Harry Potter & The Crucible of Wishes
By FredWeasley
As Harry lay awake, Ron snoring loudly beside him, he contemplated the school's current plight. Everyone would probably agree with his opinion, that Hogwarts had never been in a worse situation.
A few weeks into this, Harry's fourth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, some very strange things began to happen. Rubeus Hagrid, the Keeper of the Keys and gamekeeper at Hogwarts, had disappeared, along with his boarhound Fang. The Whomping Willow suddenly died overnight, and the giant squid in the lake could only be seen at the bottom of his vast home in the Hogwarts grounds.
At night, many strange sounds could be heard coming from the Forbidden Forest. These including great booming barks, high pitched screams, exited laughter, savage roaring and loud pounding that made the ground vibrate.
People's pets were also acting very strangely, and some were even attacking their masters. One Hufflepuff girl ended up in the Hospital Wing with large cuts on her left arm caused by her cat, and one Slytherin boy received a nasty cut on the ear when his owl started pecking madly.
Then, about a week ago, the doors leading outside from the Entrance were unexplainably locked shut, along with all the other exits, leaving everybody locked inside. There was nothing anyone could do, not even Dumbledore.
Since they were no longer able to get outside, Herbology classes were cancelled, as were all quidditch matches, which greatly upset Fred & George Weasley, who had been looking forward to beating Slytherin again, as the Gryffindor team had done in last years quidditch final. On top of this, none of the owls could get in or out, so all contact with the outside world was severed. Worst of all, was the fact that noone knew why this was happening, or what was causing these startling events.
Harry couldn't remember the school being in such a state, except perhaps in his second year when the Chamber of Secrets was opened. It was then that Harry looked at the clock on his bedside table, and realised it was nearly one o'clock in the morning, and that he should probably get some rest. However, this was a short lived idea, because Peeves, who was happier than anyone had ever seen him over the situation, came in and began blowing loud raspberries. By the time he left, the noises from the Forbidden forest had grown even louder, so Harry just stayed awake staring at the roof of his four-poster bed.
* * *
"What do you thinks causing all this Harry?" said Ron, as a small group of Ravenclaw sixth years passed by on the way to the Great Hall.
"Who knows?" said Harry, who was getting thoroughly tired of this same circular discussion that he and Ron kept having. "It could be anything, or anyone."
This line of discussion continued all the way to the Great Hall, which was eerily quiet except for the Slytherin table, where Malfoy was laughing loudly and grinning from ear to ear, entertaining all the other Slytherin fourth years. As they walked past, he shot a glance at Harry, and went on telling his amusing tale.
"Morning," said Hermione in a low voice.
"Morning Hermione," replied Ron and Harry simultaneously. Then Harry continued, "what's Malfoy laughing about?"
"There's a girl over at the Hufflepuff table called Lucy Korona who's crying because she homesick and she can't write to her family," she replied.
"Oh," said Ron, "Trust Malfoy to be enjoying this, finding happiness in everyone else's misery."
* * *
Once they had finished Breakfast, they headed out of the Great Hall and started back towards Gryffindor Tower in a fairly subdued mood, which perfectly suited the situation. You could almost grab the air, it seemed so thick. As they passed a corridor on the second floor, Malfoy hurried out of sight at the other end, but Crabbe and Goyle were nowhere to be seen.
Intrigued, the three of them followed Malfoy, and he led them directly to a disused dungeon near to the entrance to the Slytherin common room. As the three of the them hid behind the door, peering through the keyhole, Malfoy turned to check that no-one was watching him, tapped the desk with his wand and whispered:
"Devils Desire"
The desk disappeared and revealed a trap door beneath it. Malfoy swiftly opened, once again checked that no one was around, and hurried out of sight. No sooner had he closed the trap door than the desk re-appeared in its original position. As the footsteps died away, Harry, Ron and Hermione scrambled towards the desk.
"What do you think is down there?" asked Hermione.
"Knowing Malfoy, something foul," replied Ron.
