OUTCAST | SIRIUS BLACK

CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!
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"It's finally here. The moment we have all been waiting for. The highlight of the year-"

"Thank you, Avery," Seraphina interrupted him, sending the brown haired boy a silencing look before turning to face the rest of the Slytherin students. She stood on the staircase, leading up to the door to the Common Room, with three of the guys in the Quidditch team on each side of her.

The Slytherin Dungeon sometimes felt immense with its high ceilings and minimalist decorations. It gave the same feeling as a richly decorated ballroom. But now when almost every Slytherin student was crammed into it, it didn't seem as large. It was a rare thing to have every single Slytherin there at the same time.

During weekdays it was mostly empty since everyone was in classes and during the evenings there were always those who went to bed early or simply hung out in their dormitory. On the weekend the students were spread across the school. But not now. Now they were all gathered around, looking at her.

"This is a very special year," Seraphina said. "Some of you know exactly what the upcoming four weeks will include and some of you - well you are in for an exciting time. Becaaaaause, it is time for the Slyyyyyyytherin Cup!"

Some of the older students cheered and clapped while the younger ones, who had no idea what they were in for, looked eager but worried.

"This is an event that any Slytherin student only are allowed to experience twice in their life," Seraphina continued. "And here to explain more about the history behind these games - because I grew tired of his constant nagging and begging - our very own, Alec Avery."

Avery sent her a glare before clasping his hands together in front of him, "As you all know, Hogwarts founded in 900 A.D by four of the greatest witches and wizards of the age and the greatest of them all was none other than Salazar Slytherin."

Their housemates cheered again and Avery continued, "Around three centuries after Hogwarts was founded the first Triwizard Tournament was held. What the rest of the school didn't know at the time was that the Slytherin House already had their own competition. The games have changed a lot during the past centuries, but the heart of the game has remained the same."

"That was surprisingly good, Avery. Thank you," Seraphina said before taking over again. "As many of you know, it's tradition that the Quidditch Captain plans, hosts and acts like a referee during these games with the help of her team," she motioned towards the boys on each side of her; since some of them would graduate that year, she hoped to recruit more girls next year.

"Now, before I start I want to make sure that everyone understands that it is completely voluntary. No one should feel forced to participate in these games and once the competition starts, no one should feel pressured to do anything," Seraphina continued with a serious expression. "If anyone feels uncomfortable or just wants out, they just have to tell me. Or if you aren't comfortable with speaking directly to myself or your team leader, Slughorn's door is always open. All the competitions have been run through him and approved."

"Could you just get this started?" Mulciber asked her impatiently, rolling her eyes at her words.

"Unless your team wants to start with a negative amount of points, shush," Seraphina told him firmly. "As I have previously stated, I will be in charge of this game and my side-kick slash assistant will be none other than our very own Seeker, Regulus Black."

Truth be told, things had been a little bit awkward between her and Regulus since she found out about his plans to become a Death Eater. But he was still her best friend on the team and she had made the decision before Christmas break.

"The other five members of the Quidditch team will act as team leaders. Which means that the rest of you will be sorted into five different teams. The sorting will be done by myself and Regulus tonight and the competition starts tomorrow. Those who wish to participate will write their names on these parchments," she waved her wand and muttered an 'Expecto Patronum', and a dragon emerged from her wand, flew across the room, making most people gasp. It flew into a wall, illuminating seven separate scrolls.

"I assume all of you are capable of reading, or at least have the ability to count to seven," Seraphina continued, not even bothering to hide a small smirk. "If you want to participate, write your name on the parchment that has the number of your year. You have until seven tonight to sign up and after that, Regulus and I will construct the teams as evenly as possible. Our ambition is that the teams will be finished and hanging on the same wall by nine tonight. Is everyone with me so far?"

A few people nodded and since no one looked completely lost, she continued, "Every morning at seven, a task will be written onto this," she flicked her wand and on the wall from the left side of the entrance, a floor length canopy rolled out. "After that it's up to your team leader to decide how you are going to solve the task. There, you will also see how many points the task is worth. Now some of you might be wondering how the points will be tracked."

Muttering a quick spell under her breath, five hourglasses appeared in front of her, much like the ones used for the House Championship. In front of every hourglass, the surname of the five Quidditch players were written. "Here, you will see how many points your team has."

She used her wand to move the hourglasses away from the staircase until it stood against the wall. "Just remember. As the referee, I can both give and take away points. Creative solutions are of course allowed, in fact, I encourage them, but there is a line between creativity and cheating. I also won't accept any unsportsmanlike behaviour. Losing Slytherin House points in the House Championship may also lead to a loss of points. If I feel like someone has overstepped too much, I won't hesitate to disqualify that person. This is supposed to be a fun competition where every Slytherin can show why they were sorted into this house."

With another flick of her wand green fireworks appeared in above them, "Let the games begin"