'Perfect' she thought, 'I can get it this time.' Emmalyn positioned herself in the middle again in preparation for another shot. The breeze was still light, so she wasn't worried about that being a factor, and the sun was at a non blinding height.

She watched as Daisy readied herself and threw the quaffle with great force. The quaffle sped towards the goals, it's trajectory aiming for the right side. Emmalyn was quick to maneuver herself between the quaffle and the goal, much quicker than her last attempt. Reaching out with her left hand and holding on as tight as she could with her right, she intercepted the quaffle just before it found it's way through the opening. "I got it! I got it!" she exclaimed as she gently brought her broom to a halt.

"Do you want to try a few more shots or would you like to move on to the obstacle course?" She asked, not wanting to monopolize her time. "I'm sure I could find another partner if you are ready to move on."

Daisy beamed at Em. "Congratulations on saving the goal!" she exclaimed as she flew towards her and pulled to a stop. "I think we should move on to the obstacle course."

Bel hadn't seen anything yet, but she wasn't sure if that was because there was nothing to see or if it was because, well, she hadn't seen it. She continued her lazy loops, noting the people below at the goals and wondering if she should try out for a different position just in case. But no, seeker was definitely the one she wanted, the one she felt most comfortable with, and the one that best fit her--something zipped in front of her vision and then away again. Bel blinked, searching, and then spotted a glint descending so quickly below her. Quickly AND erratically. Just... zipping every which way. She dropped into a dive, pressing her body in close to the broom, Eyes on the prize.

When she decided to try out for the team, Beater was never on her list of maybe positions. She originally assumed she would be too small to exude enough force on a bludger to make a difference. However, after the rest of tryouts going so well, and seeing how many Hufflepuffs were trying out for the limited spots on the team, she was going to give it a go.

She navigated her way to the beater station, being careful to avoid crossing through another players tryout attempt. Upon arrival, she made sure her gloves were firmly on, grabbed a bat, and readied herself. The bludgers were nasty. The little balls had no hesitation in their attack and made it clear that any body part was fair game. This was made even more apparent when once struck her firmly in the stomach and nearly upset her position on her broom. "Ugh. That smarts."

Emmalyn was determined to not let that happen again. With bat at ready, she wound up and made contact at just the right moment, sending the bludger smacking into the target on the opposite side of the station. "Huzzah!" she joyfully exclaimed. "Take that, bludger!" Before she could continue her celebration further, another bludger was zooming her way. She wound up again and made contact. The bludger went flying, a bit off course, and missed the target. It circled back to return the beating, but Emmalyn was ready. She made a quick adjustment in her position, flying to the far right of the station, wound up, and made contact. The trajectory was right on and the bludger smacked the left hand target with enough force to knock a rider off course.

Very pleased with her beater performance, Emmalyn did a celebratory lap, circling the pitch and eyeing the other Hufflepuffs and their try out attempts.

Harriet was enjoying this. She really hadn't thought that she would be this into flying. Why hadn't she allowed Sky to push her into quidditch before hand? She figured the fact that she hadn't been able to fly for the last three years probably had something to do with it. But she could fly now, and she adored it. If she could literally stay on the broom forever then she would. She was careful though, as she flew. She didn't want to bump into any of the obstacles. She was pretty sure that wouldn't help with her getting onto the team. She moved fast, trying to get around the course as fast as she could. She kept herself low to the broom, so that she could go as fast as she could. It wasn't overly fast, but just enough that she was going at a good speed.

She didn't try to do anything too fancy, mostly because she couldn't but she just wanted to do a fly at a good speed, and get around the course at a good time, and make sure she was doing better than anyone else. Finally, she got to the end of the end of the course, and she beamed. She felt she had done quite well with that. The sixth year, still smiling, spent the next few minutes hovering, as she got her breath back, and began to decide where to go to next.

Snitches didn't ever do the easiest thing did they? For instance, right now the glistening object was flitting and zipping over to the lower obstacles of the course and Bel determinedly followed it, soon having to dodge barriers and hoops and all sorts of other things so she could keep it in sight.

It wasn't making it easy on her, that was for sure.

Daisy decided to tackle the obstacle course next. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't feeling a tad nervous. She had never flown this much before but she was determined to not make any mistakes. Taking a deep breath in and slowly exhaling, she gripped her broom firmly and began the course.

She flew at a reasonable speed but she made sure that she avoided any obstacles or people flying. For a semi-novice, Daisy was making good progress. Well, in her mind she was.

Cam's broom was a part of her as she moved, and just like she would on on of her dirtbikes, Bel kept her elbows up and square rather than dropped. Why? For quicker reaction times and therefore better maneuverability. Like right now, the was dodging down and around Daisy as her dormmate hit the obstacle course. Bel leaned bodily to one side, turning hard o avoid the other girl, and then righting herself to a trajectory that would meet the snitch. She had her line and she was on it. Come on, just a little bit more!

