Hufflepuff vs Slytherin!

[Madam Xiomara Hooch]

Xiomara wasn’t very fond of the fierce summer heat, and the fierce summer midges. It made playing Quidditch unpleasant – the sun was too bright to see the players properly, and it was just so sticky and tiring. Unless you didn’t mind stripping off a bit, all these short skirts that were in fashion with the young pupils of Hogwarts nowadays. Xiomara was not of an age that she approved, and it certainly wasn’t a fashion that she could have carried off herself anymore. Then again, in her youth she had perhaps been partial to wearing a miniskirt herself. Her skirts had lengthened over the years. The many years, alas.

The sooner they started, the sooner it would be over with, Xiomara reasoned to herself. Then she could go and have a long draught of iced pumpkin juice. She ushered the team captains together to shake hands, and then instructed both teams to mount their brooms. The Slytherin team had their usual army of reserves sitting on their sidelines, if somewhat depleted, and interestingly quite a lot of players she hadn’t seen before. Maybe someone had been bribing the team captain. She just hoped they wouldn’t be letting the house down, it was never good to lose to Hufflepuff. With a shrill of her whistle, Xiomara signalled the start of play and released the Quaffle.

The game is afoot!

((The current line-ups are…

Position - Player - Rolls: Dex, Str, Con, HP

Hufflepuff

Chaser - Grace Hunter H6 – 6, 4, 5, 6
Chaser - Sophia Hallington H7 – (5+1=)6, (4+2=)6, 3, 8
Chaser - Sita Mehadi H6 – 6, (4+2=)6, 4, (7+1=)8
Beater - Scout Cooper H3 - 5, 5, 5, 6 *
Beater - Billy Brady H6 – 1, 6, 2, 6
Seeker - Finn Miles H7 – 6, (5+1=)6, 6, (7+5=)12
Keeper - Gavin Armstrong H6 – 3, 4, 6, 7

Reserve
Harmony Chan H6 – 5, 2, 2, 7 *
Sydney Rawson H7 - 4, 5, 6, 7
Vincente Faire H7 – 2, 2, 6, 6

Slytherin

Chaser - Tychus Findlay S5 – 4, 3, 3, 7 *
Chaser - Marla Armstrong S4 – 2, 4, 2, 6 *
Chaser - Josephine Bowman S6 – (2+3=)5, 4, (2+1=)3, 6
Beater - Dylan Caoimhe S7 – (2+2=)4, 5, (2+1=)3, 8
Beater - Valarien Mengsk S6 – 5, 5, 6, 6 *
Seeker - Adalia St John S5 – (6-1=)5, (6-1=)5, (6-1=)5, (6+1-5=)2
Keeper - Malcolm Light S3 – 5, 2, 2, 8 *

Reserve

Merrick Marr S7 (B/C) – 2, 5, 4, 7
Stephen Donahue S6 (K/S) – 4, 1, 2, 6 +2XP
Kyle Reese S5 (B/C) – 5, 3, 4, 8
Maggie Callan S5 (C/K) – 2, 4, 5, 6
Wynd Lehane S7 – (4+2=)6, 5, (2+2=)4, 7
April Stewart S7 – 2, 3, 1, 7 *
Tiernan McCoy S7 – 6, 4, 1, 7
Mordred Altima S5 – 5, 2, 4, 7 *

*April, Harmony, Malcolm, Marla, Mordred, Scout, Tychus and Valarien are temporary players and will not earn XP points this match.

Hufflepuff 180
Slytherin 10))

[Billy Brady H6]

It was a beautiful day outside, Billy noted as he looked out of the window on the morning of the last Quidditch match of the season. His only concern was that it wasn't quite ideal for quidditch, it would get rather uncomfortable playing in this weather wearing the heavy Quidditch robes. Not to worry though, the Hufflepuff team had had lots of practice and were well prepared, and Billy himself was confident in his abilities as a Beater.

After having a quick breakfast he gulped down his remaining pumpkin juice and went straight out to the field, where most of the others were already ready-Billy wasn't exactly known for his timekeeping! Looking round it was odd thinking that half the team were graduating this year, and the other half would be the following year - next year's captains had better do a good job at recruiting, he thought!

