Welcome, dear readers, to another chapter of HP: The Path of Trials! There's no much to say this time around, so let's get right on in it!
However...
Disclaimer: No ownership of HP save for OC's. I tried to meet up with Rowling to discuss it, but I'm pretty sure she's not having any of it based on all the police surrounding her place. Eh, guess I'll try another day.
With that, here's...
Chapter 23: Surprising Failure
Enjoy, one and all!
"Potter! Weasley! Will you pay attention?"
Professor's McGonagall's irritated voice cracked like a whip through the Transfiguration class on Thursday, leaving Marcus to break himself from the stupor of his deep thoughts.
Though he was progressing remarkably well with his training, especially considering he was strictly following the book his Aunt Em gave him after the First Task on top of the mentorship of Cedric Diggory, he still hadn't made any headway with the golden egg, which further irritated him. It was true that he perhaps had an edge over Harry, with the empty spheres he saw when Harry opened his in the common room, but he had nothing else to go off of, and everytime he opened his own, the sheer screeching noise nearly floored him in agony.
He was devising a way to crack the mysteries of the golden egg when Professor McGonagall scolded his friends who, after Marcus looked in their direction and saw it for himself, were having a sword fight with a couple of Fred and George's fake wands at the back of the class; Harry was was holding a rubber haddock while Ron was holding a tin parrot. Sure, all three of them finished their work, and the guinea fowl they changed (or rather, Marcus') into guinea pigs had been shut away in a large cage on Professor McGonagall's desk (poor Neville's still had feathers) and they had all copied down their homework from the blackboard ("Describe, with examples, the ways in which Transforming Spells must be adapted when performing Cross-Species Switches"). And, even though it was the end of the lesson and the bell was due to ring at any moment, Marcus facepalmed himself at the childish acts of his close friends.
"Surely, they couldn't have waited until AFTER we were dismissed from class?" Marcus thought.
"Now that Potter and Weasley have been kind enough to act their age," said Professor McGonagall, with an angry look at the pair of them as the head of Harry's haddock drooped and fell silently to the floor - Ron's parrot's beak had severed it moments before - "I have something to say to you all."
"Ugh, an impromptu announcement," thought Marcus. "Hurry up and get it over with."
He was getting quite impatient, as he planned on being in the Room of Requirement after class, working on solving the mysteries of the egg. He wanted to solve it before Christmas Day, and he resolved himself to be free of any distractions until he solved that mystery.
"The Yule Ball is approaching," said Professor McGonagall. "It's a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament and an opportunity for us to socialize with our foreign guests. Now, the ball will be open only to fourth years and above - although you may invite a younger student if you wish -"
As Lavender Brown let out a shrill giggle, with Parvati Patil nudging her hard in the ribs, Marcus just sighed. He was aware of the Yule Ball, having read about it in spare time, but he figured that it didn't really apply to him and he had no intention of going, not when it would take away from training. Patil's face was working furiously hard not to giggle as they both looked around at Marcus and Harry. Marcus found himself slightly annoyed that Professor McGonagall wasn't telling the two girls off for disrupting her by excessively giggling.
"Dress robes will be worn," Professor McGonagall continued, "and the ball will start at eight o'clock on Christmas Day, finishing at midnight in the Great Hall. Now then -"
Professor McGonagall started deliberately around the class.
"The Yule Ball is of course a chance for us all to - er - let our hair down," she said, in a disapproving voice.
Lavender giggled harder than ever, with her hand pressed hard against her mouth to stifle the noise, and Marcus couldn't help but smirk at the thought. Professor McGonagall, with her hair in a tight bun, looked as though she had never let her hair down in any sense.
"But that does NOT mean," Professor McGonagall went on, "that we will be relaxing the standards of behavior we expect from Hogwarts students. I will be most seriously displeased if a Gryffindor student embarrasses the school in any way."
The bell finally rang, and there was the usual scuffle of activity as everyone packed their bags and swung them onto their shoulders.
Professor McGonagall called above the noise, "Potter, Williams - a word, if you please."
Unsure of why Professor McGonagall wanted to speak to him, Marcus proceeded to her desk alongside Harry. She waited until the rest of the class had gone before saying, "Boys, the champions and their partners -"
"What partners?" said Harry.
Professor McGonagall looked suspiciously between the two boys as though she thought Harry was trying to be funny.
"Your partners for the Yule Ball, boys," she said coldly. "Your dance partners."
Marcus' heart dropped straight to his stomach.
"Dance partners?" said Marcus quickly. "Professor McGonagall, I'm not wasting my time going. I have better things to do than to attend a social gathering. Besides, I prefer not to dance."
As Harry shook his head in agreement, Professor McGonagall said with great irritance, "Oh, yes, you are. That's what I'm trying to tell the two of you. Traditionally, the champions and their partners open the ball."
Marcus felt blindsided. Nowhere in the information he read about the Triwizard Tournament did it mention about the Champions opening up the Yule Ball.
"I'm not dancing," Harry stated.
"It is traditional," said Professor McGonagall firmly. "You two are Hogwarts champions, and you both will do what is expected as representatives of the school. So make sure you get yourselves partners, Potter, Williams."
"Screw tradition!" said Marcus, turning away. "I'm doing what is best for me!"
He started to walk away when he heard the suddenly terrifying, yet calm voice of Professor McGonagall state, "Will I be forced to contact your father in this regard, Williams?"
Whatever anger he had instantly gave way to fear, as he did NOT want to incur his father's wrath.
Marcus' head drooped before admitting defeat and saying, "No, Professor. There'll be no need. I'll find a dance partner."
