The Gryffindor team were all waiting in the changing rooms, just waiting to make their way through to the pitch. James could hear Hugh Jordan providing a pre-match analysis of the game. It suddenly felt surreal to him that his own name would soon be called out.
"I want to make one last change before we head out" Sebastian announced. "I want the Lestrange boy off the substitute list."
"Why?" asked Tulip.
"Because my cousin has just been threatened, and I want to send out a message to the Slytherins that there will be consequences" Sebastian explained.
"How does that make any sense?" asked Patricia.
"I told you earlier, the Traitor of Gryffindor is very obviously a Slytherin" Sebastian replied hastily. "Why are you giving me that look Benedict?"
"Apart from the fact that there's no evidence that Slytherin has anything to do with the Traitor of Gryffindor at all; Jackson Lestrange is our only substitute seeker."
"So?" argued Sebastian.
"The substitutions that are on standby, and the positions they will play are all fixed until the match ends" explained Benedict. "If anything happens to James, then we have nobody to take on the seeker position in his place."
"Thanks for having little faith in me Benedict" muttered James.
"It's not about having faith in you" Benedict exasperated. "I read The Great Hogwarts Quiditch Matches from the school library. In his first year, your father was out cold for his match against Ravenclaw, and the team had no substitute. Ravenclaw realised that they didn't need to catch the snitch; so they just scored goal after goal with the Quaffle, until they were able to cause Gryffindor's worst defeat in over three hundred years."
"Don't be so dramatic Benedict" moaned Patricia. "We're up against Hufflepuff, not Voldemort. I'm sure he'll be fine for one quiditch match."
"We'll focus on getting a new substitute seeker after the game ends" Sebastian decided. "Remember people, I don't want any of you to lose your concentration this morning. We are not going to lessen our performance because of some crap said in that howler."
"Yeah, let's do this" yelled Cameron Corner.
"Remember the strategy everyone" said Sebastian. "Don't just make me proud, make Bella proud too."
"And let's welcome the Gryffindors" Hugh Jordan finally declared.
"This is our cue" grinned Sebastian.
James grabbed his Nimbus Three Thousand, and walked with his fellow teammates onto the pitch. It wasn't the first time he was walking on it, but it was the first time doing so with such a large number of people in the stands; some cheering, others booing.
"Playing today are Corner, Muggs, Collins, Potter, Falcon, Tulip and tonight's captain, Sebastian Gorren."
The Gryffindors cheered hard, but the Slytherins all began booing as Sebastian's name was mentioned.
"How does it feel to be announced in front of the entire school?" Benedict whispered to James, as Hugh Jordan introduced the Hufflepuff side.
"Nervous" James replied.
"It will all come naturally once we're up in the air" said Benedict. "Remember, all you need to focus on is the Snitch."
Sebastian then shook hands with Hazel Macmillan, and then Montague ordered them to get ready for launch. The next few seconds felt the longest in James' life. He just wanted to get going, but Montague was taking forever to start the match.
"Go" he finally roared.
The balls were all released into the air, and James rocketed up to the top of the pitch. In practise, he would often fly round the pitch, trying to find the Golden Snitch; but after seeing Silverstone McLaren in her last match, he decided to stay put in the centre, and tried to keep a lookout for it.
"And it's Benedict Falcon with an early possession of the Quaffle, passes to Tatiana Tulip, back to Falcon, now passes to Sebastian Gorren. Gorren tries to barge his way past the Hufflepuff chasers, and Montague calls a foul."
James turned his attention away from looking for the Snitch, and flew towards Sebastian and Montague to see what the argument was about.
"That was not a foul" Sebastian argued loudly, as the Slytherins in the crowd all cheered. "Don't you dare give them a penalty for no reason."
"In that case, I'll give them a penalty because you kicked Cray in the face when trying to get past" retorted Montague.
"You filthy Slytherin liar" barked Sebastian.
James glanced at the Hufflepuff chasers, and even he had to admit that the smallest one looked like she just had her face bruised.
"And Gryffindor have just had their great start ruined by a penalty" Hugh Jordan continued the commentary, as James resumed his search for the Snitch. "Dawn Cray takes the shot, and Corner misses the Quaffle by less than half an inch. Hufflepuff takes the lead."
The Hufflepuff fans were all cheering, but the Slytherins though far less in number, somehow managed to make their voices more vocal.
