The Watchers Quidditch Spectator Thread

Roleplaying as Durmstrang iNPC Arjan Oberoi

Stamina: 12 | Evasion: 1 | Strength: 15 | Wisdom: 3 | Arcane Power: 7 | Accuracy: 10
Abilities: Obnoxiously Strong | The Martial Artist | Spell Spread

Interacting: With anyone around him / to himself but loudly enough for anyone to hear.
Sitting in front of: @Dymphna Teague, @Amadea Campbell and @Elspeth Blaine
Sitting next to: @Nico Shymane and @Astrea Soleil Neptune (as Johannes)

The game started and Arjan sat back into his chair, smirking as he knew that Durmstrang would win. They had this. If Hogwarts best included Serena on the team, they had no chance. Durmstrang were born to win - though he would have been a great beater, if they had let him play. He expected the game to last less than five minutes, with the Durmstrang seeker snatching up the snitch easily.

Greta proved him right as she quickly dominated the field, scoring goals for them - uncaring about the opposing team's keeper. He expected his team's chasers to score every goal. But... His eyes widened a little, "How the heck... That was such a fluke..." He mumbled as he witnessed his sister breaking formation and scoring ten points for the enemy. How... That was such a fluke. It was only possible because the Durmstrang keeper wasn't around, "Where's that idi-" He started to curse, annoyed that his sister had scored because the keeper was not defending - until he saw Romeo. The smirk grew as he realised what the keeper was doing. They had left their post to go and take her out. Excellent...

Arjan was so pleased to see multiple bludgers sent her way - and multiple attempts at knocking her off. It was a waste of time, in his opinion, since she had no chance in hell in catching the snitch over the Durmstrang. She was pretty pathetic. But seeing her look so nervous was pretty hilarious. At least... until she somehow... dodged them all? What... "CHEATING! SHE HAS TO BE CHEATING! How?!" He suddenly shouted out, snarling at the sight of Serena dodging everything. She had to be cheating. There was no way that she was actually good at this.

Hazel-brown eyes watched the game, leaning forward on the edge of his seat as he was trying to figure out how she did it. Pure luck? She was certainly not that talented. She was pathetic. He could just look at her and she would probably start crying. That was all she seemed to be good at - crying. A lot.

He groaned as he watched their seeker fall from the broom and their beaters miss. "COME ON, SLAVA. WHAT THE HELL, MAN? WRECK HER!" He shouted out, getting frustrated as seemed to be missing her and taking hits themselves. Durmstrang was a shoo-in to win this, there was no way they would lose to any team that allowed Serena on it, geesh.

The tension grew. There was a huge boy on the Hogwarts team that was causing damage to his. In fact, both of their beaters seemed to be out for blood. The girl was, admittedly, kind of cute. It helped that she seemed to be a decent beater. The tall boy was just irking Arjan, mostly because he choose to defend that dumb little Serena. "Yes!" He cheered as Slava successfully landed a bludger into Serena, "Down you go, little bra-" He started, stopping suddenly as he narrowed his eyes. She was holding on, somehow. "OH COME ON!" Throwing his arms up in the air, he wondered what the hell he was watching.

"SERIOUSLY GUYS? YOU CAN'T TAKE OUT THAT TINY LITTLE WEAKLING?" He screamed at them - though they might not be able to even hear him - clearly getting wound up that they could not take out a small noodle arm girl. One punch from him and he was certain she would end up in the hospital and yet, Serena seemed to be... holding on, despite everything Durmstrang was throwing at her. God... If Hogwarts won, Serena would be so annoying about it. He would hate seeing that stupid smile on her face. No. There was no way. Durmstrang were better. Durmstrang were built for this. There was no way that Durmstrang would lose today. Their score was significantly higher, after all. They could do this. No, they had to do this. For him.

Arjan would beat up every single one of them if they lost. He gritted his teeth, staring at the game that had suddenly gotten far more intense than he had expected. It should have been a walk in the park...

