Y23 Hufflepuff Quidditch Try Outs

[Graeme Fergusson]

Graeme had been elated at the fact that he of all people was Quidditch captain. He knew that the team had had issues in the past but he was looking forward to pushing the team hard. He didn't think it would be overly hard to do so. He was feeling pretty confident about it. Graeme spent all of his time in New Zealand during the holidays and since hearing about his appointment he'd spent the vast majority of it practicing. The hufflepuff wasn't sure what he wanted to do when he left school but quidditch seemed like a good thing, something he could aspire to do. Join a professional team, maybe even his national team. At this moment in time though, Graeme just wanted to do Hufflepuff justice. Now, all he had to do was get his team together, the people that remained and help fashion a new and great team. Graeme was sure he could manage it, they had some really great players. Graeme had joined the team in first year. He was sure it had been then. It felt like he'd always been on the team. He didn't think it would be too hard for him to work with the others on his team and help bring a few victories. He was more than certain that this would happen for them this time around. Graeme knew that they'd lost a couple of good players, but he was confident in Hufflepuff and hopefully some fresh young talent.

That morning, the Scottish teen woke up with butterflies wrecking havoc in his stomach. Choosing simple and casual clothing he'd paired a pair of tracksuit trousers with a hufflepuff jumper. Simple. Nothing was really necessary when it came to quidditch. All too soon, it was time. His debut as captain. Well, really he was on the pitch a little earlier than the actual start time of the try-outs but that was just so he could warm up a little. Spend a few moments flying around getting himself warmed up. He flew back to the ground when he could spot people heading towards the pitch and waited for hufflepuff students to arrive. Once everyone appeared to have arrived he grinned gleefully at them all. "Welcome Hufflepuffs!" he greeted them warmly, his accent thick. "I'm Graeme, and I'm quidditch captain, and also a chaser" he looked at the crowd spotting a few of the team members. "Welcome to the Hufflepuff try-outs. Any questions should be directed tae me. Remember tae have fun, and the best of luck to all of you. I'm sure together we can help build a great team tae take hame the cup!" Graeme kept things short and simple. All it needed to be really.
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Out of Character:

If you were on the team last year, you must post your arrival and you will be guaranteed your spot. Everyone else, we can always use lots of players, so one post with your arrival and try out! The line up might change heavily, so it's all to play for! Alternates from last IC year, have to try out for spots again.

First years, you can PM me to approve before posting here. If I say no, you can defend your request. Below is the team, and the available positions.

Player's Name	Position
Chaos Zhefarovich	Beater
Available	Beater
Scarlet Joussane	Seeker
Graeme Fergusson	Chaser, Captain
Charlotte Lurken	Chaser
Available	Chaser
Lydia Archer	Keeper
Available	Alternates!

[th colspan="2"] Current Line Up[/th]

 

[Chaos Zhefarovich]

Chaos Zhefarovich once more made his way through the crowds of the students, and then toward the pitch. This was his second year of being on the team, and he was a beater. He was proud for what he had accomplished. Although the yellow definitely contrasted against his purple eyes, he still believed that he was going to be really good with beating the bludgers, but he hoped that the games would last a little longer so he could inflict actual pain. He arrived to the pitch and waved toward the new captain. Perhaps this person would be better than the last captain, who made him want to aim a hit at her.
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[Mason Greene]

Mason Greene was a little excited about this year. Both he and Matt were going to try out for their houses for Quidditch. Both managed to save up a lot of money for brooms and gear. However, Matt was not sure on which position he wanted to be, but it was not chaser. Mason was one of those that wanted to be a chaser. He liked handling the quaffle, and after some practice, he was ready to try out! Mason just hoped that his clumsiness would not reflect today. He would be horrified if he had dropped something, or worse, flew into someone. He let out a sigh and he walked down to the pitch with his purple broom over his shoulders. He held on to it with both arms, and hoped that he did not look too strange. A lot happened over the break and last year. He and Matt had a little sister! Madison! Mason and Matt did not want to move in with their dad though. Lucius Verdelet, the nurse at the school, was their uncle and he took very good care of them. Mason was happy with his life now, and could not ask for more.

