Boy Trouble
The shouting match between Zyla and Tess was witnessed by most of the campus. At the Hufflepuff table, over their plates of eggs and toast, Aylie and Rainey shared embarrassed smiles. “Why are our sisters fighting?” asked Rainey.
“Sounds like boy trouble,” said Aylie.
“That’s dumb,” said Rainey. “I don’t even like Zyla’s boyfriend. He only hangs out with her ‘cause she’s smart and helps him with the tests.”
“Well, he’s not going to get that kind of help from Tess,” said Aylie. “She’s younger than he is, so he’s going to know more about stuff than she is. Besides, she’s not Ravenclaw smart.”
The older girls took an interest in the outburst as well. Stephanie asked Monique, “Who was Zyla’s boyfriend?”
“I think she was dating Pierce Mageford,” answered Monique.
“And now he’s after Tess?” asked Stephanie. “Tess is going to date Pierce after she dated Reid? That would be like someone going from Liam to Patrick!”
“Note that neither of my previous girlfriends have started dating my brother,” remarked Liam.
“I’ll have to get the dirt on this from Q,” said Stacy.
“Mageford better watch out,” said Liam. “Covenshire’s up to something. You can count on that.” Stephanie nodded in agreement.
“You don’t’ think Mageford’s up to something?” asked Monique. “He’s a Slytherin, too.”
Liam shrugged. “Covenshire’s good looking. Maybe he prefers brunettes.”
“Zyla’s a brunette, too, if you hadn’t noticed,” said Stephanie.
“I guess I hadn’t,” said Liam.
Stacy paired up with Q right after lunch and spent the morning with her. By lunchtime, Stacy was full of information. She relayed Pierce’s approach to Tess and Tess’ ultimatum that Pierce break up with Zyla. She also had news for Philip. “Bad news, Hark,” she said. “Blake Ellsworth wants to go out with Pauline. The four of them, Mageford, Ellsworth, Tess & Pauline, are getting together after dinner tonight.”
Philip kept up a brave face, but he felt his stomach sink. Later, he confided to Liam, “I waited too long. I’ve lost her forever.”
“Yeah, I was afraid something like this would happen,” said Liam. “It’s not forever, though. It’s just one date. You’ll have to see how it goes.”
“I still don’t know how I’ll be able to make words come out of my mouth the next time I’m in her presence.”
There was nothing to do but wait. That early in the term, there was little to distract him. The hours ticked by. Philip caught glimpses of Blake and Pauline sitting together at dinner and again at breakfast. The first date seems to have gone well, he noted.
It wasn’t until after lunch on Monday that Philip had a chance to speak to Pauline. She came right up to him before the start of their NEWT Defence class. “Do you know Blake?” she asked him.
“Blake Ellsworth? Not really. We may be distantly related somewhere on my dad’s side, but it’s not like we socialize away from school.”
“That’s pretty much what Morwena told me,” said Pauline. “She thought they were related somehow, but she would have to look it up. All Rhi would say is that he’s not nearly as good at Quidditch as he thinks he is.”
“I heard that you, um …” Here, he faltered. She picked up the cue straight away.
“Yes, so the four of us, me and Blake, plus Tess and Pierce, we sat in the front room upstairs by the hearth and talked for a few hours Saturday night. Blake is actually quite witty. The way he mimics the teachers kept me laughing. His McGonagall was spot on, and he did a great Hagrid, too. He says he goes skiing at San Moritz every winter. There’s a resort up there that caters to wizards, I guess.”
“Yes, it’s quite popular,” said Philip. While Pauline relayed some of what Blake had told her, Philip formulated another question. “So, what do you think about Tess and Pierce? Reaction on our side was rather mixed.”
“Yeah, it is odd,” she admitted. “Why wait this long to ask her out?” She laughed. “I guess you could say the same thing about me and Blake.”
Or me, thought Philip. He felt miserable.
The class itself was a welcome distraction. The NEWT class was taught by a retired Auror, a spindly old man named Sauergrass. Though he said nothing about it, Philip knew that Sauergrass had fought at the Battle of Hogwarts. He took part in the counterattack that had come from the village. He stood before the class with one hand resting on the lectern and took roll, his keen brown eyes darting from face to face.
He paused at the last name. “Wren, Liam.”
“Here, sir.”
Sauergrass’ eyes settled on Liam with a steady gaze. “The bearer of a Stilgrevsen?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Your reputation precedes you.”
“Best duelist in the class, Wren is,” said Paul Hewson.
