Chapter 7: Are You Smarter Than a Fifth-Year?
"Attention!" Minerva called, starting our February staff meeting. At the sound of her voice, the entire room was silenced.
"Thank you. Now, I'm sure you're all wondering what your next task is. There is a muggle game show in the United States called 'Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?' It is hosted by American comedian Jeff Foxworthy and consists of adults going on the show and answering questions that first through fifth graders, or six through eleven year olds, in their country would be able to answer.
"The reason I'm bringing this up is because you will be doing something similar. Each of our six remaining participates will take turns answering questions that can be found on Hogwarts's students O.W.L.S. The two contestants with the most points at the end of the contest will be our finalists. Are there any questions?"
There were none. "Very well. Moving on."
After the meeting, I quickly retreated back to the dungeons to prepare myself for the upcoming contest.
"Lucianna, wait up!" called Jason, coming up fast behind me.
I look over my shoulder but keep walking. "Yes, Jay?"
"I was wondering if you would like to… uh… study with me. For the contest, I mean." Jason said.
"I thought we were supposed to be competitors, not helping each other." I said with a laugh.
"Well… yeah, but I thought it would be nice to…."
I smile. "Sure. When do you what to study?"
"How about next Saturday at six?" Jason suggested "I can serve you dinner."
"That sounds good to me." I said with a smile. "See you then."
"Yeah… see you then." Jason said absent-mindedly. I pretended not to notice him staring after me as I walked away.
That night, I couldn't stop thinking about our first quidditch practice back in October. Were Jason and I really flirting as Madame Prince claimed we were, or was she just trying to get tryouts moving again? I hoped it was the latter, because being in love is dangerous. Someone usually gets heartbroken in the end. I learned that lesson long ago from someone else's mistakes.
The following week passed quickly. At five-fifty-five on Saturday night, I grabbed a copy of my fifth years' potion book and left for Jason's classroom. Jason had told me if I brought the Potions book, he would provide all of the others. Surprisingly, I have never been back to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom since my schooldays, even though Jason had been to my room several times. Timidly, I knocked on the door to the classroom. When there was no answer, I opened it myself and entered. I found my way to Jason's office and knocked on that door. Jason opened it within a matter of seconds.
"Is it six o'clock already?" he asked in surprise. "Where did the time go? Well, don't just stand there, come in!"
As soon as I stepped into Jason's office, I spotted a table in the corner, set for two. A red tablecloth covered the table like a blanket. A plate, silverware, and a glass were at each end of the table, and a lighted candle sat in the center. It looked very formal.
"Wow." I whispered. "Why so formal?"
Jason shrugged. "I didn't want to seem like a slob." He laughed. "Then again, I'm sort of a neat freak."
"Really? I couldn't tell." I said sarcastically.
Within five minutes, Jason had filled our plates with freshly craved ham, mashed potatoes with gravy, dinner rolls, and a green bean casserole. Everything was delicious. It wasn't until I was half-way done with my meal that I realized what day it was.
"It's Valentine's Day!" I exclaimed.
Jason smiled. "So it is."
There was something in his piercing blue eyes that I couldn't identify. Quickly, I looked down at my plate, hoping Jason didn't notice how long I was staring at him. "This meal is delicious, by the way." I said.
"Thank you. My grandmother taught me how to cook everything you see here." Jason explained.
"Well, she must have been an incredible cook."
Jason smiled. "She was. I helped her cook every time I visited her, which wasn't very often. My father sort of disapproved of her, and he didn't like her teaching me how to cook."
"Why not?" I asked softly.
Jason sighed. "It… it was because she was a muggle… well, a squib, really, but to my father it was the same thing. Most people disapproved of her, except for her husband, a muggle-born wizard who would do anything for her, and my mother, her only child. My mother used to take my brothers and I to see her at least once a month, but after she died, my father lessened the visits to once every couple of years, and that was only because my younger brother and I begged him to let us go.
"Whenever we took Grandmother out into the wizarding community, people stared at her as if she had three heads, and called her a freak behind her back, but loud enough so I could hear. Sometimes people threw garbage at her. Not once did we go to Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade without hearing the word 'squib' at least once."
"That's horrible!" I exclaimed. "Squibs shouldn't be treated like that just because they were born without magical blood. It's not right… or fair."
Jason looked at me with sad eyes. "A lot of events in history weren't fair. Since the beginning of time, prejudice against certain groups of people has been an issue."
After that, there wasn't much discussion. I got up to clear my plate, but Jason stopped me. "I'll take it." he said. "You're my guest."
After the table was cleared, Jason and I brought out the books. Jason opened the Defense book and flipped to what seemed like a random page. "List the steps for getting rid of a boggart." He commanded.
We took turns asking each other questions until about eleven at night. I said goodnight to Jason, then went back to my own office. Although I wouldn't admit it, I actually had a good time studying with Jason.
On March 8th, 2003, the day of the second task, the Great Hall was transformed. All of the tables were removed, except for one directly in front of the professors' table, and only the chairs remained. On one side of the remaining table sat six chairs one for each of the participating professors. Minerva gave us some quick, last-minute instructions, and then led us into the Great Hall, which was already filled with students. Once we sat down at the table, Minerva went up to the podium to explain the rules of the game.
"Each professor will be asked eleven questions, one from each class other than the one that they teach. The categories are Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Astronomy, Care of Magical Creatures, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Divination, Herbology, History of Magic, Muggle Studies, Potions, and Transfiguration. When it is their turn, each professor will choose a subject to answer first. Then, they will choose the point value they want to gamble. The point values are one hundred points, three hundred points, and five hundred points. One hundred point questions are the easiest, while five hundred point questions are the hardest. If the contestant's answer is correct they will receive the amount of points they selected before the question was asked. If their answer is wrong, they will lose that many points. The two contestants with the greatest amount of points will win the contest. Let the game begin!"
After an hour and a half, I had only lost points for two questions, but luckily I'd only bet one hundred points for both of them. In the end, I came in first place with 2,900 points, and Jason came in second with 2,700 points. How ironic. I thought. I'm going to compete with my best friend at Hogwarts. I shocked myself by calling Jason my best friend. I never thought of him that way before, but I suppose he was, besides Minerva.
After Minerva announced the winners, she had another announcement to make. "At this time, our finalists will announce which house they will be playing for? Professor Pasen, are you ready to make your decision?"
"Slytherin!" I said without hesitation. "I'm playing for Slytherin!"
The Slytherins cheered. After they had quieted down, Minerva turned to Jason. "Professor Clearton?"
"Gryffindor!" Jason said loud and proud.
A cheer rose up from the Gryffindors. Once again, a rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin was formed. The rivalry between the two houses would never end, and everyone knew it. This competition between Jason and I just made everything worse.