Quidditch Pitch
The Quidditch Pitch at
Hogwarts is quite impressive; it looks as if it could seat the whole school,
and more.
Hundreds of seats are raised
in stands around the stadium, which are positioned very high so that the
spectators may view the game at its full potential. At both ends of the field are tall, golden
poles; three to each end, with hoops attached to the ends of them. Usually the field is empty, except for the
case when the houses of Hogwarts may be playing against each other, or a team
may be practisting. Below the airborne
pitch is a well kept field of green grass.
A distance away from here lies the
Harry is up up up in the
air, soaring at least fifty feet over the pitch. He's really testing out the
Firebolt's speed limits, making breakneck turns, loops, and mid-air
somersaults. Once he's warmed up enough, he's going to practice his dives. It
feels so wonderful to be back on his broom and in the air! Now to get the
Gryffindor team out here for organized practice, get the Quidditch matches back
on and all will be well!
The return of her broom was
like a light at the end of the tunnel! Though actually, things had been better
the last few days and it wasn't as if she needed the broom like she would have
a month ago for all the stress relief. Cho certainly isn't going to deny it
just because it came a few weeks late though! She spent all last night cleaning
dust off it and straightening bristles and now, she plans to take her Comet out
for a spin. Hair tied back, she walks onto the pitch and sees the one and only
Gryffindor Seeker. She can't help but shake her head. Instead of calling out to
him though, she mounts her broom and pushes off and upwards, flying to a
position where he could easily see her, but not directly in his path. She
doesn't want to get knocked off her broom on he first
day back.
Yes, that would be bad, even
if the Firebolt can stop on a knut. Like you, Harry
isn't as stressed now as he was a month ago, but getting his broom back is
greatly welcomed. He was zooming away from your direction as you kicked off,
racing for the other end of the pitch. As he reaches the goalposts, he
somersaults, facing back the opposite way and does indeed spot you. Harry
grins, leans low against his brooms and streaks off towards you like a bottle
rocket. Head's up!
Hey! She's trying to avoid a
mid-air collision if at all possible! But then again, she is a Seeker, and if
she couldn't avoid other brooms than she wouldn't be very good at it, would
she? Instead of diving away, or switching to a higher alitude, Cho grins and
leans into her broom, shooting towards him as well. This isn't a crazy game of
who's going to move away first or anything, and she knows he's going a lot
faster than she is and this can only go on for a few seconds before one of them
will have to move away. Her position in the air favors the left, so that as
long as he doesn't do something silly and move into the same area, they're
going to fly right past each other.
Harry solves that little
dilemma just moments before it looks like a collision is imminent. He easily
tilts the tip of his broom into a spiraling dive towards the ground. The
Firebolt careens downwards as Harry pulls up just mere seconds before eating
dirt or breaking his neck. He gradually slows the broom down as he ascends and
pauses to hover in the air. Nice day for flying eh? *.* While he hovers, he
wipes off his forehead with the sleeve of his robes. Who needs muggle sports
like basketball, rounders or rugby? This can give you a real workout!
Since she wasn't going near the
Comet's full speed (and no where near the Firebolt's) Cho is able to stop and
turn around to watch his dive. She gasps for a second as it looks like he's
going to do a Lynch, but then lets out a relieved gasp as he proves better able
to stop on a dime than the Irish Seeker was able to. She lowers her broom to
his level, the smile firmly back on and grins. "About
time, hmm?" She asks, obviously talking about the fact that they
are back on their brooms.
Harry isn't even trying to
show off in an attempt to impress. He just felt like doing that. He really
can't wait to pull off similar dives in Quidditch, particularly against
Slytherin. For no particular reason mind you, none at all. He can't help but
grin, "I'll say! I was beginning to think we wouldn't be allowed to play
again!" Then he'd just have to go pro after graduating. Or pull a Krum and
play pro while still in school. That's not a bad idea actually... Naah, the
rest of the Gryffindors might strangle him in his sleep if he abandoned the
house team to play professionally.
Oh yes, they'd strangle him. Out of envy. Well, okay, maybe not, but can you imagine the
look on Draco's face if you /did/ play professional while in school? Cho
continues to smile, nodding immediately, "I'm just glad I'll finally get
the chance to face you in the air after a Snitch again." She winks as she
settles into a hover a few yards away from him. It's not just him, but she's
looking forward to facing Slytherin as well. Hufflepuff... well... that game
she wants to end as quickly as possible, if they even play each other.