Harry however, wasn't listening, he had already begun inspecting the desk, and no sooner had Ron stopped speaking than he tapped the desk and muttered:
"Devils Desire"
Once again the desk evaporated, revealing the trapdoor. He swiftly opened it, and was about to head down the passageway than Ron pulled him back.
"Do you really think we should go down there?"
"Of course! How else will we find out what Malfoy's up to?" Harry replied.
"But…" said Hermione.
"Look! Do want to find out what Malfoy's doing or not!"
Without another word Harry scrambled down the dark damp stairway after Malfoy, Ron and Hermione close behind.
* * *
If the castle was dreary, the long, thin, corridor-like chamber they were walking through now was quite simply deadening. Every whisper seemed to echo off the walls, the ground seemed to squelch beneath their feet as if it were wet moss, and it was almost pitch black apart from dark blue flames erupting from the torches, and the light from these made their faces a deathly pale blue.
"Pretty creepy in here isn't it?" said Ron
"Yeah…" replied Harry
After several seconds of silence, Hermione stopped dead in her tracks, and let out a small scream.
"What's wrong?" asked Harry, sounding concerned.
"A, a very big r-r-rat." she replied, speaking quietly, as if worried that the rats might hear her.
"A rat! Hermione you scared us half to death!" said Ron.
Once Hermione had calmed down again, they continued across the chamber. A strange green light was glowing dimly up ahead, and the light was being cast from around the corner up ahead. In the green light you could clearly see the walls of the chamber now. They were covered in damp overgrowth and were dripping water on the floor. The three of them crept quietly along the chamber, and looked carefully around the corner.
Standing in the middle of a great stone hall was Draco Malfoy, leaning over into a gold plated basin. In fact, the entire hall appeared to be plated with gold, and in this gold was carved many Latin inscriptions. What they said however, Harry couldn't even begin to guess.
It was when Ron let out a gasp of amazement that Malfoy spun round and saw them. However, instead of drawing his wand, he acted as if they were merely tourists he was showing a museum to.
"Beautiful isn't it?" said Malfoy. Nobody answered, but he continued anyway. "I suppose you're wondering what the inscription means? Well, the short version is, 'whatever you want is possible', but I don't think you'll live long enough to hear the long version."
While he was speaking, Harry, Ron and Hermione walked in, still awe-struck by the gold plated walls.
"If that still puzzles you, the key to it all is this delightful toy," said Malfoy, holding a crucible in the air, "this gives me the power to do whatever I wish. It's Slytherin's crucible of wishes. So unfortunate that he never got a chance to use it. Let me demonstrate," he scooped some water out of the basin and said, "I wish that I was standing behind Harry Potter."
At the mention of his name Harry looked up, Malfoy drank deeply, and suddenly disappeared.
"I'm over here," said a nasty voice coming from behind him, which made Harry jump a foot off the ground. "See. Now anything I want can become a reality. As you may have already guessed, I'm the one who's been making all of these very entertaining things happen around the castle. And now…"
At this Ron interrupted, "I should have known it was you, you piece of slime. Now you're going to pay, Malfoy!"
Ron went for his wand, but Malfoy got there first.
"Locomotor Mortis!" yelled Malfoy.
Ron went rigid, arms pinned to his side, and fell backwards onto the ground. Malfoy had used the body-bind curse on him. One lay there on his back, his eyes now the only part of him that could move
"Now, as I was saying. I wish," he said, as he filled to crucible again, "I wish that Harry potter would die."
Harry suddenly darted towards Malfoy, and dived at him as if he was going for the snitch. Malfoy raised the crucible, but Harry knocked it out of his hand and Hermione caught it.
Harry and Malfoy became locked in combat. Their wands lay forgotten beside them, swinging violently and trying to cause as much damage as they possibly could. Hermione and Ron looked on helplessly.
After a particularly violent punch, Malfoy lay stunned on the ground. Harry looked up as Hermione gave another ear piercing scream, as another rat brushed her leg.
Hermione had thrown the crucible high in the air, right up to the ceiling. Harry leapt up and made a lunge for it as it sped to the ground. He caught it, inches away from the floor, and ran over to the basin and refilled the crucible. Without a second thought, he began his wish.
