Written for QLFC Round #3
Team: Wigtown Wanderers
Position: Beater 2
Prompt: Write about a Truth that is found by the next generation OR write about a Dare that is carried out by the next generation.
Additional Prompts: 9. (sound) screaming, 14. (animal) rabbit, 15. (food) cantaloupe
Words: 2036
Thanks to VanillaAshes, CUtopia, Kage Kitsune, Aelys Althea, and RawMateriel for betaing!
Teddy Lupin rubbed his hands together eagerly as his housemates leaned close together and began to whisper. He couldn't hear what they were saying—which was the whole point—and got more and more excited as the seconds flew by.
After a few minutes had passed, he rolled his eyes. "Any day now, guys!"
"Shush, Lupin," said a sixth-year girl in between giggles. "You wanted a dare and you'll get a dare, you just have to let us think!"
"Oh, go on, then," he said, shifting himself to a more comfortable position to wait.
It was another five minutes until the Hufflepuffs faced him, all wearing giant grins. Teddy looked between them expectantly.
"Well, you've got to admit it's hard giving you a dare, Teddy," said Sarah Macmillan apologetically.
A fifth-year who Teddy knew was one of the Hufflepuff Beaters nodded his assent.
"You've done pretty much every reckless thing there is to do here," piped up Matilda Bones. "And if not every reckless thing, then all of the ill-advised things."
"Which is why…" Seamus Brown, Teddy's roommate, said grandly, "today, you are going to sneak into Filch's office!"
Teddy blinked. "You want me to get into Filch's office?"
"No." Susan Smith shook her head. "We want you to sneak into Filch's office without him knowing. And then leave, obviously."
"What's the catch?" Teddy asked.
"You have to stay in there for at least fifteen minutes."
Teddy stared at Josh Abbott, who was smirking in approval of the challenge he'd just given. "Fifteen minutes? Are you crazy? He'll kill me."
"What's the matter, Lupin?" Seamus grinned. "Chicken?"
"Not at all." Teddy grinned back, and he wasn't bluffing. "When are we doing this? Now?"
"Yeah, why not?" said someone Teddy couldn't see.
"It's not curfew yet," pointed out one of the prefects. "Nothing says we can't."
"Except for Filch when he finds us," muttered another prefect darkly.
"Oh, please, Lupin's Head Boy!" scoffed Seamus. "What's he going to do, expel him?"
Teddy bumped shoulders with Seamus. "He's going to try."
The Hufflepuffs laughed. They proceeded out of the Common Room in a large group, consisting of all fifth, sixth, and seventh year Hufflepuff students, but split off into smaller groups of five or six students when they reached the halls.
Teddy led the way, talking with Seamus. Their year was small, as were the two below them; they were the first of the generation after the Second Wizarding War. As such, they were all close and carefree.
Finally, they reached the corridor near Filch's office.
Seamus made a solemn gesture. "This is where I leave you."
Teddy raised his eyebrows. "What, no goodbye speech?"
"You'll come back."
"Yeah, I hope so." Teddy squared his shoulders, nodded at the Hufflepuffs, and turned on his heel.
Seconds later, he was in Filch's corridor, and the atmosphere was different than the rest of the castle. Where Hogwarts was warm and inviting, this corridor was foreboding and dark. It was as though Filch's hatred towards students had seeped into the walls. Teddy shivered involuntarily.
He took a few more steps closer to Filch's office. If he managed to succeed, he would go down in Hogwarts history. Only six students had ever managed to successfully sneak into the caretaker's office before: the Marauders and the Weasley Twins. Teddy looked around. He hoped that neither Filch nor his immortal cat were anywhere near the place.
Teddy turned his hair yellow and black. His house colors lifted his spirits, even if his hair wasn't his favorite turquoise, and he felt his confidence grow.
He looked around again when he reached the door, but saw no one and opened it.
Filch's office was even darker than the unlit corridor. Teddy muttered a Lumos to his wand and closed the door. He cast the light around but saw nothing out of the ordinary. The office wasn't particularly large or small, and a desk stood next to one wall. Along another wall stood a table covered in chains and spikes; Teddy supposed that those were the devices Filch was always threatening students with. The final thing that caught his attention was a filing cabinet—three filing cabinets, to be precise.
He had fourteen minutes left.
Teddy put his ear to the door, but heard nothing. With that, he stepped closer to the cabinets. A simple Alohamora let him see inside. The middle cabinet wasn't very interesting, just files upon files of different students. Some were larger than others; Potter, Harry was over an inch thick. The right cabinet was labeled Weasley. Teddy wanted to look through it, but he had thirteen minutes left and it was far too large to explore in that short a time.
He left it for a moment and looked at the left cabinet. The first file contained names: Black, Sirius; Lupin, Remus; Pettigrew, Peter; Potter, James.
Teddy almost dropped the file in shock. There, just next to the name, was a picture of his dad. His dad, about seventeen years old, with long hair and sparkling eyes. He knew, of course, that his dad had been one of Hogwarts' most infamous troublemakers, but he'd never been faced with it before.
And yet there it was: his father, sharing an entire filing cabinet in Filch's office with his closest friends.
Teddy checked his watch. Eleven minutes.
He had time to look at two, maybe three files, before he'd have to leave. He cast a look at the Weasley cabinet and closed it with a rueful grin. Next time.
Giving his dad's picture a final look, Teddy put the file back. He rummaged for a bit one-handedly, then put his wand on top of the cabinet and took out one of the files from the middle of the cabinet.
