It had been a simple year for Alfred so far, much calmer than the previous ones, he was able to correspond with his parents, his younger brother was in Hogwarts and his relationship with his cousin, Felix, was all well. His grades were good, and he had plenty of friends. Not to mention this new experience having been thrust upon him the last year or so, girls.
Now, the day of the first Quidditch game of the year had dawned and with it as was normal a lot of students had woken up more excited and energetic than usually. Classes were always an ordeal during Quidditch game days, if not for a few days before and after what with everyone's minds on the pre-game hype, gossip, and discussion.
And if that wasn't enough it was Hufflepuff versus Gryffindor, a game which left Alfred feeling divided. On the one side he was a Gryffindor, it was his house, and he was loyal to his House, on the other hand Felix was not only his cousin and in the Hufflepuff team but also its Captain and he was fiercely loyal to his family.
And yet none of these reasons were why he was walking fast through the corridors. Fast enough to miss an explosion if it happened right in front of him. Corridor after corridor he looked right and left, inside rooms and classrooms, robes flaying about, backpack bouncing on his shoulders, brown hair falling this way and that as he charged through the busy halls.
He made a sharp turn around a corner before coming to a grinding halt, nearly falling back on his rear if not for someone taking hold of his elbow.
"Late for a class, Mr. Blake?" Professor Jordan asked him, letting go.
"Th-thank you, sir. Just searching for my cousin", Alfred replied making to pivot around his Professor.
"He is in class, as you should be, Mr. Blake. I am sure whatever it is you want to tell him can wait until dinner", Professor Jordan stopped him without even moving.
"Butbutubut, that's after the Quidditch game, sir!" Alfred replied clenching his fists, his voice raising an octave or two.
"It. Can. Wait", Professor Jordan insisted, putting emphasis behind every word. "Now, go to your next class before I start removing House points, Mr. Blake."
"Yes, sir…" Alfred resigned lowering his head. Professor Jordan escorted him to the Herbology greenhouse.
Alfred felt like standing or sitting in pins and needles for the rest of the day, unable to search or find Felix before the Quidditch game. Everywhere he went Professor Jordan or Professor Willows would be there, as if knowing his every move and intentions and hell bent on not allowing him to find his cousin before the game.
In what seemed an eternity later, Alfred made his way to the Quidditch pitch, under the afternoon's twilight. He found Felix just outside the changing rooms' tent talking to Katya and Steven, all clad in their Quidditch uniforms.
"Felix!" Alfred yelled panting, having walked fast enough to have nearly flown off the ground, trying to catch Felix's attention.
"Everything okay?" He nodded to his teammates before turning his head to Alfred.
"You…Lisa…she knows your strategy!" Alfred panted, hands on his knees catching his breath. "She was telling the Gryffindor Captain!"
"And what does she think she knows?" Felix asked him, appearing amused.
Alfred scratched his head for a moment, his eyes skewing as he tried to remember what he had overheard. "Something about switching your beaters midway in the game and…and…and your Chasers missing goals to protect your Seeker."
"Interesting, come with me a moment", Felix motioned Alfred to follow him inside the tent.
He walked them over to where a blackboard stood in the side opposite where the team was gathered changing into their Quidditch robes, those who hadn't already.
"What do you see?" Felix asked him, pointing at the blackboard and the game's strategy written on it.
"That looks…complicated!" Alfred exclaimed after looking at it for a few minutes and feeling lost at interpreting it.
"Do you think you could summarize it down to "changing beaters" or "having Chasers protect the Seeker?"
"No…I don't think I understand it to do that…" Alfred could feel his head aching trying to make heads or tails of it.
"Do you think Lisa would understand all of this by taking sneak peaks at our practice sessions?"
"Probably not?"
"Cool, go and enjoy the game"
"You're not worried?"
"Always, but at the same time…you what I find interesting?" Alfred shook his head. "Let's reverse things a bit. Say you wanted to give me information that would allow me to win the game, would you do it out in the open in a corridor where someone might overhear you and go running to the other team's captain?" Alfred thought a moment.
"No, I'd get you someplace more private, I guess?" Alfred tried to think like his cousin.
"Place some wards against anyone attempting to eavesdrop?" Felix asked him.
"Yeah", Alfred nodded.
"What did Lisa do, instead?"
"The opposite…" Alfred replied after a moment.
"Polar opposite one might say and she's many things, but stupid isn't one of them", Felix said.
