QUIDDITCH: May 21, Match #12

[goosemods]

AZURCREST

EBONHIDE

This season’s deciding match pits together two big rivals: Ms. Rhee and Mr. Merrill. It begins during breakfast, when Mr. Merrill, resplendent in a bright blue suit, stands up to announce that he has a few words to say. “A few words” turns out to be a heartfelt dedication to the Azurcrest Quidditch and Cheer teams, which unfortunately takes the form of an improvised song (“Go Captain Etta, there’s no one’s betta’, plus there’s Levi, he’ll achieve high—”) that grinds to a halt he finds himself unable to think of a rhyme for “Sofia.” No matter! He breaks into the chorus of Queen’s “We Are The Champions” instead, and pulls up Levi Kramer to join him in a duet. (Ms. Vector, normally the one tasked with managing the staff, simply feigns deafness and leaves.)

Ms. Rhee passes out purple pennants and foam bear claw mitts to anyone who wants them, and takes special care to make sure every single person in her house is repping Ebonhide colours. She doesn’t care how comfy that blue hoodie is, Austin, go home and change right now! “If Ebonhide doesn’t win today,” Rhee is overheard telling Clementine Decourt, “I will not fail you in Transfiguration.” It’s uncertain if this is meant to be reassuring or not. Rhee looks increasingly intense as the time draws closer to 2 PM.

The conditions are ideal for a Quidditch game. Despite it being midday in late May, it’s cooler weather with an overcast sky. This will likely help since it’s minimal glare and players won’t get overheated, but neither Captain Fiori nor Gray will allow themselves to show too much optimism before such an important match. The same can’t be said for Captains Powers and Prince, for whom enthusiasm is a calling. Azurcrest cheer squad is in fine form as always, with perfectly executed splits and backflips, but nothing wows more than the record-setting switch kick double full basket toss that sends Estella Morales-Tran spinning twenty feet into the air.

Nothing, that is, until the Ebonhide cheer squad appears with a 350 pound black bear sporting a comically huge plum-coloured bow around her neck. Ms. Rhee in Animagus form joins Powers’ team for a memorable routine in which Veronica Powers balances on one leg and is lifted into the air on one massive bear paw. Ms. Rhee transforms back at the end of their routine, and ends up hugging all of the cheerleaders, teary-eyed over how talented they all are.

Coach Thorn throws the Quaffle sky high, and it’s in the quick hands of Chaser Castillo, who swoops around the opposition to take it home. Chaser Key’s flying right alongside, and the two of them rapidly pass the Quaffle between them while Kramer maneuvers to distract Ebonhide. Castillo lands the first goal, and Key follows it up four minutes later, to the frustration of Keeper Raza. But Ebonhide soon takes back the game when Beaters Fiori and Kim successfully wrest control of both Bludgers, shooting simultaneously at Kramer and Key, who scatter to avoid getting hit. Chaser Decourt steals the Quaffle from a surprised Castillo, and scores the first goal for Ebonhide. It’s only been a neat twelve minutes, and everyone settles in for a long game, knowing how much is at stake.

Even so, there’s a palpable inhalation of breath when the Golden Snitch flies right into the middle of the match, catching sunlight off its metal wings. The audience goes silent, and the Seekers stare each other down, their hands clenched on their brooms. It flies right past Kramer’s ear. It’s definitely close enough for Seeker Gray to catch. Neither she nor Hale make a move, and the Snitch flits away again. At twenty minutes in, the score is 30–20 for Azurcrest—more than a hundred to go before either of them beat Coppertale.

It’s a strong early showing for Azurcrest, with Keeper Goshawk only letting in one goal for every three that comes at her. Azurcest consistently stays ahead, with their biggest lead just an hour in, 90–50, after Castillo sails right through the opposition after Beater Delgado sent a curving Bludger that cracked Beater Kim in the shoulder of his dominant arm. It’s only bruises, but he’s noticeably not hitting as hard, allowing Azurcrest dodge his shots easily. The next time Ebonhide gets the Quaffle, Captain Gray makes a slicing hand motion, and blue-robed Chasers and Beaters move into formation to cut him off from his team. Quayle veers out the path of Hobbs’ Bludger, then abruptly makes his broom freefall ten feet to toss the Quaffle underneath Key. Webb catches the risky pass, and scores the next goal for Ebonhide.

