Rituals and Hags PV Dealla Prince

Dinner was usually a social time for Dee. Granted, pretty much any time was a social time for Dee, but dinner more so. It was a time to talk to people, when you weren't supposed to be paying attention in class and no one was rushing off to some club, sports practice or other hobby; and mealtimes were usually an easy opportunity to find someone you wanted to talk to without having to hunt them down between classes.

Today, Dee was sitting with friends, chatting cheerfully about the upcoming break. She was planning to go home to Whitehaven before then attending the summer camp in August, without stopping by her grandparents' place this time. Camp was a must, of course, given that the Ravenclaw team had managed to snag a tied win in this year's duelling championship, and with that month already booked, she wanted to spend every minute she could at home.

When a voice addressed her by her last name, Dee could guess who it was before even looking up; not even by voice, but because there were only a handful of students who called her Prince, and even fewer who would approach her to politely ask her to talk.

She narrowed her eyes at Jack for a moment. "Not usually squeamish," she replied, shrugging. "Depends what it is about, though." She'd seen plenty of blood in the past few years, but would shy away from other things.

Given who it was, she assumed that a measure of privacy was in order for this conversation, so she gave her friends a short wave before grabbing her plate and cup to move to a different part of the table. Not quieter, necessarily, as that would make it more easy to listen in, but one with fewer familiar faces. "So, what's up?" she asked, using her fork to pick up a few spaghetti. Jack approaching her likely had to do with one particular pretty redhead, but she couldn't resist a bit of teasing. "Ready to admit we're friends yet?"

@Jack Burnett

When Dealla narrowed her eyes at Jack at first, he wondered if coming over had been a mistake after all, but then the Ravenclaw told him she wasn't usually squeamish and he felt a little better. Her comment that it depended what the subject even almost sounded to him like she was inviting him to try her. When she dismissed her friends with a wave, he felt a little guilty for having pulled her away from them, but he was grateful for her foresight. The less people who overheard the conversation that was about to take place, the better. There was the Concealing Sound Charm, Muffliato, but then an unidentifiable buzzing sound would fill the ears of anyone around them and that would have been more conspicuous than just talking as though they were having a normal conversation.

"Huh?" Dealla's question about whether he was ready to admit they were friends yet caught him completely off guard. He stared dumbly at her for a moment before laughing and shaking his head. His laughter was a tad more strained than it might have been normally, though. "Haha...no. But I did have a question for you."

He took a big glup of pumpkin juice from his goblet before continuing, lowering his voice and trying to keep it steady as he spoke. "So...Marion came to Flash and my dorm in March - exactly a month after we last talked. I didn't know what to do because I was all alone and I obviously couldn't take her on by myself. So I asked if I could make a deal with her." The Slytherin fed himself a fork full of green beans as a pause, feeling stupid for even saying aloud what he had done. It was only when he finished chewing and swallowing that he went on.

"I wanted to know how to undo the curses she put on Flash. They've had terrible effects on him ever since he got them. So she gave me instructions on what ingredients to get and how to perform some creepy ritual. After that, she said she would undo what had been done to Flash." At last he was able to look Dealla directly in her aquamarine eyes. "She also said she would come to collect her payment. But I was thinking...what if we somehow used that chance to catch her or prove to the adults that she's a hag?"

@Dealla Prince

"I'm shocked," Dee mumbled around a mouth of spaghetti. "Speechless. Flabbergasted." She swallowed, thinking for a moment. "Indignant? No, I think that's less impactful than flabbergasted. Don't you?" Luckily, she was over being offended by Jack's refusal to call anyone a friend, and her tone was friendly, an amused edge tinging her words. They could be... allies, if he preferred, and she'd just call him a friend behind his back.

When he mentioned a question, she perked up slightly, her blue eyes curious, although that didn't stop her from chewing on more spaghetti. Which she promptly regretted when Jack started talking about why he was here. The general topic wasn't unexpected, but making a deal with Marion was an entirely different question, and Dee promptly choked on her pasta, starting to cough violently. By the time she managed to force down a gulp of water, her eyes were tearing up, but the shock hadn't worn off in the slightest. "You what?" she demanded, incredulous. This time, her previous stream of adjectives actually applied. She didn't know what to say to that, so when Jack continued talking, she just listened instead.

"And... the ritual... is going to cure Flash?" she asked, hesitant. Despite her claims that she wanted to help him, she hadn't actually done anything about it, had honestly not even thought about it that much, and she felt a twinge of guilt in her stomach. There had been lots of other things distracting her, but that was hardly an excuse. "That... Jack, isn't the number one rule of dealing with hags to not deal with hags?" Not that she had personal experience, but it seemed risky at best, moronic at worst.

