AN- I don't have much to say right now… here's the story…
Bye!
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' Oh, he did, did he?' asked McGonagall in a sceptical voice. ' And would you like to explain how he managed to get you up above the water in the first place?'
Draco didn't have an answer for this, so he just scowled at the ground in front of his feet and remained silent.
' I thought so, fifty points from Slytherin Mr. Malfoy.'
Draco looked up and started to protest, but thought better of it when he saw the look on McGonagall's face.
McGonagall turned to Harry. ' Follow me Potter.'
Harry felt numb as he followed McGonagall towards the castle. He was going to be expelled. He could hardly believe it. He would have liked to be able to say something, to protest at least, but there was nothing he could say. He had disobeyed Madam Hooch, and he had known the consequences of his actions before hand. He didn't like that he was to be expelled, but he accepted it as the consequence for his actions. The only thing for him to do now was to worry about what he would do now that he would no longer be allowed to train as a wizard.
When McGonagall finally stopped, Harry almost ran into her. He hadn't expected her to stop here as they were outside a charms classroom, and Harry had assumed that she would be taking him to her office or to see Professor Dumbledore.
McGonagall stuck her head in the door to speak to whatever Professor happened to be teaching.
' Excuse me, Professor Flitwick, could I borrow Wood for a moment?' Harry heard her ask.
For a moment Harry thought wildly that Wood might be a cane she was going to use on him. He would have taken it smiling if it meant that he would be allowed to stay.
But Wood turned out to be a person, a burly fifth year boy who came out of Flitwick's class looking confused.
' Follow me, you two.' Said Professor McGonagall, and they marched on up the corridor, Wood looking curiously at Harry.
' In here.' McGonagall said shortly.
She had led them to a classroom that was empty, except for Peeves, who was busy writing rude words on the blackboard.
' Out, Peeves!' McGonagall barked. Peeves threw the chalk into a bin and spun to face McGonagall with a nasty grin on his face, but upon seeing Harry he simply smirked at McGonagall and bounced out the door, blowing raspberries at them as he went.
McGonagall closed the door, pointed her wand at it and whispered something. Then she pointed her wand at each of the four walls in turn and whispered the same thing. The room suddenly seemed awfully quiet and stuffy to Harry, and he realized that McGonagall must have used some silencing spells. Harry was elated. She wouldn't need to keep anyone from hearing if she had intended to expel him. Harry didn't know what she was going to say that needed to be kept secret, but he was all for it if it meant that he wasn't to be expelled.
' Potter, this is Oliver Wood.' McGonagall said turning to face the two confused boys once more. ' Wood - I've found you a seeker.'
Wood's expression turned instantly from puzzlement to delight.
' Are you serious, Professor?'
' Absolutely.' Said McGonagall crisply. ' The boy's a complete natural. I've never seen anything like it. Was that your first time on a broomstick, Potter?'
Harry nodded silently.
' He caught that thing in his hand after a thirty-foot dive.' McGonagall told Wood. ' Didn't even scratch himself. Charlie Weasley couldn't have done it on the broom Harry used.'
Wood was now looking like all his dreams had come true at once.
' Ever seen a game of Quidditch, Potter?' he asked excitedly.
' Wood's captain of the Gryffindor team.' Professor McGonagall explained.
' He's just he build for a Seeker too.' Said Wood, now walking around Harry and staring at him. ' Light - speedy - we'll have to get him a decent broom, Professor - a Nimbus Two-Thousand or a Cleansweep Seven, I'd say.'
' I shall speak to Professor Dumbledore and see if we can't bend the first year rule. Heaven knows we need a better team than last year. Flattened in that last match by Slytherin, I couldn't look Severus Snape in the face for weeks…'
McGonagall peered sternly over her glasses at Harry.
' I want to hear you're training hard, Potter, or I may change my mind about punishing you.'
Then suddenly she smiled.
' Your father would have been proud.' She said. ' He was an excellent Quidditch player himself.'
At dinnertime, Ron almost choked on a mouthful of steak and kidney pie when Harry told him what had happened when he left the field with McGonagall.
' You're joking!' He said when he regained his breath. ' Seeker? But first years never - you must be the youngest house player in about -'
' - a century.' Said Harry, eating his own dinner as fast as he could. He was extra-hungry after not eating at lunch and then exerting himself so much to save Malfoy and the Remembrall. ' Wood told me.'
Ron was so amazed, so impressed, he just sat and gaped at Harry.
