Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff!

[Riley Coxen G7]

Riley needed to make this one. She couldn’t miss it like she had somehow managed to miss the last. The Quaffle had passed right through her fingertips, but she wouldn’t let that happen again. She cheered her teammates on, wishing she could be out there playing with them and making an effort to steal the ball, but she was keeper now so she was going to try her best to make sure that ball did not go anywhere near Gryffindor’s three goal posts. She prepared herself, realizing that none of the three chasers would be able to steal the Quaffle. When she saw the Hufflepuff chaser near Riley’s goals with the Quaffle in her hands, she got ready to save.

((Attempting to save…))

[Melody Bang-Bala G6]

Realising that her eyes had lingered on the gameplay for far too long, Melody was busy mentally chastisting herself, until she noticed that - even worse, there was a Bludger coming her way. She glanced around to see if there was a Beater around to defend her, but instead saw that, to her horror, the Captain whom she looked up to so much seemed to have decided to pursue a new tactic for hindering the Hufflepuff Seeker... one that was definitely not in the rulebook and also not within the bounds of common sense. Her gaze transfixed by the horrifying spectacle, Melody watched in utter astonishment and shock as Cassandra and Finn hurtled downwards, her heart leaping into her throat. She shook her head to herself... surely she must be hallucinating? But... but... she looked away at the last moment. She was getting distracted, and there was still a Bludger coming her way. Melody decided to try to avoid it by increasing her altitude again. There was far too much drama down here for a Seeker to concentrate.

((Avoiding t'Bludger and getting very distracted by her role model's apparent descent into insanity... maybe attempting to search fer that Snitch?))

[Oscar Flynn G7]

As his captain’s words shot to him, Oscar hissed angrily. He was doing his best here. Admittedly the Hufflepuffs had the upper hand, but Cassie could not get so ridiculously angry at him – especially since he had been carrying the weight of the Bludgers for quite a few minutes without her. Unable to keep quiet and let her words stick, Oscar took a deep breath and frowned at his captain. “Cassie, breath for a second and calm down before you do something completely irrational-” Already she shot off… and lo and behold, to do something completely and utterly irrational. “Cass! Oh, Merlin. Sto-” Oscar urged his broom forwards but was too late. By the time he neared Finn and his insane captain the latter had already launched herself at the Seeker. “CASS. Use your freaking bat and a Bludger, not your whole damn body…” His words weren’t spoken loudly enough and he doubted anyone could hear them- he no longer expected Cassandra to listen to a thing her vice captain said. It irritated him, her anger. She reminded him of an angry child.

With this thought in mind Oscar snapped back to the game. “Continue play until the foul whistle!” He barked at the team. Cassandra could do whatever she wanted but Oscar just hoped the rest of the team wouldn’t be so distracted they stopped playing to their best abilities. Reminding himself he was part of that group he spotted Melody climbing the skies and shot towards her, slightly irritated – the higher she went, the higher he would have to follow. His captain had put him in a bad mood; even the little Seeker of the Gryffindor team made him frown now, something he had never experienced before. “Melody!” He shouted out a call as he attempted to defend, unsure if the distance from himself to the Hufflepuff he wanted to deflect the Bludger to was too wide now to make a hit.

((Defending Melody, getting irritated by Cassie’s antics, deflecting to Sophia?))

[Scott Ryder G7]

Scott had his mind completely focused on intercepting Ivy’s pass when he felt the notoriously familiar impact of solid metal colliding with him. He let out a grunt of air as the Bludger smacked him right in the side. That was going to leave a bruise. As he recoiled from the unexpected attack, he saw Cass flying past as she yelled at Oscar for not defending him. Sure, Scott was irritated too from being hit by a Bludger, but he wasn’t about to point fingers. Both his captain and vice-captain were the Beaters, and neither one of them had stopped the attack. They couldn’t get to them all though. At least he hadn’t been badly injured, though the pain in his side wasn’t something he was thrilled about.

Now that Sophia had the Quaffle, she was in a fine position to try to score. Scott couldn’t let that happen. Ignoring the pain in his side, he pushed forward, once again focusing his mind on one task and one task only: getting the Quaffle back. Once he was close enough to Sophia, he reached out to try to punch the Quaffle from her hands.

