A/N: I don't own Harry Potter or any related characters
This is for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Assignment #5 Astronomy Task #4: Black Holes: White dwarfs aren't the only type of exotic object that's made when stars collapse. If a star is about five times the mass of the Sun, the collapse when it stops burning is sufficient to force electrons and protons in its atoms to merge, creating a neutron star made up of "neutronium". This incredibly dense material would squeeze a star the mass of the Sun into a ball the size of Coventry (and it's also what Thor's famous hammer Mjölnir is made of). Neutron stars are very small, dark objects which can generally only be seen by their effects on their neighbours.
Prompt: Write about something getting smaller, or something of an already small size.
For Bex!
Word Count: 827
Warning: killer teddy bears, slight gore, violence
"That's not true! Bears can't hold knives," Lily Luna argued, wrapping her arms around the teddy bear she was holding in her arms. All the kids were staying at the Burrow for the weekend while their parents had some time to themselves.
"It's completely true. It happened at summer camp when I was your age. I remember it well. I arrived with the other campers, each of us carrying our things."
"How'd you get there," Albus asked.
"Portkey. It was a nasty stinky trainer with the toes all worn out," Teddy answered.
"Then what happened?"
"There were these older kids who were the counselors. They were teenagers and they were each assigned a cabin, there were six of us kids to a cabin."
"So? So far, I don't hear anything scary yet," Lily pouted.
"I'm getting to it! I have to set the scene, don't I?" he asked. She glared but nodded.
"So I'm assigned to Cabin 13, the unlucky cabin. I put my things down on my bed. I notice that the boy in the bed across from has a teddy bear. It's one of the fancy ones with the red ribbon around its chocolate brown neck," Teddy described. James and Albus were hanging on his every word.
"That's when the whole thing started. I unpacked, putting my thinks in the chest they provided. I put my own bear on my bed. You all remember Remmy?"
"How could we forget that ratty thing? You drag him everywhere," Victoire commented, rolling her blue eyes.
"So, I put Remmy on my bed and then the horn sounded. The horn tells all the campers to meet in front of the mess hall. That's where they have the food."
"Why's it called a 'mess hall'?" Albus asked.
"Because when you have a food fight, it ends up being a mess," Teddy answered, nodding his head as if challenging any of them to tell him otherwise. Lily put a hand of popcorn in her mouth.
"We all sang the camp song and played this stupid ice breaker game where you get to know each other. It turns out the boy whose bed was across from mine was named Roman Nott. He's from a rich pure-blood family."
"Boring," Lily stated. Hugo put down the book he'd been reading and nodded.
"I'm getting to the good part! It started to get dark and we all sat around the campfire, much like we're doing now."
"Only we're in the living room of the Burrow and the only fire is the fireplace," Rose muttered. Teddy ignored her and continued the story.
"The fire was crackling and popping. The counselors handed out sticks to make s'mores. Then everything got really quiet. There was this strange energy in the air, like something bad was about to happen."
James and Albus leaned closer to Teddy. Even Victoire was looking at him with interest.
"That's when we heard the sound of footsteps, but not normal footsteps, softly little piddle paddle footsteps, like a cat might make. The counselors were all starting to look worried. See there was this curse on the camp. A curse that brought stuffed animals to life! Everyone pretended the curse didn't exist, but it did! The air was suddenly full of teddy bears! They were each holding knives or other weapons in their tiny hands. Screams filled the air as the campers tried to run. Roman's bear, the biggest and best bear of them all in charge. He screamed orders to the other bears. One by one the campers were stabbed, the bears went for their necks! Slice, slice," Teddy almost screamed, watching the eyes of his audience widen.
"How did you escape?" Lily asked softly, her entire body trembling as she threw her bear across the room.
"Remmy saved me! He appeared with the other bears, but something about him didn't make him evil like the rest of the bears. He stood in front of me, holding a quill in his hand. Roman's bear lunged at me, but Remmy stabbed him in the chest with the tip of the quill. Red bled from the quill tip into his velvety fur. With a push, Remmy shoved the bear into the fire! It let out a scream as it burned, the air filling with black smoke as the other bears fell to the ground lifeless," Teddy finished, looking at everyone. Lily, Rose and Hugo were hiding in their sleeping bags. James and Albus were sitting there with their mouths hanging open and Victoire was wrapped around his arm.
"You were very brave," she whispered. Teddy smiled.
"Yes, I was, and that is why you should never, ever bring a teddy bear to camp!" he stated, wondering how many of his cousins would have nightmares tonight. He leaned back in his own sleeping bag, an arm around Remmy as the fire crackled in the fireplace.
"Good night," he called out as the lights dimmed, signaling bed time.