There's No Place Like Home (Kaylee)

[Deleted]

First Week in September

Edmund was so happy to be back at Hogwarts. It was his home away from home, the first place he actually felt like he could be himself after his father's death and he was so relieved to be back. Staying at the castle wasn't that bad now that he and his siblings were getting along better than they ever had before, but it still wasn't the place where he was happiest. That was Hogwarts. He made his way to the Quidditch Pitch, which happened to be his favorite spot of all. He loved the game and could hardly believe he was the Slytherin Captain this year. It felt almost too good to be true, but he was so excited, even though he knew it wasn't going to be easy. 

He was so lost in his thoughts when he arrived at the Pitch that he simply sat on the ground, basking in the peaceful feeling of being back. It was his last year at Hogwarts, which would definitely be bitter-sweet, but he had high hopes for it.

kaylee māhealani mahi'ai

[kaylee māhealani mahi'ai]

Quidditch wasn’t a completely foreign concept to Kaylee, though Quodpot seemed to be one to the students at Hogwarts. It seemed to her as though a good percentage of the student body ate, slept, and breathed Quidditch, though it was something that she couldn’t quite get behind. From what she understood, the Quidditch season would start before she knew it, and—even if she was biased towards Quodpot—there was no harm in checking out the school Quidditch stadium.

The first thing that she noticed was how huge it was. It had to have been large enough to hold all of the student body (everyone from Ilvermorny included), plus the staff and then some. The thought of going inside to the pitch itself hadn’t been on Kaylee’s mind at all, until she noticed that there was nothing keeping her from going into the stands.

Kaylee didn’t go far, just in case she was somewhere that she wasn’t supposed to be, though she was able to get a good view of the pitch from even the lowest stands. It wasn’t hard for her to see that there was a boy sitting on the grass itself.

“What are you doing out here?” she called to him curiously, her voice echoing a little bit because of the emptiness.

@edmund

[Deleted]

Ed was so entirely focused on relaxing that he didn't notice anyone approaching. He had his eyes closed, listening to the sound of the wind fluttering the leaves on the trees that weren't too far away. He was thinking of past Quidditch games, of the responsibility that he had now as Quidditch captain.

He jerked when someone spoke from behind him and turned around to see a young girl. He shrugged, "Just sitting. I didn't bring my broom or I'd probably be up in the air," he told her honestly. "I'm Edmund. What's your name?" Ha. If everyone could see him now. A few years ago, him starting a conversation like this would literally be out of the question. Ed wasn't one for small talk. Still, he was in a good mind, so he didn't mind.

kaylee māhealani mahi'ai

[kaylee māhealani mahi'ai]

“Just sitting,” the boy answered her plainly. He was sitting, and he was seemingly very calm. “I didn’t bring my broom,” he added, “or I'd probably be up in the air.” It wasn’t too windy, Kaylee observed, so it probably would have been a nice day to be out flying, not that she had a broomstick of her own or a burning desire to be on one.

“I'm Edmund,” said the boy. “What's your name?”

“I’m Kaylee,” Kaylee responded. She had gotten awfully used to introducing herself to people; she always seemed to be meeting someone new wherever she went at Hogwarts, which wasn’t really a bad thing. It had become fairly routine: She’d exchange names with someone, they’d ask how she liked Hogwarts, and the conversation went from there. “It’s nice to meet you, Edmund. Do you play Quidditch?”

@edmund

[Deleted]

Edmund smiled as the girl introduced herself and nodded after a moment. "Nice to meet you too." He was glad that she'd met him when he was in such a good mood. Sometimes he ran into people and wasn't so nice, but lately ... he was trying to give off a better impression with people. At her question, his smile became a grin. "I love Quidditch! I'm actually the team captain for Slytherin," he told her. He hoped he didn't sound like he was bragging, since that wasn't what he was trying to do, but ... if she took it that way, oh well. "I play Chaser. Have you ever seen or played Quidditch before?" He knew they played something different in America, but he didn't know what it was ... didn't care enough to pay attention. Maybe he should, since there were a bunch of Americans here now.

kaylee māhealani mahi'ai

[kaylee māhealani mahi'ai]

Edmund said that it was nice to meet her, too, and smiled. That smile grew even larger when she asked him if he played Quidditch, and it was apparent before he even spoke that he must have at least enjoyed it. “I love Quidditch!” he told her. “I'm actually the team captain for Slytherin,” he added, and Kaylee nodded. Maybe she preferred Quodpot, but she knew that not just anyone could be good enough at Quidditch to be the captain of their House team—her House team, too.

