About an hour later, Harry ran into Ron in the hallway on his way to the library. Ron seemed to have this halfway dazed sort of look on his face.
"Hey, Ron!" Harry said, walking over to him.
Ron at first didn't seem to hear him, but then he looked at him glossy eyed and smiled widely. "Oh, hey Harry."
"Hey..um...are you OK?" Harry said, a bit concerned.
"Oh of..of course. It's just that...I saw ...oh nevermind," Ron continued, staring up into space now and touching his fingers to his lips as if remembering something pleasant.
"Uh..if you say so..." Harry said uncertainly. "So how many rooms have you been in?"
"Oh uh," Ron said, temporarily snapping out of his zombie state long enough to look down at his parchment. "I've been to Herbology, Defense Against the Dark Arts, the Great Hall, and Transfiguration. I have the spell figured out but still dont' know about the person or the room."
"Oh REALLY..you have the spell figured out eh?" Harry smiled. "Well Ron...what spells do you have?"
"Huh? I'm not going to tell you," Ron said, a bit shocked.
"Sure you can," Harry said, pulling out the purple card he had kept. "From the Great Hall, the house elf gave it to me, probably cause I was the first one in our group to get there. It says that you are to tell me the spells you have."
Ron groaned a bit but nodded when he looked at the card. He gave Harry all the spells, and now Harry also knew the answer. "Wingardium Levosia huh?" Harry said absently. "The levitating spell? Doesn't seem like it could be much of a crime using that unless you levitated something dangerous like a monster."
Ron shrugged and then glared at Harry icily. "It's LeVOSia, you are pronouncing it all wrong," Ron said, and Harry was quite clear on the imitation that Ron was trying to convey.
"Yeah, I wonder how Hermione is doing with this game," Harry said in response.
"Don't know but I"m on the way to the library now to find that clue."
"Well I guess I'll go with you, it will probably be tough," Harry half smirked.
"Yeah and I can't seem to fleurgure out the clues for where the envelope is hidden in there either," Ron explained.
Harry's eyes opened wide. "Fleurgure out?"
Ron went as red as a beet. "What oh..uh..nothing." He began to sheepishly walk in the direction of the library.
"Wait Ron...what was THAT all about..you still thinking of Fleur Delacore..remember she is my rival in the Triwizard tournament."
"Oh no..it's nothing...I mean, well she's just gorgeous and everything but, I mean, no nothing." Ron stumbled over his words miserably.
"If it wasn't for the game, I'd pull out some more information from you right now," Harry said, a big grin on his face, "but as it is, we'll just have to wait." They now were at the library where Peeves was amusing himself once more and was pulling people's parchment out of their hands and flying it about. Many of the students looked both annoyed and petrified that others would see their clues should they not get their own parchments back immediately. Harry and Ron chuckled softly at the sight and took the opportunity to slip into the library.
"Wonder if Hermione ran into him there," Harry asked.
"Now THAT would have been a funny sight. Maybe she's still in here, maybe she found a book that caught her attention and forgot about the game," Ron smiled, beginning to look at the many shelves in front of him.
"How are we ever going to find that clue among all these books!" Harry said, a bit exasperated. "It could be in any one of them."
"Do what Hermione would do," Ron suggested, leading Harry to the third row in.
"What?" Harry looked at Ron quizzicly as he began to go through numerous books in the stacks.
"Hey, Hermione has dragged me through here on occassion..I'm talking EVERY row. While I try to explain the nuances of the Muggle automobile...you know...I got interested in that since dad got the car..."
"The one that is now in the Forbidden Forest you mean?" Harry sighed.
"Yeah," Ron blushed, "That one. Anyway, while I stand talking about that and other interesting things, like chess and the like, she is wandering around taking just about every book off the shelf and explaining to me which section what books are in and how I just MUST read this and how could I NOT have read that. But in this case, I think all her lecturing has paid off. I just happened to remember that this section contains the basic textbooks that we use here...most people don't use it cause we have to buy everything but she needed to look up...ah...!" Ron had pulled "Hogwarts, a History" off the shelf and a purple envelope fell onto the floor. It was somewhat crumpled so it was obvious that others in their group had already seen it. "Voila!" Ron smirked widely. "And she thought SHE was the logical one."
