Beating my way onto the team. on Quidditch Pitch

Captain Marissa Stephenson

November 22, 2011 3:40 PM

Crotalus Quidditch Try-Outs. by Captain Marissa Stephenson

They could see it. They could all see it. Marissa was sure of it. Her very smile was probably wobbling, shaking like the mouth of a Charlie Brown character. And even if it wasn’t, she was sure the rest of her expression was one of stark terror, and that everyone could see that, too. She could feel her pulse in her wrists and temples, right, in the head, on the brink of being a headache.

This was ridiculous. She was a prefect. She was Head Girl. She had been on the Student Council her last year in Muggle school, had been made to speak in public even before that – reading poems, accepting awards, presenting reports. She’d performed on stage, alone and with others. She had been Assistant Captain of the Quidditch team for several years, and had been a highly visible player even before that because she was the Seeker, the one the game rode on. She’d had wins and been congratulated on them, and she’d had losses she’d had to weather out. And here she was, terrified out of her wits because she had to give a short speech to a group of younger people and then get them going for the tryouts.

It wouldn’t have been so bad if there had only been seven, but it wasn’t. Objectively, that was better – alternates meant that they could keep playing if anyone got hurt, even her. But personally, all she could think was that she was going to have to look at someone and tell them that they hadn’t been good enough. Or at least write it on a sheet of paper and let them see it, and then have to see them again at practices, directing them through drills to be the alternates because she had kept them off the main team. There were ways to make it sound nicer, she knew, but that was the basic fact of it.

It was also stupid to be thinking of that right now, before it was actually a problem, but she couldn’t help it. She just had to do her best to keep it all off her face.

“Hi,” she said, after the fiftieth check of her watch showed it to be time and she thought everyone on the list was there, or at least enough people were there to make up the list. Her voice was a little too high. “For people who don’t know me, I’m Marissa, I’m the captain.” That still sounded strange, but she kept going. “This is Sam Bauer – “ she nodded her head toward the fifth year – “he’s the assistant captain. Welcome to Crotalus try-outs!” She consciously forced herself to lower her voice into something less manically cheerful. “Okay, so, when I call your name off the list, just tell me who you are so everyone knows everyone and if I don’t call on you, then when I’m done, then say who you are anyway and what position you want.”

They got through that, with her merely pointing out Reneee wanted Chaser and leaving out that odd thing about being Charlie’s heiress. Then that was done, and she had to keep going on.

“Okay…” She had thought about this. She had prepared for this. She knew that. Now she just had to remember it. She looked at the two first year boys. “First, everyone fly a few laps around the Pitch to warm up, then we’re going to split up. I’m going to have both of you, Gareth and – Cepheus – “ Merlin, she hoped she’d pronounced that right – “go with Topher and practicing aiming and hitting and stuff for now, unless one of you want to switch to Chaser or just be an alternate Seeker. Sam, you work with Linus and Renée, see how you work together.” She didn’t know a lot about Chasing, honestly. “Practice with Nic, take shots at him while he’s on the goals.” If either of the first years decided to switch to Chaser, then she’d swap Linus and Nic in the goals after a little while, five or six shots each to see who did better. She was going, it was apparent, to have to be more flexible than it was in her nature to be in this position.

OOC: Welcome to try-outs! Walk-ons welcome, just post with your preferred position, but everyone needs to post.

Subthreads:

Defending my turf by Nic Sawyer, Keeper with Sam Bauer, Chaser, Linus Macaulay

Beating my way onto the team. by Cepheus Princeton with Topher Calhoun, Gareth Whitebriar

16 Captain Marissa Stephenson Crotalus Quidditch Try-Outs. 147 Captain Marissa Stephenson 1 5

Nic Sawyer, Keeper

November 22, 2011 9:17 PM

Defending my turf by Nic Sawyer, Keeper

He had signed up mostly to impress a girl. He had realized only after his name was on the list that he was getting territorial about the Crotalus goals. He'd gone to eat and class for a few hours, and managed to convince himself he'd imagined it, and he wasn't starting to actually like Quidditch or anything crazy like that.

