Why oh WHY do I have to do this?! on Quidditch Pitch

Coach Amelia Pierce

April 11, 2010 11:02 PM

Flying Lessons for First Years by Coach Amelia Pierce

The problem with first years at a magical school like Sonora were that they came from a variety of different backgrounds with hugely different levels of flying experience. And yet, Flying Lessons were still required for all of them.

A fair number would already know how to fly a broom with something close to expertise, having been raised in magical families and played broom tag or informal games of Quidditch with family members for most of their lives. Others would think flying on brooms was something only done on television shows and even if magic was real, surely that was just Hollywood.

The class was neccessary, of course. Flying was intrinsic enough to the wizarding world that it was only right to give muggleborns and half-bloods who may not have much (or any) experience a chance to figure out how it all worked. Brooms were an important mode of transportation in addition to their obvious application to sports. And since not even all purebloods taught their children to fly, the problem was that it was next to impossible to figure out who still needed to these basics and who didn't. So everyone in the first year had to take Flying Instruction.

It was optional for older students, whether they were transfers who didn't have flying lessons at their previous school/place of instruction or if they just wanted to take it again. But those were not the students she was worried about. If they didn't want to be there, they didn't have to be. It was the youngest group that were likely to cause problems either because they were too good for the class already or because they just didn't want to learn.

Once it seemed they had all arrived and she wouldn't have many more stragglers arriving, she gave them all a stern look. "Today, you are here to learn how to fly a broom," she announced in a loud voice that wasn't shouting but still carried very well over the open air of the Pitch. She'd never been or met a drill sergeant, but she was using the kind of voice that television told her they used. "My name is Coach Pierce, and I am going to show you how."

She looked them over, making instant assumptions and bets with herself about which ones didn't need the instruction. "Some of you probably already know how, I'd like you all to stand over there," she pointed to a patch of grass on the Pitch ground away from where she'd piled a stack of brooms. "For everyone else, I'd like you to collect a broom," she pointed at the pile, "and stand in a line right here. I'll be with you in a moment. That means everyone," she added to a student who looked reluctant to do so.

Since the Women Against Immorality in the League (better known to all as WAIL) began to make waves about how improper it was for girls to play Quidditch, some girls had begun to think the lesson shouldn't apply to them. That was not the case in this school.

She walked over to where the kids who had flown before were gathered, while the rank beginners fought amongst themselves to find a school broom that struck their fancy. "Okay, you guys, I'm going to exempt you from the lesson and let you free fly. I know I considered myself an expert flier by the time I was eleven," she'd been wrong, and anyone here who thought the same also was, but she wasn't going to burst their bubble yet, "so I imagine some of you also consider yourselves above a beginner lesson. I'll allow you to get out of it." It had worked out well enough last year, and she didn't want to have to try to keep discipline with a group of kids who didn't need her help.

She jerked a thumb back toward the broom pile. "If you'd like, there's a Quaffle over there you can throw around, and school brooms if you didn't bring your own. Please keep in mind that this is a privilege that I don't need to grant you. Any trouble from any of you, and you will all be back down here re-learning how to hover three feet over the ground, is that clear?" She frowned sternly and looked around with her best disciplinarian 'mess this up and you will regret it for months' Look and then nodded in dismissal. "Good. Have fun."

With that, she returned the beginners, who were mostly lined up by now. Taking a spot in front of them, where they could see her and she could see all of them, she summoned over her own broom and put it down beside her. "I want you all to put your broom down next to you. If you're left handed, put it on your left side, if you're right handed, put it on your right."

Once they seemed to have accomplished that, she instructed, "Now put your hand out over the broom and say 'Up!' very firmly, as if you were giving a pet dog a command. Not yet!" she ordered when a few kids opened their mouths and looked about to give it a try. "Wait for the demonstration. Up!" She commanded, and the broom leaped up into her hand. "It may take a few tries, but it should eventually come up to your hand. Once you get that far, put one leg over the broom, like this," she straddled the wooden handle.

"All of these brooms will have a cushion charm on them, so use that to find where you're supposed to sit. At this point, you may kick off the ground and hover, once you feel stable in that, you may try moving around a little bit, but don't go too fast or too high yet. Raise your hand if you need any help."

OOC: Welcome, first years, to the first of your classes. Keep in mind the site rules and write detailed posts meeting the minimum length requirements. Your quality of post will be reflected in the number of House Points you earn for your character.

Subthreads:

*Gulps* by Autumn Collins with Nicodemus Sawyer

Hey, who's got the Quaffle? by Tristan Volkmann [Pecari] with Colleen Ryan, Tristan, Sam Bauer

Strange, I usually sweep with these by Marian Parker with Dani Adair, Marian

Anything but this again by Ellie McGill with Neal Padrig, Ellie

I am flying!! by Sophia Randolph with Kirstenna Melcher, Dmitri Petrovskii

On and off by Cosette Miller with Samantha Hamilton, Cosette

Why oh WHY do I have to do this?! by Caleb Nichols with Brian Moore, Caleb

1 Coach Amelia Pierce Flying Lessons for First Years 20 Coach Amelia Pierce 1 5

Autumn Collins

April 12, 2010 2:36 PM

Gulps by Autumn Collins

Autumn may have been from a completely pureblood background, and a fairly liberal one at that, but that did not mean she knew how to fly. Nor did it mean she wanted to learn. Autumn was terrified of heights. The first time she'd ever been on a broom, she had cried. It was not an experience she wanted to repeat, especially not in front of her entire class. Autumn would be humilated if that happened and nobody would want to be her friend.

In her opinion, it was better just to stay on the ground and avoid all that. If others wanted to get up in the air, if anyone wanted to play Quidditch and go out for their house team, that was fine by Autumn, she would even go support her house team, but none of it was for her.

She listened as Coach Pierce began the lesson. Suddenly, Autumn noticed the coach seemed to be looking in her direction. She cringed. It wasn't as if she wasn't paying attention, Autumn was, she always did. What made her paranoid was what the coach said while she was looking at Autumn. Something about her tone of voice. She probably thinks I'm one of those pureblooded princesses who supports WAIL , Autumn thought.

That wasn't the case. She didn't care if other girls were interested in flying or Quidditch and Lily had been an extremely good Beater for Crotalus but the thought of being up high in the air made Autumn feel a little dizzy. Still, she scurried off to grab a broom with the others. She didn't want to end up getting in trouble. Especially given that Coach Pierce was also her Head of House.

Autumn took her borrowed school broom and stood in line with the others. She did as instructed and put her hand over her broom and said "Up". It didn't even move. She was going to have to keep trying, she couldn't fail. Autumn would hover if she had to but she was not getting up in the air real high.

11 Autumn Collins *Gulps* 164 Autumn Collins 0 5

Tristan Volkmann [Pecari]

April 12, 2010 5:07 PM

Hey, who's got the Quaffle? by Tristan Volkmann [Pecari]

“Blah blah blah fly a broom blah blah Coach blah bleh blah.” That’s pretty much all Tristan had gotten out of the professor’s speech. It’s not that he couldn’t understand what she was saying from his spot in the first row or that he was a poor listener, but he hadn’t gotten to really practice since he got here. A few times on the pitch by himself was okay, but now he had an audience from other Houses to show off to and intimidate. As boring as flying lessons sounded top the boy who grew up on a broom, at least he was still getting some class credit for something he was naturally a pro at. Why complain over that?

Tristan’s spirits kicked up when Coach Something-or-Other let him and anyone else who had experience do what they wanted. Great, so it wasn’t lessons anymore, it was free-time. It was like she knew just how to put a smile on his face. She quickly became his favorite (albeit his only at the moment) professor. He even decided to hold back on the ‘extreme tricks’ so as not to give her a reason to be ticked off or displeased with him. If that didn’t scream ‘I respect you, Coach Something-Or-Other!’ he didn’t know what did.

He wanted to be the first student to run over and mess around with the Quaffle, but he noticed other kids already at it. He frowned, not keen on the idea of sharing since he wanted as much practice in for the upcoming Try-Outs for his House as he could get, but he surmised that he’d get more out of his work if he played with someone else anyone. After all, Quidditch was a team sport. “Hey,” he called out to the person holding the Quaffle, “is it alright if I toss around that Quaffle with you?”

0 Tristan Volkmann [Pecari] Hey, who's got the Quaffle? 0 Tristan Volkmann [Pecari] 0 5

Nicodemus Sawyer

April 12, 2010 6:20 PM

relieved sigh by Nicodemus Sawyer

Nic Sawyer knew what a broom was - both the muggle and magical varieties - but he'd never had occassion or opportunity to use one before. Since his mom was a muggle and they lived in a muggle neighborhood in a muggle house, Nic had learned to ride bikes, rollerblades, and skateboards instead.

Despite this lack of experience, he wasn't worried about flying. He was okay with heights and he'd always been pretty good in gym class. What did concern him about flying lessons was the same thing that concerned him about all of his classes. Namely that at some point, the teacher was going to call attendence. And then he was going to have to raise his hand when everyone looked around to see who was so very unlucky in life that his parents named him Nicodemus.

But Coach Pierce never did. Even after she sent off the kids who knew how to fly, she didn't ask the names of the people who actually needed her instruction. She just told them what to do and waited for them to get to it.

Crisis averted for one more class period, then.

He looked down at the broom he'd picked out of the pile - his dad had said a Cleansweep was a solid dependable broom, so he'd taken one of those even though all of them had looked a bit older than most of the other brands. He figured it wasn't going to matter too much for the first lesson anyway, and if he didn't like it, he could get a different one next time.

Putting his left hand out over it (he was left-handed), he did as the Coach had said and spoke in a very firm commanding voice, "UP!" And with all the prompt speed of dandelion fluff falling to the ground, the broom slowly, lazily began to float up in the general direction of Nic's hand.

He looked over at the girl next to him to see if hers was flying any better than his and saw he at least had the advantage of having gotten his broom off the ground. It still hadn't reach his knees yet, but it was on its way. Slowly.

He thought he recognized her as one of the people at his table at the feast, and one of the girls who had followed Coach Pierce up to Crotalus with him afterwards, so he ventured a comment. "I'm not sure if you can call this a success," he pointed with his right hand at the lumbering broom that was drifting just over his knee now, still heading upwards at a pace about equal to molasses in January, "but I think you need to say it louder."

1 Nicodemus Sawyer *relieved sigh* 165 Nicodemus Sawyer 0 5

Marian Parker

April 12, 2010 7:43 PM

Strange, I usually sweep with these by Marian Parker

To help her understand the world of magic a better, Marian spent a lot of time reading. So much time, in fact, that she felt she could handle any class she was put in. Wand work was even starting to come to her, though she seemed to have problems when she tried harder spells since the only thing that’d happen is that fancy sparks would spin out. Now that she was holding her broom, instructed to hover, she was thinking that flying would be a lot like trying a really advanced spell.

Really, really advanced.

She gulped, remembering a story Ellie had told her at the opening feast about her bad luck with flying. She hadn’t seen Ellie, or she might’ve been able to focus on her rather than panic over her own fear of failing in front of everyone.

