Coach Amelia Pierce
November 13, 2009 5:33 PM
First Year Flying Lessons by Coach Amelia Pierce
Though she knew from practical experience that not all schools taught first years how to fly a broom, Sonora's new Quidditch Coach was of the firm opinion it was a good idea. Granted, a fair number would already know how, having been raised in magical families, but it was intrinsic enough to the wizarding world that it was only right to give muggleborns and half-bloods who may not have such experience a chance to figure out how it all worked. Brooms were an important mode of transportation in addition to their obvious application to sports.As she looked out over the group of young people, she was also glad that she had this class first, before she had to deal with any of the Quidditch teams, who were far more like to compare her to her predecessor. Given that half the staff seemed to be new as well, it hadn't really come up as such as problem - in terms of both confusion and inferiority complexes - as she feared would result from Coach Amelia Pierce taking over Coach Amelia Fox's job.
Still, it was nice to start out with the only group of children who weren't able to compare her to the famous Beater who had taught at Sonora before leaving the school in the hands of a woman whose closest ties to the national Quidditch League was through the legal and public relations departments. Amelia Pierce had occasionally spoken in their defense when WAIL had gotten particularly noisy. But to these kids, she was probably a virtual stranger.
Unless, of course, they were up on their New England pureblood gossip and news. Then they'd know she was the matriarch of the Boston Pierces, disowned from the New Hampshire Pierces, and heavily involved in DISCUSS. And given WAIL's theories and biases regarding women involved in Quidditch in general and DISCUSS in particular, they may have encountered the inevitable, but completely unfounded, rumor that she wasn't entirely straight.
But none of that was important today. She wasn't even going to mention her first name, never mind her family branch. Today, she wasn't Amelia Pierce. Today, she was Sonora's Quidditch Coach and little else. Well, the Crotali would know her as their Head of House, but besides that, today was about the Coaching. She was there for one purpose and one purpose only.
"Today, you are here to learn how to fly a broom," she announced to the gathered first years in a loud voice that wasn't quite shouting but still carried very well. She'd never been or met a drill sergeant, but she was using the kind of voice that television told her they used. "My name is Coach Pierce, and I am going to show you how."
She looked them over, making instant assumptions and bets with herself about which ones didn't need the instruction. "Some of you probably already know how, I'd like you all to stand over there," she pointed to a patch of grass on the Pitch ground away from where she'd piled a stack of brooms. "For everyone else, I'd like you to collect a broom," she pointed at the pile, "and stand in a line right here. I'll be with you in a moment. That means everyone," she added to a girl who was almost certainly a pureblood and probably thought the whole thing didn't apply to her.
She walked over to where the kids who had flown before were gathered while the rank beginners fought amongst themselves to find a school broom that struck their fancy. "Okay, you guys, I'm going to exempt you from the lesson and let you free fly. I know I considered myself an expert flier by the time I was eleven," she'd been wrong, and anyone here who thought the same also was, but she wasn't going to burst their bubble yet, "so I imagine some of you also consider yourselves above a beginner lesson. If you still want to stick with your classmates, or aren't comfortable in the air unsupervised, you can stick around, but I'm not making it mandatory."
She jerked a thumb back toward the broom pile. "If you'd like, there's a Quaffle over there you can throw around, and school brooms if you didn't bring your own. Please keep in mind that this is a privilege that I don't need to grant you. Any trouble from any of you, and you will all be back down here learning how to hover three feet over the ground, is that clear?" She frowned sternly and looked around with her best disciplinarian 'mess this up and you will regret it for months' Look - she'd raised two teenagers and coached at Durmstrang, so she knew she had a pretty decent one - and then nodded in dismissal. "Good. Have fun."
With that, she returned the beginners, who were mostly lined up by now. Taking a spot in front of them, where they could see her and she could see all of them, she summoned over her own broom and put it down beside her. "I want you all to put your broom down next to you. If you're left handed, put it on your left side, if you're right handed, put it on your right."
Once they seemed to have accomplished that, she instructed, "Now put your hand out over the broom and say 'Up!' very firmly, as if you were giving a pet dog a command. Not yet!" she ordered when a few kids opened their mouths and looked about to give it a try. "Wait for the demonstration. Up!" She commanded, and the broom leaped up into her hand. "It may take a few tries, but it should eventually come up to your hand. Once you get that far, put one leg over the broom, like this," she straddled the wooden handle.
"All of these brooms will have a cushion charm on them, so use that to find where you're supposed to sit. At this point, you may kick off the ground and hover, but I don't want you moving around too much yet. I'll come around and give you permission to try doing so once you've mastered the hover. Raise your hand if you need any help."
