Arnold's Wizarding World
Chapter 14: Operation S.M.I.L.E
Okay here's the deal. I didn't realize people were actually reading this story. To be completely honest, I thought I was writing for myself, so I thought, well if I'm only writing for myself, might as well keep this story in my google drive and leave it there for my eyes only.
I was going to take it down, but then I thought about it and I wondered how I would feel if an author took down a story I was enjoying. Besides, I had this chapter already written, and it's one of my favorites to be honest. Chapter 16 has been under construction since the beginning of April and I'm kind of on a writer's block so that's why I wanted to give up. I wasn't feeling motivated and I didn't know what to write.
So here's what's going to happen. I don't have the heart to take this down, or discontinue it. So I'm going to try to continue it and finish it, but I'm going to need your help. I don't want the same thing that happened to Keep It Crescendo to happen to this story [they had to wait four years for me to finally update because I was unmotivated and on a huge writer's block]. It hurt to work on other projects and see that one incomplete.
That's why I wanted to take this one down. I have this thing where I don't want to start new projects until I'm done with the ones I'm working on. Taking this down would fix that.
Please don't forget to be engaged. Ask any author and they'll all agree with me, but reviews truly are motivators. Whether it's a small one or constructive feedback, it feels nice to know that people are reading my content.
I want to finish this, but I can't do it alone. Thank you all for reading, I'll shut up now so you can read :)
"Now you've lost it Arnold, you've gone insane!" Gerald exclaimed.
"You want to get the Grinch to smile? Arnold, there's a reason he's called, The Grinch," Helga grumbled.
"And what happened then? Well, in Who-ville they say that the Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day."
"Did you just quote Dr. Seuss?" Gerald asked me.
"I did. If the Grinch managed to have a change of heart, what's to say Draco won't either?"
"Arnold, that's just a book!"
"Come on Gerald, why are you arguing with me when you know that you're going to end up helping me anyway," I asked with a smile, causing Gerald to cross his arms.
"Why do I even bother?"
"Well I'm out, talk to me when you two are done playing Santa Claus, I'm going to go ask George if he can show me more of those magic prank things he sells at his shop," Helga called out, leaving the room.
"Sometimes Arnold, I really don't know what you see in her."
"I HEARD THAT!" Helga yelled.
Gerald groaned as he pulled another egg shell out of a crystal bowl. Mrs. Weasley had let us use her kitchen to make cake, which was becoming kind of a hassle, considering that wizards didn't have the BASIC utensils to bake something.
"We usually just use magic," George had shrugged.
Well, that was helpful!
So we then asked Mr. Weasley if he can take us to the grocery store, which he had gladly done, because something about shopping in muggle grocery stores was super intriguing to him. We then realized that Gerald only had dollars, not pounds, so then we had to go all the way to the bank to exchange his money. Then we found out that the dollar was less valuable than the pound, so we had less money in our pocket when we returned to the grocery store. And then it took us almost an hour to get Mr. Weasley off of a motorized shopping cart, which he was gleefully driving around.
By the time we got back to The Burrow, Gerald and I were exhausted, and we hadn't even started baking the cake yet!
"What if he doesn't even like it?" Gerald asked. "I'll be real mad."
I flickered my eyes over to him, with chocolate frosting on my nose, "Well, at least we'd be satisfied with the fact that we tried."
Gerald let out a long sigh, "Looking on the bright side, as usual. You got something on your nose Romeo."
I used my sleeve to wipe out the frosting, and then turned the oven on while Gerald mixed the batter.
"Shouldn't we be focused on getting back to Hillwood?" Gerald asked after a few seconds of silence.
"The Ministry isn't going to let me go back until they get approval from MACUSA to do so, so we're stuck here until that happens and until my training is finished. So we might as well make the most out of our time here," I shrugged.
"How much better are you getting?"
"Ron says I'm improving quickly, and that if I continue improving at the rate I'm going, we'll be able to get back home and save the neighborhood in no time."
Gerald nodded, "Batter's finished."
