Chapter Three

Stix

At breakfast the next morning, Professor Longbottom walked up and down the Gryffindor table, handing out timetables.

"Oh great, Herbology with the Slytherins and then Duncan this morning," Lily sighed, after snatching Mia's timetable from her so she could get a first look at it.

"Hey!" Mia snatched it back. "Wait for your own!"

The post owls arrived and Lily transferred her focus from Mia's timetable to scanning the flock of owls to see if any of them might be bringing her something. Sure enough, two owls landed in front of Lily and began vying for her attention.

"Chill, I'll do Eeny Meeny Miney Mo," she told them. "Eeny Meeny Miney Mo, catch a doxy by his toe. If he bites you, let him go, Eeny Meeny Miney Mo! Okay, you first," she told the smaller, grey owl, who puffed up importantly.

Mia returned to her timetable as Lily untied the letter from the owl's leg.

"It's from Luci," Lily announced, once she'd got the letter open.

"What does she say?" Mia asked.

"Who's Luci?" Lily and Mia heard Matilda's voice ask. They turned around and, sure enough, Matilda was standing behind them.

"She was at Hogwarts for a year when we were second years," Lily explained.

"She and Lily hated each other for most of the year," Mia added, grinning.

"Bye bye, then," Lily said, waving Matilda off. Matilda poked out her tongue at her and then headed off to find a seat further down the table. "I'll read it later," Lily said, stuffing the letter into her pocket. "Okay, your turn," she told the other own, who grudgingly offered her his leg so she could untie the box he bore.

Almost before Lily had finished untying the parcel, the owl nipped her fingers – rather more angrily than affectionately – and took off, scattering cereal and knocking over the milk jug.

Lily glanced down at the handwriting on the parcel and then up again at the owl.

"Hey Mars, wait!" she called up after the owl. "I'm sorry – I didn't recognise you! Come back!"

"Mars?" Mia asked.

"James' owl," Lily said, turning back to the package with a sigh. "I wonder what he's sent me..." She used the butter knife to open the parcel, in which she and Mia found a letter on top of neatly stacked round tubs – twelve in all. Lily opened the letter and spread it on the table between them.

Dear Lily,

These are Stix – they're like gooey dough and they stick to pretty much anything if you throw them at it. They won't come off by normal tugging or scrubbing or any magic we know of – only when you put the tub over it and it gets sucked back into it. Pass them out to your friends and have a play – we'd love to know what uses you guys find for them (Fred's had some success at using them for climbing), and whether there are any spells that can be used to remove them once they're stuck.

Have fun being guinea pigs!

Love,

James

"Cool," Lily said, finishing the letter slightly before Mia. She took one of the Stix tubs out of the box and opened it. "It's really sticky," she announced. "Poke it."

Mia poked it. "It feels like it might be able to hold some stuff even if it's not totally stuck on," she said. "You know, like you could stick it on your mirror and get it to hold hair grips or something."

Lily threw the Stic at the table and it stuck with a splat. Lily and Mia then spent several minutes trying to unstick the it, first manually and then with magic.

"It won't budge," Lily announced eventually, sounding triumphant. "Okay, now let's try this." She placed the tub over the Stic and as soon as it formed a seal with the table, the neon orange goo was sucked up from the table and into the container. "Cool!"

Next, Lily leaned back and threw the Stic at the edge of the table.

"I wonder if you could use them like shelves – like to hold textbooks and stuff."

She took her Standard Book of Spells, Grade Four from her bag and pushed it hard into the Stic, where it hung for half a second and then fell off.

"It's too heavy," Mia said. She took a hair grip from her hair and experimented. Once firmly pushed into the Stic, it stayed quite happily.

Whilst finishing their breakfast, Lily and Mia experimented with various things on the table to find out which things the Stix would hold.

"I know how we can make the textbook stick," Lily said, after they'd ascertained that although spoons were too heavy, forks were not. She released the Stic from the table and instead threw it at her Standard Book of Spells. Then she picked up the book and threw it, Stic side down, at the table. It stuck with a satisfying squelch. Lily gave it a tug to show it was stuck firm. "Ta-da!"

"But how are you going to get it unstuck?" Mia asked.

Lily's face fell. "Oh."

With the Stic firmly squashed between the textbook and table there was no way of getting the tub over it.

As Lily and Mia returned to trying various spells in an attempt to release Lily's textbook, the Great Hall began to empty around them with students heading off to lessons.

