Y43 Gryffindor Quidditch Try-Outs

[Isaiah Thompson]

Isaiah couldn't help but to be excited to be back at school. Be excited for another year of Quidditch. Even with Gryffindor's track record being the way it was. There was no way he was going to leave the school without giving it all he'd got for one more year of Quidditch. With Flynn now gone he knew there odds had changed once again but he had promised himself he was going to stay hopeful. Motivated. Because if he wasn't, than how was his team supposed to be?

He'd made his way onto the pitch early to make sure everything was in order for try-outs. The weather wasn't optimal but it could definitely be worse. The sky was covered in clouds and the wind was chilly but at least it had stopped raining for a while. Hopefully it would stay that way a bit longer. Although having try-outs in the rain might just help bring out people's real skills. "'Sup you guys, welcome to Gryffindor try-outs!" Zay grinned at the students gathered in front of him. "My name's Isaiah, or Zay, and I am your captain." He added, still proud that somehow Nikko had seen the potential in him. "I'm hoping it'll stay dry for the duration of try-outs but in an attempt to not press our luck let's just get right to it. Returning players, you know what to do. I expect you guys to help out anyone trying out but also just look at this as a practice session. Take it seriously." He told his team in perhaps a more professional manner than they were used to from him. He just really wanted them to do good this year. "For anyone new trying out please come up to tell me your name and what position you're going for. Let's go!"

Position	Player
Seeker	OPEN
Beater	Isaiah Thompson (c)
Beater	Aurora Archer
Chaser	Zephryn Spencer
Chaser	Soren Gates
Chaser	Louis Alcott
Keeper	Genevieve Fuentes
Alternates	OPEN

Out of Character:

Returning team members must post to keep their spot on the team. Alternates must try out again!

First years are not allowed to try out unless there are still spaces that need to be filled. If you have a first year that's interested shoot me a PM.

 

[Aurora Archer]

Aurora was very excited to be on the team for another year. She arrived at the pitch very very eagerly. She looked between the other people who had arrived at the pitch. Aurora glanced at the captain. She had gotten over her crush on him, but he was still one of the cutest boys in the school. The gryffindor got on her broom and shot up into the air.

 

[Max Goose]

Max excitedly made his way onto the Quidditch pitch with his cousin's broomstick in hand. After spending an entire week at Charlie's house so that he could practise his skills on a broom, he finally thought that he was ready to participate in the tryouts. He was still a little shaky on a broom at times but he didn't think that it would matter much so long as he could do his job. Hopefully, he wasn't wrong about that. Joining the others, the boy quietly listened to Isaiah as he introduced himself to everyone. While it was probably said towards the returning players on the team, Max nodded when Zay told them to take it seriously. Who wasn't going to take Quidditch seriously anyway? ''Hello, I'm Max Goose and I'll be trying out for Keeper, or Seeker, or any other position really,'' the Gryffindor said with a smile. Max knew that the team didn't necessarily need a backup Keeper but that wasn't going to stop him from trying to get onto the team anyway. Besides, he was small and fast enough to also have a go at the Seeker tryouts.

After mounting his broomstick rather clumsily, he flew over towards the three goalposts and steadied himself while he waited for the Chasers. In the end, Max caught three of the five attempts to score against him, which wasn't bad but also wasn't really something to be happy about. He thought that he would have done a better job but it appeared that the Chasers were faster than he expected them to be. Watching Quidditch from afar definitely wasn't the same thing as actively participating in it. He reckoned that he would have to practise more if he wanted to actually keep up with them. After waiting a bit he rejoined the returning players into the air once more, this time for Seeker tryouts, hoping that he would be having more success catching a snitch than he would a quaffle. He readied himself for the countdown and then sped off in pursuit of the snitch. It was fast and it took him some effort to keep up with it, zigzagging across the field with the hope of catching up to it before it was too late. He caught it after a little bit, out of breath but with a wide smile on his face. Preventing Chasers from scoring was fun, but he had to admit to himself that catching the snitch was also a lot of fun. At the end of the tryouts, he thanked Isaiah and the returning players and left the field to go back to the castle.

 

[Louis Alcott]

Louis had faith in the team this year, he knew they would win. They had one of the best teams, they had just been unlucky. Flynn graduating was a shame, but they had an alternate seeker who had been with them for a while. Louis was sure they were going to do just fine. Louis took to the air once the tryouts started, as Isaiah said they should treat it like a practice session. Louis grabbed the quaffle and started playing.

