Oh Sweet Anticipation Quidditch Match

Action: Doing as strategized

After that embarrassing display from the previous round (or lack thereof), Saskia felt that she needed to redeem herself. Looking over at her fellow beater, she could see that he was heading over to defend Serena instead, which meant that it was up to her to take down one of the Durmstrang players. Hopefully this time, she would have been strong enough to knock them out.

She looked over at the field once more, trying to see if there was anyone else she could target. In all honesty, it was actually hard to figure out who she should have been targeting considering how she wasn't entirely familiar with her opponents on the field, and with everyone rushing around, it wasn't likely that she could take her time to figure things out for herself. But there were still some noteworthy players who she made sure to keep an eye on. One of the Chasers were extraordinarily good at catching the quaffle and scoring goals for their team. Taking her down might have given Hufflepuff more chances to score. But that wasn't all there was to it. There was that one Keeper who she failed to knock out the first time around, and maybe she could have used this opportunity to finish the job, but she didn't see any other reason to go for him besides that.

But when in doubt, it might have been safer to go for their Seeker. With one of them down, it would have given her team a major advantage if the second one was out as well. None of the other players were immediate threats that needed to be dealt with as it was, which really just left her with this choice. Setting her sight on the Seeker, she swung her bat, once again opting for a more discrete way to aim, and sent the bludger towards her.

The good news was that she did, in fact, knock her off her broom. The bad news was that she was still in the game thanks to one of her teammates. At least it was something.

Now to wait for what would happen next.

Action: Doing as strategized

Stats
Stamina: 9+3 = 12
Evasion: 6+3 = 9
Strength: 7+3 = 10
Wisdom: 7+3 = 10
Arcane Power: 6+3 = 9
Accuracy: 8+3 = 11

Broom: Silver Arrow (+3 to every stat)

Abilities: Fearless

Artwork by @Thea Knott

Mentioning Greta Fransson (@Evelynn Decipio), @Annie Morgan, @Serena Bowen, @Quinn Healy, @Serena Towers

Aaron had realized that going straight for the quaffle was not doing them any good. The chaser on the other team - Greta - was clearly on a different level than himself, so the next best thing was to work with his teammates to get the quaffle after the fact. That's exactly what he and Annie did this round, working together side-by-side to bully the quaffle off the other team. It was only successful once - against their keeper, who was still not in goal - and Annie managed to score a goal because of it. But the continued superiority of Greta was really draining Aaron. As he turned back to the field at the conclusion of the round, he was surprised to note that Serena - his fellow Chaser - now housed Quinn on her broom. But even more importantly, the other Serena high up in the air seemed to have spotted the snitch. Maybe that was how they would win after all - despite Aaron really wanting to show his prowess with the quaffle. Well, he still needed to do his part. They needed to cover all their bases. He flew back into position, getting ready for the next round.

Action: Doing as Strategized
Moderation Information:

Reducio

Broom: Comet 180 (+2 accuracy, +1 evasion, +1 stamina)
Statistics: Stamina: 7 (+ 1) = 8
Evasion: 7 (+ 1) = 8
Strength: 7
Wisdom: 3
Arc. Power: 3
Accuracy: 8 (+ 2) = 10
Ability: Martial Artist

Covering his face with his hands, Jack just had to watch in horror as Willow was called out for a foul. She was trying her best, but sadly it wasn't good enough. Of course, Jack would never ever say such a thing in his life. The fear of being whomped by that girl scared him more than enough. Not to mention she had been on the attacking side of a particular fire that he was sure all of Hufflepuff was aware of. It was an accident, but still, there was a deep-seated fear of that girl's anger. "Let's go, Huffs!" Any other commentary on the keeper might ensure the wrath of the Whomping Willow

Action: Cheering as a benchwarmer

Reducio

Stam: 7
Eva: 8
Str: 6
Wis: 2
Arc Power: 7
Acc: 5
Abilities: Fearless

Writing as Ella Forsberg

Stats: Stamina: 3 | Strength: 1(3) | Evasion: 7(8) | Wisdom: 10(12) | Accuracy: 7 | Arc Power: 7 |

Nimbus 1001: +2 wisdom, +2 strength, + 1 evasion

Lovely Creature: You are very distracting to look at. This increases the Control DC of spells in duels and adventures by +2 as well as the DC for finding things in adventures or the DC for finding the snitch in a game of Quidditch.
Of note: The Lovely Creature ability in Quidditch matches only affects the snitch search DC for the opponent team.

