As my beta has "kindly" stated, an apology is due once again. I'm a horrible updater, but I'm glad that most of you think it's worth it. Thanks to my dedicated readers!
Also…has anyone else ever wondered why Ravenclaws get even less attention than Hufflepuffs?
One more thing: I feel like Noel Ardnekdeserves an honorable mention in here. You've reviewed almost every chapter, your reviews make me smile, and kept with my horrible updating. Thank you for putting up with me!
DISCLAIMER
Ayana: A person who never updates has no right to own Harry Potter.
Harry: Agreed.
Me: This is cruelty!
Holly
Chapter Twelve – Because Dressing Like Idiots is Fun
Halloween couldn't come fast enough for me. I'm serious. It was my favorite holiday. If I could find an excuse to dress like an idiot and not get judged for it, I was so game. Really, how else could I get away with pretending to be a duck?
I had always loved the taste of pumpkin, which I used to find odd, as neither of my parents did…but that didn't quite apply anymore. The Great Hall was flooded with the aroma as I scuttled along behind Lisa and Roger. Danny and Mandy were at each other's throats once again, but I didn't think that it would be a normal morning if they weren't.
"I swear to Merlin, Mandy…you obnoxious little—"
"Don't even say it!" Mandy snapped. "I don't understand why you're so perfect all the time. Worse than that Gryffindor, I say…"
"Fine, I'll do it," he groaned.
"Do what?" Roger chirped.
Danny glared at Roger. It wasn't really his fault, though. He was clueless (as usual). "She wants to see the levitating charm," he sighed. "It's like I'm supposed to show her how not to fail. Can't you do this yourself?"
"We're supposed to have a class on that today," Lisa added.
Danny looked at Mandy, furious. She merely grinned. Scenes such as that almost made me want a sibling of my own to bicker with constantly.
Almost.
"Give me that," Danny said, pointing to my spoon.
I narrowed my eyes and held it above my head. "Give me that what?" I asked with a saucy tone.
"Give me that or you're getting a Quaffle in the head," he growled, so hushed that no one but I could hear. His tone actually frightened me, something that Danny seldom managed to do. I forked over the spoon, muttering about the amount of manners – or lack thereof – in certain people.
Danny looked around, making sure no teachers or prefects had their eyes on the Ravenclaw table.
"Wingardium leviosa," he muttered quietly. The spoon lifted from the table, and hovered at the height of the caster's nose.
"Mr. Brocklehurst, I'm afraid that's two points from Ravenclaw. You should recall that magic between classes is forbidden," announced an obnoxious male voice. The source was a Red-haired, freckle-faced nutcase: a Gryffindor nutcase.
Danny looked at the prefect and grinned. "Ah, but you see, it's before a class. Nowhere does it state that one cannot do magic before a class." He punched the guy in the arm. "Am I right?"
The redhead adjusted his hideous glasses. "That you are. So, I'll be taking two more points for doing magic before class."
Our nutcase still hadn't taken his leave. I looked him up and down. He was tall, but quite thin. I might have been about three-quarters of his size, but I could certainly take him. "Can I hit you?" I asked, coughing back a giggle.
"No," he said simply. "And that's two more points." With that, he finally left. And I wanted to start a minor disagreement that led to physical confrontation!
Danny turned to glare at his sister. "I have never lost a single house point. And I now have, Amanda. Do you know why?" His words dripped with venom. Fury never emitted so strongly from Danny. I stared at him with dinner-plate eyes, awaiting his next move.
"Because you were a cocky idiot and corrected a prefect? Come on, it's your own fault," she trailed off in response.
"If I hadn't done that stupid charm for you—"
"Michael's pregnant!" Roger shouted, just loud enough for, well, our half of the table to hear.
Michael's head snapped up. He swallowed whatever was in his mouth. "What the….? Davies! You know that's impossible!"
"With magic these days, you can never know," Roger shrugged.
"Awh, wittle Mikey's having a—"
"Shut up, Cornfoot!" Michael shouted. I giggled. Michael's rage was too much fun to watch.
"Oh, Michael! Your highly unlikely pregnancy made Toto laugh!" Roger shouted.