"Well I must say, that was good thinking Ron. I thought we'd be here all day." Harry said, amazed.
"Never hurts to be friends with a bookworm," Ron said, reading "The Library" out to Harry. "Well damn, and I was hoping it WOULD be the library."
"Oh Ron, you and Hermione argue way too much. I know she's opinionated but..."
"It's fun giving her a hard time, but she's a great person." Ron responded, tucking the card back in the envelope and putting it back in the book.
"Gonna tell her about Fleur?" Harry said, in a semi sarcastic voice with a glimmer of humor in it.
"Gah..." Ron said. "She wouldn't approve. Look I'll tell you about Fleur later, Harry."
"I know I know. Well..we might as well stick together the rest of the way, it's all going to be points for Gryffindor anyway."
"Well..no way Harry..that clue was a freebie..well I guess so were the spells but..I want to win this, so I'm off to Filch's Office now."
"Allright..avoiding the issue," Harry chuckled.
"Hey you were the one who said we didn't have time to talk about it now," Ron said defensively, his face still red with embarrassment.
"I know," Harry smiled. "Just enjoy giving you a hard time." Harry looked at Ron meaningfully and hit him on the back as they left the library. Peeves was thankfully not at the entrance so they went their seperate ways with no incidence.
Ron now was headed for Filch's Office, probably the room he least wanted to visit besides Potions, which he was saving for last. He stuck his head into the open door and saw that the room was deserted. He reckoned most students didn't want to stay very long in here and he didn't blame them although with all the papers stacked messily around the office, he didn't think it would be any easy task to find the clue he was looking for. He sighed and began to search the desk when he heard some shuffling from below him and caught a glimpse of the swish of a tail under the desk.
"Great..Mrs Norris," Ron said, tensing up a bit. He really didn't want to run into that cat. He tiptoed around the desk, keeping a keen eye on the floor and suddenly heard a slight meow sound coming from underneath before spying a cat walking out. It was bearing it's teeth and hissing at another cat, which seemed agitated but was backed into the corner of the underside of the desk.
"What the..." Ron said, noticing that the cat he was looking at had orange stripes. "Crookshanks, is that ...you?"
The cat turned toward him and at that moment, Mrs. Norris, who was swiping her paw at Crookshanks from her desk wall prison, took the opportunity from this distraction to escape from under the desk and around Ron's legs. Ron was taken aback, but now looked as Crookshanks sat purring at his feet and looking up at him. He leaned down and petted the cat. "Good boy..you got that mean Mrs Norris..." Just then, Crookshanks pounced on Ron and bit his hand before darting around him, looking for Mrs Norris again. "Ouch!! Damn CAT!" Ron said, holding his hand and looking after Crookshanks angrily. "Hermione...." he whispered just as he could hear the screech of a man's voice right outside the door. Ron worriedly got up and then saw a sight that he didn't know whether to laugh or cry about. Filch was standing in the entrance of his office and Crookshanks was hanging by his teeth from Filch's arm. Filch was crying out "Mangy beast" and flung the cat to the floor, who then just went darting off into the hall, presumably still after Mrs Norris.
Filch looked, understandably, in a mood and just stared at Ron. "That YOUR cat?"
"Uh..no..actually, he bit me too.." Ron said in a weak voice. He still felt the throws of laughter in his stomach.
"What the hell do you want?" Filch demanded, scoffing and staring at his arm.
"Purple env..."
Filch impatiently dug through a certain stack of papers and handed it to him. "There, now out!" he urged. Ron quickly looked at the card, which had a picture of Goyle's ugly mug on it, and then he gave the card back to Filch.
"Thanks," he said, hurrying out of the room just as he heard Filch cursing under his breath something about how he couldn't believe they were using HIS office as part of this blasted game.
Ron looked at his cat bite and laughed a bit in spite of himself. He didn't feel it was that bad, but it was something he could hang over Hermione's head next time he saw her. He went over all that he didn't know yet. He had it narrowed down to 3 rooms and 2 people. Unfortunately the ones who he figured WOULD have done it, namely Goyle, Crabbe, and Malfoy, had all been cleared. And since his card was in Herbology, that left Harry and Hermione. This game was certainly getting interesting he thought, as he headed in the direction of History of Magic class.
to be cont.
