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Tryouts Continued (Theodosia & Marjani)
Viktor Krum
Date: 07-25-09 10:03
Theodosia writes some notes on her clipboard, wincing in empathy for a Hufflepuff who just took a direct bludger hit from one of her very own beaters. She'd not been the intended target but was so intent on catching the chaser with the quaffle that she'd not noticed the bludger she was flying into until it was too late. The girl shakes it off though Theodosia knows there will be a big bruise showing by the end of the match that will most likely darken even more as the rest of the day wears on. Bruises are common to Quidditch players but that doesn't mean some are really nasty compared to others or aren't bothersome.
Making another notation on her clipboard, Theodosia has an urge she's had since things began today. She wants to see what Zuberi and Marjani are doing. Marjani she's not as worried about as she doesn't get into trouble like Zuberi does but nonetheless, Theodosia keeps wanting to see what her sister is doing while waiting in the stands. See what boy she's talking with. With constant action out on the pitch, Theodosia can't be watching her siblings. She's far too busy with keeping up with each aspect of the trials, making notes, giving feedback, and consulting with Viktor and his people.
At that particular moment, Marjani Batuti is sitting in the stands, laughing at something Jack Emerson said. Marjani thought last year was difficult enough with boys like Hadrian, Daniel, Deak, Timothy, and even snotty blokes like Basil and Ivan to drool over. This year has the addition of Jack, Wiggersmythe, and Alastor Jenkins. Hadrian's younger brother Hunter isn't looking so bad either for a third year.
Marjani loves Quidditch and always has. Her family has a long history with the sport and Theodosia could play pro. It's because of their parents dying in an accident that had Dosie leaving the team she was with and taking a school position at one place and then at Hogwarts. Professional players make loads of galleons but Dosie thought it more important to have something more stable, more steady, with a place to call home. Marjani thinks that's dumb when Quidditch players like Viktor Krum seem to have a stable, steady home life. Sometimes Marjani wonders if there's more to everything than Dosie says.
Even with her love of the game, Marjani wasn't sure she wanted to try for the Gryffindor team. It was hard coming to Hogwarts and not being able to play in anything other than just for fun matches. Because of that, she thought she'd be excitedly eager for the tryouts today. Surprisingly, she wasn't and Marjani isn't sure why.
She'd gone through the warm-ups, thinking at one point how nice it was that while running around the sidelines of the pitch that the boy in front of her was wearing something tight shorts. A very nice view. She'd avoided bludgers, thrown quaffles, intercepted passes, and done excerises that didn't involve any bludgers, quaffles, or snitches. Exercises like maneuvering around obstacles of all sorts, racing other places for speed, and one that was both fun and annoying at the same time had a couple of the adults creating a strong eddy of wind along a flight path down which those in her group, and maybe some of the other warm-p groups too, had to try and fly. Marjani supposes the idea was to mimic a bad storm situation without the deluge of rain.
Liking all the Quidditch positions and being somewhat skilled at each, Marjani figured that as long as she was at the pitch and trying out, she'd do all the position specific drills. She does really dislike the Chaser one where bludger after bludger is lobbed. There are only two in the game itself afterall! Catching as many snitches as possible in a given time was fun, mostly because the snitches were spelled not to go whizzing around to only Merlin knows where snitches go during games. Many, if not nearly all, the keeper drills involve blocking quaffles but as with the lots of bludgers thrown at you at once chaser drill, she seriously didn't like the one where a bunch of quaffles come flying at you at the same time. There's only one quaffle in a game, not thirty, and even if there were thirty, she can't imagine all of them being thrown at roughly the same time at the same set of goal hoops.
During one of the scrimmages, Marjani had taken a hit to the knee, not from a bludger but from another chaser's foot. It wasn't a hard hit but it had connected just right. She iced it after that game ended and in between other matches she's been in but there's still a swollen knot. Hopefully it won't seize up so much that she's limping by tomorrow.
In one match where she was in as beater, Marjani knows she really well, stopping three scoring attempts before the keeper ever came into play. In another match as seeker, she'd caught the snitch before time was up but a second match neither she nor the other seeker even spotted it once. She's been chaser so far in one match and got one goal made and assisted in two more. She'd also made two other goal attempts of her own. She did the worst as keeper she thinks though compared to some, she did really well.