Danny blinked. "You people are insane." With that, he left. I assumed that Roger's sick and twisted plan to end sibling quarreling worked.
And that brings us to Charms class. We were instructed on the spell that has cost us six points thing morning, and your three favorite ladies tried it on their own. Mandy got it easily, go figure. It took me a try or two, mainly because it didn't "emphasize the right syllables". Lisa couldn't get it at all. She glared at her with feather, yelled at it, and huffed numerous times. She ended up to the point of stabbing it with her wand.
"Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practicing!" Professor Flitwick said over the evident rage some students expressed. Lisa tried once again, apparently focusing on the wrist movement. "Swish and flick, remember swish and flick," he chided. "And saying the magic words properly is very important, too – never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."
"Lisa," Mandy began, "try it again. And perhaps it would work if you said it slower. If your wand doesn't understand what you're saying, it won't do the spell."
Despite the cold glare, Lisa tried Mandy's suggestion. And then, her little feather floated higher than anyone else's. I knew that I'd have to deal with Mandy's smugness for the rest of the day now, how exciting.
I looked over to Harry's table. He had his hat off, and was beating the other boy's feather, which was on fire. Magic sometimes made me wish I had life insurance.
"Wingardium leviosa!" Hermione said after yelling at Ron. Her feather went skyward, too.
"Oh, well done!" shouted Professor Flitwick when he came to our end of the room. "Everyone see here, Miss Granger, Miss Evans, Miss Brocklehurst, and Miss Turpin have done it!" He started clapping.
"Must've been a mouthful," Mandy muttered.
Leaving class, I noticed my cousin with Ron again. Ron's ears looked hot and he rolled his eyes frequently. Hermione walked behind them. She suddenly stopped, wide-eyed and rosy-cheeked, then bolted out of the room.
"She was crying," Lisa whispered.
Mandy glared at Harry and Ron. "Honey, I think you're cousin and his friend are shaping up to be major assholes."
"I can't comment," I sighed. I honestly wished I could spend more time with my cousin, be he always seemed painfully preoccupied with the redhead.
Later, I sat for the Halloween feast with the boys. I stabbed Grant with my fork.
"What?" he moaned with bread in his mouth.
"Do these people have a feast for, like, everything?" I gestured to the elaborate decorations.
He shrugged. "Holidays are fun. That's their logic."
"Doubt it's Snape's logic," Danny muttered. "He's such…a party pooper." He wrinkled his nose. I actually hated the term "party pooper". It seemed so juvenile to me.
Mandy ran up to us from god-knows-where. "I found out where Hermione is. Lavender Brown told Parvati Patil who told Padma—"
"Mandy, shut up," Danny glared. "What's the point?"
"She's crying in the bathroom!" Mandy shouted, worried. "Oh, food." She found a fork and speared a piece of meat from Danny's plate.
"No, it's okay. You can take whatever you want from me. Here, have the clothes off my back, too," Danny retorted with an extremely noticeable eye-roll.
"Did you investigate this discovery?" Roger asked her from my left.
Mandy shook her head. "I didn't know which bathroom. There are a lot, you know."
"Aw, I thought there was only one that everyone had to squeeze in to," Eddie whimpered. "That's sad."
"You idiot," Duncan muttered. He bit into a roll.
Just then, Quirrell came running in as if he were up in flames. I scolded myself for wishing slightly that he was. He appeared below par, his clothing mangled and turban awry. He ran until he stopped himself by hitting Professor Dumbledore's table. "Troll – in the dungeons – thought you ought to know." And our favorite teacher fainted.
"We're all going to die!" I heard a Hufflepuff shout.
"No we're not, you imbecile! Dumbledore will do something about it!" Grant shouted to the redheaded girl.
"Yeah, no classes!" A group of older Gryffindors high-fived, glee evident on the faces.
At that point, Dumbledore had fired a large number of purple fireworks from his wand.
"Prefects," he had to shout, "lead your houses back to the dormitories immediately!" I blinked a few times.
Jason looked to Percy Weasley, chuckling at the pompous idiot. "Yeah, um, you all know where the common room is. Go frolic."