"But - but -?!" Harry started to say.
"You heard me, Potter," said Professor McGonagall in a very final sort of way.
As the two boys were exiting the classroom, Marcus said irritantly, "Well, this is just great. We could be getting ready for the second task, and instead, we have to find dance partners for the Yule Ball."
"Well, it's not like we're getting out of it," Harry reasoned. "And, if we have to have dance partners, then we should find someone we want to go with, right?"
"Someone...we want to go with?"
"Well, yeah," said Harry. "If the two of us are forced to go, then we should at least try to have a good time."
Marcus started to think about it. What Harry was saying was making a lot of sense. If he was forced to go, then there would be no point in have a miserable time. It didn't take long for him to think of someone he wanted to ask. It only made the most sense, after all...
"Harry, I just realize I have to take care of something," he said. "I'll see you later!"
He suddenly took off for the Entrance Hall, feeling rather giddy. If he wanted to have a good time at the Yule Ball, he had to take someone that he knew he would have a good time with. Someone that he trusted, someone that he could bring his wall down around, and there was only one person who fit that bill.
"If I remember her schedule well, she should be coming into the Entrance Hall from Potions class," thought Marcus. "I'm sure I'm not wrong!"
He quickly bounded down the marble staircase and looked to the entrance leading into the dungeons and found who he was looking for: Lorelei Flamel, who was walking side by side with Ginny Weasley. He could see her flowing red hair that reached her waist, her shining emerald eyes, and her smile that seemed to light the room. If he was to go to the Yule Ball, he only wanted to ask her to go with him.
"This'll be easy," thought Marcus. "Here we go."
But, he didn't even get to take the first step towards her when he heard someone shout, "Excuse me, Ms. Flamel!"
Marcus looked to the source of the voice to find Justin Finch-Fletchley coming out of the dungeon entrance behind Lorelei.
"What in the world is Justin doing there?!" thought Marcus.
Despite being across the entrance hall, Marcus could hear every word Lorelei and Ginny was saying, due to his heightened senses.
"Ooh, I wonder what Justin wants," whispered Ginny, giving a sort of mischevious look at Lorelei.
"Stop that, Ginny," who looked embarrassed by Ginny's provocation.
Ginny and Lorelei turned to face Justin, who had a smile on his face, something that unsettled Marcus.
"Is there something I can help you with, Justin?" Lorelei asked politely.
"Actually, yes, there is," said Justin. "Perhaps you are already aware, but the Yule Ball is in a few weeks and, well, if you don't have anyone already -"
He suddenly took a slight bow and said, "-I would honored if you were to go to the Ball with me."
Marcus found himself frozen, unable to move. Time seemed to greatly slow down.
He saw Ginny putting her right arm around Lorelei and said, "Of course she would be honored to! Won't you, Lorelei?"
Lorelei looked slightly embarrassed, but said, "Oh, well...um...sure, I would be honored to, Justin."
"Great!" said Justin, who raised his head, revealing a great big smile on his face. "I'll see you later, then!"
Marcus felt his world spin around him. He didn't think he would actually be beaten to the punch like this. He wanted nothing more than to disappear, to retreat to a place where no one could find him.
He didn't know how, but he could feel the surrounding energy mold around him and conform to him, cloaking him until he could not see himself anymore.
Thanking himself that no one else was around to see it, he hurriedly went to the giant oak double doors and pushed one of them open just enough to slip through and take off to his hiding place...
Lorelei looked to the marble staircase and saw Marcus, his face full of sadness and despair and suddenly started to disappear before her very eyes.
She tried to take a few steps towards him, but in that moment, he completely disappeared.
Lorelei turned to Ginny, who only caught Marcus for a second, and said, "What was that for?!"
"You were lucky enough to be asked to the Yule Ball!" said Ginny. "I just didn't want you to waste that opportunity!"
"I was waiting for Marcus to ask me!" said Lorelei, looking very much perturbed.
"You can't keep waiting for Marcus, Lorelei," said Ginny sternly. "I like Marcus as a friend, and he's a great guy, if only a bit secluded. But he's got to realize that you have a life outside of his, that there will be other people besides him. If he is to see you properly, there has to be adversity...at least, that's one of the things Hermione told me."
Lorelei, too irate to say anything, yet acknowledging the wisdom in Ginny's words, left for the Gryffindor common room...
Marcus was overlooking the lake in his favorite spot, the same spot that was really hard to get to if one didn't know the way around the grounds. Tears were rolling down his cheeks, but he didn't know why.
All he wanted in that moment was to be alone, to let himself regain his bearing so that no one would have to seem him so weak, so pathetic.
But, such wants was not to be that afternoon.
"There you are, Mar-kees," said a very familiar voice.
He felt the Disillusionment Charm lift, leaving Marcus looking over his right shoulder to find Fleur Delacour, who had a kind smile to her fair face.
Which disappeared the moment Fleur saw his face.
"What's wrong, Mar-kees?" she asked him.
"It's nothing," said Marcus quickly, diverting his attention away from her, choosing instead to look at the ground.
Fleur, sitting on the ground to his left, took his face in her palms, directed his eyes to her face, and she said, "Mar-kees, please, tell me what is wrong."
Marcus slowly released her hands from his face by taking his hands and using them to remove her hands, all the while saying, "I'm surrounding by boys and girls who know nothing of the troubles of this world. Their greatest problems are trivial, at best. As such, I've always felt myself distant from everyone else. But, I thought there was one person who was the exception, someone who understood me and supported me. I guess I...I was wrong. Perhaps there isn't anyone, outside of my parents, who is like that."
