Professor Flitwick's Conclusion

"What happened!"

The sudden commotion on the pitch left the players flying through the air bewildered.

"Quick! Everyone! Scatter!"

Captain Bruce was the first to react. He shouted at the players to stay clear of the broom trailing black smoke.

Fortunately, the players on the pitch were all fairly well-trained Quidditch players. At their captain's shout, they quickly came to their senses, sped up, and flew away from the broom.

Scott stood in the stands, his face as dark as thunder.

Roger's broom was still darting wildly through the air, hovering close to second-year Chambers and making it impossible for him to get away.

The black smoke pouring from the broom grew thicker and thicker. A few sparks even began to fly.

"Merlin!"

Chambers shouted in panic.

"Don't panic!"

Bruce, the captain and a Beater, sprang into action. He sped over to Chambers, trying to knock the broom away with his bat.

"Scott!"

Roger, who had landed on the grass, looked up and shouted.

Scott chanted a spell, swung his wand forcefully, and pointed it at a long wooden bench in the front row of the stands.

A piercing eagle's cry rang out, and the bench instantly transformed into a Giant Eagle. It shot through the air at tremendous speed, reaching Chambers and Bruce in the blink of an eye.

The eagle's sharp talons seized the out-of-control broom. Beating its wings, it carried the broom high into the sky.

"Great job, Scott!"

Roger jumped up, cheering excitedly.

"Way to go!"

Bruce raised his fist high.

"That was amazing!"

The players were just about to applaud... when—BANG!

With a deafening crash, the broom exploded violently before everyone's horrified eyes. The eagle Scott had transformed with Transfiguration was blown to pieces along with it.

The Transfiguration immediately wore off. The eagle turned into countless splinters, which drifted down from the sky along with the broom fragments.

"Merlin's beard!"

Roger stared at the scene, dumbfounded, beads of cold sweat forming on his forehead.

"Damn it! Who did this?" Bruce was furious. "This is murder! Someone tried to murder one of our players!"

The others also realized how serious this was, and flew down to the ground on their brooms.

Scott and Milton ran down from the stands together.

"W-why did this happen?" Milton gasped as he ran, his eyes reddened and his fear still plain on his face. "Th-thank goodness you were there, Scott. Thank goodness you were there..."

"Scott!"

Roger rushed over and threw his arms around Scott. For once, he was almost too overcome to speak.

"Oh! I don't know... I don't know how to thank you, my brother! You saved my life!"

"And mine and Chambers's!"

Bruce came over and clapped Scott hard on the back.

"Thank you," said Chambers, his face pale.

"You're welcome." Scott patted Roger's shoulder twice, then pushed him away.

He strode forward and picked up a piece of the broom from the ground.

"I think someone should inform our head of house now," he suggested calmly. "Everyone else can gather up the fragments and hand them to Professor Flitwick for examination."

"Right! Exactly! We'll find the bastard who did this behind our backs!"

Bruce was the first to agree.

"Cho! Go tell Professor Flitwick what happened!" he said to Cho Chang. "Take your broom. Don't worry about losing points!"

"No problem!"

Cho Chang managed a strained smile, mounted her broom, and flew toward the castle.

"Now, let's gather as many of the broom fragments as we can!" Bruce instructed the others. "Remember, no magic, or we might affect the professor's assessment!"

The others answered and eagerly began searching the grass.

"What do you think?"

Roger crouched beside Scott and asked quietly.

"Have you calmed down?" Scott continued picking up broom fragments without looking up. "Now that you have, don't you think it wasn't as serious as Bruce made it sound?"

"You're right," Roger said confidently. "Now that I think about it, more than ten seconds passed between the broom starting to smoke and the explosion. The smoke almost seems like a warning."

"The culprit showed some restraint," Scott said. "They probably don't want to end up in Azkaban."

"They?" Roger paused. "You seem to know something, Scott."

"I don't have any proof yet." Scott smiled. "But I'm sure we'll find some soon."

"All right." Roger sighed. "I trust you."

"Is everyone all right?"

Professor Flitwick's squeaky voice rang out.

Cho Chang flew down with him on her broom.

"Professor!"

"Professor..."

The students immediately surrounded him, all talking at once as they explained what had happened.

"Enough!" Professor Flitwick waved his hand. "Quiet, everyone! Davis! Trollope! You two, come here first!"

"Yes, Professor."

Scott and Roger stood up and went over to Professor Flitwick.

"Professor, these are pieces of Roger's broom."

Scott handed him a handkerchief wrapped around several of the larger fragments.

"You did very well, Scott!" Professor Flitwick took the handkerchief-wrapped pieces. "You sensed that something was wrong with the broom and stayed calm, using your excellent Charms and Transfiguration to avert disaster!"

He swung his hand emphatically.

"For that, I'm awarding Ravenclaw fifty points!"

"Well done!"

The others began cheering and applauding Scott.

"Very good." Once the applause died down, Professor Flitwick began examining the broom fragments everyone had gathered.

He drew his wand and cast several spells of different colors over the pile.

"This is difficult," he said, almost to himself. "After all, the broom has been blown to pieces, so finding out what was done to it won't be easy."

Despite his words, Scott and the others watched his movements closely, waiting for his conclusion without a hint of doubt.

"Let me think."

Professor Flitwick pondered for a while, then cast several more obscure spells in succession.

Scott listened carefully to the incantations he murmured, then realized he had never even heard of them.

"Excellent, that's it!"

Professor Flitwick called out.

Scott could sense the residual magic on the fragments beginning to change.

"This wasn't caused by a spell—not by any kind of Dark Arts spell." Professor Flitwick stared intently as he examined the fragments. "If I'm not mistaken, someone tampered with this broom using a magical object that carries a powerful curse."