Ready to Keep on Quidditch Pitch

Selina Skies and Nathan Xavier

January 31, 2015 10:25 AM

Crotalus and Teppenpaw Try-Outs! by Selina Skies and Nathan Xavier

Selina stood on the Quidditch pitch feeling less than entirely hopeful… Certainly this year was better than last year, in that someone from her house had actually expressed an interest but she couldn’t help but feel that, even by combining forces with Teppenpaw, they were going to come up short. It was almost worse than if no-one had signed up because now she had someone to be disappointed by the situation… She could only hope that her and Alistair’s efforts to rouse the interest of a few more members of their house had paid off. Children were not known for their tendency to stick their necks out and do something that most of their peers weren’t doing - something they didn’t think they would receive validation for - but perhaps with one person to set the ball rolling, it would encourage anyone who had been on the fence...

Having accepted the reality that they and Teppenpaw would be fielding a joint team (best case scenario), she and Nathan had decided to hold their try outs together. It saved her an awkward hour of putting Alistair through his paces alone, if no other Crotali joined them, and would be more instructive and rewarding for him, in terms of finding a place within the team.

With some interpretation of the sign-up sheets, they had more or less one of everything, once you counted the fact that some people had expressed no particular preference. Of course, the problem lay in that you needed two of something and three of another but it seemed like a good start. With the flexibility indicated, and the possibility of walk ons, the easiest way had been to set up a station for each position - Chasing was a relay around an obstacle course, with some shooting at the end to also cover Keeping. Seekers would have small flying things to chase down, and Beaters would have softballs to bat around.

Once they had everyone they were expecting, and had left a suitable gap for anyone who wanted to give it a go to to join them, they began. Outside of this, Selina somewhat outranked Nathan, but they were both here with their Head of House hats on, and that meant that - in what they were doing today - they were equals. As his house was fielding more candidates, she felt she should defer to him to do the welcoming.

At her slight nod toward him to begin, Nathan straightened his robes - yellow, mostly, to indicate he was here to support Teppenpaw’s interests, but with red trimming to show Crotalus was his House’s ally this year - and cleared his throat to get everybody’s attention. “Hello, and welcome to the Quidditch try-outs for the combined Teppenpaw and Crotalus House Team. Due to the small number of sign-ups, we thought our best chances to get a third team playing in the Quidditch tournament this year was to join forces. For those of you who don’t know me,” which was probably all of the Crotali, seeing as he had no classes and didn’t interact with the student body outside of Teppenpaw much, “I’m Nathan Xavier, the Head of Teppenpaw, and Sonora’s groundskeeper.” He nodded toward his co-staff person, “You should all know Professor Skies, the Head of Crotalus, by now.” Even the first years should have all been taking Transfigurations with her for the better part of two weeks by now, after all, even if they didn’t remember her from their Sorting.

“I’ll be supervising the Chasing and Keeping,” she picked up. “We’ll have you work your way down the pitch as a team, then give you some goal shots as individuals. If we don’t have many Keeper candidates, I can swap in to receive shots. You’re welcome to work your way around as many, or as few stations as you like.”

“I’ll be working with the Beaters and the Seekers,” Nathan continued. He was a half-and-half, so he’d grown up playing baseball with his muggle dad. He’d be using some of those skills today. Hopefully, they weren’t too rusty. “I’ll pitch some balls toward the students trying out for Beater, and you’ll try to hit them at some targets we’ve got set up over there,” he pointed to a couple of dummies flying back and forth on the far end of the pitch from where Selina would be watching the Keepers try-out. “For the seekers, we’ve got some enchanted gold ping-pong balls flying about. Try to catch as many as you can. There are collection bags here.” He pointed to a pile of small courier type bags lying on the ground nearby. There were about twenty golden balls flying around the pitch, plenty for everybody trying out for Seeker to find a few, but not so many that they’d interfere much with the other players on the pitch.

He took a moment to do a quick head count, then asked “Did everyone here sign-up? If not, could you please tell us your name, House, year, and which positions you are interested in before we begin.” Once all additional names had been added to the end of the appropriate sign-up sheets, Nathan asked, “Are there any questions about what we’re doing today?”

The two professors looked around, ready to make any clarifications necessary for their instructions. Once there were no more, Selina declared, “Let’s get started.”

