Reviving the Chaser Action on Quidditch Pitch

Coach Amelia Pierce

February 11, 2011 9:09 AM

Game I: Aladren vs Teppenpaw! by Coach Amelia Pierce

Coach Amelia Pierce had enjoyed - nearly - every game she'd ever referred at Sonora. There'd been one or two that the weather had made unpleasant or that had become somewhat stressful when a player fell off her broom or crashed into the ground chasing a snitch, but by and large this was a good and fun job. She planned to be here a while.

Now, maybe if some professional Quidditch team asked her to play with them in the World Championships, yeah, she'd probably drop it as quick as Amy Fox had, but that was seriously unlikely. About as unlikely as the chance that anybody in the stands or on the Pitch might stay dry today.

It wasn't raining yet, but the clouds were dark and menacing, and she expected they could open up with deluges of water at any time. So far, she hadn't heard any rumblings of thunder though, so the game was still on.

So she didn't allow the captains quite as much time as she normally did to give their pregame speeches and called them over as soon as it it looked like they were winding down. She did, however, take a few seconds while Tobar Brishen was talking to study his team's only Pierce. Derry Four caught her looking and she quickly turned to look over at the Aladren team, pretending like she hadn't just been watching her cousin. She needed to at least pretend impartiality here, with the eyes of the school on her.

"Welcome to the first Quidditch Game of the Season," she called out to the crowd as well as the captains with the help of a sonorus charm. "With any luck, we'll beat the rain, so let's get started quickly. Captain Nash of Aladren, shake the hand of Captain Brishen of Teppenpaw." The two boys did, and she sent them back to their teams and released the snitch and bludgers.

"On three," she said, skipping over pretty much every formality beyond the handshake. "One, two, three," she blew her whistle to signal the game's start and threw the Quaffle high up into the air.

OOC: Please refer to the instructions on the OOC page if you haven't participated in a Quidditch game before. Everyone else, remember to write detailed posts and have fun!

Subthreads:

We have this one by Captain Nash, Chaser with Captain Brishen,Chaser, Arthur Carey, Chaser, Andrew Duell, Chaser, Preston Stratford,Beater, Derry Four, Beater, Kirstenna Melcher,Keeper, Russell Layne, Chaser, Edmond Carey, Beater

Failure is not an option by Arnold Carey, Seeker with Edmond Carey, Beater

Recentering. Play continues up here. (nm) by Coach Pierce with Arthur Carey, Chaser, Arnold Carey, Seeker

1 Coach Amelia Pierce Game I: Aladren vs Teppenpaw! 20 Coach Amelia Pierce 1 5

Captain Nash, Chaser

February 11, 2011 10:21 AM

We have this one by Captain Nash, Chaser

The morning of Aladren's first Quidditch game with Daniel as its Captain dawned dark and dreary. Daniel did not let that affect him. A glance out the window showed that it was going to rain, but they'd practiced and played in the rain before. It wasn't ideal, of course, but Aladren would be no more disadvantaged by it than Teppenpaw would.

He ate his usual pre-game meal - toast with jam instead of butter, one egg (scrambled), milk, and an orange. He returned to his room, put on his blue Quidditch robes, fixed the tiny imperfections on his broom, and then headed out to the pitch. It still wasn't raining yet (which kind of surprised him, but he wasn't going to complain about good fortune).

Once he had his team assembled, he began his speech. He'd written it up before hand and rehearsed it a few times. It had borrowed heavily from Geoff and Thomas, but not much from Paul. "All right, everyone. We've worked hard, and I'm proud of this team. Most of Teppenpaws team is about as new as we are," this was not strictly true. They had five returning players to his three, but they had no sixth years on their team at all and their only fifth year was an on-again-off-again player. Most of the Teppenpaws were 11 to 13 years old and their captain was the youngest captain in the school, being only a fourth year. He thought it averaged out to about equal experience.

He was about to go on - some advice that most of them probably didn't need anyway, and a warning about the impending rain that he'd put into his speech while he was eating his eggs, but the coach made a come-on gesture at him so he skipped to end, "We can do this. Go Hawks!"

He hurried over to the Coach, shook Tobar's hand in a sportsmanlike way, but did not wish him luck. He'd rather Aladren keep it for themselves.

He returned to his team, put a quick water repellent charm on his robes for when the storm clouds opened up on them, and readied himself on his broom for the whistle. It came, and he kicked off the ground quickly, his experience and larger size giving him the advantage over all the younger Chasers on the field, and the Quaffle was in his possession.

He flew his broom up at an angle that headed in the direction of the Teppenpaw goals. He didn't want to hold onto the ball for too long - he was the very definition of a good beater target (Captain, the oldest player on the team, Aladren's only non-first year Chaser) so the first time he saw an opening to pass to Russell or Arthur, he took it.

0 Captain Nash, Chaser We have this one 0 Captain Nash, Chaser 0 5

Captain Brishen,Chaser

February 11, 2011 12:52 PM

I don't think you do. by Captain Brishen,Chaser

Tobar was nervous about his first Quidditch game as Captain so that morning he was up rather earlier then he would have liked. He went down to Cascade hall had a quick breakfast before going back up to his dorm. He had laid out his Quidditch robes the night before and was happy that they were in a still good condition. Like any good player he had serviced his broom the night before. He knew he was fully prepared and his team was also.

His team was a bit ragtag but he liked it. He felt they had a good mix of first years, and older players. Hopefully Andrew, Arista, and himself could make as good of team that Lucie and he had been while passing the Quaffle. Though he was worried a bit about his beaters, both Derry and Ben were first years, he would have liked to have an older player with a first year but that obviously wasn’t even a choice.

He frowned as he walked out to the Quidditch Pitch and saw that it was cloudy. That was okay to him his team could handle it. He gathered his team around him and smiled. “Alright guys! This is it! We have a more experienced team and you first years have been doing great in practice! Now it looks like it’s about to pour down so make sure to cast a water repellent charm on your robes! If you don’t know how tell me now.”

He smiled as the Coach called him over to shake hands. Merlin, this felt odd giving the speech and shaking the hand of the other captain. Soon enough he was in the air, of course Daniel got the Quaffle first. Tobar groaned but was forced his broom to go faster. He saw Daniel pass the Quaffle to one of his Chasers and Tobar swooped in and grabbed it.

With a quick turn on his broom he was heading towards Aladren’s goals. He smiled and made it about half way before he tossed the Quaffle to one of the other Teppenpaw Chasers.

0 Captain Brishen,Chaser I don't think you do. 0 Captain Brishen,Chaser 0 5

Arthur Carey, Chaser

February 11, 2011 2:48 PM

Mm, I'm afraid I'm going to have to agree with my captain by Arthur Carey, Chaser

Normally, Arthur was perfectly happy being himself, having seen the alternatives and deemed them worse than his present condition. He’d been a little worried that coming to Sonora would show him something better to be than the Careys had offered, and that this new self would prove unattainable, but so far he had remained secure in his conviction that being the same Arthur he’d always been was a good thing. There were times when he wished he was a little less himself, his head wasn’t always a very comfortable place, but very few when he wished he was more like someone else.

On the morning of Aladren’s first Quidditch match, then, it surprised him to realize he wished he could be a little…a little more like Arnold, actually, which wasn’t something he was used to. He wasn’t really any closer to being the perfect son than his twin was, but at least he knew how to hide it. Arnold, on the other hand, was hasty, impatient, quick to anger, slow to appreciate what they were told to appreciate – too much Grandfather, not enough Anthony IV, in other words, not what Father and the rest of the family except Grandfather wanted at all. Arthur had first realized, when he was very small, he thought he could almost remember it, that being Arthur was better than being something else because he had observed how the rest of the family reacted to his brother.

But Arnold was also, as far as Arthur could tell, nearly completely fearless. Their mother’s family had to win, their father’s didn’t know how to lose, and the combination made the kinds of things that occurred to Arthur, like how much better the older students on the Teppenpaw team had to be and how even their own captain likely saw them as doomed jokes, simply not exist for Arnold. He’d think no more about trying to steal the ball from the Teppenpaw captain, Mr. Brishen, than he would of trying to snatch it from Arthur on the lawns at home.

That was the kind of mindset Arthur needed for today: completely self-assured, and, since his twin was going to be playing Seeker, completely self-centered. So, as Captain Nash spoke to them, Arthur did his best to shut himself away in a little bubble in the center of his mind, the way Father had taught them both to if he had never thought of using it this way, and have everything else pretend that it was Arnold.

The little corner of him that was still Arthur observed that the Teppenpaw Beaters were both first years, which gave Aladren an advantage in taking out Seekers if Derwent Pierce – or, as his brother informed him the New Hampshire heir preferred to be called, “Derryfour” – was not too crazy, and quite possibly if he was. Edmond was a Savannah Carey and therefore likely to do something awful any day now, but until then, corner-of-Arthur could not help but feel a little better for having someone about the size of his father holding a club behind him and only people smaller than that holding clubs in front of him.

The rest of him, meanwhile, was busy being Arnold and doing a very good job of pretending to wonder when they were going to get to do something.

Getting into the air helped the fantasy more than he had expected it to, but it made sense. Arnold was always the most Arnold outside, so of course Arthur would be the most Arnold after the kickoff. It occurred to him to be a little worried when his reaction to Mr. Brishen intercepting an Aladren pass was to want to knock the older boy off his broom, but following the rules when he would definitely be caught and punished for not following the rules was too deeply ingrained in him for anything he could think of to break it, so he settled instead for flying forward, much more boldly than he normally would have, and intercepting Mr. Brishen’s pass in retaliation.

Because it seemed smarter to put more rather than less distance between himself and the ground, he made his escape by flying higher up, away from the Teppenpaws, before turning and going hard to the right, back toward Aladren’s original line. Ever since his trouble with it at the tryouts, Arthur had been practicing moving side-to-side more on his own, and was pleased to see it pay off. His feelings toward his strategy of pretending to be his brother were similar as he flew back toward the Teppenpaw goals, losing some of the altitude and gaining them what felt like a good distance before trying to pass to either Daniel or Russell. The real Arnold would have just gone for the goal himself, ‘teamwork’ wasn’t a concept Arnie was very good with, but Arthur wasn’t going to underestimate the Teppenpaw Beaters that far.

0 Arthur Carey, Chaser Mm, I'm afraid I'm going to have to agree with my captain 0 Arthur Carey, Chaser 0 5

Captain Nash, Chaser

February 11, 2011 6:43 PM

Aladrens are very rarely wrong, you know. by Captain Nash, Chaser

The first pass was intercepted, but Arthur (Daniel was slightly surprised to see) intercepted right back and Aladren had the ball again. Arthur made a good distance before passing back to Daniel. The sixth year caught it easily and kept going toward the Teppenpaw goals. Daniel debated briefly between passing it off to Russell or taking a shot at the goal himself, and decided he was close enough to risk a shot.

He took stock of where the beaters were, steered clear, and headed in from the right side of the goals. He made as though to shoot for the rightmost one, then veered more central (nearly taking out another player in the process, but Daniel had mass on everyone but Edmond in this game so he wasn't afraid to play chicken), and threw the ball toward the center hoop.

Once the Quaffle left his hand, he turned his broom sharply upwards and shot up above the main playing altitude so he could come down in a diving interception later. Only once he reached a good height did he look down to see if his shot had gone in. It had been well aimed, but shooting at the middle hoop was always a gamble.

0 Captain Nash, Chaser Aladrens are very rarely wrong, you know. 0 Captain Nash, Chaser 0 5

Arnold Carey, Seeker

February 11, 2011 7:47 PM

Failure is not an option by Arnold Carey, Seeker

As he put on his gloves and examined his broom, with an uncharacteristic level of attention to detail, for any small problems, Arnold was feeling nervous about the Quidditch game.

He knew what he was doing; that wasn’t a problem. He also wasn’t too intimidated by the prospect of competing against a twelve-year-old girl. He wasn’t even very worried about being hit by a Bludger, since that had happened before and was only really a problem if he broke both arms or took a direct hit to the head. No, it wasn’t anything logical that was bothering him, something that even Grandfather would have to admit was a valid point. It was stage fright.

He had never played Quidditch, or really done anything else competitive, in public at all, and now he was doing that in a position where all eyes would be on him at the end. He had thought classes might prepare him for that, but only a few people, at most, noticed his successes or failures there; today, it seemed likely that the entire school would. He was sure he was going to win, because he could not even think about facing Daniel and Edmond and then writing a letter about it that Grandfather would read if he didn’t, but –

Even the Fourth, who was at the very top of the family hierarchy and, he was sure, had joined everyone in never liking him as well as he did Arthur and Anthony anyway, was invested. He had, along with Mother and Father, sent him a good-luck card. Admittedly, he’d seen Arthur taking a family owl, too, but still. It looked like the Fourth had signed his himself, and the other one, from his parents, had both of their handwritings on it as well, so it wasn’t just Belinda and Mother being sentimental and politically correct again. Them wishing Arthur luck as well did not detract from how high that put the stakes for Arnold. Arthur wasn’t the one in charge of catching the Snitch.

If – when, not if; when – he caught the Snitch, Arnold realized, he might well be more approved of than either of his brothers, at least for a few days. If that wasn’t enough to make him nervous, he didn’t know what was. He was, however, convinced he wouldn’t admit to it under torture – it wasn’t the Carey way, and even if it had been, what was he supposed to do? Tell his brothers he wished they’d never been born? When it wasn’t even really true? – so that was all right.

Being nervous, though, that wasn’t all right, so he kept smiling as though he were having the time of his life all the way through the morning and into the captain’s speech. He noticed Arthur giving him disturbed looks through breakfast, so he was pretty sure he looked more manic than he’d really like, but it was better than letting everyone and the Teppenpaws see him gray-faced and about to be sick, so he kept it up anyway, dropping it only when he kicked off. He had to concentrate on finding the Snitch, and besides, no one was really going to be watching to see his expression at that distance, just watching the Chasers scramble until he or Miss Bauer made any sudden moves to draw their attention.

Arnold, selfishly, wanted that to be soon, and not just because it was almost certainly about to start raining. He knew the audience would feel a little disappointed if it was all over in five minutes, but he just wanted to win this one and have it over. The next one would be more of a challenge, more fun, he knew, but this first time…He just needed to prove himself and be done with it. He had to remind himself not to move his eyes from one place to another so quickly that he couldn’t process any of the information he was getting from them in time to react to it.

0 Arnold Carey, Seeker Failure is not an option 181 Arnold Carey, Seeker 0 5

Edmond Carey, Beater

February 11, 2011 9:54 PM

Not a very attractive one, anyway by Edmond Carey, Beater

”I would appreciate it very much,” Arthur had said, as formally as if he were a very short adult instead of an eleven-year-old, ”if you could keep my brother from getting himself killed, please. He’s very reckless, especially when he’s trying to win.”

Edmond had been surprised to be approached in that way, since his near-stalker’s twin had appeared to be avoiding him as much as possible since school began, but had assured Arthur that he would do his best to ensure that Arnold left the Pitch in one piece, along with everyone else. He had not meant anything by it – he was one of the Beaters; therefore, he protected the Seeker at all costs and the others as best he could, regardless of whether or not they were his relatives – but he was still wondering, based on the solemn nod and slight bow he’d been offered once he made that assurance, if Arthur thought there was now some kind of contract between them. Both of his families classified the South Carolina Careys as a little odd, but Edmond was really sure that these two had to be strange even by their standards.

They were not acting more normal than he’d previously observed them to as the team gathered before the game. Arthur seemed to have sunk past his normal state of it into an unnaturally deep, almost narcotic calm, as though he were not really there, and Arnold was grinning like a maniac, as though having all the hope their new, inexperienced team had riding on his shoulders was something he relished; Edmond almost expected him to start whistling a jaunty tune while his brother slowly fell over like a poorly-grounded statue. He decided to try to ignore these phenomena as far as possible.

He paid more attention to Daniel’s speech. As impossible as it seemed, it would not be quite two years before he was required to compose and deliver speeches like that, so he was going to have to learn the form of them before that point. It had been pointed out to him that the way he spoke on his own was not particularly good for addressing an audience, following the train of his thoughts the way it usually did and using what Jane referred to as “too many words,” though she was vague about what that meant.

Increasingly, it occurred to him that nothing about him was quite right for the purposes someone wanted to use the anything in question for. He thought this was an excellent argument for them all leaving him alone, but they seemed to think it would be a better investment to try to reshape him into whatever it was they wanted. Edmond had his objections, but no one seemed to care about that, either.

The sky was a color Edmond liked, when he could see it from behind glass and possibly near a warm fire and a few of his favorite books, like on days when it rained while he was doing his lessons in the library at home, but he couldn’t say he was very happy about going out in it. If Arnold didn’t catch the Snitch quickly, they were all going to be rained on. Then it would be even harder for the Seekers to see what they were after, harder for the Chasers to keep hold of and catch the ball, the Keepers to save if one set of Chasers or the other was slightly luckier, and for everyone to stay on their brooms, especially if the wind picked up and the Bludgers got hard to hear. That would be unpleasant.

