A/N: I'm trying to write as fast as I can, but I have a stupid science fair project to do. I hate those things. They put too much stress on people. Grr… okay, well, here's chapter four…
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Chapter Four
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"Well, that certainly is an interesting quest," Violet said, after hearing the whole story. The whole gang sat on the edge of a corner of the dock, with their legs hanging over the side.
"Yes, I'll bet it would make a great book," Klaus added.
Hermione smiled.
"So, erm… how about it? Will you come along?" Ron asked.
"Well… we haven't really got anything better to do, besides try to find the Quagmires…" Violet said to herself. "Klaus, Sunny, what do you think?"
"Excal!" Sunny squealed.
"I agree with Sunny," Klaus said, and glanced at Hermione.
"Well, okay. I'll go if you will," Violet smiled.
"And we'll go if you will," Klaus said cheerfully. This was clearly a very close family.
"And we'll go… well… we'd like it if you would…" Ron said.
"Great! You three will be very helpful, I'm sure. We'll try to help you find the Quagmire triplets afterward, if you want," Hermione offered.
"Sure! This will be fun!" Klaus said.
Welcome Baudelaires, to our company.
We appreciate your-
"Shut up!" Ron growled. "Okay, so in…" He glanced up at the clock beside the Damocles Dock sign. "Twenty minutes, we leave for the other side of the lake. And after going straight for about half a mile, we should end up at a big castle. Any questions?"
"What are we going to do while we wait?" Violet asked.
"We could play ground Quidditch..." Ron suggested.
"Ground Quidditch?" Klaus laughed. "That sounds like a meat dish. What's ground Quidditch?"
"Erm…" Hermione hesitated. "It's kind of like… hmm…" She gave Ron a "you-got-us-into-this-now-get-us-out" look.
"Well, it's a bit like… like football, maybe… no, not really. Here, We'll show you," Ron said.
Ron, Harry, and Hermione got up and got four balls and two things that looked like extra-large hula-hoops on sticks out of Fatsy's sack.
"Okay. This big red one is the Quaffle. You pass it around to your teammates and try to throw it through these hoops. Each goal is worth 10 points," Ron explained, and then he and Harry demonstrated.
"These two black ones are the Bludgers. Since Ground Quidditch isn't really erm… real Qudditch, they are made of rubber, so no one gets hurt. The two Beaters throw them at people, and if one hits you, you have to stand still for ten seconds and drop any balls you're holding. Except if you're holding this." Harry held up the last golden ball. "This is the Snitch. If the Seeker finds it, you win 150 points for your team. Before the game, one of the Chasers, or the Keepers hides it somewhere."
"The game lasts for 15 minutes. In real Quidditch, it lasts until the Seeker catches the Snitch, but we don't want to be here all day." Ron laughed. Harry glared at him.
"Catches the Snitch? How do you catch something that's on the ground? Where's real Quidditch played, then? You can't play in the sky," Klaus asked.
If you've ever thrown a surprise party for a friend, then you probably know how everyone except the Baudelaires felt at this particular moment. If you were talking to the person that the surprise party was for, and they were mentioning how no one seemed to remember their birthday this year, and that the only present they've gotten so far was an extremely hideous stuffed alligator, then you would most likely become red, sweaty, or jittery, and try to change the subject as quickly as possible. For the Knights of the Square table, everyone's symptoms were different. Ron turned his trademark red. Harry began sweating and juggling the two Bludgers he had in his hands. Fatsy started doing simultaneous cartwheels and other gymnastic movements. The minstrels impersonated dominoes by standing in a line and falling over each other. And Hermione was nowhere to be seen.
"Look, Violet! They're performing for us! Great show!" Klaus called.
"Clap clap clap!" Sunny said.
There was a loud POP, and Hermione appeared sitting on top of the Damocles Dock sign.
"Oh…ha… sorry..." she said nervously. "Sometimes I… er… spontaneously apparate."
"Apparate?" Violet asked.
"Oh, did I say apparate? I meant… erm…" Hermione started, but then she disappeared with a POP.
"Hoodoo!" Sunny shrieked.
"That… er… sounds like fun! What are our teams?" Violet asked, trying to politely ignore the fact the Hermione was disappearing and reappearing, and everyone else was acting very strange.
