CHAPTER SIX: The ghosts Council!
"Sam, can I speak to you a moment?" Jenny asked, the next morning as we were making our way downstairs for breakfast. I'd slept well and it seemed I was getting used to being away from home. The only one who hadn't slept well in our room was Alforth. I'd heard him tossing and turning throughout the night, and muttering in his sleep.
"Sure." I said, shifting my books to my other arm.
"Alone." She said pointedly, looking at Martin, who grinned.
"Alright, alright. I know when I'm not wanted. I'll see you at breakfast Sam." And he left us alone.
"Well, what is it?" I asked, a little impatient. I was starving and the last thing I wanted was to be stuck having a chat with Jenny when I could be downstairs eating!
"Sam, do you know why Snape hates your Dad and my parents so much?" Jenny asked.
"Not really. Francine told me he wasn't exactly a big fan of Dad, but he appears to hate everyone who isn't in Slytherin also." I said, frowning slightly.
"Well it turns out your Grandfather saved his life once when they were at school together. Have you been to the trophy room?" Jenny asked.
I shook my head.
"Oh, well our parents feature there! Anyway, it turns out that not only did your Grandfather save Snape's life, but my Mum and your Dad also did it when Voldemort was trying to take over Hogwarts. Seeing as how Snape already disliked your Dad because he was a Potter he now loathes the entire Potter family, and I guess the Weasleys too! He never could stand that Uncle Harry was better known than he was! Snape also hated your Dad because everyone was so indebted to him for ridding the world of Voldemort the first time. You see, Snape, was once a Death Eater."
"A Death Eater?" I repeated. "So Snape's a dark wizard?"
"Not any more. He fought on our side during the times with Voldemort and he proved his loyalty." Jenny said firmly. "The thing is, Sam, I just thought you should know the history there. It would explain why Snape doesn't like us!"
"It sure does help." I replied, a little dazed by all the new information. "How did you find all this out anyway?"
"Oh I have ways." She replied, loftily.
I grinned, realising she wasn't about to tell me. "So," I asked, as we made our way down the staircase. "Are you all excited about flying practice today?"
"Hardly, I'm more excited about Charms." She replied. "I already know a few basic charms and I-"
She stopped in the middle of her sentence, and clutched at my arm. The stairs we had been walking down were moving!
"What's happening?" I asked, holding onto the banister tightly.
"The staircases must be changing. Do you remember Paul told us all about it?" Jenny cried.
I vaguely remembered hearing Paul warn us. The staircase moved over to another hallway, and then stopped. Jenny and I glanced at each other. We had no idea where we were, or how to get to the Great Hall!
"Let's try this way." Jenny suggested, and we turned left down the dark, dusty corridor.
"HALT!" Cried a voice, and Jenny and I jumped. "Who goes there?"
"Who's that?" Jenny asked me softly.
"It is I, Rufus Dalderbank." Said the voice, and I suddenly realised where the voice was coming from. One of the portraits! A very fat, old man was glaring at us from the painting.
I moved closer to the painting. "I don't suppose you could tell us how to get to the Great Hall could you? The staircase changed and we-"
"A likely excuse!" The man in the painting said, his chins wobbling as he spoke. "More than likely you came up here to spy!"
"Spy?" Jenny repeated. "Spy on what?"
"To spy on the- wait, I'm not that stupid. You almost got me there! Clever ones aren't you?" The man said, and he waved his sword at us. "I'll fight you both I will!"
"Come on." I said disgustedly. "He's not going to be any help!"
"I'll fight you both at once!" The man yelled. "Come on back and fight you yellow-bellied cowards!"
"What a fruitcake!" Jenny said, laughing.
"He's nuttier than your Gran's famous Nutcake!" I added.
"Tell me Sam," Jenny said, as we walked along. "Do you really like that Martin boy?"
"Sure, he's fun." I said. "But Jenny, don't be offended if he's teasing you. I think he was quite impressed by the way you came up with all those answers in Snape's class yesterday!"
