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Lightening Moves (Etta)
Author: Jared
Date: 04-17-10 11:31
Marjani fakes Jack out by making the move to overhand throw for the goal attempt. With a quick flick of her wrist, she sends the quaffle not in the direction of one of the hoops where Daniel's set to try and block but to Etta. Deak had been shadowing Etta closely but she's able to take possession of the quaffle unobstructed by Deak because of a near collision he has with one of his own team's beaters, Coco. Both Deak and Coco quickly recover, with Coco quickly set to bat a bludger at Etta and at this close range, Etta has no doubt the impact would hurt more than usual. Deak's right there in her face again as well.
Etta ends up losing some ground as she first dodges Coco's bludger then zig zaps to shake Deak. She constantly the positions of the other two Gryffindor chasers as best she can. Marjani isn't in a good range for a successful pass and Wiggy can't get into the clear so Etta goes for the goal herself. Darting around Ella, being sure to steer clear of Ella's bat as the beater prepares to swing it, Etta picks up speed as she nears the hoops, instead of slowing down as Daniel might expect.
Etta throws the quaffle while at the same time turning sharply so as not slam into one of the thick posts holding up the nearest hoop. Turning her head to follow the quaffle's trajectory, Etta gives an excited, "WOO HOO!" at the sight of the red ball squeaking past Daniel's hands to score Gryffindor's first ten points of the match.
The quaffle goes back into play with Daniel passing to Jack. Deak, Hadrian, and Jack then proceed to work the quaffle down the pitch. Etta finds herself once again with Deak, Wiggy's on Jack now, and Marjani's got Hadrian. At one point Deak moves in to take the quaffle from Hadrian with Etta putting herself between the two boys. A bludger from Fritz catches Etta's broomtail with just enough unexpected force that Etta spins around one full rotation and then another half turn. Etta and her broom are fine but now Deak's pulled far ahead so Etta leans low over her broom handle to catch up.
By the time she reaches the action again, Deak's handed back off to Jack and Jack's in the process of setting up a past to Hadrian. Wiggy makes a move then, able to snake his hand into a position to lift the quaffle away from Jack pretty as you please. In a flash, Wiggy's headed back the other way, with Jack right on his tail, clearly not happy to have had the ball stolen.
Etta and Marjani move in to help keep the Ravenclaws off Wiggy, with Marjani even intercepting a bludger hit meant for Wiggy. He reaches the hoops and in another lightening move lets the quaffle fly. It's a red streak as it sails through the center hoop before Daniel can effectively stop it.
Just like that the match score is all tied up at twenty points apiece.
As Much Spectator As Active Player (Daniel)
Author: Aaron Miller
Date: 04-17-10 16:14
Daniel can't believe he let that second Gryffindor get by so fast on the tail of that team's first one. He really thought he had the first Gryffindor goal blocked but he ended up stabbing fingers into the side of the ball instead of hitting it with the flat of his fingers or palm. That stung like heck and with the way one of those fingers has swollen slightly and is showing bruising at the middle joint, Daniel thinks he jammed it.
The second Gryffindor goal, Daniel simply mistimed due to the speed Wiggy put on the quaffle. Daniel knew it was moving fast but incorrectly judged just how fast so got there to block it a hair too late. Now he's annoyed with himself, not so much for not stopping the quaffle, but more for the fact that the second was so soon after the first. Daniel doesn't have a watch on as he's always worried it will get smashed when playing Quidditch and wasn't paying attention to the game clock but he thinks the two goals were maybe a minute apart, if that.
The quafle is now approaching the middle of the pitch, borne by Deak. Daniel had put the quaffle back into play with a pass to Hadrian and after that the Ravenclaw chasers began the act of working together to move the quaffle to the opposite end of the pitch where Daniel's counterpart, Gryffindor keeper Ronan Eastwick, waits. Daniel watches on as Deak completes a pass to Hadrian while at the same time dodging a bludger. Hadrian shifts the ball in close to his torso, making it difficult for Daniel to see since Hadrian is moving away from him.
