The Muggleborn girl on Aladren Commons

Captain Dill

October 07, 2016 3:55 PM

Quidditch Sign Ups! by Captain Dill

When he and John finished eating, Clark headed up to Aladren. He might not have gotten Head Boy, but he was still Prefect and Quidditch Captain so he wanted to be present when Pye brought in the first years so he could wave when his name came up and people would know who to look for if they needed a prefect or had a Quidditch question. He also wanted to get back before Oliver so he could grab the sign up sheet he'd made over the summer from his bag and get that posted early.

The Aladren team sign ups were going to need all the exposure time they could get if he wanted a full list before try-outs. The team had graduated two players last year and the current rate of new players left them at a deficit. He optimistically hoped, though, that he'd get two names without needing to beg or twist arms. It had looked to him like Aladren had drawn in a sizable crop of first years, so hopefully there were a few players in there. The probability even looked pretty good that, if there were, maybe Arianna wouldn't be by herself again as the token girl on the team. Clark was kind of hoping that under his captaincy, Aladren Quidditch would lose its air of a pureblood boy club. Being led by a pair of half bloods (or whatever it was that John was, because, obviously, Clark had confirmed his best friend as the team's assistant captain when the coach nominated him), hopefully went a long way in that regard without them even needing to do anything.

Aladren Quidditch Team

The sign started out in the standard manner, though it was printed in white ink on black paper in hopes of standing out a bit more. It was also framed with bright blue paper that glimmered and even glowed a little bit, though Clark expected he would need to re-cast those charms a couple of times before he took the sheet down, to keep them at top vibrancy.

Sign up below to join the Aladren House Team and help us reclaim our title of Quidditch Champions! All are welcome! No experience necessary! We have openings for new players, so don't be shy!

Clark hoped he hadn't sounded too desperate in his appeal for players, but he also didn't want to forfeit the year because a muggleborn wanted to wait until they knew how to fly before joining.

The sheet was otherwise compromised of a grid with column headings that read Name, Year, Desired Position(s). The first row was filled with Clark's information as an example.

Captain Clark Dill, 7th, Seeker

He tacked it up on the bulletin board and sat down on one of the couches to wait for Professor Pye to arrive with his party of potential recruits.

Subthreads:

Adding my name by Kit Reid

I'm here. by John Umland

And a third! by Louis Valois

Better Late than Never by Lena Westley

Here I am. by Jack Spencer

Signing up. by Amela Layne

The Muggleborn girl by Arianna Valenti

1 Captain Dill Quidditch Sign Ups! 277 Captain Dill 1 5

Kit Reid

October 10, 2016 8:37 PM

Adding my name by Kit Reid

Quidditch hadn’t been something that Kit had actively thought about signing up for. She was a good societal Pureblood and she wanted to make her parents proud, but when she had started thinking about them, she had found that she really did want to sign up. It might not have been considered very girly and for the most part she was, but it sounded fun. It was something where she didn’t have to pretend to be perfect. She could just be like everyone else.

Kit reasoned that she could explain joining Quidditch as simply a way to keep in shape. Back home, she rode horses, but here, she didn’t have such luxuries. So, being in a sport really would keep her active. She wasn’t sure what Ayla would say about her signing up and she hoped that her friend would be understanding of her sudden decision to join. It was certainly a bold move for her. She wondered if she would eventually have to tell her parents. That was not a conversation she really looked forward to having.

But she was a little daring and it was with that she added her name to the sign up list.

Kit Reid, First Year, Any, but Beater

She wasn’t sure if there were any positions actually open since obviously members from previous years would be given preference since they had experience. She figured though she could help fill in wherever need except for Beater. The odds were just against her on that one. Otherwise, she was excited just for the chance.

