Wigtown's Wanderers in Worrying Disarray
The final hunt for the Quidditch Cup has officially begun. Will Parkins' Wanderers shoot the Magpies off their throne, or will they end up as bird feed? Rita Skeeter investigates.
With the teams at the bottom half of the table deciding among themselves who's going to be kicked down a division, a much more prestigious fight awaits on the other end of the spectrum (read how many Galleons Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports Ludo Bagman set on the Chudley Cannons' demise on page 7).
If this season's League trend can be trusted, the hunt for the trophy will be settled between the Montrose Magpies - current Quidditch champion and very comfortable at the top of the table - and their iron pursuers, the Kenmare Kestrels and the Wigtown Wanderers.
After the bombshell of Wigtown Chaser Jameson's abrupt split from former agent and fiancé Matthew McRae - which both refused to comment on - it poses the question of whether her relationship is all Jameson is ready to throw to the wind. Reports of her attending meetings with Montrose Magpies affiliates and her alleged absence from practice sessions do nothing to stop the rumour mill.
With Montrose and Wigtown almost even in points, all eyes will be trained on their showdown on the final season day. Will Jameson stand with her Wanderers, or will Coach Parkin have to watch his back?
Lizzie had barely slept after she had broken the news about her transfer to Orion. Tossing and turning in her bed, she had run their conversation through her mind over and over again, and each time she had felt more like crying and laughing at the bitter irony of it all. It was a cruel joke fate had played on them, but not one they could undo now, either. Lizzie had made her decision, and considering all the pain it had brought her, maybe her time in Wigtown coming to an end was for the best.
She repeated the thought to herself until she almost believed it, but when she next entered the changing room, her resolution to lay her cards on the table straightaway faltered. The team's mood was good - excited, even, with the final round so close at hand - and the thought of having to spoil it made Lizzie's stomach churn.
The only one to give her a dark look as she passed her was Morgaine, but Lizzie didn't care for her. She searched the room for the two men she needed but didn't want to face, and found them standing by the door leading into the men's section. Ethan was talking at Orion with a subdued voice, but the angry look on his face gave Lizzie a good idea of what his telling-off was about; no matter what Orion had told him about his reasons for missing practice, Ethan hadn't taken his absence lightly.
Swallowing the lump in her throat, Lizzie stepped closer to them, her heart beating in her ears. It took Ethan a moment to register her presence; when he did, he gave her a sharp look.
"What do you want?"
Feeling her courage dwindle, Lizzie ducked her head.
"Nothing."
Ethan looked like she had lost his mind, rolled his eyes and turned back to Orion. Cursing her cowardice, Lizzie left them to it, walking back to her seat with knees feeling like Jelly Slugs.
The feeling of the ground beneath her feet slipping continued as practice began. With her lousy performance adding to her already fluttery nerves, Lizzie felt physically sick by the time the team trudged back into the changing room shortly before lunch. Pushing away the tight knot in her chest and she stood in the middle of the room, awkwardly clearing her throat.
"Listen up, guys. There's something I need to tell you."
"For Godric's sake," muttered Morgaine, not bothering with keeping her voice down. "Can you be quick about it? Some of us were headed out."
Lizzie balled her fists at her side. Suddenly, the words seemed to pass her lips more easily.
"As you're all aware, there's been a lot of back and forth with my contract this season."
She looked over the room filled with the people who had been by her side for the last couple of years, her friends, her team. Her eyes settled on Ethan and a bewildered-looking Skye standing next to him. There was no turning back now.
"Having taken my career matters into my own hands again, I wanted to let you know that I've finally made a decision about my professional future."
From the corners of her eyes, Lizzie saw smiles spreading on Bethany and Scout's faces, but before they could move in to congratulate her on her renewed contract, she carried on.
"I'm proud of how far we've come, and I loved my time here more than anything." She took a deep breath. "Regardless, these will be my last matches with the Wigtown Wanderers. Come next season, I'm going to play for the Montrose Magpies."
The silence following her words was deafening. Lizzie dropped her gaze, studying the pattern in the tiled floor so she wouldn't have to see the shocked and disappointed looks directed at her. Eventually, Skye spoke up.
"You're kidding, right?" she said, her voice flat. "Jameson, come on. That's bullshit."
Lizzie slowly raised her eyes and shook her head.
"It's not."
Skye's face changed from white to red more quickly than Lizzie had thought possible.
"You let us blow smoke up your arse all this year, and now you have the guts to stand here and tell us that you want to leave? For Montrose?" Skye pushed herself off the locker she had been leaning against, joining Lizzie in the middle of the room with a couple of wide, angry strides. "Have you lost your bloody mind? You can't do that to us!"
Lizzie couldn't hold Skye's burning gaze any longer, looking down at the tip of her Quidditch boots instead.
"Yes, I can. And I have. I'm sorry."
"As you should be!" Skye's voice was barely short of screaming. "You're the co-captain! We're banking on you, and you just go and drop us because some bloody club from bloody Montrose waves their trophies and money at you!"
"That's not the reason I'm going."
