The Other Witches

15. A Little Bit of Luck

As the seven of us approach the "hole" that James and PJ made, James takes a silvery cloak out of his bag. It looks strangely familiar. Sure enough, as he throws it over PJ and himself, they disappear. I might have known. Famous Potter invisibility cloak.

I'm actually surprised that they both fit under it.

The cheers are deafening as our little Hogwarts team (plus the two invisible intruders) breaks through the enchantment barrier. Lucy cheers and whoops to the crowd, feeding their excitement. We made it.

Von runs around in a circle, yelling, "YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

The only thing that could possibly dampen our feeling of success is the small group of students standing to the side of the judges' table. The Durmstrang team sits there with their arms folded and their postures a little hunched. One of them is smirking. Idiot.

"And the Hogwarts team finishes in second place!" the commentator's voice booms over the roar of the crowd. Second place. We didn't fail.

This is the greatest feeling I've ever had.

Not too soon after we finish, the Beauxbatons team stumbles through the barrier. One of them looks fine, but the rest are in shambles. One boy in particular seems particularly winded. It's the one that Von dueled. I hide a smile. Von definitely knows what she's doing.

"With all the teams now finished," the disembodied voice says, "the First Task is concluded. Remember, champions, the Second Task takes place in February, so be prepared. Also, save the date for the Yule Ball on Christmas Eve!"

Ah, the one that I don't have a partner for. Lovely reminder.

"Kind of ominous, don't you think," Ella remarks. "Be prepared and all that other shiz."

As if on cue, Lauren starts humming "Be Prepared" from The Lion King.

The other four of us look at her tiredly.

"What?"

A month or so later, it's the day of the Yule Ball. Ella and Lauren snuck us into their dormitory room in Hufflepuff territory. It's a cozy place.

At present, we're not doing anything.

Lauren is kind of stressing. "You guys can't be serious. You're telling me that the Yule Ball is literally in three hours, and you don't have anything to wear?" I can see her gears turning, trying to find a solution. But there basically is none. No spare gowns, and no one who knows enough magic to conjure up five, not even one.

There is a silence of approximately thirty minutes.

"Well," Lucy ventures, "we could always show up in our school robes. Be quite a statement, don't you think?" She herself doesn't seem too opposed to the idea. But that's just Lucy. She hates dresses.

I stand by one of the beds, flipping through a spellbook desperately. "Just... just calm down, people. Lucy sent an owl to the nearest dress shop about five days ago, so it should be back any minute now."

"I just don't see why you send a tiny owl to a dressmaker's," Ella says, leaning against the window. "How is it supposed to carry...."

Her speech is cut off by a tiny owl that rams into the window at lightning speed. In surprise, Ella stumbles backwards, waving her wand arm (holding her wand) wildly to find her balance, and sputtering something that sounds like "Ffffshuffffshfffffsshhhhh."

A bolt of purple light shoots out of her wand. Before I can react, it hits the people sitting on the bed. Also known as the other four of us.

When the smoke clears, though, everything seems fine. All of our limbs are intact, and we don't seem to have any serious gash wounds. Everything is just the same.