Danny sniffled and clung to Jason's arm. "But, but Jason! It's a big, nasty troll. Save me, Jason! Save me!" He mock-wept in an extremely feminine manner. Mandy hit him upside the head.
"Move, idiot!" she shouted. "I'm sure that damn thing would love you from a snack. A tasty Danny-on-a-Stick, anyone?"
"That's disgusting," Duncan muttered. "I need better friends."
"Then quit the Quidditch team," Grant suggested.
Roger poked Grant's neck angrily. "He's our best Beater!"
"Gee, thanks," Jason muttered. "Oi, first years! Where are you? Come on, Anthony, stop flirting with the Gryffindors! They're obviously repulsed!"
Lisa played with her hair, twirling it around her fingers. She glanced around the room. I noticed her fingers search for Jason's hand and cling to him tightly. I smirked slightly – she definitely liked him.
The Gryffindors were beside us for the time being. Harry was a few mere feet away from me, but my head spun with thoughts. I wanted to see this monster! Maybe I could even get something intelligent out of it and revolutionize magical zoology!
"Mandy, let's go find the troll." I pointed down to where the nearest bathroom was.
"And why?" she asked, suspicious.
My shoulders dropped. "Because we're really stupid and like to be complete daredevils."
She paused, and then nodded with a grin. "You know me so unbelievably well, mon amie."
I grabbed Mandy by her shirt collar and ducked behind the prefects. We hid behind a glittering curtain when Professor Snape passed us by with hurried footsteps.
"What's he after?" Mandy whispered.
"I'm not sure," I replied. "But it looks important. Maybe he's looking for shampoo."
Mandy giggled. "Best get going. Merlin knows which bathroom we're looking for."
"Touché," I mumbled.
We edged further down the hall, constantly checking behind us for prefects or teachers. There was no sense in going back now.
"Students of mine, wandering the hall in a dangerous situation?" A squeaky voice rang from behind us. We whirled around to find Professor Flitwick. "Of course, it could only be Miss Evans and Miss Brocklehurst. What are you doing here?"
"I was hoping to make a groundbreaking discovery in magical zoology," I grinned sheepishly.
"Very well, very well. My office is closer than the common room. Come now, girls." He trotted off, expecting us to follow him. Mandy and I exchanged a mere glance, but forfeited our original scheme in logic's best interest.
A tornado appeared to have flung through Professor Flitwick's office. Books and stray parchment littered the floor and all pieces of furniture. Professor cleared off two chairs, presumably for Mandy and me, and hopped onto his desk.
"I'm not sure if you two are fully aware how dangerous trolls are," he announced. Mandy snorted.
"Professor," I grinned, "aren't trolls cute little things in bright colors that live under bridges?"
Mandy gave me one of those looks again. That one that says, "Are you stupid?" Hey, how could I have known?
"Er…those actually do exist, mainly in the tropical region of Asia, but the one we're concerned with is a mountain troll. It's rather large and substantially stupid," Professor corrected.
"We wanted to try and make it…less stupid," Mandy mumbled. "We thought it could work."
"I applaud you for thinking abstractly, but I would only advise you carry out that plan with…supervision."
At the point, I noticed a book dragging itself across the floor. It bumped into the leg of my chair, and began levitating away. Naturally, I made a grab for it. Now, in my hand, was a small key, dangling by a tiny angel wing pinched between my forefinger and thumb.
"Oh dear," Professor Flitwick mumbled, gently removing the fluttering key from my hand. "How did you get out?"
"What is it?" Mandy asked, leaning forward.
Professor looked at her a moment before speaking. "I would like to tell you, but I do believe that you would be far too interested. I can't have you investigating this."
"Oh?" I tilted my head oh-so-slightly. "But it's adorable."
Professor sighed. "Of course, of course it is. But this key, girls, this very one, poses great danger to the wizarding world if it is to be found in the wrong hands."
"Since when are we the wrong hands?" Mandy pressed.
"You aren't. However, loose objects, such as this key, get lost. We can't have that happening, can we?" Professor clutched the key tightly, but ultimately decided to lock it in his desk drawer.
