The Wampus Quodpot team practiced every other day and with each session, Rebecca got a little better. She received help from her fellow teammates. There were a total of eleven players to a team of Quodpot as opposed to Quidditch having seven. It was going to be difficult to keep up with names.

Ivy Jones was the captain. Her long silvery hair whipped in the wind while she flew around to make sure everyone was doing what they were supposed to. The look on her face was pure purpose. She didn't seem as if she had any other thing going on in her life other than quodpot. It was something that Rebecca despised. How could one dedicate all their time into one single thing like a sport?

Among the rest of the team were a pair of identical twins. Ashlynn and Trevor Lynnette, sixth years. Fortunately one was a boy and the other was a girl, so it was easy to tell the difference in them.

Ariana Long and Trent Cook, both fourth years, were a couple. They paired together every practice session. While they played around a little more than they should during that time, they certainly knew how to play the game.

Amery Dakota and Gordon Garrett were third years. They were the new guys before Rebecca was. They were best friends who joined the team on a whim originally, but turned out to be good players afterall.

Logan Robert was a seventh year and was much more aggressive than usual when playing against. According to some students, it was his fault for Wampus losing to Horned-Serpent four years in a row because of his bruteness. But it had been because of it that they were able to smash through Thunderbird four years in a row.

Tony York, sixth year, was the complete opposite of Logan. Tony used his brain more than his force which, for the most part, has caused him to be the first eliminated in almost every game.

And then there was Regan Ward, a fifth year like Rebecca. She was hardworking and loyal to Ivy. Rumor was that last year she had punched Dillon from tryouts for making a move on Ivy.

Regan was instructed by Ivy to help Rebecca specifically and Regan had done just that. Regan had brown shoulder length hair and glasses. She looked like a nerd more than anything else. Rebecca found it hard to believe she was a quodpot player, but then again, Rebecca was one too and she thought a troll would play for any quidditch or quodpot team before she did.

Their final practice before their first match was over. They would be playing Horned-Serpent on the third Saturday in November. Last week, Rebecca had the opportunity to witness her first quodpot match between Thunderbird and Pukwudgie. However, she had to serve her detention that day from being in the Greylock Forrest, missing out on being able to see the game in its entirety.

Her detention was served with Professor Stetson no less. In fact, Stetson wanted to oversee her detention personally. Rebecca was made to practice nonverbal spells and couldn't leave until she was able to perform all ten on the board. Rebecca managed to perform four of them, including protego, the shield charm and stupefy.

However, Rebecca did try the rest of them but nothing happened. She became frustrated. She'd rather copy lines or even write a three foot essay.

"Honestly, what's the point in this?" Rebecca said to herself as she failed on the impediment jinx.

"To defend yourself." Stetson said. She had heard her. "You're going to be dead at this rate."

"Dead? Nobody here is trying to kill me." Rebecca argued.

"Don't be so sure." Stetson said coldly. Rebecca even had a slight shiver down her back. "You know, I bet that Weasley man wouldn't had died if he was taught these sort of spells sooner. Although, once he died, his daughter has been asking for help on nonverbals. Maybe if your father died, that'll get you going."

Rebecca finally faced Stetson. "Why are you so interested in teaching this to me?"

"As much as I despise it, it's my job as a professor to make sure all of you, including you Brits, can pass." Stetson said. "Your performance affects me and you are performing poorly. So as far as MACUSA is concerned, I'm teaching poorly."

Rebecca turned back to trying impedimenta again, however, Stetson got up from her seat and stopped her. "That's enough. You've been here long enough and it's clear you're not getting any better. Get out of my classroom."
Rebecca did not leave. She was determined to get this spell to cast. Suddenly, her wand flew out of her hand. Stetson had disarmed her. "I said get out."

Rebecca looked at her with disgust. She also felt attacked. She went to pick up her wand and she started to turn around and hit Stetson with a spell herself, but Stetson spoke before all of that could happen.

"By the way. I was told to give you this. Late mail came in." Stetson threw a letter down beside Rebecca's wand. She hadn't received a single letter since being at Ilvermorny. She picked up the letter and her wand and walked out of the classroom, but that was as far as she went. As soon as she closed the door behind her, she tucked her wand away and opened the letter, which had no indication it belonged to her. No writing could be seen anywhere on the envelope. She recognized the handwriting in the letter immediately as her godbrother, Blake.