OOC: Welcome to the Try-Outs. If you did not sign-up, thank you for coming! Just answer Nathan’s question about name, year, House, and positions, and join everybody else. Anyone trying out for beater may assume Nathan is throwing softballs toward them with semi-reasonable aim. They may need to fly for it a bit, but that’s almost on purpose to test their flying skills.

Subthreads:

Y'all are lucky I love Liac. by Tobias Reinhardt II, Teppenpaw with Liac Reinhardt, Teppenpaw

Ready to Keep by Ginger Pierce with Isaac Douglas, Andrew Carey, Alistair Johnson

Seeking seeker by Jake Manger with Uzume Shinohara

0 Selina Skies and Nathan Xavier Crotalus and Teppenpaw Try-Outs! 26 Selina Skies and Nathan Xavier 1 5

Tobias Reinhardt II, Teppenpaw

February 06, 2015 4:34 AM

Y'all are lucky I love Liac. by Tobias Reinhardt II, Teppenpaw

Quidditch was not Tobi’s thing. In fact, he wouldn’t have even been there at the try-outs had it not been a sport that Liac so desperately wanted to play. And he felt a little guilty since the previous year there had not been a Teppenpaw team and he felt as though a part of that had been his fault for not showing interest. So, he decided he would show up to the Teppenpaw try-outs full of energy and ready to play his hardest. He had studied Quidditch in a few books and soon realized that it was not at all like the sport of lacrosse that he liked to play back home with the other children of the reservation, especially his cousins on his mother’s side with whom he had created a sort of hybrid game of lacrosse of broomsticks to raise the stakes and make things more interesting. However, the only position in Quidditch that involved holding sticks was Beater, which was a different sort of gae than lacrosse and there were no nets at the end of the Beater’s bat with which Tobi could catch a ball with.

As such, he wasn’t entirely sure what position he wanted to play. He supposed Keeper might be the easiest as it was fairly simple and he thought the rules to not be too complicated. The other positions—Chaser and Seeker, he thought he could try for fairly well though he did know that he absolutely did not want to be a Beater since the thought of trying to intentionally injure his fellow school mates did not quite sit well with him. After another pondering over it, Tobi decided that Seeker was altogether too flashy for him and so if he was going to be forced to try-out for a specific position then he ought to look at being either a Keeper or a Chaser. However, not really having too firm a grasp on the game at all, he decided he would just try his hand at the different things and figure out what he was and wasn’t good at and then let Professor Skies and Xavier decide for him.

Now, if he had been at a Muggle boarding school and was trying out for a school lacrosse team, Tobi thought that perhaps he would have been confident—he was swift and light on his feet and knew how to handle a lacrosse stick well. However, this was Sonora and as such the sport of the day was Quidditch which meant Tobi was out of his element (quite literally as air and earth were not quite the same thing at all) and as such was slightly anxious—not that he wouldn’t make the team as that wasn’t something he particularly cared out, but that he would make a fool out of himself and embarrass Liac. On their way to the Quidditch Pitch, he had tugged on his cousin’s arm gently. “I’m not very good at Quidditch you know,” his voice uncharacteristically shy for a conversation with Liac. “But I’m going to try, for you.” Followed by a quick, shy smile.

When the introductions got around to him, Tobi tried his best to look enthusiastic about joining before announcing himself as “Tobias Reinhardt, second year Teppenpaw,” deciding that a place as rough as a Quidditch Pitch where he didn’t want to be didn’t need the formalities. After they were set loose to try their hand at the different stations, Tobi, unsure of where to go first, decided on going to the Beater area despite his earlier reluctance for the position. Upon closer inspection, it seemed like the position closest to lacrosse as it involved contact with a similar (kind of, not really) sized ball to a stick and if Tobi was used to catching then cradling quickly he was certain he would be able to make contact with Bludgers that came his way. Besides, passing the ball to other players was sort of like hitting a Bludger to an opposing player Tobi reasoned, and since he’d always been good at passing he wouldn’t have too much difficulty with this.

OOC: Written with consent from Liac's author.

10 Tobias Reinhardt II, Teppenpaw Y'all are lucky I love Liac. 289 Tobias Reinhardt II, Teppenpaw 0 5

Ginger Pierce

February 06, 2015 9:44 AM

Ready to Keep by Ginger Pierce

Ginger headed out to the Pitch with an excited bounce in her step. She had eaten a light meal beforehand, choosing food that were easy to digest and would give her plenty of energy today. Her dark hair was split into two braids to keep it from getting in her face or blocking her vision at a key moment.

