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Friends and Lovers
Author: Illyria
Date: 06-03-12 09:49
Although she would much rather have been indoors, where it was warm and dry, Illyria felt an obligation to sit in the staff box and watch the Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. In an attempt to protect herself from the elements, Illyria wore a long, hooded rain slicker that was navy blue in color and printed with tiny silver stars. Her boots were the same shade of blue but solid in color. Her fingers were bare but remained wrapped around a thermos charmed to stay forever warm.
Next to her sat Roland. Before they knew what the weather would be like, they'd made plans to attend the match together. They were friends, nothing more. Illyria did not get the impression that Roland wanted to pick up where they'd left off years ago, nor did she want to go down that route. It turned out that they were better at simply being friends, and that they could actually be very good friends.
Roland wore a rain poncho, but it only covered so much of his legs and he wasn't wearing proper shoes for the rainy conditions. He was soaked from the knees down and had started grumbling about his wet socks. Periodically, he cast a drying charm on his feet, but it only lasted so long before he was soaked through again.
"I think you should do an umbrella charm," Illyria suggested, "or maybe even some sort of repelling charm."
"An small umbrella for each of my feet," Roland retorted with an amused expression on his slightly rain-slicked face. "I think that'll make me look like a circus clown."
To get a good laugh, he conjured two small umbrellas, which protruded from the tops of his shoes and were each red and white striped.
"It's actually kind of working," he admitted, laughing, "except when it rains sideways, like it's doing now."
Illyria adjusted her hood and lowered her head a bit, but even her protective wear only did so much.
"I'm thinking when the match is over, and please let it end soon, we should either grab ourselves two cups of hot cocoa or two glasses of firewhiskey," Illyria said.
"Why not both? I bet cocoa with a shot of firewhiskey tastes really good."
"Good idea," Illyria said. "I want something that will warm me up from the inside out." She picked up a pair of omnioculars that had been sitting in her lap and used them to scan the stands. The farther she tried to see without the aid of the omnioculars, the harder it was due to the increasing downpour. The omnioculars helped, until the lenses started to fog.
She pulled the omnioculars from her face and tried to find a try piece of clothing on which to wipe the lenses. "I think my sister and brother-in-law are here," she murmured. Unable to find anything suitable to wipe the lenses with, she used her wand and then pressed the omnioculars back to her face. "Over there," she said, pointing in the right direction.
Roland took the omnioculars from her and took a look. "I'm surprised she'd be out in her condition," he said. He lowered the omnioculars into his lap and turned to Illyria. "Did you know she was coming?"
"No," Illyria said. Urania had said nothing about her and Nathan showing up to the match. Illyria would not have necessarily expected them in better conditions, but she certainly wouldn't have thought they'd come see a Quidditch match in the pouring rain.
"How far along is she?" Roland asked.
Illyria replied, "A few months."
"What do you think of Nathan? Is he a good match for her? They moved pretty quickly, didn't they?"
The questions were all asked very innocently. Roland had no idea about Illyria's history with Nathan, nor did he know how she still felt about him today.
"I don't see them together much," Illyria said honestly, "so I can't really say how they are together. Urania seems really happy, though."
She longed to take the omnioculars from Roland's lap and stare at Nathan a bit, but she refrained. Instead, she forced herself to pay attention to the match. It was hard when she knew Nathan was just a few boxes away, and she wondered if he would try to speak with her later, with or without Urania at his side.
False Alarm
Author: Celeste Quigley
Date: 06-03-12 10:21
Eugene could not help to feel bad for the Quidditch players up in their brooms on such a rainy day. He was seated next to Celeste and more than once she caught him saying 'Poor children' to himself. But Celeste knew better than her husband. The players were on the pitch because they liked to play the sport and no one was forcing them to be on the pitch. Celeste herself would stay in the middle of a storm at the Astronomy tower if that meant catching a glint of a rare comet with her telescope.
She was sure if Viktor decided to cancel the match there would be a lot of protests from the players. Especially because both Gryffindor and Hufflepuff have lost their previous matches and both teams were looking for a victor.
