Chapter Three: Preparations to Leave
"Do you think we'll see Anna anywhere?" Hannah asked of her mother. They had bought all of Hannah's school supplies, and were just walking around Magica Hall. Valerie shrugged.
Anna King was Hannah's favorite friend, and also a wizard going to her first year at Southeast Salem. Hannah hadn't talked to Anna in a long time, but thought there was a good chance she might see her in the hall.
Valerie stopped, and turned to face Hannah. "We have some extra money that we're going to spend on you. What do you think you would want?" Hannah thought this over a moment.
She had expected something like this. Madison had gotten an invisibility cloak on his first year, but that had been their father's. "An invisibility cloak would be too expensive, wouldn't it?" Hannah asked.
Valerie nodded. "That, and the fact that you can't legally buy them." Hannah looked a bit confused. "Then how did daddy get his?" She asked. Valerie shrugged. "I tried to get him to tell me, but he would never say." Hannah asked, "What about Seth's." Valerie shrugged again. "I have no idea on that one."
Hannah thought for a few moments, then asked, "Could we get me a broom, like Madison has?" Valerie smiled. "Sure."
Madison, being on the Quidditch team, had needed a broom in the middle of his second year. He had bought it himself, with his half of the winnings from the yearly dual duel tournament. Seth had bought his with those winnings, and money he already had. Madison had a Ghost Bat, an almost insubstantial broom, and Seth had a Silver Arrow, the fastest broom on the market.
They headed over to the broom store. Once they were outside, Valerie handed Hannah a bag full of Galleons, and said, "There's fifty in there. I'm going to go check on something. After you buy one, stay right out here." Hannah nodded, and eagerly headed into the broom shop.
She looked around at all of the brooms. The better ones were near the back, so she headed that way first. Several brooms caught her eye.
One was a perfect copy of Madison's broom, and another was the Silver Arrow, the same broom Seth had. In the very back there was a broom that seemed to be glowing red. She shook her head, knowing that that broom would be way out of her price range.
She looked for a while, and then came to the one she knew she would get. It was completely black, and the bristle part of the broom was longer than most. She looked at the price tag and was happy. It read 'Forty-Five Galleons'. She took the broom up to the counter and bought it.
Valerie was waiting just outside the store for Hannah, and she asked, "Where to now?" Valerie sighed, and it was barely audible over the bustle of Magica Hall. "To find your crazy brother."
Suddenly a good bit of the bustle of the market quieted down and a big portion of the street was cleared. Five people stood in the circle, wands ready. All looked to be young, and were dressed in muggle clothing. A big blast of hexes and jinxes went off from their wands.
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The moment Madison and Seth stepped out of the store they heard an, "AHHH!" from above them, and were then landed on by a strange person. They both quickly got out from under the person and each let off their favorite jinx, or in Seth's case, hex.
"What'd you do that for?" Chanteau asked of her two companions. "She landed on us!" Seth said, outraged. "Yeah!" Madison added, just for effect. "It was probably an accident." Chanteau told them. They both shrugged. Chanteau sighed, shook her head, and bent down to help the girl.
Upon contact with the girl's skin she quickly retracted her hand. "You use the Scalding Water jinx, didn't you?" Chanteau asked Madison. He nodded, looking rather pleased that he had been able to pull it off. "Undo it." Chanteau commanded. "Do I have to?" Madison pleaded. "Yes," Chanteau said. Madison reluctantly said the counter jinx.
"Undo yours as well," Chanteau told Seth. Seth shook his head, "I used the Frying Pan hex, she's knocked out cold." Chanteau shook her head in exasperation, and shook the girl awake.
Upon awakening the girl yelled and leveled her wand at Seth. Chanteau quickly grabbed the wand away. The girl shook her head, as if clearing it of something. "Can I have my wand back?" She asked. Chanteau nodded, and handed it back.
The girl stood and said, "I'm Marit Brocker." Madison and Seth bowed. "We're Madison and Seth, and this is our accomplice, Chanteau." They told her. "I'm more of their supervisor," Chanteau said with a smirk. Madison and Seth shrugged.
