Closed Spectator Broom Racing GRYFFINDOR vs SLYTHERIN - FALL 2023

This is it, the official Fall Broom Racing and she's not someone who will just let her best friend's first official race to pass without even watching her. The moment Raizel heard that it's about to start, she rushed towards the spectator stands, panting from all the running that she just did as she didn't want to miss a single moment of this race. It took a while for her to catch her breath while looking for a nice spot to watch. Raizel began to walk around as soon as she could, fixing up her black hooded jacket and the Gryffindor scarf around her neck, her gaze on the racers at the starting line and trying to locate her friend among the racers.

Raizel was feeling a bit nervous about this even though she isn't the one racing. Who would want to watch their friend get hurt and Broom Racing, like any other sports, can be brutal. Maybe way more brutal than Quidditch and Dueling as everyone and everything is out there to hurt you. Not to mention, she remembers the time that she visited Ying in the hospital wing after she fell from her broom. While Raizel looked quite calm during that time, and perhaps a bit playful, deep inside, she was worried and it was a great relief to see her okay. She just hopes that Ying won't get hurt a lot which she highly doubts but hey, nothing wrong with hoping.

The Gryffindor stopped for a bit, eyes on the racers as she still hadn't found her best friend but it didn't take her a while before she had located the familiar figure amongst the racers, her eyes lit up, a smile forming on her face upon seeing Ying wave at her. She would've shouted, wanting to wish her best friend and her team good luck but she didn't want to disturb them if they were in the middle of strategizing. Not only is her friend a racer but she is also the co-captain and she admires her for that. "You can do it!" She finally shouted after mustering the courage to do so. While Ying probably didn't hear it, she is at least happy that she managed to give her a cheer.

⌞WC: 376/200⌝

october 29th 2023; interacting with @Raizel Voltrouz

Having watched the Hufflepuff race just minutes before this next race, Alyssea left to get a better jacket. One would think that once her badgers were done racing, she was done watching. But no. This would be Zach's first time moderating and she wanted to be there to 1) support him and 2) learn the tricks before she had to do it herself. Alyssea wasn't close with any of these racers, but she knew them from classes. Namely Hui-Ying and Ava.

When she arrived back at the stands, she was surprised to see a little brunette that she often saw on the piste more than the outdoors. Then again, Alyssea reminded herself that it was her house racing today, so she would be here to support her fellow lions.

Clutching her jacket closer to her body, Alyssea walked towards Raizel but left a bit of a gap between them. She gave a small greeting before turning to the track and smiled at Zach, even if he wouldn't see it. She yelled out, "Good luck, everyone!"

She briefly turned to Raizel. "Hey, you're here to watch the lions? Is there anybody you're watching specifically?" As she waited and listened to Raizel's reply, Alyssea leaned forward as the race began. What kinds of tricks would each team pull today?

This particular Sunday, the sky was dark and cloudy, sunlight barely shining through the gloomy clouds nestled together, remnants of the endless waterfalls of rain the castle had witnessed just hours prior. The ground was wet and damp, greatly discouraging most of the student body to come down to the broom race taking place in a few minutes- really, who would by every enthusiastic at the prospect of picking through seemingly endless puddles of water, braving the possibility of another rainstorm, just to be a spectator to a barely visible sports match?

Me, apparently. Trudging her way down to the Outdoor Club Area of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, first year student Renelle Dalton sullenly wondered why she had even bothered to come watch the first broom racing match of the year between Slytherin and Gryffindor at all- she was not a part of either house, and should therefore have no interest in the outcome, especially considering she was not even a huge fan of the sport.

She sighed softly to herself, the racing track coming closer and closer into view. All right, she knew why she was here. While the Ravenclaw certainly did not enjoy interacting with most people- even coming across as rather ‘mean’, for lack of a better word- at times, there was one person who was the exception to this.

