Chapter 36: Let the Games Begin
September 12 - Hogwarts
Minerva McGonagall looked at the group of students before her with some surprise. She nearly removed her spectacles to clean them thinking that she must be losing her eyesight. Draco Malfoy, Hannah Abbott, Ginny Weasley, and Nuala O'Riley stood before her desk waiting patiently for the first clue. She supposed that Hannah had been the driving force behind the team, as she was utterly shocked to see that Mr. Malfoy had even decided to take part in the quest. Then again, it wasn't as shocking as his mother teaching defense and assisting the Order. She supposed some shocks were definitely better than others.
"Excellent team, I think you shall do very well," she finally managed noticing that in her surprise more of her Scottish burr crept into her voice. She looked at each of them in turn before continuing, "Each clue will lead you to another clue until you eventually solve them all and make your way to the treasure. Along the way you may be asked to perform spells, defend yourself and your team from an attack, brew potions, and collect other items that will help you with future tasks. You are not allowed to receive assistance from professors in solving the clues, though some may lead you to a specific professor to obtain the next clue or item. All clues will be within the bounds of the castle and surrounding grounds. You will not need to enter the Forbidden Forest as it is forbidden at all times. Do any of you have any questions?" No one spoke so she handed Hannah the clue, and wished them luck.
The four left her office immediately and she paused for a moment to ponder the groups she had seen so far. Ron Weasley, Luna Lovegood, Susan Bones, and Bethany Ellis had surprised her less as a group. She knew that Susan and Bethany had grown up together, so they were an obvious choice. She had also noticed the ruckus when Luna Lovegood sat with Ron Weasley at the Gryffindor table. All in all though, she thought the two made a nice match. Ron already seemed more mature, and Luna more observant. How the two groups of two had discovered each other she was uncertain. Miss Lovegood had always seemed to be a loner of sorts, and Mr. Weasley was rarely found outside the company of his Gryffindor friends. Seeing the four of them together had reinforced to her, at least, what this competition could do, and was already doing to inter-house alliances.
Now, she was simply gob-smacked. Surely any contest that could bring together a Malfoy and a Weasley to work on the
same team had to be a success. She wondered if the youngest Wesley had mentioned her teammates to her housemates.
Several of her Gryffindors were competing in the quest, and she was quite pleased with that fact. She had yet to see
either Harry or Hermione with a team and wondered if the two would compete. She knew they were both extremely busy with
their extra classes and training, so she supposed she shouldn't be surprised if they didn't. Still, it seemed
strange to think that they might not participate.
Sighing, she removed her glasses and rubbed her eyes before placing them back on and turning to the stack of essays she had to grade. She dismissed any more thoughts about the contest and settled in to work. Giving out the first clue was taking up a considerable amount of her time, and she looked forward to when all the teams would be formed and moved on to the next clue.
****************************************************************************
Draco, Ginny, Hannah, and Nuala made their way to an empty classroom and immediately cast silencing and an impenetruable charm on the room. They bent over the clue reading it carefully as Hannah held it out.
150 galleons, that's what Bragg made me worth,
But Modesty preserved me
Until Wright gave it birth
Nuala was the first to speak, "I guess Bragg, Modesty, and Wright, are names either of people or places, though it sounds like people." The tall Raveclaw girl appeared lost in thought as she pushed a loose tendril of red hair back from her face.
"Barberus Bragge once offered 150 galleons to the first Quidditch player to catch the Golden Snidget," Draco remarked. The girls looked at him in surprise.
"What, I remember the story because I always wished someone would offer me that much to catch the snitch," he added and like that the answer dawned on them.
"Bowman Wright invented the golden snitch," Ginny added smacking her forehead lightly. "I can't believe I didn't think of that right away."
"I guess it pays to have two seekers on our team," Hannah remarked to Nuala with a smile. The others joined her pleased they had figured it out so quickly.
"Well, lets go find a snitch," Nuala suggested feeling better about her team all the time. Her sister Moira had suggested she align herself with Draco Malfoy, and Nuala had to admit her sister was seldom wrong when it came to those kinds of things. It was one of the reasons her older sister was in Slytherin. Of course, it didn't hurt that the fifth year girl had class with Ginny Weasley and that the two got along well. She'd had to practically beg Ginny to stay on the team once she found out that both Hannah and Nuala were counting on Draco to be their fourth member. The fiery red head had agreed, but warned Draco that any wrong move or remarks would find him at the mercy of one of her infamous bat bogey hexes.
