Reading [Jen?] on Crotalus Commons

Lutece Anthony

November 29, 2006 8:25 PM

Reading [Jen?] by Lutece Anthony

Lutece Anthony sat in an armchair, re-reading the first page of "Quidditch and the Beginner" over and over. She wished there was some sort of 'magical' dictionary she could use. Even after her conversation with Dolan, and that bizarre second year in the library, Lutece wasn't totally believing this magic stuff. Even after listening to her Head of House's lecture on getting in and out of the Common Room. Even after reading the first eight sentences of this book and hardly deciphering a word. What was this "Bludger"? And 'Keeper'? And all these references to birds. Or balls. Or something by the name of 'Snitch'.

Lutece stared at the book and rubbed her blue green eyes with one hand. Today she wore jeans and an Abercrombie and Fitch t-shirt, having abandoned those weird green robes in her dorm room. She really wanted to play a sport, and really, really missed her soccer team right now. She had been the second-best goalie in her league, and had been working up to first place when she had been shipped off to this psychotic place.

Honestly. Pictures that moved? Games that were purported to be played on cleaning implements? Words she didn't understand, that weren't in her dictionary? Euergh. Life was so confusing!\n\n

0 Lutece Anthony Reading [Jen?] 100 Lutece Anthony 1 5

Jennifer Zucchero

November 29, 2006 9:11 PM

Interrupting by Jennifer Zucchero

It seemed the professors had decided to be nice so far this year, and not try and kill all of the new fifth years with massive piles of work. At least for the first week or so. Or maybe she’d just finally learned how to prioritize, and get things done efficiently. Whatever the reason, Jennifer Zucchero was done with her work, at least for the time being, and decided to go down to the common room. Felipe had asked for some drawings, and the relaxation was always nice.

As she entered the common room, though, ridiculously fluffy cat trailing behind her, and made to sit one she noticed another person already sitting in her normal area. A first year she assumed, since she’d never seen the younger girl before, and one who looked distinctly puzzled.

It didn’t take Jennifer very long to concoct a hypothesis for the other student’s befuddlement, though. It was likely all the fault of the book she’d chosen from the library. It was a bit of a joke among some people she’d played quidditch with, what a horrible excuse for an explanation Quidditch and the Beginner was for anyone new to the sport.

Taking pity on the poor firstie, she took a seat in the armchair next to the other student, Star immediately jumping in her lap, and said, “If you’re trying to figure out how quidditch works, I’d suggest not using that particular book. It’s probably one of the hardest for someone who doesn’t know a lot about quidditch to understand. It’s a pity, really.”

She paused, and then continued. “Actually, even the best books generally aren’t quite as good as one would want with getting the point across. It’s almost always best to actually watch a game, or, if you can’t do that, then have someone explain it to you who knows what they’re talking about so you can ask questions.”

Belatedly realizing that she was interrupting the first year’s reading, she smiled sheepishly. “Sorry about that. If you couldn’t already tell, quidditch is one of my things. Jennifer Zucchero,” she finished, putting out the hand not petting the cat for the other girl to shake. That much could be said about being the captain, even if she felt she didn’t deserve it. At least now she could open up to strangers better.
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0 Jennifer Zucchero Interrupting 48 Jennifer Zucchero 0 5

Lutece

November 29, 2006 9:25 PM

And Responding by Lutece

Lutece only barely jumped as a much, much older girl appeared in the armchair next to her, and began bashing the book she had chosen. About to get haughty and assert her knowledge (what little she had gained from the feast and the opening page, anyway), Lutece stopped just in time to hear the girl introduce herself as the older girl introduced her as Jennifer Zucchero. A name Lutece recognised from the Quidditch sign up sheet.

She weighed her choices. This Jennifer seemed already to notice from her reading choice that she was inexperienced. And as Lutece already knew from her experiences in phys ed and soccer, the best way to learn was to try it. If she could figure out some way of doing it so that she didn't appear too thick skulled.

