Quidditch Meeting!

Renoir sauntered onto the Quidditch Pitch Saturday afternoon, breathing in the cool air. It was a beautiful day – perfect for flying. She took a seat on the broom chest and picked at her tunic; she was wearing the all-black referee’s uniform. Finally, the four young men made their way onto the field to join her. Each was wearing his house's team uniform. Marguerite noticed that they kept their distance from one another. After all, what were rivals supposed to do?

“Boys, thank you for coming,” she smiled, greeting her former students.

“Well, not like we had much choice,” sneered the Slytherin boy, his black hair and green eyes glinting in the sunlight.

“You’re right,” she went on pleasantly. “You didn’t. The others should be here soon enough.”

Marguerite had posted the announcement on just about every notice board she could find, including in each of the four house common rooms. It was something she did every year for potential players, and they always had quite a turnout. The day went the same each time – the students would be divided depending on position (Renoir never divided by house) and “mentored” by one of the four team captains.

“Here they come,” she grinned.

When all the students had grouped together and ceased all conversations, Renoir continued, gesturing to the four boys behind her.

"These are the four team captains," she began. "Lads, introduce yourselves."

The always confident and cheerful Ravenclaw captain was the first to speak up. He had dark hair, tanned skin, and an easy grin; one would never assume that he was the son of a lord.

"My name is Gavin Lydale," he spoke clearly, raising a hand. "I'm the Seeker of the Ravenclaw team. Looking forward to mentoring some of you."

After that came the Gryffindor captain. His sandy blonde hair nearly matched the gold of his uniform.

"Name's Asher Reviers." He took a step toward where Gavin was; the two were great friends off the Pitch. "Keeper for Gryffindor, pleased to meet you all."

This, unsurprisingly, made the grim-looking Slytherin step up; it was no secret that he and Asher were practically mortal enemies.

"Symon Fendrel," he said, eyeing the young first years as if challenging one of them to interrupt. "Slytherin Beater. Hopefully at least one of you has some talent, and hopefully your house is Slytherin."

That made Renoir shoot him a hard look; he was not supposed to bring houses into this. Finally, the Hufflepuff spoke.

"And that leaves me," he said pleasantly, shaking a dark brown curl out of his eyes. "Finnius Ruddock, Chaser."

"Now that that's done" Renoir smiled shortly. "I want you all to split up based on what position you believe you should play. Beaters to Symon, Seekers to Gavin, and so on."



((OOC: See the Godric's thread "Making Life Easier", Symon Fendrel, for the Quidditch uniforms.)

Adelaine walked hastily to the Quidditch Pitch, hardly able to contain her excitement. Seamus and Gavin had told her there would be a meeting at some point, and finally Renoir posted the announcement.


A lot of kids were nervous, but Adele saw no point in feeling any pressure. These weren’t official tryouts, after all.

“So what exactly happens?” she asked Seamus for the hundredth time as he walked with her.

“What I’ve told ye already,” he laughed. “Ye’ll group up wi’tha rest of ta potential Beaters and play around. Unfortunately, oi won’ be mentorin’. Ye’re stuck wit’ Symon.”

When they reached the field, he broke off and went to take a seat in the stands. Adelaine spotted Arya and went to stand with her as everyone else chatted loudly. Finally, Renoir began the meeting. Adele listened as the captains introduced themselves. She already knew Gavin and Asher (and the grin the former shot at Arry did not go unnoticed). Adelaine glanced back at Seamus; he and Asher had made up a few days ago.

“Beaters over here!” Symon Fendrel shouted, heading over to the bludger chest.

As she reached him (not shockingly, only five people came; everyone else seemed too afraid to approach him) the Slytherin unlatched the chest. Adele took this time to study the third year; skin nearly as pale as snow, pitch black hair, and lizard green eyes. He would actually be quite easy on the eyes if he’d smile once in a while.

