Jennifer Zucchero
February 05, 2006 12:29 AM
Quidditch Sign Up by Jennifer Zucchero
This is a ridiculous hour to be awake, Jennifer thought to herself as she walked down the girls’ staircase into the Crotalus common room. It wasn’t really even that early, only about 6:30 AM, but she had stayed up much later than usual last night working on a charm’s assignment, and so would much rather have stayed in bed until there was no chance she could escape being tardy. However, she had procrastinated on her duties as quidditch captain long enough, and she had no desire for a late start to be the cause of Crotalus’s downfall in the quidditch cup this year. Jake and Lizzie would never let her live it down.With a sigh, she trudged over to the message board by the back of Gunter’s portrait, and posted a small white piece of paper on it. After taking a step back and inspecting it and deeming it satisfactory, she nodded, a rather pointless gesture since she was the only one in the room, and continued out the portrait hole, hoping fervently that people would actually pay attention to the message and sign up relatively quickly, because now that she had taken the first step, she was anxious to get this show on the road.
Attention all Crotalus Students the sign read. Try-outs for the Crotalus Quidditch team will be held one week from this Saturday. The positions of keeper, beaters, and chasers are open. Please write your name, year, and preferred position on the lines below, so I can get a reckoning on who will be trying out. Also, if you signed up last year, it would be greatly appreciated if you would do so again, since nothing ever really happened with the quidditch team last year.
Thanks!
Your captain,
Jennifer Zucchero
\n\n
Subthreads: Quidditch? What's that? by Lila Gringe with Earl Valentine
oh dear by Geoffrey Spindler with Jennifer, Geoff S.
Signing up by Lily Collins
Alright, might as well by Chrissy Mathers
Feeling...flighty. Pun intended. by Gwen Carey
0
Jennifer Zucchero
Quidditch Sign Up
48
Jennifer Zucchero
1
5
Geoffrey Spindler
February 11, 2006 5:35 PM
oh dear by Geoffrey Spindler
It was much later that Geoffrey emerged from his dorm room. There hadn't been much of an urge to try and talk to his room-mate - it was weird enough having to share a room. Eleven years of living in a massive house, where the person sleeping nearest to him had been at the other end of the wing for the past three years hadn't prepared him for this - other than a nervous introduction before turning in for bed, and in the morning, he had remained in bed until he was sure that breakfast would have to be being served in the Cascade Hall.After getting out of bed and getting himself ready to face the day - meal times were a formal affair at the Spindler residence, and he had no reason to think it would be any different here - he had been trotting through the commonroom when he had noticed the noticeboard. Quidditch.
Oh.
He felt a nervous thrill go through his entire body. Just a few weeks before, when his Father had taken him to get his very first proper wand they had stopped in at the quidditch shop and looked at brooms. It was something else, for a boy who obsessed over the things, but had never really been allowed to have his own because of Mother's disapproval, and because, secretly, he wondered if she might be right, and if he was to sit on one it would break in two.
But that wasn't enough to stop him. With a shaking hand he pulled out a self-inking quill and scratched out some words on the parchment.
But what position to play? Of course, Geoffrey read all the magazines and idolised all sorts of players - even Rosaline Penn when he didn't think his mother was around; the Ashwinder's Keeper was a brilliant player, despite, apparently, being Greek - and, like most young people, dreamed of playing Seeker simply because it was a glorious position (although he knew that they had to be small and speedy, and he was fat and plodding - his mother had told him on numerous occasions) or Chaser and scoring goals (except his mother liked to tell him that he definitely didn't have what it took to do that, that he would have the quaffle stolen in seconds if he possessed it) or Keeper and guarding the goals ('that, you might be able to do', his mother had conceeded one time, but that had been followed up with 'you're big enough to block them all without trying' which was really a bit unfair, as Geoffrey knew he wasn't thin, but really, he wasn't the size of a bus either) or Beater. Except, Geoffrey wasn't really an agressive person, which kind of defeated the point.
He frowned at the parchment, undecided, and then sighed.
0
Geoffrey Spindler
oh dear
79
Geoffrey Spindler
0
5
Jennifer
February 11, 2006 8:54 PM
Silly firsties, always concerned about something by Jennifer
Jennifer had told herself firmly that she was not going to rush back and check to see who had signed up every five minutes. It would make her look like she was worried (which, in truth, she was), and she would probably drive herself completely mad. She had resolved to not bother to go look at the sign up for a least a couple of days.It wasn’t even an hour before she cracked.
Because she had gotten up so disgustingly early, she had finished breakfast more than an hour and a half before her first class was scheduled to begin. She had decided to head to the library to work on a care of magical creatures essay. The fact that she would have to pass by her common room was an unavoidable consequence, and once she was at Gunter’s portrait, she had realized that her book was still in her dorm room, so she would have to go in and get it. It was rather sick, the way she was attempting to justify coming back and checking within an hour of putting the sheet up.
She was actually rather glad she had, though. It appeared one of the first years was having a difficult time deciding what to do about quidditch, judging from the fact that he had just written his name, waited a few seconds, then crossed off his name. While second thoughts were completely normal, Jennifer was still too worried about not getting a whole team, no matter how improbably that was, to let someone interested enough to sign up slip away. One had to pity the poor first year.
