Chapter fourteen: The trial.
"What on earth was all that about?" I asked, as Nearly-headless Nick floated off. In the crowds of students returning from the holidays Nearly- headless Nick's summons hadn't been noticed.
"Who knows? But I'm bloody starved." Martin replied, leading the way into the great hall for dinner.
"Hey Sam, Jenny, Martin!" Greg called, as we went to sit down near him.
"Hey Greg!" I said.
"We missed you at Christmas dinner. Did Jenny tell you what I did to Paul?" Greg asked, grinning.
I glanced at Jenny who was rolling her eyes. "No." I said.
"We- me and Georgia- gave him a special mince pie..." Greg explained. "It turned his skin bright green. I wanted to decorate him with red tinsel so he'd look all christmassy, but my idea was vetoed."
"I wonder why that was. Although-" Francine said glancing over towards Paul who wasn't paying attention to the conversation "-I have to admit it was pretty funny."
"One of my better ideas if I do say so myself." Greg said, leaning back in his chair with a smirk of satisfaction on his face.
"One of?" Martin asked, interested. "I've been meaning to ask you-"
"STUDENTS?" The headmistress called from the teacher's table. "Before we begin the welcome back feast I want to take this opportunity to make a few announcements. Firstly-from now on the corridor on the fifth floor will be off limits to all students. Anyone caught there will be in very big trouble. Secondly-due to an unfortunate illness Professor Sprout will be absent for the rest of the year, and as we are unlikely to be able to engage another teacher at this time of the year other teachers will take turns in teaching it. And now-enjoy your meals!"
Jenny nudged me and whispered "What's the bet that's got something to do with Patty and her smart comments?"
"Wouldn't surprise me." I admitted. "But if she didn't do anything wrong she should stand up for herself!"
"Not everyone can." Jenny said, a strange look on her face. "Oh-and tomorrow after Charms we should ask Professor Horring about Merlin!"
This made me think about the summons for that night-could it have something to do with Merlin?
*****
After dinner we all gathered round in the Gryffindoor common room discussing our holidays. I noticed that Paul was sitting very close to the female prefect talking, and I asked the other Weasleys about it.
"Yeah," Francine said, glancing at him. "I think our Paul has a crush on Sandy.."
"Hmmmm." Greg said thoughtfully, but Francine shook her head.
"Don't even think anything Greg. Honestly you're getting worse. And wait until Georgia gets here next year-it's going to get worse!"
"Hey I saw Alforth before and you should see the size of the bruise on his cheek!" Alex said suddenly.
We all turned to him in shock. "A bruise?" Jenny repeated.
"Massive. I asked him what happened and he was pretty rude about it." Alex confirmed.
"Alforth being rude-I don't believe it." Martin snorted.
"Do you think it could have been his dad? I mean he was pretty cut up with him for not being put in Gryffindoor first of all!" I suggested.
Francine looked thoughtful, and then shook her head. "Nah, they're bad and all but they usually stick together." She said. "Anyway, as much as I love to gossip about the Malfoy family I've got to finish off that holiday homework for Snape. And chances are there are a few others here who haven't done all their holiday homework either." She looked pointedly at Greg.
Greg made a huge show of getting up. "She's right though-I've got to finish off a few things."
Soon students were going to bed, or stuck in their books, and as the time approached midnight we were getting a bit nervous. Henry had gone up to bed- stuffed from the meal, but Alex was still sitting there, and as much as we liked him we knew there was no way we could take him to the ghost's council meeting with us! He didn't seem at all tired as he talked about Quidditch and homework. At quarter to twelve I knew we had to make a move then, and Jenny and I locked eyes desperately.
"Oh darn!" Jenny said, and we looked at her confused.
"I left my textbook in the Great Hall.." She said.
I jumped up. "We better run and get it, and then we can get to bed." I offered.
Martin stood as well. "I guess I'll come too, although I'd rather go to sleep.." He looked at Alex pointedly.
"Yeah, well as much as I'd love to come I think I might get to bed instead." Alex said, with a yawn.
Once outside the common room we hurried towards the auditorium. "And to think," Jenny panted as we ran. "I could be doing readings for class now!"
"Oh wow! Wouldn't that have been a fun night?" Martin teased her.
"Well when you get terrible marks-" Jenny began, but then she stopped. "Yeah, well I guess there are better things to do!"
