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Charles Hollingberry EraAll historical records pertaining to Ministry of Magic RPG under Minister for Magic, Charles Hollingberry [IC March 2097 - present; OOC November 2018 - present]
Children who have signed up for the Gobstones camp hosted by the Department of Magical Games and Sports and the Hereford Hippogriffs, have received instructions to arrive at the Hereford Hippogriffs Headquarters in Hereford, England, precisely at 9 in the morning. While an unassuming building on the outside, inside you find a large open room with a high ceiling. The floor in the center of the room is set lower than the floor around the walls, and can be reached by walking down one of many sets of three wide, shallow stairs.
Parents can sign their children in with the employee by the door, and come back at the end of the day to retrieve hopefully happy children.
While waiting for everyone to arrive, go ahead and explore--there are championship banners and posters featuring former Hippogriffs players around the room, or you could have a go at the "Mini Billiards" aiming activity set up in the center, lower floor area.
SPOILER!!: Mini Billiards
Need to work on your aim? No problem! Several sets of marbles are arrayed, with target areas marked on the floor. Simply choose a marble, and use it to knock other marbles of the same color scheme into one of the target areas! This game doesn't keep score, but if another player accidentally knocks your color out of the target area, you might want to knock it back in!
*OOC Note: if you didn't sign up here beforehand, you are still welcome to participate, just put your character's name and age in the title of your first.post and they'll be added.to the list.
Did Brie know ANYTHING about Gobstones? Truthfully, not in the slightest. But she'd heard something about the game potentially involving getting m e s s y but even BETTER getting OTHER people messy. And wreaking havoc and chaos happened to be some of her FAVORITE things to do. Thankfully, it was really easy when your siblings all added up to essentially the roster of a Quidditch team. There was always someone to upset bother. And while the triplets were a pretty easy target, her favorite?
Daddy, by far. But she was quite certain he loved that about her.
Which was PROBABLY why he'd signed her up so fast for this event and was the first one in the door to sign her in and the fastest out afterwords. She was sure he just didn't want her to see him get all emotional about having to spent such a long day without her. Silly daddy.
Skipping her way around the room, she BEAMED at all the adults - trying to present for the beginning as the most perfectest of little angels. And she explored looking at all the plaques and everything on the wall, which were very shiny and pretty! Did she know what any of them were for? Absolutely not, as that would require reading and she had yet to master this skill, BUT she could still appreciate the golden shine.
Would there be trophies at this event too?? She would like the biggest one.
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Let them point and laugh at who we are, it's you and me here dancing from the start
Raspberry Jam | #ChocolateFrogFamous | Ultimate Fangirl
Signing up for the Gobstones summer camp seemed like a no brainer at the time, as it was a game he had played many times a child and what a good way to make new friends. But upon his arrival, he was feeling a pit of regret in his stomach. Of course, his mum had forced him to go through with it, despite his incessant moaning about the fact that it would probably be full of tiny kids, which he was NOT anymore.
After she had signed him in, goodbyes to his mother were short and sulky (mostly because otherwise he would be fighting back tears) and with his rucksack packed with a hearty packed lunch, Solomon carried on through to the building without looking back.
He chose to busy himself at the Mini Billiards activity, rather than skip round the room with the other tiny kid that was here.
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who could love me, I am out of my mind___________________________ _________________throwing a line out to sea to see if I can catch a dream
After she had signed him in, goodbyes to his mother were short and sulky (mostly because otherwise he would be fighting back tears) and with his rucksack packed with a hearty packed lunch, Solomon carried on through to the building without looking back.
He chose to busy himself at the Mini Billiards activity, rather than skip round the room with the other tiny kid that was here.
Why had she decided to sign up for this? Maria asked herself for the sixth time this day. She knew absolutely nothing about the sport of gobstoens, and truth be told no sense of hand and ball coordination. How many balls hadn't she dropped, not caught or thrown in the lake to this day? Jerald had though still insisted that this would be good for her. To meet other children, and possibly make some new friends, and not just think about her mernapped daddy.
After saying goodbye to Jerald at the door, Maria waved 'hi' at the adults present before going over to the mini billiards activity. She knew nothing about what to do or how it worked, so she sidled up beside another boy about her age asking as she surveyed the marbles with confusion in her dark eyes...."Hi, um are you just supposed to throw marbles around?" It seemed pointless.
