Once more to victory, Aladren. on Quidditch Pitch

Coach Grase

August 05, 2016 11:15 PM

Championship Game! Pecari vs. Aladren by Coach Grase

Juliet was excited.

Like, really excited! Championship games always incited a feeling of EXCITEMENT, even if she wasn’t playing in them. Once a person had been in their own finals, it was way too easy to get second-hand hyped when witnessing someone else’s. Being able to empathize with the blood, sweat, and (sometimes) tears necessary to hone your skills, combined with the total hours put into games and strategy and practices to get to that last game, would always get Juliet’s own adrenaline running just to be there.

The wind on the pitch that afternoon was calm; a gentle breeze that was just enough to lift the tip of Juliet’s ponytail around to the front of her face where it playfully smacked at her cheek. A lovely spring day to say the least, wonderful for any game, but perfect for a championship. The athletes wouldn’t need to deal with any adverse conditions, allowing them to focus their entire being on the game. While she was certainly prepared to give today her full attention as referee, Juliet made a mental note to watch some of the older kids from time to time with the mindset of a scout. If these athletes took today as seriously as she hoped they would, they’d be leaving everything out there in the sky, and it certainly couldn’t hurt to scout out some potential talent in case someone felt the urge to go pro. Juliet still had connections, if not with just her Dragons, but her notoriety was enough to carry a hopeful player to their first try out, at least.

Juliet was happy to see the stands fill with more than the obligatory number of professors, staff, and students. A good crowd, for a beautiful day, for a good game. She cast the sonorus charm on herself and gave her usual cheerful welcome to the crowd, thanking them for attending and whatnot, as the Pecari and Aladren teams made their way from the locker rooms out to the center of the pitch.

“Congrats to all of you for getting here!” Juliet said to the athletes in front of her. “I hope all of you do your absolute best today. Be safe, play fair. Alright, let’s go!” After everyone appeared to be ready to play, Juliet released the bludgers and the snitch, blew her whistle, and tossed the quaffle up into the air. She then took a few steps out from under the mess of blue and brown uniforms before hopping onto her own broom and joining them in the air.

Subthreads:

We are the champions, my friends! by Captain Bannister, Keeper with Joella Curtis, Chaser, Atlas Primred, Beater, Louis Valois, Chaser, John Umland, Beater, Arianna Valenti, Chaser, Ben Pierce, Chaser, Jack Spencer, Chaser, Ingrid W, Chaser, Liliana Bannister, Keeper, Sammy Meeks, Beater

Once more to victory, Aladren. by Captain Bennett, Beater with Clark Dill, Seeker, Sammy Meeks, Beater, Jamie Park, Seeker, Atlas Primred, Beater, Coach Grase

[Recentering] Up to me by Ingrid W, Chaser with Theodore W, Keeper, Louis Valois, Chaser, Joella Curtis, Chaser

0 Coach Grase Championship Game! Pecari vs. Aladren 0 Coach Grase 1 5

Captain Bannister, Keeper

August 06, 2016 9:39 PM

We are the champions, my friends! by Captain Bannister, Keeper

The morning of the first Quidditch match ever, Liliana woke up extra early, excited to support her schoolmates. She didn't really know people in either Crotalus nor Aladren and didn't feel right dressing in either color if she felt numeral. Besides, as a member of the Pecari Quidditch team, Liliana felt as though she ought to be loyal to her house and fellow players so she tied her hair back with a dark green school colored ribbon and wrapped a matching green scarf around her neck before donning a Pecari gold sweater (she hated the brown part of the house colors) heading over to the Pitch. She found a nice place in the stands up close so that she'd be able to check out the competition, and settled in for what was sure to be an exciting match. She had heard that the Aladren team was really good and so she had high expectations.

Things in Liliana’s life were starting to take an upwards turn. Liliana felt a little guilty about being so happy with the way the year had gone because her best girl friend, Joella, had been going through some recent tough times with the family death and having to miss school, but all in all things for Liliana were going swimmingly. No pun intended, she thought rather hastily and hurried up to walk beside her Assistant Captain whose brother-in-law* had drowned in a surfing accident. Liliana linked arms with the younger girl and smiled encouragingly, giving her arm a squeeze. “Ready to kick butt?”

Who was she kidding? Of course Joella was ready. It was Pecari’s time to shine! And she was in such a good mood too! At the beginning of the second half of the year, Atlas had sat her down on the Pecari couch and they had hashed it out. Well, kind of… She had gotten the apology she had been waiting ages for but she still hadn’t disclosed the exact details of her after-hour activities with her fellow prefect. However, it seemed as though she and Atlas would be putting all that aside in favour of going back to being best friends just the way they had been before She had gone and sunk her dirty paws into him. Besides, anyway the situation was looked at it seemed as though everything was moving towards the better. She had pulled up her Transfiguration skills exceedingly far and her team had made it to play against Aladren one last time.

There was only one thing that could make her last year at Sonora even more perfect, and that would be one, final win against the team that rivalled theirs in every way.

When Liliana had found out it had been snowing and there was still snow on the ground she had been delighted. It seemed that her first Quidditch match would be in similar conditions to the weather back home in London (she still didn't quite consider Connecticut home though she had lived there for a year now)… she sat on her bed and clasped her hands together and criss-crossed her legs. "Repeat after me, Liliana," she said to herself, hoping her dormmate was either still asleep or at breakfast. "You will do well in the match today. You will preform well because that is what Bannisters do. Nothing short of perfection is expected of you." She repeated these lines to herself over and over again almost like she was trying to hypnotize herself into doing well.

“Alright, team, gather round!” Liliana said upon arrival at the Pitch. It was the last time she would wear her Pecari brown uniform—a uniform she had detested so when she had first put it on seven years ago, it was the last time she would give a captain’s speech, and it was the last time she would play Quidditch on an official team. She had long ago decided not to go professional with her playing. Though she loved the game, she didn’t care for the spotlight many professional players were put under and she disliked the gossip rags that loved to spread lies about any one of any consequence.

She would spare the long-winded speech that many captains seems to enjoy, she just wanted that last game to be amazing. “We have so far lost every match we’ve gone up against Aladren for,” she began. “But nonetheless I believe we can beat them! Pecari has done it before and we’ll do it again! The Aladren Quidditch dynasty must come to an end! Beaters, I expect you to work together. Keep your eyes on the Chasers and the Seeker, the Aladrens like to mark their Seeker with a Beater—I don’t expect one of you to just hover in the air by Jamie the whole game but please let’s keep him in the air so he can catch the Snitch like he did last match!”

Liliana turned to smile at her Chasers. “And I don’t think I need to tell you twice to keep the Quaffle away from my hoops,” she joked. “I have complete faith in you!” It was true, too. In the past they had only lost a match because Aladren’s Seeker always managed to grasp his fingers around that tiny golden ball as though his blood contained some other worldly element that attracted gold and gold alone. To her reserves, Liliana grinned broadly. “You guys have improved so much over this past year and I’ve complete faith that you’re ready to fill the open positions once Atlas and I graduate! I’m so happy to have spent my last year of Quidditch with all of you,” she said honestly. “Victory party in the Pecari common room when we win.

“Pecari on three. One, two, PECARI!”

When the team broke, she turned to Atlas, her eyes saying what she hadn’t voiced to the team and she knew he understood—if Pecari lost this game, Liliana planned to redirect the festivities to the MARS room so that the team could still celebrate a great year of playing without the prying eye of the public who had just watched a tragic defeat by their bitter rivals. She hated having that small amount of doubt inside her but it still rested there, pressing against her throat and it was all she could do to keep from clawing it out in front of everyone.

Her good luck handshake with Leonidas Bennett felt rather solemn to the seventh year and she squeezed his hand lightly before letting go. “Good luck,” she said softly but sincerely. It wasn’t only her last year either, after all. Aladren also had two graduating seventh years. “You’ve been a pleasure to play against.” Liliana offered a small smile before turning her back and walking towards her hoops. Although she had been tempted to switch positions earlier in her Sonora career, she was quite pleased that she hadn’t.

After signing up for Quidditch, Liliana had been extremely cheery. All her anxiety and hatred for being sent to Sonora rather than Hogwarts like her cousins had faded away and she'd tried hard in all her classes. While she knew she wasn't top in them, she'd certainly been improving and she felt as though the new attitude probably had something to do with that. So, on the morning of try-outs, she bounced out of bed, dressed in that marigold romper and matching hair bow she'd worn her first day of flying lessons and braided her hair before heading down to breakfast to have a hearty meal that would ensure she preformed well.

That same marigold hair ribbon still tied her long, braided hair together for her last match as Keeper, it was worn with age but it was her ribbon and she wouldn’t have played her last match without it. Well, she might have, but she wouldn’t have felt right doing it. Her eyes stung and Liliana cursed her sentimentality as she swung one leg over her broom. There was no place for sentimentality in the world the way Liliana planned to live after Sonora, she had long ago convinced herself of that, and she hated that it was creeping up on her the way that it was. “Merlin, you’ve got issues, Bannister,” she muttered to herself as Coach Grase blew the whistle and Liliana kicked off to guard her hoops.

As it was the last Quidditch match of the year, Liliana was determined to prove herself…While Coach Olivers began the match, Liliana found herself staring at her year-mate and Keeper of the Aladren team. She had heard that Alarden usually won the Quidditch cup and was nervous to see if perhaps Theodore was a better Keeper than herself. She had seen his match against Crotalus and thought him talented. Today though there was an odd look in his eye- Liliana didn't know if he had been spacing out or thinking of ways to cream their team, so she flew into the air quickly to man her post in front of the hoops when Olivers gave the signal. She wasn't about to let Wolseithcrafte beat her to that even if his team did win the match.

OOC: I know Will was Rolene’s fiance, but he was basically Joella’s brother-in-law so for the sake of flow… Smaller bits/italics are snippets from Liliana’s first year of playing Quidditch.

10 Captain Bannister, Keeper We are the champions, my friends! 0 Captain Bannister, Keeper 0 5

Joella Curtis, Chaser

August 07, 2016 5:01 AM

And we'll keep on fighting 'til the end. by Joella Curtis, Chaser

Today was the day. Joella could feel it from the moment she woke up and opened the curtains for her first look at the weather. It was game day and she felt confident. Aladren could kiss the Quidditch Cup goodbye; it was Pecari’s time to shine.

Joella took her time to pull on her robes in the morning and then headed down to breakfast with a spring in her step. She hadn’t felt this positive for quite some time and she was going to savour every moment of it. The day that Pecari finally beat Aladren would be a day to remember and Joella wanted to make sure she did just that.

A few weeks had passed since Joella had taken several days out of school and she had managed to get herself back on track, returning to her normal routine. After catching up with all the work she had missed as a result of her absence, the fifth year had permitted herself to focus on preparing for the championship game, spurred on by its closeness. At this moment in time the game was more important than anything, more than her studies and even CATS. Joella had not dismissed the possibility that she might pay for the way she prioritised such things in her life but assured herself that she would throw herself into CATS revision once the most important game of her life so far was over, and she didn’t require any more convincing than that.

When the fifth year first stepped outside that morning, she stood for a brief moment to gauge the weather. A light breeze ruffled her long ponytail, her hair looking decidedly ginger these days. It was perfect and Joella was glad that she wouldn’t have to battle the elements today.

Joella always felt readily determined whenever Pecari were up against their archrivals, sure that the latter would have to lose eventually, but so far that prediction had yet to ring true. Each time that one of her captains’ had been facing their last match at Sonora, whether it had been Rupert or Adam, she had felt all the more certain that they were going to make that victory theirs. Today it was Liliana who was playing her last game. Liliana was a great captain and had showed full dedication to the team. Joella could not have found someone she would rather be Assistant Captain for than one of her best friends. Together Liliana and Atlas were the last players of the team that Joella had first joined all those years ago when she was seldom eleven years old and that made it seem like the end of a chapter. Joella wanted to make sure they went out with style and that the chapter ended with a win.

“I was born ready,” she grinned confidently in response to Liliana’s question as the older girl linked arms with her. It felt rather bittersweet and it was then that it really sunk in - this was the last time, after five wonderful years of playing together, that she would walk down to the pitch with Liliana.

Joella was keen not to let the nostalgic edge of this match cloud her vision or take away her focus. She channelled it all into determination, something she could hardly be accused of lacking when it came to her beloved sport. She wanted to make Liliana proud and she wanted to beat Aladren black and blue (pun intended) and prove her house pride to be well-placed. But at the end of the day Joella played for herself. She did what she loved because she loved it and if she were to continue as far as she dreamed she had to show the world that she had it in her.

The Pecari set straight to warming up with her teammates when she reached the pitch and then Liliana called them all to gather around for her last pep talk. Next year it would be Joella in her shoes and the fifth year knew she had big shoes to fill, yet the prospect of becoming Captain was nonetheless an exciting one. Liliana’s pep talk was appropriately positive and motivating. That was what the team needed. Like her Captain, Joella had faith in the Pecari team - they all knew how to play well, they just needed to make sure they really went for it today.

“PECARI!”

Before she knew it, everyone was getting themselves into position on the ground and the rival captains were shaking hands. Joella readied herself on her broom and only then did she feel the fluttering of butterflies in her stomach as she waited for the starting whistle. She was confident that her Chaser trio was stronger than the Aladren one and that she was the strongest of all six of them (she was not cocky but realistic) but that also meant she’d be a popular target for the Beaters.

Coach Grase blew the whistle and the Pecari Chaser instinctively pushed off from the ground and rose into the air, following after the Quaffle. Joella didn’t hang around and flew off from the centre of the pitch, having scooped the Quaffle up smoothly so that it was now tucked under one arm. She had got there first, just as she had done in the Teppenpaw game, but things didn’t stop there and she had to make sure she handled everything well following that. A part of her had considered that she should have let her younger Chasers take that initial small victory, perhaps to boost their self-efficacy for the game to follow, but this match was important. That was not to say she lacked faith in her fellow Chasers by any means but Joella knew she could get the job done and so she did.

Now as far into Aladren territory as she could get, given it was the start of the match and the Beaters would have good control of the bludgers, Joella needed those teammates of hers. She could see one brown-robed player out of the corner of her eye, which saved her from having to glance around in a manner that alerted the opposition that she was looking to pass. She chucked the Quaffle towards her teammate very suddenly, so that the Aladren players might not have yet realised where they needed to be - she could only hope that her teammate was watching her closely enough to see the pass coming before it reached them, rather than being just as surprised by it as the Hawks.

8 Joella Curtis, Chaser And we'll keep on fighting 'til the end. 295 Joella Curtis, Chaser 0 5

Atlas Primred, Beater

August 07, 2016 6:15 AM

No matter what Bludgers are ahead. by Atlas Primred, Beater

There were several events that marked the beginning of the end of a Sonora school year. Tests for the upperclassmen was the first and foremost event, along with of course preparation for the big final graduation celebration. However Atlas was one of the lucky students to get the chance to prepare for an additional event- the championship Qudditch game. Gently rising from his bed with a yawn, Atlas rubbed the sleep from his eyes, greeted by the sound of silence. No harsh wind, rain, or storms brewing in the sky today. It was a completely ordinary way to end his last quidditch game. Getting up from bed and stretching, he slowly put on his trusty uniform, taking the time to inspect each piece one last time. No matter what anyone said, this was his moment. He earned the right to feel sentimental.