Jack moves in close to Hadrian and from where Daniel sits perched on his broom, it looks as though Jack takes possession of the quaffle. He hunches over his broom and pours on the speed with Wiggy after him. Hadrian banks around first one of the seekers then around a beater before straightening out, also while accelerating. Marjani intercepts him, positioning herself so that if Jack were to want to pass back to Hadrian, the pass would be more difficult to successfully accomplish.
Deak is moving in on Jack to either take a pass or assist in getting Jack within goal attempt range. Etta's been like glue on Deak but then Deak had done the same to her for much of the match. It's only when Hadrian's nearing the hoops that the Gryffindors realize he's had the quaffle all along. One of the Gryffyindor beaters must have realized it a fraction sooner because a bludger wallops Hadrian across his back at the shoulder, though Daniel didn't notice whether it was Ella or Blake who hit it.
Hadrian had revealed the quaffle in prepartion of throwing it for a goal but the bludger hit messed up his plan. It had been too late to fully stop the throw so the quaffle does get released from Hadrian's grip but instead of soaring loftily towards one of the hoops, it wobbles on a crooked path that Marjani easily intercepts. She whips around Hadrian, rocketing away from him to come back in Daniel's direction. There's a lot of space to cover but Daniel tenses up nonetheless in preparation of stopping another Gryffindor scoring effort.
Ouch
Author: Coco Nutt
Date: 04-17-10 21:29
Coco swings her bat back and gives the bludger she's just raced to reach a hard, heavy wallop. Her shoulder twinges enough to make her wince but she grits her teeth and goes in pursuit of that same bludger so that she can be first at it again once it's reached her intended target: Marjani Batuti. The bludger hits Marjani's, though unfortunately not the one with the hand gripping the quaffle against her side. Coco zooms up on the bludger again, makes sure her competition for it isn't in the way of her bat, and once more sends the black sphere on course to hit Marjani. Coco has nothing against Marjani other than the fact that the Gryffindor girl is the current possessor of the quaffle.
After she's sent the bludger on its way to connect with Marjani, Coco reaches around with her free hand to massage her shoulder. Last night in practice she'd somehow torn a ligament. Madam Pomfrey had given Coco a potion to mend the ligament but although the potion repair only takes a few hours to do its job, for full healing restoration Coco really needed to have not done anything strenuous with the shoulder for a full 24 hours after taking the potion. Madam Pomfrey had fussed at Coco last night, knowing full well that Coco had no intention of missing the match. When Coco did leave the hospital wing to return to Ravenclaw House, it was with Madam Pomfrey's stern instruction to come back straight away after the match for an additional dose of the potion. With the increasing soreness in the shoulder, Coco's going to be more than ready for that second dose by the time this match ends.
In pursuit of that same bludger yet again, Coco loses out on it but judging where it will most likely be sent - straight at Deak who's nearly stolen the quaffle twice from Marjani in the last fifteen seconds - Coco makes a beeline to a good intercept point. She would like to stop the bludger before it reaches Deak and if she can position herself right, she'll be able to angle the bludger at Marjani again.
That plan changes when Marjani successfully passes to Etta. The bludger is indeed coming at Deak, as it was hit before the pass, but Coco doesn't think she'll be able to hit the bludger in a way to effectively hit Etta. Coco does the next best thing. She intercepts the bludger, barely taps it to send it one way then hastens around to hit it immediately, this time turned better to get in a shot at Etta. With the hit though Coco not only feels but hears her shoulder pop. The sound accompanied by very intense pain lets Coco know she's most likely torn the ligament again.
Coco does the only thing she can if she wants to continue being a factor in the match. She switches the bat to her other hand. She's not as good with the bat in her non-dominant hand but Coco's practiced enough for just such contingencies that she's fair with it this way.
The bludger she'd just sent to Etta gives Jack time to steal so now Coco shifts focus slightly. Her goal now is to use the bludgers to keep Gryffindor from retaking possession of the quaffle before her team's chaser have a chance to try, and hopefully make, another goal. Ignoring the pain in her shoulder for the moment, Coco takes off after a bludger she wants to send at Wiggy, who is doing his darnedest to keep Jack from doing much with the quaffle, including passing it off to either Deak or Hadrian.
