Bab 115: Blimey!
Stepping into the road filled with wet mud and water puddles Loki walked alone, having separated from Hermione to not bring attention to her since he didn't know if the other Slytherin students would treat him well because of last year, he moved towards the carriages.
'Wow.' Loki stood amazed as he looked at the black-winged horses that were standing still.
He moved closer to them and made sure not to startle them as he placed his hand on their neck and stroked their leathery bodies.
*Neigh*
The horse blew out hot air from its mouth and tickled Loki's ears knocking its head onto his playfully.
"You're nice.", Loki whispered giving a last few pats as he moved back towards the carriage to step into it.
"Oh?" Loki noticed that three other people had sat in the carriage, two people that he'd recognised, but he silently stepped in, not harbouring any thoughts of speaking with them.
"How come you're showing off your broom?" Tracy asked kindly.
"Not showing off, Lockhart gave it to me to fly to school after the barrier at platform 9¾ broke down. I just hope to return it to him whenever he arrives."
Tracy nodded but then asked Loki something else with a hint of excitement.
"Are you going to do something this year too? You know to gain house points so that we win the cup?" her lips quirking up into a teasing smile.
"Haha…I would love to, but I don't think I will have the opportunity. It would be bad if a great dark lord showed up in the school for a second time wouldn't it?"
"If he can appear once, I'm sure he can appear once again. Can't he Daphy?"
Daphne looked coldly at Loki, like she'd lost all her emotions and then with an imperceptible nod of her head, said, "Whatever it is you plan on doing, I hope luck favours you to fortune."
"Ehh….why do the two of you want me to get into trouble? I have enough problems on my shoulders as it is. *sigh* I guess your inner Slytherin is showing up huh, trying to take advantage of our friendship to make sure you profit from my misfortunes." Loki teased.
An imperceptible smile showed up on Tracey and Daphne's face but they didn't let it show.
"Would you like to make a bet then!?" the younger girl asked, excited.
"Oh? And you are?" Loki asked politely.
"Astoria! Astoria Greengrass, the cutest little sister of Daphne Greengrass!" The girl said with a slight giggle and a proud expression, happy with her self-praising.
'A first year?'
'Isn't she supposed to be going by the boat Hagrid leads?'
"And what would the bet be about?" Loki asked lightly, thinking nothing serious of it.
"Let's see…hmm…how about if you gain the winning points for the house this year too?"
"Oh? Are you confident I'll lose?" Loki asked with a naughty smile. "I mean, I might make us win once, but flukes don't happen twice."
"I am!" Astoria said with a smile that exuded a confident aura.
"Fine then, because of your insistence, I'll challenge you. Maybe I'll try my best to fail the house this year, we'll see." Loki said with a confident smile as he wondered about what might happen this year.
"I'll join in!" Tracy said, raising her hands and looking at Daphne.
"What do you think Daphy? Do you want to join us?"
Daphne looked at Loki for a bit before nodding softly.
"Oh~! Even the ice princess is predicting my rise to stardom." Loki said clutching his heart in fake pain.
Tracey and Astoria giggled but Daphne remained neutral.
"So what do the three of you want from me if you win!?" Loki asked in a calm tone.
"Oooo~! How about a wish! How about you give us three a wish that we can use to claim anything in the future?"
"A blank cheque huh?" Loki asked with raised eyebrows but having confidence in himself Loki spoke professionally, "As you wish Mademoiselles.", Loki said accompanied by an exaggerated bow.
Sensing the carriage was full and that the occupants had made themselves comfortable the Theastrals began to pull the carriage to deliver its occupants to the castle.
Reaching the castle everyone disembarked and moved toward the great hall where the festivities would begin, but not Loki.
He waited outside the castle doors standing while looking at the sky, waiting for Lockhart and co. to arrive.
Suddenly Loki felt a presence beside him.
"Professor Snape! How are you doing!?"
Snape shot Loki a glare but otherwise continued to stare at the sky like Loki did.
"Okay, I see you're not interested in small talk.", Loki said dissapointedly. "They were flying above the train all throughout the way, but I don't know what happened to them aft- Oh, never mind, here they are."
Loki and Snape stared at the flying Ford but soon they realised that something troublesome was about to happen.
Snape set off into the castle grounds, appearing to glide as he moved towards the tree that the car was set to collide with.
"Professor Snape! Do you need help!? Do you want me to call someone else!?"
"There's not enough time. Follow me."
