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Oh, it had been a very strange weekend.  The match was supposed to have been on Friday the 6th, but half of both Quidditch teams got themselves into a very compromising...shall we say... side-effect or unseemly malady.  She'd been informed by the Heads of House and together they'd decided the best thing to do would be to reschedule for Sunday.  That would give Madam Nagde and the rest enoug to time to... set everyone to rights again.

But the stands were filled for the match up two strong teams.  Both Ravenclaw and Slytherin had it very much together this year and even though Ravenclaw was down in points from their bout with Gryffindor, they were in very good flying form, in Hooch's opinion.

And the stage was set.  Hooch glanced up to check that the scoreboard read zero, then around the pitch to see that all the players were in place. 

She released the snitch.  Then the bludgers.  Then with a whistle, she tossed the quaffle high into the air at center pitch.

Fweeet!

The match was on!

At the whistle Peyton pushed off up into the air, keeping his eyes on the high arc of the quaffle. His muscles were tensed and his reflexes were honed. This was a big match for them, at the moment Slytherin definitely seemed to be the team to beat especially after their decimation of the poorly field Hufflepuff team. It didn't help that most of the Puff's veteran players had been benched for Broom sickness and almost their entire team had been green.

Peyton clutched the large maroon ball as it finished it's arc and began to come back down. He glanced over his shoulder at the thought of green players. His team was solid but he was also fielding some new talent. Though Harris and Grimlish, both of whom he had known well for years, were greatly skilled compared to the rookies Slytherin had just finished going up against.

He leaned forward on his broom racing towards the Slytherin's hoops, he was too far away to recognize the figure in silver and green defending them but that wouldn't matter at this point. He had to make sure he got past the Slytherin Chasers first who seemed to be just as deadly as the bludgers zooming around.

Xavier was up in the air the instant the whistle blew. He twirled his beloved beater's bat with a wicked grin on his face. He had only been too delighted when Harper asked him to take up the spot again for this match. After all the match against Hufflepuff had been a snore fest, they could have won just the same if he hadn't been there to defend the goal hoops considering the fact that not one of the Hufflepuff Chasers had made it close enough to him to even attempt a goal.

He tightened his gloved hand over the bat as the Ravenclaw Captain took possession of the Quaffle. It had been months since his aggression towards his fellow classmate had amounted to violence. Wentworth had been his rival for years but he had been too caught up in his own stuff to do anything about it lately. Now it was high time he got back into the swing of things - literally.

Xavier pulled his broom to the left watching a streak of black across the Pitch and waiting for the precise moment when the zooming bludger would come into range. He sat up straight and pulled back. With a satisfying CRACK his bat hit home and sent the violent little ball in the direction of the Ravenclaw's Captain. Xavier let out of woop of delight as he watched his bludger connect with Wentworth's arm causing him to drop the quaffle.

Another game, and this one promised to be more challenging. Slytherin wasn't playing with all their stars, and Erin'd taken the risk of putting the untried O'Doherty in the game. Without the Foley-Slant dream team he'd put Tawse back to hit, needing the other boy's strong arm. Oliver had played in previous years, and it had only taken a little wheedling to get the seventh year back guarding the goals. He still had Strelnikov and Li, though, the real backbone of the team.

Erin kicked off at the whistle, a fierce grin taking over his face as he went high to circle and search. Hopefully, all this swapping wouldn't be a mistake.

Slow on the uptake. Again. Demitria hissed through her teeth and refrained from blindsiding the other chaser as he swept past her with the quaffle. She would have to seriously work on her reaction time when it came to getting the ball first. Always.

Spinning her broom around, she took off after the Ravenclaw. It was going to be a tougher game without Gracie, Foley, and Waverly, but they could deal. If Kitty and her could keep the quaffle and Erin could catch the snitch, it would be excellent.

Suddenly, a bludger from Xavier's bat came crashing towards the seekers. With a nimble duck, Strellie dropped under the ball's trajectory and watched the quaffle. As the other ball slipped out of the Ravenclaw's hands, it dropped nimbly into her own. Securing her grip on the ball, she turned around again and sped back towards the Ravenclaw's side all the while keeping her eyes on the other players. The opposing chasers were more experienced this game, meaning she needed Kitty in sight at all times in case things got rough.