A Quaffle Sized Lump (Wiggy)
Author: Phinfilius
Date: 04-18-10 10:17
With both bludgers screaming around the chasers, often making contact, the match goes back and forth for quite a long while without either team making further progress towards successfully putting more points on the board. Wiggy's got a growing lump on his forehead, not from a bludger, but from when he was coming up from underneath a scramble for the quaffle after Etta had lost her grip on it. Wiggy had gotten kicked in the head though he has no idea by whose foot. Wiggy had gained the quaffle in it all so at least that was something. Upon realizing that Wiggy had taken a head shot, Coach Batuti stopped play to give him a once over, telling him that the egg growing on his forehead was actually a good sign. Still, he's to let her know if his vision starts going blurry or balance becomes an issue, etc.
At the moment, Wiggy's thoughts are not on his head, other than there's a constant dull ache there now, but on Deak, Jack, and Hadrian. Deak's just passed to Hadrian with Hadrian clearly going to pass again very soon. Wiggy recognizes the play the Ravenclaw chasers are doing and it's one in which moving the quaffle down the pitch hinges on a number of quick passes with each chaser gaining a little ground forward with the quaffle.
Etta is moving into position herself between Hadrian and Jack while Marjani is already between Jack and Deak. Wiggy's covering Deak but Deak's flying in an erratic manner, making it harder for Wiggy to block Deak from either Jack or Hadrian. It's fun though trying to keep up with the challenge of watching for signs of the quaffle coming Deak's way, chances to intercept or steal, avoid getting hit by a bludger, avoid colliding with other players including the two seekers who sometimes are aware of the game going on around them but sometimes are oblivious to it, and all while controlling a broom that's zipping along at varying speeds high above the ground. Wiggy can't imagine many better ways to spend a sunny day.
Hadrian's passed to Jack but it was a bad pass and Jack nearly loses the quaffle. Rather than out and out drop it he chooses to hurl it at Deak. Because Jack's grip on the quaffle was tenuous at best, the quickly fired off throw is also a bad pass. Deak doesn't catch the quaffle so much as have it bounce off his chest while scrabbling with one hand to grab it. The quaffle goes free and Wiggy is able to better dart after it and get to it before Deak or anyone else does.
With the quaffle clutched in his hand and held tightly against his midsection, Wiggy streaks towards Daniel. He makes as if to bank when he throws, which would be the quaffle going towards the hoop on Daniel's left. At the last possible moment, Wiggy alters his broom's course slight, so that his shot is more straight on towards center. Daniel cannot compensate his momentum to the left in time to back up for the block and the quaffle sails neatly through the middle hoop.
For the first time this match Gryffindor leads with 30 points to Ravenclaw's 20.
Let's Keep The Momentum Going (Charisma and Blake)
Author: Charisma Stone
Date: 04-18-10 10:53
Charisma had been hovering above the pitch - watching all the action as she attempted to catch sight of the snitch, that ever ellusive glimmering golden ball. She knew Christopher was trying to find it as well - she'd seen Wiggy getting checked out, and then game was on again after it.
She cast her gaze over the stands for a moment, and then caught sight of the snitch and started heading toward it. It was hovering just in front of the Slytherin house seats. She saw Christopher coming up beside her - coming up because he'd seen what direction she was going.
However, they would both be getting there too late, the glimmering golden ball darted off and was lost in the glare of the sunlight. "Damn it." Isma cursed and offered Christopher a smile.
Gryffindor was still winning by ten points, and that was something. Isma shifted to turned to let her gaze fall on Blake as he was currently hitting a bludger to interrupt the quaffle's current trajectory of landing in the hands of Jack Emerson from a pass from Deacon Bennett. The bludger hit home and the quaffle was shot toward Marjani and the Gryffindor chaser zoomed away with the ball, with the rest of the chasers hot on her tail. All four beaters quickly began working to aim bludgers to either block the Gryffindor chasers or allow them to get closer to the Ravenclaw hoops guarded by Daniel Gelson.
