Amy Fox, Quidditch Coach Extraordinaire
October 12, 2007 10:49 PM
Quidditch Match Two: Crotalus vs. Teppenpaw by Amy Fox, Quidditch Coach Extraordinaire
The Crots and Paws were set to play nearly a month following the Als and Pecs. The game landed on the second Saturday of November, the temperature predicted to be in the low 70s. Moving a bit slower than usual that morning, Amy browsed over the team rosters in the confines of her room, seated comfortably in a plush lounge chair.A bit of observation led Amy to note that Crotalus's team, quite like Aladren's and Pecari's, was full of returning players. Geoffrey Spindler had been promoted to the position of Assistant Captain due in part to his enthusiasm for the sport and in part because Amy just plain liked the kid. She couldn't really place why she viewed him in a different light than the other ankle-biting nose-miners, but she had a feeling that it was primarily because of the match from the year prior. Something he had said had hit a soft spot. Jennifer, as Seeker and Captain, had chosen a team of returning players who would be experienced with the sport.
In turn, Teppenpaw's team was also complete with returning players. Amy mentally congratulated herself on forbidding first years from signing up this year. Not only did it allow these first years to actually learn how to fly, it also allowed older students the opportunity to improve upon their skills. Dalila Bastet had been chosen to be the team's Assistant Captain. Amy knew little of the student but rumors of her enthusiasm for the sport had reached her. With WAIL running rampant around the school, Quidditch teams needed students who lived and breathed the sport to take leadership roles. Jake would have a good team this year.
Amy began to realize that all four teams were pretty much evenly matched this year. If anyone had asked her though, she would have openly stated that she couldn't care a fig. They were student teams and she had bothered little to know any of the players. Who cared who won? But a part of her, the part that just loved everything dealing with Quidditch, still realized that it was nice to have two teams that were evenly matched. To have four house teams in such a manner was amazing.
Placing the rosters on the side table, Amy rose from her seat. She had already dressed for the day in a pair of mint green robes. Glancing out the window, she noted the frost on the ground and frowned. Although the temperature would surely be rising, Amy had a feeling that she would need a heating charm or two to face the beginning of the match. Throwing her bag over her shoulder, Amy tossed one last look behind her before exiting her room.
Feet crunching in the frosted grass, she quickly cast multiple heating charms upon her person, keeping out the chill. Although she knew the temperature couldn't be much lower than the low 50s, it was still quite a change from temperature of the day before.
She made a quick stop by the storage closet to grab the chest of balls, which floated magically behind her, and then made her way out onto the pitch. Once again, the medic's tent had already been erected and was sitting toward one end of the field. Amy mentally rolled her eyes, making a point to steer clear of the medic.
Reaching the center of the field, Amy dropped both her bag and the trunk of balls to the ground. It was nearly time for the game to begin. The stands were rapidly filling and the teams would be joining her momentarily. Crouching down, Amy dug into her bag, removing her broom, goggles and gloves. Standing, Amy took a chance to glance around her. Though the temperature would be rising through the day to the low-70s, the sky was overcast and it was slightly windy.
Amy began pulling on her gloves as the teams approached. "You all know the drill. I'll just take a moment to cover the rules with you again and then we can get this game underway. No cheating. No dirty plays. Stay on the pitch. If you get injured, the medic's tent is on the field and I'm sure he'll help you." Pulling on her goggles, Amy instructed the Captains to move forward and shake hands. "When you're finished, move back to your teams."
Moving toward the trunk, Amy opened the lid. The Snitch was the first to be released, quickly followed by the Bludgers, which zipped quickly through the air and out of sight for the moment. Grabbing hold of the Quaffle, Amy straddled her broom. "Quite like the last game, we'll start this one with a sound of a whistle." Lifting her wand into the air, Amy paused for approximately three seconds before a loud, shrill whistle reverberated through the pitch. Lobbing the Quaffle in to the air, Amy pushed off the ground and moved to the side to keep an eye on the play. The game had begun.