"Yes, it is. Everyone knows all you care about is fame. Be honest about it, at least."
"That's not the reason," Lizzie repeated, her voice pressed.
"What is then, huh? Spit it out!"
Skye had raised her hands to Lizzie's shoulders, looking like she was about to shove her, but then Ethan was there, bringing his hands between the two witches and firmly pushing them apart.
"Enough," he said sternly. His face was anything but friendly as he turned to Lizzie. "That true, lass? You're leaving?"
All Lizzie could do was nod. Ethan's face was unreadable.
"Got anything else to say on the matter?"
There were a lot of things, actually, but it wasn't like Lizzie could say any of them out loud. Her eyes flicked to Orion, who sat beneath his locker, staring at the ground. Her anger dying down, Lizzie pressed her lips together and shook her head. Skye scoffed.
"Aye, keep quiet, like always when it counts." She jerked her shoulder away from her father's hand. "You did a lot of crappy things lately, but this is taking the Cauldron Cake."
Lizzie shook her head again, desperately now. "Skye, please. You don't understand."
"No, I don't," Skye barked. "How could I? Can say much about me, but one thing I'm certainly not - a traitor."
Lizzie opened her mouth in protest. "I'm not a traitor!"
"Yes, you are. You smile in people's faces and then stab them in the back without batting an eye. But what goes around, comes around, Jameson, you wait and see. Now get out of my changing room."
Lizzie stared at Skye, tears of anger and helplessness pricking at her eyes. She fought them down, looking around the room for some sign of support. She didn't find any.
Blinking back the tears that were starting to rise, Lizzie drew her shoulders back, picked up her bag and walked away from the people she had - and still did - considered her team. Once the door had fallen shut behind her, her steps accelerated until she burst out into the open, greedily gulping down the fresh air already smelling faintly of summer and the nearby end of the season.
Walking at a brisk pace, Lizzie soon put a distance between herself and the changing rooms. By then, the tears she'd been holding at bay had begun down her face. When someone called her name from behind, she quickly wiped them away before turning around.
"Quite the bombshell you just dropped," Ethan said as he approached her with his hands stuffed into his pockets. "Are you okay?"
Lizzie sniffled. "I didn't think it would be that nasty."
"No gentle way of delivering such a blow. Skye took it quite personally."
"What was I supposed to do?" Lizzie shrugged helplessly. "She'd have found out one way or another."
Ethan made a sceptical sound. "Didn't think about talking to her first? Or me, for that matter? Would've been fair to give us a little heads-up, I do think."
"I did try to tell you this morning."
"Doesn't matter what you tried, Lizzie. Matters what you did. Or, rather, what you didn't do."
Lizzie bit her lip. Ethan was right, of course, but telling Orion about her transfer had been crushing enough; she hadn't wanted to go through it more times than strictly necessary.
"Don't fret," Ethan sighed when Lizzie hung her head. "No use barring the doors when the Abraxan's bolted. But cards on the table now," he added, watching her closely. "What are you really playing at?"
Surprised, Lizzie blinked. "Nothing."
"Aren't you? I'd say quite the opposite. You and your agent -"
"He's not my agent anymore."
"- have kept us at arm's length for over a year. You said Wigtown is your home, turned down every offer you got, and now suddenly you wanna go and play for the Magpies? The Magpies, of all teams?" Ethan shook his head. "If that's not playing games, lassie, I don't know what is."
Lizzie swallowed the urge to tell Ethan about Matthew and his schemes. It didn't matter anymore. Matthew was a thing of the past, and accepting Montrose's offer had been her choice and hers alone. She wouldn't push the responsibility for her decisions away any longer.
"No more games from now, I promise," she told Ethan, looking him straight in the eye. "I'm sorry how everything went, but I stand by it. I'm leaving after the end of the season."
"What do they have that we don't?"
"It's not that."
"Is it money? Success? A safe spot on the roster? What do you want?" Ethan's gaze was hard. "I don't know what they promised you, but I guarantee that we can match it. Outdo it, even."
"Ethan, listen..."
"Tell me what you're after, and you're gonna get it," Ethan continued, not minding Lizzie's protest. He lowered his voice, his words quick and urgent now. "All I want is to lead this club back to its rightful place at the top, and we're almost there. We haven't won the Cup in years, but we're so close, Lizzie. So close. My father, my grandfather, my whole family... Do you know how proud they'd be? How proud Skye would be?"
He stopped himself, running his hand over his receding hairline. "I want to win, but not for me - for them. To do that, I need the best team I can get, and that includes you. I can't just let you go like this."
"The Wanderers are your legacy, not mine," Lizzie said softly but firmly. "For me, Wigtown is a dead end."
Ethan's lips turned into a thin line. "Alright, I got you. I see what the issue is."
"You do?"
"Sure as a Quaffle is red. You think you're not getting recognised. You want the world to know that you matter."
"That's not -"
"Have your way, then. Be our captain."
Whatever it was Lizzie had wanted to say, she had suddenly forgotten.
"Sorry, what?"
