Gryffindor v Ravenclaw 1st Game Finished

She didn’t believe this day had arrived. Ruthie had dreamed about her first Quidditch match since the first time she’d attended one with her family. From her first time out on the Hogwarts pitch, where she got into a heated debate with a young Hufflepuff who happened to support the Tutshill Tornadeos, she’d imagined playing on this time, but she never dreamed it would come so quickly.

She pulled on her robes as she flew onto the field, not quite believing they were hers and this was real. But once both teams were assembled with brooms mounted, waiting for the balls to erupt into the sky, there was no more denying: this was real. Of the three balls, Ruthie knew she only had to concern herself with one: the scarlet leathery quaffle. Her eye traced its trail up into the air and she waited for the inevitable fall back down again. She was eager to have her chance, to reach out and grab it like an underestimated thief in the night.

Around her, she scanned the crowd for a friendly face, but then she realized that the most important faces were those around her now: this team was so blessed to be apart of. No matter how this went, she was surrounded by a new kind of family; the sporting bond a loss or mistake could strain, but never break. She looked to her right, and to her left, before returning to the quaffle above them. A smile cracked across her face. She gotten so much more than she’d bargained for, and if that realization—of newfound camaraderie—was the best way to begin a match. After all, knowledge is power.

Emma hadn't done much during the summer, but at least playing around was included  with the bunch. Not a day went by that she didn't hop on her broom to go for a ride or play a miniature game with her family. She didn't know which was more competitive. Her name at Hogwarts or at home.

Stepping out on to the field, her hair tied pushed back into a bun, she listened to the roars in the stadium. Swinging lightly in her right was a broom, a silver arrow she'd bought at the beginning of the school year mainly for Quidditch, but it never hurt to show off in class. Of course when they were allowed to. 

Before mounting her broom, she looked at the team and smiled. Some most, it was the first game, but she was looking forward to just getting started. The last thing she wanted to do was stress them out, even if it meant hiding her true feelings. Already, she could hear the Gryffindor captain yelling to his team. Keeping it brief, she kept her speech brief and headed for the field, rolling her eyes in the process. "First game, let's set the bar high! Good luck everyone!"

Action » Doing as Strategized

Swinging a broom in his hand and letting it rest on his shoulder like a large club, Hugh Lowe entered the field. His large boots thumping heavily on the wooden floor before they made contact with the fine cut grass. The two straggling patches of whiskers tickled across both his cheeks as he looked up to the surrounding towers. Today he was going to have to prove himself. Upon the field he already noticed some gathered to start. DeRook's behind had not even locked itself to his broom and he was already crying war.

"By my red-hearted undies... this early in the morning is no time to be shouting our heads off, Captain. I can hear you just fine up here." Hugh smirked as he approached his leader, mostly joking to get his nerves down. He usually did not get any excitement or the jitters about anything these days, but now was not a good time to start either. "But alright..." he said as he grabbed his broom like an axe before marching forward to his position and eventually flying up.

"RAAAAAAAHH COME AND GET ME, YOU BLUE-FEATHERED DODOHEADS!"

Eris struggled with carrying her broom, wondering if it was her nerves that suddenly made it so heavy, or just that she'd been practising with school brooms lately. Eventually deciding just to lug the broom over her right shoulder, Eris stepped onto the field and raised an eyebrow. Today was, for lack of other words, going to be terrifying. A chance to prove herself in the eyes of the new team that Eris was currently wandering over towards, and a chance to lose herself for a few hours. Already, her body thrummed with anticipation for the match to come. Nerves and anticipation often went hand in hand, and Eris knew she would feel less nervous when they were in the air. It was just the standing around that scared her, as that was the perfect time to reflect upon what could go wrong in the match.

And, there was a lot that could go wrong. But, Eris shut those feelings out. She did not like thinking about anything besides victory, trying her best, and the like. To feel worried was to feel less brave and less strong, and Eris hated not being brave or strong enough. Even with that mantra, she was still nervous. Just a little.

Then, the shrieking started. Eris blinked once, turning to stare at the Gryffindor Captain, who was roaring to the heavens. They weren't even on their brooms yet, and it was already time to start keening like grieving lions. Eris chuckled to herself, making her way over to the group. Only the Gryffindor Quidditch Team would be yelling already. Eris couldn't find fault with that. Grin on her face, willing to oblige the request to start acting like a fool, Eris stuck her tongue out at the Ravenclaws.

"YOU'RE ALL GONNA BE CHICKEN DINNER." Eris chortled, waving her arms around for a moment to draw the attention of the ravenclaws. Once that was done and over with, Eris mounted her own broom. Waving to Hugh, who was also already in the air, the redhead then peered down at Kyle.

"Hey, Capt, do we actually gotta roar at them? Like... full on animal roar?"

After wearing her Quidditch gloves on, Griseldis closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Today, the official Quidditch Game finally began. And who would have thought that their first rival would be the Ravenclaws once again? The Dodgeball Game they had last time against the Ravenclaw were more like a warm-up but this time, it was a true competition between the Lions and the Eagles. She could feel her heart almost exploded from her chest but not out of nervosity, it was excitement. Griseldis and her teammates had trained very hard together to prepare for this. The training was extremely harsh but none of the Lions had never given up. What was more important that they were able to work together as a team and forged a strong bond.

