C H A P T E R 92
"The Yule Ball?" Lee questioned out loud, with an unamused look. "What is that?"
Flitwick smiled. "Yes, Mr. Jordan. The Yule Ball. It is tradition in the Triwizard Tournament to help schools socialize. To dance and to take a break from the chaos of the tournament. Only Fourth years and above can attend but one can ask a younger student if they wish."
A few murmurs erupted and Lee raised an eyebrow at a few giggling Slytherins and Ravenclaws.
Flitwick continued. "Gentlemen will wear dress robes while ladies can shine in an elegant dress. Gladrags Wizardwear at Hogsmeade sells robes and a selection of dresses for those who did not read their Hogwarts letter and bring them. There will be another trip before break," Flitwick then continued on with his lesson but practically nobody was paying attention.
Everyone was thinking about the Yule Ball and how Hogwarts has never had anything like this before. Samantha wondered if she even owned a dress. Of course that implied that she did not bring a dress to wear and would have to talk to Tonks about sending her one. She had a break for lunch and thought about using the mirror. She also had to tell Sirius and Remus about her new relationship. They seemed to like Marcus so Samantha wasn't too worried.
The bell rang and while Samantha was cleaning up her supplies, Flitwick called out her name. "Miss Potter, if I could have a word please."
Her friends bid her goodbye and Samantha grabbed her bag and made her way to his desk. "Yes, Professor?"
"One more thing about the Yule Ball. The Champions and their partners open the ball with a dance."
"Dance?" Samantha said with a raised eyebrow. "We have to dance? Are you sure?"
Flitwick nodded. "That is what Professor McGonagall told me."
She sighed. "But I don't dance--I can't dance. I have no rhythm whatsoever."
He shrugged. "This what I was told, Potter. But you'll be fine. Just have fun."
Samantha thanked him and sulked out of the room. Great, she had to make a fool of herself in front of three schools. As she walked to the kitchens to get some food and head back to her dorm, she started to think about the Ball. She's never been to something like that before so Samantha didn't know what to think. It would be like hanging out with friends or like an expanded Quidditch celebration party.
Then her thoughts went to Marcus. He was probably at lunch with the group so they would fill him in, unless he already knew. She decided to go to the kitchens to get something to eat and then head back to her dorm to get ready for her afternoon classes and make a note to talk to her family after dinner where they weren't at work.
But would he automatically be her date because they were together?
Did he have to formally ask her?
Does he know how to dance? Because she surely didn't. Even though Samantha had a natural flow because of Quidditch, her slight awkwardness was not made for dancing. Alicia, who went to a dance camp over summer holiday, would definitely have to teach her a few things.
When Samantha walked into the kitchen, she saw someone she was not expecting. "Dobby?"
The house elf was walking around the kitchen wearing a tea cozy on top of his head and poorly matched Muggle clothes.
Dobby turned and squeaked. "Samantha Potter! Dobby is so happy to see you!"
Samantha smiled at him. She always loved how friendly he was even though she didn't talk to him as much as Harry did. Samantha only briefly met him two years ago but would recognize him anywhere. "It's great to see you too, what are you doing here?"
"Professor Dumbledore has given Dobby work here at the castle!" he squeaked.
"That's great," Samantha responded as a few other house elves gave her her usual order of chicken noodle soup. She grabbed the bowl and noticed another house elf in the corner of the kitchens by a fire. The elf was sitting on a stool and wasn't talking to anyone. Usually when Samantha went to the kitchens, the house elves were excitedly talking to one another and cooking happily. So far she's never seen an unhappy elf there. "Dobby, who's that?" she asked, pointing to where the elf was sitting.
"Oh that's Winky, Samantha Potter," he answered excitedly.
"Winky?" Samantha repeated out loud. Why was that name familiar?
"Oh yes! She used to work for some Ministry official until he set her free! Professor Dumbledore both gave us jobs!"
That was it. Now Samantha remembered. She used to work for Barty Crouch until the whole Quidditch World Cup fiasco with her being found with Harry's wand.
"Can we talk to her?"
Dobby nodded happily. "Of course, Samantha Potter. Dobby will take you right to her," he said and they walked over to where Winky was sitting. Samantha held onto her food and looked at the clock. She had about an hour until her next class.
"Hi Winky," Samantha said kindly and sat down on the stool next to her.
Winky slowly looked up and then burst into tears. Tears spilled out of her large brown eyes as she continued to sob.
"Wha--Don't cry, Winky," Samantha said, trying to comfort the small elf but was failing miserably. She was not the most sensitive person around.
"Winky misses working, Winky does not like being free," Dobby spoke as Samantha frowned at the poor elf.
"Why is that?"
Winky sobbed harder. "Winky misses my master, miss! Winky does not like not working for my master."
Samantha raised an eyebrow. She remembers Hermione telling her that Barty Crouch didn't treat her right and then decided to set her free for not doing anything wrong. By Winky's actions, it seemed that there was more to this than she was portraying. Samantha assumed that house elves would jump at the idea of being free. From first impression, Barty Crouch did not look like the best man to work for. For a moment, Samantha pictured Winky working under the strict man and couldn't understand why she was so upset. There had to be a more apparent reason.