I pulled out a tray and dumped the batter into it, letting it settle while Gerald licked the wooden spoon. I then pulled out my wand and used the Levitation Charm to place the tray into the oven. We didn't have enough to buy oven mitts, so this would have to do to avoid getting burnt.
After washing the dishes, Ron walked into the room, inhaling repetitively and smiling, "It smells good in here. Are you two making something?"
"Yep, we're making cake," I answered.
"Is it someone's birthday?" Ron asked.
"No, we're giving it to someone," I responded. I didn't want to give full details, something told me that Ron wouldn't be for the idea.
"Well, knock yourselves out mates, I'm going to go check out what my Dad's doing," he said as he left the room.
The timer rang and I smiled, "Looks like the cake is ready."
Sneaking the cake into the Ministry was easier than I thought. Thanks to Ron, I finally learned how to use the floo, and Gerald and I arrived at the Ministry, with a chocolate covered cake in hand.
Some wizards and witches eyed us oddly, but we mostly ignored them. We then approached a corner where no one could see us, and Gerald faced me.
"Alright Arnold, where's his office?"
I froze, did Draco even have an office?
"Arnold?"
"I-I don't think he has one."
Gerald sighed dramatically, "You don't know where he is!? Really Arnold?"
"We can look for him," I suggested. "It shouldn't be too hard."
"Well it's a good thing I brought this. I anticipated this would happen," Gerald stated, pulling out the invisibility cloak from his backpack.
"You still have that?"
Gerald nodded, "Helga's got the map and I'm not sure where the flask is—"
"I have it," I answered.
"You know, we never did find out who that silhouette from the Hole was," Gerald noted. "At first I assumed it was Draco, but then Helga brought up the point that Draco wouldn't really need to hide himself to give us those things, he'd just give them to us. Like, why the secrecy?"
"Yeah, you're right. I don't think it was Draco either," I agreed.
To be honest, I hadn't really thought much about the silhouette, or the events of the Hole. I've been too busy thinking about my family and friends being in danger to think about it. My training has also been keeping me pretty occupied.
"Well, whoever that silhouette was, I hope they're okay. And I really hope they weren't inside The Hole when the Ministry finally de-neutralized it," Gerald stated.
"Yeah," I frowned.
"Arnold, can I be honest with you? I'm scared, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about Phoebe. She looked so—"
I placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping him from speaking. "Phoebe is going to be okay Gerald, and so is everyone else who lives in the neighborhood, but we shouldn't be thinking about those things right now. Instead, let's focus our attention to getting out of here as soon as possible."
Gerald nodded, "I know, but sometimes I can't help it. But anyway, let's get this cake delivered."
He placed the cloak over us and we headed into an elevator that Ron and Hermione had told us was forbidden to enter. If Draco wasn't anywhere else, he'd probably be in here.
We watched as three strangers stepped into the elevator with us, and Gerald and I did our best to not bump into them.
"You don't genuinely think that, do you Seamus?" one of the guys asked, staring into the colored eyes of a blonde guy standing next to him.
"Well, it's the word on the street, I don't really know what to think. All I know is that people have been saying that the new Minister of Magic is planning on removing Harry Potter of his title of Auror in training."
"That's outrageous!" a dark skinned boy exclaimed. "Harry deserves to be an Auror more than anyone! He's earned it!"
"I don't know Dean," Seamus answered. "There's just something about this Minister I don't like, and it's not just his weird style of clothing."
"Shhh not so loud! Someone can hear you," the brown haired boy exclaimed.`
"Oh hush Neville, everybody's been talking about it," Seamus shrugged. "It's nothing new."
The elevator stopped and the three stepped out, continuing their hushed whispers.
I turned to look at Gerald and he shrugged.
The elevator then stopped again, and Gerald and I decided to step out of it.
"We can start here," I whispered.
The room was large, and vacant, the only thing Gerald and I were able to hear were hushed whispers coming from an office next to us.
"You can't do that sir!"
"That sounded like Ron!" I whispered, scooting towards the entrance of the doorway, with Gerald trailing along behind me.
