They came across a stone bench near the water's edge and Freddie sat down for a moment to rest. Ada sat for a moment but then got up to investigate a clump of flowers growing nearby. Freddie looked out over the lake, wondering how far it stretched on. She couldn't see the other shore as there was mist hovering out over the middle of the lake.
"Look," Ada said, coming back over to her with two small yellow flowers in her hand.
"Evening primrose," Freddie identified, out of habit more than anything. "Latin name Oenothera biennis. Native to eastern and central North America, though it's becoming more common in other countries. Most commonly an ingredient in potions used to treat skin conditions, such as acne, and also in a few varieties of contraceptive potions."
"Yeah! You know, it is even more impressive that you can do that without a photographic memory," Ada said, reaching over to put the flower in Freddie's hair.
"Thanks," she said with a grin, leaning back on the bench. "Snape makes very detailed flashcards."
"Are they all plants?" she asked, sitting back down on the bench beside her.
"Plants and potions. The plant ones either have a hand-drawn picture or just the name. On the back he has the Latin name, the region, what they're used for, that sort of thing. The potion cards have the name of a potion on the front and the ingredients and recipe on the back."
"Cool."
"I've been memorizing potion recipes since I was a kid though. Mostly healing potions, since those are the ones I'll be brewing the most when I start work at St Mungo's. I recite the steps in my head to help calm me down, when I feel my magic start to act up."
"When I get angry or frustrated, I think about Amortentia. It's my favorite potion that I've brewed so far."
"Mine too actually! I didn't want to say that earlier because I thought choosing a love potion as my favorite might come off as 'girly' or 'weak'."
"That's why I didn't say anything either when you and Akinyi were talking about your favorite potions."
"So you did manage to brew it successfully after your mishap last year?"
"Oh yes. I told Lady Karen about what happened over the holiday and she helped me brew it. It was...amazing," she said with a dreamy sort of sigh. "It smelled like the library and my maman's ratatouille and also freshly baked bread."
"Severus and I brewed it last year, too. For me it smelled like freshly picked herbs, freshly fallen snow, and sandalwood," she said, feeling warm and fuzzy inside just thinking about it.
"Severus?" Ada asked with a slight smile.
"I mean Professor Snape," Freddie said hastily. "...He only lets me call him by his first name on special occasions. Like Christmas last year."
"Lady Karen never goes by her last name and she will not answer to 'professor', only 'Lady Karen'. The other teachers are sort of snobby about it sometimes, but I like it. It sort of makes her feel easier to talk to, you know?"
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. She does not always snap at me, like when it is just the two of us conversations are much easier. I think she is only trying to help when she barks at me the way she did earlier – telling me to speak up, straighten up, do not stare at the floor," Ada said, rolling the other primrose flower between her thumb and forefinger. "I try to do better, but it is hard sometimes. I get nervous around other people," she said softly.
"Hmm...Have you ever heard of Occlumency?"
"Of course. The act of magically closing one's mind to intruders using Legilimency. It is an art that has been practiced since medieval times. I read about it a few months ago, in a book called-" she paused a moment and closed her eyes. "-Protection Contre l'obscurité. It sounded interesting, but hard."
"It is," Freddie said with a nod. "But if you can master it, it can help you block out your own negative emotions as well. Sort of wall them off so you don't feel them so strongly. I do that now sometimes, instead of reciting potion recipes, or sometimes I do both if I'm really struggling with my emotions."
"Can you teach me?" Ada asked eagerly.
"Well, no, we definitely won't have time before the competition," Freddie said. "But it's something you should look into when you get back to school. I can send you some books."
" Oui! J'aimerais bien!" she declared enthusiastically. "Thank you very much."
"Sure. It is a good skill to have. In the meantime you can practice whenever you feel like it. Work on clearing your mind of all thought and emotion. It helps me to picture a blank wall. It took me a while to really get the hang of it, but now I can sort of brick off certain emotions if I try."
"I would very much like to be able to do that. I hate that I get so nervous around other people," she said with a sigh, looking down at the flower in her hand. "I wish there was a potion that could make me more confident. I would take it every day."
"The only one I know of like that is Felix Felicis, but it's dangerous to take often."