Setting down her fork, this felt like it should take priority over dinner. "Although... if we know when she's coming... that would be a good opportunity to set a trap." The thought was tempting, intriguing. Bringing down a hag would surely be an impressive achievement, and the part of Dee that was still desperately striving for any form of glory, wanted to leap at the opportunity. "If we have hard proof..."

Staring down at her plate, Dee considered. The mention of a deal alone made all her alarm bells ring. But Jack wasn't an idiot, at least she didn't think he was. He hadn't given her the impression so far despite multiple interactions, and she was quick to judge people when it came down to it. So she looked up, focusing on him. "You think it could work?" she asked, insistently. Wasn't even a chance better than nothing? Then she narrowed her eyes. "Is it even a choice now, if you already made the deal? Not that I know much about this but I don't think hags have a returns policy on that sorta thing."

@Jack Burnett

Jack fought back a smile at Dee's barrage of vocabulary - at least until she really found something to be shocked about. When she started choking, he reached for his wand, wondering if he would need to use the Anapneo spell, but the Ravenclaw rapidly drunk enough water to make the pasta she had been choking on go down. He spoke quickly after that, not wanting to give too much time for either of them to dwell on the obvious foolishness of his actions.

"I couldn't think of what else to do," Jack confessed, pressing his hands on either side of his head. "I wanted to keep her interest somehow while I tried to think about how she could be exposed for what she truly was. And I also really wanted to find a way to cure Flash of his curses. So that was the best I could come up with." I wanted to try to beat her at her own game, he didn't say, because that was what heroes in storybooks did. But this was hardly a storybook and he was certainly no hero.

He watched Dee set down her fork and think over the information he had given her, pondering their opportunity aloud. When she finally looked up at him, asking if he thought it could work, he met her gaze seriously. "It has to work. I can't think when we might be able to get another chance like this. That's why I need your help."

Jack took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "The choice is if we try to do something to set a trap for her or not. I don't necessarily have to do the ritual in which case she might never have a reason to demand payment." Unless she considered the mere information of what he was supposed to do to complete the ritual something that he had to pay her for. But Jack didn't really know or care because if Flash could be cured, he was going to try no matter what.

"Getting the ingredients for the ritual isn't exactly a walk in the park, either. For one thing, I...I need the blood of a girl who trusts me," he explained, stirring his fork absently amidst his food.

@Dealla Prince

Wiping the tears from her eyes, Dee considered Jack's explanation. Suggesting a deal still didn't sound like the smartest thing to do in the situation, but well, who knew how she'd react when suddenly confronted by a hag in her dorm room. He'd done some quick thinking and gone with what he thought had the best chance of success. While she would like to believe she'd found a better answer, truth was she was now sitting at dinner in the Great Hall with no hag in site - at least not upon a quick glance to the Slytherin table - and still couldn't think of a better solution.

"I always assumed it was more like... if you made the deal, you need to follow through or they'll do something worse, that kinda thing?" she said slowly, taking another sip of water, still trying to soothe her throat. "I'm not sure you'd get out of it just by not doing anything. It sounds... too convenient." Granted, she didn't have any source for it; perhaps she was just drawing on deals with powerful entities in storybooks and fairy tales.

Pausing, Dee bit her lip, then shrugged and picked the fork back up. "Sounds like there's not really a choice then, is there?" Which also meant that there was no point in worrying about what-ifs, they just had to go forward and make the best of it. And the best for Dee at the moment included pasta.

Chewing on another fork of spaghetti, Dee looked at Jack, blue eyes calculating as she sorted through what he had told her. "So she's coming back after you did the ritual thing. Right after? Or at some unspecified point in time? The smaller the window the easier it would be to set a trap." That seemed obvious, but she still wanted to point it out. Every bit of information Jack had could be important.

"Perfect would be if we could have a professor to witness when she comes back... Or maybe even several. I think that's the best we can do for a trap?" A sudden idea occurred to her. "Unless... Do you think hags are affected by potions? I can't brew it yet, but if we could find someone who could make us a Draught of Living Death..." Getting her to drink it would be a different issue, but it would certainly render her harmless if it worked. "Although presenting the professors with a girl we put into a coma maybe also isn't the best idea."

That Jack might need obscure ingredients for the ritual really shouldn't come as a surprise, but it was another problem she hadn't considered so far. The mention of needing blood gave her a short pause, the red sauce on her plate suddenly seeming a really unfortunate colour. But then, this really wasn't the worst of the whole situation. "That's not creepy at all," she replied, raising her eyebrows. "Is that why you asked about me being squeamish? Who're you gonna ask for it?"

