Event: Quidditch (Hufflepuff vs Gryffindor)

[evanesko]

March 18th

There's excitement in the air, as per usual.

It's mid-season and everyone is curious how the mid point standings will look after this match. Facing each other today are the houses of the righteous: The chivalrous Gryffindors and the kind Hufflepuffs. Except there's no room for those on the battlefield that is Quidditch, and neither of them is the kind that gives in. How will this match full of determination end? Let's find out.

And the winner is...

THE GAME IS POSTPONED

What by Merlin's blazing beard happened?!

2 hrs, 15 minutes into the game something terrible seemed to happen. Just as the referee's attention was focused on the Chasers heading for the hoop, there's the light of a curse coming from the tribunes and aiming for the Keeper. There are cries from the audience, that make everyone's attention shift, but no one can do anything anymore, it's too late. The curse hits the Keeper dead on and then she's falling, falling deep. After that the field into chaos.

People are tripping over each other, trying to catch a glimpse, worried friends are hurrying towards the green where the Keeper in lying on the ground, where the referee is trying to administer first help, while the teachers are trying to contain the chaos the best they can. No one is allowed to move, but they do anyway. The area from which the curse had been shot has been sealed, witnesses are being questioned. Maybe they can find the culprit this way if it's not too late.

Long story short, it's a big mess. At the end of it, the teams are called together and it's decided with the agreement from the majority of the players that the game will be postponed. This usually isn't the case, as matches continue even when a member is off the field, but the captain of Gryffindor after listening to the options had felt like this was the right decision. Thus, in a gesture of great chivalry, the game is put back to the next week.


March 25th

Gryffindor Wins!

The game lasted 1 hours 56 minutes and ended with a final score of 460 to 270. Gryffindor caught the snitch, after being 4 points ahead of Hufflepuff.

[The win was determined by player vote and the rest of the numbers by a RNG. A number between 15 and 300 determined the length of the game in minutes, numbers between 15 and 50 multiplied by 10 the final score, and a throwdown between 1 and 2 who caught the snitch (based on odds/evens, with each team having their assigned number for all the matches).]

Comments

March 18th

[evanesko]

Have you witnessed the fiasco of that day? Does this concern you? Have actively tried to help, or have you been one of those who watched with interest? Or perhaps you are a teacher concerned for your student?

All things concerning the original match come here.

Post-Game, Hospital Wing

[enchantressofore]

It still felt like her head was going to explode.

Adela couldn't help the distressed whining that left her, both hands covering her face where there weren't strange growths and horns sprouting out. She didn't want anyone to see her like that, and what was worse was that she hadn't seen it coming!

It felt like it was hours before she was composed enough to breathe and speak again, thanks to a combination of ointments and charms from Madame Pomfrey. She could finally see her team, her friends, but... Part of her didn't want to. She knew she was still out of sorts from the curses and hexes in the first place, and if she had managed to stop it, maybe they wouldn't have had to stop the game... God, she felt bad because from what she'd heard it was because her team basically begged the Gryffindor Captain, how embarrassing.

Ugh... She hated life. The fact that everyone stopped the game over her almost hurt worse than the curses put on her in the first place.

[olympic_shark]

[Thing is, Rin had seen the curse fly from the other side of the stands, and there was nothing he could do but watch helplessly as one of his best friends, his other sister, got hit. Getting to her took ages and when he did, Madame Pomfrey was already taking her away. All in all, it was a huge mess and it's only hours later that he gets to see Adela. Still frightened and worried, by the way, but at least he's not hysterical anymore. He stopped being that after both coach and the matrone assured him Adela would be fine, with just a little rest.

He knocks on her door, poking his head in.]

'Dela?

[He sees she's up and alone, so he enters, approaching her bed.]

Hey, how are you?

[enchantressofore]

... Sore, mostly.

[ Sore doesn't even begin to describe it. It stings, it just plain hurts, and... Well, all kinds of other unpleasant things. However, she doesn't want to scare Rin with it any more, and instead she tries to open her eyes so she can at least look at Rin. ]

... Must look pretty pathetic right now, right? Sorry for worrying you... I'll be okay.

