Cambri struggled not to grimace as he explained what she had to do. She'd never been a girlie-girl. Not in her entire life. Her love of shoes had nothing to do with it. Nothing at all. Cam was a tom-boy through and through. But that was gross. The worms were more than a little revolting. She'd never encountered them before...but she didn't do well with gross smells. The biting she could take...the scent...she could probably take. But tom-boy or not, she didn't like bugs.

"Yes sir..." She stated in the strongest voice she could muster, then took the bat from him. C'mon. You took a bludger to the shoulder. You can do this. It's not that gross. Think about that Skrewt corps you woke up next to last May. Cam reminded herself, and started working. She gritted her teeth as she looked down at the worm, then grabbed it right behind the head, so it couldn't bit her, then carefully began to unwind it from the end of the bat. Before she could fully remove the creature she pulled a bit too hard, and got a sample of the aforementioned puss.

Ew, ew, ew, ew. Think of the skrewt. This isn't as bad as Skrewt in reverse. She reminded herself grimly. More careful this time, Cam took a hold of the worm, and began to work it off the bat once more.

It smelled like rotten eggs. "Gently. Gently!" Vindictus exclaimed and stepped away from the table to escape the rancid smell.

Its my hands the puss is getting on what are you complaining about!? She wanted to snap. Cam, however, bit her tongue and kept on working. The way he backed up struck her with an idea. It was all she really had, and he couldn't get mad at her for doing what he told her to do! He couldn't prove that it was on purpose. When pulling the first worm free from the bat Cam gave the last tug a bit to hard, causing the worm to squirt puss all over the table.

"Sorry sir. I suppose I'm still getting the feel of the worms." She mumbled, her voice nasally as she was trying not to breathe too deeply. Careful to keep her face blank, she dropped the worm in the bucket, then set to work on the next worm. This one managed to sink it's teeth into her thumb. Cam grimaced slightly at the contact, but didn't pause. This worm was wound all through the bat. Hm. Lots more puss from this one me thinks. Cam thought, grinning on the inside. And this, sir, is why I didn't wear my school robes. No sense in getting them covered in puss. She thought giddily as she went about the distasteful task.

Vindictus was watching her and shook his head. "You'll be cleaning that up without magic when you're done," he said and stood where he could watch her every single move. "And that pus is difficult to clean without magic, so I suggest you start doing this correctly. Oh, and I forgot to tell you one thing - that amount of puss will cause your hands to reek for at least two weeks."

"Yes sir." She agreed when he told her she'd be cleaning all the puss up. There was one thing she could think of that had smelled this rank before...and she'd never been able to get the scent out of the shoes she'd gotten it on.

"Eesh. This stuff smells about as bad as my breath did after I took a chunk out of a skrewt." She muttered under her breath as she worked the second worm free. She was unwillingly more careful with this one. Ya know. Your already going to be scrubbing. Might as well give yourself something to clean. She reminded herself, and pulled the worm violently free once more. This time the puss got on her shirt.

Cam deposited the bat beneath the table, and picked up the next one. OK, time to distract yourself. Don't think about how horrible your shirt smells... Cam ordered herself, then began to hum softly to a muggle band she was fond of, the Bare Naked Ladies.

The second bat crumbled as it hit the floor. "You need to be gentle," Vindictus noted once more. "And no singing or humming to yourself, even if it is old-fashioned music that my grandparents listened to. This is not to be enjoyable."

Should have given her the fungi to work with . . . her hands would be pink with bright yellow spots from the way she's working.

If the bats are that fragile is there even a point in getting the worms out? Are the worms good for anything other than detention anyway? She thought, and glanced at the worms she'd already pulled free. Before going back to her de-worming she muttered another, 'yes sir'. She wasn't going to have him getting after her for ignoring him on top of everything else. Rather than sing aloud she kept the music playing in the back of her mind.

It's been one week since you looked at me, cocked your head to the side and said I'm angry. Five days since you laughed at me, saying get that together and come back and see me. She thought, careful to keep her body rigid. Fine. No fun. No singing. No dancing. But he couldn't very well control her thoughts as well. Cam got the third bat de-wormed without getting any more puss on herself. The worm, however, latched onto her thumb when she tried to drop it in the bucket. Gritting her teeth, Cam stooped down to set the bat carefully on the broom--WHO exactly is careful with a beaters bat again?!--then straightened up to get the worm off her hand.

In the box with the remaining bats, a worm poked its ugly head out of a hole it chewed in one of the bats. "You might want to try a different bat," Vindictus commented. "When you can see their ugly little heads, it means they're fully awake and its harder to remove them from the bat. They put up a fight and spit a greenish liquid that leaves tiny purple welts on the skin."

