The quiditch match between Slytherin and Ravenclaw dominated the conversations during the following week. They tended to be focussed on how good McLaren's new broomstick was, or how Bletchley completely ruined the game for the Slytherin side. Indeed almost every Slytherin was furious with Bletchley for throwing away the match. During meals, he used to sit with the rest of his quiditch teammates. Now he sits far away from them in one of the many empty seats at the Slytherin table.
"That's one more good player down for Slytherin" Sebastian noted. "Looking good for us isn't it."
Travis Gant was exceptionally moody during lessons, and it was starting to take a toll on his work. His spell casting became almost as bad as Darren's, and whilst Professor Bones tried to explain where he went wrong, he lashed out and shouted at her. He regretted it immediately, even before Bones had given him detention.
"It's our turn tomorrow" James told Bella and Darren on Friday breakfast. "Us against Hufflepuff."
"I hope none of your players have girlfriends in Hufflepuff" said Bella.
"That's… actually a good point" James said less confidently.
"I don't think you need to worry about any of our players betraying the team" Benedict interjected. "Hazel isn't the sort of girl who'd approve of such tactics; she'd never want a game to go down like that. Secondly, Bletchley is getting so much hate from the rest of his house, that I just can't see people finding the idea appealing."
"You'd be surprised what boys are willing to do for a pretty girl" said Bella.
"And you'd be surprised how boys will react to a howler sent by their parents" Benedict replied. "Look behind you."
The owl post had just finished, and Bletchley had just received a red envelope. He looked completely terrified. He grabbed the letter, got out of his seat and ran, but the rest of the Slytherins blocked his path.
"Let go of me" Bletchley demanded, as the Slytherin beaters grabbed him by the arms.
"Oh no you don't" sneered Oswald Cannon. "Someone wanted the howler to be heard far and wide; and we can't let them down can we."
"What's a howler?" asked Darren.
"I think you'll find out in just a moment" replied Bella.
As Bella predicted, the red letter flew out of Bletchley's hands, and spat the seal open.
"You worthless son of mine" the howler roared. "When Montague wrote to me saying that you purposefully botched the match, I couldn't believe what I was reading."
"Daddy Miles isn't too pleased" grinned Sebastian.
"When I played for Slytherin, I played as if my life was on the line" Miles' howler bellowed. "You, my own son betrayed your side so you could get it off your girlfriend afterwards."
James turned around to see how Silverstone McLaren was reacting, but he could not see her at all on the Ravenclaw table.
"She left last night to take part in her motor race" Benedict whispered to him.
"You are a disgrace to the Bletchley name" Miles continued viscously. "Montague; if you're listening to this, please discipline this boy in any way you see fit."
The howler turned itself into ash shortly after it finished yelling. Montague marched down to aisle until he reached Bletchley. Every time James saw him, Bletchley was loud and brash; yet in front of Montague, he suddenly looked very meek.
"What do you have to say for yourself?" asked Montague.
"Sorry" Bletchley whimpered.
"Sorry ain't going to cut it" Montague roared. "I wasn't a perfect boy myself when I played for Slytherin, I admit. I grabbed players' heads, jeered at them when they messed up, I even tried to injure the opposing keepers so they couldn't play. But one thing I never did was betray Slytherin."
"I'm sorry" sulked Bletchley. "I'll quit the team if…"
"You ain't quitting anything" Montague told him. "You're going to make up for what you've done. And you will have detention." Montague then turned his attention to the staff table. "Professor Lee, do we still have the muggle lawnmower?"
"Yes" replied Lee. "I was just teaching my fifth year class how to use it yesterday.
"Good" Montague said satisfactorily. "Bletchley, you will be using that lawnmower every afternoon at five o'clock to neatly trim the quiditch pitch."
"For crying out loud" Bletchley muttered.
"And once you've finished with that, you will do your best to make up for what you've done" Montague bellowed. "Now get ready for your classes, and get out of my sight."
