It all started with a hand. It was a rather disgusting hand really, a black, wrinkly hand, which was attached to a small, oak stand, but nevertheless, still a hand. It looked like something out of Borgin and Burkes, but was actually found by none other than Roxanne Weasley. Rox had a bit of a habit of poking her nose into places she wasn't specifically invited to, and as a result, she was always landing herself in a lot trouble. However, no matter how much McGonagall told her off, she was never put off her adventures. One day, she was walking in one of the less travelled corridor when she spotted a door which she hadn't seen before, so, naturally she opened it. Inside, she saw gigantic, cavernous room, filled with miles and miles of what looked like debris. There were mannequins, dressers, wardrobes, pieces of jewellery, books, long metal poles and basically everything that had ever been used or thrown away in the last century. However, a certain item caught her eye as she walked along the isles of junk. A large, beautifully ornate box was resting atop an old, broken desk. She stepped closer and found a curly clasp keeping the lid down, and after fiddling with it for a few minutes, it popped open, revealing the charred-looking hand encased in blue velvet cloth. She took out the hand gingerly, holding it by its stand. As she touched its wrinkled surface, it grabbed her hand sharply making her shriek and drop it quickly. As she leapt back, she knocked over the beautiful box causing a large piece of parchment to fall out onto the floor. Bending out to pick it up, Rox noticed old-fashioned handwriting on the front, reading the words 'Instructions'. It figured that she'd find it after the creepy hand had scared the bajeezes out of her! She unscrolled the parchment and began to read the few lines of instructions about the black hand. Before she had finished reading, the door slammed open with a big bang. She dashed behind a large pile of old clothes.
"Where is it, Drasston?"
"I don't know! Somewhere around here for definite..."
"Do you even know what it looks like?"
"It's a large, ornate box.."
"Remember this is ME you're talking to. Find it." It was Smithy Goyle, a nasty sixth year Slytherin who enjoyed experimenting with dark arts. He had brown, greasy hair and pustular boils all over his face, that, when he got angry, tended to burst all over the surrounding students. He was a nasty character, not someone Rox would ever consider being friends with.
"I promise, it's around here somewhere. It's a large box, with a blue velvet cloth wrapped around the...the...item you're looking for. The clasp is very decorative...oh and it's got a large 'g' on the front of the box." Rox looked over to the hand and saw the exact same box Drasston was describing, and it just so happened to be the box she found the hand in. Whatever Goyle wanted with the hand, it couldn't good. It never was with him. She scrambled over to the hand, picked it up and hurried back over to her hiding place. Unfortunately, she managed to tip a tall glass vase over on her way back. She winced and held her breath.
"Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?"
"That shattering of glass!"
"Um..."
"Someone's in here. Come out, come out whoever you are!" Goyle shouted in a sickly sweet voice. Panicking at the thought of being found alone by Goyle, Rox desperately looked for an escape route, or a better hiding place, anything to hide her from the likes of Goyle. Completely by accident, whilst creeping around, she tripped on a large iron handle on the floor. Her heart leapt in excitement and relief, and she bent down and pulled hard on the handle. However, it didn't budge a tiny bit. She tried to open it with Alohamora, but no such luck. Sighing in disappointment, she sat down resting the hand against the handle. What was she going to do? Whilst she pondered her impending doom, she didn't notice the hand slowly begin to move towards the trap door, poking its fingers in and out of the large black lock. A sudden, loud click brought her out of her reverie. She jumped up as the trap door swung open. As she peered down into the hole, she saw a large stone tunnel leading down, and seemingly out of the room.
"There!" Goyle had rounded the corner and saw tall, ginger Rox climbing down into a trap door, holding a large black hand. She yelled and reached for the door, slamming it shut.
"Give it to me, Weasley!"
"No such luck, Goyle. Have fun finding me!" Goyle swore loudly. Roxanne laughed loudly and taunted Goyle, skipping down the long dark tunnel as she went.