riona flint

The overpowering roar of voices (each trying to be louder than the next) drowned out the footsteps behind Ri, causing her to nearly jump out of her skin as the person touched her shoulder. “Merlin’s beard!” She quickly turned to them. “You scared the bloody hell out of me!”

Margot rolled here eyes with a smile “I wasn’t flirting” she replied, watching the ring Riona threw miss another one of the bottles “I was actually asking him to give you the bunny since it’d getting a bit painful to watch the ring toss cause you this much stress” she joked with a laugh. “I think you’ve earned it to be fair” 

Riona immediately shook her head at her words. “I’m not a quitter. I’ll only accept that bunny if I win fair and square.” Her eyebrows furrowed as she lined up another toss, which bounced off the edge of a bottle and off the table. Holding herself back from kicking the table, she huffed. “Why don’t you try? Maybe you’ll have better luck than me.”

“Oi!” James sat taller as she questioned his tastes, his eyebrows furrowing together. It was fair, really, as she did have a point. Still, James watched as she took a small piece and bit into it. Her reaction immediately pressed a confident smirk onto his lips and his chin tipped a touch higher. “See, sometimes I know what I’m talking ‘bout. These taste buds don’t fucking lie.”

Riona laughed. “I’ll give you this one, Potter.” Wiping her lips of any excess sugar, she couldn’t resist licking the powder from her fingertips, as well. It was certainly too good to go to waste. “You might be right about their deliciousness, but I’m not so sure that it’s better the ferris wheel. After all, that looks spectacular.” Ri glanced at the wheel towering over Diagon Alley. She’d been tempted to test it, but the lioness was immediately swept up by the rest of the carnival’s excitement and hadn’t had a chance to give it a try.

Romeo and Juliet – Hugo’s current book obsession that he may or may not have read hundreds of times was clutched tight in his fingers while he roamed through the carnival.  He could hear the BUSTLE around him – people laughing at empty jokes, feet [ s c u r r y i n g ] across the ground – noises Hugo was able to drown out by reading Shakespeare’s classic words to himself. “R-Romeo, oh Romeo… “” He stuttered to himself with his nose tucked deep in his book.  “ Wh-Where for art – “ All of a sudden he ran SMACK into someone, causing his hazel brown hues to shoot up and his feet to stumble back.” I-I am so sorry! A-Are you alright?” This is what he gets for trying to read during a social event.

The carnival was more than Riona could have imagined, and she couldn’t help but feel slightly angry with herself. Why hadn’t she sneaked out of her father’s home to attend the carnival years ago? She imagined what he would do if he could see her wandering around, basking in a muggle-inspired event. Although she disagreed with his pureblood prejudices, she knew it would blow his top. She glanced over her shoulder, scanning the crowd for his face as a precaution. “Oof!” Riona quickly regained her balance. “It’s quite alright. If anything, I should be the one apologizing. I should’ve been paying attention.” She sheepishly looked down, her eyes catching the muggle book in his hand. “Romeo and Juliet? What’s that?”

“Oh! It doesn’t spin too much, does it?” Alice asked, eyeing the ride with caution. “I’ve had a lot of ice-cream and wouldn’t want to ruin your day!” Looking at the carousel, it looked tame enough for Alice’s stomach to held after three bowls of ice-cream and a tonne of chocolate.

“You’ll be okay, I promise!” Riona grabbed Alice’s arm, pulling her towards the ride. Given that her father prevented her from having any sort of fun, Riona’s inner child was finally able to play. She threw a few sickles at the ride’s operator to cover both of the girls’ fares before climbing onto one of the horses, smiling at Alice. “I’ve never been on one of these before!”

Ripley was watching Riona try a second time.  It wasn’t that she didn’t have faith in her, it was more that she just thought the game was impossible to beat.  She was so sure that Riona would not succeed, like Ripley did so many times before, but she was in for a big surprise.  As soon as the milk jugs went flying, Ripley’s mouth dropped in complete shock.

“I am in complete shock.  I was sure this game was unbeatable.”  No, you’re just bad at something.  Which is not acceptable.  Ripley thought.  “I have no idea how you did it but it leaves me with a weird mixture of jealousy and inspiration,” she said honestly.  “If you do, you should just take my spot as Chaser, that was amazing.”

Riona couldn’t fight the smile from crossing her lips, feeling an overwhelming sense of pride towards her accomplishment. “Oh please,” she looked down at the stuffed bear, playing with its fur. “If we had a quaffle in place of that weak ball, you would have won a long time ago. I can’t even compete with your chaser skills. I mean, Godric, the amount of times you’ve saved our team from being scored on just by stealing the quaffle back before they could shoot at our posts is innumerable.” 

She held the bear out to Ripley. “If anyone deserves this prize, its you. Think of it as a thank you for all the times you’ve made my life as keeper easier and saved my arse from James’ wrath.” 

Roxanne stood in the streets of Diagon Alley and waved around papers that was advertising for WWW. “If you’re looking to have some fun, come stop by Weasley Wizard Wheezes! There is deals that only happen today!” She yelled enthusiastically as she passed the papers to the nearest person’s hands. 

Riona was in a daze as she walked around Diagon Alley, taking in every detail the carnival had to offer. However, her gaze was grabbed by the flyers flailing in her housemate’s hands. “You’re working today?” Ri raised an eyebrow, surprised that Roxanne wasn’t running around Diagon Alley like the rest of their peers.

Being in Diagon Alley felt like home to Alice; growing up in such a magical place made the girl feel so incredibly lucky and special. She was practically skipping down the cobbled street, taking in the sights, sounds and smells of the carnival. “Hey! Wait up, stranger!” she called after a familiar figure she spotted in the crowd.

