Dragon Wings

Dragon Wings

Chapter Two - Flying High

Gilbert Stormd'sky, a thirty-three-year-old man, was worried about his safety. His house had been burgled. And the most curious thing was that the thieves had only taken a few books from his personal library; at least, that was the only thing he noticed missing.

Aline Carneiro, a Brazilian woman with long, black hair and piercing black eyes, was also worried about Gilbert. She has been working at the Dragon Institute for five months and had never seen Gilbert as worried as he was that night. He always seemed to be calm. Once she had thought that Gilbert couldn't ever be worried about anything, that he was calm by nature. He was indeed. But, this situation was strange for him, and his eyes were now wide open, staring at the broken window.

"But who would take my books without touching anything else?" he asked logically.

"That's what I was thinking," agreed Aline. "I don't understand."

"Me neither." Gilbert said as he walked to the bookcase.

"Are you sure they didn't take anything else?"

"Yes," he said, "I mean, I haven't checked, but... look," he pointed to the wooden bar that indicated the subject of the books that were missing. Aline had noticed that the bookcases were organized by subject and title.

She read what was carved on the wood aloud, "'Wizarding Azores'. Are those books about Sitnalta and Etamin Island?" she asked.

Gilbert nodded, "One is about the history of the two islands, how they had been hidden from the Muggles and other characteristics of the island. The other described Sitnalta Island and Lusitania Academy, with many details and it listed where were some secret passages are located, and..." He looked at Aline, directly to her black eyes, "I... I myself wrote some notes on it."

She didn't understand why he had looked at her that way.

He explained, "I... it was kind of a memories book... I wrote about when I was expelled from Lusitania Academy... It was very special for me."

Now she understood, but didn't move. "Oh, yes, it was a treasured possession, wasn't it?"

He didn't reply to her question. She knew she was right about what she said.

"There was another book describing this island, Etamin, and the Nortrum village. There were also many things about the Institute that I wrote notes on as well," he smiled. "I normally do that sort of thing on study papers, magazines, and books... It was recent, and the person that has it will know how many dragons are here on the island, their names, their ages... it has quite a bit of data about our little, I mean, big friends. We have to be alert. The people who did this may be preparing some major assault; they may want to steal our dragons."

"But there are only a few wizards that can deal with the dragons. They can't just put them in cells or hide them in their pockets... nah, I don't believe they would risk their skin; there is such a high probability of us catching them or being killed by the dragons." It was the optimistic-Aline speaking. She tried to calm Gilbert down.

"I hope you're right." Gilbert walked to the window, pointed his wand to the broken glass and fixed it with a simple vitrum reparo spell.

"Let's eat. After all, I invited you to have dinner with me and all we got was trouble..." He smiled. Only God knew how much he waited for the night that he was going to have dinner with Aline. He had been feeling something for her for more than a month, and that evening he finally had the courage to ask her on a date. He hadn't had much success with women, and now he didn't want to risk getting hurt again. He had to be patient. Her voice woke him from his thoughts.

"Gilbert... I... I don't know, but I think we should have dinner some other day. I mean, with this situation... I'll go home, okay? See you tomorrow in the Institute."

She wasn't giving him a chance. What could he do?

"If you prefer not to have dinner tonight... it's fine with me." He forced a smile, which she noticed, but didn't say anything about. "See you in the Institute tomorrow."

She nodded and approached him to kiss his face, and so did he. They hesitated but finally they kissed each other's cheek.

Aline turned, and Gilbert followed her to the front door. When she left, he raised his hand at her and then closed the door, turning his back to the wood and leaning on the door. He had failed with Aline. But he had to be patient, he had to adhere to his thoughts and life philosophy, to be persistent and never quit...

***

Hector was still running when he saw Elektra outside their lair.

"Where have you been?" she asked, her voice showing no sign of emotion, as usual. "I've been waiting for you for hours."

"I went for some books and food," he said, trying to hide the terror she inflicted upon him.

"You could have been caught." He trembled as she said this. After all, if he got caught, she would view him as a failure, and wouldn't move a finger to help him. He could even die, and she just couldn't care less.

She examined what he had brought this time. The books were good, both had information about the two islands. Elektra was glad that Hector was getting smarter choosing good books, but didn't say anything. However, his bag didn't carry what she was expecting.