“Cool,” she smiled back.

He told her that he played Chaser, and then he asked if she had ever seen or played Quidditch before. While Quodpot was, by far, the more popular sport in America, they weren’t without their Quidditch teams, either.

“Seen,” Kaylee answered, “but not really played. We have a professional league in the US, too, but I’m more of a Quodpot person,” she explained. It wasn’t as though she had ever been some sort of a Quodpot enthusiast, either, but that was her preference.

@edmund

[Deleted]

Kaylee agreed that it was cool that he was Quidditch Captain and Ed couldn't help his smug smile. If there was one thing he was proud of here at school, it was Quidditch. Sure, he worked hard in classes and actually did quite well, but that came second to his passion. He was starting to debate whether or not he should try to go out professionally in it, knowing his mother wouldn't like the idea, but it still appealed to him. 

He nodded as Kaylee explained that she'd seen it before, but hadn't played it. "Did you play Quodpot in school?" he asked curiously. "Could you tell me more about it? I've heard the name and know it's ... different from Quidditch, but I don't know how." Maybe this would help the girl become more talkative. Ed didn't normally care about those types of things, but he wanted to learn a bit more about the people now staying at his school.

kaylee māhealani mahi'ai

[kaylee māhealani mahi'ai]

While she hadn’t played Quidditch before, Edmund asked her if she had played Quodpot in school.

Kaylee shrugged her shoulders as she replied. “I mean, I played it occasionally,” she answered, “but never on a team or anything like that.” She wasn’t horrible at it, but she wasn’t that good, either.

“Could you tell me more about it?” Edmund asked her. “I’ve heard the name and know it’s different from Quidditch,” he added, “but I don't know how.”

“Wait, so people don’t even play Quodpot here?” Kaylee asked, not with the incredulity suggestive of superiority but with genuine curiosity. With that question out of the way, though, she didn’t hesitate to jump right into an explanation of what Quodpot was.

“So, it starts with a ball called the Quod, which is… essentially like an exploding Quaffle.” Kaylee figured that she was probably safe to skip the whole story of how, in the eighteenth century, Abraham Peasegood had come to America from England and discovered that the Quaffle in his trunk would explode whenever he touched it because it had come in contact with his wand on his way over. (If Edmund did want that history, she was happy to provide it.)

“There are two teams,” she went on, “and the players on each team try to get the Quod into the pot at the end of the field before it explodes in their faces…” It probably sounded a little dangerous, but Quidditch wasn’t exactly safe, objectively speaking. “The pot contains a solution that keeps the Quod from exploding,” she added, “and then whoever scores gets a point.” It was simple enough, and she hoped that Edmund was still following her.

“But here’s the catch,” Kaylee said, holding up a finger, “so, if you’re holding the Quod and it explodes, you have to leave the field.” Hopefully, Edmund could see how that would complicate gameplay.

@edmund

[Deleted]

Edmund nodded when Kaylee said that she played it, but wasn't on a team or anything. He understood that. Before he'd made it on to the Slytherin team, Ed played Quidditch with his friends on days when they didn't have a lot of homework. It wasn't a common thing, but he appreciated the chance to play. She didn't really strike him as someone who was super into it, but that wasn't a bad thing. Everyone liked different things.

He shook his head slowly when she asked- in a very shocked tone- if they played Quodpot here. The answer to that should be fairly obvious by his questions. He listened intently as she started to explain it a bit, talking first about an exploding Quaffle. His lips curled up in a smile, "This sounds good," he muttered to himself. 