"Winky is having trouble adjusting being free, Samantha Potter. She forgets she can say what she wants or do what she wants without fear of Mr. Crouch."
Samantha nodded slowly and Winky sobbed again. "Winky does wish to be free, Winky wants to go back to Master Crouch. He needs Winky!"
An odd look formed on Samantha's face. She saw Barty Crouch a few times since this all went down and he looked to be managing on his own. She reasoned that she of course did not know his home life so who knows if this was all a front. From what Samantha was seeing, Winky looked like an excellent and caring house elf. "I've seen Mr. Crouch and he doesn't that bad, Winky."
Winky immediately looked up with her round golf ball shaped eyes. "You is seeing Master Crouch? Where?"
"He's here at Hogwarts as a judge and representative for the Triwizard Tournament as well as Ludo Bagman," Samantha answered. She slipped in Bagman's name to see how Winky would react. Bagman and Crouch seemed to know each other quite well and Samantha wanted to see if Winky knew anything more about him.
"Mr. Bagman?" Winky reiterated and Samantha nodded. "Mr. Bagman is bad--very bad. You miss should stay away from him."
"Why is that?" Samantha asked. Was there more than she already knew about his shady past?
Winky shook her head quickly. "No no, Winky cannot say any of my master's secrets."
"Master's secrets?" Samantha asked with a raised eyebrow. That caught her off guard. "Does Mr. Crouch has secrets? Is that why you want to continue to work for him?"
Winky gasped and tears spilled again. "No no no, Winky cannot. WInky is a true house elf," She continued to sob and Samantha didn't think it would be good to try and weasel any more information out of her. As much as Samantha was curious and now wanted to know more, she did care for Winky's well-being and didn't want to interrogate her into an even worse state.
However, this was the perfect opportunity to go and talk to Sirius, Remus, and Tonks. Samantha made a mental list of what wanted to ask them probably after dinner to due Sirius and Tonks working. She wanted to inquire about Barty Crouch, Tonks and Remus, Tonks sending her a dress for the Yule Ball, and....Marcus. Samantha didn't know how they would react. Sirius seemed to be ok when she brought up Cedric last year but this was a Flint. Sirius didn't show exactly how he felt about the Flints and how he would react with them now together. Samantha also wanted to bring up the egg and that she found Polyjuice Potion in Moody's office. She hasn't thought it in a while due to other things clouding her focus but it was still very much apparent in her mind.
The Potter curiosity was growing and growing by the minute.
• • • • •
"Hey, why did you run off after Potions earlier?" Samantha asked Marcus coming into dinner.
Marcus quickly yanked her arm and pulled her to a hidden corner in the entrance hall.
"What's this about?" Samantha questioned, raising her eyebrow in confusion.
A sly grin formed on his face. "I have an idea. I just thought of it after leaving Potions....and after talking to Cedric."
"Cedric? What about him?"
"Well he doesn't know we're together and tried to tell me not to spend any more time with you. He thinks us hanging out is hurting his chances of trying to reconcile with you. Evidently his ego is blinding him."
Samantha bit her lip. She wanted to laugh but frowned. Even though Cedric's obliviousness was rather humorous, it was never her intention to turn him into some jealous freak.
Was she sending him mixed signals?
Was she sending him any signals at all?
She hasn't spoken to him in a while so Samantha did not understand what Cedric was talking about.
Clearly, Cedric had to be added to the long list of people she needed to talk to.
A sigh escaped her lips. "As much as messing with Cedric would be funny, I can't do that to him."
Marcus' grin vanished and then slowly nodded. "Yeah, you're right. That would be mean. I just thought this would be the perfect opportunity to mess with him."
"I appreciate your concern to tell me about a possible prank idea but I think I just need to talk to him," she explained with a grin.
Marcus nodded. "Ok, just know I'll continue to come to you with prank ideas."
Samantha laughed. "I wouldn't want anything less. Now let's go eat dinner."
Marcus decided to eat with Viktor and his friends since he hadn't seen them other than evenings on the ship. Samantha sat down in the conveniently empty space in between Fred and Angelina. She eyed it oddly and snuck a peak at Lee who was sitting on the other side of the table. Lee slightly shrugged and raised his eyebrows. Samantha sat down and could feel the awkwardness spewing from the two of them. Alicia and George were also looking on with a weird expression. Clearly something happened that no one else knew. And if Fred's own twin didn't know, it had to be recent.
Lee broke the silence with a story about what happened in Muggle Studies with them learning about Muggle sports. "Get this, no flying brooms. The horror!"
"Obviously there's no flying brooms, Lee. Muggles can't do magic," George spoke rolling his eyes.
"Which is awful for them. I could not imagine not being able to summon anything I want at any time."
"You can't even do that fully until February," George continued.
Lee narrowed his eyebrows at him. "But still."
"Ok you two, relax," Alicia said with a laugh.
The rest of dinner was uneventful and as it ended, Samantha gave a look to Alicia to find out about Fred and Angelina while she left to talk to Tonks, Sirius, and Remus.
