Quidditch Game Hufflepuff v Slytherin

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Everything was happening a once. Stanley could not concentrate on anything. Brooms holding people were flying everywhere. He barely even caught the mention of some penalty laps and had swiftly turned his head as he watched someone slightly fall of their broom.

He had yet to learn the names of everyone on his team and the opposing teams so no one in particular stuck out to him. Stanley took a small mental note that he needed to become at least acquaintances with people to perform remotely good as a team.

Slytherin had gotten a goal. That was not on! Stanley had heard Hufflepuff had won the Quidditch Cup last year there was no reason why they couldn't do it again. No one had sighted to snitch yet meaning the game could take a turn for the better which the boy silently hoped as his knees bounced up and down rapidly while anxiously scrunching up his eyebrows. He opened his mouth to say some words of encouragement but their co-captain was already on that job and he did not want to intervene.

Action: Benched
Stats: Sta: 4 [+1=5] | Eva: 7 [+1=8] | Str: 1 | Wis: 7 | Arc P: 6 | Acc: 5 [+2=7]
Abilities: Part-Goblin
Broom: Comet 180 [+2 accuracy, +1 evasion, +1 stamina]

As the match started, she swung into the air. The cold Scottish wind was chilly, and Lindsey shivered a bit. She grabbed her boom tight. Hopefully she could do it…

Trailing after @Ethen Emrys to keep an eye out for him wasn’t a really hard task. “Just focus on the snitch, Emrys! I’d be keeping an eye out for you.” she yelled, hoping the other young badger could hear despite the strong wind. Eyes focused yonder to see if anyone’s coming for them, she added. “Fly high. We trust you!” an encouraging smile shown upon her lips, while she continued to follow Ethen.

A Slytherin stormed towards them, attempting to knock Ethen down to the ground. Lindsey would fly up from the behind and intercept the snake. Seeing that she had nearly reached her, she darted aside and avoided the collision. Ah, good. Although there’s Bowen looking out for anyone who had fallen, she still didn’t want to be knocked down her broom. But, yeah, good enough.

She let out a relived breath. She’s certain that she could do even better next time…and they’ve got this. “Go team!”

Action | as strategized

Stats: STA 7 · EVA 6(+1=7) · WIS 7(+1=8) · ARC 6 · STR 8(+1=9) · ACC 9(+2=11)
Abilities: Statistically Relevant | Lovely Creature
Broom: Nimbus 1700

Un. Believable.

Dan had done everything right, the plan was flawless. And yet again, just like with Gryffindor, everything fell apart immediately.

Everything missed, Quinn was still there, the seeker was still there, honestly how in Christ do you MISS something as gigantic as Quinn? That was like trying to punch the ground and missing. HOW did Erin manage to screw that up? He'd promised he would let her smash him this time, he'd kept his word, and STILL this happens.

If anything, this was clear proof that karma was a lie.

He snarled, clearly in no mood to go through this cheating bullshit a second time.

This is NOT over. Don't let their two-bit tactics and dumb luck discourage you!"

Doing as strategized.

The howling wind screamed into Atlas' ears as she felt wetness drying just under her nose as she quickly wiped it away. As much as she preferred cold weather to hot she had to admit that up in the air without any buildings or trees to soften the wind, it was numbing and painful to be playing.

"Focus, Atlas." The young girl whispered to herself as she watched Tyranni take the quaffle quickly racing towards her side of the pitch. Stretching her toes in her boots, Atlas loosened her grip on the broom as she kept her left hand on the broom stretching out just seconds before Tyranni made it to her in an attempt to block her goal.

She felt the air race past her fingertips as the quaffle just barely made it into the goal, the announcer immediately calling "10 POINTS FOR SLYTHERIN!"

Grinning devilishly, Atlas was not going to do what she did last game and let every little fumble get her down as it would only hurt her in the long run. "So you got 10 points...let's see you get 10 more." Atlas chided inaudible as she stared down the pitch watching as once again Tyranni snaked the quaffle from Aaron's control.

This time Atlas trusted her training and knew she could get into position with Tyranni closer so she wouldn't know what her move would be. Shakily breathing from her frigid nose, Atlas waiting until she was almost upon her before smoothly stretching out as she easily blocked the incoming goal.

