...are always a point of interest. on Quidditch Pitch

Irene Liddowe

July 11, 2007 9:43 PM

Quidditch related things... by Irene Liddowe

Irene had woken up earlier than she would usually do on a Sunday. Her homework had mercifully complied to her time which gave her a nice free weekend. Feeling she would take advantage of this, Irene swept her brown hair into a ponytail and grabbed her broom. She had some practicing to do if she would going to make the team next year.

Going in for Lizzie in the plast game had done something for her besides giving her a mild panic attack. Not really, but it did manage to get her pretty nervous... The playing time there definitely gave her that small push she needed to heading out to the pitch. Man, it'd be nice to have Josh and Raye here... She wouldn't mind some company, but she didn't mind not having it either.

Irene walked onto the pitch, a small red ball and a snitch (a gift from her Aunt) in her pocket. Irene figured she could use the Engorgio charm Uncle Will had taught her to make it like a Quaffle. Irene pulled out the snitch and was about to release it. However, the sound of footsteps from behind her caused her to turn around. Irene smiled at the person approaching and said,

"Hello."

Subthreads:

OOC by Professor Connell with Irene

...are always a point of interest. by Meredith Lail with Irene, Mere

0 Irene Liddowe Quidditch related things... 106 Irene Liddowe 1 5

Professor Connell

July 14, 2007 1:42 AM

OOC by Professor Connell

While you are to be commended for trying to keep posting up even as things are slowing down with the end of term, please remember to try and remain within realistic boundaries for your character and her expected abilities as a first year. An eleven year old would not be able to transfigure a snitch into a quaffle, and any charm creating the same effect would likewise be too difficult. Now, I understand that the charm actually wasn't performed, so failure could have been planned, but...better safe than sorry, really.

0 Professor Connell OOC 0 Professor Connell 0 5

Irene

July 14, 2007 12:32 PM

OOC by Irene

I understand what you're saying and thanks for the heads up, but I'm wondering if an engorgement (and I think I spelt that wrong) charm would be to above her level? She wasn't planning on Transfiguring, just doing an Engorgio spell on a small red ball. I'm not sure where that charm lies in the difficulty level...

0 Irene OOC 0 Irene 0 5

Meredith Lail

July 19, 2007 4:44 PM

...are always a point of interest. by Meredith Lail

Meredith woke up early on Sunday after a very strange dream. She couldn’t quite remember what it had been about. She sat still for a minute, blue eyes staring at nothing, and tried to think of the very last thing she could remember or any part that might have stood out, but she was drawing a blank. It might have been something to do with buttons. Big tacky brass buttons. And possibly a grapefruit. But she couldn’t say for sure so she let it go. Maybe it would come to her later. That happened sometimes. At the most random of moments she would suddenly remember something else from a dream and go ‘oh!’ out loud, which gained her odd stares that she didn’t mind in the least.

Mere turned herself parallel to the short sides of the bed and swung her legs up over her body, doing a quick back roll off the bed, sticking her feet and raising her arms purely out of habit. She grabbed a pair of khaki shorts and a tee shirt she got from Ryan for her birthday a few days earlier. It featured their supported Quidditch team in the NQL, the Nashville Negators.

They weren’t the best in the league. In fact, they were in a pretty bad slump for a few years and lost a lot of support, but Mere was a firm supporter and she didn’t believe in jumping on bandwagons. That was her team and she was sticking to it. They were her inspiration to play Quidditch, especially one of two female players, Francesca “Frankie” Pallante, a beater. She certainly wasn’t the reason the Negators weren’t playing well.

Mere put her newly trimmed blonde hair (she had quickly become tired of the length) into two low pig tails with two beater hair ties she also got for her birthday from her parents. She got two sets. One had all of the players and the other had two of each type of ball. She went down to Cascade Hall for some breakfast before her weekly trip to the Quidditch Pitch. With lack of time from class and excess of homework that she didn’t care to do, but grudgingly did anyway, the week was full. She went back to her room, grabbed her Nimbus and went down to the pitch. When she got there it looked like someone beat her to it. It was Irene, her fellow Pecari reserve.

“Hi,” Meredith greeted Irene in return, shouldering her broom. She noticed the snitch and the red ball. “Practicing? That’s a good idea if we’re going to make the team next year. Pecari is going to win next time, you mark my words.” She grinned. “Mind if I join you? I feel like I haven’t flown in ages.” Actually, she flew the previous weekend, but she couldn’t wait for the summer when she could fly everyday if she wanted to.

0 Meredith Lail ...are always a point of interest. 0 Meredith Lail 0 5

Professor Connell

July 20, 2007 5:59 PM

OOC by Professor Connell

*rueful grin* Even staff are prone to making mistakes sometimes. When reading your post, I understood it as the charm being performed on the snitch, not the other way around. And an engorgement charm would be in the realm of a first year, so you should be fine.

