Let's Blame Magic

Chapter Thirty-One

Before reading, the video on the side corresponds when Reese is introduced in the story! :)

So, don't worry! You'll get to see the use of the video soon :)

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  As Harry succeeded with the first challenge, he made his way to the Infirmary tent with Hermione and Ariella to greet him with a congratulatory hug; Ron didn't know how to react considering neither him nor Harry gave each other a formal apology, instead, he stood by the side. Ariella and Hermione had to leave to give Harry time to rest and be examined; the three said bye to the four champions and headed off to the common rooms.

  Once the challengers returned to their houses, Ariella greeted Fleur with a hug and dragged her to the middle of the common room where all the Ravenclaw and Beauxbaton students waited for her; they greeted her with applause and took time to congratulate her. When it was beginning to die down, everyone was eager to know what inside the egg, Fleur walked in front of the fireplace and held the egg out in front of her; Ariella sat on the couch next to Fleur and waited with anticipation. Inside the Golden Egg contained a clue to the second challenge, Fleur opened the egg with a smile but dropped it as a horrendous ear splitting scream came out of the egg. Fleur dropped to the floor and crawled on her elbows, bearing the sound for a moment to close the egg.

  For the smartest students in Hogwarts, none of them knew what the clue meant; some thought they would have to face a banshee but there was no defining way of knowing. After the fun died off, Ebony approached Ariella and whispered that there was an owl waiting for her at the Owlery, she knew what awaited her.

   "It's from Oliver." Ebony said out loud.

  Ariella caught the swift motion of Ambrosia's head turning towards Ariella; Ariella and Ambrosia haven't spoken a word to each other after the first month of the school, Ariella didn't want anything to do with Ambrosia especially since Ambrosia was seen around school with Draco and there were already numerous rumors piling up one after the other.

   "Thanks." Ariella said grimly as she watched Ebony walk away. She sighed and decided she would deal with Oliver first thing in the morning.

  When night fell throughout the castle, Ariella picked up one of the letters Oliver sent earlier in the week from Puddlemere. She didn't have the time to open it because she wasn't expecting Oliver to send her any letters, she thought the Quidditch World Cup would have been the last she heard from him. She sat on her bed and ran her fingers along the edges of the letter, she was afraid to open it because she was afraid of what she would read.

  She let out a sigh and ran her thumb under the envelope's flap and across the length of the letter. There was a single piece of parchment in the letter and Oliver's handwriting on that single piece of parchment, Ariella unfolded the letter and read the contents of the letter.

   Dear Ariella,

  Guess what? I was doing a bit of volunteering at Puddlemere and they sent me off to the Daily Prophet. I got a glimpse of this week's story; it's about the Tri-Wizard Tournament! You guys sure are lucky, tell me all about it!

   From Oliver.

  Ariella crumpled the letter and got out of bed to toss it in the fire. Ariella was afraid knowing that Oliver was now spending his time at the Daily Prophet, if this was a letter from last week mentioning the Tri-Wizard Tournament, she could only imagine what this week's story would be about, especially with the knowledge that her photo was taken with Harry. What would Oliver have to say about that? And more importantly, what would the Daily Prophet have to say about that?

  She went to sleep and tried to focus on the Yule Ball that would take place the day after tomorrow. When morning came, Ariella headed straight for the Owlery to receive the second letter sent from Oliver. To her surprise, she didn't realize how much snow has fallen over the castle, it felt as if autumn flew by; her tracks embedded in the snow as she made her way to the Owlery, the gentle blanket of snow made the trees around her appear as a winter wonderland. The Owlery was quite a walk away from the castle; when she climbed up the steps she nearly slipped at the very top of the step but managed to regain her balance.