Shrugging, Lutece tried to appear calm and uncaring. "A boy I was talking to mentioned it, and I thought it worth looking up. Do you think you could explain the basic concept? I'm more of a soccer girl than anything."\n\n

0 Lutece And Responding 0 Lutece 0 5

Jennifer

November 29, 2006 9:50 PM

And Answering by Jennifer

Jennifer settled into the chair as she waited for the first year to answer, which took a bit longer than she’d expected, then grinned as the girl mentioned soccer. “If you played soccer, you have my deepest and utmost awe. I’ve never played myself, but I spent this past summer in Brazil, and so naturally saw a lot of the world cup. It looked like a pretty brutal sport, even compared to quidditch standards.”

She shifted slightly, so that she was facing the other girl more head-on, then continued. “Quidditch is a pretty simple sport, at least in theory. Matches are held between two teams, just like most sports, I suppose, and there are seven players on each team, three chasers, two beaters, one keeper, and one seeker, all on broomsticks. It’s played on a pitch that has 6 hoops, three on each side, and there are four balls, a quaffle, two bludgers, and a snitch.

“The chasers would be like…” she paused, trying to remember the names of the positions Felipe had taught her over the summer. “Forwards, I suppose, if you can get the analogy. They use the quaffle, which is about yea-big, passing it back and forth until they reach the opposing team’s hoops. Then, they try to throw it through one of the hoops to score. Each time a quaffle gets through one of the hoops, that team gets 10 points.

“Of course, it’s fairly difficult for the chasers to score. The three opposing chasers are naturally trying to steal the quaffle away, and then there’s the keeper. The keeper would be like the…goalie, I think. Guards the goals, tries to prevent anyone of the other team from scoring, just what it sounds like.

“That’s where the similarities with most muggle sports end, though, as far as I know. The next balls, the bludgers, are pretty nasty metal things that are charmed to try and knock players off their broom. That’s why you have beaters. They’re armed with bats, and try to hit the bludgers around to wound the other side rather than their own. We’ve actually had some pretty vicious beaters at Sonora. In last year’s championship game, one girl took out two chasers singlehandedly.

“Last, you have the snitch. It’s a tiny gold ball with wings that horridly fast and almost impossible to see. It’s important, though, because the game doesn’t win until the snitch is caught, and the team of the one who catches it gets 150 points, which generally wins the match. Seekers are the ones who literally “seek” the snitch,” she laughed. “If you couldn’t tell, not a lot of imagination was used when thinking up the names. Because it’s so hard to find, seekers are generally pretty small, so that they can go faster than everyone else.” She looked down at herself, and smiled wryly. “That’s pretty much the only way I can stand not really having grown at all since entering Sonora, at least not height-wise.

“That’s about it, concerning the basics. There’s a lot more when you start talking about fouls, or strategy, or even broom manufacturers, but I won’t bore you with that now. It really is an amazing sport, though. So, any questions, or any desire to try it? Coach Fox generally teaches the first years how to fly, but, if you’re interested, I could possibly help you out before then, go a bit more in-depth, and all. What is your name, by the way. I don't think I caught it.”
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0 Jennifer And Answering 0 Jennifer 0 5

Lutece

November 29, 2006 10:07 PM

And Getting Excited by Lutece

Lutece had unconciously leaned forward to take in the entirity of Jennifer's explanation. This Quidditch was sounding increasingly impressive, and not all that different from the truly competative soccer, except that it sounded much more tricky to play, and thus required more cordination and skill. In short, perfect for Lutece Anthony, since there was also the whole athlete/power correlation. All she needed to do was learn to play. The Keeper position sounded very, very similar to her own position of goalie.

Pulling her teal shirt down to cover her midriff, Lutece wondered how to bring up learning to play this truly marvelous-sounding game. And then...Jennifer offered to help her? Yes! Lutece barely concealed her excitement by introducing herself.