With the broom on her right, she squeezed her eyes shut and said in a squeaky voice, “Up.” Nothing happened. She took a deep breath and tried again. “Up… please?” Nothing again. She looked around, afraid someone was watching her perform horribly. She panicked and stood in the same spot with her head down, mumbling ‘up’ over and over with her hand quivering above her broom. If she had any luck, she might just look like she knew what she was doing…

41 Marian Parker Strange, I usually sweep with these 1402 Marian Parker 0 5

Dani Adair

April 12, 2010 9:30 PM

Strange, I watch them sweep by themselves. by Dani Adair

Being from a fairly wealthy pureblood family meant two things for Dani. One was that she already owned a broom since her parents knew that flying was going to come up at school in one form or another. The other was that she had already had extensive lessons on how to fly like a proper lady as in one that would never play Quidditch and only use the mode of transportation as a last resort. So, when the professor said that anyone that knew how to fly a broom should stand over there, she went and stood over there.

Unfortunately, what she wasn’t told that those standing in the there area involved free flying and ultimately Quidditch. Oh so not for her. It wasn’t about the fact that her parents wouldn’t be happy with it so much as she was not a sports person. She could manage a broom well enough to get from point A to point B, but coordination to actually holding a ball while doing so was another matter. She just didn’t have it. So, rather than showing off her complete inability to she rejoined the other first years and listened to the professor’s lecture.

Easily enough, she got her broom up into her with a firm command of Up and then hovered the required three feet. Rinse and repeat. In the middle of doing this (and being rather bored), she looked over to a girl that appeared to be having trouble since she still hadn’t managed to get the broom off the ground. Shrugging to herself, she held her broom and went over. “You’re the boss, not the broom. You’ve got to remember that. Don’t beg it, order it,” Dani told the girl, not really caring if the girl took offense to her tone, because what she was saying was true. No one respected someone that had to beg.

0 Dani Adair Strange, I watch them sweep by themselves. 166 Dani Adair 0 5

Marian

April 13, 2010 8:13 PM

What does the broom do with the dirt it sweeps up? by Marian

The broom hadn’t so much as twitched so far. Marian bit her lip and rocked between her toes and the balls of her feet fretfully. Was she doing something wrong? No, of course not, she had followed the simple instructions perfectly well. Her position seemed to be fine, her broom looked like it was in good shape. Maybe not all witches and wizards could fly, she mused. She hadn’t come across it in any of her extensive reading, but it wasn’t unlikely that she missed such a fact.

Her stomach jumped into her throat when she noticed someone from the corner of her eyes, even between the light blonde bangs hiding her face. Oh no, just what she feared – her poor performance had an audience now. She sighed to herself, willing them to go away. Why couldn’t she just take a test or something instead? This was so humiliating. Her parents would disown her if they saw this, she just knew it.

“You’re the boss, not the broom. You’ve got to remember that.” Her voice had a strength to it that made it impossible to do anything but look up from the ground and straight into the face of a girl she didn’t recognize. “Don’t beg it, order it.”

The girl, though a complete stranger, reminded Marian of her parents. They had spoken that way to their students and to Marian herself when they wanted to see some drastic progress for the better. With more familiarity with the way the advice had been presented (far more authoritative than Coach Peirce’s had seemed to be, even), Marian stuck her hand straight out stiffly, setting her eyes to the broom instead of the grass at her feet. “Up,” she said a bit louder. It twitched. “Up!” Even louder, and then – the broom rose. It wasn’t as fast as she’d like it to have been, but it had barely wobbled as it took it’s time to climb through the air and into her open palm.

She beamed at the girl, but the job wasn’t done yet. To really thank her, she had to fly. She mounted the broom as she was shown to, and wondered if she had to say ‘Up’ again before the broom snapped her higher into the air on its own accord. She bent the neck of it down to hover a bit below the three foot mark, smiling even more broadly at the girl. For as shy as she was, she was too thankful to have actually done the seemingly impossible to be self-conscious.

“Thank you so much!” she told the girl. She wanted to ask the girl for her name, but she wasn’t sure if she’d want to chat with someone who struggled so much when she seemed to know what she was doing. So instead she just nodded at her and said, “I really appreciate it.” Maybe one day she could even return the favor.

0 Marian What does the broom do with the dirt it sweeps up? 0 Marian 0 5

Autumn

April 14, 2010 2:11 PM

I honestly can't think of a title. by Autumn

At the sound of her classmate's voice, Autumn's face flushed almost as red as it had after she'd drank the Sorting potion. Had he noticed her failure to get her broom to do anything? Autumn could handle not getting everything perfectly, but for others to see her fail was quite a different story.

It was one reason why Autumn liked drawing and painting. Art was subjective. Plus, she rarely showed her work to most people, unless she trusted them. Most people she did show thought it was good, but Autumn assumed they were just being nice, as it was mostly her family. She was sure there were plenty people out there who were much better than her.

Still, the main reason she did it was that she loved it. Autumn knew there were many things in life she wouldn't enjoy-such as flying lessons-and some of them were necessary-unlike flying-so it was good to spend time doing something she did.

Right now, though, Autumn needed to reply to this boy and she wasn't sure she knew what to say. She'd never socialized with others much before and though she was a pureblood, Autumn never had lessons in how to speak to others properly. She didn't want to say something stupid. "Um, thanks." She bit her lip. "I'm Autumn Collins." She introduced herself.

11 Autumn I honestly can't think of a title. 164 Autumn 0 5

Ellie McGill

April 14, 2010 7:14 PM

Anything but this again by Ellie McGill

Ellie had been scared out of her mind of flying the first time she had tried it with her dad. From her one experience (involving her broom to shoot up high into the air and causing her father to have to retrieve her) she didn't really want to try it again. In her mind it was black and white; sky equals bad and ground equals good. She had no intentions of changing this. Generally, Ellie was a confident person, but brooms just made her want to hide in her dorm. She looked around for Marian, but couldn't find her through the swarm of eleven year olds.

"Some of you probably already know how, I'd like you all to stand over there." Technically, Ellie did know how to fly, but decided against going over to where some of the other students now stood, thinking it for people with more experience, who actually enjoyed being up way high. This fear of heights was becoming more of a burden every second.

Ellie grabbed the first broom she saw from the pile. Coach Pierce explained how to magically raise the brooms, but Ellie listened half-heartedly, already knowing how, and already dreading what she would inevitably have to do. When it appeared that the coach was done with her instructions, Ellie let out a nervous breath, then brushed her orange bangs to the side. "Alright, broom," she said aloud. "Up!" It shot into her hand, forcing it up a couple inches. She breathed a few more shaky breaths before mounting the broom and preparing for launch. She paused and looked up at the menacing sky, watching the brave souls who were already zooming about the air. "Okay, Ellie. You can do this." She briefly remembered one of her magazines, where there was an article about a girl who was afraid to swim and then did, and how good it felt to face her fears.

She pushed gently off the ground, not wanting a repeat of her former experience. Fortunately, she rose only a couple feet high. She smiled to herself. This wasn't so bad. Not that she would suddenly have the urge to try out for Quidditch or anything, but she could get sort of used to flying. She maneuvered her broom a little higher, until she looked down and saw how far off the ground she was. She started hyperventilating. She bit her lip, and waited a few minutes before deciding to ask for help (she did have some pride left, you see).

She looked around at the other kids who were hovering nearby. "Um, do you know how to get down?" She hoped she wouldn't cry.

0 Ellie McGill Anything but this again 0 Ellie McGill 0 5

Neal Padrig

April 14, 2010 8:43 PM

You seem to be doing just fine by Neal Padrig

An introduction to flying, Neal mused, would be a good idea to stick around for. For starters, he hadn’t been on a broom since he was seven. Not to mention the fact that he had a better memory of professional Quidditch players darting through the air than he did of himself hovering. Still, the idea of being led through a step-by-step process seemed too boring to bother with. In order to follow the excitement, he shrugged off the offered help from Coach Pierce and went over with the other ‘advanced’ fliers.

He mounted the broom and followed their lead, kicking himself off the ground and flying up to a decent height. It seemed that he hadn’t lost his touch as much as he had thought he had. This was a good thing since it meant he could spend more time flying and less time trying to.

Once in the air, he figured he should try to play with the Quaffle a bit to see if he could even multi-task on a broom. Even if he couldn’t manage holding a ball midair, trying out for the team was something he had to do now since he already said he’d meet his roommates at try-outs. They might prove to be fast paced with all the competition for spots that would be going on, he thought. And high energy meant high entertainment which equaled a swap of boredom for excitement, which was always a plus.

He was just about to make a nosedive for the Quaffle when something caught his eye. More specifically someone. If her orange hair didn’t advertise her well enough then her panicked expression picked up the slack quite well. She was off the ground and in one place, so what could she be freaked out about? As curious as ever, he glided over to her.

He paused beside her, looking at her to see if he could notice the problem on his own. He heard her mumble something but couldn’t hear exactly what. Hoping his disheveled appearance and the bright red veins in his eyes didn’t leave her speechless (it did sometimes) so she could tell him what’s up, he decided to get her attention. He tapped the front of his broom into hers gently so she would know he’s there next to her. “What’s the matter?” he asked her.

0 Neal Padrig You seem to be doing just fine 0 Neal Padrig 0 5

Ellie

April 14, 2010 9:21 PM

Are you sure? Because I'm certainly not feeling fine. by Ellie

“What’s the matter?” Ellie looked up to see a, well, messy looking kid who looked like he didn't get enough sleep, but was otherwise nice looking, she supposed. She smiled sheepishly. Her stomach was feeling quite queasy from being so high, a feeling she remembered vividly from her original flying escapade.

"I don't know how to get down," she explained. She hoped this boy wouldn't laugh at her, she would probably break down crying. Fear had weakened her terrifically bright spirits, if only momentarily. Being so far from the safety of gravity made her hands go clammy, and she squeezed the handle of that evil creation most people referred to as a broom.

She bit her lip, the obvious tell that she was scared. She didn't even bother brushing her bangs out of her brown eyes, for she was worried that even letting one hand go on the broom would result in her lanky body tumbling towards the ground.

0 Ellie Are you sure? Because I'm certainly not feeling fine. 0 Ellie 0 5

Neal

April 14, 2010 10:02 PM

Let's fix that then, shall we? by Neal

Once the girl looked at him, Neal blinked curiously. He couldn’t be positive, but she looked like she was on the verge of tears. He had heard of the expression ‘ugly enough to make me cry’ but he didn’t think he was that awful to look at. Then again, maybe he was – pretty people don’t make girls cry as soon as they make eye contact with them unless they’re, well, hideous. If he covered his bloodshot eyes and the bags under them, would she be able to focus better on his question and not his face?

He was about to try when she did the oddest thing – she smiled. He blinked again. Huh, that was unexpected. Was she immune to his ugliness already? If so, he applauded her for adapting so quickly.

“I don’t know how to get down,” she admitted shyly, her eyes still glistening with tears that threatened to fall over if things got any worse. Her hair fell in front of her eyes, knocking the eye contact that they had.

Really, was that all? She didn’t know how to get down? “Landing is supposed to be the easy part,” he joked, though he said all his jokes in the same neutral tone so he assumed she missed it. “Here, the easiest way to do it for beginners is to tilt the neck of your broom down, lean forward slightly, and coast to the ground. Just make sure to keep a firm hold, or your broom will do a nosedive and your head will hit the dirt before your feet get a chance to.” Hmm, in retrospect, maybe that warning wasn’t such a good idea to tell someone as nervous as she was. “Here, I’ll even fly down with you so you don’t have to worry so much.” He looked at her quietly, waiting to fly down as soon as she started to.