Minerva, proudly wearing her Gryffindor scarf, had clapped her hands with intensity when Hunter Green had scored. Ceslete was not supporting any specific house today and so she clapped her hands as well. That made Eugene a little bit surprised, since as a former Slytherin student she would most likely cheer for the Hufflepuff house.
But Celeste was not a student anymore. This time she was a teacher, the player's teacher, and she just wanted the success to all of them. Of course that would be different if the Slytherin house was playing, but today that was not the case.
"I think they have spotted the snitch," Eugene said, pointing to the left side of the pitch.
Celeste saw the two blonde seekers flying at a high speed. She recognized Aleydis Vanderbilt, the Hufflepuff seeker, from her classes. Celeste was having troubles to recall the other girl's name but the commentator solved her problem when he said that it seemed Charisma Stone had stopped pursuing the snitch. Aleydis stopped as well.
"It was just a false alarm," Celeste concluded.
Eugene nodded. His glasses were filled with rain drops. Sometimes he would forget he was a wizard. Celeste used her wand to fix that. He thanked her, kissing her cheek and then he said:
"Wouldn't you be proud if we had a child who played Quidditch?"
Celeste did not answer him, her eyes fixated on the match. Eugene had just spoiled her entire day.
(Adriana) Nature's Nobility
Author: Bill Weasley
Date: 06-03-12 11:32
The sounds of the Quidditch match were muffled by the rain splashing against Adriana's window. She sat near the fireplace, where the orange flames licked at the firewood Hagrid had recently delivered to her rooms. Adriana had considered going down to the match, if only to appear supportive of the students forced to play in the miserable weather. Because the thought of getting cold and wet didn't appeal to her, however, she decided to sit in the warmth and shelter of her quarters instead.
Besides, she had a bit of research to do. The once powerful wizard Grindelwald had pointed her in the direction of the Peverell family, an ancient, pureblood line. Adriana had never heard of the family, nor did she know of anyone with that surname today. She wondered if the family had died out, and if Grindewald had intentionally led her astray. Had she made a mistake in killing him?
She had tasked Cornelia Vanderbilt during the seventh year's detentions to seek out library books on ancient, pureblood families. If the assignments had seemed odd to the Slytherin girl, Cornelia had never expressed the sentiment. She hadn't asked questions, which had suited Adriana just perfectly.
As much as Adriana had wanted to stop everything and begin researching as soon as the books had fallen into her hands, she'd not had the time. Between her obligations to her students and fellow staff, she'd been forced to put off her desire to learn the truth about the Peverell family… until now. She opened book after book as she sat before the roaring fire, anticipation building with every page she turned.
As it turned out, most of the books Cornelia had brought back said nothing about the Peverells. Those books Adriana would have to return to the library herself, since Cornelia no longer had detention with her. A few books mentioned Peverells here and there, but usually only involved one marrying into another pureblood family line hundreds of years ago.
Then there was the book Nature's Nobility: A Wizarding Genealogy. It was the most complete history of ancient, pureblood families Adriana had seen thus far. It even went so far as to list extinct family lines, of which the Peverells were one. This knowledge disheartened Adriana somewhat, but she knew that just because the name had died out, didn't mean the line had. She hoped that it just meant that the last Peverell male had had no children.
In fact, the book mentioned some of the families descended from the Peverells but stopped several generations back. Adriana wondered if there was or ever would be an updated publication of the book, because this one wasn't exactly up-to-date.
She began to feel overwhelmed and got up to walk around her quarters. She stopped before the window, which was streaked with raindrops, and stared out into the gloom.
"The three brothers," she murmured to herself, after a long moment in which wild thoughts whirled through her head.
She turned away from the window and looked at the open genealogy book on her chair. "The three brothers," she said again, and then crossed to a bookshelf on which she'd stashed the children's book The Tales of Beedle the Bard. She opened it to the right story and then picked up the genealogy book.
A voice whispered into her ear that she was on the right track. For now, she need only concentrate on the descendants of Antioch Peverell, the eldest of the three brothers, who according to legend was the original owner of the Elder Wand.
Adriana smiled, summoned a quill and some parchment, and started jotting down names.
