Seeking my fortune on Quidditch Pitch

Rupert Princeton, Captain

January 30, 2015 7:28 PM

Pecari Quidditch Try-outs. by Rupert Princeton, Captain

The season of try-outs always gave Rupert a pleasant feeling, but this time there was something more. He and Wendy were finally together, or something like that, and their meeting had left him walking on air. The sign-ups had looked very good as well with a couple new players showing interest. There was promise for the team next year once he and the Anns had graduated. There was one first year this time around, and Rup was looking forward to seeing how well she did on the pitch. She hadn’t marked down any particular position, but if she could fly, he wouldn’t mind putting her as a reserve. If she didn’t know how to play, however, perhaps some extra training would do before he allowed her to substitute for any of the other players. The other, Jamie Park, was a little older and, Rupert hoped, more experienced.

All in all, the first term of his last year at Sonora was going very, very well. The try-outs were held on a bright Saturday morning at 10 in the morning. It was getting warmer as the day progressed, but at the moment the weather was pleasant and sunny. Rupert arrived a half hour earlier to set out the equipment necessary. Try-outs were a mere formality for the returning players, but it would be great to see where the others stood and who had improved over the summer.

Rupert greeted his team-mates and the new players as they arrived on the pitch. He hadn’t seen his cousin all summer though they lived hardly an hour away from each other back home. Rupert's immediate family was very private, he had discovered, at times hiding things even from each other. It wasn’t the sort of life that Rupert would have chosen for himself, and he was looking forward to making his home in the United States. Things were different here; he had come to enjoy the wizarding community here more than in England. At home his name always preceded him and whatever he did reflected on his family. Here, he could be someone else. He could be with someone else. He could be just Rupert and prove his own worth.

That proof of worth came from Quidditch, and the seasoned captain gathered his team and the new players together once everyone had arrived. “Welcome to Pecari’s try-outs,” he said, smiling at the familiar and unfamiliar faces. “For those of you who are unaware, I’m Rupert Princeton and this is my second year as captain of the team. Adam Spencer – if you could raise your hand – is the Assistant Captain. We’ll begin try-outs with two laps jogging around the pitch and then five laps around flying. I want to see how well you fly and how competent you are on a broom. Afterwards, we’ll split into groups: for those interested to be a Chaser, join Adam and Annette.” Just like the year before, they were going to practise throwing the Quaffle back and forth between them flying down the pitch, and upon reaching the Keeper they would practise throwing the Quaffle into one of the three hoops. “Liliana, our Keeper, will be at the hoops on the left side of the pitch blocking the Quaffle the Chasers throw. If anyone is interested in trying out for Keeper, take turns with her.”

Rupert was very lucky to be able to rely on his seasoned team-mates, mates he’d come to know better and depend on. “Seekers, you will be chasing a faux Snitch around. Once I release it, it will record how long it takes you to catch it. When you catch it, bring it to me and I’ll take note. Please take turns seeking.

“As for the Beaters, there will be a charmed target flying around on the right side of the pitch. There will be one bludger released for you to aim at the target. Please do not hit the Chasers. Your job is also to protect your team-mates. I will be monitoring everyone’s progress and taking notes, so do your best. Let’s win the Quidditch Cup this year!” Rupert put down his clipboard next to his broom and gestured to everyone else. “We’ll stretch first and then take off on our run.”

OOC: Walk-ons are more than welcome. Rupert will be the invisible observer, so feel free to follow his instruction and be creative, as well as realistic, about the try-out. For the Seeker, you can assume Rupert would have marked down whatever time you state in your post.

Subthreads:

Last-Minute Decisions by Anna Clarissa Cooper-Flemming with Rupert Princeton

Let's do this! by Liliana Bannister, Pecari with Atlas Primred

Seeking my fortune by Jamie Park with Annabelle Pierce

Good to be back. by Joella Curtis

0 Rupert Princeton, Captain Pecari Quidditch Try-outs. 0 Rupert Princeton, Captain 1 5

Anna Clarissa Cooper-Flemming

February 03, 2015 3:04 PM

Last-Minute Decisions by Anna Clarissa Cooper-Flemming

Anna Clarissa had been waffling about whether or not to sign up for Quidditch since her very first day here at Sonora Academy. On the one hand, it seemed very exciting but on the other hand, she wasn't entirely sure she had what it took to be on a Quidditch team. The curly-haired first year had gone and looked up things about Quidditch in the library (she'd had to use the card catalog due to an unnerving dearth of computers) and after flying lessons she'd thought maybe she could manage but it had only been the fortuitous mixture of waking up early and spying the list of sign-ups on the way to get breakfast that finally convinced the first-year Pecari to show up to try outs for the Quidditch team.