Then he saw Linus' name there with Nic's spot listed there as a preferred position.

He didn't quite growl. A scowl hadn't been as easy to suppress, and he'd frowned at the second year's name. He did manage to resist scribbling over the "Keeper" written below his own copy of the word. That would have been low.

Nic was sure he could intimidate a twelve year old just fine without stooping to sabotaging his sign-up line. He was, after all, six feet tall now, and had been practicing both the silent loom and the Keeper position for years. He was, admittedly, much better at the former than the later, but he had a six foot wingspan now. Between that and the fact that he had mostly mastered the art of flying last year, Nic figured he could out Keeper some pipsqueak kid by sheer physical reach alone.

"Here," he stated succinctly (he was never much for talk) when Marissa called his name. When Linus answered to his name, Nic looked down at him and went into Looming mode, largely ignoring the rest of the introductions in favor of an effort to silently encourage the second year to drop his claim on Keeper.

Not long after that, Marissa started the try-outs, putting him in the goals for the Chaser hopefuls. Nic saw this as winning half the war. She was already thinking of him as the team's Keeper. He already had the home field advantage and the higher ground. Little Linus was fighting an uphill battle on an entrenched enemy.

Nic had never liked losing, had never given ground on his home turf in Miami, and he had no intention of starting now.

1 Nic Sawyer, Keeper Defending my turf 165 Nic Sawyer, Keeper 0 5

Sam Bauer, Chaser

November 24, 2011 9:43 PM

Leading the assault. by Sam Bauer, Chaser

They’d played together on the team for as long as he had been at Sonora, now, but even after all that, Sam still didn’t know what to think of his new captain. He didn’t guess it really mattered, she was captain whatever and he’d have to deal with her just as he would have with anyone else, but he was going to have to deal with her a lot more than he would have without the second badge on his robes, so he couldn’t help but think about it a little.

As she started practice, he was pretty sure he didn't want to be her - she hadn't been the winningest Seeker ever even before Arnold Carey showed up, and now she was pretty much the overly-cheerful face of the team and had to prove a Muggleborn girl could live up to everything that was in the three badges on her robes - but he didn't think she'd done too bad a job, fairly speaking. When she pointed him out, he waved to the group casually, but left it at that. He, happily, didn't have to give speeches until next year.

He nodded when he was put in charge of the Chasers and focused his attention on Linus first since he was the new guy. “Hey,” he said. “So, you’re Linus, right? Good to meet you. Chasing’s not much – goals needs scored, so we go get ‘round the Keeper.” Though admittedly, any Keeper they were actually against was going to probably be tougher than Nic, but he wouldn’t tell the new guy that yet if he hadn’t already heard. That thought, in its turn, reminded him he needed to figure out what, in light of his half-brother's advice, was going on with Kirstenna and whether he should change whatever it was, but he filed that under ‘later business’. Now, he switched from mainly speaking to Linus to talking to both of the others.

“I’ll see about getting the alternate to try stealing from us once Marissa figures out who that is, but for now, we’ll just take it like we were trying for a goal normally, feints and passes and shots against Nic, got that, guys?” Merlin knew Renée liked her feints. He was hoping Linus was a quick study in that way, too, or had else been flying all his life and was already pretty good at any position. For himself, he was just hoping to go another year without any real injuries, the way he had last year and very unlike the way he had the year before that. The year before that had hurt, and while it had hurt quite a few others worse than it hurt him, that didn’t mean he was really a fan of how it hurt him.

“Just keep an eye out for Bludgers,” he added as he mounted his broom. “I’m not sure if the Beaters are supposed to be hitting stuff at us or not, but it’s good practice to listen anyway.”