Like his wardrobe, Atlas took his time eating and arriving to the Pitch. He wanted to remember this, the anticipation of waiting for his final game. He thought about going early to help Liliana prepare, but figured this was her moment to shine brightest as the Pecari Captain. As he neared his team, a smile spread on his face as he joined them to begin warm-ups. He pulled the Beater’s gloves from his pocket and carefully slipped them on, savoring the way they fit perfectly after being broken in over hours of practice. He gripped them tight, feeling the leather stretch around his hands, knowing that they would never feel the same after today.

Stretching was his favorite part of his warm-up since he could look around at the stands and his teammates as they completed their own pregame rituals. However no matter where he moved his eyes, they always seemed to float back to Liliana. Since their conversation in the Pecari Common room earlier that year, he began to notice how much she had really grown up. She really does shine he thought as he watched her pump up the team, particularly Joella. He felt his heart throb as the girls linked arms. Biting his lip, he focused his attention down, hoping to find something interesting to look at on his shoes. What was he coming to when he was feeling uncomfortable with a teammate/captain interaction? He shook his head, scolding himself mentally for feeling so unusually petty.

Liliana gave a great speech and pep talk. Classic her. Although his original goal of the day was to just savor the moment, Liliana’s lingering gaze after the team broke revitalized his competitive spirit. Atlas knew that win or lose, she would smile if thats what was needed of her to keep the team's spirits up. However he wanted to see her smile because she was honestly happy. Celebrating a victory with her, now that would really be a way to end his Sonora Quidditch career.

Merlin, God, Buddha, whoever grants wishes to poor idiots, he thought in reference to both Liliana and himself, please help us to win. He was pretty sure that wasn’t how prayers worked, but it was worth a shot. With the celestial help being worked out between the big three, all Atlas needed to focus on now was his game. He tried to even his breathing as they lined up on the Pitch, hoping to engrain the moment in his mind. With the sound of Coach Grase’s whistle he shot up to start work. Since at this point his body knew what to do on its own, all he needed to think about was the location of the Bludgers.

He listened closely as he flew, all the while keeping an eye on the Chasers. Joella was already in possession of the Quaffle. Merlin she was going to be a great Captain, he thought as he flew close by to give the Chasers some protection since at this point the Bludgers could be anywhere. Thankfully he didn’t have to keep guessing for long as he noticed one flying low on the edge of the Pitch. Flying down to get to it first, he shot it at the Aladren Chaser furthest away from Joella before flying back to play Chaser defense squad.

0 Atlas Primred, Beater No matter what Bludgers are ahead. 276 Atlas Primred, Beater 0 5

Captain Bennett, Beater

August 07, 2016 7:22 PM

Once more to victory, Aladren. by Captain Bennett, Beater

He guessed the thought must have been in the back of his head all year, but as Leonidas got ready for the Quidditch final – as always, it was Pecari; as always, Aladren was going to make them look even worse than their Seeker managed to do just by being himself in their uniform – he had suddenly realized that this actually was the last time he was ever going to go through the routine of most of the past seven years. He might play Quidditch again, might even, if he ended up in a workplace with enough wizards to make teams out of, play Quidditch competitively again, but he’d never play it with these people again. Leonidas had never been close to the younger players, just briefly thrilled with them for existing when they’d joined up because they’d kept him from being the captain who let it all fall down like a house of cards, but he found it hard not to turn sentimental at the sight of even Jack and Louis and Arianna in those blue robes.

Sentimentality was not something Aladrens, as a rule, smiled on, though, so he tried to push those thoughts right back into whatever cells they had slipped out of as he actually got ready to speak to his team.

“Good afternoon, everyone,” he said. “I’m glad to say it looks like we’re going to have decent weather this time, so you won’t have to take any extra measures to make sure you end the game with all the extremities you started with. Just make sure you don’t get too hot – we can take a time-out for a water break if we have to. As long as we all take care of ourselves, this should be straightforward, all by the numbers.”

Arianna, of course, was not familiar with a by-the-numbers Quidditch final, where Aladren soundly beat Pecari without much trouble, but he expected the others had told her stories. Just to be sure, though, he added, “Aladren beats Pecari, lady and gentlemen. Always. Today’s no exception. I’ll take care of Clark, the rest of you just rack up the points and give all your dates in the stands a good show.” Which reminded him, he really needed to have a…something that resembled friendly, anyway…conversation with John, but he’d deal with that later. Maybe. It would help if they won and someone turned the punch into wine, really….

As for now…he would have liked one last really exciting game, the madness and energy of the show, but Clark didn’t like being left alone and Leonidas didn’t like the thought of one moment making the difference between winning or losing. This was his last game, which in a real way made it Clark’s first. The team was most likely going to collapse next year anyway, but just when Leonidas had thought he was done for, Arianna had appeared. It was always possible that two flight-capable first years would join up or that an older student or two would have a change of heart, always possible that people would actually follow Clark despite his last name. It could happen, which was why this game was extremely important for both of them. The king was dying, so long live the prince.

“It’s been an honor to play with you all,” he said, and didn’t avoid looking at Clark and John and Arianna. It was Quidditch, and an important game on top of that. The usual rules didn’t count. “Let’s go get our Quidditch cup back.”

Most of the pre-game introduction went as usual, right up until he shook hands with Liliana Bannister. Leonidas was pretty sure Bannister would realize at once that she had truly surprised him with that comment – he had expected silence, boasting, or maybe even a barely-veiled threat – but he recovered quickly enough to nod. “You as well,” he said, and returned to his own team for kickoff.

Once in the air, his sentimentality largely melted away, replaced by the comfortable, familiar feelings of analysis. Clark’s search pattern was a highly successful strategy – Leonidas would not have been at all surprised to hear that Clark had actually used math to figure it out – but the trouble with patterns was that the enemy was perfectly capable of noticing them and using them against their user. That, as much as Clark’s feelings on the matter, was a reason to keep up with him. He didn’t have a hugely high opinion of the Pecari Beaters, but ‘better safe than sorry’ was the kind of thing he thought his family - well, all of it except maybe Paul...and their parents, they'd made enough of Paul's decisions for him...and Eliza did have her days, but...well, that wasn't the point – might have used as a motto if they’d been bold enough to assume one. They were going to win this. He flew carefully, half his attention on Clark’s position and movements so he could get out of the way if the Snitch appeared and half on the air around him for the near-inevitable moment when he either had to defend Clark or had a chance to hit Park.

0 Captain Bennett, Beater Once more to victory, Aladren. 269 Captain Bennett, Beater 0 5

Louis Valois, Chaser

August 08, 2016 6:55 AM

No time for you losers, 'cause we are the champions! by Louis Valois, Chaser

As he woke up, Louis felt a thrill of anticipation run through him. Today was the day of the finals, the day they’d been training for all year – or, really, the past two years, seeing as Quidditch matches had been cancelled this year. And more than that, it was also the day of Leonidas and Theodore’s final match at Sonora. Louis wanted to make his captain and teammate proud of their team. He was sure they’d want to leave with a final win and a continuation of the Aladren dominance, and he would be there helping with that every step (or rather pass) of the way. Pecari wouldn’t know what had hit them.

Louis was so excited by the thought of the day’s match that he found himself singing in the bathroom as he got ready for the day, only realising a little too late that his roommate Dustin might not appreciate the latest wizarding hits quite as much as he did. Oops. But, he reasoned, it was the day of the Quidditch final. And that excused everything.

His buoyant mood carried him quickly through breakfast and, before he knew it, he was standing with the rest of the Aladren team by the Quidditch pitch and listening to their captain’s pep talk. Leonidas’s closing remarks reminded him once again that they would be losing two of their players next year, and the thought didn’t only make him feel sad at losing his teammates. How would the Aladren Quidditch team cope, having to replace not just one player (which had seemed touch-and-go for a while at the beginning of this year) but two? Hopefully the new Aladrens would all be superb Quidditch players, but unfortunately that couldn’t be relied upon. Maybe some of the current students could be persuaded to relax their anti-Quidditch playing stances? He knew it would officially be Clark’s problem, as the Aladren captain, but Louis would do all he could to ensure that Aladren were up in the air and winning again next year, even if it meant changing from his familiar chaser position.

And then the Aladren team were on the Quidditch pitch facing off against the Pecari team as the two captains shook hands. Louis sent a wink to Ingrid – he would definitely be following Leonidas’s advice and giving his date a good show, although perhaps not in the way she would like most. However, he was especially determined to beat Pecari after Ingrid’s response to him asking her to accompany him to the ball. He was going to be the one gently teasing her about the fact that Aladren had thrashed Pecari, not the other way round! With a ‘good luck’ to his teammates closest to him he was in the air, and the game had started.

Joella Curtis was quick off the mark getting to the Quaffle – too quick for Louis’s liking. He knew the older girl was probably one of the biggest threats to Aladren dominance, and was hoping to stop her getting her hands on the Quaffle too often. He had faith in Clark’s seeking abilities, but the chasers would have to watch out with Joella on the loose. Still, he, Jack, and Arianna had put in plenty of hours training together, and with John defending them from bludgers he wasn’t scared of any Pecaris. Thoughts of bludgers prompted a quick look round, which was lucky as one of the Pecari beaters seemed to have aimed one right at him. He managed to dodge just in time, not wanting to be taken out of the match at all, let alone this early on.

Focusing back on the chaser action he saw Joella suddenly pass the Quaffle. He knew he had little chance of getting there in time to intercept, but the two other Aladren chasers were closer than he was. Hopefully they had their eyes open and would be able to seize the Quaffle, although the pass was a good one. Flying closer to the action, he positioned himself to be ready to take possession of the Quaffle, whether due to a friendly pass or an interception opportunity. They couldn’t afford to let Pecari get too close to the goal hoops, even with Theodore ready to defend. He’d far rather take the match to Liliana’s end of the pitch. Pecari were going down.

9 Louis Valois, Chaser No time for you losers, 'cause we are the champions! 314 Louis Valois, Chaser 0 5

John Umland, Beater
August 08, 2016 9:54 PM

John Umland, Beater
Alumnus
House: Aladren
Written by: Grayson Wright

Age in Post: 15
Birthday: September 23rd

What Louis said. by John Umland, Beater
On the morning of the Quidditch championship, John woke up, for the first time in a couple of weeks, in a truly good mood. His limbs were as heavy and achy as they were every morning as he dragged himself out of bed and splashed water on his face, he had somehow gotten a bit of something rather sticky in his hair (his guess was he’d been careless with his hands while working with some rosemary cuttings the night before) and only discovered it when his hairbrush, moving quickly and forcefully, hit the spot and nearly snatched the affected hair out by the roots, and he burned his tongue on his first cup of tea, but none of this served to make the good mood go away. When he entered the Cascade Hall, he looked around the room full of people and didn’t feel the slightest temptation to go kick any of them, which was enough to make him wonder if Clark or Joe had somehow tampered with his food or drink. After a moment's thought, he decided it was pretty unlikely, but that it didn’t bother him enough either way to keep him from waving to Joe before going to his own table in search of his friend, some food, and some more tea, not necessarily in that order.

Quidditch Championships, he thought as he found the food and tea together and discovered, to his delight, that today’s tea, though admittedly still smoother and thinner than he would have brewed it, brought to mind only the very slightest possible associations to water. The day of the Quidditch Championship game was just one of those days that nothing could go wrong on. Today, at least, the world was dangerously close to back to the way it had always been before this year, the way John much preferred it. There were good guys and bad guys, he got to take out all his frustrations on the bad guys in order to protect the other good guys, and later, there would be a party, during which he and people he liked would be Very Important People and unable to do wrong and so forth. It was all going to be great. Tomorrow, basically everything would completely and utterly suck again, but today, he was wearing glass slippers and everything was good.

He smiled first at the joke about the weather of the year’s other games and as Leonidas acknowledged his point, describing victory as painting-by-the-numbers. His expression slipped a little, though, at the mention of people making a good show for their dates – dates were a thing of this year, not Good Times, so he really did not like them being mentioned – and frowned slightly, puzzled, when the captain then for some reason added that it had been an honor to play with them. What, was today an exception or somethi….

The thought trailed off as certain disagreeable pieces of data about the current year presented themselves to him. He’d thought of next year as the year he’d have his partner in (not literal, for once) crime back in the classes he took, something which would greatly improve them, but it was also the year when Leonidas and Theodore would be, well, gone. Not the first time they had lost people, of course, but…it had been a bit uncomfortable when Francesca had left, he guessed, she had been around long enough that he had been used to her presence on the team and had found it awkward to find someone else occupying the Francesca-shaped space at practices for the first month or so of that year, but he hadn’t really known her at all personally. This was different, actually rather upsetting – at least to the extent John got upset when he wasn’t so upset that he was shattering teacups and throwing boxes at people’s heads – if he was to be honest….

He tried to put it out of his head. Nothing he could do about it, and anyway, there was still the game. Simple. Straightforward. By the numbers. See, aim, hit, and it landed or it didn’t – none of this messy stuff unless he somehow hit someone in the mouth and teeth and blood went flying, but he didn’t think that was likely. It was all simple.

It was also, apparently, a decent day for Pecaris – it looked like they were everywhere as the game began, Joella getting the Quaffle and Primred a Bludger almost right away. John flew after that Bludger, but Louis dodged it on his own before John got into range; John made a mental note to compliment the younger boy on the good form later, checked to make sure nothing blue was on the same side of Joella that he was, and smacked the Bludger as hard as he could toward some brown robes that he was reasonably sure didn't belong to Primred and really, really hoped belonged to Joella. Ingrid was a good target too, he would be pleased to injure Ingrid or her broom any time, but Joella was the senior Chaser. If he took her down, then even if it was too late to prevent another minute of Pecari possession, he made things much easier for Louis and Jack and Arianna.

16 John Umland, Beater What Louis said. 285 John Umland, Beater 0 5

Arianna Valenti, Chaser
August 09, 2016 2:34 AM

Arianna Valenti, Chaser
Alumnus
House: Aladren
Written by:

Age in Post: 11

It appears we are in agreement by Arianna Valenti, Chaser
In the Aladren dorms, in the first year girls’ dormitory, in the bathroom, was a mist of hairspray. And in the center of the mist was a perfectly weaved french braid ponytail, tied together with a perfectly curled blue ribbon. The haze cleared, and there Arianna Valenti sat, facing the mirror with a closed-mouth smile.

She was ready. This was the persona she had decided to present in front of the entire school today. Of all the students that would be in the air today, she was the least experienced - the first year girl from an unknown family with no magic, who had somehow ended up in the Quidditch finals. Arianna knew she was sure to be a target - she’d go after her, were the roles reversed. She had to have a plan.

Looking fabulous was just the very last phase of her plan for the Quidditch final. It was Arianna’s task to avenge her cousin’s loss, and the two Valentis had been working to prepare for this moment for weeks now. Any regular on the Quidditch Pitch was likely to have seen the two training together, Gabe loudly belting “Eye of the Tiger” while the two ran up and down the stands, Arianna running mostly from sheer embarrassment. All Valentis played a sport, from the nonni to the nipoti, but it was safe to say that Arianna was the least athletic of the family. It was just not something that had ever been important before. She had joined the volleyball team last year only because it was required that she play on a school sport, and that was the one with the cutest outfits. Sure, she had picked up enough techniques not to embarrass herself… but that was pretty much it, really. The Aladren knew she was never going to fly as fast as her cousin, because he was simply crazy. In their flying sessions, it became clear that the younger cousin was going to need to find her own path to success.

A note dropped into her hand as she left the bathroom, she barely saw the barn owl that delivered it fly by. It looked like just a spare piece of notebook paper, slightly crumpled, and written in a terrible mess of a scrawl that was only intelligible because she knew it so well.

