Flying [Classroom] - March 19th-25th/26th-April 1st

[np_dumbledore]

[Specify your grade (1) in your subject line - not all grades are in the same class. Try to keep that in mind even though you'll all be in this thread playing "together

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Ravenclaw Practice - Wednesday

[np_quidditch]

Ravenclaw practice is held on Wednesday evenings from 7:30 to 9:30 (evening 1).

Re: Ravenclaw Practice - Wednesday, March 21st

[derek_bly]

The flour baby thing had been kind of fun and all not that Derek would be spreading that opinion around, thanks but Derek was plenty happy not to have them as a concern this week. It was getting down to crunch time for Quidditch. Distractions in practice were not going to help anything. At least distractions for Derek. He didn't think most of the team cared too much either way- and he tried to let it remain so. Given the collection of people he had working for him here, it was best to keep control loosely; get them to do their jobs but let them do it their way and so they thought it was their idea. It cut down on a lot of stress on Derek's part and seemed to be working pretty well. He just had to keep them vaguely on task through practice so the skill level kept improving.

It was raining tonight, of course, and a bit cold, so he'd warned everyone to bundle up and headed down to the pitch. It seemed only right that the captain should be there first, yeah?

Re: Ravenclaw Practice - Wednesday, March 21st

[liacallahan]

Lia was definitely glad to be done with the flour babies. They had been a huge distraction from studying, and Quidditch too, and she had been more than happy to return it.

She wrinkled her nose at the weather, brushing some rain off her face as she approached the nearly empty pitch.

"Hey Derek," she said with a wave. "What's the plan for tonight?"

Re: Ravenclaw Practice - Wednesday, March 21st

[derek_bly]

And as usual, his assistant captain was the next to the pitch. You'd think they were obsessed with Quidditch or something.

Derek smiled at Lia as she approached. "Hey. I figure we'll see how long this wants to last," he said, nodding toward the rain. "Get in some flying for a while and if we're just getting soaked we might hit the locker room instead and talk strategy instead. At least until they get restless. What do you think? We should have about five minutes of being dry before they leave anyway," Derek commented jokingly. Not about the five minutes, mind you. Derek had no delusions about his team's dedication. If they weren't going to be directed to fly, most of them would be just as happy anywhere else- which is why he was hoping they could get an hour of practice in anyway before it wasn't worth it to be out here.

Re: Ravenclaw Practice - Wednesday, March 21st

[liacallahan]

Obsessed with Quidditch? Never, she was just out in the rain for the fun of it.

"Yeah, if it's just going to rain, I don't know how much we'll actually get done," she admitted. "We could probably get through a few drills or whatever, but if everyone's all distracted and complaining, I'm not sure how productive practice would be. We could always make a deal with them that we'll cut practice short if they agree to ten minutes of discussion or something?" She knew that, if the weather kept up, there was probably no hope of keeping the entire team into what they were doing. But hey, she wasn't above bribing them with shorter practices if it made the practice they had better.

Re: Ravenclaw Practice - Wednesday, March 21st

[derek_bly]

"Yeah." That was the truth of it. But hey, at least they knew their team. No point in fighting it. "Sounds like the plan. You want to make sure the littles are Charmed against the rain? Might make us last a bit longer." Not that it was Cassie or Ruth Ann's stamina Derek was particularly worried about. Well, Cassie's anyway. Ruth Ann would be entertained as long as Derek had something shiny for her to chase...especially if she sprouted those feathers again. (It was best just not to ask with that one. So long as she was happy she had a tendency to make things happen, which was advantageous at least half as often as it was dangerous. Derek was learning to roll with it.) But still, he had to look out for the littles.

Re: Ravenclaw Practice - Wednesday, March 21st

[liacallahan]

Lia nodded. "Yeah, that won't be a problem," she said. "Might as well try and keep them from getting sick, although they're probably the least likely to care about getting soaked. I'm pretty sure I've at least seen Cassie running around in the rain for no reason, and...well, who knows about Ruth Ann, really." She had a feeling she was more likely to be irritated by the rain than the littles were, but whatever.

Re: Ravenclaw Practice - Wednesday, March 21st

[derek_bly]

"Exactly," he agreed. Derek stuffed his hands into the pockets of his Quidditch jumper to keep them dry though it occurred to him as he did so that they would only feel colder when he took them back out later. Oh well. No need to get a jump start on it. "I don't quite trust them to know when to call it so we might as well keep an eye out," he continued. "And we can really do without anyone getting sick." Derek wasn't too keen on the idea of people having to miss practice as the season wound down because they'd gone and caught something. They needed all the time they could get if they were going to claim that Cup. Happily, they had the most time out of everyone to sit back and prepare for their last game. Still

Re: Ravenclaw Practice - Wednesday, March 21st

[liacallahan]

Lia nodded. "Yeah. We don't want anyone getting pneumonia or something, that would only make it more difficult to get them to practice," she said. "And our luck, it would be one of the littles, and the more practice they get, the better." Waiting for that last match was going to be seriously nervewracking. Too much could go wrong in the meantime.