 

[Raawhiti Te Rangi]

TODAY was the day. Sure, Rāwhiti had thought the same thing three years running now, but third time was lucky, right? TODAY was the day. The broom he had lovingly selected in first year to be the instrument of his triumph was held tightly in his hand as he made his way down to the Quidditch pitch, head held high. Gryffindor's Seeker had finally graduated, and everyone knew he had been waiting two years for his chance. It was time to step up. He listened as the new captain introduced himself, buzzing with excitement. As soon as his turn came he stepped forward, beaming as bright as he could. "Rāwhiti Te Rangi, I'm trying out for Seeker again!" He winked before mounting his broom and taking off, letting the familiar rush of air wash away any nerves.

There was nothing like flying, he was sure of it. All the problems of the world just melted away as he soared through the air, immediately at home. He began scanning the air for any signs of the snitch, a glimmer of gold quickly catching his eye. Rāwhiti slammed his body to his broom as tight as it would go and shot across the pitch like a bullet, hand outstretched. The ball zagged as he got closer and he rushed to pull his broom around, almost hitting the goalpost in his eagerness. By the time his broom had reoriented itself Rāwhiti had lost sight of the snitch, though a quick glance around showed him it was flying down, and he threw himself into a rapid dive. The grass was getting worryingly close by the time his fingers closed around the ball and he gave a whoop of delight, hurrying to pull out of the dive. The angle was a little clumsy, flying one-handed, and Rāwhiti had to cling on through a couple of barrel rolls before he steadied but it didn't matter; the snitch was in his hand. After a moment's celebration he released the ball and tore after it once more, managing two more somewhat less spectacular catches before the tryout was over. Satisfied that he had given the performance of a lifetime, Rāwhiti gave the captain a bright smile and thanked him before leaving the pitch, certain that he had finally secured his spot on the team.

 

[Dahlia Doherty]

Dahlia missed team sports so much. Netball had been a huge part of her life through primary school and without it, it really felt like she was missing something. She got on okay with her dormmates but felt like she was missing a point of connection, or something. Which was kind of silly, they were all magical so they had that, right? But Dahlia's family were muggles, so she couldn't always relate to their experiences. She was just going to have to try harder this year, she figured. And she was going to start by trying out for Quidditch. She knew she wasn't going to make the team, as all the spots were filled, but maybe she could be considered for an alternate spot, or make enough of an impression to get on next year. She just needed something.

"Hi! I'm Dahlia Doherty, and I'm going to try out forrrrr...chaser!" She had spent a while deciding what position she wanted to play when she'd been practicing her flying. She had never really played goal shooter/goal attack much, but she could shoot if needed. She'd more played center and been aggressive with it. So beater would've been an option, but she didn't really want to swing a bat and fly at the same time. And she liked being in the action more, so chaser sounded like a good choice. She was glad she'd gotten some practice in with a netball while flying so she was able to move with the quaffle in hand quite well, she thought. And her passing was pretty good, even if the techniques were a little different from netball (especially in mid-air). Shooting was a little tougher, she went up against Max at first and he was able to stop a couple of her attempts, especially the shaky earlier ones. But eventually she was having more success, and was able to score a few goals. Not as many as she'd hoped, but it was all a matter of practice and converting shot style from netball shot to Quidditch shot. She just hoped that at least she'd proven enough to maybe be able to work with the team to keep bettering her skills and maybe make the team in future years.

 

[Elara Chatelain]

Elara had walked onto the field with Zay and the others, feeling like a member of the team. But of course, she technically wasn't, even if she had been a pretty good contributor in practices and one game over the past four years. Things had changed, though. Flynn was gone, and that meant numerous people were going to be vying for that seeker spot. Which meant she had to give the best tryout of her life. It wasn't like not making the team or being an alternate again would be the end of the world, but it would be embarassing. Elara wanted the perfect seventh year, and while that put a lot of pressure on the first few weeks, it would be worth it in the end, or at least, she hoped.

She listened to Zay give his spiel, trying not to think about how cute he looked doing so. Attempting to be a generous role model, she let some of the younger students go first during the tryouts. While she was still a relatively small person, some of these second and third years looked like infants compared to her. Finally deciding she was ready, she stood up and gave Zay a quick smile. "Elara Chatelain, continuing my 5 year long campaign for seeker," she teased before getting on her broom. There was a bit going on among those trying out for some of the more active positions, and the seventh year just kept her eye on things from above. It actually took quite a bit of time for the snitch to even appear again, but by the time Elara saw it, it had quietly disappeared. Sighing, she made some laps as the tryouts continued, finally gaining a chance to catch the snitch. She had no one to race against but herself, but Elara dove as the snitch danced with the blades of grass. Quickly pulling up, she continued up through her teammates, swerving through a chaser pass before grasping her hand around the snitch. Grinning, Elara let it go, watching it go way out of bounds of the pitch. It annoyingly didn't appear again before the end of tryouts, and the Gryffindor hoped people saw her drive, passion, and skill in that one catch. Hitting the ground, she went to the locker rooms to change, trying to remain positive as she waited for the outcome.

