Chapter 5 - Another Surprise

“Never... in all my time at Majorka’s School of Magicry have I witnessed this kind of rough activity, cat-fighting and all,” Professor Grimley said.
 
The quintet caught sight of Caterina and her clique’s triumphant faces as they left, walking in Professor Grimley’s wake as he strode toward the building. They figured they would likely be expelled.
 
They didn’t even bother to say anything to defend themselves. Now where would they go? They were sure they’d be out in the open with Lerich waiting for them.
 
 Up the front steps, Grimley stayed quiet. He opened doors and marched along corridors. Maybe he was taking them to Penders.
 
Professor Grimley stopped outside a classroom.
 
“Excuse me, Professor Flick, could I borrow Elijah for a moment?”
 
A burly boy came out of Flick’s class looking confused.
 
“Students, this is Elijah,” Profesor Grimley said, then said to Elijah, “I’ve found you new team members.”
 
Elijah’s expression changed from puzzlement to delight.
 
“Are you serious, Professor?”
 
“Absolutely,” said Professor Grimly. “They’re naturals. I’ve never seen anything like it. Was that your first time on vacuums?”
 
“Well, yeah,” Tails said.
 
“There’s never really been a time where we used vacuums to fly before,” Amy added.
 
 “Not a scratch on them", Professor Grimley said, "Not even Coconut Ted could have pulled it off.” 

 Elijah was now looking as though all his dreams had come true, but the group he was happy to have just looked as if this was the weirdest dream they've had.
 
“Ever seen a game, newbies?” he excitedly asked them.
 
“A game of what?” asked Sonic.
 
“Of Fidditch, of course, it’s a well-loved sport in this academy,” Elijah told them.
 
“Elijah’s captain of the Dragonthorn team,” Professor Grimley explained.
 
“They don’t look like much, but sounds to me they’ve got endurance and skills,” said Elijah, now walking around circling them. “We’ll have to get them decent vacuums, Professor Grimley, like a Smoover Two Thousand or a Dust Demon.”
 
“I shall speak to Professor Flynn and see if we can’t bend the first-year rule. We certainly know that we need a better team than last year. Clobbered in that last match by Demontail, I couldn’t look Kenneth Penders in the face for weeks...” Professor Grimley remembered bitterly.
 
“So, you’ll have to let us know you’re training hard, or I might just change my mind about your enrollment status.”

When they received their vacuums in the mailroom, it said:
DO NOT OPEN THE PARCEL AT THE TABLE. 
It contains your new Smoover Two Thousand, but I don’t want everybody knowing you’ve got a vacuum, or they’ll all want one. Elijah will meet you tonight on the Fidditch field at seven o’clock for your first training session. 
They left the hall quickly, wanting to show their unwrapped vacuums in private before their first class, but before they could get to their table, Tails’ package was seized from him by Caterina’s bratty friends.
“That’s a vacuum cleaner,” one said, throwing it back to the fox boy with a mixture of jealousy and spite on his face. “You’ll be in for it this time, Prower, first years aren’t allowed them.”
 “It’s not any old vacuum,” Tails said, “it’s a Smoover Two Thousand.”
Before Caterina could reply, Professor Flick appeared at Caterina’s elbow.
“I hope there are no fights going on here,” he squeaked.
“They’ve been sent a vacuum cleaner, Professor,” Caterina was quick to say.
“Yes I can see that,” said Professor Flick, beaming at the five mammals.
“Professor Partridge told me all about the special circumstances," Flick continued, "And what model is it?”
“They’re Smoover Two Thousands,” said Sonic, smugly looking at the horror on Caterina’s face. “And it’s really thanks to this young lady here that we’ve got them,” he added, remarking about the fight with Caterina during their lesson.
 
