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One Of The Starters (Gus)
Author: Phinfilius
Date: 04-10-11 10:26
Augustus Hodfuffer hadn't been angry or upset for not getting to start in any of the previous IQT matches. Coach Batuti had made it clear that everyone would eventually get a turn to be a starter. Gus also looks at it from the standpoint that with the substitution rule for the IQT tournament, not starting a match doesn't equate to not playing in it. Coach Batuti has been really good about rotating through the roster each match. Sometimes it's because someone's not playing in top form, sometimes it's due to illness, occassionally it's because of a broom problem such as the one Ella Harville's just had, but mostly it's from injuries. With the ability to substutite, players who might have continued playing otherwise come out sometimes when the injury is not much more than a bad bruise. Gus thinks substitutions are a good idea when it comes to serious problems but only because minor bruises can mean less time in the match than someone - he - would normally have.
These thoughts don't keep Gus from giving his all. At the moment he's speeding towards one bludger while Mark's targeted Danal chaser Paulina Gerbajs in an effort to keep her from scoring, Gus is hoping to send a bludger at newcomer to the match Clarence Mathis.
Between Mark's bludger catching Paulina on the shoulder, causing her throw to be somewhat off kilter and wobbly and Hunter doing a good job of blocking, Hogwarts is suddenly back in possession of the quaffle. Gus reaches the bludger he's after, sending it at Clarence who's now attempting to steal from Etta. The bludger misses Clarence but does clip Hortense LaPierre, a girl who has been so nice these past few days in Gus's opinion that he's almost sorry to have hit her. Almost.
Etta pulls away from both Clarence and Hortense, dodging a bludger hit by the Canadian team's Roberta Fieri. Mark, meanwhile, has reached the bludger hit only a short time ago by Gus. He aims it not at any of the three Danal chasers sends it to squarely hit seeker Ciara Stanton who had briefly spotted the snitch. Thanks to Mark's bludger hit, Ciara's lost sight of the winged ball. Unfortunately, Charisma is across the pitch and looking another direction so never even saw any of this, so never had eyes on the snitch just then herself.
Gus zig zags down the pitch, following the action and racing to get to one of the bludgers. Marcus Corning and he are both after the same one so Gus pours on the speed, wanting to reach it first or to at least get positioned so if Marcus hits it before he does, he can intercept and change its direction. As he's doing this, Jack, Etta, and Griet continue working the quaffle closer and closer to where Danal keeper Raymond Fieri awaits.
Inventor In The Making? (Hunter)
Author: Emerald Green
Date: 04-10-11 12:29
Just about the time it looked as though Hogwarts was going to score again, there was a quaffle turn-over. Hunter couldn't see what happened, too many people in the way. Frustratingly, the announcer only said that Jack lost possession to Clarence. Hunter would have liked to know how. Was it a steal? A quaffle? Bad pass? Good pass but intercepted? What? Times like this is when being a keeper makes Hunter feel least involved in a match. Even if he was sitting in the stands as a spectator, he would have liked more details just then. Not everyone in the stands can see everything going on.
That thought brings Hunter up short. He supposes that most Quidditch announcers can't see everything either, especially when players get bunched up. Just like football back home or soccer, what they call football in Britain, which he guesses he should start thinking of as home now he's been there so long.
This leads Hunter on another thought tangent. In his opinion, someone really should have figured out a way to broadcast events like Quidditch. Hasn't anyone come up with a workable spell that allows that? A regular Muggle tv doesn't work long in Wizarding environments but seriously, after all this time, there's no spell to broadcast matches visually? Maybe he'll just have to do that. Get rich from it. Of course, he might have to consult Jade. His twin wouldn't take lightly to be left out of an important invention. Also, having her brains involved would increase the chances of creating some sort of spell and a device to use it on. Okay, so the device would just be some sort of modified television set. What's that expression adults are always using? No need to reinvent the wheel? Yeah, that's it.
Hunter must put those thoughts on hold for a bit. Danal de Magie Académie chasers are getting closer with the quaffle. Close enough that Hunter must give his full attention to what they are doing. Hunter can see that Hortense is gripping something red close to her body. That's where the quaffle is then. Etta is right at Hortense's side, mirroring the other girl's moves, watching for an opening to steal.