Arya tightened the wide belt on her maroon and gold tunic as she rushed down to the Pitch. She was one of the first ones to arrive, and she was about two volts of excitement away from jumping up and down. Not only was she about to fly, but she about she was about to show everyone that she could fly. Over the past few weeks, she’d snuck onto the field after hours nearly every night to practice the moves Harcourt had taught her. She had even begun to toss walnuts in the air and catch them.

Finally, the meeting began and the captains made their introductions. She was positive she’d gone red in the face when Gavin grinned at her. Adele plainly noticed, so she shrugged it off and mumbled a comment about all of Symon’s nicknames. Snaky Symon, Sulky Symon, Slithering Symon, Sour Symon, etc.

“Seekers to me!” Gavin called, heading out to the middle of the field.

Arry grabbed a broom and made her way towards him, walking quickly so she’d reach him first. She got there successfully ahead of about ten other students. He smiled pleasantly, clutching a burlap sack filled with what she assumed were walnuts or rocks.

“Seeker, are you?” he raised an eyebrow, leaning on his broom. “With that temper of yours, I’d have assumed Beater.”

“Watch it, or I’ll head over to Fendrel and learn to send a few bludgers your way,” she shot back with a grin as he laughed.

Kolby went to the Quidditch meeting, not quite sure what to do. He hadn't given it much thought. In fact, he didn't' want to try out at all. But, Symon is part of the Ministry of Mischief and kinda bullied Kolby into it.

"I don't care what position you try for, but, if you don't at least try, I'll hex you." Symon threatened, pinning Kolby to a wall. Kolby nodded and Symon stalked off.Kolby remembered, shivering at the thought. So, he went the opposite way: towards Asher, the Gryffindor team captain, Symon's worst enemy.

"Oi! Symon! I got your Slytherin."Asher said, mocking Symon. Symon didn't even blink an eye. Asher patted Kolby on the back, not knowing what he just got himself into.

Mira wrapped her cloak tightly around her against the brisk afternoon air as she headed down to the Quidditch Pitch. She had found Renoir (practically cornered her, was more like it) and simply begged to be allowed to come and watch the mentoring.

”Well if you would let me get a word in edgewise,” Renoir finally interrupted her babbling. “Students are welcome to sit and observe.”

So, here she was. Her excitement was nearly overwhelming. Her father played Quidditch when he was at Hogwarts, Ravenclaw Chaser from fourth year to seventh. Mira herself had no interest in flying, therefore would never go for the team. But she found the sport fascinating nonetheless.

Arriving at the Pitch, she found that the stands were nearly empty. There were maybe five people scattered about on the benches. Was no one else interested? Mira, ever the outgoing one, plopped right down next to two older Ravenclaw lads a few rows up.

“Hello there,” she smiled, extending a hand. “I’m Mira. And you are?”

"Peyton," the one on the other side of the dark-haired boy muttered, not bothering to look her way.

“Oh, er, Seamus,” the guy next to her said, tearing his eyes away from a rather smart-looking blonde girl. He shook her hand. “Won’t ye be tryin’ out for Hufflepuff?”

“I’m not much for flying, actually,” she replied cheerfully. “I suppose you play?”

He had that look about him, and his tone almost questioned why anyone would not be playing Quidditch at all hours of the day.

“Ya, a Beater,” Seamus grinned, stopping when he glanced down to the Slytherin captain. “Ye know, I could give ye a few lessons if ye want. Ye’ve got plenty o’ time ta get more comfortable with it.”

“Well,” she paused and gave it some thought. A little practice and she just might love Quidditch… “Alright. Sounds like a plan, then!”

Deirdre braided her hair while Renior was talking. It was easier to fly when you didn't have hair flying in your face all the time. She tied it off with a ribbon just as Renior finished speaking.

"Chasers, gather to me!" Finnius called out. He stood beside a chest full of Quaffles.

The young Hufflepuff gladly approached her housemate, glad that she wouldn't have to deal with Symon like poor Adele. Finnius was the sort to give private tutoring to the younger students if they needed it, so she knew he was going to be a great teacher for her and the other few who stood around him.

The fifth year smiled at them, his blue eyes kind and bright. His dark curls fell somewhat in his face. He was a very handsome boy, in Deirdre's opinion.

