27. no show and a puppy

It was dinnertime. Harry had just finished telling them what had happened when he'd left the grounds with Professor McGonagall. Luna was hiding behind a mountain of empty pudding bowls Ryan wondered where she stored all that in her teeny tiny body. "Seeker ?" Daphne said. "But first years never -- you must be the youngest house player in about--"

"-- a century," said Harry, shoveling pie into his mouth. He felt particularly hungry after the excitement of the afternoon. "Wood told me."I start training next week," said Harry. "Only don't tell anyone, Wood wants to keep it a secret."

Fred and George Weasley now came into 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 Gratz again we are gunna go ask Ron what happened to his face" looking over they saw Ron with a black eye and a bruised for head from where Ryan and yeeted a broom at him he never did find out who did it and was muttering into his mashed potatoes. Fred and George had hardly disappeared when someone far less welcome turned up: Malfoy, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle.

"Having a last meal, Potter? When are you getting the train back to the Muggles?"

"You're a lot braver now that you're back on the ground and you've got your little friends with you," said Harry coolly. There was of course nothing at all little about Crabbe and Goyle, but as the High Table was full of teachers, neither of them could do more than crack their knuckles and scowl.

"I'd take you on anytime on my own," said Malfoy. "Tonight, if you want. Wizard's duel. Wands only -- no contact. What's the matter? Never heard of a wizard's duel before, I suppose?"

"Of course he has," said Ryan. "I'm his second, who's yours?" Ryan needed this to happen for the plot since Ron wasn't here to do it he could handle it himself. Luna and Daphne raised an eyebrow and he caught tonks listening in at the side with and intrigued look.

Malfoy looked at Crabbe and Goyle, sizing them up.

"Crabbe," he said. "Midnight all right? We'll meet you in the trophy room; that's always unlocked." When Malfoy had gone, Harry looked at Ryan.

"What is a wizard's duel?" said Harry. "And what do you mean, you're my second?" "Well, a second's there to take over if you die," said Daphne casually cutting in.Catching the look on Harry's face, she added quickly, "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 knows enough magic to do any real damage. I bet he expected you to refuse, anyway.""And what if I wave my wand and nothing happens?"

"Take this" said Ryan he casually took out one of Hagrid's rock cakes and put it on the table it made a solid thud and the girls looked at it with sweat on their forheads Harry looked at it quizzically as Luna pushed it back towards Ryan and said "we don't want to kill him only best him up" "oh" said Ryan and suggested that he should just kick him in the family jewels."Excuse me."

They looked up. It was Hermione Granger."I couldn't help overhearing what you and Malfoy were saying--- 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 really need to break her of that eavesdropping habit or learn that muffliato spell I got from the potions book I snagged from Snape. it and like 6 other books were now a proud part of his ever growing collection of stol....*cough cough* legally aquired books. he had not aquired a title called sticky fingers that increases stolen goods by 2% no sir he hadn't. while Ryan was having his internal monologue Hermione had stormed off in a tiff after Harry basically told her to piss off and mind her own business how he will ever get a wife in the future with those lady skills I'll never know. after dinner they headed up to the common room with Ryan reassuring him everything would be fine."Half-past eleven," Ryan muttered at last, "we'd better go." They pulled on their cloaks, picked up their wands, and crept across the tower room, down the spiral staircase, and into the Gryffindor common room. A few embers were still glowing in the fireplace, turning all the armchairs into hunched black shadows. They had almost reached the portrait hole when a voice spoke from the couch nearest them, "I can't believe you're going to sneak off without bringing us." they turned around and saw Luna Daphne and Tonks who seemed to be a bit embarrassed given her hair changing colors waiting for them Ryan could only sigh he figured this would happen and just told Harry to take them along it didn't much matter He pushed open the portrait of the Fat Lady and climbed through the hole."You!" said harry furiously seeing Hermione standing outside the portrait waiting. "Go back to bed!"

