Arcade Aggravations
"This game is rigged!" Ernie declares, kicking the side of the pinball machine so hard he dents it.
"That's what you said about the last two games we played," Justin says calmly, tapping his wand discretely against the machine to repair Ernie's damage. Thankfully, none of the Muggle children nearby—nor any of their bored parents—seem to notice this bit of magic.
"Well, they were rigged too." Ernie's pout only grows bigger when Justin chuckles at him.
"They're not rigged, they just require a strategy that you haven't figured out yet." Justin shakes his head. Ernie's ego is clearly bruised—as the wizard's chess champion of all of Hufflepuff house, he's used to winning. He hasn't yet mastered the skill of losing gracefully.
"Well, it's hardly fair that you've had years of practice and I haven't." Ernie's tone is petulant, reminiscent of a young child and not the teenager he is.
"You mean like you've had years of practice with wizard's chess and I haven't?" Justin shoots back, grinning.
"It's not the same thing!" Ernie's face slowly grows red, giving him the appearance of a tomato. He quickly looks around before nodding at the machine just behind them. "Donkey Kong? Do I get to play as an ass in that one?"
Justin snorts. "No, that's not—come on, I'll show you."
It takes Ernie a few minutes to understand how to play, but once he does, he brags that he'll be on the high scores table in no time.
A short while later, he punches the air. "Ha! 248,000 points!" He pauses to read the high scores table and his face falls. "...Hang on, I'm not on the list at all. Some wanker named 'JFF' has claimed all the top spots!"
Justin smirks and leans against the arcade cabinet. "Yeah, that'd be me."
WC: 301