Term 20 Quidditch Tryouts

It was that time of year again, the beginning of a new year at Beauxbatons meaning it was once again time for quidditch tryouts. This was one of the professor's favorite times to be the flying instructor, however it could also be very stressful to choose students for the teams. However she was always able to decide in the end and she just loved the happy looks on the students faces when they flew around the pitch and you could always see that moment when each one of them finally got some confidence in their tryout performance.

Professor Bowen walked out onto the quidditch pitch to see a group of excited students standing in the center, some scared looking and others confident. She stood in the middle and quickly got everyones attention, "Alright everyone welcome to this year's Quidditch Tryouts." She said loud enough for everyone to hear her. "You will be notified when the tryout results are in." She told them all slowly to be sure they all understood. "So with that, let's get started and yes you may tryout for more than one position." She finished before starting the tryouts.

ooc:
-To tryout post only once for each position you wish to tryout for.
-You are to post strictly in character and write a one shot of your character going through their turn.
-Please pay attention to order when posting, for instance if you are trying out for seeker make sure to note that they had to wait till the end to take their turn.
-Be sure to give enough detail in the post to help the Ministers make an accurate decision about who to pick.
-Look at the Quidditch Team sticky to see what positions are open. There is only one Seeker and one Keeper. If those positions are filled on your team, you cannot tryout for that position.
-Message Minister Viridian or your house's captain with any questions

Apollo was surely nervous. He always tried to remain level headed and not get anxious during such situations, but it surely didn't work today. He had just learn about Quidditch..maybe he wasn't ready yet...maybe he should...he slapped himself. No, today is a day I should be confident and have fun, he thought.

Apollo liked sports. He wasn't really the athletic guy who only does sports and watches them fanatically on television, though. Sports were just a way for him to have fun. Especially swimming and soccer...so why not Quidditch? He was a wizard after all. He should try a magical sport.

From whatever little information Apollo knew about the game, the Chaser position seemed the most fun to be. It was his turn. He took a deep breath and zoomed away towards someone with a quaffle. The ball was passed to him and he easily caught it and turned back towards the opponent's goal. He threw the ball with all his strength, or at least he tried. The Keeper bolted towards the quaffle and tried to grab it...but failed!

"Whooo-hooo!" Apollo shouted with his hands in the air. A broad, cheerful smile could now be seen upon his face...he did it. He indeed did it. Apollo surely knew that he did the best he could. He was confident about himself, even if he didn't qualify for the team.

Ursula was a natural at flying. She was at the top of her class, even participating in some of the practice Quidditch games together with some 4th-years. She failed miserably at being Seeker, didn't have nearly enough strength to be Beater, but she was a pretty good Chaser and an excellent Keeper. So, naturally, she was going to try out! Keeper selections were up first. Montagnard and Cerisier passed, then it was Feu's turn. There were two other candidates, one second-year who was trembling with... Nervosity? Excitement? She'd find out soon enough, and a 7th-year who stood there with a smirk on his face. He was up first. Effortlessly, he flew up to the goal. As the first two shots got fired, he trembled a bit and missed them by 2.3 centimeters. From then on, he easily stopped the other 3 shots, not really seeming to deliver a lot of effort. He touched the ground softly. Was this really her competition? "I don't really think we need to continue, do we?", he asked.

"I don't think that's a good idea. NEXT!", professor Bowen echoed through the Quidditch Pitch.

The second-year was a failure. He blatantly missed the first three shots, and after he let the fourth one pass, he flew against one of the goals and crashed. He didn't look like he was going to have serious injuries, but he'd be out for a while.

"NEXT!", the merciless voice shouted, while the poor second-year was still being dragged out.

Ursula strapped on her gloves and got on her broom. It might not be the fastest thing out there, but it will more than suffice. She zoomed to the goals in a straight line. The three Chasers looked at her menacingly. No mercy, huh? Bring it, punks. They zig-zagged along the field. Left, right, left, middle, left... She sped towards the left goal as the Quaffle got thrown towards it. A quick tap with her broom assured that it didn't go in. Second shot... She entered a rush of concentration. It was intense... She saw through the tactics of the Chasers, even when they tried to fly around the goals to confuse her. She didn't know how long it went on like that, but finally she heard professor Bowen's voice. "That's more than enough. You can come down now." She floated towards the ground, gently tapping her broom as she got off it. 

"Nice work, kid. They should have stopped at 5 shots, but you looked so determined, they took 23. They really went at you.", Bowen smiled at her. Sweet! If all Quidditch was going to be like that, she was going to win every game, even if maybe it wasn't going to be this year.

Tryouts lasted for awhile, but Professor Bowen gave each performance her undivided attention. There were so many fresh faces that needed to be carefully thought over. Maybe this was something the potential player had never done before but sought out to improve. Maybe this was something the player had been doing all their life. Whatever the back story, their skills and their potentials had to be weighed equally and no matter how tiring the process was, Professor Bowen wanted to make sure both Montagnard, Cerisier, Feu and Nuage had excellent players on their team.

"Alright!" The witch cried out, clapping her hands as the last tryout ended and the participant returned to the ground. She faced the stands, where each and every applicant sat, waiting. "That concludes tryouts for today. Thank you all for coming down and I look forward to seeing many of you very soon," She announced as she clasped the clipboard which held her notes on the applicants to her side. "You will be notified of the results as soon as I make my decision." With that, she waved goodbye and departed from the pitch.

ooc: Please note that this concludes Quidditch tryouts. No more posts will be accepted. If you missed your chance to tryout, you will have to wait till next term.