Year Two at Hogwarts
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Chapter 16: Resolved Revelations
...
The end of the school term was fast approaching. It became June and hot weather made it's way through the castle. Many of the students especially the Slytherins were spending more time in the dungeons since it was always the coolest part of the castle.
There was also the topic of the last two quidditch matches of the season to determine who would get the quidditch cup. The first match approaching was Slytherin vs. Hufflepuff. Tyler and the fellow team members gathered in the changing rooms and were listening to Oakmire's last speech.
"Okay, this is my last match that I will be playing for slytherin. I want you guys to make sure those puny hufflepuffs don't best us at all! We desperately need the win here since we tied with Ravenclaw in our last match. Gansley, Crump, you two better not screw me up or drop the quaffle or I'll make facing a dragon look like looking at a puppy sleeping! Tanner, Dellen, don't you dare let any of those bludgers interfere with any of us. You two better hit them hard at those hufflepuffs out there, got it? Mefist! Don't you let in the quaffle through the hoops as if your life depended on it because, in a way, they will."
They all nodded their understanding to their captain before Oakmire went and came down to Tyler. Tyler resisted the urge in his throat to gulp and slowly looked at Oakmire.
"And you Solemn. You haven't lost the snitch once yet and I hope this isn't the day you lose your first one. I know that you and the mudblood Carter may be matey but don't you dare lose or you'll have my wrath to answer to."
Tyler nodded slowly but not too slowly to show that he wasn't completely intimidated by Oakmire.
The arena was filled and waiting for the game to start. Jacke and Reggie were there but they weren't with Regulus this time. They chose to sit on the opposite side of the field because they weren't sure if they wanted for Tyler to completely acknowledge them. Ever since he yelled back in the cave, Tyler had been avoiding them. He would stay close to the other slytherins or take a quick turn down an opposite corridor even if they were heading to the same class. In the classes, he started to regularly partner with Carroway or with his new friend Morgan Stellers.
There was the sound of coughing heard in the stadium and Phil Villar began his commentary.
"Alright!...Are you ready for your latest match? We have the Slytherin team coming down the pitch right now to meet their opponents on the Hufflepuff team."
Tyler made it regular procedure to only listen for when they were to walk down to the pitch and drown out the rest of the commentary since Villar wasn't too ecstatic about talking about them. He spotted Brad in his bright yellow quidditch robes and holding a Cleansweep Two model broomstick, which was the same as Jacke's. Tyler remembered back in October when Jacke, Reggie and himself put in a money order for Brad to surprise him for his birthday
Brad tried to catch Tyler's eye but whenever Brad tried to look at Tyler, Tyler would just look somewhere else. Clearly, Tyler was still mad at them for no reason at all and it made Brad completely furious but he knew where Tyler's anger came from so he was able to contain it.
Oakmire and the Hufflepuff captain Kathy Jackson shook hands but it was obvious to both Brad and Tyler that Oakmire tried to hurt Jackson's hand but she didn't wince in pain...well maybe a little twitch. The players mounted their brooms and the game began.
The game, after 17 minutes was starting to look good for the slytherin team. They were leading Hufflepuff 100 – 20. The slytherin team was fighting with ferocious force towards the hufflepuff team. They were trying to get through but the slytherins were playing dirty giving the hufflepuffs many fouls but they were getting too sore to take full advantage of them. It seemed it was all up to Brad to go in and catch the snitch. The problem was with Tyler. Just like Tyler, Brad hadn't failed to catch the snitch in his previous two games. It was truly a test of wits and fate between the two undefeated seekers.
The chance came sooner than they thought for when a hufflepuff chaser managed to get in a goal, the snitch was found by Tyler. He zoomed after it and Brad went hot on his trail. The two of them speeded towards it and had their arms extended. Brad had adrenaline pouring through him and looked with a sense of competition toward Tyler. But Tyler still refused to look at Brad because he was still angry and was channeling his anger into trying to move faster. Their hands collided and reached for the ever so near snitch until one of them caught the golden ball with wings.
It was Brad.
Phil Villar had his voice exploding over the mic. "BRAD CARTER HAS THE SNITCH! HUFFLEPUFF WINS! THEY WIN OVER SLYTHERIN AT 180 – 100!"