Mason found the pitch, and approached the captain. He listened to instructions, and he announced, "Mason Greene, and trying out for Chaser!" Mason swung his leg over the broom and he flew up. He went from a school broom to a streak, and he still had to adjust to the speed. He handed a quaffle and went toward the hoops. He just hoped that he would do pretty well. Letting out a sigh, he swung his arm and the quaffle went hurling toward the hoop. It was saved by the keeper, and he was sad. He retrieved it back, and swerving around, Mason attempted to score once more. This time, he scored! Mason was so surprised, he almost did not stop his broom. He almost hit the hoops himself, but he saved himself. He took the quaffle once more. Mason continued through the try outs, and he managed to score a couple more times, but the keeper blocked more of his attempts than the scores. He was just happy with the fact that he did it without falling off the broom. Mason landed and he waved the captain as he left. He was quite excited over the results that may come from the try outs.​

 

[Alexander Nightray]

Alexander Nightray didn't expect that he would enjoy quidditch as much as he did. Originally, he had tried out on his first year for his father, but years passed and the usually dispassionate young boy had grown to like the sport. It was obvious with the way that his usually inexpressive eyes would light up whenever the conversation involved quidditch, or how he had spent hours practicing even during the break even though he did not really have to. Quidditch had easily written itself on the small list of the things that he actually liked doing without being told. His father didn't have to tell him to try out for the team. This year, he was going to try out because he wanted to.

With his trusted broom, the young hufflepuff made his way down the pitch. He had been the team's alternate keeper for two years and had played in several games already. He enjoyed being a keeper, but this year, he wanted to try something different. It took him days to come up with that decision. It would be easier to try out to be a keeper again, after all, he was used to being one. However, he decided that to grow as a quidditch player, and to know which position suited him best; it would be better to try out for the others. He had thought of being a seeker, but that would be too drastic of a change from his previous position. A chaser would be good too, after all, he had been a keeper, he at least, would like to think that he had an idea how a keeper's mind worked. But he realized that being a chaser would require him to work too closely with the other chasers, and that was something he wasn't sure that he could do right away. He had been learning how to be a good team player, but the level of coordination and trust that was required for such position may be too difficult for someone like him. That's why he had decided to try out to be a beater. He thought that the two positions were quite similar. The keeper defends the hoops to prevent the opponents from scoring; the beaters try to protect the team's players. His build would give him an advantage too. And though not only related to quidditch, trying out for a position that required an active participation in the game and interacting with his teammates would help him be more of a team player. It seemed like the most reasonable position for him to try out for.

Alexander greeted and congratulated their new captain as soon as he reached the pitch."Alexander Nightray, trying out for beater, but I can also be a fair keeper." He said flatly, merely adding the last part to show his that he didn't mind being an alternate keeper again should the situation call for it. He grabbed a bat before he took up into the air. After playing quidditch for years, he had grown used to flying. He was already used to flying a broom with one hand. He swung the bat a few times to familiarize himself with it, he couldn't risk accidentally hitting his teammates straight on the face after all. He did a lap around the pitch, looking for bludgers, before he flanked the side of a chaser trying to score a goal. He heard it first before he saw it. He turned his broom around just in time to hit a speeding bludger away from him. Any second late and it would have hit the chaser that he had been trying to protect. A small frown graced his face. He could do better than this, he knew he could. He once again heard an angry whistle and saw a bludger speeding towards the right side of the chasers. He was guarding their left side. He made a sharp turn and willed his broom to go faster as he raced towards the other side of the chasers' formation. This bludger looked faster; he knew he had to use both hands to successfully send it away from them. He couldn't hesitate now. There was no time to waste. It was either that he slips and loses his balance or the bludger hit him or the chasers. He wouldn't let the latter happen. He decided to be a beater. He had to protect these chasers. He had to protect his team. He had to protect his house. He grabbed the bat with both hands, letting go of his broom, and summoning as much strength as he could muster, smacked the bludger away. He did it. He didn't lose his balance. And most of all, he protected his team. Before he realized it, a rare smile made its way to his face. It stayed even as he flew around to continue to protect his team and knock those bludgers away. By the time that he landed to await the decision of their captain, he was still smiling. He didn't mind being an alternate again, but after this, he had finally decided, he wouldn't give up quidditch no matter what.​

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[Lydia Warrick]

Lydia was very pleased to be a part of the Hufflepuff quidditch team. She had always thought of Quidditch as the greatest sport on earth, so being able to play for her house team was really nothing less than the most amazing part of her time so far at Hogwarts. She enjoyed the training and she found that she really wasn't half bad. So, it was a pretty good thing that she was able to be a part of it. Lydia knew that today was try-out day. She knew that she would be already on the team, but always keen to get some practice in she was already kitted out in her uniform, well, what she called her practice uniform, which consisted of sports clothes and a hoody, a large hoody with the hufflepuff crest proudly on the front. She had her broom in hand and headed to the pitch. Watching as the new quidditch captain introduced the try-outs. She decided to just practice a little bit and help people out if they needed her to do that. She knew she perhaps wasn't the best on the team, but she was by no means the worst either. And while they had a good team she was looking forward to helping make a perfect team.
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[Charlotte Lurken]