"Good afternoon, to all of you. I hope you will enjoy your lessons with me and eventually be the best Chasers on your team." He said.

Evangeline had stayed quiet the whole time the Professor was talking.She was listening carefully,and her eyes followed whenever she introduced a boy.She knew Symon from her her house,and in all truth,she thanked the Gods that Beater wasn't her best thing.On the other hand,all the other boy looked extremely cute and kind.Not that Symon was bad looking,but his attitude destroyed everything.If he smiled at least once in a while,Evangeline was sure that he would seem a lot more charming.But no.He wanted to be moody all the time.Though she understood why.She was forced to act like that as well.

Her eyes lingered between Gavin,Asher and Finnius.After much of a thought,Evangeline decided that being a Keeper would be a disaster for the team,so instead,she turned her attention to the Hufflepuff and the Ravenclaw Captains.She was torn between becoming a Seeker,or a Chaser.

If she became a Seeker,and her team lost,everyone would blame it on her for not being quick and sly enough to catch the snitch.Evangeline wasn't good with anger management,so she believed it would be better to keep out of that position as well.She wouldn't risk sending someone at the infirmary.She might be a Lady,but when fighting was needed,she revealed her warrior side.

The results showed Finnius,and Eva finally made her was over to the Hufflepuff Captain with a small smile.He seemed really kind and sweet,and thankfully,he would treat her as kindly as his own housemates.After all,she had chose to become a Chaser,like him,and she would even look up to him.To become a Captain meant that he was good enough to deserve it,so Evangeline was thrilled with the idea."Hopefully...we will be..I am sure you will be kind enough to show us how to be as good as you.."
Evangeline couldn't wait to start practising.

“Right, so, Renoir has charmed these bludgers so that –” Symon started before he was cut off.

“Don’t you want to know our names?” a small Gryffindor boy piped up.

“As I was saying..”

He went on to explain that the balls were charmed to simply fly back and forth the direction they were hit. The small group was to pair up and hit them to each other. Eventually, Symon said, they would move the practice to the air.

“Once each position group is finished, we’ll take the best and play a game” he stated.

As there were only five first years, including herself, Adelaine was stuck pairing with Symon. The best person to practice with, she supposed. A small glance up to the stands showed her that Seamus didn’t seem all to pleased with this. But there was a nice looking Hufflepuff girl talking his ear off, so he couldn’t glare at Symon for long. The other pairs had already begun to practice; Symon tossed her a bat and hefted up a bludger, slamming it in her direction.

“I’m Adele,” she said, swinging the ball back to him.

“Lovely to know,” he grumbled back, hitting the bludger.

They passed it for a few minutes in silence and Adele glanced around. All the other students were chatting and joking and laughing. Symon was smacking the bludger toward her without a word.

“You know, you’d have more fun if you didn’t try to scare people off,” she said forcefully, hitting the ball back.

He caught it and glared at her. This tactic probably worked with others, but she was a Beaumont; her father had taught her never to look away, so she stared right back at him. It seemed like an eternity, but finally he gave the tiniest of smiles before hitting the bludger back.

Arya raised an eyebrow when Marigold asked her if she wanted to be a Seeker. What did she think, she was here to have a spot of tea?

“Okay, here’s what we’re going to do,” Gavin began when everyone had arrived. “Obviously, we’re not going to use the real Snitch. There’s only one, and probably none of you would ever get it.”

Arry tried hard not scoff; she was almost positive she could catch the Golden Snitch. But she supposed a little more practice couldn’t hurt. She refused to let herself be flustered or anything less than a perfect Seeker in front of Gavin.

“So I’m going to use a Levitation Charm on these walnuts,” he went on. “They’ll zoom around almost as fast as a Snitch.”

She felt the excitement building among the group as Gavin knelt down and neatly dumped out the pile of walnuts onto the ground. There were about twenty total, all of them enlarged or reduced to the size of a Snitch. Taking his wand out, he muttered the charm. All at once, they began to rise, and once they were a few feet up they took off. Walnuts were speeding around the Pitch, and Arya was sure she’d never seen a stranger sight.

