1 Chapter 8
Upon awaking from his forced unconsciousness, Nitrotic stared around angrily. Neither Aurora, nor his cloak was anywhere to be found.
"When I find her, I'm gonna get here so good!" Nitrotic worked his way to his feet, and looked around the Astronomy Tower. As before, neither could be seen.
"Grrr!" Nitrotic growled. Just then, Aurora came dashing up the stairs with two huge containers. His anger was instantly forgotten.
"Exactly how much Polyjuice Potion did you intend to make?" Nitrotic demanded.
"Snape almost caught me, I could have been turned into a Flobberworm!" Aurora gasped for breath.
"And so you immediately came here?" Nitrotic said sardonically.
"Oops." As realisation dawned on Aurora, Nitrotic grabbed the Cloak that had been trailing behind her, and covered the pair of them. Snape, who'd been following the glimpse he'd gotten of a girl, ran up the stairs to the Astronomy Tower. In front of him he held a strange device.
"Aurora! That's an Invisibility Detector!" Nitrotic whispered to her urgently. Aurora went pale. Together they crept away from Snape, keeping behind him at all times until they reached the staircase and ran very quietly to the toilet where they were creating the Polyjuice Potion. Quickly the potion was finished with the hair going in last. The potion turned orange and smelled faintly of flowers.
"Good thing it turned orange, we can slip it into his pumpkin juice." Nitrotic grinned. Aurora and Nitrotic looked up simultaneously and each of them found themselves looking into the other's eyes. A long moment passed, which seemed like an eternity, before Nitrotic broke his gaze.
"Erm, uh, well at least we can get Zantor now." Nitrotic stammered, uncharacteristically nervous.
"Uh, yeah." Aurora was also acting unusual, much more subdued. "How do we get it into his juice?" With that comment, Nitrotic was immediately back into mischief mode.
"I happen to have an acquaintance in the kitchen. Goes by the name of Dobby, I accidentally gave him a sock on Christmas, and he hasn't turned down a single request I made since. We get him to give us a goblet of pumpkin juice, sneak into the Great Hall at dinner with the Invisibility Cloak, and swap his goblet for ours, the one with the Polyjuice Potion in it. Ingenious huh?" Nitrotic grinned his broad grin. His teeth were very white, Aurora suddenly noticed. And very straight. Nitrotic picked up on this.
"What, do I have something on my face?" Nitrotic asked.
"Huh?! Oh, no, of course not!" Aurora said. Nitrotic gave her an odd look, then shrugged. "Whatever" He then proceeded to a painting, which hid the entrance to the kitchen. Hundreds of house-elves greeted their eyes, and about twenty came up to them, and offered them many delicious looking things.
"Funny that we never see this stuff on the plates at mealtimes." Aurora commented.
"Yeah, it's almost as if they're holding out on us." Nitrotic sighed as he saw a large pile of chocolate chip biscuits, bigger than himself.
"Sir, sir, sir!" An excited voice rose above the general noise, while Aurora and Nitrotic stocked up on anything that took their fancy.
"Hello Dobby" Nitrotic called to the house-elf.
"What can Dobby be doing for you today?" Dobby asked, eagerly listening.
"Oh, nothing much, we were just a bit thirsty, and thought we'd get ourselves and our friend a drink. Could we have three goblets of pumpkin juice?" Nitrotic asked, sounding innocent.
"Of course!" Dobby almost instantly had the three goblets.
"Thanks Dobby. I'll come and visit you tomorrow with a present for your help." Nitrotic hinted. The pair then left, and in the Great Hall they replaced Zantor's goblet. They then unfortunately had to part ways as they went to sit at their House tables.
"Yo, Nitrotic, what's up?" Asked a boy Nitrotic knew.
"Nothing much." Nitrotic replied.
"Looking forward to tomorrow's Quidditch match?" The boy asked.
"Crap! The Quidditch match! I've been so busy I forgot to practice!" Nitrotic cursed loudly and in several different tongues quite fluently.
