Aymee Parker - The Secret Tournament

Chapter 22 : Improvised Alliance

November was now over and the students had one more reason to stress: the mid-year exams. Aymee and the other Potions class students were quietly waiting for Professor Snape to open the door to the room to begin their exam. Émilie and Penelope were the most on edge, they had been studying all week before and Emily had barely slept the night before.

"How can you be so calm!?" Émilie exclaimed. "We have the potions test in ten minutes!"

"Mmh, because stress makes the situation worse?" asked Astou. "And then, I revise, there."

The girls narrowed their eyes and stared at the bundles of papers Astou was holding. Megan cocked her head and pointed to the leaves.

"Huh, I'm pretty sure these are sheet music, not notes. End if. They are notes, but not notes... Ragh. Do you get it?"

Astou couldn't hold back a crystalline laugh.

"Haha. Yes, it's my fault. I had forgotten my notebook, so I started jotting down on my sheet music. Look."

Astou turned over the sheets to show his notes. Aymee smiled: it looked like her. Every evening, Astou trained for at least an hour to play his instruments. That she once shuffled her sheet music for her notes was no surprise.

Aymee slid against the wall to sit on the floor. She put her arms behind her head to be more comfortable.

"We can also talk about something else to clear our minds. Like the puzzles of the second test?"

Megan grunted in response, Rosalie sighed softly. Grant frowned.

"All we know is that it will be in the common room. We still haven't figured out the what or the when. It's more depressing than anything."

"About that," said Aymee, rummaging in her bag. "I think I found an unintended clue."

Megan jumped next to Aymee.

"Where!? Show!"

Aymee unrolled the scroll and Megan's face lost all trace of excitement.

"This is the list of those who passed the first test."

"Yes, but look at the end."

Megan leaned over and read aloud: "Pass the list discreetly. The second test (that of the Ravenclaws) will take place a week before the Christmas holidays. You will receive the instructions two weeks in advance."

Megan was even more disappointed.

"Well, that specifies that the test will take place this week. What does it change?"

"Think about it," insisted Aymee. "Ravenclaws doing a trial during mid-year exam week? No, they will want to focus on their exams. It will definitely be the weekend! And you know what date this weekend is? On the 17th and 18th..."

"Oh but stop! You've been telling us about Epona since you found her, but it's still far too vague. It can't be that."

"But—"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" shouted Penelope. "BOTH! There, we are going to have an exam, an ULTRA important exam! This stupid tournament is more, it's less important than your studies! So now you're gonna shut up and—"

Penelope was cut off by Professor Snape who had just opened the door of his room with a loud noise, with an almost dramatic air. Snape stared at them for a few moments before turning to go back to his room.

"Take place. You have the whole course to produce this filter." He pointed to a drawing on the board with instructions and smirked. "Alone."

The students all got shivers but got to work. Aymee used all of her concentration to decode the instructions and not get mixed up in the words. Her legs shook uncontrollably so badly that her chair shook. It was almost a miracle that the vials on his desk didn't bang together or roll on the floor.