The gentle buzz of idle chatter filled the air of the Great Hall. On the
Gryffindor table, Weasley and Billy were updating Si about the events of
that afternoon. They didn't have the same lessons, and Christina had
dragged Si off for another marathon wardrobe session after Divination, so
what news Si had heard was exaggerated like a giant with a Skelegro
addiction. It took a good few minutes to convince him that there were no
flaming catapults perched in the Forbidden Forest, armed by three-headed
giants. It didn't put him off.
"We need to look for them," decided Si.
"Look for who?" asked Christina, who was performing a cunning little trick that allowed her to eat whilst leaving her arms firmly wrapped around Si's waist.
"Goblins, love. Top secret adventuring stuff, right?" He scribbled a note down on a scrap of parchment. "Be a dear and pop this along to Diggle on the Slytherin table."
"Bastard. I always knew you'd treat me like a house-elf."
"That's why you love me so much. Now do hurry up." Christina rolled her eyes and swept off to where the Slytherins were eating. One of the 5th year girls glared at her with mascara-heavy eyes as she passed, the two hefty boys at her side leering happily. Si noticed them, annoyed. "Weasley, who's the short girl there, with the bodyguards?"
"Haven't a clue. Think the two blokes are in the Hufflepuff team, but I couldn't be sure. Why?"
"Ah, they were eyeing up my girl. Don't blame them, really. Back to business then. Hopefully we should have a bit of muscle from Crabbe and Diggle. Now, they say the Forest is Unplottable, or at least I've never seen a map, but."
"Si, what the hell are you on about?" interrupted Weasley worriedly. "We are not going anywhere near the Forbidden Forest. It's called that because it is forbidden. Not because in ancient Gaelic it means 'Happy Picnic Ground for Inexperienced Wizards'."
"Forbidden Forest isn't Gaelic. It's English, you eejit. If it was Gaelic, it'd sound decent, not like a figment of some mad Muggle's imagination," said Billy, always ready to claim Gaelic superiority.
"That isn't the point," continued Si, "What is, is that I'm as intrigued as you all are, I'm sure, and we're going to find out what's going on."
"What's going on is that a centaur pissed off some goblins. We beat the goblins. End of the story," interjected Weasley, with an air of finality. He returned to his meal. "Oi, Cumberland, is Quidditch practice still on?" Andrew Cumberland was the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain.
"No. Grounds are off limit until tomorrow. Hear they're getting a squad of Hit Wizards in, or something along those lines."
"Sure thing, Cumberland." Weasley turned back to the others.
Si looked pleased. "Perfect. Nobody's going to be around on the field to watch us go. Ah, Christina. What are our two comrades up to?"
"Dedalus can't make it. Detention for teasing the House-Elves. Says he'll be watering in the Greenhouse though, so he might be able to sneak out if the Professor falls asleep again. Might spike the tea to get her going faster. Crabbe says he'll be with you once he gets the Arithmancy homework done."
Si considered this quickly, then turned to Billy. "You've done that homework, right? Pop it down to the Slytherin dungeon so he can copy it up quickly, alright? Good, I think that's set. Everybody to meet at midnight by the Quidditch stores. Wear some thick robes, it'll be cold tonight no doubt. I'll bring a Blacking Potion -- that should camouflage us enough. I believe that covers everything."
"Yes," replied Weasley, "Except for the vital fact that we're not going. That's right, isn't it, Billy?"
Billy grinned apologetically. "Well, it sounds pretty interesting, really. We've never done anything interesting at school yet, it's riddled with secret passages and more weirdness than an agaric 'shroom trip, but we've done sod all so far. I say we stop smoking elf-pot in the third-year dorms and start doing something interesting. Besides, who's going to know?"
"Dammit, Billy, I'm not talking about being caught. The place is dangerous. I'm not kidding you. My older brother, you know, Art, he went there once with his girlfriend and they barely got out alive."
"You sound like a cheap Muggle film," Si said. "We're not going to get caught, we're not going to get eaten. Anyway, I bet the teachers just make it up to, I dunno, have a private place to hold wild orgies or something. It'll be a laugh, we'll have some fun. Just for an hour. I bet the goblins have all buggered off back to Gringotts or wherever they all live."
