"How many times have i told you guys that this was a bad idea?" Hermione whispered as the four walked down the staircase.

"About a hundred-fifty." Ron replied. "Give or take a few times."

"One hundred fifty-one." Ginny counted.

"Guys quiet!" Harry said softly and urgently, stopping him and the others in the process. "I thought i heard something." He started walking again, and Ron, Hermione, and Ginny followed suit. Hermione was mimicking an owl to near perfection as her head was always going from her left to her right, hoping that she wouldn't catch a glance of a professor, or worse: Filch.

They reached the Trophy Room and closed the door, just in case Filch walks past the doorway. They waited for what seemed like ten minutes before the four split up to wander around the room. The four never really bothered to look around the room for an extended amount of time. Just a brief look around during the first day they didn't have class; but now that they were here, they might as well take a look.

Harry looked in some of the glass cases at names he has never heard of before. Barnabas Cuffe, Armando Dippet, Quentin Trimble. One of the names, for reasons that Harry was completely unsure of, gave Harry an uneasy feeling. He couldn't put his finger on it, but the name Tom M. Riddle didn't sit well with him. Then he moved to the next glass containing Multiple Quidditch awards. One name in particular caught his attention. "Hey guys, come check this out." The three walked over to the glass that Harry was looking at, and quickly realized why Harry was so interested in it.

Chaser

James Potter

Gryffindor Captain

1974

"Bloody Hell, Harry!" Ron stated. "I didn't realize how young your Dad was when he was Captain. He couldn't be any older than 14."

Harry smiled. "And now his son is the Gryffindor seeker at the age of 11. I guess Potters do great things on the pitch when they're young."

"I'm sure that your father would be very proud of you," Hermione said.

"Thanks Hermione."

"Merlin's Beard!" Ginny whispered in amazement looking at another Trophy. "I can't believe it."

"What?" Ron asked.

"Gwenog Jones!"

"Who?" Hermione asked in confusion.

"Gwenog Jones. She's one of the Beaters for the Holyhead Harpies and actually became captain of the team last year. Youngest captain the Harpies ever had." She looked at the trophy again. "And apparently she was one of Hufflepuff's beaters starting her second year."

"You know an awful lot about her," Harry observed.

"Well of course. She's my idol. She's the reason I want to become one of the Harpies when I'm out of Hogwarts."

Before anyone could say anything else, they heard soft footsteps. At last Malfoy has come, Harry thought. His first Wizarding Duel. Won't Sirius be proud. He aimed his wand towards the source of the footsteps, 'Lumos' he whispered. The wand's tip shined a bright shine and revealed that the source of the footsteps wasn't Malfoy, or a student, or even a person. It was Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris. All of the color drained from Harry's, and the rest of the group's to be quite frank, face. If Mrs. Norris was here, then Filch wasn't far behind Harry put out his wand with a silent 'Nox' and they ran through the other doorway.

They ran up the staircase as fast as they could until they were stopped by Peeves on the third floor. "Well, well. Ickle firsties out of their beddy beds, wandering around causing mischief and no-goodyness?"

Harry was growing impatient. "Peeves, please. Just let us go by. We don't want any trouble."

Peeves cackled to himself. "No trouble he says. Surely young Potty has never meet old Peevesy." Peeves took a deep breath and shouted from his nonexistent lungs. "STUDENTS OUT OF BED! ICKLE FIRSTIES WANDERING THE CASTLE!"

The four panicked and ran into the third floor corridor. They found the first door that they could see. Ron tried to open it but it was no use. "It won't budge."

Hermione moved Ron out of the way. "I got this." She points her wand at the door and whispers, 'Alohomora'. The door unlocked and the four hurried into the room. When they closed the door, they listened in on what was going on outside.

"Where are they Peeves? The Students. Where did they go?" Filch demanded.

"Say Please."

"What? Are you bloody kidding me?"

"I won't say a word unless you say please."

It sounded as if Filch was ready to strangle the Poltergeist. "Please. Now tell me where the students are."

"Pudding."

"What? What the hell are you talking about?"

"I told you I wouldn't say a word unless you said please. You said please and I said a word, pudding." They heard Filch howl in pain. "Got your conk!" Peeves blew a raspberry which grew softer and softer.

"Argh. Damn Poltergeist. Come now my sweet. Let's find those no good students."

They listened for the footsteps to fade before they began to talk. "Hermione," Ron began. "Is there anything in Hogwarts: A History that says that you can't kick a cat off of the Astronomy Tower?"

"No, but I wouldn't advise it. At least that's what I'll say if people ask me." It was growing apparent that Hermione shared Ron's dislike for Mrs. Norris as well.

"This has Malfoy written all over it," Harry said half to himself. "He must have tipped Filch off or something to get us in trouble."

"Does anyone smell that?" Ginny asked.

"Smell what?" Harry replied.

"It kind of smells like some sort of dog."

All of the sudden, they heard a growling. Ginny took her wand and faced it to the shadows and whispered, 'Lumos', but soon wished that she didn't. Three giant dog heads attached to the same giant body was growling at the foursome, who in turn screamed. The rushed out of the room and closed the door. Never has Harry run up the stairs as fast as he was running now. The same could be said for Ron, Ginny, and Hermione.

When they finally reached the seventh floor, the Fat Lady looked upset at the students. "Do you have any idea what time it is?" She scolded.

"Don't care!" Harry said. "Pig snout. Pig snout!" The Fat Lady opened up and the four entered the Gryffindor Common Room, gasping for air.

"Did you see what that thing was standing on?" Hermione asked.

"Sorry Hermione, but I didn't get a glimpse of it's feet," Ginny said. "Too busy looking at it's heads."

"It was standing on some sort of trap door. It's like it's guarding something."

"But what could that thing be guarding?" Harry asked.

"I don't know, but what I do know is that there is an exam in Charms tomorrow. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to bed before the three of you come up with another clever way to get us all killed or worse, expelled." She walked up to the Girl's dormitory.

Ron shook her head. "She really needs to get her priorities straight."

A/N: Alright guys. I really have no excuse for not updating for so long except for this. I kind of lost my drive to write fan fiction for a bit. I'm a writing minor in school, so my academic writing takes top priority. Plus, most of the stuff I really want to write in this fic doesn't come until later. Let's just say I'm getting excited for the end of first year and for second year. I hope you enjoy the chapter.