There is no need to reply to this post. \r\n\r\n

0 Professor Connell OOC 0 Professor Connell 0 5

Irene

July 22, 2007 10:19 AM

Oh most definitely! by Irene

Irene grinned as her fellow reserve, Meredith, joined her on the pitch.

"Hi Meredith!"

“Practicing? That’s a good idea if we’re going to make the team next year. Pecari is going to win next time, you mark my words.”

Irene nodded. "Oh yeah, practicing...I've decided there will be no more of this loost-in-the-last-game stuff. It's getting old REALLY fast!" she said with a smile.

“Mind if I join you? I feel like I haven’t flown in ages.”

Irene shook her head. "Not at all! I know the feeling. Feels like a lifetime... I was going to practice Seeking first, if you don't mind. Then we can take turns practicing Keeper/Chaser."

Irene gestured to the air and mounted her broom her aunt and uncle had gotten her for Christmas: the Blurr 3000. Raye says it's not a great broom. "It takes too long to speed up and turn!" But of course, there she was with her absolute top-of-the-line broom that some pro Quidditch teams didn't even have! The Blurr worked terrificly, in Irene's opinion. It wasn't perfect, but the got along well together.

Irene released the snitch and closed her eyes for 10 seconds, giving it a head start. She turned to Meredith, "On three then? One... two... three!" and she kicked off, letting the air soar around her. Once she got to a good height, Irene pulled her broom around and began scanning the sky, keeping an eye on Meredith at the same time...

0 Irene Oh most definitely! 0 Irene 0 5

Mere

August 02, 2007 9:02 PM

Then we'll get along just fine. by Mere

Meredith nodded at Irene’s statement. She nodded again at the decision to practice seeking first. Mere wasn’t a seeker. It just wasn’t what she was trained for. She certainly wasn’t opposed to trying though. She had played the position a few times just for fun, but only caught the snitch once or twice. She was pretty sure Ryan was just being nice so her feelings wouldn’t be hurt, but Mere hadn’t been extremely upset when she missed the snitch. A little, of course, but not incredibly so. She knew what she was good at.

“Not at all. That sounds good.” She said, standing her broom beside her. “I mean, I’m not much of a seeker. I’m usually playing beater at home, but it’ll be fun to try it out again.”

Mere watched Irene let the struggling snitch into the air. She must have gotten permission from Coach Fox to borrow the equipment unless the snitch was her own. The fluttering gold ball zipped into the air and then disappeared from Mere’s sight so she looked back at Irene who seemed to want to make sure there was no advantage to finding the snitch. Mere didn’t want to be thought a cheater so she turned her back to where the snitch had been released. When Irene opened her eyes a few seconds later she spoke again.

“On three then?”

“Sure.”

Irene counted down and Mere mounted her Nimbus. On three, both girls kicked off. Mere took a deep satisfied breath as she sped towards the sky. Absolutely nothing could beat that feeling. Being inexperienced at the particular position she was playing at the moment, she wasn’t sure where the best height would be for her to stop. Seekers usually circled around above the main action, keeping a sharp eye out for the snitch. She kept flying until she was a good ways above the pitch. She measured her height to Irene’s and made herself about the same height, maybe a little higher.

Mere began to circle the pitch at a steady pace, her eyes flitting from one spot to another as they watched for any hint of gold in the air. She lowered herself a few feet, thinking the altitude was a bit of a nuisance in her search along the bottom of the pitch. The seekers probably kept high up just to avoid getting in the way of the action below them. Yeah, that made sense.

Mere tugged her broom sharply around when she was sure she had seen a golden spot in the air, but it was gone as soon as she was ready to go after it. That happened twice. Mere made a mental note to practice seeking when she got home. Dennis was a good seeker. He could help. She let her eyes shift over towards Irene in case she was having better luck than Mere.

“This is harder than it looks, I’ll give seekers that.” She called over to Irene with a laugh, but kept her eyes darting around the pitch for the sight of gold again.

0 Mere Then we'll get along just fine. 0 Mere 0 5

Irene

August 07, 2007 11:16 AM

Just as long as my author doesn't take a deacade to post! by Irene

Irene circled the field, keeping a sharp eye out for anything that glittered, sparkled, or looked shiney in any way. Being up in the air was the best reminder of home. When she was in Michigan, Irene spent half her time in the air with the twins, and Elaina (when she felt like it). Irene soared around the goalposts, scanning for the tiny ball.

“This is harder than it looks, I’ll give seekers that.”

Irene laughed and called back, "I completely sympathize with Elly!"

