With that, he walked across to the edge of the pitch and sat down on the grass, relieved to finally get a breather. He'd witnessed some superb flying and was ridiculously proud of them all, particularly his sister. He grinned at her as she flew past and treated her to a wink.

He already had a pretty good idea for the choices he would recommend to Madam Hooch, and began making notes on a piece of paper in his spidery handwriting.

After a while, he pocketed the notes and, re-mounting his broom, whizzed back down to the other side of the field where he called for all the Keepers to follow him up to the highest hoop. He grabbed hold of a Quaffle, ignoring the growling of the Bludgers as he came too close.

"Keepers with me. Chasers, Beaters - with Madam Hooch."

Niki zoomed towards Anders. Her broom was hardly top of the line, but it was fast and she was used to it--a Nimbus 1700 was an excellent broom, just not in the same field as a Firebolt. She did a few loops to let off her excitement, then stopped in midair three feet away from the Welsh wizard.

"Can I please not go first?" she said, trying, and failing quite miserably in the attempt, to sound nonchalant.

Jacob spurted forward as well, though he wasn't quite expecting the speed from such an ancient broom. The old broom reluctantly screeched to a stop as he tried to make it go slower. His glasses were nearly falling off his nose, so he pushed them up.

"School brooms." He chuckled lightly to himself, shrugged, and went back to looking serious and grave.

Anders glanced across the field to where Madam Hooch was taking care of the Chasers and Beaters, and turned his attention back to the would-be Keepers.

"Keeper is a very understated position in Quidditch," he said, softly. "A lot of people will tell you it's the cop-out position, see, but it's not. In a lot of ways..."

He threw the Quaffle idly up in the air as he spoke, catching it deftly. Before he'd displayed his talent at diving and had been moved to Seeker, he'd been a Chaser on the Slytherin team back in his school days. "In a lot of ways, the Keeper is probably the most important player on the pitch. They have to be constantly alert - just like the Seeker. The Quaffle can come at you from any angle. From the left, from the right, from above or below - and you have to be

alert."

[OOC: *resists urge to have Anders shout 'CONSTANT VIGILANCE!]

He threw the Quaffle up in the air a few times and grinned at Niki.

"You can go first," he said, pointing at the three hoops. "I'm going to do a Chaser run-up and try to score. You get the fun job of trying to stop me."

He winked at her. He couldn't remember when he'd last enjoyed himself quite so much, despite the fact that he was starting to feel the effects of his physical exertions. He was getting stronger by the day, but was still moderately fragile.

He ignored it, and turned the Meteor Shower away from the hoops, riding the broom to a pre-judged distance.

Then he began his approach. At first, he simply appeared to be heading straight for the goal, but at the last minute, he pointed the broom downwards and reduced height swiftly. He threw the Quaffle towards the middle hoop, his aim accurate.

Niki had been flying in a figure eight around the hoops, not sure which one he was aiming towards. When he began to dive, she went with him, and as the Quaffle soared over her head, she shot backwards towards the hoops.

Turning the broom so that she was almost perpendicular to the ground, she waited, judging her time, and spun the broom so that the twigs at the end hit the Quaffle away, back towards Anders. For one sickening moments, she was hanging on to the broom for dear life as it turned back up, but then she was seated on it again, perfectly comfortable, and grinning at Anders.

Anders caught the Quaffle. "Good save, Niki! Really good!" He beamed at her and ignored the sound of the returning Bludger, which zipped past his ear again.

Definitely a grudge going on there. "Who's next?" he called.

***********

Mahou watched Anders and pulled her hat down lower. She saw the wink and felt her heart fall to her feet. ~*There be no way tha' I ha'e e'en a chance at Seeker now..*~ she said in Elfin. The only word in English spoken was Seeker. Dismounting from her broom, the girl walked over to Madame Hooch.

Upon greeting, Mahou dipped into a formal curtsey before Mme Hooch. "Madame Hooch," she began, "I ken tha' I also said I'd try fer chaser, I believe, as well as Seeker.. but I would like ta withdraw from Chaser." She didn't look Mme Hooch in the eyes. "I was nae very good at Chaser.. nae really good at

anythin'.." She stopped. This was getting her nowhere.

"I jus' want ta say tha' I'll be withdrawing from Chaser tryouts," she said finally. "I donnae mean ta sound.. I dunno.. uppity.. by sayin' tha' all I want ta try fer is Seeker. But none o' th' other positions interest me. If I am no' good enough fer Seeker, it's good ta ken tha' someone else is."

She finally looked up at Mme Hooch, her strange, lime-green eyes glittering oddly. "So sorry.."

