GRYFFINDOR TRYOUTS!

[JOHNNY TOWNSEND]

(OOC: Anyone posting a tryout has permission to lightly God-mod Johnny, but only in ways necessary for the tryout, for example, having him block goals or let them in, and other simple things, etc. Do your best, but make it realistic, please. Nobody is going to get every single thing perfect, so be sure to make a few mistakes and whatnot as well as showing off your talent.)



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Johnny had been told last year that he was practically guaranteed to get the position of Team Captain this year. The old Captain had finished school, and left a highly complimentary recommendation about his team mate and his leading abilities. Johnny was pleased as punch to find that he had been worrying for nothing. His new job as Team Captain was put into place on his first day back, and even better, in his eyes, the usual Quidditch Supervisor they had at school to run the tryouts and play referee in matches and all of that other official stuff, was off sick, and could be out of action for months, for all they knew. The poor man was in St Mungo's looking a bit grim.

Sad as he was for the man, this worked out great for Johnny, as he had been given the job of running this years tryouts. This also meant he had a very large say in who made the team or not. In all honesty, though he loved having such power and responsibility resting on his shoulders, Johnny was nothing if not fair. He would honour the role and the trust given to him, and he would act as a fair judge and guide to his potential team mates.

He had been setting up out on the Quidditch pitch for around half an hour, and now stood looking over a clipboard with the names of all of the students who would be trying out for the team today. It was a pretty long list, but he had a happy smile on his face, regardless of how long his day promised to be. It would be fun, he told himself, glancing up at the blessed blue sky and feeling extremely lucky for some reason. Everything seemed to be going smoothly since he had started his seventh year at Hogwarts, and he intended to have today's events go just as perfectly, for everyone involved.

There was a small crowd of students gathered about in random groups on the pitch, waiting for their turn to tryout, and Johnny peered around at them, wondering who would be good enough, and who he would have to let down. Trying not to think about the letting down part, he read the first name on his list, his voice carrying out across the stands, where the odd student or two had come to watch or support their friends. Just like he did, they searched the pitch for signs of the first nervous soul to be dragged into the spotlight.

"DELILAH EVERETT!"

He waited for her to approach, and then dove straight in to giving her instructions for her tryout. According to the information on his clipboard, Delilah would be trying out for one of the Chaser positions. Turning, he bent down to open the chest that sat in the grass behind him, taking out a Quaffle and slamming the lid on the rattling Bludgers before they became too irritating. He returned his gaze to Delilah.

"I'm gonna play keeper," he told her, "and I want you to try and score past me as many times as you can in the next fifteen minutes." He grabbed a hold of his Firebolt in one hand, tossing the Quaffle to Delilah. "You ready?"

[DELILAH EVERETT]

ooc: oh gosh, i'm sorry this is so long and kinda rambly. just a warning.



Gryffindor tryouts were today. She had been in the middle of a pleasant dream when one of her roommates decided to wake her up and inform her of this. Maybe she had needed the wake up call, but she hadn't needed the reminder. It was hard to forget when half the house was either making bets if everyone from the team last year would make it or not. The other half were the ones trying out for the positions on the team. Up until this morning, Delilah hadn't been nervous. She had been confident that she'd get her position back as chaser on the team. Last year, she had been a chaser with this year's team captain. Johnny knew what she was capable of, right? Hopefully he'd see she still was an adept chaser.

So she couldn't figure out why she was nervous today. Perhaps it was because she knew Johnny didn't play favorites. He'd choose his team based on the best players, not because the previous captain had given her the spot. Who knew how good this next batch of Gryffindors would be. There wasn't any other way that Delilah would want it though. All spots were fair game to newcomers if they proved themselves. Besides, her nerves were just enough to keep her focused on the task ahead. They were the same nerves she felt before a Quidditch match, and always vanished the moment she mounted her broom.

