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Hogwarts Story: Part 8
Had another long day, though not nearly as long as the 38 and a half hours that was, loosely termed, "yesterday." Went out and saw the Potter thing, it was pretty good (ok, it was pretty fricken awesome, especially in huge-ass Imax), but I was still vaguely disappointed. There were exactly two and only two things from the book that I really hoped would make the cut. These were:
1. Mad Eye bellowing "Constant Vigilance!" and
2. The bit from the end when Sirius shows himself in the hospital to the amazement of all.
In truth, I never thought the second would make the cut - and I was right, since the entire extended scene was cut - but I really had thought I had like a 95% chance at that first one, and was highly dissatisfied that it wasn't in there. I know, I know, these are true fan girl complaints. And aside from that stuff, I really did enjoy it. But I am a fan girl. What can I say. :)
Anyway, after that saw some friends from undergrad for dinner, which was really nice. Had yummy yummy steak, which was spiffy.
Ultimately, though, who cares about that stuff? On to the writing!! ;) I'll keep posting for as far into the week as I can, but I can't deny that it's gonna get harder the longer I'm gone, cause after I leave my mom's house there will be other places I'll be where computers are less accessible.
Shaking my head in wonder at the now reinforced forcible termination of my chosen seclusion, I return to the waiting new students. Celestine had returned, and as I approached she, Eileen and Galatea were talking quietly with Lycia.
“I’m very sorry about that,” I interjected into a lull in the conversation as I returned. “As I was saying, if you need anything at all, please let me know. I’d be happy to fill you in on any rules, events, or what have you. If I don’t know the answer, I’ll go look it up, that sort of thing. Also, if any of you are interested in Quidditch…” I looked around hopefully, but this comment elicited no particular emotional response, and I worked to contain a disappointed sigh. “...tryouts will be tomorrow afternoon. If you are interested, report to the Quidditch pitch, and we can talk about how that will work.”
With that, I led the students to the Ravenclaw dormitory, where I showed them where they would be sleeping, answered the random questions that came my way, and all around probably spoke more in that one evening than I had outside of class in almost my entire time at Hogwarts.
The next day dawned clear and bright, and I realized with a peculiar shock that I was actually a bit excited about the tryouts that day. Though I feared an unenthusiastic turnout, I enjoyed playing Quidditch personally, and hoped that I might be able to put together at least a serviceable team. In all honesty, I fielded little to no hope of being able to construct a team with any chance of actually winning. That said, though, I did hold out hope that at least we could get out on the field, have some fun, maybe score at least a few points. Basically, I held out hope that we could avoid utter humiliation.
When I arrived at the Quidditch pitch about an hour before the tryouts were set to begin, there was no else there yet but for Professor Lestrange. I never did figure out why it was that the Professor was in charge of affairs related to Quidditch, though I wondered from time to time, for she seemed to hold no particular love for the sport. Ultimately, I concluded that her interest derived from the simple fact that house points could be gained from playing, which meant it was important to put her house in as favorable a position as she could.
Over the course of the next hour, I watched the other captains arrive, followed by players from the various houses, carrying broomsticks, all look nervous and hopeful. As players from each house arrived, a hubbub of conversation began to develop as the captains worked to assess the interests and skill of all of the potential players to what extent they could without actually watching them fly. At least, that was what the captains from Hufflepuff, Slytherin, and Gryffindor were doing. I, on the other hand, was doing nothing, because not a single Ravenclaw had come to the tryouts. As the hour of the start approached, I was starting to feel just a little bit sick, terribly worried that, rather than avoiding humiliation for Ravenclaw, I was about to see it heaped on in large quantities.
Realizing, perhaps, the predicament I was in, Professor Lestrange approached me about 5 minutes before the start of the flying test. “Miss Prince,” she said smugly, her nose slightly turned up in my face, “I see that no one from Ravenclaw has chosen to attend this event.”
“Yes, Professor,” I lamented quietly. “I don’t really know what to do.”
“Miss Prince, Ravenclaw must field a team. You will go now into the school and round up whoever you can, and they will tryout. Even if you can find no one suitable, you will name people to the positions. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Professor,” and, nodding to herself, Professor Lestrange moved over to the other captains to fill them in on the details of the upcoming tryouts. Putting my things aside, I got up and hurried to the school. I felt vaguely sick, hoping against hope that I could scare up someone to come fly. I couldn’t decide for the life of me which would be more embarrassing – to have nobody try out at all, or to have the people I could find make a pathetic showing. In my heart, I couldn’t escape the feeling that both would be mortifying in their own way. While I didn’t care for my own sake, I felt terrible that whichever poor students I could round up would basically be forced to fly regardless of their skills, desires, or other constraints.