”Perfect weather out here today. Have fun!”

She smiled to herself, crumpling the note in a manicured fist as she approached her dresser. The dork had checked out the field conditions for her. And if anyone asked if her goofball cousin had become her closest friend at her weird magical boarding school, she would strongly deny it.

But as she put on her black running leggings, blue t-shirt (house colors were always a must for game days) and sneakers, she could not deny the power of family. Even in the weirdest, most ridiculous situation, family was what sustained her. When her little sister came to Sonora one day, as Arianna was sure Elisa would, she would also be a strong force to guide her. Humble origins or no, the Valenti name would leave its mark on Sonora. And that was why she needed to be absolutely flawless today, her first big chance to leave her mark.

Packing the rest of her Quidditch things in her tote, she did not say a word to her most likely sleeping roommates as she departed. Gabe had offered his broom to her for the match today, but Arianna had declined, opting to pick up one of the school brooms when she got down to the Pitch. Those were the brooms she was used to, she felt less self-assured on her cousin’s ultra fast, ultra sensitive racing broom.

She ate her yogurt and orange juice alone in Cascade Hall today. Her cousin knew that she liked to keep to herself on game days, and dutifully kept his distance. The first year picked up a croissant too, and lamented that it was nowhere near as delicious as the ones in her grandparents’ bakery. Typical, she shouldn’t have even bothered. With an eye roll, she was successfully distracted from any potential game-related anxiety. The pastry crisis at Sonora was the true crisis.

When she arrived at the Pitch, she began to do some of the stretches she and her cousin had practiced for before flying. Ben and the Pecari Chasers were supposed to be some of the toughest in the school, and she needed to be prepared for the long haul. Or Clark could just grab the Snitch right away, and they could go straight to the festivities. After Arianna got her first ever goal in, of course.

She brushed out any wrinkles in her flying robes and adjusted her flying gloves around her wrists as Leonidas gave his traditional pre-game pep talk. She had nearly forgotten it was his and Theodore’s last game. Though she wasn't close with either of them, they had just become constants in her life here at Sonora, part of her routine. Next year they would not be here, most assuredly at some prestigious universities. And Arianna’s small group of people she regularly had pleasant (if only Quidditch-related) conversation would grow smaller. Maybe the new class of first years would have some interesting people in it.

Arianna had no intention of losing, ever, at anything really, and today was no different. She grabbed a broom from the broom closet - she’d gotten better over the year at picking out the best ones - and found a broom she thought would at least keep pace with the rest. The rest was all a blur, the day was beautiful, formalities happened, and soon the whistle blew and it was time to kick off.

Kick off was always the worst part of flying for Arianna. No matter how many times she practiced, she could never get over the irrational fear that the broom wouldn’t stay in the air. With a deep breath, she heaved herself into the sky.

She would not be the fastest, she knew this. And so she did not enter the fray of blue and brown (such an unfortunate color) robes fighting for the Quaffle, instead gaining height and veering slightly to the right. This would give her the best vantage point of who started out with the Quaffle, and potentially a head start in the necessary direction. After watching the battle between Teppenpaw and Pecari, she knew she would need every second she could get. She also hoped it put her in a good position to receive a pass, should Aladren start out with possession.

But it seemed that this was not a scenario she would have to worry about, as the older Chaser girl made off with the red ball. Flying as fast as she dared, but certainly not as fast as some of the others, she trailed behind the experienced chaser, slightly above and potentially in a blind spot.

Narrowing her eyes, she began to chase after the older girl. Somewhere on the Pitch, she heard the crack of a bat hitting a Bludger, but tried to shake it off. If it was a Pecari, they were certain not to hit it too close to Older Chaser Girl - the indiscriminate flying stone was liable to go after the girl in brown robes as soon as it was done with the one in blue. And John, she was certain, would not be stupid enough to send a big iron ball, bewitched to chase players on either side, into what she was sure must still be a relatively densely populated area of the Pitch. Maybe a few minutes after kickoff, people would be a bit more spread out, but not now, she theorized.

It was in the midst of these thoughts that she noticed a flash of red - the Quaffle! - perhaps Older Chaser Girl had not seen her after all! She had not anticipated it, she was not prepared, but this was her shot.

Her brain was racing, she was just too high to swipe the ball from the opposition, and if she kicked it, that would only move it closer to Theodore. Besides, she had never been particularly adept at kicking things, and that would look awkward anyway.

She inhaled deeply, and did the only thing she could think of to do, and dived down. Her stomach felt like it was in her throat - Arianna hated that - and she reached out her right arm, gloved hand cupped. With all her might, her fingertips barely grazed the ball as she slapped at it, maybe slightly behind her, maybe slightly down, she wasn’t entirely sure. Flying forward a few more feet before turning herself around, she knew it wasn’t the most graceful hit. But as she tried to regain her bearings she hoped at the very least she had knocked the ball off course.

0 Arianna Valenti, Chaser It appears we are in agreement 343 Arianna Valenti, Chaser 0 5

Ben Pierce, Chaser
August 09, 2016 10:37 PM

Ben Pierce, Chaser
Alumnus
House: Pecari
Written by: Nathan

Age in Post: 12

Wait a minute, I disagree! by Ben Pierce, Chaser
Ben was glad the weather was nice. Spring was a great time of year for sports, but rain could really put a damper on events and strong winds could foul up the best players. Neither condition was present today. With everybody able to play their very best, today's game would be all about skill and training, and in that respect, he felt Pecari had the edge. Liliana ran a tight ship and the Pecaris clocked in more practice than any other team in the school, as best as he could tell. Even Jamie seemed to be taking it seriously. They were so ready for this. It was Pecari's time to shine again.

More than that, it was just more fun to play in good weather, and Ben was looking forward to getting in the air and playing against the school's undefeated team. He loved a good challenge, and this was shaping up to be the game of his life so far. Quidditch wasn't baseball, but it was the sport he had the best shot at going pro in since the were restrictions on wizards playing muggle sports. Amelia knew the loopholes that let him play at an amateur level, but if he wanted to make a living at it, he'd have to drop out of Sonora before he earned any CATS, swear off magic, break his wand, and otherwise do things he wasn't really ready to do. So Quidditch was currently his best option, and winning his first championship against Aladren would go a long way to making it possible.

Especially with Coach Grase watching. Who knew how long she'd stay on at as the coach at a secondary school, so this might be his last chance to make an impression on her if she went back to competitive playing as soon as her injury was cleared.

He listened to Liliana's speech, laughing when her instructions for his position boiled down to keeping the Quaffle away from her, though the humor faded as she reminded them that it was her and Atlas' final match. Filled with determination to do the seventh years proud, Ben joined into the cheer, and readied himself to take off at the whistle.

Trusting Joella to go for the scrimmage as she had in their game against Teppenpaw, Ben didn't bother fighting for the first touch of the Quaffle, but just set himself up for the first pass. It came soon enough and it looked clean. Ben held out his hands to complete the pass, but then Arianna dropped down from nowhere and brushed her fingers against the red ball, knocking it just enough off course, that Ben had to chase after it instead of just letting it come to him.

Aside from Arianna, whose direction and speed had already prevented her from actually claiming the ball, Ben was the closest Chaser on hand, so he got there first. His own direction and speed were no longer optimal for making a clean run on Theodore, so at this point, he mostly just wanted to get the ball back to someone who could.

He straightened out his flight again, looking for an opening for a clean pass, and threw the ball to his teammate, only seconds after he had recovered it. He hoped that might throw off the Aladrens, who might expect him to try to recover and get into scoring position himself, or at least claim more territory for Pecari, but this was a team sport, and he was too easy a target for bludgers while he fought to get back up to top speed after nearly coming to a stop to be in the right place to grab the off-kilter Quaffle.

The first goal attempt would not be his, but with any luck, the pass he just made would be completed and it would at least belong to his team.

1 Ben Pierce, Chaser Wait a minute, I disagree! 339 Ben Pierce, Chaser 0 5

Atlas Primred, Beater
August 11, 2016 1:33 AM

Atlas Primred, Beater
Alumnus
House: Pecari
Written by:

Age in Post: 17

I got your back Ben! by Atlas Primred, Beater
They were doing pretty solid this early into the game, which was more than enough reason for Atlas to be on edge. After 7 years playing for Quidditch for Sonora, Altas knew more than anyone not to doubt the abilities of the Aladren team. Those hawks were the type of players that really picked up their game later in the match, but Atlas wasn’t going to let that discourage him.

As he sped forward to catch up with the Chasers, Atlas focused on the sounds around him. Unfortunately there wasn't any telltale collision thuds nor gasps from the spectators, so the shot either missed or the Aladren dodged. Atlas swore a little under his breath, annoyed the element of surprise would no longer be in his favor. He wanted to look over his shoulder to check out the situation, but catching up to protect the Chasers came first. It wasn't until Atlas heard the crack of metal against a foreign bat that he allowed himself a peak over his shoulder.

John apparently picked up his Bludger, aiming it toward the Pecari chasers. The 7th year felt his stomach drop a little, but didn't let it linger. He couldn’t. Now that he had his work cut out from him. The angle of intersection between himself and the Bludger wasn’t ideal, nor his speed if he wanted to redirect it towards an Aladren. Pulling himself closer to his broom to increase his speed, he pushed himself further and faster. If he weren’t in the middle of a game, the physical and mental pressure would have probably made him vomit. Boy was he going to miss this game.

Atlas was within 5 broomsticks of the Bludger, so now it was time to make the tough choices. From his past experience, he had two viable options of attack. The first would be to redirect the ball towards John or the Aladren Seeker. However, he didn’t think he had enough strength to both counteract John’s hit back towards him and add the power needed to land any real damage. Aiming for Clark was never a bad option, but he didn’t have visibility on him at the moment. Not to mention there was almost always a Beater on him.

Much to Atlas’ dislike, the best choice would just be to hit it away. Not a terrible move considering his angle, but not really a good use of a Bludger either. Still the game was only just beginning, and it wasn’t going to be his only Bludger.

Now only a broom’s length away from the intersection, Atlas’ arm began the rotation to meet the Bludger at the optimum angle. He was less focused on aim, and more focused on putting all his power into the redirection. With a grunt, he smacked the Bludger hard. Sending it off its track. Atlas hated having to do this, but it was better safe than sorry. It was the Chasers job to be focused on scoring; it was his job to protect his friends.

0 Atlas Primred, Beater I got your back Ben! 276 Atlas Primred, Beater 0 5

Jack Spencer, Chaser
August 11, 2016 12:45 PM

Jack Spencer, Chaser
Alumnus
House: Aladren
Written by: Lily Spencer

Age in Post: 14

Not for long. by Jack Spencer, Chaser
The air seemed to crackle when Jack woke up the day of the final match. He hadn't slept very well last night, and the nightmare he'd had was just beyond his memory. Jack tried to push it away as he dressed, but some thought wouldn't leave him. He was excited to see Aladren in the finals again, but less enthused that they were facing off against Pecari. In past years, Aladren had dominated the pitch with no question, but since Jack had joined, Pecari had done extraordinarily well. It was time to change that bit and reclaim the cup for their house.

It was a pleasant day, though a bit hot for Jack, and he dressed quickly before making his way to eat breakfast with the rest of the team. It was a speedy affair, breakfast, and he joined his other mates on the pitch. The excitement never allowed him to eat much, but forcing down some eggs and toast, he hoped, would suffice. It was Bennett's last match as well, and Jack had liked the older wizard. He would be missed as the team's captain, but Jack tried not to feel sorry about seeing him go. He made an excellent speech -- short and to the point -- and Jack felt confident that they would win this time around. He saluted their captain before Bennett went to shake hands with Bannister, and Jack went to wait for the kickoff.

As he waited, Jack suddenly remembered his dream from the night before. There was a bludger coming right at his face, and he remembered the hard steel against his face before he'd woken up in the middle of the night. Jack broke out in a cold sweat. He could feel his hands shaking and his stomach drop for no apparent reason at all. Jack gripped his broom tightly, and took deep breaths as his heart raced in his chest. 'What's wrong with me?' Jack shivered and tried to shake himself out of it by moving his feet around. This was a match just like any other. What was so different about it now? Jack looked over at his little sister on the bench as a reserve, and in his heart he was very glad she wasn't playing today.

Pecari ended up with the Quaffle first, so Jack followed the ball closely, but not close enough yet to intercept. His team-mates were doing brilliantly so far, and it was a mess of bludgers and bodies. Jack needed to focus, but he was finding it difficult. He had no time to pause and recollect himself, so he smacked the side of his forehead with the edge of his palm. "Get it together, Spencer," he muttered. The adrenaline and excitement of the match took over his body, but his brain was still trying to hold onto the fear that had suddenly struck Jack just a few minutes ago.

"Get it together," he muttered to himself again through grit teeth, and he forced himself forward to intercept Pierce's pass. Jack swooped in and snatched it out of the air. Luckily Primred had hit away the bludger in time for Jack to take the Quaffle without any fear. Jack kept an eye open for an open team-mate. They still had a ways to go before anyone could take a shot, but Jack covered a good bit of distance before making a short pass to an open blue-clad Chaser. He ducked away after making the pass, wanting to avoid any bludgers that might've been hit at him on his way.

Not thinking was the best way to focus, Jack realised, and so he tried to think only of how he felt right at this moment on his broom playing with his team-mates. It didn't matter how he felt, he just needed to help his team win.

40 Jack Spencer, Chaser Not for long. 299 Jack Spencer, Chaser 0 5

John Umland, Beater
August 11, 2016 2:38 PM

John Umland, Beater
Alumnus
House: Aladren
Written by: Grayson Wright

Age in Post: 15
Birthday: September 23rd

Yes, I'm afraid I must interfere. by John Umland, Beater
John’s involvement with the Chasers consisted largely of hitting things at them and occasionally offering up an observation about how they’d handled it and how he thought they might do that better next time, but he still permitted himself a grin and a moment of something like pride as Arianna got right in it and tried to knock the ball off-course. He must have done an adequate job of desensitizing her to the dangers of her job, so he was proud of himself and her for that, and the grin was for the resemblance between what she’d done and what his brother had repeatedly done during Teppenpaw’s match against Pecari. He couldn’t be sure, of course, being…well, himself and this being a situation he only rarely found himself in anything even vaguely resembling, but he thought Joe might kind of like Arianna, which meant John could use this probably coincidence as grounds to tease Joe remorselessly the next time his brother’s superior people skills particularly annoyed him….

Unfortunately, Joe hadn’t won Teppenpaw their game and Arianna didn’t return the Quaffle to Aladren possession. The Pierce kid had to work for it, but he got the Quaffle back and kept it moving toward Theodore. Primred also got back into the game; the sound the Bludger made was the sound of a Bludger colliding with a thick piece of wood, not a thin piece of wood or a body. Shrugging, still in a decent mood, John chased off after the errant Bludger.

He beat Primred to it and hit it first away from the other Beater – he had tried the whole don’t-stop-til-you’re-just-about-to-drop routine in MARS before just to build and test his own endurance (and, frankly, because sometimes the noise in his head became such a cacophony that even he couldn’t make sense of or stand it, and the best cure when that happened was to just go hit something over and over and over again, until first it stopped being fun and then it stopped being anything, until he was so close to exhaustion that he was running almost entirely on muscle memory and had no thoughts with words in them anymore), so he knew he could keep this up for quite a while, but since he also knew his accuracy and the force of his hits both degraded significantly long before his hands became too numb to hold the bat or his arms too weak for a swing to prevent the Bludger from proceeding toward his face, he also saw no point in just wasting a shot. He’d probably only just be aching enough for it to be pleasant by the end of the match, but – well, odder things than a match turning into a very complicated don’t-stop-til-you-drop drill happened all the time.

