And now we have a full set (Aladren practice) on Quidditch Pitch

Anne Wright

April 23, 2006 12:08 AM

And now we have a full set (Aladren practice) by Anne Wright

Anne had discovered early on that she didn't particularly like Quidditch practices. She, quite simply, lacked whatever it was that made some people able to tell others what to do in a way that didn't feel like she was acting like the director of a boot camp and probably offending them all in the process. She knew she could trust Geoffrey not to do anything too stupid - he liked winning more than he disliked her being the leader - and she was pretty sure that Ben and Bella and Zack would do their best, but the others were wild cards. Wild cards - especially if they all turned out to hate her, which was entirely possible - weren't exactly the best thing for her to try parleying with.

The sad fact, though, was that practices were necessary no matter how little she liked them. She'd decided beforehand that she'd keep the talking short and sweet and then toss them straight into the air. Her position was one that required she work with the other Chasers herself, so note-taking would be minimal, but she thought she could practice and pick up on it if there were any deadly rivalries playing themselves out at fifty feet at the same time. She gave the seven assembled before her a grin she hoped covered any anxiety or uncertainty that lingered in the back of her head and began.

"Hey, y'all," she said, pulling out the team list just to have something to do with her hands. "For anyone who doesn't know me, I'm Anne Wright and I'm the captain of Aladren's House Quidditch team. If you're here and you're not an Aladren, leave." She waited, mostly for the effect, to see if anyone left, then carried on. Pity she couldn't take deep breaths without it being obvious. After taking a quick roll call to make sure everyone was there, she reminded herself not to start up with the stupid jokes, stuck the refolded list back into her pocket, and went into what was, for her, a brief prep oration.

"All right. I've thought about it a lot, and I think we've got a pretty good team. I think we're gonna win some, and we're going to give the ones who beat us a hard fight before they do. They'll underestimate us because we're the nerd herd, and that'll play into our favor. Plus, we are the nerd herd. We're smart. We just have to use it, apply that to this like it's - " she racked her brains for an analogy. "A class. This is a class, and the games are exams. You work as hard as you can to do well on that exam, and then you're there and you just have to use what you've been working with and try the best you can. Makes sense? Good." She'd done it. Again. There might yet come a day when she was comfortable doing this.

"Winning and losing depends pretty heavily on how well we work together," she said, shifting into instructions-giving mode. "We're one team, but with different divisions. The Chasers have to be able to work together to use most of the formations, even basic passes. Beaters, y'all have to be able to work together and with everyone else. You have to protect our people and try to either knock the other team out of the air or block their plays." She wished she could telepathically communicate to Geoffrey that this meant he was required to keep his mouth shut and be nice to Bella, but no such luck. "Chris, Zack, y'all are pretty much on your own. Layne and Bella will try to keep you covered - especially you, Zack - but you don't have anyone else playing your positions and we've only got one reserve." She gave the said reserve a dry smile. "Little Dupree, you've got it worst. You have to be able to do the job of everyone here except me. Hope you're up to it.

"Now that you all know what you have to do, let's get to it. Ben, Zoey, Chris, I want us four to start working on passing and blocking. Geoff, Bella, I'm leaving whether or not you work with the Bludgers up to you. Same goes for you, Zack, but I'm going to want all three of you up in the air by the next practice, so you know. Little Dupree..." She studied the first year, slightly at a loss. "You take notes." She shoved a piece of parchment and a quill from one pocket at him. "All right? Here we go." She was not going to listen to the voice that told her this was going to be a world-class disaster. This whole getting-nervous thing had to be temporary, and there was no point in lowering team morale by talking about it for its duration.\n\n

Subthreads:

up up and away on my beautiful, my beautiful b-room. by Zack Dill

Full set, huh? by Zoey Welsh with Anne Wright

16 Anne Wright And now we have a full set (Aladren practice) 59 Anne Wright 1 5

Zack Dill

April 23, 2006 12:05 PM

up up and away on my beautiful, my beautiful b-room. by Zack Dill

After half a year of flying lessons, Zack was becoming almost comfortable with the faster speed of Enterprise. (This is meant to be understood as 'Enterprise's lowest speed which is still faster than Bones' fastest speed' rather than 'the higher speeds that Enterprise can reach'.) So it was Enterprise that Zack collected from the school's collection of available brooms, the WarpSpeed carefully set aside at the end of the last flying lesson so Zack would be able to find it for today's practice.

As he listened to Anne's pep talk, Zack's thoughts realigned. The nervousness and panic he had felt at seeing the team roster earlier that week was now insignificant. Successfully catching the snitch was no longer about winning or not letting down his teammates or even bringing honor to the Planet of Alderaan - er, House of Alder- Aladraa- whatever the house was actually called. It was something much more basic, much more essential, much more familiar.

An exam.

Zack had never failed an exam in his life. He had no intention of starting now.

