If there was one thing he needed to master, it was to keep his mouth shut while playing Quidditch. The talking can definitely wait because before he could make any more adjustments on his broom, the red quaffle came closer to one of the hoops at an alarming speed. A sharp breath was all it took for Charlie to move, his right hand fully exteeeeended and his broom speeding towards the goal post. "Cmon cmon cmon cmon!!!"

At the last minute, he was able to quickly clutch on the quaffle, ramming it away from the goal post and towards his face. His body was too fast for his brain to catch up, which was, by the way, the natural occurrence whenever he played Quodpot for his team. Not only does he get bruises-- he'd usually end up stinky too. "RAAAAHHH!!!" the pain's going to be there for a good while, but he gotta get a move on. "Good throw, Cap!" he said as he zoomed past, before diving again to retrieve a bat.

Now, this is a bit foreign. Not that he hasn't played much Quidditch either, but he'd never been a beater. It added extra weight to his right, and it annoyed him a bit because he had to constantly counteract that extra pull. Despite the awkward angle, Charlie powered through the gigantic floating marshmallows, bat at the ready. The hopeful pulled his arm back in haste, causing him to lose the bat. "WATCH OUT!" Here's hoping no one's tailing him. The marshmallows may be harmless, but a flying bat wasn't. Upon impact, marshmallows exploded left and right, sticking the bits and pieces to his person and broom. Yes...this was why he was never meant to be a beater in the first place. Charlie raced to the finish line, wanting to escape the marshmallow field, doing a series of rolls to flick off the excess sticky stuff.

Now...onto the second lap. Charlie took a smooth turn towards the first obstacle, and dived right into the barriers, keeping himself low...and continued to flick off marshmallows as he sped through it. Catching a quaffle became easier, thanks to the sticky stuff that pelted him...and a quick sideways hook shot was made, making the quaffle spin on its axis as it arched towards one of the side goal hoops. Trained to do a quick turnover towards the opposite side, he was onto the coronas, left, right, down, and up. Another quaffle hurtled towards him, but this time...he was able to properly block it by kicking the ball upwards and towards the coronas where most of the chasers would be waiting for the rogue quaffle. Now, instead of taking a beater's bat, he bravely went through the marshmallow field whacking the engorged sweets with his arm. He wouldn't be able to do that with a bludger, obviously, but he'd rather swat it away with an arm than lose another bat and hurt his fellow Puffers. Again, to flick off the mashed marshmallows, he rolled with his broom, sending the bits and pieces flying again as he raced towards the finish line.

As the last of the hopefuls got through the obstacle course, Bel put her fingers in her mouth and whistled loudly, the sound of it carrying extremely well. She flew over to where they were all gathering and having a drink break and a stretch. Once everyone was there and gathered expectantly she smiled brightly and addressed them all.

"Okay, you guys, we've got about forty minutes left on the pitch, so its time to go through some position drills. This is the chance for you to show your best skills. So pick a position and show me what you've got. If you're going for more than one, just take turns. Chasers, try and score on the keepers, keepers try and block the quaffle. Beaters, the marshmallows were one thing, but I'm going to release an actual bludger, so you'll be wanting to keep that bludger off our chasers and keepers - I want you guys to focus on defense of your future teammates, not on trying to attack anyone, okay?" Cool?

"Also if you are trying out for chaser or keeper specifically, you might need switch over to the other at some point, just so everyone gets a chance to show their stuff, okay? Chasers, you should be trying to work together too and show me your passing game. Lets get started down here at this end of the pitch, stay in this third only please guys! Lets have some fun!"

With that, after checking everyone was ready, Bel went over to one of the quidditch ball boxes, and released one bludger, giving it a thwack with a bat to send it off. It would be back, that was for sure.

ooc: Okay guys! Last part of the tryouts begins now. If you are just joining us or missed anything you are MORE THAN WELCOME to do a catch up post but you also don't have to! If you do just make sure its clear that its not at the same time as the current activity because everyone should be joining in on this bit IC.

So to recap:
Beaters: (should focus on strength!)
There is ONE real bludger been released, your character should be keeping it off the non-beater players, and also feel free to show off some flying skills.

