The pitch seemed a lot bigger from down here. She had not been inside a pitch at ground level like this before. She had always been in the stands for her brother, Ross’ matches. This time she was looking up at the stands instead of in the stands looking up. A view all together different for her.

Speaking of Ross, she had spent several days playing with him and Lennon the past summer, as well as asking for advice and tips. She had also been writing them the days leading up to tryouts, keeping in touch and asking more questions. One of his letters was in her hand as she stood there in the pitch. At the top of the letter clearly visible was something written in her own handwriting.

Just breathe

Outwardly she looked calm and ready for tryouts, propped up against her broom. inwardly she was what Zita would call a hot mess. Her nerves were everywhere. She wondered if Slate was going to come watch her tryout today. In a way she hoped not or if he did she wouldn’t know She was nervous enough as it was. But she did want him there.

She held on the paper looking over it one last time. She folded the letter after she finished reading it. The same just breathe was written where she colored see it when the letter was folded. Quickly stuffing the letter into her pocket before too many other people showed up.

She didn't entirely know what possessed her to borrow a school broom (hers had been left at home since quidditch was not one of the anticipated things for the term and wouldn't be needed unless she made the team) and head down to the pitch for Ravenclaw tryouts. Quidditch...wasn't something she planned to make a career out of. It wasn't something she really had a lot of time for.....and she couldn't guarantee that if it was a potion long in the making, or an observation that wasn't concluded, she'd be on time for practices....

Maybe this was a bad idea. On the walk over to the pitch, she'd managed to convince herself it wasn't, afterall training with Cameron for two years now she felt she had a better grasp of it than when she'd first considered the sport.

But she'd never played with a whole team against a whole other team. Oh Merlin this really was a bad idea. She'd get distracted. Her mind would be all over trying to figure everything out at once and put it all on one plain. Circe she didn't even know what position she was trying out for. Cam had taught her beating but..........in a real game....she couldn't help but think how......terrifying it would all be. Then again, beaters had a bat. They were probably safest on the pitch by virtue of the fact they were the only ones equipped to defend themselves (and supposedly their teammates) against bludgers.

Oh Merlin, oh Merlin, oh Merlin. She didn't have time for this, and she probably didn't have the coordination. What was she thinking when she filled in that signup sheet?

That it would be fun, that's what. All it took was a small bout of overthinking to change her mind but by then she'd already walked onto the pitch..... "Hey Juni." She greeted her housemate once she was close enough, internally weighing the pros and cons of turning around right now and heading back to the castle. This was a mistake at best and a disaster at worst. What did she REALLY know about Quidditch outside of games she'd seen? "What position are you trying for?" Just talk it off. Maybe the anxiety would pass before Kirk got here and she wouldn't end up walking away afterall. "I'm nearly positive I have no idea what I'm doing." Again, Cam WAS teaching her stuff, but there was only so much experience you could gain from one on one.

Ooooohhhhh Merlin.

Shera had basically run to the Quidditch pitch for try outs, with the broom that she had borrowed from the school she was only slightly bitter she wasn't allowed to bring her own broom to school yet. She was definitely nervous, worried about who else was going to be trying out.

Were other first years even going to be trying out for Quidditch?

That wasn't important. She had written her name down and that meant that she was committed. And she was going to make it! She had to make it somehow. Even if she didn't this year, she would be back next year. And the year after that. And the year after that. Until they finally gave her a spot on the team.

She was determined.

Then her eyes caught sight of two older Ravenclaws that she had already met. "Hey Juni, hey Jessa, how are you guys feeling?" The first year beamed at the two of them because she was still sooooooooo excited about all of this. Though she did not that the older students also looked a little bit nervous....

Cassie was a fan of quidditch that was for sure. Hearing stories from her parents’ school days and going to the occasional professional game with her family. And when she had first prepared for Hogwarts she had hoped to try out only to be informed that the ban on quidditch at the school was very much still in effect. It had been a disappointment, especially seeing as she had been active in soccer in her education leading up and wouldn’t have anything to take its place while away at school. She just had to be on the sidelines at any games she caught during vacations.

