A Birth day

"I don't have a reason not to accept his apology. It wasn't his fault," Anise said. "Now if it was that git that cast the spell, that would be an entirely different story. That wasn't ignorance or accidental on his part. I might study a way to transfigure him into a poop colored pygmy puff." That made Angus and Marcus laugh out loud.

"Robert would be your man for that," Marcus said. "He particularly likes transfigurations like that."

"I heard he turned Jack into something or another years ago. What waas it, a bug or something?"

"A little fluffy yellow duck," Angus laughed. That made Anise laugh outloud.

"I would have loved to have seen that," she said. "Is it always ducks or bugs?"

"Or teacups," Marcus said. "He likes teacups too."

"Teacups? I rather like that idea."

"Why would you make this bloke a pygmy puff? Any reason?" Angus asked.

"Why not? A poop colored creature that only eats dust and bogeys. Sounds perfect," she said.

"Oh. I see. Makes sense now," Angus said. "Get some rest. I'm going to go check on our lunch delivery so that I'm sure it gets here on time."

"Mr. Donohue," Madame Maxim called as Angus was heading out of the locker room. He turned back, and he went to her.

"We have a number of tent canopies and tables set up on a cordoned off area of the grass outside the stadium. There is a tent for the male students, one for the females, one for officials and tournament staff, and it seems that the tournament officials got word of how many we had in the box seats, so I have been told there is a very large canopy with tables set up for you and your guests if you would like to use it. You may have your food delivered there if you like."

"That is very kind of you. Thank you," Angus said. "Will Anise be permitted to eat with us if she prefers?"

"Oh, certainly," she replied. "Follow me, and I'll show you to the tents so you can instruct your delivery person where to bring your food. I'm sure you can find your way back once you see where the tents are."

"Thanks," Angus said. He left with her.

Ruby listened to Angus talking and nodded " true, I agree on that statement" she said then chuckled as he said a poop colored pygmy puff. " sounds about right" she said then heard Marcus talk of when Jack was a little fluffy yellow duckling " awe bet he was a cute duckling" she said and chuckled.

When Angus said he would see how their lunch was going she nodded " I'll stay with anise while you do" she said and smiled gently patting her hand as she sat next to her. Watching as Angus started to walk away then moved to madam Maxime to talk to her about something. Ruby looked to Anise and smiled to her reassuringly to her. " we'll get some food in you and you rest and you should be feeling better from what Robert said" she said softly to her.

"I don't necessarily feel bad. I just can't see," Anise told Ruby. "It isn't painful now at least, so that's a lot better. And I can see some light now and I can see some blurry images. It isn't totally black like it was, so it is somewhat better. I would just like to prove that I honestly can manage to hold my own. I saw some of the looks that I got in my Beauxbaton uniform. I think Beauxbatons must have the reputation of turning out little delicate ballerinas or something. They seem to think its laughable that Beauxbatons even showed up here. I'd like to show them that they really shouldn't judge people by superficial impressions. I don't care that much if I even win a match. I just want to show them that we might be something to contend with."

"I have no doubt that if you do compete this afternoon, you'll be able to do just that," Robert told her, returning with his coffee. He took a moment and made a very brief check. "Nice. It's coming along very nicely. I'm pleased. It looks very promising. I hope your dad coughs up some lunch soon. I'm starving, and if I go get a snack now, I'll ruin my appetite for lunch."

Ruby heard Anise and smiled feeling less angry now she was reassured by Anise she was okay and getting back to herself again " that's good, I can't deny I wanted to tear that guy a new hole when he did what he did" she said her voice soft as she felt no anger any more. She saw Robert coming over and chuckled nodding " I agree, my stomach thinks my throats cut and those snacks are calling , but nope lunch first." she said smiling as she tried to see if Angus had returned yet but didn't see any one .

Aria had heard every one talking about what had happened and that the Durmstrang competitor had been removed leaving Anise to have won her first round by default but eh also heard that the Durmstrang headmaster wasn't happy with the boy and had dragged him away.
" that was a shitty move he did , I'm glad the headmaster of their school taking care of it." she said and saw Jess nod.

" yeah hes not a bad man , that move was dark arts , that poor boy is in real trouble" Jess said and looked down into the stadium.

Marcus saw that the delivery staff had arrived with a fabulous lunch for everyone, and they immediately got busy setting it out with the beverages and the silverware and all the rest. Not wanting to leave Angus alone, Marcus wrote two notes--one to Ruby and one to Aria. On each note, he drew a map to show Ruby, Anise and Aria how to get to the tent from the locker room, and then he sent one to show the people up in the box how to get to the tent. He enchanted both notes into paper birds and sent one to Ruby and one to Aria.

