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Post by Agatha Fawley on Mar 8, 2015 22:27:41 GMT
During the second week of the new school year, Captain Nutter of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team was forced to hold tryouts for new members. The Hufflepuff team had mostly been made up of extremely experienced and talented seventh-year players, three ferocious and well-coordinated Chasers and a Seeker so talented he was invited to join a professional team - all of whom had now graduated from Hogwarts. Those same seventh-years had been largely responsible for Hufflepuff's excellent Quidditch track record over the past two years and Hufflepuff's winning of the Quidditch Cup last year, and they had coached Murray, Victorine and Richard very well. Victorine felt the pressure to replace the missing players with new talent that would carry on Hufflepuff's winning streak. Victorine was a Beater and paired well with Richard Beaufort, the other Hufflepuff Beater. The team's Keeper was the nimble and sturdy Murray Brown, who rarely let a Quaffle past his goals. Now Victorine was shopping for three new Chasers and a Seeker. She stood on the Quidditch pitch as the sun rose, after having a light breakfast. Victorine never ate heavy meals before a morning of Quidditch. Her long blond hair stirred in the wind as she looked across the pitch with satisfaction, her broom held upright next to her. She wore the yellow and black uniform of Hufflepuff House, with fingerless gloves, shin and arm guards and her Beater's bat lying at her feet in the grass. A selection of school brooms lay behind her, should any of the candidates lack their own broom. Next to her was one wooden box containing the Quaffle, and a locked wooden box containing the Bludger and the Golden Snitch. Victorine had warmed up half an hour earlier, flying around the pitch and beating regular balls that an obliging second-year shot into the air by magic; she had never felt more in her element as she did while playing Quidditch. Now she was on the ground, waiting eagerly for new candidates for her team. She hoped Murray Brown and Richard Beaufort would be on hand to help her test the new candidates. Murray had flown into the training grounds fifteen minutes before the tryouts were to begin garbed in neutral colours, having not presumed to wear an uniform he had not yet been assigned to the tryout. He was beaming as he landed, unable to contain his excitement of beginning a new season in which they would be defending their title. "Hello, Victorine." he said, dismounting from his broom. "Sorry I'm early, I suppose I should be showing up at the same time as all the other candidates for keeper, shouldn't I? But I can't help myself...the start of a new season is far too exciting! I can confine myself to the changing quarters for the next fifteen minutes if you wish, though. I understand why you might want me to do so." |
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Post by Agatha Fawley on Mar 8, 2015 22:41:10 GMT
"Glad to see you," Victorine thumped Murray on the back. "I'm as excited as you are! Where's Beaufort? We really need to get some good players today. I was lost in my head there, thinking of Chaser strategies. That Gryffindor Beater, Dumbledore, is a pain in the ass. We need Chasers agile enough to pass the Quaffle and evade him. Richard and I will try and keep him off everyone though." "I must confess I am rather worried. Young players can be good, but they are rarely as talented as those with experience; I know I was the weakest on the team in my first year. Although what do I know, perhaps a first year keeper will show up and make a fool of me." He chuckled, with only a tinge of nervousness detectable. "My main fear is our need for a seeker. You can win with poor chasing if you are fortunate enough to possess a strong seeker. I know that it is possible to win without a good seeker, but I doubt we will have the exceptional chasing we would need to do it." |
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Post by Agatha Fawley on Mar 8, 2015 22:56:15 GMT
"We were all weak our first year," Victorine said with a grin. "Remember how Crabbe used to relentlessly mock us?" Hector Crabbe had been two years above Victorine, Murray and Richard and their captain all the way until last year. "We need a Seeker who can withstand any attempts to foul as well," Victorine said grimly thinking of the Slytherin team. "I put nothing past that Slytherin Seeker, Aurelia Gaunt. Shame I'm even related to her." Murray nodded. "I would not have known all the places that an elbow could bruise had it not been for her efforts on our teammates, so I do suppose I must be grateful to her for imparting that knowledge upon me." Murray rubbed his chin as he thought about Crabbe's often strongly chosen words of constructive criticism. "Crabbe had his deficiencies, but I cannot speak ill of him, he gave me an opprtunity to play in my first year, albeit after his team had been decimated by injuries. Once you're on the team you have an advantage in your next years as you get the opportunity to train. Anyone can improve with that opportunity." |
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Post by Merlin on Mar 9, 2015 21:08:44 GMT
As they were talking, a couple of the potential hopefuls came up in their peripherals.