Dear Rebecca,

Hope you are doing well at Ilvermorny. I'm a little jealous you get to go there. There's a lot of neat history there about the foundation of the school. I really miss you though, and I'm sure you miss me and everyone else. They all do. Even your dad and Ray. I won't lie to you and say everything is going well here. It hasn't. I'm sure you heard about Ron Weasley. That Delphi woman did it. We weren't able to recover his body. He's not our first casualty. Just the biggest. We've also had trouble with Bella. She hasn't had a proper session with her werewolf condition since Mathias closed down the department. Fortunately we found an animagus who could help her. His name is Liam Wright, a Canadian. I think they're actually in love.

Your father said it would be dangerous to send you a letter, that it might get intercepted. I got out of the country and managed to send it from France. My grandparents weren't too thrilled to see me. If you can believe it, they're scared of Burgess and have cut the last ties with my mother.

Your father also told me to not tell you this, but I can't keep this from you. Your mother is sick. Very sick. I won't beat around the bush, but she could die from it. The closest we have to a healer in the DA is Hannah Longbottom. Her and Professor Longbottom have been trying everything they can to slow the process. We think it may be related to the accident. They don't know about it still. Both of your parents still insist we never talk to someone outside the family about it. You know I disagree, especially now. Anyways, your father thinks you'll tell Isabelle about your mother which would be devastating. Even I recommend not telling her, but you know her better than anyone. If you think she can handle it, that's your call. You both deserve the truth.

I'm hoping this war will be over soon. Harry Potter is getting a little dangerous since Ron's death and Hermione Granger has been emotionally unstable. Our leaders aren't quite themselves right now, but who can blame them? They lost their best friend. I can't imagine what I would do if I lost mom, or you, or Issy.

Hope to see you soon.

Blake

Rebecca read over the letter several times while she walked down the hallways. They were empty and that was fortunate for Rebecca because she let tears fall down her face. The thought of her mother dying was painful. She didn't want to believe it. And worse, her own father had been trying to keep her from knowing. It angered her. She broke down in the hallway. Her back pressed against the cold stone wall and she slid to the ground. She curled her knees to her chest and cried into them.

A few minutes later, she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Hey, are you alright?" Rebecca looked up to see Albus and Scorpius. It was Scorpius who had touched her. Rebecca didn't respond. Her eyes were red. Scorpius and Albus both noticed the letter she was still clutching. "Letter from home?" Scorpius asked.

Rebecca nodded and sobbed, "My... My mom. She's... She's sick."

Scorpius sat down beside her. Albus did the same on the other side, though it felt he only did this because Scorpius did.

"How bad?" Scorpius continued.

"She could..." Rebecca choked, but she couldn't finish the sentence. Not because of the fact that her mother was dying, but she didn't need someone else telling Isabelle. If anyone would, it was going to be her. She tried her best to straighten herself up. "... Well, she could be sick for a while. I'm just worried about her. I'm mostly crying because of this bloody war."

"I know how you feel." Scorpius admitted.

"Yeah." Albus said without looking at Rebecca. It seemed his mind was somewhere else.

"I remember when I lost my mum." Scorpius said. "It was terrible, but I'll never forget her and the things she did for me and dad."
For a minute it was complete silence, then Scorpius changed the subject. "New school and yet here we are again skipping the sports, but I hear that you're on the Wampus team."

"Yeah..." Rebecca said weakly.

"Really?" Albus asked in surprise.

"For a stupid reason probably." Rebecca continued. "I'm trying to get back at Vanessa."

"I guess there's more than one way to skin a pigmypuff." Scorpius said. Rebecca cut her eyes at him.."I'm kidding."

"Pigmypuffs are cute." Rebecca said, regaining her strength.

Albus chimed in. "I had one once. It ran away because James let it out to play in the yard."

"I thought Rose would want one. Apparently not when we went to Diagon Alley." Scorpius said.

The three of them finally started having normal conversations. It felt like old times- better than old times because there was no longer Lucy's opinions. They finally got up and walked the halls together. Scorpius dealt with Vanessa's posse everyday in the Horned-Serpent common room, but explained Rose was getting it worse.

Rose had been trying to impress them so she could join the quodpot team. There had even been minor instances of hazing. Rebecca was beginning to feel bad for her and her hate for Vanessa grew. On Albus' side, he dealt with a lot of loneliness since he and Scorpius were separated from their new houses.

"I still don't understand them." Albus said. "Horned-Serpent must be a Slytherin type house. Wouldn't Thunderbird be like a Ravenclaw? I'm nowhere near booksmart."

Scorpius began to explain. "I've told you before that Horned-Serpent is meant to represent the mind of a wizard. Thunderbird represents the soul."

"What the bloody hell does that mean?" Albus asked.

"I guess I have a good mind and you have a good soul." Scorpius said.