0 Neal Let's fix that then, shall we? 0 Neal 0 5

Sophia Randolph

April 15, 2010 3:18 AM

I am flying!! by Sophia Randolph

Sophia was extremely excited to learn how to fly. Even though her parents were both magical and they lived in a magical community, they had seen fit to wait for her to learn how to fly until she started her school education. Yes, she had ridden with both on them on one but this would be the first time Sophia would do it alone! And she was determined to do a good job. She couldn’t afford not to a good job.

The dark-haired eleven year-old made her way to the Quidditch Pitch after a good breakfast. Her long hair was tied up in a ponytail (because how else would she be able to fly?), she nervously smoothed her school robes while walking towards the assembled first-years and the flying coach. She smiled and her green eyes were filled with excitement at the prospect of learning something new and exciting such as flying.

Sophia listened attentively to what Coach Pierce was telling them. She had to control herself, because she couldn’t wait to start! Finally she told them to get a broom, she ran because she wanted to have an amazing broom. She grabbed one that looked fine and hastily made her way towards the rest of the first-time fliers that were lining up. Sophia began moving impatiently on her spot while Coach Pierce talked to the other group. Come on! she wanted to scream at her but that would’ve disrespectful. She sighed.

Finally she came back and addressed them. Sophia put the broom on her right side as instructed and was about to shout Up! but Coach Pierce prevented her from doing it. She frowned, she wanted to fly! After the awesome demonstration by the coach, they could finally try it.

She looked down at the broom at shouted with determination “UP!” but the broom didn’t move. Grr. Sophia glared at the still broom. Move broom! Move!, she couldn’t stop chanting inside her head.

Ok, time for another try.

“UP!” the broom kind of wiggled. Sophia groaned in frustration. What was wrong with this thing? Or worse with her?! She closed her eyes and began to count to 10 to calm herself.

She looked down at the broom and pleaded with her eyes, “UP!” and the broom soared into her opened hand. Yes!! She mounted it and took a hold of the broom just as the coach had instructed. Her eleven year old body was about to burst with happiness. She was hovering and it felt amazing! She was grinning like a Cheshire cat. She flew a little bit up and she had to say that flying made you feel free.

0 Sophia Randolph I am flying!! 167 Sophia Randolph 0 5

Colleen Ryan

April 15, 2010 8:50 AM

This could go badly wrong! by Colleen Ryan

Colleen loved flying. She definitely knew how to fly, but she would never consider herself an expert. She had limited training and disapproving parents, plus with no siblings to mess around with she had never seen the incentive to spend hours on her broom. This also meant she was sincerely lacking in any kind of Quidditch skills and she dreaded the moment her poor hand-eye coordination was discovered.

Colleen moved off with the other students who already knew how to fly when the teacher told them to. She suspected that everyone here grew up with enough magic to at least understand Quidditch and she felt a little more at home knowing that she wasn’t the only one who considered magic a given. Colleen tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and was about to mount her broom when the Quaffle landed in her arms. She looked down at the red ball, her mouth slightly open in surprise.

She was looking around for the person who threw it at her, so she could chuck it back, when someone spoke to her. “Is it alright if I toss around that Quaffle with you?” Colleen blanched slightly, her eyes widening to join her mouth. She clamped her jaw shut and forced her brain to work. “Sure.” She smiled; wincing slightly knowing how badly wrong this could go. She threw the Quaffle over to the boy so that she could mount her broom. She rose and went to hover by the boy. Sticking out her hand, her usual joyous smile back on her face she introduced herself. “Colleen Ryan, Teppenpaw.”

0 Colleen Ryan This could go badly wrong! 0 Colleen Ryan 0 5

Kirstenna Melcher

April 15, 2010 5:04 PM

Me too! by Kirstenna Melcher

In her life, Kirstenna had done many things. She'd ridden horses and elephants. She'd fed tigers and lions. She'd helped in her dad's magic shows and had many (relatively safe) spells put on her. Kirstenna had even swung on a trapeze. (Just to try it, she didn't do any of the complicated acrobatics that her mother did.)

But she had never flown on a broom and Kirstenna was excited. Just because her magical relatives aside from Quentin and now Pippa (and of course, her dad) had never been very nice to her, that didn’t mean the Teppenpaw didn’t think magic was amazing and she was eager to really try it. People always seemed so impressed by her dad’s magic shows and she was no exception. The thing that was really outstanding to Kirstenna was that his magic was real, not some slight of hand trick, which is what the muggles believed. She wanted to be able to do what her dad could do too, not to impress people, but because she thought is was awesome.

Flying, she was sure, would be fun too. Kirstenna followed the other beginners and stood in a line with them, bouncing slightly on her heels. She already had her own broom which was pretty ancient, having been her father’s. Jethro Melcher had been on his house’s Quidditch team when he was at Sonora, an activity Kirstenna’s grandparents had disapproved of whole heartedly. They only valued academics and being proper, according to both her father and Quentin. It was her great-grandfather who had bought him the broom.

She listened eagerly to Coach Pierce’s instructions. Kirstenna placed her right hand over the broom. “Up!” She said firmly. It moved a little but did not come up so she tried again “Up!” More wiggling on the ground,. Kirstenna tried twice more before it shot up into her hand.

The Teppenpaw beamed and turned to the girl next to her, who had managed to get her broom up as well. “Isn’t this awesome?” Kirstenna asked her neighbor enthusiastically.

11 Kirstenna Melcher Me too! 161 Kirstenna Melcher 0 5

Tristan

April 15, 2010 6:58 PM

I'm hoping it goes goodly well by Tristan

“Sure,” the girl said. Tristan questioned whether or not she really meant that since her eyes were all wide and spaced out when she agreed to practice. As soon as he began to open his mouth to double-check, she had thrown the ball up at him and flew to his side. She put her hand out, pushing straight through his personal bubble. He cocked a brow at it, wondering what the heck she wanted him to do with her hand. She gave him a cheery smile and said, “Colleen Ryan, Teppenpaw.”

Oh, duh, she wanted him to shake her hand. His mind was so focused on Quidditch he didn’t even consider the fact that the two were complete strangers. Not that her telling him her name would help him get to know her much – he was awful with names. He couldn’t even really remember his roommates names, not that they had to know that.

To return the favor, he shrugged and supposed that it was only right to give his name, too. He placed the hand that wasn’t holding the Quaffle in hers and gave it a firm shake. “Tristan Volkmann, Pecari.” When the shaking was over, he gave her an amused smirk as he put both his hands on the ball. He assumed since she was holding the Quaffle earlier that she had every intention of joining Quidditch. (Really, why else would she agree to practice with him otherwise?) “So, if you make the Quidditch team for your house, we’re rivals, you know. But as much as I heard it’s bad luck to practice with the other team, I think I’ll make an exception. I mean, you have a good arm to be a chaser at any rate, did you know that? That throw earlier was pretty good from the distance you were at. A real natural.” He juggled the ball to himself as drifted backwards on his broom to make some space. When he was far enough away, he pulled his hand back – “But being a natural can only get you so far, so let’s try to get the most out of this practice time for try-outs!” – and swung it forward so it had a bit of a spin to it as it hurled in her direction. If she caught as well as she threw, he had no doubt she’d catch it.

0 Tristan I'm hoping it goes goodly well 0 Tristan 0 5

Cosette Miller

April 15, 2010 7:08 PM

On and off by Cosette Miller

Cosette yawned as everyone on the beginners side started to say/shout/whisper/cry ‘Up’ to their brooms. Identifying herself as a pureblood, she should be over with the experienced fliers. The fact that she was raised in a muggle neighborhood, however, had been a huge detriment in the learning process as far as flying on cleaning supplies went. Honestly, she could care less about flying. Proper ladies, as her mother had both told her, do not fly anyways. It was improper or whatever. Not that she could say that her opinion mattered to Cosette, but it was something to think about.

With a roll of her eyes, Cosette put her hand out over the broom. “Up,” she said in a lazy voice, not even getting giddy when the broom rose to meet her palm on command. She missed napping already. As soon as everything had been packed she went to sleep, and regretted waking up to come here ever since then. She really should’ve skipped. She wondered what the penalty for missing class was exactly.

Wanting to get everything done and over with, she slid into place on her broom, hovered the mandatory three feet for a few minutes, then sank back down. What a waste of time. How Quidditch players considered sitting on that uncomfortable thing fun she’d probably never understand.

0 Cosette Miller On and off 0 Cosette Miller 0 5

Ellie

April 15, 2010 9:41 PM

Definitely, thank you. by Ellie

Ellie watched as the boy blinked at her. She prayed to whoever was in charge not so far from where she was that this boy would help her get down. She needed to feel solid ground on her feet. Sure, being off of the grass was alright, so longs as it was only a foot or two and she was only up for a few minutes.

The boy said something that sounded kind of rude. The easy part? The easy part was not getting on at all!

"Just make sure to keep a firm hold, or your broom will do a nosedive and your head will hit the dirt before your feet get a chance to.” Ellie's eyes widened and she nodded timidly. ...Nosedive? She did not like the sound of that. And the thought of going down head first? Positively painful. There was no way she could do this, not by herself. She wished her dad was there to guide her down again. Cautiously, she lifted up one hand quickly to wipe her eye and brush back her bangs as fast as possible. She gulped, and replayed the boy's words in her head. "Tilt the neck of your broom down. lean forward, and coast to the ground."

She started leaning down, then stopped abruptly, too scared to go on. Continuing her game of up and down, she leaned forward again and started going down, slowly then quicker and quicker until she stopped again because she was going much to fast for her liking. When the boy who had been nice enough (and apparently the only one to notice her non-movement) to help her offered to go down with her, she accepted immediately with another nervous smile playing on her lips.

0 Ellie Definitely, thank you. 0 Ellie 0 5

Colleen

April 16, 2010 10:14 AM

It could go either way by Colleen

When Tristan had shaken her hand, Colleen grinned once more, her natural happiness in full flow now she was up in the air once again. She tucked a piece of hair that was blowing in her face behind her ear so she could pay attention to what the boy was saying. She wasn’t much of a person to have rivals and hadn’t really considered that other people might consider her so. She smiled warmly when he complimented her throw, he seemed to know what he was talking about, so she could only assume he was being sincere.

As he drifted back, Colleen flew slightly higher so as to optimise her vision. The wind blew her hair around her face and she brushed it back in annoyance. She would have to remember to tie it up in future when planning on flying. When she had cleared her vision, she was slightly startled to see that Tristan had thrown the ball back at her. “Merlin.” She gasped as she caught the ball in her left hand, her right reaching up to secure it. Unfortunately she wasn’t concentrating and the force of the throw knocked her off balance and she fell upside-down, clutching her broom between her knees and hanging on to the Quaffle with her fingertips.

“Bother.” She chuckled, tucking the ball under her left arm allowing her to pull herself back upright onto her broom. “Somehow I think I’ll make a better beater than keeper.” She laughed, throwing the ball back to Tristan, hoping that in future she could keep upright.

0 Colleen It could go either way 0 Colleen 0 5

Sophia Randolph

April 16, 2010 4:17 PM

This is awesome! by Sophia Randolph

Sophia’s eyes reflected the happiness she was currently feeling. Flying felt awesome! She laughed, she felt great. She was kind of angry at her parents for making her wait so many years to learn how to do it. She thought that flying was inherent to being a magical child, but it seemed her parents had a different opinion on that matter.

