Gryffindor vs Ravenclaw From the Stands Closed

Anatole had always wanted to learn more about life here and the certain quirks of the Wizarding World. What better option was there to attend a match of Quidditch?

Rosie and others have continued to tell him about every single part of the game, even talked about their brooms and what kinds of positions there were. Too bad Anatole wasn't a sports guy. He was never the athletic type.

However, he decided to come for the comradery and friendly competition. Maybe he might see some familiar faces. Also, who didn't find it entertaining to see kids his age fly on broomsticks?

When he entered, there was only a few people there, one of them being a Hufflepuff girl he had never met. She seemed nice, and especially enthusiastic of this game. Maybe she would be one of Rosie's teammates on the Hufflepuff team, that is, if she got in.

Anatole looked up to the sky, trying to get a good view. Since he was unsure of what to do, he looked to her. "You look experienced, I guess. Where's the best place to get a good view?"

The slight breeze felt nice on his hair as he stood there, anxious for this match to begin.

James made his way into and through the stands, looking for a good spot where he could see as much as possible. Being a writer for the Hufflpost, he was very, very excited to watch his first game of Quidditch and also have the opportunity to write about it! He had with him a notepad and a quill, with multiple back up pens and pencils in his pockets. He had brought his own notebooks and pencils with him to Hogwarts from the Muggle world, but when he came to Hogwarts, he had realized that quills were the main writing utensil for wizards. So, he brought a quill, but forgot to bring any ink. Sighing, he looked for a place to put the quill. Eventually, he rested it behind his ear, which made him look a bit like an Indian or something. He puled out a pen and clicked it, more comfortable to write and ready to watch the exciting game of Quidditch. He had spent a lot of time researching it and how it was played and all the rules in order to be a good reporter for the games. He also wanted to be playing for his own house as well, but he was glad that two other houses were going first, that way he could watch and learn.

Upon hearing a voice, Serena's head finally turned away from the Quidditch Pitch. She looked up to a Gryffindor boy nearby. He looked a little familiar, perhaps she had seen him around before. His name didn't come to mind though, "Ah, well, most seats work well because it's played above us but I like it around here," She replied with a grin on her face. This was the advantage of Quidditch. Broomsticks meant you were looking up at the players most of the time, rather than having your view blocked by the taller people in front of you - which happened all the time for everything else. She barely knew the Headmaster's face because she could barely see it from the table when they were in the Great Hall and he was giving a speech. She was just too short! Quidditch was a lot better that way. 

Smiling up at him, she pulled her feet down so he could get past her if he wanted to, "Would you like to join me?" She asked as she patted the spare seat next to her. None of the seats were taken anyway - it's not like she had tons of friends to come to these things with. In fact, it seemed like the majority of her friends were actually playing the game. She had a few that weren't on the team or were in different houses that may show up. But for now, she had no friends! 

She was about to introduce herself when it dawned on her...

"Ahh! You're the guy from the snowball fight!" Serena called out a few seconds later as she suddenly realised why he looked so familiar. She had thrown a snowball in his face not all that long ago. Cringing slightly at the memory, she pulled an apologetic face, "Sorry about that... I didn't mean to hit you in the face." The girl continued, hoping he didn't take it badly. Her aim seemed pretty terrible - it was just constantly going for people's faces. Perhaps he didn't want to join her now - whoops!

He was busy looking up in the sky when the girl beside him commented. It all looked so clean, and yes, it could have easily made more sense if Anatole thought just a little bit harder, but his mind refused to do so. Not being able to recognize the girl since he still could not ponder and conjure up a name, he just snapped his fingers, trying to think of something. "Huh. You're right. This actually is a relatively good view..." If you want to gaze at the bottom of first years, sure. He couldn't help it, maybe there was no good place to observe Quidditch except in the tower itself.

But since Anatole cared more about connections with bystanders than the game in its entirety, he agreed jovially. "I would certainly love to join you. This is my first game, after all." And just might be his last, if he didn't end up liking it. Well, he would try to admire what he can. He didn't want to be considered a pessimist.

The pitch was silent except for the quiet hum of the wind, until the girl exuberantly recognized him. At the comment, his eyes widened in delight (but a little bit of fear, as well). "Oh, yeah! You are! I knew I recognized the back of your head from somewhere!" He snapped, laughing and making an incredibly awkward face. That was Anatole, trying his best to joke.

Delilah was excited to see this new sport, she had read about it in books and heard about it but never actually seen it, since she was Ravenclaw she was kind of obligated to sit in the blue stands, plus she wanted to support her house. Her blue scarf wrapped around her small frame. She walked up the steps on the inside of the stands, it was pretty cold. Eventually she got up to the top and took a seat close to the front,she saw Serena a little ways away in one of the other stands so she waved at her. Delilah had the little leaflet in her hands, reading the names of the players, a few familiar names, a few of her friends were playing and she wondered what positions they would be playing. Delilah wasn't big on sport but this sounded cool, flying around on brooms and stuff, she might try out for the team another year but at the moment Delilah could barely hover on a broom, let alone fly one quickly.

As a cold breeze went past Delilah leaned back a little, the cold didn't bother her much but she enjoyed wearing scarves so she wore one anyway. She was used to the cold, living in the Highlands her entire life. Delilah wondered if this sport would be put off if it rained, it was played in the air after all.

Sports were hardly in her culture. Her family were the type to go out and do things than to sit in front of the television. There were only once or twice within her lifetime that she had gone to a Quidditch game. Her father, a hidden Quidditch fan, tried to get his girls to enjoy Quidditch, but none of them found a love for the sport. Perhaps that was why it was hardly in her face at home.

