AUTHOR'S NOTE: I meant to say this a few chapters ago, but I'm really terrible at writing accents so I didn't even try to write accents for the foreign characters like Rowling did in Goblet of Fire. Trust me, it's better this way lol. And as for why they're all speaking English when the competition is held in France...well, we will call that creative license, yeah? Lol.
~RedPandaPrincess
Freddie finished a second glass of wine while she chatted with the other students. She mostly talked to Akinyi, who she decided she liked immensely. She listened to Akinyi talk about growing up in her village, learning to help her father tend to the large size 5 cauldron he kept in their backyard. She talked about starting school at Uagadou when she was 10 (they started a year earlier than Hogwarts) and about the potions she'd learned from Master Mwangi. Freddie shared some stories of her own – how she had come up with the Invisibility Antidote over the summer, and about brewing the Wolfsbane Potion with Snape when it came out last year, and how that had started her apprenticeship. She told her about some of the other complex potions she'd brewed and even told her about her failure with Felix Felicis – both times, though she didn't give details on why she had messed up. She was hesitant to bring it up, not sure she should admit to weakness in front of her competition, but then Akinyi told her how she had messed up a Shrinking Solution the first time she tried to brew it alone.
"I tested it on one of our cows," she said with a grimace. "And she disappeared. I do not know if she vanished or if she shrunk down so small I just couldn't see her? But we never did find her."
Freddie chuckled and even Ada was smiling, though she hadn't said much during their conversation.
"I tried to make Amortentia at home last Christmas," Ada said shyly. "I had read about it in one of Lady Karen's books and thought it sounded interesting. I really wanted to know what it would smell like... Unfortunately, it was a complete disaster. And the smell – ugh!" She wrinkled her nose in disgust at the memory. "Répugnante. Gross. Like all the worst smells in the world mixed together, like dung and burnt rubber and rotting meat all mixed together. My maman was mad, it took weeks to get the smell out of the house. I was glad to go back to school after that, just to escape the smell!"
"I bet!" Freddie said, laughing. Akinyi was laughing, too, and they both looked at Dimitri who had been totally silent, listening to their conversation. He had not laughed or even cracked a smile at any of their stories, just sat there with his arms crossed, leaning back in his chair with his face devoid of any emotion. Freddie couldn't help but wonder if he was an Occlumens or if he was just that passionless and boring.
"What?" he asked indifferently as Akinyi nudged him.
"Well?" Akinyi said. "Don't you have any Potions horror stories to share?"
"Yeah, we've all told ours," Freddie said, trying to smile in a friendly way, to draw him into the conversation. Dimitri had been mostly silent since dinner started and everything he had said had been snarky... but she was used to that from Snape.
"I do not make mistakes," Dimitri said coldly, and got up from the table. They watched him leave the dining room without even a second glance at them or his Potions Master. Freddie turned back to the table and caught Akinyi rolling her eyes. Freddie did the same and the two shared a smile.
"Everybody makes mistakes sometimes," Ada said quietly. "It is nothing to be ashamed of. It is something to learn from."
"You're absolutely right, Ada," Freddie told her and Akinyi nodded in agreement.
"Dimitri a les chevilles qui enflent," Ada muttered to herself, glancing towards the door where Dimitri had disappeared.
"What was that?" she asked.
"Did you just swear?" Akinyi asked, amused.
"No!" Ada said quickly, blushing. "It is not a swear. It means...He is too full of himself. It is a french idiom, it translates to 'has swollen ankles' in English."
"Say it again?" Freddie asked.
"Les chevilles qui enflent."
"Les chevilles qui enflent," she repeated and Ada grinned at her.
"Enflent," the girl said slowly. "Like with an 'an' sound then a 'fleh'."
"Enflent," Freddie said again, trying to pronounce it the same way Ada did, but the french did not float from her lips like it did hers. Ada tried to stifle a giggle, but snorted quietly instead. Then she looked mortified, her face red again.
"Lady Karen did not hear that, did she?" she asked, her hand over her mouth. "It was a very rude sound."
