Episode 540.f Bubble Guppies: Nonny Pirruccello and the Half-Blood Prince! (Part 6)

Plot
In the sixth year at Bubblewarts School of Witchcraft, and in both wizard and muggle worlds Lord Rotten Tomato and his henchmen are increasingly active. With vacancies to fill at Bubblewarts, Mr. Grouper persuades Arctic Dan, back from retirement to become the potions teacher, while Mr. Grumpfish receives long awaited news. Nonny Pirruccello, together with Mr. Grouper, must face treacherous tasks to defeat his evil nemesis.

Cast (Characters from the real movie)

 * Nonny as (Harry Potter)
 * Gil as (Ron Weasley)
 * Molly as (Hermione Granger)
 * Tobias as (Draco Malfoy)
 * Mr. Grumpfish as (Professor Severus Snape)
 * Arctic Dan as (Professor Horace Slughorn)
 * Oona as (Ginny Weasley)
 * Pablo as (Fred Weasley)
 * Brett as (George Weasley)
 * Mrs. Gordon as (Molly Weasley)
 * Mr. Gordon as (Arthur Weasley)
 * Sir Mulligan as (Remus Lupin)
 * Deema as (Luna Lovegood)
 * Limbite as (Narcissa Malfoy)
 * Witch as (Bellatrix Lestrange)
 * The Night Wizard as (Fenrir Greyback)
 * Polar Bear as (Wormtail)
 * Mr. Grouper as (Professor Albus Dumbledore)
 * Goby as (Neville Longbottom)
 * Mrs. Grouper as (Professor Minerva McGonagall)
 * Pronto as (Professor Filius Flitwick)
 * Mr. Langoustine as (Rubeus Hagrid)
 * Crabs, Lobsters, and Snails as (Other characters)

Information

 * Genres: Adventure, Family, Fantasy.
 * Rating: PG for some violence, a little alcohol, and many scary scenes.
 * Type of film: Fantasy.

Trivia

 * This is based on the 2009 film "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." You can read about it on Wikipedia or IMDb
 * There are regular and fanon characters. Some don't return in this movie while there are new characters too.
 * This is the sequel to "Nonny Pirruccello and the Order of the Phoenix!" This story takes place a year after the fifth story.

Story
Start of Part 6.

(Scene: Great Hall)

(Nonny spoons soup into his mouth while perusing the Half- Blood Prince’s Potion book, his eyes lingering, as before, over the Sectumsempra spell: “For Enemies.” Gil absently twirls his wand as he covertly eyes Jessica. Molly frowns over the Prophet when... a snowflake falls upon her nose.)

Molly: Gil. Stop. You’re making it snow.

Gil: Huh?

(Gil looks up, sees that it is snowing exclusively over the trio. Molly places her hand atop his wand and he blinks, as if the gesture kindles some sense-memory.)

Gil: Tell me again how I broke up with Jessica?

(Nonny pauses on his soup, exchanges a glance with Molly, who carefully withdraws her hand from Gil’s.)

Molly: Um, well, she came to visit you in the hospital, you see, and you talked -- I don’t believe it was a long conversation --

Gil: Don’t get me wrong. I’m bloody thrilled to be shot of her. It’s just she seems... a bit put out.

(As one, the three glance over at Jessica and are rewarded with a lethal squint.)

Molly: Does, doesn’t she? And you say you don’t remember a thing from that night? Not one thing?

Gil: Well... there is... something. (as Molly hangs) But no. It can’t be. Besides, I was completely boggled, wasn’t I?

Molly: Right. Boggled...

(Molly slumps back, frowning. Nonny smiles with amusement. Just then, a mild commotion draws his attention. At the back of the Hall, a group of girls surrounds a new arrival.)

Molly: That’s Jimberly. That’s Jimberly Shaskan.

(Jimberly Shaskan, pale but smiling, greets the other girls. After a moment, she looks up. Finds Nonny standing before her.)

Nonny: How are you, Jimberly?