Suddenly, he felt his left hand being grasped by Fleur's right hand and said, "Mar-kees, you are not as alone as you theenk you are."
He felt Fleur's free hand place itself upon his left chest as she continued, "Creatures of this world that can take the form of humans have never really been treated the same as everyone else. Even if humans don't know it, don't recognize it, they can sense that difference deep down. And, whether we are veela or dragon, we must do our best to accommodate to our surroundings and hope for the best.
"I've always been revered for my beauty, Mar-kees, but I've also been scorned for it, too. I've had to adjust to a world in which has been distant to me, just like you."
She felt the crown-shaped scar through his shirt as she continued, "Now, I may not have the particular hardships that are in your life, Mar-kees, but I do understand what you're going through. Perhaps, out of everyone you know, I may understand it best of all."
Marcus, lost for words, suddenly hugged Fleur.
"Thank you, Fleur," said Marcus, allowing his tears to flow freely.
"You are most welcome, Mar-kees," said Fleur, happily accepting his hug.
Marcus allowed his tears to dry before he looked at Fluer.
"Perhaps, I'm not as alone as I thought," he thought.
"Fleur, this may be a bit ridiculous, but can I ask you something?"
"Of course, Mar-kees," she said with a smile.
"Will you...will you go the Yule Ball with me?"
Fleur's smile stretched from ear to ear as she responded, "Yes, Mar-kees, yes of course!"
Before Marcus realized it, Fleur kissed his left cheek, stood up, and said, "We'll have to go over the finer details later, then, won't we?"
Marcus felt his cheeks flushed, his left cheek in particular felt like a smoldering flame as he said, "Of course, Fleur."
As he was making his way through the Entrance Hall, he was approached by Harry and Ron, Harry asking, "Marcus, did you get taken care what you wanted done?"
Marcus hesitated a bit before saying, "Um, I guess, in a way, I did."
"Well, glad to hear that, Marcus," said Ron, who gave a kind-hearted smile.
"Question," said Harry to Marcus and Ron. "Why do they have to move in packs?"
Harry gestered to the dozen or so girls that walked past them, sniggering and staring at Marcus and Harry.
"How're you supposed to get one on their own to ask them?"
"Lasso one?" Ron suggested.
Marcus looked at Ron in a disbelieving way and stated, "Ron, they're not farm animals. Besides, it's all a test anyway."
"What do you mean?" asked Harry.
"They're doing this to get the right guy for the dance," said Marcus. "They want someone cofident, brave, and sure to ask them. Any guy that's too embarrassed to approach a group of girls is sure to fail."
"Well, they're mad if they think they're going to get asked like that," said Ron. "Hey, Harry, Marcus, got any idea who you're going to try?"
Harry didn't give an answer. Marcus looked at him and could tell that his bespectacled friend was lost in thought, no doubt mulling over a certain prospect.
Not wanting to bring up the fact that he was going to take Fleur to the ball, Marcus lied, "Nope, I certainly have no idea."
Ron then said, "Listen, you two are not going to have any trouble. You're champions. You've just beaten a Hungarian Horntail and an American Shieldhide! I bet they'll be queing up to go with you two."
"Well, I certainly hope not," said Marcus, troubled by the thought. "That'd be a nightmare."
In tribute to their recently repaired friendship, Ron had kept the bitterness in his voice to a bare minimum. Moreover, to Marcus' utter horror, he turned out to be quite right.
In Harry's case, a curly-haired Hufflepuff girl to whom Marcus had never seen before asked Harry to go to the ball with her the very next day. Harry was so taken aback he said no before he'd even stopped to consider the matter. The girl walked off looking rather hurt, and Marcus watched as poor Harry had to endure Dean's, Seamus's, and Ron's taunts about her all through History of Magic. The following day, two more girls asked Harry, a second year and (to Marcus' great surprise) a fifth year who looked as though she might knock him out if he refused.
"She was quite good-looking," said Ron fairly, after he'd stopped laughing.
"She was a foot taller than me," said Harry, still unnerved. "Imagine what I'd look like trying to dance with her."
Marcus felt like he didn't have any right to say anything, due to his last two days.
The first day, Marcus was approached by no less than five girls, each of them being in a different year, and all of them quite eager. He politely refused them all, but secretly hoped that he wouldn't have anymore.
The second day, Marcus ended up being approached by seven girls, each of them being in their seventh year, and all of them were quite decent. After he turned them all down, Marcus ended up being interrogated to no end by Harry, Ron, Seamus, and Dean.
Yet, despite all of the bother that was the Yule Ball, life in Hogwarts was much better than it was before the First Task. He was able to convince a load of people to leave Harry enough, though it may have been more so out of being scared of him than anything else. Doing this caused fewer Support Marcus Williams! badges out and about, which Marcus didn't mind in the slightest. Draco Malfoy, of course, was still quoting Rita Skeeter's article to Harry at every possible opportunity, but he was getting fewer and fewer laughs out of it - and to cap off Marcus' well-being, no story about Hagrid had appeared in the Daily Prophet.
"She didn' seem very int'rested in magical creatures, ter tell yeh the truth," Hagrid said, when Marcus, Harry, Ron, and Hermione asked him how his interview with Rita Skeeter had gone during the last Care of Magical Creatures lesson of the term. To their very great relief, Hagrid had given up on direct contact with the skrewts now, and they were merely sheltering behind his cabin today, sitting at a trestle table and preparing a fresh selection of food with which to tempt the skrewts.
