Career Seminar: Quidditch
Who: Talbot, Rene, Eru, Cora
Where: Wizarding Languages Classroom - Hogwarts
When:It is Wednesday, 28th January 2009. Hogwarts is currently in session.

Synopsis: Sixth and Seventh years attend a mandatory career development session
about quidditch.
Logger: Cora "I-can-play-nice" Petit
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Hogwarts Castle - Wizarding Languages Classroom

    
This classroom is little different from the others at Hogwarts. It's a
rectangular room with high ceilings, with a raised section at the head
of it for the teacher's desk. There are two rows of tables for the
students with chairs placed behind each. Several bookshelves are
scattered along the walls of the room, as well as a cabinet in the
corner behind the front desk. Hanging at the front of the room is a
blackboard on the left, and a map of the world on the right. While the
map does have the ability to move, as most wizard pictures do, this one
is kept stationary when it might interfere with students paying
attention to the teacher.

Contents:
Eru
Rene
Talbot
Obvious exits:
Corridor
Rene is pacing at the front of the room, and scowling.

Eru pokes his head in. Early. /This/ particularly class he was in a rush to get
to. "Jaubert? Hey," he calls to Rene as he takes a seat. In the front of the
classroom. He's even brought a fresh scroll to take notes on.

Talbot is perched on the edge of his desk and watching Rene with
a tolerant half-smile. If any entering students look hesitant, he gives them a
wave, but otherwise he seems to be waiting.

Cora eventually comes inside herself. She looks a little like she's been running
late all day, her book bag is actually partially open and
parcmhent scrolls and bookends can be seen poking out of it. Her
fingertips are stained with ink, and her hair's been pulled back
sloppily with a couple of muggle-style pencils holding it up. She
doesn't quite scowl at Talbot, since she doesn't really know him, and
she doesn't even really glance at Rene. Instead she settles into a
chair with an audible, "Hrmph," a row or two behind Eru.

Rene stops his pacing when someone says his name, but scans the room, as if
looking for someone other than Eru. When he does look at Eru, he frowns
puzzledly at him.

"Hey, Petit," Eru says, turning around to greet
Cora with a broad grin. All of enthusiasm today, he is. He turns his
focus back to Rene, all eager. Rene's frown makes him blink, puzzled.
Eru's 'puzzled' expression does not make him look terribly bright.
"Err...Croft, remember? Hufflepuff? Beater? Err...cool to see you've
made a go of it. In Quidditch, I mean."

Talbot reaches behind himself to retrieve a clipboard and pencil. He
starts making ticks on it as he studies the arriving students.

Cora's response to Eru is pretty flat, "Croft," she says, a little distracted as
she's sorting through her bag for fresh parchment and a quill. Eventually she
finds the items, and prepares as well for notes. Once settled she decides to at
least glance at Rene, but she doesn't speak to him, and her eyes are soon
elsewhere, gazing over the map at the front of the classroom.

Rene nods slowly as recognition dawns. "Ah,
yes.. Beverly's Captain. Well, I don't care if you win this year, of
course. Give 'em.. what for, and all that. Especially if /she's/ still
on the team." There's absolutely no doubt he's remembered Cora, as he
gives her a Look.

Eru looks between Rene and Cora, frowning. Still,
his enthusiasm isn't entirely dampened, though he's done trying to chat up Rene.
He unrolls his parchment and inks up his quill.

Cora seems to opt for mostly silence, as her tactic for this class. She doesn't
visibly respond to Rene's words, and instead, turns her gaze now to the
Professor, to wait for class to begin. There is only the smallest tug of a frown
at one corner of her mouth. Her right hand has her quill at the go, and her left
hand's fingertips drum a little impatiently against the desktop.

Talbot continues to tick names, until he runs out of names he can tick. "Those
of you who aren't in any of my classes, please see me before you leave so I can
mark you were here. And don't think that just because you're a Prefect or
Captain of the Knitting Society that I know who you are. I may very well, but I
may not, and then I won't have marked you present." He sets the clipboard down,
but doesn't stand up from the desk. "I assume from the number of you here that
you realize this seminar is about Quidditch. Either that or you thought we had
Polly Covington in for the day. This is my son Rene Jaubert, whom most of you
probably know, since he was a student here rather recently. He plays for the..
well, why don't I let him say all that?" He stands now and leaves the front of
the room to claim a chair off to the side, to listen.