Raspberry Jam | #ChocolateFrogFamous | Ultimate Fangirl
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nordic Witch
Why had she decided to sign up for this? Maria asked herself for the sixth time this day. She knew absolutely nothing about the sport of gobstoens, and truth be told no sense of hand and ball coordination. How many balls hadn't she dropped, not caught or thrown in the lake to this day? Jerald had though still insisted that this would be good for her. To meet other children, and possibly make some new friends, and not just think about her mernapped daddy.
After saying goodbye to Jerald at the door, Maria waved 'hi' at the adults present before going over to the mini billiards activity. She knew nothing about what to do or how it worked, so she sidled up beside another boy about her age asking as she surveyed the marbles with confusion in her dark eyes...."Hi, um are you just supposed to throw marbles around?" It seemed pointless.
Seems he had arrived to camp in good time because it wasn’t too long before he was joined by someone who looked more his age. Now he didn’t feel so embarrassed. He hadn’t started to play yet when she approached him.
Solly stared blankly at the girl as she asked a stupid question, before realising that others may have signed up for camp to LEARN something rather than just perfecting an already there skill (like he was). His expression softened, a little. “Best to roll it,” in his opinion. Actually, he wasn’t even sure if you were allowed to throw the marbles at all so maybe his knowledge wasn’t as up to scratch as he first thought. “You’re supposed to roll a coloured marble to try and knock other, same coloured marbles into the rings. Let me show you how it’s done.” Ready for some professional rolling????
He chose an orange marble and concentrated on the closest ring. He gently rolled it and missed the orange target completely, instead knocking into a green marble. Solly frowned hard and scratched the back of his head before turning back to the girl. “You know, I haven’t played this in yearrrrrrsssss…” the brunette stood aside politely and gestured for her to take a turn. There’s no way she could do a worse job than he had.
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who could love me, I am out of my mind___________________________ _________________throwing a line out to sea to see if I can catch a dream
~ Mrs. Steve Harrington ~ It be like that sometimes.
Adi knew the moment that he shared the news of the Gobstones camp with his children, Dynah would be the first to show interest. How right he had been. The excitement and interest was evident at present on the ten year old’s face as they walked side by side into the room where the camp would be held. This was obviously very familiar territory for him as he had been playing for the Hippogriffs since the age of seventeen. “Go make some friends,’’ Adi encouraged his daughter, though that was unnecessary: Dy was super social like he was! He watched her run off before he turned to survey those young ones already there.
Naturally there were already eager beavers enjoying the activity that had been set up for their entertainment. Adi drifted towards the mini billiards. For now. He first paused by Solomon and Maria. Not wanting to break the boy’s concentration, he simply observed the skills {or lack of} on display. Solomon seemed to have a good understanding of the game and when he missed his roll, Adi was still appreciative of the effort. “That was still a good try, you know. Even professionals miss on occasions.” Adi had the experience to back up that claim, both his own and from watching his fellow players. “Why don’t you give it a shot?’’ He offered Maria a smile.
Dynah was excited beyond words! Besides playing the violin, there was nothing she loved more than a good game of Gobstones. Her daddy often took her to his matches because of her interest and though she wasn’t as good as he was, she planned to be. Someday. “You know I will, daddy!” Dy giggled, gave him a fleeting hug around the waist then bustled off. She literally skipped off in the direction of the girl admiring the stuff on the wall.
“One day, my daddy’s gonna be up there,’’ Dy announced, coming to a halt beside Brie. “And he’s gonna be one of the most famous players in history even when he’s retired.” Uh huh. The ten year old knew it. “Is the Griffs your favourite team?” There was only one correct answer to this!
Wiley Whittebrook knew lots of stuff about Gobstones. His grandad owned the Tinworth Talons, after all, and he got to go to plenty of matches. He didn't play it too much though because it was a little bit boring, even if he wouldn't exactly tell his grandpa that. But it was fun enough, even for a little bit, and so he was pretty eager when Grandad asked him if he wanted to go to this camp. Plus there would be kids his age and he always liked making new friends.
Wiley wasn't sure if Grandad was going to hang around and talk to the players or whatever, but he was quick to tell him goodbye so he could run off and get started. And headed straight for the couple of kids already gathered around the marbles. They all looked about his age too!
"Hey! Can I play too?" he crouched down a bit next to the two currently engaged in the activity (Maria and Solomon). It looked a liiiittle bit different than gobstones, but kinda the same! And he liked playing games with other kids anyway!