With that, Mahou curtsied again and turned away, carrying her broom to the edge of the pitch. She sat on the ground with Blackfoot in her lap, watching the rest of the trials.

~*Well, Blackfoot.. I guess ye an' I will be watchin' a lot o' Quidditch,*~ she said. ~*There be folks better than me at Seeker.. an' I donnae think tha' e'en my enhanced eyes could help.*~ Chuckling a little, Mahou stroked Blackfoot gently, humming a soft tune. (Suil A Ruin)

"Miss Amberstone!" Madame Hooch shouted back at her. "Just because you have seen other students do well does not mean that you won't be Seeker. *And* you have some good flying skills from what I have seen that would give you the ability to make a very good chaser, so you can come back here and

stop moping about like that!"

She did not expect that Mahou would disobey that request. So she carried on talking to the remaining chasers and beaters.

"Right. I want to split you into two teams... Let's see..." She checked the lists for who was going to be left while the others were trying for keeper.

"Carina and Luis can be beaters on team 1, Madison and Morticia team 2. Chasers... Andy, Hal and Kathryn team 1, and Mahou, Sarah, Shinrei and Winifred on team 2. We can assume that Zidane will not be trying for anything else I think."

"Ok I know the teams are not even, but I want you to play your two roles as though this were a real game. I want to see those bludgers flying straight at the chasers and being deflected, and I want to see the chasers diving and weaving past the bludgers and scoring goals. Off you go!"

Mahou jumped at the sudden shout from Mme Hooch. She knew that it sounded like she was being selfish. She didn't want to be. Sitting astride her broom (think side-saddle), the half-elf flew over to Mme Hooch, gracefully dismounting and landing with hardly a sound.

"Tha' no be wha' I mean, Madame Hooch," Mahou explained. Blackfoot half climbed and half jumped up onto Mahou's shoulder. "I only meant tha' me flyin' no' be good enough fer Chaser. I like ta work in a team, aye, but I donnae think tha'.. well.." She stopped. She couldn't very well tell Mme Hooch that she didn't think the others would like very much what she was, should her hat fall off. And.. would she be able to wear a hat at Quidditch matches???

Sighing, she straddled her broom and flew over to the others, knowing no amount of talking could get her out of it. She sat, with Blackfoot on the brush of the broom, waiting to things to start.

~*Why did I no' stay in Ireland?*~ she asked herself softly.. in Elfin of course.

Sarah was ready to begin and looked for Mahou and Winifred to begin as Shinrei was off trying for Keeper.

"Hey buck up Mahou!" said Sarah cheerfully, "Oh, you'd better leave your little fox on the ground - don't want to have to worry about him flying off at velocity do we? Come on this will be fun!"

With that she mounted and flew up for starting position.

After getting on her Rakurai to join those trying out for positions other than Seeker, Shinrei listened quietly to Madam Hooch's instructions and looked around at her classmates getting ready to start the "game."

The teams were not even, anyway, so...She steered her broom towards Madam Hooch and waved her arm to get the teacher's attention.

"Madam Hooch, pardon me, but I believe the teams will be even if I try out for the Keeper position first, as it would be one less Chaser. Would it be all right if I join the Keepers now?"

"Of course. If you are trying for keeper. I completely missed your name on the list for those that were trying out for keeper."

She doubled checked her list again.

Shinrei smiled. She gave the teacher the best bow she could muster while perched on her broom. "Thank you, Madam Hooch."

She waved to her classmates slightly and steered her broom towards the hoops at the end of the field, where Professor Grimalkin was already talking to some of those trying out for Keeper.

Luis watched Shinrei fly off. For the briefest of moments, a wistful look passed through his normally relaxed and unreadable face. He hoped that none of the other players noticed him looking like a lovesick puppy, even if it lasted for barely a second.

He turned his attention to Sarah, who had just spoken to Mahou. "Oh, yes," he said with a smile. "Lots of fun. And that's just saying the very least."

"I guess we'll have to cream you, Sarah. Pity." He winked at her and steered his broom towards his own team.

Morticia smiled grimly, snatched her bat and soared upwards a few feet, then she waited for the others. She grinned at Madison and swung her bat a few times to be sure that she had the feeling for it, then she shot the Chasers of the other team a minxish glance. "Try to stay on your broom," she called

out and giggled, "I won't make it easy, though I promise..."

She moved herself in position and waited for the Bludgers to be released.

Carina, who had been sitting on her broom quietly, went down cautiously in order to pick her bat. She wasn't a lover of diving, though she'd do it if necessary. Giving the bludgers a glance, she flew back up with the bat firmly in her hand.