"Awww, man, c'mon! We're up against Hufflepuff, and they've got a hell of a team this year! Lucky this is an informal match, or there'd be points at stake! As it stands, we'll still lose face. When the others come back, THEN we'll have to be good."
"It's not long until school IS back on. And then we'll kick some Hufflepuff Butt! Then we'll take down the rest of 'em!!" That was met with a loud cheer from the Hufflepuff table. The team kept chatting, and it was in the middle of Nitrotic's fifth slightly spiked pumpkin juice that the current team captain of the Ravenclaw approached him.
"Hey, Nitrotic." He said.
"Yeah?" Nitrotic was still concentrating on his drink, and not paying all that much attention to him.
"Well, you've noticed how we don't seem to be going that well at Quidditch lately." The Captain, Sam, said.
"Yeah." Nitrotic replied, noncommittally.
"Well, I was thinking. You've had more experience on the Quidditch field. And you have such a gift with people, like you got those guys just then all started up without even trying." Sam continued. Nitrotic was starting to get bored listening to him.
"Is this going somewhere, Sam?" Nitrotic asked as he took a swig of his drink.
"Well, I was wondering if you would like to be captain of the Quidditch team." Sam tripped backwards as Nitrotic sent the contents of his goblet everywhere, and started choking on the mouthful he already had. When his face started turning blue the rest of the Great Hall started taking notice. When his face finally regained its natural pale colour he slapped the table and stood up quickly.
"Say what?!" Nitrotic demanded.
"Are you sure you'll be ok if I ask again?" Sam asked, concerned.
"DO IT!!!" Nitrotic ordered loudly, seemingly growing to epic proportions.
"I, er, I mean, ummm, I'd like you to be captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team." Sam stuttered nervously. "The entire team thinks it's a good idea!"
Nitrotic's face took on a look of happiness, one rarely seen on the usually depressed boy.
"I'd love to be captain of the Quidditch team." Nitrotic beamed. He was so happy he didn't even notice Zantor becoming a girl his exact opposite. Nor did he notice Aurora smiling at him, a faraway look in her eyes.
Upon awaking from his forced unconsciousness, Nitrotic stared around angrily. Neither Aurora, nor his cloak was anywhere to be found.
"When I find her, I'm gonna get here so good!" Nitrotic worked his way to his feet, and looked around the Astronomy Tower. As before, neither could be seen.
"Grrr!" Nitrotic growled. Just then, Aurora came dashing up the stairs with two huge containers. His anger was instantly forgotten.
"Exactly how much Polyjuice Potion did you intend to make?" Nitrotic demanded.
"Snape almost caught me, I could have been turned into a Flobberworm!" Aurora gasped for breath.
"And so you immediately came here?" Nitrotic said sardonically.
"Oops." As realisation dawned on Aurora, Nitrotic grabbed the Cloak that had been trailing behind her, and covered the pair of them. Snape, who'd been following the glimpse he'd gotten of a girl, ran up the stairs to the Astronomy Tower. In front of him he held a strange device.
"Aurora! That's an Invisibility Detector!" Nitrotic whispered to her urgently. Aurora went pale. Together they crept away from Snape, keeping behind him at all times until they reached the staircase and ran very quietly to the toilet where they were creating the Polyjuice Potion. Quickly the potion was finished with the hair going in last. The potion turned orange and smelled faintly of flowers.
"Good thing it turned orange, we can slip it into his pumpkin juice." Nitrotic grinned. Aurora and Nitrotic looked up simultaneously and each of them found themselves looking into the other's eyes. A long moment passed, which seemed like an eternity, before Nitrotic broke his gaze.
"Erm, uh, well at least we can get Zantor now." Nitrotic stammered, uncharacteristically nervous.
"Uh, yeah." Aurora was also acting unusual, much more subdued. "How do we get it into his juice?" With that comment, Nitrotic was immediately back into mischief mode.
