A Display on Past & Future PV Reopened

They/She

Pax was in no rush to get anywhere this afternoon. They hadn't much been able to focus the past few hours in their lessons, rather they had found their mind often drifting back to tomorrow's quidditch try-outs. The past season had been mildly more successful than the one previous to it, however neither had been the incredible victories that Pax had pictured when they had taken on the role as captain. It had taken a lot of time for them to realise that the team's performance wasn't a direct reflection on them and them alone - if the team won together, they won together, but if they lost, well... regardless, it wasn't all on their shoulders. The game was a team responsibility.

Nonetheless, they had found themselves drawn to the trophy room instead of wherever else they were supposed to be. Their eyes slid from year to year, looking back to when Gryffindor had actually won the Quidditch Cup. It wasn't the most inspiring to see how many years back the last annual win had been, but Pax tried to put on a brave face and swallow their pride. They wanted to be hopeful about their chances of success, but they also had to be realistic. If all went well at the try-outs tomorrow, hopefully they'd see what sort of shape the team was going to be in and be able to prepare accordingly.

As they were lost in thought, a gentle voice broke them from their mental planning. Looking over, Pax tried to recognise the person ahead of them, the face looking vaguely familiar, but with no luck. However, it seemed at least that this individual hadn't recognised them either, so at least there was no mutual expectation.

"Not really... only noting the absence of the lions on here," they joked half-heartedly, nodding towards the display. Turning to face them, they uncrossed their arms and offered the supposed stranger a slight smile.

"Well, it depends on the reason, I suppose. Players to aspire to? Your own team? Biggest threats? Take your pick."

Reducio

Word count: 342

Mentions: @Lea Hirsch

Date: Afternoon, 4th September 2024

Lea hadn't meant to startle them, but then again they had startled her too. She'd only offer a slight eyebrow raise when they turned away from the display, a little surprised to have gotten their full attention so soon. The Hufflepuff wouldn't yet offer the same curtesy, remaining half turned between the two as her eyes shifted from student to trophies. "Oh, no?" It was stereotype, but Lea anticipated- wrongly apparently- that Gryffindor would do better in broom sports. A more detailed glance suggested it would be Slytherin on the podium with Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw the years before. There was a slight head tilt at last year's trophy before her gaze returned to the newest in the collection. "The snakes taking all the trophies here too?" Her voice remained light but she shook her head mournfully, partly in jest and partly in wanting to see more badger wins- the broom racing section had been left unexamined so far.

"Not players to aspire to-" It was almost immediate, a faint laugh as Lea realized seconds after that who she was talking to could very well be a player themself. "I- don't have that level of skill." She clarified, eyes now glancing towards anywhere except at the Gryffindor. "But uhm-" Her voice wavered, shifting towards the trophies as though searching for answers in their shine. "Biggest threats would be good. Or how the Hufflepuff team has been doing more recently?" It was information she ought to know but didn't yet, the realization dawning on her of just how little books could actually teach her the sport- she hardly knew the players let alone which strategies might best fit their strengths or other teams' weaknesses.

But now there was someone willing to help out with that, an outside perspective to take into consideration before Lea ran off to dump as many questions as possible on her Quidditch captain. "Have there been any new moves gaining traction? I know duelling often cycles through different popular spells-" She cut herself off before listing any examples, finally fully turning to face the quidditch enthusiast with shoulders ever-so-slightly more relaxed. Watching cycles required time though and while the other appeared closer in age to Lea than to a new student, whether they followed Quidditch the entire time remained unknown. So Lea added in a final question- "How long have you been," she waved a hand absent-mindedly, "a part? of Quidditch for?"

Interactions. @Pax Zhang

They/She

Pax chuckled at the comment directed towards Slytherin - traditionally Slytherin had been Gryffindor's biggest rivals, but nowadays, all of the houses operated on a pretty even playing field. Still, the thought of going up against some of the older Slytherin students did make them uneasy.

"Seemingly," they responded with a raised eyebrow. "I don't keep up with the other sports too much though, so I couldn't say how they're faring there."

As the girl averted her eyes, Pax tilted their head, eyes narrowed as they examined her carefully. From her response, she didn't seem to be much of a quidditch player herself. But with her recent interest, maybe she'd had a change of career plans from whatever sport she was previously involved with.

"Hufflepuff... I think they had a... mixed season last year," Pax recalled. They knew they'd beaten the badgers in Autumn 2023, that had been their first win a full year, but they weren't about to rub it in the other's face. "Won against Ravenclaw in the winter games if I remember correctly, but that was it. Though the year before they were three for three."