Once they were all in the air, he took a handy opportunity to hit a Bludger toward the nearest Teppenpaw player whose back was to him before going to cover Arnold. His strategy for the day was to try to take out as many Teppenpaws as possible, since their Beaters were not huge threats, but keeping the Seeker intact any time he couldn’t see both Bludgers and preferably Aladren in control of them was still the main idea.

0 Edmond Carey, Beater Not a very attractive one, anyway 0 Edmond Carey, Beater 0 5

Andrew Duell, Chaser

February 12, 2011 3:37 PM

but maybe just a little blind... by Andrew Duell, Chaser

Andrew was a bit excited for his first actual match. Practices had been going well, he'd discovered Chasing was a bit like riding a bike. He started remembering all sorts of stuff from his previous experience. Hopefully it worked the same during the game as it did during practice. There was only one way to find out. The sky looked a little questionable, but that was alright. It just made things more exciting. He put the water repelling spell on his robes with the rest of the team, and headed into the air with the whistle blow.

He started out defensively, hanging back ready to intercept the Quaffle if it came towards their goal. Turns out he guessed right, Daniel had it and was heading straight for him. Tobar grabbed it out of the air and took it back the other direction. Andrew grinned and moved forward to support, but quickly reversed as the ball went from Arthur to Daniel again. He moved to intercept before the ball whether Daniel passes or shot for the goal... but Daniel cut to the center and shot for the goal. Andrew wasn't ready, and Daniel nearly crashed into him!

Andrew veered down quickly to avoid the collision. He was way out of line to stop the shot, it was up to Kirstenna now. He swung around and tried to get clear. When she stopped the shot, she'd need someone to pass the ball to, he'd be ready.

2 Andrew Duell, Chaser but maybe just a little blind... 145 Andrew Duell, Chaser 0 5

Preston Stratford,Beater

February 12, 2011 7:02 PM

I have very good eye-hand coordination by Preston Stratford,Beater

For the first time in his rather short life, Preston was nervous. Yes, he was nervous, and there was only one reason for that, and it involved Quidditch. A sport he had hardly ever played. After he made the team (Thank Merlin for that) he had started a rather grueling practice routine. He could not do poorly for various reasons, and the first was that he could not disappoint Daniel. Not to mention that he was not used to fail at something, and he would not start with something as idiotic as Quidditch. The green-eyed boy could not care less about the sport; he was playing it because of some ulterior and awesome motives. Being named Head Boy in the future. As far as he knew, that race was decided by popularity, and he needed to be popular. It was all part of a greater scheme of life.

The day of his first match ever, Preston has woken up with a very strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. It was the first time he had ever felt that, maybe it had to do with the fact that he was scared/nervous about the whole affair. What if the other Beaters were vicious and injured him? Or worse, he managed to be play poorly and his team would be seen as the loser? Or there was still a more horrible notion than that, what if Daniel saw him as an incompetent loser? No, there was no other option but being good at Beating. There was really no other choice. Plus, he had practiced relentlessly and studied strategies and all that. He felt he was prepared, but why did he have that horrible feeling?

Trying to calm himself, he ate something before heading to the Quidditch Pitch. His new Beater equipment would help him in this ordeal. His father had asked for news after the game ended, and Preston hoped he would be able to send good news home. Make his father see that it was not a waste of time, that it was something more than being a brainless jock. He was going to show him that his decision to do this was not stupid.

When the first-year entered the Pitch, he noticed that it looked like a storm was going to start. That did not look like good news. Rain would impair his vision, which would not go nicely with his aim (he had vastly improved on that and his force). He shook his head in mild annoyance at the bad weather.

When the game finally started, Preston rose with his brand-new broom and began smacking Bludgers to every Teppenpaw player he saw. They were not going to lose to his account. Preston followed the game while he tried to injure the other players, or at least distract them from the game. The Quaffle was flying from hand to hand and the first shot of the game was thrown by Daniel (Yes! Go Daniel!), a Chaser of the opposing team was hovering waiting to see what would happen, this was his chance. Preston grinned and sent a passing Bludger towards him. When his bat connected with the Bludger, a loud crack was heard, and he couldn’t help but smile at the sound.

0 Preston Stratford,Beater I have very good eye-hand coordination 0 Preston Stratford,Beater 0 5

Derry Four, Beater

February 12, 2011 8:42 PM

Discretion is the greater part of valor, right? by Derry Four, Beater

Derry liked Quidditch a lot. It was fun, and it was social, and he got to work as a team with a bunch of people from his House that he might not have otherwise met (Captain Tobar was in fourth year and Andrew was in fifth!) and Ben was like a super dooper teammate cuz Derry worked with him most, which was great because Derry really liked his roommate and they got along really well.

Captain Tobar didn't seem to think it was ideal to have both beaters be first years, but Derry thought it was the bestest! Next year they wouldn't be first years, and the year after that they wouldn't even be second years, and by then they'd work together like they could read each others' minds and stuff. At least, that was how Derry saw it. By their seventh year, they'd have the greatest beating team in the school and nobody would be able to stand against the Ben & Derry!

And he wasn't quite sure if he would have met Kirstenna very easily either if they hadn't both been on the team, either, and Kirstenna was a great person who totally got the whole Impostor thing with the Coach. Speaking of which, she was watching him. Derry nudged Kirstenna to point that out, but the coach had already turned away and Captain Tobar was talking about water repelling charms - which he totally did not know how to do yet, but fortunately Andrew did, so he got that taken care of while Captain Tobar shook hands with Captain Head Boy.

Derry took the opportunity to look at the Aladren team, and there was a scary tall Beater standing over there. He breifly considered skirting the line of Bravery vs. Insanity/Stupidity, and reached the conclusion he was not that brave. So he poked at Ben and whispered, "I never played agained old people before. You got the big guy, right?" Ben had played with his big sister before, after all. Derry'd only played with his nine-year-old cousin who didn't even like beating so they usually just played Broom Tag. It wasn't like you could play Quidditch with just two people.

If Three had still been alive, he could have practiced with a big brother, but if Three had still been alive, Derry Four wouldn't have been born so the point was kind of moot. And Mom and the twins were girls so they didn't play, and if Father got on the broom, the world would implode, and his older cousins had no interest in playing with a kid who was at least thirteen years younger than them. Most were married and off the Mountain, as well.

Anyway, the whistle blew and Derry was in the air, and following after the crazy Aladren Beater who wasn't a giant. It wasn't long before Derry began to wonder if maybe Ben had the easier job after all.

Captain Head Boy took a shot at the goals, and Crazy Aladren Beater took a shot at Andrew, so Derry swooped in, and used his bat to make his own satisfyingly loud CRACK as he redirected the bludger back toward an Aladren Chaser.

1 Derry Four, Beater Discretion is the greater part of valor, right? 189 Derry Four, Beater 0 5

Kirstenna Melcher,Keeper

February 13, 2011 3:16 PM

Sure. by Kirstenna Melcher,Keeper

While it wasn't Kirstenna's first game of Quidditch ever, it was her first game as assistant captain. She was excited and for the first time in a whie, nervous. Now, even though Kirstenna still didn't really like competition, she felt more responsible for if they won or lost. Even though she was still the keeper, and things usually came down to Seekers-She didn't know Arnold Carey, he was a year younger than Kate, but might have still been playing longer, as he was a male pureblood-Kirstenna felt like it was more her team now, though not as much as it was Tobar's.

Something else was bothering Kirstenna too. She was pretty sure that the Impostor was back. And she was not the Deputy Head or the new Groundskeepers-one of whom Quentin had told her was a distant cousin, which made sense as Chelsea, Pippa,Tawny,Nina and Hope Brockert were all distant cousins, Seth Brockert would be too-or the Astronomy teacher. She was Coach Amelia Pierce, as pointed out to her by Derry Four, one the team's new beaters. Derry had mentioned that she had stolen the identity of his dead cousin Amelia.

The only thing that didn't quite make sense to her about it was that Amelia Pierce had been here Kirstenna's first year, and Derry claimed his cousin had died twelve years ago or something. The Impostor could have been impersonating Derry's cousin all that time, but she had been pretending to be Jannette Wolfe during Kirstenna's first year.

It was very perplexing, but Kirstenna would totally figure it out. She was sure of one thing, the Impostor was now, definitely, the Quidditch Coach. And that was quite scary. The Impostor was a dangerous person and Quidditch could be a dangerous sport. The two combined were more dangerous than an angry Tawny Brockert.

And she seemed to be watching Derry. Why? It was Kirstenna who was on to her . It was Kirstenna who had told Brian her theory, which she was certain had gotten him kidnapped and possibly killed by now. Of course, Derry had figured it out quickly as well. So maybe she knew that the first year was on to her too. It was sort of a mistake to use the identity of someone long dead and get a job at a magical school. Especially a pureblood someone who might have relatives attending said school.

Or maybe she hadn't been watching Derry at all, but had been watching Kirstenna

Maybe there were two Impostors and they had been in cahoots. But they had gotten in a fight and Impostor One had killed Impostor Two and stolen the identity that Impostor Two had been using for several years. Or maybe Impostor Two had taken over the identity of Amelia Pierce when she'd first died but had been an undercover agent sent to Sonora to investigate Impostor One and the Beetle Lady, and when the Impostor found out, she killed the Undercover Agent, assumed the identity of Amelia Pierce, kidnapped Brian and and poisoned Headmistress Powell. Yes, that made sense and was perfectly logical.

Now was not the time to worry about this, however, now it was time to play Quidditch and Kirstenna had to keep her eyes on the game. Granted, someone needed to keep an eye on the Impostor too but it couldn't be her or Derry right now.

The keeper groaned as Daniel Nash, (the Aladren Captain and Head Boy whom Quentin said never let anyone forget that he was Head Boy) took the Quaffle, but cheered as Tobar interecepted. Kirstenna was disappointed again when one of the Aladren chasers who was not Head Boy intercepted Tobar's throw, and Daniel once again caught it.

And now he was going for a goal. Kirstenna sped for the middle hoop, where she normally spent the game anyway, blocked it, and threw it off to Andrew, who was the closest Chaser.

11 Kirstenna Melcher,Keeper Sure. 161 Kirstenna Melcher,Keeper 0 5

Russell Layne, Chaser

February 13, 2011 6:27 PM

Not sure I want Falstaff as a life coach, but whatever works by Russell Layne, Chaser

On his own, Russell Layne didn’t think he was very aggressive. He was okay with being the observer, which was good for him, since it was the role in life he fit into best and the one, he was rapidly beginning to believe, would be in his best interests around his roommates. He’d been born into a relatively well off family, and believed that he was no slouch when it came to appreciating culture after living behind and partially beneath the high-end antiques shop his parents owned and operated for his entire life, but being around Arnold, Arthur, and Preston reminded him that he was still the son of a shopkeeper and they were still the kind of people who only interacted with his father when they wanted to shop.

Those three, along with the general atmosphere of Aladren House in general and their dorm room in particular, though, were the reason why he was feeling a little more aggressive – or something like that; it wasn’t the right word, just the best he could come up with – than usual. He never completely lost his sense of being separate from his surroundings, somehow too much himself to completely change for the situation, but he was good at almost blending in. It was something he did automatically, without even really noticing it, and where he was now, that meant having a certain level of family and intellectual pride and sense of superiority, and made him feel the need to prove himself his roommates’ equal.

Plus, he might not care about any of it too much for its own sake, but he knew that if he didn’t do something to assert his worth in the eyes of the other Aladren first years, there was a good chance they would try to treat him as an errand boy or something, and he did have some self-respect no matter what he was blending in with. They were all mainly distant relatives of his, and likely of Arnold and Arthur’s, but the fact remained that a lot more Laynes had excelled at this school than Careys. It was a small thing, being proud of his family because it wasn’t routinely investigated for dark magic, but Russell was proud of it just the same.

He also didn’t think too poorly of his skill on a broom, though that was a relative thing when he was playing the same position as Captain Head Boy Daniel Nash and Freakishly Smart Guy Arthur Carey. He thought he and Arthur might be about equally balanced in Chaser skills, so if he could do something kind of cool in this match, then that would be good.

The early minutes of the game didn’t give him that chance; there was a lot of movement, he was having trouble telling exactly what was going on, and Arthur was acting…off, somehow. Russell thought he was okay at people, and that interception didn’t seem like Arthur. More like Arnold or Preston, really, if they’d been Chasers – those two were a little crazy about this game, which was especially impressive in Preston’s case, since he’d flat-out admitted he’d initially learned all he knew about the game from books and had never played it before tryouts. Maybe Quidditch just made everyone besides Russell a little crazy.

Even he, though, found himself grinning as it became clear that Aladren was about to score the first goal of the game, and angry when the Teppenpaw Keeper saved it. He had a crazy moment where he considered intercepting her pass back to a Teppenpaw Chaser and trying again on the goals right then, but then he glanced sideways and, because he was better at it than at diving, went straight up.

He didn’t avoid the blow completely – after the initial moment of shock, the back of his lower left leg began to hurt like the dickens, his knee felt like it had been wrenched in a direction it wasn’t really supposed to go, and he was very sure he was going to have a nasty bruise if it wasn’t looked after soon – but he didn’t think anything was broken. His eyes were watering a little, though, and his preference would have been to get it looked after at once, but the thought of what the team would think stopped him. If he was right about nothing being broken, then he thought he could deal with it, and if he was wrong, it would start hurting worse and then he’d go see the medic. Meanwhile, he tried, while still repeating "ow" under his breath, to focus on looking for the Quaffle.

16 Russell Layne, Chaser Not sure I want Falstaff as a life coach, but whatever works 183 Russell Layne, Chaser 0 5

Edmond Carey, Beater

February 13, 2011 7:32 PM

Is that the official NQL motto? by Edmond Carey, Beater

Arnold was, Edmond was sure, looking for the Snitch, but he was equally sure his cousin was paying too much attention to the rest of the game to do that well. Not only had he suddenly grinned when his brother made that interception, but he’d been drifting, in what he no doubt believed was a spectacularly stealthy fashion, in the same direction as the movement of the Quaffle, too. Thinking back, Edmond seemed to remember that he’d been a Chaser in at least one family game, so he supposed that made sense, but it didn’t help Aladren much.

He was about to yell at him about it and just hope it was processed as Assistant Captain Edmond talking instead of Carey Edmond when he noticed the spat Preston was having with one of the Teppenpaw Beaters. Russell looked hit, but not too badly, so that was good. Less good was the way being slightly slowed by Russell had changed the Bludger’s trajectory so it was now heading, if at a reduced pace, toward the Aladren Seeker, who, if the glimmer of gold Edmond could see at the other end was actually the Snitch, shouldn’t even have been in the area.

“Arnold, Seek!” Edmond shouted, ignoring the slight discomfort of speaking to another wizard the way he might a crup, and flew out to intercept the Bludger.

Knowing it would only turn and attack him if he did, Edmond didn’t stop to hit it, but rather put both his arms behind the hit aimed at the Teppenpaw Seeker while he was still moving. He always felt bad about attacking girls, here or in Defense, but Quidditch was Quidditch, and Coach Pierce was certainly qualified to catch a falling player and the players durable enough to take what a Bludger could dish out without sustaining permanent damage and Medic Rocamboli to fix the damage that was done anyway, and Edmond putting Kate Bauer in the hospital overnight was Aladren’s best bet for a win and generous advantage in the House points competition.

0 Edmond Carey, Beater Is that the official NQL motto? 0 Edmond Carey, Beater 0 5

Andrew Duell, Chaser

February 13, 2011 7:54 PM

I'm not sure, we'll have to check around. by Andrew Duell, Chaser

Truthfully, Andrew was loosing track of what was going on, but he wasn't going to tell anyone. The Quaffle was flying back and forth, the Bludgers were rocketing all around, and on top of that he nearly ran into Daniel. He remembered the game being chaotic from two years ago, but he didn't remember it being like this. He heard the sound of a Bludger being redirected coming from closer than he'd like, but he couldn't afford to look and see what had happened. Kirstenna had blocked the shot and thrown the ball his way. Now was his chance!

He caught the ball, fumbled it a moment, and then got a secure hold. He spun his broom around and made for the opposite of the pitch, looking for his fellow chasers. One of them had to be clear, he saw a opening and passed. He breathed a sigh of relief, and pointed his broom upwards to get a better view of what was going on. Hopefully he could sort it out.

2 Andrew Duell, Chaser I'm not sure, we'll have to check around. 145 Andrew Duell, Chaser 0 5

Kate Bauer, Seeker

February 13, 2011 9:25 PM

The super-long list of fouls suggests it's not. by Kate Bauer, Seeker

Nervous was the right thing to feel before a Quidditch game, and Kate guessed she did feel that a little, but mostly, she was excited.

Strategy wasn’t a huge skill of hers, but it was clear that Teppenpaw had a huge advantage over Aladren in terms of experience, and she had at least some advantage over the Aladren Seeker in the same terms. Jera Valson had been unbeatable, but Arnold Carey was eleven years old. Admittedly, he was a Carey, which meant something, but still – Kate had played on brooms before she ever came to Sonora, and when she’d been eleven and in her first game, she’d totally blown it, which was why she’d been working as much as she could ever since to get better. She thought she’d improved a lot, and getting the position back made her really believe it.

