It never hurts to try... on Pecari Commons

Amira Thornton

October 17, 2013 11:49 PM

Pecari Signups by Amira Thornton

Once they were dismissed from the Hall, Amira and her full stomach went up to Pecari’s dorms and got the Signup Sheet out of her trunk. She’d made sure to have her sheet on the top to not crease it and she looked proudly at it. Her mother had helped her make the hand drawn Quaffles and Snitches actually fly across the page which she really liked. The poster, like last years, had a gold background with brown lettering that was surrounded by the flying Quidditch Balls. The lettering shared the time and date of tryouts and a signup list beneath it. She’d already printed her name on the top of the list:

Amira Thornton, 7th Year, Captain

Again, like the year before, she did not put a position on the team on her signup. She felt that where she would end up depended on who came to try out and was not going to, as the year before, put anything there as not to deter anyone else who wanted that job.

Mir took the poster down to the Common Room and hung it up with a smile on her face. We can win, we really can… she thought as she backed away from the large poster and smiled at the wonderful job and the hopeful long list of Pecari people to sign up to play…

Subthreads:

It never hurts to try... by Liliana Bannister

Taking another crack at this insanity by Clara Abernathy

Hoping more people sign up! by Rupert Princeton

Up again. by Adam Spencer

Starting on the path to glory by Brandon Carey

Grim. by Jade Owen

Giving it a go by Atlas Primred

0 Amira Thornton Pecari Signups 208 Amira Thornton 1 5

Liliana Bannister

October 18, 2013 4:31 PM

It never hurts to try... by Liliana Bannister

Liliana had been in a better mood about attending Sonora ever since she'd had her first flying lesson. It had felt really awesome to be up in the air again, and that afternoon when she had returned home she had been quite excited and wrote home to her parents immediately asking them if they could send her her broom. She thought it was ridiculous that pureblood girls in America weren't supposed to fly or, apparently, play Quidditch if she had understood the politics of it right when she'd gone to the library to double check what Mr. Brocket had said about witches riding sidesaddle. Back in England it was completely acceptable and there was even an all woman's team! Her proper grandmother had not really encouraged her flying or playing Quidditch with her cousins, but that was mainly because her grandmother wished her to be slightly more ladylike. The matriarch of the family had been pleased when Liliana had taken up ballet at her request, and attended tea with her and accepted learned how to be a proper young witch. So long as Liliana did those things then her grandmother didn't care what else she did in her spare time.

It was on her way back from the library that she noticed a Quidditch sign-up sheet in the Pecari common room. She hadn't ever seen it before as she had been sulking for a few days with her eyes concentrated on the floor and it had only been that morning that she'd decided to have a new, cheerier outlook on life and wondered when it had gone up or if it was too late to sign up. She shrugged, knowing that while she wasn't particularly good, her cousin Levi had always encouraged her to go for things. You can never accomplish anything if you don't try, she remembered him telling her the first time she had played Quidditch with them. She had been crying because they were all faster and stronger and better at Quidditch than she was and he had been the only one to comfort her- the others had just teased her. That was why Levi was her favorite, he was the sweetest and, as the oldest cousin on that side of the family, he was the favorite grandchild. He was graduating Hogwarts that Spring and Liliana missed him the most out of everyone.

She dug around in her bag looking for a quill (she'd sign up if she could find one), was successful and scrawled her name at the end of the list.

Liliana Bannister, 1st Year, Just seeing, she wrote. She didn't want to get anyone's hopes up after all- least of all hers, if she didn't make it.