1. Mad Eye bellowing "Constant Vigilance!" and
2. The bit from the end when Sirius shows himself in the hospital to the amazement of all.
In truth, I never thought the second would make the cut - and I was right, since the entire extended scene was cut - but I really had thought I had like a 95% chance at that first one, and was highly dissatisfied that it wasn't in there. I know, I know, these are true fan girl complaints. And aside from that stuff, I really did enjoy it. But I am a fan girl. What can I say. :)
Anyway, after that saw some friends from undergrad for dinner, which was really nice. Had yummy yummy steak, which was spiffy.
Ultimately, though, who cares about that stuff? On to the writing!! ;) I'll keep posting for as far into the week as I can, but I can't deny that it's gonna get harder the longer I'm gone, cause after I leave my mom's house there will be other places I'll be where computers are less accessible.
Shaking my head in wonder at the now reinforced forcible termination of my chosen seclusion, I return to the waiting new students. Celestine had returned, and as I approached she, Eileen and Galatea were talking quietly with Lycia.
“I’m very sorry about that,” I interjected into a lull in the conversation as I returned. “As I was saying, if you need anything at all, please let me know. I’d be happy to fill you in on any rules, events, or what have you. If I don’t know the answer, I’ll go look it up, that sort of thing. Also, if any of you are interested in Quidditch…” I looked around hopefully, but this comment elicited no particular emotional response, and I worked to contain a disappointed sigh. “...tryouts will be tomorrow afternoon. If you are interested, report to the Quidditch pitch, and we can talk about how that will work.”
With that, I led the students to the Ravenclaw dormitory, where I showed them where they would be sleeping, answered the random questions that came my way, and all around probably spoke more in that one evening than I had outside of class in almost my entire time at Hogwarts.
The next day dawned clear and bright, and I realized with a peculiar shock that I was actually a bit excited about the tryouts that day. Though I feared an unenthusiastic turnout, I enjoyed playing Quidditch personally, and hoped that I might be able to put together at least a serviceable team. In all honesty, I fielded little to no hope of being able to construct a team with any chance of actually winning. That said, though, I did hold out hope that at least we could get out on the field, have some fun, maybe score at least a few points. Basically, I held out hope that we could avoid utter humiliation.
When I arrived at the Quidditch pitch about an hour before the tryouts were set to begin, there was no else there yet but for Professor Lestrange. I never did figure out why it was that the Professor was in charge of affairs related to Quidditch, though I wondered from time to time, for she seemed to hold no particular love for the sport. Ultimately, I concluded that her interest derived from the simple fact that house points could be gained from playing, which meant it was important to put her house in as favorable a position as she could.
Over the course of the next hour, I watched the other captains arrive, followed by players from the various houses, carrying broomsticks, all look nervous and hopeful. As players from each house arrived, a hubbub of conversation began to develop as the captains worked to assess the interests and skill of all of the potential players to what extent they could without actually watching them fly. At least, that was what the captains from Hufflepuff, Slytherin, and Gryffindor were doing. I, on the other hand, was doing nothing, because not a single Ravenclaw had come to the tryouts. As the hour of the start approached, I was starting to feel just a little bit sick, terribly worried that, rather than avoiding humiliation for Ravenclaw, I was about to see it heaped on in large quantities.
Realizing, perhaps, the predicament I was in, Professor Lestrange approached me about 5 minutes before the start of the flying test. “Miss Prince,” she said smugly, her nose slightly turned up in my face, “I see that no one from Ravenclaw has chosen to attend this event.”
“Yes, Professor,” I lamented quietly. “I don’t really know what to do.”
“Miss Prince, Ravenclaw must field a team. You will go now into the school and round up whoever you can, and they will tryout. Even if you can find no one suitable, you will name people to the positions. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Professor,” and, nodding to herself, Professor Lestrange moved over to the other captains to fill them in on the details of the upcoming tryouts. Putting my things aside, I got up and hurried to the school. I felt vaguely sick, hoping against hope that I could scare up someone to come fly. I couldn’t decide for the life of me which would be more embarrassing – to have nobody try out at all, or to have the people I could find make a pathetic showing. In my heart, I couldn’t escape the feeling that both would be mortifying in their own way. While I didn’t care for my own sake, I felt terrible that whichever poor students I could round up would basically be forced to fly regardless of their skills, desires, or other constraints.