Nichlas had been watching the game lazily, his chin propped on the back of his hand in the front lines of the stand. Their seeker was down quite fast but he did not worry about that. Schnell was a fast flier but he had been hit well causing him to be knocked off his broom and this meant the out for the boy. However this also meant a new hope and something he was dying to see. With Schnell out of the way it was now Ella's turn to show what she got. His eyes seemed to focus now as his gaze trailed over to the sidelines where Ella had been watching the game. As she flew up and into the air her braids fluttered behind her. Nichlas would finally reach out to raise the Omnioculars to his eyes as he would capture his sister's big moment in thee spot light. He truly hoped that with her being in the game now, the match would move forward and end with her capturing the golden snitch and if that moment arrived he would be there to capture it so that he could show her after the game how professional she had looked; at least that was the outcome he was hoping for but considering her spirit and skill he had no doubt that Ella had the potential to lead the team to victory.

But what his Omnioculars captured instead was something he would never be able to forgive. Some Hogwarts girl made a bludger fly right into Ella, knocking his sister unconscious as he watched her fall down her broom as if it was in slow motion. His grip tightened and his body tensed as he dropped the Omnioculars to his side. "Ella!", he would shout, a rare showcase of pure emotion and worry as he leaned forward and luckily saw Hanzo dive after his falling sister, saving her from hitting the ground. How could this have happened?

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playing as johannes cyprian ambroży
text colour #4d5c7f | outfit ref here
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interactions @Serena Towers (as Arjan Oberoi) | mentions all

Johann was very much pleasantly surprised that the dude was actually going to talk, as unexpected as it was, there was a bit of relief in there. Judging from the certain brand of disinterested aloofness that only truly happened when attendance was required but very specifically not wanted- a mood that the young Sauer knew all too well- he hadn't expected much more than a frigid glare from amber eyes and nothing else. The other schools were by far more welcoming to newcomers than Durmstrang, though he hadn't really interacted with many other people in the first place anyway.

"Fine day for Durmstrang to dominate, am I right?" "You heard it."

The game was on. From the corner of his eye, he could see everyone readying up in a grand wave of energy. This should be good. The pumped crowd watched with the ongoing game with a ferocity that escaped Johannes, a roaring tension that set everything on edge. See here, Johannes- ever the adrenaline junkie- also enjoyed the thrill of Quidditch just as much as the next person, truly relished the sharp edge of air against the skin and speed of a broom. But this time he was a spectator- without his lackeys as well, which made things just twice as bad- to a match in which he only vaguely knew their team and completely blanked on the other side. And it was absolutely sweltering, a type of oppressive stickiness that really made Johann doubt he could stay for the entire match fully there in the head.

But apparently all of Johannes' lamentations basically levelled into mental whines, because the guy sitting next to him seemed really into it. Like, viciously. Ouch, his eardrums. Stifling a slight wince behind a mouthful of caramel covered popcorn, he cast a furtive glance over to his fellow Durmstrang student, a hint of alarmed concern in his eyes. Uhm. Alright then.

WC 318

Interacting with @Anastasia Beckett as Alexei

Closed to Interactions other than Alexei + Rafael D'Spacito

His impersonation was infuriatingly good. It was clear that he knew her. But even then, he didn't believe this story about getting together in Russia. They, too, were close friends. Eyre thought that Ana would at least tell him, or show him that she was in a relationship with someone else. It's not like she was particularly subtle, in any sense of the word.

"..Yeah? Then why did she kiss me, then?" Eyre bit back. The mention of the kiss that they shared together wasn't really necessary, as it was at Spin the Bottle and not really planned, but if he was going to try to hurt him he'd come back with vigor.

The mere utterance of Alexei assuming that their friendship was a mistake that Ana had made left him pretty mad.
It was true that they were an unlikely pair when they were kids. The adults thought that perhaps Eyre just followed Ana around like a lost puppy dog and she just humored it, but they were true friends. And some of the absolute best memories of their childhoods were spent together. From a few joint birthdays, to swimming in the lake by his house, to playing games and making fun of their parents together, they were an iconic duo for a long time. And for Alexei, a complete outsider, to make assumptions that Ana made a mistake by taking him under her wing? That was a complete overstep.

