Double Block ((QSC Keepers))

[Lacey Parkin]

Lacey Parkin, or Lace as most of her friends called her, ran her fingers through her pink mohawk absent mindedly as she watched the three challengers come to the field. She hadn't been a Hogwarts student. No, she had gone to Beauxbatons like her sister. So, she had been surprised to see the reaction of the spectators as they entered the stands waving red, yellow, blue, or green flags. She had been told by Ethan that each flag represented a house color. The four houses included Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. She couldn't help but notice his face beaming with pride as he said the word Gryffindor. She would have gone to Hogwarts had it not been for her parents moving to France when she was nine years old. She had fallen in love with the Hogwarts castle the day before as she wandered its halls with the rest of the team. Yes, it would have been wonderful to be a student here.

Three young keepers stood in front of Lace with what seemed like terror, or maybe it was shock, to stand in front of her. She didn't know why. Lace always thought that she exuded a cool, casual confidence when she was on the field. In fact, most of her teammates thought she didn't take the game seriously enough. If it wasn't for the fact that she was a Parkin, she never would of made it to the Wigtown team. A member of the Parkin family had played on every Wigtown team since its conception. Lace hadn't been the best keeper out there when recruitment began her last year at school. She definitely hadn't been above using her family's good name to get a spot on the Wanderers. She had promised Ethan that she would become the best keeper in Britain. She wasn't far from that goal. She had been appointed to the British team for the World Cup just the year before.

Taking a deep breath of fresh air, Lace faced the challengers. "Good Afternoon," her voice faltered as she heard it reverberate across the pitch. The crowd erupted at her words. She had never been very good speaking in front of crowds. "This is the beginning of the Keeper challenge. My name is Lace Parkin. I am the keeper for the Wigtown Wanderers." Voices screamed again. She was sure she even heard a couple of people scream 'We Love You' from the front row. "We call this the Double Block challenge. Each of you will be guarding the goal posts from the oncoming chasers from the Wigtown team. The chasers include our captain, Li Chien, Wyatt Miles, and Nick Declan.” She pointed to each of her teammates. She paused to allow the crowd to scream after each of their names. “Two of these chasers will attempt to throw a goal through your hoops. Your task is easy. Block the attempts on goal.” She smiled as if this would be an easy task. The challengers all looked at her with nervousness in their eyes. “Don’t worry. This is nothing more than what you do in every game.”

“Are the players ready?” Her voice bounced back at her from the walls of the stadium. “Will the first player please take their place in front of the goals?”

((This game is pretty simple. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me via PM. You must defend your goals from the oncoming shots of two chasers. Please reply by Tuesday, December 30th at 11:00 est. If all replies are in before that time, I will determine the outcome before the deadline. The two keepers with the highest scores will advance to the next and final round. Your points are based off your speed, aggressiveness, and handling scores along with your dice rolls.))

[Seth Wright]

Seth didn't know whether or not to be pleased that he would not be competing against Chace. On first thought it was obvious he should be delighted; Chace was better than he was and Seth would have no chance if he was pitted against him. However, after taking a look at the extremely small list of students participating in the Keeper section, Seth's heart had sank. Two Slytherins and him? Oh dear. Oh dear oh dear. That wasn't good at all. If Seth Wright was the main target of a particular house, it was the Slytherins; they loved to jeer and jab at his dignity and composure as much as they liked to... well, win. Just great. Not only were they nasty, horrible people who enjoyed targeting Seth like he was their playdoll, but they were so competitive that even if he did win against them, they'd pulverise him afterwards for daring to damage their pride. The thought of having to face them alone scared Seth... a lot. It was then he decided maybe having Chace competing with him (well, against him) was better than being alone.

Still, Seth's nerves had calmed down somewhat when Chace had pointed out that his opponents were not Josephine Bowman and Jack Reid, but Adalia St John and Drake Manning. That wasn't so bad. Seth had felt somewhat better... but not by much. Josephine struck him as the very scary and violent type; she was the Seeker for the Slytherin house team and the younger sister of a girl in his year who had died some time ago due to cancer. Seth felt sorry for her, but that didn't mean he particularly wanted to compete with her. As for Jack Reid, he was slightly hard to miss nowadays; he was, after all, dating Riley Coxen, who had made a name for herself even in Seth's year - partially because she was Chace's sister, but mostly it was due to her history in Hogwarts. Seth wasn't quite sure what Chace made of the relationship; they had yet to discuss it, the relationship was so new. Seth hoped Riley knew what she was doing, though; he also hoped Jack would treat her right - otherwise Chace would really unleash his wild side, and no one wanted to see that, Seth thought.