"Fruits? Why didn't you get meat, or fish? Would you survive eating fruit?" she asked the young boy.

"There wasn't any fish or meat there, at least I didn't find any. It's enough for today. Tomorrow I'll get some more."

Elektra didn't reply. Hector entered their 'house', took an apple from the bag he had been carrying, left it on the table, and sat on the floor, opening one of the books. He had learned how to read some years ago, and now the books were windows to the world. He didn't read because Elektra ordered him to, he enjoyed the time he spent reading.

The first book kept him occupied for the rest of the night.

***

1st November

The previous night's events changed everyone's lives. The Dark Lord was gone; it was said that he hadn't died, just gone away. People had been celebrating his departure the entire night, even though some believed he would be back soon.

Now the house elves were finishing breakfast. Only a few professors were awake. The academy seemed to be sound asleep. However, a very strange third-year boy couldn't sleep. He had been thinking about the night before.

Sebastion wasn't thinking about the Dark Lord's death, though. Everything seemed a dream: his visit to Etamin Island, the vision of the Nortrum village, understanding Douglas' thoughts, coming back to the academy on their brooms.

For a moment he considered the possibility that it could have been a dream, but then he realized that it had to be real, because his roommates were sleeping, and if it wasn't a special morning, they would be at classes.

He got up from his bed and went to the bathroom. He was back in a few minutes and his roommates were still asleep. He dressed in his normal robes and as he turned to go out to the common room, he repaired his own image in the mirror.

When he saw himself in the mirror, he remembered what would happen that day. He looked at his watch. Half past ten. He, Sebastion Kaufmann, would play as Keeper for Mermaid House in less than six hours, against Whale House.

His friends were sure that the Mermaids would win, but Sebastion had trained as hard as if the game was against Seagull House - the best Quidditch team in the Academy.

Sebastion walked downstairs to the common room, where there were two people sleeping on the sofa. The girl was holding her boyfriend's arm on her chest and they were both sleeping like rocks. Sebastion wrote the password on the wall, which had been changed the previous night (it was now freedom), and stepped through the solid wall, appearing in the middle of the deserted corridor.

He looked at the portraits on each side of the entrance to the Mermaid common room in order to greet them. He had been taught that he should greet the people in the portraits near his common room when he entered or exited through the wall. That day, however, they were not there.

He continued his journey to the Great Hall, where he found the seven tables full of food, although there wasn't a single elf in the entire room.

He was finishing his delicious breakfast when some other students entered the Great Hall. They had certainly had a good sleep, and they knew how to enjoy it; it wasn't every day that they could sleep the entire morning away.

The students looked at him with some indifference, but also jealousy, being who he was and doing what he did. Sebastion observed their looks, which were the same from the yesterday, the day before yesterday, and every day since he joined the Mermaid Quidditch Team last year.

Why was his life so unfair? The question he had asked several times, but never got an acceptable answer.

***

Richard Tamsworth woke up in his dormitory. Although last night he had been worried about Douglas Argylle not letting them know that he was going to Etamin island with the Mermaid boy, he was too tired and right after lying on his bed, he fell sound asleep.

That morning, he was the first one to wake up in the third-year Octopus boys' dormitory.

Richard woke his friend, Justin Tintacle, whose bed was on his right side. He wanted to talk to Justin without disturbing Douglas.

"Justin," Richard whispered, pushing his friend, "Justin, wake up."

Justin opened one eye and closed it again.

Richard kept calling him and Justin finally opened his black eyes.

"What?" he asked with a sleepy face.

"Shut up," Richard whispered. "We have to talk. Meet me in the Tree House. I don't want Douglas to come. Bring Aidan, but don't wake up Douglas. I'm going up and I'll get some food for our breakfast and then I'll go to the Tree House."

"Okay," Justin said, but closed his eyes again.

"Justin!" Richard exclaimed, "Wake up!"

The other sat on his bed, his hair a complete mess, as usual.

"I'm going," he said, and Richard went down to the Great Hall

***

"Good morning," Aline greeted Gilbert, who had been talking to another wizard when she entered the Dragon Institute.

"'Morning," said the other wizard.

"What a very good morning," Gilbert said, smiling at the Brazilian woman.

Aline Carneiro was one of the three women working at the Institute, and it was normal to be greeted that way by some of men who were working with her, but never Gilbert, not until then.

