Our own little bubble on Quidditch Pitch

Captain Leonidas Bennett

May 15, 2016 11:21 PM

Aladren Quidditch Tryouts! by Captain Leonidas Bennett

Things were not going as badly as Leonidas had feared, but that was only true because for things to go as badly as Leonidas had feared, someone would have to take such strong exception to Aladren’s willingness to accept Muggleborn and female teammates that a riot broke out. Since the only people at Sonora who seemed to take Quidditch that seriously were actively supportive of female players and cared too much about winning to seriously object to even Clark’s second badge, much less his and John’s mere presence, Leonidas always got to remind himself that things could be worse.

Since he’d known from the start that that wasn’t a realistic fear, though, it only helped so much when the day before tryouts came and he still only had six players signed up. Leonidas had made a special effort to go around to everyone he saw who didn’t play, regardless of whether he thought that there was a chance that person would actually come, and remind them that tryouts were the next day and that walk-ons were welcome. It had hurt, doing that with a smile – Aladren Quidditch was supposed to be elite, competitive, not a friendly venture where just anybody was welcome to come sit around the fire and sing with them – but desperate times called for desperate measures and he had not yet gotten as desperate as he was prepared to. Teams were allowed to play on without a player if someone was injured in play and there was no reserve, so he was prepared to argue that this meant his team should be allowed to play a man down from the start if the open slot on the team was still unfilled by their first game day. He really hoped his groveling in the common room would have the desired effect, though, and save him from stooping to that. He was even prepared to switch Beating arenas with John and just allow John and Clark to exist in their own little bubble away from everyone else if the wrong person joined up and it looked like there was going to be a problem. He was honestly willing to do just about anything he had to at this point.

He smiled his best team captain smile at the team as they gathered, trying not to look too obviously around for new faces. “Good afternoon, everyone,” he said warmly. “It’s good to see you all here today. Do we have any walk-ons? If so, if you could raise your hands, introduce yourselves to the rest of us, I’m sure I speak for everyone when I say we’re excited to have you here….”

That done, he got to business. “Right. If all the talking hasn’t given it away yet, I’m Leonidas Bennett, the captain. My assistant captain is Clark Dill, our highly successful Seeker. Let’s all fly three laps to warm up and then John, you go practice with Clark. I’ll work with the others today.” Normally it was the other way around because Leonidas played matches with Clark, but John and Clark needed practice playing together before next year and Leo needed to supervise the team today to see how its new dynamics were going to work.

On the ground again with the Chasers and Keeper after the warm up, he decided to keep it simple. “I'd like everyone to start out by trying Chasing," he said. "Let’s start with passing while flying straight ahead, then we’ll work on some formations,” he said. Their Chasing team hadn’t been brilliant since Anthony and Francesca had been on it, so he would have felt justified in starting them off simple on the first day even if he’d started that day with a full set. “Theodore, if you could keep watch from the goals and help me offer feedback later, that would be great.”

OOC: Welcome to practice! Walk-ons can assume, if there are lots of you, that everyone took turns as the third Chaser and Leonidas sent anyone with an interest in another position off to work with Clark or John or Theodore either before or after their turn. These are like class posts, so creativity, realism, and meeting the length guidelines with good mechanics are important. First years, I think you can also assume you’ve had some flying lessons by now. Good luck!

Subthreads:

Our own little bubble by Assistant Captain Clark Dill with John Umland

Seven by Arianna Valenti with Louis Valois, Jack Spencer

0 Captain Leonidas Bennett Aladren Quidditch Tryouts! 269 Captain Leonidas Bennett 1 5

Assistant Captain Clark Dill

May 20, 2016 10:57 AM

Our own little bubble by Assistant Captain Clark Dill

Clark briefly bounced up to the balls of his feet, smiled, and waved when Leonidas introduced him as the Assistant Captain. Despite wearing the badge for a year now, the title still took him by surprise when it was used. He was guessing that was because Leonidas handled most of the work and there hadn't been any games last year so Quidditch had taken a back seat to everything else. He readily identified as a Prefect after the same period of time, but he'd been doing a lot more work for the honor of wearing that badge.