"She jus' wanted me ter talk about you two, Harry, Marcus," Hagrid continued in a low voice. "Well, I told her we'd been friends since Marcus and I went to fetch yeh from the Dursleys, Harry. 'Never had to tell them off in four years?' she said. 'Never played you up in lessons, has he?' I told her no, an' she didn' seem happy at all. Yeh'd thing she wanted me to say you two were horrible, boys."
"'Course she did," said Harry, throwing lumps of dragon liver into a large metal bowl and picking up his knife to cut some more. "She can't keep writing about what a tragic little hero I am, it'll get boring."
"She wants a new angle, Hagrid," said Ron wisely as he shelled salamander eggs. "You were supposed to say Harry and Marcus are mad deliquents!"
"But they're not!" said Hagrid, looking genuinely shocked.
"She should've interviewed that ugly git, Snape," said Marcus angrily. "He'd give her the goods on us any day. 'Potter and Williams have been crossing lines ever since they first arrived at this school...''
"Said that, did he," said Hagrid, while Ron and Hermione laughed. "Well, yeh might've bent a few rules, boys, bu' yeh're all righ' really aren' you?"
"Cheers, Hagrid," said Harry, grinning.
"You coming to this ball thing on Christmas Day, Hagrid?" said Ron.
"Though' I might look in on it, yeah," said Hagrid gruffly. "Should be a good do, I reckon. You'll be openin' the dancin', won' yeh, Harry, Marcus? Who're you two takin'?"
"No one, yet," said Harry.
"No idea, honestly," Marcus replied, looking to the ground and avoiding eye contact with everyone, in particular Hermione, who seemed to be giving him a penetrating stare. Luckily, Hagrid didn't pursue the subject.
The last week of the term became increasingly boisterous as it progressed. Rumors about the Yule Ball were flying everywhere, though Marcus knew better than to believe half of them - for instance, that Dumbledore had bought eight hundred barrels of mulled mead from Madam Rosmerta. It seemed to be fact, however, that he had booked the Weird Sisters, which was huge news. They were constantly booked all year round and were all over the WWN (Wizarding Wireless Network) for as long as Marcus knew, they were that famous.
Some of the teachers, like little Professor Flitwick, gave up trying to teach them when their minds were so clearly elsewhere; he allowed them to play games in his lesson on Wednesday, and spent most of it talking to Harry about the perfect Summoning Charm Harry had used during the first task of the Triwizard Tournament. Other teachers, unfortunately, were not so generous. For example, nothing would ever deflect stalwart Professor Binns from plowing on through his notes on goblin rebellions - as Binns hadn't let his own death stand in the way of continuing to teach, they supposed a small thing like Christmas wasn't going to put him off. It was nothing short of wonder how the ghostly scholar could make even bloody and vicious goblin riots sound as boring as Percy's cauldron-bottom report. Professors McGonagall and Moody kept them working until the very last second of their classes too, and Snape, to no one's surprise, would no sooner let them play games in class than adopt Harry. Staring nastily around at them all, he informed them that he would be testing them on poison antidotes during the last lesson of the term.
As Marcus was making his way down from the dormitory into the common room with intentions of going to the Room of Requirement, he heard Ron bitterly say, "Evil, he is. Springing a test on us on the last day. Ruining the last bit of term with a whole load of studying."
Marcus stopped moving for a second as Hermione noted, "Mmm...you're not exactly straining yourself, though, are you?" She was looking at Ron over the top of her Potions notes, who was busy building a card castle out of his Exploding Snap pack - a much more interesting pastime than with normal cards the Muggles used, because of the chance that the whole thing would blow up at any second.
"It's Christmas, Hermione," said Harry lazily; he was rereading Flying with the Cannons for the tenth time in an armchair near the fire.
Rolling his eyes, Marcus took a couple of steps toward the portrait hole when he heard Hermione say, "Marcus! Heading off to training?"
Marcus looked at her and said, "Of course. I can't slack off just because it's the holiday season. I'll see you guys later."
As he exited the common room, he was sure to put the Disillusionment Charm over himself before making his way to the Room of Requirement so that no one or, in particular eager girls, could see him and stop him.
Eventually, he made it into the Room of Requirement where he saw Cedric and Lorelei stretching, getting ready for the physical workout portion of their training.
"Ah, Marcus! Just in time. Tonight is upper body/core day for physical training, and I do believe affinity training and Duplication Spell training is afterwards," Cedric stated.
Marcus and Lorelei locked eyes for all of one second before diverting their attention away from each other.
Since the time where Justin asked Lorelei to the Yule Ball, neither of them had been able to go through a training session without feeling awkward. They did their best to try and act normal in the two trainings sessions a day because of Cedric, but there was no denying the change of atmosphere that came with the recent sessions.
And it seemed that Cedric had enough.
"Okay, before we continue, you two need to work through this," Cedric said.
"Work through what?" Marcus asked.
"This awkwardness, this uneeded tension, you two are getting rid of it," said Cedric, looking quite serious. "We're not going to do any training until this is resolved."
Marcus felt a little annoyed, but took one look at Lorelei and felt that, despite not wanting to do so, it was rather needed.
He faced Lorelei, who looked determined as well, and he said, "Lorelei, you probably knew this already, but I wanted to ask you to the Yule Ball. After Professor McGonagall told me I needed a dance partner to open the Yule Ball with, I figured that, since we're great friends and we'd have a great time, it was only natural for me to ask you. And, yes, I didn't plan on someone else asking you, and that fault lies with me. However, it would be wrong of me to try and convince you to go with me when another guy had the courage to ask you. So, that's what has been bothering me."
