Y44 Slytherin Quidditch Try-Outs

[Celia Vu]

Celia frowned at the sky. Dark clouds loomed overhead, but the rain she had been promised — both by her own forecast and the Daily Prophet's — was nowhere to be found. She had been hoping to once again put this year's team hopefuls through the wringer, but the weather wasn't fully cooperating. Sure, it was freezing, and the stands were creaking ominously in the wind, but how was she supposed to test everyone's skills without monsoon-like rains?

With a sigh, Celia turned to the returning team members. She'd asked them to arrive a few minutes early and now that they were standing before her, it struck her just how much more daunting her job would be this year. Half the team had graduated, and she didn't have ready replacements in mind. None of the departing members had held particularly important positions, but Celia still didn't want to suffer the embarrassment of having terrible players on her team. "You know the drill," she told the rather pitiful looking group standing in front of her. "Today is Practice One for you guys. No slacking, or I'll bench you for the entire season." With that, she motioned for them to get started and released the usual set of Quidditch balls — plus a few extra bludgers.

At 7:30 sharp, Celia blew her whistle and brought her wand to her throat. "Welcome to Slytherin Quidditch tryouts!" she greeted, her voice ringing out over the pitch, thanks to a sonorous charm. "My name is Celia, and I am the captain of the team. Slytherin is the best team at the school, and we'll be taking back the cup this year." That, or hospitalizing every other player at the school, but the latter was more of a personal goal than a team goal. "By trying out, you are committing to that goal. You are committing to making Quidditch a priority. If you can't do that, you should leave now." She paused. "For tryouts, we're simulating an actual practice. You are expected to keep up with the current team members, who will not take it easy on you." Celia waved her wand, and an enchanted clipboard and quill levitated up beside her. "Now, line up and tell me your name and what position you're trying out for."

Position	Player
Seeker	Ivelisse Burleigh
Keeper	Available
Beater	Celia Vuong (captain)
Beater	Seamus Reid
Chaser	Atlas James-Cade
Chaser	Available
Chaser	Available
Alternates	Available

Out of Character:

Welcome to tryouts! At this time, only second years and up may try out. If you have a first year who wishes to try out, please PM me, and I'll let you know if/when you can post. First years are generally not permitted to try out unless there are not enough older students to fill the available slots, and even then, they must wait until the semester actually begins.

Returning team members must post attendance to keep their spots. Everyone else should state their name and desired position before RPing out their tryout.

PM me if you have any questions!

 

[Seamus Reid]

Seamus was very ready for this, one of the few years during his schooling where he did not need to try out again. He was on the pitch and listened to Celia as she spoke. Knowing that this year more than ever would likely be a year in which they should really try to win. He nodded and got up into the air, he wasn't going to go easy on anyone.

 

[Atlas James-Cade]

Atlas was grateful that she didn't need to tryout for the team because she hadn't had a great year on the Quidditch pitch and she was hopeful she would put that right in what would be her final year in a Slytherin robe. She carried her broom out to the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch where some of her teammates were already waiting. She was desperate to end the year on a high and that started with a good tryout.

 

[Mischa Falter-Butera]

Mish made sure to arrive to the Slytherin try-out nice and early, a grin on his face and bat in one hand and broom in the other. While he knew there wasn't an open position on the team for him, he just had to wait one more year. Celia would have graduated at the end of the year and the next year, he could finally have his spot. For now, he was still more than happy to play as an alternate.

"Mischa Falter-Butera, and I'm trying out as beater again!" He announced, standing straight and giving the captain a quick mock salute. Then, he just as eagerly hopped on his broom and took to the air, quickly searching for a bludger he could whack across the pitch. It took a little while to get back into the groove of things, not really having much of a chance to practice over the break, but it didn't take him long at all, flying after the bludgers and aiming them in all the right places. And, once he had landed again, he felt quite good about how things had gone and confident that he had done enough to cement his position on the team once again.

 

[Terror Zhefarovich]

Terror Zhefarovich knew that there were many, many openings for the Slytherin Quidditch team, and figured that he would throw his hat in to try out this year. The team was rather full the previous year, so he didn't have high hopes. He knew that the captain was pretty much a harda** but he would not hold that against her. He grabbed his streak and headed out of the dungeons and to the Quidditch pitch. He was glad that flying made Cassius too sick to try out. So, once he arrived, he listened to Celia Vuong talk about how Slytherin was going to take the Quidditch cup back. That sort of confidence was admiring, even if it might be fleeting with new players. Once instructed, he strolled up and announced, "Terror Zhefarovich, trying out for chaser."

