By the time they got to this portion of the tryouts, Jessa found herself as stumped as she felt last year. What position did she want to play? What position was she least terrible at? Beaters...well....with Rhea and Juni trying out again, the team would be guaranteed strong beaters leaving no need for her to really try her hand there. Seeker....she supposed could have been an option but her only real experience catching the snitch was during the last set of tryouts. You probably needed to be super impressive and while it didn't seem that Magz would be trying out this year, Jessa would still wait to see if there was anyone better who would have been a better asset to the team before deciding it was what she wanted.

That left Chaser. Chaser wasn't entirely the worst and was a good fall back plan. If nothing else, there would be two others for her to bounce her "skills" off of making her presence less likely to jeopardize the team's overall performance.

That settled, the Sixth Year took to the air at the sound of the whistle. She would be working through this role while she debated things further. Didn't take too long for a ball to already to it's sights set on her. Jessa spun at the very last minute, allowing the ball to slip right by her on its way somewhere else. A year ago, that would've been an awful disaster. Thankfully, agility was one of those things they worked on during practices.

Rhea started to move as soon as Kirk got towards the end of his instructions. She knew the drill. So, as he was asking his final question, she grabbed a bat and got herself ready to fly.

Then came the shrill tweet of the whistle.

And with that sound, she kicked off the ground, flying parallel with one of the ‘bludgers’ until it changed course – towards her. Rhea swerved. She wasn’t high enough to get a controlled hit in yet. But as soon as she was, she did a quick survey of the sky and her eyes tracked the ball. She dived down a foot or so and swung. Rhea grinned as her bat made contact with the ball and made… a surprisingly pleasing sound, considering they were charmed bouncing balls.

She could feel the adrenaline pumping through her like crazy. Seriously, she'd missed this. One after another she went after the fake bludgers, knocking them aside with precision, only messing up a few shots. It was good to know that, even with the limited amount of practising she'd been able to do at home, she hadn't lost the skills that she'd worked so hard to hone last year. That was something. Hopefully she was doing enough to keep her place get a place on the team.

No time for racing, then, but Chloe was happy to turn her broom and head in the direction of the bouncing balls that Captain Kirk released. The closest ball was almost within reach, just a barrel roll away, but before Chloe could grab it, the ball batted by Rhea swept past Chloe's left ear.

Oh, oops! Pay attention... this wasn't a glorified game of catch. It was a field full of players, some very very talented. Chloe veered away from Rhea's ball, dropping down a few feet on her broom and back into the path of the ball she'd been aiming for originally. And... grabbed it!

As soon as Trinetta got in the air - BOOM. The balls started flying. She was a little nervous - after all, she had only ever played with kids her own age (and around the same stature) and these kids were BIGGER. Meaning a bludger that hit her might actually cause some damage.

Yeah, it was nerve-wracking.

Still, she had to focus. She wanted on this time, and she was going to do everything she could to try and make sure it happened!

As a bludger flew at her, she swiftly swerved to the side, causing it to whirl by, causing her hair to flutter in the wind as it whipped past her. She smiled, readjusting her grip and getting ready for the next one.

It was time and she couldn't be more thrilled. Going back up in the air after the whistled blew, Chloe flew with ease as she watched the balls start to zoom around. She giggled and zigged around a few before zagging a few more. Letting her broom go as high as the broom and the captain allowed she watched the balls carefully. She was looking for the one she wanted, they all looked the same so why she didn't just pick a random one was beyond anyone but Chloe, but she still watched until she picked the target.

Zipping around she dodged another before reaching out and grabbing the one she had her eyes on. "This is fun!" The eleven-year-old loved competition, but she still enjoyed the pure fun of everything around her. She realized quickly that more were taking it seriously, not that she wasn't, she was and doing her best flying, but she liked to talk and laugh too and this group seemed to be really concentrating. The first year decided it was best to do what everyone else was doing and just kept flying and moving from the balls.

This wasn't so bad. All that practice from the previous term had clearly paid off. No half falling off her broom, no being knocked this way and that by fake bludgers. At the risk of jinxing herself, she would even say she was really getting the hang of this game. The proof of this lay perhaps in the way she swooped over to fall in line with a ball headed her way, taking it firmly to the gut before shoving it off in a different direction.

The fake!bludgers Rhea knocked here and there? Those weren't as hard for her to dodge anymore.