She made her way down again and looked over a girl that was besides her and responded to her statement, “Yes it is! It’s the best feeling ever!” Sophia giggled. She was very excited to learn how to fly and to start her education at Sonora.

“Hi! I am Sophia from Pecari. You?” she was hovering a few feet above the ground swinging her legs merrily. She looked over the broom the girl was using and wondered if it was hers. Sophia didn’t have a broom of her own, although she had started to save to buy one…not a very fancy one because she would never be able to afford it. “Is the broom yours?” her curiosity won over her prudence. She mentally smacked herself for being rude, she had just met the girl and she was already asking personal questions. Way to go Sophia, she thought bitterly. She smiled brightly at her hoping she hadn’t scared her.

Sophia didn’t even know her name.

0 Sophia Randolph This is awesome! 167 Sophia Randolph 0 5

Caleb Nichols

April 16, 2010 4:28 PM

Why oh WHY do I have to do this?! by Caleb Nichols

Caleb did not want to go to flying lessons this morning. He was not looking forward to it at all. Gosh he wished his brother and sister had been magical, let alone know how to fly. It would have been so much easier learning to fly before this day, which he knew would be humiliating.

He woke up and put on a shirt and a pair of jeans and threw his robes over top of this outfit and then put on some socks and shoes and made his way out of his dorm room. He ate a tasty breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and bacon that made him think of the breakfasts his mom used to make him at home on Sundays after church. Wow, he thought to himself, that sounded extremely cheesy. Caleb wiped his mouth on the napkin he had and then got up, slowly making his way to the Quidditch Pitch. When he arrived he walked over into the group of people already standing there and awaited his instruction.

When the teacher announced the people who already knew how to fly to go off into a separate group he almost died of mortification. That was so embarrassing! Now all of the people who knew how to fly knew which people they could make fun of and torment. Caleb adjusted his glasses and hunched his shoulders some, trying to keep himself out of the view of the other people.

Caleb got into a line as he was told to do after he had gotten a broom from the pile of brooms. His head hung low and he didn't really want to do this. But, he did as he was told when Coach Pierce explained how to get the broom to come up. He waited for her to finish explaining and then watched as she demostrated how to get their broom to fly upwards. He stuck his right hand out over the broom and said as firmly as he could manage, "Up!"

The broom didnt' budge.

"Up!" he tried again, saying it a little bit louder.

Again, the broom didn't even quiver.

He sighed. Why did this have to be so difficult?! He could almost feel the embarrassment that was surrounding himself. Gosh, this was humiliating. He took a deep breath and calmed his nerves and then looked down at the broom and said, "Up!" He said it almost at a tone of yelling. Finally, the broom soared up into his hand. He beamed. He had done it! Then he swung his right leg over the broom and positioned himself to where he could feel the cushion spell and pushed himself off the ground.

He hovered a few feet in the air and then smiled as he levelled out. He rose a few feet more and then smiled again. He started to move around in the air and got a feel for it. He stopped and took in the fact that he was actually flying. He saw someone slowly approaching and when they stopped near him he smiled and said, "Isn't flying the greatest!?" He was so excited that he had finally gotten the hang of it.

0 Caleb Nichols Why oh WHY do I have to do this?! 0 Caleb Nichols 0 5

Brian Moore

April 16, 2010 5:44 PM

Because you're a good student, of course! by Brian Moore

Flying on broomsticks was something Brian had only thought witches on Halloween did. As it turned out, it was a big deal in the wizarding world and was something everyone did. He wasn’t surprised to hear this. Surprises in general had a way, well, not surprising him lately. Now that the initial shock of getting a letter from a magic school and hearing words like ‘muggle’ and ‘Quidditch’ tossed around everyday, he was learning to roll with the differences from his world to this one. So flying on a broom? Eh, it’s typical.

Still he was awed by the lesson. Watching everyone who had experience shoot off into the air when they had free time only made him more excited to get in the air himself. Once the couch gave them the okay-go, Brian eagerly stuck his hand out and waved it around a little bit. “Up!” he said cheerfully. The broom stayed still. If it could talk, it would be saying something along the lines of ‘go away.’

Not one to give up, Brian kept trying as he bounced on his toes. “Up – up – up – up – up – uppity – up –up – up!” Brian sighed and shook his head good naturedly at the broom. Obviously it needed to be coaxed like his wand did when he tried some spells in his text books last night. He bent over it and asked it, “Why won’t you come to me when I say up – WHOA!” As soon as he had said ‘Up,’ the broom flew into his face. His hands shot to protect his nose and he felt the blood dripping to his mouth.

“You’re kinda violent, aint’cha?” The broom didn’t answer, not that he thought it would. Brian wiped his bloody nose on his sleeve (his mother would’ve killed him if she knew he did that) and tried again, though more quietly – “Up.” The broom came into his hand sweet and easy. He mounted it and went to hover, his sleeve tight over his nose to stop the bleeding.

Once in the air, he realized it was all it was cracked up to be. Flying was great from up here. Then a boy with glasses smiled at him. “Isn’t flying the greatest?” Making sure to keep his nose covered, Brian nodded and smiled himself. “Yeah, it’s pretty awesome! But I can’t wait to get the hang of it more.” He pointed to his nose with his free hand and elaborated, “I don’t know if I’d like to fly so much if my broom whacked me in the face every time I wanted to use it.”

0 Brian Moore Because you're a good student, of course! 0 Brian Moore 0 5

Tristan

April 17, 2010 10:32 AM

I hope for the best by Tristan

Tristan hadn’t even thought twice about whether or not she would catch the Quaffle. He assumed she would. To be completely fair to him, he assumed this all before her hair started to blow into her face and she said, “Merlin.” when she noticed the ball zooming at her. Crap, she really hadn’t been ready for it! Tristan frowned at his stupidity, flying through the air so his practice partner wouldn’t get concussed before she even got a chance to throw it back. Maybe he could make it in time, or at least shove her so her head wouldn’t get hit.

Of course, as soon as he started to panic she caught it with her left hand. Tristan groaned and stopped in the air, his head dropping a bit. Geeze, that was close, he was going to have to make sure she was looking the next time he aimed a ball at her. And just when he thought she was in the clear, the girl was swung upside-down on her broom, her knees barely bending to keep her on the broom and her hands clenched to the Quaffle.

Now that’s some dedication. She’d be great competition, he decided. And since they’d both be Chasers, he’d really be in for a good game, which is something that he didn’t have much of back home.

Wait, strike that – she wanted to be a beater? WHY?! He caught ball and frowned to himself. “I dunno, I think you have what it takes, but what do I know?” A Beater, honestly. The girl was wasting her potential. Though, if she was better at Beating… even better competition! “Can’t wait to see how good you are at it, though,” he said honestly, throwing the ball back after the wind stopped blowing so much.

0 Tristan I hope for the best 0 Tristan 0 5

Neal

April 17, 2010 12:11 PM

You're quite welcome by Neal

She looked positively horrified. Neal wondered if flying was a big deal for her. She could very well be a muggleborn who’s afraid of heights for all he knew. To not startle or worry her, he kept to his word and slowly went to the ground with her still by his side.

In order to keep her broom from jerking as much before from her abrupt stops, he put his hand over a few inches above hers to keep her from doing so. In case she wondered why, he explained, “Jerking motions aren’t good for you or the broom, since it throws your balance off. I’ve seen plenty of brooms knock people off of them because of similar stop-and-go actions.” He nodded at her. “Don’t worry about it, I don’t think it’s happened enough for anything to happen, but it’s better to be safe just in case.” As boring as safe was, it’s not like he wanted her to get hurt or anything. He was a bit of a thrill-seeker, not a bit of a sadist.

He didn’t let go until they were on the ground. He got off his broom, ready to grab hers in case it tried anything funny again. It seemed she had a penchant for bad luck with brooms. He smiled at her. “You’re fine now if you want to get off. I think you’re grade will be fine since you did hover pretty high.” He patted her back to comfort her for doing something she obviously hadn’t wanted to do, “Good job,” he said and he meant it. Then it occurred to him: he still had no idea who she was.

0 Neal You're quite welcome 0 Neal 0 5

Caleb Nichols

April 17, 2010 1:45 PM

Good student, my butt. by Caleb Nichols

Caleb smiled at the boy across from him. He seemed nice enough. He nodded when the boy said that he couldn't wait to get the hang of it more. Caleb knew that he definately would be practicing flying now that he knew he could control it, sort of. His broom wobbled a little as his thoughts trailed off.

"I don't know if I'd like to fly so much if my broom whacked me in the face every time I wanted to use it." He laughed at the boy's comment. "I'm not sure I'd want to fly so much either if that happened to me. Maybe your broom just doesn't like you." He laughed again, this time at his silly comment. Oh, how he wished Cooper and Hayden could see him now, already making friends. He was suprised himself that he had initiated this conversation. He had been known back in elementary school to be the shy kid in the class, stuttering every time that the teacher called on him to answer a question. But not anymore.

"I'm Caleb Nichols! I'm in Aladren. What's your name?" He smiled, trying to loosen any tension that might be forming between them. He really hoped that him and this boy could be friends. He would love to tell Cooper about how he had already made a friend, and how he had learned to fly! He was already loving Sonora.

0 Caleb Nichols Good student, my butt. 0 Caleb Nichols 0 5

Colleen

April 17, 2010 3:21 PM

I smile at the worst by Colleen

“Well,” Colleen began as she reached out to catch the ball, which spun through her hands, hitting her square on the nose. She caught it again before it hit the ground. “You may have noticed that I’m not the best catcher in the world.” Colleen threw the ball back, a little harder than necessary in her frustration. She was glad that they were close enough that the ball had only bruised her nose as opposed to broken it. “Sorry.” She muttered, in response to her bad throw.

Her good nature returning, she began to explain why she preferred the position of beater to chaser. “Well, for one I can’t catch and beater is the only position on the field which doesn’t require a certain expertise in catching.” Colleen chuckled. “In my opinion, the keeper would probably get cold not moving and with my skill a broken nose. The seeker is sure to get dizzy and the chasers have to do all the work. The beater is the most fun. I expect you're a good chaser though, you don't seem to have issues with catching.”

Colleen smiled at Tristan. She highly expected that he would find her reasons a little silly, but she hoped that he would see that she was telling the truth about her catching. In fair she wasn’t a typical beater. Her thin bony frame wasn’t in style with the usual muscular beaters and her good nature and cheery attitude wasn’t synonymous with someone who likes to hit bludgers even if it is at the opposition. But she had a strong arm and good aim and it was good to get her anger out somehow without anyone blaming her for injuries.

0 Colleen I smile at the worst 0 Colleen 0 5

Tristan

April 17, 2010 5:31 PM

I try to be ready for anything by Tristan

This girl had no excuse this time: Tristan knew that she had to have seen the ball when he’d thrown it to her. So when the Quaffle spun between her outstretched fingers and into her nose, he could honestly say that he wasn’t expecting it. He winced, having known what it felt like to get his in the face with any Quidditch ball (yes, even the Snitch). None of the memories were pleasant. He subconsciously rubbed his nose. “Hey, you okay?”

She didn’t answer him, instead mentioning how she wasn’t the best at catching. Um, yeah, okay, he believed that now. It just took her getting abused twice by the ball for it to sink in. He could’ve hit himself; he was usually pretty good at figuring out what position players would excel in.