"Yes, it can make the drinker reckless and over-confident," she said with a nod. "I do not think I would want to be that either."
"Yeah, you don't wanna be like Dimitri. Les chevilles qui enflent, right?" Freddie asked.
"Oui," Ada said, giggling. "Your accent when you speak french sounds just like my papa."
"Uh, thanks?" Freddie said and Ada giggled even harder.
"Hey!" she said brightly. "Maybe I can teach you French via owl? I could send you some translation books, then I can write letters to you in french and you can write back in french maybe?"
"Yeah, totally! That's a great idea," she replied happily. "I don't have anyone to write to anymore, I would love to be pen pals. Learning French would be an added bonus. I really should learn another language. I know some Latin, but that doesn't really count."
"You do not have friends to write to? What about your best friend, the one who you said was in Ravenclaw?" Ada asked curiously.
Freddie hesitated and looked away from her, focusing on a clump of grass while she tried to block off the pain she felt.
"I am sorry, I did not mean to pry," Ada said quickly. "It's none of my business."
"No, it's fine, you're fine," Freddie said, still looking at the grass. "It's just difficult...my best friend disappeared last year. No one even knows if he's dead or alive. He vanished from Hogwarts grounds a little over a year ago. They searched for him all over, but..."
"Mon dieu," she whispered. "Je suis désolé, Freddie, I'm so sorry."
Freddie shrugged, uncertain of what to say. She didn't want to get into the whole story with Ada – how she'd been the last person to see Daniel alive, how she'd been found covered in his blood, her stay at St Mungo's – she didn't want to dredge it all up with her right now, maybe not ever.
"Has that ever happened at Hogwarts before, a student disappearing?" Ada asked uncertainly.
"Not that I know of," she said, shaking her head. "If it has, no one told me about it. And I think that Snape would have told me something like that."
"I'm sorry," she said again and Freddie inclined her head.
They sat on the bench a while longer, neither of them speaking. Ada twisted the stem of her primrose bloom into a bracelet and put it on her wrist. She looked like she was about to go get another flower when she froze midway through rising.
"Do you hear that?" she whispered, quickly sitting back down.
Freddie strained her ears, listening. She was about to ask Ada what she heard when she caught the sound of voices on the breeze. She couldn't make out the words, but it was definitely a man speaking. She saw a flash of movement and she grabbed Ada's arm, pointing. Two figures were coming up from farther down the lake.
"It's Andrei and Karkaroff," she whispered, recognizing Karkaroff's tall figure.
"Oh no," Ada said, dismayed. "He is so mean. Do you think they've seen us?"
"I don't know. I don't think so. Here, hold still," she said, slipping her wand out of her sleeve. Ada didn't look scared this time as Freddie pointed her wand at her. She tapped her on top of the head and watched as Ada slowly became invisible. She heard her gasp, then she did the same to herself.
"Is this a Disillusionment Charm?" Ada asked.
"Shh," Freddie warned. "And yes."
"This is amazing," she said softly. "I'm really invisible?"
"What are they up to?" Freddie murmured softly. As the men approached she could see Karkaroff looked annoyed, his fake-polite smile long gone. The angry looked seemed more appropriate for his dead eyes. He was muttering to Andrei, who looked glum.
"Come on," Freddie whispered to Ada, grabbing her invisible arm and pulling her up from the bench. "And keep quiet. I want to know what Karkaroff is up to."
Ada didn't answer, but she had told her to keep quiet. Freddie dropped her Occlumency just enough that she could probe her friend's mind gently. She felt her fear, nervousness, but also her excitement and burning curiosity. Ada didn't even notice the intrusion. Freddie was just glad she wasn't corrupting the young witch, knowing that she was just as curious about the Durmstrangs behavior as she was.
Freddie still had a hold on Ada's arm as she led her towards the men. Ada put her free hand on Freddie's invisible arm, found her hand, then put her other hand in Freddie's so that she didn't have to keep a grip on her arm. Freddie felt the girl's small fingers lace together with hers and she smiled at her, even though they were both invisible. She tried to push a calming, reassuring feeling towards her mentally, like Snape sometimes did for her. She had no idea if it worked, but Ada squeezed her hand lightly.
