Bludger Backbeat ((QSC Beaters))

[Danielle Caley]

When the day had dawned Danielle had woken up with an odd yet rather familiar feeling. It was almost a giddy excitement mixed with more than a little nostalgia. Today was the first challenge at Hogwarts, she was spending the day at her alma mater with the current students; many of whom were training to do her job after her. Not all of them, or possibly even any of them, would go professional… but all of them obviously had the same passion for the position as she did; and today she got to watch them train.

The feeling had stayed with her as now Danielle stood on the field with her 6 beaters, only one of them coming from her house, Hufflepuff. She couldn’t help but feel extra respect for the Hufflepuff beater, she knew a lot of people in that house just didn’t get the appeal of the position, She had seen years when no Hufflepuff had beater as their first position. However, she was there to chose the best player, not the Hufflepuffs or females who she saw herself in; it was to be a fair competition and her sympathies really didn’t matter.

“Okay everyone, gather round! It’s my happy pleasure to explain your first challenge to you! I am sure all of you have read Quidditch Through The Ages by Kennilworthy Whisp, so all of you should be aware of the clever beater tactic ‘Bludger Backbeat’? If not the premise is simple to explain, and a lot harder to pull off, in order to confuse the other team a beater will hit the bludger behind them towards their target.

“Your challenge today is just that! We’re not looking for perfection, I know as well as anyone it’s not easy, but we’re looking to see who can pull off complicated manoeuvres like this the best. You will be hitting a bludger towards a target behind you three times, or in three rounds. Everyone will go the first round, the best 3 will go in the second round, and the top two will go in the final round. After all 3 rounds we will have one winner! Any questions or concerns? If not please feel free to get on your broom and fly to a target, just say go and your first bludger will come to you.” As she said this Danielle pointed to the air where 6 targets had in fact been placed around the pitch with bludgers enchanted nearby, waiting for word from the players.

((Please post your characters by Sunday, January 4th, 2009 completing the first round. Please remember that like quidditch dice rolls will determine how successful your character has been, so please do not indicate one way or another in your post.

For the first round, all Beaters will have their Accuracy, Concentration, and Agility added together along with 3 D6 rolls. The 3 Beaters with the highest totals will advance to the next round.

The same will happen, but instead of 3 D6 rolls, only 2 D6 rolls will be added to their skills. The 2 Beaters with the highest total will advance to the final round.

The final round will have just 1 D6 roll as well as the skills needed for this challenge.

At the end Beaters will be ranked 1-6 according to which round they made it to. The 3 Beaters who were eliminated first will be ranked according to their first score. All ties should be decided with 1 D6 roll to determine the winner of the tie.

On Sunday when the first round is complete I will post the results and rankings, then the next round will begin for another week. Please let me know if there are any conflicts in your schedule, but please don’t stress too much as only one post a week is expected of you and you can always write it up beforehand and ask someone else to post your character for you.

Any questions or concerns please feel free to come to me, the best way to reach me if probably through OWL, I will be checking the OWL board daily, at least. If not then have fun with the challenge!))

[Cassandra Blackfire G7]

Cassandra felt the butterflies rumble in her stomach as she made her way to the quidditch pitch. The Quidditch Skills Cup was starting today, and Cass knew that this would make or break her budding sports career. The Wigtown Wanderers weren't the best team out there, but she could still catch one of their eyes. With just graduating from Hogwarts, she would have to take any position from any team that was offering. Rumor had it that recruiter for the Holyhead Harpies was out in the audience today. She had to catch her attention! She just had too! If she didn't outperform everyone on the field today, she could end up playing for one of those backwater teams in Africa. Ugh! That couldn't happen.

The Daily Prophet had done a full page column about the Skills Cup this morning. It had proclaimed to everyone that the two best female school beaters played for Hogwarts. One, of course, was the Gryffindor Quiddtich Captain Cassandra Fallon. The other was Mary Evans, the Slytherin Quidditch Captain. Just the thought of Mary made venom well up in her mouth. The girls were bitter rivals, and it showed during their last game together. They would do anything to best the other one. Cass only hoped that the recruiter remembered her name, and not Marys. There was only one open beater slot on the Harpies, and both girls wanted it. The nightmare Cassandra had about Mary and the Quidditch Draft didn't help matters. In her dream, she could only watch helplessly as Mary walked around with the green Harpies robes in her hand, screaming back to Cass, "Why so sad, Logton? There is always the Chudley Canons!"

