So about that dinner...

Still hot! And delicious.

Excellent.

It is a rather good dinner.

Sadly, three in the afternoon Saturday - Ellie's Quidditch tryout - slides around rather soon.

Anathema's still up for accompanying her.

Here goes nothing.

There's six Ravenclaws - including Sam Hayes - there already, all older than her. Sam waves when Ellie approaches.

Six... Quidditch team is seven? So that'd be the vacancy, with no backups. Guess that's why Flitwick was so eager.

"Hello."

"Hey," Sam says. "Glad you could make it."

"Yeah. Here I am."

"Who's your friend?"

"Anathema Canta. Anathema, Sam Hayes, captain."

"Hey!" Anathema says, brightly. "I'm here to cheer Ellie on. Though I wouldn't mind trying out too?"

Sam considers her. "First year?" she asks.

Anathema nods. "Yeah. But I'm good at flying, just like Ellie."

The captain hums. "Well, we have the practice broom, and we're still down a reserve, which is a miserable way to run a season. Professor Flitwick probably won't clear two first years, but, sure, you can try out."

Anathema grins. "Cool!"

Sam shrugs. "Okay, so, what do you know about Quidditch?" That she mostly directs at Ellie.

"Two teams, seven players each. Three Chasers, two Beaters, one Keeper, one Seeker. Chasers try to put the quaffle through the hoops, keeper tries to guard them. Beaters herd the bludgers at the opposing team and away from their own. Seeker tries to catch the Snitch."

She did a bit of research.

Sam smiles. "Very good. There's also a reservist, who can step in for any position if someone's sick or injured - including during the game - but most game guides don't really mention them."

"The position you're trying out for is Seeker. Seekers are important 'cause the game ends or goes into overtime when the Snitch is caught - basic idea is, Chasers get the quaffle through the hoop, that's ten points. Earning points with the Chasers can be a bit slow if the opposing team's on their game, because the quaffle's reset to the center after each score. Catching the Snitch gets the team who caught it thirty points - and, if the catcher's team ends up ahead with those thirty points, the game ends. If the catcher's team is still behind or tied even with those thirty points, then we go into overtime, and a point goal gets set at the highest current score plus thirty, and game ends when a team hits that."

"The Snitch is a tiny little golden ball that flies quickly and erratically, released five minutes before the start of the game. But it stays within the pitch - and so should you, both because going out of bounds gets our team a penalty and because only the pitch itself has an anti-fall charm. You'll be trying out with a practice Snitch, which can go as slow or fast as I want it to, and with a sports broom." She gestures to the one of the brooms that's hovering unattended. "School doesn't allow players to bring their own brooms, so all practices and games are played on school brooms set aside for official Quidditch matches."

"All right."

She nods. "We won't have you trying out with bludgers, and I want you to make a few loops on the sports broom before I release the Snitch. Sound good?"

"Sure." She heads to the broom.

It looks a lot newer and in better condition than the school brooms they use for class. It leaps pretty eagerly into her hand. 

Ooh. She likes this.

"Go ahead and take it for a spin," Sam says. "I'll let you know when I've released the Snitch."

She mounts up and takes off, getting a feel for acceleration and turning radius.

The turn radius is pretty tight, even at speed - which she can get up really high, and what would've gotten her a sluggish acceleration out of the class broom sends this one rocketing forward. 

Very nice, very nice. She climbs and descends, hovers and loops, takes a lap or two.

Sam lets her get used to the broom for a bit before calling out,  "I released the Snitch!"

Time for Snitch hunting.

If Ellie were a small golden ball with wings, where would she fly...?