Ever since the school year had began, it had seemed as if Ravenclaw House was perpetually in first place in the race for the House Cup.  There was nothing that Slytherin, Hufflepuff, or poor lagging Gryffindor could do -- no matter how hard their students worked, no matter how many questions they answered, the Ravenclaws were always too good, too smart.

Five points to Antonopoulos!  A dozen to Trishna!  As much as she liked Eirene and Cyhirae, the constant barrage of Ravenclaw victories made her long for the moments when Dahlia Collins (who was a little bit of a know-it-all as well, but at least had been placed in Hufflepuff) managed to get an answer in.  Every day, Noriko dragged herself through the Entrance Hall, trying not to look at the enormous hourglasses displaying the house points as she completed what had become a daily walk of shame.

But slowly, slowly, Slytherin had been battling its way back.  A correct answer here.  A good deed there.  Rumor had it that Cyhirae Trishna had lost her house fifty points in one go.  And as February stretched into March and April, suddenly Ravenclaw's lead didn't seem quite so insurmountable.  What had once been a walk of shame became slightly less depressing, as the emeralds continued to shower in at a rate that almost, almost made it seem possible as if they could catch the sapphires...

Noriko hadn't dared to allow herself to hope.  She'd even tried to stop looking.  Surely Eirene, who was proud as her status as the Top Point Getter for the fall, would sense Slytherin's creeping approach and throw her weighty intellect into increasing Ravenclaw's lead. 

But every so often, she'd let herself sneak a peak, just in case.  Slytherin, still inching closer.  Ravenclaw, still just barely maintaining their lead.  It seemed as if they might catch up, but was there time?  April had already turned into May, and there was barely a month left until the end of summer term.

Until one day...

574

683

794

830

Noriko hadn't made it two steps into the Entrance Hall before her jaw dropped. 

She looked again, just to make sure that she'd read the numbers right.

Ravenclaw: 794.

She stared.

Slytherin: 830.

And then she let out a whoop of glee.

"WE'RE IN FIRST PLACE!" she squealed, jumping up and down in utter delight.  "SLYTHERIN ARE IN FIRST!  WE'RE BEATING RAVENCLAW!  WE'RE IN FIRST PLACE!"  And with another triumphant shriek, she threw herself at the nearest passerby, wrapping her arms around them in hug of unabashed, uncontrolled joy.

Vulpes had been hopping his way through the entrance hall when he was suddenly, and most randomly hugged. He looked down at his, well assailant was the word he would use. It was one of the first year girls from his house. He hadn't a clue which. She had quite the grip as well.

He did his best to pry out of her vicegrip, straightening his clothing and apulling his headphones off. She kept shouting that they were winning.

Confused, Vulpes merely tried to quiet her. "Winning what?" he asked. "Certainly not the-" Vulpes's voice died in his throat when he saw the hourglasses.

Slytherin was ahead of Ravenclaw.

"When did that happen...?"

Of course deep down it irked Effie that the Ravenclaws were ahead of Slytherin in the race for House Cup. She would never show her disappointment or upset on the matter because that was showing some sort of weakness, and worse she was dedicated to something. What did not shock her was the fact that Ravenclaw was in first place, or at least last she checked. Eirene was in Ravenclaw and the brown-nosing girl she called friend was a point earner. Effie did not see the point of drawing attention to herself in such a manner, not to mention her poor attitude and tendency to get into arguments with other students in the year.

As she walked towards the Great Hall she was about to make note of the point status, when a fellow housemate was making an utter fool of themselves. She sneered almost about to make a snarky comment when she saw who it was. Euphemia rolled her eyes feeling as if she was not surprised Noriko was being annoying, but her loudness was mildly shocking almost enough so make Effie curious. She listened in on what Noriko said, which was a change for her. “First place you say? Does you need to be so loud about it?” Admittedly she was proud of the fact Slytherin was finally in first place, their rightful place.