Chasers: (should focus on speed!)
Try and score goals! ooc you have two options as to how you RP this:
one, you can just say your character is taking a turn and NOT name the person who is keeping opposite them (in which case you can RP the outcome being successful or not yourself)
or you can leave it open for someone to RP defending the hoops and allow them to say if their character blocks it or not, you should not be saying that someone's charrie succeeds or fails blocking your character's shot!

Chasers can RP passing to each other too! Good passing is just as important as scoring goals! Chasers are allowed to take turns and play keeper for each other too, so feel free to have your charrie do that. Also watch out for the bludgers!

Keepers: (should focus on maneuverability!)
Try and block goals! ooc you have two options as to how you RP this:
one, you can just say your character is taking a turn and NOT name the person who is trying to score on them (in which case you can RP the outcome being successful or not yourself)
or you can respond to an open post made by a chaser and say whether or not your character blocks it - in this case you are RPing what is happening with the quaffle AFTER it leaves the chaser's hands, you are NOT to be RPing for the chaser themselves.

Keepers can have a go at chasing too if they want or trying to score against others who are going out for keeper. Also watch out for the bludgers!

You guys are doing great so far! Continue to remember to be realistic about your charrie not necessarily being perfect they won't get in trouble or marked against or anything if they miss a goal etc! Remember you should not RP for someone else!

We will continue this part of the tryouts until it is over - you still have until May 18th to do the survey and join in! Its not too late! Any questions feel free to ask!

captain post index:
welcome to tryouts
greetings and introductions
Starting the Obstacle Course
Observing the first run through
More observations and encouragement
Last chance for obstacle course!
Position drills/mini scrimmage (this post)

It was a quick break, but it was enough. She didn't want to cool down too much, and she was eager to get going. She loved playing quidditch, which was totally new since last year. She really hoped that she made the team this year. It would be great to end her years at Hogwarts with a bang. Hopefully she'd still be able to fly a little even if she didn't make the team. but the blonde was going to try her absolute best to make sure that she made the team. She did it last year so she was pretty sure she could do it again. Part of her was tempted to have a go at the beater bit, but she decided to concentrate just on the chaser ones. Hopefully that would mean she made the team.

She mounted her broom again, and zoomed off towards the hoops, a quaffle tucked under her arm. Hopefully her aim was still good. She zoomed around, before flying directly towards the centre hoop, before throwing the quaffle off towards the right hoop. Hopefully her tactic would confuse the keeper enough to make her get a goal. She hoped anyway.

Daisy's number one preferred position on the Quidditch team was Keeper so she decided to attempt blocking Quaffles. She made her way to the goal hoops and flew in front of all three, hoping that any Quaffles wouldn't make their way through the hoops. As Daisy saw the first Quaffle being thrown by Hattie from the middle of the hoop but it was heading towards the right hoop. Daisy was in between the middle and right goal hoops but sadly the Quaffle just missed being caught. Daisy felt angry with herself and was hoping to get another go.

Maddie had just gulped down the last of her water, when she heard the sound of Bel's whistle. Just as she thought, tryouts weren't exactly over yet. Which was good, because Maddie knew the games would last a lot longer. She needed to be prepared, especially because this would be her first time on the team...assuming she made it.

Maddie wasn't exactly sure when they'd get started, but when the bludger was released, she assumed that time was now. The third year mounted her broom and sped off, quaffle in hand. She noted that Hattie was also trying out or Chaser, and Daisy was trying out for Beater. It was important that she note this, because according to Bel's instructions, they needed to help their fellow Chasers and watch out for the Keeper's trying to block.

Maddie kept all this in mind as she closed in on the goal hoops. Daisy seemed to be preoccupied with Hattie's throw, so Maddie chose that exact moment to take her change. She chose the left goal hoop, because the current Keeper was attempting a block at the right goal hoop. She sped up and made a quick zoom closer to the left side. When Maddie was sure her aim was right, she hurled the quaffle right toward the left goal hoop.

A quick breather was all Charlie needed. He was definitely on fire, and he wanted to keep the adrenaline rush for the remainder of the tryouts. Besides, now was the moment he'd been waiting for. After a quick swig of water, he'd thrown his water bottle on the ground the moment the bludger was released and whacked. He'd seen how those baddies work, and honestly, he was thankful that it was just one bludger for today.