((Stealing))

[Finn Miles H7]

Finn watched as the Gryffindors seemed to start to fall apart. Scott, their star Chaser, had just been hit by a Bludger, and none of the Gryffs seemed to happy about that. This would be good for Hufflepuff. Finn was happy that Sydney had successfully defending him. “Thanks, Syd!” he shouted, flying past his teammate as he continued his search for the Snitch.

What came next though, Finn wasn’t expecting. The impact was much too big for a Bludger, and so when he felt the weight on his broom practically double, he let out a shout of surprise before realizing that his Nimbus 2001 had just been hijacked by another player. This wasn’t just any player though. It was Cass! Her arms were wrapped around Finn as she was managing to take them both toward the ground. “What the hell are you doing, Cass?!” he hollered, trying desperately to stop them from both falling to the ground. In the chaos, he didn’t hear any response from her, but he was certain that she had to have been going mad. No player in their right mind would jump onto another player’s broom.

Just then he felt the sudden decrease in weight as Cass was being lifted from his broom. Julius had come to the rescue, which Finn was thankful for. He wasn’t even on the Hufflepuff team, but the Gryffindor had enough sense to stop his captain from injuring herself and Finn at the same time. “Thanks, Julius,” Finn said, letting out a sigh of relief as he was helped to regain control of his broom. Surely there would be some penalty for Cass’s moves.

Finn flew over to his friend, unsure of why she had done what she did. “Are you insane?” he asked, somewhat amused and still a bit irritated. “If you wanted me dead, I don’t think Quidditch is the way to go,” he added with a laugh. Seriously, he wasn’t sure what had gotten into Cass lately. She had been through a lot, but this was just nuts.

((Searching and trying not to die… thanks, Julius. ))

[Madam Xiomara Hooch]

Xiomara's eyes boggled at Cassandra Fallon's vaguely suicidal (or murderous?) attempt to... in fact, what she was attempting was not clear, since it was not anything logical... assault, then, assault on the Hufflepuff Seeker. She had never seen the like of it before, especially from a Quidditch player and Captain who had nearly always been an exemplary Beater up to this point. Madam Hooch bristled with indignation as she flew up to the group with several loud peeps on her whistle.

"Ms Fallon, that is the most blatant and downright dangerous foul I've seen in a decade," she said (spat would be a more accurate description), having turned really quite menacing, "and I would not have expected it from a team Captain. It is utterly unacceptable. Ten points from Gryffindor. Get off my pitch, NOW! Get some sense into yourself." Her index finger pointed angrily towards the ground. "Mr Miles, I hope that you are unhurt? Mr Lionheart, thank you for your swift action, 5 points to Gryffindor. Mr Flynn, you may substitute another Beater in, but the slightest misconduct from your team and you will be a player down." She restarted the game with another angry peep on her whistle.

((Oscar attempts to defend Melody from Sydney's Bludger.
Sydney = Bludger (D6 + Str) = 6 + 5 = 11
Oscar = Defend (D8 + Str) = 1 + 5 = 6
Oscar fails to defend. Sydney's Bludger continues at Melody.

Melody attempts to avoid Sydney's Bludger.
Sydney = Bludger (D6 + Str) = 6 + 5 = 11
Melody = Avoid (D8 + Dex) = 8 + 6 = 14
Melody avoids Sydney's Bludger!

Scott attempts to steal the Quaffle. Sophia attempts to defend.
Scott = Steal (D4 + Str) = 4 + 6 = 10
Sophia = Defend (D8 + Str) = 3 + 6 = 9
Scott has the Quaffle!

Melody searches for the Snitch.
Melody = Search = 6
6 is not the Snitch number. Melody does not see the Snitch.

Finn searches for the Snitch.
Finn = Search = 17
17 is not the Snitch number. Finn does not see the Snitch.))

[Oscar Flynn G7]

He stared at Cassandra as she flew from the pitch. His eyes were narrowed and he hoped she could feel the anger from across the sky. His mind, at least, threw shouts towards her in his head. But he could not voice them. The Gryffindor team had to come together again; and although he would have thought it impossible earlier, they had to do it without their captain. Oscar snapped his attention to Hooch's words and nodded. He didn't even hesitate before barking out the changes in the positions on his team. "Julius - you're smacking the Bludgers with me. And stop saving the other team, for Merlin's sake! We want Finn to fall." He was tempted to throw an apologetic glance at his Hufflepuff friend here, but there wasn't time - he still had a Chaser spot to fill. "Mikayla, get up here!" Oscar didn't know if that was the best thing to do, but right now it was his only choice. He nodded towards Julius once before shooting off towards the free Bludger, determined now to get the most aggressive attack going. "Catch that thing, Melody!" He shouted to the skies above while slamming the Bludger towards Melody's direct opponent.