"I'm not offended by him teasing me." Jenny said. The way she put the emphasis on him made me turn red. I knew what she meant: she was offended by me teasing her! But before I could say anything we heard a loud voice coming from one of the doorways.
"This session of the ghost's council will now come to order!"
"Ghost's council?" Jenny mouthed, and I shrugged, as we moved closer to the doorway to hear.
"First item on the agenda is the behavior of Peeves-as usual! I'll be glad when we don't have to keep on discussing the behavior of that pain!" The voice continued. "Baron-you would like to speak?"
"Yes. I for one feel it is about time we took a hard line with Peeves. As we all know he gives us ghosts a bad name, when he isn't even a proper ghost, a poltergeist for heaven's sake!" The Baron said, in a cold voice which made me shiver. "And I think we should teach him a lesson."
"My dear Baron, I assume the lesson you have in mind would be.um.painful?" Asked another voice.
"Well Friar I think it's the only thing left to do." The Baron said. "Sir Nick?"
"I have to agree with the Baron-something needs to be done. Do you know what I caught him doing last night? Throwing books all over the place in the library. And when I ordered him to stop he simply through books at me. Hard luck that they went right through me of course!" Here he laughed. "But the point is the Baron is the only one Peeves listens to-and even sometimes he doesn't respect him! We should demand respect!"
Suddenly I felt a cold breeze on my neck and I whirled around, as did Jenny. Floating in the air was a ghost wearing a ridiculous hat with a flower in it, and a great bow tie which was spotted.
"Eavesdropping were we?" He asked nastily.
"No, no. We got lost when the staircases changed and we-" Jenny began, but the ghost interrupted us.
"Show you what I do to eavesdroppers." He said, and then he leant forward and banged on the door three times, hard. There was a commotion inside, and the ghost who had knocked floated off in a rush, as the door was opened.
Nearly headless Nick was the one to open it, and he frowned at us. "What's going on? What are you doing up here? And why did you knock on the door?" He demanded.
"We didn't knock. It was a ghost with a bow tie and funny hat-"I began, and Nearly headless Nick made a face.
"Peeves. Was he listening in at the door?" He asked.
"No." I said truthfully. "He just came along now, and thought he'd play a trick on us."
"That would be right." Nearly headless Nick said. "And you children? Why are you up here?"
"We were on our way to breakfast when the staircase changed." I explained. "We're trying to work out how to get back down to the Great Hall."
"Hmmm..and how much did you hear?" He asked.
"Nothing!" I said quickly.
"Sir Nick, show the children in." Called the cold voice belonging to the Baron. Nearly headless Nick ushered us in, and I saw that the Baron's eyes were as cold as his voice and I felt Jenny press closer to me.
"Hello children, you're both new Gryffindoor students aren't you?" The friar asked, smiling at us in a friendly manner.
"Yes." I answered for both of us.
The Baron snorted. "Gryffindoors, that would be right." He muttered. Then in a louder voice he said, "Do we really want to let these children interrupt our meeting? You know we've got something very important to speak about!"
"The Bloody Baron is right Sir Nick," said a female ghost. "We want to get to the question of Merlin-"
A few ghosts threw her dirty looks, and she looked embarrassed. "Don't look at me like that! They won't know what we're talking about. Do you children?"
"Are you talking about Merlin the Magician?" Jenny asked, and I could have hit her from the looks on the ghosts' faces. They didn't seem to be very happy that she knew what they meant.
"Merlin the Magician." Snorted the Friar. "He hates that you know. He's not a magician-never was. Wizards and Magicians are hardly the same thing you know!"
"Well Merlin the Magician had better commercial value than Merlin the Wizard didn't it?" Snapped one of the other ghosts.
"Be that as it may he is misrepresented!" The Friar argued.
Sir Nick clapped his hands to get everyone's attention. "I think we've spoken enough about Merlin for the moment, don't you?" He asked, pointedly looking at Jenny and I.