My hands are already covered in bite marks and puss. I'm not too worried. She thought irritably. A worm couldn't do worse to her than Amanda had with that bludger. That worm wouldn't hurt more than the jump from a third story window. This smell wasn't as bad as the Skrewt she'd thrown up last may. Cam continued to work, refusing to let this disgusting task get to her. In the back of her mind she kept on singing. I'm so cool, too bad I'm a loser. I'm so smart, too bad I can't get anything figured out. I'm so brave, too bad I'm a baby. I'm so fly, that's probably why it feels just like I'm falling for the first time. She sang in the back of her mind as she picked up another bat.

This time the bat was connected to the other by a worm, one that had worked it's way through two bats. Before Cam noticed the connection the worm tightened around the bats, causing both to break into bits. Cam yelped and dropped the bat back into the box. This is ridiculous! You didn't even do that! She thought helplessly. It would have been so easy to just cry at that point. Her hands were getting irritated from all the puss and the bite marks, her shirt wreaked--the scent was starting to burn her nose.

Cam gritted her teeth, set the broken bat to the side then picked up another one.

"Great. Now you've got two angry worms," Vindictus pointed out and the ugly worms were sticking out of the box like two cobras ready to strike. "Put the bat down and step away from the table slowly."

After coming face to face with a werewolf Cam had found it hard to feel appropriately terrified. In this instance that was likely because she didn't know what these worms could really do to her. All she could muster was disgust. Bugs were gross, but what were they going to do? Bit her and turn her into one of them? OH YEAH! That ship had already sailed!

Hearing the caution in Professor Vindictus tone she carefully followed his orders--putting the bat down, and backing slowly away. Once she'd put a good few feet between herself and the box she noted the worm guts on her face. Cam glanced down at her arms and shirt, wanting a clean patch to wipe her face on--there wasn't one. Wonderful! Just wonderful! She wanted to scream. Now her face itched. This had better not give me a rash-- She thought irritably.

Vindictus had his wand out and approached the box. There was a flash of light as he stunned the worms in the box and in the barrel, and then he tucked his wand away. "That should help," he said. "The stunner should keep them motionless for about fifteen minutes, so you'd better finish up the deworming before they wake up and start spitting all over the place."

At least he didn't yell at you for being careless. She told herself, gritted her teeth, and stepped forward to get back to her task. Though on the positive side she had fifteen or so minutes of motionless worms. There would be no worrying about being sensitive to them, or making them break the bats...the worms couldn't move. Might as well make the most of it. This time when she set to work Cam went about it faster than she had before, no worrying about teeth. No worrying about puss. She could get done at least two bats like that--which would leave one bat with angry worms in it.

Vindictus was keeping his eye on his watch while Cam worked. "You've got five minutes left before the worms wake up," he told her and saw that there was only one bat left.

When Professor Vindictus broke the silence Cam struggled to suppress her joy. Five more minutes. No angry worms! YAY! She jumped excitedly from one foot to the other, thrilled that she'd not have to get more bites on her already sore hands--and quickly went about de-worming the last bat. YAY! Phase one complete! She thought enthusiastically. Cam deposited the bat beneath the table after she'd rid it of three worms, them combed some loose strands of hair back off her face with her puss covered hands. The move left a streak of green in her dark hair. Might as well embrace the stench. She reminded herself.

"Uhm, what would you like me to use to clean the table and..." She glanced at the two bats that she'd broken in half. "And what would you like me to do with them? Should I clean them and repair them? She inquired.

Vindictus moved quickly and sealed the barrel. "Oh, let me get the cleaning supplies for you," he said and with a few flicks of his wand a bucket filled with a sudsy cleaning solution, bristled brush, and towels appeared on the floor. "Scrub the table the best you can and dry it. As for the bats, they need to dry out before I use a magical wood filler on them but they won't be used anymore for games or lessons - just strength-building excercises. Harmless to swing around when hitting balls of parchment against the wall of a dormitory or into a bucket. Which, I might add, is the safest way to practice."

Cam couldn't deny being glad to see the worms go. She knew they weren't about to kill her or anything, but that didn't mean that they weren't disgusting. The sight of suds was a welcome sight. Maybe it would help her hands stop itching. Are you allergic to those things or something?! She thought grumpily, and once more bit back the urge to scratch her arms. Just a bit longer then you can go shower. She reminded herself.

"Oh...I'll remember that sir--" She said. For the first time all night sarcasm, nor any other bitter feeling was fueling her words. Cam was actually happy for the suggestion. She could get in more practice before tryouts...unless she'd already missed them. But it was strange, he wasn't saying something derogatory towards her for the first time all night. Professor Vindictus had seemed quite like a drill Sergent until that point...now he was actually being helpful...or perhaps his goal had been to remind her how stupid her and Amanda had been.

