Chaos and Order - A Multiverse Fanfic

Darcie truly wasn't experienced in the way of such communications.

When she talked with Milli (-the minister-), she only shared her research topics and aspirations.

There was a friendship between them, but not like the one she had with Daphne. Even with Madam Villanelle, her words were limited to mostly the academic field.

Darcie's hand slowly reached for the black object and picked it up.

Its texture was wooden, glossy, and grainy simultaneously.

She turned it over but found the same blackness there too. "What is it?" she demanded.

Silence.

"Where's it from?"

Nothing.

"What does it do?"

The seller didn't even seem to breathe, much less hear her words.

However, Darcie had no shortage of questions.

Time, though, wasn't in her favor.

She felt a sudden distortion of magic around her and knew the charm was wearing off.

With great haste, Darcie threw the black object in her purse, and ran off, giving a last look to the odd seller.

I will let Mr. Ollivander question him, Darcie thought, running off to a corner as she regained her appearance. Let's see if you would reply to him or not.

The old wandmaker had dozed off, but seeing that it was Darcie who had come knocking on his doors, he reluctantly dressed for the celebrations.

There was no need for the Invisibility Cloak anymore, so she stuffed it into her purse as well.

They had only left the shop when a great commotion took over the alley.

Hundreds of fireworks exploded simultaneously, and the wizards and witches burst out in a feat of cheers.

Only now did Darcie realize that the New Year had arrived unknowingly.

The little girl and the old man greeted Happy New Year to each other, and even Dobby looked quite cheerful, remembering the praises Darcie had showered him with.

Through the people, they crawled their way out, almost crossing the entrance of the Horizont Alley to their right.

"Your parents must be worried sick," Mr. Ollivander reminded her. "You did very wrong by coming to me at this hour, young lady."

Nonetheless, there was a smile on the old man's face that was impossible not to be noticed.

"Let's hurry, then," Darcie nodded in agreement. "Ah! Mr. Ollivander, there is this seller…"

They had reached the entrance of the Horizont Alley when Darcie remembered to let Mr. Ollivander question the seller.

However, when she turned to her right to look at the stall, she found the place… empty.

A great wave of horror ran down her spine like a chilly shiver, and near her, Dobby shuddered, his tennis ball-like eyes freezing in time.

The master and servant looked at each other in trembling silence, realizing that they truly had acted quite recklessly by approaching that seller today.

Darcie didn't know what to do.

Her fingers kept tracing the outline of the black object within her purse, worrying if what she had experienced was even real or not.

*

*

Darcie and Dobby remained quiet after returning to the Brews and Stews with Mr. Ollivander.

Even her mother's scolding and her father's frown failed to shake her mind, and her memories kept reaching the moment of her encounter with the silent seller, and his disappearance.

First, the distance between the Horizont Alley's entrance, where the stall was, and the Ollivander's shop was just too great.

Even if Darcie had left the Invisibility Cloak with Dobby, she was too famous for her own good, letting just any random wizard recognize her on the spot.

Then there would have been no hiding the fact that she had been roaming Diagon Alley alone at midnight.

It wasn't the fear of punishment that made her decide against it, but the fate that awaited Dobby.

Her father never listened to reasons when it came to the house-elf. Much less needed to be said if he were to find that Dobby wasn't with Darcie at that time.

Second, if Darcie had taken the Invisibility Cloak with her, then that would have turned out even worse. A lone house-elf, and one like Dobby, was just too conspicuous.

Yet, the doubts persisted.

Who was he? Had she been hallucinating? Did someone play a cruel joke on her? Were there spells that could replicate such a realistic scene?

Questions kept surfacing in her mind, barraging her thoughts.

However, two things shattered all doubts, telling her that her experience wasn't a magically induced imagination, but reality.

The first was the constant trembling of the house-elf, Dobby.

He kept taking secretive looks at Darcie as if there was an enormous weight on his heart and consciousness.

Darcie knew with the house-elf's personality, he must have been thinking that he had thrown his mistress into an odd and quite dangerous predicament.

The second thing was the object in Darcie's purse, whose edges her little fingers kept tracing, fearing that it would vanish in the next moment.

Yet, neither the object disappeared nor Darcie's thoughts.

And Daphne noticed it all.

The hour was late, and they had stayed up for too long by then.

Darcie decided against telling Daphne about her weird encounter and experimenting with the object that night, for the girls were going to share her room.

The moment Darcie, Daphne, and Astoria fell on the bed, the girls became as sound as three logs.

…

With several matches planned on the second day, they were woken up early in the morning.

The clamor was expected to be no less than the first day.

As the shops buzzed in the Diagon Alley for the long day, the participants arrived at the Flourish and Blotts.

To accommodate a large crowd, as suited to the occasion, Extension Charms had been used on the ministry approval.

All U-11 matches were going to be held in the bookshop, while another place was booked for the U-17 group.

The hour was still early, a chilled mist snaking around the people.

Darcie was wearing a long woolen cloak, green of color and richly embroidered with gold.

Daphne and Astoria had black woolen cloaks, with similar hats. Since the moment Darcie had told Daphne about her conversation with Dolores Umbridge, the girls had come to hate the color pink.

Only players were allowed in the bookshop, and many had already entered by the time Darcie and the other two girls left the restaurant after having a light breakfast.

As Darcie had spent a month in Diagon Alley by now, their parents weren't overly worried about them.

The same wasn't the case for other children, though.

"Good morning, Mrs. Weasley," Darcie and Daphne greeted the older witch. "Happy New Year!"

Molly Weasley was rushing in from the Leaky Cauldron's direction, dragging Ron by his hand.

"Happy New Year!" the older witch replied with a smile. "You all look quite freshened up, aren't you?"

Darcie noticed that the two Weasleys' clothing was only passable, bordering to be called ancient.

Even though Mrs. Weasley looked vibrant, her son's face was almost swollen as if he had just left the bed.

Darcie ignored all this in the next moment.

With Dobby in the Malfoy Manor, she had learned to oversee people's garments quite early in her childhood.

"Yes, Mrs. Weasley," Daphne answered, her tone reserved. "We usually wake up at this time."

Molly's smile broadened, and then she threw a nasty look at Ron.

 "Learn something from them!" she rebuked. "All night he played Gobstones. Humph! And god knows what Fred and George mixed in his pumpkin juice. Went to the bathroom six times in half an hour."

Darcie and Daphne shared a look, not knowing what to say.

On the other side, Ron's face went red in shame. "Mom!"

"Shut up!" Mrs. Weasley didn't seem to want to hear any pleading from her son. "Let's see the schedule first."

Outside the main entrance, a board was hanging by the door, listing today's matches.

The very first match of the day garnered everyone's attention.

Darcie was paired with Ron Weasley.

***************

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