Growing Webbed Hands (Jasper)
Author: Aaron Miller
Date: 06-03-12 12:47
Irritated with himself that he'd forgotten to fix the gloves he likes to wear in matches so that water wouldn't seep in between the gloves and his hands, Jasper pulls his broom into a shallow turn imagining that he can feel webbing growing between his fingers. That could be a good thing, he supposes. Playing without the gloves with his fingers webbed might mean being able to better handled the quaffle in soggy weather such as this. This leads to a thought not of ducks but of wondering whether merpeople, here in the lake at Hogwarts or elsewhere, have sports on the order of quidditch or that fun game cousin Aaron introduced, vollyeball.
A bludger whizzes by uncomfortably close to Jasper's face, causing him to involuntarily jerk back, which in turn causes him to just miss intercepting a pass between Marjani and his cousin Hunter. Full focus back on the match, he zips up close to Hunter, watching for an opening to steal or to cause Hunter to foul in a way that doesn't also get a foul called on himself.
His opening comes with a combination of wind, a bludger hit by Gus, and Hunter's fingers slipping on the rain slick Quaffle result in a bad throw from Hunter to Etta. Jasper's able to get to the ball before Etta, practically flipping his broom through a 180 to race back the other way, rain pelting his face, feeling as solid as if he were being pelted with seeds.
Dodging around Blake and his bat, Jasper splays himself over the broom handle as flatly as he can get, reducing drag which is greater than usual thanks to the coating of water he's wearing and making himself as small a target as possible in case Blake, or Ella, have a notion to direct a bludger his way. Even with goggles on, it's hard to see through the increased sheet of precipitation but hopefully that means it's harder for the Gryffindor beaters to target him and harder for the opposing chasers to keep their eyes on the exact position of the quaffle. Unfortunately, that would mean it's also harder for his teammates to see the quaffle as well and for Caerwyn and Gus to successfully makes hits with the bludgers.
Someone comes up parallel with him but it takes a second to sink in that it's Sadie. She's close enough that all he has to do is plop the quaffle into her hands. Sadie takes off, tucking the ball in close and Jasper sits up a little. He might be able to go faster when making himself one with the broom handle but it does decrease his reaction time and his manueverablity.
Just ahead of him now, Jasper can see Sadie passing off to Marlow, or that's what it looks like. A dark object suddenly veers into view. It's headed to where the girls are still flying shoulder to shoulder. Not wanting to risk losing the quaffle before they've had a chance to try and score, Jasper puts himself between the bludger and the other two Hufflepuff chasers, letting it graze his upper arm. It's not a hard hit but it does sting; however, the hit also takes some of the momentum out of the bludger and alters its path slightly so it was worth the hit to aid his team.
Flying now to catch up with Marlow and Sadie, Jasper really wishes the rain would let up even if only a little.
Is The Wind A Gryffindor? (Marlow)
Author: Aaron Miller
Date: 06-03-12 14:04
At the prospect of playing in the rain, Marlow had tightly braided her hair in one long plait down her back. Now that the match has been underway a little while she's glad she did. Playing with loose flyaway hair dripping everywhere would have just added to the difficulties and misery brought on by the storm. Next time there's rain when Hufflepuff's playing she does think, though, that she'll take the additional step of pinning the braid in a crown around her head.
Quaffle in hand, Marlow turns her body slightly when her cousin Hunter Rabnott gets in close and tries to swipe it from her. She passes back to Sadie who in turn passes back to Jasper surges forward, nearing where Gryffindor the keeper, the other Hunter in the match today, huddles on his broom, eyes zoned in on the who's got the quaffle, ready to block whatever Hufflepuff throws at him.
Jasper sends the quaffle to the hoop nearest him, which happens to be on Hunter Green's left. Hunter is quick enough to swat the quaffle back. Marlow catches it, shifting hold on the ball just enough to get the necessary grip to throw it. She aims for the farther hoop from Hunter Green so that he'll have to cover more distance to get in the block. The wind must be on Gryffindor's side because a strong gust blows hard enough that it lofts the quaffle up, slowing its forward movement enough for Hunter G to knock it away from the hoop.