0 Kit Reid Adding my name 363 Kit Reid 0 5

John Umland

October 11, 2016 6:17 PM

I'm here. by John Umland

John had not mentioned it to Clark, seeing no point in stating the obvious, but he was worried about the Quidditch team. They had to get two players, probably both first years, at least one probably a girl, and convince one of them to play Beater. The odds of all that happening were not, in light of past recruitment trends, very good, and John was particularly concerned about the Beater situation. He’d be the first to argue that his position was more than a caveman brandishing a stick, it required excellent skills in situational analysis and at least a degree of understanding of physics and strategy to be effective, but there was no way around it: arm strength was a definite plus. Most Beaters who were not comatose as a result of their own instruments backfiring on them had it.

He had not mentioned this to Clark either, instead reminding his friend that John had started Beating as a second year and had been perfectly…adequate, anyway, even then. It wasn’t much, but short of blatant, over-the-top lying of the kind that involved forced cheerfulness and which John had almost no skill in, it was as much as John really had to offer on the optimism front.

The sign of a name that wasn’t Clark’s on the sheet when John got to it was a more promising sign. The…person (Kit: diminutive of ‘Kitty,’ frequently itself diminutive of ‘Katherine’ and variants, common female name, but one never knows these days. Have heard third years appear to answer to ‘Kite’ and ‘Hippo.’ Could refer to set of articles or clothing appropriate for a specific purpose, various young animals, group of pigeons. May be male name) had explicitly asked not to be a Beater, but that was okay. That wasn’t the only thing they needed. Kit could be New Theodore, or whatever – he didn’t know if Jack or Louis or Arianna would be willing to move around or if it was even advisable to ask them to, but they’d figure that out later. Right now, he was pretty sure they were only one person down from what they needed. That was the relevant information.

John took out a pen and carefully inscribed his own credentials – John Umland, 6th Year, Beater - on the list before going away with a bit more of a spring in his step than he’d had before. He didn’t know the first thing about Kit Reid, but he or she was currently a person in John’s good books.

16 John Umland I'm here. 285 John Umland 0 5

Louis Valois

October 12, 2016 9:55 AM

And a third! by Louis Valois

When Louis returned to the Aladren common room after the feast (leaving a little after the first years, so as not to be swamped in a sudden flood of ridiculously short people), he was pleased to see that the signup sheet was already on the noticeboard. Good – they needed to raise as much awareness as possible, and with a bit of luck the first years would have noticed it upon their arrival. The Aladren team was in dire need of some fresh blood, as his conversation with Jack had further reminded him.

Louis was looking forward to a year with Clark as the captain. Leonidas had filled the position well last year, and it hadn’t been his fault at all that Aladren hadn’t managed to win (ok, they’d lost) the Quidditch Cup. Still, the team had come second and played a good match in the final, and hopefully under Clark they could continue to be as strong and would regain their old reputation of being unbeatable. After all, Louis still considered Clark to be the school’s best seeker, whatever last season might have suggested!

There were already three names on the signup sheet when Louis got to it, and he didn’t recognise one of them, which was definitely good! Now, provided all remaining players from last year’s team signed up (and if they didn’t they’d have Louis to answer to, and no doubt others as well!), they just needed one more new player. Louis wasn’t above going down on his knees and begging Dustin to play if he had to, although he did think that sort of behaviour might alarm his roommate.

Quill in hand, Louis paused before writing. He knew what he’d planned to write, but did he really want to go through with it? He’d always played chaser; he loved the position, and it was what he was best at. He felt that he, Jack, and Arianna formed a good chasing trio. However, he knew he’d rather play another position than not play at all. Clark knew his strengths and weaknesses, and Louis trusted his captain to do what was necessary to form a new Aladren team. Besides, without a team they couldn’t give Pecari the thrashing that the other team definitely deserved!

Louis Valois, 4th Year, Chaser (or, if necessary, any position)

9 Louis Valois And a third! 314 Louis Valois 0 5

Lena Westley

October 12, 2016 5:53 PM

Better Late than Never by Lena Westley

It was no secret that Quidditch teams were always looking for players. Despite Teppenpaw having a reserve player last year, Lena wasn’t aware of any teams having had back up players. Lena thought she vaguely remembered Clark worrying about making a full roster this year. Two Aladren players had graduated the year before, so they would definitely be short two this year if no first years signed up. Knowing how important Quidditch was to Clark she decided with ease to sign up for the Aladren team this year.

