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Imagination In Overdrive (Alexa)
Author: Aaron Miller
Date: 08-04-12 18:11
Quaffle in hand, Alexa expels hair, lower lip slightly out, causing her bangs to whiffle across her brow as if blown by a breeze. It's bad enough that Hufflepuff scored the first goal, or any goal for that matter, but having Cornelia shooting them all murderous looks is somewhat unsettling. She has no trouble graphically imagining Cornelia offing each of them in their sleep and starting over with a new team for the championship match.
Passing to Olive, Alexa darts forward, moving in the way of Jasper. Olive, Mason, and she pull together in a tight formation, moving the quaffle along the pitch with a series of rapid back and forth passes, keeping the Hufflepuff chasers guessing at who will get it next and how long will it be held after each pass.
Just over halfway in the journey, a bludger connects with Alexa. It came more from behind and to the side so she has no idea if it was from Gus Hodfuffer or Caerwyn. The effect of the hit was to interfere with the throw she was making and allowing a crack in the formation. Marlow took advantage of it and wedged herself between Alexa and Mason, catching the pass meant for him.
Accelerating ahead of them then curving back around the other way, Marlow starts back the other direction, Sadie coming up beside to help fend off the Slytherin chasers. It's all for naught though when a bludger sent by Basil gets Marlow in the side of the head. It wasn't, thankfully, that hard of a hit or Alexa could easily see Marlow getting a concussion from it. As it is, those few seconds of initial shock see Marlow losing her grip on the quaffle. Sadie tries to grab it but the ball is on the side opposite her and she can't very well throw herself across Marlow to get it though Alexa knows Sadie wants to. All of them would want to in such a situation with a teammate.
It's Olive who's able to get the quaffle, who then throws long to Mason. Alexa flies quick as she can to get ahead of Mason to take another pass, working the quaffle even further down the pitch, getting it closer to Glori. The Slytherins rapidly regroup, again working closely together to get the quaffle within scoring range. Alexa hopes they manage it this time just so she won't feel as if Cornelia is going to use a hidden wand to blast her at any second.
Sleepless Nights and Putting out Fires
Author: Oreileah McCoi
Date: 08-05-12 05:52
The morning had started off stressful, in so much that I'd not slept a wink and ended up spending several hours at St. Mungo's with Meagan who had a cold and was completely miserable, and unfortunately I still had work to do at the office. Sliding a hand through my hair I wanted merely an hour to take a quick power nap, but I didn't have that kind of time, at least not until later today, and I hated leaving Meagan at home sick, but I didn't have much choice, at this point she wasn't going to be allowed at the daycare until we got the cold under control.
I headed to the office around one, once I was home from St. Mungo's and had gotten the potion that would help Meagan feel better. Leaving her finally asleep with Jim, I grabbed a blueberry muffin from the tray on the kitchen counter and was gone.
Stepping into the office I wanted to scream and probably throw a grade A four year old quality temper tantrum but I refrained. Instead I plastered on my smile and within moments stepped into my office on the second floor where Madame Carlisle was currently berating one of my translators.
"Is there a problem Madame Carlisle?"
She stopped in mid-yell and Natalie took that moment to flee, leaving the document on my desk.
"Yes, your translation could not possibly be right. Clearly you do not know as much as you or your employees claim to know."
If one more person came in here claiming that I am not qualified to run my business because I don't know my languages, they are going to see a rather unprofessional side of me and if it means that they go to another linguistics service, I doubt they'd be any more satisfied.
"Madame Carlisle, sit. There is no reason for you to be rude to one of my employees, as you can see by the signature it was myself that had preformed the translation from the original document for you. Please, do tell me where you think that I'd gone wrong in the translation."
Within a few moments she'd pointed out about six spots where she assumed that I was wrong in my translation. Claiming that the words are incorrect, or that the meaning was off and various other little nit-picky things that basically translated to the fact that she was not left as much as she was desired by her deceased husband in his will, which was written in Gobbledigook for some reason.
"Now, Madame Carlisle, I will explain to you how those translations are indeed correct. The basis for the use of those particular words in English as translated from the will is the context of the statements. This word here," I pointed to the exact location of the words in the will. "means quarter, or one quarter or a smaller portion than half. It could also mean a few other things but those meanings do not pertain to the division of funds."
Forty-five minutes later I escorted the woman from my office and ultimately from the building. She would probably be back, but not to talk to me, to talk to Christian, so I'd warn him when I saw him on Monday. The office on Saturday was a skeletal crew of paralegals doing research for Christians upcoming trials or various other cases he was working on, two translators (not including myself) and two interns.