Martin just gaped at her, but I remembered in her owl she'd mentioned that maybe she needed to lighten up a bit?
We arrived at the auditorium and stopped. "Now what?" I asked.
The door opened and Nearly-headless Nick looked out. "Oh good, you're on time. Thank god you are you know-it would have been bad for you if you were late!"
"Sir Nick, what's this all about?" Jenny asked politely.
He sighed. "You'll see, you'll see. Come on in." He said.
As we walked into the auditorium I gasped in shock. The ghost's council had arranged tables so that the Friar was sitting at one up the top, and the others at tables on the side. To me it gave the appearance of a courtroom.
"They are here." Nearly-headless Nick announced.
"Yes." The friar said, and he smiled at us. "How was your Christmas children? I hope the teachers didn't give you too much homework."
"Not too much." Jenny replied, seeming to be the only one of us who could speak.
"Well Friar, let's get this show on the road." Said the Baron.
"Right, right." The friar said, sounding strangely uncomfortable. "Children we'll try to make this as quick as we can."
"What exactly is this?" Jenny demanded.
"Rudeness." The baron snapped, but the Friar shushed him.
"What this is, my dear, is a trial." The friar explained.
"A trial?" I burst out with. "What on earth are you talking about?"
"It's merely a formality really." The friar said. "You see when you came upon our meeting the other month we were speaking about something very important."
"Merlin." Martin said. "What's the big secret about Merlin? We've looked everywhere to find information on him and we can't find any!"
"I told you!" The baron yelled. "I told you children couldn't keep their noses out of things which didn't concern them. If you ask me this is as good as a guilty plea!"
Some of the other ghosts nodded in agreement.
"My dear Baron everyone is entitled to a fair trial." The friar said. "Everyone!"
"They're crazy." Martin whispered to me. I nodded slightly-I couldn't help but agree with him there!
"Okay-let the trial begin!" The friar said. "Baron?"
The Baron flew over towards us. "You've just admitted that you have been researching Merlin correct?"
Jenny shrugged. "So?"
"So?" The baron repeated coldly. "So this means that your guilty and this trial is a complete waste of time!"
"OBJECTION!" Nearly-headless Nick called. "He is putting words into the mouths of the defendants."
The friar considered this. "Objection upheld. Prosecution will refrain from attempting to lead the defendants."
"What are we on trial for anyway?" Jenny asked. "Shouldn't you read the charges out at the beginning if this is a proper trial?"
"You're on trial for attempting to find out the secret of Merlin." The friar explained. "Merlin is meant to be a secret between only the ghosts here-he doesn't appreciate publicity you see, and he has asked us to try you for this."
"Trying to find out about him?" Jenny repeated with a grin. "That's not a crime!"
"Section 10 paragraph 1675 of the Ghost's Code." The Baron snapped.
"But we're not ghosts!" Jenny argued. "So technically we can't be covered by the code!"
The ghosts all looked at each other, and a few made muttered comments. The Friar pulled out a huge volume and flicked through the pages and read.
"I motion that the defendants comments be struck from the record for the jury as they were spoken out of turn." The baron called. "And further I motion that the admission of guilt-"
"Enough." The friar said, looking up. "Baron-the children are right. We can't try them for contravening laws they are not even obliged to follow."
The baron's face turned a silvery red. "WHAT?" He cried. "Friar-"
But the Friar was adamant. "Sir Nick, show the children out. This court is over!"
Nearly-headless Nick ushered us back outside. "Goodnight children." He said, closing the door on us and leaving us outside speechless.
We started the walk back up towards the common room.
"Can you believe this?" Martin asked. "This just makes me want to find out more about Merlin. In fact, it even makes me want to speak to that git Horring to find out if he knows anything about it!"
"Horring's not that bad." Jenny argued.
"Sure. All the girls say that." Martin replied making a face.
"Who cares about Horring?" I asked. "The thing we should be thinking about here is what the hell is so mysterious about Merlin?"
Jenny nodded. "Yeah, I think we might be spending a lot more time in the library soon."
Martin sighed. "The library again..."
We reached the fat lady, and gave her the password: "Jigglebiggleboo" and went through into the common room.
"Now I'm getting to bed. After class tomorrow we'll have to go to the library-"
"Not tomorrow. We're playing Slytherin again!" Martin said.
Jenny sighed. "Fine-the next day then."
As I fell asleep that night I thought about the "trial" and wondered why Merlin was so important, and so secretive!