She planned to sign up in her third year, but then she had gone through a particularly rough bout of anxiety and school related stress and put it off. When she had a firmer grasp of her schoolwork again, she had talked herself out of it, thinking Olivier would probably not approve. When they had gotten into whatever funk they were in, she had taken up archery with Aiden- and even that he had not approved of. But Clark would approve. Clark would probably be happy and making Clark happy would in turn make her happy.

Plus she loved flying. It was freeing in a way that staring up at the sky got close to but never quite matched it. She hadn’t been much of a Quidditch player, but she was good at flying. She flew like she walked- maybe better than as she was actually quite a languid walker.

Taking out a quill she signed her name

Lena Westley, Seventh Year,

She hesitated. She would prefer being Keeper but she wasn’t sure if that’s what was needed. She didn’t want to be a chaser. That was a little too fast paced for her. She could deal with being a beater, but. . . Keeper just seemed better in every aspect. She sighed, adding any. She’d have fun regardless, and Clark and she would be on a team together. That was more than enough.

7 Lena Westley Better Late than Never 279 Lena Westley 0 5

Jack Spencer

October 20, 2016 5:42 PM

Here I am. by Jack Spencer

Jack was looking forward to the Quidditch season this year. He felt a new energy and he knew there would be some alterations in team dynamics because of a couple new additions. Last year had been somewhat of an embarrassment, losing to Pecari, but he was hoping to win this year and pummel the opposition to a pulp. Metaphorically, of course.

Their beloved Seeker was captain this year and Jack was proud that he had joined Dill's ranks as a Prefect. He hoped to be like his older brother in becoming Head Boy and Quidditch Captain as a seventh year, but he still had some ways to go. Not to mention if Head Boy was a popularity contest, he had to make some more friends.

Jack had almost forgotten to check the noticeboard as he began his Prefect duties, but a couple days later he finally remembered sign-ups. He quickly went the check the list and was pleased to see a couple of new names on there. He was looking forward to some new team-mates as long as they were superb flyers for their age. He wrote his name underneath Lena's in his neat script:

Jack Spencer, 5th year, Chaser

40 Jack Spencer Here I am. 299 Jack Spencer 0 5

Amela Layne

October 21, 2016 1:49 PM

Signing up. by Amela Layne

Lionel had never said much about Houses to Amelia directly – Amelia assumed her brother had not wanted to say anything he might have to regret later if Amelia went into that House – but she had picked up a lot of things about them just listening to him talk in general over the holidays of the past few years. Aladren, she had gathered, was a House full of rather severe purebloods of the Society sort, most of whom were also male. That was why it had come as a surprise to Amelia to find her year full of girls and an even bigger one to approach the Quidditch sign-up sheet and see two other girls on it already. Even Aunt Anne had thought the Quidditch team ran too heavily to boys, after all, but here, if exactly seven people signed up, the numbers would be almost equal.

The captain sounded nice just from the way he wrote the sign, though Amelia supposed she could be prejudiced in his favor already just because her godmother had assured her Clark was going to be the ‘right sort’ – Anne had, she’d said, played with this guy’s father, who she still called ‘her’ Seeker when talking about him. Amelia wouldn’t be surprised if she ever found out Anne addressed Mr. Dill’s Christmas cards (Anne, Amelia thought sometimes, knew or knew someone who knew everyone in the world, and she sent Christmas cards to all of them) to ‘my Seeker’ instead of using his real name. That, though, wasn’t for her to know, and she was just glad to at least know one name going in and, after Professor Pye’s speech, that said name wasn’t John. She still had not figured out how people told the prefects apart, since most people seemed to use their first names when talking to or about each other….

Kit, she saw, was one of the two girls, just as she’d said. The other was much older, but Amelia thought that might be good – if she was a returning player, she could be like a mentor to Amelia and Kit and they could all have a great time together. Feeling optimistic, Amelia took out a quill and wrote down her details on the list – Amelia Layne, 1st, Any.

