Laura zoomed after the rocks, she really needed to get a move on if she was going to hit her target, she had set herself, she zoomed around the field and suddenly found a rock that was close to her already, she probably wouldn't have enough time to put the broom in position.

*Bang*

Laura felt the pain in her hand before she had realised what she had done, it had hurt her a bit but at least she hadn't been knocked out or anything, she turned around.

*clang*

She had hit the rock with her hand straight into her cauldron, that was awesome, she wasn't going to do it again though if she could help it because it probably wasn't the best way to catch the rocks.

Merlin.

She'd only just finished cussing one idiot for nearly killing her when another decided to do the same. This game was ridiculous. The only violence came in the form of stones being the aggressors and that wasn't working for her anymore!!!! She needed a way to get it through everyone's head that the 11 year old flying on the broom right here was NOT the flipping target!!

"Seriously?! I'm not THAT small and I'm NOT invisible!!"

Hmph!

She inhaled sharply as she steadied herself once more. If things continued like this then it was going to be a loooong, bloody game.

As soon as she was righted again she heard a loud clattered just above her and smiled through her ears that were ringing. Another one caught--and with very little effort too!! But she liked the idea of being more on the offensive side so maybe she'd try to actively acquire the rocks.

Yelling… was there someone yelling at him? Hard to tell given that most of the sounds ringing in his ears and echoing in his head was a variations on CLANGS and PINGS. But as he turned his head around he saw the young Gryffindor moving her mouth and looking at his general direction… and she doesn’t look very happy about it. ”Uh… sorry.” he called back

He turns his head back towards the front just in time to avoid another flyer ahead of him. A strangled gasp escapes as he banks quickly to the side just to avoid a collision. He could feel the stone rolling around in his cauldron and tried to use his hand to cover the opening and keep it from falling right off. It would annoy him immensely if he ended up even losing that one stone.

Now where was he? Oh yes, headed towards the hail storm of pain…

Laura was really having trouble now trying to figure out which rocks she should try and get into her cauldron, she was hoping to find a group of rocks coming down together, so she wasn't really bothered about single ones at the minute, though maybe she should have been.

"THIS IS HARD!!" Laura snapped at herself, then she giggled a bit. "YOU CAN DO IT!" Laura growled at herself, if anyone heard her they probably thought she was nuts, but then suddenly

*clang*

Had she got another one in, turning to look around she sighed it had hit the side of the cauldron and gone away from it that had been sooooo close, well she would get some more in her cauldron before the end of the day.

Ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch oooooooooouch.

Kurumi's eyes was watering from the bloody stone that had gone into her eye and her vision was seriously impaired now thanks to it. SEE?! This is why she hated flying. On a broom at least. Next year at uni if she got to ride a dragon it would be a different story.

*BOINK*

Kurumi quite literally bounced off whoever it was she had swerved into. She couldn't tell because she was essentially blinded at the moment, but she did manage to say something as she was bounce in the opposite direction. "Sooooooooooooooooorrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyyyyy...."

*PING*

Oh! Hey, not all was lost! A stone had followed into her ---- *PING* OH! Another! Now she had three! Just two more before her goal of five!

After finally accidentally catching another rock Minerva went to see about catching another. She was paying attention to so that no rocks would hit her again if possible. Leaning right she missed a big one that she knew if she tired to catch in her cauldron would have taken off her head as well and she was kind of happy with that head so why risk it coming off.

As she moved down the pitch she noticed a rock that looked to be just the right size and flew faster towards it. Just getting under it in time she moved to the left and heard ping.. ping. as it fell into the cauldron. Yes I nice smaller rock was just what Minerva liked, it didn't hurt her and it was easier to get into the cauldron. She wasn't watching where she was going since she was paying more attention to the rocks and looked down just to see a broom coming close to her fast. Hurrying she tried to move left out of the way, but didn't do it fast enough and bumped into someone.

So...six rocks wasn't too shabby but it was no where near twenty-four rocks and that made Ella frown a bit. At least her eye was feeling a bit better now, that was a good thing! She was even getting used to only being able to see with one. Mhm...she was a regular old flying pirate. Arrrrrg!

As she flew towards the right side of the pitch, the fourteen year old didn't even noticed her housemate was flying dangerous close to her.

O___O

KABLAMMMMMMMM!

The third year's broom started to shake uncontrollably and she held on for dear life, zigzagging all over the place as she tried to regain control. The falling rocks weren't helping either, pelting her as she went along. "Ouch...ouch...ouch...EEP!"