"What about Wampus and Pukwudgie?" Rebecca curiously asked.
"Pukwudgie is the heart. Wampus is the body." Scorpius continued.

"That explains why Isabelle ended up in Pukwudgie." Rebecca said. "So I have a good... Body?"

Albus and Scorpius both looked at her in a kind of gaze most boys do when checking out girls. "I mean..." Albus started. Rebecca put a hand on her hip, waiting for a response. "Choose your next words carefully, Potter." She said to him. Albus trembled. "Yeah you do, but I mean that in a good way. Like a non weird way."

"Non Weird way?" Scorpius laughed. Albus went red in the face. Rebecca cracked a smile when he turned away.

Rebecca's match was coming up, she was nervous and scared. She tried to hide it at breakfast that morning, however, Andrew and Morgan both noticed she wasn't eating as usual.

"By now your bacon is gone." Morgan said. She slowly started to reach for the strips on Rebecca's plate and Rebecca didn't move to stop her. Morgan left the bacon alone when she realized Rebecca had no intentions of snatching for it.

"Come on Becca." Andrew started. "You're going to need your strength today if you want to beat Vanessa."

"I'm not hungry." Rebecca said quietly.

"At least have something to drink." Morgan passed a goblet of milk towards her. Rebecca pushed it back. Both Morgan and Andrew stared at one another like one of them were hoping to have a solution.

Rebecca had more than just quodpot on her mind. She had told her friends about the letter, even the part about her mother being sick, but made them swear not to mention it to Isabelle. This was the part she had been anxious about. She couldn't make up her mind on telling Isabelle. There were valid reasons for both telling her and keeping it from her and every day Rebecca would conclude it was best to not say anything, but it made keeping it from her sister just more difficult. She had been thinking of ways to say it, but never could figure it out.

"Rebecca." Andrew began, who knew she was having these problems. "Your sister will be fine for one more day."

"You have to focus on the match." Morgan said. "You don't want to make an embarrassment out of yourself."

"Good luck today, Warren." Vanessa had approached them. She was already in her Horned-Serpent blue and gray quodpot uniform. "After today, you'll be in the hospital wing with all of your limbs in pieces and your face broken beyond magical repair when we're done with you."

Rebecca didn't want to hear Vanessa's mouth and she thought about shoving her fist into it, but before she could react, Regan Ward had came over.

"Are you sure you're the team captain, 'Ness? You're more like the team cheerleader. Always yelling and trying to look pretty. I bet you won't touch the quod all day because you'll be too scared to get slime on you."

Vanessa was not pleased to see nor hear Regan. "You want to talk about pretty? I got at least five boys trying to get up with me right now and you're talking about looks with your four eyes and granny hair?"

"What boys? You mean goblins?" Regan asked.

Vanessa opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted by Professor Steward. "What's going on here?"

"Nothing, professor." Vanessa said quickly. "I was just wishing the Wampus team good luck today." She put on a fake smile and Professor Steward saw right through it. Her face was clearly showing she wasn't buying it. Vanessa's smile faded and she walked away fast before Professor Steward pressed her with anymore questions.

Steward turned to the girls. "I hope your grudge with Miss Bancroft will be put to an end today, Miss Warren." And then she walked away.

Rebecca took her bacon and began eating, as well as the eggs and the ham and the sausage, and finally draining her goblet of milk empty. Andrew and Morgan were both amazed at Rebecca's sudden appetite. Regan smiled and said to Rebecca, "Let's go. We have to meet at the field in ten minutes."

Regan led Rebecca down to the field. It was a cool cloudy day. Rebecca made sure to put on a long sleeve shirt underneath her red and black quodpot robes. In the locker room, the Wampus team had been going over strategies. Ivy was at the front and had got everyone's attention.

"Alright team. It's a new year, a new season, a new opportunity to become champions."

"It's also a new Horned-Serpent team." Gordon Garrett said, "I found out from a friend that they'll be missing a starter. Rob Powell ended up in the hospital wing this morning."

There was a clatter of talking among the team. Ivy got them quiet again. "Okay, so they're missing one of their best players. But that doesn't change how we perceive them. We know Bancroft has taught her team some dirty tricks."

"But not all of them play dirty." Ariana Long said. She was sitting on Trent Cook's lap. "It's usually just her and her gang."

"Yes, I know that." Ivy sighed. "I'm just saying. Keep your eyes open. Now where was I on my speech?"

"The part where you say, 'Let's do this!" Called out Trevor Lynette. Him and his twin sister both pumped their fists in the air and most of everyone else did to.

Ivy sighed again. "Alright then... Let's do this!" She raised her fist and so did everyone else together. They grabbed their brooms and headed for the entrance onto the pitch.

