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Ravenclaw Vs Slytherin (Theodosia)
Author: Viktor Krum
Date: 01-26-10 15:14
Theodosia shoots down the pitch, following the action of the Ravenclaw-Slytherin match. It hasn't been underway long but already she's tired, but then that's most likely because she slept poorly due to coughing and a very stuffy head that all began last night around suppertime. She's also colder than usual, though whether from not feeling well or because even a sunny day in early March in Scotland is frigid to Theodosia. Most of the time she doubts she'll ever get used to the weather in this place. She does like the snow but when it comes to overall, year around comfort she prefers what she thinks of as the balmy weather where she grew up in Africa.
Feeling as she does, Theodosia is very glad she got not one but two others to help referee this match. She knows that in the past the only referee for a Hogwarts match was the flying and Quidditch instructor but she likes having at least one other set of eyes given the fast moving nature of Quidditch and how spread out across the pitch the players of various positions can get. Helping today are two friends she'd gone to school with and who are now married, Joseph and Oni Okafor. Joseph plays professionally as did Oni until she chose to quit after having her first child. Now, Oni is working with an organization to bring a little leagua similar to the one in Great Britain to where they are currently living in the Democratic Republic of Congo, not all that far from the school they all attended, Okapi École de Sorcellerie.
Theodosia brakes to a stop as several Chasers cluster up around Griet Vanderbilt, who is currently in possession of the Quaffle. A short time ago, it was Griet who first took the Quaffle when it was put into play. Since that time, Griet and the other two Slytherin Chasers Alexa Wenclock and Olive Green have effectively kept the ball from the three Ravenclaw Chasers Deak Bennett, Jack Emerson, and Hadrian Rabnott. Those three young men are growing increasingly frustrated at being unable to take the ball away from three girls, though Theodosia knows the boys well enough to know that they'd never openly admit to thinking boys play better than girls. And maybe she's reading their expressions wrong and it's not a boy versus girl thing so much as a Ravenclaw versus Slytherin thing.
A Bludger passes close enough by Theodosia that she moves slightly to pull herself out of the action. Referees do occassionally get knocked about accidently so if she had been hit, it wouldn't have been the first such instance. The Beater who'd hit the black ball, looking around she sees that would be Coco Nutt, would feel horrible about it, but these things do happen. In some matches it's on purpose though to Theodosia's knowledge of games here at Hogwarts that's never been the case. She hopes that during her time here that an on purpose accident against a referee, whether herself or one of her guests, never happens but if it were to occur, it's one of those things that's hard to take action against. Most of the time the Beater is able to convincingly claim a true accident in hitting the referee instead of one of the other players. The very few times in Quidditch history when that's not been the case were times when circumstances were such that it was clear the referee being slammed by a Bludger was done with deliberation.
Theodosia's eyes scan up and down the pitch, looking to each of the four Beaters playing today. In addition to Coco there's Fritz Schnackenpfefferhausen for Ravenclaw. She doubts either of them would do such a thing. Of the two Slytherin Beaters her eyes alight on first Basil Wynbourne and then on Mark Farnon. Those two she's not so sure about. She's never witnessed Mark being mean or bullying but the boy does have a smug sense of superiority. Of course, that doesn't mean he'd purposely set out to hurt a referee but for some reason Theodosia can't truly pinpoint, she can't say she'd be surprised if he ever did. Basil, on the other hand, she knows for a fact can be a bully. She came across him one day harassing a first year. His reaction to being caught was to make excuses and apologize profusely but she's seen other glimpses of a bad attitude, including sullenness at losing house points and having the threat of a detention hanging over his head.
The three Slytherin Chasers have finally gotten into a good range for a scoring attempt, much to the chagrin of the Ravenclaw Chasers so Theodosia glues her attention back on the action there to watch closely for any signs of a foul. Alexa takes the shot but Ravenclaw Keeper Daniel Gelson is able to easily block. The Quaffle bounces off his hands and is snatched up by Jack. For the first time in the match, Ravenclaw has taken possession of the ball.