So when rumors had arisen and Kirk’s new position as captain had confirmed the wizarding sport was back at Hogwarts, Cass was quick to sign-up for try-outs. The Ravenclaw making her way down to the pitch all ready to go, thankful she still owned and brought her broom to school given they had still had flying lessons without Quidditch. She only hoped she had a chance to make the team as she only had one shot with it being her seventh year. One year to experience the game with her classmates.

“Hey guys…” she greeted the small group already there, taking in Jessa, and Juni and the firstie Shera she remembered from the opening feast.

Calm, cool, collective space. That was on Kirk's mind for the moment when tryouts week finally arrived. It was pretty simple, head to the pitch watch for new and old talent then help make decision. Easy right? Despite that he had certain thoughts, such as having to prove himself competent as a Captain, but more importantly leading his team to victory. That was a pretty big deal.

As soon as Kirk was geared up in his Quidditch attire with the armor, gloves and his broom held in one hand, he made his way out of the locker room to see a number of potentials out. Many recognisable faces, naturally such as Juni, Jessa, Cassie, oh and even a couple of first years too. He inwardly sighed a relief, "Hey everyone." He considered waiting a bit longer for any extras, but what the hey. "Welcome to the Ravenclaw Quidditch Tryouts, as you already know we're looking for two new Beaters, three new Chasers and a Seeker. No need to be nervous though, the stars predicted that the skies are in good condition to fly in during the week." Even in the daylight, "Now then, we'll start out with a few stretches to get our joints loose and clearing our heads to help focus before we get onto our brooms." This also gave others who had forgotten to bring a broom as well some time to grab one from the nearby closet. "Are you guys pumped? Let's get to it then!" Kirk first began with circling and pressing his arms close to his chest to get a few pops going.

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OOC: Hey guys, sorry for delay. We're gonna start off with doing stretches and any exercises your character feels comfortable with to start off. Any other claws are welcome to jump in at any point, just don't forget to fill out the survey here if you haven't already before posting. We'll fully begin in 24 hours from this post.

"Hey!" Shera greeted the captain, a large grin on her face. It was probably good for her to come across as friendly as well as doing well in the try outs. Although, now that he'd announced what they were looking for Shera couldn't help but find herself feeling slightly relieved. She had after all put her name down as 'undecided' on the position, but playing keeper would be the position she would hate most. Though to be fair she would've been so bad she would've never been selected for that role anyway.

Now to focus on stretching not like she hadn't done a light warm up and stretching before she ran down in her excitement to burn off some nervous energy.

One of her arms shifted across her body, her other arm coming up to pull it further to the side. Shera couldn't help but focus on the feeling of the light stretch as she counted.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

She released it and started again on the other side. She followed that up by raising one of her arms and dropping it over behind her shoulder and reaching her other arm up so that her hands were holding each other, keeping her arms in the place that she wanted them to be.

Wrist circles, arm circles, touching toes, lunges and a variety of other stretches followed without much thought. She had a routine that she was used to. That was how she ended up in a butterfly stretch on the ground waiting for the next instructions to come from the quidditch captain.

Of course, she could always keep going... or start with some star jumps to get her body really warmed up.

Ah there was their captain!

Cassie turned her attention from the other girls to Kirk as he joined them on the pitch all decked out. “Hey…” she answered back before listening intently as he gathered their attention so they could begin the try-out. So, keeper was out but plenty of other options and opportunities to go for. She was open for the most part though she wasn’t exactly sure she had the skill to be relied on for the role of seeker. Time would tell she supposed, plus whatever experience and knowledge or judgement Kirk was going to be using in his job of deciding what was what.

But for now it was stretching. Best to limber oneself up instead of straining something later on. After carefully setting down her broom. Cassie slowly but deliberately rolled herself up, finally bringing her arms up over her head to stretch her full form. Then standing with her feet a shoulder width apart, she knitted her fingers together and bent over once more, stretching her legs and arms in one movement. Shifting to the right ankle…to the left ankle…to the center with her palms flat on the surface of the pitch.

Right ankle...left ankle...center....and then rolling back up again.