Finn led them out onto the pitch, and soon enough the whistle blew and the balls were released. One of the bludgers flew straight towards him before anyone had managed to get the quaffle, so he made the most logical shot he could think of and hit it towards Adalia, the seeker.

((Hitting bludger towards Adalia))

[Sophia Hallington H7]

Sophia sighed that morning, as it was a sad day for her. Finally she'd come to her last Quidditch match at Hogwarts after...several years on the team. She got up even earlier than she normally would, so she could eat a good breakfast at her own pace, before heading towards the field where she would play for the last time.

She had a good feeling about this game. She KNEW she could play well, and she KNEW that her team was good enough to beat the Slytherins, especially when half the team had the motivation of it being their last game. Finn made a great final motivational speech, and they flew out towards the field.

It was the same drill as always - the whistle blew, the balls were released and the game began. Sophia was experienced enough to know exactly how to handle the initial chase for the quaffle as she flew off towards it, hoping she'd get it before her Slytherin opponent.

((Catching the quaffle))

[Adalia St John S5]

Finally, time to show her might. Today was the final match of the season, Hufflepuff vs. Slytherin, and for some reason or other Jo wasn't there. Adalia was told why... she just didn't bother to remember the answer. All she heard was "blah blah blah Jo might be coming later but you may be on your own blah blah blah". Really, she didn't need Jo anyways, she could run this team on her own. There were a lot of new players this game though... most of them were older and so hopefully not totally dunderheads... but still they were new and that made them something of a risk. But she knew she would have no trouble with them, if she did then the whole house would sort them out. Slytherins like to win, and when they don't win everyone knows why.

Before the general stampede Adalia made her way down to the pitch, too bad about all that sunshine. She could have used a bit more cloud cover to make the snitch a bit more visible but what can you do. Hopefully the sun goes right into the Hufflepuff's eyes blinding them and their garish outfits, that would be a benefit. When her team assembled and had dressed Adalia brought them all to attention, she was good at that.

"Okay team, I know a lot of us haven't played together before but it's time to pull this whole thing together.

"Chasers, I need you on that quaffle at all time, if there is one thing to be said about Hufflepuffs they know how to pull a team together. So I need you all equally on top of each other's actions. If someone on your team needs you to pass to then be there, no exceptions.

"Beaters, you know to keep your backs to the sun and fly towards the action, hopefully you can get some of those puffs in the face. Don't forget to target their seeker.

"Keeper, Malcolm, I know you're new to this scene but we're trusting you. Remember, stay by your middle hoop unless the quaffle is going straight at another, or just hover around them all... but make sure they're all covered at all times. Remeber what I said about the Hufflepuff chasers, they don't mess around.

"So that's it, we're as prepared as we'll ever be. Let's do this thing."

With that Adalia lead her team onto the pitch. She shook hands with the Hufflepuff captain, staring her down. Then took off in search of the snitch.

((Searching for the snitch, avoiding the bludger))

[Sita Mehadi H7]

It was the last Quidditch game of the year, and despite the oppressive heat outside, Sita was very excited to be playing in it. The Hufflepuff side of Chasers had been looking good in practice and she was looking forward to playing with her fellow Chasers in a game situation. They did have a formidable foe though - Wynd Lehane was probably the best Chaser in the school, whether by talent, good luck or foul play, or a mixture of these, she hadn't quite made her mind up, but there was no denying how good he was.

Sita's enthusiasm dwindled temporarily as she noticed how lethargic everyone looked in the changing rooms. It was swelteringly hot in here, so perhaps things would get better when they went outside, where there would at least be a little bit more air. She smiled encouragingly at her friends Sophia and Harmony. They would be the starting team of Chasers, and it was important that they worked as a close-knit little team. That was what being a Chaser was about, for the moment - teamwork. Perhaps there they would have an advantage over the Slytherins, whose teamwork she was sure wasn't quite as well-oiled as the Hufflepuffs'.

Finn went to bestow his Captain's handshake on the Slytherin Vice Captain - the captain wasn't playing in the starting line-up today, for some reason. Perhaps she was unwell - Sita didn't really care very much, to be honest. She'd never met a Slytherin she liked. But all the same, she hoped that next year it would be her shaking hands with the captain of the opposition... she reckoned she had a very good chance, after being Vice this year. She would just have to wait and see.