And following him Loki did, they soon arrived in the vicinity of the tree and just as it twitched and was about to move to strike at them, Loki saw Snape wave his wand and shoot a spell at the tree that stopped it.
"The tree is not friendly!?" Loki wondered out loud, "Why is it planted in the castle grounds then!? What if a student got close to it!? What if I go into it!?"
"I don't have time for your stupidity Mr. Loki.", Snape said and then pointed his wand right at the car that was losing altitude with each passing second.
As the car descended on its way to crash into the tree Snape spoke in barely above a whisper. "Do nothing."
Loki who was copying Snape's stance stopped midway and straightened his posture elegantly as if he never meant to do such a thing.
Loki mentally played chicken while wondering if Snape would stop the car or if it was going to crash into them soon.
But he didn't have to hold out for long since Snape had flicked his wand almost immediately and he did it wordlessly.
No light emitted from Snape's wand showing his clear mastery but Loki felt a world of difference almost immediately.
The car that was moving towards the tree slowed down as if it were wading through water, and it soon stopped just out of the range of the tree.
Although its occupants smashed into the windshield, neither Loki nor Snape minded it.
Loki could see its three occupants sigh in relief and he himself did. He didn't want to know the result of what would happen to people inside a car that was barreling towards the earth like a continental ballistic missile.
Snape waved his wand and Loki saw the car slowly move towards the ground as it landed cleanly in front of them.
The car doors opened and its occupants were shot out, landing on the grassless ground around the tree.
'I guess the car hates them too?'
"Haha~ Thank you for helping us Professor Snape, but I'm sure I could've done the same by myself." Lockhart immediately spoke standing up after dusting himself.
Loki held himself back from cursing but he instinctively knew Lockhart had messed up, even more so when he felt a cold aura shoot out of Snape.
Loki stepped away with a slight shiver as Snape opened his mouth, "I'm sure you would've nailed it and yourselves on a branch on the tree. All we would've had to arrange would be three coffins to take back whatever was left of you."
"....blimey." Ron said breaking the silence that ensued.
Walking back to the castle, Loki fell in stride with Lockhart as he asked the man a question, a little loudly so that everyone in the group would hear, "Professor Lockhart! Did you know that I was a poor thief before I became a student at Hogwarts?"
A little taken aback Lockhart smiled politely as he explained, "Trust not what a man says to create an image of him, but his actions. So you don't have to worry about me being rude to you Mr. Loki."
Generating fake tears, Loki sobbed, "Thank you, professor. I don't even have a lot of friends in the castle. But today you helped make a dream come true for me."
"Oh? I'm glad. What did I help you with?"
"You helped me fly on the nimbus two thousand. I always dreamed of flying on a broom as a part of the quidditch team at our school, but since I was poor I couldn't practice to improve my skills. So knowing my limits I began to dream of-
"-flying freely in the sky like a bird! And when I saw the nimbus two thousand on display in Diagon Alley, I wished wholeheartedly that I'd get the opportunity to fly on them.-"
"-If only I had a personal broom, I'd be able to practice and make the house Quidditch team, but even then, I thank you for helping this poor thief when most people would've just ignored me and walked away-
"-I truly admire your skill with the broom, which unlike me appears to be at the level of a professional international Quidditch player already. Thank you for showing me from up close exactly what is possible."
"Ah…" Lockhart smiled and patted Loki's shoulder before speaking in a bold voice, "How about I sponsor your Quidditch training!? I'll talk to Professor Dumbledore about overseeing Quidditch practice for all the houses, why don't you join me then!?"
Loki was sure he heard Harry groan and Snape snort as Lockhart said his part. Yet Lockhart's expression did not change from the wide smile he held.
"But professor, I'm sorry, I don't have my own broom and the school brooms are too old for me to be able to keep up with the other students, I will only be a dead weight."
Lockhart's brows furrowed for a second before he nodded with a smile and said, "You may keep my broom then. I shall even sign it so that you can remember your goal and try to surpass me in the future!"
Loki's eyes widened as he smiled looking at Lockhart, "Thank you, professor! I shall do my best to keep your head held high! I can't believe you're so good! No other professor has ever done something so wonderful for me."
Loki heard Snape stumble but kept his fake smile on his face as he mentally celebrated.
'That's one broom down. I wonder how much more I can steal from this jackass.'
'Potion's digested by about five per cent?'
'How easy. He's like a money box that keeps giving. Wonderful.'
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A/N : Thank you for reading!
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