"Sick." To answer Shera's question, she felt sick but it wasn't the sniffles or the fever, it was more an uncomfortable flipping in her stomach that again warned her this was probably a bad idea. For the millionth time, she'd managed to convince herself this was a bad idea and yet....her she remained, standing with the others waiting for Kirk to get there. Perhaps she should've owled home afterall, clearly this sort of behaviour wasn't like her and terrible things happened the last time she stopped feeling like herself.

"Hey Cassie." She greeted the next claw to join the bunch. She'd been about to ask if the girl had seen Kirk on the way over but there he came just moments after. it was always nice to have questions answered before they were asked.

Jessa fidgeted with the brush of her broom, while he spoke. She was listening of course, but her mind was also trying to figure out what she'd been thinking. One on one lessons didn't equate to being able to play quidditch with a WHOLE TON OF PEOPLE ON THE PITCH AT THE SAME TIME. She'd likely over-analyze everything, pay attention to everything and not entirely whatever role she got--if she even got one. According to their Captain, there were two beater roles, three chasers and a seeker. At the moment, Jessa couldn't figure out which she'd be the worst at.

Brilliant start to the tryout this was. At the rate she was going, wouldn't take much longer for her to entirely psych herself out. It was possible and not at all a strange occurrence for her.

The 5th Year began with a few arm and shoulder stretched, pulling first her right arm across her chest and giving a firm tug, then moving to the left. "Good thing I opted out of that snack before heading down here."

Juni was trying to keep her nerves at bay. Which wasn’t easy. She just dealt with it by hiding it. And stuffed the nervousness back down inside just like she did with most of the stuff she didn’t like talking about or having to deal with.

But it did help her that she seen that the others around her were as nervous as she was or even more. She didn’t smile nor did her face change as they started to conversate before the tryouts. There was Jessa, after last year the fourth year had gotten quite fond of the other Ravenclaw girl. ”Hey Jessa.” It was a relief to see her here, and guessing that they had same nerves that she had. ”Seeker… Or beater.What ” Now she wished she had switched that around and leaning more towards trying out as a beater.

Maybe the bat would feel more like a security blanket for her. But then again she had never played as a beater, Well there were a few times she did. It was fun. Mostly the only time she played was when her brother and cousins played or other people played and she joined in.

”Hey Shera, Cassie.” Nerves stared to take over again as more people showed up. Now aniexty creeped into. And to answer Shera question ”Fine.” What a load of dung that was. Jessa’s answer was more like how she was feeling. But no one needed to know that.

She took a deep breath again, remembering what was written on her paper. Just breathe. She wasn’t sure how much that was helping because she felt like she could barf at any time. She had long decided that she wasn’t going to look in the stands to see if someone was there. It would just add to what she already had.

Surprisingly the sight of the captain, Kirk. She was still not over that. Captain Kirk. She was probably going to annoy the crap out with him with it. But she didn’t care, it was an outlet to her nerdy side. And it made her feel much better about tryouts.

And like that tryouts were underway… Stretches she could do. The fourth year stared out with some arm and shoulder stretches left side and then the right side. The some toe touches and windmills. Next she did a few leg stretches. It wasn’t that she would be using her legs for quidditch much but she didn’t want her legs to cramp up while she was flying in the air.

So far so good, practically everyone was getting into the warm ups. Kirk did a few leg stretches, back twists, squats, a few push ups and neck rolls. Took only a few more minutes before he felt good to go. Now as for everyone.

"Great work everyone!" Now then, "We can get to flying now. Seeing as you'll be spending the remaining time in the air, you'll start by doing a few laps around the pitch while on the brooms." This way he can get to know whose been practicing or not. "You can fly at nearly any level as long as your feet don't touch the ground counter-clockwise," Self-explanatory. "Mister Baldvinsson did put a limit to the height though so you can't fly off along with any objects." Slight hint on what else was in store.

"After a few laps around the pitch you can touch down towards the middle here and then we'll start the use of the Quidditch balls. Now let's get to flying." Polishing off the new whistle Kirk got, he gave them a few moments to mount their brooms. "On my whistle, you can kick off.. Three.. Two... One.."