Jack is covering Clarence who keeps waving an arm at Hortense, signeling her to pass him the quaffle. Griet is trying to keep herself between Paulina and Hortense in an effort to interfere with any thoughts of a pass between the two Danal chasers. Mark's just hit a bludger at Hortense but Roberta is going to get to it before the black ball gets to its target. Gus (Hodfuffer, not Van Tassel) and Marcus are both flying slowly as if searching where the other bludger has gotten off to. Gus spots it first and accelerates for it.
Hortense finally passes, shooting the quaffle in Clarence's direction. To her chagrin, Jack intercepts. Even though it means the action once more is moving away from him, Hunter grins nonetheless. The more Hogwarts had the quaffle, the greater the chances of scoring. With everyone going back the other way again for the moment, Hunter allows one tiny corner of his brain to start thinking again about how one would go about broadcasting footage of Quidditch matches.
Clunking Of Heads (Wiggy)
Author: Phinfilius
Date: 04-10-11 16:55
Wiggersmythe is standing on the Hogwarts team platform alongside Deak, intently watching the match while the two of them make comments about the game and players. Things like "Ella really blindsided LaPierre" and "Good pass by Hortense. Too bad Etta couldn't get the interception" and "JACK, BLUDGER!"
When Hogwarts once again gets within the area they all think of as goal range, Wiggy's voice is raised in loud cheers along with just about everyone around him. With the acoustics of this large cavern the sounds, to Wiggy anyway, seem amplified.
Etta has the quaffle, shoots it over to Griet in a rapid underhand toss, then Griet does a cross body throw to Jack. Jack pivots on his broom, whipping the quaffle at one of the hoops as he moves. Raymond, the keeper in for the Canadian team, blocks with the quaffle bouncing off his hands. Jack goes after it as does Danal chaser Paulina.
Play comes to a halt then as a whistle blows. Wiggy finds himself rubbing his head in empathy with Jack and Paulina. They'd clunked heads so hard that Wiggy would have sworn he could have heard the noise of it all the way over here and over the sounds of the crowd. Referee Mahmood al Atrash is looking over Jack while Gustav Ritcher has joined them to look at Pauline. Ritcher escorts Paulina over to the Danal platform and Wiggy wishes he could hear what's being said. Deak taps him on the arm then points at Jack, who's being helped on his broom by al Atrash over to where they are. As they draw near Wiggy can see that Jack has blood on his face. Deak and he shift positions on the platform enough to eavesdrop on what al Atrish says to Coach Batuti.
They only catch the end of it, "...ible concussion so we are removing Mr. Emerson from the match."
"Thank you," the coach tells Mr. al Atrash before glancing around and spotting Wiggy. "Wiggy, you're in for Jack."
Wiggy wants to know if Jack's all right but he nods anyway, gets on his broom and takes off. For the other team Hugues Crespelle enters the game. There's another tip off with the quaffle, this time down near where Paulina and Jack knocked heads. This is in Hogwarts favor if they can just get quaffle in the tip off and act quickly to zip it on through a hoop before the Danal de Magie Académie players can react well enough to stop them.
The quaffle goes up and it's Griet with it, only Marcus Corning is quick with a bludger. Griet loses the quaffle but it's Wiggy who grabs it up. He's not facing the Danal hoops though so he has to jerk his broom around in a hard, sharp, tight turn. He lets the quaffle go as soon as he's got a bead on the right trajectory from his position. Raymond moves in for the block but Mark is quicker with a bludger, stopping Raymond from getting his fingers on the quaffle. Wiggy pumps his fist and grins as the announcer's voice reverberates, "Hodfuffer scores! Hogwarts now leads 20 points to 10!"
(Kate) Showoff
Author: Bronwyn Dewhurst
Date: 04-10-11 17:24
When Wiggy scored, putting Hogwarts in the lead again, Kate jumped to her feet and yelled out happily. Johanna and Felicia hugged each other and cheered.
"That's what I'm talking about!" Kate shouted.
