Magic Child

Claiming the point

The picture above is of Sloane's eyes. Ray references them several times, so this is what they look like!

"Walking in the dark with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the death."
-Helen Keller
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"So what are we going to do?" Sloane asked me as I had told her about the chip that I had just seen. Her blue eyes, dark around the edges and light in the center shone.

It was right after class on a wonderful first day at Hogwarts. I had enjoyed all of my subjects thus far except for History of Magic, in which Professor Binns had made the subject boring with his monotonous voice.

I asked her, "Vat do you mean? Ve obviously can't get to the chip."

"We have to do something!" She nearly screamed, "We need every single point that we can get. My brother will not win again. His head is big enough."

I was getting annoyed. "Do you have a plan? I don't know 'ow we can get to the chip without getting our 'and eaten off."

"Why don't we go look in the Ravenclaw library? There's got to be something that we can do," Sloane replied. That was actually not a bad idea. When in doubt, go to the library.

We headed towards Ravenclaw Tower, buzzing from the excitement of locating our first chip.

When we got there, the Eagle knocker asked us, What flies without wings?

Sloane only shrugged at me. She wasn't good with riddles.

I pondered for a second, and then said, "Time."

The door opened, and we stepped in, the common room still blowing me away.

We went to drop our bags off in the dormitory as Sloane exclaimed, "I don't know what I would do without you Ray. I am so terrible at riddles." She paused for a moment, and I could tell that she was trying to figure out a solution to her problem. "I think I might just start carrying around a book of riddles. That may be the only way." She was talking more to herself now than she was to me.

By that point, we were back in the common room, standing in front of the large bookshelf.

I stated, "I don't zink that ve should need more than two plant books. If there's something to stop a Venomous Tentacula, it should be in any plant book."

We divided. I grabbed a large, worn book called Unusual Plants and their Common Care Procedures. Sloane and I met up at a table that could fit four. It overlooked the lake, and had squashy midnight-blue bean bag chairs that I immediately loved.

Sloane had grabbed A Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi. We were quiet, flipping through our books.

"I found it!"  Sloane exclaims. I moved over to look at her book as she recites, "The Venomous Tentacula has a giant eyeless head with fangs, though the shape of its mouth tends to vary, along with many leaves surrounding it. It also has many large vines for appendage (that act like arms and as aforementioned can be severed by Diffindo), which may or may not also have separate heads of their own at the ends."

"So ve have to use Diffindo?" I asked. "Zat doesn't help us if we can't even get close to it without anyone noticing. Ze greenhouse is always full!" I whisper-yelled, trying to get my point across but not be heard.

"Not at night," Sloane said mischievously.

Before I could argue, Peter and Blaire sat down at our table. "What're you guys working on?" Blaire asked, sweeping her gorgeous brown hair over his shoulder.

"Ve're just getting a 'ead start on some homework, not that many teachers gave us much anyvays, but it's always good to have a 'ead start," I rambled on, trying not to sound suspicious. They didn't look like they suspected anything.

"We were just going to play a game of Exploding Snap. Care to join?" Peter asked in a husky, deep voice.

I shrugged. Sloane and I wouldn't be able to do anything about the chip until later tonight, so we joined their game.

***

"I give up!" Peter exclaimed, throwing down his cards with a loud pop! I had just won my third game in a row, winning every game that we played.

"How are you so good?!" Blaire asked, exasperated.

I only shrugged. I didn't know. I hadn't ever even played Exploding Snap before, but after they had taught me, I had fared pretty well.

"Okay, I'm tired of losing Exploding Snap," Sloane said in an upbeat tone.

"Sloane and I are going to go and explore while we can," I said, gesturing for Sloane to follow me out of the common room.

We walked out, and I turned to Sloane saying, "So what should we do?"

She immediately knew what I was talking about. "Let's just go down to the greenhouse, see if anyone's there, see if it's locked."

We walked down to the greenhouses. It had been a long day, but the sun was only dipping low on the horizon; it hadn't set yet. We were allowed to be out here now, but coming back when it was dark was a whole different story.

We got there, and we looked around. We had been lucky so far, having not been spotted by a teacher.

I tried to open the door, but it was locked. "Here, I've got this," Sloane said softly. I stepped aside. "Alohomora," she whispered softly. I heard a click, and the door was unlocked. Why didn't I think of that?

We walked in, and the greenhouse was as humid as ever. I made sure to close the door. I led Sloane over to where I saw the chip, and thankfully it was still there. But I was still skeptical about how we were going to get to it.

"So... How are we going to get this chip?" I asked.

"I'll go," Sloane said. "Cover me." She creeped forward before I could protest.

It all happened at once. A teethed vine sprang forward, going in for a bite. I wanted to help, but I was afraid of hurting Sloane.

"Diffindo!" Sloane shouted. That vine fell off, but more and more vines kept closing in. Vines surrounded her, preventing me from getting a clear shot. One vine grabbed her from behind, another one swiping her arm. The vine that was holding her torso let go. Sloane collapsed, out cold.

I rushed forward, took aim at what seemed to be the main stem of the plant as best as I could, and yelled, "Stupefy!" I wasn't sure if it would work, but I had to try.

The spell hit the plant, and the plant collapsed. It didn't look dead, thankfully, but it didn't try to hurt me as I ran to Sloane. Not like that would've stopped me.

"Oh my gosh, Sloane!" I said, even though she couldn't hear me. "That was brave to the point of stupidity!"

I ripped off the sleeve of her robe, where the vine had scratched her. "Oh no," I said to myself. I knew that Venomous Tentaculas were poisonous, but this...

Sloane's arm was turning green. Her face was pale, and her breathing was slowing.

Oh no.

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Will Sloane be okay? Was the chip worth it?
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