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BOOK FIVE: CHAPTER FOUR

As Veronica stood alone in the changing room, her heart was pounding out of her chest. The first game of the season was about an hour away from beginning, and she had never felt so nervous. It had been a stressful few weeks of practice, but she had eventually gotten the hang of being Captain. She had gained a ton of confidence, and she saw a lot of improvement in her entire team, but especially Annie and Mary. They had become formidable Chasers, and she was so proud of them. Despite all this however, she was still a nervous wreck. She needed this game to go well, but she was terrified that she hadn't done enough to make that happen. Just then, she heard voices approaching the tent and knew she needed to put on a brave face for her team. She needed to make sure they didn't sense any of her fear.

"Hey Cap! You ready to kick some Slytherin butt?"

Veronica chuckled as she turned to face her team. "Hell yeah!" Making her way over to her bench, she grabbed her broom and Servicing Kit and began prepping her broom for the game. The rest of the team followed her lead, and soon, all their brooms were shiny and ready to go.

Just then, Madam Hooch popped her head into the tent and looked around for Veronica. The Captain quickly got her attention and earned a smile from the referee. "Miss Singer, if you have a moment, I'd like to have a word with you and the Slytherin Captain before the game begins."

"Of course, I'll be right out there. Alright everyone, go ahead and prop your brooms up along the wall and start getting changed into your Quidditch robes. I'll be right back."

Reggie grabbed Veronica's elbow and turned her to look at him. "What do you think this is about?"

"Well, we are playing against Slytherin, so knowing them, she probably just wants to tell their Captain to play fair," Veronica chuckled softly, before making her way out of the tent and onto the pitch. Glancing over at the opening of the Slytherin changing rooms, Veronica noticed their Captain walking out with the rest of the team gathered around the entrance to see what was going on, and from the commotion happening behind her, she knew without turning around that her team was doing the same.

As Veronica had suspected, Madam Hooch had simply wanted to remind them both to play fair, although the three of them knew who she was really directing her request to. As they talked, the air around them filled with chatter as students poured into the stands, ready to watch the first game of the Quidditch season. However, despite the noise, Veronica could easily hear her name being yelled in a panic, and as she turned towards her team, she immediately knew what was the matter. There was a dark billow of smoke coming from inside the Ravenclaw changing room. Both teams had been standing outside the whole time, so she wasn't sure what could have caused the fire, but she just hoped it wasn't anything too severe.

Veronica quickly ran over with Madam Hooch, and Dumbledore, who had apparated down to the pitch as soon as he had seen the smoke, met them at the entrance of the tent. Veronica instructed her team to stay put and followed the two professors inside, with Dumbledore leading the way. As soon as they made their way inside, Veronica knew it was bad. In the middle of the tent was a pile of ash, which she knew right away to be their brooms as they were no longer lined up against the wall, but they were now unrecognizable and unsalvageable. They were completely burned to a crisp.

The three stared in shock at the scene in front of them. This was no accident, that much was clear. Around the pile of burnt broomsticks was a large, fiery serpent contained within an invisible bubble that was keeping it from devouring the rest of the room. Someone had cast the Fiendfyre curse and contained it using the shield charm. As soon as the serpent sensed their presence in the tent, it turned and hissed at them, trying desperately to escape its confines.

With a wave of his hand, Dumbledore put the fire out and removed the shield charm. Turning to Veronica, he asked, "who could have done this? That is an extremely dangerous spell to perform, and they were lucky that it didn't get out of control. And do you know what's been burnt?"

"It's our brooms, and I can tell you exactly who did it... I guarantee it was Archie."

"That's a very strong accusation, Miss Singer. Did you see him do it? Did you see him coming or going from the tent at all? What proof do you have of these claims?"

"Oh come on, Headmaster. Don't act like I'm just a child holding a grudge. I have every reason to believe it was him. Who else would it be?"

Dumbledore sighed. "If it was Mr. Smeltt, don't you think he would have burned only your broom? He has no incentive to burn them all."

"Professor... That's what he wants you to believe. Archie isn't stupid, he knows that we would suspect him if it was only my broom that was destroyed."

"Well, I'm sorry Ms. Singer, but I cannot punish a student based solely on the accusations of another student without any proof."

Veronica wanted to argue, but she decided against it. She didn't want to cause a scene, especially when the rest of her team had joined them in the tent. So instead, she nodded dejectedly.

"No matter," Madam Hooch chimed in. "That is an issue to deal with at a later date. For now, Miss Singer, I need to know what you want to do. Your team will either need to play using the school brooms or you will have no choice but to forfeit the game to Slytherin. It is your call, Captain."

Veronica only needed to glance around the room at the determined looks on her team's faces to know her answer. "No question about it, Madam Hooch. We're playing."