"What exactly is so special about these necklaces anyway? The woman told us the spell, but never told us what the spell actually did," Corinne exclaimed, taking hers off and stuffing it in her pocket, "I'm not wearing it! It could be dangerous."
"Oh please, Corinne! There is nothing wrong with these things!" Eileen growled, her eye's rolling as far as they could.
"I think they are some kind of map," Hermione said, examining her necklace, "I remember the woman saying something about a map." Haylie hadn't taken her eyes off the piece of jewelry since she had received it. Something about it captivated her mind and she couldn't unglue her baby blues from the glittering silver. Not even Hermione's constant questions could release her attention.
"Haylie," somebody's voice seemed to break the spell at once and when Haylie looked up she wasn't surprised. Elvin stood there, a heavy coat wrapped around his thin body, looking pathetic and embarrassed. Melancholy seemed to plague his face and his hair fell limp at his ears.
"Hey Elvin," Haylie cooed, feeling sorry for the boy, "Why are you all alone?"
"Nobody wanted me in their group," Elvin whispered, bowing his head, "I wanted to know if I could come with your group. I don't want Professor McGonagall to be mad at me."
"Yeah of course!" Haylie told him enthusiastically, smiling and pulling him towards the rest of the group. Everyone said hello to Elvin, except for Harry and Ron who were talking to Neville at the other corner of the room. Everyone split up so they could examine the whole store, and maybe even purchase something. Eileen and Natalie hurried off to the small section of the right corner labeled "Ringer Rings", while Corinne and Hermione checked the price tags on some necklaces bracelets hanging near the doorway. Haylie and Elvin smiled at each other and began to stroll around the store, searching for anything worth buying. At the far left corner of the store was a glass case filled with earrings of every color, shape, and karat Haylie could imagine. At once, one pair of earrings caught her eyes. Haylie moved in closer, practically touching the tip of her nose to the clear glass, completely awed at the beauty of the earrings. They were silver bent and stretched into fine hoops. The most wonderful silver Haylie's eyes had ever laid her eyes upon. Of course this seemed silly, because silver is silver and nothing more but Haylie knew there was something different about it. She couldn't explain it. Other aspects of the earrings drew her attention. Dangling from the silver hoops were small green stones shaped like raindrops, surrounding the blue diamond star in the center. They were glamorous and gorgeous.
"Look Elvin!" Haylie jabbed her finger at the earrings, "Aren't they wonderful." Elvin nodded his head in agreement, but Haylie could tell he didn't feel the same. She smiled and tried to open the case, but every time she touched it, it shocked her. She glared at the protective case and continued to gaze at the earrings.
"It won't open up! I want to see….oh no." The chimes that ring every time a person opened the entrance to the store rang. Haylie groaned as she saw who walked through.
"Brent and Damon," Haylie mumbled, glancing at Elvin who appeared scared. Unfortunately, Haylie saw Damon notice them and watched as he caught Brent's attention. Now, both boys were walking towards Haylie and Elvin, smiling evilly. Haylie could see Hermione look away from the bracelets and pay attention to what was going on.
"Hey Haylie, Hey Elvin," Damon said thoughtfully sending them both a smile. Haylie was pleasantly surprised that Damon had acknowledged Elvin and had treated him nicely. Obviously Elvin was as surprised as she had been and gave Damon a small smile as well. The only problem was Brent.
"Hey Hay," Brent gave them a conniving smile. Elvin waited for a hello as well, but was sadly disappointed.
"So…what are you looking at?" Damon asked, peering at the case of earrings.
"Those green and blue ones," Haylie cautiously pointed at them, keeping her eyes on Brent. Haylie didn't trust either of the boys. Damon seemed to be nicer than Brent. On the other hand, Brent was the Draco Malfoy of their year. Brent didn't care about anyone's feelings beside his own and his eyes always told a story of horror and evil crime.
"Are you gonna buy them?" Brent asked, smirking at Elvin.
"I don't know how much they cost," Haylie retorted, finally removing her eyes from Brent's eyes, "I can't get anywhere near them." Damon laughed.
"Uncoverium," he said, his wand flicking in the air. At once a list appeared on a blackboard right behind the case. Prices and other information appeared at once.
"Oh, thanks," Haylie said, staring blankly at the board. At once she searched for the blue and green earrings and when she found the picture she pressed her finger upon it. Instantly more information on those particular earrings showed up. According to the information those earrings had a special kind of power. The power was something unusual, even for magic.
" So you can ask it questions," Brent chuckled, "but it will only answer certain ones? What's the point of that?" Haylie didn't care about its magical qualities; all she cared about was the beauty. She skimmed the paragraphs explaining the different kinds of rocks and silvers used in the earrings to find the price. When she laid her eyes upon the numbers she screeched.
"Oh no! I only have 50 dollars! This says these are $75," Haylie sighed, pressing the exit button below the writing on the board. Immediately the board disappeared and so did her dreams of owning those earrings.
