It wasn’t that Hooper didn’t think Arden had a valid point because she did, everything was just so much cooler if it was super dangerous. The more danger, the braver someone had to be and more character they had to show. “I guess. I mean it doesn’t have to be deadly but maybe appear to be deadly? Like a ruse maybe? What about we make the task appear to be deadly but in reality, it’s more of a puzzle under pressure?” The cooking competition on top of the mountain did sound deadly though and the start of a good idea but it just…sounded boring! There was no magic in cooking. It was just a muggle skill! Not really worthy of a Triwizard tournament task in his opinion.
Before he could argue this further however, Arden had leaned in and started whispering. Not wanting to miss whatever it was that she was mumbling, Hooper gave a shifty glance around before leaning closer to her, his back towards the professor and the other students. Listening intently, Hooper considered the likely hood of her ideas as she spoke but was hesitant to answer at first. Eventually, he whispered back, “I mean, we could have been poisoned at any point really. It’s just strange that we both woke up like this. Why us?” Turning for a moment at the mention of Milo’s name, Hooper’s eyes settled on the boy for a moment over his shoulder before he turned back to Arden. “I woke up like this too. It seems a bit of a stretch though. Wouldn’t house elves have rules to follow? I mean, even if they had to follow some like to poison someone, you’d think they could say no to some things like positioning students or they wouldn’t be allowed here”.
Turning suddenly as he heard the voice of another adult, Hooper gave a small start as Healer Hernandez strode towards the group through the maze. Upon being questioned, Hooper quickly shoved his hands in his pocket and looked down, his foot instantly cooking the grass underneath him. Obviously they were going to be blamed for this. “We didn’t do this! We both just woke up like this sir. I don’t know about Arden but I’ve only ever had food from the great hall so unless the house elves have poisoned us, I have no idea why this has happened,” a slightly annoyed yet frazzled look across the third year Gryffindor’s face. After shooting a shifty over at Arden, he continued quickly, “Whoever did this must have been useless anyway. If it was some kind of potion or poison or whatever, it didn’t work.” Inspiration struck as he finally put two and two together to get four. “If it isn’t a house elf, it must surely be a Gryffindor and they must be useless at potions.” |