Greetings! By popular demand we're going to play more school Quidditch! The match-up is between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor taking place on Friday, December 5 at 4:30pm.  The name of the game here is to write and have fun! Winners and losers don't matter, so the outcome of the game hasn't been pre-determined.  Just like an argument, or any other open thread, we're going to work together to write an exciting match!

In the words of Madam Hooch, "I expect all players and spectators to conduct themselves with sportsmanship!  Quidditch is meant to bring the best out of witches and wizards, a competition not a conflict!"

She would also like to add the following statement: "You win some.  You lose some. And no whining!"

Those are essentially the guidelines.  Write your best and consider all other writers as your OOC teammates.  In character, regular Quidditch rules apply! Be as clear as possible about what you do.  Name names and bold important things.  Read carefully, and don't try to do too much in one post.  If a roster slot is not filled, another member of the house may step in and play, or a member of the team may NPC that character.  Just talk to each other to sort that out.  Occasionally, Madam Hooch may interject to NPC a non-present player, or to make calls in order to move the game along.  My bias is towards Hufflepuff, so no need to worry about me playing favorites.  (Wink!)

There will be no posting order, but just like in any other thread, be conscientious. 

Score some points, miss some shots.  Save some goals, let some in.  Miss bludgers, take bludgers.  Foul up and shine!  If you have any questions or conflicts at all, speak with me on any of my accounts or PM or IM me. 

Let the games begin!

---

In one of the last Quidditch matches of the fall term, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor are facing off.  The season has been good to all teams so far, and each teams have all played two matches.   The standings are these: Ravenclaw 370, Gryffindor 280, Slytherin 260, Hufflepuff 130.   

It's a bloody cold day for Quidditch and the wind is whipping.  Luckily there's no rain and the sky is only spotted with clouds.

Madam Hooch stands in the center ring of the pitch, decked out in her black and white robes, making her look like an over-sized magpie.  In one hand is her trusty Willow Whip, in the other, the red quaffle.  The bludgers and snitch are banging away in the crate she's pinned closed with her black riding boot.

She waits for the teams and spectators to gather and find their seats.  She waits ready with her whistle!

-- Uniform. Yes! I made his uniform on Polyvore! --

Had they practiced enough? Did everyone know what they were doing? Leon briskly clasped on his shin-guards and helmet and took a deep breath. He wasn't a bad captain, he had to remember that. People like him. They listen to him. He clasped on his arm guards and stood up from the bench he was sitting on. He knew he couldn't look nervous in front of the team. He had to be confident. Leon snatched up his broom and quickly exited the boys' changing room. His first game as captain... Well, more like ever. But even still... It was an amazing feeling.

His team was definitely good. Young, but good. Of course, Leon really wished Sasha was there to play along with them... But Peyton was a determined boy. He could take over Sasha's spot well. And Blake, though he was a beater, could definitely fill in for Peyton quite well also. Leon adjusted his helmet strap as he joined the rest of the team. He was never that fond of those helmets, but he was excited to finally be wearing it. As silly as that sounds.

"Okay..." Leon smiled at everyone, looking as if he played against the aggressive Gryffindors every day and was quite used to it. "Let me address a few things before I start... Er... Pep-talking you," He checked his arm guards again and cleared his throat. Of course he would have to address some things... He was starting to know his teammates quite well. "First of all, Klint, Dark... Don't get dirty," Leon eyed the two Beaters. They were Beaters after all... Plus, they were both arrogant and a bit silly in the head when they held a bat in hand. "I won't allow any exceptions. We're here to play fair... And I'm sure Carter understands this," he warned. Hooch would have his head, anyways, if he allowed any of that behavior. But he actually wasn't sure if George understood Leon didn't want any harm done.

But Leon refused to play dirty. He was a good boy.

"And Wentworth, I sure hope you know what you're doing... I don't know if Schlagenweit was just making it look easy, and I know we've been over this..." Leon continued to keep a straight face. He hoped Edmund didn't see the worry he was keeping down in him. "And you've assured me many, many times... But... Please, tell me you know what you're doing once more," Even if Peyton couldn't do it, the chasers could definitely knock loads of quaffles past George. He was a small thing... Then again, that didn't exactly matter.

