Poltergeist's Game
Hermione sighed and closed the book she was reading with a slap. She stared out the tall windows of Hogwarts library and frowned. It was raining hard outside and was getting late. Hermione stretched and stood up. She gathered up her books and quietly left the library. The corridors were quite at this hour in the evening and Hermione felt utterly alone in the castle. She looked up at all the paintings on the walls most of which were sleeping and sighed. She headed up the grand staircase towards the seventh floor and stared up at the staircases above her. She grimaced, thinking how tiered she was. She really didn't want to climb up all of those stairs. She turned on the staircase and walked back to the second floor. She went quietly through the silent corridors and into the small study alcove. She glanced around to make sure no one was watching and pulled on a small statue sitting on the shelf. The shelf shuddered and slid away from the wall, leading into another stone corridor.
Hermione slipped into the corridor and the shelf closed silently behind her. She was pleased that she knew about this passage way that led straight up to the Gryffindor study alcove. She had found it by mistake when she had been talking to Luna; she had leaned against the shelf and accidentally opened the passage. Out of genuine curiosity she explored the passage with Luna and was extremely pleased to discover that it led to Gryffindor tower. It had come in quite handy over the year. Hermione turned a corner and heard faint whisperings echo through the passage. She turned to see if anyone was following her and noticed a door hidden in a small niche of shadow. She bit her lip and glanced back down the passage towards the Gryffindor tower. She sighed, her curiosity winning out and went to the door. She pulled on the handle and the door opened with a loud creek. She peered into the large room and stepped inside. The door swung shut behind her and started to fade from the wall.
"Bloody Hell!" She cursed and pounded at the hard stone wall. She groaned and turned back towards the large room. It was unmistakably the room of requirement with discarded junk piled on shelves and in every available corner. Hermione set her jaw and headed into the room. She glanced warily at the shelves of items and clenched her fists, resisting the urge to touch anything. All sorts of items had been discarded in the room of requirement. Any number of which could have nasty spells on them.
She weaved through the shelves, searching for another door that might get her out of the room. She heard a muffled sound and then a crash. She ducked behind a shelf and peered out between stacks of books. A large cabinet stood a ways off and a man stood beside it. He had kicked something over and had his hands placed against the door of the chest, his head down so Hermione couldn't tell who it was. She shifted in her position and a bauble fell off the shelf shattering loudly on the stone floor. The man whirled around and Hermione gasped. It was Malfoy standing beside the cabinet! She bit her lip, knowing that if he discovered her, he would surely start a fight.
"Who's there?" He called out warily and she saw his hand twitch near his robe. He pulled out his wand. Hermione pulled her own out silently and stood, stepping from behind the shelves. Draco shouted but Hermione was quicker and his wand flew out of his hand. He stared at her.
"Granger, what are you doing in here?" He asked, guardedly. She glared at him.
"I might ask you the same thing Malfoy." She said. His eyes flicked to the large chest.
"That's none of your business." He sneered.
"Well, same to you." She replied haughtily. Silence ensued and she was surprised he wasn't throwing anymore insults at her. She wasn't going to provoke him though because she wasn't in the mood for a fight. She walked past him to the large chest and studied it curiously.
"It's a vanishing cabinet." She said with surprise. She could feel Draco's eyes on her back.
"How can you tell?" He asked. "It took me the longest time to figure out what it was." She turned and smirked at him.
"I guess I'm just smarter than you are." She said. He glared at her.
"Shut up granger. At least I'm no bloody teacher's pet. I don't swoon over teachers." He sneered. Hermione blushed, knowing who he was talking about. He had discovered her major crush on professor Lupin. She was in his classroom enough that perhaps it was rather evident. She brushed off the comment with a roll of her eyes.
"I'm not in the mood to fight with you Malfoy, because I highly doubt you want to be punched again." She said menacingly. Hermione was tiered and didn't have the patience to deal with his petty jabs. A slight look of worry crossed Malfoy's features but he composed himself quickly.
