Light Nimbus pt 3

Not one of the eight Hufflepuffs noticed you leaning against the wall beside the doorway to classroom 4F up on the first floor of the North Tower as they stumbled out of History of Magic in a Binns-induced stupor.

“HELLO, HUFFLEPUFFS!” you bellowed from behind.

About half of them yelped in alarm. They were wide awake now.

“Gaunt!” Wayne Hopkins was, almost predictably, the first one to blurt out a response, “What are you doing skulking about in the hallways?”

“Avoiding Flint mostly,” you stated, “I find that when you know someone wants to wring your neck… it’s best to try and avoid that person.”

“Then you’re clearly doing it wrong,” Hannah Abbott said as she took a protective step in front of Susan Bones and aimed her customary shot at you, basically saying she wanted to wring your neck. She was one of the loudest of the yelpers. You must have given her quite a fright.

“Oooo, someone’s cranky when they wake up on the wrong side of the desk,” you remarked, “Here I was trying to be helpful and rouse you lot after your nap.”

“What do you want, Gaunt?” asked Megan Jones, the Hufflepuff you came to see.

“I was actually looking for you,” you admitted, “I’m trying to get ahead of a rumor that started in Potions with the Gryffindors. Thought it best that you hear it from me and not Brown, or Patil, or Parkinson.” You pushed off from the wall and approached your favorite Hufflepuff… but then stopped and looked up, “Crikey! You’re a tall one.”

Your previous interactions with Megan Jones involved one or both of you sitting down. And when the ‘Puffs traveled in a pack, Jones was of similar height to Finch-Fletchley, Hopkins, and Smith. Of those three boys, Justin was the shortest while still being three inches taller than you. And then there was Abbott was two inches taller than you and stood at the same height as Gemma. So it was hard to gauge Megan Jones’ surprising tallness when half the Hufflepuffs she regularly traveled with were of a similar height.

“That a problem?” Megan asked with her dimpled grin that promised trouble. She looked to be about four inches taller than you which put her at five foot seven… the same height as Millicent. Only Jones had that cloud of frizzy dark hair floating around her head that made her look an extra inch or so taller than she actually was. Thus making her, arguably, the tallest girl in your year.

“Hardly,” you replied, “I usually partner with Goyle in Potions and he towers over me. The rest of the time, I’m usually standing beside Millicent Bulstrode. She’s roughly the same height as you. I dare say I’m used to it by now. And don’t worry, I’ll hit a growth spurt soon enough and then we’ll see who’s laughing.”

“You and me both,” Macmillan grumbled. He appeared to share your troubles and was the shortest of the Hufflepuff boys and actually a half inch shorter than you. Bones was peeking out from behind Abbott and you noted she was a full inch shorter than you - the same height as Pansy Parkinson - before you quickly averted your eyes so as to not spook her any more than you already had.

“What rumor?” Jones asked, bringing you back to your original topic.

“During lunch today you may hear about a vaunted list,” you explained, “It may also be referred to as the Vaunted List of Gaunt, the Vaunted Gaunted, or Gaunt’s witch list… I’ll sum things up in case someone confronts you about it so you’re not caught unawares: Yes, it’s a list of witches I pay attention to. Yes, you’re on the list. Yes, you’re rather high on the list. And yes, being high on the list does entitle you to special privileges beyond preferential bezoar treatment. Got all that?”

“Erm… yes?”

Naturally, Abbott came right after you, “You’re making a list of witches, Gaunt?”

“Don’t worry,” you reassured her and the red-headed girl hiding behind her, “You two aren’t on it. Have you ever had a conversation with Brown and Patil?”

“Yes…” the pigtailed blonde girl responded.

“Then you know how they play off of each other and how one snarky comment can rapidly spiral out of control. Next thing I know, Pansy Parkinson’s heard about the list and is cross she’s not on it and suddenly I’m running up here to put out fires before someone gets burned.”

“I usually try to avoid making snarky comments,” Abbott admitted.

“You mean you save all your snark for me?” you questioned, “I’m touched.” She opened her mouth, likely to say something along the lines of you being touched in the head, but you quickly cut her off. “Careful, Abbott, I might start to think that you’re fun to banter with. That’s how Patil and Brown made the list.”

It seemed she wanted to avoid being on your list and withheld her comment about how ‘touched’ she thought you were.

Truthfully, you hoped that with all this focus going onto your Vaunted Gaunted list… that Brown and Patil would forget what they learned about you and Gemma. And there’d be less speculation about who poisoned Bletchley and less accusatory fingers pointed your way. This Gaunt gossip fire would hopefully serve as a helpful distraction while the potentially reputation-damaging fire caused by yesterday’s drama lost steam and burned itself out.

“Now then,” you quickly changed the subject, “I have one more bit of gossip to share that might interest you ‘Puffs. Perks! Where’s Perks?”

“Here!” the shortest of the Hufflepuffs piped up as she stepped out from behind Smith and Hopkins who were both nearly a full foot taller than her and behind whom she’d been completely hidden. At four foot nine, Sally-Anne Perks was not only the shortest of the Hufflepuffs but that meant she also beat out Tracey Davis and Su Li from Ravenclaw to be the shortest in your year and, since you were first years and the youngest students in the school, that officially made the muggleborn girl the shortest student at Hogwarts.

“How goes your badgering mission?” you inquired with a pointed glance at Megan.

“Oh… erm… I didn’t really start it yet,” Perks admitted. “She agreed to tryout in September… I thought I had until next year…”

“Then it’s a good thing I found you,” you said, “Because after my announcement this morning, the Hogwarts Inter-House Quidditch League has already begun to change. I just learned nearly two hours ago before a highly eventful Potions class that Ron Weasley intends to tryout for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. And given Oliver Wood’s fondness for Weasleys and first years - combined with what happened to Potter back in November - I’m sure he’ll realise that bringing a third Weasley onto the team as a reserve could be useful.”

“Why’re you telling us this?” Hopkins wondered, “What do you get out of it?”

You shrugged, “Someone called me a ‘cute little Quidditch revolutionary’ this morning.” Yaxley. “I kind of liked the sound of that.”

“That’s debatable,” Jones cut in with a small smile. Yup. She thought you were cute. Score one for Gaunt!

Zacharias Smith stepped in to steer the conversation away from your relative cuteness and back towards Quidditch gossip, “What position does Weasley play?”

“Keeper,” you stated, “Which means they could also potentially sub him in as a defensive Chaser and shuffle one of their more experienced Chasers around if there’s another incident and they want to avoid playing a man down.”

Only a handful of the Hufflepuffs seemed to be handling your warning with the gravity it deserved. Having Ron Weasley as a Reserve Keeper behind Wood wasn’t deemed as much of a threat.

“Also worth noting,” you added in the hopes of stirring things up in the badgers’ lair, “Is that I believe Potter and Longbottom may be pooling their money and running a collection to purchase their friend a quality broom for his birthday. Which is March 1st. And the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff match is when?”

“Saturday the twenty-sixth…” Macmillan answered with a slowly dawning look of horror.

“Only a few days before,” you noted, “If Potter and Longbottom work fast… they might manage to obtain that broom before the match. Which means, even if Ron Weasley doesn’t play, your house Quidditch team may have to deal with one of the Weasley twins riding that new broom since they’ll be the ones loaning it to their younger brother to help him circumvent the first year broom rule.”

Now the group of badgers looked a lot more worried.

“Jones,” you addressed the infamous Gwenog Jones’ younger cousin. “I’m sure I don’t need to tell you of all people how much damage a Beater can do on a Cleansween Seven, right?”