Elijah walked onto the pitch, belly full of butterflies. His new set of Ravenclaw Quidditch robes were still a little stiff and uncomfortable. He was seriously starting to question Wentworth’s judgment as captain for having put the Grimlish boy into the game. He was, like any 6th year, rather competent on a broom, and his family, like many wizarding families across the world, played together on broomstick occasionally. He had never actually enjoyed Quidditch, to be completely honest, preferring to keep his head firmly on his shoulders, not knocked off by flying iron balls.

That’s why he decided to become a beater; usually beaters had a much lower fatality rate. His boots crunched across the pitch, broom slung over his shoulder, bat gripped firmly in his left hand. After the shrill whistle, Eli’s feet kicked firmly off the ground and he took to the air, looking around, nervousness abated. A beater’s job was difficult, trying to protect your own teammates while destroying the other, so it was perfectly understandable that Elijah didn’t see the bludger until after it had collided with their captain.

He did, however, notice the hit and turned toward the bludger and swung his bat and smiled in satisfaction as the iron ball zoomed toward Strelnikov.

Blake strode (yes strode with some amount of confidence) onto the quidditch pitch for the match against Slytherin. Though most certainly underestimated for being a fourth year, Blake had grown into his role as one of the veteran players on the Ravenclaw team, particularly at the position of beater. His growth spurt helped giving him more advantage in this department and though there was certainly a level of gawky awkwardness with it, Blake had skill to fall back on. A lot of that was gained from sheer hard work on his part once he realized how much he wanted to be one of the team's starting beaters. And it began over the summer when he had attended the youth quidditch camp along with Callum.

Blake admitted that he could learn a lot from his older brother -- more than he really gave credit for when they were both in school together. But the younger Knight admired that Callum had gone after what he had wanted and now he was a star for the Falcons. Blake had no plans to follow that closely in his brother's footsteps, but he didn't mind moseying along after him for some pointers here and there.

Blake's blue eyes flitted to the other Ravenclaw players and then came to rest on his fellow beater, Elijah Grimlish. Blake barely had time to toss him a reassuring smile before they were all up in the air and the match was underway.

Bat resting on his shoulder, Blake sped off in tandem with his new partner-in-crime. Upon seeing that Grimlish sending the bludger off towards the blonde Slytherin, Blake swerved off to a place to be ready for a rebound. But he also spotted the other beastly ball and adjusting his hold on his bat, he thwacked the bludger off towards the whooping Xavier, hoping to knock some of the Slytherin smugness out of him.

At the whistle, Sasha cast a last quick glance around at his team before kicking his broom off the ground.  He was hard pressed to remember a Ravenclaw-Slytherin game that didn't end in at least a few injuries and it'd be a miracle if today was an exception.  Especially with a relatively untested beater at his back.  But, if those thoughts were cause for hesitation, he wouldn't have remained on the team. 

The Ravenclaw tilted his broom skyward and quickly gained altitude before starting a circuit of the pitch's perimeter.  Harper, it seemed, had chosen the same tactic but Sasha only spared him a fleeting glance before returning to his search. 

Halfway down the pitch, Sasha crossed through the center of the field and dropped lower to the ground to avoid a passing bludger as it was batted towards the Slytherin Chaser.

Kitty's trademark lunge towards the quaffle was missing from the all-important match with Ravenclaw. The silver eagles had grabbed that little red ball of victory quicker than Madame Hooch could flick a broom, and Kitty was furious. There was no chance to be that opening golden girl now - some bookworm had gained the title. Nonetheless, there was plenty of time for Quidditch heroics.

Wentworth soon lost the quaffle, and darling Strellie had her paws on the prize. Kitty stuck nearby, flanking her teammate on the left in case a quick pass was needed. "I'm here!" she called out over the roar of winds, crowds and bellowing players. Soon enough, they were moving up the pitch with relative ease, and Kitty was keen to bash shoulders with anyone that tried to launch a tackle.

Bashing a bludger however, was a little different. Unbeknownst to Kitty, Grimlish had launched an angry brown sphere towards Strelnikov. Moving to her best friend's left and leaning forward to gain speed, Kitty didn't even see the bludger smack the tail of her broom with deadly precision.