In the meantime, the trick, which required its own, to his way of thinking worse, kind of exertion, was to keep the Bludger under his control while he looked for a good target without letting it hit him. He was pleased beyond words when Jack took advantage of the breathing room Primred had given the Chasers to steal the Quaffle and present him with one. Happily, John hit the Bludger toward one of the brown robes now behind Jack, hoping they’d be so intent on catching up that the Bludger could go unnoticed until it was too late…barring further interference from Pecari Beaters, anyway. He looked for those two, glad too for the excuse to glance up and assure himself that Clark and Leonidas were still doing okay. This was fun, but without those two, it wouldn’t be for long.

16 John Umland, Beater Yes, I'm afraid I must interfere. 285 John Umland, Beater 0 5

Louis Valois, Chaser
August 11, 2016 4:31 PM

Louis Valois, Chaser
Alumnus
House: Aladren
Written by: Louis

Age in Post: 13

Oh, how sad by Louis Valois, Chaser
Louis’s worst fears were being realised, with the Pecari chasers getting closer to the goal hoops. Sure, this was only the beginning of the match, but it was always psychologically easier if one had the upper hand from the very beginning. If Pecari scored so early, it could be a little demoralising, and that wouldn’t give them any advantages, unless they took it as cause to really dig in and show that they were made of better stuff. However, Louis didn’t think the Aladrens were playing badly, despite Pecari having the Quaffle. Arianna had done a great job of getting to Joella’s pass and managing to knock it off course (he made a note to congratulate her later, not wanting to be patronising but she really was playing well), even if Ben had still caught the Quaffle, which was Not Good. Louis was flying in, getting closer to the action but still so annoyingly far away – curse that bludger, and the beater responsible – that he couldn’t intercept Ben’s subsequent pass. Luckily for Louis and the Aladren team, though, Jack was perfectly positioned to swoop in and intercept. Mentally cheering, Louis changed direction and prepared to receive a pass, as he was sure Jack would look to do so – at this stage in the game, with bludgers nearby, he was unlikely to get all the way to the Pecari hoops with the Quaffle.

Louis was finding himself being very competitive this year, more so than he had been in his first year. Whilst naturally competitive in an academic setting, he hadn’t realised until now that he could be so competitive about sport. But then again, in first year he had been new to playing Quidditch with a full team (having only played with a keeper and couple of chasers at most before attending Sonora, and none of them particularly good). Furthermore, the fear of not being able to field a full team – and to be the only team to struggle to do so – that had gripped them all at the beginning of the year had only made him more invested in the outcome of the Aladren Quidditch team’s chance for glory.

Louis was still keeping a weather eye out for bludgers, after the sort-of close shave he’d had earlier, and as he trailed Jack he was relieved to see John thoughtfully sending one towards a Pecari player. He was sure that would be appreciated, he thought with a grin, and was glad that he was on the same team as John. He’d been on the receiving end of his bludgers in practise, and the older boy definitely knew how to hit them!

Jack got a fair way with the Quaffle, making up a lot (if not more) of the distance they’d lost when Joella had initially grabbed the Quaffle, and Louis easily caught the Quaffle that was passed to him. He was fairly close, and all the hours spent practising paid off as everything went smoothly. Louis shot a quick grin at Jack, feeling like they were definitely working well as a team, and continued the journey towards the Pecari hoops and Liliana Bannister with his precious cargo. He wasn’t too far off when he decided it was time to pass, not wanting to give the Pecari beaters too much time to gather their bludgers and ruin his day. He’d been keeping note of where the other two chasers were, not wanting to be caught off guard in the event of a sudden need to abandon plan and ditch the Quaffle early, and so it was a simple task to throw the ball towards the nearest Aladren chaser. Hopefully they would successfully catch it, and Louis felt satisfied as he immediately prepared to support as necessary. A goal was surely within sight!

9 Louis Valois, Chaser Oh, how sad 314 Louis Valois, Chaser 0 5

Arianna Valenti, Chaser
August 12, 2016 12:33 AM

Arianna Valenti, Chaser
Alumnus
House: Aladren
Written by:

Age in Post: 11

I will not throw away my shot by Arianna Valenti, Chaser
Arianna rolled her eyes when she saw that the Quaffle had been recovered by Gabe’s friend. Lame. She had not dived after the ball and battled that awful feeling in her stomach just for Pecari to snatch the ball again. But it appeared that Louis was lagging behind - maybe it was her older friend who had had to deal with that Bludger earlier - and Jack was, well, Jack had just gotten the Quaffle! Excellent. It was very important that they not let the formidable Pecari chasers damage their chances at winning the game. Arianna was no loser - they had not lost the last game, and from the sounds of it, Aladren had not lost a game in years. Losing now would be the ultimate kind of loss. It would be truly embarrassing.

As she flew towards the Quaffle, she did her best to keep pace with the Pecari chasers, trying not to get ahead or fall too far behind. The older Pecari beater had hit the Bludger away from the herd of flyers, and as far as Arianna was concerned, that made things interesting. From what she had witnessed so far in her own game with Crotalus, and Gabe’s game against Pecari, it appeared that avoiding areas of high flyer density was the best way to avoid Bludgers. This strategy made especially perfect sense for someone like her cousin, who (though she would never say it out loud) was much better at flying than her, and far more willing to resort to crazy antics to avoid being hit. But Arianna hated diving, and hated jerking this way and that. Though she wasn’t a high priority target, like say maybe a Seeker or Keeper, she was inexperienced, and likely perceived to be an easy hit. Perhaps, for someone like her, it was best to stay close to the herd. A mixed herd of blue and brown robes, that is, which she was sure a responsible Beater on either side would certainly protect.

But then Louis caught the Quaffle, and the desire to take part in Aladren success began to make her bold. Besides, this was the first time they had been so close to Pecari territory the whole game. Surely all the chasers and beaters-assigned-to-chasers must be coming from the same direction. If there were any unclaimed Bludgers, she assumed that they were coming from the same direction, as well. It bothered her that the Seekers, and more importantly the Beaters that she assumed would accompany them, were unaccounted for. If they were nearby, that could be a potential threat. Hopefully she would place a far second to Clark in terms of target desirability. The first year Aladren of no known magical heritage naturally looked up to someone from a similar background and who was so accomplished and so intelligent as Clark. But her sense of self-preservation was much stronger than any admiration.

Well, if she was going to go for it, she would have to act quickly. Narrowing her eyes, she leaned forward, broke away from the pack she thought she had maintained, and began to accelerate faster than she had for most of the game. Her heart rammed against her chest, as if begging her to slow down. She tried to remind herself that there were probably falling charms on the Pitch. Probably. Regardless, Arianna Valenti was not a chicken. Chickens were ugly birds.

She was just passing by Louis as he made a clean pass her way. The leather ball hit her chest with a soft “thud” before she was able to get an arm around it. The girl continued to zoom forward as her heart froze.

The Quaffle was in her hands. She was pretty sure she was alone, only certain of other Aladrens nearby. She had violated her own rule. She had become a target.

Suddenly, the Quaffle felt fiery hot against her body. It needed to go, and fast. Not bothering to slow down, thighs gripped tight against the broom as she raised the ball over her head and chucked it with all her twelve year-old might straight towards the hoop to which she was closest, the one all the way on the right.

Afraid she might very well run into the hoops, she veered left. Her heart was practically quivering inside her. She hoped beyond hope that nobody else had noticed her minor panic attack. Remembering she was in front of the entire student body, she spread her usual smirk across her face. Yes, everything was going entirely accordingly to plan.

0 Arianna Valenti, Chaser I will not throw away my shot 343 Arianna Valenti, Chaser 0 5

Ingrid W, Chaser
August 12, 2016 6:18 AM

Ingrid W, Chaser
Alumnus
House: Pecari
Written by: Rhy

Age in Post: 13

Pride comes before a what now? by Ingrid W, Chaser
Oh Merlin. It was here. Ingrid had mostly felt good butterflies before Quidditch matches, with just a touch of the nerves that let you know you were still sane and not arrogant - Quidditch was intense, and it mattered, and it was normal to be a little nervous - but today the mix had definitely switched in favour of nerves. She wanted to give Liliana a win. She had wanted, more than anything, to impress Liliana ever since she’d first met her. She felt like she had, to some extent, done that. She felt that Liliana liked her and was proud of her as a player, though it was hard to measure how much was enough to have achieved her goal. Being part of the team that handed her a win, like a big present all wrapped up with a bow on top, would be a pretty clear sign that she had been good enough, and be a great way to see out her captain. She also had her more personal aim to achieve today, of getting at least one goal past her brother. This was her last shot at that too.

The match day was pretty perfect. The breeze at its current level wouldn’t do much to alter the course of the balls, though if it chose to have occasional gusts that could be a pain. She braided her hair as tightly as she could (though a few strands of it always managed to escape during the action of the match) and dressed in lightweight clothes under her robes. She forced herself to eat breakfast, a little quieter than usual, and regretting her choices of scrambled eggs (which tasted like rubber) and orange juice (which was too sharply acidic) though she wasn’t sure there was anything that would have tasted good today.

As Liliana gave her speech, it all started getting super real. She found herself having to blink away some tears and Liliana thanked them all and talked of her faith in them. It was hard to imagine Quidditch without her, but now wasn’t the time to get drawn into those thoughts. She had to focus. Out on the pitch, she returned Louis’ wink with her best far-too-dignified-for-that nose in the air type look, mentally adding mid-air tackling her date and getting the ball, as well as that smug look, off him, to her to-do list. And then the whistle blew and they were off.

She scrambled for the ball at the start but saw Joella take it. She moved hastily forwards, glad not to be stuck in defence this game. She tried not to be distracted by her own goal, and to do what was best for the team. Whilst Ingrid wasn’t a naturally selfish person, she could get caught up on her own agenda, or her desire to impress or score particular points. Jamie, for all that the Pecari team might have felt he was a bad example in general, had probably been a positive force in curbing some of Ingrid’s more glory-hog tendencies. They were an immaturity, and something she would have grown out of, in all probability, but by very much not wanting to be like Jamie, she hadn’t had to learn the hard way.

Still, as the first play was exchanged, she found herself a little too far forward to be of use… Perhaps she had just misjudged. Perhaps she was making sure they spaced out and formed a decent chain. Or perhaps she had put her own desire to be the one in a goal scoring position, if Pecari made a successful pass, over making sure she was where she needed to be right now… She felt doubt and guilt at her decision seeping in as she saw Arianna dive in and…. miss. Phew. The tight little fingers that had been clutching at her heart relaxed their grip a little, although the Aladren Chaser had done plenty to damage Pecari’s chances of getting the ball. She watched with increasing guilt as Ben was forced to make an awkward manoeuvre to retrieve it, losing his speed and leaving her exactly where, a minute or so ago, she had thought she wanted to be. He had to pass now. And here she was, just in the right place…

The ball sailed through the air and she lunged forward, biting down a scream of frustration as Jack Spencer snatched the ball from her. The fingers were back around her heart. Had her actions cost Pecari their lead? It made sense to space yourselves out, and perhaps no one else would think anything of her being where she had been at that particular moment, but she couldn’t rule out selfishness or her vendetta against Theodore in her own conscience. She tore after the ball, determined to make this right. Determined to be where she was needed, not where she wanted to be. Fully focussed on getting the ball back. Unfortunately, Quidditch was a game with a lot of elements. Being ‘fully focussed’ on any one aspect was rarely a good idea. Ingrid raced down the pitch, concentrating on speed, on distance covered, on the Quaffle. Not on varying her flight pattern. Not on where her own side’s Beaters’ were and what they were doing to protect her. Not on the Bludger, racing towards her.

SMACK.

The first Ingrid knew of it was when she was jolted to attention by the force of something hitting the tail of her broom, sending her spinning. For a brief moment, she lost control, lost track of which way was up, and focussed only on clinging on as her broom spun. She pulled hard, bringing her broom back under control and working out which way she was facing. Merlin, how could she have been so stupid?! She supposed she was lucky not be physically hurt, though she was pretty dizzy and even retched slightly, though she managed to keep her breakfast down. She reclaimed her bearings in time to see Arianna Valenti shooting for goal. No, no, no. How could this be happening? She’d wanted to do her best for Liliana and so far, this had to be her worst match yet!

She started covering ground down the pitch, a lot more carefully this time, finding as she did so that her broom kept pulling left, trying to get herself into a good position - if not to receive the ball, then at least to support her team - and get the hang of her broom’s new quirks, before Liliana threw the Quaffle out. As she did so, she pondered the vindictiveness of the Quidditch Gods. Sure, she maybe hadn't acted with her team's best interests, and she had sorely paid for that - twice, by her counting. But that whole thing about pride coming before a fall, people needing to be taken down a peg or two... Could it be that Aladren weren't the least bit cocky after their constant victories? She couldn't quite believe that. And, even if they were totally pure of heart about the whole thing, surely, if anyone needed smiting with a vengeance today, it wasn't the Pecari players!

13 Ingrid W, Chaser Pride comes before a what now? 322 Ingrid W, Chaser 0 5

Clark Dill, Seeker
August 12, 2016 10:27 AM

Clark Dill, Seeker
Alumnus
House: Aladren
Written by: Nathan

Age in Post: 16
Birthday: Who knows? But he celebrates it in November

Works for me by Clark Dill, Seeker
Clark was conflicted as he stood with the rest of the Aladren team on the Pitch ground. On the one hand, it was Leonidas and Theodore's last game, which was sad and unfortunate because he liked both guys despite their class politics, and the need to replace them would be a hard blow to Aladren's team. On the other hand, Clark was kind of excited to become the team captain the next year, and he kind of felt like when he became the leader it would sort of be like claiming the team back from the aristocracy. Sure there would still be purebloods on the team but with Clark and John as the oldest players and Arianna now a key member, the Aladren team was no longer a gentleman's club that only just tolerated girls and those of less than 100% magical blood being a part of it. Depending on what first years came in (and he was hoping they'd get more girls so Aladren didn't look so discriminatory) muggleborns and halfbloods might actually outnumber the purebloods for the first time since Clark joined the team.

Assuming they got two more players. His captaincy would go down as a really sad chapter in Aladren's history if he couldn't pull that off.

For today though, it was still Leonidas' show, and the two seventh years had one more game left in them.

Clark was conflicted, too, about his strategy. Five years ago, during his first year as Seeker and his second year at school (his first year had experienced a critical shortage of adults and therefore a critical lack of Quidditch), he had sat down with paper, pencil, protractor, and abacus (which he had learned to use knowing calculators wouldn't work at Sonora), and determined the most efficient pattern for searching the pitch for an elusive golden ball. He had not strayed from that pattern since his very first game as a Seeker. It had never failed him, not even once, thus making Clark, and therefore Aladren, undefeated since then.

Unfortunately, Pecari's beaters, and even Jamie, had played against him enough times now that he thought they might be catching on. The weather, too, glorious as it was, was against him, because in good weather there was nothing to distract people from noticing that he was following a predictable pattern. And predictably and bludgers did not mix well.

