Paragraph 8 - 36 : Aloof Love

First of all, Lewis had guessed from the start that, far from giving magical abilities to curious wizards, the potion would help him with what he was most eager to discover : where was Adelaide's love headed ? He was at the time persuaded that getting an answer to this lingering and worrying question, whether said answer were in his favour or not, would make his mind at peace. Therefore, he brewed and drank the beverage with hope and impatience. Just after drinking the potion, he felt the urge to borrow at the library a very precise book about Creatures Transfiguration. Once he had it in his hands though, he hadn't any motivation to read it, and just kept it in his dormitory without taking a single look at it for the following weeks. Shortly after, he felt another urge. He wanted to throw a party. He nevertheless didn't invite Adelaide. But, through the process of transferring the right to invite somebody else with a spell, provided that the recipient would be ready to keep the party setup secret, Adelaide ended up being there. The four friends were shocked to discover that Lewis had been the person behind the raucous party, and that the party itself was a result of the potion. Apparently, the potion had anticipated that without inviting Adelaide directly - which would have been awkward, since there was no innocent reason that would explain why a Gryffindor student Adelaide hadn't met would know she would be a worthy and trustworthy participant - Adelaide would still go there, for Lewis to see her. Lewis, on seeing her arrive, felt his heart pounding in his chest. He looked at her as often as he could, maybe too insistently at times. He was scared of being rejected, and knew that Adelaide would instantly understand why he was coming to her if he did so, therefore he didn't make a single move towards her, at least during the first part of the party, during which they were watching the stupidest spell competition. Lewis had been more or less the mastermind behind the party, but he had used his role of main risk-taker in the organisation to elude the dull tasks which the other organisers would have to perform : cast the spells to arrange the room depending on the party's evolution, ensure that the party would go unnoticed till the end, get the drinks and so on. Therefore, he was as free as any partygoer during the event. In the middle of the party's romantic episode, he saw Adelaide sit in a corner of the Grit Hall, and, much to his surprise, start conversing with it in a low voice. This time, the urge not only enticed him to go and meet Adelaide, but also lifted his fear of being sent to hell. Thus, he walked briskly to her, and addressed her, in a voice that was unexpectedly confident, probably an effect of the potion :

I had the impression that you were talking to your wand

Adelaide answered coolly :

Yes

Any potion's effect notwithstanding, Lewis was taken aback by this confession, but didn't reply with a confession of his own, and just asked :

Why ?

Adelaide, who obviously had a good grasp of what Lewis was trying to do, replied, in a definitive tone :

Because it's safer to trust a wand than a boy

She then broke eye contact with Lewis, and directed her gaze at her wand back instead. Lewis departed the scene, with mixed feelings. It had neither gone very well, nor very wrong. At the end of the whole festivity, having witnessed quite a few couples getting together, his insight was that this big romantic business was not that complicated, hence he should make a move before it was too late and Adelaide had found love elsewhere, with someone who had understood how easy this was prior to him. On the other hand, it also meant that the goal was in sight. It would just take a bit of time to persuade Adelaide that he was a trustworthy boy. After the party, a week, perhaps ten days, elapsed. Then, a Ravenclaw witch went to him, saying that she had looked for him everywhere, for according to the librarian he was the last student who had borrowed the book 'Created And Transfigured'. She was rather tall, and was clearly indignant that Lewis had not brought the book back in time. She elaborated, explained that she needed the book, because she absolutely had to find out if transfiguring a Hippogriff in a Thestral would give the former, temporarily after the reverse transfiguration, powers typical of the Thestral's. And more generally, she had to enquire about this fascinating possibility : could creatures A turned into other creatures B acquire some of the capabilities of the creatures B in some specific circumstances ? She concluded stating that of course, Gryffindors, especially Gryffindor boys, couldn't understand that all things related to study were important, and that Ravenclaw House had been invented just for that reason : only the Ravenclaws felt it natural that study was the basis for any chance of a future noteworthy achievement. Sure, Gryffindors and Slytherins could succeed while Quidditch was a key factor, but once in the open, at work as grown-ups, their bravery and their cunning would not make up for lack of knowledge and dedication to analysis. Lewis was not convinced by this speech, because winning points at Quidditch would not allow anyone to graduate with a diploma if their marks were abysmal, but he was smart enough to not enter into a fruitless and frustrating argument with such a self-confident witch, who might have a case or not. Paradoxically, it seemed that this self-proclaimed savant girl's analysis was the one that was off. Lewis just told the witch :

I will be back with it in ten minutes. Wait for me here

The girl cast him a severe look, and, again with condescending voice and attitude, said :

