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Before & After (Alastor & Alexa)
Author: Aaron Miller
Date: 06-02-11 16:11
A short while before Charisma left the match and Deak scored Hogwarts second goal Alastor swings his bat back in preparation of hitting one of the bludgers, grimacing in pain as he does so. This morning his shoulder was fine at the beginning of practice but was stiff and sore by the time the Hogwarts team left the pitch. In the time between then and the start of the match it stiffened even more. He'd iced it some after practice and did extra stretching on it before leaving the locker room. It didn't appear swollen and there aren't any bruises but it's gotten even more stiff and sore. Holding his bat up properly is starting to become a problem.
The bat connects with the bludger and Alastor almost drops the bat in the process. He's glad there's a loop at the end that's around his wrist. He'd aimed the bludger at Marcel Gravois who'd just taken possession of the quaffle but even as hard as he hit the ball, it doesn't seem to have much energy behind it and ends up not going nearly as far as he would have liked.
Marcel successfully passes to Caresse Renard who rockets away but still can't shake Olive. Caresse tries suddenly stopping then slightly changing direction but Olive stays with her. Etta has moved to shadowing Marcel and Deak's got Soleil Honoré. Mark's put a bludger across Caresse's path, with the only reason it not hitting her is because she's unexpectedly deccelerates again.
Alastor races towards that bludger he had just hit, hoping to get it on target this time. It really should have just then but it didn't and if he lets himself dwell on it he'll get angry and even more distracted than he is with his shoulder at the moment. Yannick Garand beats Alastor to it so all he can do is sprint in the direction Yannick is sending the bludger with the purpose of stopping it from hitting Yannick's target. The only problem is that Alastor's not sure he can lift his arm by itself much less weighed down as it is with the bat.
About the time Alastor's thinking of signeling he needs to exit the match, Charisma gets hurt, which puts the game on hold again for a few minutes. By the time the game is starting up again Alastor knows for a fact his shoulder has given out entirely and he signals that he needs to leave the match. Blake comes in for him and Alastor, after talking a moment with Coach Batuti goes to the hospital wing where Madam Pomfrey tells him, "You've torn a muscle. Drink this and by morning the muscle should be repaired."
"Can I go back and watch the rest of the match?"
"The potion might might you drowsy and while I would prefer you to stay here, I suppose it's all right."
She'd first put Alastor's arm in a sling then did this strap thing around so he isn't moving his arm any and in turn keeping the shoulder still. Alastor had missed what was happening in the match on the trip to the castle but listened in to the WWN that Griet had playing. He hurried fast as he dared back to the pitch, anxious not to miss much more of the match.
Returning to sit on the platform with the team, Alastor sees that Caresse has the quaffle and that Olive's gotten in close to Caresse. When Caresse changes her hold on the quaffle just before taking firm hold with her hand to throw it, Olive sees her opening. She swoops in, grabs the quaffle away then immediately widens the distance between Caresse and her so that she can turn her broom around. Collette Leveque doesn't see Olive and when Olive, busy looking at what Caresse is doing while getting her turn made doesn't see Collette until it's too late. Collette's bat gets Olive full in the face.
A whistle blows and even before referee Mondriani gets there it's clear to everyone in the air that Olive's got to leave the match. Mondriani helps staunch the flow of blood from Olive's nose and mouth and sees to Olive making it over to the Hogwarts platform.
Alexa is volunteering, "I'll get Olive to hospital then come right back," but Alastor, who'd come up to stand by them, says Coach Batuti, "I'm out and there's no way I can go back in so I'll help her."
"Thank you, Alastor," coach says. "And thank you for offering, Alexa. Go on in for Olive."
Beauxbaton's Coach Boulanger decides to pull Caresse and Yannock, putting Pierpont Prideux in as chaser and Didier Savreux as beater.
Play resumes with Alexa holding the quaffle. She passes off to Marjani who in turn does a rapid pass to Etta. Alexa shoots forwards, swerving around French seeker Sinclair Merle in the process. He doesn't appear to have any sighting on the snitch and hardly seems aware she's even passing around him as his eyes go back and forth searching for the slightest glimmer of gold.
Etta moves to pass back to Marjani but has to duck a bludger from Didier. In the short time that passes Alexa is in the better position to take a pass but then Collette forces Alexa to also avoid a bludger hit. Etta ends up pouring on the speed, quaffle tucked in closer to her body with Marcel trying hard to get in for the steal.