As the three Ravenclaws start working the Quaffle to the other end of the pitch, while the three Slytherins try to regain the ball, Theodosia lets her eyes stray from them again for just a second to look down at where Zuberi Batuti is sitting on his broom. It's probably a good thing he's a Keeper because with his behavior and his obvious disdain for her, if he were a Beater, she could easily picture him batting a Bludger at her as often as he thought he could get away with it. With his attitude, it's a wonder some days that Griet's let him stay on the team.
Spurring her broom on as the Quaffle is worked further away from Daniel and closer to Zuberi, Theodosia finds herself looking right at the Snitch. It's not her place to give away its position but she can't help but dart furtive glances around to see whether Christopher Chant or Cornelia Vanderbilt has spotted the tiny flying ball as well. The Snitch flits away without either Seeker having seen it while it hovered just inches from Theosodia's face. That's fine with her as she'd quite like to see something of a match before the Snitch is caught.
Her eyes fixed on the Chaser with the Quaffle, Deak Bennett, Theodosia puts her whistle to her lips when it looks as though Olive Green might commit a foul but the girl realizes what she's doing and quickly corrects herself before the foul is actually committed. Deak passes off to Hadrian who passes to Jack who passes right back to Hadrian. Hadrian's close enough now to try for a shot through he could really stand to be closer for best results. He tries for it anyway but Zuberi blocks using the tail of his broom. It's Griet catches it on the rebound and rockets away but doesn't get far when she's hit by a Bludger. The Quaffle's knocked from her grasp and is scooped up by Jack. He whips his broom around, hand with the Quaffle going up in preparation to make another goal attempt for Ravenclaw.
Try, Try Again
Author: Griet
Date: 01-27-10 06:04
Ignoring the throb in her shoulder from the bludger hit, Griet turned abruptly on her broomstick and chased after Jack. The Ravenclaw chaser was within scoring range before Griet could truly react, since she hadn't gotten very far to begin with, but luckily the other Slytherin chasers were nearer to him and could hopefully intercept or be there for the rebound, if Zuberi successfully blocked Jack's goal attempt.
Jack raised his throwing arm and prepared to launch the quaffle through the middle hoop, when at the last second, he flicked his wrist in another direction, sending the red ball into Deak's arms. Deak reacted quickly and pitched the quaffle towards the left-most hoop, but Zuberi hastily threw himself in that direction and batted the ball away with the palm of his hand.
Deak was able to recover the quaffle on the rebound, since it more or less went right back to him. He threw it again, this time at an angle towards the right-most hoop. Again, Zuberi dived in that direction, but the ball struck the rim of the hoop and bounced into Griet's waiting arms.
Her shoulder still hurt, but the pain from the initial impact with the bludger had subsided substantially and she found that she could ignore the pain even more now. She tucked the quaffle securely between her arm and body and shot away from the Slytherin goal hoops, hoping to put as much distance between her and them as possible.
This time Griet managed to fly a fair distance before she reached her first obstacle. Jack had caught up to her and drawn close in an attempt to steal the quaffle from her arm. She swerved away from him when an opening presented itself in the crush of chasers that flew around her, and when Alexa showed she was open, Griet threw the quaffle to her.
Crack (Alexa)
Author: Aaron Miller
Date: 01-27-10 18:31
Griet's pass is a good, solid pass and Alexa would have caught the quaffle with no problem except that Hadrian was able to shoot in between Alexa and the ball. It's perfect timing on his part much to Alexa's chagrin. She's on top of him in an instant, attempting to steal the quaffle right back but Hadrian's able to rocket away from her just as she gets her hand on the ball. The only good thing is that he's forced to go further away from his target before he can get back around and start for the Slytherin tended hoops.
Alexa is able to get up close to Hadrian as he comes around. This time she not only gets her hand fully on the quaffle but is jerks it free from his grasp while sweetly saying, "You know, you used to be my favorite cousin."
