Chapter 5

The four boys shuffled into the room and gratefully shut the door behind them. The new room they had entered was similar, in size, to the last. Again in this room there were no windows and the only other exit was a door on the far side of the room. Lying across the middle third of the room, stretching the entire width was what looked like grass. It was a though someone had decided put a lawn right in the middle of the room.

'OK, at least there is nothing here that can cut you in half.' Harry said as equally confused as the rest of the group to the presence of the grass.

'Yeah I mean this doesn't look dangerous does it?' Ron said hopefully, looking around the room.

'Well I suppose we could always get Sir Fred here to set fire to it if you want a bit more danger.' George chuckled nudging his brother with his elbow.

'How was I suppose to know that was going to happen? It's not as if I deliberately set fire to those blades, I would have used an entirely different spell for that.'

Harry, who already knew from various stories told by Ron that Fred was extremely adept at setting fire to things both on purpose and accidentally, had noticed a sign on the wall next to the lawn which simply said: Please Keep Off The Grass. He directed the others attention to it.

'What do they expect us to do? Jump over it?' Ron laughed. 'It's only grass for God sake it's not as if we'll be stepping a bunch of rare plants'.

'Maybe the sign isn't there to tell us not to damage the grass but more as a warning.' Said Harry.

'Well how dangerous could grass be?' Ron said suddenly sounding a bit nervous.

'You obviously haven't had any Herbology lessons in Greenhouse three yet.' Fred said smiling.

'Yep there are many highly dangerous forms of grass, like the African Sleeping Grass…' George agreed.

'…the Spanish Quick Lawn…' Fred joined in.

'…and don't forget the North Australian Bouncing Meadow.' George and Fred looked at the open mouthed expressions on Harry and Ron's faces and broke into a fit of laughing.

'Very funny.' Ron said sarcastically.

'It's grass Ron, just grass. They probably put this room in so you could catch a breath after making it through that last one.' Fred said pointing to the door they had just come through.

'It's just that I don't think they would have put up that sign if they didn't mean it.'

'Honestly Ron, do you always believe what you read? Look,' George strode forward and took a couple of steps onto the grass before turning around with his arms outstretched, 'absolutely nothing to worry about. As Fred said before its only…' George's voice trailed off and he looked towards the grass beneath him.

'What's wrong George?' Fred asked warily.

'I thought I felt something there for a moment, as if there was something underneath me.'

'Maybe you should get off the grass.' Ron said hastily.

'Yeah I think you're right.' George said slowly still looking down.

George went to move forward, as soon as he had lifted one foot off of the ground something shot out of the grass. It was a long green tentacle, which had wrapped itself around George's foot and had pulled it back down to the ground. The force with which George's foot was dragged down, coupled with the fact that he hadn't been expecting it meant that he lost his balance and tripped forward. Landing heavily he sprawled out over the ground, the majority of his body was on the stone floor with his legs from the knee down remaining on the grass. The tentacle that had grabbed his foot was now beginning to pull the rest of George back onto the grass.

'George!' Harry cried out as he, and the remaining Weasley brothers, rushed forward to help.

They all clutched onto George, who was wriggling earnestly against the tentacle, and attempted to pull him free. As hard as they tried the tentacle was more then a match for their combined efforts, even with George using his spare leg to kick at it with all the energy he could muster.

'It's no good, it's too strong!' Ron grunted.

'Freduse your wand, Ron and I'll keep pulling.' Harry shouted desperately

'I'm not sure which spell to use!'

'Anything Fred!' George yelled, 'I don't care if you set fire to it just as long as you get it to let me go!'

'Ok I've got an idea.' Fred leg got of George's hand and aimed his wand at the tentacle.

'Oh God I was only kidding about the fire.' George closed his eyes as he saw his twin getting ready to cast a spell.

'Expelliarmus!'

As soon as the spell hit the tentacle it let go of George's leg as though an electric shock had run through it. Harry and Ron pulled as hard as they could until they had dragged George clear of the grass. The tentacle, now devoid of any target, slowly slithered back beneath the grass.

'Thanks guys, I thought I was nearly a goner there.' George gasped.

'No problem.' Wheezed Harry, also out of breath from the effort of pulling George free.

'I told you to keep off the grass.' Ron said collapsing on the floor.

'Well how else are we suppose to cross it? It's too far to jump and there is no way to climb over it, so unless you are suggesting we fly I think we are pretty much stuck.' Said George rubbing his foot that had until recently been attached to a green tentacle.