Her dark eyes had gone wide at the implications and you shifted your attention from the tallest witch in your year nearly a foot down to the shortest standing beside her. “So you see, Perks, it would be in your and your house’s best interest to start badgering now. I can tell you firsthand how helpful it is to have a second Keeper at Quidditch practice. If you want to keep things square, I’d suggest you make it your mission to ensure that Hufflepuff has their own reserve to help them train for the match at the end of the month. There’s a spot on the vaunted list open for you should you succeed.”

The little muggleborn girl’s eyes practically bugged out as she started stammering while looking from one fellow ‘Puff to another. “Wha… but… do I… you…”

“You’d put a muggleborn on your list?” Finch-Fletchley asked while his fellow muggleborn stammered.

“Granger and Applebee are already on it,” you said with a shrug, “And why wouldn’t they be? It’s a list of witches I need to pay attention to. Granger made the mistake of telling me how many House Points she’s earned earlier. I’m only twenty-eight behind her. So, yes, she’ll have my attention as I try to close that gap. And while Mateo is currently above Applebee and Macavoy on account that I’ll be facing her tomorrow… I’m sure Hufflepuff’s dynamic duo will usurp her as we get closer to the Quidditch Cup finals in May.”

“Do I want to be on your list?” Sally-Anne managed to get her stammering under control enough to ask… then cast a wary glance over at Abbott and Bones.

“That’s up to you,” you informed her. “Because the importance of the Gaunt list relies entirely upon how much you actually value my opinion.”

“Is there a separate list for blokes?” Hopkins asked.

“No, there’s just the witch list,” you stated, “As a young wizard it’s easier for me to figure out how other wizards think. I don’t want to call boys simple... but understanding them is definitely easier for me. Witches, on the other hand, are tricky and as someone told me a short while ago with dragon’s it’s the females who are more vicious.” Megan grinned at you bringing back her Welsh dragon quote. “So you need to pay special attention to them if you want to survive.”

“Uh oh, Gaunt’s talking sense again,” Smith announced, “I’m starting to agree with him.”

Finch-Fletchley shook his head, “Louie, haven’t you caused enough chaos for one day?”

You grinned, “It’s not even eleven, Eton. Plenty of time to cause more. I haven’t done anything to mess with the Ravenclaws yet. Come to think of it…” You thought of a way to ruffle some feathers with the Ravenclaw team and stepped into the pack of Hufflepuffs then pushed yourself up onto your toes and craned your neck so you could whisper into the four inch taller Megan’s ear, “I’ll be skipping lunch today to break in my new Nimbus Two Thousand. Do me a favor and let Mateo know without Flint overhearing. I’d like to be airborne before he figures out where I am.”

You waded the rest of the way through the group and gave them all a backwards wave, “Later Hufflepuffs! I’m off to find a prefect.”

“HEY!” Megan called after you. Sounding just as offended as when you requested Harpies tickets for the week they played the Tornados. You turned around to face her. Her arms were folded over her chest. “Hufflepuffs are the finders. Line theft is a crime, Gaunt.”

Oh. Oops. You said ‘find a prefect’. You made a handful of ‘find Megan Jones’ comments to yourself earlier… this time you said it aloud and unconsciously. And Jones hadn’t wasted a second in calling you on it. You would obviously need to be more careful about that around this witch who so proudly boasted about being a good ‘finder’.

The other Hufflepuffs groaned and didn’t seem to appreciate how seriously she took this ‘Hufflepuffs are particularly good finders’ thing of hers. “Not again…”

As a child born from actual line theft you were mildly offended by her comparing that to borrowing someone’s catchphrase. You walked back and stopped in front of her. “Oh really? Because Professor Snape sent me to find a missing Slytherin ahead of that highly eventful Potions class. I learned a new Locator Spell and managed to find him and return him to the classroom within twenty minutes. Earned five House Points for it.” You decided to throw down the Guant-let. “Have you earned any House Points for finding? Because I’d wager that makes me a fair better finder than most Hufflepuffs.”

“Gaunt, no!” Hannah Abbott, of all people, warned you, “Don’t tickle the dragon!”

But you were focused on the tall girl in front of you and saw the competitive spark ignited in her dark eyes. “Careful, shortstack,” she warned you with her dangerous dimpled grin. “Those’re fighting words.”

“Oh really?” you asked, not bothering to dignify ‘shortstack’ with a response. You were morbidly curious to see how much this ‘finder’ thing really meant to her. “Then let’s fight. I managed to find you lot. Now it’s your turn.” You reached up and tapped her on the shoulder. “Tag. You’re it. It’s a challenge. Prove how good a finder you really are and track me down after lunch.”

“You fool!” Smith exclaimed, “You’re encouraging her. Do you have any idea what you’ve just unleashed? The puns alone will drive us all mad!”

“No, I don’t know what I’ve unleashed,” you admitted after casting a glance at the paranoid pack of Puffs. Clearly, they all knew something you didn’t. However, Perks - for some reason that escaped you - didn’t seem scared, in fact, she was smiling up at her much taller housemate. Hhmm… if you couldn’t get Megan to tell you the origin of this ‘finders’ thing… Perks might be a second option. Still undeterred, you ignored the warnings of people who knew her better and poked the ‘Welsh dragon’ again and gave your open-lipped, closed-mouthed, teeth-baring ‘Snake Fang’ smile. “But I’m keen to… find out.”

“Oh Merlin, no!” Hopkins gasped, “There’s two of them!”

“Keep a lookout, Keeper,” Jones warned you, eyes blazing, “You’ve just made the top of MY list! And now you have my full attention. This afternoon you’ll be dealing with a ‘Puff with something to prove.” Wow. She not only picked up your Gaunt-let but all but slapped you in the face with it as she accepted your challenge.

“I hardly see how that’s a bad thing,” you countered, “At this point you should all know… I’m an orphan and I like attention. You could even say I crave it. And if it’s your attention then that sounds like something I actually want.”

“Being cute won’t save you,” Jones insisted, “I’m coming for you, Gaunt. Just remember… you were warned repeatedly… so you brought this upon yourself.”

You shrugged as you began backing away, “Lucky me.”

There was suddenly a faint giggle. You turned to stare at Hannah Abbott, only it wasn’t her who laughed. The giggling came from the redheaded girl behind her. Susan Bones noticed your gaze and clamped her hands over her mouth.

“What’s so funny, Sue?” Megan asked the question on everyone else’s mind.

Bones looked at Jones, then over at you, and then at the other Hufflepuffs awaiting her response. She lowered her hands and finally spoke two words in your presence, “Finder’s Keeper.”

“Oh no…” Justin groaned as you all saw the dangerous dimpled smirk on Megan’s face spread into a full blown smile before she started loudly laughing.

Ernie eyed his madly laughing housemate then turned back to you and gave a firm nod, “You’re doomed. We’ll send flowers to your funeral. Or your wedding. Whichever comes first.”

“Run, Gaunt. Run.” She finally got her laughing under control and you… found… yourself staring into the eyes of a highly motivated Megan Jones. “You’ll be seeing a lot of me this afternoon. And it’s not just to prove a point anymore. But because I’ll find it very funny.”

“Keep in mind,” you countered with the Keeper pun as you continued to back away, “you won’t be the only one hunting me today. Hopefully, you’re at least a better finder than Flint.” If you had to choose between being ‘found’ by Marcus Flint or Megan Jones… you knew who you’d prefer.