A missed pass between Marjani and Wiggy would once more put the quaffle in the hands of a Ravenclaw Chaser, Hadrian. Then the chasers and beaters were all darting back toward the Gryffindor hoops guarded by Ronan. Hadrian managed to get a pass off to Jack, who passed it to Deacon.
Blake watched, managing to hit a bludger that just missed knocking the quaffle off its trajectory and into the hands of a Gryffindor chaser. The quaffle was then launched at the hoops, the first shot by Hadrian was blocked by Ronan, and the second after Deacon had picked up the rebound, would sail past Ronan and a cheer echoed from the Ravenclaw house.
"The score is now tied at thirty points a piece." The announcer's voice came over the pitch, and now it was time for the seekers to get into high gear and someone needed to get their hands on the snitch.
Continuously Distracted
Author: Ella
Date: 04-18-10 12:14
If it weren't for the distractions seated in the stands, Ella might have had more concern for the fact that Ravenclaw had tied things up again. She didn't like losing and would have preferred for Gryffindor to maintain an ever-growing lead over the opposition.
Ella tried to ignore the fact that Dunstan and Delilah had come to watch the match. It wasn't that she didn't like the fact that her father had wanted to attend. She was thrilled, in fact. She just wished he'd come alone and not brought Delilah with him. It was just another reminder of how important she was to him, and how much he'd gotten over Ella's mother.
It was hard not thinking about their presence, though. Ella found her mind wandering more often than not. She should have been focusing 100% on the game, but inevitably, her thoughts strayed from bludgers to the unexpected visitors. One time, Ella even wondered what might happen if she aimed a bludger right at Delilah's head. Could she make it look like an accident?
A bludger caught her eye and she went for it, swiveling around to see where best to aim it (other than at her father's girlfriend). She swung her arm back and nailed the black ball with her bat. It flew at Deak, who was reaching out his arm in an attempt to steal the ball from Marjani.
Ella spun and made for the other bludger, when her gaze raked across the stands again and this time she saw someone else she didn't expect to see: Zane, her ex-boyfriend. He wasn't on his feet, yelling and cheering like most everyone else, but he did look interested in the game. Or maybe he was just interested in Ella's part in it. Either way, Ella was tremendously surprised to see him there. Even when they were together, he hadn't come to the matches.
Ella quickly pulled her eyes away, pretending as if she hadn't seen him though she knew he knew she had. She went after the bludger but Fritz had already reached it. Ella reacted slowly to defending Etta from Fritz's attack, and Etta dropped the quaffle she'd only recently accepted. It fell right into Jack's waiting arms.
Ella was way too distracted to care. Surely Zane would want to talk to her after the match. Ella's father would want to talk to her as well. She didn't want them both coming up to her at the same time. She wasn't even sure she wanted to talk to Zane.
"Ella! What are you doing?" Ronan shouted at her.
Ella shook her head. She had no idea!
Will It Ever End?
Author: Ronan Eastwick
Date: 04-18-10 12:41
Ronan shook his head. Twice now, he'd had to wake Ella from an apparent stupor by yelling at her from halfway across the field. It was a miracle she'd even heard him, so lost in thought she'd seemed to be. Ronan had no idea what was going on with her––and obviously, something was––but she needed to deal with it off field, not while they were in the middle of the match that would determine Gryffindor's placement in the championships.
Ronan was one to talk, though. He'd let three goals slip by him, not that Daniel across the field had done the same. Still, Ronan felt like he should have done better. He should have stopped each and every one of them.
As it happened, the Ravenclaw chasers were currently moving the quaffle across the Pitch. Ronan wasn't about to let them score again and put Ravenclaw back on top. He hoped that Charisma would hurry up and catch the snitch so that the game could end with Gryffindor as the winner.
The red ball flew from hand to hand quickly, only to be intercept by Etta. A second later she lost the ball to Ravenclaw, and again the pack moved towards Ronan. Deak emerged within scoring range and hurled the ball at one of the hoops, but Ronan whacked it with the palm of his hand. It landed in Wiggy's arms.
Ronan kept his eyes focused firmly on the pack until it was far enough from the hoops for him not to worry too much about an immediate goal attempt by Ravenclaw. Then he allowed himself to glance around. The stands were packed, which probably had something to do with the decent weather.