"Is he, Is he McLaggen in disguise" the Slytherins all sang. "Is he, is he McLaggen in disguise."
"Don't you dare insult my keeper like that" Sebastian flew over to one of the Slytherin stands to start arguing with them.
"We weren't singing about Corner" a Slytherin second year replied. "We were singing about you."
"Why you little…" Sebastian shrieked.
"And Hufflepuff have scored again" Hugh Jordan announced.
"No" Sebastian gasped.
"Gryffindor captain Sebastian Gorren wasted time arguing with the Slytherins, which meant that the team had one less player to mark the Hufflepuff chasers."
Sebastian flew back to join the game. Benedict and Tulip looked highly irritated that Sebastian had wasted time having a spat, instead of helping them secure the Quaffle.
The game did slowly improve for Gryffindor. Benedict scored a fantastic goal, shooting the Quaffle past two chasers, a beater, and into the right hoop before the Hufflepuff keeper realised his teammates weren't blocking the shot. Tulip scored soon afterwards, bringing the score to twenty points each.
Despite James' hopes that Gryffindor would control the match from there, Sebastian conceded another penalty due to him grabbing a beater's head to stop them batting a bludger at Benedict, who was about to score another goal.
"How was that a penalty?" complained Sebastian to Montague.
"Because it was the exact same penalty I got when I grabbed Katie Bell's head all those years back" answered Montague. "Penalty to Hufflepuff."
Corner was able to save the penalty on his second go, and passed the Quaffle back to Sebastian. Instead of passing it to Tatiana Tulip who was in prime position, he instead tried barge his way through three chasers and two beaters. His attempt failed, and Dawn Cray scored her third goal for Hufflepuff.
"Hufflepuff takes the lead" roared Jordan.
"Damn it" James muttered.
After the next Quaffle release, Benedict performed an excellent intercept on Cray, which allowed him to pass to Tulip, who then passed to Sebastian. Sebastian had a chaser in his way to the goal posts, but he was easily dispatched by a Bludger courtesy of Collins. Sebastian got into position for an easy shot, and aimed the Quaffle at the left hoop. The Hufflepuff keeper was distracted by the sun getting into his eyes, so he was left completely unprepared for the shot. Fortunately for him however, the Quaffle went way off course, and wasn't even close to going in.
"That was a… rather embarrassing moment for Gorren" said Jordan. "Not the finest hour in a game that to this point has been very disappointing for the Gryffindor captain."
"Is he, Is he McLaggen in disguise" the Slytherins cheered on.
Hufflepuff would go on to score another two penalty shots; one due to Sebastian trying to score by ramming his broomstick into the opposing keeper. The other was down to him pulling Cray's ponytail in order to get the Quaffle from her. Benedict and Tulip were playing the best they could, but as the game went on, the Hufflepuff team realised that Sebastian was playing at a level far below them, and concentrated on their efforts on exploiting it.
"Tulip passes the Quaffle to Gorren, Gorren passes to Falcon, no… he is hit in the back by a bludger."
James was getting rather concerned by the way the match was going. The score was now seventy to twenty in favour of Hufflepuff. If he couldn't catch the Snitch soon, Hufflepuff may get a lead larger than one hundred and fifty points. He scanned the pitch, hoping to find just a glint of gold. He spotted Hazel Macmillan, who was now flying very fast close to the ground.
James soared after her. He hadn't seen anyone fly as fast as Macmillan was now. As he expected, the closer he got to Macmillan, the more he saw of the Golden Snitch that was right in front of her. James was closing in on Macmillan fast. She had her arm stretched out to catch the Snitch, but James' Nimbus Three Thousand was the considerably faster broom.
He moved slightly to the left in order to overtake Macmillan, but she saw the move coming, and cut back across to cut him. James had to slow down to avoid crashing into her. He moved to the right in order to make another move, but Macmillan blocked him off again.
"No" James cried out desperately.
He knew his broom was faster than Macmillan's, but she was blocking every move he made. Fortunately, this had the adverse effect that she had to concentrate both on James and the Snitch at the same time. Even so, it appeared only a matter of time before she caught it. James needed to make a move and fast.
"Sebastian Gorren concedes yet another penalty" Hugh Jordan commentated, not yet realising the battle for the Snitch. "A bit surprising that he thought that throwing dirt in his opponent's eyes wouldn't result in a foul."