The crowd was huge. It seemed every student had came to see this game. Rebecca's nerves were shot through. She was going to make a fool out of herself today.

The Wampus team flew up and Rebecca nearly forgot to follow. She was the last one to take off. She noticed everyone were flying around wildly and Rebecca decided to do some zig zagging between the towers to hopefully loosen herself up. The cheers echoed out from all around. Rebecca didn't hear any jeering as she passed by, even the Horned-Serpent house seemed to be quite welcoming to her. Andrew was onto something about how inter-house rivalries were different between Hogwarts and Ilvermorny. Had this been Gryffindor versus Slytherin, it would almost be bloodshed whether it was quidditch or gobstones.

Speaking of Andrew, Rebecca saw him and Morgan sitting along with the rest of Wampus house. Apparently they had made a banner that hung over the railing that read, W = WARREN, W = WIN.

That wasn't the only banner Rebecca saw. Her sister was in the crowd of Pukwudgies with her friend, Faith. Isabelle made her banner read, GO BECKY GO!

It was a confidence booster for Rebecca. She did a loop in front of her sister who cheered louder than anyone nearby. Finally, the Horned-Serpent team made their way onto the field and took flight. Vanessa lead Cassandra, Sheila, and a number of other members. Behind them was, to Rebecca's surprise and confusion, Rose Granger-Weasley.

"Go Rose!"

Rebecca turned to see Scorpius and Albus both in the stands. Scorpius was going crazy. Albus looked as though he didn't want to join in on the fun. He just watched with eagerness. It was rare to see them at any sporting event, but Rebecca assumed Scorpius was there for his girlfriend and Albus had no choice but to come along.

The referee's whistle blew and all twenty-two players approached the center of the field. The referee was Professor Steward. She explained the rules. Mostly it was about keeping a clean game. Rebecca felt the speech was directed at Vanessa and her cronies as Professor Steward looked at them last.

Finally the captains were called to come closer. Professor Steward made both Ivy and Vanessa hold something together. The black ball had turned blue which must had made sense to them because Vanessa was satisfied. It had been a sort of coin toss. Rebecca took a guess that had it turned red, it would had gone in Wampus favor. Vanessa and Ivy were made to shake hands, despite Vanessa's reluctance.

Professor Steward handed the quod over to Vanessa. They had the quod first to start the game.

Both teams lined up in position. Horned-Serpent started on one end and Wampus began to get ready to defend. The whistle blew and the game began.

Vanessa took off down the middle without wasting time. The quod would explode in one minute. Rebecca could hear a very enthusiastic voice on the commentary.

"Bancroft is pinched between two Wampus players. Bancroft passes to Waldgrave. Waldgrave speeds past Cook. She's made it to midfield. Having trouble with the Lynnette twins. She dives down. Thirty seconds on the timer. Passes to Caspian. Athena Fenley blocks Ariana Long."

Rebecca began to position herself around the goal. Her job on the team was to play back. Keep the goal protected. In quidditch, it would be considered Keeper, but there were no positions in quodpot since over time players would drop out of the game, changing strategies and jobs for all members of the team.

"Caspian in scoring position."

Rebecca readied herself. Cassandra was coming to score. She threw the quod at the goal and...

"GOAL!"

Rebecca had just missed it by a foot. She had nearly fallen off her broom. She could hear Cassandra laughing as she flew by. Rebecca gritted her teeth. She didn't want to sit back. She rather be up close with whoever was carrying the ball. She had to shake it off because now it was Wampus' turn to try and score.

The whistle blew and it was Ivy who started their drive.

"Jones heads to the right and ducks under White. Hey, that rhymes. Now Jones passes to Ward. Ward runs up the middle, dodges a grab from Granger-Weasley."

Rebecca flew beside Regan as a blocker. This was where she felt most comfortable at. Sheila had made an attempt at the quod, but Rebecca slammed shoulders with her, spinning both of them in the air. It gave Regan space though and she was already past midfield.

"Ward passes to York. He twists to miss an attack by Strange. Now in scoring position. Hard hit by Luthor Clinton to cause York miss an opportunity to score. They're locked up."

Clinton was doing the same thing Rebecca had been doing when she was in tryouts. York couldn't get a clear shot on the goal nor could he find a way to pass the quod. York finally struggled his way out of it and sped towards the goal, but it was too late. Rebecca was caught off guard by the violent explosion of the quod that sprayed some kind of green goo onto York.

"Elimination on Wampus! Tony York is out folks!"