She went to her room to see what she had to do that day.

Sitting at her desk, she read her schedule for the day. She would have to go to the Hatchery to check on the temperature of the Hungarian Horntail eggs and get them back to their mother if they were warm enough. Only a few things, she thought, compared to her normal schedule. She would work until lunch, and then she would have the afternoon off.

Someone knocked at the door and, without asking to come in, Gilbert entered the room.

"Hello!" he said. "Did you sleep well?"

"Hi. Yes, I did. And you?" she asked. Gilbert was different that morning, she didn't know why.

"Yes, after checking that I had closed every door and window with charms... What do you have to do today?"

"Just check the temperature of the Hungarian Horntail eggs and, if they're ready, I have to get them back to their mother, which is more difficult... but I think I'll have it done before lunch time. And you?"

"I... I woke up earlier to accomplish my tasks today, and now I'm done."

"Good!" Aline said. "So, why are you still here?"

"Because today there is a Quidditch game at the Academy, and I thought you might like to come. What do you think?"

"I... I haven't seen a Quidditch game for years! Of course, I'll go with you."

Gilbert smiled, "The game is at three. I'll be at your house at two o'clock, okay?"

"Then I'll have to hurry up and finish my tasks. I'll be waiting for you."

Aline went out and walked to the Hatchery. If she was lucky, Barbara would already have checked the temperature of the eggs, and she would get them directly to their mother. God bless Barbara, the one responsible for the Hatchery, who helped Aline some times.

***

Sebastion was leaving the Great Hall when Richard appeared at the corner of the main corridor. Richard looked the other way so that he wouldn't face Sebastion.

Sebastion, on the other hand, was looking at him. He still hoped that the Octopus boys regarded him differently. Actually, he didn't know why they hated him so much. He had only talked to Douglas and only a few times. He knew the other three boys wouldn't even look at him, but they had no reason for it.

Sebastion continued on his way to the Library, which was on the seventh floor, to get a book for his Care of Magical Creatures homework.

Mr. Zugtil, the librarian, knew him very well, he was a friend of his father and had known him since he was a baby.

Mr. Zugtil greeted him, "Sebastion, is that you?" his black hair now had a gray tone due to age. His big brown eyes were sympathetic and transmitted a feeling of safety to Sebastion.

"Yes, good morning, Mr. Zugtil. I have to get a book on Magical Creatures."

"Ah, Professor Heathcote is giving you homework? What happened to your class book?"

"It's down in my dormitory, but I want this book because it has more detailed information about the animals. Professor Heathcote assigned us a research paper for each semester, and he told us at our first class that this semester the work must be done by the November seventh, so I want to start it soon."

"Ah, yes. He doesn't usually assign research work, does he?"

"No, he just has to accomplish the tasks that the academy demands, one of which is that the students complete at least one research paper per semester."

"Yes, he's a good man," Mr. Zugtil said while taking the book from the bookcase near his desk. "Here it is. Sign your name here," he said pointing the requisition paper. Sebastion was used to dealing with that paper, since he went to the library very often.

"Thanks, Mr. Zugtil."

"You're welcome. How is your family?"

"From what I read by owls, they are all fine. My grandmother is recovering from her cancer now, the mediwizards say she'll be fine."

"Ah, good, I'm happy for her. And you? Are you ready for today's game? I'll be seeing you there."

"Thanks. Yes, I'm fine. I've trained hard for this game, although the other team members think the game is ours. I don't trust those feeling. I've trained as hard as if it was against Seagull House."

"Yes, you did well. We can't predict things these days, we can't trust those kind of feelings. The Whales are improving, from what I have been told ... good luck at the game, Sebastion!"

"Thanks."

***

Aidan was still looking sleepy, but he followed Justin's request.

They were near the Tree House, which was an old square, wooden house built in a tree and since three of its four sides were covered by leaves, it wasn't easy to find. It wasn't very big, but it had enough room for three or four people. They had found it last year while they were going to the Quidditch pitch on a Saturday morning. They had built a wooden bed in the Tree House that was big enough for one person to sleep on, but usually they sat on the bed to be more comfortable. The tree wasn't very high, but they had to climb a ladder to reach the house. It was a nice place to meet when they wanted to chat privately.