December 17, 1974
Caught Potter, Black, Lupin, and Pettigrew talking in the corridor today. They asked how my day was. Potter's hair was too messy, Black's grin was too wide. I suspect they're up to something. Must double nighttime shifts.
December 19, 1974
Heard a sound in the library. Saw no one, but the door was open. Will continue investigating. No proof yet, but I have a strong suspicion that Potter and Black are responsible. Possibly Lupin, too; that prefect badge can't fool me.
Teddy grinned. The rest of the file seemed to be in the same vain, so he put it back. One day, he'd read all of them, but he was on a time limit. He put back the file and grabbed another one.
May 20, 1975
Heard Potter and Black talking about a rabbit. Filthy animals, both the students and rabbits. Can't stand them. If I see a sign of any rabbits in this castle, the old punishments are coming back.
May 29, 1975
Heard Potter and Black talking about the rabbit with Lupin and Pettigrew. The latter didn't say anything, but Lupin laughed. I suspect that they're setting it loose in the school and letting it breed. Not in my castle!
September 13, 1976
Have spent the past year searching for the rabbit. No sign of it yet. I was about to give up when I heard them talking about it. Potter's words strongly suggest that the beast belongs to Lupin.
September 16, 1976
Black and Lupin were talking about the rabbit. By all overheard accounts, the rabbit is badly behaved and tends to act up about once a month. I suspect that it's a female rabbit and is ready to breed.
Teddy put the file down and checked his watch. Five minutes left. He skimmed the rest of the rabbit reports in 1976.
December 30, 1976
Heard them talking about the rabbit at breakfast. No more. No more.
The rabbit will be caught one way or another. The bear traps haven't worked. Same to be said for the carrots. Have laid out a trail of cantaloupes leading from the Gryffindor Common Room. Rabbits eat anything healthy. I expect to have caught it by breakfast.
December 31, 1976
Have not caught rabbit. Potter, Black, Lupin, and Pettigrew in detention.
One minute left.
Teddy wanted to stay and read more, but he didn't want to risk Filch catching him. Fifteen minutes was already too long because the caretaker had an almost unnatural sense for students being where they weren't supposed to be. He was tempted to take the file and finish reading about Filch's war on rabbits, but he was sure Filch would notice if something was taken.
Besides, taking something wasn't part of the dare.
Teddy put the files back and quietly made his way to the door. He opened it an inch and saw that no one was in the corridor, so tiptoed away. He was halfway down when he remembered.
His wand was still on the cabinet.
His hair turned white from fright, but Teddy willed it back to Hufflepuff colors.
He managed to get back to Filch's office without any problems, but as soon as he began to leave, he heard a shuffling noise in the corridor. It was Filch.
"Yes, yes, Mrs Norris," Filch was cooing to the cat. "We'll get them, my dear. Students out of their Common Rooms at this hour… it's not curfew, but they've got to know their place. As soon as we get back to our office, I'm writing to the Headmistress."
Teddy sucked in a breath. While he knew that it was possible to get away from Filch, he couldn't say the same thing about Mrs Norris. She's been at the castle almost as long as her master; 'Damn cat just doesn't die!' some people said as they shook their heads.
Teddy prepared for the door to open. He didn't have a cover story created, but he didn't doubt that he'd be able to make one up. The problem lay with Filch, who wouldn't believe it.
He heard Filch's feet right outside the door. He would come in any minute. Teddy stood straighter and took a deep breath, ready for the door to open.
But it didn't.
Instead he heard a distant crash, and Filch giving an incomprehensible scream before spitting, "It's them, Mrs Norris!" Then the sound of his footsteps quickly retreated.
Teddy wanted to wait and see if Filch would return but he knew better than to do that. Grabbing his wand, he tore out of the office and set off in a run down the corridor to where he knew the Hufflepuffs were waiting.
"We thought you were done for!" Josh said, impressed.
"Yeah," Sarah nodded. "The moment we saw Filch…"
"We didn't know if we were ever going to see you alive." Seamus put a hand on his heart and pretended to look out into the horizon.
"I'm still alive," Teddy reminded them. "Come on, let's get going, we've got a game to finish."
They headed back to the Common Room, chatting about Teddy's lucky escape and the future of the night's game—house-wide truth-or-dare matches were a tradition dating back to Newt Scamander's time—and Teddy was just about to turn the corner when he saw someone hidden behind one of the suits of armor near the Great Hall.
He hung back as the Hufflepuffs walked past him before running over to the person. It was a smiling fifth year Gryffindor girl with blonde hair and sparkling eyes.
"Vic!" he said.
"Hey, Teddy," she replied. "Get out of Filch's office alright?"
"Yeah, I did," he said with a short laugh. "Almost didn't, but… oh, come on!"
Victoire Weasley batted her eyelashes. "Yes?"
"You set off that—that crashing thing to get Filch's attention!" Teddy smiled crookedly. "Thanks—"
"But 'no, thanks'?" she asked lightly. "You wanted to do it yourself, but here I am… You wouldn't have gotten out if it weren't for me."
"I'm not even going to ask how you knew I was going to be in there." Teddy shrugged aside the questions and concerns. "It didn't go as planned, but hey, It all turned out alright. I'll see you, Vic, I've got a game to finish."
He leaned down and pecked her lightly on the cheek, then turned on his heel and ran after the rest of the Hufflepuffs to finish the game.