*TWEEET*

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OOC: Part two, wooh! Now you can fly around the pitch counter-clockwise. Since the Quidditch pitch is estimated to be 500x80 feet, give or take. Five flying laps should suffice, though you can fly more than that if your character desires. You can do this all in 1 or up to 3 posts, just be sure to label them either way. Next post will be in at least 24 hours from this.

So there was a height limit, but why would that be necessary? And furthermore, another question that she had was why would she fly off with any objects? It wasn't like she could really go anywhere considering she was a student and Hogwarts and sooner or later she would be found... probably sooner.

But that didn't matter for now. Stretching was finished and it was time to fly! In preparation for the whistle to be blown she mounted her broom and waited, body tense and ready to go. She was excited about this!

And the whistle had been blown!

Shera kicked off immediately, although she knew to start off slow to make sure that she properly prepared herself for being in the air. It wouldn't do for her to rush off and immediately crash or fall off of her broom when she was trying to prove that she deserved a place on the quidditch team. Which mean that she needed a warm up lap. Or rather, a warm up lap for her warm up laps.

Though, that really depended on how quickly she was able to build up speed and height while remaining fully in control and confident in her own ability.

That started relatively slowly, keeping herself controlled about 5 meters above the ground. As she went, she started going faster and allowing herself to start increasing her height. By the half way point of her first lap she was already going relatively fast, and had gotten herself up to 10 meters above the ground.

Juni had just finished up some jumping jacks, and was going into a few sit up and push ups. She was started to feel pretty warmed up and stretched out now. When Kirk was ready to move on with the tryouts so was she. Though she was still a bit nervous, that probably wasn’t going to go away anytime soon.

Now this was what she was really ready for FLYING. It was the basic fundamentals of quidditch. Otherwise quidditch would be played much like muggle football wouldn’t it? Being able to fly while playing was just a fun element to it. Harder to do but fun. She had been flying since she was little.

She started by mounting her and waited for the go ahead to kick off. Tilting her head at the height limit and object stuff. Now she was interested in what else they would be doing for tryouts once the whistle was blown. The fourth year kicked off, zooming upward the sky. She got to a decent height in the middle of the pitch and started to fly around the length of the pitch. Flying at what was like to the equivalent to a jog. No sense on wearing herself down on a few laps you know. Mostly she was just enjoying being up in the air right now. Already starting to get a lap in.

Jessa had just gotten done stretching her calve muscles when Kirk called them all to attention again. In her mind, she hadn't stretched enough. There was some muscle she missed somewhere and it was going to be the end of her once they got airborne. Nothing to really be done about that train of thought considering once her mind got started down a path, it was damn near impossible to bring it back until it was ready to be brought back.

She would just have to take a deep breath and remind herself of the unlikelihood she forgot to stretch somewhere of real importance.

Her grip on her broom tightened after hearing they were about to begin the flying portion of the tryout. It was silly, to say the least. How many official flying classes had they had? How many times had she and Cam gone flying? She'd attended quidditch camp that one summer for Merlin's sake..but then....when had the anxiety ever made sense? There was just always something to fixate on and the more she fixated was the more convinced she was that this might not have been good for her health.

Jessa took a deep breath at the sound of the whistle. Having already mounted her broom and waiting in anticipation, the Ravenclaw kicked off the ground the moment it sounded.

After the initial uneasy feeling of getting off the ground...she had to admit.....it wasn't going as terribly as her mind had told her it would. It almost felt like any other time she'd flown a broom--so long as she tried not to think too much about the fact that this time would come with an assessment. Kirk and for all she knew, the Professor, would be watching and they would then make a decision for a position she wasn't even sure she still wanted. WHY WAS SHE STILL ON THE PITCH???

Oh right, because this was meant to be fun. Cam, Derf, Theo, Abey, they were all trying out too and if she DID get on her team, it was one more thing for them all. Matches against each might've been more fun and they'd have the excuse of being able to practice with each other sometimes.

Eye on the prize Cambridge.