James continued to get round Macmillan, but she continued to stop him. Even worse, James could see her leaning ever more forwards. James knew that seekers only did this when they were going for the catch.
"No" James cried again.
Macmillan had her palm touching the Snitch, when Patricia Muggs flew down to hit a bludger straight into Macmillan's face. She lost control of her broom, causing her to crash land onto the grass. With Macmillan finally out of the way, James unleashed more speed to catch up with the Snitch. Without even hesitating once, he leant out his arm, and grabbed the Golden Snitch.
"Potter has caught it" screamed Jordan. "Whilst we were all busy watching Cray scoring her seventh goal, Potter has caught the Golden Snitch. Gryffindor one hundred and seventy, Hufflepuff, one hundred and ten."
James landed on the ground, and punched his fist into the air in triumph. He had done it, he had won the match for Gryffindor. Patricia landed next to him, but she didn't seem happy at all. One by one, the rest of the Gryffindor team all landed back on the ground, but only Sebastian was smiling.
"We did it guys" he shouted. "One win down, two to go."
"That was the flukiest win, I've ever had" Patricia moaned.
"C'mon Patricia, we won" Sebastian said cheerfully.
"Both you and Potter were terrible today" Patricia barked.
"Hey; what did you just say?" James demanded angrily.
He didn't understand what he did wrong. He was stuck behind Macmillan for a bit, but he still caught the Snitch in the end.
"I said you were terrible mate" Patricia replied back. "You were riding a Nimbus Three Thousand, and you couldn't overtake the seeker with the worst broom."
"I still caught the Snitch" James argued.
"You only caught the Snitch because I stopped Macmillan at the last second" Patricia spat. "If it was up to you, we would've lost badly. And the less said about you Sebastian, the better."
"Ok, I could have played better" Sebastian admitted. "I was being distracted by the Slytherins in the crowd."
"You didn't even bother the threat sent to your cousin as an excuse" Patricia sulked. "This whole game was a disaster."
"No it wasn't Patricia" Benedict butted in. "We had our difficulties, but we still won. All that matters now is that we learn from our mistakes, and rectify them for our next match."
Patricia scowled, and walked away swearing under her breath. James sometimes wondered why she was never designated captain, as it was often Patricia rather than Sebastian who organised the training sessions, and planned out tactics. He could now see why she was denied that honour; her people skills were non-existent.
"She's so bitter, even though we won" noted James.
"Patricia is a perfectionist" Benedict explained. "She was rather lukewarm to our victory against Slytherin last year, when we beat them by nearly three hundred points. She means well; it's just that her expectations are ludicrous."
"I'm worried about the Traitor of Gryffindor" muttered Tulip. "That howler said that Bella would be hurt if we won the match."
"We'll see if they have the guts to do that in front of the teachers" said Sebastian. "I don't think they were thinking what Professor McGonagall had to say when they were threatening me."
"Hey now, why the long faces?" asked Montague. "You won. Wasn't the cleanest victory, but you won, they lost. Go back the Great Hall and celebrate. Moan about how bad you all were the next time you practise."
James was very happy to sit back, and wait for his dinner. Bella was sat next to him, Professor Longbottom standing behind her. Everyone doubted that the Traitor of Gryffindor would reveal themselves in front of everyone, but the staff were taking no chances.
"How did you all think we did today?" asked James, dreading the answers he was about to receive.
"It looked to me that you were trying too hard to copy McLaren's style" replied Darren. "You were waiting to find someone chasing Snitch before going after it yourself; but McLaren's broom is so much faster than yours, so she can easily catch it before anybody."
"You were better than Sebastian though" Bella retorted. "I never realised he played so dirty; how did he ever get his place on the team?"
"Sebastian at his best plays so much better than how he played this morning" answered Professor Longbottom. "Today, I think he was too focussed on trying to prove a point; his mind wasn't with it."
"I still think you were rubbish James" taunted Jackson. "I wouldn't have been stuck behind Macmillan, I wouldn't…"
"I quite agree" Professor Thicknesse happened to have been walking down the Gryffindor aisle, and by chance got to hear what Jackson had to say.
"Thank you sir" Jackson replied smugly.
"You need to crack down on some of your players Neville" said Thicknesse. "Back when I was at Hogwarts, we selected our teams based on who was best in practise."