Although she arrived on time, Anna Clarissa found herself (by complete accident) situated behind some older and larger players, so she could only get a peak at the Captain and completely missed the Assistant Captain raising his hand. The captain gave some instructions after introductions, and Anna Clarissa made note of them. While stretching, she briefly considered asking the Captain if she would be allowed to try out since she hadn't signed up, but then decided she might as well run and fly first because it would be really awkward otherwise.

Using a black hairband that she fished out of her pocket, Anna Clarissa focused her hazel eyes directly in front of her and started jogging. Since she swam in the summer, Anna Clarissa didn't lose her breath even though she took the two laps around the pitch a little bit faster than she properly should have. She wasn't the fastest person (which also made sense because a lot of people were taller than her) but she didn't lag significantly behind so she was pretty okay with that situation.

When they got on brooms, things got a little bit more tricky because although Anna Clarissa had gone to flying lessons and also practiced some on her own time, she wasn't particularly gifted in the natural broom ability category. But it was enough for her to fly around the field competently, if not with any particular flair or finesse. After she dismounted, Anna Clarissa walked over to the person she had tagged as the Quidditch Captain.

"Hi," she said chirpily. "I didn't sign up for try outs because I wasn't sure if I knew enough Quidditch to be on the Quidditch team but I decided to come and was wondering if it was okay that I try out?" She paused. "I don't know for what position though." Anna Clarissa paused again, biting her lower lip for a second in thought. "It's okay if that's not okay though!"

0 Anna Clarissa Cooper-Flemming Last-Minute Decisions 0 Anna Clarissa Cooper-Flemming 0 5

Rupert Princeton

February 03, 2015 4:47 PM

Glad to have you. by Rupert Princeton

Things seemed to be going relatively well from what Rup could see. After leading the jog around the pitch and allowing everyone to catch their breath, he sent them off to fly around the pitch whilst he marked down their flying abilities. He didn't expect the first years to be experts at this age, though being a decent flyer and learning quickly would help them immensely in this sport. Luckily they didn't need a new player this year, giving some time for extra training before releasing the new players into a match.

Rupert had spotted an unfamiliar witch, and counting the number of sign-ups he realised she must have been a walk-on. It was exciting, having someone new interested, and he hoped to catch her later on to ask her name, hopefully before the team separated into their respective positions. Once the flyers had finished their laps, Rup checked off the exercise on his list and went to release the Snitch for the Seekers.

As he released the Snitch, he saw the new witch walking over to him and he smiled at her. She seemed friendly from her chirpy demeanour. Whilst Rup was very competitive, he also wanted a strong bond within the team and that required his team-mates to get along with each other. This witch seemed like she'd make a fine addition if she could fly as well and learn quickly. He didn't think it necessary to introduce himself again to her as she'd most likely heard him earlier. If she hadn't, Professor Olivers had most likely mentioned him as the captain during her little introductory speech as all the Heads of the different houses did.

"Walk-ons are welcome, of course," the Brit replied with a welcoming smile. "Glad you could join us. You can jump around to any of the positions, if you'd like to try out for all of them, or observe first and decide which you'd be interested in most. If you don't know much about the sport, I'd suggest checking out a book from the library later today. They've got brilliant books on it; very informative."

As Rupert had the sign-up sheet attached to his clipboard, he plucked the self-inking quill from where it had been resting behind his ear. "What's your name?" he asked, quill poised to scribble down her name with the others.

40 Rupert Princeton Glad to have you. 248 Rupert Princeton 0 5

Liliana Bannister, Pecari

February 06, 2015 4:36 AM

Let's do this! by Liliana Bannister, Pecari

Liliana showed up at the Pecari try-outs early after eating her normal “Game Day” meal of fruit, yogurt and tea. The combination gave her enough energy from the fruit’s sugar without being too heavy and making her feel sluggish while the warm tea helped to relax her. Besides, she never flew well on an overly stuffed stomach and there was always time for eating after playing Quidditch. She greeted Rupert and the other teammates warmly (giving Atlas a slightly cold nod) as she sat down to listen to Rupert begin the meeting. It was her third time at try-outs and by now they were second nature to her. She couldn’t even remember a time she wasn’t playing Pecari Quidditch though only a few years ago it had been canceled due to the issue with the professors, but she was glad that Pecari’d gotten enough players together so it hadn’t been canceled for them like it had for Crotalus and Teppenpaw the previous year (and the year before in the case of Teppenpaw). What it was like to be a Quidditch player in a house without a team Liliana didn’t know and she didn’t think she wanted to find out, the thought making her shiver with dread as she mounted her broom to begin the five flying laps after completing her stretches and jogging laps.