Revenge comes soon after when Decourt, taking advantage of her long hours observing him play, flies to Kramer’s weaker side and tries to take the Quaffle from him. Distracted by the attempted theft, Kramer’s not watching when Beater Fiori’s bat slams a Bludger right at him, shattering the bones in his arm. Healer Mufferaw calls Kramer off the field, and Reserve Cunningham is subbed in. His weaknesses as a Chaser become apparent as Ebonhide’s score climbs over the next half-hour, and the points are neck-and-neck again when the Snitch reappears, flitting right out from under Webb’s broom. 110–100 for Azurcrest, enough for either team to win the Cup. Hale’s already zooming in, but Gray is closer, and makes a dangerously steep dive for the Snitch—only to tumble when Beater Kim lands a hit on her broom, cracking off the tail. Hale flies after her, but the commotion from the crowd and a whistle-blow from Thorn allows the Snitch to get away. Luckily, Gray was close enough to the ground that she rolled out of it unhurt, insisting she can still play. Reserve St. Clair lends Gray his broom to finish out the match.

It’s anyone’s game at this point, with Hale and Gray scanning furiously for the Snitch as Chasers do their best to keep the other team from getting too far ahead. Keeper Goshawk blocks two goals from Ebonhide but misses a shot from Quayle; while Castillo, Key and Cunningham have finally warmed up as a team, and land two shots past Raza (the first by Cunningham, the second by Key). Just as everyone’s on the feet yelling for the Azurcrest, Hale spots Snitch for the third time near the ground.

Both Seekers dive for it, weaving around one another for the best angle. Beaters search for an opportunity to knock the enemy Seeker out of the sky, but Gray and Hale are flying too tightly together, their brooms skimming the grass as they approach the Snitch, which abruptly shoots skyward to escape. Both Seekers pull up, but Hale is quicker to correct, her broom turning up at a sharp angle, so extreme that she feels herself begin to fall backwards. The audience gasps as it looks like Hale is going to tumble, just as she kicks off her broom, arms outstretched, reaching further than ever before. Hale falls fifteen feet and lands hard, her broom crashing onto the grass beside her. After a tense second, Hale rips her goggles off and punches up at the sky, showing everyone the metal wings batting against her fingers. It’s over.

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EBONHIDE WINS
THE QUIDDITCH CUP
160–130

Whether you’re a player, cheerleader or spectator, post below with your character’s reactions! If you wish to post separately about the game, please use lj-cuts and mark for spoilers for the first 24 hours, so no one sees the result before reading the official match description. THE LEFT COLUMN CURSE IS REAL. This post is dedicated to Meggie, for being my inspiration who coached me through writing so many of these damn posts, and to the players of this game. I'm prouder of you than Merrill and Rhee are proud of their kids.

Comments

PLAYERS & CHEERLEADERS

[goosemods]

DAHLIA

[dollywould]

She has the Snitch, she has the Snitch. She also definitely got the wind knocked out of her and she probably hit her head when she hit the ground because it kind of hurts but SHE HAS THE SNITCH. After a year of barely managing to get her fingers on one of these little golden bad boys, she CAUGHT IT, SHE HAD IT, LOOK AT IT IN HER HANDS. Dahlia lets out a scream as she holds it up, staring at the score and checking the math over and over in her head to make sure THIS MEANS THEY WON THE CUP, RIGHT? RIGHT??

The first teammate to hit the ground anywhere near her gets knocked to the ground when she hugs them and they're gonna like it.

Ulysses

[ulixes]

Is going to think about this the next time he casts a Patronus.

This is... what a match. This was a Beater's game — Leo taking out Levi, Casper knocking Etta's broom. It was a Seeker's game — and Dahlia, holy hell, what an incredible finish. He told you you were the best. It was Kazim blocking shots and Solo making that insanely tough catch (that's why they practiced), and yeah, it was Clementine scoring the first goal of the match and helping them turn the tide. For a second there, when they land, Ulysses is quietly dumbfounded — overwhelmed by the frankly foreign feeling of a completely unselfish pride.

Don't worry. That definitely doesn't last long. He'll be back to crowing in a jiffy.

Wilde

[destructobot]

Doesn't let himself believe it for a second, but when Dahlia stands with the fucking Snitch he shouts a thrilled, almost unintelligible string of curse words and jumps off the bench & towards his ass-kickin' family.