Fine

Lewis ignored the witch's despise, and strode towards the Gryffindor dormitories to retrieve the book. When he was back in front of the pretentious Ravenclaw witch, she spotted a Hufflepuff boy, turned in the latter's direction and told him, as if Lewis' existence and presence were of no importance :

She will see you tonight at the Astronomy Tower. Ten o'clock

She then rotated back to face Lewis, saw Lewis carrying the book, held her hand, and let Lewis put the book in said hand, before walking past Lewis. By this point, the Ravenclaw's girl continuous arrogant demeanor had become irritating to Lewis. What he had to do was obvious. He would have a glimpse at how this romantic thing could unfold away from prying eyes. And on top of that, he would get some sort of revenge on the snobbish Ravenclaw girl : her disdainful lack of cautiousness would lead to one of her classmates' private life being exposed to the boy she had looked down on. Ann wondered if hormones could be considered a potion, because even without the Intuition Potion, Lewis would probably have decided to do the same. Lewis was therefore this evening in the Astronomy Tower at 9.30pm. He wanted to make sure he would find the lovers, and to achieve this, he had to scour the Tower from bottom to top repeatedly, while remaining undetected, not only from the couple, but also from Filch and Peeves. Finally, he saw a figure that looked like that of the Hufflepuff boy whom the commanding Ravenclaw witch had addressed. The human shape went up to the top of the Tower, then sat, apparently waiting. Lewis noted that, indeed, meeting under the moon at the top of an Astronomy tower made sense from an amorous perspective. Since the moon was lighting the top of the Tower, that was open at the sky, Lewis was able to distinguish some of the patient boy's features, and was now positive he was not mistaken : this was the boy to whom the Ravenclaw witch had given the indications for the rendezvous. Lewis then looked for a spot from which the incoming beauty would not see him, but which would also be a good vantage point. He elected to hide behind a part of the bulky mechanism the purpose of which was to make the observation instruments work. By doing so, he made it to two the count of boys waiting. He was going to find out one of them was more than superfluous. A person was now cautiously walking up the stairs. Were they trying not to miss a step in the dark, listening to the surrounding noises in order to check that Filch, Mrs. Norris or Peeves was not in the vicinity, or enjoying every second that was making them closer to the location of their soon to come happiness ? Lewis saw in an interstice between two metallic parts a head emerge from the staircase. Half-long hair. Ravenclaw uniform. Then moonlight intercepted the face of Adelaide Morr. Lewis watched, stunned. Adelaide moved slowly towards the Hufflepuff young wizard. She extended her hands, and put them around the Hufflepuff boy's torso. They kissed. During a long, long time. Then, they just stared at each other. This lasted a good fifteen minutes. They hadn't uttered a single word. And Adelaide turned around, going back down the staircase. The Hufflepuff boy sat back, looking at the dimly lit landscape from the top of the Tower. He spent this way the next twenty minutes or so. Then he stood up, and made it to the staircase. Lewis followed suit, shortly after. He was sadly pondering what had gone awfully wrong, when he heard a commotion below him. He ventured a glance at the place from which the noise had come. The Hufflepuff boy had tripped on a broomstick. And apparently, the broomstick had not been there by chance, but had been set in place by Filch himself, for Lewis could hear the latter's voice :

Going there to observe wonderful stars ? I've got plenty of rules for you to observe in your next detention

Lewis was now in a bittersweet mood. He was at the same time utterly depressed because his first love was out of reach, and unhealthily satisfied that his rival had been indirectly punished for this hurtful love. In the following days, he was brooding a lot, and mulled over what had happened. Clearly, this potion had given him what he wanted. He just hadn't envisioned that this would be exactly the most detrimental situation for him. By now, he felt the potion was wickedly insensitive. It was normal for an inanimate thing to be insensitive, but not for it to be wicked. Lewis' story ended here. Mark's frank response was immediate :

You should be happy for the girl you like

Ann thought :

Wait till I date a Goblin, we will see if you still are happy

Judith was quick to make the conversation swerve to a more positive mindset :

Why do you love her ?

Lewis answered :

Well, you understand, she looks different

Judith kept her most understanding voice to explain :

Err, you know, whenever you love a person, they will look different. Anyway, did you know why Adelaide and Emma are on bad terms ?