The quiditch pitch got suspiciously messier grass the afternoon after Bletchley's detention was set. Quiditch practise for the remaining teams still went ahead as normal, and Montague allowed students of all years and houses to attend the stadium to watch Bletchley attempt to mow the grass.
"That isn't neat at all" Montague scolded him the afternoon of Gryffindor's final practise session before the Hufflepuff match. "Go back to it."
"I don't know how to work this muggle thing" Bletchley complained. "This is ridiculous."
"Well now you've learned a valuable lesson" taunted Montague. "Get on with it."
"He's no better than Thicknesse" Sebastian commented.
"No, Montague at least has the decency to only give out detentions to people who actually earned it" Benedict responded.
"That's not a very high bar" Patricia remarked.
Friday was the most nervous James had been. He wouldn't put it past Professor Thicknesse to give him detention during the quiditch match if he annoyed him too much.
"You're being unusually quiet today James" Thicknesse noticed during the Transfiguration class.
"I'm just trying to concentrate on my work sir" James replied as courteously as possible.
"Maybe all the time you've been spending with your quiditch team, and away from Gorren has been doing you good" Thicknesse concluded. "Crawford, how long is it going to take you to perform such a simple spell?"
James had to try very hard to keep a straight face. After the lesson ended, he consoled Bella and Darren for still being bullied by Thicknesse.
"He's a total scumbag" Darren agreed. "I'm glad the Traitor of Gryffindor wrecked his book up so bad."
"You shouldn't be supporting them" scolded Bella. "Are you ready for your first quiditch match tomorrow James?"
"I think so" replied James nervously.
"Then show those Hufflepuffs what Gryffindor is made of."
James couldn't get any sleep that night. He woke up at two o'clock in the morning, and every time he opened his eyes afterwards, the clock on his bedside only progressed by two minutes. Not helping him sleep was Jackson's obnoxiously loud snoring, which James swore under his breath every time Jackson somehow increased the volume. When seven o'clock finally arrived, he wasted no time in going to the Great Hall for his breakfast. The rest of Gryffindor's team arrived ten minutes later. Some of them pointed at James in shock.
"You're down here" gasped Corner.
"Sebastian will be disappointed" remarked Patricia. "He was hoping to throw a bucket of cold water over your head."
"What did I do to him?" complained James.
"Nothing" replied Patricia. "It's something he always does to new players so that they don't oversleep. I think he was secretly hoping to give you a shock."
"Well hopefully he'll throw it all over Jackson instead" muttered James. "I barely got any sleep last night because of his snoring."
"You didn't get any sleep?" gasped Benedict. "James this is very serious, if you're not fit enough to ride your broom…"
"No need to panic" Patricia interrupted. "We've been doing rejuvenation potions yesterday. We've got just over an hour, if we can quickly get some ingredients, I can brew a potion that…"
"All I need is a cup of coffee, and I'll be fine" snapped James.
He knew that Benedict meant well, and Patricia truly wanted to build the best team possible; but he didn't like how he was being treated like a child. Sebastian entered the Great Hall grinning from ear to ear. He was carrying an empty bucket, until he threw it in the face of Oswald Cannon.
"Hey" Cannon shouted.
"We're all awake" Sebastian declared, ignoring Cannon. "Today's the day everyone; how's Hufflepuff looking Benedict."
"Hazel Macmillan has been raising a fine squad" Benedict explained. "They are probably the most defence oriented team, but with our tactics, I reckon we can break through their line. Macmillan herself is a good seeker, but out of the four, she's riding the slowest broom."
"So I should be able to beat her then" James concluded.
"There's a very good chance" Benedict replied. "But don't get too overconfident James."
"Don't worry about that" James replied more seriously. "Dad never lost to Slytherin, and they were almost always had a seeker on a better broom."
"Owls are here earlier than usual" noted Tulip.