When she got to her dorm, Samantha took the mirror out of her bedside table drawer and called out Sirius' name. She waited a few moments before calling again and waiting.
A few seconds later, his unshaven face appeared in the mirror. "About time you called, I was beginning to worry."
"Yeah," Remus' voice spoke from out of sight. "Worrying so much he's been going to the Three Broomsticks each night to wash away his sorrows in Firewhiskey while he chats with some old Auror friends."
Sirius turned his head. "Hey, Elphias may be getting up there, but he can handle a lot of Firewhiskey," Sirius turned back to Samantha. "So what's going on?"
"Well I have a few things actually, I'm not sure what order to go in," Samantha said.
"Ok, what's most important?"
"Do you...remember Marcus Flint?"
Sirius nodded. "Yes, he seemed like a cool guy."
"Well what are your thoughts if I told you we were dating?" Samantha asked and then waited for Sirius' reaction.
Sirius raised an eyebrow for a second and then shrugged. "I don't have a problem with it. He didn't seem as horrendous as the Flints usually are."
Samantha cracked a grin and then sighed. "Yeah from what he's told me, his family seems like a touchy subject."
"And from experience, that means Marcus is like me. Wants to think for himself and is questioning his family views. Blimey, he's dating a Potter for Merlin's sake. How rebellious can one get?"
A small laugh escaped her lips and then she frowned. "Well now you've got me worried if his parents ever found out. I wouldn't want him to go through what you went through."
Sirius nodded his head slowly. "Yes but you should know that going against my family was the best decision I've ever made. I got my freedom."
"I know but I don't know if Marcus wants to fully leave his family like you did. I haven't a lot about this with him so who knows."
"Well let him know I'm here to talk with him if he ever needs any advice on how to get your face blasted off of the family tree."
Samantha laughed.
"So what else did you want to talk about? That golden egg perhaps?" Sirius spoke with a cheeky grin. He's been annoying Remus with the countless theories about what it could represent.
"Yeah actually. I wanted yours and Remus' thoughts. And Tonks if she's there, I wanted to ask her something as well."
"Yeah hold on. Remus should be the kitchen," Sirius said and then placed the mirror down so it was facing the wooden pillars of the ceiling. Samantha took this opportunity to reflect on what Sirius said. She didn't think it would turn into him and his family. What his family thought about them never really crossed her mind until then. So many emotions were brought up so Samantha really hasn't had a chance to think rationally and logically in a few days. Her relationship was slightly crowding her reasoning.
A few minutes later, Remus reappeared with Tonks right behind him. Her hair was a deep purple this time. She smiled brightly at Samantha and greeted her hello. Sirius took the mirror and set it against a book so Samantha could the three sitting on the couch side by side.
"So after opening the egg and hearing at God awful screech, I really don't have any predictions. I asked Viktor the morning after the task and he didn't have any ideas. Both him and Harry wanted to wait until the new year but I thought I should start now."
"And I agree," Remus said while nodding in approval.
"If it wasn't so exciting, I would agree with Harry. You both need some time to relax. You fought dragons for crying out loud," Sirius said with a laugh.
"But they don't know how long it could take to crack this clue," Tonks spoke up. "I agree with you Samantha."
"Plus you'll want to take the opportunity to ask two smart minds, right Samantha?" Remus spoke in amusement while he gave Tonks a small glance which she saw.
Sirius glared at him and scoffed while Tonks laughed and turned a slight shade of red. "I think Samantha appreciates my presence and brilliant mind, Remus," Sirius said haughtily.
"I appreciate all of you."
"Thank you," Sirius responded.
"Now as for the screech," Remus continued. "I don't have an immediate thought. When Harry quickly showed us through the mirror, I almost fell over it was so awful."
"I was afraid my dear old mum was going to have a fit. Lucky we were upstairs and it didn't last that long," Sirius added with a shiver.
"Maybe you'll have to listen to that while fighting something?" Tonks suggested. "That's really only the thing I can think of."
"Well then I'd fail from the start," Samantha said, eyeing the golden egg at the end of her bed with furrowed eyebrows.
"I'm going to sleep on it and if I have any ideas, I'll use the mirror," Remus spoke and both Sirius and Tonks agreed.
Samantha nodded and decided to move on to the next topic...which was a big one. "Now the third topic is kind of...interesting."
Sirius rolled his eyes. "Oh what now?"
"Well Moody called Harry and I into his office to give us...advice about the first task a day or two before and while we were in his office I saw some odd instruments."
Tonks grinned. "Yes he's always prided himself in having unique objects."
"But there was something else in his office that would cause a few raised eyebrows," Samantha continued while the three adults looked at her expectantly. "It was Polyjuice Potion."
There was a silence as their eyes widened and jaws dropped.
"What?!" Sirius cried.
Yes an update!
And omg they know! How will things change? Or will they?
I started school which means not a lot of time for me to update. But hopefully this chapter draws predictions for the future!
Vote, comment, follow!
Until next time...who knows when lol
<3 Sam