He wondered momentarily if Leonidas wasn't utilizing his assistance as much as he should due to pride or political reasons, but figured with RATS on the horizon and Quidditch more prominent again, such concerns would probably dwindle and he'd likely ask Clark to start shouldering more of the captainly duties, if only so there would be a smooth transition next year.

All of this was assuming, of course, they actually managed to field a full team, and Clark looked around for raised hands as eagerly as anybody when Leonidas asked the walk-ons to identify themselves.

Clark had already begun retraining himself after a summer without much broom time, so his warm-up laps went off without a hitch, and he gave John a grin as they were sent off to work on their own while the rest did some Chasing.

"You want to do some flying drills together to start with?" he asked the team's younger beater. Flying drills were often dismissed as for beginners, but Clark found them to be very useful, especially at the beginning of the year and when working with a new beater he hadn't flown closely with much before. "Or we could just dive right into beating and seeking practice, but I find flying drills provide a solid baseline to build off from."

1 Assistant Captain Clark Dill Our own little bubble 277 Assistant Captain Clark Dill 0 5

Arianna Valenti

May 21, 2016 1:12 PM

Seven by Arianna Valenti

Arianna finished the end of her fishtail braid, tying her dark at the end with a blue ribbon. The repeated movement of weaving her curls into a neat braid was calming for her, exactly what she needed on a morning like this. Dark eyes examined the finished work in the bathroom mirror. It felt strange to be back in her old volleyball gear, here at her new school. The maroon longsleeve volleyball jersey with the small white “H” crest for Hobart school on the upper left chest reminded her of the girls she left behind, her friends. As she adjusted the drawstrings of the mesh navy shorts, she knew deep in her heart that she would never feel the same way about her roommates, who were still presumably asleep in their beds and blissfully unaware of the decision Arianna was still making in her mind.

Gabe said Quidditch was a sport for everyone, and a great way to make friends. Normally, Arianna would not be taking social advice from a dork like her cousin, but the Aladren first year was getting anxious to find her social group at her new school. Eating oatmeal and orange juice on her own at Cascade Hall before practice may be acceptable today, but it was certainly not what the New Yorker envisioned for her next seven years. And she was certainly stuck here for seven years. She couldn’t afford to try and get herself expelled and sent back home, who knew what that would do to her permanent record? Did magical education count towards a permanent record? She couldn’t be sure, and she couldn’t afford the luxury of testing it out. Unlike most of her prep school friends back home, Arianna’s parents did not have the funds to cover up that sort of scandal.

And if she was going to be stuck here for the next seven years, she needed to get involved in activities, the sorts of things that were going to look good on a future college resume. At The Hobart School, all students had been required to play on at least one team sport, partly due to the school’s small size. Here, it looked like only boys played on the Aladren team, and older ones at that. The Brooklyn girl had given a passing glance to the signup sheet several times, and noted that everyone seemed to be at least a third year. Would it be weird would be to be an eleven (albeit, eleven-and-a-half) year old girl, hanging out with a bunch of teenage boys? Or would this be the kind of thing Maddie would be jealous of - her best friend from home was always picking out future husbands from among the older boys at school. Maddie, Abby, Emily and Arianna all agreed that the boys in their own year were far too immature to consider for potential first kiss and true love potential. Olivia was known to have a crush on one of their classmates, Daniel K, but Arianna suspected that had more to do with the car service that took Daniel K. to and from school, and less to do with the sixth grader himself.

Proceeding forward in her black sneakers, Arianna was almost shocked when her feet led her to the Quidditch Pitch. She reminded herself that Gabe said that it was perfectly normal for kids of all ages and genders to try out for the Quidditch team on other houses. And the Captain had seemed pretty cool with anyone trying out. And maybe this would make for a good college essay one day, if she was allowed to write college essays about trying out for the school flying team. All the rules to success that Arianna had grown up studying seemed to be useless here.

