Chapter 166: Chapter 166: Fairies and Bubbles
Michael ran quite a distance before finding an ideal spot.
It appeared to be a fort built by previous students, made of a broken wardrobe and a legless table, piled up to resemble a tiny shelter with only a narrow gap in the middle.
"Here it is!" Michael said. "Quickly, we need to block all the larger gaps."
Wade waved his wand, causing a nearby stool to levitate and block one of the big gaps. Smaller pieces of debris filled in the smaller cracks, leaving only three or four observation holes.
"The rules of this Battle Royale are pretty simple," Michael explained. "First, don't get hit. Second, don't get discovered. Third, try to capture their queen."
"The queen?" Wade asked.
"Yeah… don't talk, they're coming!"
Michael motioned for silence, signaling Wade to look outside through one of the observation holes.
They watched as a large swarm of tiny, cute, winged humanoid creatures flew past, clutching small wands, looking fierce as they buzzed down the passageway.
Wade's eyes widened as he looked at Michael, and whispered, "Fairies?"
Michael nodded, flashing a grin. A green fairy seemed to hear something and flew over, peering in through the cracks.
Michael and Wade pressed themselves against the sides, out of sight, so the fairy saw nothing.
The fairy raised its tiny wand, and with a couple of small "pop, pop" sounds, it shot two globs of red berry juice at the table across from them, leaving a sweet-smelling stain behind.
Assuming no one was there, the fairy turned and flew away.
"Aaah… we've been spotted!"
Not far off, a boy and a girl yelled in surprise. They pushed aside their barricade and ran hand-in-hand away from the swarm of fairies. The fairies immediately chased after them and fired dozens of berry-juice globs in their direction.
"Pop, pop, pop…"
The air was filled with a trail of sweet aroma as they fled.
Wade looked at Michael.
"I could take them all out with one hand."
"So could I, but we're not allowed to use powerful magic against them."
"Not even when capturing the queen?"
"The only spell we're allowed to use on fairies is this one."
Michael raised his wand and softly recited a spell, causing a small soap bubble to appear at its tip, just large enough to trap a single fairy.
"It's simple, I can teach you," Michael offered.
"No need, I've got it," Wade replied.
He raised his wand, and produced a bubble ten times larger.
Just then, a fairy flew nearby and spotted them through a gap.
With a "fierce" expression, it lifted its tiny wand. But the moment it entered and saw Wade's still-expanding bubble, it shrieked and flapped its wings, and retreated as fast as it could.
The two of them watched it vanish, then exchanged glances.
"Wade, no cheating allowed."
"How is that cheating? I'm using the same spell as you guys."
"…If the spell's power exceeds the limit, it's cheating."
"…Fine."
Reluctantly, Wade popped the oversized bubble.
They stayed hidden in the "fortress," catching solitary fairies with their bubbles and hiding when groups approached. Sometimes there were so many fairies that they had to block even the observation holes.
Fairies were simple-minded creatures; as long as they didn't directly see anyone, they assumed no one was there. Several times, Wade would wait until a fairy turned to leave before trapping it in a bubble.
As the fairy numbers dwindled, students emerged from their hiding places to surround and capture them.
The fairy queen wore a tiny golden dress and had dazzling, broad wings. She'd been flying at the center of her entourage, but with most of her minions captured, her position became exposed.
While everyone else was busy corralling fairies, a Gryffindor girl leaped from a high ledge and perfectly timed a bubble to encase the sparkling queen.
"I won!" she cheered, holding up her wand.
Her friends also joined her in celebrating, she jumped up and down as the remaining fairies, annoyed, tugged at her hair, but she ignored them.
"Hey, what's so special about catching the queen? Let's see who caught the most fairies!"
Another Slytherin boy pulled out a bag full of fairies trapped in bubbles.
"We caught thirty-five!"
"We got thirty-eight!"
"Forty-seven!"
Everyone showed off the number of fairies they had captured.
"Ahem," Michael coughed deliberately to grab everyone's attention, then waved his wand.
With a "whoosh," a small mountain of fairy-filled bubbles tumbled down.
"I didn't count them exactly," Michael said, feigning modesty as he boasted, "but there are probably over two hundred in there?"
There was a brief silence.
"Anyone want to grab lunch?"
"Yeah, I'm starving!"
"How about the library after lunch?"
"Sure, let's work on our assignments."
The group quickly dispersed, leaving Michael blinking in surprise.
Once they were out of earshot, Wade overheard someone say, "No wonder it ended so quickly today…"
"Most of them must have been caught by Wade!" another remarked.
"Hmph, they're just jealous!" Michael muttered, annoyed that his feat hadn't gotten more admiration.
"Oh, looks like the game is over," Professor Flitwick said as he appeared. With a wave of his wand, the bubbles trapping the fairies popped, setting them all free.
The fairies flew out and surrounded Professor Flitwick, buzzing in protest over the students' antics.
"There, there," Professor Flitwick said as he pulled out a large jar. "Here, have some nectar!"
Instantly distracted, the fairies settled onto the jar and forgot their complaints.
"So, Wade," Professor Flitwick asked, "did you enjoy the game?"
"It was fun, but it could use a bit more excitement," Wade replied with a raised eyebrow. "Professor, I have an idea…"
Michael leaned in to listen, and a few fairies settled on their shoulders, gently fluttering their wings.
Professor Flitwick listened and nodded along, "Not bad, not bad! This would be much more entertaining… although it would be a big project. I'll need to gather the other professors to help, and I'll have to get Professor McGonagall's approval…"
"No worries, Professor McGonagall will definitely allow it," Michael said. "But about the scoreboard… Can it be made? Sounds a bit complicated…"
"It's not too difficult," Wade replied. "I can ask Fred and George to help. We could get it done in an afternoon…"
"I'll round up a few others to help too," Michael added. "Padma can sketch a blueprint, and Theo and I can set up the monster ranking and make the scoring system fair…"
"We can get upper-year students to help with the construction."
"Cedric has a lot of influence. He could rally a bunch of people to pitch in."
"Think we can finish it in a day?"
"No problem!" Michael said confidently, giving a thumbs-up.
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