Chapter 6 Book I Arc II
Nathaniel ran a hand through his hair as he left the DADA classroom that Wednesday morning. He gave a huff, noticing that Kitty had joined beside him.
"So, when do you want to start that research project for Professor Khaba?" She asked, keeping pace with him easily. He huffed again, adjusting the strap of his bag.
"After classes are done, we can meet in the library and start the preliminary research on our assigned work. We can draw up rough notes for the paper then," He said, pulling out his pocket watch quickly to check the time as he did. He looked at it only briefly before snapping it back shut.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get to Arithmancy," he said, before turning sharply down an adjacent hallway and leaving her behind. He ran up two flights of stairs before making it in time for his second class of the morning. He made a point then, to ignore Jane Farrar as he coolly sat down next to her. Nathaniel instead pulled out his textbook, a sheaf of parchment, an inkwell and a quill, before Professor Lutyens entered the room herself with a smile.
"Good morning class! I hope that you all read over the chapters I assigned you on Monday. Homework is to be handed in and on my desk before the end of the class. Please open your books now, as today we're going to be going over the work of Bridget Wenlock. Now, as you all should know by now, Wenlock was the witch to first discover the magical properties of the number seven back in the thirteenth century..."
"So, I heard that you're serving detentions every Saturday with Lovelace until Halloween," Jane murmured as they flipped to the right pages in their textbooks. Nathaniel shrugged, giving a noncommittal hum in reply. "I also heard you were stuck serving with three others. The always infamous Bartimaeus, Ptolemy Soter, and that Gryffindor chaser, Kitty Jones."
"What of it, Farrar?" He asked stiffly, raising an eyebrow as he shot a look at her. She returned an icy razor of a smile.
"Just curious, Underwood. After all, it's not every day that you of all people get detention, yes?" That smile of hers was still painted harshly on her face.
"Mmm, indeed."
"How did you get it anyways?"
"Bartimaeus decided to be argumentative and lie to Lovelace."
"Oh my. I'm surprised that he didn't assign more than eight detentions for that. How did that first one go anyways?"
"Just as you would expect."
"Mmm. What's that Gryffindor girl like? I know that her entire house practically worships her talent for quidditch. How big is her ego, in your opinion?"
"Not that big from what I've seen. Annoying though. And just as pushy as any lion."
"Ah."
"Mm."
Their conversation turned silent then, both turning back to scratching down notes, as Professor Lutyens lectured animatedly about long dead arithmancers, going into detail of just what each of them had done. Her hands waved around with life as she spoke, as if trying to convey what couldn't be said with words. Nathaniel sort of liked those things about her.
"And that's how he found out the properties that the number three had when it came to potions ingredients! Now, if you'll please turn to page thirty-four, you'll find a list of names. Please choose one person off that list, and write a foot long research paper on them and their work. This will be due in two weeks' time," Professor Lutyens said brightly. "Please come and see me if you have any problems, or need a note to get into the Restricted Section to do your research. Class is now dismissed."
The bell rang then, signifying that it was now lunch time. Nathaniel sighed and slumped back in his seat momentarily, running a hand through his hair before packing up his things. After he ate it would be off to double Charms for the afternoon. That was bound to be boring, seeing as he'd already had his assigned essay done, and the spell they were going over mastered. He would have to make sure to bring a few books to read. Hopefully Jane would leave him alone there for once.
He left the classroom, taking his time as he made his way down to the Great Hall, tucking his hands into his pockets as he walked through the bustling hallways and down the stairs. He had almost reached his destination when all of a sudden he felt his arm being grabbed. In that moment he found himself pulled behind a tapestry and into a hidden alcove behind. He turned with a wand out and a curse on his lips before noticing that the culprit was none other than Bartimaeus, standing there with his hands up and a grin on his face.
"What do you want?" He asked, lowering his wand and letting his shoulders relax.
"I've got everything all set up! Just thought I should let you know so that you aren't surprised in there and give anything away, or something like that." The Hufflepuff was still grinning. Nathaniel rolled his eyes.
"Whatever. Thanks, I guess, for the warning. Don't talk to me again until Saturday, or we might give ourselves away, got it?"
"Yeah, yeah, don't talk to until Saturday. Whatever. I'm going now, so wait here for a minute before you leave, since you're so paranoid, Natty-boy," Bartimaeus said, rolling his eyes. Nathaniel narrowed his own.