Jasper catches it but takes a bludger in the process. Sadie's able to retrieve the quaffle from him before Etta, Marjani, or Hunter Rabnott does. She hurls the ball and somehow gets it past Hunter G, sending it through that far hoop on his left where Jasper has first tried to put it. Finally! Hufflepuff has a goal and though the team is still ten behind, it's better than trailing by twenty.
Are We Having Fun Yet? (Hunter Rabnott)
Author: Aaron Miller
Date: 06-03-12 15:58
Accepting the quaffle to put it back into play, Hunter Rabnott carries it only a short distance before passing to Etta. She grins and shoots away, leaving him wondering if she's more impervious to the nasty weather than he is or if she simply loves quidditch enough more that she views playing in these conditions better than not playing at all. Or, a third possibility and now that he thinks about it probably the one nearer to the truth, Etta's grinning and bearing it, doing her best to enjoy the match despite the nasty weather.
Etta gets not quite to the mid-pitch point when Caerwyn clips her with a bludger just right and she loves hold of the quaffle. Neither Hunter nor Marjani can get there in time, leading to a turnover to Hufflepuff. Sadie has it now, moving back the way they've just come. Marlow and Jasper get in close to create a wedge, working the quaffle together back to the younger Hunter on the Gryffindor team.
It's Marlow for the goal attempt but Green not only blocks it, he catches it. Marjani retrieves the ball, quickly flying away from the Gryffindor kept hoops. Both Caerwyn and Gus lob bludgers at her with one intercepted by Ella, redirecting it towards Jasper. The other Marjani dodges but only barely just before she passes off to Etta.
About that same time the rain lessens a little, helping visibility if only a tiny bit. Hunter swerves to avoid Blake in the process of swinging his bat then pulls ahead of Etta so that he can accept a throw from her. The quaffle slips a bit in his hand but he's able to firm his grip on the ball and clutch it into his chest, wishing as he does that certain magic use be allowed during a match. A sticky grip charm would be perfect until he's ready to pass or make a goal attempt.
Then again, only seconds later, he changes his mind about the desire for a sticky grip charm when he passes back to Etta. Having to constantly turn the charm on and off might be an absolute pain in the arse in the midst of a match. Etta ducks as a bludger comes at her. It sails past her but Hunter hadn't seen it until too late and ends up getting smacked in the shoulder. He's certain that if he'd had the quaffle just then, he wouldn't have been able to hang onto it.
In that split second of him getting hit and his attention being on that bludger Etta's passed to Marjani. Hunter hurries to catch up with the two girls and together they work the quaffle the rest of the way to where Glori is waiting. Hunter's the one in possession as they get in close enough to try for a goal in this rain and wind. He shoots but even before the quaffle's fully out of his hand he knows his throw is off a little to one side. Glori misses the block but the quaffle bounces on the rim angling off in another direction.
Jasper catches it but before he can dart away, Etta's wrested it from his hands. She tosses the quaffle in the direction of the nearest hoop. Glori gets her fingers on it but the ball is slick enough at this point that the quaffle rolls right on past her fingers.
Gryffindor is once again up by 20 with a score of 30 points to Hufflepuff's 10.
At Least Hands Are Warm (Hunter G.)
Author: Emerald Green
Date: 06-04-12 15:23
The rain had let up for awhile, slowing to a steady but slow sprinkle. Much to the chagrin of everyone at the pitch, those participating in the match in particular, over the last two or three minutes the light fall has once more turned into a downpour. It's what Hunter's mother would have called raining buckets. Sitting atop his broom guarding the three hoops that stand at one end of the pitch, Hunter can't help but wonder if it's worse being somewhat stationary as he is or flying around in it. Probably the flying around because that adds to what wind there already is, which would make everything seem colder.
Hunter does move at times but when practically everyone else is down at Glori Hoduffer's end, even a slow back and forth patrolling decreases the already bad visibility, making it even more difficult to see what's going on down there. At least he's not freezing. Before the game began Olive put a warming charm on a pair of Quidditch gloves for him. These particular gloves are fingerless, the better to help him feel the quaffle when going for a block, but all he has to do is curl his fingers inward and the warmth emanating from the gloves has keep the wet from chilling his fingers to the bone.