She made sure they were out of the way as Karkaroff and Andrei got closer. She found a spot where their invisible feet wouldn't make an indention in the grass and the girls stood there, waiting and listening.
"-absolutely ridiculous!" Karkaroff was saying, fuming. "That garden has to be around here somewhere. They wouldn't bring us out here to this inn and then make us travel farther in the morning. Not all of you can Apparate."
"Maybe we will have to Apparate," Andrei said. "And that little girl will splinch herself and then I can actually win."
Freddie was so used to Snape calling her 'little girl' that she didn't realize he was talking about Ada until she squeezed her hand again. She could feel her palm sweating against her own. She squeezed her hand back, reassuring.
"She is a child, she should never be allowed to compete," Karkaroff scoffed. "There should be an age restriction for this, just like they have for other international competitions. There is no way a child can win."
Andrei nodded sharply but he did not look reassured. Freddie felt strangely satisfied knowing that her young friend had unnerved him so. She'd seen it in his eyes at the table when Ada had recited the steps of the Oculus Potion, she'd seen the fear in his eyes. She had unnerved him.
"Severus' girl, though," Karkaroff continued, catching Freddie's attention. "She could be a problem."
Andrei grunted but said nothing about Freddie. She could see the anger in his dark eyes though, even from a distance.
"I will try to take care of it," Karkaroff said and Freddie was left to wonder what that meant. Did he have some plan to try to eliminate her from the competition? Her and Ada? "Of course if we could find this wretched garden, then you would have the upper hand for sure."
"It is called the Enchanted Garden for a reason," Andrei muttered and Karkaroff smacked him, hard, in the back of the head.
"Quiet, boy," he snarled, then looked out over the water – right through where Freddie and Ada stood. "It has to be out there. Either in the middle or on the other side, but that damned mist makes it impossible to approach. It's some sort of spell."
"This is pointless," Andrei said gloomily and Karkaroff raised his hand to strike him again, but paused.
"Someone is coming," he said and Freddie followed his gaze up the path, back towards the inn. Two figures were walking towards them, just shadows in the moonlight, but one of them was a shadow Freddie knew well. It was Snape.
And Lady Karen no doubt, she thought bitterly.
"Come on, boy," Karkaroff hissed, grabbing his student's shoulder, then the two of them Disapparated with a soft pop. Freddie wondered if they'd gone back to their rooms or if they were somewhere plotting something nefarious. She needed to warn Ada.
"Come here, I'll lift the charm," she said, tugging her towards an enormous willow tree whose hanging branches shielded them from view. She did Ada first, then herself.
"Listen, Ada," she said urgently when they were both visible once more. "You need to be extra careful – Karkaroff, he's dangerous. He used to be a Death Eater and Severus said he's ruthless. There's no telling what he might do for his student to come out the champion."
"A Death Eater?" she gasped softly. "Like, You-Know-Who's inner circle?"
"Exactly."
"Should we tell someone? Tell them what we saw and what we heard him say?" she asked uncertainly.
"I am not sure it would do any good. They did not actually do anything, nothing we can prove. As for what he said, well, it would be the word of two schoolgirls against the Headmaster of Durmstrang," she said, shaking her head slightly. "I'll tell Snape, but I doubt it'll make a difference. We can't get them barred from competing when they haven't actually done anything that we know of. But I would not put it past Karkaroff to try to curse or poison one of us to get us out of the competition.
Snape warned me not to eat or drink anything either of them offered me. I wouldn't have even drank the wine at dinner except Andrei was drinking it too."
"What if the wine was poison but Andrei had an antidote?" Ada asked, her green eyes glittering. "What if he had a bezoar in his pocket?"
"I didn't consider that," Freddie said thoughtfully. "I guess I should have. But, it wasn't poisoned anyway. I think I'd know if I was poisoned by now."
"Not necessarily," Ada said in a tone of voice Freddie had quickly learned meant she was about to spout off some impressive knowledge. "There are 36 different varieties of poisons whose effects aren't felt until 12 hours after ingestion. That would be the optimal time for the onset of symptoms to occur, if they were trying to remove people from the competition. There are also 12 potions that could be used to-"
"Enough," Freddie said, clapping a hand over her friend's mouth and laughing uneasily. "You're gonna make me want to take a bezoar when I get back to my room."