She greeted the rest of the team cheerfully, loving being a second year and the greater comfort around people it gave her all over again, listened to the speech, and thought she did an okay job with the water-repelling charm (or hoped she did, anyway; she had to be able to see to do her Seeker thing, and be focused on what she was doing, and being sopping wet and uncomfortable and having rain in her eyes and on her hands and broom if the game didn’t end before the sky fell in wouldn’t help her with either of those), and then went out with the rest of the team when Coach Pierce called them to the center to begin, where she saw the one major advantage Aladren did have sticking out like a sore thumb.

Her sister (who wasn’t speaking to her again, but who, Kate would just about bet, was skulking somewhere in the stands, maybe with a hat, maybe even on the Aladren side, but there for her just the same) said he was actually pretty nice, but Edmond Carey just looked like a big and slightly scary guy while holding a club and towering over a bunch of first years. He’d also probably been playing longer than eleven of the other thirteen people on the Pitch, and could almost certainly hit a lot harder than any other Beater. Strategy might not have been Kate’s strong point, but it didn’t take Sun Tzu to realize that he had probably been tasked with putting her in the hospital for the next few months.

That didn’t make her job any easier than the rain would, since she had to keep an extra eye and ear out for Bludgers while still looking for the Snitch, but she could handle it. Sure she could. She was Kate Bauer, second year Seeker extraordinaire.

She glanced up long enough to tell that her side was applauding for Kirstenna making a save instead of one of the Chasers making a goal, and a moment later looked toward the Aladrens when she heard Edmond yelling at Arnold. Had he spotted the Snitch? No – he was hitting a Bludger toward her!

Kate dove, extending her hand in front of her as though she had just seen the Snitch. With any luck, Arnold would follow, and Derry and Ben would be able to hit the Bludgers toward him after she pulled out of the dive (a good ten feet, minimum, above the ground; she was nowhere near crazy enough to think she was good enough to pull off a true Wronski Feint) while he was lured away from his Beaters and take him out of the game, if only long enough for the nurse to fix a broken rib or two. That would give her some time to try to track down the Snitch without interference, and jump on it the moment the game resumed.

16 Kate Bauer, Seeker The super-long list of fouls suggests it's not. 170 Kate Bauer, Seeker 0 5

Derry Four, Beater

February 15, 2011 1:14 PM

Preventing a Kate Crater. by Derry Four, Beater

The bludger Derry hit away from Andrew glanced off the leg of one of the Aladren Chasers and kept on going toward the blue-clad Seeker. That hadn't been his intention, but Derry was impressed with himself anyway. At least, he was until the Giant came in whacked the bludger away from Aladren's Seeker and toward Teppenpaws.

He was both closer than Ben and in a good position to react since Kate was diving, both giving him time to get there and closing the distance between them herself. Plus, it was kind of his fault Edmond had been able to get at that bludger anyway. So he turned his broom (not as new as some of the other brooms on the field, but it had been top of the line and custom made when it was purchased, and someone had kept it well maintained before Derry got it) and sped toward his team's seeker as fast as his broom allowed.

He didn't have the time to aim it anywhere, and his actual game experience was all but nil so he wasn't entirely sure who might be endangered, but as far as Derry was concerned, anyone on the pitch was better to be hit with a bludger than Kate the Teppenpaw Seeker, so he just blindly whaled that black metal beast as hard as he could in the direction of Away.

1 Derry Four, Beater Preventing a Kate Crater. 189 Derry Four, Beater 0 5

Preston, Beater

February 15, 2011 9:56 PM

How about a Derry Crater!? by Preston, Beater

Everything was happening so fast, that Preston became confused after a few tries of catching up with what was going on in the game. Daniel had tried to score, he had failed, Andrew had not been hit by his Bludger, Edmond was targeting the Teppenpaw Seeker, and it all happened in a few seconds. Quidditch was becoming more complicated that he had realized. He had read about it, but the actual experience was different and enlightening. Preston would work harder on becoming the best Beater ever.

After a few very confusing seconds, the redhead got back in the game. He realized that Edmond was trying to hit Rachel, disabling her for the game. Good tactic, he wondered why he had not thought about it. The most important thing was that it would give Aladren a very good edge on the Teppenpaws, not that he doubted for a second that they would win this, but having a very good advantage never hurt anyone, and Edmond was the perfect one to give them that. Plus, he was bigger, and stronger, and meaner than he was. All the good makings of a Beater, or so he had read somewhere.

Deciding that the job to take out the Teppenpaw Seeker would be better off in Edmond’s hands, Preston flew after a Bludger that another first-year Beater sent aimlessly. During the small trajectory towards the homicidal ball, the redhead decided to target his fellow Teppenpaw Beater, it would help his team if the other team just had one Beater, more ground to cover and less human power. Excellent. Preston grinned, he was certain Daniel was going to be impressed by his awesome idea, and praise him. So, he swung his bat and with a loud CRACK sent the Bludger to the small Teppenpaw Beater. Thanks to his long hours of practicing, his aim and strength were better than when he had tried out, he hoped the Bludger would hit its target; Aladren already had an injured player. He could not forget Rusell being injured by the Teppenpaw Beater. That deed would not go unpunished! Aladren for the win!

0 Preston, Beater How about a Derry Crater!? 0 Preston, Beater 0 5

Ben Holland, Beater

February 16, 2011 12:50 AM

I think an Aladren crater will do just fine. by Ben Holland, Beater

Ben was running on pure adrenaline, due to the lack of sleep the previous night. He had to make Cy proud, and he was determined to win this game. The nervous feeling in the pit of his stomach drained away once he was in the air. This was where he belonged.

The game was hard to keep focused on, and he knew that focus was the key to success. He ran a hand through his chocolate curls, tuning his mind into the game. He gripped his bat, ready to defend his team. He watched as Four sent a bludger away from the seeker. An opponent sent it toward Ben, who immediately reacted. Knowing that he wouldn't have time to defend himself, he swooped upward. It barely hit his shin on the way past, but it was enough to bruise. Now, Ben was angry, his knuckles growing white as he held the bat tightly. That kid was not going to get away with it.

As he raced toward the bludger that had zoomed by a couple seconds ago, he knew that the Seeker needed to be his concern. Ben spotted him, and aimed the bludger with as much strength as he could manage. He knew that if it hit, it would surely leave a lovely mark. He grinned, struggling to fight the pain in his lower leg. Cy had always told him it was the best place to take a hit. Sure, it would slow him down a bit, but it wouldn't complete disable him.

He thought back to their training sessions. He hadn't dodged her bludger quickly enough this past summer, and had ended up being hit in back. When she saw that it wasn't life threatening, she forced him back into the air. "Play through pain, Benjamin, it's the only way to win. Push it behind a wall, and keep it there until the seeker has the snitch. Then you can scream, cry, and limp to the Medic as much as you want." Of course, their mother had been livid, but Cy had shrugged it off. With a flick of her wand, she healed his cracked rib, but left the gruesome bruise for a reminder. It had disappeared since, she was constantly reminding him of it.

Ben decided to listen to her, shoving the pain behind a barrier, fighting through it. He loosened his hold, calming himself. "Keep your emotions out of the way, B.J., understand?" Another tip, another mistake in training. He had once complained that he wouldn't ever be perfect, no matter what she did. She had looked at him, and told him that he'd better get his attitude straight before the next day. "Ben, if you aren't willing to strive for it, I'm wasting my time here." Today, Ben was going to strive for it, no matter what it took.

0 Ben Holland, Beater I think an Aladren crater will do just fine. 0 Ben Holland, Beater 0 5

Samantha Hamilton,Keeper

February 16, 2011 5:58 AM

Well this is all very interesting by Samantha Hamilton,Keeper

Even through the practises, Samantha still wasn't sure whether she would prefer playing Chaser or Keeper. She'd signed up for both, thinking she could do a reasonable job at either position on the team, and had ended up as keeper. She's been Chaser in her first year, so she supposed this now presented her an ideal opportunity to discover which out of the two positions really suited her best. She'd been getting a lot better during practises, too, managing to save the Quaffle a good percentage of times. It didn't really come as a surprise to her, since she'd been acting as goalkeeper for her two older brothers while they played soccer shoot-outs in their back yard for just about as long as she could remember. Besides, Keeping was actually easier than Chasing, in Samantha's opinion. Far less movement involved, and you often had more time to prepare for a catch, rather than having to look over your shoulder, above your head, and just about everywhere for the Quaffle whilst avoiding Bludgers and all. Yes, Keeping was definitely easier. Plus there was also the fact that she wasn't actually required to catch the Quaffle - she could knock it away with any given part of her anatomy, just so long as it didn't go through one of those hoops. The rain that threatened to fall any moment would probably make catching the ball more difficult, but it ought not to make a difference to simply batting it away. Samantha thought she'd do okay.

The first game of te year was Aladren versus Teppenpaw, and despite the weather it felt to samantha like a good day. She was pleased to discover that she didn't have any pre-game butterflies. Good; they ought to be a thing of the past. She'd been on the Quidditch team before, and had spent a large portion of her life on soccer teams, playing little league baseball, and generally joining in with team sports whenever the opportunity presented itself. She had no qualms about flying in front of an audience the size of the whole school, especially when she thought Aladren had one of the better teams this year. Admittedly lots of them were first years, but they'd been practising welll and Samantha thought everyone was coming along okay. The only thing that did bother her from time to time was that she was the only girl one the team. more than that, she was the only girl who had tried out for the team. Last year the Assistant Captain had been a girl; what had happened to all the other females in Aladren? Considering the House descriptions, Samantha wouldn't be surprised if Crotalus didn't have many girls on its team, but actually that team seemed to have almost as many girls as boys, plus the captain and assistant were both girls. In fact, Aladren was the only team were both the captain and assistant were both boys. She didn't mind too much, she supposed, she'd never been a particularly girly type anyway (she wore jeans more often than not and didn't even own any make-up, which was apparently unusual for a fourteen year old). It's just that boys could be... such boys sometimes.

Having showered, dressed and breakfasted, Samantha joined the boys down on the pitch and found the school broom she liked to use. It was a Cleansweep in decent shape, and she'd named it Whistler because sometimes the wind caught between its tail twigs and made a high-pitched whistling sound - the broom was now identifiable by this name written in green ink on the handle. Samantha didn't think the Coach would mind her defacing school property in this manner, because it was hardly detrimental to the performance of the broom. It was probably the closest Samantha was ever going to get to her own broom, anyway - her Mom was a Muggle who never had any spare money, her Dad was a fairly rich Muggle who barely spoke to her, and her step-dad was a fairly rich Muggle who was a true idiot and still didn't believe in 'all that magic nonsense' anyway.

After Daniel made his quick speech and retured to the team after shaking hands with the Teppenpaw captain, Samantha readied herself on Whistler, and on the coach's signal she kicked off and headed to 'her spot' - in front of the Aladren hoops. She'd just have to wait there until she was needed, which was turning out to be a really long time. Trying to stay alert in case the Quaffle suddenly came down this end of the pitch, Samantha watched with interest as the Quaffle bounced this way and that, Bludgers were smacked and intercepted then sent off again, and the crowd made a lot of noise. It was exciting to watch, she was sure, but it wasn't so far very exciting for her to play, as the Quaffle was yet to make it down her end of the pitch. She supposed this was a good thing for her team in general, because they were more likely to win if they weren't letting teppenpaw get near enough to score (not to mention the Beaters were doing their best to take out Tepp's Seeker), but it was making dull work for her. Nobody wanted to just sit in front of the hoops all game. Samantha was starting to think that she might prefer playing Chaser, after all.

0 Samantha Hamilton,Keeper Well this is all very interesting 0 Samantha Hamilton,Keeper 0 5

Captain Nash, Chaser

February 16, 2011 10:10 AM

Reviving the Chaser Action by Captain Nash, Chaser

Looking down from his new height, Daniel saw that Kirstenna had the ball and no whistle was blown to indicate a scored goal, so clearly she had saved it. Daniel squashed the surge of disappointment and focused instead on Andrew Duell as he caught the Keeper's pass and started out back toward the Aladren side.

Andrew got further than Daniel really would have preferred, but not far enough to be any threat to the goals when the Teppenpaw Chaser made a pass.

Still acutely aware (though he doubted anybody else remembered) that one of the first things he'd ever done as an Aladren Chaser was fly right past a Quaffle he was trying to intercept, Daniel was careful to line himself up properly before dropping into a dive. He snatched the ball right out of its zenith between the two Teppenpaw players and turned the direction of play back away from Grayso- er, Samantha.

So it wasn't really a critical play this year - stopping the ball from reaching their side - but he'd still rather have Aladren making attempts to score than Teppenpaw.

He was flying too low now to make a good run at the goals, so the first time he saw one of his new Chasers open, he passed the ball up to them, throwing harder than normal since the pass had to overcome gravity more than usual.

0 Captain Nash, Chaser Reviving the Chaser Action 0 Captain Nash, Chaser 0 5

Arnold Carey, Seeker

February 16, 2011 2:38 PM

I live to entertain, if I don't die falling by Arnold Carey, Seeker

People, Arnold supposed, were like bowstrings. They could only remain tense and focused for so long before they either snapped or began, even against their wills, to relax. And bowstrings didn’t even have prior interests to make things more complicated.

He noticed he was paying too much attention to the Chasers at about the same time Edmond did, when Arthur, in an uncharacteristically bold move, flew between two Teppenpaws to take the Quaffle back for Aladren. He grinned, pleased and determined to tease him about it despite his confusion about where that had come from. Arthur was the sort who remained predictable just long enough for it to come as a nasty shock when he suddenly did something unexpected; Arnold thought he should be used to it by now.

Feeling guilty about not doing what he was supposed to be, though, he made a show of looking around the complicated, moving knot of players for the Snitch, and didn’t notice Russell’s situation or the Bludger heading his way until he heard the crack of Edmond’s bat, followed by an irritated order for him to follow. He was startled as much by the tone as by not expecting to be addressed; Edmond was usually polite to a fault, and in practice and around school alike, Arnold had never heard him raise his voice. He was, however, not so alarmed that he couldn’t notice enough of his surroundings to feel almost sorry for Kate Bauer. The other three Beaters most likely couldn’t do much damage, but the second thought Arnold had ever formed about his cousin was that guy could put someone in the hospital if he wanted to, and that had been before he knew said guy played Beater.

Miss Bauer dove before the Bludger could reach her, though, but – was she running from the Bludger, or going for the Snitch? It had to be one or the other; a girl was not going to attempt a Wronski Feint. She had her hand out, now –

Oh, hell, he thought, a piece of language he’d added to his mental lexicon about a year ago, and, without thinking about it further, dove after her as fast as he could go.

There was something terrifying about going that fast, faster than he could really keep the broom completely under his control, and he wished he had ever really done it at home. It was only here that he needed to, that it was a challenge and he had to throw all he had into it, lest these strange new people be better than he was. It didn’t really matter that Seeker wasn’t his first idea of a fun thing to play, though it was growing on him; he just hadn’t been able to face the idea of losing that race, whatever it cost him, or however the back of his mind screamed at him about how he was risking involuntary suicide.

Luckily, however, there was also something exhilarating about it (this was why it was starting to grow on him), and he’d practiced enough since coming to Sonora, both with the team and on his own any time he could get away from his homework and the Pitch was empty, that he could almost focus more on that than on how likely he was, after catching the Snitch, to lose all control and plow into the ground. That part didn’t really matter anyway, so long as there was winning involved. Unless he actually killed himself on impact, which wasn’t likely, there were very few things that could happen to him that his father or grandfather or great-great-grandfather couldn’t make a call to get the services of someone capable of fixing.

He was looking for the Snitch, trying to see whatever it was Kate saw, when he noticed that the enemy was coming out of her dive. Nor were the Teppenpaw stands going wild, so he had to assume that she hadn’t caught the Snitch. She’d fooled him, girls weren’t supposed to – if he didn’t pull his broom up now, he was going to need one of those specialists one of his ancestors knew in very short order, so he banished Kate from his thoughts in favor of doing that.

It was a close thing, it was a very close thing, so close that he might not have done more than cracked an ankle if he’d fallen and landed on one, but he managed it. His heart beating rather harder than usual, he started to fly back up, cursing that girl and resolving not to let any such thing happen again.

It was at about that moment that he heard an ominous whistle and, in what even he would later have to admit was a moment of high stupidity, started to turn to confront the danger rather than keep both hands on his broom and try to go in the opposite direction. He didn’t make enough of the turn for the Bludger to hit him in the chest instead of slamming into his right shoulder, but it did put him just enough off balance to knock him off his broom.

He was pretty sure his body was yelling as it fell, and being terrified, but somehow, he felt only a sort of mild interest in the situation, and some contempt for his body for being all upset when it couldn’t do any good and was just causing a problem, and a little curiosity about whether this was what being Arthur felt like all the time.