When her enthusiasm died down, she sat and looked at her friends. "This is wicked, isn't it? I never even imagined there could be a Quidditch Pitch in a cave."
"I know!" Johanna exclaimed, "with restaurants and everything."
"You know what it kind of reminds me of?" Felicia asked.
"What?" Kate and Johanna asked together.
"Gringotts. Underground, you know. Where the vaults are. I'm talking Diagon Alley, not Hogsmeade. Diagon Alley has sort of that cavern thing going on."
"But no restaurants," Kate said.
"Or Quidditch," Johanna added.
"But lots of money!" Felicia quipped. "Hey. Do you see that?" She leaned forward in her seat and twisted the dial on her omnioculars.
Kate and Johanna both followed her gaze. For a moment, Kate thought she meant Mark, who had just flown in front of them and had stopped to whack a bludger at somebody on the opposing team.
But then she saw that Felicia was looking at a cluster of Canadian girls. They were far enough away that Kate couldn't make out their faces.
Felicia handed over the omnioculars, and Kate and Johanna took turns viewing.
"They're totally checking Gus out," Felicia said, indicating to where Gus was patiently waiting his turn to play on the raised platform.
Kate turned to look at him. "Probably because he's flexing his muscles right now."
Indeed, Gus was turning this way and that, grinning and showing off his muscular form.
"He likes the attention," Johanna said. "He's such a showoff."
The Canadian girls were fluttering the eyelashes and giggling. It was enough to make Kate, Johanna and Felicia roll their eyes.
Listening to the Game
Author: Bronwyn Dewhurst
Date: 04-10-11 18:02
"Remind me again why we didn't just go to the game?" Siegfried asked those around him.
He and his boyfriend Asa were visiting Bronwyn and Toby at their Greenwich duplex. They were listening to the Quidditch match between Hogwarts and Danal de Magie Académie and eating homemade pizza Toby had made himself.
"Because my last boyfriend was Canadian and I'm completely against the country at the moment," Asa replied with a mixture of seriousness and jest.
"And because we'd already planned this get-together," Bronwyn replied.
"Where is Desi, by the way?" Toby asked.
"I don't know. At work, probably. Maybe your brother knows. Why didn't you invite him, anyway?" Bronwyn asked.
"I wasn't sure he was planning on going himself or if he had to work today. I guess I could have asked. I imagine Ariella is there, maybe even Alanna."
"Katherine's probably there for work––Oh! I'm such a spaz!" Bronwyn cried out.
Siegfried snickered. Toby quirked an eyebrow. "Tell us something we don't know."
Bronwyn playfully punched him in the shoulder. "I'm supposed to be paying attention and I meant to have a notepad and quill handy to write down important plays so that I know what I'm talking about on Monday morning."
"Aren't you supposed to be paying attention, Siegfried?" Bronwyn pointedly asked.
Siegfried shrugged and grinned. "Someone else from Quidditch Illustrated is covering this one. It's not my responsibility this time."
Bronwyn stuck her tongue out and got up to find said notepad and quill.
"I swear, I've been forgetting everything lately. I must be getting old."
"No, darling. You've always been a bit... how should we say... ?"
"Ditzy?" Siegfried suggested.
"I was going to say distracted," Toby replied, grinning. "Boys, shoes, jewelry... Need I say more?"
"Be that as it may," Bronwyn huffed, notepad and quill now in hand, "I've still gotten older. I mean, I'm almost twenty-four. That's practically ancient."
She sat down on the loveseat next to Toby. He was reading that morning's edition of the newspaper, which he'd not gotten to earlier in the day.
"Oh, hey. St. Mungo's is doing a study on memory. Maybe you should sign up," he jokingly told Bronwyn.
"Give me that," she said, abandoning the notepad and quill for the paper. She browsed the small ad and decided, "I think I will."
"Forgetting to take notes while listening to the game on the WWN isn't what they're looking for," Toby said.
"How do you know?" Bronwyn asked.
"They probably want participants with memory problems," Siegfried said, between bites of pizza.
"Don't you forget that I'm missing five days of my life. That counts as a real memory problem, doesn't it?"
Everyone fell silent for a moment. Only the commentator calling out gameplays filled the living room of the duplex.