She would do this. She gave Morticia a look as the girl waved her own bat around in a warm up exercise. So it wouldn't be easy. She could but try. Eyes narrowing in concentration, she waited patiently for the balls to be released.

Arcadia watched very carefully.

Madame Hooch watched the players kick off into position.

"Right, I will release the bludgers now and then throw the quaffle. Ready?"

She did not wait for a response. She carefully opened the box containing the bludgers and unlocked them from their confinement. Both bludgers shot up into the air heading in different directions.

Quickly she threw the Quaffle into the air and blew her whistle as a signal they could start.

*********

Raphael, just moments before, had been on the turf below, a quick glance towards the Chaser and Beater match that was commencing on the other side.

Then - with Anders calling all that had put their names down for Keeper, and with Raphael not sure which took precedence - he had tried to get in the air with his new broom. It wasn't the easiest thing in the world: unlike the broom before, this one just didn't seem to want to do anything.

So, after running attempt number three hadn't worked, he'd decided to climb up the towers, partially, and hung on by one arm with the broom over his shoulders, held on by his left hand.

Trying to wave and cheer to Niki as she'd saved the Quaffle hadn't been the best idea. Raphael had lost his footing, and with no arms to catch himself again, he started falling off the tower...

...and the dive was enough to kick start the reticent broom.

He swooped up to Anders, the broom coughing and spluttering like a smoker in cold weather, and tried to get it to hover. Realising that if he stayed still it lost height, Raphael started doing concentric circles and bobs in mid air, and feeling like he was in a coracle in choppy weather, he shouted across to Anders. "I'll go next... though... I should be here even if I'm trying out for Chaser too, sir...?" he called, questioning.

Jacob looked around at the few others who were trying out for Keeper. He was about to shrug and volunteer to go when Raphael showed up...with something akin to a curious expression, he pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. They kept falling down...perhaps he really ought to figure out a way to make them smaller, as he didn't have nearly enough money to buy new ones.

In those brief moments, he had reached a conclusion. He would wait until this new boy tried out, and _then_ he'd go.

***********

Kat watched the quaffle rise and as the whistle blew she flew straight for the ball. She looked to see where Sarah, Winifred and Mahou were. She grabbed the ball before they got there and flew sharply left headed for the hoops.

On her left Hal was flying away from the beaters. Kat threw the ball at him as she watched the other players start to close in on her position.

Morticia quickly checked the movements of her enemies - Andy, Hal and Kat. Any friendly thoughts she had about them were wiped away by concentration. She zoomed quickly to and fro, dodged a bludger and immediately afterwards hit it so that it sped right towards Kat.

Down at the ground, Nathan watched with interested. "Yay, Tish, knock them off!" he shouted excitedly.

Since the start of the game, Carina had followed her Chasers from about 20 metres from above, them being in possession. As Morticia hit a deathly accurate shot at Kat, she gritted her teeth and swooped down.

Her broom, however, didn't know the meaning of fast, leaving her having to half hang off the front to reach the bludger. However, reach she did, just. Knocking if away in any direction that wasn't Kat, she hauled herself back into a sitting position.

Unable to resist, she looked up at Tish, giving her a look that clearly said 'Nice Try'.

Andy kicked off. He watched the quaffle and waited for the right time to snatch it. Then he saw Morticia aim and strike a bludger at Kat. He flew at Kat and knocked her out of range of the ball. But now it was aiming for him.

Awaiting a horrible pound, Andy closed his eyes and winced. He opened them to find the bludger fly right through him. Literally. It just flew right through his weightless body. His jaw dropped.

After he came back to reality, he smiled and looked around to try and spot where the quaffle was located.

***********

Anders was intent on his work with the Keepers and was therefore not aware that the Chasers and Beaters had started their own practise down the opposite side of the Quidditch pitch.

Not aware, that is, until the Bludger that he had recently whacked happily with the beater homed in him and grumbled angrily at him as he twitched his broom out of its way.

If Bludgers could look annoyed, this one achieved it, pausing in its never ending flight to apparently study the young man before it grumbled off back down the field.

"That ball hates me," said Anders, suspiciously.

Anders was starting to feel the effects of all the racing about and weary for a moment, he called over one of the students and threw the Quaffle. "Keep on with the practise," he said. "I'm going down to the ground for a bit. Need to take a breather."

He swooped the Meteor Shower to the ground and dismounted. As he was walking to Madam Hooch, he kept his eyes on the students in the air.

So deep in concentration was he that he didn't notice the approaching Bludger until it had hit him full on in the stomach, winding him and knocking him over backwards.

