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(Asher) Targets
Author: Jolyon
Date: 07-12-15 07:23
After Jasper's goal, the Slytherins made quick work of getting the quaffle all the way to the opposite end of the Pitch, only for the Hufflepuff keeper to catch the quaffle outright after Malden attempted a goal. She gave the quaffle to Jasper, who didn't get very far at all when Asher sent a bludger his way. Being caught in the crowd of chasers hanging around the Hufflepuff goal hoops, Jasper didn't have a lot of room to move around in and therefore had difficulty avoiding the bludger hit. It hit him in the chest, causing him to gasp, and distracting him enough for Taran to lift the quaffle straight from his arms. Taran's attempt to score, however, failed when Glori caught the quaffle.
This time she handed the red ball to Marlow, who found an opening and darted away before she could meet Jasper's fate. Asher immediately fell into pursuit, looking this way and that for a bludger to use on her. Caerwyn monopolized one, while Baron managed to get to the other. Asher pushed ahead to either stop Caerwyn's from doing any damage to a member of the Slytherin team or to aid Baron into hindering Hufflepuff one way or another.
He ended up intercepting Caerwyn's bludger, which was meant for Mason. Mason was practically on top of Marlow without committing any sort of foul. If she felt the pressure of his nearness, she didn't show it. She wore a look of determination on her face that suggested she had only one goal in mind, and that was to get another ten points on the board for Hufflepuff. Asher turned the bludger so that it hit Duncan in the leg rather than aim for Marlow, lest he accidentally hit Mason.
Marlow managed to reach Gus at the Slytherin goal hoops, but no sooner did she throw the ball that Mason got a hand on it and knocked it off its course. The ball went into free fall, with all six chasers diving for it. Asher felt very satisfied when he saw somebody's broomstick accidentally prod Duncan in the exact spot where the bludger hit him. Duncan groaned and made a face.
Malden ended up victorious, but not for long. Marlow and Jasper both had their hands on the ball, so it became a game of tug of war. Jasper managed to pull the ball from Malden's grasp and quickly fired off the quaffle at one of the goal hoops. Gus dove for it, getting his fingertips on the ball, which was enough to drive it back into the fray. Marlow caught the rebound and held her breath as the ball sailed for one of the hoops.
Asher sighed with relief when the ball hit rim and fell back into the crowd of chasers. He felt even better when Mason broke free of the pack with the red ball tucked neatly under his arm.
(Willow) Exciting Match
Author: Rowan Westwick
Date: 07-12-15 15:33
"Jeffers throws to Tremaine, Tremaine throws to McGonagall, McGonagall throws to––the quaffle is intercepted by Dippet!"
Although Willow wanted her own house team to win more than anything, especially since it could mean Slytherin playing in the championship match, she nevertheless found it relatively easy to keep her bias out of her commentary. When she was in the staff box, she acted as if she were at a professional match rather than watching two Hogwarts houses play each other. Willow had no allegiance to any professional team, not years ago before her curse, and not now either. For her, the matches were exciting at every turn, even if things weren't going in Slytherin's favor like at the moment.
"Dippet throws long to MacDougal. Oooh, nice one, MacDougal!" Marlow executed a perfect barrel roll to avoid Baron's bludger. It passed cleanly over her twisting side without even ruffling the folds of her uniform. When Marlow came out of the roll, she swiftly handed the quaffle over to Jasper, who just so happened to fly right by her.
Jasper leaned forward over his broomstick and shot forward with a burst of speed. He quickly got within scoring range and attempted a goal, but Gus kicked the ball with the toe of his shoe. Jasper made to catch the rebound, but the ball came at him quicker than he anticipated and hit him squarely in the chest. It bounced off and headed straight for Gus again. This time, he swatted the ball away from the goals.
"And it's Jenkins with the rebound again!" Willow shouted. "He shoots… and takes a bludger hit to the shoulder. Ouch!"
The chasers scrambled for the ball, which Jasper had managed to throw before getting hit by the black ball, and which Gus had once again knocked away from the hoops. Duncan got the tightest grip on it and faked a goal attempt, only to quickly hand the ball to Marlow. Gus picked up on the ruse almost immediately but still wasn't quick enough to stop the quaffle from going through the hoop.
"MacDougal scores! Hufflepuff leads 40-20!"
Working Hard (Gus, Glori, Baron)
Author: Phinfilius
Date: 07-12-15 18:40
Slytherin has the quaffle, Mason in the process of passing to Malden. A bludger from Gus has Malden fumbling the catch but Taran is able to grab it before any of the Hufflepuff chasers are able to take advantage. Gus frowns at this but quickly shrugs it off, eyes already tracking where the bludger went.