Jimberly: Give me a moment, girls.

(The girls drift off. Nonny watches them go, curious, then:)

Jimberly: I know you’re going to ask, Nonny. But I don’t know who cursed me. I’ve tried to remember. Honestly. But I just... can’t...

(Jimberly’s eyes shift. She goes ashen. Nonny turns, follows her gaze and finds... Tobias, staring at her. Jimberly backs away, retreating to the other girls. Nonny watches her go, then looks back. Catches Tobias fleeing the Hall.)

(Scene: Corridor)

(Tobias hurtles past, forehead gleaming with sweat, passes out of frame. Seconds later, Nonny appears, follows. As he passes the birdcage, it's now empty.)

(Scene: Bathroom)

(Tobias lurches to the mirror, steadies himself against the sink. Then, with a great, heaving shudder begins to... cry. In the mirror, we see the bathroom door ease open: Nonny. He stops, stunned. Tobias’s eyes shift. Horrified to be exposed. He wheels, points his wand. Whoosh! The lamp next to Nonny’s head shatters. Flames spider up the ceiling. Nonny draws his own wand, fires back. The cistern behind Tobias explodes and water sweeps the ceiling, rains down. Tobias howls with rage. Nonny readies himself.)

Tobias: Cruci--

Nonny: SECTUMSEMPRA!

(Blood spurts from Tobias’s face and scarlet slashes ooze through the white of his shirt. He staggers, howls again and collapses. Nonny glares at his wand in horror, then slushes across the floor, the water running red with Tobias’s blood.)

Tobias: Don’t touch me! Don’t you dare touch me!

(Nonny stops dead... transfixed by a flash of something dark pushing through the wet fabric of Tobias’s shirtsleeve. Just then... Mr. Grumpfish bursts through the door. Seeing Tobias -- and the nature of his injuries -- he eyes Nonny with keen curiosity. Kneeling, he traces the tip of his wand over Tobias’s wounds, murmuring an eerie incantation. Instantly, the skin begins to knit itself together. Nonny backs away, Mr. Grumpfish’s ancient chant ringing in his ears, blood floating like crimson flowers on the floor, backing away until he reaches the door...)

(Scene: Common Room)

(Nonny sits numbly, the Potions textbook lying limp in his hand. Molly, Gil and Oona sit together, a bit apart, keeping a kind of vigil. Finally, Oona rises, steps to him.)

Oona: You have to get rid of it. Today.

(Scene: Seventh Floor Corridor)

(Nonny, potions book in hand, follows Oona past the empty birdcage and down the corridor when she pauses, turns to the wall and shuts her eyes.)

Oona: Take my hand.

(Scene: Room of Requirement)

(Oona and Nonny materialize.)

Nonny: The Room of Requirement...

(Oona nods, turns away. Nonny follows. Nonny eyes the shelves that tower above him and the odd things they hold: a small cage bearing the skeleton of some long-dead creature. A jar of quivering eyeballs which track him as he passes.)

Oona: Over the years, if someone had a secret, if they wanted to conceal something, this is where they came. Some of these things are almost as old as the castle itself.

Nonny: Who showed you this? First.

Oona: Pablo and Brett. First year. I hid the Color Monster’s diary here for a time. Wish I’d left it...

(As Oona drifts in the memory, Nonny studies her, then a scuffling sound is heard nearby. They turn, look off.)

Oona and Nonny: (at the same time) What was that?

(They turn back, look at each other. Oona smiles. Then, Nonny and Oona approach. The scuffling grows louder. Nonny reaches out, pulls aside the tapestry. Reacts. The cabinet door vibrates. Slowly, he opens it and... ... the black bird flies free in a rush of flapping wings.)

Oona: See, you never know what you’ll find up here.

(Nonny nods, looks back to the cabinet, mystified.)

Oona: All right. Close your eyes. That way you can’t be tempted.

(Oona slips the book from his fingers and starts to back away. She mouths: Close... your... eyes. For a long moment, there is only silence. Then a shadow gently eclipses Nonny’s face.)

