The Girl Who Vanished

Chapter 4: The Quibbler

"I can't believe Dumbledore hired him!" Ana huffed as she angrily unfolded the authentic silk blouses from her chest as she remembered the fake ones the man sported at the head of the Great Hall. Every item of clothing was the enemy, being gripped tightly as she put them in the drawers beneath her bed.

"Why do you dislike him so much?"

Ana gave Calista a pointed look, before scoffing playfully and returning to her task at hand. She didn't have a better answer other than "he buys knock off robes"; telling her friends that would only make her seem spoiled. Perhaps she was, Ana considered for a moment; however, she couldn't stop the image of his forced grin and painfully white teeth from entering her mind.

Calista waited patiently for the girl to answer her, making quick work of her movie posters and cassettes.

"Look, I can't explain it but I just don't like him. Something is off, I swear it!" Ana countered as confidently as she could despite not having an adequate answer.

"I think he's charming," Calista sang happily, jumping up from the floor to place her collection of nail polishes on the stone mantle that faced the girls' beds. "I mean have you girls seen all the things he's done? I've gone through some of his book Magical Me and I mean-"

The young girl sighed deeply, hugging her stuffed rabbit while twirling in a circle as if she were one of those ballerinas in a muggle jewelry box. Except there was no playing, she was dancing in utter silence.

Ana and Alex leaned around the giddy girl, both their faces mirroring the other with expressions of pure horror. They huffed out tiny laughs, trying not to break the girl from her elated trance, but making it known to the other that they thought the muggleborn was out of her mind. Alex's skin glowed a sun-kissed brown, not as dark as Calista's complexion but just as pretty. She must've spent a lot of time out in the sun during her break, Ana figured.

"Callie, why in the world would you like that dodgy man? He was such a show-off at Flourish and Blotts," she stood from her spot and grabbed her fluffy green blanket, draping it over her shoulders like a cape. "What an extraordinary moment this is!" She forced her alto voice as deep as it could go, mimicking the wizard they both despised so much.

Alex swooshed the blanket as she strutted across the cluttered room, the fabric flailing dramatically at her hips. "No, no! Photographer, please!" She twirled like Calista had, standing in front of the muggleborn with a wolfish grin, "This is my good side."

Calista rolled her eyes jovially at the girl, making Alex smile in return as she wrapped the blanket around her fully and dropped to the floor. From her new spot, the girl went through Calista's trunk and pulled out more muggle artefacts.

"Did you bring anything for me?" Alex asked Calista hopefully.

"It's the box at the very bottom."

Ana watched the oldest girl fish through the chest, removing various bonnets and scarves from the top layers, only to shove her hand to the very bottom. With a scrunched brow, Alex pulled out a cardboard box labeled "Lite-Brite". Curious and confused, she opened the box carelessly.

"No! Don't do-"

But it was too late. Alex's ripping open of the box resulted in a million tiny neon sticks to fly around the room, some rolling underneath the bed and some getting caught in the cracks of the wooden floor. Ana fell backwards on the ground in a fit of laughter at Calista's flared nostrils and shaking hands. The muggleborn held out her arms as if to choke Alex for her mess.