Chapter 24: Who's he?
A.N. This is now the afternoon of the day before the Yule Ball because there is like a lot happening on the day before the Yule Ball!
Ash went down to see her friends, they were all crowding around a boy. She then pushed a few people to see who the boy was and then she saw it was the same boy she saw minutes ago outside playing in the snow. Ash smiled and then quickly ran to the back where Rhea was.
'Who's he?' Whispered Ash to Rhea
'You really want to know who he is?' Asked Rhea, smiling
'Yeah! Tell me. NOW! Who is he?'
'His name is Raj, apparently he's just come from London and his family are Indian' Said Rhea
'Raj…' Whispered Ash
'Yes Raj, is that a problem' Said Rhea laughing
'No… Its no-' Ash stopped when she heard someone call her name.
She looked to the right of her and then she saw that it was Raj that called her name. She looked to the side and then he said something… But it wasn't something he said, he asked something. While that James was getting ready for Potions, it was the only lesson of the day because they had to do a essay on how to make the draught of living death in the lesson. So he quickly got his books and bag and then left. It was now 3:30pm and time to leave. As he came down the stairs he saw Ash come down as well, she was in her usual robes and a scarf because it was quite cold.
'Hey Ash, where you going?' Said James
'Just to potions what about you?' Replied Ash smiling as usual
'Same… '
'Is it okay if I go to potions with you? Everyone's gone without me!' Said Ash
James nodded and they started walking to potions, many people were doing the same essay so they had to have the lesson in the Great Hall.
'So how's finding the clue for the 2nd Task going?' Asked Ash as they went down stairs
'Bad. I still don't know what it is…' Said James
'I think Aleksandar told me… Once where he found the clue'
'Really? Do you remember where?'
'I think he said… You have to go somewhere dark and then put the locket in water, warm water…'
'Thank you Ash!' Said James putting his hand around Ash.
Ash felt a little uncomfortable… So she moved away from James and then entered the Great Hall where everyone was starting to write their essays. Ash sat down at the table and then got her book out, Professor Qwicket was keeping an eye on everyone, to see if they were working, not talking. Ash got her quill and then dipped it in ink and then started writing:
How to make Polyjuice Potion.
Ingredients:
1. 12 lacewing flies that have been stewed for 21 days
Until she got interrupted by James and Hugo both beside her.
'James what do you mean you have no one to go with! You're a champion, if you cant get a date then who can?' Whispered Hugo
'I KNOW! Then who can we both go with?' Whispered James
'I don't know, if you find someone, you have to ask if her friend can go with me, deal?' Whispered Hugo looking at Professor Qwicket, making sure he wasn't watching
'Fine deal! But-' James stopped because he got interrupted by Ash
'HONESTLY, Will you two please SHUT UP about the Yule Ball? It's really getting on my nerves' Whispered Ash looking around to see if anyone was listening
'Hey Ash, your female…' Said Hugo
'Well I never knew that (!)' Whispered Ash
'Fancy coming to the Ball with one of us 'handsome' boys?' Said Hugo… Quite loudly, doing a 'manly' pose
'Mr Weasley! Get on with your work or there will be detention!' Shouted Professor Qwicket
'Well…?' Whispered Hugo
'No, you two are really… weird?' Whispered Ash looking at Hugo and James
'Just because you haven't got someone to go with…' Whispered James laughing under his breath
'If this interests you someone DID ask me, you know?' Whispered Ash finishing the last bits of the essay
James was confused, as he looked at Ash's essay and it said:
How to make Polyjuice Potion.
Ingredients:
1. 12 lacewing flies that have been stewed for 21 days
2. 1 ounce of crude Antimony[3]
3. 4 leeches that have been "unsucculated" (meaning their suckers have been removed)
4. 16 scruples of fluxweed that were picked at full moon
5. 3 drachms of pulverised Sal Ammoniac
6. Pulverised blades of knotgrass
7. 1 pinch of powdered horn of a Bicorn that has been "lunar extracted"(possibly meaning that, like the fluxweed, its collection time coincided with certain lunar conditions)
8. Filings and rasplings of Saltpeter, Mercury and Mars (Filings of Mars)
9. Shredded dried skin of a Boomslang
10. Extract of The-Transfigured-Being-To-Be (The Persons Hair)
Now after this it will take a month to fully brew this potion and remember to always add the Persons hair last!
By Ash Phoenix, Year 4, Gryffindor.