"Alright... That's all I needed to say about that... Now..." Leon beamed at all of them, "Usually Ravens lead large, carnivorous mammals to their prey... But I believe we'll be leading those dumb lions to their demise," He told them all, which wasn't exactly a great start to his pep-talk, but even still, he was trying hard. He didn't talk much, after all. "Plus, Lions attack each other all the time. By the time Wentworth gets the snitch I'm sure they'll all be beating the bloody hell out of each other," He glanced around his team and continued to beam at them. He made a funny. Ha ha ha.

He patted the closest teammate's back and bit his lip, "First game of the year... I can already see the Quidditch Cup in our hands," Leon wasn't typically arrogant... But that's what his team wanted to hear, no? His eyes narrowed and he stopped to listen if there was anything happening around them. The game hadn't started yet, so he wasn't talking too much. Even though he felt like he was. "Let's go rock Gryffindor to its core!" Leon exclaimed, trying not to throw a fist in the air or seem like an idiot. He felt rather proud of his first speech to the team... Even if it was a bit short and awkward.

Leon began marching out onto the field, but then paused, making sure his team was following behind him and then quickly continuing with his long-legged strides. He looked quite confident. He smiled and looked over the stands. Leon wondered who Waker would be cheering for... Hopefully Ravenclaw... But he'd understand why she'd cheer for George. Leon wasn't one to judge anyways. He continued to smile and wave like he was the coolest person on the field. He stopped once he felt they were in the proper position on the field.

Now to play the waiting game. How long would it take for Hooch to blow the whistle? Leon didn't want to stand for too long... He felt queasy. His adrenaline was beginning to rush. The leader in Leon was pushing him to succeed and he knew it was indeed going to be a good game.

(((OOC: I sent a PM to most of the Gryffindor team explaining this char.  If you did not get the PM(and I know I got several bounce backs), just give me an OOC note and I’ll shoot you a PM)))

For once, Jonathan was not late to the pitch.  It seemed that his captain had the foresight to schedule the game in the afternoon, since Jonathan knew that if this game started at noon or (God forbid), ten-o’clock, there was absolutely no way he was going to make it to the pitch on time.  He would most likely still be in bed.  Though he was decked out in official Gryffindor robes, Jonathan could not help but notice all these people in the stands.  He honestly thought that was way too much effort to go watch something.  He also wondered why they put all that effort into screaming and hollering as well getting up and then back down the stands.  Jonathan would rather be sleeping.  Or reading.  Or doing something else that did not require so much exertion. 

“Up” his voice cracked.  Jonathan hated that.  It was hard for anybody to take him seriously when his voice seemed to change octaves more often than not.  Since his broom was already in his hand though, he gripped it and walked over to the captain.  Wondering if the guy would give his type of motivational speech ‘grunt-kill-the-other-team-but-make-sure-the-ref-doesn't-catch-you-grunt’ or if he would forced to listen some neophyte Shakespeare speech.

 As much as Jonathan admired other people exerting effort for his benefit, he had no desire to hear someone attempt to prove he was God’s gift to the English language.  Figuring he needed to head over to his captain, Jonathan lazily floated over there.  Though the captain was not too far away, Jonathan had no desire to waste energy on walking.  His mind wandering, Jonathan did not even realize he was slowly picking up altitude.  Unconsciously, he leveled himself out when he was approximately ten feet above the ground, and allowed the wind to carry him over to his teammates.  To all outwards appearances, it looked like he just casually flied over to his teammates.  However, he knew (and it was likely his teammates did too) that he was just being lazy. 

