The Great Pudding Incident
Hogwarts in the spring was something out of a fairy tale—rolling green hills, wildflowers blooming along the castle paths, and the occasional group of first-years trying (and failing) to levitate dandelions in the courtyard. It was the perfect setting for a peaceful semester.
Unfortunately, Vi and Caitlyn were anything but peaceful.
It started, as many things did, in the Great Hall at dinner. Vi had been idly poking at a bowl of treacle tart when inspiration struck.
“Caitlyn,” she whispered, nudging her friend.
Caitlyn, halfway through a bite of mashed potatoes, sighed. “What now?”
Vi grinned. “How hard do you think it would be to Levitate something onto Maddie’s plate without her noticing?”
Caitlyn didn’t even look up from her food. “Impossible. She has the reflexes of a hawk and the soul of a dementor.”
“But,” Vi pressed, “what if we made it subtle?”
That was how they found themselves plotting what would soon become known (in their heads, at least) as The Great Pudding Incident.
It was all set up perfectly. Vi had carefully selected the most precariously placed bowl of chocolate pudding, sitting dangerously close to the edge of the Ravenclaw table. With Caitlyn keeping watch, Vi aimed her wand and whispered, “Wingardium Leviosa.”
The pudding lifted, wobbling slightly as it floated toward Maddie’s unsuspecting plate.
Vi had just begun to smirk when Maddie moved.
The bowl, meant for a clean landing, instead tilted—and the unfortunate Ravenclaw took a face full of pudding.
The Great Hall erupted.
Gasps. Laughter. Maddie sputtering through chocolate. She whipped around eyes trained on Vi, whose expression was the very picture of forced innocence.
“You absolute menace,” Maddie hissed, eyes narrowing.
Before Vi could so much as blink, Caitlyn smoothly stepped in. “Oh, come on, Maddie,” she said, her voice all sugary charm. “Whoever did it probably didn't mean to—”
“She meant to,” Maddie snapped, gesturing at Vi, and her nostrils flared. “You—”
But before she could finish, Professor McGonagall’s sharp voice cut through the chaos.
“Miss Lanes,” she said, leveling Vi with a look of pure exhaustion, “kindly stop launching desserts at your classmates.”
Vi slumped. “Yes, Professor.”
Maddie smirked triumphantly, and Vi could practically feel the “I told you so” coming. But before Maddie could get the words out, Caitlyn (as always) came to her rescue.
“You know,” Caitlyn mused, “it’s funny. Vi was right next to me the whole time, and I didn’t see her use her wand.”
Vi’s head snapped to her friend, eyes wide with surprise. Maddie looked equally scandalized.
“She definitely—”
“Are you sure?” Caitlyn said smoothly, turning to the Ravenclaw prefect who was next to Maddie. “Did you, or anyone, actually see her cast the spell?”
The prefect hesitated. “Well… no…”
Maddie let out an incredulous sound as she continued to wipe pudding off her face.
McGonagall, who had been teaching long enough to recognize a lost cause when she saw one, just sighed. “Miss Lanes, do not let me catch you causing trouble again.”
Vi perked up. “Does that mean—”
“It means if you were involved, consider yourself on thin ice.”
McGonagall turned on her heel and swept away, leaving Maddie fuming and Vi grinning at Caitlyn.
“You lied for me,” Vi whispered, delighted.
Caitlyn stabbed a carrot with her fork. “No, I strategically avoided the truth.”
Vi’s grin widened. “Same thing.”