Mischief Managed Y2 Part 2: The Truth of the Tournament

Chapter Forty: Crushing Realizations

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Regulus had read the letter from his mum that morning with a heavy heart. But as he went about the day he soon moved his thoughts away from the task his mum had given him to the day ahead of him. Luckily, turning mice into snuffboxes in transfiguration and learning about Gytrashs in DADA proved to be distracting. Regulus also had Lucinda and Greggory bickering with each other over whose lumos would be powerful enough to get away from the dog-like spirits they had been told about in detail by Professor Corbyn, to distract him from his mum. And while hanging out in the courtyard with Lucinda and Greggory, their telling of some tall tale about elves had been relatively amusing.

But the best part of the day came when Regulus was the only first-year to successfully conjure half a drop of water! Only three Slytherin first years had been bold enough to try out for the trials, and neither Regulus nor Lucinda had practised all that much as they were too busy trying to locate what school was cheating in the tournament. But Professor Flitwick, during the quick session he had held for all the first years from all the houses since they did not have Charms that day, had been so impressed. Regulus had been applauded by all of the seven first years from all different houses wanting to try their hands at the trial. He had accomplished something that by far should have been too advanced for him. Take that Sirius.

Of course, Regulus who was already respected for being a Black was the talk of the Slytherin house and even the older students nodded to him. For once in his life, Regulus was being looked at as someone other than a kid. It was exhilarating and Regulus felt like he could do anything, especially after Narcissa had told him how proud she was of him. This was why Regulus, after hearing that Sirius had also passed the first trial, decided it was time to talk to his brother again. Since the win Regulus had achieved with Sirius agreeing to try to get along with the family, Regulus had been leaving his older brother alone for the most part. Also because he, Emma, Lucinda, and Greggory had been unable to find anything else on any of the other foreign students. Considering some spell made them unable to recall any identifying feature from the students who had attempted to drown them that day, the four of them had been forced to go off of what the wand had looked like alone. But it was a lot harder to find one wand amongst hundreds of them than one might think.

"I don't think the wand exists," Greg whined, slumping against Emma who patted his head consolingly.

"It's very hard to find a wand that doesn't seem to look much different than other wands. I know we've all seen it but I was certain I found it two separate times before realizing it was the wrong wand. At least Emma's sketch is helpful." Lucinda added, still cross with Emma who she blamed for the 'near drowning incident'. Apparently, Lucinda could hold a grudge like no other.

"We're never going to find it," Greg groaned.

It was like looking for a needle in a haystack. The odd saying popped into Regulus' head. He had heard the ludicrous phrase from Sirius. But now he sort of understood it. Regulus would have shared the phrase with his friends except he would bet ten galleons, because it had come from his big brother, it was a muggle phrase. Regulus had been doing very well amongst the Slytherins, in great part thanks to Narcissa. But Reg knew he had to tread carefully. Even being a Black wouldn't save him if they found out he was quoting filthy muggle phrases. Regulus wasn't sure why they were so filthy but considering his mum would have boxed him over the ears for saying the phrase harder than if he had sworn, Regulus knew it must be bad. Besides, Reg didn't want to ruin his chances of joining some sort of elite club next year. So he prevented himself from saying such ridiculous drivel and instead reminded his fellow first-years how the fate of the Triwizard Tournament rested upon their shoulders.