The thrill of the game

Kole nodded in understanding, his eyes locked on the ball as it was tossed back to him. He smoothly reset his position in the center of the field, his body tense with anticipation. With a sudden burst of energy, Kole launched himself into the air, soaring higher and higher as he headed towards the right goal.

As he approached the goal, Kole twisted his body, his eyes focused on Luke who was now frantically trying to keep up with his opponent's quick movements. With a swift turn towards the left, Kole hurled the ball with precision towards the center goal, all while keeping a watchful eye on Luke's position.

As the ball soared through the air, Kole's heart raced with excitement. He glanced over his shoulder, watching intently as the ball hurtled towards the center goal. With a satisfied grin, he knew he had made a good shot.

Luke watched Kole as he caught the ball and headed towards him, slightly quicker than Luke had been expecting though so he didn't have quite as much time to react as he would have liked.

Given his previous comment, Luke assumed that Kole probably wasn't going to go left again. So centre or right, centre or right, those thoughts were running through his head as Kole was getting closer. These split second decisions was one of the most challenging, yet one of the most exciting parts of bring a Keeper. Luke was buzzing with excitement, this is what he lived for.

Kole was slightly leaning right, but Luke wasn't sure if he was doing a double feint or if he was actually going right. A complete guess, but Luke veered right, right as the qwaffle came full force at the centre ring. Luke quickly tried to double back, but it was too fast for him and the ball went cleanly through the goal.

"Damn, nice shot there. You better score this much in our next match!" Luke called out, before chasing after the qwaffle before it got too far.

"Want to practice diving?" Luke asked, slightly tongue in cheek as he didn't wait for a response before throwing the qwaffle away at a much lower angle so Kole would have to dive to catch it.

As the ball plummeted towards the ground, Kole kept his unwavering focus on it. He swiftly lunged forward, his body contorting into a steep dive, and snatched the ball just in time. Despite his impressive catch, Kole remained humble. "I wouldn't say I'm a master at this," he admitted. "It all depends on our opponents and how well we work together as a team."

As Kole positioned himself in the middle of the field, his mind raced to come up with a new strategy. His faints had become predictable, and he needed to keep his opponents guessing. With a sly grin, he leaned forward and propelled himself towards Luke, the wind whistling past his ears.

At the last possible moment, Kole veered to the right and launched the ball towards the center hoop

Luke grinned as he watched Kole dash after the ball. It was fun having someone to practice with, he usually ended up practicing alone these days so this made a nice change of pace.

Kole pulled off a great catch, then immediately started putting himself down, despite it. "You can't say that after that catch!" he replied, laughing at the irony of it.

Then Kole came rushing straight at him. Luke watched him but he didn't seem to be moving left or right. He would surely do something at the last second, Luke figured, to give him the least time to react. Luke hovered around the middle, watching for any sign of movement.

As Kole approached, Luke stayed facing him, he would move until Kole did. Then as the boy darted at the last possible second, Luke followed, but then realised the ball was actually still going towards the centre hopp. Luke swerved around, his left hand outstretched, and just barely managed to hit the ball out of the way. Barely was enough though! The qwaffle went soaring upwards this time.

"I'm definitely glad you're on our team with shots like those!" Luke said, then he pulled himself back towards the middle hoop. The qwaffle was still heading upwards, neatly at the peak of its arc, as Luke took a few seconds to adjust himself and get back into the prime positon. He wondered if Kole would race to catch the qwaffle, or wait for it to fall and do a diving catch.

"Yeah!" Kole shouted punching the air in celebration as he watched Luke stop the ball. Kole's excitement was palpable as he cheered for Luke's successful deflection. His jubilation, however, was short-lived as he watched the Quidditch ball soar into the sky before plummeting towards the ground. Reacting quickly, he spun around and leaned forward into a dive, positioning himself lower than the ball. He extended his hand and caught the ball, giving it a gentle toss before bouncing it as he floated back up to Luke's level.

Determined to try something different this time around, Kole took a new approach. Instead of flying straight at Luke from center field, he circled around the Quidditch pitch and approached from the left. With lightning-fast reflexes, he waited until the very last second before veering under Luke, narrowly avoiding a collision. He tossed the ball towards the goalpost.