Disclaimer: JK Rowling created Hogwarts. There are places, names, and ghosts taken from the Harry Potter series, but if you are looking for the primary characters from those stories you will need to look elsewhere. If you think there're too many subplots... You're right.
Game 3: Slytherin vs. Gryffindor
Vivien continued to complain about neglect for days after the ball. "Mr. Wells must suffer from some form of insanity! He spent his time talking of Miss Fowler."
Elizabeth, Charlotte, and Kitty had heard the complaint often enough since the end of the ball that they simply ignored it. Vivien, however, needed no encouragement in order to continue. "There is no comparison between the two of us. She is such a drab little thing."
"My brother says she is witty and a wonderful conversationalist," Elizabeth said.
"Men are not interested in women for their minds," Miss Kestrel asserted.
"At least he has an interest in women," Miss Kelly pointed out. "Mr. Malfoy seems interested in nothing but drink, dueling and whist."
Vivien flopped down on the bed and stared at the ceiling, "I am not certain which is more insulting, to be ignored by a man who would rather drink or a man interested in a plain woman."
"There are advantages to arranged marriages," Miss Cattermole reminded the others.
Vivien almost said something about the appearance of Charlotte's cousin James, or the other witch's own long face, but decided the fight might detract from her own bid for sympathy. "That is fine, if you have a cousin and want to keep property in the family. I have no relatives looking to marry off a son, and my mother can't afford enough dowry to make me attractive to a man of substance."
"Marriage should be for love," Catherine scolded. "Love is all that matters."
"It is as easy to love a rich man as a poor one," Vivien shot back. "Lizzy?"
Miss Gray hesitated. "I should not comment. I'll have a respectable dowry. I agree with Kitty that love should be important, but I agree with Vivien also. I don't think I would endure poverty in the name of love."
Miss Kelly, who truly had no interest in a life of poverty herself, changed the conversation by complaining that there should be an end of term ball.
Elizabeth began testing students at dueling club on the Wednesday evening prior to the quidditch game. There were enough students, and her examination sufficiently rigorous, that at least two weeks would be required. Those who volunteered to demonstrate their abilities the first week all performed well, as Elizabeth had expected. She felt some anxiety towards a handful of students who did not volunteer.
At nine on Thursday evening Miss Gray met with Mr. Potter for the ritual of asking Sir William for the weather forecast. As they walked down the hallway Mr. Potter suggested, "A small wager on the outcome of the game?"
Since captains frequently bet small amounts she responded, "How many sickles?"
"I spoke with your cousin Robert. He said the two of you usually wager a meal. Losing captain buys a dinner for the winning captain at some point over Christmas break?"
Elizabeth hesitated, wondering what sort of trap Mr. Potter planned. She enjoyed spending time with Robin, and spending more time with Charles Potter sounded thoroughly unpleasant. He probably imagined that Gryffindor would win, and would demand she take him to the most expensive restaurant in London. "Robin and I allow the losing captain to choose the place to eat."
He hesitated slightly, which confirmed Elizabeth's suspicion, then replied, "I accept that condition."
Miss Gray planned to win, but win or lose she would dress so well that, wherever they went, he would be humiliated by how shabby he looked in comparison to her finery. She nodded curtly, "I accept the wager."
"The morning will dawn clear," Sir William told them, "but it will be very cool, uncomfortably so. You need to apply to me later when I know how much the day will warm up."
The two thanked him for his prediction and returned to their houses.
The Saturday of the game between Slytherin and Gryffindor dawned unusually crisp, but a bright sun and Sir William both promised warmer temperatures later in the day.
The Slytherin team ate breakfast as a group. The Owl seemed nervous, and did little but drink coffee.
"Bad idea," Augie warned him as the thuggish beater responded to his own case of nerves by eating everything within reach. "You'll need to piss during the game."
The Weirds picked at their food and whispered among themselves.
Turk ate his normal breakfast. Elizabeth tried to eat a normal breakfast – but spent much of her time trying to encourage the others and assure them that Gryffindor could be beaten. Indeed, few things could give Elizabeth the same pleasure as the prospect of a defeat of Gryffindor. The first four years she played on the team she faced Gryffindor teams with overwhelming skills. Gryffindor humiliated any team which took to the air against them. Today represented Elizabeth's last chance to repay Gryffindor for those losses. She didn't have a clear sense of what the other team might be capable of; Ravenclaw had beaten them so quickly that she had been unable to assess either team well. But Elizabeth took it as a good omen for Slytherin, Gryffindor could be beaten and her team would manage it also.