She grabbed a broom from the supply shed, before heading towards the group. She had half a mind to borrow Gabe’s racing broom for such an important event, it was by far nicer than any of these. But that broom was so sensitive, and well, fast, Arianna convinced herself it would be wiser to just play on one of the broom she was used to flying on. You know, for consistency. And Gabe had taught her how to pick a decent broom, checking the bristles to see if they were all aligned, determine if the weight was distributed properly. She was pretty sure that the broom she had chosen would not embarrass her.

The group assembled, and the energy of people around her distracted her from her own concerns, and she raised her hand when Leonidas (such a Hobart name) asked for walk-ons, “Arianna Valenti, first year, from New York,” she answered confidently and succinctly. There was something about being around people, about being challenged to prove herself, that filled her with an adrenaline rush.

Leonidas gave the instructions and she nodded, glad to have had Gabe on her side, and a couple of Flying classes under her belt. She had practiced with her older cousin a bit over the summer, enough to be able to call a broom on the first try, kick off, turn, stop, and land without fear of embarrassing herself by falling off. It had been very empowering to not have to be with the true first-timers at the start of Flying Lessons this year. She had not kept up with Gabe’s intense practice schedule - when did that kid ever find time for homework? - but she had joined him a few times, and felt certain that she did not look like an absolute idiot in the air.

“Up,” she commanded her broom from the ground - this first part had never been a challenge to her. Throwing one leg over the broom, hands taking grip, she took a deep breath. The moment right before kick off was always the worst, like the first time you looked down the mountain on the top of a ski run. There were the impossible heights, the unknown, the speed.

But there was also the challenge, and the puzzle. The opportunity to take a situation, analyze it, and work it to her best advantage. Did she want to go straight down the mountain, or take it slow? Would she be avoiding the moguls today, or go for it, following her more experienced cousins Matt and Emma down the mountain? She smiled.

She kicked off, and the adrenaline was going full force. Leaning forward on the broom, she tried to urge herself past her limits, though this was probably just an average pace for the rest of the group. Her turns were rigid at first, anxious as she tried to make progress, only easing into things at the start of the second lap. She began to trust herself more, less brain, more muscle memory as her turns became more consistent and fluid. Even if she didn’t make the team, flying around in circles like this with the breeze against her face was strangely relaxing.

Easing herself into a gentle descent, she still came in too fast and stumbled a bit as her sneakers touched the ground. Okay, she was going to have to practice that part a bit more, especially if she made the team. How awkward would it be to trip up in a game in front of the whole school?

Now came the tricky part. She’d only handled a Quaffle a couple times before, in her more ambitious lessons with Gabe. Sure, the ball had gripping charms on it, but it just felt so big in her hands. She didn’t trust the magic yet, she was always certain she was about to drop the ball. But it was too late to voice those fears. Being a Chaser was kind of the point of being here, it was the only open spot on the team.

Deep breath again. She kicked off, feeling the breeze against her face again, when just as she was ascending, someone sent the ball her way. She must catch it! She had to, failure was not an option, it never would be. Not in flying, not in grades, not in her social life. Her ambitions demanded complete perfection, no less.

But the ball was coming fast, and she wasn’t confident she could grab it. Right arm still steering the broom, she angled her body towards the ball, extended her left arm, and got hit by the ball squarely in the stomach.

What? Slightly shaken, she instinctively curled in on herself, wrapping her body around the ball, and veering slightly to the right. Dark eyes looked up again, and she started to correct her course. Her stomach was in shock, but she would live. She hadn’t been at all graceful, but she caught the Quaffle.

A small smile on her face, as if this was exactly what she had intended to happen. She held the ball kind of like a football, Quaffle in her left palm with her wrist curled around it, holding the ball close to her chest. In school sports, they had always been taught to make eye contact with someone and call their name before passing a ball. She didn’t know anybody’s names here, aside from the Captain.