And upon getting in the last word, you took Megan’s advice and turned and ran. You took the stairs down to the ground floor then ran around the outside of the building to the grassy flying courtyard outside within sight of the Herbology greenhouses.

Thankfully, it was Gemma Farley who actually found you first. It helped that you prearranged where you were going to meet. It also helped that she knew the Warming Charm.

“Thanks,” you said after the prefect bearing two broomsticks and two bundled up sandwiches cast it upon your robe. You smiled as you felt the familiar warm sensation run down your back. “It’s cold out here and I didn’t want to risk going back to the common room for my cloak. I’m being hunted and that would’ve been an obvious spot to find me.”

“Then why don’t we stash our things up on that roof?” Gemma suggested as she pointed to one of the roofs overlooking the grassy courtyard. She handed you the sandwiches and motioned to your school bag as an ideal place to store them while you were flying.

Once the sandwiches were tucked away, Gemma handed you her Cleansweep Seven.

You raised an eyebrow at her giving you the used broom.

“You’ve been flying on a Shooting Star until now,” the fifth year reminded you. “I want you to feel the difference between that and a normal, quality broom that was top-of-the-line back when I bought it before my second year… and then compare it to a new top-of-the-line broomstick.”

Fair enough. You called ‘Come!’ and the broom flew to your hand. Well behaved and eager to fly. You didn’t even need to set it down and call ‘Up!’ first. You shifted the Cleansweep sideways and left it hovering beside you while you hung your school bag over the handle then you threw your leg over and straddled it.

You kicked off and SHOT up into the air. The Cleansweep was WAY faster than a Shooting Star. Its acceleration made the school broom you were previously flying on look like a joke. Or a toy. This was a real broom. The cold wind rushed by you and the bright sun shone from overhead as you spiraled up into the air and were soon staring down at the castle from high above. You noted that the broom didn’t shake or vibrate like a Shooting Star did when you pushed it to top speed. You maintained your speed as you flew in a large loop around the courtyard and the roofs overlooking it. Faster. Better acceleration. Good stability. Quick maneuverability. Despite no longer being the newest model, the Cleansweep Seven was a quality broom. Flying one of these would do wonders to improve your already strong Quidditch performance.

Banking to the side took barely any effort as you made a sharp turn and swooped down towards the roof Gemma indicated earlier and lightly touched down. You pulled your school bag off the broom handle and, knowing your Potions supplies were still inside, carefully set it down in the corner against the bottom of the railing that ran along all four sides of the square roof.

Gemma was up overhead soaring like an eagle as she put the new Nimbus Two Thousand through its paces. She was flying even faster than you were just now as she flew in wide loops above the castle.

You calculated a path to intercept based on her flying speed and PUSHED the Cleansweep to fly as fast as possible. It was only when you reached what seemed to be the Cleansweep’s top speed when you felt it begin to vibrate. But it didn’t slow you down as you soared over Gemma, reached the peak of your trajectory, and then dove back down to reach the same height as was at. You were close enough to see the blissful smile on her face as she enjoyed the rush of high-speed flying on a top-of-the-line model.

Gemma pulled back to a stop and twisted around to face you. “Have fun? That is the difference between a school broom and a racing broom.”

“I could see that you were enjoying yourself too,” you returned. “Do you think you could pull off a Mateo-style corkscrew on that?”

“Sure, it’s not that hard,” she said. “I think you could pull it off on your broom. I know I have. And you’re considerably flatter in the chest than I am.”

You blinked at the odd observation and then took a second to ‘observe’ the large orbs that made Gemma’s chest so much more pronounced than yours. “What’s that have to do with it?”

The more experienced flier answered. “The flatter you can lie on a broom the less drag there will be when you push it to go extra fast. When I do a spiral it isn’t as tight or fast as Mateo’s… but she has thick thighs and barely any tits so she can lay herself down nearly as low as you. The only way I could get that low is by lodging the broom shaft between my Quaffles.”

Your eyes were drawn back to Farley’s Quaffles as you imaged the Nimbus Two Thousand’s shaft wedged in her cleavage. But you quickly banished that image so flying didn’t become uncomfortable. Gemma’s description of Mateo’s figure gave you a good impression of how she became shaped that way. “Thick thighs? Does she run?”

“Early in the morning,” the fifth year revealed the sixth year’s schedule. “She runs around the grounds beside the lake. Don’t approach her. Enough Slytherins have tried hexing her and taking her out during her morning run that she’s taken to running with her wand out. Between her running speed and her skill at deflecting unfriendly spells… she’s really hard to hit.”

It almost sounded like Gemma tried to hex Mateo while she was running. Or was watching from close by as someone else tried and failed to hex her.

“That’s the trick to the corkscrew.” Gemma explained. “It’s not the speed. It’s maintaining the balance. Push the footholds as far back as they’ll go while still keeping them below your broom’s bristles then lean forward and lay as flat as you can manage on the shaft while still looking forward. You want the weight of the top half of your body on top of the broom to be as close to the bottom half hanging down below it as you can manage to keep the two sides in balance. If you press your belly against the broom and squeeze yourself against it you’ll reduce some of the extra weight hanging off the top half.”

“Then how do you manage it?” you asked the fifth year who was considerably more top heavy than you. Not only that, her round bum and curved hips were on the top side of the broom too.

“I let my legs hang down further. That adds extra weight and drag to the bottom and evens things out.”

“Let’s see it then,” you encouraged her.

“Both of us,” she offered a counterproposal. “We’ll race a lap around first. She never starts her corkscrew from a full stop. Always while already in motion at high speed. That helps her execute the spiral faster. But remember - the key is maintaining balance so keep everything tucked in close.”

Since she was on a Nimbus Two Thousand and you were on a Cleansweep Seven you decided to dictate the direction of the lap so you could at least get a head start. You hard turned to the right and shot off for a loose lap around the courtyard. At first it seemed as though Gemma was having trouble keeping up thanks to your fast start and quick acceleration. You also ensured that you had the inside on all the turns so you rounded the first two corners before her. But then her faster broom finally reached your broom’s speed… AND THEN KEPT GOING as she flew past you!

Suddenly, you were the one trying to keep up and were flying behind Gemma on her new broom as fast as her old broom could manage. But the speed difference was too great to overcome. That was your first demonstration of how vastly superior the new Nimbus Two Thousand’s top speed was to an older model Cleansweep Seven.

The prefect and her perfect round bum remained ahead of you as she rounded the next two corners then leaned forward, lowered herself as much as she could, swung her legs back, and started rapidly spinning in a fast corkscrew.

Wow. Those were some snug trousers. And a smashing bum. It was extra pronounced from Gemma’s leaning position and her black school robes swung, flapped, flattered, and rose like a curtain to give you a proper view so you could see the exact shape of the trouser-clad twin cheeks. Gemma wasn’t rotating as fast as Mateo did during the match against the Hufflepuff but even though her corkscrew wasn’t as tight as the Ravenclaw Chaser’s version… the Nimbus’ enhanced speed meant it was still performed really fast and executed smoothly.

Gemma abruptly whirled around to face you and you hastily yanked back on your broom handle to keep from plowing into her. “Forgetting something?” Oh! Oops. You were supposed to do a corkscrew too. “Maybe next time you’ll focus on flying instead of on my bum.”

“I wasn’t staring at your bum!” you lied.

She raised an eyebrow, “Then why’s your face red?”