There were a few boos and some cheers. Vanessa was certainly pleased. They switched again and this continued for a while. Players were eliminated on both teams. There were also some goals made too. It was 6-8 with Horned-Serpent in the lead when it came down to the final three players on either team.

On Wampus, Rebecca had managed to survive elimination, mostly because she didn't get the quod too often. Her other teammates were Ivy and Regan. On the other side it was Vanessa, Cassandra, and Sheila. They all had been playing dirty. They seemed to know when it was the best time to pass the quod to their teammates because every time they did, their teammates who caught it would end up having the quod explode on them immediately. To Rebecca, it seemed as though they didn't treat their friends any better than their enemies.

Ivy was in scoring position with Vanessa at goal. Ivy weaved to get a clear shot, but then Sheila got in her face. Ivy passed the ball quickly to Regan. She started to shoot, but Cassandra was now in her way. Rebecca flew up to be open for the pass. Regan flipped the quod over and Rebecca had it. Vanessa was now in her way. Rebecca fought hard. Vanessa wasn't giving an inch. Rebecca didn't know how much time she had to get the quod in, but she had to. Their brooms were locked together. Both girls stared each other down. Rebecca then reversed herself and this forced Vanessa to follow, but Rebecca had done a reverse loop and it cleared her view. It took a split second for her to overcome the realization of what she had just done and took a shot at the goal.

"GOAL!" The announcer bellowed. The score was now 7-8. Ivy and Regan both high fived Rebecca as they prepared for defense.

As soon as the whistle blew, the girls wasted no time in getting in Horned-Serpent's face. They played them just as aggressive. Rebecca had Vanessa locked in again making sure she couldn't move the quod past midfield. Rebecca was in the zone now after making her first goal. Vanessa struggled, but she found a way around Rebecca. In the midst of their clanking broom handles, Vanessa grabbed Rebecca's ear and pulled her down. Rebecca groaned as Vanessa had got away with it. She passed the quod quickly to Sheila. Another well timed throw caused the quod to explode on her.

"Sheila Waldgrave has been eliminated!"

Sheila seemed upset, but she didn't take her anger out on Vanessa. She flew off the field towards the sidelines. The game resumed as now Rebecca was starting their drive. She was ganged up on out of desperation by Vanessa and Cassandra. Rebecca was quick to toss the ball away. Regan flew by and picked it up. She had an easy goal. They were now tied at 8-8.

Vanessa started Horned-Serpent's next drive. She flew quickly with Cassandra blocking. Regan came in fast, but a loud thud echoed as she had made contact with Cassandra. Somehow Regan had got hurt worse than Cassandra and this opened up a place for them to score. Rebecca got up close with Cassandra and they were locked together. Vanessa kept going and was going to go one on one with Ivy who was sitting by the goal. Vanessa was able to trick her and score. It was now 8-9.

The next drive was put on hold for a minute because Regan was holding her head. Professor Steward declared that she must sit out the rest of the game due to a risk of a concussion. This forced Rebecca and Ivy now to be the last ones in the match.

Ivy and Rebecca tossed the quod back and forth as Cassandra tried to stop them. Vanessa stayed near the goal. They were in scoring position in no time. However, Horned-Serpent managed to block.

Since the quod did not explode, Rebecca and Ivy were both safe. They had managed to eliminate Cassandra, but Vanessa was very good at goalie and now with it still being 8-9, it was Vanessa's turn to try to score, but she didn't try to. Instead, she flew away from Wampus and let the quod explode on her.

She was eliminated and thus the game ended. The majority of the crowd booed. She had done it intentionally because Horned-Serpent was already in favor of winning. The final score was 8-9 with Wampus losing. It annoyed Rebecca, but she knew she beat Vanessa.

In the locker room, they could hear Horned-Serpent celebrating their win on the pitch. Rebecca tried to not let it get to her. Ivy approached her and said, "Great job today." and began to walk off to tell others the same thing. Regan caught up to Rebecca. "Seriously, you done excellent."

"We lost. I missed the goal on Vanessa." Rebecca said in disappointment.

"And I left the field over a bump to my noggin. You played the full game until the end. Bancroft running away was going to happen even if we did score."

"But your situation was understandable. Nobody will blame you for what happened. But for me..."

"Becks, you have a lot to learn about Wampus." Regan said. "We're warriors. We respect each other for our successes even in defeat. Me being pulled off the field isn't something to be proud of, but you fought all the way. You were determined the whole game. I could see it. Everyone could. Even Bancroft. You can set your mind to do something and you're going to do it with no regrets. No second thoughts. And that's not a bad quality in my opinion. Whoever stands in your way, they'll regret it." Regan lightly punched Rebecca on the shoulder and walked away.