Dodging a Bludger

Quidditch Tryouts

Penny didn't look up at Sarah's exclamation, but continued to mix and pour and tend to her potion. Bill answered for her.

"No one has seen Beatrice all day. The teachers are about to notify the ministry. Penny took the news pretty hard." He glanced back at the girl, who paid them all no mind, but kept at her potion like the goddess of the hearth keeping her fire alive. 

Sarah sat down next to her friend and touched her lightly on the arm. This had some effect. Penny paused in her fevered potion making long enough to give Sarah a sideways glance. 

"Did you find her?" she asked. 

Sarah shook her head. "No," she said. "But--"

"I'll find her once I finish this potion," Penny interrupted. "Nothing will be able to stop me. Everything's fine. My sister is fine."

Sarah locked eyes with Bill. Penny was speaking in a way neither of them had ever head before. She sounded unhinged. 

"She won't tell me what she's brewing," said Bill. He held out his book to Sarah. "But she's using potion ingredients that are NEWT standard or higher."

Sarah frowned. Penny was an adept potioneer, but if she was brewing a potion even more complicated than what the seventh years studied, it might be dangerous. Especially as she didn't seem to be in her right mind at the moment.

"What are you brewing, Penny?" Sarah asked her. 

"I'll tell you once it's finished," she said. "Can't talk now. Need to get this right. Hand me the powdered lion fish spines, would you?"

Sarah and Bill helped Penny finish the potion, each trying in vain to get information out of her as they did so. Barnaby left to continue in the search for Beatrice. Sarah didn't even recognize half the stuff Penny was adding. Some of the ingredients had to be from Snape's personal stores. She shuddered, trying not to think of how she'd gotten them, or what Snape would do if he found out she took them. 

Finally, Penny scooped up a small vial of the potion, a swirling silvery-blue concoction. 

"Now will you tell us what's going on?" asked Sarah. 

"One second," said Penny. She flung her head back and drained the potion in one gulp. 

"Penny, no!" Sarah lunged forward, but it was too late. Penny closed her eyes. Bill and Sarah stared at her anxiously. The girl opened her eyes.

"It didn't work."

Sarah sighed, half relieved. "What was it supposed to do?"

"I tried to invent a potion that would give me the ability to read Beatrice's mind. To see where she is."

"So you just swallowed a strange potion without knowing for sure the effects?" asked Sarah, astounded. 

"I was just trying to find my sister!" Penny shouted, tears streaming from her eyes. 

Sarah put her arms around her friend. "It's alright. We'll find her. We'll keep looking."

"No need for that." They all turned to see Merula. "I told you I'd find her."

"You found her? Where is she?" squealed Penny. 

"Um, you better follow me. You have to see it to believe it."

They followed Merula to the grand staircase. Halfway up, Merula stopped and pointed. A large portrait featured a landscape with trees and grasslands, and also...

"Beatrice!?" yelled Penny. 

It was unmistakable. Short blonde hair, hufflepuff robes, Beatrice stood within the painting itself. She was in the foreground, banging her fists, as if she were trying to bust out of the canvas.