She wasn't a Quidditch fanatic by any stretch of the imagination, but the only thing she liked better than being outside was being part of a team, and with this she'd get to do both.... assuming, of course, that between them, Crotalus and Teppenpaw could pull off a full team. Ginger was hopeful, though. Teppenpaw had four on their list, so if Crotalus matched that or even had one less, that was all they'd need. Seven wasn't all that big of a number, after all.

Reaching the Pitch, she smiled and waved at the two Heads of Houses running things today, then started greeting and introducing herself to her new potential teammates.

When the Heads started explaining what they would be doing, though, Ginger felt a moment of disappointment. The Chaser obstacle course looked so fun! But she had signed up for Keeper, which suddenly sounded kind of boring, at least in its try-out activity.

Still, she headed up to the goal posts since Mr. Xavier had probably told Professor Skies that Teppenpaw had someone who primarily wanted Keeper, and it didn't sound like Crotalus had offered many candidates to the position either, and, well, she did want to try out for that spot regardless. She just wanted to try the obstacle course, too.

Maybe she could do that later. They did say everyone could try out for multiple positions.

She positioned herself in front of the hoops as the first set of Chaser hopefuls approached. She was skinny and only eleven, so she didn't block much of the goal area from physical presence alone, but she was quick and energetic and she was a pretty decent flier, so she was sure she'd do fine.

1 Ginger Pierce Ready to Keep 302 Ginger Pierce 0 5

Isaac Douglas

February 06, 2015 3:01 PM

Chasing...something. by Isaac Douglas

In his first year, Isaac had signed up for the Quidditch team for three reasons: Quidditch players usually got a certain amount of respect by default, his roommate had joined, and most of his family had been on teams and captained them. His sisters Rachel and Alicia had both abstained so they didn’t draw too much political attention to themselves and make it more likely that people would question their made-up credentials, but his sister Kate had led Teppenpaw, Momma had been captain of Crotalus in her day, and his aunt and uncle had headed Crotalus and Aladren in their days as well. Since he didn’t think he had a chance of Head Boy, Quidditch was a good way to keep up with the rest of the family.

Then, in his second year, all the usual rules had gone out the window. Alicia had gone from the family’s first failure to the family’s darling, everyone had had much more important things on their minds than games, and when the dust had settled, his roommate had no longer been present and only two Houses had even been able to make teams. Isaac had not been so happy about his sister’s improved situation, but the rest had secretly been a relief. It had been obvious that the Aladrens were not going to lose, meaning there was no prestige in playing for the other teams, and Quidditch was really not Isaac’s kind of thing anyway. He disliked hard work and grime. He did not see the point of being in, or at least near and able to associate with, the ruling class if it did not allow him to avoid both of those things.

When the Head of Crotalus, who was also the Deputy Headmistress, asked him to do something, though, refusing wasn’t really an option. She could seriously mess up his remaining years at this school if she wanted. This was how he found himself on the Pitch for the first time in years, looking around at a bunch of tiny Teppenpaws and considering faking his own death and framing Alicia for his murder. Her life was ruined, he was out of this, sounded pretty good from where he was sitting….

...Except for the part where Rachel would then just get both his and Alicia’s shares of the money. Being poor might actually suck more than hanging out with Beginner Teppenpaws and having Alicia held up as an example to him for the rest of his life, and that was even assuming that Alicia’s boyfriends didn’t find out he was still alive someday and kill him for real for removing her apparently-appealing-to-guys-she-wasn’t-related-to presence from their lives. Better just to stay and declare he was a fourth year Crotalus who would rather not play Beater.

After, he looked skeptically at the Chasing obstacle course and wondered if the tiny Teppenpaw girl at the other end might want to swap jobs. He was, after all, probably the tallest person on the team, which was an important consideration for a Keeper. Maybe they’d discuss it later. For now, he had an obstacle course to try to fly through. The most obvious thing to do was make it easier on himself as quickly as possible, so after veering around the first two things in his path, narrowly avoiding the first and not at great speeds - it had been a long time since he’d done this - he passed the Quaffle toward someone else, giving them a chance to have two things to think about.