"I agree Granger. But I am curious why you of all people would be in here?" Hermione frowned. She really did not want to have to deal with this.
"I opened a door in a corridor, thinking it was a short cut and the door closed behind me and disappeared." She said dismissively. Malfoy smirked.
"Guess you don't know everything do you Granger?" She rolled her eyes.
"Just shut up Malfoy. I just want to get out of here and go to bed!" Her hand tightened on her wand. "And I'm not going to let you get in my way." Malfoy's eyes flickered to her wand and he held up his hands.
"Very well Granger. Come on." He said grudgingly. They walked in silence through the maze of shelves and bits and baubles. Draco stooped down at one point and picked his wand up off the floor and stowed it in his robes. Hermione eyed him warily but said nothing.
They rounded a corner and came face to face with a wall. Draco frowned.
"This is the way I came in, I'm sure of it." He muttered and turned away from the wall. After three more dead ends Hermione threw up her hands in exasperation.
"Just admit it Malfoy, you're just as lost as I am." She said. He turned and glared at her.
"The door was supposed to be there Granger! I'm not lost! The door is just gone!" She frowned, thinking of the door that disappeared when she went through it.
"The doors shouldn't be disappearing like that. I've been in this room a few times and every time the door remained where it was when I entered." Draco nodded.
"Yeah same here." He said uneasily.
They stood near the wall and Draco picked up a jar of dragon tongues. He grimaced and set it back on the dusty shelf.
"Well what now?" Hermione asked irritably. Draco shrugged.
"I've got no idea. I guess we just keep searching." Hermione made an exasperated sound. He rolled his eyes. "You're not the only one tiered of this situation Granger. I'm just as tiered as you are." He grumbled. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Whatever Malfoy, let's just keep looking." She snapped. She strode past him, deeper into the maze of shelves. He sighed and followed behind her. He gripped her arm suddenly and pulled her behind a shelf. Hermione protested and he placed a hand over her mouth. She stopped struggling and he placed a finger to his lips. Faint voices could be heard further in the room. They were growing steadily closer.
"Luna, I swear to Merlin this is not a bloody shortcut!" A male voice said.
"Well, the door was worth a try." Luna's clear lilting voice echoed through the room. Hermione stood up and Draco grabbed at her.
"No!" He hissed. She rolled her eyes and stepped out from behind the bookshelf.
"Luna?" She called out. The petite blonde girl stood beside a mirror and looked up.
"Hermione! Good to see you." She danced over and embraced Hermione in a light hug. Hermione smiled.
"What are you doing in here?" She asked.
"Luna?" A man stepped around a corner and looked at Hermione in surprise.
"Cedric?" Hermione said. She looked at the two of them. "Why are you two in here?" She asked. Cedric gave Luna an annoyed glance.
"She thought a door was a shortcut and it led us in here. When we went in the door disappeared." He explained.
"It was quite strange." Luna agreed. Hermione grimaced.
"Yeah, that happened to us to." Cedric's eyebrow rose.
"Us?" Draco stepped out from behind the shelf and glared at him.
"Diggory." He said coolly. Cedric eyed him evenly.
"Draco." He replied. Luna looked at Hermione quizzically.
"What are you two doing in here?" She asked.
"I was in here already when Hermione ran into me." Draco said curtly. Hermione shot him a withering glance. "The doors have all disappeared; we've been looking for over an hour for another door." He said. Cedric nodded.
"Well, this sucks. What do you propose we do?" He said. Draco rolled his eyes.
"How should we know? Have you got any ideas?" He said bitingly.
"Jeez Malfoy, cool off. We are all stuck here, so we might as well try and work together." Hermione interjected. His eyes narrowed.
"Shut it Granger."
"No!" She snapped. "I'm sick and tired of your negativity Malfoy!" She bristled. He opened his mouth to retort when Luna interjected.
