Hufflepuff vs. Slytherin!

[Drake Manning]

Another save left Drake smirking again. If he kept this up, they just might be able to keep Hufflepuff from scoring at all. That would take a good effort by Josephine though, and it seemed at the moment that she was a bit preoccupied by the majority of the Bludger attacks. It didn't help either that the one Chaser Drake saw open was Stephen who had a bat in his hand. "What the hell are you doing, Donahue?" Drake shouted, deciding to throw him the Quaffle anyways.

((Passing to Stephen.))

[Kailyn Valak S6]

Kailyn knew that she wasn't doing all that well, but she was at least trying. It wouldn't suffice, but what more could she do? The Hufflepuff Beaters were just too good. Even when half of the dynamic duo was substituted out, it seemed Finn only improved with a new Beater at his side. Kailyn swore as she flew forward.

Then, out of nowhere, she felt herself being stripped of her bat. Growling, she saw Stephen Donahue. "Stephen!" she shouted, flailing as she tried to wrestle her bat back from him. "What the hell are you trying to do? Kill us?" She wasn't strong enough to get back the bat. Then, she watched as Stephen used it to send a Bludger at the Hufflepuff Seeker, before making a degrading comment to Kailyn.

"You're such an idiot," she said, seeing that he had so blatantly ignored the Bludger that was already heading toward Josephine. Kailyn turned in annoyance, flying off to give another attempt at saving Jo from being bloodied by the damn Bludger. If she didn't make it in time, it was all Stephen's fault. And what made it worse was that she saw for sure that both Sita and Josephine were chasing after the Snitch!

((Focusing a defense on Jo, deflecting to Sita.))

[Sita Mehadi H7]

Sita felt a jolt of shock as she saw the Snitch. After so many false alarms (glinting watches and countless other shiny surfaces), it was surprising how obvious it was that this was the Snitch now that she'd caught sight of it. Her mind surprisingly calm considering how fast she was going, Sita tried to press her advantage home (Josephine was only following, Sita had seen it first) as she hurtled towards the ground, not really caring if she crashed, or if any Bludgers crashed into her, so long as she could scoop the tiny golden ball out of the air first.

((Giving chase to the Snitch and focusing on avoiding Stephen's Bludger.))

[Ivy Tunstall]

Drake Manning's smirk left Ivy furious. What right did he have to save all these goals anyway? Her stomach knotted as she saw Sita streaking after the Snitch. Good on her! She'd kept her concentration to the end... now, though, her lack of experience might stop her from preventing Josephine from overtaking her. Oh, Ivy hoped not! She hoped that Sita could get to the Snitch first.

And what if she didn't? Were Hufflepuff to be defeated without scoring a single goal against Slytherin, when they'd definitely played the better game? Ivy couldn't bear it, and with a great cry of anger she accelerated towards the Slytherin Keeper and frantically started trying to grab the Quaffle off him. Well, Madam Hooch wasn't likely to be watching right now, was she? If she could just launch it through the hoops before the final whistle went...

((Focus stealing off Drake. Yes, I know I'm not allowed to.))

[Madam Xiomara Hooch]

((Just as a note, I have no idea whether Kailyn should be allowed to use the same bat in the same round, and while I have rolled it here I would not guarantee that it would be allowed in the future as I think we'll need to have a further think about the wider implications of allowing that sort of thing... anyway, it doesn't make any difference here so it can stay in as far as I'm concerned.

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Stephen hits a Bludger at Sita and Carson attempts to deflect it to Josephine. Both focus.
Stephen = Focus Bludger (D6 + Str + Con) = 6 + 3 + 3 = 12
Carson = Focus Defend (D8 + Str + Con) = 7 + 5 + 2 = 14
Carson deflects the Bludger successfully! There is a Bludger flying at Josephine.

Kailyn focuses on defending Josephine from Finn’s Bludger and attempts to deflect it to Sita.
Finn = Bludger (D6 + Str) = 2 + 6 = 8
Kailyn = Focus Defend (D8 + Str + Con) = 6 + 3 + 3 = 12
Kailyn deflects the Bludger successfully! There is a Bludger flying at Sita.

Ivy focuses on stealing the Quaffle off Drake.
Ivy = Focus Steal (D4 + Str + Con) = 3 + 6 + 6 = 15
Drake = Defend (D8 + Str) = 6 + 6 = 12
Ivy steals the Quaffle off Drake! Ivy has the Quaffle.