Was it? You weren’t going to embarrass yourself by checking. After you pulled the ‘check your face’ bit on Yaxley and then had Brown turned around and do the same thing to you… you weren’t going to fall for it again. “If it is… it’s because it’s cold out here. Your Warming Charm is only on my robes.”

Her eyes narrowed. She wasn’t buying it. Maybe your face actually was red? “Then let’s try a longer race so you can get your head together. We can’t reach top speed flying around the courtyard. We’ll race to the Quidditch pitch, fly a lap around it, then come back.”

“You have the faster broom,” you pointed out, “I think you have a decided advantage in a race.”

“How’s this?” she offered, “You count us off so you can have another head start and if you put on a good showing… I’ll let you fly the Nimbus for the next one.”

That sounded fair enough. “One, two, three… GO!” You pushed the Cleansweep as hard as you could and made use of its quick acceleration and were soon streaking across the grounds towards the Quidditch pitch at top speed.

You cast a glance back over your shoulder and saw Gemma gaining on you. You got the faster start but you knew the second she reached her broom’s top speed because she went whizzing by you and reached the Quidditch pitch first.

Thankfully, she wasn’t able to maintain her broom’s superior speed since she had to slow down a little to begin her long loop around the pitch. You reached the pitch seconds later and were **** to sacrifice a similar amount of speed as you flew around the outside of the pitch in hot pursuit.

You weren’t able to close the distance between when you were going around the pitch. But as you came out of the last bend for the return trip back to the courtyard you quickly pushed your Cleansweep back to its top speed and caught up with Gemma enough that you were able to reach out and tag her. “Gotcha!”

“Hm,” Gemma smirked at you as she finished accelerating and then shot off for the courtyard at HER top speed and you knew that you would never be able to catch up. At least you managed to tag her. That had to count for something.

The difference between the two brooms was clear. Acceleration versus Speed. The Cleansweep had superior acceleration but a slower top speed which meant you were able to reach your peak speed much faster than Gemma could on the Nimbus. It took a second or two longer for the Nimbus to reach its own much higher top speed but, once it did, there was nothing you could do to close the gap. At least not on a straight stretch like the one you were on.

You resolved to at least finish the lost race and flew after Gemma toward the courtyard but as you did you glanced up at and caught sight of a low-flying cumulus cloud and grinned. Gemma said you could fly the Nimbus if you put on a good showing. The race was lost but you could at least go out with a proper flourish.

The cumulus cloud became your target as you angled your broom upward. You flew up, OVER the cloud then tilted your broom downward, swung your legs back, flattened yourself on the shaft as best you could, and twisted to the right as you DOVE THROUGH the cloud and preformed a nice tight corkscrew that caused the puffy white cloud to burst and ‘splatter’ in different directions as you swooped back down and returned to the courtyard.

“That’s more like it,” Gemma said once you reached her. “Let’s land over there and we can swap.” You followed her over to the roof where you left your bag. “What did you learn from flying my Cleansweep?”

“Well, they both completely outclass the Shooting Star,” you answered after you landed, “Their acceleration, speed, handling, and stability are all better. But the biggest difference is that the Cleansweep has better acceleration while the Nimbus’ top speed is on an entirely other level.” She nodded. However, there was one other broom brand that warranted asking about. One your competition tomorrow flew on. “Where does a Comet Two-Sixty fall between a Cleansweep and a Nimbus?”

“Almost exactly in the middle,” the fifth year replied, “Better acceleration than the Nimbus and a faster top speed than the Cleansweep. But less acceleration than a Cleansweep and not as fast as a Nimbus. Cleansweeps are known for their acceleration. But Comets are an all-around good broom and have a flashy aesthetic that people favor. And because they’re more popular... Comets cost significantly more money than Cleansweeps. The Nimbus Two Thousand’s price is extra high now because its the latest model. But once the Comet Trading Company and the Cleansweep Broom Company come out with their new models... the Nimbus Racing Broom Company will likely lower their price to fair better against the competition.”

You knew Gemma saved up for her Cleansweep and that not everyone had a surprise fortune waiting in their Gringotts vault that they could impulsively spend on a brand new Nimbus Two Thousand they wouldn’t actually be able to fly.

“Ready for another round?” Gemma offered you the Nimbus. You took it and she made a point to tap you on the shoulders and replace her Warming Charm but, as the new wave of heat washed down the back of your robes, an uncomfortable thought prickled at the back of your mind. Was a Nimbus Two Thousand really the right broom for a Keeper? “Something wrong?”

“I… don’t want to sound ungrateful for what I have,” you said slowly, “But I told you yesterday… I was shocked that there was actually money in the Gaunt Vault. And then I saw this broom sitting in the display case at Quality Quidditch Supplies… I’ve listened to Quidditch matches on the Wireless, I’ve even been to a handful, I imagined having a chance to play myself... I didn’t know if I’d be a good flier… I never had a chance to try before... but I knew I wanted to fly when I finally got to Hogwarts. So even though first years aren’t allowed their own broom… I brought this Nimbus because I could. And now I’m here at Hogwarts, I’ve made the Quidditch team, I’m playing my first match tomorrow, and I’m starting to think strategically… and I’m worried that a Nimbus Two Thousand isn’t the best broom for a Keeper. For a Seeker or a Chaser who streak all across the pitch, sure. But I hover around the hoops and accelerate in short bursts to block shots. For me, quick acceleration is more important than high speed.”

Gemma sighed as set her Cleansweep to hover beside her then hefted herself up and sat sideways on it. “What do you know about Ilvermorny?”

You blinked because the question came out of nowhere and you weren’t sure what it had to do with flying. But you trusted that Gemma asked for a reason. “That’s the American wizard school. It was founded in the sixteen hundreds by Isolt Sayer… an Irish pureblood witch. I was told she was a Parselmouth and a descendant of the Gaunt Family. My minders with the Ministry made a point to name as many good role models from my family as they could to try and set me on a better path.”

“Because of her Irish roots,” the auburn-haired prefect informed you, “Isolt Sayer grew up hearing stories about Hogwarts and always wanted to go there. So when she founded her own school… she used Hogwarts and its four houses as her model. The four Ilvermorny houses are named after creatures and each represent a different trait. Horned Serpent represents strength of mind, Wampus represents strength of body, Pukwudgie represents strength of heart, and Thunderbird represents strength of spirit. Do you know why those four things are significant?”

You shook your head. They didn’t quite match up to the Hogwarts founders’ prized traits of intelligence, courage, ambition, and loyalty.

“Mind, body, heart, and spirit… are the four different categories of magic,” Gemma explained, “There’s overlap between them but at Hogwarts there’s a strong focus on the mental and emotional classes of magic. You learn theory, wand movements, and incantations in class and focus on visualisation to cast your spells. That’s the mind aspect. But I’m sure by now you’ve also learned that certain spells are made stronger when you channel extra emotion into them. That’s the crossover between mind and heart. But there are some spells that are almost pure heart and simply won’t work unless you add the emotional component.”

One emotionally-powered ‘hex’ leapt to mind. “Professor Quirrell taught me a more powerful version of the Stinging Jinx back in September. The key to enhancing it from a quick jinx to a more powerful hex was channeling irritation into it.”

“Darker magic is often fueled by dark emotions and dark intentions,” Gemma stated, “But so is lighter magic. You need to think happy thoughts so you can pass them on when you cast a Cheering Charm and Shield Spells tend to be a lot stronger when you’re emotionally invested in what you’re protecting.”

“So intent is still the key,” you noted. “The different categories are how you channel that intent.”

Gemma nodded then steered you back towards her point, “So based on the four categories… what type of magic do you use when you fly?”