Once Rupert split them up into groups, Liliana headed off to the Keeper’s hoops, lips pursed. She was grateful that the Beaters and Keeper was split up so that she would not have to be near Atlas yet, at the same time strangely sad since she did miss talking to him normally. Sometimes, it seemed, for every step they took forward they slipped fifteen steps back. This time, though, her anger stemmed from Atlas’ lack of paying attention to the things she said, letting whatever was keeping his head in the clouds to get in the way even of signing up for Quidditch despite her constant reminders to do so. Every day when she left the Pecari common room and before she went to bed, she checked to see if Atlas had added his name to the list, as well as each time she passed it. And despite her reminding him at the beginning, throughout, and at the ends of each conversation they had, he still hadn’t done it. Either he had lost his hearing over the summer break and didn’t know how to tell her or he was plain ignoring her. If it was the first she supposed he could be forgiven. But if it were the second—either on purpose or on accident, Liliana was out for blood. Until she could figure out how to get him to tell her what was on his mind, however, she would have to wait and so it was that she began to guard the hoops with a new sort of determination than usual.

Her frustration helped to fuel her playing and she found that was able to block more shots than usual—though she wasn’t sure if that was because of the irritation she was currently feeling or because of the practice she’d had on the sly with Vétil over the summer when her grandmother wasn’t watching. Each Quaffle she batted away, she imagined it was Atlas’ head, and each Quaffle she let in she imagined was Atlas one-upping her, which of course made her work extra hard to block the next one and smack his head as far away from her as she could.

10 Liliana Bannister, Pecari Let's do this! 274 Liliana Bannister, Pecari 0 5

Jamie Park

February 07, 2015 4:32 AM

Seeking my fortune by Jamie Park

Jamie was excited about the idea of being on a proper Quidditch team, especially as Seeker. However, he knew some captains just let all their friends back on the team without giving new people a chance. If Princeton proved to be that kind of guy, he would not be impressed, especially as the Pierce girl hadn’t caught a single Snitch last year. Jamie, of course, had never caught a single Snitch in his life, not having been at liberty to play much with the real thing, or much Quidditch at all, growing up as he had on a crowded wizarding shopping street. It was the biggest joke of his life - he had been raised in a totally magical environment but one which managed to deprive him of the best things about being a wizard.

He took his place with the others, pleased to hear that he seemed to be being given an actual chance to show what he could do. He was less impressed that the day was beginning with running. He had a broom to get him around. When did a Quidditch player need to run? He also resented it because it was not something he was especially good at, and so the first trial of the day was bound to show him up badly. A lot of the kids were older than him, and therefore much taller and likely to outpace him without even trying. He wasn’t going to be beaten by a pair of first year girls though, and took off as fast as he could, intent on beating them. Halfway round his first lap, he was very out of breath, having started much faster than he could maintain. He had to drop his pace a little but still fought fiercely not to be last in the pack, ending the run very red faced, out of breath and annoyed by the whole exercise.

At least flying was something he was good at, and he took to the skies, determined to make up for the poor run by being the fastest flyer. This was somewhere where he even had a chance against the older kids, who were by and large, bigger and heavier (though he wasn’t sure anyone would apply either adjective to those Ann girls, but the older boys at least). He threw himself fairly wrecklessly around the pitch, not taking the corners very carefully or watching out a great deal for his potential teammates, but he did do it damn fast, and finished with a smile on his face.

He was tempted to hover right by Princeton and just grab the Snitch seeing as he hadn’t forbidden that (which, in Jamie’s opinion, made it a fairly stupid test). He watched carefully, from a distance, wondering what - apart from the timer - made it different to a regular Snitch. He hadn’t recongised the word Rupert used to describe it so couldn’t make any guesses beyond it being different somehow to the real thing. Maybe it was slower so that the try outs didn’t have to go on all day. As Rupert released the little ball, he took off after it. But, with one blink, he wasn’t on its course any more. He slowed, climbing up and circling, scanning around to try to find where the little ball had gone….