Oh, another one! This time Jessa didn't attempt to catch it, twisting her broom to narrowly dodge it. Her broom wobbled a bit, the ball clipping at the bushy end but for the most part, the 6th Year managed to retain her balance.

Occasionally, she looked around at the others, checking on how they were doing but she was careful not to let it distract.

Listening carefully now to the Capt, he quickly made up his mind as to what position he was going to try out for. Walking forward, he picked up one of the beaters bats. Surprisingly, it wasn't as heavy as he'd first feared! Giving it a swift swing, he let out a nervous laugh. Here we go then! Walking back to his broom, he looked up carefully, critically watching the rest of the field play. Breaking down their play, he picked up tips from each of them. Especially the one with the beaters bat. She was good. Really good actually! Watching admiringly for a second, he finally tore his eyes away and quickly strode off towards his own broom, ready to join in and send a few bludgers into the chasers!

Pushing off the ground, he shot off, his eyes firmly looking around for one of the bludgers. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he made a mental note of how easy flying was becoming. With each flight, his body relaxed more and more on the broom. Finally! Spotting a bludger in the distance, he leaned forward and sped off into the distance towards it. Pulling level next to it, he sat up. Quickly, looking around for a target, he spotted Chloe, ducking, dodging, swerving and turning in the air. Pulling his arm back, he swung forward, the bat an extension of his arm.

*WHACK!*


He'd connected with it! and better yet, it travelled exactly where he'd aimed it! Looks like all of those nights playing rounders with his friends had paid off! With a massive grin, he turned towards his fellow first year, a small twinge of regret in his stomach. What if he hit her off her broom?!!

This was so much fun! How could anyone not come to tryouts, did they not realize how great being on a broom was and how fun tryouts were? The thought of possibly not making the team or not being in the position that she would like didn't cross her mind at all. She was enjoying herself way too much to even consider the stress that might be on some people's minds.

As she dodged another ball that zoomed past her she looked too late for a ball that was coming right at her and nailed her in the shoulder.

"OOOOOOUCH"

What in the world? They weren't trying to kill their own teammates. She whipped out around on her broom to face him, giving him a small glare. "You don't seem nervous anymore." Her glare about as scary as a kitten, she smiled and flew off dodging a few more balls along her way.

Shock and guilt filled his face! He honestly didn't mean to hit it wish a lot of ferocity but he'd uh... never actually hit a bludger before. "Sorrrrrrrrrry! He called after her, as she sped away in the other direction. Despite his guilt, he had to admit, it may have been worth it to see her angry face! It had been about as scary as a basket of kittens. A small grin returning to his face, he sped off in search of another ball to hit. This time, maybe not as hard. Or maybe not at anyone at all. In his head, he decided to just aim for their general direction. No need to hurt anyone after all.

As he sped off in search, he couldn't help but feel at home here. Despite the fact he wasn't as competent a flyer as the others, he knew that with a bat in his hand, he could hit anything.

WHOA.

Nettie was doing a pretty good job of dodging bludgers, if she did say so herself, but got momentarily distracted by Ewan smacking a bludger RIGHT at Chloe, who let out a yell as it made contact with her. DANGGGG. Ewan was not messing around, was he?

She smirked to herself, flying a bit closer to her fellow first year. "Bet you can't get me!" she yelled out to him with a grin. Baiting him would help both of them, she figured - he could show off his beater skills, and she could show off for Kirk and continue to earn points towards her getting on the team as Seeker. Win win, right?!

She just hoped she didn't regret this.

*WHACK*

Another fake!bludger went flying. Rhea dove lower, dodging a ball that was coming after her just seconds after hitting one. As soon as it'd passed her, she chased it, whilst simultaneously picking out someone to aim it at. Jessa had been having a fairly easy time of it so far, she could probably use a bit of a challenge. Shifting her position on her broom ever so slightly, Rhea flew faster, readying herself to make the hit aaaaand...

*WHACK!*

Success!

Rhea grinned a private grin to herself. Although she did briefly meet eyes with the young 'claw (Ewan) who was also trying out for Beater. What was his name? Ewan? She'd-

.....

WHOOSH!

A fake!bludger flew past her ear, knocking her off balance momentarily. Rhea cursed under the breath before quickly working to regain her composure. She flew after the ball immediately, intent of whacking it out of the sky. You know, with purpose and precision, of course. She whipped past another of the younger kids (Chloe) and flew faster until she was level with the ball. And then, with all the energy she could muster, she hit it.

*WHACK!*

There was no going easy on anyone in Quidditch. The other teams definitely wouldn't go easy of them.