He was debating whether or not it would be worth something to speak up.  Guessing if anybody was going to say something to him, they could address him.  Jonathan had no desire to prove  that he could not stay in a single octave if his life depended on it.  Cracking voice aside, Jonathan was comfortable.  If he had his druthers, he probably would have fallen asleep then and there.  Fortunately for Jonathan, his self-preservation instinct overrode his pursuit of nap-time.  Thankful that his captain had yet to start speaking or that Madam Hooch had yet to release the balls, he tried to make the moment last.  He knew that he would have to be flying and actually exerting effort pretty soon.  Jonathan did not mind the former, but he was not looking forward to the latter.   

Megan had been fully changed into her Qudditch robes and protective gear. While she slipped her gloves over her hands, she couldn't help but feel a little nervous. The Ravenclaw team had done well so far, currently in the lead over the other houses. That was definitely a plus, and proved that they didn't need to complete hardcore training nearly everyday, as was expected with Dagan as the Qudditch captain.

But, Meg couldn't help but be worried about Sasha, since he had gone missing. She had no idea where he went, and it seemed rather strange that he wasn't there. Thankfully, Peyton offered to play as a seeker for the game. While she didn't question Peyton's skills, she hoped that he knew enough to catch the snitch before the Gryffindors do so. After all, they needed to win this match to stay on top of the other house's teams.

After she fixed her last glove over her hand, Meg looked up as Leon addressed the team. She couldn't help, but think of Dagan's pep talks before a game, which usually involved yelling at all of them to win. Leon was a nice change from that overly excited leadership from Dagan. It probably was exemplified with how their Qudditch team managed to win their first two matches. She just hoped that they were good enough to do well at this game too.

Megan grinned as she heard Leon instructing both Bea and Edmund to keep the game clean. Both beaters seemed to have the ability to turn it dirty in an instant. But, since Ravenclaw was not known to play dirty, it would probably hurt them immediately if they did so. After all, the players shouldn't allow the spirit of competition to overcome their senses, especially to that degree. She watched as Leon gave questionable remarks on whether he thought Peyton could perform well. She wished that he didn't do that, but rather Leon should've wished Peyton luck in playing in his temporary position.

During Leon's pep talk, Meg nodded a little to his words of encouragement...well awkward words of encouragement. But, she couldn't really complain. Under Leon's leadership, Ravenclaw won their first two games. So, yes, they seemed to do well so far, and hopefully they'll continue it today.

As the team began their march to the Qudditch pitch, Meg fidgeted with her glove for a few more seconds, hoping that the team did well. She looked over to Peyton, she wished him "Good luck." Her nerves slightly dampened as the team walked on to the pitch. She looked around at everyone in the stands, hoping that their team would do well.

Josh had got changed in the changing rooms, and walked out to the pitch with the rest of the team. He was thinking about the opposition. He'd be facing off against Bea and Klint personally and the rest of the team was interesting, to say the least. Meg Ruiz, a friend of his, Adrienna, another good friend, Werntworth and Monroe rounding out the permanent members at the moment that were not missing. He also knew that Bea and Klint could play dirty at times. “Good luck, Grace." Josh said to their Seeker.

Edmund had been looking forward to this match for a long time - Ravenclaw were in the lead and he wanted to keep it that way. In the changing room as Leon gathered the team round, he casually messed with his hair in a mirror, ensuring that his fringe was swept back and perfect for the field. He always did like to make a good appearance in front of Hogwarts when it was Quidditch time, but this match held a certain significance - Emmylou would be playing. He'd been rather keen on the girl for the past few weeks ever since that faithful detention, and he wanted to prove just how skilful he was on the pitch. If it meant sending a bludger her way, then so be it - she was the type of fox who'd appreciate a little competitive element. If it meant that Edmund could get that little bit closer after the game, then it was mission accomplished.

Finally turning around to the team, he absent-mindedly swung his bat loosely over his shoulder, narrowing his eyes a little. Listening to Leon as a captain was strange; it was his best friend, but also his superior on the pitch. It was strange, but comforting for Edmund to see his friend with so much enthusiasm and leadership since Mr Klint usually liked to hog the limelight. Upon his remark of playing dirty, Edmund rolled his eyes with a smirk, leaning against a locker.
"You've nothing to worry about it," he laughed, casting a glance at Bea. "I won't be tarnishing Ravenclaw's reputation today, mate." He could tell that Leon was a little awkward at the whole captain role, but he was doing his best. Edmund ultimately respected that.