"Hurry up, you two," Professor Longbottom said, walking down the table and chivvying along the slow eaters.

"Uncle Neville, my textbook's stuck!" Lily said.

"Stuck how?" Professor Longbottom asked, walking over. "You haven't used a permanent sticking charm, have you?"

"No," Lily said, in a voice which silently added, would I be so stupid?

"They're new products James sent her to test," Mia explained.

"And they only come off if you put the tub over them-" Lily demonstrated with a purple Stic "-but now I can't…"

Professor Longbottom tried a severing charm, which didn't work.

"We already tried that," Lily told him.

Professor Longbottom tried several more spells, none of which worked.

"James has been really thorough with this one, hasn't he?" he sighed. "You two get off to class – you've got me first, haven't you? I'll inform Mr Carter of… this… and then follow you."

When Lily and Mia reached the greenhouses, they saw that they were the last ones to arrive, apart from Professor Longbottom.

"What took you guys so long?" Alexander Abercrombie asked.

"Long story," Mia grinned.

"Reckon you could tell it in less time than it takes the Prof to get down here if you tried," Theo Nott shrugged.

"Okay, I got these from James," Lily said, opening the box of Stix and recounting their story.

"So, what, your book's just stuck to the table?" Alice Longbottom asked.

"Uh-huh," Lily nodded. "Uncle… uh – Professor… well, your dad – he said he was gonna get Mr Carter to take a look," she said, watching as Professor Longbottom walked toward the class.

"Lily," he said, as he came closer.

"Yes, Professor?"

"Mr Carter is dealing with it," Professor Longbottom said. "I've half a mind to confiscate those Stix…"

"Nooo!" Lily said, hugging the box.

"Okay, but if I find one more of those… things… stuck somewhere it shouldn't be, I will confiscate them, alright?"

"Yes, Professor," Lily said meekly, but she flashed a triumphant grin at Mia as soon as their Herbology teacher turned to unlock Greenhouse Four.

"In you come, then, fourth years," Professor Longbottom said, and the class began to file inside. Lily and Mia were about to go through the door when Ilonka Kallous, Lily's arch-enemy, pushed past them.

"Hey," Lily said.

"Already in trouble on the first day, Potter?" Ilonka sneered. "I guess it runs in the family."

As Ilonka flounced into the Greenhouse, Mia grabbed her friend's arm to stop her retaliating.

"You can let go," Lily said, rolling her eyes. "I know she's an idiot and just wants me to react."
Nevertheless, Mia kept a cautionary hold on Lily's arm until they were safely in the greenhouse and seated as far away from Ilonka as possible.

"Alright everyone, I hope you've brought your gloves – it's going to be a messy one," Professor Longbottom said, as Mia found herself and Lily seats opposite Theo and Alexander.

"Yay," Lily said sarcastically.

"Bubotubers," Professor Longbottom announced cheerfully, before instructing one person from each table to come and collect them. Mia thought that bubotubers were the sort of thing only Professor Longbottom could get excited about. They were disgusting looking plants, each covered in pus filled boils which the fourth years were instructed to squeeze in order to collect the pus.

"Haven't you always wanted to collect pus from bubotubers?" Theo asked sarcastically as they all set to work. "Hasn't your greatest and longest wish just been fulfilled today, Mia?"

Mia giggled, but Lily rolled her eyes at Theo. "You're not funny, you know," she scowled.

"No?" Theo queried pleasantly. "I was under the impression I was side-splittingly hilarious."

"Less chat and more work over here, please," Professor Longbottom said, walking over to see how they were doing. "Lily, have you squeezed one yet?"

"No," Lily said.

"Go on, then."

Hesitantly, Lily reached toward the bubotuber. "But Uncle Neville, it's gross!" she complained.

"Bubotubers are not gross!" Professor Longbottom said indignantly. "They're fascinating plants and the pus has many uses… and Lily, please try to remember to call me Professor Longbottom whilst we're in school."

"Yes, Professor," Lily sighed.

"Yeah, Lily!" Lily and Mia both turned around to see Ilonka standing behind them.

"Ilonka, what are you doing over here?" Professor Longbottom asked. "Go back to your own table, please."

"Yeah, Ilonka!" Lily added.

"And both of you, stop being so childish," Professor Longbottom said.

"Lily and Ilonka, childish? Never!" Theo muttered, as Professor Longbottom walked away.