Chapter Ten - A Sticky Situation
"Expelliarmus," Mikey bellowed.
Skye grinned as Adam's wand flew out his hand and rolled across the floor. Currently, they were reviewing the spells they had already covered in an abandoned classroom while they waited for everyone to arrive.
"Well, it's about time," Tabitha grumbled, watching as the twins entered the room, followed by Luke.
"Sorry, I got caught up in the library," Luke explained, dumping his bag at the side of the classroom.
"We're just late," Fred smirked.
"Yeah, well maybe I won't tell you about my brilliant plan, since you can't even be bothered to show up on time," she retorted smugly.
"Sorry, Professor," Luke muttered.
"Your brilliant plan?" George questioned, eyebrows raised.
"It's Skye's plan," Mikey added.
"Then let's hear it," Luke prompted her.
"Well, I know you've been saying we shouldn't be too adventurous with our spells," Skye frowned, still a little annoyed to the fact that Luke had dissuaded them from using too many new spells, "but I think I've found a way we can use spells we already know to our advantage and immobilise most of our enemies."
"Now we're talking," George cheered.
"I think when we start the duel, we should use the smokescreen spell," Skye suggested.
"But how is that going to help?" Luke wondered. "The smokescreen goes both ways, so we won't be able to see either."
"Yes, but we won't need to. Not if we use a sticking charm on the back wall and floor and then cast a wind making spell to throw them into it so that they're immobilised," Skye explained.
"I've already told you. We can't waste time trying to learn new and more difficult spells. It's the same with the Shield spell. These spells will take time to master that we just don't have," Luke sighed.
"Yes, but we can already do a wind making spell, thanks to my pranking arsenal, and it's not like we're going to perform a permanent sticking charm," Tabitha argued.
"Why do you need a wind-making spell for a prank?" Adam wondered.
"You shouldn't have asked," Mikey warned him, eyeing up a grinning Tabitha.
"That's great and all, but is a wind spell really going to be strong enough to push back a person?" Fred asked.
"Thank you for volunteering, Fred," Tabitha chirped.
"Spongify, adhereo," Skye muttered, aiming her wand at the back wall and floor.
Mikey, Skye and Tabitha all converged on Fred's position. Fred looked slightly nervous as the three approached him, wands outstretched. Skye nodded, commanding them to take aim.
"Ventos Duo," they called together.
Suddenly, a strong wind filled the room, blowing around everyone's hair. However, that was nothing compared to the force that Fred was experiencing. His whole body was forced backwards, fixing to a single point on the floor as he landed, causing him to spring up and down like he had landed on a trampoline. The three cut off their spell, watching as Fred seemingly tried to pull himself off the ground, his face straining with the effort.
"Can't even lift my arm," he grinned.
"You see. If we all converge on the same point, it's bound to effect a couple of them. Plus, it can be even stronger if you guys learn 'Ventos' too," Mikey grinned.
"Impressive," George praised, proceeding to launch a screwed up paper ball at his brother's face.
"How long am I going to be stuck for?" Fred frowned, giving his brother a glare.
"A couple of minutes, just enough time to hit our enemy with targeted spells to properly immobilise, or disarm them," Skye smiled.
"This could work," Luke murmured.
"Of course it's going to work," Tabitha beamed, giving him a slap on the back. "Skye's evil genius hasn't failed us yet."
"Alright! Teach me the spell, Skye," Adam pleaded.
"Sure. We'll start with the simple version first, and then if you get the hang of that you can see if you can try the stronger version," she instructed him.
From that point the group proceeded to generate blasts of wind from the tips of their wands, Fred joining them once the Sticking spell had worn off, after proceeding to give his brother a playful punch for hitting him with a paper ball. Impressed with their progress, Skye started to wonder if they could try and practise that Shield spell in their own time, but soon became distracted when she was pelted with something.
"Hey!" She complained.
"What?" Adam replied, looking confused.
"Someone hit me with something."
"Oh, sorry. Maybe it was blown over from my wind spell," he suggested.
Skye was about to agree, until something else hit her on the forehead. She looked at the ground, her eyes resting on a slither of broken chalk. Suddenly, Mikey let out a wail, proceeding to hide behind Luke as a chair floated around the room.
"Cut it out, Peeves," Tabitha barked.
Suddenly the ghost materialised, the chair dropping from his grasp and crashing to the ground.
"Looky, look. I can make wind without a wand!" He boasted.
Skye screwed her face up in disgust as the ghost proceeded to make loud farting noises as he flew around the room, zoning in on where Mikey was hiding behind Luke.
"Gotcha," he taunted toward them.
Next thing they knew the ghost had disappeared, Mikey letting out a small squeak as they tried to figure out where the ghost would reappear. In the silence, Skye heard something that sounded like a marble rolling across the floor, her eyes shifting towards it's direction. However, before Skye could locate the source, a ploom of swamp green gas emerged, slowly creeping its way toward them. Quickly, the group scarpered, proceeding to evacuate the classroom before the gas overwhelmed them. Each of them emerged still holding their breath, having spent long enough at Hogwarts to know what a dung bomb looked like.
"How does he keep finding us?" Adam whined.
"Every training session!" Tabitha growled.
"Maybe it's for the best. I've got a lot of work to do with exams looming," Luke admitted.
"Let's call it a day," Mikey sighed. "Maybe we can get in one or two more group sessions around our exams. Otherwise, we'll just have to practise on our own, or in smaller groups."