Astra Norrick. Even the thought of her red-headed best friend caused her mood to lift ever so slightly. They had been in each other’s lives for so long, it was difficult to remember a time she didn’t have her Slytherin friend by her side. Truly, Astra was the only one int he world who could manage to successfully get Renelle to come to a broom racing match, on a Sunday, right after a bunch of rain.

The exact details of how it had happened were blurry, but somehow, she had agreed to accompany Astra to watch her house’s broom race- apparently, Astra knew a few of the racers personally, a fact she could could have done without knowing. And no, she wasn’t clingy and controlling. Sure, the thought of Astra doing anything with people other than her made the dark-haired girl want to scream, rip her hair out, and dig the stuffing of a teddy bear out with a knife and force-feed it to someone (not necessarily in that order), but that simply meant she cared about her friend. A lot.

The boom of a magnified voice announcing the start of the race broke her out of her thoughts. Blinking, Renelle looked around, and realized that she had already arrived at the broom racing stands, which was surprisingly quite deserted, save a few lonely figures some distance ahead. Well, she definitely wasn’t going to be introducing herself. Settling down in the last row, the Ravenclaw set her head in her hands, gazing into the race track ahead. It would probably be easier for Astra to spot her from here anyway.

Interacting with @Astra Norrick

Reducio

OOC note: The writers of Astra Norrick and Renelle Dalton have standing permission to godmode each other.

Excited, Nervous, oh those mixed emotions making her hand shake. She can't wait for this race to start, to see what happens and what the teams have in store for each other. With all those running wild, she almost jumped when someone called out to her, not expecting that at all as she was too caught up with her own emotions.

"Oh, Alyssea." She immediately recognized who that was, that smile on her face never fading and only growing brighter. She was glad it was someone familiar. If it was a stranger… well, she'll cross that bridge when she gets there. "Here to watch the race as well?" She was pretty sure that the Hufflepuff's match was already over but who knows, maybe one of her friends is racing and it's always nice to cheer for them. "And yeah, gotta see how they do and of course, it's Ying's first race, I can't miss that." The Gryffindor chuckled as she returned her gaze towards the racers. "Just showing my support to my best friend." She added in the end.

"Who are you cheering for? I think both teams are gonna do well in this." Raizel is of course on Gryffindor's side but she can't completely ignore Slytherin and their talented racers. They all looked so eager to go zooming through the air and passing through obstacles while, of course, trying to knock each other out of the game. That's where the fun is.

⌞WC: 243/200⌝

Interacting with @Renelle Dalton
Astra speaking: #136323
Roderick speaking: #b32727
Thoughts: Thoughts
Others: Bold

Astra, clad in a Slytherin sweater and her black beanie, walked beside Roderick, who was wearing all red and a golden chain. It was funny to see the two siblings talking and acting all civil, their houses mortal enemies.

Little did anyone know they had just had a huge fight earlier that week.

"The Gryffindorks are gonna lose this one, Rick," Astra said with a smirk, kicking at a pile of leaves.

"You wish, Slythernerd," Roderick said, pushing her slightly. She rolled her eyes at him.

"Yeah yeah, whatever," she laughed, pushing him back. The siblings then split, Astra heading to the green-dominated section of the spectators. And there amongst the snakes was a bird, a bird known as Renelle Dalton, the best friend of one Astra Norrick. The best friend who Astra had not expected to show up.

It was an invite to go to a sports event together, seeing as the two couldn't watch Quidditch together while Renelle was on the pitch and Astra still on the waitlist for tryouts.

"You look absolutely miserable, m'dear," Astra said, seating herself beside Renelle in the last row. "You didn't have to come, you know. I know this weather isn't your cup of tea." She gestured at the gloom. Astra tended to enjoy the stormy feel after it rained, as long as there was no humidity. The smell of petrichor brought her spirits high.

And of course, the promise of entertainment. She saw Colin out at the start line. The girl had only met her fellow snake recently. He was an odd duck, certainly, but so was she. Perhaps not in the same manner. Still, he was friendly and she figured that a race featuring Colin would be a great race indeed. Even now, he was being his usual rambunctious self, shouting to someone who looked awfully similar.