Letting out a squeal, the familiar sound of spluttering bludgers filled her ears and the Slytherin pixie spiralled towards the muddy earth below.

Casey was the slowest of the team into the air and almost the first to get sick. All he did not need was a loop of broom sickness, like the bout that had struck the upperclassmen in the Hufflepuff team.

He kept watch of which way the quaffle was going. Of course, with Li and Strelnikov, the Monarchists, he would be unlikely to catch any action.

He hit the brakes, slowing before the bludger that he glanced out of the corner of his eye would hit him. It continued on to strike Li. She plummeted. Casey knew he wouldn't catch too many opportunities like this.

Casey accelerated as fast as his broom could go to catch up with Strelnikov. "Pass it!" He tried to yell, although the words could barely be heard in the wind caused by flying. "Pass it before they go after it!"

Alex sometimes wanted to be a beater, so that she could hit other Ravenclaws with the bludger. It was probably why she was a chaser, although she couldn't match Peyton, who had probably been flying since before he could walk. So while he got the quaffle, Alex was already headed towards the Slytherin goalposts, looking over her shoulder to see a well-placed bludger allow Strellie to snatch the quaffle.

Noting Tawse as the culprit- no surprise there- Alex uttered a curse before wrenching her broom handle around in a tight turn- too tight, as she started to slide from the broom handle and slowed almost to a halt to make sure that she didn't fall off.

When seated securely, she accelerated, aiming for the Slytherin Chasers- although there was little chance of reaching them before they were within shooting distance, thanks to the distance put between them while she was trying not to become strawberry jam- not that she would, with all the wizards around, but it was the sentiment that was important. That and the nasty feeling you got when you started plummeting towards the ground from a height.

A well-placed bludger changed that, and Alex leant forward to increase her speed by the little she could, sure that with this delay she could catch up with them. She was only two meters back when Casey appeared, which was a surprise because she'd been sure he was allergic to brooms, and she tilted slightly, adjusting her course to get between him and Strelkinov.

The battle for the quaffle was intense but clean and crystal so far.  Fair body checks, legitimate bludger beats, and everyone keeping their hands on their own balls. 

Hooch circled in a standard but useful Quiddith refereeing circuit, ready at any moment for the shot on the hoops or the eye-spy a flying elbow.

Chloe was hovering around, looking for a place for her to fit in. Just then, she saw Alex pitch the bludger towards Strelnikov. Chloe shot towards the the girl holding the quaffle, getting ready to catch the quaffle if necessary. She flew directly under Strelnikov keeping her eye on the red ball.

Xavier growled and let out another string of curses. Knight had swung a bludger his way, and dodging it he missed any opportunity to save his femme fatales from getting hit by a bludger of their own. Kitty was down but Strellie was still flying strong, with two of three Ravenclaw chasers on her tail just waiting for her to drop the quaffle.

Xavier leaned forward on his broom catching the bludger (that had spun Kitty out) with his bat and sending it in the general direction of Carstairs and Harris. He new he was running the risk of hitting his own girlfriend with this maneuver but Strellie was an incredible flyer and he was banking on her skill to get out of the way quicker than the other two chasers. Slytherin needed the goal and they would take by any means necessary.

The bludger hit to his elbow had hurt. Really Hurt. Though he was sure nothing was actually broken it had caused him to drop the quaffle and reflexively push down on his broom, plummeting towards the pitch before he could shake the stars from his eyes and straighten himself out. He kept his elbow in tight to his body, sure that he would have one hell of a bruise in the morning.

Peyton spun himself around facing his own goal posts and watched his team for a moment. He had missed a bludger hit to one of the Slytherin chasers taking her out but the Strellie still had possession of the quaffle and Alex and Chloe were moving in fast. His cool grey blue eyes caught quick movement behind them catching his brother sending another bludger their way.

"Bludger, incoming!" He screamed to the girls hoping to put the other two chasers on alert while continuing to hang back. If either of them got control of the quaffle they'd have to come back to this end of the pitch and towards the Slytherin Keeper which put him in ideal position to rebound or help with any sort of pass they may need to avoid the vicious green and silver chasers.