Well that's all the reason
needed in the world to go pro then isn't it? But knowing Malfoy he'd probably
insist Harry made professional based on fame alone and not talent. Oh well. He
grins even wider, and stops himself before he says something stupid and
prat-like in retort. "Don't think I'll go easy on you in a match!"
But if you play your cards right you could distract him a lot and he'll do
something stupid like collide with a goalpost.
Cho doesn't want you to
colliade with a goalpost, but distraction without injury would be fine. As long
as it meant the match would last longer. The smile stays on and almost turns
more into what would be considered a grin, "I expect nothing less, Mr.
Potter." Almost back to the same tone she had when they were having that
snowball fight. "I won't go easy on you either." And she doesn't plan
to, even though he does have a distinct advantage. She really should start
writing her mom again and see if she can sell a few of her old things to buy a
Nimbus.
Harry grins. Of course, our
matches will have to last as long as we can stretch 'em. Well for Gryffindor
anyway, must.. catch up.. lost.. points.. "Good, now
that we've agreed on that. I look forward to any Quidditch match we have."
Idly, his broom rises, then falls back level to your position, then rises
again. He too hopes you get a newer broom, that way things would feel more
properly balanced in a match. It is hardly a challenge for anyone else to catch
the snitch when facing off against a Firebolt.
Cho would almost be tempted
to beg Auror Moran if she could borrow her Firebolt for the matches, if she
knew the woman beyond one single meeting. As it is she would probably have
better luck asking Draco to borrow his Nimbus, not that that would help her
against Slytherin. (Unless she asks to borrow your Firebolt for that match--
oh, wouldn't that start rumors!) "Feeling is
mutual." She always looks forward to matches. "I hope they post the
matches soon."
Yeah, one can just see the
rumors now. Then there would be nasty Prophet articles
about how you're stringing along two boys, both a year younger. You Mrs. Robinson, you. Harry nods, "There's enough
staff here to keep the pitch covered just in case." But who knows the way
the minds of adults work?
Oh, she's hardly stringing
along Draco. She has to fight to keep even the 'friendship' they have intact. If you can even call it a friendship. Now
.. well... let's not go into if she's stringing
you along. If she is, it isn't intentional. Cho nods, and glances in the
direction of the
Ah! You wound me miss! Harry
likes you well enough to be content as friends. Basically because he's too
chicken to say anything and he doesn't want anything to happen to you. "Definitely not. Professor McGonagall thinks someone
tampered with the snitch because they aren't supposed to stray from the
pitch." Which is a good theory.
Convient that it didn't stray off
during the Slytherin's practice and only after you arrived on the scene, isn't
it? Cho would say something about that, but then it would point a finger at
Draco as the last person to have been holding the Snitch. Not that she thinks
he had anything to do with it, but other people might wonder. "I admit it
did seem a bit odd, especially where-- where it turned up." She swallows.
Maybe she shouldn't think about those things anymore.
No kidding. Very
convienent. But he's not going to say a word about that either. It's too
easy. Besides, Harry hardly thinks that Draco could have tampered with the
snitch, unless his daddy is teaching him a few tricks. "Hopefully that
won't happen again. If it does, I am not going after it." He also doesn't
want his broom taken away again. "I don't fancy getting told off
again." Even if he did drive off the Dementors.
No more Dementors. She's seen
enough of them to last her a life time. Cho happens to share Madam Pomfrey's
view of the creatures. She doesn't want to see anymore of them, but she doesn't
want to lose her broom again either, so she's got no intentions of chasing
anything into the
Amen to that Cho. "I know
they're all worried about me. Worried to the point where it's stifling."
And nothing is worse for a teenager than to feel like the people around him
insist that he still needs a full time babysitter. Harry glances down at the
broomshed, then back at you and attempts to change the
subject, "The broomshed was still locked up when I came out here,
otherwise I'd break out the quaffle or snitch for better practice. Not that
just flying in itself isn't satisfying." Because it is.
Yeah, she can imagine. Cho's
mother is a little bit like that during the summer, especially the last summer.
She barely allowed her to be alone at all for very long, as if she thought she
might do something entirely stupid. Anytime she /was/
alone for very long, the family owl would occassionally fly by her window as if
to check on her. She knows they were worried, but it was very annoying when she
just wanted to be left alone. "I had thought that would be the case."
she says, smiling. She shifts her weight a bit and lifts a hand off the broom
to reach into the folds of her robes. "Wasn't sure anyone else would be
out here, but figured bringing it certainly wouldn't hurt." What she pulls
out is a small light blue sphere that looks as if it would break if it hits the
ground.
