Let's Make An Alliance

Time was running out and Adelaine had written a total of two words for her potions essay.


Professor Aitken had set a five foot essay on bat wings and their uses and properties, etc. and it was due the very next day. Normally, filling a scroll with information came easily to Adele. But bat wings? She could really stretch it and get to maybe a foot or two. But five feet was really crazy.

“Bat wings are used in many potions…” she muttered as she wrote.

The scratching of her quill on the scroll was starting to make her a bit irritable, and the quiet whispers of the other students in the library was annoying. All she wanted to do was lay her head down on the table and sleep. As she was just about to give up and call it a Troll, she heard footsteps approaching.

Nadia scanned the library for Adele, making sure that no one saw her approach Adele's table. Nadia shoved her things onto the floor and got out her attempts at the bat wings essay.

Bat Wings; Their Uses and More

The wings of bats are comprised of a membrane with some degree of elasticity, around their small flexible finger bones. Bat wings are also much thinner than the average wing of a bird, like a dove for example.

It was pathetic really. Looking at Adele's paper Nadia smothered a chuckle, the high and mighty Ravenclaw hadn't gotten farther than the title. Then, remembering the incident by the lake, Nadia decided to keep the snide comments to herself for the time being.

"You would think having the Slytherin Head of House as our Potions Professor she'd go easy on the Slytherins, but no! She simply expects us to write five pages on bat wings like everyone else, ridiculous!" Nadia stated, and then begun to silently speak to Adele in case anyone was listening in, "I still don't believe this is the best place to talk about our plans, have any suggestions for another meeting place?"

Adele's nerves spiked up at the sight of Nadia approaching her table, until she remembered their little "alliance" at the lake. They had agreed to make this their meeting spot, but it was more crowded than they'd hoped for.

"Are you forgetting that it was your idea to meet here?" she muttered, continuing to scribble on her parchment. "If you have any other suggestions, feel free to share them."

She glanced over to the few sentences Nadia had written on her own scroll, and tried not to let her amusement show. The she-snake had described an actual bat wing; there was nothing about potions and remedies at all.

"You do realize the assignment wasn't to describe the appearance of a bat wing, right?"

Nadia looked at the Ravenclaw with irritation. Wasn't Ravenclaw supposed to be known for their intelligence? What was Nadia thinking? Creating an alliance with this girl could only lead to trouble. Perhaps, just maybe, somewhere, deep in the recesses of Adele's mind, there was some of that famous Ravenclaw intelligence. Nadia would only have to hope that it was present when they planned their scheme.

"I know exactly what the assignment was. I, however, thought it might be wise to give a definition of bat wings as we have to write five feet over the topic. But you are welcome to do whatever you wish with your own essay." Nadia sneered at the girl's insolence.

"I wasn't expecting so many people to be in the library, in all honestly I'm shocked some of these people can read. I suppose this will do. What did you have in mind? I'm sure your large Ravenclaw mind has been analyzing things to discuss since we last talked." Nadia said flippantly.

Adele sneered at Nadia and rolled her eyes. Did the snake have to pick a fight over every little thing? She couldn’t just be nice for once?

“On to the subject at hand,” she began, ignoring the rest. “What do we do about Kolby?”

She had been mulling over it since the Black Lake, and she only had one idea. But it was a tricky one, and they could get in serious trouble if they were caught. Adele honestly couldn’t see any other way, though. She leaned forward once their corner of the Library cleared and lowered her voice.

“Do you remember Kolby’s boggart?” Their latest Defense lesson had been just the other day. “What if we were to find another boggart? Or steal Renoir’s?”

Arya stepped lightly into the Library. It was, without a doubt, the biggest one she had ever seen. That probably also had something to do with the fact that it was the first library she’d every seen. Before she learned she was a witch, she was just some peasant girl. Peasants had no use for books, or reading, or writing. In fact, she had only started learning to read and write when she got the owl from Hogwarts. She still wasn’t very good at it.

“Hello…Hi…” she greeted the random students who smiled as she walked past.

She and Kolby had planned to meet here today to discuss their newly formed alliance. There hadn’t been time enough to talk in class, so this was what they decided on. Arry headed to a discreet table hidden by a bookshelf and sat down. She came up with an idea in her head while she waited: the boggart.

“Bloody hell..” she whispered. Was that….Adelaine? With Nadia? They were sitting at a table on the other side of the bookshelf that hid hers. Unfortunately, she couldn't tell what they were saying. But they were definitely looking devious. What was going on?