"I think you are safe," Freddie said, glancing back at Snape and Lady Karen. They were still talking and she quickly looked away.
"I am going to head upstairs, I think," Akinyi said, stretching. "I want to be well-rested for tomorrow. Goodnight Freddie, goodnight Adalene."
Ada had been taking a drink of water and she choked slightly, spitting it back into her cup.
"Goodnight," she said in a strained voice, clearly trying not to cough.
"Sleep well, Akinyi," Freddie said. "It was good talking to you."
"You too," the girl said and she smiled again, showing all her startlingly white teeth, before leaving the table.
Freddie and Ada remained sitting at the table while Akinyi gathered Master Mwangi and they left. The Russian Potions Master, who Dimitri had called 'Professor Devin', was soon to follow. He was stumbling slightly and waved off Monsieur Benoit who tried to help him as he nearly tripped over his own feet.
"Guess he overdid it on the elf wine," Freddie said, amused. She looked to Ada, but the girl was sitting red-faced and teary-eyed. She was breathing strangely. "...Did you choke on your water and you're trying not to cough?"
Ada nodded, her face turning from red to purple. Freddie looked around to make sure no one was paying any attention, then she slipped her wand from the arm of her dress. Ada's eyes grew wide as Freddie pointed her wand at her below the table.
"Exscreo," she said quietly and the water surged from Ada's lungs. Freddie watched with some amusement as her friend tried to discreetly spit the water back into her cup.
"Thank you," Ada said finally, her face clearing now that her lungs were clear. She took several deep breaths through her nose and Freddie tried not to laugh.
"It isn't rude to cough if you're choking, you know," she said as the girl delicately dabbed her lips with a napkin.
"At my school it would be. Madame Maxime would look at you with a scary, disapproving face, and everyone in the room would turn to look at you...and I really hate when people look at me," she said, clenching the napkin in one hand.
"I understand. What is it you said earlier – je suis parlay?"
"Je suis pareil," Ada chuckled. "Pareil means 'same'. Parlay is, I think, a verbal derivative of the french parler which means 'to speak'. Parlay has something to do with placing bets when gambling."
"You are ridiculously smart, you know that?"
"Merci," she said, quickly looking away. "If we had more time together, I could teach you French."
"...Are you tired yet?" Freddie asked her.
"Pas vraiment," she said with a shrug.
"Is that 'no'?"
"Yes. I mean, no. No, I am not tired."
"Do you think they would let us go outside? We could keep talking. Maybe quiz each other, if you feel like some last-minute studying."
"Oui! J'aimerais bien!" she said enthusiastically, her emerald eyes lighting up. "I would like that very much."
"I guess we should ask your Lady Karen," Freddie said, glancing over at them as she stood up. "But from the looks of things, they might not even notice if we were gone."
"They would eventually," Ada said as Freddie pulled her chair out for her. "And then we might be in trouble."
"You don't look like you've been in trouble a day in your life," she said and Ada gave her a quick, nervous smile.
They approached the teacher's table together, with Ada hanging back behind her slightly. The three French Ministry wizards were still there, talking among themselves, drinking wine and one of them had lit a cigar. Snape and Lady Karen were talking quietly to each other at the other end of the table, seeming oblivious to the Ministry wizards or to their students. Freddie tried to catch the thread of their conversation as she approached, but she only heard the phrase 'during the next full moon' before Snape fell silent and looked up at them.
When his gaze found her Freddie had to fight to keep the blush from staining her cheeks. For a moment she really did feel like a student, like a child again, like Ada. His expression looked bored and maybe annoyed at being interrupted. He was apparently enjoying his conversation with Lady Karen and when Freddie realized that she wanted to melt into the floor.
"Yes, Miss Gray?" he asked. Was that a hint of impatience in his voice or was she imagining things?
Suck it up! She told herself firmly and straightened her posture, clasping her hands behind her back.
"Ada and I were wondering if we could go outside?" she asked, keeping her tone cool and even. "We were going to quiz each other. Neither of us is really tired yet and we're bored of sitting around the table."
