𝐎, 𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐃 ⎥ "He wants a fight with
a God? I'll give him one."
﹙ from stardust we came, to stardust we return ﹚
Prisoner of Azkaban - Deathly Hollows
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ELARA HAD BEEN IN QUITE THE MOOD AFTER SHE'D FOUND OUT WHAT REALLY HAPPENED AT HER PARENTS' TRIAL. worse of all, she was only really able to talk to harry about it, who's horrible at feelings. telling hermione or ron meant telling them what her parents were imprisoned for. her mood change didn't go unnoticed. hermione constantly casted worried looks at elara in classes and during mealtimes. ron had started cracking jokes more often.
the mood in the castle as they entered june became excited and tense again. everyone was looking forward to the third task, which would take place a week before the end of term. elara was distracting herself by helping harry practice hexes at every available moment. elara felt more confident about harry completing this task than either of the others. difficult and dangerous though it would undoubtedly be, harry had managed to find his way past monstrous creatures and enchanted barriers before now, and this time he had some notice, some chance to prepare himself for what lay ahead.
tired of walking in on harry, hermione, elara, and ron all over the school, professor mcgonagall had given them permission to use the empty transfiguration classroom at lunchtimes. harry had soon mastered the impediment curse, a spell to slow down and obstruct attackers; the reductor curse, which would enable him to blast solid objects out of his way; and the four-point spell, a useful discovery of hermione's that would make his wand point due north, therefore enabling him to check whether he was going in the right direction within the maze. he was still having trouble with the shield charm, though. this was supposed to cast a temporary, invisible wall around himself that deflected minor curses; elara managed to shatter it with a well-placed jelly-legs jinx, and harry wobbled around the room for ten minutes afterward before she had looked up the counter-jinx.
"you're still doing really well," elara said encouragingly, looking down her list and crossing off those spells they had already learned. "these are bound to come in handy."
"come and look at this," said ron, who was standing by the window. he was staring down onto the grounds. "what's malfoy doing?"
harry, elara, and hermione went to see. malfoy, crabbe, and goyle were standing in the shadow of a tree below. crabbe and goyle seemed to be keeping a lookout; both were smirking. malfoy was holding his hand up to his mouth and speaking into it.
"he looks like he's using a walkie-talkie," said harry curiously.
"what's a walkie-talkie?" said elara, looking between hermione and harry.
"he can't be," said hermione, "i've told you, those sorts of things don't work around hogwarts. come on, harry," she added briskly, turning away from the window and moving back into the middle of the room, "let's try that shield charm again."
