Closed Training for the Ballet

Liam shot forward as an enthusiastic laugh escaped his lips and struck out through the air. He knew this wasn’t a fair strategy, but there was no way that the two first years could take on a sixth year with the school brooms they had found. He also knew that it was likely that Bloom would have set off almost as soon as he had, it must take quite some level of reflexes to be able to race a broom - start lines may even have been the Ravenclaw’s speciality. For the time being he needed to focus on this leg of the race. Liam fully expected to be overtaken soon, so for the time being it was wiser to focus on how exactly he would navigate the first set of hoops - thankfully both rider and broom in this case were small enough to pass through without much effort.

Wind whipped through his hair as the seconds passed by, throwing his mop of blonde directly behind him. His face stung now that the fast moving air was cold on his fair skin. The boy had made it well over half way before he turned back to see Bloom hot on his heels and gaining. He took a breath and pressed forwards, but it would not be enough to stop the sixth year from overtaking him. Instead of fighting it Liam pulled back, dropping his speed to the point at which he could shift into the slipstream of his elder opponent - maybe this would allow him to keep something resembling pace with her. Of course, this actually ended up costing him several feet before the first hoop was upon the racers. He turned his head back towards his fellow Gryffindor at that moment and called out.

“C’mon Matt. We’ve got to keep up if there’s any chance of us winning this thing! Let’s get round through the first set of hoops and regroup, we need a strategy!”

Liam’s attention returned to the hoops as he passed through the first, he didn’t try anything fancy in his first turn but instead did his best to observe the seasoned racer in an effort to understand how she would navigate such a potentially sharp change in direction. The boy’s teeth ground together in focus, both in trying to keep his stability but also in effort to try and figure out his next angle of attack. Maybe there would be some stroke of luck, but neither of the Gryffindors could count on that.


@Matthew Robertson @Bloom Silverton

Matt's broom wasn't anything special. It turned out that his secret hope that he'd managed to pick out some hidden gem from the broom shed wasn't going to pan out. As he leaned hard on the broomstick he noticed quite a bit of wobble take hold, pulling the nose of his broom downward so that he dropped a few feet lower than the upcoming hoop. His reflexes kicked in and he wrenched upwards on the handle of the broom to try and level out, rather successfully but by this point he would almost certainly be overtaken by Bloom unless she was having similar issues.

Through the wind he heard Liam call back to him, just about making out his words as his ears strained against the rushing sound of air passing him by. "Who's we?!" he screamed back toward the boy. "Only one of us can win this thing, and I'm going to make sure for that foul start that it's not you!"

And with that he fell silent, focused on the hoops as he tried something a little riskier. He knew that he'd come flying off his broom if he attempted to whip himself straight to the left after passing through the first hoop, so instead on the approach to the right most hoop, he veered slightly a few meters slightly to the left of the edge of the ring, and flew almost in a diagonal line through the hoop so that once he'd flown through he was coming out flying towards the right. From there he knew his turning circle would be more effective and he'd lose less momentum than if he'd braked to turn left, and from here he pulled hard to the left, turning on one neat, fluid and most importantly, efficient half-circle as he veered back around toward the centre hoop, blitzing through the dead centre before continuing on to the opposite side of the pitch.

He wasn't focused on his position in the race, but instead wished that he'd had a camera set up to watch his skilled feat of flying back when he was done. A wide smile formed on his features, his hair whipping back out of his eyes as he continued on the straight. And to think he'd almost chickened out of this healthy spot of competition.

Interacting with: @Liam Bennet @Bloom Silverton

@Matthew Robertson & @Liam Bennet

Both the first years were ahead of her by a large gap. In this case, a cheating gap because as they didn't start like a proper human being. But it did not bother Bloom too much. Her only concern, however, was the fact that she did not know her broom as well as she would like to. It wasn't like her Silver Arrow that she was used to in the past. This was a damn tree that she was racing with and of course, that has a lot of changes in muscle memory she had to realize as she flew by.

Catching up to them wasn't a problem though. Bloom used this time to really feel for her broom. Her thighs squeezed harder into the smooth bark of the tree and her fingers grasped as much as she could. She was trying to be 'one with the tree' while she was flying. It was the only way to gain physical awareness around her and understand its speed.

This probably took a few extra seconds to do, seeing as the gap had gotten bigger between the two. Bloom thought it fun to let them think they were going to win anyways. They were first years and were not as skilled as someone her age. In addition, she could tell that their brooms were not in shape. They were probably not theirs and just found from the Quidditch shed. Those brooms were discarded and often used for class practice of riding a broom.

Eyeing the route, Bloom took a deep breath in and lunged her body forward in her Broom Race stance. She was ready to give them a bit of a surprise. Bloom felt the wind in her hair and face and it felt at home. She fed into the sensation and went faster and faster. Second by second, the gap between her and the Gryffindor first years was lessening.

When she was right behind them, she couldn't help but to scream out to them as a way to scare them that she arrived. "Is that all you got?" she competitively asked. Bloom continued to lunge forward and began to get neck to neck with them. From the feel of the broom, sharp turns were not easy, but speed-- ironically-- was. Perhaps one should never judge a broom by the way it looks.

Liam was somewhat caught off guard by Matt’s response. A wave of shock passed over his face for but a moment as the realisation set in that this would be a solo race for the blonde boy. As the wind whipped past and the first hoop grew closer and closer, Liam leant forward. He needed to make himself more aerodynamic in an attempt to keep up with Bloom and stay in competition with Matt. The boy’s eyes darted from left to right as he did his best to keep track of his fellow Gryffindor while also staying conscious of the path taken by the sixth year ahead of him. Eyebrows descended in focus as the boy raced onwards, he needed to concentrate now to prove that his momentary headstart had at least some impact on how the race would go.

As the first turn approached, Liam began to slow his broom. A sharp turn such as this would be better followed with as little forward momentum as possible, ready to navigate the first set of hoops. Rings of metal passed through Liam’s vision as he navigated the first obstacle. He slowed a little more before yanking on the broom's handle to turn as sharply as he could - his momentum still carried him for a second or so while he turned to the side, but soon Liam was able to bring his broom back under control. His turn was a little shallower than Matt’s but much slower, giving his fellow Gryffindor the option to significantly close the gap between the two. Though. without giving the others an opportunity to exploit his interest by observing them for long, Liam navigated back through the hoop and onto the next straight.

“Oh it’s on now!” His voice radiated out as he settled back onto target with the next hoop. He hoped that Bloom would struggle to turn swiftly so that he could press the advantage while it lasted; but now, as the group entered into the second straight, it would be difficult to hold the sixth year off. Liam pushed harder, driving his broom onwards as fast as it would carry him. But would it ever be enough? Probably not. He’d need to take this time to formulate a better strategy for the next set of hoops.

@Matthew Robertson @Bloom Silverton