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Of Birthday Gifts and Other Things
Author: Lawrence Masterson
Date: 12-09-12 03:59
With Ariella's birthday in three days, I wanted to pick up a couple of other things - her big gift had already arrived via owl the other day and ultimately I wanted to pick up a couple of other little things to go with it.
I'd already gone to Twilfit & Tattings and picked up a couple of things that I knew she would like, and I'd also grabbed a couple of things at Narcissa's for her. I was debating on what else to get.
Wanderlust sated for the tine being, there wouldn't be any trips made until our anniversary in December, when we usually spend New Years in Sydney.
I'd been wandering past the ice cream parlor when I heard someone call my name, turning to look I smiled when I caught sight of Maggie heading toward me.
"Hey little sis. What's up? How is the life of an adult?" I teased and gave her a hug.
"Alright, just getting a few things, and was thinking of stopping by the castle today to see you. Also had to grab some stuff at the Neep in the village."
"Ah, well, we can head to lunch and I'll come with you to the village. Was just getting the last few things for Ariella's birthday in a few days."
"I figured, since you don't normally shop for your own clothes at Narcissa's." She quipped with a grin.
"Right, so where do you want to go to lunch brat?"
"Actually, I'm in the mood for curry." She said with a grin. "Which means we are going into London."
"Of course, great, my little sister has become a curry addict." I teased and we headed for the exit to The Leaky Cauldron and out into the busy streets of London. Heading to the curry place we were seated quickly, and talked about a variety of things, her starting St. Emry's next month, and her break up with William, and her job at the muggle cafe where she is actually enjoying the work.
After lunch we headed back to Diagon Alley for a couple more things, and to give her a chance to browse for a gift for Ariella as well, before we apparated to Hogsmeade so she could finish her shopping and I could take my packages to the castle and safely tuck them away.
(Edgar) Bad Luck
Author: Johanna Steele
Date: 12-09-12 04:49
Just like Evelyn, Edgar wanted to try out for his house Quidditch team. Luke had passed out this opportunity and he just stayed on the stands next to Alcmene, showing his support to his cousin by clapping his hands when he entered the pitch. Hunter Green, who was in his house and year, made the team last year as a keeper, but this time he told Edgar he was also going to sign up for seeker.
Edgar thought he wouldn't be a good seeker or beater, but that maybe he could be a good chaser. He thought that was the position he felt most comfortable with. Passing the quaffle to his team mates, dodging the bludgers and score goals, sounded good to him.
The warm ups went out well and he did the best he could on the drills. The one he liked the most, simply consisted on passing the quaffle to other players and make sure no one would drop it. There was another one where he had to dodge as many bludgers as possible. Edgar found that drill painful, but necessary. However didn't get rid of being hit on the shoulder by one of the bludgers. The pain was acute, but he indicated to Stan Stanislau, who was supervising the drill, that he still wanted to continue on the pitch.
When the scrimmage time arrived, Edgar did his best to ignore the pain on his shoulder that seemed to persist. He worked together with two other chasers from other houses. He held the quaffle tight, as he rode his broom towards the keeper's hoops. Instead of aiming and trying to score he noticed the other chaser was free and so he passed the quaffle to her, offering her the goal.
On another chance during that same scrimmage, Edgar managed to intercept a pass between the opposite team's chasers. He wasn't able score any goal, because after a while he decided to abandon the trials. His shoulder hurt a lot and frustrated he walked towards the Hospital Wing, not believing this had happened to him.
"Let me take a look at that shoulder, dear," Madam Pomfrey told him, as he leaned his broom against one of the beds and sat on it. "Nothing broken, it just needs some ice and you will be as good as new. And I don't want any effort with that arm, for at least one week. It's very sore."
"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey."
As she went to fetch the ice, Edgar noticed that the person who was occupying the next bed was Evelyn. She had a bandage around her head.
"Ev? You all right?" he asked worried.
"Yes, I'm fine. Just a bludger on the head. But it's not broken or anything. It bleed a bit but Madam Pomfrey said I would be fine. What's wrong with you?"
"My shoulder," he told her about how he too got hit by a bludger. "Well, it seems we had both bad luck."
"I don't know about you, but I think I did well while I was out there. So I still might have a chance."
"Maybe," he shrugged his shoulders. "At least we are both well. But I think mom will forbid us to play Quidditch any time soon."
Both of them laughed.
