Saying Good-Bye To Hogwarts,
And The Finding Of A Trap-Door

It was the last day of the Christmas Holidays. Devi had to go home in about five hours, and she wanted to say good-bye to Hogwarts.

So we visited the kitchen and asked the house-elves to create a picnic for us. A large picnic, I might add, since Devi was constantly hungry.

It was one o'clock when we started on our journey around the castle, with the hamper under Devi's arm. We chatted and strolled, and every once in a while Devi stopped and said good-bye to a particular place in the Castle, such as the Room of Requirement, the owlery, and several out-of-the way notches where we had hidden and talked when the dormitories just weren't right for that sort of thing.

Finally Devi announced, "Okay. All this walking is making me hungry. I want food."

"You always want food, Dev," I grumbled. "Now is no different." But I agreed, and we laid out a portion of the edibles that the elves had sent with us. There was chocolate pudding, ham, and turkey salad sandwiches, along with several different kinds of fruit and wizard candy.

"Ahem!" I fake-coughed. "Dig in!"

After we had eaten to our stomachs' desire, I stood and stretched, grateful for my high metabolism. Without it, I would definitely be over-weight. "Ready for more walking, Dev? There's a whole lot more of the castle than what we've already seen today!"

"I know," she said with a smile, "so let's get mov – hey, let's go over there!" Devi suddenly swung around and pointed to a corridor.

"A.D.D.," I murmured, just loud enough for her to hear me.

"HEY!" Devi punched me lightly in the arm, then gathered up the rest of the food and flounced off to the corridor. I followed her, smirking at my joke.

"What's this?" Devi wondered out loud as she walked. "Or, where's this?" She corrected herself.

"Um, I don't know. I've never been here before," I voiced, looking around.

"Hey, what's that?" Devi had spotted a square of wood on the floor, in sharp contrast to the normal stone flooring.

"Let's go look, shall we?" I headed toward the patch of wood, my curiosity invoked.

I reached the wood before Devi did, and inspected it. It was set into the floor, and had a rope handle attached. I firmly grasped the handle and pulled. It didn't budge.

"Dev! It's a trap-door!" I yelled, as sudden comprehension hit me.

"What? It is?" My friend hurried over and bumped me in her rush to find out exactly what this trap-door was and where it led.

"Ouch! Yeah, it is. Help me open it," I replied, gingerly rubbing my bruised shoulder.

"Oh, sorry about that." A flicker of concern crossed her face, but was replaced by impatience when she saw where I was positioned. "Sani, maybe it'll help – just a little – if you DON'T SIT ON THE TRAP-DOOR!" she said, sarcasm liberally lacing her tone.

I looked down. Oops. I really was sitting on the top of the trap-door. "Oops. Sorry, Dev. Little brain-lapse."

"Ya think?" Devi was a little heavy on the sarcasm, again.

I moved, and when Devi grabbed the rope and heaved, the trap-door swung upwards easily, albeit noisily.

We sat there, looking into the square of darkness, wondering what to do. Following a brief silence, I was struck with inspiration.

"Oh my God, Devi! I know what this is!" I could feel my face lighting up.

"Really? What?"

"It's the third floor corridor, from the Philosopher's Stone!"