This is a collection of short scenes from the point of view of Sarah Spellman while at Hogwarts and on her quest to find the cursed vaults and her missing brother.
It will include some romance between her and Barnaby Lee, scenes of her different fr...
"Tulip, are you sure about this?" Sarah asked as she clung to the eave of the roof over Zonko's joke shop. The two girls lay atop the snow covered building one on either side of the roof's peak, though it would have taken very keen eyes for anyone to notice. Sarah had studied for a weak with Rowan to learn the disillusionment charm, and from the street below, they were virtually invisible.
"What do you mean, 'am I sure?" came Tulips voice from Sarah's right. "This was your idea, remember. And anyway, it's brilliant."
Sarah didn't bother to say that Tulip's excitement was exactly what worried her.
Sarah truly didn't mean to be a troublemaker, though nobody would agree. Normally, she'd rather not have to break the school rules to find the cursed vaults, but it was a necessary evil. So was the case when it came to earning her way back into Tulip's good graces.
Tulip had been furious with Sarah ever since the first week of the term when Sarah had stopped her from setting Kettleburn's entire troupe of nifflers loose inside the castle. As a newly instated prefect, Sarah to prevent that level of chaos from happening. Tulip, who'd been hopeful having a prefect for a best friend meant having a free pass to break the rules, was most upset.
She wouldn't speak to Sarah for days, no matter how many times Sarah apologized or reminded her that she hadn't given Tulip detention or reported her actions to any of the teachers. Tulip would only accept one form of repentance.
"A prank for a prank," she'd said at dinner one evening, when Sarah asked yet again what she could do to make it up to her. "You ruined my amazing prank, so you have to give me an amazing prank. And not just any prank idea," here she'd given her impish, wicked grin, "a master prank."
Though she couldn't see it, Sarah could imagine Tulip making that same smile now; the delightful smirk that suggested she was just one step away from becoming an evil madman, as their prey made his way toward them.
Bilton Bilmes bounced along the lane in his brightly colored Zonko's robes, twirling his long, then mustache. Tulip had explained that Bilton, the owner of the shop and self-proclaimed Prank Expert, offered a reward for any person who could pull a prank elaborate and creative enough to fool him.
"That's how I got this," Tulip had said, swinging the Zonko's necklace she always wore around her finger. "Dipped a bunch of flitterby moths in invisibility potion and set them loose in his shop. Drove him mad wondering where all that laughing was coming from."
So Sarah had devised a plan. On the following Saturday morning, they'd woken up at the crack of dawn and slipped out of the castle as soon as Filch had unlocked the doors. They'd climbed to the top of the shop and lay belly-down on the snow covered roof, so that they were soaking wet and freezing. Sarah new she faced more detention, the loss of her prefect's badge, and perhaps even expulsion for this. It seemed like a steep price just to get back on Tulip's good side. Then again, Tulip had agreed to face boggarts and the Vault of Fear for her, so perhaps this made them even.
"Hmm," Bilton muttered as he unsuccessfully tried to unlock his door. They'd locked it with magic.
Sarah nodded over at Tulip, then remembered that they couldn't see each other. "Now," she whispered.
They hurled the frog-spawn soap they'd brought with them at his feet. "Oh, ho!" Bilton laughed, as the soap mingled with the wet snow. Frogs sprung into existence with noisy croaks, hopping about Bilton's feet.
Bilton was smiling. "You'll have to better than that, whoever you are!" he called, pulling out his wand and pointing it at his feet.
"Evanesco!"
Bilton yelled and dropped out of sight. The frogs he'd meant to vanish fell with him through the large hole Sarah and Tulip had carved into the ground with magic. Bilton had accidentally vanished the rug Sarah had placed over the hole and bewitched to look like the snowy ground around it.
"Nice one!" said Tulip. Together they slid off the roof and inched close to the hole. Bilton still couldn't see them. He sat in the hole, covered in mud and snow, frogs hopping all over his body. He was laughing as merrily as if he'd just won a thousand galleons.
"Well done," he called. "Well done! I brought about my own downfall. Literally!" He straightened himself up. "Alright, you can let me out now. You've earned your reward."
"Levicorpus!" Sarah shouted, pointing her wand into the hole. It was a spell Snape taught her for dealing with Rakepick if she turned out to be evil, and it was the only one she could think of to get Bilton out.
"Ahhhh!" he screamed as he was hoisted out of the hole by his ankle. Floating above them with the blood rushing to his head, he somehow still managed to laugh. Tulip dragged him away from the hole and Sarah performed the countercurse. Bilton toppled onto the ground, still giggling madly.
"An excellent prank!" he said. "I had no idea what was happening. And not a dungbomb or ever-bashing boomerand to be seen. How original! So, who has given me such a happy morning?"
Sarah waved her wand and she and Tulip became visible once more.
"I should have known!" cried Bilton, clapping his hands together in delight. "Alright, Sarah. Tulip. Follow me."
He unlocked the shop, this time with his wand, and led them to his counter. Stepping behind it, he dug around in the drawers until he pulled out a Zonko's necklace exactly like Tulip's.
"This is the first one I've given out in years," he said, holding it out to Sarah. "Tulip was the last. There just aren't enough great pranksters in the world these days." As Sarah slipped the chain around her neck, Bilton's voice took on a ceremonial tone. "I, Bilton Bilmes, proprietor of Zonko's and Prank Expert, declare you, Sarah Spellman, to be a Master Prankster."
"Thank you," said Sarah, feeling rather silly.
Bilton held up a finger and began speaking rather quickly. "This honor entitles you to as much as the merchandise in the shop as you choose for life so long as you pay full price."
Sarah laughed.
They spent a while in the shop with Bilton, reliving each detail of the prank and refusing to accept any tea from his notorious nose-biting tea cups, until the shop became full of patrons, each curious about the gaping hole outside the shop.
Sarah and Tulip excused themselves to fill the hole back up.
"So, how does it feel, Master Prankster?" Tulip asked after they'd finished.
"It feels pretty good," said Sarah. Mostly though, she felt good because Tulip was her friend again.
It really was better to have an evil genius on your side.
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