Chapter 6
She yawned loudly as she climbed out of the shower and tiredly got dressed. The Slytherins were back to playing their loud music again and last night had been a total nightmare. Fortunately, it had been abruptly cut off around two in the morning. As to why, Roxy had no idea. She had been in bed, trying to sleep, the whole night.
Maybe another Hufflepuff got sick of the music. I'll have to ask Caleb and Mike about it at breakfast, thought Roxy.
She finished getting dressed in her muggle clothes and exited the bathroom. All of the other girls were either sleeping or attempting to get out of bed. Roxy walked over to the window beside her bed and opened it, a cold breeze gliding into the room. The other girls shivered and ducked back under their covers.
"Roxy!" chorused the group.
"Sorry," apologized Roxy with an innocent smile.
The brown haired girl stuck her head out the window and lifted two fingers to her mouth, ignoring the complains filling the air around her. She let out a shrill whistle that pierced the morning sky. Flying through the air with ease came Satan who flew in through the open window and landed on Roxy's outstretched arm. Megan who was freezing her butt off even with three layers of covering on pointed her wand out from under her covers and said a spell that made the window slam shut.
"You can freeze your witch butt off all you want, Roxy, but go do it outside!" nearly hollered Megan.
"Please!" added the others.
Roxy snorted at them and left with Satan still perched on her arm. She made it to the Great Hall in no time and found the two seventh year Slytherins already waiting for her.
"Morning, Roxy. And this must be your Augurey," chuckled Michael.
"Yep. Guys, this is Satan. Satan, this is Michael and Caleb. They're the Slytherins I told you about earlier," spoke Roxy.
The Augurey tilted its head to the side as it stared at the two older students and then let out a cheerful whistle. Roxy smiled as she looked up at them.
"That means he likes you. He lets out an ear-shattering shriek at someone he or I don't like," translated Roxy.
"Hmm. Makes you imagine what he did when he met Malfoy," snickered Caleb.
The three friends laughed loudly as they all sat down at the Hufflepuff table. There were a few other students in the Great Hall that were either talking with friends or eating but they paid no mind to the mischievous trio. Each one piled food onto their plates and began eating their breakfast. During this time, Roxy set up a bowl of fruit in which Satan started devouring.
"I got something to ask ya, Roxy. Don't Augurey's eat large insects and fairies?" quizzed Michael.
"And aren't they intensely shy?" put in Caleb.
"When I first got Satan, he did eat those types of things and he was very shy. You see, I'd often feed him table scraps of fruit during dinner. Soon he just got accustomed to eating that. He eats insects every once in a while, no more fairies though. After I'd had Satan for a year, I started pet therapy at St. Mungo's with him. A few months passed and his shyness sort of disappeared. We still do the pet therapy during the winter holidays and over the summer."
"That's cool," remarked Michael.
The unique trio of friends chatted until almost everyone was in the Great Hall. Surprisingly, Caleb and Michael didn't move to the Slytherin table when all the Hufflepuff's were seated. Roxy was okay with it since she knew how outgoing the two boys could be.
"Oh, I almost forgot. I heard-," began Roxy.
"-extremely loud music coming from Slytherin turf last night?" finished Michael.
"We know. Apparently, the sixth years decided to throw caution to the wind and blast everyone's bloody ears off. Mike and I were barely outside of the dungeons when we heard it," said Caleb.
"Rushed into the room, put a stop to the music real quick. Caleb came dangerously close to taking Malfoy's head off. Shouted every bloody well curse word I know. That certainly shut them six years up," explained Michael.
Roxy slapped a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing but failed miserably, laughing just as loud as the rest of her fellow Hufflepuff's.
"Boy, do I wish I had been there!" laughed Roxy.
"We would have been glad to have ya there. After Caleb chewed Malfoy out, they all high tailed it up to the dorms. Left us with one heck of a mess in the common room," said Michael.
"Everyone done eating?" asked Ernie.
The people around him nodded their heads and he stood up.
"Okay then. Let's get going, team. We have a lot of time to practice today and we need to be ready for the Slytherins next Saturday. Roxy, we'll see you down at the pitch in five, 'kay?"
"No prob."
Everyone on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team except Roxy stood up and followed Ernie out of the Great Hall. Roxy stood up as well and stretched.
"Sorry to have to leave but Ernie wants me to get our substitute in shape for the game," apologized Roxy.
"It's okay, Minister Roxy," chuckled Michael.
"Yeah. We can always talk at lunch or dinner," put in Caleb.
"Thanks. Hey, how would you guys like to take care of Satan for the day? When he's not with me, he's usually in the dorms bored out of his mind," explained Roxy.
"Sure. We'd love to have the little fella along for the ride," said Caleb.
