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Wouldn't Miss it for the World
Author: Griet
Date: 07-15-11 13:48
Although it probably didn't look it, Griet didn't feel her best. The next full moon was two days away and she was already feeling its effects. It wasn't quite like the match against Beauxbatons, however, when the full moon had occurred the very next night. Then, Griet had felt much more rotten then she did now.
It wasn't that she felt completely terrible, though. She probably would have stayed home or told Coach Batuti to keep her on the bench all match if that had been the case.
Probably.
Beauxbatons had been a home game, so to some extent, it hadn't mattered that much if Griet had spent the days around the match in the Hospital Wing. She'd not missed visiting a new school or sightseeing through an unfamiliar country. Salem being an away game meant something new to see and experience. Griet would have felt quite sorry to miss this match and all that it entailed.
This was also the very last regular match of the season. Griet didn't want to miss it if only because it could possibly be the very last match she ever played in while at Hogwarts.
Griet wagered their chances of making the championships was quite good, but they wouldn't know anything official until sometime later.
She accepted the quaffle after John's failed goal attempt and dashed off for the opposing hoops, while at the same time keeping her options open. Olive and Wiggy pulled up on either side of her, ready to accept the quaffle if she needed to get rid of it in a hurry. Ella and Jade did their part to simultaneously defend their chasers and prevent the Americans from stealing the ball.
Everything seemed to go quite well until a bludger streaked right in front of Griet's nose. She jerked back reflexively and unconsciously loosened her hold on the quaffle. Luckily, it wasn't one of the Salem chasers who stole the ball, but Olive, who'd been flying on Griet's right. Olive reacted quickly to remedy what could have been a bad situation, but it took a short while for everybody to catch on to what she'd done. The Salemites had noticed Griet no longer carried the ball, and it was only when Olive had darted ahead quite a bit that they'd figured out who'd lifted it from Griet's arms.
Griet was glad for Olive's quick thinking and hurried to catch up to her teammate so that she could be of assistance if necessary. Olive found an opening in Wiggy, who charged forward where Danny waited at the hoops. Wiggy launched it for the left-most hoop, but Danny batted it away with the palm of his hand. Wiggy caught the rebound and tried again for the right-most hoop, causing Danny to dive for it. He batted it away again with the tips of his fingers. This time Griet caught the rebound. She made to throw for the left-most hoop, but then threw the quaffle at the right hoop instead. Danny quickly readjusted his position tapped the ball away again.
Olive and John both went for the ball, with John accidentally grabbing hold of the bristles of her broomstick as he tried to maneuver around her. The shrill sound of whistles echoed throughout the pitch and Coach Schwarz shouted, "Blagging!"
Everyone but Olive and Danny cleared the area so that Olive could line up to take the foul shot.
The Match Continues (Wiggy & Augustus)
Author: Phinfilius
Date: 07-15-11 14:41
From where he sits his broom, Wiggy can tell Olive isn't all that thrilled about taking the foul shot. He can understand that. It's not unusual for such a shot to be blocked while putting the chaser and the keeper at the center of attention. Without all the chaos of other players in the mix it's the sort of center of attention that can be glaringly uncomfortable as well as stressful.
Olive eyes the three hoops, carefully weighing which direction to throw. Danny Wignall eyes Olive in return, looking for body language cues as to what she's going to do. Danny gets an odd expression on his face and Wiggy thinks it might be because of whatever look Olive has on hers, making Wiggy wish he could see her from more than a partial profile.
Instead of throwing the quaffle as expected, Olive tosses it up and slightly out from her. Danny's expression changes to puzzlement when Olive doesn't slam the ball with her hand or fist as if spiking it, which is sort of what Wiggy was expecting too based on how she tossed the quaffle. The crowd suddenly roars because Olive's made her next move and it's not what most anyone was expecting.
Olive let the quaffle drop then deftly turned one foot to connect at her instep in a spike that sends the quaffle in a fast arc to the right hoop - or Danny's left. Danny had been so busy trying to figure out what the hell Olive was doing that he's delayed in reacting when she actually sends the quaffle his way.
The quaffle sails cleanly through the targeted hoop, putting ten more points on the scoreboard for Hogwarts and once again bringing the British team into the lead. As there is nothing in the massive Quidditch rules against putting a quaffle through a hoop with one's foot, Salem can't even protest the shot. With the score now at Hogwarts 50, Salem 40 Charles Hathorne cames in as a chaser for Tucker Standish and Tucker's brother Marshall Standish enters the game in place of beater Zelda Piccoli. Salem's coach, Elias Bitfield, also takes the moment to have seeker Rhea Flint come out and Priscilla Awecross. For that team, that leaves only two fresh players so if more than two substitutions are needed in the remaining course of the match, some who've already been in will get secong go arounds. As most players want more game time, there would be little if any protesting should that happen.
