Barnaby Lee x Reader - Year 5

Pitts

"Nope." Rowan replied immediately.

"Absolutely not." Tulip added.

"I hate people who are mean to unicorns." Barnaby frowned.

Lana giggled at him. She found it adorable when he joins in a conversation, but what he says doesn't relate to the topic.

"Sorry Jae, but we have to start studying. Beatrice needs our help." Lana told the boy.

After a while, Lana spoke up.

"This is interesting. What if the place where Beatrice is trapped was created by some sort of advanced Extension Charm?" she suggested.

"Those charms do increase the interior dimensions of objects while leaving the exterior unchanged..." Rowan muttered.

Barnaby looked at Lana, as he didn't understand the big words that Rowan used. She smiled at him and patted his shoulder.

"They're usually only used on our school trunks, and other wizarding luggage..." Tulip added.

"They're restricted by the Ministry because if the potential for infractions of the International Statute of Secrecy..." Jae chimed in.

Everyone looked at him with raised eyebrows, surprised at what he just said.

"What? You have to know the rules to get around them." he smirked.

Lana noticed Tulip staring at Jae. She reckoned Tulip liked him a bit, as he was just as rebellious as her. She'd have to ask her later.

"I'll see what Flitwick can tell me about Extension Charms. This could be our best chance to find Beatrice..." Lana announced.

With that, she headed off to the charms classroom to talk to Flitwick.

"Excuse me, professor. I was hoping I could ask you about Extension Charms..." Lana asked the man.

"Extension Charms are already part of the curriculum, Miss Riviera..." he replied.

"I know, but I was thinking that maybe some sort of Extension Charm was used to trap Beatrice Haywood..." she explained.

"I had a similar thought. I suppose I can delve deeper if there's any chance that it could help Miss Haywood..."

"Thank you, Professor." she smiled.

She walked through the castle, and went to find Nearly Headless Nick, as Professor Flitwick had told her to do so. He told her about someone that had been trapped in a portrait a few years back, and theorised that Beatrice was pulled into the painting unwillingly.

Nick told her about Badeea Ali, a student who knows a lot about paintings, and advised her to meet her.

Lana immediately headed to the Courtyard, and found her sitting on a tree with a canvas.

"You look like you've seen a ghost..." Badeea said.

"I actually just had a really long conversation with one. Are you Badeea Ali?" Lana asked.

"I am. Who are you?"

"I'm Lana Riviera. I'm used to everyone recognising me..."

"You must be popular." Badeea smiled.

"More notorious than popular." Lana chuckled.

Badeea started flicking her wand at her painting, and it moved around and changed scenes.

"What are you doing?" Lana wondered.

"Using enchantments to make sure my painting comes to life like it's supposed to..." she answered, "Whoever thought that painting magical portraits would be so complicated?"

"What are you painting?"

"Hogsmeade, for now, but only as a sort of palate cleanser. I'm taking a break from painting Beatrice Haywood, that first year trapped inside of a portrait in the Grand Staircase."

"You know her?!" Lana exclaimed.

"No, but I'm fascinated by her...can you imagine being trapped in an imaginary environment? You'd begin to question what was truly real, and who was really in control of your thoughts and actions..."

"I never thought about it like that..." Lana answered honestly.

"I'm even more fascinated by painting a portrait of a girl trapped inside of another portrait...I don't believe it's ever done before." Badeea explained.

"Is it working? I mean, is your version of her acting like the real Beatrice?" Lana wondered.

"Not yet, but I still have buckets of paint and pages of spells to try."

"Can you explain how the portraits work? I'm hoping it will help me free Beatrice." Lana asked hopefully.

"Of course! Hand me the brush, and I'll tell you everything I know about magical portraits..." Badeea said kindly.

After learning about the portraits, Lana had heard everything she needed to know.

"Thank you, Badeea. How did you learn so much about magical portraits?"

"I'm an artist, so I've been fascinated by the portraits at Hogwarts since I arrived. I'm also a Ravenclaw, so I read every book I could find on them."

"I feel like I finally understand how the portraits work, but I don't know that I'm any closer to helping Beatrice..." Lana said.

"Can I give you some advice, Lana?"

"Of course." Lana smiled.

"Try an inventive approach. Do things you would normally never think of doing. Pretend you're someone else...I've done some of my best work that way." Badeea advised.

"I'll give it a go. Anyways, I'm off to detention, so I suppose I'll try to enjoy it for a change..."

"Good luck. By the time you get back, I should be finished with my portrait of Beatrice." Badeea stated, "If things go well, I'll even have a new spell to show you."

Lana thanked Badeea and walked off to detention, ready to face the grumpy-ass elf.

hiya :)
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