Hadrian laughs goodnaturedly and dives for the ball, nearly coming unseated from his broom in the process. Between that and a bludger from Mark, Alexa pulls away from him before he can make another grab for the quaffle. She's not clean away though because Jack's suddenly right there at her elbow and the other bludger wallops the tip of her broom handle with enough force that she thinks she hears a crack. With Jack making grab after grab for the red ball, Alexa doesn't have the luxury of stopping to check out her broom. To do that she'll need to pass off and do it without unintentionally fouling the flying way too close for comfort Jack.
Of course, she could also manuever so he's the one fouling her. A sly grin plays across her lips only to quickly be replaced by a serious frown. Having him foul her wouldn't work come to think of it because there would be the chance of being the one given the quaffle to either put into play or to take a goal shot, depending on what foul was called and other factors of the game. That wouldn't give her the handful of seconds she'd need to check her broom handle.
Passing it off it is then. But where are Griet and Olive?
There!
Alexa, who now has both Jack and Deak on either side of her, spies Olive on the other side of Deak. Olive gives Alexa a hand signal and with Alexa's nod of acknowldgement and hand signal in return, Olive drops down slightly and manuevers underneath Alexa, matching her speed. Alexa leans low over her broom, hugging the quaffle then before Jack can snatch it away or Deak cause interference, she drops the quaffle down to Olive.
Olive shoots away, now the one with Jack and Deak, and Hadrian too now, on her heels. Alexa spots Griet ahead, in a good position to take a pass from Olive if Olive can manage it. Alexa takes this moment to slow enough to lean far enough over her broom handle to study the tip. Sure enough, there's a crack there. Referee Oni Okafor pulls alongside, startling Alexa.
"Everything all right?" Mrs. Okafor asks with a very pretty accent.
"It's cracked," Alexa responds, gesturing to the tip of her broom.
"I've tape for that. I don't like to use a wand even as a referee unless absolutely necessary and it's quicker than getting you onto another broom," the woman says, pulling metallic looking tape from her robes and tearing off a couple of strips for Alexa. "If you do have a problem as the game progresses, don't hesitate to let one of us know."
"Yes, miss. Thank you."
Alexa carefully wraps the two pieces of tape around her broom then zooms forward to rejoin the fray where Griet has the quaffle but is passing it back to Olive.
First Goal Of The Match (Daniel)
Author: Aaron Miller
Date: 01-27-10 19:50
Olive catches the pass from Griet then immediately launches the quaffle for a goal attempt. In Daniel's opinion, she's still a little far out for it but Olive's got a stronger arm than one might think just looking at her and the quaffle hurls across the distance with no problem. Of course, even though it's coming in like a dangerous projectile, because it does have further to go Daniel has time to easily react to block the shot. He stops it rather effectively by catching it then waits until Deak is close enough to just hand it to. Olive gives Daniel a dirty look but he takes it with a grain of salt. Once the game ends, no matter the outcome, any anomosity of rivalry between them will be dropped.
Watching the chasers start the other way down the pitch, Daniel looks from Olive to Alexa then to Hadrian. They've all heard how bad things were once between Slytherin and the other houses. For some, Daniel's eyes stray to Basil Wynbourne then to Mark Farnon, none of that's changed. For others it's 100% changed. Daniel's glad of that because he likes being able to openly be friends with his cousin Alexa and with Olive and if things were like they once were, Olive and Alexa couldn't hang out with Jill and Marjani. The circle of friends the Wenlock cousins have while at Hogwarts wouldn't be the same at all.
Griet who, pardon the pun, is really on the ball today, snatches the quaffle in mid-pass from Deak to Hadrian. She whirls around and races the short way back to Daniel, arm already back to let the quaffle. Daniel's ready for her but Basil is Johnny on the spot with a bludger, forcing Daniel to duck or be smacked in the head by the hard black ball. Before he can recover enough to still block, the quaffle is through the hoop on his left, which would be to Griet's right. Daniel frowns, not at Griet or Basil, but at himself for letting a shot get past him before Zuberi did.