She continued to explain the game and it actually sounded quite exciting to him, something that Ed probably wouldn't be too good at since it seemed pretty different from Quidditch, but it sounded interesting. "Maybe we should figure out some way to have Quodpot games here. Like, you can teach us and we can do them just for fun? It sounds really interesting." Maybe he should talk to Addi about it. Being Head Girl, she might be able to help set up something like that. Not that he would ever think of using her, but he could bring it up and see what she thought. "Do you think your friends would be interested in something like that?"

kaylee māhealani mahi'ai

[kaylee māhealani mahi'ai]

Edmund listened to her explanation of Quodpot, commenting at one point as she spoke that the sport sounded good. It was definitely interesting to watch, and it was maybe a little bit terrifying at times, too. Once she had finished telling him the basics of it—because she wasn't an expert, herself—he spoke up again. "Maybe we should figure out some way to have Quodpot games here," he suggested. "Like, you can teach us and we can do them just for fun? It sounds really interesting. Do you think your friends would be interested in something like that?"

That was a thought, and Kaylee thought that the idea would be well-received by her fellow Ilvermorny students, if not the ones from Hogwarts. It would be a good way to get people working together, and it would be pretty fun. "Oh, yeah," she nodded enthusiastically. "I think people would totally go for that! Do you think you could, you know, ask around and see who might be interested from Hogwarts? I can ask people from Ilvermorny," she volunteered. If enough people expressed interest in it, then they could probably do it.

@edmund

[Deleted]

Edmund wasn't really sure what Kaylee thought about his idea of trying to have Quodpot here, he couldn't read her as well as he could read others. So he decided to wait for her answer. She started nodding, saying they would definitely be interested. "Yeah, I can do that," Ed answered. He was definitely down to try and figure out who'd be interested in playing. Ed was, for sure. He was sure he could convince others to join. "Maybe we could invite everyone who's interested to meet at the Quidditch pitch next Saturday after dinner? No teams practice then, so maybe we could talk about the idea there or something?" Ed wasn't normally good at planning things, but he did actually want this to happen, so he'd work for it.

kaylee māhealani mahi'ai

[kaylee māhealani mahi'ai]

Edmund agreed that he could take care of things from the Hogwarts end, which Kaylee viewed positively—not that she viewed much of anything too negatively, as it was. Still, it would be a lot easier to gather interest if someone from Hogwarts was already on board with it. It would help them to convince others that Quodpot was actually worth a shot and not just some weird American thing.

"Maybe we could invite everyone who's interested to meet at the Quidditch pitch next Saturday after dinner?" Edmund suggested to her. "No teams practice then, so maybe we could talk about the idea there or something?"

If the timing wouldn't conflict with anything—because it wouldn't conflict with classes or most club meetings, either, Kaylee guessed, because it would be on a Saturday—it sounded good to her. People weren't too busy yet and wouldn't be for a while, so they would be more likely to be able to come. "That sounds like a good plan to me," Kaylee smiled. "If enough people show up to the first interest meeting—or whatever we're calling it—then maybe we can try to make it a semi-official thing? Maybe not, like, a 'full team for each House' kind of thing, but at least enough people for two teams for, like, scrimmage games."

Getting together one official team for each House would be a challenge. Even if they were going to do what she had just suggested, they'd need twenty-two people, minimum. "Eleven people per team… We can probably find twenty-two people who'd be interested, right? Between our two schools?" Kaylee tried to think off of the top of her head. "…Or, basically, we just need even numbers. The game will move faster that way, too." That was probably the better way to go, at least to start.

@edmund

[Deleted]

Ed nodded, pleased when she agreed with him on the timing and such. He wasn't really a planner, to be totally honest. Ed much preferred to let others- like Addi- plan things and then if he was interested he would show up, but when it came to making things happen he wasn't normally too into it. However, he was interested in learning more about Quodpot and he'd love to try to play it, so having someone that was on board with him was definitely a cool thing. Kaylee started talking about maybe making it an official thing and Ed nodded again, more enthusiastically. "Yeah, that could work. In the very least, we can try to find the people that would be interested in maybe trying to play." 

Apparently the two of their ideas were semi-similar because now it sounded like Kaylee was trying to find a way to organize a real game while they were finding people who were interested. Perfect. Ed shrugged, "Twenty-two doesn't sound like too many people ... but we can always start with fewer and then maybe if we get practices and games going and things others will get interested and want to join?" He wasn't really sure if that would work, but why not give it a try? He just wanted to try out the game a bit.

kaylee māhealani mahi'ai