“Oh… erm… body?” you guessed, “Because it’s something I’m physically doing?”

“Not quite,” she said with a shake of her head, “Body magic is what cushions a witch or wizard when they fall off a broom and what keeps your bones from being crushed when you get smashed by a Bludger. And on the other hand, if you think your precious Britt Baker doesn't use body magic to enhance her strength when she smashes an opposing player’s teeth in with a Bludger… then I have a bridge to sell you. Transfiguration is a crossover between mind and body because it requires the mental discipline and visualisation we previously talked about for wand-based spell. But for physical Transfiguration… or transformations… the magic flows through the subject’s body to make the change. Your Parseltongue ability is a mix of mind and body since you know the language but are channeling the magic through your ears and tongue.”

“...” You didn’t respond. These four categories were a very different way to look at magic.

“Spirit… is the type of magic you use to fly,” Gemma informed you, “The impulsive desire to fly which motivated you to buy that Nimbus is what makes you a natural flier. Every student who comes to Hogwarts has Flying Lessons in their first year. But only an exceptional few can fly well enough to actually play Quidditch competitively. Even less can do it as a first year. Some students have to spend years practicing and honing their flying skills before they’re ready to tryout for their house Quidditch team. You have to want to hurtle through the air and breakneck speeds, risk life and limb dodging flying cannonballs, and feel the rush of the air sweeping over you as you dip, dodge, and dive.”

You thought of how **** Millicent, Granger, and Longbottom were during your Flying Lesson back in September. But you didn’t need any coaching from Madam Hooch to fly up after Longbottom when he lost control of his broom. When you and Madam Hooch returned from dropping off Longbottom at the Hospital Wing, you managed to outfly Ron Weasley, which was an achievement since he had history flying with his brothers before Hogwarts. And afterwards you were pleased to be able to keep pace with Draco, who also had flying experience before Hogwarts. You hadn’t seen Potter fly until the Quidditch match in November but it was generally agreed that he was a natural too.

“A broomstick,” Gemma continued, “Much like a wand… is made of wood.”

“So is a standard spoon for Potions,” you mentally added as you remembered your discussion with Finch-Fletchley in your first tutoring session.

The fifth year continued, “Your intent, combined with your spirit’s desire to fly, channels your magic and intent through the wooden broom and activates the enchantments on it so you can perform the aerial feats you want it to. You’ve always struck me as highly motivated… that’s what drew me to you in the first place… in the house meant for the ambitious students you’ve shown yourself to be the most ambitious in your year. The reason you’ve been able to get by with the school brooms until now is because you’ve been exerting your will, your spirit, and your ambition through them to push them as far as they’ll go. Now you need to do the same thing with a broom that is designed to be much faster and much more receptive. If you want the Nimbus to accelerate faster… then push it, exert your spirit over it, and make it.”

And while you were still processing that, Gemma shifted to the side so she was straddling her broom the right way and flew off with a shout, “CATCH ME IF YOU CAN!”

You straddled your Nimbus and shot off after her. The Warming Charm on your robes was tested as the cold February wind rushed by you but that cold air came as a RUSH. After months of waiting… you were FINALLY flying the Nimbus Two Thousand you purchased during your Diagon Alley trip over the summer. You left the courtyard behind and managed to close in on Gemma and her older model Cleansweep Seven as you swooped around and then underneath the covered bridge.

But then Gemma jerked to the side and hurtled back towards the castle. You chased after her but soon found yourself lagging behind as she led you in a sequence of fast, sharp turns as you dodged around the castle’s walls, dipped under crossways, and weaved around towers.

Gemma’s chosen path made the most of her older broom’s superior acceleration. You kept her lesson on ‘strength of spirit’ in mind as you pushed your Nimbus as best as you could to keep pace with her but just as you’d close in… she would execute another sharp turn where you were **** to slow down in order to change direction and follow her.

But this was exactly what you were looking for. A test of your broom’s acceleration. And so rather than adjust to a smoother course better suited to your broom’s top speed… you continued to zigzag around the castle as you stuck to the course that exhibited your new broom’s biggest weakness and focused on keeping pace with Gemma, forcing your will through the Nimbus, and accelerating FASTER.

Was it possible to bond with a broom like you could with a wand? Ollivander said the wand chooses the wizard. But Gemma’s lesson using strength of spirit to fly told you that brooms were more like creatures that you needed to control and tame. Gemma’s bond with her Cleansweep Seven was apparent as it did exactly as Gemma bid and barely slowed as it went from one sharp turn to the next. Meanwhile, it was your first time on the Nimbus Two Thousand. Newer model brooms were designed to be more intuitive and to yield a better performance… but you still needed to break this one in to get the most out of it.

The end came when Gemma spiraled her way up an especially tall rectangular tower then arced to the side and dove back down. You leaned forward and pushed your broom upward and heard someone shriek as you flew up OVER the top of the tower then flipped in midair and flattened yourself on the broom as you DOVE past the pyramid-shaped roof and the gawking students standing on the terrace below it and twisted to the side as you started spinning in a tight, high-speed corkscrew. Down below, Gemma executed another sharp change of direction but you were now drawing on your broom’s greatest strength after spiraling down from the top of one of the school’s tallest towers at peak speed… you only had to adjust your high speed angle of descent a little bit in order to intercept Gemma’s new path and slapped her on the back as you swooped down past her.

At least you were aiming for her back. But as she twisted one way to try and avoid being tagged and you kept twisting the other way as you came out of your corkscrew… you ended up slapping something a fair bit lower and noticeably rounder and softer.

“AAAHH!” Gemma squawked, sapphire eyes blazing as she reached back to rub her bum. “You little shit!”

Uh oh. You used your Nimbus Two Thousand’s speed and got out of there before she could draw her wand and hex you. You didn’t even get to fully enjoy the lingering sensation of a girl’s bum in your hand.

Thankfully, Gemma realised that catching you with her slower broom on a smoother, straighter course that you dictated was a fool’s errand. She gave up chasing you and landed on the roof you started on. You tensed as she set down her broom and picked up your school bag… but then relaxed when she only pulled out the sandwiches and sat down.

You weren’t sure how long you had been flying for. You only just noticed Gemma’s second Warming Charm had worn off. Perhaps your body magic, propelled by the magical blood rapidly pumping through your veins, kept you from noticing the cold?

But now it was time for lunch.

You swooped down and landed lightly on the other side of the roof.

“You know,” Gemma said as she held one of the sandwiches out to you as a potential peace offering. Or maybe it was bait for a trap? You tentatively took it and noted that she no longer seemed cross about you accidentally spanking her. “The interesting thing about this roof is that the only way to get up here is to fly and land on it.”

You noted that there was no tower entrance, or hatch, or trapdoor leading to a flight of stairs. It was just a smooth flat square of roof with a railing running along the edges.

The good news was, Flint would need to retrieve his own broom in order to get you up here and you’d definitely see him coming. If Gemma couldn’t catch you on the Nimbus then Flint never would. But the bad news was, no one would be able to get up here to help you if Gemma decided to hex you and stick you to the railing as **** for the accidental spanking thing. The image of Graham Montague stuck upside down to the back of the broomshed flashed through your mind.

“Then how do they brush the snow off it?” you wondered, while internally pleased to see that her hands were both occupied with her sandwich… and not her wand.

Gemma shrugged, “The Hogwarts house elves probably have their own way up here.”