"I wish that all events and situations caused by this crucible should be reversed," he cried.
"No!" yelled Malfoy
But it was done, and with that, Harry raised the crucible one last time, and sent it plummeting to the ground. The crucible hit the ground, and with an almighty smash, broke into several pieces. The pieces lay smouldering for several seconds, and then evaporated into the air.
Malfoy lay stunned, and Harry took advantage of the situation. He performed the full body-bind and Malfoy went rigid. He then conjured a stretcher and lifted Malfoy onto it.
Hermione ran over to Ron and performed to counter curse. Ron got up, shaking and moaning about how Malfoy had beat him. They came across and Ron used a flying charm to lift Malfoy's stretcher off the floor.
The three of them then dragged Malfoy up the stairs, and out the trapdoor into the disused dungeon. They then left the dungeon and half ran straight to the Staff Room.
* * *
In the staff room, an argument had broken out between the Gryffindor Head of House, Professor McGonnagall, and the Slytherin Head of House, Professor Snape. As they Harry, Ron and Hermione entered, dragging Malfoy behind them, the argument stopped abruptly.
Every person in the room turned o look at them, with a look mixing puzzlement and astonishment.
"What," said Professor McGonnagall, finally, "are you doing?"
Wondering how their absurd story would sound, they turned to each other, and then Harry instinctively turned to Dumbledore, who was smiling from ear to ear.
Harry then launched into an explanation about the disappearing desk, the trapdoor that it concealed, the chamber with the golden walls, and the Crucible of Wishes.
When he had finished, his mouth dry and breathless, everyone still looked puzzled, except for Snape, who was looking vindictive, and Dumbledore, who was still smiling.
"What we need," said Snape in his most oily voice, "is proof."
Harry thought for a moment, and then Dumbledore said, "You'd better lead us to this chamber Harry."
* * *
After several minutes of searching, Harry Ron and Hermione, still dragging Malfoy, and with most of the teaching staff behind them, entered the disused dungeon.
Under his breath, Harry muttered, "Devils Desire," and the desk disappeared once more.
Then, the entire group feeling apprehensive, they walked down the steps and along the chamber, until they reached the gold plated room.
After almost a minute of completely silent astonishment from the teachers, and unwilling silence from Malfoy, Dumbledore turned to Malfoy's stretcher, and performed the counter curse. As Malfoy hoisted himself up, he quailed under Dumbledore's probing stare that Harry knew well. Suddenly, Dumbledore began to speak in a deep and serious voice.
"Draco Malfoy, of Slytherin House. You have endangered the lives of both your fellow students, and members of staff. You are hereby expelled from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You will leave on the Hogwarts Express tomorrow morning and not return. Go and pack your possessions. You will spend the night in the isolation dormitory."
After a few seconds of shocked silence, Malfoy turned and left the chamber.
"Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger," Dumbledore continued, "you are all hereby awarded 150 points. A feast will be held this evening to celebrate. I believe it will be most appropriate if you brake the news to Gryffindor House. Other heads of Houses," he said, turning to the staff, "inform your Houses. The feast will begin as soon as everyone has arrived."
So, grinning from ear to ear, Harry, Ron and Hermione ran to the portrait of the Fat Lady, uttered the password, 'versus magicus', and entered.
When Harry entered, he stood up on a table and called for silence. After the few puzzled comments had subsided, everybody listened to what he had to say.
"Fellow Gryffindor's! As many of you may already know, the strange events of the past year have ended. The perpetrator has been caught! Rubeus Hagrid has return, and the Giant Squid and the Whomping Willow are back to normal. A celebratory feast is being held in a few minutes in the Great Hall!"
Harry's speech followed an eruption of cheers, and everybody stampeded to the portrait hole. Within five minutes, the entire school, apart from Malfoy, was assembled in the Great Hall, and the feast had begun. The celebrations lasted into the night, and well into the morning.
* * *
When it was finally time to board the Hogwarts Express, it was with a content and happy mood that the students boarded the train. In fact, now that Harry thought about it, the year had started very badly, but he couldn't have asked for a better end.
THE END