Normally, Tyler would've clapped at his friend's victory but he was still mad. Slightly for his first defeat but it was mostly due to the fact that one of his supposed friends bested him. He had no doubts that they were guilty since they were the only possible culprits for the letter messages left over the school.
...
"I tell you that Tyler is getting worse. He is now starting to avoid eye contact and I can almost feel glares coming from his direction."
It was the following day and Brad was telling his friends his feelings on the subject of Tyler.
"Look Brad, be reasonable. Tyler is really mad at us right now but it can't last forever. I'm sure that once he's done being blinded by his anger then he'll see that it couldn't possibly be us that were doing those things."
"Reggie," said Jacke in a defeated voice. "Let's just face it. Tyler is never going to stop being mad at us. In his book, we are guilty and will always be guilty. We have been watching him and so far no one has been acting any differently towards him. No one's attitude at him has changed at all from before the incident to now. We'll never clear our names or find the real gits behind this. Let's just...forget it."
Jacke didn't give his friends a chance to respond since he got up to leave. However, before he was out of hearing range, they heard him say, "Reggie, also, be ready for our match next weekend. I want you at your best when I beat you."
When he left Brad spoke to his brainy friend. "Wow, even in gloating Jacke seems upset...Do you really think he's given up in trying to help out Tyler?"
"No I don't," he said simply. "Though the three of us are still best friends, I guess Jacke feels out of place without Tyler. The more I think about it then the more I see that Tyler and Jacke aren't so different. They both love fun and adventure too much for their own good and love to play around whenever possible. I can only hope that Tyler feels the same way and comes to his senses about the incidents." He was silenced himself for about a minute before he let out a sound of anger. "Ugh...if only I had one solid clue then I could find out who this guy is. Thanks to him or her, the seekers are falling apart!"
"But Reggie...there isn't any more clues," he said in a defeated tone much like Jacke's. "The incidents stopped when the final message was made so it's pointless to keep looking if there is nothing new."
"Wait!" he said suddenly. "That's it! The last message!"
"What are you talking about?"
"Brad look, the incidents stopped because of the last incident right?" After a nod of following from Brad, Reggie continued. "So...there must be a hidden meaning there other than the backwards message. That message was too straight forward. If I can investigate the scene better then maybe I can get another clue."
"And just how are we going to get into the Defense room? Ever since the incident, that room has been closed off for rebuilding. There was heavy magical damage and it's a slow fix thanks to whatever was done in there."
"I know a way...but...I won't like it."
"What?"
"Just wait until tomorrow...and please...don't be shocked."
...
It was the following day and people were moving on to their next classes. Tyler also saw a few of the fifth years including Regulus breathing a little nervously as they went into a few of their classes. Their O.W.L.S had begun and they just wanted to get it over with. On his way to Professor Arnold's class, which had been moved to the empty room down the same corridor as the original classroom, he saw something shocking to say the least. There was a circle of students watching a fight with fists and with wands in the middle of it and it was right outside the classroom. But was even more shocking were the people involved and they were Matt and...Reggie?
Professor Arnold rushed over to the commotion and tried to bring order to the chaos going on in front of his classroom. "ENOUGH!" He went and disarmed both Matt and Reggie and started to tower over them. "What is the meaning of this?!"
"Nothing Professor, it was Falkner who started it."
"Falkner, is this true?"
"...Partially but Professor,"
"No, I don't want to hear it. I am going to speak to both your heads of houses and 15 points from both Slytherin and Ravenclaw. Also, you both will have detention. Carroway, your detention is tomorrow night but you Falkner will have detention with me for the weekend."
Reggie eyes shot in surprise. 'My plan is working a little too well. I just needed one detention with Arnold working to rebuild the defense classroom but both Saturday and Sunday nights! I have to be in top shape for the match against Gryffindor on Sunday. I'll be exhausted...Well, I guess I'll take a leaf out of Jacke, Brad and Tyler's books and save the homework I was planning to do for the day before it's due. It's not if I can't handle that.' Reggie nodded his head at the professor and moved along the corridor but still trying to catch Tyler's eye. Tyler was looking at him but it was a blank stare of shock instead of recognition like he wanted.
Later, when Brad and Jacke caught up with Reggie, they talked so fast that it was hard for Reggie to keep up.
"Reggie, I couldn't believe it when I heard it and still can't believe it when I hear it straight from you."
"You, starting trouble. I was shocked. You, Reginald Falkner, going into a fight deliberately with Matt Carroway."