John Nelson puts the quaffle back into play with a pass to Charles Hathorne. For the next half hour, give or take, quaffle possession changes teams several times with neither team making much headway. Charles Hathorne and Sarah Whitfield both make goal attempts but Hunter is able to block them both. For Hogwarts all three chasers - Wiggy, Griet, and Olive - get off shots but their efforts are rebuffed by Danny Wignall.
When Salem calls a time-out, Hogwarts's Coach Batuti decides to send in Augustus for Ella Harville. When the time-out ends, Gus already has his eye on the bludger he wants and shoots away from the platform after it. Noting the direction he's going, Jade goes in pursuit of the other bludger, both keeping their eyes on their respective bludgers but also being watchful of what the chasers are doing. No sense going after a bludger and hitting it if without having a specfic target, though Gus supposes that just randmonly hitting bludgers in the generaly direction of the action could cause some problems.
Reaching the bludger he sees American beater Marshall Standish coming his way. Gus had beaten him to it because that particular bludger was closer to the Hogwarts team platform than to the Salem's. Gus aims the bludger at John Nelson but pretty much knows it won't make it because of Marshall so Gus doesn't give the hit his ususual force. No point in expending all that energy when he knows Marshall's going to interfere. Instead he gives it the equivalent of a tap then shoots forward, ready to see what Marshall does with the bludger.
Marshall goes for a hit at Olive who's just stolen the quaffle from Sarah Whitfield. He hits it with enough force that it hurdles past Gus who in turn rockets forward after it. He not only catches up with it but gets in front of it, effectively blocking and alters its trajectory with another tap, this time aimed at sending the bludger the short distance into the projected path of Charles Hawthorne.
Gus's timing with the hit is excellent and the bludger takes Charles at one thigh then bounces in a way that it and grazes the top of the other. Gus doesn't sit there watching all this though. He's spotted the second bludger, that Sarah Whitfield just narrowly missed being hit by, and gives chase to it. When it looks as though Salem's seeker Priscilla Awecross has seen something of interest, which means she thinks she's spotted the snitch, Gus accelerates even more to get to that bludger, wanting to send it at Priscilla before she's able to catch the coveted winged ball.
(Cornelia) Around and around we go
Author: Griet
Date: 07-15-11 15:18
Cornelia was on top of Priscilla the second she made movement with regards to the golden snitch. The elusive, winged ball had emerged from hiding after a lengthy period of time and begun racing around the perimeter of the pitch. Priscilla and Cornelia raced after it, Cornelia quite literally above Priscilla and matching her pace stretch by stretch.
The snitch flew faster and faster, making it difficult for the seekers to get any closer to it. They gradually began to drag behind, though they weren't flying any slower.
The beaters split their efforts between guarding their chasers and targeting the opposing ones to distract the seekers. Cornelia ultimately veered off, both to avoid one of the bludgers directed her way, but also to see if she could cut the snitch off on its path.
Of course, the ball decided to stop circling the pitch at that moment. It dropped down to the ground and then skimmed across the neatly trimmed lawn. Both seekers dived for it and pulled up before they could crash into the ground. The ball then jerked up, zigged and zagged, and seemed to vanish from sight altogether.
Cornelia cursed aloud. At this rate, nobody would catch the snitch! She hadn't heard of any Hogwarts match lasting forever and a day as some professional matches have done, but there was always a first time for such an occasion.
About Bloody Time (Basil)
Author: Jared
Date: 07-15-11 17:56
After the excitement of both seekers, Cornelia Vanderbilt of Hogwarts and Priscilla Awecross of Salem, the next little while seems positively tame. No goals made. Not snitch sightings. No injuries. No fouls. Not even a really good bludger hit to leave a shiny purple-black bruise by tonight.
Basil's starting to think he'll fall asleep from the boredom of it all. When Theodosia Batuti calls his name, "Basil, go in for Jade," he wants to shout at her, "About bloody time!" He wisely refrains. Not only is there the IQT championship to consider (Basil is certain Hogwarts will be in it) but with two more years as a student and Coach Batuti giving no indication of leaving her position, then it wouldn't at all do to get her cheesed off at him, possibly ruining his future standing with whatever team he'd want to be come fall term.