16 Isaac Douglas Chasing...something. 273 Isaac Douglas 0 5

Jake Manger

February 07, 2015 6:53 PM

Seeking seeker by Jake Manger

After including his name on the sign-up sheet, Jake would check it for any additions as he would happen to pass by. Every time, he felt a pang of disappointment to see no one else had joined. If some upperclassmen would just take some initiative, he felt, this time could actually be pretty great. The fact that the kids even younger than he was cared enough to sign up when there was no clear leadership spoked volumes of their passion. He had signed up for them, and he wished some others would do the same.

But by the time tryouts rolled around, no one had. The third year took a deep breath and, new broom in hand, headed down to the Pitch. He wasn’t really sure why he had even been sent a broom; it felt a bit preemptive, really. All he had done was mention signing up in a letter to his father, and soon enough, the broom had arrived. Arnold seemed to understand, but Jake didn’t really get it. Or maybe he did, just a little, but he preferred to shrug it off and account it to his dad just being nice.

Please let there be enough people there, he hoped silently as he stepped onto the Pitch. He could see a small gathering of students around two adults--the Teppenpaw and Crotalus Heads of Houses, he was certain--but couldn’t really tell if it would be enough. The dark-haired boy decided it would be best if he avoided actually counting at all costs.

After the adults had spoken, Jake followed instructions; he wanted to seek, so he scooped up one of the collection bags to which his Head of House had alluded and tied it onto his broom in a way he felt would be most accessible mid-flight. He wasn’t the best flier, but he also wasn’t the worst, and because he had been the oldest person to sign up, Jake wanted to at least try to present himself as somebody the others could look up to.

He mounted his broom and took off, trying his best to focus exclusively on one of the gold balls around his end of the Pitch. There were just enough to keep his eyes whizzing back and forth for a bit, but he soon managed to actually narrow his focus to one single ball, which he zoomed after with surprising grace. In flight he gained a sort of nimbleness that was only possible because of his tight frame. A bony arm extended as he crept up on the ball, and before he even knew what was happening, he felt it beating against his palm. “I got one!” Jake exclaimed happily, tucking it away in his bag. The rush he felt inspired a grin and the underlying urge to do it again, so his blue eyes zoned in on another target, and off he went.

12 Jake Manger Seeking seeker 280 Jake Manger 0 5

Uzume Shinohara

February 10, 2015 5:12 AM

Two is company by Uzume Shinohara

When the younger Crotali boy had originally approached her about joining the team, Uzume bluntly declined, internally mocking the boy for wasting her time with such trivial matters. In another life, she might have been tempted to join the team for a matter of upholding the honor of her house, however those days were far behind her. Instead, the sole reason she was standing on this poor excuse for a pitch was because she had heard that Jamie Park had signed up for the Pecari team, and as Seeker to boot. Upon hearing the rumor she supposed her face must have looked similar to an Oni in the way her smile stretched from ear to ear. Jamie may have upstaged her at the ball, but if there was one thing she could do it was play Seeker.

It’s not that I really miss him, I just might enjoy the competition is all, she told herself the previous week when trying to decide whether or not to join the team. She had rustled with the thought all the days prior to practice, and in the end decided not to go at all, until a twitch of something inside of her urged her to go to the pitch.

‘Sporty’, was not a word Uzume used to describe herself. Perfect, brilliant, or cunning maybe, but never ‘sporty’. Like many Japanese Purebloods, Uzume learned to play Quidditch at a young age. After all Japan loved Quidditch. It was almost annoying how her country was so quick to ‘humbly’ boast about being one of the first eastern countries to start playing the game. Even in the mountainous city of Nikko, it wasn’t uncommon to find wizards and witches partaking in the sport. However, the effort she had put into judo and Quidditch was to honor her family, not to feed an adrenaline desire. Although Quidditch and judo had a bloodthirsty appeal, her lack of strength compared to other boys posed a major problem that ultimately resulted in her feeling bitter about both sports. In truth Uzume really had no idea why she was consciously placing herself into a situation she knew she would hate. She thought about it one last time as she joined the other students on the Pitch, finally deciding that ‘spite’ was an appropriate term for her actions. Smiling to herself, she imagined the moment when her team would crush Jamie and the rest of the Pecari brats. Indeed, she supposed she could be, on occasion, a little spiteful.