It suddenly dropped down down down and Bel hit the dive a split second later, the grass coming at her oh so fast. But she wasn't worried about a bit of grass or the risk of bailing or crashing. She'd had much worse crashes on her bikes than she could imagine having from a broom. Eeeeeeeeee she pulled up hard, her foot scraping the dirt as the went 180 and darted off the way it came, except oh so close to the grass. Bel kept her foot down and used it to help her pivot and go back the other way. Way to use her bike skills right? She zoomed after it, tucking her foot back up again. Another burst of speed. It was right there!

Daisy was concentrating on the course when she saw Bel fly towards her. This made her eyes widen in panicked confusion until she saw the Luckily, Bel missed Daisy. Daisy wished Bel good luck and continued with practising flying tricks such as loops.

Not to worry, Daisy, Bel wasn't going to collide with you. Collisions were one thing she was very excellent at avoiding. Almost as good at avoiding them as she was at avoiding wearing dresses in fact.

But her focus was on the little golden ball, just ahead of her. Almost almost almost in arms reach. Not quite. Almost. ALMOST. Bel stretched as far as she could without overbalancing the broom. Wouldn't do her much good to fall off, even if she was close enough to the ground that it wasn't much of a--the zipped up, starting to climb quickly. Bel pulled up too, glad she hadn't stretched out too much and that she had her elbows up to give herself room for the movement. She was still right behind it, focused intently and trying to judge when to go for it.

She pushed her feet hard into the foot rests, lifting her bum up until she was standing, just like she would on a motorbike. This gave her the extra reach she needed while still keeping her balance. Bel closed her outstretched hand around the golden ball, its wings still fluttering and flittering even once it was safely in her grip.





SHEGOTITSHEGOTIT

WHOCARESIFITWASMAYBEANEASYTRAININGONE (WASTHATEVENATHING?)

SHE GOT ITTTTTTT!

Bel held it up and leveled out Cam's broom, finding her seat again as she looked over at the stands. And sure enough Cam and Liam were there cheering her on. She waved it at them excitedly.

....


....... Should she..... let it go and try catch it again? Was there only one? Were there more for the tryout?

Harriet was really enjoying the obstacle course. It was nice to try and avoid things, and concentrate her skills so that she could make sure that she did well. It was good, and it was testing her flying ability. She wanted to have the best skills possible, and so she liked this. Her skills weren't amazing. But she was a little bit rusty. She wasn't doing as bad as she thought though. Hattie figured that she had all the summers worth of playing with Skylar and Noah Diggory to thank for that. It helped when your pseudo-family were on the under 17 team. It was very useful indeed. Though, she hadn't flown for so long. So she was just hoping she remembered all of the skills. So far it was going pretty well. She didn't want to be too cocky, because that would just be really embarrassing if she didn't get on the team. So she would keep her thoughts to herself. For now.

Keeping her concentration going, she finally passed through the end of the obstacle course. She felt like she had done pretty well. She sat on her broom, catching her breath. She had enjoyed that. She kind of wanted to do it again. But she knew she needed to go to another station. She smiled, and then headed to the beater station. She didn't know how good she'd be at this. She was pretty little. But she would try.

The blonde grabbed a bat, and then flew after the bludgers, trying to hit one, and send it off around the pitch. It actually felt quite good, and she liked it. Boom!" The blonde beamed, as the bat connected with a bludger, and it went zooming off in the opposite direction. Yep. She could totally see why Sky liked being a beater. Hattie quite liked it too.

Haraldur made his way to the Pitch with some party gifts of sorts. Most of all, he was curious and had already finished planning the lessons for the upcoming week. A strolllllll to the Pitch to check in on the tryouts was in order. He then just happened to bring a few tasks for the students.

Once on the Pitch, he looked over at the group of students flying about in the air. There seemed to be a few that tried out several positions, like Miss Paton, Mr. Kovalainen and Miss Dixon and others stayed put. He watched them from the ground for a few minutes before deciding to kick off into the air.

Warm up was officially over. It was time for the puffers to really get down to business.

Chasers

Haraldur began with the Chasers. "Gather around Chasers!" He called and waited until the small crowd had gathered around him, Quaffles tucked under their arms.

"Good job everyone. You have a good throwing arm, Miss Amstern." He nodded towards the fourth year. "It's good that you have all practiced to aim the Quaffles towards the hoops." Yeah, cause... That's where they should be heading for goal scoring BUT, "I want to give you a challenge." He reached for his wand inside his robe and with circular motions, dark hoops started to appear. As soon as they were conjured, they moved across the pitch in quick, unpredictable patterns.