When the Slytherin team arrived at the pitch they found Hufflepuff already there, with all of them wearing Slytherin colors as a show of support. When Mr. Andrews waved at the Sisters Miss Crouch and Miss Cooper both smiled broadly and returned the wave enthusiastically.
Although her heart was not in the act, Elizabeth had purchased a pair of dragon hide gloves for Mr. Bulstrode to wear as a Slytherin beater. She presented them, then moved to mid-pitch to confer with Mr. Potter and Professor Turpin.
As the team prepared themselves to take to the air Slytherin's junior beater suddenly screamed.
"Did that hurt?" Miss Crouch, who had stood beside him, asked innocently.
It had hurt tremendously. It felt like two large snakes had sunk their fangs deep in his buttocks, one on each side. "No," he lied quickly, "it merely surprised me. What in the hell did you do?"
"No pain? A pity. It will keep you from falling off your broom."
He said nothing.
"Oh, and Mr. Bulstrode?"
"Yes?"
"Should anything happen to Miss Cooper that you could have prevented. Should anything happen to Miss Cooper during the game at your hand, the charm to remove the broom from your backside will be lost – and great bloody chunks will be torn from your hide when you try to dismount from your broom. Is that clear?"
"Painfully so," he grunted.
There was no time for further conversation as professor Turpin gave the signal and the players rose into the air to the cheers of the spectators. Mr. Bulstrode faced a fifth year witch, Faith Osgood, in the junior position when Miss Turpin released the bludgers into the air. Until the professor whistled the official start of the game the beaters simply batted the bludgers back and forth in an easy manner to each other, at the blast of the whistle, however, play began in earnest.
The Slytherin chasers made their presence known immediately. Fourth year Lucretia Hagrid almost had her hands on the quaffle at the toss, when Miss Crouch went into a dive and snatched it from her. Miss Hagrid's fifth year brother, Germanicus, maneuvered toward Poppy in hopes of stealing the quaffle. Before he could intercept the blonde witch, however, Miss Honig had taken the leather ball from her teammate and headed for the hoops. Sixth year Mr. Archer had no idea what was happening as Alfred Longbottom moved to guard the Gryffindor hoops. 'Alfie' Longbottom had a year of keeper experience which Mr. Andrews of Hufflepuff lacked and felt confident in his ability to stop Miss Honig. And had Miss Honig kept possession of the quaffle he might have kept the Jewish witch from scoring, but a blind lateral to Miss Cooper, who was exactly where the trio had planned, left him at the wrong hoop when the brown-haired witch scored the first points of the game.
Elizabeth smiled from her position in front of the Slytherin hoops, she took the opening score, and in the first fifteen seconds, as a very good omen.
The Sisters scored two more times on three scoring drives, and Gryffindor once in four drives when Mr. Bulstrode found a fortunate opening. He savagely slammed the bludger he guarded and it traveled nearly a third of the field, hitting Miss Hagrid squarely in the side and knocking her off her broom. The fourth year witch managed to keep from falling, but only barely.
Mr. Potter signaled a timeout. Turk caught one bludger, and Mr. Potter managed to capture the other before it did more damage.
"I want someone to examine Mr. Bulstrode's club," Mr. Potter shouted to professor Turpin. "It has been enchanted in some illegal manner."
"No it hasn't," Miss Gray shouted from her position.
"It was an unusual hit," Professor Turpin admitted. "Elizabeth? Professor Ogden will examine your junior's club. Seekers, leave the air. Face each other."
Wolf and Owl landed a few feet apart and Professor Ogden came to the field, pulling a variety of spectacles from pockets.
Augustus landed and offered his club for the examination by the charms instructor. It seemed curious to the bystanders why Augustus remained on his broom during the examination. Elizabeth landed to stand beside her beater, while Mr. Potter gave the bludger he tended to Miss Osgood and landed to hear the result of his accusation.
"Ummm, seems to be something here besides the normal charm to keep the bat from breaking," Professor Ogden muttered, and switched spectacles.
Mr. Potter said nothing, but looked scornfully at Elizabeth and the Slytherin junior beater.
"Yes, yes…" The charms professor looked up. "Good show. Slytherin is to be commended. I will awards points for this."
Elizabeth had no idea what professor Ogden was talking about, and Mr. Potter simply looked shocked.