"Look," he said suddenly. "Relax mates, I did start up a fight but I did it for a reason."
"You did?" They both asked that question with a bit of ignorance and stupor.
"I needed to get into the old defense classroom to observe the last message carefully. Only the slytherins saw the exact message and they only saw a glimpse of it after they were shoed away."
"But what does that have to do with getting a detention?" asked Jacke.
"Well, I needed to have the detention with Arnold because he's trying to rebuild the classroom and you know that people that get him for a detention will have to help him so I had to start a ruckus near him so I caused one."
"Reggie, I still don't know what shocks me more, how smart you are making this plan or how dumb you are starting the fight for the plan."
"I thought it was good Brad. Besides, Reggie is the smartest one between us and we need to put together who's responsible for tormenting Tyler and framing us."
"Don't worry Jacke," started Reggie. "I won't waste a second of this chance on Saturday. You can count on me."
"Good...also...don't expect me to count this as an excuse for when I beat you Sunday." He then got up and went to lie down on his bed to rest up from the quidditch training that he had gone through that day.
...
Reggie was standing in the classroom on the Saturday night before the last quidditch match of the season, which would take place early Saturday afternoon. Professor Arnold put a bucket, broom, open paint can and a brush in front of him.
"Alright Falkner, first you will sweep away the last few pieces of wood and chipped stone from the floor and then you will help re-paint the walls. No magic whatsoever, there's no need since all the damage needing magic was done already. I'll call you in three hours to tell you that you're done. Now I think you should get started and think about what you've done."
"Yes Professor."
Professor Arnold left Reggie alone and Reggie started to sweep the last of the debris from the destroyed walls and desks that was left in this room. While he was doing that he let his eyes fall on the message on the right hand wall.
BACKWARDS
There was nothing else there other than the arrow following the message. No symbols or anything to tell anyone about the one who did it. The message itself looked like it was burned into the wall with magical fire just like the other previous letters. The arrow itself was also self explanatory. He took in the destruction of the room itself. How the room was destroyed along the wall just missing the teachers' portraits and pictures on the front wall. He decided to take a close look at them. Some seemed to be of Arnold's early Defense League days with other League members, there were some of famous high ranking members and one even of himself on the far right. The front wall seemed to be spared but the other three were completely decimated with broken windows and destroyed shelves.
'Why would they destroy the room? The other messages just had the messages left there and there was no damage at all so why now? What does it mean? I can feel that the answer is staring me in the face but I can't put it together.'
He went and dumped the last of the debris in the dustbin and took the paint and brush over to the wall with the message and started the second half of his detention. He went and started on the corner of the wall leaving the area with the message alone so he could try and study it more by nothing came to his mind.
Professor Arnold came in what seemed like a half an hour later and told him he could go. He even wished him good luck for tomorrow. Reggie went to the common room but didn't go to sleep just yet. He took out a parchment and put down the last message down and drew the chaos on the wall as well. It didn't have any hidden meaning to his eye now that it was on paper.
"Maybe I'm just too tired," he said quietly to himself. "I should go to bed now, I have a big match tomorrow."
He folded the parchment and then climbed into his bed and fell asleep almost immediately after hitting his pillow.
In the Gryffindor dorms however was his opponent for tomorrow, Jacke. He had his eyes wide and was in deep thought.
'I hope Reggie has the clues he needs so that we could find this guy. I hate to admit it but I haven't felt like I've been having any bit of fun ever since Tyler yelled at us. I miss him. He may be a slytherin and I may be a gryffindor but he's my best friend regardless. I can't let the one doing this make me lose my best friend. I hope Reggie fingers the one responsible and then he'll have to answer to me if Tyler doesn't get to him first when we tell him we found the real secret stalker.'
He rolled himself over and started to turn in his bed, trying to get to sleep to be ready for tomorrow's match.
...
Tyler sat at breakfast the next morning with Matt, Regulus and Morgan near him. He was just eating his breakfast and taking in what his friends were saying. Regulus was saying how glad he was starting to feel knowing that his potions O.W.L was the last one he had to take and he seemed confident that it'll be no problem. Morgan was talking about just being happy the school year was starting to end and Matt was talking about how it didn't matter about having the slytherins go see the quidditch match since Slytherin could only lose no matter what. The entire slytherin team was close by and he heard how they hoped that it would be Ravenclaw to at least win over Gryffindor though they wanted to be the team that one. Tyler shuddered a little by what would happen if to him should Gryffindor win. He failed in winning the game for them and Oakmire would surely want his head blasted apart since he blew it. He just had to keep reminding himself that he was leaving after this month from Hogwarts for good but was still worried about what he would do with the time he had left.