0 Arnold Carey, Seeker I live to entertain, if I don't die falling 181 Arnold Carey, Seeker 0 5

Arthur Carey, Chaser

February 16, 2011 5:04 PM

We ain't gonna be outdone by no Beaters by Arthur Carey, Chaser

Arthur had always had something of the trick of selective attention, and had only gotten better at it since Father started giving him and Arnold those lessons last year, so it was possible for him to listen for things that sounded relevant without getting very engaged in the grand drama of the Seekers and Beaters or what the audience was doing without, he thought, too much trouble even while pretending to be his brother. He credited this for how well the game was going for him so far.

Of course, unlike his brother, he was usually able to admit there was a chance he was wrong. It was a little harder than usual when he’d just had that interception and then the pass go perfectly, but he didn’t forget it, because if he was wrong about how well he was only paying attention to things that were relevant and not ignoring any of those things along with the general noise of the crowd, he could get hurt. Just because he’d spent a lot of time ill when he was small and was used to being around medicine and medical personnel didn’t mean he wanted to get broken to pieces so he could be around them more.

Daniel’s shot did not go well – Arthur could only assume the Keeper had played against him before and had expected him, unusually from what he knew about the game, to go for the center hoop, or else that she’d just gotten lucky – and then Arthur just noticed, from the corner of his eye, Russell taking a hit and Edmond yelling at Arnold before the Quaffle came back into play.

Teppenpaw’s oldest Chaser made it a long way before he passed, and this time, it was Daniel who took the initiative to intercept it, a bit more elegantly than Arthur had the first time, and it was back toward Miss Melcher. Arthur was determined to do his part to ensure that this time went better than the last one.

An upward pass wasn’t the easiest thing in the world to catch, but Arthur, taking another risk, leaned forward and did it, just as the crowd grew very noisy and it looked like both Seekers were diving. He glanced down for one second, mentally froze, then reminded himself that he only needed Arnold’s form of occasional craziness, not his emotionality, and that it was Quidditch and this kind of thing was expected and it was someone else’s problem, but he’d already fumbled the ball, and it was heading down.

Curses.

0 Arthur Carey, Chaser We ain't gonna be outdone by no Beaters 0 Arthur Carey, Chaser 0 5

Russell Layne, Chaser

February 16, 2011 5:15 PM

Not a chance. by Russell Layne, Chaser

His leg was still hurting a lot, but Russell turned with everyone else as Teppenpaw, after the captain’s unsuccessful shot, claimed the ball and Aladren started trying to get it back.

It wasn’t lucky, since they could still win the game if every single Aladren Chaser was taken out for the rest of the game but Arnold was their first-string Seeker, but the Beaters having all relocated to a lower position on the Pitch in their attempt to take out each others’ Seekers did make it easier to really pay attention to the Quaffle, and since Aladren had the only non-first year Beater present, Russell thought he didn’t have to be too worried. Having the most experienced Chaser, from what he’d heard, on the field also helped, and the ball was Aladren’s again the next time it was passed.

It occurred to Russell that the game really was making him crazy if he was thinking, however briefly, that it would be cool if someone actually tried stealing it sometime.

Daniel passed, and Arthur caught it, and then dropped it when his brother fell. Russell guessed he could understand, flashed for a second on stories about one twin feeling the other’s injuries, but he guessed there was a good chance the coach would stop the game for a moment in a few seconds and until then, maybe the Keeper would be a little distracted by the drama. He grabbed the Quaffle from the air before the Teppenpaws could make a move on it and, since they were now getting close to the goals, sped up, veered left as sharply as he dared, and threw the Quaffle, as hard as he could, toward that goal hoop.

16 Russell Layne, Chaser Not a chance. 183 Russell Layne, Chaser 0 5

Coach Pierce

February 16, 2011 7:27 PM

Nobody is going to die falling on my watch by Coach Pierce

Some games were easier to keep track of than others, but this one was quickly becoming one of the 'others' - the Quaffle was near the Teppenpaw goals again so she had to watch that, but the beaters were in drag-down fight around the seekers who were both diving dangerously close to the ground, and she really wished at least one of these things were not happening right now.

The only thing that could make things worse right now was if the rain chose just then to start falling.

Amelia quickly cursed herself for the thought, and then thanked Merlin when it did not immediately come to pass.

Kate pulled out of the dive, and then so did Arnold. No deaths, no snitch. She caught sight of the pass between Nash and Carey, and glanced back at the Beater Battle just in time to - swear.

Arnold was hit and was falling. No foul so far as she could tell, but her interference was definitely called for before the first year got seriously hurt. His distance above the ground was both a blessing (it probably wouldn't be fatal, but it certainly wouldn't be pleasant to crash land from that height) and a curse (she didn't have much time to catch him). Fortunately, she'd dropped lower during the feinting dive in case interference was needed then, so she was already in position to cast a levitation charm on him.

His fall stopped - probably more abruptly than his body appreciated - but not as abruptly or painfully as hitting the ground would have done. She summoned his broom to her, and helped him get back on it while hovering in mid-air (not as easy a task as one might think), then released the charm. "You alright?" she asked, with a glance up toward the goals (and an ear turned toward the crowd - though the Aladren cheers could just as easily be for their Seeker being back on his broom) to see whether or not a goal had been or soon would be scored.

0 Coach Pierce Nobody is going to die falling on my watch 0 Coach Pierce 0 5

Arnold Carey, Seeker

February 17, 2011 8:32 PM

Then I shall live to be amusing another day by Arnold Carey, Seeker

His dissociated, pre-death state was ended abruptly by what felt like both a collision with hard air and someone trying to jerk about half his limbs off. Once he registered that he’d stopped falling, though, and was only in slightly worse shape than he would have been if he’d just been hit in the shoulder by a Bludger and not fallen, Arnold decided not to complain about that too much. They would, he knew, make you stay in bed overnight for cracked skulls and that kind of thing, and he couldn’t win the game if he was lying in bed with his head all wrapped up in bandages and Arthur, no doubt, chatting amiably with the nurse, reading one of his books in the bed next door, and generally making sure he didn’t disobey orders.

Or, possibly, doing his best All-Adult-Anthonies-Combined impression to give Arnold a terse lecture about Being An Idiot. Everyone accused Arnold of being like Grandfather, but Arthur, though in tastes and his usual manner more like the Fourth and Seventh, was the one who’d inherited the Sixth’s ability to make someone he thought had Been An Idiot feel about half an inch tall. Arnold had seen him do it to tutors, and really hoped, now that he had time to consider something other than his own mortality, that his twin hadn’t seen exactly how he’d fallen off his broom.

“Fine,” he lied at once, noting vaguely that he should be impressed by her ability to work two spells at once like that, when Coach Pierce asked him if he was all right, forcing a smile. “If you’re not too picky about your life debts.” He remembered, a moment too late, that it was usually a bad idea to joke with adults, and that Grandfather said the Pierces had thrown this adult out but that she was still dangerous, and that he might have just said a very bad thing, but thinking about it just now wasn’t what he needed to be doing. Arnold waved, as cheerfully as he could, with his mostly uninjured right arm to the Aladren crowd to let them know he was all right and still in the game. His left was only going to be used if it was absolutely necessary.

Hey, Art, he thought, we match. Except - no. Arthur said he didn't feel things as well with his left hand as his right, and Arnold was pretty sure all of his nerve endings were currently working double time. Still, at the rate he was going, he reckoned he and Arthur would ultimately develop arthritis at the about the same rate even thought Arnold hadn’t had an early childhood accident. “I mean - you have my thanks,” he said, looking for Miss Bauer. If she got the Snitch while he was talking to an adult..."May I go now?"

0 Arnold Carey, Seeker Then I shall live to be amusing another day 181 Arnold Carey, Seeker 0 5

Andrew Duell, Chaser

February 17, 2011 8:44 PM

We're what keeps this game glamorous, right? by Andrew Duell, Chaser

Andrew hauled back on his broom, and tried to do a 180 degree turn while keeping his eye on the Quaffle. This would have been much easier to do, if it wasn't flying perpendicular to what he was trying to do. He briefly pitched into a roll, but stabilized and actually, somehow, came out facing the right direction. He was a little surprised. Unfortunately he had lost track of the ball. He shot off towards the crowd and his team's goals once more.

Daniel had intercepted his pass, then threw it up to one of the other Aladren chasers. He wasn't sure which, that was the point at which he had briefly lost control. Daniel didn't have it... Ah-ha! Russell had it! He pushed his broom into high gear and made to intercept the ball, knowing that he wasn't going to make it in time. Russell went for the shot, and Andrew was once again to far away to stop it.

He moved in low once more, trying to stay clear for the return from the keeper once more.

2 Andrew Duell, Chaser We're what keeps this game glamorous, right? 145 Andrew Duell, Chaser 0 5

Kirstenna, Keeper

February 19, 2011 8:58 PM

I wouldn't discount Keepers. by Kirstenna, Keeper

Kirstenna was glad when Andrew caught her pass. It meant her throwing was getting better, though it still wasn't too great. Still, she had thrown it to Andrew and it had actually gone to Andrew, instead of out into the stands or worse, into the hands of an Aladren chaser. That was progress.

Unfortunately, the quaffle didn't stay in Teppenpaw's possession for very long. No sooner had Andrew thrown it off, then Daniel had it again . Kirstenna groaned. She wasn't even cheered by the fact that one of Aladren's chasers had been hit and their seeker had fallen off his broom. Kirstenna didn't really want anyone to get hurt . Even if they were on the other team.

In fact, the Aladren seeker falling made Kirstenna hold her breath. He could fall and die and he had to depend on the Impostor to catch him. Kirstenna wouldn't trust her at all. She could just imagine Arnold hitting the ground and his bones smashing into a million tiny pieces. This was a woman (or maybe she was really even a man) who had killed before. Someone who had had no qualms about killing the real Jannette Wolfe and an Undercover Agent.

So, the Teppenpaw was quite surprised when Arnold was indeed saved from instant death. Kirstenna wondered what had motivated her nemesis. Maybe she just didn't want to let someone die with so many witnesses watching, especially two that were on to her. Or maybe she wanted Aladren to win, as the people who were on to her were on the Teppenpaw team. That seemed very petty. Unless the Impostor had money on Aladren.

Of course, it had been Arnold Carey that she had saved. Maybe the Impostor was really a Carey! Kirstenna might have been a halfblood but she did know enough about the magical world to know a little bit about some of the pureblood families and the Carey family had an...interesting reputation. It would make sense that the Impostor was a Carey who had gone bad.

Her attention was quickly jerked back to the game when she spotted the quaffle speeding towards her. Kirstenna quickly moved towards it and placed her whole body in its path. Just before it go in, she lunged for it. She caught it, clutching it to her as she lost her balance, and began to fall...

Kirstenna braced herself for the inevitable hard shock of the ground, as she felt a few drops of rain hit. She knew these last were her last few seconds of life. There was no way the Impostor would save her .

11 Kirstenna, Keeper I wouldn't discount Keepers. 161 Kirstenna, Keeper 0 5

Coach Pierce

February 20, 2011 1:09 PM

Are you there, Merlin? It's me, Amelia by Coach Pierce

She wasn't too surprised that Arnold lied to her and said he was fine. He'd been hit by a bludger - by definition, he was not 'fine' but she would have said the same, and she was willing to let him keep playing until the snitch was caught because he was, after all, Aladren's seeker. After the game, though, Arnold Carey and the new Layne - Russell - were both going to visit Cleo if she had to drag them there herself.

Dismissing his comment about life debts - it was her job to see that nobody was seriously injured and she didn't think he'd have actually died anyway - she glanced up and saw Kirstenna catch the quaffle and then topple off her broom. A word escaped her mouth that she probably shouldn't have said while still that close to Arnold, and then gave the kid a quick dismissal, "Yeah, go."

Then she hurried to fly over to where Kirstenna was falling, pointed her wand, and for the second time that game, cast a levitation charm to prevent a player from crash-landing on the ground. She had to give the girl credit: She'd still been clutching onto the Quaffle, keeping it out of play while the Teppenpaw goals became unguarded.

Amelia summoned Kirstenna's broom to them, and traded it back to Teppenpaw Assistant Captain for the Quaffle. She'd disregarded the handful of large heavy drops that hit her robes during this process, but as Amelia released the levitation charm to let the girl hover on her broom independently, the sky opened up.

This time, she managed not to curse in front of a student, but there had already been two falls this game. Amelia seriously doubted a torrential downpour was going to improve things.

"You can go back to the goals," she told Kirstenna. Letting the girl climb back up to her position, Amelia cast a Sonorus charm, and spoke up for all the players and spectators to hear, "The score remains at zero-zero. No penalties have been assessed though we'll be re-centering while Mr. Carey and Ms. Melcher have a brief moment of recuperation. The game will continue despite the rain. Chasers, come back to the middle of the pitch for the throw-off."

She ended the charm, muttered under her breath that she hoped the Seekers would hurry up and catch the Snitch already, though no doubt the rain would only make that harder to do, and contemplated putting on a water repellant charm on herself belatedly. She decided it wouldn't help. She was already soaked through.

Once she had all the chasers back in the center of the pitch, she threw the Quaffle into the air, blew her whistle, and ducked out of the way.

0 Coach Pierce Are you there, Merlin? It's me, Amelia 0 Coach Pierce 0 5

Coach Pierce

February 20, 2011 1:11 PM

Recentering. Play continues up here. (nm) by Coach Pierce

0 Coach Pierce Recentering. Play continues up here. (nm) 0 Coach Pierce 0 5

Coach Pierce

February 20, 2011 1:13 PM

OOC by Coach Pierce

For ease of reading and page display, please continue play from my post above entitled "Recentering"

0 Coach Pierce OOC 0 Coach Pierce 0 5

Arthur Carey, Chaser

February 20, 2011 5:34 PM

And here we go again by Arthur Carey, Chaser

Arthur wasn’t sure how he should feel about a Layne saving the Quaffle after he was foolish enough to drop it over a nothing, so he decided instead to focus on the part where Aladren, the unit, still had possession of the Quaffle and a chance at a goal. The game was all up to his brother, of course, but it would be pleasant if his position could get some accolades as well. He had heard the Fourth and Father both say there were times when it was better not to be noticed, and Arthur had been able to understand why that was true once they’d explained it to him, but Aladren scoring some actual points as well as Arnold points was, he thought, a desirable circumstance. It would boost his, Russell, and Captain Nash’s self-esteems, keep Arnold’s head from getting too big, and most likely add something to the number of House points Aladren got. Three decent advantages were worth one disadvantage that, under the circumstances, would almost certainly be mild at worst.

Unfortunately, Miss Melcher was as stupid as his brother, so the one second he had of hoping that Russell would succeed in putting the Quaffle through the left goal hoop turned into horror all over again as she fell off her broom, too….

And abruptly stopped. Coach Pierce was, it seemed, at least half as talented at saving as Miss Melcher; a quick look around, during the breather the coach’s possession of the Quaffle was giving them, showed him his not very damaged-looking twin and confirmed that the Crotalus leader was indeed the Teppenpaw girl’s equal for this game. He still didn’t know how Arnold, who was normally very good on a broom, had fallen in the first place, but if he’d been very badly hurt, he would not have been allowed back on the Pitch. They were minors, so Arnold might argue back, at least until they poured a sleeping potion down his throat whatever he wanted, but if Coach Pierce and Medic Rocamboli thought he was in real danger, they’d have him out of the game. So he didn’t need to think about Arnold.

The two drops of water he thought he’d felt, one on his head and the other on his left hand, began to multiply, and Arthur reconsidered that statement. He didn’t need to think about Arnold’s health. Thinking that he wished Arnold would hurry up and recuperate and catch the Snitch was a perfectly valid thing to do, and he was doing it.

Already shivering, he made his way back to the center of the Pitch, nearly snapping 'take out the Keeper' at the first Aladren Beater he passed without his usual regard for the consequences of speaking to someone that way, and watched the spot of red in the coach’s hands with grim determination until it went up in the air and the whistle blew. Then he shot forward so quickly there was a split second in which he worried about colliding with Coach Pierce, grabbed the Quaffle out of the air, and dropped his right hand back to the broom as quickly as possible while turning. He knew he wouldn’t be more than bruised if he fell from this height and hit the ground, especially since the water was most likely already softening it, but he was gaining altitude fast, and the rain made things slippery on top of making it harder to hear Bludgers and see people about to crash into him. He would really rather not be the reason Aladren was the team that looked least able to stay in the air.

If they were going to get around Miss Melcher, they were most likely to accomplish that very soon, while she was maybe still feeling shaky from her fall. Arthur acknowledged that it was a slim chance, but with the rain to help, it was the best chance they had unless one of the Beaters actually was obliging enough to hit her in the head with a Bludger. The question was, who should try to make the shot? He was the only one who hadn’t tried and failed yet, but he was also still very sure that Captain Nash was better than he was, and they needed their best on this. But then there was still the problem of passing. It was hard enough under the best of circumstances, but he could barely see, and no one could be doing much better. He’d be doing well to just get the ball to the right color uniform.