Lorelei, who had an unusually calm face, said, "Oh, well, yes, it is true that I knew that you were going to ask me, and I am sorry that you were beaten to the punch. But, how about this? We'll have at least one dance together, sometime before the end of the ball."
Marcus felt a little smirk across his face and said, "Yeah, that sounds really nice."
Cedric clapped his hands together and said, "All right, the issue's resolved! Let's get to it!"
So, for the next two hours, they underwent their training, Marcus noticing some remarkable things.
In the hour that was dedicated to physical training, Marcus noticed that both Cedric and Lorelei were neck and neck with Marcus' extra strenuous regimen, which was especially remarkable for Cedric as he basically started from scratch at the beginning of the school year. With Lorelei, knowing that her physical constitution was not good when they first started training two years ago, she was now, without a doubt in Marcus' mind, one of the most physically fit young ladies in all of Hogwarts, and Marcus had a feeling that she was nowhere near her potential.
When the three of them were in their magic training, Marcus knew that he was nowhere near Cedric's skill, but with each training session they had, he could feel the gap closing bit by bit. That being said, Lorelei was making leaps and bounds with her learning to the point where Marcus couldn't let up on his own learning.
"Wow!" said Marcus. "We make quite the trio, don't we?"
"Yes, we do!" said Lorelei, grinning from ear to ear.
"There's nothing we can't do," said Cedric, who was smiling as well.
Marcus felt pretty proud of both of them when his mind drifted back to his golden egg, and the mysterious clue inside of it that would reveal his next task.
Marcus sighed and said, "Well, can you guys help me with something?"
"Sure," said Cedric. "What is it?"
"What comes to mind if I say the phrase, 'empty spheres'?" asked Marcus.
Both Lorelei and Cedric looked puzzled, and they took a minute to think about what Marcus asked.
Suddenly, Cedric blurted out, "Bubbles."
Marcus, suprised by his answer, said, "Bubbles?"
"Well, yeah," said Cedric. "I see them all the time whenever I'm showering. The best times are -"
"Right underneath the water," said Marcus, realization hitting him like a ton of bricks.
"What is it?" asked Lorelei.
"The golden egg from the first task," said Marcus, just realizing it now. "There's an etching at the top of the egg where it can unhinge, and there's an etching of a starfish at the top. Dear God, how was I not paying attention!? Do you know what this means?!"
"I'm not sure, but I think you're about to tell us," said Lorelei.
"If I take the egg underwater, I may finally figure out what is in store for me in the next task!" said Marcus with excitement. "The only problem is, where in the world am I going to find such a place?"
"I know exactly where you need to go," said Cedric.
"You do?" asked Marcus. "Where?"
"It's the prefects' bathroom," said Cedric. "Fourth door to the left of that statue of Boris the Bewildered on the fifth floor. The password's 'pine fresh'."
"Okay," said Marcus, thinking extremely quickly. "I'm going to go get the egg. Meet me at the entrance to the prefects' bathroom in ten minutes, Cedric! We're going to figure out the mystery tonight!"
"Wait, what about me?" asked Lorelei as Cedric was getting his stuff around.
Marcus could tell that she wanted to figure out the mystery of the golden egg just as much as he wanted to.
"Well, Lorelei, I'm already breaking the rules by having Marcus come to the prefects' bathroom," said Cedric. "Throw in a girl being with two guys, and that'll be the end of it."
"Don't worry, I'll tell you all about it once I figure it out," Macrus told her, reassuring her.
"Well, all right," Lorelei said with reluctance. "But I want to find out everything!"
"You will! I promise!" said Marcus as him and Cedric hurried their way out of the Room of Requirement.
Marcus was sure to cast the Disillusionment Charm over himself before rushing to the Gryffindor Common Room, causing the Fat Lady much confusion as he said the password while appearing in front of her eyes. He hurried to his trunk, where his golden egg was located. He cast the Disillusionment Charm over the egg as well as himself, then carefully made his way back out of the common room and, upon exiting, took off for the fifth floor.
It took a bit, but eventually, he saw Cedric right next to the statue of Boris the Bewildered, looking around.
"Cedric, it's me," Marcus said, making sure there were no one else around.
"Fantastic," said Cedric, smiling. "I just confirmed that there's no one in there. So, once we're in there, I'll put a jinx on the door to deter everyone else from entering. We'll have as much time as we need to figure this out."
"Awesome," said Marcus. "Let's do it."
So, Cedric led the invisible Marcus to the fourth door to the left, where he said, "Pine fresh."
Immediately, the door creaked open. Cedric gestured Marcus inside and did so quickly, Cedric following closely behind, making sure to put his deterring jinx on the door when it was shut.
And, as Marcus lifted the Disillusionment Charm on both himself and his egg, he looked around.
His first thought was that, if he became a prefect - unlikely as that was - he wouldn't use any other bathroom expect for this one. It was softly lit by a splendid candle-filled chandelier, and everything was made of white marble, including what looked like an empty, rectangular swimming pool sunk into the middle of the floor. About a hundred golden taps stood all around the pool's edges, each with a differently colored jewel set into its handle. There was also a diving board. Long white linen curtains hung at the windows; a large pile of fluffy white towels sat in a corner, and there was a single golden-framed painting on the wall. It featured a blonde mermaid who, upon the two of entering, started to excessively play with her hair and bat her eyelashes.
"Wow, you prefects get everything, don't you?" asked Marcus as he sat the egg next to the pool and went to get a towel.
"Please, this is only one of the few benefits of being a prefect," said Cedric. "Trust me, being a prefect only looks good on parchment. The rest of it can go into the trash where it belongs."