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Phoenix was here too and he more or less sauntered in, not quite ready to just jump in like the kid ahead of him did. He was more the type to observe and assess first before deciding what next step to take. And he really did enjoy playing gobstones, having plenty of experience playing it recreationally and at Hogwarts last year. But he thought he'd hang back just a bit until they officially got started.
He kind of knew Maria from school and watched her a moment as she played with a couple boys who looked to be their age too. But it seemed more like practice than anything else. He was more interested in playing a game or working on some specific skills. It was early though, so hopefully there was still time to do that. Meanwhile, Phoenix started wandering through the area, pausing to look at the different players photographs and championship banners. "Does your dad play?" he asked the girl near him who was chattering on about how he would be there one day. Or was she just hopeful?
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started like a knight in a fairytale_______________________________________________
ended like a moth in flames______________________ ______________________don't you worry I'll be fine _________________________________________________you were good for the plot line
Solly stared blankly at the girl as she asked a stupid question, before realising that others may have signed up for camp to LEARN something rather than just perfecting an already there skill (like he was). His expression softened, a little. “Best to roll it,” in his opinion. Actually, he wasn’t even sure if you were allowed to throw the marbles at all so maybe his knowledge wasn’t as up to scratch as he first thought. “You’re supposed to roll a coloured marble to try and knock other, same coloured marbles into the rings. Let me show you how it’s done.” Ready for some professional rolling????
He chose an orange marble and concentrated on the closest ring. He gently rolled it and missed the orange target completely, instead knocking into a green marble. Solly frowned hard and scratched the back of his head before turning back to the girl. “You know, I haven’t played this in yearrrrrrsssss…” the brunette stood aside politely and gestured for her to take a turn. There’s no way she could do a worse job than he had.
Quote:
Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19
Naturally there were already eager beavers enjoying the activity that had been set up for their entertainment. Adi drifted towards the mini billiards. For now. He first paused by Solomon and Maria. Not wanting to break the boy’s concentration, he simply observed the skills {or lack of} on display. Solomon seemed to have a good understanding of the game and when he missed his roll, Adi was still appreciative of the effort. “That was still a good try, you know. Even professionals miss on occasions.” Adi had the experience to back up that claim, both his own and from watching his fellow players. “Why don’t you give it a shot?’’ He offered Maria a smile.
Maria just knew that after she had bubbled out that question the way she had that the other boy would think that she was dumbstupid. She was waiting on such a comment when the boy totally surprised her with a soft expression and just an instruction on how to play. Maria watched intently and curiously as the boy (Solomon) picked up an orange marble and rolled it toward a ring. Still a little confuzzled she asked quietly. "Why isn't it allowed to throw the marble? You do that in other games, don't you?" At least in some muggle games, she couldn't remember the name of.
Taking up a pink marble she was about to give it a go when an adult came over and gave the boy beside her some praise for his shot, even though it had totally missed the target. A little encouraged, but wary that she'd do it wrong Maria adviced the boy (Solomon) beside her..."You might want to take a few steps back...I don't er aim very well..." It was a fact.. Furrowing her eyebrows in concentration Maria rolled away her pink marble with so much unneccessary force and elbow swinging that it practically jumped over the orange ball and missed all the rings. Embarassed she felt her face go hot as she said eyes cast down to the marbles. "I uh don't know what i did wrong...."
Quote:
Originally Posted by emjay
Wiley wasn't sure if Grandad was going to hang around and talk to the players or whatever, but he was quick to tell him goodbye so he could run off and get started. And headed straight for the couple of kids already gathered around the marbles. They all looked about his age too!
"Hey! Can I play too?" he crouched down a bit next to the two currently engaged in the activity (Maria and Solomon). It looked a liiiittle bit different than gobstones, but kinda the same! And he liked playing games with other kids anyway!
Her face was still burning hot with embarrassment after her safe to say very badly exceuted roll, and now another boy had to join them and see that. Maria felt outnumbered. Now she was the only girl in a group of 3 males. Plastering on a smile that definitley was forced if not strained she mumbled to him (Wiley). "You can give it a try now if you want?" The longer it took before she had to roll a marble again the better.