"Good luck, Wentworth," he remarked casually across the locker room, investing all the confidence in the new replacement as he could muster. It was a shame Schlagenweit wasn't playing, but alas, that was the fickle nature of Quidditch. Following Leon out onto the pitch proudly in his royal blue robes, he couldn't help but grin at the roar of cheers. Although his best friend was rather humble about the whole affair, Edmund cockily rested a bat on his shoulder as he walked along, merely smirking with that arrogantly charming smirk. He could almost hear the hearts of younger Ravenclaw girls melting.  Now, it was time to impress not only his teammates, but Emily as well.

Blake was nervous. More than he thought imaginable. How was it possible that he was this nervous? As he waited to go onto the field, he again marveled at how it had come to pass that he went from being a reserve on the Ravenclaw team to being a starter on this day.

If he had had his choice, Blake would not have wanted it to happen this way. As much as he wanted to be on the team and face his brother head-to-head some day, he didn't want it to be at the expense of someone else--least of all, his good friend Sasha. With the older boy unavailable to play, Leon had made some roster adjustments and now Blake was slated to play Chaser. It wasn't Beater and he wouldn't be working in tandem with Bea, but it was playing nonetheless.

If his captain was nervous, Blake had no concept. He was too wrapped up in his own worries. Even if Leon was espousing the gospel and intent on leading them to the holy land, Blake would have been oblivious. He was too busy looking--and feeling--nauseous. As he hunched over and looked at his hands, he tried to take a few deep breaths.

You can do this.....you'll be fine, he told himself. His own thoughts were overriding all of Leon's pep talk. It's no big deal. Just your first action in an official match. Going against another team. No. Big. Deal.

Blake looked up as Leon spoke of the difference between Ravens and Lions and he smirked. Blake had nothing against Gryffindors, but it did seem apt. Truth be told, even if he was a Chaser today, he still would have prefered to go against his brother's team.

Blake stood with everyone else and headed out onto the pitch. He fell into line with the other two Chasers. Surprisingly enough, being in between Adrienna and Megan had a calming influence on the youngest member of the team. He flashed them both a shy smile before quietly saying, "Good luck, ladies." With a light laugh, he added, "I know I'm going to need it...."

Uniform

Earlier in the season, Grace would have been a bundle of nerves before their matches because of her newness to the Seeker position, but now that she had gotten through those matches and their team had done fairly well (being 90 points behind Ravenclaw was nothing to sniff at too much), she could walk into that day's contest feeling confident in her abilities to seek and catch the Snitch and also in her team's abilities to rack up the points so the pressure was lessoned.

Grace's sense of pride in her house and in her team was the epitome of a Gryffindor student. Nothing could dissuade her from her passionate support and desire to win. George was the team's captain and she would always defer to his experience and opinion on game strategy. George got both the good and the bad when it came to being the leader of the team and Grace had done whatever she could to help him out in whatever way she could. She was all too happy to be the team's consummate cheerleader and optimist and the academic in her who loved number crunching (something her teammates were less enthusiastic about), often went out of her way to scout the other teams.

But with all that scouting and analysis behind her, Grace could now sit back (literally on her broom) and relax and hope that all their hard work in practices and the other matches would pay off. In fact, by her sheer will, it had to.

Grace hovered near the three rings that George would be defending and eyed the Ravenclaw team as they came onto the pitch. Perhaps their opponents greatest advantages was the unfortunate absence of Sasha Schlagenweit. Grace knew a lot about her usual counterpart on the other team but Peyton as Seeker was lesser known. So Grace knew that this match would involve strategy that wasn't really strategic at all. What else could you do in the face of the unknown?

"Just go with the flow," she murmured under her breath.

She looked over as her teammate, Josh, wished her luck. She gave a curt nod before flashing him a thumbs up. "You too. Break a leg....or whatever the saying is for Quidditch players..."