Bat gripped firmly in hand, Basil takes to the air, ready for action. Basily quickly gets into the thick of things, stopping a bludger from hitting Cornelia then sending the ball on course to hit Salem keeper Danny Wignall. Unfortunately, the bludger doesn't stop Danny from blocking a shot Wiggy's just made. The quaffle goes to Sarah Whitfield and though he's rapidly come up on the bludger again for another hit, for the first time ever in playing Quidditch Basil is face with a bit of a conundrum.
As a Quidditch player for Hogwarts, he wants his team to win and as a beater wants to smash bludgers into the opposing Salem players to help Hogwarts to reach that victory. He wants to smash bludgers into Salem players, except Sarah Whitfield. At nearly sixteen, Basil has been interested in girls for awhile now but none of the ones at Hogwarts ever did much for him. Oh sure, some are cute and he makes comments about them and even to them, but he's never much wanted anything from a Hogwarts girl beyond a grope session and he's definitely not averse to a meaningless shag if a girl would agree but most of the girls at Hogwarts don't have very good taste. His cousin Etta does but other than meaningless sex Basil can't for the life of him imagine why else a decent chap like Deak Bennett would want to date her. Olive Green and Alexa Wenlock are cute in a way and even Slytherins but both have the bad taste of not wanting to have a spot of fun with Basil in some dark corner. Not that Basil would ever openly admit to crashing and burning the few times he's made overtures to a Hogwarts girl.
None of those immature birds can hold a candle to Sarah Whitfield though. Basil was instantly smitten when they met and she seems interested in him. The question now is will she still like him if he bungs her up good with a bludger since it's all part of the game or would she get her knickers all in a twist that he would dare actually play the game against her?
With a sigh, Basil heaves his at the bludger and sends it towards Sarah, holding nothing back. Beautiful as she is and with the good taste to have an interest in Basil, Sarah is not going to be the reason Basil does poorly in a match or lets down Hogwarts. And maybe, just maybe, she won't know whether Gus or he sent it. What she doesn't know can't hurt, right? Well, strike that. It's a bludger so of course it will bloody well hurt.
Bludger on its way, Basil can't do anything now without making a show of chasing it down and stopping it before it hits Sarah and he'll be damned if he'll make such a spectacle of himself in the middle of a match by flying to save a girl on the other team from a teensy bludger smack.
All this is made moot when Salem beater Marshall Standish gets between the bludger and Sarah, altering the ball's course. It's now on target to hit Olive. Making himself small over his broom to cut resistance, Basil pours on the speed, racing to stop the bludger before it gets to her. He's a shade late but luckily for Olive it only dings her upper arm. Not much of a hit at all.
Basil repositions himself so that he can align his bat to target the bludger better. He's aiming not at Sarah this time but John Nelson. Happy not to have to put any thought about what John will think of being hit by a bludger from Basil, he knocks the hell out of it, getting a sense of satisfaction at how nice a hit it is.
Spotting the other bludger nearby, Basil turns his broom and charges for the black ball, wanting to get there before anyone else.
A Few More Changes In Line Up (Theodosia/Marjani)
Author: Viktor Krum
Date: 07-16-11 08:53
In the time since the last goal by Hogwarts, which put the UK team back into the lead, the match has been exciting with nearly avoided collisions, fast paced flying, a few minor fouls, a number of goal attempts by both teams, excellent blocking by the keepers, and bludgers flying all over the place making it seem as though there are more than two of those black balls. Also in that time a few more changes to both teams' line-ups have taken place.
For Salem, Sharon Walker has come into the match in place of chaser John Nelson and Ross Trescott has taken over as beater for Henry Fellows.
On the Hogwarts team, Deak Bennett and Marjani have gone in with chasers Wiggy Hodfuffer and Olive Green coming out. Gus Hodfuffer exited the match with Caerwyn Valentine taking the beater position and Charisma Stone is putting in some seeking time with a disgruntled Cornelia Vanderbilt back on the sidelines. By now Theodisia is very aware that if Cornelia were in charge she'd be the only Hogwarts seeker to ever see any game time during a match. Though, to be fair to Cornelia, a number of other players would be that way as well if calling the shots.
Theodosia looks on as Deak makes a spectacular interception on a pass between Sharon Walker and Charles Hathorne. He immediately throws to Griet who in turn makes a long forward pass to Marjani. Marjani does a nice little barrel roll away from Basil so that he can fully swing his bat at a bludger.
Marjani isn't all that far for where the American keeper Danny Wignall is on high alert. She drives in as if going for the goal but at the last possible moment throws the quaffle back at Deak who's actually got more of an opening to take a shot. Deak's throw is nice but Danny was able to quickly recover from not having a goal attempt by Marjani so was still in a good position to stop Deak's ball.