It was shortly after an empty breakfast when she was off making her way towards the Quidditch field. The sun was high in the sky already, but it wasn't blistering hot yet either. The slight wind would give her an advantage over the other players, she was usually good at compensating for it. A fair number of Gryffindor students had already turned up, half of them shaking in their boots as they waited for tryouts to begin. She glanced up at the stands that held a few students. There were a few from Ravenclaw too, perhaps one or two Slytherins. They were here scoping out the competition, Delilah was sure of it. She smirked slightly, Gryffindor always had been the one to watch out for in terms of Quidditch skills. There seemed to be quite a few Gryffindors here too, no doubt here to support their friends. Was there anyone here to watch her? To offer their support? She couldn't help but to wonder this as her name was called.

She stepped forward confidently with her broom in hand. Being called first was actually a rush of relief. There was no waiting around and letting more nerves build up. She listened to his instructions while tying her hair in a ponytail and out of the way. She gave no teasing or cheeky response, it didn't seem appropriate. Instead, she just tucked the Quaffle under her arm and mounted her broom. “Now I am,” she stated with a smiled as she kicked off. It had been a while since she had been on a broom and feeling free and unlimited. She had missed this feeling.

Once Johnny had taken his position by the goal post, she sped forward and threw the Quaffle at the left hoop. It was a terrible throw, and he caught it easily. What was worse, when he threw it back she had just barely caught it. She shook her head in disbelief of herself. Just warming up, she told herself as she gritted her teeth from the humiliation and moved forward. The worst part about one-on-one tryouts was because her strengths weren't so apparent in this setting. She could hold her own with scoring goals, but what she really excelled at was being a part of the chaser trio. Intercepting, snatching, catching passing – all her strengths. She was determined to somehow show this off.

When she threw next, she wanted to cry out bitterly about how close it had been. There was no time for that though, for the Gryffindor team captain had just barely blocked her shot and the Quaffle was beginning to fall below him. Her quick reflexes kicked in before she realized what she was doing. She swooped forward and caught the Quaffle before him. Moments later she made her first goal. The next couple shots she took at the rings made it through because of quick flying with odd, awkward angles. When he threw the Quaffle almost half way across the field, she was sure half the on lookers had thought the ball would drop to the grass below before she could reach it. Even she had momentarily doubted herself. On the contrary, she reacted quickly, barely letting the ball lose any height before she grabbed it. A sharp 180 degree turn and she was speeding back towards Johnny. The Quaffle was caught in his arms, but before he had a chance to throw it in a wayward direction, she snatched it and threw it in the middle hoop.

She was able to get half a dozen more throws in before a whistle blew and let her know her time was up. Out of those last six throws, she was able to get four in. Out of the two she missed, one she over compensated for the wind with and the other Johnny had gotten a good solid block on. She made her way towards the ground and dismounted her broom. Brushing her hair out of her eyes she glanced back at the others that had came to try out. A few gave her thumbs up and encouraging smiles while others feigned disinterest. Had she set the bar high enough? Brushing her hair out of her eyes she waited for Johnny to congratulate her, or dismiss her, or say the list will be up in a weeks time. She hoped it wasn't the last option. Merlin's pants she hated waiting.

[JOHNNY TOWNSEND]

(OOC: That was perfect hon, not too rambly at all. )




Landing back on solid ground, Johnny dismounted his broom and tucked it under his arm as he walked back over to his clipboard. He took a few minutes to make notes about Delilah's performance. Granted, they were all very good notes. He had flown with her on the team last year, and knew she was an excellent Chaser. So much so, that he was pretty confident she would get her old spot back on the team this year. Turning to face her, he cleared his throat, trying to be official and not let friendship get in the way of his job.

"Well done, Dee, that was a really good tryout," he told her, ticking her name off the list and dropping the clipboard down onto the soft grass. "I'll let you know in a few days whether you've made the cut." He gave her a wink, wondering if she would read into it or not. A part of him hoped so, since he really wanted to reassure her that she had nothing to worry about. He wanted someone with her skills on his team. She was too valuable to let go.

Taking the Quaffle, he tucked it back into it's slot in the chest, and paused, hand hovering over the small compartment that held the Snitch. Maybe he should speak to the next person before letting the balls loose. Grabbing his trusty clipboard again, he read the next name on the list aloud, feeling a mixture of worry and amusement as he realized it was the girl from the carriage. Nevertheless, he had to be professional, regardless.