Several owls began flying through the Great Hall, all carrying letters and parcels for the students. James and Sebastian were laughing at Kevin Bletchley making a dash for the door as he received another howler, but they stopped once an owl dropped a letter on Sebastian's head.
"That's not your usual owl is it?" questioned Benedict.
"No, I've never seen it before" Sebastian muttered as he removed the letter from his head. "Oh no" he said darkly.
James' eyes widened. It was a howler. Before he had time to question Sebastian on who sent it, the letter spat out the seal, and began to levitate in front of Sebastian's face.
"You must be feeling pretty confident about Gryffindor's chances in the quiditch match" the howler shouted in a voice that has been charmed to disguise the original sound. "I reckon you'll beat Hufflepuff, so I thought I'd make things a little more interesting. If Hufflepuff wins, nothing happens, but if you win, then I will personally harm Arabella Gorren."
"What?" James bellowed.
"The choice is yours Sebastian; the quiditch cup, or your cousin. Yours truly, the Traitor of Gryffindor."
"What the hell" Patricia screamed, as the howler turned to ash.
She was the only person to have said anything. Everyone in the Great Hall including the staff had been awestruck by the threat. Professor Longbottom got up from his seat, and stormed his way out of the room. A couple of first years from the Hufflepuff table looked nervous, and tried to follow Longbottom outside.
"Nobody shall leave until I say so" Professor McGonagall commanded.
It was the first time James had heard her speak since the Opening Ceremony. He could tell by her face that she was a lot angrier than she was that day.
"Do you want me to bring the rest of the Hufflepuffs down Minerva?" asked Professor Lee.
"Yes" replied McGonagall. "In fact, I want every student down at their seats; I don't care if they're still in their pyjamas or not."
Professor Lee, Professor Flitwick and Montague all left the Great Hall to retrieve the students from the other houses. Everyone started to talk amongst themselves as they waited.
"How dare they threaten Bella" scowled Sebastian. "How dare they threaten me. How dare they threaten Gryffindor."
"Whoever sent that howler has nerves of steel" Benedict noted worryingly. "Taking embarrassing dream-o-graphs in the middle of the night is one thing, but to threaten to hurt an innocent first year in front of Professor McGonagall is quite another."
"What are we going to do about the quiditch?" asked James. "Are we going to try and win or…"
"I just received a howler from somebody threatening my cousin, and your first concern is the quiditch?" Sebastian snapped.
Tulip was taken quite aback, and retreated herself a further up the table.
"To be fair we do need to talk about the quiditch" James noted. "Bella won't be harmed, unless we win the match."
"You're right" Sebastian muttered. "Sorry Tulip, I was just… emotional."
Montague was the first head of house to return with all his students. At first James found this a little odd since Longbottom left before him, but then he remembered that Slytherin has far fewer students in it.
"I wonder what the odds are that one of them did it?" Sebastian growled.
"I think it's best to let the teachers investigate where the owl that sent it came from" Benedict whispered.
The Gryffindors were the next to arrive. Only a few of them seemed concerned about what was going on. The rest seemed annoyed that they were brought down to breakfast so early. Despite the seriousness of the situation, James was amused to see Jackson look like he had just exited a very cold shower, as he glared at Sebastian angrily. Bella was escorted to her seat next to James by Professor Longbottom.
"Thanks Professor, but I am capable of sitting down" Bella replied, as Longbottom pulled out a seat for her.
"Bella, are you ok?" asked Sebastian.
"I'm fine I guess" Bella muttered.
She looked around, and soon saw that everybody else in the Great Hall was staring at her.
"What's going on around here?" she demanded, as the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were now taking their places. "Everyone here is acting really creepy."
"Silence" Professor McGonagall snapped.
The only sound that followed were the last few chairs being tucked into the tables.