@Jack Burnett

"You could be right," the Slytherin responded to Dealla's assumption about hag deals. "But I didn't intend on testing it. If there's even the smallest chance that I can undo what's been done to Flash, even if there's a larger price to pay, I want to try it. I'm sick of being helpless while he suffers night after night."

He sighed and took another sip from his goblet. If they were going to make the most of this opportunity, they had to act. If they tried and failed, Marion would be that much more on her guard against them. "No - I guess there really isn't a choice after all."

Finishing off what was left of his supper on his plate, he felt Dealla's eyes on him and wondered what she was thinking about until she spoke up again with questions. "I...honestly, I'm not sure if she's going to show up immediately after or not," he answered a little helplessly. "We didn't specify any sort of time, but she said once the ritual was complete, she would undo all she had done to Flash and 'extract a suitable payment'. I can only assume she'd show up right after, especially since I already know she can get into our dorm room. Unless she plans to somehow extract payment from me some other way, but I doubt it."

He nodded at her mention of a professor or several witnessing when Marion came back. At the very least, they'd be aware of her then. But then Dealla mentioned potions and Jack hesitated. "I don't know if we'd be able to get her to drink something like that. Besides, we don't even know if it would affect her, do we? And you're right; it would be a little difficult to prove what she is if we tried to turn her over to the professors in that state." It wasn't as if he could come up with much better, though. Truth serum, maybe? "Maybe if we brought her to the professors and request that she take a truth serum like Veritaserum, she would have to take it or else seem suspicious?"

Jack chuckled mirthlessly at his empty plate when Dealla sarcastically told him the ingredient he requested wasn't creepy at all. "That's exactly what Winters said..." he murmured. "But yes, that's why I asked about you being squeamish. I already asked Opeila Winters and she agreed, but..." He glanced away. "It's a lot of blood to ask for. And I hate to ask, but I wondered...if you would be willing to help in that department as well."

@Dealla Prince

Dee made a humming noise, neither negatory nor affirmative. Jack cared about Flash, a great deal, even she could see that. She'd misunderstood; he hadn't come to her wanting to know if she thought he should do the ritual, that part had never been in question. The question was if she was going to be in on it, to help, to possibly catch Marion. Honestly, that also wasn't a question. Of course she would. Perhaps she could try to make sure that Jack didn't get himself and Flash killed in the process.

So she just nodded, not commenting. How much Jack cared about Flash was something she'd tuck away to tease him about later, when Flash was well.

"That makes it harder," Dee replied, frowning. Not knowing when Marion would show up, how were they supposed to set a trap? They couldn't have a professor on standby the entire time just in case that was the right moment. "Right after would be convenient, of course, but once the ritual is complete... it's also going to be complete the next day, or the next week. You think it's going to summon her or something?" She drummed her fingers on the table. "I guess... if there was a way for you to communicate to me when she shows up, you could stall and I could run and get someone? A prearranged signal?" That was a risky plan, but she hoped she had enough impact with a few of the professors to get them to come when she asked. "But contacting me and naming a place without her noticing, that's gonna be hard." She shook her head.

The potions idea, it seemed, was a no-go as well. "We can't just drag her to a professor and demand she take Veritaserum. Even if we could somehow force her to go, the professor would think we're the insane ones for making unreasonable demands for no reason. We'd need some kind of proof to begin with." Who would have thought setting a foolproof trap for a hag was going to be this complicated?

Winters? "Opeila's in on this?" Dealla asked, cocking her head, then nodded when he mentioned that he'd asked her and she'd agreed. Well, that was one thing down, then. But Jack wasn't done, and Dealla paused, taken aback for a moment at the request. For a second, she felt a little offended. So it wasn't because of her superior skills or intellect that he'd approached her, he just wanted her blood?

But then, a pint was quite a bit of blood - there was a reason fourteen year olds weren't allowed to donate blood - and it was a rather awkward request to make of someone. "So you think I trust you, huh?" she asked, grinning. Question was; did she?

Enough to conspire to trap a hag together, at least. Enough to talk to him about some things she barely mentioned to anyone; although Dee's choices in who to confide in were sometimes questionable at best. Enough to give him blood for a creepy hag ritual, not knowing the results?

"What do you-" she began, then stopped and shook her head. "You know what, never mind. Fine. Just don't get me killed, please."

@Jack Burnett

Jack dropped his fork on his plate in astonishment when Dealla pointed out that the ritual was going to be complete the next day as well as the next week. How had he not considered that loophole? That meant Marion could take all the time she wanted. He had simply assumed she would magically appear once he unleashed the bottled scream for the doll to hear, but what if she didn't? Would he have to go and find her himself?