Thankfully, the Dursley's were more
than happy to leave Harry alone last summer. They were even more scared of him
than usual. "Same here. It's kinda nice flying
out here alone, or with only a few people." Technically we're supposed to
have a teacher with us, but he couldn't find one to pester to come supervise.
"I'm guessing only faculty can get out the balls." He blinks as you
produce the sphere, "What's that?"
Cho grins. "Just
something we can toss around. My mother bought it for me a couple summers ago
to practice with. It's incredably light, but it's not
much use if you don't have someone else to throw it for you. Occassionally my
mom charms it, if I have no one who's willing to toss it around." She has
a couple Wizard-children friends that live near by that are willing to throw it
for her. As if to show him how light it is, she tosses it underhanded towards
him.
Harry catches the tossed
sphere easily, "It looks like it'll break easily." Surely it
wouldn't? "What exactly does it do?" Does it act like a quaffle? He
feels like such an idiot sometimes over magical items. Keeping one hand on his
broom, even if he knows he's not going to fall, he examines the sphere as he
holds it in his free hand.
Oy, you're the one with an
invisibility cloak. This is hardly as impressive as that! In fact, it's only
got a couple minor charms on it. Cho continues to smile as she answers,
"Um, I don't remember the exact charms, but it's
feather weight, so it'll move more easily and is extremely smooth so it moves
faster. It also gets caught in the wind very easily, so that makes for some
interesting chases, especially if you have to worry about catching it before it
gets too close to where the Muggles might notice." No worry about that
here! But anyway, it's literally just something to toss around. "And it is
unbreakable, but the point is for it not to hit the ground. If you'd rather
just fly though, that's fine."
True enough, but Harry's still
pretty ignorant of much of the wizarding realm, items and such. "Interesting! I'll have to see about finding myself one
of these. Using pine cones gets boring." Or
continue using pine cones and just put interesting hexes and charms on them.
"No, no! This is good!" He zooms upwards about six feet and tosses it
back to you, "heads up!"
Letting out a soft laugh, Cho seems
to agree that pinecones would be boring, but she sees the throw a second before
it happens, so she's not distracted by her own amusement. The little blue ball
spins down towards her, getting caught in the wind a little bit since it's so
light, not making a straight path at all. That's all good and well because the
Ravenclaw girl shifts her broom to move sharply to the left and catches it
easily with one hand. Once caught, she continues to fly to the left, raising upwards until she's above him, and then she pauses
to hover a second as she throws it towards him. "Here's one for you!"
Harry grins and holds his
position, watching you catch the sphere. And thankfully this isn't any serious
practice or heaven forbid a game, because he's slightly distracted by watching.
Eh? what? AH! He snaps to as you call out and throw
the sphere. Another good breeze kicks up, blowing the sphere off course. He
easily shifts his broom right after it, catching it easily. Too bad this isn't
charmed to act like a snitch. "Back at you!" he calls out before
whizzing past, tossing it behind him.
This time, the wind doesn't
exactly blow it off course, but it causes the sphere to zig back and forth in
the air as it spins towards her. This time Cho shifts to get it and as she
catches it, she continues to move around in the air until she's facing forward
again. As soon as she's facing him again, she releases the sphere, using the
momentum of his throw and her own spinning to gain speed and possibly distance.
And this time she doesn't yell out a warning.
Harry turns his broom around
to face you and doesn't fly forwards just yet. So there's some good distance
between the two now. Luckily he's paying some attention but hey, you didn't
give him a verbal warning! "Hey!" is hollered out as he spurs his
broom forward in a blur of motion, shooting after the sphere. It's a good thing
he's so fast, and the sphere is fairly slow moving, otherwise catching it might
be challenging. The sphere is caught, then tossed
upwards, he follows up and hits the sphere back your way volleyball style.
Giving no warning makes the match
a little more interesting, since the sphere is hardly as fast as a Snitch. That
move is something quite interesting, so she raises her eyebrows as she watches
it, waiting til the last possible second to move after it. It's actually past
her when she moves and reaches to catch it, smiling warmly. She pauses to look
at the time, then starts in his direction, "I
have to get going. I promised
Harry watches you catch the
sphere and nods, "Alright. Thanks for the game of catch! I'll see you
around." Meanwhile, he may just stay out here flying until his arms fall
off.
Cho lowers to the ground,
sticks the sphere back into her robes and looks up one more time to wave to the
Gryffindor before she puts het broom over her shoulder and starts to walk
towards the school. She'd much rather being flying right now, but a promise is
a promise. She didn't know she would have her broom back today when she made
it.