"What on earth was all that about?" I asked, as Nearly-headless Nick floated off. In the crowds of students returning from the holidays Nearly- headless Nick's summons hadn't been noticed.
"Who knows? But I'm bloody starved." Martin replied, leading the way into the great hall for dinner.
"Hey Sam, Jenny, Martin!" Greg called, as we went to sit down near him.
"Hey Greg!" I said.
"We missed you at Christmas dinner. Did Jenny tell you what I did to Paul?" Greg asked, grinning.
I glanced at Jenny who was rolling her eyes. "No." I said.
"We- me and Georgia- gave him a special mince pie..." Greg explained. "It turned his skin bright green. I wanted to decorate him with red tinsel so he'd look all christmassy, but my idea was vetoed."
"I wonder why that was. Although-" Francine said glancing over towards Paul who wasn't paying attention to the conversation "-I have to admit it was pretty funny."
"One of my better ideas if I do say so myself." Greg said, leaning back in his chair with a smirk of satisfaction on his face.
"One of?" Martin asked, interested. "I've been meaning to ask you-"
"STUDENTS?" The headmistress called from the teacher's table. "Before we begin the welcome back feast I want to take this opportunity to make a few announcements. Firstly-from now on the corridor on the fifth floor will be off limits to all students. Anyone caught there will be in very big trouble. Secondly-due to an unfortunate illness Professor Sprout will be absent for the rest of the year, and as we are unlikely to be able to engage another teacher at this time of the year other teachers will take turns in teaching it. And now-enjoy your meals!"
Jenny nudged me and whispered "What's the bet that's got something to do with Patty and her smart comments?"
"Wouldn't surprise me." I admitted. "But if she didn't do anything wrong she should stand up for herself!"
"Not everyone can." Jenny said, a strange look on her face. "Oh-and tomorrow after Charms we should ask Professor Horring about Merlin!"
This made me think about the summons for that night-could it have something to do with Merlin?
*****
After dinner we all gathered round in the Gryffindoor common room discussing our holidays. I noticed that Paul was sitting very close to the female prefect talking, and I asked the other Weasleys about it.
"Yeah," Francine said, glancing at him. "I think our Paul has a crush on Sandy.."
"Hmmmm." Greg said thoughtfully, but Francine shook her head.
"Don't even think anything Greg. Honestly you're getting worse. And wait until Georgia gets here next year-it's going to get worse!"
"Hey I saw Alforth before and you should see the size of the bruise on his cheek!" Alex said suddenly.
We all turned to him in shock. "A bruise?" Jenny repeated.
"Massive. I asked him what happened and he was pretty rude about it." Alex confirmed.
"Alforth being rude-I don't believe it." Martin snorted.
"Do you think it could have been his dad? I mean he was pretty cut up with him for not being put in Gryffindoor first of all!" I suggested.
Francine looked thoughtful, and then shook her head. "Nah, they're bad and all but they usually stick together." She said. "Anyway, as much as I love to gossip about the Malfoy family I've got to finish off that holiday homework for Snape. And chances are there are a few others here who haven't done all their holiday homework either." She looked pointedly at Greg.
Greg made a huge show of getting up. "She's right though-I've got to finish off a few things."
Soon students were going to bed, or stuck in their books, and as the time approached midnight we were getting a bit nervous. Henry had gone up to bed- stuffed from the meal, but Alex was still sitting there, and as much as we liked him we knew there was no way we could take him to the ghost's council meeting with us! He didn't seem at all tired as he talked about Quidditch and homework. At quarter to twelve I knew we had to make a move then, and Jenny and I locked eyes desperately.
"Oh darn!" Jenny said, and we looked at her confused.
"I left my textbook in the Great Hall.." She said.
I jumped up. "We better run and get it, and then we can get to bed." I offered.
Martin stood as well. "I guess I'll come too, although I'd rather go to sleep.." He looked at Alex pointedly.
"Yeah, well as much as I'd love to come I think I might get to bed instead." Alex said, with a yawn.
Once outside the common room we hurried towards the auditorium. "And to think," Jenny panted as we ran. "I could be doing readings for class now!"
"Oh wow! Wouldn't that have been a fun night?" Martin teased her.
"Well when you get terrible marks-" Jenny began, but then she stopped. "Yeah, well I guess there are better things to do!"
Martin just gaped at her, but I remembered in her owl she'd mentioned that maybe she needed to lighten up a bit?