"MOLLY WEASLEY!"

He spotted the red-head straight away and gave her a small smile in greeting. "This'll be a fun one," he said, "Ok, Molly, as soon as I let the Snitch out, your fifteen minutes starts. Catch it before the whistle blows. It's as simple as that. Oh, apart from the fact that I'm gonna be down here, pelting Bludgers at you the whole time." With an encouraging nod, he spun on the spot and pushed a little button inside the chest, a tiny compartment sliding open to reveal a glistening Golden Snitch. Taking it carefully out, he turned to Molly with a glint in his eyes, he was looking forward to this one, and actually hoped she did well. "Three... Two... One..." His hand opened and the Snitch shot into the air. "Go!"

Leaving her to it, he turned and took one of the Beater's bats out of the chest, before undoing the straps on one of the Bludgers. It immediately leapt into the air with a life of it's own, and he barely had a chance to hop onto his broom and give it a good THWACK! across the pitch.

[MOLLY WEASLEY]

one little problem that confronts you, got a monkey,

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ON YOUR BACK

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Molly watched as Delilah took to the skies. She was probably a friend of Johnny's and therefore going to get on the team. Molly on the other hand was a pain in the arse that had been fairly rude to him the first time she'd met him and so was probably not going to get on the team. After all, a team had to be able to get along, though really, how important was it for a seeker to like the captain? Surely the seeker had very little to do with the team. Yeah, okay, the seeker needed her team just as much as the team needed her.

Stepping forward and tripping a couple of times as she did so, Molly heard a couple of stifled laughs. She didn't blame them,she was a clutz on the ground, but in the air was a different matter. You couldn't trip in the air.

Listening to what Johnny had to say, Molly wasn't entirely sure if she liked the idea of him sending bludgers her way, but she wasn't going to voice her concern now, she didn't want to be known as demanding or a scaredy cat, even if the thought was a little on the terrifying side. No, he wouldn't really cause her any sort of harm or anything, that would just be mean, but then again, she would be up against it in a real game and it wasn't as if she hadn't faced it playing with her cousins. They'd just never tried killing one another, at least she hadn't thought so.

Mounting her broom, Molly waited for the count down. Watching Johnny and not the snitch. He seemed fairly professional and nice and she was starting to get the feeling that maybe he was going to be fairly nice to her. Maybe he had a crush on her?! Okay, no, that wasn't right, she'd been mean to him. He probably thought her mean, but then again, he was being fairly nice, he'd even given her a smile which she just realised she hadn't returned. Why was she such a bitch to this guy? He seemed lovely. And cute.

Taking off as Johnny said 'go' Molly looked about for the snitch, going high into the air to give the bludger somewhere to chase. She looked about and listened carefully, slowing down her pace as the bludger got closer.

Quickly Molly took a dive. She hadn't spotted the glint of the golden snitch, but she'd avoided the first attack of a bludger. She looped around and flew over Johnny. Seeker was the only position that Molly was any good at, she wasn't strong enough for beater and she was hand-eye coordinated enough for chaser and keeper, but seeker was better, seeker was seeking, finding and catching, though preferably not in the way of her Uncle Harry. She'd heard his stories of how he caught his very first snitch. Definitely amusing, but not something she ever wanted to experience.

Doing a 'U' turn a little wide, Molly avoided the second bludger attack. She had no problems avoiding bludgers, they were noisy enough to hear sneaking up on you, and when the only other sounds you could really hear were the wind, cheers of others and yelling of a captain over the drone of a commentator, Molly figured it would be pretty easy to pick up on the hurtling noise of a bludger, not to mention with this one on one thing she could hear the sound of the bludger connecting with Johnny's bat and knew it was coming straight for her, so she could get herself ready and not be surprised when a bludger was suddenly a couple of meters away.

Spotting the glint of something gold, Molly darted forward. She could hear the bludger coming towards her, but she figured she had a few seconds left yet so she headed for the gold, but then it was too late, she had to do something about the bludger, it was the loudest she'd heard it yet and so far she'd been playing it safe. Johnny wasn't going to want a seeker that risked herself and therefore the game, was he? No, she told herself, so rather than carrying on to wards the gold, Molly spiralled down controlled and neatly before pulling up and noticing the gold was gone. It had been the snitch.