'Actually flying isn't such a bad idea.' Harry said.

'You know I think you're right, the only thing is I think I've left my broom in my other trousers.' Fred said patting down his pockets.

'No that's not what I mean, when we fought that troll earlier in the year Ron knocked it out when he levitated the club. We've only done small things but it might be possible for one person to levitate someone else over the grass.' Harry smiled expectantly at the twins.

'That's sounds like a crazy idea.' George said looking over at his twin.

'More importantly it sounds like a Fred and George idea.' Fred said grinning.

'Greatso we're going to set fire to each other.' Ron whispered to Harry.

'I'll pretend I didn't hear that.' Fred said indignantly. 'Ok Harry, you want to be first?'

'Er… why me?'

'Because you're the lightest, I've never levitated a person before so it's highly likely that I may drop someone heavier on their head if I don't practice on you first.' George said in what he assumed was a reassuring way.

'That's good to know George, fine lets do it.'

'Oh Harry?'

'Yes Fred?'

'If George drops you in the middle of the grass and that tentacle grabs you…'

'Yeah?'

'Can I have your Nimbus 2000?'

'Fred!' Ron shouted at his brother. 'I'd be first in line to get it wouldn't I Harry?'

'Ron! Fred!' George cried out, 'for God sake I'm not going to let him drop. You trust me don't you Harry?'

'Yeah I reckon you can do it,' admitted Harry.

'And seeing as you would entrust your life to me it's safe to assume you'd trust me to look after your Nimbus should anything happen to you?' George placed his arm around Harry's shoulder as he said this.

'Right that's it, if I do drop onto the grass and you guys can't save me then my broom is going to Hermione,' Harry stated firmly.

'Man… such a waste of a good broom. Well you might as well make sure he gets across ok George, I doubt I could bear watching Hermione toddling slowly along on a Nimbus 2000.' Fred sighed.

'Ok ready Harry, just try to relax once you are up, any wiggling around and you'll be hard to control.'

'Wingardium Leviosa!' George gave his wand a swish and flick as he said this.

Harry's body felt as though it was being gradually lowered into warm water, it started with his feet and slowly moved up. When the feeling had nearly reached his shoulders Harry leaned back, tentatively lifting his feet off the ground. Harry had almost half expected to fall flat on his back, but instead much to his relief he hung in midair.

'Wicked.' Ron said beaming.

'That's the easy part, it's moving him that's the tricky bit.' Said George his face deep in concentration he began to make slow movements with his wand.

Harry felt as though he was floating on water, with each motion of George's wand it seemed as though a gentle wave was pushing him further and further on, and before he knew it he was about half way across the room. Harry could only see the ceiling of the room at the moment because when he had tried to turn his head to have a look George struggled to maintain control and Harry had dropped dangerously close to the grass before George recovered.

'Brilliant.' Ron said as Harry cleared the final patch of grass.

'Sorry Harry, I guess my landing needs some work.' George apologised to Harry who had been unceremoniously dumped onto the stone floor at the other side of the room. 'Ok Ron, you're next.'

'Great, it actually looks like fun.' Ron said grinning.

Harry watched as Ron relaxed his body like he had done. George cast the same spell as before and slowly Ron's body lifted of the ground. Unfortunately Ron's progress didn't appear to be as smooth as Harry's was.

'Oh God careful George!' Ron cried out as he wobbled uncertainly in the air.

'Just stop moving Ron, you're making it hard to control it!' George shouted back, a deep frown appearing on his face as he tried to combat the effect of Ron's twisting.

Rather then allow George to make corrections to his movements Ron squirmed his body left and right in a failed attempt to balance himself, which in turn made his levitation harder to control for George which resulted in Ron struggling more. This vicious circle had only one possible outcome; George lost control of the spell and Ron fell, slap bang in the middle of the grass.

'Ron!' Harry cried out rushing to the edge of the grass. 'Quick George levitate him again!'

'Wingardium Leviosa!' Shouted George frantically waving his wand.

A petrified Ron began to rise off the ground once more. He only made it about a foot of the floor before a long green tentacle erupted from beneath him. It snaked itself around Ron's ankle and pulled him back down. As his feet touched the grass a second tentacle slithered out and wrapped around Ron's other foot, almost making him fall over as he fought to keep his balance.