The laps, admittedly, were not difficult. Merlin knew Professor Baldvinsson often had them doing more complex things with their brooms. Flying in a circle was nothing by comparison. It soothing even...............for the most part....if she didn't fly too quickly and remind herself of the pace needed during an actual quidditch match. It wasn't that she couldn't do the laps faster, but Kirk hadn't said this was a race, and Jessa was still trying to build up into it.

One lap....then another. Each time, she sped up by just a little but even then Jessa was keeping to her own pace. Until she was required to go faster and do more, she would try to strike a balance with her comfort zone and anxiety level so she wouldn't end up simply flying back to the castle and pretending this whole thing never happened--yes, it'd crossed her mind.

Lap three. How many of these were they meant to be doing anyway? Kirk had said "a few" but a few meant different things to different people. It seemed the others were taking it slow too, something she was all too grateful for because it meant her not sticking out like a sort thumb and ultimately being THAT girl. Steady. That was how she would continue, steadily.

On the fifth lap, Jessa headed back for the ground--not that she'd risen too high away from it--touching down where the Captain had indicated earlier. Was it possibly to be more nervous anxious after easing herself into flying and getting more comfortable with the tryouts like that? ...Because that was quickly becoming a thing.

One lap in she was immensely enjoying herself but still wanted to keep things somewhat easy for herself so she wouldn't wear herself out during the warm up. If anything that would just show that she didn't deserve a spot on the team at all!

By her third lap she'd found herself half way up the towers that surrounded the field and was enjoying the speed that she was going at. Although... she was starting to feel that she wasn't really showing all the things that she was capable of despite that. Her eyes had to remain focussed on what was in front of her as she kept moving.

It was lap five that Shera suddenly got a grin on her face. Time to show what she could potentially do.

She made sure to learn forward more as she took off, flying as fast as she could possible manage on the school broom for this lap. She was able to hold that pace without a problem for another two rounds, before looking down she noticed that Jessa had just touched down. If she were being honest she didn't really want to get off of her broom now, enjoying the feel of flying way too much. Still, with a small sigh she slowly let herself start descending, jumping off of her broom near Jessa.

At least there would be more flying to do very soon, so it wouldn't be a very long break on the ground, would it?

Because she wanted to be back in the air already.

It seemed there a full array of feelings out on the pitch as the older Ravenclaw took the chance to observe around her as she stretched. A few twists to the right…a couple to the left. And then repeat and switch up. There was nerves and excitement. And it seemed like it was all girls with her as the oldest. Cassie stretched the various muscles that would no doubt be put to use today in whatever Captain Kirk had planned for them. Finally she shook it all out before returning her attention to the sixth yearas he spoke of moving on and his instructions on what to do next.

Time to take to the air!

The seventh year stepped beside her broom just like the day she first took flying lessons, summoning the broom to her hand. Cass mounted it as she listened to Kirk give them instructions, readying herself for takeoff. Any point off the ground but not so high as to reach the other man’s limitations…got it. Not like she was all that interested in getting too high anyway. They were just warm-up laps, giving Kirk a chance to see how they were in takeoff and landing and maybe a little flight so it wouldn’t due if they were too far from him.

At the whistle she was off, taking it quick but steady in a smooth incline. Upwards and along the long side of the pitch she went, turning along the curve of the short end and flying back up the pitch. Soon enough, she had turned again and passed where she had started and started her second lap. The seventh year took it a bit higher as she repeated the track around the exterior of the pitch. As she flew into her third lap, she allowed herself to vary her height up and down throughout her lap, evening out again in her fourth lap before lowering during her fifth.

Finally, picking out the spot that had been pointed out earlier in the middle of the pitch, Cassie brought herself down, landing shortly after Jessa had. Whew! That had been fun.

As the fourth year went into she third lap she rose a bite higher into the air, pretty much as far as she dared to (or could) go up. Speeding up more, but not quite as fast as she could. She moved around the others with ease. Watching out for them as she past them.

How much was a few exactly? Three…. Five.

Okay she was going with five. Five sounded good. She sped up a tad more. She was now on her fourth lap, and no one had touched down yet. So she dropped down some to finish the last of laps. She was flying lower than she had first started with.