Chewing her lip, and weighing her future options, Cass walked onto the field like so many times before. Prideful and sure, she stood in front of Danielle Caley with the rest of the participants. Cass had made sure to do some research on the Wanderer's beaters before today. Danielle had been a Hufflepuff, and had been a beater herself. Not many girls were willing to take on the daunting position of beater. No, most were chasers or seekers. You would occasionally see them playing keeper, but hardly ever as a beater. Cass had taken the position by happenstance. She had auditioned for the team in her third year when Harry Potter was still captain. She had gone to audition as a chaser, but Harry had announced right before hand that he needed a starting beater. At the last moment, Cass changed her mind and joined the beater line. She hadn't looked back since.

Listening intently, she waited patiently as Danielle explained the task. It seemed pretty simple. She had used the Bludger Backbeat several times before. It was a complicated maneuver, and she had only done it well once. It was extremely hard to aim a bludger behind you. You can't turn your head to look because doing so would surely give away what you were doing. Cass had made sure to read her Quidditch Through the Ages the night before so she would be ready for anything that they threw at her. You could never be too prepared.

Tapping her foot impatiently, Cass watched as a few people took off in front of her. One was absolutely dreadful, while another from Ravenclaw didn't do half bad. It was finally her turn, and Cass took off on her Firebolt. The enchanted bludger was soon heading her direction. Okay, Cass. You can do this. All you have to do is make sure that the bludger hits the target. With a mighty blow, Cass knocked the bludger behind her. It took her a moment to turn around on her broom to see if she hit the target.

((hitting bludger towards target))

[Mary Evans]

Bright and early Mary was on the quidditch pitch, checking out conditions. Today was an important day for the quidditch players, and even quidditch fans, of the school. It was the day of the Quidditch Skills Cup, beaters at least, Mary wasn’t sure about the others, she was so concentrated on her own. She had urged her team to compete, prove their worth to the school; it would be amazing to have the school all star team to consist mostly of the Slytherin team. Someone had shown her an article that morning in the paper about the skills cup, it had mentioned Mary and Cassandra to be the top female school players around; not surprising.

Mary and her fellow competitors, Cassandra among them, stood in front of the Wanderers beater, Danielle. Apparently their task was to be the bludger backbeat, not easy, but nothing too out there. She had certainly practiced the manoeuvre more than once, but would never depend on it in a game; not yet. Word in the halls was that there were professional scouts in the stands today. But Mary’s main concern was getting on the team, hopefully with a few other Slytherins from her main team. Plenty of time to show off in the international game, and it would be nice to have a few members loyal to her as captain and who already play together on the team too.

Clean and simple, that was how Mary intended to play this. Just hit the targets, square on. Get through this round and then worry about the next, and the one after. Danielle motioned to the targets in the air and let the beaters know how they would begin. With a nod of understanding Mary took off into the air and found a free target. “Go”, she said to who knows what, and then watched her first bludger fly towards her…

((Hitting the target, hopefully.))

[Melody Bang-Bala G6]

Was she nervous? Yes she was nervous. Was she going to beat the older Beaters here? No, that was most unlikely. What was she doing here? Well, she was doing what her personal heroine, her Quidditch Captain, Cassandra was doing. She was competing!

And why shouldn't she? She was the only person in her year to be competing... but since she was old for her year, there was one other Slytherin her age competing in the Keepers section. Why shouldn't things go well for Melody? They usually did - save for the Death Eater attack - Melody didn't have much to complain about. Things were good in life!

So it was that she kept a positive attitude as she nervously mounted her broom and set off to her target. It wasn't human; as far as she knew it wasn't sentient, so this was just a test of how well she could aim, which suited her. Melody thought she could aim pretty well. It was when she started hitting Bludgers at people that her aim went a bit off, because she didn't really like doing that very much. She focused her mind and raised her bat.

((Aiming at the target!))

[Finn Miles H7]

"Oye! Cass!" Finn shouted at her as he rushed onto the Quidditch pitch. He was almost late for their first competition. Before Cass even had a chance to answer though, the whistles were blown and the Wanderers were gathering their players. Cass was clearly not going to interrupt the female Beater who was leading them. Finn knew her only as Danielle. It was about all he knew about the entire team of Wanderers... their first names. Having watched his older brother Wyatt play for the team, Finn had gathered the names of each of Wyatt's teammates. Aside from that, Finn only remembered watching their every move. Their skills were much more important than their names, or at least that's what Finn's father would say.

As Danielle introduces the Beaters' first task, Finn was anything but nervous. He knew that this was going to be a great opportunity for learning new things, and that's what he was most eager for. Sure, winning would be nice, as he'd get to be part of a mixed team who would travel with Coach Chapman and a few of the Wanderers in the summer, but if he were able to just improve on his skill at all, Finn would be happy.

