Crotalus Quidditch Tryouts on Quidditch Pitch

Captain Helena Layne

November 19, 2009 9:58 PM

Crotalus Quidditch Tryouts by Captain Helena Layne

She’d asked Oliver to meet her outside the Pitch fifteen minutes before practice was scheduled to begin, but it was closer to ten before Helena finally hurried up to him, mentally berating herself with every step she took.

“Hey,” she said, taking few sheets off the clipboard in her arms and handing them to Oliver. A list of the players they’d managed to rustle up was included, along with a practice schedule she’d drawn up, a play list, and a few diagrams. She’d more or less failed epically at being a captain the year before, and she was determined to do it right this time. With her, doing anything right meant doing it with paperwork. “Sorry I’m late. I was working on that paper for Fawcett.”

She kept walking and talking at the same time, feeling more like she was getting something accomplished as long as she kept moving. “Our biggest problem right now is players. Get Charlotte back, won’t you? Seriously, I don’t care if you use Imperius or drag her down here by her hair at this point. And we need to do something about the Warrens if we can, because firsties don’t make good Beaters when they’re not just playing other firsties.”

She tried to remember if she was leaving off anything. “This assistant captain thing won’t take up too much of your time, because I don’t have any time, either. I’ll let you run a few practices on your own at the end of the year, though, so you don’t end up looking like a fish out of water like I did last year. If you think of anything, just tell me after practice.”

It was a slightly sorry group gathered in front of her and Helena thought, for a moment, wistfully of the good old days, when Geoffrey and Jennifer had been running the team. Maybe it was just her, but they’d always seemed to have a lot more luck at making things come together than she was. “Okay, everyone,” she said, once she felt relatively sure no more walk-ons were going to trail in. “Glad to see you all here. I’m Helena Layne, and this – “ she indicated the pale sixth year among them – “is Oliver Abbott, my Assistant Captain.

“Walk-ons, just write down what you want to do on this piece of parchment at the end of practice.” She held said piece of parchment up for them to see, then laid it down on top of her clipboard on the lowest row of seats. “For now, we’re all going to get in the air in a circle and work on passing and catching with the Quaffle to warm up after the summer. If you haven’t got a broom – “ it was possible; some without a broom of their own might have felt sorry enough for the team to join up – “the shed is over there. Let’s get to it.”

OOC: Welcome (or, as the case may be, welcome back) to the Rattlers! Anyone who’d like to sign up, you can do that on the Crotalus board sign-up sheet.

16 Captain Helena Layne Crotalus Quidditch Tryouts 88 Captain Helena Layne 1 5

Oliver Abbott

November 22, 2009 4:23 AM

Rustling up some players by Oliver Abbott

Being assistant captain was not something Oliver had ever given any thought to. Captains changed all the time: first it was Jen, then Geoff, then Helena... next year it would be him. Then the following year it would be someone else. It was incidental, anyway: the team captain basically had to choose the players, decide drills, and keep up team morale. Oliver thought he could probably manage it without too much trouble. Besides, he had a year to practise, watching Helena. Who was hurrying over right now, and started talking at a hundred miles an hour. It was all Oliver could do to keep up.

"Charlie's coming," Oliver interjected at an appropriate moment. His tone indicated he was certain of this, and that's because he was - whatever the reason had been for his sister not signing up (Oliver hadn't cared enough to bother finding out) the moment he'd approached her about it, Charlotte had simply said that yes, okay, she'd go to try-outs. Girls were weird. "I haven't got hold of the Warrens, yet," Oliver admitted, though it wasn't for lack of trying. It just seemed that whenever he happened to be in the commons, those kids were elsewhere.

Then others started to arrive, Charlie among them, and Oliver led by example and listened silently to Helena as she introduced herself and how the try-outs would run. Then he dutifully took hold of the Quaffle they'd borrowed from the stores, and swung a leg over his new broom. His old Bluebottle was now Charlie's - it wasn't new (Oliver'd been given it as a present just before starting his first year at Sonora) but it was better than the school brooms. His own broomstick still shone with the impossible sheen only a brand new broom could manage, with the words Swift Sport emblazoned on the handle. Kicking off from the ground, Oliver savored the ease with which his new broom rose to playing height. When the other hopefuls had gathered round, Oliver started the warm-up off with a simple underarm pass across the circle.

0 Oliver Abbott Rustling up some players 99 Oliver Abbott 0 5

Charlotte Abbott

November 22, 2009 2:45 PM

Being rustled, apparently by Charlotte Abbott

Although she had looked at the sign up sheet several times while it had been pinned to the noticeboard in Crotalus, Charlotte hadn't signed up. She'd spent all summer dancing and was concerned about what a bludger to the foot would do to her future performance potential. Plus a lot of the girls in Crotalus seemed to be of the opinion that girls shouldn't play Quidditch. Add to these considerations that Oliver had just been made Assistant captain and might decide to take this oportunity to bully his little sister, Charlie wasn't sure whether she wanted to try out for the team again. Then, as soon as her brother had asked her about it, Charlie found herself saying 'yes' straight away. She had enjoyed being on the team last year, she didn't care what the other girls thought about her, and Oliver really wasn't the bullying type. Besides, he'd given her his old broom, so Charlie didn't need to borrow one from the school anymore. It was practically rude not to play.