"Hey, Ron!" Harry said, walking over to him.
Ron at first didn't seem to hear him, but then he looked at him glossy eyed and smiled widely. "Oh, hey Harry."
"Hey..um...are you OK?" Harry said, a bit concerned.
"Oh of..of course. It's just that...I saw ...oh nevermind," Ron continued, staring up into space now and touching his fingers to his lips as if remembering something pleasant.
"Uh..if you say so..." Harry said uncertainly. "So how many rooms have you been in?"
"Oh uh," Ron said, temporarily snapping out of his zombie state long enough to look down at his parchment. "I've been to Herbology, Defense Against the Dark Arts, the Great Hall, and Transfiguration. I have the spell figured out but still dont' know about the person or the room."
"Oh REALLY..you have the spell figured out eh?" Harry smiled. "Well Ron...what spells do you have?"
"Huh? I'm not going to tell you," Ron said, a bit shocked.
"Sure you can," Harry said, pulling out the purple card he had kept. "From the Great Hall, the house elf gave it to me, probably cause I was the first one in our group to get there. It says that you are to tell me the spells you have."
Ron groaned a bit but nodded when he looked at the card. He gave Harry all the spells, and now Harry also knew the answer. "Wingardium Levosia huh?" Harry said absently. "The levitating spell? Doesn't seem like it could be much of a crime using that unless you levitated something dangerous like a monster."
Ron shrugged and then glared at Harry icily. "It's LeVOSia, you are pronouncing it all wrong," Ron said, and Harry was quite clear on the imitation that Ron was trying to convey.
"Yeah, I wonder how Hermione is doing with this game," Harry said in response.
"Don't know but I"m on the way to the library now to find that clue."
"Well I guess I'll go with you, it will probably be tough," Harry half smirked.
"Yeah and I can't seem to fleurgure out the clues for where the envelope is hidden in there either," Ron explained.
Harry's eyes opened wide. "Fleurgure out?"
Ron went as red as a beet. "What oh..uh..nothing." He began to sheepishly walk in the direction of the library.
"Wait Ron...what was THAT all about..you still thinking of Fleur Delacore..remember she is my rival in the Triwizard tournament."
"Oh no..it's nothing...I mean, well she's just gorgeous and everything but, I mean, no nothing." Ron stumbled over his words miserably.
"If it wasn't for the game, I'd pull out some more information from you right now," Harry said, a big grin on his face, "but as it is, we'll just have to wait." They now were at the library where Peeves was amusing himself once more and was pulling people's parchment out of their hands and flying it about. Many of the students looked both annoyed and petrified that others would see their clues should they not get their own parchments back immediately. Harry and Ron chuckled softly at the sight and took the opportunity to slip into the library.
"Wonder if Hermione ran into him there," Harry asked.
"Now THAT would have been a funny sight. Maybe she's still in here, maybe she found a book that caught her attention and forgot about the game," Ron smiled, beginning to look at the many shelves in front of him.
"How are we ever going to find that clue among all these books!" Harry said, a bit exasperated. "It could be in any one of them."
"Do what Hermione would do," Ron suggested, leading Harry to the third row in.
"What?" Harry looked at Ron quizzicly as he began to go through numerous books in the stacks.
"Hey, Hermione has dragged me through here on occassion..I'm talking EVERY row. While I try to explain the nuances of the Muggle automobile...you know...I got interested in that since dad got the car..."
"The one that is now in the Forbidden Forest you mean?" Harry sighed.
"Yeah," Ron blushed, "That one. Anyway, while I stand talking about that and other interesting things, like chess and the like, she is wandering around taking just about every book off the shelf and explaining to me which section what books are in and how I just MUST read this and how could I NOT have read that. But in this case, I think all her lecturing has paid off. I just happened to remember that this section contains the basic textbooks that we use here...most people don't use it cause we have to buy everything but she needed to look up...ah...!" Ron had pulled "Hogwarts, a History" off the shelf and a purple envelope fell onto the floor. It was somewhat crumpled so it was obvious that others in their group had already seen it. "Voila!" Ron smirked widely. "And she thought SHE was the logical one."
