Spectator: Ravenclaw vs. Slytherin Finished

While Pericles had many an interest, sports was not high on his list. He had always held a passing respect for Quidditch, perhaps brought on by his father's own enthusiasm for flying, though had never entertained the pursuit of it. The Ravenclaw had pretended not to notice the posters advertising open spots on his House team, convinced there was little a broomless first-year might offer. His first Flying Class would bring about a dynamic shift in mentality. It would have been sweet to say that this lesson went well, that he had a natural aptitude, that he was well on his way to becoming a Keeper like his Slytherin parent. It would have been sweet, but far, far from the truth. Yet the young Dralt wasn't one to run from a challenge. He had come completely prepared with a leather bag slung over his shoulder, arriving early enough to secure a seat close to the front of the stand. His tools for today were meticulously arranged in his lap: a notebook, a pair of brass binoculars, a small pen, and a copy of Quidditch Through the Ages open on a knee.

As players poured onto the scene, he was quick to raise his binoculars, taking turns between watching them and hastily jotting notes. The Quidditch text was used to identify their brooms, which he would compare and contrast the efficiency of while the match went on. Strength might not be his strong-suit, but strategy was. He hadn't just come for his own benefit however... mostly, but not entirely. Scribbling ceased altogether once his House's team entered the field. In a methodical manner, as if he were following a formula for behavior, Pericles produced a Dissimulator from his bag. It looked like an old war horn bound in bronze bands, the metal inscribed with bright blue engravings. He drew a deep breath, tilted back his head, and blew out a monotonous drone. As if pleasantly surprised by his own projection, Pericles smiled up at the blue bird, admiring the way in which light filtered through its wide wings. The eagle was eyed until carried off by the chilly breeze. At that, the young wizard returned the Dissimulator to his bag and again picked up his pen.

(Interacting with @Pericles Dralt and open to further interactions)

Ginevra had never been a fan of sports - be it doing them or watching them - save for that Muggle motorcycle racing her mum introduced her some years ago. However, she had lost a friendly bet with her Gryffindor friend on who would score higher on the Potions quiz last week, and so she had made Ginevra come to watch the Ravenclaw versus Slytherin Quidditch match at school. Alone.

"I may or may not come," the Gryffindor had said at that time, winking. "I might be too busy preparing for another quiz to bet with someone who is not into sports like you, Ginny!" Yeah, right. Who would have thought that a Gryffindor could be so cunningly utilise something academic to push people into sports?

Anyway, of course Ginevra did not really want to come alone, and so she had asked a number of friends to watch the match with her. However, her Ravenclaw friend was down with flu, and most of her friends were fellow Hufflepuffs who were not interested in cheering for other teams.

As a result, Ginny had to come alone today.

She had just started to think that this would be boring when she saw a blond boy taking out something from his bag and blew it. From it, came a thick smoke in the shape of an eagle, blue in colour. Ginevra was amazed; she had never seen anything like that before. As the eagle-shaped smoke was gone with the breeze, Ginevra turned her eyes back to the blower. It seemed that he also came all by himself. And while Ginny was not very good on conversing with new people, usually a one-on-one basis was ideal for her. So perhaps she could go talk to that boy about the horn-thing...

Ginevra picked up her bag and approached the boy with the horn-thing. "Hello," she greeted him, "I wonder if this seat is taken?"

Pericles squinted through his binoculars. He glanced between both teams as they stepped out onto the field, trying as he may to recognize any faces amidst them in blue, committing those he did not know- essentially all of them- to memory as best he could. His pen swiftly scribbled down the last of the brooms which he could recognize at this distance, and at that he closed the Quidditch book. Play-by-play notes would be taken until the end of the game. Even someone as socially strange as he could recognize the variety in expressions: animosity, weariness, determination, intimidation. He hummed a pensive note to himself, frowning while lowering the lenses to his lap.

He didn't look up at that hello, as he hardly knew anyone around Hogwarts just yet, so the student was not anticipating anyone would take the time to greet him at a Quidditch match. Once the girl stepped into his peripheral however, he blinked up from his books with arched eyebrows and round eyes. Realization struck and his mouth moved into a subtle smile. "Hullo," the boy echoed back. When asked about the seat, Peri made certain his things wouldn't spill from where he sat. "Not a'tall. Please, feel free." He even scooted further from the open side, planting himself firm in the corner with his hip to the wall of the bleachers.