Casey was crossing the Great Hall as those from his house were gathering. Young Wakahisa had hugged Connor out of jubilation of Slytherin pulling ahead in house points. It was cute, in a way.

"Not looking to brag," Casey said with a smirk, "but I have an idea were some of them came from. The professors have been very rewarding to my superb wand work of late. Especially that Transfiguration Professor, Tawse. Honestly, perfect Switching Spells and he hands out house points like carmel drops."

Casey inspected the totals. "So if I remember my totals, that's up to 30...dare I say 40, perchance, earned by me within the past month."

Her housemates' arrival hadn't dulled Noriko's jubilation.  She'd released Vulpes from her death grip, only to continue jumping up and down and whooping victoriously at the top of her lungs.

"WINNING!  WE'RE WINNING!" she shrieked, before pausing to decide if she wanted to attempt to hug Effie.  But even the tiger's blooded rush of courage brought on by finally being in first place for the first time all year couldn't push her over that hurdle.  Instead, she flashed her roommate a weak smile, and then threw herself at the student who had arrived to take credit for their momentary victory.

"YOU DID IT!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around the third year boy as she continued to jump up and down.  "CASEY!  WE'RE IN FIRST PLACE!  FIRST PLACE!  SLYTHERIN!  FIRST PLACE!"

Effie watched her housemate with watchful eyes, almost wondering if she was going to have a lapse in judgment and touch her, thankful she didn't. Effie raised an eyebrow as she moved her cheerful, excited affection to another house member. Efffie wanted to laugh at the unfortunate situation Casey O'Doherty landed himself in with one Noriko wrapping her arms around him. Better him than her was all she was thinking, but was quickly followed by wondering one had to boast about their point collection, he was as bad as Eirene.

"Not looking to brag?" Effie scoffed, "Then why open your mouth at all? You of course desire to boast?" Effie saw no point in being dishonest or trying to fake modesty. "No problem taking pride in your efforts, but call what it is and don't try to fake modesty." Effie was honest and up front about her intentions, but it did mean most people disliked her.

"Noriko, what has gotten into you?" She turned her focus back to her roommate. She was curious why she was so fascinated in their current success. Sure they were in first place, but it was not quite end of term. "Yes, it is great to see us in the lead but does it need this sort of reaction?"

Gah! Now he was being latched by the young Slytherin. At times like these Casey was thankful for the amulet, stupid family heirloom that it was, snug under all his clothing. He hoped Wakahisa didn't feel an odd lump close to his left lung.

Something high and lofty came from Grissom-Dolohov. "Not looking to brag? Then why open your mouth at all? You of course desire to boast? No problem taking pride in your efforts, but call what it is and don't try to fake modesty."

"Ooo, you've caught me in a paradox of terms, what a clever witch. I'll take that as a thank you, though. We can't deny -wheeze- Miss Wakahisa her chance to be affectionate." Just when you thought you'd mapped out this girl, there was some other facet left untapped. Casey didn't care what the students younger than him did, especially the firsties.

"There's still 2/3rds of our recent gain unaccounted for. How about you, Vulpes? Been acing Muggle Studies?"

The well know bully rarely picked on any of his house mates; not that many were his friends. So when he realised his boredom had peaked he went looking for some Hufflepuff or Gryffindor to intimidate. It was always fun watching them squirm when he approached. On the rare occasion he was caught it lead to quite a few house points being taken away from Slytherin. In truth he didn't care about winning, though beating Gryffindor is always nice, so when he realised why the tiny girl was shouting he was not exactly impressed.

"Kid," he said addressing Noriko, "do you have to be so loud? Everyone already knows Slytherin's are the best; who cares if we win the House Cup. Though we are beating Gryffindor by quite a margin," he almost smiled when he saw how far ahead they were.

"There's still 2/3rds of our recent gain unaccounted for. How about you, Vulpes? Been acing Muggle Studies?"