The whistle blew, and Sita hung back a little so as not to get in Sophia's way. Sophia was the most experienced of the Hufflepuff Chasers, so they'd agreed before the game that she'd be the one chasing after the Quaffle. It soon became clear that Lehane was after the Quaffle for Slytherin - no surprises there, then - so Sita moved in to try to block his path and buy Sophia a bit more time to grab the Quaffle out of the air.

((Marking Wynd))

[Finn Miles H7]

The end. It seemed so ridiculous to believe that it could be true. After years of flying with some of these people, this would be the final time Finn took to the pitch as a Hufflepuff player. The last match he'd have the privilege to captain. One more shining opportunity to catch the snitch as he lead his fellow Badgers to a possible victory. And yet, there was no buzz from the crowd. No confetti or banners. In fact, the scorching sun seemed to have put everyone in lethargic state of mind.

Finn entered the players' quarters and watched as his team slowly donned their yellow robes. They laced up their boots and put on their gloves. But nobody seemed to be excited. It was almost enough to make him fall into the same dreary sort of mindset, but not quite.

Thinking back over the years he'd played on the Quidditch team, Finn put on his best smile and gathered the players before they would disperse on the pitch.

"Come on now. It's the last match of the season. Where's your energy? We aren't going to go out there and let them beat us because we're all lollygagging around!" He scanned the group, hoping for some sort of spark to ignite their excitement.

"Hallington and Faire, it's your last, as it is mine as well. Let's give them something to remember us by. The rest of you, let's make them worried about the team they'll have to face off against next year. All we have to do is outscore them by three goals, I'll catch the snitch, and then we've secured second place behind Gryffindor. It's not the cup that we'll walk away with, but it's something to be damned proud about. So come on! Put some determination in those blank stares and let's kick some Slytherin ass!"

Finn lead his team, for the final time, flying onto the pitch. Perhaps his speech worked a little as he noticed a few of the players attempting to liven the sun-soaked crowd. Before long the cheers began to rise, and Finn felt his heart beat a little bit faster. This was more like it. Win or lose, he was ready for it to be his final match here at Hogwarts, and he was going to give it his all.

When the whistle blew and the players scattered, Finn set his sights on the far left corner of the pitch where the sun was shaded by a viewing tower. From there he'd get a free scan of the pitch without having to worry about the blinding rays.

((Searching for the Snitch.))

[Vincente Faire H7]

Vince was ready for this! Time to doll out some punishment if he could. He looked up and down the line at his fellow teammates and knew it was Hufflepuff's time to shine. Though he didn't say it much, he actually enjoyed the fact he was on the team. He kicked off as the match started and immediately took aim at the first Slytherin to go after the quaffle.


((Hitting a bludger at which-ever Slytherin decides to post going for the quaffle first))

[Wynd Lehane]

((Catching the Quaffle))

OOC: I'm not really sure where I'm supposed to put this but I want my experience points to be...

(4+2=)6, 5, (2+2=)4, 7

[Tiernan McCoy S7]

((Defending Wynd from Vincente's Bludger))

[Harmony Chan H6]

The game was afoot, and Harmony was raring to go, as always. She was playing Chaser this game, and it felt like a long time since she'd stretched her Quidditch muscles. Swerving her broom in the direction of the other opposing Slytherin Chasers, Harmony picked her target and swiftly zipped towards him.

((Marking Mordred.))

((HELLO EVERYONE! Good to see Quidditch is a-go-go! :D))

[april]

April looked up at the sky; it was fair, and rain seemed a distant possibility. She was frowning - but then again, her face was always permanently in a half-scowl. This would be her last Quidditch game. April didn't know how she felt about that. She had never been the most competitive, or the most talented, nor even the most passionate. But she had made the commitment, and she'd seen it through these few years. It would be the end of something. Chewing her lip, April soared into the air with her teammates for the final time. She would never play Quidditch again, so she might as well make the most of it. Graduating was going to be a major event, and April didn't want to think about it. All she cared for now was the feel of the Bludger against bat as she tried to defend Adalia from an incoming attack from the Hufflepuffs.

((Defending Adalia from Billy.))

