CHAPTER TEN: Swoop into action
Drew's awakening on Friday morning was an eerie one, his head spinning with thoughts of what would come with initiation today. He sat upright in his four poster and looked around the room.
"I don't think I'm going to leave the dormitory today… Not feeling well." mumbled Christopher Patil sleepily. Drew glanced over to the left where Patil slept and shook his head, but before he could say anything in response, Matthew Ray was speaking loudly.
"Don't you even think about it. We're Gryffindors; this is what we're here for." He demanded as he popped out of his own bed. His voice would lead you to believe in his confidence, but Drew could tell by the droop of his face that he had not slept well either.
Down in the great hall, Drew met his friend's excited eyes. He looked around and all of the first years seemed to have similar expressions.
"Never took you all for morning people." Drew said as he sat down at the Ravenclaw table between Ali and Alberto. Tyler sat across the table, looking rather gloomy. "Oh, there's the Tyler I know and love." Tyler showed no emotion as he stared off blankly. Ali, however, chuckled as he bit into his toast.
"Don't you know what today is?" he asked. Drew shook his head and pulled out his class schedule. He had been so preoccupied with the upcoming squid task that he'd forgotton to check it this morning.
"I've just got one class let's see… it's er- flying?" Drew's eyes lit up as he read the pocket worn parchment. Drew now remembered his cousin Kelsi's tales from her first year, and he recalled her mentions of flying practice.
"Yep. And we've all got it together. Brilliant, huh?" Ali exclaimed. Alberto's eyes were misty.
"Totally brill." The Hufflepuff said dreamily.
On their way to the lawn where their lesson was to be held, the crowd of first years tittered with nothing but talks of quidditch.
"I'm a Ballycastle fan, myself." Drew told the boys behind him. "I've got family that lives down in Northern Ireland, so it's a must." Drew lifted the sleeve of his robe to reveal a scarlet and black bracelet with a bat logo emblazoned upon it.
"Aww! You're a bats fan? When was the last time they won the cup? '99?" chided Alberto's Hufflepuff roommate, John.
"We've got a great history; you can't tarnish that with a few bad years! Who do you support, then?" Drew replied, irked at the insult of his sport team.
"Me? Well I'm a Tutshill Tornados fan." John replied.
"The bloody Tornados? You and the rest of the country, mate! All they've got is Decker, and he's only a subpar seeker compared to the likes of Brenden McNeil, or even our reserve, Erin Walsh!" Drew bellowed.
"We'll just have to see there, mate. The Bats and the Tornadoes play on Halloween. Care to put your galleons where your words are?" John asked, as he kicked a rock down the hill the first year crowd descended. Drew squinted suspiciously.
"A Hufflepuff making wagers? Now I've seen everything. But I'll one up you. November first, the next day, is the first Hogwarts match of the season. I've got ten galleons on the Bats beating your Tornados, and ten more on Gryffindor beating Hufflepuff the next day!" 'Ooo's!' were heard from the crowd, and Alberto gave Drew a playful shove. After a few moments, John shook Drew's hand in agreement.
"You've got yourself a bet, Bat boy."
Once the first years reached the lawn, many were met with an unpleasant nervous feeling. The massive group of every beginner class was overwhelming to Drew, and as each child stood by a broomstick, many who were on edge jumped at the sound of a sharp whistle. A young woman marched in between rows of brooms and gazed at the round young faces that stood around her.
"Ah, smell that, kids?" She said commandingly the shadow of a smile on her face. "That's the smell of flight. The wind, the trees, all of it. And you lucky lot get to spend the next few hours of this day, sky high." She said this grandly, changing the sunny atmosphere to one of freedom and longing to Drew. "You all have heard what it takes to be successful here, determination, mental capacity, a smudge of natural ability. I cannot promise that all of you will be the future of your individual houses' quidditch success, but I can guarantee that you will all learn the basics of flight today. My name," She paused dramatically and stopped walking. She seemed to stare Tyler right in the eye as she spoke, "Is Katie Bell." Tyler gave a goofy smile that Drew took for instant infatuation. While on the thought of such things, Drew peered down his row to find Brooke Mars silently staring at the instructor. His heart flushed at the thought of having to fly on a raggedy old broom in front of her.
Beside Drew, Alberto looked odd. The usual bags rested underneath his eyes, but along with his tired demeanor, Drew thought he could sense a bit of fear.
"You sure were quiet back there when John and I were talking about Quidditch clubs." Drew whispered to his left, as Katie Bell attempted to motivate the students down the row from where they were.
"Not er… much of a follower." Alberto replied, rubbing his eyes wearily. Drew's mouth hung open in disbelief.
"Your pureblood family doesn't follow Quidditch?" He asked, a bit louder than he intended to. He had grown up with the sport. His father and he used to fly together often, for as long as he could remember, and his mother was an avid fan of Ballycastle Quidditch as well. It was natural for him. Ali, being his best friend, was also in the loop, though a supporter of the mostly down and out Chudley Cannons.
"Well you lot are from around here, yeah? My dad's Spanish. We root on the national team whenever they do well in the tourney, but… I don't play. I've never even flown." Drew was slightly embarrassed for his friend. Not many wizards at Hogwarts were this casual about quidditch. It was the great past time, and Alberto was behind. Drew figured this would become apparent once Alberto took flight in front of the seventy or so students around him.