Catching the quaffle that Daisy missed blocking, Charlie tucked it under his arm and sped off from flying low, upwards making a huge sideways arc along the way to try and score a goal. From a distance, Charlie could hear the telltale sound of a speeding bludger, prompting him to go and try to score now.

Or maybe not?

The chaser hopeful went on full speed like an arrow and eyed one of his teammates. They were in a good position to score, unlike him who's got a (probably) bludger tailing him. Aiming for the right hoop, Charlie went for it, looking like he was about to throw the quaffle, "HEADS UP!!!", only to do a sharp pass above his head towards his left to trick the Keeper. The quaffle only needed a good punch or kick from another chaser to get it inside the goal.

LET'S GO POOFERS!

Could Maddie do a double play? Was that even allowed? Because that was what was about to happen. She was hovering toward the left goal hoop, the one she'd just hurled a quaffle toward, when she almost missed the opportunity of a lifetime. Had Charlie not called out for a heads up, she might have been hit by his quaffle and seriously suffered her chances of making the team. As it was, though, she was able to learn a really valuable lesson.

Always be on watch, even when you think things have gone your way.

Since Charlie had sent the quaffle heading toward the very goal hoop she was by, Maddie was just in the right spot to try to accept his pass and make the goal. She wasn't able to pick her perfect choice as to which method she used, but who was able to do that much planning in spur-of-the-moment Quidditch plays?

"ARGH!" she yelled, as she knocked the quaffle toward the goal hoop with all her might. Honestly, at that moment, she got the impression she could have punched through a brick wall with the amount of motivation she had. She narrowed her eyes toward the left goal hoop, just as the quaffle soared through it.

What was most scary for the smaller Hufflepuff, was the beginning stages of the obstacle course, where he actually had to carry (AND THROW???) a quaffle. That probably didn't seem as daunting to his potential teammates, but...he didn't have a ton of luck (or confidence) where the red balls were concerned. In his early training, Aaron had missed them entirely, getting pummeled in the face by quaffles he failed to catch. Honestly, this had happened on more than one occasion. He'd even had his nose broken a few times..

He hadn't cried...much.

So, knowing what was waiting for him past the barriers definitely affected his performance on them. He'd followed Miss Bel's instructions, at least... staying low and not letting his nerves initiate fight or flight where he might've bolted overhead.... No, but mistakes were made. He'd harshly bumped his leg on one barrier due to over-correction, and nearly zoomed right into another just after. When the leg started to throb, Aaron let out an exaggerated, dramatic sigh. That would definitely bruise; and yes, he KNEW he was being too careful, and not letting his instincts guide him safely through. He needed to trust himself, and chill his roll since quaffles weren't being thrown at him yet, but... Could he just...skip this part and go straight to hitting things with a beater's bat? It was leagues less stressful.

...and quaffle!time was upon him.

Blowing out a breath, he stopped just above the pile of red balls; eyeing them with trepidation. As long as he didn't have to fuddle around with them every time, Aaron thought this could maybe be okay. After all, all he had to do was toss it at the rings and try to score. That was it. No thinking about Miss Bel trying to score on him on the other side of the pitch. No thinking about that at all, cause it was mildly self-sabotaging. With a heavy breath, he pushed the longer broom down to collect one of the balls, fumbling it at first.

...And then a few times more.

......They weren't even the worst ones. How could be be so okay with bludgers and not quaffles?! It made little sense!

Squaring his shoulders, he finally managed to collect one, tucking it between his elbow and side as he'd seen West do on multiple occasions, and then flew up to hover in front of the rings. Pulling himself up a bit straighter, he focused on the left most ring, putting all his strength behind the quaffle as he haphazardly threw it the short distance. It sailed through (just barely), uncontested...and Aaron cheered in celebration! One quaffle interaction down. Three more to go. With a smile, he turned the broom around, darting towards the magicked rings. That was awful clever of Miss Bel, and safer for his frayed nerves. He only needed to get through this first attempt. The next one would be much better. How could it be worse?..... Well, he could've fell. That would've been worse.