' I start training next week.' Harry continued. ' Only don't tell anyone, Wood wants to keep it a secret. And close your mouth, before a bat flies in thinking it's a cave.'
Fred and George Weasley now entered the hall, spotted Harry and hurried over.
' Well done.' Said George in a low voice. ' Wood told us. We're on the team too - Beaters.'
' I tell you, we're going to win that Quidditch cup for sure this year.' Said Fred. ' We haven't won since Charlie left, but this year's team is going to be brilliant. You must be good, Harry, Wood was almost skipping when he told us.'
' Anyway, we've got to go, Lee Jordan reckons he's found a new secret passageway out of the school.'
' Bet it's that one behind the statue of Gregory the Smarmy that we found in our first week. See you.'
No sooner had Fred and George disappeared, than someone far less welcome showed up: Malfoy, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle.
' Having a last meal, Potter?' Draco sneered. ' When are you getting the train back to the muggles?'
' You're a lot braver now that you're not falling off your broom, and you've got your little friends to back you up.' Harry said coolly. There was, of course, nothing little about Crabbe or Goyle (except their brains), but there was nothing either of them could do with the entire staff sitting at the High Table.
' I'd take you on any time on my own.' Said Malfoy. ' Tonight if you want.' Harry allowed himself to grin a little at this before Malfoy amended himself. ' Wands only - no contact. What's the matter? Never heard of a wizard's duel before I suppose?'
' Of course he has.' Ron said, standing up to face Malfoy. ' I'm his second, who's yours?'
' Crabbe.' Draco answered without pausing. ' Midnight alright? We'll meet you in the trophy room, that's always unlocked.'
When Draco had gone, Ron and Harry looked at each other.
' I know I've read something about duelling before, but I can't remember it exactly.' Harry said. ' Do you know much about it? Like what do you mean you're 'my second'?'
' Well, a second's there to take over if you die.' Said Ron casually. Seeing Harry raise an eyebrow he quickly added, ' But people only die in proper duels, you know, with real wizards. The most you and Malfoy'll be able to do is send sparks at each other. Neither of you know enough magic to do any real damage. Or at least I know Malfoy doesn't.' Ron said, giving Harry a speculating look. Harry was always ready with some new surprise, like during the flying lessons, so Ron thought that Harry might know something to use on Malfoy after all. 'Besides, if all else fails, you can just forget your wand and punch him on the nose.'
' Excuse me.'
They both looked up. It was Hermione Granger.
' Can't a person eat in peace in this place?' said Ron, then grunted as Harry elbowed him without looking away from Hermione.
Hermione bit her lower lip and ignored Ron, then turned to Harry.
' I couldn't help overhearing what you and Malfoy were saying -'
' Bet you could.' Ron muttered.
'- and you mustn't go wandering around the school at night, think of the points you'll lose Gryffindor if you're caught, and you're bound to be. It's really very selfish of you.'
' I'm afraid that's beside the point now. I said I'd be there and I always keep my word. Even to Malfoy.' Harry said and turned back to his dinner, missing the look of confusion on Hermione's face. Any other guy, Ron for example, would have justified breaking the rules by saying that it didn't matter so long as he 'got even'.
' Goodbye.' Said Ron, returning to his dinner as well.
All in all, Harry didn't think it was what he'd call a perfect end to the day. < Hermione thinks I'm selfish.> Harry had thought he would have a hard time staying awake until it was time to go for the duel. < Hermione thinks I'm selfish.> But the overly soft bed, and the rumbling snores of his housemates, minus Ron who was still awake to leave with Harry, made it impossible to sleep regardless of how tired Harry was. < Hermione thinks I'm selfish… Arrrrghh!> Harry thought. < Why can't I stop thinking about that? Except she was right, in a way. And so was Ron when he said Malfoy might not show up.> Earlier, before the two had gone to bed, Ron had brought up the possibility that Malfoy wouldn't show. < But it doesn't matter. I gave my word that I'd be there so I don't have a choice.>
Harry glanced at the table where he had left his wand. He had put it on a spot that would come into the moon's light just before midnight. The moonlight was shinning on half of his wand; when the tip was in full view of the moon through the window, it would be time to go. There were only a few minutes to go, but Harry was restless. He got up quietly and went down to the common room where he and Ron had planned to meet to talk, since it wasn't a good idea to meet in their dorm as their beds were on either side of Dean's. Dean was a notoriously light sleeper.