Subthreads: Advanced Free Flying (nm) by Coach Pierce with Demelza Eagle, Tobar Brishen
Beginner Lesson (nm) by Coach Pierce with Kameyrynn Prinzo, Starbuck Gregory, Veronica Kerrigan, Aladren, Jose Hernandez, Alessa Hinckley
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Coach Amelia Pierce
First Year Flying Lessons
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Coach Amelia Pierce
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Coach Pierce
November 13, 2009 5:34 PM
Kameyrynn Prinzo
November 14, 2009 12:17 AM
Finally I get a chance to fly! by Kameyrynn Prinzo
Kamey listened to the instructions and set the broom on the ground on her left side. Putting her hand above the broom and following the command said in her hoarse whisper “Up!” The broom quivered a little and Kamey hoped that it wasn’t because she wasn’t loud enough. She tried again almost glaring at the broom and putting the force of her wish behind it as she said still in the hoarse whisper “Up!”. This time the broom rose into her hand and she grasped it before it could fall. She proceeded to straddle the broom and found the spot mentioned by the coach settling there.Being given leave Kamey kicked off from the ground and began to hover. This feeling reminds me of that hanging rollercoaster at the adventure park we took the trip to last summer, she thought, though with out the back or shoulder support. She began working at finding the center of gravity of both herself and the broom together so that she would not have an issue with balance.
She looked around at the rest of the class and then over to those that already knew how to fly. She could see Brishen passing the quaffle with another girl. I’ll be there someday, she thought. Raising one hand while still maintaining her balance with the other she waited for the Coach to see her.
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Kameyrynn Prinzo
Finally I get a chance to fly!
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Kameyrynn Prinzo
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Starbuck Gregory
November 14, 2009 12:20 AM
Nervous by Starbuck Gregory
Starbuck was nervous for the flying lesson, she wanted to do well so she could get on the Quidditch team so she tried to calm her nerves telling herself it would be like being on a roller coaster. She made her way to the Quidditch pitch with the rest of the class. Listening to the Coach she became even more nervous. She sighed as some of the students went to stand where the Coach told them too. She let them go pick up brooms and she grabbed one that looked safer then the rest of them.She set it on the ground on her right side. She was pretty impressed when the coach got the broom to fly into her hand. Really up was the magic word? Her brothers would tease her endlessly if they ever saw that. She was amazed as one of the advanced students flew higher into the air her eyes widened, she couldn’t wait to be able to do that!
She smiled when the coach let them begin trying. “Up!” She said it the way she’d give her puppy the command. Yet the broom just laid there once again she cried. “Up.” The broom rolled over but did not come to her hand. She sighed a couple of other students had already done it why couldn’t she? She closed her eyes and calmed down some. This time she said it firmly but not in a nervous voice. “Up.” And the broom flew into her hands. Her eyes widened she had done it! She wanted to leap about and dance but she figured that would make her stick out a bit.
She held the broom steady and put her leg over it straddled it. This felt right she wanted to soar into the air but she held it back she didn’t want to get a detention in the beginning of the school year, though it was bound to happen. She kicked off like Coach Pierce had showed them and hovered waiting for her to come around.
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Starbuck Gregory
Nervous
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Starbuck Gregory
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Veronica Kerrigan, Aladren
November 14, 2009 10:29 AM
Is this necessary? by Veronica Kerrigan, Aladren
Quidditch was an entirely useless class. As far as Veronica was concerned, she would never actually need to use a broom since there were more practical means of travel such as floo (though, admittedly, a bit dirty), portkeys, and side-along apparation. So, she really didn’t understand why this class was mandatory. In fact, if they never planned on using a broom, they shouldn’t have to take the class at all and if she didn’t have to take the class, she would have more time for the important things like fixing the nail that had chipped as a result of having to carry her stupid broom down to the field. Maybe she could talk to the Coach about it since the professor was female and all.Patiently, as patient as she ever was, she waited through the initial introduction and instruction and once the rest of the students were to form a line, Veronica puffed out her chest, squared her shoulders, and put her nose in the air like she was about to say the most important thing in the world, but was promptly stopped in her tracks as the Coach said that it meant everyone. The woman was simply awful! How could she submit good purebloods to such demeaning modes of complete torture? She had thought for just a moment that maybe the professor would understand, but she had forgotten the one thing she should never have forgotten. She was a Quidditch Coach by choice.
Well, whatever. If she was going to be subjected to this supposed class, then she was going to do it with dignity and grace. She refused to stomp or huff the way she wanted to. No, instead, she calmly walked to her spot with her broom. She simply refused to use one of the school provided brooms, because not only were they probably all shabby and could be dysfunctional, they could carry a number of germs from all that had used them previously. Oh, it wasn’t that she was afraid of germs exactly so much as what getting sick would do to her appearance. Having a runny nose, coughing like a burly man, and being red faced were not attractive qualities and when she found Mr. Right Pureblood, she didn’t want him to remember that she had once been less than perfect looking. Actually, she really didn’t want anyone to think that. Ever.
In the line with the other students, she paid only the necessary amount of attention to the professor. She already knew how to fly. She chose not to. Instead, she glanced around trying to spot Rachel, one of the worthies, to see if she looked as bored as she felt. When she spotted the other girl, she gave her a small wave. Maintaining social contacts was at least something she could do in the class. When it seemed like the Coach was nearing the end of the lecture, Veronica tuned in a bit more. So, she had the option of basically playing Quidditch or taking the beginner lesson. That was a no brainer. She was going to take the beginner lesson. It had nothing to do with being comfortable or wanting to be near her classmates, social bonus, as she was simply going to do as little work as possible.
