one of the lozanges made sure to bring to the match, along with a supply of tissue though as yet she's not really needed the tissue.
Shivering more than she might otherwises, she hopes Charisma hurries up and gets that snitch because Marjani would like nothing more than to be immersed in a tub of very steamy water. She thinks she's got a slight fever, and had it even before Gryffindor took to the pitch, but Marjani was not about to say anything to her captain Ronan, her other teammates and most certainly not to Theodosia. Dosie would have gotten all big sisterly-maternal and insisted Marjani sit out this game by way of the hospital wing. If the teams had a second string of players so that there'd have been someone in Marjani's spot for the match, she would still have had to think hard about not playing against Hufflepuff but deciding not to wouldn't have been as big a deal as it would have been had she decided this morning she wasn't up to playing, which she's not up to at all. What bothers Marjani almost as much as being sick is that she's not able to give the team her best showing today.
Shoving the lozange she's just popped into her mouth off to the side so she can keep breathing through her mouth and not have the lozange embarrassingly dropping out, Marjani accepts the quaffle from Wiggy, makes a wide arc around two of the beaters and the bludger they are both after, ducks under the feet of Hufflepuff seeker Aleydis, avoids the other bludger just in the nick of time by leaning hard left, then drops the quaffle into Etta's hands when her teammate comes up from behind and slightly below. Timothy comes in on Etta's right in an effort to snag the ball from her hands so Etta pulls left just enough to hand right back off to Marjani while effectively blocking Tim from getting over to Marjani as well.
Milo and Emerald come at Marjani from the other side but Ella sends a bludger at them, giving enough of a distraction for Marjani to fake a pass to Wiggy. Wiggy darts ahead, giving off the body language of someone getting ready to set up for a goal attempt. The three Hufflepuff chasers go in hot pursuit with Etta and Marjani right with them. As they give Wiggy their attention, Etta even acting like she's going in to give Wiggy an assist, Marjani shifts her uniform robe to reveal the quaffle and with a might throw, which isn't as strong as it would have been if she weren't feverish and feeling so blah, she lets the quaffle fly.
Sophia's eyes had been on Wiggy and sees the quaffle hurdling towards her a fraction of a second too late to properly react. The ball soars by her outstretched arms to pass through a hoop. The goal makes the score 20 Gryffindor, 10 Hufflepuff.
Etta On The Ball
Author: Jared
Date: 12-18-09 14:43
After Marjani scores, Sophia puts the quaffle back into play with a pass to Milo. Working the quaffle down the pitch the Hufflepuff chasers pass the red ball back and forth, each time circumventing any of the three Gryffindors from intercepting or stealing. At just over three-quarters of the way down pitch from where Milo had taken the quaffle from Sophia, he's again got possession and is in the process of ducking a bludger. When he ducks he also leans to the right and that's when Etta gets in close enough to harass him.
Milo's hold on the quaffle is firm but at least Etta can keep him from freely passing to either Tim or Emerald. This gives Wiggy and Marjani time to move in as well and for Blake to get off another solid bludger hit at Milo. Caerwyn counters with a bludger to Etta. Ella stops the one from Caerwyn before it reaches Etta and much to her chagrin, Gus intercepts the bludger intended for Milo.
Hemmed in, Milo zigs, zags, climbs, dives, and performs other manuevers to give himself space enough from the Gryffindors to pass off to either Emerald or Tim. Milo thinks he's got an opening so goes to throw only to have Etta grab the quaffle. She doesn't have a good hold on the ball and now neither does Milo. It slips between them with both diving after. They reach for it at the same time and grapple for it until Coach Batuti blows her whistle. Coach Batuti takes the quaffle and with Milo and Etta facing each other, gives it a hard upward toss and gets out of their way.
Etta is faster but Milo has a longer arm reach. Etta urges her broom to greater speed, wanting to edge Milo out. Nonetheless, Milo gets fingers on the quaffle before Etta but just ends up sending the quaffle off kilter into another drop. Etta grabs for it, successfully snags it and shoots off in Sophia's direction with Milo and the other four chasers right there with her.