Harry crept down the staircase and into the common room. A few embers were still glowing in the fireplace, turning all the chairs into hunched black shadows. Harry chose one facing the portrait hole, with it's back to the two staircases, and settled down to wait for Ron. A minute later he heard footsteps coming downstairs, but they were coming from the girls' side. Frowning Harry remained still, trusting to his black robes and hair to hide him in the shadows if the person came in front of his chair.
When he finally saw who it was he almost gave himself away with a gasp. It was Hermione, wearing a white night shirt and pink shorts.
After a moment of shocked silence, Harry was about to say hello and find out what she was doing in the common room at this hour, though he had a pretty good idea, but then he heard her mutter his name, and he instinctively froze and listened.
' I can't believe I'm out of my dorm after curfew! I sure hope Harry appreciates this!' she was grumbling. ' Honestly! First on the broom and now he's going to duel with Malfoy! As if I wasn't worried enough for him on the broom, now he goes and picks a fight with a much more experienced wizard…'
At this point Harry realized that he had been eavesdropping. Harry felt rather bad about it and would have gotten up and said something, but if he did then Hermione would know the he had been eavesdropping. He decided to wait for Ron to come down and distract Hermione so he could move to the stairs and pretend to be just coming down. It wasn't easy to wait, with Hermione sitting across from Harry, in her nightshirt, gazing at the embers that were still left in the fireplace. Harry found himself slipping into a sort of trance, but not one like he did when he meditated. When Harry went into a meditative trance, he felt totally disconnected from everything that happened, both physically and mentally, though this didn't slow his reflexes. The trance he was slipping into now was different though. He felt more connected to everything, and everything seemed to be more solid and detailed than normal, but he was having trouble remembering small things, like whatever Hermione had been saying about Harry in the first place. Harry also found that he simply couldn't move. Or more accurately, he couldn't seem to make himself want to move. So Harry sat there staring at Hermione, in her nightshirt and shorts, until Ron came down.
Harry finally snapped out of it when he heard footsteps coming down the boys' stairway, and then heard Ron whispering.
' Hey, Harry. Harry, where are you?'
From where Harry was, he could see Hermione's puzzlement. She had obviously thought that Harry was still up in his dorm, but if Ron was looking for Harry in the common room…. Hermione lit a lamp beside her chair and stood to talk to Ron, but didn't get a chance to say anything before Ron.
"You!" said Ron furiously. "Go back to bed!"
"I almost told your brother," Hermione snapped, "Percy - he's a prefect, he'd put a stop to this."
Harry frowned and wondered <Why is she trying to stop us from going? I'm sure she's not worried that we'll hurt Malfoy.> Harry would have pondered this longer, but at that point Ron and Hermione both had turned away from him, arguing about the consequences of being out of their dorm after curfew, and Harry took the opportunity to get out of his chair and creep silently over to the stairs.
Knowing that Ron at least, would ask him where he had been, and since he neither wanted to say that he had been eavesdropping on Hermione nor did he want to lie, Harry went up the stairs to the washroom and came back.
At this point Ron and Hermione were starting to forget what time it was and were beginning to raise their voices. They were so engrossed in the argument that they didn't notice Harry come noisily back down the stairs and walk over to where they were standing.
Harry was about to say something when he remembered Katie screaming when he said hello to her because she hadn't noticed him in the dark on the first night. So instead of calling out to the two from where he was, and risk scaring them, Harry walked over to them and, as they still hadn't noticed him, he waved his hand in front of their faces.
The two whipped their heads around and snapped "What?!" at the same time, before realizing who it was.
' Harry!' the both said in relief, still in unison.
' I hope that you at least will listen to reason.' Said Hermione in an exasperated tone.
' Reason? What does that have to do with anything?!' exclaimed Ron. He had obviously become entirely too caught up in the argument and his baseless dislike of Hermione, and was now just disagreeing with anything Hermione said.
' You know, I really can't agree with either of you.' Harry started, in a calming voice, before the two could start up again. ' I don't even know what you two are arguing about, now.'
Hermione took a slow breath and was about to start explaining, when Ron interrupted.
' We don't have time for this anyway, Harry, we've got to go, remember? And anywho, where were you?'
' I was just in the washroom,' said Harry casually. ' You're right though; we do need to leave. I don't want to give Malfoy any reason to call me a coward.'
Hermione's eyes bulged as Harry said this.