Hopefully, whoever the bludger was coming for was prepared.

Chloe played catch with herself for a few minutes, dodging the other flyers and Rhea and Ewan's tag team ball thwacking while she tossed her ball in the air then sped up to catch it. It would be more satisfying to play with someone else, actually... Chloe eyed the other players before lobbing her ball toward Jessa.

"MISS PREFECT JESSA ON YOUR LEFT." If they both made the team, nicknames were the order of the day. Chloe rolled to her right and sped past Jessa, eyes open for another ball to catch.

She just about to open her mouth about having a race, which probably wasn’t a good idea during tryouts. That was something that she wouldn’t mind getting into after tryouts. Lucky for her though Kirk had just blown the whistle. With that she flew back down and landed softly on the ground.

Now it was the time she had been waiting for time to show off her skills with a bat. She went and got her own bat. Hopped back on her broom and waited for another whistle to signal that the could get started.

At the sound of said whistle Juni flew back up into the air and took off. Keeping her eyes peeled for a ball. She flew around zig zaging around the others and finally had a ball on her tail. She turned around and let it come barreling toward her. Tightening her grip on the bat, she swung hard and made contact hitting it away from herself and the others.

*WHACK*

As she watched that one soar off and dart off in another direction. Out of the corner of her eye she seen Chloe K. There was yet another ball flying her way, she really wanted her friend to be on the team with her so there was a bit of encouragement coming her way. ”Hey Kettleburn! Catch it.” That was probably the easier way to keep the two Chloes apart. She connected ball to bat and swung it toward her fellow fifth year.

*WHACK*

She had all the confidence that Chloe would catch it. Now who else needed a ball? Where was another ball? She was ready and back in the zone of playing again. She hadn’t even dropped her bat.

She was gonna be staying clllleeeeeaaaarrrr of anyone trying out for Beater. Bad enough there was Juni and Rhea knocking balls all around the pitch but now even that Ewan kid was getting some in and if little!Chloe's yell was anything to go off of, they didn't feel that great. Jessa would happily remain out of their way and continue dodging and catching as she saw fi--

Huh?

The sound of her name being yelled by bigger!Chloe had her swerving without really comprehending what she was swerving from. Before her brain could really compute what was happening, she narrowly maneuvered away from a speeding fake bludger that almost did some damage. "Er...thanks!" She called after her, still trying to right herself again and re-orient herself to her surroundings.

Where had it even come from? That one was going fast enough to have been whacked in her direction rather than flying around on its own.

Merlin, she was NOT interested in being a target at all.

Better pick up her game. Locking eyes with the ball that had begun slowing to its normal speed, the Ravenclaw headed off after it but before she could get too far, another cut right in. If her reflexes had been delayed by even a few more seconds, it would have been a ball to the face. Thankfully, she reached up in time to grab it.

Kirk had to do some of his own dodging when the balls occasionally decided to zoom toward him. Mostly from the three main beaters who were whacking them out of their way. "Good work, guys!" He called back before whacking one of them out of his way. Yeah, he was not one who preferred the beater's bat.

Kirk nearly winced at hearing little Chloe get hit by one, "You alright there?" That had to be some force from Ewan to make it hurt. Trinetta was enticing Ewan and flying around trying to dodge. Rhea was sending them all left and right, she was really putting everyone to work as well with dodging. Older Chloe was catching quite a number of the flying projectiles and Jessa was flying just as splendid as the others. This was great. The other teams wouldn't stand a chance then. Time was moving too though, and well... rather than call them down, Kirk decided to temporarily magnify his voice with the charm.


*TWEEET*


"Excellent guys, you don't need to fly back down. Now is the Chaser's part. You can still keep dodging, but now your objective is to score it into either of the three hoops. Beaters can still keep swinging at-" Kirk paused to dodge one. "the balls, but this time try to aim it through one of the hoops to score. Seekers can work with the Chasers as well scoring until the next part." Sounded good, right?

"annnnnnd GO!"

---
OOC: Part 4! Keep up guys! So this time you're to score into the hoops whatever you catch. Chasers and Seekers will be catching to score, while Beaters will try to also score with the use of their bats. You can even pass back and forth with the others. It's up to your charrie how many, just be sure to label all posts if you do multiple. I'll give you guys at least 48 hours from this post before the next part.