OOC: Alright, I need your name, your team and your position in the name heading. Be sure that you read all of the previous posts before posting so you won't miss something important. I expect these posts to be detailed, with special attention being paid to spelling and grammar. That being said, good luck and have fun!
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Subthreads: Pre-Game Team Meetings (nm) by Fox
Spectators Post Here! (nm) by Fox with Nicoletta Dupree, Laurie Cider, Irene Liddowe and Renaye and Josh Warren
Re: Quidditch Match Two: Crotalus vs. Teppenpaw by Kaylie Brockert, Teppenpaw Seeker with Geoffrey Spindler, Crotali Chaser
Pitch Hospital Tent - Injured Players Post Here by Nicolas Wolfe, Medic
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Amy Fox, Quidditch Coach Extraordinaire
Quidditch Match Two: Crotalus vs. Teppenpaw
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Amy Fox, Quidditch Coach Extraordinaire
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Hannah Laurent, Teppenpaw Chaser
October 15, 2007 2:08 AM
But not to who you wanted by Hannah Laurent, Teppenpaw Chaser
Hannah stood huddled near her teammates. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a bun. The lack of hair surrounding her on top of the fact of having a thin frame made it all that much worse with the chill in the air. She had crossed one arm over herself in an attempt to gain some warmth. Back home, because of all the humidity in the air, it never felt as cold. She couldn’t wait to be up in the air. Once she got moving, the cold would be gone from her bones.Sighing, she slumped against her broom, willing the game to begin. Unfortunately, it would still be another few moments as the Coach and Captain each had to give their pre-game speeches. She tried to be patient since it was only normal. She was thankful that the Coach’s was so brief. Once they finished, she straddled the broom and kicked off with the others. Today, she would be playing as more than a reserve. Today, she would be playing the position, her position, of Chaser. A silly grin was on her face at the sheer excitement of it all, but she quickly chased to her game face before the whistle sounded.
While she waited, Hannah chanced a glance at Kaylie, their team’s Seeker. Last year, she was the reserve Seeker and ended up having to play the position. They had lost since the Pecari Seeker had reached the snitch first. After having played the spot, it was without a doubt that she could say it was rather difficult. She had done everything she could to shake Elly, but the girl had been there every step of the way and more. She had been highly disappointed at the turn of events and was glad that Kaylie was playing this game and hopefully every other game.
When the whistle sounded, the other team got the quaffle. She gave an internal groan, as there was no time to vocalize it. She immediately started after the one with the ball. She followed a little behind and a little lower in a hard to view area. She just had to wait for a golden opportunity. Quickly enough, it came, but to her, it seemed to take forever in the high-paced game. As soon as she saw his arm and hand making the motion to pass, she made her move. When it left, it was heading towards another Crotalus chaser. She was now close enough. She reached out, her hand making clean contact with the ball. She had intercepted it! It was all hers now. She tucked it neatly into her side while flying around towards the other goals.
Halfway there, she made eye contact with one of her fellow Chasers. They knew that she had to adjust for the curve of her aim. The Teppenpaw Chaser was in the perfect location for an unadjusted throw. She gave a grin and made the pass, hoping that none of the Crotali caught on.
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Hannah Laurent, Teppenpaw Chaser
But not to who you wanted
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Hannah Laurent, Teppenpaw Chaser
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Gwen Carey, Crotalus Beater
October 15, 2007 3:14 PM
Maybe I'll have better luck. by Gwen Carey, Crotalus Beater
Gwen rubbed her shoulder absently as the talking part wound down, at least temporarily relieving some of the tension in it. Why she was tense, she had no idea. Stage fright made a kind of sense, but it would be virtually impossible for the spectators to tell her from Lily, and she wasn't interested in impressing any of the other players. She wasn't all that worried about winning, either, though she would enjoy doing so. Her job was simple: hit the people in yellow before the Beaters in yellow hit the people in red. She didn't need to start worrying until she accidentally hit Jen or something.Maybe that was it. She had almost accidentally removed her own captain from the game during the Championship, and she still wasn't sure people realized it had been an accident. Her credibility would plummet like an uncharmed Bludger if she actually succeeded in injuring her own people, even if people didn't think it was deliberate.