10 Liliana Bannister It never hurts to try... 274 Liliana Bannister 0 5

Clara Abernathy

October 22, 2013 2:33 AM

Taking another crack at this insanity by Clara Abernathy

Clara had spent the better part of the summer debating with herself over whether or not she had any desire to return to the Pecari Quidditch team. She hadn't done too horribly the last time despite knocking herself senseless against the goal hoops. She hadn't been expecting that move and hadn't really enjoyed it afterwards either. Medic Bailey has done wonders fixing her cracked cranium, but she was still uncertain if she wanted to put herself back through that again. She almost assuredly told herself NO when she realized that like last term there may not be enough people signing up for house team. She sighed heavily at that realization and reluctantly decided to signup again. What's the worst that could happen? she wondered to herself when she spotted the signup sheet on the Pecari house board.

I could break every bone in my body or get my skull cracked open completely, thats what she told herself as she foolishly dug around in her bookbag for a pen. Once she found one Clara added her own name under the new first years.

Clara Abernathy, fifth year, Keeper Clara didn't expect to get her old spot back, but she was hoping to. At least that way she halfway knew what to expect already.

0 Clara Abernathy Taking another crack at this insanity 232 Clara Abernathy 0 5

Rupert Princeton

October 22, 2013 12:46 PM

Hoping more people sign up! by Rupert Princeton

Headmistress Kijewski's news at the Welcoming Feast had almost stopped Rupert's heart. No Quidditch for an entire year? Rupert's heart would have died in his chest. He lived and breathed Quidditch and could hardly imagine an entire year without the training and competition. But Professor Olivers had saved the day by volunteering to step in as Coach and Rupert was ready to kiss her hand, he was so thankful.

There were the signups and Rupert went immediately to the parchment after classes. He was pleased to see two names already. Compared to the other houses, Pecari seemed to have all the witches who were willing to play Quidditch. At one point Rupert had been the only wizard on the team. He had never minded; Pecari was a strong team no matter who played and that was what Rupert wanted most of all, a strong team.

He had never fully understood why witches weren't allowed to fly in America. One of his favourite European teams were the Harpies who were all witches and they were good most seasons. It was all about propriety, of course, but pure-bloods here seemed to have a more limited idea of propriety. Needed something to prove, perhaps.

The one problem with this signup in Rupert's mind, however, was the lack of positions. Clara had written Keeper, but Captain Amira hadn't written down her role and he wondered if she wanted everyone to train in different positions again. Rupert didn't like the idea only because he was a trained Beater and loved the position more than any other. He didn't fancy pretending to be a Chaser or a Keeper; he liked having the bat in his hand and a bludger to keep an eye out for. But, he supposed, this kept positions open for anyone who had never played a serious position before. He signed his name without thinking any more. He was just glad he could play Quidditch again this year.

Rupert Princeton, 4th year, Beater

40 Rupert Princeton Hoping more people sign up! 248 Rupert Princeton 0 5

Adam Spencer

October 22, 2013 12:51 PM

Up again. by Adam Spencer

This was going to be Adam's second year playing Quidditch at Sonora. His first year hadn't gone very well, but he had learnt loads. It was a bit more fun competing against his friends, though less so because of the harsh competition between the houses. Adam wasn't nearly as competitive as some of his team-mates and the other houses. That might not have made him a strong candidate for the team, but at least he could play.

Last year he had come to know that his preferred position was Chaser after exploring the other positions. Chaser was always safe not only because there were three spots, but also because it was the most active part of the match. Beating required arm strength; Keeping required balance and strong reflexes. Seeking was also a hard job with the entire match resting on one's shoulders. Chasing, therefore, was the default; easy to get involved without loads of pressure to perform on one individual.

Clara and Rupert had put down their names already along with someone else and Adam put down his name underneath. He hoped his sister would come and watch. If Pecari won any matches she could attest to how wonderful he'd been. He grinned to himself. It would be fun this year now that he knew more people on the team, he didn't doubt that.