Lewis was surprised by this change of subject :

No

Judith therefore developed the background of the relationship between the Ravenclaw and the Hufflepuff :

Some of this happened before I entered the school, so I know some bits through Agatha - Agatha Houstack. Adelaide and Emma are fifth-years now, and when they were in their very first year, in a joint Ravenclaw - Hufflepuff Potions class, they needed a specific quantity of Gloms. Emma wanted to take the right count from the jar, but she overturned the jar in the process, and lots of Gloms started scattering on the floor. Emma embarked on picking them up by hand one by one, and it wasn't going as well as planned, so Emma was looking lost. Adelaide, who at the time was very much like the Ravenclaw witch who claimed the book Lewis had borrowed, used her most contemptuous tone to cast the right spell, I think it was 'Mutinglomi Fortum'. Some Ravenclaw students laughed derisively at Emma, who had resorted to a Muggle clumsy technique instead of thinking in terms of magic, and of course Emma was mortified as a result. Now, fast-forward three years. One Hufflepuff girl - this whole story is an all girls business, I don't know why - hadn't grown up very much. So I won't tell you who she is. Her most noticeable trait had been her tendency to lie for almost everything. She wasn't responsible for anything, whenever she had messed up somebody else ended up taking the blame. But she was steadily improving, getting more responsible. She was still a compulsive liar, but when she screwed up, she didn't lay the blame on somebody else anymore. She was merely inventing excuses through which everybody could see, Professors and students alike, in order to explain why she had failed, while not acknowledging it was due to her lack of skills. Nevertheless, during these first four years interspersed with many split Ravenclaw - Hufflepuff classes, Adelaide had disparaged the Hufflepuff girl for being a mediocre and irresponsible student, and for not being a true Hufflepuff. Guess what Emma did ? She always sided with her classmate, saying Adelaide was more irresponsible with her bullying behaviour than the classmate. This had to end in a dramatic way. One day, one more day with a combined Ravenclaw - Hufflepuff class, this was a Charms class, Adelaide made a mistake, and ended up injuring another Ravenclaw student because she had mixed up some spells. Professor Flitwick hadn't seen what had happened, he had at this moment his back on Adelaide and her partner for this exercise. And when Professor Flitwick turned around to assess the damage and the necessary response, the Hufflepuff girl the name of which is not to be disclosed, said she was sorry, it was her fault. At this point, the entire class fell silent - that's what I heard - and Flitwick, who was of course inclined to believe that the Hufflepuff clumsy girl had done something stupid to a student who wasn't even her partner for the practice session, just sighed, took five points from Hufflepuff, didn't even take the time to admonish the Hufflepuff girl - I mean, she had been reprimanded dozens of time and it had failed to produce any tangible result from the Professors' point of view - and Professor Flitwick reversed the effect of Adelaide's wrong spell. From this moment on, something clicked in both girls. Not only the Hufflepuff girl became a responsible and truthful student, although some of her old habits would occasionally come back to hurt, but one wouldn't hear Adelaide disparaging anymore anyone, except Emma. Because Emma, who had supported for years the clumsy Hufflepuff lying student out of spite for Adelaide's scorn during this first-year class, took advantage of the incident to exact revenge on Adelaide. Emma permanently reminded Adelaide that she had been an awful bully, and while the clumsy Hufflepuff girl was there, Adelaide, out of respect for her, wouldn't hit back at Emma. The thing is, at the Ravenclaw - Hufflepuff game, Adelaide was attending because she is a Ravenclaw and she likes Quidditch, Emma was at the pitch because she is attracted to Andre Gaspy, but the mysterious Hufflepuff fifth-year girl was not there to shield Emma from Adelaide's resentful criticism

Judith stopped here. The six students paused, five of them to take in this new background story. Eleanor was first to get out of her reverie :

That's a new coincidence. The Intuition Potion apparently leveraged the fact that Adelaide and Emma were enemies, in order to make Lewis and Mark meet. But that doesn't make any sense. The consequence of Adelaide and Emma behaving icily towards each other was that Adelaide went to Emma, and that ultimately the wands interacted, which helped Mark and Lewis learn that they had both drunk the same potion. But this didn't make them find out anything more that would be related to their curiosity. They knew already everything. Lewis was current with Adelaide's love life, and Mark was knowledgeable about all the events that were doling out and subtracting House Cup points

Ann noticed :

Actually, this had another effect. Namely, that they both ended up here, talking with us

Eleanor was feeling somewhat frustrated with their incomplete conclusion :

None of us knows anything at all about Adelaide's romantic inclinations. I am the only fifth-year here, Adelaide is a fifth-year too, but even I don't have any piece of information in store about this part of her life. And we never played any role in the House Cup ranking. We all lost 10 points, which didn't change the rankings. Furthermore, it was well before Mark brewed the Intuition Potion. I fear that this sequence of events will remain a mystery

Ann concluded :

Who does care ? We heard a beautiful story. I agree with Judith here : Lewis' love story was a nice one

They then stood up and scattered. Every one of them had now on their mind the coming life at home, which would bring a different set of liberties and constraints. The next day, the four friends shared the same compartment in the Hogwarts express. In the aftermath of Lewis' party, their closeness had become widely accepted, even welcomed by some, and they didn't have any doubts : it would last.