As Marcus was changing into his swimsuit, he looked up at Cedric and said, "That's really surprising. A well-rounded, upstanding model Hogwarts student like yourself not liking being a prefect? Percy Weasley ate up that sort of thing like a free buffet."
"The other prefects avoided Percy like the plague," said Cedric in a matter-of-fact tone as he finished blasting the liquid bubbles into the pool.
"Can't blame you there," said Marcus, who made his way over to the edge of the pool, right next to the egg. "The only reason I couldn't avoid him is because I was in the same House as him."
He then sighed before trying to relax.
"You feeling nervous?" asked Cedric.
"A little," said Marcus. "The First Task was bad enough, I'm a little jittery in knowing what they're planning next."
"Well, let's figure it out first, then we'll plan accordingly," said Cedric.
Marcus nodded before taking the egg, placing it on his lap, and sliding into the pool, making sure that he was holding his breath.
Once he was sitting on the bottom of the pool, the egg unfolded before his eyes, making Marcus hear a chorus of eerie voices singing to him from the open egg in his hands:
"Come seek us where our voices sound,
We cannot sing above the ground,
And while you're searching, ponder this:
We've taken what you'll sorely miss,
An hour long you'll have to look,
And to recover what we took,
But past an hour - the prospect's black,
Too late, it's gone, it won't come back."
Marcus allowed himself to come back up above the surface as he took a breath of fresh air.
"So, what did you find out?" asked Cedric eagerly.
"I have it hear once more," said Marcus. "I only got about half of that."
So, Marcus dipped down into the water once more to hear the golden egg's song. Thirty seconds later, Marcus resurfaced, along with the golden egg, thankfully closed.
As he sat along the poolside next to Cedric, Cedric asked, "So, what did you find out?"
Marcus relayed the entire song back to Cedric while looking a little flushed.
"Okay, so what does this mean?" Cedric asked.
"Well, for starters, the Second Task is going to take place at the Black Lake," stated Marcus. "It's the only body of water suitable for whatever the heck is lined up for me."
"All right, what else?"
"And I have an hour to complete the task. I'm assuming it's a sort of time limit to complete the task in."
"So, you have an hour to complete the second task at the Black Lake, which involves retrieving something that has been taken from you," stated Cedric. "But, who would be doing the taking?"
"Merpeople," stated Marcus, gesturing to the painting of the mermaid on the wall. "At least, they'll be overseeing the task. That's my guess."
Cedric noticed the paleness of Marcus' face and asked, "Well, what's the problem? Everything sounds pretty clear cut."
"I have to dive down to the bottom of the Black Lake!" Marcus responded, sounding a bit delirious. "I've only had basic swimming lessons, and I'm absolutely sure I can't hold my breath for an hour!"
"Okay, first things first, there's a simple spell that'll ensure you not having to hold your breath," said Cedric reassuredly. "I'll be sure to teach it to you, don't worry. Secondly, we'll think of something to get ready for this, but let's get through the Yule Ball first, then focus on the Second Task."
"Okay, let's switch topics for a second before I feel anymore physically ill," said Marcus, who really looked like he was going to hurl.
"Well, there is something I wanted to talk to you about," said Cedric.
"Oh? What's that?"
"It's about the Yule Ball," Cedric responded. "Or, rather, someone I want to ask to the Yule Ball."
"Um, okay," said Marcus, not entirely sure how he would be any help.
"See, there's a girl I want to ask," Cedric stated. "She's in fifth year, and is quite amazing. She plays on the Ravenclaw Quidditch Team, and she does really well in her classes. I've actually liked her for the longest time, but I just don't know how to go about asking her to the Yule Ball."
Marcus was quite stunned to hear this coming from Cedric.
"Wait, so you're telling me you're having issues asking someone to the Yule Ball?"
"Yeah, that about sums it up."
"Okay, listen, Cedric," said Marcus. "I'm not exactly good with things of this nature, but you're Cedric Diggory! You're admired by practically every girl in school, you have a good head on your shoulders, well thought of by all the professors, and you're Captain of the Hufflepuff Quidditch Team! You're overthinking it if there are any doubts in your mind. This is one of those times where you tackle the problem headfirst without even thinking about it. Just do it, Cedric. You won't regret it."
"Yeah, you're right," said Cedric, who sounded relieved. "Thank, Marcus!"
"I'm just glad I could be some help," said Marcus. "I mean, you've been a huge help in my training all this year, it's the least I could do. So, this girl, what's her name?"
"Cho Chang," said Cedric.
Marcus thought the name sounded familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
"Well, let's get out of here," said Cedric. "If we stay out any later, our respective Housemates will start asking questions."
"Right you are, Cedric," said Marcus, gathering his belongings. "Let's get a move on."
And the two of them hurried out of the prefects' bathroom, Marcus feeling better about his chances in the second task then before...
The Hogwarts staff, demonstrating a continued desire to impress the visitors from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, seemed determined to show the castle at its best this Christmas. When the decorations went up, Marcus noticed - without fail - that they were the most stunning he'd ever seen inside the school. Everlasting icicles had been attached to the banisters of the marble staircase; the usual twelve Christmas trees in the Great Hall were bedecked with everything from luminous holly berries to real, hooting, golden owls, and the suits of armor had all been bewitched to sing carols whenever anyone passed them. It was rather interesting to hear "O Come, All Ye Faithful" sung by an empty helmet that happened to only know half the words. Several times, Filch the caretaker had to extract Peeves from inside the armor, where he had taken to hiding, filling in the gaps in the songs with lyrics of his own invention, all of which were very rude.
