Honestly, don't even ask. Just, really, I don't know what happened.
This has been entered in the Popular Song Competition (Harlem Shake); Legendary Creatures Competition (Ashi-magari); If You Dare Challenge (137. The Ultimate Boredom Solver); 50 Different Friendships Challenge (7. Tired) and the Muggle Party Games Challenge.
It all started on a dreary, rainy day.
"I'm bored," Ron said gloomily, looking at the rain pelting down outside Hogwarts. "Why did it have to rain today? Why not on an actual school day where we could have had an excuse to miss Magical Creatures? There's nothing to do – we can't even play Quidditch!"
Hermione clucked disapprovingly from her seat near the fire. "You have a Potions essay to submit on Thursday that you haven't even started Ronald – and the same goes for you Harry, stop smirking – I hardly think you have nothing to do."
"Hermione, that essay's supposed to be submitted in four days!" Harry cried out in horror. "We have more than enough time to finish it later on!"
Hermione shook her head at her best friends. "I can't help you two then. I'm off to the library – maybe I'll actually get some work done there if I don't have to hear the two of you whine," she said, gathering her books and walking out of the Common Room.
Harry and Ron exchanged despondent looks. Just as they were about to start a new round of self-pity, Seamus called out to them from their dorm.
"Harry! Ron! Come up here! Dean says he's got something we can do!"
The two of them exchanged dubious looks before shrugging and deciding that some entertainment was better than none.
When they got to the dorm, they found Dean, Lavender and Parvati already on the floor, heads bent over something they couldn't quite make. Dean seemed to be explaining something to the girls, pointing at various places on the unknown object in front of them.
"So what exactly did you call us here for?" Harry asked as he took a seat next to Seamus.
In response, Dean just pointed at the board in front of him. Now that Harry could see it clearly, he could easily identify the distinctive rooms and miniature weapon pieces in front of him. He felt a smile start to spread across his face. Cluedo with Ron, Parvati, Lavender and Seamus? This was going to be fun.
"What exactly is that?" Ron asked as he sat down next to his sister.
Dean sighed. "I'm going to have to explain this for the third time, you know that right?" he complained before he started talking…
"Wait, I still didn't get it. Why exactly was the Healer murdered?" Ron asked quizzically.
"That's not the point, Ron," Harry groaned. All of his patience with his best mate had been used up after the first five times Ron had asked that question. "The point of the game is that you, as an Auror, have to figure out who killed him, where he was killed, and with what. There is no question of a motive here."
"But that makes no sense!" Ron exclaimed. "How are you supposed to prove that someone killed the Healer without finding out why? That's something Aurors are expected to know before they even start training! And I don't get what you mean by I could have killed him! I'm an undercover Auror going by the name Professor Plum, why would I kill him?"
"Just be happy you're not going by the name Ms Scarlett," Seamus muttered under his breath.
Dean shot Seamus a furious glare before turning to Ron. "Look," he said, "let's just start playing, okay? You'll get a hang of it soon enough."
"Okay," Ron said, still sounding doubtful. "So who goes first?"
"I do," Harry said.
"Hey!" Parvati exclaimed, "Why do you get to go first?"
"Because I'm one of three people here who actually knows how to play this game, Parv," Harry explained calmly. "Once I play my turn, you guys will at least have some idea of what you'll are supposed to do."
Just as Harry was about to roll the dice, Lavender let out a shout.
"What?" Harry asked, turning to her worriedly. "Are you okay? You aren't hurt, right?"
"I'm fine," Lavender replied impatiently. The tone of her voice implied that if she'd been standing, she would have been tapping her foot in irritation. "I was just wondering something. Why exactly don't we have a wand as a possible weapon? I mean, that would make the best weapon of all! Just flick you wand and your victim is dead! There wouldn't be any mess, and, best of all, there wouldn't be any way to trace the murder back to you."
"You're forgetting about Priori Incatantum," Parvati said thoughtfully. "But apart from that you're right. It would make much more sense to commit murder by magic."
"Yeah, but you're forgetting that these are the muggle police," Ron said, getting involved in the discussion. "There would be no way for them to find out if the wand cast a particular spell. Hell, they would probably not even recognise magic at all!"