He starts that direction but deccelerates when Asher gets there first. Gus waits to see where Asher's sending the black ball before once again increasing speed. Reaching the bludger Gus redirects it from a course to hit Duncan, sending it towards Taran. The bludger reaches Taran, knocking into his broom, but the Slytherin chaser has already handed off the quaffle to Mason.
Caerwyn is nearer to that bludger so Gus looks around for the other. Locating it, he reaches it about the same time as Baron. They're too close together for either to hit it and are forced to let it continue on its own course before Gus bolts ahead of his younger cousin to wallop the bludger, intending to send it in Malden's direction. Only intending because Baron's already gone streaking past to intercept Gus's effort. Gus grips his bat tighter and pours on the speed to get by Baron so he can then do the same once Baron's hit the ball.
He grins back as Baron just before slapping bat to ball, this time aiming for Mason. Mason grunts from the hit to his side but doesn't lose momentum nor loosen his hold on the quaffle. Approaching Glori now, Mason moves in to shoot the quaffle, Gus hustling to get to one of the bludgers to assist Glori defense of the hoops.
Glori is ready, glad to no longer be waiting to join in the action again. Mason's throw is to her right. Glori's best option is to do a combination of broom scooting and body lunging. She makes contact with the quaffle, sending it the other direction.
Malden snatches the red ball then flings it off to Glori's left. She has to do some flinging herself to get herself within reach but she manages. Not only does she manage but she catches the quaffle. Glori throws to Jasper, who begins flying to the opposite end of the pitch only to have a bludger from Asher clonk him on the side of the head. No serious damage done but he does loose the quaffle when he instinctively reaches with the hand holding it to touch the side of his head.
Taran grabs the quaffle, turning to catapult the ball. Glori moves quickly but the other bludger smacks into her as she's reaching to stop the ball. Slytherin has another goal, making the score 40 to 30.
Marlow gets the quaffle back into play with a pass to Duncan. He tucks the quaffle in close, jetting away. Baron has momentarily lost sight of both bludgers and is forced to watch the quaffle get further away as he pokes along behind everyone else, eyes darting all over for either bludger. If locating two, not at all small, black balls is difficult, he can't imagine at the moment trying to search for the oh so tiny snitch.
Finally spotting one and only because Caerwyn is in the process of hitting it, Baron speeds up. He won't be able to get there in time to stop it from possibly hitting one of his team's chasers but he'll be there to get it afterwards to send after one of the Hufflepuffs. Luckily, the bludger misses, though only just, with Mason maybe not even aware it passed right behind him.
In the short time it takes Baron to approach the bludger he asseses the situation, deciding that Marlow is where the bludger needs to go. He gives it a good, solid hit, tracking it as it soars along so that he can go after it again once its done its current job. Gus has other ideas, getting between Baron and the bludger, close enough to the ball to deflect it elsewhere. That elsewhere is in Taran's direction.
By this time the Hufflepuff chasers have the quaffle near enough to the match's other Gus to try and put more points on the scoreboard. Baron hurries to get the bludger his cousin just sent after Taran. He gets there, rapidly batting it as Marlow, now with the quaffle, lets the red ball go. Baron grimaces at how badly he hit the bludger in his haste. It goes between Marlow and several others without touching a single one of them.
Asher's gotten to the other bludger but Caerwyn's interfering has it going at the Slytherin keeper instead of Marlow or one of the other Hufflepuff chasers. The bludger from Caerwyn doesn't bother Gus, ending up only tapping him against the foot. Somehow, though, Marlow's able to get the quaffle by him.
Baron sighs as Willow Westwick announces, "MacDougal scores! Hufflepuff leads 50 to 30!"
Adrenalin Crash (Mason)
Author: Pyrrhus
Date: 07-12-15 21:05
Despite the rush of adrenaline, wind whipping his face, Mason yawns so hugely and tiredly, he nearly misses seeing the bludger heading his way. Flattening himself over his broom handle he has no idea why he's suddenly yawning as if he could fall asleep on the spot. All he can think is he's been on what amounts to a double adrenaline rush part of the day when his morning began anticipating both this match and gaining his apparition license.
Boris pestered him all through breakfast, claiming he wanted to make sure Mason was in the right frame of mind and not dwelling too much on the Quidditch match. He said he was speaking from experience in how necessary it was to focus during the testing. One splinch, even if a hangnail, could be all it took to have to retake the licensing exam on some later date. Boris told Mason for probably the thousandth time since last year's testing, how he kept thinking that if not for Happy Haven, he'd be a sixth year instead of one of the few fifth years hoping to earn a license. As always, Mason pointed out that if not Boris being a year behind because of Happy Haven, they probably wouldn't be the best chums they are now. Not that Mason means he's glad Boris experienced something like Happy Haven.
