Catch The Snitch

Ryan stood in the pitch, adjusting his gear as he waited for the rest of the team to gather. While he was rather quiet, he was sure his team had learned quiet did not mean submissive. He just didn't see the point in raising his voice. His father had taught him that was a weakness rather than a show of strength. He looked to see if any of the team members had arrived yet, wondering who all would make it. He didn't force people to come to practice, but people were usually eager to play and showed up, but there was always a chance that wouldn't be the case.

He held his broom, looking around the pitch, glad he was able to secure it for them today. It was sometimes hard to get it between Laguna and Evelyn, but he also was one to push for quality not quantity- basically make what time they did get count.

Whenever people did arrive, Ryan took a deep breath before he began, "Alright. I managed to get the pitch for the afternoon, so we won't have to worry about the others interrupting us, unlike last year whenever just assumed we'd be nice and give them the field. I think my the end of the season, we finally got it across that's not how that's going to work. No matter how good we do, everyone always underestimates us because of our house. I would like to keep trying to teach them that's a poor decision," he smirked a little and shrugged, "To help with this, I asked Professor Morris for some advice seeing as he was famous for playing the game once."

"Before we get started on some drills, does anyone have any questions they want to ask of me or anyone else? Anything anyone wants to share? I want us to work as a well-oiled machine, as the muggles say," he smirked at his own Muggle-born lineage, "To work together well, we need to know enough about one another to trust each other and be able to anticipate each other's moves," he explained more clearly, "That involves talking to each other, helping each other during the day, and watching each other's backs. We need to be comfortable with each other. All that to say, being comfortable enough to share things with each other is a start. I can give an example if no one's comfortable with starting," he offered.

Anwen always looked forward to quidditch practice. It was one of her favorite things, besides dance, it was her favorite. The feeling of the wind in her hair as she flew around the pitch, the energy rush she got when the snitch was within reach. The whole game in itself was just an amazing experience. So when Ryan said they had practice on the pitch, she was overly excited. As the time got closer, she started pacing, and as soon as she could, she made her way down to the pitch.

Upon arriving, she stood near the front and focused on Ryan. He was telling them they had the pitch, and it turned into a motivating speech about how they were better than they were given credit for. The underdogs of the school, always underestimated and overlooked. It just meant that they could come in under the radar and take the win for themselves.

At the end of the whole thing, he was saying they should all basically be friends and hang out even outside of the quidditch. Sure, that made sense. But he also requested they talk about themselves. She sort of recoiled back as if she'd been bitten. Playing quidditch was fun, but sharing things about herself, not so much. She wasn't the most outgoing girl on the team and she found it difficult to sometimes talk to other people. So she didn't say peep when he asked if someone wanted to start. she did not want to start.

Quidditch practice was the one thing Leo looked forward to the most.

The captain, Ryan, and their Seeker, Anwen, were already there when he arrived at the pitch. He waved at them and nodded his head in a quick, informal bow, his pastel pink mash cut hair bouncing a little with the movement. Though their Quidditch uniforms were the same, his broom stood out: it was of a different model, one that was preferred by Mahoutokoro students due to it being exceptionally light and agile, albeit a touch slower than the models favoured by Hogwarts students.

Soon after, the rest of the team arrived, and Ryan began his briefing. As usual, Leo hung around at the side of the group, an inconspicuous presence. Here, he was near enough to the front to catch their captain’s words, and he also had a good view of his teammates.

Ryan began his speech by addressing how everyone saw the Hufflepuff team, and Leo watched as some of the players nodded their heads in agreement. So what if their house wasn’t the ‘cool’ one? They were a good team – Leo knew that – but being good wasn’t enough. They had to believe in themselves and their fellow teammates in order to truly shine.

Abruptly, the elevated mood dipped a little when Ryan suddenly asked the team to open up and share something about themselves with each other. Leo suppressed a smile. Shying away from the spotlight was such a Hufflepuff response, and even he had to admit that he didn’t like putting himself out there to be scrutinised by others. Nobody wanted to go first, and all seemed keen to let Ryan make good his promise to get the ball rolling.

Maybe it was Leo’s time to step up.

“Ano…” he began hesitantly, buying time for himself to think while the murmuring died down. His mind raced as he tried to come up with something interesting enough about him that most people didn’t yet know, but was still safe enough for him to not mind revealing. He was still drawing a blank, but increasingly he could feel the eyes on him, and he knew he shouldn’t keep everyone waiting any longer.

He’d just have to wing it, like he always did.

Taking a deep breath to steady his nerves, he introduced himself to his teammates with a bright smile. “Hello everyone,” he said in a loud and clear voice, with his distinctively Japanese accent. “I am Leo Sakurai. I’m one of the newest players on the team, because I only joined last year as a Chaser.” He swept his gaze across his fellow teammates, but instead of meeting their eyes, he was focusing on their philtra – the groove between the upper lip and the nose. To them, it would seem like he was making eye contact, but in reality he was just faking it so he wouldn’t feel pressurised by all the eyes stating at him.

That technique worked, and it helped him remain calm enough to settle on what he’d talk about. “I’m not sure if everyone knows this, but my magic is quite weak. But I know a little trick.” With that, he closed his eyes and focused… and gradually his facial features began to shift, and his hair darkened into a dirty blond. And in a matter of moments, he had completely transformed himself into the splitting image of Ryan.

He maintained his new appearance for a few seconds, before quickly reverting back to his original form and turning to Ryan. “I’m sorry, Captain,” he apologised, hoping he hadn’t offended Ryan. “I hope you didn’t mind me doing that without asking for permission first.”