Sadie was blown away by the intensity of the cheers. Brennan looked both frustrated and pleased; bolstered by the joy of their housemates, but determined, as if he wanted another go around the castle. She knew that look—Brennan had always been hyper-competitive, and it had gotten him into trouble hundreds of times over the year. But the blonde had slung her arm around his shoulder and for a moment, Sadie thought everything might be okay.

The peace didn’t last but thirty seconds. A vulgar protest shot through the crowd, quieting the raucous laughter. [i]Everyone knows Ethans can’t fly.[/i] 

Sadie felt her stomach twist, one parts surprise to two parts indignation. What did that mean? He had [i]just[/i] tied, hadn’t he? She looked between Seine and George, confusion written on her face. Seine shrugged, but George was urging them to go. Sadie rose to her feet, but couldn’t quite tear her eyes away from the spectacle.

She’d never seen Brennan look so hateful, not even when she’d accidentally set his jumper on fire last summer. He looked at Theo like he wanted to rip his throat out, fists clenched. Sadie realised suddenly that the blonde, Pepper, had a hand on his shoulder, holding him back.

“You know, for two thousand galleons, I would have thought your broom should do the flying for you, seeing as how you can barely put the bird  through her paces,” Brennan’s voice was strangled by frustration, and Sadie couldn’t look away. It was a train wreck in slow motion, and everyone surrounding the two boys seemed to recognize it.

“Come on, Brennan, let’s just go,” One of the crimson clad boys muttered. Brennan seemed to try and compose himself, and Sadie though that he’d managed the impossible and controlled his temper.

[i]A half-pint moron with dirt for blood[/i] cut through the air like a knife. A gasp and a chorus of outrage rippled through the crowd—and Brennan had launched himself at Theo. Sadie gaped as her brother grappled the taller boy, raining down blow after blow. People were shouting—several of the students in red were screaming for blood.

“ENOUGH,” boomed throughout the courtyard. Brennan and Theo were ripped apart, and Sadie could see her brother straining against the magic, knuckles bloody, as if all that mattered was the fight. The Headmistress was sweeping across the grounds in a rush of emerald tartan robes, wand aloft. Students cleared a path for her automatically, “Control yourselves, the both of you! Never, in all my years—“

“Professor,” Pepper interrupted. The sharp look Professor McGonagall gave terrified Sadie, and she wasn’t even the one receiving it. Pepper swallowed, but continued, fists clenched. “Brat deserved it, he called Ethans a mudblood—“

“That is [i]enough[/i], Miss Averys. I cannot believe a Head Girl would [i]condone[/i] this response—the both of you,” Professor McGonagall directed her wand to the two boys, still suspended and held apart. They were placed on their feet, and Brennan looked as though he might launch himself at Theo once more. Sadie chewed her nails anxiously as Professor McGonagall marched the boys—and a few of the older students with little golden badges—away.

[i]Dirt for blood[/i], he’d said. Sadie watched Theo and Brennan’s backs. [i]That[/i] was what Seine and George had meant.