"Mmm, I think I can. He may be your friend, Weasley, but he's been rather useless. Besides, his scores on his OWLs are not up to par with being an Auror.
"He defeated Voldemort! Is that not enough?"
"He didn't finish his final year of Hogwarts! And neither did you, now that I think about it."
"That voice sounds familiar," Gerald muttered.
"But Shacklebolt—" Ron continued.
"Is no longer in power. These are the new rules Weasley. Out with the old, in with the new."
Gerald and I gasped, and peaked over the doorway, watching as the one and only Scheck was hovering over Ron as if he were a child being punished for misbehaving.
"Scheck!?" Gerald whispered. "What is he doing here?"
"We need to get out of here!" I exclaimed, but stopped as I noticed the door open.
Draco stepped into the room, wand in hand and slowly creeping towards the doorway. Gerald and I watched with curiosity as he aimed his wand at Scheck.
"Well, at least we found him," Gerald whispered.
Draco swiftly turned towards our direction, and we flinched, his cold, grey eyes narrowing in suspicion.
It was sorta silly, really, we came here looking for Draco, but now that we've found him, neither of us were willing to show ourselves to him.
Tightly holding the chocolate cake in hand, I motioned for Gerald to freeze. Eventually, Draco did divert his attention away from us, and directed his attention back to Scheck.
"Mr. Malfoy, I know you're there. Is there something you need?" Scheck asked, his business like smirk twinkling.
Scheck wore a business suit, a strange choice of attire for someone in the Wizarding World, I've noticed.
Draco put his wand away and stomped towards the office, "Actually, yes, I would like to know the status of my father's trial."
Ron stepped aside, giving Draco a 'what are you doing here' look.
"That information is pending, but I wouldn't get my hopes too high. We're going to keep him locked in Azkaban until he's ready to give us an accurate account of what happened when he was a death eater. And frankly, Mr. Malfoy, I don't think he's coming out any time soon — he's guilty, and your mother is too. Better get used to the idea that they're both going to spend their lives in Azkaban."
Draco narrowed his eyes, but said nothing.
"In fact, Mr. Malfoy, I've been thinking," Scheck stated, standing up and circling Ron and Draco in that business like way that he mastered as the CEO of Future Tech Industries. "Because such a finale is inevitable, I don't think the Ministry is in need of your services anymore, I would like to see you packed up and out of here immediately. Be grateful that I'm not locking you up with your parents."
Draco glared at him for a few seconds, before turning and leaving the office.
I watched him go, what was going on?
"As for you, Weasley, we have received word from the United States' Magical Congress, and Arnold's training was unfortunately denied, so I order you to seize the unnecessary mentoring, as it will no longer be needed."
"But sir! His home—"
"The Magical Congress will take care of it," Scheck stated, dismissing Ron with his hand.
"Arnold!" Gerald exclaimed. "Scheck's taken over the Ministry of Magic to prevent you from going back to Hillwood!"
"La Sombra must have sent him!" I answered. "Come on, let's get out of here!"
We ran towards the doorway, and quickly opened the door, only to bump into someone's legs. This caused the cloak to fall off, and I had to stabilize myself to not drop the cake. The individual must have been cleaning his round, weirdly shaped glasses, because they fell on the floor near the cloak.
"Woah, careful," the individual said, picking up his glasses and handing us the cloak.
"Sorry!" we quickly exclaimed, not even looking at the individual before running ahead.
"What now man?" Gerald exclaimed.
"We run," I answered. "Let's go back to The Burrow!"
We put the cloak back on and went back the same way we came in, quickly scooting over towards the floo.
After finally returning to the Burrow, I frowned as I noticed that all that running and lack of care caused half of the cake to get destroyed.
"So, how did it go?" Helga asked, lying back on a chair with a book and a pen in hand.
"Helga!" I exclaimed. "Scheck is the new Minister of Magic! He took over the Ministry to stop us from going home!"
"What?" Helga asked as she closed her book, eyeing the cake with a raised eyebrow. "What happened to the Santa Claus mission for the Grinch?"