"You heard me. I get it. Being co-captain just isn't the same. We can't do it without you, and it's only fair that this is being recognised."
"You can't mean that. Skye's the captain. You can't take that away from her!"
A look of irritation passed Ethan's face. "Skye's captain for as long as I say she is."
Lizzie was aghast at how easily Ethan was ready to demote his daughter.
"Do you even know how proud Skye is to be the captain? You publicly put her down time and time again, and still she gives it her all. You can't just act like she's interchangeable. How can you do that to her?"
"That's rich, coming from you," Ethan replied coolly.
"What's that supposed to mean now?"
"You say that I don't care for Skye, but I could say the same of you. Can't even remember how often the two of you locked horns over the years, and still, you stuck around. It's handy, having a friend like Skye, ain't it?"
Lizzie struggled for words at the implication, but Ethan didn't give her time to reply.
"Was a smart move to make, I'll give you that. Quidditch business is tough, and you gotta look out for number one. You did well on that front, for sure."
"Skye is my friend," Lizzie said hotly, her speechlessness quickly turning to outrage. "I never used her for anything at all."
"Is that so? Let me spell it out for you. Who talked the captain of your school team into doing out-of-turn-tryouts specifically for you? Who gave you a more thorough knowledge of Quidditch basics than the rest of your team?" Ethan's face hardened. "Who made sure you got an invitation and contract with the Wanderers after school?
"And don't come at me saying that it wasn't Skye," he raised his hand when Lizzie made to object. "No team in their right mind would have looked twice at an arrogant schoolgirl who turned them down because she thought she could go straight for number one. I wouldn't have either. The only reason I gave you a second chance was because Skye begged me to.
"Maybe I am hard on her, no denying it, but that's because I have her best interests at heart. Our legacy is no joke, and contrary to you, Skye hasn't forgotten where she came from. You, Lizzie, would do well to do the same."
"I know exactly where I came from, and also who took me where I am." Anger bubbled beneath her skin, making Lizzie ball her hands into fists. "It was me. Everything I am today is because I worked for it. I deserve to be here."
"Tell that to yourself. How many players get a spot on the roster straight after school? Get a say in how the team is run? Get appointed co-captain even though they have a dated contract?" Ethan raised a hand to his ear. "What's that, Lizzie? You gotta speak up, girl. Can't hear you over all that self-entitled blabbering of yours."
Lizzie gritted her teeth but remained quiet. As much as she hated it, Ethan wasn't wrong. She had worked hard for her career, but so had all the others. So had Morgaine, for a fact, who - despite her talent - had never amounted to more than being Lizzie's stand-in.
Angrily, she shook her head. "I never asked for any of this."
"Didn't bother turning it down either," Ethan shrugged. "I even looked the other way when you and Orion hit it off again. Stop gaping like a Mooncalf," he added when the colour drained from Lizzie's face. "Didn't take the press reports to figure that one out. That's the reason right there I didn't want you kids to mess with each other. Nothing but trouble for anyone involved."
"You don't understand," Lizzie said, quietly now.
"Maybe, and I honestly don't care. I care about my team and where we'll stand in the League in a few weeks. I'd do a lot to make sure it is on top. If you want to be there with us, you had better consider my offer and stay. Trust me, no other team will make it as easy for you as we do."
Whatever sympathy Lizzie had had for Ethan vanished. She raised her chin defiantly. "Nothing you can offer me will change my mind, and that's the last of it. But if you want to give my spot on the roster to Morgaine now, I'll understand that."
"Don't think I'll let you off the hook like that. I expect you to give this team your all until the very last second."
"As if that ever was a question."
"Good." Ethan jerked his head toward the exit of the training grounds. "Go home for the rest of the day, or Skye will hang your butt from the goalposts. And from tomorrow, you'll be the first to come and the last to leave, do you get me?"
"Clear as day."
Giving her a curt nod, Ethan returned to the team while Lizzie headed home to pack her things. After everything that had happened, she didn't want to suffer the humiliation of getting kicked out of the house by Skye on top.
Stuffing the few things she had unpacked the day before into her old school trunk, she thought about what Ethan had said. She hated the thought of owning her success to someone else but couldn't dismiss the truth of it entirely, either.
What if he was right? What if she didn't have what it took to make it on her own? Montrose had crushed Orion when he'd been there. What if she failed, just like him?
The nagging doubts Ethan had planted in her head steadily grew over the next couple of weeks, during which Lizzie's life reduced itself to being on the Quidditch pitch or contemplating her decision lying curled up in her room at her parents' house in Dorset.
Soon, even the thought of having to attend practice became exhausting. Lizzie didn't feel welcome in Wigtown anymore, the more or less open hostility of her teammates draining her more than Ethan's drill ever could. The only person who didn't seem to be angry with her was Orion, but Lizzie would sooner face the collective disdain of her team than deal with how her heart hurt a little more every time he avoided her eyes.
It was lonely without him and Skye, but it wasn't like she could change it now. All Lizzie could do was grit her teeth, work harder than ever, and hope that the season would be over soon.