Talking With Kody (Jack)
Author: Kody
Date: 12-09-12 09:04
Jack comes in for a landing after playing chaser in another scrimmage match. Thirsty, he goes to retrieve a drink and sees his cousin Kody chatting with Beatriz Basso.
Jack has been in Beatriz's group for warm-ups and drills. Batting bludgers, blocking quaffles on goal attempts, and catching snitches is all well and good but the drills he prefers, and the ones at which he excels, are the ones aimed at improving a chaser's skills. Jack did well, or so he thinks when compared to the performances of the others in his group, when it came to passing and catching quaffles, throwing for goal, and intercepting passes made by others. He also enjoyed flying through and around obstacles, such as spinning hoops, while avoiding being hit by bludgers.
"You looked good up there."
Jack looks up from trying to decide if he wants a sandwich right now or not to smile this thanks at Kody. "I keep thinking I'll screw up or enough others will do so much better than I do today that I will end up sidelined my last year here."
"That's doubtful though," Kody points up as the chasers and a couple of the beaters in the current scrimmage match pass overhead, "that scrawny boy there and," he points across the pitch to where a girl who Jack would swear doesn't even come up to his knee is standing laughing with some friends, "that little speck of nothing may just have it in them to know you out of your spot."
The boy in question has just missed catching the quaffle but has managed to catch the bludger. Not realizing his error, he then attempts to pass it off to one of the other chasers on his team. The girl, that little speck of nothing, has shown great determination and grit but is so new to flying that she can only sit her broom because of the one or two flying lessons she's had under Viktor Krum so far this term and she's even newer to actually playing Quidditch.
Jack flashes a grin at his cousin. "I can feel those two breathing down my neck and am trembling in fear."
Kody snorts in amusement before tapping a spot on his forehead. "You've got a nice dragon's egg there. How's your head feeling?"
"I've a headache but the worst of it's faded, or at least for now."
"Did you take some of the potion we have at the first aid station?"
"No, not yet. That one makes me a little sleepy and I can't be slacking off just yet."
Kody scrutinizes Jack, studying eyes. Jack bears the extra attention for a few seconds before saying, "I don't have a concussion if that's what you're checking."
"It was a bad hit but, no, I don't guess you do have one. Too hard headed for that."
"Funny."
The dark purple dragon's egg on Jack's forehead came courtesy of a bludger from Jade Green in an earlier scrimmage. The hit was hard enough it made Jack glad that as a Ravenclaw, Jade has been on the same team with him instead of a member of the opposition. The girl has muscles hidden somewhere in that petite frame of hers to pack that hard of a wallop. He guesses he should consider himself lucky that a hit that hard did not knock him completely out, which in turn would had most likely removed him from the rest of the trials. He might still have been able to make his house team if that had happened, having put on a good showing to that point, but he's happy not to have had to find out.
Jack never even saw the bludger coming. He'd been so focused on moving the quaffle with the other two chasers on the team, working it into scoring range. They'd had a rapid series of exchanges, getting the red ball ever closer to the hoops, the quick back and forth passing helping to throw the enemy chasers off. Jack had had the quaffle, throwing it to a Slytherin he thinks is a third year who was open for the goal shot. No sooner had he released the quaffle when he was nearly knocked off his broom by Jade's bludger. At least his teammate made the goal.
Jack's name is called, letting him know he's another match, not the next one up after this current one ends in a few minutes but the one after that. He would have continued talking with Kody until needing to congregate with those he'll be playing with in the scrimmage but Kody is one of the referees for this very next match. Deciding he will have a sandwich afterall, Jack selects one and takes it and his drink over to sit with some of his friends.
The Vanderbilts Give it a Go
Author: Griet
Date: 12-09-12 11:08
Aleydis had arrived at the Pitch later than most of the other students trying out for positions on the House Quidditch teams, but still in time to find herself sorted into Imelda Weatherstorm's group. The Australian Quidditch professional had her group of participants run sprints on the ground and in the air. Aleydis had never been a fan of running and found herself terribly out of breath before it was all over. Luckily, flying involved a different sort of effort and gave herself the opportunity to recover from the previous physical exhaustion.
After the flying sprints, Weatherstorm had her students participate in different drills, with each exercise focusing on a different aspect of Quidditch. In the first, the students practiced throwing quaffles at the goal hoops, with Weatherstorm acting as keeper. Aleydis, having always played seeker, got blocked every single time she attempted to score. A feeling of failure settled over Aleydis and threatened to cloud the rest of her time at the trials.