Jack groaned and put his head in his hands. This would have been so much easier if Kazuo or Ruka had been there since he shared a mental, telepathic link with both of them. One of them could have alerted Dealla once Marion showed up and Jack told them telepathically, but since they had no other way to communicate, they likely would have to use something like an owl which would take longer. It would also be much more noticeable to Marion than telepathy would have been. What pre-arranged signal could they use? "It's too bad you don't have my binding mark or we could have just talked telepathically," he joked weakly. "What should we use instead? Maybe you can hang around in Tone's room when I complete the ritual since he's in the same dormitory and you can listen for when she comes?"

He drummed his fingers on the table as he listened to Dealla explain why they couldn't just demand Marion take Veritaserum. "What about Flash's eye? Is that not proof enough?" Probably not since they had no way of proving it had been Marion's doing. Drat.

Sighing heavily, Jack nodded in affirmation; Opeila was in on it. When Dee asked, grinning, if Jack thought she trusted him, he tried to smile back and gave a shrug. "Even if you don't trust me or give your blood, you're still one of the smartest people I know at this school. If there's anyone I would have wanted advice or help from to try to catch a hag, it would have been you."

He stared at her when she agreed so readily to help with the blood offering. "...Just like that?" She...she really did trust him, then? Well, if she was agreeing to give blood without asking exactly what he was going to do with it, wasn't that trust? "I won't," he told her seriously. "I'll do everything in my power to make sure you're unaffected by this when all is said and done. I was the one stupid enough to make this deal in the first place anyway, so I should be the one paying for it, not you." Still, he couldn't help thinking about what Opeila had fretted about. What if she was right and something happened to her and Dealla?

Well, if it did, at least this way he would know what the cause was if it happened to both of them. He could work to make sure they were perfectly healthy and safe by the time the whole ordeal was over. Them and Flash both.

"Do you think we should have at least one teacher present at the time the ritual is completed? Just in case?" Jack asked Dealla. "You could...I don't know, tell them I was acting suspicious or something and that I seemed to be messing with magic I shouldn't have been in my room." That was certain to get them to come and investigate, right?

@Dealla Prince

Dee blinked, then paused when Jack mentioned the connection he had with Ruka. Right, the binding mark, he'd told her about that a few months ago. She'd almost forgotten, it had faded in comparison to what she'd found out about Marion that day. She'd balked at the idea back then, the thought of having someone in her head permanently, without being able to take it back. Not even marriage was that irreversible, was anything? Except death, perhaps.

It was undeniable that in this case, it would be extremely useful, though. The thought almost got her wondering. "It is, isn't it," she said softly. "That would be too convenient."

"Hana's room?" she asked, cocking her head. She supposed that was a possibility, although it meant they'd have to figure out how to smuggle her into the Slytherin common room. Three years at this school and she still hadn't managed that, although granted, at some point in her second year, the desire had worn off. Slytherin didn't have the pull on her anymore that it had used to; Ravenclaw was her home now and most of her friends were either in her house or Hufflepuff. "That might... work," she said slowly. "It makes the problems more mundane, at least. Like how to get me there in the first place."

The question of proof was still the most difficult one. If they could figure out how to do that, this whole trap setting might be unnecessary, but that was where the problem lay. "If it was that easy to prove we could have just gone and shown his eye to a professor months ago," she sighed.

At least Jack's assessment of her intelligence was rather flattering (and he was, of course, correct). Her grin softened into a more genuine smile, pleased that approached her for this instead of anyone else. "Likewise. I think." Then she quirked an eyebrow at his astonished reaction when she agreed to give him her blood. "What, did you want me to refuse?" she asked, amused. "The way I see it, it's like this; either I'm in or I'm out, it makes no sense to go halfway. You're already in it, so is Flash, and apparently Opeila. Long-term if no one does anything against Marion, we're probably all screwed. This might be the best shot we have, right?"

She sighed, then closed her eyes, dropping some of the confident facade. "I probably wouldn't agree to this request from many people," she admitted glancing back at Jack, her eyes clear. "But I suppose if there's anyone I'd trust with this, it'd be you." An odd truth, considering she had friends, a boyfriend, people she could rely on, but a truth nonetheless. She'd trust Jack to make smart decisions when it came down to it. Her gaze was firm with the next words, voice hard. "Don't let me down."

But that didn't solve the issue of their potential trap, and Dee nodded at the next suggestion. "Probably a good idea, yeah. And you definitely are messing with magic you shouldn't be, so I'm pretty sure I can deliver that line convincingly." She narrowed her eyes, thoughtful. "Any preferences? Professor Iwasaki came after us last year when the incident with Vladimir and the Victor doll took place." He'd been less of a miraculous saviour than she would have hoped for, but he had been around to heal their injuries by the end. They'd managed mostly on their own then, but she didn't see how they would do the same now. "He's who I'd go to."

@Jack Burnett