Ash then quickly got up and then gave the book to the Professor and then went back to her place and then quickly grabbed her things and then she was about to leave the hall when she went up to James and Hugo and whispered to them 'And I also said yes to him' And then she quickly ran out of the hall so then she could start getting prepared for the Yule Ball. James was now still and he didn't have anything to say. Who could he go to the Yule Ball with now? He looked around the hall but he couldn't see anyone.
'She's not really being honest is she?' Said Hugo
'If you say she isn't, she isn't…' Said James
While Hugo and James were finishing their essays off, Ash was in the common room with Rhea, just having a little chat…
'Rhea, who do you want to go to the Yule Ball with?' Asked Ash
'I don't know…' Said Rhea
'No Rhea… You do know. Sid is the person you go with…'
'Yes! Okay! It is Sid! But he's probably with someone else and he's probably forgot all about me!'
'No he hasn't forgot about you… I bet he thinks about you all the time…'
'Really? But how can we possibly know what he's thinking?' Asked Rhea
But then Ash already had an idea, she went up to the girls dorms and then got out he memory frame and then brought it downstairs.
'With this, I can look at whatever someone is thinking, remember?' Said Ash
Rhea's face brightened up and she said 'But how are we going to catch Sid?'
'Sid's going to come back to the common room in a few minutes, and if we could freeze his body, then we would know what he is thinking about at that moment, or what he's been thinking about the most all day!' Said Ash
'WHAT do you mean by freeze his body?'
'Petrificus Totalus! Don't worry we'll unfreeze him as well' Said Ash while winking
After a few minutes, Ash and Rhea both heard some footsteps, also some humming. But then they finally saw that it was Sid. Sid saw Ash and then was about to say Hi but then… 'Petrificus Totalus!' Sid froze and then Rhea caught him before he fell to the floor.
'He looks awfully pale like this' Said Rhea staring at Sid
'It's just the spell, he'll be fine once he's back to normal…' Said Ash getting the frame out of the box
Rhea just nodded and then sat next to Ash to see what was happening.
'Reveal, Reveal what this brain holds' said Ash and then the frame all of a sudden had purple water inside of it. It wasn't doing anything until it was completely focused on Sid. Then the frame said:
'Sid Raichand, his brain holds only one name- one name beginning with R. He thinks about this person all the time, and his mind is only holding the person in. In this moment he is thinking about the Yule Ball, whether he should ask the person to go with him, as it is only 24 hours till the yule ball. He has also just come back from shopping, shopping for this important person, something precious, something for Christmas. The thought he has been thinking about the most is of course this person beginning with R. I cannot tell you what the name is, but I'm sure you will know, this was the mind of Sid Raichand, I hope this helps you know more'
Ash and Rhea looked at each other and Rhea was really, really happy. After ages and ages Rhea had finally smiled properly.
'I saw what your brain holds' Said Ash and then the water disappeared and then turned into a normal frame.
'Thank you so much Ash!' Shouted Rhea as she hugged her
'Your welcome Rhea, I told you it was true!' Said Ash
Ash then saw that Sid was awake again and he was getting up, there was no escape from this and Ash didn't know what to say.
'Oi! What was that for?' Said Sid
'Oh… Sorry we thought you were James!' Said Ash
'Yeah… We were just hiding from James because… Because he's annoying' Said Rhea
'Oh… Okay' Said Sid
Ash and Rhea sighed in relief as Sid went upstairs to the boys dorm. Now everyone was coming back from their lessons and it was nearly time to eat, so Rhea and Ash decided to go to eat before everyone else.
It became 10pm and everyone had finished preparing for the Yule Ball and everyone was excited except 2 people… James and Hugo. While everyone else was going to sleep, they were in the common room downstairs, thinking of what to do.
'What are we going to do James?' Said Hugo
'I don't know, but whatever we're going to do, we HAVE to do it now' Replied James
Then he saw 2 girls, they both had brown hair but they weren't that good looking, James had talked to them once, but he had to get someone to go to the Yule Ball so before they went up, James asked them and they agreed, also James explained to the person he was going with about Ash and the girl understood because she wanted to do the same with a boy! This was while Hugo was 'trying' to flirt with the person he was going with. After that Hugo and James went up, James wasn't that happy because he wasn't going with Ash but Hugo was really happy, it was almost as if he had fallen in love with someone he didn't know 10 minutes ago! James was going with a girl named Samantha and Hugo was going with someone named Bethany. Eventually they both fell asleep… Only a few hours till the Yule Ball now!