The house scrimmage match taking place comes to an end so Marjani and those she's been talking with get quiet to listen if there's more matches are to be played and if so, what teams and who's on them.
Exhilarated
Author: Ronan Eastwick
Date: 07-25-09 10:11
Out of breath but feeling great, Ronan climbed into the stands and downed the cup of water in his hand. The day hadn't started especially warm by any means. Fall was definitely on the way, if not already there, with the mornings, evenings and nights typically cool and the days comfortably mild. He downed a second cup of water and used the sleeve of his rugby shirt to wipe some sweat from his brow.
He'd just finished playing an exciting scrimmage match. Playing keeper meant sitting and waiting for the action to reach him, sometimes with long periods with nothing to do but watch what was going on across the field. The previous game was an exception, in that Ronan had found himself quite occupied with preventing the quaffle from entering any of the three hoops he guarded all the while dodging and onslaught bludgers. He had loads of fun and hoped that all future matches could keep him as active––assuming he made the team again.
Ronan felt his chances were good, though. He'd come to the Pitch bright and early after a hearty breakfast of blueberry waffles in the Great Hall and immediately started warming up. He wasn't the only one to take advantage of the Pitch before the trials officially began and the students were divided into groups for real practice drills. Ronan's official warm-up consisted of exercises on the ground and in the air, like stretches and some aerobic activity and flying laps around the Pitch.
Later, he watched the beaters conduct their position-specific drills. Those were followed by the chasers, and then it came time for him to try out for the only position he had any real interest in, keeper. One of the exercises involved him trying to prevent as many quaffles from going through the three hoops as possible. He did well, blocking all but two. Ronan also had to demonstrate the various blocking positions keepers employed to stop the quaffle from going through one of the hoops, depending on factors like angle and speed.
Next came the seeker drills, which Ronan watched from the stands. He didn't play in the first mixed scrimmage match, but he did play in the second one, the only Gryffindor on the team. He didn't miss a single quaffle during that match and only missed one during the next one. He missed one during his first Gryffindor-only match, but did miss any in the very challenging match he'd just played. Ronan couldn't stop smiling. He'd done exceptional well under the pressure, display reflexes and skills he hadn't realized he had. One might think he would have lost a lot of talent from a year of forced idleness (at least as far as Quidditch was concerned), but apparently he hadn't forgotten a single move in his time away from the Pitch.
Going Green At The Tryouts
Author: Emerald Green
Date: 07-25-09 12:18
Olive takes the hand-off from Griet, barrel rolls away while climbing, then gets off a clean pass to Alexa. Pulling clear of a bludger, she darts around one of the Slytherin beaters who's after that bludger, and puts herself between Alexa and a chaser who doesn't know it's not nice to steal quaffles from Slytherins.
Olive would love this day to continue on until well after dark. Aren't the lights around the field just for such a purpose? Oh how she missed being able to fly and play Quidditch! In fact, Olive isn't sure how she managed to live without either before she even knew either existed!
Olive has decided she most wants to be a chaser, professionally even. After warm-ups, which for her group included among others foot sprints, broom sprints, and flying through hoops of different sizes set up on a somewhat difficult course. For example, after going through one hoop, to get through the next required a very steep climb along with pulling to the right.
To hedge her chances of making the Slytherin team, Olive went ahead and tried out for beater, keeper, and seeker, though she's quite sure that if by some chance she were to get seeker, Cornelia will do her in while she sleeps. Olive liked hitting bludgers every which way, sometimes hitting further than some of the boys her age, and she liked hitting targets with them pretending they were people she's angry with, namely those made the lives of so many hell for what feels like much longer than two years.
Keeping can be a challenge but the periods of inactivity remind Olive far too much of sitting in the stands as a spectator rather than as a participant. As far as seeking goes, Olive would much rather spend a match in the thick of things, playing keep away with the quaffle and scoring goals than she would spend it flying aimlessly around searching for a hard to spot ball that doesn't want to get caught and is amazingly fast.
In both the mixed matches and the team matches, Olive was rotated around the positions but thankfully, luckily, she was in most as chaser, allowing her to really showcase what she thinks are her talents in that position.
