Cursed: The New Order of Merlin Book 2

13: The trap

A/N: Do you remember how Merlin placed a curse on the entire Hogwarts castle so people would stop using the word Mudblood?

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On her way to the Ravenclaw Tower, Elsa paused in front of a painting of a family of three having a picnic together under an apple tree. While the mother, dressed in a Victorian gown and a fancy little hat, cut an apple into little slices, her two children chased each other around the tree, laughing in carefree delight. A gust of wind blew her hat away. The little girl caught it and brought it back.

"Here you go, mum."

The woman pulled her daughter into a hug. "I love you, my little ladybug."

The little girl squealed, snatched an apple slice, and joined her sibling in running around the tree while the mother resumed slicing the apple.

"Hiya, Elsa!" Colin startled her. She didn't even notice when he got there. "Cool painting. There are so many cool paintings around the castle, aren't there? Professors are telling everyone to walk in groups because of what happened the other night. I'm still a bit shocked—everyone is. Are you okay? Do you need to vent because I can listen. I'm a great listener. Are you going to the library? I can keep you company and carry your books. "

"I'm done with the library, Colin."

Elsa gave him her shoulder bag, and he held it with pride. It wasn't even heavy, but she let him because carrying things for her made him happy, and his good mood rubbed off on her.

"Where did Jack disappear to now?" she asked.

"He's training. Did you know that he got on the Gryffindor Quidditch team? He's just a reserve, but so was Katie Bell last year and she's on the team now. I bet he'll be awesome. I can't wait."

Oh. So he wasn't hiding from her. Good. She hoped they were over that childishness now.

"Has he said anything about..." she wasn't sure how to broach the subject without sounding suspicious. "Nevermind."

They strolled down the corridor while Colin suggested a list of joint activities for them. "So what's next? We could go outside if only the weather was better but it's cold and wet out there. We could study in the Study Hall." He jumped in place. "I have an idea. We could talk to Professor Binns since he knows a ton about the history of this castle—that is if you're still researching that."

"That's a good idea, Colin. I'll talk to him once I brainstorm where to take my research next."

"I can help with that too. You can bounce ideas off me. I'm like the table to your ping-pong."

"Excuse me?"

"Like Robin to your Batman. Holy switcheroos! I can be Alfred too if that's who you need."

"You're a very strange boy, Colin."

"Uh... thanks?"

Before they arrived at the Ravenclaw Tower, they passed by three Slytherin boys. Draco Malfoy smiled upon seeing Elsa and blocked her path.

"Hi," he said sweetly. "Get lost, Creevey," he hissed without even looking at the boy.

Colin stumbled a step, looking between the three boys much larger than himself, one of which was cracking his knuckles.

Malfoy took Elsa's bag from him, draped it over his own arm, and leaned on the wall. "I can carry that for you, Elsa." His expression turned cold when he stared down at Colin. "What are you still doing here? Scat!"

Colin swallowed, looking between the menacing boys and Elsa as if asking for permission to run for his life.

"I'm okay here," she said. "Go, Colin."

"You sure? Because I can..." The two boys stepped towards him, and he took a step back. "Oh, okay. I'll see you later, Elsa."

He ran for it, looking after her with worry.

"What do you want, Draco?" Elsa asked, one hand on her hip.

He gestured for his friends to leave, and they obeyed. He slicked back his blond hair and smirked at her. "Can't a guy talk to the prettiest girl in school in private?"

His voice was silky smooth, but the blush on his cheeks betrayed his nerves. Despite being taken off guard, Elsa didn't blush but answered without missing a beat, "Yes, that's exactly what Colin was doing."

Malfoy frowned for a moment during which she resumed walking. He quickly caught up with her, his wolfish smirk back on.

"You don't need little Mudbloods like..." he winced and smacked his lips. "I forgot about the bloody curse. My father thinks it's Dumbledore's work. It would take a blood traitor like him to curse his own."

"Get to your point, Draco."

He quickly recovered and blurted, "Would you like to go to the game with me this weekend?"

They had arrived at the entrance to the Ravenclaw Tower, so she took the bag back from him. He waggled his eyebrows and smiled a little—genuinely smiled. It looked better on him than the usual sneering smirk. He also no longer gelled his blond hair like he used to, and now his bangs fell over his forehead like a blond curtain. He was a handsome boy, she admitted, and he had been nice to her lately, but it was difficult to forget how he made fun of her last year.

"Thank you for the offer, Draco. Not this time."

His confident mask faltered for a moment before he caught himself. "No problem. There's always next time."

Back in her dorm, Elsa paced in the small space, glancing at Sue Li's empty bed. Poor girl still hadn't been found. She tried to put the worried thoughts aside and sat down to finish her homework. Time crawled. She packed her shoulder bag for the next day, straightened her already-pristine bed, lined up the books on her nightstand, refilled her ink bottles, sharpened her quills, and was starting to run out of things to do. What was she missing?

"Are you looking for something?" Luna asked, standing in the doorway, holding an issue of The Quibbler. "I could help." She looked out the window at the restless clouds turning the afternoon into twilight and sighed as if it was a bright sunny day out there. "I find that things are hard to locate when you look for them in the wrong places. Like Sue. I'm sure we'll find her once we look where we should."

She looked at Sue Li's empty bed and her carefree smile slowly fell. "Do you think she's alright? I dreamt that she's been here the whole time but was turned invisible against her will. It'd be scary, wouldn't it, if no one heard you..." Thunder rumbled overhead, making her jump. "Flaming salamanders! The skies are angry this evening."

Elsa rubbed her forehead and plopped onto her bed. It felt as if she could feel those thunders rumbling inside her head. Could it be that the storm was her fault? She thought about her brother practicing in the harsh weather. She wondered if the same storm reached all the way to Ben Nevis or could it be that it originated there?

Elsa sat down at a desk with a quill and parchment and scribbled a quick note to her mother.

You were right, but I didn't succeed on the first try. I'll keep trying.

She rolled up the parchment and was about to leave the room, but passing by Sue Li's empty bed changed her mind, so she stopped and turned to Luna. "I'm going to the Owlery. Do you want to come?"
Luna's smile grew wider. "I'd love to."

They dressed and Elsa held out an elbow for Luna to put her arm through. "I'll show you my favorite owl," Elsa said. "Guess what Jack named it. Scowl!"

By the time they stepped outside, the storm of impatience had calmed down. Elsa chose to see it as a good sign. She could affect change. There was still time to fix everything.