Beauxbatons Quidditch Practice

[Professor Grace Holland]

Beauxbatons,PracticeGrace was excited about the first practice with the new team, as she was generally excited about quidditch and getting to train was wonderful. It was also vital, as they had a few new teammembers and they had to get used to the rest of the team so they could play as well as they possibly could. After their humiliating defeat at the hands of a Hogwarts house with the ridiculous name of 'Hufflepuff', she knew they had to do better. Not only was it amazing that they would be allowed to play against another school and were invited back, but it was Grace's final school year, which meant this was her last chance to make her mark as captain of the team.

She arrived at the pitch early with the supplies they would need, she laid them down near her feet and held her broom at her side as she waited. She was confident about her team. Valor had graduated, and he had been a great chaser, but she had confidence in Emma. The girl had shown she was reliable when she jumped in as seeker at the last minute, even if she hadn't caught the snitch. She also liked that Dominik was on the team now, though she tried not to linger on that. She didn't want to seem like she was giving him special treatment. No, she couldn't focus on him right now. She had to focus all her mental energy on quidditch, this team had to be whipped into shape. She waited for the rest of the team to arrive for practice, eager to get started.

Out of Character:

Practice will be open around 2 weeks! Please participate if you are able and on the team, even if you're an alternate!

 

[Brendan Fulke]

Brendan had been growing impatient since the start of the term for the Beauxbaton team's first practice. It was one thing for him to fly around the pitch and practice on his own, but it was another entirely when it came to a group of competitive people and obstacles present. There was no effort to throwing a quaffle through an unguarded hoop, nor any worry about stray bludgers headed his way. No drive to really score a goal when there was no time limit, or a seeker who could end the match at any given moment. He needed the team to be the best he could be. Despite the fact it was difficult for all of them to be free at the same time to schedule a practice in, he wanted more opportunities for them to play as a group, after their crushing defeat in New Zealand. Fulke wasn't wasting his time again.

The French boy arrived at the pitch with his broom held tightly in hand, its tail bristles painted as red as his hair, to give it more of a personality, but more importantly to show it was his. After a debacle where someone else had tried to take it, he realised how important it was for him to mark down his most treasured property. He'd had the broom for years, knew its limits, what it could or couldn't do. He was comfortable with it, and he didn't want to go through the trouble of buying a new one if it was lost or stolen, and have to get accustomed to it all over again. "Salut, Grace." Brendan greeted the captain as he approached, glancing around for the others to show. He wanted nothing more than to get into the air already.

 

[Jessica Park]

Jessica couldn't wait for practices to start back up because she was determined to prove herself as a new co-captain and rematch against Hogwarts New Zealand. It was clear the entire team had taken the loss pretty hard but she saw that as good motivation for them to train harder. Besides, they had new members they needed to train. The better they worked together as a team, the better their chances of winning were. They'd lost a really good Keeper in Zeke, but she had confidence in their new choice, though she knew given how good their chasers were he'd have his work cut out for him. She just hoped whatever was happening between him and Grace would not distract the boy, or Grace for that matter, but she knew her friend had more self-discipline than that so Sica wouldn't have to warn her, even if it was as a joke. Sica arrived on the pitch with her broom in hand and bat in the other, glad that Grace had already brought the chest with the game balls out, and saw Brendan there. "Hey guys," she greeted them, dropping her bat and broom gently on the ground so she could pull her pink hair up into a ponytail. "Nice broom, Fulke," she commented as she eyed the broom's end with an amused smile, wondering jokingly if she should paint her bristles pink to coordinate.
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[Dominik Milne]

Dominik didn't like how anxious he was feeling as he walked out of the castle and towards the Quidditch stadium. He was excited about his first practice with the team but couldn't stand the thought of disappointed everyone present at the practice, especially not Grace as he knew how much winning the game against Hogwarts New Zealand would mean to the girl. With his protective gear on, Dominik walked onto the Pitch. This was going to be a lot harder than practicing with his little brother, he knew that for sure, so could only hope that he would play just as well today as he did when practicing with him, even if he would be facing more chasers coming towards him. ''Hey,'' he said, smiling at the three as he approached them, and put his sapphire streak down on the ground. Whilst adjusting his gear and pulling the laces to tighten it around him, Dominik glanced up at Grace, wondering if she thought that he looked silly in it. He figured that he'd wear it just in case a bludger hit him and he would get knocked off his broom but wished he hadn't done so because he had the feeling that it was only going to slow him down.

