A Waffle with a Quaffle [Open, come play! Come spectate and chat!]

[theboywhodied]

It's a beautiful day for soaring in the sky. At least....it's a beautiful simulated day, Cedric corrects himself. He stands in the center of a grassy field, hoops standing tall on either side. Racing brooms that will soon take to the sky with their riders are laid out in neat rows on either side of him, and a case containing the many balls of Quidditch rests at his feet.

He's exchanged the loose-fitted clothing he'd taken up after his injuries for loose-fitting yellow and black robes, and even that small change brightens his mood. Cedric Diggory is in his element. His cheerful, dangerous whirlwind of an element, the finest sport the wizarding world has to offer.

This should be a fun one to watch!

((And go! Use the subthreads, or start your own threads to chat and trash-talk and have a good time! Threadjacking is totally encouraged.))

Comments

[first_in_time]

"I'm fine," she smiled as she was helped up. "I've lived through worse. Let's try again."

Because flying on a broom seemed to be more reality than fiction as she once thought, so she was damned if she wasn't going to try again and get it right.

"Up!" Barbara commanded at the broom, catching it as it tapped at the palm of her hand. She swung her leg over, taking in a breath deep enough to fill her lungs. Before she tried again, however, she asked the man; "how do you push off?"

[theboywhodied]

"Try both feet when you're just starting out," Cedric suggested, hopping back down and demonstrating this. "And try to balance like those...bicycles you lot have. I kick off with one foot and compensate, but that takes more training."

He shows her a slow turn, smiling encouragingly.

[first_in_time]

"Like this?" Barbara tried again, tapping gently with both feet.

She thought of it like riding a bike and leaned gently to the side to see the ground a few feet beneath her. The broom tipped and, out of instinct, Barbara pulled the top of the broom up to compensate but that merely made the brook shoot up another few feet, completely vertical. Barbara began to slide off the back of the broom but a bit of quick thinking and she righted herself once again, forcing the broom back to the ground.

The grin on her face was something like monumental. Barbara had only just begun to think of traveling in time and space as real but now magic was real, too! It was simply marvelous!

"Oh, I rather enjoyed that," she said, still beaming despite having only done very little. "Quite different to a bike, of course. But then, bikes don't fly."

[theboywhodied]

Cedric smiled at her. "They could, if they were enchanted, but we have laws against that. It'd be too easy for a Muggle to grab a flying bike by mistake and end up fifty feet above."

He was happy for her success, though. "I've never had a bike. Do you like them?"

[first_in_time]

"I've not had a bike since I was a teenager," she replied with a somewhat nostalgic smile, "but they say you never forget how to ride."

And that's when she had an idea: "I say, do you want to learn to ride a bike? I'm sure I'm not so old that I can't remember how to do it myself. And I'm positive that we'll be able to make a couple in the Sensoriums. Think of it as repayment for teaching me how to fly on a broom."

[theboywhodied]

"We say the same thing about brooms," Cedric laughed. "My dad hadn't flown in twenty years when I badgered him into giving it another try. He didn't race, but we did have a nice journey over the park."

He closed his eyes, remembering. Cedric could still hear his dad's laughter if he concentrated hard enough. The boy had to swallow a sudden lump in his throat to answer Barbara.

"Oh, yes! That'd be a wonderful trade. I'll try to find one, and just...promise you won't laugh too hard?"

[first_in_time]

Don't think Barbara didn't catch that look, though she continued smiling.

"You didn't laugh at me, did you? I wouldn't be so cruel, either." She stuck out her hand to be shaken, "well, this was a pleasure. I'm sorry but I don't think I caught your name..?"

[theboywhodied]

"Thanks." He offered his hand and a small smile, shaking firmly. "Cedric Diggory, ma'am. Yours?"

[first_in_time]

"Barbara Wright," she smiled and grasped his hand just as firmly. "You don't need to call me 'ma'am'. I'm not a teacher here," much to her displeasure.

[theboywhodied]

"Ms. Wright?" Cedric tried, a faint smile on his face.

[first_in_time]

"Barbara," she reinforced, a small smirk kicking up the corner of her mouth. "Unless you really want to be my student but I'm afraid my skills only extend as far as history - non-magical history."