Maybe she was just cold. One of the things she remembered most about Bellevue was the climate. The weather would be cooling down about now, but she thought it would still be warmer than this. Spending most of the summer with Andrew and company in the mountains, where she had spent several nights under the impression she was going to freeze off a few extremities, might have helped, but Sonora's weather, by and large, had been warmer so far.
It didn't matter. She would get rid of a lot of the tension in the first few minutes, and she would, in all likelihood, get it all back with interest before the game ended. It was just how it went. Mounting her broom along with the others, she kicked off at the sound of the whistle and went Bludger hunting, keeping tabs on the game more or less successfully at the same time.
Things seemed to be going relatively well. Geoffrey had the Quaffle, and Jennifer did not appear to be falling fifty or so feet to the ground. That changed when a Teppenpaw Chaser Gwen thought might be new intercepted Geoff's pass and took the game back towards the Crotalus goals. That wouldn't do. Mentally and mock-regretfully shaking her head, she whacked the nearest Bludger as hard as she could without losing her balance towards the yellow-robed Chasers.
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Gwen Carey, Crotalus Beater
Maybe I'll have better luck.
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Gwen Carey, Crotalus Beater
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Jake Santoro, Teppenpaw Beater, Captain
October 15, 2007 6:23 PM
Not if I can help it. by Jake Santoro, Teppenpaw Beater, Captain
Jake was having a very tense sort of day. Not only was today the first match of the season for the Teppenpaws and Jake had to rely heavily on his teammates. Something that he hadn't really been able to do in the past due to various events that caused one teammate or another to not be available. Luckily, this year, he had multiple players willing to play multiple positions.But, aside from relying on his team, Jake also had to play against his girlfriend's team. They had won the championship last year, which Jake was proud of because he knew how happy that made Jennifer, but he didn't want to have to face beating her or losing to her. Not that he had much choice at this point in time, but he had been lucky not to have to deal with this until now. Still, he wasn't sure how he would handle losing to his girlfriend, especially since Quidditch was all he was good for while she was good at everything. And, he didn't know how she would take losing to him if he ended up winning.
Thankfully, his team all had at least one year of experience with playing Quidditch (although, he could only guess at Red's experience with watching her and from what she told him). He had faith in Dalila being able to take control of the Chasers now that Tally was out of the picture, plus she was Assistant Captain, so she knew all the plays and then some that Jake had taught them and her. He was slightly nervous of putting both Hannah and Law on the team as double positions, but they were equally excited about having the responsibililty and both did real well in practice in each prospective position.
Standing on the field with his team, Jake glanced around. As usual, the game brought out a nice amount of spectators. Whenever he wasn't playing, he was always found in the stands. Not only because he loved the sport, but because he needed to know what the other teams were up to. It was dreadfully hard being a Captain.
Jake only partly listened to Coach Fox. Her speeches were always the same, so he didn't think he was missing all that much. He only moved when she instructed on the handshake. Jake gave a semi-tense grin at his girlfriend and wished her luck before returning to his team. While the Coach was dealing with the balls, Jake turned to his team. "Law, if Pepper's taken out, take her spot. Hannah if Kaylie's taken out, take her spot. Law, if Pepper remains in the game but a chaser's taken out, take that spot. Red, if Lexi or I are taken out, take over." Jake knew that they knew this already, but he thought he ought to reinerate anytway.
Jake positioned himself at the ready when the Coach came back and kicked off the ground when the whistle blew. The air was chillier than expected, but Jake knew that smacking around the bludgers would make him sweat in no time at all. Eyes intense, Jake chased after the first bludger that came near him while keeping an eye on those around him. It didn't take him long to see the blonde chick on Jennifer's team take aim at Hannah. Switching bludgers, Jake gave a hard right and intersected the bludger with a loud crack of the bludger meeting his bat. Satisfied as he watched it fly out towards a Crotalus player, Jake gave a nod of encouragement to Hannah and took off again in search for the other bludger.\r\n\r\n
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Jake Santoro, Teppenpaw Beater, Captain
Not if I can help it.