Once Madame Carlisle was gone, I went back into my office and started working on some translations that I needed to get done before meetings next week and get ready for a case that I'd be speaking at sometime next week at the Ministry. However, I'd find myself drifting off and had ruined about five pieces of parchment as I'd fallen asleep with the quill in my hand. I reclined back in my chair and decided to allow myself a quick nap, setting an alarm I'd wake up soon enough and then get some work done, that would work right?
(Gus) Celebration
Author: Johanna Steele
Date: 08-05-12 06:30
Slytherin was losing and Gus was pretty sure that just like him his team mates where not happy with the result. But the Slytherin chasers seemed ready to counter-strike and right now Alexa, Olive and Mason where very close to Glori's hoops. The Hufflepuff keeper had her eyes in the quaffle that was now in Mason's hands. Sadie approached him, her back to the hoops, blocking his view. Mason threw the quaffle at Alexa.
"Come on…" Gus muttered, mounted in his broom, watching the action at the other side of the pitch. Alexa raised her harm with the quaffle and for a moment Gus thought she was going to score but instead she passed the red ball to Olive who had no one covering her and she was able to score. Alexa had managed to trick Glori.
"And Olive Green scores for the Slytherin team! The match is now tied," the commentator said. There were cheers in the stands and Gus spotted many green and silver flags as well as images of the Slytherin serpent. He celebrated by closing his fist and raising his fist to the air. He thought about his friends on the stands.
Just like Cornelia both Felicia and Johanna threatened him with a curse if he did not play well. He thought what it would feel like to win the Quidditch cup for his house. There would be a huge celebration in the common room and for a moment the image of him hugging Johanna flashed in his mind.
But those thoughts did not last long because soon the Hufflepuff chasers were approaching again the Slytherin's hoops. Marlow, Sadie and Jasper seemed to be immune to the bludgers sent by Basil and Mark. Meanwhile Gus Hodfuffer and Carweyn worked together send those bludgers to the Slytherin team.
Gus risked a look at the seekers. Cornelia and Aleydis were close to each other but neither of them seemed to have found the golden snitch. His attention turned back to the match, putting himself in position, ready to defend each and every shot they aimed at his hoops.
(Mumbai, India) Wedding, Nagging and Sightseeing with Dexter
Author: Karma Davyd
Date: 08-05-12 08:37
I'd gone home to Mumbai late last night and knew there was going to be drama when I saw my parents in the morning and sure enough there had been. More importantly there was drama over the fact that my date to my mother's friend's daughter's wedding was not Indian, but he was absolutely stunning and someone I delighted in spending time with and that was what mattered.
Right now, Dexter was taking a break and talking with Raj Bati the father of the bride about potentials for the Quidditch world cup coming up soon and I was currently attempting to further tune out the berating I was getting from my mother and the bride's mother.
"Karma, you need to stop this foolishness. You need to settle down and be a proper Indian woman no more of this teaching and wanting to work and dating British men. You need an Indian husband, someone who will continue our traditions."
By Goddess I have heard these words so many times I could recite them verbatim in my sleep, and usually do hear them in my nightmares.
"You are not getting any younger Karma and soon enough you will pass the proper age of marriage and then where will you find yourself a spinster woman with nothing to keep you company!" The bride's mother Suri Bati said with a frown that made her aged face all the more wrinkled.
I heaved a sigh and turned my attention to both women who had spent the better part of the last forty-five minutes telling me that I was a horrible daughter and that I was doing everything wrong or something along those lines. I took several moments to try and bring in my temper before I spoke calmly.
"Mother. Suri. This is not the nineteenth century any longer, this is the twenty first century and I've no intention of being barefoot and pregnant, fighting for rights that I should have if I am anywhere in the world but here. I will settle down when I find someone that is compatible with me and not someone of YOUR choosing. I had thought we had gone past this foolishness. I am not turning my back on my roots, I am not turning my back on traditions. If the man I eventually choose to marry is the right person for me then it will not matter to him if I want a traditional Indian wedding or if I choose to have a different type of ceremony. As for my teaching, it is what I love to do, and it is NOT in any way shape or form something I am going to give up. Now, if you will excuse me, I would like to go spend some time with my date."
Within moments I had turned on my heel and headed outside to spend some more time with Dexter, we had a couple of hours left before we ultimately had to start heading back to Britain. "Want to get some sight seeing in? I've no desire to linger around my family any longer."