Leo (tl;dr #1)

[ninjaleo]

Leo refuses to let himself get excited today. In fact, it's a little uncanny at how boring this Sunday is. He spent all morning in the library, before a brief warm-up exercise, knowing that either way, he wouldn't want to study tonight. The match is business as usual. He doesn't give any mush pep talks beforehand, just gives a telling nod to his team. "We're almost done." He tells them. He's almost done.

The game itself is difficult, and that's how he likes it. He isn't able to think of the possible outcomes when they're right there in the thick of it. He'll have to apologize for that arm to Levi later, but on the field he shows no remorse. He's brutal, he's calculating. Just like always. There's only one moment when he's completely still, and that's when he's watching Dahlia hold the snitch over her head.

He blinks, because he's not sure he's seen it correctly. He has to do the math three times. They did it. After all the nights spent strategizing, hours practicing, moments he thought this would never happen. It had. Leo is among one of the last to land. His body takes him through the next steps. He'll congratulate every member of Azurcrest, and shake Etta's hand if she'll take it. (That was close, and the last thing he can teach his team is grace in victory.) Then he'll go to each of his team, and not be opposed to hugs at all today. He looks shell-shocked through all of this, but deeply, incredibly happy.

Solo

[theniceboy]

Solomon hasn't been invested in winning. He's in this for the thrill of the game. He enjoys it. But he, like the team, wanted to give Leo this win, in his final year. He's not dumbfounded that they won - because he has the utmost faith in his team. They worked so hard for this. But he still lands much more enthusiastically than usual. He goes to every individual team mate and gives them crushingly enthusiastic hugs. But he also goes to the opposing team, and... well - he mostly gives Jeffy a crushing hug, and gives everybody else a hug or a handshake, or an attempt at a solemn nod if that's what the want. He doesn't want to rub this in anybody's face.

Essie!!!

[magitechnically]

The excitement is pounding through Essie from the moment the cheer squad steps onto the field. There's still the Hogwarts game left to cheer in, but if all her hardwork pays off and she manages to secure a spot on Azurcrest's Quidditch team next year, this will be her last game spent cheering for them. The thought energizes her further to give it her all and it's only thanks to weeks of practice that she doesn't start screaming in delight when she goes spinning twenty feet up in the air. When the performance ends, she's breathing heavily and smiling widely and her first instinct is to give Diego a fierce hug. She never would have joined cheer if not for him.

Once the game starts, Essie watches in awe. These are clearly two talented teams, putting everything into this final deciding match. When Levi's arm gets crushed by the bludger, Essie grimaces; they haven't been using full speed bludgers in Sophomore Quidditch and that looks... incredibly painful. Yikes.

The loss is a disappointment, but what an exciting game overall. Essie makes a point of congratulating both Jeffy and Solo, her Sophteam co-Chasers, on a great game when it's all over. "You were SO COOL!" she tells both of them.

Mackenzie

[princeprincess]

This is the last game, and Kenzie's been pushing her team hard to show off what they're capable of. Their throws are higher, their flips more precise, and their coordination is impeccable. Athleticism over anything else, of course. But none of that really helps the game, and when the Snitch is in Dahlia's hand, Kenzie's energy flags a little. Not that she's the peppiest cheer captain out there.

Still, she blows off the loss and flips her hair over her shoulder. "Let's demonstrate that despite all the assumptions about us, Azurcrest is the heartiest house."

Casper

[casperkim]

While Casper's shoulder is still throbbing from the beating it took earlier in the match, he hardly feels it at all when he lands on the pitch. Because Dahlia had caught the Snitch. Because they'd scored 160 points. Because they'd just won the Quidditch Cup. He still doesn't care about Quidditch, not really, but winning this for his teammates and for his captain has become important to him over the last few months and he feels immeasurably good about the victory. He still isn't the type to initiate hugs but he allows himself to smile as he looks around at the others and pushes hair back from his sweaty face.

Nia

[heyitsnia]

Nia squeals with delight when Dahlia holds up the snitch. She tosses her pom poms aside and throws her hands in the air and shouts joyfully again for good measure. It's a weird feeling, pretending you don't really care about quidditch and then realizing that maybe you really do. Or at least, you care about the happy faces all your friends are wearing.

She compliments each player on a killer game as they come off the pitch, slugging her fellow juniors in the arm as an added bonus.