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Jake Santoro, Teppenpaw Beater, Captain
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Dalila Bastet, Teppenpaw Chaser, Assn. Cap't
October 15, 2007 11:28 PM
I can help it. by Dalila Bastet, Teppenpaw Chaser, Assn. Cap't
Dalila leaned against her broom, waiting for the game to begin. She was incredibly antsy to get started after how well the practices went. She wanted to show off. Not only her skills, but to show that her new position as Assistant captain didn't go to waste. She grinned at the thought. She couldn't let Jake down. Jake...Dalila looked over at her captain, biting her lip. It wasn't so bad, actually. She had put on a brave face at the beginning of the year, but a summer away from Jake and close to Adam had done it's job. Dalila still felt a twinge of hurt every time she thought of Jake with Jen, but that was it. She had Adam. She was more than happy.Dalila glanced off to the stands to see if her boyfriend was watching. His team wasn't playing and she hadn't even bothered to ask him if he were coming. Adam probably wouldn't want to be out in this weather anyways. A chill burst of wind sliced through Dalila's game gear, making her shiver. It would be even colder once she started flying, but numbness and adrenaline would replace that feeling. Giving up on her search for Adam, Dalila turned her attention to Coach Fox when she began her customary beginning of the match speech.
Luckily, Coach Fox decided to make her starting speech quick and in no time Dalila was on her broom, in the air, chasing after the quaffle. Hannah stole the quaffle and headed toward the Crotalus goals. Dalila sped up so she could have someone to pass to. She remembered Hannah at practice. Not very good aim. Dalila prayed that she had learned to curve the ball so it went straight.
Suddenly the quaffle was thrust in her general direction. Grinning, Dalila chased off after it. She almost didn't see the bludger heading her way, but swerved out of the way just in time. But her detour had made her miss the ball and it was careening towards the frosty ground. Putting on a burst of downward speed she went after the quaffle and caught up to it about five feet from the ground. She soared back up to playing height and tossed it back to the nearest yellow-clad chaser.
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Dalila Bastet, Teppenpaw Chaser, Assn. Cap't
I can help it.
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Dalila Bastet, Teppenpaw Chaser, Assn. Cap't
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Jennifer Zucchero, Crotalus Seeker, Captain
October 16, 2007 1:03 AM
I'm not even going to try by Jennifer Zucchero, Crotalus Seeker, Captain
Jennifer hadn’t been surprised when the team schedules were announced, and she and Jake were playing each other first. After all, Crotalus had played Aladren last year in prelims, and Pecari in the finals, so it only made sense. And, while she still wished playing her boyfriend could have waited until after things had gotten back a bit more back to normal (she still occasionally thought Jake hadn’t quite forgiven her for the Felipe thing over the summer, even if it wasn’t her fault. Not that she blamed him for being worried, but still…the entire thing was just a bit touchy.)However, out of all the teams she could have been playing, Teppenpaw was probably the best. After all, at least her fellow captain liked her (she could never figure out precisely what Anne thought about her, but Jennifer figured it wasn’t complimentary), nor did Jake have some innate desire to kill everyone on the opposing team like the Cravens. That had to mean something, didn’t it? Besides, Jennifer and Jake had nearly been dating for an entire year. Surely that meant that a little quidditch game wasn’t going to affect things. She hoped.
It was colder out than it had been for the previous game, Aladren versus Pecari. Of course, she’d been safely in the stands for that one. Things would warm up within a few minutes of taking off, even if the temperature didn’t rise, just because they were moving around. Still, for the time being, it was chilly enough to be aggravating, and Jennifer rubbed her hands over her arms as she waited for her team to gather around for the pre-game meeting.