"...Let's get something absolutely clear. You know nothing about my friendship with Ana." He said to him firmly, his eyes fiercely assertive. "And I suggest that you leave me alone before I knock your lights out again like I did at the campfire."

As Aida’s eyes traced the path of Durmstrang’s first-string seeker her hands grasped one another softly. For her the seeker’s task had become symbolic. Above almost everything else, Aida was a truth-seeker driven by curiosity and devoted to honesty. As Durmstrang’s seeker scanned the skies, searching, searching for that glint of golden light it felt the same as groping around in darkness, struggling to see. Awash in the emotions of the match and the undulating crowd, Aida felt that she and Valentin were the same. If this albino boy could find the winged orb and grasp it in his pale hand, maybe there was some hope for Aida.

Shadows cast by the players danced over the ground as they flew. If you could follow the movements of the shadows, it was actually easier to see more of what was going on since the match was reduced to 2-dimensional space. Watching Valentin’s shadow skirting around on the ground as it cavorted, Aida noticed a massive shadow approaching it. Unsure of if the larger player was simply passing above Valentin, Aida looked up just in time to see a half-giant very, very close to the skinny boy. Valentin was trying to evade with a sharp barrel roll, but with a blast like a gunshot the half-giant hit a bludger directly at him. The blow peeled the albino off of his broom and he lifelessly began to plummet.

Instinctively, Aida stood up and her hands squeezed each other painfully hard. The wound in her left hand burned in protest, but Aida was locked into watching in slow-motion. A hideous crunch marked the end of the boy’s fall and Aida’s fingernails dug cruelly into her white hands. In disbelief, Aida just stared. Was he … dead? How could it be that no one would save him? Suddenly the stakes of the game felt all too real. A team of medics hauled out a stretcher to collect Valentin’s body. As they took him away, Aida felt a pain in her chest as the rest of the game melted out of existence. The boy was not moving. How was this okay? How was this a game?

The medics soon disappeared from sight with Valentin, leaving only the albino boy’s absence. Gone. Aida knew that the medics would surely resurrect the boy… right? But what if they failed? What if he was really, truly gone this time? Throwing their lives around like this… how could Aida be a co-captain, strategizing as if it were okay to just break people against the ground. How dare she be in a position to control the fates of team mates? Was Valentin just some gambit discarded by the team captains? Why did he not have a defender? It did not seem like a very good play, so was it a mistake?

Aida’s head spun with questions as a dark guilt crept over her. How dare she help command Ravenclaw’s forces when this could be the outcome? All the little plots and clever ideas… meanwhile there was a shattered boy, bleeding, with his life hanging in the balance. Probably at this scale of an event, Valentin would receive the finest medical care, thought Aida, trying to reassure herself. She wanted to rush to his side and somehow, somehow contribute to his survival, but she knew she was powerless to make a real impact. It would only make a scene for a crazed fan to be interrupting the good work of the medics. In the end, Aida knew it was Valentin who had decided to do this to himself. It must have been the millionth time that he hit the ground. Yet the boy had come anyway, just to grasp that golden glint in the sky.

Aida had not even realized that tears were rolling down her face until now when heaving sobs overtook her thin, pale body. Collapsing into her seat, Aida’s face contorted in grief as she remembered a boy’s char-streaked face surrounded by flames. Lungs heaving, Aida clenched her wounded left hand and stared up into the sky.

