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Before The Astronomy Competition
Author: Aaron Miller
Date: 05-31-17 18:30
Instead of sitting in a chair or along one of the benches Heather is on a blanket, on her back, an arm thrown over her face. "Do you think they'd wake me if I fall asleep?" she asks Dinah Northington.
Yawning, Dinah replies, "I hope so because I'm about to nod off myself."
Heather wishes she hadn't put her name in for both Astronomy and Broom Racing but like a number of others she'd put her name in for pretty much everything hoping to be selected for at least on of the Scholastic Aptitude Tournament events. At least her broom racing event, what's called Obstacle 2, consisting of a maze of obstacles, is later in the day tomorrow.
"Why do you suppose they're doing us in separate groups rather than putting us all in a field at the same time?"
Heather lowers her arm, turning her head to where Dinah is sprawled. "I've wondered the same myself. A half hour plus the time it would take to pass out everything and give instructions and the time after to collect everything versus the minimum of three and a half hours they have this going on."
"You think they'll post results tonight?"
"No idea, but could be the first two or three groups will have results before our group is finished. Even if the judge for us is quick about scoring I may wait until morning to find out how I do anyway."
"Me too."
"Heather?"
Heather sits up slightly at the sound of her cousin's voice. "Lauren, hi. You did well in the Spelling Bee."
Lauren had placed fifth in today's earlier competition. "Fifth. Not bad but no points. I came to wish you luck. You too, Dinah. I've a headache coming on so I'm going to the RV to lie down for a bit. I don't know if I'll make it back for your group."
"Thanks for the well wishes. I hope you feel better soon."
Dinah adds, "Even if you're up to it later I don't know if there would be a point in coming to watch. It's not as though you'd see much more than students milling around telescopes, filling out star charts."
"Maybe they have a way to project a star chart for any spectators to see how someone is progressing," Lauren muses.
"You know, that's possible but we won't know for a bit yet, not until the first group has a go." Heather settles back on the blanket getting comfortable again. "More to see for sure tomorrow."
"Unless I can't move I'll be there," Lauren says. She turns to go. "Good night and good luck!"
Two others of the Wenlock cousins are here at Watling's. Lauren waves to them, both in conversation with students from other schools, as she makes her way back to the Magical RV. Her sister Marlow is participating in Obstacle 1 - Rings tomorrow. Eden was in the Spelling Bee today, not at all happy with an eleventh place finish, still mentally beating herself up over a stutter in saying the charm that got her booted as well as in improper wand motion that came about because she was trying to catch herself from the stutter. Like Marlow, Eden is in the Obstacle 1- Rings as part of the Broom Racing event. She fervently hopes that she places in the top half rather than the lower as she did today. Even though upset she is with herself about her Spelling Bee ranking, Eden is having a good time chatting up some of the other SAT participants, particularly a few of the lads. She has a small notebook in which she's putting names and addresses to stay in touch with some of the others, particularly a few of those same lads.
(Noah) So Sleepy
Author: Lysander Stratford
Date: 06-01-17 18:45
Noah jerked awake when his head lolled too far forward. He was seated with the other spectators, watching the night sky while the students currently competing in the Astronomy Event were busily filling out star charts. His group had already come and gone, which was good, because Noah would probably end up with a blank chart if forced to compete later in the night.
As it was, he hadn't performed well enough to place. Diego Muñoz from La Escuela de Hechiceria, Nikita Novak of Durmstrang, and Léo Monet from Beauxbatons had made it to the top three. Noah would have blamed the time change for his failure, except the second and third place winners were from European schools themselves. Not only that, they were both located in more easterly time zones than Hogwarts.
It totally made sense that someone who wasn't totally sleep deprived would win the big prize, though. The time difference between Colorado and Chile was a mere two hours.
Noah had barely missed finishing in the top half of his group. He felt okay about it because he wasn't dead last like his classmate Harley Croft, or close to being last, but it would have been nice to earn some points for his house and his school. Maybe he'd have better luck in tomorrow's Broom Racing event. He and Harley were both competing in the Sprint.
Noah decided he couldn't stay up any longer. It was late at night in Colorado, which meant that it was early morning at home. He decided he wouldn't be missed if he returned to the RV and shut his eyes till morning––if his inner clock allowed him to sleep until then.
(Oliver) Competitions
Author: Ethan Somerset
Date: 06-02-17 17:27
Oliver's second (and third) time participating in the Scholastic Aptitude Tournament had taken him to the United States of America, where Watling's Wizarding Academy was located. He'd never been to America before and was glad for the chance to visit a new continent.