Etta gets within goal range and goes for the shot. Keeper Darcia Desmarais rebuffs it with Marjani able to grab the rebound. She half rolls away from the grabby hands of Pierpoint who ends up jerking back the other way when Blake fires a bludger at him.
Marjani shoots but again Darcia stops the quaffle. She was able to grab it and throws it to Soleil but Alexa intercepts and immediately goes for another goal attempt. Darcia deflects it, with Marcel catching it this time. He takes off the other direction, Alexa hot on his heels.
Gift Horse (Marjani)
Author: Viktor Krum
Date: 06-02-11 18:01
Marjani has the quaffle quite by accident. After several trips up and down the pitch as the ball exchanged hands the French team had gained it yet again. Mark had sent a bludger at Beauxbatons chaser Pierpont Prideux who'd had the quaffle. Chaser Soleil Honoré got between him and the black ball but hadn't realized it was incoming. She took a pretty good knocking and the bludger bounced at an odd angle away, hit the bristles of beater Didier Savreux been trying to get to that very bludger in time to stop it from hitting any Beauxbatons player, rebounded - again at an odd angle - from the flat part of Didier's broom and ended up hitting Pierpont anyway. It catch him on the hand and flipped the quaffle from his grasp.
Marjani had dove down a little and was passing just underneath Pierpont when quite suddenly the quaffle literally fell into her lap. Her taking possession of the quaffle might be an accident but Marjani is not about to look a gift horse in the mouth, whatever that means. It's one of those sayings she's heard some adults use but has no real idea what the bloody heck it means.
The Beauxbatons players above her momentarily were at a loss as to where the quaffle went. Apparently they thought it flipped in a different direction than straight down. Marjani uses those few seconds before understanding dawns to slow, to pull into an arc and then slowly accelerating into the curve, and to put distance between them and her.
Too soon they know and all three Beauxbatons chasers are in pursuit and both their beaters are aiming to get to bludgers to interfere with Marjani's course. Looks like a perfect time to pass.
She gets the ball to Etta who's able to increase her own speed, pulling away just as Marcel Gravois catches up with. Marjani is actually close enough to Marcel that she can hear him say something in French that causes her to grin. She picked up a few choice words from the other non-English speaking teams they've played but as she already has a good grasp of French, Marcel's words are not ones she'll have to go ask him about later. Still, when in Canada, Marjani did pick up a couple of French Canadian ones she hadn't know and an Inuit word as well.
Meanwhile, Etta's narrowly avoided a bludger from Collette Leveque. Alexa is open and ahead so Etta throws the quaffle to her. Marjani leans low over her broom, trying to make herself one with it as she gains speed, zipping around chaser Soleil Honoré. Alexa is nearing the hoops and prepares to throw the quaffle but has to pull back because of a bludger. It soars by and she aims and throws. Darcia Desmarais looks as though she has the block and Marjani is looking to see if the quaffle will rebound so she can get to it when to everyone's surprise the quaffle goes right past Darcia's fingers and cleanly through the hoop.
Hogwarts leads for the first time in the match, 30 to Beauxbatons's 20.
Marcel goes to take the quaffle from Darcia only to have to notice the coach signaling. Marcel nods and calls for a time out. Marjani and the rest of the Hogwarts players go over to their platform to see if Dosie has any words for them or wants to make any substitutions. Over on the French side, Soleil and Sinclair Merle exit the match with Jourdain Grégoire and Shannelle Vermette coming in as chaser and seeker, respectively.
(Aleydis & Cornelia) Dangerous Game
Author: Griet
Date: 06-02-11 18:58
The Hogwarts line-up didn't change during the time out. Professor Batuti offered some encouragement and advice and then sent everybody back to the sky to get ready for the continuation of the match. Everyone was in high spirits because Hogwarts currently had more points on the scoreboard.
The shrill sound of the whistle echoed throughout the Quidditch Pitch. Aleydis, in for Charisma after her terrible accident, got straight down to business and started looking for the snitch. It was somewhat sunny, so Aleydis knew that she might see shiny reflections of jewelry or flashes from omniocular lenses that could distract her, but so far she hadn't.
She hadn't seen any foil wrappers either, but then Aleydis knew that Professor McGonagall had started cracking down on littering at Quidditch matches, especially when guests were present.
