Chapter 4
Breaking the Rules
James, Blue and Alex took a shortcut up to Gryffindor common room ahead of the first years.
"Great feast!" Said Alex.
"Yeah. What do you think of Heep?" Asked James.
"He looks very..." Started Alex,
"Weird, suspicious, dull," Finished James.
"I don't think he'll be as easy-going as Churchill anyway, we should be more careful about getting into trouble. I don't much fancy serving detention with him." Grimaced Blue.
They stopped. They had reached a painting of a fat lady in a silk, pink dress. They were first to get there.
"Password?" Said the lady in the portrait.
"Oh, we don't know the password, I forgot about that." Said James.
"Come on, after all the time we spent together last year, you know we're Gryffindors!" Pleaded Alex.
The Fat Lay gave him a stern look but Alex just kept smiling his most charming smile. The Fat Lady didn't give in.
"Guess we'll just have to wait then." Concluded Blue.
As they waited they started discussing the new Flying teacher.
"What do you think of Professor Flint?" Asked Alex.
"Well I hope he's a better teacher then Professor Dowling!" Replied James.
"He couldn't be much worse."
Alex and James laughed.
"What's up Blue?" Asked Alex suddenly.
Blue, who hadn't been laughing, looked up at them from where he was sitting on the edge of a platform on which stood a suit of armour,
"Hmm..." He said, "I was just thinking - do we know someone else called Flint?"
"Nope." Said Alex.
"Yes we do!" Exclaimed James, "Lysander Flint! Captain of Slytherin Quiditch team! You don't think they could be related, do you?"
"I think they are. After all he's the Flying teacher, it makes sense that his son would be Quiditch captain." Stated Blue.
"But Flint is Slytherin captain, so what do you think Professor Flint will be like?"
Blue pulled a face.
Then around a corner came some Gryffindor fourth-years.
"Any of you have the password?" Asked Alex.
"Yes, I asked Richard Travis for it at the feast." Replied one girl.
Then turning to the Fat Lady she said,
"Dracocephalum."
Richard Travis was the other Gryffindor prefect and James didn't like him too much, he was quite full of himself but James also knew he had a huge crush on Victoire. He wondered what he would think if he heard about Teddy!
The portrait swung open to reveal a circular hole in the wall. Inside was Gryffindor common room. Once inside James, Blue and Alex went up to their dormitory, it was at the very top of the stairs above all the other dormitories.
They sat down on the floor.
"Right then, where do we search for this clue thing..." began Alex.
James shrugged.
" 'At the twelve' " Quoted Alex, "so... what does that mean?"
James and Alex both turned to Blue.
"What?" Exclaimed Blue.
"I dunno, you are the smart one." Muttered Alex pulling a chocolate bar out of his pocket and pealing of the wrapper.
"How are you still eating?" Said Blue staring at him.
Alex shrugged, James laughed.
"We'll start tonight! Check every twelve in the school. Tonight; Dungeon number twelve."
So that night James, Alex and Blue got dressed, got their wands, the invisibility cloak and got the Marauder's map both of which had belonged to James' father. They pulled the invisibility cloak over their heads and, at once, disappeared from view.
It was already half twelve and even the Fat Lady was snoring gently in her portrait and barely stirred as they climbed out the portrait hole.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Whispered James touching the Marauder's map with his wand.
Ink spread over the blank parchment until a complete map of Hogwarts was visible. Tiny dots with names labeling them showed where everyone in the castle was. The only dots walking around the castle were Peeves the poltergeist, the new caretaker and themselves.
They headed to the dungeons, they would search the twelfth dungeon and work they're way through every twelfth classroom in the school but they had no idea how far they'd get in one night. They walked along the corridor silently, squashed beneath the cloak. The caretaker was on the second floor and Peeves was on the first. They took a shortcut down a staircase that plummeted into darkness straight to the dungeon.
The dungeon, usually lit by torches, was dark, cold and damp. The three boys pulled their clothes closer around them.