Josephine and Sita try to catch the Snitch.
Josephine = Catch (D10 + Dex) = 8 + 6 = 14
Sita = Catch (D12 + Dex) = 12 + 6 = 18
Snitch = Avoid (D10 + D4) = 5 + 4 = 9
Sita catches the Snitch! Hufflepuff win!

Hufflepuff 150
Slytherin 10

Players and commentator may now post their reactions to the end of the match if they wish. Posts will count towards experience points!

Thank you to all the players who took part, and to the Captains for their organisation! Also to Professor Hardy for being good enough to join us, and many many thanks to Trinity for her wonderfully entertaining commentary.))

[Finn Miles H7]

I have tabulated the posts from this match up to this point for experience points. Here is the list (taking into account that Stephen and Adalia earned half-points for each post since they were not playing their preferred positions):

Sita- 15
Josephine- 14
Ivy- 14 15
Sydney- 11
Finn- 8
Kailyn- 8
Seth- 8 9
Drake- 7
Sophia- 6
Kael- 6
Mary- 5
Chace- 4
Stephen- 4
Wynd- 3
Carson- 2
Adalia- 1.5

But everyone can still earn more by posting after the match!

[Trinity Bleu]

((Please note that I was wrong to write that Trinity was using
Sonorus to project her voice and commentate;
rather, according to canon, she is meant to use a magicked megaphone,
and thus, she will begin using one as of now!))

"Bowman is pelted by Bludgers from the Hufflepuff Beaters. Seems the attack has switched from hitting the Chasers to the Seekers," Trinity intoned as she watched the power play commence with a little boredom. "Collins passes to Tunstall," she added with a shred more excitement. "As Tunstall prepares to score, the Hufflepuff Beaters continue their onslaught. But the Slytherins have responded. Perhaps Rawson or Miles could kindly send a Bludger to their heads," Trinity suggested with a sickly sweet voice and a matching smile that couldn't fool even the most gullible of individuals. A loud groan escaped as Ivy failed to score. "Damn, and Manning saves again. Rawson, Miles, I'd think about giving him a knock if I were you, I'm sure Mehadi will survive five minutes without you... or not! Mehadi closely dodges a Bludger from Evans." Trinity watched as Rawson seemed to take her advice and send a Bludger at Drake. Sadly, the seventh year easily avoided it. "Rawson's attack on Manning fails. What's he on, Felix Felicitus?" she accused in annoyance.

"Anyway," Trinity drawled, growing more bored by the minute. "Tunstall passes to Collins. It's like a ball game between the two. The Slytherin Chasers are useless but even with them playing like dunderheads, Hufflepuff still can't get a goal. Maybe this time Collins will be in luck?" Trinity heard a yelp from another direction and turned in time to say, "A Bludger hits Bowman again! I'd feel sorry for her but I think the Hufflepuff Beaters are doing a magnificant job. Simply magnificent," she declared in a smug, put-on, posh voice. "Ah, but no!" Her tone quickly changed to one of resentment. "Manning saves again! Well, look on the bright side, folks - he's leaving next year!" Trinity didn't even try to hide the glee in her voice, which quickly escalated into excited shouting as the crowds stirred with the realisation Trinity herself was having as she watched the sky.

"It looks like the Snitch has been seen!" Trinity yelled into the megaphone, staring intensely at the yellow figure that was Sita. "Mehadi has seen the Snitch! Is it for real this time? It'd better be, because Bowman is following her, coming in to neck-and-neck!" Trinity's eyes darted only for a millisecond to check on the other players' activity, only to see something else worth reporting about. "And what's this? Tunstall is flying towards Manning - looks like she's going to try and steal from him! That's not a move in the rulebook but no one cares right now!" Trinity switched back to the Seekers, a blur of yellow and green. "Mehadi is closing in on the Snitch!" she said with her eyes pressed hard against a pair of omnioculars, the first time she had used them since they'd dangled round her neck at the beginning of the match. A quick check-up on Tunstall and Manning had Trinity shouting, "And Tunstall grabs the Quaffle from Manning's arm in a defiant but damn cool steal. Yes, Hufflepuff, stamp your mark on those arrogant gits!"

