The Untold Story of the Witches of Hogwarts

Taste Testing

Elphaba and Galinda returned from Hogsmeade with boatloads of sweets between them.

"C'mon! C'mon! Hurry!" Galinda shifted the weight of the load of their candies more into her arms and tried to drag Elphaba along.

"Alright, hold on, I'm coming! I'm trying!" Elphaba muttered, nearly tripping over her own feet as she ran after Galinda. The two of them were headed to a quieter part of the kitchens in order to taste-test these sweets together. Because they were in different Hogwarts houses, going to a dorm was not really an option, but the kitchen was always open! They just had to get there without being caught first...

"Alright! We're in!" Galinda cheered as Elphaba used a quick spell to unlock the kitchen door. They scuttled right on in, nestling down in a corner near a gently burning fire. They set their large back of sugar down in relief and Galinda practically dove inside, reaching for anything her manicured nails could find. There was excitement in her azure eyes and it was mirrored in Elphaba's own dark brown orbs. Stoic though she was, even she was not above sugary confections.

"Here! Try this!" Galinda handed Elphaba a green lollipop.

"Oh, very funny," Elphaba muttered, but she took the green treat anyway. Five licks later, she was hissing, and she threw the candy right back into Galinda's lap. Normally, this would've disgusted Galinda beyond words, but Elphaba's repulsed face as she rubbed her tongue was too funny.

"Acid pops!" the little blond laughed wickedly. "The burn will last at least the rest of the day!"

"You little snake!" Elphaba spat back, still rubbing her numb tongue. Galinda only gave a flattered look.

"I'm glad you think so! It's nice to know I'm living up to the standards!" she joked, hand brushing across the little green snake on her robe.

"I'm moving on to chocolate," Elphaba shook her head. Once her tongue finally started responding again, she began to riffle through the bag of goodies. Suddenly, then, she got an idea...

"Here," she said, handing a chocolate lump to Galinda. She took one for herself and popped it into her mouth. Galinda, suspecting no danger, did likewise, but while Elphaba only held the candy in her mouth, Galinda bit down. There was a large crunch that didn't sound like nuts or sprinkles and Galinda felt something hard and smooth, tingled with little spiky things. Without even flinching, she slowly took the chocolate from her mouth.

"Elphie. What is this?" her voice was deadly soft as Elphaba spat her own candy back out, not a single bite-mark in it at all.

"Cockroach cluster," the green girl shrugged casually. Still no reaction from Galinda. Galinda slowly turned the broken piece of chocolate over in her hand. Sure enough, there was half a body and a few little legs sticking out of the candy.

After 10 minutes of Galinda freaking out loud enough for all of Hogwarts to hear, cursing Elphaba's name and throwing every cockroach cluster in the bag into the fire, Elphaba and Galinda found themselves in a slightly chillier, roomier, empty classroom. Galinda's fit had caused a stir in the kitchen and the two had been forced to flee.

"Now, where were we again?" Elphaba asked pleasantly, having shoved two of the desks together.

"I was about to fry you for that dirty trick," Galinda replied, still scowling, drawing her wand out. Even though she and Elphaba had nearly been caught by the kitchen staff, Galinda was too miffed to be that worried.

"Oh, lighten up, it was just a bit of fun!" Elphaba snickered.

"I'm slipping melted acid pop into all of your drinks for the rest of this month," Galinda replied, still scowling, but she did lean over their bag of remaining candies, willing to let this little spat die, even if only for a little while.