You set down your broom and sat beside her as you unwrapped your sandwich to reveal a long bread bun filled with a few layers of roast beef and a layer of melted cheese on top. You ignored the cold and refrained from asking her to replace the faded Warming Charm. Giving her an excuse to draw her wand and point it at you sounded like a bad idea.

“Well, they make a great sandwich,” you decided to praise your only potential rescuers in the event that Gemma left you stuck up here.

Gemma shook her head and turned her gaze upward, “Looks like you ruffled some feathers up at the Ravenclaw tower.” You blinked then craned your neck to stare at the tower you flew over. It was easily spotted since it was the second tallest tower at Hogwarts - after the Astronomy tower - and featured a large hollow pyramid roof with raised arches on two ends that led out onto the large rectangular stone terrace below it. The terrace was decorated with an assortment of plants and a few telescopes. There were also some tables and chairs so students who wanted to could sit out on the terrace and study. .

But what confirmed it was the Ravenclaw tower were the three familiar Ravenclaw witches standing out on the terrace: Skye Parkin… Jessica Mateo… and Artemis Fawley.

It seemed Megan passed on your message to Mateo and that the sixth year Chaser brought her fellow sixth year and their seventh year Team Captain up to their tower’s terrace so they could all get a bird’s eye view of your flying.

Gemma’s expression was frosty as she regarded the three Ravenclaw witches… Parkin and Mateo were having a heated discussion. Fawley only appeared to be listening. A small swell of pride glowed inside you when you realised the Chaser and Seeker were most likely discussing you and the flying abilities you just displayed. Ravenclaw feathers had definitely been ruffled. “Pulling off that corkscrew in front of Mateo was an interesting choice. After that, I doubt she’ll underestimate you tomorrow.”

“I didn’t know they were there until you pointed them out just now,” you replied, “I didn't even know that was Ravenclaw tower.” Now that you knew you had an audience for your flying and that they were going to be taking you seriously in the match tomorrow, you smiled cheerily and waved to the three members of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team.

Parkin and Mateo didn’t respond, not that you expected them to, which was why you were actually surprised when Artemis Fawley smiled at you and waved back.

What did Rowle and Yaxley say about her? Nice to everybody? It seemed like that was true.

However, not everyone was necessarily receptive to that universal ‘niceness’. A quick glance at the witch beside you revealed that your rival Keeper’s friendly response made Gemma’s frosty glare get a few dozen degrees colder.

Seeking a change of subject before Gemma decided to vent her stewing anger on the nearest, most convenient target (you), you lowered your gaze and noted the ring of wide windows below Ravenclaw tower’s terrace that seemed to span at least two stories. “Oh, so the Ravenclaw common room is on the top of Ravenclaw tower and then the dorm rooms are below.”

Like a bird’s nest.

“Mmhmm,” Gemma confirmed, “And if you look over… there… you’ll see that the Gryffindor tower is the opposite with the common room on the bottom and the dorms above it.”

You eyed the next highest tower which was much rounder with a cylindrical design rather than the rectangular Ravenclaw one. Atop the tower was a solid conical roof with several rows of smaller room windows built into it - for the dorms - and below the edges of the steeping roof was a row of much grander and more elaborate windows for the common room. When you squinted, you were just barely able to make out the assortment of red tapestries and furniture through the much wider common room windows.

Upon comparing the two house towers, aside from the most glaring differences in cylindrical vs rectangular prism shape and the hollow pyramid vs occupied conical roofs… you noted that the Ravenclaw tower connected to the school at a higher point than the Gryffindor one as an offshoot of the even taller Astronomy tower which meant the Ravenclaw students had to go up an additional few flights of stairs than the Gryffindors in order to reach the extra high entrance of their common room.

Imagining all the stairs the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws had to climb up and down everyday made you glad that you lived in a much more easily accessible level of the dungeons. The fact that Ravenclaws had to climb extra flights of stairs to reach the entrance of their ‘nest’ and then descend several more flights to reach their dorm - which could be as far as seven flights down - cemented the rumor that there was a measure of madness mixed in with Rowena Ravenclaw’s legendary intelligence. Further evidence of this was that she was the one who was accredited with enchanting the moving staircases, the fake doors that weren’t actually doors, numerous hidden passageways, and the portraits that swapped frames and took a disturbing amount of glee in confusing first year students when they made the mistake of asking them for directions. Rowena Ravenclaw’s odd architectural choices for her house’s tower brought a new - very literal - meaning to the phrase HIGHER learning.

“So…” Gemma broached a new subject and turned your attention away from the Ravenclaws as you both ate your lunch, “What’s this about you having a list of witches?”

“Oh great, you’ve heard of that too?” you asked.

“Parkinson practically ambushed me back in the common room,” Farley stated, “She was pleased as punch to share that Bulstrode was above me. Of course, then I asked her where she was and she got real quiet.” Pansy probably hadn’t fully thought that one through.

You sighed, “Despite any snarky comments I made in the common room yesterday… to be completely honest… the Vaunted Gaunted list didn’t actually exist the last time I saw you. It spawned from an empty threat I made to Brown and Patil when they were having a go at me before Potions. I was surrounded by Gryffindors and too stubborn to drop the bit and then the Slytherins showed up and more people learned about it which quickly caused the list to spiral out of control. Now I have an entirely hypothetical ranking of witches based on how much attention I pay them.”

“Bet Bulstrode was over the moon about being number one.”

“That’s what best friend status gets her,” you reasoned.

Gemma shook her head with a wry grin, “That poor girl. And where am I then? Number two?”

“For now,” you confirmed, “After our discussion yesterday I don’t think you’d even want my top spot. But no matter what happens, you’ll probably always be in my Top Four. The good news about the list is… if the juiciest gossip going around the castle is that I’ve got a witch list… then that means students aren’t discussing whether or not I poisoned Bletchley or me getting kissed by a prefect. Which was the subject that evoked my ill-worded threat in the first place.”

“So you’re using the list as a convenient distraction?” the prefect who kissed you asked.

“Not initially,” you confessed, “But I realised afterwards that if I actually have a choice over which rumor about me is circling the school… then I pick this one. So I’m content to use it to my advantage and let it run its course. It’ll cool off and run out of steam eventually.”

You were wrong. It ebbed and flowed but this tide never completely pulled away from the shore.

“But the secret of the Gaunt list is: the value of the rankings only matters if you value my opinion.”

Gemma leaned closer and gave you a fond smile, “You’re one of the most popular and influential students in your year. I think you’ll find that your opinion holds a great deal of value to a great many people. That influence you hold will grow as you accomplish greater and grander things.”

You felt your face heat up. Because as ‘grand’ as your own ambitions were… this was the girl who expected you to become Slytherin Quidditch Captain one day. And as Potter repeatedly pointed out earlier, you hadn’t even played in a match yet.

Gemma brushed off her hands and rolled up her empty sandwich wrapper. “Finish up. Everyone knows you’re with me… so I can’t afford to have you late to class.”

You blinked in surprise. That at least meant you weren’t in danger of being left stuck up here. But while you hadn’t been consciously keeping track of the time… you hadn’t been flying for that long… had you? The first Warming Charm hadn’t quite worn off when Gemma cast the second one. The second one did wear off and then you ate lunch without it so that meant you were out here for over an hour. “It’s not one yet, is it?”

“No, we still have a half hour,” Gemma admitted, “But we need to leave enough time for us to walk back to the castle from the broomshed.”

Oh. Right. While flying to the Quidditch pitch and back had barely taken a minute… walking all the way across the castle grounds from the pitch would take significantly longer.