And back to the Seekers. "Mehadi and Bowman struggle with each other for the Snitch, but Mehadi's pulling ahead and-- YES, SHE'S CAUGHT THE SNITCH!" Trinity almost fell over the side of the commentary box from her excitement. "MEHADI HAS THE SNITCH! HUFFLEPUFF HAS WON!" She did a quick calculation in her head and watched the scores change on the board. "150-10!" The Hufflepuffs were quick to celebrate, along with the esctatic part of the crowd, whilst the Slytherins glowered darkly at their loss. Meanwhile, Ivy was flying towards Trinity, to her surprise, and asked her for the megaphone. Trinity glanced briefly at Hardy, who gave no sign of displeasure, and genially handed the megaphone across to Ivy. "Nice match," she praised with a toothy grin. "I like to watch Slytherin being beaten, you've really made my day."

[Seth Wright]

Seth almost fell off his broom as the booming voice of Trinity Bleu filled his ears. "Snitch?" he yelped out loud, his head darting around in pursuit of Sita's figure. "What Snitch?!" Finally, his eyes landed on Sita, along with Josephine who was pursuing her hotly. "Go on, Sita!" Seth shouted encouragingly, having missed the initial sighting of the Snitch and was watching the end results of a battle between the two fifth years. Sita was ahead by a margin and as her hand closed around the Snitch, Seth was jumping into the air gracelessly, his broom hardly the most supportive like a springy bed. "YES!" he yelled, his voice joining the chorus of hundreds of voices that included not only Hufflepuff, but Gryffindors and Ravenclaws alike. Seth heard Trinity's celebrations over the megaphone and couldn't stop grinning. He flew down to meet his teammates on the field, wind almost knocked out of him as they embraced and congratulated one another for a brilliant last match of the year, especially against Slytherin. At the sound of Ivy's voice in the megaphone, Seth looked up to his Captain and smiled. She'd done a good job; and so had he.

((Counted.))

[Ivy Tunstall]

Ivy snatched the Quaffle off Drake with almost all the force she possessed, and it felt good. Clearly he wouldn't make a very good Chaser! She looked round as Trinity announced Hufflepuff's victory and cheered along with the team and all of Hufflepuff's supporters in the crowd, Ivy possibly the loudest of them all as relief spread through her. For a while their chances hadn't been looking too good, but Sita had proved her fears (about lack of experience and lack of focus) to be misplaced and won the game for Hufflepuff.

And Hufflepuff had won the Quidditch Cup for Gryffindor. That was a little bit irritating... that one elusive goal would have put Hufflepuff tied in first place for the Quidditch Cup, but... frustrating as the narrow margin was, Ivy would take second place quite happily. She flew over to her team, clapping both Sita and Sydney enthusiastically on the shoulder. "You're all brilliant!" she shouted happily at everyone.

Seized by a sudden determination (and perhaps slight madness), Ivy flew up to the wooden commentary box and hovered there, holding onto the bottom edge of the open window that Trinity Bleu and Professor Hardy sat in front of. She already had Trinity's attention, as was to be expected when she'd just flown towards her on a broomstick.
"Hi Trinity!" she said. She didn't know the Gryffindor personally but she could assume that they both knew each other's names so that seemed the most friendly thing to call her. "Do you mind if I borrow the megaphone?" she asked tentatively. Trinity consented more easily than Ivy had anticipated she would, handing it over quite readily.

"Thanks!" she said in reply to Trinity's comment and as she took the megaphone. She smiled happily at the Gryffindor. She did suddenly feel a lot happier than she had done for a very long time, despite the nerves twisting in her stomach at what she was about to do. She jumped a little as her thank you was magnified hundred fold to the entire crowd, followed by the large squeak that any megaphone was prone to. The squeak dissipated, though, and she took the plunge, her words spilling out of her. Now that she was here, it was too late to change her mind...

"Erm... Charlie... if you're here, then... I just want to say I'm sorry. And... I love you," she admitted, turning very pink as a ripple of titters spread through the crowd, mixed with a few jeers. She just hoped that Charlie really was there to hear it. Even if he wasn't, he'd hear of it, no doubt. She handed the megaphone back to Trinity, thanking the Gryffindor again, and then flew away back to her team (still blushing), making a hasty retreat before Professor Hardy could consider saying anything. She didn't know what had got into her for her to be so bold all of a sudden... and she wasn't sure whether it was a good thing! But she wouldn't be taking any of her words back again.