With the first goal of the match, Slytherin takes the lead with 10 points to Raveclaw's 0. Deak is the one putting the quaffle back into play, working smoothly with Jack and Hadrian to move the quaffle away from Daniel and towards Zuberi. The air has been relatively calm but just as Jack's tossing the quaffle to Deak the wind picks up with a sudden, furious gust. It dies back down almost as quickly as it began but it was enough to loft the quaffle up and away from Jack and Deak and straight at Olive.
Olive loses no time grabbing the quaffle before either Ravenclaw can compensate for the ball's change in direction. Alexa is the closest still to Daniel, as none of them had gotten very far, so Olive once again makes a power throw though this time instead of for a goal attempt, it's to Alexa. Alexa excutes a turn that's so sharp it almost looks like she's done a flip around and lets go of the quaffle. Daniel does a full body block, wrapping his arms around the ball, catching it once more. This time it's passed off to Hadrian, who chooses to keep possession as he increases speed, zigging around Coco who's getting ready to hit a bludger then zagging to avoid Mark who's on a tangential course after the other bludger.
Much as Daniel likes having the action up close to see everything going on, he also doesn't mind one bit if the action is all the way down at the other end of the pitch since that means less chances for Slytherin to try and score. With that in mind, he joins his voice to those cheering on Raveclaw, giving encouragement to his teammates to get points on the board for their house.
(Mark) Flying High
Author: Isolde
Date: 01-28-10 05:59
With Slytherin leading, Mark was in high spirits. He just hoped that during the course of the match, Slytherin put even more points on the scoreboard, while Ravenclaw kept its big, old dragon egg. Wouldn't it be something if the game were a total shut out? Mark would be smiling for days after and would never let Ravenclaw, or even Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, forget that Slytherin had managed to prevent its opponent from scoring even once.
As he flew after one of the bludgers, he allowed himself a quick glance at where Zuberi hovered before the Slytherin goals. Zuberi truly was a good player. He just sometimes let his emotions get the best of him. Hopefully, he'd stay calm and collected throughout the match and not make any little or big mistakes that could cost Slytherin the game.
Mark knew that the real game maker or breaker would be whether Christopher of Ravenclaw or Slytherin's own Cornelia would catch the snitch. He remembered quite vividly that Gryffindor had gotten it purely by chance during the first match Slytherin played in this school year. He'd been pretty annoyed about the mishap, but none so much as Cornelia had been herself. Mark glanced to her quickly and saw her systematically searching for the snitch with a look of grim determination on her face.
Mark reached the bludger and slugged it hard in the direction of the Ravenclaw chasers, who worked as a tight-knit group to move the quaffle as far away from their keeper Daniel as possible. Fritz Schnackenpfefferhausen spotted Mark's intent before it could do any damage and intercepted the bludger, sending it far away from the action. Mark raced after the black ball again, reaching it before it had travelled too far.
He made eye contact with Basil, who was nearer to the pack of chasers, and batted the bludger towards him. Basil then directed it towards Hadrian, who happened to have the quaffle, but at the last second he passed the ball to Jack. The bludger met its mark, but unfortunately, the quaffle was still in Ravenclaw possession. Jack passed it to Deak, who attempted a swift goal, only to have it blocked by Zuberi.
More Bludgers Would Be Good (Basil)
Author: Jared
Date: 01-28-10 20:33
From Basil's point of view, the match is going well. Between the three Slytherin chasers, Mark, and he, the Ravenclaw chasers have had possession of the quaffle maybe a quarter of the time Slytherin has. He doesn't know it but like Mark Farnon he's thinking about how awesome a total shutout would be. If they could pull that off, it wouldn't even matter how many goals Slytherin makes, though come to think of it, a total shutout of Ravenclaw while running up their own score plus getting the snitch would probably be history making for the team. Basil can't remember ever hearing of such a complete victory but then he's also not read up on the history of Quidditch at Hogwarts. Professor Douglass did cover a history of Quidditch last term but if he got into specifics of matches that took place at Hogwarts, Basil can't recall.