"Oh, that's just too bad," Brent said with fake sympathy, "I guess I could buy them for you. After all, I have a ton of money to spend." Haylie glared at the boy.
"I would never take anything from you! Just go away," Haylie spat, grabbing Elvin's arm and dragging him out of the store. The cold air hit Haylie hard and she stopped to collect herself. Elvin stood beside her. Soon Hermione joined him.
"What did he do now?" Hermione asked, putting her arm around Haylie.
"He was just being himself," Haylie answered, watching as the rest of the group exited the store. Corinne and Eileen ran out laughing. They then began talking to their arms. Haylie's eyebrows furrowed at that sight, and she walked over to her best friends.
"What are you two doing?" Haylie asked, as they continued to speak loudly into their arms. It turned out that they were actually speaking into their ringer rings.
"Isn't it cool Haylie?" Eileen said, sticking her hand in Haylie's face, "They're like phones!"
"That's cool!" Natalie yelled, from behind Haylie.
"Did you buy anything Haylie?" Hermione asked her sister. Haylie shook her head sadly.
"I liked these pair of earrings, but they were too much money," Haylie explained, as the group headed down the road. Hermione gazed at her sister for a moment and brought Haylie's head closer to her.
"That's okay Hay! We've still got three more visits to Hogsmeade."
Everyone who returned from Hogsmeade were terribly tired. Between the running around all day and the cold air, several kids just wanted to go to their comfortable beds and fall into the deepest of slumbers. Unfortunately, they all had to report to the Great Hall for dinner. Haylie, personally, didn't feel like eating the baked beans and roast ham provided.
"So, did you have fun?" Harry asked Haylie, stuffing his face with a huge spoonful of brown, gooey baked beans. Haylie smiled and expressed her feelings the best she could.
"Wonderful! Those Butter beers were to die for and….oh, everything was great! When do we get to go back?"
"I'm not sure," Harry said, gulping his chewed food. Ron, who sat beside Harry and Hermione, was speaking with Neville.
"Can you believe we have that paper about the Muggle-born defeaters due on Monday! I haven't even started!" Ron said, slicing a piece of ham.
"Me either! It actually kind of scares me! My grandmother told me all about it! It was only eight years ago!" Neville agreed. This conversation caught Haylie's attention.
"Muggle-born defeaters? What are those?" she asked, putting down her fork. Ron turned to look at her and hushed his voice.
"You haven't heard of that? Well, I'll tell you," Ron also placed his silverware beside his plate, "About eight years ago a few people who claimed to be old….he-who-must-not-be-named… followers, found muggle-born witches and wizards and tried to kill them. They killed about one hundred muggle-borns!"
"You're not supposed to speak of that!" Damon's voice suddenly interrupted. He looked angry and Haylie shoved her seat back a bit.
"I didn't know…" Haylie tried to say. She was surprised and shocked at Damon's reaction. She had never seen him angry or that serious before.
"Just don't okay," Damon mumbled before turning back to his friends. Haylie's mouth hung slightly open and she looked over at Ron. He shrugged and went back to eating.
"The mail is here! Look here they come!" Natalie screamed, pointing up at the dozens of owls entering through the huge window near the ceiling of the Great Hall. Many people were overjoyed at the sight of their owls entering the Hall. Haylie and Hermione both didn't have an owl, so Haylie wasn't expecting any mail. So when a tiny brown owl dropped a small purple envelope in her lap, Haylie was astounded. She stoked the owl's feathers gently and gave it a little kiss before it took off into the air once again.
"What is it Haylie?" Hermione asked. Haylie shrugged her shoulders and tore the top off the envelope. She then turned it upside down and allowed a folded piece of parchment to fall on the table.
Dear Haylie,
You saw what happened last time you didn't respond to my letter! Listen to me when I say will harm somebody else if you repeat your foolish actions! I want you to meet me at 1:00am the morning after you receive this letter at the Hufflepuff Cemetery. This time I expect to see you there!
Sincerely,
Your Future Friend
Haylie couldn't believe it. Who could be this anxious to meet with her? What do they want from her? All those questions and many more were racing around her head as she read and reread the letter over and over again.
"Who is it from?" Hermione asked, reading the Witch Weekly she had just received. Haylie took a moment to answer, but slapped on her best smile and looked up at Hermione.
"It's from Michelle," Haylie lied, referring to one of her friends from home, "Mom and Dad had sent her letter here."
"Oh, that's great," Hermione said, continuing to flip through her newspaper. No, this certainly wasn't great. Haylie knew she needed to show the letter to Corinne and Eileen. She needed to get Corinne's attention, without arising suspicion in her sister.
"Oh!" Corinne cried, as Haylie kicked her leg hard. Haylie placed her finger to her mouth and handed Corinne the letter. At first Corinne stared at the letter, not knowing what was expected, but as she started to read the message her eyes grew dark.
"Oh no," Corinne whispered, placing her fingers to her lips. Haylie nodded and stood up. She needed to think of some suspects, so she could be prepared for her visit to the Hufflepuff graveyard that night.