“So, are you normally this indecisive, or is there something special about quidditch?” She asked bluntly with a kind, if slightly amused, grin. “Seriously, though. If you’re not signing up because you’re worried about not being good enough, or something ridiculous like that, don’t be. At the beginning of the year, that doesn’t really matter as much.”
She walked over to join the boy by the notice board. After a moment of two of a somewhat awkward silence, she looked up from the (rather short) list of names and winced. “Oh, Merlin, you must think I’m completely daft. Sorry for not introducing myself before I started on my rant. I’m the captain, Jennifer Zucchero, though I generally answer to almost every variation and nickname. So, what position do you play?”
\n\n
0
Jennifer
Silly firsties, always concerned about something
0
Jennifer
0
5
Geoff S.
February 20, 2006 7:14 PM
but there's so much to <i>be</i> concerned about! by Geoff S.
“So, are you normally this indecisive, or is there something special about quidditch?”Geoffrey jumped, having not realised he was being watched until now. "What, oh, well..." he trailed off as the older girl continued on, already starting the unconscious reaction of trying to make himself smaller by scrunching his shoulders up even more. "No, no, I-ah..."
“Oh, Merlin, you must think I’m completely daft. Sorry for not introducing myself before I started on my rant. I’m the captain, Jennifer Zucchero, though I generally answer to almost every variation and nickname. So, what position do you play?”
"Geoffrey Spindler, I am, that is. And, I, don't really play... as such. Well, not yet, anyhow. Um, I just." He frowned. "I know the theory, and I've watched countless games, and read all the magazines. I just... I'm not really allowed to fly. I'm too..." he trailed off again, embarrassed. The final word 'fat' barely audible.\n\n
0
Geoff S.
but there's so much to <i>be</i> concerned about!
0
Geoff S.
0
5
Jennifer
February 24, 2006 12:41 PM
Worrying gives you wrinkles by Jennifer
Jennifer gave the first year (Geoffrey, she inwardly corrected) a slightly bemused look. She couldn't imagine not being allowed to fly, not if you were brought up in a magical family. She assumed that had to be the case, since he knew that people did fly. Even her mother, although most likely sorely tempted at times, had not crossed that line."Well, if you know the theory, you're probably ahead of most people here, and there should be flying lessons soon for the first years," she began brightly, inwardly trying to think of some other arguments. She had had someone interested in playing last year who hadn't been allowed to fly, Gwen, but that seemed different somehow. All Gwen had needed were the basic lessons in flying. Geoffrey obviously had a few self-confidence issues, as shown by his almost inaudible final statement.
"And who told you that you were too fat to play quidditch?" She asked after a few seconds of frantic thinking, though, to her credit, she appeared completely composed outwardly. "I mean, yeah, it helps to be really small if you're a seeker, or something," she glanced down at herself, and shrugged.
"But that really is about it concerning build. I mean, I spent a few years living in Egypt, and one of the other kids there, the son of the Italian Ministry of Magic's embassador to Egypt, was literally as wide as he was tall, or almost. That aside, he was still the best beater I've ever seen. And if you wanted to be a chaser, all that matters is that you have enough hand-eye coordination to catch the ball and enough aim to shoot it."
She gave Geoffrey another look. While he was rather plump, he wasn't anywhere near as obese as he seemed to think of himself as being. Decidng one last point, she added. "Also, if your weight really is that big of a deal for you, playing quidditch might be the best way to slim up a little. Whatever happens, trying won't hurt. So what do you say? You want to give it a shot?"\n\n
0
Jennifer
Worrying gives you wrinkles
0
Jennifer
0
5
Geoff
March 09, 2006 11:18 PM
just what I need! by Geoff
"Mother," Geoffrey replied quietly, a few moments after Jennifer had finished speaking. "She said-" he cut off, embarrassed, and then shook his head, changing the subject. He didn't really want to talk about his mother. "Is it true about the Italian boy? Is he really that-" he cut off again, even further embarrassed about wanting to know about someone even fatter than he was. The truth of the matter was that Geoff wasn't hugely fat, he was more a little on the pudgy side, but years of being told how fat he was, and how it was unattractive, and he wasn't worthy of being his father's son... well, everything has an effect.And this girl was right, he did know the theory. He'd read enough magazines about quidditch, about broom models and manufacture, about areodynamics. He'd even ammased a quite substancial collection of model brooms which he'd spent hours of painstaking work building and occasionally improving upon. He knew all the moves, and had seen them executed in pictures in his books and magazines. And... well, she wasn't laughing at him yet... she seemed to be taking him seriously even.
Was there really any harm in trying?
Hesitantly, with a small smile at the older girl, he took out his quill again and lifted it to the parchment.
-and paused again. He obviously wasn't seeker material, and anyhow, that was the captain's position. He wasn't agressive, which scratched Beater off the list. He didn't really want to be left on his own, defending the goals, particularly if he proved entirely inept at it. Well, that left one thing.
He looked at Jennifer again, a small hopeful smile still on his face, hoping he'd prove himself worthy.\n\n
39
Geoff
just what I need!
0
Geoff
0
5