She'd heard Skylar call her name and Junia immediately turned her attention to Zarina who was currently in possession of the quaffle, ready to catch a pass. Coming up on the far side of her, she watched and waited to see what the girl would do and truth be told, she was a little disappointed when the ball was passed to Kye instead, though really, it made sense to go with her given Alyce had also heard Sky's suggestion and might've been expecting Junia to take a shot. Okay, Zarina was forgiven. Zarina was forgiven and Junia was thankful she was so in tune with what was happening around her because it allowed her to miss the bludger Sky had sent their way. Nice, captain.

Nodding back at Kye when she left the Beaters' station to go on to the Chasers, Cameron flew around the targets a few times to get into the moment and to take a good look at the targets. After that he circled back around far enough to make sure he could see all the targets.

And the bludgers, naturally.

Once he spotted one of them, he zoomed towards it and gave it a big WHACK with his bat, sending it straight for one of the targets. The trick was to ANTICIPATE where the target would be in the milliseconds it took for the Bludger to reach it. And he had practiced exactly that A LOT over the past few years. A lot. So naturally, he managed to hit the target straight on.

Of course it was a lot easier to anticipate an enchanted target's movements than another Quidditch player's. The latter could always fly in a completely different direction than anticipated for whatever reason. WHACK He hit another Bludger, intended for yet another target, as he pondered this. Target practice was one thing, but hitting actual people that was a whole lot harder.

He had practiced that too, of course. Still, it meant you had to study PEOPLE and their behavior too.

Patrick had watched everyone a bit before finally mounting his broom looking up to the sky. He was nervous. Only, he felt nervous because he really wanted to make the team considering his father and mother had both played quidditch. But not only that his brothers would laugh so hard if he told them that he didn't make a team. Although he did suppose that there was always next year, unless quidditch went away again.

He kicked off the ground and felt the wind in his hair as he made a few laps around the pitch, zigging and zagging as to avoid some of his other housemates. he wasn't sure what drills they were doing later but he figured now was as good of time as any to get himself acquainted with his broom. He hadn't really said what position he would take, but he for sure didn't want to be keeper.

Alyce was watching the chasers like a hawk. She know that they're going to aim for the goal posts any seconds and she's going to try to block them. She's not going to let the school broom mess up her chance to be in Slytherin Quidditch team. Kye still had the Quaffle with her, so her main focus was the older Slytherin. For a moment she thought Kye was going to hand that Quaffle back to Zarina but then Alyce noticed the girl was trying to confuse her by flying from one side to another. Did she think she would fall for that kind of trick? She came prepare, thank you very much.

Alyce saw a Bludger whooshing towards the left hoop and managed to dodge it. Yikes. That's close. Soooo close. One crisis avoided another one about to come her way, she watched as Kye threw the Quaffle and aimed it to the right hoop. She quickly pulled the handle of her broom to the right and leaned forward to gain some speed from the old broom. She managed to catch the Quaffle before it went through the hoop. "Nice shoot." You too, Captain. That Bludger almost hit her. She threw the Quaffle back to the chasers. Round two!

Zarina saw Kye take the shot and she was impressed. Even after her loose footing as she would call it, she managed to score a point. "Good job!" she called out to Kye. She was definitely going to get brownie points for that shot. Zae caught the quaffle when Alyce threw it and now it was time to get back into gaming positions. Zae had the option of going to the goal posts by herself or passing it to Junia next. Hmmm maybe showing she was a good teammate was a better outcome than being selfish.

One she flew around and faced the goal posts, she noticed Junia was up and ready for a pass. Zae passed the quaffle with all her might to Junia and hoping she could possibly catch it. Least this slytherin had a good throwing arm to account herself for.

Teddy stood still as the rest of the participants branched out into their stations. She wasn't quite sure where she was strong. Like she had said, Quidditch had only been a recreational thing and the rules were always very loose and unofficial.

She looked between all the areas. She was fast on land, but could she be just as fast in air? She's got muscle, nothing bulbous, but its solid. Teddy quickly straightened up, mounting her broom. If she looks unsure and scared, then she can kiss the team goodbye. The seventh year fastened a stern look on her face and kicked off the ground to start a chase for the Snitch.

Aw man! Kye had made a good effort, but the shot was blocked. "Thanks, nice pass!" she laughed when Zarina complimented her efforts.
"Nice block, Alyce!" she called. She hadn't even seen that bludger heading at them in all honesty, and Alyce had done a great job of not only swerving out of the way of it, but not falling for Kye's fake out.