"It failed," Gerald simply stated.
"We were looking for him, but we ended up right outside of the Minister's office, where we overheard Scheck saying that he wanted to fire Harry Potter, strip me of my training—"
"And we eventually did see Draco," Gerald added. "But Scheck told the guy that his parents were going to be thrown in jail regardless of anything he does, and so he got fired."
"Sheesh, sounds like Bob during one of his bad days at the Beeper Emporium."
"Helga! This is serious!" I exclaimed, placing the cake on a countertop. "What are we going to do?"
"Yeah, we could use a bit of Deep Voice wisdom right about now," Gerald scowled.
"Sure, just hand me a phone, a cloak, and a hat and I'll tell you everything I know," Helga spat sarcastically. "Get real morons! The only reason I knew so much as Deep Voice was because my Dad was working with Nick Vermicelli, and I would forward all their information to you."
"We need to get back to America," Gerald exclaimed. "I don't care if we're going to have to get a job and buy plane tickets, but we need to get back ASAP!"
"Yeah right, like some oaf with a British accent is going to give a bunch of 11 year olds, a job," Helga rolled her eyes.
"Well we have to try!" Gerald exclaimed. "Who knows what Phoebe could be going through right now! And we're not helping her by just sitting around and being negative!"
Helga's eyes darkened, "You think I'm not worried about her? Do you really think I haven't spent every night since we saw that footage of her at the boarding house thinking about her? Why do you think I've taken up writing again? It soothes me, it allows me to express my emotions, my fear! She may be your girlfriend Gerald, but she's my best friend, and you really are a sap if you think I'm not haunted with the thought that something could be seriously wrong with her!"
"Guys!" I exclaimed. "We're not helping anyone, or ourselves, if we argue!"
"Well start acting like it!" Gerald exclaimed. "I got a family out in Hillwood that needs saving too you know!"
"Oh, and I don't?" Helga asked.
"I would hardly refer to what you have, a family," Gerald growled.
I froze, staring at Gerald with an appalled expression. It was at this moment, when Ron and Hermione came in through the floo, watching us with stiff expressions.
Helga's eyes shook, hurt evident in her expression, before narrowing her eyes and curling her fists. She approached Gerald and roughly shoved him against the wall, glaring at him angrily before stomping up the stairs.
"Helga," I whispered, grabbing her hand, only for her to rip it off and glare at me.
I turned to look at Gerald, who shrugged dismissively before heading up to his own room.
The room was silent, with Ron and Hermione waiting for the right moment to say something to me.
I noticed Ron approach the cake, taking a piece of chocolate and tasting it, "It's good…"
"Was that for Draco?" Hermione hesitantly asked, hoping to ease the tension.
"Yeah," I grumbled, slowly heading up the stairs. "It got destroyed."
Hours had passed and Gerald and Helga were still not speaking to each other. Right now, I was picking at the chicken noodle soup Mrs. Weasley had made for us. Everyone was sitting at the table, including Hermione, who decided to join us. The only ones who weren't here were Helga and Gerald, who chose to skip dinner.
I knew Ron and Hermione needed to talk to me about something, but realized that it was probably not the right time to do so.
"Arnold—" Hermione started, causing me to look at her.
She cleared her throat, "Ron and I… we… took the liberty of delivering your cake to Draco."
"But it was destroyed," I answered.
"We explained that to him," Ron answered. "I'll be honest, I don't see the purpose of making a cake for Draco Malfoy— ouch!" he exclaimed, glaring at Hermione, who was giving him a warning look. "But, it's the thought that counts, really."
I frowned, I would have liked to have seen Draco's reaction, and possibly see him smile, but maybe he's the kind of guy who smiles to himself. I hope we made him feel good about himself.
The room went silent again, and my thoughts lingered to my girlfriend and my best friend, who were avoiding each other like the plague. This afternoon, when I had told them to come down for dinner, Helga had shut the door in my face and Gerald had ignored me.