"Sure. Lets go say good bye to Riya and Savir before we go and then you can take me to all of your favorite places." He said giving me a light kiss before we paid our goodbyes to the bride and groom and then headed for a tour of the Taj Mahal Palace and Tour and to a few other locations in Mumbai before heading back to Hogsmeade via port key Sunday evening at around seven-thirty p.m. in Mumbai.
A Rare Moment Alone (Mason)
Author: Pyrrhus
Date: 08-05-12 08:44
After Slytherin scores Hufflepuff is able to get the quaffle down to Gus Van Tassel. Jasper takes a shot but Gus easily bats it away. Mason gets fingers on the quaffle but Marlow has it more firmly in her hands. Mason moves to block her shot so she passes to Sadie, who throws to her left. Caerwyn gets a bludger off at Gus but even though it grazes him, he's still able to stop the quaffle again, catching it to his chest. The Slytherin keeper hands it off to Alexa and once more the action begins shifting down the length of the pitch.
Four such passes back and forth, from one set of hoops to the other sees some great game play with great passes, well placed bludger hits, an interception, and one steal made when Olive flew up behind Marlow as she had her arm back to throw the quaffle and picked the ball up right from Marlow's hand. Now, they're back to Gus Van Tassel, Sadie with the quaffle and Alexa in front of her, trying to block Sadie's from throwing for a goal.
Sadie throws instead to Marlow, who catches the quaffle then instantly releases it towards the hoops. Using the flat side of his broom tail, Gus knocks the quaffle back. There's a dive en masse for it with Mason getting it first. He zips away, not realizing that the others have gotten bunched and somewhat tangled, giving him a lead.
Mason continues accelerating, a bludger passing uncomfortably close to his ear. He's rapidly crossing the length of the pitch with no one trying to slow him with the exception of that bludger near his ear and then one that clips him on the ankle. Never slowing, he finally looks around to see that everyone else is behind, racing to catch up. Uncontested, he reaches Glori.
Mason starts into a curve so that he'll fly perpendicular to Glori past the hoops instead of coming at her straight on. Even though there's no one else to watch for at the moment, approaching for the goal shot as he does makes it harder for her to determine to which hoops he's going to send the quaffle. Glori is moving rapidly back and forth in front of the hoops and as quick as she is, when Mason lets the quaffle he sends to to the farther point from her, forcing her to react more quickly than she's actually able.
Mason lets out a whoop as the quaffle sails through the hoop, putting Slytherin in the lead with 20 points to 10.
(Cornelia) Untruth
Author: Griet
Date: 08-05-12 12:12
As everyone well knew, Cornelia hated losing. She had not been happy to see Hufflepuff earn the first points of the match, though her temperament had improved when Olive managed to rid Slytherin of the giant dragon's egg on the scoreboard. Now that Slytherin was on top, Cornelia was in much better spirits, even though she had yet to spy the golden snitch.
At least Aleydis hadn't seen it either. Cornelia glanced at her sister. Aleydis flew slowly, scanning every inch of the air around her. She did not seem concerned about the rest of the game play, nor the fact that Hufflepuff was losing. True, only ten points separated both teams at the moment, but still. Losing was losing in Cornelia's opinion.
Suddenly, Cornelia saw a glint of gold a short distance away. She squinted hard and quickly noted that the bright metallic color did not belong to a sweet wrapper, nor was it the reflection from a piece of jewelry. It was the real thing, the golden snitch.
Wasting no time at all, Cornelia darted forward. She reached out for the snitch, which had made slow progress to escape her. Just when she thought she might catch it, a bludger struck the side of her head, nearly knocking her off of her broomstick. Cornelia held on though, even as the world around her seemed to keep spinning.
Shrill whistles sounded, halting the match while the referees checked on the Slytherin seeker. Morgana Flowers was the closest and reached Cornelia first. Blood poured from the wound on the side of Cornelia's head, but the cut was actually quite small. The real worry was whether she had sustained a concussion. Cornelia insisted she felt fine, even though Morgana looked doubtful.
The fact of the matter was that Cornelia didn't want to drop out of the match because then Aleydis would most certainly catch the snitch. Unless Slytherin scored a lot of goals, enough to make Hufflepuff's snitch-catching irrelevant, Hufflepuff would no doubt win the match. Cornelia wasn't going to give Aleydis the satisfaction. Besides, she felt fine. Kind of.