"All right, Enterprise," he told his broom when Anne released them to start practicing. "I don't know how many practices we've got before the first exam, but it's time to master dives." An hour ago the idea of diving toward the ground on Enterprise had terrified him. (He'd done it once or twice before on Bones, but Bones didn't go very fast.)

Now it was a skill he needed for the exam and that put it into an entirely different light. "Up," he told Enterprise and she leapt eagerly into his hand. He reached down, using the hovering broom as a support bar as his fingers raked through the grass of the Pitch ground, finding a few rocks roughly the size of snitches. These he put in his pocket, then straddled the broom and took off into the air.

Reaching a good hovering height of about thirty feet, off to one side so he wouldn't get in the way of the folks playing with the Quaffle, he took out his wand and his three rocks, and charmed the stones all bright gold. Two he put back in his pocket for when he inevitably lost the first one.

The one remaining in his hand, he dropped. He waited a half moment, then dove after it.\n\n

1 Zack Dill up up and away on my beautiful, my beautiful b-room. 40 Zack Dill 0 5

Zoey Welsh

April 25, 2006 5:04 PM

Full set, huh? by Zoey Welsh

Zoey made her way down to the pitch for the start of practice. At least this year she knew someone on the team and was happy to note that Zack was still very much a part of the team as she settled in to listen to their captain, Anne, speak. During the summer break, Zoey and her brother had practice Quidditch and flying in their secluded backyeard making her confidence in her abilities increase dramatically by the time the season started to roll around. Sure it was nothing like basketball and her height would do her little good, but at least she knew she had some type of atheticism going for her. And, she was rather graceful on a broom, which had come as a great surprise.

Oh great, Anne had to compare Quidditch to classes. Just what Zoey needed. If they didn't win their games, they would all be failures then by her standards. This was a nightmare. Zoey inwardly sighed to herself and pulled her long auburn hair up into a bun as she stood to make her way over to where the chasers were. Of course she knew none of them and only their Captain from the previous year, but had no conversation with her up until this point. She waited until Anne gave out the rest of the instructions before clearing her throat slightly and picking up a broom, "So, where do you want us to begin?"
\n\n

6 Zoey Welsh Full set, huh? 39 Zoey Welsh 0 5

Anne Wright

April 26, 2006 9:51 PM

Yep, a full set of House practices. by Anne Wright

Anne's hand went instinctively to where the ends of her hair normally would have been when she heard Zoey Welsh's voice, but it was hanging in a somewhat sloppy braid down her back. She dropped her arm back to her side as quickly as possible, knowing perfectly well how startled the gesture must have made her look. Great way to inspire confidence, jumping like a fool whenever anyone said a word to her. It didn't help that Zoey was one of the wild cards - the only words she'd ever exchanged with the taller girl had felt entirely too much like a confrontation for her peace of mind - and it definitely didn't help that Zoey was a third year. Somehow - maybe because she'd actually spoken to him properly before she was named captain, or maybe because he was shorter than most first years - telling Zack what to do didn't seem nearly as...unseemly as telling Zoey what to do.

"We'll start with passing, then do some work with stealing and shooting," she said once she'd recovered herself, no particular emotion coloring the words. She was not going to back down, and she sure as heck wasn't going to stand on tiptoe. She turned to the Keeper. "Chris, while we're working on those first two, you get a feel for the goals. I'll holler when we need you." She turned back to her fellow Chasers, trying to look at both of them equally. "Okay. If you get the Quaffle but can't do anything with it due to enemy interference, you pass. The basic side-to-side pass is basically no more than throwing the Quaffle at the Chaser of ours nearest to you and, if applicable, angling it so it doesn't fall straight into the other team's hands. An underhand pass looks something like this - " she picked up the Quaffle and simulated thowing it to Zoey with a downward arc, though she didn't let go of the ball - "and an overhand pass looks like this." She mimed throwing it to Ben, this time, using an upward arch. "Except that y'all let go of the ball, of course," she added.

She hefted her broom experimentally. It was the same one she'd been using since shortly before her tenth birthday and so probably outdated, and she hadn't been on it since before the mud storm ruined last year's season. She had a sudden, very acute desire not to look stupid in front of either of them, and it felt as though it didn't have as much to do with the fact that she was captain as she would have liked. "Let's get in the air for some practice. Zoey, you've got good height and long arms. That'll help for reaching up and down for passes and with distance passing and shooting. I want to try out a formation, get some passing over distances and angles in. Ben, you fly to my right and above. Zoey, you're left and below. I'll pass to one of you, then you try to pass to the other or me. We'll do that a few times, then switch off. Sound good?" She checked her watch anxiously. There were so many things to run through before she'd really feel safe, but there were only so many hours in a day, fewer that were after classes and before curfew, and not very many days left until the first match.

No. She had already made up her mind not to think like that. They'd get done, or done enough, anyway. "Ready?" she asked the other two, and kicked off. She feinted upward and towards Ben, then threw the Quaffle down to Zoey. There wasn't enough time to waste any of it talking. \n\n

16 Anne Wright Yep, a full set of House practices. 59 Anne Wright 0 5