Sitting on the edge of the bench, Atlas could barely keep up with all the chaos on the pitch. She had assumed the action would die down as players got tired or didn't want anymore penalties but she was horribly mistaken.

Seeing a bludger flying towards Serena, Atlas audibly gasped as Quinn flew in in the knick of time taking the blow for his teammate as he plummeted to the ground. "NO!" She screamed out as she heard another loud impact returning her sights to Serena who was leaning forward on her broom in pain, gasping for air. She had no idea how she was able to stay on her broom but it was just the luck they needed in this dire round.

In another stroke of good luck, Quinn was caught on Serena's broom so for the time being they were both still in the game and hopefully would be for the remainder. Hearing the Hufflepuff side audibly cheer, Atlas checked the goals as she saw Annie swooping away from a goal. Atlas stood up cheering as she clapped her hands loudly thankful that although it had been a brutal game thus far their luck seemed to be growing and hopefully would continue into the next round.

By Serena's immediate intense focus, Atlas deducted that her teammate found the snitch which permanently plastered a smile on her face. "WE GOT THIS HUFFLES! DON'T GIVE UP! WE CAN DO THIS!"

Turning her head to face where Willow was flying, Atlas cupped her hands to the sides of her mouth as she called out to her, "WILLOW YOU GOT THIS! I KNOW YOU DO! HANG IN THERE AND DON'T LET THEM GET THE BEST OF YOU!" Being a Keeper was no easy task and she knew how discouraged the young girl seemed to be but they needed to stay positive if they were going to change the course of this game and with all her heart and mind she still believed they could.

ACTION: Benched and Cheering on Teammates
For MOD - Stats:

Reducio

POSITION:
Keeper: Second String

STATISTICS:
Stamina: 6 (+1) = 7
Evasion: 7
Strength: 4 (+1) = 5
Wisdom: 7
Arc. Power: 7
Accuracy: 5 (+1) = 6

BROOM:
Nimbus 1000
Racing broom available on the market in 1967, it combines the Oakshaft 79's sturdiness with the Cleansweeps maneuverability.
Stats: +1 accuracy, +1 strength, +1 stamina [Added above for ease]

ABILITIES:
Fearless

This was all wrong. Everything was going wrong.

Practice usually went amazing, her last game went amazing. What was wrong with her today? The biggest game of her, albeit, very short Quidditch career. She finally said a mild 'Fuck this.' As the next Quaffle grab was setting up she tried to stealthily fly behind the rings. Her eyes glanced over at Flash once more, wondering what he would think of her cheating. What would Sylvain think of her cheating? Right now she couldn't care. Her eyes were overcome with a steely resolve as she shook off any last bit of hesitation of her choice of action. She knew her captain, Quinn, wouldnt be disappointed in her. She had to make that all that she cared about. Doing right by her captain when she was doing everything else wrong. As she let quaffle after quaffle soar by her, her spirit was slowly being crushed down. The confidence that she had in herself, completely shattered.

Cheating felt wrong, but winning would feel so good.

Luckily, one round they were able to get another score in. But once again she faced their ridiculously high achieving chaser. That one that seemed to slip every quaffle right by her. Willow thought there was no way for this to go through. There was more reaction time, she was behind the rings to she could just push it back through. But no, she was too late. Another grunt of frustration. There was one more chance, but this time... it wasn't the same girl. It was what was supposed to be their keeper. There was no way she could let him through, to lose against a keeper would be the deepest shame she could experience. He maneuvered in such weird ways that she had no predictor for where he was going to send it before it was already long gone.