Just as Milo, Emerald, and Timothy had worked the quaffle in Ronan's direction right before Coach Batuti had Etta and Milo face off over the ball, Wiggy, Marjani, and Etta move the quaffle back towards the Hufflepuff tended goals using a series of well practice manuevers. The only drawback with well practiced manuevers is that in practice there's not another team dead set on taking possession of the quaffle. Even with Ronan, Blake, Ella or Charisma fill as opposing chasers, it's just not the same as in a match for points against a team with as much vested in the game as Etta and the others on the Gryffindor team have.
Emerald steals from Marjani but then a pass that was well done on Emerald's part but poorly received on Timothy's allows Wiggy to regain the quaffle. He gets it very near to where Sophia hovers, eyes carefully following his every move. Wiggy goes to throw but a bludger smacks into him and the throw goes off course and far short of its targer. Etta swoops in to grab it and without giving much thought to throwing, lets the quaffle go almost as soon as she's caught it.
Sophia nearly gets it for the block but she needed probably another half inch to an inch closer to successfully stop the shot. The Hufflepuff keeper scowls as the new score is announced, "Wynbourne brings Gryffindor a third goal making this match 30 to 10!"
So Far So Good
Author: Ella
Date: 12-18-09 16:38
When Ella's father and girlfriend weren't on her mind, she had a giant smile on her face. After all, Gryffindor was winning the Quidditch match so far. She only hoped that Charisma would get her hands on the snitch before Aleydis. Both seekers seemed evenly matched and looked very determined to catch the golden snitch before the other could.
Sophia put the quaffle back into play via Emerald, who immediately tucked the red ball securely to her side and charged off in the direction of the Gryffindor hoops. Ella sprung into action and targeted the nearest bludger, which she happened to reach before Hufflepuff chaser Gus could. She whacked it hard, putting all her weight into the swing, and sent the black ball careening toward where she anticipated Emerald would be next.
Unfortunately, Emerald passed the ball to Timothy, so Ella's bludger did nothing to help Gryffindor out. Caerwyn also swept in and batted the ball at Julietta, who was just started to reach out and swipe at the quaffle in Tim's hand. The bludger didn't hit her but it caused her to flinch and pull back her arm very suddenly.
Ella pushed herself into the fray with the goal of getting to the same bludger before Caerwyn could reach it again. She was in better position now and struck the bludger just as Tim let it fly towards Milo. The bludger made impact with the quaffle and sent it soaring in a completely different trajectory.
For a moment, all of the chasers made a mad scramble to recover the quaffle. Legs, arms and broomsticks seemed all jumbled together when suddenly, Milo emerged from the pack with the quaffle in hand. Ella tried to reach another bludger, but Caerwyn got there before her and sent it to hit Marjani as she drew up behind Milo. The bludger grazed her broomstick and caused her to wobble off course for a moment.
Caerwyn was still closer to the bludger to reach it before Ella could, and again used it to prevent one of the Gryffindor chasers from stealing the quaffle from Hufflepuff. By the time Milo reached scoring range, Caerwyn could easily aim the bludger that Ella still couldn't reach at Ronan. Ronan's instinct to dodge the black ball prevailed and he moved out of the way just as Milo sent the quaffle sailing through the right-most hoop.
Now Gryffindor was only leading by 10 points.
Could Be Doing Better
Author: Ronan Eastwick
Date: 12-18-09 16:49
A deep frown etched across Ronan's face. Despite what he might tell himself, he knew that it would be a bit extreme to intentionally take a bludger hit, knowing how much the impact generally hurt and how much damage one of those black balls could do. He wished he hadn't dodged out of the bludger's way though, because now another quaffle had gotten past him and Hufflepuff was just ten points away from tieing with Gryffindor.
He accepted the quaffle from the guest referee Joey Jenkins and tossed it Wiggy, hoping Wiggy could take it all the way across the Pitch in a single drive and score again for Gryffindor. It wasn't to be, though. Wiggy lost the ball very soon into having possession of it, thanks to two well-timed bludgers, one coming from each side, and Emerald of Hufflepuff quickly snatched up the fumble. She was so close to scoring range that Ronan immediately readied himself for her goal attempt.