It's Sarah Whitfield on the rebound, jostling others who've bunched up around her to make a tight turn to fly back the other way. She has trouble breaking free of the bunching though and ends up fouling Griet to do so. Would have been nice if the foul got a free shot for Hogwarts but the call is one that simply gives possession back to Hogwarts. That's always a good thing.
Griet accepts the quaffle from referee Amílcar Malave then puts it back into play with a pass to Deak. They've positioned themselves in a way that Marjani is once again near Danny Wignall and the hoops so Deak does a rapid fire pass to her and even though Charles Hathorne is right on top of her position she gets another shot off at one of the hoops. Danny's quick though and not only stops the shot but catches the quaffle in the process.
It's Charles Hathorne with the quaffle now, zipping towards the middle of the pitch. His acceleration is slowed when Caerwyn gets him with a bludger but Sharon Walker is there to take a handoff of the ball. Basil sends the second bludger after her but it's stopped by Ross Trescott, who in turn bats the same bludger at Marjani to stop her from stealing from Sharon.
The Salem team works the quaffle ever closer to the Hogwarts hoops and Hunter Green but momentum is one more interrupted when in thinking Charisma has spotted the snitch, beater Marshall Standish sends a bludger her way. Charisma avoids the bludger but it hits some wooden railing on the section of stands Charisma is near. She puts a shielding hand up and though she isn't injured per se she does end up with a few flying splinters in her hand.
Theodosia sends in Christopher Chant, though she knows Cornelia is chomping at the bit to get back into the match, and has Charisma come to the platform. The splinters can be removed right there so Charisma doesn't miss any of the match.
The match quickly resumes with Sharon Walker deciding to go for a goal shot right then. Hunter blocks. It's Sarah Whitfield on the rebound only to have Deak snag the quaffle from her hand then racing away back down the pitch.
Tied Again (Caerwyn)
Author: Julian Valentine
Date: 07-16-11 12:13
Hoping to assist with Hogwarts getting another goal scored, Caerwyn hauls his bat back, swings hard, and sends a bludger soaring with that weird screaming sort of noise bludgers make. Caerwyn's timing was a little off but it was still a good hit and the bludger gives Sharon Walker a good thumping just as she's darting in to try and steal the quaffle away from Deak.
Turning is broom in a shallow arc, Caerwyn's already got his eye on the other bludger, recently hit by Marshall Standish. He shoots ahead, having to slightly alter course for a second to dodge around Salem's seeker Priscilla Awecross. When he's reached it and is turning to come at it from a better angle for sending it where he needs it to go, Caerwyn notices that Deak's passed to Griet and that she's very near to being within a distance from the Salem hoops to most likely try for a goal.
Caerwyn hastens to hit the bludger, batting it with enough force to have it reach Danny Wignall, the other team's keeper. Griet shoots, the bludger smacks into Danny, but Danny is still able to block. Charles Hathorne catches the rebound, zigging around others before straightening out and flying at a fast clip in Hunter's direction.
Basil gets off a great hit aimed at Charles but Ross Trescott not only intervenes but he sends the bludger at the closest Hogwarts chaser, Marjani. Caerwyn's not close enough to reach the bludger in time to stop it from getting Marjani and Basil's even further away. Still, Caerwyn pours on the speed wanting to get to that bludger as quickly as he can because whether it hits Marjani or not, he's got to continue doing his job of sending bludgers on collision courses with oppositing team members.
By the time Caerwyn reaches the bludger, Marjani's rubbing the spot on her shoulder where it got it but she's not slowed down in the slightest in her quest to both stop Salem from scoring again and to regain possession of the quaffle for Hogwarts. Deak and Griet are right there as well, doing their best to get in the way of the other team passing the quaffle and hopefully to run interference on any goal shot one of them might make
It's all for naught this time though because as current possessor of the quaffle Sarah Whitfield gets close enough to take a shot, she lets the quaffle sail towards one of the hoops flanking one side behind Hunter. Though Caerwyn and Bssil each see the bludger heading towards Hunter, neither can get there in time even though both boys are hurdling along as high speeds. The bludger whacks Hunter in the side with a hard enough hit that it physically pushes him back and away from the quaffle. The red ball goes through the hoop, once again tying up the match to the delight of the Salem fans.
The score is now Hogwarts 50, Salem 50.
Another Goal (Deak)
Author: Kody
Date: 07-16-11 14:31
AFter Salem scores its fifth goal, Griet was given the quaffle. She, Marjani, and Deak worked it three-quarters of the way back down the pitch only to turn possession over to the Americans when Griet's throw to Marjani was off because of a bludger to Griet's elbow. Sharon Walker has the quaffle now, charging back the other day. Basil gets her with a bludger before she's gotten very far but Sarah Whitfield is there to take the quaffle.