A bludger hits Alexa, the force of it causing her to lose the quaffle. Olive dives for it, catching it but has a poor grip so when Griet comes shooting up from beneath and behind, one hand held up towards Olive, Olive drops the quaffle, then takes off after her teammate to offer support and assistance as needed.
In the stands, Emerald watches her sister, wishing she had Olive's present enthusiasm, not just for Quidditch but for everything. Emerald is really trying to fit back into normal life but the least little thing takes so very much energy, leaving Emerald fatigued nearly all the time. She's been telling herself she's fine, that she just needs time, but she's slowly reaching the conclusion that she needs to be treated for depression or something along those lines.
Emerald likes Quidditch. More than like, really, enjoying the game immensely. Before she knew of the Wizarding world and sports such as Quidditch, back in America she'd done some track and field, basketball, a little soccer in summers, swimming, and even played on a powder puff football team when still elementary age. It came as no surprise that she'd find Quidditch fun, intriguing, and challenging.
As part of her attempts to be just a regular person again, one who hadn't been at places like Happy Haven and City of Hope, Emerald's forced herself into a strict study routine, made herself be social, writes daily to Phin and her younger brother and sister, and practiced in preparation for today whenever possible.
Emerald went through the warm-ups, liking most of what her group did but wishing all her energy weren't being expended before anything really counted. Though, she had the second thought that maybe they were all being watched and "graded" on doing the warm-ups with vigor, excitement, and without complaint. She wondered if anyone not giving each warm-up 100% would get marks against them. That had her jogging faster, doing jumping jacks with more gusto, and showing as much pep as she possibly could for drills like catching quaffles and racing after bludgers to bat them.
Emerald skipped the beater drills but then participated for the other three. Keeper and seeker she figures required less energy through the course of a game, chaser because it's what she's done in the past. The only downtime during the keeper drills was when waiting for her turn to go during each drill but once the scrimmage matches began, Emerald's first game was in that position. Just as she thought, being a keeper wasn't as constantly demanding as beater or chaser. True, when needing to block the quaffle and prevent a score being made or when avoiding being hit by a bludger, a keeper's work is hardly easy.
She was seeker in only one match, and that was for a Hufflepuff against Gryffindor scrimmage. Seekers tend to either be in constant motion searching for the snitch or they hover around trying to see where it might be. Emerald did both and found finding the snitch much harder than she would have thought. Guess that's why snitches tend to take so long to find in regular games at even professional levels.
Emerald played mainly chaser, and while it was invigorating and stimulating, each time zapped her energy, leaving her glad for the matches being short, timed ones. She really needed those breaks. In her last match as a chaser, Emerald had also been in a three person collision, taken two pretty hard bludger hits, and got called for a foul when she couldn't brake in time when making a goal and ended up following the quaffle through the ring. All in all, not the best showing for her but she did well, she thinks, in the other matches so far in which she was chaser and each of the ones she was keeper.
Emerald would be happy to have keeper if she gets on the Hufflepuff team but chaser would probably be best for her simply because it forces her to pay attention, to work with others, and to be active. All things good for her when sitting around like an insocial lump is what she most wants to be.
(Anthony) At Home
Author: Beck
Date: 07-25-09 12:52
With a flick of his wand, Anthony set the scrub brush to cleaning the dirty dishes in the kitchen sink. Then he went around and started to gather up old copies of The Daily Prophet and various magazines, some of which he and Plum no longer needed and would be properly disposed, others of which would go in their rightful place on the end table in the living room.
Plum and Alex had gone out to run an errand, leaving Anthony behind to clean up the flat. Neither Anthony nor Plum had much time during the work week to do something as necessary as cleaning up––not that the flat ever became terribly messy––but with a child there and the mess that came with everyday living (tracking dirt inside, dropping food on the floor, etc.), it needed to be done on a regular basis.
Luckily, as wizards, Plum and Anthony didn't need to take much time and effort to make the flat spic and span. He tossed out the old newspapers and set the magazines on the side table and then started to dust the bookshelves, setting a featherduster to work with a simple spell. Next came the windows, which had a few dirty handprints on them. Anthony washed them so that they were perfectly clear again and just happened to spot Plum and Alex downstairs in Diagon Alley, heading back to the flat with a cloth shopping bag.