He glanced at the staff box and frowned. Illyria wasn't there, but then a moment later she emerged from the stairs with a drink and some snacks. She sat down in the open space next to Professor Ravenscroft. A second later Officer Eccleston appeared and moved to the very back of the stands.
Ronan frowned. Law enforcement had been shadowing Illyria for a while now. He wondered how much longer it would take for whoever threatened her to get caught so that her life could go back to normal.
Ronan reailzed he was letting himself get distracted and lowered his gaze to the game. The quaffle had changed hands and was now on a course towards him and the Gryffindor goals.
Trying To Figure Out The Other Team's Strategy (Deak)
Author: Kody
Date: 04-18-10 14:07
Deak slows his broom then stops altogether. He and several others are in a hovering pattern around Wiggy who has the quaffle. Wiggy stopped because he was suddenly hemmed in by bludgers from two directions and Ravenclaw chasers in this path. Wiggy's stopping isn't due to indecisiveness on whether to dive or climb or take a longer route around. Deak's pretty sure Wiggy's stopping is strategic as the Gryffindor is far too good of a player to be unable to think on his broom with action going on all around.
With the slight lull in action, though they are all being extremely watchful for someone to make the next move with eyes particularly fixed on Wiggy, Deak rubs fingers along his temple in a massaging motion. For some reason a headache's coming on and not of the sinus type. This time of year, flying around with all the pollen in the air, Deak's found it's not unusual for him to experience sinus pain and pressure so he takes allergy medications, some in the form of a potion and the other in the form of a tablet. Deak hopes the one coming on isn't a bad one. There's no telling how long the match will last and then after Aaron's got some Muggle Studies deal at Cloud's Kiss that all students are invited to and to which he could probably go even if all students weren't, what with Aaron being the closest thing to a father Deak has now. Sort of a perk of being a prof's kid.
Etta and Marjani suddenly streak away, leaving Deak to think that Wiggy's given them some sort of signal that he didn't catch. It has him wondering if Hadrian or Jack caught anything. The girls' unexpected jump from just sitting there to streaking away, as Aaron would put it, like they were shot from a canon - Deak sort of knows what that means but one of these days he's seriously going to have to get Aaron to show him what a canon is and how things shoot out of it - is just enough of a distraction that the three Ravenclaws remain sitting there while watching Marjani and Etta pull away. Wiggy uses that slight distraction to spiral into a steep dive then just as quickly pull out level then start the climb back up to the approximate same altitude as the others.
By that time, Hadrian is pouring on speed to catch up with Etta and Deak is hot on Marjani's heals. Jack's moving forward at a fast clip as well but not as fast as the others so that he can better gauge the ideal spot to try and intercept Wiggy.
By flying a relatively straight line course, Jack's able to overtake Wiggy and his diving and climbing pattern. He reaches the Gryffindor just as Wiggy lets loose of the quaffle. His target is Marjani who Deak's unable to stop from taking possession. She's getting fairly close to the hoops to take a shot but what Deak can do is get in her way to keep her from taking a clean shot. Between Deak and Daniel being ready for whatever Marjani does, the quaffle is blocked, bouncing back into play off Daniel before he can grab it.
Jack springs forward on his broom to snatch up the quaffle and take off for the other end of the pitch. Deak joins in the sprint, ready to take a pass if Jack needs him to and still not exactly sure what the Gryffindor strategy had been back there with Wiggy sitting still for half a minute or more.
Cross Eyed
Author: Christopher Chant
Date: 04-18-10 16:51
Christopher adjusts his position on his broom, sitting back into a more relaxed pose for a few seconds. Sometimes he gets so tense and focused on the search for the snitch, even in practice, that his back is extremely stiff for hours after the practice or the match ends. He takes a moment to roll his shoulders slowly and to stretch out his back then does the same for each arm and leg. The entire time he's not being idle though. Christopher is constantly searching for any sign of the snitch.