"As for biggest threats..." Pax smiled to themself. Seeing as the girl didn't know who they were, it would be really easy to subtly name drop themself into the conversation, and see if she picked up on it. Truthfully, they weren't even sure if they were one of the 'biggest threats' but given how quickly they seemed to be targeted in their games, they liked to view that as the reason.

"Well, all houses have their strengths. For Ravenclaw, that'd probably be their chasers. Lavinia Cloven for example, she's a big threat, and she's scarily good at her job. Many of them are really good at going unnoticed with blatches, which honestly is pretty infuriating at times, but I respect it. Jorah, one of their beaters, also packs a powerful punch in his hits.

Slytherin are pretty well-rounded as a whole, but Dan, their seeker, is very good at his job. Koko too, she's an incredibly strong keeper, though I suppose I'm somewhat biased since she's a friend." Pax thought they were at least. They hoped it was a mutual friendship at least.

"They also have good chasers who are pretty well-rounded," Pax recounted Avery and Maggie, who they'd been pretty good friends back in their younger years. They hadn't spoken to them in a little while, they really should try to speak to them a bit more often.

"As for Hufflepuff, well, I'm sure these wouldn't be threats to you, but Atlas and Ethen are both strong assets. I think they've also been on the team the longest as well. Avery McCall, the captain, is very talented despite their age. I'd expect them to go pro, honestly, if they keep up captaincy.

And then, last but not least, Gryffindor. They've had their struggles the last few years, but I'd say that their beaters, Pax and Ethan, are pretty consistent at least, when they can hit their targets. Finnegan, one of the chasers, also is a good chaser for his age, and he's very dedicated to the team."

Swallowing, they only then realised how long they had been talking. Rummaging in their bag for a water bottle, they used the time see if anything would sink in for her. It was fine if it didn't, but they did wonder if she would ever realise.

"Quidditch doesn't go through too many new moves, in all honesty," they considered. "It's different to duelling since duellists can be pretty versatile, like one person can switch between offensive and defensive really easily, but in quidditch everyone has pretty clearly defined roles. A couple of times when people try new things, sometimes it goes surprisingly well, like cobbing has become pretty well used now. But sometimes some things just don't work out."

Pax quickly stopped themself from going on, because the way it seemed, they would never shut up. This sort of thing was something they'd never really talk about because, being perfectly honest, not many people in their life really cared as much as they did, or pretended they did to appease them. Kind of sucked, but oh well.

"Based on my long rant, how long do you think I've been a fan for?" they bounced the question back at them, interested to hear their guess. "Besides, I've been talking for ages. Just humour me."

Reducio

Word count: 739

Mentions: @Lea Hirsch

Date: Afternoon, 4th September 2024

"Oh! I don't follow much broom racing, but in duelling they are quite the force. Although the tables might turn with the recent graduates-" She glanced up in consideration, a thoughtful hum before dropping the notion in favor of continuing the conversation. If the other wanted to learn about duelling, then they could certainly ask. Lea wasn't one to often divulge information, but sports made the exception.

A mixed year was not the most promising start and certainly not when the mix was not in Hufflepuff's favor, but Lea was familiar with it. Duel losses probably weren't as certain as quidditch losses though, considering the quantity difference between the two. "Hmm..." There was a small wince but a hopeful ending, eyebrows raised towards the other. "Well if I could figure out what we did two years ago, that would be great." Unfortunately time travel was not a readily accessible magic nor did the Hufflepuff really want to mess with that sort of science, but perhaps there were some records of team members or strategy during that time- assuming the tactics hadn't changed. That was not a particularly strong gamble to take, though.

The smile should have been a warning, yet had she only an innocent inquisitive glance at the pause. It made sense that there would be a lot of big threats with a bigger mix of years- being too young to battle someone like Dmitri was not a mercy afforded in the broom sports.

For being new to the sport, a lot of names rung the small bell of familiarity as she was reminded of the list of captains she knew. Many made it onto the list of threats, a level of experience that Lea could not equate to- hopefully Avery would pick up all the work on that end.

It seemed as though each house, though, had some different strategy. Of course Lea couldn't fully determine that just through some brief highlights, but Ravenclaws had fouls, Slytherin kept points to themselves, Gryffindor had (non-cheating?) beaters, and Hufflepuff had- something. It would take a moment for Lea to remember the positions of her fellow Hufflepuffs, a little embarrassed by her mental hiccup. Perhaps the strategies were more split in two then-

"A lot of captains." It would be the first remark out loud, Lea having really attempted to take in each word the other said. "I suppose it makes sense- pretty good role models for the rest of the team and experience? Still, I wasn't expecting nearly all of them to make the list-" All it missed was two, the positions graduated and now taken up by two new faces. Maybe the other was in a similar position to her, a separate sports player crossed over to help the house and maybe learn a bit in the process.