The older Slyherin actually let out a chuckle, he didn't often laugh and it was usually at some one else's expense when he did. "You actually choose Muggle Studies?" He turned to face the boy who had addressed the one called Vulpe. "Do you take Muggle Studies O'Doherty?"

Morvin hated Muggles. His mother was a Muggle and he hated her too. He thought they should be subservient to Wizards and Witches and he intended to put them back in their place one day; or at least help the people who do. Afterall who wouldn't like a Britain ruled by Wizards? Though not the ministry. That corrupt, muggle loving and bureaucratic dump was almost as bad as the House of Commons.

Pax had to wonder what the commotion was over by the house points hourglasses. He didn't keep up a great deal with who was in the lead, though he did check the hourglasses once every so often, under the appearance of just being curious when in reality he was hoping just as much as the next student to see his house doing well. And of course, he'd known Ravenclaw had been doing especially well. One couldn't really be friends with Eirene and not know how Ravenclaw was doing in terms of house points.

So when he ambled closer to the small crowd that had gathered, he was firstly a little surprised to note that they all seemed to be Slytherins, but secondly and more predominantly, surprised to see Noriko so jubilant as to be clinging joyously to one of the third-years. Pax smiled a little in bemusement; he couldn't remember Noriko ever looking so happy. A glance to the hourglasses cleared things up. And while in the back of his mind Pax couldn't help but worry about how disappointed Eirene would be about losing the lead, for now he was just pleased for Noriko. He hadn't even realised Slytherin's place in the house points table had meant that much to her.

'Hey, well done!' he grinned. 'You all must've been working really hard!' And from a Hufflepuff this was, of course, high praise. Pax even forgot to be properly nervous, as was his usual gut reaction around some of the Slytherins. He still had sense enough to be a little nervous. He'd never seen eye to eye with Euphemia, and he thought he had heard that seventh-year talking disparagingly about Muggle Studies. But now was the time for congratulations, not antagonism.

Vulpes sighed quietly. The Muggle Studdies discussion wasn't one he enjoyed getting into. "Yea," he said plainly. "I take Muggle Studies. If you have a problem take it up with someone who cares." Vulpes could already tell by Morvin's tone that he must not think much of the subject. Which meant he probably disliked Muggles as well. And God help the Muggle-Borns.

"Anyway, I don't think so," Vulpes said turning to Casey. "At least I don't remember getting any. It's possible I suppose, I don't really pay attention to points in awarded."

He contemplated whether it could gave been him or not. If it was it was probably only 5 or 10 points. As he was considering a Hufflepuff walked up and joined their group. 1st year by the look of him. Hey well done! You all must have been working really hard!

Vulpes took an immediate liking to the kid. "Thanks," he said happily. "But I'm not sure about all of us." Vulpes shot a rather cruel look to Morvin. "O'Doherty says he achieved 2/3rds of the points."

Morvin snorted at the small Hufflepuff who had joined the impromptu gathering of Slytherin students. He sounded patronising but it was made worse by the fact that the little runt probably meant it. Maybe show offs like that kid who thought he got 2/3 of the points, or so he claimed, cared about hard work and impressing the teachers but that just wasn't Morvin's style. But that Vulpes kid was the most annoying, not to mention he was a Muggle lover. Morvin was about to let the matter die down when Vulpes shot him a nasty look.

Deciding that he would take any repercussions, he didn't really care if he got expelled or suspended, he drew his wand with reflexes honned by almost seven years of magical duels and aimed his wand at the Muggle loving and annoying first year. "Stupefy!" he yelled. His wand erupted with a scarlet light that flew toward the Muggle lover at an exceptional speed. The spell should knock him off his feet and send him flying. Morvin smiled in anticipation.

Vulpes drew his wand out the second he saw Morvin move, but he was fast. Well practiced. Vulpes wasn't sure he would be quick enough. He really hoped he was...