"Let's see," Ron said, when his redness had gone down. He turned to the minstrels. "Do you all want to play?"
Three of them stepped forward.
"Gouf, you may sing to encourage us. Wish us luck!" the lead minstrel told the non-playing one.
"Good luck, Smoot!" said Gouf. He sat down on the blanket they had eaten on.
"All right then, I guess we should separate, to have even skill levels. Fatsy, do you want to be with me?" Ron asked him.
"Oh, anything, my liege," Fatsy replied, and then joined the group.
"Right. I guess we'll be with two of the Baudelaires. You guys don't mind, do you? Okay, one minute team huddle!" Ron shouted.
The group separated into two teams.
"I'll be a Beater, what else?" Ron told his team.
"Sunny, you can be the Seeker. You can go towards the Snitch without the other team seeing you," Violet said.
"Vamdi," Sunny agreed.
""I'll be a Chaser," the lead minstrel, Smoot, said.
"Me too," said Violet.
"That leaves me to be the Keeper," Fatsy said happily.
"Right then. Ready? Break!" Ron shouted.
Ron's team spread out on the field. Hermione's team lined up on the other side. She had apparated back onto one of the goal hoops, then fallen off in the middle of the huddle.
"You all start with the ball," Harry told Violet.
"Erm… okay..." she said.
"Ready..." said Fatsy.
"Go!" shouted Klaus from the hoops on the far side.
The game was going very fast. Violet immediately threw the Quaffle to Smoot, unsure of what to do. Smoot caught it and began to run, but Hermione stopped him with a Bludger. He dropped the Quaffle, and one of the other minstrels picked it up. He ran towards the hoop and threw it, but Fatsy caught it and threw it to Violet. Violet, a bit more sure of herself, and always the clever one, did a quick fake to the left, and as Klaus dove, she threw it to the right and scored. The game got more and more exciting as it went on, and when it was over, Ron's team won 200 to 150. Harry and Sunny both found the Snitch once, but due to Fatsy's blocking skills, Harry's team didn't score any goals at all.
"That was an excellent game, you guys!" Harry said, a bit out of breath.
"Yeah, you all were great, especially for your first time!" Ron was talking to all of the Baudelaires, but he was only looking at Violet.
"That was the most fun I've had in a year!" Violet said happily, then she sat down on the ground.
"Come on guys, we need to go!" Harry said, picking up the balls and hoops. "It's almost one o' clock!"
"It's okay, we have lanterns. We'll get to the other side before dark, and then we can ask to spend the night at the castle," Ron said.
"Well, okay, but we've got to leave now. I don't want to be around all of those leeches in the dark," Harry said, and then shuddered.
"Alright, you baby," Hermione teased. "We'll leave now, so poor wittle Harry won't be in the cold dark with the big mean leeches."
Harry laughed. "That's right, let's go."
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By the position of the sun, the Knights of the Square Table guessed it was about two thirty or three. They were about halfway across Lake Lachrymose, and to pass the time, the minstrels thought they'd sing a song.
"Will you please refrain from singing?" Harry asked the minstrels politely.
"Yes, wittle Harry isn't feewing good right now. He's scared of the big, mean leeches," Ron said.
"Yes. The leeches are scary, and your singing isn't helping the situation," Harry agreed.
"Look, guys! We're farther along than I thought! There's the shore!" Ron pointed to a silvery-green line on the horizon.
"Yipdoo!" Sunny yelled.
"Me too!" Klaus said, grinning.
"Great!" Harry shouted. "Oh, but we still have to walk to the castle..."
"So?" Hermione said. "When we get there, they'll probably give us some really nice suite..." Hermione sighed dreamily. "And big fluffy pillows... and canopy beds..."
"Yeah, that'll be nice..." Ron leaned back as if he was in the fluffy canopy bed right then.
"Mmm hmm..." Harry murmured.
With the soft rhythmic sounds of the waves lapping up against the side of the boat, the Knights of the Square Table fell peacefully asleep.
(A/N: Yes, I know it's three o' clock in the afternoon... but hey, they're tired, okay? Hehe)
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"Welcome friends. We are gathered before the eyes of the Lord to bring together these two persons, in holy matrimony, to be together for the rest of their lives. Do you, Ronald, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?"