"They don't live at Gringotts, Si. Don't you even listen in History?" said Weasley.
"Not really. It's the past, man. Now come on. It's dessert now. Talk about it later." Si took a bite of his chocolate roll. "See, 's good. Eat up."
Weasley still didn't look too happy, but he picked up his spoon and started eating anyway.
* * *
Si cursed whoever had decided to make cross-house friendships so hard. Not being able to meet in each others Common Rooms, the six students off on the expedition were forced to plan their escapade in a small, freezing-cold classroom near the Potions dungeon. Crabbe and Dedalus were used to the temperature, as their Common Room was located in the dungeons, and Si wasn't too bothered either, as he enjoyed Potions immensely and could often be found down there, when Christina was elsewhere engaged; but Weasley and Billy complained bitterly.
"Come on, even the Astronomy Tower would be warmer than this. Stick a Warming Charm on or something, will you?"
"Shut up, Billy. I thought it was colder in Ireland?" said Si.
"Sure, but then we invented fire. Oh, fine, get on with the plan then. We'll need to get back to the dorms before we sneak off again."
Si, adopting a parody of his father, who had been a Hit Wizard Sergeant until he had been posted to the Department of Mysteries, began.
"H'I'll be brief, men."
"And women, darling," interjected Christina crossly.
"And women, dear." He switched back to his characterisation. "H'our task tonight h'is to commence h'a recon-a-twar into the Forbidden Forest, h'in search h'of the mysterious tribe of 'orrible little goblins wot recently h'assaulted h'our noble school. The plan h'is. oh, I can't be arsed with this charade any longer. Right, we'll operate in two groups. I'll lead Delta, that's Diggle, Billy and myself, whilst Christina will lead Charlie squad, with Weasley and Crabbe. Okay? We'll stick together as far as we can go, but if in doubt, Charlie goes left and Delta goes right. If we see any sign of a goblin, we track it back to its lair."
"Warren, Si. They live in warrens. In the ground. We're not going to be able to sneak inside a goblin warren, Si, if that's what you're thinking."
"Thank you, Weasley. Warren, lair, whatever. I just want to get as near as possible. Perhaps, yeah, perhaps we could capture one. That'd be pretty decent. Yes, Weasley, I'm joking. So, we meet at the Quidditch stores after Dedalus has his detention, at 0030 hours. okay, half past midnight, people. Then we hike into the Forbidden Forest for an hour, turn around if we don't find anything, and get back to the dorms at about two or three in the morning. If we get caught, I have a few girls in Hufflepuff who are happy to provide alibis, if you don't mind a detention and a fair amount of sniggering rather than the expulsion we'd otherwise get for a little trip like this." Si paused and looked around at the others, grinning. "Any questions?"
"Yeah. What if we run into a really nasty creature? I heard there was a giant spider or something in the forest."
"Well, if that is true, you pray you've been listening in charms and creature lessons. Okay, fair enough. If you do, send up little red sparks with your wand, and try to stun whatever you've tripped over. Now, on a far more hip note, my dear father has recently been brought home a little gadget from the office, which I have spent the past summer holidays replicating without his knowledge." He pulled a little box from his robes, and tipped half a dozen black objects out.
"Sunglasses, Si?" questioned Crabbe dubiously.
"Don't be fatuous, Crabbe. They do look a little like sunglasses, possibly because they started out as them, but, well, put a pair on." Everybody did so. "Christina, blow out the torches, please. Now, tap it with your wand three times and say Nocturne Lumino."
Through the sunglasses, the black room suddenly glowed an unnatural green, and Weasley could see Si grinning with delight. He would often bring back new prototypes from the Unspeakable development labs, and Weasley always felt a bit jealous when he thought of his own fathers rather humdrum job in the Ministry.
"Night-vision glasses, they call them. Lets you see in the dark, without using the Lumos charm and showing off your position. Cool. Right, I think that's pretty much it. Dedalus, Crabbe, I'll see you both tonight. And so to the dormitory, dear friends. Onwards!" Si posed extravagantly, then strode with Christina out of the classroom, leaving the others behind. The two Slytherins set off back to their dorm, and, after a small gap, Weasley and Billy stepped out into the corridor.
"Twazzock."