"Do you have a pair of sunglasses, by chance?" Robert asked Anise.

"I do. Ginger gave me a pair this morning. They're in my bag, wherever that is," Anise said.

"Do you know which bag is hers, Ruby?" Robert asked. I'd like to take a look at them to make sure they're going to do the job."

Robert noticed people in the locker room looking up towards the ceiling, so he looked up and saw a paper bird.

"Hm. Incoming for someone," he said, pointing to the little paper bird that had just flitted into the room.

Ruby listened and looked where Anises bag was " its over in that locker" she said then stood up " I'll fetch it" she said moving to the l;ocker she opened it and took out her bag and sunglasses from it slipping the bag back and walking back. Handing them to Anise she glanced up at the paper bird, reaching up she felt it settle in her palm and she smiled as she read it " its from Marcus, there's a map showing how to get to the lunch tent" she said and showed Robert the note " we can head up for some food if you want Anise." she asked

Aria and Jess both stood and talked to the others when Aria got a note and smiled " okay lunch is ready in the tent" she said and opened the outer doors to show them all the way to the tent, now she lead them towards it following Marcus map.

Once they found it and Aria opened the flap she let every one enter and she followed behind making sure all were safe.

"I think we should make our way there before it's all gone," Robert told Anise and Ruby. He helped Anise to her feet. "It looks like a little distance, so take your time, Anise. Don't push. With limited eyesight, your balance could be thrown off. So let me show you how this is done. Give me your hand" He took her hand and put it on his own arm, just above his elbow. "That's how we do it. You keep hold of my arm, and I'll walk just half a step ahead of you. If we get to steps or a doorway, or any other narrow space, I'll tell you ahead of time, but I'll go through those spaces first and you follow right behind me. If we get to any sort of uneven floor, I'll tell you, and we'll work through it. It'll be fine. You're welcome to walk right with us, Ruby. We just need to remember that this goes entirely by Anise's pace and needs. If she needs to stop, we stop. So, if we're ready, let's try it."

He coached Ruby and Anise slowly through the first few steps, but it seemed they were going to take easily to it.

Ruby heard Robert and nodded letting him take Anise as she walked at her pace up to the lunch tent slowly " I'm sure Angus or Aria will keep us some food" she said as they slowly made their way up and along the route Marcus has drawn for them on the map.

Soon they saw the tent and Ruby smiled " just ahead of us now, bet you can smell the food, I know I can" she said and saw Aria stood waiting for them at the entrance.

"saved a table for you " Aria said pointing to a table to their left " no rush guys foods on the table for you" she walked over to Anise " got you some soda." she said " also good duel" she added patting her shoulder.

"Thanks," Anise said to Aria. When Aria came in, Dennis got up and applauded for Anise, and that caused the pack to stand and applaud and then, everyone else applauded just as a show of support and how much they loved her.

"So you know," Robert told them all when the applause died down, "the student fired a dark arts spell at her and blinded her. However, I've been working at it, and I'm pleased to tell you that she's healing very quickly--quickly enough that I think she may very well still be able to compete today." Everyone seemed to be thrilled with the news. Robert led her to the table set for her, and he helped her get seated. Then he worked at arranging her plate.

"So, Angus has been replating your food so you can manage it largely on your own. Think of your plate as a clock. He has deboned your cornish hen for you, shredded it so its easy to manage and drizzled the cherry glaze on the top. Your hen is at six o' clock on your plate. Your quinoa salad is at 10 o'clock, and your sweet potato mash is at two o' clock. Your soda is at one o' clock above your plate. Your fork is at nine o clock beside your plate, and your spoon is at three o' clock on the other side of your plate. Make sense?"

"Actually, perfectly," she said. "I can visualize that, and I can sort of see some of it."

"Excellent. That's the idea. Looks like Angus's place is set on your left and Ruby's is on your right. If you need help, I'm sure they can do that but if I need to come back, I will. Ruby? Any questions? I think if you just watch a bit so she doesn't knock her soda over or something, you should all manage well. I'll be back when you're finished eating. Looks like Angus will be able to join you in a moment. He's having a word with the restaurant staff who fixed the food."

Ruby walked with Robert and Anise as he got her settled in her chair and spoke to her about the position of the food and cutlery. Haring Robert ask her if she had any questions and Ruby shook her head " nope , just thank you for doing what you did so quickly" she said and smiled to Robert. Now sat at the table she took up her glass of water and took a sip " food looks good" she said to Anise. " smells good too "

Aria watched as Robert and Anise walked in and went to the table allocated for them to sit in she looked at Marcus and nodded as she moved to her table and sat down poring some water for herself as she watched Ruby and Anise talking while they ate their food.