It was a wonderful winter day, and all of the students who had not left for the Christmas holidays were outside having snowball fights, or otherwise just resting. Except for four Ravenclaws, who were inside discussing the Defense Against the Dark Arts position.
Jeff, Johnny, Shawn, and Tim were wondering why Professor Dumbledore had re-hired Professor Lupin.
"But still," said Tim, "he can't hire him if the parents of the students don't want him."
"Like I said, he was the only one for the job. No one else wanted to," said Shawn. Johnny nodded thoughtfully.
"And if the parents are afraid that he'll bite someone, that's their problem. They can take their kids out of school. He's the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher we've ever had," said Jeff, always one to show his opinions, and criticize people he thought needed it.
"This argument is pointless!" said Tim, standing up. "Who cares why he was rehired, as long as he's our teacher again? Let's go outside and make snowmen or something like everyone else is doing!"
"You guys go. I'm going to stay in here and finish reading Hogwarts, a History." Jeff (which stood for Jeffrey) didn't like the cold. "Only a few more pages left."
"Didn't you read that in your first year?" said Tim crossly. "And your second year, and twice in your fourth year?"
"Yeah, but I need to jog my memory."
"Right. How many times can you read a book?"
"Lots of times. Now go away!"
"Oh well. See you." And they walked out of Ravenclaw tower and went on their way.
"Goody!" said Jeff, trying to make an evil cackle. He wasn't as good as he thought he was at it. As soon as he was sure they were gone, he walked over to the window.
"Accio snow!" he whispered fiercely, drawing his wand and pointing it out of the window. A steady stream of snow came swirling off of the ground, before coming straight in the open window. He ducked out of the way and grinned. After a few seconds of splattering sounds, the whole floor to the common room was covered in three inches of snow.
He waved his wand and cried, "Abeo forma!*" In a flurry of sound, the snow rose up into the air and started flying around furiously. After a few minutes, it settled down on the floor in the shape of hundreds of snowballs. Jeff wiped the water off of his face with his already-wet robes and grinned.
"Mobiliarbus!" he cried and the snowballs hovered in the air for a second, before all heading out of the window and hovering in the sky. He walked out of the tower, leaving them floating, and went to the Owlery. He quickly searched out his Great Horned Owl, Jim, and motioned to him. Jim was a big, beautiful brown owl with big, bright yellow eyes. He was majestic, fast, powerful, and smart. Here's a picture of the kind of owl he is: . His eyes are brighter, though.
As he landed on Jeff's shoulder, Jeff lifted up a letter and tied it to his foot. "We're going to play a little trick, Jim . . .," he whispered. Jim glanced at the letter before hooting softly and flying out of the Owlery window. Jeff hurried back to the Ravenclaw common room.
The letter he had sent said:
Johnny, Tim, Shawn! Urgent news! Come right outside the window to the common room and I'll drop you another letter. Be quick!
When Jeff looked out of the window, he could see his friends under it, looking up. He grinned and waved his wand. The snowballs fell down fast and landed on his friends' heads. They looked up, enraged and covered in snow, and Jeff laughed and shut the window. He saw Jim flying toward it, so he opened it again to let him in. As he shut it again, he heard a cry of "Tarantellegra!". The window shuddered in its frame and wouldn't stop.
He waved his wand and said, "Finite Incancatem!" The window stopped moving. Then he waved his wand at the floor and said "Wingardium Leviosa." The water rose into the air and he directed it out of the window, where it fell on his already-wet friends' heads. A few minutes later, they came rushing in the door to the common room, soaking wet, with wands held in the air. They all shouted different curses, but Jeff beat them to it.
"Expelliarmus!" he cried, grinning and raising his own wand. All three wands flew out of his friends' hands and into his own left hand. He was about to say something, when all of a sudden there was an urgent, loud tapping noise on the window. Jeff turned around and opened it, walking over. There was a small, white owl holding a parchment envelope. Jeff took it and ripped it open.
Jeff:
AC meeting tonight at midnight. Tell you why when we get there.
Jacob, plus George, Rob, and Ben.
"Well?" said Tim. "What is it?" The owl had flown off already. Jeff tossed the letter to Tim, who looked it over and tossed it to Shawn, over whose shoulder Johnny looked to read it.
"Sounds good!" said Shawn.
"Yes, but why would he be calling a meeting today? It's Friday. We had a meeting yesterday," said Jeff.