Maybe just holding onto the ball and trying to shoot would be best. It did, however, have the disadvantage of Miss Melcher being able to see him coming and prepare to keep her eyes on him the whole way. He wanted her confused. So, having taken advantage of the rain and the Beaters’ determination to kill each others’ Seekers to carry the ball further than he normally would, and veering much closer to another Chaser on his team than he liked to even when crashing wasn't more likely than usual, he said a little prayer for luck and then attempted, knowing there was a very good chance he was wrong about the relative wisdom of doing so, to make a short pass to one of his fellows.

0 Arthur Carey, Chaser And here we go again 0 Arthur Carey, Chaser 0 5

Captain Brishen, Chaser

February 21, 2011 7:22 PM

On our own? by Captain Brishen, Chaser

Tobar couldn’t believe that the game had been this brutal so far, it was so hectic that the Captain could barley comprehend what was happening! He sighed shook his head glad to see that they were going to restart. He lined up with his chasers and waited for the ball to be thrown into the air. He knew he had to get his hands on that big red ball without it they could not score. He hoped that soon Kate would spot that damn snitch and cement Teppenpaw’s victory.

Of course the Aldrean chaser got to the Quaffle first but not to be out
down the fourth year leaned low on his broom shooting forward. He was going to show them how this was done. He watched the kid knowing he’d pass it off, only a suicidal chaser held onto the red ball for long periods of time.

When the kid finally let go of the ball a short space between him and fellow chaser Tobar took his chance. He leaned up not holding on to the broom and caught the Quaffle with both hands. He didn’t yell, hoot or hollar he just turned his broom towards the Aldrean goals and was off. He tucked the ball tight under his arm and leaned back down.

He was going to shoot this time if it killed him, if he was taken out of the game then Kristenna would just have to lead the rag-tag band of merry people for the time. He shot passed his chasers hoping they were trailing him if he needed to hand it off. But his eyes were on the middle hoop.

He could hear the Teppenpaws cheering for their captain as he pushed his broom to top speeds. He knew he looked like a mad man aimed right at the Aladren Keeper. It looked as if Tobar was going to hit them! Yet at the last moment he pulled up and threw with all his might towards the left goal hoping beyond hope that his little game of chicken had distracted the Keeper long enough to make it in!

0 Captain Brishen, Chaser On our own? 0 Captain Brishen, Chaser 0 5

Arnold Carey, Seeker

February 22, 2011 9:36 AM

Still Seeking by Arnold Carey, Seeker

Most of his attention was on Miss Bauer, and the rest on just how much his arm was hurting right now, but Arnold was tuned in enough to the coach for his eyebrows to go up when she suddenly used a word he was very sure she shouldn’t use and he shouldn’t know. He followed her equally abrupt order to go, but not before glancing to see what she saw and smiling to himself. Right now, injuries to Miss Melcher were second only to injuries to Miss Bauer and maybe Mr. Brishen in terms of being a good thing.

Not that Arnold would have been complaining if it had just been the little girl Chaser who got hurt, though she was most likely the least useful player out here. The important part was that Teppenpaw be more bruised and less able to handle it than Aladren. He thought he was a reasonably chivalrous and generally decent fellow off the Pitch, but on it, anyone not wearing the same color he was needed to be seriously injured.

He left that to the Beaters, though, and started to look for the Snitch again while Miss Melcher was helped back up. Maybe he could charge Miss Bauer and knock her off her broom if she needed to, or dive down in the midst of the Chasers to cause some confusion or, if he really needed to, a bit of a crash, but the physical part of the game wasn’t really his. He just had to find the Snitch.

Doing that was slightly complicated by the sky suddenly falling in. It had been looming, but he hadn’t expected the suddenness of it. Coach Pierce’s announcement got a scowl – he did not need time to recuperate – but he tried to ignore that and the gathering in favor of straining his eyes to find the Snitch and making sure Miss Bauer didn’t have a lead on it. He enjoyed the challenge of the weather and playing against someone who'd turned out to be better than he'd anticipated, but knew everyone else would be irritated if it drug on, and under the circumstances, he couldn't lose to his rival. Not after he'd been so confident coming in.

0 Arnold Carey, Seeker Still Seeking 181 Arnold Carey, Seeker 0 5

Kate Bauer, Seeker

February 22, 2011 10:44 AM

Seeking for success. by Kate Bauer, Seeker

To Kate’s disappointment – kind of; she didn’t really want the first year to get hurt, just to get out of her way long enough for the match to finish – Arnold Carey clearly hadn’t just learned how to handle a broom at Coach Pierce’s flying lesson and pulled out of their mutual dive before he could crash land. More to her luck was him being built more like a Seeker than she was and getting knocked off his broom almost immediately after foiling her feint. She winced automatically, but then turned her attention to looking for the Snitch while he was out of it for a moment. She might not get another chance.

The little gold ball, though, did not present itself in the confused period between Arnold falling, Kirstenna falling, and the rain coming down on them. “Oh, come on,” she said aloud, to no one in particular, as Coach Pierce called the Chasers back in and the entire Pitch turned blurry. Teppenpaw had all sorted out water-repelling charms before the game, so at least she’d avoided being soaked to the bone, but she was pretty sure that it was helping visibility only minimally. The people who established the weather charms must have had a sense of humor. And not been Seekers.

She couldn’t tell if Arnold was favoring his hit side enough for it to make a difference or not, but it was easy enough to tell that he was still looking for the Snitch, not giving up. Kate grimaced. She could not lose to a first year. Losing to Marissa Stephenson was one thing, but losing to a first year – that was something else, something Kate didn’t remotely want to contemplate. She had to get this one, but the Snitch was nowhere in sight.

The Beaters weren’t back on their game yet. She could take advantage of that. Edmond was the biggest problem they had out here in at least two ways; the other Aladren Beater was kind of scrawny, but their assistant captain was not only the most experienced Beater on the Pitch but also, by anyone’s definition of the term, a Big Guy. If she stayed close enough to his Seeker, though, he couldn’t try to take her down without risking Arnold, who was also his cousin when the Careys were known to be one of those families who were weird about that kind of thing. There was also the time-honored strategy of not being off on the other side of the Pitch when the other guy dove for the Snitch and being able to block him if it came down to it. So, while still hoping the Snitch would either just stop for her the way it had for Jessica at tryouts or that the rain would stop and improve visibility very soon, she began circling in the same general area as Arnold.

16 Kate Bauer, Seeker Seeking for success. 170 Kate Bauer, Seeker 0 5

Samantha Hamilton,Keeper

February 22, 2011 11:41 AM

I'm never alone. by Samantha Hamilton,Keeper

Just as she felt rain drops hitting her head, hands, and then pretty much covering the whole of her, Samantha began to wonder if things could get any worse. Aladren hadn't scored, their Seeker had been knocked off his broom, one of their Chasers had been hit by a Bludger, and now it was raining. Admittedly the Teppenpaw Seeker had been knocked off her broom, too, but the Coach had saved both players (as she always promised she would) and play had resumed with Aladren taking possession of the Quaffle yet again. Samantha supposed that she should be grateful for the action this game had created so far - she was getting pretty bored stuck out on her own guarding the Aladren hoops with no Tepps even coming close enough to take a shot - if it hadn't been for all the Bludger damage she would have had nothing to entertain her.

Be careful what you wish for was the phrase that instantly sprang to mind as Samantha saw the Teppenpaw Captain hurtling towards her down the pitch with the Quaffle under his arm. he made it abundantly clear that he wasn't going to pass as he shot past his fellow Chasers. Seriosuly, he wasn't going to pass? He was making himself a Bludger magnet if ever she saw one, even at those speeds. He really was going quite fast, she thought in amongst a rapid stream of various other thoughts that flew through her head as the Quaffle came ever closer. So here it was, the first time Samantha would have to make a save in a real Quidditch game - that was another of those fleeting thoughts. Another was a mild concern that Tobar wasn't actually going to stop at all, and was just going to fly into her and take the Quaffle through the middle hoop that way. She didn't even know if it was a legitimate move but she certnaily wasn't going to let that happen. She kept waiting for him to throw, or to fake at least, but neither of these things happened til he was practically on top of her. Samantha panicked - she didn't know whether to move and avoid being crushed or stay put to guard the middle hoop. Yet from where she was if he got any closer and tried to shoot for one of the other hoops there's no way she'd be there in time to stop it. Where the hell were those Beaters anyway?

Then it happened - he pulled up, hurling the red ball towards the left hoop. Samantha reacted without thinking and dove towards the hoop in a vain hope of protecting it. She knew it was physically impossible for her to get there in time but she tried anyway, stretching so far she almost fell off her broom, too. Three in a game might be a record. Desperately reaching, Samantha couldn't quite believe it as her fingers brushed something. She was still moving, but the object was no longer in her path. The Quaffle had only been nudged from its path to hit the inside rim of the hoop itself, and for one tiny moment Samantha prayed inwardly that it would somehow ricochet itself back out again. Alas, the normal rules of physics applied, and the ball continued on its course through the hoop.

Daming everything she could think of, Samantha hurtled down after the ball, perfectly aware that her face was turning red. In her defense, there was no way of getting around that one, the captain was coming right for her, for Merlin's sake. She'd like to see anyone else do better. Silently infuriated with herself, Samantha took the Quaffle back up to playing height and made a swift pass to her nearest teamate. Now things couldn't get any worse... right?

0 Samantha Hamilton,Keeper I'm never alone. 0 Samantha Hamilton,Keeper 0 5

Preston, Aladren Beater

February 22, 2011 2:00 PM

Well, you are part of a 7 players team.. by Preston, Aladren Beater

Everything was chaos, well in Preston’s perspective. Arnold was falling, the Quaffe was flying about, and Coach Pierce was saving the day. The redhead was feeling like a failure, their Seeker had been injured while his job had been to protect his teammates. This whole Quidditch affair was beginning to affect him in more ways than one. Damn Daniel and his eloquent speech, but there was nothing he could do now, he was part of the team, and he would not renounce it. Just imagining the look of disappointment on Daniel’s face made him consider never ever leaving the team. He would help Aladren reach some well deserved glory.

Suddenly one drop hit his face, seconds after the first one another one fell down, but this time on his arm. Great. It had started to rain, and he was soaked in seconds. Not the ideal setting for a game. Rain tended to make everything slippery, and hard to see. During the brief seconds that the rain took to soak everything, the game was still going on, and Arthur had flown besides him and gave him some specific instructions about sending a Bludger towards the Teppenpaw Keeper. Part of him wanted to be annoyed about the tone used by his fellow Aladren, but his other side rationalized that is was a very good suggestion. Considering Teppenpaw had just scored. The redhead growled under his breath, and decided to bury his mild annoyance at Arthur and looked for a Bludger to send to their Keeper. It was a good plan, and he would carry it out. Even when he hadn’t come up with it, this was the end of Preston Stratford slacking in the Quidditch department; he was going to dedicate as much time to the sport, as he did to his studies.

Preston saw a Bludger pass nearby (more like heard, because the rain was making it difficult to see anything, or hear for that matter), and went after it. Once he was in hitting range, he used all of his might and sent the murderous ball to the Teppenpaw Keeper. With a loud crack, the ball soared towards the Keeper.

0 Preston, Aladren Beater Well, you are part of a 7 players team.. 0 Preston, Aladren Beater 0 5

Arnold Carey, Seeker

February 22, 2011 3:05 PM

Seeking something shiny by Arnold Carey, Seeker

Above the scramble for the Quaffle now, and feeling, to his irritation, a little more uneasy about the distance down than he normally would have, Arnold registered movement out of the corner of his eye, and looked to see if it was a Beater or something else he needed to worry about and made a face again when it turned out to be Miss Bauer. Either she was shadowing him or had it in mind to just try knocking him off his broom outright this time, but Arnold couldn’t see that it really mattered, because either way, she was going to fail.

He had planned to let his left arm do its painful thing in peace, but he couldn’t help it: grinning to hide that he was clenching his teeth, he used it to wave to her.

Arthur, of course, would have called his bluff, and it was possible Anthony would have, too. That was something he was starting to like about Sonora. It was good, this having rivals who didn’t know him as well as he knew himself. His brothers could both put up a fight – in the non-physical sense; Anthony was barely seven – but they all knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses and reactions so well that the end was usually known before they began and even if it wasn’t, the conflict or competition either ended quickly or didn’t reach a clear conclusion at all. The downside of the current system was that he didn’t know his opponents, either, but at least mutual lack of knowledge meant things could stay interesting.

Far below them, above the Teppenpaw stands, Arnold thought he saw a flick of light that might be the Snitch. The last turn put him slightly closer to it than Kate. She had a slight edge when it came to knowing this Pitch, since she was a second year, but her broom was nothing to write home about, whereas his was nothing to sneeze at; he didn’t think he could count on one of those fancy custom-made models until he’d proved himself and maybe grown a little, there were three sons to buy things for instead of the usual one and the Anthonies approved of throwing money around needlessly as much as they did of cheapness, but he was still sure his broom was better than her broom. So, without taking his eyes off the movement of the light, Arnold dove.

0 Arnold Carey, Seeker Seeking something shiny 181 Arnold Carey, Seeker 0 5

Edmond Carey, Beater

February 23, 2011 12:39 PM

Oh, bother by Edmond Carey, Beater

It all happened so fast that, for a moment, Edmond wondered if he’d really seen what he thought he saw. Then he decided his eyes had not, in fact, failed him, and his usual loquaciousness gave way to a much more concise expression of his feelings.

“Oh, bother,” he muttered, already making plans to have a very long discussion with Preston before the next training session, beginning with the concept that Giving Opposing Beaters A Bludger To Hit Our Seeker With Is Either A Desperation Move Or An Overly-Emotional Person’s One. It was a classic beginner mistake, thinking to take out the other Beaters, and it had even worked a little, but the potential for success was limited and the potential cost far outweighed the potential benefit, as Arnold’s unceremonious fall demonstrated. Edmond was in training to be head of a pureblood family which had found itself in a delicate financial situation due to his birth parents’ long illnesses; economics was a subject he’d been given lessons in since the moment Julia thought he was old enough to understand even the most basic concepts.

Leaving his cousin to the coach, Edmond swept after the Bludger, intending to make sure that Miss Bauer had as little time to look for the Snitch on her own as possible. At the very least, he could keep her on edge, distracted. That was when things got really complicated, though, because the Teppenpaw Keeper fell making a save, and the whole game ground to a halt as the rain began pouring down.

This time, Edmond found it possible to express his feelings in an even more concise manner, but they were not words he spoke aloud, so he just thought them instead.

The Seekers were marking each other, making it nearly impossible to threaten one without risking the other, and – oh, bother, how had that happened? Mr. Brishen was acting like a crazy person and no one was even attempting to just snatch it out of his hands, and Preston was off at completely the opposite end of the Pitch trying to take out Kirstenna Melcher - good move, bad timing. And no – Tobar really wasn’t going to pass –

“Damn it,” Edmond said, vehemently but very quietly even though no one was in a position to hear him, then raised his voice. “Preston, cover Arnold!” He went pelting down the Pitch as fast as possible, but too late – Teppenpaw had just scored. Edmond considered cursing again, but decided there were really only so many times in a day he could resort to that kind of thing, and he had already had his moment of frustration and anger. He was the riverbank, controlling the river of his emotions, now. At least enough to vent his feelings by aiming a Bludger at the back of the Teppenpaw captain’s head, which was also a good strategic move, instead of resorting to further profanity, which served no purpose.

0 Edmond Carey, Beater Oh, bother 0 Edmond Carey, Beater 0 5

Kate Bauer, Seeker

February 23, 2011 12:55 PM

Blocking your access to the shiny. by Kate Bauer, Seeker

The best defense, Kate decided, was to seem completely unaffected by her opponent’s offense, so even though she did find it kind of unsettling, she smiled and waved back at Arnold as though they were friendly acquaintances passing each other in the halls of Sonora instead of opponents locked in a struggle for dominance and glory. No blinking.

Well, metaphorically speaking. Keeping her eyes open for long periods of time was uncomfortable, after all, and the idea was to be able to see as straight as she could in the rain. The rain also meant she and Arnold wouldn’t be able to make each other’s faces out in that level of detail unless they were actually crashing into each other, so it was kind of irrelevant so long as neither one of them was actually cringing in terror and flying away screaming. But anyway.

She knew they couldn’t keep covering each other forever – if nothing else, sooner or later, they would both collapse from exhaustion and the game would…be rescheduled? Kate couldn’t remember, off the top of her head, what the protocol for that kind of thing was; normally, they’d bring in Jessica and David, but if the entire teams had fallen over, then it wouldn’t really make that much sense to just have Seekers playing against each other while nothing else went on – and she wasn’t planning to. She just had to cover Arnold long enough to frustrate him, get him mad and off-balance, so he started to miss things. His style of play so far made him look like a showman, like her sister; if she kept foiling him, ruining the performance, he would eventually blow up.

That was what she was hoping, anyway. At least let him get so annoyed by her that he went off in completely the wrong direction just to get away from her and maybe got hit by another of Derry and Ben’s Bludgers, or at least wasn’t in her way when she went for the Snitch. His broom was better than hers; if it came down to a flat race, from even close to equal starting points, the only way she could win would be for him to pull so far ahead that the Beaters got him, and that would depend on his Beaters not having control of the Bludgers and being able to get her instead.

