Though Ariane was not particularly interested in Quidditch like Leo, she thought it would be rude if she was not present at the spectator stand when everyone, no matter which house, was cheering loudly and watched with amusement.

Bengel was already in his elements even before all the spectators had settled down.

"Hufflepuff and Slytherin match! Will Hufflepuff's seeker get the snitch before the Slytherin's beaters whack him off? Today's spotlight in on Hufflepuff's seeker, Mary Benson. Just get into the team two years ago, almost got the cup. So welcome our teams into the pitch!"

The crowd cheered and the two teams marched into the centre of the pitch with Madam Hooch. They mounted onto their brooms and hovered in mid-air for warm-ups, then they flew back to Madam Hooch, who was ready on her brooms. After she had made enough reminders, she signalled Professor Dumbledore with a nod. Bengel's eyes sparkled and he yelled with his tremendous voice.

"Let the match begin!"

Madam Hooch threw the Quaffle into mid-air and the chasersswooped to the ball and ascended into the clear blue sky with extreme speed.

"Hufflepuff in possession—nice flying, Scott, with his new Nimbus Two Thousand—oh, Slytherin's Chaser Martin Turner snatched it! And he speeds off to the pole, and—bravo, Johnny Dickson blocked the Quaffle! Now Hufflepuff's in possession again—"

Ariane occasionally glanced and she reckoned she spotted a glinting fluttering golden ball, and she gasped with surprise, pointing at Madam Hooch's broom,

"The snitch!"

At once, the two seekers soared towards Madam Hooch, aiming at the snitch which was hovering around Madam Hooch's broom tail. Then, the crowds gasped with horror, neither of the two seekers got the snitch, and Mary Benson halted in mid-air and her brooms flew around, trying to fling her away. Everyone stopped their cheering and terrified shrieking filled the pitch, while the Slytherin seeker Driscoll, dazed with confusion, and the snitch disappeared.

"What's happening?"

"Somebody help them!"

"It's Snape," whispered Claudia.

"Who?" asked Ariane.

"Snape, he is muttering something," said Claudia, who was concentrating her sight in her binoculars. "It's really Snape. We need to stop them."

"I know it is him," snapped Hugo. "He wants Slytherin to win, that's his motive. I will give him a piece of my mind."

"Hold on, Hugo," said Ariane. "I'll go with you."

The two headed to the professors' stand, and Ariane thought the air had become thin and frozen. The peculiar feeling was getting bigger, Ariane did not want to go further, but Hugo's determination drove the idea away.

Just when Ariane reached the professor's stand, Hugo backed a little, locking his lips with anxiety.

"I may get expelled if I set fire on his robes," said Hugo.

"I will go then, Snape never says a bad word of me," said Ariane.

"That's because you're a pure-blood, whereas I am a muggle-born."

"That doesn't make any difference."

"At least it does in his eye."

"Alright, I will, you stay here and alert me if anything happens."

Hugo nodded and Ariane headed towards where Snape was sitting. She brushed off a pile of dust off her robes and she found Snape's black robes. She took out her wand, and was ready to set flames on it. But a horrible thought struck her, what if she got expelled and no one could protect her safety when You-Know-Who came and tried to kill her? Who would protect her when she returned to her muggle school? No muggles, even for policemen, could protect her from dark magic.

Her hand shook with fear, unable to aim properly. She withdrew her hand, fearing that her shaking would alert the professors. She hated herself for being so timid but there seemed to have no other alternatives. She swished her wand, aiming at the black robes. A small ember for a while but was distinguished soon by the owner of the robes. Screams broke out from the pitch once she tried to raise her wand again.

She peered out from the holes and saw Mary Benson up on her broom again, zooming towards the blue sky and caught the snitch.

"Hufflepuff wins!"

Cheers broke out and Ariane quickly went down to meet Hugo.

"Yes, Hufflepuff did it!" exclaimed Hugo. "Your flame worked!"

"But I—"

"Come on, let's go back."

"But—"

Hugo pulled her back to the Ravenclaw's stand. Everyone was cheering, even for Joanne. Claudia was beaming at Ariane, showing a thumb-up. Ariane was confused, she did not cause much mayhem enough to get Snape distracted, how could her ember did anything? Though she kept telling everyone that she did nothing, Hugo and Claudia ignored her explanation and immersed herself into the fun, leaving her perplexed.

"But I didn't do anything—"

"Don't be a scaredy cat, we know you did it," said Claudia, who was jumping up and down.

"But I didn't—"

As she walked back to the common room, she saw Snape pursing his lips and muttering something. Strangely, as Ariane examined his robes, she could not find any burnt spots. She frowned, remembering that the ember had made a small but visible hole. But thinking that Snape could use spells to weave it back, she pursed her lips and continued walking. She saw Storette, who was snivelling like a rat. As walked past Ariane, she could hear a faint haunting cold voice chuckling, and she shivered and looked at Storette's back. Then she saw a small burnt hole on his robes. She gasped and a chill went through her spine, somehow she had a feeling that she should not have recognized the wrong robes. There was a sinister feeling that agitating Storette would not be a good idea, and Storette was just a wolf with the coat of a sheep.

Thinking over Storette for the whole night, she could not go to sleep. She kept on thinking there was something behind Storette's stuttering appearance. There had to be something behind him, but she did not have the faintest idea. She even thought that You-Know-Who was actually Storette in disguise, this idea made her shudder until the next day.