A Spectacle Hufflepuff v Ravenclaw Finished

Lazarus Plot made for an entertaining (if eccentric) commentator. His bravado was so infectious, Pericles could not help but lean forward in his seat when Cecily caught the quaffle, though he sat back again when Willow bluntly blocked it. The lad winced when Jorah and Dawn were simultaneously knocked from their brooms, but breathed easy again when they were caught by David and Annie respectively. His eyebrows arched, impressed, when Emma Hill fluidly rolled out of the trajectory of a bludger. No matter what chaos unfolded on the fields, he repeatedly scanned for the Seekers, keeping an especially watchful eye on Neculai. He saw Serena take off and that metallic stare went wide, becoming fixed, trailing after her in a state of mute excitement. The first bludger struck her and his breathing stilled, note-taking forgotten. The next was dodged, and now he couldn't convince himself to tear his eyes away, fearful he would miss some significant move. It came as no surprise that a third strike was aimed at the Hufflepuff. Everyone knew that Seekers were the primary targets of any game, but what he had not have anticipated was Saskia swooping in to take the strike. Donovan's attempt at blatching the Ravenclaw captain was missed entirely, and had the excitable Plot not howled at him to take a penalty lap, Pericles would never have known.

The boy would be taken-aback by the budding sense of dread he experienced when Ruthie, Lark, and Cecily descended upon Serena, yet Saskia intercepted again at the last moment. His gaze plummeted with the witch's body. It didn't matter that they were in yellow and he was in blue- Peri's heart was sinking, only to leap in shock as Willow- the same girl who had blocked a quaffle score before- grabbed the girl from midair. His lips parted, jaw slack, hands still upon his open notebook while they swooped skyward. Plot shouting out Serena's name sent his stare frantically flickering over the field, landing on the Seeker just in time to see Quinn heft the girl's broom like a javelin.

Numb from sheer shock, from adrenaline, from a sense of relief, the lad briefly dislodged any underlying disappointment. Pericles had entered Hogwarts "house-blind": he didn't give the placement stereotypes any energy, nor did he feel the proud drive for his House to outdo any other. They were all Hogwarts students after all. Yet he had grown sensitive to the morale of his fellow birds, could feel the collective disappointment in many of them when Ravenclaw didn't snag the cup or win a game. As much as he willed every last person in his dorms to be happy, he could not help but cheer. He cheered for the play-by-play which had unfolded like an Epic, for the stars who saved their teammates, for the act of camaraderie which won Hufflepuff the game. He clapped, cupping his palms to create great booming applause which those slender hands didn't look capable of, and even raised his fingers to unleash a boisterous whistle. It was in that moment he heard an aggravated "Oi."

Not expecting an interaction, nor recognizing the voice, Pericles ignored it until a light nudge bumped against his shoulder. He looked 'round with a questioning frown only to find himself face-to-face with a fellow eagle. The boy looked to be several grades above him and, evidently, was not too pleased with the game's outcome. "Don't you see we've just lost?" he blurted through an annoyed curl of the lip. Peri blinked, baffled, managing only a tentative "I...." Either the first-year was frightened off, or he was very mindful about picking his battles. He would not make a point of arguing the semantics of whether "winning" or "losing" made a "good" or "bad" game. Instead he awkwardly hastened to pack his things, slung his bag over a shoulder, and absconded from the stands before the bulk of the crowd tried to pour out all at once.

[Scene exited]

The third year was caught by surprise at how fast the game of Quidditch took place. Was it always over so quickly?, he wondered as he grinned slightly, watching Willow, before he turned around to Flash. But he knew that the other student probably knew as little about this as he did, so there was no use in asking him that question.

The Slytherin leaned in close to speak into his hear and Alan nodded once he heard what the other kid had to say to him. "Y-Yeah, I'll see y-you around!", he said nodding in excitement. He was happy for Willow and her team that they had won and wanted to go to congratulate her on her win, but he knew that this probably would have to wait until they met again. Surely she would be swarmed by people already and had no time to actually focus on him.

Before he could ask about what he meant with party, the Slytherin would disappear in the mass of students and Alan tried to find a student he was familiar with. But he could only remember interacting with Flash here, aside from the quick greeting he had with George. Alan was sure that this would get even wilder here now, since Hufflepuff won and this was something really cool, he assumed. Maybe he should just leave as well, since the event was over now and maybe he had some homework that he had to do still? With that the Gryffindor got up from his seat and left the stands, making his way back to the castle.