Rene rolls his eyes at Talbot when he's pretty sure the man can't see, even if
most of the students can. He walks to the middle of the front of the room and
stands there importantly, until he seems to realize he doesn't know what to do
with his hands when he stands like that, so he changes his mind and hops up on
the desk to sit. Then his hands can rest on the desk on either side of him, and
give him no further trouble. "I play for the Montrose Magpies. I'm a reserve
Chaser. Sometimes that means I play in a game if one of our Chasers is injured
or ill, but mostly it means that I practice with the team and wait for my chance
to move up. /And/ it means I get to do stupid things like come to Hogwarts to
talk to you lot. "

Eru is unsure whether he should laugh at that last
part or not. He elects not. He actually writes that down, muttering to
himself, "...Reserves...ill...wait..."

Cora does her best to make it look like she's busily taking notes, moving her
quill across the parchment and writing her notes. Her left hand then moves a
bit, to shield a yawn from view.

Talbot gets a pained look on his face, but it starts before Rene's last
sentence, right around the time he mentions injuries.

Rene looks up at the ceiling. "So, let's see.. the pay in reserves isn't very
good. Which is why you want to move up. Then the pay is.. quite decent. If
you're still not settled on a position yet, then you'll want to be a Chaser, or
maybe a Beater. There's only one Keeper on a team and they tend to stick around
a /long/ time. Three Chasers means you have three times the chance to move up.
Beater's okay for the same reason, plus they tend to get injured more. Not even
necessarily by the bludgers. Shoulder injuries and whatnot from swinging those
bats around. So there's decent turnover. Of course you'll need the build for
that." He points at a particularly skinny girl in the front row. "No sense /you/
trying it."

Eru idly rotates his shoulder up and down. Frowning. As if testing it for
weaknesses. He snorts, shrugging, his hand going up.

Cora lets out a bit of a sigh after finishing her last few notes, and
eventually raises her left hand, politely indicating she has a question as well,
it would seem.

Rene looks surprised to see hands going up before he'd quite finished saying
whatever came to mind. "Er, yea, Croft?"

Eru didn't seem to notice if Rene wasn't finished. Eager as he is. "I was just
wondering, how long does it usually take? To move up, I mean. I mean, you
graduated a bit ago and've been playing since you got out of school, so you
should be nearly there, right?"

Rene leans back some.
"Well, it all depends. What position you choose, as I've just said, and
what team. I mean, obviously you don't want to be on a rubbish team,
but look at the players on all the teams you would consider. How old
they are, how many injuries they've had, how well they've been playing.
Like, say you're a Beater, and you know the Catapults have one Beater
who's had a bad season, but their other one is pretty young and quite
good. You probably /don't/ want that team, because the rubbish Beater
might get sacked soon, and you won't have had time to get yourself into
position to be next. So you'd be waiting around for that young, fit one
to go."

Eru
nods at that, seeming to find it sensible, and writes more stuff down.
Complete with soft muttering, "Rubbish...injuries..." Once that's
scrawled he looks between Rene and Cora. Then tentatively says,
"Err...I think Petit's got a question, too."

Cora actually lowered her hand when Eru's question got called first, and is busy
scribbling down the answer when Eru
points out that she had a question as well. She does not glance up.

Rene
shakes his head. "Sorry, Petit. I don't know the odds that any of the
teams will go for a werewolf. Though I reckon you might try Malfoy's.
He's insane enough he might go for it."

Eru frowns at Rene's words
to Cora. Looking distinctly sorry he said anything. He offers her an
apologetic shrug over his shoulder.