Figaro was on his feet and hopping in quick little jumps.  He was cold and excited.  Quidditch was going great this year, and even though Hufflepuff had yet to pull out a victory, he still enjoyed the shouting that came along with Quidditch.  He didn't care who was playing, who'd just scored, who bludgered who - he just like shouting about it.  He wore his knit cap well back on his head, his dark blonde bangs over his eyebrows.  He had his arms crossed over his chest to keep warm.

He crowed in the wind.  "Let's go! Let's GO!"

In his jumping and shouting he accidentally gave Fauna Blake quite a bump.  A few of the Hufflepuffs were bunched together in the stands and Fauna had been among them.  Halloween had been deadly awkward, what with Devlin strong-arming him into calling off going to the dance with Fauna.  But Fig was pretty resilient and seemed to have forgotten about it.

"Oi, sorry, Blake," he said quickly with a grin. 

The two teams came out onto the pitch.  Hooch nodded to each of the captains, Carter and Monroe.  She noted with regret that Sasha Schlagenwiet was not among the Ravenclaw, but she knew their team had good skill even deep into their back-up players.  But Sasha had been away from school for quite some time now and Hooch had been meaning to ask after him. 

But for now, it was time for sport!  She smiled her tight-lipped smile and her eyes flashed with excitement.  She pulled her goggles down over her  eyes and brought her whistle to her mouth.

"On your broom! Up you go!" she called out, her voice strong, practiced in shouting commands that filled the pitch. 

When the players were in position, she removed her boot from the crate and gave it a sharp kick.  Two bludgers and the golden snitch burst forth, paused a moment as if to eyeball their new assailants, and then zipped off into the sky. Then, with dextrous speed, Madam Hooch mounted her broom and kicked off to hover center height between the teams and tossed the quaffle straight up.

She blew her whistle. Tweeeeet!

"Game on!"

Adrienna filed out onto the pitch with her teammates, feeling rather tough and bold walking out with them on her flanks, uniform robes trailing behind them.  Blake Knight, a younger player, wished her and Megan good luck.  Adrienna could tell that he was nervous, but she couldn’t really blame him. 

“Thanks, Blake,” Adrienna grinned.  “And don’t worry about this.  If we thought you couldn’t do it, we wouldn’t put you in this position… Okay?”

Everything was an excited blur from the moment she stepped out of the locker to the point when Madame Hooch blew her whistle and threw up the quaffle.  The moment it was up Adrienna, hovering in anticipation on her broomstick, rushed into the air.  She was nearly vertical as she flew towards the scarlet quaffle, which was plummeting back towards the ground with increasing speed.  It was coming straight for her, and she was prepared to catch it, bracing her arms for the blow. 

As always, the climb toward the quaffle was rough, filled with bumping and pushing, and she was nearly shoved off her broom several times before she finally caught hold of the red sphere.  The impact of the ball pulsed through her, but she ignored it and quickly searched for an outlet chaser, as she was much too far from the goal to feasibly make a shot.  Eyes searching the field with practiced thoroughness, she saw Megan lower on the pitch and passed the quaffle to her with a grunt of effort.
 

-- Uniform. --

Though she still wasn't feeling like herself, Beatrix knew she had to actually try during the Quidditch game. She fiddled with her necklace and waited, patiently, for the Captain to join them. She felt rather at ease holding her bat and broom in hand. Her hair was a fluorescent blue, keeping her team spirit in mind at all times, and her uniform wasn't exactly the most appropriate. But Beatrix liked the freezing cold breeze on her legs... At least, when she was starting to sweat from Quidditch. Beatrix only wished they were playing against Slytherin, so Bellatrix and her could finally compete with each other. The twins practiced loads of times with each other, but the real deal would be quite fun.

Then again, she wouldn't know how to react to having to smack bludgers at Erin Harper. Would she feel guilty? Or completely amused?

