Hogwarts' Next Top Witch

Hogwarts' Next Top Witch

By Mariposa

Chapter 2: The Girl Who Wants To Ride Harry's Firebolt

"How are you at transfiguration? Be ready to find out at 9 AM sharp," Padma read from a purple note card when the witches came back from their first elimination.

"I wonder what we'll have to do?" pondered Parvati. "Change an ottoman into a pouffy dog? A cotton ball into a Pygmy Puff?"

* * *

The next morning the girls met Fleur and Cyra in the hotel lobby and they walked a couple of blocks until they ended up at...

"A salon!" exclaimed Hermione.

They followed Fleur inside, Cyra bringing up the rear.

The girls exchanged confused glances and whispers as they gathered around Fleur, who was grinning widely. "As a top weetch, eet eese very important to always look your best. Now I know not everyone can be born part-Veela like moi-" she shook her shiny hair, "but today eese your lucky day - you're all getting makeovers!"

Eight excited squeals elicited from the girls. Hermione immediately shot her hand up in the air. "Excuse me, but I don't understand what looks have to do with being a great witch. Helga Hufflepuff and Rowena Ravenclaw were some of the greatest sorceresses of our times. I've seen their portraits and they were no beauty queens."

"Oui, oui, oui," Fleur said impatiently. "But een zis day and age, image eese tré s important. Plus, I zink you weel be very excited what we 'ave planned for you. Cyra?"

"Hermione, we're going to get rid of that mess in your hair-"

"Hey!" exclaimed Hermione, putting a hand on her bushy brown hair.

"-and we're going to make it sleek and shiny, more manageable for your boyfriend to run his fingers through it."

"Ron eese going to love eet," Fleur added.

"Ron likes my hair just the way it is now," Hermione replied softly, but nobody heard her.

Cyra continued: "Cho, we're going to give you a really funky asymmetrical cut and add bangs. It's going to make you look FIERCE! Luna, we want you to loose that long, scraggly hair! It is coming off, girlfriend!" She waved her hand and snapped her fingers. "We're going to style your hair in the Manhattan Mohawk - it's all the rage now in New York among young witches. And since you have really strong features, you're going to be able to pull it off like nobody's business! Parvati, we're going to cut off that damn braid - it has GOT to go!"

Parvati whimpered and clutched her long braid.

"Pansy, we're going to do something really drastic with you and make you a blonde. Your features are too harsh with your dark hair and I think if we lighten your hair they will soften a bit. We're also going to give you a cute pixie cut."

Pansy wrinkled her nose at the idea of "cute" but seemed happy about going blonde.

"Lavender, we're also making you blonde, but not just any blonde, ice blonde, almost the color of Fleur's hair. It's going to make your blue eyes POP!"

Lavender squealed excitedly.

"Ginny-"

"You're not going to make me a blonde too, are you?" Ginny asked uncertainly.

Cyra laughed. "Oh, no, we could never get rid of your trademark Weasley hair. We are, however, going to add some golden highlights to it - it's going to be really pretty. We're also going to add some romantic curls to it. Romilda, we're going to add some highlights and extensions to your hair. And finally, Miss Padma, we have thought about you, and we have decided girl, that you are fierce. And we ain't doing nothing to you!"

"Hey, that's not fair!" exclaimed Parvati. She was still clutching her braid.

"Now let me introduce you to your 'air stylist and make up artiste." Fleur pulled on the arm of a very small, very orange man. Hermione was immediately reminded of an Oompa Loompa from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. "Zis eese Ray Samuel and 'e and 'is team are going to make you all bee-yoo-tee-ful today. 'Ave fun!"

"Hello, girls," Ray said in a highly feminine voice. "Why don't you all find a seat and we'll get started on your new looks. Oh, you're all going to look fabulous!"

As Hermione watched her bushy hair transform right in front of her eyes, she could hear commotion all around her. Lavender and Pansy were both shrieking in pain at the chemicals put in their hair to make them blonde. Parvati was refusing to have her braid cut.

"No! I've had this plait since I was five years old! You can't cut it! I won't let you!"

"Fine, fine!" Parvati's hair stylist threw up her hands in surrender.

"Well, how do you like it?" Hermione's stylist asked when she was finished.