He had them fly out further than the center of the Pitch – not as far as if they were just returning from the opposing goals, but more like the other team had won the toss and they were having to steal it back – and then started out in the center of the formation, holding the Quaffle. One of the great things about their robes was that while it wasn’t impossible to make out the shade of red of the Quaffle against the shade of red of the robes, his guess was that it was pretty darn difficult on a speeding broom. He flew for a way, rising and falling occasionally as an anti-Bludger precaution, before he started to toss the Quaffle one way only to swap it up quickly and send it the other.

It wasn’t the best pass he’d ever thrown, he felt the Quaffle twist a little as it turned and brush his hand after the summer of not really practicing this in company, but he thought it would get the job done, and it did on his end, sailing away toward the other Chaser candidate Now it was up to that person to complete the pass.

16 Sam Bauer, Chaser Leading the assault. 163 Sam Bauer, Chaser 0 5

Cepheus Princeton

November 25, 2011 2:35 AM

Beating my way onto the team. by Cepheus Princeton

Cepheus walked onto the pitch with his custom-made broom, too anxious and high-strung to be grouchy. When he was anxious, he covered it up well by acting nonchalant and very laid-back. His brothers knew that was the time to stay away from him, or their heads would be bitten off. Figuratively, of course. His hair was combed nicely as always, robes clean and ironed. He'd look perfect for tryouts, even if he got a little dirty during them. A little dirt never hurt, especially if he made the team. He wanted to spit in the grass the way Theo did when he was nervous, but instead he kept an impassive face and joined the group.

His keen eyes could sense the anxiety in their team captain as well. She was a new captain, that much he knew of her. And the Seeker of the team. He didn't expect to receive the position, and he most definitely did not want to be on reserve. That was his back-up plan. Not a solid one, no, but he'd tell Father that they didn't allow first-years on the team. Father'd be able to see through that one in a twitch, but Cepheus could try. Anyhow, that was enough.

Marissa was calling names out now, and when she got to his, he raised his names and let out a clear, "Present." He was a small boy for his age, but his ego made up for his size. Size was everything in Quidditch. Merlin, how he wanted to be the Seeker.

She began telling them what to do, and he narrowed his icy blue eyes at her when she suggested switching to Chaser or being an alternate Seeker. He would be lying if he'd said he wasn't at all disappointed, but he was always a good liar. Straightening up and feeling very apprehensive about this whole business, he remembered that no Princeton had ever gotten through life as a cad. He'd do what he loved: play Quidditch and be darn good at it.

Cepheus flew a few laps around the pitch, going faster and faster each round. Finally, he slowed and went to pick up a bat. It felt thick and heavy in his hand. A few swings would do the trick. He practised his swings, being careful not to let go of it the way he had as a child. Now he was really trying out for a team. He had to give his best.

He flew over to the bloke, Topher, and tightened his grip on the bat. "So where are the bludgers, then?" he asked, giving a little grin, his confidence oozing. False confidence, sure, but he was a very convincing liar. Especially to himself. If he was worried he was going to fail, he most certainly was not showing it in the slightest.

40 Cepheus Princeton Beating my way onto the team. 216 Cepheus Princeton 0 5

Linus Macaulay

November 25, 2011 11:39 AM

Who are we assulting? by Linus Macaulay

Having shown up to try-outs early and selected the best he could find of the school brooms, Linus was disappointed by the Captain's inital plan to have him try out as Chaser. he knew he shouldn't have been, because he had signed up to two positions, but he'd been more interested in one of the positions that already seemed to have been filled. Filled quite well by the exceptionally tall Nic Sawyer. Considering he'd been doing a notoriously poor job of it, the fith year Keeper certainly seemed keen on his position - at least that's the impression Linus got as the the older student loomed over him in a manner that seemed to be intentional. Well that was just rude.