' Don't you care about Gryffindor, do you only care about yourselves, I don't want Slytherin to win the house cup, and you'll lose all the points I got from Professor McGonagall for knowing about Switching Spells.'
' Look, Hermione.' Harry said , placatingly. ' I know the reasons for not going, but do you know the reasons for going?'
' Well… no, but-' Hermione said, looking down.
' Harry, come on! Quit wasting time!' Ron said tugging on Harry's robes. ' She'll never understand, she's to dense, let's just go, already!'
Hearing this, Harry almost laughed for the first time in years, but Hermione failed to see anything funny about Ron's comment. She looked about ready to curse Ron into oblivion, as soon as she found the right curse. Not wanting to waste even more time in an argument, Harry intervened.
' Hermione, right or wrong, I said that I would be there. I will not break my word to anyone. Even Malfoy.' Said Harry, in a firm tone. ' So please, don't tell anyone that we've gone?' He continued in an almost pleading tone.
Without waiting for an answer, Harry turned to the portrait hole, and went through, pulling Ron after him. Hermione wasn't going to give up that easily. She followed Ron through the portrait hole, hissing angrily.
' All right, but I warned you,' she said, looking more worried than angry. ' You just remember what I said when you're on the train home tomorrow, you're so -'
But what they were, they didn't find out. Hermione had turned to the portrait of the Fat Lady to get back inside and found herself facing an empty painting. The Fat Lady had gone on a nighttime visit and Hermione was locked out of Gryffindor tower.
' Now what am I going to do?' she asked shrilly.
' That's your problem,' said Ron. ' We've got to go, we're going to be late.'
They hadn't even reached the end of the corridor when Hermione caught up with them.
' I'm coming with you,' she said.
' You are not.' Ron said.
' D'you think I'm going to stand out here and wait for Filch to catch me? If he finds all three of us I'll tell him the truth, that I was trying to stop you, and you can back me up.'
' You've got some nerve -' said Ron loudly.
Suddenly Harry held up his hand, silencing both of them.
' Shhh,' he whispered, ' I thought I heard something.'
It was a sort of snuffling sound.
' Is it Mrs. Norris?' Ron asked.
' No,' Harry muttered. ' it's human.'
' How could you possibly tell- ' Hermione started to scoff, before they came across the sleeping form of Neville.
' Huh.' Ron snorted. ' Well, Hermione, I don't know how common it is for girls to snore, but when you sleep in the guys dorm, you learn to recognize this sort of sound.' He said with a shit-eating grin.
Hermione flushed and retorted ' Then why did you think it was a cat?'
Fortunately, Neville woke up then, putting a stop to the ensuing argument before it could get out of hand.
' Thank goodness you found me!' exclaimed Neville as he woke to find the three standing over him. ' I've been out here for hours. I couldn't remember the password to get in.'
' Keep your voice down, Neville. The password is "Pig Snout", but that won't do you any good right now, the fat Lady's gone off somewhere.' Hermione informed him.
' How's your arm?' asked Harry.
' Oh, it's just fine now. Madame Pomfrey fixed it up in about a minute.'
' Good - well look, Neville, we have to be somewhere, we'll see you later- '
' Don't leave me!' said Neville, scrambling to his feet. ' The Bloody Baron's been past twice already.'
Ron glared at his watch, then at Neville and Hermione.
' If either of you two get us caught, I'll never rest until I've learned that Curse of the Bogies Quirrell told us about, and used it on you.'
Neville trembled at this threat, but Hermione looked completely unimpressed. She opened her mouth, perhaps to tell Ron what Harry already knew, that there was no such thing, Prof. Quirrell had been making it up, but Harry put a finger to her lips to keep her quiet, and motioned for everyone to follow him down the corridor.
They flitted along corridors striped with bars of moonlight from the high windows. At every turn they expected to run into Filch or Mrs. Norris, but Harry was able to lead them around any ghosts that crossed their path, and they never saw either Filch or Mrs. Norris. They sped up a staircase to the third floor and tiptoed toward the trophy room.
Malfoy and Crabbe weren't there yet. The crystal trophy cases glimmered where the moonlight caught them. Cups, shields, plates, and statues winked silver and gold in the darkness. They edged along the walls, keeping their eyes on the doors at either end of the room. Harry took out his wand in case Malfoy leapt in and started at once. The minutes crept by.
' He's late, maybe he's chickened out.' Ron whispered.