 

[Liesl Huberta]

Blonde wavy hair bounced in pleasure along with the glee of her heart. "Morning" combing her hair with her delicate fingers, Liesl tied it up in a high pony tail as she stretched her body from left to right, up and down. Liesl had a strong core, both physically and mentally, meaning that she could keep her eyes locked on the target: winning and the snitch without being distracted, as well as using her core muscle to support her flexible body. Her eyes roamed around the team, oh god, she was ready for a hardcore training. The caffeine effectively kicked in, enabling the teenage wizard to have her eyes wide open as her energy flow freely across her vein. "Alright, let's do this" clapping her hand, the seeker held on to her broom as she waited for the captain's instruction.​

 

[Peter Lee-Prescott]

Peter made his way down to the pitch for their first practice, deep in thought as he considered the position he'd been in this time last year. It had been his first time playing as part of a proper team, and although he felt liked he'd improved over the year they had practiced together, he didn't know if he had really improved enough. The game against the New Zealand school had told him practically nothing in that respect, due to it having been over so quickly - a thought that still made his jaw clench slightly even now. It wouldn't do to dwell on the past though, he decided as he walked out across the pitch towards the teammates that were already gathered there. It was a new year, and he was sure each of the others were just as determined to make it a better one as he was. Murmuring a greeting as he joined the group, Peter then propped his broom beside him with the handle on the ground and fell silent as he waited to begin. He was more than ready to get up into the air and test himself after the summer they'd had off.

 

[Elvira Rojas]

Elvira was pumped to be part of the team and even more pumped to attend her first practice. Her best friend Celine was also on the team and they could go to practice together, which was even more awesome. Even though they were both only alternates she knew they would do their best to stand out. She saw a few others were already on the pitch when she arrived, she gave one of the captains a smile before looking around. Everyone here was older than her, and most had already been on the team before. She hoped they would take her seriously, but she would ensure it if she had to. It was good to see the seeker was there, though Elvira couldn't help but hope she'd get to play one day. It would be fine either way, it was better for the team to let the more experienced seeker do the job. She grinned at her statement and nodded in agreement. Glancing at her friend to see if she was excited as she was.

 

[Professor Grace Holland]

Out of Character:

People that haven't RPed arriving yet: feel free to write your arrival first participation in one post. I just wanted to get this going so we can kick off the practice. I'm not setting specific goals for each position this time, just keeping the practice open for two weeks.

Grace watched her teammates arrive, smiling proudly at the people she had assembled. Last year she had been very strict with them, and she wanted to try to be a little nicer while still taking it seriously Jessica was a good counter to her in that regard."Alright guys, I want everyone to do their best. Our match last year was a disaster, plain and simple, we have to do better this year." She said with conviction. "I know we have a great team with talented players, but I want to see that again today." She released the bludgers and snitch, taking a hold of the quaffle. "Dominik, take the south hoops, Celine, the north. Chasers alternate between the two, our alternates have to be ready as well as we saw during the match." She got onto her broom and kicked off. Once in the air, made her way to the hoops Dominik was guarding, she was hoping to kick off the practice with a goal. It was all well and good to demand things from her players, but she had to earn her own spot on the team just as well.

 

[Celine Lussier]

Celine and Elvira had made their way down to the quidditch pitch together, and though she could almost see how ready her friend was to begin by the energy running underneath her skin, Celine was feeling slightly more trepidation mixed in with her own excitement. Her tryout had been kind of less than spectacular, and she hoped she wouldn't be any worse during practice today - would they kick her off the team? Could they do that? A quick look at Elvira reassured her, however, and the previously tight grip Celine had had on her broom loosened. It was all going to be fine - they were only alternates, and no one was expecting them to be too spectacular. She was surely working herself up over nothing.

Unfortunately Grace's little speech put more pressure on Celine than she would have liked, but she made no outward complaint at her captain's directions. She had thought being an alternate might give her some time to ease into the Keeper position, but as she mounted her broom and rose to fly towards the north hoops, she could only hope that she would be able to meet the higher expectations she hadn't realised the team would have of her. Reaching the end of the pitch, Celine turned and took up a central position in front of the three hoops, slightly relieved to see that Grace was heading towards the other Keeper first.

 

[Peter Lee-Prescott]

With the practice finally begun, Peter wasted no time in kicking off from the ground to start looking for bludgers. It was always tricky to be dealing with the real thing after a long time away from the school, but he soon caught up to one of black balls rocketing its way around the pitch and watched closely as it sensed he was close by and turned to speed towards him. Timing was everything, and Peter swung the bat as he hard as he could; a rare smile gracing his lips as it connected with a loud crack and sent the ball sailing off to the left - right into a patch of air that had been empty until one of the chasers suddenly came streaking through it, unfortunately. Peter grimaced as the bludger hit his teammate - sure that was good outcome in a game, but they'd barely started practice. He hoped the hit wouldn't incapacitate them too much.