Based on the announcer's steady patter Glori's just rebuffed a goal attempt by Etta with Sadie taking possession. Sure enough, the pack of players swarming the other end of the pitch starts coming this direction. By the time the six chasers and four beaters make it near enough to Hunter for him to make out specific details, Marlow's got the quaffle. Ella sends a bludger her way but Marlow avoids getting hit. She lines up a goal attempt but Hunter Rabnott is persistently blocking her line of sight. The two Hunters have talked about one of them going by Hunt or using a middle name or Rabnott being called Rab during matches to cut down on the name confusion but so far they've never done anything officially about that.
Marlow ends up passing back to Jasper who throws long, sending the quaffle to Hunter's right. He shoots his broom to that side, extending an arm, hand open to meet the quaffle with the flat of his palm. Marjani nearly has the rebound but a bludger screams by and Sadie jostles her all at the same time. Sadie ends up with the ball, immediately lofting it at the hoops.
Hunter dives for the block, his fingers touching the quaffle but he's knocked slightly off balance by a bludger to the shoulder. The quaffle, its direction only slightly altered by his fingers, wobbles on, hits the rim, but still goes through the hoop.
Wet Sloppy Noises (Caerwyn)
Author: Julian Valentine
Date: 06-04-12 17:12
When it was a fairly sure thing that yesterday's weather would continue much of today Caerwyn had owled his dad to let him know it was okay to miss the Quidditch match. That's why he was surprised when first spotting his father, Grace, Charlotte, and even Briar bundled up against the chill, sitting squished together under a large umbrella. He didn't spot Uncle Lysander but a lot of times when one of them takes off from the bookshoppe the other stays even though they do have employees and even though with the weather it's most likely a slow Saturday at Twice Told Tales.
He'd peer closer at his family, looking for the aunt that had shown up out of the blue the last Hogsmeade trip. She wasn't there but that doesn't mean she's not somewhere else in the stands, though with the storm he doubts she would have come. This woman Caerwyn only vaguely remembers knowing about has written to him twice since being reintroduced to her that day in Hogsmeade, sitting in the office at Twice Told Tales. Those 45 minutes had passed somewhat awkwardly because Aunt Iola was acutely aware she was impinging on his rare free time from school and because she would not discuss where she's been all these years. All she'd say was she would have written but hadn't been able to do so.
The pursuit of a bludger has him near the score is displayed, pointed towards it. No matter how hard he stares at the big, glaring 30 posted for Gryffindor next to the 20 for Hufflepuff, the those numbers will not change. Knowing what he does about Grace's unique abilities, he bets she could do it and do it in such a way no one would even notice the numbers changing. Just one second it would read 30 - 20 and the next it would be something like 30 - 50. Of course, that would also mean altering the memories of every single person present so no one would stop the match and demand where there extra 30 points for Hufflepuff came from. Caerwyn purses his lips in thought. Not really worth all that effort. Besides that, he wouldn't cheat on purpose, even if it came in the form of help from his little sister.
Reaching the bludger, Caerwyn comes about on his broom so that he might bat it back from the edges of the pitch. Hufflepuff has the quaffle as of a minute and a half ago so his aim with this bludger is help the team retain possession. Jasper's got the ball but Marjani is right on top of him, or at least Caerwyn thinks it's Marjani. The rain's a virtual curtain right and he's a little distance away. It doesn't matter who it is, not really, so long as the bludger aids his teammate by forcing the Gryffindor chaser back.
The bat makes a wet, slurping noise against the bludger but despite the strange sound it's a very good hit. Following the ball's route in case he wants to hit that same bludger again right after it does the job, Caerwyn is able to observe Marjani jerking back as the bludger nears, allowing Jasper more wiggle room to maneuver and get the ball thrown to Sadie. Caerwyn doesn't at all mind that the bludger didn't actually hit Marjani. It was effective in helping his team and that's all that matters.
Tracking the same bludger, Caerwyn flies to once again intercept, this time racing Blake to reach it first, ears listening closely in hopes of hearing another goal for Hufflepuff announced.