15
Coming from Hufflepuff Hall, Ryan Evans was leading Kelsey graciously down the staircase from the Grand Hall. She looked incredible with her hair down in that pink dress. She was a good friend, and hopefully something much more. Kelsey thought he looked good in his blue tuxedo, but she herself was fussing with the wrap around her shoulders. It was supposed to go with the dress, but she wasn't used to it.
"Why don't you take that back to the Common Room?" Ryan suggested. "You shouldn't have to fuss with it all night."
"I don't want to go all the back there and back again." Kelsey reacted just a bit awkward. "I'll just hold on to it."
"I got an idea…" Ryan looked round. "Give it to me, and I'll tuck it into the housekeeping closet over here, and we'll pick it up on the way back."
"Okay…" Kelsey liked that idea, but as she handed Ryan her wrap, she noticed Gabrielle's owl, Maddie, perched on the grandfather clock opposite the closet door and making a mournful crying noise. It was staring at the door and weeping as if her mistress was in trouble.
"That's Maddie." Kelsey turned and looked at her. "What's she doing here? She's supposed to be in the owlry." At the same time, Taylor and Chad noticed them after coming from another corridor and came up to join them.
"There's something seriously wrong with Gabrielle!" Taylor spoke with alarm to them. "She arrived to the dance in her black dress instead of her white one, and she suddenly changed her opinion about her cousin. It's as if she's possessed or been replaced."
"Another thing I just realized a few minutes ago." Chad spoke up. "That scar on her forehead. It's not there. I don't think that's her."
"That doesn't make sense." Kelsey reacted and looked to Ryan. "She's had that scar for years. It just doesn't vanish overnight."
"Guys!" Ryan opened the closet and looked at the floor of the closet. Laying on the floor beneath the towels and cleaning supplies, Gabrielle slept peacefully as Maddie fluttered and swooped down to her. Taylor dropped to check her out, Kelsey taking her hand to pat her hand and wake her. Chad and Ryan stood and watched as Taylor held Gabrielle's head in her hands, stroked the hair off her forehead scar and smelled her breath to detect a potion.
"Cinnamon…" She smelled it. "She's got cinnamon on her breath!"
"Sharpay…" Ryan realized the truth. "Sharpay has got a Sleeping Beauty potion made from cinnamon she's used on me several times. Eventually, I developed an antidote spell to it." He pulled out his wand to use it on Gabrielle. "Hypnos Arrestum!!!"
"Oh, Troy…." In the Assembly Hall made over as a ballroom, the fake Gabrielle beamed happily in her date's arms. "I feel so safe in your arms."
"Yeah…" Troy sounded annoyed. "You know, you've been acting… a little weird."
"Really?" Gabrielle made an evil little grin. "Well, you know, my entire family's weird. You know, we live above a sandwich shop, one of my cousins is evil and the other one is a geek." She described them as through the words of someone else. "And their little brother, he's an idiot, so if you don't want to be with me, why don't you go back to Sharpay. I think you two would be perfect together."
"I don't want to date Sharpay." Troy told her. "She's crazy."
"What?!!!" Gabrielle sounded offended.
"Gabrielle, " Troy stroked her face with his fingertips. "I'm crazy about you. You're sweet and beautiful and fun to be with. All the stuff Sharpay is not. If you acting a little weird is part of it, I'll live with it." She tipped her head up to kiss her.
"I'm going to need a lot of polyjuice potion…." Gabrielle mumbled under breath as her lips rose to meet his.
"Sharpay!!!" Someone screamed upset and their heads turned to the entry way as Gabrielle entered again her in her white dress joined by Ryan, Chad, Kelsey and Taylor. Several other students looked up to see her enter and approach her duplicate with Troy. No one seemed to know what was going on. A few wanted to find out what was going on, but others remained uninterested and continued dancing. The teachers in attendance as chaperones started wondering about the drama unfolding twenty feet into the hall. Confused and stunned, Troy looked from the Gabrielle with him in black to the one in white.
"Sharpay," Gabrielle looked at her imposter with Troy as her friends gathered round. "Is there something you want to tell me?"
"What's going on here?" Troy thought he was losing his mind. Two Gabrielles in different dresses?
"It's Sharpay, Troy!!!" The one in black held on to him. "Look, she used a spell to change herself into me!" The real Gabrielle reacted offended.
"Oh, come off it, Sharpay…" Kelsey conjured her Remembrall. "No one is that stupid. Troy, put this in her hand. If it turns bright green, it means she's not Gabrielle."
"What's going on here?" Professor McGonagal came into the confrontation with Professor Snape to investigate what was going on. She noticed the two Gabrielles. "What sort of magic is this?"
"That's Sharpay!!!" The two clones accused each other.
"Sharpay made a polyjuice potion." Taylor told the truth to McGonagal, and Snape reacted to the news as if he already knew. "All we have to do is wait two hours for it to wear off and she'll change back."