Anthony continued to clean until his girlfriend and her brother arrived at the flat.
"Tony!" Alex cried out, holding up a half-eaten ice cream cone that had already run melted rivers of chocolate down his little hand and threatened to drip on the newly cleaned floor.
"Alex! What have you got there, little guy?" Anthony questioned, quickly summoning a paper towel to wipe down Alex's hand and the ice cream that was all over his face.
Plum started emptying groceries from the bag, which held so much more than it looked like it could. "We stopped by Florean Fortescue's," she said at the same time Alex exclaimed, "Ice cweam!"
"I told Alex that if he behaved while we went shopping, I would let him have ice cream."
Alex beamed, his face once again full of chocolate ice cream.
"Good for you, Alex," Anthony replied, ruffling the little guy's hair. "So, I've been cleaning..." Anthony started, and just then a bit of ice cream hit the tile. He knelt to wipe it up with the paper towel he still held in his hand.
"...And now you want some ice cream too?" Plum teased, with a grin.
"Well, yes," Anthony responded with a laugh.
"Take Alex with you," Plum said.
Alex nodded his head vigorously and seized Anthony's hand with sticky fingers.
"We'll be back in a few," Anthony told Plum, grinning.
Wanting Either Chaser Or Seeker
Author: Christopher Chant
Date: 07-25-09 16:07
During one break from being on the pitch, Christopher had gone to get food off the table where snacks, lunch mainly in the form of a big sandwich selection, and drinks are being provided for the students trying out for house Quidditch teams and the Humbatas there helping with the tryouts. Hadrian Rabnott was also getting just then and the two got to talking about how they think their own efforts are going and their opinions of others taking part in the Quidditch trials. They also jokingly called each other names and played at psyching each other out but with really outlandish remarks. Hadrian and Christopher are both trying out for a Chaser position or for Seeker but as friends, everything was said with good humor and neither seriously meant a word of it.
In the stands with their food, the teasing had continued but with others joining in like Daniel Gelson and even sixth year Stephen Hunt. Their joking around spread to those in other houses, setting off more of the off the wall humored remarks about which team will take this terms Quidditch Cup. It's good sports like that that make Christopher like the game of Quiddith all the more. When not in the game, they can be friends and crack jokes. While in the match, they're competitive, not giving an inch for a rival team member. That is, most are like that. Some aren't nice on or off the pitch and some turn in the game aggression to hatred.
Christopher's not been a target for anyone like that yet but the day isn't over yet and Ravenclaw could very well play several more scrimmages. Sitting in the stands watching, the time allowed for each scrimmage seems to crawl by but Christopher thinks that's impatience to get out there in the thick of it on his part. When actually playing, those minutes, pun intended, fly by.
Whether he makes the Ravenclaw team or not, Christopher will consider this to be a great day. He'd gotten up with no prodding, had slept really well, ate really good pancakes that had both blueberries and blackberries cooked into them, and gotten to the pitch with plenty of time to get warmed up before the actual warm ups started.
Christopher had gotten further warmed up and ready to go for the rest of the tryouts with his group, doing sit ups, toe touching stretches, laps with and without brooms, broom sprints, and flying around floating cones, among other drills. He'd sat out the Beater drills, took part in the ones for Chaser, had another break when the Keeper ones were done, then was back on the pitch for the Seeker specific drills. During the Chaser drills, the Humbatas taught them some passing formations and strategies Christopher hadn't done before and so found challenging. It was great fun to learn new things that he can actually apply to his game play should he be selected.
Christopher also likes the challenge of being a Seeker. He knows some who think those who play the position are just glory hounds and he knows others who think that seeking is boring and that there's not much to the task of finding a single Snitch and catching it. Those who think finding the Snitch and then catching it easy have obviously never actually tried being a Seeker before. To find out how challenging it is to just catch a Snitch, they should do one of the drills the would-be Seekers had to do. Spaces along the pitch of the same cubic dimensions were charmed all along the pitch to accommodate the wanting their respective house team's Seeker position, one cube per player. In each was a Snitch unable to fly anywhere but in that charmed cube. The task sounds simple enough: catch that Snitch as many times as possible in the given time. Sounds simple but was anything but. Those naysayers who claim that being a Seeker is easy should try that drill out and see how their speed and dexterity is up against the one little Snitch.