The flying instructor turned to the students. "I want you to get as many Quaffles as you can through these moving hoops. Once a Quaffle has been scored, the hoops light up in bright light. If you, as a team, manage to turn all hoops from dark to bright, you may continue to the last trial of the tryouts." Which would be revealed to them.

If they passed the test that is.

"Well, Chasers... What are you waiting for?"

Beaters

Leaving the Chasers to it, Haraldur moved on to the more... Delicate part of the tryout. He was actually reluctant to do this, the moment he'd suggested it he'd regretted it.

"Everyone trying out for the Beater positions, gather around!" He called out, as he approached the covered objects he'd brought with him and placed in the middle of the Pitch. He looked at the students that gathered around him, the male Prefect being one of them. Did he want them all to make the team? Yes. Did he want to trust them with what he was about to trust them with?

Uh-uh.

"All right. Your challenge is one I care about a lot, actually." He started, looking into the eyes of EACH and EVERY ONE of them. For good measure. "Aiming the Bludgers towards the opposing team might be game-changing, but even more important is to protect your teammates from impact. So... I'm giving you something to protect."

He aimed his wand at the large, black cover and it immediately flew off to land somewhere on the Stands. Sorry, spectators.

On the pitch were 5 of his ice sculptures. Moved from their usual position in the Igloo to the middle of the Quidditch Pitch, surrounded by teenagers holding bats.

Yup. Immediately regretting his decision to put the sculptures in the line of fire.

Nevertheless, he continued. "I want you to protect these ice sculptures, as you would protect your team. They might not be able to melt in the sun, but they are definitely not protected from impact." As they unfortunately all soon would notice. ”I will place these 5 statues across the pitch and release some more Bludgers. Aggressive ones. They’ll circle around the Pitch but their ultimate target is the sculptures. You’ll practice this protection part for a while before it’s time to move on to your next challenge.”

Haraldur aimed his wand at the statues and levitated them to different locations on the pitch. ”Everyone, grab your bats.” He sighed deeply and turned to one of the locked trunks. ”Ready?” Please be ready. One flick of his wrist caused the lock to click open and out shot the Bludgers.

There were several students trying out for the position and there were at least one Bludger for each student. They would definitely be busy.

”Go!”

Like… GO-GO-GO! He really liked those statues and would like to put them back in their place. Unharmed. Realistic expectations? Well... Time would tell.

Keepers

The Chasers were circling above his head, the Beaters were busy protecting his ice sculptures from the Bludgers. Haraldur gazed upwards at the goal hoops and the Keepers flying above his head. He kicked off from the ground and joined the students.

”Keepers! All Keepers this way!” He called to the other side of the pitch and waited to have them all surrounding him.

They were a mixed bunch of kids. Usually people thought Keepers had to be as strongly built as the Beaters. A common misconception. He gave a first year, Miss Walsh, an encouraging smile. Broom control and agility was important here, not size.

”All right, everyone.” He levitated on his broom, looking around at the students. ”I see you’ve acquainted yourselves with the hoops. This is where you’ll be spending your time; protecting these three hoops.” He pointed at them one by one. ”I don’t really care how you do it, catch the Quaffle with your hands, knock it away with your broom, use your head if you need to --” He interrupted himself, waving his hands. ”Actually, don’t do that, that was stupid.” Miss Macmillan had enough on her plate.

”The point is; your job is to do anything to prevent the Quaffle for making it through those hoops. So let’s start you all off with something fun.” He turned on his broom and pointed to the many hoops, moving around on the pitch, hunted by the Chasers. ”I want you all, to stop the Chasers from scoring their goals. Make life difficult for them. Perhaps choose one Chaser to…” Terrorize? ”Challenge." Ahem. "In order to make both you and them better. Target one of them and never let them get their Quaffles through. If a Quaffle is passed through the hoops, they will light up and the Chasers will move on to the next hoop. You will do the same. Never let them rest.”

Haraldur locked eyes with the older Miss Reynolds before nodding at Miss Swann. ”On my signal…” He brought the horn to his lips and blew a booming sound.

Off they went!

Seekers

He knew there was at least one Snitch released. It had annoyingly enough buzzed right next to his ear while he instructed the Beaters. Now, however, he didn’t know where it was.

Typical. He hated the little glittery thing.

Squinting he looked around the Pitch, only to get yellow flapping robes in his face when Miss Yenorin zoomed past him. The instructor glared at her flying robes and spotted Miss Macindoe on the other side of the pitch. More importantly, he saw the golden thing in her hand.

