The Other Witches

12. Certain Death. YAY!!

Pacing. The perfect activity for troubled minds.

Not.

It's six o'clock on the day of the First Task. None of us, not even the champions, know what to expect. But I'm convinced that we have created a master team, capable of overcoming any obstacle. Except food. And helicopters. And purple llamas named Steve. And a lot of other things.

I'm already dressed in my fitted blue-and-bronze shirt, black pants, and dark gray sweatshirt, the outfit that had been prepared for me the night before. Maeve is perched on my headboard, straightening her feathers. Five different books are spread out on my bed, all of them about defense techniques and complicated spells. I had spent a full hour poring over the pages, memorizing the ones that seemed most important.

A small, feathery jackhammer starts pounding at the window.

"Eliza, the tiny owl's doing it again," one of the girls, Marianne, says groggily from her bed.

"Got it," I reply. Stve flutters in, drops a scrap of parchment, slams into the windowglass, and finally flies out again. The scrap says LOOK AT YOUR STINKING NOTEBOOK.

Oh. I kind of forgot about that. Whoops.

Hey, I need advice, the most recent message, from Lauren, reads.

What about? I quickly scribble.

About how to react when one of your friends is being repeatedly asked out by one of her archenemies, then, out of frustration, sics her cat on him.

And who would you be referring to in that statement?

Vonnie.

Oh. And the archenemy?

That birdbrain James Potter.

Ah, the best friend of the guy that Ella likes? That really is a tough situation. But why aren't you focusing on the Tournament, Larns?

Eh, I find that keeping my mind off certain things helps keep my nerves down. So, any wise words for the Vonnie problem?

Well, all I can say is, don't try and referee if they get into a shouting match, 'cause things could get violent. And just keep an eye on Von.

Got it. See you in about five minutes.

Kay, bye!

WAITWAITWAITWAIT!!!!!

What is it, Ella?

Wait, did Larns leave the parchment?

Yeah, I think she did.

I need to tell you something. I have devised a plan.

Oh, no. This isn't going to be good. What is it now?

PJ McFleeble is going to be my date to the Yule Ball.

Uhhhh.... and how are you going to pull off such a feat as that, without bribe or blackmail or anything dishonest of that sort?

Well, it's going to involve being as annoying as poo to him. I'm going to ask him over and over and over again until he says yes.

I don't think that's really fair.....

Doesn't matter. What matters is that I need you to not be hostile to him, and somehow convince Lucy and Von to do the same, because you know they won't listen to me. Oop, gotta go have breakfast. See ya! 

I set down the notebook. I feel like I really don't have the time to adress such a problem at this very moment, since we're facing a much bigger, much more dramatic problem in only a few hours, but I don't want to be unhelpful. I jam the notebook into my bedside table, along with the peacock-feather quill I use for it. I have absolutely no idea where it came from, except that I found it on my bed with a note that had I kind of like your friend. Please help me. written on it

Wait.

Ohhhh, now it all makes sense. The quill is from James Potter, who must be trying to bribe me into helping him "win over" Von. Well, that little jerkface isn't going to get any help from me while he's still a jerkface. And I know that it's James because I have a feeling that Scorpius doesn't  really want anyone to know that he likes Lucy, and it's pretty obvious that Ella already is infatuated with a certain PJ McFleeble.

There. I probably spent all of my deductive reasoning on that little mystery.

And now, I proceed to a place that will inevitably lead to certain death. 

As Von would probably say, "YAAAAAYYYYY!!"

Hello wattpandas,

Sorry for that rather long break between chapters. The first task is giving me trouble.

-RedV