Open My Methods Are Controversial

[Celia Vu]

After much consideration, Celia had decided that Gryffindor was the wildcard team of the year. Sure, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw had solid chasers, but their seekers and beaters — the players who actually mattered — were almost comically terrible. Gryffindor's beaters at least knew how to aim. And their seeker was an unknown quantity. Celia could only recall seeing Elara play once before, and it was impossible to know how good she was or what her flying style was like.

Thankfully, there was a solution to that: Celia just had to watch the Gryffindor tryouts. However, she'd taken a couple precautions before joining the stands. Even though Isaiah seemed like the kind of person who didn't take anything seriously, she doubted he would be happy to see the Slytherin captain watching his team's tryouts. So she'd brewed herself a Shrinking Solution that had set her age back to 12 and applied a Color Changing Charm that turned her hair blonde. It had rained earlier that day, so Celia was able to further hide half her face with the hood of her cloak. A large red scarf took care of the other half.

She was utterly unrecognizable.

It helped that Gryffindor tryouts were usually well-attended, and Celia did her best to blend in with the other overeager first and second year spectators. She just hoped none of them tried to talk to her. Down below, on the pitch, a younger boy was taking off, and Celia barely suppressed a smirk as he nearly crashed into a goalpost. However, after a series of wild maneuvers and a risky dive, he had the snitch clutched in his fist. Celia narrowed her eyes.

 

[Senna Overby]

I'm sorry I couldn't resist and also the Isaiah line had me deceased

With so few spots to fill on the team Senna had decided that she wouldn't be attending try-outs this year. Or she would be attending, she just wouldn't be trying out. There was no way she was going to give up on the chance to cheer Josh on though. Even if it was just for him to keep his position as an alternate. And who knew, maybe they could fly a few laps together once try-outs were over. Toss a quaffle back and forth for a bit. If he made the team she was sure he would be glad for the extra practice.

After climbing her way up to the top of the stands Senna glanced around for a second to see if anyone she knew had decided to show up as well. She didn't see anyone that stood out to her as familiar so she just found herself a good seat near another girl. Sen watched as try-outs proceeded, grimacing when Rāwhiti almost flew straight into one of the goalposts. "Oof, that was close, hey?" She turned to the blonde girl close to her, wondering if she'd be appreciative of her quidditch commentary. Or at least up for discussing what was happening during try-outs. Without talking about it watching them definitely wasn't as interesting.

 

[Celia Vu]

Celia knew better than to expect peace while sitting among a crowd of Gryffindors, and yet she was still surprised when the girl sitting next to her struck up a conversation. Didn't she have any other friends to bother? But Celia knew what she had to do, and she pasted on a bright smile — the same stupid grin every single Gryffindor seemed to be born with. "Hi!" Celia froze. It suddenly occurred to her that though she'd been able to change her appearance quite well, she couldn't do anything about her accent. Should she try a Kiwi accent? No, there was too much room for error. She just had to keep going.

"Right? I thought he was for sure going to crash," Celia chattered, trying not to wince at how high-pitched her voice sounded. Had she really sounded like that when she was 12? "But it looks like it worked!" The boy's technique was unrefined, but there was an inkling of promise. Celia watched as he continued to zip around the pitch, curious to see if that one catch was just luck. "Do you know his name?" If she was going to get roped into a conversation with this girl, then she might as well try and get something out of it.

 

[Senna Overby]

Senna was glad the girl didn't mind her talking to her. Although she hadn't expected anything different from anyone being up in the stands to watch the try-outs. Had it been Slytherin then perhaps she wouldn't have been succesful in chatting with anyone near her. "Yeah, I did too for a second there." She nodded in agreement when the girl mentioned thinking Rāwhiti was going to crash. She was glad he hadn't though, that would've been a nasty sight to see. "I know right? That was a solid catch. Wonder if he'll make the team." Senna grinned. If anything, she just hoped Josh made the team. He had already been an alternate for a year though so she figured his chances were pretty good.

"Yeah, that's Rāwhiti. He's a third year." She answered the girls questions, cocking her head a little out of curiousity. If she didn't know his name than surely she wasn't in their year. Which made Senna realize she didn't think she had actually ever seen the girl before. "What year are you in? I don't think I've seen you before. Or are you new? Did you transfer? In that case: hi, I'm Senna!"

 

[Celia Vu]

"Or it's just dumb luck," Celia countered before remembering she was probably supposed to be more positive, like this girl. "But maybe the captain will be impressed by his daring," she said in a cheerier tone though she didn't really believe it. Elara and Isaiah were allegedly dating, and Celia had a hard time believing he would choose this kid over his girlfriend, especially since it was her final year.