Yawning again, swiping at his eyes as they water from it, Mason has to hurry to get into position to assist Malden and Taran in the play Malden had secretly signaled. He's also got to stop thinking about yawning and to stop thinking about trying not to yawn. Every time he gives it much thought, he yawns all the harder and the more effort he puts into not yawning the greater the yawn.
Doing a breathing exercise Pyrrhus taught him as part of some of the training many of the pro players do helps somewhat. He wonders if having a piece of hard candy to suck on would help only to tell himself to stop thinking about anything other than the game.
Malden does a pass to Taran who immediately sends it on to Mason just as the play is supposed to go. Of course, Jasper, Duncan, and Marlow weren't just sitting around watching all this. Duncan threw himself into the path of the quaffle as it left Malden's possession. He'd probably have had the interception if not for an Asher hit bludger. From Taran to Mason, Marlow got into the act, trying to steal the quaffle right out of Mason's hand as he caught the pass. Tried but did not succeed.
It's Mason with the quaffle as they drive in towards Glori. Baron has the match's second bludger on its way towards Hufflepuff's keeper so Mason keeps glancing in that direction trying to best determine when to let go of the quaffle. When he decides the timing is right, he throws the quaffle hard, the way it leaves his handing putting a little bit of a spin on it. Glori dodges the bludger but in doing so only grazes her fingers along the quaffle, the friction of that graze not enough to hinder the ball's momentum.
With the score now 50 to 40, the quaffle goes into Hufflepuff hands. Duncan tosses to Marlow, who barely even gets a good grip on the ball when a bludger catches her on the arm. It must have hit her just right because she passes right back to Duncan, her other hand going to massage that spot on her arm.
Duncan gets hemmed in by Mason and Malden, one to each side. Malden drops back suddenly, giving Asher room to get a bludger in there. Mason steals the quaffle from Duncan before he can recover from the bludger hit. An underhand throw to Malden and the quaffle is moving back to nearby Glori.
Malden throws with Glori smacking it right back. Jasper gets hands on the ball but Mason wrenches it from him before Jasper's fingers have a grasp. Mason shoots but again Glori knocks the quaffle away. Marlow and Taran go after it. Marlow seems to have it but then it's Taran. Mason isn't exactly sure what happened there but no whistle blows and none of the referees are calling out foul or the specific name of a foul.
Apparently Glori thought Marlow had the quaffle as well because for a split second she relaxed. That's all Taran needed, lobbing the quaffle through the nearest hoop to bring Slytherin's score to 50 and making for a tied match.
Last Match? (Caerwyn)
Author: Julian Valentine
Date: 07-13-15 11:14
Caerwyn rubs a knot on his head. Not for the first time in a match he managed to knock heads with another beater. He's never quite sure how it happens as they're all usually so careful about giving space around a bludger so as not to hit each other with their bats.
Reaching one of the bludgers he starts to hit it in Taran's direction but sends it instead towards Mason after Taran passes off the quaffle. The bludger misses, a more common occurance in a match than most beaters like to admit but targets moving at varying speeds and often rapidly changing positions means what starts out as a good, solid, on trajectory to collide with the target bludger hit quickly becomes just a hard black ball soaring past other players.
Hufflepuff and Slytherin are currently tied. Who knows when the snitch will be caught or by whom. Caerwyn would love to end his last year at Hogwarts playing in the championship match but at the same time if this is Hufflepuff's last game of the school year that will give Caerwyn more time to study for the NEWTs, which are only a short three weeks away.
Arriving at the bludger he'd hit only moments ago, Caerwyn is forced to allow Baron first shot at it. He doesn't see Caerwyn until after he's hit it then when he does, he frowns knowing that Caerwyn's going to interfere with Baron's plan for the ball.
Baron had hit it in Duncan's direction. Caerwyn readjusts its path and sends it to Malden. The Slytherin chaser is fast approaching Glori, quaffle at the ready. He avoids a direct hit from the bludger, the ball only scraping along the side of his thigh.
Malden throws but Glori easily hits the quaffle back with a rap of her fisted hand. Marlow snatches the quaffle but Asher's gotten a bludger off that slams into her shoulder. Mason grabs the quaffle from her, tossing it to Malden who once more lets the quaffle go in the direction of the hoops.
Glori is in motion, body stretched full length but she can't quite get to the red ball in time. For the first time in the match, Slytherin pulls ahead with 60 points to Hufflepuff's 50.