Flying up high, Molly blurred her vision as she had a few moments alone without the bludger. The sound of it connecting with Johnny's bat came all too soon but Molly had spotted a blurry bit of gold. She pulled her eyes back into focus and flew towards Johnny and the path of the bludger, she hated the thought that this was probably the riskiest thing she'd done in this try out, but she needed that snitch, her time was almost up.

Leaning into her broom and pulling her legs closer to it while stretching them out along the booms shape, Molly built up speed. Timing it perfectly, Molly avoided the bludger by flying under it, but the bludger soon turned about and started following her. Molly flew fast with more determination. She could see the actual shape of the snitch, she could practically hear its wings beating, but before she even had time to reach out her hand, she heard the whistle, but she didn't care, with the bludger in tow and the snitch ahead, there was no way she was going to stop.

Almost with in arms reach of the snitch, Molly reached her right hand forward, her fingers closed about the cold metal ball tightly and she took a dive to avoid the bludger. She headed back to the ground but she was probably a minute past the whistle blowing, but she didn't care. She had determination and if she had to, she would yell to prove her point, even though it wasn't the everyday sort of Molly people would run into, she was determined to get her own way sometimes, especially if she thought she was in the right, which she was, even if she did break the rules and incy bit.

Listening out for the bludger and further instructions, Molly waited for Johnny's words before she was going to do anything else, well apart from maybe dodge the bludger if it wasn't put away fast, of course.

Tag: Mr Johnny Townsend
Word Count: one zero nine four
Listening To: That Smell||Lynyrd Skynyrd
Outfit: Click Me

[JOHNNY TOWNSEND]

Johnny couldn't help but be impressed. He had blown the whistle after exactly fifteen minutes, and though she had obviously heard it - it was the most irritating, deafening sound, in Johnny's opinion - Molly carried on shooting through the air, her sights set on the Snitch which fluttered just out of her grasp. The girl had balls, he had to give her that. He liked a bit of determination in a person, though not so much when they used it to hold a grudge against him. In Quidditch, though, it was an excellent quality to have.

He waited for her to finish up in her own time, watching with a keen eye as she forced herself forward, practically laying down across her broom in order to grab the Snitch out of the air. He had already landed, and let his broom drop in the grass, his attention on her and nothing else. Well, nothing else except for the Bludger that had been chasing her in her downward spiral. Hiding a grin at the fact that Molly had actually managed to catch the Snitch, he gave her a gentle shove to push her out of the way, steadying himself, both feet planted firmly in the ground as he became the new target for the Bludger. It hurtled straight for him, and Johnny braced himself for the impact, leaping into the air to meet it as it crashed right into his chest, his arms wrapping around it as it knocked him to the floor.

It took him a minute to restrain the thing, finally managing to wrestle it back into the chest and lock it in place. Jumping nimbly back to his feet, he wiped the small beads of sweat that had formed on his brow, gave his stomach a quick rub - though rubbing it wouldn't cure the bruising he would likely have in the morning - and turned to address Molly, who seemed to be holding a bit of tension in her face. Hoping she wasn't still in a mood with him, he took a deep breath.

"Well, you didn't do it in fifteen minutes," he began, scratching at the back of his head as he debated what to make of her tryout. "It was good, though, that you caught it regardless. And even better that you didn't get mauled by any of the Bludgers." He really had been trying to knock her off her broom with them. "You did well, Miss Weasley." He nodded, as if to confirm his words, though there was no mistaking their meaning. She had done very well, considering. Maybe giving her a shot at the team would mellow her out a bit. Give her something to channel all of her hostile feelings in to. "I'll let you know in a few days if you're on the team or not."

With that, he picked up his clipboard, and began scribbling notes next to her name, wondering if she would leave, or have something to say to him. He hoped she would just leave, he really didn't like the idea of having to bicker with her again. Especially in front of all of the students that were crowded about.