28 Wednesday
"Wow, you're like, a weed wizard!"
Noelle frowned and looked at her friend. "That is a horrible nickname for a lot of reasons. Besides, I've just gotten lucky a couple of times. I'm honestly horrible with plants. At home, I just have to look at a plant the wrong way and it'll be dead the next day." She and Brooke were walking together after their History class and Noelle had just caught her up on the last couple days' events.
Brooke laughed. "So what would you do if, Draco, instead of hating you now like you think, fell in love with you and your rebellious side and he asked you out?"
Noelle shook her head emphatically. "I would politely decline. Honestly, you come up with the weirdest scenarios sometimes." Brooke was always asking her questions like this in their offtime, normally without a prompt or any provocative ques.
"Why politely though? Don't you hate the guy?"
"I don't really hate anyone Brooke. Just dislike strongly. Besides, unless he's rude about it, I don't have a reason to be rude first."
The two paused by the great hall. "Fair enough. This your stop?"
Noelle nodded and then noticed Brooke looked a little edgy. "You okay?"
She sighed. "A lot of students are already talking about not coming back to Hogwarts after the Christmas break in a couple months. Some want to be let to leave earlier. After the whole thing with Katie, and just the weirdness around school this year… All the events of the past years…. I hear the headmaster has even received complaints from parents."
Noelle hefted her books higher in her arms, giving her a brief distraction from her worry. She didn't meet her friend's eye. "Will you be going then?"
"I'm not sure yet. I mean, it's kind of terrifying. I'm worried that if Katie could have been placed under the Imperius curse, anyone of us could be next."
Sighing, Noelle put a hand on Brooke's shoulder. "I won't let that happen to you okay? Just be careful and be with people at all times. The teachers will sort this out. I mean, if Hogwarts isn't safe, where would be safer?"
Brooke nodded after a moment. "I suppose you're right. I'll think about it."
"That's all I can ask." Noelle turned to the great hall. "Time for me to depart. See you later at dinner?"
"Later." Brooke smiled and walked on down the hall as Noelle pushed the doors open, spotting her group already seated at a table.
"Hey guys." She sat and put her books on the seat next to her.
Yori spoke up. "Finally, you're here. Azraeyn, could we get started please?"
Azraeyn looked up and smiled. "Yes. If you're ready."
She nodded, trying to look away before she got embarrassed. Azraeyn took out his wand and transformed the world around them. The last time they'd played, they'd managed to defeat the enemies luckily, and now they found themselves in a mountain range, on their way to defeat a dragon. Or, at least to find the missing jewels from the castle of Aldomia which the dragon was believed to have stolen.
Noelle ran up to Kade's side. "You think the dragon will be like the ones in the triwizard tournament?"
"I'm sure Azraeyn wouldn't make it too hard if that's what you mean." He looked sideways at her as they trudged along the mountain trail, pulling themselves up and over some rocks.
"Let's just hope we find the castle's treasure."
The area around the ground smoothed out into a large clearing surrounded by the mountains on all sides, grass growing tall in the area. The group all turned in a circle, looking around for anything resembling the dragon's lair.
"There's the cave!" Faith pointed at a large opening in the mountain's side. It looked to be a small cavern.
Everyone walked over and made their way inside, but Noelle paused at the cave entrance. They could clearly see a dragon's hoard at the back of the cave from here with the sun so high in the sky, but the cave was small enough that she knew it currently housed no dragon.
"Guys…" She looked around the clearing again, drawing her bow. "I get the feeling we're not alone." The grass around her shifted in the breeze and she narrowed her eyes.
The group returned to her side, looking around as well and cautiously drawing their own weapons. The grass shifted again and Noelle realized that, while the breeze was contributing, the movement was too localized around one area.
"There!" As she called out, a large shape rose out of the grass, casting a shadow across the entire group. Noelle struggled to identify it. "Is that… The welsh green?"
They all knew from the tournament that the welsh green was not nearly as bad as the other possibilities, typically avoiding humans and eating livestock. The creature was large but still small in comparison to other dragons, and usually could be found in grass or mountainous regions, of which they were in both.
As the others sat stunned, Noelle took charge. "Yori! You and Kade gather the jewels from the cavern!" As she spoke, they shook off their shock and sprung into action. "Faith, circle around to its backside and distract it! Azraeyn stay up front, and I'll back you both up."
Faith did what she was told and slashed at its backside, and between her and Azraeyn slashing with his sword, the dragon wasn't sure which way to face. Noelle began shooting it, backing up as she did and aiming for the spaces in between its scales. From the corner of her eye, she saw the other two gathering up jewels in their packs.
Finally frustrated, the dragon reared back, lifting its head. Noelle saw smoke begin to billow from his nostrils. Quickly, she dropped her bow and pulled a scroll from her back, hurriedly pulling it open. She started reading it, the words another language. She finished, throwing her arms forwards and shouting. "Protection from evil!"
As she watched, a barrier went up around Azraeyn and Faith, shimmering into existence. The dragon shot forth a blast of flames, engulfing both her party members. Yori and Kade, who had donned their packs again, had just exited the cave and stared stunned at the spots they'd last seen their comrades.
As the flames cleared, she saw a glimmer. Her two shields still stood, her friends unscathed inside. The dragon roared in frustration.
On seeing this, the group scattered, running for the mountain trail, now that their goal had been completed. Noelle headed up the back and felt a whoosh of air behind her as the dragon ran after them in pursuit. She dove for the trail, the mountains making it impossible for the dragon to follow down the path after them.
It sat at the entrance and roared again, before taking off, the grass bending around it with each powerful wing beat. It circled the air around the mountains, casting shadows down on them.
The group cheered and high-fived one another. Noelle grinned. "We did it! We got the jewels!"
Kade grinned. "And then some!"
The group gathered themselves up and began heading for town, reveling in their brush with danger.