"Don't call me that!" He hissed, before pulling the tapestry aside. "And you can wait here for a minute, because I am leaving first," he continued, before leaving the seventeen year old there still standing. He swiftly entered the Great Hall, making his way over to the Slytherin table. He nodded towards a few of the more prominent students already seated before taking one of his own. A moment passed, and he soon watched Bartimaeus enter the Great Hall as well, his arm slung over Ptolemy's shoulders as they walked to the Ravenclaw table and sat down. Another moment passed, and Nathaniel turned to answer a question a third year had asked him. Another moment passed. He had just about forgotten the incident he had before his arrival when suddenly a loud high-pitched scream came from the direction of the head table. He felt himself turn around, same as all the other students, and there he was.
Simon Lovelace, who only a moment before had been wearing his usual more sensible robes, was standing there before all of them in what was quite possibly the puffiest, most ruffled and sequin bedecked princess ball gown the world had ever seen. Bows and ribbons smothered it to the point of drowning, like a ridiculous wedding cake slowly collapsing in on itself. It stood there somehow holding together as a monument to the hubris of mankind. It was pink. It was pinker than pink. It was eye searingly pink. Now that Nathaniel thought of it, he had seen that very same dress on loving display, in a special glass case set up in Khaba's office. His eyes flitted quickly to Khaba, sitting not too far away; his face was a steely mask of what could only be a terrible storm to come. He turned his gaze away just as quickly, hoping beyond all hopes that he wasn't noticed. Lovelace's hair too, had become a horrendous shade of puke green, which happened to clash terribly with the dress. It had grown long and matted in a short span of time, appearing as if it was attempting to curl into ringlets, but taking on the appearance of sad greasy curly fries instead. All around him was the laughter of the other students in the hall, as confetti right then began to rain down out of nowhere from the ceiling. Nathaniel could have sworn he just saw Headmaster Uraziel hide a snicker behind his hand. Lovelace continued to scream at them.
"Who did this! I demand that you show yourself!" He was still trying to remove the offending article of clothing, and Nathaniel couldn't help but notice Khaba hold back a silent cry of anger as seams under Lovelace's hands ripped.
Nathaniel kept a hand placed firmly in front of his lower face so nobody could see him grinning, even as Bartimaeus cackled loudly from across the hall. He almost fell out of his seat as he laughed, not even making an attempt to hide his delight.
"Calm down Simon," Uraziel said, calmly waving a hand to reverse the work that the potions in Lovelace's drink had done. Another wave, and whatever spells had been engineered on the dress were gone as well.
"Now then, would the perpetrator of this prank care to identify themselves?" Uraziel was standing up from his seat now, all humor from his face gone. He looked over the seated students, who had now all fallen silent. Nathaniel had been quick to school his expression into one that only seemed vaguely interested, if not mostly bored. He turned his eyes back towards the book he had placed in his lap beforehand, in the event that something like this should happen. A quick glance up however showed him that Bartimaeus had not yet stopped laughing, though he was trying to stifle it; His head was down on the Ravenclaw table, shoulders continuing to shake. The Slytherin rolled his eyes. So long as he wasn't implicated in having a part of this prank, which he shouldn't be, then he could care less. After all, he had made sure that the potions in Lovelace's food and drink couldn't be traced back to him, and the confetti and dress engineering had been (mostly) the Hufflepuff's job. Nathaniel kept his eyes down on the barely visible book, idly making sure to turn a page when he thought that Uraziel might be looking. He kept his mind carefully blank.
A single hand rose from the Ravenclaw table; Uraziel turned his attention there.
"Yes, Mister...?"
"Tragen, Sir, Shubit Tragen."
"Do you have something to say then, Mister Tragen?"
"Uhm, yes. I think there's writing on the confetti?"
Nathaniel frowned upon hearing this. Just what was Bartimaeus playing at? He reached down like many of the others in the room, and squinted as he began to read.
'Made by Bartimaeus the Great~ :D' was all the little pink pieces of paper said. Nathaniel could feel his eye twitch, as he struggled to keep his composure in check. Sometimes he wondered how Bartimaeus had survived to see his seventh year at Hogwarts.
"Well then, that answers that question I do believe. Bartimaeus, would you care to accompany me to my office?" Uraziel asked, keeping a bland smile on his face as he did. Nathaniel watched Bartimaeus glare at Shubit, his expression promising retribution. Or attempted retribution at least. So long as he left Nathaniel out of it, he didn't really care.