She made her last lap, and noticed that a few others had touched down already. So she decided that the five laps she had completed was good enough for her “few” laps. She touched down and headed to the middle of the pitch to wait and see what was happening next. Real Quidditch things right? She was ready…. Or at least she felt like she was.

So many flying, so little to keep up with. While he watched them fly he walked over to the side of the stand near some benches to drag (with his wand of course) some of the chests over to the middle. Kirk could tell this was going to be a great team in the making with how fast they were zooming around the pitch. Luckily he didn't have any first timer flyers, which definitely stopped him from making early immediate cuts. This was cool. He was impressed by them all, little Shera seemed to be super fast being one of the first to head off and to land back with Jessa. Juni and Cassie were not far off from them before doing the same. First part was definitely over after the rest landed.

Now it was time for testing their skills, "Awesome flying everyone!" Captain Kirk beamed at them, "Now I know a few you already have a position in mind, or maybe more than one actually. Whatever, so first let's see how good you wield a bat." Kicking open one of the chests' trunk to reveal a full load of bats. "That's right, everyone go ahead and grab one. So to alleviate you guys walking away with alot of bruises, I got Mister Baldvinsson to charm bouncy balls, close to the side of bludgers instead to fly towards you." They even made a boing noise on impact for affect, as Kirk stood by another chest that shook a little bit every now and then. "Yep, so this is gonna test your beater skills since not only do you have to smack the balls away, you want to make sure you don't aim them at another flyer but rather through one of the three hoops. Try to get in as many in the hoop as possible. Alright?"

And while they got themselves situated with the next task, Kirk grabbed himself a bat as well. Merlin knew he wouldn't be immune to these soon to be rogue balls. "Ready?" Juuust one last moment for them to prepare. "On my whistle.. three.... two... one.."

*TWEEET*

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OOC: Part 3, you guys are awesome! So like Captain Kirk said, try to smack the charmed balls away from others and through the hoops. You could even try being a savior if you want with the bats, it's up to your charrie along with how many they score in, just be sure to label all posts. I'll give you guys 48-72 hours from this post before the next part.

They were beginning with the Beater exercises?

Shera managed not to grimace. She would have much preferred to start strong with something to do with being seeker or chaser, but she supposed beater wasn't bad either. It was something she had played before, albeit not as well as other positions. At least Kirk was the keeper and she didn't even need to do any exercises because that would not go down well.

So, she walked over to the chest, picking up a bat for herself. She gripped it tightly for a moment, taking a deep breath in as she tried to centre herself and refocus.

You've got this, Shera.

You can do this!

That in mind she waited as patiently as she could. At least if she made a mistake no one would get hurt thanks to the charmed balls. Although... That might make hitting them feel weird, a different weight. That was her last thought before the whistle sounded, and she kicked off immediately.

There was no time to waste after all, and there was much for her to prove. She shot up as quickly as she could so that she would be close to the hoops, and there were already charmed balls right behind her. Now all she had to do was remember to hit, not dodge!

Although... she was kinda curious what these balls would do when they hit. The curiosity won out over her desire to prove herself, and she sat still as the first ball rushed towards her, slamming into her shoulder.

Boing.

It didn't hurt at all, and the sound was rather fun, so it was almost worth running into them just for that. The game would be so much funnier if all of the bludgers were like this. But they weren't, and she needed to get her head back into the game. Literally. Another charmed ball came at her soon enough and she whacked it as hard as she could in the direction of the hoops, cringing as it passed between two of the goal posts rather than going near the hoop. She really needed to buckle down.

Yesss.

Upon signing up for tryouts, and she had checked seeker or beater. But after a conversation with Ethan about tryouts and quidditch, she had wished she had checked beater as first. But either way now was her time to show off her skills with a bat. If she had any true skills with one. It was probably a good thing that they were using bouncy balls instead of actually bludgers. Though if she did get hit by one she would rather it b

She moved over, and grabbed a bat. She looked at the bat. This one would do. Or at least she thought it would. Bat in hand, she twirled it carefully. The last thing she wanted to do was too knock herself out with the bat… or anyone else for that matter.