The game was over as quickly as it had started. Hufflepuff really was a force to be reckoned with this year, and had been playing phenomenally. Even with players entering their first game of the season, such as Willow, they still showed skill. Ravenclaw stood no chance. It was unfortunately really for Ravenclaw. It's not as if they weren't trying. Hufflepuff's seeker was just too good, quickly finding and catching the snitch as if it was the easiest thing in the world.

Tyranni would gather her supplies amidst the roar of the crowd, both screams of excitement and anger depending on who was present supporting each team. She did not care to participate in the festivities of celebration, or the pain of loss, as she was there simply for strategic purposes. All things gathered, she made her way down the seated aisle and to the steps that would lead her back to the ground for the walk back to the castle. On her way out, she would see a few other students she recognized that had arrived after her. She waved to them, and continued on her merry way back to the Slytherin Common Room. Once at her room is where the real analysis of the game would occur.

Exiting Thread

Interacting with @Aaron Jones, @Sean Hearth

Lydia smiled wide at both Aaron and Sean as they complimented the banner, she was particularly proud of how it turned out, and when Willow blew them a kiss, the red headed girl's heart felt full of joy. She loved supporting her friends, in any way she could, and see them happy.

After Willow blocked the goal, Lydia concentrated back on the game. It was still a little bit difficult to concentrate on everything that was going on, from the beaters directing the bludgers towards the chasers, to the seekers looking for the golden snitch, to the chasers trying to score. She tried her best though, feeling the adrenaline run through her veins, and she took a moment of "pause" from what was happening in the game to follow Aaron's gaze towards someone dressed as a mascot badger. Whoever it was, Lydia thought it was an incredibly sweet thing, and nodded as she smiled wide.

"That could totally be Aaron!" Lydia agreed with Sean, and then focused back on the game.

From that moment on, the game got more and more intense, especially the Ravenclaw beaters. Lydia still couldn't believe that things like bludgers were even allowed in a game like that, where the possibility of seriously hurting yourself were very high. She kept her eyes focused on the players, gasping whenever someone would get too close to Willow or would almost get hit by flying bludgers. When the Hufflepuff captain, Saskia Nicholson, got knocked unconscious and started falling to the ground, Lydia got up from her seat, her hands over her mouth, as she watched the scene in horror. She couldn't believe that nobody was doing anything to help the girl, anxiety raising inside of her, when Willow arrived out of nowhere and saved the team Captain.

At that, Lydia cheered so loud that she wouldn't have been surprised if the next day she would have been voiceless. Willow had been amazing for the whole game, and Lydia felt so proud of her friend.

Distracted by all of that, she concentrated back on the game, and noticed how the Hufflepuff seeker had almost caught the golden snitch; she was so incredibly close to- and then, all of a sudden, Serena did it, she caught the snitch.

Screams of happiness erupted from every single Hufflepuff, they did it, they had won the game!

"Yes!! We Won!!" She cheered excited, turning towards Aaron and hugging him briefly before turning back towards the field. She kept clapping her hands and jumping up and down in happiness, not sure where all that excitement came from.

One thing was sure though, she couldn't have been happier, and prouder, of being an Hufflepuff.

"Oh my god, guys! It was amazing! Is every Quidditch game this intense?" She asked to Aaron and Sean as she calmed down a little bit, the excitement still written all over her face.

Interacting with @Rafael D'Spacito

Busy arranging herself and preparing for another day of note-taking, Evelynn was blind to her Captain's idle observations. Or perhaps she simply wished not to acknowledge it. He could look all he want with those judgemental eyes of his. It was no skin off of her back.

"Has the game begun?" the redhead retorted drily to his comment of her tardiness.

Was she irritated with herself for not having arrived sooner in order to get the jump on him and be the one to hold the power of a similar snarky comment? Perhaps. Maybe it was because of this that his comment irked her more than it should have. Really, it was an empty thing to say, anyway. The game had yet to begin; students were still filing into the stands and finding seats; and the chatter of the crowd hadn't yet died down over the sound of the magnified pre-amble.

As he continued to bite into her supposed lateness, Evelynn bristled. A sneer threatened to overtake her features, lip curling to crease a nostril, the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. Every time she came into any sort of proximity with him, he just had to rip into her. If she didn't know any better, she might have thought she had accidentally killed his dog in another life. What was it about him? She just didn't understand. All she knew was that very few others could illicit such a primal gut reaction quite like he did. For a split second, she had a very real desire to grip onto that journal and arc it to the side to bludgeon what was no down a snide expression off his stupid face.