"It could not hurt," Ada said through Freddie's fingers. "At least two of those poisons are undetectable."
"Thanks," Freddie said sarcastically, dropping her hand. "That's really reassuring."
"Well they are complicated brews. Maybe Andrei could not brew them? And Karkaroff, he's not even a Potions Master."
"Something tells me Andrei does just fine, so long as he has a textbook. He wouldn't be here if he couldn't brew complex potions."
"But then Karkaroff was a Death Eater," she continued as if she hadn't heard her. "He probably knows where to buy all sorts of poisons."
Yeah, from Severus, Freddie thought and shook her head slightly.
"Your mind is a little scary sometimes, Adalene."
Ada made a face at her, sticking out her tongue.
"Winifred," she said tauntingly, her eyes sparkling in amusement.
"It bothers you more than it does me, Adaleneee," Freddie teased lightly. "Adalene, Adalene, Adalene."
"Adalene!" barked a voice and they turned to see Lady Karen and Snape had reached the part of the path near the large willow tree. Ada immediately looked cowed but Freddie didn't even notice. She was too distracted by the fact that Lady Karen had her hand on Snape's arm as they were walking. For a moment Freddie saw red, then she heard a cracking noise above them. She jerked Ada out of the way just as one of the willow branches broke off and came crashing to the ground.
"Damn," Freddie muttered, knowing that she had done that without meaning to.
"What are you two doing?" Lady Karen called, the cheerful tone back in her voice. It took everything Freddie had to calm herself enough to follow Ada out from under the tree.
"We were just studying, Lady Karen," Ada said in a soft voice. She glanced quickly at Snape, then back to her teacher, and swallowed audibly.
"And getting to know one another," Freddie added, coming to her friend's rescue. "You encouraged me to make friends with the other competitors, right Professor Snape?"
Freddie kept her voice light and sweet, not revealing any of the anger or sadness she felt at the sight of them together. Snape gazed at her silently a moment, his expression unreadable. His eyes appeared black in the dim moonlight and Freddie felt herself being drawn in.
"That is correct, Miss Gray," he said in a low voice. Not like Ada's soft, nervous voice. When Snape spoke quietly it commanded attention and authority...and maybe a hint of approval?
"But you have been studying too, I trust?" Lady Karen asked with a tight-lipped smile. "There's less than ten hours before the challenge."
"Of course, Lady Karen," Ada said, but her face had paled slightly. Freddie hated the teacher for pushing Ada like that, when she was already so nervous. And clearly Ada didn't need to study. She had who knows how many hundreds of books memorized. She would do just fine.
"I've been going over the flashcards with her that Professor Snape made for me," Freddie said politely, working to keep her expression neutral so she wouldn't glare at the blonde woman. "They are quite detailed."
"Really? Perhaps you could share them with me, Severus," Lady Karen said, looking back to Snape with a definitely-flirty smile. Freddie clenched her fists and started reciting the steps for a Calming Draught in her head. "I'm always looking for new methods to help my students study."
"Perhaps," Snape acknowledged with a slight nod of his head. "But I think it is time Miss Gray and I return to our rooms. I would like to have a little more one-on-one study time with her before tomorrow."
"Of course," Lady Karen said loftily. "Going up against my girl Adalene, Miss Gray is going to need all the help she can get."
And then Freddie really did want to kill her and was halfway thinking about going for her wand, but Snape stepped away from Karen and approached her.
"Goodnight, Lady Karen. Come along, Miss Gray," he said, putting a hand lightly on the small of Freddie's back. The action made her feel warm and calmed her, or at least distracted her enough she didn't hex the Lady Karen. Snape led her gently up the path and Freddie glanced back over her shoulder.
"Goodnight Ada," she said to the girl, who looked deeply troubled and unhappy standing next to Lady Karen. Ada smiled slightly, but only for a split second.
"Bonsoir, Freddie," she said quietly. "Dors bien."
"No one can hear you when you mutter, Adalene!" Lady Karen said, her voice ringing out through the night.
"I'll see you in the morning, Ada!" Freddie called before the woman could make Ada repeat herself. "Dors bien!"