“Alright, so, good luck to all of you,” she began almost immediately once everyone was there, one eye on Fox to make sure the coach didn’t decide to start her lecture early, meaning they’d miss it (not that anything out of the ordinary would be said. Jennifer just figured that not obviously ignoring it would make the ref/coach happier with them, which would yield better results on the whole).
“You know the rules. Please, please try not to get yourselves killed, because Earl’s the only one with a sub, and I’d like not having to go man-down, or put Lutece in a brand new position during the first match of the season. Also, watch for cockiness. I know you guys, and I know any arrogance is (usually) warranted, but…just keep an eye out. Us winning last year doesn’t really mean anything now. Though, in my own humble opinion, I think we should pull this one off, and that we’re the stronger team, though don’t tell Jake that I said that,” she added as an afterthought, grinning.
“Anyway, not much more I can tell you that you don’t already know by heart. Chasers—score as quickly and as much as you possibly can. Beaters—try to take out the seeker first, if you can, then go for the chasers or keeper. Please, don’t give the bludgers to the Tepp beaters. Not that you would,” she said, holding up her hands in a ‘don’t attack me’ gesture. “Just…some pretty weird things have happened in the past, and I’d prefer for us not to become part of them. Earl—self-explanatory, really. Alright, let’s go.”
Jennifer actually did listen to Fox’s speech this time, just to see if anything had changed over the summer. It didn’t appear so, but it never hurt to make sure. She shot Jake an equally tense grin as they shook hands (for all her bravado, she really was insanely nervous about the outcome of the game), and then returned to her team to wait for the balls to be released.
Once airborne, she broke with her usual habit, and immediately left the other seeker behind in her search for the snitch. While she supposed that there was a slight possibility that Kaylie would find the snitch within the first few minutes, it happened so rarely at Sonora that Jennifer kind of ignored the possibility. After a few moments of gazing around, though, she thought she spotted a glimmer toward the Teppenpaw goal, and rushed toward it.
Unfortunately, she hadn’t been paying as much attention as she should have been to the rest of the game or, more specifically, what was happening to the bludgers. Therefore, when one was hit her way, she only had a few seconds between when she realized what the sound was and when the bludgers got to her to try and get out of the way. She succeeded, for the most part, though it had clipped her in the shoulder pretty badly.
Jennifer hissed inaudibly at the hit, though whether it was because of the pain (which was bad, but not too bad. It might have been a while since she’d gotten hit by something, but it was pretty easy to tell. It hadn’t been that serious a strike, and the worst that she figured could happen was a nasty bruise. However, those hurt enough, even without more serious injuries). Reflexively, she glanced back to see who had made the hit, and wasn’t all that surprised to see that it was Jake. She couldn’t blame him, of course, nor did she try. He had just been doing his job. She was the one who hadn’t acted quickly enough.
Stupid, stupid, stupid she repeated to herself mentally after a few seconds, once she’d determined she really was fine, and continued back to her task of looking for the snitch (whatever it was by the goals had vanished). Lecture your team about cockiness, and then you’re the one stupid and absentminded enough to get yourself hurt. You’re lucky you didn’t break something, because then where would you be? However, after a few more minutes of that, and of no snitch-sightings, Jennifer turned the inner rant off as best she could. There would be times for yelling at herself later. Now she couldn’t be distracted.