Raising her hand, Uzume introduced herself to Xavier-Sensei in a rather polite manner, contrary to the blunt tone she used with her classmates. After all, today it was not him that she was trying to show up. “My apologies Sensei, but I have not,” she responded, preferring to use the term sensei as she found it more fitting to his title than professor, or coach. Additionally, the more she learned English, the more words she discovered distaste for. ‘Coach’ was one of them, something about the -oach sound just bothered her, and she refused to allow such sounds to grace her lips. “My name is Shinohara Uzume, Crotalus house, 2nd year. I am interested in the position of Seeker,” she said clearly and calmly. Her eyes only twitched to her own Head of house for a moment before falling back onto those of Xavier-Sensei. She never anticipated her ‘fun policy’ to affect her life in later years, and in the long run her days spent at Sonora really wouldn’t matter. However, she was still in the present, and recently she had not done more than the bare minimum in Skies-Sensei’s class. Although she felt a rush of relief when she realized that Skies-Sensei wouldn’t be overseeing the Seeker position, Uzume knew there would be no real rest until ‘the obese lady sang’.

After getting a broom, Uzume headed towards the snitch bags, keeping an evil eye on the back of her competition. A small scoff of annoyance sounded from her throat as she picked up one of the bag, and with a hard kick, her broom was off. It felt a little funny for the twelve year old to wear a romper while playing a sport. Unfortunately, she didn’t have much of a choice since it had been such a last minute decision. She never considered asking Kaede to pack her Quidditch clothing, as it wasn’t even a passing thought during summer that she might try out. She felt rather idiotic wearing the lavender outfit, but there was nothing she could do now.

After she leveled out to a good altitude, she eyed the pitch, trying to get a feel for her surroundings. The thing she liked about Seeker the most, was that she could play the way she wanted to. She had tried Chaser once during a school festival, but her inability to throw the ball long distances only served to bring her team down. Her friend Daisuke assured her it wasn’t a big deal, but she disliked him having to pick up the slack for her lack of skills. Uzume hated the bitter feeling of being dead weight, and as a result never again ventured outside the solo positions of Keeper and Seeker.

Narrowing her eyes, she looked around the field for sparkles of gold. Although there were glimpses of light here and there, Uzume wanted a closer target to get warmed up with. When she saw a ball that seemed close enough, she started after it right away. She hadn’t played Quidditch in three years, and the last time she was on a broom she had been pretending to be a novice. As a result, she felt very out of touch with flying, and the maneuvers she used as a child were rusty at best. She figured once she got some more practice in, the flying would come easier, but for now she just had to keep her eyes on the faux snitch. Unfortunately, the exclamation of her competitor shattered her concentration, causing her eyes to dart momentarily towards the fool. Quickly looking back to the ball, she noticed it had veered left and was now headed towards the other end of the pitch. With a grunt, she swerved after the ball, this time it wouldn’t get away.

0 Uzume Shinohara Two is company 292 Uzume Shinohara 0 5

Andrew Carey

February 10, 2015 4:19 PM

Catching the Quaffle by Andrew Carey

Andrew had been disappointed when he heard Teppenpaw was not going to make its own Quidditch team, but was choosing to be optimistic about the proposed alliance with Crotalus. At home, after all, his branch of the family had shared a leader with Georgia for as long as he’d been alive, and they were all doing well. From what his stepmother said, everyone had thought Morgaine would kill them all within a year, but Dad was the last person, at least on Andrew’s side of the family, who’d died at all. From what he’d overheard Mama and Stepmother talking about more recently, they were sort of starting to think they might even be better off with Morgaine than they would be if her brother - who hadn’t taken Healer’s oaths and had been living outside of anywhere the family could watch him for years, learning who knew what kind of dark arts - ever came home and demanded his inheritance.

It wasn’t the same thing at all since Crotalus forming its own team probably wouldn’t mean an increase in the amount of dark arts in the school, but alliances and mergers could work out okay. He went to the Pitch hoping for the best and greeted people there who he recognized from classes until the professors started the meeting.

“I’m Andrew Carey,” he introduced himself. “First year.”

From the sounds of it, it was going to be a long day of sorting out who was going to go where. He ruled Seeker out because older people already wanted that one and Keeper because Ginger, who was in his House and year, had signed up for that and he didn’t want to annoy her by competing with her. That left Chaser and Beater. He decided to start with Chaser, figuring small first years weren’t likely to get Beater if anyone could help it, even though the other options looked like they were pretty much second years.

