Chapter 18: The Feast
"We need to find somewhere safe to hideout for a while," Harry declared. "The Careers are off trying to kill each other at the moment and I think it'd be better not to get involved until things calm down."
"I've got just the place," Fred announced. "Come with me."
Since Harry didn't have any ideas of a place to go, he decided to trust Fred's judgement, so he followed as they climbed up flights and flights of stairs. When the staircase they were on started moving, Harry panicked, but Fred assured him not to worry. They simply waited, and soon the staircase was swiveling back to it's original position.
"They always come back around," Fred said matter-of-factly. "It's like a pattern that the Gamemakers set up ahead of time."
They continued to climb until they reached the seventh floor and Harry was suddenly reminded of his first day here, when he'd found the tower and had seen Dobby and Hedwig die. He was saddened when he realized that so much had happened over – how many days had it been now? Three? He hadn't had time to grieve for Dobby and Hedwig, much less all the others he'd lost since.
"Here we are," Fred declared as they came up to a patch of blank wall.
"Is there a hidden alcove?" Harry asked, thinking of Sirius and all the hidey holes he'd managed to find. "Behind that tapestry maybe?" he asked, pointing to a tapestry on the opposite wall from the one Fred was looking at. The tapestry depicted a group of Trolls who appeared to be doing ballet. On the bottom were the words Barnabas the Barmy.
"Nope," Fred said. "This is better."
He closed his eyes and began to pace back and forth. Harry wondered if he'd chosen a loon as an ally. Then, all of a sudden, a door materialized as if out of thin air.
"What?" Harry said, dumbfounded, unable even to finish his thought.
"The arena is full of secrets," Fred said with a smile. "Go on in," he offered.
Nervous and unsure of what he would find, Harry reached forward and turned the handle on the door, pushing the door in and stepping inside. The room was absolutely perfect – a fire crackled merrily in a fireplace on the left-hand wall and a couch and a couple of armchairs sat in front of it in a semi-circle. On the other side of the room were a couple of beds that looked absolutely luxurious – Harry wondered if he was back in the Capitol. There was also a room off to the side which Harry discovered quickly was a bathroom.
"It's like a little apartment!" Harry exclaimed. "How did you find it? Where did it come from?"
"I don't know," Fred admitted. "On the first day, I started running right away and I ran all the way up here and I was just thinking how I needed somewhere I could hide out for a while until most of the tributes had killed each other, and suddenly this appeared. A little while later the Careers passed by, but it was like they couldn't see the room – like it would only appear for me. So I've been here for the past three days or so, counting down the tributes. There's this map see… hang on, I'll get it."
Fred ran over to the bedside table that sat between the two beds and pulled out a piece of paper that looked like scrap. "You know, it's interesting because until today, there was only one bed," he commented. "Here look," he spread the paper out and on it appeared a map of the entire arena, including all the different levels of the castle and the surrounding area. Harry noticed little dots down in the dungeon that were moving around – and they had labels next to them: Tom Riddle, Bellatrix Lestrange, and Peter Pettigrew.
"This is amazing!" Harry exclaimed. "It shows the whole arena, and everyone in it? Where are we?"
"That's the other weird thing," Fred said. "This room isn't on the map."
"Weird," Harry frowned. "Hey, it looks like Snape and Dumbledore made an alliance," he said, pointing to the two dots which were somewhere on the third floor. "I guess the Careers lost him."
"So that's it?" Fred asked. "Just the seven of us left?"
"Looks like it," Harry confirmed. "Peter killed the boy from eleven right before Sirius and I attacked. Then Bellatrix killed Sirius and Severus killed Charity.
"We're down to the wire," Fred said. "This'll all be over by tomorrow night probably."
"I guess we should get a good sleep then," Harry murmured. "If we're going to die tomorrow."
"Yeah," Fred agreed. They were both tired and if they were going to find themselves in a fight for their lives soon, it would be best to be well rested.
The next morning, Harry and Fred were awoken to the sound of Lee Jordan making an announcement. "Attention tributes!" he cried over the loudspeaker system of the arena. "The Capitol would like to invite you all to a feast, which will be held in one hour by the lake. We know you're all hungry, so we've taken the liberty of providing some extra-special treats today. Enjoy!"
Harry's stomach grumbled at the thought of food. "We have to go," he said.
"We can survive one more day without food," Fred protested.