The Slytherin mounted his broom and soared into the air. Just to practice, he did a lap to get used to flying again, and then headed up to start the official try out. He managed to grab a quaffle and moved between the players. The first attempt at a shot was blocked, which caused him to sneer, but he would have to keep trying. He needed to be better than the previous year, and at least, better than others that were trying out as well. He swooped in and took the quaffle once more, and hurled it after faking to the left, which it went through the right hoop. Terror practiced for the remainder of the time, dodging bludgers and players, and even passed the quaffle from time to time. That was surely needed as well. He dismounted once time was up, and figured that he would know the results later on that day.​

 

[Ivelisse Burleigh]

Ivelisse had been wondering if she should even show up to quidditch this year. Was the possible glory of winning really worth the hell that was having Celia as a captain? And did she even want to share that victory with the other girl if she would be the first one to catch the snitch during their games? These were questions that had been floating through her mind and yet she had still showed up today. Partly because she loved quidditch to much to let just one person ruin it, but also because she didn't want Celia getting the satisfaction of having been the one to make her quit. She rolled her eyes at the captain's words and hopped onto her broom when she was done talking, ready to catch the snitch before anyone else could. Even if these were just try outs.

 

[Horror Zhefarovich]

Horror Zhefarovich did not have much interest in joining the Quidditch team, but he heard Terror was going for it. So, due to all the drama Terror put him through last year, he decided to compete as well. Being a second year might be a disadvantage, but he would do his best. Like his twin, he too had a streak and walked down to the pitch, right on time. He listened to the captain, which honestly, Horror knew nothing about her since he kept to himself. She seemed to be rather stern, confident, if not a little overbearing. Horror lived with Chaos so luckily, it did not bother him. When it was their turn to speak, he just stated in a monotone voice, "Horror Zhefarovich, trying out for keeper."

Horror mounted his broom, and did not bother warming up with a lap. He flew up to one of the goals and readied himself to catch them. He remembered his practicing with Fraser, so this should be a snap, right? Horror was swiftly proven wrong since some of the chasers were a fair bit more experienced than a Gryffindor first year at the time. Horror blocked several, but not all, and he had a feeling that would not pass in the captain's eyes. But he managed though, and he was better than a novice. That much he could say. He landed and hoped that the captain, if the choice came between the twins, it would be that harder for Terror to make the team. Or, if he made the team and Terror didn't. Both would be satisfying.​

 

[Avery Lancaster]

There was a cheerfulness around Avery as he headed toward the Quidditch Pitch, despite the cold and miserable day. He enjoyed the try-outs at the start of the year. His position on the team had always been a tentative one, but despite that, he still felt like a core member. He didn't mind taking a passive role in the actual games during the year, not when he still had opportunities to be in the sky during practices. It was nice to be relied upon when someone else failed. There was a comfort to that, to simultaneously be needed and not needed. This grey line that Avery tried to tread in all aspects of his life.

Avery listened to Celia's usual inspiring speeches. He admired her self-assuredness and unwavering dedication to winning. There were a large handful of open spots on the team this year, which made taking the cup even more of a challenge, and Avery looked forward to seeing how it panned out. Celia had the highest expectations, so having so many roles to fill may have been to their benefit. He'd even briefly considered trying out for chaser - as his mother had on the very same team he was on now - but it was too big a risk. Too big a deviation. He liked what he had, and he wanted to keep it.

His brand new emerald streak in hand, Avery stepped forward when it was his turn, offering the captain a small smile. "Avery Lancaster. Seeker." He repeated for another year in a row. He took to the sky, keeping his eyes peeled for the snitch. He was grateful for the lack of torrential rain, though he'd brought some imperviused goggles in case. His attempts to divine the weather had not yielded clear results, though now he wondered if the fog of his crystal ball was foretelling the dark clouds looming over, and nothing more. The glimmer of gold caught his attention and he accelerated after it, almost thrown back by his new brooms speed. He'd managed to get some practice in over the holidays, but the streak was taking some getting used to. He did, however, get used to it as the practice progressed. It had been a tough tryout. Ivelisse seemed as eager to catch the snitches as he was, and he had to avoid colliding with her multiple times in the pursuit of the snitch. His own speed was one issue, but judging it compared to the speed of others was a whole separate issue. The new broom was paying off however, and by the end of it, he'd caught more than he had in any of his previous tryout attempts. Things were looking positive. He just had to hope it would stay that way as he finally touched back down to the field and packed up for the day.​

 

[Enoch Goldewyn]

Enoch had an agenda upon getting to school. This agenda included quidditch. Of course it did. Quidditch was the only sport on offer at Hogwarts and Enoch wasn't about to go from doing minimum three sports to none. He was already intending to substitute some of the sports for running which would help until he figured out what to do with the rest of them. But for now, the primary matter was quidditch and the try-outs he was attending. He had needed to ask permission to be able to do so, something about first years not always being allowed which he thought was ridiculous. He was definitely better than some of these other students, and some of the second years who were no doubt trying out. Enoch listened to the head girl speak, and nodded along. He liked that she had started precisely on time, he could appreciate people not wasting his time. Eventually they were to speak their name and step forward. "Enoch Goldewyn, chaser," he picked the position he enjoyed the most to play, though it was where he had the greatest chance of failure. Seekers were the winners, with a 50/50 chance to catch the snitch, his were way worse.