"If this isn't too nosy…what does that key unlock, anyway?" I thought about some sort of door suspended on a high-up wall. Only a key with little wings could unlock that.
"A door," Professor replied quickly.
My brow furrowed. "Where is said door?"
"Oh, it's in Hogwarts."
"Filius!" A voice came from outside the door and, without asking permission, followed our Herbology teacher inside. "Filius! The troll has been…er…exterminated by two rogue Gryffindor boys!"
"Harry and Ron?" I yelled, standing up. "What about them? Are they hurt at all?"
"They killed it?" Mandy shouted angrily. "We were going to make advances in magical zoology!"
"Shut up, Mandy; we can find other trolls!" I sighed, shaking my head.
Professor Flitwick hopped down from the desk. "Girls, I think it's in your best interest to leave for your dormitory now. I'm sure Lisa and the Quidditch team are worried."
I sighed. "Do we have to?"
"Yeah," Mandy whined, "I'm sure Danny's not worried. He'd love me out of his hair for a few hours. Let's go examine the troll's corpse."
"I'm afraid not," Professor Flitwick said sternly. He showed us out of the room. "Please do get to your dorms.
Seeing as we now had no other option, Mandy and I trudged down the hall to Ravenclaw tower.
"Bloody…Oh for Merlin's…Mandy….Mum and Dad would kill me if you died!" Danny shouted as soon as he found us. He had been waiting at the door, anticipating his sister's dead body.
"Oh, ease up on them. They're kids. They like having fun and possibly dyeing. I know I still do," Roger grinned. "Possible death is such an adrenaline rush!"
Danny stared at him, dumbfounded. He shook his head and collapsed on the couch muttering about funerals.
"Roger, you sound like a Gryffindor," Grant smiled. He then proceeded to hug me. "What were you even doing, Toto?"
"Having a nice conversation with Professor Flitwick about this little key thing I found and how Mandy wants to make advances in magical zoology," I shrugged, pulling away. He was comfortable, yes, but hugging guys was still a bit awkward to me, even if they were like my brothers.
"A key thing?" Tell me more," Jason grinned.
I sat down on the arm of the chair upon which Eddie was sitting. "Well, it was a key with tiny wings that was under a book and knocked into my chair."
"A key with wings?" Eddie muttered next to me. "For what?"
"Professor said it was for a door in Hogwarts," Mandy shrugged. "He was being overly vague."
I nodded and Duncan began pacing the room. "A key with wings that unlocks a door in the school. How odd," he trailed off, dreamy-eyed.
"Sounds like a mission to me. Ravenclaws to the rescue?" Jason suggested.
"No!" Mandy glared at him, yanking his hair. "Look, one-who-unfortunately-looks-like-Malfreak, we've already been told not to."
"That hasn't stopped my little runt of a sister before," Danny countered, still lying on the couch. He now had a pillow on his head. He honestly looked like some character out of a cheap horror movie…Pillow Headed Killer or something…Which sounded like a good idea, actually.
"Let's go trick or treating!" I hopped off the side of the chair and stood on Eddie's lap (I earned a glare and some curse words from him).
"Er, why?" The formerly-silent Lisa chimed in. "No one else is."
"Lisa, dear, I think that's the point," Roger gently said.
Eddie continued to glare. "Where do we get costumes, Toto?"
"Transfigure a couple up or raid Mandy's stuff," I shrugged.
"Hey!" Mandy shouted. "And I doubt any of the guys can wear my stuff! Well, maybe Jason…but I don't want it all stretched out!"
"Then we make a few!" Roger grinned. "I'm going to go steal a bed sheet. Roger-the-ghost sounds cute, right Holly?"
"Uh…sure, Roger," I smiled back at him. "And don't cut holes in it unless you plan to fix it!" I didn't think he heard me.