 

[Dominik Milne]

As the practice started, he nodded his head and mounted his broomstick, kicking himself off the ground towards the south hoops. Dominik had been practicing a lot during the last couple weeks in an attempt to improve his skills so he had the chance to catch every shot that would be thrown his way. Hopefully, all that hard work was going to help catch as much as he could today.

 

[Professor Grace Holland]

Grace was on her way to the hoops Dominik was defending when a bludger hit her out of nowhere. With an uncharacteristic curse, she dropped the quaffle and turned to look at Peter who seemed to have hit it at her. She rubbed her side and grimaced. "Good job." She said somewhat reluctantly. She should have been able to hold onto the quaffle but hadn't. She swooped down to catch it again before making her way to the hoops. If anything, she knew she should pass to another player while she was still hurting from the bludger, but she wanted to start this off right. She tried not to focus on Dominik as she attempted to score but it still missed its goal. She blushed slightly, not the best way to start the practice off. She took the quaffle back from Dominik and passed it to another chaser. Perhaps they would have better luck.

 

[Brendan Fulke]

Brendan greeted Jessica and the others as they arrived, looking down at the broom in his hand as the co-captain pointed out the slight modification to his broomstick. He was pleased that someone other than himself liked it. "Merci. Here's to hoping it'll distract our opponents." He responded with a smile, before mounting his broom with the others and taking to the air. The boy frowned as Grace kept the quaffle for herself, rather than giving them all an equal chance to take first possession. It was trivial, but he found himself feeling bitter about it, and quietly trailed along after her as she headed for the hoops, hoping to at least take possession after she either scored, or failed to do so.

Watching as Grace took a bludger, his prior bitterness was replaced by concern, and he glared daggers at Peter, despite the captain's approving comment. It was too early for any of this. Thankfully, the older chaser managed to quickly regain her hold of the quaffle she'd briefly dropped, and didn't seem too badly injured. As she failed to score, Fulke frowned, unsure if that was a good thing, or a bad thing. It was difficult to tell when they were facing off against themselves. Whilst she took the quaffle back, the redhead swooped in to take the pass, and headed quickly back to the opposing hoops to try score himself.

 

[Elvira Rojas]

Elvira was so happy to get started, she gave Celine a thumbs-up as she flew to the hoops at the north side of the pitch. She knew she had to try her best too. She circled the pitch once, on the lookout for the snitch. It felt almost like a real match, like she was playing against another seeker though it was just her teammate. She didn't see it anywhere yet, which wasn't unexpected.

 

[Celine Lussier]

Having another Keeper at the other end of the pitch meant that Celine could spend some time just watching the others, rather than being constantly on her guard. Naturally at first she kept an eye on Elvira, not wanting to miss the moment her friend might catch her first glimpse of the snitch, but her eye soon turned towards the chasers. As Grace was hit with a bludger, Celine gasped a little and her hand came up to cover her mouth - was the older girl okay? She seemed to be, as she continued to fly on, but Celine still felt a little worried. Why on earth would that beater aim for one of his own teammates? Unfortunately, Grace didn't manage to make the goal, and soon another of the chasers was headed towards Celine's end of the pitch. She kept on eye on the boy as he sped towards her, checking to see where the other chasers were as well in case he tried to pass to one of them.

 

[Jessica Park]

Jess was eager to get back in the air and practice hard with her team. She nodded as Grace spoke to the team at large and was glad that they were getting their alternates up in the air with them because it'd keep them alert on all ends of the pitch as well as keep both Seekers in a competitive mode. The sooner the alternates played with them, the sooner they could adjust to each person's style of play and work better together as a team.

The sixth year picked up her broom and the bat with her initials etched into them on its handle and kicked off the ground hard. She flew above the players and did a lap around the pitch to warm up and just as she'd done her round she noticed Peter hitting a bludger straight towards Grace. Jess was too far to try and block it and she saw the girl get hit. It sucked that they had to hit their own players and she knew sometimes the other players resented them for it, but how else were she and Peter supposed to practice their aim? Jess saw Brendan take the quaffle after Grace failed to score right after her hit, and decided to circle him carefully to work on her defense and avoid having a bludger hit the redhead while he tried to score.
​

 

[Jamie Derouin]

Jamie had been surprised to get on the team, and though he was an alternate he was eager to improve his skills, he was excited to be the better player, so he walked out onto the pitch and the moment the practice started shot up into the air. He was happy for the opportunity to practice. He flew next to one of the other chaser who had gotten the ball from the chaser who had missed. he knew that practicing was important, and if he didn't practice he would never get better.
​

 

[Brendan Fulke]

With the quaffle tucked underarm, Brendan sped across the pitch, grateful to have Jessica flying around him, no wanting to be in the same position as Grace so early in the match, if ever at all. Unfortunately, his perfect health didn't give him any excuses when his own attempt to score was blocked by the keeper as he approached. "Merde." Fulke hissed under his breath. He needed to be perfect for their match against New Zealand, and this was not the start he hoped for.