Kye circled back and saw the quaffle go to Junia (who Kye hoped didn't feel left out of the previous play). She decided to do a speed run while the others re-situated. She had her turn, she wasn't trying to hog the quaffle or anything.

She could feel the air whipping through her hair, pushing against her face, and Kye had to wonder just how fast she was going. She pushed herself to go even faster on the way back to where the other Chasers were, making sure to look out for any bludgers of course!

Good save, Alyce!" Junia's voice carried over to the keeper as she circled the hoops so she could get back in position to score. She was impressed with the younger girl, particularly when she'd faced the bludger moments before making the save. It was good to be able to switch gears that fast, it was necessary. She was sure Sky would be impressed, too.

The sixth year was zig-zagging now, flying smoothly towards the goals as she held the red head's gaze. She barely even reacted when Zarina hurled the quaffle towards her, catching it with one hand and tucking it safely under her arm as she leaned forward on her broom to pick up speed. She wasn't going to decide which post to aim for until the last minute, knowing any hint would give the keeper the upper hand. She zoomed left, right, left, right, eyes still trained on Alyce. She was very close now, and coming in quite fast. In the seconds that followed she made a last minute decision and aimed for the far left goal post as she juuuust managed to pull to a stop before making contact. The quaffle hurtled with strength towards the hoop, and all the sixteen year old could do was watch and hope she'd made it.

So being on her broom not only felt REALLY good, but also made it easier to monitor those trying out and Skylar felt so conflicted. She wanted ALL of them on her team because they each had such great potential. Like, that save from Alyce? Stellar! And the passing going on between each of her chasers ... and then Cameron with his beating skills. And well, Patrick hadn't settled on a position station yet, but his zig-zagging and speed was impressive.

And she'd seen the fierce look of determination as Teddy was on the hunt for the snitch (it seemed), because how else was her flying to be explained.

Essentially they were all doing amazing and she wanted them all. And well, maybe they could have extra reserve players, in case someone fell ill? Because it would be better to have extra reserves and the most awesome team to beat Zoryn then to have not enough talent selected. Cause they were all talented - or well, so much potential. She could cry. Didn't, but could.

So it was all the sixteen year old could do but just watch with awe, as she took notes to submit to Professor B later.


ooc: I'll have one more exercise for y'all to complete, which i'll post probably tomorrow, but in the meantime, keep doing what you're doing And in case you haven't done so, complete the survey, because that's important ....

Right now he appeared to be the only one at the Beater station.

Which was good. Although some direct competition would have been nice too. Or at least Skylar could have come over and played with him. She was a Beater too, after all. But of course the Captain was busy observing everyone so Cam of course understood why she wasn't actively playing herself for now.

Still, it was a little lonely and the fact that this, hitting the targets wasn't really a big challenge when there was nobody else he was competing for the Bludger with. He hit another Bludger. Hopefully Skylar had some group activity planned that would require him to interact with the other players too before the end of the tryouts.

Vivian loved how her beater's bat felt like an extension of her arm, of herself. Basically, being on a broom was an amazing feeling all on its own and she had grown up with Elise Fairfield as her aunt, so Quidditch was a way of life. It felt like that. But then again, she needed to focus herself on the tryouts at hand. Eyes out to check for bludgers around the area. The bludger she had hit earlier just seemed to have went somewhere. She just wasn't sure where now, but she knew it would eventually return in the most unexpected timing.

The prefect took this time to practice her agility skills as she did a few zig zags over there, but not too close to distract the chasers, who were honestly really great at that passing the quaffle. And that was when Vivian took notice of another bludger making its way towards Kye, so the blond hovered a little more closer to her dorm mate and made sure to whack it away from her and towards the target, hitting the dummy's head.

Vivian grimaced at the thought of it. If this were a real match, she wouldn't have sent the bludger to the opponent's face, just saying.

She let a few minutes pass, swinging her bat a little more before deciding to switch up positions. Vivian touched down on the ground and laid her bat near Sky. She didn't want to lose it, so it was better where it was closer to Skylar's general location. She wouldn't be needing it for now. "I'm gonna switch positions, captain," the blond said, letting Skylar know. Cameron had a bat anyway, so he could definitely whack those bludgers away while the tryout session was still ongoing. Then she took off, looking for the snitch.