He took note of her bruised nose, paying more attention for the first time since he got on the Pitch about something non Quidditch related (technically it was a Quidditch-related injury, but that’s besides the point). He heard her apologize (what for was beyond him) and barely registered the fact she threw the ball back to him. He lamely lifted his hands to catch it, not realizing how hard she’d thrown. But boy, when that thing slammed into his hand and pushed them into his chest, he lost his breath. No doubt the girl had an amazing throwing arm. She just couldn’t catch to save her life.

Her face lit up, which seemed to be a typical look for her, and she started to talk about why she’d rather Beat instead of Chase or Keep. He understood where she was coming from – they were all good reasons, and does someone really need to have to defend a position they like more so than another? It was all subjective when you got down to it.

He smiled when she complimented his skills. “Thanks,” he said happily. Well, she knew what she was talking about. Doubting her after that would just be a waste on his part. And he somehow couldn’t see her whacking things around with a force from that arm being an issue for her, even though she would possibly be the most dainty Beater he’s ever seen. "Alright, I’ll give it to you. If you say you think you’d make a good Beater, then I think you’d make a good Beater.” But you’d also make a good Chaser if you could catch he added to himself. He looked to throw the Quaffle at her again and thought that maybe it wasn’t the best idea to use all his force. So he gently tossed it over, noticing her nose once the Quaffle left his hands. “Yeah, and about your nose, it’s not looking too great. Are you sure you’re fine?” He really didn’t think a nose should be turning that shade of purple…

0 Tristan I try to be ready for anything 0 Tristan 0 5

Ellie

April 17, 2010 5:32 PM

Back on two feet by Ellie

Ellie smiled through the veil of tears in her eyes. The boy was going to help her down! She was glad she didn't have to do this alone. Hopefully she would never have to do it again, either. But maybe this was all part of conquering her fears, and the next time she tried it wouldn't be as bad... if she ever forced herself to try it again.

The boy was nice enough to hold onto her broom handle to control her jerking. He was quite knowledgeable about broom safety, though maybe he didn't have to explain about brooms knocking people off. She was already having a rough day. Though she had to admit; it was kind of enthralling, exciting, exhilarating. “Don’t worry about it, I don’t think it’s happened enough for anything to happen, but it’s better to be safe just in case.” Phew. Her shoulders relaxed a bit. Though sometimes Ellie liked to be more adventurous, safe sounded perfect right now. And the boy seemed to agree.

“You’re fine now if you want to get off. I think you’re grade will be fine since you did hover pretty high.” She smiled as he patted her back. She gulped, relieving her stress as her feet brushed the soft grass. "Good job," the boy said in his flat voice. "Thanks, a lot," she replied. She thought that "thank you" was an understatement, but didn't want to press the issue. She stuck out her hand abruptly. "I'm Ellie." She grinned as she tossed her broom to the ground, reveling in the feeling of solid ground under her shoes again.

0 Ellie Back on two feet 0 Ellie 0 5

Kirstenna

April 17, 2010 7:18 PM

Totally! by Kirstenna

Kirstenna grinned back at Sophia. She was happy and excited to begin with and the other girl's enthusiasm was even more infectious. Sophia seemed as upbeat and cheerful as Kirstenna often was. Not that she minded people who weren't. She would give anyone a chance and Kirstenna's only issue was with people who were intolerant or snobby or mean.

"I'm Kirstenna from Teppenpaw." She had never been really able to say she was from a particular place before. The circus usually travelled around quite a bit from town to town, and even state to state. She really didn't have a permanent address aside from Sonora. Her letter had for school had been adressed to Kirstenna Melcher, Borelli Brothers Circus.

If she had to be technical about it, Kirstenna had been born when the circus had been performing in Indiana but it wasn't as if she spent any more time there than she did anywhere else that was on their route. Her dad's family was from Iowa but she couldn't say she'd really spent time there either and her grandparents and uncle certainly never made her feel at home. They hadn't even visted each other the last few times the show had been in Dubuque.

And her mom had grown up in the circus just like her.

"It's nice to meet you, Sophia." Kirstenna said. She looked at her broom. "Yeah, it is mine. Well, it's my dad's from when he went to school here, so it's really old, but it's okay with me." It still seemed to be flying just fine and it wasn't like Kirstenna needed a brand new broom. She had never understood buying new stuff when old stuff worked just fine.

11 Kirstenna Totally! 161 Kirstenna 0 5

Neal

April 17, 2010 9:44 PM

It's safer that way by Neal

It was like watching the transformation of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde take place right in front of him, though not as violent. He had thought the girl was quiet, shy, nervous, calm, things along those lines. As it turned out, once her feet skimmed the grass she was someone completely different. Whatever unshed tears she had in her eyes before were untraceable now as she thanked him for helping her out.

With a revived energy, the girl suddenly put her hand in front of him expectantly. “I’m Ellie,” she greeted while beaming at him. She definitely seemed much happier on the ground. How that much more interesting she all of a sudden became. She also solved the question as to who she was, or at least he had a name to match with the face.

His lips twitched into a smile and he put his hand in hers and shook lightly. “I’m Neal. Nice to meet you on solid land, Ellie.” Out of curiosity, he motioned to her broom on the ground with a friendly smile still in place and asked, “I’m guessing you don’t like to fly, then? Or was this your first time? I’m not trying to be rude or anything, it just seemed like you’d rather be doing anything else.”

0 Neal It's safer that way 0 Neal 0 5

Ellie

April 17, 2010 10:02 PM

You know it! by Ellie

The boy's-Neal's- mouth twitched into a smile as he shook her hand. She felt so much better now that she wasn't in the air, like the world had been lifted from her shoulders... or had been put back under her feet where they belonged. She smiled brightly. Thinking about it, she thought it was quite silly to be afraid of things as trivial as heights, but when she remembered the feeling of being up in the air, she put those thoughts aside.

After they had introduced themselves, they stood in awkward silence for a moment. Neal finally broke the silence, which Ellie was quite grateful for. “I’m guessing you don’t like to fly, then? Or was this your first time? I’m not trying to be rude or anything, it just seemed like you’d rather be doing anything else.”

Ellie giggled a bit before answering. "I definitely don't like flying, after I first tried it with my dad when I was little. He's the magical one of my parents. I'm really, really scared of heights... but you probably guessed that." She paused. "I'm guessing this wasn't your first time? You really know a lot about flyiing." She brushed a stray lock of artificially orange out of her face. Her eyes twinkled in the expectations of the next classes she would take, which hopefully would stick mainly to wandwork, and also to meeting more students. Neal seemed interesting enough, and she hoped she would get to know him as well as see Marian again.

0 Ellie You know it! 0 Ellie 0 5

Neal

April 17, 2010 10:19 PM

And you agree! by Neal

Ellie was, as it sounded, a half-blood. Neal beamed at her. Finally he got to meet someone who wasn’t a pureblood around here. It seemed they had that in common. “That’s cool,” he commented in his bored tone, though he was anything but at such news. “I’m a half-blood, too. Actually, my dad’s also the magical one in the family, so to speak.” She mentioned she was terrified of heights, as he had a feeling she was to begin with, but had no shame admitting it. Not that she should, plenty of purebloods he’d met had even worse acrophobia.

“I’m guessing this wasn’t your first time? You really know a lot about flying,” she said, while getting some of that vibrant orange hair from her face and looking at him with enthusiastic eyes. He nodded. “Yeah, I’ve flown a bit, but not since I was a lot younger. It just came back easy to me, I guess since I see a lot of pro Quidditch games year round since my dad’s a huge fan of the sport.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed his roommate, Tristan, catching a ball from a girl high up in the air – way higher than himself or Ellie had been. That egomaniac was probably going to mention something to him later about being over with the ‘first time fliers’ when they got back to their dorm. Not that he’d care, since he got to meet someone who seemed like they’d be a pretty cool to hangout with (maybe just not on a Quidditch Pitch). He’d just have to dodge Tristan and deal with the self-acclaimed ‘Quidditch-head’ when try-outs came up.

0 Neal And you agree! 0 Neal 0 5

Ellie

April 18, 2010 2:32 PM

Well it's true, so why wouldn't I? :D by Ellie

Ellie hadn't met a lot of people since she had arrived at the academy. Actually, she had only met one person other than Neal, and that was Marian. Marian was a muggleborn, and so Ellie wasn't sure what the dominant bloodtype was at Sonora. But she was glad to hear that Neal was also a half-blood like her. And his dad was the magical parent too! As he smiled, her smile stretched widened. He seemed happier, here on the ground, too, but maybe that was just because he enjoyed the conversation. Either way, Ellie hoped he didn't decide to fly again and leave her down on the Pitch.

“Yeah, I’ve flown a bit, but not since I was a lot younger. It just came back easy to me, I guess since I see a lot of pro Quidditch games year round since my dad’s a huge fan of the sport.” Ellie's eyebrows shot up. "No way! My dad designs brooms, and we get free tickets all the time! I prefer watching from the lower risers to actually flying, though..." She and this Neal fellow seemed to have more incommon than she originally thought.

She looked around at the other students, some of which were playing mini games of Qudditch. She gawked in awe at kids who were much higher than she had gone. And she thought she had been high up! She shook her head in disbelief, then looked back at Neal, who was also looking around.

0 Ellie Well it's true, so why wouldn't I? :D 0 Ellie 0 5

Colleen

April 18, 2010 2:32 PM

I try and fail by Colleen

Colleen looked down at her nose. Or tried to, it was harder than she thought and she only proceeded in going cross eyed. Shaking her head she tried a different tactic of prodding at her nose. It didn’t seem to hurt too much, a twinge now and then but nothing major. “I think I’m okay. It isn’t broken.” Colleen winced when she prodded a bit too hard. “At least I think it isn’t.”

She held out her hands to catch the Quaffle and was pleasantly surprised when it didn’t slip through her fingers or bash her in the face. This took her attention from her nose and she grinned. “That might’ve been a gentle throw but it still feels good to catch it for once.” When he mentioned her nose Colleen tried to peer at it again before she shrugged.

“I’ll be fine. It’s probably just a little bruised. Nothing serious.” She threw the Quaffle back, a little gentler than her last throw, but still hard enough to be considered a good throw. After one last prod at her nose she gave up. Whatever had happened to it, it would heal perfectly fine.

“So,” Colleen began, feeling a change of topic would be good, she didn’t want to dwell on what her nose looked like any more. “I’m guessing with your love of Quidditch that you’re either half or pureblood?” She secretly hoped that he was pureblood just so that she could write to her parents and tell the truth about someone she’d met. Though she would have to leave out the fact that she met him whilst on a broom unless she wanted Mother to have a heart attack, but it was a start in the right direction.

0 Colleen I try and fail 0 Colleen 0 5

Tristan

April 18, 2010 2:48 PM

That sounds pessimistic by Tristan

Tristan smirked when the girl (gosh, he needed to work on this name-recall issue he had) finally caught the ball without much incident. It seemed that she would rather feel the success of doing something right rather than go hardcore, which Tristan wasn’t going to argue with. Hey, easy or hard, practice was practice.