Sighing heavily, Cam stepped forward, picked up a brush, and began scrubbing the table off.

He watched her scrub the table until it was glowing and then the glistening cleaner was soaked up by the towels. This table hasn't been this clean in thirty years . . . she even got 'Krazy Kazi is a freak' scrubbed off since I scribbled it there all those years ago. "Good job, Cam," Vindictus said and with a wave of his wand, the cleaning supplies vanished. Another few waves and the barrel of worms, dewormed bats, and the empty box vanished.

"Now for the most difficult part of this punishment," he said ominously. "I want you to apologize for your screaming rant. I know that it isn't a Slytherin trade-mark to scream like a banshee at a professor and accuse him of fixing Quidditch games. Anyone can win a game - its all in how the team prepares themselves beforehand and how they perform under pressure." He stopped and hoped that she could hear the disappointment in his voice. "You play on a team and therefore you represent them. You represent Slytherin."

A less cheery tune played in the back of her mind as she scrubbed this time. Her earlier enthusiasm had vanished...now Cam smelled horribly, and wanted nothing more than to collapse in her dorm room. But no. She had to go and shower a dozen or so times. That was after she finished her punishment of course. The apology, She reminded herself. He'd told her she had to...and how he was collecting on that. Cam folded her arms across her chest once the cleaning supplies had vanished.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you. I really don't usually make it a habit to yell at my professors. I was raised to respect my superiors more than that, and I'm sorry I was so immature about this whole thing. But I'm not about to apologize to my house." She responded calmly. Cam shook her grimy hair out of her face, then looked up at the man before her. "They give themselves a bad name. They prance around this school, comparing families, and giving into stereotypes. If I were actually a part of the team already I'd feel differently, but I represent no one but myself at this point. I made a fool of me. By this point I really don't believe that Captain Long will even look at me twice. I'm not going to bother with tryouts." Cam paused for a moment.

"I don't want to be a part of a team that involves that house. Maybe the hat saw fit to make me a Slytherin, but it made the wrong choice. I'm not going to be a part of anything that will make me more a part of that lot. I thought I should try and embrace Slytherin house after talking with Amanda...but clearly the two of us don't concoct the best of ideas." Cam insisted. She could stay there all night. If they made it to a full moon he'd be doomed one way or another. She'd be the one that would make it out of that room alive. He was the only one that was going to get an apology out of her. Slytherins were winy, competitive, and obnoxious...and they could kiss her butt if they expected an apology.

"Not all Slytherins are like that, Cam," Vindictus said with sincerity. "Two of my closest friends are Slytherins - you might remember them as Professors Clark and Branxton. But you shouldn't give up the desire to play Quidditch because of the mindless dolts that make being a Slytherin a challenge. Play for yourself. The choice is yours."

"I agree. Some Slytherins are amazing. My mom and aunt were both Slytherins. Amanda is amazing...and I kinda feel bad for having gotten her in trouble...but this is my first term here. I got expelled from my last school. I don't know my house, and at this rate I really don't want to. I can play for myself. But doing that will bring glory to those dolts that don't respect anyone but themselves and their ancestors. It's ridiculous, and I won't do it." She insisted. She would personally apologize to the people who haven't shoved their heads up their bums, but the rest of them could rot. Cam had yet to get any faith in her own house. "If I'm going to be a part of a team, I'm going to respect them. I'm going to actually want to be around them. I'm not going to play just for the heck of it. I'll play with my friends over the summer or something."

"The decision is yours," Vindictus said, "and you have to live with it. But I hope you reconsider playing for Slytherin. Callie needs players with determination and desire." He went over and opened the door for her. "I'm not going to make you apologize to the entire House. Now, if you were in my House, that'd be another story." He smiled. "After you shower, don't use scented lotions or perfumes for 24 hours - that stuff reacts with the chemicals the worms excrete - and use some Murtlap essence on your hands."

"I'll think about that, sir. Thanks for this..." Cam paused, considering her choice of words at this moment. "This most memorable experience." She finished after a moment. Cam didn't so much as crack a smile after that. She'd paid her time, now she wanted to go shower repeatedly. Was there any chance of getting a re-sorting? The hat must be cracking up.

"Now off with you," Vindictus grinned. "And the next time you decide to test the rules, think about it first." He should know. He was the king of the dungeons when he was a student.

"I always do sir!" She forced a grin, one that wasn't happy in the least...it was sarcastic if anything. Covered in hardening puss, bug guts crusted to her face, Cam made her way out of the dungeons. Well. It would seem it was time for the "king" to be dethroned. Hogwarts had only just gotten a chance to meet Cambri Hale. It was likely that the dungeons would be seeing a good deal more of her.