Chapter 36

Freddie's POV

I stare at the clown advancing toward me through wide eyes, immediately remembering the whole reason I'm terrified of clowns in the first place.

I had been eight years old when I encountered my first clown and my fear began. Mum and dad had decided to take me and Roxanne to the circus. Not a wizarding circus either, but a muggle circus, complete with tents, ring leaders and clowns. I had wandered away from my parents and began exploring the different areas around the circus when I found myself inside a tent with a group of clowns. I stood and watched them talk and interact, completely fascinated by them. That is, until one of them saw me. He glared at me and yelled for the other clowns to grab me as he hurriedly led them toward me, all wearing the same devious grins on their faces as they did. I grimaced as I ducked under and dodged the multiple arms swinging for me while I ran away from them. One of them managed to grab me by my shirt collar and hauled me over to the leader, who immediately began demanding answers. "Wha' are you doin' 'ere lad? Are you a spy?"

I shook my head rapidly then asked, "There are spies for clowns?"

The lead clown grabbed a large yellow balloon and gripped it tightly, gnashing his teeth together as he said, "Are you sure you're not a spy? Because we 'ave ways o' taking care o' spies…" Suddenly the balloon in his hands pops loudly, causing me to jump at the noise.

I shook my head again, my eyes quickly getting wider and wider with fear. The clown laughed and waved off the clown holding me by my collar. "Le' 'im go, ma'e. We've go' a show to do." He glanced at me and adds, "Don' come back 'ere again, lad, or I'll do to you wha' I did to the balloon."

I managed a squeak of understanding as the clown holding me relinquished his grip on me and I fall to the ground. I pushed myself up off the ground and, with dust flying up behind me, I sprinted away from the tent and the group of clowns, never to see them again and forever fearing clowns from that moment on.

The sound of Eli loudly yelling spells at the large bird attacking him snaps me out of my memory and brings me back to the room. I immediately launch into firing every aggressive spell and hex I know at the clown, none of which work. I twirl my wand absentmindedly as glare at him and try to figure out how to beat him. I glance at the box I found him in, an idea popping into my head the moment I see it. I wave my wand at him and, while picturing Professor Slughorn in a dress and large hat, I say "Riddikulus."

I grin triumphantly as the clown quickly transforms into Professor Slughorn dressed in a long, yellow sundress. Eli follows my lead and breathes a heavy sigh of relief when it works. "Thank Merlin…"

Suddenly Ariana appears in the corner of the room, followed by James, and yells, "How'd you know?"

I smirk at her with a shrug. "I'm too smart for you, Ari. You're going to have to work harder than that if you want to prank the prank king…"

"Hey!" James throws his hands up at me exasperatedly. "I believe I am the pranking king, thank you very much!"

I roll my eyes and nod, mostly to appease him, and wave him off. "Yeah, yeah…" I walk over to the door and, before I leave, I add, "Hey, Ari? Come find me when you have a real prank."

I hear her grunt and stomp her foot as I walk out of the room, Eli following closely behind me. As soon as we get out into the Heads common room, Brittney looks at Eli then me and inquires, "What was with all the noise in there? Did you find Landen's book?"

I shake my head while glancing at Landen, shooting him an I'll-get-you-back-for-that sort of look, and say, "No, I didn't find his book, but I don't think that's what he sent me in there for…"

Brittney gets a quizzical look on her face as she looks over at Landen. "Wait, what?"

Eli smirks and says, "Ari tried to prank us… And apparently Landen here was in on it…"

Landen shakes his head and shrugs nonchalantly. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I just wanted to study…"

Brittney angrily smacks him in the arm. "It's bad enough that she feels the need to stoop to their level, but I thought you would know better than that! I'm so disappointed in you Landen!"

With that, she pushes herself up off the floor and marches into Ariana's room, slamming the door shut behind her. Landen looks at me and Eli then slowly rises up off the floor. "Well, it was nice to see you two, but I'll just be heading off to go study in the sanctity of my own room…" He awkwardly backs away from us, being sure to keep his eyes locked on us the entire time. He finally makes his way out of the room, stumbling over a raised bit of the carpet as he walked out.

As soon as he's gone, Eli turns to me with a devilish grin and says, "What do you say we teach Miss Ariana Elizabeth Brighton how a real prank is pulled?"

I nod to him with an equally devious grin. "Why Eli, I do believe that is the best idea you've ever had… We need something that will completely blow her mind…" I tap my chin for a moment then let out a mischievous laugh. "I think I know just what to do… Eli, are you afraid of the forbidden forest?"

We walk over to the window and look out onto the dark, expansive forest. I glance over at him and see a smirk spread on his face before he responds. "No, but Ari is about to be…"

I would like to start off by apologizing for the extreme delay in this post! Things have been rather hectic since school started up again, but I'm going to do my best to update ASAP. I hope yall don't hate me too much... lol

I would also love to hear your thoughts about this chapter! What did you love? What did you hate? Do you have any ideas?

Thanks for your unbelievable support with this story! You all have no idea how much it means to me! :)

-Tx