Cora just keeps at her
notetaking, though the tip of her quill does snap off. This of course
means she has to go hunting for another. She digs into her bag and
starts to pull out lots of things, hunting for her tips box. Two
textbooks, a pair of socks, three unopened chocolate frogs, a small
leather bag with the ties closed, and a green apple are carefully
placed on her desk, one item at a time. Then she finally finds the box
she's looking for, and sets about removing a new tip, before returning
all the items to her bag.

Rene decides halfway through that
performance that Cora doesn't have a question and returns to his topic.
"Don't forget to look at their personal lives as well. If the Beater's
a woman, is she married? Has she had kids yet? They don't like letting
pregnant women play Quidditch, somehow. But it works for a man too.
Maybe his kids are grown and his wife's making noises about traveling
around the world or whatnot. Some players retire rather young, while
others stick around for love of the sport."

Eru
gets a thoughtful look on his face. As if he's deeply pondering
something. This, conversely, also does not make him look terribly
bright. His hand goes up again.

Rene points a finger at Eru. "Right, Croft. Got another one?"

"What
about playing for another country?" Eru asks. "I mean, not nationally,
but a team in another country. Like...I dunno, the Moutohora Macaws,
for example?" Obviously not an example he just picked out of thin air.
"Or some team in a place where Quidditch isn't real popular. Like
America. You think that'd be a good way to get experience?"

That
comment, does cause Cora to glance up a bit, puzzling a little at the
back of Eru's head. Her note-taking hand rests a second, ready to
record whatever Rene decides to share on that topic.

Rene snorts at
the idea. "I /suppose/, if your aim is just to /play/. Would hardly be
a challenge, would it? And I reckon they don't pay as well. And you'd
have to leave the country. They might even make you fly an American
broom." He looks ready to spit in disgust, if this weren't his father's
classroom.

"But it's possible," Eru says, that being the only part
of Rene's answer he's particularly concerned with. He jots down some
more, lengthy, notes.

Cora finally does raise her hand again.

Rene hesitates, but does look at Cora after a moment. "Yes, Petit?"

Talbot's pained look doesn't entirely leave, but it is joined by boredom. He
starts fishing around in his pockets
until he comes up with a sweet to pop in his mouth and suck on.

Cora
doesn't quite make eye contact, but rather, keeps her eyes just to the
side of Rene. Her tone is cool in delivery, "As fascinating as your
opinions may be, Mister Jaubert, some of us would like to learn more
... practical things. Your practice schedule for example: how many
times a day do you practice? What do your drills entail? Please, be
specific."

Eru does look interested when Cora asks about that, stopping his writing to
concentrate properly on Rene.

Rene
rolls his eyes, but begins to answer the question anyway. "In the
morning, it's drills. Generally chasers with chasers, beaters with
beaters. Sometimes we'll drill with a keeper, or the seekers will drill
with the beaters, that sort of thing. The same sort of thing we did
here at Hogwarts, only with actual skilled players. Then if there's an
afternoon practice, which there isn't always, we'll have scrimmages.
Usually it's the reserves versus the first string. Of course the
schedule's different when we're in training versus when the season's
on. Some games can last for days, so the schedule isn't set in stone."

Cora
scribbles down her notes, and her next comment is lower, not
necessarily meant to be picked up by everyone, "Skilled players....
present company excluded, of course." Then she visibly grimaces, like
she didn't quite mean to utter that aloud. So she settles on keeping
her head down, pointed at her parchment. Maybe no one really heard it?

Eru makes a "Harumph" sound when Rene says that bit about 'actual skilled
players.' He looks like he wants to chuckle at Cora's
retort, but he restrains himself.

Rene
also adds, "Different teams will have different schedules. So I can
only tell you what the Magpies do. For all I know, the Harpies schedule
their practices around 'cycles'. Maybe you'd fit right in there, Petit."

Cora just continues her belief that her notes are of the utmost importance.

Eru seems, again, torn between laughing or not. He still doesn't but comes
closer this time, choking.

Rene
strokes his goatee as he ponders what to say next. "Oh, I should
probably mention that if any of you are of the non-straight persuasion,
it's best to keep it to yourself." He could look at Talbot at this
part, but instead he looks straight at Eru. So to speak. "They decided
to punish me for it by sending me here. Threatened to kick me off if it
happened again too! Though.. Harpies again, I expect they don't mind.
It's probably mandatory there."