Soon, they were all in their places, and Finn had wished both Cass and his cousin Ephraim good luck. It would be tough competing against the two of them, but Finn knew that this only meant more of a chance that either himself or the two of them would make the team. There were only three Beater slots available, meaning that half of them wouldn't make it. Finn pondered the chances that he, Ephriam, and Cass would be the three. Highly unlikely. Mary Evans would surely make it tough, and he knew that the young Gryffindor had been a true rising star. As for the other Hufflepuff, Finn knew that Chace had just as good a chance as anybody else.

With the starting whistle, Finn set his mind to his task and took aim as best he could.

[Ephraim Eades R7]

Aiming. It was right up Ephraim's alley. Aiming was based on strict math and physics, both of which he absolutely adored. In fact, if the entire Quidditch Skills Cup was based on the simple skills themselves, Ephriam knew he was going to have a great time competing. It it's entirety, Quidditch was so much more than the basics. But for the competitions, it was all he had to worry about. And since the basics were his strength, E had a good feeling about this. On the other hand, his competition wasn't anything to shrug off. Both the Gryffindor and Slytherin captains, well-known Beaters, Cassandra Fallon and Mary Evans were competing. Not to mention, Ephraim's cousin Finn. If anything, Finn's clumsy antics and goofy grin would be enough to make Ephraim loose his focus. Speaking of, E watched as Finn ran onto the pitch, late per usual.

"Glad you could make it," he said with a smile as he patted Finn on the back. Finn seemed too eager to get to talk to Cass though, which reminded Ephraim that he wanted to ask Finn what was up with that anyways. Didn't he know Cass was a married woman? Ephraim laughed to himself, waiting as the Wigtown Beater explained the directions and sent them off.

With the six Beaters lined up in the air, each having their own target, Ephraim forced his mind to imagine the angles and other aspects of his swing in his mind. He imagined the force of his swing, the momentum of the Bludger, and everything else which he knew was important for perfect aim. It was all about creating as little room for error as possible. Then, as the Bludgers approached him, Eprhaim did his best to follow through with his swings, hoping that his calculations had paid off and that the Bludgers would indeed hit the targets behind him. Having to do a practically blind attack wasn't as easy as he'd have imagined though. Even while he was sure of his calculations and intended angles of incidence, he couldn't be sure that his Bludgers were going exactly where they should go. Perhaps fate should be factored into his equation as well...

[chace]

Chace stood silent and stoic as the Beaters listened to Danielle explain the task before them. It was the first day of the Quidditch Skills Cup. Chace was still unsure about this. He loved Quidditch, he really did. But he hated to be competitive. He liked being on the team with Seth and Finn and the other Hufflepuffs. Their team had the best time together. Ivy made games less about winning and more about having fun and trying your best. At least, that is how Chace felt. For all he knew she was a closeted Slytherin who desperately wanted to win. The initial thought of the Quidditch Skills Cup revolted him. Competing against one another for a chance that might not even come. But then Seth decided to do it. He convinced Chace to do it also. Seth could never do things without Chace. Likewise, he could never do something without Seth. So here he was.

Seth was in the Keeper competition. Chace had never been a good Keeper so he would not have done well in that skill. Instead he found himself with the rest of the Beaters in front of Danielle Caley. She was pretty but Chace would have never acted on that impulse. His girlfriend would not be pleased. Chace found himself standing close to Finn as he was the only other Hufflepuff with them. Granted, Chace knew E and the Head Girl but he felt more comfortable with Finn. He hadn't had much social interaction with Finn besides during practice or a game but they were roommates and thus somewhat familiar with each other. Chace's face showed no emotion as Danielle explained to them that they were to hit three targets using the Backbeat. Chace had tried the move but had never been very successful using it so had given it up. He watched patiently as Cass, Mary, Melody, Finn, and then E tried. He was next. Here goes nothing.

((Attempting to hit the target))

[Danielle Caley]

((I am sorry for the delay in posting my reply to this. However, this time, the due date for posting here is Monday, January 19th, 2008. If anyone has not posted by this date I will not be waiting for them. Exceptions only apply if someone has specifically requested a short extension.

Name – Acc + Con + Agg + D6 + D6 + D6 = Total
Cassandra – 4 + 4 + 4 + 6 + 4 + 5 = 27
Mary – 4 + 3 + 4 + 6 + 4 + 4 = 25
Melody – 5 + 4 + 2 + 6 + 2 + 3 = 22
Finn – 3 + 3 + 3 + 2 + 3 + 5 = 19
Ephraim – 4 + 4 + 2 + 6 + 4 + 5 = 25
Chace – 3 + 5 + 4 + 3 + 6 + 2 = 23

Cassandra, Mary, and Ephraim will move on. Thank you to all who participated. Everyone had great posts to read and please feel free to post your character’s reaction even if you’re not moving on.))

