When Fire Meets Gasoline | Wizarding World

chapter eleven | an alarming discovery

Oliver was watching Hermione wipe the foam from her butterbeer with her sleeve when he caught Draco and Mary leaving the Three Broomsticks out of the corner of his eye. He was curious as to why they came in and didn't even sit down to order a drink.

"Hey, Ollie," Eliza said, nudging him with her arm.

Oliver jumped out of his thoughts and turned to Eliza. "What?"

"Who do you think is right?"

He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Right about what?"

Eliza rolled her eyes. "About Nargles. You know, those things Luna Lovegood talks about."

Jake let out a scoff, rolling his eyes. "There's a chance they could be real."

"Why? Your grandfather told you that?" Violet spoke up.

"I haven't asked him about it yet, but I know he'll say they're real," Jake said.

"How did this conversation even come up?" Oliver asked.

"Weren't you listening to us?" Violet questioned.

"Yes...no...sort of..."

Violet looked to her right and then rolled her eyes. "Oh, right. Hermione's sitting over there. I guess you were fawning over her again..."

A man came by their table with four butterbeers on a tray, handing a glass to Oliver, then Eliza, then Jake, and finally Violet. The four bid him thanks and the man left them alone. "I wasn't fawning over her," Oliver protested, taking a sip of his drink, feeling the sweet beverage fizzle in his mouth. "Besides, I was also watching Malfoy leave with Mary."

Eliza snorted. "What, they're already a thing?" She shook her head, gulping down some of her butterbeer.

"I dunno, but does it matter?" Oliver retorted.

Jacob shrugged his shoulders, twirling his glass on the table. "I mean, I wonder if she really thought it through. You know how Malfoy is."

"Oh, yeah? Did you and him have a little fling?" Eliza joked, grinning.

Jacob pursed his lips in annoyance. "Yes, and he's a bloody good kisser," he replied in a sarcastic tone.

Oliver watched as Harry, Ron, and Hermione got up from their table and put on their winter attire, leaving the Three Broomsticks. He looked back at his friends, sighing. "Well, we don't know Malfoy romantically."

"That sounded gross just hearing that," Violet said in disgust.

Oliver thought about it, then nodded his head quickly. "Yeah, it kind of does. My bad."

"How about we just mind our own business?" Jacob suggested. "Let's make a toast to the fact that so far nothing bad has happened this year."

"I can agree with that," Eliza agreed, raising her glass. "A toast to a peaceful year."

The other three joined in, the glasses hitting against each other. They all finished what was left of their drinks and decided to leave the Three Broomsticks. The four of them figured Andrew was getting bored without them already.

They headed back out into the cold, the snow hitting all of them, stinging their faces. With the wind blowing harder and harder, the urge to go back to Hogwarts was getting stronger. As Oliver and his friends were heading back for the castle, having a little bit more to go, they all heard a scream.

"What was that?" Violet inquired.

Then, all of a sudden, a girl in the distance with a red coat went flying into the air, her arms spread out. She let out a demonic yell, screeching their ears. Then, she collapsed back to the ground.