Ron Weasley is devastated when Snape decides to make Maddie Jordan, troublemaker and potions failure, his permanent partner.
But Maddie is a strong believer that she could make friends with anyone - she just has to stick around them long enough.
A...
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chapter twenty-two | the dark mark
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"AH, NO, I DON'T BELIEVE IT... I've lost my wand!"
"Are you taking the piss?!" Maddie exclaimed, as Harry desperately patted all of his pockets.
She joined Ron and Hermione in shining a light on the ground — they looked all around, but Harry's wand was nowhere to be seen.
"Maybe it's back in the tent," said Ron.
"Maybe it fell out of your pocket when we were running?" Hermione suggested anxiously.
"Yeah," said Harry. "Maybe..."
A rustling noise nearby made all four of them jump, and Maddie sped around to see a house elf wriggling it's way through the bushes nearby. As it grew closer, the young Jordan could only recognise it as the house elf she had seen Harry talking to during the game — Winky, she thought her name was.
Winky was moving very strangely — it was as though someone invisible were trying to hold her back.
"There is bad wizards about!" she squeaked distractedly as she leaned forward and labored to keep running. "People high — high in the air! Winky is getting out of the way!"
"Can't blame her," said Maddie, as the four watched her disappear into the trees on the other side of the path.
"What's up with her?" said Ron. "Why can't she run properly?"
"Bet she didn't ask permission to hide," said Harry.
"I wouldn't either, if I were a house elf," Maddie exclaimed, exchanging a glance with Ron. "What kind of bullshit's that?"
"You know, house-elves get a very raw deal!" said Hermione indignantly. "It's slavery, that's what it is! That Mr. Crouch made her go up to the top of the stadium, and she was terrified, and he's got her bewitched so she can't even run when they start trampling tents! Why doesn't anyone do something about it?"
"Well, the elves are happy, aren't they?" Ron said. "You heard old Winky back at the match — 'House-elves is not supposed to have fun' — that's what she likes, being bossed around..."
"It's people like you, Ron," Hermione began hotly. "Who prop up rotten and unjust systems, just because they're too lazy to—"
Another loud bang echoed from the edge of the wood.
"Let's just keep moving, shall we?" said Ron.
Maddie was happy to do as Ron said — the sooner she got out and found Lee, the better.
They followed the dark path deeper into the wood, still keeping an eye out for the Weasley siblings and Lee. As they continued on, they passed many goblins and veela surrounded by gold they must've won by betting, as well as a small amount of wizards attempting (and failing) to charm the veela in front of them.