Her disappointment faded with the next exercise, which involved catching snitches. Finding and snatching snitches was something Aleydis knew how to do well, and it showed when she caught every single one of the charmed, winged, golden balls.
Once again feeling confident, Aleydis gave it her absolute all during the first scrimmage match in which she participated. She spotted the snitch a minute into the start of the game and followed it along an obstacle-course like chase, while simultaneously dodging every bludger aimed in her direction. The match ended too quickly for her to catch the snitch, but her efforts to follow its every move did not go unnoticed––and not just by Basil Wynbourne.
She watched him play in his matches and silently hoped that he wouldn't be disappointed with the outcome of the trials. Aleydis didn't doubt that Basil would end up on the Slytherin team again, but one never knew what could happen. There were a lot of students trying out today, and it wasn't off the mark to think that some of the newer students could be stiff competition.
Beatrix, meanwhile, joined Kody Reese-Emerson's group at the start of the Quidditch trials. Last year, she had been the keeper for Ravenclaw, and hoped to earn the same position this year. Keeper was often the position considered the most boring and simple out of all the others in Quidditch, but Beatrix disagreed with that opinion. Keepers were super important because it was up to them to make sure the other team didn't rack up points by getting the quaffle through the hoops. Playing keeper wasn't just a matter of watching and waiting, either. It was hard work.
Kody made them do some stretching, to loosen their limps and wake up, and then had them do things like pass the quaffle to one another. In the air, he charmed a device to lob bludgers and quaffles at them. Beatrix had a lot of fun catching the quaffles and trying to dodge the bludgers, which she somehow managed to do, but not without laughing uncontrollably. She wondered if everybody else was having as much fun as she was. Though fun, the drill was also tiring, and Beatrix just knew she would be sore tomorrow from all her exertion today.
In her first scrimmage match, Beatrix played keeper, her desired position. She never had the opportunity to show her stuff, because the quaffle never made it in her direction. In some ways, this was a mixed blessing, because it gave her aching muscles a period of rest. Her second match was quite the opposite, however. Several goal attempts were made, with Beatrix blocking most in quick succession, until one of the other chasers finally managed to get the ball past her. Beatrix felt a bit worn out, but she still felt happy, if only because she was having loads of fun today.
Franciscus and Paton had both come down to the Quidditch Pitch with the intention of trying out for the Ravenclaw team. Neither had a preference when it came to position. They just wanted to make the team.
Franciscus thought he had a good chance, if only because all of his older sisters had been on their respective house teams at one time or another. The Mickle cousins were also veteran Quidditch players, so making the team was definitely in his blood. Paton wasn't related to the Mickles, but he was related to the Vanderbilts and so had a decent chance of making the team, if blood had anything to do with it.
Both didn't have their own broomsticks yet and had to rely on the school brooms, which was a bit disappointing when they saw the different up-to-date models many of the other students owned. Not all of the school brooms were terribly old, however, so Franciscus and Paton weren't stuck with the worst models available.
Franciscus and Paton were promptly split up at the start of the trials, with Franciscus joining the group led by Spiridon Haynes and Paton joining Beatrix Basso's group. Franciscus was determined to show his seriousness in earning a position on his team, and gave it his all during the warm-up exercises and the drills that followed.
Not being tied to any particular position, Franciscus looked forward to every one of the drills. In the chaser-focused drills, Franciscus caught the majority of the quaffles thrown his way, though a couple only just barely. In his face-off against a keeper stand-in, he got about half of his goals attempts through the hoops. Each throw was spot-on, though, so at least he could aim well.
He did all right during the beater portion of the drills, too. Franciscus didn't hit every single moving target, but he hit most, which was better than some. One poor girl in his group missed every single target, and not just by a little bit either.
In his first scrimmage, Franciscus played keeper. He did a decent job of blocking the quaffles thrown in his direction, but it was a different story with bludgers screaming at him from all directions. Franciscus wouldn't admit it aloud, but he was kind of scared of getting hit and badly injured. He would always dodge the bludgers but couldn't always protect the hoops at the same time. Maybe with some practice, he would do better at both.
In his second scrimmage, Franciscus played seeker. Seekers had a difficult job! They had to fly around all match looking for the tiniest ball in the batch. Being gold and shiny didn't necessarily help matters either. Franciscus spotted the ball at the very end of the scrimmage and started his pursuit of it, only to never get the chance at catching it because time ran out for the match.
