Gryffindor Pride

[Bruin Dumbledez]

Bruin arrived early at the pitch, knowing that his fellow team members were as eager as he was to practice in preparation for the upcoming Quidditch Cup. He opened up the Quidditch trunk and began inspecting and laying out various equipment that they would use today. The Snitch and Bludgers were in pristine condition after a recent tune-up at QQS and his new Beater's Bat glistened. He still couldn't believe that he had shattered his old one earlier in the month, but apparently nothing lasted forever and Bruin would be certain to make good use of this new bat.

It was a good day for Quidditch, perhaps a little cooler than usual for this time of year, but there was no wind to speak of and the few clouds in the sky provided only occasional breaks from bright sunshine. He knew that the Pride would be ready if any of the other houses decided to offer Gryffindor any opposition this year. Bruin also knew that he needed to get some younger Gryffindors interested in Quidditch soon because he and Cyndi would be gone after next year and roster spots would be opening up virtually every year thereafter. It was kind of sad, but Bruin decided that he'd worry about that kind of stuff when the time came and went back to sorting through the equipment.

 

[Ellie Sparks]

Ellie left the common room, her Scarlett Streak in her left hand, all ready for the Gryffindor teams Quidditch Practice. She was excited about flying with the team, and it would be just the thing to take her mind off Harri leaving, too. Walking out of the Castle, Ellie ajusted her baseball cap over her messy bunches and headed over to the Quidditch Pitch. "Hey Bruin" she greeted their Captain with an excited grin as she arrived there, realising she was first there apart from him. "Nice day, huh!" she added, peering up at the sky. There was no wind, which was great for flying as it meant it was easier to control your broom. Not that Ellie had any problems with that, she was Slim and Petite, but was strong and had great balance. And it was cool, which was also great, as flying in warm weather meant things would get a little sweaty, and evidently, smelly!

 

[Katalina Harker]

"Where is that danged broom? I just had the darn thing a few weeks ago!" Kat huffed as she muddled around her dorm room searching frantically for her Scarlet Streak...as well as her left shoe. She finally found her shoe and slipped it on quickly when she remembered exactly where she had left her broom. Digging through her wardrobe she found it hiding at the very back under a pile of used parchment and a few dirty socks. "Aha! I knew I left you around here somewhere!" she said triumphantly as she grabbed her broom. Grabbing an old ribbon she tied her long brown hair back in a ponytail and headed down out of Gryffindor house and out to the quidditch pitch.

It was a beautiful day out. Perfect day for quidditch. The sun was shining brightly and Kat loved the way it beat down across her face. Warm weather was definitely her all time favorite...she hated the cold. When she finally arrived at the pitch she saw that Bruin and Ellie were already there. She hurried over to the two of them with a bright smile and her blue eyes sparkling with anticipation. "Hey guys!" Kat bubbled excitedly, practically antsy to get up in the air and get a chance to do what she loved so much.

 

[Bruin Dumbledez]

Bruin smiled as Ellie made her way across the pitch towards him. He hadn't really gotten to know her too well over the past couple of years and decided that he was going to dedicate a little bit of time to each of his teammates this year in hopes of building some better friendships. "Hey Ellie! Yep, it's just about perfect, I'd say..."

Bruin was just about to ask her how her year was going when Kat hurried over to them. "Hey yourself!" Bruin replied warmly. "Uh, nice decorative touch to your broom there Kat, although I'm not sure it's regulation!" He joked, pointing out what appeared to be a dirty sock woven between a few of the twigs.

 

[Katalina Harker]

Kat shot an odd look in Bruin's direction having no clue what he was talking about. Then she looked at her broom and snorted out loud. "Guess it could have been worse. Could have been my knic...never mind!" she said with a bit of blush coloring her cheeks. Kat laughed it off thinking Can't believe I almost mentioned my undergarments in front of him. "So how's your third year going Ellie? You enjoying your electives?" she asked her fellow teammate as she took a seat down on the ground, waiting for others to arrive.

 

[Andromeda Fiorelli]

Andromeda was in a foul mood and wanted to take it out on one thing, well actually two. Brian Getathorn and a bludger. She had every intention today of training up as a beater just so as she could pummel the crap out of something and not someone. After putting on her usual practise gear of jeans and Gryffindor sweater, she also threw on her goggles sliding them up ontop of her head until she would need them. Her hair was pulled tightly back from her face and she wore a scowl that would send shivers down the spines of brave men.