We arrived at the auditorium and stopped. "Now what?" I asked.
The door opened and Nearly-headless Nick looked out. "Oh good, you're on time. Thank god you are you know-it would have been bad for you if you were late!"
"Sir Nick, what's this all about?" Jenny asked politely.
He sighed. "You'll see, you'll see. Come on in." He said.
As we walked into the auditorium I gasped in shock. The ghost's council had arranged tables so that the Friar was sitting at one up the top, and the others at tables on the side. To me it gave the appearance of a courtroom.
"They are here." Nearly-headless Nick announced.
"Yes." The friar said, and he smiled at us. "How was your Christmas children? I hope the teachers didn't give you too much homework."
"Not too much." Jenny replied, seeming to be the only one of us who could speak.
"Well Friar, let's get this show on the road." Said the Baron.
"Right, right." The friar said, sounding strangely uncomfortable. "Children we'll try to make this as quick as we can."
"What exactly is this?" Jenny demanded.
"Rudeness." The baron snapped, but the Friar shushed him.
"What this is, my dear, is a trial." The friar explained.
"A trial?" I burst out with. "What on earth are you talking about?"
"It's merely a formality really." The friar said. "You see when you came upon our meeting the other month we were speaking about something very important."
"Merlin." Martin said. "What's the big secret about Merlin? We've looked everywhere to find information on him and we can't find any!"
"I told you!" The baron yelled. "I told you children couldn't keep their noses out of things which didn't concern them. If you ask me this is as good as a guilty plea!"
Some of the other ghosts nodded in agreement.
"My dear Baron everyone is entitled to a fair trial." The friar said. "Everyone!"
"They're crazy." Martin whispered to me. I nodded slightly-I couldn't help but agree with him there!
"Okay-let the trial begin!" The friar said. "Baron?"
The Baron flew over towards us. "You've just admitted that you have been researching Merlin correct?"
Jenny shrugged. "So?"
"So?" The baron repeated coldly. "So this means that your guilty and this trial is a complete waste of time!"
"OBJECTION!" Nearly-headless Nick called. "He is putting words into the mouths of the defendants."
The friar considered this. "Objection upheld. Prosecution will refrain from attempting to lead the defendants."
"What are we on trial for anyway?" Jenny asked. "Shouldn't you read the charges out at the beginning if this is a proper trial?"
"You're on trial for attempting to find out the secret of Merlin." The friar explained. "Merlin is meant to be a secret between only the ghosts here-he doesn't appreciate publicity you see, and he has asked us to try you for this."
"Trying to find out about him?" Jenny repeated with a grin. "That's not a crime!"
"Section 10 paragraph 1675 of the Ghost's Code." The Baron snapped.
"But we're not ghosts!" Jenny argued. "So technically we can't be covered by the code!"
The ghosts all looked at each other, and a few made muttered comments. The Friar pulled out a huge volume and flicked through the pages and read.
"I motion that the defendants comments be struck from the record for the jury as they were spoken out of turn." The baron called. "And further I motion that the admission of guilt-"
"Enough." The friar said, looking up. "Baron-the children are right. We can't try them for contravening laws they are not even obliged to follow."
The baron's face turned a silvery red. "WHAT?" He cried. "Friar-"
But the Friar was adamant. "Sir Nick, show the children out. This court is over!"
Nearly-headless Nick ushered us back outside. "Goodnight children." He said, closing the door on us and leaving us outside speechless.
We started the walk back up towards the common room.
"Can you believe this?" Martin asked. "This just makes me want to find out more about Merlin. In fact, it even makes me want to speak to that git Horring to find out if he knows anything about it!"
"Horring's not that bad." Jenny argued.
"Sure. All the girls say that." Martin replied making a face.
"Who cares about Horring?" I asked. "The thing we should be thinking about here is what the hell is so mysterious about Merlin?"
Jenny nodded. "Yeah, I think we might be spending a lot more time in the library soon."
Martin sighed. "The library again..."
We reached the fat lady, and gave her the password: "Jigglebiggleboo" and went through into the common room.
"Now I'm getting to bed. After class tomorrow we'll have to go to the library-"
"Not tomorrow. We're playing Slytherin again!" Martin said.
Jenny sighed. "Fine-the next day then."
As I fell asleep that night I thought about the "trial" and wondered why Merlin was so important, and so secretive!