He touched down, feeling he did a decent job, but knowing that he wasn't the very best player trying out today. If he got a position this year, great, if not, there was always next year.
Dawning of a Friendship
Author: Roisin Rae McCray
Date: 12-09-12 11:54
Roisin could feel the eyes of other students on her. Everything that had happened was news worldwide. Her father was killed by her insane mother who was linked to several other murders of British Wizards. Her uncle and guardian had declared that the hype would pass...eventually. She doubted it as news like this doesn't die down easily and she should know, herself being an aspiring journalist. The memory of that fateful night took hold of her as it did nearly every second of the day. She could still feel the cold air of the night pricking at her skin. The taste of her tears as she watched her father be pulled away. The voice of her mother telling her that she was coming for her. The sight of the purple powder exerting itself from the cameras of the journalists swarming around the house. The feel of arms wrapping around her as she collapsed to her knees.
She hadn't been able to sleep since it happened for every time she closed her eyes all she could see was her mother. If she did fall asleep she would have nightmares. Only her ragdoll could comfort her. The jumpy and joyful personality of Percival was the only thing as of late that could form a smile to her lips. As if he could sense her predicament he squirmed his way onto her lap and into her arms and stretched up against her chest and nuzzled his head in her neck. She smiled and stroked his soft fur. He began to purr before pulling back to crawl in a circle to find the best position to sleep on her lap.
She opened up her notebook laying on the table and lifted her self-inking quill. She was in the process of jotting down some ideas for a possible short story when she realized that someone sat down across from her. She put down her quill and closed the notebook and looked up. She recognized her as being one of her roommates.
"Hi! I'm Cassidy Waldron." She said in a very cheerful voice.
"Hi," Roisin responded with dread beginning to fill her. She was in no mood to be verbally humiliated due to her mother. "I'm Roisin."
"I know..." Cassidy said blankly before realizing the potential effect her words could have. She quickly moved the conversation away from what the current subject was leading. "I have seen you writing a lot. You like to write?"
She nodded her head and glanced down to her notebook as she added, "Journalism, poetry, and other stories here and there."
Cassidy's eyes widened. "You should join Hogwarts paper...I write there as well and can get you in, if you like."
Roisin spotted Percival's ears prick up at the words. She had been wanting to start journalism again but was a bit afraid to approach anyone on the subject, being at a new school and all that.
"That would be great!" She said with excitement rising in her. Percival pushed himself up and jumped on the table, meowing thrice in agreement.
(Madoc) Hopeful Participant
Author: Minerva McGonagall
Date: 12-09-12 12:46
When Madoc first set out for the Quidditch Pitch, he'd felt good about his chances of making the Gryffindor team. He had a new Goldentail broomstick, a gift courtesy of his great aunt, who was an avid Quidditch fan herself. The broom looked great and handled well, not to mention Madoc's flying skills were better than ever. He and Malden had practiced over the summer, though Madoc had no idea if his little brother was trying out today.
Upon arrival at the Pitch, Madoc found it swarming with students eager to try out for their respective teams. Madoc suddenly felt his chances of making the Gryffindor team drop significantly, but he tried not to let the sheer number of students present at the Pitch distract him from what he set out to do.
Coach Krum placed him in Morgana Flowers' group, which seemed like a test in and of itself. She was quite blunt with those students she thought had no chance whatsoever in making their house teams and sent a good number of them packing. Madoc, luckily, was among those allowed to stay.
He mounted his Goldentail and flew through the obstacle course Morgana Flowers had set up for her group. The broomstick was an absolute dream, handling each turn with precision. Madoc almost felt as if he were flying effortlessly. Overconfidence and laziness would lead to trouble, however, so Madoc forced himself to try, no matter what.
Madoc did a decent job during the drill that involved catching and throwing quaffles. He even managed to get a few goals past the keeper. Some goal attempts were made head-on, others from an angle or when flying up to the goals.
He also did acceptable during the drills involving hitting bludgers at both stationary and moving targets. Madoc didn't hit every single one and certainly did better when the target wasn't moving, but he felt good about his efforts.
There was an even a drill in which he had to chase after snitches. Madoc only caught one out of the set but did a decent job keeping up with the others as they led him on a wild chase around the square of the pitch his group was using.