Harry didn't think that Malfoy would have chickened out. If Malfoy wasn't here yet, then it was probably because he had never intended to come. Harry told the others what he thought and, although Ron didn't agree, he didn't say he disagreed either. Neville just wanted to go back to the portrait and wait for the fat Lady, but Hermione thought about it for a second and agreed with Harry in the end.
' Hmmmm… You're most likely right. If he had intended to show up in the first place, he would have been here early probably. Since he's not here then he probably is back in his dorm laughing… it seems like a trick someone of his intelligence would pull.' Said Hermione.
Then a noise in the next room made them jump. Harry had his wand raised with a curse ready on his lips when they heard someone speak - and it wasn't Malfoy.
' Sniff around, my sweet. I know they're around here somewhere.'
It was Filch speaking to Mrs. Norris. Biting back a few choice words, Harry waved to everyone to follow him as he ran at an apparently solid wall.
Not knowing what else to do, the others followed Harry. Hermione almost cried out as Harry ran smack into the wall. Ron on the other hand swore loudly, attracting Filch's attention. Except that Harry hadn't ran into the wall. He had disappeared a foot before it. Then his head popped back through the wall.
' Come on! Just run at the wall.' He told the others. ' So long as you run right at it, the wall will let you through.'
In any other circumstances, the other three probably wouldn't have been able to make themselves do it, but Filch chose that moment to come barrelling around the corner into the trophy room with Mrs. Norris right on his heels.
Hermione turned to Neville and Ron, and, grabbing their hands, she ran through the wall, pulling them behind her. They emerged to find Harry leaning on the wall waiting for them, his usual lack of expression still apparent.
' Come on,' he said, standing up straight. ' Filch is bound to figure out where we went soon enough.' He turned and started to jog down the corridor. Hermione and Ron started to follow with Neville a few feet back.
Suddenly they heard Filch shout, " Ah-ha! The false wall! Now I've got you!" He had, apparently, figured out where they had gone, and the four students sped up.
Then there was the sound of loud cursing from behind the four. Apparently the wall had decided to behave like a normal wall while Filch was still halfway inside it. Glancing back they could see most of his upper body sticking out of the now solid wall, his face an ugly shade of purple as he screamed at the wall to let him go.
Both Ron and Neville almost fell over laughing, and it was lucky for them that Filch was trapped so that he couldn't turn enough to see the faces of the students that were laughing at his predicament. Fortunately for Ron and Neville, Harry and Hermione (AN- What a beautiful phrase!) were still paying attention to Filch, because the wall had started to revert to it's passable state, and Filch was slowly pulling himself free. If they stayed where they were much longer Filch would catch them for sure.
' RUN!' Harry shouted, hoping that Filch would not recognize his voice later.
Ron and Neville looked at Filch, struggling to get free, then turned and bolted past Harry. Together, the four of them sprinted down the gallery, not looking back to see whether Filch was following - they swung around the doorpost and galloped down one corridor then another, Neville in the lead, without any idea where they were or where they were going - they ripped through a tapestry and found themselves in a hidden passageway, hurtled along it and came out near their Charms classroom, which they knew was miles from the trophy room.
' I-*pant* think we--*pant pant*- lost him.' Ron gasped, holding his side and stopping to rest.
Everyone was on the point of collapse after their sudden sprint, except maybe Harry, who was only breathing a bit harder than normal.
' I - told - you,' Hermione gasped, clutching at the stitch in her chest, ' I - told - you.'
' We've got to get back to Gryffindor tower,' said Ron, ' quickly as possible.'
' Malfoy tricked you,' Hermione said to Harry. ' You realize that, don't you? He was never going to meet you - Filch knew someone was going to be in the trophy room, Malfoy must have tipped him off.'
' I know.' Harry said. ' I figured he might try that. In fact, that's why I asked the twins about any ways in or out of the trophy room that most people might not know about.'
' I was wondering how you knew about that.' Ron admitted.
Harry shook his head grimly. ' I should have anticipated that Filch would know about it though. If that wall hadn't decided to go solid right then…' he let it hang.
' Well as much fun as that was, why don't we go back to the common room now?' Neville asked. He was still looking over his shoulder nervously every few seconds.
' Yes. Perhaps the fat Lady will be back now and we can go back to our dorms, where we should have been in the first place.' Hermione said acidly, looking at Ron, as though it was his fault she was locked out of Gryffindor tower.