Another thing she was looking forward to: seeing the brooms perform. She was noting the strengths and weaknesses of brooms while they were in action in preparation for purchasing her own when the time came.

"Though I do appreciate it," Astra added to her earlier statements. "And it's only the first race, you know. Maybe we'll love it, maybe we won't. Who knows?"

It wasn’t long before an all-too familiar voice broke her out of her sullen and morose thoughts. Scarce two minutes after Renelle had taken her seat on the bench, her companion showed up, the Slytherin Astra Norrick, looking particularly green that day. She chuckled softly to herself, amused by the throughly terrible joke. It was good that Astra could not see inside her mind, or she would no doubt be taken negatively aback by her friend’s play on the fact that she was dressed all in her house colours.

Renelle glanced to her side, where Astra had settled down next to her. She shrugged half-heartedly. “No, I wanted to. I mean, it’s not everyday you get to witness an official broom racing match, and it seemed only too perfect that our first one would be seen with each other.” Then turned back to stare at the race track, the clouds casting a dark shadow over the racers so that they were barely visible. How nice. “And I don’t mind the weather.”

The Ravenclaw sighed. She was doing it again, wasn’t she? Always looking on the bleak side of things, so as to speak, and bringing down the spirits of those around her in the process. Her constant skepticism had been a constant for as long as she could remember, and while Astra would no doubt fail to take her cynicism as a valid cause to threaten their friendship in any way, the fact remained it was horribly unfair to her redheaded friend to continue this farce.

With this in mind, Renelle straightened up, forcefully pasting what could be perceived as an upbeat smile onto her face. She nodded. “Yup, who knows? Frankly, I’ve never even heard of a broom race before coming here, so it’ll be fun to see what it’s all about.” From her short time at Hogwarts, the first year couldn’t help but have had the impression of this particular sport being extremely popular, even more so than Quidditch- mystifying, considering it was the latter which was the perceived most commonly known and liked magical sport, at least from what she had seen.

Perhaps broom racing really was exceptionally exciting? At any rate, Renelle was going to find out. She leaned back slightly, stretching her legs out in front of her. “So,” She searched the faces of both teams, one clad in green, the other in vicious red, hoping to find a familiar face. Thoroughly disappointed, she directed the next question at Astra. “Who do you know on the teams?”

Interacting with @Astra Norrick

History is who we are and why we are the way we are.

Landon had just watched the first broom racing match with his friends and now he was thinking of watching the next one. He was still not super confident he knew what was going on, but he wanted to understand and the best way to do so was to keep observing. Landon didn't know if he would be a fan of broom racing, but it had been exhilarating to watch either way. You never knew exactly what was going to happen next really and that was something that Landon found entertaining. Though he really hoped that no one would get seriously hurt... Landon glanced toward Helena as Alyssea walked away to go get a jacket. He smiled at her kindly. "So what do you think?" he asked. "I mean... it's a bit intense, isn't it?" he added. He was a little worried about the racers at times. He knew magic could heal almost anything, but that didn't protect people from the pain that would happen if they broke a limb or something worse. There was danger to Quidditch too, of course, but things were a little more under control... at least Landon thought so. He thought there was less wand waving and spellcasting involved at the very least. He looked around as he saw Alyssea returning, giving her a soft smile, before she had gone to talk to someone else. He shrugged and rubbed his hands together. It was still a little chilly and now that the sky was starting to darken, Landon felt a little bit more chilled than he had before. He waited for Alyssea to return, his eyes scanning the area to try and guess what the plan was for this race. Would it be the same as the last, at least when it came to the route that the race would take. Landon didn't know.

───────────────── Reducio Mention: @Alyssea Brown @Helena Rose Reducio Outfit: Here ─────────────────

EC

Reducio

Permission to include Helena in this post granted by her writer.