They climbed the ladder and sat on the wooden bed, waiting for Richard.

"But what does Richard have to tell us? Why didn't we bring Douglas?" asked Aidan.

"Richard told me not to bring Douglas. He must have a reason for it. I'm certain that episode from yesterday is still making him crazy," replied Justin.

Richard arrived some time later with sandwiches and orange juice for them all, all floating around Richard's wand.

"Hey guys!" he greeted them, after he climbed the ladder.

"What do you want from us?" asked Aidan anxiously.

Richard gave them their sandwiches and juice cups and replied, "Hey, take it easy! Why are you questioning me like that?"

"It's just that you woke me up on the morning when we actually don't have classes."

"Oh, okay. Look: we have to do something about Douglas, he's gone with the Mermaid boy to Etamin Island before we did. We had already agreed to go tomorrow night, but he went yesterday and didn't tell us anything. What happened? The Mermaid boy must have changed his mind. We must discover what happened, and we have to make sure that they don't talk ever again."

"Why are you so angry, Richard? Douglas may have other friends besides us. The four of us are the only third year boys in our house. We can have other friends."

"Not the Mermaid boy. He plays Quidditch for his house, he gets better grades in Care of Magical Creatures than we do, and Professor Heathcote is our team Captain. And he is always the teachers' pet and we are always the bad ones."

"Ricky, we are in Octopus House, not Shark House," said Justin. "Look: we are trying to join the Octopus Quidditch Team since last year and we are very good; Mariana told us, remember? But we don't have a spot on the team because there are other players, and Sebastion was lucky because Mike Andrews graduated last year and so they had the Keeper position open. We weren't as lucky as Sebastion, it's just that."

"Yeah, and Sebastion gets better marks than us in Captain Octopus' class because he likes animals and we have to admit that he is better than us in Care of Magical Creatures," agreed Aidan.

"And he only got detention once. How many times have we gotten detention? Lots of times. And most of those times because of whom?" Justin was interrupted by Richard.

"OKAY!" he screamed, "I know it was because of me! But when I was telling Mrs. Hoogendyke it was all my fault, Douglas always told said that it was everyone's fault and that it was unfair that only I got detention. And, hey, are you on the Mermaid boy's side?"

"See? Douglas helped you out when you got detention, what do you want from him? He is our friend, our real friend! And this is not a war, and there are no sides. We just don't understand why you are so upset over their friendship. Don't you like to have friends? Then Sebastion does, too, and he has to be given a chance." Justin was out of his wits, but Richard was going too far, he couldn't help but give this speech.

"Then you will lose Douglas, and you'll miss him. You'll see. Then you'll say I was right, and then there will be no chance to go back."

He jumped out of the Tree House, hurt one foot, but didn't yell, and tried to walk normally. His green sweater was all dirty, but he didn't care.

Justin and Aidan stayed in the Tree House for a moment. They wouldn't take any position, they would just wait to see what would happen. But they didn't want to be angry with Richard or Douglas - what a dilemma!

***

Octavia was writing her Potions essay in the Octopus common room when Douglas came out from his dormitory. She liked him, Douglas was very straight-forward. Her brother, Richard, didn't talk about some topics with her. When she said some word related with one of the forbidden subjects, he pretended that he had homework to do. Douglas always had all the time in the world to chat with her. Two weeks ago, they had stayed in the common room talking about dragons and both of them forgot about the time, passing the entire night talking, and they only went to sleep when dawn broke. They had been lucky because it was a Friday night and they had all Saturday free of classes.

Octavia was a first year and had only been in the Academy for two months, but she already had a special relationship with her brother's friend.

"Hey, Dug." She called him Dug since that night, because Douglas liked worms, and the worms dig through the dirt, and that was similar to Douglas, so he became Dug for Octavia.

"Morning! What are you doing?"

"Gah... finishing my essay for Higgens. I have to finish this before the game."

"Why before the game? We don't have classes today," said Douglas.

"I know, but Higgens said that he wanted the essays done by the date we had established, despite all the events, so I have to finish this before lunch time."

"Okay, I'll help you out," he said, sitting in a chair next to Octavia, "what is it about?"

"Thanks... ah, it is a potion to smell like an animal, so that werewolves won't hurt the wizard..."

