345 Second day - Experimenting with the Mysterious Object

Darcie and Dobby remained quiet after returning to the Brews and Stews with Mr. Ollivander.

Even her mother's scolding and her father's frown failed to shake her mind, and her memories kept reaching the moment of her encounter with the silent seller, and his disappearance.

Darcie was too brilliant for her to leave behind Dobby, letting him monitor the seller, then.

First, the distance between the Horizont Alley's entrance, where the stall was, and the Ollivander's shop was just too great. Even if Darcie had left the Invisibility Cloak with Dobby, she was too famous for her own good, letting just any random wizard recognize her on the spot. And then there was no hiding the fact that she had been roaming Diagon Alley alone at midnight.

It wasn't the fear of punishment that made her decide against it, but the fate that awaited Dobby. Her father never listened to reasons when it came to the house-elf. Much less needed to be said if he were to find that Dobby wasn't with Darcie at that time.

Second, if Darcie had taken the Invisibility Cloak with her, then that would have turned out even worse. A lone house-elf, and one like Dobby, was just too conspicuous.

Yet, the doubts persisted.

Who was he? Had she been hallucinating? Did someone play a cruel joke on her? Were there spells that could replicate such a realistic scene?

Questions kept surfacing in her mind, barraging her thoughts. However, two things shattered all doubts, telling her that her experience wasn't a magically induced imagination, but reality.

The first was the constant trembling of the house-elf, Dobby. He kept taking secretive looks at Darcie as if there was an enormous weight on his heart and consciousness. Darcie knew with the house-elf's personality, he must have been thinking that he had thrown his mistress into an odd and quite dangerous predicament.

The second thing was the object in Darcie's purse, whose edges her little fingers kept tracing, fearing that it would vanish in the next moment.

Yet, neither the object disappeared nor Darcie's thoughts.

And Daphne noticed it all.

The hour was late, and they had stayed up for too long by then. Darcie decided against telling Daphne about her weird encounter and experimenting with the object that night, for the girls were going to share her room. The moment Darcie, Daphne, and Astoria fell on the bed, the girls became as sound as three logs.

With several matches planned on the second day, they were woken up early in the morning.

The clamor was expected to be no less than the first day. As the shops buzzed in the Diagon Alley for the long day, the participants arrived at the Flourish and Blotts. To accommodate a large crowd, as suited to the occasion, Extension Charms had been used on the ministry approval. All U-11 matches were going to be held in the bookshop, while another place was booked for the U-17 group.

The hour was still early, a chilled mist snaking around the people. Darcie was wearing a long woolen cloak, green of color and richly embroidered with gold. Daphne and Astoria had black woolen cloaks, with similar hats. Since the moment Darcie had told Daphne about her conversation with Dolores Umbridge, the girls had come to hate the color pink.

Only players were allowed in the bookshop, and many had already entered by the time Darcie and the other two girls left the restaurant after having a light breakfast. As Darcie had spent a month in Diagon Alley by now, their parents weren't overly worried about them.

The same wasn't the case for other children, though.

"Good morning, Mrs. Weasley," Darcie and Daphne greeted the older witch. "Happy New Year!"

Molly Weasley was rushing in from the Leaky Cauldron's direction, dragging Ron by his hand. "Happy New Year!" the older witch replied with a smile. "You all look quite freshened up, aren't you?"

Darcie noticed that the two Weasleys' clothing was only passable, bordering to be called ancient. Even though Mrs. Weasley looked vibrant, her son's face was almost swollen as if he had just left the bed.

Darcie ignored all this in the next moment. With Dobby in the Malfoy Manor, she had learned to oversee people's garments quite early in her childhood.

"Yes, Mrs. Weasley," Daphne answered, her tone reserved. "We usually wake up at this time."

Molly's smile broadened, and then she threw a nasty look at Ron. "Learn something from them, won't you?" she rebuked. "All night he played Gobstones. Humph! And god knows what Fred and George mixed in his pumpkin juice. Went to the bathroom six times in half an hour."

Darcie and Daphne shared a look, not knowing what to say.

On the other side, Ron's face went red in shame. "Mom!"

"Shut up!" Mrs. Weasley didn't seem to want to hear any pleading from her son. "Let's see the schedule first."