As he lay on the grass staring up at the sky, trying to get his breath back, he swore that the constant grumbling of the Bludger had changed as it sped off, obviously content in the satisfaction of a job well done. It sounded very much to Anders like it was sniggering.

Nathaniel watched quietly as Madame Hooch let the Bludgers and the Quaffle out of their cages. The Bludgers were slightly more restrained in their cage with him standing close.

The Quaffle sang on different notes to the Bludgers, he noted absently; and it was a strange thing to admit to himself when he knew that no one else heard them. At all.

If he stopped paying attention he could almost track the progress of the practise just by the subtle feed of information from the semi-sentient balls in the back of his mind.

Nathaniel was content to stand and half watch, half hear the progress of the game. Until the Bludger knocked Anders over when he wasn't even on a broomstick.

Then his green eyes snapped with anger and he clapped his hands together sharply. In the back of his mind, he caught the thread of awareness that was that Bludger and drew it in sharply.

The Bludger came to him almost sheepishly, and Nathaniel glared hard at it. "When they're on the brooms. When they're on the brooms. You know this better than I."

The Bludger whimpered like a kicked puppy under the onslaught of his rage, and Nathaniel relented.

"Don't let me catch you doing it again." He warned, and released the Bludger. It sped off back to join the practise.

"Are you alright, sir?" Nathaniel hurried over to see if Anders needed assistance.

Nimue couldn't just sit in the stands with Anders being knocked over. She knew that his health was still quite fragile.

"I'm going to make sure he's OK..." she said to Marvo and the others and moved with considerable speed down onto the side of the field where Anders was lying.

Marvo smiles as he watched Nimue 'skip' down to the field. He was sure Anders was unhurt, but didn't want to spoil 'Lizzy's' excuse to go down to see him.

Nimue was glad to see Nathaniel was already next to Anders. Everyone else seemed absorbed by the trials. She smiled at Nathaniel and crouched down beside Anders and waited for him to respond to them.

***********

Jian had directed his broom over to the hoops were those trying out for Keeper were gathered. This was

the position which, as far as he knew, had the fewest number of aspirants. He wondered why.

He knew Shinrei was trying out for Keeper. He had seen her name on the notice board when he signed up during the weekend. Now, he thought about backing down, to stay away from her after what happened at the broomshed, to sort out his own thoughts, but it was a very impolite thing to do. Therefore he joined the group and, just as he had done when he was with the Seekers, stayed as far back as possible.

When the Quidditch coach decided to take a break, he tried to sit as nonchalantly on the broom as he could, without trying to draw any attention. He allowed himself to look at the others trying out for Keeper, giving each a very polite, very serious nod, his face and his movements giving away nothing.

He wondered what they would be doing next.

Niki gave Jian a very strange look. Granted, she had already had her chance...she was most relieved that she had been able to keep the Quaffle out of the hoops.

But why was this bald boy staring at her--and everyone else? She urged her broom somewhat closer, until she was only a few feet away from him.

"Afternoon." It wasn't precisely a greeting, but she wanted to make conversation, and this was obvious in the slightly wary smile she gave him.

Jian wasn't at first sure that the girl had spoken to him. A swift glance at his surroundings, however, showed that there was no one else within good hearing distance of her. He looked at the girl. Slytherin.

One of his more enthusiastic classmates during the Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson.

"Good afternoon." Jian searched his memory for her name but came up with nothing. He was only acquainted with the Gryffindors, and most of them he knew were Fourth Years. And those kind second year Hufflepuffs.

He lowered his head respectfully. "Jian Hupi, from the Mian-Ju-Tao Northern Order of China. It is an honour to meet you, Miss."

"I'm Nicola Pheidippides. It's a pleasure to meet you too...since you're Chinese, your given name is Hupi, then?"

Niki knew something about other cultures, wizarding or not, because of her father. Before his death in June, he had been the Greek ambassador to Morocco, then to Great Britain, and she had had countless state dinners inflicted on her from a young age.

Jacob looked at the hoops, pale green eyes dancing. An odd sort of smile flitted across his face as he stared at them, and then he returned his attention to the grip on his broom.

Carefully, he released one hand, then the other. Firmly ordering the broom not to try any tricks (it was so old anyway, it probably wouldn't have), he took off his glasses and wiped them off on the front of his robes.

Jian was momentarily distracted by the thin boy hovering nearby, who was doing quite an amazing

balancing feat on his broom while wiping his oversized glasses.

He turned back to the girl, Nicola. "In my first few days at Hogwarts, I have introduced myself as Hupi

Jian, but I have since changed to the Western way of saying names. My given name is Jian. My family name is Hupi, originally of Taiyuan. Farmers by trade."