"Why then?" Alfred shrugged questioningly.
"Mind games, get to me through you and have me worry enough to alter my strategy, maybe cause me to panic and make a decision that'll cause my team to throw away the game. But now's my move", Felix seemed thrilled at the little cat and mouse game.
"And what'll you do?"
"Win the game of course. But, at the same time make her believe she won this round."
"Don't you need to lose the game for that to happen?" Alfred felt like the answers were making him increasingly lost rather than less.
"Not necessarily", Felix's lips curved in an evil smile.
"How then?" Alfred asked in a conspiratorial smirk and lowered voice.
"You should take your seat and enjoy the game", Felix winked at him without telling him how he'd do it.
"Oh, come on! Tell meeee!" Alfred whined.
"Go", Felix chuckled heading over to his team.
"Spoilsport" Alfred poked his tongue at Felix before leaving the tent.
"We're not gonna crash Gryffindor, Captain, are we?" Eloise asked appearing disappointed at the idea.
"No, for the sake of my relationship with Claudia, no", Steven and some of the others laughed.
"Okay, team. Listen up, this is our strategy for the three games, not just this one in and outside of the pitch, which of course I'll be adjusting as required. We're gonna do the beater switch as planned in the Slytherin game, instead of this one. Now, Eloise you and Liam are going to cooperate as Chaser and Beater to protect Katya while I cooperate with Steven and Sofie to score goals and win this game. Now.." Felix went on explaining their entire season's strategy.
The two teams walked into the Quidditch pitch from the two changing room tents in opposite entrances, brooms in hand and clad in their House Quidditch robes and padded armour.
They mounted their brooms and rose midair, the two Captains hovered in the stadium's center with Professor Willows between them holding the Quaffle.
"Good evening may the best team win", The Gryffindor Captain told Felix politely competitive.
"Yes, same to you. May the best Hufflepuff win", Felix reciprocated receiving cheers and boos from the stands, the Hufflepuffs certainly overshadowed any boos.
Professor Willows placed the whistle in his lips extending the Quaffle in front of him. And with a whistle he threw it up and the game was afoot.
Felix allowed the Gryffindor Captain to catch the Quaffle first and just as he placed it under his elbow Felix kicked the back of his broom slingshooting it around finding himself suspended mid-air for a moment as he used the broom as a bat dislodging the Quaffle then he allowed gravity to take him down as his broom completed the circle, getting it between his legs and flying off to bat the bludger that was heading for Eloise.
Meanwhile under the Hufflepuffs' cheers in the stands Steven stole the Quaffle and passed it instantly to Eloise who passed it to Sofie almost without touching it who went on to feigning she would shoot at the Gryffindor Leftmost Goal hoop and then at the last moment passing the Quaffle back to Steven who scored in the rightmost Goal.
The Gryffindor Captain took the Quaffle from his goalkeeper and passed it between his other two Chasers to score the equalizer.
"What's he doing?" Emerick pondered aloud as the Gryffindors in the stands roared and the Hufflepuffs booed.
"Winning? Like always?" Uriel snorted.
"They could have scored a second goal and stolen the Quaffle there, instead of allowing Gryffindor to score the goal", Emerick stated.
"They'll score and they'll win, and he'll have the team do so without him endangering humiliating Gryffindor and his relationship with Claudia", Ethel replied to both.
"Sorry honey cake but you see I just had to send you a heavy iron-wrought ball at break-neck speeds at you to win the game", Uriel replied mimicking Felix's voice.
"Dork!" Emerick laughed as Hufflepuff scored a second goal. "You know what I mean."
Gryffindor scored two goals back to back, with Hufflepuff stealing the Quaffle after and scoring a goal.
Gryffindor scored another goal before Hufflepuff scored two goals back to back equalizing.
"It's Felix!" Ethel screamed trying to be heard over the defeating cheers. "He's always playing an angle in and out of that pitch! GO HUFFLEPUFF!"
Two goals later, one from each team Katya caught the Golden Snitch with a vertical dive avoiding the bludger and the Gryffindor Seeker, ending the game with a victory for team Hufflepuff and the stands erupted as Hufflepuff students made sure the volume of their cheers were loud enough to be heard ten countries over.
Despite Gryffindor losing Lisa seemed happy, Gryffindor had not lost with a big margin.
No Hufflepuff slept that night as the celebrations went on until the wee hours of the morning after.
