Trick Shots ((QSC Chasers))

[Wyatt Miles]

Oh the fresh air of spring. Wyatt took in a giant breath, held it for a second, and then exhaled with a loud huff as he walked toward the pitch. You couldn't ask for a nicer day to play Quidditch. And, though nobody would actually be playing Quidditch, the Quidditch skills of a handful of students would still be put to the test. It had been a few months or so since the first challenge that the Wigtown Wanderers had brought to Hogwarts, and Wyatt was eager to have another go. Some of the talent he saw last time, excluding his brother who ended up last in the Beater category (what a disgrace to the Miles name), was more than enough to make him optimistic for the future of professional Quidditch. The outstanding Chaser of the last round, Wynd Lehane, wasn't professional material yet, but with some good training and the right attitude, he just may be. For the most part, it seemed that the Slytherins had cleaned up in the rankings, having four students currently in the running for the starting tournament team and then another pair on the reserves list. That was over half of the group of eleven that the Wanderers would be taking with them in the summer to face off against other all-star teams.

As he found his way onto the bright green grass of the pitch, Wyatt used the Sonorous charm to increase the volume of his voice. "Chasers, here!" he bellowed, watching as they emerged from their crowds of friends and came his way. Since the last time, they lost one, meaning that they were now down to eight. That made it an even half of them that would be joining the Wanderers for the summer events while the other half would be less lucky. "Good day," he greeted as they gathered around. "Last time, we matched you up two at a time to test your determination in retrieving a loose Quaffle. If you remember, Mr. Lehand here, Ms. Valak, Ms. Rawson, and Ms. Tunstall were the top four. If you want a chance to join the all-star team this summer, your goal is to beat them." He eyed the other four chasers, two in blue, one in red, and the last in green. Clearly enough, the women of the group came out dominating in the first round, aside from Wynd winning of course.

"Today we will be testing a different skill: your shooting ability." Now, in the middle of a match, the last thing you have time to worry about is your shooting technique. And, ninety percent of the time, you just throw the damned Quaffle and hope that you score. But for this challenge, we get to have a little bit of fun. After the challenge we will work on the actual shooting technique, but for now, you will all get to showcase a bit of your skills. What's in your arsenal of Chaser necessities." He gave Wynd a friendly wink, wondering if the boy could maintain his lead.

"You'll each get three shots," he said, walking toward the goal posts. He assumed they would follow. "But not just any shot," he added quickly. "You'll each be facing off against our own Wigtown Keeper, Lacey Parkin. And, the winner will be decided on the creativity of their shots. Essentially, you'll be using your 'trick' shots, the shots that you wouldn't normally take in the middle of a close game. Be creative, but most importantly, you need to score. Any questions?"

Once the Chasers knew what they were doing, Wyatt began calling them one by one to take their turns. Now this should be entertaining.

((Ok, here's how the scoring works. Accuracy, Agility, and Concentration will be added together for each of your three shots, and for each shot, you will get an additional D8 roll added to your total. If your total is above 15 for a shot, then you score. In the end, your three total scores will be added for a FINAL total. The final total will determine which Chasers wins. For posting purposes, each player needs to post 3 different times. I will check the thread periodically and then update with your score so that you know if you scored the goal or not. Just like in a Quidditch game, you need to post an open-ended post that doesn't say whether or not your score until I come and post your stats and let you know. There is no order to who needs to post. You just have to wait for me before posting your next shot. We have until May 23 to get all 3 shots in. If you are falling behind, I will try to remind you to keep up so that we have enough time for every Chaser to get 3 shots in. Any questions, just PM me on Finn Miles H6 account since I check it most often. Good luck. )

[Sydney Rawson H6]

Sydney stood in the center of the pitch as she waited for the Quidditch Skills Cup evaluation to begin. Her excitement from last practice carried onto this one as she stood with her broom in hand. A group of all of the participants stood in a group as they conversed about the last round. Hearing about the beater's challenge, Syd smiled as she missed that position. In the Hufflepuff Quidditch team she was a Beater; however, for the skills cup she was trying out the position of chaser. She adored both positions but believed to excel in anything you have to challenge yourself and go out of your comfort zone. Once you master each separate skill, who could stop you? She enjoyed challenging herself, and did so more so than anyone ever did. She was a born competitor and liked it that way.