RPing as iNPC Rudolf Novikov

interacting with:
@Ami Procoppio as Maksim Preobrazhensky | @Heather Blair Moretti

If Dolf was being honest with himself, his brain sort of short-circuited with the appearance of the Italian girl. Before she'd arrived, he and Maksim had been getting on surprisingly well. They weren't enemies or even rivals by any means, but Dolf knew he'd been taking a small risk by practically throwing himself into Maksim's company. He was glad — for the billionth time — that his schoolmate had such a friendly demeanor. They fell into conversation easily, talking about Slava and the Quidditch game, and Dolf was enjoying himself. He didn't have many friends; no one that he'd think of inviting to Kyiv for the summer. It had just never happened naturally at Durmstrang, since his first year. Maybe coming to London was exactly what Dolf had needed to reach out and finally set a few relationships in stone. Now all he had to do was not screw things up with Maksim. Easy enough...

...or so he'd thought. They'd both heard the foreign cry at the same time, and for some goddamn reason, Maksim's response had completely set Dolf off: "What the hell is that language?" It was such a stupid question, made even stupider by the fact that Dolf had no clue. He'd tried to stifle a laugh as Maksim elbowed him, figuring that it was the other boy's way of saying shut up, you moron. A moment later, he'd realized that Maksim had started speaking in English. A moment after that, he'd seen her.

She was tall, blonde — beautiful. The laughter died in Dolf's throat as he saw her, and his mouth suddenly felt dry. She introduced herself as Heather shortly after Maksim offered her both of their names. He was doing all of the talking, thank god. It took Dolf another moment to come back to his senses and he fought to keep his face from burning in embarrassment, crossing his arms and sliding his eyes back to the Quidditch players. That was a safe place to look. Maksim continued to carry the entire Durmstrang side of the exchange on his back, recovering smoothly after his hysterical outburst upon seeing Slava. He got Heather to tell them that she was from Hogwarts and Dolf noted absently that her yellow outfit matched the colors that the players wore on the field.

The three students lapsed into silence for a brief moment and watched Slava dart around the pitch. Dolf was finally starting to feel like he could talk again; the real question was whether or not he'd be able to look the girl in the eye. While she was distracted by the activity below, Dolf sneaked a closer look at her face and realized that she looked younger than he'd initially thought. It wasn't a big difference, maybe only a year or two. It helped calm him down nevertheless, at least until she turned and met his gaze.

He realized suddenly that his arms were still crossed. His curious stare probably looked creepy if not downright rude. Dolf quickly unfolded his arms and held them uncertainly by his side for a moment before putting them on his knees, figuring that was a natural sitting position. He tried his best to return Heather's sweet smile, and after what felt like an excruciatingly long moment, spoke his first word of the conversation. "Hello."

Oh god. Hello?! We're way past "hello", Rudolf! He winced, grateful at least that he'd spoken in English. Dolf cleared his throat and gestured to the open spot on Maksim's other side, giving it another go. "There is an, um, open seat, if you want to join us." His eyes met Maksim's and he tried to sent his schoolmate a telepathic call for help. He wasn't sure what to do or say next. He hadn't even mapped out the conversation this far when it had just been the boys. By this point, Dolf had made a complete fool of himself in front of the person he'd be living with for weeks more. His chances of making a new friend were probably down the drain. He bit his lip to stop himself from swearing, looked back at Heather and Maksim to try to say something else, and ultimately just went back to watching the players run around.

The game would be starting soon, with any luck. Then they'd have something to talk about other than Dolf's colossal failure. If there was ever a time for Maksim to be his wingman-in-shining-armor, it was right freakin' now.

"When did you..." He started to pose the question on his mind before deciding to let it go. She had it on her by now, and seemingly made it her own. Just when she was able to grab it was beyond him. With a confused look towards her he eventually turned his head towards the match. Why anyone would sign up for a sport like this was beyond the man's understanding, but he did know his badgers would need all the support they could get in a match such as this one. It wasn't an everyday thing for them to be playing in an international game. Not to mention the huge stadium itself.