Claudia was unhappy her team had lost but she did not appear to be angry at Felix.
Three weeks later, on a Saturday early morning, the sun beginning its ascend on the blue, winter sky Felix entered the Dueling Club's dungeon room first.
"Felix", Professor Jordan greeted him, waiting for the contestants and spectators to arrive.
"Sir", Felix nodded back.
"Bright and early", Professor Jordan commented.
"Couldn't sleep, thought I might as well grab breakfast early and come here", Felix replied letting his backpack fall down before removing his top robes.
"Is it against the rules that I use this, sir?" Felix pointed at the dueling Xiphos pocking out of his backpack.
"It is a Dueling tool…it is allowed in international competitions…", Professor Jordan shrugged. Felix found it funny, he wasn't used to seeing him shrug.
"Yes, sir", Felix tried not to laugh.
An hour later students begun to arrive gathering around the elevated dueling ring lit in blue by the torches burning around the chamber's walls.
An hour more after that Professor Jordan climbed onto the dueling ring, placing his wand on his neck where his vocal chords would be.
"Students of Hogwarts, another Dueling Tournament begins. The Qualification rounds consist of two rounds then after Christmas the finals will take place. I will call out each couple's nicknames, you will get up here and fight, winner progresses to the next round and then to the finals, loser…well you lose", he told them, his voice enchanted by sonorous clearly heard by everyone.
"First couple! Lord Avegrail versus Raven tamer", Professor Jordan called out and a Ravenclaw and Gryffindor Sixth years, a girl and a boy, climbed up. Two minutes later the Ravenclaw stupefied the Gryffindor out of the ring, winning.
"Second couple, ConflictQueen versus Pulsing Kitty", Professor Jordan called them up after the previous couple's winner had left the ring. Anneke won with ease against the seventh year Gryffindor girl, throwing back at her, her own curse before using expulso at her.
Up next was Uriel against a Fifth year Ravenclaw boy, with Uriel putting up quite a fight before losing and Alfred against a sixth year Hufflepuff boy with Alfred winning by sheer brute force and nearly catching the room on fire.
Professor Jordan seemed less than pleased at that performance.
Couple after couple they dueled until it was Felix's time versus Gregory Stubornface.
"Now, I can duel you!" Gregory announced with glee, bowing. Next thing he knew he was floating midair, upside down and yanked repeatedly before thrown off the ring, Felix had not even risen from his bow, hands crossed over his chest, wand aiming straight at his opponent.
"I told you, you should wish not to be drawn against me", Felix told the dazed boy with apathy before descending the ring.
Claudia won against a Hufflepuff sixth year girl.
After ten minutes rest Professor called Felix and Claudia up to the ring. Felix gazed at his Professor with an unamused look, with Professor Jordan doing a particularly good job at hiding his smirk.
Felix and Claudia bowed. "I'm sorry, I cannot lose", Felix told her. "Energia Mortis"
Claudia tried to put up a protego shield but found herself expelled out of the ring by a curse hidden within energia mortis bypassing her shield charm.
"Furk….I forgot you can multicast!" She yelled annoyed more at herself than Felix.
Anneke won against a Gryffindor seventh year and Alfred won against a Slytherin sixth year albeit with quite a bit of effort on his part.
"And with that concludes the preliminary rounds of this year's Dueling Tournament, the Finals will be held after Christmas, contestants will receive an owl with further details by the end of the week, thank you all for participating or attending", Professor Jordan announced after the last couple finished twenty minutes later.
"Well…that was anticlimactic", Anneke stated in a voice full of sarcasm.
"I'm sure you know all about that, Mrs. Joymother", Professor Jordan replied with a droll voice eliciting laughter from the other students.
"Did you see me, cuz!" Alfred came running. "Maybe I can fight the traitor!" Felix recoiled, restraining himself from facepalming.
"Alfred…you don't know who that person is, do you?" He tried to keep his voice even and calm, yet his hand was firmly grasping his wand in his sleeve.
"No…but I figure they'll be in this tournament, best chance they've got to harm you", Alfred replied all brave like.
"Oh, Alfred…you needn't worry about me, I can take care of myself, leave that person to me, yeah?" Felix placed a hand around Alfred's shoulders, affectionately.
"I guess so…you'll make them pay, yeah?"
"Come on, let's go, it has a nice weather outside, for winter in Scotland. You guys coming?" He asked his friends.