Aleydis was happy to get a chance to play a real match at Hogwarts this year (other than the Exhibition Matches from the fall), but she wished she could see Beauxbatons. She wasn't sure if she imagined it correctly, but she could picture a grand palace just minutes away from the sparkling Mediterranean Sea.
Thinking about sparkles seemed to conjure the snitch out from hiding. Its flittering wings caught the sunlight, as did its golden body. Aleydis shot forward from one end of the Pitch, while Shannelle Vermette, the opposing seeker, did the same from the other side. The whole time, the snitch seemed to hover in place, teasing Aleydis and Shannelle.
The closer they drew to it, the more they realized that they would crash into each other if one or both didn't pull away and risk not catching the snitch. Neither wanted to give up the chance, though. Aleydis held out her arm and opened her hand to scoop up the snitch. Shannelle flattened herself against her broomstick to make herself go a little faster.
They got closer and closer. The instinct to swerve came over both of the girls, but it wasn't overpowering. They held to the course, determined to catch the snitch, even if they got injured in the process. At the last possible second, the snitch darted away. Unfortunately, neither Aleydis nor Shannelle could change course. They were flying too fast and were upon each other. They crashed head-on and became a tangle of arms, legs and broomsticks.
Aleydis saw stars but she didn't pass out. Shannelle gripped onto her neck and shoulder and winced.
The whistle sounded again, this time to shrill for Aleydis to bear. The referees came over to check their injuries. Aleydis had a gash on her forehead and felt horribly banged up. Shannelle had a few scrapes and a lot of bruises. Both were taken from the match and sent to the Hospital Wing.
In a matter of seconds, Cornelia went in for Aleydis and Amarante Bessette went in for Shannelle. Cornelia didn't feel very sorry for Aleydis. After all, she had made the decision to have a head-on collision with somebody else. Besides, her exit gave Cornelia a chance to play. Finally.
It didn't escape Cornelia's notice that this match had had a significant number of "casualties" so far. Quidditch was a violent sport, and the chances of serious injury weren't exactly small. Still, this match seemed to have much more hopsital-bound players than others past.
She looked around for the snitch, confident she could catch it where Aleydis could not. She spotted it straight away and shot after it. It zigged and zagged this way and that and soon drew the attention of the other seeker. While Cornelia and Amarante raced to catch it, the Beauxbatons chasers worked the quaffle across the Pitch. They did some fancy flying and managed to trick Hunter into thinking one of them had the quaffle, when in fact somebody else did.
Gabby Delacour's voice rang out with the announcement that Beauxbatons had scored again, tieing up the match 30-30.
Cornelia ignored the announcement, or as much as she could, knowing that Hogwarts was no longer "winning". The snitch continued to dart away and the girls continued to follow until a black bludger flew right before Cornelia's nose. Cornelia put the brakes on, and Amarante very nearly collided into her, so closely had she been following Cornelia.
By the time both girls recovered, the snitch had disappeared from sight.
(Gus) Confidence
Author: Johanna Steele
Date: 06-03-11 08:57
Alastor, Olive, Charisma and Aleydis. Gus couldn’t believe how many of his teammates had gone to the Hospital Wing. He blamed those bloody French, and has he waited for his chance to enter the match, he wished for a moment he would be a beater, so he could knock some of the Beaxbatons' players down with a bat. He didn’t dare to say it out loud because he knew Coach Batuti would not think this amusing.
As if she had heard him thinking about her, Coach Batuti told him to go in, for Hunter’s place.
Determinate to give the French a lesson, he flew to the hoops with confidence. His parents were watching at the stands and Gus wanted to show them his skills. The usual group of fan girls also cried out his name, and he smiled and waved. That cost him a yell from Cornelia, who told him to focus. A little bit annoyed with her reprehension, but knowing she had the right to do so, Gus paid attention to the match.
He watched as Marjani avoided a bludger from Didier Savreux with a graceful movement, as if she was teasing the French beater. The quaffle was in Alexa’s hands and she threw it to Etta, who caught it with ease. Etta flew very fast to the Beauxabatons’ hoops but she didn’t try to score because she found herself surrounded by the three Beaxbatons’ chasers: Marcel Gravois, Jourdain Grégoire and Pierpont Prideux.
Gus was glad when a bludger flew in the direct of Marcel’s head, making him to disperse and giving the right opportunity for Etta to pass the quaffle back to Alexa. He wondered who had made a good job with the bludger and secretly he wished it was Mark. Not that he disliked Blake, but Mark was his friend.
