The thrill of the game

Dressed in a white t-shirt and dark washed jeans, his broom in his hand Kole sauntered down the stairs from the Gryffindor tower and out of the castle. The sun was warm on his face, bringing a smile of anticipation to his face. He couldn't wait to make it to the quidditch pitch before climbing onto his broom kicking off the ground. Leaning forward he picked up speed, the feel of the wind in his hair exhilarating.
As Kole soared higher and higher, he couldn't help but feel free and alive. The view from above was breathtaking, the Hogwarts castle and its surrounding landscape looked like miniature models below him. The sound of the wind rushing past his ears and the feel of the broom beneath him was like nothing else he had ever experienced.
Kole had always been a skilled flyer, but today he was determined to push himself further than ever before. He performed loops and dives, feeling the adrenaline rush through his veins.

Luke had been in the common room, when he heard someone mention that Kole, one of his teammates, had gone downstairs with a broom, presumably for some practice. Extra Quidditch was always good in Luke's mind, plus Kole was a Chaser so the two of them matched up great for practice. As much as cursing balls to fly at you did work, nothing beat having some come flying down the pitch as you tried to read their body movement and predict how they'll try to get the quaffle past you.

Luke legged it upstairs, grabbed his own brown and quickly changed. If Kole was out, he would be too. He made his way down to the pitch, barely looking where he was going as he was reminding himself of some of the latest strategies he'd been reading up on, how to predict a chasers direction and top tips to save goals from any direction.

As he got to the pitch, he didn't see Kole at first. He jumped on his broom and circled around the pitch, giving himself a bit of a warm-up as he looked. Then he saw someone diving further down the pitch, Luke sped up, looped around the goal posts and back towards the centre, hoping to catch up to Kole when he was at the bottom of his dive.

"Nice one!" he yelled towards the boy, hoping Kole heard, giving him a grin and a thumbs up, in case he didn't hear him. Kole was great at diving, which was necessary for being a chaser. Luke could dive, but his talents definitely lay as a Keeper. The coordination, ability to predict what chasers were doing, the quick changes of direction and holding onto your broom from all angles - those were his skills.

It was a completely different skillset for each member of the team, non Quidditch players never seemed to get it. They just saw it all as sports, but it was so much more complex than that. He'd spent hours going over strategy with the team, at least those who would put up with it. Even his family, though they stuck to football, they were intrigued by the magical game and let Luke go on for hours about it.

"Want to get the quaffle out?" he asked, again with his voice raised, thinking some extra chaser-keeper practice was always a good thing.

Kole had been deeply immersed in practicing his flying maneuvers on the Quidditch pitch, when suddenly he heard Luke's yell and saw him giving him a thumbs up. "Hey, Thanks!" Kole called back, appreciating the encouragement.

Luke responded with a question of his own, "Why not?" Kole smiled, feeling grateful for the older boy's support. As he landed his broom, Luke headed towards the equipment area and pulled out the largest of the four balls, which was red and slightly misshapen.

"Where would you like me to start?" Kole asked, eager to improve his skills under Luke's guidance.

Luke was glad Kole was up for some bonus practice, the younger boy had joined the team this year and the two generally got on well. There was a definite mixture on the Gryffindor team, some lived and breathed Quidditch like Luke, some just treated it as a fun hobby on the side. He couldn't complain too much though really, everyone on the team was pretty good.

He looked around the pitch, at the weather, deciding on the best play for the two of them right now, he had been looking up a few strategies beforehand but didn't have a clear plan in mind. He had been trying to improve and get better at that side of things, as he wanted to be captain next year after Jack graduated. He needed to not only be a great player, but to bring out the best in everyone else, as well as come up with the best strategies and plays.

"I'll go up to the goals this end. Head towards the centre than come at me with whatever - straight on throws, circle around, whatever you want to practice and try to score in any way. I need to get better at predicting chasers moves." Luke suggested, he wanted some general practice against a real chaser as a lot of his recent ones were against cursed balls. Plus Kole could work on anything he wanted really that way, as Luke wasn't sure if Kole had anything more specific he wanted to work on.