"Bitter, aren't we, Weasley? Sure, so Si is a bit of a megalomaniac. He can't help it, not with his family like it is. Muggle Generals as far as anyone knows down one side, Pureblood down the other, I'd just let him get on with it, y'know. Have a laugh, have a joint in the Forest, see if there's another way to get to Hogsmeade.
"Yeah. Yeah," said Weasley, with a stronger look in his eyes, "If Si wants to play toy soldiers, let him. We don't have to."
"Exactly. Anyway, think about all the stuff your brother did here. Don't say you don't envy him a little bit, you go on about him enough. Come on. Besides, Violet might hear about it and suddenly find you highly daring and attractive, though that's probably pushing it."
"Git."
"Perhaps. Now, I have some Arithmancy to do, so you coming to the library?"
"Sure, why not. Here, you heard the latest Captain Trollheart album?"
"No, far ins-ville or far outs-ville?"
Their voices trailed off down the passageways as they discussed the merits of the latest bands.
* * *
The Arithmancy section of the library was empty, as usual. Weasley didn't take the subject, instead taking Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures, and so he played a few hands of wizard solitaire whilst he waited for Billy to finish off a few complex equations. The game was not that easy, especially as the cards would get up and walk about if Weasley took too long to move them. By the end of the third game, the Queen of Hearts had started flirting with the Jack of Spades. It was only a matter of time before the King of Hearts started getting jealous, and picked up the cards lying on top of him to get at the Jack. By the end, only the Jokers and a couple of sevens were able to keep the two apart, and Weasley was forced to give up the game in disgust. By that time, though, Billy had finished and they headed back for the Gryffindor tower.
On the way back, they spotted the girl who had been glared at Christina at dinnertime, the two boys in tow, coming from the Astronomy Tower. Billy pointed them out.
"Astronomy Tower. Odd place to be, that," he commented.
"Actually, considering how quiet it must be, I'm surprised nobody's tried it out before. Though three of them, I'm an open-minded chap now, but still."
Billy laughed. By this time the three had got quite close. The girl looked at him, and nudged the burly boy on the right. He pulled out a little Muggle notebook and scribbled something down. Three pairs of eyes watched Billy and Weasley as they moved past them in the corridor, a rather disturbing sensation. Then they were at the end of the passageway, and, without looking back, Billy and Weasley ran the rest of the way back to the portrait that led to the Gryffindor Common Room.
"We need to look for them," decided Si.
"Look for who?" asked Christina, who was performing a cunning little trick that allowed her to eat whilst leaving her arms firmly wrapped around Si's waist.
"Goblins, love. Top secret adventuring stuff, right?" He scribbled a note down on a scrap of parchment. "Be a dear and pop this along to Diggle on the Slytherin table."
"Bastard. I always knew you'd treat me like a house-elf."
"That's why you love me so much. Now do hurry up." Christina rolled her eyes and swept off to where the Slytherins were eating. One of the 5th year girls glared at her with mascara-heavy eyes as she passed, the two hefty boys at her side leering happily. Si noticed them, annoyed. "Weasley, who's the short girl there, with the bodyguards?"
"Haven't a clue. Think the two blokes are in the Hufflepuff team, but I couldn't be sure. Why?"
"Ah, they were eyeing up my girl. Don't blame them, really. Back to business then. Hopefully we should have a bit of muscle from Crabbe and Diggle. Now, they say the Forest is Unplottable, or at least I've never seen a map, but."
"Si, what the hell are you on about?" interrupted Weasley worriedly. "We are not going anywhere near the Forbidden Forest. It's called that because it is forbidden. Not because in ancient Gaelic it means 'Happy Picnic Ground for Inexperienced Wizards'."
"Forbidden Forest isn't Gaelic. It's English, you eejit. If it was Gaelic, it'd sound decent, not like a figment of some mad Muggle's imagination," said Billy, always ready to claim Gaelic superiority.
"That isn't the point," continued Si, "What is, is that I'm as intrigued as you all are, I'm sure, and we're going to find out what's going on."
"What's going on is that a centaur pissed off some goblins. We beat the goblins. End of the story," interjected Weasley, with an air of finality. He returned to his meal. "Oi, Cumberland, is Quidditch practice still on?" Andrew Cumberland was the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain.