[olympic_shark]

Are you kidding?

[Rin asks as he sits down, wondering if she's serious. There's nothing pathetic about being cursed while being bloody defenseless. On the contrary, it's scary as hell and just thinking about it chases a cold shiver down his spine.]

You look like someone who had just been hit by a severe curse.

[She looks like she's in pain. He hates it. Without thinking about it, he takes her hand, but whether it's to make her feel better or himself, he doesn't know. He wants to help, but he can't, so he tries to find a way to distract her if for a small while.]

Which, by the way, you should have seen coach. When Madame Pomfrey got you he went totally ballistic. I've never seen him so angry and I've seen him in a bad mood enough of times. There were like sparks coming from his wand, I kid you not. Thought he'll set something on fire. Or someone.

[Rin might have even helped him.]

[enchantressofore]

Not sure if I can blame him, it probably hit a little close to home for Sano.

[ She sighs then, trying not to move too much as she's still pretty sore. At least she can talk like this, but she still doesn't feel right over the whole thing. She knew what happened to Sano, she should've been more careful in the first place. ]

... I didn't mean to make you, him, and everyone else worry over me. Or to stop the game, they didn't have to do that...

[olympic_shark]

Maybe. Or maybe he just cares about you a lot.

[Rin sighs and scratches his head, before adding in a low murmur.]

As does everyone else.

[It had been scary, okay?]

Which is exactly why we worry, so don't even think about trying to stop us from doing it. [He says louder again, hopefully loud enough to get it into her stubborn head.] And about everyone agreed it would be the right thing to do. I was three feet away from them, I heard it. Coach laid out the options, your team asked to postpone, and Jean agreed it's the only option that sounds fair and right. No one wants top lay against a weakened team. Especially not if it's not their fault.

[takethereigns]

[ Jean contemplated whether or not he should be in the hospital wing, whether it would hurt Adela's recovery or not. Ultimately Jean figured that those concerns didn't outweigh finding out if she was okay. Not only was it his responsibility as the Gryffindor captain, but he genuinely wanted to make sure. So. There he was. Pushing the door open, he quietly walked into the hospital wing and looked for Adela's bed. She looked better than she did on the field, but that didn't mean much sometimes. ] Hey. You still alive? [ Because yes he's the master of sensitivity. Which, btw, whether her team begged him or not agreeing to postpone the match was the decent thing to do. ]

[enchantressofore]

[ Jean?

She can't help her heart skipping a beat when she realizes that it's him who came to visit... Of course he would.

She has to take a moment to try and regain any composure before sitting up, trying to face him with what she thinks can pass as a smile. It's still hard to move, she's hurting all over from both the cursing and the game itself, but still... ]

Yeah, I'm alive. Sorry for all the trouble.

[takethereigns]

Don't apologize. [ He sounds like he's being short with her, but honestly he's mad too. Not as angry as her friends were, but he was anyway, and not at her. Jean grabs a chair and pulls it toward the side of her bed and sits down, looking tense. ] No one chooses to get blasted out of the sky like that. It's not your fault.

[enchantressofore]

But it is my fault you had my teammates harassing you over the game. It should've continued and they should have just subbed someone in for me. I should've gone over that more thoroughly with them.

[ Is he trying to pity her? Great. She appreciates that he came in in the first place though, and... After a moment, she tries to extend a real olive branch to Jean. ]

It... It was really cool of you and the Gryffindor Team to agree to postpone the game though. You didn't have to.

[takethereigns]

[ It's not pity, it's concern and doing the right thing. Jean shakes his head and leans back in the chair. ] It didn't sit right with me or anyone else on my team either, so it was a pretty unanimous decision. Your teammates didn't have to say much to win us over. [ He shrugs. ] How do you feel, anyway?

during the game, pitch

[fireredspear]

Watch out!

[It happens too fast. But then again, these things never come at a slow pace. The first thing that alerts Sano that something is wrong, and also the only warning they get, is a cry from the audience. Except this cry is not the usual exclamation of an excited spectator, no, this one is raw, shocked and eerily familiar, in a way that chases a shiver down his spine. He instinctively turns around, to where the looks of all the people seem to be focused, only to have his heartbeat stop for that split second.]