Satan hopped onto Caleb's arm, took a strand of Caleb's hair, and softly yanked on it. Caleb put his hand up to the bird's mouth and tried to pull the piece of hair out of the Augurey's mouth.
"He doesn't do that very often. It's sort of a sign that he wants you to take him around. Like through the halls or up the stairs," reported Roxy.
"Thanks. Maybe by the time the day's done we'll have figured out all of these weird things he does," jokingly smiled Caleb.
"Well, I guess I'll catch up with you two later. Bye."
"Bye, Minister Roxy," said the two at once.
"Keep it up, guys!"
None of the professors at Salem Brook Academy could have ever prepared me for something like this, thought Roxy.
Quidditch practice for her was not going as smoothly as she hoped it would be. Kevin was slower on his broom from Quidditch tryouts and things were looking on the positive side. Roxy watched from the ground as Kevin failed for his fifth time against Ernie to catch the snitch.
"Take five, captain!" shouted Roxy.
"Okay! I need to go talk to Justin about a play the Chaser's are putting together anyway. Be back in a minute," hollered back Ernie as he flew over to the three Chaser's.
The co-captain motioned the new member of the team to come down. He landed next to her with a look of shame on his face.
"I'm sorry. I just can't fly as well as I did earlier. Maybe you should pick someone else to be your substitute," sighed a defeated Kevin.
"The opening game is too close and we wouldn't be able to break in another sub by then. I notice that you had a nervous look on your face when you were trying out for Beater. Were you afraid of not making the team?" quizzed Roxy.
"No. I was worried about the Potions test my class was having the next day. Elenor and Owen weren't worried 'bout it 'cause they're really good at Potions. Unlike me who managed to blow up three cauldrons just by sneezing," admitted Kevin.
"So you're faster when you're nervous, huh? Did you hear about that huge test in Transfiguration? It's said to be one heck of a killer," mused Roxy.
"Test? Transfiguration? For third years?!" exclaimed a panicked Kevin.
"Yep. Supposed to be on Monday. So let me get the snitch and we'll see how you do this time. Ernie!"
The Hufflepuff captain came flying over as Kevin nearly tripped over his broom just climbing on. Roxy raised her wand and pointed it at a particular spot in the sky.
"Accio snitch!"
A streak of gold light shot through the air and snapped into Roxy's open hand. She held it up for both Seeker's to see and brought a whistle to her lips using her other hand. Blowing the whistle and letting go of the snitch started the training match. Both Seeker's streaked down the pitch, side by side.
"Yes!" said Roxy with a triumphant look on her face.
Her plan had worked. Kevin flew faster and better when he was nervous. As to why she had no idea but right now she really didn't care about that. The two Hufflepuff's raced around the pitch for some time and until finally Kevin got the snitch. He was breathing heavily but he had a mile wide smile on his face. Kevin landed on the ground as Ernie congratulated and flew off to see how the others were doing.
"Great work, Kevin. Your only problem now is that you seem to get a little over tired real fast. Four laps around the pitch should do it," recommended Roxy.
The third year looked at her as if she was crazy as his jaw dropped and he unknowingly released the snitch. Roxy sighed out loud as she grabbed the broom from him and mounted.
"You got to be kidding me. It'll take me forever to do just two. A century for four!" yelped Kevin.
"I don't care if it takes a decade to do it, I want you to run four laps around the pitch. Now while you're doing that I'm going to go catch that snitch and if I catch it before you've completed your first lap, I'm adding another two laps," explained Roxy.
Without a second thought, Kevin ran for his life before Roxy could even lift off the ground. She kicked off and began looking for the snitch while keeping an eye on Kevin. She spotted the snitch almost immediately and bolted after it. As she was close to catching it, she noticed that Kevin wasn't yet done with his first lap.
Roxy purposely lost sight of the snitch and watched as Kevin finished his first lap. She sighed as the snitch flew around in front of her face as if teasing her.
"He's really out of shape. But I might be able to help him," whispered Roxy to herself.
Having enough of the snitch, Roxy streaked after it and eventually caught it as the Hufflepuff Quidditch team substitute was coming to an end on his second lap. Roxy landed next to him as he stopped to catch a breather.
"Rest a bit, Kev. Ernie wouldn't like it if he found out I killed our new teammate," joked Roxy.
Kevin laughed but ended up coughing due to lack of energy. After taking his break, Kevin went back to running and Roxy ran with him.
"So why did Ernie choose me anyway?" inquired Kevin.
"Ernie didn't actually pick you. It was me that did that. During the tryout's, I saw potential in you. The potential to be a wonderful Quidditch and team player," answered Roxy.
"I wasn't really that great," blushed the third year.
"Yes you were. In fact, if Ernie wasn't the Seeker for our team you would make a wonderful Seeker for the Hufflepuff team."
