Disclaimer: I don't even own a squid.

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The Founding of Pigwarts II – Cooking Chaos

Chapter 15: And Some Other Things

"So we have the forest," Ginny stated, staring out of the window at the abundance of gloomy trees instead of the bright and crowded Diagon Alley. "And we even have a café in the forest, which we didn't have before."

"Not to my knowledge, that is," she added after a moment, thinking that since she had not been to every single spot in the Forbidden Forest, she couldn't say for sure that this was the first café here.

"Let's call it Pigsmeade," Daphne suggested. "Otherwise there's none of that."

"Let's," Ginny nodded, her mind still full of visions about restaurants, nightclubs, and all kinds of other goody things hidden in the depths of the forest. No wonder the Professors didn't want them roaming around there – they wished to keep all that for themselves. Well, now she was a Professor, and no one was going to stop her if she wanted to sit in the middle of the Forbidden Forest, have a cappuccino and enjoy chocolate cake. Which she was actually doing this very moment. Sans the chocolate cake, however, since she had already finished it, and all the staff of the café had managed to run out screaming in time. She was going to get them back, though. After all, a café did need people to take care of it, and bring her another piece of chocolate cake when she wanted it.

"We've got more or less all the Professors," Daphne declared. "I think."

"I've got the emblem almost finished," the redhead added, picking up her parchment and showing Daphne the adorned letter P surrounded by a bee, an owl, and a dragonfly; the space for the phoenix still blank.

"Ooh!" the Slytherin exclaimed, expressing her appreciation of such a lovely design, and praising the excellent drawing skills of her companion, as Ginny understood her outcry.

"We still need to write the name in huge letters above the door," Daphne vocalized her thoughts. "And what about the motto? Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus? Are we going to change that?"

"For some reason," Ginny sniggered, "I think it will suit fine. Goes nicely together with the owner of the building."

A devilish grin broke out on Daphne's face.

"What?" Ginny inquired carefully.

"Oh, but we had so much fun what that motto back in school," the girl told her, "As Slytherins, we were above all the rules and advice, and did not heed this little warning either. Quite the opposite, actually, we were all very keen on proving that we could get away with tickling a sleeping dragon. Poor Draco, didn't get any decent sleep those days. There was always someone or another tickling him awake again."

Ginny couldn't hold back her laughter at that, thinking of the poor little tired Draco, who got rudely tickled every time he tried to get some rest.

"Yes, we had our glory," Daphne smirked. "At least until Draco put some defensive spells around his bed, and took personal revenge on every single person who had dared to tickle him."

"Really? What did he do?" Ginny inquired curiously.

"To each their own. He found some nifty spell and cast it on Crabbe, making all the edible things he touched with his hands turn into stone. That poor boy, he was so miserable those days. Had to use a knife and fork to eat, and everything…"

"What did he do to you?"

"Nothing," Daphne grinned. "He only took revenge on those who tickled him."

"You mean you didn't?" Ginny sounded disappointed. In her friend's place, she would have definitely done it. Although, she could still do it. Just wait until some opportune moment, then sneak up to the dozing Malfoy, and tickle him until he was begging for mercy. Now that sounded like a plan.

"Of course I did!" Daphne exclaimed, sounding slightly insulted. "He just doesn't know it."

"You devilish girl!" Ginny whooped. "Well done!"

"That was so much fun," the Slytherin beamed at her. "You should try it too, some day."

"I certainly will," the redhead promised. "Oh, I certainly will."

"So, what else did he do," Ginny asked after a moment, "besides forcing Crabbe to have proper table manners?"

"Oh, the usual," Daphne shrugged. "Snakes in their beds, potions in their drinks, stuck in a broom closet with some Gryffindor… I did that once, too, just for the fun of it."

"You did what?" Ginny frowned.

"Locked myself into a broom closet with a Gryffindor. Had heck of a wonderful time. Although for some reason, I don't think he agreed."

"Who was it?"

"Oh… Potter."

Ginny gasped.

"You were in a broom closet with my fiancé?" she demanded.