You made quick work of finishing your sandwich then crumbled up your empty wrapper. You grabbed the Nimbus and went to retrieve your school bag when suddenly…

“Enpalmo!”

“GAAH!” you gave an involuntary squawk as it felt like someone just swatted you on the bum. Not hard. But it still stung. You whirled around to see Gemma with her wand out.

“Now… we’re even,” she stated before quickly mounting her Cleansweep and flying off. You practically jumped on your Nimbus and hung your bag on the handle before shooting off after her. Despite her head start, you were not only able to catch Gemma but overtook her and beat her to the broomshed.

You landed, pushed the door open, turned to brace yourself against it, and made a show of yawning and checking a non-existent watch on your wrist in the extra few seconds it took Gemma to land and walk over.

“Laugh it up, you cheeky Nimbuscile,” she said as she walked through.

You chuckled at her wordplay then pushed off of the door and let it shut behind you.

The Hogwarts Broomshed was a long narrow room. On one side was an open rack where the school brooms were kept out in the open for anyone to use and on the other side was a row of password protected lockers where students with their own brooms could securely store them.

There were ten lockers in the single row but Gemma turned the wheel at the end to rotate to a different one. There was an unspoken agreement between the four Hogwarts houses that Gryffindor had Row A which consisted of lockers 1-10, Ravenclaw had Row B which held lockers 11-20, Hufflepuff had Row C which was for lockers 21-30, and Slytherin had Row D with lockers 31-40.

“Which locker should we pick?” you inquired once Gemma spun the lockers around to Row D.

“You’re the one on the Quidditch team,” Gemma replied, “You pick.”

You eyed the line of ten lockers and the three vacancies. Flint had claimed locker (3)1 for himself saying it was his right as captain. Pucey and Warrington had followed suit with lockers (3)2 and (3)3. Higgs, as the other sixth year on the team, picked lucky (3)7 for himself and your Beaters Bode and Derreck took lockers 39 and 40 on the far end.

“I’d personally go for thirty-five,” Gemma stated, “But that one’s taken.”

35 was Bletchley’s locker. After taking his spot on the starting lineup it would feel all kinds of wrong to add insult to injury and take his locker too. That left even numbers 34, 36, and 38 free. Slytherin was often referred to as the ‘fourth’ Hogwarts house…as seen with you being assigned Row D… so you decided on locker (3)4 and pulled the door open and placed your broom inside the fourth locker in row four.

Gemma came over and set her old Cleansweep Seven inside alongside your new Nimbus Two Thousand then shut the door and intoned a password when she locked the door.

“Gemma Gaunt.”

You choked on nothing and gawked at her.

She gave a light laugh, “I know, it sounds like we’re married. But it seemed appropriate since we’re sharing property.” She paused then eyed the 34 label which had turned red to show the locker was now occupied, “Thirty-four was an interesting choice too.”

“Why’s that?” you asked warily.

She leaned closer and whispered in your ear, “Thirty-four D is my bra size.”

You gave a squeak and felt your face burn as you leapt away - and then promptly got caught sneaking a quick peek down at the Quaffles in question much to a now loudly laughing Gemma’s ongoing amusement. Damn it. You could go back and forth with Parkinson and Yaxley, and earlier you held your own against an ever-growing group of growling Gryffindors… but Gemma was always able to get you flustered. After getting you twice in such quick succession you felt obligated to say something back and snuck another quick peek down at the laughing fifth year’s heaving chest before blurting out the first thing that came to mind.

“Prove it!”

Gemma promptly stopped laughing and raised an eyebrow in challenge, “Beg your pardon?”

Bugger. She probably had the grounds to use that spanking spell on you again. Oh well, too late. The die had been cast so you doubled down on your impulsive retort. “I said prove it. You’re a Slytherin. You could be lying just to mess with me! For all I know, you would’ve said the same thing if I picked thirty-six!”

“...” Gemma stared silently at you for a moment then drew her wand. Maybe you went too far? You tensed and prepared to dodge and cover your arse… but she turned her wand and pointed it at her own chest. “Serpenstrapus.”

A hiss came from underneath Gemma’s button-down blouse and jumper as her bra seemed to unstrap itself from her shoulders and then slithered down her arm causing the sleeve to bulge in two obvious places as it worked its way to her free wrist. You saw a large glossy, forest green cup and a now fully intact matching green strap pop its ‘head’ out from the cuff of Gemma’s sleeve before it slid the rest of the way out into her empty hand and went limp.

You were willing to bet thirty-four galleons that bra-removal spell was invented by a Slytherin witch.

“Read it and weep,” Gemma said as she tossed her empty forest green bra to you.

You caught it automatically and for a moment simply stared down at the empty emerald cups of the treasure gracing your hands. It was warm to the touch. You were touching the thing that was just touching Gemma’s boobs! This did nothing to temper your blush. But you eventually spotted a white tag attached to the seam on the right side.

‘34D’. She wasn’t lying.

“Do you know how bra sizes work?” she asked calmly, “You measure the witch’s full bust then you subtract the underbust. The difference is how you determine the cup size. One letter for every inch. A… B… C… D. Add the cup to the underbust and you get 34D.”

“...” You stared silently at her as you processed this new wealth of information.

“Let’s have a quiz, shall we?” Gemma offered, “Based on what you saw of Lysandra in her bathrobe the other day… what would you guess her bra size is? If you get it right… I’ll let you keep that. But if you’re wrong… I take it back and then I get to punish you for calling me a liar.”

Quite high states for a one-question quiz. Pass or fail. No partial credit. And as much as you wanted to avoid being punished… you really wanted to keep the valuable treasure currently clutched in your hands.

But what Gemma didn’t know… was that you had an educational encounter with a naked mermaid earlier. You remembered thinking when you first saw them that Chell’s naked breasts were a size between Gemma’s and Lysandra’s. If Gemma was a D-Cup… then that meant Chell was a one-inch smaller C-Cup… or perhaps Sea-Cup was more appropriate for the mermaid? There was definitely more than an inch of boob beneath Yaxley’s black bathrobe and that hint of cleavage you got caught gawking at could’ve easily been the start of a two-inch valley.

So you felt fairly confident in your deduction that Lysandra Yaxley was a B-Cup.

But you still had to figure out the number for the band. And once again, Chell proved helpful in your comparison of the two fifth years’ different body types. You saw for yourself that Chell did most of her swimming with her tail. There were no obvious visible bulging muscles on her upperbody around her chest, arms, shoulders, and back. And while there was still a feminine curve to her figure where her chest tapered at the waist and then flared out again at the upper ‘hip’ portion of her tail… Chell’s slim, sleek swimmer body was closer to that of the taller and thinner Lysandra than the shorter and notably curvier Gemma. And as you stared at the chesty fifth year in front of you… while idly noting that the seventeen year old witch’s braless breasts defied gravity and hung at the same height without the aid of the bra currently residing in your very grateful hands. You mentally measured and removed an inch from each side of Gemma's underbust to reach a slimmer thirty-two imches.

“Thirty-two B,” you finally answered. And that made Chell a Thirty-two Sea.

Gemma blinked in surprise, “That’s right.” She recovered quickly and her gaze flicked down at her bra, “Put that away and don’t you dare let anyone catch you with it or we’ll both have to answer awkward questions. Consider it a reward for passing the quiz and earning over one hundred House Points.” You grinned at your ‘one hundred point’ prize and folded Gemma’s glossy forest green D-Cup bra in half and tucked it in the pocket of your robes. “And for the record, mentally measuring is not a viable excuse for getting caught staring at a girl’s chest. So try to be more subtle with your ogling in the future.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” you replied as you threw your school bag over your shoulder.