She seemed also fine with the fact her nose was banged up pretty bad, so Tristan shrugged it off. It’s best, if she was going to play Quidditch for a House Team, that she got used to shrugging off injuries now anyways. He wasn’t about to go easy on anyone who got in his way of winning a game and would be insulted if anyone didn’t try their hardest because they were afraid of getting hurt. What kind of game would that be anyways?

“So,” the girl said, nudging the nose topic aside, “I’m guessing with your love of Quidditch that you’re either half or pureblood?”

Tristan rolled his eyes. “Pureblood, not that it should matter.” He had met enough pureblood snobs in his life (his parents being two of them) and he hoped this girl wouldn’t end up being like them. But then again, she was on a broom talking about being a Beater, so maybe she wasn’t a pureblood snob, or even a pureblood at all. “But yeah, I seriously love the sport, thanks for noticing.” To make sure she wasn’t only talking to him still because of his bloodline, he tossed the ball back and asked, “So, since you know enough about Quidditch to know what I’m talking about, I’m thinking you’re half or pure yourself?”

0 Tristan That sounds pessimistic 0 Tristan 0 5

Colleen

April 18, 2010 3:13 PM

At least I go down smiling by Colleen

Colleen smiled when Tristan didn’t press the nose issue. She caught the ball again, without incident, although she was every close to dropping it. She laughed when he mentioned his love of the sport. She liked it when people really did get involved with their passion in life. She liked it even more when they couldn’t shut up about it. She preferred people to be happy and talkative as opposed to glum and silent.

“I’m pureblood and hating it.” She replied, glad that he wasn’t one for thinking that girls shouldn’t fly. “My parents would seriously kill me if they knew I was trying out for Quidditch. I had to buy my own broom since they refused.” Colleen put on a snobbish voice, in her opinion a perfect imitation of her Mother. “Proper pureblood girls shouldn’t fly, it is unseemly.” Colleen snorted. “I don’t understand them.”

“They’ll win, though. They always do.” Colleen mentally shook herself. This was the one topic designed to lower her usually permanent spirits and was the second time it had been brought up. She threw the ball back, slightly hard. To get her spirits back up she gripped her broom and rolled over. When she sat back up she was grinning. “Sucks to them, though. They can control my future but not what I do now.” She smiled. Her small rebellion against her parents standards was enough for now, even if the future was bleak.

0 Colleen At least I go down smiling 0 Colleen 0 5

Tristan

April 18, 2010 6:11 PM

I'd rather go up smiling by Tristan

Being a pureblood wasn’t something that Tristan hated, but the lifestyle and people that came with it wasn’t anything to be throwing confetti at. He listened as the girl admitted that her parents wouldn’t even buy her a broom because ‘good pureblood girls and defenseless and delicate’ and whatever other garbage they’d both heard people spew at them. He agreed, since he didn’t understand them either. If he had to be a pureblood, he was glad he was a pureblood male – at least that way he got pats on the back for playing Quidditch instead of whatever treatment a girl would get for it.

He smirked to himself. If he was a girl, he’d probably just be really sneaky about his passion for the sport, as he was guessing (hoping) this girl would be.

“They’ll win, though. They always do.” She said. Tristan knew there was no point comforting her, and he played around with the Quaffle in his hands awkwardly. If there was one thing he understood about snobby purebloods, it was that family controlled your life in the end. Who you’d hang out with, the family you’d marry into, your job, the things you did; it all came down to what they wanted.

The girl smiled when she announced the same thoughts he had. Sonora was, in a way, a quiet riot. He tossed the Quaffle back smiling wider. “Cool it, Rebel,” he joked. “And concentrate on catching this thing. If I hit your head again, how are you supposed to play your best and get a spot on the Quidditch team to stick it to your folks?”

0 Tristan I'd rather go up smiling 0 Tristan 0 5

Brian

April 18, 2010 7:28 PM

I thought Aladrens were good students? by Brian

The pain in his nose started to dull, and Brian tried to wipe away any remnants of blood so he didn’t look messy. He couldn’t help the stains on his robes, broom, or hands, but his face should look somewhat presentable around new faces.

“I’m Caleb Nichols! I’m in Aladren. What’s your name?”

Not expecting the rapidfire intro had Brian looking up from trying to get the dry blood off of his fingers to look wide eyed at Caleb. He wore a big smile, something Brian liked to see on people. He really liked how social and warm the people seemed to be at this school.

“Hey! I’m Brian Moore!” he waved back excitedly, glad to be getting to know someone new. “I’m in Teppenpaw. Nice to meet cha.” He looked down at the ground, glad to be up so high and not a bit scared. He couldn’t wait to tell his family all about it! “Man, I kinda wish my older sisters could’ve had the magic gene so they would know how awesome this is!” He looked at Caleb and continued, “I can see why people like stuff like Quidditch so much now!” He looked at Caleb with a friendly smile. “Do you think you like flying enough to be going out for the Aladren team?”

0 Brian I thought Aladrens were good students? 0 Brian 0 5

Samantha Hamilton

April 19, 2010 4:45 AM

Up and down by Samantha Hamilton

Sports had always been a favorite of Samantha's. She had two brothers who'd beaten her at soccer shoot-outs ever since she could remember, but she'd had the hardest throw out of anyone ever in their softball league. Adding magic into the equation just made things more interesting. She didn't know much about the magical sport known as Quidditch, aside from it was played while flying on a broomstick. If Samantha wanted to be involved at sports at Sonora - which she did - she would have to learn how to fly.

Her mousy brown hair was tied back into a ponytail as Samantha stood with the other first years on the pitch. Her white airtex shirt had her name embroidered on the front, and her sweatpants were exactly the same shade of green as her uniform robes. Samantha took one of the school broomsticks to start with, and stood waiting patiently while the Coach explained what they were going to do.

Holding her hand over her broom, Samantha commanded the thing to rise up, just like the coach had shown them. It did, at least a little, but then it resolutely sank back to the ground again. A second attempt yielded exactly the same reults. Frowning, Samntha turned to the girl next to her, who had already managed to seat herself on the broom and hover in the air. "I can't get it to work," Samantha declared, her tone implying the other girl might like to hand out some tips or hints.

0 Samantha Hamilton Up and down 159 Samantha Hamilton 0 5

Dmitri Petrovskii

April 19, 2010 10:52 AM

Joining in. by Dmitri Petrovskii

Quite a few movies portrayed witches on brooms and when Dmitri found out that he was a wizard, he had never thought this stereotype would be true, but apparently it was. He wasn’t quite sure how to take that. Did that mean they would eventually learn how to fly on vacuums like in Sabrina the Teenage Witch or did some have handles like in Halloweentown? No matter the case, the idea of flying on a broom both excited and terrified him. The only flying he had ever done was in a private jet. It was thrilling to look at the clouds and such out the window, but he was always in trust of the pilot. Now, he would be the one doing the flying. What if he was up high and suddenly fell?

He bit his lip as he listened to the professor explain the basics of flying. Okay, that’s all he had to do. Just make it up three feet. He could do that, right? Of course, he could! Though, that was easier said than done. The school provided broom lay on the ground near him. His hand was in place above it. This was fine, well, and good except that no matter how many times he said ‘Up,’ the broom continued to lie there. He didn’t understand why the broom didn’t do what it was supposed to do, but then he hadn’t actually expected it to. It was meant for cleaning not flying. Or maybe it was just that he was scared to have it actually work, scared to be off the ground. The idea of falling was just not appealing.

Dmitri tugged on a piece of brown hair in frustration as he looked around at all the other people managing to not only get their brooms to fly into their hands, but also to hover in the air. Nearby, two girls, one he thought might be in his house, caught his attention. They had obviously gotten the lesson and he thought that maybe they would be able to help him. Nervously, he made his way over to where they were standing. “Hello. My name is Dmitri Petrovskii. I noticed that you both appear to be quite good at this entire flying business and I was hoping that if you didn’t mind terribly, if you could lend me some assistance?” Though, he would deny it later, he was doing a pretty good puppy dog imitation.

0 Dmitri Petrovskii Joining in. 162 Dmitri Petrovskii 0 5

Nic

April 19, 2010 1:29 PM

It happens by Nic

"I'm Nic Sawyer," Nic told her in response to her own offered name. Autumn. He hoped he'd be able to remember it. His ability with names was usually pretty decent, though, so he didn't expect to have a problem. The flying instructor and their Head of House was called Coach Pierce. The principal like person was Headmistress Powell. The girl he ate dinner with last night was Cosette. The Head Boy was Tollan Dupree or something. The Head Girl was Lucy Anthony. Their prefects were Lucy again and Laura Cider. The Crotalus Quidditch Captain and Assistant were Oliver and Charlotte Costello. Remembering 'Autumn' shouldn't be hard.

Of course, now they'd exchanged names and Nic had offered all the advice he felt he was qualified to give so he wasn't sure what else he was supposed to say. He looked down at the broom, still mosying its way up to his hand, taking its sweet time as it rose up to mid-thigh level. He could probably reach down and grab it now, but the Coach said to let it come up to your hand, and it might mess up the calibration or something if he grabbed it too soon. Nic was a patient guy, he could wait for it.

"You ever flown before?" he asked, because some people seemed to think it was rude to not talk after starting a conversation with someone and he didn't want to be rude. He could infer from her broom still being on the ground that she hadn't, but he couldn't think of anything else to ask her about. His social skills were definitely among the many things his muggle teachers didn't praise on his report cards.

1 Nic It happens 165 Nic 0 5

Cosette

April 19, 2010 4:38 PM

Over, but not quite out by Cosette

Leaving the Pitch was going to be something easier said than done. Once Cosette had her broom in her hand and had already turned around to stalk off to the direction of the castle, she heard something that sounded suspiciously directed at her.

“I can’t get it to work!” the voice said, a pitch to it that Cosette couldn’t say she liked. It sounded almost as if the person speaking at her wanted to guilt her into magically helping her with whatever she wasn’t doing well at. But really, what could Cosette do about that? She wasn’t any expert, she just did the required hovering so she could go sleep. What did this person expect?

Cosette reeled around, her broom still in her hand, and frowned at the girl keeping her from a cozy dorm room indoors. The girl was also frowning, though not so much at Cosette but rather the broom playing elevator between her hand and the ground. Was this the part where Cosette turned into the professor and started spitting out what she needed to do to make things work right? Um, no, not happening.

But since the girl hadn’t directly asked Cosette for her help, she figured she’d just overlook the undertones of help the girl was asking for. Instead, she said, “I can see that.” She shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell you, really. This was the first time I’ve ever flown. I just said ‘Up’ and got on the thing and let the broom do the rest.” She threw the broom on the ground, said up the same way she had before, and mounted the broom and hovered a bit just like before. “See?” She shrugged. “I don’t know how it worked, it just did. I don’t know what else to tell you… I hope you get it though.” And she meant it. Even if the girl was keeping her from a bed, she looked determined. Cosette felt a bit bad; their flying luck should have been swapped.

0 Cosette Over, but not quite out 0 Cosette 0 5

Sophia Randolph

April 19, 2010 9:18 PM

Welcome! by Sophia Randolph

Sophia already liked Kirstenna, she seemed happy and excited just like she was! She was certain she had made a new friend even when they were at different houses. The girl beside her looked pretty interesting. Sophia wanted to ask her so many things but her parents always told her to be prudent and respectful. Plus, she had already pried into her life by asking about the broom which she had answered and Sophia was glad Kirstenna hadn’t thought less of her.