He left soon after that, returning to his dorm room in order to pick up his Charms textbook and another one that he had checked out of the library a few days back for recreational purposes. An old tome on an obscure branch of magic though it was, he found it interesting nonetheless. The only real drawback was the clouds of dust it always produced when opened, making his eyes water and causing him to sneeze. A quick walk later and he had soon slipped into the classroom of Professor Hopkins, taking his usual seat in the back. He opened his charms book to the spell they would be going over today (that coincidentally, he had mastered around this time last year), before opening his tome to read while he waited for class to begin. He ignored Jane as she sat down in front of him, and kept up his reading while half-listening to Hopkins attempt to teach the others in the class the spell, before performing it perfectly once himself, and going back to his book.
Double Charms sucked. Thankfully it ended soon enough, and as the bell rang, Nathaniel got ready to head to the library. Now he had to go work on a project with Kitty Jones of all people for DADA.
He tried his resolute best not to make eye contact with Honorius as he walked by, passing a few Ravenclaw second years on his way to an empty table in the corner. It was a testament to how much he loved the library that he braved the skeletal form of Honorius just to visit it on a regular basis. Setting his bag down, he pulled out a sheaf of notes and began to flip through them as he waited for the Gryffindor to show up.
"Shhh! You don't want us to get caught back here, do you?" Nathaniel's movements stilled as he heard the guarded hushed voice from the other side of the bookshelf. A grunt responded to it, and then came an exasperated sigh.
"Alright then. Just let me grab what we came for and then we can get out of here. It's for the best anyways; we don't want to get caught." Caught? That peaked Nathaniel's interest. He slowly slid his chair back, until it was up against the bookshelf and he could hear whoever it was clearer. There were some shuffling noises, a few more grunts, and then a dull thud. He frowned. None of it made much sense put together. He was quick to scoot away from the bookcase and back to the table though, when he saw Kitty enter the library. He bent over the notes he had brought once more, hoping he wasn't noticed.
He kept bent over as she dropped her bag on the floor and listened to her huff, before she pulled out a seat across from him.
"So, what notes do you already have done for whatever it was that we were assigned?" Kitty asked, as she made herself comfortable. Nathaniel lifted his head, but paused before he answered her question, turning his head slightly instead to watch two seventh years…two seventh years that he knew at that, stumble out from behind the shelves to his back.
So that was who was talking...Now just what was all that about?'
"-thaniel! Nathaniel! Hey! Underwood!" He jerked back as the Gryffindor snapped her fingers in his face, before sitting back down, crossing her arms and shooting him a look.
"So. Any idea what we're going to research for Khaba's project?" She asked, shooting him a disgruntled look as he straightened in his seat again.
"…I was thinking we could do research on a ritual! It fits all of the criteria assigned to us."
"Alright, sounds fine to me. If you want to go look through that section of the library then, I'll see if there's anything in the text that sounds interesting," she said, digging out her textbook and flipping it open as he stood up.
A few steps later, and Nathaniel stood on the same side of the shelf that he had seen the two seventh years from Slytherin and Hufflepuff stumble out from. He frowned; just what had Faquarl and Jabor been grabbing out of here? Well, this was the section dedicated to rituals. He saw a book on the shelf, a bit above his eye level that had been pushed to the back, almost as if it had been hastily shoved there to keep it hidden. That could be a lead.
Nathaniel cast a quick glance around before grabbing the book, eyebrows rising as he read the title of it.
'Forgottyne Rituales for All Hallows Eve and Other Occasiones' was written in a curling, faded script on the cover.
Well then. Whatever the slim volume contained, it didn't seem good. Or entirely legal. Or well known. Actually, it seemed like the kind of book that should be in the Restricted Section. It was perfect. He walked back to the table where Kitty was now aimlessly doodling, flipping now only half-heartedly through her textbook. He tossed the old, leather (at least he hoped it was leather, with these older books though one just couldn't be completely sure) bound book on top of their table, making her jump.
"What's this?" She asked, surprise on her face still as she picked it up and began to flip through it.
"Where the hell did you find something like this, Underwood? It's perfect," she continued before he could answer. "Khaba would love everything in this."
"Exactly. Now, you pick one of the less illegal looking ones, and we can get started."
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