Inhaling deeply, and then exhaling all the negative thoughts and energy, Aaron began. These rings weren't solid and.... just maybe, he'd been a bit sloppy with more than a few of them, but flattening himself against the wood of the handle really helped! It made him even smaller, and faster. That was actually tricky for him considering that West was so much taller than he was, but...he was managing the broom length. After some more maneuvering, he finally shot from the last ring and hurtled himself towards the hoops on the other side... Unease settled on his stomach, as he carefully positioned himself in front of the center golden ring. Miss Bel was going to throw a quaffle soon and he'd need to be ready. He could do this. He only needed to pay attention and focus on blocking the red ball. Not catching it. Maybe.... that would make the difference? When you're blocking something, you could punch, kick... do whatever...right? Yasss.... AND HE'D GET TO COLLECT A BAT JUST AFTER.

Whew, okay. HE WAS READY, but....apparently, his assessment that Keeper wouldn't have been for him was correct. He'd stayed grounded at the middle ring, eyes darting to and fro as their Captain approached. He only needed to anticipate her movements, but she was a fast girl on her broom and really, he'd stood no chance against her zeroing in a his weak spots and ultimately scoring.... And yeah, they were just going to ignore the way he'd SCREAMED when the quaffle was actually thrown. Well.... whatever. Put a bat in his hand and he'd be set. Mhm, and he'd just collected a school one. EEEEEEE. He felt complete. With a huge grin on his face, Aaron took a few test swings. This bat was a bit smaller than the one he'd used at home, but it would do. With the quaffle business behind him for now, the Botros kid raced towards the marshmallows, happily smacking the first one that neared him off course. Ahhh, that felt good. It felt so good, in fact, that he wasted no time in darting towards the next one, giving it he same treatment. If his form looked familiar, it was because Hassan had taught him how to play the Beater position. And Aaron had definitely gotten this skill from his cousin.

He'd thrown himself into it like a human bludger, artfully smacking out at any small ball of fluff he saw. LUCK WAS ON HIS SIDE, as it took very little time and before he knew it, he was across the finish line!

THAT...was the confidence boost he needed! Obstacle course, TAKE TWO!

Circling back around on his broom (and woefully discarding the bat), Aaron weaved himself through the barriers much more easily (and not so careful) this time. His leg still smarted, but there would be time later to soothe it. If it was a good tryout, he'd be completely sore from it. That's what he'd been told. So.... He was kinda already there, yeah?

He still fumbled the quaffle at first, but he eventually got it in his grasp. Repeating the elbow!tucking, Aaron soared up to hover in front of the hoops again. This time when he hefted it in, the red ball bounced off the side of the ring...still making it in but...just barely. The small Hufflepuff expelled a breath. And that was why he was not going out for Chaser. Heh, that would've been a messy at full speed. Anyway... moving on to those clever coronas, Miss Bel had called them. He managed to maneuver his body through the rings of light this time with little fuss. He may have clipped the tail of his broom on one or two, but... Aaron was just going to be grateful he felt better about going into the Keeper section. Their Captain was good, and Aaron doubted he'd be able to block her second attempt on him, but Beaters didn't have to worry about this type of thing.

He was less tense this time, hovering in front of the rings with an almost!smile. He'd probably always experience nerves when quaffles were getting thrown in his direction, but he figured if he was on the team as a Beater, he just could "beat" them away. Like in stick ball games. Maybe he should've kept that bat in hand....

Miss Bel went for a different approach this time, circling the hoops and then diving to finally toss the quaffle. Aaron, again, tried to anticipate her movements. It was confusing, because she was a Seeker and had that speed on her side. He could be fast, too... However, he wasn't a match for her. She went low, and when he tried to match her, she pushed up and the quaffle flew right over his shoulder..... Well, he wasn't a Keeper. So.

Aaron didn't dwell. HIS FAVORITE PART WAS UP NEXT. Flying low to collect another bat, the Hufflepuff was gleeful to hurtle himself towards the marshmallows once more. They were like clouds, kinda, and knocking them about wasn't as satisfying as TWACKING! actual bludgers would be. In fact, he darted around a bit, hitting them away, and then moving to hit them back so they didn't explode on his potential teammates. With a last smack, he flew off to the finish line!

VICTORY SCREECH!!!!!

Now... some water. Yasss!

Daisy had just missed Hattie's throw and wasn't going to repeat that performance so quickly so as she saw Maddie throw the Quaffle towards the left goal hoop, Daisy powered her broom and extended her arm with her fist closed. This made Daisy able to punch the Quaffle so that the goal couldn't be scored.

