Well, since my name is already here... on Crotalus Commons

Charlotte Abbott

August 19, 2010 5:47 PM

Crotalus Quidditch sign-ups! by Charlotte Abbott

Once she'd received the message designating her Assistant Captain, Charlie immediately set about producing her first Quidditch sign-up sheet. It wasn't anything fancy - her brother (the previous captain) had always maintained that Pecaris needed showy-off signs to attract players, while Aladrens and Teppenpaws actually needed to be bribed, whereas Crotalus students would simply sign-up if they saw the sheet. Charlie hoped this was true for two reasons. The first was that she wasn't artistic, and so was incapable of producing a showy sign-up. Secondly, she secretly had her concerns about the House's ability to fill its team this year. Once the players were there Charlie had no doubt she and Marissa could whip them into shape, but they did need the volunteers to start with. She really didn't want to have to bribe people. Dmitry, she was pretty sure, would sign up again, but she could easily convince him to otherwise. She just hoped her boyfriend wouldn't be too disappointed to have missed out on the captaincy... let alone the prefectship that Charlie had also claimed for herself (though she'd had no personal input in either of these).

Having reached the commons, Charlotte pinned up a sheet of parchment. It was outlined in a thick line of black ink, and had a handwritten title in large, bold letters that read 'Crotalus Quidditch sign-ups'. Then underneath, in slightly smaller, ever-so-slightly wobbly writing, she had scribed, 'Try-outs will be held Sunday morning at 10am on the pitch. School brooms will be available if you don't have your own. Sign-up with your name, year and preferred position if you are interested in joining the team. See Captain Charlie Abbott or Assistant Captain Marissa Stephenson if you have any queries.'

The rest of the page was mostly blank, aside from the line Charlie had filled to demonstrate how others could sign-up after her:

Charlotte Abbott, fifth year, Chaser

Subthreads:

Well, since my name is already here... by Marissa Stephenson

Signing Up by Sam Bauer

Ready to kick something! by Dmitry Talsky

Here goes nothing.. by Miya Saren

Switching things up by Theo

Just for the fun of it by Renée Errant

0 Charlotte Abbott Crotalus Quidditch sign-ups! 135 Charlotte Abbott 1 5

Marissa Stephenson

August 21, 2010 10:55 PM

Well, since my name is already here... by Marissa Stephenson

Putting her Sonora textbooks down on her night table next to the stack of Muggle college texts and shiny CLEP study guide her mother had bought her to study in her “free time,” Marissa shrugged the backpack full of binders she was carrying off and put it on the bed beside where she was planning to sit. It would have been nice to spend the rest of the time she had before curfew in the Cascade Hall, where she could socialize with friends from other Houses, but she needed to map out when all her assignments were due and then work up her study chart for both the magical and Muggle subjects she was working on this semester before she could do that.

There was a crinkling noise of paper as the red-and-black bag, its bits of gray trim making it as appropriate for a Crotalus as any Muggle piece of baggage could be, fell back onto her pillows, and she sat the bag up with a frown as she settled down beside it to see what had made the sound. Charlie’s note made little sense, but flipping it over, to the side with Coach Pierce’s handwriting on it, made everything come together. Once it did, she couldn’t help but laugh.

She had totally been planning to quit the team this year.

It wasn’t that she didn’t enjoy Quidditch, though she could have done without all the defeats that involved her coming a lot closer to making a complete fool of herself than she ever did to the ball she was supposed to catch. It was just that she was trying to skip high school and develop her magical abilities enough that she didn’t embarrass herself too badly on her CATS next year all at once, and while fitness and team spirit were important things, she could get those from frustration runs around the Pitch and having so much partner work to do in class. Practices for Quidditch weren’t very stressful, the exercise could even be refreshing, but they did take time, and the games themselves were a lot of pressure when she knew it was all up to her to win for Crotalus.