 

[Joshua Lynch]

Josh had enjoyed quidditch, even though he was on the bench most of the time. He just enjoyed it in general, and he for sure was going to try out for the team again, even if it was likely he was going to be an alternate again, which he didn't mind. He listened carefully to what the new captain had to say and nodded at the instructions.

It wasn't long before it was his turn. Josh stepped forwards. "Joshua Lynch, trying out for chaser, again," Joshua says with a grin and he flew off into the sky immediately after. The boy loved flying and quidditch in general. He flew around in the sky, doing a few passes with other chasers who were on the team as well as those that were trying out. He managed to score a few goals, though there were a couple of times when he missed the goal as well. It wasn't long before they were all on the ground again. He gave a massive thanks to the captain and headed back to the castle.

 

[Zephryn Spencer]

Zee was definitely ready for another year of Quidditch. She hoped that the Gryffindor team would have more luck than it had in previous years. It was definitely a blow losing their seeker. A seeker seemed to be one of the most important roles, especially since the snitch seemed to like to get caught all the time and early at that. Zee hoped this year would make for longer games though. She was ready to show off her skills. She entered onto the Quidditch pitch joining her teammates as well as some new faces. She listened to the captain, nodding as he explained what they were doing today. Zee didn't really want to help the others, but it made for a better try out experience. She mounted her broom and shot up into the air, ready to see what the new students had to show. Hopefully they were amazing.

 

[Timothy Black]

Tim had decided that it was finally time for him to try-out for the Quidditch team, and as he always had wanted, he decided to go for a beater. So he entered the pitch with his broom and let other students go first, trying to appear as a gentleman while in fact, his hoodie string had wrapped around the broom and he was trying to untangle it. "Timothy Black, beater," with that, he finally mounted his broom and hit the air. Thanks God that he wasn't as unfortunate in the air as he was on the ground.

In the air, he just shot after the bludgers, pretty much not paying a lot of attention to people around, he knew what he had to do this time. So by the end of the try-outs, he had managegd to nail some really good shots towards other players, a few unlucky hits but all together, the better hits were more than the bad ones. Seemed like it was his lucky day.

 

[Soren Gates]

Soren was considering dropping Quidditch, but he couldn't just leave Aurora hanging like that. She was his bestie, after all, and he was determined to stick around and support her. He hurried down to the pitch, his new gorgeous teal hair falling rakishly into his eyes. "Hey, cap," He greeted, kicking off easily and joining Aurora in the air.

 

[Valentina Merriwick]

Spending her first year on the team as an alternate hadn't been what Valentina had in mind when she first tried out for the team but she found that she had enjoyed her role and intended to keep it at the very least. She would be more than happy to step into the starting lineup if circumstances allowed it but her first priority was ensuring she regained her position on the team as the alternate keeper. She made her way out onto the Quidditch pitch with her broom in hand and waited for the tryouts to begin. "Valentina Merriwick, trying out for Keeper,"

Once everyone was given their instructions Valentina flew up to the hoops she had been assigned and waited for things to begin. The first shot against her was an easy one, or so she thought at least. After some shaky attempts to throw her off the chase ended up aiming for the centre hoop, Valentina didn't move and easily caught the quaffle. The second was much tougher and she just about managed to dive for the left hoop and used her fingertips to push the quaffle beyond the hoop and watched helplessly as it tumbled to the ground. Valentina wasn't surprised she saved all attempts at goal, even if some had been by the skin of her fingertips, but she had a whole year of practice under her belt and she knew she was a better keeper than the first time she had tried out. Once her time was done she returned to the ground and waited for the rest of the tryout to pass.

 

[Astraea Kuya-Jenkins]

It was a long shot, she knew that but it wouldn't stop her anyway. Her father was a professional Quidditch player after all and that put a little pressure when it came to Astraea trying out for her own house team. It didn't help that her brother had always made the team over in Beauxbatons because her brother always had to one-up her it seemed. With a shiny new broom in hand, yet to be broken in which was a decision she hoped she wouldn't regret, Astraea made her way down to the Quidditch pitch where she waited with the other hopefuls for her chance to impress. "Astraea Kuya-Jenkins, trying out for seeker"

It eventually came, Astraea had to shake the cobwebs loose from standing in one place too long before climbing on her broom and darting off into the sky. As she was trying out for seeker there was a lot less structure to her tryout, she essentially had to stay in one spot and keep an eye out for a golden glint while everyone else was scoring goals and hitting bludgers. It took everything in her not to watch her housemates during their tryouts and instead keep an eye on the skies. She was determined to catch the snitch during her tryout no matter what, or how long it took.

