Succumbing to family tradition. on Crotalus Commons

Captain Linus Macaulay

October 14, 2013 3:59 PM

Quidditch sign-ups by Captain Linus Macaulay

Linus had written out the Crotalus Quidditch sign-up sheet the first morning back at Sonora, experiencing a conflict of sentiments. On one hand, he was pleased to have the honor and recognition of being the team's Captain, despite the extra responsibilities this necessitated in his already busy schedule. On the other hand, the Rattlesnakes' performance last year hadn't been entirely laudable (while he liked to blame Teppenpaw's uncanny and probably illegal efficiency for the outcome of the match, there was no escaping the fact that they had one whilst Crotalus had not), and Linus would rather not Captain the team into another such embarrassing loss. Then again, it was his last year at Sonora, and not being able to play at all would probably be a worse insult than losing all over again, so while he would lament the absence of Coach Pierce as referee, he was nevertheless grateful to Professor Olivers for at least allowing him the opportunity to end on a high note.

With all this in mind, Linus was as keen as ever that Crotalus should have the best possible line up, to give them the best possible chance at winning the championship this year. Admittedly, they might not be the strongest team on the pitch, as two of the more dependable players would not be returning this year, but then Aladren's team would be similarly depleted, which could only improve the other teams' chances. The seventh year dared to assume that four of the positions might already be filled by returning players, which meant only three new recruits to train up to an acceptable standard by the first game. It sounded plausible.

With great optimism, Linus attached the neatly-written sign to the House noticeboard. It read:

Crotalus House Quidditch Try-outs
If you would like to be considered for a position on the Crotalus team this year, please sign your name, year, and preferred position(s) in the space below.
Practices will be held twice weekly. Try-outs will held Saturday morning at 9am.

Then, in the empty space on the parchment below this note, Linus had written his own details as an example: Linus Macaulay, seventh, Chaser.

Subthreads:

Without a doubt. by Cepheus Princeton

Signing myself up. by Sasha Sinclair

Succumbing to family tradition. by Isaac Douglas

Ending as I began, apparently by Paul Bennett

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Cepheus Princeton

October 14, 2013 4:48 PM

Without a doubt. by Cepheus Princeton

Since Cepheus had caught word that Thad was now the Aladren captain after McLevy didn't come back for this term, Assistant Captain did not seem as notable an achievement. However, Cepheus had no doubt that if Linus had left the school prematurely as well, he would have been the Captain then and Ceph took some comfort in that.

There was no doubt in his mind that his youngest brother would refuse to join the team no matter what after the disaster last year so Cepheus simply had to have faith that one of the few Crotali would turn out to be a fantastic Keeper, not to mention the other positions that were necessary to be filled. If things were particularly bad, there would be some further pressure applied to Leo, but until then Cepheus was careful to let his brother alone.

The signup sheet was there now and Cepheus put his name down without a further thought. He was one year away from becoming the next Sam Bauer or Linus Macaulay. Alicia was quite set on having her and Thad become the next Head Boy and Girl, but Cepheus wanted Head Boy for himself. It would only be fair, seeing as the last two Quidditch captains of his time here had been Head Boy as well, not to mention equally as good-looking as he.

There were only a few months now until Cepheus would legally be allowed to perform magic outside of school and he could not wait. He was planning on throwing a little party, perhaps even with Alicia if she was interested, but until then his Quidditch diet was back on and he was focusing on his intensive training without thought of the gold at the end of the year. If he focused solely on his performance, he would be less inclined to throw a fit not unlike a petulant child if they lost. He penned his name down underneath Linus: Cepheus, sixth, Seeker

40 Cepheus Princeton Without a doubt. 216 Cepheus Princeton 0 5

Sasha Sinclair

October 16, 2013 11:00 PM

Signing myself up. by Sasha Sinclair

Sasha had been anticipating the Quidditch Sign ups. As he did with the Prefect and Head Boy badges, Sasha believed that the Quidditch Captain badge would someday belong to him. He obviously deserved it. He had to put up with so much dealing with …inferior beings while he accompanied this school. Sasha was of proper breeding, of a solid foundation, of a good name. He deserved each and every title that he wanted. But, he also knew that he needed a spot on the team first. That would be a piece of cake, of course. Sasha was the best. He was an avid flyer and he played games against his brother often. He didn’t necessarily have Quidditch experience per se, but his father had them run drills to keep them active and Sasha knew he would be a vital player to the team.

