Chapter Three

"Oi! I'll bleed you, you sorry git!"

Robert sprinted down the hillside and rammed straight into Charley Wicken, a tall, intimidating third year. Charley went sprawling down the hill, and Tom shakily climbed to his feet and pulled out his wand.

"No, Tom!"

Robert cast himself between Tom and his foe.

"Step aside, Bobby, I'll make him pay!" Tom had a ferocious thirst in his eyes. His wand hand tingling and buzzing with excitement. "Just let me do it!"

Before Robert could say No, Charley grabbed him from behind and held his arm across his neck.

"You sticking up for this sod?" Charley yelled into Robert's ear. "I thought you were the smart one, Martin!"

"Piss off, Wicken!" Robert struggled to break free.

"You let him go, you waster! I'll make you hurt!" Tom's eyes were blazing as he strode forward, wand at the ready.

"What are you gonna do, firstie? Poke me with your wand?"

"Tom, don't do it!," Robert gasped, struggling with Charley's arm tightening on his neck.

"Diffindo!"

A harsh, blue light shot out of Tom's wand and whizzed by Robert's head. Hot blood splattered on his face and he was released with a deafening scream. Robert regained his composure to discover Charley squirming on the ground, a bloody hand clasped to one side of his head.

"TOM, WHAT DID YOU DO?" Robert rushed to Charley's side to find that half of his ear had been ripped off by Tom's curse.

"The bastard's lucky I missed him," Tom growled.

"MISSED HIM? YOU NICKED HIS SODDING EAR OFF!"

Charley continued to writhe on the ground, screaming and yelling for help.

"Shut up, you! You're gonna be alright!" Robert pulled out his wand, but he didn't know any healing spells. "We have to get him to the hospital wing!"

"What? Why, so they can expel us for using magic outside of class? We're not taking him there." Tom joined Robert on Charley's other side.

"We have to do something! They'll understand it was just an accident, they don't have to know we were fighting!"

"Just throw the sorry git into the lake and he'll learn his lesson."

"What in the 'ell has gotten into you? Why was he even attacking you in the first place?"

"Because he's a tosser! I told him to meet me here, and I would show him what a foul git he is!"

"Right, well we have to get him some help."

The two boys carried Charlie into the castle and left a trail of blood to the hospital wing. The next thing they knew, they were standing before none other than their least favorite teacher, Professor Argonby, who just happened to be head of Slytherin house.

"NOT ONLY WERE YOU TWO OUT OF BED AFTER HOURS, BUT YOU WERE CASTING AGGRESIVE CURSES AT EACH OTHER! THAT IS ENOUGH GROUNDS TO GET YOU EXPELLED FROM HOGWARTS SCHOOL, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

"Yes, sir," the boys said in unison.

"I, AS HEAD OF SLYTHERIN HOUSE, CAN SEND YOU BOTH HOME TONIGHT, DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT?

"Yes, sir."

"DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY FOR YOURSELVES. KEEP IN MIND THAT WHAT YOU SAY NEXT WILL DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT YOU WILL REMAIN AT HOGWARTS! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?"

"Yes, sir."

"RIGHT THEN! WHAT HAVE YOU TO SAY?"

There was a moment's hesitation. Robert opened his mouth to speak, but Tom began first.

"Charley Wicken is... well, Charley Wicken was one of the older students I looked up to, Professor."

Argonby glared at Tom, but Robert detected a flicker of intrigue in his eyes.

Tom continued, "This morning I went to congratulate him on his amazing save against Gryffindor, but he just laughed at me and called me a mudblood."

Argonby sneered, but he still waited for Tom to continue.

"I didn't know what he meant, so I asked him about it, and he just grabbed me, sir." Tom began to sob. Robert was taken aback. He had never seen Tom act this way. "He and his friends just stood in a circle and pushed me around chanting, 'mudblood, mudblood!' I didn't know what to do, sir! I ran for it, but they caught up to me and someone tried to curse me, but I grabbed their wand and broke it! You have to understand, sir, I was trying to protect myself!"

"Go on," Argonby insisted. He appeared to believe every word.

"So Bobby and I were walking back to the castle, I admit sir, we were out too late looking at the gillyweed in the black lake. But Charley was there and he had his wand, it was broken, but he tried to curse me anyway. And then..." Tom trailed off.

"His wand backfired and he tore 'is own sodding ear off," Robert finished, with convincing resolve.

Professor Argonby looked at both of the boys for a moment, trying to decipher the story they had just told him. They were better liars than he was. They knew that he didn't doubt their story for a second. It was their word against Charley's, and they knew that they had won Professor Argonby.

"Very well," the professor said. "You two will still be receiving detention with me for being out of bed. As for Mr. Wicken, I don't believe the two of you will be seeing him again. I would appreciate it if you kept this incident confidential. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir." The boys tried to conceal their elation. They had actually gotten away with it.

"Now, off with you. Go to bed, and speak of this to no one. See me after class tomorrow about your detention. Go!"

The boys made their way to the stairwells before they decided it was safe to speak.

"Well done, you git! You actually sold him on the whole backfiring curse bit!" Robert said, in an excited hush.

"I sold him on the whole bloody thing, you fool!"

"What are you talking about, you made it all up? About his friends pushing you and everything?"

"Yeah! Now the dirty lunatic will get what he deserves."

Robert stopped. "Then what was all that really about?"

"The sodding idiot approached me today asking about my muggle parents. I told him to buzz off because I wasn't interested in their world anymore. He then started talking about his muggle family like I would be interested, so I told him to shut up and to stop sounding like a blundering fool, or I would shut him up myself."

"You can't be serious," Robert gasped. He wasn't whispering anymore.

"Muggle-born wizards should shun the rest of their families, Bobby. We don't belong in the same world! Salazar Slytherin taught us that!"

"Salazar Slytherin is dead! He lived ages ago! Things are different now, we shouldn't cling to the old ways. Besides, we didn't even know who Salazar Slytherin was not a year ago! You can't act like you know everything!"

Tom smirked. He began walking back to the corridor. "You're right Bobby. Perhaps I was being too brash. I should know more before I start acting like that."

"Well, what are we going to about Charley?"

"Nothing, of course. It'll be a good riddance."

"Tom!" Robert stopped walking again.

"Bobby, look. We're friends, right?"

"Of course."

"Then we let this go. I should think this is a first of many adventures we'll have together, Bobby. After all, we're both top of our class this year."

"Aye, but I don't think this is right... what we're letting them do to Charley."

"It'll set an example for the rest of the school." Tom's voice became firm. "Bad things happen to those who try to hurt the Brace of Slytherin."