Seriously?! Daisy was bound to show her Beater skills after this because right now as she saw the Quaffle go through the left goal hoop, she was feeling livid. How was she supposed to block that? She could see her Quidditch aspirations vanish and it hurt.

Charlie wasn't going to lie. He felt like a champion himself with his pass, enabling Maddie to score. Now...if they could juuuuust develop that sort of dynamic with all the potential chasers, they'll be a step closer to being unbeatable. Passes and assists were very important plays in Quodpot because not all chasers have the aim. Some have fast reflexes, and mad manoeuvres that help those who can shoot a Quod. It was all about teamwork! "GOOD SHOT MADDIE!" there was room for improvement for the younger Hufflepuff, but she was good, to begin with. He'd taken a mental note to invite Maddie to fly some time and practice some more whether he'd make it to the team or not.

Daisy, though.

Oh dear. "It's okay, Dais!" he said, beaming at the hopeful. The play was meant to confuse the Keeper. That was the goal. "C'mon, let's switch. I'll keep, you do your thang." he said as he positioned himself in front of the center goal post, wiggling his bum a bit to loosen his hips.

Alright, puffer babies...throw this guy a quaffle!

And where did that bludger go, by the way?

Daisy was somewhat relieved when Charlie offered to switch. She was ready to whack that Bludger and protect her fellow Hufflepuffs. She kept her senses on alert as she heard a distinct sound approaching her. The Bludger was heading towards Charlie at the goal hoops. Daisy powered her broom and firmly gripped her bat. With an almighty whack, she launched the Bludger quite some distance away from the goal hoops. She kept a close watch on any Chasers that might be targetted by the Bludger.

As she sat on her broom, watching what was going on, Harriet was kind of tempted to find a beaters bat and try out for that position too, but she knew that chaser was what she was good at. And so she decided she would keep on doing that. More chance of making the team if she concentrated on what she was good at right? She did let a few of the other students have a go though. She wanted to make sure everyone had an equal go. She'd already scored one too, so that was okay for her. A few minutes later though, she was ready for another go, and so she flew down to the ground to collect another quaffle. Here went the second go.

She decided to fly zig-zagged, trying to confuse Charlie who was now by the goal hoops. She tried to make it not obvious which goal hoop she was going for. She was hoping to practice a few of the skills she'd learnt at quidditch camp in the summer. Flying at some speed, the seventh year zoomed for the hoops, and literally at the last minute veered off towards the left hand side, throwing the quaffle towards the left. Hopefully it would just zoom through the goal and score her some more points!

Daisy watched as Hattie performed a zig-zag manoeuvre in a tactic that was to possible distract Charlie. As the Quaffle left Hattie's hand, Daisy noticed the Bludger heading in towards her so Daisy flew so that she was back-to-back with Hattie and she whacked the Bludger away from the two young ladies. "Nice Chaser skills, Hattie."

His face was, mostly just the bits around his lips, sticky from the marshmallow he had consumed but the fifth year hardly minded and honestly forgot aaaaaaall about that when Bel moved tryouts along TO A PROPER SCRIMMAGE! Derf was now super keen to get his hands on his own bat - no offense school bat he had used for the sake of the obstacle coarse - and was darting over to his bag while still on his broom. Which meant he had to lay down on it and hang on while he rummaged through said bag with one hand, but thankfully there was no extension charm on it nor was there all THAT much in it to begin with.

Glorious GLORIOUS bat in hand, the blonde pulled up on his broom and leaned forward to gain some altitude and get right into the thick of things. Though it seemed his little side quest of grabbing his own bat had caused him to miss SOME things, but there was still plenty of time to get in on the action.

And gosh, Charlie and Maddie were making an excellent team out there, weren't they? It was awesome to see. And of course Hattie had a sort of grace in the air. And Derf was always keen on watching Daisy's enthusiasm. He just had a REALLY good feeling about this term, you know? YOU KNOW!?

Oh wow Hattie was showing some NEAT skills on her broom! He was almost too distracted admiring that to see the bludger whizzing by...when he was struck with an idea moments before his fellow prefect took her shot. Distraction...hmmmmmmm.

Taking off towards it, Derf wound up and struck the bludger with a bit of a spin to give it a wicked curve and sent it sailing off towards Charlie who was guarding the hoops now. Well...more like he was hoping to use it to force the younger Puff to have to alter his flight path so he would be even less likely to stop Hattie's shot.