Regardless, they were here to be a team (initial competition to be on the starting line up aside), so Linus nodded as he responded to the captain's command. She was a girl, true enough, but a seventh year, prefect, Head Girl, and she'd been on the Quidditch team for years, as Linus understood it. The assistant captain, Sam, was also a House prefect, so when he clarified Linus' name, the second year refrained from making some comment about it being blatant he was Linus, as he'd moved to accompany the existing two Chasers, and merely nodded in response. Moments later, the three of them were rising into the air and Linus tried to keep his composure. He'd flown in flying lessons last year, and had snuck out for a quick reminder yesterday (so he didn't look like an idiot at practise), but he was hardly an expert. he'd initially had the comforting thought that he wasn't the youngest player trying out, but then he'd remembered that Gareth and Cephus were both purebloods from Britain, where Quidditch was yet more popular, so they probably already knew how to play. It was very infrequnet a situation where Linus identified himself as the weak link; luckily this had the effect of making him yet more determined than usual to prove his worth.

As they started flying, he completely ignored the increasing distance of himself from the ground, and began by maintaining a steady speed on his broom without wobbling too much in any direction. After the couple of seconds it took him to accomplish this, he remembered that we was supposed to be a Chaser, which meant more thinks to focus on than just flying straight. He looked to the assistant captain who was in possession of the ball, and watched as he threw... woah, not away from Linus but right to him. Being sure not to panic, he reached out to catch the ball, fumbled with it for a heart-stopping couple of seconds, and then held it tightly. It wasn't until he let his breath out that he realized he'd been holding it, and only after that did he notice he'd taken both his hands off the broom. he'd never taken both hands of his broom before.

Feeling secretly smug, Linus nevertheless replaced one hand on the broom because he genuinely didn't feel comfortable controlling his broomstick with his ill-developed knees. He flew a little further on before deciding to throw the Quaffle back. At this stage he realized it was being held in his left hand, and he threw much better with his right. So, with a breath, his lifted his right hand back off his broom, wobbled a bit, brought it up to join his right on the Quaffle, and did a decent-but-not-commendable pass back. His hands were both back on his broom handle in the following moment. It was his first throw - he could only do better next time.

0 Linus Macaulay Who are we assulting? 205 Linus Macaulay 0 5

Topher Calhoun

November 25, 2011 2:50 PM

Good luck by Topher Calhoun

Topher had seen a lot of double positions signed up for on the list, but he wasn’t worried about somehow losing his. He’d been playing on the Crotalus team for three years, after all, in the same position. He still had more the build of a Chaser, if more muscled than he might have been because he was actually a Beater, but he had done pretty well. He had injured Arnold Carey repeatedly, and kept Edmond Carey from injuring Marissa a few; it hadn’t been enough to keep Aladren from winning, but it had at least slowed them down.

Still, he looked at the guys he didn’t know when the team met up for the first time, looking for ones who might be a threat. One of them was a pretty big guy for his age, but he was just one, where the team had to have two Beaters, and he knew one of the new kids on the block wanted to be Keeper or something instead. With Paul not back, apparently, Topher thought he pretty much had one of the two spots in the bag, and he guessed he could deal with whoever got the second; he hadn’t had the same fellow Beater two years running yet, though that was less impressive than it might have been if he had been at the school more than two years. And then, after he flew the obligatory warm-up laps and the groups were divided up for practice, he was put in charge of the Beaters – well, the two Beater candidates, anyway.

It might not have been, that was always possible, could have just been that he was the only one whose name Marissa knew right now, but Topher was pretty sure that was a good sign for his chances of staying on the team.

Small Foreign First Year With A Weird Name spoke up, confidence all over, as the Chasers got started. “Over here,” Topher said. “Sure you’re not going to overbalance with that thing?” he added, nodding to the guy’s bat.

All jokes went aside, though, when he began thinking through releasing the Bludgers while getting out of their way quickly enough to not get all his teeth knocked out. Topher liked his teeth, he thought they were pretty good teeth, all things taken equally, and he wanted to keep them right where they were in his head. Being all blood and shattered facial bones and bits of enamel on the ground would not do him any good, in tryouts or, he really kinda thought, the long run, either. So he would just not do that. “Guess you guys get to hit them first,” he said. “Just try not to hit the Chasers or each other.” Okay, maybe all jokes weren’t completely aside. “Or Marissa, I don’t think she’d like that.” That was a bit of a joke on him; he knew pretty well that she did not like it at all. “Here goes…”

He pulled the straps loose and then threw himself off to the side, so that the other two were more in their direct line of flight than he was. One of them started to veer his way anyway, but he grabbed his bat and swung at it before it could, sending it off at an angle. It quickly swung back toward people, but, happily, he wasn’t the person it was closest to now. Hopefully Marissa didn’t care if the three of them got a little bruised.