"Fighting won't get us any closer to finding a door." She chimed. "Perhaps we should wait for the room to cooperate and do something else in the mean time?" Hermione sighed and rubbed at her eyes. Cedric frowned.
"The room isn't going to cooperate, its better just to keep looking." He said.
"No, she might be right Cedric. I might be best to just let the room settle. Perhaps if we don't think about the door, one will appear. The room of requirement can be strange like that." Hermione said. Luna nodded and smiled wistfully. She began humming a tune and wandered off amongst the shelves. Draco sighed in frustration and ran a hand through his hair. He glowered at Cedric and leaned against a shelf with his arms crossed.
"Well, what exactly is there to do in this blasted room?" Cedric rolled his eyes and made a sound of dismay and turned to go see where Luna went. A whirling sound caught Hermione's attention and she looked past Draco. Her eyes widened.
"Duck!" She yelled.
"What?" Draco looked at her incredulously and she lunged, grabbing the front of his robes and pulling him down to the floor. A large item whizzed directly above where Draco's head had just been and crashed into a shelf, scattering things around the floor with the force of the impact.
"What happened?" Cedric and Luna came running towards the commotion. Hermione stood up and Draco did to.
"Something just flew by and nearly knocked Draco out." Hermione said shakily. Draco scowled at her and walked towards the wreckage. He picked through the scattered items and picked up a large square black box.
"It had to have been this." He said, holding up the flat box. Hermione eyed it warily.
"What is it?" Luna asked. Draco gave her a scathing look.
"I don't know. I haven't opened it yet." He said coldly. He moved to take off the old wooden lid and Hermione took a step forward.
"We don't know what's in it Malfoy. For all we know it could be cursed and you could get seriously injured." He smirked at her.
"Sounds like you actually care what happens to me Granger." He sneered. She crossed her arms defensively.
"No, I really don't, but it could be something that could affect all of us to." She said. Draco rolled his eyes and opened the lid. Hermione winced and nothing happened. Draco laughed at her fear.
"Jeez Granger, it's just a game."
"What kind of game?" Luna asked curiously. She came forward and peered into the box. Cedric shrugged and came up behind her.
"Let's play it and see. I guess you got what you wanted Draco." He commented. Draco rolled his eyes.
"I really didn't have a game in mind." He grumbled. Cedric took the game from him and swept junk off of an old table with his arm. He set the box down and pulled up four random chairs to sit on.
Luna sat down beside him and peered at the game eagerly. Hermione sighed and sat down in one of the chairs gratefully. Draco shook his head and took the seat opposite her.
"Are you sure it's safe to play?" Hermione questioned. Draco gave her an incredulous look.
"Merlin Granger, can you just shut up for once? Stop with all the bloody questions."
"They are very good questions to ask Malfoy! We need to determine if the game is even safe to play." She said. Draco rolled his eyes and gestured towards the box.
"Be my guest to check it out for yourself Granger. If you get cursed it's your own fault." She shot him a dirty look and reached for the box. She pulled out an old wooden game board, four playing pieces and two wooden dice. Cedric picked up one of the pieces and studied it.
"They're the house emblems." He said. Draco peered at the small pieces sitting on the table top.
"Intriguing so it's a game revolving around the four houses?" He asked. Hermione was studying the game board. It was a fairly simple design, with a clear ring around the outer edge and a smaller ring of circles spiraling into the center. It was decorated in the four corners with pictures depicting a lion, raven, snake, and badger. In small faded black letters on the bottom edge of the board, was written PLAYING POLTERGIEST.
Luna picked up the small pewter playing piece shaped like a raven and smiled.
"So delicate." She murmured lightly.
"Are there directions Granger?" Malfoy asked. Granger shot him a glance.
"I don't know Malfoy, why don't you look on the box your holding?" He frowned and turned the box over in his hands.
"It's just a plain black box." He said.
"So there are no instructions then." Hermione said as she checked the underside of the wooden game board. Cedric studied the board with interest.
