Weekend: For the WIN! - Two years ago, 3 "events" ago, I first got to attend a Hogwarts party that had been steadily expanding for several years. My first year there was the last year the party was held at Rae and Renata's house. I "sorted" into Hufflepuff, "got killed by a Death Eater" (but later "got better"), fell in love with playing Quidditch, and had a fantastic time. My second year was the first time it was played in a park nearby. And this, my third year, was the 8th and last year for the party. The party this year had been expanded into a two-day camping (optional) event. Saturday was "Quidditch World Cup" so that the two highest-scoring teams would play in the Finals at "Hogwarts on Sunday." Sunday would be a day at Hogwarts, including sorting all the first years into their houses, a House Feast (for lunch) classes all day, and the Finals in Quidditch.

For the past two years, I've been very into playing Quidditch, both in our "Gold Coast League" as well as for Hufflepuff. (If you want the full Quidditch rules, see the bottom of this post.) Last year's event I served for the first time as Team Captain, and this year was Captain still. Last year, my goal was really all about Team Spirit, and being excited about the game. Six weeks ago, I found I was "sucking air" at the end of an hour-long practice in the burning sun, and was embarassed at my lack of stamina. So I started not only my own exercise improvement, but encouraging everyone to GET IN SHAPE because we should be able to do this! Now, I've been doing a 90-min sword-fighting class for the past 9 weeks, started up'ing my training for Quidditch 6 weeks ago, and started aggressively eating better/less about 3 weeks ago. And as of Friday I'd dropped 7 pounds.

Our team didn't win the Final Game, which went to Ravenclaw. Our team didn't win the House Cup, though we were only behind 20 points: 1,270 to 1,290, which went to Ravenclaw. But we WON on so many levels, I was actually teary-eyed before our Final Match and again after the game.

My dear friend Amanda was awarded "Most Valuable Player" from a vote from all four House Captains. Amanda and I BOTH were the only two players who played all six games on Saturday. It was a round-robin for four teams, so everyone's team played three times. But not everyone had enough players, so you could throw your name into a pool and be drawn as a fill-in player. Both of us played all six games, with our names drawn for other teams on our off-rounds.

Let me repeat that: After not being able to complete a *practice* 6-weeks ago without dying for breath, this weekend I played 6 games on Saturday and RETURNED to play the Finals on Sunday, which nearly had the time run out before the Snitch was caught and the game was over. That is the biggest sense of personal physical *WIN* I've had in years.

My team also made me teary-eyed and inspired because it didn't matter we were little, short, (and mostly teenage) girls: We scared the bajeebies out of some of our opponents. We were never lazy on the field. We were a TEAM. We worked together, we encouraged each other, we worked well together, and it showed. Ravenclaw kept talking about how hard we made them work for the win.

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Lest you think I'm just all about Quidditch, all the time (okay I am, almost)... the other wins for the weekend included: a great camping set up, wonderful coffee bar, great potions class (that our house designed), good time with friends, and overall fun.

The scary part was that we were less than 10 miles (as the crow flies) from the Freeway Fire in the Yorba Linda area (we were above the "e" in Fullerton on the map). While we were playing Quidditch on Saturday, the plumes of smoke started to rise, on the other side of the Brea Dam. By the end of the games, most players and spectators had on bandana's dipped in water, covering their faces for breathing. By night time, the smoke looked like fog in the night-lights and the falling ash looked like snow. Large black pieces between 1/2-inch 3-inch long but narrow (around 1/8-1/4-inch) were falling intermittently with the large and small flakes (about the size of goldfish food) of white ash. It was distressing to know so much of the southland was on fire (again), but there was nothing we could do about it. For many people roads were closed, but we were safe, if only slightly impaired for breathing.

Finally, many of us went out for dinner after we'd packed up the whole park. I had a lovely time bouncing around, listening to different conversations, and then made that slightly sad "it's all over" drive home. It gets SO dark SO early that I was surprised it was only a little after 7 pm when I left dinner. But I got the car unpacked, items back into the fridge, and some time getting caught up on emails before collapsing into bed. Today my quads are a little sore and stiff, but I did it. I really did it.
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Today's Blessing That I'm Thankful For: Best darn Quidditch team EVAR!

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And now for your Quidditch Post-script:

Three players per team as Chasers, and they've got to get the Quaffle (a red dodge ball or 4-square ball) through the hoops at the goals for 10 pts each. If it scores, everyone resets for the ref to toss the Quaffle up.

One Keeper per team, who's job is to be the *only* player allowed directly in front of the goals, try to block the scoring throws, and to toss the Quaffle back into play if the opposing team tried to score and missed. If the Quaffle goes out of bounds, it counts against the team who last touched it, and the other team throws it back into play from where it left the pitch.

Two Beaters per team, with foam "bats" to smack the Bludger Balls. Bludger players are neutral on the outside of the pitch, and randomly throw smaller, under-inflated, blue balls with knobby gum-drop sized bumps. You're "bludged" if it hits you above the knee, on either the toss or only one bounce. If you've been bludged out, you leave the pitch to a chair that has a 1-minute timer. If a team-mate is bludged out before your minute is up, you're back and they're out. Beaters, Seekers, and Chasers can be bludged. The Keeper cannot. If a team scores, anyone bludged out resets and is back.

One player per team as Seeker, must keep moving, must stay in the "center half" of the pitch (the playing field) until they spot the Snitch enter the field. Snitches, 2 players per game, each with a tiny ball velcro'ed to a baseball hat. One snitch on the field at a time, if any Snitch is on the field (they hide behind people, tents, trees, whatever, making them hard to find). Snitches are the only players who can run ever, but can only run outside the pitch. If a snitch steps inside the pitch, he or she must cross the mid-line between the goals (enter one side, exit the other side, no foot-in/foot-out entrances), and on the pitch-only fast-walk, no running. If the Snitch is caught, it's 150 points and the game is over.

The game plays in quarters with breaks or just in halves with one break. If time runs out completely, without catching the snitch, the game is won on Quaffle points alone. Some games have been as short as 20 min or 30 min, some as long as an hour. Players can swap roles at breaks, for example changing from Seeker to Chaser.

It's an AMAZING game, great exercise, and totally fun.