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Benjee had thought that the early mornings required to offer his time and skill for this camp would have bothered him. It didn't. At all. In fact he found himself waking up well before his alarm and getting ready with swift efficiency. It was a bit surreal that this would be his last summer with his captaincy with the Junior Hippogriffs, but it just meant that next summer he would be making final decisions on his plethora of professional options he was sure to get. Big headed? Maybe a little, but it was not without justification.
Coming back into the space with the box of spare bits as requested, it was really hard not to go into total fanboy mod. Yes, he had his professional mentors and he had rubbed elbows with many professional players because of Uncle Milo and, now, his girlfriend's family connections...but this was different. This was rubbing elbows and working alongside people whose posters or trading cards or articles he had collected, hung up, and read about over the years. Aditya Atreyu-Rehman was practically legendary and had been playing the sport before Benjee had even been born! He also had had an embarrassing little school boy crush on Brynja Dalgaard-Ward whenever Uncle Milo had brought him to practices. Unless he was blending people together - Uncle Milo had always had a knack for finding beautiful women - but, well, there was a certain familiarity there regardless. He knew he had at least three of her trading cards.
Anyway, the spirit of the late Gobstones Division Manager was alive and well in Benjee Marchbanks today - and he would do his best to keep his gawking internal while he world alongside the greats.
"Where would you like me to put these?" he asked the boss lady as he presented her with the very box in question. His eyes, naturally, looked around for his own cousin and Autumn's. Phoenix was super easy to spot, which resulted in a little cool bro inclination of the head and accompanying grin to him as well as his little friend the young Ravenclaw had come to a stop beside. Wiley was a little more difficult to spot and by the time he had the little dude was already immersing himself into the game and joining two other kids - who all got little pseudo celebrity waves.
His job here would be easy if this was the tone of things.
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When you’re stuck in a moment and your spark has been stolen .................................................. ........... this is our time to own it, so own it..................................... baby we were born withfire and gold in our eyes
Last edited by sweetpinkpixie; 08-14-2022 at 10:36 AM.
Raspberry Jam | #ChocolateFrogFamous | Ultimate Fangirl
The presence of grown ups eased Solomon’s increasing pressure to do well at the activity, especially hearing praise from Adi. Unbeknownst to this eleven year old, nobody cared about how well HE did, they were only worried about themselves. Like everything else in this world. “Thanks. I almost had it, that’s for sure.” Was he the guy in charge of all of the camp? Solly hoped so because he seemed nice.
He really had to fight himself to not roll his eyes at the first girl (Maria) who had spoken to him, as she was asking yet another stupid question. “Every game is different, you know. You don’t throw balls in EVERY game. Ask a grown up if you want to be sure.” Because honestly, her questioning had him doubting his own ideas.
Solly stood aside as the girl took her turn. He frowned hard as it looked as if she was aiming for his orange marble, but thankfully she had also missed her target completely. He was oddly satisfied at her failing. “It’s okay, sometimes takes a few goes.” He encouraged. That was his excuse, anyway.
“Sure,” Solly began as another (Wiley) had joined them. “If you think you can beat the two epic players before you.” He grinned a little before introducing himself to the pair. “Name’s Solly.”
He squinted down the way at an older kid (Benjee) who was waving towards him and the others, or so it looked. It was hard to tell from here who it was or if he knew him so Solomon decided to just blank them. Srry.
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who could love me, I am out of my mind___________________________ _________________throwing a line out to sea to see if I can catch a dream
"Ah, yes, I'll take those, thank you," Peggy said, accepting the box from the young...but not as young as the camp attendee of the same clan...Marchbanks boy. This would come in handy later on in the day.
Peggy was pleased to see that the children seemed to be enjoying themselves and getting along. Clipboard in hand, she'd been reviewing the rules of Gobstones herself, having never played professionally and barely even recreationally. It was quite a disappointment that her Gobstones Division Manager was unavailable today, but stepping in wasn't such a big deal since Lisa had left detailed instructions for the day.
Step one: greet the children.
Tucking the clipboard under her arm, Peggy walked into the center area to stand facing the groups of children and Gobstones players. She cleared her throat. "Good morning, everyone," she said, making sure to smile at each of the children, from the young six-year-olds like Brie to those of Hogwarts age like Solomon, Maria, and Phoenix, and those in between like Dynah and Wiley. "I'd like to first introduce you to our Gobstones experts for the day, Aditya Atreyu-Rehman of our local Hereford Hippogriffs, Brynja Dalgaard-Ward of the Tinworth Talons, and Junior Hippogriff Benjee Marchbanks," she said, gesturing to each in turn.