Her broom finally came to a stop a ways down the pitch and her green eyes were wide and frightened. She blinked several times and chewed on her lip, wondering who had run into her. She seriously hoped they were okay and hadn't hit the ground. Shudder.

Taking a deep breath, the third year tucked her hair behind her ears and debated on what to do next. She was a bit shaken up but she didn't want to quit. That wasn't her style. While she debated, she felt another heavy rock bounce off her head and then another. Meh.

PLUNK!

...Oh and one landed right in her cauldron. Brightside?

Kurumi shook her head back and forth as she enjoyed the sound of three stones rattling in her cauldron. Just two more and she would be at five and she could consider step one done! PING! Oh, wait...just one more now! A genuine smile creeping across the Gryffindor's lips, she glanced out of the corner of her eyes and saw a stone falling her way, so she leaned forward and took off after it when....

*SHOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

Someone (Minerva) went shooting past her and caused her broom to go into a tight spin in the air. Kurumi shut her eyes tight and ended up pushing down on her broom's handle, sending her into a dive in the meantime until...

*SMACK*

Kurumi collided sideways with someone else (Ella) and her broom came to such a sudden stop which caused her entire body to lunge forward. Her forehead would have collided with the handle had she not been wearing the cauldron, so instead it hit the handle and spilled out the four stones Kurumi had collected...leaving her with none and with her head spinning - her eyes possibly crossed as well.

Minerva looked up just in time to see Ella loosing control of her broom. Oh no not Ella.. Minerva didn't want to hurt anyone, but especially not one of her friends. She zoomed around trying to follow Ella's broom and maybe catch her if she fell off. She felt the rocks smacking into her has she flew.. She knew she would have welts from some of them, this was just crazy. Minerva heard the ping of a rock hitting her cauldron and then felt the impact of it landing inside.. ouch that was a heavy one, she shook her head trying to make sure it didn't pull anything in her neck. You could get a horrible head injury from these even with cauldron's. Had Vindi lost his mind... Minerva was really thinking he must have taken bludgers to the head or something.

Getting over towards Ella, Minerva didn't notice she had come to close to Kurumi until Kurumi was spinning out of control in front of her.. Minerva took off a bit faster towards both girls. Cringing when she saw Kurumi hit Ella. Getting closer to both; "Are you alright? This is just nuts.." She wanted no harm to her friend especially not before the championship match.. They needed Ella to be ready. As she was checking up on her friend she noticed a rock coming towards the front of Ella's broom and leaned forward just in time to catch it in her cauldron.. "Don't need that hitting your broom and really knocking you off it." She gave Ella a small smile, "I'm so sorry for running into you.."

It had only been seconds after Ella regained control when someone else (Sir Lewis' Lady) came and sideswiped her. O____O Was she some kind of target out there or something? Curse her shiny shiny hair! It was definitely like a magnet or something for disaster! MEEP! The third year jerked forward on her broom, holding on tightly. CAN YOU SAY WHIPLASH?

Blink.Blink.

But she hadn't fallen or anything, that was the important part of all of this. No matter what, she was hanging on to her broom. But...It was Kurumi that had bumped into her! Ella frowned and turned to the older girl, hoping she was okay. She looked quite...dazed and confused. "Erm...okay, Kurumi?" No brain damage or anything, right? EEP! Sir Lewis would be SO MAD at her if she was the cause of Kurumi's brain damage! Not that the crash was Ella's fault...

...

And then Minnie was there suddenly and Ella looked up at her friend, rubbing at her side. She was sure going to be sore for the Championship! "I'm...I'm okay, just a bit sore is all. Nothing I'm not used to." And she gave her friend a faint smile, shrugging. "Are you alright?" Cause that was important too! O__o And then Minnie looked like she was going to headbutt Ella's broom and for a wild moment Ella thought West might have disguised himself as her housemate just so she could stroke her hair again. MEEP! She snapped out of that daydream quickly though, watching as Minnie expertly caught a rock in her cauldron. WHOA! Girl had skillz.

"That was...wicked." She said, looking at her friend in amazement. Oh, and the running into her thing? Ella wasn't mad. "It happens."

THUD.

"Ouch!!!"

A stray rock had hit his shoulder. "Holy cannoli that hurt!" Pao could tell he was going to have to do some serious nursing to his sore body parts before the Championship Match. Speaking of which... Oh gosh, and I had almost forgotten, too. Another jolt of panic swept through his body just in time for him to catch sight of another rock hitting the ground right in front of him.