Christopher hasn't lain eyes on the golden winged ball since it was released at the start of the match. A couple of times he's noticed Charisma flying as though she's spotted the elusive little ball and has followed along in hopes of seeing it as well and then getting to it before her. Neither of those times did he actually end up seeing the snitch before Charisma lost its trail. Once, Christopher is certain the snitch was just over his head but no matter how he tilted his head up never saw even a tiny part of it nor did reaching above him get him even a feeling of air being pushed past his fingers as if by some small winged object.
Not only hasn't Christopher seen the snitch, he's not seen anything small and golden that could be mistaken for the ball either. If he'd not seen it released with his own eyes, Christopher would have started wondering long ago if the snitch was anywhere over the pitch at all.
Muscles stretched and briefly massaged, Christopher slowly accelerates, eyes scanning in front of him doing a side to side sweep. He arcs around behind the Gryffindor hoops then starts in a straight line towards the Ravenclaw ones. For the moment, Christopher is flying lower than most of the players, a change from the higher altitude he'd been working for a long time.
Christopher makes a complete circuit around the pitch and is debating whether to do a grid pattern at this lower height or climb back above the action. He's been doing a methodical search all along, though when the target of his search is something that not only flies but is extremely quick, Christopher's never been too sure about how effective such a methodical search is. He's heard others give their theories and has read a number of opinions. There are fans of both the methodical and of the random.
Christopher comes to a halt again while he decides whether to do random or methodical now and whether to stay at his current level or go higher, or even go lower. He's just about made up his mind to do a quick random search at this height when the snitch appears so suddenly right in front of his nose that he feels slightly cross-eyed for a moment.
Just as quickly the snitch darts away, almost but not quite out of arm's length. It hovers with its wings fluttering so fast that they are a blur. Sometimes Christopher thinks the snitch has a personality and that 90% of that personality likes to taunt seekers.
He brings his hand up as fast as he dares so as not to startle it into whizzing away. Christopher dares not breath as his hand comes up and around, slowly, slowly slowly. He becomes aware of Charisma rapidly closing in on him and of a bludger fast approaching on his periphery. Moving more quickly so that Charisma doesn't have a chance of literally snatching the snitch away from in front of him, Christopher ignores the bludger and closes his hand around the winged ball. The bludger smacks him hard in the side but he keeps his hand clutched in a fist around the golden snitch.
Christopher doesn't relax until the announcer proclaims, "Chant has caught the snitch for Ravenclaw! The match ends with 180 points Ravenclaw, 30 Gryffindor. Well done, everyone!"
Game Over
Author: Bill Weasley
Date: 04-18-10 17:56
It had been a while since Bill had attended a Quidditch match at Hogwarts. Having heard that Gryffindor would be playing, and since the weather seemed decent enough, he'd rounded up the family that morning and gone up to the castle to watch the game. Quidditch wasn't necessarily a passion of Fleur's, but she didn't mind attending a match from time to time. It was enough to know that her presence made Bill happy.
Little Victoire was also at the match, though she was still young enough to not know what she was watching. She also fell asleep halfway through the game, which was a feat in itself since it was so loud in the stands from all the cheering. Babies could sleep through anything, it seemed. Sometimes Bill wished he could too!
When the Ravenclaw seeker caught the snitch, Bill groaned.
"Bad luck, Gryffindor!" he shouted with a shake of his head. He'd hoped to witness a win for his old Hogwarts house. Maybe next time!
The stands rapidly emptied with the close of the game. Bill and Fleur stayed seated for a short while to allow for the traffic to clear out. In that time, Victoire woke up and started to wail. Fleur fished a bottle from the diaper bag at her feet and gave it to Victoire.
"What now?" Bill asked. "Home or do you want to get something to eat?"
"Let's go home," Fleur replied. "We can eat zere too."
Bill nodded and got to his feet. The staircases weren't nearly as crowded as before, so the family made their way to them and started to climb down to the bottom. The grounds were still quite full, however, with groups congregated together and others heading back to the castle or somewhere else altogether. Bill hadn't seen any of his relatives at the match, but perhaps someone had attended it too. He glanced around as he and Fleur made their way to the edge of campus, but he didn't see any of his siblings or extended family.
Soon they were in Hogsmeade, walking down High Street towards home.