"What's your verdict, Isaiah?" Professor Turpin asked.
"It has been charmed so he can not strike another player, Laurel. Some of us have demanded the charm be mandatory in all games. I congratulate Slytherin for their sportsmanship."
Elizabeth beamed and bowed to the professor, "Thank you. Slytherin would never undermine the honor of the game." She strongly suspected that the charm had nothing to do with the honor of the game, and that it had not been placed on the club to keep Mr. Bulstrode from harming a Gryffindor player. But she did not feel like sharing her team's internal struggles with the faculty.
As the teams prepared to resume the game Miss Osgood requested, "Can we switch?" She attributed more skill and less luck to Mr. Bulstrode's amazing hit than it actually deserved. Mr. Potter, uncertain about what had just occurred, shook his head in agreement.
Owl demonstrated his earlier problem with focus, but Miss Gray understood his difficulty. The Gryffindor seeker flew like nothing Elizabeth had seen before. As much as she could she watched him when the Slytherin chasers controlled the quaffle. The black man showed no fear, moving in ways Miss Gray had never observed on anyone riding a broom before. She began to understand Owl's assertion that Mr. Jones deserved more credit for his hunting skills than most observers gave him.
"Watch for the snitch!" she shouted at her own seeker.
The time out to check for a foul slowed the start of the game, Slytherin led forty to ten at the end of the first half hour, and Elizabeth felt that had the game not been delayed the lead would have been much wider.
Mr. Potter played cautiously against Mr. Bulstrode, fearing the massive fourth year had another trick or two to unleash on Gryffindor.
Turk came alive against Gryffindor's junior beater. Some might have attributed his behavior to anger at the slight of facing the Gryffindor junior. Elizabeth gave him credit for a nobler motive behind his actions, Mr. Lennox realized that Mr. Bulstrode possessed average skills at best. When Mr. Potter became aware of just how weak Augustus was it would mean problems for Slytherin, so Turk did his best to delay the moment of truth. A slim witch, Miss Osgood lacked the muscle to be a strong beater and relied on skill to accomplish the job. Against Turk, a senior beater with both skill and muscle, Faith found herself unable to defend her teammates properly. Mr. Archer suffered two minor blows from the metal sphere, and Mr. Jones once only eluded the bludger with a spectacular dive which brought even Elizabeth's heart to her throat with the fear that the black seeker would be killed. Instead the Gryffindor seeker pulled out of the dive in a manner no one watching believed possible and actually laughed at his brush with injury.
With Mr. Potter cautiously gauging Mr. Bulstrode's strength and Turk disrupting Gryffindor's play the Sisters tore at Alfie Longbottom, at the end of the first hour Slytherin had taken a commanding lead of one hundred and twenty to forty.
At first Mr. Potter had thought Mr. Bulstrode played poorly to trick him into some sort of error that Augustus could exploit to Slytherin's advantage. After playing defensively against him for half an hour, however, he began to hold the fourth year's ability in contempt. Now Slytherin players too had to watch for bludgers driven at them as well as hoping to continue their own roles in the game. Both Miss Honig and Miss Crouch suffered minor blows from the metal spheres and a well aimed smash of Mr. Potter's club against the bludger drove Elizabeth from her post and allowed Miss Hagrid to score. Turk redoubled his own efforts, however, with Mr. Archer suffering more damage and a fairly solid blow to Mr. Hagrid. The Slytherin ability to score goals slowed considerably as the game became more dangerous, and the margin remained the same between the two teams, with Slytherin at one hundred and fifty points and Gryffindor at seventy.
While the dangerous game proved entertaining for the spectators neither team wanted injury to their players.
"Move closer, we need to switch," Mr. Potter shouted at Mr. Lennox.
"I can't play him," Miss Osgood called, still giving Augustus more credit than he deserved.
"Yes you can," Charles shouted back. "That was a lucky shot. He has no skills – you are better."
Mr. Bulstrode, who had seen facing the Gryffindor senior as his right, recognized the insult. He went after the bludger even harder – and left an opening that allowed Mr. Potter to sent the bludger hurtling at Miss Cooper.
Mr. Potter called, "Switch," as Mr. Bulstrode went after the bludger. The Gryffindor senior took his place opposite Mr. Lennox as Miss Osgood returned to face Mr. Bulstrode.