Cocking her head playfully at Tyranni and winking, Atlas felt her cold face pull into a smile as she adjusted herself back onto her broom watching as Aaron passed the quaffle to Heinrich who missed the goal. Scrunching her face in disappointment, she knew it was only the first round so there was still plenty of game to go as she relaxed her tension and took a deep breath in.

Not wanting to take her eye off the other team, Atlas tried to quickly find Ethen on the pitch as Lindsey quickly rushed in to block an incoming assault. Slytherin was already playing dirty this game with two fouls but she knew they weren't going to make this easy.

"What else do ya got?"

ACTION: Doing as strategized.

Reducio

STATS:
Stamina: 8
Evasion: 8 (+1) = 9
Strength: 4 (+1) = 5
Wisdom: 7 (+1) = 8
Arc. Power: 7
Accuracy: 9 (+2) = 11

BROOM:
Nimbus 1700
Effect: +2 accuracy, +1 evasion, +1 wisdom, +1 strength

ABILITIES:
Fearless
Effect: Fear effects such as a dhmpir's aura, the ability terrible presence, a lycanothrope's intimidation or certain charms, potions and jinxes that would normally cause a fear effect do not work on you as you are immune to them.
Keeper's Catch
Effect: 10% chance to automatically block an attempt to score a goal as long as the Keeper is in the goal area. If an attempt to score has been blocked through this effect, the Keeper may as a free action hurl the quaffle at the opponent team in an attempt to injure a player of their choice (it would be recovered with a quaffle grab action) and treated like a bludger or pass the quaffle to a teammate. This must be declared by the Keeper if either of these free actions are to be utilized.

If Thora had the final say in how she was to debut, she would have shot towards the Quaffle the moment the whistle signaled the match's start. This was what she'd been trained for, after all, the moment she had been anticipating since she'd first signed the roster for tryouts. Sure, she'd played as both reserve keeper and reserve beater, but she'd always envisioned herself a chaser - or perhaps a seeker, even, but such a position had always seemed the most vied-for, and she didn't fancy either being the most targeted player on the team nor waiting an extensive period of time just to gain second-string status. In any case, she'd initially put her name down for the team in hopes of clinching a chaser spot. It hadn't quite worked out - well, not until now.

Since she'd spent the past days training intensively with the Quaffle, it was difficult to resist its pull, difficult to tear her gaze away from the crimson leather and keep focused on her duty. They had formulated a strategy beforehand with which to begin, as surely more extensive plans would somehow be derailed by unforeseen mishaps, and Thora wasn't about to do anything other than what was expected of her, being a stickler for rules and such. After all, a plan was a plan, and if the captains thought she'd be the best bet to blatch, then blatch she would. It wasn't the nicest move, no - rather, it was technically a foul - but it was efficient; besides, it was seen so often players had likely grown to pass it off as a standard action.

Commitments aside, though, taking out the opposing seeker was only logical, and though she might hesitate out of considerateness, she certainly wouldn't for the sake of her team. The seekers were always a priority to target, since it was the Snitch catch that, more often than not, won a game. So it was practically standard strategy, aiming for the seeker, and she'd blatch if that was what it took. She shouldn't really have been surprised, really, having being bumped up in the roster only due to Alexx's removal from the first string lineup. Alexx had been their best blatcher by far and a formidable player in general, so Thora had pretty big shoes to fill.

Her gaze lingered on the skirmish over the Quaffle for a moment more before she directed herself up and out of the action - however much she wished to be in the thick of things, that wasn't her place right now. Instead, she scanned the field, trying to locate Emrys amongst the saffron and emerald-clad figures flying hard, robes whirling about. It was admittedly more difficult than she'd expected at first, the speed of the players and overwhelming roar of the crowd reducing her focus slightly, but she found that it turned out far easier if she just shut out the chaos surrounding her. And there he was.

Inhaling, then exhaling, she shot forward, flattening herself to her broom. After all, she had in no way an optimal build for blatching, being as small as she was, but perhaps she could use speed to her advantage. Her eyes squinted into slits as she trained them onto her prey, making every effort to hit her target. Despite the guilt hovering at the back of her mind, no doubt a result of her upstanding nature, she pushed on. Her team was counting on her, so she couldn't possibly afford to miss. But as she drew near, another flash of yellow crossed her vision. A defender. It was a fairly common strategy - posting a guard on their seeker, that is - but Thora hadn't at all anticipated it.