At the sound of the whistle, Rhea slowed down to listen to the next set of instructions, while also making sure to dodge any fake!bludgers that came at her. Scoring time. It was time to aim at the hoops. This was both easier and more challenging for her. Easier 'cause the hoops weren't moving targets, although of course they'd usually have a Keeper protecting them, and more challenging 'cause it was difficult to get the positioning and timing of everything right.

Rhea wasted no time after Kirk shouted go, chasing one of the fake!bludgers until it was in a position she'd be able to aim it towards the hoops from. Unfortunately, her first shot missed by about a foot. Not good enough.

While waiting for another shot at the hoops, Rhea saw an opportunity to add a little extra teamwork into her tryout, which never hurt anybody, so she took it. Knowing that she herself wasn't close enough to the hoops to land the shot, she deliberately hit the ball into the path of one of the Chasers/Seekers, so they could make the shot. "On your right!" She called to the nearby Chasers and waited to see which of them would snatch up the opportunity.

Meanwhile, she prepared to take another shot.

Juni stopped when she heard Kirk not blow the whistle but magnify his voice… that was different. And had totally caught her off guard momentarily as a ball came zooming in her direction. Too bad the balls don’t get the memo about slowing down. Instead of dodging it, mostly out of instinct she smacked it hard away from the others and across to the other side of the pitch.

Now this next part was her favorite. Focusing on the goals and hitting the balls into the hoops, using her bat. Really want else could be better. When it came to quidditch at least. Now if the game of Quidditch just consisted of this. It would make things interesting. But enough about that.

The fifth year flew around waiting on a ball. Finally she had found a free ball, and took chase after it. She sped up right behind it and hit it toward the hoops. It soared right though the left side hoop. She was actually aiming for right. Since she was left handed she had always had problems aiming in the other direction. That was just something that she was always going to have to improve on.

But it frustrated her to no end.

She zoomed off again to chase after another ball. She was determined to get the ball to go through the she was aiming for.

Aaaannndddd onto the part that she was almost sure she would never be good at during an actual game. It was one of several million reasons why she'd asked to be put on reserve when she heard she'd be a Chaser. As far as she knew, Chasers had to score. That was how the team won. Score enough and it didn't matter who caught the snitch.

Jessa....wasn't so sure that was for her, mostly because she'd never been the most coordinated person out there. It was hard enough getting the quaffle through the hoop without adding a Keeper who was trying their darnest to make sure it didn't happen.

Oi vey, maybe she should have rethought this whole quidditch tryout a second time thing afterall. It was a bit late in getting here, but the Ravenclaw was NOW officially wondering why she'd dragged herself out onto the pitch toda--Eh?

Her right?

Jessa spun around in time to see a ball headed right for her. One presumably swung in that direction by Rhea based on positioning and such. With the heads up, the 6th Year found it easier to reach out and grab the ball before turning to one of three goal posts. Okay. Just had to score. No keeper here. How hard could it be? There'd been drills during the practices last term. All she really had to do was focus and remember them.

And not close her eyes. Right. Eyes open, Cambridge.

Jessa took a deep breath, flew just a little closer then tossed the ball. It hit against the rim, threatening to go astray altogether but miraculously made its way through.

Thank Merlin.

She was kind of mad at Ewan for making her look bad now that the others have looked at her and mad at herself for even making a sound. It hadn't really hurt, but she knew what a bludger felt like so the shock of the hit when she hadn't been expecting it and the memory of a bludger hit all together made her react in a way she shouldn't have and now she was embarrassed and trying to make it look like she wasn't.

Hearing her captain she took at deep breath and tried to regain the fun she was having, but hearing him ask if she was okay made her cringe more then anything else. How would they even let her on the team if she was just going to get hurt during tryouts.

"I'm fine, see" moving her arm she made sure to show she was fine. Listening to him talk about catching and scoring the teeny eleven year old zipped through the air and grabbed a ball, taking it down the pitch she flew with ease around flying balls and some of her house mates to take aim and throw the ball at the hoops.

Stopping in mid-air, Ewan hovered there, listening to Derf’s next set of instructions. Okay, so he had to...beat the bludgers towards the goals and into the hoops? Hmm... Okay, now this would be a challenge. His face splitting into a wide grin, he sped off at the word ‘GO!’ in search of the bludgers. Swerving in between the chasers now, his broom vibrating from the speed her was traveling at, he searched, eyes squinting from the sun.

Spotting a bludger now, he shot off towards it. Noticing it heading towards Nettie, he pulled up beside her. Ready to strike if it came any closer. He knew it! Bringing his arm back again, he struck the ball with his full force, hitting it dead centre.

