Closed The Great Broom Heist of 2058

[Raafe Khatri]

This was a great idea. Sure, the finals match was still a while off, but if the Hufflepuff team couldn't find their brooms for a few days it would seriously throw off their practice schedule and Raafe knew nothing was more annoying than a mild inconvenience.

Emboldened with the confidence that can only come with being 12 years old and with a group of friends, Raafe slipped out the front door, holding it open just enough so it wouldn't slam and Anisha and the others could follow. "Does anyone know the unlocking charm?" He asked in a hushed whisper, moving to follow the group across the lawn, a group of shadows in the dark he was sure no one could spot them from a window even if they were looking as they headed towards the pitch, and more importantly, the broom shed.

 

[Dahlia Doherty]

The year had started pretty badly, but Dahlia was pleased that things were starting to look up. Sure, she didn't make the Quidditch team, but at least she had people to train with now. And sure, Zinnia was going to be glaring daggers at her the whole time she was home for Christmas (now her birthday had come and gone with no magic and no letter) but...actually that was still going to be pretty miserable, but it was a way off yet. Regardless, the idea to pull off this heist was very exciting, Dahlia was keen to be a part of it, and surely this would put her in good stead for making the team in the future. She paused at the question, though, looking at Raafe in mild confusion. "...no?" she whispered. Was she supposed to? "I've got bobby pins..." She didn't actually know how to use them to make lockpicks, but the idea was kind of cool.

 

[Max Goose]

Max quietly followed the others as they moved across the lawn and towards the Quidditch pitch. He had never been outside of the castle after curfew before so couldn't help but be a little on edge now that they were actually outside. In fact, despite his attitude, he had never so much as stepped foot outside of the common room after curfew. That didn't matter, though. If all went well tonight, the lot of them would give Gryffindor a better chance at winning the final match against Hufflepuff. So naturally, he was already trying to think of where to store the broomsticks once they had successfully acquired them. ''Me neither,'' he whispered back, wondering if he had missed anything during charms again. Probably. ''What's a bobby pin?''

 

[Anisha Khatri]

Anisha usually didn’t enjoy following plans that weren’t her own, but Raafe had had a pretty good idea to help the Gryffindor team. Well, pretty good as long as they weren’t caught, at least. She followed her cousin and classmates outside, resisting the urge to use a lumos spell in the dark. She rolled her eyes at the conversation about bobby pins, clicking her tongue. “I know it.” She said, slightly exasperated. She almost added an 'of course', but felt like it was a bit rude. At least she was here to make the plan go smoothly though. “Dahlia, you can explain that later.” She added in a hiss. They couldn’t get sidetracked by silly conversations.

 

[Leah Thorne]

Leah had jumped at the chance to take part in the plot to sabotage the Hufflepuff team. She felt only a little guilty betraying Chase like this but she knew he would probably forgive him. Besides it wasn't like it was the night before a big game or anything. She had fallen into place behind everyone else and kept glancing over her shoulder as they made their way to the pitch. So far the coast was clear. She hadn't thought about the lock that was inevitably on the door and frowned when she didn't have much of a suggestion. They could always just break down the door? But before she could suggest that brilliant idea Anisha stepped up. "How do you know that?" she asked, impressed. "We haven't had charms yet."

 

[Raafe Khatri]

Raafe had pulled his hood up over his head to look extra sneaky but it was making it harder to see the others with it blocking his vision and he eventually pulled it down as they made it to the broomshed, tilting head as Dahlia mentioned bobby pins. It would be pretty cool to know how to pick locks with them, but really they had magic, so he'd never thought about it.

"She knows everything," Raafe answered Leah with a shrug, relieved Anisha was able to take charge; there was a reason she was usually the one calling the shots. "So we just unlock the door, grab the brooms and run," he said, squinting around the side of the shed to check for rogue prefects or Quidditch players that might be lurking there. "Do brooms float? In water?" He added thoughtfully, catching sight of the lake in the distance, glinting in the moonlight, an idea forming in his mind. Dumping the brooms would be much easier than trying to hide them all under his bed, which was his current plan.

 

[Dahlia Doherty]

Despite being at a magic school, Dahlia still had a hard time not thinking in terms of what she was used to - i.e., magic-less. Though the lack of technology did throw a spanner in the works. She lowered her head a little. It was important to her to be included but she still felt that mild disconnect, like she didn't quite fit in. Add to that her magic abilities were average at best. She stayed quiet, looking around while the others examined the door, following Raafe's words to look over at the lake. Dahlia scratched her chin, looking thoughtful. "Probably? If they can fly they can float?" she whispered. She was reminded of a movie her father had got her to watch, it was positively ancient, but witches and ducks were both supposed to float in water so surely brooms could too, right?