13 Jamie Park Seeking my fortune 284 Jamie Park 0 5

Annabelle Pierce

February 08, 2015 6:28 PM

Seeking redemption by Annabelle Pierce

Annabelle walked out onto the pitch with her good broom in hand and her sister at her side. Now seventeen, the twins were, with Rupert, among the oldest students not only on the team (which had been true last year) but also in the school. Only two inches taller than five feet, however, they were by no means among the largest in the school. Annabelle had caught sight of Clark Dill in the halls earlier that week, and she was pretty sure even that third year was taller than her now. Honestly, she was a little happy about that. It meant she had the better Seeker build of the two of them now. Maybe that would help her beat him this time around after the rather embarrassing losses last year.

Assuming, of course, Rupert gave her the chance to redeem herself. He apparently had another option in Jamie Park this year. She gave the younger boy a sour look as they gathered together before the try-out officially began, but masked it quickly when the kid's head turned in her general direction, not wanting him to see that his position declaration on the list was rattling her in the least. She was a seventh year. She was Rupert's friend, more or less. She had way more experience than some kid who hadn't even bothered to join the team last year. And as there hadn't been any Quidditch at all the year before that, the third year hopeful had never even played with Pecari's team.

Though, he was the same age as Clark, so that gave her some superstitious nerves that he might do better than her during the try-out and then Rupert would have to give it to him.

Annette seemed to notice her train of thought and gave her a nudge and an encouraging look as they started their jog around the pitch. Amira had started the jogging warm-up when they'd been young and they'd kept up the practice to improve their endurance ever since, running every morning in the Gardens before class during the school year, and even around the woods at home during the summer. They were sweating, but hardly winded at all - having paced themselves according to their known skill level - to easily handle the mere two laps Rupert had requested (Annabelle could be remembering it wrong, because she'd been so much more out of shape back then and it had just seemed longer, but she was pretty sure Amira had asked for way more than just two laps).

That Jamie Park looked totally beat gave her a super boost in confidence. She knew this team. She knew how it worked. She'd grown up with the laps Pecari asked for, both in the air and on the ground. With this renewed confidence, she didn't feel the need to push herself to exhaustion in the flying laps either, instead keeping even with Annette as they usually did during warm-ups, pulling out a good time but certainly not a record. This meant Jamie finished first and therefore got the first turn on the Seeking try-out. She waited patiently until he came back with his false snitch, then took off after it herself after Rupert recorded Jamie's time and let it go again.

As was its wont, it disappeared quickly, but Annabelle was not disheartened by that. She merely considered that a quirk of a snitch's nature, possibly even part of its magical enchantment, whether it was a real snitch or just a training variety. She had a personal theory the things actually were invisible most of the game.

Still, she kept a sharp eye open as she flew at a standard seeking altitude. She wanted to beat Jamie's time if nothing else, and for her best shot at doing that, she'd have to spot it the second it turned visible again. She wasn't sure exactly how long it had taken Jamie, and she truthfully wasn't sure how long she'd been up in the air herself, but she was starting to become anxious that her window of better showmanship was swiftly passing through her fingers. That was when she spotted it.

No doubt, if Clark was on the Pitch, the luckier-than-seemed-entirely-fair Aladren would have been half a Pitch closer to it than she was, but he wasn't, and she wasn't even competing directly with Jamie for it, so she just dove at top speed, with no subtlety at all that she'd seen it, and wrapped her fingers around the small golden ball. It wasn't a real game, but the faux snitch's wings fluttered against her palm and fingers, and it felt real enough in that moment. She let out a whoop and then flew down to offer her prize to her captain. She did give the ball a quick examination before she got to Rupert, though, and saw with some satisfaction that the subjective twenty minutes it had felt like she'd been searching the Pitch for it had actually only been fourteen. She had no idea what the fake snitch's normal catch time should be, and she hadn't timed Jamie either, but she thought that was a respectable catch. Not bad. Not bad at all.

"Fourteen minutes," she told Rupert, grinning proudly, and landing her broom on the ground near the Pecari captain. She offered the timer snitch to him as part of the same action as her dismount.