“Same here Kirstenna, I am very pleased to meet you,” she smiled, “wow! That is so cool…to have your father’s broom with you. Nice of him to give it to you,” she nodded seriously. Sophia didn’t know Kirstenna’s father but he sounded awesome.

Her father was also awesome but he thought that she couldn’t have her own broom until she bought it herself…but maybe it had to do with the fact that he couldn’t afford such a gift for his only daughter. The Apocathery wasn’t very successful. Sophia sighed because she knew her father felt guilty about all of the work she had to do in order to buy herself pretty stuff. She really didn’t mind it; she liked to help her parents.

Sophia was enjoying their chat when they were interrupted by a boy that looked adorable! He was giving them puppy eyes and Sophia was a sucker for puppies. She smiled at him, “Nice to meet you Dmitri! I am Sophia Randolph and this is Kirstenna,” oh, she hoped Kirstenna didn’t mind her introducing her. She smiled sheepishly in her direction.

She shook her head and once again addressed Dmitri, “I will gladly help!,” she grinned, “Well the broom knows if you don’t want to use it…so, you really have to have the desire to do so!” Sophia wasn’t an expert in flying but that much she knew.

She really hope her advice would help Dmitri.

OCC: lets keep the posting order Sophia-Kirstenna-Dmitri, that way it doesn't get out of hand!

0 Sophia Randolph Welcome! 167 Sophia Randolph 0 5

Samantha

April 20, 2010 3:23 PM

Up, but not quite on by Samantha

Apparently it was just luck that the other girl had gotten the hang of this broomstick stuff, or so she said. Her attitude was very lax towards her work, in Samnatha's opinion. Still, she did at least take the time to demonstrate. Samantha tried again, and this time her own broomstick hovered high enough that Samantha reached out to grasp it. That seemed to do the trick - when she tentatively let go of the handle, the broom stayed where it was, hovering about waist-height, or perhaps a little lower. "Thanks," Samantha said. "I think I got it."

It was strange; the other girl seemed to be on her way out of the class. Maybe she had a permit, or had to see the medic? Samantha didn't know, but just in case the other girl was confused, she said, "I think we have to stay in class until the Coach says it's over."

Then, in case the other girl thought she was being bossy, Samantha introduced herself to be friendly. "I'm Samantha," she said. It seemed a good introduction: she didn't need to add that she was new to the school, because this class was for first years only. She didn't see the point in adding her House yet, either. She couldn't remember any of the Houses besides her own, anyway. "What's your name?"

0 Samantha Up, but not quite on 0 Samantha 0 5

Colleen

April 20, 2010 3:38 PM

It's just good to be smiling by Colleen

The Quaffle once again slipped through Colleen’s outstretched hands. This time she simply dropped it towards the ground below, as opposed to bruising her nose. She quickly dived down and caught the ball before it hit the ground. She smiled when she saw her other classmates. Some were hovering just off the ground, with mixed expressions on their faces; others were still on the ground glaring at their brooms which were refusing to rise to their hands. Colleen remembered her first time on a broom. She had had to fly at night so her parents wouldn’t know, but other than that it was one of the best nights of her life. Which was saying something, but still.

She flew back up so she was on a level with Tristan and laughed when he called her a rebel. “You haven’t hit my head. Yet.” Colleen muttered. “Just my nose.” She looked back down at her nose, she still couldn’t quite see what colour it was, but it hurt slightly more when she poked it experimentally. She frowned and flew closer to Tristan. “Does it look okay?” She asked. “I don’t want it to drop off or something.” She held out the Quaffle for Tristan to take, more concerned with her nose.

“I would quite like to get on the team. I wouldn’t tell my parents though, that is more than my life is worth. It’ll make me feel better.” Colleen smiled; a silent protest was a protest all the same. “Exactly what colour would you say it had turned?” She asked about her nose. It was starting to ache slightly.

0 Colleen It's just good to be smiling 0 Colleen 0 5

Caleb

April 21, 2010 10:52 AM

Yeah. I guess so. by Caleb

Caleb smiled at the boy who introduced himself as Brian Moore. He mentally shrugged as Brian said that he was in Teppenpaw. He hoped that even though they were in separate houses that they could still be friends. He laughed as Brian explained that he wished his older sisters had been magical so that they could see him on the broom.

"I totally understand!" Caleb said to him. "My older brother and sister are both non-magical. They would have been so suprised to see me doing this!" He laughed as he thought about how Cooper and Hayden would have been shocked to see him up on a broom and flying around having a blast. He liked flying so much he might even have to sign up for Quidditch tryouts. He wasn't sure what he would go out for. He wasn't very violent so Beater was out, and he wasn't sure if he could stay on the broom while trying to throw a ball around. Maybe he would try out for being a goal keeper. He was good enough at doing that for soccer back at home.

"Yeah. I might actually try out now that I know I like to fly! I'm not sure what I would go for, but I might go for goal keeper, if that's what it's called." This time he actually shrugged and chuckled a little bit. "I was really great at being a goal keeper back at home for soccer."

Caleb smiled at Brian and then said, "So. Are you gonna go out for the Teppenpaw team? If you do, the next time I see you could be on the Pitch for a game!" He laughed again and thought about how after this lesson he was going to go and put his name on the sign-up sheet for the Aladren team.

0 Caleb Yeah. I guess so. 0 Caleb 0 5

Cosette

April 21, 2010 5:09 PM

Going then staying by Cosette

The girl, to Cosette’s relief, got her broom to stop being so bipolar. With it hovering well in the air, at least high enough to grasp, the Crotalus girl smiled at the stranger. She would be lying if she said she wasn’t glad that things worked out on their own, and she would’ve loathed to have had to call the Coach over for her help. It would’ve just felt awkward, she was sure of it.

Feeling success settle in well for both herself and this girl, Cosette removed herself from her broom and started o make her way to the castle yet again. That’s when the girl opened her mouth. “I think we have to stay in class until the Coach says it’s over.” Cosette stopped and turned to look at her with her hand on a hip she had jutted out. “That’s nice and all, thanks for telling me – but I don’t care.” She meant it, the girl was nice, but her bed was calling to her from all the way down here.

Ah, it was no use. “… whatever, I guess I’ll stay.” Feeling defeat settle in, she decided to go hover a bit more and look productive (hopefully).

She was barely off the ground on her broom again when the girl introduced herself as Samantha and asked her for her name. Cosette suddenly liked this girl a lot more – she’d always adored the name Samantha. It was her mother’s name. Well, sometimes – when her mother was having a ‘good’ day and remembered who she was that was her name. She saw no point in hiding this from the girl. “I love that name!” She smiled, suddenly more than warmed up to the girl, who she already identified as the first person (well, besides Nic she supposed) she could see herself being friends with. “I’m Cosette Miller, it’s nice to meet you.” She tapped the broom, continuing, “I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help to getting you to hover, but I’m honestly just lucky to have it work out for me like it does.”

0 Cosette Going then staying 0 Cosette 0 5

Brian

April 22, 2010 6:13 PM

Wait, I'm right? That's a first. by Brian

Brian laughed when Caleb tried to explain the position he wanted. “A goal keeper in this game is just called a Keeper,” he explained. He hadn’t gone to the library so many times to learn about this magical place just to keep all the information he learned to himself. He was glad he was getting to help someone else out too. All this magic was overwhelming to handle without anyone to help. He was lucky that Colleen had explained so much to him and Dmitri the first night, or he’d probably be more confused than he actually was.

Brian jerked his head when Caleb asked him about Quidditch. “Yeah, I signed up to be a Keeper, too. But so do about three other people.” He shrugged. “I don’t know how my odds are, but I hope I make the team. I guess being an alternate would even be cool. I mean it’s only my first time flying today, so I don’t think I’ll be a pro at try-outs, but I’ll try my best anyways.”

It was true. He was pretty sure a second year had signed up to be Keeper. How could he compete with a second year, who had experience and was surely already on the team last year? He’d just have to work hard is all. Or maybe he’d play somewhere better suited for him. He’d just have to wait to see how that worked out.

0 Brian Wait, I'm right? That's a first. 0 Brian 0 5

Tristan

April 22, 2010 6:33 PM

Only if it's a real one by Tristan

She almost dropped the Quaffle again, but Tristan was getting used to that so he just shrugged it off and watched as she dove to get it herself. Her nose became of interest after it caught her attention again. Neal grimaced when she poked it with her finger. He half expected her to wince. It reminded him of when he’d been nine and a Bludger wacked him in the face. He remembered how disappointed he was when his parents were more concerned about how ugly it made him rather than how much it hurt him. But that was too long ago to focus on at the moment. His nose was fine, the other girl’s… not so much.

She didn’t look to happy about the situation either. “Does it look okay?” He tapped his broom and considered her question. She was still frowning when she said, “I don’t want it to drop off or something,” and passed the Quaffle off to him.

“If your definition of okay matches mine, then I wouldn’t say you’re okay,” he told her honestly. Unless she her nose always swelled like that, which he doubted.

He let out a breath of relief when she went back to his favorite subject, something he felt more comfortable thinking about than whether or not he really hurt her. Even he would feel bad if she had to go to the Hospital Wing and drink some awful potion. Bleh.

Tristan was about to tell her how pleased he was to hear she’d go out for her House Team when she switched back to her nose. “Exactly what colour would you say it had turned?”

He leaned forward, staring at it with wide eyes he’d seen nurses make at him when he got his nose hit. “It’s kinda a yellowish-purple color with some red. And it’s swelling.” He reeled back and tugged on his ear, a habit he’d picked up from his dad when he felt too negative. “I’m real sorry, that looks awful.” He wished he could remember her name so he could apologize properly, but he wasn’t about to ask her again when he was responsible for hurting her. Something told him that’d be a really bad idea.

0 Tristan Only if it's a real one 0 Tristan 0 5

Kirstenna

April 23, 2010 12:11 AM

Re: Welcome! by Kirstenna

Kirstenna nodded. "He's great. We've always been really close. Sometimes, I assist him in his act. He's a magician, but unlike a lot of them, his magic is real . I don't do the spells but I help him out. He's put lots of spells on me but nothing dangerous."

She went on. "My parents are both with the circus. My mom is a trapeze artist like all of her family has been. She's a muggle. My dad's family is all magical." Kirstenna didn't say anything else about them. It wasn't a pleasant subject. "So what about you?" It never occured to her that it might not be something Sophia wanted to talk about. She figured the other girl would just tell what she wanted to tell and no matter what, Kirstenna wouldn't judge her.

That's when a boy approached and introduced himself as Dmitri. Kirstenna thought she'd seen him in Teppenpaw. After Sophia introduced them both, she said "Hi Dmitri, it's nice to meet you." She flashed him a huge grin.

Apparently, Dmitri was asking them for help which Kirstenna was all too happy to give. "And you have to be firm." She added after Sophia gave her bit of advice. "And believe it'll work, that it can work." Kirstenna gave him another, supportive smile. She was sure Dmitri would get it. She believed everyone could, they were all wizards and witches after all.

"I haven't done much flying." Kirstenna told Dmitri, "This was pretty much my first time on a broom and I only hovered a little but it's really great, it's an amazing feeling." She hoped Dmitri would enjoy it once he got it to work.