"For those of you who had just arrived and wondering why we dragged you out of your beds, Sebastian Gorren had just received a howler from the self-proclaimed Traitor of Gryffindor" Professor McGonagall continued. "The sender threatened to have his cousin Bella harmed unless Gryffindor purposefully this morning's game against Hufflepuff."
"What?" Bella shrieked. "Sorry Professor…" she apologised later, after an awkward period of silence.
"I do not blame you for being shocked Ms. Gorren" said McGonagall softly. "I hope whoever sent the howler can see just how upsetting this is" she then said returning to her strict voice.
"I can see why she was the one to succeed Professor Dumbledore" James whispered to Darren.
"To whoever the Traitor of Gryffindor is, I am now speaking directly to you" McGonagall announced angrily. "First off, Hogwarts does not give in to threats against our students. Gorren, Macmillan; you will play one another, as if this had never happened."
"Understood Professor" confirmed Hazel Macmillan.
"Good" muttered Sebastian.
"Secondly, your very actions have my blood boiling" McGonagall continued, her fury showing all over her face. "Gryffindor is a house for the brave and loyal. Concealing your identity behind a howler is the textbook definition of cowardliness. And threatening members of your own house, is as disloyal as one can possibly get. I am a Gryffindor myself, and I am disgusted that you are in my house, and rest assured; when we find out who you are, you will be punished."
She sat back down and drank a small glass of water after finishing her speech. Slowly everyone began to leave their seats, and exit the Great Hall.
"It looks like the news has taken away everyone's appetite" concluded Benedict.
As most people were leaving, Hazel Macmillan stopped by next to Sebastian.
"I know Professor McGonagall wants us to continue the game" she said. "But if you want to delay it at all, I speak on behalf of the whole team that we fully understand and back you."
"Thanks Macmillan" grinned Sebastian. "But just as the professor said; I'm not backing down to any threats towards my cousin."
"Ok" replied Macmillan. "See you at the pitch soon."
"How are you feeling Bella?" asked Professor Longbottom.
"Alright" muttered Bella.
"You're not frightened at all?" gasped Darren. "If I was in your shoes, I'd be petrified."
"Every Friday I worry about what Professor Thicknesse is going to do to me" Bella replied emotionlessly. "Will I get emotionally abused, magically abused, or will I just get detention? What difference does it make now the person threatening me is different?"
"You got other it quickly then" noted James. "By the way you shrieked earlier, I thought you were mortified."
"I got over it quickly" Bella muttered.
"The Traitor of Gryffindor won't get away with this" Longbottom declared. "I'll make sure you're guarded for as long as it takes to catch them."
"Thanks" said Bella.
"The rest of you better go off and get to the pitch" said Longbottom. "You need to get ready for the game."
"Very well" muttered Sebastian.
The Gryffindor team all left their seats, and began to walk out of the Great Hall. As they were about to open the door, Oswald Cannon jogged over.
"I just wanted to say I'm sorry about the howler" he said. "I know we had our differences, but whoever sent it was a low…"
"Get away from me you Slytherin scum" Sebastian screamed.
He shoved Cannon aside, and continued his way to the quiditch pitch.
"I'm very sorry" Benedict apologised. "The rest of us appreciates your condolences."
"At least not all of you are raving lunatics" Cannon muttered.
The rest of the team walked more quickly in order to catch up with Sebastian.
"Did you really have to scream at him?" asked James. "He was only being nice."
"Slytherins aren't nice" Sebastian explained. "There is not a single bad thing in history that wasn't a result of a Slytherin."
"Now that's being overdramatic" said Patricia.
"There is no Traitor of Gryffindor, it's all some ruse caused by a Slytherin, I know it" Sebastian went on. "I don't know how they were able to enter the Gryffindor Common Room to take those dream-o-graphs, but I will find out."
James looked nervously at Benedict, who in turn sighed at Sebastian's theory. James had heard Jackson argue that Sebastian hated Slytherins for no real reason. In the back of his mind, James was beginning to wonder whether he was right.