 

[Max Goose]

Glad that there was someone with them who did know the Unlocking Charm, Max decided not to mess with the lock whatsoever. If Professor Holland or one of the caretakers had placed a charm on the lock of the shed, they'd be done for, so it was probably better if they opened it with magic - if it shed was locked, that is. ''That depends on the model of the broom and the charms placed upon it,'' Max answered knowingly. He may not be the most academically gifted student, but if there was one thing Max knew a lot of, it was broomsticks. ''We could throw them in the forest?'' he said, confident that no one was going to check the Forbidden Forest for a bunch of missing broomsticks.

 

[Anisha Khatri]

Anisha shrugged at Leah’s question. “I read about it, then I tried it once we were at school.” She said casually, though it pleased her to hear Raafe say she knew everything. The turn the conversation then took alarmed her, though. She frowned, looking between all of them. “First of all, brooms are made of wood so I bet most of them would float.” She said, nodding at Max to indicate he might know a bit more than her. “Second of all, weren’t we going to give them back after a few days of missed practice? That was the idea, right?” She said, looking at Raafe with a frown. Anisha didn’t mind breaking rules a little bit, but destroying a bunch of older students’ property just seemed like a stupid idea and a good way to get their butts kicked. “How do you guys suggest we fish them back up from the lake or get them back from the forest?” She asked, shaking her head. "Do you guys want to fight a centaur for them?"

 

[Leah Thorne]

Leah was impressed with Anisha's initiative when it came to learning spells. Maybe she'd have to try and get ahead too. But before she could get too distracted by that train of thought they had reached an impasse with their plan. She sighed and put her hands on her hips. They had been so excited about their plan and what their small sabotage could do for the Gryffindor team they hadn't really thought it all out. She listened to everyone's suggestions. The lake wasn't a bad idea and neither was the forest. But the did run a much higher risk of them getting damaged there then, say in the castle somewhere. "What about that abandoned classroom? Do you think we could hide them there?" she asked. "That way we won't have to fight of centarus..." she began and shot a look at Anisha. "Or whatever lives in the lake." she added thoughfully.

 

[Raafe Khatri]

[crawls back in several weeks later...]
Raafe listened back and forth as the group discussed, glancing pensively at the dark castle behind them before looking back at Anisha. This was why he brought Anisha to everything, Raafe tended to get a little carried away, but Anisha would always cover for him. And vice versa, whenever he could, he'd have her back too. "We could probably take a centaur if all five of us went," he said with a shrug. "They can only really kick you right? But Anisha's right, as always, like I said... Somewhere else then..." Raafe stroked his chin for a moment, hoping the effect wasn't lost in the dark, relieved when Leah offered another good suggestion. "Yeah, that way we don't have to get past Professor Kingsley, don't think we could bluff very well with brooms shoved down our shirts. I'm not tall enough," he said with a nod, turning back to the door. Now they just needed to get it open and grab as many brooms as they could carry.

 

[Dahlia Doherty]

Dahlia hadn't thought at all about the logistics, she was just here to be part of the muscle and part of the group. But they all made fair points, and she scratched her head, trying to will herself to think. She could probably put on the waterworks if they got caught, she figured. "Can we like, shrink the brooms with magic and then put them back to normal?" she pondered. Dahlia really needed to study more, especially in Charms. "If we're quick we should be able to get them in though. If we see a prefect, I can just like...pretend I'm a lost first year and distract them."

 

[Max Goose]

Max listened to Raafe with an incredulous smile. There was simply no way that the five of them could take on centaur and survive to tell the tale. And if they did somehow manage to survive a five-on-one attack against such an animal, surely more of them would hear the commotion and come running along to find out what was happening. He didn't think that he would fancy getting trampled by hundreds of centaur hooves. ''I do like that idea,'' Max said. ''Does anyone know a shrinking charm?'' He looked expectantly towards Anisha. If any of them knew advanced spells like that, it appeared that Anisha would be the right person to go to. She already knew the Unlocking Charm, after all.

 

[Anisha Khatri]

Anisha didn't think it would be very easy to sneak the brooms to the empty classroom, but it was the most reasonable suggestion so far. She frowned at Raafe as he said he thought they could take a centaur, wondering if he was kidding. Probably. Anisha grimaced at Dahlia's suggestion. It was a good one, but not even she could shrink things yet. She saw the way Max looked at her but pretended to ignore it. Anisha hated admitting she couldn't do something. "Let's go with the classroom idea. We might lose them if they're small." She said quickly. "But yes, your idea about pretending to be lost is a good one." She told the other girl. Anisha turned to the door and took out her wand. "Alohomora." She said decisively, grinning smugly as she heard an audible click.

 

[Leah Thorne]

Leah let out a nervous but excited giggle when Raafe mentioned taking on a centaur. She'd like to see that. "No idea." she sighed when Max asked about a shrinking charm. "Do you think a prefect would believe us if we say we just found the brooms and were trying to return them?" she suggested. She did agree that playing dumb was their best option if they got caught in the process. She was pleased that the rest of the group liked her idea of the abandoned classroom. Leah held her breath as Anisha unlocked the door and they started to take a look inside the shed.