Undoing the charms on the empty classroom the four made their way quietly out of the castle. It was evening, and many students were gathered outside enjoying a pretty late summer day. Several watched the group intently as they walked across the grounds. No one would have guessed that Malfoy would be working with a Weasley. The four ignored the watchful eyes and the occasional comments. They wandered closer to the Quidditch pitch taking their time and trying to break away from the majority of students so as not to accidentally help out another team by leading them to the clue.
It took them nearly fifteen minutes to eventually wind their way circuitously of course, to the shed where the quidditch equipment was kept. Draco was the first to get to the old trunk that contained the practice balls, so he knelt to open it. The snitch rested quietly in its usual place and did not appear to be hiding a note or clue.
"There's no note," Hannah exclaimed disappointed as she stared down at the snitch. Ginny eased past Nuala and bent to snatch the snitch out of its resting place.
"Watch it weaslette," Draco drawled just as the snitch's wings started beating madly. Ginny held it firmly.
"Shut up, ferret boy," Ginny answered examining the snitch more closely.
"Truce, remember," Nuala reminded the two watching the snitch struggle to escape from Ginny. Hannah examined the trunk more closely, including the slot where the snitch usually rested.
"There's nothing in here," she informed the others softly sitting back on her heels her robes billowing out around her on the ground. Nuala smiled at her attempt to bring them all back to the task at hand.
"Maybe we have to say the answer to get the note to appear," she suggested thinking logically about the clue. It seemed like a test to see what they knew.
"It makes sense, otherwise every time we practiced, another copy of the clue would appear," Draco mused considering the suggestion.
"From Golden Snidget to golden snitch," Ginny stated slowly and succinctly. The snitch stopped fluttering in her hand and disappeared leaving a note crumpled in her tightly fisted hand in its place while it reappeared in its usual slot in the trunk. Hannah closed the lid as she and Draco both rose to their feet.
"What's it say?" Draco was the first to ask as they all clamored around her to try to read it. Ginny tried to straighten it out a bit then began to read:
I have more than one name, and more than one form.
I'm a King, feared by all but a few.
Several have encountered me within Hogwart's walls,
Seek out the one who did not survive.
"So now we have to seek out one of the ghosts?" Hannah questioned shuddering at the clue. Nuala seemed to be lost in thought contemplating the possibilities.
"It sounds like it, though which ghost?"
"Please not Peeves," Hannah pleaded thinking of the pesky poltergeist that wrecked so much havoc.
"What about the first part of the clue?" Draco suggested. "I don't remember meeting a King at Hogwarts."
"Perhaps it's a King of beasts," prompted Ginny causing Draco to scowl.
"Please don't tell me we'll have to go to that oaf for assistance," he practically spit out.
"We can't get assistance from the professors, and this obviously points us to a ghost," Hannah reminded him placing a warning hand on his arm. Even she didn't appreciate him speaking of Hagrid in that way and he knew that.
"It's a basilisk," Nuala revealed certain that she had it correct.
"The King of Serpents," both she and Draco added surprised to find themselves speaking at the same time.
"A basilisk was also called a cockatrice in medieval times, and drawings from that period depict it with wings," Nuala went on in excitement as she remembered reading about them in one of her Care of Magical Creature books. Draco smirked.
"Well, several students did meet it so to speak several years ago." Neither noticed as Ginny's face had gotten progressively whiter until her freckles stood out in sharp contrast. When she swayed on her feet, it was Hannah who recovered first and moved to help her sit down on the trunk of equipment. She called her name trying to get her attention, but the other girl acted as if she couldn't hear her. She started to tremble, and Hannah looked to her teammates for help. Both were now staring at the two in surprise. And then it hit the three of them. Ginny Weasley was the one taken into the chamber of secrets by the basilisk. Nuala knelt beside Hannah and the two girls tried to comfort Ginny. Draco, completely out of his element, took several steps back. It took awhile but the two girls finally got Ginny to look at them when they said her name. With one on either side of her they helped her back into the castle and to the infirmary. Draco trailed behind them carrying the copy of the second clue that Ginny had dropped in the equipment shed.
"What happened?" Madam Pomfrey inquired as soon as the students led Ginny through the doors of the infirmary.
"We think she's just in shock," Nuala informed the healer as she and Hannah helped Ginny sit down on one of the beds. She appeared to be more aware of her surroundings now.