"Ow!" Yelped Alex as he tripped on something in the darkness.
Blue caught him before he fell,
"Ssshhhh..." He whispered.
"Quiet. Here it is." Muttered James.
They had reached the door of the classroom.
"Are we still clear on the Marauders Map?" He asked.
"Mr. Heep is on the forth floor, Peeves is still on the first." Replied Blue squinting down at the map in the dark.
James reached out turned the door handle and pushed, it was locked.
"Now what do we do?" Groaned James.
"Remember that spell that's used to unlock doors..." Thought Alex aloud.
James and Alex both turned to Blue.
"What? I don't know." He exclaimed.
"Come on, it was something like "Halo Hammer-something", you've got to remember!" Whined Alex.
"Seriously? 'Halo Hammer-?' No. Wait! Let me think..."
Alex grinned at James in triumph.
Blue pushed his way over to the door, thought for a moment more, took out his wand and pointed it straight at the lock,
"Alohomora."
The lock clicked and the door swung open gently. The boys let out a sigh of relief in unison.
"'Halo Hammer'?" Scoffed James.
Alex shrugged happily.
They began immediately to search the room. They searched through the desks, the bookshelf and beneath the tables. All three of them were searching a rather large old closet when they heard the sound of voices. They froze, becoming very conscious of the fact that they'd left the invisibility cloak on the other side of the room. James quickly shoved his friends into the closet and jumped in behind them shutting the doors behind him just as two figures glided through the wall beside them.
"She has no right to be here, no connection with this place." Said one ghost angrily. He had a voice that made chills run up James's spine.
He peered through the slit between the doors; it was the Bloody Baron, the Slytherin ghost and Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost.
"Now, now Baron, give the girl a chance, she has nowhere else to go."
"Well, she could have stayed where she was!"
"The poor child was miserable, she's had a hard time."
"But we have rules here Nick! She cannot stay!"
"We'll have to discuss the matter, it is not in our hands-" Replied Nick solemnly as they floated out of the room.
The boys burst from the closet, gasping for air.
"Blue! I thought you checked the map before we came in here." Growled James.
"I did! Or at least I tried... it was dark!"
"Come on we're done here anyway. Let's go." Concluded Alex.
They grabbed the map and the cloak and hurried through the door heading for the staircase. Before long they heard Nick's voice again,
"Do excuse us, we are quite sorry we merely went on a midnight stroll. - Yes, yes, we will let you know if we see anyone. Goodnight, Mr. Heep."
James, Alex and Blue all froze.
"Quick this way!" Whispered James in haste changing direction and going back the way they came.
They hurried as fast as they could without making noise. From around the corner behind them came Mr. Heep. He was looking straight at the boys. They stopped moving but Mr. Heep could not see them. He was walking towards them with silent footsteps, they had nowhere to turn the corridor was too narrow, he would walk straight into them! With this thought they began to move again but Mr. Heep was still advancing on them, his strides were a lot longer then those of the three boys squashed beneath a single cloak.
Then, ahead of them they spotted a turn, they hurried forward and dove down it. Luckily, Mr. Heep continued straight.
They continued to walk down the corridor they were now in, none of them were quite sure where they were heading, they had lost track but after a while they recognized where they were. They took the quickest route out of the dungeon. Once they were at last in the light they decided it was definitely necessary to check the map.
"Heep is in the great hall now, Peeves is on the third floor and Nearly Headless Nick and the Bloody Baron are still wandering the dungeons." Stated Blue.
"I think I've had enough dungeons to last me a lifetime." Grumbled Alex.
They wandered up the stairs feeling exhausted. When they reached the common room they checked the time; it was a quarter to two. They went straight to bed; their roommates were still sleeping soundly.
Thank you for reading this far, I hope you liked this chapter. Finally we get to see James and his friends doing what they do best – breaking the rules! As always, reviews are very welcome!