11 Kirstenna Re: Welcome! 161 Kirstenna 0 5

Autumn

April 23, 2010 3:34 PM

It happens to me a lot. by Autumn

"It's nice to meet you, Nic." Autumn replied. She usually did not know what to say beyond that and saying it was often a routine habit, something she didn't even realize she did. If she did, she would probably be embarassed at her own social ineptness, especially if it was someone else who called her on it.

Then again, the purebloods tended to have formalized repetitive greetings. Autumn was a pureblood, so perhaps it was to be expected from her.

Actually, she sort of recognized the name Sawyer, but she couldn't quite place it. Maybe she'd heard just heard someone mention Nic or something, after all Autumn thought he was another Crotalus like her. But she was pretty sure it was great-great-grandmother's maiden name. Nic couldn't possibly be from that Sawyer family though, as it had ended with Great-Great-Grandmother Gwendolyn marrying Autumn's great-great grandfather, Theron Brockert. It was probably a coincidence.

"No, this is my first time." Autumn replied. And if she had her way, she never would fly. She wasn't about to tell Nic that though. She had heard that people tended not to like you if you didn't love flying and Quidditch, aside from girls like Chelsea, who didn't like you if you did. From what Lily had said, Pecaris were especially bad about it, though Nina had always been nice to Autumn.

Besides, that was irrelevant, as she thought Nic was in her house anyway. "You're in Crotalus, right?" Autumn asked.

11 Autumn It happens to me a lot. 164 Autumn 0 5

Sam Bauer

April 24, 2010 12:03 AM

I'm pretty sure there's a saying about that. by Sam Bauer

Contrary to popular opinion, it wasn't impossible to fly in a large city; the trick was just to stay either very low to the ground or, for those who weren't eleven and thus didn't have the one, the only, the majestic Hannah Bauer concerned about their personal safety, to go up very high on a cloudy day. Sam would admit, though, that it was easier to get out on a broom when he visited his mother's family in Middle-of-Nowhere Arizona, and that they didn't do that nearly enough since they'd actually moved to another state. It had been a few months since they last had, and Sam was worried that he was going to look like a complete beginner during his first flying lesson.

This was why he spent the entire time leading up to it in a state of high excitement, bouncing up and down slightly and talking rapidly to the person beside him. As a small mercy, especially at a school where a good portion of the students were bound to be purebloods who'd think he'd fallen from an extremely tall tree at an early age, he was pretty sure his ramble had only touched on Batman and had left out anything related to Lacy Johnson and Percy Jackson.

With an effort, he managed to pay attention to what Coach Pierce was saying to them. Sam's attention span shrank to that of a caffeinated fly before he had to do anything in front of people, but he'd learned to make himself focus - enough - a long time ago. It had been necessary; between him and his mom, he hadn't had a lot of room for making a bad grade. He wasn't Rachel-level brilliant, but he did okay.

Rachel. She was here, wasn't she? Yeah, yeah, Mom had said she'd gotten a letter from Uncle Jake, who'd had a bunch of letters from Rachel forwarded to him from Emily, and they said Rachel was at Sonora. In Crotalus, in fact, just like Sam, though the lack of Rachel-ness in the commons made him think a few details might have gotten lost in translation during all that letter-passing. Or maybe she just looked different; she'd sent a few letters, at first, after moving to California, but that had been almost four years ago, and Sam hadn't seen his cousin in at least two years. Wasn't it two years? He thought it had been; he was sure she hadn't been with Kate and Alicia when Mom had brought him back down for Han -

Wait. He was focusing. Yeah. Rachel could wait. Not making a fool of himself couldn't.

When those of them who knew the bare basics were given the coach's leave to fly around and maybe toss a Quaffle, Sam decided to take her up on that. He was one of the few who did; the only other people he spotted who didn't seem like part of the main group were a boy and a girl, who got hold of the Quaffle while he decided to fly around a little to make sure he still knew how to make the broom turn. Once he felt fairly comfortable, he flew toward the Quaffle-holders and winced at the sight of the girl's nose. Apparently, things had gotten interesting while he was getting reacquainted with the air.

"You guys mind sharing the Quaffle?" he asked, deciding not to comment on the girl's appearance. That wouldn't be nice, and Mom insisted that he try to be a gentleman. She saw the facts of him being somewhat excitable, deliberately nerdy, and the illegitimate son of a glorified waitress as being irrelevant to how he'd do in life, and manners were a big thing with her. Then, since he figured they'd gotten to the part where they told each other their names at some point in the past few minutes, he added, "I'm Sam."

16 Sam Bauer I'm pretty sure there's a saying about that. 163 Sam Bauer 0 5

Caleb Nichols

April 25, 2010 4:52 PM

There's a first for everything. by Caleb Nichols

Caleb chuckled, embarrassed, when Brian explained that in Quidditch a goal keeper was just called a Keeper. Well, at least, if they became friends, Caleb knew where he could go when he had questions about Quidditch.

He smiled when Brian said that he had signed up to be Keeper too for his house. "That's awesome! Maybe, if we make it, we could both practice shooting on each other to improve!" If he was going to try out he knew he would need to practice, and he thought that it would be a good idea to practice with someone he knew rather than someone who was probably better than him and threw harder. And the fact that Brian was also starting out helped some because it reassured him that they would both improve together, and they were both starting out at the same place.

He smiled reassuringly at Brian. "Well, if you don't make it this year there's always next year. And by that point we'll be much better because we'll have practiced. But I know what you mean about being scared. I skimmed the list this morning and if I remember correctly I think I saw that a sixth year was signed up to be Keeper. My chances of making it are less than yours are." He shrugged his shoulders as if to say, I can't complain though if I don't try out.

0 Caleb Nichols There's a first for everything. 0 Caleb Nichols 0 5

Brian

April 25, 2010 9:00 PM

I hope it's not the last time by Brian

"That's awesome! Maybe, if we make it, we could both practice shooting on each other to improve!" Caleb told him with a smile. It made Brian want to be a Keeper more. “That’s sounds great!” he said. It would be nice to get to practice with someone else who wanted to be Keeper and was new to everything like he was. Practicing with his friends from his House would be fun, sure, but it’s not like they’d need help training for the same positions.

After Brian had explained his concern over losing his Keeper spot, he felt bad for reminding Caleb of his own competition for the spot in his House Team. He had no idea that he’d be going up against a sixth year at try-outs! Then again, how could he have?

“I’ll be cheering you on during my try-outs, since I probably won’t get to watch you at yours,” Brian told him honestly. He hoped that Caleb could get the spot he wanted, just like he hoped he’d get the spot he wanted. But it wasn’t like that should make or break their confidence. “And even if you don’t get, we can still practice together and get you real good so by the time the kid leaves your third year you’ll be a shoe-in. What else are friends for?”

0 Brian I hope it's not the last time 0 Brian 0 5

Caleb

April 30, 2010 10:56 AM

Well, for now it is. by Caleb

Caleb smiled as Brian agreed to practice with him. He really was excited to have become acquaintances so quickly. He wasn't sure if they were friends yet--he didn't want to call Brian his friend and be rejected by him. But then he thought about how he hoped that if they weren't friends yet, that they would be friends soon. He would love to tell his siblings that he had made a friend.

He thanked Brian for saying that he would be cheering him on during his try-outs. "Same for me! I'll be cheering you on in my mind!" He really hoped that he could get at least a spot on the Quidditch team, even if he was put on as a reserve, that would be so cool.

When he heard what Brian said next, Caleb was literally grinning from ear to ear. He adjusted his glasses and said, "Yea, that sounds like an awesome idea!" He tried not to sound pathetic as he said, "And really? We're friends? Awesome!" He didn't know what to say next so he just thought that he should say something. "So, I already know you have sisters. I have siblings too. Except mine are older and I have one brother and one sister. Are yours older or younger?" He smiled. He was so happy to have already made a friend. He couldn't wait to write Cooper and Hayden about this.

0 Caleb Well, for now it is. 0 Caleb 0 5

Samantha

May 05, 2010 3:35 PM

Looking up and going up by Samantha

Samantha wasn't sure about this girl. She wasn't helping then she was, she was going, then she was staying. It was nice that she'd helped Samantha out with the broom, and she seemed liked the corageous sort of person Samantha generally admired, but she didn't seem the dependable sort. Samantha supposed she shouldn't be surprised; few people could really be depended on.

Then the other girl continued to surprise Samantha. She hovered on her broom some more - that was really cool, by the way - and gave a smile at Samantha's name. Sam couldn't help but smile back; she liked her name, too. "Nice to meet you," she said to Cosette. She knew the name from Les Mis (or The Miserable One, as she and her mom liked to call it) and thought it was really pretty.

Cosette apologised for not being much help with the broom, but it was hardly her fault that Samantha was awful. "It's okay," she said, swinging her leg somewhat ungracefully over the broom and shuffling about until she felt comfortable (hey, those cushioning charms really worked!). "This is all really new to me," she added, kicking off the ground just enough so her toes didn't reach it anymore. "Woah," she exclaimed as she wobbled a bit.

0 Samantha Looking up and going up 0 Samantha 0 5

Coach Amelia Pierce

Flying Lessons for First Years by Coach Amelia Pierce

Autumn Collins

*Gulps* by Autumn Collins

Tristan Volkmann [Pecari]

Hey, who's got the Quaffle? by Tristan Volkmann [Pecari]

Nicodemus Sawyer

*relieved sigh* by Nicodemus Sawyer

Marian Parker

Strange, I usually sweep with these by Marian Parker

Dani Adair

Strange, I watch them sweep by themselves. by Dani Adair

Marian

What does the broom do with the dirt it sweeps up? by Marian

Autumn

I honestly can't think of a title. by Autumn

Ellie McGill

Anything but this again by Ellie McGill

Neal Padrig

You seem to be doing just fine by Neal Padrig

Ellie

Are you sure? Because I'm certainly not feeling fine. by Ellie

Neal

Let's fix that then, shall we? by Neal

Sophia Randolph

I am flying!! by Sophia Randolph

Colleen Ryan

This could go badly wrong! by Colleen Ryan

Kirstenna Melcher

Me too! by Kirstenna Melcher

Tristan

I'm hoping it goes goodly well by Tristan

Cosette Miller

On and off by Cosette Miller

Ellie

Definitely, thank you. by Ellie

Colleen

It could go either way by Colleen

Sophia Randolph

This is awesome! by Sophia Randolph

Caleb Nichols

Why oh WHY do I have to do this?! by Caleb Nichols

Brian Moore

Because you're a good student, of course! by Brian Moore

Tristan

I hope for the best by Tristan

Neal

You're quite welcome by Neal

Caleb Nichols

Good student, my butt. by Caleb Nichols

Colleen

I smile at the worst by Colleen

Tristan

I try to be ready for anything by Tristan

Ellie

Back on two feet by Ellie

Kirstenna

Totally! by Kirstenna

Neal

It's safer that way by Neal

Ellie

You know it! by Ellie

Neal

And you agree! by Neal

Ellie

Well it's true, so why wouldn't I? :D by Ellie

Colleen

I try and fail by Colleen

Tristan

That sounds pessimistic by Tristan

Colleen

At least I go down smiling by Colleen

Tristan

I'd rather go up smiling by Tristan

Brian

I thought Aladrens were good students? by Brian

Samantha Hamilton

Up and down by Samantha Hamilton

Dmitri Petrovskii

Joining in. by Dmitri Petrovskii

Gulps by Autumn Collins

relieved sigh by Nicodemus Sawyer