Chapter 25

Chapter 25

The next day, after an exhausting three-hour Charms lesson, Jade was walking outside with Chloe, her Slytherin friend. Chloe was surprisingly amicable and sweet, and they were nibbling on licorice wands as they walked. Chloe always had a lot to say, gesticulating wildly and embellishing her anecdotes with funny voices.

As they strolled, Jade noticed a small cluster of people standing by the edge of the lake. She could hear raised voices and someone's snarled comment, and she craned her neck to see what was going on.

"We can go over there if you want, Jade," said Chloe, catching her new friend's small gestures and tendencies.

"Thanks." Jade was relieved that Chloe understood, and the girls walked over towards the lake. Chloe caught sight of someone's face and shrank back.
"That's Marcus Flint," she hissed, covering her face. "We...don't exactly get along."
Jade persevered, however, and pushed her way into their semicircle. "What's going on?"
The group was comprised of three older Slytherin boys and a tiny Ravenclaw first year with huge glasses. One of the boys leered at her. "None of your business."
She knelt next to the first year. "Are you okay?"

The little girl sniffled. "They tried to push me in the lake! I was so scared."
Jade glared up at the boys, who were all at least a foot taller than her. "Don't be mean to her. She's so much littler than you, why are you picking on her?"

A red-haired boy crossed his arms. "She was there, that's why. Do you have a problem with that?" He drew his wand and casually tapped it against his thigh, sending sparks into the air.

"Actually, I do." She crossed her arms and rose to her full height of four feet, eleven inches. "You shouldn't go around picking on people for the fun of it."
The third boy, a shorter one with dark hair and freckles, folded his arms across his chest. "Do you have some kind of solution?"
"Yes." Jade was shocked by her own nerve. "If you let her go back to her common room, I'll let you push me in the lake. No arguments, no struggle."
The oldest one looked down his nose. "You're sure?"
Her voice wobbled, but she looked him right in the eye. "Positive."
The first-year girl took the opportunity to run off. Jade positioned herself on the bank and prepared herself for the icy cold. "Ready," she said.
The water was even colder than anyone could have prepared themselves for, and Jade landed in a particularly deep patch. She spluttered and gulped, but swam up to the surface and paddled over to the edge. The boys were gone, of course, so Jade hoisted herself up onto the bank and headed inside to Potions class.
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In Potions, Jade was stirring a particularly difficult Silencing Serum. If she spilled even a drop, she wouldn't be able to speak for hours. The roiling emerald-blue liquid looked both eerily beautiful and deadly dangerous, and it would be all too easy to mess up.

Please, Jade thought, scrunching her eyes shut, please let me get this right. As if by her very wish, the potion began to fluctuate, moving up and down and swirling in circles. She dropped in a pinch of powdered unicorn horn, and the potion turned a gorgeous cerulean blue and shimmered even in the faint light of the dungeon. Siphoning some of it into a flask, she walked carefully up to Professor Snape's desk. Jade placed the bottle on the desk, and then stepped back and awaited critique.

"Passable," the teacher snapped, and Jade gave him a huge smile. Snape was known as one of the harshest teachers in the school, so that was like being told that she had achieved the unachievable. Jade skipped out of class, her robes still soggy from her fall into the water.

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In the library that evening, Jade sat down in one of the armchairs as West and Alana came filing it.

"What happened to you?" Alana asked, gesturing to Jade's damp robes.

"Got tossed in the lake. First time, won't be the last time. How were your days?"

The redheads traded glances. "Alright, I guess," West said, shrugging and plopping down onto the carpet.

Jade reached her hand into her robe pocket and rubbed the Compass again, turning its smooth surface over in her fingers. She clicked the catch a few times, the satisfying snapping sound muted slightly by the fabric of her robes.

"What's in your pocket?" Alana demanded, attempting to peer into the pocket.

Jade pulled out her hand, still clutching the Compass. She carefully uncurled her fingers, revealing it in all its bronze and unassuming glory. She clicked it open, the familiar motion instantly soothing her. "It's called a Compass of Right."

She proceeded to repeat what Hermione had told her, skipping not a detail. "...And I couldn't make it work."

West pointed. "Looks like it's working now."

Jade gaped as, before her eyes, the rings of glowing runes clicked, one by one, into place. The needle in the center started to spin, first one way and then another. It settled slowly, pointing straight ahead. All three of the girls sat up, staring at the Compass.

"What- but- but- I don't understand! I was supposed to complete a hope of right, and act of right, and a feeling of right before it was activated." She was bewildered.

Alana looked at her, curious at once. "Why did you get tossed in the lake?"

"Well, there were some older boys, and they were going to push this little first year girl in, but then I said that they could push me in if they would leave her alone, so they did."

West made a check mark in the air with her wand. "Act of right, check. Okay, what else. Hope of right?"

"Potions class!" Jade blurted. "I was hoping not to mess up my Silencing Serum."

Another check mark.

"Feeling of right?" Alana bounced on the balls of her feet.

"Well, I'm not quite sure about that one still. It might have happened when I saw you guys." Her voice softened to a small whisper. "Whenever I see you guys, I get this feeling inside. Contentment, you might call it. It's like...I'm where I'm supposed to be, and everything will be okay as long as I stick with the two of you. That's what activated the Compass, I think."

West gave her a hug. "Now, let's go and have some fun!"

Jade looked up suspiciously. "What did you have in mind?"