The Fifth House
Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, and all related things, wouldn't this be in book form as opposed to on a website? Wouldn't I be a millionaire? Yes, I would, but for anyone who doesn't know, no, I'm not a millionaire. Now that this is all cleared up, I think I'll move on to the next chapter, thank you very much…
Author's Note: Hello! I was thinking about Harry Potter a little while ago, and just got in the mood to write a chapter. You know, I only have a vague idea of where this story is going. I know the last paragraph of the story, but I'm not entirely certain what happening in the next chapter. I think it's about time I got to Christmas, though, don't you think?
But don't worry; I have this all going in some direction for the time being.
I think.
Read.
Review.
Riddle! {Much thanx to Pendragon for giving me this word!}
Chapter Twenty-Seven
"Hey, NEVILLE!" Fred Weasley yelled across the common room.
"What's up?" Neville.
"Well, you know, tomorrow's the first Quidditch match," Fred said.
"And we just felt the need to remind you to be there," George Weasley said, stepping out from behind his twin brother.
"Why?" Neville asked.
"You don't remember?" George asked.
"You're our keeper now, mate. But if you can't remember that, maybe we should find someone else…" Fred said.
"…To replace you," George finished.
"But we don't want to have to do that," Fred said.
"Because you really were the best player at tryouts," George completed.
"You guys never said I made keeper!" Neville said.
"I think we did, Neville, I think we did," George said. His voice sounded like a detective who was trying to hint that they knew who did it.
"But we could find someone else…" Fred said.
"…To replace you, if you want," George said.
Neville gaped at them for a few moments.
"I didn't think you'd want us to have to go there," George said, smiling.
"See you tomorrow night, mate. Be in the locker rooms at six thirty!" Fred said.
"Take it easy, Neville," said George, who cuffed Neville's shoulder so hard Neville winced. The twins left the room talking.
"Ow," Neville said, rubbing his shoulder.
* * * *
"Ron, have you seen Harry?" Hermione asked that night.
"Not since dinner, no," Ron replied, half his concentration on the essay he was writing.
"That's odd. I was supposed to help him with a Potions essay," Hermione said, looking thoughtful.
"Were you going to help me, too?" Ron asked, seeming more concerned about Snape's possible wrath if he failed his homework than the fact that his best friend was missing.
"Yes, because I figured you'd need help with the Draught of Obedience potion, too," Hermione said.
"Oh, so that's what our homework was…" said Ron, seeming mildly surprised.
Hermione glared at him for a split second.
"Do you think he could be in the library?" Hermione asked.
"Hermione, you said you'd help him, so why would he need to look anything up? I mean, you practically are a library!" Ron said.
Hermione gave him an annoyed look.
"Look, Ron, Harry's got to be somewhere in this castle," Hermione said.
"Are you saying you want me to help you look for him?" Ron asked.
"Yes, but I don't think we could find him alone, really, who knows where he is?" Hermione asked.
"What are you trying to get at?" Ron asked suspiciously.
"Well, we need someone who knows there way around the place, even the secret passages and rooms you're not supposed to know about," Hermione said as if she was trying to hint something.
"Was someone talking about me?" George Weasley asked, popping up behind Hermione.
"I believe they were talking about me, George, sorry to be the one to have to tell you that," said Fred, who was patting his twin's shoulder sympathetically.
"I was talking about both of you," Hermione said.
"Great," said George.
"We'll do it," Fred added.
"Wonderful! Come on, we need to start soon, it's almost time that students can't be in corridors," Hermione said.
"You mean time that students can't be seen in corridors," said Fred.
Hermione smiled. Ron thought this was odd, since she was smiling about them breaking rules.
Hermione gathered up a few things, and made for the door. Ron followed, and then Fred and George went last, talking quietly.
"Hey, what did we decide to help with?" asked Fred.
"Oh yeah, we forgot about that," said George.
The party of four left the common room and proceeded into the corridor.
* * * *
"Can I ever leave?" asked Harry.
"Well, we'd have to put a lot of spells on you. You'd have to pass tests making sure that you are really trustworthy. All this, plus a lot more, would take a great deal of time, which we just don't have right now," Enna replied.
"Well, is the only reason you're keeping me here so that I won't tell what you're doing?" Harry asked, trying to find a way, any way, out of where he was.
Enna laughed a little.
"That isn't much of the reason at all. The real reason you have to stay here is because we need you," she said.
"What do you need me for?" Harry asked.
"I already know that you know Mundungus Fletcher. And we know that Mundungus Fletcher is doing something to try and stop us. All I had to do was put two and two together," Enna said.
Harry sat in silence for a few moments.
"So, I'm supposed to tell you everything that's been happening with Fletcher?" Harry asked.
"Basically, yes," Enna said.
"Oh," said Harry. He was very close to giving up hope.
"Did you think we'd let you off easily?" Enna asked.
"Well, I was kind of hoping that, seeing as I didn't do anything wrong…" Harry said, trailing off.
"You are trespassing," Enna said simply.
"The game brought me here!" Harry protested.
Enna was deep in thought for a moment. "That's true, but did you have to play the game?"
"I didn't have to?" Harry asked, surprised.
"Well, you're supposed to play, but there are ways out, if you look carefully," Enna explained.
Harry thought for a minute. "Well, what would be the reasons for not wanting to play? It's not as though the game can do much bad, can it?"
Enna chuckled. "You don't know much about the Crevi Game, do you?"
Harry shook his head.
"It's more complex than you might think. Really, there is no guarantee that you'll be safe," Enna said.
"You mean people could get hurt?" Harry asked.
"It's more dangerous than you could imagine," Enna said.
"Why, what could happen?" Harry asked.