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Jennifer Zucchero, Crotalus Seeker, Captain
I'm not even going to try
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Jennifer Zucchero, Crotalus Seeker, Captain
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Oliver Abbott, Crotalus Chaser
October 17, 2007 3:08 PM
That's not a very Captain-like attitude by Oliver Abbott, Crotalus Chaser
Having got up and dressed far too early in eager anticipation, Oliver had ample time before the match to work himself into some sort of nervous frenzy. He kept up a steady stream of positive thoughts, trying to remind himself that he had played loads of sports before, and that he didn’t get nervous at big games. His efforts were in vain; by the time the Coach released the quaffle and the players took to the air, Oliver was in so much of a dither that he pushed off from the game later than all the other players. So now he was the youngest player on the team, the newest player on the team, and the stupidest, too. Plus the red sunhat made him easily identifiable to the crowd below. Oliver groaned to himself as he headed towards Geoffrey and the quaffle, and groaned yet louder when he didn’t catch the ball and it was intercepted instead by Hannah on the Teppenpaw team.Eager to try and stop Jen from regretting putting him on the team, Oliver wheeled his ball around and followed Hannah up the pitch, aiming to get the quaffle from her any way he could. He failed miserably. Hannah’s shot wasn’t caught, but by the time Oliver realised this, another Tepp Chaser was already on her way to collect it, and there just wasn’t a chance that Oliver could get there in time. There was a chance that he could get it back though.
Oliver hung off to the side, closer to his own team’s posts, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. When the Tepp Chaser regained her height and threw the ball, Oliver was ready. He put on a burst of speed (of which his Bluebottle, a gift from his Uncle, was more than capable) and intercepted the pass, pleased as punch to finally find the quaffle in his hands. Actually, he was so surprised to have caught it that he nearly dropped it again.
Not hesitating, Oliver carried on back down the pitch, heading towards those Teppenpaw goals. The further he got, though, the more panicky he got that someone was going to ram him, or bludger him. In fact, Oliver suddenly found he didn’t want to be holding the quaffle any more. Almost desperately, he sought out the nearest Crotalus Chaser, and, after a firm mental reminder to calm down, passed the ball.
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Oliver Abbott, Crotalus Chaser
That's not a very Captain-like attitude
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Oliver Abbott, Crotalus Chaser
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Helena Layne, Crotalus Chaser
October 17, 2007 8:34 PM
A lot of leadership is setting a good example. by Helena Layne, Crotalus Chaser
After four checks, Helena was relatively sure her hair was going to stay up. Her breakfast also seemed likely to stay down. She had put her robes on back-to-back, her broom was in good condition, and had even managed to match her shoes and socks. Though still a little nervous, Helena was doing much better than she usually did before games. She thought her team might actually stand a chance for once, which, as it turned out, made a real difference. It was easier to be objective now.The speeches from the coach and captain were fairly routine and predictable, though Jennifer's made her smile a little. She certainly wasn't going to have a problem with getting a tad too big for her boots. Several members of the team were very good. Helena was not one of them. She wasn't terrible, or didn't think she was, but she wasn't that great, either. Cockiness was more of a Geoff characteristic, and even he'd had some of the arrogance knocked out of him recently.
She had decided on a game plan of her own long before the game had started, and began following it as soon as Coach Fox began the game. It was as simple as she could make it for practical reasons, involving staying relatively close to the other Chasers and avoiding the Bludgers. Those two things, as she soon discovered, didn't always go hand-in-hand; doing the second kept her from doing the first, and by the time she shook off the Bludger, a Teppenpaw Chaser had somehow gotten the Quaffle away from Geoffrey.
Keeping an eye out for more Bludgers, she began making her way back towards other red-clad bodies. Another Teppenpaw, this one more familiar, had taken the Quaffle from the one who'd taken it from Geoffrey. Oliver was entering the mix, sort of sneaking up on them as the Teppenpaw tried to pass the red ball. Grinning widely, Helena changed direction by a few degrees to get within passing range. Not long after, Oliver passed the Quaffle to her. She barely fumbled it at all before securing it in one arm, using the other to keep her broom straight as she continued flying toward the goal posts.
She reminded herself not to panic. Panicking was the worst thing she could possibly do at the moment. Even if the way it would affect the game was ignored, she was also a long, long way from ground. Panic and heights did not mix, which meant panic, Bludgers, and heights definitely did not mix. It was just like another practice session. Feinting toward the right, she used her right hand to throw the Quaffle at the left hoop at the last possible-seeming moment.
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Helena Layne, Crotalus Chaser
A lot of leadership is setting a good example.