In his free time, on top of going over the details for the Yule Ball, Fleur and Marcus reconnected on such a level that the white-haired wizard felt that there was no ten year gap of absence from the quarter veela. He did find it rather challenging to keep it a secret from everyone he knew, as he would never hear the end of it otherwise.
And, on Friday morning, Marcus could see, based on the looks of worry on Harry and Ron's faces, that they still did not have dates for the Yule Ball. Ron was not as big of a concern as Harry in his matter; Harry would look much more stupid if he did not have a partner, as Harry and Marcus were to start the dancing with the other champions.
"I suppose there's always Moaning Myrtle," Harry said gloomily, referring to the ghost who haunted the girls' toilets on the second floor.
"Harry - we've just got to grit our teeth and do it," said Ron in a tone that suggested they were planning the attack of an impenetrable fortress. "When we get back to the common room tonight, we'll both have partners - agreed?"
"Er...okay," said Harry.
"Well, good luck with that," said Marcus. "You'll have to let me know how you two do."
"Okay, Marcus, what's going on with you?" asked Ron, looking a little tense. "The ball's right around the corner, yet you look completely composed. Have you even asked anyone yourself?"
"That's for me to know and for you to find out," said Marcus as he was leading the way to class.
Throughout the day, he couldn't stop thinking of Fleur or, rather, the idea of being her date to the Yule Ball. He wasn't exactly sure what he was getting himself into, but it was going to be interesting, regardless. He also couldn't stop thinking about the Second Task, having an ever-so clear idea of what was in store for him and not a whole lot of ideas on how to prepare for it, though Cedric seemed to be confident about his training.
The things that were on Marcus' mind wasn't enough to distract him from Snape's Potions test, getting himself the usual top marks, despite Snape's best efforts otherwise.
When the bell rang, Marcus got his stuff and hurried to the dungeon floor with Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
"I'll meet you at dinner," Harry said to them, and Marcus saw Harry dashing upstairs.
"Well, I'm going to go find the one I want to ask," said Ron, and proceeded to do the same thing.
Marcus looked at Hermione and said, "I'm going to go for a short walk on the grounds for a bit, I'll see you in the common room."
Hermione looked like she wanted to ask him something, but refrained as she waved as Marcus made his way to the front doors and went through them.
He only took a few steps away from the doors when he saw Fleur approaching them.
"Fleur," said Marcus, rather surprised.
"Mar-kees," said Fluer with a smile, crossing the distance and hugging him. "Just the very young man I wanted to see."
"Well, the feeling is mutual," said Marcus with a smile. "What do I owe the pleasure?"
As the two of them were entering back through the front doors, Fleur said, "Well, as much as I would like to chat, just the two of us, I have to be brief. Madam Maxime is getting really strict with her students. So, about the Yule Ball..."
"Yes?" asked Marcus.
"I think it'd be best if you were to meet me in the Entrance Hall wiz everyone else," stated Fleur.
"Are - are you sure that's a good idea?" asked Marcus, who suddenly felt worried.
"Well, I know that you don't like uneeded attention," said Fleur, who sounded sincere, "But, my current schedule doesn't have a lot of free time, so -?!"
But Fleur didn't get to finish before Marcus heard a familiar voice shout, "Ms. Delacour, will you go to the ball with me?!"
He didn't need to even look to know who shouted: Ron Weasley. Marcus knew that he had a crush on her, but to ask her to the ball? Even he didn't think of that.
He saw the look on Fleur's face, a face of disgust, and he had no choice but to facepalm himself.
She turned back to Marcus and said rather savagely, "What on Earth was that boy thinking?!"
"Um, his name is Ron Weasley, and he's one of my close friends," said Marcus.
"Oh!" said Fleur, looking caught. "I didn't realize, Mar-kees! I'm so sorry!"
"Well, it's all right," said Marcus. "He's not exactly an ideal person all the time, but he has his good points. He has a sort of crush on you, but I honestly didn't think he'd ask you to the ball."
"Well, if he's your close friend, then I shall keep an open mind," said Fleur, giving a smirk. "So, ze entrance hall, five minutes before the ball starts."
"Yeah, see you later," said Marcus as he watched Fleur leave through the front doors.
He didn't really feel like having dinner, so he made his way up to the Gryffindor common room, gave the password to the Fat Lady, and proceeded to the dormitory to change out of his school robes.
Fresh and ready for training, he looked into the common room and found Ron sitting ashen-faced in a distant corner. Ginny was sitting next to him, talking to him in what seemed to be a low, soothing voice.
As Marcus went down the stairs and made his way to Ron, he saw that Harry was entering the common room through the portrait hole and saw Ron in his rather sorry state, as well.
"What's up, Ron?" Harry asked Ron as both Marcus and Harry joined him.
Ron looked up at them both, a sort of blind horror in his face.
"Why did I do it?" he said wildly. "I don't know what made me do it!"
"What?" said Harry.
"He - er - just asked Fleur Delacour to go to the ball with him," said Ginny. She looked as though she was fighting back a smile, but she kept patting Ron's arm sympathetically.
"You what?" said Harry.
"I don't know what made me do it!" Ron gapsed again. "What was I playing at? There were people - all around - I've gone mad - everyone watching! I saw her near the entrance hall doors when I was going down for dinner and, well, it sort of came over me - and I asked her!"
Marcus decided to play dumb, as he already knew about Ron's embarrasing scene in the entrance hall.
"Wait, Ron, what was she doing near the entrance hall doors?" asked Marcus.
"I'm not sure," Ron moaned as he put his face in his hands, talking through his hands.