“Get started, then!” Gavin shouted with a grin.

Arry didn’t have to be told twice. She hopped onto her broom and kicked off. Fifteen, twenty, then thirty feet up in the air. She remembered the lesson with Harcourt. Patience is the key, she told herself. The other potential Seekers that she could see were already zooming around, not even bothering to stop and look.

“You’ve got the right idea, Arry!” she heard Gavin shout up to her.

Asher stood there for a minute, waiting for the seekers to finish using the pitch. Kolby noticed that he was watching Marigold in particular. Kolby smiled.

"She's doing quite well."Kolby commented. Asher nodded and watched as she flew over the Beaters. Symon did almost hit her. Asher made a mean face then turned to the first years.

"Alright. We're gonna be joining the Chasers for our exercise. The goal is to keep the goal guarded from the Chasers. They're gonna try to score so it's our job to prevent that from happening. When they try to throw the ball into the net, try to catch it and just throw it back. Everyone ready?"he explained. Kolby nodded and mounted his broom.

Kolby was stationed at the little goal post on the home side. He noticed that Deidre was a Chaser. He smiled. This might be fun after all.he thought.

Over the thirty minutes that ensued after the practice began, Arya had successfully caught three walnuts, performed a Woollongong Shimmy (much to Gavin’s delight) and was just about to fall into a Wronski Feint. She hadn’t been paying much attention to the other Seekers, but she glanced at Marigold from time to time and saw that the Ravenclaw was doing well. A Hufflepuff boy in their group, however, was still chasing the same walnut around the Pitch.

Arry sped around the field and sighted another walnut a few hundred feet away. Just as she reached the little guy, it dropped down towards the ground. Perfect, she grinned. Thinking back to her practice with Harcourt, she remembered how she had accidentally done the move; would she be able to do it on purpose this time? She pushed the doubt from her mind and concentrated…

“That’s the way to do it, Arya!” she heard Gavin shout after her as she dove to the ground and pulled up just in time, snatching the walnut from the air.

Nadia approached the Quidditch Pitch with an out-of-character joy in her gait. The rebellious act she was committing against her father filled her with both apprehension and excitement. She was going to play Quidditch, and no one was going to get in her way.

Listening to Renoir's instructions, she ambled over to Gavin.

"Hello, I'm Nadia Murray. Future seeker of Slytherin, at your service." Nadia said with a smirk.

"Well Nadia Murray, Future Seeker of Slytherin, let's see what you've got." Gavin said in reply. Without another word, he released a walnut and Nadia flew after it.

Nadia may not have had the natural talent of some of the other future seekers, but she had often practiced flying in the privacy of her family maze. Of course, when her father was unaware of it. Nadia snatched the walnut out of the air and landed next to Gavin to talk strategy and correction. Nadia couldn't wait for the day when she could actually play Quidditch with a team.

Finnius held up a Quaffle from the chest. It was worn out from many games over the years.

"As you all know, this is a Quaffle. As a Chaser, you will work with the other Chasers on your House team." He said. "Your job is simple: try to get the Quaffle through the goal posts without losing it to a member of the other team. You work together, tossing the Quaffle between you."

He set them up in pairs, giving one of each a Quaffle and explaining that they would practice tossing them back and forth to get used to the weight and movements. They did so for about fifteen minutes before Finnius said it was time to take it to the air.

Deirdre rose on her broom to just higher than the shortest goal post, smiling when she saw Kolby was a Keeper.

"Alright!" Finnius called. "Begin!"

He tossed the Quaffle to a Ravenclaw boy and they started flying around. It was tossed to Deirdre at some point and she flew straight toward Kolby and threw the Quaffle so it would hopefully go through.

Mira watched gleefully as the first years flew around the Pitch, or smacked bludgers to one another. Seamus had spent the entire first half hour of the practice explaining the game to her: the positions, balls, rules, etc. Once they’d had the chance to actually fly together and practice, she was certain she’d want to try out next year…unless she was a complete and utter failure.