As seven o’clock drew nearer, they all left the building and set off in the dusk toward the Fidditch field. They’ve never been inside the stadium before. Hundreds of seats were raised in stands around the field so that the spectators were high enough to see what was going on. At either end of the field were three golden poles with hoops on the end.
Elijah had arrived. He was carrying a large wooden crate under his arm.
“I see you’ve made it on time. I’m just going to teach you the rules this evening, and then you’ll be joining team practice three times a week.”
He opened the crate. Inside were four different-sized balls.
“Right,” said Elijah. “Now, Fidditch is easy enough to understand, even if it’s not too easy to play. There are seven players on each side. Three of them are called Chasers.”
Elijah took out a bright red ball about the size of a soccer ball.
“This ball’s called the Wiff,” said Elijah.
“The Chasers throw the Wiff to each other and try and get it through one of the hoops to score a goal. Ten points every time the Wiff goes through one of the hoops. Follow me?”
“The Chasers throw the Wiff and put it through the hoops to score,” Tails relayed.
“So — that’s sort of like basketball on vacuum cleaners, except with six hoops, isn’t it?” Sonic asked.
“What’s basketball?” said Elijah curiously.
“Never mind,” said Sonic .
“Now, there’s another player on each side who’s called the Keeper — I’m Keeper for Dragonthorn. I have to fly around our hoops and stop the other team from scoring. Three Chasers, one Keeper, and they play with the Wiff."
“Okay, got it,"Tails said "So what are they for?” He pointed at the three balls left inside the box.
“I’ll show you now,” said Elijah. “Take this.”
He handed Tails a small club, a bit like a short baseball bat.
“I’m going to show you what the Bludgeoners do,” Elijah said. “These two are the Bludgeoners.”
He showed them two identical balls, jet black and slightly smaller than the red Wiff.  They seemed to noticeably be straining to escape the straps holding them inside the box.
“Stand back,” Elijah warned them.
He bent down and freed one of the Bludgeoners.
At once, the black ball rose high in the air and then pelted straight at the fox boy’s face. Tails swung at it with the bat to stop it smacking his nose, and sent it zigzagging away into the air — it zoomed around their heads and then shot at Elijah, who dived on top of it and managed to pin it to the ground.
“See?” Elijah panted, forcing the struggling Bludgeoner back into the crate and strapping it down safely. “The Bludgeoners rocket around, trying to knock players off their vacuums. That’s why you have two Beaters on each team; it’s their job to protect their side from the Bludgeoners and try and knock them toward the other team. So — think you’ve got all that?”
“Three Chasers try and score with the Wiff; the Keeper guards the goal posts; the Beaters keep the Bludgeoners away from their team, is that right?” reeled Tails.
“Very good,” said Elijah.
“Have the Bludgeoners never actually killed anyone, have they?” asked, hoping he sounded offhand. “Never at Majorka’s School of Magicry. We’ve had a couple of broken jaws but nothing worse than that. Now, the last member of the team is the Seeker. That’s you, fox. And you don’t have to worry about the Wiff or the Bludgeoners —”
“— unless they crack my head open," Tails said, giving an aside glance.
Elijah reached into the crate and took out the fourth and last ball. Compared with the Wiff and the Bludgeoners, it was tiny, about the size of a large walnut. It was bright gold and had little fluttering silver wings.
“This,” said Elijah, “is the Golden Globe, and it’s the most important ball of the lot. It’s very hard to catch because it’s so fast and difficult to see. It’s the Seeker’s job to catch it. You’ve got to weave in and out of the Chasers, Beaters, Bludgeoners, and Wiff to get it before the other team’s Seeker, because whichever Seeker catches the Globe wins his team an extra hundred and fifty points, so they nearly always win. That’s why Seekers get fouled so much. A game of Fidditch only ends when the Globe is caught, so it can go on for ages — I think the record is three months; they had to keep bringing on substitutes so the players could get some sleep. Well, that’s it any questions?”
“I think we got everything,” Amy said.
“We won’t practice with the Globe yet,” said Elijah, carefully shutting it back inside the crate, “it’s too dark, we might lose it. Let’s try you out with a few of these.” He pulled a bag of ordinary golf balls out of his pocket and a few minutes later, he and the gang were up in the air, Elijah throwing the golf balls as hard as he could in every direction for Tails to catch.
 
"You've made the team?" Cain asked in disbelief as they were told the next day.

"He said we're naturals," Cream said.

"That's great!" Epiphany said. "I think you might want to borrow this to help you, don't want another mishap,"

"Uh, thanks," Knuckles said.

They all glanced at the book. "Lemme see," Tails said, "this books' a bit heavy."

"You'll only need to skim the most crucial parts," Epiphany said, "And you probably haven't mastered the levitation spell,"

"I'll carry it for now," Knuckles offered.

Later in the hall, when Knuckles was carrying the book.

“What’s that you’ve got there, spiny anteater?” Penders caught up to him and asked.

 He showed him the book Epiphany lent him, "This is just a book Epiphany Pfeiffer lent me,"

"Ah, a gift from your girlfriend?"

"She is not my girlfriend," Knuckles insisted.

 “Library books are not to be taken outside the school,” said Penders. “Give it to me. Five points from Dragonthorn.”

“He probably just made that rule up,” Knuckles muttered angrily as Penders limped away. “Wonder what’s wrong with his leg?”

“Dunno, probably his extra weight catching up with him,” wisecracked Sonic.

The Dragonthorn common room was very noisy that evening. The gang sat together with Epiphany next to a window. Epiphany was checking their homework on charms for them. "Sorry, you can't copy, you won't learn that way," she told them before.

 “Maybe we can just ask for the book,” Tails suggested. “he might have to give it back if the other teachers are listening.”

“But who’s going in there?” Amy asked, “We might risk losing points if we go into his office just to bug him.”
 
“Let’s see… who will we send?” Sonic pondered.
 
They all look at each other and their eyes land on Knuckles. “What are you all looking at me for?”
 
“You’re the one who was holding the book when he swiped it from you,” Cream pointed out.
 
 He made his way down to the staff room and knocked. There was no answer.  He knocked again. Nothing. Perhaps Penders had left the book in there? What's the worst that could happen? He nudged the door a bit and peered inside – and a horrible scene met his eyes. Penders and Finch were inside, alone. Penders was holding his robes above his hips. The back of his lower body was bloody and seemed to be slashed. Finch was wrapping bandages around him.
“Vile things,” Penders was saying. “How are you supposed to keep your eyes on so many of those runts?"
Knuckles tried to shut the door quietly, but —

 “YOU!” Penders' face was twisted with fury as he dropped his robes quickly to hide his body.

 “I came here to ask if I can just have my book back," he asked, as politely as he could but still assertively.

 “GET OUT! OUT!”

 He left, before Penders could take any more points from Dragonthorn and briskly walked back downstairs.
 
“Did you get it?” Cain asked as Knuckles met up with them. “What’s the matter?”
 
Knuckles had recapped to them what he’d just seen. “Penders’ back was all shredded, as if he had lost a fight with a weed whacker.”
 
“You know what this means?” Cain finished breathlessly. “He tried to get past hordes of little goblins last month! Possibly to peddle things to them, but they violently refused.”
 
That night in the dorm, everyone was still awake.
 
“Hey, you asleep?” Tails asked.
 
“No,” Sonic said.
 
“How could we if we are going to have our first match and we haven’t forgotten about Lerich being after us,” Amy said.
 
“Yeah, that’s right,” Tails said.

“Penders’ encounter with goblins could mean something is up," said Sonic, "but what?”
 

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