But back on the first hand, Leonidas was very good at what he did. He had learned Clark's pattern and he could account for the higher risk of keeping to his normal habit. If anything, being able to accurately predict Clark's location might even make it easier for Leonidas to assess threats. And, well, to be perfectly honest, Clark was becoming just a little bit superstitious that this pattern was the secret to his success and if he changed it, even a little, Jamie would win.

So when the whistle blew, Clark kicked off the ground, rose up to cruising altitude, and settled into the same cross-hatch flight plan he used every match. This was Leonidas and Theodore's last game at Sonora, so Clark wanted to follow the same script all their other matches together had used...

The one where Aladren won.

1 Clark Dill, Seeker Works for me 277 Clark Dill, Seeker 0 5

Sammy Meeks, Beater
August 16, 2016 1:07 AM

Sammy Meeks, Beater
Alumnus
House: Pecari
Written by: Casey

Age in Post: 14

I have a different idea. by Sammy Meeks, Beater
There was something empowering, Sammy found, about the position of Beater. Most fled from the dangerous Bludgers, but it was her job to charge them head on. She was fearless in flight, the team’s protector, the opponent’s worst enemy. When she’d taken up Quidditch, she’d never expected such a power, just choosing the position purely on the fact that one, Pecari seemed to need one, and two, bats were reminiscent of baseball. But now she had it safely in her possession, being four years in and having no plans to stop playing. She was powerful.

This was never a linear thought she had, but a feeling that breezed through her with the wind as she flew about the sky. The fifteen year old was grateful for today’s excellent weather; without the temperature as a concern, she could truly focus on the game happening all around her, sometimes with her and sometimes without. Spells and potions were great and all, but man, there was no time that she felt more magical--more alive--than on her broom.

She kept her eyes peeled, scanning for both the Bludgers and maybe the Snitch if she could swing it, and did her best not to think. Usually that was easy when she was in the air, but things were so weird lately. The whole Barnaby thing, plus that stupid letter she’d sent to Joella… Sammy kinda just felt like her whole life was in the toilet right now. Barnaby had been so strange in his letter to her that she hadn’t even written back. She didn’t know what to do. Technically she was being freed of her obligation to go to the ball with him since he’d told her some bull crap about Jax being a soviet spy--which was one hundred percent not true and also, she had a feeling, not what he’d been talking about before--but she didn’t know what to do. Gia and Jax would definitely be pissed if she went with Barnaby, but damn if he didn’t know how to manipulate her. He was using her distrust against her to trap her in, even as his letter said otherwise.

She shook the thought away as best she could. While Barnaby was not (currently) her enemy, his House was, so at least she could semi-pretend the Aladren players were all Barnabys and just hit them with things. Currently, her brown eyes found Clarnaby (that was Clark-Barnaby) swooping about in some weird… was that a pattern? It looked pretty intentional, but it didn’t make sense, or at least not to her. Sammy shrugged and decided in a bizarre and unexpected turn of events to send a Bludger at the Seeker. So original.

12 Sammy Meeks, Beater I have a different idea. 310 Sammy Meeks, Beater 0 5

Liliana Bannister, Keeper
August 16, 2016 3:09 PM

Liliana Bannister, Keeper
Alumnus
House: Pecari
Written by: Mathilde Reinhardt

Age in Post: 17

They say a fall so let's hope it applies to Aladrens, too. by Liliana Bannister, Keeper
Liliana's fingers were tightly grasping her broom when she saw Wolseithcrafte's older sister racing towards her on her own broom, Quaffle in hand. She couldn't quite see the Anns, they must have been out of her range of vision but she did see Adam Spencer racing right behind Francesca- reaching, reaching, reaching. He caught up with her and Liliana allowed a breath that she didn't know she had been holding to leave her lungs. Adam would save the day, she just knew it!

Not quite so.

Liliana’s heart was in her throat as Pecari started off the game in their best form—and then as the Aladren chasers (predictably) gained ground and turned it around. They were skilled, Liliana did have that to admit. Leonidas was a great captain and he led the team well. But Pecari was an equally great team and it was Liliana’s strong personal belief that the only difference between the two was that Clark Dill was such an amazing Seeker. Jamie Park had talent to be sure, but he was too cocky and sometimes that cockiness landed him—and the team, in hot water. Still, it wasn’t fair to blame Aladren’s winning streak on one Pecari player—aside from her first year, Pecari had been losing to Aladren before Jamie Park joined. And in part, Liliana felt responsible. She hadn’t exactly cultivated the best environment for a strong team.

But things were different now. They had come together and she had happily witnessed team bonding at the victory party after their last match with Teppenpaw. And they wanted a win. She was almost sure they wanted a win more than the Aladren players wanted a win. After all, Aladren had been winning for the past five years of Quidditch, weren’t the tired of it? No, that would be ridiculous—who got tired of winning? Apparently even Aladren was not an exception to that, Liliana noted as the new first year Chaser came barrelling towards her and her precious hoops.

The haste with with the Quaffle was thrown impressed Liliana, Arianna was swift and she was pretty strong, but she wasn’t Natalie Varth who had at least attempted to fake out the seventh year Keeper and so it was pretty clear to Liliana which hoop the Aladren would be aiming for. She looked for the nearest Pecari player, praying her teammates to be miraculous and carry the Quaffle down to Theodore’s end without another interception. Let him jump a bit, she thought as she caught the Quaffle with much more ease than she had blocked her first attempt on the hoops in her Sonora career and chucked it towards the set of brown robes that she had scouted out earlier.

His hand only just missed swiping the Quaffle out of the air and Liliana found herself wishing that it was Levi on that broom as she knew her beloved cousin never would have let her down. No matter, it was time to prove her place on the team. She had done well in practice- thought that was nothing compared to the adrenalin rushes she received while on the field playing other houses. A million and one thoughts were racing through Liliana's head as she prepared herself for the Quaffle. All she had to do was block it. Block it with anything- hand, foot, broom, head even! It didn't matter as long as the Quaffle didn't go through the hoop!

Liliana saw the Quaffle getting closer and closer and soon realized that she was not stationed in front of the right hoop and that If she didn't get moving soon then Aladren would score and Pecari would be down. She set her eyes and crouched down to her broom deciding that the best plan of action would be to fly in front of where the Quaffle was headed and just block it with her body. Once the Quaffle started falling she could fly down to catch it- if able, or Adam could. She hadn't thought that far ahead into the game yet and frankly didn't care. Eyes set on the prize Liliana smiled sadistically at the ball she so badly wanted to destroy and flew off.

10 Liliana Bannister, Keeper They say a fall so let's hope it applies to Aladrens, too. 274 Liliana Bannister, Keeper 0 5

Joella Curtis, Chaser
August 16, 2016 5:29 PM

Joella Curtis, Chaser
Alumnus
House: Pecari
Written by: Joella Curtis

Age in Post: 15

I'm confident that it does. by Joella Curtis, Chaser
It had taken five years of literal blood, sweat and tears for Joella to reach the position and recognition on the Sonora Quidditch pitch that she now boasted. She had put so much into her Quidditch over the years and as a result she finally felt comfortable in believing that she deserved all the credit given to her for being the senior Chaser on the Pecari team, a title usually synonymous with best.

Joella didn’t feel a need to compare herself to the other players but when she did stop and think about it, it occurred to her that she was not only the best Chaser on her team, but seemingly also in the entire school. Admittedly her ex-boyfriend Alistair might give her a run for her money but she was now pretty confident that she actually had the edge. A few years back and she might not have said so, partially due to ingrained self-doubt and humble modesty (which Alistair, and probably also the obnoxious Aladren players she was now up against, lacked). But now that she was older, she had matured and learnt the difference between confidence and over-confidence. Being promoted to assistant captain had definitely helped with that, providing her with the opportunity to support younger, less-experienced players than herself.

If things were as they looked and Joella really did stand as the best Chaser at Sonora then she knew high expectations would be upon her, and that only fed her determination because she wanted to meet, if not outshine, such expectations. Pecari had to receive some benefits from having the most experienced Chaser on the pitch.

There was a brief moment of horror when Joella glanced around and saw the youngest Aladren Chaser stretching for her pass but it appeared she didn’t get more than a touch of the Quaffle, resulting in it being scooped up by Ben. Her passing had always been a strength of hers, with good accuracy and power, but lately she hadn’t been reaching her targets as flawlessly as she anticipated. Those young Teppenpaw Chasers had be surprisingly successful at intercepting her passes but she couldn’t afford to be put off by it. The mistakes made by the Pecari Chasers in the Teppenpaw match were never ever to be repeated, especially not today. Joella didn’t want to see another Chaser trio even so much as match the scores achieved by her own team, as had been the case in their last game.

All seemed fine, just for a moment, until Jack Spencer came charging in to intercept what could have been a good pass between Joella’s two fellow Pecari Chasers. Everything began to go downhill from there...

Aladren to Aladren the ball went and as tactical as she tried to be, the fifth year couldn’t get in the way quickly enough. It was soon up to Liliana alone to set things straight but Joella was very confident that the seasoned captain would be able to stop a first year’s hasty goal attempt easily enough. In a normal match Liliana was an outstanding Keeper and today being her last would no doubt serve to make her strive that extra bit harder.

Joella caught the Quaffle readily when it came soaring towards her. She’d been fully expecting it after Liliana’s swift save and thus had put herself in an ideal position. With the scarlet ball tucked under one arm, the most natural feeling in the world for her, the Pecari accelerated back in the direction of the Aladren hoops. She kept up the fast pace, keen to eat up as much ground as possible before she found herself under particularly heavy fire.

Pleased with the distance she had covered and finally noticing a well-placed teammate who she imagined were totally ready to receive the Quaffle, the senior Chaser started to think about relinquishing it. She continued her path for a little longer and then threw the Quaffle, hard and direct towards a fellow brown-robed Chaser, hoping above all hopes that another Aladren would not appear out of nowhere and steal it again.

Immediately upon release of the Quaffle, Joella changed her course rather dramatically, in case any bludgers were trying to catch up with her. She did not swerve so much that she’d find herself unable to get ahead of her teammates, however, as she knew she needed to get into good spaces to receive further passes as the Pecaris continued to make their way back down the pitch (and supposedly into Aladren territory).

8 Joella Curtis, Chaser I'm confident that it does. 295 Joella Curtis, Chaser 0 5

Ben Pierce, Chaser
August 17, 2016 11:01 AM

Ben Pierce, Chaser
Alumnus
House: Pecari
Written by: Nathan

Age in Post: 12

Making a pass within scoring range by Ben Pierce, Chaser
Ben cursed (well, he said 'blast it! which was as close to cursing as Ben got because he was pretty sure Gramelia would know otherwise and turn him into a toad as punishment) as Jack Spencer swooped in and snagged the Quaffle before it reached Ingrid. From there, Pecari's position just continued to decline to the point where Liliana herself ended up in possession of the ball (but fortunately not to the point where it got past her). The Chasers were not following her pre-game instructions very well.

Then she tossed it out to Joella and Joella tossed it on the Ben and .... oh, it was coming towards him! Ben got his hands up in time for the perfectly aimed pass to fall into them. He grinned back at the senior Chaser, pleased to have finally been part of a clean pass this game. Then the time for self-congratulatory facial exchanges was over and he turned his eyes and focus forward, and he flew on across the center line and into Aladren territory.

He jinked and juked his broom just enough that he wasn't a sitting duck for bludgers, but he was definitely putting his efforts mostly into making speed and gaining distance. Feeling he succeeded sufficiently that Pecari's next play could be for a goal, he found an opportunity to pass to a fellow brown robed chaser and hoped his pass was as spot-on and successful as Joella's had been to him.

1 Ben Pierce, Chaser Making a pass within scoring range 339 Ben Pierce, Chaser 0 5

Jack Spencer, Chaser
August 17, 2016 1:03 PM

Jack Spencer, Chaser
Alumnus
House: Aladren
Written by: Lily Spencer

Age in Post: 14

Pardon my reach. by Jack Spencer, Chaser
The Quaffle was passed so quickly at times it was difficult to keep track of it, but years of practise had trained Jack's eyes to at least be sharp enough to recognise who had it in hand. Valenti made a brilliant shot, though simple, but Bannister was the more experienced Keeper. She blocked it easily and Jack watched as it was passed to Curtis, another senior member of their team. If Aladren wasn't careful, Jack believed, Curtis could dominate the pitch with her team-mates.

Jack was still feeling a bit queasy, but he did his best to push his anxiety to the side and throw himself into the match. He didn't have time to feel fear or nausea. He followed Curtis closely, weaving from side to side, watching for any sudden passes.

Before he could make a move, however, she passed it to Pierce who covered much ground towards the Aladren hoops. They were much too close for comfort, and Jack knew he needed to put a stop to it, and soon. Though he wasn't the most experienced Chaser on the team, he certainly believed in himself. He just wished he could feel more confident today, but he didn't know what it was exactly that was stopping him mentally. Was it that blasted dream he'd had last night, or something else?

Pierce flew past the centre and finally made a pass to one of his team-mates. Jack found his opportunity at last. He flew right in and tucked the Quaffle into his chest as he flew past them towards the Aladren hoops. Another successful interception. Jack made a 180-degree turn and flew past the centre again, this time towards the Pecari hoops. He had confidence that Umland would guard him, so Jack flew on trying not to fear a bludger smashing into his broom or worse, his arms or legs. His vision was getting a tad blurry thinking about possible injuries, but Jack pushed on, weaving a bit just in case.

He made eye-contact with one of his team-mates, and hoped it would communicate a move they had practised before. Jack suddenly dropped as if his broom had suddenly lost its flying ability and made a quick pass to an Aladren Chaser. It was supposed to throw off the opposing Chasers who were usually on his tail by this point. After ridding himself of the Quaffle, Jack made his ascent and followed the Quaffle closely once more.

40 Jack Spencer, Chaser Pardon my reach. 299 Jack Spencer, Chaser 0 5

John Umland, Beater
August 17, 2016 4:06 PM

John Umland, Beater
Alumnus
House: Aladren
Written by: Grayson Wright

Age in Post: 15
Birthday: September 23rd

Carry on. by John Umland, Beater
A hit; a very fine hit. Under other circumstances, Ingrid was a teammate’s sister and someone he wished was in his House (if primarily because of the strength she would have brought to the team), but at the moment, she was a target and he had successfully hit her. Or her broom, anyway, which was nearly as good. The bit of him that existed outside of the moment was glad, actually, that she didn’t seem hurt, as it decreased the slight chance Theodore would be irked with him later and doing it this way had accomplished his aim – getting an Aladren near the goals – just as well as injuring her would have. Indeed, it might have accomplished it better; if she’d been injured, she might have gone and gotten patched up and come back good as new in a matter of seconds, but as it was, she might be less than her best for a while.

Soon enough, though, it was his say something under his breath that his mother would not have liked to hear him say. Bannister saving the shot was something he’d more or less expected, but the Pecaris began covering ground quickly and he didn’t have a Bludger anymore. Joella was a good player; off the Pitch, he respected that about her. On the Pitch, it just annoyed him, particularly when he didn’t have a Bludger to aim at her.

The Pierce kid (was he Ginger’s brothe – no, that was tangential, not relevant to what he was doing) was shaping up well, but he was not yet Joella, or even Ingrid before John had sent her spinning. Jack stole the ball from him a move before Pecari could have probably taken a shot at Theodore and John grinned, pleased that one of his teammates had accomplished a move that had probably greatly impressed and pleased the Aladren supporters in the stands.