Charlotte arrived on the Quidditch pitched, geared up in some old clothes and ready to see the new recruits try out for the Quidditch team and lend a helping hand where she could. She hoped this would be a good year Hufflepuff and for herself. She’d played a fair few games now by this point and she’d yet to score many goals for the team. She hated letting her team down but she was doing the best she could and that was really could ask of her. She waited with the rest of the team as she watched the new people try out, they weren’t too bad but they would no doubt get better with practice. Helping out where needed she felt good to be up in the air again and playing the game she loved so much. Sure she had played with Peter when she could during the holidays but he was becoming a major Quidditch Player now and was getting more and more in demand to play that it wasn’t always possible to get to play with him. Charlotte was proud of her brother so she didn’t mind so much but at times she still just wanted her older brother. When tryouts were over Charlotte grabbed her broom and made her way back to the castle looking forward to getting this year underway.

 

[Victoria Havelock]

Tori wasn't going to tryout for the Quidditch team. She didn't like Quidditch. She wasn't going to do it. That's what Tori told herself since the first day of the new semester. It wasn't true, she loved Quidditch but she didn't want to put herself in a position to fail. She hated failure. When the time came she ignored the voice in her head and went for it. She knew her sister would be insanely jealous when she saw the sport and saw her sister playing it and that only made Tori smile and want to do it more. She could remember seeing the current roster at the beginning of the year when the notice for the tryouts went up. A couple of positions were available noticeably that of Beater. Tori had a surprising amount of aggression for a little girl and enjoyed hitting things, frankly it seemed too good to be true. As Tori got dressed for the tryout in the changing room she made a mental note that she would buy herself a broom if she made the team, for the time being she would have to use one of the school brooms and if she could impress using one of them then she really was good.

There was surprisingly few people trying out for beater which made Tori very happy, the fewer people to compete with and the fewer people to look stupid in front of made her feel much more at ease as she headed over to the captain. "My name is Tori Havelock I'm trying out for Beater," She swung her leg over her broom, gripped her on loan beater club in her hand and took off. Flying with one hand was strange but she soon got her bearings and was navigating the skies easily swinging the bar in her hand while scanning the horizon for a flash black. In the corner of her eye she watched as wannabe chasers took shots at wannabe keepers. She smiled but she didn't know why. Tori had no time to think about it either as she suddenly saw a flash of something dark and heavy hurtling towards the trialist in front of the hoops and he had no idea it was coming. She leaned forward on her broom and shot forward like a cannon, out one corner of her eye she tracked the bludger, the other she made sure she wasn't going to hit the keeper herself. Tori pulled up just before the keeper who flinches, she had no time to consider the feelings of the keeper as she stood firm and took a massive swing to sent the bludger hurtling the other way. She grinned and returned to her look out position.

Tor's tryout flew by, at least that's how it felt when she came back down to the ground. She dealt with a further two bludgers after the keeper incident. One she stopped a bludger breaking one of the seekers arms, in her eyes it would have been his own fault. The kid was so focused on the snitch he was oblivious to what was going on around him. The other incident, funnily enough involved another beater who was tracking one bludger but seemed to forget there was two and almost had his broom smashed in half. He was not grateful for Tori's assistance but she didn't care, she returned to the ground feeling like she did a good job.

 

[Scarlett Vittori]

Scarlet Joussane was late. She was absolutely late. She wasn't normally tardy but today she overslept and nobody could really blame her for it. A lot had happened over the course of a few months and though she normally wouldn't let much distraction into her mind this time it obviously wasn't working. Maybe it had something to do with the sudden rift in her relationship with Jake that she had no clue what was about. Heaving a sigh, she arrived at the Quidditch Pitch after running all the way from the Hufflepuff dorms. After catching her breath, she approached their new team captain and gave out a quick apology. "Sorry I'm late! Won't happen again," she said as she quickly shied away and went away to help those who needed assistance though she doubted any would need it.
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[Graeme Fergusson]

OOC: Due to try outs and the games being around the corner, this is the line up. Try outs have been open for almost 2 weeks. If you didn't have time, just send me a PM and I'll work with you. This is the line up.
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Player's Name	Position
Chaos Zhefarovich	Beater
Victoria Havelock	Beater
Scarlet Joussane	Seeker
Graeme Fergusson	Chaser, Captain
Charlotte Lurken	Chaser
Mason Greene	Chaser
Lydia Archer	Keeper
Alexander Nightray	Alternate Keeper/Beater

[th colspan="2"] Current Line Up[/th]

Also do not forget to have your picture in the yearbook, HERE.