He felt BAD making such an aggressive move...but deflecting bludgers into empty space instead of making use of them hadn't earned Hufflepuff much last term so...time for a new strategy.

Emmalyn had recovered most of her energy from the quick rest after her second obstacle course run and was ready to get going again. She noticed several of her teammates heading out to the Chaser and Keeper drills, so she decided to try her hand at beater first. After the marshmallow course, she was oddly attracted to the beater position. Plus, she had spent a good deal of her non-chaser time at camp working on her beater skills.

She remounted her broom and zipped out with beater bat in hand. It was a different feel than she was use to. Her new broom had more power and agility than the old borrowed brooms she used over the summer, and her body had grown not only in size, bun in strength as well. She felt at one with the bat. Like it was an extension of her arm. Just as she was about to take a quick survey of the field, she spotted a bludger headed towards one of the chasers. “I’ve got it!” She yelled as she bolted across the pitch. The wind whipping her ponytail out behind her and her robes crackled in the breeze.

Her right hand held her broom as her left, holding the bat, reached out behind. The windup and subsequent hit smacked the bludger off course and away from her housemate. She flicked her hips to the side and her broom made a smooth one-eighty, her eyes never leaving the bludger. It would soon be returning, that she was sure of.

No sooner than she had the thought, the bludger was headed towards another housemate on the pitch. Straight from behind. She zigged and zagged between the other players on the field, making sure to not hinder their progress, as she rocketed to intercept the bludger. No matter how fast her broom was, she feared she was not going to make it in time. She knew that in order to hit the bludger away from her housemate, she would need to beat it to the target, then have time to turn back around. It simply wasn’t going to happen. Emmalyn decided to sacrifice herself in order to keep her chaser safe. She leaned forward, increasing speed as much as possible and threw her body between the bludger and her housemate. The loud thwack of the bludger slamming off her shoulder-blade rang in her ears, but she was able to stay on her broom. Her eyes watered from the impact as she tried to shake it off.

Deciding it was time to take a break from the beater position and try out the Chaser position, she flew down to put her bat away. It gave her just enough time to compose herself and get psyched up to try to score some goals.

Daisy was taking a little breather as she watched Derf "auditioning" as Beater. She noticed that he had hit the Bludger towards Charlie. One part of her understood the reasoning behind what Derf had just did but it didn't stop her from rolling her eyes. So she sped towards Charlie and caught up with the Bludger which just missed her nose thanks to a slight hit with the bat.

She then focused on Emmalyn who was proving quite good as a Beater. Daisy had only really seen her best friend's Chaser skills. When the Bludger hit Em's shoulder blade, Daisy called out, "Are you okay?!"

After a few swigs of water and toweling off his sweat-drenched face, Aaron reseated himself on his broom and rejoined the fray. Miss Bel had called for a scrimmage, and he was COMPLETELY EXCITED to throw himself into the mix, bat a-blazing! More than that, he hadn't been too successful with the obstacle course, so beating around a bludger sounded like music to his ears. And his arm... If his arm had ears. WHICH IT DIDN'T. ....Anyway, the sentiment he was trying to convey was that it always offered a much needed confidence boost. Yeah, that!

Getting more practice swings in as he observed the other Beater hopefuls, Aaron decided to bide his time. Everyone would get a chance, so he didn't need to race forward and steal anyone else's "moment". He didn't mind this, as it was amazing watching the others with all their talent. Actually, he'd let out more than a few LOUD CHEERS as Derf and Daisy twacked the bludger around the pitch! They were going to have an amazing team this year, and he hadn't even needed a dream to tell him so. Though.... Well. They tended not to tell him that type of thing.

ANYWAY, waiting had been the right thing to do, as Emmalyn had just smacked the bludger fiercely away from a Chaser flying around the other side of the pitch. It was fastly hurtling in his direction causing Aaron to push forward, finally seizing the opportunity to get a piece of the metal ball. It tore furiously through the air, dashing this way and that, but adrenaline kept his senses sharp. Which...was why he'd seen that the bludger's path ended with another of his housemates. Aaron laid himself flat against the long broom handle, gaining momentum as he tried to get to it before it could do any harm.... BUT before he'd gotten into striking distance, Emmalyn had come barreling out of nowhere, causing the bludger to smack hard into the side of her body. It appeared to be her side, but mostly... he was surprised she'd just taken the hit full on like that.



