A Tale of Three Journeys
I sat up in my 18th century wooden bed. All was quiet. I slipped off my covers and crept across the worn marble floor of the Gryffindor tower.
"Luminos," I lit the tip of my wand as I opened the large iron door. I glanced down the narrow hall before slinking out the door, and closing it with a soft thud. I crept until he came into the cold entranceway. I grasped his worn denim backpack tightly. Suddenly, a loud thump echoed eerily through the silent space. I dashed behind a large stone pillar adorned with ugly iron gargoyles.
"Henry! Henry! Where are you? Henry!" a piercing female voice hissed. Rose. Finally.
"Henry! Henry! Maybe he's still in the common room. Or maybe he's in bed. You know, we could go to bed too. We could stay out of trouble, and stay warm, in bed-" The second voice, now male, cut off sharply, as if somebody had covered his mouth. This one was James.
"James, you idiot! Shut your mouth! You know how much Filch would love to catch us, and he knows about the Cloak! So hush up!" the Rose said sharply.
"Sorry, Ms. Bossypants. I don't want to ruin your day. I mean, we could actually stay out of trouble for one whole month, and not push that vein on McGonagall's head anymore. We could even win the House Cup this year!" James sounded melancholy, as if he knew he'd lose the argument already. I don't think he's ever won an argument with Rose. You see, they're cousins, and their parents are best friends, so they see each other all the time. And Rose and James, well, don't get along all that well.
"We won it last year, stupid."
"No thanks to us, I might add."
"In case you don't pay attention at all, I make sure we only lose enough to make the Cup interesting, not enough to make us actually lose it!"
"Guys, quit it! Now isn't really the time!" I cut in.
"AARRGH!!!" Rose screamed.
"Rose! What the heck was that!" James whispered.
"Well, how am I supposed to know that-"
"C'mon!" I put in, "Let's go!"
We had almost made it to the door when they heard a scuffle behind them, and a wandlight was thrown upon the scene.
"Who is- oh. It's you guys. What did I say about being up, you will be in so much trouble. Dad says that Uncle Ron will burn you alive if he gets one more report. And he mentioned speaking to your parents, Henry." The tall girl flipped her bright orange hair impatiently, showing her freckled face, then crossed her arms while glaring at each of us at turn. Roxanne, Rose and James's cousin, was an obnoxious prefect, but since she was a prefect, she had the power to get us in trouble. And oh did she.
"Yeah. They'll care. Muggles don't have a clue, Roxanne." I replied, smirking.
"The purpose of the talk was to 'give them a clue,'" Roxanne used finger quotes to emphasize.
"Man." I looked at James and Rose, but they both looked petrified at the thought of what 'burned alive' translated into.
"I won't tell if you go to bed this instant and stay out of trouble for the rest of the month. But the next time you put a toe out of line, I'm telling Uncle Ron and Uncle Harry about what you did. And," she said, turning to Henry, "I am personally sending a memo to your parents, explaining exactly what being up out of turn is." Roxanne stalked off in a huff.
"Humph. 'The next time you but a toe out of line, I'm telling uncle Ron and Uncle Harry.' She sounds so old fashioned. Stupid prefect." Rose muttered.
"C'mon, let's go to bed." James said nervously. "I don't want that letter to go out too quickly."
"Fine," I said, "But we try again tomorrow. We almost made it out the door this time. I know we can do it tomorrow, I just know it."
James gulped.
I woke up to an empty room- again. Man, I'm gonna miss breakfast. Again. I got out of my 4-poster bed, threw on some robes, and walked to the Great Hall. When I got there, Rose and James were already seated at the table. I sat on the bench in between them.
"Hey." I grabbed a piece of toast from James.
"Where have you been! It's almost eight!" Rose scolded.
"Sorry, I get tired when I stay up late. Unlike a certain other nocturnal people I could mention."
Rose was just about to reply when the bell sounded, ending breakfast. All of the students rushed to the huge double doors guarding the entranceway, and then broke off into four smaller lines heading to the four common rooms: Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor. Rose, James, and I grabbed our books and headed outside for Care of Magical Creatures class.
Once the class was assembled, Hagrid, a huge half-giant, boomed out, "Okay, class. Today, since this would be you third year, are going into the Forbidden Forest. Now, c'mon, all of ya. This way." Hagrid led the class deeper and deeper into the looming forest at the edge of the Hogwarts ground. This was one place James, Rose and I had never been before, because it was forbidden. There were stories that this was where Hagrid had once kept a giant spider, and it was also the home of where Voldemort had killed Harry Potter (long story). The place freaked me out, but of course James and Rose had absolutely no problem at all with it. That's because it was their parents. If you ask me, I'd rather stay out of a place where my parents had almost got eaten by a giant spider army that was still in there, but you know, I'm insane.