It was nice having someone else to practice with. Mere was nice and, though they hadn't talked a lot, it didn't really seem to matter. They were playing Quidditch, and if you play Quidditch that was a major plus in Irene's book! Seriously, who doesn't love Quidditch? Okay, stupid question. W.A.I.L. They should go die. If they didn't like the ladies playing, then they shouldn't watch. They're obviously "beneath them" if they were playing Quidditch anyway. Was she really suppose to belive that every action that group took was to "help the young women on society"? Please...

But that's when she saw it. The snitch was fluttering at the center of the pitch about ten feet above the ground. Irene speed off towards it. The snitch, as usual, did not stay in the same place more than a few seconds and took off towards the opposite end of the pitch. Crap... Irene turned her broom around, searching for its new location, but no such luck. The thing had disappeared somewhere... Irene looked over to Meredith to see if she had seen it and still had its spot.

0 Irene Just as long as my author doesn't take a deacade to post! 0 Irene 0 5

Mere

August 07, 2007 8:16 PM

It's not your author I'm worried about. by Mere

Meredith wondered how seekers could keep such close attention on finding the snitch when the quaffles and bludgers and players were flying about below them. She felt lucky that she didn’t have those distractions now. She scratched her neck where the tips of her short pigtails brushed over it on either side.

"I completely sympathize with Elly!"

“Definitely! And she’s good for not having a whole lot of practice. I think she did really good in the last game against Jennifer who’s a fifth year.”

The conversation was relieving the monotony of searching for the evasive golden ball. At least with a bludger, when Mere saw it she could keep her eyes on it. And after catching up with it she got to whack it at someone. It wasn’t that she liked to hurt people, but hitting a bludger with a bat was something she turned out to be pretty good at.

Her thoughts strayed to what Irene might prefer unless seeking was her top choice. When Meredith was watching a game at school, even though Irene was beside her, her focus was mainly on the game so not many words were exchanged. She figured she ought to work on that because Irene was a cool girl who seemed to love flying as much as Mere did.

She was just about to ask Irene’s preference when she was sure she caught sight of the snitch and kept it in her sight. It was near the ground towards the middle of the pitch. Mere did a quick ninety degree turn and dove for the snitch, doing her best to keep her eyes on it as it zipped from side to side as if trying to shake off her eyes. And she began to understand why seekers could deal with waiting patiently for the snitch to appear. It was a thrill to chase it when you finally found it. Mere could feel her heart racing. She didn’t dare look back to see if Irene had seen it too, she just kept on the chase and hoped it didn’t disappear again.

OOC: I figured the little issue of who’ll catch the snitch would come up. It would get a bit repetitive seeing and losing sight of the snitch constantly. Any ideas on how to resolve said issue? Characters' skill? An impartial judge? Rock, paper, scissors?

0 Mere It's not your author I'm worried about. 0 Mere 0 5

Irene

August 07, 2007 11:22 PM

Oh. Well let's get to flying then! by Irene

OOC: I'm fairly partial to rock, paper, scissors ;D Kidding. Well... I'm going to have to go with (not to be egotistic or anything) Irene. Seeking is to Irene as Beating is to Mere, so it seems kind of fitting...

BIC: When Irene looked around; Mere was still pursuing the snitch. Irene lowered herself to her broom and sped off after her, hoping to eventually catch sight-- There! She locked her gaze onto the tiny ball that was continually zooming around. She turned towards the middle of the pitch, hoping to catch an edge or knock off some distance between herself and the tiny ball. Mere was still ahead, but Irene was catching up. Thank God for her Aunt and Uncle shop or she would be stuck with a school broom!

The snitch was zipping along the edge of the field. Irene was catching up and felt that framiliar feeling of excitment building in her. Come on.. Come on... It was going to be close and Irene knew it. The snitch changed tacts and shot straight upward and towards the center. Irene pulled the handle of her beloved Blurr in the direction of the snitch. It's change in course suited her. She urged her broom faster and was nearing the tiny ball. She stretched out her fingers for it, inching closer. Catch it now, or it'll get away! She told herself. She lunged forward on her broom and clung to slightly surface of sun-beaten ball.

Irene held her fist up and held up a hand to high-five Mere, "Nice run!" She said, slightly windswept. "Anyway, Elly did really well against Jen! Even though Jen's a fifth yaer, I thought they seemed evenly matched!" Irene headed to the ground, gesturing to Mere to follow.

"So," she said, "Want to start on some Chasing? I figure one of us can be Chaser while the other Keeps." Irene pulled out the small red ball and her wand, storing the snitch in her pocket.

"Engorgio," Remembering the lesson, she said, tapping the ball with her wand. To her delight, it swelled to the size of a Quaffle. She looked around to Mere, saying, "What do you want to do first? I have no prefrence."

0 Irene Oh. Well let's get to flying then! 0 Irene 0 5