She got back on her broom waited for Kirk to give them the whistle to go. Once she heard the tweet of the whistle she kicked off. At first it was a bit hard to balance one hand on the broom and hold the bat the same time. Once she got the feeling of having both she swung her bat for a practice swing. Nodding to herself not bad.

Now for the hard part, swinging and making contract with the ball. One of the balls was flying toward her and she hit it as hard as she could. It totally went off in the other direction that she had intended. The hoops wasn’t even in that direction. She would get the next one though, she knew she would.
She looked around to see where she was at in pitch and which way she needed to go. She was all set now. The next ball came toward her and she hit it, not as the first one, and in the direction that she wanted to go. She had aimed to the center hoop, the ball flew through the hoop.

Rhea wasn't entirely sure what had possessed her to come to try out for Ravenclaw's Quidditch team. Quidditch had, well, since fourth year, always been just a hobby to her - stress relief, if you will. But now... She was actually trying out for a team. Was she even a team player? Who knew. Well, she was about to find out, wasn't she? She was after the position of beater, which didn't necessary require being cheery and happy, just required having focus and strength. Both were things she had. Maybe doing this would actually create a team spirit within her that had been absent until now.

She thought about all these things as she warmed up with the others. She stretched out her back and legs, but especially her arms. Then it was onto laps around the pitch. Rhea wasted no time flying up into the air - even higher than some of her potential team mates, but not as high as others. She flew fast, grinning a small grin for herself as the wind whipped past her face. She could imagine doing this seriously and not just for fun. Earlier, she had been listening to the others and it had shouted like some of them wanted beater, too. She would have to put the effort in if she really wanted this. Then, on the next couple of laps she settled into a slower pace, focusing on smooth flying isn't of speedy flying.

She then, after four laps, flew to the ground with the others and listened to their Captain.

Oh.

As soon as bats were mentioned, Rhea's eyes lit up and she actually cracked a smile in front of everyone. She couldn't help showing how pleased she was that they got to have bats straight away. As soon as Kirk had explained what they were to do, Rhea claimed a bat. She bounced it against the palm of her hand, then got a feel for its weight in her hand. After a few careful practise swings, she nodded to herself.

Then the whistle went and she kicked off. Ah. She could almost sigh with happiness. The bat didn't feel weird to her at all. In fact, it felt more like an extension of herself. An extension that was actually allowed to hit things, so, basically,
like the best extension of herself there could be. With another smile, she turned her focus to any incoming balls and glanced to the sides of her, checking 1) where other people were and 2) were the hoops were. It was going to considerably more difficult to actually aim the balls into the hoops. She'd hit them away from people before - Cornelius, for example,
- but never towards things.

Then, coming straight towards her, was a makeshift bludger.

Instinctively, she raised her arm, preparing for the hit. But when it came, the best she could do was hit it away from herself and others, which sent it flying several feet ABOVE a hoop. Not too bad. She could work on that.

Aaaaand another was coming.

Shera needed to refocus.

While she told herself that and knew that it was absolutely right, it was a lot easier thought than done. Counting as she breathed she forced that under control first, watching first Juni and her two attempts at hitting the bludger replacements and then watching Rhea do the same.

Juni and Rhea were both good. But Shera knew that she could also be good. She just needed to be patient and focus. 'Feel the bat,' she thought to herself, eyes focussing on a stray magical ball that was now flying towards her face. She waited for a moment, letting it get close before leaning away from the ball and smacking it from the location her face had been seconds earlier.

This one went a bit better for her. It hit the edge of one of the hoops, bouncing back off of it. Improvement, especially compared to her previous one. Which meant that she could get even better.

Spotting one flying below her, she quickly scanned the pitch to see where everyone was. It'd be unfortunate if she hit one straight into one of the other Ravenclaws. With that done, she let herself drop to catch up with that rogue charmed ball.

She caught up with it easily, smacking it hard and upwards to get it back into a nicer position for her and immediately chasing after it again for whacking it again, for the hoop on the right hand side.

Goal, she grinned to herself.

Oh Merlin was it that time of the tryout already? The flying hadn't been bad but the multi-tasking, that was always going to be what got her. Focusing on so many things without actually focusing on so many things. For the briefest moment, Jessa tried to recount any and all bone healing charms she knew and any potions that may have proven equally effective.....when Kirk mentioned they'd be using bouncy balls.