[Marla Armstrong S4]

Outdoors was a blazing furnace after the blissful cool of the Slytherin Common Room. Marla had emerged only after applying her most powerful anti-burning ungent - she had very pale, sensitive skin, and she didn't want to suffer the indignity of sunburn. But she was unable to protect herself against the infernal heat - she would just have to hope that Adalia St John could find and catch the Snitch before the entire team collapsed from heatstroke. Adalia was a good Keeper, but that didn't necessarily mean that the skills would transfer to make her a good Seeker. The proof would be in the pudding, to use a vulgar phrase. It would be far better not to use a vulgar phrase, of course - she would have to think of an expression that would be of more use in polite society.

Marla listened seriously to Adalia's orders. She herself would be playing as a Chaser, and, unpartisan of her though it was, she did suspect that the Slytherin side might have some trouble with the Hufflepuff Chasers. Of course Hufflepuff had never won the Quidditch Cup in living memory, but throughout Marla's time at the school, they had been known for their consistently strong teams of Chasers, and the current one was no exception. Then again, the Slytherin side had Wynd Lehane, and he was worth a whole side of Chasers just by himself... all Mordred and herself had to do was to lend him the necessary support, in Marla's opinion.

The whistle sounded and Marla kicked off the ground, noting that Lehane and Hallington were already racing towards the Quaffle. She wouldn't get in Lehane's way for the world, but perhaps she could still slow Hallington down... Marla approached to the side of the blonde-haired Hufflepuff, giving the older girl an intimidating glare as she tried to block her way towards the falling Quaffle.

((Marking Sophia.))

[Madam Xiomara Hooch]

((A note to Vincente (and all Beaters!) - you MUST be specific and mention the name of the player you hit a Bludger at. That is, you must state that you wish to hit the Bludger at Wynd, or Marla etc. - you may not put non-specific things like 'the next Slytherin to post'. Hope that's clear - if not, just ask!

(This is in the rules, but I appreciate that the Quidditch page has been broken for quite some time. I don't know whether we still have a copy anywhere, but if we don't then I will write one this coming weekend.) Since the roll didn't lead to anything significant in the game this round, I have included it here and Tiernan can get the credit for his successful defence! - but please bear this in mind for future rounds - I won't be accepting any more actions that don't bear a specific name. Thank you!

------------------------------------------

Billy hits a Bludger at Adalia; April attempts to defend against the Bludger.
Billy = Bludger (D6 + Str) = 6 + 6 = 12
April = Defend (D8 + Str) = 8 + 3 = 11
April fails to defend against Billy's Bludger; it continues towards Adalia.

Adalia attempts to dodge Billy's Bludger.
Billy = Bludger (D6 + Str) = 5 + 6 = 11
Adalia = Avoid (D8 + Dex) = 6 + 6 = 12
Adalia dodges Billy's Bludger!

Vincente hits a Bludger at Wynd; Tiernan attempts to defend against the Bludger.
Vincente = Bludger (D6 + Str) = 2 + 2 = 4
Tiernan = Defend (D8 + Str) = 3 + 4 = 7
Tiernan defends Wynd from Vincente's Bludger.

Sita attempts to mark Wynd.
Sita = Mark (D4 + Dex) = 1 + 6 = 7
Wynd = Avoid (D8 + Dex) = 6 + 4 = 10
Sita fails to mark Wynd.

Harmony attempts to mark Mordred.
Harmony = Mark (D4 + Dex) = 4 + 5 = 9
Mordred = Avoid (D8 + Dex) = 6 + 0 = 6
Harmony marks Mordred successfully.

Marla attempts to mark Sophia.
Marla = Mark (D4 + Dex) = 4 + 2 = 6
Sophia = Avoid (D8 + Dex) = 7 + 6 = 13
Marla fails to mark Sophia.

Sophia and Wynd race to the Quaffle.
Sophia = Catch (D6 + Dex) = 4 + 6 = 10
Wynd = Catch (D6 + Dex) = 6 + 6 = 12
Wynd has the Quaffle!

Adalia searches for the Snitch. Her Concentration score is high enough that her search rolls will automatically be successful, so I will not bother rolling them this game.

Adalia = Search = 14
14 is not the Snitch number. Adalia does not see the Snitch.

