who's on first

Moving had offered Quill an unexpected opportunity. Did that make everything suddenly better? Of course not, but he wasn't about to go crying over it. It was his goal to make the best of a bad situation and joining the house Quidditch team seemed like a good idea. He'd never bothered back in America. They took it too seriously. But, he did some poking around and it seemed like things were more relaxed around Hogwarts. This appealed to him so he found himself walking to the pitch one evening to hone his skills.

He knew he was a half-decent flyer and had a strong arm. But things are different in practice. Broom and baseball bat under each arm and a bag of baseballs over his back he made his way to the stadium. It was early enough he was sure there wouldn't be anyone there to disturb. If someone showed up it wouldn't be a big deal - he'd just pack it up.

He took a deep breath as he stepped onto the massive pitch. It seemed smaller from the stadium seating. Maybe European pitches were made to be bigger than the American ones. He hopped onto his broom with his bat and immediately felt at ease. He didn't get to fly much at Ilvermorny but here, here he felt he could get more practice in. He pointed his wand down at the bag of balls and muttered the incantation on his breath.

"Alright, let's freakin go." he said to himself as he took the bat in one hand and began to fly towards the floating baseballs. It was the next base thing to bludgers in his opinion.

Jack was hyper-critical of the Beaters. Other captains might not be so concerned, certain their abilities more than made up for it, but Jack wanted to be able to watch her team fly in practice, and it was hard to do so with the Bludgers flying about on a mission to murder her. She wanted someone who could pull their weight, someone she could push to go beyond, to free her up to actually captain the team.

She had no idea how good the American was, but she was willing to try him out. She liked meeting with each person individually. If they could survive a one on one practice with her, they would be invited to a team practice. From there, she’d make her decision. So she hoped he wasn’t wasting her time.

She had stretched but was waiting for Magnolia to get there to actually do any sort of training. While she waited, she polished her broom, trimmed its bristles. It wasn’t anywhere near top of the line, but she was proud of it and wanted to set that example. It was part of the job, after all.

She walked out onto the pitch, trunk full of balls floating behind her as she held her broom. She slowed as she realized Magnolia had already arrived, and was flying around… hitting baseballs? She tilted her head, briefly without words. She leaned against the Gryffindor locker room door with a bemused smile, watching him go for a few minutes before she kicked open the trunk.

She put her fingers to her lips and let out a shrill whistle, before reaching down to undo one of the straps on the struggling Bludger. “Baseballs are nice and all,” she shouted, her voice booming across the empty pitch. “But they’re nothing to these buggars.” She held up a spare Beating bat. “You’ll have to grab one of these - don’t think yours will last long. You better hurry too!”

She released the strap and the Bludger hurtled straight up into the air, and she stepped back, swinging her own bat one handed to let it fly, sending it hurtling in the opposite direction of Quill. She knew, however, it was going to come back. And soon. He didn’t have much time. In fact, he had ten… nine… eight...

Midway through his flight he heard the shrillest of whistles - it nearly knocked him off his broom. He stopped his advance on the charmed baseballs and turned to look. He barely had time to comprehend what was going on before he had a bludger heading straight towards him. Now, if we take a moment to consider the situation he currently has himself in you could understand why it's problematic. You see, the American baseball bat was developed in 1884 by a muggle named John A. Hillerich and are often made out of wood or metal. Regulation bats are designed for the purpose of hitting baseball's ranging across various speeds - not bludgers.

"Oh, shi-" he dropped his broom with the bludger just barely missing him. His baseball bat didn't stand a chance against the thing - it was also his only one. He quickly looked down and eyed the bat that the black-haired girl was holding in her hand. He had no idea who she was but he wasn't about to die on the pitch in front of a pretty girl. He took his broom down quickly to grab the bat before puling up in an attempt to avoid the bludger again.

He felt the wind of it against his back - he was sweating now.

He could hear it's familiar snarling just behind him. He opted to make a loop before circling back and taking a crack at the ball with the small bat.

What the f*ck was that? - he felt the tingle go all the way down his arm. Okay, so baseballs and bludgers were different.

She couldn't say much for his response time. She knew she was cutting it close, that the Bludger would only go away so far before whipping back around and hurtling for him. He hung in the air motionless for a moment and by that time the Bludger was headed his way. With a sigh, she mounted her broom - looked like she was going to have to catch out an unconscious prospective player... again.

But, he dodged the Bludger (barely) and was headed her way. She kicked off, but didn't raise in the air, letting her feet dangle over the pitch as he zoomed towards her. She raised an eyebrow, deciding a look of indifference would do wonders in the fear department. Had to know how he worked under pressure, after all.

Once he took the bat she kicked off, lazily rising through the air while keeping a sharp eye on the prospect. She figured it was time to let him in the know, so once she reached level with the hoops she held her wand to her throat and cast a Sonorous, her voice booming, "Let's see some accuracy now. Aim for the middle hoop - and then aim for me. But be ready for a rebound."