Six... on Aladren Commons

Captain Leonidas Bennett

May 06, 2016 9:12 PM

Aladren Quidditch Sign-Ups! by Captain Leonidas Bennett

Leonidas was disappointed by the results of the election, but not entirely surprised. Not only was the Aladren vote small, it had also probably split between him and his roommate, and he didn’t think the rest of the school liked any of them that much. It being Brockert had surprised him a little, though, probably just because Brockert didn't play Quidditch and thus wasn't really normally on Leonidas' radar as anything other than 'some relative of Arabella's who isn't Fabian or Serena.' Brockert made the most sense, if only because nobody actually disliked him, but Leonidas had still kind of expected that Isaac Douglas would walk away with the badge if an Aladren didn't, even though he also believed that, whether just because Thaddeus Pierce had had one of the more memorable tenures as Head Boy in recent memory or because he or his wife had actually called in some favors, Douglas’s sister and brother-in-law were the only reasons Douglas had even made the ballot.

Instead, though, Teppenpaw, of all Houses, was suddenly on top. Leonidas almost wondered if he should be surprised if Teppenpaw suddenly pulled together a Quidditch team and John Umland’s brother was revealed as Arnold Carey come again, just this time in the wrong colors. The only way it would matter to Leonidas, though, was if some family out there – none of their established ones seemed up to the job lately; the Careys hadn’t given the school a Quidditch player since Anthony, but they were still helping the team more than most of its old hands just by not putting competent players on any of the other teams – had miraculously produced an eleven-year-old capable of both being Sorted into Aladren and flying a broom in a straight line without being blackmailed or forced at the point of a wand. Leonidas forced a smile as he hung the sign-up sheet up in the common room, people might see him in there after all, but it was hard to mean it when he contemplated the very real possibility that he might be the guy who was captain the year there was a tournament and Aladren didn’t even compete in it.

Come on, come on, come on, he begged the first years silently. I don’t care if you’re Muggleborn, I don’t care if you can barely sit a broom. I just need a warm body to keep the Bludgers and the Chasers occupied while Clark catches the Snitch. His silent plea finished, he went up to bed, leaving the sign-up sheet where it was, reading,

Aladren Quidditch Is Back!

After a year-long break for the school challenges, the Aladren Quidditch team is ready to fly back to victory and we are looking for new players! Sign up below with your name, year, and desired position and join us at the Quidditch Pitch (see map below for directions) on [Date] for try-outs and practice. Direct any questions to Captain Leonidas Bennett or Assistant Captain Clark Dill. We look forward to seeing you there!

Leonidas Bennett, Seventh Year, Captain and Beater.

Subthreads:

Two. by Jack Spencer

Three! by Clark Dill

Four. by John Umland

Five! by Louis Valois

Six... by Theodore Wolseithcrafte

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Jack Spencer

May 07, 2016 4:36 PM

Two. by Jack Spencer

Jack was rather proud to have supported his house through Quidditch these past three years. This would be his fourth year on the team as a Chaser, a position Jack had come to enjoy very much. He had practised extensively over the summer, but having no Quidditch for the past year had dulled his enthusiasm somewhat. He was glad that it was back on again this year with the same captain.

Jack went to the noticeboard the day after the Welcoming Feast. He remembered joining his first year and beating Adam's house in the finals. It was a sweet moment of victory for him, not because he wanted to beat Adam but because for once he felt on par with his golden older brother. He hoped that he wouldn't be made a fool of with Lily inevitably interested in Pecari's Quidditch team.

Jack wanted there would be brilliant first years joining their team this year, but one could only hope.

John Spencer, fourth year, Chaser

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Clark Dill

May 09, 2016 10:59 AM

Three! by Clark Dill

Sixth year was dawning and still Clark remained the school's undefeated Seeker. He was glad he'd had a break last year, both to have a little extra time to study for his CATS and just to avoid the pressure of needing to prove his Quidditch worth for another year. In theory, his place on the team was pretty well secured at this point, with the Assistant Captain badge on his robes and Leonidas graduating at the end of the year, but really that just made it more important to keep winning. It was his team now, even more than it was before, and he didn't want to let them down.

Plus, well, he'd learned perfectionism from a master, and anything less than his very best just wasn't good enough.

So after adding his name to the Aladren Quidditch sign-up list, Clark headed outside for an early morning (he was always up at the crack of dawn to try to be out of the room before Oliver woke up) to start getting back into flying shape after another summer of not getting much broom time at all.

Clark Dill, 6th Year, Seeker

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John Umland

May 10, 2016 2:38 PM

Four. by John Umland

He hadn't paid much attention to the notice board after the Feast, but when John came down for breakfast, he wasn't too surprised to find the Quidditch list up. Not as surprised, anyway, as he was that he had thought to look for it. He always slept poorly for the first few nights back, but he had compounded the problem by spending far too little time trying on the first night of his fifth year. His eyes felt as dry as if he hadn't had anything to drink in a day, he had a bit of a headache to match, and the thought of food was very nearly violently unpleasant to contemplate; it was only the thought that the Cascade Hall contained tea that he wouldn't have to make himself which had persuaded him to get out of bed in time to have to breakfast before classes at all today.

