I'm An Expert

Isobel was looking forward to this year. She wanted to change positions on the Quidditch team. She wanted to be more central to the action and to her, that entailed being a Chaser. Seeker was sooo the first four years of magic school. And since Ryan wasn't in the picture anymore, she didn't have to live up to anyone's expectations. She was basically her own person. And Isobel knew she had no competition. But she wanted an edge. Something to increase her chances at winning. She needed a faster broom.

She walked into the store and saw someone trying to open a package. It was a red package with three golden Snitches inside.

She rushed over to them. "Don't open that!" she scolded. "Don't you know that those things are nearly impossible to catch? Every Quidditch player knows that! Who are you and why do you want these?" she demanded.

"What?"

Aidan looked confused. Didn't Charles tell him to open that? Obviously, he wasn't supposed to open it, though.

"I'm sorry, what? I'm new here, and my friend just wanted to pick up a delivery here. So, uhm, why? What's in this thing?"

Sophie had helped Apollo a lot. He didn't really know where to buy school supplies. He just felt bad because he gave Aidan a bad advice and told him to contact the ministry. Apollo liked helping people, but when he didn't do it properly, he felt a very bad sentiment inside...

Apollo tried to forget about all these. Right now his number one priotrity was to find a broom for this school year. He was told by his roomate some basic information about Quidditch and he kinda liked it. He wanted to choose the correct broom though...

He entered in a store...and he saw Aidan...Oh gosh, he thought, that was the most wrong moment for him to appear there. Now Apollo would have to explain why he gave a wrong advice...however he wasn't the only one there...Isobel was in the store as well...and she seemed to be yelling at Aidan...

"Is there something wrong?" Apollo asked instinctively, wanting to just be helpful.

And the kid seriously didn't know? "Look. These are golden snitches," she said, snatching them away from the boy. "They are the most important ball in quidditch. They move blindingly fast and once someone touches them without gloves, they don't play anymore. You have to handle them very carefully! Now answer the other question: who ARE you? Prefect's orders!"

Sure, Isobel was abusing her power a bit, but it didn't really matter. The kid was new. What did he know about being a Prefect?

And that dumb boy Sophie was flirting with waltzed into the picture. What the hell was he doing here? It didn't matter to Isobel, though. She just ignored him.

Isobel pretty much ignored Apollo and yelled really badly at Aidan. She was saying something that probably had to do with Quidditch... Apollo couldn't just stand there and watch Isobel being mean at his friend. Even though he didn't understand what she was talking about...

"Hey, don't talk to him like that. He is new here. He didn't mean to do such a mistake. Just explain it kindly to him." He said with a determined look on his face.

Aidan didn't quite get it, but he did figure out he was in some serious trouble.

"I'm Aidan De Gaule, I'm starting my first, well... Not really first, but I guess fourth year at Beauxbatons? Look, i'm really sorry about touching these "Stitches", but my friend over..." Aidan looked where Charles had been standing just a few moments ago. Not cool, dude. Not cool. He straightened his back. He wasn't going to bow down to anybody, not even some prefect.

"I'm truly sorry about nearly making these Stitches unfit for any match. I'm still new here, and I'm not even sure what I'm doing here. I guess not everyone is as friendly as can be, huh? Also thanks a lot to you, Apollo. Seriously. Thanks for showing me around this entire place where everything I needed was collected. Now, if you'll excuse me..."

Although he knew he was being a little harsh on Apollo, he wasn't in the mood for compromise. He left the store, but once outside he noticed the broom in the window. Immediately drawn to it, he stood there, trying to decide if he should enter again and ask for that broom, because even a failing wizard like him sad that that broom was very easy on the eyes.

Aidan said it...and he was right...Apollo totally screwed things up when advising him. He didn't know what to say. He just stood there as he watched Aidan to leave the store...It has happened a lot of times, he thought...wanting to help somebody but failing completely.

"I'm sorry..." He said with a rather sad voice...he didn't really know what else to say. He was a horrible adviser.

He then saw Isobel to get out of the store as well. Apollo sighed. How could he pick the correct broom if he was in such a mood now?

Isobel sort of felt bad. She felt like this other kid was basically Cameron. She knew that she had been harsh, but what could she do?

She just went on her instinct and followed him out of the store. "Snitches," she corrected in a softer tone and with a tiny smile. "I'm sorry for snapping. Snitches are just really hard to control and super expensive to replace. My name is Isobel Green. I'm the captain of the Montagnard Qudditch team at Beauxbatons. I was their Seeker," she explained.

"And that broom," she stated. "That broom is a Cleansweep Eleven. It's a classic. It gets to be about seventy miles per hour. Very reliable. My father flew one when he went to Beauxbatons long ago. They still sell very, very well."

Aidan wasn't too sure how to respond to her. She seemed like a completely different person when she smiled... Mood swing much?

"Uhm, no, sorry, uh... No, it's really my fault. I should have known better than to listen to someone I just met. I'm still new to this entire wizard thing, so..."

He was completely baffled. Her temper just did a complete 180. In an effort to change the subject of the conversation, he tried:

"So you play Quidditch? Is that a new thing here in Paris?"

Apollo could see both Isobel and Aidan outside the store talking...He sighed. Although Isobel shouted to Aidan, she was trying to advice him...something Apollo didn't do. He felt such a disappointing feeling inside that he didn't know how could he choose the correct broom.

Probably he should just go eat something to cheer himself up. He could buy a broom later. He sighed and tried to smile a bit. He didn't like looking sad. He smiled slightly and walked towards the store's exit.

"It's okay. You're right. Not everyone is friendly. Not everybody has your best interest at heart. Magic is tricky," Isobel tried to reassure. Her high pitched voice wasn't the most soothing, but she tried her best. "It's okay to not know. And being new to magic is rough... Not that I would know or anything. I'm a pureblood. But I would just assume. If you have questions, you can always ask me. My boyfriend is Muggleborn."