According to the overall points, Hufflepuff was ahead by 30 points thanks to the victory they had over Slytherin. If either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw wanted to win then they needed to outscore each other by at least 40 points to secure the cup. This little number brought the air of hopelessness to the Hufflepuffs because of the skill that the two teams have and knew that the difference in their scores would be more than that.
Tyler looked over to the ceiling to see that it was looking to be a fine day until he caught sight of the post owls. He was surprised when one that he'd never seen before landed on Tyler's shoulder and stuck his leg out. It had a letter with his name on it in a handwriting that looked somewhat familiar but couldn't place. He opened it to find a very interesting letter.
Tyler,
This letter is in regards to the messages that were left for you all over the school. Let's meet in the secret place 10 minutes after the match, UNLESS, you'll be a true snake and be too spineless to show up.
Hopeful that you'll show up
Tyler wanted very much to take his wand and hex Jacke, Reggie and Brad but held it in. He took his quill and wrote on the bottom
You'll bet I'll be there boys! Jacke, Reggie and Brad.
He then blotched up his name on the envelope and decided to write Jacke's name so it could be given by return owl. But Tyler failed to notice that the owl that delivered the message had already left. He was going to go give it to Jacke personally but he and Reggie were already gone to get ready for the match. Brad was also gone in which he assumed had joined them on their way to the changing rooms. So he went to the owlery to have Pandy deliver the message. He found his log brown owl snoozing on a perch and shook him awake.
"Pandy...Wake up boy."
Pandy opened his eyes and let out a face that Tyler understood as to say "What?"
"Pandy, give this to Jacke about 5 minutes after the match please. I would really appreciate it."
Pandy nodded and after Tyler finished tying it to his owl's leg he gave him a good rub on the head as a show of his gratitude, which seemed to calm his owl down. Then, he made his way to see the last match and find out which house would get the cup this year.
...
The two teams were on the field and waiting for the match to begin. Reggie nodded in competition to Jacke and he nodded him right back. Both of them hadn't been successful in catching the snitch yet as they've both been beaten by Tyler and by Brad. This match was going to be more than a regular match, it would be a racing battle! The Ravenclaw keeper and 7th year captain Doris Crockford stood forward to shake the captain and one of the beaters 7th year Ned Berkeley's hand before they all mounted their brooms. Madam Hooch released the snitch and bludgers and readied the quaffle. She levitated it up and the last match of the season had begun.
Jacke was being motionless on the middle of the field while Reggie started to move around looking for the snitch was still on guard for movement of Jacke and to avoid the bludgers.
After about 30 minutes, the match started to become desperate. The Ravenclaw chasers were good but the Gryffindors were putting up a high defense and striking back whenever possible. The score was with the Ravenclaws leading 130 to 100. It was hard for any of the Ravenclaw chasers to get through the Gryffindor chasers and their keeper was holding up. The Gryffindor chasers were good shots but it was very difficult to get their hands on the quaffle with the Ravenclaw's skills.
Jacke was gripping his Cleansweep desperately. 'I have to find the snitch quickly. The guys may be holding up against the other chasers and but I don't think they can do it for much longer.
Reggie was on the Ravenclaw goal posts area when he saw hint of gold in the air. He leaned on his broom and shot toward it like he'd been fired from a cannon. The snitch went into hysterics and zoomed away toward where Jacke was.
Jacke was still looking for the snitch when he felt something go by his ear. It was the snitch! He saw that Reggie was already heading for it and he leaned on his broom and also went into pursuit.
The two of them followed the snitch through all the obstacles present. The snitch decided to go through the other players so Reggie and Jacke had to maneuver themselves through the sea of players and maintain their fast speed at the same time. It was the fact that whoever caught the snitch would win the cup for their team that sustained the both of them. Reggie was a little more further than Jacke and his hand was the closest but that didn't dampen Jacke's sight on catching it before Reggie could. Reggie looked a few inches away from his hand grasping the snitch but Jacke suddenly got a very crazy idea. He went under Reggie and had his arm align under Reggie's and grabbed the snitch right under Reggie's own hand making him the victor. It wasn't long before the commentator Phil Villar had his voice booming through the pitch.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! JACKE WALKER HAS THE SNITCH! THE GRYFFINDORS WIN THE MATCH AND HAVE WON THE QUIDDITCH CUP!"