Jack and Clark, evidently more alert, had already signed back up. John decided to think of the day as beginning now instead of at midnight, as seeing the list already well underway was a much more promising start to the year than accidentally setting a pair of his shoes on fire and going to bed in disgust had been. He took out his pen and added his own details - John Umland, 5th, Beater - to the list.

He had had his mind mostly on other things during the Feast, but if John recalled correctly, there hadn’t been a single boy among the kids (for some reason, all of the beginners except Joe looked far too young to be let out without minders) who’d turned blue at the Feast. That meant one of three things: either there wasn’t going to be a team, an older person was going to join the team, or there was going to be a girl on the team again. The first outcome was highly undesirable, the second two…well, he couldn’t say for sure that those turns of events would lead to desirable outcomes necessarily, but he thought they might be more interesting to watch, so he sort of hoped for one of them as he went out into the library, also hoping the day would continue to improve from here.

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Louis Valois

May 13, 2016 6:01 AM

Five! by Louis Valois

Louis had spent ages in the common room with Emmy last night. They’d had a lot to catch up on after an entire summer apart! By the time he’d finally gone to bed he’d been too tired to think about Quidditch. Signing up would have to wait until morning.

And so, the following morning, he stumbled down the stairs, quill in hand. He still felt half asleep (it always took Louis a while to get back into the early starts that school demanded), but he was, as always, impeccably dressed. His hair was artfully arranged in a messy style, and his blue trousers and form-fitting t-shirt were not covered by robes. Louis always preferred to put his robes on after breakfast. With a grin, he remembered his mother’s expression when she first saw them. Needless to say, Mme Valois hadn't been pleased, not thinking that they were really fashionable enough for her son to be wearing.

Louis scanned down the list, noting that the current names were the usual suspects. Hopefully one of the first years was into Quidditch, otherwise the Aladren team wouldn’t be looking so healthy this year. Perhaps he should talk to one of the first years? Then again, that could put them off joining the team. Louis had always been a bit confused by the lack of girls on the team, but Emmy had explained to him that girls playing Quidditch wasn't really the done thing in American society. This was one of the main cultural differences Louis had found since coming to Sonora. In France, Quidditch was as much of a sport for girls as it was for boys. In fact, Louis’ cousin Juliette had looked set for a promising professional Quidditch career. The Valois family had been very proud – until, that was, she got herself engaged to a muggleborn with no prospects, and ran off to Britain.

Louis himself wasn't as talented as Juliette, but he enjoyed the sport. Besides, having been riding a broom since a young child helped ensure he was a reasonably good player. He’d kept practising last year, annoyed at the lack of Quidditch, but was excited to start proper training again.

Louis Valois, 3rd Year, Chaser

There. He had officially signed up to be on the team again. Satisfied, Louis left the common room in search of some breakfast.

[OOC: mentions of Emilia-Louise Scott approved by her author.]

9 Louis Valois Five! 314 Louis Valois 0 5

Theodore Wolseithcrafte

May 13, 2016 10:11 PM

Six... by Theodore Wolseithcrafte

Theodore was a little worried about Aladren’s Quidditch prospects for the coming year. Last year, they had been saved from humiliation by the challenges, though it had been recorded in the yearbook, plain and clear for all to see… Aladren had not had a full team. Technically, he supposed it wasn’t his problem… Leonidas was captain, and for good reason. If anyone needed to cajole reluctant first years into taking the vacant position, Leonidas would be much better at it than Theodore. There were also a couple of people in John’s year who might play (in that there were no obvious reasons why they wouldn’t, rather than because they seemed particularly keen) so perhaps he could do some wheedling there. But in spite of it not being his responsibility it was still his to worry about… He didn’t want to see the team crumble for its own sake, and for the fact it would be of great disappointment to Francesca (and Jay, who he sort of had to tangentially care about, he supposed), but the main issue was Liliana. He wasn’t sure he could face her if Aladren wasn’t fielding a team. Just picturing the look on her face was enough to make his stomach squirm.

He had done his best to encourage Leonidas to sweet-talk or bribe the first years as necessary, and also pointed out to John that he was best placed to try persuading the other fourth year boys. Feeling that to be the extent of his available powers, there was only one other thing remaining that he had to do, in order to boost Aladren’s numbers. Sadly, he was only number six, not seven…

Theodore Wolseithcrafte, Seventh Year, Keeper.

The night before the try outs, if there weren’t seven names, he was even prepared to tell his room-mate that he could tell the first years they could take Keeper, if that would get one of them on board. He disliked the implication that his position was easy - it wasn’t, and being a good Keeper took skill - but it was probably the position where being terribly bad was going to do them the least harm, and where a first year who could just about cling to the broom could do so in relative peace.

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