”Seekers!” He watched a few students look his way and he waved them over as he aimed his wand at nothing in particular, summoning the other Snitch released. It took a few seconds before it reached his open hand. He closed his fingers around it and the wings stopped its movements. He gave Miss Macindoe a look, knowing she’d understand to keep her fingers tightly around the other Snitch for the time being.

”I see you’ve met our Snitches.” He said, once they were all there.”As you all know, speed and agility is important if you are to catch one of these. You have completed the obstacle course your Captain set up for you, now I want to see how close you get to catching the Snitch in bad weather conditions.” He ignored the look they gave him and continued. ”Yes, I know it’s a perfect flying day but the matches won’t always be held on days like this one. Which is why, I’ll put you through a water test. A… Rain-test if you will. Now, Miss Macindoe, release your Snitch please.” He nodded towards her. ”We will only use one for now. After all, there’ll only be one Snitch on the field but two Seekers. I want you to fight for it. And I want you to fight for it, in pouring rain.” Or pouring water from an Augamenti-spell in this case.

Once released, the Snitch quickly left Bel’s hand and disappeared across the Pitch. Now and again, it reflected the sunlight, revealing its location. ”I will keep close to you when you’re trying to catch the Snitch, and I’ll put you through heavy rain. You will get wet, your brooms will get wet, the Snitch will get wet.” Weren’t they glad he decided to show up and put them through this on a Saturday afternoon?

Haraldur straightened his robes, with his wand he guided the other Snitch back into one of the trunks and then aimed the wand at the students. ”Whenever you’re ready.”

OOC: This has been a post. I'm SO sorry if I've missed anyone. Please poke me, but I'm pretty sure I grabbed you all. Gotcha. Consider yourselves grabbed.

Clarification:
Chasers: Moving hoops are scattered around the Pitch. Once you score the Quaffles through them, they'll light up and you can move on to another one. (Beware of interfering Keepers... )
Beaters: A bunch of Bludgers are released. Your goal is to protect 5 ice sculptures Haraldur has placed on the Pitch. Unfortunately, the Bludgers seem to target the sculptures over and over again.
Keepers: Moving hoops are scattered around the Pitch. The Chasers are trying to throw Quaffles through them. Your goal is to prevent them from doing just that. Protect the moving hoops from the Quaffles aimed by the Chasers. Interfeeere.
Seekers: One Snitch is currently released. You are to try to catch it before anyone else does. While you're hunting for the Snitch, your friendly neighbourhood flying instructor will shoot gallons and gallons of water at you. To make things interesting. Can you catch the Snitch before everyone else? Can you catch the Snitch when it's wet and slippery?

From now on, please label your posts with the position you're trying out for.
If your character is undecided, label it with the positions included. It's OK for your character to tryout for several positions in one post. Please just label them accordingly. My brain thanks you.

No post minimum/maximum.

I will check in tomorrow the 16th at approx 6 pm GMT+1 (little less than 24 hours from now). I might move on with all positions, I might move on with some positions, I might move on individually, I might just check in with y'all and not move on at all. It all depends on how far along you've all come.

Point is; no stressinnn', have funnnn, go with the flowww.

ily. Questions? Talk to me.


Don’t forget to fill out the survey if you haven't already! You have until the 18th to do this.

- Josefin

Oh this was ripper! Bel happily let go of the snitch and turned her attention to the flying professor, her expression utterly cheerful at the prospect of this weather trial thing. She had no problem with a bit of water, she was a surfer after all, not to mention that motocross wasn't a sport that stopped just because of a bit of rain (or mud.At least they would be in the air and avoiding that!).

Anyways: exciting. It was exciting, and Bel straightened up in her seat on Cam's broom, shot an excited and toothy grin at the other hopefuls, and then at the professor. You betcha she was ready. She gave him a thumbs up and then took off in the direction the second snitch had gone, keeping her eyes peeled for the glint of gold. Really the only downside was that she couldn't watch the entertaining things everyone else was doing and had to focus on her own self, but she would compare notes later. Time for a wet weather snitch hunt!

Daisy listened attentively to the flying instructor as she readied herself for the assessment. She flew to where the goal hoops were placed and Daisy was determined to save every single goal. She couldn't believe how much she wanted to be on this team. However, she would not resort to any dirty tactics. She kept her eyes on the Chasers throwing the Quaffles. Daisy saw a Quaffle being thrown in the direction of a hoop that wasn't near her. She powered her broom and then positioned herself in the Starfish and Stick, a manoeuver she had been practising to block the Quaffle. She ended up saving the goal, much to her delight. She straightened herself back on her broom, ready to defend the next goal.