John didn’t expect either team to score many goals; the stakes were too high and the relative experience levels of the Keepers and Chasers too unbalanced for that. He trusted Theodore to block anything they threw at him, of course, short of a Bludger – dealing with any Bludgers they threw at Theodore was John’s job. The trick was just to keep the other team from getting as many opportunities. Interesting passes and steals were, he thought, the way for the Chasers to do their bit for that show Leonidas wanted, which almost made their goals and John’s incompatible; he had to try to keep the Pecari Chasers away from them entirely, which did reduce the number of opportunities for drama somewhat. Still, he had his own reputation for villainy to consider, too. A Bludger, his or one that looked just like it, flew toward warm bodies and John was there to intercept it, hitting it away from Jack but lacking the angle to hit it directly for a Pecari without endangering any Aladrens. Keeping his people intact and the pressure on them low might have to comprise the rest of his glory today. Not that he wouldn't keep his eyes open....

16 John Umland, Beater Carry on. 285 John Umland, Beater 0 5

Louis Valois, Aladren
August 17, 2016 4:44 PM

Louis Valois, Aladren
Alumnus
House: Aladren
Written by: Louis

Age in Post: 13

I'll do just that! by Louis Valois, Aladren
Arianna had successfully caught the Quaffle, was right near the goal, then she was shooting and things were looking so good for Aladren, seemingly about to score the first goal of the match, but no it was not to be! Liliana Bannister just had to swoop in on her broom and ruin the fun. Arianna’s attempted goal had looked good, fast and sure, but unfortunately the Pecari keeper had been fast and sure too. He supposed Liliana did have a fair few years of experience – and this would play to Aladren’s advantage next year, when those years of experience meant her time at Sonora was up, and Pecari would have to find a new keeper. Although, unfortunately, Aladren would also be in the same position keeper-wise.

Liliana’s save also meant that that Pecari were back in possession of the Quaffle, which had been passed to none other than Joella Curtis, the Pecari Louis considered to be the main threat to the Aladren chasers. Ben was less experienced than both him and Jack, and whilst Ingrid was normally a good player, her broom seemed to have been slightly damaged by what Louis presumed to have been a bludger collision. He’d been a little concerned to realise that she’d had trouble, but she didn’t appear to have been hurt, which reassured him. He didn’t want his date to be hurt not long before the ball – well, he didn’t actually want her to be hurt at all, but now would be particularly bad timing.

Pushing thoughts of the ball (the dancing kind, not the ball he was hoping would soon find its way back into Aladren possession) out of his head, Louis focussed back on the game. He thought it unlikely that he would manage to get the ball off Joella, annoyingly good as she was, but she was heading towards the other end of the pitch at top speed, and it would be practical to keep up with her if he wanted to get his hands on the ball again. Which he most definitely did – Louis was not giving up just because their first goal attempt had been unsuccessful! No, he was going forwards to glory with the rest of the Aladren team!

Joella passed the Quaffle, which wasn’t good as that was yet another successful Pecari pass and another step closer to the Aladren goal hoops, but it wasn’t entirely bad. Louis wasn’t meaning to be insulting to Ben and his abilities, but the younger chaser just wasn’t as good as Joella Curtis had proven to be. Louis reckoned that he and his fellow chasers had more chance of getting the Quaffle off Ben than off Joella. This theory was supported not long after, as Ben got almost within shooting range but made the fatal mistake of passing the Quaffle with a Quaffle-hungry Aladren chaser in the vicinity. Jack Spencer was there, suddenly, the Quaffle in his position, and soon the ball was back on its way in the right direction, which was of course towards the Pecari hoops with Intent to Shoot.

Louis was close on Jack’s heels as the other chaser flew towards the hoops. Pecari were not going to get the Quaffle again anytime soon if he could help it, and he was going to do all he could to ensure Jack’s pass wasn’t intercepted by those pesky brown-robed players. When Jack made eye-contact with him he was almost 100% certain of what his teammate planned to do, and both instinct and practise paid off when, as Louis had expected, Jack suddenly dropped and Louis was waiting to catch the Quaffle, grinning as it sailed perfectly into his hands.

And then Louis was off, heading towards Liliana Bannister’s end of the pitch. He made sure to twist and weave a little as he flew, sacrificing a little bit of speed for the benefit of being a harder target for the Pecari beaters. He had faith that John would be doing everything he could to defend him, but it was stupid and asking for trouble to make yourself an easy target. The ideal outcome of his flight would be for Louis to take the Quaffle all the way to the hoops, but he suspected that both Joella and Ingrid, if not Ben too, might have been nearby when he received the Quaffle, and he didn’t want to run any risks simply to hog the ball. There was no point hanging onto the Quaffle when his teammates would have more chance of success, and passing sooner would have more chance of success than later. The clearer the skies were for his pass, the better – so long as they weren’t completely clear. Passing to nobody would be more than a little awkward.

Luckily for Louis, there were Aladren chasers in the sky, so passing to nobody could be avoided. With a quick glance out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly threw the Quaffle towards the nearest Aladren chaser, hoping that the swift move would prove unexpected to any Pecari chasers but not take his teammates by surprise.

9 Louis Valois, Aladren I'll do just that! 314 Louis Valois, Aladren 0 5

Sammy Meeks, Beater
August 18, 2016 4:51 AM

Sammy Meeks, Beater
Alumnus
House: Pecari
Written by: Casey

Age in Post: 14

Nah, fam. by Sammy Meeks, Beater
The Chasers caught Sammy’s eye for a couple reasons. Firstly, because Liliana didn’t assign Seeker’s Beater versus Chasers’ Beater, so she was making a conscious effort to keep a lookout on all of their teammates. And second of all, speaking of Liliana, the Aladren Chasers seemed to be crowding up the area in front of her Captain and Keeper’s rings. Blargh.

She glanced once to make sure her Bludger meant for Clark was heading the right way, and then she headed off toward the main action. Sammy had trained her eyes to somewhat ignore the Quaffle at this point since her main focus was to locate and redirect Bludgers, so while a shot was apparently being made, she noticed instead a Bludger heading at Ingrid. But she was too far to stop it and too slow to call out a warning, so all she could do was sort of… sympathy cringe in preparation for impact.

It sent Ingrid spinning, but she didn’t look like she was really hurt--the Bludger had hit the end of her broom and not actually her person--so Sammy did her best to push the instinctive worry from her mind. She had more productive things to do than hover over her housemate.

It swooped back near the main bunch of people, but one of Aladren’s Beaters (Sammy wasn’t about to waste time staring and identifying if it was John or Leonidas) sent it hurdling a different direction. Sammy swooped over to intercept it, and while it approached, she stole a glance to find the Quaffle. It had just left Louis’s hands with another Aladren as its intended target, so the brunette decided to send another surprise to that particular blue-clad Chaser. She swung her bat at just the right time to get the Bludger on track, and with the force she’d just put into it, she was fairly confident it would arrive at the perfect moment: one that would make the Aladren Chaser choose between staying for the Quaffle and risking getting hit, or avoid the Bludger but miss the other ball as well.

12 Sammy Meeks, Beater Nah, fam. 310 Sammy Meeks, Beater 0 5

Ingrid W, Chaser
August 18, 2016 8:17 AM

Ingrid W, Chaser
Alumnus
House: Pecari
Written by: Rhy

Age in Post: 13

Let's put things right by Ingrid W, Chaser
Ingrid knew Liliana would save it - of course she would - but that just wasn’t the point. The ball wasn’t even meant to be going near her. Still, as she passed it out, there was a chance to turn things around. Joella caught it neatly, covering good distance, and getting it across to Ben. Things seemed quiet on the Bludger front… Not necessarily a good thing, as she would have rather heard the heavy metal balls making happy thunking-against-Aladrens noises, but at least they weren’t currently threatening her side, or making things difficult.

She followed Ben up the pitch, trying to stay close. Trying hard not to get ahead of herself. This seemed better. It felt better. She was in the right place at the right time by being part of the team, rather than by acting for herself. Sure, her broom kept pulling left but she was already accommodating well enough that she wasn’t drifting off from where she wanted to go too badly.

As Ben looked ready to pass, she let go, ready to catch - an action which caused the drift she’d been managing to manifest itself more apparently. Distracted by putting a hand down to steady her wayward broom, the pass fell to the other side. Cursing, Ingrid took off after the Quaffle, although it had already changed hands before she was really in range. Still, that meant it was with Louis, which would make an interception all the sweeter, if she could pull one off. She heard the crack of a bat, and whipped around, grinning as she saw that Sammy was setting up the perfect joint play. As Louis passed and the iron ball hurtled towards his nearest available team mate, she reached in and snagged the Quaffle.

Turning tail, she zoomed back up the pitch. The Aladren Chasers hadn’t got it so far away, but she knew a run on goal was overly risky and selfish. Mentally wishing her team-mate lots of luck with their shot, should they get the ball, she steadied herself with one hand, making an overarm pass with the other.

13 Ingrid W, Chaser Let's put things right 322 Ingrid W, Chaser 0 5

Jamie Park, Seeker
August 18, 2016 8:40 AM

Jamie Park, Seeker
Alumnus
House: Pecari
Written by: Rhy

Age in Post: 16

I like hers better by Jamie Park, Seeker
Jamie wanted a win so bad. Sure, it was Liliana’s last game, and it would be nice for her and all that jazz, but he definitely wanted it for himself. The party had been so awesome after their last victory. People had congratulated him. Ben Pierce had been practically hanging on his every word. It had felt good. Jamie wasn’t one to admit that his life, or self, were both anything less than 100% awesome all of the time (except when other people spoilt it with drag things like homework essays) but the thing he wasn’t admitting to himself (because it meant admitting that it wasn’t true the rest of the time) was that at the after party he had felt liked. He had felt like he had friends. He would only admit to himself that it had been fun, he had enjoyed the attention, and he wanted it again.

He had a good breakfast of bacon and pancakes, being cheery, being jokey. Throwing around banter, but perhaps being a little less cocky than usual. He couldn’t help but think about the flipside to winning and being adored, which was losing and being hated. For all the team was eager to share his glory when he won, he didn’t doubt that the blame would be parked solely at his door if they lost. And everyone on the team loved Liliana so damn much, and he’d be the one that had ruined everything for her last match.

Liliana’s opening words did little to inspire him, and though she did her best to rally them all and tell them that she had complete faith or whatever, it was the opening words that stuck. They had lost every match ever against Aladren. Sure, a lot of those hadn’t been him. And he still firmly believed that if he’d been on the team earlier that Dill wouldn’t have his record winning streak. But he was starting to give Ann Pierce a bit more credit than he had before. That nerd was hard to beat.

He took to the air on the coach’s whistle, tailing Clark closely. Jamie firmly believed that Seeking involved three factors. The first two he had always believed in - raw talent and a bit of luck. The last was a new concept to him, and that was hard work. He’d been following regimes set down by one of his favourite Quidditch stars after he found out just how much work a professional Seeker put in. Maths, as far as he was concerned, had never come into it. He had never really considered that Clark might have some actual, literal winning formula. Given that he couldn’t see much evidence that the other boy worked out much, and refused to believe anyone like Clark could have a lot of raw talent, he just assumed he was a phenomenally lucky son of a witch.

Still, it didn’t really matter how Clark was winning, so much as the fact that he always was. Which meant anywhere he was going, Jamie was going to go. The Snitch couldn’t favour Clark much if Jamie was shadowing his every turn. He pulled in close, so that their sleeves were almost brushing.

“You gotta lose, sooner or later,” he glared by way of a greeting, hoping he could maybe rattle him a bit. Surely Clark had to feel like this was getting too good to be true.

He returned his eyes to the pitch, dimly aware of Leonidas Bennett hovering nearby. He didn’t doubt that the seventh year was a very, very good shot but Jamie wasn’t sure he’d risk his wonderboy Seeker just to try to knock him out of the sky. With him sticking this close to Clark, Bennett was pretty much reduced to being out for a nice stroll, unless he decided to get in on the Chaser game.

Sammy, on the other hand, seemed game for having a pop at Clark. Not that Jamie could blame her really. He decided to stick it out. Obviously Dill was the side of him nearest the Bludger. Leonidas could swoop in and save them both, Dill could swerve nice and early (leaving him plenty of time to get out of the way too), or he and Dill could play a nice little game of chicken, seeing who would break first. Dill may have been many things as a Seeker, but Jamie doubted that ‘brave’ was one of them.

13 Jamie Park, Seeker I like hers better 284 Jamie Park, Seeker 0 5

Clark, Seeker
August 18, 2016 10:55 AM

Clark, Seeker
Alumnus
House: Aladren
Written by: Nathan

Age in Post: 16
Birthday: Who knows? But he celebrates it in November

So what you're saying is that I am going *down* by Clark, Seeker
Clark glanced over when he realized he was no longer flying alone. Jamie. He suppressed a groan. One of the things he liked about being the seeker was that he normally didn't have to share his sky much, and he often took advantage of that when it came to catching the snitch. Having a head start was a key component to his success so far, and sometimes a necessity given that his broom was no longer new and it hadn't been top of the line even when it was. He kept it in excellent condition, of course, and it was well sized for him (he'd bought it extra long so he'd have room to grow with it, and now it was just about ideal for his current height, which admittedly was at least a foot taller than most professional Seekers). It didn't have the best maneuverability due to its size, but it could get up to some pretty high speeds when he pushed it and put himself into a more aerodynamic position. He was still mostly all height, so he didn't create a whole lot of air resistance when he folded himself over.

He'd experimented with which positions actually created the least drag after his lecture to the Science club on broom dynamics, and with John's help, he'd managed to shave off full seconds from his dive times.

So that at least might help if Jamie insisted on sticking so close to him, but it would be far closer than Clark really liked his catches to be. And he was talking. Clark tried to tune him out and just focus on his task of finding the snitch, but it really wasn't working. With a sigh, but not taking his eyes off the field below, Clark replied, very matter-of-factly, "The probability of remaining undefeated is staggeringly not in my favor. However, the probability for this particular match is fifty-fifty at worst, assuming no injuries and current conditions, so I am not counting me out yet."

At that moment, Sammy Meeks demonstrated that that she also had not counted him out and was in fact taking measures to change that by taking him out.

Clark's heartbeat jumped, sweat popped out of every pore he had, and his breath caught, but he was no longer a novice at this. Bludgers still frightened him, as they would any sane person, still induced a physical flight or fight shot of adrenaline to his blood that would improve his reactions, but his brain did not such down in a panic as it had the first couple of year when confronted with a black hunk of metal alien charging him down.

Clark's eyes darted about, doing some mental calculations involving vectors and probability and decided he needed to wait until ... right now.

Clark dropped the nose of his broom and accelerated into a sharp dive, not quite a Wronski Feint, given that it was pretty obvious why he was diving and it wasn't a snitch sighting, but utilizing a similar level of speed and angle of vertical descent to get him out of the bludger's neighborhood.

He'd left enough margin for error that Jamie could still make his own escape, and Leonidas was probably going to handle it anyway, but if the Aladren captain opted to re-direct it at Jamie, Clark wanted as much of a lead as he could get, and gravity would help him maximize it.

1 Clark, Seeker So what you're saying is that I am going *down* 277 Clark, Seeker 0 5

Ben Pierce, Pecari Chaser
August 18, 2016 5:08 PM

Ben Pierce, Pecari Chaser
Alumnus
House: Pecari
Written by: Nathan

Age in Post: 12

Yeah, I ... you do that by Ben Pierce, Pecari Chaser
Ben was starting to feel genuinely irritated. This was why he liked beating. Even if you failed in what you were trying to do do -generally knock a person off their broom- you could at least make somebody go out of their way and only if you really messed up did you help the other team. As a chaser though, he'd just made a perfectly acceptable pass to a teammate and it still got plucked out of the air before it reached her, and now the Quaffle was heading back toward Liliana again, and Ben felt like it was kind of his fault because he'd been the Pecari to lose possession of it, even though he hadn't done anything wrong.

