𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝

- 𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 -

Malfoy couldn't believe his eyes when he saw that Lucia and Ron were still at Hogwarts the next day, looking tired but perfectly cheerful. Indeed, by the next morning, Lucia and Ron thought that meeting the three headed dog had been an excellent adventure and they were quite keen to have another one. In the meantime, Lucia filled Ron in about the package that seemed to have been moved from Gringotts to Hogwarts, and they spent a lot of time wondering what could possibly need such heavy protection.

"It's either really valuable or really dangerous", said Ron.

"Or both", said Lucia.

But as all they knew for sure about the mysterious object was that it was about two inches long, they didn't have much chance of guessing what it was without further clues.

Neither Neville or Hermione showed the slightest interest in what lay underneath the dog and the trapdoor. All Neville cared about was never going near the dog again.

Hermione was now refusing to speak to Lucia and Ron, but she was such a bossy know it all that they saw this as an added bonus. All they really wanted now was a way of getting back at Malfoy, and to their great delight, just such a thing arrived with the post about a week later.

As the owls flooded into the Great Hall as usual, everyone's attention was caught at once by a long thin package carried by six large screech owls. Lucia was just as interested as everyone else to see what was in this large parcel and was amazed when the owls soared down and dropped it right in front of her, knocking her bacon to the floor. They had hardly fluttered out of the way when another owl dropped a letter on top of the parcel.

Lucia ripped open the letter first, which was lucky, because it said:

𝐃𝐎 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐄𝐋 𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄
𝐈𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐍𝐢𝐦𝐛𝐮𝐬 𝐓𝐰𝐨 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐝,
𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐯𝐞
𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞.
𝐎𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐖𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞
𝐐𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐨' 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫
𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧.

𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒇𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒐𝒓 𝑴. 𝑴𝒄𝑮𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒍𝒍

Lucia had difficulty hiding her glee, as she handed the note to Ron to read.

"A Nimbus Two Thousand!" Ron moaned enviously. "I've never even touched one".

They left the Hall quickly, wanting to unwrap the broomstick in private before their first lesson, but halfway across the Entrance Hall they found the way upstairs barred by Crabbe and Goyle. Malfoy seized the package from Lucia and felt it.

"That's a broomstick", he said, throwing it back to Lucia with a mixture of jealousy and spite on his face. "You'll be for it this time, Riddle, first years aren't allowed them".

Ron couldn't resist it.

"It's not any old broomstick", he said, "It's a Nimbus Two Thousand. What did you say you've got at home, Malfoy, a Comet Two Sixty?" Ron grinned at Lucia. "Comets look flashy, but they're not in the same league as the Nimbus".

"What would you know about it, Weasley, you couldn't afford half the handle", Malfoy snapped back. "I suppose you and your brothers have to save up, twig by twig".