"It honestly looks pretty simple. There are two dice, four pieces and an obvious marked path to move the pieces on. So it must be whoever gets to the circle in the middle first, wins." Hermione frowned, her eyebrows furrowing.
"It's almost too simple. I guess that's perhaps because it's so old. The title sounds a little ominous though don't you think? I mean playing poltergeist? Poltergeists are nasty annoying creatures." She said thoughtfully. Draco shrugged and picked up the snake piece.
"Well, let's just play and see if it's even interesting or not."
"Wait!" Hermione picked up her wand and waved it over the game board and muttered a spell. Nothing happened and the game board remained still.
"Looks like its safe Granger, you can put away your wand." She glared at him and suddenly her wand was wrenched from her hand. It soared towards the game board and vanished inside the symbol of the lion in the corner.
"My wand!" The others suddenly gasped in surprise as there wands flew out of their clothing and disappeared inside the game board.
"It took our wands!" Cedric exclaimed and ran his hands over the games face.
"Great observation Diggory!" Draco sneered coldly.
"How do we get them back?!" Cedric asked in a panicked tone.
"Well, it's rather quite obvious isn't it? We play the game and at the end we get back what was taken from us." The other three looked at Luna as though she was crazy.
"She might have a point." Hermione said defeated and picked up her lion playing piece.
The others picked up there pieces and Hermione suddenly gasped in surprise. Cedric looked at her sharply.
"What?" He asked worriedly.
"It's moving!" Hermione said incredulously. She opened her tightly closed hand and a live pewter lion roamed on her palm. Draco stared at it with wide eyes. He stared at his own piece and the snake uncoiled and slithered around his little finger. Luna watched her raven with curious eyes as it pecked at her palm.
"They're alive." She murmured. "How fascinating."
"More like bloody creepy." Cedric said, watching his badger roam around on his palm. The pewter figures suddenly bit down on the hand that held them. All four jumped and yelped. Each had a small bead of blood welling up in some place on their hand. The pewter pieces floated from their hands and settled at the starting position on the game board.
"Okay, so it's an enchanted game." Hermione said thoughtfully. She watched the small lion pace around the starting circle. She sucked absently at her thumb and tasted the salt from the small droplet of blood. The pewter animal's eyes were now glowing red as they moved restlessly on the game board.
"Someone should roll." Luna said.
"Hell, I'm not going to." Draco said, eyeing the board with distaste.
"If I didn't know any better Malfoy, I'd say you were scared. It's just a game." Hermione said mockingly. He glared at her.
"If you're so brave Granger, then you roll the dice." He said gesturing to the two black wooden dice sitting on the table. Hermione rolled her eyes and picked up the dice. A small hint of worry nudged at the back of her mind as she dropped the dice. They whirled across the table and stopped on a one and six. Her lion shook its head impatiently and paced forward on the small circles seven paces.
"It's similar to wizard's chess." Cedric said with interest.
"At least in the way that the pieces move." Hermione agreed.
"Look. There are words around the edge." Luna said pointing to the outer circle on the board. Script-like yellow words moved slowly around the glassy outer circle. All four leaned over the board to read them.
"The bold and brave, patient and fair, clever and wise, crafty and cunning, do well and beware. Power seekers, danger greeters, wisdom finders, and loyal minders do well and dare. Take caution with the words you use, lest you wish to surely lose. Take heed, don't fall ill. Be wary of the poltergeists will. Tricks will greet you. He'll try and beat you. But best him and join the four. Their friendship will be your cure. Find what was taken but don't be mistaken lest you fall prey to the Poltergeists lure." Hermione read aloud. The four stared at each other, puzzled. Cedric opened his mouth to ask the question they all were thinking when the playing pieces soared towards each of the individual players. Fire suddenly lashed from the game boards four corners and enveloped each of them. The flames of intertwined red and gold, green and silver, blue and bronze, and black and yellow stopped and an empty table and chairs sat in the middle of the room of requirement. The game board lay undisturbed on the table, its four pieces gone, along with its players.