He sat out the first few matches, which is when he noticed that his brother Malden wasn't participating. Malden was seated in the stands with some of the other Slytherin first years. From the sneers on their faces, it was evident they were making fun of everybody else. Madoc was a bit surprised by his brother's behavior, but then Malden had always been a bit of a follower and tended to do what others around him did.
During his first scrimmage match, Madoc played keeper. Right off the bat, he found himself blocking the goal hoops, one, two, three times in a row before his own team caught the rebound. His next try wasn't as lucky. He let two goals get past him before stopping the third with a lucky kick of his foot.
After sitting out the next few matches, Madoc joined the next one as one of the chasers. Keeping up with the ball as it passed quickly from hand to hand wasn't easy at all, but by some miracle he never dropped the ball and always caught it when it was thrown in his direction. He never got the opportunity to try and score, but at least he helped his fellow chasers get some goals. If anything, he was showing today that he was good at being part of a team.
Glad For A Break (Marjani)
Author: Viktor Krum
Date: 12-09-12 13:26
Dabbing at a few beads of sweat along her hairline, Marjani navigates around others to reach the spot where her brother is sitting. Olive is in the scrimmage going on and Zuberi's eyes are locked on her so that when Marjani takes the spot next to him, he doesn't so much as glance her way when he speaks. "Enough out here today Viktor should have charged admission."
"Your idea, you should have."
"If I could have gotten away with it, I would have. Think of all the extra galleons I'd have for Christmas spending."
"Spend on yourself more like."
"Hey now, I spend money on others and we've got the gift for Viktor in the works."
They discuss that gift for a minute or two before falling into comfortable silence, eyes on the match. Much as she'd like to be playing in that very game, Marjani is tired enough by now to enjoy the respite. She'd been up early and to the pitch before breakfast. She had returned to the castle to eat but had come right back out afterwards.
In Beatriz Basso's group, Marjani had done calisthenics and ground sprints before Basso had set the group to doing drills. A fairly well rounded player, Marjani did well in all the drills, from catching little snitches to hitting moving targets with a bludger to avoiding being hit by bludgers to blocking quaffle shots to making goal shots with a quaffle.
She's played in a few scrimmages so far, one in which she managed to make two goals. Not bad for the short period of time each scrimmage lasts. The chasers she was working with were the Mickle sisters, Sadie and Ramona. The first ten points had been on a drive in toward the keeper, Sadie, Ramona, and she faking out the other team, letting them think Sadie had the ball when Ramona had actually passed off to Marjani. With the keeper's eyes on Sadie, it had been easy for Marjani to get in close and lob the quaffle unobstructed right through the center portion of one of the hoops.
Her second goal came about in a more unusual manner. The set-p for the goal came about when Sadie had taken a bludger that caused her to drop the quaffle. Marjani had scrambled for the ball, wresting it from one of the other team's chasers. She'd immediately thrown the quaffle in a goal attempt but a beater from her house playing on the other side in the scrimmage match, whose name she thinks is Liam, got in the way. The quaffle hit him on the leg and bounced right back to Marjani. As Liam's interference was unintentional, neither referee called it as a foul so the quaffle was still in play.
The other chaser once again tried to capture the quaffle from her but was too late as Marjani once more hurled the ball. The other chaser's timing could have been a bit better when he moved in an attempt to get in front of her and mess up the shot. For the second time in a row, the quaffle hit someone. This time though, the way it hit, she thinks it caught part of the broom as well, it bounced off in at a weird angle and continued on to the hoop. The keeper had been so expecting the quaffle to bounce a different way, she was slow to move once she saw it was actually coming at it. The quaffle slipped past her fingers, giving Marjani her second goal for that match.
Olive's scrimmage is coming to an end. She spends loads of time with her friend so rather than infringe on Zuberi's and Olive's time together, Marjani hangs around long enough to tell the other girl, "Great match," before getting up, heading to where Alexa and Etta await more turns playing.
(Ailbe: McCray Manor) Pestering Journalists
Author: Roisin Rae McCray
Date: 12-09-12 13:41
Ailbe grumbled as he walked down the stairs and into the entrance of the large manor. He opened up the brass doors and immediately they began to take pictures. In all his fury he began to scream at the pestering journalists.
"In the name of Merlin, don't you bloody fools have something better to do. Our family has been through enough without your pestering!" He moved briefly into the Manor and spoke to the House Elf watching him. "Nin, go find us some rotten vegetables and fruit. We'll teach them a lesson."