"Watch for the snitch!" Elizabeth screamed at Owl. Her own position, as keeper, allowed her to watch while the Slytherin chasers held the quaffle, and there was much to see. The Sisters returned to a scoring rampage as greater safety returned to the game. Mr. Jones… Sometimes she wondered if his moves were designed merely for show and other times she felt certain that he hunted the snitch with greater skill than she had ever observed in a seeker.
Augustus grew increasingly frustrated as he faced Miss Osgood. He had at least a hundred and sixty pounds on the fifth year witch and could probably have picked her up and tossed her thirty feet, but he could not outplay her. Augustus relied only on his strength. The much weaker Faith developed her skills in beating, and strength alone could not prevail against skill and cunning. In addition, Miss Osgood had heard the verdict of the charms professor – Mr. Bulstrode could not strike her with his club. As she gained confidence in her own abilities vis-à-vis the Slytherin beater she began to crowd him, moving in close to hamper his ability to swing his bat – taking advantage of the charm which had been intended to protect Miss Cooper. No one could remember seeing two beaters play so tightly, and Augustus felt like his hands were tied. At the end of the second hour the Sisters had moved Slytherin further ahead, and Gryffindor trailed one hundred points to two hundred and ten.
"Call time out," Miss Crouch shouted to Elizabeth.
After Miss Turpin whistled a halt in play and the two seekers returned to face each other on the ground Miss Crouch told Augustus to land and hand him his club. She made a show of removing the charm which kept him from striking another player with the bat as a warning to Miss Osgood.
"If she plays you that close again," Poppy said, handing the club back to Mr. Bulstrode, "knock her teeth down her throat."
A wide grin split the ugly wizard's face and he nodded in agreement.
Miss Osgood returned to a safer style of defense as play resumed. Augustus, who had blamed his poor showing entirely on the charm, found that she still outplayed him. Miss Gray took a perverse delight in watching the large wizard's frustration, rationalizing that it should prove good for her junior beater. He needed a lesson in humility and performing poorly against a girl less than half his size was the perfect demonstration that strength alone did not make a good beater.
The gap continued to widen, after two and a half hours of play Slytherin led two hundred and seventy to one hundred and thirty.
Elizabeth wasn't certain how she should feel. It looked like Slytherin would pull into a lead where the capture of the snitch could not win the game, yet when she had felt that way in the game against Hufflepuff Erin O'Shaughnessy had almost immediately captured the snitch and won the game for the other team. Miss Gray worried that hope would bring bad luck down on the heads of her team.
Gryffindor scored again, and then Slytherin scored twice. Her team led by a hundred and fifty points, and Elizabeth resolved to redouble her efforts to stop Gryffindor's chasers.
Alfie stopped Deborah's effort to score, but Elizabeth proved to be a solid wall when Miss Hagrid tried to score on Slytherin.
Miss Honig had the quaffle again and was flying at the hoops as she had on the first scoring drive of the game. Miss Cooper flew up beside her once again. Alfie refused to be tricked as he had been in the opening seconds of the game. He moved to intercept Miss Cooper when Miss Honig passed the quaffle. Only this time Miss Honig did not pass the quaffle and stuffed it through a hoop he had left unguarded in his effort to stop Sarah's scoring threat.
Elizabeth was all smiles at the other end of the pitch, Slytherin would win the game. She would not allow the Gryffidor chasers to outplay the Sisters. "Look for the snitch!" she screamed again at Owl.
Slytherin's lead began to open even further, a hundred of seventy points, then a hundred and eighty.
Owl flew near Elizabeth as Miss Crouch failed to score against Gryffindor, "Mr. Jones changed how he's flying."
"Stop watching Mr. Jones and look for the snitch."
"Something's wrong. I don't know what, but something is wrong."
Elizabeth could not focus on Owl's fears as she needed to stop Mr. Archer from scoring.
Miss Cooper scored, and Gryffindor's seeker signaled Mr. Potter to call a timeout.
Mr. Jones landed on the field to talk with Mr. Potter. Professor Turpin ordered Owl to the ground as well to insure the Slytherin seeker did not take advantage of the time out and Elizabeth went to the ground to confer with her seeker. The two Slytherins were not close enough to hear the very animated conversation between the Gryffindor team captain and the black seeker, but Mr. Potter appeared angry. After a minute he waved for Professor Turpin to join them.
Professor Turpin's discussion with the two wizards showed equal animation and she turned and called for Elizabeth to join them.
As the spectators wondered when the game would resume Laurel Turpin told Elizabeth, "The game is over. Slytherin has won."