1 Annabelle Pierce Seeking redemption 246 Annabelle Pierce 0 5

Atlas Primred

February 11, 2015 4:36 PM

Get your head in the game! by Atlas Primred

Due to cupid’s arrow hitting him hard over summer, Atlas had really been dropping the ball in, well, everything since his return to Sonora. He had even, despite the many remainders from Liliana, forgotten to sign up for Quidditch. She is going to be maaaaddd he thought to himself as he made his way onto the pitch letting a smile grace his lips. Then again, she was always mad at him. Although he didn’t really see a problem with their friendship, Ann-Marie suggested that he not take so much flack from Liliana all the time. However Atlas liked to think it was Liliana’s way of showing she cared. He made a mental note to make her something special at the next Baking Club meeting as an apology. Perhaps truffles were an appropriate apology sweet?

Joining the group on the pitch, Atlas quickly greeted his teammates, feeling a little bit of a chill from Liliana reminiscent of their first year at Sonora. Yep, she’s mad he thought to himself before turning to Rupert. “I’m sorry I didn’t officially sign up,” Atlas apologized, “I don’t really have an excuse. It really just slipped my mind this time. Sorry for the inconvenience.” He felt bad for not having a legitimate reason for his forgetfulness, but he wasn’t going to lie to Rupert just to quell his guilty conscious either.

As Rupert began his speech, Atlas took his usual place at Liliana’s side. He silently nudged her with his shoulder before whispering the words “Sorry I’m an idiot” into her ear, in the hopes it would quell some of her anger knowing full well it would only serve to upset Ann-Marie if she found out. Returning his attention to Rupert now that he had gotten that off his chest, he listened attentively to his Captain’s instructions.

Quidditch try-outs weren’t so scary now that he had made the team the previous year. However with him already forgetting to sign up in the first place he didn’t want to be letting himself get too relaxed. As a result, he took his time stretching, making sure to give special attention to his arms, the last thing he wanted to do was pull a muscle on first day back in the pitch. Next year this time, Atlas would be the eldest Beater and Rup, Annette, and Annabelle would be gone. It was kind of a scary thought for the fourth year, as he had become so accustom to them always being there. He resolved to train even harder this year, and he was going to start by getting his head in the game and out of Cloud 9.

0 Atlas Primred Get your head in the game! 276 Atlas Primred 0 5

Joella Curtis

February 11, 2015 5:19 PM

Good to be back. by Joella Curtis

Joella had noted the new names that had appeared on the Pecari sign-up sheet as the week progressed and was completely unfazed. It would be good to have a number of reserves and she didn't see any threat to her position continuing from last year.

Nevertheless, the second year Pecari's excitement was mildly tinted with nerves as she made her way down to the Quidditch Pitch on the morning of the tryouts. It would be the first time that she got the chance to show off her hard work over the summer and Joella could only hope that it would pay off and at least someone would notice. She thought she'd done well enough last year, leagues better than John Umland anyway, but she didn't like how she had relied so much on her teammates to always have her back. Sure, being part of a team meant that this was important and necessary but Joella was looking forward to being much less hindrance and much more help.

As Joella saw last year's Quidditch team, she couldn't help but feel as though she was really back at Sonora now. Of course, she didn't feel particularly close to many teammates and had had little interaction with some but they were familiar faces whom she felt comfortable with because they reminded her of her favourite part of the long weeks away from home. Perhaps this year she would get to know the team better, socially, even if she was rather younger.

Rupert was nice and smiley as he greeted everyone, although he always had such a pleasant demeanour as far as Joella was concerned. Even though Joella felt confident in the outcome of the tryouts, she still had intentions to perform well - after all, Rupert did say he'd be monitoring and taking notes and what better opportunity to earn some praise? To the second year, the Pecari Captain sounded just as intent on winning the cup this year as she felt. It was his last year at Sonora and she could well expect that he and the Anns would love to go out in glory.

In spite of her short stature, Joella was a reasonable runner and her good fitness enabled her to keep up with the older students easily as they lapped the Pitch twice, although admittedly they were only jogging as was the point of the brief warm up. Once on her broom, Joella flew five laps. She wasn't sure if it was easy for an onlooker to notice but Joella felt she'd improved her general flying, this she tested by accelerating both quickly amd smoothly for a speedy final lap.

Once the warm up and basic flying were out of the wat, Joella joined Adam and Annette. She grinned at them cheerily before checking the hoops to see where Liliana was. The young Pecari raised her hand as if waiting to catch the Quaffle as she turned back to her fellow Chasers, "ready."

8 Joella Curtis Good to be back. 295 Joella Curtis 0 5