0 Topher Calhoun Good luck 192 Topher Calhoun 0 5

Gareth Whitebriar

November 25, 2011 8:29 PM

It isn’t luck but skill that matters by Gareth Whitebriar

This was it, time to prove himself as the next generation of Whitebriar. Eating had been impossible with how tight his stomach felt. What if he didn’t make the team? What if he did? Merlin why did heights have to bother him so badly? It was absolutely ridiculous. I will make the team, and Crotalus will win. That’s all there is too it Gareth’s little pep talk was enough to make him look calm and ready for try outs, but he still felt sick with the tension of it.

“Here.” Gareth said when his name was called, pleased that his voice didn’t betray his nerves. His clear blue eyes studied the female that was his captain, something he still didn’t approve of, and noticed that she seemed rather nervous as well. That’s right, the prior captain graduated last term. I wonder how well this one will manage the team? Gareth wondered as he listened to her excessively cheerful voice.

Once the instructions had been given Gareth mounted his top of the line broom and joined the rest of the would be team members in a few warm up rounds. He flew smoothly, keeping his speed in check and his eyes forward, never once glancing down at the ground passing below him. Once the laps were finished Gareth joined Cepheus and who he presumed to be Topher to try out for the beating position. Picking up the beater’s bat Gareth gave a few practice swings, getting reacquainted with the weight of it. Beating was his preferred position and the one he often took during family games, so he wasn’t too worried about not performing well at the task.

Topher led them over to where the bludgers were straining to be free and Gareth felt adrenalin rush though his system as the vicious balls were released. “Hit them out towards the empty area of the pitch, then we can practice just keeping them over there instead of allowing them to target the other players.” Gareth told Cepheus as Troper hit one of the bludgers his way. Taking a deep calming breath Gareth swung the bat hard, the satisfying CRACK resounded up the bat and along his arm as the bludger shot in the opposite direction of where the rest of the players were trying out.

0 Gareth Whitebriar It isn’t luck but skill that matters 0 Gareth Whitebriar 0 5

Cepheus Princeton

November 26, 2011 9:02 PM

Got that right. by Cepheus Princeton

If there was one thing Cepheus was grateful for, it was that his arms were stronger than they looked. He was a wiry-looking kid, but he could at least hit a bludger. Thank God. Otherwise, it would have been quite embarrassing, signing up for a position he couldn’t perform in. He heard Gareth’s advice and nodded curtly, focused on the bludger coming straight his way. With a well-timed crack the bludger went flying away alongside Gareth’s. “Thank Merlin there’s only two of them,” he muttered to Gareth and flew after the bludgers, watching to see that they didn’t charge toward anyone. Cepheus smirked at his roommate and followed a bludger the way he would a Snitch.

“Look alive, Gareth,” he said and smacked one at him, aiming for his bat. Bludgers were dangerous, but fun to play around with once they were in control. He had confidence that his roommate would be able to beat it away. Seeing bludgers charging straight at you set a sort of adrenaline pumping through him, and he liked the feeling. If he could beat them off when he wanted to, that is. He chased after the other bludger, keeping a lookout for the one he’d sent to Gareth, and then bat the bludger back to the centre of their little open area.

It was Cepheus’s little dream that he and his roommate—the two Europeans—made the Quidditch team as first-years. It wasn’t impossible, and he loved Quidditch. To be honest for once in his life, it would be difficult to live with his roommate if only one of them won the position. What else would keep Cepheus going without Quidditch? Schoolwork? Friends? Rubbish.

40 Cepheus Princeton Got that right. 216 Cepheus Princeton 0 5