Bubble-Heads

[Raylee Lagowski]

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The day was bright and cheerful, and whilst a wintry New Zealand chill hung in the crisp air, Ray was far too excited to let it concern her. Catching pneumonia was really the last thing on the impetuous redhead's mind, and she was sure a quick potion up in the hospital wing could cure such an ailment with ease anyway. Her walk out onto the grounds quickly turned into a jog, and then eventually sped into a sprint when the Hogwarts lake came into view across the grass. She glanced to her right every few moments to ensure that Kaia, who she was growing very fond of already, was keeping up, though she really needn't have bothered. It was quite clear to see that the brunette was equally excited about performing the charm they had found in the library.

When they made it to the lakeside at last, Ray was wheezing lightly. The grass was still damp with rain that had fallen the previous day, and her shoes and socks were now plastered in mud. She grinned at the thought of how angry her Mother would have been to see her in such a state. "OK," she said, giving a shiver as she considered how cold the water was going to be. She didn't even have a spare change of robes. Still, she'd heard of spells that could siphon liquid from things, and didn't suppose it could be much harder than the bubble-head charm. "Who's going first?" Ray asked, digging around in her pocket for her acacia wand and holding it up in front of her.

 

[Kaia Te Rua]

Kaia pulled her robes tighter around herself as she felt the sharp chill outside. It was cold, probably too cold to partake in any underwater swimming. She couldn't back out now though, they were so close! After all, what they were doing was fun and would surely make them legends around Hogwarts. Imagining the look on Hemi's face after she was triumphant with an advanced spell she doubted he knew existed was enough to make Kaia's final decision. The show would go on.

Kaia picked up her stride, speeding up to a running pace beside Ray. She stopped at the waters edge, a rouge tint in her cheeks as the chill in the air and brief exercise brought her blood to the surface. She ran through the charm in her head and rehearsed the wand movement. Deciding she was ready, she removed her wand from within her robes.

"Let's do it at the same time!" She replied, "You ready? Three, two, one!"

 

[Raylee Lagowski]

Ray nodded keenly and readied herself to cast the spell. Three. Everyone was going to be so envious when they heard about this. Two. Ray's entire body shivered with excitement. One. Flicking her wand, she closed her eyes and recited the incantation in a firm, clear voice. When nothing seemed to happen, she opened her eyes again, feeling both disappointed and slightly relieved. That water looked awfully cold. She looked Kaia up and down, wondering if her new friend had had any more success, but she didn't see anything that remotely resembled the picture in the advanced charms book. Typical, though Ray. At least nobody had been around to witness their failure.

Suddenly, the redhead frowned, pressing a hand into her abdomen. She gave Kaia a worrisome look. "Do you feel... kind of... weird?" she asked, hoping she wasn't the only one whose stomach felt strangely bubbly.

 

[Kaia Te Rua]

On her own count Kaia cast the Bubblehead Charm to the specification that textbook had shown her. She waited, hopeful of a delayed response, watching Ray carefully to see if she had managed it.

She continued to wait until finally, Kaia dropped her shoulders, noticeably disappointed as it dawned that they had both failed. It was a real shame, they had come all this way only for the spell not to work. Kaia thought to try again, she'd try as many times as she needed until she mastered the Bubblehead Charm. Otherwise this was all a waste of time, they would never become legends, and she wouldn't make Hemi jealous.

She shook her head in response to Ray, "I feel norm-hiccup." Kaia's eyes widened at the sight of a large transparent bubble leaving her mouth and floating up above her head. She covered her lips with the palm of her hand and watched the bubble rise a little before slowly lowering her line of vision back to her fellow Slytherin. She was horrified, nothing like this had ever happened to her before. She watched to see if Ray was experiencing similar symptoms.

"Hiccup!" Again a bubble escaped, this time Kaia lifted her index finger and popped before it was out of reach. She tried to speak, to find out what was happening to her, but the moment her lips parted, an entire stream of bubbles escaped, as if someone had turned on a giant bubble making machine. She tightly shut her mouth again, trying in vain to resist the overwhelming urge to hiccup which built in her bubbly abdomen - but it was pointless, everyone knows you cannot hold hiccups in for long. "Hiccup!"

 

[Raylee Lagowski]

Ray watched with mounting horror as her new friend began to hiccup giant bubbles. To make matters considerably worse, the discomfort in her own stomach was growing at an alarming rate, until suddenly- "Hiccup!" Ray clapped a hand over her mouth too little too late; and unfortunately, even that couldn't suppress them. "Hiccup." The bubbles somehow managed to escape through her fingers. She gave Kaia an alarmed look, panic rising in her chest (although it might just have been another bubble). "What are we - hic - going to - hic - do?" she cried, deducing quickly and accurately that a backfired spell of this nature was not going to suddenly reverse itself. They were going to be stuck like this forever! Ray opened her mouth to speak again, but all that came out was a long stream of bubbles. She was completely horrified, and noticed that Kaia didn't look as if she was faring much better herself. Ray didn't blame her. If the brunette's older brother was anything like her own two, she was never going to live this down.

 

[Kaia Te Rua]

Yuk! SHE CAN TASTE THEM!!! Kaia could taste the soapy bitterness on her tongue which made her feel as if she was going to vomit, but every time she opened her mouth to do so, nothing more than a seemingly endless stream of bubbles left her mouth.

She looked at Ray who displayed the same symptoms. The Bubblehead Charm hadn't worked on her either. It was selfish, but Kaia felt reassured that Ray was experiencing the same self inflicted symptoms, she would have been so pissed off if the charm worked perfectly on her whilst Kaia had to deal with this. At least she wasn't alone in the unpleasantness. She tried to speak, to form a plan, "We-hiccup" Forming sentences was impossible, with all these bubbles, she tried just saying one word instead. "Hwaspital" She was trying to say hospital, but the bubbles distorted each syllable. They needed to get to the Hospital Wing before the next logical thing happened- they died from a bubble overdose! Bubble overdoses were probably a thing.