This time was different. There was a Quidditch game happening and she felt to be a part of it as a fan girl for two reasons: Ravenclaw house was playing against the overwhelming Gryffindor house and her boyfriend, Ben Eckenrode, was one of the players. She had to go to cheer him on. What kind of girlfriend would she have been if she wasn't there on the bleachers watching his every move?

Walking to the Quidditch Pitch, Bloom tried to see who was around, waiting for the game to start. Immediately she saw Serena. She remembered the Hufflepuff from the abandoned bathroom awhile ago. She wondered how she was doing after she burnt her hand from her tea. It was not that bad, but it still looked painful.

"Serena!" Bloom waved, walking faster towards her, eyeing the badge on her robes. She wrapped her arms around the Hufflepuff Prefect and gave her a hug. "I haven't seen you in forever. Congrats on your Prefect status," she said, realizing that was something new between them. They both became Prefects the same year.

Bloom looked around to the other students. There was a Gryffindor girl, Hufflepuff boy and another Ravenclaw who Bloom believed to be Delilah Stewart. She had to memorize names and faces as a part of her duties to connect with all students from her house.

Walking up to the Ravenclaw girl, she waved. "Delilah, right?" she asked, trying to start a conversation with her. Bloom saw that she wore a blue scarf in the wind. So smart..., she thought, realizing that all she was wearing was her uniform with nothing added to her outfit to make it look warm and cute. Her family was unable to pay for something of the sort.

Looking out into the pitch, Bloom wondered when the game was going to start. She could tell that it was to start soon as the bleachers were beginning to fill up. She needed to find a seat, but she had no idea where to sit, she was just getting slightly excited to see Ben play, and of course, Ravenclaw to win.

Serena grinned and nodded, "It's fun, hopefully you'll enjoy it," She replied with a nod, "Are you hoping to join the Gryffindor team?" She asked him, making conversation. Though she had a feeling he was not really into the whole flying thing by the fact this all seemed to be very new to him. Perhaps she was wrong though. 

Cringing as she recognised him, she pulled a very apologetic face at him, "I'm so sorry," She apologised again for her behaviour. It was pretty bad. Hopefully it would have made her a good chaser, though. She laughed a little, appreciating his sense of humour and the fact that he tried to lighten the mood. Serena was definitely relieved he was not angry at her for it - that would have been awful. "I'm Serena, by the way. If you want to know the name of your attacker, that is," She introduced herself with a smile on her face as she held out her hand for him to shake. 

Spotting Delilah in the short distance wave towards her, Serena smiled and returned the wave. She looked around and noticed another Hufflepuff had arrived too. He was on the newspaper team with her. They both wrote for the HufflePost, and he had been very keen to write the Quidditch column so it was no surprise that he was here with his pen and paper ready to jot down notes.

Hearing her name being called out, the Hufflepuff looked up behind her to see a girl she recognised instantly, "Bloom!" With a grin on her face, she quickly stood up and returned Bloom's hug, "Thank you, you too missy!" She replied with a smile, "We definitely need to catch up sometime soon" Serena continued. The last time she had met Bloom was a while back. They had met on the second floor, after Serena had managed to foolishly spill hot water onto her hand. Bloom rescued with, with those unwashed hands. It was a while back but... She had a crush on a boy that Serena now knew. Ah how times have changed. A lot had happened since they last met. A catch up seemed necessary. She released her friend from the hug so she could join her fellow Ravenclaw. 

Anatole stared up at the sky, listening in to the Hufflepuff Prefect. It would only be moments before the game began, and Anatole remained anxious, remembering what Aubren and Eris said back at the library. He just hoped nothing too unfortunate would occur.

"Are you hoping to join the Gryffindor team?" Her voice was sweet and exuberant, enticed by the sport, clearly.

Anatole, on the other hand, had little interest in the sport and no interest in ever pursuing it. Athletics were not his forte. "I'll bet you I'm the one Gryffindor who doesn't have the gut instinct to jump in the game." He smiled at her, refusing to sit down yet. "Call it surprising if you might. I'm just weird like that."

They both laughed at the snowball fight; it was certainly an exciting event, and Anatole wished it had lasted longer. "No, no, don't pin the blame on yourself, it was all fun and games!" Was this a common trait in Hufflepuffs? Every one he had ever known seemed to apologise when they did something wrong. "Anatole, by the way, if you ever want to know who you hit," he snickered. "Fun Fact is I didn't lost any brain cells by your snowball! Go team!"

The starting lineups entered, walking across the lines, ready to slaughter each other in a friendly game of Quidditch. Anatole screamed with delight, calling out his house's name, ready for them to take action. Hopefully he would learn what to do from this. "Speaking of 'Go team'," he commented, "they're out!"

Adam jogged up into the stands of the Quidditch Pitch, aware that he was probably running late. Late as always. He sighed and looked for people he knew in the stands, seeing a few familiar faces from around the castle. Bloom was there, Anatole, Serena, James. There was a Ravenclaw girl that he didn't know; in fact, Adam was hit by the realization that he didn't know most of his House. Wasn't he supposed to have connected with them somehow by now? Maybe this was the way to do it.

He heard Anatole cheer Gryffindor's name, and turned to see the players marching onto the field. Adam had never been to a Quidditch game before. His family wasn't that interested in the sport, and whenever Dean had gone over the summer, it had always been with a friend. It made it even better that Adam's first game would be played by people he knew. And, he joked to himself, there's no trouble picking a team to root for. Reaching a row of seats that seemed to be the most populated, he slid into one of the nearby chairs and gave a little wave to his Housemates. His seat was right behind Anatole's, a few down from Bloom and Serena.

"Let's go, Ravenclaw!" he shouted as loud as he could. It felt good to be showing some team spirit.