@Ginevra Tsuchiya @Pericles Dralt

Cormac made his way through the stands, a bag full of jam sandwiches snatched from the breakfast table in one hand and a blue banner in the other. The crowd erupted in cheers when both teams appeared on the field and a big, smoke eagle raised above the students' heads. Ravenclaw had some great fans, that was for sure.

He eventually found an empty spot by a Hufflepuff girl and a boy from his House, down at the very front. Too concentrated on the flying players, he mumbled a quick 'mind if I sit?' and, without really waiting for a response, settled himself next to the two kids.

Once he realized it was going to take a few minutes before the game actually started, he removed his eyes from the Quidditch pitch and turned to the girl beside him.

"Cormac McCarthy, nice to meet you," he said and stuck out his hand. "You are cheering for Ravenclaw, right?"

Grinning while he waited for a reply, he noticed that the blonde boy who sat on the other side of her was conscientiously scribbling into a notebook. Good Merlin, what a time to do homework at.

Pericles (Cormac was pretty sure that's what he was called) was quite the peculiar kid. They took a couple of classes together and he had seen him around Ravenclaw Tower. Not that his intense devotion for books and learning didn't fit in the Ravenclaw Common Room, because it most certainly did. It was other kind of things that made him stand out a little bit from the rest, like bringing parchment and a pair of binoculars to a Quidditch game. He was a nice kid, though. Peculiar and nice.

"Hey, Dralt, the match seems interesting enough. You don't want to miss it, trust me," he commented.

(Interacting with @Pericles Dralt and @Cormac McCarthy. Also open for further interactions.)

At first there was only that platinum-haired Ravenclaw boy with glasses when Ginevra first came to sit with someone; but after that, a brunette - clearly another Ravenclaw - approached the two of them and sat himself just next to them. Well, next to Ginevra would be a more adequate description, since the first Ravenclaw boy was sitting in the corner, between Ginevra and the wooden wall.

Ginevra wanted very much to ask the blonde boy what actually his horn-thing was, surely that would be rude to ask before they even got to know each other. And the brown-haired boy had started to introduce himself to Ginevra, which was very nice of him because she was not very good with meeting new people. He said that his name was Cormac McCarthy, and he also asked whether Ginevra was cheering for Ravenclaw.

"Nice to meet you too, Cormac," she said. "My name is Ginevra Tsuchiya, but please just call me Ginny." After that, she had to think fast. She did not really root for any of the teams who were playing today and she did not really want to tell a lie, but she also did not want to let the boy down; so she answered, "Yes, you can say I am cheering for Ravenclaw." To assure him, she gave him a friendly smile.

Then, she turned to the other boy. She had heard that Cormac addressed him as Dralt (which she mistook it as his given name), so she spoke to him, "Oh, I suppose you two know each other then? It's a pleasure to meet you, Dralt. I'm Ginny." Just like with Cormac, she offered this boy a handshake and a warm smile.

Some small voice in the back of Peri's head- his mother's, perhaps- was pleased with how polite the students seemed. Both had asked (sort of, in Cormac's case) to share the bench. An absent smile wandered in the newcomer's direction before he was boisterously greeted. It flickered and faded when he was addressed, not once but twice, by his surname. "Oh..." the lad mumbled at first, surprise at being recognized fading for an apologetic sheepishness, a cringing sort of smile. "I prefer 'Peri', or Pericles, please. I've only ever heard my father called 'Dralt'." It made him feel dreadfully old. All the same, the ungainly look passed quick and his glowy smile cleared, as the moon does once night clouds have rolled away. He collected the girl's outstretched hand for a short shake, then reached beyond towards the other Ravenclaw, voice's volume just high enough to be heard over the crowd's din: "A pleasure to meet you Ginny, Cormac."