Interacting with @Renelle Dalton
Astra speaking: #136323
Roderick speaking: #b32727
Thoughts: Thoughts
Others: Bold

Astra pointed out the white-haired boy just in time, saying "Colin McCoire, right there. In the kilt. Easy to spot" barely ten seconds before the brooms were off. And Salazar were they fast!

Thrust into a narrow passage, the racers immediately began offensive action. Astra's eyes widened. Racing was just as vicious as Quidditch or dueling! She saw the giant Gryffindor [Hugh], who was probably part-giant now that she thought about it, throw projectiles at one of the Slytherin racers [Ava]. Astra immediately winced as they hit. That's got to hurt.

Her attention was then drawn to Colin evading a spell from some Gryff [Ying]. His wand was out, but no one seemed affected by any spells except the girl who Astra knew was the co-captain [Vale].

People were far ahead of Colin however, and her gaze was torn ahead by several units as Zach (she was surprised to see he was a race moderator as well as duel moderator) commentated.

Two racers were neck-and-neck, Vale and an older Gryffindor [Xailah], but Vale was bleeding.

"Already so much happening," Astra murmured, her eyes flicking all over the track at the various positions of the racers. Several Slytherins were near the front, but Colin was hanging towards the back of the crowd. Come on, buddy.

She noticed there was a Gryffindor still at the start [Della]. Nudging Renelle, she pointed. "I wonder if her broom malfunctioned. She must be deaf and blind if she missed the start outright." Or just plain stupid.

Mention: @Hugh Lowe and @Xailah Alptraum
Open to interaction!

Hugh the Heavy was making his Sixth year debut on the Broom Racing track - and Galton had to be there for it. He'd given Hugh his stage-name years ago, but seeing the young lad now, it felt more true than ever. And what excitement to see him do this broom thing. Watching a team clash as they whizzed through the air, with nothing but speed, survival and victory on their minds was a sight to behold. And while Galton truly - with all of his soul - believed that dueling was a much more interesting sport, it was hard to deny the pure adrenaline that broom racing got pumping. Just from watching too!

Clad in a heavy robe, appropriate for the weather, Galton made his way into the stands. It wasn't too hard to find a good spot, and with ample candy in hand for the match he settled in. Truth be told, Galton didn't quite know how long to expect these races to go. Subsequently, Galton had brought enough candy to last him the afternoon. Settling in, he would produce a pair of omnioculars. They were all close enough that he could still simply eyeball them, but he wanted to be prepared for when they took off.

It was quit the scene too. The silhouettes were still so foreign to the long-time duelist. Seeing people get ready without just pointing wands at the opposite side was somehow refreshing. They really had to get into it. Hugh there, with a tree (a great looking tree) under him was almost comical if it wasn't for the fact that Galton was flabbergasted he could even ride something like that. I mean sure, the dude was big, but a tree was something else. In contrast to the towering shape, there was the one other friendly face Galton knew - Xailah, with her slender, sleek looking broom. He wasn't quite sure how he would define his relation to Xailah, but she was one to admire no matter. She seemed to be one of, if not the quickest racers around. Maybe it was in part due to the broom? With his ignorance on the technicalities of the sport, he was just gonna chalk it up to talent.

And when the race started - he would be proven right. Xailah soared off, quick enough that Galton wasn't able to see her for long as he focused on watching Hugh. And Hugh would do what he tended to do best.

It was relatively terrifying to watch someone you were so familiar with hurl something at someone, with so much skill and strength, that it immediately knocks them within an inch of unconsciousness. If you told Galton that there was a duelist able to knock someone out with their very first spell, he would call you a liar. But here Hugh was, obliterating some poor second year with his first throw. It. Was. Glorious.

"HUUUUUUUUUUGH! GO GO GO!" Galton was no longer sitting, he was screaming at the top of his lungs perched on his tiptoes. There was no way his friend could hear him, but he had to try. It was too good a shot, he had to try and stroke his friend's ego.