His bright blue eyes swished and flicked from one player to another as the small figures flashed and zoomed past them. The opposing team seemed to have one excellent chaser amongst them, without much effort they we- Doc's gaze fell upon the smallest figure of the team. His eyes widening as he saw what was to come, his body instinctively recoiled as if it was going to suffer the same damage as the girl. But no, they missed her, she dodged, passed her and she ducked out of the way. The Head of Hufflepuff's mouth was left agape as he witnessed Serena survive the barrage of attacks. "She did it! Look at her go, Nora!" Without him realizing, Caradoc was practically ready to jump out of his seat in excitement. Not because the team was performing well per se, but more because they were surviving. Nevertheless, he knew this all meant a lot to them. If it were Cass out there, he would have to deal with her aspirations same as with these kids.

"Durmstrang is aggressive... and filled with cheats it seems..." Doc gave Nora a look that basically said 'I told you so'. "The badgers will need to give 'em all they got if they want to win this one. I don't see this ending well..." The worry was slowly starting to seep in again. The Irishman's face gradually shifting back to stone as his cold stare followed all the imminent threats just waiting to happen. His hand kept fidgeting and his foot was rapidly tapping the ground. Why had he decided to come and watch this. He could just feel things were waiting to happen.

That's when fate heard him worrying and decided to slap him in the face. Within mere seconds the Head Badger saw four of his badgers plummet to the ground and only Serena finding herself caught. "NO!" Doc shouted as he jumped forward and swung himself against the railing. His hair violently flickering in the wind and his eyes wide open, the man nervously looked down below to see what was happening to his children. He noticed Saskia, Quinn and Serena Bowen getting carried off the terrain by healers. All three would obviously live, but still Caradoc was disgusted by the sheer violence Durmstrang was playing with. Reid, Rosie and Jack of all kids took to the skies, ready to join their team in the fight.

With a disgusted sneer on his face, Caradoc returned to his seat. If Nora were to listen closely, she would occasionally pick up on a few curses thrown towards a certain school.

Closed for Interactions.
@Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood @Sylvain Indarys @Flash Holmwood @Bridget Collins

With her eyes squarely on Bridget, Calanthe stared expectantly as the girl chewed on the jellybean. At her statement that the bean was spicy Calanthe scratched her chin, surprised at the range of flavours experienced by the group. Aida’s liver, Flash’s grass, and her vomit. Maybe the wizarding world was not so uninteresting after all. Of course, the witch never found it to be bland per se, but she did try forcing herself away from finding it spectacular. Before she could realize it, the muscles of her cheeks started aching and she reluctantly relaxed her face from its smile. That’s new.

As she turned back to the match, Calanthe was surprised to find Sylvain smiling at her. She looked down to the bench to find a pair of binoculars. She picked up the thing hesitantly, as if it were a foreign object.

“What does this do?” she expected it to be a contraption for shooting spells or something similar. “Use it to watch the crowd.” Ah. She brought the binoculars close to her eyes and peeked through, starting with the match. The players were moving too fast for Calanthe to keep up. She swivelled her head in every direction trying to follow them before leaning back and placing the binoculars in her lap. Never trying that again. She could not tell if the taste in her mouth was from the bean or her own creation.

Sylvain drew her attention, exclaiming that he had gotten bubble-gum flavour. The delicacies of the wizarding world were becoming more bewildering by the second. She passed the binoculars back to Sylvain, “Thanks, but I think I’m better off without it.” Calanthe was never much of a candy fan, mostly indulging during game nights. Her preferred snacks were potato chips and other savoury items. However, the confectionery stands were quite the sight and Calanthe could not help but pick up some treats to try. She handed the sugar quill she bought to Sylvain.

“I’ve got a pumpkin pasty and er… fudge flies, as well. Though, I don’t know how sane it would be to talk about books here,” she chuckled, just after the crowd exploded and the score went up for Durmstrang. Calanthe refocused on the match, trying to pay attention. She noticed one player in Durmstrang colours continuously pick up the main ball – the Quipple? – and send it flying through Hufflepuff’s hoops. Every time the figure got close enough to score, Calanthe felt her heart race and she almost stood up to cheer before remembering that she should be doing so for Hufflepuff.