Isobel was still going to hide her true blood status. She was a Green at heart. That heart just happened to pump Muggle blood. But maybe if the source was pure, so would the product.

Isobel giggled. "No, no. Quidditch is worldwide. Every country has a team, sometimes more. We have the Mercenaries. And the Quafflepunchers. And a few other teams. But I prefer British Quidditch teams, to be honest."

Aidan felt something he hadn't felt in a very long tume. But what? He wasn't quite sure himself. There was just something about this girl that was... Different. He wasn't sure if it was in a good or bad way, but he knew she was hiding something. She didn't even want to think about it herself... He looked at her for a moment, his gaze piercing through her eyes. They stood still for about ten seconds, when he decided to break the silence.

"Well, there is one thing you could help me with. I had to sell my diving gear, since I couldn't take it with me due to my luggage being completely full. Right now, however, I'm thirsty for an ice cold dive, and when I saw the lake at school... So, you wouldn't happen to know a diving shop around here? Magical or not, doesn't really matter. Or if you happen to know some way of staying under water for two or three hours or something like that."

At that moment, something clicked for Aidan.

"Wait a minute... That Quidditch thing... You play it on brooms, don't you?! Mon Dieu, isn't that dangerous? What happens if someone gets hit? Or falls off their broom? Wait, is that why there are such high rings near the castle? You have got to be kidding me. That's... That's crazy! I think it's really unsafe and I go scuba diving with shark at 40 to 50 meters below sea level!"

He thought about his first flying lesson next week. How could that go any other way than directly to the hospital? He had seen some people on brooms when he went to Herb class, but them playing a violent ball game at high speeds? This can't go well...

Apollo felt disappointed. Disappointed by himself. And that's the worst kind of disappointment. Not being able to give the right advice...most people would just not care and continue their lives. He'd do as well, however the disappointment would remain for some time. He knew it. He considered it an obligation towards a friend to give helpful advices. Probably he was thinking about it too much...he usually didn't take a lot of things seriously. He walked towards the exit of the store. He wasn't in a mood to choose a broom. Probably some food would cheer him up.

He left the store and accidentally bumped into Aidan, who was talking with Isobel. 

"I'm sorry, I'll leave right now, have a good day." He said with a slight smile on his face and decided to head towards Le Petit Dragon.

"Don't you dare take another step!", Aidan shouted without really thinking ahead. Some people looked up, a little jumped. Great, now what? First thing's first: he needed to apologize.

"Uhm, yeah, y'all can walk on... Dude, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have blamed you. It's just that I've had a rough week. Don't sweat it. How can I..."

A big smile spread across his face.

"How about we get lunch? I'll pay." He looked at Isobel. "You're invited too, naturellement." He looked at the two of them with a smile he hadn't shown since... Since...

Apollo was heading towards Le Petit Dragon. He was surely in a bad mood when...Aidan shouted for him to stop. Apollo surely didn't know what to expect. He thought that Aidan was going to be angry at him. He was a horrible adviser after all. But out of all the things that Aidan could say...he apologized. That was surely a surprise for Apollo...

"You don't have to apologise. I was the bad helper here. However, I'm glad that you aren't mad at me." He said as a huge smile begun to spread across his face. Aidan wasn't mad at him...wow, he thought. He couldn't even remember of all the things that bothered him before.

"Sure! We'd love to join you for dinner, dude! Right Isobel?" He said rather loudly as he raised his hands in the air. Maybe helping your friends isn't the only quality a good friend should have, he thought. Forgiveness is as important as helpfulness.

Isobel watched the two boys work out their spat She wondered why girls didn't have it that easy. She and one of her gal friends would probably be angry with each other for weeks.

She shook her head at the invitation for food. "I'm going to have to pass on that. I don't want rumors to start already."

Isobel knew that Cameron was too good for her, so she didn't want the "unfaithful girlfriend" gossip to go around. Even though Cameron knew better, he'd occasionally get self-conscious. And having to reassure him tended to be difficult.

Well, that went a lot smoother than expected, Aidan thought. And apparently Isobel had a boyfriend! He was suddenly reminded of a song, but he didn't quite know which one.

"Well then, I hope to bump into you more in the castle! Have fun looking for a broom.", Aidan closed.

Apollo was happy that Aidan wasn't mad at him. But Isobel's rejection of having lunch with them, was kinda puzzling him.

"Oh OK, Isobel. Although, I don't really understand how eating lunch with friends can result in bad rumors about you..." He said in a questioning tone.

Apollo couldn't really remember having rumors spread about him. Well, he wasn't really the popular kind of person at school, but he had a good amount of friends...

Isobel laughed. "When you're as popular as I am and everyone wants to knock you off the top, you don't give the enemies fodder. They can, and will, tell your boyfriend," she explained. "So I'll leave you guys to that. Have fun!"

"Also, Aidan? I'll look around for a spell. I have some connections," she said before turning the other direction and walking away. She had to meet her brother and that was bound to be pleasant. Not.

"Thanks, Isobel..."

Aidan turned towards Apollo.

"All right! Let's put the school funding I'm getting, which is way too much by the way, to good use!"

"Oh wow...I've never been popular so I don't know how it is. I guess it's interesting..." He replied kinda shocked. He couldn't imagine how much hate popular students got. Apollo could never hate on somebody just because he or she was more popular than him.

"YEAH DUDE! WHOOOO! Let's eat something great! If you didn't know, food is one of my favorite hobbies!" Apollo laughed. Aidan kinda reminded him of his best friend at his old school. He was glad that he would have another chance to hang out with him. At least to make up for the wrong advice...