Sasha didn’t immediately sign up when he say the notice though. That was a difficult thing for him. He wanted his name to be the first. He wanted to seal his position quickly. But, he also didn’t want to seem too eager for it and so, he waited. He waited until the end of the first week. The list was dismal but that just gave him the boost to believe he’d be a shoe-in for his spot on the team.

Sasha Sinclair, First Year, Beater

6 Sasha Sinclair Signing myself up. 0 Sasha Sinclair 0 5

Isaac Douglas

October 24, 2013 4:34 PM

Succumbing to family tradition. by Isaac Douglas

Quidditch, in Isaac’s mind, was a thing which made both its players and its fans look really stupid. The players were risking life and limb during the games and devoting their time in the practices to something which would never do most of them any good in life, and the fans were investing their energy and attention and feelings into something they had no control over and which was not going to do most of them any good at any time, period. At school, and outside it for those with the money to waste on the kind of odds team loyalty could produce, it at least made some sense, since House points and payoffs could come, but even there…there were better ways to go about getting those desirable things.

All of those thoughts went through his head as he dutifully trudged over to the board and signed himself up. There were some considerations bigger than what made sense, and keeping up with family tradition and keeping in step with his roommate were among them.

He tried to console himself, as he looked forward to a long, long time during which he would be very bored except when he was in danger, with the thought of how much his sister would probably give to switch places with him. Alicia never really trusted anyone to do anything to further her goals without her, and she actually liked the violence and chaos of the game (indeed, the fact that she seemed to like that Loser Boyfriend was a Beater was part of what had convinced Isaac she was utterly bent and should be handled with a degree of caution; it would have been one thing if she had enjoyed the thought of Loser Boyfriend hitting Isaac with a Bludger, since he was in no way bothered by the thought of Loser Boyfriend and Loser Sidekick practicing curses on her if they ever Found Out, but just in general? That was bent), so he was sure she resented much of society for taking the tact that it was improper for girls to play Quidditch and thus keeping her, who had to be hyper-proper all the time, off the team.

On its own, it wasn’t much, but looking at the list, it helped more when he imagined it and then imagined following it up by ‘forgetting’ that he was not to call the Crotalus Seeker and Assistant Captain "Loser Sidekick" to his face. Would he ever do it? Probably not, too dangerous. But it was fun to imagine.

Isaac Douglas, 1st, Chaser

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Paul Bennett

October 24, 2013 9:31 PM

Ending as I began, apparently by Paul Bennett

Things, Paul thought with some disgust as he surveyed the Quidditch sign-up list, were getting pretty damn dire when it started to look like he might have to sign up for the team for real. For years, now, it had practically been a tradition that he would stroll onto the Pitch unannounced on tryout day to be an alternate, by which he meant to be the guy who sat back and watched the game from a lousy position relative to the action but got the perk of then being qualified to criticize everyone else’s performance. Seekers, he understood, had something of the same right at times as well, but since they were actually playing as well as spectating, they didn’t have it quite as good as the alternate.

This year, though, things were just sad. It was hard to imagine, after last year’s loss to Teppenpaw and now this list, that once, Crotalus had been the terror of the school league. He was all for being the heroic second-placers, that was just funny, but at this rate, they weren’t even going to make it into the games. Though it was perfectly possible for teams to play while a man or two down, and theoretically really should have just been possible with only a Seeker standing, it wasn’t normally done, and they would be the object of jokes even if it was. He almost felt like he had an obligation, which was not something Paul was particularly happy about or comfortable with feeling he had.

He had, though, played the game properly in his first year – Edmond Carey had nearly killed him, as he recalled, though admittedly, he knew he could have distorted the details in memory, and even if he hadn’t, well, Edmond Carey had nearly killed a lot of people, most a lot more ‘nearly’ than Paul himself, the man had been a splendid Beater whatever his other issues – so it did entertain him to think of doing so again in his seventh. Not much, it wasn’t as funny as always coming in second place in the finals, but enough to combine with the sense of obligation and vague pity for Linus and get him to shuffle over to the sign-up sheet his roommate had put in the common room after the third time he shook his head over its emptiness and sign himself, for the last time, Paul Bennett, Seventh, Beater.

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