Honestly, she hated just how tiny the snitch was. It flew really quickly, and gold seemed to blend well with other colours. Vivian flew around for a moment, making laps and doing more zig zags, while in search for the snitch. No luck so far, nope. But she did take a moment to admire how well the chasers were doing, and even Alyce was okay as a Keeper too. It was when Vivian sort of cheered for Junia, Kye, and Zarina when she caught something shiny sort of ZOOM right in front of her. She lost it for a moment, thanks to how fast it was, but then ultimately found it sort of hiding behind Skylar's hair.

...

You've got to be kidding. Vivian was a little bit hesitant to dive for the snitch when it clearly looked a bit comfortable around her dormie's company, but went for it anyway out of impulse. She was supposed to catch the snitch if she wanted to become seeker, right? It was a second option for a position, but Vivian needed to try. "GET OUT!" She yelled, hoping Sky would take a hint that HELLO THERE WAS A TINY FLYING BALL BEHIND HER as Vivian stretched her arm to grab for it. And hopefully she didn't pull on any of Sky's hair because that would have been horrific. Just... no.

Recovering from her dive, and possibly attacking their Quidditch captain, the prefect took a deep breath as she gripped her fingers tightly around the Snitch, which sort of fluttered its wings in attempt to escape. Well, it wasn't the first one she caught in her entire life, but hey! She got it!

Skylar was still comfortably watching, as Cameron seemed alone in target practice? Huh, how strange since she was certain EVERYONE had wanted to tryout for beater. Well, Miss Vivian was there too but yes she heard the blond in commenting about switching positions and she was eager to see about the seeker position.

Which was when she noticed an annoying buzzing in her ear. Around her ear? Merlin, she of course knew what that was but sudden movements would surely swat it away and attract the attention of Vivian and Teddy, for starters and she wanted to see hiw they did without her pointivg it out.

And it was perhaps the buzzing giving the sixth year a headache but suddenly the blond prefect was zooming at her - hand outstretched - and totally grabbed at a fistful of her hair in her process. The sudden movements, the buzzing, and well Skylar was NOT prepared which she spun around a moment before zeroing in on Vivian ... "Oi, if you want my hair for polyjuice potion, you could have said something! But oh look, Prefect Fairfield has caught the snitch! Congrats!"

After regaining composure, which included checking her hair, Skylar whistled to call attention to her snakettes.

"Right so speed and agility is super important to playing quidditch andnone of the things i want to see. So everyone together now, including you Cameron because while beater doesn't deal with quaffles, you still need precision. Our tryout time is winding down but i will charm quaffles to drop at random throughout the pitch of various speeds and your task is to just catch and toss... if one is tossed , its fair game to catch. Just keep moving. And keep the quaffles moving. Ready, set, go!" she did wait for the bats to be returned to the pitch, but a moment later about ten quaffles started dropping, each one spread throughout the pitch.




Ooc: tryouts will close in about 14-15 hours, in which i shall make a closing post, but one last activity for you all to work with... position doesnt matter everyone can partake cause being agile is important to all positions!
Again, if you havent done the survey, please do that! and its NOT too late to join in

Oooh, he knew what that whistle meant.

Cameron circled around - dodged a Bludger - and flew back over to where Skylar and the rest of the team was. Good, she'd even mentioned him by name. Which in turn meant she'd been watching him. Good. That was something at least. So she at least saw how good his aim was and that he knew how to handle a Beater's bat. Good good good.

He nodded and quickly zoomed off to drop his bat on his bag without either dismounting his broom nor coming to a complete stop. Time was of the essence here. As was showing off a little. Did she see how perfectly he'd managed to set down the bat on his bag, had she?? He was done just in time - okay no, with time to SPARE, because please - for the Quaffles to be released.

Flying off, he managed to catch one of the Quaffles and immediately tossed it off to...where they supposed to throw them TO each other? No, right? It was about speed. So he tossed it off to the other side of where the players were.

Go fetch?

Kye heard the blown whistle, and flew a bit closer to Ms. Captain as she made the announcement. Okay, if she was being honest, she definitely still preferred Beater over Chaser, BUT she needed to show hand-eye coordination. It was essential for any position on the team.

"It's raining Quaffles, ladies and gentlemen!" Kye laughed, heading off for a Quaffle she had just seen in her peripheral. It was actually quite close, so Kye caught it and immediately tossed it for... whoever. Didn't matter to her!