Kane nodded to show he understood his instructions. Tossing one leg over his broomand kicking off of the ground. He flew over to the center of the field before turning to face Luke.
Once Luke was in place in front of the three rings at the end of the field. Kole flew toward him the quaffle tucked under his arm. As Kole approached Luke, he leaned forward on his broomstick, his eyes fixed on the three rings at the end of the field. With the wind rushing past his face, he steadied his grip on the quaffle tucked securely under his arm.
As he got closer to the rings, Kole spotted an opening between two of the hoops. With a flick of his wrist, he sent the quaffle soaring towards the gap. It spun through the air, picking up speed as it flew closer and closer to the target.
With just seconds to spare, Kole angled his broomstick sharply to the left, causing the quaffle to curve in mid-air towards the right hoop. It was a risky move.

Luke zoomed up to the posts and pulled himself around, locking his eyes on his opponent. It was different in practice than in a game. He would do everything possible to stop the quaffle, but if Kole scored he'd also be happy. It really was a win-win in his mind.

He watched Kole approach him, picking up on where his eyes darted, wondering what was going through his mind. He hopped back and forth between the goals, liking to be in constant motion.

The quaffle soared towards two of the hoops, which Luke of course followed. Then suddenly Kole switched it up and knocked it back. Luke managed to quickly swing his broom back, knocking the ball away from the goal. Unfortunately for him, he hit it back to very close to where Kole was, as he hadn't managed to aim it. So while a good save, it definitely wasn't the position you'd want to be in - in a game with other chasers that would almost definitely cost him the goal. He moved back around, trying to focus on Kole again for the inevitable next shot.

Kole couldn't help but let out a whoop of joy as Luke expertly deflected the Quaffle away from their team's goal hoops. But his jubilation was short-lived as he saw the Quaffle now hurtling towards him. With lightning-fast reflexes, Kole reached out to grab the ball, holding it tight under his arm.
"Nice one, Luke!" Kole yelled as he scanned the pitch for his next move. He watched as Luke flew towards him, his eyes scanning the field for any sign of danger. After a moment, Kole leaned forward on his broomstick and launched himself towards Luke, his heart pounding with excitement.
As he closed in on Luke, Kole made a quick feint to the left before juking right. With a clear path to the goal hoops, Kole took a deep breath and lined up his shot. He could feel the wind rushing through his hair as he soared higher and higher, the Quaffle cradled under his arm.
He gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on the Quaffle, preparing to make the shot of a lifetime. With a fierce determination, he let go of the ball, sending it hurtling towards the middle hoop.

Luke circled around the posts to get back into position as he knew another shot was coming his way. He heard Kole yell at him and responded in kind, "You too Kole!".

He was back in front of the goals, with Kole heading his way again. He watched closely as the boy approached him. They had been on the team and practiced together many times this year, so Luke had learnt a few of Kole's moves, but at the same time Kole had gotten good at predicting what Luke would do.

Luke hesitantly followed Kole back and forth as he moved, then suddenly the qwaffle was heading towards the middle hoop. Luke reached out to stop it, but the qwaffle grazed the tips of his gloves and flew through the goal.

Annoyed, yet happy for Kole, he dived to grab the qwaffle.

"Great shot Kole, grab this!" he said throwing the qwaffle further down the pitch, giving Kole some catching practice, plus a minute for Luke to get himself reoriented.

“Thanks, You almost had it.” Kole beamed at Luke before racing to catch the ball he had thrown at him. With the quaffle in hand lookedd turned and decided on his next move.

Kole scanned the field, looking for an opportunity to score against Luke who was guarding the goals. He saw an opening and darted toward the opposing team's hoops with the quaffle in his hands.

As he approached the goals, Kole feinted left and then quickly shifted right, hoping to catch Luke off guard. However, Luke was quick to react, diving to his left and extending his arm to block Kole's shot.

Luke kept his eyes locked on Kole and moved side to side following him as the boy came zooming down back the pitch towards him.

Kole did a very similar move to the earlier feint, so Luke was on top of it more this time. He immediately mirrored his moves and threw his arm out, managing to properly catch the qwaffle for the first time that session.

"Try feinting the other way too, you don't want to risk the other team learning your moves. Keep them on their toes!" Luke suggested. He had been starting to try and help the others on the team more and not just improving his own skills. If he wanted to be captain next year, which he did, he needed to think of the team as a whole as well as each individual player and how they all worked together to become a great team.