Ron looked from the preacher to his fiancé. She was clad in a flowing white gown, and she was beaming from behind her veil. Ron smiled.
"I do."
The preacher did a half nod and turned to Ron's left.
"And do you, Violet, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?"
"I do," she said without hesitation, a tear sliding down her face.
The preacher smiled. "I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride!"
Ron turned to his wife. She reached up to pull up her veil, but instead pulled a zipper.
"Erm… can't we do this… later, honey?" Ron mumbled.
Violet grinned. Ron's eyes followed her hand all the way down to her feet. When the Violet costume dropped down, what hopped out of it was so horrendous, so unbelievably gruesome that I can hardly bear to write it down on this paper. What he saw was none other than…
A small, fluffy, white bunny!
It had big red eyes and long, hideous whiskers. It hopped toward him menacingly, and leaped onto his face…
Terrified, Ron let out a little yell, sat bolt upright and looked around. He was in a small boat, with a group of other people. Then he remembered why. He looked to see if they had got to the shore yet, and sure enough, the boat was resting on a rocky shore, and there were trees all along the edge of the thin strip of sand. It was totally dark, apart from the dim light streaming from the boat's lantern.
"Ahhh! Please, Captain, no! I just ate!"
Ron whirled around. He saw Harry, drenched in a cold sweat, panting and looking around nervously.
"Harry! What's wrong with you?" Ron was worried at first, until he processed what Harry had said. A sly grin slowly appeared on his face. "You had a nightmare about the leeches, didn't you?"
"Erm... no... no... of course not. I was um... dreaming... about... er... well..."
"Are you guys up already? What time is it?" Hermione asked drowsily, still leaning against the side of the boat with her eyes closed.
"I don't know, Fatsy has the watch," Ron said. He reached over to Fatsy's arm and examined the watch on his wrist. "It's five thirty! We must have been here for a long time!"
"Well, we were tired. Those minstrels woke us up early yesterday morning, so we barely got any sleep," Harry said, ending in a long yawn. He lied back down and closed his eyes.
More of the group started to stir.
"Is anyone still tired?" Ron asked.
He was answered by a chorus of mumbles and yawns.
"Sorry?"
"Yes…" they groaned.
"Come on! We need to get to the castle! Or at least out of the boat! It will be more comfortable in tents than in here, won't it?" Ron asked.
More grumbles.
Ron stood up and rocked the boat violently.
"Get out! Get out! The boat sinking! We're all going to die! Ahhh!!" he screamed.
Everyone stirred a bit and grumbled some more.
"Look, everyone! Huge canopy beds! Just there! Oh, and are those- yes! They are! Hot tubs!" Ron said excitedly.
Everyone quickly scrambled out of the boat and looked around.
"There's no beds out here, Ron," Klaus mumbled.
"No, but there are beds in here!" Ron produced a little fabric square from Fatsy's sack.
Klaus squinted and put on his glasses. "Ron, have you been sniffing the cinnamon again?" he asked accusingly.
Ron blushed. "No! Watch!" He threw the square down on the ground and watched it unfold.
"Wow! That tiny piece of cloth unfolded itself! And in less than five seconds!" Klaus said as excitedly as he could, being half asleep.
"That's nothing! Come inside!" Ron said gleefully as he led them into the tent.
The Baudelaires looked doubtful as they entered the spacious tent, but everyone else already knew of its splendor.
Klaus's jaw dropped to the red-carpeted floor when he saw how huge the tent was, when it looked so small and shabby from the outside.
Violet's eyes widened when they caught sight of how well furnished the tent was, when it had emerged from such a tiny piece of cloth.
Sunny gasped quietly when set eyes on the ten huge canopy beds and all of the blankets and pillows assembled on each of them.
"Well," said Harry, staring at the interior of the tent in amazement. "We're going to sleep well tonight."
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A/N: I'm really sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up, but I didn't have a lot of time to write. We've had loads of projects and stuff to do lately, especially that huge science fair thing. Anyway, I hope this chapter wasn't too boring. I'll make the next one better. I promise. I need suggestions! Suggestions suggestions suggestions! Please?
Thank you.