((Switching Julius from Chaser to Beater, putting Mikayla in as Chaser. Bludger attack on Finn.))

[chace]

Day had become night and up was down. Cass, out of all people, had just performed the strangest foul that Chace had ever heard of. She had jumped from her broom onto Finn's broom in an attempt to... what? Distract him? Hurt him? Give Melody the upper edge? Chace watched in shock as Julius saved the Hufflepuff Seeker. Madam Hooch soon stepped in and told Cass to sit out. Chace searched his memory for another time when Madam Hooch had made a player leave the match and could not recall. And just as suddenly as the game had stopped it began again and once again, Scott held onto the Quaffle. Seriously, the Quaffle was acting like it had a certain affinity for the Chaser. Chace rolled his eyes as once again he had to chase after the red Chaser.

((Stealing the Quaffle))

[Seth Wright]

Seth swooped away lightly from the hissing Slytherin crowd. He was already universally disliked by the malicious house - no doubt he had done nothing to change their mind. Seth didn't care. He didn't want the Slytherins to like him. He didn't need to be socially accepted... though he wanted to, in a way, but not by Slytherins who would bully him, use him... Seth wanted real friends like Chace, Aurora, Lynne... good people. Chuckling to himself as he flew back to his goals, Seth looked upon the game again and wondered what had happened so far.

Well, seemingly a lot. Seth arrived at his hoops just in time to witness the most alarming and ridiculous stunt in his entire Hogwarts career. Cassandra Fallon, fellow Seventh Year and Captain of the Gryffindor team, flung herself onto Finn from her broomstick. "What the--!" Seth exclaimed, eyes bulging at the sheer desperation of his classmate. What was she thinking?! To launch herself at another player so recklessly! Was Cass out of her mind?! Seth watched in morbid horror as Finn sailed through the air, only for Cass' fellow teammate, Julius, to swoop forwards and save Finn from what seemed to be his imminent death. "Phew!" Seth muttered to himself, relieved. "That was close!"

And it certainly had been. Madam Hooch, who had witnessed the whole crazy incident, was flying forwards, and she looked furious. Seth cringed as her voice - not even magicked with Sonorous - echoed around the silenced pitch of shocked players. She was raging at Cass, and Seth almost felt sorry for her - if she hadn't tried to murder their precious Seeker. Poor Finn - at least he was uninjured, which was the main concern. Why had Cass done it? What had driven her to such lengths? Seth shook his head to himself. Maybe that marriage with Julian Fallon really had made her insane.

And so, Cass was sent off the pitch. Seth watched Oscar, her Vice, substitute Rosaliz Hernandez in again. Poor Oscar looked rather angry. Seth didn't blame him. If Chace ever pulled such a stunt, Ivy would be furious. Similarly, if Ivy was to ever do anything of the sort, Chace would go berserk at her (a rare occasion). Seth watched Cass fly to the ground and Madam Hooch blew her whistle. They had resumed play.

(())

[Scott Ryder G7]

That was more like it. Scott found the Quaffle back in his hands after barely managing to take it from Sophia. This game started out easy for him, but it was getting harder as it went. Even though he now had possession of the Quaffle, a Hufflepuff Chaser was hot on his tail, not to mention the Bludger that Syd was sending his way. Did that girl have it out for him or something? Wasn't the Seeker supposed to be the main target? Scott sighed as he just did what he had to do. He tried to position himself so that Chace wouldn't be able to steal while looking for an open Chaser. He had wished that Cass hadn't been so crazy. He was looking forward to playing Chaser with Julius, but now the older boy was filling in for their deranged captain in the Beater spot. Rosaliz was back in the game, but she still didn't seem to be really into the game all that much. That left just Casey, which was fine with Scott, but they were going to need more than just the two of them to keep up with Hufflepuff. "Casey!" he shouted, getting the girls attention before it was too late. He needed to get rid of the Quaffle before he was battered by another Bludger.