*snap* goes Cora's quill again. She sighs a bit, then just puts the
blasted instrument down.

Eru's
eyes bug out when Rene look straight at him. "I'm not...!" he says,
rather loudly and firmly, before he can stop himself. He does not
finish that, his gaze shifting around the room. He squares his
shoulders and tries to look masculine. Which apparently is another
expression that defaults to 'not bright' on Eru's face.

Talbot clears his throat, though whether the reproof
is meant for Rene or Eru isn't entirely clear, as he looks at the both
of them. He follows it up with a question, or not-quite-question, of
his own. "I imagine some of the students would like to know what they
should study while still here at Hogwarts that would help them in a
Quidditch career."

Rene doesn't quite
roll his eyes again, but he does sigh. Then goes on to answer the
question. "Well, obviously you want to be on your House team, and you
should probably be in the position you mean to end up in by now. It
doesn't hurt to know some other languages, especially when it comes to
playing in the European and World Cups. Or if you intend to go sign up
with a Japanese team, Croft. Performing Arts would probably help you
too, as there's some public speaking and posing for photos involved.
And Charms and Defense can't hurt.. as they improve your concentration
and stamina. You need that for long games." He looks at Talbot to see
if that's enough of an answer.

Talbot seems quite pleased that his class got mentioned, first even. It even
causes him to blush a little.

Eru
flushes at Talbot's throat clearing, flushing and sinking down in his
seat as low as he can. Which isn't all that low. He's a goodly-sized
lad. Notes are scribbled. He reacts in a less bug-eyed fashion to
Rene's next pointer to him, nodding a little. As if considering his
options in Japan.

Cora
is now without a means to take notes, so she just stores whatever she
thinks is worthy in her short-term memory. She lets out another little
sigh, bordem also settling in for her, it would seem.

Rene looks back at Talbot. "Are we done yet? How long are these things supposed
to go? They always seemed interminable to me."

Talbot
checks his watch, but probably ignores whatever it actually says. "We
can be finished, if everyone believes he or she has enough to write up
a report."

Eru checks, rolling the full-length of his parchment
notes out. He's done quite a bit of scribbling of Rene's wisdom. He
nods to Talbot.

Cora begins then to pack away her things. Slowly she
gets to her feet, and picks up her book bag before moving towards the
Professor some. She looks both bored and cross at the same time. To
her, that comment was a good as a dismissal.

Rene pushes off of the desk. "If anyone has more questions, I guess I don't mind
answering them."

Talbot hops up from his chair to go retrieve his clipboard. "Don't forget to
tell me who you are if I don't have a clue."

Eru
stands as well, though he does manage a polite, "Err...thanks,
Jaubert." It's more or less sincere. "See on the playing field next
year." Optimist, he is. He goes over to make sure Talbot's identified
him, despite the fact that he's in the professor's class.

Cora waits
in the queue of students near the Professor. When it is her turn, she
says, "I'm Cora Petit, 6th year," she says to the Professor, still
somewhat bored, but she can't help and add, "I'm sure you remember me.
I'm the one that beat your son a few years back during Quidditch."

Talbot
shows Eru his name is already ticked, and Cora's as well. "Yes, I know
who you are, Miss Petit. My only surprise is that you're still here."

Cora
gives a shrug, and a bit of a boastful grin, and says, "Obviously, you
don't have the connections you claim to have," she says, almost glibly,
before turning to prepare to leave the classroom. Sadly, this does put
her in Rene's path.

Eru looks between Cora and Rene and resolves to
escape the classroom as quickly as possible. For someone who
occasionally seems so lumbery, he gets out of their real, real fast.

Rene pushes a lock of hair behind his ear. "Xavier's just giving you enough rope
to hang yourself, Petit."

Cora
gives a shrug, stepping around Rene, "I might shock you all to death
and do something crazy, like graduate," she says, then she makes
strides for the door. Students always have other places they have to go.



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