Protego!

[The light of the curse is mid-way to it's target who is none other than Adela. Sano's hand moves on instinct, grabbing his wand, casting the shield charm by pure instinct, but he's too late. Before his charm reaches the goal area, the curse hits Adela squarely and all he can do is watch her fall.]

Adela!

[He doesn't remember crossing the pitch or moving at all, the next thing he's aware of is holding her in his arms, his heart racing a mile a minute as he floats towards the ground. It's only when they're down in safety that he remembers that he hasn't whistled for a break yet, so he does, alerting everyone who hasn't noticed yet that something is not right, before focusing his full attention on the girl, pulling out his wand to counter the curse as best as he can, bellowing at the closes person to get Madame Pomfrey asap.]

Come on, kid, don't do this.

[enchantressofore]

[ She can only barely process the warning before it's too late. Everything becomes black when the curse hits, and when she comes around again she's clearly on the ground, being held...

Sano? At least, she thinks that reddish blur is Sano.

Adela can't speak, reaching to grip her bangs in the wake of the splitting head ache that accompanies her becoming conscious again. All she can really do is breathe hard, unable to keep herself from groaning and only barely managing to cry out in agony. What the hell even happened for everything to hurt so much now?! ]

[[ OoC: She's probably not going to actively respond after this, at least not until she's in the hospital wing. Just a reaction post mainly. ]]

[fireredspear]

[Goddamn that motherf... His head is cursing up a storm in the back of his mind, but the painful groans make him stay focused on her, leaving everything else to his colleagues. His only concern for now is her safety. But at least it seems like the curse that hit her is a simple one, nothing permanent. Nothing permanent. He lets that thought be a comforting chant in his head that calms whatever feelings of trepidation that may be bubbling in his chest.] Focus, Adela. Eyes on me. [He needs to be a support now, give her a sense of calm. Hysteria is not an option. Neither are flashbacks.] You'll be okay. You're strong. You can fight this. [He assures her, though he's not sure whether he's not assuring himself as well. He keeps chanting the counter-curses to the curses he can identify, hoping for Poppy to get there soon.]

[enchantressofore]

... Hurts...

[ She's still panting, trying to keep still even with all of the distressed noises leaving her. It's then that growths start appearing, stinging and causing everything to feel that much worse. It's difficult for her to even breathe then, her head swimming and lost in the painful fog the curses inflicted have her trapped in.

Or, it might seem like that, until she finally says something coherent between breaths. ]

Sorry... Sano... Can't play... Like this...

[fireredspear]

Yeah, no shit.

[He mumbles because of course she can't play like this, what did she think?! Though it's kinda amazing if she wants to. When he finds the jerk that did this to her, they are gonna pay. It hurts to see her in pain and it doesn't help the flashbacks threatening to flood his mind.

Focus, he tells himself. Deep breaths.

Merlin, how he hates combination curses, he growls as he keeps countering everything to his best ability, regretting for once not having at least tried for Auror. Or healer, or medi-wizard, or something more useful.]

You'll be okay. Help is on the way.

[xeroxing]

[ Like anyone else in the stands, Kise watches on in horror as Adela is hexed. There's a myriad of things that go through his mind while she falls - That's his friend; someone he cares about - but each second she moves closer to the ground, the more it pushes him off his feet. Before he realizes it, just like Sano, he's running. Only he can't reach her on the ground, Kise is running toward the front of the spectator stand, pushing his way past other students so he can see.

There's no scream of concern, just hands tightening on the edge of the stand and panicked eyes watching the coach run toward his friend.

For a second Kise contemplates how far the jump was and if he can survive that, so he can just push off and fall down to go help any way he can. But he knows that would be stupid and instead turns back toward the exit while the rest of his housemates chatter and question what's happening. Kise runs down the stairs that lead up through the stands. Before long, he's standing with the coach, kneeling down.

