Atropos → george weasley

xvii. the poltergeist accomplice

"You throw them on the ground, and they break and fill up the space with charmed smoke you're not supposed to be able to get rid of with magic." Lee smirked at her and started to rifle through his pockets. "Lucky for you, I have some with me. Portable Smokescreen Pellets, see? How many do you want?" He held up a couple of clear bags with grape-sized round objects. Their surface was glassy, but there seemed to be smoke swirling inside.

"Just one packet should be fine. How much?" Ottilie asked, taking her book bag off of her shoulder to search for some money.

"Five Galleons should do it."

She ogled at him. "Five Galleons? No way it's that expensive!"

"Take it or leave it, kid. I haven't all day to stand here and negotiate."

Now she understood the smirk. Irritated, she counted out the money and handed the shiny gold coins to Lee as he placed the bag in her hands.

"What were you and the Weasley twins doing down there anyway? How long will I have to wait to get to my common room without risking falling down the stairs and breaking my neck?" asked Justin, crossing his arms.

"Nicking food from the kitchens. Filch caught us red-handed, and Fred decided it would be a good opportunity to test the smoke bombs out." Lee glanced over his shoulder. "As for how long the effects last, I'm not so sure. Ten minutes tops."

"What do you want that for?" Ernie asked Ottilie.

"Don't worry about it," said Ottilie softly as she put the packet in her bag.

"Yeah, you'll have a tall task trying to outdo Fred and George if you're thinking of taking their place as the school's premier mischief-makers." Lee paused. "Although that scene from this morning was pretty funny."

"Never mind," said Ottilie. "I'm going to lunch."

Before any of the boys could say another word, Ottilie turned to head to the Great Hall. Excitement was rushing through her veins. Thank god for those salamander eyeballs.

Now all she had to do was find Peeves the Poltergeist.

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Peeves was in an empty classroom on the seventh floor. The sound of the bells on his hat jingling madly led Ottilie to him all the way down the corridor. When she peeked into the room, she nearly got a flying piece of chalk to the eye.

Hoping she had some time while Peeves pelted walls with chalk dust, she got to work.

Using a simple adhesive spell, she charmed a huge envelope with Peeves's name written on it in large, bold red letters to the wall right outside of the room.

Then, she opened the door slightly and flung a smoke pellet at him. She was pleased with her aim when she heard him shriek ARGH! Then, she hurriedly closed the door and waited for the smoke.

"WHO DID THAT? WHO IS THERE? WHO ATTACKED POOR OLD PEEVESIE?"

She heard the door slam open and ducked behind a corner so Peeves wouldn't see her, but leaned out just a bit so she could see if he saw her note.

Thankfully, before the smoke completely filled the corridor, she heard Peeves cut off his bellowed complaint for just a moment. She was pretty sure he'd seen his name on the envelope.

Waiting for him inside was a note to him and a sample of smoke bombs to entice him.

The note read:

Peeves,

Would you like to get revenge and wreak a little havoc? Tonight at seven, there will be two more of these pellets underneath the sinks in the room across from the Potions classroom.