Eric Hamelin caught up with Dawn on the way to Care of Magical Creatures on Thursday afternoon. "Got a Galleon?" he asked.
"I do," said Dawn. "Have Crabbe and Goyle entered your pool?"
"They have." Eric smiled. "Malfoy too."
Dawn pulled a gold coin out of her pocket and held it up so Eric could see it. "When?"
"Tomorrow morning, between first and second periods," said Eric.
Dawn dropped the coin into his hand. "Thanks." The news didn't really surprise her. That would be their best chance to catch her alone.
Eric pocketed the money with a grin. "You're welcome. There's a little side action going now. I stand to make a tidy profit if you win."
"And if I lose?"
"Not so much profit…but I'll still come out ahead, that's the nice thing about being the facilitator for these transactions."
"So what's the pot at now?"
"Fifteen Galleons, eleven Sickles, but you'll have to share with a couple of other Gryffindors now if you keep the wand."
"Who?"
Eric smiled. "I can tell you that for another Galleon."
"I think I can wait till tomorrow afternoon to find that out."
Dawn left Charms on Friday morning. It was the only fourth year class that she was taking with Gryffindor students. She had been wondering how she was going to do this. She could probably avoid Malfoy and his goons by taking the long way around and sticking to crowded hallways, or she could take the direct route to her Transfiguration class which would take her through a corridor that was usually deserted at this time of day. If she avoided Malfoy now though, he'd probably just wait to attack her at some other time, when she wasn't expecting it. She had also considered asking Harry and her other friends for a little backup, but once again she decided that that would only frighten Malfoy off temporarily. She couldn't spend the next ten months with a bodyguard following her around. She'd look like Malfoy and his goons.
Dawn turned into the deserted corridor. She couldn't see anyone, but she knew that there were several alcoves along it in which someone could hide. She started along it. "Maybe this wasn't such a bright idea." she told herself.
She kept going down the corridor. She was about half way along it when she saw the slim form of Draco Malfoy step out from behind a suit of armour ahead of her. Dawn didn't slow down, she kept moving toward him.
Malfoy moved to block her. Dawn stopped a few feet away from him, just out of his reach.
"Give me my wand," said Malfoy.
Dawn pretended to think for a moment. "Um…No, I don't think that qualifies as an apology, and it wasn't very polite either. Try again."
"Give me my wand, bitch, or you will regret it!"
"Not an improvement," said Dawn. "And you can tell your two goons who are trying to sneak up behind me to stay where they are."
"Petrificus…" Dawn dropped as soon as she heard the start of the spell being spoken by one of the goons behind her. "…Totalus!" She felt a slight brush of the spell passing over her as she spun. Her leg stretched out and she caught Crabbe's front foot. (Or it might have been Goyle's, she really wasn't sure which was which yet.) Crabbe's foot went out from underneath him and he started to fall, Dawn was already coming back up and she snatched his wand out of his hand as she passed him.
Goyle (or maybe it was Crabbe) snarled and charged at Dawn. He didn't have a wand in his hands, he seemed intent on pounding her with his fists. Dawn knew that if the big guy actually managed to make contact with her, he could do some damage, but his attack was completely without skill. Dawn deflected his first punch, and he was so off balance it just took a little shove to send him stumbling into Crabbe, just in time to knock him off his feet again. They both fell into a heap on the floor together.
Dawn finally drew her own wand. She pointed it at Crabbe and Goyle, who were trying to scramble back to their feet. "Impedimentia!" Their movements slowed, and they looked like they were struggling to move through thick molasses. Dawn reached down and plucked Goyle's wand from his pocket. "I'll take that too."
Dawn looked around to see what had happened to Malfoy. He was standing, frozen in place by the spell that Crabbe had tried to hit her with. He was tottering on his feet, and finally fell over backwards. Dawn winced as his head hit the floor. "Ooo, that had to hurt!"
She could hear Draco trying to cry out in pain, and tears filled his rapidly blinking eyes. She knelt beside him to have a good look at them. She shaded them with her hand to see how his pupils reacted. "Okay, you're not out cold, you don't seem to be bleeding, and your pupils look good, so I don't think you got a concussion, but you might want to go see Madam Pomfrey anyway, when that spell wears off." She got back to her feet. "I'd go tell her myself, but if I don't hurry, I'll be late for Transfiguration, and Professor McGonagall really hates it when students are late."
Dawn arrived at Transfiguration with about ten seconds to spare. McGonagall frowned at her, and her eyes narrowed when she saw that Dawn now had three wands adorning her hair. She didn't make any comment about it though, but launched straight into her lecture.
About five minutes into the class someone behind Dawn suddenly laughed. She glanced around and saw one of the Hufflepuff boys pointing toward her, and whispering to a friend.
Others in the class noticed them, and there were several more snorts of laughter as others in the class noticed that Dawn had added to her collection.
Professor McGonagall tapped her wand sharply on her desk. "Your attention please! Any further outbursts, and I will be forced to deduct points from your houses." Everyone quickly settled down and returned their attention to the front of the class.
Several kids started to approach Dawn as soon as the class ended. That stopped as soon as Professor McGonagall called out: "Summers! I would like to have a word with you." Suddenly everyone wanted to far away from Dawn, and the classroom emptied out as she made her way forward toward McGonagall's desk.
"Yes Professor?"
"Am I correct that you have now added Crabbe and Goyle's wands in your hair, along with Mr. Malfoy's?"
"Yes Professor."
"Do you plan to collect the wand from every Slytherin student in the school?"
"No ma'am. Just the ones who attack me."
"I see. And do you intend to hold on to them indefinitely?"
"No Professor. Just until dinner tonight."
"What happens at dinner tonight?"
"I plan to hand them all over to Professor Snape, and let him decide what to do with them."