"I don't know," said Tim.
AC was short for adventure Club. Three months ago, Jeff had an idea. Having heard of Harry's D.A., and the supposedly secret map (he had seen it in a crystal ball; he was good at Divination, even though he thought Professor Trelawney's misty approach was going a bit far) that Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, James Potter, and Peter Pettigrew had made, he wanted to leave something secret and unique in the school when he left. So with the help of his three faithful friends, he created a stone statue. It had four sides, and on each side was the solemn-looking face of him and each of his friends, in full 3D. The necks came to a point that widened into a platform so the statue could be stood up.
When each of the four people at the same time touched their wands to the top of the head of their image and said their private passwords, the wands would hover there, the statue would glow, and the four would be sucked into the statue. Inside the statue was a large room (made that way by magic, the statue was only six inches tall and three inches thick at its widest point). Inside the room, Jeff and his four friends trained to be very fast broomstick riders, illegal Animagi, and learned how to Apparate. They also learned how to duel, and many interesting, useful, and dangerous spells.
Naturally, if any adults found out about the Adventure Club, they would be arrested. Apparating this young, and becoming Animagi this young were of course illegal, and they probably weren't supposed to be learning the Unforgivable Curses (hint, hint) and other dangerous spells either. So each time they recruited members for the club, they had them place their wands on the statue and make a solemn, magical oath not to betray the club. Anyone attempting to reveal the existence of the club would immediately forget that it ever existed and would uncontrollably jump off of a tower and break a few bones as punishment. Then they'd of course be out of the club and the club would go on as normal.
Why was the secrecy of the club so important? Well, for one, Jeff and his friends didn't want to be arrested, and two, nobody could find out about their eventual plot. One day, they would use all of their knowledge and power and spells and skills, and start a revolt against Voldemort.
You see, every year, Jeff secretly placed the statue on the bed of one of the leaving seventh-years so that the first-years could find it. The four first-years destined to become part of the AC would find the statue and place their wands against it against their will. The statue would glow and a ghostly body would hover above it. It would explain about the club, and then the first years would be transported to the inside of the statue at midnight the next Thursday, where they would be briefed and made to take the oath by Jeff himself. They would be taught how to access the statue. Then, they would officially be part of the club.
That was the plan. So far, not even a year had passed since the statue had been made. There were only eight club-members so far, Jeff, his friends, and the first-years who had written the note. Next year the statue would find four more people, and they'd have 12. The year after, Jeff and his friends would be gone. Then there would be 12 again. The number would increase until it became 28, where it would stay as students graduated and enrolled.
The statue itself was powerful. It could make the holder invisible, or give them superhuman strength. It could protect them. It was as powerful as two of the makers on its own, as they transferred half of their souls into it when it was created. As they had the potential to be very powerful, however, they didn't seem at all diminished by the loss. And, of course, it could protect them from prying eyes when they went inside it, and allow them to practice Apparating, even though the statue was in Hogwarts, therefore, it shouldn't work.
* * *
At midnight on Friday, Jeff woke up with a start. He looked at his watch ("Lumos!") and shook his friends. They got up quietly and Jeff lifted the statue, which was surprisingly heavy, into his hands. Tim, Shawn, and Johnny followed him down to the common room, where they would be less likely to be seen.
He touched his wand to the top of the stone image of his head and whispered, "Comperio!" There was a strange rushing in his ears so that he couldn't hear Tim groggily murmur his password. Just when the noise was starting to die down, it grew again and didn't stop until the remaining two people had uttered their passwords. The statue glowed and a second later there was a brilliant flash of light as Jeff and his companions were transported into a square, round-cornered, silver, empty room. Empty, that is, except for a small, six-inch-tall statue in the center of the floor. It was the same stone that was now lying on Jeff's bed.
Except for one minor difference. It didn't have any power. It was a reproduction; the only thing that was the same was that it looked the same. It you tapped it and said your password, nothing would happen. It was for decoration, and was not important at all.
"Oh, hurry up," muttered Jeff. They were still waiting for Jacob, George, Ben, and Rob to show up. After a few minutes, the stone in the middle of the floor glowed, and then there were four brilliant flashes of white light, and Jacob and friends stood around the stone.
"Well?" said Jeff impatiently.
Jacob stepped forward. "There's a spy in Hogwarts. In Ravenclaw."