She didn't, of course. Instead, gloved fingers riffled through the pages of her journal with careful precision, slipping over one of the identifying tabs to open up a blank section somewhere half-way through. Perhaps unexpectedly for anyone near enough to glance over, the pages were not blank. Already, there were scrawling notes, sections boxed off, each dedicated to a person. It was all she could do to ignore his stream of commentary, and took more will-power than she might have liked to admit to bite back the defensive quips dancing tempestuously upon the tip of her tongue. She could feel the heat of her face, no doubt red with her rising anger.

"See…from where I'm sitting…" Evelynn finally unleashed when there was enough of a pause in the boy's speech for her to actually get a word in edge-wise. "I'm not the one making it personal. But you're right on one thing. The game comes first. So why don't you save your breath and direct your eyes to the pitch. If I'd known you were going to be wasting my time and my attention with baseless accusations, I would have done what I was originally going to do and sit on my own."

She'd leave it at that — for now, at least — as the announcement of the games commencement sounded. After that, any words that Rafael might have spoken fell on deaf ears. Her attention had fixed itself wholly upon the pitch, grey eyes darting around the pitch following the movements of the various players. Now and then, she'd glance briefly down to her journal, scratch in a note or another. Sometimes, without looking, she'd flip open to a (blank at the start of the match) page into which her finger remained book-marked and write down various thoughts and observations without pulling her attention from the pitch.

"She hasn't," Evelynn stated simply, D'Spacito's comment about the keeper cutting into her concentration. Almost monotone, as though only half paying attention to him, she continued, "Not in any official games, anyway. Anderson is new. Kurokawa has been their Keeper until now. Probably about time they replace her, though. She hasn't saved a single goal all season. Of course, you already knew that, given that you're a seasoned Captain and would obviously have done your homework and obtained all of the statistics of the opposing team players, plays, and game statistics and outcomes..."

Passive-aggressive? Maybe. Just a little. There was no denying the hint of venom in her words. The accusation of her being an amateur, and an unprepared one at that, had touched a nerve. Not that it was hard for him to do. It touched a nerve whenever the pompous ass sitting next to her opened his fat mouth.

True to what she was suggesting, however, unlike most of the boxes containing Hufflepuff player data and information, Anderson's box was nearly empty save for her position, year, and team number. Nor was there anything else particularly interesting written down beside her as there was beside some others — such as the dhampir written next to Lazar on another (hidden) page. Evelynn had never spent any significant time with the girl, and so knew little to nothing about her, other than the fact that she was a first-year Hufflepuff, and a friend of Seilun's if the invitation list of her party was anything to go by. Not it could really be taken at face value, given the fact that Evelynn had also appeared within its ranks.

"What?" Evelynn paused in her note-taking at her captain's next commentary.

Her gaze flickered quickly over the pitch in search of their seeker, Towers. Squinting, the young Gryffindor tried to take stock of what D'Spacito was talking about. From this distance, without a set of omnioculars, however, it was very difficult to gain any clear insight into what the seeker may or may not have seen. What Evelynn did see were the a bludger sailing dangerously towards her. Impressive flying she may have displayed, but it was not enough to escape the impact. The Backbeat from…who— oh, Hill —had been expertly aimed. It collided, painfully by the looks of it, with the Hufflepuff seeker who looked for a moment as though she were about to fall from her broom. Impressively, she managed to hold on, and sped off to catch a falling comrade, by Evelynn's estimation. Unfortunately, the attempt wouldn’t go quite as expected, as she was forced to veer off course by the ricochet of the second bludger off another ally.

"Are you sure we're watching the same game?" Evelynn asked drily, seeing no evidence that the seeker had spotted the snitch given her actions and manoeuvring. She had to eat her words a second later though as Serena shifted into a dive.

"No way…" Evelynn breathed, barely audibly, in disbelief. She had straightened in her seat, craning her neck to watch in awe as the girl picked up speed. All thought of note taking was temporarily forgotten as her mind transported itself to the perspective of the seeker. With baited breath, she watch, mesmerised, as the girl sped towards what was no doubt a flutter of gold that Evelynn couldn't make out from her own position.

Interacting with @Sean Hearth and @Lydia Cooper

[Exit Thread]