There was no time to change course, no time to adjust the angle at which she was rushing forward, given the speed at which she was flying at. Still, she narrowed in on the seeker, attempting a hit - there wasn't really another option, after all - but it was to no avail. The defender's sudden appearance had thrown her off, and even as she resigned to colliding with the pesky defender instead, teeth gritted in frustration, the Hufflepuff swerved out of the way quickly enough to avoid any contact.

Dismayed at her failure, Thora flew for a length more before slowing, righting her broom as she accepted defeat. So powerful was the wave of shame washing over her that she almost missed the shout of the referee. It carried over the roar of the crowd, over the morale-boosting shouts of teammates and painful clangs as bludgers hit their marks, but it seemed to only barely reach the young chaser, who couldn't seem to pull herself out of her horrified trance. Penalty lap.

Some small part of her had hoped that the referee wouldn't have noticed her attempt, her having done so terrible, but the other part knew that wouldn't be the case. To moderate such a fast-paced game required the keenest of eyes, not to mention experience and knowledge of possible tricks, foul or otherwise. Biting her lip, still annoyed, she quickly found her way towards the field's perimeter, setting off on her lap of shame with haste.

Being temporarily out of the game, Thora took the opportunity to glance around, hoping the rest of her team had performed better than she had in these opening minutes. The scoreboard reflected what had been called out already; Tyranni had scored once and so Slytherin was ahead by ten points. Otherwise, though, it seemed they weren't faring well at all - Erin had missed her blatch as well, and that wasn't to mention her having already been knocked off her broom and forced to share Koko's.

Ever more irritated, she returned her gaze forward, speeding ahead on her penalty lap. It had been an incredibly rough start to both the game and her first string career, but they could turn this around if they worked quickly. And next time, she'd better not fail.

Quinn was not going to lie to himself. Nailing Erin like that even if she was saved in the end. Oh it felt too good to be true. Erin was a special case in that he genuinely disliked her not as much as before but still enough to take joy in nailing her with Bludger like he did. He looked around and started to smile. Slytherins scored but they were in it and now in a prime position got a good counter attack. He was really pumped.

Action : Doing as Strategised~

Aspen is sitting on the bench, cheering her team on. She rubs her hands together, trying to warm them up as she yells out. "Come on badgers! You can do this!"

Aspen winces as Slytherin scores, come on, come on, you can still win, it was just a few points. She begins to clap.

As Heinrich and Aaron took off after the Quaffle, Serena decided to stay back. Something told her that the Slytherins would attempt to knock her teammates off their brooms, whether through blatching or hitting a Bludger.

And it turned out that her instincts were correct when Quinn and Ethen were almost hit. Thankfully, Quinn was able to dodge, and Lindsey protected Ethen. Unfortunately, Serena wasn’t entirely off the hook. One of the Slytherin Beaters managed to hit Heinrich with a Bludger and knock him off his broom.

Serena quickly flew over and caught her fellow Chaser and placed him on her broom before he could hit the ground.

“You okay?” She asked. Serena knew from experience that falling was not a fun experience. And even though she hadn’t been hit with a Bludger yet, she figured that wasn’t pleasant either.

Stats: STA: 6 EVA: 7 (+1=8) STR: 7 (+1=8) WIS: 7 (+1=8) ARCP: 6 ACC: 8 (+2=10)
Abilities: None at this time
Broom: Nimbus 1700: Fast and tough racing broom. Stats: +2 accuracy, +1 evasion, +1 wisdom, +1 strength (added above)

Interaction: @Flash Holmwood

Thomas subdued a smirk that fought to form upon his lips. No, he was not a turncoat intending to compromise his house out of some indignant vendetta. But to see Erin Ryan knocked from her broom in his initial match no less was a pleasing start indeed. What’s more, she found her place along with the starting keeper— Koko Riddle. A larger target now placed on her back, their opponent may very well force Thomas into action in his debut.