"I almost told professor McGonagall," Hermione snapped, "She'd put a stop to this." Ah Hermione and her authority issue again I wonder if I told her I was a king would she be obidient? nahhh. Harry couldn't believe anyone could be so interfering."Come on," he said and started marching down the hall towards the trophy room. Hermione wasn't going to give up that easily "Don't you care about Gryffindor, do you only care about yourselves, I want to win the house cup, and you'll lose all the points I got from Professor McGonagall for knowing about Switching Spells." Ryan replied "you know that cup is basically just creating strife between the houses right and not really worth anything points are pretty much useless." Hermione looked personally affronted at this thought. Harry looked at her and said "Go away."

"All right, but I warned you, you just remember what I said when you're on the train home tmorrow, 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 Harry. Man when did he get so savage. "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."

"D'you think I'm going to stand out here and wait for Filch to catch me? If he finds all 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 Harry loudly. Ryan sighed and said "screw it just let her come with. Harry could only give up.They flitted along corridors striped with bars of moonlight from the high windows. At every turn Harry expected to run into Filch or Mrs. Norris, but they were lucky. 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," Daphne whispered.

Then a noise in the next room made them jump. Harry had only just raised his wand when they heard someone speak -- and it wasn't Malfoy. Sniff around, my sweet, they might be lurking in a corner."

It was Filch speaking to Mrs. Norris. Ryan waved at the others to follow him as quickly as possible; they scurried silently toward the door, away from Filch's voice. Tonk's robes had barely whipped round the corner when they heard Filch enter the trophy room. "They're in here somewhere," they heard Filtch mutter, "probably hiding."This way!" Ryan mouthed to the others and, they began to creep down a long gallery full of suits of armor. They could hear Filch getting nearer. Tonks suddenly let out a frightened squeak and tripped, grabbing Daphne around the waist, and the pair of them toppled right into a suit of armor. With all the finesse of a T-rex in a China shop. It was like a sound explosion in the pitch black of the castle at midnight. "CHEESE IT!" Ryan yelled, and all 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, Harry in the lead, without any idea where they were or where they were going -- they ran for their lives, right to the end of the corridor where they slammed into a door -- and it was locked.They could hear footsteps, Filch running as fast as he could "Oh, move over," Hermione snarled. She grabbed Harry's wand, tapped the lock, and whispered, "Alohomora!"

The lock clicked and the door swung open -- they piled through it, shut it quickly, and pressed their ears against it, listening for a few minutes til it was quiet. Ryan knew this would happen but seeing it and reading it was a completely different feeling he was 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. Luna squealed "PUPPY!" and Ryan had to hold her back ah bless this child. That broke everyone else out of their stupor. Harry groped for the doorknob -- between Filch and death, he'd take Filch.

They fell backward -- Harry slammed the door shut, and they ran, they almost flew, back down the corridor. Filch must have hurried off to look for them somewhere else, because they didn't see him anywhere, but they hardly cared -- all they wanted to do was put as much space as possible between them and that monster. They didn't stop running until they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady on the seventh floor.Where on earth have you all been?" she asked, looking at their cloaks hanging off their shoulders and their flushed, sweaty faces.

"Never mind that -- pig snout, pig snout," panted Harry, and the portrait swung forward. They scrambled into the common room and collapsed, trembling, into armchairs."What do they think they're doing, keeping a poor puppy like that locked up in a school?" said Luna finally. Ryan saw a maniac like gleam in her eyes and knew she probably wanted to head back and take it for a walk. Hermione had got both her breath and her bad temper back again. she snapped. "Didn't you see what it was standing on.

"The floor?" Harry suggested. "I wasn't looking at its feet, I was too busy with its heads."No, not the floor. It was standing on a trapdoor. It's obviously guarding something."

She stood up, glaring at them.

"I hope you're pleased with yourselves. We could all have been killed -- or worse, expelled. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed." Ryan said goodnight to the girls and went back to his trunk glad that his task was completed he told luna as they cuddled that he would have hagrid introduce fluffy to her personally he knew Hermione had given Harry something else to think about as he climbed back into bed. He put two stupid dogs on the tv to watch as they peacefully feel into slumber.