Hermione stared at the reflection in the mirror in amazement. The image staring back was almost a stranger. She fingered a strand of her newly sleek and shiny hair. "It's quite a change, but I like it."

"I think it looks great on you!"

When all the makeovers were completed, the girls admired each other.

"Hermione! I love your hair!" Ginny exclaimed. "And I know somebody else in my family who will love it." She grinned wickedly.

"I love your hair!" Hermione replied. "You look great with curls."

Ginny shook her hair. "I know, right?"

"You all look wonderful!" Fleur clapped her hands. "Ze next elimination eese tomorrow afternoon and you weel be judged on your new look. Each of you weel receive 250 Galleons to go shopping and pick out a new outfit between now and tomorrow."

"Au revoir, witches," Cyra called as she left with Fleur.

"Two hundred and fifty Galleons!" Ginny exclaimed to Hermione and Luna as each girl was handed a burgundy velvet pouch. "I've never seen this much money in my life!"

But Hermione was frowning. "They're going to judge us on who has the best hair, make-up, and wardrobe? What do they think this is? A modeling competition?"

"Oh, who cares?" cried Ginny. "We get to buy new clothes! C'mon, let's go shopping now!" She linked arms with her two friends.

* * *

"I say we try the Kumquat Republic first, then go to the Crevice," Ginny mapped out. "Oh, and also British Owl."

The girls tried on different outfits and modeled them for each other.

"Hermione, I think you should try this on," Ginny commented holding up a pink zip-up hoodie. "I think the color would really compliment you."

Hermione fiercely shook her head. "Pink? No, thanks. I'm not a pink girl."

"What about this?" Luna suggested holding up a rainbow printed belt.

"Ugh, no thanks."

In the end Hermione chose black slacks with a light blue blouse and a blue argyle sweater vest to wear over it. The saleswoman called her look "chicly intelligent."

Ginny had trouble deciding on her perfect outfit, but settled on a pink pleated corduroy skirt with a white lace blouse and a beige corduroy jacket. Luna came out of her dressing room wearing a wide grin and a bright yellow oversize man's jacket with rolled-up sleeves, a wide paisley tie right out of the 1960s, orange stirrup pants, ankle boots and huge hoop earrings.

"Oh my," was the only thing Ginny could think of to say.

"It's Claudia Kishi!" Hermione joked.

"Who?" Ginny and Luna asked simultaneously.

"Never mind."

As they paid for their new clothes, they could hear Pansy Parkinson bitching in the dressing room. "My hips are too wide! I can't get those pants on!"

"Perhaps you'd like something in a bigger size?" they heard a saleswoman suggest.

"No!" Pansy snapped. "I'm not fat...I just need to loose a few extra pounds."

Hermione and Ginny tried to keep their snickering to a minimum as they left the shop with Luna.

"Let's get some coffee at Starbucks!" Ginny proposed. "All that shopping has made me craving a caramel mocha."

* * *

Harry and Ron had come back to the Burrow from swimming in the lake to find Fred and George dancing and singing to a song.

"Oh! Oh! Oh! Go totally crazy! Forget I'm a lady! Men's shirts, short skirts! Oh! Oh! Oh! Go really wild! Yeah, doing it in style! Oh! Oh! Oh! Get in the action! Feel the attraction! Color my hair! Do what I dare! Oh! Oh! Oh! I wanna be free, yeah, to feel the way I feel! MAN! I FEEL LIKE A WOMAN!"

"What the hell?" Ron could barely utter the words.

Harry spotted Hermione's portable CD player perched on a small mahogany table. George noticed Harry and Ron and turned off the music.

"Welcome to the par-tay!"

"What the hell are you listening to?" Ron demanded.

"Sounds like Shania Twain," Harry offered helpfully.

"George and I were in Ginny's room because we were trying to find our exploding teacups that we know she took," Fred explained. "We didn't find them, but we did find that." He pointed to the CD player. "We discovered that if you insert these circular discs in them, they play music!" He turned the music back on and he and George continued dancing.

* * *

"I wonder what Harry and Ron are doing right now?" Hermione wondered out loud as she sat at a round table with Ginny and Luna at Starbucks, sipping her vanilla latte.

* * *

"Oh when you walk by every night, talking sweet and looking fine, I get kinda hectic inside!" Harry sang.