 

[Peter Lee-Prescott]

After managing to hit their captain almost straight away, Peter decided to fly a couple of laps around the pitch before making another attempt. Nearing the northern end of the pitch, he saw a bludger heading towards the congregation of players and attempted to knock it off it's path and towards the furthermost hoop stand, away from the action. The hit would have been counted as a success - if only the keeper hadn't flown straight into it. Had she mistakenly thought it was a Quaffle? If that was the case, Peter despaired for the fate of the team once the seventh years left.

 

[Celine Lussier]

Celine watched carefully as the chaser came closer, tracking his every movement and watching the other chaser beside him. Her attention paid off and she managed to save the goal, unable to keep the smile from her face as she did so. She hoped Elvira had been watching. Throwing the Quaffle back out into play, all was going well for her - until she suddenly saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Her body moved before her brain caught up and she darted in front of the hoop, only to discover that a bludger had just punched her in the thigh. Looking up, she saw the same beater from before. What was his problem? She knew that they needed to practice their aim, but... did it have to physically hurt so much for them to do so?

 

[Jessica Park]

Jessica flew by Brendan as he attempted to make the shot but was surprised by the alternate Keeper's skill in being able to block the shot. So far both Keepers were doing well which was good for them in the long run since they'd need to stop the opposing team from scoring, but she hoped their chasers could get a few goals in and try to catch them off guard. Sica saw Peter hit another bludger towards the team and winced as she saw the new keeper head straight for it unintentionally. She chased after the bludger to hit it back the opposite way but her swing was wide and she missed. Sica cursed under her breath and took a lap around the pitch in frustration, looking out for more bludgers.
​

 

[Dominik Milne]

Dominik flinched when a bludger hit Grace in her side. He didn't think that the beaters were actually supposed to hit them but apparently, they had to. Dominik drifted in front of the centre hoop and let out a long breath as he waited for her to take the shot. Keeping his eyes locked on the quaffle whilst he waited, Dominik sped in the right direction when Grace threw the ball and managed to catch the quaffle without too much difficulty. He thought about asking how she was doing but as getting hit was part of the game, threw the quaffle back at her without saying anything. He saw how the other keeper was now hit by a bludger as well and flinched once again, hoping that he wouldn't be made a target next, as getting hit by one didn't look very pleasant.

 

[Brendan Fulke]

Taking the quaffle as it was thrown back into play, Brendan turned his broom around and headed for the opposing hoops, tucking the leather bound ball under his arm. He kept an eye out for nearby chasers, looking to get some practice passing back and forth between teammates in in case it was necessary during their final match.

 

[Liesl Huberta]

Liesl's eyes never left the box that kept the snitch in place. She straddled on the floating nimbus with her blue eyes locked on Grace's feminine hand. Tying her hair into a ponytail, Liesl stayed low, getting ready to fly. Once the snitch had been released, Liesl immediately flew up to the sky, tactfully turned right and left, up and down, following the snitch. She stopped for a moment to see the snitch flying randomly. Upon studying the random pattern, Liesl flew in a high speed and followed the golden object.

Three... Two...

BAM

A bludger almost hit Liesl on the shoulder. And just like that, she fell to the ground and lost her snitch. Groaning at what just happened, Liesl stood up and stretched, getting ready to fly again.​

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[Professor Grace Holland]

Grace knew she had been selfish in hoarding the quaffle for the first part of the practice, and she had been punished for it with a miss and a bludger. She flew to Brendan's side to support him and possible get the quaffle from him when a commotion caught her attention. A bludger had nearly hit their seeker, and it wasn't even one hit by one of their beaters. She frowned, left Brendan with the quaffle and flew over to Liesl. "Are you okay?" She asked the girl that had fallen off her broom. "I know it's important to keep your eye on the snitch, but don't ignore the other balls in play." She sighed, hoping she didn't sound to strict. "If you're hurt you can take a break." She added. It was a struggle to be captain and player on the team, as she wanted to actually play her position as chaser but she also had to keep an eye on everyone else. She gave Liesl a nod before flying off again, hoping the other chasers were supporting Brendan.