"I do not care," Snape said dismissively. "Lady Karen?"
"Fine by me," the blonde said as Freddie felt a rage boiling in the pit of her stomach. "Some last-minute cramming, eh, Adalene?"
"Yes ma'am," Ada said quietly, looking at the floor.
"Speak up, girl, no one can hear you when you mumble," Karen said sharply and Freddie found herself hating her even more.
"Yes ma'am," Ada said loudly. "Merci."
"Just be sure you are back inside by midnight," Karen said before turning her attention back to Snape.
Snape's dark eyes held Freddie's for a moment longer and she got the feeling he was trying to tell her something, but his expression was too guarded. She waited for him to try to enter her mind to tell her whatever it was, but he didn't. She didn't feel him tugging at the edges of her Occlumency shield at all. When he finally looked away she realized she had been standing there awkwardly and she turned away.
"Come on Ada," she said to the girl at her side. "Let's see if we can go out this way."
Freddie led her to the far end of the room where the string quartet was still playing. They skirted around the band and found the back door unlocked. They stepped out onto the patio which was lined with twinkling shrubs all around it. The sky was still clear and the moon was close to full, casting plenty of light for them to see the lawn beyond.
"Do you think that path goes down to the lake?" Freddie asked, glancing at Ada but the girl was looking back through the glass door at Snape and Lady Karen. "Ada?"
The girl jumped slightly and looked back at her.
"Je suis désolé – Qu'as-tu dit?" she asked and although Freddie didn't understand the words she got the meaning.
"I said do you want to walk down towards the lake?"
"Yes," she said with a nod. "Let's do that."
Freddie started towards the path she'd seen, but found herself glancing back over her shoulder through the door as well. Snape was still talking to Lady Karen, oblivious. She felt a mixture of sadness, jealousy, and anger. She sighed and turned her eyes forward.
"Is he, um..." Ada started nervously but trailed off.
"Is who what?" Freddie asked, distracted. She was trying to use her Occlumency to block out her bad feelings, but sadness was always the hardest one to wall off.
"Ton professeur, is he...well he seems sort of scary," she said with an anxious giggle.
"He is," she said, unable to help but smile. "To most people anyway. He can be scary, snarky, downright mean sometimes, but I've gotten used to it. And he's better with me than he is with most students, at least now..." She shrugged slightly. "He helped me through a tough time last year. We spend so much time together, working on potions – sometimes for the hospital wing, sometimes to test my abilities. Some stuff we brew just for fun. I don't have many friends at school, not real friends, not anymore. So even when we're not working on potions he lets me hang out in his office or lab and do my homework or study. I like to think we've become friends."
And that's true, isn't it? He said it himself earlier, she thought silently. He said 'I have you, don't I?' and he does...but now he might have Lady Karen, too.
She had to make a physical effort not to look back over her shoulder again and she scolded herself for being so pathetic.
"That is good, to have a mentor you can be close to," Ada said softly. "It sounds like he treats you like an equal."
"Most of the time, yeah," Freddie said with a nod. "What about Lady Karen? She seems...well she seems nice on the outside, but she seems kind of mean, too."
"She is brilliant," Ada said breathlessly, shaking her head. "I am lucky to have her to teach me."
"Someone can be brilliant and still be mean. God knows Snape can be," she said, kicking at a pebble on the sidewalk. "Granted I don't know you or Lady Karen all that well, but...she snaps at you. And she calls you Adalene."
"I know!" the girl groaned loudly. "Mon dieu, I hate it! Everyone calls me Ada, even my maman calls me Ada. She and Madame Maxime are the only ones who still call me Adalene."
"It's a really pretty name," Freddie said with a smile. "Maybe she just likes saying it. Adalene."
"Ugh, s'il vous plaît, arrêtez ça!"
"Sorry?" Freddie said uncertainly, but she was smiling. Even annoyed the language sounded beautiful to her ears.
"I keep forgetting you don't speak french," Ada said, shaking her head, and she sighed.