Now's not the time to lose your nerve, Mancini. You're a Badger, and Badgers are FIERCE! Worrying will just distract you and you'll be out here longer. So go get those rocks and worry about that match later. "Yeah!" he cried.

He positioned himself about a half meter to the left of where the rock had hit the ground. Hoping he had guessed correctly, he waited for the rock to come back down. In a few seconds he heard the happy sound that indicated success. "Six!" He had guessed correctly as to how much the wind would carry it.

So where's my next vic--? PLUNK. "Seven!" Now that had been lucky!

SCORE!

Or, rather...more rocks for Sierra. She was just to Quidditch talk out here on the pitch. She felt like doing a fist pump but decided not to on account of the fact that she was soaring high in the air underneath a rainfall of rocks. There was nothing to do now except get her head back in the game and try to catch some more rocks.

She steered her broom in the opposite direction and took off toward a heavy rainfall of rocks. Just as she approached them, somebody else dashed by and caught at least a good five of them. She growled in frustration then took off again.

Just as she steered her broom around, though, she heard the distinct sound of more rocks falling into her cauldron. She counted the sounds and knew three more had fallen in. An accident catch! Cool!

Jory spotted another rock falling on his left. "I got one now!'' he thought, zooming off towards it. As he flew, he inched his head forward so he had a better chance at catching the rock.

"Just a bit more,'' he thought as he averaged when to stop. Hoping he had positioned himself right, the boy waited. PLUNK! It fell right in. "Nine now, I think.'' Really, he was loosing track and his headache was getting worse. That last PLUNK made his cauldron vibrate more than any of the others. Perhaps it was a slightly a bigger one.

It wasn’t long before he was crossing that point of no return—where he entered that dark curtain where stones were zipping all around him like comets. Once again his cauldron was ringing like a church bell in the middle of a tornado, hoping that there were more stones luckily finding themselves into that pot.

But it wasn’t long that his shoulders were feeling the effects of the stones constantly bouncing off it. Why were they not given Quidditch protection gear? Oh right, something about a test of craziness. Or manhood. Whatever.

Once Neruda got over the pain of the rocks hitting her shattered to go faster. She only have two rocks at the moment she should should shoot for five no.....ten!!!! Wait maybe first five and the onwards to the goal of ten....Yeah that was probably the best option so she had two goals get five rocks and later on if she could get ten.

She looked around for a rock that she could easily catch. She was determined now...She was going to get the bone crushing rocks!!! She swooped up the rocks hearing the loud bang of the rock slamming into her cauldron. She smiled now it was three. Oooo she should try to get two rocks in a row! That would be epic!!

From the corner of her eye she saw a rock zooming dow. Yes this one was hers. She flew ubder it snd waited for that familliar sound...But the soind never came...All she heard was a little ding and something bounce off out of the corner of her eye...It was probably yhe rock. Drats. Well at least she still had three she could have lost them all like some of the others. That would not have been fun at all!

More rocks had almost made it to his cauldron, but a lot still managed to keep banging into him. Jory felt sore now plus his headache was bothering him even more now. He hovered in the air for a while, trying to ignore the repeated pangs of pain from his hand.

He wasn't really paying attention to anything at the moment so he failed to see the rock falling until it struck him squarely on the nose. "Ouch!'' he exclaimed, rubbing his nose. Great. Now his nose hurt too.

The badger looked up and not a moment too soon. Another rock was making a beeline towards him. Taking advantage of it being close, he positioned his cauldron to catch it.

CLUNK! There goes another one!

Hearing his name, Max turned to stop next to the girl as he had slowly began to pass her. He smiled at her and her excitement over her progress so far. "You're doing a great job, Louisa! Keep up the good work. You're-" And then she started a quick decline toward the ground, and Max started to dive carefully after her, but... she straightened herself out.

That was good. He didn't want to feel bad for her like he had for poor little Alec when he lost all his rocks.

Turning his gaze back up to the sky, he searched for rocks that fell conveniently together to save him time. He waited, moving out of the way of a rock that fell at an awkward angle from the sky, keeping an eye out for rocks that were timed properly for him to go after. Gliding slowly through the air, he suddenly jolted a few feet to the right to catch one rock successfully, then a few feet back in the other direction another rock fell perfectly - which he also managed to catch a few seconds later with a similar CLUNK!

SUCCESS! Ten rocks! He was... almost halfway there. Slow and steady won the race, right? He was not going to speed up his flying and risk bumping into someone unexpectedly. There was no way he was going to lose his rocks.