"Oh, baby I'm so into you, darling if you only knew all the things that flow through my mind!" Ron crooned back.

"But it's just a sweet, sweet fantasy, baby..." they sang together.

* * *

It was Lavender's idea for everyone to play Truth or Dare that evening. She suggested it after dinner.

"What's that?" asked Pansy.

"It's a game my Muggle cousin taught me. You pick a person and ask them to choose truth or dare. If they select truth, they must answer the question they are given, truthfully, duh. If they opt for dare, they must do the dare they are given."

"Sounds interesting," Romilda said as the girls found places in the living room.

"I don't know..." Hermione said uncertainly.

"Oh, come on, it will be fun!" Lavender plopped herself down on the couch between Parvati and Padma. "I'll start...Hermione, truth or dare?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Truth, I guess."

"Have you and Ron shagged yet?"

"Well, I can see what kind of game this is going to be like," Ginny said.

Hermione went bright red. "What? No! Of course not! We've only been dating a couple weeks. What do you take me for?"

"Okay, now it's your turn," Lavender said.

"Um, okay. Luna...truth or dare?"

"Which one should I choose? Which is the right one?"

"It doesn't matter," said Lavender. "There is no right or wrong."

"Then I will choose truth."

"Uh...what did you get on your O.W.L.s?"

"Oh, please," scoffed Lavender. "That's the lamest question ever! Come on, Hermione, you can think of something better. Honestly!"

Hermione sighed exasperatedly. "Fine, fine. Okay, Luna, uh, who was the first boy you kissed?"

"My neighbor, Zack McKay. We were five," Luna replied.

"Okay, Luna, now it's your turn," Lavender said.

"Pansy, truth or dare?"

"Dare," Pansy replied boldly.

"Okay, I dare you to uh..." Luna looked around the room. "I dare you to go out on the balcony and lift up your shirt for thirty seconds."

The other girls giggled.

"Good one, Luna!" said Romilda.

"Fine, I'll do it!" Pansy got up and headed over to the glass sliding door. She lifted up her shirt and yawned. "La, la, la. My shirt is up. La, la, la. This is really stupid."

"Okay, you can come back in now," Hermione, who had been keeping time with her watch, called.

Pansy came back and took her seat back down on the floor. "Ginny, truth or dare?" she asked with a sinister smile.

"Truth," Ginny said hesitantly.

"Out of the following, who would you rather shag: Hagrid, the giant squid, or Draco Malfoy?"

Ginny stared at her. "You. Have. Got. To. Be. Kidding. Me."

"Okay, I'll throw in another choice: Ron Weasley."

"Eww, that's my brother, you sick freak!"

"Hagrid, the giant squid, Draco, or Ron? Whose it going to be?"

"IguessMalfoy," Ginny mumbled.

"What's that? I didn't hear you."

"I guess Malfoy," Ginny repeated louder. "But only by default. There's no way in Valhalla I'd ever shag the others." She shuddered. "I can't believe you made me answer that!" She grabbed the TV remote from the coffee table and threw it at Pansy.

"Ow!" exclaimed Pansy. "You are a mean girl!"

"You're the one to talk, Slytherin! Okay, Hermione, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Would you ever consider being in a three-way with Ron and Harry?" Ginny giggled.

"No! I'm not that kind of person!"

"What? Harry isn't good enough for you?" Ginny demanded in a mock hurt voice.

"I'd have a three-way with Harry and Ron," Romilda volunteered.

"Good to know," Hermione replied. "Lavender, truth or dare?"

"Dare!"

"All right, I dare you to make out with Parvati."

Ooh, nice one, Granger." Lavender grinned.

"She wants us to what?" Parvati squeaked.

"Oh, don't be such a baby." Lavender leaned in towards her friend and they softly brushed lips.

"It's too bad Ron's not here," Ginny snorted. "He would have really enjoyed seeing this."

"Parvati, truth or dare?" Lavender asked.

"Um, truth."

"Who's a better kisser: Dean, Seamus, or me?"

Parvati laughed. Probably you." She next posed the question to her sister. Padma chose truth.

"Who do you fancy?" Parvati giggled.

"Um, I change my mind...I choose dare!"

"No, you have to answer!" shrieked Lavender.