As for Adalia and Drake; well, Seth already knew Drake - he was the Slytherin male prefect for their year. He generally kept to himself and he was the Slytherin house team's Keeper, but he had a history of being a player, and he seemed the type that could snap easily if provoked. Seth would make sure to stay on his good side (that is, if he even had one; it was a mystery to most people, even after seven years) during the tournament. Adalia, Seth was not so afraid of. She was in Fourth Year, and although he wasn't one to judge on size and age, she really was very small and dainty. She was on the reserve team for Slytherin and Seth didn't know much about her skills. The same could be said for himself, he supposed. When he thought about it, Seth wondered why he'd signed up for the Quidditch Skills Cup; then he'd remembered Chace's encouragement, and the reminder that this was his last year at Hogwarts, and he wanted to make the best of his opportunities. Ivy had said that he wasn't a bad player - well, she hadn't said it, but the fact he'd been allowed to play on the main team recently said it all, right? Side by side with Chace, even though they'd eventually lost. It had been unfortunate, but Ravenclaw had done well, so Seth wouldn't begrudge them.

Seth was slightly intimidated at first when he stepped onto the pitch and met the person who would be in charge of them. Lacey Parkin was the Wigtown Keeper, but she certainly didn't look like a Quidditch player. "Her hair," Seth thought with wide eyes. "It's so... pink." However, after introducing herself, Seth got the impression Lacey wasn't as scary as her hair made her out to be; not like that Seeker, Milo Leafe, who Seth was sure he would cower below like a leaf. As Lacey talked, Seth made sure he was physically ready - that he had the right gear, that his broomstick hadn't been jinxed. Then, taking a deep breath and chanting 'I can do it' in his head, he mounted his broom and rose into the air. It seemed he was to go first, and the sight of the three Wigtown Chasers was quite daunting. Still, Seth knew he could do it - he had to try his best anyway. He zipped over to the goalposts and hovered there nervously, awaiting the many Quaffles to come flying at him at the same time.

Seth swallowed.
He breathed in once; twice; three times.
Then he raised both his hands and welcomed the onslaught.

[Drake Manning]

As he woke, Drake let out a groan of regret. Why had he signed up for the bloody skills cup again? Oh. Right. Mary. That's why he tried to never make decisions based on a woman; he always ended up regretting it. How could he resist though whenever she used the argument of him having to live up to his responsibilities as starting Keeper for Slytherin and also as a seventh year prefect? She sure knew where to hit him. Only Mary could control Drake in the same way he tried to control others. What an irritating ability for her to have. And still, he couldn't forget that memorable night in her father's study. Oh how he wished he had some alcohol with him now.

In as little time possible, Drake made his way to the Quidditch pitch where crowds of students were gathering. He smirked at a girl in passing when she scowled at him. Her face was slightly familiar, but Drake didn't know who she was. Apparently she knew him though, which made him laugh to himself. Either girls hated him or they were the next victim of his scheming ways. Then again, it had been a while since the 'old' Drake had shown his face. What with Brianna and India these days, Drake had barely been himself. Then again, maybe this was who he was. Now that was a sad thought.

Before long, a woman with vivid pink hair had called the Keepers to her. The whole whopping trio of three stood there, Drake the largest of the them. The other boy was another seventh year, but Drake didn't know much about him. He never took the time to care about his fellow classmates. Well, unless they were a girl who caught his eye of course. Clearly Seth had never caught Drake's eye, and so he glanced past him to the girl: Adalia. Drake did know her, simply because she was on the Slytherin team as well. In the pit of his stomach he felt a tinge of bitterness. Adalia had taken his place in the last game when Mary benched Drake after barely ten minutes of playing. This would be his chance to prove why he was the starting Keeper and not Adalia.

Drake didn't say a word as he flew to take his place. The faster he was done, the faster he could go back to bed. His hulking frame floated in front of the center hoop, and he watched as two of the Wigtown Chasers approached. His strategy was to stop at least one Quaffle. If the other two Keepers were completely focused on stopping both, perhaps they'd fail to stop either. Then, if Drake was sure to stop at least one Quaffle, it was better than none. If he could make the first block, he'd then worry about the second one shortly after. Perhaps it wasn't the best strategy, but Drake didn't care. It was a plan, and he was going to go through with it.

((Defending hoops.))

[Adalia St John S5]

Adalia nibbled on breakfast and simply smirked when her classmates bothered her about being nervous; jealous little brats too scared to try themselves. Apparently there would only be two competitors today, too bad, Adalia wished there were more to humiliate. She knew they would all underestimate her, think of her as this little fourth year girl and forget the St John she happened to be; smart, determined, and quick. The only pausing factor was that one competitor was Drake Manning, the starting keeper of her team; but Adalia was convinced he was only the starter because of age, especially since she was put in for him after only a few minutes last game.