"How closely have you looked at the silver die?" Enna asked.
"Well, I've seen some of the pictures, like the walking forwards and backwards ones, and the one of the wolf, and the one of two people shaking hands," Harry said.
"So you haven't looked very closely then," Enna said.
"Well, there is one possibility that you might roll the silver die and see a picture of two people dueling face up. In that case, the gold die would only show a number between one and eight. Whichever number you roll corresponds to the number of another player. You would have to duel that person," Enna said.
Harry thought about this for a minute.
Who had really created the Crevi Game? And why would it have to be so dangerous in order to be effective? And once someone won, what would happen? At the end, would they all suddenly realize what the point was?
"Why does it have to be so dangerous?" Harry asked.
"I will only tell you so much, for I have come to comprehend that the danger involved is beyond understanding. It was created to be a game of good versus evil. One thousand years ago, it was played for the first time, and Evil won. It is one of the rules that whoever wins the game gets to change one rule for the next time it's played. The Evil side knew that they would come back, so they wanted to make it more dangerous," Enna explained.
"But in wizard duels, people can die," Harry said.
Enna shrugged. "I believe you know that there are things far worse than death?" Enna asked, and then continued talking before Harry could answer. "Worse things can happen in the game. You could be forced to meet someone, and they could kill you, if you insist death is that bad. But there are guidelines when meeting people, so sometimes both people live," Enna said.
Harry paused for a second. It seemed quite strange for him to be talking to someone who was definitely part of this Evil {which Harry knew had to be really bad, because when she said the word 'Evil' he could tell she spelled it with a capital E}.
"Why are you telling me all this?" Harry asked.
"Well, they're just the extended rules," Enna said.
"Are there any rules about captivity?" Harry asked.
Enna laughed. "Yes, but as the game host we can change the rules, I thought I'd told you that," Enna said.
"But I thought that you could only change one rule if you won the game," Harry said.
"We won last time," Enna said. She sounded like she was trying to talk to a five year old.
"Yes, but you changed the rule to make things more dangerous, and you changed the rule to keep me here," Harry said.
"Well, I was just a little dishonest about the rule about keeping you here. You see, to be properly introduced, you need to know each others names," Enna explained.
"But you told me your name was Enna," Harry said, confusedly.
"But that was not my original name," Enna said.
"But it is what people call you, therefore, it is a name," Harry said.
Enna's smile faltered a little. She looked contemplative for a moment, and then her smile returned.
"But, originally, I was not called that. You have always been called Harry," Enna explained satisfactorily.
"What, you guys get new names?" Harry asked. He planned on not letting up on the subject for a while.
"Our old names do not suit us, therefore, new ones are given," Enna said.
"Who chooses peoples names?" Harry asked.
"Well, it's not up to us, really-" Enna started to say, but with one look into Harry's eyes, she stopped.
"What are you trying to get at?" Enna asked, her eyes narrowing.
"Nothing, honest!" Harry said innocently.
Enna cocked her head slightly to the left, her expression as still as night.
"If you think that I am going to tell you everything, than you are in for nothing short of direness when you meet the rest of us, and they already know all about you being here" Enna said. Her voice was colder, harder than it had been.
Harry was slightly surprised at this. He'd known there were other members of Terces, but it hadn't occurred to him that he'd have to meet them.
Enna laughed coldly at his expression. "You'll be in for quite an… experience, I presume. We both know that," Enna said.
Harry didn't answer. He expected to know at least one person there. After all, one of them was presently living in the Gryffindor dorms. He wouldn't have been shocked if he knew the other three, also.
Enna knew that Harry was at least partially worried about meeting the other sodalises. She knew that he was acquainted with more than one of them. She was almost certain he'd meet them and have tribulations.
But what Enna also knew, was that there are always exceptions.
* * * *
"He's not here," Angelina Johnson said, shaking her head.
"How could he be late?" Katie Bell asked, looking confused.
"It's his responsibility to the team," Alicia Spinnet said in a both annoyed and worried tone.
"He never seemed to be the type to blow off a Quidditch match," Fred Weasley said, looking dumbfounded.
"Tell me about it, against Slytherin and all," George Weasley said as if it was the thing in the world that was most unlikely to ever occur.
"I haven't seen him since last night at dinner," Neville said.
Five heads turned to Neville. It was ten minutes before the start of the first Quidditch match of the season, Gryffindor versus Slytherin. The Gryffindor team was in the locker rooms, but Harry Potter was nowhere to be found.
"Dinner? That was the last time you saw him?" Alicia asked.
Neville nodded.
"You know, I haven't seen Harry with my brother much over the past twenty-four hours, and they're usually up to something," Fred said.
"I saw him go to the boys' dorms soon after dinner, but I never saw him after that," Katie said.
The team was silent for a few moments. A whistle sounded outside on the pitch. It was time for the team to go onto the pitch and start the match.
"Well, he's not here, and we don't have a reserve Seeker," George said.
"No- you don't mean, we don't have to, to forfeit?" Angelina asked.
"I'm pretty certain we have no choice. I doubt Hooch will let us reschedule," Fred said sadly.
The team was silent for another second.
George sighed and spoke up. "We have to forfeit then, but Harry better have one heck of an explanation," he said in a hoarse voice.
Murmurs of agreement rippled throughout the team before they walked onto the pitch, defeated before the game began.
Curtains Close!
Author's Note: You know you want to know where this is going. But, I'm not going to post another chapter until you review. Hint, hint.
Well, that was a fun chapter, lots of unpleasantness and misery.
Words of Wisdom: "If there is a book you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, than you must write it,"
~Toni Morrison
Please review!
This is Starry, signing off.
I love you all!
Ciao!
~Starry