"Sorry. I'm Lutece Anthony. I would love to--that is--er...if you wouldn't mind, I would like to learn more about it. I don't have a broomstick or any equipment, though. I've played goalie in soccer since I was about five, though,"

Maybe this school wasn't so weird after all. Assuming this all wasn't some elaborate imagining or hallucination. Which it very well could be. After all, how in the world could this stuff exist unnoticed? And how could they expect perfectly normal, sane, preteens to adjust to kid stuff that they left behind at about the time they went to school for the first time? It was confusing, and senseless. But this 'Quidditch' thing looked like it would make the rest of it acceptable.\n\n

0 Lutece And Getting Excited 0 Lutece 0 5

Jennifer

November 29, 2006 10:42 PM

And getting closer to a full team by Jennifer

Jennifer grinned once more at her newest recruit. “Seriously, Lutece, I don’t mind at all teaching you. I’ve done similar things before. You’d be rather surprised how many purebloods even don’t know a bludger from a broomstick. So, even as a muggleborn, you’ve probably got a head up on a lot of them, by doing something similar. That is, I assume you’re a muggleborn. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course, it’s just…the assumption that when one doesn’t know anything about quidditch, you…oh, never mind.”

That was beautiful, even for her. This was why she so often chose not to talk to people, just to avoid any possibility of sticking her foot in her mouth like that. She blushed a rather blinding scarlet, waited a few seconds for it to hopefully go down, and then continued.

“Don’t worry about equipment, brooms, and stuff. The school has some, which a lot of people use. You could also probably buy your own for next year, if you like the sport, and want to continue. That is, if your parents would approve of it. I could probably take you down to the pitch to look at stuff and start trying things out anytime that we’re both free. Weekends would probably work best, but whatever works for you. I mean, if you want, we could even go do it right now. I’m assuming you want to try keeper, if you were a goalie.”

Just as she thought she was finished, one final thought hit her, one that would probably end up being important. “I should probably tell you, I can’t guarantee a spot on the team, not for anyone yet. We have had a keeper the last couple of years, and he’s pretty good, but” she shrugged. “Who knows. If you do like the position, and both of you sign up, I’m probably going to hold try-outs. Or you two could just alternate matches. I’m still not sure how it’s going to work out. Would you be okay with that?” She hoped Lutece would. She seemed like a nice enough girl, and properly enthusiastic. And Earl…had the potential to be trouble. While he’d been perfectly fine last year, there had been occasional… upsets that she’d noticed. And she really didn’t want to have a team that continually tried to kill each other, as the situation with her beaters and keeper could manifest itself into.
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0 Jennifer And getting closer to a full team 0 Jennifer 0 5

Lutece

November 30, 2006 5:24 AM

And having run out of titles... by Lutece

The other girl would teach her. Excellant. Besides some words that she didn't quite understand (what was this Moogle thing?), Lutece was pretty sure that Jennifer didn't resent having a younger kid tagging along. Keeper? Sounded like fun. At that point, Jennifer mentioned tryouts. Lutece had assumed that there would be something of the sort, since this 'Quidditch' was sounding like the seriously competative soccer teams at the moment. Only played in the air, with a few murderous balls.

Lutece adjusted her shirt again, then looked over at Jennifer. "If you're not busy right now....Well, I don't really have anything to do...but if you are...." she sort of let that hang in the air a moment before moving on. "I would like to have as much time as possible to prepare for tryouts. If this Keepering thing is going to turn out, I mean." It sounded like fun. It sounded like soccer. And it also sounded like it would need at least some practise even for her just to get on Reserves, this year.\n\n

0 Lutece And having run out of titles... 0 Lutece 0 5

Dolan

November 30, 2006 11:35 PM

A skip and a jig! Er, a password.. by Dolan

Dolan hid a smile behind his hand as he caught sight of Lutece across the common room, immersed in a book about his all-time favorite sport, with a girl beside her. He walked over. He too, had changed into something a bit more comfortable, but somewhat more dressy than hers. He wore loose, baggy pants (but not huge, and not hanging down below his hips in that appalling muggle fashion) and a comfy gray cashmere sweater. It matched his gray eyes and contrasted with his dark hair-which was the reason it had been given to him. He mentally shrugged. It matched.