Rubbing the knot on his head again, Caerwyn zooms after one of the bludgers, ready to hit it at one of the Slytherins as soon as he determines which one that should be.
Altitude
Author: Sophie McCourt
Date: 07-13-15 13:52
So far the match had been quite intense, with a total of eleven goals. Five goals for Hufflepuff and six to Slytherin. But if the chasers, the keepers and the beaters had been doing much, the same could not be said about the seekers. Not once the snitch had been spotted, and Sophie couldn't start to wonder if somehow the small golden ball had been trapped in Coach Krum's trunk by mistake.
She kept flying around the pitch, always keeping Rylee under her radar. The idea of playing against the Slytherin house had been quite intimidating, not only because of their reputation but also because from all the school seekers, Rylee was the oldest, and the one with the most experience. Bran Hyland from Ravenclaw was a year younger than Sophie, while Leonine Marchbanks was from her year and they had classes together.
As Willow announced the Slytherin sixth goal, Sophie noticed that Rylee was gaining altitude. It was common for the seekers to fly above the other players, to get a better view of the pitch and not to stay in the way of the action, but the Slytherin seeker was flying higher than usual. That could only mean one thing: she was after the snitch. Quickly Sophie moved her Supernova up. Soon she was starting to feel uncomfortable because she has never flied to high before. A fall could be fatal.
She shoved those thoughts away, focused on Rylee and the snitch that she finally was able to spot. Rylee wasn't surprised when Sophie joined her in the race for the golden snitch. The two girls were side by side, only parted by inches. Sophie had her eyes on the ball when suddenly Rylee throw herself over her, in the hopes she would fall. It wasn't a malicious action; it was part of the game. Sophie would probably do the same if she had thought about it first. However Rylee's move caught her on surprise and loosing the control her broom for a few seconds she let out a hysterical scream, feeling that she could fall at any moment.
The fright didn't last long and she was able to compose herself, gaining the control of the broom back. She had lost some distance from Rylee and the snitch. They were gaining even more altitude. Sophie speeded up, in the pursuit of the snitch, but she kept at the same height. She had the feeling the golden ball was very high in the sky and that soon it would start going down. Her feeling was right and abruptly the snitch started to fly down.
Rylee had to adjust her flight, in order to descend safely, but all Sophie had to do was to keep flying ahead. She reached out her arm and calculated in her mind the point where her hand would meet the snitch. She only had one chance to get it right, before the snitch would pass her and she would miss it. She took a deep breath and continued to fly. Shortly the snitch was right in front of her and she closed it inside her hand, feeling its wings on her skin, struggling to break free.
"McCourt catches the snitch! Hufflepuff wins the match, 200 to 60!"
A Loss for Slytherin
Author: Rylee
Date: 07-13-15 19:53
It was hopefully not going to be Slytherin's last match of the year...and it looked good by the time the eleventh goal of the match was scored putting Slytherin ahead by ten points. Now, all she needed to do was catch the snitch.
That elusive glimmering, golden annoyance had been just that the entire game. It also didn't help that she couldn't simply get a section of the pitch to herself - Sophie McCourt constantly shadowing her and keeping her well within her line of sight did little to ensure that she could actually attempt to catch the ball before the Hufflepuff Seeker.
She'd been thankful for a few moments when a bludger had caused Sophie to redirect her course for a few moments, so that she could do a quick scan before raising to a slightly higher altitude as to avoid the constant back and forth madness of the chasers and beaters.
By the time she had locked onto the snitch, Gus had successfully blocked another score attempt by Marlow and Malden currently had the quaffle in hand as the group of chasers quickly hurled themselves down the pitch. The bright red ball passed from Malden to Taran and from Taran to Mason before another attempt at a goal was made - deflected beautifully or not so by Glori Hodfuffer sending the quaffle back into the fray.
Above the beaters and chasers, the race for the snitch was on. She was thankful for her quick movements when she'd zoomed in front of Sophie - the hysterical scream had been a bit of the icing on the cake. Though, she wasn't even remotely surprised when the Hufflepuff Seeker had righted herself and was once again in pursuit of the glimmering golden ball.
Within moments Rylee heard the words she'd not wanted to hear coming from announcer Willow....Hufflepuff had won the match. Sophie had managed to catch the snitch with Rylee mere inches from laying claim to the glimmering ball herself.
"Damn it..." Rylee shook her head, before she finished her descent and leveled off next to Sophie.
"Grats McCourt on catching the snitch," she said and then continued her descent downward, ready to get off her broom and into the locker rooms.