"Well I must say, that was good thinking Ron. I thought we'd be here all day." Harry said, amazed.
"Never hurts to be friends with a bookworm," Ron said, reading "The Library" out to Harry. "Well damn, and I was hoping it WOULD be the library."
"Oh Ron, you and Hermione argue way too much. I know she's opinionated but..."
"It's fun giving her a hard time, but she's a great person." Ron responded, tucking the card back in the envelope and putting it back in the book.
"Gonna tell her about Fleur?" Harry said, in a semi sarcastic voice with a glimmer of humor in it.
"Gah..." Ron said. "She wouldn't approve. Look I'll tell you about Fleur later, Harry."
"I know I know. Well..we might as well stick together the rest of the way, it's all going to be points for Gryffindor anyway."
"Well..no way Harry..that clue was a freebie..well I guess so were the spells but..I want to win this, so I'm off to Filch's Office now."
"Allright..avoiding the issue," Harry chuckled.
"Hey you were the one who said we didn't have time to talk about it now," Ron said defensively, his face still red with embarrassment.
"I know," Harry smiled. "Just enjoy giving you a hard time." Harry looked at Ron meaningfully and hit him on the back as they left the library. Peeves was thankfully not at the entrance so they went their seperate ways with no incidence.
Ron now was headed for Filch's Office, probably the room he least wanted to visit besides Potions, which he was saving for last. He stuck his head into the open door and saw that the room was deserted. He reckoned most students didn't want to stay very long in here and he didn't blame them although with all the papers stacked messily around the office, he didn't think it would be any easy task to find the clue he was looking for. He sighed and began to search the desk when he heard some shuffling from below him and caught a glimpse of the swish of a tail under the desk.
"Great..Mrs Norris," Ron said, tensing up a bit. He really didn't want to run into that cat. He tiptoed around the desk, keeping a keen eye on the floor and suddenly heard a slight meow sound coming from underneath before spying a cat walking out. It was bearing it's teeth and hissing at another cat, which seemed agitated but was backed into the corner of the underside of the desk.
"What the..." Ron said, noticing that the cat he was looking at had orange stripes. "Crookshanks, is that ...you?"
The cat turned toward him and at that moment, Mrs. Norris, who was swiping her paw at Crookshanks from her desk wall prison, took the opportunity from this distraction to escape from under the desk and around Ron's legs. Ron was taken aback, but now looked as Crookshanks sat purring at his feet and looking up at him. He leaned down and petted the cat. "Good boy..you got that mean Mrs Norris..." Just then, Crookshanks pounced on Ron and bit his hand before darting around him, looking for Mrs Norris again. "Ouch!! Damn CAT!" Ron said, holding his hand and looking after Crookshanks angrily. "Hermione...." he whispered just as he could hear the screech of a man's voice right outside the door. Ron worriedly got up and then saw a sight that he didn't know whether to laugh or cry about. Filch was standing in the entrance of his office and Crookshanks was hanging by his teeth from Filch's arm. Filch was crying out "Mangy beast" and flung the cat to the floor, who then just went darting off into the hall, presumably still after Mrs Norris.
Filch looked, understandably, in a mood and just stared at Ron. "That YOUR cat?"
"Uh..no..actually, he bit me too.." Ron said in a weak voice. He still felt the throws of laughter in his stomach.
"What the hell do you want?" Filch demanded, scoffing and staring at his arm.
"Purple env..."
Filch impatiently dug through a certain stack of papers and handed it to him. "There, now out!" he urged. Ron quickly looked at the card, which had a picture of Goyle's ugly mug on it, and then he gave the card back to Filch.
"Thanks," he said, hurrying out of the room just as he heard Filch cursing under his breath something about how he couldn't believe they were using HIS office as part of this blasted game.
Ron looked at his cat bite and laughed a bit in spite of himself. He didn't feel it was that bad, but it was something he could hang over Hermione's head next time he saw her. He went over all that he didn't know yet. He had it narrowed down to 3 rooms and 2 people. Unfortunately the ones who he figured WOULD have done it, namely Goyle, Crabbe, and Malfoy, had all been cleared. And since his card was in Herbology, that left Harry and Hermione. This game was certainly getting interesting he thought, as he headed in the direction of History of Magic class.
to be cont.