Basil flies past teammate and keeper Zuberi Batitu. Unfortunately, there's only so much Basil can do to help Zuberi keep Ravenclaw from scoring. Basil can send bludgers at the other team's chasers when one of them is trying to make a goal and he put himself in flight paths to interfere when a Ravenclaw chaser is closing in on Zuberi and the three hoops Zuberi guards.
Reaching a bludger, Basil hauls his bat back and knocks the bludger as far down the pitch as he's able, aiming for Hadrian Rabnott who's just caught the quaffle on a pass. As he follows through with the swing of his bat, Basil spots the second bludger and then sees Ravenclaw seeker Christopher Chant. Swerving around to the left to avoid Olive Green then swerving back right to miss slamming into Deacon Bennett, though him Basil wouldn't mind crashing into, he goes after that second bludger with a mind to sending it to harass Christopher. One definite way to ensure a Slytherin victory would be to take out the Ravenclaw seeker.
As he races to get to the bludger before anyone else, Basil also contemplates being able to use a bludger hit or two to remove Ravenclaw keeper Daniel Gelson. Ravenclaw not having a keeper would mean Slytherin could run up a high score before the snitch is caught.
Reaching the bludger, Basil thumps it a good one, not hiding his smile when it catches Christopher smack in the middle of the back. Watching where the bludger goes, Basil takes off after it again thinking that there are not enough bludgers in the match to do all he'd like nor are there enough of him to get everything accomplished!
Backache
Author: Christopher Chant
Date: 01-28-10 21:24
The bludger hitting him square in the back takes Christopher by surprise. This is a sport where every player can expect to be hit by bludgers, even the beaters, so the hit shouldn't have come as a shock. It did for two reasons. Christopher wasn't about to get the snitch. He spotted it once, a short time after the game began but he had to go around four chasers and once clear of them the snitch was nowhere to be seen.
The other reason the hit takes him by surprise, the main reason, is that Christopher hadn't even been aware he was a target. Last he knew, Mark and Basil were following the chasers, vying with Coco and Fritz for the bludgers to hit at opposing chasers. Christopher never heard the bludger and because it came at him from behind, he never caught even a peripheral glimpse of it.
The hit took away his breath and has left his back stinging. Times like this have Christopher glad he's not a chaser since those in that position take more bludger hits than the other positions. Christopher does like playing chaser but since being made the Ravenclaw seeker, he better appreciates getting through a match, or ever practice, with relative few wallops from a bludger.
Christpher reaches the end of the pitch, turns and starts back the other way, flying a pattern at the moment. He probably won't stick to the pattern as it's not as though the snitch keeps to a regular flight pattern. Searching in some semblance of a grid does make him feel as though he's accomplishing something and making progress but he's not sure why that is because what real progress is there when the entire pitch has been flown over and searched yet no sign of the snitch is to be seen?
Cornelia flies by going the other way and Christpher would swear he caught a smirk on her face. He swivels around to visually track her. Has she seen the snitch? Why else would she be smirking?
Christoher realizes he's got one hand massaging a small area of his still stinging back. Damn, but that was a hard hit for it to freshly sting this much still. He bets Cornelia was smirking at seeing him in discomfort. She doesn't have the most sparkling, friendly personality and everyone knows by now she's done some pretty vicious things to her own sister. It makes Christopher shudder to think what Cornelia would do to someone she's not related to.
He perks up slightly, focusing hard on something ahead and to the left. Just as quickly he sags, hand reaching behind him to massage more. He thought he'd finally caught a glimpse of the snitch but it was just a trick of the light. He really wishes it had been the snitch and he could have grabbed it to end the game even though it's early on yet. His back is aching something fierce, making him wonder if Basil or Mark, whichever one got him with that bludger, managed to get him just right to irritate his spinal cord or the nerves or something. If it keeps hurting this much, Christopher's going to be ready for a very hot soak in one of the oversized, deep tubs by the time the match does end. If it keeps hurting this much, he hopes he can make it that far.
With renewed purpose, Christopher intently searches for that darned snitch.