Vee

[cheerpowers]

Vee honestly can't contain her excitement. After their performance in the beginning, and how fantastically the stunt with Ms Rhee was pulled off, plus knowing this is their last game, her enthusiasm seemingly knows no bounds. She's jumping and cheering and being generally on her 'game' the entire time, so it seems like there's nowhere else to go.

Until Dahlia catches the snitch.

Once it's clear Ebonhide has won the game and the cup, she loses it. She yells so loud, she's sure people think she's nuts but she's too busy hugging everyone and jumping up and down with a huge smile on her face to really care. She gives all her squad a hug, then hunts down EVERY Quidditch member too. (Even you, Casper!)

Extra hugs are given to Clem and Nia, of course ;)

Etta

[unregrettable]

Losing this game feels a lot worse than any of the other games they've lost this year. As the adrenaline starts to ebb away, Etta is left feeling hollow, and beyond disappointed in herself. Her team played so well, and she's proud of them. So proud. This loss... it's all on her. She won't get another chance to redeem herself, and the cold reality of that settles in her stomach like a stone.

But she promised her team a cuddle pile, so she pulls in anyone who's up for it, and tells them how amazingly they played. She doesn't hang around for very long, though.

Ariadne

[untarnish]

looked uncharacteristically amenable to being hugged by Ms. Rhee after the cheer routine.

AUDIENCE REACTIONS

[goosemods]

Sun-mi

[henshinyo]

What a game, what a game. Sun-mi puts all her cheer experience to good use, yelling and whooping for Azurcrest whenever they score a goal. (And, okay, there may be some "GO LEO" and "GO KAZIM"s thrown in there too.)

There's a gasp and some choice words when Etta's broom is damaged and she falls from the sky, followed by even louder cheering for her when she takes off again.

...And then it's over. What a heart pounding final snitch catch. For all her fondness of Leo and Kazim, she can't help but feel very disappointed for Etta's sake and will make herself quite available for consolation hugs and kisses.

Calvin & Cole

[colemoss]

There's been some tension between Calvin and Cole for the last few weeks because of their breakup and their disagreements about the Grotto (and whether or not Calvin should be going there) but Cole meant what he wrote in his note to the other boy and he wants to spend time with him again. Get back to being friends. Somehow. So he shows up at the Quidditch game, hoping to sit with Calvin in the midst of the sophomore crowd like he always so they can cheer on Micah together.

The smile that he offers when he takes the seat beside Calvin is small but hopeful. "Hi Calvin." He hesitates, then adds, "...Is this okay?"

AFTER THE GAME

[goosemods]

💫 OOC - Questions, comments, concerns! 💫

[goosemods]

I'm currently sitting in a mall food court formatting this post for you.

Re: 💫 OOC - Questions, comments, concerns! 💫

[dollywould]

we don't deserve u

Re: 💫 OOC - Questions, comments, concerns! 💫

[meerigold]

whatcha eatin?

Re: 💫 OOC - Questions, comments, concerns! 💫

[meerigold]

levi char a pls /greedy

Re: 💫 OOC - Questions, comments, concerns! 💫

[ulixes]

thank u 4 doing this if it helps i got so excited to read that i'm literally sitting in the middle of the sidewalk (i was walking home when i got the notif lmao)

Re: 💫 OOC - Questions, comments, concerns! 💫

[magitechnically]

WHOOOP this was such a great read. So happy for ya, Ebonfam. :')

Re: 💫 OOC - Questions, comments, concerns! 💫

[quinning]

this is super exciting ty for all your hard work supermods 💜

i got back late last night & am mega burnt out from the conference sooooooooo idk if i'll be able to tag in for a while (/at all??) + this includes casey's attempt to get himself an ebonhide trading card :c

in case i can't make it back on in time, please feel free to assume that kazim's little resting smirk actually breaks into a smile a couple of times and that although he won't initiate hugs, he welcomes being hugged by others. quinn's an enigma rn but i do know she's ">:O" about micah being put in instead of her since she's usually the chaser reserve. after the game she tells all the azurcrests how good of a job they did (with specifics! look at how close the game was! YOU'RE ALL AWESOME! WHAT A SEASON!) and they all get bear hugs. leo also gets a bear hug and he's not allowed to say 'no.'

Re: 💫 OOC - Questions, comments, concerns! 💫

[magitechnically]

oh, i just realized essie is the only female azurcrest cheerleader not played by a mod/quidditch team player so SURE, can we toss essie high in the air to do fancy stuff? Cheerleader C, please!