Kurumi wracked her brain for something to do with broom games. Unfortunately, the only broom game that came to mind was some frightening version of tag or red rover. Kurumi simply stared at Professor Vindictus, nervously.

She wasn't sure she liked where this lesson was going. Couldn't they just fly around on mops or magic carpets?

Ok this class was going too fast for her and she couldn't see around Lexi's big head. Well very big and blond head to be exact.

Well it wasn't like she knew the answer to any of this stuff anyways. She had never even rode a broom before. If people were meant to fly they would have wings and lay eggs. Maddox giggled as she thought about a person laying an egg.

Isabelle raise her hand waving it around.

'Stitchstock was one right' Isa asked smiling.

Nika just stared at Vindictus. She didn't know any of this stuff. Maybe if she backed away slowly she could escape from the lesson.

Eino didn't know much about broom games, other than some of the basics, and Quidditch, obviously, but the bits he knew were usually linked to magical creatures or herbology. He raised his hand. "I've heard they use an inflated dragon bladder for that German sport... The snitch-and-spot..." Or spot-and-snitch? Whatever it was called, it definitely involved a dragon part.

"Not broomball," Vindictus replied and suddenly six more hands shot into the air.

"You're getting warm, Eino," replied Vindictus.

"Correct! One point each for your answers," he smiled. "It sounds like some of you have done some recreational reading. Stichstock is the name of this game that died out in the fourteenth century. Would anyone like to explain to the class how this game was played? I'm not looking for a textbook definition - just you explaining the game in your own words."

"Stichstock," Sierra said, raising her hand. Though, by now, every other student in the room--err, on the pitch--had said the exact same thing. Her eyes widened a little, though--a broom room over a dragon reserve?! Sounded kind of interesting, just...not for her to participate in, nope.

Sierra frowned. No sooner had she gotten Stichstock out her mouth, the professor was already moving on to the next question. She narrowed her eyes a little, realizing she'd missed an opportunity for a point. Blahhh, Vinny Boy, Blahhh.

She raised her hand again. "Okay, first off, this game is disgusting--I mean, a dragon bladder?" Seriously? "A dragon bladder!?" Some people could be so disgusting. "Anyway, one person guarded the dragon bladder, while the other players tried to pretty much mutilate it."

Lexi raised her hand and WAVED it around once more. "A player tries to protect an inflated dragon bladder on a pole... while tied by a rope to the pole. Annnnd... everyone uses their wands to try and hex or jinx the other players." She was FAIRLY certain that was a decent enough answer. She remember a few terms back when Vindi and Truebs had a joint DADA/Flying class on Stitchstock. Mhm.

Conan heard the other people's answers, "Is the aim to explode this bladder?" It sounded like a good idea. Well not a good one. But something that is likely to happen.

Okay, Eino got this. There was a dragon part and they played with it. "So," He began nervously with his hand up "there is the inflated dragon bladder... And then someone had to guard it, like a keeper in a Quidditch match guards the quaffle. I think the objective was to destroy the bladder overall, that would end the match, as the equivalent to catching a snitch in Quidditch." He explained with a couple pauses here and there. He often referred to quidditch just so that it seemed like he knew what he was talking about, but he really didn't know much more about the game. "And then the losing team has to eat the dragon bladder." He added as he lowered his hand.

Nika listened to the explanations from other students. How did they know all of this!? She didn't know any of it so she sat staring still. Maybe charms wasn't the hardest subject after all...

"It is the one you need to puncture the dragon's bladder, right?" asked Aiden trying to make sure. "There's a twenty feet high pole with dragon's bladder on it. Then, there's some sort of keeper called the dragon-guardian has to protect the dragon's bladder. The game ends when the guardian hexed all the players, the bladder is punctured or the guardian collapsed of exhaustion," she explains. "Though the game died in the 14th century."

Penny had read about this game during the summer and raised her hand for the third time...Sir, it's got a 20ft pole and someone is tied to it around his middle to defend the dragon bladder thing... The keeper defends it from the other players who want to burst it with the sharp ends of their brooms"...

Then thinking about brooms..."Sir, broom ends aren't sharp though..So how could they burst it?"