“I still don’t know,” she muttered, when Seamus brought up tryouts. “I’m not a bad flyer, but I don’t know how well I could balance and hold something at the same time.”

“Ye could be a Keeper or Seeker, den,” he assured her. “We’ll meet up soon an’ I’ll ‘elp ye an’ give ye some poin’ers.”

With a grin, she leaned over and looked at Peyton. Seamus had told her that he wasn’t normally so cold-shouldered, he just got up on the wrong side of the bed. Apparently, though, he was still a bit upset at not having been picked as the new team captain when the old one left.

“Peyton, will you join us?” she asked quite pleasantly. “I’m sure you’d make a rather good mentor as well.”

It worked. The third year finally looked over, a bit startled at first, and cracked a smile.

“Yeah, I reckon I can help you,” he decided.

Mitri pushed an unruly brown curl behind her ear; this was going to be interesting. She was a bit late to the Pitch, but it couldn't have been avoided! One of the portraits struck up a conversation and wouldn't pay mind to Mitri’s insistence that she had to go. Not wanting to be rude, she had stuck it out until she could finally slip away.  Mitri headed over to the, from what she could tell, snarky Slytherin beater. Hopefully he wouldn't be cruel to her due to her house.

“Hello, I’m Mitri, sorry I’m late. I was hoping you could teach me how to become a beater?” Mitri asked hopefully, interrupting the beater she was supposed to be receiving instruction from and Adele.

Symon looked up and down Mitri’s person and said, “I’ll see what I can do with you, not much to work with are you pipsqueak? Pair up with Adele, nice of you to show. The names Symon, everyone to the sky and get with your partner!”

Mitri cheeks are ears flared red, she’d show him! Maybe he was joking, maybe he wasn't, no matter, Mitri was going to prove herself. She knew she had no reason whatsoever to prove herself to this smarmy Slytherin, but she was determined.

“Come on Adele, let’s show them who Gryffindor and Ravenclaw’s future beaters are!” Mitri said, flying up to the sky.

Adelaine and Symon smacked the beat-up bludger back and forth for another twenty minutes, talking all the while. As it turned out, the irritable looking Slytherin was actually not such a bad guy, though you wouldn’t catch him admitting it. They actually had quite a bit in common; he was of House Fendrel, a lord’s son. So, they had a very similar upbringing, and their parents were acquainted, though the two of them had never met before.

“Lord Rickon is a snob,” Symon grimaced as she told him of her current betrothed.

“I’ve yet to meet him, but my parents are certain he’s the best choice,” she replied dryly. “Which must mean he’s simply awful.”

Symon laughed at that, but stopped immediately when a new voice piped up. Mitri, one of her closest friends, had shown up late; she wanted to be a Beater? Adele never would have assumed that about the klutzy Gryffindor girl. The, once again angry looking, captain announced they would be taking to the air (finally!) and Mitri was paired with Adelaine.

“Oh dear,” Adele said once they were a good twenty feet up.”You know this means we’ll be playing against each other?”

She tossed the bludger in the air and smacked it in Mitri’s direction.

Kolby caught the Quaffle Deidre threw at him but he got a clumsy. After catching it, he tried to throw it back but the thing was so heavy that it fell to the ground with a thud, almost hitting Gavin. Gavin just smiled and shook his head and tossed the Quaffle back into play.

"Sorry."Kolby called out. Gavin shrugged it off like "Accidents happen." and continued observing his Seekers. Marigold and Arya were doing quite well apparently, Arya catching three and Marigold catching two. But, he got distracted and the next Chaser scored a goal.

"Focus Kolby! Keep your eyes on the Quaffle."Asher called out, catching the next Quaffle that went flying at him. He tossed it back like it was nothing. Kolby sighed. He just wasn't made for Quidditch. Maybe I can be the announcer or something.he thought, catching another Quaffle but letting on score. All the first years seemed to be aiming for him.

Arya flew as fast as she could manage and circled the Pitch twice, just enjoying herself. She’d caught two more walnuts since the Wronski Feint, so she figured she was allowed a small break. Reaching at least 60 feet, she finally stopped and looked around. The land was positively beautiful. Rolling hills, the castle in the distance, even the forest was like a miniature wonderland from this high.