Griseldis opened her eyes, took her Shooting Star in the hand that was lying beside her and stood up from the seat. The golden 7 that was printed on the back of her scarlet robe, was the number of the hero she admired since childhood, Harry Potter. She was lucky enough to get that number and she would honor it deep in her heart. It's time! Griseldis thought with a confident smile on her face. The moment she walked onto the field, the bright light of the sun above the cloudless sky almost blinded her eyes, then she heard loud cheers everywhere. Looking around in awe, many students and the Professors are there, she even spotted their Headmaster Solomon Lear who was enjoying his tea. His expression was relaxed and dark eyes full of curiosity. Griseldis hoped that her two best friends @Alan Noble and @Abigail Sparks will be here to see her. She wouldn't mind if Alan would cheer for his own House instead of her, she would do the same as well. Better be loyal to your House when they were competing against each other.

Their prideful Quidditch Captain Kyle already wanted them to "roar" like a true lion to show their fighting spirit for the game. Griseldis watched her two other teamates already flying up on their brooms and shouting out their competitive speeches at the Ravenclaws. Well, she simply bowed at their rivals out of respect then mounted on her broom and flew up to her teammates' level, she waved at them to get their attention, "Hey, Eris! Hey, Hugh! I kinda agree with our captain that we should show the Ravenclaws our Gryffindor's spirit with a roar!". With that, Griseldis turned to face the rival house, her pastel grey eyes already shined with pride and determination, "ROOAAARRRR!!!!"

Actions: Mounted broom >> Took off >> Got in position

It was brutally warm as Cecily stepped out onto the pitch, blue robes swishing around her. There was not a cloud in sight to provide a brief respite from the blazing sun, but the Ravenclaw chaser couldn't feel any of it. She had been waiting for this all year, ever since the close loss to the Snakes during the game last year. Ever since she had played that first game, all she had wanted to do was get back into the sky. The strategy, the team, the intensity-- she loved it all. And to finally be back on the pitch again...she hefted her broom in her right hand as she closed her eyes and listened to the roar of the stadium. She was past nerves, she told herself, as her heart began to pound, sending adrenaline coursing through her veins. This was pure excitement, fueling her as she listened to what seemed like the entire student body cheer around her.

She turned her attention to Emma's short, to-the-point speech, wishing them all luck before they mounted their brooms, and the blonde nodded back at her captain. She had confidence in the abilities of her team-- they wouldn't need luck to win. As long as they managed to work together and communicate, everything would turn out just peachy for the Ravens. The scarlet-clad Gryffindors continued to roar-- some quite literally, to her surprise-- but Cecily just smiled. Her team would not be the losers today.

Adam tugged at the collar of his Quidditch robes as he watched the rest of his team head confidently out onto the field. It was more of a nervous tug than an uncomfortable one. They weren't itchy or anything, the robes -- they fit quite nicely, actually, which was a surprise to the boy. He'd been kind of a last minute addition to the Quidditch team, having put his name down on the sign-ups much later than the rest of his teammates. His house had needed more players, and looking at the list, Adam had thought, why not? Quidditch wasn't something that he had ever planned to do, but life happened like that sometimes. So now he was a Beater -- a second-string Beater, sure, but a Beater nonetheless. And he had his very own robes to prove it.

Everyone on the team looked awesome in the blue and bronze of Ravenclaw. He knew most of the faces out on the field today; some were just names, like their captains Emma Hill and Neculai Lazar, and some were much more familiar. He grinned as he watched Cecily Quinn enter the pitch, excited for the chance to play alongside one of his best friends, and made sure to keep an eye open for Dymphna Teague. Dymph had always been super sweet to Adam, and he was glad that he'd get to spend more time with her through the sport this year.

Ravenclaw's side of the pitch was cool and collected as the players mounted up. Adam saw Emma give their team a few words of encouragement, but her exact words were drowned out by the hellish racket from Gryffindor's side. Their captain was leading them in a pep-talk-slash-shouting-match that devolved into just roaring. It threw Adam a little off-balance at first, but when he saw Eris joining in, he couldn't help but smile. He couldn't remember if he'd even told her about joining his team. Well, she'd know after today!

With all of the excitement in the air, it was hard to sit still on the sidelines. That's where Adam would be until or unless he was needed in today's game: benched. He'd known that going in, of course, and he was totally okay with it (front-row seats!) Even still, seeing everyone out there getting on their brooms made him start to fantasize about flying up on the Nimbus currently leaning against his leg. It was kind of an old broom, not anything fancy like they had today, but he was lucky that he'd been able to get it up here on time. He'd sent Edmund racing home with an urgent note scrawled to his mother, who had come through for him like always -- she'd found the broom, wherever it had been hiding after so long, and sent it right back to Hogwarts, towed by Edmund and a friend. Today, Adam might hopefully get his chance to be like the owls and get into the air. Even without any strong devotion to Quidditch, he loved the feeling of being airborne.

Adam was determined to help out his team even if he couldn't join them for a few minutes or a few games. He didn't want to break the confident silence that his team had going on, but he was pretty sure they'd forgive a few words of encouragement. Besides, he couldn't let Gryffindor have all of the fun. Stamping his feet against the ground to add his own burst of noise, he cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted out a cheer. "Let's go Ravenclaw! Show 'em who's boss!" Oh yeah, he felt like a real sports-guy now. Reminding himself to stay alert, Adam leaned forward eagerly on the bench and smiled as the players got ready to start off the game.

ACTION: cheer on team from bench