The older boy, a Crotalus, already at the Chaser post did not look really enthusiastic about it, but Andrew didn’t get the impression that enthusiasm was much of a Crotalus trait and so didn’t hold it against him. Instead, he smiled cheerily and followed through the obstacle course, enjoying the challenge of flying and figuring out his way around things too close to just avoid completely. He didn’t, though, pay very close attention to the Crotalus boy and so nearly got hit in the nose with the Quaffle when it suddenly came his way, fumbling with it for a long moment and nearly colliding with another obstacle before he got it in his hands.

That, he thought, was not a very impressive performance. Another obstacle - what looked like a large block of leather or something - jumped out in front of him, and he pulled his broom up to go over it, then came back down to look for someone to pass to. When he glanced over his shoulder - just a glance; he really did not want to crash into something - he saw a person, looked back to the front to make sure he wasn’t in immediate trouble from that direction, and looked back again to throw the ball backward toward his teammate.

0 Andrew Carey Catching the Quaffle 0 Andrew Carey 0 5

Liac Reinhardt, Teppenpaw

February 11, 2015 3:05 PM

Aww, so sweet. :) I love you too. by Liac Reinhardt, Teppenpaw

Liac was happy his cousin had decided to try out for the team. 'Try-out' was somewhat of a loose term since they had to combine two houses together just to get enough players, but Liac couldn’t really complain if that meant that he actually got to play this year. When the twelve year old had first heard the news of the combined team, he wasn't exactly sure how to feel about the situation. Crotali students were drastically different from Tepps in both personality and morals- supposedly anyways. There were of course exceptions like Chaslyn, but he didn't want to make the mistake in assuming all Crotali would be that accepting of Halfbloods. Regardless of his feelings, the two houses were going to be playing together as a team, and that was a million times better than the alternative of not playing at all. So with a smile plastered on his face, Liac decided to hope for the best as he headed down to the pitch.

“I’m not very good at Quidditch you know,” Tobi said shyly as they walked toward the rest of the students gathered on the pitch, “But I’m going to try, for you.” Liac felt as if his heart could just burst at the sweetness of his cousin's words. He returned Tobi's smile with one of his own, wrapping his arm around Tobi's shoulder to try and comfort him. "Thanks Tobi," Liac replied. Whether Tobi was aware of it or not, he always managed to brighten Liac’s day. Not only was Tobi's loyalty to the family unfounded, but he was also a constant reminder for Liac that blood status didn't mean everything. "Just do your best, and try to have fun. Okay?" Liac added giving Tobi's hair a light tussle with his free hand. Liac was never very good with serious talk, but he hoped he might be able to quell any of Tobi's worries if he kept up a worry free attitude.

Liac took a moment after the coaches' explanation of the day's practice to revel in the excitement of the moment. He couldn't help but smile giddily at the amount of students that had decided to show up for the try-out, many of them near his age too. It almost seemed like a miracle compared to the previous year. Despite his happy demeanor, for the past week he was extremely worried at the lack of Teppenpaw signups. Although more people had signed up compared to his first year, it wasn't nearly enough to make a team- let alone hold a decent try-out. One, two, three, four, five, six.... he counted in his head. So far, including himself, that was already seven! A full team! They finally had enough for a real team! His eyes twinkled with enthusiasm as he studied the students that would soon become his teammates. Quite a ragtag group, but a fine team none the less.

Now that he had scoped out his teammates, it was Liac’s turn to decide just where he would fit into this group of oddballs. After ruling out Seeker and Keeper, as there were already students gravitating to those positions, he thought about trying out for Chaser like he wanted to last year. He was ready to join the other Chasers with Professor Skies when he noticed Tobi in the Beater area. Stopping in his tracks he watched his cousin for a moment, feeling a little sorry for leaving him all alone to play a sport he had only moments before admitted he wasn’t very good at. Liac willed himself to go to Chaser, the flashy position that he knew and loved, but Tobi was just so adorable Liac couldn’t turn his back on him. Taking a deep breath he put on a smile and started over to the Beater area.

