Closed Reaching for the Glory

[Celia Vuong]

Up until now, Celia thought she'd done a decent job of keeping her personal feelings separate from her Quidditch responsibilities. It had been years since she'd hit anyone out of anger — a feat admittedly made easier by Ares' graduation — and she'd even allowed Ivelisse to play despite wanting nothing more than to permanently bench her. But now that it was time to select her successor, Celia was struggling. Her first instinct was to pick Seamus. Personal feelings aside, he did well during practice, and she liked the idea of giving it to a beater (the ability to hit bludgers at underperforming players was an invaluable tool for a captain to have.) She knew he would be committed to the position and that it'd help his ambitions of playing professionally.

But there was another talented, longtime member of the team to consider: Avery. His skills were undeniable, and Celia could still remember her awe watching him fly circles around Ivelisse as a second year. He'd also managed the one thing Seamus had so far failed to do — translate his accomplishments in practice to success in matches. It was this fact that Celia kept coming back to even as she made a thousand arguments either way. Championships were determined by what happened during matches, not practices, and she knew it would be a mistake to bet on potential instead of a track record of success.

No one could ever accuse Celia Vuong of being fair, especially not after the prefect meeting earlier that year, but Quidditch captain was the one leadership position she'd always taken seriously. She wanted to choose the best person for the role. But even now, as Celia flagged Avery down at the end of a practice, she wasn't sure she'd made the right decision. It was too late to change her mind, however, and she pushed aside her doubts to give Avery a small smile. "Can you stay for a few minutes? There's something I want to talk to you about."

 

[Avery Lancaster]

There had been a lot on Avery's mind as of late, and while he did his best to lead a relatively simple life, as he grew older it seemed life was intent on becoming anything but simple. Who could have predicted that growing up came with so many unwanted stresses? There seemed to be some new obstacle at every turn that no amount of gazing into a crystal ball could have prepared him for, and with so much going on between the drama of life at home, and the challenges of his life at school, his attention had been slipping - as had his grades, though he wasn't sure his parents had noticed yet, wrapped up in their own issues as they were.

Despite stretching his thoughts between too many changing points in his life, there was always one constant he could rely on to refocus his attentions. Quidditch provided a consistency and familiarity that he found a great comfort in. It was one of the few things that gave him a clear sense of purpose, one singular goal he could focus all of his attention on without any other distractions. When his one job was to find the snitch, it made everything feel far simpler. There was only win or lose, without much room for further nuance. Straightforward. Simple. Safe.

So when Celia called on him after practice, Avery did not enjoy the feeling of uncertainty that surged through his chest, though he nodded his agreement all the same. He liked Celia, admired her, even, but she wasn't someone you said no to. Nor did he think that she was the type to pull someone aside for many positive reasons. Then again if he'd done something wrong, or let his thoughts wander in the middle of a practice, he'd come to have expected a more public lecture than a private one. "Of course. Is there something wrong?" He asked, brow briefly creasing in his attempt to discern what she was after. She didn't appear unhappy, which in itself was at the very least mildly reassuring.​

 

[Celia Vuong]

If Celia was being honest, she had considered doing the whole "we need to talk" schtick just to mess with Avery a bit. She did quite enjoy intimidating people. But in the end, Celia had decided to make a conscious effort not to scare him, even offering him a small smile. So it was amusing to see that Avery still seemed nervous. She would have assumed it was obvious that this could only be about something good; if she'd been upset with him, she would've just sent an extra bludger his way during practice.

"No, nothing's wrong," Celia said with a slightly amused smile, deciding to take pity on Avery and put him out of his misery. Her expression grew serious. "As you know, I'm leaving at the end of the year. The team will need a new captain, and I want you to take over." She deliberately did not frame it as a question, in part because she couldn't fathom anyone not wanting to be captain, but also because she'd spent a lot of time thinking about this, and this was the conclusion she'd arrived at. She still didn't know if it was the right one, but now that she'd put it in motion, she had to see it through.

 

[Avery Lancaster]

Avery relaxed somewhat, though the uncertainty around what Celia could have possibly wanted from him lingered, and with that a sense of discomfort at the unknown. No one pulled Avery aside for anything. No one had ever needed to. His brow deepened and he nodded his quiet understanding - Celia graduating was a reality he'd already considered. The tone of the Quidditch team had shifted drastically since their last captain, and he had no doubt the tone would shift again with her gone. What he hadn't considered was the fact that he could potentially be the one to guide the team forward.

There was a beat, while Avery processed what he'd been told. But it was only a beat. "Alright." He agreed flatly. He wasn't entirely sure how he should have been feeling in the moment. Excited? Terrified? Neither of those feelings seemed to immediately come to him, though a sense of pride blossomed at the back of his thoughts. His parents had been captain of this very same team, and now here he was with the potential to be just that. He didn't doubt that he could do it if he needed to, so he certainly wasn't going to question the choice. Leading a team was going to be challenging, sure, but he'd learned from the best. If the captain had faith in him, that was enough to tell him he'd be fine. Perhaps the greatest challenge he'd face would be his inability to "motivate" the team with bludgers the same way Celia did, though he was sure he'd find his own footing on the matter. "What do I need to know?"​

 

[Celia Vuong]

For the briefest moment, Celia wondered if Avery was going to refuse, but then he assented. His rather flat answer was a little unexpected, yet not surprising. On a team full of hot-headed personalities, Avery had always been much more reserved, which she appreciated. One of her Quidditch pet peeves was her teammates acting as if it were her fault that they'd gotten hit by a bludger, and Avery at least knew how to take a hit without b*tching about it.

"I'm sure you already know the basics." He had been on the team for five years, after all. "You'll run practices and tryouts, and you'll set the starting lineups. It's not a hard job if you don't want it to be." It really was up to the person holding the role how much work they wanted to put in. Some captains, like Eleanor, barely did anything. "Unfortunately, you can't kick anyone off the team," she said with a small grimace. Terror aside, Celia liked to think she'd mostly set Avery up for success with her picks, but she had no idea if he would agree. "You can bench them, but you can't kick them off. Unless they're alternates. You don't have to keep the current alternates around next year if you don't want to." Toby had been another disappointing choice, and Celia wondered if Avery would find a better seeker to replace him. She hesitated. "Honestly, it doesn't really matter what you do as captain as long as you catch the snitch." As captain, Celia had refrained from sharing her views on the uselessness of chasers and keepers since she didn't want to demoralize her teammates. But she figured she could be frank with Avery now, at the end of her tenure. "And I know you can do that."