"Bloody hell, you-"
"Shut up, boys!" came the voice of Tiffany Goyle fiercely. Drew glared at her, but remained silent as the final instructions were given to them by Bell.
"You all understand, then? Broom between your legs, bounce off of the balls of your feet, and- don't give me that look, Mr. Rolf, I don't care how many times you've been flying with your brother- And hover off of the ground, okay students?" The children took care to follow her steps, and before too long, most were off of the ground. Drew looked around him, He floated next to Ali and a shaky Alberto, Tiffany seemed determined to look natural on her school hand-me-down broom, Tyler sat in the grass strangely, and Nick Gonzales proceeded to vomit a few yards away from the other students. Katie Bell rushed back and forth between students, and soon the field had busted into relative mayhem. Justin Fletcher, a brown haired Slytherin boy zoomed up into the sky, chasing a butterfly. Drew's new acquaintance, John Rolf was now performing aerial rolls that a chaser for the Tutshill Tornados was known for. Drew took the opportunity to perform his greatest move, a large loop followed by a quick stop. He managed it, though much slower than he would have on his own Nimbus model back home, and came to a halt just in front of Brooke Mars who looked generally unhappy as she levitated just above the ground. Drew glanced at her, but to his disappointment, she didn't seem to have been looking.
Floating back to his original spot, and avoiding a soaring Ali, Drew noticed the previously calm and collected Bell grabbing her hair in frustration.
"Mr. Gonzales, just… keep your vomit over there. Mr. Pizzaro, careful-" Alberto attempted to float a few feet higher, but lost his balance and wobbled himself off of the rickety old broom. The exhausted Hufflepuff boy laid in the grass face down and silent for a while before finally saying some muffled words into the ground. Katie Bell groaned.
"And you. What, are you just not even going to try?" She asked, turning to Tyler who held a loose blade of grass in his hand. He let the wind blow it away and watched it disinterestedly. Tyler glared at Bell, who now walked towards him.
"Not even going to answer me? What? I'm not worth your time, Slytherin boy? You don't respect me, do you? Is it because I'm young? Is it because I'm a witch?" She ranted furiously. Drew thought he recognized some of Tiffany's mannerisms in Katie Bell. Tyler lifted an eyebrow, but remained sitting in the grass. Drew was stunned. Even in this disastrous moment, and even with Bell's inability to control a large group, it was unheard of to simply ignore a teacher. It was very unlike who Drew knew Tyler as, as well.
"What… are you afraid to fly? Hm, boy? I fought in the battle of Hogwarts, you know. I know all about you sneaky little- Mr. Gonzales, STAY OVER THERE- I know all about your kind. Sneaking about and not caring about the wellbeing of yourself, or those around you." Drew began to think that Bell's words were unjustified; attacking Tyler like this was brutal, and trying to define his house by some old battle that happened when they were kids? To further Drew's and Bell's surprise, Tyler smirked. He got up from the grass and walked over to where Alberto remained laying, from Drew's high point of view, he assumed that Alberto had just begun to take a nap. Tyler grabbed Alberto's broom and saddled it. He then proceeded to bound into the air, and rocket into the sky. Drew's eyes bulged, and as Tiffany and Ali floated near him, they too gasped. Tyler had flown higher than all of the other students dared, he was now just a pencil led shaped dot in the sky. The dot started to grow, as Tyler sped towards the ground, pushing the broom as fast as it would take him. All of the students around stopped to stare in awe as Tyler fell to his almost certain death. He was just a few feet from the ground now; he was nearly there, and… He pulled the handle of his broom up and executed a perfect dive, one that would even make Drew's beloved Ballycastle Bats jealous.
Every single student halted their previous bustle and stared in complete astonishment at Tyler's feat. The Slytherin boy hopped off of his broom at tossed it aside. From behind him, Drew heard a slow clap. He spun around to see Justin Fletcher hovering in midair, apparently applauding his housemate's moves. A few more first years joined in with Kent and, Drew, smirking, contributed to the applause.
"Now… that's enough!" raged Katie Bell. "Are you all so impressed that a pure blood knows how to fly? Really?" Tyler raised an eyebrow and walked towards the blonde flying instructor insolently.
"No, ma'am. They're all impressed that a muggle born knows how to fly." He said coldly. Bell's eyes widened and she shrieked. She now realized that she had lost complete control of the class.
"Now, I don't feel well, Miss. So I'll be on my way to the hospital wing, if you need me." Tyler said calmly. And with that he turned towards the castle and walked up the lawn.
"Wait- Just… take Pizzaro and Gonzales with you… please?" Tyler smiled as Alberto and Nick jogged up to catch up with him. For the rest of the designated period, Bell sat against a tree with a moan, as the first years who wished to fly did what they wanted in the skies, and those who didn't socialized on the ground.
"Chin up, teach. You'll get it." Drew chirped positively to his now bawling flying instructor. He grimaced, he did feel a bit bad.