((Defending from Chace, Dodging Syd's attack, Passing to Casey))

[Finn Miles H7]

Before Cass could provide Finn with an explanation, Madame Hooch had blown her whistle and ejected Cass from the game. Finn could only stare in shock. Maybe Cass was a bit random and reckless, but she wasn't ridiculously stupid. Was she? Finn shook his head as Cass was forced to leave the pitch. Perhaps it was best for them both. He hardly wanted to be flying around with the fear that she'd do something else as crazy.

"I'm fine," he said to Madame Hooch with a forced smile. Maybe he was physically fine, but how could he just forget what happened after his friend had practically tried to kill them both. He had to maintain focus for his team though. At least Gryffindor would probably be equally as distracted by just having lost their captain.

Taking the chance to fly above the majority of the action, Finn saw Melody had retreated to a higher elevation as well. Maybe that was best. Still shaken from the incident, he tried his best to survey the pitch for the Snitch. All he could do though was watch Cass on the sidelines as she seemed very frustrated. Finn made certain that he'd find her later and figure out what crazy things were going through that mind of hers. Something wasn't right.

((Searching))

[Julius Lionheart]

Julius was still only slighty shocked at what Cass had done, but he was needed in the game. He looked at Finn as he spoke, nodding as did saying, " No prob, I just hope Cass doesn't murder me now." Looking once more at Cass, an apologetic look was displayed in contrast to his personality. He was about to head off to see what had become of the Quaffle, but a voice that could not mean any good for Gryffindor sounded above the crowd. Hooch was mad, no doubt about it, her tone said it all to clearly. He grimaced as ten points was taken from Gryffindor....five he realized as she continued. His actions had at least saved them from losing all the points they had. Shaken, but otherwise unperturbed, he realized he was going to have tl beater now.

He dove to the ground and caught up the beaters bat that Casshad abandoned. He saw her broomstick not to far away, but she would have to get it with a summoning charm. Flying into the sky, he once again focused intently on the game and spotted a bludger heading for Scott. Hissing, he flew to head it off yelling, " C'mon already enough with the bludger attacks to Scott, isn't he brain damaged enough?" He was joking of course, and he hoped Scott really knew that.

((Defending Scott, however with my stats, he might be doing this on his own...))

[Ivy Tunstall]

A commotion from the other half of the pitch drew Ivy's attention; she was incensed and alarmed by what she saw, but decided to leave it since Madam Hooch was already yelling at Cassandra. In many ways, she reflected as Cassandra was forced to leave the pitch, since Finn seemed unhurt (though probably a bit shaken), it wasn't exactly a bad thing. Cassandra was a formidable Beater when in a reasonable frame of mind, but it did rather appear that she wasn't at the moment.

Anyway, back to the actual gameplay. Scott seemed to have managed to wrest the Quaffle out of Sophia's control, displaying his usual light-fingeredness, evidently. Ivy rather thought that it was still Hufflepuff's turn to have the Quaffle, and she placed herself in the way of his pass to Casey with great determination, frowning as she tried to focus, ready to react when he passed.

((Hoping to intercept Scott's pass.))

[Melody Bang-Bala G6]

Blue. Wispy clouds scurrying across the blue sky. Crick in the neck; look down... oh, lots of yellow and scarlet robes whizzing around, distracting. No, she wouldn't look there. No chance of finding the Snitch amongst all that chaos, anyway. The truth was, it was becoming quite difficult to know where to look for the Snitch. But Melody would persevere. Of course she would. What else could she do?

((Searching fer t'Snitch... sorry about t'post...))

[Madam Xiomara Hooch]

((There have been some changes in the Gryffindor line-up.
Cassandra Fallon G7 has been… thrown out of the game!
Julius Lionheart G7 is being subbed out as Chaser and subbed in as Beater.
Mikayla Moon G7 is being subbed into the game as Chaser.

I cannot roll Sydney’s attack on Scott as she doesn’t have an IC post.

Oscar hits a Bludger at Finn. It is assumed that Finn would try to avoid it.
Oscar = Bludger (D6 + Str) = 4 + 5 = 9
Finn = Avoid (D8 + Dex) = 2 + 5 = 7
Oscar’s Bludger hits Finn!

Finn must concentrate in order to maintain his action.
Oscar = Bludger (D8 + Str) = 2 + 5 = 7
Finn = Concentrate (D4 + Con) = 4 + 4 = 8
Finn is able to concentrate and therefore will be able to search for the Snitch.