"We're going to quickly go over some Gobstones basics, so everyone knows the rules and then get you all back to playing and activities as soon as we can," Peggy said, smiling and adding some excitement to her voice. "In Gobstones, every player starts with 15 stones, and your goal is to knock all of your opponent's stones out of a ring drawn on the ground, sort of like these you've already seen. You've already played something similar, if you've played with the marbles here. We'll all stick to marbles for now, until we're ready for real matches. Sound good?" She smiled, relieved that switching out Gobstones for marbles had occurred to Lisa. She did not want to imagine the mess of a dozen children losing and being squirted with the Gobstones goo.
Peggy referred to the notes on her clipboard for the activities the Gobstones Division Manager had planned. "Let's go ahead and split into groups for our first activity. If you're new to Gobstones, we'll just be working on aiming, like in this activity. And if you've got aiming down, go ahead and gather up to talk strategy--how to decide which of your opponent's Gobstones to capture first, and how to protect your own." She nodded toward her Gobstones pros and Benjee, trusting they'd be able to answer any strategy questions she didn't know.
ooc: There's two activity options, theoretically divided bby skill level or age but you can pick whichever sounds better for your character(s). The activity descriptions are just the beginning, feel free to expand or be creative. Peggy is around for questions.
"Beginner" option is a continuation of the opening activity, using the colored marbles to practice aiming into the circle. Some ways to make this more difficult could be arranging other colors of marbles in the way, or trying to get into a smaller portion of the circle.
Strategy talk! The "advanced" option will share ideas about Gobstones strategies, both offensive (knocking opponents' stones out of the circle) and defensive (trying to keep your own stones in the circle). Some ways to make this more difficult could be trying someone else's strategy idea against them.
~ Mrs. Steve Harrington ~ It be like that sometimes.
Not surprisingly, soon after there were more kiddos {Wiley} joining the game. It pleased Adi immensely to see them diving into the activity. A quick check on his daughter told him that she was right at home and already interacting with others. And there was Benjee. The future of Gobstones was surely in more than capable hands with a player and team Captain like him. Adi sent the young man a friendly smile and a nod.
Though she need not be embarrassed, Adi understood that {Maria} wanted to do her best. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. Practice gives you all the tools you need to improve. That and experience, should you consider playing Gobstones as a professional or not.'' It was his aim to encourage as many of these young ones to take up Gobstones. Sadly, the game still wasn't as popular as Quidditch. “You’re welcome. And it’s great to meet you,’’ he told Solly. Then to the three kiddos, “I’m Aditya but call me Adi. I play for the Hereford Hippogriffs.” Since like… FOREVER! He was practically a dinosaur to Gobstones. “Any of you have your eyes set on joining the junior teams?”
With the Games and Sports Department Head kicking things off, Adi grinned at the kiddos and put a finger to his lips. Pay attention, kids! Everything the woman laid out was pretty straightforward for him and he was ready to multitask by helping with aims and strategies! But mainly strategy because he enjoyed picking his brain to come up with such.
“Let’s talk strategy, people. What ideas do you have? Don’t be shy, all ideas are welcome even if you think they’re not that brilliant.” Was he enthusiastic to hear all the things? Naturally! He might even learn a thing or two.
Dynah had been admiring the banners. Yes, her room was plastered with banners compliments of all of the matches she had attended. However, one could never have enough of them, okay?? Her gaze turned sharply to the older boy {Phoenix} who had joined her and she gave him her most exasperated stare. “OF COURSE he plays, Mister! In fact, he’s the best! He’s on the Hippogriffs team. That’s him over there.” Dy pointed an index finger in Adi’s direction. “Do you play?” the ten year old continued, lowering her finger and staring up at the boy.
Dy already had her aiming down so this meant she was to join the group that talked strategy. Then again, she already knew some good strategies. The little girl definitely had a upper hand here. Rather than join a group just yet, she eyed {Brie} and {Phoenix} curiously. “Do you two need to work on aim?” Perhaps Dy would just tag along with one or both of them if they’d let her.
