Luna Nova cafeteria

"Heh, Professor Badcock is actually a Nightfall fan..."

Sucy mused about how Professor Badcock had called the Red Coven girls back into the classroom after class has ended...just so she can ask "Annabel Creme" for an autograph, without the rest of the class learning about her being a Nightfall fan.

Lotte didn't want to cash in on Annabel Creme's fame, or even literally be Annabel Creme, but she has no say on the matter due to the Curse of Annabel Creme, so she figured she might as well make the awkward moment easier and autograph on Professor Badcock's copy of Nightfall Volume 366 (Did she attend the Nightcon last Saturday? Lotte wondered).

In the process of processing the fact that Professor Badcock is a Nightfall fan, Akko has completely forgotten about having seen Mary-Ann Lait, the previous author of the books, just minutes ago.

"I guess everyone have their own embarrassing secrets." Akko quipped, as she munched on her pickled plums after having just finished her lunch.

"I wonder if that applies to Miss Perfect Cabbage as well..." Sucy added as she stared over Akko's shoulder at Diana, who is in the background directing several other students in setting up the decorations meant for the coming 60th Anniversary Luna Nova-Appleton Friendship Ball/ Luna Nova Alumni Homecoming Party fusion event.

Of course, Hannah and Barbara are standing by Diana's sides, making things harder for the students by continuously pointing out that something is "too ugly" or" too cheap".

"They're already preparing for the event?" Akko said, taking note of the decorating, and how the news network ran by the Yellow Coven are already covering the decorating (from a safe distance away from the Blue Coven).

"It's two large events fused into one." Lotte informed. "With the boys from Appleton Academy, as well as Luna Nova alumni from all walks of life, all coming to Luna Nova, everyone are trying their best to make an impressive display."

Wispy squeaked in a way as though reminding its master.

"Oh, and on a very limited budget too." Lotte then added.

"Very limited budget, it seems..." Sucy remarked, as she glanced down at her meal, which consisted of a small lump of mashed potatoes, a few pieces of lettuce, exactly three cherry tomatoes, and a small glass of water, exactly the same as what Akko and Lotte just had. "This is the only variation of lunch they have today. Talk about stringy..."

The puce-haired girl then looked at Akko's jar of pickled plums.

Akko noticed Sucy looking at her jar of pickled plums. "Want some?" Akko asked as she held out a single pickled plum for Sucy.

"No thanks." Sucy declined.

Akko blinked. "Then why were you looking at my Umeboshi like that?

"Just curious as to why you always eat exactly five pieces whenever you decide to snack on them. And always after lunch and dinner, at that..." Sucy pointed out.

Akko replaced the lid on the jar of pickled plums, and then scratched her head in regards to what Sucy said. "I don't know? It's how I have been eating them in the past 10 years. My parents told me to eat my Umeboshi like that. So ask them?"

Sucy didn't respond to that. She narrowed her eyes as if she just figured out something...

"What in the Nines' name were you girls doing?!"

The Red Coven turned their attention to Diana as she suddenly exclaimed.

As it turns out, Amanda is also leading her own decorating crew (which, aside from Constanze and Jasminka, seemed to consist entirely of Luna Nova's American students), who have somehow brought in an entire set of loudspeakers and what looked like one of those fancy music players used in nightclubs. And that appears to be what Diana is exclaiming about.

"I'm making the coming party more lively than what you posh, stiff-lipped Brits have in mind. What else?" Amanda sarcastically responded. "Oh wait! You're not a posh, stiff-lipped Brit, Cabbage. You're a posh, stiff-lipped Scot."

Diana seems offended by that statement, as she narrowed her eyebrows. "Don't. Call. Me. That." She growled.

"Don't call you what?" Amanda pretended to ask. "A posh, stiffed-lipped Scot?" She then snickered.

Heather Lockhart stepped forward to Amanda's right. "Oh, ye gon' need to wear a darn kilt an' play a darn bagpipe, or ye no a true Scotswoman." She then mocked Diana by putting up a Scottish accent that's even more atrocious than the one Amanda put up after the first Broom Flying Class last week. Heather immediately started laughing out loud as soon as she finished her mocking.

A chorus of laughter quickly erupted among Amanda's side of students. And some of the students from Diana's side too. Though some gasped in shock at the fact that Heather so casually insulted Diana, including Heather's own Coven mates, Daisy and Rosie.