But Enoch got on to the broom and shot up into the air. He had been flying and playing quidditch for a little while now. Never in anything more than a low height and everyone gets a medal sort of way, but it did help him fly with more ease, and move around the pitch with just a little skill. He grabbed the quaffle when it was tossed to him and began racing to the hoops. He threw the ball when close enough but it went wide. He had more shots to score over the try-out with varying success. Enoch scored only twice and missed or it was caught by the keeper the rest of the time. But he did try. He tried too, to be a team player. passing whenever he had a chance to. He was sure he would have no chance on the team if he was showboating the whole time. Eventually the try-out came to an end and Enoch flew back to the ground.

 

[Toby Oikawa]

Toby knew he most likely wasn't going to make the team this year, not when he had heard the team already had an alternate seeker, but that was fine. He still intended to show up, maybe show his face around the team so they remembered him next time around. And there was the slim possibility that maybe he was actually better than the current alternate and they might pick him instead. That would be hilarious, so of course he was still going to try and hardest. Failure was expected the first time around, but he was absolutely certain he would make it next year.

"Toby Oikawa," he offered his name lazily after listening to the rather obnoxious sounding Head Girl, "I'm trying out as seeker." He did have to give the current seeker and the much older boy trying as alternate seeker a quick scrutinizing glance before he swung a leg on his shiny broom and took off into the sky. This was just like back at home and Toby wasted no time in getting back into the swing of things, flying around in search of the snitch. It didn't take him all too long until he saw a flash of gold, leaning forward on his broom to rush after the snitch, finally managing to wrap his fingers around it with a smug grin. At least he had proved he could find the snitch in practice. Letting it go again, he didn't get the time for another look, landing once more as the try-out finished. And while he knew his chances of being picked over an older boy were quite slim, but there still that small chance, even if he knew he shouldn't be getting his hopes up.

 

[Lennox Addison]

Lennox was furious that she had to try out for Quidditch again. Wasn't it enough that she had tried out last year and even played in a game. Maybe this would mean that she would get an actual spot on the team instead of thrown off to the side as an alternative. She was obviously better than that. She knew that. Everyone else should too.

The Slytherin girl joined the other students on the Quidditch Pitch. She didn't have the most pleasant look on her face as the Try Outs began. She listened to the captain, who Lennox wasn't a fan of, but at least could admit that the girl knew what she wanted. In another life, Lennox could see them either being best friends or killing eachother. She was happy when the speech was over though. She just wanted to get this over with. She knew she could prove herself.

"I'm Lennox Addison. Trying out for chaser again" she said. She swung her leg over her broom and kicked up into the air. Lennox hovered in the air for awhile as the quaffle was released. Lennox grabbed the quaffle as soon as she could. She tucked it under her arm, determined. She flew towards the goal post. This was all just a little dance and Lennox of course was the star. She tossed the quaffle through the goal, not surprised as it flew through.

Lennox attempted to steal as the quaffle was thrown into play, but the other chaser seemed competent enough to keep ahold of it. Lennox followed closely, hoping for another chance. This little 'dance' continued for the rest of the try outs. Lennox missed a single goal but was able to score a few more in the process. She even was able to steal the quaffle from a student that also seemed to be trying out. That seemed like a win in her mind.

When the try outs were over, Lennox gracefully brought her broom back to the ground. She was thankful she managed to dodge all the bludgers. She wasn't ready for bruises this early on in the semester, or ever really. Lennox left the Quidditch Pitch, hoping the captain would have enough sense to make her part of the team again.

 

[Celia Vu]

Out of Character:

Last call for tryouts! They will be closing soon. Remember, first years must PM me first before posting!

 

[Celia Vu]

Out of Character:

Thank you to everyone who tried out! Here's this year's team:

Position	Player
Seeker	Ivelisse Burleigh
Keeper	Horror Zhefarovich
Beater	Celia Vuong (captain)
Beater	Seamus Reid
Chaser	Atlas James-Cade
Chaser	Lennox Addison
Chaser	Terror Zhefarovich
Alt. Seeker	Avery Lancaster
Alt. Beater	Mischa Falter-Butera
Alt. Seeker	Toby Oikawa