"A spy for who, how do you know, and who or what is he spying on, and to what purpose?" asked Jeff.
"The spy is that kid, second-year I think, Ryan Coff. He works for Voldemort, I don't know, why, or on who. Actually, I don't even know if he's a spy. I just know he works for Voldemort."
"Hm. . .," murmured Jeff thoughtfully. "How do you know?"
"I saw him writing to Voldemort. He thought there was nobody there. I went to the bathroom, and I saw him hiding and writing. He looked up just as I came in and put his quill and parchment away. I Stunned him and then looked at the letter. 'Master, I have news for you. The ones in Ravenclaw, the four that you know of, have. . .' And there was no more. I revived him and sent you the owl."
"Interesting. The four could be Johnny, Tim, Shawn and I, or you and George, Ben, and Rob, or some other group of four. Somehow I think it's one of the first two."
"Me too," said Tim. "So wha'do we do?"
"Capture him, interrogate him, and erase his memory," said Jeff.
"Or kill him," suggested Tim.
"I don't think we need to be that extreme."
"Why not? He'd do the same. And if that memory spell is broken, Voldemort will know we're onto him." Ben flinched. He was still getting used to hearing the name.
"We'll see," said Jeff. Suddenly, the room started spinning and the occupants were thrown around inside, bouncing off of the ceiling and walls. When the room stopped moving, everyone was lying in various positions on the wall. They knew it was the wall because the replica of the statue they were in was stuck to the floor, which now could be considered a wall.
"Interesting. . ." said a soft, intelligent voice. Jeff recognized it as Ryan Coff. He struggled to his feet, one knee hurting him badly. He limped to the wall and threw his wand at the statue, saying his password.
"Come on," he said. "We need to get out of here. Everyone! Now!" Everyone else climbed to their feet, none injured much except for a bloody nose here or a bruised arm or leg there. They threw their wands at the statue and said their passwords. The replica lit up, and there was a flash of white light as the students were blasted into the Ravenclaw common room. Kneeling down inspecting the statue was a short, blonde boy with sharp features and wand in hand. He stood up and looked at the eight people standing behind him.
There was a flurry of pajamas, and in a split second, eight wands were pointed at Ryan Coff's chest. Jeff stepped forward and nodded back at the others, who slowly put their wands down. Ryan raised an eyebrow and smirked.
"It would seem the odds are against me," he said in his soft voice. "What shall I do? Drop my wand? Put my hands in the air, perhaps?"
"Right now, I'll settle for SHUT UP!" retorted Jeff. Ryan smirked again. But he shut up. Jeff walked forward until his wand was touching Ryan's chest.
"You!" he spat. "Tell me what you've found out about us! And while you're at it, tell me why you're here in the first place! On a spy mission for your master, are you?"
"All I knew is that you four behave oddly and whisper to each other. So I watched you a bit, and listened, and found out about this 'AC' thing.
"I inspected the statue closely because I knew there was something strange about it. I tapped it with my wand. I talked to it. I told it the password to Ravenclaw tower. I told it your names. I told it I was you. Nothing happened.
"Sorely disappointed, I finally threw it across the room with a spell I know to test if it had the normal properties of stone. It didn't. A normal stone would have shattered. And then, to my surprise and delight, you eight came out. And now, I will finish the work I should have started a long time ago." He rolled up his sleeves and pulled out his wand, raising it high above his head.
"Expelliarmus!" bellowed Jeff, shoving his wand into Ryan's chest. Ryan went flying backwards, crashing into the wall, as his wand flew the opposite way, going over Jeff's head and landing at Tim's feet at the other end of the room. Tim picked it up and snapped it in half.
"Thank you," said Jeff.
"No prob!" grinned Tim.
Ryan Coff stood up, a nasty look on his face. "Nice try," he said. He snapped his fingers. His wand flew out of Tim's fingers and into his own. The dragon heartstring inside was still intact, so the wand could be used.
He dropped the pieces of wood and muttered, "Ferula!" White bandages shot up the heartstring. It was now a thin, flexible white blob containing the heartstring. Ben wondered how it could work on itself; Jacob said that he supposed it could if he bent it to point at itself.
Ryan lifted it and said, "Avis!" There was a loud noise, and several birds flew out of the end of the makeshift wand.
"It works!" he said, sounding almost surprised.