Diana, on the other hand, is trying her hardest to suppress her anger, as indicated by her grinding her teeth and clenching her fists.

"You bloody Americans should shut it." Hannah stepped forward to speak in Diana's behalf. "The 60th Anniversary Luna Nova-Appleton Friendship Ball and Alumni Homecoming Party are formal events, not a bloody disco party."

"And turn off that bloody music while you're at it." Barbara added, referring to the song being played from the music player that Amanda's crew brought in.

"Hey! Don't you dare insult AC/DC's Shoot To Thrill!" Amanda argued. "It's a masterpiece! It even got featured in the first Avengers movie!"

"I don't care. It's not posh, and it has no place in formal events." Hannah argued back.

"You American witches and your love for muggle pop culture." Barbara said as she placed her right hand over her face and sighed.

"Oh yeah? Watch this, bitches!" Amanda then flipped the Blue Coven her middle fingers.

"Why you...!" Hannah and Barbara said in unison, having not taken kindly to being flipped off by the American redhead.

Diana raised a hand to silence everyone. She then stepped forward and flipped her hair before addressing Amanda. "These music genres you call Rock are barbaric. If you insist on having music playing in the background during the banquet, might I suggest playing something by Ed Sheeran instead?"

Amanda scoffed. "So you're into modern music too, Cabbage. I thought you were all-"

"Don't. Call. Me. That." Diana interrupted Amanda with a scowl.

At that distance, the ace student's scowl is enough to make the redhead reel back in intimidation. "Ugh. This isn't over yet, you Blue bitches."

Constanze then directed a grunt at the Blue Coven, who don't understand what she is saying and made no response.

Amanda and her friends, however, did seem to understand. Amanda and Bridget both stared wide-eyed at the German mute.

"Even if England and Parker are absolutely intolerable, there's still no need for such a vulgar word." Heather informed Constanze with a shrug.

Constanze let out another grunt.

Whatever it is that Constanze meant to say, Amanda let out a laugh in response to it. "'They don't understand anyway.' Good one, Conz!"

Hannah and Barbara remain confused, as are the rest of Diana's crew. Diana herself, however, did get the intent.

"O'Neil, you were able to translate Albretschberger's grunts into whole sentences?" Diana asked out of curiosity.

"Yeah. Conz here has a Chewbacca thing going on with the way she speaks. Why'd you care?" Amanda answered casually.

Diana knew Amanda was using something from muggle pop culture as a comparison, but she never followed pop culture of any kind, much less muggle ones, and never understood why some witches like Amanda, or Mary Robinson from the Purple Coven, liked them so much.

"It means that Conz 'language' sounds like complete gibberish to the untrained ear, in case you don't know." Amanda clarified.

"I see." Diana said.

"This is an important conversation right now?" Erika Mendez from the Lemon Coven popped out from among Diana's crew to point out.

Amanda responded with a shrug.

Meanwhile, the Red Coven who watched the argument and later conversation from a distance at the table where they sat, turned to look at each other.

"Typical US vs UK debate..." Sucy shrugged.

"I never knew Constanze's grunts were actually her way of speaking..." Akko stated.

"I always knew Constanze spoke like that. I just never knew what she was saying..." Lotte informed.

"Yo, Reds!" Amanda suddenly called out to the Red Coven after Diana and her crew had went back to their side of the decorating. "Wanna come and give me a hand?"

My apologies for yet another shitty chapter. If anything, this chapter could be even shittier than chapter 16 (The Bigger Picture) because two months of being stuck inside my house due to the nationwide quarantine (because of, as you all know, COVID-19) has confused the hell out of my brain, leading to me somehow contracting ADHD which in turn led to me having a very severe case of Writer's Block as well as getting easily distracted by just about everything else (Discord, Reddit, other fics on AO3, etc...).

I wanted to get this chapter out of Writer's Block Hell ASAP, but coupled with the aforementioned ADHD, it led to this chapter being quite possibly one of the shittiest thing I've ever written. The only shittier thing I ever wrote in my life is a "What If?" post in a LWA Discord server that contained the word "date-rape" which resulted in me getting the ban hammer, and I'm not even sure why I thought that was a good idea back then. For a taste of irony: that was the same LWA Discord server that inspired me to write Father (A LWA one-shot on AO3)

COVID-19 sure messed up the life of the entire world's population...

"Just remember: a believing heart is your magic..."

Afterwords end here.