Hearing the call to all chasers, Syd turned on her heals in the vibrant grass and walked toward Wyatt Miles, who appeared behind them a bit closer to the goals. With a friendly greeting Sydney chimed in with the rest of the group and said a short "Morning" as she continued to listen. Sydney was named along side three others 'the one to beat'. This set her standards for herself high. If she already had a bulls eye on her back, people would surely see she was a threat. Life without quidditch was easy for Syd. She preformed well in school. Didn't act out, nor did she act out of character. Quidditch was her only way of venting. Her passion and drive shown through how she played on the pitch more so than it did in the hallways of Hogwarts. It most likely was a shocker for people who were not used to seeing her as a chaser, that she was talented in another aspect of the game other than the beater position. Nonetheless, Syd didn't flinch at this notice. She liked being a strong competitor and wanted the others to try their all to beat her. She was all for the challenge.

As Wyatt began to explain the next round Syd began to brainstorm what moves she would do. She wasn't a chaser, she was a powerhouse beater. She never really practiced specific moves on scoring. It wasn't her position. Only the last few months had she been practicing on her own, which was where she had attempted to make a few goals. She practiced with a few friends so she would have a keeper attempting to block the shots. Syd did not have as many years practice as some of her competitors have had, but she was still bubbling with excitement as the round began. She knew what she was about to attempt, and hoped it worked.

The round began as Syd looked up at Lacey Parkin. She was in place in front of the goals ready to block the shots from the on-coming quaffles. Syd shook off her nerves as she inhaled. It was a gorgeous day out. A pleasant spring day where the sky was blue and the sun was warm. The nerves from moments before had almost vanished as Syd picked up a quaffle from the box, mounted her broom, and kicked off the pitch. As she rose in the air she became focused on her challenge. Taking a practice lap around half of the pitch, Syd hovered in the far right corner away from Lacey. Gripping up the red quaffle under her arm, she counted again in her mind. "Ready, 1...2...3!" In her mind, as she reached the number three, she shot from the corner and made her way down to the goals. She didn't want the keeper to study her route so she weaved to the left and to the right trying to confuse her and keep her attention diverted. Suddenly all at once, Syd quickly threw the quaffle up above her, only a short distance. In attempts to divert the keeper's attention- she quickly grabbed a hold of her broom stick in front of her and spun swiftly to her right in a complete 360. As gravity started the pull the red quaffle down, Syd hit the now falling quaffle with the bottom/stalks of her broom. The power built up from the rotation shot the quaffle a few yards toward the goals, her aim was her right goal, the keeper's left. Syd's chest tried catching her breath as she tried to see if she made the goal.

[Pyro Blackfire S5]

Pyro silently slipped on his chaser gloves as the sun slowly began its ascent in the sky. Pyro couldn’t exactly see the sky since he was currently still in the Slytherin dungeon, but he knew it was out there and wasn’t really going anywhere soon. He pulled tight on the glove and flexed his fingers a couple of times forcing out any creases in the glove so that it remained snug against his hand. Today was going to be another Quidditch Skills Cup competition, which meant that Pyro wasn’t really in a good mood at the moment. During the last competition Pyro had been beaten out by a Hufflepuff girl who was a year below him, therefore knocking him out of the running during the first round. Pyro growled he remembered that defeat, a momentarily lack of focus and his underestimation of the girl had cost him dearly. Now he was practically dead last in the rankings. Today would be different though, he wasn’t going to let anything get in his way, he would make sure that he moved up in the rankings and make up for his last mistake.

With one final look to confirm he had all his equipment Pyro grabbed his broom and slung it across his shoulder and set off through the castle. He stopped by the Great Hall and had a small breakfast before heading out toward the pitch. Pyro showed up early and was one of the first to arrive; he distanced himself from the growing crowd and sat down on the Pitch’s grass. Last time, lack of focus had been his downfall; it would not happen like that again. Pyro set the broom down on the grass and then crossed his own legs, placing his hands palm up on his knees. Pyro took a few deep breaths, feeling the relaxing of his muscles as his body began to calm down. His eyes slowly roamed the Quidditch pitch, the hoops, the crowd, the bleachers, and as each sight entered his vision it was buried by a veil of deep darkness. Pyro entered his meditative state, locking out the world and shutting himself inside his own body. All the worlds’ cares and influences left his body, leaving behind a calm and relaxed shell.