She spotted the glimmer of gold above her stands at the same time Arnold did, and saw that he was closer. So she did something stupid. Putting as much speed into it as she could while retaining the right amount of control, she flew forward, too, and cut in front of him. If he collided with her, and she was the one who came out of it hurt worse, they could always bring in Jessica.

16 Kate Bauer, Seeker Blocking your access to the shiny. 170 Kate Bauer, Seeker 0 5

Russell Layne, Chaser

February 23, 2011 2:25 PM

But where's the Hundred-Acre Wood? by Russell Layne, Chaser

It was close. So close. Closer than close. But close wasn’t close enough, and the Teppenpaw Keeper caught the Quaffle.

Even though it was his team’s goal she’d just blocked, Russell couldn’t help but feel a weird kind of respect for Kirstenna as she fell and he, by instinct, started to move to catch her before the Coach did it much more efficiently and safely with a spell and his logic kicked in enough to stop him from making a fool of himself. Even if she hadn’t realized she was really going to fall, she had to have known she was pushing it to try to save that one when she did it. That was dedication to the team.

He assumed Teppenpaw would be given possession, since their Keeper had been the last player to touch the ball, but it seemed the rain was the final straw for Coach Pierce, who restarted the game instead. Russell guessed he couldn’t blame her; it had been a complicated, messy game, with two attempts at a goal and a lot of Bludgers flying around within what had felt like ages but had probably only been ten minutes, and that had been before each side had a player fall off and they’d all begun flying in what might as well have been a swimming pool. He also guessed he shouldn’t complain, since Arthur’s demon-Quidditch-player depths were still showing and resulted in Aladren getting the Quaffle back relatively easily instead of having to fight for it the way they would have if Teppenpaw had already been flying with it.

But then it all went wrong. The Teppenpaw captain intercepted against Arthur the same way Arthur had intercepted against him, only a bit more daringly under the circumstances, and he just. Wouldn’t. Pass. If not for the rain, Russell might have actually tried that snatch-it-out-of-his-hands move he’d considered earlier, but he knew his skill level well enough to know that he’d probably just crash into him and, just because of differences in mass, be the one who fell.

He worried, along with everyone else, that Tobar was just going to crash into Samantha instead, but he ended up trying something not that different from what Russell had tried at the other end a few minutes ago, only it worked for him. Russell noted this. Charging the Keeper seemed less practical as a first year, but he wasn’t planning to quit the team any time soon, and he might try it now anyway if it came down to that.

History was his family’s thing, maybe a natural consequence of living so much and making their livings off relics of it, and his dad was particularly fond of conflict history. For the first time, Russell thought he might be starting to understand some of the things Dad said about group cohesion versus primary group orientation and how Quidditch was like a little war, only without actual life and death on the line and everyone got to get their impulses toward violence and conflict out of their systems and then have unity again at the end when they saw their opposite-team friends in class the next day. Doing this kind of thing could seriously make a person crazy, for a little while, or at least he hoped it was only for a little while.

He caught the Quaffle when it came back into play, and, since it was going to be even harder to hold onto than usual with the rain, only kept his wand arm on the broom while the other was wrapped around the ball, holding it against his torso to decrease the chance that he’d drop it. Because he wasn’t that Quidditch-crazy, though, and it was even further from where they were to the Teppenpaw goals than it had been from where Tobar had intercepted to the Aladren ones, he decided very firmly against trying to fly all the way back without passing. He flew fast as far as he thought he could, though, and then attempted the game’s second pass in the rain.

16 Russell Layne, Chaser But where's the Hundred-Acre Wood? 183 Russell Layne, Chaser 0 5

Arnold Carey, Seeker

February 23, 2011 2:48 PM

Curses! Foiled again! by Arnold Carey, Seeker

This was it. The game was over. A few more moments, and the Snitch would be his, and even the Teppenpaw supporters, if not the Teppenpaw team, could go home reasonably happy. There had been plenty of action, plenty of drama with the falls and Bludger hits and Quaffle all over the place, but it had ended almost as soon as the rain started so no one had to stay out until they got sick. As far as Arnold was concerned, a position where his people were very happy and even his direct opponents had to give him some credit was an okay position to be in.

But then –

If she’d been a boy, Arnold would have kept going and knocked her off her broom, taking his chances with his own neck, but one of the few virtues Father and Grandfather agreed on was chivalry, and instinct, helped by an increased desire for self-preservation in the immediate aftermath of that fall, kicked in hard. He jerked his broom up and to the side, thinking for a moment that he might actually lose his seat again, and felt that he was going to start spinning out of control about half a second before he actually did. White-faced, he put all his strength behind regaining control and finally managed to stop.

But he was in the open, now, away from the protection of being too close to Teppenpaw’s Seeker for Teppenpaw Beaters to come after him, and he was slightly dizzy from those spins, and he couldn’t see Edmond anywhere, and the Snitch had just been in play. If Bauer had thought he was feinting, she would have called it, not blocked him. He had to find her, now. He was not going to lose this one because he had trouble with the thought of accidentally killing a girl, especially since he knew Crotalus’ Seeker was also a girl and he honestly couldn’t remember about Pecari’s.

0 Arnold Carey, Seeker Curses! Foiled again! 181 Arnold Carey, Seeker 0 5

Kate Bauer, Chaser

February 23, 2011 3:14 PM

You'll never succeed. by Kate Bauer, Chaser

For one second, Kate thought Arnold was going to call her bluff – Teppenpaw could absorb a foul if it came to that, Kirstenna was clearly better than their Chasers, but she was okay with neither going to the hospital wing nor being replaced by a first year as she’d thought she was in that crazy moment – so she wrenched her broom to the side at the exact same time he did. Since she only had to move one way, though, while he was going two, she was able to keep control of hers while he went spinning away.

She hadn’t anticipated that, but she wasn’t going to pass up something that worked to her benefit. Momma and Jeremy had managed to instill that much of their worldview into her, at least for the purposes of a game. She looked for the Snitch where it had been, but it had gone in that moment it took to re-orient herself after pulling out of the block.

Where was it? Unless he was so out of it he ended up going for some head-on-goalpost action, Arnold was almost certainly going to be coming back, and she needed to end this. She was, though sweating, cold, and the audience was getting soaked, and from what little she was picking up of what was going on with the rest of the game, it was just getting crazier by the second out there. She hadn’t taken herself remotely seriously when she’d thought of tagging Arnold until both teams just collapsed and had to call a rematch, but she was pretty sure she wasn’t the only person out of here getting tired just from the tension, never mind the actual physical effort involving in flying like this, against the wind and other players and straining her eyes to look for game balls and the rest of it.

Gold caught her eye, now over the field proper…either below, or right in line, with the direction the Chasers were now heading. Not only did she have to worry about Beaters and Arnold, but she had to worry about beating the Chasers there as well, so it didn’t get lost and she didn’t get flattened in the moment of triumph by a bunch of crazy Aladren Chasers, not to mention her own team’s Chasers as they tried to get the Quaffle back. Great. Putting both hands on her broom, she shot forward as fast as her broom would let her, her eyes squinted almost shut but focused completely on the movements of the walnut-sized bit of trouble that controlled all.

16 Kate Bauer, Chaser You'll never succeed. 170 Kate Bauer, Chaser 0 5

Arnold Carey, Seeker

February 23, 2011 3:58 PM

Telling me that? Not a good idea by Arnold Carey, Seeker

This game was not going Arnold’s way. He was hurt, had been knocked off the course to victory twice by the same girl, he was starting to feel the stress enough that he couldn’t keep his eyes still enough to find her again, and Teppenpaw had just scored. Where were their Beaters? He was definitely going to have to strongly recommend that they let him take care of himself next time and devote all their energy to flattening the enemy, because with Edmond’s size and Preston’s crazy on their side, they should have been scoring goal after goal while Arnold looked for the Snitch at his leisure because the entire Teppenpaw team was hospitalized.

That wasn’t what was happening, though, and thoughts of it were driven straight out of his head by the sight of Bauer going for the Snitch again.

He was faster, but she was closer. No time to think. No time to do anything except get mad, which wasn’t hard at this point. Beginning to feel tired on top of hurt but refusing to acknowledge it because there wasn’t time and he was seriously irritated at this point, he forced his broom to top speeds once more.

In the back of his mind, though, he had to admit that he didn’t know how much longer he could keep this up. It was hard to keep his broom under control and himself on it at this speed when he and the environment were both in the best of conditions, and he’d been flying very fast for a while now, a time only interrupted by about a minute or two after he got hit by a Bludger, and it was pouring down rain. It was always possible to go further than he really thought he could, and he wasn’t as far as he thought he could go yet, but how much further did he have?

He didn’t know, and that was one reason why he had to conclude that it was time to declare chivalry dead. He could send her a get-well card later if he had to, but for now, Bauer was no longer a girl. She was, until the Snitch was in someone’s hand, a guy with long hair. And that meant he could do whatever was necessary to win.

He was level with her ankles, then with her properly. The Chasers were approaching them. The Snitch darted up. Testing his luck, hoping the game was so crazy that Coach Pierce either wouldn’t notice or the weather so bad she would assume it was an accident, he veered sideways just a little, holding hard to his broom and putting his weight behind his right shoulder. Maybe he could, if nothing else, level the playing field a little.

0 Arnold Carey, Seeker Telling me that? Not a good idea 181 Arnold Carey, Seeker 0 5

Kate Bauer, Seeker

February 23, 2011 4:25 PM

It's going to be true, though. by Kate Bauer, Seeker

Kate’s full attention was fixed on the Snitch. It had changed directions, more off to the side, so she did as well. She could barely see, she couldn’t really hear anything between the rain and the wind rushing past her ears, so Bludgers were definitely a potential problem, but she was putting all her faith into Ben and Derry just because the combination made her think of Ben ‘n Jerry’s and because, as a second year, she didn’t have a lot of room to cast aspersions on the skills of first years and because she didn’t really have any other choice. They were to keep her safe, and she was to get the Snitch.

She saw a blur of dark hair and dark robes, darker than even water-damaged Teppenpaw yellow, at her side a second before it slammed into her. She didn’t come off her broom, but hadn’t been expecting it and ended up taking the broom with her off-course.

“You little Carey twit,” she shrieked, considering neither the relative wisdom of bringing the Careys into this in a way that implied being a Carey was a bad thing nor how very much she sounded like Rachel in full Pureblood-Girly-Robot mode when sounding like that even a little was against her moral code. She was too angry to think about things like that just now.

It occurred to her that it might be slightly hypocritical to be angry with him for colliding with her when she’d done her best to get him to collide with the ground and had at least offered him the option of colliding with her earlier, but feinting and blocking were perfectly legal moves. Slamming into other players was not. Maybe it had been an accident, at the speeds they were going and all, but as hard as he'd hit her, Kate very much doubted it, and right now, she didn’t even really care. She’d been so close….

She could not try to knock him off his broom. She could not try to knock him off his broom. Not unless he did something lovely like get in her way and give her a legitimate excuse to knock him off his broom to save the Snitch. Unless that happened, she had to focus on the Snitch and finding it and seeing if Arnold had been obliging enough to hoist himself on his own petard and fall again. Yes, that was what she had to do.

But oh, if he gave her a reason....

16 Kate Bauer, Seeker It's going to be true, though. 170 Kate Bauer, Seeker 0 5

Captain Nash, Chaser

February 23, 2011 8:45 PM

Somewhere else? by Captain Nash, Chaser

They'd had a good run. Arthur caught his pass, but fumbled it (understandable, given what had happened to his brother just then) and Russell recovered and made an attempt to score that was nearly successful. Arnold and Russell were both hit, but they seemed to be holding on well enough, which is far more than Daniel would have been able to say if that had happened to him when he was a first year. Arnold had fallen, but he was up on his broom again and seemed to be holding his own against Kate in spite of the rain.

Daniel was none too pleased about that, but at least yellow and blue were very easy to tell apart even soaking wet. Even better was that yellow stood out like an eyesore while blue was more stealthy. Granted, that did make it harder to find his teammates, but it did make it much harder for the Teppenpaws to sneak up on them.

Which was part of the reason Tobar's sudden appearance in the middle of Arthur's short pass was completely unexpected. Chasing him down wasn't difficult, but the Teppenpaw Captain was slippery, he refused to pass, ramming was a foul (though if the other guy tried that again, Daniel might do it anyway), and Daniel's attempt to block the shot was just a little too late.

Samantha missed the save but threw it back into play to Russell. Russell made it a fair distance and passed to Daniel and Daniel caught it, mindful of the wet, and was extra careful to use both hands in a solid and stable physics-approved hold. Hugging it to his chest, he put his broom's speed to the test and felt the rain sting hard against his face and wasn't sure if he should be grateful he didn't wear glasses or wish he had some kind of goggles to protect his eyes.

Half blind from his race across a goodly part of the pitch, he didn't dare trust himself to try to make another shot at goals, so he squinted and tried to find a blue shape. When he spotted one that he didn't think was a beater or Arnold, Daniel passed the Quaffle to him.

0 Captain Nash, Chaser Somewhere else? 0 Captain Nash, Chaser 0 5

Arthur Carey, Chaser

February 23, 2011 11:00 PM

I suppose so by Arthur Carey, Chaser

With the visibility problems, and with the unexpectedness of it, it took Arthur a few seconds to realize where the Quaffle had gone, and by then, he was even further toward the Teppenpaw goals. It took even more time to turn around, maybe more than it should have because he was flustered, and get started back in the direction of the ball. The vicious cycle of emotion; that delay made him even more frustrated, and so more likely to make a mistake. This was why, he thought, Father was teaching them some of the things he was. So they could control this kind of thing.

He wasn’t, though, panicking yet. The Pitch was long, Teppenpaw was going to have the same problems Aladren had just experienced, and they’d get it back. Maybe he wouldn’t get it back, but they would. They had yet to beat the Keeper, but they might as well have beaten the Teppenpaw Chasers with a stick. Several times. They could do it again.

Great Merlin, Arthur thought, with unaccustomed emphasis, as he realized the complete confidence of that statement. It wasn’t something he was used to. Always, always, there were the doubts, the back-up plans, the other considerations, but this was so – so simple. It was bizarre, but…I could get used to this.

Even as he thought it, though, his eyes were on Mr. Brishen…who wasn’t passing. He wasn’t sitting his broom as though he were planning to pass. He wasn’t even staying near his Chasers. He was zooming ahead. Arthur wasn’t sure what he was playing at. He couldn’t be thinking to….

Unless, of course, he was. Which he was. Insanely risky, but Arthur thought he could see the logic in it. It couldn’t have worked under any other circumstances. The Beaters would have caved his skull in. But no one could really see, the players were, as usual, all in a close snarl, and he could see how Edmond and Preston would hesitate to hit a Bludger into that, assuming they were even aware of it. They didn’t seem to be. Everything was chaos and disorder. Fantastic.

If he had really been Arnold, he would have protected the Keeper by throwing himself in the middle of the game once it began to really look like Mr. Brishen wasn’t going to stop, but since this was the first time Teppenpaw had touched the ball long enough to get into their own territory and there was no way a move like that one could be replicated even under the conditions, he deemed keeping the Chasing team intact more important than keeping Miss Hamilton (how strange it was to think of that name; his great-great-grandmother was the last real Hamilton, he had no idea how this Miss Hamilton had come by it) intact, especially since Keeper was one of the positions that could be played with a relatively simple style and their alternate was good enough to get by with at it. That didn’t prove necessary, but it still wasn’t an especially good time for Aladren; Mr. Brishen scored.

They were going to have to make that up. Fortunately, Russell got them back in possession without trouble, and his pass to Captain Nash went well. Arthur decided to follow Carey protocol and put his total trust in the family leadership for his safety so his eyes could stay on the Quaffle, so he could get it if it were passed again. Paying attention to one thing was always hard, but it was easier when he was doing something highly physical, something like this. His theory was that the distractible parts were all engaged in the unconscious acts involved in staying on the broom, letting him focus.

It was a long run, which made things harder, but when Daniel passed, Arthur was in the right place at the right time. The Quaffle almost got tangled in his sodden robe sleeves, but he was able to react quickly enough to bounce it up and get a good grip on it with his right arm and imitate his teammates by holding it close.

His original plan had been a pair of quick passes right before the goal, complemented by Preston chasing Miss Melcher away with a Bludger, but he didn’t quite dare try it now. Not after the way the last time he’d tried it had gone. He was going to have to try to make the goal and hope the rain would shield him. Squeezing his eyes shut for a second, he pushed himself to think through the cold and the complications to see how best to do this.

Several strategies sprang to mind, all of which required the action of someone else, several of which were her, so that didn’t work. There was still a chance the Beaters would pull through for him, but he couldn’t count on that, or on it going right if they did. Maybe that was why he could focus: so many things, but all related to the same thing, moving fast? He didn’t know.

He flew straight, fast, and then cut away right, faster. As fast as the broom would go; he was more than a little afraid that he was going to make the shot and then imitate his twin and his current problem and fall. Couldn’t think about that, though. Just going faster than Miss Melcher and then throwing the ball as hard as possible toward that right hoop.