Outside the main entrance, a board was hanging by the door, listing today's matches.

The very first match of the day garnered everyone's attention.

Darcie was paired with Ron Weasley.

"Wonderful!" Molly exclaimed. "Go on, now. And Ron, if you feel you can't hold it anymore, then let the staff know, OK? Don't push yourself."

"MOM!"

"Hahaha!" Among the girls, only Astoria laughed. "His second match is with me," she childishly whispered to Darcie and Daphne. "Let's make him lose two times in a row. Hehe!"

Daphne shook her head and sighed.

Under the penetrating and hateful eyes of Dolores Umbridge, the children took their seats.

Darcie gracefully sat down. Opposite her, Ron's face was as red as a tomato, matching his short red hair.

They hadn't even played 5 moves when Darcie saw the young Weasley squirming in his chair.

After 5 more moves, Ron's ears were almost steaming. Suddenly, he threw himself off the chair and ran to a staff member. All the children's faces turned to look at what was going on. And from a corner, Astoria's giggles pierced into the quiet atmosphere.

When Ron returned, his eyes were low, and he didn't look up at Darcie even once.

However, despite his troubling circumstances, Darcie didn't look down on her opponent. Even with her skills, she could see that Ron was truly the strongest player she had faced if she were to ignore Mr. Ollivander. Not even Daphne was his match in chess, and that was saying something in itself.

'Astoria's wish might not come true,' Darcie thought, playing the 25th move.

And Ron resigned.

The rest of the afternoon passed by smoothly for the players.

As expected by Darcie, Astoria lost her match with Ron. Then she lost her match with Darcie, the only one she had been expecting to lose that day. Daphne and Ron ended in a draw, and Darcie won all her matches. It didn't even seem that her opponents were trying to make her lose. The moment someone sat opposite her, her composed gaze falling on them, one could see hope abandoning them with every move.

By 3 in the afternoon, all the matches planned for that day were over.

All players had only 5 matches left, but even then, none had any doubt about the obvious winner. Darcie was in the lead, and if it weren't for a miracle, with her losing all the next 5 matches, she would without a doubt become the champion.

The fight was for 2nd place, with Ron leading by a point, and Daphne just behind him.

But these weren't the things the girls were thinking about now.

The fair was in its prime, and the joy of New Year could be seen everywhere. With Ginny's return, the girls got together and let themselves loose in Diagon Alley, buying anything that looked interesting to them.

Suddenly, Darcie saw someone she recognized instantly. "Hagrid!"

Hagrid turned around and looked all over. He looked the same to Darcie. The keeper of keys was carrying large boxes, and high-pitch squeaking noises were coming from them.

"Here! Down!" Astoria shouted, jumping and hopping.

Hagrid looked down and his bead-like eyes widened. "Gallopin' Gorgons!" He cried playfully. "Yeh all growin' in numbers, aren' yeh? Are yeh sure yeh not creatin' a secret coven?"

Darcie and Daphne smiled as Hagrid laughed out loud. The three of them could be said to be old acquaintances, even though they had only met once before. Darcie introduced Astoria and Ginny to him.

"Anothe' Weasley?" Hagrid raised an eyebrow, leaning down.

Ginny hid behind Darcie.

Suddenly Daphne's eyes widened. "Everyone, hide your money!"

Hagrid laughed ruefully, scratching his beard. A snout peeked from his coat's pocket, and the niffler eyed Daphne with a pained look.

This was none other than Burby, who had robbed Darcie and Daphne last time.

Both Astoria and Ginny shrieked wildly before pouncing on the niffler.

Hagrid then took the girls to Magical Menagerie, teaching them how to take care of nifflers. After he dropped the packages, the girls and the giant man slurped on ice cream before saying goodbye to each other.

With her father and mother busy with the Grand Fair's affairs, Darcie felt bold enough to invite Ginny for the supper with her, Daphne, and Astoria.

"You eat this every day?!" Ginny asked, astonished. In front of her were several types of desserts, soup, and fish and crabs. The girl stuffed her mouth with a piece of everything, telling all about her family and home, the Burrow.