"Ron's right," Parvati said, tuning to face Harry, Seamus and Dean, both of whom looked torn between feeling exasperated and amused. "So why isn't there a wand option for a weapon?"
"Ron just explained it," Seamus said, settling for a mixture of annoyed and entertained. "It's a muggle game. They wouldn't think to include include a wand, and if they did, it would mean that the Statue of Secrecy had been breached, which would result in a huge problem for the entire wizarding world."
"Huh," Ron said pensively. "That does make sense."
"So, can we start now?" Harry asked, fond amusement obvious in his words.
"Of course!" Lavender said sounding surprised at Harry's question.
With a twist of his hand, the dice fell towards the board, and Harry couldn't help but have a feeling that this was just going to get worse…
"Wait. Just wait," Lavender said, staring at the board in front of her in confusion. "How exactly do we just…travel from one room to another, all without leaving the first room?"
"There are secret passageways!" Seamus exclaimed, "Like the ones at Hogwarts! This isn't even difficult for a pureblood to understand…"
"No, I get Lav's point," Parvati said. "If there was a secret passageway, they should have shown it on the board! A couple of walls made of stone, a bit of dark – it wouldn't even have been difficult!"
Harry sighed, realising that arguing would get them nowhere. With a wave of his wand and a few muttered words, he created an illusion of two secret passageways joining the conservatory and the lounge, and the kitchen and the study respectively.
"There we go," he said, "Let's go back to playing now."
"Yeah, but it just doesn't make any sense," Ron complained. "What's the point in linking the kitchen to the study? It's pointless! Secret passageways from the kitchen are usually linked to corridors for easy access or bedrooms or dormitories so that people can go there when they're hungry! Or even the dining room so that food can be served faster! And no one's going to go to the lounge from the conservatory! A person's going to be all muddy after working with plants, they aren't just going to go and rest without washing up first!"
"Ron, that's just how the game is!"
"I know, but look. It would make much more sense if the study and the library were linked, and the kitchen and the dining room."
Harry, Dean and Seamus looked at each other. As much as they would have loved to reply to Ron, he did have a point.
"As much as I hate to say it, you're right Ron," Harry acknowledged, reluctantly changing the passageways in his illusion. "I guess we can play the game the way you explained it."
"That makes a lot more sense," Lavender said approvingly. "Anyways, I was just about to see Parvati's cards, wasn't I? Can I see them now?"
Harry shook his head, reluctantly amused. He had been right when he had felt that this was going to be a huge disaster, but it was like a sinking ship that you just couldn't abandon. He couldn't wait to see where this went next…
"Wait a second!" Dean exclaimed. "Parvati, what the hell are you showing me? I know you haven't got the spanner card, I have that!"
"This is supposed to be a game, isn't it?" Parvati asked with faux innocence.
"Yes it is, but that doesn't mean you can use illusion charms to change what you've been showing us! The entire game has been messed up now!"
"Oh, stop being so melodramatic," Parvati said dismissively. "You never said anything about using charms in the rules; so really, it's completely your fault."
"Yeah well, I never even imagined that you'd decide to do something like that!"
"Besides," Parvati continued, acting as though she hadn't heard Dean, "I'm sure that I'm not the only one who's been using magic to help out."
A quick glance around the room showed only guileless faces.
"See?" Dean asked. "You're the only one who decided to go and cheat! And now we have to start all over again because of you!"
"Let's not," Seamus said, sounding alarmed at the prospect of repeating everything that had just happened once again. "I'm sure we can think of something to play until the rain stops."
Harry smiled mischievously. This had been the most fun he had had in a long time, and he was loath to let it end.
"What about Monopoly?" he asked innocently. "We can even invite a couple of other people to join in. it won't be too hard making out own tokens if a lot of people want to play, unlike in Cluedo, and we can always enlarge to board if needed."
As Ron asked, "What's Monopoly?" curiously, Seamus raised a hand to his head. He had no doubt that he was going to be roped in into playing that game too, and he could already feel a headache coming along at the thought of the train-wreck that that game would be…