Asa alone didn't know about how Bronwyn had gone missing for just under a week nearly four years ago and had returned without any of her memories. It was something that had never really gotten addressed. Well, maybe now it would.
Toby put a hand on Bron's arm. "Go ahead and sign up for the trial, if that's what you really want."
Bronwyn looked at the ad again and said, "I think I will."
(Cornelia) Systematic Searching
Author: Griet
Date: 04-11-11 08:06
In the time since Wiggy scored, the quaffle had changed hands several times. A few goal attempts had been made by both teams, but the score remained unchanged. The snitch had shown itself a few times, but it stayed as elusive as ever. Cornelia both wanted and didn't want Charisma to catch it. If she did, then Hogwarts would most definitely win the match. If she didn't, then maybe Cornelia would get a chance to catch it for Hogwarts.
After a while of much back and forth but no results, Coach Batuti flagged Charisma and Griet. While they flew to the platform, Cornelia and Olive were asked to mount their brooms.
Cornelia took to the air and immediately started her search for the snitch. She scanned the Pitch very systematically, while keeping an eye out for distractions like bludgers. She didn't feel like she would be at too much risk of getting hit, at least not until she showed signs of actually spotting the golden ball.
Meanwhile, Hogwarts had possession of the quaffle. It flew from hand to hand, quickly and accurately. The chasers from Danal tried to intercept, but those from Hogwarts formed a tight flying pattern and made it hard for anyone to squeeze in for a steal.
The Canadian keeper prepared for their approach and successfully blocked Olive's goal attempt. The quaffle ricocheted off of the bristles of his broom and landed square into Olive's arms again. She let it fly once more, but just as soon as it left her fingers, Clarence intercepted it in a move very similar to the one concocted between Jack and Griet at the beginning of the match.
He accelerated hard, putting a lot of distance between himself and everyone else. All of the chasers, including those on his own team, pushed themselves to catch up. Clarence arrived in front of Hunter in short order and threw the quaffle with all his might.
Hunter lunged in the right direction, but because of Clarence's speed, could only graze the ball with his fingertips. It was enough to change the ball's course so that it hit rim, but it wasn't enough to stop the quaffle from going in.
Cornelia couldn't let Danal's new goal upset her, because she'd just spotted the snitch. She tore after it, with arm outstretched.
Tapped To Play (Mason)
Author: Pyrrhus
Date: 04-11-11 19:06
Mason got to watching Cornelia going after the snitch, holding his breath in hopes that this time she wouldn't get it. Not until he's had a chance to play. He knows it's the wrong thing to think but he can't help it. With no breeze or out and out wind in the cavern to interfere with vision or throw up other things in the air, Mason doesn't fully understand how someone like Cornelia can be right up on the snitch like that and then, quicker than a blink, be reaching for nothing.
Mason's so intent on watching Cornelia and pondering how that snitch can just vanish like that he almost misses his name being called.
"Mason, go in for Etta."
It takes Gus Van Tassel poking him for Mason to get moving with a quick, "Yes, coach," over his shoulder as he takes off from the platform.
On the other team there's a line-up change as well. Hortense, Raymond, and Marcus all leave the match with Amaruq Uyarasuk coming in as chaser, June Jacobs as keeper, and Marilee Sataa as beater. Mason remembers the names of a few of the Danal players, Amaruq being one of them, but a number of them are just faces, like June. Mason only vaguely remembers meeting her when the team arrived Wednesday night but he doesn't recall speaking to her or even seeing her since then though he knows he's at least seen her.
The current team changes are taking place during a Danal time out so Mason joins his own teammates for what's left of the short break. When play resumes it's Wiggy with the quaffle setting up a pass to him with Olive running interference with Canadian chaser Hugues. Mason catches the nice pass, relishing having his hands on the quaffle during match play, accelerating away from Amaruq and the third Canadian chaser Clarence, the one who'd last scored a goal.
Mason has to duck when a bludger comes at him on an angle in front nad to the side. From behind him Mark yells, "Stay down," and he can only presume Mark's swinging his bat to get that bludger and didn't want to chance hitting him. Mason's grateful for that. Being smashed in the head by a bludger bat would almost certainly mean being out of the game and he's only just got in.