The pair of Veelas presented a nice contrast. Not that Thomas knew his fellow prefect very well, though typically graceful in demeanor and a pretty sight to the eyes. Ryan, conversely was a lifeless and broken image. Reaching out with open arms to those nearest to give them her well-seasoned flavor of hell. Thomas Lestrange wanted to win this match, but had the situation grown dire, an incidental blatch may be among the cards he’d relish playing.

To temper any looming excitement was a mostly deadpan Hollywood Holms, a well traveled member of Slytherin. Perhaps a master of whisperers as well, given his the boy shared many spaces with Lestrange, but a spoken word between them amiss until Thomas broke the protracted silence between them today.

Wasting no time testing the boy’s sensitivity, as a student that could not withstand a weightless jab was not a worthy pursuit. “Or perhaps how little there is to you.” The boy stated coldly, eyes lingering in Flash’s direction before returning to the the action on the pitch. “I know of the poor company you keep.”

Thomas had his moments of idiocy, but not an outright fool. Flash Holmwood began his evening the night of the blossom ball with notable company, a red head now prefect who, unknown to Thomas, once again held the boy in her gaze above. Additionally a dormmate with Burnett, who Thomas suspected shared information of his hag dealings when he was approached by his head of house. Thomas was not certain of the way word has traveled of his past amongst the aforementioned, but Flash would be deemed guilty until proven innocent.

The Slytherin’s acknowledgement of Thomas’ favored sport of stick and puck did little to unsettle him. It was easy to deduce the way Thomas carried himself that afternoon given the immutable smile he displayed. And his work on the headliner was obvious to anyone that chose to pay attention. Lestrange would push for deeper acknowledgement, at the very least hinting at Flash’s suspected involvement in Burnett’s petty band of gossipers. “Surely you know more.” Thomas remarked, a side eye scanning Flash’s reactions, but the boy’s attention seemingly drifted to another housemate further down the bench. Whether Flash chose to address Thomas again was his call, and his alone. It would not change his eventual outcome if these suspicions were clarified. He would be dealt with along with all the rest.

Action: Benched, pestering Holms.

Stats: Stam: 8(11) | Str: 7(10)| Eva: 7(10) | Wis: 8(11) | Acc: 7(10) | Arc Power: 3(6)
Abilities: Evasive | Evasive x2 - 20% chance to auto-dodge
Broom: Silver Arrow - +3 to all stat categories

Adrenaline cut through any semblance of nerves like a sharpened blade through a banana that has been left out a few days too long, not long enough to turn completely brown, like for banana bread, but long enough that it is more squishy than you would hope for. Regardless of fruit preferences, the moment the game began, Ethen could feel his confidence bolstered. He carried the utmost faith in his captains and teammates and knew they would lead them to another victory and towards the pantheon of heroes.

Determined to do his part, Ethen's wide-eyes scanned and darted about the pitch like an overly caffeinated bushbaby. He knew that Lindsey would be there to back him up should the other team decide it was time to vanquish him. He would leave the defense to her, his only purpose in life, for the moment, was finding that sneaky seditious snitch. As the chaos of the match continued to unfold around him, Ethen closed his mind to the noise before realizing that chaos could be his ally. An ally the likes of which could bring such terrifying success.

He heard ten points go in for Slytherin and felt no closer to locating the pesky golden orb but he continued his search. It seemed his rival seeker was having equally poor luck. "HOOOWAHHHH!" Ethen screeched as if he was a possessed owl. "REECHACHA!" he screeched again hoping the Slytherin seeker might mistake the noise for a massive incoming bird of prey. At the very least, the continued screeching and hollering from Ethen helped abate his growing frustration at not finding the snitch. Patience was key, he knew. He let out another "CRAWHSHOOO!" for good measure as he continued his eternal quest. With each second passing moment, he strained his eyes for even the smallest golden glint.

Actions: Doing as Stratagized
Abilities: Keen Eye | Calming Presence (affecting the beautifully amazing Hufflepuff teammates)
STATS: Stamina: 7 | Evasion: 7| Strength: 5 | Wisdom: 11 (8+3) | Arc. Power: 6 | Accuracy: 10 (7+3)
BROOM: Moontrimmer (+3 to two stats of choice: ACC and WIS, +10% auto-dodge)