Order Only Private Message to Sally Anne Perks

[alt_ron]

So. I got Avery's owl today.

It says I've got to undermine either Malfoy, Hydra, Patil or Finnigan in some way that would significantly impact their standing in the contest.

So, I mean, the first thing is which of them to target, right? Not Malfoy and not Hydra, obviously, but, really... Finnicky or Patil?

Comments

[alt_sally_anne]

Ooooh, hard one.

I'm inclined to say Finnigan, actually, because I would expect Draco to be more likely to be able to control Patil and use her as an ally when he needs one. On the Council, I mean. Finnigan is more of a wild card.

[alt_ron]

I could ask him. Malfoy, I mean.

But, yeah, I think Finnigan's what he'd say. And, anywiz, I don't want to just have to do whatever he wants if it ends up it would be better for me to go after the other one.

See, I'm thinking Finnigan would be easiest to hex or poison or, y'know, 'undermine'. But it's pretty likely he'd guess I'm the one that's done it. Patil's harder to get at, but it would also be tougher to guess it was me that did it to her. (Not that she doesn't expect I'd try something, but with all the challengers to pick from, she'd probably think it was someone who had easier access to her. I mean, supposing I pick the right sort of thing to do to her--not a rune that attracts giant bugs!)

Y'know. I wonder if this means that those are the top four? Do you really think Patil's come that high in the standings so far?

[alt_sally_anne]

I doubt Patil's that high. But maybe Avery particularly dislikes Ned Pennifold and Lana Sandoval. Sandoval sponsored both Patil and Hydra, and Pennifold sponsored Draco. That doesn't explain Finnigan. Well, unless Avery also dislikes Crispin.

Anyway, yeah, if you poison Finnigan he'll assume it was you even if you make it look like Thomas or McLaggen did it. There's no guarantee Patil won't blame you, though; she blamed us for the bugs even though she couldn't prove it.

I think it's probably worth asking Draco and Hydra.

[alt_sally_anne]

Though it doesn't say 'hurt them,' it says 'make them fall in the standings' -- I mean, maybe you should think about runes again, there's probably something that would be brilliantly distracting that they might not even realise was a hex.

[alt_sally_anne]

What are you thinking you'll do?

[alt_ron]

Well.

I was thinking you might know something that makes a person weaker and weaker over a couple of weeks or a month. Something that creeps up on you. Maybe it should be a Rune we'd put somewhere they wouldn't find it. Like under the inner lining of a shoe or the lining of a robe.

Or it could just be a curse put on my badge and then I'd switch badges with them. Like we had to do before, but then everyone knew people were doing it. Now they might not think of it again because it's already been done. (Or maybe they'd think of it right away and I'd just fail this one.)

I don't know. It would be perfect if there were a way to squib someone, because that would definitely interfere with their ability to compete. Or do anything else. And I'd almost do that to those two if I could figure out how. But it's not like I can get them to try that spell that took Mr Longbottom's magic.

[alt_sally_anne]

If there were a spell that you could cast on a wizard to turn them into a squib, they'd cast it on Hermione. So I'm glad there isn't, even though that would certainly be convenient.

Let me think about this. You could definitely use a rune on Finnigan that would give him insomnia. But, eventually he'd go to Madam P and she'd probably give him a potion at least for a few nights. For that matter, if he scribed a rune for peaceful sleep on his own bed it would probably counteract whatever you'd done, so... hm.

[alt_sally_anne]

Other things that are distracting (because that's really what you need, fundamentally: they need to be distracted).

Fatigue
Dizziness
Nausea
Having to go to the loo all the time
Headaches

the trouble is, Madam P could fix any of these.

[alt_ron]

Yeah, I was thinking about dizziness, except that would totally do for us in Quidditch this season, wouldn't it? As if we need any help.

And, yeah. It can't be anything Madam P can just set right straight away. Or really anything that would make him think right off that he should go to the Hospital Wing. It's got to be more subtle than that.

Too bad, because I really like the idea of making him have to piss all the time. That would be super distracting. And also hilarious.


Well. Maybe there's something that just causes a slow confundus-type fuzziness in your head. Something he wouldn't notice because he'd be addled enough he wouldn't think of going to Madam P.

[alt_sally_anne]

Oh, well, you could make Patil dizzy instead of Finnigan. She doesn't play Quidditch.

The confundus fuzziness is a good thought, but Patil would take Finnigan to Madam P even if he didn't realise he needed to go. Maybe you could do it to both of them? Do you think Avery would mind if you went after two of the four?

[alt_ron]

Oh.

OH.

No, you know what?

I've got the perfect thing. I just need to talk to the twins about it.

A love potion. There are some really strong ones and they're a lot like confundus, really. You'd never notice it yourself if you were under one. Only it needs to be the kind that doesn't wear off--for a long time, at least.

[alt_ron]

And that's actually a good idea, trying it on both of them. That way even if one of them missed taking it somehow, one of them would.

[alt_sally_anne]

Do you think you could make them fall in love with each other? Or would that not work, given that apparently Finnigan doesn't actually like girls that way?

A love potion would be FANTASTICALLY distracting. There are antidotes, but the person would have to know they'd been dosed, right?

[alt_ron]

Okay. I've been thinking about this and the only downside I can think of is...

...what if Finnigan fell in love with ME?


That would be awkward.

[alt_sally_anne]

Well, MOST love potions are targeted, you put in a tiny bit of hair or fingernail or whatever from the person you want them to fall in love with, which could be complicated, actually, since you'll have to get it. (Most of the time when a lad feeds someone a love potion it's because he wants that person to fall in love with HIM. Your own hair is easy to come by.) There is one that makes you fall in love with the next person or creature you see. Definitely don't use that one on Finnigan. You use it while they're sleeping, so odds are good he'd fall in love with you, Neville, or Thomas. Or possibly Trevor. Which would be a laugh, but the other thing about that one is, anyone with half a brain would work out what had happen and that potion is also dead easy to reverse.

Anyway, thinking about this, you definitely do want a target that would be plausible. With Patil, you could make her fall for Moon; that would give her plenty to do, because although I'm pretty sure he used to fancy Patil quite a lot, he's dating Lavender Brown now, and he's far too gentlemanly to just throw her over. So Patil would need to scheme against Lav.

With Finnigan, hmm. I suppose you could make him go utterly MAD over Remy. If they're actually in love it wouldn't make that much difference probably but if it's casual... do you know? I suppose he doesn't confide in you much.

Anyway, if you need a hair from Remy, Justin or Hydra should be able to get it. Moon, you know, that would be harder. There are some other options with Patil, though. You could make her fall for Cedric -- him, you could just ask for a hair. Lares Tamblyn wouldn't be any sort of stretch, everyone would believe that was for real.

It's tempting to try to hit two birds with one hex and use Teddy Nott, but I don't hate Patil THAT much. Ugh. Besides, people would work out that had to be a love potion, though they'd probably assume Teddy gave it to her.