"No?" That would surprise Lea, although the explanation for it made sense. Only needing will to exact many different outcomes was a benefit only from spells, the training and time required to get all those skills individually not worth the pay off. "Still, with three dimensions rather than two, I assumed there would be some more interesting moves and new angles." Lea would not be admitting to not entirely knowing what cobbing entailed, only a slight hum of false understanding. "Not a lot of time to try something new either, right? How long do quidditch games typically go for?"

"Oh." Lea blinked, a startled laugh at the question. "That is true- and I do appreciate it. Longer than you could have been at Hogwarts, certainly-" A smile grew for a moment, fading as she took a moment to seriously consider the question. "I'd give it- 3 years? Although I imagine you've been quite dedicated during those sports seasons." She added a final nod to solidify her answer, before tilting her head towards the expert. "And? Is my guess close?"

Interactions. @Pax Zhang
Mentions. @Camilla Carter (if you want to join)

They/She

Pax could only nod in agreement. wishing they could turn back the time to when Gryffindor was actually seen as a powerhouse and a threat in quidditch. Unfortunately, they weren't too sure just how far back they'd have to go to find that time. Perhaps others would have a different opinion, but right now they were just trying to build reliability before shaping them into the stand-out team they knew they could achieve.

"Mhm, well, I suppose they are captains for a reason," Pax commented. "Of course, Howard and Cecily's expertise will be missed, but I'm excited to see what the new faces will bring." They had yet to meet the new captains (or so they believed), but they trusted the choices made to bring their respective house to victory. Well, as close to victory as Gryffindor would let them.

"Oh yeah, for sure. But it's mostly all about efficiency. You know, find the snitch as soon as possible, and then the game is done with minimal casualties. I once was part of a game that really dragged itself on a while, and pretty much everyone but me and the second-string keeper were still up, and even then, we were sharing a broom. It was rough. But most games are a lot shorter, so you shouldn't need to be worried about anything like that."

Raising an eyebrow, Pax smiled at their well-guessed estimate. "Yeah, you're pretty spot-on. Was raised a quidditch fan, and that's only grown since I've been here. Now I'm going into my fourth year, and I've been on the team, and captaining it, since halfway through my first, give or take. You do the maths there."

This individual didn't strike Pax as much the quidditch player, though they could have misjudged, especially given their new interest. "How about you? What's inspired this sudden... interest in a new sport? Seemingly duelling is your love."

Reducio

Word count: 316

Mentions: @Lea Hirsch

Date: Afternoon, 4th September 2024

"That is true," she agreed, a slight tilt of her head as she thought. It was a hole that she couldn't fill, the thought squirming in her mind as her lack of experience rang heavily. Hopefully it wouldn't spell certain doom for Hufflepuff- at the very least one of their captains was on the pitch and knew proper technique and practices. Lea could just help with everything else not flying related, which was- not a lot. "It's certainly big shoes to fill, I hope they shared some of their secrets before leaving to offer a bit of a kickstart- surely it's written somewhere." It was hard to tell amidst the sheer number of papers and potential ideas mixed with standardized practices that Lea had gotten familiar with from duelling. Lots of ideas, lots of potential but without a full direction or complete solution. That's what strategy was for, after all.

"That makes sense- more time on the pitch or piste makes a victory uncertain. Better to win early without any new strategies than risk letting the other team catch up?" Duelling had a similar idea although thankfully the sport had a time limit- even if you couldn't knock out your opponents on time, you could at least keep them on the back foot and hopefully keep enough distances with your hits and their misses. "I guess those are the sorts of games you train for, but hope never happen. That does sound rough though." Most of the sport itself sounded rough to the Hufflepuff, but that didn't seem a necessary addition.

It was a pleasant surprise to have their guess validated, a bit surprised with her own precision. "Ah, just missed a year- I thought you were a third year. But just starting- that would make it about 3 full years? My lack of math got lucky there." She chuckled softly, feeling a little silly from the error but it had garnered her a better guess. "Captaining since first year is impressive though. I have not heard of too many captains- in any sport- that started as early as you. How were those first years?" Captainship had still been an adjustment for Lea despite being well-adjusted to the sport and Hogwarts life that she imagined getting thrown into it all at once would have been its own challenge.