Chace attempts to steal the Quaffle from Scott; Scott attempts to defend it.
Chace = Steal (D4 + Str) = 4 + 6 = 10
Scott = Defend (D8 + Str) = 5 + 6 = 11
Scott retains the Quaffle.

Scott attempts to pass to Casey; Ivy attempts to intercept.
Scott = Pass (D6 + Dex) = 2 + 6 = 8
Ivy = Intercept (D4 + Dex) = 2 + 6 = 8
Tie! Re-roll.

Scott = Pass (D6 + Dex) = 2 + 6 = 8
Ivy = Intercept (D4 + Dex) = 2 + 6 = 8
Tie! Re-roll.

Scott = Pass (D6 + Dex) = 4 + 6 = 10
Ivy = Intercept (D4 + Dex) = 2 + 6 = 8
Scott passes successfully. Casey has the Quaffle.

Finn searches for the Snitch.
Finn = Search = 16
16 is not the Snitch number. Finn does not see the Snitch.

Melody searches for the Snitch.
Melody = Search = 18
18 is not the Snitch number. Melody does not see the Snitch.))

[Oscar Flynn G7]

'Finally.' Oscar watched as his Bludger hit Finn, wincing slightly with the impact on his friend. But he didn't linger on the thought - instead he followed the Bludger as it fell away from the Hufflepuff. "Sorry mate!" He called out softly as he repeated the motion he now knew so well, following the same aim he had before. Melody was a brilliant Seeker and Oscar had no doubt that she could catch the snitch - but he would do his best to make sure it was as easy as possible for her to do so. Of course it would require the Snitch to actually show up... but Oscar was confident that it would before long.

((Attack on Finn.))

[Cassandra Blackfire G7]

Cass began to retort back to the referree. She thought better of it when she saw the angry look in Madam Hooch's eyes. Finn and Julius both looked at her like she was crazy. All she could splutter was, "Well, all right then!," when it was determined she was to be ejected from the game. Most dangerous foul in ten years?! No way! She had seen the Slytherins do things that would make her stunt seem tame in comparison! Didn't Hooch understand?! This was quidditch! Finding her way to the bottom of the pitch, she retrieved her broom quickly with a flick of her wand. The Gryffindors in the stands roared with excitement while the Hufflepuffs jeered her as she stomped off the field.

((just making my grand exit!!))

[Julius Lionheart]

To Julius' immense surprise, the bludger that had been heading for Scott suddenly veered off course. What in the world? Shaking his head he chased after it anyways, it was time for the Gryffindor's to go on the all out attack. He couldn't let Cass' attempt at a sacrifice be in vain, so he outstripped the flying bludger and saw Finn not to far away. Smirking, he swung with quite a bit of force sending the bludger flying at the Seeker whom he had saved only moments before. He saw that Oscar had done the same, so it would take both of the other teams beaters to take care of the bludgers, " Hah!" he exclaimed at the thought.


((Attacking Finn))

[chace]

The display by their captain seemed to have some effect on the Gryffindor team as they were playing very well once again. Scott had managed to hold onto the Quaffle and passed right by Ivy into Casey's awaiting arms. Nothing could be so frustrating as nothing coming from the Hufflepuff players' labor. Chace rolled away from Scott and had a new target in sight. Casey. He wanted that ball. He wanted to score. They needed thirty points and the Snitch to even compete with the rest of the school this year and if Finn held up his end then the least the Chasers could do was hold up their end. Casey would no doubt try to score so Chace did not want to give her that option. He had to sway the game back their way.

((Stealing the Quaffle, once again))

[Seth Wright]

Would he ever have anything to do? Seth grinned to himself wryly. Well, evidently his team was just too strong for the Gryffindor team. Neither Seeker had found the Snitch yet, but the Hufflepuff Chasers seemed to be dominating the opposition... Or rather, Seth spoke too soon! Scott passed to Casey, avoiding an interception by Ivy, and the Fifth Year was streaking up towards his goals now. It was Seth's turn to shine again! - hopefully. Biting his lip nervously, Seth readied himself in front of the goals. He was ready to take everything this girl had. Hopefully, though, Seth thought with his arms outstretched and shaking a little as usual, Chace, who he noticed flying fast in pursuit of Casey, would try to take that Quaffle off of her, so Seth wouldn't have to resort to saving.

((Saving!))