Prelude to disaster (PG13 warning, just to be on the safe side) Pearl Brockert-she had gone back to her maiden name after the divorce given how much more power it carried in the West than the name O'Malley, Jeffrey and his family business were only still due to the fact that some of her distant relations were quite fond of whiskey-whirled around looking at her beloved daughter Carrie. "I can't believe that he beat you in those challenges."
"I don't know how it happened either. The headmistress's son was on his team, so maybe that contributed to it. I mean, he was given just a team full of losers like himself." Carrie replied. Their freakish step-sister, Lucrezia Renaldi, the Headmistress's creepy adoptive son, and two nobody first years? They should have been dead last.
"Oh, I'm not blaming you a bit. I'm sure your team was just as dreadful. Didn't you say that it was lead by Eliza Bennett and included two mudbloods?" Pearl replied. She didn't think that the Bennetts were good enough purebloods either, which made it ideal that her brother's wretched daughter was betrothed to one. "Really, you should have had better teammates, but that's the Headmistress's fault too."
"And possibly Coach Pierce's." Carrie added. Anything to make that horrid woman look even worse. Even if the fourth year did have her sights set on the woman's more proper relative Thaddeus now that Cepheus Princeton was being to be forced to marry that lesbian Meggie Brownbriar. "I mean, she is completely out to get me ever since she got scolded for being completely out of line hexing me." Which was well deserved. It seemed that old lesbian hag thought that she could get away with whatever she wanted. And maybe at one time, she'd had the right to get away with more-to get away with everything was an honor only deserved by Carrie and her mother-but she was a disgrace and certainly didn't deserve so now. "As for Ryan-and Arabella-beating me. I'm sure Uncle Seth helped them cheat, as well as the Headmistress helping her own children-her daughter was on the first place team-do so.
"Of course." Pearl said, her voice taking on an odd tone. "There's absolutely no way that wretched brother of yours could do anything successful without cheating, especially not without a good team to make up for his obvious shortcomings." That was one thing she did approve of, Ryan being given a team of what seemed to be the worst in school. She whirled around and faced her daughter. "This, however, reflects nothing good about your brother or mine. All it reflects is nepotism and cheating on the part of the Headmistress and your uncle. Who should have been helping you cheat rather than that disgusting brother and cousin of yours." She sighed. "If only I'd been successful when I tried to rid myself of that revolting creature. I knew he'd be inferior from the very beginning."
"Whatever do you mean, Mother?" Carrie simpered. She was sure her mother was talking about Ryan and not Uncle Seth. Mother would not have been old enough to know that about the fourth year's uncle at that point.
Pearl faced her daughter with a malicious glint in her eye-one that Carrie knew was not meant for her, of course-and began to tell the tale...