Mandy, Lisa, and I fished around in each others' wardrobes to find what we were after. I let Mandy steal my Quidditch uniform for the evening, but she had difficulty getting in it, so she rolled around on the floor while Lisa and I were still searching. Lisa insisted on being a mermaid, and she already had a shiny blue peasant skirt for who knows what reason. I lent her a white tank top of mine and she nabbed Mandy's seashell necklace. I myself ended up in a pink floral dress and glittery heels, both of which were Lisa's. Deciding that I looked like Barbie (and not our Slytherin friend), I charmed my hair blonde.
We pranced down the stairs and found our poorly dressed boys waiting for us. Danny had the pillow tied to his face and a piece of paper taped to it saying "fear me". Roger, true to his word, threw a white sheet over himself. Duncan was in a swimsuit and a tank top that had "LIFEGUARD" written on it with Eddie also in a swimsuit and a t-shirt, holding a beach ball and wearing water wings. Grant covered himself with black and white makeup, supposedly being a skeleton.
And Jason was in the girls' uniform.
"Well, we obviously did better than you," Mandy remarked, hitting Roger. "Someone's lacking creativity."
"Well, excuse me for being classic!" Roger countered. I could practically see the pout under his sheet.
"Ugh, let's just go," Jason groaned. "I don't know how you people wear heels."
"We don't," Lisa shrugged. "You stole from Penny, huh?"
"Yeah," he muttered. "Not my best idea."
I removed the pillowcases from nine pillows and passed them out. "These are your bags for the candy that we probably won't get. You're welcome."
"We're not getting candy?" Eddie asked, wide-eyed.
"No, I doubt anyone's prepared for trick or treaters. Now let's hurry it up before everyone's asleep," I shouted bravely and shoved everyone out of the common room.
"Where to first, oh great leader?" Duncan asked, bowing.
I paused, pulling at my now-blonde hair. "I think Gryffindor. Good idea?"
"Yeah…but someone has to guide me along. I can't see through the pillow," Danny whined.
"I'll handle the butthead, you just lead the way," Mandy sighed. "C'mon, Mr. Fear Me."
"I don't trust you!" he whimpered.
"We have to avoid Filch and that damn cat," Eddie reminded us. "So shut up, Danny."
"But—"
"Shush!"
We remained silent as we tiptoed through the halls, somehow ending up at Gryffindor tower.
"Er…hi," I grinned at their portrait.
"You're not Gryffindors…are you? Are you lost? Why are you dressed in such a fashion?" She replied with a worried look.
"We're trick or treating!" Roger giggled from under his bed sheet.
Before the portrait could reply, she swung open. Two redheaded twins appeared.
"So, you're trick or treating?" One grinned. To that, we nodded.
"Trick or treaters get candy, right?" The other asked. "I'm not sure, George."
"Oh, they do. And I just happen to have some interesting little tidbits here! It's some muggle stuff from…I think the sixties."
"Oh, vintage!" The one called Fred grinned.
They proceeded to throw candy at us, which most of us successfully caught. Well, all except Eddie. But Duncan helped him out.
"Thank you and Ravenclaw will happily beat Gryffindor in Quidditch. Good night to you, sirs!" Danny pranced off in one direction, but managed to run into a wall. "Stupid pillow," he muttered.
We began tiptoeing down the hall again, this time to the direction of Hufflepuff. Outside, we found a sleeping Cedric on the floor, clutching a note with a bowl of candy beside him. The boys grabbed the candy while Lisa read the note.
"'We tend to be muggleborn. Take the candy. Someone. Anyone. Please? It'll make us feel happy. Love always, certain Hufflepuffs'," she giggled.
"How nice," Mandy rolled her eyes.
"There's more. 'P.S. We put Cedric in charge because he's freaking sexy. Love, Hufflepuff girls."
I poked Cedric a few times. Groaning, he finally woke up. "What the…who are you?" He muttered.
"Holly," I said bluntly.
"Blonde?" He asked with a yawn.
My shoulders dropped. "It's Halloween, I'm Barbie. Deal with it."
He shrugged. "Okay. I see your friends nabbed the candy. I'm gonna go find my bed. Night-night Holly," he grinned. Quieter, he added, "I love you."
I let out a little puff of air. "Thank you?" I whispered, but he couldn't hear; he was already inside.
I turned to Grant, who was poking the small of my back. "What?" I glared.