One was an old member of the team, sixth year, Regulus Longbottom. Another was fourth year, Constance Hutch, the third was, Annabella Bright who was in the fifth year with them, and then finally some second year twins, who were nervously giggling behind the main group. They went by the names Harold and Henrietta.
Beyond, some other potentials were beginning to come into view across the grass.
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Post by Agatha Fawley on Mar 9, 2015 22:24:43 GMT
Murray gave a friendly smile to all of them, but didn't say anything, wanting to give Victorine the ability to address them as captain.
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Post by Callista Black on Mar 9, 2015 22:36:55 GMT
Richard showed up a little while later but he seemed a little bit distant.
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Post by Agatha Fawley on Mar 10, 2015 6:46:22 GMT
Victorine gave Richard a smile that bordered on flirtatious. "There you are," she said. "I couldn't manage with you, thank goodness you're here. Look at these people even Longbottom's back to try again. You or Murray might remember his plays better, I almost never used to talk to him." She turned round to eye all the assembled candidates, assessing their fitness and familiarity with the brooms that hovered at the ready beside them. "Morning, everyone," she said crisply, her comradely familiarity (which was reserved for her old teammates, Murray and Richard) vanished for the time being. "Most of you know me, as well as Richard and Murray here. All three of us will be assessing you today. Which of you are here to try out for Seeker and which of you are here to try out for Chasers? Chasers to my left, please, Seekers to my right. If you wanted to try out for both positions, remain where you are." Victorine planned to select the best four flyers from the pool as her three Chasers and Seeker depending on their respective talents, but was also ready to take on a couple of reserve players who were solid all-rounders on the pitch and could replace a downed Chaser or Seeker in the middle of a game if necessary. "Chasers, you'll go up in groups of four: a pair of two-person teams who will try to get the Quaffle past Murray's goal hoops and make sure the opposing pair doesn't. Remember, only one Chaser is allowed in the scoring area while trying to score a goal. I'll be flying up there with my referee's whistle, so I'll see if more than one of you is in the scoring area. I will be watching to see how well you work together and if you're crafty enough or fast enough to get past Murray." She turned to the Seeker candidates. "And after that's done, we'll release the Snitch," she said cheerfully. "And see which of you manage to catch it before Richard and I get you bludgeoned to death." Murray appraised the would be chasers briefly before grabbing his broom and swiftly taking flight towards his goal. Longbottom was the only one who he anticipated being a significant threat, the two having trained together in the past enough to have developed understandings of each other's tendencies. |
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Post by Callista Black on Mar 10, 2015 18:20:03 GMT
Richard glanced at Victorine. He couldn't believe she was flirting with him. buit that was a problem for another day, so he smiled politely at her, mountd his broom and rose into the air, his beater's cudgel held firmly in hand. He grinned at the newcomers.
"I hit hard, so be sure to avoid me," he warned.
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Post by Callista Black on Mar 10, 2015 19:08:52 GMT
"Fine." He pulled a silly face at her and hoped he would cheer up once they got to business. "But they do need to learn to take a blow at some point, and better from me than from some other team."
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Post by Agatha Fawley on Mar 10, 2015 19:14:50 GMT
Murray, bored with watching the two talking to each other some ways below him began to fly in loops as he waited for Victorine to commence the tryout.
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Post by Merlin on Mar 11, 2015 18:00:24 GMT
All in all there were ten potential chasers, which was perhaps fortunate as it provided a wonderfully even number.
The first pair stepped forward, which were Constance Hutch and Annabella Bright. Both looked very keen, especially Annabella who seemed to be vibrating with excitement.
"Thank you so much for the opportunity Captain Nutter."
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Post by Agatha Fawley on Mar 11, 2015 19:11:14 GMT
Seeing the candidates step forward Murray positioned himself in his goals and waited for Victorine to commence the tryout.
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Post by Callista Black on Mar 11, 2015 19:42:22 GMT
Richard felt his heart begin to race with the familiar anticipation. He couldn't wait to show off his skills, to soar around the pitch. Flying was freedom, after all. He felt more at home in the air than anywhere.
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Post by Merlin on Mar 16, 2015 20:28:28 GMT
The Four qudditch hopefuls took to the air, some more successfully that others, one had to bounce slghtly before they could get into the air, Annabella took off immediately and and immediately got the quaffle, dodging a direct hit from the second pairs huge monster of a chaser, who moved with an elegance rarely seen in women her height. Constnace wobbled a bit on her broom, but soon raced to catch up with the pack leaders, yelling for a pass.
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Post by Agatha Fawley on Mar 17, 2015 6:17:02 GMT
Murray watched them approach his goals cooly, not moving from his central position.
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