"Avada Kedavra!" He bellowed, raising it again. One of the birds (who had perched o chairs near the fireplace) fell onto the floor in a flash of green light.
"My wand, although not very pretty in its current state, has proved itself to be in good enough condition to use the one spell I need," smirked Ryan. He raised the wand and opened his mouth.
"STUPEFY!" shouted three voices. Two shouted "Expelliarmus," two said "Impedimenta," but one alone, out of the eight AC members present, thought of the Torturing Curse.
"CRUCIO!" bellowed Jeff at the top of his lungs, stabbing Ryan with his wand. Ryan immediately dropped his wand and fell to his knees, mouth open in shock, hands tightly clenched in fists, eyes rolling around wildly in his head. He shut them tightly and gritted his teeth, starting to sweat. He didn't utter a sound. For all nine wizards, the scene seemed to last forever.
Finally, Jeff lowered his wand. Ryan let out a sigh and fell to the ground gratefully.
"Get up!" ordered Jeff. Ryan didn't move.
"Ennervate," he muttered reluctantly. "Up!" he said again sharply. Ryan groaned and slowly got to his feet. To everyone's surprise and shock, he was wearing his signature smirk.
"You don't seriously think a trained servant of the Dark Lord would fall that easily? You are a fool. Let us see who would win in a fair duel between you and myself." Jeff looked back at his friends momentarily before stepping forward and nodding. They were about to start when the door to the common room from the boys' dormitory opened and in stepped Joey Uspin, a third-year. Jeff's eyes bulged as he hastily shoved his wand in his pocket. His friends followed suit quickly. Ryan, apparently not wanting anyone to know his secret, also put his wand away. Or rather, his bandaged dragon heartstring.
"What's going on?" said Joey narrow-eyedly.
"Nothing," said Ben quickly.
"We were about to have a duel," said Jeff, stepping forward, "Because he"--he gestured with his head at Ryan--"thinks he's better at magic than me." Still suspicious, Joey walked over to a table and picked up a book, which he had apparently forgotten before he went to bed. He then marched back to the dormitory.
"You have eluded death on more than one occasion," Ryan snarled when he was gone, "Because of unfortunate circumstances: Mr. Uspin walking in, your friends helping you, although their spells had no effect for some reason, and my curiosity as to find out more about your club before I killed you. Now, to business." He and Jeff walked forward and turned around. Then, they both walked forward ten paces before spinning around and shouting spells.
"STUPEFY!" roared Jeff, at the same time as--
"AVADA KE--!" bellowed Ryan furiously. Jeff's spell was shorter, therefore quicker; Ryan fell to the floor knocked out before he even finished his spell. Jeff put his wand back in his pajamas.
"Aren't you going to kill him?" asked Tim, stepping forward and relaxing with all of the other members of the AC.
"Not yet," said Jeff. "I'm going to make him drink some Veritaserum and answer a few questions. Then we'll kill him."
"And where do you think we're going to get Veritaserum?" asked Shawn.
"We've got a few options: Make some, steal some from Snape, or find some somewhere else."
"Like where?"
"I've got a suspicion." Jeff stepped forward and muttered "Accio Veritaserum!" Out of Ryan's pocket shot a tiny vial of clear liquid. Shawn and the others stared at him speechlessly.
"What?" he said finally. "I thought that he would probably have some, seeing as he was going to try to find out some stuff from us." Shawn shrugged. Jeff tried to open the vial. Nothing happened. He twisted and pulled.
Finally, he tapped it with his wand, muttering "Alohomora!" He twisted the cap again. Still nothing. He finally threw the vial at the floor as hard as he could. There was a loud sound of metal hitting metal, even though the vial was glass, but other than that, nothing happened. Jeff picked up the vial and walked over to his statue, lying on the floor. He picked it up and pushed the top of the vial into the mouth of his face on the statue. The mouth opened and closed over it, and the statue glowed blue for a moment. Jeff pulled the vial out of the statue and twisted the cap. It came off this time.
He walked over to Ryan and forced his mouth open. He carefully dripped three drops into his mouth.
"Ennervate!"
*I needed a spell, so I found a Latin Translator () and searched for change and shape. I came up with abeo : to digress/ change/ vanish, disappear. And forma: forma, shape, beauty. Thus, change shape. I'll use the translator again if I need a spell and can't make one up. If you see one you haven't heard, you'll know.