“Tobi!” he called in an obnoxious voice as he ran over to his cousin. “I hope you don’t mind sharing the skies with me,” he said with a somewhat forced smile once he had caught up to him. “I thought ‘why not try something new’,” he lied as he picked up a spare bat from the ground. He had only played Beater once, and although it wasn’t his worst position, it wasn’t his favorite either. He had the strength of a Beater from his metalcharm training, but most of his time back home had been spent playing Chaser as he found it more interesting. In truth, he had never really given Beater a fair chance, and if trying something new meant making Tobi feel more secure, then that was good enough a reason for Liac. “Besides, I can always go over to the Chaser try-outs once Tobi feels more settled,” he thought to himself as he practiced another swing.

0 Liac Reinhardt, Teppenpaw Aww, so sweet. :) I love you too. 288 Liac Reinhardt, Teppenpaw 0 5

Alistair Johnson

February 12, 2015 1:56 PM

Flying with a flare. by Alistair Johnson

Alistair had spent much of his week trying to convince other Crotali to join the team but he didn't feel it had improved the situation at all. Most that he spoke to had not sounded at all positive regarding the idea and he had found it a very difficult task. Finding the people suggested by Professor Skies had been hard enough considering he knew few of them.

And so Alistair tried not to feel too hopeful as he made his way down to the Pitch on the day of the tryouts. As much as he detested the idea of sharing a Quidditch team with another house, especially that particular house being Teppenpaw (although this was admittedly better than Pecari by his books), the first year knew he should be glad of the backup. It was highly unlikely that Crotalus could find enough interest to make a team of their own but when combined with Teppenpaw the chances weren't necessarily nonexistent.

Always wanting to give off a good impression when it benefitted him, Alistair made good time and was among the first to arrive. He waited in anticipation as the numbers increased and was eventually satisfied once he counted enough students to make a full team. He was surprised to see the Japanese girl he recalled to be one of the students he had accosted earlier in the weak as she had at the time given him a particularly blunt refusal. The first year couldn't quite understand why she'd decided to come in the end but after brief contemplation he found that he didn't care, so long as she was here.

Now relieved of the question of numbers, the young Crotalus turned instead to the issue of ability. Of course, playing in a mediocre team was better than no team at all but he did not fancy the idea of losing, especially at something he was so passionate about. Despite it not being his job, Alistair kept an eye on the other students, keen to see at least some ample play.

Alistair had reasonable faith in one of the potential Chasers from the getgo. He was a scarce older student at the tryouts and a Crotalus too. Andrew Carey on the other hand was not someone that Alistair could be so confident about. Sure, he was a Carey and Alistair knew the correlation between the family and the game of Quidditch. Nevertheless, Andrew was Teppenpaw and shared Alistair's age and therefore hadn't yet earned himself any respect from his fellow yearmate. Although his being a Carey did influence Alistair's decision to give the boy the benefit of the doubt.

Up in the air, Andrew did not fulfil any hopes that the young Crotalus may have had. He fumbled the pass from the older boy and almost crashed into one of the obstacles in the process. His pass back, however, was accurate and Alistair caught it easily. This back pass mildly impressed the first year but he wasn't sure whether to put it down to fluke or not.

Now in possession of the Quaffle, Alistair accelerated toward the hoops, dodging the obstacles nimbly and testing the agility of both himself and his expensive broom. Ginger Pierce was trying out for Keeper, a girl he was aware of but couldn't recall ever conversing with. She looked tiny in the goals and Alistair couldn't help but wonder of she'd really thought about what position she wanted to go for. Wasting no time, Alistair ducked under an obstacle and emerged on a steep incline. He reached the scoring area at fairly high height and dived down suddenly toward the hoops, tossing the ball upward to score what he hoped would be an unpredictable shot.

His goal attempt was well aimed and he glanced down to the ground to check if Professor Skies had seen his show. If she had, he thought she'd be impressed. But the showiness aside, the shot may have looked to many as selfish. It didn't cross Alistair's mind that he'd carried the Quaffle for too long to be a good team player, that he wouldn't have been able to achieve such fancy finesse when faced with a real opponent. In a real match the whole speedy weaving, up-down-up-down sequence would waste precious time and allow loopholes for cockups. The obstacles would be real people who could shove and snatch and mark and the Beaters would be aiming bludgers at him and not on false targets.

Despite this single one-person performance, it could already be noted that Alistair knew the game well and that he was more than confident on a broom at high speeds and with sharp manoeuvres.

8 Alistair Johnson Flying with a flare. 306 Alistair Johnson 0 5