“With that wand, he’d better be,” said Sauergrass. “This term,” he said, speaking now to the class as a whole, “we are going to take another step up in learning how to defend oneself against the Dark Arts.
“Now, most of you have had absolutely no experience facing Dark Magic. With any luck, you will go your entire life without needing the skills that I am going to teach you. It is the unfortunate few who had better take heed and remember these lessons.”
He surveyed the class silently. There were members from each House, and they were quite mixed up. Liam sat with Gillian and some other Gryffindors. Philip was next to Pauline. Alma sat next to Lara and Stacy. “You’ve had some experience with dueling, haven’t you?” asked Sauergrass. There were nods throughout the class. “When dueling, what is the most important attribute of the spell you are casting?”
Ronald Reuel’s hand shot up, and Sauergrass acknowledged him. “For an effective spell,” said Ronald, “you need proper technique, and to cast your spell with conviction.”
A wry smile came across Sauergrass’ lips. “Right out of the Standard Book of Spells,” he said. “Would you care to test your proper technique and convictions against someone like me?”
Ronald, sensing that somehow he had given the wrong answer, fell silent. Paul Hewson stuck his hand up. “I’ll give it a go, Professor,” he said. “I’ll go easy on you if you promise to go easy on me.”
“Very well, Hewson,” said Sauergrass. “Come up to the front here, and we’ll have a friendly exchange of spells.”
Professor and pupil stood at the front, wands raised. “Let’s have Wren count us off,” suggested Paul. “He’s quite experienced in these matters.”
“Very well,” said Sauergrass.
“On the count of five, then,” said Liam. “One, two, three, four, FIVE!”
Paul opened his mouth to speak when he was suddenly wrapped from head to foot in a classic Petrificus Totalus. Sauergrass had not said a word, and his wand had hardly moved. Hewson began to topple over backwards. Sauergrass, his wand moving like an orchestra conductor, eased Paul to the ground and then released the spell. Paul let out a big laugh as he got to his feet, and the two shook hands.
Returning to the side of the lectern, Sauergrass said, “All fun and games, yes, but had poor Hewson been facing a Dark Wizard, he would now be dead. Tell me again, what is your spell’s most important attribute?”
For a moment, no one spoke. Finally, Liam said, “Speed, sir.”
“Very good. What other lesson did you glean from my example, Mr. Wren?”
“Your spell was silent.”
“How does that help the duelist?”
“If you’re shouting incantations all the time, Professor, your opponent knows what’s coming. He can react to what you’re doing.”
“If he’s fast enough, yes he can,” agreed Sauergrass. “To Reuel’s point, you must still cast your spell with conviction. The incantation and proper wand motions will always result in a stronger spell, but in a duel, time is of the essence.
“I want you to pair up and practice,” he told them. “Focus on two spells that you should know by heart at this point – Expelliarmus and Protego. I want you to learn to cast each of them silently – without even moving your lips. One of you cast the disarming spell while the other blocks with Protego, and then switch. Eventually, I want you to develop a technique in which you alternate quickly between them while your opponent does the same. We’ll see which of you can disarm the other.”
Philip paired up with Michael while Pauline partnered up with Rhiannon. “How ‘bout you go first, Hark,” suggested Michael. Philip drew his wand. His face felt flushed, and he realized he was angry. His first spell hit Michael’s magical shield so hard that Mike staggered backwards. On his third try, Philip hesitated a moment. When he sensed Michaels shield began to fade, he flicked his wand forward. Michael’s wand shot up in the air.
“Well done!” said Michael. “My turn now. Let’s see if I can pull even with you.” Michael could make no headway against Philip’s shields. Finally, Philip’s eye wandered to where Pauline and Rhiannon were standing together, laughing. He felt his wand slip out of his hand and fly backwards into the air.
“Finally!” said Michael. “Thought I must be doing something wrong.” To Liam and Fortney who were watching, he added, “Hark was really letting me have it. He about knocked me over with some of those spells he was hurling.”
Philip let out an embarrassed laugh. “Don’t know what’s come over me,” he said. “I’ve never been good at this stuff before.”
“We keep telling you,” said Liam, “you’re not that skinny little kid anymore that everyone used to pick on.”
Deep inside, Philip knew what was giving his spell’s such force. I wish it was Blake Ellsworth I was driving into the ground with my spells. I can’t believe I’m losing Pauline to a spoiled rich kid like that!