“Hey!” she called to the nearest flyer, trying to make eye contact before tossing the ball in the air with her left hand and hitting it over to her fellow chaser in an overhead serve. Weird to be using what she knew about volleyball at her new school, sitting here, in the air, on a broom. But no time for thinking now. Tossing her braid over her shoulder, she grabbed her broom and leaned in to move forward.

0 Arianna Valenti Seven 343 Arianna Valenti 0 5

Louis Valois

May 25, 2016 9:14 AM

We have a team?! by Louis Valois

After a light lunch (enough to keep his energy up, but not too much before exercise) Louis headed down to the Quidditch pitch for the Aladren tryouts. Finally Quidditch was back on – Louis had not been impressed by the lack of the sport last year! He was excited to play with the team once more. Well, provided they managed to find a seventh player.

Louis was definitely relieved when Arianna Valenti introduced herself as a walk-on. He’d been a little concerned that they would have no seventh player, but the first year had proved him wrong! Hopefully she was related to Gabe Valenti. He’d chatted briefly to the younger boy last year, and remembered Gabe being interested in Quidditch, which boded well for Arianna being a good player if the two were related.

Turning his attention back to the tryouts, Louis flew his three laps round the pitch, glad that he’d put in time practising over the holidays. It wouldn’t do to start off the year a bit rusty. He’d decided to stick with his previous chaser position, partly because there weren't any other uncontested spots but also because he had most experience with it. The keeper position would be open next year, which was something he might consider, but he did enjoy playing as a chaser.

After listening to Leonidas’ instructions, Louis kicked off into the air once more. He watched Arianna’s Quaffle catch, and was reassured by what he saw. So far she seemed to be able to stay on a broom, and catch. That was good.

He made eye contact with her as she called out and smiled at her, letting her know that he was ready for the ball, and caught it as it came straight towards him. So she could throw too! He flew a bit further, making sure John was ready before throwing the ball to him. As soon as the Quaffle left his hand, Louis was moving forwards again, ready to catch if John threw it back to him.

9 Louis Valois We have a team?! 314 Louis Valois 0 5

John Umland

May 26, 2016 6:02 PM

Best of the bubbles, no doubt. by John Umland

Remembering to look at a list that he personally had no further use for was not the kind of thing that came naturally to John, but he had remembered to look at the Quidditch list almost every evening since it had been posted. Unfortunately, willing a seventh name to appear on it had not proven productive. Apparently, he lacked that certain something needed to cast wandless, nonverbal Imperius curses on his classmates.

That spoke well of his character, he supposed, but not so much of the House’s chances of pulling together a team. That was why he was equal parts surprised and pleased when a new person did join the group after all, a girl he didn’t think he’d ever seen before. He frowned slightly, though, confused, when he heard her name. 'Valenti' was Joe’s roommate’s name, and a relationship fit with what looked like a school broom, but 'Arianna' and something about the girl’s clothes and manner made him think she must be the sort of who would have fit in just fine with the not-John-and-Clark part of team had she been male. Since Joe thought the older Valenti was cool and John knew more or less what Joe meant by that term, this meant he had two patterns that didn’t seem compatible, though he was prepared to remove the sound of ‘Arianna’ from consideration. He was, after all, a guy from a largely unremarkable northwest Calgary neighborhood whose sister was named Julian. He thought there was only a weak correlation between first name and social standing at best.

Ultimately, though, it didn’t matter. She was here and at least looked fairly confident, particularly for an eleven-year-old girl surrounded by much older guys. They…well, if nothing else, John thought he could teach her what not to do pretty effectively, though what to do would have to fall to Jack and Louis.

