I was so caught aback by Hugo's entrance that I almost dropped my wand. How in Merlin's name did he get roped into this group?
Ophelia cleared her throat and began to chant. A blue mist enveloped the room and quickly dissipated.
Unsure of what this mist did, I turned to Jasper.
He gave me the okay sign and mouthed, "It's okay. It's just a spell to prevent people from leaving until the meeting is over."
I nodded my head in understanding.
"It has come to my attention that Ophelia has found the spell we are looking for," Zacharias grinned.
The group cheered and Hugo high fived a boy with bright blue hair.
Ophelia stepped forward with a box of supplies as Zacharias beckoned her to come forward.
"We have here the ingredients to make our fondest dreams come true. We have premade enough for everyone to use tonight, but we will each need to contribute to future ingredients so we will have enough for more potions," informed Zacharias.
As Zacharias went through the ingredients I crept up behind him.
The rest of the double M group took their positions and waited for my signal.
"Now it is time to try the potion," Zacharias stated resolutely.
Of course every hand in the group was raised. Whatever Zacharias was holding had an extreme hold on their ability to think clearly.
I almost fell backwards as Hugo stepped forward.
Swiftly, I pointed my wand firmly against the side of Zacharias' neck as Jasper prevented my brother from drinking the potion. The others were in defensive positions ready for an attack.
"What is that potion?" I demanded.
"None of your business," Zacharias responded.
"I said WHAT is that potion," I restated angrily as I dug my wand deeper into Zacharias' flesh.
"Not telling," growled Zacharias.
"Stupefy," I yelled and Zacharias slumped to the floor.
I ran to where Ophelia stood and whispered in her ear, "Tell me or else."
Ophelia's lip began to quiver.
"I'm waiting," I impatiently huffed.
"I can show you the spell book but it's in the restricted section of the library," Ophelia slowly answered.
"Alright. Squishy Cheeks will follow you and bring you back and the rest of us will wait here for your return," I announced.
Ophelia gulped as she nodded her head in agreement.
Squishy Cheeks AKA Scorpius glared at me as he followed Ophelia out the worm.
I inwardly laughed. Everyone in the double M group had drawn a name out of a hat and came up with a code name for the person they drew.
I had the great opportunity of choosing Scorpius' code name.
Lucia had told me the story of when Scorpius' great aunt would visit she would press her hands against both sides of his face making him look like a fish. I found this to be quite hysterical. How could I pass up a chance to make fun of Scorpius?
It seemed like an eternity, but Ophelia and Squishy Cheeks finally came back. Ophelia was carrying the same gray book she had in the restricted section when we were doing surveillance.
Ophelia plopped the book down on the nearest table and turned to page 703.
I peered over her shoulder seeing the recipe for polyjuice potion.
"You need to do as I do in order to see the hidden recipe," Ophelia stated as she chanted acies verus.
Seeing no harm had come to Ophelia Scorpius and I followed her example.
Apparently the spell made invisible writing visible for now I saw an addendum to the polyjuice potion. If one intends to turn into a creature of one's imagination one only needs to use wheatgrass instead of flaxseed and one black dragon scale.
"Explain," I commanded Ophelia.
"Well we are a secret group of anime lovers anad since Hogwarts does not allow non-magical items here, we came up with a way to reenact some of our favorite anime series," Ophelia explained in a hushed voice.
Immediately the double M group laughed. Not because we had crashed an anime reenactment group but because we were relieved. I was glad my brother wasn't in some occult group bent on destroying the world as we knew it.
"Sorry for laughing, but explain why at Christmastime we didn't hear you chant that spell?" I wondered.
"That was you guys I heard! I thought I was hearing things," Ophelia said quickly.
"Yes," I admitted.
"I was so excited that I found the polyjuice potion recipe that I hadn't chanted it yet and then I heard you guys," Ophelia responded.
"I see. By the way how did you know to use that spell?" I asked.
"Me. I had run across an ancient text talking about a slightly altered polyjuice potion that could turn people into creatures from their imaginations. It also mentioned it would be on page 703," volunteered Hugo.
"When I started looking for the recipe, the book had been taken by Headmaster Strumpet so while I waited I decided why not check all page 703 just in case it was hidden in a different book than the one the polyjuice potion was in," offered Ophelia.
"This is such a relief because we thought you guys might be trying to destroy our school or the world," Albus supplied.
Lucia chanted the counter for the stupefy spell while the anime reenactment group got a laugh at our expense.
"We won't bother you anymore as long as you aren't going to turn into mini Voldemorts," I concluded.
Zacharias added, "You will not tell anyone about us either."
"Yes," I answered.
"Who are you guys?" wondered Ophelia.
"The Masked Marauder," I replied.
Then Zacharias and I shook hands and finished our magical contract of silence. A bright red light confirmed that the contract was finalized.
We left the tower as the anime reenactment group began to transform into their favorite Pokemon. Hugo apparently was a fan of Squirtle.
The double M group headed back to the room of requirement.
"That was embarrassing," sighed Albus.
Jade nodded her head in agreement.
"Well at least we know Hugo's weakness is that he is a Squirtle lover," Jasper pointed out.
We all laughed.
"Any adventure is a good adventure ," I smiled.
"As long as no one dies I agree with you," Lucia retorted.
"With that note I think we should all head to our beds," Scorpius decided.
"I think Squishy Cheeks has the right idea," I chuckled.
Scorpius glared.
The rest of the double M group laughed.
"You certainly have the best code name out of all of us," Lucia giggled.
"Go ahead and laugh Twinkle Butt," Scorpius jabbed.
"I like my code name," Jade announced.
"Butterbeer Addict fits you oh so nicely," I agreed.
"Mine is SO embarrassing," blushed Albus.
"You'll get over it eventually Bloomer Boy," chuckled Jasper.
"We can't forget the most ironic code name of all," Scorpius pointed out.
"Yes. Rose will never be an actual innocent bystander hence why I chose it," Lucia nodded.
"Mischief managed," we all concluded and quietly laughed all the way back to our rooms.
Sorry about the lateness of this chapter. I had to deal with some stuff after I got back from vacation. I also am taking an opportunity to answer a question from Alisa who wanted to know what grade some characters were in. I just hinted at their school year in the story, but I'll just list all the main characters and their grade. 1st year: Hugo, Rose, Lucia, Albus, and Scorpius. 3rd year: Jasper. 4th year: Jade. I try to stick to cannon, but I make changes to what fits my story.
This chapter is dedicated to LightAshCrazyMuffin and even though I didn't use their idea of the mysterious gray book being a ridiculous book, it led me down this road to having the double M group breaking up an anime reenactment group. :)
As for the next chapter, I've decided to do a time skip so be prepared. (That should make you happy Peter'sPan.) Not sure how big of a time skip I'll do. Maybe a couple of years or maybe Rose's last year in Hogwarts. Cheers until next time.