Stupid cambridge messing up her awesome flying technique. ugh! she was SOOOO annoying. Ariana watched as rocks floated up to the sky adn fell again and she saw a nice sized one falling and she ZOOOOMMMEEDDD for it and

CAPLUNK! really this wasn't as hard once you got the hang of it

ping pang ping

several rocks hit the side of her cauldron one of then hitting her head "ow." but it didn't hurt too bad

Minerva smiled, "Well I'm glad your alright, can't have a great player hurt for the match!" She then laughed and went to shake her head, but the weight of the rocks was making it hard to keep Minerva's head up. "Oh that was nothing special other then luck. I am not doing well at all at this game. Well better get off and find more rocks. Good Luck Ella." Minerva went off looking for more rocks. The rocks found her faster then she was finding them feeling them hit around her and hit her. Seriously they were going to need ice after this...

As she flew towards the middle of the pitch she saw a group of rocks and headed that way. As she got closer to them she realized they seemed like pretty big rocks. That was not what Minerva wanted, but she had to go after them, her attempt at rocks was lame so far. Moving closer she tried to aim her cauldron to catch another rock feeling them hit her in the arms and legs Minerva closed her eyes and hoped one would hit. She felt the weight and heard the ping. YES caught another one!!

Okay it wasn’t that he was built like a toothpick—he was actually starting to bulk up thank Merlin—but the stream of rocks colliding against him was getting to be too much for the Ravenclaw at that moment. Its not like he spends his free time being a punching bag at least not anymore.

So he swings out of that rock storm and out towards the clearing, not quite free from being stoned but at least he could afford to try to feel the pot for how many stones fell in. Already he could tell that there was certainly more than one since the weight of the cauldron got heavier, despite the charm the Professor set in place.

Well now the risk of braving the rock storm paid off after all, if he counted right, he got four stones in that one pass. But as he felt his shoulders he hissed at pain from his own touch. His shoulders were sore! It was like he passed through some kind of meat tenderizer.

"Time to get more than one rocks at once,'' Jory thought. He had been getting only one rock at a time into his cauldron for the longest time, so he decided it was tie o catch maybe at least two at once.

He flew a bit higher, keeping an eye out for potential captures. After a few minutes, the boy spotted two stone just a few feet above him. "Easy enough,'' he thought as he accelerated, average where to stop and waited.

THUMP! CLUNK!

Two at once!

It was tempting to go back into that floating rockslide but the rest of his body wont have it, and he found himself leaning on his broom flying it AWAY, towards the safer parts of the Pitch. Well ‘safer’ in this sense that he wont get pinged by stones too often in his assessment…

PING!plop

He was saying?

He raised his hand to feel for that new stone when he felt something hit his elbow, bounce against the top of his forearm and a PLUNK! was heard right after.

Ouch. And that makes seven.

Minnie was right, this was kind of bad timing to be playing this game considering there were an awful lot of Quidditch players on the field at the moment. She didn't want anyone getting hurt or anything especially the Hufflepuff players. With this in mind, she decided to be extra extra careful. Merlin, she'd already been careful and she'd nearly fallen off her broom three times already! Maybe this game wasn't for her.

Slowly making her way around the pitch again, the small blonde kept her eye on the rocks and her classmates. No more crashing, okay? She was far too young to die. Oh! And a cluster of rocks was falling just a few feet ahead of her! If she just sped up a little...

ZOOOOOM!

PLUNK...PLUNK...KAPLUNK

Three more rocks? Merlin! That was kind of awesome! The fourteen year old did a little dance before wobbling a bit and smiling sheepishly to herself. Yeah, it wouldn't be embarrassing or anything if she threw herself off her broom. Nope...not at all...

O.o

No more dancing.

Jory decided to head off to a less rock and student crowded part of the pitch. His hands were now more scraped than ever. But for some reason, his headache wasn't as bad as it was before. It puzzled him as to why since rock still bounced off his cauldron but he didn't worry too much about it.

He looked at the students.Some seemed just as sore as he was. "Better get back out there,'' he thought. Just as he was about to accelerate, two rocks hit his right shoulder and he heard a loud PLUNK! Jory looked around. Surely his shoulder hadn't caused that sound. It was then he realised another rock had landed in his cauldron.

Laura zoomed around on her broom, she really needed to sort out her catching skills otherwise this was going to be weird, she hoped that she could sort it out and catch a few more rocks.

*ding* *ding*

Without realising, she had just caught another two rocks, this was soooo awesome, so now she just had to sort it out so she could catch another 15, she really wanted to catch 25 rocks.