Alberto sauntered back inside of the castle with Tyler and Nicolai. Tyler seemed to have a look in his eyes that gave off the impression that he was on edge, as if he was waiting for someone to hand him a million galleons. Nicolai seemed miserable, holding his stomach; he followed behind the two other boys. Alberto debated starting up a conversation between the boys. Not sure whether or not he wanted to solely because of Nick's nauseous condition. Alberto did not want to trigger anything unpleasant.
Meandering out of the dungeon entry way, Alberto spotted none other than Wasim Kabu on the floor below them, a flash of anger struck Alberto.
"Hey, mind telling me what you're playing at? Snitching me out?" He called to him aggressively. Wasim stopped in his tracks, and was quick to shake his head at the accusation. He stated that he was simply trying to save him from Filch but failed.
"I thought that maybe… maybe if I followed you enough I could bail you out of a bad situation like you did for me. Just wanted to get even, that's all." Wasim explained hurriedly, "But I suppose I failed. I should've never said I owed you anything. Gotta be more careful with my phrasing…" The Slytherin boy was trailing off at this point. With hands crossed over his chest, Alberto hesitated before an idea sprung into his brain. Right when Wasim showed a bit of eagerness to leave, Alberto opened his mouth.
"Right- you still owe me. And I know just the way you can repay me… Listen; in potions you seem to be real mates with old Slughorn,"
"Well he's my head of house, and... well, what's your point?"
"He's up to something. I want you to tail him. Follow him around, meet with him after classes, whatever. You two need to become best friends, and you're to report to me with anything suspicious that he may be up to." Alberto said sternly. This inspired a reaction from Tyler, who finally seemed to come to life, realizing what was happening.
"Well what for? We're not that close! He just thinks I'm good a potions, is all."
"It's none of your business what for! You owe me one, don't forget." Alberto said in the most intimidating voice he could muster. Wasim didn't seem to be afraid, but rather accepting. His eyes shifted around the entrance hall before he nodded and turned to leave. "Oh, and don't let me catch you skiving off class again or I'll report you to the Headmistress and have your arse on the train home!" Alberto called to the back of the dark haired Slytherin. To this, Wasim turned around and grinned.
"I didn't fancy the idea of showing up all of you rookies out at flying today, looks like it turned out well for you lot, though." He said, as he gestured toward a once again vomiting Nick. Tyler went on to tug on Alberto's robes, anxiously reminding him about having to go the Hospital Wing. From the kitchen corridor came two older Hufflepuffs who were having a laugh. Alberto recognized the second year, Danny who was sure to greet his younger friend quickly before rambling on again about exploding snap.
"Alberto!" Tyler screamed, obviously annoyed with his friend's constant social stops.
No more stops came along their way as they finally made it to the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey walked briskly out towards the boys examining each one of them.
"Mr. Harper, this is around the third time you've been in here! For Godric's sake, can't you be just a little bit more safe? What is it you keep doing that brings you here? I haven't had a student in here with such frequency since Martin Rigby's chronic scrofungulus!" She nagged as she motioned him in with a worried look on her face. Alberto wondered the same thing, why was Tyler so eager to come here so often? But Pomfrey seemed to assume that something was wrong with him, as she gave him a bed. She then proceeded to take a glimpse at Nicolai, and sent the nauseated boy straight to the bed at the very end, levitating a trash bin for him to be sick in. She then glanced at Alberto and arched her eyebrow.
"And you- Why're you here? You don't seem like anything's wrong with you… In fact, it seems like every time you show up here it's to hand me a student that's been hurt!" The stern look she shot at him rose the hair on the back of his neck.
Alberto nodded his head nervously. "I'll be out of your hair, madam Pomfrey!" He waved to Tyler and grimaced at the sight of Nick's upchucking.
Blimey, this old bag of bones hates me… he assumed as he walked down the staircase, wiping his tired eyes. Shrugging it off he decided he would go off to the Owlery to write to finally write to his parents of how things were at Hogwarts, something he'd been avoiding for a while now.
Walking back to the Grand staircase he headed up to the Seventh floor. He received gestures, both good and bad from kids of different houses. Autumn tenderly shoved him on the shoulder biting her lip as he turned around to greet her.
"Didn't forget did you…?" she probed. Albert shook his head denying this, though it was true. He was so busy and stressed with other things. She was probably one of the last things that crossed his mind. In fact she hadn't crossed his mind at all. The only girl that managed to become lodged in his mind was Gianni- and how he was planning on getting back at her. He told her that sometime later in the weekend he would take her, before continuing on towards his destination.
He entered the Seventh Floor corridor and headed on towards the West Tower. At the end was a door that rounded off at the top, with a large handle to pull it open. He walked up the large spiraling stairs past the tower's battlement and into the Owlery. The floor was concealed by hay which was then covered by owl droppings and carcasses of mice. The room had a stench of rotting meat and waste which made Alberto cringe, though he didn't know what he expected. He'd been outside of the Owlery on one of his midnight strolls and was sure he caught a whiff of the inside as he walked by.
He reached into the bag slung over his shoulder and drew from it a bare piece of parchment paper and a quill to write with.