"Yeah, no, that's probably not the best idea," Lia admitted. "It would probably be good practice for her to try and spot it in this kind of weather anyway, and besides, I'm pretty sure Jamie would just walk out if someone was inside while he wasn't."

Re: Ravenclaw Practice - Wednesday, March 21st

[derek_bly]

"Seriously," Derek nodded. "You'd think I was making him do laps or something." It didn't seem to Derek as though practicing hitting things was such a terrible way to spend one night a week but Jamie seemed to disagree. Or maybe the other bloke got bored a lot faster than Derek did. He'd picked beating. Or, well, maybe not. Mads and Derek had made that switch for Jamie last year. But still! It had been a good move. And the seventh year was a good beater in games. It was only the getting him through practice that was a pain.

Anyway, as for Naia, Derek nodded while trying not to come off as too critical. "Merlin knows she can use the practice," he said honestly. Derek had plenty of confidence in Naia but he would have felt worlds better if she had a bit more luck with the eye hand coordination or if she'd get her eyes checked. "She's getting there though."

It looked like some of the other players were making their way down now and Derek waited for them to join he and Lia so they could get this thing started.

Re: Ravenclaw Practice - Wednesday, March 21st

[cassie_carys]

Cassie made her way down to the pitch with Ruth Ann, who she'd run into on her way out of the Great Hall after dinner. It had seemed like a good idea for the two of them to just head down to practice together, or, at least, Cassie thought it was! It was much better to go to practice with someone than by yourself, she thought.

She was surprised that only Lia and Derek were there already. She was used to being early, but not this early. "Hi!" she said cheerfully, waving at the two older students.

Re: Ravenclaw Practice - Wednesday, March 21st

[liacallahan]

"Hi, you two," Lia said. Neither of them looked too upset to be here - well, actually, Cassie seemed pretty upbeat, really, and who knew what Ruth Ann was thinking? Regardless, they seemed okay with being here. "We'll get started soon, I promise."

She spotted Naia making her way down to the pitch and waved. Lia felt a little guilty for not waiting for her in the common room, but figured Naia wouldn't have wanted to be out here in the rain more than she had to anyway.

Re: Ravenclaw Practice - Wednesday, March 21st

[derek_bly]

Derek smiled at the two younger years as the arrived. "Hey guys. And oh! Don't let me forget to ask later what you want me to bring you back from Hogsmeade this weekend," he said seriously. He'd promised rewards for how well they'd done in the last game and Derek meant to keep to it. They'd earned a prize, after all. Derek was quite proud of his young chasers.

Not too far behind Naia, Hannah and Jamie made their arrivals to round out the team. (Not together of course, because that would have been weird. Or maybe they had, arguing the whole way. Whichever.) Derek nodded at everyone and pulled his hands out of his pockets. You couldn't direct things without hand gestures, after all. At least Derek couldn't. "Alright, it looks like this rain isn't going anywhere but I'd really like to get at least some time up in the air tonight," he started. "I promise we'll cut it short if everyone can stick with it for a bit. Practicing in crappy conditions is good experience anyway. For all we know it could rain at the last match."

Re: Ravenclaw Practice - Wednesday, March 21st

[cassie_carys]

Cassie grinned. She was so excited about her surprise from Hogsmeade! She couldn't wait until she could actually go herself, but unfortunately that wouldn't be till next year. But in the meantime, she was really happy that Derek was bringing her back something...although, she wasn't sure what.

Re: Ravenclaw Practice - Wednesday, March 21st

[liacallahan]

Lia nodded when Derek paused. "We should be able to get a lot in as long as we're efficient," she said. "I'd rather not stay out in the rain any longer than we have to either."

"Oh, and if you two want me to help you get charmed against the rain, I can do that," she added to Cassie and Ruth Ann. "At least you'll stay a bit drier that way."

Re: Ravenclaw Practice - Wednesday, March 21st

[derek_bly]

"Agreed. We don't want anyone getting sick so if you haven't already, get yourselves charmed against what you can. We'll try and focus on organized drills tonight so we can get up, do what we need to do and then get out of the rain."

The weather wasn't all that bad but it was wet and Derek knew better than to assume that tempers or patience would last long if people got soaked.