"Ah, I remember that potion from my first year... it is Dark magic though..."

"What?" Octavia was surprised, she thought Dark magic wasn't taught in schools.

"Yes, Higgens doesn't say it, but last year I discovered that that potion is Dark magic. Really. I was searching for Dark magic in a book, to write an essay for History of Magic, and I didn't want to talk about the three unforgivable curses, so I searched for unforgivable potions and I found that one."

"Wow," she said, "what a... Higgens... he teaches Dark magic."

"Many others do. So, what do you want to talk about? Ah, you can't write about Dark magic, of course you can't."

Octavia made a face but finally agreed. She had no chance to write about Dark magic. And she had to take Douglas' help until he had to go.

***

"Morning, Barbara," greeted Aline, as she entered the Hatchery, "how are things going?"

"Aline! I haven't seen you this week, where have you been? Yes, everything is going well. Here's your data about the Hungarian Horntail eggs. I checked the temperature forty-five minutes ago."

"Oh, Barbara, thank you so much!" Aline smiled. "I was hoping you did this because I was invited to go to Sitnalta Island to see a Quidditch game. Thank you."

"Quidditch? I love Quidditch. I played for Seagull House when I was at the Academy," said Barbara, a happy face remembering her best games, while Aline was checking the temperature of each egg on the parchment.

"Did you? I like to watch the games, but I was not very good at flying. The eggs are not ready yet. I'll have to come again tomorrow. Do you want to come with me and Gilbert to watch the game?"

Barbara considered before replying. "Are you going with Gilbert? Ah, I have many things to do today, I can't go."

She was lying. She could go and would like to go. But she wouldn't be the third wheel. Gilbert had invited Aline, not her.

"Well, then... thanks again for doing my job. Perhaps you can come some other time," said Aline.

"I hope so. Have fun!"

Aline exited the Hatchery, went to her office at the other building of the Institute and wrote a brief report about the eggs not being ready yet.

Then she went home and took a bath. She wore a beautiful dress, she couldn't disappoint Gilbert.

Aline had been working with Gilbert for several months now, and she had to admit that he caused some feelings to stir inside her. But she wasn't sure of them; she didn't know if she felt attracted to his muscles that were perfectly noticeable, or if she felt something other than just attraction.

She liked tropical dresses, with flowers, different colors. Ah, it was great to live in a hot country like Brazil. She wore a short-sleeved dress, not very long, with red, orange, yellow, and pink flowers along with green leaves. It was sexy, she was sure of it. She wanted to know what impression it would have on Gilbert.

***

Richard was sitting at the Octopus table in the Great Hall, eating lunch when Octavia, his sister, came in with Douglas. He noticed their entrance, especially because Douglas hadn't been with him or with the other Octopus boys, Justin and Aidan.

Richard had been talking with them in the Tree House and they didn't agree with him, but now he had to find a solution. He couldn't let his three roommates get angry with him, he couldn't risk that.

Douglas was approaching him, Octavia had stayed some seats away at their table with her friends.

"Hey," Richard called, "you've been sleeping for too long today haven't you?" Richard grinned and shook his head as usual.

"Well, no, not too much. I woke up and I found out that none of you were there. Why didn't you enjoy our few extra sleeping hours? Where have you been?"

"You know, we are not used to sleeping until lunch time, even on the weekends, so we woke up and came downstairs, had breakfast and were hanging around until now..."

"I see. I have been helping your sister with her homework. She was in the common room when I came down and she was doing her Potions homework. She hadn't realized that some potions Higgens teaches us are Dark magic... I had to explain it to her and she was very surprised."

"Do you think she shouldn't be surprised? The image we have of the school before we come here is that it is a place where you learn good spells in order to fight the Dark. Don't you remember what we did when we discovered it? I remember, we were researching it in the library for more than a month so that we could be sure that they weren't outlawed teaching methods..."

"Ah, yes, I remember," Douglas said. "We spent every afternoon in the library. And the only thing we got was that it was the norm around here."

"Yeah," Richard agreed.

"So, where are Justin and Aidan?" he asked, looking for them in the Great Hall.

"Hmm," he hesitated, "they are... I think they went outside, they... they were interested in the Quidditch game, they - we all hope that the Mermaids lose!"

"Why are you so mean?" Douglas asked. "I mean, why the Mermaids? I am not for the Whales either."