Rebecca had no idea what the professor was talking about with the other questions. And now with this one, she was totally confused! So she decided to listen to the others answers and say something like what the others were saying, but change the wording a little.

When she listened to the others answers, Rebecca heard a similarity between what they were saying. Dragon bladders. So she guessed that the game the professor was talking about had something to do with dragon bladders. "I think they try to do something with dragon bladders," she guessed. "I'm guessing they try to protect it or something like that..." She was totally unsure of herself today. "Well that surves me right for not reading Quidditch Through the Ages. When I get back to the dorms, I'm def gonna read it. Or at least skim through it.

Uhm, no. Ellie would NOT like to explain Stichstock. It was vulgar and gross and ewwy. Others can explain about puncturing bladders. Not her. Thank you very much.

Jade stood in the crowd with her hands behind her back. She watched everyone answering questions. She didn't know the answer to any of them, but she was here to learn right? So she continued to stand there and watch.

She would have answered a few of those questions, really, but she got distracted with staring at brooms, and then the grass was interesting, and than she got distracted with the word 'dragon'. How did she get distracted in lessons so easily lately?

However, she was distracted once again, with the question this time. So this was a GOOD distraction. It was too bad she was a few replies too late though. "There's one person who guards the dragon bladder." she started to say after raising her hand. "But they're tied to the pole, and they're the ones that get to hex people, while all the others try to stab the bladder with their brooms."

Fun stuff.

"D-D-D-Dragon's bladder?!" Kurumi squeaked as she tightened her grip on her broom. She was beginning to like this lesson even less. It had been enough of a shock her first term when she had learned was had once been used as a snitch in Quidditch matches. The notion of cutting out a dragon's liver for sport was enough to make her turn white as a sheet and feel as though she were going to fall over.

"Good job! Two points each for your answers," replied Vindictus. "And Eino, no one had to eat the draggon bladdder."

He smiled. That's when Conan asked his question.

"Yes, Conan. That's correct. One point for you," he said and then Penny had her hand raised again.

"Good question, Penny. The players used to sharpen the ends of their broomsticks - a practice that is strictly forbidden in Quidditch." He had to add that last bit just in case a few players wanted to turn their broomsticks into a lethal weapon.

"The next sport happens to be the one of the most dangerous of all broom games. Does anyone know which game I'm referring to?" he asked.

Nika shook her head. "No." But she didn't exactly say that outloud. She just waited for some others to respond. That way always seemed to work best. How did these people know any of this though! Maybe it was because they were born into wizarding families that grew up playing quidditch?

SIGH

Being muggleborn who does read is an obstacle once again.

Mmmhmmm. Treyen was keeping his eyes on Conan, for the most part. And smiled when he intervened in class. Awesome Huffie, he was. Then Professor Vindictus asked something, didn't he? "Creaothceann....right?" he said, after raising his hand.

He could also give the description involving the rocks, and bludgers in cauldrons and all...but...he didn't.

Lexi's hand shot up again and she smiled as she said, "Creaothceann, sir!" Yeppers. She had SO been reading like a lot lately. Hehe.

It was hard to believe there was something even more dangerous than Quidditch, but there was. Eino knew of a very dangerous sport, of course, because it involved rocks. "Is it Creoo-Ah-oo-Thee-Ann...?" He asked with his hand raised. He had absolutely no idea how to pronounce it so maybe he should explain it to let the Professor know what his guess was. "The one with the rocks that are dropped and must be caught in containers?"

Simon made a face as his classmates discussed the sport for he had to admit it did sound rather discusting. Thankfully they eventually moved on to the next type of broom sport and the seventh year went to work on remembering what it was called. He knew it was something Scottish.

"Is it Creaothceann?" he supplied not entirely sure he was correct but taking a chance anyway.

Penny thought for a moment and could only think of one that might be..."Sir, is it 'Creaothceann' that your talking about..."..

Then trying to remember what she had read about it..."I think it's something about cauldrons on heads and rocks falling and players catching them in the cauldrons and loads of people died while playing it".. she couldn't recall anything else about it..