Bidding each other goodbye, the group split off, each of them heading towards their respective common rooms, Tabitha grumbling all the way about Peeves and his antics.
"You know Skye, that plan of yours is really impressive," George commented on the way.
"Yeah, maybe you could put some of those smarts to a much better use," Fred suggested.
"Oh, no. Get your own evil genius, boys. This one is mine," Tabitha said possessively.
Skye blushed as they squabbled over her so called 'evil genius'. All the while, her mind was working overtime trying to figure out how they were going to win this duel. The plan was good, but it wouldn't get all of them. Plus, they didn't have a clue what kind of tactics their opponents would come up with. She and Mikey had been practising healing spells in secret, but there was only so much that they could do to prepare. When it came down to it, the Duel of Sevens was going to be exactly as Tabitha had described it; pure chaos.
XxX
Skye descended down the staircase of Divination Tower, her mind reeling. Trelawney had been particularly, well, Trelawney-ish today. Skye had wondered if she could use the session to gain an insight into the outcome of the Duel of Sevens, but once she had started talking about an emerging battle, Trelawny suddenly seemed to override her own opinion that Skye should decipher her visions without her aid.
'Yes, dear. Truly you are in the beyond. I see the battle before you, one that will determine the fate of our world. Of seven, one will play the betrayer, while three will see their flames extinguished,' Trelawny had rambled.
Skye let out a quick snort. She highly doubted their Duel of Sevens would decide the fate of the world, but there was something slightly eerie about how she mentioned the number seven. Then again, her rational mind could hardly believe that second and third year students would cause serious harm with Jelly-Legs Jinxes and Disarming Spells. Deep in thought, a frown plain on her face, Skye jumped as someone cleared their throat as she reached the halfway point down the winding staircase.
"Who's there?" She called, eyes narrowing.
Skye watched as a pale boy rounded the corner, his dirty blonde hair sticking up in odd directions and paling at the tips. Immediately, her eyes narrowed on his green tie, indicating he was a Slytherin, and Skye drew her wand, pointing it at the boy. Usually, this reaction would have made her laugh at her own paranoia, but since word of their Duel of Sevens had spread, their group had been targeted by sneaky Slytherins trying to eliminate their group before they even made it to the pre-arranged date.
"I come in peace," the boy admitted, bringing his hands up from his pockets to show he wasn't armed.
Skye frowned at the boy, opting to lower her wand, but not at all considering to put it away. Luke had even ended up in the hospital wing one night, yet he refused to admit what had happened. Madam Pomfrey hadn't even let them in to see him once they had heard what had happened, only thanks to Lilith Griffins loud and gleeful boasting over dinner.
"What do you want?" Skye frowned, wondering if this was some kind of distraction.
"I came to warn you," he admitted, his gray eyes meeting her amber ones. "Luke Hunter isn't who you think he is."
Skye's eyebrows raised in shock, her eyes narrowing, trying to figure out what this boy was trying to do.
"And who exactly do I think he is?" Skye questioned him
"Your friend, but believe me, he's far from it," the boy revealed.
"Look. Luke has been helping us with our duelling and is even willing to put himself in the line of fire to help us. You guys even put him in hospital! So forgive me if I believe him over someone I don't even know," she huffed.
"Don't do that!" the boy raged.
"Do what?" she asked, shocked at his outburst.
"Think that just because some of us are mindless idiots who believe that everyone else is scum, that we all are," he shot back.
"Look, I'm sorry," Skye apologised, feeling genuinely guilty. "I shouldn't have just assumed that you're a part of this, but you have to admit, I'm going to need some substantial evidence to persuade me that my friend isn't actually my friend."
"Him and Lilith, they were childhood friends," the boy started.
"And how would you know?"
"I'm her cousin," he grimaced. "Which I didn't have to tell you by the way."
Skye had to admit, if there was something that would have made her trust him less, it was that, but he had choose to tell her anyway. If this conversation accomplished anything, it was sure to be her own confusion.
"Look, I have to admit, I don't have any real evidence, but I know Lilith. She has this serious superiority complex and she'll do anything to make sure she stays on top. She and Luke haven't really kept in touch recently, being in different houses, but there was always something there. They were always… plotting something," the boy scowled.
"No offence, but what does this even have to do with you, anyway?" Skye wondered.
"Nothing at all," the boy admitted, frowning as if he wondered what he was even doing himself.
"Well… look, err…" she paused, waiting for him to offer her a name.
He stared at her, expressionless, making it plain he wasn't going to give her one.
"You," she continued, feeling ridiculous. "I trust my friends unless they give me a reason not to. You have to understand that."
The boy blinked at her as if that was the most foreign concept in the world to him.
"You'd believe me if I wasn't Slytherin," he muttered, turning swiftly to march down the staircase.
"Hey! That's not true," she called out to him with a sigh.
Staring at the point at which he had disappeared, Skye opted to take a seat while she thought things through. Firstly, no one had attacked her, so it obviously wasn't a distraction. All he'd really accomplished was confusion. All Luke had done over the past week was help them train, and despite their differences in opinion, they had improved because he was a part of their group. There was just no way he would betray them.
'One will play the betrayer,' her mind echoed.
Skye shook her head, thinking that one day Trelawney's ramblings would cause her to go crazy. She just had to trust her own decision and prepare for anything. Deciding a little research and revision might calm her, she headed off to the library for a little comfort reading.