"Yeah, I am not against the Mermaids, but I think the Whales trained hard and that they're getting better, so they should win," Richard said. He tried to agree with what Douglas had said. He had to turn the entire situation he had driven them into and take the best for him.

"Ah, yes, if they're making the effort to improve, then they should win."

Meanwhile Justin and Aidan entered the Great Hall.

"Look," Aidan whispered, "Richard is talking with Douglas, he must not have told him anything."

"But how can he pretend that everything is alright?" Justin couldn't believe that Richard was chatting happily as if they hadn't had the discussion an hour earlier.

"Shut up now," Aidan said as they were approaching, "Hey, Douglas, did you sleep well?"

Douglas turned his head to see them, "Hey! Yes, I did. But I noticed you were elsewhere when I woke up... Ricky told me you were talking about today's game. What's new?"

Aidan looked at Justin and then at Richard. After thinking for a bit, he got it: it had to be another lie that Richard had made up.

"Yeah," he finally replied, "we heard that Regina Canthis hasn't trained since last week, which means that Mermaid is weaker. And the Whales trained hard for this game, they have created new tactics..."

"That's what Richard had said. But since I'm not for or against either house, I only hope that it turns out to be a good game!"

"Yeah, that would be great," Justin agreed, looking at Richard. He realized what Richard's idea was: pretend that everything was fine, so that Douglas wouldn't notice anything amiss. That way, Douglas would keep their friendship all the same and he wasn't going to risk all his three roommates' friendships. Richard was playing with fire. But anyway, Justin thought, if he wants to, then I'll be entering the game.

***

Sebastion went to his dormitory from the Mermaids' common room, and changed from his black robes to his Quidditch uniform. Sebastion was now wearing the Mermaid House Quidditch Uniform: a red sweater with blue sleeves, with the Mermaid symbol on the left side, and blue pants with a red stripe. He also wore his black gloves in order to have a good grip on his broom, the new model, Cleansky Seven, which his father had given to him when he joined the Quidditch team in the beginning of the year. Finally, he donned his new blue boots and the red and blue Quidditch robe with the Mermaid symbol on its back.

He was ready to play.

***

Gilbert and Aline were inside the Dragon Cage, flying over the Atlantic Ocean between Etamin and Sitnalta islands. Shilta, a female Welsh Green, was flying them through the sky without any trouble.

Aline wasn't sure that the dragon wouldn't hurt them, after all, it was a dragon, and although she saw them every day, she had never seen one that had a cage attached and flew people wherever they asked it to.

Gilbert noticed that Aline was a bit scared, and tried to reassure her about the dragon one more time.

"Shilta is an intelligent animal, she won't hurt us. Trust me."

"I know, you've already said that, but I prefer to be ready to react," she said, her wand pointing at the Dragon who flew happily over the ocean.

"I know it is strange, dragons cannot be domesticated but, strange enough, Shilta has been."

"By whom?" she asked.

"Mr. Heathcote... Captain Octopus at the Academy. He told me the entire story of Shilta and since he was too old to take care of her, he made me promise that I would take care of her for him. I was scared when he made me the proposal but after two weeks of flying here every day with Mr. Heathcote's help, I knew she was loyal to him. I can't tell you why, but he has control of Shilta. And he could transmit his thoughts and feelings to her."

"What? He talked to the dragon?" Aline asked, not believing.

"No, they didn't talk, but he could make her do certain things, and she obeyed him. Then we flew with her every day - for more than five months - and she understood that I would be taking care of her."

"What else did you do with her?" she grinned. "It seems as if she's been your partner since you were born."

Gilbert laughed, "I only ask her to get us to a place, I don't have any other... relations, if you understand me, with her. I don't even touch her. She has her own life at the Institute but she is glad to be away from Etamin Island some times. It's boring for them to always be there."

"What a strange story," said the Brazilian woman. "Look, it's Sitnalta island!"

"Yes, we'll be there on time."

Gilbert chose a hidden place on the island and the dragon flew to the ground. It would be complicated if a student saw the dragon on the island.

They got out of the little flying house and walked to the Quidditch pitch. They could hear many people screaming and cheering for their teams.

***

"Sebastion Kauffman!" cried Professor Sabrina Pitinus, the flying teacher, a tall woman in her forties, with blue eyes and long, curly, purple-black hair.

