Closed Head Start

[Indira Khatri]

Indi could not believe that her first season as a starting member of the team was off to such a rocky start. But from the beginning she should have known it was doomed. After getting knocked out during the Beauxbaton's game and not managing to score hardly any points during practice last semester, she should have taken it as a sign. They had managed to win their last game but not before Indi embarrassed herself by missing the first shot. Maybe Natalia had put some kind of hex on her that made her suck? At the thought of Natalia her mood soured even more. She still couldn't believe Natalia tried out for the team again. After not making the cut, Indi had hoped the other girl had gotten the hint and given up. But no, she had take everything Indi like an ruin it with her presence.

With out thinking she kicked the quaffle she had pulled out of the shed to practice with and swore as it nearly crushed her toes. It was definitely not a ball meant for kicking, even if it just made her want to kick it again. She needed to calm down. Getting angry wouldn't help now when she was the only one on the pitch. She just needed to practice. With the rest of their season freed up now was the time to start practicing. She couldn't let herself make a fool of herself again.

 

[Celia Vuong]

Though the Quidditch season was over, Celia had no plans to stop flying. For one thing, she needed to squeeze in as much practice as she could before the break, when she would remain stuck on the ground. But more importantly, she liked flying — and there were very few things about the magical world that she liked. Quidditch had always been a means to an end, a way to reshape her reputation and maybe win back some respect from Styx and Alicastell. Sure, she had fun playing the game, and hitting bludgers at people satiated the angry, competitive streak inside her. But flying was something she could have just for herself.

Broom and bat in hand, Celia made her way to the pitch. It seemed she wasn't the only one who had decided to get some practice in. Celia watched from a distance as Indi kicked a quaffle. Well that was intriguing. Indi (along with the rest of the chasers except for maybe Eleanor) had always struck Celia as a particularly aggressive bunch, which had led to some interesting practices. She had been meaning to ask Natalia about it for a while but had never found a good opening. Maybe Indi was a better target. Celia approached the older girl and gave her a small smile that hopefully came off as sincere. "I've always found hitting bludgers to be pretty satisfying," and less painful or stupid-looking. She glanced down at the quaffle on the ground before holding out her bat, "If you want to give it a try."

 

[Indira Khatri]

Indi turned quickly when she heard someone else's voice. She eyed Celia warily and didn't say anything right away. She hadn't talked to the younger girl much but she had heard she tried to make an escape attempt on a field trip. She could admit it was a gutsy move but she also thought it was completely idiotic. After a second of silence she squared her shoulders and held out her hand to take the bat. "Maybe I picked the wrong position all along." she joked, even though she was pretty sure she didn't sound like she was joking at all. She swung it one experimentally and it felt nice. Indi could see the appeal of playing better and she had to admit the idea of getting to knock Natalia out of the sky was nice. But she liked playing chaser. She liked the rush of flying as fast as she could and dodging away for people as she went. Eventually she handed it back with a shrug. There was no need to practice something she would never need to use again. "Keep it." she sighed. "Practice some more and you can take out the other seeker before they can even say the word snitch."

 

[Celia Vuong]

For a second, Celia wondered if Indi was somehow upset with her. Aside from sending the occasional bludger Indi's way during practice, Celia didn't think she'd done anything to bother the older girl. (And if Indi was upset about the bludgers, she needed to get better at dodging.) But then Indi finally responded. "Well you could probably take Daintree's spot next year if you wanted," Celia said, unsure if Indi had been joking. She decided not to add that anyone who wanted the spot could probably take it; the older beater had barely done anything noteworthy all season.

Celia took the bat back and smiled. "That's the goal." She'd come so close to knocking Minnie out last game, and she was very much hoping that next year she would actually be able to take out a seeker or two. "Then we won't have to be so reliant on Ruben," she said, her tone light. It was dangerous territory insulting the captain, especially when she didn't know Indi's opinion of him, but she thought her comment fairly innocuous. Celia tucked the bat under her arm and picked up the quaffle, considering it. "How does solo chaser practice even work? Shouldn't you be practicing with the others?" She tossed the quaffle towards Indi.

 

[Indira Khatri]

Indi made a face at Celia's suggestion. "And start from scratch?" she asked incredulously. "No thanks. I've worked hard to get to where I am. And I'm not about to let Natalia take my spot." she added sounding truly horrified by the idea. It was bad enough the other girl was on the team but Indi would always be able to hold the fact that she had been on the team longer, and she wasn't the one who was still stuck as an alternate.

She laughed a little when Celia mentioned not relying on Ruben. Their captain was only a year ahead of her and hardly seemed like he had earned the title. Daintree was at least a seventh year but it wasn't like the younger boy had anything close to Blake's authority. "At least Ivelisse is showing some promise." she admitted. "The other's are a joke." she blurted out without thinking when Celia asked how she practiced by herself and why she didn't have any of the others with her. "Well except maybe Liusaidh." she said. The older girl was certifiably insane but at least had the skill to back up that kind of attitude. "I usually just practice flying for a bit and practice my aim. The accio charm comes in handy." she explained.

 

[Celia Vuong]

It quickly became clear that Indi had been joking, and Celia felt a bit stupid for not realizing it. She was normally a lot better at reading people. But those feelings disappeared when Indi mentioned Natalia. It turned out she hadn't just imagined the tension between the two chasers; there really was some sort of rivalry there. "What do you have against Natalia?" she asked with an amused smile, trying to pretend this was just an innocent question and not an attempt to mine for gossip about her friend.