"But the snitch—"
"Was captured several minutes ago by Mr. Jones."
"But—"
An unhappy Mr. Potter made the explanation, "Wolf is new to quidditch. His people value the use of cunning to win. Slytherin was ahead by one hundred and sixty points when he captured the snitch. He hoped to hide the fact of the capture to let Gryffindor's chasers score and allow a win… That did not happen."
"I will allow Slytherin's final three goals. Your team wins by forty points, Miss Gray."
Professor Turpin signaled the end of the game, to the amazement of both players and spectators. As Turk and Augustus captured the bludgers Professor Turpin presented a Bowdlerized version of the events to the spectators. "Mr. Jones captured the snitch. He did not signal the capture and requested a conference with Mr. Potter to know what he should do. Slytherin won the game."
The watchers indulged in a confused babble of conversation at the unusual end of the game. The Slytherin players uncertain about how the game had ended, but grateful for the victory, began to land. Turk and Miss Osgood, to whom Mr. Bulstrode had given the metal sphere, brought the two bludgers down – the Gryffindor struggling hard against the heavy sphere's movements.
The Sisters landed and dismounted from their brooms, a luxury not possible for Mr. Bulstrode who landed beside them.
"Will you remove this damn charm?"
Miss Crouch looked over at Miss Cooper, "He allowed Mr. Potter an attack on you."
"He allowed attacks on everyone," Miss Honig pointed out.
"He performed poorly in general," Miss Cooper echoed.
"You have to take this—"
"No, you have to stand there with a broom on your backside while we talk," Poppy hissed.
"We'll decide on a course of action, based on your performance."
"And we were not impressed."
In a moment of rare insight, Augustus realized he needed to keep his mouth shut.
Miss Crouch assumed the role of prosecutor. "He was warned that allowing attacks on Miss Cooper would not be allowed. She barely managed to avoid injury from Mr. Potter's attack."
Miss Honig took the defense of the fourth year. "He faced Gryffindor's senior at that point and was badly outplayed. As he regained position he made no move against Miss Cooper."
The two turned to Miss Cooper in her role as judge. Sarah thought for a minute. "I believe the verdict rests on the ugly lump's ability. If he played well then he is guilty for allowing the attack. If he is an overconfident braggart without as much ability as he imagines he should be found innocent. How does the ugly lump plead?"
The three turned to Mr. Bulstrode. "I faced their senior! I'll admit I wasn't ready for him."
"A poor defense," Miss Crouch sighed, "I still hear the voice of the braggart."
"True," Miss Cooper ruled. "His plea fails to impress."
"He wasn't ready for Miss Osgood," Miss Honig rebutted. "Mr. Bulstrode? Were you ready for the junior beater or did the witch outplay you."
"You had another damn charm on my club!"
"I removed that charm part way through the game," Poppy reminded him. "What happened afterwards?"
Augustus remained silent.
Deborah encouraged him with, "The truth will set you free."
Mr. Bulstrode hesitated, then admitted, "She outplayed me."
Sarah handed down the verdict, "Ugly lump needs to practice harder if he's going to face Mr. Cairo in our last game. The attack on me is ruled the result of his inadequacies, and not pre-meditated. Poppy? You may free the prisoner."
The Hufflepuff team came out to congratulate the Slytherins. Weasel came out as well, "Good win, Sis. At least Slytherin will have one win this year."
"We'll beat Ravenclaw so badly that we'll take the quidditch cup," Elizabeth predicted.
"You're both leaving Hufflepuff out of the equation," Robin pointed out. "We've already beat Slytherin. When we beat Gryffindor and Ravenclaw we'll finish with a perfect year and retain the cup."
Edward William left them to run back to the Ravenclaw team and prevent Mr. Wells from obtaining a monopoly on Miss Fowler's attention. Robin walked back with Elizabeth while Miss O'Shaughnessy walked beside Turk and Mr. Andrews accompanied the Sisters.
The victory party at Slytherin lasted long into the evening.
Monday Elizabeth and Robin helped Professor Saxifrage harvest the nettles. "I'll have house elves spin the fibers and weave them into cloth over the break. We'll test effectiveness in the winter term."
Four students failed in the second round of dueling trials on Wednesday evening. After assuring the rest of the students they could move to the open meetings at the start of the winter term she encouraged them to drill those who had failed for the remainder of the evening and during the final session of the term next week so that they all could advance together.