John sort of thought of the Chasers as his and Theodore’s responsibility to correct in general, though, which was why it was a bit of a surprise when Leonidas told him to work with Clark today. He wondered if it was just for today (in which case it made sense, Leonidas wanted to see how Arianna Valenti did for himself) or if he was being reassigned and, if so, why. He didn’t object to the idea of working with Clark at all, but he hoped it wasn’t because Leonidas thought John would be too reluctant to beat Joe up a little if Aladren ever played Teppenpaw this year. John had gone to some pains not to hurt Joe more than necessary when they’d practiced together last year, of course, but that had just been practice, not to mention a product of him not being sure if he should actually help Joe become the best player he could be all things considered. In a game, he’d happily go for Joe’s little friends first if he had the option, but if he had to knock his brother off his broom, he didn’t think it would bother him much. He was confident in his ability to not damage the opposition much more than he meant to no matter who it happened to be, after all, professional pride and so forth, and Joe wasn’t a particularly dainty sort anyway.

“Agreed,” he said when Clark explained his reasoning for suggesting flying drills. “Plus I’m guessing we’re both a little out of practice after this summer.” He had gotten to fly a bit more than usual for various reasons, but still not as much as he did at school. He mounted his broom. “I’ve gathered the Seeker usually leads anyway, so after you,” he said, gesturing to the air.

16 John Umland Best of the bubbles, no doubt. 285 John Umland 0 5

Jack Spencer

May 27, 2016 6:03 PM

Best news I've heard all day. by Jack Spencer

It was so good to hear that Quidditch was back on for this year. Jack was very proud to be on such an excellent team and he was looking forward to playing with his favourite house-mates again. Though he wouldn't call them his best mates, he did enjoy their company. After taking a look at the sign-up sheet the night before, he really hoped they would be able to put together a full team. Undoubtedly Pecari would have half of their house trying out and they were their biggest competitors.

He started the morning doing stretches in his room. Jack liked his room-mates well enough, but between a talkative Barnaby and the aloof Jax, Jack didn’t know what to make of their dynamic. It was better to be cordial, but he hoped the three of them would be able to be close eventually. He went down to Cascade Hall before the scheduled tryts, and it took two pieces of buttered toast, three eggs, an apple, two sausages, a bowl of cereal and two glasses of water to fill him up. It was ridiculous, really, how much his stomach could hold and his mum still couldn’t believe it. Jack wondered briefly how Lily was doing, if she was trying out as well. He just hoped she didn’t do something stupid like try out for Beater.

When he joined the others on the pitch, he was glad to see a walk-on, even if she was a witch. With her they would make a full team. Having a new Chaser on their team would change the dynamics as well, but Jack was determined to improve his skills and teamwork. Chasing was all about communicating with each other without saying a word.

Warm-ups were easy and Jack made his laps without breaking a sweat. Now that he was in his fourth year, flying was almost like walking to him, it came so naturally. Once the laps were over, he landed a little roughly, ready to begin the real try-outs. Passing whilst flying straight ahead should be easy, but he felt a little rusty after almost a year and a half off the pitch. He liked flying and tossing the Quaffle back and forth with his brother and cousins, but it wasn’t the same as an intense team practise. He rose up into the air with Valois and Valenti, the familiar breeze ruffling his brown hair and replacing his teenage angst with contentment. Only then did he realise he was the oldest Chaser, and the fact made him groan a little. Even though Valois was only a year younger than him, Jack felt the responsibility to carry his team-mates and act like a good role model. That was only right.

He kicked off the ground with the others and watched as Valenti caught the Quaffle. It was a bit awkward, but she could catch and that was important. Jack was even more pleased when he saw her throw successfully to Valois, and he readied himself to receive his team-mate’s pass. Jack was ready and easily caught the pass. He was tempted to show off a bit, but he refrained and instead called out Valenti’s surname and threw it back over to her, completing their triad. It was easier calling his team-mates by their surnames on the pitch; it was what the announcers did in the big leagues and Jack liked to at least pretend Sonora was that professional.

"Nice passes, team," he called to them with a smile. Simply being on the pitch was enough to make Jack forget all his worries and angst.

40 Jack Spencer Best news I've heard all day. 299 Jack Spencer 0 5