Muggle Meets Magic (Harry Potter Fanfiction)

SIXTEEN Toxic Company

"Castilian!" someone cried, shaking me awake. My eyes flew open, and a sneer greeted me.

"Eleanor?" I said, still waking up. "Get off me!" I pushed her hard, wondering why she'd decided to wake me in the middle of the night.

"Come on, Castilian, we have to go!" she snapped. "It's started!"

"What has?" I asked, sitting up. It was then that I realized I wasn't in a bed anymore. Where there should have been sheets below me, grew grass and ferns. Trees were overheard.

"Round one! It started as soon as the clock struck midnight!" Eleanor explained. "And we're all alone here, and I'm stuck with you. So it looks like we'll have to partner up to get through this challenge."

"How did we even get here?" I asked, standing up. The night was freezing cold, and I shivered. It was snowing around us, but I couldn't see much else.

"It doesn't matter. We have to make it out of here, and we have to get to the end before the rest of our school does!"

I couldn't believe this. I really didn't want to work with Eleanor, but I was in the middle of nowhere, in a dark forest, and to be honest, I didn't see another option. Besides, I knew I had to have a partner to get through this.

"Where exactly are we, and which way do we need to go?" I asked, brushing off the snow, twigs and dirt that clung to my clothes. Eleanor bit her lip, thinking. Finally, she pulled out her wand and turned to me.

"Do you know any navigation spells?" she asked finally.

I narrowed my eyes. She needed my help? Eventually I gave in and said,

"Point me. It's a Four-Point spell, that turns your wand into a compass."

"Great," she said, bracing her wand.

"Wait!" I said, interrupting her by grabbing her arm. "I'll cast it."

Eleanor laughed. "Like hell you will. You'd blow something up. Look, this will work best if you're the brains and I do the casting, okay?"

I gritted my teeth. She had a fair point, but I hadn't spent months training just to sit by and be Eleanor's exclusive library of information.

Eleanor lay her wand flat in her palm, then cast the spell. Her wand began to spin, until finally it pointed North. Which was the opposite way to which we were facing.

"Alright, stay close," Eleanor said. "Lumos."

A light appeared from her wand, and she began marching through the snow. Her skin was covered in goosebumps, and I realized she must have been as cold as I was.

I remembered a charm I'd once read about, and deciding I wanted to cast a spell whether Eleanor granted me permission or not, I did a movement with my wand above our head.

It was hot-air charm, which instantly made the forest a much more pleasant place to be. Eleanor turned to me, her eyes wide.

"Are you trying to set me on fire?" she asked, looking horrified.

"No. I'm trying to warm us both up!" I replied, glaring at her. She gave me a once over, before making a noise, similar to a humph, and marching ahead again.

I rolled my eyes. How typical.

"How are you managing it, anyway?" she questioned, without looking at me again.