"No. Grounds are off limit until tomorrow. Hear they're getting a squad of Hit Wizards in, or something along those lines."
"Sure thing, Cumberland." Weasley turned back to the others.
Si looked pleased. "Perfect. Nobody's going to be around on the field to watch us go. Ah, Christina. What are our two comrades up to?"
"Dedalus can't make it. Detention for teasing the House-Elves. Says he'll be watering in the Greenhouse though, so he might be able to sneak out if the Professor falls asleep again. Might spike the tea to get her going faster. Crabbe says he'll be with you once he gets the Arithmancy homework done."
Si considered this quickly, then turned to Billy. "You've done that homework, right? Pop it down to the Slytherin dungeon so he can copy it up quickly, alright? Good, I think that's set. Everybody to meet at midnight by the Quidditch stores. Wear some thick robes, it'll be cold tonight no doubt. I'll bring a Blacking Potion -- that should camouflage us enough. I believe that covers everything."
"Yes," replied Weasley, "Except for the vital fact that we're not going. That's right, isn't it, Billy?"
Billy grinned apologetically. "Well, it sounds pretty interesting, really. We've never done anything interesting at school yet, it's riddled with secret passages and more weirdness than an agaric 'shroom trip, but we've done sod all so far. I say we stop smoking elf-pot in the third-year dorms and start doing something interesting. Besides, who's going to know?"
"Dammit, Billy, I'm not talking about being caught. The place is dangerous. I'm not kidding you. My older brother, you know, Art, he went there once with his girlfriend and they barely got out alive."
"You sound like a cheap Muggle film," Si said. "We're not going to get caught, we're not going to get eaten. Anyway, I bet the teachers just make it up to, I dunno, have a private place to hold wild orgies or something. It'll be a laugh, we'll have some fun. Just for an hour. I bet the goblins have all buggered off back to Gringotts or wherever they all live."
"They don't live at Gringotts, Si. Don't you even listen in History?" said Weasley.
"Not really. It's the past, man. Now come on. It's dessert now. Talk about it later." Si took a bite of his chocolate roll. "See, 's good. Eat up."
Weasley still didn't look too happy, but he picked up his spoon and started eating anyway.
* * *
Si cursed whoever had decided to make cross-house friendships so hard. Not being able to meet in each others Common Rooms, the six students off on the expedition were forced to plan their escapade in a small, freezing-cold classroom near the Potions dungeon. Crabbe and Dedalus were used to the temperature, as their Common Room was located in the dungeons, and Si wasn't too bothered either, as he enjoyed Potions immensely and could often be found down there, when Christina was elsewhere engaged; but Weasley and Billy complained bitterly.
"Come on, even the Astronomy Tower would be warmer than this. Stick a Warming Charm on or something, will you?"
"Shut up, Billy. I thought it was colder in Ireland?" said Si.
"Sure, but then we invented fire. Oh, fine, get on with the plan then. We'll need to get back to the dorms before we sneak off again."
Si, adopting a parody of his father, who had been a Hit Wizard Sergeant until he had been posted to the Department of Mysteries, began.
"H'I'll be brief, men."
"And women, darling," interjected Christina crossly.
"And women, dear." He switched back to his characterisation. "H'our task tonight h'is to commence h'a recon-a-twar into the Forbidden Forest, h'in search h'of the mysterious tribe of 'orrible little goblins wot recently h'assaulted h'our noble school. The plan h'is. oh, I can't be arsed with this charade any longer. Right, we'll operate in two groups. I'll lead Delta, that's Diggle, Billy and myself, whilst Christina will lead Charlie squad, with Weasley and Crabbe. Okay? We'll stick together as far as we can go, but if in doubt, Charlie goes left and Delta goes right. If we see any sign of a goblin, we track it back to its lair."
"Warren, Si. They live in warrens. In the ground. We're not going to be able to sneak inside a goblin warren, Si, if that's what you're thinking."