0 Arthur Carey, Chaser I suppose so 0 Arthur Carey, Chaser 0 5

Arnold Carey, Seeker

February 24, 2011 9:41 AM

Yeah, right by Arnold Carey, Seeker

On the upside, Bauer was away from the Snitch, and the whistle wasn’t blowing. On the downside, Arnold couldn’t find the Snitch, either, and now both his shoulders hurt, though the one he’d run into the Bludger with was still definitely the worse. He couldn’t tell if the rain was making that better or worse, but either way, he would still be glad to introduce himself to Arthur’s friend the medic after the game.

Assuming he made a conscious choice to go to speak with her. The game was too quiet right now. He kept looking around, straining his ears as well as his eyes, but he couldn’t locate the Bludgers. Considering that the first part of the game had involved multiple interceptions and injuries on both teams and total, unadorned chaos, Arnold couldn’t make sense of this, and had to assume that it meant the teams were trying to trick each other.

Trickery, of course, was still a factor. He had started to realize that Bauer was no more willing to give up than he was; looking over, he saw a yellowish blur about her size, and if she was in the air, she’d be back on him any moment now. Dodging, weaving, and trying to get each other to crash into the ground were the only tactics they could legally use to end the deadlock that kept happening as they covered each other and blocked and created a stalemate.

Of course, right now, there was a simple way, and that was to just move from this place, where the Snitch was not, and see if he could end it before further trickery came into it. Deliberate, focused trickery, anyway; he knew she might interpret him flying straight forward as a feint and play it, but really, he was just going somewhere else because where he was wasn’t yielding results.

0 Arnold Carey, Seeker Yeah, right 181 Arnold Carey, Seeker 0 5

Coach Pierce

February 24, 2011 11:00 AM

Teppenpaw scores! 10-0 (nm) by Coach Pierce

0 Coach Pierce Teppenpaw scores! 10-0 (nm) 0 Coach Pierce 0 5

Kate Bauer, Seeker

February 24, 2011 4:56 PM

Good to see you admit it. by Kate Bauer, Seeker

Kate wasn’t surprised to see Arnold was still in the air. The collision hadn’t been that hard, and her luck wasn’t good enough for him to fall off again. She was still a little disappointed, though, not least because he was closer to where the Snitch had last been than she was and a look around proved that she hadn’t somehow been knocked over to where it now was.

When Arnold began changing directions and flying off, Kate hesitated for a moment, not sure if he’d seen the Snitch or was trying to lead her into a trap or was just flying off in that direction because it was as good a direction as any other. She couldn’t see the Snitch off that way, but then, she could barely see her opponent at the moment. She hated rain, especially the heavy stuff. It just made things difficult.

As if they weren’t always. Oddly, that was a comforting thought. Rain didn’t seem quite so bad when she considered the fight she was no doubt going to have with her mother about playing in any weather over the holidays. Maybe she could do what Rachel had that one year and stay at Sonora over midterm instead of going home to deal with it. It would mean missing some of her time with her dad, and not seeing Alicia at all until summer or Rachel on one of the few occasions where she was sort of still tolerable, but at least she wouldn’t have to put up with the Jeremy and Emily Show.

Muttering angrily to herself about possibly being played for a fool by the guy she’d just played for a fool twice, Kate decided to follow Arnold. This time, though, if there was any pushing, she was going to be the one doing it.

All completely unintentionally, of course.

16 Kate Bauer, Seeker Good to see you admit it. 170 Kate Bauer, Seeker 0 5

Kirstenna, Tepp Keeper

February 24, 2011 6:17 PM

Eep! by Kirstenna, Tepp Keeper

As the game restarted, Kirstenna found her way back up to her spot in front of the Teppenpaw goals. She was a bit dazed...and confused. The Impostor had saved her. Why? Because there were a lot of people watching? That seemed too easy. There had to be a better, more sinister reason.

Or maybe that actually was the reason, uninteresting as that was. The Impostor did not want to get caught. If she let Kirstenna die in front of a good portion of the school, people besides Kirstenna and Derry would be on to her. She'd just kill everyone, except maybe the Careys and assume another identity. That would attract too much attention, a mass murder on that scale.

Besides, she probably would rather get Kirstenna alone and kill her. Or kidnap her and put her in that hotel room in Gallup, New Mexico with Brian and the rotting corpse of Jannette Wolfe. Granted, the Teppenpaw would have been glad to see her friend again, but she still didn't really want to be locked up in a room for the rest of her life. Especially not with a stinky rotting corpse (or several of them) under the floor.

Maybe the Impostor even planned to assume Kirstenna's identity. That would be quite a cover as who would ever suspect at thirteen year old girl, a Teppenpaw no less, of the atrocities that the Impostor was capable of.

Of course, no self-respecting Carey, even one that probably wasn't part of the family anymore, would pretend to be a halfblood. Except, that would make being Kirstenna an even better cover. It was even possible that the Impostor didn't know that the Keeper was a halfblood, as she did have a pureblood last name, and one of a non-extinct family, unlike Nic Sawyer.

The rain pounded harder and the third year was glad to have done water repellent charms before the game. She wished Kate would catch the Snitch and the game would end. Kirstenna didn't feel safe between the weather and the Impostor and the general dangerousness of Quidditch-

And the bludger hurtling at her. Kirstenna gasped and pulled her broom up and avoided a collision. Falling off her broom had been bad enough, the last thing she needed was a bludger slamming into her.

11 Kirstenna, Tepp Keeper Eep! 161 Kirstenna, Tepp Keeper 0 5

Arnold Carey, Seeker

February 24, 2011 9:45 PM

Oh, Caitlin, mistress of the misinterpreted observation by Arnold Carey, Seeker

He didn’t really like doing it, but Arnold had learned Chaser from his father before he learned Seeker at Sonora, and that meant being able to fly with both hands off the broom. Right now, that was coming in handy, because he could rub the water out of his eyes when he needed to without having to stop his broom completely, though he did slow down a little. He had no interest in falling again, especially since there was still that uncanny lack of a Bludger anywhere near him to explain it with.

He did notice, though, that his robes were starting to stick to his arms. That could be a major disadvantage in a race for the Snitch. He’d seen real games were half a second made the difference between a move going one way and it going the other, and while he knew they weren’t at that level of play…Well, they weren’t exactly tossing a Quaffle around on the back lawn, either.

He also noticed he couldn’t really feel his face a moment later while grimacing at Bauer’s return, but focused more on the Teppenpaw Seeker. He’d really been hoping that she would go away and Seek somewhere else, but he guessed it was true what they said about people who were tricky expecting to be tricked. The only thing that didn’t make sense was that he was the Carey in this arrangement. While he would not take it well if anyone here, an outsider, mentioned it to his face, he was aware that other branches of his family were less than reputable or subtle.

Subtle wasn’t really his style, either. He flew straight at her…Then glanced sideways, and realized they were both about to be run over by the Chasers. “Duck,” he recommended loudly, then suited action to words by pointing his broom groundward and pushing it as fast as he thought he could without losing his touch and crashing.

0 Arnold Carey, Seeker Oh, Caitlin, mistress of the misinterpreted observation 181 Arnold Carey, Seeker 0 5

Kirstenna, Keeper

February 24, 2011 11:04 PM

Not again! by Kirstenna, Keeper

Kirstenna breathed a sigh of relief. Hopefully that bludger being hit at her was just a normal bludger being hit by a firstie beater trying to take out the competition so the goals would be unguarded. Though hopefully if Kirstenna went out, they'd just put in Jessica. She didn't even know if the first year alternate was good at keeper, as the girl had tried for seeker.

The alternative was, of course, that the Impostor had imperiused the Aladren beater to take her out. That would be far less obvious than the Impostor letting Kirstenna hit the ground, because then it would just look like Preston Stratford was, well, trying to take out the competing keeper.

It would be an easy way to get rid of her. Or at least send her a warning. A warning to let Kirstenna know that she might be able to stop the Quaffle but she would never be able to stop her nemesis. Besides, Kirstenna was sure the Impostor wanted Aladren to win anyway, she was a Carey, there were three Careys on Aladren's team. Teppenpaw had the two people who saw the Impostor for who she really was, an Impostor.

Having that woman (or possibly man) as a Quidditch Coach was just plain dangerous . And what if she (or he, nobody could be sure of the Impostor's real identity other than she was not Jannette Wolfe or Amelia Pierce and most likely a Carey) could read Kirstenna's mind . That meant she would know Kirstenna was closer to knowing her true identity!

The thought made the third year a little queasy. She could not have the Impostor of all people reading her mind. Kirstenna would never be able to stop her then! She had no idea how to do the complex magic to shield herself from a Leglimens!

However, right now Kirstenna had more to worry about. Like how to shield the goals from the Quaffle yet again . As the ball came speeding towards the right hoop, the Teppenpaw lunged for it. While she was a bit low to catch the ball-in the rain, with all her thoughts occupying her mind, Kirstnna had sunk down a bit too far after coming down after she avoided the bluder- it did however, bounce off her head and miss the hoop.

She flew over, grabbed the Quaffle, threw it to the nearest Teppenpaw Chaser, and rubbed her head where she'd been hit. Oh, did this game ever need to be over soon. So far, Kirstenna had fallen off her broom, (as had Arnold), been nearly hit with a bludger and had been actually hit by the Quaffle. In the head.

11 Kirstenna, Keeper Not again! 161 Kirstenna, Keeper 0 5

Arista Thornton, Chaser

February 25, 2011 12:27 AM

Chasing through the pain by Arista Thornton, Chaser

Arista had been trying her hardest to keep up with the game, but her heart lay deep with worry for her sister and their mother. The second year was so happy to have made the team even with the tendonitis flare up, and though it hurt she didn't want it to stop her from playing! Taking deep breaths as she flew up and down the Pitch chasing the large red Quaffle from one side to the other, she kept away from the Bludgers somehow. As she flew, she watched Aladren take the red ball from her house and then they took it back.

The Aladren seeker fell of his broom, and then Tepp's keeper did the same and she winced. Watching the falls made her wonder why she went out for the team to begin with, but the air flowing through her hair gave her the why she needed. It was adventure and courage, daring and hope. This was why she was who she was! Trying her hardest to put her head back in the game, she shreeked as she saw the seekers pelt past her. Glancing ahead, the second year figured out why. They'd both seen the snitch!

The twelve year old got as close to her broom as possible and flew fast as her old broom could go and chased the large red ball once more. She was going to help her team win, even if it meant her falling too!

Spotting it in the hands of one of her own Tepp Teammates, she called to them, "PASS IT! I can do it!" She said, full determination glaring in her eyes. The drive to win was unbearable for the red headed girl and she reached out for the ball from them. She only hoped they'd pass it!

Flying side by side with her teammate, she still reached for it, hoping beyond all hopes that they would pass it to her so she could show them who she truly was! A Winner!

"Come on! Pass it!" She called again as a bludger rushed past her left ear and hit with a thwack right on the side of her head! "OUCH!" she called out as she felt herself lose control of her broom. The sky around her got dark and she got dizzy.

Seconds later all was black!

0 Arista Thornton, Chaser Chasing through the pain 0 Arista Thornton, Chaser 0 5

Derry Four, Beater

February 25, 2011 9:07 AM

Nice dodge by Derry Four, Beater

After everything went crazy - Derry wasn't even going to try sorting out what all had just happened, he was content to know that Andrew's water repellent charm worked and the score was still nothing to nothing - he kept with Preston because he'd assigned himself to the crazy Aladren beater instead of the terrifyingly large Aladren beater, so that was who he was going to badger and try to block.

He was wet and kind of confused as to why Preston wasn't chasing after the chaser to try to take out Captain Tobar who was apparently making a run on the goals, but assumed he was going to try to retaliate for the hit on Arnold by going after Kate, so he put himself between the Aladren Beater and Teppenpaw Seeker(and incidentally the Aladren Seeker since the two seekers were hanging around pretty close to each other, but Preston had already proven he was very . . . into his role as beater and might try to take her out anyway.)

Between the heavy rain, and a slight fascination in how the two Seekers were playing each other, Derry realized much too late that Preston was going after Kirstenna instead.

As soon as he did, he charged to her defense, but it was too late. Fortunately, she knew how to dodge, and Derry collected the bludger before it could come back for a second pass or find someone else on the Teppenpaw team to threaten. "I'll get this out of your way," he called to her.

Just in time, too. The Aladrens were heading back. Ignoring who actually had the ball, Derry aimed his newly acquired bludger down at Captain Nash instead. The Head Boy was, after all, their only non-first year chaser, and taking him out would vastly improve the chances that Kirstenna wouldn't have to work so hard at keeping the Quaffle out of the goals.

Nash was probably watching the Quaffle action, or even the Seeker action, too, so he might not even notice Derry and his bludger until it was too late.

1 Derry Four, Beater Nice dodge 189 Derry Four, Beater 0 5

Coach Pierce

February 25, 2011 9:58 AM

So, Merlin, is your answer 'no' or 'I hate you'? by Coach Pierce

Maybe the rain soaked out the ardor of the beaters, or maybe they just couldn't find the bludgers in the downpour, but the game seemed much less violent after the restart. She thought she'd seen Arnold jostle Kate a little, but it wasn't enough that she could be either sure (the weather obscured her vision enough that subtleties were lost) or inclined to call him on it. She generally kept her blatching fouls to ones that were much more obvious than that.

Besides which, the chaser action was heating up, and she needed to watch that, too, and the two groups were quickly coming to occupy the same space anyway, so a minor nudge was really the least of anybody's problems.

And, oh, there was one of those bludgers.

"Seriously?" she complained aloud to nobody as the third player of the game fell off her broom. Normally, she could ref a game and not have to snatch anybody out of the air.

Another levitation spell halted the Teppenpaw chaser's gravity induced movement, and another summoning spell brought the girl's broom back to her. Unlike Kirstenna or Arnold, though, Arista seemed to have lost consciousness, so she brought both the girl and the broom down to the ground and left her with the Medic who was kept on hand for such eventualities during the game. Then she returned to the air, her attention having never entirely left what was going on.

Especially between the Seekers.

0 Coach Pierce So, Merlin, is your answer 'no' or 'I hate you'? 0 Coach Pierce 0 5

Russell Layne, Chaser

February 25, 2011 10:37 AM

We just can't help ourselves. by Russell Layne, Chaser

Third time was the charm. Third time had to be the charm. Daniel and Russell had both failed to get ‘round the Teppenpaw Keeper, which left Arthur as the one Aladren Chaser she had yet to foil. His name didn’t end with an ‘l’ or anything, so Russell thought he might actually have a chance.

That hope turned out to be wildly optimistic. Russell had no idea how it happened, but somehow, the Quaffle bounced off Kirstenna’s head. Clearly, the Quidditch Gods were just displeased with the Aladren Chasers.

He considered the luck they’d been having so far, with their team in possession all but a very small piece of the time. Okay, so maybe it was more like the Quidditch Gods were toying with them than it was like they were really displeased with them. Or maybe just in some kind of competition with each other, or in a compromise that necessitated both teams have bad luck as far as it went, like Athena and Ares were bickering over who was the real war god.

It occurred to Russell that he might have read too much mythology, especially since everyone knew half the busts of Athena were really just Rowena Ravenclaw.

Whether there were Quidditch Gods having fun messing with them or not, though, this was getting frustrating. They’d gotten lucky this last time, fighting their way down the Pitch in long runs without any interceptions, but what if one of the Teppenpaws tried to make another really long run and was successful? Still wouldn’t matter if Arnold caught the Snitch, but still, it felt like it did. He did not want this game to end with Teppenpaw scoring twenty points no matter which way the Snitch went.

So, when Kirstenna threw it back toward one of the Teppenpaw Chasers, Russell gave into the temptation to do something crazy that had been building through the game. He flew out, narrowly avoided a collision with, he thought, whoever the toss had been meant for, and intercepted the Quaffle. He then immediately tried to shoot, hopefully before many people had time to realize what was going on or Kirstenna to get back from the right, toward the left hoop.

16 Russell Layne, Chaser We just can't help ourselves. 183 Russell Layne, Chaser 0 5

Kate Bauer, Seeker

February 25, 2011 10:53 AM

...You seriously need a Muggleborn. by Kate Bauer, Seeker

When Arnold shouted ‘duck’ at her, Kate was momentarily torn between wanting to yell back “goose” and point out that it had looked more like he was trying to play chicken and was that the pureblood word for it, but then put together what he was doing with what was running at them and mimicked his plunge toward the ground.

Things were so messed up at this point that she had no idea which team was in possession and had thus just gone overhead; at this point, in the rain and the intensity of their conflict over the Snitch, directions were meaningless. She thought it was Aladren with the Quaffle, heading for the Teppenpaw goals again, but neither cared enough nor had the time to look and figure it out. If she was right, then Kirstenna could clearly handle it, and if she was wrong, then the worst that could happen was Teppenpaw not scoring again. The chances that they’d keep playing long enough for ten points to matter in the end were slim to none, so Kate wasn’t going to worry about it.