Hearing the voice, Riona turned around to face her peer. Being in the same year, the two had various classes together and Ri always enjoyed the bubbly persona she displayed. She smiled at the other girl. “Impeccable timing! I need to try that carousel ride, want to join me?”

Ripley smiled and stepped aside, giving Riona all the room she could need.  “Yeah! Just aim and throw with all your might!”  She was excited and wanted to see if someone else could win or if this game was doomed for everyone to lose.  When Riona’s pitch went high, Ripley yelled, disappointed for her.  “Honestly it’s not your fault. I am starting to think that this game is rigged.  My muggle cousins said that they sometimes are at muggle carnivals.” 

Although Riona was listening to Ripley’s words, she couldn’t help but lock her eyes on the jugs. She was never one to simply give up, whether the game was rigged or not. She slammed a few more coins on the counter, taking the ball from the vendor. Narrowing her eyes as she wound up her throw, she focused intently on the target, letting the ball fly with as power in her. As the ball connected, she couldn’t resist letting out a victorious roar as she knocked all of the jugs over. 

“That’s more like it!” she said over the sound of a victory bell dinging, happily taking the bear from the vendor and holding it out to Ripley. “Perhaps I should give up my position as Keeper on the team and switch to a Chaser.”

“Whose   dick  do   I   gotta   suck  in   order   to   score   some   Euphoria Elixir?”   Despite   the  crude   wording,   it   was   a   genuine   question,   a   mischievous   smirk   tugging   at   the   corners   of   his   mouth,   hoping   that   the   other   would   hold   the   answer   he   was   searching   for.

Riona raised an eyebrow at him, surprised by his language. “Erm, I’m certainly not the right person. But perhaps I can try to help you win it — was it a prize at one of the games?”

With how popular the carnival was, it wasn’t surprising that Rose was having a bit of trouble finding someone she knew. As she made her way through the crowds, she kept scanning faces, hoping to recognize someone. Once she finally saw someone she knew, she quickly made her way over, looping her arm through the other person’s. “Fancy seeing you here.” She commented playfully, flashing the person a small smile. 

Riona wanted to take everything in at the carnival. With a father who despised the event and the idea of his child embracing muggle culture, it was invigorating for Riona to participate in it. Sneaking out was simple, and the thought of her dad’s exasperated face once he learned of her whereabouts made her adventure priceless. 

The voice startled Riona, and she quickly made eye contact with Rose. Her father’s Death Eater past wasn’t a secret, nor the blood purity ideals he held. So it was probably a shock to some of her schoolmates to see her casually strolling through a muggle-respecting carnival. “How could I resist? I mean, how do muggles come up with these rides? And without magic!”

Ripley grinned and thanked Riona as soon as she was given more money.  Failure was never an option for her but especially when she felt she was made to look like a fool.  Ripley squinted at the jugs, considering the advice.  “I feel like that would be cheating though, wouldn’t you?  I mean muggles don’t really get to have that chance to use it.”  Ripley wanted to do it the old fashioned way but she was getting more and more frustrated with the game.  “But on the other hand I really want that stupid pink bear.”

She sighed and looked up at Riona, letting herself get distracted for a moment.  “Do you want to try?  I don’t mean to be hogging this one.  It’s just making me mad.”

Riona nodded as she spoke, realizing that using magic would completely undermine the purpose of the carnival. And that was the complete opposite of what she wanted to do. As Ripley offered her a chance to try, Ri smiled and accepted it. “So I just aim at the jugs?” She eyed the ball, questioning how muggles were able to grip something so small. As she picked it up, weighing it in her hand, she thought of how much easier it would be to win the game if she had a larger ball — specifically a quaffle.

Of course, Riona completely missed the jugs, throwing the lightweight ball far too high. She awkwardly laughed at her awful attempt, looking back to Ripley. “I guess that ‘beginner’s luck’ only applies to muggles, not witches.”

“What this?” James cocked his hands down towards his plate, gesturing towards the powered sugar goodness. “This, my dear Riona, is funnel cake… or as myself and muggles like to call it, heaven.” He accentuated his point by peeling off a good chunk and stuffing it into his mouth with a smile. A cocked eyebrow and he inched his own plate closer, offering her a bite as he finished swallowing his bit down.

Riona watched with some degree of disgust as he shoved some into his mouth, questioning how something that looked so strange possibly taste as good as he described. “Is that so? Well, from what I’ve seen, you tend to have questionable tastes in life,” she hesitated as he offered her a bite. “But I suppose I’ll trust you this round.” Riona broke off a small piece of the food, sniffing it briefly before popping it in her mouth. Her eyes widened slightly. “Bloody hell, that is delicious.”

Ever since the Second Wizard War, the Ministry of Magic had been sponsoring various events throughout the United Kingdom in an attempt to help make the Wizarding World more understanding of muggleborns and muggle culture in general. One of those events that had quickly become the highlight of every summer was the annual Carnival held in Diagon Alley just before the start of school each year.

The Diagon Alley Carnival was similar to many muggle carnivals; there was a plethora of rides, food booths galore, and a seemingly endless array of games to play. The majority of the activities were true to muggle culture (or at least what Ministry workers were able to observe from movies), with a giant ferris wheel outside of Gringotts and games like cornhole, ring toss, and so many more. Aside from being a lighthearted way of helping the UK’s wizarding community to learn more about muggle culture, it had become a hotspot for teens gearing up to go back to Hogwarts for the year.

It was tradition now for all the students to meet at the Carnival, which was held annually on July 31st, so they could reunite with friends before being thrust back into the routine of school. For them, it was the last hurrah of summer, a time of peace and innocence.