Six months ago Cameron had imagined what it might feel like to stand before the group of eager Gryffindors vying for a spot on the house quidditch team. Excitement, pride, glee—all were emotions he had expected, but none that he felt when it came time to proceed with tryouts. Instead he was filled with anxiety, with insecurity; he had not been their Head of House's initial choice for captain, and yet he wore the badge that evening. Selwyn had been booted from the team for no fault of his own, and he was sure a number of the students in attendance were aware—likely thanks to Selwyn himself—that Cameron had been picked only as a second resort.

Yet he was determined to prove that he was worthy of the badge, even if he had not truly earned it. He smiled nervously as the group of Gryffindors appeared, each holding the broom that Cameron had instructed them to grab upon arriving. There were young students and older ones; familiar faces and ones he'd never seen. Only one would make the team, and as a chaser no less. He was determined to ensure they were a good fit for what was now a very close-knit team.

"I hope you all enjoyed your meal. You'll probably wish you hadn't when we're done," he greeted, offering the group a wide, cheeky grin. It was only with humor that he could conceal his bitterness. "Unfortunately the governors have decided that we students aren't responsible enough to handle a few bludgers, so we only have one chaser position open this year," he explained.

"We won the quidditch cup last year, and we have no plans to lose this year. We need a chaser who is fast, agile, and most importantly, accurate. Bixby knows how to catch the snitch, but that doesn't mean we can slack off." With his own broomstick he motioned towards the sky, where a number of enchanted baskets were floating around different areas of the quidditch pitch.

"You will work in pairs to practice passing the quaffle, and then you'll take turns aiming for the baskets. The better your aim, the better your chances of making the team. Understood?" He waited for the group to nod their heads before smiling.

"Begin."

---

Please post once for each position you are trying out for. Make sure you have filled in the requisite form and have received a “like” from Kayte before posting! The deadline for all posts is 7pm EST on September 12th.

By posting in this thread, you agree to have your character present and whole regardless of what happens between the date of posting and the IC date listed.

The following 1 user Likes Cameron Gillenwater's post:1 user Likes Cameron Gillenwater's post
   Elsie Kirke

---

Camille hadn't tried out this year. Told herself that she didn't want to keep failing. But perhaps she had given up too soon. Giving up was surely not what Gryffindor was about, after all. So there she was, trying out for chaser. No bludgers this year was odd, but they would manage.

Nodding to the new team captain - thanking her lucky stars that it wasn't the creepy Mr. Selwyn - she relaxed only a little when he smiled before readying herself to begin. Then, before she knew it, she was up in the air. Fast, agile, accurate. Not too much in her head, she hoped. Before she knew it, it seemed to already be over. Had she done a good job? It wasn't like she was staring at the others to compare. Would she make it this year? Be on the team?

---

  

---

Magic by MJ

Having tried out every year since her first, Alcyone was determined to make it this year. She was friends with the captain but she knew that was no guarantee, he would need to be fair. But she figured her chances were good since she had been working on her skill and improving her dexterity as much as she could.

As they were bid to begin, she lifted into the air and performed the task as best she could. Once she was done, she landed to watch the other pairs go through the trial.

---

  

According to Greta, quidditch was a co-ed sport played on a broomstick. The intention was to score as many goals through the hoops before either seeker caught the snitch. Apparently there also used to be another position—the beater—but it was outlawed after someone had died the previous summer. It was a lot of information to swallow in the two days before tryouts took place, but one library book later and she thought she had a good idea of what to expect.

Greta would have an advantage, she thought, because her brother was the team captain, but Annie hoped that being a muggleborn herself would earn her bonus points. How many wizards and witches from non-magical families attended the school? According to Greta, it wasn't especially common.

Annie grabbed one of the school-provided brooms and listened to Mr. Gillenwater with attentive ears. They would have to work together—her eyes immediately went to her dorm-mate—to pass a quaffle before aiming in the basket. She could do that. She hoped. She hadn't had one flying lesson since starting Hogwarts, but she followed the instructions one of the older students offered her, and by some miracle managed to mount the broomstick without any trouble.

Okay, she could do this. She took a deep breath. She kicked off the ground, and then took of (quite chaotically, much to her dismay) to the skies.