"I'm sure that Sebastian has made his team choices for a reason" Longbottom spoke through gritted teeth.
"Potter should consider himself rather lucky that Ms. Muggs intervened, otherwise it would've been a disaster" Thicknesse continued. "Hopefully by the next match, you'll have someone competent in the seeker position."
Thicknesse left the conversation, and returned to the staff table. Bella and Darren had to hold James back in order to stop him from retaliating.
"I hate him so much" James hissed, so Professor Longbottom couldn't hear him.
"I do too, but I don't want to get detention" Bella muttered.
"Forget Thicknesse" said Darren. "Dinner's coming."
Platefuls of food began appearing in front of everyone. James was treated to some fish and chips, whilst Bella was presented with an Indian curry. Darren was about to eat his roast chicken, before Professor Longbottom stopped him.
"Sorry to interrupt you before you start eating Darren, but have you made some plans with your grandparents about returning home for Christmas?"
"I haven't even received a letter from them since I got here" replied Darren.
"It's just that… I highly recommend you spend the Christmas holidays here" explained Longbottom. "It's no secret that you've been struggling quite badly since you arrived here, and to be honest, you haven't been showing any signs of improvement."
"Be honest sir, how bad am I at magic?" Darren asked solemnly.
"Nobody's bad at magic Darren" Longbottom said more cheerfully. "It's just that you're struggling worse than others right now. From what I hear, instead of studying or homework, you spend most of your free time doing exercising, which is great; but you have yet to even cast a single spell."
"Why do you think staying behind over Christmas would change anything anyway?" muttered Darren.
"I am willing to spend time with you, to try and get you back on track in as many subjects as possible" Longbottom elaborated. "At your current rate at learning, you're not going to be passing any of your exams."
"I get the message" muttered Darren. "Fine, I'll stay behind over Christmas. It's not like I have anything better to do back at home."
"Then it's settled then" confirmed Longbottom.
Darren was finally free to eat his dinner, though he seemed to have lost his appetite during the conversation.
"It's a good job there's one muggle-born who's good at magic, isn't it Professor" gloated Jackson.
"Any more lines like that from you, and I'll be giving you detention" warned Longbottom.
"But it's true" protested Jackson.
"Nobody here had the right to bully other students over differences in ability" Longbottom explained. "And considering you get bullied regularly Jackson, I'm disappointed to see this kind of behaviour from you."
Jackson scowled and blushed, before returning to his steak. James had just finished his fish, when he saw Bella coughing over her curry.
"Too spicy for you?" he asked.
Bella didn't answer, but continued coughing. She put down her cutlery so she could wait for the coughing to die down, but after a few seconds, it began to get worse.
"Madame Pomfrey" Professor Longbottom shouted.
"Are you ok?" Jackson asked worryingly.
"My stomach" Bella gasped through her coughing fit. "My stomach hurts."
Shortly after speaking, Bella collapsed from her seat and fell on the floor. Everyone began to notice her now, and had stopped eating to see what was going on.
"I'm coming, I'm coming" Madam Pomfrey shrieked, as she made her way through the aisles.
Around two seconds before Madam Pomfrey arrived, Bella threw up all over the floor. Bella could no longer pretend to be strong, and was now clenching her stomach, and crying as much as her eyes would let her.
"My stomach hurts so much" she screamed.
"It's ok dear" Pomfrey said gently. "Come with me, we're going to the Hospital Wing now."
Bella's crying echoed through throughout the Great Hall, as she was carried away by Madam Pomfrey. When the doors finally shut and the noise died down, people still didn't say anything.
"Romilda, please examine the food that Ms. Gorren was eating" Professor McGonagall instructed.
"The Traitor of Gryffindor" Jackson murmured. "They actually went ahead on their threat."
James didn't pay attention to the conversations that were all of a sudden starting about the Traitor of Gryffindor. His attention was focussed entirely on Pius Thicknesse. Thicknesse obviously held a grudge on Bella, purely because her father was a big reason for him losing his job at the Ministry of Magic; but he expected him to at least show some concern for Bella's wellbeing. Instead he was just continuing to eat as if nothing had happened at all. In fact as he was wiping his mouth with a napkin, James could see him smirking.
"You monster Thicknesse" James whispered to himself. "One day you'll get what's coming to you."