He leaned against the wall where light shined from an open window and began to scribble his letter. He would halt every now and then to check what he wrote, and to choose what he would write to them next. He had more things to tell than he could fit in one letter, and decided it'd be best just to give them the gist of his first week. Once finished, he stared up into the balconies above and gulped at the thought of having to climb up and attach his scrolled up letter to an owl's leg. As he began climbing one of the wobbly ladders that led up, he heard a voice call from below.
"Oooh, don't look down!"
Doing the opposite of what he was instructed, he swung his head around to see the producer of the female voice. His sister looked up at him. Her brown hair was askew, and she had a white quill sticking up from within like an Indian head feather.
"Nataly! Poor timing," He gasped as he pulled himself up onto the balcony. "A few seconds sooner and maybe you'd have actually scared me."
"Ah, blast!" She said in jest. He stuck his tongue out at her. "But seriously, Kiddo, be careful. Who're you writing to?" She asked, craning her neck.
"The 'rents, of course." He said, now on his knees twirling his letter. Nataly's eyes widened.
"Good luck explaining the whole, 'my best friends are mud bloods and blood traitors' thing." Alberto scoffed.
"I wasn't dumb enough to mention all of that. I er… was very general. But I do need a few galleons and maybe some muggle clothes, like yours, so I figured it was time to write." Nataly looked down at her skirt.
"Probably not exactly like mine, Bert." She laughed. "Didn't think Mr. Hoggy Gazette would be taking fashion advice from us mortals!" Alberto grinned embarrassedly.
"You saw that?"
She rolled her eyes and pointed up near Alberto.
"You should use my owl, Tina." stated the third year Ravenclaw seriously. He shimmied across the balcony to where Tina, the snowy owl was perched. He flashed her a smile, and brushed his fingers against her head as he tied the letter to her leg. Without a second to spare the owl stretched her wings wide open and flew out one of the open windows.
He looked out the window, watching it vanish into the light blue sky. Once it was out of sight he turned himself around to climb down. Suddenly, a large owl came slashing through the air from the top most balcony. Startled, he took a step back, his feet falling off the edge that he stood on, he fell backwards through the air. His left hand reached out towards one of the stone perches. He gripped it quickly, but when the rest of his body caught up with him, he could feel and hear a pop in his left shoulder, causing him to let go and topple to the ground.
His holler echoed through the tower as all the birds above abruptly fly out of their resting place. He gritted his teeth; tears welling up in his eyes. Nataly ran to him, kneeling beside him. She took quick notice of his shoulder.
"This is perfect- Er… be still, Bert." She said, trying to mask excitement. Alberto was in too much pain to question what was happening.
He bellowed more incoherent sobs, and Nataly nodded understandingly, as she gingerly lifted his left arm and withdrew her wand.
"I've been wanting to use this spell, and I know enough about it in theory… Shouldn't be too hard, simplest healing charm there is…" She mumbled as she slashed open his closed chested robe to get a better angle at his shoulder.
"In theory? No- Nataly!" he howled. The thought of a third year student putting their wand on his shoulder sounded frightening, no matter how much he trusted his si
ter. Nataly, ignoring his complaint, flicked her wand.
"Episky!" A cyan light engulfed Alberto's shoulder as it slid back into position. The pain blinded him for a second before fading almost completely. She then stood, a cocky expression on her face, "Bet it feels fine, doesn't it?" He followed in her footsteps and stood up the same. He moved his body around a bit. Jumping up and down, shaking his arms around to see how much movement he had. His shoulder was stiff, but other than that and a few cuts on his hand, he was perfectly fine.
"You're bloody brilliant, Nat." He said, as he embraced Nataly in a tight hug.
"Comes with being a Ravenclaw, bro." She replied. They both chortled, before they walked down together back to the main part of the castle.
Upon arrival in the great hall, Drew sat down at the Ravenclaw table. He received some judgmental glares, but as he and his friends decided, they would rotate which house table they sat at each day. Drew was relieved to see Ali, who sat on the bench next across from him, and introduced him to a few of his housemates. Drew smiled and shook hands politely, but he was sure that his jittery feelings of tonight were seeping through his formality. Eventually, Alberto and Tyler joined the others and they all dug into their feast. Drew looked up at his friends' obliviousness before finally cracking. In hushed tones, he informed them of what would be happening tonight.
"… and to top it all off, I've got to go down there with Matthew-bleeding-Ray and the others." He finished.
"Feeding the giant squid? That's mad!" Alberto said loudly, a piece of chicken skin dangling from his lower lip.
"Not only that, but to send first years out into the castle at midnight? They've got to be a bunch of morons if they think they won't lose house points." Ali said, his nostrils flaring.
Drew shrugged as he took a bite of a bread roll.
"Seems that's about half of my house- morons."
"You could just not go." Tyler said simply as he poured something out of a small vial into his goblet of pumpkin juice.
"I have to go! I've got to prove to Ray and Patil that I am a bloody Gryffindor." Drew said through gritted teeth.
"What've you got to prove though, mate? The sorting hat put you in Gryffindor, didn't it? That kind of tells us that you're courageous and that, you're only showing that you're a moron if you go trying to wrestle the squid." Alberto said frowning.
Drew shook his head. He didn't expect other houses to understand what this signified.