They started to make their way through the corridors, back to their dorms. Ron and Hermione were back to ignoring each other as much as possible, Neville was to shy and nervous to say anything and Harry was concentrating on making sure they weren't caught by any wandering ghosts. All in all it was a very quiet walk. It was almost relaxing, until Peeves came zooming around a corner ahead of them. He spotted them before they could hide.
' Wandering around at midnight, Ickle Firsties?' he jeered. ' Tut, tut, tut. Naughty, naughty, you'll get caughty.' Then he cracked a grin at Harry. ' At least you will if you don't find somewhere to hide quickly. Seems some students were laughing at Filchy-pie and he's rather eager to catch them.'
Both Neville and Hermione were looking scared, as if they were just waiting for Peeves to start shouting for Filch. Ron, on the other hand, had gone as red as his hair. He looked like he was about to explode at Peeves, but Harry just smirked and nodded at Peeves before motioning for everyone to follow him as he searched desperately for a place to hide.
' Over here!' hissed Ron, standing before a door at the end of the corridor.
The others rushed over to Ron but when he tried the door it was locked.
' Shi-oot!' spat Ron. ' It's locked!'
Just then they heard footsteps coming towards them from the direction they had been headed in.
' Oh, get out of the way!' Hermione snarled, shoving Ron away and looking closely at the lock. ' Give me your wand, someone.' She said, holding out her hand.
' This is it!' Ron moaned, as he pushed uselessly at the door, ' We're done for! This is the end!'
Harry playfully slapped the back of Ron's head as he handed his wand to Hermione. ' Don't give up before you're caught.' He advised.
Hermione tapped the lock and said " Alohomora!"
The lock clicked and the door swung open - they piled through it, shut it quickly, and pressed their ears against it, listening.
They heard Filch arrive in front of the door they had just gone through. Everyone's eyes bugged out as they listened to Filch talking to himself.
' Grrr. I know I heard them around here somewhere.'
Then, to their horror, they heard him start opening doors on the far end of the corridor, checking the rooms for unruly students.
Neville and Hermione started breathing quickly, panicking. To tell the truth Ron was panicking also, but hiding it better. It was only a matter of time before Filch would find them. Harry tried to calm his mind and think of any magic he had learned or heard of that might keep Filch from opening the door, or even just distract him. He noticed Hermione still had his wand and he got an idea.
' Hermione!' he whispered, with his lips close to her ear to avoid making more noise than necessary. ' Can that spell you used lock doors too?'
For a moment Hermione couldn't answer; in fact, she was having trouble thinking at all. They were all pressed closely together, all trying to listen through the door at once. When Harry suddenly whispered in her ear, and she could feel his warm breath on her ear and cheek, she just froze as a shiver ran through her.
' Hey! Didn't you hear him?' Ron muttered, bringing Hermione back to her senses. ' Can it or not?'
Hermione shook her head to clear her mind and brought Harry's wand back up. Crossing her fingers on her free hand, she whispered the spell again, and there was a little click as the door locked itself once more, and they all let out a sigh of relief.
' I wasn't actually sure that it would work. After all it is an unlocking charm-' started Hermione before Harry put a finger to her lips, silencing her and sending another chill down her spine, which she attributed to running around in a cold castle in her night clothes. Harry shivered thinking much the same thing as Hermione.
Filch was starting down the other side of the corridor now and was only a few doors away from where the four were hiding, when he opened one door to find Peeves waiting with water balloons. (AN- Where the heck did he get them? The characters are taking over the story and leaving plot holes! Ahhh!)
' PEEVES!' shouted Filch in surprise.
Peeves grinned savagely at Filch, tossing one balloon up and down menacingly.
' Y- Y- You wouldn't dare!' Filch stuttered, his eyes wide and his face purple in a scared rage. Peeves had been known to fill his water balloons with whatever potions he found in the dungeon, and the results were often… distressing to say the least.
Ron, Neville, Hermione and Harry couldn't hear what was going on after Filch had shouted " Peeves!", which had made them all flinch.
Luckily for Filch though, Peeves didn't actually have any water balloons. They had actually been an illusion, one of the few bits of magic that poltergeists can do.
Filch glared and turned an embarrassed red as Peeves let the balloons disappear.
' Quick, Peeves, which way did they go?' asked Filch, over Peeves' cackling laughter. ' Tell me!'