Peri didn't seem to catch the point of the other boy's comment. Instead, he gave an enthusiastic nod, raising his pen to point towards the field as he agreed "I'm sure it'll be a brilliant game by both sides. I've been analyzing the broomsticks, you see: there's a number of Comet 180's, Bluebottles, a Tinderblast, Nimbus 1500s. I believe that player has a 2001...." The last was listed on a wistful note, Peri's airy observations taking on a hint of longing. He briefly departed from they two, wearing a wanting frown while he watched the teams kick off from the grass, mesmerized by the fliers swooping up onto the scene. His odd eyes closed with a languid blink before dropping back down to the notebook, upon which he scrawled a swift notation.

"Did you know that brooms can channel magic, just like staffs?" the student seemed to ask the very parchment he was writing on. "Only exceptionally talented witches and wizards can dispense with them. I should like to try someday. I wonder if a broom could cast while flying, or if a spell would 'distract' it too much. Imagine how much more exciting Quidditch would be if brooms could belch fire."

@Ginevra Tsuchiya

Ginny blushed. She had called someone she had just got to know using a name he did not really like; and while honestly she really did not mean it, it still made her feel bad somehow.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm so sorry. I thought that -" Ginny let the last sentence trail; was it really necessary for her to explain that she had mistaken the boy's surname as his given name simply because that was the way his house-mate had addressed him earlier? The brown-eyed girl decided that it was not, so she quickly spoke up again, "I mean, I'm sorry. And it's a pleasure to meet you, Peri."

After that, Ginny let out a sigh of relief. Being somehow shy, she found it difficult to deal with disappointed people - particularly one who was disappointed because of her.

However, thank goodness that Peri seemed to quickly forget what had happened earlier, and was now enthusiastically telling both Ginny and Cormac about broomsticks. He talked about the models of broomsticks used by the players they were watching, and he explained how broomsticks could channel magic.

Now it was clear for Ginny that Cormac was fond of broomsticks. "If he were a Muggle, I bet he'd be able to identify each car he passed by make, year, and model - no matter how swiftly it whizzed by," she thought. "And perhaps even remember the plate number of a car he saw the previous week!"

Peri told them that he wondered whether a broomstick could cast while flying or if a spell would "distract" it too much, and Ginny replied, "I didn't know they can channel magic. That sounds interesting! But I do hope you won't try it now, would you?" She smiled at her own little joke.

@Pericles Dralt @Cormac McCarthy

Pericles seemed to seek an opportune time to interrupt those apologies. By the third one, his expression was exceedingly gentle, brows creased and smile softly empathetic. "It isn't any trouble," the boy insisted with a dismissive wave of his hand. He glanced to Cormac in the midst of his reassurance, extending it to him, then moved on from the matter without another word in an attempt to drive home how little he was offended.

He enthused over brooms, or perhaps he raved for a love for flight itself. It may even have been a simple matter of magic enthusiasm. "I haven't seen it done myself," Peri admitted, beaming contentedly out over the field, "though I read about it and don't doubt it's true. I'm not so sure I'd give it a go, though. I've only just learned my first few spells, and I'm afraid I'm, ah, not that grand at flying a broom, let alone trying to cast with one. But perhaps someday." He seemed satisfied to spectate and speculate, glad for the idle chatter, but that quickly changed when the sounds of bludgers striking bodies began.

Once the first figure fell from their broom, Peri stood so swiftly, so suddenly, the books and pen clattered to the stand floor. All too quickly, the dreamy haze lifted and was replaced by a scathingly intense expression. It didn't sit quite right on his young freckled face. The starry eyes became sharp like steel, mild mouth now a hard line, the intensity of concern ripping him from his relaxed persona and rendering him rigid. He watched, mute, as the Slytherin player tumbled to the ground. That falling gaze darted around in desperate search of someone to swoop in, but no such luck. She struck the earth with a dreadful thud. Then one of their own- a Ravenclaw- was tumbling towards a similar fate. Peri did not note the way in which his hands gripped the railing, already too-pale knuckles now white with strain. Yet this flyer was caught. He sighed a slow breath, and with it, his hunched shoulders sank back where they belonged. Only then did it occur to him at all that he was standing. Perplexity replaced the severe attentiveness, making him appear innocently confused as he stooped to collect his things from the floor.

Peri sank back onto their bench to scrawl a few additional notations into his Quidditch journal.