Pyro blocked out the entire outside world but he still managed to hear the call go out for the Chasers to begin gathering. He quickly opened his eyes and stood up, gathering up his broom and joined the growing crowd around Wyatt Miles. Pyro couldn’t help but roll his eyes as Wyatt went on a little about the current leaders, the last thing he wanted to hear was about how great his fellow chasers were doing. His frown though was quickly replaced by a grin as Pyro heard of today’s challenge. A trick shot challenge. This was going to be great, Pyro was great at trick shots. His natural athleticism made him a natural at performing great shots, even though the hectic-ness of a game didn’t allow for most trick shots. Pyro easily moved up and joined the line of Chasers as they each began to be called up one by one to perform their shots. As he waited for his turn he started to think on his available moves and decide which ones he would use.

When Pyro’s name was called he calmly moved up and took one of the Quaffles and lifted into the air. Pyro decided to start off with an easy trick shot, he’d save his more difficult ones for later and did a short little lap around the pitch to warm up. Pyro took one steadying breath and then exploded into motion and zipped down the pitch. He angled his approach toward the right, looking like he was going to gun for that hoop to draw the Keeper away from the center. Pyro lifted his arm to throw but instead let the Quaffle fall from his hand. Pyro quickly spun his broom horizontally, letting his leg fly out to hook the falling Quaffle in the crook of his ankle. As he spun around Pyro let his foot straighten out and launched the Quaffle toward the opposite goal hoop. Pyro allowed his spin to continue after the Quaffle had been launched and came around to face the hoops ones again, seeing if he had made the shot.

[Celia Richmond]

((Sorry for the extremely late reply! I completely didn't notice this, and then I've been really busy over the last few months, so yeah. My apologies)).

It was a lovely day for April, and the conditions couldn’t have been more perfect for the second of the Quidditch Skills Cup challenges. It had been a few months since the last one, which she hadn’t performed terribly well in (having been knocked out in the first round unfortunately), and also since then she had changed her primary position on the Ravenclaw team to Beater, and hence that had been her main priority since then. These two factors combined didn’t help her confidence much at all, but she knew she was a strong chaser and hoped that she would perform better this time. One thing that annoyed her was that Riley, who she’d lost against last time, had now dropped out, and her chances may have been better had she not been in the running in the first place. But that was in the past now, and all Celia could do now was try her best.

She met the group on the Quidditch pitch that morning, and she could sense the tension. Everyone there was determined to make the team, even if some were disheartened by the results of the last round. Eventually everyone arrived, and the task was outlined to them once again. They were to perform their trick shots against one of the best keepers in the world, Lacey Parkin...it would be one tricky task! There were no questions from any of the students, so the task began quickly, as Celia thought about which shots to play. She could not afford to mess up this task if she wanted to stand a chance of making the team, so the whole thing relied on her choosing the best shots.

First up was Sydney, from the Hufflepuff team. Celia watched in awe as she did some elaborate thing involving her broomstick, and thought that there was no way she could match that. Pyro from Slytherin was up next, and did some equally elaborate thing...Celia was now getting even more worried! She was called up next, and thought of the trickiest thing she knew she could do. She flew up to the area indicated, and looked at Lacey in the eye, as she prepared to shoot. She was told to start, and with adrenaline flowing she began, hoping that this quaffle would go in, more than ever before, trying to feel as if her life depended on it.

She started off passing the quaffle between her hands as quickly as possible, so that the exact position of the quaffle couldn’t be known by anyone other than her. She then dived as quickly as possible, still passing the quaffle between her hands, and then put all her strength into throwing it upwards towards the right hand hoop, as Lacey was at the left (where Celia had gone towards). It was hardly an elaborate shot like the others had been, and for someone like Lacey it may be easy to catch, but still. It was one of her favourite shots, and she had her best ones to come.

[Theo Darke]

Theo assembled with his fellow competing Chasers on the Quidditch pitch. As usual they were led by one of the Wigtown Wanderers Chasers, this time Wyatt Miles. Theo realised him to be Finn's older brother a while ago. Finn had spoken to him a few times about the fact that his brother was a professional Quidditch player. Theo smiled politely at Wyatt, awaiting their instructions. At the moment, the Chaser in the lead was Wynd, which was surprising, not because Wynd was a poor player, but because there were so many other experienced people competing; for example, both Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw Captains Ivy Tunstall and Celia were participating. Everyone else was in their sixth year with Theo, apart from Kailyn Valak, who was a fifth-year Slytherin, and the other seventh-year student, Pyro Blackfire. Theo was glad to be competing with those in a similar age category, since it was probably fairer that way. The Chasers were the biggest category, unsurprisingly, since there were three positions in a team for Chasers. Theo's other position, Keeper, on the other hand, was a lone, single job. In comparison, there were only three people competing for Keeper: Slytherins Adalia and Drake and Hufflepuff Seth Wright.