She had no idea, though, why Arnold hadn’t just let her get flattened, or at least figure out that it was a possibility herself, so she nodded shortly at him in acknowledgment of the favor and returned to looking for the Snitch. If he was going for some crazy only-one-allowed-to-defeat-you Darth Vader knockoff and planning to try to knock her off her broom himself, he’d almost certainly get caught, so either way, him being weird wasn’t that bad a thing for Teppenpaw. They were doing pretty well right now, having scored while Aladren was still failing to and with her less injured than Arnold, but she was still aware that they could use every advantage they could get.

OOC: Wow, I should not try to post on four hours of sleep. Didn’t notice Arista’s post up here until I’d submitted Russell’s and hit ‘Return to Messages’ and saw Amelia’s, so I have no idea what’s going on with the Quaffle right now, sorry about that.

16 Kate Bauer, Seeker ...You seriously need a Muggleborn. 170 Kate Bauer, Seeker 0 5

Arnold Carey, Seeker

February 25, 2011 3:33 PM

...Pretty sure the world would end on that one. by Arnold Carey, Seeker

For about two seconds, Arnold felt a sense of camaraderie with Bauer after their mutual escape from the Chasers. Enough to smile at her, anyway: close one, huh?

Then he remembered she was the enemy, nodded in an even less friendly manner than she had in acknowledgment of her possible thanks for his warning, and also flew away to look for the Snitch. That little moment definitely wasn’t going into the letter home after the game. Father was peculiar, he might not think it was such a very bad thing, but Arnold was sure that Grandfather and possibly, if Arthur really did always tell him the truth, even Mother would be appalled.

Normally, Arnold accepted Arthur’s word without question, but the idea of Mother playing Quidditch in school – being a team captain, no less – was just bizarre. He wasn’t stupid, he could quite clearly see that some girls did play, but not Mother. Girls who played Quidditch were not the kind of girls who married Anthony Carey the Seventh, and Mother was barely the kind of girl who did that anyway. No one talked about it very much, but he was aware that Mother’s birth family was not particularly prominent, Mother herself not particularly dainty or ladylike by inclination, and Father had been out of his mind with grief over his first wife when he married her. Grandmother was especially vehement on that last point; there was no other way a son of hers could marry the likes of Lorraine, and it was important that Arnold, Arthur, and Anthony never do anything so foolish, lest their family become a laughingstock in spite of the perfectly decent matches Aunt Catherine and Aunt Emma and Uncle Donald had made.

The Teppenpaw side seemed to be happy about something. Arnold looked around frantically, afraid Bauer had gotten to the Snitch, but she wasn’t looking too triumphant, so he had to assume Aladren had just failed to score, again. If he’d still been a Chaser, he would have been seriously considering whether or not he could push her down a flight of stairs on game mornings and not get caught or something, because it was just no fun if the Keeper was so good that there was no chance of anyone scoring without simultaneously committing a foul. Since he was a Seeker, though, he looked away in disgust, back toward the end of the Pitch that almost certainly wouldn’t look quite so empty in a few seconds, and –

He was moving before he even fully finished processing that the thing he saw was the Snitch. This meant being completely out in the open, going up with a clear purpose and so opening himself up to the Teppenpaw Beaters if they could see anything at all, against the wind so he couldn’t go as fast as possible, but that was all irrelevant. They could break all his ribs they wanted, so long as his hand touched another kind of metal first.

0 Arnold Carey, Seeker ...Pretty sure the world would end on that one. 181 Arnold Carey, Seeker 0 5

Kate Bauer, Chaser

February 25, 2011 3:35 PM

Or that one would end the world. by Kate Bauer, Chaser

She wasn’t sticking to him like glue anymore, an apparently mutual agreement since the Beaters appeared to have either lost interest in them or just been rendered incapable of playing their positions by wet bats and the trouble of distinguishing the things they were supposed to be hitting from the sky and other objects like the dark heads of the Aladren Chasers, but Kate was keeping an eye on Arnold, and saw that he looked agitated about something. Since he wasn’t flying very fast toward something, though, and she thought she could hear her side cheering, she assumed it had something to do with whatever was going on with the Chasers.

Teppenpaw in possession was good, but being here while Teppenpaw was in possession and so likely to charge right back through here any second now was not. Why couldn’t they program the Snitch to stay above any place the Chasers had any business being? It would make things so much simpler.

Oh. Right. Simple would be boring for the audience. She always forgot about that. Outside of schools, this was Big Money, and that ruled all. A logically constructed game wouldn’t even have the Snitch.

Wait – what was he doing now? Kate squinted in the direction Arnold seemed to be shooting, and felt as though she’d gotten an actual shock when she did catch a glint of gold.

She was above it, he was below it, she couldn’t tell how much the distance difference was, especially since it was still flittering. There wasn’t much of a chance she could beat him to it, but there was some, and she had to take it. Kate dove.

16 Kate Bauer, Chaser Or that one would end the world. 170 Kate Bauer, Chaser 0 5

Edmond Carey, Beater

February 25, 2011 3:37 PM

Also likely by Edmond Carey, Beater

The rain still pouring down around them made it even harder to tell exactly what was going on in the game than the general chaos that had reigned before Kirstenna’s fall had. Edmond thought he might have been behind the Teppenpaw Chaser falling even though he’d been aiming for her captain, but he hadn’t stuck around to see if he succeeded in cracking Tobar’s skull, so it might have been Preston’s doing, or a loose Bludger, or even a misaimed hit by one of her team’s Beaters. Still, she didn’t seem to be returning to the game, so he counted it as a win, however vaguely guilty that made him feel.

The Seekers were still marking each other too closely for a hit at Kate Bauer to be a good move, so he chose to ignore the fact that Arnold might or might not have collided with his rival intentionally as long as Coach Pierce did and stick with the Chasers. He couldn’t use his bat without a Bludger, and he couldn’t find one of those, but it was a perfectly legitimate play to charge opposing Chasers if it came to that, or break them up by flying straight through them. There was a lot more of him than there was of any of them; unless they were completely crazy (and he thought, torn between despair and what felt suspiciously like pride, Aladren might have cornered the market on crazy, at least for this game), they would most likely scatter if he did that.

Probability. That was all, ultimately, Quidditch strategy came down to, at least in Edmond’s opinion. Specific moves were and needed to be taught, specific things to try, alternatives to them if they were not feasible for some situation, but fluidity, the ability to work out what the most likely outcome of a given action would be very quickly, was essential, especially since people weren’t really themselves when they played Quidditch. The change from matching uniform robes to team colors alone was enough to raise aggression, group feeling existed even before that, the desire to impress your teammates and do your part, worrying about what so-and-so in the stands would think – if not for the weather, he would have at least considered the idea that Cassie might be watching, but he assumed she’d be too sensible to come out into this – and then there was just the wanting to win. All that changed people, even if it was only for a little while, so being able to adjust when things didn’t happen the way you expected them to was important.

As they approached the Teppenpaw goals, Edmond finally figured out where at least one of the Bludgers had gone, because a Teppenpaw – not the one he’d dealt with earlier, the other one, Derwent – was hitting it toward Daniel. He intervened, moving quickly to hit it away from the action altogether. No time to aim, even if he could at this angle; just get it away from his people, then decide what to do with it.

The Seekers seemed to have split up, finally, and Arnold was going after – something, maybe the Snitch. Edmond hadn’t heard of too many upward feints, though he supposed it was always possible. If it was the real thing, though, then hitting Kate would clear the path to the victory.

The Bludger had been heading her way on its own, but her change in direction to chase Arnold put her off course. It also put her closer to Arnold, so if he was going to try this, he was going to have to try it fast, and be ready to live with it if he was wrong and somehow ended up hitting his own Seeker. He thought he was, so he followed the Bludger, bat raise against its instinct to attack him, and sent it for the Teppenpaw second year as hard as he could. Almost as soon as hit bat cracked against iron, he was circling, intending to swoop in and save Arnold from the play if he needed to.

0 Edmond Carey, Beater Also likely 0 Edmond Carey, Beater 0 5

Kate Bauer, Seeker

February 25, 2011 3:41 PM

But it's all over now; brother, can you spare a dime? by Kate Bauer, Seeker

It was hard to both keep track of the Snitch and keep track of the competition, but Kate thought she was gaining a little on Arnold. That was good. Even if they reached the Snitch at the same time and crashed into each other, she’d have as good a shot as he did of being the one whose finger touched some part of the Snitch first, though she didn’t take it as a good sign that she was so ready for this game to be over that she was okay with the thought of it ending in a pile-up.

Still, though. Worth it if she could be the one who got it. Crotalus and Pecari always won everything, big Houses full of Personality that they were, but Aladren did at least still have the distinction of producing even more Head people than Crotalus, and of being the really smart House. Teppenpaw was…nice. That was all anyone ever said about them. A little glory would feel fantastic.

So would the full use of her senses, which was another reason to want this over with. The charm was keeping her dry, but she thought it might be magnifying the way the water would have been drumming on her skull anyway, making it even harder to hear. She could only assume that combined with just how focused she was to be the reason she didn’t realize a Bludger was coming until it slammed into her back, just where her shoulder met the rest of her.

The impact threw her forward on her broom; if she hadn’t had her hands on it, she thought her head might have collided with it. Or just been thrown over the end of the shaft. Still, though, the lack of a third Teppenpaw fall was the only good she could find in the situation, because the stabbing, searing pain shooting through the hit area and down her arm was such that she was pretty sure something was broken.

Just a little further. She had to go just a little further. Catch the damn Snitch. She could make it ten more feet before she collapsed at the medic’s feet. Her vision was even worse, now, but she knew she could make it…

16 Kate Bauer, Seeker But it's all over now; brother, can you spare a dime? 170 Kate Bauer, Seeker 0 5

Arnold Carey, Seeker

February 25, 2011 3:43 PM

Sure thi - ooh, shiny! by Arnold Carey, Seeker

Arnold saw Bauer coming down toward the Snitch and dropped all reservations. He had to make it there first. His eyes were squinted almost shut, the rain started hitting his face so hard as he accelerated even further that it almost felt warm again and he had the dazed thought that he didn’t know if water could actually cut someone, but he would get there first.

Come on, come on, come on, come on….

Kate lurched closer into his vision, bent almost double over her broom; he thought she was trying to make herself more aerodynamic, and wondered angrily why he hadn’t thought of that. He was an Aladren. He was supposed to be smart. ‘Intelligence and love of learning’ was right there in the description, and while he thought he might have gotten in more on the basis of ‘independent and strong-willed’ than of that, he was still supposed to be smarter than a Teppenpaw. If he’d thought of that, then she most likely wouldn’t have been able to catch him at all.

Then, Fate intervened. There was no other explanation. The Snitch darted again, and he almost lost it, but his eyes accommodated just in time. It was off to the right of its previous position. He threw himself that way as hard as he could, shot forward, already extending his right hand, half-afraid he was going to over-shoot it and go right past and then have to explain how Bauer had caught the Snitch right behind him, but something hard struck his palm, and his fingers closed around it by instinct, and it was a second before it even fully dawned on him that he’d actually just caught the Golden Snitch.

For a moment, he felt stunned, almost unsure of himself. He looked at his hand as though the rest of the Pitch had vanished. “We won,” he said, sounding surprised even to himself.

Then he started to laugh. He didn’t even know what was so funny, just that he was laughing and it sort of hurt but he couldn’t stop anyway. I win.

0 Arnold Carey, Seeker Sure thi - ooh, shiny! 181 Arnold Carey, Seeker 0 5

Coach Pierce

February 25, 2011 4:19 PM

Aladren Wins! 150-10 (nm) by Coach Pierce

0 Coach Pierce Aladren Wins! 150-10 (nm) 0 Coach Pierce 0 5

Coach Amelia Pierce

Game I: Aladren vs Teppenpaw! by Coach Amelia Pierce

<font color="blue">Captain Nash, Chaser</font>

We have this one by <font color="blue">Captain Nash, Chaser</font>

<font color=yellow>Captain Brishen,Chaser</font>

I don't think you do. by <font color=yellow>Captain Brishen,Chaser</font>

<font color="blue">Arthur Carey, Chaser</font>

Mm, I'm afraid I'm going to have to agree with my captain by <font color="blue">Arthur Carey, Chaser</font>

<font color="blue">Captain Nash, Chaser</font>

Aladrens are very rarely wrong, you know. by <font color="blue">Captain Nash, Chaser</font>

<font color="blue">Arnold Carey, Seeker</font>

Failure is not an option by <font color="blue">Arnold Carey, Seeker</font>

<font color="blue">Edmond Carey, Beater</font>

Not a very attractive one, anyway by <font color="blue">Edmond Carey, Beater</font>

<font color="yellow">Andrew Duell, Chaser</font>

but maybe just a little blind... by <font color="yellow">Andrew Duell, Chaser</font>

<font color=blue>Preston Stratford,Beater</font>

I have very good eye-hand coordination by <font color=blue>Preston Stratford,Beater</font>

<font color="yellow">Derry Four, Beater</font>

Discretion is the greater part of valor, right? by <font color="yellow">Derry Four, Beater</font>

<font color=yellow>Kirstenna Melcher,Keeper</font>

Sure. by <font color=yellow>Kirstenna Melcher,Keeper</font>

<font color="blue">Russell Layne, Chaser</font>

Not sure I want Falstaff as a life coach, but whatever works by <font color="blue">Russell Layne, Chaser</font>

<font color="blue">Edmond Carey, Beater</font>

Is that the official NQL motto? by <font color="blue">Edmond Carey, Beater</font>

<font color="yellow">Andrew Duell, Chaser</font>

I'm not sure, we'll have to check around. by <font color="yellow">Andrew Duell, Chaser</font>

<font color="yellow">Kate Bauer, Seeker</font>

The super-long list of fouls suggests it's not. by <font color="yellow">Kate Bauer, Seeker</font>

<font color=yellow>Derry Four, Beater</font>

Preventing a Kate Crater. by <font color=yellow>Derry Four, Beater</font>

<font color=blue>Preston, Beater</font>

How about a Derry Crater!? by <font color=blue>Preston, Beater</font>

<font color=yellow>Ben Holland, Beater</font>

I think an Aladren crater will do just fine. by <font color=yellow>Ben Holland, Beater</font>

<font color=blue>Samantha Hamilton,Keeper</font>

Well this is all very interesting by <font color=blue>Samantha Hamilton,Keeper</font>

<font color="blue">Captain Nash, Chaser</font>

Reviving the Chaser Action by <font color="blue">Captain Nash, Chaser</font>

<font color=blue>Arnold Carey, Seeker</font>

I live to entertain, if I don't die falling by <font color=blue>Arnold Carey, Seeker</font>

<font color=blue>Arthur Carey, Chaser</font>

We ain't gonna be outdone by no Beaters by <font color=blue>Arthur Carey, Chaser</font>

<font color=blue>Russell Layne, Chaser</font>

Not a chance. by <font color=blue>Russell Layne, Chaser</font>

<font color=red>Coach Pierce</font>

Nobody is going to die falling on my watch by <font color=red>Coach Pierce</font>

<font color=blue>Arnold Carey, Seeker</font>

Then I shall live to be amusing another day by <font color=blue>Arnold Carey, Seeker</font>

<font color=yellow>Andrew Duell, Chaser</font>

We're what keeps this game glamorous, right? by <font color=yellow>Andrew Duell, Chaser</font>

<font color=yellow>Kirstenna, Keeper</font>

I wouldn't discount Keepers. by <font color=yellow>Kirstenna, Keeper</font>

<font color=red>Coach Pierce</font>

Are you there, Merlin? It's me, Amelia by <font color=red>Coach Pierce</font>

<font color=red>Coach Pierce</font>

Recentering. Play continues up here. (nm) by <font color=red>Coach Pierce</font>

<font color=red>Coach Pierce</font>

OOC by <font color=red>Coach Pierce</font>

<font color=blue>Arthur Carey, Chaser</font>

And here we go again by <font color=blue>Arthur Carey, Chaser</font>

<font color=yellow>Captain Brishen, Chaser</font>

On our own? by <font color=yellow>Captain Brishen, Chaser</font>

<font color=blue>Arnold Carey, Seeker</font>

Still Seeking by <font color=blue>Arnold Carey, Seeker</font>

<font color=yellow>Kate Bauer, Seeker</font>

Seeking for success. by <font color=yellow>Kate Bauer, Seeker</font>

<font color=blue>Samantha Hamilton,Keeper</font>

I'm never alone. by <font color=blue>Samantha Hamilton,Keeper</font>

<font color=blue>Preston, Aladren Beater</font>

Well, you are part of a 7 players team.. by <font color=blue>Preston, Aladren Beater</font>

<font color=blue>Arnold Carey, Seeker</font>

Seeking something shiny by <font color=blue>Arnold Carey, Seeker</font>

<font color=blue>Edmond Carey, Beater</font>

Oh, bother by <font color=blue>Edmond Carey, Beater</font>

<font color=yellow>Kate Bauer, Seeker</font>

Blocking your access to the shiny. by <font color=yellow>Kate Bauer, Seeker</font>

<font color=blue>Russell Layne, Chaser</font>

But where's the Hundred-Acre Wood? by <font color=blue>Russell Layne, Chaser</font>