Nadia shook her head in appreciation of the girl's devious thoughts. Adele might not be as bad as Nadia had thought. Then again, the idea lacked any details, but those could be worked out.

"Renoir would have our heads if she found us stealing her boggart. You can find multiple at my house, perhaps I could have my father send me one. He never passes up a chance to fool someone. Then again, Kolby's family is prestigious, and I surely do not want my father catching a whiff of his family's status. Father's like a bloodhound in a way, always sniffing out possible husbands for me, it is entirely degrading. You probably deal with the same thing too though, right?" Nadia questioned, pondering whether it was worth her father finding out about Parry to retrieve the boggart.

Nadia took out a separate piece of parchment, aside from her essay, and began to sketch out ideas. No matter what, Kolby Parry would get what was coming to him.

Adele half-listened to Nadia go on and on, her eyes probably glazing over. The Slytherin always seemed to speak in paragraphs. The only other person she knew who talked so much was Mitri, though Mitri was much more pleasant to converse with.

"Actually, I was down in the dungeons the other day," Adelaine started, scratching a few more words on her parchment. "And there's a particular closet that shook nonstop. I believe we could find a boggart there."

She decided to leave out the fact that she had been down to the dungeons to visit her trash bag friend, whom she called Grit for all the grit and grime the thing swallowed up during their detention.

"And yes, I do deal with it as well," she commented, thinking of the several suitors her parents had already tried to betroth her to. "At the moment, the little lordling Rickon of House Trystain is next in line for questioning."

Arya was still squinting in Adele and Nadia's direction when Kolby finally came sauntering in. It certainly took him long enough; did he think she didn't have anything better to do? There was no time to waste in patronizing him, though.

"I've no idea what they're on about," she whispered back, craning her neck as if that would help her hear. "Adele and Nadia are practically archenemies..."

She gave up and turned toward the snake she had made an ally. Was she completely off her rocker? This was probably all some sort of trap, could she really trust Kolby enough to tell him her plans?

"Let's get straight to business," she began, deciding to take the risk. "There's a boggart in a closet in the dungeons that I ran into a couple days ago.."

Hopefully he wasn't too thick to see where she was going with this.

Arya rolled her eyes at the boy's stupidity. He realized they would be expelled if they were caught at this, right? They couldn't just give themselves away.

"Ugh, Kolby honestly," she started with a sigh. "We cannot strap her to a chair; it doesn't matter if she knows it's us, as long as she has no proof. She can't see us. We need to lure her into a room and lock her in with the boggart."

She watched him flip through the pages of a book and stared blankly at the words. Arry still wasn't a very good reader. 

"Better than that?" She raised an eyebrow. "Tell me."

Nadia eyed the Ravenclaw suspiciously, why had she been in the Dungeons? Knowing now was not the time to question Adele, Nadia focused on the implications of Adele's words.

"So then getting the boggart shouldn't be hard. We just need to plan when to get it. Are you free later tonight?" Nadia asked quietly with a quick glance to the other library occupants.

Nadia chuckled under her breath at Adele's title for her most recent suitor. Nadia had personally met the 'man' and had found him rather... vile.

"Whatever you do, don't be alone with the man. It's told he has wondering hands. For such an old chap, he sure is... frisky." Nadia snorted a laugh.

Covering her face in shock, for a lady did not snort, Nadia decided to overlook her error and continue their plans.

"The question is, how do we get Kolby and the boggart together? I doubt either of us could get him to follow us willingly." Nadia inquired with a look of concentration.

Adelaine grimaced at the idea of marrying the man Nadia spoke of. That was not (thank the heavens) the lord she was talking about, however.

“I believe you’re thinking of Lord Samwell Trystain,” she explained, rolling her eyes. “Rickon is his nephew; the king granted him the old Seaway lands for winning some tourney or other.”

She flipped through the pages of her book and wrote a few more sentences on her scroll. How would she ever get this done? A whisper a shelf away caught her ear, but she paid it no mind. Instead, she wracked her brain for an idea…getting Kolby into a room would be difficult. Unless..

“Arya told me about some group of boys he’s been hanging out with,” she leaned in and lowered her voice even more. “A Slytherin gang of some sort; say we made him think he was to meet them in an abandoned classroom?”

It was a brilliant idea. As much as the snake wanted to fit in with his lackeys, there was no way their plan could fail.

“First we need to get the boggart,” she decided. “Tomorrow night?”