"Okay, fine! I like Justin Finch-Fletchley."

Cho snorted. "Isn't he gay?"

"Isn't he a Hufflepuff?" inquired Pansy.

"Romilda, truth or dare?" Padma asked, annoyed.

"Truth."

"Who do you think is the cutest boy at Hogwarts?"

"Harry Potter, duh." She giggled. "Too bad he broke up with you, Ginny...and you too, Cho."

"Ron is so much cuter than Harry!" Lavender snapped. "If Harry hadn't saved the world a lot of times, he wouldn't be so special then!"

"What EVER!" Cho shouted. "Cedric was the hottest guy who ever went to Hogwarts. I mean, you know, besides Oliver Wood," she added as an afterthought.

"I've got news for you, sweetie, Cedric is dead," Pansy said snidely. "And anyway, everyone knows that Draco is the hottest guy in school. Even Ginny agrees with me seeing as she wants to shag him!"

Cho burst into tears, Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Uh, isn't only Romilda suppose to answer this question?" asked Hermione.

"It's my turn!" announced Romilda. "Ginny, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Have you ever ridden Harry's Firebolt?" Romilda smirked.

Ginny leaned back against the ottoman and crossed her arms. "Wouldn't you like to know?" she smirked back.

"You have to answer the question!" Lavender shouted.

"Of course I haven't," Ginny replied innocently.

"I'd like to go for a ride on Harry's Firebolt," Romilda stated.

"Um, okay, then."

The game continued until the girls became tired and went to bed.

* * *

At the next elimination, the girls all came into the judging room donning their new clothes.

"Good afternoon," Fleur greeted them. She was wearing a gorgeous gray silk dress. "Let me introduce you to your judges once again. On my left eese ze beautiful Cyra Dickinson, and on my right eese Professor Crunk -"

"I have a special friend today," he announced as he stroked a Pekingese sitting on a small red velvet pillow. "This is Creampuff."

"-and last but not least, we 'ave a special guest judge, your make-up artiste, Monsieur Samuels."

"You girls all look so beautiful," Ray gushed. "Ooh, nice skirt, witch friend," he said complimenting Cho's leather skirt.

"I agree - you all look magnificent," Fleur said. "Although more some zan ozzers. I 'ave nine beautiful weetches een front of me. Only eight of you weel move on to ze next round and one of you weel be asked to pack your belongings and leave." Fleur paused. "'Ermione, congratulations, you're still een ze running to be 'Ogwarts' Next Top Weetch and as ze winner of zis round, you 'ave won a date weeth..." She paused dramatically. "'Arry Potter!"

"A what with who?" asked Hermione.

"That's not fair! She won last time!" Lavender bitched.

"I want to win a date with Harry Potter! She gets to see him all the time anyway," Romilda whined.

"We feel 'Ermione 'as been ze most approved een terms of appearance and zat eese why she won," Fleur explained.

"I think Ginny should win. She should go on a date with Harry," Hermione offered graciously.

"Oh, no, Hermione, you won this fair and square," Ginny replied.

"Eet was close between you two," agreed Fleur. "Ginny, congratulations, you're still een ze running to be 'Ogwarts' Next Top Weetch."

Fleur kept calling names until only Luna and Parvati were left.

"Weel Luna and Parvati please step forward? Parvati, we zink your outfit eese wonderful, but we were very disappointed zat you wouldn't let us cut your braid."

"You were near tears," Cyra interjected. "Is your braid really that important? It's just hair you know. It will grow back."

Tears were starting to well in Parvati's eyes. "I've had it since I was five," she sniveled.

"It's okay, shh, you don't need to cry, honey."

"Luna, you are ze opposite," Fleur continued. "We absolutely love your new look...you were brave to agree to go along weeth somezing different, but your outfit-"

"Girlfriend, what were you thinking?" asked Ray. "It looks like you got changed in the dark. Are you colorblind?"

Luna looked down at her eccentric outfit. "Well, I like it!"

"Oui, well, even zough you still need some style tips, at least you were willing to take a risk, so Luna, congratulations, you're still een ze running to be 'Ogwarts' Next Top Weetch."

Hermione was relieved and warmly hugged her friend.

Parvati waved a tearful goodbye and left.

Eight girls remain...WHO will be Hogwarts' Next Top Witch?