Danielle watched as the beaters lined up before their targets and began their task. They all did really well, it was hard to pick who did the best really. The girl Cassandra was the clear winner, having pretty much nailed the target. Next it was hard to decide between the girl Mary and the boy Ephraim. But thankfully Danielle didn’t have to, yet. One more round for the three of them to prove themselves before one more would be cut. Danielle blew her whistle to call the six of them down to her again.

“Well done everyone, impressive display of skill. A lot of trained players have far more trouble than you lot seem to. Melody is it? You show a real display of strength that will surely grow through time if you continue to play. Finn, you certainly didn’t disappoint even after all the good thing I heard about your skill. Chace, there is no doubt you have skill; but you need to believe in yourself more. Each and every one of you deserves to be on this pitch today and I thank you for participating. However I must now ask you to move to the side where you can cheer on the other three competitors as they go into the next round. Thanks a lot guys.” Danielle gave a small applause before turning back to the other three.

“Okay, that was great you three. But you can do better, I know it. Same drill only this time the target is a little further away and to your left. Up in the air now!” That was really all that needed to be said, the three remaining beater were up on their brooms and flying toward their targets which magically moved to make it that little bit harder.

[Ephraim Eades R7]

Ephraim pumped his fist in the air when he heard the clanking sound of metal on metal when his Bludger hit the target behind him. It wasn't a dead-center collision, but it was surprisingly close for being a backwards attack. As the rest of the Beaters were then gathered together, he listened intently as the Wanderers' Beater, Danielle Caley, explained which three of the six had done the best. In turn, she addressed the three who had failed to make the next round, and E flashed a look of disappointment toward his cousin when he realized that Finn had done the worst of them all. Bad luck, he assumed, knowing Finn was an overall decent Quidditch player. Wyatt was better, but Finn could often hold his own. Maybe the most recent loss that Finn was a part of had put him into a funk. Either way, E knew that he couldn't worry about Finn for now. He could cheer up his cousin later. Now he needed to focus on doing well again.

Seeing that Cass and Mary, the double doozie of Beaters, were his competition, E knew that his next move would have to be practically flawless. Flawless would be almost impossible, but practically flawless, he could do that. It would take concentration and a bit of luck, but he was an optimist. "Good luck, ladies," he said, looking toward Cass. He didn't bother to make eye contact with Mary, figuring she could care less about his well wishes. Cass would appreciate it though, he figured.

Poised in the air, the exact mental picture of his target in his mind, Ephraim waited as the Bludger approached. Then, just like before, he took a swing at the moment when he felt it was just right. The Bludger soared over his shoulder and toward the target. Now, he just needed it to hit as close to the middle as possible, or at least closer than either Mary's or Cass'.

((Trying to hit the target.))

[Cassandra Blackfire G7]

No surprise, Cass made it to the second round. She was one of the best quidditch players at the school, and it would have been a travesty if she hadn't of made it at least to the second round. She was sad to see Finn go though. It would of been amazing if Cass, Melody, and Finn had been chosen for the team. Melody had played well, and Cass had flashed the young girl a thumbs up as she took her place at the edge of the field. She acknowledged Ephraim's good luck with a small smile and a nod of her head. Cass hoped that he understood that she wished him luck as well. It would be absolutely horrible if she had to spend the summer with Mary Evans. Ephraim, or E as she heard Finn refer to him as, would at least be tolerable. It was soon her turn, and she took to the skies. Once again, the bludger flew towards, and Cass, once again, hit the ball behind her towards the target.

((hitting bludger at target))

[Mary Evans]

She did it! Mary heard the thunk of the bludger hitting the target before she turned around to find the indent. She wasn’t too shocked she did it, but it was pretty good aim, especially considering her lack of experience with the move. Soon Danielle was calling the beaters down to her, in order to be ranked. Mary fiddled her fingers a moment before flying down, she was starting to get nervous, this was really coming along.

The professional beater started by giving out specific advice or encouragement and Mary wondered in an offhand sort of way what would be said to her. She never heard though as Danielle dismissed the three she talked to from the pitch, that didn’t include Mary. Good, probably would have been really embarrassing to choke so hard and not make the first round at this point in her quidditch career. Not that anyone expected her to be a professional player yet but… she had been on the house team since she was thirteen… she was expected to be better than the others.

Logton was left too, Mary wasn’t too surprised. A little disappointed though.