"Either way, everyone's going to be there," Harry pointed out. "This is our chance to do something about the Careers."
Fred's stomach rumbled. "Also, some food wouldn't hurt," Fred added with a chuckle.
"So what's the plan?" Harry asked.
Half an hour later, a plan in mind, Harry and Fred left the secret room for good and began their descent to the lake. Fred brought the map with them in case they needed it later. When they reached the Entrance Hall, they found the castle doors wide open, and outside they could see the sprawling feast set on a fancy table right by the lake. Unfortunately, the Careers were already there, Riddle and Bellatrix feasting on the food while Peter circled them with a sword in hand, ready to attack if anyone were to approach.
"Great, now what do we do?" Fred sighed. Their plan had been devised for an empty feast table.
"One of us will need to act as a diversion," Harry said. "Then the other can grab some food."
"I'll be the diversion," Fred volunteered.
"Are you sure?" Harry asked. The one creating the diversion was the one most likely to end up getting killed after all.
"Yeah," Fred said. "I've been living it up in that secret room for days while you've been out here fighting. It's the least I can do."
"Make sure you have your knife ready," Harry said, getting his own out as he said so.
Fred copied Harry, moving his knife into his hand and gripping it tight. "I'm ready," he said.
As one, they crept out the doors, hugging the castle wall as they crept around the lake. When they reached the lake, Fred stopped as Harry continued to round it. While Harry approached from behind, Fred would try to draw the Careers back towards the castle entrance.
At Harry's nod, Fred walked out into the sunshine, waving his knife in front of him to catch the Careers' attention. Their heads shot up and abandoning their food, all three had their weapons in hand and were running for Fred. Meanwhile, Harry snuck up to the table from behind and started to shove all the food he could into his bag. Once his bag was full, he turned his attention on the Careers, ready to help Fred if it was needed.
Fred was supposed to run into the Entrance Hall and hide in the closet where Harry and Sirius had hidden that one time, but suddenly Severus and Albus Dumbledore – the boy from three – were coming out of the castle and blocking Fred's escape route. Harry immediately abandoned the food table, running forward. He wasn't sure what he was going to do, but he knew he didn't want to leave Fred fighting alone like he had Sirius.
Before Harry could reach the group, Bellatrix threw a dagger and it landed right in the center of Fred's chest. He fell and a canon blasted.
Harry froze where he stood, his legs giving way, causing him to fall on his knees. He watched as Bellatrix turned to Riddle for congratulations and suddenly, while her back was turned, Severus, her former ally who she'd betrayed, chopped her head off cleanly in a slicing motion. Harry really did throw up this time, retching all over the ground. A second canon sounded, indicating that Bellatrix was dead.
Finding himself without his partner, Riddle ran for the castle, abandoning his final ally. Peter ran after him and Harry heard another canon shot rang out. The rat came tumbling back out of the castle and down the stairs, landing at the foot of the stairs, dead.
Dumbledore and Snape still hadn't noticed Harry kneeling in the grass a short distance away and Harry remained completely still and quiet, hoping they wouldn't notice him at all.
Dumbledore turned to Snape and said something, then nodded his head in Harry's direction. Harry remained paralyzed as the two boys approached him, sure that his death was now imminent.
"Harry, right?" Dumbledore asked, pausing in front of Harry.
Harry looked up in surprise and nodded. Why was this tribute talking to him when he should be chopping his head off?
"Riddle's still out there and he's dangerous," Dumbledore continued. "I think the three of us should team up to take him down."
Harry frowned. At this point in the games, with only four tributes left, it was very uncommon for three to team up against one. Then again, if they remained separated, Riddle would surely win. At least this way they stood a chance.
Harry narrowed his eyes in Snape's direction.
"I don't trust him," Harry said, glaring at the boy from one. "He was with the Careers. He was with Riddle."
"He's with us now," Dumbledore assured Harry.
Even though Harry had seen with his own eyes how the Careers had turned on Snape, he was still wary. Once a Career, always a Career. That was the lesson he'd learned with Pettigrew and he was sticking to it.
But he didn't have many options left to him. If he stuck it out on his own, Riddle would find him and kill him. At least with Snape and Dumbledore, he'd have some measure of protection. It didn't mean he had to trust the greasy-haired boy.
"Alright," Harry agreed, getting to his feet. "One last alliance."