"Two hours?" The Gabrielle in the black dress reacted. "Troy, I've got a really bad headache… Could you take me back to Gryffindor, and, uh-oh…" Her bosom was swelling up inside her dress, two seams popped along her sides and she started feeling her skin and body tissue stretching her body back out to size. She held on to Troy in pain as her body reverted back to her true size in Gabrielle's smaller size dress. The color in her brunette hair started fading back to blonde and extending longer down her back in front of everyone watching. A few more people stopped to watch out of morbid curiosity. Gabrielle herself covered her mouth alarmed to watch her duplicate turning into the blonde diva.
"She looks like she's hulking out!" Chad commented.
"Did I say two hours?" Taylor added. "I meant two minutes. Polyjuice potions never last more than an hour."
In the center of the open Assembly Hall, Troy suddenly found himself holding Sharpay. She looked up into his eyes and down upon herself in Gabrielle's smaller sized black dress just barely held together at the seams. One deep breath, and it would be down around her ankles.
"It was her!" She pointed at Gabrielle. "I'm the real Gabrielle. She turned me into her to throw you all off. It's true!!" It was a weak try, but she attempted it. Snape confronted her with his wand drawn.
"I knew you three girls were stealing from my private stock." He stared Sharpay down as if he had expected much better deception from her. "If you three don't want to be expelled, you had better be in my office bright and early at seven for punishment and don't be late! The three of you might want to bring your toothbrushes because there is a lot of scrubbing that needs to be done!" His voiced hissed just barely restraining his disapproval and hostility before pulling his black robe closed and turning away madder than he'd ever been with any other Slitherin student under his charge.
"And I'm sure Professor Dumbledore and I might be able to add that punishment as well." McGonagal added and turned away as students returned to dancing. Sharpay stood and looked around as Troy was reunited with his Gabrielle. Taylor and Chad drifted away, and Ryan extended his hand to Kelsey to dance with him. Feeling alone, trapped in an undersized black dress about to pop off her body and unsure what to do, Sharpay looked at Troy once more and noticed Lily over near the fireplace.
"Okay…" She stared Lily down. "Who forgot to tell me that polyjuice potions only last for one hour?!"
"That must have been on the page we forgot to rip out of the book." Lily replied a bit annoyed.
"Great…great…" Sharpay strutted back and forth in Gabrielle's dress scared to death about taking a deep breath. "Gabrielle gets Troy, we have to get up early for punishment, and now I don't have a date and have to stand around with you!" She snapped at Lily and looked around. "Where's Tawni?"
"Over there…" Lily nervously pointed over to near the entranceway where several of the other students were dancing to the music. At first, she couldn't see Tawni what with all the older students dancing and moving into her line of sight, but then she noticed William Samms and in his arms was Tawni with her head to his chest and her arms around his shoulders. He seemed content as he swayed slowly with her close to him, his cheek close to her cheek.
"What does she possibly see in him?" Sharpay reacted confused.
"You didn't hear?" Lily looked at her. "His family has money… maybe more than yours."
"What?!"
"That's not all…" Lily came up closer. "Wait till you hear who his grandfather is supposed to be!" She leaned in and whispered in Sharpay's ear as the blonde one reacted with stunned surprise. Her mouth dropped open out of shock and her eyes widened eagerly.
"No!!!" She looked back at William and Tawni while pushing Lily away and marched across the room eager and hurried to fix her current dating status. Tawni was giggling to be with this shy young man and looking forward to taking him out of his shell.
"Let's get a drink…" William led Tawni over to the snack tables.
"I'll follow you anywhere, baby…" Tawni gushed deeply infatuated, looked over to Sharpay marching over in that undersized dress and was suddenly twirled right out of the assembly hall. Sharpay took her by the arm and swung her through the doors and out onto the balcony over the entrance hall. A brief shriek and she was out of the picture. Without her, the blonde diva grinned and took Tawni's place as William's date. The dark-haired Gryffindor student turned round to meet his new company as Sharpay grabbed him tightly and contently with a big hug and big happy smile on her face.
"What just happened here?" He stood confused and holding two cups of apple cider while looking around the room.
The music stopped and the room turned to Professor Dumbledore at the podium on the teacher's platform with Professor McGonagal at his side. They looked across pleasantly across their students and observed their faces drawing near.
"Another year gone…" Dumbledore spoke to his students. "And as I understand, the house cup needs awarding and the current points stand as thus: At fourth place, Gryffindor house with three-hundred and forty two points…."
The Gryffindor students cheered together from scattered across the room.
"At third place," Dumbledore continued. "Ravenclaw with three-hundred and eighty-one points…"
The Ravenclaw students cheered along with Taylor looking around for her house brothers and sisters.
"At second place, Hufflepuff with four-hundred and eighteen points…"
Ryan and Kelsey jumped up and clapped with their house members. Several of their friends in the other houses clapped to share in their support.
"And at first place, Slitherin with four hundred and twenty-one points." Dumbledore announced as Slitherin cheered louder and more obnoxiously than any of the other houses. Lily was getting to know Second Year Brad O'Keefe from Hufflepuff House and Tawni came back in mouth hanging open as Sharpay stood with William. Sharpay got too excited and cheered as the top of her dress finally popped apart; William throwing his coat around her to protect her dignity.