He decided he had explained enough about himself. "So you are Greek, yes? Is Quidditch also a popular wizard sport in your country, Miss? In Asia, it is no so much so as in Europe. The people prefer more...martial amusements. Lion battles and kempo."

"My father is--was--Greek, but my mother was Moroccan, and I grew up in Morocco," Niki explained. "They're both..." An expression of pain crossed her face and she squeezed her broomstick slightly tighter than she should have; it bobbed alarmingly. "I live with my grandmother in Greece in the summers now."

"Quidditch is very popular there. I'm somewhat surprised to see that you're here...of the Chinese wizards I've met, and there aren't very many of them, and they were all boring old men, they seemed quite uninterested in Quidditch. If you'd rather do other sorts of sports, I'd suggest you talk to Dylan Rhydderch. He's a Gryffindor like yourself."

"A scholarship from my Order is the reason why I am here," Jian said. "My uncle Xian was also a student of Hogwarts, fifty years ago."

"Yes, I have met Dylan," he replied with more enthusiasm, at the mention of his new friend. "We are in the same dormitory and I will be teaching him kempo. Chinese boxing. He does not like Quidditch, yes, but it is all right with me."

He could not help but note a certain change in her tone as Niki mentioned Dylan's name. Something like warmth. He was only beginning to understand such things, but he knew //there// was a change in her tone. Feeling slightly flustered, he asked: "You and Dylan are friends, Miss?"

Niki shrugged a little. "I suppose you could say that...I've not talked to him much since term started." Much, Niki? Try not at all...he's been avoiding you, or you've been avoiding him, or both. "But yes, we are friends. I'm glad you're teaching him. I've tried to get him interested in Quidditch, but I'm afraid it's a lost cause."

She sighed to herself, then looked down at her broomstick, which was a little scuffed in places. Broom polish...next time she was in Hogsmeade, she would get some broom polish. "Actually, Jian...? I expect you'll see him before I do, but if you do, could you tell Dylan that I'm looking for him?"

"Of course," Jian said. "I shall tell him so the moment I go back to our dormitory. He is there, I think, yes. He said he is not attending the trials."

"Thank you," Niki said. "That's very nice of you." She cast around for something to change the subject to... "Are you liking Hogwarts so far? I went to school in Morocco before I started here, and I like Hogwarts a good deal more, except that it's too cold..."

Jian thought for a moment, glancing around at random people flying about and at several groups of people on the ground.

"Hogwarts is...very different, Miss," he finally answered. "More young people and from different cultures. My uncle told me to expect the unexpected, and he is correct."

The thing Jian had not prepared himself for was a certain someone who refused to leave his thoughts since the day he arrived in Europe. But he did not want Niki, Dylan or anybody else to know that.

"Attending Hogwarts is a very great honour for me, all in all," he added. And with his "real" duties, too, while he was it. "It is a very rare opportunity for youth like myself in the East."

The first step of a relationship to any other human being (and to several non-human beings, as well) is the discovery of shared experiences. "Which of the optional classes are you taking?" Niki asked. "I take Astronomy, Runes, Duelling, Arithmancy, and Magical Languages...I'm very excited about the language course. It wasn't here last year."

Niki hoped that Greek would be one of the options in the language class. Her grandmother kept threatening to take her out of Hogwarts and have her live in Greece, with tutors until her marks were good enough for her to be accepted at the Greek Skoli Magika.

"I am also taking the Magical Languages course, with Ancient Runes" Jian replied. "I have Divination and Astronomy, and Myth and Folklore. We at Mian-Ju-Tao have been taught to read the stars and continually learn about other cultures and languages, so my choices were made easily enough."

He looked at the three Quidditch hoops and the few students who were trying out for Keeper. "I still have not tried out for Keeper," he said. "Do we have to wait for the Quidditch coach to return, Miss?"

"Anders, you mean? His was our Defence Against the Dark Arts professor last year, but there was some...unpleasantness. I don't know precisely what. Anyway, he was in..." She paused, and shivered slightly. "He was in Azkaban, and he's still not feeling 100%, I suppose. I think he has to be watching you for you to be really trying out, but I'm sure you're allowed to toss the Quaffle around. Jacob is..."

Raphael wouldn't let his disappointment show when Anders turned his back at his question and flew off. He wasn't on the team that was obvious by the coach's apparent intentional inability to hear him.

An angry fire started growing in Raphael. Looking at Jacob, Niki and Jian, Raphael motioned that one of them should go to score in the hoops.