Adalia glowered at the cat calls in the hallway as she made her way down to the pitch; petty. The day was pleasant and apparently there were a few spectators, people hoping to catch a glimpse of the famous players. How pathetic. Whatever, Adalia flashed a bright smile at the girl in the middle of the pitch with ridiculously ugly hair who called herself the keeper. She would be the judge, better pretend to be sweet, and Adalia was good at coming off sweet; even when all she could about was the fact that this woman should give clothes to whatever house elf gave her that hair. Either that or hang the creature from the ceiling upside down, depending on her feelings on house elves.

The woman explained how the professional chasers would be sending quaffles at them, it was her job to stop them. Adalia cast her eyes down then back up with a sweet smile somewhere between Wyatt and Nick so they could both believe she was smiling at them. Being pretty and fourteen did have it’s advantages. Males often felt like looking after her, and she would sometimes let them, when it gave her what she wanted.

After her little performance Adalia mounted her broom and made her way up to rings. It almost felt like her Nimbus 2001 shook with excitement and Adalia faked a nervous smile at the chasers. And here we go, Adalia clapped her hands once then held them out to show she was as ready as she would ever be…

((Defending the hoops.))

[Lacey Parkin]

((Here are the rolls in the order in which you posted. Each Keeper gets their Speed, Aggressiveness, and Handling added to three D6 rolls. ))

Seth - 4+2+5+3+6+1=21

Drake - 3+4+3+3+6+4=23

Adalia - 4+2+4+6+5+1=22

((Adalia and Drake advance.))

Lacey watched as all three of the keepers defended their hoops. They were all excellent, but the two in green seemed to surpass the one in yellow. The yellow ones were Gryffindors, weren't they? No, they were Huffenstuff, or maybe it was Ravenpaw? No matter. She would probably never be at this school again. The two in Slyvendorf performed better; so, the Puffinpaw was out. She blew her whistle and the crowd quietened down. Quickly performing the Sonarus charm, she proclaimed the results. "Adalia St. John and Drake Manning advance to the final round. Seth Wright has been eliminated." More boos than cheers filled the air. Apparently those two weren't the most well liked. It seemed that the one in yellow was favored to win. Turning back to the two advancing, she said, "The next round will be beginning now."

((The second round will commence now. Please have your posts in by Thursday, January 8th at 8:00 pm est. I promise to be more prompt in my response.))

[Drake Manning]

Perfect. Drake had managed to easily stop the first shot at him, and the second wasn't too hard. He wondered if the Wigtown Chasers were trying their best or if he had just done that well. He was hardly a Quidditch standout. Drake knew fair well that there were better Keepers than him here at Hogwarts. Ironically though few of them seemed interested in competing. Thus, he only had to outshine two others.

It ended up that Seth was the one eliminated first from the challenge, which meant that it was down to Drake and Adalia. He inwardly admired the girl for her spunk. In practice, she seemed ever so determined to steal his starting spot as Keeper, and the last game showed that she was quite capable. If it weren't for this small issue, Drake would have no problem with the girl. However, she was a threat to him, or more so a threat to his pride. He could care less about a starting position, but he cared a lot about his reputation, as fake as it may have been. For as much as Drake didn't care what others thought, he always acted as though he did. He had to be cool, calm, and mysterious. Sometimes though, it could be exhausting.

Knowing that he hadn't gotten last place, Drake was somewhat less worried as the second round commenced. Still, he was rightfully determined to show Adalia why he was the starting Keeper and not her. Lucky for him though, Mary wouldn't be watching even if Adalia won since Mary was participating in the Beater challenge. At least if he walked away a loser to Adalia, he could come up with some insane reason why, and perhaps Mary would believe him. The time came quickly though, and Drake watched the Wigtown Chasers approaching again. This time, they were definitely coming at him a lot faster than before!

[Adalia St John S5]

Adalia looked down at the quaffle in her hands… she had caught them! Trying not to look too pleased with herself she grinned at the chasers and returned to the ground to hear the results. Hufflepuff out! Now it was one on one with Drake, and no one could underestimate her talent again. She had just beat out a player far older than she, who was supposed to be more skilled, whatever.

Now was time for round two, same drill, just... harder… and just the two Slytherins. Unsurprising really that it came down to the Slytherins. When her turn was up Adalia set herself up comfortably in front of the hoops… One more time…

((Defending the hoops.))

[Lacey Parkin]

((Drake - 3+4+3+3+1=14

Adalia - 4+2+4+2+4=16

Adalia wins!))

The final two keepers took both of their turns. It was a close match, but it was evident that Adalia was the better player. Smiling, Lace turned towards the crowd. Using the sonorous charm once more, she proclaimed, "The winner is Adalia St. John from...," she hesitated for a moment while trying to come up with the house name. Unable to, she finished her sentence, "Adalia St. John, from the, um, green team!"