Next year, he really wanted Atlas' position.

In the meantime, he was following after Jack again, and then Louis, but neither gave him an interception opportunity, though Sammy certainly helped Ingrid get one. Grinning at this change in fortune (thankfully before they got back to the captain this time around!) he set himself up for the pass and got it. Whoo! Second successful catch of the game! Now if only he could throw a good pass, too, he'd be golden!

Ingrid had gotten them reasonably close, so he flew toward her brother with intent. This was it, this was the glory of a Chaser. Going for the Goal. He had this, he had this, he had this.

He went straight down the middle but eyed up the left most hoop, trying not to turn his head to give away his plan, but at the last second, he changed his mind as doubts crept in. He instead threw to the right, making a final pass to one of the older, experienced chasers on his team, both of which probably had face Seventh Year Theodore Wolseithcrafte before, and therefore had a way better shot at getting a shot past him than a new upstart second year.

1 Ben Pierce, Pecari Chaser Yeah, I ... you do that 339 Ben Pierce, Pecari Chaser 0 5

Leonidas Bennett, Beater
August 18, 2016 10:04 PM

Leonidas Bennett, Beater
Alumnus
House: Aladren
Written by:

Age in Post: 17

Not the way she meant! by Leonidas Bennett, Beater
He hated to do it with this guy – Park’s reputation was something Leonidas thought the first years knew about, and part of why Leonidas had returned to Seeker duty today was because he’d been a little afraid, in light of last year’s yearbook, that Liliana Bannister might have told her Beaters to count on Park provoking John into forgetting his primary mission and becoming so focused on maiming their Seeker that he neglected the defense of his own for one crucial moment – but Leonidas had to give credit where credit was due: Jamie Park was actually doing something kind of smart. Sticking to the other Seeker like glue wasn’t flashy, but it tied the Beaters’s hands and meant that when the Snitch was sighted, it would come down to a race. That made the odds a lot more even, or maybe even tipped them in Park’s favor….

At least, he thought wearily, he didn’t have to worry too much about Clark’s safety. John might have taken the chance anyway, Leonidas had never thought John was as cautious as he should be, but the Pecari Beaters had to be in awe of Clark and not at all in awe of Park. If they damaged Park themselves, making his chances even worse, their captain would put their heads on spikes later. They were….

Crack.

Leonidas saw the Meeks girl, who he had thought was too, well, female to be a threat, a second too late. One of them, at least, was completely reckless. Luckily, though, Clark seemed to be on high alert and in control of himself. He dove, clearly deliberately instead of desperately to Leonidas’ eye, and Leonidas lunged forward to smack the Bludger away from the path he thought it would naturally follow, which was his Seeker’s back. He looked over his shoulder then, and then all around, searching for Park and for any Pecari with a bat in his or her hand. He had thought the Pecaris were taking advantage of Park’s strategy to concentrate on ganging up on John, but one of them either had missed the memo, gone off script, or just done what she wanted because – well, they were Pecaris – there wasn’t really a script. Leonidas made a mental note about it. Pecari was unpredictable; the minute you assumed you knew what they were doing was the minute they’d do something else. It was both a strength and a weakness of theirs.

0 Leonidas Bennett, Beater Not the way she meant! 269 Leonidas Bennett, Beater 0 5

Ingrid
August 19, 2016 4:37 AM

Ingrid
Alumnus
House: Pecari
Written by: Rhy

Age in Post: 13

- recentering - (nm) by Ingrid

13 Ingrid - recentering - (nm) 322 Ingrid 0 5

Ingrid W, Chaser
August 19, 2016 4:38 AM

Ingrid W, Chaser
Alumnus
House: Pecari
Written by: Rhy

Age in Post: 13

[Recentering] Up to me by Ingrid W, Chaser
Ingrid grinned as Ben received her pass, glad to see the ball heading in the right direction and to feel like the match was turning around, even though she would have to wait for her show down with Theodore. Still, she followed her team-mate down the pitch, not because she was expecting a pass but to be in a good position to mark a Pecari Chaser when Theodore threw the ball out, whichever way the goal went. She cheered Ben on as he made up the distance, drew near the scoring zone and… passed?! Ingrid had to scramble slightly, working against being caught off guard as well as her now wayward broom but she scooped the Quaffle up.

As she crossed into the scoring area, she could feel why Ben had maybe bottled it. The atmosphere was crazy-intense. The final. The last match for both captains. The age-old rivalry… Even without her personal crusade against sibling birth order and how it dictated who was ‘best,’ she could feel the tension. Had she had the choice to duck out, to leave this up to Joella, she honestly felt she might have… Sure, she wanted her shot. But who had said she wanted it right now. Later was good too… Except with Quidditch, you never knew how many more ‘laters’ you would get. This could be her one and only chance. Which really did not do a lot to ease her nerves.

She hadn’t played Theodore in a while. Sure, there were throw arounds at home, but she’d kept her best moves under wraps (hard as it had been, at times, not to put the goal past him and rub his face in it). He thought he knew her. But he hadn’t played her last year, and she’d only been in defence so far in this season’s matches. She feinted right, then leant sharply, almost going into a roll, and making a shot to the left, at an angle far lower than her brother probably thought her capable of.

13 Ingrid W, Chaser [Recentering] Up to me 322 Ingrid W, Chaser 0 5

Theodore W, Keeper
August 19, 2016 9:28 AM

Theodore W, Keeper
Alumnus
House: Aladren
Written by: Rhy

Age in Post: 17

She shoots... by Theodore W, Keeper
So, here it was. The big day. The Quidditch final. The last show down of Leonidas and Liliana. Of him and Liliana. He would have been fibbing to say he felt nothing about the occasion, but he suspected a lot of other people felt a good deal more than he did. One of his main feelings was relief, even though they hadn’t got through the final match yet. He liked Quidditch well enough but it was not his life. It was not something he poured his heart and soul into, though he did his best show of doing so, gave training sessions his all, he just… didn’t care as much as some other people. He had got into it because it was more or less a family obligation and to avoid being pressured to socialise more. Once the game was over today, he wouldn’t really play again. Sure, he would still play ball with Ingrid, when he couldn’t put up with her pestering any longer, but he wouldn’t be on a real team, with real matches and real pressure. And he had to say, that was a relief. Aladren’s long winning streak gave them a lot more to lose than some others, and he would be glad to longer shoulder any part of that burden.

That wasn’t to say he hadn’t enjoyed his time on the team. Who didn’t like being one of the winners? And it had brought… interesting people into his life. He doubted he would have given John and Clark’s strange little club much thought had he not known them from Quidditch - known that they were interesting people, with interesting things to tell him about. Science club was probably the best thing he’d got out of being a Quidditch player - an irony which, even without quite so many nerd stereotypes as there were in the Muggle world, still did not escape him.

He prepared for the match with a hearty breakfast, glad that conditions for this last game were more likely to make the whole thing a generally pleasant experience. He was a little concerned at Leonidas’ assessment that they would do it ‘by the numbers.’ It never did to get cocky, however good their track record.

The game didn’t get off to a good start, with Pecari claiming the Quaffle, although he was still a long way from tensing his Keeping muscles. And indeed, it proved to signify very little as the ball quickly started making its way back down the pitch. Ingrid was in hot pursuit. He wasn’t sure whether he deemed her flying wreckless before it all happened, because things in Quidditch did happen fast.

“Ing!” the involuntary cry had left his lips and he’d even jolted forward before he remembered that this was Quidditch and he wasn’t supposed to do that. It helped that his sister was still hanging on to her broom. Had it been otherwise, he did feel he might have abandoned his post… There were limits to all that team first, play the game stuff, and seeing his youngest sister in freefall would have been far beyond them. Still, she regained control, seeming none the worse for wear, though it took his own heart a few moments to calm down. He was so distracted that he missed the shot at Liliana, only realising it from the mixture of disappointment and cheering from the crowd, switching his attention in time to see her throw the ball out.

There was a little back and forth, but Pecari seemed to be picking up momentum, and soon the littlest one was barrelling down towards him. Theodore was pretty sure that the kid was near enough to make it to goal, but he stopped short of the scoring zone, passing back to Ingrid.

Theodore straightened up. He knew Ing wouldn’t be shy of taking a shot at him, like their younger player had been, but he knew her. He’d watched her plays, learnt her tells, since they were kids. He hovered in the centre. He was pretty sure she was feinting but he had enough reach from where he was to make a ball on the other side anyway, so he didn’t commit… And then she twisted and threw. Theodore blinked. He hadn’t known she had that degree of control, of core strength, and it meant the ball was a lot further away from where he’d anticipated. He lunged downward, stretching wildly, and could feel the leather on his fingertips, but it was just grazing them as it flew by and through the hoop.

He retrieved the Quaffle as it fell in slow motion, mouth open and face rather on the red side. He passed the ball out to the nearest Aladren Chaser, hoping that Pecari didn’t have too many surprises like that up their sleeves.

13 Theodore W, Keeper She shoots... 270 Theodore W, Keeper 0 5

Louis Valois, Chaser
August 19, 2016 11:14 AM

Louis Valois, Chaser
Alumnus
House: Aladren
Written by: Louis

Age in Post: 13

Let's get our heads in the game! by Louis Valois, Chaser
Louis bit back a curse, incredibly frustrated as, thanks to the joint action of Ingrid and Sammy Meeks, his pass was intercepted and the Quaffle was once more heading in the wrong direction. He wished he’d been more selfish and attempted to take the ball further before passing, as now Ingrid was nearing the Aladren hoops, and then passed to Ben, who was soon within shooting range. This was far from ideal.

The moment he realised his pass had been interrupted, Louis quickly turned his broom around 180°. They might have lost the Quaffle, but Louis was going to do all in his power to get it back. Unfortunately for the Aladren chaser he was just too far behind Ingrid when she passed. It was in Theodore’s hands now, as Ben Pierce would no doubt make an attempt on goal. Still, Louis had confidence in their seventh year keeper.
But, surprisingly, Ben seemed to chicken out of his goal attempt and passed back to Ingrid. Louis wasn’t really sure why. Was the younger boy unsure of himself? Was shooting a weakness of his? If so, that could play to their advantage later on in the game. If they could engineer a situation where Ben was the only Pecari chaser able to shoot, and if he proved Louis’s theory right, it would be an easy way of regaining control of the Quaffle and also an easy way to demoralize the Pecari team. But that was a thought for later on in the game, and Louis placed his idea to the back of his head so he could concentrate on Ingrid’s attempt at a goal.

Surely the situation was to Theodore’s advantage? The Aladren keeper was older, more experienced, and stronger, all of which should increase his chances of saving the shot. Besides, Ingrid was his sister, which Louis assumed must mean they’d played together many times. Theodore would know how Ingrid played, and what her tactics where when shooting, although she would also know similar information about him.

But what?! Louis watched in disbelief as the Quaffle sailed through one of the Aladren hoops, taking a second to realise that, yes, it actually was a goal, and Pecari were officially in the lead. Ingrid had looked good taking the shot too – Louis presumed that working with Joella Curtis had helped her. However, this didn’t demoralise Louis. It was only one goal, and unless the snitch made an appearance surprisingly early, they still had a lot of the match to go. Such a goal difference could be turned around in minutes, and now Louis was angry, and turning that anger into being determined that Aladren were going to win this match. Theodore might have failed to save this shot (although he had been so close to succeeding), but Louis was sure he’d save many others. They had Clark, their unbeatable seeker, they had two beaters who were sure to give as good as they got if not better, and they had Louis, Jack and Arianna, the chaser team who had trained so hard together. Yes, Louis was definitely confident that the game was by no means decided.

At least the Quaffle was back in Aladren possession, and Louis was quick to be there and receive Theodore’s pass. Holding the Quaffle close to his chest, he flew hell for leather away from the Aladren hoops towards those belonging to Pecari, incredibly glad that his father insisted on buying him the best of Quidditch equipment. A fast and easily-manoeuvrable broom was definitely an advantage. He’d covered a very good distance up the pitch when he reckoned it was time to let someone else take over, although he didn’t show any outward sign of this before suddenly swerving to the side at almost a 90° angle. Pecari had been intercepting too many chances for him to pass normally. He hadn’t thought there was anyone immediately to his side, and any Pecari players would be forced to move out of the way if they didn’t want an armful of Louis Valois sending them crashing to the ground. Having thought about this, Louis was sure the risk of injury would outweigh any profit coming from them choosing to hold their ground (or rather airspace). After travelling only a couple of metres he threw the ball powerfully to the nearest Aladren chaser, his move having brought him closer to his teammate so making the pass harder to intercept, and having the added bonus of hopefully surprisingly and removing any Pecaris between them.

9 Louis Valois, Chaser Let's get our heads in the game! 314 Louis Valois, Chaser 0 5

Joella Curtis, Chaser
August 19, 2016 5:54 PM

Joella Curtis, Chaser
Alumnus
House: Pecari
Written by: Joella Curtis

Age in Post: 15

What are you waiting on? by Joella Curtis, Chaser
Joella was nearing the end of her fifth year of Sonora now and also her fifth year as a Chaser on the Pecari Quidditch team. Old and new faces had come and gone during this time but never had it stopped feeling like a team, and neither would it in the future. One thing the Pecari had to remind herself was that it wouldn’t all fall apart with Liliana and Atlas gone, it would just fall onto her shoulders and she was ready for that. This certainly wasn’t the first time she’d felt sentimental about a team captain leaving and it certainly wouldn’t be the last - she had a good two years before she would find herself becoming the departed but she knew that would be the hardest.

It was clear to anyone, insider or outsider, that Joella loved her team. They all had a shared interest and dedication, putting in the hours and working extremely hard to reach a common goal, and that meant a lot to her. Ben and Ingrid she felt especially proud of whenever they really displayed the best of their abilities on the pitch, not because she took credit for their talent but because she had spent endless hours working alongside them to hone said talent so knew of their devotion and was pleased to see it pay off, for them more than anyone. Admittedly with such a devoted captain, it was sometimes difficult to see where Liliana’s dedication stopped and the rest of the team’s began but Joella was very keen to think that no one begrudged the time that they spent trying to reach as high as they possibly could.

Her pass to Ben went smoothly as she had anticipated, so she was safe in continuing up towards the Aladren hoops without having to hurriedly scramble back the other way to try and salvage the Quaffle again. The second year boy really seemed to have grown into the Chaser position nicely but Joella was aware that he had always wanted to play as Beater, which he would undoubtedly be doing next year with Atlas graduating and no obvious competition for the spot. Joella thought she would miss working with him as closely as she did now, being fellow Chasers, although at the same time felt happy for him that he was finally going to be able to take on his preferred position (if that was still his wish). It did also seem more reassuring that he would be joining Sammy to make up the Beater duo, rather than a young and far less experienced student. Even if Ben hadn’t had the opportunity to play a competitive match at Sonora as a Beater, he had a least been able to experience playing in matches so knew what to expect which accounted for a great deal.