Finally, Leon joined them and started blabbering about things. Beatrix tried her best to listen, but her mind was always preoccupied. She had to snap out of it... Leon turned to Edmund and her told them not to play dirty. A smirk formed on her face. He knew them much too well. Dagan would have let Bea beat someone's face in for the sake of winning... But Monroe knew better. Beatrix wasn't sure whether to be disgruntled or amused by his statement.

"I won't be tarnishing Ravenclaw's reputation today, mate."

Beatrix caught Edmund's eye and giggled. "Fine, we'll play it your way, Mr. Monroe. I won't be happy about it, though," She joked with a cheeky smile. Beatrix wanted nothing more than to play the raunchiest way she could. But Beatrix had too much respect for her team, not to mention her own house. She would indeed play it the safe way. If only smacking people across the face wasn't against the rules... Then again, she could always beat a bludger into someone's face.

With her normal personality finally fitting into place for the special occasion, Beatrix followed suit with the rest of the Ravenclaws and followed Leon onto the field. Everyone threw their good-lucks around, and Beatrix simply shrugged and shouted "Good luck, everyone! As if we really need it, eh!?" She cackled and found a nice pace next to her fellow Beater. Though Edmund was no Dagan or Blake when it came to teamwork, the two still fit together nicely. Plus, he had an excellent arm, if that really helped at all. At the very least it helped his ego. Beatrix held her broom across her shoulders with one draped arm and held her bat in her good hand. Her right hand was typically the one she used for beating people up and writing, but she tended to use her left for wandwork for some odd reason. She felt she was a bit ambidextrous, though not entirely sure.

Beatrix leaned in towards Edmund and beamed up at him, "You think we'll have any problems beating Gryffindor senseless?" she asked, innocently. Of course, she knew Ravenclaw was awesome, she just liked joking about beating people. Since she was, after all, a beater. Edmund was acting rather cocky, with good reason, and Beatrix simply joined in, smiling like she was amazing and cute and waving her bat in the air. Beatrix knew she was one of the best beaters in school. She even had the word "beat" in her name. But Quidditch was basically the only thing she could flaunt nowadays... She was smart, of course, but no one saw it. People asked her all the time why she was in Ravenclaw. Which was incredibly rude. Quidditch was basically the only thing she could obviously show people she was best at.

Then again, once she got a wand in her hand, she could easily cut through someone like butter. But Beatrix had no intentions to harm anyone in such a manner... Well, no, not true. She just never had a chance to do it. She was more likely to beat someone with her bat than slice them in half with magic.

She kicked off the ground with the rest of the team, still keeping her position near Edmund. Hopefully their tactics would work during the actual game. And hopefully Klint wouldn't mind ganging up on people like how Dagan used to do. Sure, it was an... Ahh... Interesting way of running things, but it worked efficiently. Plus, was there any rules against it? Beatrix didn't think so, at least. The whistle blew and Beatrix's heart rate rose. This was it!

Hayes was already in play, passing the quaffle towards Megan. Beatrix kept her focus on the quaffle. If a Gryffindor got their hands on it, they were going DOWN. Beatrix glanced over at Edmund, making sure he was doing the same. Cockiness sometimes got the best of Beaters. Just think of William Pennyapple, Vinnie's brother, from the Magpies. Didn't he viciously attack James Forrester for hitting the Seeker when he should have been helping the Keeper? He had to keep his wits about him and focus mainly on the game, not the fouls that could easily be spotted by the referee.

Klint wouldn't do that, though. He was a Ravenclaw. Ravenclaws knew better.

Beatrix readied her bat, getting ready to brutally smack someone half to death. Her robes fluttered in the wind and her legs were warming up from her adrenaline. This was what Quidditch was all about! She could already feel it would be a good game.

Jonathan noticed the Ravenclaw chaser get a hand on the quaffle .  Not willing to really put pressure on her when she was that far away, he hovered back a little in a slightly more defensive position.  Noting that the quaffle seemed to be getting passed around a bit, he waited for instructions either from his captain or keeper.  For now though, Jonathan was happy to let other people tire themselves out, especially since they were not threatening the hoops.  Seeing the quaffle being passed downwards, Jonathan debated for a moment or two if it would be worth chasing.  Getting into a better position to mark Ruiz, he really did not want to challenge her for the quaffle , just force her to throw it another direction.  He was quite happy to wait for the other team to make a mistake and then capitalize on it.  Or better yet, let one of his teammates capitalize on it.