"I'm not wrestling anything," He reminded them. "Besides, it's the sneaking out that I'm worried about, if I get caught by a teacher or prefect… everybody's gonna want my arse."
A light bulb seemed to go off in Alberto's head and his eyes flickered between his friends. He stood up from his seat and took a final bite of drumstick before gesturing for his friends to stand.
"I've got something to show you lot, come on!"
"I'm still eating…" Tyler moaned. Alberto shot him a glance and he instantly rose. "Fine."
Drew, Ali and Tyler rushed behind Alberto out of the great hall and up the entry stairs; upon reaching the grand staircase, they took the nearest to the second floor, and Alberto darted left and right into different halls before leading them to a familiar room.
"Oh, come on! Not this old fireplace nonsense again!" Drew cried angrily. Alberto smiled and pulled out his Hazel wand and lit it with a sputtering 'lumos'. He reached his wand out to tap the soot covered brick that was located in the middle of the fireplace. The black brick fell out abruptly and the rest of the bricks shifted and turned to reveal an entrance, much like the passage between the leaky cauldron and Diagon alley that the boys had all seen earlier in the year.
"I figured it out a couple of nights ago by accident! Filch was on my trail and I leaned into the bricks with my wand lit! Brill, right?" Alberto exclaimed, grinning. Ali's hand rested on his chin as he analyzed the situation.
"Yeah, just as I thought," He said slowly. "See this tapestry?" He asked his companions, pointing to a hanging piece of fabric on the wall. The tapestry depicted a wizard holding his wand, alight. "The answer was here in the room all along."
Alberto's face fell in disappointment.
"Well I found it myself, didn't need any hints…" He mumbled as he squatted through the new entry way. The other boys followed in, Tyler having to crawl on his hands in knees. Alberto didn't allow the boys any time to soak in the room around them as he instantly walked up a flight of stairs within.
"Okay, so there are four tunnels within this passage. I've been thinking since I was here last… four tunnels, four houses, yeah?" Alberto said fleetingly. Ali rolled his eyes. "Look." Alberto said, his eyes twinkling with excitement. He rubbed some dust off of the stone wall. "A lion."
Drew stared at the thin carving on the stone, it definitely resembled a lion. Alberto dashed off once again, this time down some steps on the left side of the foyer. This tunnel didn't end in a dead end like the one before, but instead it revealed a statue of a badger.
"How much more obvious could it be?"
But the others weren't so easy. A snake-like staircase down was a hopeful candidate for Slytherin, as it ended in a Gargoyle guard of greenish hue. Ali made a connection between the star gazing window above one of the brick dead ends and the fact that Ravenclaw's common room was near the astronomy tower.
"Okay, I buy it." Drew admitted once in the circular stone room once again. "But how do we use them?"
Alberto seemed stumped at this.
"I suppose if these are passages that relate to the common rooms, maybe we'd have to use a password? Or I'd have to answer a riddle… but who's to ask it?" Ali said, stroking his chin. Tyler scoffed.
"Seriously?" He asked, looking amused. He pulled his wand out from within his robe pocket and whispered 'lumos'. His light ignited the damp room with a bluish hue and he marched down the spiraling stairwell that lead to the rusty gargoyle. He waved his wand in front of it, and it cracked. From atop the stairs, Drew and the others looked on with surprise. The gargoyle seemed to stretch- as if waking up from a long rest, and leaned back into the stone wall behind him. The wall rotated to the side, revealing another tunnel.
"Tyler! How did you know?" Alberto asked in shock. He'd had his wand lit near the statue before, but it didn't occur to him that it could've triggered entry into what the Gargoyle hid.
"It's pretty obvious, aint it? You wizards are real smart when it comes to your world, but when it comes down to common sense, you're lacking." The others shrugged and leapt down the steps to walk down the dark hall.
Tyler led the way, wand aglow, but it proved useless as torches lit periodically to light their way. The path was long and winding, it seemed to go steeper and steeper until they met a ladder. It was quite tall, and the boys could only make out the top if they squinted, but alas, it looked rather safe, and Tyler began his climb. A few minutes later, they heard him call from somewhere in the high up darkness.
"I know where we are! This ends in the sewer lid that's just outside of common room. I'd been wondering what the deal was with it…"
"Can you push it up?" Drew yelled. The sound of sliding metal answered his question, and the boys beamed.
"Brilliant. Let's try the others!" Drew took off back through the uphill path and was quite sore by the end, but still excited. The rest of the boys followed, and spent the next hour 'lumos-ing' their ways into the tunnels. Each one ended up near their common room. The Gryffindor passage ended in a crack beneath a bookshelf that was just outside of the portrait of the fat lady, Ravenclaw's was a steep climb that ended in a slide, shooting Ali out into a pile of balled up tapestries that lay outside of the astronomy classroom. Hufflepuff's came out from a barrel opposite of the one that entered the common room, and required a good deal of pushing for Alberto to pop the lid off of it.
Once all back in the foyer, the boys collapsed on the floor, exhausted.
"Well, Drew. That's how you're going to get through the castle undetected. Take the Gryffindor passage down here, and then take the 'Puff's out to the grounds." Alberto said hoarsely.