Every night that week, Tess and Pauline spent an hour in the Hearth Room talking with Pierce and Blake. Neither boy seemed inclined to attend Wizarding University. “I want to go East,” said Pierce. “Dubai, Hong Kong, Beijing, Macao. I want to be where the money is. Magic and money go together like water in a cauldron.”
“I’ll get a job at my dad’s firm,” said Blake confidently. “It was my grandfather’s business before it was dad’s, and it’ll be mine someday. It’s about time I stopped farting around at this school and did something real for a change.”
“Don’t you think what we’re doing here is important?” asked Pauline. “We’re learning so much about magic!”
Blake gave a dismissive shrug. “My dad can teach me more. He wants me to finish here, and then he’s going to put me to work.”
“He wants free labour, in other words,” said Pierce.
“No, he’ll pay me,” said Blake.
“He’ll feed you and give you room and board, I bet, but he won’t pay you a salary,” pressed Pierce.
“We’ll see in five years’ time, who has more money,” said Blake.
“That we will,” said Pierce.
On Friday night, as they were finishing up dinner, Pierce said, “I’ve had enough of the Hearth Room. Tonight, let’s the four of us go downstairs and find someplace a little more private.”
Pauline gave Tess a nervous look. “Us girls would like to stick together,” said Tess. “I have in mind a place we can go. After dinner, we can check it out.”
Tess led them downstairs and deep into the Lower Halls to a small lounge by a fireplace. There were two pink love seats facing the fire at ninety degrees from one another. Behind each love seat was a pink shell that rose above the back cushions by half a meter before curving downwards like an ocean wave. In between was a silk screen suspended magically like a curtain.
“The sofas are both quite comfortable,” said Tess. “The back shells block the view of the couples from the hallway, and the silk screen blocks the view of one couple from the other. It isn’t soundproof, however, so we’ll be able to hear one another. Keep that in mind.”
Pauline did not look pleased with the arrangement. Tess gave her hand a squeeze. “I’ll be right over there, okay? If you need something, let me know.”
“Okay,” said Pauline.
Tess sat down on the sofa to the right. Pierce was quickly beside her. Without any preamble, he kissed her firmly on the mouth. “Reid brought you down here, didn’t he?” he whispered.
“Yes, in fact, he did. I wasn’t going to bring it up, but yes. It was Reid and his buddy Garret Cole. The other girl was Monica Soulspring, Anita’s sister.”
“I remember Monica. She was hot. I never got into Anita, though. I don’t like girls who could beat me up.”
Tess laughed. “With a wand, any girl can beat you up.” Tess’ wand was beside her on the sofa. She gave it a pat to let him know it was at the ready.
The kissing began again in earnest. Even closing her eyes, Tess found it difficult to imagine that she was with Reid. Pierce looked similar to his brother, of course, but his face was thinner, his jaw not quite as pronounced. Mostly, it was their differences in temperament. Where Reid was hesitant, Pierce bolted forward. With Reid, Tess could build up her own readiness while Reid simmered until desire finally overcame his timidity. There was no timidity in Pierce, but also none of the sweet gentleness that Tess so fondly remembered about Reid.
The hand at her breast – a familiar enough move, but one made perhaps a half hour before Reid would have made it.
Tess was just starting to relax and get swept up in the moment when she heard Pauline say, “I’m not really comfortable with this.” Tess held up her hand, and Pierce pulled away. They heard Pauline plead softly, “Please?” Then, a grunt of pain.
Tess grabbed her wand and stood. On the other sofa, Blake was now on top of Pauline. “Knock it off, Ellsworth,” said Tess.
“Mind your own business, Covenshire,” he said. A moment later, he was dangling from the ceiling by his foot, trying frantically to zip his pants back up. “Mageford!” he cried. “Get your woman under control!”
Pierce, however, only laughed. “It looks like she has you under control, Ellsworth,” he said.
Blake continued to flail his arms. He reached for his wand, but it fell out of his pocket onto the floor. A slew of curses followed it. With her wand, Tess pushed him into a corner away from Pauline.
Pauline sat up and tucked in her blouse. She gave Pierce a wary look, but she would not look up at Blake at all. Tess went to her side and put an arm around her. “Come on,” said Tess, gently. “Party’s over. Let’s go home.”
Looking back at Pierce, she said, “Sorry to leave you in such a hurry. You can get him down, can’t you?”
“Oh, I think I can manage it,” said Pierce.
“You’d better get me down!” shouted Blake. “You treacherous lout!”
The girls retreated down the hallway. Tess was inclined to laugh, but Pauline, wounded, embarrassed, was in no mood for laughing.