16 Amela Layne Signing up. 360 Amela Layne 0 5

Arianna Valenti

October 22, 2016 3:01 PM

The Muggleborn girl by Arianna Valenti

It wasn't that Arianna hadn't seen the Quidditch poster right away. And it wasn't as if she hadn't practiced, if somewhat reluctantly, over the summer with Natalie and Gabriel, either. She was still a mediocre flyer, which she loathed to publicly acknowledge. But at least she wasn't rusty.

But sports were not just sports at Sonora, and a sign up meant more than sign up. Arianna was at the start of her second year of school now, and still she had no close girlfriends. Sure, she hung out with Natalie sometimes, but she was Gabriel's friend, really. She didn't think Eliza truly counted, one moment Arianna was admiring her wardrobe, the next she wanted to hex the girl. There was Fashion Club, and while she liked all the girls there and even thought of Emmy-Lou as something of a role model, she wasn't close with any of them. And of course, there had been no other girls on the Aladren team last year.

Throughout her first year, Arianna had started to get the idea that most girls didn't play sports in the magical world, and that it may even be seen as a negative thing. Nobody had ever said so explicitly, at least not to her. But she noticed things. She was acutely aware that she had been the only girl on the Aladren team last year, and that most teams were majority boys. While a girl had been captain of the Pecari team last year, she had also been spotted kissing a boy from a not-pureblood family at the ball last year. There did seem to be the random pureblood girl (that Arianna was aware of) here and there, but they were probably all disowned, or whatever purebloods did to people who didn’t play by their rules. But there were no Brockert girls playing Quidditch, which seemed to Arianna to be the most important family of all, and no girls from her own year on the starting roster of any other teams.

So she had been wrestling with a question all summer - if she wanted to be popular with the right sort of people at Sonora, would she have to give up Quidditch? And why did she care so much about giving up Quidditch, anyway? She wasn't particularly good at it, and only ever really liked to play sports at family events.

She envied purebloods for their power and social standing. The second year was still convinced that Louis was absolutely ridiculous for ever wanting to walk away from that. Especially in her first year, she felt that she would do anything to join their ranks. But despite months of research, she had not been able to find any Valentis in the magical history books of Sonora, and so she could not prove that she was actually the long lost heiress to some noble magical family from long ago. She was limited. She was different. And she hated that.

But purebloods seemed to have their limits, too. It was really dumb, in Arianna's never humble opinion, for her not to be allowed to do something because she was a girl. In fact, purebloods had a lot of weird, backwards rules you had to follow. Arianna had been raised to believe that she could achieve anything a boy could. Why, she knew for a fact that she earned better grades in all their classes than Gabriel did.

She was left with a decision. Leave Quidditch and potentially disappoint her teammates who had supported her all last year, in the hopes that she would then be accepted into the seemingly elusive club of pureblood girls, girls like Madeleine and the other Arianna. Or she could show them what her true power was, without them, show up their power and their rules and carry on the hard way.

The thing she couldn't stand most of all was being told she couldn't do something. Arianna Giulia Valenti could never turn away from a challenge.

And so a couple of days had already passed by the time she finally looked at the Quidditch sign ups only to find that she would not be alone after all. Two first year girls had signed up, and even Clark’s girlfriend was apparently joining in. Well, Arianna hoped her captain would not allow himself to get too distracted by Lena. It would be a shame if Arianna made the big decision to support him, only for the seventh year to get sloppy.

The other girls’ names on the sheet made her feel braver. She knew what she had to do. She’d try her very bests at Quidditch, maybe even go out for captain someday, just to show them all. She would not be put in a box, she would not be the “muggleborn” girl or the “sports” girl or any other label. They didn’t want her? Fine, the second year wasn’t going to beg. She’d show them all just how powerful she could be on her own. Arianna Valenti made her own rules.

She took out a black pen from her tote, and wrote in her very best cursive.

Arianna Valenti, 2nd Year, Chaser

Game on.

OOC: Arianna’s opinions of people are all her own, and may not align with reality.

0 Arianna Valenti The Muggleborn girl 343 Arianna Valenti 0 5