She drew her wand and finally tapped you on the shoulders to recast her Warming Charm before you headed out. “Best get a move on back to the castle then.”

Now nice and warm, you led the way out of the broomshed and held the door for the witch behind you… but a familiar voice suddenly called out to you.

“FOUND YOU, GAUNT!” A frizzy, dark-haired blur rushed around the corner of the broomshed and slapped you on the shoulder while you were still occupied holding the door. “THAT’S ONE!”

“Jones!?” you blurted out in surprise. Had she heard your conversation about bra-sizes? “What’re you doing out here?”

“You told me yourself you’d be out here flying during lunch,” Hufflepuff house’s proudest finder reminded you, “I figured it was only a matter of time before you stowed your new broom. So once I saw you land, I ran out here to catch you before you left.”

Oh. So she only recently arrived. That was a relief. And also impressive. You told her the ‘Finder Challenge’ would start after lunch... and she found you almost immediately after you finished lunch.

A sudden fearful expression crossed Jones’ face as she glanced at something over your shoulder then took off running, “JONES - ONE, GAUNT - ONE, FLINT - ZERO!”

“What was that about?” Gemma asked as she slipped out of the broomshed and stood beside out watching the first year Hufflepuff’s rapid departure back to the castle.

“She prides herself on being a particularly good finder,” you stated.

“Hufflepuffs have pride?” You let the barb slide since you knew Gemma’s ‘rival’ was in Hufflepuff.

“This one does,” you confirmed, “I ignored the warnings from all her friends and decided to goad her about it since Professor Snape sent me to find Blaise after Yaxley dragged him into the lake. Told Jones that since I found Blaise and the kelpie who kidnapped him - and even earned points for it - then that made me a better finder than her and challenged her to prove me wrong. The fact that she spent the tail end of her lunch running out to the Quidditch pitch and back just so she could briefly ‘find’ me and tag me already tells me that she’s really dedicated to the bit.”

Gemma shook her head then shrugged, “Your life, your choice. So long as you’re not breaking any school rules, it’s no business of mine how you play with your little crush.”

“I don’t know if I’d call her ‘little’,” you defended the girl who was four inches taller than you, “She’s taller than you are.”

“That wasn’t what I was talking about,” she informed you. “That girl’s barely even an A-Cup.”

You felt a flare of annoyance. Normally, you would let Gemma get away with **** and you were more than happy to sit back and watch her tear into Pansy. But Megan Jones was a girl you liked and you weren’t willing to let it slide.

“And did yours suddenly sprout overnight?” you countered. “She’s a first year. That just means we both have room to grow.” You didn’t know if Megan was thirteen or fourteen and made a mental note to ask when her birthday was when she found you again.

“And if she doesn’t?” Farley pressed you further, “Tammy’s six feet tall and her ‘apples’ are barely beyond an A-Cup. Just looking out for you. That could be your future.”

You set your face as you gave Gemma a borderline hostile glare to show that her ‘advice’ on this matter wasn’t appreciated, “I only need to look at a picture of her adult cousin in her Harpies uniform to know that’s more than likely not going to be the case. And even if it was… that’s something for future-Marvolo to deal with. Present-Marvolo is content to find out what Megan Jones is made of.”

“Ooooo, look at you defending your crush,” Gemma’s smirk didn’t quite meet her sapphire eyes. “Is she in your Top Four too?”

You nodded, “You’d get a similarly hostile response if you had a go at Millicent. But I know you’re not daft enough to do that.”

“Interesting,” the prefect remarked, “Funny you that mention, Bulstrode. Because your number one won’t hear a word against you. I’ve heard her shut down Parkinson in the common room. Doesn’t like her roommate badmouthing you when you’re not there to defend yourself. But I can’t help but wonder… is your new friend as adamant defending you when you’re not around? Hufflepuffs are the ones who are supposed to be prized for their loyalty.”

Susan Bones had a fairly legitimate reason to hate the ground you stood on. And since she hardly spoke in your presence that meant all her comments about you were made behind your back when you were gone. And, of course, Hannah Abbott made her ill-feelings towards you very clear and, much like Pansy, openly insulted you to your face. But unlike Pansy… it wasn’t because she liked you. It would be foolish of you to assume she’d suddenly stop simply because you weren’t there.

And while the emotional part of your brain told you that you wanted a girlfriend who would be loyal to you… the rational part of your brain reminded you that you only ‘met’ Megan this month and she wasn’t even your girlfriend… (yet). You decided to listen to the rational side.

“Loyalty… and trust… take time to build,” you gave a measured response. “I’m a Slytherin from a historically dark family. I’d be more surprised if there wasn’t some initial unease. But she’s giving me a chance. So she’s open to something growing. I told you the secret of the Gaunt list. She knows it too. The list only matters if you actually value my opinion. And today Megan’s going out of her way to prove to me that she’s a better finder… which tells me my opinion on the matter actually means something to her. The seed is planted. And her Head of House has shown us in Herbology that with the right amount of dedication and care… a seed can blossom into something strong and beautiful.” You paused for a beat and grinned, “So the way I see it… the number of times she goes out of her way to find me today will show how far along I am and whether the seed’s still a seed… or if it’s already a sprout.”

Gemma shook her head and gave you a - genuinely - fond smile, “I hope you stay this wide-eyed and optimistic for as long as possible. It’s honestly adorable. And I’ll be damned if I do anything to shatter that precious beating heart of yours. So rest assured that I won’t ruin things with you and your Puffy not-yet-girlfriend. However, I’m warning you now that if I catch the two of you breaking school rules… as a prefect I’ll be obligated to punish you. Just because I like you, doesn’t mean you’ll get special treatment and that I won’t punish you like any other couple I catch snogging out of bounds.”

That sounded like both reassurance and a threat. But you also took it as a sign that Gemma (reluctantly) approved of your choice and was going to step back and let you make it for yourself.

“By the way,” Gemma said as she planted her hand on your back and gave you a gentle shove to get you walking back towards the castle. “You said Top Four. I’ll assume that group goes Bulstrode, me, and Jones until the two of you start snogging. Whose number four?”

Bollocks! Back to the list.

“Erm, I told you it was an entirely hypothetical list,” you replied, “I haven’t written anyone’s name down. I said Top Four because it sounds better to my Slytherin ears than Top Three.”

“If you say so,” the fifth year replied but it didn’t sound like she believed you, “But if you’re counting on this list of yours to be an actual distraction… then I won’t be the last to ask.”

She was right to be skeptical… because you did know who held your fourth spot.

The girl you met on day one when she barged into your compartment on the Hogwarts Express.

The witch whose pink knickers you could still picture after you hit her with a Knockback Jinx to win your midnight duel.

The girl you left the Halloween feast to find when you learned she was crying in the bathroom… and who you ended up fighting a mountain troll to defend.

The witch you watched set your Head of House on fire to save her friend.

The woman you saw standing beside your future self in the Mirror of Erised, who pureblood society told you there was no way you could ever conceivably be with.

The brainy witch you publicly declared your academic rival and who had seemingly accepted that ‘relationship’ status in Potions class earlier today.

The Vaunted List of Gaunt goeth:

1. Millicent Bulstrode
2. Gemma Farley
3. Megan Jones
4. Hermione Granger

Marvolo Gaunt House Point Ledger

Current Total: +102

Points awarded by: SS, RH, QQ, MM, FF, + AD