Morgana managed to use basic healing magic to stem the bleeding from Cornelia's cut and then conversed with the other refs for a brief moment. She then turned back to Cornelia and said, "If you take a turn for the worse, you're coming out. Are we clear?"
Cornelia answered, "Crystal."
Morgana gave Cornelia one last hard look. The whistled sounded again and the match resumed.
Aleydis flew over and asked, "Are you okay?"
Cornelia shot her a dirty look. "Shut up."
Aleydis shrugged. "Forget I asked." She flew away to resume searching for the snitch, which had gone back into hiding.
Cornelia followed Aleydis' example and flew slowly, examining everywhere for the little winged ball. To the audience she appeared to be looking extra hard, but in reality she was trying to make sense of her double vision, something she'd conveniently kept to herself during the time out.
Some Targets Are More Fun Than Others (Basil)
Author: Jared
Date: 08-05-12 15:10
Slytherin is in the lead plus no matter what happens today, the team will be playing for the House Cup if Basil's got the points right for everyone. Nonetheless, Basil would dearly like a win today. He's not as bad a sport about losing as Cornelia has been known to be but he can be pretty sour about a loss, especially if that loss means Etta wins. He's so glad she's not playing today.
On second thought, maybe having Etta as a target today for his bludger hits would be great fun. Basil loves his position on the team but some opposing players are far more entertaining when serving as constant targets. The Puffballs are fine enough targets but there is something infinitely more satisfying about getting a really great, solid hit in on one of the Dorks, especially if that Dork is named Julietta Wynbourne.
Not so fun a target is a certain seeker whom Basil has been studiously not thinking about. Helping on that score is the fact that she's not yet spotted the snitch, which means neither Mark nor he have had to do what they can to prevent her from getting it before Cornelia. If she does spot it, Basil will do what he must but unlike with every other person on the three other teams, he won't enjoy it, or maybe he will but not as much.
Reaching the bludger he'd spotted, Basil brings his bat back, eyes going briefly to his target, Jasper Jenkins. As the other boy still has possession of the quaffle from when Basil had checked a few seconds before, he hits the bludger, putting a lot of muscle into it to ensure the ball covers the distance it needs. As the other bludger is far across from his current location, Basil follows the one he's just hit, which means he gets to see it hit Jasper right at the elbow, causing the pass the Hufflepuff chaser is making to be seriously off. Mason swoops in for the steal.
Basil smiles at the sight, tracking where the bludger has gone. Gus Hodfuffer is on it before he can get to it so Basil bides his time for it to get clear enough of Gus to be able to get in and take another hit. He thinks Gus was aiming at Mason with the quaffle but Alexa is right there as well so Gus might have been thinking to hit Alexa to keep her from accepting a hand off. No matter. Basil gets between them and the bludger, redirecting it as Marlow, who's trying to sneak up on Mason.
As Slytherin once again nears the on alert Glori Hodfuffer, Basil zooms after that same bludger in hopes of an opening to send it at Glori just when she's trying to block another goal shot by one of his team's chasers. With skill, timing, and a tiny bit of luck, Slytherin will soon be up by twenty.
A Saturday Studying
Author: Maggie Hawthorne
Date: 08-05-12 18:21
Originally she'd planned on going out with William and sitting and watching Hufflepuff hopefully beat Slytherin for this last match before the championship match, but ultimately she ended up not feeling well this morning and decided to stay in the castle and work on studying for NEWTs coming up as well as getting some additional homework done.
Then there was the apparation testing that would be happening in the next few weeks after the last lesson which was being given in about a week. At the moment I was curled up in a private study area (not that it mattered as almost everyone was out at the pitch watching the match), looking over my Charms assignments, knowing well that I would have to remember things from the beginning and that gave me a bit more of a hinderance because I didn't start here at Hogwarts, and only had half a year to get things back into gear. I wasn't asking for a hand out, and I would stress through them at the end of the term just like everyone else in my year.
I'd talked to Lawrence and got some pointers on the Herbology NEWT, and I knew he'd given the same advice to his class and ultimately a bit more advice given to any of the students that came into his office.
Moving from Charms theory, I debated on what I wanted to go to next but right now I was studying theory, all the rest would be focused on soon enough. Theory makes up more of the written portion of the NEWT exam, while the practical was much more hands on and displaying proper casting techniques. So, from Charms I turned to DADA theory, and then there would be History of Magic and then Arithmancy and Divination before turning my attention to Transfiguration - there were some things I ultimately wanted to ask Professor McGonagall and I'd do that during either class next week or during her office hours which ever I managed to get to.