Deak moves up next to Sarah only to have Charles Hathorne shoves his way between them, effectively blocking Deak for the time being from stealing the quaffle from Sarah. Ross Trescott, meanwhile, has sent a bludger at Marjani who's trying to get close to Sarah on the other side. Marjani suddenly brakes, the bludger goes right by her without even a graze only to smack Sarah in her lower back.
Marjani accelerates to catch up, reaching for the quaffle as Sarah winces from the bludger hit. Sensing Marjani coming back up beside her rather than actually seeing her, Sarah tosses the quaffle over to Charles who picks up his own pace, Deak accelerating to keep up. Griet's sticking with Sharon trying to keep her covered well enough to prevent the other girl from accepting any passes.
Griet has to duck, narrowly avoiding a bludger hit from Marshall Standish, and in that blink of an eye Sharon not only pulls away but catches a pass from Charles. She keeps the ball on a fast approach back to Hunter. Sharon goes to throw but she's hasty and it's a bad shot even without Caerwyn getting a bludger into the mix. Hunter not only blocks the goal attempt but catches the quaffle, handing it back off to Griet.
Griet makes a pass to Marjani and with Griet and Deak on either side of her the three Hogwarts chasers fly a wedge pattern, this time making it all the way back down to where Danny Wignall is eager to block more of Hogwarts efforts for another goal. He does just that on a shot by Marjani, slapping it back with one hand. Griet catches the rebound but a bludger whizzes by right then and she spins to avoid it. Charles Hathorne is right on her, making it difficult for Griet to get oriented for a goal shot so she passes off to Deak.
Deak grips the quaffle, arm cocking back and lets the quaffle fly straight towards the center ring. With aid from a bludger hit by Caerwyn, Danny's hope of another block goes by the wayside. Deak's throw is good and once more Hogwarts leads Salen by ten points.
Score: Salem 50, Hogwarts 60
Glint of Gold
Author: Christopher Chant
Date: 07-16-11 17:25
As per usual when in a game, Christopher watches what of the match he's able while focusing on the important task of catching the snitch. As catching it means finding it, that generally means only seeing the main action of the game in small snatches. The's the only thing about being in the midst of a match for any team sport. You can't actually watch the game as a whole; nevertheless, Christopher would still much rather be an active participant than a sideline spectator.
When the sixth goal for Hogwarts is score, Christopher actually does see it. The search pattern he's flying had him facing that direction and hearing and something in the announcer's running commentary had Christoper looking towards Salem's hoops in time to see Deak score the goal.
Not two minutes later Christopher catches a sight of a glint of gold. As it's down in the vicinity of one section of stands he focuses intently on it to make sure it's not someone's jewelry glinting in the afternoon sun or something else shiny. When he's certain it's the golden snitch Christopher slowly alters his pattern, working his way over to where the snitch seems to be hovering. He doesn't want to draw attention to what he's doing, at least not until he's practically on top of the snitch.
His effort to be sneaky is shot to hell though when the announcer blasts, "Chant of Hogwarts seems to have sighted the snitch!"
This of course got the attentions of Salem seeker Priscilla Awecross and beaters Marshall Standish and Ross Trescott. Attempts as stealth go by the wayside as Christopher increases his speed, skirting around a bludger just in the nick of time.
The snitch has decided to quit the hovering and takes off on an erratic trail. Christopher follows with Priscilla angling up on him to fly nearly parallel with him. Christopher has the better broom with great acceleration and top speed so he increases his speed, widening the distance between Priscilla and him.
The snitch is slowing down as he's speeding up and now he's sure he'll catch up to it. Acclerating more, Christopher starts leaning with arm and hand outstretched in preparation of catching that little winged ball. He inches closer and closer, following its every climb, dip, zig, and zag.
And then Christopher is gasping for air as an unseen bludger takes him with huge force right between the shoulder blades. Worse, he's falling, the one hand on his broom spasming even more tightly around the handle. His shoulder jerks as the full weight of Christopher's body bears down on it. Pain flares but he doesn't let go. It's agony but he pulls up as best he can, reaching with his other hand to grab hold of the broom's handle as well. Christopher is sweating and biting his lip from the pain in his shoulder as he finally gets himself reseated.
He does this just in time to see Priscilla catching the snitch with a great whoop of joy. Shoulder on fire, Christopher guides his broom over to the other seeker to offer congratulations on catching the snitch and Salem's win over Hogwarts as the final score is being announced, Hogwarts 60, Salem 200.