"It's okay. Anyway, I get it. I really hate being called Winifred. Or, at least, I used to. It doesn't bother me so much since Snape started calling me that, but it used to really bug me."
"See, we really are alike," she said, smiling. "I wish you were at Beauxbatons! We could be friends."
"We can still be friends," she reasoned. "There's owls for a reason. Besides, I doubt Beauxbatons would have had me. I'd have been kicked out for burping or something 'rude' at the dinner table."
"Pas moyen," she said dismissively. "No way. You had good manners at dinner, except for you were sort of impolite to Dimitri and Andrei."
"They were rude first!" she protested.
"I know. I actually thought it was pretty impressive how you stood up to them," she said admiringly. "At Beauxbatons we are not mean to each other – at least, not in the dinner hall. And there are no boys at my school."
"I had heard that before. No boys and no Muggleborns either, right?"
"No, that's not – well it's not exactly true," she said, looking troubled. "Beauxbatons does take a very Anti-Muggle stance, it's true, but they will let Muggleborn students in...but when they do it is strongly suggested they lie about their heritage. It's..." she grimaced slightly. "Sad."
Freddie looked at her new friend curiously, wondering if she might be a Muggleborn. She had said her father went to Hogwarts, but she had also just said Beauxbatons Muggleborns were supposed to lie about their parents. Freddie didn't ask and Ada didn't tell her.
They had almost reached the lake where the moon was reflecting off the still waters. It was a beautiful night and the lake itself was beautiful too. There were old oaks and willow trees along the shore and unlike the Whomping Willow at Hogwarts these trees were still, except for the occasional breeze blowing the branches slightly.
"I think you would like Hogwarts," Freddie said as they continued walking. "It's not so uptight as Beauxbatons sounds. You could certainly cough if you choked on water without anyone staring at you." Ada grimaced again and Freddie continued. "Heck no one even cares if you belch in the Great Hall. I was raised with good table etiquette, my aunt and uncle made sure of it, but at Hogwarts? I pile all sorts of food on my plate, mix things together, pour gravy over everything if I want to. And shovel it all into my face with a single utensil!"
"Oh my!" Ada said, but she was laughing. "I can do that at home usually. Maman doesn't care unless we have guests. But at school I have to be so careful. Prim, proper, and polite always. So it is easier to carry those traits home with me on holiday so I do not lose them before school starts again."
"What happens if you aren't 'prim, proper, and polite' at Beauxbatons, besides the whole staring and angry-glare thing? Can you get detention for like, using the wrong fork at dinner?"
"It depends. Most of the time it is just the staring. But if someone has multiple transgressions the punishment can range from detention to paddling."
"They paddle you?" she asked incredulously.
"Yes. It has not happened to me yet," she said nervously, looking around like she might get in trouble. "But I know girls who have been paddled by Madame Maxime. And she is a very strong woman."
"I can't imagine Dumbledore paddling someone. I know a long time ago the school used to do whippings, but that was a long time ago. I think Dumbledore put a stop to it."
"I have always wanted to meet him," Ada said wistfully.
"Dumbledore? Why?"
"Oh he is a great wizard, yes? They say he defeated Grindelwald. And he is the only wizard You-Know-Who was ever afraid of," she said in a whisper. "But on top of all that he's famous for his part in the discovery of the 12 uses for dragons blood, his work with alchemist Nicholas Flamel – who I've met, by the way, he is amazing. Albus Dumbledore is the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards. He has an Order of Merlin, First Class, for Grand Sorcery. Need I go on?"
"Please don't," Freddie said with a grimace. "Dumbledore is...nice, I guess. My feelings towards him are complicated." She didn't think she could ever forgive Dumbledore for thinking she had killed Daniel, but she didn't want to get into that now with Ada. "He is a powerful wizard, I'll give you that."
"The most powerful, since You-Know-Who is dead," she said brightly and Freddie nodded though she wasn't certain about the last part.
"How do you know all that stuff about Dumbledore anyway?" she asked curiously. "You seem to know everything about everything."
Ada smiled a little mischievous smile and looked around to make sure they were alone.