But I knew they'd forgive each other eventually, Gerald can't stay mad at people for long [I know from experience] and Helga… well, she's tougher to crack, but even she can't stay mad at Gerald forever.
"Finished dear?" Mrs. Weasley inquired, taking Mr. Weasley's bowl, as if she was aching for the silence to end. "I'll serve you more."
"I'll help you!" George exclaimed. "Would anyone like more?"
He grabbed Ron's bowl, which Ron was still eating from, before heading into the kitchen with Mrs. Weasley.
"I'll get us drinks, butter beer anyone?" Mr. Weasley asked, taking Ron's goblet, which he had barely begun taking a sip from, before heading into the kitchen with George and Mrs. Weasley.
I noticed Gerald come down the stairs, a somber look on his face before sitting down beside me, picking at his now cold soup and politely greeting everyone in the room.
Helga walked down soon after, treading along the dining room carefully as she noticed that Gerald had come down too, before sitting down carefully on my other side.
I didn't think it was possible for the room to grow more tense, but it did.
After a few moments, I realized that Mr. Weasley, Mrs. Weasley, and George were probably not coming back for a very long time. Ron and Hermione were sending each other silent looks, and Hermione allowed Ron to take her goblet, giving his hands something to do during this imminent period of silence.
I eyed Gerald, who was faced away from me and slowly chewing on his soup. I eyed Helga, who was faced away too, drinking from her pumpkin juice pensively.
I then slammed my hands on the table. "WILL YOU TWO KNOCK IT OFF! This is Nadine and Rhonda arguing all over again!"
Ron and Hermione jumped, and Gerald and Helga winced.
"I'm not going to be in the middle of this immature argument, and I don't care who apologizes first, just do it! Ron and Hermione have been waiting to update us on Scheck being the new Minister of Magic and what we're going to do to get back home for hours, but you two have been so focused on throwing yourselves a pity party that you probably haven't even noticed. If you really want to save Phoebe, Timberly, Bob, Miriam, Olga, Jamie O, or Mr. and Mrs. Johanssen, I suggest you get over yourselves, apologize, and pay attention! We don't have time for petty arguments!"
I glared at them, causing them to finally turn to look at me.
Gerald spoke first, "I'm not ready to apologize, but I'm willing to work with you and be civil, for our family and friends."
"The feeling is mutual, Tall Hair Boy," Helga agreed, allowing them to shake hands.
I sighed, well, if it was going to get us through this awkwardness, then I guess that'll have to do.
"Ron, Hermione, what's the status?" I asked, allowing Ron and Hermione to let out a breath they've probably been holding.
"We need to take you to Hillwood as soon as possible. Ron and I think you're ready, there's just one problem," Hermione started.
"I still haven't mastered the ability to apparate long distances, and unfortunately, neither has Hermione," Ron lamented. "Scheck is also making all the other wizards think that you are a muggle spy keen on exposing the Wizarding World. There are Wanted posters of you three posted all across the Ministry. It's only a matter of time before they start looking for you here."
"What do we do?" I asked.
"You, Arnold, need to get back as soon as possible, so we are going to send you with someone who knows how to apparate long distances. Ron and I will be traveling there by broom, and we will be taking Helga and Gerald with us," Hermione explained.
"Who am I going with?" I asked. "Draco?"
I recalled him apparating us out of the Hole.
"No," Ron answered. "Someone else."
"Who?"
Ron and Hermione eyed each other and smiled, before turning to look at me, "Harry Potter."
One more thing. I'm going to be prioritizing Keep It Crescendo for the time being, only because those poor readers have been waiting wayyyy too long. Bless their patience, I'm surprised they're still reading it. My goal is to finish that story this year, which means that updates for this story will be a little slower. Don't worry, I won't make you wait four years, I'm never doing that again xD In a perfect world, Arnold's Wizarding World should be finished in 2020.
We're almost finished anyway, I think this story is going to have about 20 chapters. Anyway, thank you so much to those of you who reached out. Your messages were heard, and it's thanks to you all that I've decided to continue. Thank you for being really supportive!