Chapter10 – Wizardopoly
The game was progressing nicely. Hermione had always loved playing muggle Monopoly TM and after about an hour of playing she had collected quite a lot of properties. Snape, it appeared, was also quite good at the game, and they were quickly leaving the others behind as their piles of fake money grew. Padma picked up the dice and rolled a 5. She moved her unicorn along then groaned as it came to rest on a picture of a fireplace.
"Ah, Miss. Patil," came the silky voice of Professor Snape. "You appear to be attempting to use the floo network, which I own. That will be 2 sickles please." Padma handed over the money and passed the dice on to Ernie. The centaur was currently residing in Azkaban. A mystery card had told him that for apparating without a license he had to miss 2 goes, but he was now raring to get out. He rolled eight and moved his piece quickly onto Zonko's Joke shop, which was the last remaining unsold property. He promptly bought it and built a cottage. It was now Hermione's turn. She shook the dice and threw 6. Skipping over Flourish & Blotts and Ollivanders, both of which she already owned, she landed on a blue mystery square. Picking up the top card on the pile she started to read.
Now the game begins in earnest; All the properties are sold; To win you'll have to fight your hardest; Triumph before you get too cold. Remove an article of clothing!
Hermione looked in shock at the card in her hand, and turned it over. This had to be a mistake, the proper message must be on the other side- but the other side of the card was blank. She looked up to see everyone staring at her curiously, and she slowly put the card down on the table. Ginny picked it up and let out a shriek as she read it
"You have to take your clothes off! This can't be right!"
The card was snatched out of her hands by Professor Snape. His dark eyes flicked quickly over the words and he looked briefly up at Hermione and smirked.
"I think it is about time we stopped this foolish game. Obviously it is not suitable for Dumbledore's birthday party, nor, I fear for the situation we are in at the moment." He had begun to rise from the sofa when a small cough from Ernie caught everyone's attention. Ernie had picked up the lid of the box and was re-reading the rules.
"Er....We can't actually stop playing." He said nervously looking around at the group of people. He waved the lid at them "It's a binding magical contract. The moment you choose a piece you have to play until the game finishes. It says so here at the bottom. The only way out is when you run out of money, and the game only finishes when someone wins."
They all sat in stunned silence. Hermione looked down horrified at her stack of cards and money. Between them, she and Professor Snape had by far the largest amount of properties, and she had built bookshops, hospitals and pubs on most of them! No-one noticed when Terry looked over at Draco and grinned conspiratorially. Ginny eventually spoke.
"Well it looks like we are now playing to lose. Come on Hermione, take something off and we can carry on."
Giving Ginny an angry look, Hermione silently thanked the gods that she had put on so many clothes this morning. It looked like she would be here for a while and at least she had plenty to take off.
"Fine" she snapped "but before we carry on I think we should all agree that whatever happens in this room, stays in this room. I'm sure none of us want the rest of the school finding out about this." She pulled out her wand and held it in her left hand. "We can all swear on our wands."
She watched as the others all solemnly made the oath then grumpily pulled off one of her stockings and wadded it into a ball. She heard Ginny giggling beside her.
"Why are you wearing two pairs of stockings?
"It was cold this morning, alright! Just roll the bloody dice and let's get on with it."
She could feel Professor Snape's eyes on her as she shoved the stocking into her bag, and she glanced over at him cautiously. He was looking at her with a lopsided smirk on his face, as if he badly wanted to laugh. She flashed him her best smile and watched the look change to one of confusion. So everyone thought it was funny did they, well wait until they got a card like that then she'd see who was laughing.
The game was progressing nicely. Hermione had always loved playing muggle Monopoly TM and after about an hour of playing she had collected quite a lot of properties. Snape, it appeared, was also quite good at the game, and they were quickly leaving the others behind as their piles of fake money grew. Padma picked up the dice and rolled a 5. She moved her unicorn along then groaned as it came to rest on a picture of a fireplace.
"Ah, Miss. Patil," came the silky voice of Professor Snape. "You appear to be attempting to use the floo network, which I own. That will be 2 sickles please." Padma handed over the money and passed the dice on to Ernie. The centaur was currently residing in Azkaban. A mystery card had told him that for apparating without a license he had to miss 2 goes, but he was now raring to get out. He rolled eight and moved his piece quickly onto Zonko's Joke shop, which was the last remaining unsold property. He promptly bought it and built a cottage. It was now Hermione's turn. She shook the dice and threw 6. Skipping over Flourish & Blotts and Ollivanders, both of which she already owned, she landed on a blue mystery square. Picking up the top card on the pile she started to read.
Now the game begins in earnest; All the properties are sold; To win you'll have to fight your hardest; Triumph before you get too cold. Remove an article of clothing!
Hermione looked in shock at the card in her hand, and turned it over. This had to be a mistake, the proper message must be on the other side- but the other side of the card was blank. She looked up to see everyone staring at her curiously, and she slowly put the card down on the table. Ginny picked it up and let out a shriek as she read it
"You have to take your clothes off! This can't be right!"
The card was snatched out of her hands by Professor Snape. His dark eyes flicked quickly over the words and he looked briefly up at Hermione and smirked.
"I think it is about time we stopped this foolish game. Obviously it is not suitable for Dumbledore's birthday party, nor, I fear for the situation we are in at the moment." He had begun to rise from the sofa when a small cough from Ernie caught everyone's attention. Ernie had picked up the lid of the box and was re-reading the rules.
"Er....We can't actually stop playing." He said nervously looking around at the group of people. He waved the lid at them "It's a binding magical contract. The moment you choose a piece you have to play until the game finishes. It says so here at the bottom. The only way out is when you run out of money, and the game only finishes when someone wins."
They all sat in stunned silence. Hermione looked down horrified at her stack of cards and money. Between them, she and Professor Snape had by far the largest amount of properties, and she had built bookshops, hospitals and pubs on most of them! No-one noticed when Terry looked over at Draco and grinned conspiratorially. Ginny eventually spoke.
"Well it looks like we are now playing to lose. Come on Hermione, take something off and we can carry on."
Giving Ginny an angry look, Hermione silently thanked the gods that she had put on so many clothes this morning. It looked like she would be here for a while and at least she had plenty to take off.
"Fine" she snapped "but before we carry on I think we should all agree that whatever happens in this room, stays in this room. I'm sure none of us want the rest of the school finding out about this." She pulled out her wand and held it in her left hand. "We can all swear on our wands."
She watched as the others all solemnly made the oath then grumpily pulled off one of her stockings and wadded it into a ball. She heard Ginny giggling beside her.
"Why are you wearing two pairs of stockings?
"It was cold this morning, alright! Just roll the bloody dice and let's get on with it."
She could feel Professor Snape's eyes on her as she shoved the stocking into her bag, and she glanced over at him cautiously. He was looking at her with a lopsided smirk on his face, as if he badly wanted to laugh. She flashed him her best smile and watched the look change to one of confusion. So everyone thought it was funny did they, well wait until they got a card like that then she'd see who was laughing.