Chapter 8
Saturday was a bright and sunny day and the Slytherins headed straight to the pitch after breakfast, ready for the big match. The Hufflepuffs looked nervous, and Cedric Diggory, the 3rd year seeker, looked like he might be sick. As it turned out, their chaser was sick and so they had to bring in a reserve chaser, which didn't make them feel any better. The Slytherin team were ready to play, and Mulciber was a lot more focussed, knowing that they only had one shot. After shaking hands, the captains took their positions and took off. The game was so interesting that nobody's eyes left the pitch for at least an hour. Slytherin were winning and the snitch had been spotted, but Mulciber and Diggory were too good for each other. All of a sudden, Cedric saw the snitch by the Slytherin stands and went for it, Mulciber right behind him. Slytherin scored again, but Cedric grabbed the snitch at the last second. "Cedric Diggory has caught the snitch, but Slytherin win the match by 20 points!" Screamed the announcer, and the stands went crazy. Booing, cheering and hissing could be heard all around from all of the houses, but Slytherin were by far the loudest.
At lunch, three of the houses were miserable, but down in the dungeons, a party was in full swing. "We did it!" The celebrations went on all afternoon, with Charlie joining his friends. By the end of the afternoon, everyone was tired and the party had died down quite considerably. Soon, Severus appeared and announced that they needed to freshen up for dinner, so everyone was herded off towards their rooms to wash and change. Walking up to dinner, they realised that they were early and that no one else was in the hall. Sitting down, they decided that they would discuss the upcoming ceremony until others arrived. Twenty minutes later, everyone was in the hall and ready to eat. "I have decided to make a few changes this year. We are going to eat first, and then we will reveal the winners of the Quidditch cup and the house cup." The food appeared on the tables and everyone tucked in, excited for what was to come.
Finally, the moment arrived. Dumbledore stood up and silence descended on the room. "The Quidditch cup is something very valuable to a lot of our students and so, may the best house win. In 4th place, Hufflepuff!" There was a cheer, and even the Slytherins clapped. "3rd place is, Gryffindor!" Again, there were cheers all round, but Dumbledore called for silence. "Now, the moment we have all been anticipating. Ravenclaw versus Slytherin. In 2nd place, Slytherin! Ravenclaw wins the Quidditch cup!" The cheers in the room were deafening, but the staff let them carry on. "Alas, that is not all we are here for. The house cup is the biggest competition of the year, and I will now announce the winners." The silence was back, and Dumbledore opened the results envelope. "4th place, with 2010 points, Gryffindor!" Ron immediately stormed out, not even bothering to glare at the Slytherins or hear the rest of the speech. "3rd place, with 3130 points, Ravenclaw!" The Ravenclaws glared, as they thought they were going to win. "2nd place, with 4560 points, Hufflepuff!" It turned out that Hufflepuff had realised what Slytherin were doing and had copied them. "1st place, with 5120 points, Slytherin!" The banners turned green and the room erupted. The Slytherins screamed, jumping on the table in excitement.
That evening, another party was in full swing in the dungeons, but Ravenclaw was also celebrating their win of the Quidditch cup. The two parties went on into the night, but soon settled down as they realised that they were going home the next day. Everyone packed and placed their things in the entrance hall ready for the morning, and settled down to sleep, even though they were too excited. The boys' room spent almost two hours trying to get to sleep, to no avail. The girls' room had managed to get to sleep pretty quickly though, and so the whole room was peaceful.
The next morning, everyone ate lunch and walked down the hill to Hogsmeade station. "Time to go home." Skye commented as she boarded the train to get back to London. "No dying on us this time." Draco laughed. "Can't promise anything!" She called as she ran and hugged Marcus. "See you soon." The first years entered the Slytherin carriage and sat down. "I wonder where Lily and Amy are." Skye asked them, just as the carriage door opened and in walked the Hufflepuff and the Gryffindor. Charlie was right behind them and they all sat together. Not long later, they were steaming through the countryside, and the first years were sleeping. "They're so innocent, look at them. How can anyone think that they are evil, just by looking at them?" Oliver said, moving a strand of black hair away from Hermione's face. "They really do look so innocent." Marcus agreed, doing the same with Mia's almost white hair.
An hour later, everyone was awake and they had reached the platform. "Let's go." Lucius and Narcissa were stood together, meaning that the Riddle siblings were going with them. After spending ten minutes looking for their friends, inviting them over and saying goodbye, they greeted the adults. "Hello, mother, father." The two Malfoy's greeted them using their formal voices. "Hey, aunt 'Cissa, uncle Lucie." Skye, Harry and Hermione threw their arms around the pair, and they hugged them back. Just before they left, Fred and George called her over. The Weasley's looked outraged, but didn't say anything. "You will let us come over, won't you?" Skye smirked. "Of course, bring Ginny." She replied, smiling at the ginger girl, who smiled back. She went back to where her aunt and uncle were waiting, and the group slowly walked to the floo exits.
"This year was just a test." Skye murmured to her cousins, who looked confused, whilst her brother and sister giggled. "Seeing if we could get to the stone. Dad's making sure that we're up to the challenge of being a Death Eater. Next year is going to be super difficult." Skye walked away, her siblings right behind her. Mia and Draco had to run to catch up with them. "What do you mean, super difficult? What aren't you telling us, Skye?" Draco said. Skye was silent for a long time, obviously trying to decide what to say, but Hermione beat her to it. "Well, what do you know about the Chamber of Secrets?"