Finn searches for the Snitch. His Concentration score is high enough that his search rolls will automatically be successful, so I will not bother rolling them this game.

Finn = Search = 4
4 is not the Snitch number. Finn does not see the Snitch.))

[Billy Brady H6]

Billy sighed as his bludger narrowly missed Adalia, and unfortunately the other bludger had been blocked too. And to make things even worse, Wynd had gotten to the quaffle just before Sophia, almost snatching it out of her hands it seemed! Oh well, the main thing was to keep the seeker diistracted to give Finn more of a chance - afterall, it would be whoever caught the snitch that won the game, at this stage anyway!

((Hitting bludger at Adalia...again. Sorry!))

[Sita Mehadi H7]

Wynd swept past Sita without her seemingly giving him any bother - how extremely annoying of him. It was even more annoying that he came out of the race for the Quaffle holding possession for Slytherin; he must have been a bit more aggressive than Sophia in grabbing it, because they'd both covered the air to the Quaffle in about the same time. Sita wasn't far off, though, thanks to her previous attempt to get in Wynd's way, and she immediately put herself alongside him as he flew towards the Hufflepuff goals. He could fly there all he wanted, but she was going to get that Quaffle off him before he got there!

((Don't apologise, Billy! ;D

Focusing on stealing Quaffle from Wynd.

Substituting Harmony out & Grace IN as Chaser!))

[Marla Armstrong S4]

And the consequence was that Slytherin had first possession of the Quaffle - excellent. Marla watched as Lehane worked his way through the throng of Hufflepuff Chasers towards the goalhoops. There wasn't much she could do, but perhaps she could make it two rather than three Hufflepuffs that were getting in her way. Marla flew towards the smallest of the garishly-robed Hufflepuffs, intending to make her duck out of the way...

((Marking Harmony.))

[Adalia St John S5]

After shaking hands with the Hufflepuff captain the game began. Adalia took to the skies in her dark green robes, which were scorching in this heat. Determination took over as she scanned the area, noticing that Wynd caught the quaffle for Slytherin. 'Wonderful start' she thought with a smirk as she gazed around the skies, having failed to notice anything on the pitch moving, besides the other players of course. The real problem with playing Hufflepuff is that with their scrawny little bodies and bright yellow robes they all looked like the blooming snitch! Really, the only thing to set them apart from the snitch was the fact that they were horribly slow, as shown by Slytherin's possession of the quaffle.

((Searching for the snitch))

[Gavin Armstrong H6]

Gavin woke up with the sun streaming in, it was going to be a beautiful day! It was going to be a hot day! A hot beautiful day? No doubt about it. And! He was going to be spending this hot beautiful day outside! In big yellow robes... maybe he hadn't thought this one through. But it was quidditch! Gavin would do anything for quidditch, Gavin loved quidditch. Ever since Sita got him to join the team he realised how much fun it was being part of a team. The cooperation, the commiseration, the shared joy... it was too awesome.

The team seemed a bit lethargic in the changing room... probably because it was so hot. Being hot made people testy, at least Gavin usually got snippy when it was too hot, he wasn't too snippy now but he had just gotten out in the heat. Not to mention he had too much else to think about! He was going to be keeper, he liked being keeper, keeping an eye on the game. Oh, the puns, the very very bad puns.

"Good luck" he said quietly to Sita as they made their way out onto the pitch. It was the last game of the year, their last chance to be this exact team. A lot of them would be back next year, but not all of them. It was time to make an impact!

Very soon after the game began Slytherin took first possession, not the greatest start but Gavin knew they could pull through. That really put him on the spot though, because the Slytherin chaser was making a bee line for the hoops...


((Defending the hopps))

[Vincente Faire H7]

(( Sorry, I was gonna edit in the name, I was waiting for a slytherin to post. I wasn't able to get to my computer til just now, it won't happen again. My bad.))

Vince cursed softly when Tiernan blocked his attack. What made it worse was when Wynd got the Quaffle and took off. Sighing, he searched the sky for one of those pelting missiles affectionately named bludgers. Spotting one he took off after it. Taking a swing, he aimed at Wynd once again.

((Hitting a bludger at Wynd))

[Wynd Lehane]

((Avoiding Bludgers, Defending Quaffle, Scoring!!))