So, she was to block the quaffles from the hoops. Hoops that were moving all around the pitch. This she could do and she was excited for the challenge. She was born to interfere. “On it, Sir. Emmalyn’s my name and interfereing's my game!” She shouted with a giggle as she maneuvered out and got into position.


Emmalyn did a few quick pivots on her broom and readied herself for the onslaught of quaffles. “Give me your best!” she announced just as a quaffle sped towards her hoop. She hadn’t even seen who hurled it her direction, but she wasn’t going to let it pass by. Quickly, with excellent speed and accuracy, she performed a three hundred and sixty degree spin. Just as the tail end of her broom came around, it made contact with the quaffle. The impact was felt all the way up her boom handle and though her entire body. After momentarily closing her eyes in an attempt to unscramble her brain, she looked up to see the quaffle bolting back across the pitch in the opposite direction.

Happy with the start of her trial, she readied herself for the next attack. She only wish she had noticed which of the chasers had attempted the first goal on her. That way she would know who to target. If she was going to succeed in obtaining a position on the team, she would have to save more goals.

The only downside to the wet was that wet equaled cold and Bel wasn't the biggest fan of the climate here in the first place. But she had put up with worse and she was willing to face the challenge. Her motocross goggles meant her vision stayed clear and Bel didn't have time to wonder if actual Quidditch goggles would be better, she was too busy scanning for the tell-tale spark of gold flittering into her vision. She tried not to worry about her competition either, just like during race time you had to be aware of where they were but not fixat--THEREITWAS! There it was there it was there it was! Bel leaned in tight to the broom and picked her speed up, and aimed for the snitch, trying to anticipate where it was going in order to make up ground rather than just falling in behind it.

She almost got a mouthful of water but clamped her lips tightly. Mud in the face was wayyy tougher than just a bit of water, Bel could handle this just fine! She was getting closer too, gaining ground air on the snitch. Not close enough to try for it yet but her eyes were on the prize.

Daisy gripped her broomstick tightly as she prepared to defend the next goal. She watched carefully, waiting for another Quaffle to be thrown. When she saw a goal about to be scored, Daisy zoomed to the hoop and performed a loop in front of it, her broomstick batting away the Quaffle.

After doing some showing off around the obstacle course, Scarlett was more than ready to head over and try her hand at Keeper - and just as she was descending, headed in that direction, the groundskeeper showed up and began to direct people towards different stations depending on what position they wanted. Perfect timing! Smiling, she listened intently to him, giggling a bit when he said to use their heads to block the Quaffle - she was not above using any part of her body to stop the Quaffle, although as he pointed out, that would be pretty stupid. Last resort, we'll call that.

She waited until he dismissed them before getting on her broom once again and zooming off towards the hoops that were being set up for the chasers. She smiled with a nod at the two younger girls also trying out for the spot, and then hovered near one of them, waiting for it to start. All they needed now were some chasers...

Before she knew it, Quaffles were flying and they were flying RIGHT AT HER HEAD. Gasping, her hands immediately went out as a reflex, and she shot out in front of her as one of the Quaffles headed towards her hoop. A second before it made contact, she realized she wouldn't be able to actually CATCH the Quaffle, so instead, she balled her hand up into a fist and PUNCHED the Quaffle away, keeping it from scoring. BOOM! Invigorated, she moved back in to position as she waited for the next one.

Before she hardly had a chance to reset herself from defending the last shot, another quaffle came barreling her way. “Merlin’s beard, that was fast!” She exclaimed as she quickly maneuvered her broom to the left side of the goal. The velocity of the incoming quaffle was surely going to beat her to the hoop, but at the last possible moment, Emmalyn was able to stick her outstretched gloved hand and tip the edge. Out of sheer luck, the trajectory of the quaffle was disturbed just enough to cause it to veer just outside of the hoop.

Determined to not let that happen again, Emmalyn sped back to a more centralized position in front of the hoop. As she sat on her broom, ready for the next attempt, she noticed a slight change in the wind pattern. Instead of a westerly breeze, the wind was coming from the north. Her attention was spiked since the change in pattern would give the quaffle just a bit more carry as it came towards her. Her eyes darted left, then right, scanning the chasers and looking for any signs they were ready to attempt a goal.

Suddenly, another quaffle was hurled towards her. This time it felt as if it was aimed straight for her. She tried to move her broom out of the way in time, but she was not able to get out of the way before the quaffle penetrated her defenses and landed square against her stomach. “Uggghhhh!” was she sound she made as the air whooshed out of her lungs against the impact. Emmalyn slumped forward on her broom, gasping for breath. Tears were stinging her eyes and it took every ounce of her to not let them fall. There was no way she was going to start crying in front of her housemates and competition. Sure, she had stopped the quaffle, but she knew she was going to pay for her method later.