"Thank you, Weasley. Warren, lair, whatever. I just want to get as near as possible. Perhaps, yeah, perhaps we could capture one. That'd be pretty decent. Yes, Weasley, I'm joking. So, we meet at the Quidditch stores after Dedalus has his detention, at 0030 hours. okay, half past midnight, people. Then we hike into the Forbidden Forest for an hour, turn around if we don't find anything, and get back to the dorms at about two or three in the morning. If we get caught, I have a few girls in Hufflepuff who are happy to provide alibis, if you don't mind a detention and a fair amount of sniggering rather than the expulsion we'd otherwise get for a little trip like this." Si paused and looked around at the others, grinning. "Any questions?"
"Yeah. What if we run into a really nasty creature? I heard there was a giant spider or something in the forest."
"Well, if that is true, you pray you've been listening in charms and creature lessons. Okay, fair enough. If you do, send up little red sparks with your wand, and try to stun whatever you've tripped over. Now, on a far more hip note, my dear father has recently been brought home a little gadget from the office, which I have spent the past summer holidays replicating without his knowledge." He pulled a little box from his robes, and tipped half a dozen black objects out.
"Sunglasses, Si?" questioned Crabbe dubiously.
"Don't be fatuous, Crabbe. They do look a little like sunglasses, possibly because they started out as them, but, well, put a pair on." Everybody did so. "Christina, blow out the torches, please. Now, tap it with your wand three times and say Nocturne Lumino."
Through the sunglasses, the black room suddenly glowed an unnatural green, and Weasley could see Si grinning with delight. He would often bring back new prototypes from the Unspeakable development labs, and Weasley always felt a bit jealous when he thought of his own fathers rather humdrum job in the Ministry.
"Night-vision glasses, they call them. Lets you see in the dark, without using the Lumos charm and showing off your position. Cool. Right, I think that's pretty much it. Dedalus, Crabbe, I'll see you both tonight. And so to the dormitory, dear friends. Onwards!" Si posed extravagantly, then strode with Christina out of the classroom, leaving the others behind. The two Slytherins set off back to their dorm, and, after a small gap, Weasley and Billy stepped out into the corridor.
"Twazzock."
"Bitter, aren't we, Weasley? Sure, so Si is a bit of a megalomaniac. He can't help it, not with his family like it is. Muggle Generals as far as anyone knows down one side, Pureblood down the other, I'd just let him get on with it, y'know. Have a laugh, have a joint in the Forest, see if there's another way to get to Hogsmeade.
"Yeah. Yeah," said Weasley, with a stronger look in his eyes, "If Si wants to play toy soldiers, let him. We don't have to."
"Exactly. Anyway, think about all the stuff your brother did here. Don't say you don't envy him a little bit, you go on about him enough. Come on. Besides, Violet might hear about it and suddenly find you highly daring and attractive, though that's probably pushing it."
"Git."
"Perhaps. Now, I have some Arithmancy to do, so you coming to the library?"
"Sure, why not. Here, you heard the latest Captain Trollheart album?"
"No, far ins-ville or far outs-ville?"
Their voices trailed off down the passageways as they discussed the merits of the latest bands.
* * *
The Arithmancy section of the library was empty, as usual. Weasley didn't take the subject, instead taking Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures, and so he played a few hands of wizard solitaire whilst he waited for Billy to finish off a few complex equations. The game was not that easy, especially as the cards would get up and walk about if Weasley took too long to move them. By the end of the third game, the Queen of Hearts had started flirting with the Jack of Spades. It was only a matter of time before the King of Hearts started getting jealous, and picked up the cards lying on top of him to get at the Jack. By the end, only the Jokers and a couple of sevens were able to keep the two apart, and Weasley was forced to give up the game in disgust. By that time, though, Billy had finished and they headed back for the Gryffindor tower.
On the way back, they spotted the girl who had been glared at Christina at dinnertime, the two boys in tow, coming from the Astronomy Tower. Billy pointed them out.
"Astronomy Tower. Odd place to be, that," he commented.
"Actually, considering how quiet it must be, I'm surprised nobody's tried it out before. Though three of them, I'm an open-minded chap now, but still."
Billy laughed. By this time the three had got quite close. The girl looked at him, and nudged the burly boy on the right. He pulled out a little Muggle notebook and scribbled something down. Three pairs of eyes watched Billy and Weasley as they moved past them in the corridor, a rather disturbing sensation. Then they were at the end of the passageway, and, without looking back, Billy and Weasley ran the rest of the way back to the portrait that led to the Gryffindor Common Room.