Ron, Neville and Hermione all tensed when they heard this. Would Peeves give them away? But Harry was fairly sure that Peeves was actually trying to help them without seeming to. Harry wasn't too worried…
' Say "Please".' Peeves said, folding his arms and acting, mockingly, like a stubborn child.
' Don't mess with me, Peeves, now where did they go?'
' Shan't say nothing if you don't say please,' said Peeves in an annoying singsong voice.
' Alright - please!'
' NOTHING! Ha haaa! Told you I wouldn't say nothing if you didn't say please! Ha ha! Haaaaaa!' And they heard the sound of Peeves whooshing away and Filch cursing in rage.
A moment later they heard a still cursing Filch stalk away, and they let out a relieved sigh.
' He thought this door was locked,' Harry whispered. ' I think we'll be okay - what is it, Neville?!' For Neville had been tugging on the sleeve of Harry's bathrobe for the last minute. ' What?'
Harry turned around - and saw, quite clearly, what. For a moment, he was sure he'd walked into a nightmare - this was too much, on top of everything that had happened so far. They weren't in a room, as they had supposed. They were in a corridor. The forbidden corridor on the third floor. And now they knew why it was forbidden.
They were looking straight into the eyes of a monstrous dog, a dog that filled the whole space between ceiling and floor. It had three heads. Three pairs of rolling, mad eyes; three noses, twitching and quivering in their direction; three drooling mouths, saliva hanging in slippery ropes from yellowish fangs.
It was standing quite still, all six eyes staring at them, and Harry knew that the only reason they weren't already dead was that their sudden appearance had taken it by surprise, but it was quickly getting over that, there was no mistaking what those thunderous growls meant.
Harry took a step forwards pushing Hermione behind him, towards the door.
' Quick, Hermione.' He said in a shaky voice. ' The door.'
Hermione snapped out of her frightened paralysis when Harry moved her to the door, and she whipped around shouting " Alohomora!"
The door slammed open, and Hermione rushed out followed closely by Neville and Ron, and lastly Harry.
They slammed the door on one of the dog's noses as it lunged towards them. Fortunately the dog couldn't even fit his head through, and Ron, Neville and Harry were able to hold the door shut for Hermione to perform her spell, one last time, on the door.
Once the door was locked again they all sprinted back to Gryffindor tower without slowing down. Fortunately the fat Lady had returned by that time, and was able to let them in.
' Where on earth have you all been?' she asked, looking at their bathrobes hanging off their shoulders and their flushed, sweaty faces.
' Never mind that.' Panted Hermione, stepping forward. ' Pig Snout.' and the portrait swung forward. They scrambled into the common room and collapsed, trembling, into armchairs.
It was a while before any of them said anything. Neville, indeed, looked as if he'd never speak again.
' What do they think they're doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?' Ron said to Harry finally. ' If any dog needs exercise, that one does.'
But Harry wasn't listening. He was lost in thought and had a suspicious look on his normally inexpressive face.
Hermione had got both her breath and her bad temper back again. ' You don't use your eyes, any of you, do you?' she snapped. ' Didn't you see what it was standing on?'
' The floor?' Ron suggested, snidely. ' I wasn't looking at its feet, I was too busy with its heads.'
' No, not the floor.' Said Harry thoughtfully. ' It was standing on a trapdoor. It's obviously guarding something.'
Hermione dropped her glare for a moment to beam at Harry, as though she was a professor, and Harry was her prize pupil.
' Exactly.' She stated. ' And if something has to be brought to Hogwarts to be kept safe, then you can bet it's pretty important. Now I hope you're pleased with yourselves.' Turning to Harry she said ' You could have been killed - or worse, expelled. So, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed.' And without a backwards glance she turned and went up the stairs to her dorm.
Ron stared after her, his mouth open.
'No, we don't mind,' he said. ' You'd think we dragged her along, wouldn't you?'
But once again, Harry wasn't listening. Hermione had given him several things to think about. The foremost in his mind being what Hagrid had said…What had Hagrid said? Gringotts was the safest place in the world for something you wanted to hide - except perhaps Hogwarts. It looked as though Harry had finally found out where the grubby little package from vault seven hundred and thirteen was.
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AN- Hello, everyone! I don't have much to say right now, but I want to tell everybody that the "Chamber of Secrets" movie is f***ing AMAZING!!! Dan is a great actor! He plays Harry perfectly! And I just LOVED Rupert's facial expressions as Ron!
Anywho that's all for now…
H/H FOREVER!
Bye!