Oona: There’s something else. Another secret of sorts. One of mine...

(Oona leans in then and places her mouth on Nonny’s.)

Oona: That can stay hidden up here too, if you like.

(Nonny opens his eyes, watches Oona back away, then disappear around the corner. He stares at the empty air, blinking, then watches the black bird flutter overhead.)

(Scene: Corridor)

(Nonny, looking a tad dazed, walks aimlessly.)

Gil (o.s.): So. Did you and Oona do it?

(Nonny jumps, watches Gil appear.)

Nonny: What?

Gil: You know. Hide the book.

Nonny: Oh. Yeah.

(Just then, Arctic Dan rounds the far end of the corridor and -- spying Nonny -- does a little Oliver Hardy “Oops” and retreats.)

Gil: Still no luck with Arctic Dan, I take it?

(Nonny shakes his head -- then stops cold, stares at the empty space where Arctic Dan stood moments before.)

Nonny: Say that again.

(Scene: Common Room)

(The tiny vial of Felix Felicis glimmers in Nonny’s palm as he and Gil and Molly huddle in the empty dormitory. They exchange glances, then Nonny brings the vial to his lips.)

Molly: Well? How do you feel?

Nonny: Excellent. Really excellent.

Molly: Now remember. Arctic Dan usually eats early, takes a short walk and then returns to his office.

Nonny: Right. I’m going down to Mr. Langoustine’s.

Molly: What? No, Nonny -- you’ve got to go see Arctic Dan. We have a plan --

Nonny: No. I’ve got a good feeling about going to Mr. Langoustine’s. I feel like it’s the place to be tonight, know what I mean?

Molly and Gil: No.

Nonny: Trust me. I know what I’m doing. Or at least Felix does.

(Scene: Corridor)

(A boy with a Prefect’s badge patrols the corridor. Bored, he ponders the progress of his faint mustache in a mirror. Nonny walks by, unseen.)

(Scene: Entrance Hall)

(The Marching Bandit paces, standing guard while Bubble Kitty sits calmly by. A mouse appears in the open helmet of a suit of armor, washes its face with its tiny paws, then spies Bubble Kitty -- who hisses. The mouse makes a quick retreat and the face plate comes clanging down. As the Marching Banditwheels, Nonny strolls past.)

(Scene: Grounds)

(Two Aurors, twin silhouettes, patrol the grounds. Nonny approaches, about to intersect their paths when, at the last second, something on the ground catches his eye. He kneels, considers a beetle on its back, legs churning helplessly. Nonny extends his finger, letting the tiny bug gain purchase, then tips it upright... just as the Aurors’ shadows quiver over him and vanish. Rising, Nonny starts off in one direction, then stops, as if compelled by some inner voice, and heads the opposite way.)

(Scene: Greenhouse)

(Nonny hums placidly. Up ahead, a figure ripples beyond the steamy panes of the Greenhouse. It’s Arctic Dan, hunched over a plant whose tendrils coil eerily, resisting his attentions. Snip! He stealthily removes a sprig, looks up and jumps.)

Arctic Dan: Merlin’s beard, Nonny!

Nonny: Sorry, sir. I should’ve announced myself. Cleared my throat. Coughed. You probably feared I was Madam Snail.

Arctic Dan: Well, yes, actually -- (paranoid) Why would you think that?

Nonny: Just the general behavior, sir. The sneaking around. The jumping when you saw me. By the way, those Tentacula leaves -- they’re quite valuable, aren’t they?

Arctic Dan: Ten galleons a leaf to the right buyer -- not that I’m familiar with such back alley transactions. One hears rumors is all. My own interests are purely academic, of course.

Nonny: Personally, these plants have always kind of freaked me out.

(Nonny gives a little shiver of the shoulders, smiles. Arctic Dan cocks his head, studies him oddly.)

Arctic Dan: Exactly how did you get out of the castle, Nonny?