It seemed that the Hogwarts’ chasers were dominating the quaffle possession and that amused Gus, because they were all girls and the Beaxbatons’ chasers were boys.
Gus made some good defenses, when Beauxbatons tried to score. Every time he did so, his fan girls cheered and he knew his parents would be proud.
He got too excited with his success and he tried to show off his skills even more. His excess of confidence acted against him when Pierpont shoot the quaffle to his left. It was an easy defense, the quaffle came in a slow movement. It would be piece of cake to grab it and instead of going for it right away, Gus paused, planning to surprise the crowd once he avoided the goal at the last minute.
But his calculations went wrong. The wind decided to blow, giving balance to the quaffle, and once Gus tried to reach it, it was too late. Beaxbatons scored and was now ahead of Hogwarts in terms of points.
One Wynbourne Out, One Wynbourne In (Etta & Basil)
Author: Jared
Date: 06-03-11 16:38
The match has been going on for quite some time now and Basil has been itching to get in even before it began. He does not feel the least bit of remorse in hoping that either Mark or Blake gets banged up badly or does something stupid like Beauxbatons beater Theirry Besette. He's tired of waiting for his turn and doesn't really give a care that sodding Augustus, Ella, and Jade are eagerly awaiting turns as well. If things were up to Basil, there would be far fewer on the Hogwarts team. Three beaters would be enough. Two main ones, Basil being top pick of course, and a single substitute. Maybe Mark could be the other first squad beater. He's Slytherin and an all right enough sort Basil supposes.
Out over the pitch, Etta has a deep frown on her face. Hogwarts hasn't been able to being the score to a tie much less pull ahead since Pierpont Prideux scored the French team's third goal. Hogwarts has the quaffle at the moment with Etta the one in actual possession. She's hemmed in by members of the opposiing team and can't find a good opening to pass.
In a blink something happens and two whistles blow. Dartagnan Lemaître who'd come in for Marcel Gravois about ten minutes ago, overbalanced in trying to get in close enough to Etta to take away the quaffle. He ended up grabbing onto Etta's broom, jerking it as he tried to regain his seat. A foul is rightly called, even though Dartagnan hadn't meant to do it and Etta for one would rather him have done that than end up falling from his broom. It's just an added bonus that Hogwarts is given a foul shot and Etta, now free and clear for the moment from Beauxbatons team members, is the one taking the shot.
When Dartagnan came into the match, Aribert Cloutier came in as keeper with Darcia Desmarais exiting the game. As so often happens with foul shots, the keeper doesn't have the distraction of five other chasers, four beaters, and two bludgers whizzing around while the sixth chaser is taking a shot, and so Aribert easily deflects the quaffle when Etta throws.
There's a scramble for quaffle with Marjani taking possession. She's in a good goal attempt range but everyone is clustered right there, practically on top of her so she ends up doing a rapid underhand toss to Etta who's slightly to the right and a little below. Etta in turn rolls away, trying to put a little space between her and some of the others. A bludger passing so closely over her head that she can feel the breeze of its passing distracts her just long enough that what tiny bit of space she had managed is now gone. Alexa though is more open so Etta, having to duck another bludger and dodge hands of both Jourdain Grégoire and Dartagnan, searches for the opening for a pass.
Thanks to a bludger from Mark, thumping Jourdain a good one, Etta sees an opening and takes it. It's a good throw and Alexa catches it the quaffle, immediately giving her attention to the Beauxbatons hoops and what she hopes is another Hogwarts goal. Before she can get the shot off, a whistle blows again and Etta looks around, trying to figure out who fouled whom but turns out that Beauxbatons has simply signaled for another time out. Smart move on their part because once the time out is over, the dynamic of the match won't be quite what it was before the time out. The shot Alexa was about to take without having a French chaser harassing her will not be changed to each Beauxbatons chaser getting into different positions around Alexa. The French beaters might also be better in place to get a bludger targeted on her.
When the alotted time is up, Basil isn sent into the match in place of Mark Farnon, Jack Emerson is taking Etta's place - something she's disappointed in but understand that she's been in awhile and Jack deserves a turn - and on the Beauxbatons side Collette Leveque is out as beater with Fanchon Gravois coming in and Jourdain Grégoire leaving with Bernetta Chevalier in as chaser.