Celia's smile widened as Indi laughed. It was good to know she wasn't the only one who had a less than favorable opinion of their captain. "She's pretty good," Celia agreed. She didn't have the highest opinion of her roommate, but Ivelisse's seeking skills were undeniable. "Too bad she won't get to play until Ruben graduates." It was rather unfortunate the way positions were determined by seniority and not skill. "How did he even become captain anyways?" Indi's rather blunt comment about the other chasers was a surprise, but Celia quickly tried to conceal her surprise with a small laugh. "She doesn't seem like the type who would want to practice with others anyways." Celia was pretty sure she'd never seen Liusaidh pass to another chaser.

She nodded at Indi's explanation. "We could practice together, if you want? If you throw the quaffle towards me, I can try to hit it back." Celia had been looking forward to just flying around the pitch, but maybe she could keep Indi talking if she volunteered to practice with her.

 

[Indira Khatri]

Indi gave Celia a surprised look when she asked about Natalia. "Have you spoken to her?" she asked incredulously. "She's awful." she said as if that explained everything. And as far as she was concerned it did. She wasn't sure how anyone could be around her and not want to pull their hair out. Even talking about her was getting her irritated and she appreciated talking about their other teammates as a distraction.

She shrugged when the younger girl asked about why Ruben was even a captain. "No clue." she said bluntly. "Maybe Blake had a think about wanting to have a seeker as captain. He was weird and intense but at least he got results." she theorized but wasn't very confident about it. Indi wanted to point out that pretty much all of the chasers on the team didn't want to practice with others, but she kept that thought to herself. She liked having Celia listen to her and didn't want to leave the wrong impression. "I don't know what her deal is." she said instead. Which was true she didn't understand a lot about the older girl.

"Well I don't have any better ideas." she grumbled reluctantly and took to the sky, letting Celia take the quaffle that she had picked up earlier. "Quaffles are bigger than bludgers, do you think you can handle it?" Indi asked teasingly.

 

[Celia Vuong]

Celia stayed silent for a few moment, hoping Indi would elaborate. When not further explanation was provided, she shrugged. "I have, and she seems nice enough. Maybe a bit serious, but nice." Truth be told, Celia did sometimes feel on edge while talking to Natalia, like she was one sentence away from slipping up. But that was probably also because she had to work harder to conceal her muggle upbringing when she was with Natalia.

She frowned. "That seems unfair." Even if seeker was one of the most important positions in Quidditch, that didn't automatically make them good captains. Case in point, Ruben. "Think Ruben will pick a co-captain next year?" She paused, pretending as if her next thought just came to her. "You could end up co-captain," she pointed out, curious to see how Indi would react. At Indi's next comment, she laughed lightly. "I don't think anyone does."

Celia followed Indi into the sky, smiling at her comment. "You're the one with the harder job. I'm a smaller target than the hoops." She paused to hover and tossed the quaffle into the air before swinging her bat. The difference in weight meant she hit it towards Indi a bit harder than she'd intended. "Sorry!" she called. Hopefully Indi would catch it, but if she got hit, at least it wouldn't hurt as much as a bludger.

 

[Indira Khatri]

Indi made a disgusted face when Celia said Natalia seemed nice enough. Obviously they couldn't be talking about the same person. But it didn't surprise her that Natalia would pick and choose who she wasn't awful too. But she could see right through that act. "If you say so. But I'm not about to believe that for a second." she scoffed. She hadn't really believed that was the reason Blake had chosen Ruben but she shrugged. There was all kinds of favoritism going around the school, why would this be an acceptation. "He probably should. It's not like he knows anything about winning." she said dryly. Indi let out a laugh when Celia suggested she might be chosen for captain. She wouldn't turn down an opportunity like that but she didn't think it was likely. "Doubtful." was all she said though.

She wasn't about to argue with Celia about who had the more difficult position, but if the younger girl wanted to believe it was her she wasn't about to say anything to contradict that. Indi watched as she hit the quaffle with the bat and it came soaring towards her. She had to rise to meet the ball and caught it solidly but the force of it nearly knocked her off balance. She recovered quickly and shook out her hand that stung a bit now. "Good hit." she said tightly before Indi took off to fly around the pitch. She figured moving targets made harder targets and she didn't see the point of taking it easy now.

 

[Celia Vuong]

This hatred for Natalia seemed to run deep, and it only made Celia more curious. "I take it she's not nice to you?" she asked, wondering if she could provoke Indi into a more in-depth answer. She smirked at Indi's comment about Ruben. It was nice to know she wasn't the only one who was frustrated with their captain. Next year would be interest for sure. She raised her eyebrows when Indi laughed at the suggestion that she could be the next co-captain. "Well it's not like he's going to pick Liusaidh" Celia thought that as one of the more experienced members of the team, Indi's chances were pretty good. (Incidentally, this was also the reason why Celia had chosen to come to her for Quidditch gossip).

They started their practice, and Celia tried not to feel too smug when Indi shook out her hand. It was good to know she could hit hard. Sometimes, with the bludgers, it felt like the iron balls themselves were doing most of the work, and she was just guiding them towards their targets. She took off after Indi, trying to fly parallel to the other girl. "You going to throw it?" Celia called out, her bat held aloft and at the ready.