“I could get used to this,” she sighed, watching the others fly around.

Her moment of joy ended nearly as quickly as it began, however. Marigold (who had been doing rather well for herself) was talking to Gavin…and then…what? Bloody hell, Arry grimaced. She shook her head vigorously as if trying to erase the image from her mind. It was nothing. Perhaps she ought to talk to Adele later; perhaps kissing one’s hand is just some highborn gesture.

“Arry, come down!” Gavin shouted a few minutes later.

It seemed that the Seekers were gathering. She sped down and landed gracefully, carrying her broom on her shoulder to join the circle. She glanced at Marigold, then knew that she couldn’t possibly have a pleasant look on her face, so she turned back to Gavin and listened.

“Really well done, all of you,” he began, sounding like the lord-to-be that he was. “It seems to me we’ve done all we could in our practice, so I think now you all ought to take a break. Go have a seat in the stands, or right here, and I’ll call you back when the others are finished. Then we’ll have a game!”

Arya took his advice and plopped down right where she stood, angrily picking at the grass.

Deirdre had managed to score a few times and the others were getting better as well. A few still had a bit of a problem throwing the Quaffle with one hand, but they had a long while to work on it.

"Alright, chasers, on the ground!" Finnius called out to them.

Deirdre tossed the Quaffle to a Gryffindor boy and began her descent. Once she touched down, she moved her broom to lay it across both shoulders.

Fantastic work up there, all of you! You'll make wonderful chaser! He praised. "Now, take a break and when everyone is ready, we'll have a game. You can wait in the stands or here on the edge of the pitch."

Deirdre took her broom with her up to the stands where she had seen Mira sitting with Peyton and Seamus. Peyton seemed in an off mood, but he snapped out of it when he saw her approaching.

"Hello, Mira. Boys, nice te see ye." she said with a smile. "Aren't ye goin' te try for ta team, Mira?" she asked. She sat down beside her housemate, propping the broom up next to her on the stand.

Arya barely glanced up at Marigold when the girl spoke to her. She wasn’t really mad at her; in fact, she didn’t know what she was feeling at the moment. Jealousy? Marigold got Asher, though Arry had secretly had a thing for him since the beginning of the school year. Now the Ravenclaw had Gavin falling for her too? Squinting towards the stands, she noticed Peyton wave to her. Fine, she thought.

“Yeah, sure,” she mumbled, standing.

After stretching for a half a second, Arry grabbed her broom and walked briskly to her small group of friends, plus a Hufflepuff she didn’t know. Taking a seat in front of Peyton and Seamus, she stared up at the sky, wishing she was in the air again. She didn’t even notice when Gavin came and plopped down next to her.

“You were amazing out there,” he grinned. “You’ll make Seeker for sure.”

Giving a small smile, she turned to Deirdre and the unknown Puff, Mira. Another thing she noticed was how well she and Seamus seemed to be getting along. What is with everyone?

Mira, Seamus, and Peyton hadn’t even been paying attention to the rest of the practice; they’d been too busy talking and making plans. The Ravenclaws promised her that in January, once second term started, they’d meet up once a week at the Pitch after dark and teach her to play Quidditch. They had just been conversing about flying techniques when Deirdre showed up.

“I’ll consider it next year,” she responded to her housemate, grinning at the two boys.

“Yeah, we’re goin’ to give Mira here a few lessons,” Peyton chimed in happily.

A couple minutes later, the Ravenclaw captain and a Gryffindor girl joined them. Seamus pleasantly introduced Gavin and Arya, then the lads fell into a conversation about the practice.

“Everyone seems to be doing really well,” Gavin said thoughtfully, gazing out at the Beaters and Keepers.

“Aye, we’re gonna have quite ta competition next year, I reckon,” Seamus said seriously, tapping his foot and glaring at Symon.

“I’m just curious,” Mira piped up. “Why do you all seem to dislike the Slytherin captain?”