Dueling: I lost a duel with a Hufflepuff and ended up in the hospital wing. I only needed a story with one or two characters. As a loser, I had to use six of the following ten prompts. As a Squib, I had to use all ten. Heat, determined, box, charm, first impression, see, 21st, wall, uneasy silence, fight.
My characters can't be from my house or the house of the person I dueled. I wrote about two Gryffindors.
House: Ravenclaw. Magical Status: Squib. Wand: Pear, Unicorn Hair, 9 inches. PM: Yes please, with a score breakdown.
Word Count: 1,021
Rating: K
Note: This could either be considered as disregarding the canon version of the event I am writing about, or it could be considered an additional time when it happens. Whichever floats your boat. But I do realize it isn't the same as the one we see in canon.
A Lasting Impression
For Fred, it was never about the first impression. People and things alike are never what they appear to be at first. Take Leprechaun gold. Or Ludo Bagman. Happy-go-lucky, cheery bloke he was at first. Not bad to talk to. Or gamble with. He and George had a right good time with him at the World Cup, especially after they won their lofty bet.
But their second impression? Not so great. Today at the Hog's Head would be their twenty-first, and Fred wasn't sure their interactions could get any worse. The odds of things going well, however, were such a longshot that not even Fred Weasley would bet on them.
Fred stood with his brother along a stone wall of the dimly lit pub, uneasy silence between them like there had never been before. Four eyes glued to the door, determined to catch a glimpse of the lying Ludo Bagman. "Goblins?" Fred said suddenly. "What are Goblins doing here?"
The silence had made him unsure of how loudly to speak, and the trio of Goblins turned to him and glared. "It's no business of yours what we're doing here," the nearest, and tallest, said. "What are Hogwarts students doing in the Hog's Head? Isn't the Three Broomsticks more your style? Or perhaps Madam Puddifoot's?"
He ignored the jab. "We're here on business."
"Business?" shrieked a second goblin. "You're what? Fourteen?"
"Sixteen," George said defensively, but Fred grabbed his arm. The squeeze was all his twin needed to stay in line. After all, their business had complicated legal ramifications. Gambling underage wasn't nearly as shady was what Ludo Bagman had done to them, but it was nothing to go shouting about.
"If your business is none of our business, then certainly our business is none of your business. So you go on with your business and we'll go on with ours, and leave each other out of it, yeah, mates?" Fred talked intentionally fast, but prided himself on his ability to speak without tripping over the words. He left the three Goblins puzzling over his statement and draggled George along by the arm he was still holding.
He could see Ludo Bagman walking in the door. His appearance threw Fred off for a moment. He didn't saunter in with the charisma he'd had during the Quidditch World Cup. In fact, he had pulled a hood up over his face and shuffled as if he didn't want anyone to recognize him. For a man who used to run about in bee-colored clothing, it was obvious something was wrong. Whatever the scum was trying to hide, Fred was determined to bring it to light. "Bagman!" he shouted.
Ludo looked up, his eyes wide with panic once he'd recognized them. He tried to squeeze between them, head down again. "Don't recognize us, Bagman?" George said, standing in his path.
"Oh! Mr. and Mr. Weasley! How good to see you!" Ludo's acting skills, like so much about him, were lacking. "I'd love to stay at chat, but I've got business to attend to. I suppose you don't know what that's like yet, so young still." His beady eyes moved toward the Goblins in the corner.
"Yeah, you're right. You do have business to attend to. Ours. Sit down, Mr. Bagman." The twins had outgrown him in the few months since summer and each grabbed a shoulder, shoving him into a chair.
"Now, by our count, you at least owe us back the nearly forty Galleons we gave you. But since we won our bet, it should be much higher, right, George?"
"Right, Fred."
"Now, now, surely you realize you weren't old enough in the first place. Gambling's a dangerous habit, boys. I would hate to encourage you."
"Didn't seem to mind when we first gave you the money."
"Yes, well… wasn't sure then… didn't exactly know… foolish mistake…"
Ludo's mumbling was interrupted by one of the Goblins. "Giving you trouble, boys?"
"No more than we can handle, thank you," Fred said, standing up and looking down on the creatures.
"He's got some trouble with us, too. So if you're quite done-" the Goblin continued.
"Now, now, everyone. We don't want it to get heated. No need for a fight, don't you think? Completely unnecessary. In fact, I have somewhere I need to be… a mistake to come here at all…"
The twins were between him and the door. "Not so fast, Bagman. We hear you enjoyed our fake wand, yeah?"
Bagman seemed to puzzle over the words, looking for the trick in them. "I did, yes. Sold that for-" He caught himself. "Guess it doesn't matter now. Genius work."
"We have a whole product line. Surely someone as interested in novelties as you are would like a chance for samples." Ludo's lips pursed. "Free of charge, of course, for someone as fine and influential as you are. George?"
George grinned and pulled a Skiving Snackbox from his robes. "Our bestsellers, Bagman. Everyone's loving them." He opened the box.
"Sweets?" Bagman said incredulously. "What does this have to do with your brilliant fake wand?"
"Wizarding Wheezes, the lot. These aren't typical sweets. And we've brought you our latest."
"Granted, it's still in its experimental stage," Fred added. "But surely that won't bother someone like you, who wants a front-row seat at the Next Big Thing."
"Well, naturally. It's safe, I assume?"
"Would we send out a product that wasn't?" Fred asked, hoping Bagman saw his question as rhetorical.
"Naturally not; Arthur Weasley's children through and through." He inspected the rows of sweets, all of them solid blue, rather than the two-colored sweets they normally sold. He had, of course, tested out the product on himself first. But usually attached to a cream half of the sweet to undo the effects. Bagman, who had cheated them out of far more than half of what they deserved, certainly couldn't complain about getting half of something.
The twins waited, lips pressed together in what looked like seriousness but what really a last-ditch effort to hold back smiles. Bagman chose a sweet and began to chew.
It worked like a charm.