The beaters then returned to position and the targets moved. Mary looked back to see where it went before turning to face the crowd and saying “Go!”. The bludger zoomed at her and Mary let it go…

((Hitting the target.))

[Ethan Chapman]

So far the first round of challenges was commencing nicely. Ethan was pleased with the few students that decided to give the skills cup a go. So far he had watched the Chasers, Keepers, and Seekers conclude their first challenges, and oddly enough there was a Slytherin victor from each challenge. Even more interesting, two of the second place finishers were Slytherins as well. It seemed that the snakes were on top of their game.

For the last challenge, the Beaters backbeat, there remained a Slytherin, a Gryffindor, and a Ravenclaw. Ethan though it'd be interesting to see the fiery Slytherin captain win the event and make it a clean sweep of Slytherin victories, but he knew that all three Beaters who remained had as good a chance as any of the others to win. Deep down though, he was rooting for his alma mater via the Gryffindor captain.

As each of the Beaters prepared to follow through with their second backbeat Bludger, Ethan watched as all three Beaters hit their targets. Now it would come down to who was the closest. He waited and watched as Danielle and Dawson gathered the three to announce which two would advance to the final round. From a distance, he could immediately tell that it was the Slytherin who was eliminated as the nearby Gryffindors and Ravenclaws cheered. There went the chance for Slytherin to make the sweep. He could tell though that the Slytherin captain was not going to let this stop her in the next challenge.

((Cassandra – 4 + 4 + 4 + 1 + 4 = 17
Mary - 4 + 3 + 4 + 2 + 4 =17
Ephraim - 4 + 4 + 2 + 4 + 4 = 18

Re-roll for Mary & Cass
Cassandra – 4 + 4 + 4 + 5 + 5 = 22
Mary - 4 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 = 22

Re-roll for Mary & Cass
Cassandra – 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 6 = 22
Mary - 4 + 3 + 4 + 3 + 6 = 20))

((Danielle was unable to post this round. Cass and Ephraim, you can now post your next round. Mary, you can post your reaction if you wish. Posts should be done as soon as possible. We'd like to wrap this up since the Slytherin/Ravenclaw match is coming up very soon!))

[Cassandra Blackfire G7]

It was so close! So close! Coach Chapman announced Ephraim's name first, and it was very easy to see that he was in a dilemma. Who would he choose? The Gryffindor or Slytherin captain? Neither had performed as well the second time, but it seemed they were both about evenly matched. There was no way Mary could win! No way! Seconds turned into eternity, and then Coach Chapman announced Cass' name. The Gryffindor and Ravenclaw stands screamed. Cass gulped in air loudly. She had just noticed that she had been holding her breath. Relieved, she threw an arm around the neck of Ephraim. "Congrats!" She yelled loudly in his ear. He seemed a bit shocked. He was only a casual acquaintance through Finn, but she had to celebrate with someone. She was so pumped. No damn, dirty slytherin was going to get passed her on the quidditch pitch!

Taking a moment before the next round, she flashed a thumbs up to Finn. He was now watching from the sidelines. She couldn't tell who made him more proud: his cousin or her. It was only a few more minutes before Cass was back in the air. She could win this! She knew she could! Cass' biggest competition was now benched. She only had to take the Ravenclaw out. She focused on her goal for a moment. The whole stadium seemed to be rooting for the Gryffindor captain. The charmed bludger came her way, and she aimed for the target a third time.

[Ephraim Eades R7]

Another Bludger. Another round done. Ephraim had made it to the finals! The time he had to let the realization sink in was very quick, and soon he felt the arms of Cass wrapped around him. "Same to you," he said, though he knew it still wasn't over. Soon he'd be facing head to head against the girl who had just hugged him. Ephraim wasn't as quick to let his emotions take over.

A glance toward the crowd, and he could see that the majority weren't with him. Cass was a lot better known than he was, but that didn't mean he couldn't win. At least all of the Ravenclaws seemed to be rooting for him. Theo and Celia, the only other Ravenclaw participants hadn't done very well in the Chasers' challenge. Ephraim was the last Raven left to bring a victory back to his house.

The seconds ticked past like hours, and he could feel the heartbeat in his chest growing with each one. Then, the Bludger came, and Ephraim concentrated just like he had each time before. This was it. Now or never. Do or die.

((Backbeating the last Bludger!))

[Ethan Chapman]

((No IC post this round, but I'd like to wrap this up, so I'll include the IC stats and the winner. All Beaters can feel free to do a reply with their reactions.

Cassandra – 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 = 16
Ephraim - 4 + 4 + 2 + 4 = 14

Final standings:
1st- Cass
2nd- Ephraim
3rd- Mary
4th- Chace
5th- Melody
6th- Finn))