In awe, but still aware, Aaron HEARD the bludger whizzing back and quickly did a complete 180, throwing his body behind the weight of the bat. With a satisfying CRACK!, the metal ball ricocheted off the wooden material, soaring off into a sparsely populated area of pitch. Huh.... He turned his attention to Emmalyn once more. That had been really brave... Wow... "Are you okay?!" He was hovering nearby. "That was a hard blow!"

Thankful to have had a moment to compose herself, Emmalyn plastered a bright smile on her face before answering Aaron and Daisy “I’m fine. No big thing.” She’d probably have a nice bruise the next day, but it was feeling well enough to keep going. Her position drills needed to be completed and everyone was doing such a splendid job, she needed to focus on her skills.

Roaring out onto the pitch, she grabbed a quaffle and readied herself to try and score. The bludger was still on the loose, but Derf and Aaron seemed to be keeping it under control, so her only obstacles were the other players trying out and the current keeper. Her eyes focused in on the far left goal hoop. She twisted her body to the side, zigged right, then veered back to the left before taking aim and thundering the quaffle towards the goal. She held her breath, hoping that the quaffle would find its way. Thankfully it did. The quaffle soared through the hoop and she silently cheered before dashing back to grab a second quaffle from the pile.

“Does anyone want to try passing it before scoring? I’ll start at the far end of the pitch and head towards the goals.” She raced across the pitch, quaffle in hand, and made a quick one-eighty before barreling towards the center of the field. She eyed her teammate and launched the quaffle, narrowly dodging a bludger mid air, hoping they would be able to catch it. Before she could see if it was caught, she was already working her way closer to the goal hoops.

Everything seemed to have happened in a matter of seconds, although Maddie of course wasn't actually counting this while in the midst of the trial match. She had just enough time to frown over missing that first shot, when she noticed that her teamwork with Charlie had paid off. They'd scored together! "THANKS!" she called out to him, and she smiled his way. "SAME TO YOU!" Charlie...what a hottie! Not that she was concerned with that kind of stuff during a match, though...

Anyway...

Maddie considered switching up for a bit and trying her hand at guarding one of the goal hoops. She'd even made her way halfway there, when she heard Emmalyn's call. Cool! Maddie was game to try a little more passing. It'd worked for her and Charlie before, so maybe that was one of her strong suits. "HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT!" she called out, and then she flew into an area where there were no other flyers, leaving herself unguarded and wide open for a catch.

Hovering near the center of the pitch, Maddie eyed the quaffle Emmalyn had thrown and kept her eyes narrowed in on it, making sure she was within the right range to catch it. When she thought the timing was just right, she soared forward, accepted the pass, and then dashed toward the goal hoops. Still somewhat toward the center, Maddie decided that the center goal hoop was the one she'd try for. She eyed it, raised her arm toward it in preparation of throwing the quaffle, and then at the last second, hurled it toward the left goal hoop instead.

Nothing like trying to trick the Keeper into thinking you were going for one goal hoop when you were really going for another...

She paused once she got to the goal hoops, ready to distract the keeper into no knowing if the quaffle would come back to her or be scored. "You got this, Maddie!" she cheered as she watched her friend dash towards the hoops and attempt a score. "Woo hoo!" It was an amazing play. They were all working together seamlessly to get the quaffle to the goal.

Zooming back towards the center of the pitch, she got ready for the next play to begin. She had her hands out, balancing effortlessly on her broom, in preparation for the quaffle to be thrown to her. "Let's go team! I'm open!"

Okay they were almost out of time and there was another tryout not long after theirs so Bel had to get things wrapped up. Also she hadn't missed Emmalyn getting hit by that bludger, even if it must have been glancing or she'd have been knocked off her broom. Phew! Thank goodness for that really.

Bel put her fingers in her mouth and blew, whistling shrilly.

"Okay you guys, time to bring it in. Our time is up and you guys have all done so great! I'm so excited you all came." AND relieved. Really relieved. Imagine if nobody had shown up? "I've asked the house elves to have hot chocolate and cookies ready for us in the great hall so if anyone wants to join me at the Hufflepuff table and chat and hang out and just get to know each other better, go ahead and have a shower and I'll see you there after. Except you, Emm, go see the healer okay? Just to make sure that bludger didn't do too much damage." Better safe than sorry.