Nonny: Through the front doors, sir. I’m off to Mr. Langoustine’s, you see. He’s a very dear friend and I felt like paying him a visit. So if you don’t mind, I’ll be going.

Arctic Dan: Nonny!

Nonny: Sir?

Arctic Dan: It’s nearly nightfall. Surely you realize I can’t allow you to roam the grounds all by yourself.

Nonny: Well, then by all means come along, sir.

(Scene: Mr. Langoustine's Hut)

(Nonny appears over a rise, strolling happily along... when Arctic Dan appears, huffing and puffing to keep up.)

Arctic Dan: Nonny, I must insist you accompany me back to the castle immediately!

Nonny: That would be counterproductive, sir.

Arctic Dan: And what makes you say that?

Nonny: No idea.

(Arctic Dan frowns impatiently -- then stops, blinks.)

Arctic Dan: Merlin’s beard...

(Up ahead, Mr. Langoustine sits disconsolately upon a stump. Nearby, Aragog’s massive body lies legs up.)

Arctic Dan: Is that an actual Acromantula?

Nonny: A dead one, I think, sir.

(Nonny and Arctic Dan approach a sullen Mr. Langoustine.)

Mr. Langoustine: ‘Onny. Arctic Dan.

Arctic Dan: My god, dear man. How did you ever manage to kill it?

Mr. Langoustine: Kill ‘im! Me oldest friend, ‘e was!

Arctic Dan: I’m sorry, I... (didn’t realize.)

(Arctic Dan falters helplessly. Mr. Langoustine waves his hand.)

Mr. Langoustine: Ah, don’ worry yerself. Yer not alone. Seriously misunderstood creatures -- spiders. It’s the eyes, I reckon. Unnerve people.

Nonny: Not to mention the pincers.

(Nonny makes a little claw motion with his hand, while making a clicking sound. Mr. Langoustine eyes Nonny curiously.)

Mr. Langoustine: I reckon that too... How’d yeh get outta the castle anyways?

Nonny: Through the front doors.

Arctic Dan: Mr. Langoustine. I wouldn’t want to be indelicate, but Acromantula venom is uncommonly rare and, well, if you wouldn’t mind my extracting a vial or two -- purely for academic pursuits...

Mr. Langoustine: Don’ suppose it’s doin’ ‘im any good, izzit?

Arctic Dan: My thoughts exactly! Always carry a few spare ampoules for just such occasions. Old Potion Master’s habit, you know...

(Arctic Dan rummages about his pockets, extracts some small vials -- all empty save for one containing a hairy worm -- then scrambles up close to Aragog. Nonny and Mr. Langoustine watch.)

Mr. Langoustine: Wish yeh coulda seen ‘im in ‘is prime. Magnificent ‘e was. Jus’ magnificent...

(Mr. Langoustine blinks wildly, then takes out a handkerchief and snorts loudly into it. Arctic Dan looks up, studies Mr. Langoustine’s sorry expression with empathy and steps away.)

Arctic Dan: Why don’t I say a few words? I trust he had family?

Nonny: Oh yeah.

Arctic Dan: (clearing his throat) Farewell...

(Arctic Dan frowns.)

Mr. Langoustine: Aragog.

Arctic Dan: (a nod) Farewell, Aragog, king of arachnids. Though your body will decay, your spirit lingers on in the quiet, web-spun places of your Forest home. May your many-eyed descendents ever flourish and your human friends find solace for the loss they have sustained.

Mr. Langoustine: Tha’ was... tha’ was... beautiful.

(Mr. Langoustine wipes his eyes, then rises. He walks to Aragog, studies him lovingly, then puts a shoulder to the big beast’s body... and sends him tumbling into the freshly- dug grave adjacent with a sickening thunk.)

Mr. Langoustine and Arctic Dan (v.o.): (singing) And Odo the hero, they bore him back home...