He reached the side of Lutece, and couldn't resist looking over her shoulder. He also overheard the other girl's comments about tryouts. Dolan glanced at Lutece. "So I take it I can count on you to sign up for Quidditch with me?" He included both girls with his smile this time. "I wonder what positions are open this time? I'd prefer a chaser position, or beater, if that's not available." He stretched, and resisted the rather uncouth urge to crack his spine.

"So," he continued casually, "you'll need a broom. One of the best," he told Lutece. "And lots of speed... and aggression." His eyes glinted with unrestrained anticipation. A voice in the back of his mind told him not to get ahead of himself and just focus on getting ON the team first, but he was already picturing himself on a broom, as fast as it would take him...\n\n

0 Dolan A skip and a jig! Er, a password.. 0 Dolan 0 5

Jennifer

December 01, 2006 1:41 AM

Wrong house by Jennifer

Jennifer stretched slightly, then began to move to get up as Lutece requested that they start now. The cat that had curled into a ball didn’t approve of the movement, meowing pitifully before jumping off and stalking away, probably intentionally leaving more hair than usual on her owner’s robe. But Jennifer wasn’t paying attention to the attention-desperate feline. She hadn’t realized how long it felt like it had been since she’d done any quidditch work (at most a couple of days, but that was beside the point). Now she had the opportunity of going out and doing something productive once more.

“Trust me, it’ll be my pleasure,” she replied when Lutece seemed to be trying to make sure she didn’t have any problem with working now. “I’ve been meaning to head down to the pitch sometime soon anyway, and so this works out perfectly. And you’re right, it may take a lot of effort, but, then again, it may not. Part of it’s practice, but part of it’s just pure instinct.”

She leaned over then, and began to gather up the drawing stuff that she’d not gotten around to using, making a mental note to work on drawing something for Felipe later. By the time she’d straightened back, another first year, a boy, this time, had joined the conversation.

He seemed a bit abrupt, and had immediately taken over with telling Lutece all the thing she would need. Jennifer bit back the urge to laugh, but it was difficult. “All the spots were filled last year, but I’m planning to hold tryouts anyway, just to see. And, of course, I’ve been trying to get reserve players, but haven’t had enough in the past years.” She answered in regards to the one question that seemed at least half directed at her, then stood up, books in her arms.

“I’m going to head up to my room to change and grab my stuff, but it shouldn’t take very long. Then I can take you down to the pitch, and we can start working,” she concluded to the other girl, then began to walk up the stairs, although she turned back after a few steps. “Your friend can come too, if he wants,” she added, “I’m Jennifer Zucchero, by the way.” After that brief introduction, though, she continued to walk, managing to not giggle gleefully until after she was out of earshot. Perhaps it wasn’t very dignified, but, compared to the last two years, finding anyone at all that wanted to play was something major. And now…it looked like she’d have at least one reserve player, possibly more. It was looking to be a very good year.

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0 Jennifer Wrong house 0 Jennifer 0 5

Dolan

December 04, 2006 11:51 AM

that jig musta tired me out... by Dolan

Dolan grimaced. He'd been hoping that some players had for some reason vacated... either graduated, or moved on. He forced his shoulders to relax and took a deep breath. He grinned at Jennifer's retreating back, and then looked inquiringly at Lutece.

"So...I'm guessing you don't have a broom yet," he hazarded. "I'll let you use my second broom, if you like. Its not as good, but for learning its alright. You'll want the best, of course." He sized her up, and then added, "And you'll need it, if we're competing against a team with experience to get their positions." He motioned at the boys' sleeping section.

"I'll just rush in and grab some warmer clothes- trust me, flying gets chilly- and a couple brooms, if you'd like. Oh, and wear something that can get dirty!" He grinned, almost with boyish glee, as he tried to excuse himself and go get his broom, WITHOUT looking like he was running. His fingers were itching to handle a broom.\n\n

0 Dolan that jig musta tired me out... 0 Dolan 0 5