He'd spent the day watching the Spelling Bee, which was far more exciting than watching the Astronomy Event. Oliver had fidgeted through Group 1's competition and would have fallen asleep, if not for his attempt to mentally identify every single star, constellation and planet visible in the sky.
He had been a part of Group 2, along with fellow Hogwartian Edwina Trainor. Oliver had barely missed placing, finishing fourth, whereas Edwina earned third place and one point for Hogwarts. Anna Saar from Durmstrang and Valentina Díaz from the Chilean school of magic had finished in second and first place, respectively.
Oliver was trying to stay up for the rest of the competition, but it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep his eyes open. It was late, he was off his normal sleep schedule, and he had another competition sometime tomorrow.
He was scheduled to race in the Obstacle 1 Broom Racing event. Oliver was really looking forward to it. He really liked flying and was thinking about trying out for Quidditch next year, though he wasn't sure he was coordinated enough to catch a ball while flying. Racing was different, though. He was still on the small side, though not too small for his age, and Oliver was pretty fast.
While practicing, he didn't always make it through every ring when speeding along, but his steering and handling had improved a lot since first finding out he would be participating in the Obstacle 1 event. Hopefully he'd be spot on tomorrow, because he'd really like to leave Colorado with at least one point under his belt!
Astronomy Doesn't End Well (Ingrid & Hope)
Author: Aaron Miller
Date: 06-02-17 18:26
Ingrid scrubs at her eyes, being careful not to poke herself with the anti-cheating quill in that same hand. For some reason she's having trouble doing her star chart. She next blows her nose on a tissue, not knowing if the problem is because she's getting sleepy or because she's been a little congested today. Either way, Ingrid feels like she's looking at a never before seen set of stars and other astronomical objects.
True, she's never viewed the sky from the state of Colorado before but despite the difference in position, it's much the same as she'd see from the astronomy tower at Hogwarts. If anything, it's more spectacular because they're at a higher altitude.
Not helping is that Ingrid keeps blanking on names or getting close but then having to struggle to correct herself, such as with the constellations Ursa Major and Minor she kept wanting to call Pursa and had a literal struggle with herself to write it as Ursa on the star chart.
When Group C's time ends, the star chart scoring or grading or whatever it is called begins as the next group gets set up. When her group's results are posted it comes as no surprised to Ingrid to learn she's dead last. Depressed at her poor showing, Ingrid wants nothing more than to go to bed but Hope is in one of the later groups, Group F. Ingrid gets comfortable in a chair, dozing off and on while waiting for Hope's turn, hoping she does far better in tomorrow's Long Distance portion of the Broom Racing competition.
When it's Group F's turn, Hope takes the blank star chart and quill, waiting for the signal to be given to actually start. Though she's not had a telescope to use while waiting for the proceeding groups to compete she has been studying what she can see of the night sky. When the group is told to begin, Hope immediately fills in a number of items, giving Paton Shrewsbury, the person with whom she's sharing a telescope, first go with the sleek black and silver telescope.
When all is said and done Hope only finishes seventh. That's better than poor Ingrid in her own group but smack in the middle of the field. As she's not competing in any of Sunday's Broom Racing, Hope's participating in the Scholastic Aptitude Tournament comes to an inglorious end.
[Harley] Last Place
Author: S Snape
Date: 06-03-17 18:50
Harley can't figure out what she did so wrong that she received 10th place out of ten contestants. Though she'd never given much thought to astronomy before attending Hogwarts Harley has found Astronomy class interesting. She put in extra time studying and preparing for the Astronomy Event of the Scholastic Aptitude Tournament, a tournament she's told isn't the norm for a Hogwarts school year. Usually, there are Quidditch teams, a sport she's learned about, like so many other things, since becoming a student at a school for witchcraft and wizardry.
She's been so worked up about it that despite the late hour and adjusting to the time difference she wouldn't be able to sleep if she tried. As a result she's mostly stayed at the Astronomy Event as other groups had their turns creating star charts.
At one point Harley had gone off by herself to have a cry, not wanting anyone to see her blubbering. Dave, having seen her walking off and knowing Harley was upset had sought her out to try and comfort her. She was both glad of that and peeved as Dave placed first in his group in the Spelling Bee. What a pair of bookends they are. He first in one event, she last in another. The one cheering thought, or second if counting Dave's first place with its 5 points for Hogwarts, is that Harley is competing in the first of the races tomorrow, the Sprint. She's hoping to place but she's found she loves flying, racing along on a broom, so getting to end her time at Watling's having some fun in the air is something she's looking forward to doing.