*Whack*

Watching it as it flew away from Nettie and towards the hoops, he couldn’t help but admire his own aim with the bat. He wasn’t a natural at a lot of magical things but hitting a ball with a bat? That he could do! Following the ball closesly now, he watched as it made its way towards the goal.

*DING!!*

“Not bad”, he mumbled as the ball bounced off the rim of one of the goal hoops. Turning towards Nettie now, he grinned. "Next time, that’ll be you". Giving her a playful wink, he sped off in search of more bludgers. Would it really matter if one veered off and came close to her? I mean, he could miss just once, right? Shaking his head now, he focused. He had to be on his game, especially when flying.

WHOOSH! Before Nettie could figure out where she wanted to go to try and shoot the quaffle, she felt something whiz past her ear and then a loud WHACK! As she saw Ewan floating there with his bat, she realized slowly what had happened and chuckled. "Thanks!" she called to him before flying off. Time to get her head back in the game!

She took a moment to fly down and grab a quaffle before flying back up and heading towards the hoops. She didn't have a TON of practice with the quaffle, but she was relieved to find it was easier to hold on to than she remembered.

She wound up, aimed for the middle hoop, and THREW! She watched as it floated, sloooooowly through the air - it floated kind of like a rainbow, not an intimidating, zooming shot like she had been hoping - but it hit the side of the hoop and bounced off and through the middle. SCORE!

Chloe was delighted to catch the ball that Juni tossed her way, and she shadowed the girl toward the hoops. In a regular game, there was one ball to catch and score with, although there were many balls to be aware of throughout the game. Bludgers were dangerous, and a Chaser didn't want to get between the Seeker and the Snitch. Today, though, there were many balls, and it was a little distracting.

For example... Chloe grabbed a passing ball out of the air and tucked it close to her. No one trying to take her out at the moment, but it would be stupid to drop a ball when there wasn't even someone trying to shake it loose. She rolled right to avoid Juni and threw the ball, her very first shot on goal.

And it bumped off the cross bar and hopped pathetically through the hoop. "I guess it still counts, even if it was a bit of a bummer." She shrugged and took off to retrieve her ball.

Septimus heard the whistle, letting it draw his attention back down to where Captain Kirk was. Thankfully they didn’t have to land again to move on as he was getting into the grove of flying and interacting with broom and the various balls. He still wasn’t all to sure if he had a fav position, but he was giving it his all. For now it was as beater and dealing with the rotten charmed bludgers that zoomed this way and that to try and get everyone on the team knocked off their brooms or simply make life interesting for them.

“Here…bludger bludger…” he mused quietly as he flew off again, his eyes flickering around in search of the game balls in question. Finally spotting one, the second year grasped the bat he had been borrowing and took off. Swishing left and right, side to side slightly as he worked on figuring out the best angle to get it anywhere near a hoop. When he felt close enough and ready for his attempt, Septimus swung with all his might in one smooth motion. He hit the bludger and watched as it came close but went between two of the three hoops on the side of the pitch he was on.

Since this was tryouts though she on the rebound of one of missed hoops by one of the chasers, Juni shot after the ball. Zooming after it she was hot on its tail. She chased it around the pitch until she was in position to aim it at the middle hoop.

*WHACK*

The fifth year watched as the ball soared the middle hoop. Now that was more like it. It looked like she knew what she was doing out here. Juni took back off to find another ball. This time she was going to help out someone else to score. Zig zagging through the others, she had to dodge a few of the balls, one that someone was even trying to score with.

Finally she had it in her sight, She looked around and realized that she really wasn’t in range of anyone close. She went ahead and swung toward the left hoop.

*WHACK*

She was pretty far out so chances were that someone would chase it down and catch it. But she had aimed it and hit it as hard as she could. To her surprise it did make it all the way to the hoop and went in but barely.

Chloe was flying around and watching everyone, she loved watching and was super observant, which was one of the reasons she was good at being seeker, but right now she was just into watching all the others race around balls. Though this time she kept her eyes moving for a bludger that could be coming at her. No more tricking her Ewan or anyone else. She had her guard fully up and she was ready to play.

Getting bored watching, Chloe zipped around and grabbed another ball, moving in and out of other players as well as balls flying past she easily moved close and took aim, though when she threw it the ball hit the hoop and bounced off.

With just a bit of effort she easily caught the rebound and flew in to find a better place, this time scoring instead of missing.