"And that remains true." She was still a duellist and captain after all. Responsibility had just expanded from that, really. "I got accepted as a quidditch captain. I've been doing well as a duelling captain so it's not... new- but I have very little experience in the actual sport. It seemed best to try and get some understanding of what went well or poorly in the past and what other teams are doing." It felt like the bare minimum to aid her other captain, especially when flying still sent shivers down her spine and left her feeling skittish. Groundwork it would have to stay for the time being.

Interactions. @Pax Zhang

They/She

The difference between duelling and quidditch was obvious enough, but seeing the way the new captain approached with ideas and thoughts on strategy was certainly intriguing to Pax. Whilst, of course, they recognised the need for familiarity with strategy, Pax themself was never opposed to thinking outside the box and considering more alternate strategies. They had their favoured strategies, especially when considering the composition of the team, but there was no harm to trying something a bit more out there once in a while. "I'll agree with you on that - a quick, decisive win is always better in my book. But, and I'll hold my hands up here and admit that my words might not always mirror my actions, there's nothing wrong with considering a strategy different from the classic norms. Especially up against tough teams that have a lot of upper year players - you need all the advantage you can get, and the element of surprise is certainly one of them. It's a rough sport, but that's part of it's charm, at least in my opinion."

They chuckled at that. They'd been running the team for so long, it felt that they'd been here forever nearly. "Well, I think I'll take that I look younger as a compliment," they joked with a smile. "The first years weren't too bad - I was co-captain then so I learnt a lot from Evelynn Decipio, she's in the year above you I believe. When she stepped down, it was a bit of a struggle honestly, trying to feel like I was doing a good job, but that sorta thing comes with time, you know? I like to think I've settled into it now, and frankly I can't really imagine doing anything else. It's just kinda become second nature to have some ongoing quidditch commentary or notes somewhere in the back of my head. I'm sure you must be similar with duelling, no?"

"Yeah, well you're definitely in the right sorta place for that," they reassured her. "And honestly, if you were picked, then you must already be doing something right, so try not to worry yourself too much about it. You clearly know how to captain, and you applied for quidditch because there must be some part of you that has an interest, right?"

Reducio

Word count: 381

Mentions: @Lea Hirsch

Date: Afternoon, 4th September 2024

It was nice how open the other was to talking strategy and quidditch- of course they were keeping things vague, Lea wouldn't even know how to get into more specifics quite yet, but friendliness when technically rivals wasn't always the norm. "Fair enough, you'd hardly get many big names if not for the new techniques they pioneered to change the game. I haven't had much chance to look into how the game has changed over the years but I've certainly noticed some of the move names." She nodded, a slight hum of consideration when the other brought up teams of older students. "That is something new- duelling, at least now, tries to keep years a bit more even across the piste. The difference a couple of years can do is impressive. Certainly no end to what you have to consider even before the match starts." A slight smile crept up, this was a fun challenge that she could help with.

Lea nodded upon hearing Evelynn Decipio, certainly not an unfamiliar name across Hogwarts. "It's good that you've found your balance. But I understand, there is plenty you can only learn as a part of the job. That's very true, it's easy to try and consider how the spells taught in classes could be used on the piste or how best to balance out a team. Although turnover can certainly make everything more complicated- is that something that ever worries you or is it just the nature of sports and part of the play?" Duelling turnover tended to keep things more interesting in terms of opponents but she imagined the loss of synergy was worse in quidditch. How the list of considerations continued to grow...

"And I thank you for that. I'll try not to, just want to make sure I pull my weight I suppose." Lea cut herself off at the second part, a strange pause as she parsed her own feelings. An interest seemed wrong, it was more a fear to be surmounted and a way to help Hufflepuffs. But a lack of interest was not right either, for something had to have pushed her to apply. As much as she enjoyed talking to them, she wasn't ready to admit her fears. "It's an opportunity to learn something new, hopefully raise up the team, and maybe expand my thoughts of strategy in both sports." A shrug followed, quickly wishing to distract from her uncertainty. "Do you play a lot of scrimmages? It's a pretty popular way in duelling to practice but I imagine they are a lot more challenging to set up when a full team is needed." Perhaps they could set something up if it was of interest.

It wasn't much of a save, but it let them pause long enough to let the gears turn in her head- if this other person was a Gryffindor and a captain then... they would have to be Pax or Ethan assuming Lea remembered the list correctly. Where to go from there, Lea wasn't sure- was it far too late for an introduction?

Interactions. @Pax Zhang (im so sorry)