Adam Spencer, 2nd year, Chaser

40 Adam Spencer Up again. 257 Adam Spencer 0 5

Brandon Carey

October 24, 2013 10:05 PM

Starting on the path to glory by Brandon Carey

Before he had heard that his oldest brother had just become the Assistant Captain of the Aladren team – whatever that meant; how could someone help someone else captain something? Leaders were leaders and lead and everyone else followed, didn’t they? – it had just never occurred to Brandon that he might not sign up for the Quidditch team of whatever House he was Sorted into. He had vaguely expected it to be Aladren, just on the basis of tradition, but hadn’t really cared that it was Pecari; the important part was just that he was in a House, and that he was going to play Quidditch. What else was there to do during leisure time, anyway? Unless you were Henry, anyway, and Brandon didn’t think he was ever very likely to be Henry.

After Jay announced to the family that he had gotten a position, though, whatever it meant, Brandon had consciously thought about joining the team, because the only thing cooler than playing on the same team as his brother was playing against his brother. The only thing which could have made that better would have been for Henry to join the Crotalus team, too, and for them to have another brother in Teppenpaw so the whole game could be about their family. And so his part could win, of course. He could already see them all congratulating him after Pecari won.

He signed himself up - Brandon Carey, First, Any - with these glorious pictures held firmly in his mind, even though Theresa had laughed at him when he’d told her he was signing up and asked if she’d give him a favor to carry during the first game he played in. He’d show her, and Henry, and the twins, too. He'd be one of the greatest who'd ever played.

0 Brandon Carey Starting on the path to glory 275 Brandon Carey 0 5

Jade Owen

October 25, 2013 3:04 PM

Grim. by Jade Owen

Jade had intentionally waited for some other names to appear on the sign-up sheet before adding her own; firstly she wanted to see which positions people would try to claim without her already owning the Seeker spot, and secondly she didn't want to put anyone off... although, as she read the list, she suspected that second detail might not have made any difference. It was a grim list that sat before her on Amira's overly-enthusiastic poster. Jade hoped that the Anns just hadn't had time to sign up yet (and hadn't been prevented from doing so by the threat of impending disownment, or other such nonsense), in which case it looked like they might at least have a full team to start the season, so it could have been worse.

Having rummaged for a while in her own bag, been unsuccessful in her initial search, and then located a quill on a nearby desk, Jade added her own details to the sheet: Jade Owen, 6th year, Assistant Captain, Seeker.

Admittedly, her track record wasn't great when it came to catching the Snitch, but that didn't mean that she wasn't a good Seeker... it just meant that Arnold Carey was some sort of evil genius. Now that particular obstacle had been removed, the championship was practically in Pecari's hands... or so she hoped. At least the still had Rup on their side, and Amira wasn't a horrible player, despite how much Jade would love to declare otherwise. Clara might as well not be on the pitch, it might actually help their team to not have a Keeper rather than put her back in, but then other teams in the past had gone on to do great things with terrible Keepers. All they could hope for now was a decent set of Chasers, and the the rest of the Aladrens hadn't developed delusions of grandeur in their lucky streak.

0 Jade Owen Grim. 221 Jade Owen 0 5

Atlas Primred

October 25, 2013 8:50 PM

Giving it a go by Atlas Primred

Although Atlas had never played Qudditch and had only learned to fly earlier that day, he had been thinking about trying out for the team since the announcement had been posted. He was excited that there was a competitive sport at Sonora. He missed the rush of completion and he definitely wasn’t going to let this opportunity slip by him, now that he knew he would be able to fly decently enough during the tryouts.

Atlas took out his quill and wrote his name on the list. He didn’t put down much else because he wasn’t sure how the game was played or even what the positions where. However the one thing that Atlas had confidence in were his athletic abilities. “I should probably ask someone how to play,” he thought to himself looking at the names of the other people on the list. He was determined to do his best, as he did with all sports, and hopefully make a friend or two along the way. Atlas read the names, trying to figure out if he had met any of them, with the exception of sports, Atlas was pretty oblivious to most things and unfortunately while he could remember one of the other first years' name he had no face to put with it.

0 Atlas Primred Giving it a go 276 Atlas Primred 0 5