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Felixir · 01-16-2018, 02:46 AM

Threading the needle, that's all this was, and, actually, it was mega fun. As he neared the end of the course, Abra all but forgot he was actually in the middle of a tryout and just relished the thrill of it all. As a result, he didn't really try so much to take on all the obstacles at a ferocious speed, because his main priority had changed into simply enjoying the experience. This, it turned out, was a good thing. In the second half of the course, the obstacles got trickier to manage and probably would have sent him into a very literal tailspin had he been flying all out.

First, Abra noticed, the hoops stopped being so consistent in size. One hoop he flew through was so incredibly large that he almost wondered if he could have made it through whilst drifting with his broom perfectly parallel to it. Seconds later, he saw that the next hoop was not way out ahead, as he had believed at first, but fairly close and much, much smaller than the last. The bigger one had lulled him into a false sense of security, and Abra had only a second to adjust his course in order to sail through the next one, and still felt the sleeve of his robes make contact as he whipped through.

Not long after, things got trickier when the hoops started moving. This was a lot harder to judge, as it was naturally much more difficult to hit a moving target than a stationary one. But at least Abra was not launching a projectile at a target, and instead was the projectile actually, and had control of himself in the air all the way to the wandering hoop. There was likely a proper technique to this, but he just decided to just go with his gut, trust his instinct, and rely on his reflexes to get him out of a sticky situation if necessary.

Abra's eyes followed the hoop as it moved steadily left and right. He slowed down slightly, subconsciously, in order to try to judge where the hoop would be when he reached it. In the end he decided to wait until the hoop had almost reached the extreme left of its course, then put on a burst of speed and fly in that direction.

All of this was decided in the space of about two seconds, considering he was still moving forward at speed, and executing the plan took less time still. Abra directed his broom to the left and flew forwards, wondering if he'd judged this correctly and what the penalty might be for missing a hoop but deciding he was not going to find out. Doubting his judgement, he suddenly sped forwards, earlier than he had planned. The only real price he paid for his moment of eagerness was a slight nudge on his left arm as he flew threw the hoop a fraction of a second before it was in the optimal position.

Tugging his broom quickly to the right and then back to the left, Abra ensured that the rest of his body got through just fine, but a second later he heard a concerning and all too familiar whooshing sound coming from somewhere near his head. Immediately suspecting a bludger, either as a part of the course or loose from the Beater section of tryouts, Abra rolled to the side and underneath his broom, employing the Sloth Grip Roll in a far less controlled way than he would have liked, being that he'd not had much opportunity to really practice and perfect it that much. He came back up on the other side of the broom, using the momentum from the start of the move, and righted himself on his broom again. What seemed to be a wall where there had been none before suddenly sprung up out of nowhere. Caught by surprise, Abra's heart leapt into his throat and he reflexively pulled his broom back and flew straight up to avoid it.

When he saw the hoops directly overhead, he realised it had all just been another planned obstacle, which was pretty obvious now that he had a moment to think about it. Once more, he followed the hoops and finally reached the end of the course.

Pulling up his broom - this time to a halt - Abra looked back out over the course to see if 1. the wall was still there and, 2. what the whooshing things had been, while he took the time to let his heart rate settle back down. Both were gone - invisible, perhaps - so he came to the conclusion that they must have been charmed obstacles (duh) which only appeared when someone got close to them. As he looked out over the rest of the course, he saw that it was not necessarily exactly as he had remembered; did it change with every flyer? Perhaps going in slightly different directions took them to different obstacles? That was brilliant, if so, and Abra had half a mind to go back and have another go, to see if he'd get a different experience.

No. Catch the snitch.

Right. Yes. The snitch. Obviously. Aka the whole reason for the position he was trying out for. Because that's what he was doing, of course. Tryouts. It was all coming back to him now.

Abra nodded firmly to himself, and flew off away from the end of the obstacle course. Now that he had stopped to process things, he was really feeling the cold. REALLY feeling it. His hair was probably a mess too, and his eyes were streaming from their exposure to all that rushing air.

Allowing himself a moment to collect himself, Abra took both hands off of his broom and rubbed at his eyes and tried to warm his face in his now very sweaty palms and ruffled his hair which absolutely didn't need any more ruffling. When his hands were back on his broom, he looked back out over the pitch to seek out both Emma and the first year who was also trying out for Seeker. Both were easily to locate thanks to their hair, and Abra smiled to himself when he caught sight of each of them. It was nice, seeing other kids, especially younger ones, trying out and enjoying Quidditch and flying and having fun with it. He'd never really thought about it before, not properly, but it was a good thing to see.

Anyway. Yes. Tryouts. Seek the snitch, not the other players.

Turning away from the obstacle course, Abra directed his broom up into the air and flew up high, above the pitch, higher than the tall towers that made up parts of the stands. When he'd reached an altitude that was perfect for snitch-seeking (but actually not at all ideal for those who preferred the warmth, just by the way) he began flying around the perimeter of the pitch once more. He kept his speed steady, and circled like a vulture but watched like a hawk, squinting out over the pitch for that tell-tale gold glint.