"I see," said McGonagall. "Good day, Summers."
Dawn flashed her a smile. "Bye Professor." She returned to her desk to gather up her notebooks, and hurried off to join her friends in DADA class.
Dawn slipped into the empty seat beside Harry in class. "Hi guys!"
Ron was on the other side of the Harry. He looked across at her. "You seem to have acquired some more wands. Who do those belong to?"
"Crabbe and Goyle. They tried to help Malfoy take his wand back."
"When did that happen?" asked Harry.
"Just before Transfiguration."
"What did you do to them?" asked Ron.
"I just did an Impedimentia on them," said Dawn. "Crabbe—or maybe it was Goyle, I'm still not sure which is which—tried to hit me with a Petrificus Totalus but he missed and got Malfoy instead. I left them all in the third floor corridor between Charms and Transfiguration. Someone's bound to have found them by now, even if the spells haven't worn off yet."
Dawn scanned the Slytherin table when she arrived in the Great Hall for dinner. She couldn't see any sign of Malfoy, Crabbe or Goyle. She walked down along the table and stopped opposite Eric. "Just for the record, I've still got it," she told him. "I'll be expecting my winnings soon."
"I always pay my winners promptly," said Eric. "Anything else is bad for business." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a cloth sack. "Here you go." He tossed it to her. "I think you can be trusted to make sure that Potter and Weasley get their shares. You can keep the bag."
"Thanks!" said Dawn. She continued toward the teacher's table, where Professor Snape was engaged in a conversation with Professor Sinistra. She stopped in front of them, and pulled the wands from her hair. "Excuse me, Professor Snape?"
Snape looked across at her. "What is it Summers?"
Dawn placed the wands on the table in front of him. "Could you see that these get back to their owners, please."
"So, Mr. Malfoy has given you an acceptable apology then?"
"No, I'm just getting tired of carrying it around."
Professor Snape pursed his lips. He slowly reached out and picked up Crabbe and Goyle's wands. He left Malfoy's on the table in front of him. "You were the one who set the condition for the return of Mr. Malfoy's wand, Miss Summers, not me. You will continue to carry it until you have received his apology." He put Crabbe and Goyle's wands into an inner pocket of his robes.
Dawn looked at Snape for a moment before she picked up Malfoy's wand again. "If that's the way you want it." She turned around and saw that Malfoy had entered the Hall while she'd been talking with the Professor. He was standing by the door, looking at her, with Crabbe and Goyle flanking him. He saw her looking at him, and started to look like he was going to bolt.
"Malfoy! Don't move!" Dawn shouted, and she started toward him. Malfoy looked around desperately, hoping for some escape from the crazy girl bearing down on him, but half the hall was staring at him…the half that wasn't staring at Dawn. He couldn't bear the humiliation of being seen to run from her.
Malfoy tried to recover a little by sneering at Dawn as she came closer. "What do you want now, mudblood."
"I want this nonsense to end!" said Dawn. She waved his wand under his nose. "You can get this back very simply, without you or your goons collecting any more bruises. I figure you can get it back by speaking about eight words. I don't insist on sincerity, I realize that is beyond your capacity, but I do insist on the words. Now, repeat after me: 'I'm sorry.'"
Malfoy glared at her for a moment. "I'm sorry." he sneered.
"Try it again, with a little less sneer. You can do it."
"I'm sorry." said Malfoy.
"I knew you could!" said Dawn in a tone of voice that made a couple of nearby Muggle born kids who could remember Mr. Rogers snicker. "Now say: 'May I have my wand back, please.' I realise you may be unfamiliar with the word, but the 'please' is very important."
"May I have my wand back, please." said Malfoy.
"Very good!" Dawn tapped him on his chest with the wand. "Now, you remember what I told you I'd do with this if you ever tried to curse me again?"
Malfoy nodded.
"Good!" Dawn shoved the wand into the pocket on the front of his robe. "Don't forget it."
There was applause from around the hall as Dawn turned and started to walk away from Malfoy. She ignored it as her wand came out of the spring loaded stake holster she'd adapted for it, and had strapped to her forearm under the sleave of her robe. "Incantum Reverto," she said quietly. It was a spell they'd been practicing in DADA today. She didn't turn when she heard a gasp from the students watching.
"Verruca Multiplico!" said Malfoy behind her. She felt a slight vibration as his spell reflected off the shield she'd erected.
Dawn slowly turned toward Malfoy, a smile on her lips. She saw his gloating expression slowly fade when he saw her face. She raised her wand. "Expeliarmus!" Malfoy's wand went flying into the air. It clattered to the floor half way between them.
Dawn hadn't done summoning charms yet, but she knew one that would work. She pointed to the wand on the floor. "Leviosa!" Malfoy's wand rose up off the floor, and she floated it toward herself. She walked forward to meet it, and picked it out of the air. She kept walking toward Malfoy, who was looking terrified now.
"You are so lucky there's more than one place for me to stick this where the sun don't shine." Dawn tapped his wand against his chest. "And by the way, the warts: good look for you!"
Malfoy's hands went to his face, feeling the warts that had started popping up on his skin from the spell Dawn had reflected back at him. He saw that his hands were covered with them too. He turned and ran from the hall. Dawn looked back and forth between Crabbe and Goyle. They turned and ran after Malfoy.
Dawn walked to the Gryffindor table accompanied by roars of laughter. She took a seat beside Harry and across from Ron and Hermione, and placed Malfoy's wand on the table in front of them. "So, now I have to find some place where the sun don't shine to stick this…other than Malfoy's ass, because I really don't want to see that." She pulled the bag of coins she'd gotten from Eric out of her pocket and dumped it out on the table too. "So, let's see, how do we split…fourteen Galleon's and thirteen Sickles three ways?"
