While the living competitors wrestled with the shifting magic woven through the pitch's airspace, Edgar drifted through it all with effortless disdain, gliding cleanly through bronze shimmer and spiraling corkscrews through silver haze without so much as a hitch in his momentum.

The pitch's enchantments relied on nerves, pulse, muscle — all the inconvenient liabilities of being alive.

One of the few professional advantages of being dead, he supposed.

“Interesting choice, García Massey,” Edgar observed as the third deliberately angled herself into the gold shimmer after surviving silver. “Good flyers do not avoid difficult airspace simply because it is inconvenient.”

Quidditch was played rain, shine, or torrential downpour, after all.

Edgar zipped along just off to the Gryffindor's right as the the startled laugh escaped her in the acceleration burst. “Ah. There it is. Never trust a player who does not occasionally smile while flying.”

He veered off them, entering Amstern's airspace and offered an approving nod as he zipped past overhead.

“Measured entry into the Fast Zone, very sensible," he noted, glancing ahead briefly and then back to the fifth year. "Adapt quickly, Amstern. You're world is about to turn upside down.”

And, for emphasis, the ghost promptly rotated upside down himself before zipping off through the air in a backwards corkscrew.

“Steady, Porter,” Edgar called gently as Bea crawled through the silver shimmer. “Some players simply think better with time to process, so consider it a gift and extra time to get acquainted with your school broom.”

Edgar then drifted alongside Singh-Phora while the boy adjusted more confidently through the silver distortion.

“Better, Singh-Phora. You are beginning to anticipate the broom instead of reacting to it.”

The rainbow scrunchie earned a visible pause from Edgar mid-glide.

“…better, Thanatos-Misra,” he admitted, sounding faintly relieved. “At least now you can actually see where you’re going.”

And then, came the gleeful burst through the golden sheen. Excellent. Another one who enjoyed velocity and smiled wide while flying.

A sharp shrill cut suddenly across the pitch as Edgar lifted the silver whistle to his lips once again and blew hard enough for the sound to echo through the stands.

"Bring it in," he called as he drifted lower himself, one hand making a slow circling motion toward the grass below. “Low altitude again. Toes brushing the pitch, please.”

He waited until student regrouped nearer the ground.

“Excellent. You now possess at least a basic understanding of today’s conditions.” He tucked the whistle neatly away before clasping his hands behind his back once more. “We move now to scrimmage play.”

His translucent form drifted sideways across the gathered hopefuls, eyes sharp and assessing.

“You may choose your own side for the time being. Team Orange or Team Teal.” Clever, was it not? Red and yellow made orange while blue and green made teal — a compromise between House divisions he had considered enforcing and ultimately decided against while the luxury of flexible play still remained. “When declaring your side, you will also declare the position you intend to try out for. Your training bibs will adjust accordingly.” He patted his chest twice with his palm. “Snitch for Seekers. Quaffle for Chasers. Bat for Beaters. Hoops for Keepers. And while aware some of you may believe yourselves capable of playing every position simultaneously... you are encouraged to resist this belief.”

His expression sharpened mildly, but there was a hint of a smile.

“The preference is to remain consistent throughout the tryout. However, should you absolutely insist upon changing positions mid-scrimmage, you will declare it clearly so your bib may update properly.”

Edgar slowly floated backwards now, giving the hopefuls room to begin organizing themselves.

“Choose quickly. Quidditch rewards decisiveness considerably more often than hesitation. ”

Edgar lingered only long enough for the final few bibs to flicker and change color before giving a sharp nod of approval.

“Excellent. Once your side and position have been declared, take to the air.”

The ghost drifted backward across the pitch as broomsticks moved more skyward, teal and orange now scattered across the airspace beneath the shifting sky spaces. Only once enough players had risen did Edgar slowly turn toward the large crate resting near the broom racks and raised one of his translucent hands.

“Release.”

The lid burst open at once. A Quaffle shot skyward first in a streak of red leather, followed almost immediately by two violently spinning Bludgers that tore into the air with eager dangerous energy. A split second later came the Snitch — a tiny flash of gold that zipped upward in an erratic spiral before vanishing somewhere high above the pitch.

“Begin.”

____________________________

OOC: This scrimmage portion of tryouts will continue through approximately May 17th, so there is plenty of time to get posts in to satisfy tryout activity requirements.

Please have your character call out:

• their team choice (Team Orange or Team Teal)
• and the position they are primarily trying out for (Seeker, Chaser, Beater, or Keeper)

Once declared, their white training bib will magically update (front and back) to reflect both their team color and position symbol:
Snitch = Seeker
Quaffle = Chaser
Bat = Beater
Hoops = Keeper

Please try to keep team numbers relatively balanced as characters choose sides. Characters are encouraged to stick to one position throughout tryouts for evaluation purposes, but if they do decide to switch positions during the scrimmage this is perfectly acceptable and simply have them state the change aloud and their bib will update automatically.

Please also keep an eye on posts from The Narrator account throughout the scrimmage! There may be Snitch sightings, Bludger interference, additional Quaffle opportunities, shifting pitch conditions, and other surprises woven into the thread as things progress. There are NPC students trying out alongside your characters as well, after all