Probably sensing her weekend state, the next quaffle was sent her way with great speed. Trying as she could through teary eyes, Emmalyn lurched to the right, but she was a bit too late. The quaffle sailed through the hoop and the light announced her failure across the pitch. She was not going to let that happen again.

Text Cut: Bel

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tegz

Oh this was ripper! Bel happily let go of the snitch and turned her attention to the flying professor, her expression utterly cheerful at the prospect of this weather trial thing. She had no problem with a bit of water, she was a surfer after all, not to mention that motocross wasn't a sport that stopped just because of a bit of rain (or mud.At least they would be in the air and avoiding that!).

Anyways: exciting. It was exciting, and Bel straightened up in her seat on Cam's broom, shot an excited and toothy grin at the other hopefuls, and then at the professor. You betcha she was ready. She gave him a thumbs up and then took off in the direction the second snitch had gone, keeping her eyes peeled for the glint of gold. Really the only downside was that she couldn't watch the entertaining things everyone else was doing and had to focus on her own self, but she would compare notes later. Time for a wet weather snitch hunt!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tegz

The only downside to the wet was that wet equaled cold and Bel wasn't the biggest fan of the climate here in the first place. But she had put up with worse and she was willing to face the challenge. Her motocross goggles meant her vision stayed clear and Bel didn't have time to wonder if actual Quidditch goggles would be better, she was too busy scanning for the tell-tale spark of gold flittering into her vision. She tried not to worry about her competition either, just like during race time you had to be aware of where they were but not fixat--THEREITWAS! There it was there it was there it was! Bel leaned in tight to the broom and picked her speed up, and aimed for the snitch, trying to anticipate where it was going in order to make up ground rather than just falling in behind it.

She almost got a mouthful of water but clamped her lips tightly. Mud in the face was wayyy tougher than just a bit of water, Bel could handle this just fine! She was getting closer too, gaining ground air on the snitch. Not close enough to try for it yet but her eyes were on the prize.

The water splashed over the students targeting the Snitch but it didn't seem to slow them down. Bel Macindoe for example, didn't seem to be bothered by the water Haraldur aimed at her and when she leaned forward to pick up speed, the water came down on her even harder.

"Excellent work, Miss Macindoe!" He called as he saw her spot the golden Snitch. "Try to push through the water!"

She would be able to reach for the Snith in just a few moments. If none of the other Seekers got there before her.

Text Cut: All you keepers you

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ginevra

Daisy listened attentively to the flying instructor as she readied herself for the assessment. She flew to where the goal hoops were placed and Daisy was determined to save every single goal. She couldn't believe how much she wanted to be on this team. However, she would not resort to any dirty tactics. She kept her eyes on the Chasers throwing the Quaffles. Daisy saw a Quaffle being thrown in the direction of a hoop that wasn't near her. She powered her broom and then positioned herself in the Starfish and Stick, a manoeuver she had been practising to block the Quaffle. She ended up saving the goal, much to her delight. She straightened herself back on her broom, ready to defend the next goal.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Birchwoodmom

So, she was to block the quaffles from the hoops. Hoops that were moving all around the pitch. This she could do and she was excited for the challenge. She was born to interfere. “On it, Sir. Emmalyn’s my name and interfereing's my game!” She shouted with a giggle as she maneuvered out and got into position.


Emmalyn did a few quick pivots on her broom and readied herself for the onslaught of quaffles. “Give me your best!” she announced just as a quaffle sped towards her hoop. She hadn’t even seen who hurled it her direction, but she wasn’t going to let it pass by. Quickly, with excellent speed and accuracy, she performed a three hundred and sixty degree spin. Just as the tail end of her broom came around, it made contact with the quaffle. The impact was felt all the way up her boom handle and though her entire body. After momentarily closing her eyes in an attempt to unscramble her brain, she looked up to see the quaffle bolting back across the pitch in the opposite direction.

Happy with the start of her trial, she readied herself for the next attack. She only wish she had noticed which of the chasers had attempted the first goal on her. That way she would know who to target. If she was going to succeed in obtaining a position on the team, she would have to save more goals.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ginevra

Daisy gripped her broomstick tightly as she prepared to defend the next goal. She watched carefully, waiting for another Quaffle to be thrown. When she saw a goal about to be scored, Daisy zoomed to the hoop and performed a loop in front of it, her broomstick batting away the Quaffle.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lissy Longbottom

After doing some showing off around the obstacle course, Scarlett was more than ready to head over and try her hand at Keeper - and just as she was descending, headed in that direction, the groundskeeper showed up and began to direct people towards different stations depending on what position they wanted. Perfect timing! Smiling, she listened intently to him, giggling a bit when he said to use their heads to block the Quaffle - she was not above using any part of her body to stop the Quaffle, although as he pointed out, that would be pretty stupid. Last resort, we'll call that.