"If anyone wants to help dismantle the obstacle course before going, that would be great! ESPECIALLY the marshmallows! There's still some floating up there!" She pointed down the pitch, though they were all floating more sluggishly than they had been when everyone had been going through the course, easy to catch, and fun too. The coronas had already flickered out on their own so it was just a matter of vanishing the barriers, picking up all the quaffles everywhere and seeing to the marshmallows. "Great job everyone! I hope you had fun!" And... Bel was just gonna catch that bludger.

Having dismounted she waited for it to come at her and then she threw herself at it and tackled it to the ground, then wrestled it into its box. Phew!
pooc: Tryouts are over, you still have time to post as long as the thread is still open, so if anyone hasn't yet you better be fast sneaking one in! Everyone else you can post any of the following things:

• your charrie choosing to leave and go shower
• your charrie helping to chase down the marshmallows
• your charrie vanishing the wooden barriers
• your charrie helping return school items to the broomshed

As for hot chocolate in the great hall, we're going to ASSUME that happened so we're not behind the regular site timeline. So anyone can say their charrie did that after this tryout Thanks for coming you guys were so fun to read!

captain post index:
welcome to tryouts
greetings and introductions
Starting the Obstacle Course
Observing the first run through
More observations and encouragement
Last chance for obstacle course!
Position drills/mini scrimmage
Wrapping up! (this post)

Happy New Year! Bel was pumped for the first practice session since the Christmas break, and glad to help everyone get back on track mentally. They had about three weeks to prepare for their next official match which was going to be against Gryffindor, and Bel was trying to figure out how much of a pep talk would be needed. Technically the only difference between Gryffindor's win against Slytherin, and Hufflepuff's against Ravenclaw was... well... well it was her, really. If her amazing team could do exactly what they had done before, if she caught the snitch, then they'd win by miles. Not that she'd ever actually caught a snitch against Abra. That... that would be an exciting first.

Anyway.

There was no obstacle course or anything today. Bel was sticking to pure scrimmage for this first practice back. And afterwards as always there'd be a chance to hang out together with hot chocolate and catching up and talking about non-Quidditch things. She stood under the goal hoops with one foot on the equipment chest that contained all the Quidditch balls. The bludgers were in rare form today too, they were complaining and bumping around in their straps so much that every now and then the chest bumped and shook violently, almost seeming like Bel's foot on it was the only thing keeping the lid closed.

Phew. Hopefully the team would be here soon!

ooc: Hufflepuff Quidditch practice starts here We have the thread until the 20th of June. Come and play! No stress!

Daisy made her way onto the pitch, eagerly awaiting practice. She walked up to Bel and gave her a smile. "Hey, Bel. I hope you had a good holiday. I can't wait for practice."

Arriving in far too many layers to practice in, Emmalyn was nice and toasty on the frigid January day. "Hi there Captian Bel, Daisy! I don't think I'll ever get used to how cold it gets here." She rubbed her hands together and bounced a bit on the balls of her feet to stay warm. She knew that the extra layers would have to come off before practice really started, but at least then she would be moving around to keep warm. It also got her thinking about how she really needed to figure out that warming charm.

Her eyes danced with delight at the sight of the unruly equipment box. "Bludgers a bit on edge today, aren't they. Should make for an exciting practice." With a smile on her face, she glanced up towards the castle to see who would be joining them next.

Ohh, YEAH! Quidditch practice! Maddie was pretty pumped up about getting back into the swing of things. She'd only been on the team for a whole half of a school year, but she was really enjoying herself. She thought Chaser was a perfect fit for her, too! It also helped that the team had one their previous match, and she was really hopeful about the next one, too! This was going to be AWESOME!

Once she reached the pitch, Maddie discovered that Bel, Daisy, and Emmalyn were already there. "Hey, Bel! Daisy! Emmalyn," she said, looking at each girl as she said their name. She might have struck up random conversation, but the beating and thumping of the trunk caught her attention. "Somebody..." Ahem. The Bludgers. "...isn't quite ready to get back into the swing of things." Was it just her, or were they extra violent today?

Great.