01-16-2018, 02:46 AM	#40 (permalink)
Felixir Book Club Mod Alley Proprietor Banshee Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Posts: 50,139 Hogwarts RPG Name: Charlie Upstead Gryffindor Fifth Year Hogwarts RPG Name: Aurelio Kaiser Slytherin Third Year Hogwarts RPG Name: Alexei Petrov Slytherin First Year Hogwarts RPG Name: Yves Flamel Slytherin Sixth Year Hogwarts RPG Name: Achilles Zacharias Ravenclaw Third Year Diagon Alley Proprietor: Ezekiel Ransom-Kruus Ollivanders x12 x12	Seeker Lovely™ \| Captain Hurted \| Ariana's Bane \| Resident Antagonist \| Unparalleled Delight Threading the needle, that's all this was, and, actually, it was mega fun. As he neared the end of the course, Abra all but forgot he was actually in the middle of a tryout and just relished the thrill of it all. As a result, he didn't really try so much to take on all the obstacles at a ferocious speed, because his main priority had changed into simply enjoying the experience. This, it turned out, was a good thing. In the second half of the course, the obstacles got trickier to manage and probably would have sent him into a very literal tailspin had he been flying all out. First, Abra noticed, the hoops stopped being so consistent in size. One hoop he flew through was so incredibly large that he almost wondered if he could have made it through whilst drifting with his broom perfectly parallel to it. Seconds later, he saw that the next hoop was not way out ahead, as he had believed at first, but fairly close and much, much smaller than the last. The bigger one had lulled him into a false sense of security, and Abra had only a second to adjust his course in order to sail through the next one, and still felt the sleeve of his robes make contact as he whipped through. Not long after, things got trickier when the hoops started moving. This was a lot harder to judge, as it was naturally much more difficult to hit a moving target than a stationary one. But at least Abra was not launching a projectile at a target, and instead was the projectile actually, and had control of himself in the air all the way to the wandering hoop. There was likely a proper technique to this, but he just decided to just go with his gut, trust his instinct, and rely on his reflexes to get him out of a sticky situation if necessary. Abra's eyes followed the hoop as it moved steadily left and right. He slowed down slightly, subconsciously, in order to try to judge where the hoop would be when he reached it. In the end he decided to wait until the hoop had almost reached the extreme left of its course, then put on a burst of speed and fly in that direction. All of this was decided in the space of about two seconds, considering he was still moving forward at speed, and executing the plan took less time still. Abra directed his broom to the left and flew forwards, wondering if he'd judged this correctly and what the penalty might be for missing a hoop but deciding he was not going to find out. Doubting his judgement, he suddenly sped forwards, earlier than he had planned. The only real price he paid for his moment of eagerness was a slight nudge on his left arm as he flew threw the hoop a fraction of a second before it was in the optimal position. Tugging his broom quickly to the right and then back to the left, Abra ensured that the rest of his body got through just fine, but a second later he heard a concerning and all too familiar whooshing sound coming from somewhere near his head. Immediately suspecting a bludger, either as a part of the course or loose from the Beater section of tryouts, Abra rolled to the side and underneath his broom, employing the Sloth Grip Roll in a far less controlled way than he would have liked, being that he'd not had much opportunity to really practice and perfect it that much. He came back up on the other side of the broom, using the momentum from the start of the move, and righted himself on his broom again. What seemed to be a wall where there had been none before suddenly sprung up out of nowhere. Caught by surprise, Abra's heart leapt into his throat and he reflexively pulled his broom back and flew straight up to avoid it. When he saw the hoops directly overhead, he realised it had all just been another planned obstacle, which was pretty obvious now that he had a moment to think about it. Once more, he followed the hoops and finally reached the end of the course. Pulling up his broom - this time to a halt - Abra looked back out over the course to see if 1. the wall was still there and, 2. what the whooshing things had been, while he took the time to let his heart rate settle back down. Both were gone - invisible, perhaps - so he came to the conclusion that they must have been charmed obstacles (duh) which only appeared when someone got close to them. As he looked out over the rest of the course, he saw that it was not necessarily exactly as he had remembered; did it change with every flyer? Perhaps going in slightly different directions took them to different obstacles? That was brilliant, if so, and Abra had half a mind to go back and have another go, to see if he'd get a different experience. No. Catch the snitch. Right. Yes. The snitch. Obviously. Aka the whole reason for the position he was trying out for. Because that's what he was doing, of course. Tryouts. It was all coming back to him now. Abra nodded firmly to himself, and flew off away from the end of the obstacle course. Now that he had stopped to process things, he was really feeling the cold. REALLY feeling it. His hair was probably a mess too, and his eyes were streaming from their exposure to all that rushing air. Allowing himself a moment to collect himself, Abra took both hands off of his broom and rubbed at his eyes and tried to warm his face in his now very sweaty palms and ruffled his hair which absolutely didn't need any more ruffling. When his hands were back on his broom, he looked back out over the pitch to seek out both Emma and the first year who was also trying out for Seeker. Both were easily to locate thanks to their hair, and Abra smiled to himself when he caught sight of each of them. It was nice, seeing other kids, especially younger ones, trying out and enjoying Quidditch and flying and having fun with it. He'd never really thought about it before, not properly, but it was a good thing to see. Anyway. Yes. Tryouts. Seek the snitch, not the other players. Turning away from the obstacle course, Abra directed his broom up into the air and flew up high, above the pitch, higher than the tall towers that made up parts of the stands. When he'd reached an altitude that was perfect for snitch-seeking (but actually not at all ideal for those who preferred the warmth, just by the way) he began flying around the perimeter of the pitch once more. He kept his speed steady, and circled like a vulture but watched like a hawk, squinting out over the pitch for that tell-tale gold glint. __________________ Days of Potter 2023:___________________________ Which Bertie Botts Flavour Are You? You are Chocolate!