She waited until he dismissed them before getting on her broom once again and zooming off towards the hoops that were being set up for the chasers. She smiled with a nod at the two younger girls also trying out for the spot, and then hovered near one of them, waiting for it to start. All they needed now were some chasers...

Before she knew it, Quaffles were flying and they were flying RIGHT AT HER HEAD. Gasping, her hands immediately went out as a reflex, and she shot out in front of her as one of the Quaffles headed towards her hoop. A second before it made contact, she realized she wouldn't be able to actually CATCH the Quaffle, so instead, she balled her hand up into a fist and PUNCHED the Quaffle away, keeping it from scoring. BOOM! Invigorated, she moved back in to position as she waited for the next one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Birchwoodmom

Before she hardly had a chance to reset herself from defending the last shot, another quaffle came barreling her way. “Merlin’s beard, that was fast!” She exclaimed as she quickly maneuvered her broom to the left side of the goal. The velocity of the incoming quaffle was surely going to beat her to the hoop, but at the last possible moment, Emmalyn was able to stick her outstretched gloved hand and tip the edge. Out of sheer luck, the trajectory of the quaffle was disturbed just enough to cause it to veer just outside of the hoop.

Determined to not let that happen again, Emmalyn sped back to a more centralized position in front of the hoop. As she sat on her broom, ready for the next attempt, she noticed a slight change in the wind pattern. Instead of a westerly breeze, the wind was coming from the north. Her attention was spiked since the change in pattern would give the quaffle just a bit more carry as it came towards her. Her eyes darted left, then right, scanning the chasers and looking for any signs they were ready to attempt a goal.

Suddenly, another quaffle was hurled towards her. This time it felt as if it was aimed straight for her. She tried to move her broom out of the way in time, but she was not able to get out of the way before the quaffle penetrated her defenses and landed square against her stomach. “Uggghhhh!” was she sound she made as the air whooshed out of her lungs against the impact. Emmalyn slumped forward on her broom, gasping for breath. Tears were stinging her eyes and it took every ounce of her to not let them fall. There was no way she was going to start crying in front of her housemates and competition. Sure, she had stopped the quaffle, but she knew she was going to pay for her method later.

Probably sensing her weekend state, the next quaffle was sent her way with great speed. Trying as she could through teary eyes, Emmalyn lurched to the right, but she was a bit too late. The quaffle sailed through the hoop and the light announced her failure across the pitch. She was not going to let that happen again.

The first student Haraldur noticed was Daisy Swann. Immediately after receiving instructions, she flew off to save two goals. The flying instructor clapped his hands twice in delight. "Well done, Miss Swann! Well done!" If she could bat Quaffles away like that in a match, the other Houses had something coming for them.

One of the older students trying out for the same spot, Miss Reynolds was showing off a completely new technique. Quaffle-punching. Amused and intrigued, Haraldur hovered over to see her punching the Quaffle away from the hoops. Huh. Every method was allowed and punching Quaffles was sure to be a crowd pleaser. "Interesting technique, Miss Reynolds!" He smiled. "You might have coined a new Quidditch term." The Quaffle Punch. It would stick.

His attention was then drawn towards the young and excited first year, Emmalyn Walsh who performed an impressive 360 in the air before knocking away a Quaffle. Haraldur glanced away for a second to see how his ice sculptures were doing on the other side of the Pitch, before a muffled groan caught his attention and he looked back at Emmalyn again. From her expression, she'd experienced her first hit with a Quaffle. The next one zoomed past her through the hoop. Haraldur flew over to her, concerned, seeing the tears forming in her eyes. "You all right there, Miss Walsh?" He hovered closer to her. "Perhaps you ought to sit down and rest for a while?" No point in getting hurt in the process.



OOC: So, RL hit me which is why this is up a few hours later than I'd originally planned. Sorry aaand sorry.

If you're one of those people stalking the tryouts; It's not too late to join in on the fun. Just jump in!

I'm going to check in/move on tomorrow the 17th at approx 8 pm GMT +1.

Tata.

- Jo

Emmalyn had a mix of panic and embarrassment as soon as she noticed Professor Baldvinsson headed her way. Before she knew it, he was right next to her. "I'm fine, sir. Just got the wind knocked out of me." She put on her best smile and smacked her stomach with her hand. "Right as rain now." She let her broom drift a bit away from the professor, hoping to not attract as much attention. "However, I do think I'll try my hand at the Chaser position, if you don't mind." With that, she flew off towards the other side of the pitch to retrieve a quaffle and begin her tryout.