"Yes, yes, well done, Slitherin. However…" Dumbledore continued. "Certain events I've since been informed of must be taken into account, and several more points must be submitted. To Miss Taylor McKessie of Ravenclaw, for her cool use of intellect when others were in peril, fifty points."
Chad held Taylor's hand up and she jerked it down than be embarrassed. Her house members applauded her.
"To Mr. Troy Boyden…" Dumbledore went onward. "For effortless mastery of a broom in flight under impossibly difficult conditions, fifty points."
Gryffindor clapped for him, and Gabrielle hugged and kissed him.
"To Miss Kelsey Nielsen of Hufflepuff…" Dumbledore looked to her up close to him as she reacted a bit shy. "For the most gifted young musical talent when it was most needed, fifty points."
Ryan lifted Kelsey up off her feet to congratulate her.
"To Mr. Chad Danforth," Dumbledore surprised the young man with the hair. "For knowing when to risk one's only life even when another life was in danger, fifty points."
Troy raced over and cheered his best friend in front of the fireplace.
"To Miss Gabrielle Russo," Dumbledore looked toward the young Waverly princess not far from Troy. "For pure nerve and courageous spirit even in the face of defying odds, sixty points…" Nearly fainting, Gabrielle felt Troy there to catch her from fainting.
"And lastly…" Dumbledore started to wrap. "It takes a lot of bravery to stand up to one's enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to your friends. That's why I'm awarding twenty-five points, to William…." He paused there to avoid revealing the young man's real name. "Samms." Everyone looked up to William about to escort Sharpay back to her house. Suddenly everyone was looking at him and he didn't get it. Troy and Chad came over to pull him back into the cheering room.
"Assuming that my calculations are correct, I assume a change of decorations is in order." Dumbledore clapped his hands and the green Slitherin flags in the room left over as last years House Cup Winners started waving and changing into the blue and gold flags of Gryffindor House. The entire room roared excitedly for the change except a majority of Slitherin bullies and malcontents used to running loose through the school. They sneered and made faces of derision to be forced into their proper place. On stage, Hagrid himself cheered the change and Dumbledore gestured for the kids to have their music back to truly celebrate the end of the school year. Troy and Gabrielle were laughing together, and Chad playfully bumped Troy while racing around with Taylor. Kelsey and Ryan stopped and watched amazed when William chucked his wand away and gestured a long white ball gown to appear on Sharpay under his coat. It was quite a feat when he pulled his coat away to reveal her properly attired. With the right dress, she didn't feel like leaving the room.
"I'm soaring… flying…" Troy was singing to Gabrielle to the music. "There's not a star in heaven we can't resist…"
"We're breaking free…" Gabrielle grinned to him as the music changed.
"Together, together… together everyone…" It was a different type of music resonating through the school as the ghosts started dancing in the air ten feet off the floor.
"Together, together, come on, let's have some fun…" The students started coming together in sync.
"Together, we're there for each other every time…" They faced each other holding hands.
"Together, together, come on, let's do this right…" The room was turning into an almost perfectly choreographed scene of students dancing in circles and joining hands. Gabrielle hopping through and around others as Troy caught up with her.
"Here and now, it's time for celebration…" Ryan jumped up on a table with Kelsey. "I finally figured it out… that our dreams have no limitations. That's what it's all about!"
"Everyone is special in their own way…" Sharpay belted out lyrics as well escorting William at her side as she revealed her white Cinderella dress. "We make each other strong… We're not the same… we're different in a good way… Together is where we belong!!!"
"We're all here…" Troy revealed his incredible voice to Gabrielle. "And speaking out with one voice. We're going to rock the house. The party's on now, everybody make some noise. Come on and shout…" He lifted her up onto another table with him.
"We've arrived because we stuck together… champions one and all…" She lent her voice to his.
"We're all in this together…" The four houses joined together in celebration to the music and the school year. "Gryffindor… In the house!!!" On stage, Professor Dumbledore mused proudly as if he was a grandfather with excess of four hundred children. He just happened to glance over and noticed McGonagal trying to duplicate the kids' dance moves. On his other side, Hagrid was bouncing up and down and swaying his arms a bit to the music. Snape barely moved, but he stiffly moved to the tune as if he were a weather vane in a terrible wind. At that moment out in the North Sea, Alex Russo was even swaying in her cell at Azkaban as she tried to escape the prison.
"What is this?" At the entrance to the Assembly Hall, Harry Potter led Hermione Granger as his date to the party a bit late. With them, Ron Weasley was escorting Luna Lovegood. They looked at the goings on, shook their heads changing their minds and turned back. Luna meanwhile grinned and pulled Ron into the party.
"Do you think every year will be like this one?" Troy asked Gabrielle at the fireplace.
"I know it will…" She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him as fireworks exploded from the enchanted ceiling.
END