Walking out on to the pitch she saw there were a few others there already.
"Hey!" she kept it short and sweet, wanting all her frustration taken out on the pitch and not her team mates. She sat down near Kat and began some stretches, Andy meant business today.

 

[Ellie Sparks]

Ellie smiled at Bruin and then spotted Katalina walk towards them. "Hey Kat" she greeted her with a smile, laughing as bruin pointed out a dirty sock, stuck in amongst her broom's twigs. "It's been good so far, Electives have been good too, but I'm a bit pissed I missed out on Care of Magical Creatures" she answered Kat, "There's always next year though! I can't believe I'm going into fourth year now" she added, her dark brown eyes sparkling in the sunshine. "How's your years been?" she asked Kat and Bruin, as Andy appeared on the pitch. "Hey Andy, you alrite?" she asked, Andy looked a little frustrated. More than a little.

 

[Mike Gray]

Mike practically ran down to the Quidditch Pitch, looking forward to the practice. Upon his arrival he saw all familiar faces. "Hey guys" Mike said, with his streak in his left hand. "Bloody good weather for a practice. Must be a miracle" Mike commented, happy that it was sunny for once. "So who are we waiting on?" Mike asked realising he wasn't the last person there, and some of the pride was missing. Mike looked around, thinking who was missing. "Trust it to be girls that are late" Mike commented with a grin. "Only joking" he added to show he was messing around and didn't mean to offend anyone.

 

[Katalina Harker]

Kat noticed that Andy looked at bit miffed for some reason. She and her roommate hadn't spoken much since the whole 'kiss with Chace' incident had come to a head and she felt bad for that. "Umm, hey Andy. You okay?" she asked kind of stand-offishly, not exactly sure if Andy was upset or not. She then turned her attention back to Ellie and said, "Care of Magical Creatures is a fun class and really interesting, though I have to say that Arithmancy is my favorite elective so far." Just then Mike arrived and made a comment about girls being late and she picked up the dirty sock that she had picked out of her broom a few minutes prior and chucked it at him. "You are a funny one now aren't you?" Kat laughed and then stuck her tongue out at the boy.

 

[Ellie Sparks]

Ellie smiled at Mike as he arrived. "Hey" she greeted him. He then made a comment about how it was obviously the girls that were late. She looked at him in shocked sarcasm. "I hope you've noticed that three girls were here before you!" she told him, laughing as Kat chucked the dirty sock that had minutes ago been entangled in her broom at him. "So, were waiting on Cyndi, Kiera.. and what about Hilary?" she asked, remembering Hilary hadn't been at the team meeting days before.

 

[Professor Cyndi Kingsley]

Cyndi threw nearly everything out of her closet as she looked for her broom. Finally, in the very back she found it. After jamming everything back inside, Cyndi set off in a jog to the pitch. It was times like these that she wished that they were allowed to apparate within the grounds. Not that Cyndi was any good at apparating but if she knew she could, perhaps she would have more incentive to do better in her apparition lessons.

Finally, Cyndi arrived on the pitch just in time to hear Ellie say that they were still waiting for her, Kiera and Hilary. "Here I am. Hi everybody!" Cyndi said as she came to a stop. She couldn't wait to get up in the air and get her beater's bat back in her hand. Cyndi noticed that Andy was there and wondered whether she would begin her beater training today.

 

[Andromeda Fiorelli]

Andromeda smiled at Kat not wanting to say too much as she might only snap at people and she really didn't want to alienate her team-mates or her friends.
"I'm ok Kat, just stuff" she stretched out her calf muscles as Mike and then Cyndi made their way down to the pitch. She rolled her eyes at Mikes quip about girls being late and couldn't contain a retort any longer.
"Mike there are only two boys for goodness sake on the team, you're lucky there are so many girls. Otherwise you wouldn't have a team" she stood up and walked aside from them. Wanting to kick herself and her big gob, she knew Mike wouldn't take too much offense to anything she said though. They had their few run ins but it was never anything serious. Pulling off her Gryffindor sweater, Andy yanked down her sleeveless black-tshirt and tucked it into her jeans. The heat of the day was getting to her aswell as everything else and she really couldn't wait to begin play. She was so comfortable with her team-mates knowing that the majority of them knew about her condition that she didn't consider the hideous scarring on her shoulder that was visible from the werewolf bite or the more recent scars left over from Durmstrang.