Once stationed appropriately, Emmalyn grabbed the quaffle in her left hand. She let the hoops move about as she watched for a pattern to emerge. The keepers were doing a fantastic job at keeping the goals blocked, so she knew she would have to preform at the top of her game to penetrate their coverage.

After deciding on a plan of attack, Emmalyn swiftly gained speed and hurled towards the left goal. In the attempt to throw off the guarding keeper, she veered to the right, then back to the left, before a sudden drop in elevation combined with a quick roll back to the right. Just as she was about to collide with the goal, she launched the quaffle through the hoop. "Score!" The hoop instantly lit up and she felt a rush of pride with her performance.

Emmalyn was starting to realize that she was good at flying. Her background in various sports was paying off and her smaller size allowed for greater agility. She knew that the likelihood of her obtaining a starting position on the house team was slim since she was only a first year, but she was quite confident that if she didn't make the team this year, next year was hers to take.

Daisy wanted to try out for Chaser as well. She noticed that Em was trying out for Chaser as well. She was admiring the young Hufflepuff's Chaser skills as she grabbed a Quaffle. Daisy felt free flying with the Quaffle in her hand as she zoomed towards the series of hoops and released the Quaffle in the direction of one of the centre hoops which went straight through.

"Yes!" Daisy thought as she saw the hoop light up.

Bel wasn't sure if the captain was watching her right now but she knew that the professor was, given how much water she was currently being doused with. Even if she hadn't heard him call out that much would be obvious, not that she turned her attention away from the task at hand. Hopefully he wouldn't think her rude! It was HEAVY water too. Who knew water could make you feel so sluggish and weighed down in the air? At least a broom was light weight compared to wrestling with a motorbike, so Bel just clamped her jaw tight and battled through it, letting it sluice off her like, well, like water off a duck's back.

All other thoughts of what was going on around her had fled now, even if normally Bel would be oh so eager to watch and cheer everyone else on. She couldn't spare any thought for anyone else, not even so much for her competition either because everything was about that little golden ball. She had a good grip on Cam's broom handle, one hand in front of the other, body low, the balls of her feet digging into the foot rests.

She took a quick deep breath as soon as the water wasn't so strong on her face and pushed harder, urging that last little bit of speed out of the broom. So close now! Bel went for it, lifting onto her feet rather than remaining seated, and stretching one hand out for the snitch, her fingertips ready to snatch it out of the air. Come onnnnn.

Daisy was feeling very happy as she went to attempt a second goal. Clutching the Quaffle in her hand, Daisy managed to stand on her broomstick like she was riding one of those Muggle surfboards and with a grunt, she threw the Quaffle through a left hoop. She watched it light up with a satisfied smile on her face as she sat back down on her broom.

Truth be told, Derf had been a little TOO preoccupied in watching his housemates - it kinda was the first PROPER time seeing any of them playing quidditch and it was exciting, you know? - and running simple aerial tricks through the obstacle course to notice that the groundskeeper had appeared on the pitch. But he fell in line with noooooooo questions asked when beaters were called in.

Dismounting from his broom and hugging it to his chest, Derf instinctively took a knee to listen - though he was sorta bouncing in place, too eager to get back into the air. But that certainly did not mean that the fourth year was not paying attention. In fact, Derf was hanging on each word...each SYLLABLE the groundskeeper was saying and nodding along in agreement. Protection. That was precisely why this position appealed to him. So when the signal was given, Derf hopped back to his feet and mounted his broom in one fluid motion. Kicking off into the air soon after, the blonde twirled his bat in his hand and zoomed on down the pitch and circled each of the ice statues first while assigning an actual person to each as additional fuel to his phoenix fire. Celyn, his little sister, was one - of course - since he was her knight. Another Abey, obviously. And Natalie, of course. Chloe, even though she had Callum and Katherine around to protect her too, one as well. And the final one he let become Bel for potential real time quidditch teammate purposes.

Bright blues darting around, Derf suddenly veered to the left and swooped around a few of his housemates and pulled his arm back into the ready position. With another firm pull on the handle, the beater hopeful went into a bit of a last minute side spin and gave an oncoming bludger heading towards "Chloe" a firm WHACK that sent it going off in the opposite direction. Grinning triumphantly, Derf leaned forward on his broom again to beginning zooming towards the next bludger when he saw TWO heading for two different ice sculptures...and he only would have the time to hit one of them.

Ugh.

"I'LL TAKE THE ONE ON THE LEFT!" he shouted over his shoulder to one of his teammates. "YOU THE ONE ON THE RIGHT. WE'LL CIRCLE ROUND OUR RESPECTIVE STATUES AND HEAD DOWN THE CENTER OF THE PITCH TO REGROUP." Then, with one last nod, Derf sped forward to put his plan into action.