The once proud Badger couldn't hold back her anger and frustration. She let out what was now a scream of frustration. It would just be heard by those in her immediate surroundings rather than the people in the stands. Then the announcement came, that she had been caught. Ashamed, she hung her head low and started to make her penalty lap around the gigantic stadium. As if she had been much of a keeper any way. Was there much of a difference between her being there and not? Not at this point.

Her heart was pounding in her chest as she felt the wall of tears start to build up and threaten to spill out. She couldn't cry now, not when there are so many eyes on her, on the game. This penalty lap would be spent getting her shit together. For herself, for Hufflepuff, for Hogwarts.

Action || Doing as Strategized

Stats and Broom

Reducio

Stamina: 6 / Evasion: 5 / Strength: 4 / Wisdom: 8 / ArcPower: 6 / Accuracy: 7

Nimbus 1500 || In the role of Keeper when you attempt to block your goal, if your opponent somehow has advantage on attempting to score a goal, that is negated (they only have their normal single roll against you).

The foul clash of love and hate which Madhup felt for Serena T. was more emotion than the average boy could bear. Despite Durmstrang's best efforts, she evaded them, as did that awful giant with the nice hair, Quinn. Two factors kept his heart afloat: that Greta continued to rule the skies, and the giant was soon toppling from them. Madhup loosed a heartless howl, though the moment was short-lived. Of course he was rescued. What was with these Hufflepuff players...? Why were they so durable? The score was twenty to sixty. He oughtn't have anything to be nervous about, yet he couldn't seem to shake an awful sense of trepidation. There was something about the way they just kept going that almost intimidated him.

Reducio

(Action)
Benched, making noise.

(Ability)
Foulplay: 25% chance that cheating will go unnoticed by referees.

(Stats)
With Silver Arrow +3 Modifiers- Stamina: 9 / Evasion: 10 /
Strength: 11 / Wisdom: 6 / ArcP: 6 / Accuracy: 11
Vanilla- Stamina: 6 / Evasion: 7 / Strength: 8 / Wisdom: 3 / ArcP: 3 / Accuracy: 8

[font=century gothic]INTERACTING WITH | MENTIONS @Piérre Marchonné (as Romeo), @Aaron Jones, @Annie Morgan (as Milosh), @Bridget Collins (as Phylicia), @Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood (as Der Niffler), @Thomas Lestrange (as Ella), @Rafael D'Spacito (as Hans)[/font]

Air seared against skin as Greta threaded her way through the chaos, rolling to avoid the crossing path of an oncoming player whose colours she couldn't even quite make out. By this point, all colours had blurred into one congealed mess, the noise of which she had tuned out in favour of red.

Only the crimson of the leather skin continued to hold her attention, and even should a passing ally briefly draw her sights, they would be quickly discarded for being too large and irregular in shape. The quaffle was all that mattered, persistently chasing that next high from having scored just ten more points. But for every quaffle throw that she would snatch, she could never quite catch and hold onto that ecstasy. Each goal only served to stay back what would be a wave of disappointment and consternation should she fail to perform. A singular toss through the hoop was not enough. Nor were two. Or three. She needed the win. Needed to eek out every last point she could from the badgers they faced.

To any who watched on, it was clear she had fallen into the zone, her focus as sharp as the talons of double-headed eagle emblazoned proudly upon her crest. Her dominance in the air had been well noted, more than a few heads in the crowds turning to acknowledge her prowess; and more than a few players on the pitch either praising her worth or cursing her existence. She had joined the team to remain close to her brother, and in doing so had found a calling. But... if only it were so easy to hold onto that focus.

Once again, the quaffle had been swiped from the competition as though there had been none. Only... it hadn't occurred to her that this was actually the case. The quaffle had fallen easily into her hands, and only vaguely had Romeo even registered as having returned from his lap to join her. It wasn't until two figures closed in on either side of her that reality sunk in and the little Norwegian was forced to contend with more than just the quaffle. Shadows loomed to either side of her, cutting in on her flanks. She knew instinctually that this was more than a simple interception, and this notion was solidified as two bodies donning yellow made a rather aggressive blow against her.