"That's my super power," she said in a hushed tone. "I remember everything I've ever read."
"Everything?" Freddie asked doubtfully.
"Everything. Muggles call it a photographic memory or eidetic memory. It is a very rare gift. It is why I was able to recite the steps of the Oculus Potion. I know all the steps to every potion I have ever seen in a book."
"Wow..." Freddie said in awe. "I'm kind of jealous."
"Do you want to test me?" she asked playfully. "Like Andrei said, I could be lying."
"I don't think you're lying – you were right about the Oculus Potion. You remember it even better than I do, you even know the exact amount of time between steps while you're waiting for the potion to change color. I'm definitely jealous."
"I remember the times because I mark them down in my textbook. Once I see them on the page then, poof, they are in my head forever."
"I write all of Snape's alterations to recipes in my textbooks. He has so many and they all improve on the original recipe. I've told him he should write his own book."
"Oo I hope he does! Then I can read it and I will know them, too."
They walked along the edge of the lake in silence for a few minutes. Freddie knew they should be studying, but now that she knew about her memory she figured Ada probably didn't need it. This girl was likely going to be her only real competition in the potions challenge...and she was her friend. She didn't know if one of them losing to the other would mess that up, she only knew that she genuinely liked the young witch.
"So do you really like potions?" Freddie asked her. "I mean you must, right, if you're in this competition?"
"I do not think I like potions the way you and Akinyi do," she said, shaking her head. "Like, I am good at them, but I don't feel called to it. I do not know if it is something I can make a career out of...I think that might be why Lady Karen sometimes seems...to not like me very much. Because I am not sure."
"You have plenty of time to figure out your career. You're still just a kid. You will find something you love as much as I love potions. Or maybe you'll grow to love potions and want to do that forever, but it's okay if you don't. What do you like to do?"
"I like to read," she admitted. "I like learning 'everything about everything' as you said. I'm just not sure how I can make a career out of it."
"Don't worry about your career, Ada, for goodness sake. You're a kid, just enjoy being a kid," she said and she found herself smiling sadly. She remembered Daniel telling her the same thing when they were around that age and all she could talk about was Potions.
"I just...I feel like there is all this pressure on me to great," she said, looking down at the ground. "Because I'm smart I am supposed to succeed at everything. Everyone expects greatness from me and all I really wanna do is curl up in the library with a stack of books."
"I'm sorry," Freddie said truthfully, because she didn't know what else to say. "...How did you become Lady Karen's apprentice? Were you forced into it?"
"No, I- well, she approached me. Last year. She said she'd never seen a first year with such talent and invited me to try my hand at more complicated brews. Before long she said I had more talent than most 6th years and she wanted to enroll me in this competition. I didn't feel like I should say no. I am good...and it can be fun sometimes. It's not like learning spells. Charms are hard and take a lot of practice and...can I tell you a secret?"
"Of course," Freddie said solemnly.
"I haven't been able to transfigure a single thing," she said miserably. "From my first day when our teacher had us transfiguring buttons I just...can't. And I have spent hours trying and I've read every Transfiguration book in the library, but... I'm in a remedial Transfiguration class, Freddie. I swear I think I might be a Squib sometimes, but I can do other spells. Just not Transfiguration... I feel like a fraud."
"You're not a fraud or a squib," she said gently. "Everyone has some type of magic they're not good at, especially in the beginning when you're first learning... If you want to know my secret, it's that I sometimes still can't control my magic. I've gotten a little better in the last year, but my whole life there have been moments where my magic just shoots out randomly, usually when I'm feeling strong emotions. ...I've even hurt people before when I was angry, without meaning to."
"I've done that before, too," Ada admitted. "It's a terrible feeling..."
"At least you have the excuse of being young. You're still learning."
"Well we are all still learning, Freddie. Education does not stop as you age, not even when you graduate. I bet even Dumbledore is still learning."
Somehow this made her feel better and Freddie smiled at her young friend.
"You are too smart sometimes," she said and Ada smiled back at her.