[SuperCorp] Ascendio [Finished]

The Triwizard Tournament

"You'd better watch out, Olsen. Gryffindor may have won the Quidditch cup last year, but Hufflepuff is going to sweep the floor with you this year," Kara Danvers crowed as she sat on a stone wall in the Hogwarts courtyard. Her shirtsleeves were pushed up to her elbows, and her Hufflepuff tie hung loosely around her neck as she passed a quaffle back and forth between her hands, fixing her best friend James Olsen with a challenging grin.

James Olsen, the broad-shouldered Gryffindor Keeper and new quidditch captain, scoffed incredulously and reached out to snatch the quaffle, but Kara snapped her wrist up, catching it above her head on an upturned palm.

"I clocked at least two-hundred miles on my broom, two hours of shooting practice, one hour of cardio, and one hour of strength training, every day, all summer. And on my rest days, I studied manoeuvres and devised top secret strategies for my team. This is going to be our year," she declared proudly and gazed off into the distance, and the image of the Hufflepuff team holding the Quidditch cup high above their heads swam before her eyes. "Meanwhile," she continued with a smirk, breaking her own reverie, "I'm afraid to tell you that your star beater spent most of her summer making goo-goo eyes at her new girlfriend, lazing around and getting all kinds of soft," she teased and reached over to give her adoptive sister's stomach a poke.

"I didn't want to say anything," James said, "but you do seem to have let yourself go a little, Alex."

"Hey!" Alex protested indignantly, swatting Kara's hand away. "It's called being happy. You two shmucks should try it sometime," Alex scowled, completely missing the awkward glance James and Kara exchanged. Because Alex definitely didn't know about how Kara had tried to kiss James at the end of term party last year, but James had rejected her, saying that they were better off as just friends...and that he was interested in Lucy Lane.

In fact, Kara was pretty determined to die with that secret.

"Besides," Alex continued obliviously, "I don't need to train like a crazy person. Everyone knows the mark of an excellent beater, like myself, is in The Fury. You can't train The Fury. Either you have it, or you don't," Alex said with a confident nod.

Kara quirked an eyebrow, and was about to say something about how she'd heard Maggie call her many things (babe, shnookums, honey bee, to list a few), but 'The Fury' had never been one of those things. However, what was sure to have been a severe burn was interrupted by a short, panting Ravenclaw jogging up to them with frantically waving hands.

Winn Schott Junior skidded to a halt in front of them, bracing his hands on his knees as his back arched with each breath. "This is why I don't do cardio," he gasped and tilted his head up to meet three perplexed looks. "Guys. Guys, come on, you've got to come see this. Follow me! Oh, Merlin, more running," he groaned and turned on his heel to jog away. Realising no one was following, he spun on his heel to fix them with an impatient scowl. "Come on, guys! You know I don't run for no reason!"

The three athletes exchanged glances before shrugging and running to easily catch up with Winn. Groups of students flanked them as they climbed the castle's exterior staircases, all buzzing with excitement, and James put on an extra burst of speed, taking two steps at a time. Kara sprinted to keep up with his long strides, and shortly they came to an outcropping on the staircase that overlooked the Black Lake, where a crowd of students had gathered, all staring out across the lake as they tittered amongst themselves.