Still, she couldn’t just refuse the position. Not when she’d spent the past three years feeling various degrees of desperate and frustrated because of her lack of accolades and, as Charlie sort of pointed out, she had the weight of being a role model to the other Crotalus girls to consider. They were the only girls on the team, and they were leading it, which was a great testament to women’s abilities in a pseudo-patriarchal society and House that encouraged, kind of, those values a little more often than she would have liked. Or at least, it would be a great testament if she didn’t snap and start telling David or Quentin about how the butterflies were spying on her some random day.

But that wasn’t going to happen, because she could do this. All of it. If she couldn’t, then she never would have succeeded on the tests back in second grade, and she’d passed in four out of five areas and only missed math by a narrow margin. She went down to the common room and, sure enough, there was the sign-up sheet, with her name even listed as a reference for potential players. She wondered if she got a badge. That would be nice, to have a badge. For the meantime, though, she decided to play it safe and add her name to the sheet in her own handwriting.

Marissa Stephenson, fourth year, Seeker

Then she went back upstairs to write a quick response to Charlie, confirming that she’d be at the try-outs early and was pleased about this development, and longer missives to her parents, friends, and Coop, telling the first a pepped-up, cultural-translation-littered truth and the latter set all about how she’d just found out that she was going to be the backup captain of the soccer team.

16 Marissa Stephenson Well, since my name is already here... 147 Marissa Stephenson 0 5

Sam Bauer

August 21, 2010 10:58 PM

Signing Up by Sam Bauer

Coming down the stairs into the common room on the second morning of classes, the first thing Sam did was head over to the message board. He knew it was ridiculous to think that the password would have changed overnight, but after he’d almost gotten locked out at five minutes to curfew the night before after running back from a chess game with Kate and forgetting what the pass phrase was, he wasn’t taking any chances. That word – a city and a battle, he thought; kind of appropriate for Crotalus – was going to be burned into his brain before he even needed it to nip back in for a fresh pen.

He read the word five times, until it stopped looking like a word on its sheet, and then glanced over the rest of the still mostly bare board to see if there was anything else he needed to know before breakfast. One of the things he was discovering he liked best about a new year was the illusion of everything having been wiped away, leaving a clean slate to begin again on and a notice board that could be easily surveyed and read. It was only an illusion – all the friendships, rivalries, and et cetera from the previous year were still as real as the grades in the permanent files hidden in some highly-guarded, ultra-secure hell dimension in the Headmistress’ part of the school – and the gloss would wear off as soon as things became routine again anyway, just as it always did in Muggle school, but for now, he was liking it.

He was less liking the look of the Quidditch sign-up sheet. Marissa was a decent choice for Assistant Captain – she’d make a better cheerleader than a player, with that whole wholesome, we-can-do-it, all-American-girl thing she had going, but since Quidditch didn’t have cheerleaders as far as he knew, those qualities could translate into an adequate leader – and the sheet couldn’t have been up for very long unless Crotali got their ability to teleport onto campus during summer breaks in third year and no one had told him yet, but only having the captain and her assistant signed up just didn’t look good. Since he didn’t fully share his roommate’s apparent need for every moment of mealtime, Sam decided to rectify the situation before he headed down to breakfast.

Sam Bauer, 2nd, Chaser

16 Sam Bauer Signing Up 163 Sam Bauer 0 5

Dmitry Talsky

August 22, 2010 2:56 PM

Ready to kick something! by Dmitry Talsky

Dmitry Talsky had come back to Sonora after his first year not exactly looking forward to it. Sure there was Charlie but she was not only the Quidditch Captain but also the perfect in their year. Did he mind much at all? Not in the least it was less responsibility for him but that meant her duties would take away their time together. Sure the Quidditch Captain duties he could tag along with but the Perfect duties would be rather boring.

The Russian had returned from lessons and had ignored the board at first and went straight up to his dorm. He dropped off his bag, changed out of his school robes and into a nice pair of perfectly pressed black jeans and Wicked Sisters T-shirt that he had gotten at a concert this summer after Charlie had returned home. After spending three weeks in Russia with Charlie exposing her to the Russian Season he had joined his Drumstrang buddies. There had been some thing he figured Charlie wouldn’t approve of but what she didn’t know couldn’t hurt her.