"He wasn't your fiancé then," Daphne remarked. "But we didn't do anything like that, so relax. He was busy with trying to get the door open for most of the time, while I was developing an intelligent conversation with him."

"What did you talk about then?" Ginny got curious, thinking how weird it was to hear both Harry and intelligent conversation being mentioned in the same sentence. With no negative between them. Still, not as odd as if it had been Ron instead.

"Oh, this and that, this and that," she replied. "A bit about school, a bit about weather, a bit about Quidditch. And I told him that Millicent was having a secret crush on him."

"What???"

"Yes, and for some reason he took it as his cue to double his efforts on the door. But it was all very amusing."

"I'll bet," Ginny retorted, then realized that it probably was very amusing. Perhaps she should lock Harry into a broom closet with Millicent? After their wedding of course, just in case.

"Then he pushed couple of people into the lake," Daphne continued her story of Malfoy taking revenge. "Montague almost got himself drowned, had the Giant Squid not decided to help him back ashore. Ah, it was the beginning of a beautiful relationship between him and the Squid."

Ginny was in the middle of imagining a romantic dinner of Montague and the Giant Squid, when another thought popped into her mind.

"We've got the forest, but we didn't get the Giant Squid!" she exclaimed. "Malfoy Manor does have a lake, but it's totally squidless, isn't it?"

"It might have some eels, though," Daphne wondered. "After all, where else would have Draco got the inspiration for his Ode to them?"

"Eels are eels, but a Giant Squid is still a Giant Squid," Ginny commented wisely.

"True. But perhaps it's got Seven Eels."

"Well, I can see why seven eels is better than six," the Gryffindor ventured, "but wouldn't eight be even better?"

"Not seven eels," Daphne chuckled. "Seven Eels. With capital letters. It's a very magical creature who naturally dwells in Mariana Trench. It's said to be very smart, and very rare, and very something else."

"Really?" Ginny seemed doubtful. "But why does it have such a strange name?"

"Oh, that's because it consists of seven eels who like to spend time in each other's company. What?"

The look the redhead was giving her now was more than doubtful.

"I think," the Gryffindor spoke slowly. "That you have spent too much time with Luna."

"No! It's nothing snorcackish!" Daphne protested. "It's a real creature. Honestly. Ask Hermione if you don't believe me!"

"Fine," she replied, making a mental note not to let her friend spend too much time with Luna in the future. Daphne was already weird, true, but she was the good kind of weird like Ginny herself, not the weird kind of weird like Luna. Not that Luna wasn't her friend as well, but she couldn't imagine founding a school or plotting evil things with her.

"So we need the Squid or something," she concluded, "and we still have to prepare all the rooms for students, and for Professors, and all the classrooms. And what about uniforms? And house-elves! I know Malfoy has some, but certainly not enough to feed the whole school. And we have to charm the ceiling of the ballroom, and it also needs tables and…"

"And we also need the statue of a dragon," Daphne interjected.

"Can't we have a ferret instead?" Ginny asked. "A white cute fluffy ferret. I'm sure he wouldn't mind much, would he?"

"I don't know, he still gets a bit sensitive about his ferret experience," Daphne spoke. "But don't worry, I think I have an ide—"

"No!" Ginny exclaimed.

"No?" the Slytherin girl asked in surprise. "I thought you wanted a ferret."

"I do want a statue of a ferret, but you're not having an idea," Ginny stated. "You are always having your ideas, and you never tell me anything in advance, and I have to suffer in my curiosity. But now it's my time to have an idea, and it's time I told you nothing about it, and now you are going to suffer in your curiosity."

"So you do have an idea."

"Yes," Ginny confirmed. "I do." As soon as I come up with something, she added silently.

"Well, that's good," Daphne smiled. "And don't worry about those other things, I'm sure we'll think of something. Like, we can go and prepare those rooms right now."

"Now?" Ginny questioned.

"We are already here, aren't we?"

"But what about Malfoy?"

"Ah, we can always chain him to another dungeon wall if he starts to bother us," Daphne offered.

"All right, let's go then."

And the trio (two girls and one forgotten cow) started their way through the gloominess of the Forbidden Forest towards the Castle of Pigwarts.

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