Open School of Hard Knocks

[Ignatius Wolffort]

Ignatius would've given anything to go home to his parents. His mother would spoil him rotten, and his father would make grand statements about how all the business and prestige they had would be his one day. He liked that far more than whatever was going on right now. School was horrible, and far from the anticipated glory of Quidditch the training sessions were a nightmare. The captain, in his infinite wisdom, had put four beaters on the team and after a few practice sessions Ignatius was sure his bruises had bruises. It was only the knowledge that crying and throwing a tantrum would not make it stop that prevented him from doing so.

He should have just quit, leave Slytherin without a seeker and make them suffer for it, but the lure of personal glory was far too much. He hoped the bruises would give him the power to catch the snitch, and then, once it was caught, wield the prestige it brought him to get the captain and his hideous twin brother removed from power.

No, he hadn't thought about what came next. After all, Ignatius had never had to. Not when everything was handed to him and even poor grades were meaningless in the grand scheme of things. But stumbling into the Hospital Wing after another brutal training session, Ignatius felt uneasy. And it wasn't just the nausea from another round of bludger hits. (That was most of it, though). By now, he basically had his own bed set aside for the aftermath of every practice session. That was not the kind of power he had wanted his name to hold, but that's where it was at this point. He fell onto the bed with a whine, more thoughts jumbling around his brain than he was used to holding at once.

 

[Sayuri Edogawa]

Practice for the Slytherin Quidditch Team was weird. Or at least that was Sayuri’s opinion. It was weird not playing as a chaser team with Eli and Jonah against Rose. Instead she was roughhousing with an upperclassman - the captain’s twin. She thought they’d make a good team though even if he was supposed to graduate this year. A shame really. Jonah wouldn’t know what hit him if they ever played Hufflepuff this year. The weirdest though was the lack of bludgers coming her way.

Sayuri supposed calling it a lack was just a little bit too discrediting too their beaters. There were four of them after all. Sayuri didn’t think it was too weird though, in a family where everyone played Quidditch after their mother had taught them everything she knew, well it was fair to say that there were quite the talented beaters in her family. All of them went pro. And all of them do not go easy on the younger kids during games so yeah, Sayuri was used to being whacked with a bludger. Repeatedly. By her siblings. All in good fun. Mum still had the meanest swing though and everyone knew it was for the best to avoid any bludgers she would send during practice. Legends say Corey-nii never recovered.

So yes, while Sayuri would agree that Slytherin practice was particularly challenging, and the bludger hits she’d gotten today as she walked behind Ignatius ached, she didn’t really think it was worth all the whining he was doing. “Oh quit whining like a baby already or are you going to keep whining during the games too.” She probably could have been a bit more sympathetic but hey, he really shouldn’t have been a seeker if he sucked at avoiding bludgers so much. Even bludgers sent his way by beaters.​

 

[Kanako Kurosawa]

"Try to be at least a bit nice, Edogawa," Kanako said, entering the room, carrying a plate of tarts and catching Sayuri's words. She was a little annoyed that the seeker hadn't taken her up on her offer to help him, especially since Kanako very rarely offered to help strangers. Or anyone else, really. Maybe it was slightly her fault that he got hit but she only basically only hit him once. "They taking care of you properly here?" Kanako then asked the seeker (the title he'd perpetually be known as to her). She placed the plate of tarts on the bedside table as though they were an afterthought. They smelled fresh, and looked appetising. "Take one if you want," she said with a shrug to both Sayuri and Ignatius.