In the scrimmages, both the mixed one and the house ones, Christopher has been Chaser and Seeker equally. The scrimmage going on while he ate and joked around comes to an end and he listens attentively when Ravenclaw is announced as having another go. Christopher's name is called for one of the Chasers as is Hadrian's, and Deak Bennett's. They join the opposing Chasers alternating in a circle around the spot where the Quaffle is to be thrown into play.
There's a flash of red as the Quaffle is thrown. All six Chasers dart for it, Christopher grinning foolishly at reaching it first. With a firm grip on the ball, Christopher pivots his broom to aim for the three hoops where he, Hadrian, and Deak hope to score. He swerves around an oncoming Bludger, tightens up in an arrow head formation with Deak and Hadrian, then swerves again when another Chaser flies at him head on. Christopher hated being the one to swerve first but he's the one with the Quaffle and isn't about to lose it playing chicken. He ducks down when he sees out of the corner of his eye something black coming on fast. The bludger whistling, screaming sound fills his ears as it soars over his bent form. Hands reach in an effort to take the Quaffle away but Christopher puts more speed into his flight only to suddenly brake and pass to Deak.
Making a quick assessment of where he should go next, Christopher takes off, once again pouring on the speed, purposelessly flying close enough to a Beater to make it too difficult to get a good aim on Deak with the Quaffle. This ends up earning Christopher a Bludger to the back. It knocks the wind from him but he quickly catches his breath again and moves in to block anyone from snatching the quaffle as Deak hands it off to Hadrian.
When that match ends, it's a tie for the teams with one goal apiece. Satisfied with his performance for that game, Christopher takes to the stands once more, grabbing water to drink on his way to a seat.
Seeker, Keeper, Chaser and Beater (Isma, Blake, and Eric)
Author: Charisma Stone
Date: 07-25-09 17:28
Isma, Blake and Eric ran through their scrimmage match for their houses. Isma had come away with a large bruise on her shoulder where she'd taken a hard hit with a bludger when she went the wrong way while playing Chaser.
Right now they were running through drills for various positions. Isma tried out for Keeper and Seeker, and had a feeling she did quite well. The first time she caught the snitch she'd nearly caught a candy wrapper, but the snitch caught her attention by hovering just near where the candy wrapper had been.
She'd caught the snitch all but twice in the five drills that were given for the trials for Seeker. Keeper, she'd done a little better only letting four balls out of fifteen fly past her into the large hoops.
Eric on the other hand was doing so hot on his chaser trials, each time the quaffle managed to land in his hands as if it were drawn there by high powered magnets! He'd missed but two passes of the quaffle to him, even managed to score a goal or two during one of the scrimmage matches, he played Chaser in one and Beater in another. It was obvious that his preference was for chaser, as he had a hard time hitting the bludger and not falling off his broom, or being able to aim and get the bludger where he wanted it to go. He'd also run the drills for Seeker and Keeper, and did somewhat better at those than he had for beater, but it was obvious that his position of choice was that of Chaser.
Blake's aim in the beater try outs was phenomenal. He was one of the few that had near 100% acuracy at the first round of drills for the position. He did fairly well at Chaser and Keeper, however, it was seeker where he showed the least amount of progress. He simply couldn't get his eye on the snitch, nor could he capture it when it was so close. His coordination for that particlar position was off, and it nearly one time sent him tumbling from his broom. Righting himself he would glare in the direction the snitch flew off to, almost daring the ball to mock him.
Ultimately things would settle, and all would once more settle down as the last of things were completed. She'd seen Theodosia making notes on various things on the times that she was in the bleachers, watching and waiting. She sipped her water cup, legs curled beneath her as she waited, watching the others finish up their runs for various positions.
