Ficlet challenge #136: Opportunities Rightly Considered
Title: Opportunities Rightly Considered
Summary: Quirinus gets instruction on how to make the most of a broken broom. Written for the prompt “Cleansweep”, and set in the Quirinus-Voldemort backstory sketched out more thoroughly at FFNet.
Characters/Pairings: Quirinus Quirrell, Nagini, Voldemort
Genre: General, with a dash of humor
Rating/Warnings: G
Medium: Ficlet
Word Count: 500
Can the Order post to Tumblr?: Yes
If yes, your Tumblr username: N/A
A maelstrom of color and emotion lashed through us, breaking our bones. Something snapped into pieces and we screamed with the agony of it, human and snake-
-and woke ourselves up.
My chest was heaving and Nagini was layered over the splintered remains of my trusty Cleansweep. I reached out a trembling hand to her, stretching my consciousness through our familiar bond. “That’s what we get with unicorn blood right before bed, I suppose.”
Nagini shied from my touch. Your broom - I am very sorry. Very very sorry.
I stroked her cheek, encouraging her to come to me. “Shhhh...it’s only a broom. It can be replaced. Besides, that was quite a terrible nightmare we were having.”
Nagini rubbed her cheek against my fingers and slithered up my arm.
“Quite magnanimous of you, Quirinus.” Our Lord’s voice murmured from the back of my skull with something halfway between amusement, approval, and derision.
Nagini writhed against me, unable to settle down. What about your broom?
“Now, now, love, don’t fret. This is just an opportunity we haven’t rightly considered yet.”
I felt the lips on the back of my scalp curl up. “Exactly so, Quirinus. It looks like something useful’s rubbed off on you at last.”
“Good to know, my Lord.” I stared at the four broom pieces, and sorry-looking shards they were. Nagini could pack quite a wallop when she thrashed. “You have something in mind, of course.”
“Of course. How good are your Brackium Emendo and Colloshoo?”
Nagini and I both blinked hard as I tried to follow where he could be going with that. That combination would likely produce a very solid fusing, though it wouldn’t have any obvious benefits over a basic Epoximise - the joins would still be unstable. The broom would never fly quite right.
Our Lord shook my head in despair of paltry imaginations. “Think, Quirinus. What if you wanted to fly without a broom?”
“But you can’t enchant anything but wood and carpets to fly stably. You know we’ve tried.”
“What of a wood-bone composite?”
“It would depend on the ratios of each, I’d imagine. I’d have to do the calculations to determine the right balance. But why would I want to ride a wood-bone composite instead of just woo...ah.”
I flashed Nagini an image of the Cleansweep wood fused with the bones of my limbs, lifting me through the air whenever I willed it. How convenient there were already four pieces.
The image gained a snake wrapped snugly around me. Flying like that could be fun. I’ve never swooped down on prey before. Could we swoop?
“One thing at a time, love. First I need to do those calculations to make sure I get enough wood in the bone.” I swallowed hard as nastier possibilities blossomed in my thoughts. “And check anatomy details so I don’t disrupt any vital bone function. No good us all getting gangrene, eh? Now, where did I put that Muggle medical text on human osteology...”
22 points
Summary: Quirinus gets instruction on how to make the most of a broken broom. Written for the prompt “Cleansweep”, and set in the Quirinus-Voldemort backstory sketched out more thoroughly at FFNet.
Characters/Pairings: Quirinus Quirrell, Nagini, Voldemort
Genre: General, with a dash of humor
Rating/Warnings: G
Medium: Ficlet
Word Count: 500
Can the Order post to Tumblr?: Yes
If yes, your Tumblr username: N/A
A maelstrom of color and emotion lashed through us, breaking our bones. Something snapped into pieces and we screamed with the agony of it, human and snake-
-and woke ourselves up.
My chest was heaving and Nagini was layered over the splintered remains of my trusty Cleansweep. I reached out a trembling hand to her, stretching my consciousness through our familiar bond. “That’s what we get with unicorn blood right before bed, I suppose.”
Nagini shied from my touch. Your broom - I am very sorry. Very very sorry.
I stroked her cheek, encouraging her to come to me. “Shhhh...it’s only a broom. It can be replaced. Besides, that was quite a terrible nightmare we were having.”
Nagini rubbed her cheek against my fingers and slithered up my arm.
“Quite magnanimous of you, Quirinus.” Our Lord’s voice murmured from the back of my skull with something halfway between amusement, approval, and derision.
Nagini writhed against me, unable to settle down. What about your broom?
“Now, now, love, don’t fret. This is just an opportunity we haven’t rightly considered yet.”
I felt the lips on the back of my scalp curl up. “Exactly so, Quirinus. It looks like something useful’s rubbed off on you at last.”
“Good to know, my Lord.” I stared at the four broom pieces, and sorry-looking shards they were. Nagini could pack quite a wallop when she thrashed. “You have something in mind, of course.”
“Of course. How good are your Brackium Emendo and Colloshoo?”
Nagini and I both blinked hard as I tried to follow where he could be going with that. That combination would likely produce a very solid fusing, though it wouldn’t have any obvious benefits over a basic Epoximise - the joins would still be unstable. The broom would never fly quite right.
Our Lord shook my head in despair of paltry imaginations. “Think, Quirinus. What if you wanted to fly without a broom?”
“But you can’t enchant anything but wood and carpets to fly stably. You know we’ve tried.”
“What of a wood-bone composite?”
“It would depend on the ratios of each, I’d imagine. I’d have to do the calculations to determine the right balance. But why would I want to ride a wood-bone composite instead of just woo...ah.”
I flashed Nagini an image of the Cleansweep wood fused with the bones of my limbs, lifting me through the air whenever I willed it. How convenient there were already four pieces.
The image gained a snake wrapped snugly around me. Flying like that could be fun. I’ve never swooped down on prey before. Could we swoop?
“One thing at a time, love. First I need to do those calculations to make sure I get enough wood in the bone.” I swallowed hard as nastier possibilities blossomed in my thoughts. “And check anatomy details so I don’t disrupt any vital bone function. No good us all getting gangrene, eh? Now, where did I put that Muggle medical text on human osteology...”
22 points