Drew nodded, thankful of his friend's discovery. He then beamed at his friends.
"Who do you reckon used all of these?" He asked after a few dry moments. Other than the Slytherin passage, they all looked quite used. Burned out torches, lying about and dirty footprints marking up each hall.
There was no answer from the others.
"Well apparently Filch didn't even know about it," Tyler said looking to Alberto who nodded. "So, I say it's ours." He said steadily. Ali's eyes twinkled as he got an idea.
"We need a name- Identification… Seeing as this is our hideout, now."
Alberto smiled, glad that Ali was now on board.
"It's just like the Kidd twins said the other day," Ali said, grinning brilliantly. "'A knave, a rascal, an eater of broken meats!' It's a Shakespearean quote -Great old warlock that bloke was-See, We're the Knaves. Explorers- free men of sorts. It fits!" Ali exclaimed. The boys looked around, eyes popping. They felt the importance in the air. The group was now official, and it the mantle of 'Knaves', an insult turned title, fit them perfectly.
Drew squinted at his watch in the darkness and read that it was nearly midnight. The only light that came into the room was a narrow moon beam from the Ravenclaw tunnel that currently glinted off of Ali's glasses. Drew announced that he needed to be going, and darted back to the Gryffindor passage, taking it to the end and crawling through the gap in the bookshelf before delivering the password to the fat lady. She permitted him entrance, and he climbed through the hole into his warm scarlet common room.
The room was quite busy. He noticed his dorm mates sitting in chairs around the fire, all deep in thought and silent, but surrounding them older students bustled about, laughing loudly and exchanging galleons.
"That one? No way, Skyler! I know his older sister, she would've prepared him for this. And what about him?" Said Andy Harrison loudly, speaking to the dreadlocked boy that Drew saw sitting at the Ravenclaw table the other day. Drew took notice that Andy was pointing directly at him. He raised his eyebrows.
"Nope, that's Kelsi Florence's cousin." The dreadheaded Skyler answered in a slightly more hushed tone. Drew was confused. What did Kelsi being his cousin had to do with what was happening tonight.
The boys spoke to each other more softly, and exchanged a few galleons before exiting to their apparent dorms. Drew scratched his head, before sitting down in a chair next to Miles Galloway. He pulled his Defense against the Dark Arts book out of his bag and began cramming the knowledge he'd need for Monday's test while he had time. The chapter he was assigned to read was over 'Trap Black' a fairly common occurrence in the wizarding world- A faux darkness that produced fear and made it difficult to find what one was looking for. Immune to light, it could only be extinguished with the counter charm 'Verdimillious'. Drew once experienced his grandmother using the charm to remove the Trap Black that was produced by the house ghost in her guest bedroom.
When faced with Trap Black and unable to produce the Verdimillious charm (See pg. 43) Use the power of thought to find something you're looking for. (Ex: If Johnny wants to find his kneazle, he should think of how unpleasant it would be to be bitten by his kneazle on the toe at the moment.) Known practitioners of Mystical Black are: Savage Ghosts, Poltergeists, Specters, Boggarts.
Drew wondered whether 'Savage Ghosts' was politically correct, and considered how Sir. Nicholas would feel about it.
A few minutes or so passed, and with it, nearly all of the leftover Gryffindors that were in the common room. A door being opened could be heard from behind them, and the first year boys spun around, to meet seventh year Chuck Jenkins.
"Well?" he asked anticlimactically. "You lot know what you've got to do. Here-" He tossed a bag of what seemed to be a muggle snack to Matthew Ray.
"Cheetos?" Ray asked incredulously.
Jenkins nodded.
"The squid loves 'em. Now go on. You've got an hour." The boys all stood up and walked towards the portrait hole. Jenkins exited the room behind them, but another door opened. Tiffany Goyle stood in the middle of the common room, wand out. Drew and the rest of the first year boys spun around, most of them startled, expecting more news from Jenkins, before the tension vanished again.
"Oi, Goyle, get out of here." Ray said bluntly. Tiffany stepped into the light glaring.
For a split second, Drew thought that she was going to jinx Ray, but then she said,
"I'm coming with you lot."
Drew looked quickly to Ray and Patil.
"Like hell you are!" Ray snarled, "You're a girl!"
Tiffany seemed to be expecting this, and with one quick movement, she leapt across the common room and yanked Emile by the arm and put him into a headlock. The red headed boy struggled valiantly, but Tiffany out muscled him. Emile McGinnis wasn't a particularly small boy, and was quite a bit bigger than Drew, but Tiffany was solid and just as tall as he was.
"If I'm not going, neither is McGinnis!" She spat, her wand now pointing at Emile's neck. Drew didn't doubt Tiffany's threat, as she was top in their house in academics, and more likely than not, she knew the magic to hurt Emile. Drew frowned at her; he didn't understand why she wanted to go.
"Oh come on, Tiffany, he's got to do it- to be a Gryffindor!" Drew pleaded, stepping near her. She directed her wand at him now.
"Say I can go." She demanded. Drew backed away with his hands raised.
"Well, I suppose…" He began.
"No way, Henry! She's not coming!" Matthew Ray raged, drawing his own wand. Drew turned to the boy, angry that he was being undermined.