Andy pulled her goggles down over her eyes and straddled her broom.
"I'm going for a warm up boss" she called out, mimicking one of her all time favourite muggle movies 'Cool Hand Luke'.
With that she kicked off and sped her way down the pitch to the far hoops, circling and dodging between hoops.

 

[Bruin Dumbledez]

Bruin watched as his team members arrived in dribs and drabs, laughing a little to himself as the friendly banter continued around him. Bruin couldn't help but notice that Andy had a little bit of an edge today, but he often took his frustrations out on the Quidditch Pitch and didn't mind a little extra intensity at the practice. "Better watch yourself out there Mike!" He whispered under his breath after Andy took off. "Looks like somebody might be playing a little chippy out there today." He added with a tilt of his head towards Andy who was now weaving in and out of hoops with reckless abandon.

With that said, Bruin mounted his own broom and decided that he'd head up and give Andy and anyone else who was ready to fly a little run for their money.

 

[Ellie Sparks]

Greeting Cyndi with a "Hey" as she arrived, Ellie watched Andy give Mike an earfull, before flying off. Bruin followed her seconds later and Ellie decided it was time she was up in the air too. Swinging a leg over her broom, she kicked off, instantly glad she had worn her joggie bottoms. They were way more comftorbale to fly in than the jeans she usually wore. Lying low on her broom she sped towards the sky, the wind knocking her cap off as she went. She kept going but and watched it land on the pitch . Grinning, she sped through one of the goal hoops, screaming "SCOOOREEEEEEEE" when she arrived on the other side, laughing, loving the feel of the wind in her hair, her favorite feeling! After that Ellie flew around the pitch a few times, smiling brightly and humming 'We are the Champions' to herself, there was no better feeling than flying, and there was no better way to keep her mind off Harri.

 

[Katalina Harker]

Kat gave a friendly wave in Cyndi's direction as her other roommate joined them. "Hey Cyndi! Long time no see!" she said jokingly as she'd just seen the girl a few minutes before. Following suit of Andy, Bruin, and Ellie she grabbed her Scarlet Streak off the ground beside her and took off into the air. Pure perfection was the only description of what it felt like flying. Kat loved being on her broom and honestly thought that there was no better feeling in the world. She leaned forward on her broom to pick up speed and closed her eyes feeling the breeze whip across her face. "So what's the plan Bru? Any exercises planned or are we gonna do a scrimmage?" Kat yelled loudly enough hoping that Bruin would hear her.

 

[Bruin Dumbledez]

Bruin had shadowed Andy for a bit and then peeled off and admired some of the fancy flying that Ellie, Andy and Kat were doing, smiling as he considered the possibilities of turning these three loose on one of the other houses. He heard Kat yell something at him and thought about it for a moment before replying. "Me??? Have a plan???" He asked, sounding incredulous. "You must be joking! You should know by now I just like to make stuff up as I go! Why? Do you have any thoughts on what you'd like to do?"

 

[Katalina Harker]

Shooting a joking glare in Bruin's direction Kat said, "How could I have been so silly? I forgot you like to just wing it!" She thought for a moment and looked around, there wasn't really enough people to play a scrimmage game at the moment and she didn't really have an ideas of what they should do so she asked, "Can we have the quaffle and just toss it around a bit?"

 

[Andromeda Fiorelli]

Andromeda did some minor loop the loops above the Northern end hoops before ducking and diving in and out of them, she noticed Kat, Ellie and Bruin taking off as well and couldn't help but smile when their captain chose to shadow her. It was easy enough to listen to the conversation that Kat and he had. 'Winging it again' she thought, "surely we can do more than that."

She hadn't realised she had spoken her thoughts out loud until it was too late, so Andy pulled up on her broom and looked at her team mates. Hovering she let the wind whip her, relishing the sensation immensely. There was quite literally no other feeling in the world like it.