Raspberry Jam | #ChocolateFrogFamous | Ultimate Fangirl
Solomon remained quiet as the person in charge started speaking, followed by his eyes widening at the mention of professionals being here. But SHOCKINGLY… a professional had JUST spoken to him, even complimented him, and he didn’t even know! (He wasn’t really clued up on professional Gobstones teams… more of a Quidditch kind of guy.) He shrugged coolly in response to Adi’s question. “I don’t think I’m good enough to be on a team,” he was so modest, “not nearly as good as YOU, anyway. I’m a big fan.” He lied. Turns out even if you were an unknown celebrity to someone, you were still pretty darn cool all the same.
He nodded knowingly as the lady went through the rules of Gobstones, because he knew them, duh. He then directed his nods towards other kids just so they knew that he knew what he was doing, too. Especially towards Maria.
“Are you both beginners?” He asked Maria and Wiley. Solly considered himself a beginner but it was important to establish the others first..
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who could love me, I am out of my mind___________________________ _________________throwing a line out to sea to see if I can catch a dream
Oh wow, that girl (Maria) was enthusiastic! Wiley almost got hit with her swinging elbow when she took her turn. But he could tell by her red face that she was pretty embarrassed that her marble went too far. Wiley did not like it when people felt bad and he was pretty good at cheering people up!
"That was a pretty good try, though!" Wiley told Maria encouragingly, even as the boy with them (Solly) basically told her the same. People could always use encouragement, and he agreed with that pro player guy who came over to talk to them. His dad always told him about how important practice was to get better at things even if you didn't think you were very good yet.
"My name's Wiley," he told the boy now known as Solly when he said his own name, though it was also for the benefit of the girl whose name he did not yet know too. Maybe she'd offered it before he got there. "Well, I'll give it a try!" he replied enthusiastically and picked up a red marble. He didn't know how good his gobstoning skills were since he didn't play on a team and only learned a little bit from his grandad. And speaking, of..
"I bet you know my Grandad," he cheerfully informed Adi of the Hereford Hippogriffs. "He owns the Tinworth Talons." Of course he knew that was a different team than the one this guy played on, but he figured all those pro Gobstones players and the like knew each other. Wiley turned his head to glance behind him and see if Grandad was still hanging around talking to people.
Anyway.. he turned back around to aim his shot, but before he could send it rolling, the lady in charge started talking. He was taught manners and knew that he should give her his attention the best he could, so he paused and listened to the instructions. Okay, yeah, he already knew who this Aditya guy was, so he nodded at that name, giving a glance to the guy that had come over to talk to them. And he knew who Brynja was! He gave her a wave. Oh, and there was Benjee! He gave him an enthusiastic wave too.
Wiley turned back to Solly and considered the question. "I guess so? I know how to play and stuff." Mostly. So maybe he wasn't really a beginner. "But I don't have a strategy." Sooo maybe he was better off with the beginners. But he'd also like to hang out with these two new friends, so where were they going?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Phoenix found the younger girl's (Dynah) exasperated stare to be kind of amusing, but he wasn't rude enough to laugh. Instead, his line of vision followed her outstretched finger to... Aditya Atreyu-Rehman. He knew who he was as Phoenix followed the pro teams fairly regularly. "Oh, wow, he's your dad?" The twelve year old looked back at the girl and gave her a smile. "Cool. I like the Hippogriffs." One of his favorite teams, actually. "Yeah, I play some. I bet you do too, huh?" Of course he wasn't as good as his cousin yet, but he did like to play when he could.
And speaking of his cousin, he quickly spotted Benjee as the older boy came back into the room with a box of supplies. He returned the bro nod and grin before turning his eyes to the woman calling for attention. It was a little disappointing that they wouldn't be using real gobstones, but he supposed he could still learn something and have some fun with the marbles too. He took a few steps towards Benjee. "Are you working with the strategy group?" Which would be cool since that was the group he would be in.. though maybe he would get the beginners since he was younger than the pros. Phoenix turned towards Adi when he heard him ask about strategy. Learning from a pro would be super cool, but he'd rather hear his advice first rather than toss out his own suggestions. "Do you like to focus more on offense or defense?"
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started like a knight in a fairytale_______________________________________________
ended like a moth in flames______________________ ______________________don't you worry I'll be fine _________________________________________________you were good for the plot line
~ Mrs. Steve Harrington ~ It be like that sometimes.
The encouragement from Wiley to Maria did not go unnoticed. This was the sort of behaviour that made a team strong. Once again, it was his experience speaking. OH? This was Matthew Whittebrook’s grandson? “Yes! I do know your grandfather. I would see him often at matches. He’s very dedicated to his team.’’ Adi eyed Wiley curiously. “Looking to follow in Matthew’s footsteps in terms of Gobstones?”