"I happen to have an acquaintance in the kitchen. Goes by the name of Dobby, I accidentally gave him a sock on Christmas, and he hasn't turned down a single request I made since. We get him to give us a goblet of pumpkin juice, sneak into the Great Hall at dinner with the Invisibility Cloak, and swap his goblet for ours, the one with the Polyjuice Potion in it. Ingenious huh?" Nitrotic grinned his broad grin. His teeth were very white, Aurora suddenly noticed. And very straight. Nitrotic picked up on this.
"What, do I have something on my face?" Nitrotic asked.
"Huh?! Oh, no, of course not!" Aurora said. Nitrotic gave her an odd look, then shrugged. "Whatever" He then proceeded to a painting, which hid the entrance to the kitchen. Hundreds of house-elves greeted their eyes, and about twenty came up to them, and offered them many delicious looking things.
"Funny that we never see this stuff on the plates at mealtimes." Aurora commented.
"Yeah, it's almost as if they're holding out on us." Nitrotic sighed as he saw a large pile of chocolate chip biscuits, bigger than himself.
"Sir, sir, sir!" An excited voice rose above the general noise, while Aurora and Nitrotic stocked up on anything that took their fancy.
"Hello Dobby" Nitrotic called to the house-elf.
"What can Dobby be doing for you today?" Dobby asked, eagerly listening.
"Oh, nothing much, we were just a bit thirsty, and thought we'd get ourselves and our friend a drink. Could we have three goblets of pumpkin juice?" Nitrotic asked, sounding innocent.
"Of course!" Dobby almost instantly had the three goblets.
"Thanks Dobby. I'll come and visit you tomorrow with a present for your help." Nitrotic hinted. The pair then left, and in the Great Hall they replaced Zantor's goblet. They then unfortunately had to part ways as they went to sit at their House tables.
"Yo, Nitrotic, what's up?" Asked a boy Nitrotic knew.
"Nothing much." Nitrotic replied.
"Looking forward to tomorrow's Quidditch match?" The boy asked.
"Crap! The Quidditch match! I've been so busy I forgot to practice!" Nitrotic cursed loudly and in several different tongues quite fluently.
"Awww, man, c'mon! We're up against Hufflepuff, and they've got a hell of a team this year! Lucky this is an informal match, or there'd be points at stake! As it stands, we'll still lose face. When the others come back, THEN we'll have to be good."
"It's not long until school IS back on. And then we'll kick some Hufflepuff Butt! Then we'll take down the rest of 'em!!" That was met with a loud cheer from the Hufflepuff table. The team kept chatting, and it was in the middle of Nitrotic's fifth slightly spiked pumpkin juice that the current team captain of the Ravenclaw approached him.
"Hey, Nitrotic." He said.
"Yeah?" Nitrotic was still concentrating on his drink, and not paying all that much attention to him.
"Well, you've noticed how we don't seem to be going that well at Quidditch lately." The Captain, Sam, said.
"Yeah." Nitrotic replied, noncommittally.
"Well, I was thinking. You've had more experience on the Quidditch field. And you have such a gift with people, like you got those guys just then all started up without even trying." Sam continued. Nitrotic was starting to get bored listening to him.
"Is this going somewhere, Sam?" Nitrotic asked as he took a swig of his drink.
"Well, I was wondering if you would like to be captain of the Quidditch team." Sam tripped backwards as Nitrotic sent the contents of his goblet everywhere, and started choking on the mouthful he already had. When his face started turning blue the rest of the Great Hall started taking notice. When his face finally regained its natural pale colour he slapped the table and stood up quickly.
"Say what?!" Nitrotic demanded.
"Are you sure you'll be ok if I ask again?" Sam asked, concerned.
"DO IT!!!" Nitrotic ordered loudly, seemingly growing to epic proportions.
"I, er, I mean, ummm, I'd like you to be captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team." Sam stuttered nervously. "The entire team thinks it's a good idea!"
Nitrotic's face took on a look of happiness, one rarely seen on the usually depressed boy.
"I'd love to be captain of the Quidditch team." Nitrotic beamed. He was so happy he didn't even notice Zantor becoming a girl his exact opposite. Nor did he notice Aurora smiling at him, a faraway look in her eyes.