Theo was drawn back to his own competition when Wyatt began to explain today's task. Ingesting the information, Theo then watched as every Chaser stepped up, one by one, in front Lacey Parkin, the professional Keeper who played for the Wanderers. Sydney was first, then Pyro, then Celia. Soon it was his turn. Looking calm and collected, Theo pushed off the ground and propelled himself into the air, Quaffle in hand. He hovered up to face the short-haired lady. As a Keeper, Theo knew what was going through Lacey's head; hopefully this meant he had some sort of advantage. Wyatt had talked about trick shots, right? Theo knew he needed to implement a few of those if he was to push his ranking up where Wynd was. Taking a deep breath, Theo clutched the Quaffle tightly and readied himself to fly forwards. Then he shot towards Lacey in a flash, rather than do a slow run-up. Obviously she would fly towards him to block him. Theo waited for the moment where he was close enough to the hoops but not too close to Lacey for her to physically remove the Quaffle from his hands to launch it into air, letting it sail smoothly over her head. Theo watched with bated breath; now to see if the Quaffle landed in the right place.

[Ivy Tunstall]

Ivy sighed a little to herself. She actually didn't like the Skills Cup very much. It didn't have such a good atmosphere as school Quidditch games or team practices, the coaches were rude, conceited and unfriendly (being successful at Quidditch didn't actually make you so much better than people who spent their lives doing useful stuff) and she actually didn't much fancy travelling to the United States anyway. She needed to get herself an apprenticeship in a Charms-related job and start earning: there were, as ever, household bills to be paid and the roof needed mending and she didn't have the money for that. Perhaps most eighteen-year-olds didn't have to spend their time worrying about short-term finances and would be able to enjoy a nice jolly off to America. Good for them.

She had joined the Skills Cup to learn some new moves for games and to get ideas for team practices, so she was still participating. And her pride meant that she wanted to do well. She certainly did not want to come last. She was a Quidditch Captain. So she gathered her concentration before she took her shot on goal, hoping to at least make a good attempt. She approached quickly, seeming to aim for the left hand hoop, but giving the Quaffle a strong throw with masses of spin on it, so that it curved sharply away and instead hurtled towards the right hand hoop. She was pleased with the spin, but it remained to be seen whether she'd given the shot enough oomph. Spin did take a little pace off the ball, and it was important to give the Keeper (world class Keeper, at that...) as little reaction time as possible, or else it didn't matter whether she'd been fooled in the first place.

[Wynd Lehane]

Wynd kept to himself away from the other Chasers. It was not unknown to him that he was disliked. Firstly, he was Slytherin. For some reason, the others houses held a prejudice toward any one from Slytherin. Secondly, he had won the first Chaser Quidditch Skills Challenge. A fact that he had to appreciate by himself. He would be holding his breath for a long time if he ever expected the other Chasers to congratulate him. That was fine. He was here to win. Not to make friends. Although since there were three Chaser positions, it would be better if the three got along and could play like a team. There were three Chasers from Slytherin trying to earn a spot on the team going to the States and as Slytherins were strong players it was not hard to see them winning them.

Blue eyes watched the other Chasers perform their trick shots. As they went one by one he regretted choosing to go last. He had to be original. It would be poor form to perform the same shot as the other Chasers. Luckily none of them performed the shot that he wanted to do and as his named was called he felt a wave of confidence wash over him. There was nothing to worry about. He knew he was a great player and that his shot would earn him a place in the team. He rose slowly in the air letting the Keeper guess as to what his actions would be. Suddenly with a burst of speed he flew toward the goal. Shifting his body weight he began a barrel roll. Instead of pulling out of it though he continued to spin until he was barreling toward Parkin. This was a maneuver that had taken a long time to master but he had it down finally. The hope being that he would spin so fast that the ball would go toward one of the three goals depending on where in the roll he released the ball. He flew swiftly to the center hoop and let go of the ball just short of the Keeper. The ball flew to the left hoop but hopefully Parkin would be so confused trying to watch his swirling form that she would not follow the red ball.