The plan from there on out was that the three Pecari Chasers would continue to pass amongst themselves without interruption, all the way up until they reached the scoring area where Theodore sat waiting. Once there, they would then score the first goal of the game and all would be looking up for the Boars. As it turned out, however, the blue-robed Chasers were not willing to let them have it so easily. Jack Spencer was proving to rival his older brother’s reputation with his quality performance on the pitch today. That wasn't to say that Joella had overlooked or dismissed all previous performances of his but merely that in this match she was more alert to it than ever. He had now succeeded in positioning himself perfectly to intercept a Pecari pass for a second time.

Joella wasn’t about to complain too much as she did love the thrill of competition and that wonderful feeling when she had to really fight for a win, rather than having it handed to her on a silver platter which just made one feel like they didn’t actually deserve it because there had been no real opposition for it. Of course, in theory, the idea of a smooth run all the way to the Aladren end of the pitch was tantalising, but the fifth year was aware that constantly being unchallenged could very quickly grow boring and therefore she chose to step up to the plate eagerly.

Whatever stance she chose to take, it didn’t really matter. Joella’s location in relation to the Quaffle in comparison to that of her teammates’ was not nearly so ideal and thus they were quicker off the mark, the pair of them really pulling through and giving their all. It did not escape Joella’s notice how Ingrid and Sammy formed a deadly combination involving a well-aimed bludger which led to an impressive interception. The two girls worked well together but it only made Joella bite her lip subconsciously as it prompted her to think even more about how much she didn’t want to drive a wedge between them and create rivalry within the team, especially between two key players.

The Quaffle was back in Ben’s possession and as he neared the scoring area, Joella readied herself close by to provide back-up irrelevant of the outcome of the shot, paying careful attention to the whereabouts of the Aladren Chasers as Theodore would pass out to them. It had certainly looked for a moment like Ben was going to take a shot, Joella’s heart in her throat as she anticipated her teammate seizing his chance to shine and make his team all the more proud of him. But then he seemed to change his mind and pass up the glorious opportunity, sending the scarlet ball Ingrid’s way. Had he simply folded under the pressure of going up against Theodore Wolseithcrafte? Was the importance of the championships getting to him? Joella couldn’t think of any other reasons why Ben might give away his shot when he clearly was in a good position to take it. Or maybe she could and that was the reason behind her frown as she watched her fellow female Chaser swoop in and take that golden moment for herself.

Ingrid was a fantastic player, clearly Quidditch talent ran in the family, but Theodore was her brother and therefore knew her playing well so Joella couldn’t be sure whether the odds were in Pecari’s favour or not. The third year’s chosen manoeuvre was skilfully executed and Joella couldn’t help yelling “nice one!” even though that didn’t remotely cut it. Ingrid had just outplayed her older brother and she’d done it with so much style. Joella was sure the younger girl would be so so pleased with that, and she should be unapologetically proud about it too.

Joella didn’t blame Ben at all if the pressure had got to him. It happened to everyone at some point or another and he was the youngest player on the team (reserves aside). But that didn’t stop her wishing he had gone for it because, just as Liliana had said in her pep talk, she had faith in him. Theodore was a great Keeper, for sure, but he was not unbeatable (as Ingrid had so impressively just proved) and if this was Ben’s last game as a Chaser, scoring against him would be a pretty awesome way of securing the fact that he had done so well in the position, whether it was his preferred or not. Joella was confident enough that she and her teammates now had their game faces fully on, however, meaning there would be plenty more chances for Ben to make that goal he apparently hadn’t been quite ready for just yet.

Theodore passed out to Louis Valois - of course, the player that she wasn’t marking. Joella darted after him instantly, having to make a split decision (since he hared off so fast) whether to chase his tail or to keep close to one of his teammates so she’d be ready to intercept when he passed. She chose the former because there were two passing options for him anyway.

Joella wasn’t surprised by the speeds that Louis seemed to access so swiftly. Like herself, he clearly had a top quality broom, but it was one thing having such a broom and another to be able to control it for all its sensitivity. Louis seemed fully confident at handling it though and Joella had to work very hard as she attempted to close up the gap between her and the Aladren. He covered a lot of ground up the pitch and she was beginning to think she might have been too ambitious, given that there had been enough distance between them at the start that she hadn’t even been able to try and intercept the Keeper’s pass out to him to begin with.

What did take Joella by surprise, however, was when Louis turned so sharply without warning. He hadn’t even slowed down as he veered off at a right angle and proceeded to pass to a teammate. From the actions of that one Chaser, the enemy had already made good progress in removing the threat of the Pecari Chasers towards their Keeper and Joella was impressed. She wasn’t about to accept such defeat though. Just because Louis had managed to get the Quaffle away from himself without her interception, that didn’t mean it wouldn’t shortly work its way back into Pecari hands.

There wasn’t a great deal of distance between Louis and the potential recipient of his pass so Joella figured she could quickly switch her course and catch up with them before they managed to get too far with the Quaffle. They would definitely know about it when she reached them because she very much planned to physically intimidate them with her presence close to their side, so that they might find it very difficult to pass again.

8 Joella Curtis, Chaser What are you waiting on? 295 Joella Curtis, Chaser 0 5

Jamie Park, Seeker
August 20, 2016 1:40 AM

Jamie Park, Seeker
Alumnus
House: Pecari
Written by: Rhy

Age in Post: 16

I'm sticking with you by Jamie Park, Seeker
“Speak English, dork” Jamie uttered with an eye roll, as Clark gabbled on about the odds of Jamie beating him (or not). The exchange of insults, however, was cut short by the more pressing threat of the Bludger from Sammy.

Clark was cutting it fine. He definitely had more mettle than Jamie had given him credit for. In fact, the sweat was starting to bead on Jamie’s forehead. He would have liked to be diving right about now…. Sure, the Bludger might hit Clark, which would absorb a heck of a lot of impact, but he was so close that Clark would probably crash into him. And if Clark dove, did he have enough time to make the same move?

He broke before Clark did. He peeled away in case the other boy did get hit, more wanting to avoid the collision from Clark than from the Bludger. When Clark dove, Jamie followed. A split second behind (but far enough from the Bludger now for this not to matter) in order to tie himself back to Clark’s side. The Bludger having split them, he was a prime target for Bennett, as well as it being sod’s law that the Snitch would choose that moment to appear, next to Clark.

And then Leonidas was back in, protecting Clark, which - as Jamie pulled level again with the other Seeker - meant he had his back too.

13 Jamie Park, Seeker I'm sticking with you 284 Jamie Park, Seeker 0 5

Atlas Primred, Beater
August 20, 2016 5:48 AM

Atlas Primred, Beater
Alumnus
House: Pecari
Written by:

Age in Post: 17

*Getcha, Getcha head in the game* by Atlas Primred, Beater
At the impact Atlas froze. He felt his stomach sink in the most unpleasant way possible, sending all the blood away from his limbs. It was all his fault.

The fact that his incompetence allowed Ingrid to come to harm, even if it was just her broom, was enough to send Atlas' mind spinning. His body continued to stay in the game, trying it's best to follow and gaurd his teammates, but his mind was in chaos. Why hadn’t he been faster, more focused, more accurate. Perhaps the nostalga had gotten to him? Even so that was no excuse. He thought for a moment what he would say to Ingrid. Of course in Quidditch these things happened, but that didn't make Atlas feel any better.

He could hear the cracks of the Beaters’ bats echoing around him, but his mind was blocked, clouded with self doubt. All he could do was follow his Chasers and hope to merlin that he doesn’t mess up again. He couldn’t. He gripped his broom, trying to force himself to come back to the game, to separate his guilt from the rest of his mind. There would be plenty of time to kick himself later, but now he needed to focus. Focus, focus, FOCUS his mind pleaded. He began to feel angry. Yes, thats what he needed. A desire for redemption, and the anger to fuel it.

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed between the initial incident and the present, but by the time he started paying attention again, they had already repositioned. Trying his best to keep up, he searched for a Bludger or another crack of a bat. He took this lull as a time to steady himself mentally and physically. He would be ready for the next one. It wasn’t until he saw a blue robe moving to make contact with a Bludger that Atlas’ gripped his bat firmly ready to spring into action. The crack sent a much needed shock through his nerves, still not enough to clear the reamining fog but feasible for the time being.

Following the path of Leonidas’ Bludger, he shot forward thinking quickly about where to send it. Although not really paying that much attention, he was able to remember a good portion of the field layout now that the fighting adrenaline was pumping through him again. One of the Crotalus Chasers was too close to Joella to be a safe move, so making a quick decision he decided to hit it towards one of the other Crotali Chasers. It was a little less planned a move than before, but since his best laid plans had already gone awry he may as well go with his gut. He was a Pecari after all, thinking with his gut was the only way to live. It was the only way to win. When he looked back on this game, Atlas knew that he wanted to remember doing everything in his power to succeed. Now wasn’t the time to think, it was the time to feel.

0 Atlas Primred, Beater *Getcha, Getcha head in the game* 276 Atlas Primred, Beater 0 5

Jamie Park
August 21, 2016 9:43 PM

Jamie Park
Alumnus
House: Pecari
Written by: Rhy

Age in Post: 16

I... got it?! by Jamie Park
Jamie saw the glint of gold and dived. He’d worked out that would have to be his strategy. No feinting, no pretending he hadn’t seen it and hoping Clark didn’t because most past evidence suggested he would. The only option would be getting the jump on him, by setting out first and by trusting his broom to win in a race.

As he closed in on the little gold ball, he shifted forward as much as he dared, hand outstretched. Normally he was the perfect build for a Seeker, being on the small and skinny side, but it could be a disadvantage here, where Clark’s height and long limbs might make up for what his broom lacked. He leant around slightly, trying to shield the Snitch, trying to use his body to block any grabs Clark might make at it with his stupid spaghetti arms.

The moment where his fingers closed around the ball was utterly surreal. It didn’t feel like it could have just happened. He forgot slightly to brake, doing so a little late and tumbling off his broom in a heap on the ground. And then he stood up, waving his hand in the air. He had done it! He had won them the championships! He couldn’t wait to get back to the dorm, for the party where he was going to be hero of the hour… For now though, there was just one word on his lips.

“PE-CA-RI, PE-CA-RI!”

13 Jamie Park I... got it?! 284 Jamie Park 0 5

Coach Grase
August 22, 2016 1:35 AM

Coach Grase
Peripheral
Written by:

Pecari wins! 180-30! Congrats! (nm) by Coach Grase

0 Coach Grase Pecari wins! 180-30! Congrats! (nm) 0 Coach Grase 0 5

Coach Grase

Championship Game! Pecari vs. Aladren by Coach Grase

<font color="tan">Captain Bannister, Keeper</font>

We are the champions, my friends! by <font color="tan">Captain Bannister, Keeper</font>

<font color='tan'>Joella Curtis, Chaser</font>

And we'll keep on fighting 'til the end. by <font color='tan'>Joella Curtis, Chaser</font>

<font color='tan'>Atlas Primred, Beater</font>

No matter what Bludgers are ahead. by <font color='tan'>Atlas Primred, Beater</font>

<font color="blue">Captain Bennett, Beater</font>

Once more to victory, Aladren. by <font color="blue">Captain Bennett, Beater</font>

<font color='blue'>Louis Valois, Chaser</font>

No time for you losers, 'cause <i>we</i> are the champions! by <font color='blue'>Louis Valois, Chaser</font>

<font color="blue">John Umland, Beater</font>

What Louis said. by <font color="blue">John Umland, Beater</font>

<font color="blue">Arianna Valenti, Chaser</font>

It appears we are in agreement by <font color="blue">Arianna Valenti, Chaser</font>

<font color=tan>Ben Pierce, Chaser</font>

Wait a minute, I disagree! by <font color=tan>Ben Pierce, Chaser</font>

<font color='tan'>Atlas Primred, Beater</font>

I got your back Ben! by <font color='tan'>Atlas Primred, Beater</font>

<font color="blue">Jack Spencer, Chaser</font>

Not for long. by <font color="blue">Jack Spencer, Chaser</font>

<font color="blue">John Umland, Beater</font>

Yes, I'm afraid I must interfere. by <font color="blue">John Umland, Beater</font>

<font color='blue'>Louis Valois, Chaser</font>

Oh, how <i>sad</i> by <font color='blue'>Louis Valois, Chaser</font>

<font color= "blue">Arianna Valenti, Chaser</font>

I will not throw away my shot by <font color= "blue">Arianna Valenti, Chaser</font>

<font color='tan'>Ingrid W, Chaser</font>

Pride comes before a what now? by <font color='tan'>Ingrid W, Chaser</font>

<font color=blue>Clark Dill, Seeker</font>

Works for me by <font color=blue>Clark Dill, Seeker</font>

<font color="tan">Sammy Meeks, Beater</font>

I have a different idea. by <font color="tan">Sammy Meeks, Beater</font>

<font color="tan">Liliana Bannister, Keeper</font>

They say a fall so let's hope it applies to Aladrens, too. by <font color="tan">Liliana Bannister, Keeper</font>

<font color='tan'>Joella Curtis, Chaser</font>

I'm confident that it does. by <font color='tan'>Joella Curtis, Chaser</font>

<font color=tan>Ben Pierce, Chaser</font>

Making a pass within scoring range by <font color=tan>Ben Pierce, Chaser</font>

<font color="blue">Jack Spencer, Chaser</font>

Pardon my reach. by <font color="blue">Jack Spencer, Chaser</font>

<font color="blue">John Umland, Beater</font>

Carry on. by <font color="blue">John Umland, Beater</font>

<font color='blue'>Louis Valois, Aladren</font>

I'll do just that! by <font color='blue'>Louis Valois, Aladren</font>

<font color="tan">Sammy Meeks, Beater</font>

Nah, fam. by <font color="tan">Sammy Meeks, Beater</font>

<font color='tan'>Ingrid W, Chaser</font>

Let's put things right by <font color='tan'>Ingrid W, Chaser</font>

<font color='tan'>Jamie Park, Seeker</font>

I like hers better by <font color='tan'>Jamie Park, Seeker</font>

<font color=blue>Clark, Seeker</font>

So what you're saying is that I am going *down* by <font color=blue>Clark, Seeker</font>

Ben Pierce, Pecari Chaser

Yeah, I ... you do that by Ben Pierce, Pecari Chaser

<font color="blue">Leonidas Bennett, Beater</font>

Not the way she meant! by <font color="blue">Leonidas Bennett, Beater</font>

Ingrid

- recentering - (nm) by Ingrid

<font color='tan'>Ingrid W, Chaser</font>

[Recentering] Up to me by <font color='tan'>Ingrid W, Chaser</font>

<font color='blue'>Theodore W, Keeper</font>

She shoots... by <font color='blue'>Theodore W, Keeper</font>

<font color='blue'>Louis Valois, Chaser</font>

Let's get our heads in the game! by <font color='blue'>Louis Valois, Chaser</font>

<font color='tan'>Joella Curtis, Chaser</font>

What are you waiting on? by <font color='tan'>Joella Curtis, Chaser</font>

<font color='tan'>Jamie Park, Seeker</font>

I'm sticking with you by <font color='tan'>Jamie Park, Seeker</font>

<font color='tan'>Atlas Primred, Beater</font>

*Getcha, Getcha head in the game* by <font color='tan'>Atlas Primred, Beater</font>

Jamie Park

I... got it?! by Jamie Park

Coach Grase

Pecari wins! 180-30! Congrats! (nm) by Coach Grase

So what you're saying is that I am going down by <font color=blue>Clark, Seeker</font>

Getcha, Getcha head in the game by <font color='tan'>Atlas Primred, Beater</font>