After he finished dressing he made his way back to the Commons and smiled when he saw the Quidditch sign up sheet. He had wondered when Charlie was going to put it up and now that it was done he grabbed a quill from some first year that was passing and sneered at them sending him scurrying away.

Dmitry Talsky - fifth year – beater

After that all he could hope for was a better beating partner then last year.

0 Dmitry Talsky Ready to kick something! 137 Dmitry Talsky 0 5

Miya Saren

August 22, 2010 5:44 PM

Here goes nothing.. by Miya Saren

After a few days of passing by the sign up sheet, Miya finally got tired of just passing by. She wanted to at least try to try out, to say she did. She always loved being able to say she at least attempted to do something, especially if the person she was talking to hadn't. She wasn't sure if it was the Crotalus in her, or if she was just, as her cousins say, stuck up.

Miya stepped out of the first-year dormitory and braced herself. No, she wasn't scared; Miya Saren did not get scared. Instead she felt a strange mixed emotion, one that she couldn't quite place. She really wanted to be on the team, she couldn't deny that fact; but she was sure there were lots of students with greater skill. Miya frowned in a brief annoyance at herself, then strode down the stairs with purpose.

The position she desired was known as the 'beater' position. It was a very physical position, and often resulted in injury, but it was easily Miya's favorite. It required being able to focus on many things at once, and also required a good, strong aim; both things Miya tried hard to have.

She was going to sign up, and she would not let the fact that she was a first year get to her. She would be flying at those try-outs, and nothing could stop her. She might not make the team, but she would certainly try. She pulled out a small quill from a robe pocket and wrote in her neatest handwriting;

Miya Saren; First Year; Beater

0 Miya Saren Here goes nothing.. 0 Miya Saren 0 5

Theo

August 22, 2010 7:34 PM

Switching things up by Theo

Theo had loved his summer with his extra large family and just before he was to board the wagons to Sonora Mama had surprised him with another surprise she was pregnant once again with the eighth Manzana child! He was happy he loved all his siblings but enough was enough were they going for a baker’s dozen? Theo knew Mama and Papa had a lot of money but they didn’t have unlimited amounts. With eight children money would be tight at least till Mama went back to work. Plus Roxy would be coming to Sonora next term and it wasn’t free.

So with that thought in his mind he entered the Crotalus Common rooms. He stared at the Quidditch sign ups for some time. He knew he wanted to go back on the team but did he want to be a beater again. There were two other open spots keeper and chaser plus there were already two people signed up for the beater position. Plus did he really want to be on the team with the family being short on funds what if he got really hurt? He sighed and shook his head before he grabbed his quill. He would just be extra careful this term.
Theo Manzana – third year – chaser/keeper

0 Theo Switching things up 0 Theo 0 5

Renée Errant

August 23, 2010 4:31 PM

Just for the fun of it by Renée Errant

Renée was all too excited to sign up for the team. It wasn't so much that she loved Quidditch, but she loved joining new things. Each club/group/team she joined would bring in a new slew of adventures that she was eager to have.

Heading over to the sign up sheet, she twirled the quill in her hand as she tried to decide what she wanted to try out for. Seeker sort of appealed to her, but as she was a first year, she rather doubted she would get the spot. However, as she was never one to pass up a challenge...

She pushed her quill to the parchment:

Renée Errant, first year, trying out for Seeker.

She smiled satisfied, but already she was changing her mind. Her older brother played as Chaser, and suddenly she was imagining what he would think if he saw her play as Chaser as well. Maybe he would be impressed if she got really good. Maybe they could even play together. Renée beamed to herself. 'Alright,' she thought. 'I'll try out for seeker just for the fun of it, and Chaser as well.'

Renée Errant, first year, trying out for Seeker/Chaser.

0 Renée Errant Just for the fun of it 0 Renée Errant 0 5