It's not hard to figure out what happened. The game was going good, but someone spelled Adela and... That really pisses him off. Someone knowingly did something to harm one of his friends and when he found that person they'd wish that they'd never have done anything. ]

Is there anything I can do, Coach?

[ Kise sounds strangely calm. But there's fury in his eyes that says he's anything but. ]

[fireredspear]

[The voice makes him look up, only to be met with Kise, noticing Matsuoka in the distance, running towards them like hellhounds were chasing him. He remembers they're friends with Adela.]

Actually, yes. Grab your captain and make sure there's no crowd around us. Poppy will need to get through and I'd rather Adela not be on display like in a showcase.

[Thank Merlin there are no reporters here, as opposed when this happened to- FOCUS.]

[xeroxing]

Aah, I can do that. [ Honestly, he's glad that Sano cares about Adela so much. Kise himself wouldn't think anything of the way she looked now with the cursing and hexing turning her into something more reminiscent of a monster, but other people? They'd talk. Not for the first time in his life did Kise thank that he was over six foot. ] Take care of her. [ Kise stands and turns to find Rin, only to see that he's running at full speed toward them. He easily jogs toward his own captain and friend, and stops him in his tracks to tell Rin what coach wants them to do. ]

[fireredspear]

Always. [Sano answers without thinking, before realizing what he just said. It surprises him more than it should, but then again he supposes it makes sense. It's the first time he becomes fully conscious of the fact that Adela is like a daughter to him. They all are like sons and daughters to him, he cares about every single one of them, but Adela had always been something special. He wants to protect these kids, train them and teach them, and watch them grow into the men and woman he sees in them. Except some random jerk almost blew that today for her. He can feel the spark of anger rising in his chest again, and he know whoever that person was, he hates them. And Merlin help him, he'll find them, and he'll make them pay if it's the last thing he does as a teacher. It's only after Poppy takes Adela away to the infirmary that he finally has the room to talk to someone else and looks around. He knows he needs to solve the match, but since they're already nearby, he wants to chat with the boys first. He spots Kise and approaches the boy.] Thanks for the help. [First things first.] I have a question. Can you tell where the shot came from?

Pre-Game

[evanesko]

March 25th, the postponed match. Or whatever happens before it. Are you nervous? Are you still disheartened by what happened last week? Angry? Or have you already forgotten and are just looking forward to the match?

During the game

[evanesko]

March 25th, IT'S FINALLY HAPPENING. Are you excited? A player, or in the audience? Cheering or booing? Supporting your team, or just in for the fun?

Post game

[evanesko]

March 25th, and everything is decided. Are you sad or happy? Victorious or defeated? Celebrating or moping?

2 Part Post-Game!

[enchantressofore]

Pitch, Immediate Post-Game

Damn, she was really off her game today.

Adela couldn't help sighing to herself, feeling hollow after that. What an awful performance on her part... At least their chasers were picking up the slack, and their beaters and seeker were trying their best, but now? Even if she was still kind-of recovering from the week before, it felt like there was no excuse for letting so many goals in.

But... If there was anyone the team needed to keep their cool now, it was her wasn't it?

Adela landed then, approaching the Gryffindor team. She couldn't bring herself to force a smile just yet, but she still needed to find Jean in particular. It was because of him that the rematch even happened in the first place, and that much she was grateful for -- even if it hadn't turned out like she had hoped.

Locker Rooms or Castle at Large

She felt like she was just faking smiles and encouragement. She really wasn't feeling particularly spirited after the game. Even so, the words she had given to her team were genuine -- they had all done their best, and it stunk that it wasn't enough that time, but that was no reason to get down because they had all become more skilled over time. It was probably worse that no one was blaming her for the loss, or letting in so many goals...

Whether she was still in her full gear in the locker room or out at the castle again, she kept on her keeper's gloves -- the ones Rin had given her for her birthday last year. Damn... It wasn't just that they had lost. She had played so cautiously, watching over her shoulder, still feeling the occasional throb of pain and checking her face for growths every so often. That curse... Damn, if only it hadn't happened!

Adela wasn't looking up from those gloves then, oblivious to anyone and everything else -- at least until the time when whatever it was would draw her attention.