Chapter Ten: Let The Game Begin!

That's when suddenly Harry, Ron, and Hermione all started to scream, and they quickly turned around and hurried out of the room as it started snarling and barking at them. Ron slammed and locked the door. "What do they think they're doing!? Locking a thing like that up in a school! It's completely ludicrous that's what it is! It nearly killed us!" He cried.

"And so now you why you were specifically instructed to stay out of there." They heard a familiar voice say behind them and Harry gulped, and his insides started twisting around as he slowly turned around to face his father with the others. "I want all three of you in my office immediately." He told them.

"Okay, but can you at least tell us how you found out?" Harry questioned.

"How wouldn't I when your dog and all three of you were making such a racket? Not like it matters because all three of you are in very serious trouble, but especially you Harry. I would have expected better from you. You too Miss Granger even though you're not my daughter so I can't punish you in that way." Severus told them before all three of them started walking down to his office with him and when they got there they explained what had happened.

"Well even if you got stuck on the third floor you didn't have to go in that room." Severus began. "So I will take fifty points from Gryffindor each, and consider yourselves lucky because considering you all could have died, the outcome could have been a whole lot worse. You three will also receive a week's worth of detention separately and I will be writing to your families which means that Harry your mother will hear of this and I wouldn't be all surprised that you will hear the phrase grounded for life once you get back home for the Christmas holiday." He said.

Harry thought that this was incredibly unfair since he was already being punished at school and so he didn't think he needed to be punished at home as well but he just simply nodded and accepted it before they were sent back to the Gryffindor common room.

"You know, even though I don't think this is the proper time to say anything about it, I think we at least found out where the object is being hid." Hermione said.

"What on earth are you going on about Hermione?" Ron questioned her.

"You don't use your eyes do you? Didn't you see what it was standing on?" She questioned him back.

"I wasn't looking at its feet! I was too preoccupied with its heads!" Ron cried.

"Well it was standing on a trapped door which means that it wasn't there by accident. It's guarding something." Hermione told him. "So if you two don't mind I'm going to bed before either of you come up with another clever idea to get us killed. Or worse expelled." Hermione told them before climbing up the stairs to the girl's dormitory and closing the door behind her.

"She needs to sort out her priorities." Ron said as Harry silently nodded in agreement and they went to their dormitory for the night as well.

..

That week Harry was supposed to clean his father's office every night without magic, while Ron was forced to cook in the kitchen without magic, and since Hermione was used to doing things without magic she was forced to write lines every night for that week. Also piled on top of detentions was the amount of homework they already had to do and Harry and Ron were both sent howlers from their mothers on how foolish they had been and that if they ever did anything like this again they would be lucky to see their graduations.

"Well at least it could have been a lot worse and Harry and I could have been punished at home as well." Ron said that afternoon at lunch.

"Well my parents think that I've already been punished enough." Hermione began. "I still can't help but wonder what Dumbledore has hidden underneath the trapdoor though." She finished but Harry's mind was currently on Qudditch since he had been practicing every afternoon for the past week and thankfully now his detentions were finally over so now he could focus on his first game that night.

That's when suddenly his father started walking over to him, but Harry noticed that he had been limping. "Are you alright?" He asked him as soon as he finally made it over to their table.

"Yes, I just wanted to wish you good luck tonight. Of course, I'm sure many students from my house would totally be against it since your first match is against them." He said.

"Well then they would have to be completely mental because you're his father and of course you're going to wish him good luck with his first game." Ron told him as Severus heaved a sigh.

"I never thought I would see the day that I would agree with you Weasley." He began before he turned his attention back to Harry. "Anyways, I'm sure you'll do great since now that you've proven yourself worthy against a mountain troll than a little game of Qudditch should be easy work for you." He told him before he turned around and walked away continuing to limp.

"He looks like he got into a spat with that three-headed dog." Ron observed as Harry continued watching his father leave.

"Yeah, he does." He began. "He wouldn't steal anything though. I know he wouldn't." He said as he turned back to look at his friend.

"I'm not saying he would, but that doesn't mean that he was trying to stop somebody else that was trying to steal whatever that dog is guarding." Ron pointed out before all three of them continued eating their lunches together.

"Are you scared Harry?" Oliver Wood questioned him as he walked out onto the Qudditch field with the rest of his team as they all were already dressed in their Qudditch robes and held their broomsticks in the palms of their hands.

"A little." Harry admitted.

"Well don't worry I felt exactly the same way before my first game." Oliver told him.

"Really? What happened?" Harry wondered.

"I don't really remember actually." He began. "I took two bludgers to the chest and woke up in the hospital a week later." He finished.

"And you're telling me this now!?" Harry snapped inside a whisper but before he knew it all of the other Gryffindor Qudditch players were zooming out onto the field on their brooms and that's when Harry mounted his broomstick and soared out onto the field to join them.