(Cornelia) Concentration
Author: Griet
Date: 01-29-10 06:54
Not wanting a repeat of the Gryffindor vs Slytherin game, Cornelia scoured the entire length of the Quidditch Pitch with every determination to catch the snitch before Christopher could, whether he chased after it himself or it just fell into his lap. Cornelia would only feel marginally better about not catching it if Christopher's catch turned out to be as accidental as Charisma's had been during that earlier match, but even then, she'd be furious. Cornelia hated losing.
Although she'd be happier if Slytherin put a bunch of points on the board, enough to give them a win even if Ravenclaw caught the snitch, she'd still be pretty upset that she hadn't been the one to catch it. With those thoughts in mind, she put even more effort into finding the small, golden ball.
While she did her thing, the Slytherin and Ravenclaw chasers did theirs. So far, not much had happened on their end other than a lot of back and forth and many failed goal attempts.
Every time one of the Ravenclaw team players got hit by a bludger, Cornelia felt a jolt of satisfaction, though she tried not to let what the others did distract her from her task too much. Cornelia sort of wanted Griet to get injured too, but at the same time she didn't since that might hurt Slytherin's chances of scoring goals.
Thinking of Griet put a scowl on Cornelia's face. Cornelia had lied about her relationship with Gervaise blooming into something more than friendship. She thought for sure Gervaise would have found out about everything that had happened on Parents Weekend by now, but no one outside the Vanderbilt family and probably Oberon Smith had seen or heard anything about it.
Cornelia's parents of course didn't seem very keen on their daughter snogging anyone, especially on a "sex mattress", as Griet had put it. Cornelia, like Griet before her when Cornelia had made an unpleasant announcement in front of their grandfather and uncle, had gotten the talk. She really hated Griet for putting her in the same position. That wasn't supposed to happen!
Just then, a glint of gold caught Cornelia's eye. All thoughts of Griet and her own troubles forgotten, Cornelia took off after the snitch.
Outmaneuvered Again (Deak)
Author: Kody
Date: 01-29-10 15:05
Deak lets out a low growl of frustration. Hadrian, Jack, and he are good players. Olive, Alexa, and Griet are good but they aren't better than the three Ravenclaws. So why are the Slytherin chasers outplaying the Ravenclaw ones today?
Griet's just stolen the quaffle. Again. How many times is that now?
It's not that any of the three boys are playing poorly today so much as the three girls playing exceptionally today. So far they've had the quaffle in Slytherin possession more than Ravenclaw has. When Ravenclaw does get the quaffle, even though the chasers are passing well and working well together, Slytherin keeps managing to steal it.
Deak has caught up with Griet, pleased with himself to mess up a pass from her to Olive. That happiness is short-lived when Alexa flits by on one side, reaches over and plucks the quaffle from him, without touching anything but the ball. She makes a hard right turn to curve back the other direction, Deak dogging her in an effort to take the quaffle back.
Olive comes up even with Alexa and they do what appears to be a hand-off, with Olive peeling away, one hand thrust into the folds of her robes as if shielding the quaffle. Deak doesn't think that Alexa actually passed the quaffle to Olive so sticks with Alexa. His instincts prove to be spot on when Olive makes as if to set up for a goal attempt while Alexa goes to Daniel's other side, bringing the quaffle from the hidden folds of her robe, preparing to make the shot.
Deak is able to get around in front of her but his timing is just enough off he can't catch the quaffle in mid-flight between Alexa and the hoop she's aimed for. The quaffle catches the front of his broom and ricochets off with Deak throwing his body after it, hanging on madly to his broom in hopes it comes along with him.
To Deak's dismay, the quaffle has bounced off in such a way that Alexa is able to easily snatch it back up and no sooner is it in her hand than she's letting it go, aiming for the same hoop as before. Deak's not able to reset himself on his broom to compensate in time to intercept. Daniel's still got his eyes on Olive who is still faking as though she's got the quaffle and is trying to decide exactly what spot to throw from and to which hoop. As a result, the quaffle as thrown by Alexa soars cleanly through her target hoop.
Deak makes that low growl of frustration again as the score is announced as being Slythering with 20 and Ravenclaw with a big fat 0.