His words were barely distinguishable as he continued, "She may have been talking to somebody, but I was too embarrassed after she looked at like I was a sea slug or something to really notice anything else. She didn't even reply. And then - I dunno - I was just sort of came to my senses and ran for it."
"I wouldn't dwell on it," said Marcus, trying to be reassuring.
"Marcus is right," Harry told Ron. "She's part veela, so she probably has unreasonable standards. You were right, Ron - her grandmother was one. It wasn't your fault. I bet you walked in on her turing on the charm for whoever she was trying to ask to the ball."
"Well, how did you turn out, Harry?" Marcus asked.
"Not much better, I'm afraid," Harry said dully. "I asked Cho Chang to go with me to the ball, but she told me she's going with Cedric Diggory instead."
Marcus' mind suddenly flashed back to his talk with Cedric in the prefect's bathroom, and he suddenly remembered why the name sounded familiar, which made him feel a bit guilty about helping Cedric.
Ginny had suddenly stopped smiling.
"This is mad," said Ron. "We're the only ones left who haven't got anyone - well, except Neville. Hey, guys - guess who he asked? Hermione!"
"What?" said Marcus and Harry, completely distracted by this rather startling news.
"Yeah, I know!" said Ron, some of the color coming back into his face as he started to laugh. "He told me after Potions! Said she's always been really nice, helping him out with work and stuff - but she told him she was already going with someone. Ha! As if! She just didn't want to go with Neville...I mean, who would?"
"Don't!" said Ginny, annoyed. "Don't laugh -"
Just then Hermione climbed in through the portrait hole.
"Why weren't you three at dinner?" she said, coming over to join them.
"Because - oh shut up laughing, you two," Ginny said, referring to Harry and Ron. "Because they've both just been turned down by girls they asked to the ball!"
That shut Harry and Ron up.
"Thanks a bunch, Ginny," said Ron sourly.
"What about you, Marcus?" Hermione asked. "Have any luck?"
Marcus employed his best poker face as he lied, "Unfortunately not, Hermione. I'm not sure what I'll do for the ball, honestly."
"Oh, really?" said Hermione with a mischevious smirk on her face. "I heard you already have a date for the ball."
"And here I thought you were educated, Hermione," Marcus told her. "You'll have to find out the facts for yourself come Christmas Day, I'm afraid."
Hermione then turned to Ron and loftily said, "All the good-looking ones taken, Ron? Eloise Midgen starting to look quite pretty now, is she? Well, I'm sure you'll find someone somewhere who'll have you."
Marcus looked at Ron, sure that he was going to shoot back some retort. Instead, he was staring at Hermione as though he was suddenly seeing her in a whole new light.
"Hermione, Neville's right - you are a girl..."
"Oh, well spotted," she said acidly.
"Well - you can come with one of us!"
"No, I can't," snapped Hermione.
"Oh come on," he said impatiently, "we need partners, we're going to look really stupid if we haven't got any, everyone else has..."
"I can't come with you," said Hermione, now blushing, "because I'm already going with someone."
"No, you're not!" said Ron. "You just said that to get rid of Neville!"
"Oh did I?" said Hermione, and her eyes flashed dangerously. "Just because it's taken you three years to notice, Ron, doesn't mean no one else had spotted I'm a girl!"
Ron stared at her. Then he grinned again.
"Okay, okay, we know you're a girl," he said. "That do? Will you come now?"
"I've already told you!" Hermione said very angrily. "I'm going with someone else!"
And she stormed off toward the girls' dormitories again.
"She's lying," said Ron flatly, watching her go.
"She's not," said Ginny quietly.
"Who is it then?" said Ron sharply.
"I'm not telling you, it's her business," said Ginny.
"Right," said Ron, who looked extremely put out, "this is getting stupid. Ginny, you can go with Harry, and I'll just -"
"I can't," said Ginny and she went scarlet too. "I'm going with - with Neville. He asked me when Hermione said no, and I thought...well...I'm not going to be able to go otherwise, I'm not in fourth year." She looked extremely miserable. "I'll think I'll go and have dinner," she said, and she got up and walked off to the portrait hole, her head bowed.
Ron goggled at Harry and Marcus.
"What's got into them?" he demanded.
Marcus was about to respond when he saw Parvati and Lavender come in through the portrait hole.
"Wait here," Harry said to Ron, and he stood up, walked straight up to Parvati, and said, "Parvati? Will you go to the ball with me?"
Marcus watched Parvati going into a fit of giggles and Harry waiting patiently for her to subside.
"Yes, all right then," she said finally, blushing furiously.
"Thanks," said Harry, in relief. "Lavender - will you go with Ron?"
"She's going with Seamus," said Parvati, and the pair of them giggled harder than ever.
Harry sighed.
As he saw Harry leaning in towards the two girls, Marcus looked over to Ron and said, "Well, have a good night, Ron. I have to get to my training session."
Ron waved him good night as Marcus made his way to the portrait hole and, as he made his way past the girls, he heard Lavender say, "What about you, Marcus? Who are you going with?"
"I guess you'll find to find out with the rest of the school," said Marcus as he exited the common room.
As he making his way to the Room of Requirement, he couldn't help but think how bad things could turn out once everyone knew he was taking Fleur Delacour to the Yule Ball...
And this concludes another chapter of HP: The Path of Trials! Please feel free to leave a review on this story as it will help me improve my skills as a writer. Also, if you wanted to ask me any questions, please feel free to leave a PM for me to read and, I promise, I will answer any and all questions to the best of my ability. Otherwise, keep your eyes peeled for the next chapter of HP: The Path of Trials!
