The Ravenclaws were cheering. Sadie blinked when she recognized the boy shrugging off dark robes. She glanced to George, who had turned the colour of a ripe tomato. Seine glanced over, looking puzzled.

“His broom’s different,” She blurted—it was the first observation Sadie could think to make that would distract Seine. It worked. Seine laughed brightly, teeth flashing in a wide grin.

“Yeah. Alright, so that’s the newest Kovalski broom—“

Sadie listened intently as Seine began to expound about differing broom companies, although it sounded mostly like waffle. Seine was interrupted by a shrill whistle, and the topic was dropped.


It was almost dizzying to watch. The magical cameras did not seem to operate by the normal laws of physics, spiraling and rushing to capture every angle of the race. The race itself was insane—they were flying between pillars and over and under bridges and whipping around towers, climbing and plummeting on a dime. How many G-forces were they subjecting themselves to? Had anyone ever managed to kill themselves flying like this?

The elder Nott was [i]beyond[/i] fast. He was back in a flash, looking windswept but not winded. He seemed to be smirking at—oh. [i]Brennan[/i]. Judging by the cheering, the Ravenclaw had done exceptionally well, and Sadie didn’t think she’d ever seen her brother look so determined. The blonde girl, Pepper, was clapping him on the shoulder, and several of their housemates were cheering.

[i]”AND HE’S OFF!”[/i] The amplified voice shouted. Brennan shot forth like a cannon-ball—it was evident that where Theo had been graceful, the elder Ethans favored raw power. His turns weren’t quite so tight, and his broom wasn’t so exotic, but he seemed to explode through the straight aways. Sadie bit her nails, unsure if she was hoping for her brother to win or not, he was so close, he’d be insufferable either way—

[i]”AND IT’S A TIE BETWEEN NOTT AND ETHANS!”[/I]

…and that was, somehow, the worst possible outcome.