Sebastion walked forward.

"Good luck," said Professor Pitinus, giving Sebastion his Cleansky Seven broom.

At the Lusitania Academy, they had that little ceremony: the flying teacher giving them their brooms before the game. It happened at all of the games, and was some kind of presentation of the players.

The students and the academy staff were all in their seats around the Quidditch pitch. There were also other people who wanted to watch the game, but normally the families of the players didn't come, since they were asked not to when their children joined the Quidditch team. Only a few other relatives went to the Academy to see their sons or daughters.

Sebastion heard some people calling 'Go Mermaids!' but he knew it wasn't because of him, but because he was part of the team. Normally, the players heard their names, but Sebastion didn't.

"Mark Quartz!" Professor Pitinus called one of the Beaters, giving him his Nimbus 1001 and wishing him good luck.

Then she called Mariana Tabus, the other Beater, a Brazilian blonde girl, and gave her her Spycloud. After Mariana, Professor Pitinus called the three Chasers, Regina Chantis (who received her Nimbus 1001), Pedro Walfonder, the prefect (who received his Cleansky 81), and Daniel Pessoa (who received his Cleansweep Five).

"Andrew Stormcloud," she finally called the Mermaid Seeker, a nineteen-year-old boy.

The girls in the seats screamed his name madly, even the Whale girls. Sebastion didn't understand why was he so popular: he was in the sixth year but he didn't know second-year-spells.

"Good luck," said Professor Pitinus giving him his Nimbus 1001 - Special Design, as he always made sure to say. He had asked his father to make the Nimbus Racing Broom Co. design a special broom for him, which they did, after being paid two hundred galleons.

The Mermaids stayed side by side on the field with their brooms in their hands, while Professor Pitinus presented the Whale Quidditch team, starting with the Keeper, John Albucen, then the two Beaters, Nuno Gama and Alex Porto, the three Chasers, Catia Bull, Margarida Gueyer and Luis Silva, and finally the Seeker, Miguel Bizantio, whose name was heard all over the seats.

The Whales were all wearing the Whale House Quidditch Uniform: a light blue sweater with dark blue sleeves and the Whale symbol on the left side. They were also wearing dark blue pants with a light blue stripe, and their Quidditch robe, a combination of light and dark blue with the Whale symbol on its back. They all had their gloves and boots on, too.

Professor Pitinus let the players go up to the sky and then she released the four balls.

The Snitch disappeared right away. A Whale Chaser, Margarida Gueyer, caught the Quaffle and flew right in Sebastion's direction. Damn it, she was fast! She looked up and managed to avoid a Bludger that had been sent into her direction by Mariana Tabus, one of the Mermaid Beaters.

Sebastion couldn't help but wait for Margarida to send the Quaffle to one of the three hoops that he was supposed to guard.

Margarida was approaching too quickly when she sent the Quaffle up to her partner Luis Silva, a second year, who flew to the other post and threw the Quaffle before Sebastion could even look at him.

"Ten points to the Whales," said Mrs. Hoogendyke, the caretaker, who also the announcer, "giving Mr. Kaufmann no chance to defend the goal."

The game was progressing, now Regina Canthis had the Quaffle and was flying quickly to the other side of the pitch. Catia Bull, a Whale Chaser, tried to get the Quaffle back, but she had no success. Regina was going very well and the Whale Keeper could do anything but let the Quaffle throw the right hoop.

"Ten points to the Mermaids," announced Mrs. Hoogendyke, "given by Ms. Canthis."

Some minutes later, Nuno Gama, one of the Whale Beaters, sent the Bludger in Sebastion's direction, when he was about to avoid the Quaffle, sent by Luis Silva, to be thrown to the goal post. But Mark Quartz, a Mermaid Beater, was there before the Bludger could hurt Sebastion and hit it strongly, sending the black ball up to the sky, while the Mermaid boy intercepted the Quaffle and avoided another goal.

However, it didn't happen the next time the red ball was near Sebastion's post. It was true that the Mermaids were winning fifty points to thirty, but he still felt bad for letting Margarida make another goal.

"Ten more points to the Whales, they're approaching the Mermaids score of fifty points. And still no sign of the Snitch," said Mrs. Hoogendyke once again.