Marit looked around, and said, "Oh crap…" And ran away.
"That was different." Chanteau said. Madison turned to face her, and nodded several times. Seth, however, had his eyes on someone in the crowd. "Look who it is," He told Madison. Madison did, and smirked when he saw the people Seth had seen. This would be fun.
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Hannah observed the five combatants now that their first spells had gone off. There were two teams, one with three and one with two. One of the people on the team of two was jumping around and screaming, and the other's skin had erupted into boils. One of the people was down on the three-person team, this one a female. One of three person team was dancing a rather peculiar jig, and the other's hair was growing at an extremely fast rate, already down to his knees.
Of the five combatants, only three could still cast spells. The one who was hopping around in pain was soaking wet, and had dropped his wand, and the female was knocked out cold.
The one who was dancing a jig leveled his wand at the boil covered one, and yelled, "Petrificus Totalus!" The boy was able to fall to the ground to avoid the spell, and it soared over his head to hit someone in the crowd. He wasn't able, however, to dodge the spell the hair covered boy sent his way, the same spell the jigging boy had used.
At this time what accounted to a wizarding policeman had come to the scene. "Stop this at once, and come with me!" He yelled. The Tarantellegra spell had worn off, and the formerly jigging boy whispered the counterjinx to the hair-growth spell. Those two hastily picked up their fallen friend and fast went into the crowd.
"Come back here!" The policeman yelled. The two boys were not listening, and fast retreated into a small store selling toys for young wizards. The policeman's assistant had just arrived on the scene, and went into the store looking for them.
Hannah turned to Valerie. "Madison and Seth sure will be pleased when they hear what happened to Zannie and Chris." Valerie gave a chuckle at that. "They sure will."
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A few minutes later they found Madison and Seth, along with one of their female friends from school. "Ya'll ready to go?" Valerie asked. Madison and Seth turned to Chanteau.
"Alas," Said Madison, "We must go." Seth continued. "Yes, we're so sorry." Madison sighed, and put a look of mock sadness on his face. "You'll just have to do with out the benefit of our company." "I'm not sure it's much of a benefit," Chanteau added wryly.
Madison stuck his tongue out at her, and turned to his mom. "Yes, we're ready." Seth received a fierce hug from Chanteau, and Madison was fiercely spun around to receive one as well. Then Chanteau left, and Madison, along with Seth and Hannah, followed Valerie out of Magica Hall and back to the fireplace in the Station Below.
"You won't believe what happened." Hannah told them. Madison and Seth exchanged a glance. "We might," They told her. "Zannie Carabo and Chris Chow got into a fight with three people, and were caught by the police." Madison and Seth looked overjoyed. It was a good thing that they were such good actors.
"What happened to the people who fought them?" Seth asked. Madison had gone into a dance of joy at hearing that Chris and Zannie, his rivals from their first year at Salem had been beaten, then caught by the police. Of course, it was all just an act.
"They escaped," Hannah told him.
Seth held back his wry smile. He and Madison had carried Chanteau into the store, then draped their invisibility cloaks over the three of them and had waited for the policeman's assistant to leave.
Madison had stopped dancing. "I see you've got a broom," He said to his sister. Hannah was carrying a broom-sized box, and Madison knew Hannah had wanted one after coming to last years Quidditch tournament, which house Gente had been in, but had only finished second.
"What model is it?" Seth asked. "Yes," Madison added, "I was going to ask the same." Hannah chuckled at the two's antics. "A Raven 2K." She answered. Madison nodded. "Chanteau has the same kind."
Hannah asked, "Is she on a Quidditch team?" Seth shook his head. She's going to try out for a Chaser spot this year, though."
By now they had come to the fireplace. They allowed a group of people to come out, then went through it. Madison was first. He through down the floo powder and shouted, "THE HOUSE!" And disappeared. Valerie shook her head. You were supposed to give the exact address, but that never stopped Madison from arriving where he wanted.