Schemes and Candy

Arya eagerly made her way down the winding streets of Hogsmeade village, peering into every shop window she passed. She'd just left Marigold and Adele on a quest to find Honeyduke's.

"Pardon, sir," she stopped a tall man with a pointed hat, muttering to himself. "Where is the sweet shop?"

He pointed angrily down the street, so she continued on. Arya and Kolby had planned to meet at the famous store; how he would get there, she had no idea. She also wanted to pick up a few things to send to her parents for Christmas, since she wouldn't be going home. They'd written to her about a small breakout of the fever in their village, so she decided to stay at Hogwarts. Finally, she found the shop and shoved excitedly past the crowd and through the door.

"Bloody hell..." She stared in awe. Was this heaven?

Arya walked around the massive shop and stared at the walls and shelves full of an impossible variety of sweets. She had only ever had a bit of honeycomb each Christmas at home. This....this was insanity. She reached out for a Chocolate Frog, but jumped when Kolby startled her. Idiot.

"How did you get here?" she muttered discreetly.

She wasn't sure whether she ought to blush or kick him for daring to grab her hand. Kolby was a disgusting, filthy snake and she had to remember that. They sat down and she leaned in so he would hear her better. 

"We need to find something distracting," she started, snatching a Peppermint Imp and pocketing it. She had forgotten Adele's ten galleons. "Something that will lure Nadia into the classroom. Do you have any ideas?"

"One minute."Kolby said, walking to the counter. He bought a bag of Cauldron Cakes and shared them with Arya. These were his favorites. Of course, there were only a bakers dozen in a bag but it'll last him until the end of December.

"First, it doesn't matter how I got here. Second, I think we should try Zonko's Joke Shop first. They have a ton of stuff in there. Plus, we get a discount with this card."Kolby said, sliding the card to Arya. It was the card Joesph had given him at the Halloween feast about the Prankster Club. He picked up another Cauldron Cake that was filled in caramel. He eyed the shop curiously. Seemed like mostly older students here. The first years were probably all at The Three Broomsticks, trying their first butterbeer. Kolby rolled his eyes. His mother loved butterbeer so much that she drank it with every meal. Kolby now couldn't stand it.

"Do you have any ideas? I have a couple. Like we could get some Dungbombs and an owl and the owl would drop Dungbombs on her, leading her to classroom."Kolby said.

(OOC: I think Cauldron Cakes are chocolate cakes with random filling in the middle.)

Arya gratefully grabbed a Cauldron Cake and bit into it. It was creamy, chocolatey goodness. She had never had cake until Hogwarts; unless you counted her neighbor's pine nut/honey cakes. 

"This is...amazing," she announced, ignoring the looks she was getting from people. Was her astonishment really such a crazy thing?

"You're an idjit," she squinted at Kolby when he finished his plan. "I mean, that has got to be the worst idea I've ever heard. Really awful."

"Oh, please," she said, almost ashamed to admit she had none. "I'm a muggleborn, I don't have a clue about Zonko's or anything it sells."

Perhaps Kolby's idea wasn't so terrible. Sure, Nadia would run from the bomb-dropping bird. But, she saw no way to steer the girl toward the room. Unless this owl of Parry's was wicked fast. It was a possibility. 

"Try one of these?" she laughed, and pushed the Ice Mice aside. "What, and look like you??"

Arya nearly doubled over in laughter at the sight of Kolby acting like such a fool. The snake was easily entertained, it would seem. Finally, she grabbed a mouse and ate it. The strangest sensation came over her and her teeth chattered as if she was laying face-first in the snow.

"B-b-b-b-loody h-h-hell," she stuttered violently; even her laugh was a stutter. "H-h-how c-c-c-c-can you eat-t-t-t these?"

She followed the mouse with a Peppermint Toad and felt her teeth relax. Arry almost hugged Kolby; she could see it now! Nadia running back and forth from the little Ice Mice.

"Brilliant! Now we just have to choose an abandoned room."

Arya sat back in the chair and stared into space, thinking hard. She didn't want to sit and paint a gazillion Ice Mice..there had to be a charm of some sort. Perhaps she could ask Adele? But no, not after finding Adele and Nadia together in the library. This had to be top secret.

"Wait!" she shouted, then flinched as half the store looked over at them. She lowered her voice again. "There's a charm I remember Adele telling me about."

It was called the Color Change Charm (rather self-explanatory), and was used to change the color of an animal, or a person's hair. Adele told her she used it once on her handmaid to change her hair to purple.

"Watch," she whispered, pulling out her wand and pointing it to an old woman a few feet away. "Colovaria."

The woman's hair turned bright green without her even noticing, and Arya snickered into her palm.

Kolby chuckled and laughed with Arya. He patted her head.

"My,my,my. You are the Mistress of Pranks. You've got a evil bone in your body."he said, nodding in approval. He then ate another Cauldron Cake.

"With all this food, I'm gonna gain fifteen pounds."he said, rubbing his belly.

"Is that the plan we're going with."he asked.

(OOC: Short. Sorry.)

"That's absolutely the plan we're going with," Arya confirmed, grabbing another cake. "We'll do it after the Creature Care trip, then."

Arya stood and stretched, glancing at the woman with the green hair. Passersby were snickering into their candy, and she had no idea.

"I'll be going, now," she picked up a package of Peppermint Toads. "You know, you're aren't so bad, Kolby. We should put our heads together more often."

That said, she paid for her chocolate and headed out the door.