"Yes, yes." The Baron agreed, looking at us coldly. "The question is: what do we do with students who wander around sticking their noses in where they're not wanted?"
"We've already told you how we got lost!" Jenny said angrily. "And if you tell us how to get to the Great Hall we shall be on our way."
The Baron smirked. "And if we don't?" He asked.
Jenny swallowed, and I felt my heart skip a beat.
"Come now Baron. It is obvious the children are telling the truth. We should let them get back, and we can get on with our meeting. You know we've only got a few days to work this out!" The friar said.
The Baron frowned.
"All in favor of letting them go?" Sir Nick asked, and most of the ghosts raised their hands. "Bad luck Baron. Now children. Go to the end of this corridor and turn left. At the end of that hallway there are a set of stairs. They come out in the hallway near the transfiguration classroom. I'm sure you can find your way back from there?"
We nodded and hurried out of the room. On our way downstairs we couldn't help but discuss what we'd seen and heard!
"I wonder what the big secret about Merlin is?" Jenny asked, as we hurried down the stairs hoping we'd get the end of breakfast.
"I don't know. Maybe he's coming here or something?" I suggested.
Jenny frowned. "But why would that be such a big secret? I mean, he's famous. You'd think they'd want everyone to know!"
"He's famous in fairy tales." I said. "I don't know whether I've heard of Merlin in the Wizarding world?"
Jenny looked thoughtful. "I thought I had, but maybe I'm imagining things. I might go to the library later and see whether or not I can find out who he is."
As we reached the Great Hall the students filled out ready for the first class.
"Blast! We've missed the meal!" I complained.
Martin came out then. "Where have you two been?" He demanded. "Paul was annoyed about you both not being there!"
"The staircase changed when we were on our way down, and we had to work out how to get back! Although we did find something interesting, and I'll fill you in on the way to class." I said.
[A/N. I know I might have crammed too much information into this chapter, but I wanted to put it all in. I hope it doesn't affect the story too adversely?]
"Sam, can I speak to you a moment?" Jenny asked, the next morning as we were making our way downstairs for breakfast. I'd slept well and it seemed I was getting used to being away from home. The only one who hadn't slept well in our room was Alforth. I'd heard him tossing and turning throughout the night, and muttering in his sleep.
"Sure." I said, shifting my books to my other arm.
"Alone." She said pointedly, looking at Martin, who grinned.
"Alright, alright. I know when I'm not wanted. I'll see you at breakfast Sam." And he left us alone.
"Well, what is it?" I asked, a little impatient. I was starving and the last thing I wanted was to be stuck having a chat with Jenny when I could be downstairs eating!
"Sam, do you know why Snape hates your Dad and my parents so much?" Jenny asked.
"Not really. Francine told me he wasn't exactly a big fan of Dad, but he appears to hate everyone who isn't in Slytherin also." I said, frowning slightly.
"Well it turns out your Grandfather saved his life once when they were at school together. Have you been to the trophy room?" Jenny asked.
I shook my head.
"Oh, well our parents feature there! Anyway, it turns out that not only did your Grandfather save Snape's life, but my Mum and your Dad also did it when Voldemort was trying to take over Hogwarts. Seeing as how Snape already disliked your Dad because he was a Potter he now loathes the entire Potter family, and I guess the Weasleys too! He never could stand that Uncle Harry was better known than he was! Snape also hated your Dad because everyone was so indebted to him for ridding the world of Voldemort the first time. You see, Snape, was once a Death Eater."
"A Death Eater?" I repeated. "So Snape's a dark wizard?"
"Not any more. He fought on our side during the times with Voldemort and he proved his loyalty." Jenny said firmly. "The thing is, Sam, I just thought you should know the history there. It would explain why Snape doesn't like us!"
"It sure does help." I replied, a little dazed by all the new information. "How did you find all this out anyway?"
"Oh I have ways." She replied, loftily.