The bludgers were also close by and were soon targeting him again. Ronan really didn't want to get hit by two bludgers, much less one, but luckily he didn't have to worry about that because Ella and Blake were hovering nearby, determined to protect him from the onslaught. Emerald shot the ball at one of the hoops. Ronan's fingers grazed the red ball and caused it to shift its direction a tiny bit. The ball hit the rim and bounced back into Emerald's waiting arms. She tried again, and this time Ronan batted it away with the flat of his palm.
Again, she got the ball and this time she hurled it for the left most hoop, flicking her body in that direction at the very last second. Ronan lunged for the hoop but he reacted a fraction too late. The ball sailed without effort through the hoop, bringing Hufflepuff up by ten more points.
Now Ronan was really disappointed, though he knew he shouldn't be because he had blocked two of her three goal attempts just then and it had been exciting going back and forth like that. It wasn't very often that Ronan got a lot of continued action on his end of the Pitch.
He retrieved the quaffle and put it back into play by handing it off to Wiggy again. Thankfully, Wiggy got half way across the Pitch before running into any sort of trouble.
Head in the Game
Author: Charisma Stone
Date: 12-18-09 22:08
Isma sat on her boom - she never lingered in one place for too long because she didn't want to miss catching sight of that shimmering golden ball that would bring the game to its end. She knew everyone was cold - she was bloody freezing at this point, her hands neatly wrapped in gloves as she watched Gryffindor score its third goal putting the score at 30-10. Then Hufflepuff scored again, closing the gap by another ten points.
She caught sight of Blake and Ella who were feverishly attempting to keep the bludgers off the Gryffindor Chasers who were tossing the quaffle between each other - and keeping it away for the moment from the set of Hufflepuff Chasers.
There had been several times that she and Aleydis Vanderbilt had nearly both caught the snitch, but that ever ellusive little ball did not want to be caught any of those times. They'd even literally chased it from one end of the pitch to the other beneath the Chasers and Beaters battling it out for the quaffle and the volleying of bludgers across the pitch.
Isma had lost herself in thought, and was snapped out of it when Blake called her name and quickly intercepted a bludger that had strayed from its course, hit by Caerwyn Valentine and his attempt to dislodge the quaffle now in the possession of Gryffindor chaser Etta Wynbourne.
She'd barely heard the sounds of the announcer, Gabby Delacour, she heard the cheers of the fans - all of Gryffindor house out watching the game. Much as was all of Hufflepuff - supporting their house teams - wanting each to win as badly as the other because those points were added to the totals for the house cup at the end of the year.
Blake took another crack at the bludger and sent it sailing to dislodge the quaffle and distract Emerald Green from her course toward Ronan Eastwick - Gryffindor's Captain and Keeper.
Isma shifted on her broom again - there was a flash of gold above the shifting and moving of group of Chasers and Beaters and she moved for it. Aleydis had not yet noticed it and wasn't moving in that direction - so hopefully there would be a chance for her to get to it before the other Seeker noticed it.
Chasing Warmth
Author: Emerald Green
Date: 12-18-09 22:34
Like Ronan, Emerald had been one of the seventh years in the apparition lesson this morning. She doesn't know about him but with the energy that took, even though it was a refresher course for her, combined with the amount of time the game's gone on so far, she's more than a little tired. Emerald attempts combination of will power and power of positive thinking, concentrating intensely on Aleydis catching the snitch right that minute.
Simultaneously, Emerald is doing her damnedest to slow Wiggy's progress with the quaffle. Her broom has decided not to cooperate though, refusing to increase speed even though Emerald is going nowhere near the broom's maximum. Not helping matter is a sudden, very strong wind that's causing her eyes to water while somehow, at the same time, to feel itchily dry. The wind is biting, causing a sharp decrease in temperature to already frigid air. It's small consolation that every other player on the pitch is experiencing it with Emerald.
With the headwind and a bludger from Gus catching him hard in the side, Wiggy slows enough for Emerald and the others, both Hufflepuff and Gryffindor chasers, to catch up. Emerald can't tell if he's got a muscle cramp nor or is winded or in that much pain (the bludger did something to this ribs maybe?) but whatever the reason Wiggy stays more bent over than upright and hastily passes to Etta. She's promptly hit with the other bludger, thanks to Caerwyn, and it's Milo in for the steal.