'Expelliarmus!' Harry's disarming spell shot forth from his wand however, as this was the first time that he had ever tried to do it, it wasn't as effective as Fred's earlier version. The spell hit one of the tentacles, there was a momentary spasm that rippled through it but wasn't strong enough to force it into dropping Ron.

'You just need to concentrate when you cast it!' Fred shouted across from the other side. He and George had now taken to casting disarming spells as well, and with much more accomplishment then Harry.

They succeeded in hitting the tentacles around Ron's legs, which allowed him to break free and try to run over to Harry. Ron managed to make it about two steps before another green arm shot out of the ground and reached out to seize him. Luckily his brothers were prepared for this and were already firing off disarming spells at the new target as it tried to ensnare Ron.

As Ron made his way over to Harry, he was trying hard not to fall. This wasn't easy considering that fresh tentacles were springing up all over the place, add to this Ron's already terrified state and the fact that his lanky frame didn't lend itself to him being naturally surefooted. There was now a sea of green tentacles writhing in the middle of the room, all attempting so capture Ron as he waddled unsurely across the grass. Fred and George was casting spell after spell in an effort to save their little brother, but Harry could see that there were too many for them to handle.

Just concentrate thought Harry, his jaw set firm as he took aim with his wand. He focused hard on one of the tentacles; the room around him seemed to melt away, the sound of the twins spell casting faded so that they were a low murmur in his mind, all that remained was the tentacle. Harry could feel the magic grow inside him, it filled every fibre of his being, the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as the energy flowed through him. He could sense the incantation form in his mind and could almost see it pressing against his skull trying to force its way to freedom. The intensity increased as the warm glow of the spell flooded Harry's body, the words formed on his tongue and as he spoke them he could feel the power being channelled through his hand to his wand.

'Expelliarmus!'

The magic coursed through Harry's wand and slammed into a tentacle that had enclosed itself around one of Ron's outstretched hands. The effect was instantaneous; the tentacle released Ron as it violently shook, allowing him to use it to claw at his other hand that had also become trapped. With Harry now also casting disarming spells, along side the twins, Ron's progression across the grass became much easier although it still took him a lot of effort and energy to cross the remaining distance. Exhausted he collapsed onto the stone floor in front of Harry, fighting to catch his breath Ron beckoned Harry forward and whispered in his ear.

'What did he say Harry?' George queried in a concerned voice.

Harry looked over at the twins and smiled. 'He said to call you a git.'

'Ahh so no harm done then, glad to see he still has his winning personality,' Fred jokedturning to his twin he clapped his hands together and rubbed them, 'me next and don't worry I don't intend to move an inch, I don't think I want to experience that,' Fred thumbed over his shoulder at the now empty and eerily still grass.

Fred's journey over to the other side pretty much went identical to Harry's, except for his cries of 'see how high you can get me to go,' and 'try and make me do a loop.' Similarly Georges progression over the grass went equally well although as Fred was in charge of the levitation there were cries of, 'for the love of God stop it, I can practically touch the ceiling,' and 'if you do that once more I swear I'm going to be sick.'

Soon all of them were across, safely on the other side of the room, Fred was busy congratulating Ron on his tangle with the tentacles, whilst Harry checked to see if George had stopped feeling dizzy. They rested for a few minutes to gather their collective breath and to calm themselves down from the traumatic experience of nearly losing Ron to some vegetation.

'I really thought I was a goner there,' Ron gasped his voice still shaking, beads of sweat were dripping down his face which he wiped away with the back of his hand.

'No chance Ron not with George and I here, I'm proud to say that we've never lost a sibling yet,' Fred reassured his younger brother.

'Yeah, despite our best efforts Percy still keeps popping up,' chuckled George, 'by the way Harry, nice going with that Disarming spell.'

'Damn right,' Fred agreed, 'getting it right on only your second attempt, very impressive.'

'Oh… I probably got lucky I guess,' said Harry modestly.

'That was more then luck Harry,' Fred pointed out, 'you certainly have a lot of natural talent, you no doubt have been watching me and George closely.' He continued puffing out his chest.

'He can't have been watching that closely, or the grass would be burnt to a crisp,' Ron laughed.

'You guys just aren't going to let it go are you?' Fred implored.

'Of course we will, but only when someone does something more stupid,' George grinned, he raised a hand and pointed to the door in front of them, 'now Sir Fred if you would kindly lead the way.'