As if gasping in unison, the crowd turned Calanthe’s attention to a light-haired figure being knocked off his broom by one of the angry balls. In quick succession, more players were falling off their brooms, some being caught by other players while others shared the first figure’s fate and tumbled straight to the pitch with sickening thumps. Calanthe refrained from catching Aida’s or Sylvain’s hands with her own, instead clutching down tightly to the material of her pants.

“I-is this normal? This is so brutal,” she asked her companions. Taking a look at them to observe their reactions, she noticed Aida up from her seat, tears streaming down her face. Before Calanthe could make a move, the witch fell back down to her seat, chest heaving.

“Oh…,” she was totally unsure of how to handle this situation. Should she grab Aida’s hand? Would that count as an invasion of personal space? What words could she say? The Gryffindor was definitely out of practice for situations like there. “A-are you…” No, she’s not okay. Don’t ask that. “Hey, do you need to get out of here?” she changed the direction of her question, looking back to the rest of her companions for assistance.

Roleplaying as Bridget Collins
@Flash Holmwood | @Sylvain Indarys | @Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood | @Calanthe Choi
~ Closed to interactions ~

Bridget heard Sylvain announce his bean as bubblegum, perhaps the most fortuitous pick of the day, but her attention was elsewhere. She felt sure if she took her eyes of the game for longer than a few seconds she'd be irrevocably behind, unable to decipher what had happened. No one could say it wasn't an exciting game. One of Durmstrang's Chasers quickly proved her worth, scoring seven goals on top of the one she'd already slipped past the Hufflepuff Keeper, Flash's friend Willow. She frowned; Keeper was not an easy position to play what with how much you probably beat yourself up for failing to block a score attempt. Still, the game wasn't over yet and she had time to make up for it.

And then it started raining bodies. Durmstrang's albino Seeker was the first to tumble to the hard ground, no one around to catch him. She grimaced, but it was a part of the game. Not a nice part, but a part all the same. Her gaze shifted to Flash, who was looking back at her, both of them all too aware that a similar thing could happen to him if he made Seeker. She pushed the thought away, not wanting to think about it. Flash was not someone she wanted to see fall, and she'd been quite lucky so far, having not had to see any of her friends fall out of the sky. She was just about to turn back to the game but heard a sob; Aida was crying. The Slytherin bit down on her lip, unsure of how to react. Comforting her friends was one thing, and not something she was very good at either, so she hadn't the faintest clue where to start with a practical stranger. Calanthe seemed to be trying to comfort her, and deciding she wouldn't be of much help, Bridget turned back to the action.

The Seeker was just the first one in a long sequence of falling players. The Hufflepuff team seemed to be playing hot potato with Serena Towers; once she fell off her broom the first time, it was just a long sequence of catching her, getting hit, and catching her again. Miraculously, she hadn't hit the ground yet, but plenty of her teammates had. Things weren't looking too great for the badgers, although it appeared Serena had spotted the Snitch. Perhaps she could close her fingers around it before the entire yellow team had been wiped out; Hufflepuff had never had much luck with goals, there victories dependent on Serena catching the Snitch.

The score was higher than she'd ever seen it in a student match, Durmstrang holding an impressive ninety points. She wondered if that would keep going up now that Durmstrang's star Chaser, and subjectively best player, was being carried away by medics after her teammate missed his blatch and couldn't avoid her. She'd gone down fighting, at least, forcing Hufflepuff to catch Serena yet again. Pursing her lips, honey brown eyes still trained on the Pitch, she asked, "Any predictions on who will win at this point?" The question was directed at Flash, although possibly loud enough for the other to hear her if they paid attention. "And has the Durmstrang Seeker spotted the Snitch yet? It looks like Serena Towers has, but I can't tell." He'd mentioned having a good eye, leading him to hope to put it to good use on the Quidditch team, so perhaps he could see better than she could.

Outfit | Hair