"She'll be just as much of help- If not more than any of us if anything goes wrong down there!" Drew said. Tiffany agreed over the sound of Emile's choking sounds. Ray opened his mouth to shout something back, but he was stopped by Christopher Patil reminding him of their time limit.
"Whatever. You and your she-troll can find your own way down." He spat, and Tiffany dropped Emile in excitement. Emile scrambled to his feet and rubbed his neck, his face very red. He glared back at Tiffany but didn't dare say a thing as he followed the rest of the boys out.
Drew's head felt hot. He wanted to use what he had learned in dueling club against Matthew Ray, and secretly hoped he'd get to sometime tonight. Turning to Tiffany he gestured to the portrait.
"I know how to get down to the grounds quickly." He said in a forced friendly voice. Tiffany clapped her hands and skipped behind him out of the portrait.
Drew showed Tiffany the hole underneath the bookshelf and slid through, she followed (Needing a bit of help to squeeze in) and the two took the secret tunnel down.
"I still don't get why you feel the need to come risk your life." Drew said finally, absentmindedly tapping his wand against the stone wall as he walked.
"Pride." She said after thinking about it for a moment. "I heard some of the older folks talking about it earlier today and I wondered why the girls haven't got any initiation. I asked, and that git Jenkins said that it was because we'd lose our heads. How bloody sexist is that?" Drew was silent. He didn't think anybody should have to go through an initiation, so he supposed he didn't see a problem with equal rights to stupid things.
The rest of the journey throughout the still night was a tranquil one. By the time Drew and Tiffany crawled through the secret barrel, he'd nearly forgotten what they were out for. Creeping into the entrance hall, and pushing open the heavy oak door was nerve racking, but at last they found themselves sitting at the dock, waiting for the others to appear with the Squid's food.
Drew tossed a smooth stone at the lake, watching it skip. He wondered how many other students in Hogwarts' history had ever done the very same. The silhouette of the Castle could be seen over a few trees to their left, and it was indeed, a peaceful scene. Drew turned to Tiffany, wanting to keep his mind off of the squid.
"Hey, so whatever happened with your parents?" he asked gingerly. He knew that Tiffany's emotions were sporadic, and he didn't quite fancy being tossed into the lake.
"I wrote them a letter back that night." she said simply. Drew smiled at her approvingly.
"That's great! Just keep talking to them, they love you! You're their daughter, and-"
"I told them that I hated them and would become twice what they ever amounted to."
Drew's mouth hung open, and he couldn't manage anything other than a quiet 'oh'. She shrugged and stood up.
"There they are!" She cried, waving into the airy darkness at the outline of three first year boys. Three? Four boys had left the common room ahead of Drew and Tiffany. Drew stepped back into the moist grass and lit his wand. The light was cast into the shadows to reveal Matthew Ray, Christopher Patil and Miles Galloway.
"Where's Emile!" Drew and Matthew yelled in unison. The two exchanged confused glances as Matthew stepped into Drew's lumos beam. Drew's roommates looked around the dock, puzzled.
"We thought that you lot had him." Miles said, his hazel eyes wide. Drew shook his head.
"Why would we?" Drew questioned.
"Well she tried to choke him out in the common room!" bellowed the usually silent Christopher Patil. Tiffany seemed to take offence and she stepped up to Christopher, looking into his eyes angrily.
"Stop!" Drew said, pushing both of his house mates back. "We can look for Emile later- he was probably just scared and went back to the common room." Drew figured, "Can we just get this rubbish over with?"
Matthew grunted behind Christopher and uncurled the rolled up bag of Cheetos he kept in his robes. He walked stiffly over to the dock and turned around.
"I'm just going to pour this muggle schlock in the lake, and then we can leave. Jenkins never said we actually had to see the squid eating." The others nodded quietly and watched Ray empty the orange puffs into the black water. The chips floated, and otherwise the water was completely still, only the image of a full moon reflecting in the darkness. A breath of relief was heard from Ray as he turned around smiling. "That's that. Not too bad, now let's go." He said, stepping back towards the bank and off of the dock.
Crack.
A pink tentacle blasted out of one of the wooden planks that Ray attempted to walk on. His leg slipped through the gap and a few more tentacles emerged, splintering the dock. Ray released a loud shriek as one of the plunger-covered limbs wrapped itself around his body. Another shattering of wood revealed a fully arisen giant squid. An oily black eye stared onto the shore at the other students. Tiffany squealed as she stumbled backwards, and Miles and Christopher scrambled for their wands. Drew was quickest to the draw, taking aim at a now airborne tentacle that held Matthew Ray in its grip.
"No! You'll only irritate it… it's going to dive!" Tiffany cried, her voice hesitating, but it was too late. Drew yelled 'flipendo'! He watched in horror, wishing that he could take the spell back as it missed its target, slamming into Matthew Ray's face. Ray's body went limp and it was obvious that he passed out. Drew's eyes were wide, verging on tears, he felt helpless. He looked around for something- anything -that could help save the boy, but instead, he found a thick tentacle swiping across his midsection. His body went flying into the shallow part of the lake, the water barely slowing his fall. The pain that filled his body was too much. His mind went blank, and his eyes saw nothing but darkness.