Reflexively, she tucked the ball into her gut and flattened as much as she was able to against her broom to put on a burst of speed. Fortuantely, she was quick enough to avoid the worst of the blows, but still found herself in a white-knuckled grip to prevent herself from being thrown off balance and dropping the quaffle. More importantly, they couldn't keep up. Speeding off to the goals, her eyes narrowed to slits, nearly disappearing in her dark warpaint as she sized up her aim. A moment later and the gong had sounded for a successful score.

Even if the blow hadn't shaken her physically, however, it had done enough to shake her mentally. On her way back to position for the next toss, she threw her assailants a cautious glance. As much as her bother and teammates were keen to cheat, and as much as Greta would do as she was asked if the time called for it, she didn't particularly enjoy doing so. Not that what the Hogwarts players had done was necessarily cheating, of course... Perhaps she'd just grown accustomed to their meek — and honorable — approach to pit skills of flight against each other without the involvement of underhanded tactics.

Nevertheless, as she set her sights upon the figures, a chill crept over her; for not only had she been targeted in a battle of strength and endurance for which she was sorely mismatched, but one of the ones that had challenged her had been the boy from the day previous. The kind boy. The one who had drawn with her and taken the time to try to work past the barrier of language. And he looked very upset.

Then, before she knew it, her thoughts were a muddled mess. The quaffle was tossed into the air, and she didn't react immediately. A solid few seconds lapsed before she realised her error and sped to try to catch up. Perhaps there was an innate hesitation in her approach as well, seeing the Hogwarts players once again back off. They were planning to do it again. Romeo got the quaffle, and Greta sped after him.

[In Russian] "Look out!" She tried to call out, words ripped away by the wind before they'd even passed her lips. She sped forward, trying in vain to get into range for a decent pass. But it was too late. They were upon him, and he was not so lucky. Eyes widening with horror and belly igniting with an indignant fury, Greta watched helplessly as they tore the quaffle from her teammate's grip and sped towards their own unprotected goal, heralded by her shriek of, [In Norwegian] "NO!"

And just like that, as her field of vision began to take in the entirety of the pitch, her focus unraveled. All of a sudden, the stands seemed very, very full. As she raced back from her failed attempt to stay the goal upon her team to the center, no longer were the colours blurred. Faces were picked out of the grown here and there, and she even glimpsed a few familiar faces. Milo and the sign he had made for her and her friends should have been heartening. As should have the rather unexpected and in-any-other-moment touching sign crafted by Phylicia been the same. In this moment, in her failure to uphold her scoring streak, however, they only served to deepen the guilt she felt for having let this goal through. She'd let them down. She'd let Durmstrang down. But even still, she held a hand out, palm down, in their direction as though to convey that she would take their support and transform it.

She'd vowed to make recompense with the last goal, but something else had caught her attention, once again leaving her delayed and distracted her her attempt to grab. Ella. Coils of shadow snaked through Greta's core. Ella was in the air. Around and around they went. When had Ella left the bench? Beginning their slow contraction. Where was Schnell?! Wild eyes traversed the pitch in search of Der Niffler. Subconsciously, she knew that to be a futile attempt. If Ella was in the air, it meant that he had hit the ground. Her stomach felt tight. Her chest felt tight. And what was worse... Ella was already falling.

Not only had she failed to notice the loss of their primary seeker, she'd failed to lend her friend support on her arrival. Thankfully, where she had faltered, her brother had risen to the occasion. Once again earning her undying love, Hans shot in like a bolt of lightning to catch Ella. And more than that, to save their team from the certainty of defeat. With one seeker down, they were injured. With two, they were marooned awaiting the slaughter.

[In Norwegian] "You've got this, Ella!" Greta called out in passing, belatedly sharing her support. And it was time for her to follow her own advice, shake off the sudden realisation of the loss and near loss, and to get her head back into the game.

Action: Doing as Strategized