My NEWT study guides were quickly filling with information as I looked over the variety of stuff that had been taught over the last nearly seven complete years of education. I was going to lose my mind if I didn't go do something else, so once I'd finished adding information for History of Magic I decided to call it a day, and go see about getting something to nibble on in the Common Commons or maybe go curl up in Hufflepuff Commons and take a nap until the match was over. Though, the sudden lurching of my stomach and the need to vomit quickly directed me to Madame Pomfrey in the Hospital Wing where I was given a potion and ultimately took a nap in the hospital wing. I'd probably meet up with William later.
Still Functional (Glori)
Author: Phinfilius
Date: 08-05-12 18:36
Rubbing her shoulder where a bludger from Basil Wynbourne got her, Glori eyes Alexa, wondering what the other girl is going to do. Glori has just rebuffed two goal attempts by Slytherin. She knows a third is coming but whether it's going to be Alexa or one of the other two opposing chasers she doesn't know. Looks like maybe Olive when Alexa abruptly passes.
Olive is off to Glori's right and she'd begun shifting position as the quaffle traveled from Alexa to Olive. Those who think there's no challenge to playing keeper, have never tried simultaneously watching the quaffle and the chaser holding it, watching the other two chasers of the opposing team for tricky moves, keeping an eye out for two bludgers and the two beaters wanting to aid whichever of their teammates is hoping to score. Add in your own three chasers and two beaters flying around in the same air space who can be distracting without meaning to be. Sure, playing keeper is super bloody easy.
Olive's arm snaps back for the throw. Glori moves to block, fingers meeting the red ball. She suddenly jerks back, hands losing contact with the quaffle, thanks to an extremely hard hit to the same shoulder that just got tapped. The quaffle wobbles on its path from Glori's interference but it continues on through the hoop. Glori can't help but sigh through the pain in her shoulder as the announcer proclaims, "Green scores! Slytherin leads with 30 points to Hufflepuff's 10!"
Sadie has the quaffle as the three Hufflepuff chasers once again begin working the red ball to the other end of the pitch where Gus Van Tassel awaits. Watching them go, Glori's hand is returns to her shoulder, wincing as she does. She's pretty sure something cracked but as long as she's got mobility on that side, no matter how painful movement is, Glori's not going to say something and leave Hufflepuff with undefended hoops. It's times such as this she really wishes regular Quidditch allowed substitutions, even if the number per match were limited.
Trolls
Author: Liam Murray
Date: 08-06-12 06:56
Liam was watching the match at the bleachers with total concentration. Since he was little that he adored Quidditch and although he was pretty decent when it came to ride a broom he had never give it a chance at the trials. Mainly because he had no idea which position he would like to play. He liked them all.
"Go Hufflepuff!" Cody and Jake yelled. None of his friends were supporting Slytherin, of course. Eilonwy and Calliope had painted their faces with Hufflepuff's colors and they were seated next to their friends Flora and Jasmine, who had brought a huge stuffed badger with them in order to cheer for their house.
Liam could not believe Andrew had decided to skip the match in order to get ahead in his homework. But his brother had never been a Quidditch fan like he was. He actually disliked any sort of games that was not wizarding chess.
"Hey is that the snitch?!" Jake asked, standing up pointing to somewhere in the sky. Liam stood up as well and placed his hand over his forehead in order to keep the sunlight away from his eyes.
"That was just a bird, " Liam declared sitting down.
"You're such a troll, Jake!" Cody teased. "I have no idea why you keep thinking you could become the next Gryffindor seeker. First you have to buy a pair of glasses. But even thicker than Orville's!"
Orville ignored Cody's comment about his glasses. He was too busy devouring a chocolate frog to even care. Liam applauded when one of the Slytherin's chasers, Alexa, shot into the hoops' direction but it did not result in a goal because Glori made a very good defense.
"Yes, that's it, don't let those trolls score Glori!" Cody said, clapping his hands as well. "If Aleydis Vanderbilt catches the snitch I'm capable of giving her a kiss. I don't want to deal with pretentious Slytherins next week. They will get all smug, like always. Better Hufflepuff to win."
"And you would kiss Aleydis? It would be more impressed if you kissed Cornelia," Liam teased.
"God, that's gross. Kissing Slytherin girls. That's disgusting Liam. I can't eat the rest of my frog now," Orville joked.
Everyone laughed and they kept watching the match hoping Hufflepuff to win.