So on the day of the tryouts, Charlotte arrived on the pitch with her broom slung over her arm, her hair tied back in a braid, and she had on black joggers and a red sweater to show House pride. She was proud to be in Crotalus: it was where the purebloods belonged, and she was one of those. Though she felt a bit of shame at the rest of her House when she saw how few people there were at the try-out. Oliver had been reserve in his first year - this year it looked like they would barely make a full team. Relieved she had decided to play, Charlotte followed the others up to the air at Helena's command to warm up.

It wasn't like Charlie had been idle all summer. She'd had ballet lessons three times a week and a full week performance at the end of her holiday, but the skills transferable from dancing to Quidditch did have their limits. For a start, she hadn't sat on a broom for a good couple of months, and although her balance on the ground was exceptional, she did wobble a bit in the air as she found her place within the circle. Directly opposite her brother. Oliver apparently saw this as a good excuse to catch her off guard, and he threw the quaffle to Charlie before she was properly ready. She managed to catch the red ball, but it wasn't so graceful a catch as she'd have liked. Being the more mature of the two (in Charlie's mind, anyway) she decided to ignore his obvious efforts to unseat her, and she passed calmly along to the next person in the circle. She would just make a better catch next time.

0 Charlotte Abbott Being rustled, apparently 135 Charlotte Abbott 0 5

Theo Manzana

November 22, 2009 5:16 PM

Trying out by Theo Manzana

Theodore Manzana walked onto the Quidditch Pitch wearing red sweat pants and a grey t-shirt as close as he could get to silver. His parents had given him the go ahead to join the Quidditch team, he had been nervous about joining as mama and papa often disliked they boys playing Quidditch. Yet when he wrote them the letter about it Papa’s return letter had basically glowed with pride that his eldest wanted to join the team.

He stopped by the other students his broom in his hand, glad that he had brought it with him. He listened carefully before they got on their brooms and kicked off. He watched as the other people tossed the Quaffle and was surprised when it came his way. He took his hands off the broom and caught the red ball a bit shakily. He sighed glad he hadn’t fallen off his broom. He looked about and past the ball to the person behind him softly he didn’t want to throw it too hard which he knew he could. He let out a sigh and thought. ‘Dios mio! Que es en lo que me meti’.

OOC: Translation : Oh my! What have I gotten myself into.

0 Theo Manzana Trying out 0 Theo Manzana 0 5

Lutece Anthony

November 26, 2009 2:26 PM

Coming Back by Lutece Anthony

Lutece Anthony tied her light brown hair back in a ponytail, re-applied the pink glitter gloss she’d chosen today, and examined her reflection in the mirror. Her roommates were all still asleep or had gone out, so the sixth year (thankfully) had the mirror to herself. Should she apply a teensy bit more mascara or not? It was Quidditch practise, but it was also Quidditch practise with Oliver there. Finally, she decided to forego the mascara. After all, it would look odd with her outfit if she dressed up too much.

The sixteen-year-old made her way onto the Pitch, brand-new Skysweeper in hand. Although she had begun her Sonora years on the team, quit, rejoined, quit, rejoined, ad nauseum, Lutece was firmly committed to rejoining the team. Jen had been her most important role model when she was just a firstie, and over the years, she had felt more at home on the team than at home. Lutece missed playing soccer and missed Keeping, find herself short and irritable when she didn’t have a sport to play. Therefore, all things considered, it was best that she rejoin the team.

And it absolutely wasn’t because Oliver would be there. He was just a bonus.

Helena had taken over captaincy this year, and Oliver was now the assistant captain. Lutece was happy for her friend, if a bit jealous. She supposed she couldn’t be expected to get assistant captain because she had been so inconsistent over the years, but it still would’ve been nice. At least she was a Prefect. Prefecthood was excellent.

The team was directed to mount their brooms and get in the air for some practise passing, which Lutece was fine with. It has been a few years, and she was rusty. Besides, for the first time in her history of Quidditch practises, she had finally come dressed for the occasion: grey sweats, old sneakers, and a pink t-shirt with a heart spelled out on the front in silver sequins. Mostly dressed for the occasion, anyway.

Passing went decently for awhile, until it was Lutece’s turn to receive from some underclassman she didn’t know. That was probably irresponsible of her as a Prefect, but Lutece did not particularly care. Underclassmen annoyed her; they were generally stupid and even more frequently tactless, and they got in the way of her own social plans. Of course, she did like being Prefect—it was kind of a toss-up between the two.

The underclassman completely failed to throw her a decent pass, and Lutece was forced to dart forward a bit on her broom to catch it, still fumbling the catch a little. Rolling her eyes, she passed to the next person. A very good pass, if she did say so herself. Clearly Lutece Anthony belonged back on the team!

0 Lutece Anthony Coming Back 100 Lutece Anthony 0 5