Keep it movin, keep it movin

She kept an eye out for Quaffles that may have been hit by others, aaand for the ones falling from the sky of course. She jet through the field, making sure to not run into any of the others.

She noticed a Quaffle going the opposite direction and switched directions as swift as she was able, gaining speed. She kept this one in arm for a moment while she got back up to around the same level as the others again, and threw the Quaffle upwards into the air.

She zoomed this way and that, surprised at how much she enjoyed the wind. The faster she went, the happier she felt.

If Skylar was being honest, she had been a complete wreck since their very first match against Gryffindor when her spirits pretty much died out there on the pitch. Questioning everything including why she was captain because she hadn't been there at all her for her team right after that crushing match. Had been, yes, but thanks to some ... encouragement from Apollo ... and a talk with Gaston about success and failure, some successful practices, a few talks with her team since that fateful first match, a win against Ravenclaw, the sixth year had found herself doing loads better.

She had arrived early to the pitch that morning eager to set everything up and with a few notes and wise words tucked into her robe pocket. They were about one hundred points behind from winning the quidditch cup and gaining revenge on the Gryffindors for pretty much killing them in the first match. But it meant that they had to really be scoring and preventing the Hufflepuffs from scoring in their upcoming match. The Gryffindor vs Ravenclaw match was out of her control but she only hoped the chasers could hold their own. All she knew was that she wanted her team to play the best they could out there against the Hufflepuffs. Especially because Hattie; she knew most of the girl's weaknesses but lately she'd been so secretive and honestly Skylar was about showing no mercy for her best friends' team. For spite.

Kye was more determined with each step she took toward the pitch. They had a rough start, there was no denying it, but they still had a chance to win it! Tensions were growing as the end of the season approached. As they should though really, because come on... the first Cup in a decade?? Kye inhaled the smell of the grass, getting ready to focus only on Quidditch for the rest of the evening. And tomorrow. Kye watched as the figure of Sky became closer, and she greeted her captain. "Hey, Sky!" Kye began some light stretching, a loud pop from her neck. Aaand this is why you stretch before flying.

Teddy trudged onto the pitch, tossing her broom on the grass temporarily to tie her hair up. She summoned it back up to her hand, looking over at Skylar. Ready when she was. Well, currently, who knows how Teddy will be once Flynn shows up. IF he shows up, that is.

Zarina saw Skylar posted on the notice board that she was holding practice. Zae grinned with glee and was excited to go to another practice. She had on her practice work out gear and made her way down to the pitch. She saw her fellow teammates on the field. The Slytherin gave a nod to Kye and Teddy and said, "Sup guys?" She joined them and began to do the necessary stretches and jogged in place. This chaser saw the captain and gave her a wave. "Hey Skylar got anything in store for us today?" She wondered if the captain had anything up her sleeve.

As the last matches drew closer Cam had come to realize that while, naturally, everything was still possible, it wasn't very LIKELY that they would win the Quidditch Cup this year. But then again, neither was it for Hufflepuff to win. So his and Bel's bet would probably lead to...an interesting outcome. Definitely interesting.

He hoped it was going to be warm towards the end of term.

Carrying a water bottle in his pocket, his broom over his shoulder and his bat in his hand, Cameron walked down to the Quidditch pitch. He was in a good mood and had been looking forward to this team practice. There was no such thing as TOO MUCH practice after all and he had every intention of winning their last match. "Hello, Captain." He greeted Skylar with a smile and the others with a polite nod before he moved over to stand next to Zae.

She really was in good spirits despite her lack of communication with a certain Hufflepuff. And why shouldn't she be? She had the pitch for a WHOLE hour and it was going to be epic, as practices usually were.

"Kye! Hello!" she greeted of her roommate, shaking her head in amusement at the loud pop. "Best to get those kinks out now." Then like before their next game.

And there was one of her senior housemates and reserves, who was still quite awesome. But all her players were amazing, in Sky's most humble opinion. Smiles for you Teddy, who looked ready enough.

Skylar had to laugh at one of her other chasers strolled up and that question. "No, Zarina. I figured we'd just use this time to stare at each other." Seriously, what kind of question was that? They were here to practice their flying, yes? To beat Hufflepuff and MAYBE doubtfully but there was the chance to win that Quidditch Cup. Reminded her that she needed to seek out Juniper later to pass on some valuable inside tips of the Gryffindor team. Although, that hadn't worked so well for Hufflepuff, so maybe not.