(Nonny, Mr. Langoustine and Arctic Dan sit at the massive kitchen table, which is strewn with empty wine bottles. Mr. Langoustine and Arctic Dan are feeling no pain, while Nonny looks clear-eyed, focused.)

Mr. Langoustine and Arctic Dan: To the place he’d known as a lad, They laid him to rest with his hat inside out and his wand snapped in two, which was sad...

(As they finish, both men chuckle. Mr. Langoustine tops off everyone’s mug with a bit more wine. Nonny brings his mug to his lap... then slyly pours it into the bucket at his feet.)

Mr. Langoustine: I had ‘im from an egg, yeh know. Tiny little thing he was when he hatched. No bigger’n a Pekinese.

Arctic Dan: Sweet. I once had a fish. Francis. Lovely little thing. One day I came downstairs and he’d vanished. Poof.

Mr. Langoustine: Tha’s odd.

Arctic Dan: Isn’t it? That’s life, I suppose. One goes along and then... poof.

Mr. Langoustine: Poof.

Nonny: Poof.

(They all nod soberly. Arctic Dan’s eyes rise to the ceiling.)

Arctic Dan: That’s never unicorn hair, Mr. Langoustine?

(Mr. Langoustine looks up, reels a bit. Nods.)

Arctic Dan: But my dear chap, do you know how much that’s worth?

Mr. Langoustine: No idea... no idea at all...

(Thunk! Mr. Langoustine’s great shaggy head hits the table. Instantly, he is snoring, so deeply his mug shimmies across the table. Arctic Dan smiles, regards Nonny, who merely stares back. Arctic Dan averts his eyes. Suddenly nervous. A wind rises outside. Windowpanes rattle.)

Arctic Dan: It was a student who gave me Francis. One spring afternoon I discovered a bowl upon my desk with a few inches of clear water. There was a flower petal floating upon the surface. As I watched, the petal sank, but just before it touched bottom... it transformed. Into a wee fish. It was beautiful magic, wondrous to behold. The petal had come from a lily.

(Hearing “lily,” Nonny looks up. Arctic Dan nods.)

Arctic Dan: Your mother. The day I came downstairs, the day I found the bowl empty... was the day she...

(Arctic Dan falters, pain etching his face.)

Arctic Dan: I know what you want. But I can’t give it to you. It will ruin me...

(Nonny studies Arctic Dan a moment, thinking, then speaks.)

Nonny: Do you know why I survived? The night I got this.

(Arctic Dan looks up, sees Nonny pointing to his scar.)

Nonny: Because of her. Because she sacrificed herself. Because she refused to step aside. Because her love was more powerful than Rotten Tomato.

Arctic Dan: Please don’t say his --

Nonny: I’m not afraid of the name, Arctic Dan. And I’m not afraid of him. And you shouldn’t be either. She didn’t just die for me that night. She died for you too. She died for everyone who’s ever woken in the middle of the night afraid a Death Eater waited on their doorstep.

(Arctic Dan gazes into the guttering candle before him.)

Nonny: Arctic Dan. I’m going to tell you something, something others have only guessed at. It’s true. I am the Chosen One.

(Arctic Dan looks up. Nonny nods.)

Nonny: Only I can kill him. But in order to do so, I need to know what the Color Monster asked you that night in your office all those years ago. And I need to know what you told him.

(Arctic Dan’s eyes well with tears, his hands tremble.)

Nonny: Be brave, Arctic Dan. Be brave like my mother. Otherwise you disgrace her. Otherwise she died for nothing. Otherwise, the bowl remains empty forever.

(Arctic Dan shakes his head, staring into the candle. Finally, slowly, he removes his wand.)

Arctic Dan: Don’t think too badly of me once you’ve seen it. You don’t know what he was like... even then.

(Arctic Dan fishes out a tiny vial -- the one with the worm -- but his hand is shaking so violently, Nonny has to take it. Slowly, Arctic Dan raises his wand, touches it to his temple and withdraws a long, silver thread. Nonny extends the vial and... it drops within.)

End of Part 6.