"Protego!" he shouted just as Morvin yelled, Stupefy! The red jet met Vulpes's hastily (and not nearly as strong as he would have liked) shield charm. It did just enough to protect him from the stun, but it still knocked him back a few feet. Vulpes stumbled as he tried to keep his footing.

Catching himself at last, he straightened up and stepped back to where he was previously, his only remark to Morvin: " Quite unnessacary..."

Seeing the spell had failed to hit his opponent in the way he had wanted Morvin got angry; which made him rather dangerous. Deciding to try another tactic the 7th year pointed his wand to the floor, just a few inches infront of the younger students feet, the second he saw the spell had not fulfilled it's potential. "Bombarda!" the spell should cause an explosion that should force the rock floor of Hogwarts to erupt into the body and face of Vulpes. Once again he smiled, hoping this attack would succeed.

Muggle Studies? They had to be joking. A Slytherin willingly taking Muggle Studies was just a frightful thought. Anyway, some of the Slytherins were unfortunate enough to have some muggle blood in them, probably the vast majority within her sight unfortunately. So silly that it was hard to come by purebloods these days. She could safely say she did not supply any of the other 2/3rds of the points for Slytherin, she had been relatively silent in class and quietly judging, or somewhat quiet.

“All I am saying is speak what you mean,” she paused, “and points are not a big deal to me.” She wanted to sneer but she turned her focus to the older boy who arrived. He did have a point, Slytherin was the best house and everyone knew that. “Who cares about the house cup, sure winning it and see the great hall covered in our colours would be exciting but it isn’t the end of the year yet. So don’t go singing praises just yet.” Euphemia was not what one would call optimistic.

Effie wanted to cover her years, all this talk of Muggles was giving her headache. “Can we get off this frightful topic?” Truth be told, why wasn’t she just leaving? Perhaps she was hoping to keep Noriko within good company, since they did share a dorm. Before she could dwell on the topic she saw Pax join the group. “Great we have a Hufflepuff singing out praises.” She sighed and the words were probably loud enough to carry.

“Who cares where the other points came from, we have them end of story.” Effie groaned as she was about to head towards the Great Hall once more, done with this minor distraction. She stopped mid stride as she watched the eldest Slytherin cast a spell. She let out a laugh as she watched it knock him back, and she made a slight glance to ensure Noriko’s safety considering her close proximity.

“Wow, the big bad seventh year casting stunning spells.” She brushed her from her eyes looking up at him. “Are we thinking of getting rid of the points we just earned?” She knew someone was going to say something, her money was on Pax. She crossed her arms and shook her head. But then the stupid angry seventh year was sending another spell. “STOP!” She said looking over at the boys. “I don’t care about what you are doing to points, but I care about my own safety you fool.” She shook her head and started to walk away from this entire scene.

Everything that unfolded after Pax had joined the group happened almost too quickly for him to process. All he knew was that the fifth-year who took Muggle Studies, the one who had thanked Pax for telling them well done, was suddenly under attack. Pax backed away instinctively, horrified by the unfairness of the situation. He didn't know the older boy particularly, but he did know he was a seventh-year, where the other-- Pax was fairly certain his name was Connor-- was only in fifth. Besides, they weren't supposed to duel in the halls!

Pax fumbled to draw his own wand and, panicking and doing the only thing he could remember being supposed to do in dangerous situations, stretched his wand arm up and sent a flurry of red sparks into the air. There weren't a lot of spells Pax could do right the first time, but red sparks were easy enough. Effie was speaking sense, telling the seventh-year to stop, but not before he sent another spell in Connor's direction. All Pax could think of was how this wasn't a fair fight, and how Connor was going to get hurt. He wasn't thinking about running in front of the fifth-year; he was just doing it automatically. So when the floor exploded, it was Pax who got sent hurtling backwards. He yelped in pain and fright, and felt himself collide with someone, though in his current confusion he couldn't tell who.