"Yes Master," the elf said as he dispersed into the air.
Nin returned with a basket full of rotten food as requested. He set it down and just as Ailbe took a few in his arms he glanced to Shakespeare, his niece's owl, who sat on his perch and threw a tomato in his direction. The creature took the hint and caught it with a talon. He took flight and flew out of the Manor. With all of that settled they began throwing their ammo at the journalists. Eventually they had no choice but to disperse and that they did. As they hurried away the Master of McCray Manor rushed out and lifted a fist in the air.
"I never want to see you fools near my Manor again, or there will be a price to pay!" He then returned inside and slammed the door shut before causally walking up to his study. He sat down at his desk and continued to work on his manuscript when his wife walked in with a look of disapproval on her face.
"I saw what you did..." She began as she moved deeper into the study until she stood directly in front of him. "You shouldn't have."
He looked up. "Don't chide me, Cleona. I did what I had to in order to get them off of our property. The fools made an encampment outside our door! What else was I to do? Journalists are the minions of evil, I tell you."
His wife looked to him with a stern face. "Rosie wants to be a journalist," she reminded him.
"Not if I have anything to do with it...If it's up to me, she'll be an author like her dear uncle, like my mother and her grandfather." He then grew serious as he looked up to his dear wife with a sincere look of worry on his face. "The girl has been through enough. This madness has to stop and as the man of the family, it is up to me to stop it."
"Thinking like that isn't healthy, Ailbe." She said as she moved out of the study.
Trying For Another Year As Chaser (Mason)
Author: Pyrrhus
Date: 12-09-12 14:02
As Boris Samson and Mason Jeffers arrived for the 2006 Quidditch trials bright and early Saturday morning Boris had asked, "Is your brother helping out today?"
"No, Py's got something else going for part of today. He did say he, and maybe Isolde too, might come by later to watch me in a scrimmage or two."
Eyeing Mason's brand new Firebolt, courtesy of Pyrrhus who has an endorsement deal with the company, Boris had commented enviously for about the hundredth time since the term began, "It must be nice having a brother who plays pro."
"I told you, Boris, I can see if Py can get another one for you. If he has to pay anything it's at a huge discount."
"How about for Christmas? That way I won't feel like I'm taking too much advantage of our friendship."
For some reason that made Mason laugh but he nods, "Yeah, okay, deal. Remember though, I can't promise anything."
"I know so no hard feelings if come Christmas morning I don't have a distinctively broom shaped package under the tree."
"You'd make me wrap it?"
"You have to ask?"
Not long after that exchange Boris splits off to go do warm-ups with Miranda Flowers while Mason is with Imelda Weatherstorm. Drills went well though he could have done without the bludger that smashed him in one hand. That was when Weatherstorm used a charmed machine like Mason had spotted Kody Reese-Emerson's group using a little earlier. The maching spat out both bludgers and quaffles. You didn't know which one was coming out so you had to be on alert to either dodge the bludger or catch the quaffle. Three bludgers in a row had shot out from the machine so Mason just knew the next would be a quaffle. He was set to catch it, realizing nearly too late that it was yet another bludger. With no time to fully duck or dodge, he'd deflected but he'd not done it well so it was more like having his hand smashed with a bludger instead of batting the black ball with the palm and fingers of one hand.
Luckily, by the time Mason is called for his first scrimmage game the pain in the hand is reduced to a slight sting and there is no swelling to hinder his performance as a chaser. It can be bad enough playing chaser, having to catch and throw the quaffle, when you've got bruised or banged up shins and shoulders. Hands, though, are different. If hands are overly bruised or banged up, effectively making passes and goal attempts or even just catching the ball is far more difficult.
In that first match he's in, Mason gets the quaffle on the tip-off. He moves it only a little way along the pitch before handing it off on a forward pass. Unfortunately, his teammate fumbles the catch, which allows someone else to swoop in and steal. The other team nearly gets the ball within that area they all think of as optimal scoring range but thanks to excellent teamwork by the beaters on Mason's team, he's able to intercept a pass. That interception allows his team to get the quaffle all the way back down the pitch and score, the only goal made that match.
Mason's played a few other matches since then, a couple with Boris though one of those they played on opposing squads. Right now both are sidelined, enjoying just being out and watching others playing while they wait for another turn, snacking on some of the tasty food provided, and using the day as an opportunity to girl watch without being obvious about it.