Oh. That wasn't so bad. When she and Cameron practised, they used tennis balls which weren't all that far off. Oh. Not such a terrifying idea then. Oh.

There was still the fact there would be a couple other students on the field she was trying not to hit while trying to get the balls through one of the hoops but these were just regular bouncy balls and that took away at least some of the pressure. No worry about fracturing anyone's skull or kneecaps today. Her sister and Alice had told her ALL THE STORIES she would ever need about what made Beater the most "exciting" position and she honestly wasn't having it, not if it meant someone else was gonna end up in the hospital wing. It was borderline barbaric.

Jessa took a bat then pushed off the floor, making a smoother transition into flying than just now when they'd started the laps. Before she could even find an altitude to settle at, a familiar whistling of something darting right by her ear--nicking that ear as it did causde her to do a complete 360 turn; disorienting to say the least.

It was a few seconds into staring that she realized it would do her no good to sit there trying to figure where it went when there were so many others still flying around and--WHACK! Right in the back of her head. If there was ever a time to be glad these hadn't been real bludgers, Circe.

Okay. Focus Jess. It'd be just like in those other little practises. Nothing too difficult. Just. Focus.

Sure she may have picked a position when she signed up, but Cassie would put more emphasize on what position she DIDN’T want more than what she was interested in. She didn’t want to limit herself in case there was a strength for something she hadn’t be aware she had. Beater wasn’t the one she preferred not to play so she was alright with trying out with the beater bat. At least they would be sparred actually fighting against bludgers this time around which was a blessing. Moving to the trunk full of them, she grabbed one of the bats and resituated herself on her broom to be ready for the signal, the bat grasped tightly in her right hand as she balanced a one-handed grip on the broom.

three.... two... one…

Cass was off and flying like their house’s mascot. She spotted her housemates as they rose up into the sky as well, now she just had to take notice of the charmed balls as they moved and bounced around. There was one! But not all that close to her as she flew. Not that she had to worry as the next one flew closer and the seventh year took a shot at it. She got a piece of it but not too controlled as she would have liked so nowhere near one of the hoops. It was alright for a first try, she just wasn’t going to give up and hope she could improve from there.

Whoops!

One zoomed past her feet and she had nearly kicked it in passing. That would have been bad had it been a bludger but she had’t been able to swerve in time with its sudden appearance to try and hit it. But the next one….the next one was HERS when she flew towards it or it flew towards her, depending on whose perspective you were going by. And she was near the hoops so maybe it would be a two-fer of success. She lined it up with her arm and borrowed bat and swung with her might.

THWACK!

It hit! And this time towards something. Cassie watched with curiousity and nervousness to see where it went, smiling as it landed through one of the hoops at the edge of the pitch. WOOT! Take that faux bludger. Now to go after some more, the girl’s eyes already keeping an eye out as she flew off.

It was just as she'd suspected, harder when you had to be focusing on too many things at once.

Jessa kept her gaze locked on a ball headed her way, determined to be prepared this time around but it was only after taking a swing at it that she realized it didn't at all go in the direction she'd been hoping. On the contrary, it was heading right for one of her housemates. "Sorry!" She all but squeaked, hoping their reflexes were as good as they needed to be.

Before she could really do anything about it, there was another zipping right at her and you know what? This was a LOT harder than it looked.

Jessa's eyes squeezed shut as she reached her bat out to bat at it. She'd have never known she actually hit it until she felt the way it bounced off her bat. As an afterthought, her eyes shot open to check she hadn't sent another one at her housemates. Thankfully this one steered clear....even of the hoop. Wow. She had to do better somehow or accept that Beater just wasn't for her.

Maybe nothing was.

This time, she would be proactive. Rather than sit there waiting, Jessa began moving about the pitch, knowing the ball would inevitable come after her--they were charmed to afterall. The Ravenclaw positioned herself by the hoop and the moment one came within range, she took a hard swing, knocking it through the hoop.

That was probably her best idea since she'd gotten onto the pitch luring the balls closer to where she needed them to be.