---

Annie cannot play this year because Cameron exists, but she would have tried out anyways, hence this post D<

The following 2 users Like Annie Moneypenny's post:2 users Like Annie Moneypenny's post
   Alice Dawson, Greta Gillenwater

---

— beautiful set by MJ <3 —

Greta stood next to her dorm-mate, and dare she say, friend, and tried to not look the cat that had gotten into the cream. She had tried to look serious and that she was taking the idea of listening to her older brother seriously but she couldn't stop the wide grin that was clearly present on her features. It wasn't supposed to be funny - her big brother acting all cool and authoritatively - but she couldn't help it. She wondered what he would say if he actually had the chance to discuss her decision to join the team with her - remembering back to his frequent assertions over the last month that she did not need her own broom and could just borrow one.

She hadn't made her decision to try out though just because of that though - infact she hadn't been sure she was going to at all because it was Cam's thing and even if they were in the same house she reasoned that she should probably let him have his own things while she went and found other things she'd been good at... however she'd started explaining everything she knew about Quidditch, and the recent game to Annie and Annie had thought it would at least be fun to try out. And if she tried out it didn't really mean anything - it would be up to Cam to decide if he wanted her there or not and she highly doubted she'd be anywhere close to as good as the others from the higher grades.... plus she had this feeling that if Oak ever found out that she had not tried out for a position on the team he would be finding out how to do a Howler from Cameron's friend Sloane and she'd be getting one. Or he'd try and disown her or something.

She turned her grin on Annie. They would do this together. It would be okay, fun even. She hoped.

She called her broom to her - thankful that in the last month she'd received a few short lessons from her family members and an explanation of how and what, when she'd attempted to do it herself, she was doing wrong. She liked to think her form hadn't been that bad though - perhaps that was the joy of having watched other people fly around or maybe it was just the fact she'd inherited the same talent as her brother. She hoped it was the later. Cam seemed to be the best flyer - even if his lung got punctured in the scrimmage match.

She was actually quite glad that they wouldn't be having bludgers at school. They seemed far too dangerous especially after that poor woman died at the big game.

She took hold of the Quaffle that the two of them would practice passing and scoring with and followed Annie into the skies. They could do this.

She could see James Fletcher, another first year Gryffindor below and wondered how he would do. It was a pity there was only one position available - perhaps she could convince them all to join the flying club if this didn't work out.

---

The following 1 user Likes Greta Gillenwater's post:1 user Likes Greta Gillenwater's post
   Cameron Gillenwater

---

Thanks go to the marvelous MJ for her sensational set.

Meta had begged Nephele and complained to Priam until her guardian gave his permission to let her tryout. It helped that bludgers were banned last second. Without them, Quidditch would be a very boring game, but it would also be a safer one.

Besides, uncle Priam wanted her to stop whining and he didn't share her father's cruelty to make her stop. He gave her his written permission with a snide remark that she would get bored of it like everything else and quit within a month, even if she made the team.

Truth be told, he wasn't wrong.

She had a school broom, because Priam wouldn't buy her one. After ganging up on Kristoffer with her sisters at their father's memorial party, she couldn't ask him for his old broom either. If only she was close to cousin Cassius! He surely had the newest model of sports broom!

Anyway, it wasn't like the others had the Lamborghini equivalent of a broomstick either. It was also mostly girls, so Meta felt she stood a chance. What experience would the two first years have, after all?

She was paired with a housemate and she set off for the skies.

  

Jimmy might have let out a cheer when the team captain - Gillenwater, was it? Jimmy had only been half-listening to the introductions - finished speaking and told them to begin. Gryffindor had won the quidditch cup last year, he’d heard that: now it definitely made sense why the Hat had put him here!

And Jimmy had heard the word fast, which was his middle name. Practically.

Sticking his tongue out at his fellow first years, Gillenwater’s little sister and Miss Sugarsticks (luckily they both had tongues again, hah!) as they prepared to kick off, Jimmy bounced onto the school broom he was using and, with absolutely no idea what he was supposed to be doing, managed to get himself skyward. Excellent. He was going to be amazing at this.

---

The following 2 users Like James Fletcher's post:2 users Like James Fletcher's post
   , Cameron Gillenwater

---

Mateo knew his chances were slim considering that there were older students lined up to try out. But he had to give it a try, anyhow. School broom in hand, he waited for the captain to tell them to begin before taking off into the skies.

---

  

---