Riddle Me This: Chapter Six
"Can you believe that guy?" Vincent growled, watching as Marcus and Blythe stepped into the Great Hall. "He has the nerve to beat me – a Malfoy! – in class, and then! And then! He steals the attention of all the first year girls!"
"Aw, c'mon, Vince, that's not true; he's got the attention of a few of the second and third year girls, too," Dagon said laughingly. But Vincent wasn't going to be deterred.
"Including you," he said coldly as Blythe took her seat between Tom and Dagon, across from Vincent.
"Including me what?" she asked.
She didn't even glance up from filling her plate with pork chops and potatoes.
"You were hanging all over that Grinberg kid!" Vincent spat at her. She did look up then, with narrowed eyes and lips set in a thin line.
"For your information, Malfoy, I wasn't hanging all over him like your little tramps were. Asotin's friend hit me with a trip jinx and Grinberg stopped to help me up. If the rest of you Slytherins had stuck around, the whole thing could have been avoided." Her voice was cold.
"Then why were you and he walking together in here, hmm? You were smiling, so it must not have been too horrible."
"What is it with you, Malfoy! Why do you care so much about who I associate with!" Her voice grew louder, and a few of the nearby students started to glance over at them. Lowering her voice to a hiss, she resumed her rant. "Are you jealous because he's better looking than you? If so, you're being no better now than you were about the albino twin thing! Sod off, Malfoy; mind your own bloody business."
She angrily shoveled her food into her mouth, ignoring Vincent and his gaping, awe-struck that someone would dare stand up to him. She couldn't believe him! Jealous because she'd spoken to the guy that had beaten him in class. Like anyone would care come tomorrow.
"She's right, you know," Tom put in between bites of his lamb.
"Just show him up next opportunity you get," Dagon said around a mouthful of potatoes. "What are you guys doing this weekend anyway? As far as I recall, we've only got the one assignment for Astronomy, and that'll be easy enough come Sunday. Or if we really want to put it off, we can do it Wednesday afternoon during our free period before class…"
"I've got some research to do," Tom said after a moment. The other boys looked to him.
"On what?" Vincent asked.
"A chamber," Tom said in a hushed voice, the other boys drawing near in order to hear him. "Salazar Slytherin was rumored to have built it."
"You mean the Chamber of Secrets?" Blythe asked, looking up from the Transfiguration book she'd been leafing through.
Tom nodded, and they all looked to Blythe as she continued speaking.
"They say it's just a legend, that it really doesn't exist. But this school was built so long ago that no one can really be sure. It was rumored that Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor got into a huge fight about the allowance of muggleborns into the school. Salazar ended up leaving, but not before building the chamber, with a monster inside that would eventually come out to rid the school of those with dirty blood. His lover was the only one who knew about it, and they'd spent countless nights down there enjoying each other's company under the watchful eye of the monster. Legend says that only his true heir can open the chamber and control the monster within."
A hush had fallen over the boys as they listened to her tale, enraptured by the thought of a secret chamber with a muggleborn killer lurking inside. Then Dagon voiced the question they'd all been asking themselves.
"What kind of monster do you think is inside?" They all looked to him, silence resettling in on them as they thought about it.
"Maybe it's a crup," one of the Weasleys ventured after a moment.
"No, I don't think it would be a crup." Blythe shook her head. "They're awfully loyal to wizards, and not even all that dangerous."
"Yeah," the other Weasley twin said, "But they don't like muggles at all, so maybe it is a crup."
"No, it can't be," Blythe said again. "Muggleborns are still wizards, regardless of their parentage."
"Besides," piped up Dagon, "What'll it do? Lick them to death?" He got a chuckle from the group, and they went back to their pondering.
"Do you think it's a dragon?" That came from the same Weasley twin.
"Oh, sure," Vincent drawled, "like Salazar really has a dragon cooped up inside the castle. Don't you think someone would have noticed by now?" He hit the kid in the back of the head lightly.
"What if it's a banshee?" Dagon asked.
"No good, Dagon," Blythe said, "How would only the heir of Slytherin be able to control it? We're looking too broad. We need to find out what thing only a group of people can control. Any ideas?"
"What about an army of flobberworms?" Vincent sniggered. "Attack of the flobberworm army! Ahhhh! Head for the hills!"
Dagon snorted around his swallow of pumpkin juice, managing to not spray anyone this time as he laughed at Vincent's impression.
"Run for your life! It's the flobberworms!" he sputtered. The rest of them were howling in laughter, banging their fists on the table as they took turns adding comments to the flobberworm joke. Even students from other tables were shooting them weird looks, but they carried on as if they were the only ones in the Great Hall.