Wanting Beater Or Chaser (Gus)
Author: Phinfilius
Date: 07-25-09 18:20
With another Gus in his year now, Augustus Hodfuffer has gotten used to the professors in the class he has with Gus Van Tassel calling him by his full name of Augustus. For the most part though everyone still calls him Gus. Someone did suggust he go by Augie in those classes he has with Van Tassel but Gus had shuddered and jokingly threatened to inflict injury on the person if everyone suddenly started calling him Augie. With Gus Van Tassel at Quidditch tryouts, Gus is making due here as in some of his classes as being Augustus. If his middle name weren't worse than is first, Gus would consider going by that or a form of it. Even just plain old Hodfuffer were do. Anything but Augie!
Augustus and Caerwyn had played some over the summer, sometimes even with cousin Phin and his friends. Since school began, Caerwyn and he have been practicing, making sure they were ready for today. They both really want beater and with there being two beaters per team, they think that works out well. The only flaw in their plan is if one doesn't get a beater spot with Hufflepuff. There's also a very good possibility that neither will. Just in case he's not picked as a beater, Augustus is trying out for his next favorite position, that of chaser; whereas Caerwyn is trying for beater or keeper.
Warm-ups were good though Gus really wishes he'd not had to run as running isn't his strong suit. Besides that, it's not exactly required during a Quidditch match, now is it? He didn't mind some of the stretching his group had to do but that's because Gus can see the point of being stretched and limbered. He guesses that's part of the reason for the running though Gus is much quicker and far more agile on the broom, even though he's only 12, than he is on his own two feet. What Gus would really like to be is as good at his age as cousin Wiggy was. Wiggy's an absolute marvel when it comes to Quidditch, a real natural talent. Gus thinks they'll all be shocked to pieces if Wiggy doesn't turn pro at some point. Why, he could be like Viktor Krum and play professionally while still a student. If a draughty, dank old place like Durmstrang would let a student do that, then surely Hogwarts would too. And if Wiggy were allowed, then Gus would have to be as well. That thought alone is a huge motivating factor for Gus to be bloody brilliant on the pitch today!
After warm-ups, Gus was invigorated and energized. He knows that helped his performance immensely for the beater drills. Gus felt like the bat was an extension of his arm and early on got into a comfortable rhythm using it, from hitting bludgers for distance to smacking the black balls into targets. Gus's aim needs a little work but he still did pretty well in comparison to others from Hufflepuff trying out for beater.
When the beater drills ended Gus was still charged up, which showed in the chaser drills that followed. Gus passed well, only dropped the quaffle twice when receiving it and once was due to a bad through and not from his fumbling, and all in all for each chaser drill he again did really well in his opinion.
Gus sat out the next two sets, those for Keeper and those for Seeker. He took that time to refuel and talk with others, and also watch Caerwyn going through the Keeper drills. After that Gus participated in the scrimmage matches that were made up of people from all four of the houses, just like the teams had been last year. There hadn't been any houses last year but according to the older students, playing official matches with people from other houses was really strange.
In the mixed scrimmages and then in the ones in which teams were made up only of people from the same house, Gus had chances to play both as beater and as chaser. In the first mixed match he was in, he'd been beater along with Alan Birdwell who's also in Hufflepuff. Gus had just reached a bludger, giving it a really got smash to send it between the other team's keeper and the quaffle as a goal attempt was being made when Alan had somehow flown straight into one of the goal posts after the other bludger. Alan hit hard enough to dislocate his shoulder and break his arm and had to leave go get patched up. With Alan unable to take part in any other of the mixed matches and none of the house scrimmages, Gus has no idea if Alan will still be considered a candidate for one of the beater slots or not.
Gus came close to his own bone breaking accident in the last match he was in, which was a house game. He was in for Hufflepuff as a chaser. The quaffle had been dropped in a pass when the recipient took a bludger to the side of her stomach. Gus dove for the quaffle as did several of the others. He was so determined to get it before anyone else that he nearly collided at top speed with the ground. Gus braked just in time to avoid a massive crash but did end up tumbling head over heels off his broom. Luckily, by then he wasn't that far from the ground and didn't have long to fall. That doesn't mean it didn't hurt, just that he wasn't badly bruised and nothing was broken.
In the stands again, enjoying a really tight match that's only halfway through the time given for each scrimmage, Gus eats the sandwiches he'd gotten before returning to the stands, talks with Caerwyn, and hopes he can play in at least one more scrimmage before Professor Batuti calls an end to the tryouts.