Artemis Hexley and the Return to the Riddles

Chapter 11: Foul Play

Artemis may have missed the Quidditch match in her attempt to uncover the identity of the stranger leaving messages for the Cabal, but she didn't mind. Thanks to Tonks and Penny, she was given a full debriefing on the game over breakfast the following morning.

"Honestly, you thought our match was bad," Tonks muttered, shaking her violet-haired head. "I've never seen a game played with so many fouls."

"Well, that's Marcus Flint for you," said Penny, leaning in towards them and lowering her voice. "Murphy McNully says that he's the youngest team Quidditch Captain there's been in over fifty years. But, Waveney Wiley also told me that Marcus's dad threatened the previous captain so that he would be one this year. You see, originally the captaincy was meant to go to Bakari Nyoka-"

"Their Keeper?"

"He was their Keeper, but he's quit the team. The captaincy fiasco was one thing, but after he heard Flint's plans for the team to play as dirty as they have been... Well, that was the last quill for him."

"What I'd like to know," said Tonks, slapping her palm down on the table so hard she almost tipped over her pumpkin juice, "is how we stop them from taking the whole bloody Cup. They thrashed us, and now they've absolutely battered Ravenclaw. This new method they're using is paying off, and we can't stand for it. Someone's got to do something!"

But Artemis couldn't see what could be done. If neither their match nor Ravenclaw's could be re-played, the Slytherins would remain in the lead for the Quidditch Cup.

However, it seemed like Tonks was not the only one trying to think of a way to stop Flint's foul play from succeeding. As she and her friends left the Great Hall, they found all three of the other Quidditch team captains engaged in what looked like a somewhat furtive conversation at the other end of the Hufflepuff table.

"We are well and truly out of the running this year. There's no chance of us winning the Cup now," Andre was saying, a comment to which Murphy made a low humming noise in response.

"Technically, there's very few things that have an absolute chance of zero," he told Andre. "But, I see your point. With Gryffindor's win in your first match, and Slytherin beating you-"

"Oh, darling. There's need to beat around the bush," Andre shook his head sadly. "They annihilated us."

"In that case, Slytherin's annihilation of you yesterday gives them a point lead of five hundred and forty over you. That does make your likelihood of winning the Cup incredibly slim, I'm afraid. Less than thirteen percent. Charlie's team would need to beat us with a margin of two hundred and sixty just to put them on an even keel with Slytherin going into the final, and then they'd have to not fall foul of Slytherin's... well, fouls."

"True," said Andre. "Unless..."

Charlie's red eyebrows furrowed. "Unless?"

"Well, I heard that a good strategy was right up Murphy's alley."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

That was exactly what Artemis, who had paused to listen to the conversation, wanted to know. Apparently, Tonks was just as curious as she was, because she linked arms with Artemis and steered her over towards the boys.

"Wotcher, lads," she said, plonking herself down next to Charlie and squashing his chin between her thumb and forefinger by way of greeting. "What's this? Quidditch strategising, are we?"

"Yes, actually," said Andre. He pouted slightly. "Although this is a meeting for captains, so-"

"That's a shame, Andre, because this table is looking rather male dominated."