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Helena Layne, Crotalus Chaser
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Pepper Jones, Teppenpaw Keeper
October 19, 2007 1:44 PM
The whole "Do as I say, not as I do" thing? by Pepper Jones, Teppenpaw Keeper
Pepper's stomach was not performing an advanced trapeze act as she made her way down to the pitch. She was still nervous, and thought she probably always would be before a Quidditch match, but her stomach was definitely down to the level of a beginners' gymnastics class. A lot of it had to do with their match against Pecari the previous year, which was somewhat odd, given that it had been the most dramatically violent thing she'd seen on the pitch since she arrived at the school, but within that crazy fray, she had made her first save. A particularly nasty penalty had been being called out at the time, and the game had ended in the following seconds, so it was debatable whether the goal would have counted anyway, or whether anyone had even noticed, but it mattered a lot to her that she no longer had that mental big fat zero beside her name. Walking onto the pitch, excitement tingled alongside the low-level anxiety. She'd certainly come a long way from her first match, where she'd nearly thrown up on the pitch, and failed to catch her own lost shoe, returned by Kaylie. There was also a more prominent difference, in the form of the several inches she'd grown since her current Quidditch robes had been fitted. The difference wasn't so obvious in her school robes, as her mother had insisted upon her uniform looking smart, but Pepper had put her foot down over new Quidditch robes, when they were only going to get dirty and possibly even ripped. She always felt guilty about how much her parents had to spend on her school supplies, when they couldn't (so far) be passed down to her siblings. Now she was standing under the stern eyes of Coach Fox, she felt a little anxious about the extra material her mother had sewed to the cuffs and hem of her robes. Neat as the stitching was, it couldn't be invisible. However, she seemed to be passed as fit, as there was nothing to stop her jumping (fairly literally) into the game as the whistle went.Once she reached the goal posts, it was just a case of trying to steer clear of Bludgers, and not work herself up into a tizzy, until the game came her way. Jake’s pre-game speech had made her stomach throw a couple of intermediate level moves, she had to admit. She knew it was irrational, as just saying it didn’t increase the chances, but since there had been reserves, there had been an increase in the amount of times the words “if Pepper gets taken out” had been uttered. But, just because he had spares, didn’t mean Jake wasn’t going to do his level best to protect them, and she trusted very highly in that best.
She looped to and fro as the Quaffle fluttered up and down the pitch, flinching a little as Jennifer dive-bombed her, only dodging away from the goals because a Bludger was on her tail. Pepper allowed her Keeping to take her, momentarily, to the furthest hoop, until she noticed that the Crotalus Chasers were coming her way. She’d learnt a long time ago that feinting hurt her head. It wasn’t the concept itself, but the fact that Chasers knew you’d expect them to feint, so perhaps that meant they wouldn’t, but if they knew you knew… You got into second and third guessing whether everyone was double, triple or quadruple bluffing. So she hovered in front of the central hoop, not keeping totally fixed to one spot (partly to maintain some momentum, partly through nervous fidgeting) and locked her eyes on the Quaffle, trying to focus on that, rather than the Chaser’s arms. Helena threw to her own left, Pepper’s right, as Pepper was twitching a little more to the left in her patrolling. She threw her weight hard right, although that meant her broom jerked sideways in a slide, which was far less aerodynamic. A turn would take up precious seconds, so - knuckles whitening - she tilted her broom to the left, stretching her legs out as far as they would go. She swung her right foot back, before bringing it against the Quaffle in a hefty kick, that sent in soaring back out into the field of play. Straightening up, she realised her entire body was tingling, as her senses spread back out from the narrow field of focussing on the Quaffle and she could see and hear the spectators again. No penalties were being called, and no Snitch was being grabbed to steal her thunder. This time, she was sure they had to have noticed.
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Pepper Jones, Teppenpaw Keeper
The whole "Do as I say, not as I do" thing?
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Pepper Jones, Teppenpaw Keeper
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