One of them snorted as he laughed, and that got the rest of them going even more. It took a while for them to calm down, and even then one of them would start sniggering uncontrollably, and it would start up again. Finally, just as the crowd in the Great Hall was starting to thin, they composed themselves and started guessing again.
"It could be a really vicious giant," Tom put in. He'd read about them in one of the books he'd checked out from the library.
"It could," Blythe agreed, "but they generally hate wizards more than muggles, because we use magic against them and everything. Besides, that still brings up how it would know a pureblood from a muggleborn, and how to control it."
"So it needs to be able to smell the difference between those with clean blood and those with dirty blood? I mean, that is basically what it has to do," Tom stated logically. It took a moment for the others to nod, thinking about it.
"Yeah, I guess so," Blythe clarified. "So we need to find out what has a really good sense of smell."
The group of six became silent once more, mulling it over as they finished off their dinner. Finally, the Weasley twin that had been mostly quiet spoke up.
"What about snakes?"
The others looked to him, but Blythe finally shook her head.
"No, I don't think so. I mean, they do have a great sense of smell and are poisonous and all, but I can't think of any snake monstrous enough to be able to kill off all the kids with dirty blood in the school," she said.
"Mudbloods," Tom muttered. It was his turn to be stared at. "Dirty blood," he rationalized. "Muggleborns have dirty blood, don't they? Well, that means they're mudbloods."
Vincent grinned and clapped Tom on the back.
"Well now! Excellent! That'll be a great name to throw in their faces every time they step out of line. Mind you, they might not all be smart enough to get it straight off, but I reckon they'll get it eventually."
Blythe shook her head once more, dark tendrils flying every which way. With a roll of her eyes she stood, gathering her books and turning towards Tom.
"Good luck with your research; let me know if you find anything. I'm going to head back to the common room and see if I can finish my Astronomy homework tonight." She smiled before turning once more, walking down the length of the Slytherin table and out of the Great Hall.
The boys returned to their discussion, debating about what sort of monster could be inside, and what they could do to control each one. Half an hour later they all stood, gathering their own books and heading back to the common room. Vincent, leading the way, stopped suddenly when he saw Grinberg speaking with a first-year Hufflepuff, one of the girls that had been trying to catch his eye since the beginning of the year.
Grinberg, catching the movement from the corner of his eye, moved himself and the girl slightly, putting her back to them so she couldn't see anything. Locking eyes with Vincent, the Gryffindor very deliberately closed the distance between himself and the girl, placing a chaste kiss against her lips. He never once blinked as he did this, and the Slytherins all knew immediately it was for show.
As the "couple" joined hands and turned to walk away, Grinberg glanced over his shoulder at Vincent and mouthed the words "Your move." He smirked, and they disappeared up the stairs.
"Argh!" Vincent growled, slamming his fist into the open palm of his other hand. "That, my Slytherin friends, is an open challenge. I believe I'll have to find out just what the stakes are next time I see him…You, there!" He gestured to the other giggling Hufflepuff girl, the one that Grinberg hadn't just headed upstairs with.
"Y-yes, Vincent?" She blushed as he drew near.
"What's your name?" Vincent asked. Tom had to groan and roll his eyes at the blonde's utter lack of finesse.
"Adria O'Meara," she simpered, reminding Tom of their Herbology teacher with her falsely-sweet voice and annoying way of fluttering her hands as she spoke. He ground his teeth together in annoyance.
"Right, Adria. And you obviously know who I am," Vincent continued on. "Anyway, I was wondering if you would be interested in being my girlfriend." He spoke with such arrogance that Tom was hard-pressed not to gag.
O'Meara looked over Vincent's shoulder and to the group of Slytherins behind him. Her eyes widened in fright, and she quickly returned her gaze to Vincent. Noticing her hesitation, the blonde excused himself for a moment and turned towards his housemates.
"Beat it!" he hissed. Almost as one they smirked at him, continuing their trek back to the common room.
"I can't believe him," Dagon muttered as they entered the dungeons. "As if being beaten in DADA isn't bad enough, he has to go and make a fool in front of himself with the ladies, as well. Because we're his friends we're going to be out of luck all over the place," he whined.
"Stop being so dramatic," Tom snapped. "We're not lucking out anywhere just because Vince wants to lose another battle to Grinberg. Though I do think that it is our duty as fellow Slytherins to help him out by showing up the Gryffindors." He smirked, and the other boys quickly caught on.
"What are you planning?" Stephen asked with a grin.
"Just that we should take it upon ourselves to embarrass that Gryffindor Threesome, including Grinberg, Asotin, and Will. I don't have anything specific planned yet, but I'm thinking breakfast tomorrow…" He trailed off as they reached the common room, the troop claiming seats near the fireplace. There was hardly anyone there, and that was no surprise. They were all probably taking advantage of the good weather before winter set in and kept them all indoors.