They came around for the fourth lap and neither one was letting up. Their conversation between them both seemed to keep their energy up while they were momentarily distracted from what they were doing.
"So what was your old school like?"
"Salem Brook Academy? Not too bad. Only problem was that the only people that went there were purebloods. Justin was the first muggle-born wizard I ever met. I was the Keeper for my Quidditch team at SBA but the Captain was a truly terrible guy."
"So you played Keeper there too. Did you do anything special there on account of you being the Minister's daughter?"
"I was a TA for my Potion's professor. However, I earned that position on my own. My dad has no authority over what happens in school. Hell, he didn't even agree to having me transferred to Hogwarts. My mom went behind his back and transferred me herself."
"Merlin, he must have been mad!"
"Absolutely steaming! I swear I saw steam actually coming out of his ears!"
Finally, the two stopped running when they realized they had done seven laps. Kevin started talking with Ernie as Roxy practiced with the Chaser's.
"Okay, Roxy. We're going to practice our new play on you!" yelled Justin.
"Bring it on, Justin!" shouted Roxy.
The three Chaser's came soaring down the pitch towards her. Elenor flew in from the far right, Justin coming in straight through the middle, and Megan taking to the far left. They were well spread out which confused Roxy as she kept her eyes on all of them but especially on Justin. The muggle-born boy had the Quaffle tucked far back so Roxy couldn't see it but she knew that he had it.
All the sudden, the two girl Chaser's did an abrupt turn and flew towards Justin. Megan went barely under Justin and Elenor just above him. Now this really confused Roxy since she could see that Justin still had the Quaffle so what they had been doing she had no idea. Megan and Elenor streaked farther to her than Justin. Roxy flew out closer to intercept Justin.
Suddenly, Justin stopped and smiled. Roxy gave him a look and a horrified expression stretched across her face as he held his arms out, showing that he clearly did not have the Quaffle as Roxy originally thought. By the time she figured it out, Elenor managed to score with the Quaffle.
"I can't believe you tricked me!" exclaimed Roxy as she retrieved the Quaffle.
"That we did. You see, when they both fly over and below me I quickly pass the ball to one of them so quick that the Keeper and Chaser's don't see us do it. Then I stop just out of the scoring area and reveal that I don't have the Quaffle. That throw's the Keeper and other Chaser's off which gives Elenor or Megan time to score on them," explained Justin.
"That's bloody brilliant! Slytherin will never be expecting something like that. But why make up a plan like that?" asked Roxy.
"Because this year Slytherin is using cunning rather than strength. So we need to use some cunning too. Especially with Zabini as one of the Chaser's," reported Justin.
"Oh. Well, I dare say that certainly will work," remarked Roxy.
Roxy groaned as she sat down on the couch in the Hufflepuff Common Room. She was the only one in the room and was very grateful for the silence as she worked on her essay for History of Magic. She had practiced so hard during Quidditch practice and even after taking a two hour shower her body still ached with extreme pain. Justin, Megan, and Elenor had used the "Hufflepuff Fake-Out" over and over, resulting in Roxy stopping none of the balls.
I'm just going to sit here, relax, and finish my homework, thought Roxy.
Tap! Tap! Tap! Roxy gazed around the room for the source of the tapping sound and her eyes landed on a locked window. Waiting outside and tapping on the window with its beak was a pure black owl. Roxy took out her wand and pointed it at the window.
"Alohomora."
The window unlocked and opened. The owl flew over to her, dropping what looked like a third year's potions essay and a letter in her lap. She read the note first.
Miss Fudge,
Read this essay and grade it to your best ability. Put any comments you feel should be put down.
Professor Snape
Roxy gave an owl treat to the black owl who flew back out the window after being rewarded and began reading the essay. It was an essay on the Wolfsbane potion which was something Roxy, thankfully, knew quite a lot about. The essay was long, boring, and almost completely wrong about everything.
For the love of Merlin! No wonder Snape is as snappy as a snap turtle. If I read about thirty papers like this from each year, I'd be down right grouchy as well, thought Roxy.
Roxy dipped her quill in ink and began writing.
Your view on the subject was good. A few misjudges on a few facts leads me to believe that you did not really get into the subject as much as you should have. If you had read your book closely, you would have seen that while having taken the Wolfsbane potion a werewolf
can control himself not stop the transformation. I suggest you read over the passage again and rewrite this paper to the best of your ability.
At the top of the paper, Roxy wrote a C-. After rereading what she wrote, Roxy was satisfied and set the essay down. The minute her fingers left the parchment it disappeared in a puff of green smoke leaving a frowning Roxy.
"I hope that was supposed happen," prayed Roxy.
End of Chapter 6