In the clear, Mason sees Olive's open and hurls the quaffle to her. She dodges and swerves, just barely avoiding a collision with opposing beater Roberta only to have Roberta grab her broom. It's not done on purpose from what Mason can tell. More of a reflex. Still, a whistle is blown and the blagging fowl is called.
Olive gets into place for the foul shot, sending it to the left most hoop but June blocks it by swatting it away. It's Mason with the rebound. He shifts on his broom just enough to immediately shoot the ball. June blocks again, this time catching it. She puts the quaffle back into play with a toss to Amaruq. The three Canadian chasers begin methodically working the quaffle back the other direction only to have Olive intercept.
She throws it to Wiggy who tosses it to Mason who starts to throw for another goal attempt only to get smacked in the shoulder by a bludger. By the time he's ready to throw again, others are between him and the hoops. Mason ends up throwing back to Wiggy who sends it right back to Olive, who lets the quaffle fly, this time more towards the center hoop. Once more, Mason finds himself holding his breath, hoping the shot is good.
The Green Girls (Olive & Jade)
Author: Emerald Green
Date: 04-12-11 09:34
Jade's standing right next to Coach Batuti when Gus Hodfuffer approaches the platform. "Something's wrong with my broom tail."
Coach nods and probably because Jade is literally right there she says, "Jade, go in for Gus."
"Yes'm," Jade says, already on her broom, bat gripped tightly in her hand.
The substitution is announced as Jade flies at a fairly good clip to get to the bludger she's already got her eyes on.
Olive frowns, not from anger or anything like that but from intense concentration. Since her last goal attempt was rebuffed ten, fifteen minutes ago (or so it seems about that long though it could have been less time or more time) Danal's had the quaffle. Olive's shot was blocked with Hugues Crespelle
taking possession. Huguess, Amaruq Uyarasuk, and Clarence Mathis successfully got the quaffle down to where Hunter is but couldn't get a shot past him. Annoyingly, Hogwarts also could't get their hands back on the ball.
The Canadian chasers were able to keep possession, working the quaffle around and around within the best goal range area, getting off a shot now and again and always getting the rebound. Hunter was doing his best to catch the quaffle rather than having it bounce away or deflected but it took eight goal attempts for that to happen. Olive has to say she's rather proud of her little brother for blocking eight shots in a row like that.
When Hunter was finally able to grab and hold the quaffle he'd then passed it on to Mason. Mason gave Olive a finger signal, which she in turn gave to Wiggy. Based on that signal the two boys and Olive got into a pattern all the Hogwarts chasers have practiced, one of those close in formations that helps create an aerial wedge with Mason flanked by Olive and Wiggy.
The wedge only broke apart when Marilee Sataa was able to hit Wiggy full on with a bludger, knocking the wind from him and temporarily slowing him down. Mason had immediately passed to Olive who'd tucked in low over her broom and zipped away with Amaraq hot on her heels. She has to duck under Hogwarts seeker Cornelia and then swerve around Danal seeker Ciara Stanton, Amaraq right there closing in.
Amaraq is repeately reaching out to try and grab the quaffle away from her so Olive flattens herself over her broom and accelerates even more. Jade intercepts a bludger Roberta Fieri just hit and alters its course. The hard black ball, with that odd strangled screaming sort of noise bludgers often make, is on target, smacking the back of Amaraq's broom. The hit slows him slightly, allowing Olive to widen the gap between them.
Jade decides to go after that same bludger again. Roberta gets to it first though so Jade has to once more intercept it. She alters her own course to do just that, coming up on the bludger in a way that has her backhanding it with her bat for it to go where she wants it, which is at Clarence. Olive's passed off to Mason who has Clarence flying in so closely Jade wouldn't be at all surprised if one of the many many many Quiddition fouls were to be called.
None is but only because Mason's in a position for goal attempt. He shoots aaaaaaaaaaaaand it's good! Danal keeper June Jacods had her fingers on it but couldn't stop the ball's momentum.
Jade whoops as the new score is announced. Hogwarts is in the lead again!