"Kicking gnomes?" Astoria remarked. "That sounds so good. Daphne! I want to kick gnomes, too."

"You don't have gnomes?!" Ginny's mouth hung open, morsels of cake flying all over the table.

Daphne smiled. "We do have them," she said, elegantly slicing the cake, "but our House-elves take care of such things."

After supper, Ginny's older brother, Percy, came and took her away.

Even Astoria was made to sleep with the Greengrasses, leaving Daphne and Darcie in the room alone.

Of course, Dobby was with them, too.

"What is it?" Daphne asked after the girls had changed.

Darcie had already hinted to her she had something to share with her. So, after ditching Astoria, they both came down to the library in the suitcase.

Darcie shared a glance with Dobby and then told Daphne everything.

When the tale had been told, Daphne's face looked paler than it already was. "That was not wise, I think," she commented.

Darcie then took out the mysterious object and placed it on the table. Daphne observed and rubbed the object between her fingers, as Darcie had before. Meanwhile, Dobby kept eying it, sliding back with every moment.

"I felt nothing," Daphne remarked. "Not even an ounce of Magic."

Darcie nodded. "I think it's something only the House-elves can feel," she told Daphne. "If it wasn't for Dobby, I would have passed by it without even noticing it."

"What do you plan on doing with it?" Daphne asked.

Darcie took a deep breath. "I think the reason we can't feel anything is this black glossy surface," she said solemnly. "If we were to dissolve the upper surface, we would know what's lying underneath. I made Dobby buy some potions today. That's why he was not with us. Let's try them out."

Daphne regarded Darcie with an odd gaze. "It could be a cursed object, Darcie," she suggested worriedly. "I think we should hand it over to the adults."

Darcie shook her head. "With Dobby looking after us, there's nothing to be worried about. Isn't that right, Dobby?"

The house-elf looked worried himself. But the moment Darcie asked him, his large green eyes blinked strongly at them. "Dobby will protect the two misses," he said, thumping his chest. "It's a powerful item, but for Dobby, it's nothing."

Darcie smiled.

Even Daphne looked taken aback. "If this goes on any longer," she whispered, following Darcie into the potions room, "then Dobby will become too conceited, you know."

Darcie observed Dobby's tiny back as the house-elf arranged various potions on the table. "A little conceit is nothing bad for him, perhaps."

As Daphne heard Darcie's words, even her expression softened.

That night, strange, sizzling sounds kept exploding in the potions room, accompanied by wild screams and euphoric shouts.

As the doors of the potions room opened way after midnight, black smoke came pouring out, burying the coughs under it.

Three figures walked out, their faces covered in black, green, and yellow gelatinous substances.

"What even is it?" Daphne asked annoyingly.

Darcie lifted the object in front of them and saw its state. It was as glossy and smooth as before, and none could tell that only recently they had poured several potions over it that could reveal the hidden mysteries of almost anything.

When everything had failed, they had even made Dobby try out spell after spell on it. Yet, the outcome hadn't changed.

Now they were too tired and lost to go on with it.

"Should we take it to some shops tomorrow?" Daphne suggested. "Without knowing its origins, it's pointless to keep experimenting with it."

Darcie had to nod in agreement. She looked at Dobby, remembering his spell that had made her look like a teen. "We will be counting on you, Dobby," Darcie said, rubbing her face.

"Leave it to Dobby, miss," the house-elf declared. But the way he kept looking at the palm-sized object in Darcie's hand was just too ominous for the girls to not frown at it.

"We will need to bathe again," Darcie said after some time. Dobby had already used the Scouring Charm to clean the grease and the traces of the experiments off them. But the girls still didn't feel clean enough to call it a night.

A nice, hot bath should do the trick, they knew.

"I am getting sleepy," Daphne yawned. "Let's bathe together. It's already 2, and we need to wake up by 6."

Suddenly, Dobby ran. After his last experience of bathing, he found that he didn't like this activity much.

"You aren't going anywhere!" Both girls shouted and pounced on him.

On this snowy night, one could almost hear the ghostly screams of a house-elf as he got carried away by two monsters, his tiny legs kicking the air for freedom.

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AN: This chapter is dedicated to Robbie Coltrane, Harry Potter's Hagrid. RIP