The Root of the Problem - Narrative/Ficlet
“So listen Malcolm, I was thinking. It’s a Hogsmeade weekend tomorrow.” It was also Valentine’s Day and the entire reason that Tonks had brought up the trip into Hogsmeade. She fancied Malcolm a bit. He was cute. He loved a good joke. Most importantly, he had very good reflexes.
“Yeah, what of it?”
“D’you want to go---“
“You’re not going to ask me to go to Madame Puddifoot’s are you?”
Tonks nearly dropped her quill. It was a good thing she was so clumsy else wise she would have had to come up with an excuse for suddenly dropping it. “Don’t be stupid. I wanted to know if you’d like to go to Zonko’s with me. I heard they might have some new joke wands in.”
“No, can’t. I said I’d take Anna Midgeon for a coffee.”
A look of annoyance crossed her face as she picked her quill back up. “If you were already going to Puddifoot’s, why’d you look so aggrieved a second ago?”
“Everyone knows if a bloke takes a girl to Madame Puddifoot's for a coffee, he gets to snog her after. No offense Tonks but I don’t fancy the thought of getting my lip bitten off.”
“What?”
“Yeah. You’re kind of a klutz. I can’t imagine many blokes who’d want to risk that.”
Something dark and dangerous flashed in Tonks’ dark gray eyes.1 Before she was really aware of what she was doing, Tonks had her wand in hand. She flicked it at Malcolm. Her movement, as she said a spell2, was pronounced but the finishing move was slightly different. Instead of him just losing his hair, every single strand of hair on his head was jerked out by the root. Malcolm lost his eyebrows in the same fashion.
He let out a loud shriek and dropped to the ground. Malcolm couldn’t decide which part of his head that he wanted to hold in pain the most.
“Nymphadora Tonks!” Professor Vector’s voice cut through Malcolm’s shrieks and laughter. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Teaching this git not to be rude, that’s what I’m doing.” The second the words were past her lips, she regretted them. They were true words and she meant them. However, they would do nothing to keep her out of trouble. Oh, well. She then reasoned that if she was going down, she was doing down and it was best to really earn her punishment.
Professor Vector examined Malcolm. There was nothing really and truly wrong with him, except for a sudden case of baldness. Nevertheless, the professor sent him to the infirmary to see Madame Pomfrey. Once Malcolm had left, Professor Vector turned her full attention to Tonks. “That will be ten points from Hufflepuff for disrupting my class and another ten points for scalping your classmate.”
“Oh, come on-“
Professor Vector cut her off. “Furthermore, I will be seeing you every night this week for detention.”
“He deserved it! He was rude.”
“Lastly, I will be informing Professor Sprout who will contact your parents, I’m sure.”
“Malcolm-“
“I do not care. There are better ways to handle your problems than with a violent scalping charm. Unless you wish for more punishments, I suggest you return to your seat and finish your assignment.”
For a moment, she thought about protesting again. Tonks decided against it. Instead, she stomped back to her seat to finish her assignment. It wasn’t worth it. Well, it had been worth it, punishing Malcolm. Protesting more, however, wasn’t worth it.
Tonks would never forget that if she modified the charm’s ending flourish, the spell changed. The look on Malcolm’s face when the spell was enacted, the sounds he made, they were all embedded into her memory. It became her hex of choice. Some witches conjured flocks of birds to get their revenge. Other witches caused bat-shaped bogies to attack their victims. Nymphadora Tonks scalped people.
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1. There is something of a Black in her.
2. The Scalping Charm.
(Word Count - 665)
“Yeah, what of it?”
“D’you want to go---“
“You’re not going to ask me to go to Madame Puddifoot’s are you?”
Tonks nearly dropped her quill. It was a good thing she was so clumsy else wise she would have had to come up with an excuse for suddenly dropping it. “Don’t be stupid. I wanted to know if you’d like to go to Zonko’s with me. I heard they might have some new joke wands in.”
“No, can’t. I said I’d take Anna Midgeon for a coffee.”
A look of annoyance crossed her face as she picked her quill back up. “If you were already going to Puddifoot’s, why’d you look so aggrieved a second ago?”
“Everyone knows if a bloke takes a girl to Madame Puddifoot's for a coffee, he gets to snog her after. No offense Tonks but I don’t fancy the thought of getting my lip bitten off.”
“What?”
“Yeah. You’re kind of a klutz. I can’t imagine many blokes who’d want to risk that.”
Something dark and dangerous flashed in Tonks’ dark gray eyes.1 Before she was really aware of what she was doing, Tonks had her wand in hand. She flicked it at Malcolm. Her movement, as she said a spell2, was pronounced but the finishing move was slightly different. Instead of him just losing his hair, every single strand of hair on his head was jerked out by the root. Malcolm lost his eyebrows in the same fashion.
He let out a loud shriek and dropped to the ground. Malcolm couldn’t decide which part of his head that he wanted to hold in pain the most.
“Nymphadora Tonks!” Professor Vector’s voice cut through Malcolm’s shrieks and laughter. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Teaching this git not to be rude, that’s what I’m doing.” The second the words were past her lips, she regretted them. They were true words and she meant them. However, they would do nothing to keep her out of trouble. Oh, well. She then reasoned that if she was going down, she was doing down and it was best to really earn her punishment.
Professor Vector examined Malcolm. There was nothing really and truly wrong with him, except for a sudden case of baldness. Nevertheless, the professor sent him to the infirmary to see Madame Pomfrey. Once Malcolm had left, Professor Vector turned her full attention to Tonks. “That will be ten points from Hufflepuff for disrupting my class and another ten points for scalping your classmate.”
“Oh, come on-“
Professor Vector cut her off. “Furthermore, I will be seeing you every night this week for detention.”
“He deserved it! He was rude.”
“Lastly, I will be informing Professor Sprout who will contact your parents, I’m sure.”
“Malcolm-“
“I do not care. There are better ways to handle your problems than with a violent scalping charm. Unless you wish for more punishments, I suggest you return to your seat and finish your assignment.”
For a moment, she thought about protesting again. Tonks decided against it. Instead, she stomped back to her seat to finish her assignment. It wasn’t worth it. Well, it had been worth it, punishing Malcolm. Protesting more, however, wasn’t worth it.
Tonks would never forget that if she modified the charm’s ending flourish, the spell changed. The look on Malcolm’s face when the spell was enacted, the sounds he made, they were all embedded into her memory. It became her hex of choice. Some witches conjured flocks of birds to get their revenge. Other witches caused bat-shaped bogies to attack their victims. Nymphadora Tonks scalped people.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1. There is something of a Black in her.
2. The Scalping Charm.
(Word Count - 665)