Adi was quite used to Gobstones not being as popular as Quidditch. He had been resigned to that fact since his time at Hogwarts when he played for Hufflepuff. There was still sufficient interest, however, that warranted the existence of Gobstones teams and of course, events such as these. Because of this, he was also used to not being constantly recognised. It didn’t bother him though; he was still a modest Hufflepuff at heart. There was also a little Slytherin in him, the part of him that made him regard Solly shrewdly. Sure, sure. Solly was a fan. That’s why there had been recognition on the boy’s part for Adi earlier. “Thank you,’’ the man replied all the same and with good nature. “Don’t sell yourself short!” He looked around at the other near him. “None of you should. Many start off not believing they’re good enough, myself included, but patience, hard work and determination gets one everywhere.”
Now that they had gotten into their groups, it was time to get cracking. “Gobstones may simply seem as though one is playing a regular game of the Muggle game called ‘Marbles’. But there are valuable strategies used. There are four variations of Gobstones, and each has their own strategy or combination of strategies which work to your advantage. I usually prefer offense,’’ Adi replied in answer to Phoenix’s question. He had been this way since a teen. “I say ‘usually’ because one factor to consider is the variation of the game being played. Before we discuss further, who can tell me about the four Gobstone variations? Please keep in mind that no answer is considered silly.”
“Yep! That’s my dad,’’ Dynah piped up proudly to Phoenix. “I see you’ve got proper sense,’’ she added with approval. Anyone who didn’t like the Hippogriffs - either team - needed to have their head checked. “So, are you any good? I’d like to see some of your moves. Yes, you'd be correct, Mister.” Dy obviously was nowhere as decent as the players on the teams but she was going to get there. Seeing as the boy had decided to talk strategy, at least for now, the ten year old shuffled a little closer to her dad’s group.
Shoe!Girl │ Rebel Ravie │ Confundus Queen │ RP Addict
She hadn’t thought twice about volunteering to assist with the Ministry Gobstones camp. There had been no reason to worry about anything, given she’d had a habit of taking her own children with her to Talons practices and occasionally matches, which was also why she’d signed her youngest up for the camp. Brynja enjoyed letting people in on the game and all its idiosyncrasies, and there wasn’t a reason to bar children from playing. It was somewhat less fraught than Quidditch after all, albeit messier at times. There wasn’t as much risk of physical injury, anyhow.
She trusted Persie to be alright with everything, too. The six-year-old was probably as inquisitive as her other children had been, and she hadn’t had it in her to leave her baby behind, either. Even if Chase likely would have been alright with watching his daughter. Experiences were good.
After signing her in, she had joined the Ministry employee intime for the opening remarks, allowing Adi to take lead on speaking with the children present and giving Benjee a smile as he’d addressed Ms. Laplace with a box of equipment. She was there if needed, and there had been a slight incline of her head as she had been introduced to the group present. This wasn’t exactly familiar surroundings for her, her face wasn’t on any of the banners displayed around the room after all, but it was familiar enough without the feeling of infiltrating the competition. That and she felt more comfortable seeing another familiar face in Wiley, as she returned the boy’s wave.
Mama hadn’t let her take Raisa along with her when they’d left to come to the camp, and there might’ve been a minor tantrum on the way there. Persephone just wanted the security that the cat gave her, but the tiny blonde’s big blue eyes were clear when they’d entered the room. There was lots to look at after all, and the missing furry security blanket was rather forgotten. Although she had stuck close to mama’s leg for several seconds even so. Lots to look at meant scary sometimes, but at least there were pretty banners and stuff. She thought she recognized some of the people on them. Maybe. They probably had competed with mama after all.
Oh, and Wiley was there. She’d given the older boy a big grin and a wave as mama had gone off to do whatever volunteering meant. That and an excited “Hi!” before she’d gotten distracted by the marbles and she’d begun collecting the purple ones. It was the prettiest color so she wanted those marbles if she was going to play.
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♥♥♥♥ It's me, hi, I'm the problem, it's me, at tea time, everybody agrees
...It must be exhausting, always rooting for the anti-hero ♥♥♥
Hereford Hippogriffs Gobstones Camp 
x5 
x2
Peggy is around for questions.