And there was her co-beater, who looked to be in good spirits as well. Good, good. She needed all the good spirits possible. They just had to keep it up and not get too presumptuous with their abilities. "Cameron, hello." Also, she probably should have mentioned they didn't need their individualized position equipment for today's practice. Oops? Today was all about team-building exercises, positions aside.


"Right, so let's get started," though they were missing a few, but they could catch up. "So we got off to a rocky start and what I've realized these past few months as we've been playing together is that we need more team-building. Hufflepuff is a good team, there's no denying it. But we can be better." Obviously. "What we need is to trust one another. To look for windows of opportunities. So today's practice is going to be focused all about that."

"Right, so lets get started with a small warmup, of five laps around the pitch. Only thing is that I don't want you just flying at one height. Every time you round the corner, you either have to dip down or fly higher." Did that make sense, maybe? "I'll be starting right behind you." You know, give them all a head start.

ooc: small warmup first; will move onto a activity in like 24-36 hours, depending on how this goes <3

Patrick had been standing off toward the side, not really making much noise. His head was in practice, but at the same time he was thinking about all of the things he needed to get done unfortunately. He shook his head as he heard Skylar begin to talk. He understood what she was saying and where she was coming from. It was a goal for Patrick to make the team next year instead of being an alternate. Although, he still wasn't sure how he was going to make that happen since when he went home all of his friends wouldn't be playing quidditch.

Mounting his broom he began to make the five laps around the pitch. He wasn't sure he liked the whole up and down each turn. It was going to feel like a roller coaster ride and those made him naseuous. Regardless he had to be his best here as to not get kicked off the team. "one lap around the pitch." he mumbled as he took off and started low letting himself get accustomed to the wind in his face for the day.

Junia appeared just as Skylar was announcing the plan and she gave the captain an apologetic look as she set down her broom and pulled her hair back out of her face. If they were doing laps, being able to see was prooobably going to be necessary. Also, she had a good excuse for being late. The whole studying thing had taken her full attention, her interest in healer studies and the books the former healer had recommended stealing much of her free time these days. It wouldn't happen again.

She offered the others a smile as she mounted her broom and kicked off, deciding to do her first lap high in the air. The wind felt good on her face and she felt herself relax as she gained height. This was going to be a good practice, she thought.

Zarina snorted at the captain's comment. She was impressed and shrugged, "Well I mean some people are into that sort of thing. Stare at each other till we talk about our feelings.." she fake gaged, then she smirked and then proceeded to get on with the task. Alright, so they were going on their brooms. Simple enough. Well least it was only five laps. That was doable. Zae gave the captain a salute and mounted her broom. She kicked over her handle and sat down and pushed off towards the center of the pitch.

She flew towards the end of the pitch and zoomed around the corner and began to dip down. She felt the wind in her hair and she felt liberated. She loved flying it gave her a sense of calm. She dipped so low, her hands skimmed the grass. Now that is how it was done. Zae just needed to be quicker than those hufflepuffs.

Vivian Fairfield was never late. Never. But she wasn't exactly an early bird too. Arriving with just a few minutes left to spare, the seeker had a smile on her face as she marched towards her team to join them. "Hey, guys," the blond greeted. "Captain." She knew Skylar never came to meetings like this unprepared. She must've called them for something. Vivian knew better than to think otherwise. This was Skylar, after all. Her best friend was usually up to something. Whatever it was. They'll just have to see, yeah?

But it was time for warm-ups, so the prefect did as told. Vivian mounted her broom and kicked off, and followed behind Zarina. If she were to keep the winning streak--okay, they had only won ONCE, but they had to start somewhere--she had to do well. She was fast, thanks to her new broom, but she didn't want to settle for just that. However, it was just practice, so she didn't go all-out for this one. Save it for the actual game, and hope it shocks the Hufflepuffs.

One round done, and Vivian dipped lower and then up higher, then repeating it. Like a wave, because it was fun.

Kye listened to her captain, curious as to what was in store for them. At her say so, Kye mounted her broom and started with a nice low sweep of the pitch, her next lap was middle height, then a very high one, then a deep dive. Now THAT was exhilarating! A smile had appeared on her face as she continued changing levels. What next, Cap?!