"We could hex boils all over their face," Dagon offered after a moment. But Tom shook his head.
"No, no; it needs to be more creative than that. What if we…" He launched into a lengthy explanation of a series of pranks they could pull on the boys, his housemates nodding in agreement and occasionally adding their own comments. They went to bed that night with a fully outlined plan of what they were going to do, and how they were going to do it.
The next morning the boys, with the exception of Stephen, all trooped down to the Great Hall at the usual time, surveying their handiwork. There wasn't much to see to the untrained eye, and someone who wasn't actively looking for a trap wouldn't know it was there. Most of the school had arrived for breakfast by the time Stephen showed up, rushing to his seat.
"They're on their way. Did I stall them long enough?" he panted. It had been his job to make sure that the three boys were kept out of the Great Hall, at least long enough for a good crowd to be there when the prank was pulled.
"Yeah, good job," Tom said.
Sure enough, less than five minutes later the three Gryffindors entered the Great Hall, and right behind them was…Blythe. Tom swore under his breath. He shot a glare a Stephen.
"You were supposed to make sure no one else was in the way," he hissed.
Stephen smiled and shook his head.
"I met her in the hall and she got in on it to make sure it didn't look too suspicious. Most of it will avoid her anyway. Now hurry up before you miss your chance!"
Tom whipped back around to face the doors, pleased to see Blythe had stalled the group to give him time. Pointing his wand at the area above their head, he whispered the incantation to set his plans into action and sat back to watch his handiwork.
Last night, the boys had placed a bucket above the door, spelling it to stay invisible (which had taken quite some magic to do) and stringing a clear wire from that bucket to another one. With the word from Tom the bucket became visible and tipped over, splashing its contents across all three boys and Blythe's black shoes. The mixture wasn't exactly horrid, just a few bottle of black ink and lake water, but its odor was nothing but putrid. It soaked into their clothing before they could move, hair sopping and matting against their cheeks. Thinking it would be over after that, they stumbled forward, one of them tripping over the fallen bucket and sending the next one into motion. The second held syrup, thick and sticky and just setting them up for the next trap. This one Tom had to activate again as the boys paused, wondering if it was safe to continue. A mixture of flour and feathers fell onto them from the last bucket, the flour coating them white as a ghost while the feathers just stuck out at odd angles. As if that wasn't bad enough, Dagon and Scott pointed their wands at the same time, one causing their bodies to bloat and pants drop around their ankles while the other transfigured their hair into a lion's mane the color of a tiger's pelt.
Tom glanced at Scott, the one who'd been supposed to turn their hair green, with raised brows, but the boy merely shrugged in confusion. Looking back towards the three Gryffindors, he smirked as they slipped in the mess as they waddled to the door, Asotin finally falling and having to be rolled along by the other two.
The Great Hall was completely silent for a moment. And then as one every single student erupted into laughter, even those over at the Gryffindor table. Fists were banged against tables and knees, and Tom caught sight of even the professors hiding smiles behind their goblet or hands. Blythe rejoined the Slytherin in her usual seat, fumbling with her robes for a moment before she sat between Tom and Dagon.
"Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed. "That was brilliant! Will was near tears as they left the hall, trying to yank up his trousers and kick Asotin along all the while. It will take forever to get that gunk out of their hair, provided they can even transfigure it back!" She grinned broadly, spooning eggs and sausage onto her plate.
"Yeah," Vince put in, "You guys are good!"
The four boys responsible for the mess grinned and thanked them, explaining how they'd planned it all out the night before, down to the very last instant when the students started laughing. They finished just as Blythe and Vince ate the last of their breakfast, and after another round of congratulations they moved onto another subject.
"You guys have anything planned for this weekend yet?" Dagon asked once more.
Blythe, Tom, Stephen and Scott all responded with a "no." Vincent mumbled something about his girlfriend, and Blythe shot him a look.
"What girlfriend, Vince? You've only been here a week!" she exclaimed.
"Vince here is having a little competition with Grinberg," Tom explained. "He saw him kissing one of the Hufflepuff girls and decided to get in on the action." They boys sniggered as Vincent blushed.
"He needs to learn who's running this place!" he fumed, which only made Dagon and the twins guffaw loudly.
"Until you're head boy, Vince, or at least in seventh year, you're nowhere near running this place," Stephen informed him.
"Anyway," Dagon went on, "what do you say we get some exploring done?"
"In here or outside?" Blythe asked.
"Both."
The others readily agreed, and they walked off to do some 'sploring.