In the beginner lesson, she tried to look interested, if only so she didn’t get in trouble, but it was hard and she couldn’t wait to begin hovering so she could let her mind wander on to more important matters like who was the cutest boy in the class and was he pureblood? Relief washed through her when she was finally able to do exactly what she wanted to do. “Up!” She commanded. Veronica was good at commanding tones so the broom came up easily enough. Sitting like a boy, she straddled the broom and kicked off to hover the three feet in the air. All right, now that was hovering, it was time to see who else was in the class and expand her social connections. Turning to the person closest to her and to find out if they might be someone she wanted to talk to, she said, “This is a real drag, isn’t it?”
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Veronica Kerrigan, Aladren
Is this necessary?
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Veronica Kerrigan, Aladren
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Jose Hernandez
November 16, 2009 1:31 PM
Second Year Crasher by Jose Hernandez
Jose had neatly trapped himself. He'd told Jude - well, technically, he'd implied very strongly by claiming they were roommates and then proceeding to move into the first year dorm - that he was a first year. And since he'd made a bet with himself that he could keep Jude believing it until yearbooks came out, he was caught in the position of needing to take Flying Lessons again, or he'd blow his own cover.Not that taking them over was necessarily a bad thing. He was signed up for Quidditch again, and kind of expected he'd be taking over his cousin's now empty position. Which was a decent assumption up until one realized that Jose was a tiny bit afraid of heights and a really lousy flyer. So he kind of hoped that maybe retaking the basic lessons would sort things out better.
He'd heard Coach Fox had left of course. That had been announced at the end of last year. But he'd been too busy paying attention to Jack and the people at his table to give much heed to the introductions made at the Welcoming Feast. He'd figured he'd meet the new people soon enough. Besides, it was weird, having the same first name as the new Head Boy.
Consequently, the self-introduction of Coach Pierce took him by surprise. And she looked enough like Maria that there was no mistaking it. Why hadn't anybody told him one of his Eastern Cousins was going to be the new Coach? At least it was a Boston cousin. That she was a Quidditch Coach made it impossible for her to be a New Hampshire one. Jose was still kind of glad it wasn't obvious by his name or appearance that he was one of the California branch. The Eastern Pierces were all just a little bit frightening.
He was tempted to go join the advanced players, if only to avoid her notice better, but he stuck with the beginners. He was here to relearn from the beginning and sort out whatever it was he was doing wrong. Besides, playing catch required holding the Quaffle, and Jose didn't like letting go of his broom that long. Which is why he was trying to restart from square one.
So he stayed and picked up a school broom and lined up with the first years, as if he'd never touched a broom and certainly not as if he'd ever played as Pecari's Alternate.
He said "Up!" when she told him to (and nearly said it before she told him to), and then pushed up into a hover as though he were a natural. It was actually not much different from his success last year, since he'd managed and practiced a low hover even before coming to Sonora.
The problem was going to arise when he tried to actually go anywhere.
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Jose Hernandez
Second Year Crasher
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Jose Hernandez
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Alessa Hinckley
November 17, 2009 5:27 AM
Yeah, I'll stick with this. by Alessa Hinckley
Alessa was less than thrilled about flying lessons. She was nervous about getting on a broom, not so much because she could fall, but because she was worried about looking silly. Alessa wasn't a very physical person. Her movements tended to look awkward and odd and she was terribly uncoordinated.She tried desperately to listen to Coach Pierce but it was pretty difficult for her since it was all about flying. Not only was Alessa not interested in flying herself, but listening to people talk about it, or Quidditch, just bored her to tears. It was actually a bit like the people noise but with less anxiety involved. It made Alessa want to leave or cast a spell on herself to make herself temporarily unable to hear (or a silencing spell on the Coach.)
Unfortunately, she couldn't leave and as a first year, she was not adept enough at spell work to try to make herself deaf or silence anyone else. Not to mention that silencing the Quidditch coach would probably land her in trouble and make her classmates dislike her because for some strange reason other people liked flying and Quidditch, so Alessa merely started zoning out.
It wasn't as if she'd never been on a broom anyway, it was just something that she hadn't been all that fond of and being a girl from an important pureblood family in New Jersey, Alessa had certainly never been really encouraged to continue flying.
When Coach Pierce-Alessa was certain she was one of the Boston Pierces, which she knew to be the disowned offshoot of the New Hampshire branch-divided them up, Alessa moved towards the Beginner group. It looked like the more "advanced" students were going to play Quidditch and Alessa wanted to no part of that .
She took the broom she'd borrowed from one of her cousins for the sole purpose of this class and placed it on the ground. Alessa put her hand over it and said "Up."
Of course, it didn't do anything, but Alessa really did not care. She sighed, hoping the class would be over soon.
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Alessa Hinckley
Yeah, I'll stick with this.
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Alessa Hinckley
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