The approach of term break made concentrating for classes difficult for faculty as well as students. Several professors devoted class sessions to reviews of material which had proven difficult when first introduced while others made themselves unpopular by plowing ahead while the minds of the students were incapable of retaining new ideas.
Caroling groups spent two days going around the school and Hogsmeade. There were only four Welshmen this year, but they sounded like a much larger group as they sang 'Canu Cwnsela' or 'Ar Had y Nos'. Why the Welsh witches did not sing with the group remained a mystery, but the women usually joined with the other caroling groups. Students set aside language charms when the Germans came by with carols such as 'Stille Nacht!' or 'Frölich soll mein Herze springen.' While the language charms worked perfectly well for speech they performed poorly with music and poetry. The Irish asserted their Roman faith through old Latin hymns like 'Adeste Fideles' and 'In Dulci Jubilo', but they also had songs such as 'Carúl Loch Garman' in their repertoire. Dissenters felt welcome to all of English hymnody, but specialized in the music of Charles Wesley. The Anglican contingent in which Elizabeth sang had an almost excessively long list of carols from the 'Coventry Carol' through the 'Sussex Carol.' They had gone to Hogsmeade on the first night of caroling and Miss Gray wasn't certain if they'd ever make it back to the school before freezing.
After the second night of caroling the singers met for a party after their rounds. The fat friar attended, expressing the wish that the chapel were in repair so the gathering could be held there. Wassail, posset, and eggnog were provided - with hot chocolate, cider and pumpkin juice for those who wished to avoid an aching head on the morrow. For the Welsh there was taffy. Many students dropped ribbons of hot taffy into a basin of cold water and a fifth year witch who did well in divination studied the cooled taffy to discover the name of the students' true loves.
A curious German custom stood in one corner, an evergreen tree had been cut down in the woods, set up in the room, and festooned with garlands and ornaments. Small candle holders had been fastened to the branches and the candles burned for the party.
"And it really is a German custom to set fire to their homes each Christmas?" Mr. Philpott asked Miss Niebuhr - alluding to the caroling party two years earlier.
"It is not our custom to burn homes... Accidents simply happen."
"We English love our homes too much for that sort of thing."
Carolers gorged themselves on slices of cake and pudding along with the pastries and sugar plums which the students who had to remain at Hogwarts over term break would enjoy on Christmas day. Following the feast the singers all joined together for a few songs. The Germans did better with 'Brightest and Best of the Sons of the Morning' and 'Joy to the World,' than the British students did with 'Es is ein Ros' entsprungen,' and 'Ihr kinderlein kommet.'
The party ended with students shouting, "Merry Christmas," to each other as the four groups returned to their houses, a few who had partied well but not wisely being supported by those who had been more abstemious.
Classes for the term had ended. Many students packed in their rooms and others partied in the common room. Elizabeth, already packed for the trip home, came out to the common room with a book for pleasure reading. As she prepared to curl up in her favorite chair she noticed something both so routine and so unusual as to startling. In the small right alcove students still engaged in study while the world around them ignored the acquisition of knowledge. Mr. Black held his usual position at the near end of the table where he could eavesdrop on the third years, but there were four heads bent in study at the far end of the table instead of the usual three. In addition to Miss Honig's black hair, Miss Crouch's blonde, and Miss Cooper's brown, someone with shorter, red hair sat between Miss Crouch and Miss Cooper. Elizabeth checked again, unable to believe Mr. Andrews had been invited to study with the Sisters - but the evidence in front of her eyes proclaimed it true. Miss Crouch and Miss Cooper sat exceedingly close to the young man. Elizabeth hoped Mr. Andrews didn't mind living dangerously, because it appeared to her that he soon would be.
Bowdlerized version – Thomas Bowdler published his Family Shakespeare in 1818, which cleaned up the naughty bits to make it suitable for family reading. The Wiki article states he wrote to please a Victorian audience – crediting Bowlder with the gift of prophecy since Victoria didn't come to the throne for another twenty years and wasn't even considered as a possible heir to the throne as Bowdler wrote. Don't you wish your teacher had spent more time on the naughty bits? Wouldn't it have made Shakespeare more fun?
I tried to avoid carols more recent than 1835. A number of the songs mentioned in the chapter saw publication in William Sandy's Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern in 1833. Sorry for any anachronisms.
Christmas trees were virtually unknown in England in 1835. Queen Victoria's German husband, Prince Albert, brought the custom to the royal palaces and they became popular in England and many other English speaking countries after that.