Dave, not only sitting next to Harley but leaning on her as he fights sleep, drowsily asks, "How much longer?"
"Still a bit but overall not long."
"Why can I stay awake all night at home and even at school but I can barely hold my eyes open here?"
"Maybe the mountain air? Or you were so excited earlier with the Spelling Bee? Or you ate too much?"
Dave sits up a bit, giving her a lazy grin. "I did eat a lot, huh? I couldn't eat a thing this morning but once my group was done I was starving."
"So starved you ate a Rocky Mountain sized piled of junk." Harley has had a few sweets today but Dave has had enough she would almost swear that if he forgets to brush his teeth before going to bed he'll wake up in the morning with rotten pegs in his mouth.
Time is called for the current group doing star charts. Dave resumes his lean against Harley telling her, "If I fall asleep don't leave me out here all night."
Though he can't see it she grins, having already had the evil little thought that she should do just that.
Astronomy Event
Author: Illyria
Date: 06-04-17 16:50
The last of the seven groups participating in the Astronomy Event was filling out star charts. For the Hogwarts students, this evening's SAT event was not shaping up as nicely as the one from earlier in the day. Where Hogwarts had earned 13 points during the Spelling Bee, the British school had only earned 2 points so far in the Astronomy Event. At least, Hogwarts was third from the bottom ahead of the home school, Watling's, and Okapi.
At maximum, Hogwarts could earn 8 more points in this last round, bringing the final tally for the event to 10. 10 points earned in the Astronomy Event would be a respectable accomplishment in Illyria's opinion. With any luck, Hogwarts could also squeak out a third place finish behind Escuela, who led the pack with a whopping 23 points thus far, and Durmstrang, with 12 at the moment.
Despite the less than stellar results in the Astronomy Event, Illyria was happy with the trip to Colorado. The journey over from Hogwarts had been pleasant and not overly long. The campus at Watling's was just lovely with the perfect natural backdrop. The Spelling Bee earlier in the day had been interesting and exciting, too.
Tomorrow's racing events were bound to be entertaining, as well. Illyria knew Hogwarts had a big chance at earning points, since there were four different races, seven age groups, and two students per level competing in the event. With any luck, Hogwarts would outfly the other six schools and return to Scotland victorious.
Even though she was enjoying herself, Illyria was a bit eager to return home. She hadn't seen her baby since earlier in the day on Friday, and though she knew he was having precious father-son time all weekend long, Illyria missed him terribly. She missed Nathan too, but she found it really hard being away from her baby.
Time was finally called on the last group. Illyria stifled a yawn and waited while Judge Janet Smith reviewed each star chart before announcing the final rankings.
End Of The Evening [Edwina]
Author: Georgia Copperpot
Date: 06-04-17 18:44
Vincent Oliver nudges Edwina. "I don't think I said before but congrats," he says of her finish earlier in the Astronomy Event.
"Thanks, I would have loved first but third will do. I'm surprised you and others racing tomorrow are still here." Here being at the Astronomy Event.
"Too excited to sleep. Don't know about anyone else."
"You're in what, the long distance?"
"Yeah, but I'd put my name in for all four. Still, I'm lucky to be picked for even one of them."
Edwina nods. "I heard Broom Racing is the one that almost everyone put names in to do. I didn't but most everyone else."
"I heard that too but I've wondered how many have said they put their names in for it or any of the events just to say they did it but really didn't."
"I wondered that too. Which do you think got the least?"
"Would have to be either Mock Trial or Invention & Design."
"Oh, right. Only sixth and seventh years for those. Of the others though? The History Quiz one you think?"
"I could see that. History's okay some of the time but sometimes it's boring."
"Even though History of Magic can be boring I put my name in to compete," Edwina admits.
"Me too. Other than wanting to see other schools of magic I don't really know why because it's a lot of extra work. Even the broom racing means putting in time for practice. History Quiz maybe got the least signing up but I think Dueling would have gotten lots. As many for it as any one of the racing events."
"I put my name in for that one but am glad I didn't get picked. My brother and cousin both say I'm too timid with dueling."
"Your cousin is scary with dueling," Vincent chuckles.
"Libby is scary about a lot of things," Edwina agrees with a laugh.
Time is called on the last group filling out star charts. Deciding to find out results in the morning Edwina gets up to return to the magical RV. Vincent gets up as well. "I'm still not sleepy but I guess I better try. Good thing Long Distance isn't first thing in the morning."
The two classmates and friends join others heading off rather than waiting for the results. Unlike Vincent Edwina is starting to find it difficult to keep her eyes open. She has no doubt that once to her bed in the RV she will drop right off to sleep.