Astraea didn't know how long she was up on the air for, only that the faces between the hoops had changed at least twice and a handful of bludgers had shot past her usually with an enthusiastic beater chasing after it, one even called out an apology as they passed. It was shortly after that overzealous beater had passed her that she saw it, a speck of gold out the corner of her eye. Astraea had no choice other than to immediately dart in the direction of it without a second to even try and get a letter look, there was no time to second guess herself. As luck (or skill?) would have it she had been right and seconds after leaning forward on her broom to dart forward she began to see the snitch coming into view, she had to get closer if she would have any chance of catching it. Astraea leaned forward with all her weight and held out her hand to try and grab the snitch but it was just out of reach of her arm. She was too close only to go and fail, she had to catch it but it seemed the snitch had other ideas. The little gold ball changed directions without warning and shot past her eat. Astraea grabbed her broom handle with both hands and rolled backwards and shot forward hoping she was following the right path. The snitch didn't escape her long and soon enough she was back with a little gold ball just slightly out of reach and her arm out in front of her desperately trying to get her fingers around the elusive little thing. Astraea wouldn't be out witted this time and she gave her broom one last push forward and could feel the metal brush against her fingertips, she repositioned herself slightly enabling her to grab at the air in front of her and could feel the weight of the snitch in her hand. She let out a sigh of relief as she pulled up her broom and let herself relax for the first time while she had been in the air.

With the snitch in hand Astraea returned to the ground to prove to the captain she had caught the snitch and with that she fell back in with the group until the tryouts were over. Even if she didn't make the team she was happy with her work.

 

[Genevieve Fuentes]

Evie was always the most excited for Quidditch. It took her a couple of years to make the position on the team, but it was one thing she was quite proud of. The teen made her way onto the pitch for the tryouts and to get some practice in before the season started. She liked seeing the new faces try out, and just hoped for their sake that they would soon get onto the team, just because she knew how hard it was to make it with Quidditch being such a popular sport. The teen flew towards the hoops, ready to block all of the shots that came her way. She did quite well, blocking the majority of them. Once tryouts were done, the Gryffindor headed back to the dormitory.

 

[Isaiah Thompson]

Out of Character:

Heads up! Try-outs will be closing in 48 hours

 

[Fraser Fergusson]

Fraser knew his chances of getting on the team were next to slim. He knew the team was full, and by judging the size of the crowd at the try-out there was no way there would be any available slots, but Fraser knew that he had to give it a go. Better to try and fail than not try and regret, especially when it came to his favourite sport. So he had come to the pitch, having gotten permission from the captain to try, and watched as most others went before him. He stepped forward at the moment he could and smiled excitedly. ”Hi! Fraser Fergusson, chaser, but also just for the experience!” he wasn't going to take this too seriously. He knew his chances were slim, so he could just…take it easy. Practice, maybe get some notes after.

He grabbed a quaffle and flew up into the air. He knew how to fly, had spent more than enough time around quidditch players to know it. Fraser was certainly skilled, he was calm and smooth when he flew. He could move fast and didn't seem to struggle with having a ball under his arm and flying at the same time. He played a little more independently than was needed for a team, perhaps because the players he'd been taught by could at times play a little selfishly. Fraser managed to get a few attempts to score, but wasn't the greatest at passing, he scored at least once, and though it was an assist he did celebrate like he'd done all the work. Fraser played well enough and did have fun, there were clear areas he needed to work. Sometimes he was moving to fast that he wasn't paying attention to what he was doing and missing opportunities.

He flew to the ground, pleased with his effort and knowing what he needed to do to be better. ​

 

[Isaiah Thompson]

Out of Character:

Try-outs are now closed! Thanks to everyone who tried out.

Position	Player
Seeker	@Elara Chatelain
Beater	Isaiah Thompson (c)
Beater	@Aurora Archer
Chaser	@Zephryn Spencer
Chaser	@Soren Gates
Chaser	@Louis Alcott
Keeper	@Genevieve Fuentes
Alternate Seeker	@Raawhiti Te Rangi
Alternate Beater	@Timothy Black
Alternate Chaser	@Joshua Lynch