Drew woke up in the hospital wing; it was the sunlight that had woken up, an open window being across the room from him. The room was white, and it took his eyes a few moments of adjusting before they would completely open. He searched the infirmary for Madam Pomfrey, the nurse Tyler constantly mentioned, but she was nowhere to be seen. He groaned, trying to recall what he last remembered. He recalled the squid, Matthew Ray, and a missing Emile McGinnis. Drew flipped over on his right side and began to close his eyes and put his worries to rest before he heard the creaking of a door opening at the other end of the wing.
Neville Longbottom, the head of Gryffindor and professor of Herbology entered the room, his grey robes hanging neatly behind him. Drew thought about greeting his teacher, but found it difficult to get his voice to do much.
"Good day, Mister Henry." Longbottom said comfortingly. Drew stretched his arms as he sat up in his hospital bed, waving at his professor and watching the man pull a chair up to his bed. "I'm sure you're wondering a few things."
Drew nodded with a hoarse 'yes', though a few things was an understatement. Longbottom explained that Drew had been out for nearly a day and a half, and that the squid had apparently broken his ribs. Drew patted his own ribcage and noticed nothing out of the usual; he supposed Pomfrey's healing was true. Apparently, Matthew Ray had signed out of the hospital wing earlier that day with only a few injuries, and was saved by a severing charm delivered by professor Slughorn who'd heard screaming from his office. Drew thought that the Slughorn bit sounded suspicious, but he didn't question it.
"As head of Gryffindor house, I had to inform you of these things, Drew, and I think it goes without saying that your choice to go on this little adventure was very wrong." Drew swallowed guiltily. He wondered whether or not Longbottom knew about the initiation.
"I've been told that all of this was a part of some initiation of sorts, something that's been going on for a few years now, being run by older students." Longbottom continued, seeming to have read Drew's mind. "Because of this, none of you first years will be punished, but once we've found out who ran this little jaunt, that person definitely will be." Drew let out a sigh of relief. It seemed that none of the other first years who were down by the lake felt the need to tell Longbottom about Jenkins, and he supposed he didn't either. Tradition was tradition, no matter how catastrophic things got.
"However," Longbottom continued, looking down in what Drew read as disappointment. "Gryffindor is being deducted one hundred house points for these events." Drew nearly jumped out of his bed in outrage.
"One hundred?" Drew managed. He didn't even know that Gryffindor had that many points this early in the year, but that would definitely set them behind by a lot. Longbottom said nothing, but sighed. He stood up and patted Drew's leg before turning to exit. Drew cursed under his breath, he was sure he was going to hear about this from the other Gryffindors. He then realized something- Longbottom never mentioned Emile… Drew took this to mean that he was okay and pushed it to the back of his mind.
Minutes passed and the door creaked open once again. In came Madam Pomfrey looking peeved, followed by Ali, Tyler and Alberto. Drew's three best friends rushed in, bombarding him with recounts of the events he missed as well as playfully bashing what happened down by the lake.
"'Course Patil says that you knocked out Ray and threw him to the squid. We all know that that's a load of rubbish, right? …It is rubbish, isn't it?" asked Ali, obviously unsure. Drew laughed hollowly before denying the claims and telling what really happened.
"I reckon that'll be their excuse to hand me my arse." Drew said, clearly not worried about it at the moment.
"Alright, enough of the bad news!" Alberto said loudly, giving Ali an annoyed look. "Brooke Mars," Alberto said flicking his eyebrows suggestively, "She's been talking about you an awful lot."
The mullato boy blushed and put his face in his hands. Alberto laughed at Drew's embarrassment. Drew finally came out of his shell to prod his Hufflepuff friend for information.
"Well? What'd she say?" He asked finally.
"Oh you know, she's been distraught, hoping you weren't seriously hurt… Talking about how incredibly brave you must've been." Drew smiled awkwardly, trying to conceal his joy In front of his friends.
"Well she's right hot, mate. Good for you." Tyler said offhandedly as he browsed a medicine cabinet to the left of Drew's bed. Once again, Drew opened his mouth to say something about Tyler's activities before being interrupted. Madam Pomfrey barged into the clinic once again, to shoo Drew's friends away. Seeing that she was serious, they were obedient, waving goodbye to Drew as they exited the white walled wing.
Drew was force fed a couple of pills and potions before Pomfrey told him to get some more rest so that he could make it to class tomorrow morning. Drew didn't argue and laid back.
"Oh, Mister Henry, your wand…" she said suddenly, her once strict voice fading. Drew looked to the bedside table for the first time and saw his Apple wood wand sitting there, its tone a bit darker due to the water. "It's been sparking ever since you came in here… though it has seemed to have stopped now that you're awake… still, that's never a good sign." She said curiously. Drew squinted, and reached to pick up his wand. He twirled it around in his fingers, and a few blood red sparks shot out of the end, stinging his fingers. Drew cursed loudly (Inspiring a disapproving look from Madam Pomfrey) before placing the instrument back on the bedside table. He had an odd feeling that just as his fellow Gryffindors were sure to be; his wand was cross with him.
With nothing more to do, Drew rolled his eyes and went back to sleep.