Match officiate Hiroyuki Sasaki hands the quaffle over to Alexa and once everyone, including the seekers, are in positions, he blows his whistle to resume the match. Alexa makes a good throw but Aribert, having to use his extended left leg, kicks the quaffle away. It's Bernetta who catches it so that is who Basil decides to hit with a bludger first. Pretty she might be , but at the moment she's the enemy. Besides that, she did tell him that yesterday, "Your couzeen eez var-ree sweet." He thought she was confused but nope, turns out she did mean Etta.
Basil outpaces Fanchon for the bludger he'd been springing towards. He lines up his bat and hits it dead center with a great deal of force. The bludger makes the oh so satisfying thwacking sound of a clean hit and soars at a blur towards Bernetta. Too bad when it smacks her in the leg she's already handed the quaffle off to Pierpont.
Though Basil had watched the progress of that bludger, his position was not static. No sooner had he hit that bludger than he was on the move to where he thinks he saw the other one from the corner of his eye. Didier Savreux and Blake have both gone after that one though, with Blake at least beating Didier to it, so Basil changes course once more, going after the one he's just hit, and of course is racing Fanchon for it again.
Blake's bludger is true, hitting Pierpont and the jarring from the hit allows Jack to steal the quaffle. Basil, coming up on that same bludger, grins in preparation of hitting it as the play shifts once more the other direction down the pitch.
Going In
Author: Ella
Date: 06-03-11 17:41
Ella stood on the platform, dressed in uniform and holding her beater's bat over her right shoulder, and watched the game unfold. Currently, Beauxbatons was on top with 40 points, with Hogwarts trailing behind at 30. Jack had just stolen the quaffle from Pierpont Prideux and zipped as fast as possible to the French goal hoops.
Ella tried to throw herself into the excitement of the match, and she did to some extent, though it wasn't easy. She missed her mum something terrible and occasionally looked into the stands as if Rosemary Harville might be sitting there, watching her daughter play. Ella also couldn't stop thinking about Zane. She hadn't seen him since the day of the funeral, but she couldn't help but wonder if she would see him again and when. She looked into the stands, almost expecting to see him, but so far she hadn't spotted him.
She had spotted her dad, though. He was alone, thankfully. Ella didn't think she would have been able to appreciate his visit if he'd brought Delilah along. She still hadn't fully forgiven him for being a total arse, but she knew he was trying to make amends and that he worried about her. Ella didn't want to lose her dad from estrangement after losing her mum to suicide.
A tap on her bat-less shoulder drew Ella's attention away from her thoughts and to the present.
"Ella, you're going in," Professor Batuti instructed.
Ella picked up her broom, mounted it, and then took off to join the other players in the air. Blake Holloway touched down, looking a bit disappointed but satisfied overall.
During the time Ella had been lost in her thoughts, the quaffle had changed possession several times. Currently Beauxbatons had it again. Ella didn't waste a second targeting the nearest bludger. Fortunately, she was closer to it than Fanchon. Ella gave it a hard whack and sent it toward Pierpont and Dartagnan, who were in the middle of passing the quaffle. The black ball didn't strike the red one as intended, but it did hit the back of Dartagnan's hand just moments after he'd accepted Pierpont's pass. Not yet having a solid grip on the quaffle, Pierpont fumbled.
The quaffle went into freefall mode, and all six chasers dropped down to catch it. It turned out to be Bernetta of Beauxbatons who caught it first. She darted away, eager to put some distance between herself and the opposing team. Ella was determined to stop her from getting very far. She went after one of the bludgers, but Didier reached it first and used it to distract Jack. Ella tried to put herself between the ball and her teammate, but she wasn't quick enough there either. Jack didn't appear to need her assistance, though. He rolled and avoided the bludger easily.
Meanwhile, Bernetta reached Gus at the goals. She whipped back her arm and then propelled it forward, throwing the ball with so much force that when Gus stopped it with his chest, he started wheezing. He started to throw the ball to Marjani, but Bernetta swiped it from the air and shot it at the hoops again. This time Gus tried to stop it with his hand, but he was still a bit winded from the earlier block and couldn't react quite fast enough. It flew through the dead center of the hoop, bringing ten more points to Beauxbatons' overall score.
Ella frowned. She didn't like that Hogwarts seemed to be losing, but the game wasn't over until somebody, preferably Cornelia or Christopher, if he made it into the match, caught the snitch.