"The others wanna check the kitchens. Think the house elves will be nice?"
"Probably," I shrugged. "Danny's already trying to find out."
It was true. Our faithful beater was banging on the painting leading to the kitchen.
"Oi, idiot!" Roger shouted, lifting his sheet. "You tickle the thing!"
"Oh," Danny muttered as he took his captain's advice. Sure enough the portrait opened and we saw a little house elf.
"Young mister has come to the kitchen at a late hour. How can Twinkie assist the young mister?" the smallish thing said.
"Uh…we're trick or treating. Would you happen to have any leftover sweets? Like, nine of them?" Danny asked, nervous. He didn't appear to like house elves.
"Yes! Twinkie will fetch nine sweets for the young mister!" Twinkie ran off into the depths of the kitchen and came back with nine chocolate cupcakes frosted in pink with little heart sprinkles.
"You've got to be kidding me," Eddie muttered beside me.
"Hush, Eddie. You're lucky to have food. There are starving children in Africa," Lisa glared at him. That shut him up.
"Thanks, Twinkie," Danny grinned, taking the cupcakes and distributing them. Eddie took his reluctantly.
"So…homeward bound?" Mandy asked shakily.
I shook my head with a huge grin. "Nope. We have to harass Barbie with Barbie."
"Please no," Lisa whimpered.
"Too late," I giggled, halfway down the hall.
"Holly!" Grant shouted behind me, "Come back!"
I lightly rapped on the door to the Slytherin common room, hoping you-know-what would answer. And it did.
"What the hell…oh…oh, hi there," he grinned like an idiot, which mustn't be too hard for him.
"Hi," I repeated, taken aback. What was that creepy look in his eye for?
"So, Hogwarts finally dug up some pretty ones. What house are you in? Slytherin, I hope? Out after hours?"
What the Hell was his problem? I already insulted, harassed, and threatened him countless times in the past month! Then again…it could be the blonde hair and overly girl style. That must've been it. This was the very time I needed a savoir from this disgusting…thing. Perhaps a knight in shining armor or…
A Roger Davies in a bed sheet.
"Hey, sweetheart, come on," he winked at me under the sheet. "You don't want to get tangled with this mutt."
"Mutt?" Malfreak repeated. "What are you talking about?"
"Ignore him," he grinned charmingly. "He's just an idiot that's only after the physical aspect of things. It's sad, isn't he? He's so young."
I stared at Roger. Where'd that come from?
Once out of earshot he turned to me again. "I can be insightful, you know. It makes me a great captain. I'm amazing."
"And cocky," I added.
"Yeah, whatever," he said through gritted teeth. That's how I knew I was right.
Danny had Duncan behind him, untying the pillow. "No candy from Slytherin?" the latter asked.
"It could be a good thing," Jason grinned. "Now we know we won't be poisoned…Well, most of us, anyway."
"Don't eat the Gryffindor candy! Don't do it! Oh Merlin save me!" Eddie whined, crouched on the floor.
"What happened?" Roger asked, panic-stricken.
Lisa sighed. "He ate the Gryffindor candy and—"
"—and baby has a tummy-ache," Mandy giggled.
"Shut up, Brocklehurst!" Eddie shouted. "It's poisoned, I swear! Don't eat it!"
Grant sighed. "Well, I suppose we know now that the Sorting Hat can be mistaken."
"Die," Eddie muttered quietly, still on the ground.
I stared at him. "I say we leave him here."
"Great idea," Mandy grinned. "Come on Danny and one-with-pillow-whose-name-escapes-me."
Lisa nodded and dragged Jason and Grant with her. Roger and I followed, lagging behind a bit.
"I heard what Cedric said," he broke the silence. I looked at him.
"And?"
"I don't know. It just gave me a weird feeling. He kind of gives me a weird feeling. You two are really different. Not like one would expect, you know?"
I shrugged. "No, not really."
"Yeah, well, just be careful. Don't want my seeker filled with teenage angst and bottled up boy-anger," he grinned.
"As if. That's definitely not me," I shook my head. Unless, maybe, it was.