Rāwhiti. Celia committed the name to memory. Even if he didn't make it as a starter, there was a good chance he would be an alternate, and Celia fully intended on making all the alternate seekers play this year. She tried to follow Rāwhiti as he flew around the pitch, but it seemed this girl was intent on getting to know her. God, why were all Gryffindors like this? At least she was prepared. "I'm a transfer," Celia confirmed with a bright smile. "Second year." It was a risky guess, but she assumed Senna was also a third year if she knew Rāwhiti. "My name's Isla," she said, borrowing the name of one of her friends from elementary school.

 

[Senna Overby]

Senna considered the girl's remark for a minute. Almost bumping into a goalpost and still managing to avoid it and catch the snitch didn't sound like sumb luck. Although perhaps it could be. But she liked to think it had just ben a good catch. "Yeah, maybe." She nodded confidently in agreement. "I honestly can't wait to see what the lineup'll be. Especially when it comes to the seeker spot. Maybe we'll finally win the cup this year!" She grinned excitedly.

In an attempt to let the girl speak before bombaring her bit questions Senna tried to bite her tongue. Make sure she could at least confirm she was a transfer. She had to be, right? Otherwise Senna was sure she would've seen her around at least somewhere. At the house table. Or in the common room. "That's so cool! Where did you transfer from? Do you like it here? Is it like.. better than your previous school? It's obviously better, right? I mean no offense." She rambled again, grinning when the girl introduced herself. "Cool. I'm Senna."

 

[Celia Vu]

Celia had to fight back an incredulous look. Did the girl really think the lineup was going to be any sort of surprise? Then again, she supposed not many people followed Quidditch as closely as she did. To be fair, that was a fairly recent development. Before she'd been made captain, Celia hadn't even bothered learning the names of the chasers and keepers on the other teams. At the comment about the cup, Celia smirked. "Maybe!" she affirmed cheerfully.

Celia could practically see the girl struggling to keep quiet, and it wasn't long before she was hit with another torrent of questions. "Ilvermony," she answered. Hogwarts NZ aside, it was the school she was most familiar with and the only one that would match her accent. "I got here a couple days ago, so it's hard to tell," she said diplomatically. Or was that too neutral? "But I love Hogwarts so far!" Celia hoped her smile didn't look as strained as it felt. She blinked when Senna re-introduced herself. "You said that already," she was unable to resist pointing out. Gryffindors weren't exactly known for their intelligence, but this girl took that stereotype to a whole new level. Celia was momentarily distracted from the conversation when she saw Rāwhiti swoop through the air and catch the snitch a second time. Her eyes widened, and it took her a second to remember Senna was still there. "Wow! Did you see that?"

 

[Senna Overby]

Senna was glad the other girl seemed excited about the idea of Gryffindor perhaps having a chance at the cup this year. She wasn't sure how long it had been since they had even gotten a shot at it so she hoped they would come up with the best team they could get. "Right. Explains the accent." Sen chuckled when Isla mentioned what school she had transferred from. To be fair, she hadn'd paid much use to the girl's accent so far. There were so many people from different placed around the school that accents didn't stand out as much. She frowned when the girl seemed to be unsure in what she thought about Hogwarts, her frown quickly turning into a grin when she ended by saying she loved it so far. "Right? You'll totally love it even more when you've been here for a while!" She replied excitedly, being a little taken aback when Isla didn't seem too impressed by her introducing herself. Again. Sen took a second to think back on their conversation before bursting out into laughter. "I did, didn't I? I'm sorry I tend to get a little excited and then my brain gets-" She laughed, cut off by the other girl's words and quickly turning her attention back to the players on the pitch just in time to see Rawhiti hold up the snitch again. "No way! He's for sure going to make the team." She nodded confidently. "Did you not want to try out?"

 

[Celia Vu]

Celia wondered what it would like to be Senna and to love Hogwarts so unabashedly. She couldn't understand how some of her schoolmates could be so oblivious to the school's flaws — and there were a lot of them. With all the praise people heaped onto the school, Celia sometimes felt as if she was being constantly gaslit. What could they see that she couldn't? "What do you like about Hogwarts?" she asked, genuinely curious.

It was remarkable how transparent Senna was. Once again, Celia could almost see the Gryffindor's tiny brain struggle to play back their conversation. However they were quickly distracted by Rāwhiti. "For sure!" Isaiah would have to be an idiot not to take him on as an alternate at the very least. Especially since his girlfriend seemed to be struggling. "The other seekers seem to be having a hard time," she said, clicking her tongue in faux sympathy. At Senna's question, Celia shook her head and shuddered a little for dramatic effect. "Oh, no. I could never. I'm scared of heights, and bludgers are terrifying," she said, quite enjoying the lie. "Barely anyone played at my old school. Quadpot's a lot more popular." It was a little strange to think that she likely never would have become a beater if she had gotten her wish and gone to Ilvermorny. "What about you? Why aren't you trying out?" she asked, knowing that returning the question was the polite thing to do.