Max had been feeling slightly left out of the plan, having not been given a noise, but when Shane pointed out that the bludgers would be aimed at the noises, he decided it would be better to be silent. Yeah. Like that was possible. Max couldn’t be silent if he tried. He’d just have to duck and weave… like a butterfly. No! A bumblebee! Obviously, as they were wearing yellow and black. Hufflepuffs should really be badgers, but… they didn’t seem like particularly agile creatures. Thus, he tended to agree with T.J.’s assessment.

“We can gossip about things. It doesn't have to mean anything. Just loud enough to let the beaters to know where we are.”

“So they can hit us?” he asked, doubtfully. “But I think it’d be more effective if we gossip about the Gryffindors. It might be underhanded and sneaky, but I think they might be thrown off if we’re shouting embarrassing things about them.” And, of course, they didn’t have to be true things. That was the beauty of such a plan. Well… beauty. It would make him feel slightly guilty about making up mean things, but… his duty was first to his team, he supposed.

The captain’s suggestion that he honk like a goose made him snort in laughter. He attempted to honk like a goose, but it ended up sounding more like an elephant. After a few tries, he had to give up because he kept coughing in the middle of it. Most likely, he’d end up just talking to himself and hoping not to make a target of himself. While the chanting of his teammates chorused around him, he focused on the sound of Shane and T.J.’s voices. It would be embarrassing if he mistook a Gryffindor’s voice for that of his fellow chasers. Not as embarrassing as scoring in the wrong hoops, but close.

The three chasers had practiced their plays and maneuvers so often that they were almost perfectly synchronised. However, it was one thing to be synchronised in practice, when he could see his teammates, and a whole different matter to try to stay in formation when he could see no one and nothing. Max was awfully concerned about it, despite the cheerful attitude and chanting. He really hoped the match started soon. This waiting was terrible. It just gave them all more time to think about what they could do wrong.