I grinned, realising she wasn't about to tell me. "So," I asked, as we made our way down the staircase. "Are you all excited about flying practice today?"
"Hardly, I'm more excited about Charms." She replied. "I already know a few basic charms and I-"
She stopped in the middle of her sentence, and clutched at my arm. The stairs we had been walking down were moving!
"What's happening?" I asked, holding onto the banister tightly.
"The staircases must be changing. Do you remember Paul told us all about it?" Jenny cried.
I vaguely remembered hearing Paul warn us. The staircase moved over to another hallway, and then stopped. Jenny and I glanced at each other. We had no idea where we were, or how to get to the Great Hall!
"Let's try this way." Jenny suggested, and we turned left down the dark, dusty corridor.
"HALT!" Cried a voice, and Jenny and I jumped. "Who goes there?"
"Who's that?" Jenny asked me softly.
"It is I, Rufus Dalderbank." Said the voice, and I suddenly realised where the voice was coming from. One of the portraits! A very fat, old man was glaring at us from the painting.
I moved closer to the painting. "I don't suppose you could tell us how to get to the Great Hall could you? The staircase changed and we-"
"A likely excuse!" The man in the painting said, his chins wobbling as he spoke. "More than likely you came up here to spy!"
"Spy?" Jenny repeated. "Spy on what?"
"To spy on the- wait, I'm not that stupid. You almost got me there! Clever ones aren't you?" The man said, and he waved his sword at us. "I'll fight you both I will!"
"Come on." I said disgustedly. "He's not going to be any help!"
"I'll fight you both at once!" The man yelled. "Come on back and fight you yellow-bellied cowards!"
"What a fruitcake!" Jenny said, laughing.
"He's nuttier than your Gran's famous Nutcake!" I added.
"Tell me Sam," Jenny said, as we walked along. "Do you really like that Martin boy?"
"Sure, he's fun." I said. "But Jenny, don't be offended if he's teasing you. I think he was quite impressed by the way you came up with all those answers in Snape's class yesterday!"
"I'm not offended by him teasing me." Jenny said. The way she put the emphasis on him made me turn red. I knew what she meant: she was offended by me teasing her! But before I could say anything we heard a loud voice coming from one of the doorways.
"This session of the ghost's council will now come to order!"
"Ghost's council?" Jenny mouthed, and I shrugged, as we moved closer to the doorway to hear.
"First item on the agenda is the behavior of Peeves-as usual! I'll be glad when we don't have to keep on discussing the behavior of that pain!" The voice continued. "Baron-you would like to speak?"
"Yes. I for one feel it is about time we took a hard line with Peeves. As we all know he gives us ghosts a bad name, when he isn't even a proper ghost, a poltergeist for heaven's sake!" The Baron said, in a cold voice which made me shiver. "And I think we should teach him a lesson."
"My dear Baron, I assume the lesson you have in mind would be.um.painful?" Asked another voice.
"Well Friar I think it's the only thing left to do." The Baron said. "Sir Nick?"
"I have to agree with the Baron-something needs to be done. Do you know what I caught him doing last night? Throwing books all over the place in the library. And when I ordered him to stop he simply through books at me. Hard luck that they went right through me of course!" Here he laughed. "But the point is the Baron is the only one Peeves listens to-and even sometimes he doesn't respect him! We should demand respect!"
Suddenly I felt a cold breeze on my neck and I whirled around, as did Jenny. Floating in the air was a ghost wearing a ridiculous hat with a flower in it, and a great bow tie which was spotted.
"Eavesdropping were we?" He asked nastily.
"No, no. We got lost when the staircases changed and we-" Jenny began, but the ghost interrupted us.
"Show you what I do to eavesdroppers." He said, and then he leant forward and banged on the door three times, hard. There was a commotion inside, and the ghost who had knocked floated off in a rush, as the door was opened.
Nearly headless Nick was the one to open it, and he frowned at us. "What's going on? What are you doing up here? And why did you knock on the door?" He demanded.