Flying in a relaxed manner, Jonathan stopped right in front of the other chaser.  Making note of the beaters, he got about as close as he could to Ruiz.  Noting that the female chaser had six inches on him, the young Gryffindor cursed his height.  He really wished he was taller.  Not for any grandiose reason, just that it would make it easier for him to defend Ruiz (or anyone else, really).  She had yet to catch the quaffle , but barring something unexpected happening Jonathan thought she would catch it relatively easily.  The pass was fairly well placed.  After checking for  bludgers, he got even closer to Ruiz, staying inside and hoop side of her.  Wondering what she would do, Jonathan looked towards the other chaser's eyes, hoping they would give away her next move.

[Had to play catch up]

There was something about a match that forced adrenaline to pump against your veins. George had been bouncing around all day, moving from one ball of his foot to the other, rolling his shoulders and his head, reminding himself they had been training hard and well. Everyone had their pre-match rituals. Some slept, some read books or played games, and others concentrated on something else. George had long ago found his pre-game ritual in the dirtiest way he could.

Paint was an amazing thing. And when he had someone else to have fun with while doing it… well, he didn’t focus on the impending competition as much. Now, with the gold and red body paint across his face (and all visible skin, including his neck and ears), he was prepared. With his uniform in place, it was a matter of heading out with his teammates to wait for the match to start.

With one last glance at the captain badge, he tried to think of the best motivation to give his team. Making his way to his teammates, he gave them an easy going grin—it had been too long since he was on the pitch for a match. Giving Jonathan a clap on the back, he nodded to Josh and Grace. Gathering his teammates, he gripped his broom. “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m hungry.” Shaking his head, he thumped his chest. “No, I’m starving. You have to want something so bad you can taste it. The only thing that’s going to satisfy me is taking a bite out of Ravenclaw.” Some could argue he all ready had… but this was Quidditch. “It’s our time this year; it’s time to feast!” And with that, he slung himself over the broom.

Giving his teammates another grin, hoping his confidence was noticeable, George balanced on the broom and pulled the goggles down over his eyes. “We’ll start defensively; let them think we’re not aggressive.” Giving Monroe a nod from where he was, a silent acknowledgement of the other team, he took the command from Hooch and soared up to his favorite spot. Something about the goals just felt natural to him. His right hand gripped the broom, his feet moving back and forth against the braces, and all the while his eyes watched his teammates settle into their locations. Practice had been fun and had pushed them all to work hard. He hoped it paid off… Ravenclaw was ahead just a bit, and as the last match for the fall season… well, George felt Gryffindor had a chance to shine out.

Then the game was on, and while he kept an idea of where the beaters (and respectively, the bludger) were, his eyes focused on the quaffle, waiting to see if one of his Chasers intercepted it. For now, they could play it easy… and he didn’t feel the need to yell out another play just yet.

[AP = 100]

As her eyes scanned the stands around the pitch, Megan hoped that the team performed well for their third match. After all, they were able to do well so far. She looked over to Adrienna and Blake as they walked on to the pitch together for the game. She gave a small smile to them as Blake wished them both luck. "Good luck to you two too," she said to both of them.

Holding on to her broom, Megan watched as Madam Hooch blew her whistle and released the balls. She kicked down on the ground, and flew straight upwards with everyone else. However, once the quaffle was up in the air, she made no attempt to catch it. Rather, she flew away from the action, and at a lower height from the rest.

After Adrienna caught the ball, Meg noticed that she threw it to her. Immediately catching it, she began to fly down the field. She was aware that she was already being watched by Jonathan, who was already next to her. But, she gave no indication that she saw him, and instead concentrated on flying. Spotting Blake open, she quickly flew upwards, and to her left, passing the quaffle to him.