Jacke landed and was greeted by the other members of his team. Gryffindor had just won the cup again! This time he had a hand in winning it when last year he had only witnessed it. He felt very proud. He looked up to see Reggie still hovering there and gave him a smile that spoke many words to Reggie even though he didn't say any. Brad also came down to the field and hugged his friend in joy.
...
Tyler took that as his cue to go to the cave. He went immediately without question from his spot in the stands and started to walk over to the other edge of the lake. He got over to the rock valley and climbed into the hole leading to their secret meeting place. He then levitated the entrance over it and waited for his supposed "best friends" to arrive.
...
After Jacke and Reggie got changed into their robes and got their bags and wands from their rooms, they went over to their spot in the library and sat with Brad who was seemed to be studying. But when he saw them sit beside him he put the book down and immediately talked very fast and excitedly about the match.
"I can't believe that match. It was one of the best that I've seen. You two were fantastic and really brought on the air that the last match should give to crowds. I was literally hopping on my seat."
"Well, I'm glad we were so...," Reggie couldn't find the word since he still had his blood running wild in him from the excitement he went through.
"Great...listen Reggie...now that we have this energy, did you find any clues last night?"
"Oh," he started sadly. "No, it gave me nothing to use. I got the stupid detention for nothing."
Just then an owl flew and landed near Jacke.
"Jacke?" asked Brad. "Isn't that Tyler's owl Pandy?"
...
Tyler was still in the cave and was still waiting. He was just staring at the pond inside the cave until finally the entrance was being moved.
"Finally now what do you three want..."
But it wasn't Jacke, Reggie or Brad standing there. Tyler's face dropped as the figure spoke.
"I see you got my message Solemn."
"...It...was you?!"
...
Back at the library, Jacke was taking the message from Pandy with his other two friends closely watching.
"What would Tyler be writing to me for after all this time?"
"Read it," urged his friends.
He unfolded the message and dropped his jaw.
"Guys look at this."
They read the message about Tyler meeting the one who wrote it in their cave and recognized Tyler's writing on the bottom telling them that he'll be there.
"He must've thought that we sent this."
But Jacke cut off whatever Reggie was going to say next. "If they're at the cave now then we should get going." He went to his bag and pulled out his wand letting a few parchments fly out of his bag and stood up.
"Jacke wait," said Reggie. "Blindly going in there without knowing what we're up against is stupid. Let's look at the letter first, I gotta say that I can't help but think that this writing is somewhat...familiar."
"Yeah," said Brad who pulled out his own wand. "I think I've seen it before."
Jacke looked down about to yell again when something caught his eye. "GUYS! LOOK!" He pointed down to one of the parchments that came out of his bag.
"Your returned defense homework?" said Brad.
"No, on the top of paper of my homework, don't you see? It's the handwriting."
They looked and saw that the red ink note on the top of the homework matched the same handwriting in the letter.
Brad eyes were long and wide. "You mean that...the one responsible is...?"
"Of course," yelled Reggie. "The arrow. The BACKWARDS message and the arrow was pointless since the word would've been enough. They didn't need the arrow. The arrow was pointing to the front wall...right to where his own portrait was."
"So the one responsible for this is"
"Professor Arnold!" yelled all three at the same time.
"Tyler's in danger!" yelled Jacke.
...
End of Chapter 16Tigercub15: The message about you keeping up meant that you were constantly checking to see if I have updated. Sorry I confused you.
I'm not the weakest link: I'm glad you liked my chapter. I hope you'll like this one.
Swollen Fridge: Glad you're back from your vacation.
Nightlit: Great, you updated. Your story is getting more surprising with every chapter. I hope you'll loved this one but I don't really expect a guy who catches on to stuff fast to be surprised. You did say you were suspicious of Arnold from the beginning.
Author Notes:
Well there's the chapter. Professor Arnold is the one whose been responsible for the incidents. Everything will be revealed starting to his attitude change, to the dueling tournament to the present problems. Next chapter in the making. Chapter 17: Professor Arnold's Explanations.
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