"We didn't knock. It was a ghost with a bow tie and funny hat-"I began, and Nearly headless Nick made a face.
"Peeves. Was he listening in at the door?" He asked.
"No." I said truthfully. "He just came along now, and thought he'd play a trick on us."
"That would be right." Nearly headless Nick said. "And you children? Why are you up here?"
"We were on our way to breakfast when the staircase changed." I explained. "We're trying to work out how to get back down to the Great Hall."
"Hmmm..and how much did you hear?" He asked.
"Nothing!" I said quickly.
"Sir Nick, show the children in." Called the cold voice belonging to the Baron. Nearly headless Nick ushered us in, and I saw that the Baron's eyes were as cold as his voice and I felt Jenny press closer to me.
"Hello children, you're both new Gryffindoor students aren't you?" The friar asked, smiling at us in a friendly manner.
"Yes." I answered for both of us.
The Baron snorted. "Gryffindoors, that would be right." He muttered. Then in a louder voice he said, "Do we really want to let these children interrupt our meeting? You know we've got something very important to speak about!"
"The Bloody Baron is right Sir Nick," said a female ghost. "We want to get to the question of Merlin-"
A few ghosts threw her dirty looks, and she looked embarrassed. "Don't look at me like that! They won't know what we're talking about. Do you children?"
"Are you talking about Merlin the Magician?" Jenny asked, and I could have hit her from the looks on the ghosts' faces. They didn't seem to be very happy that she knew what they meant.
"Merlin the Magician." Snorted the Friar. "He hates that you know. He's not a magician-never was. Wizards and Magicians are hardly the same thing you know!"
"Well Merlin the Magician had better commercial value than Merlin the Wizard didn't it?" Snapped one of the other ghosts.
"Be that as it may he is misrepresented!" The Friar argued.
Sir Nick clapped his hands to get everyone's attention. "I think we've spoken enough about Merlin for the moment, don't you?" He asked, pointedly looking at Jenny and I.
"Yes, yes." The Baron agreed, looking at us coldly. "The question is: what do we do with students who wander around sticking their noses in where they're not wanted?"
"We've already told you how we got lost!" Jenny said angrily. "And if you tell us how to get to the Great Hall we shall be on our way."
The Baron smirked. "And if we don't?" He asked.
Jenny swallowed, and I felt my heart skip a beat.
"Come now Baron. It is obvious the children are telling the truth. We should let them get back, and we can get on with our meeting. You know we've only got a few days to work this out!" The friar said.
The Baron frowned.
"All in favor of letting them go?" Sir Nick asked, and most of the ghosts raised their hands. "Bad luck Baron. Now children. Go to the end of this corridor and turn left. At the end of that hallway there are a set of stairs. They come out in the hallway near the transfiguration classroom. I'm sure you can find your way back from there?"
We nodded and hurried out of the room. On our way downstairs we couldn't help but discuss what we'd seen and heard!
"I wonder what the big secret about Merlin is?" Jenny asked, as we hurried down the stairs hoping we'd get the end of breakfast.
"I don't know. Maybe he's coming here or something?" I suggested.
Jenny frowned. "But why would that be such a big secret? I mean, he's famous. You'd think they'd want everyone to know!"
"He's famous in fairy tales." I said. "I don't know whether I've heard of Merlin in the Wizarding world?"
Jenny looked thoughtful. "I thought I had, but maybe I'm imagining things. I might go to the library later and see whether or not I can find out who he is."
As we reached the Great Hall the students filled out ready for the first class.
"Blast! We've missed the meal!" I complained.
Martin came out then. "Where have you two been?" He demanded. "Paul was annoyed about you both not being there!"
"The staircase changed when we were on our way down, and we had to work out how to get back! Although we did find something interesting, and I'll fill you in on the way to class." I said.
[A/N. I know I might have crammed too much information into this chapter, but I wanted to put it all in. I hope it doesn't affect the story too adversely?]