[Kailyn Valak S6]

Despite playing mostly Beater in the matches thus far, Kailyn had chosen Chaser for her position in the Quidditch Skills Cup. And, so far, it had seemed to be the right choice. She was ranked second, and it seemed she had a decent chance of making the team that would go to play other all-star teams in the United States. It seemed like a better way to spend her summer break, rather than doing nothing at home.

Today, from the directions that Miles had given, they'd be judged on their ability to score using trick shots. Hell, it'd be hard enough to score on a professional Keeper using a regular shot. She wasn't quite sure how she'd do that using some fancy maneuver. Regardless, her turn came soon enough, and Kailyn found herself flying toward the hoop without much of a plan to her attack.

As she neared the Keeper, the only thing that crossed her mind was to fly upside down. So, with a graceful swoop, she was clinging to her broom with her crossed legs and one arm, the other carrying the Quaffle. In doing this, she was able to shield the view of the Quaffle from the Keeper, which meant that they might have a harder time determining which hoop she'd throw it at. Of course, it meant that Kailyn was having a hard time determining where she was exactly. Flying upside down wasn't the easiest of tasks.

When the hoops seemed close enough, She spun right side up, and in a split second, threw the Quaffle hard to her left. Or, was it her right? At that point, she couldn't really decide, as up seemed down and down seemed up. Either way, she steadied herself as she tried to regain focus. Hopefully the trick shot had worked...

[Scott Ryder G7]

Scott was still a bit frustrated at his performance in the last challenge. It had pretty much eliminated any chance he had to make the all-star team, and he was having a hard time finding any motivation to even care about today's challenge. But, he showed up anyways, knowing that it'd be terrible of him to just skip because he had done poorly the first time around. Plus, he knew it would only benefit him to show up today, even if he did bad again. It wasn't often that you had professional Quidditch players coaching you on how to improve.

When the task of the round was announced, he was a little more optimistic. Trick shots weren't his expertise, but he knew quite a few that he might try. Scott had read an entire book that detailed some of the fancier types of shots for Chasers. Still, that didn't mean he'd be able to do them all. Some were near impossible, and those that were possible, were down right difficult.

Taking a deep breath, he held the Quaffle in his arms and approach the hoops. He had finally decided on the trick he'd use, but he knew it could end up terribly if he failed. What did he have to lose at that point though? He couldn't get any lower in the rankings.

Flying fast, he began to slow down when he was about three-quarters the way to the hoop. Then, he stopped in mid-air (happy that he didn't have to worry about other Chasers coming and stealing the Quaffle), and threw the red ball as hard as he could above him. Next, he swooped down, and then back up, flying straight toward the Quaffle which had started to fall. While gravity did it's work, Scott swung his right leg over his broom, and kicked hard through the air, attempting to boot the Quaffle to it's desired place. He knew that his legs were much stronger than his arms, and perhaps the extra 'umph' would do the trick?

[Wyatt Miles]

RESULTS

Skills + D8 = total

Sydney 10 + 2 = 12 (MISS)
Pyro 9 + 2 = 11 (MISS)
Celia 11 + 4 = 16 (SCORE)
Theo 9 + 3 = 12 (MISS)
Ivy 10 + 6 = 16 (SCORE)
Wynd 8 + 5 = 13 (MISS)
Kailyn 10 + 3 = 13 (MISS)
Scott 9 + 4 = 13 (MISS)

TIE BREAKERS... (Done by a D8 roll)

Wynd=7
Kailyn=5
Scott=2

Theo=6
Sydney=5

FINAL PLACINGS

1st = IVY -- 8 points
2nd = CELIA -- 7 points
3rd = WYND -- 6 points
4th = KAILYN -- 5 points
5th = SCOTT -- 4 points
6th = SYDNEY -- 3 points
7th = THEO -- 2 points
8th = PYRO -- 1 points

TOTAL POINTS FROM LAST CHALLENGE + THIS CHALLENGE

Wynd = 8 + 6 + 14
Ivy = 5 + 8 = 13
Kailyn = 7 + 5 = 12
Celia = 3 + 7 = 10
Sydney = 6 + 3 = 9
Theo = 4 + 2 = 6
Scott = 1 + 4 = 5
Pyro = 2 + 1 = 3