"We could play a type of dodge ball" she ventured, "Our beaters basically trying to tag as many of us as possible. It'll give us a chance to practise our endurance, our speed and our maneuvers. Whoever gets tagged can either join in or take over from the beaters. Depending on what we all decide before hand ... if we decide to play that is".

Andromeda shrugged and looked to her team-mates before settling on their captain. He did have the power of veto after all.

 

[Mike Gray]

Mike ducked out the way when Kat threw the sock at him. "Maybe next time" Mike said sticking his tongue out. Mike acknowledged Bruin's warning, taking it upon his to act wisely on his warning. Mounting his broom Mike kicked off the ground, feeling wind hit his face. Mike circled the pitch twice before hovering near Andy. Mike listened as Andy gave an idea of playing a Dodgeball type game. Not knowing what dodgeball was, Mike was keen to learn more and so listened with some interest. "I think that's a good idea" Mike commented, turning his attention to Bruin, the Quidditch Captain.

 

[Katalina Harker]

Kat shot Andy a look. It wasn't so much what her friend had said, but it was more so the way it came across to her. She didn't know what had crawled up Andy's rear, but she was gonna have to find out because the attitude was a bit much. Redirecting her thoughts, Kat considered the suggestion of dodge ball (which by a stroke of luck she happened to know what it was). "I think that sounds like fun," she said agreeably. Let's just hope I can keep my bum attached to this broom handle she thought with a slight chuckle under her breath.

((Sorry to Blake and everyone else who thinks it's funny, but there will be no accidents for Kat today ))

 

[Andromeda Fiorelli]

Andy still waited to hear what their captain had to say but thought of something else in the interim. After Kat had said it sounded like fun, a devilish gleam lit Andy's amber eyes and such a mischievous smile played on her face.
"How about then if you're all up for it, myself, Goulding here and Sparks the three third years play the beaters and take you old fogeys on. Put you through your paces" she couldn't help but smirk now, every single one of them would most likely take the bait. They weren't Gryffindors for nothing and certainly didn't back down from an outright challenge, well maybe Bruin would providing he had come prepared with his amazing intellect to sparr with instead of his wand or beaters bat.

 

[Bruin Dumbledez]

Bruin listened to Andy's suggestion and liked the idea, but just wanted to clarify what she was thinking about. "So, are we playing with the Quaffle then? Basically, get a point each time we hit one of the opponents with it?" Bruin asked. "Because if that's the case, maybe you should stop yapping because it'll be awfully easy for us to hit that big mouth of yours!!! Oh yeah, I said it..." He added with a friendly glare.

"Accio Quaffle!" Bruin called as he pointed his wand at the Quidditch Trunk and waited for the clarification that they needed.

 

[Andromeda Fiorelli]

Andy couldn't help but grin at their captain as she nodded her head.
"Hmmm maybe but I thought it would be more interesting if it were the bludger and us using the beaters bats. Unless of course you're chicken" Mike and Ellie and still to agree to being on the line up but she was almost certain that they'd be up for a good old laugh as well as some serious work out on the pitch.

She twitched a little on her broom, wanting to be whacking the crap out of something already. Tossing the quaffle at one of them was just way too easy, that they could catch but the bludger they would have to seriously duck from. Now that was a challenge as Andy knew they could out run a lazy uncharmed quaffle.

 

[Ellie Sparks]

Ellie listened to Andy's idea, she knew what Dodgeball was, in primary school they would play it sometimes in P.e, and Andy's Quidditch adaption sounded loads of fun. "Sounds great" she added, as Bruin gave it the go-ahead, Andy suggested her, Ellie and Mike be in a team and Bruin summoned a Quaffle. "Are there any rules? In real dodgeball it only counts as a point when a player is hit below the waist, does that apply hear?" she asked, thinking it would be rather sore if someone got hit on the face by a Quaffle being hit at top speed. She wasn't scared or afaraid of being hurt, but she, and she was sure her fellow team mate's, didn't want to be injured for any up-coming games which might happen!

 

[Andromeda Fiorelli]

Andy smiled at Ellies enthusiasm.
"Glad you're on board Sparks" she just needed Mike now to be on side and it would be such a laugh.
"I think if we can hit the brooms we're flying, I don't want to do any real damage to anyone" which was true, she may be in foul humour but she loved her team mates and would protect them with her very life if necessary. So it was unlikely that she would want any real damage to befall any of them.