"Miss Weasley, what happened?" Poppy Pomfrey questioned waving her wand in front of the girl and doing a basic diagnostic spell to see if she was alright. Everything appeared to be fine, other than that the girl was way too pale and obviously in shock. Ginny still didn't seem ready to respond.
"She was reminded rather unexpectedly of the basilisk," Draco stated when it became obvious that no one else was going to speak. A surprised look crossed the medi-witches face before she got it under control.
"Thank you ladies, Mr. Malfoy, for bringing her here, I'll take care of it from here," she ordered and the three slowly left the hospital wing. Internally, she was cursing whoever had submitted a clue that would remind the students of the basilisk. As the others left, Ginny finally took notice of where she was and began protesting. Madam Pomfrey shushed her protests with a stern look and handed her a dreamless sleep potion.
"Get some sleep, Miss Weasley. You've had a nasty shock and your mind needs a chance to adjust," the kindly medi--witch stated firmly leaving no room for argument. Ginny stared at the potion. She was embarrassed by her reaction to the clue. She tried not to think about her first year and most of the time she succeeded.
"I assure you it is dreamless sleep. Tomorrow will be soon enough to talk about it," Poppy Pomfrey added waiting for the girl to take the potion. Ginny nodded and slowly drank the potion settling back on the bed. She still felt shaky. Within moments she was asleep.
Poppy watched her for a few moments making sure she was comfortably leaning back against the pillows. With a little sleep she fully expected the Gryffindor would be fine. She'd speak to Minerva about talking to her. It was obvious the memories from her first year were still painful. She shook her head and made several remarks under her breath about the stupid clue that had led to the girl's obvious distress. She'd speak to Minerva about that herself. If this first clue was any indication, the clues needed to be reviewed more carefully.
***************************************************************************************************
Harry stood in the center of a large stone room devoid of any furniture or objects save for a small wooden target on the far side of the room. He held his right hand out in front of him, palm facing the ceiling as he focused intently on the space just above his hand. A small ball of flame appeared just above his open palm as sweat beaded on his forehead. He pushed more magic into the spell as he attempted to make the ball larger. The flame danced wickedly as he felt his control over it begin to slip. He drew in a calming breathe and prepared to quench the flame. Slowly, he closed his fist drawing the magic back into his body. As the flame went out the force of the magic snapped out and sent him flying backwards several feet where he landed on his back with a thud.
Hermione clapped as he picked himself up off the floor and grimaced. He'd have to remember to cushion the floor next time, he thought as he rubbed his elbow that had connected rather harshly with the stone of the floor.
"That was really good," praised Hermione. "That's the largest and longest flame you've maintained so far."
"Thanks, but I'm still not doing very well on dispersing the force so it doesn't knock me on my arse," grumbled Harry.
"You will get it, Harry. Why didn't you fire it at the target?"
"I wasn't sure I could control the trajectory, and I didn't want a repeat of the last session with Dumbledore," he responded shaking his head as he remembered how his control had snapped out and brought everyone in the clearing down along with the target. It was only thanks to Hermione and Dumbledore's shields that they hadn't all caught fire along with the target.
"That's why we're practicing in here. Headmaster Dumbledore placed the protections on the room himself," she reminded him. "If it helps, keep the flame smaller," she suggested holding out her own hand where a ball of fire instantly appeared. "I also find it's easier to throw it if you flick your wrist almost like you're throwing a regular ball," she added and demonstrated. The ball of flame shot straight to the wooden target which burst into flames, and disintegrated into ash within seconds.
"Remind me never to upset you," he remarked admiring the skill at which she'd just taken out the target. Hermione smiled cheekily.
"Scared, Potter?"
"Terrified," he replied honestly.
"Good," she responded with a grin and conjured another target. "Your turn," she added with a flourish stepping back again out of the way.
"Alright," he agreed taking another calming breathe. He held out his hand again and a flame flickered steadily to life. He kept it small, and focused on forcing it only towards the target. He flicked his wrist and energy snapped out hitting the target and the stone wall on either side of it.
"Better," Hermione encouraged him, as she made another target appear. "If you hit just the target this time, I think we could safely spend the rest of the hour in more enjoyable pursuits," she suggested. She wasn't surprised when Harry took out just the target less than five minutes later, and claimed her lips with his.
*****************************************************************************************8
Author's Note: Hope you enjoy it. Thanks for the reviews.