Flying the other way means instead of a headwind, Milo's got a tailwind. He rockets away, the quaffle held tightly to against his stomach, which makes it more difficult for a Gryffindor to reach in and pluck it away. It also helps reduce his body's wind resistance, which in turn means there's less of him exposed to the frigid air to get even more numbingly cold. Emerald seriously wishes that the matches at Hogwarts were all held more closely together and in the spring. Surely there's some Wizarding sport that's an indoor game or if outdoors, doesn't require one to flit around high off the ground in subzero air.
Milo's run to the other end of the pitch is cut short when Marjani circles around in front to fly head on. Emerald's never thought to ask if here in Britain, in the Wizarding World, if that's called Chicken like it is back in the States. Milo swerves to avoid a collision with Marjani but isn't looking where he's swerving and runs into Etta instead. For about the zillionth time this game, the quaffle goes free followed by a mad scramble to be the first to gain possession. Emerald's right there in the thick of it, not only grappling for the quaffle but also because with so many others jammed in close quarters around her, despite them all being on brooms, it's warmer there.
Etta came out of the scramble triumphant but loses the quaffle shortly after. When Emerald next has it again for more than a few seconds she's within scoring range but loses the ball because of a bludger. Wiggy grabs it and is off again, zooming down the pitch without anyone yet caught up to him, giving Emerald a sense of deja vu of just a very short time ago.
With the score frustratingly tied at 30 points each, Emerald doggedly goes after Wiggy, putting aside thoughts of being so numb from the cold she can't feel her broom anymore and falls off. Instead, she once more thinks about Aleydis catching the snitch right that moment and of drinking a gallon of hot chocolate in front of a roaring fire as soon as possible after Aleydis wins this match for Hufflepuff!
Fast Paced and Freezing (Blake)
Author: Charisma Stone
Date: 12-18-09 22:35
The morning had dawned clear and cool. While the older students had been at the apparation lesson that had been offered Blake had been keeping himself warm - preparing for the shock that would come when he had to come out for the game against Hufflepuff. He was looking forward to the match - all of them actually, because there weren't many of them throughout the year and each one of them counted.
He'd been keeping up on the bludger and had managed to knock the quaffle free from a Hufflepuff chaser's hands often throughout the game.
Shifting on his broom he took a second to rub at his wrist - he'd taken a bludger to it when he'd misjudged his angle to try and send the screaming ball toward Hufflepuff Chaser Milo Martin. It wasn't enough to have him pulled from the game - but it was enough that there was going to be a bruise there that would no doubt make writing his essays and taking quizzes and notes a royal pain in the butt for a few days.
He'd attempted to help Ella keep the quaffle away from the chasers - and had done a good job so far. However, when one of hte bludgers went off its intended trajectory - he quickly flew towards it - coming between the screaming black ball and his best friend's head - it most definitely would not have done any good to have the seeker for Gryffindor pulled from the game due to a concussion from a bludger. That would put them at a severe disadvantage - and give the Hufflepuff seeker a better chance at finding that glittering golden ball.
Isma thanked Blake and turned her attention back to hunting for the Snitch and Blake set his attention back on the bludgers and the chasers who were passing the quaffle back and forth at a rapid rate up and down the pitch.
Tim had the quaffle at the moment, and Blake took aim at the bludger closest to him, seeking to dislodge the quaffle from Tim's grasp - which would let Wiggy catch it quickly - as he was the closest Gryffindor Chaser to Tim. However, Blake's plan would be changed when Tim passed the quaffle toward Milo - the bludger that he had just hit connected with the quaffle and sent it into the hands of Marjani allowing her to begin speeding toward the hoops guarded by Hufflepuff Keeper Sophia Hall.
Already the chill was beginning to set in - despite the fact that he was constantly moving and darting along the pitch. He could not wait for the first match that was in warm weather! No more layers beneath his team robes, no more gloves, no more desperate need for a bowl of hot stew and a large mug of hot cocoa (not that he minded any of that of course!) - the minute the match ended.
Sophia had blocked the shot that Marjani had taken, seeking to add another ten points to Gryffindor's current ten point lead...or wait, no they'd tied the score that time so it was now thirty to thirty wasn't it? He hadn't really been paying atteniton - he just wished that Isma would hurry up and catch the blasted snitch so they could go inside and get warm!