To the seventh years of Hogwarts, the siren that echoed around the halls on a Thursday was familiar. It was a sound only heard once or twice for many of them. Despite this, it was a sound that was intricately planned for, with many hours spent mapping out routes and escapes. This occurrence was rare, one that was extremely fun, and one completely unknown to the first years, who were currently running around like headless chickens in the Great Hall amongst the far calmer upper years.

One of them, a small boy with blond hair, ran up to a seventh year. "What is going on? Is there an attack?" It was a strange question to ask, considering there was no war going on at the current time. There hadn't been a Wizarding War since Grindelwald, which was over ten years ago. "Has Hogwarts malfunctioned?"

The seventh year, Grady, snorted into his book. Dismay crossed the first year's face, rapidly turning into indignation. Grady grinned. "You'll find out soon enough. What's your name?" The first year crossed his arms,

"Why should I tell you?"

"Do you want help?"

He huffed, before saying, "Briar. Henry Briar." The newly named Briar took a seat next to Grady, eyes expectant. "So...what is the siren?"

"It's somewhat of a...tradition around Hogwarts." Grady stood abruptly, gathering his books. He glanced down at Briar. "Be ready."

And with that, he left, ignoring Briar's calls of, "Be ready for what? Hey, I'm talking to you!".

Briar sat there in utter disbelief, mouth hanging so obscenely wide he revealed a rather stunned codfish. Grady didn't tell him what was going on. Just to 'be ready.' He gulped, unable to expel the foreboding feeling brewing in his chest. The siren couldn't be super dangerous, otherwise, the teachers would be running an evacuation, frantically ushering the students to the safest place in Hogwarts. There had to be some element of danger or risk to it, though. The older students wouldn't be huddling together if there wasn't.

As he spiralled deeper down into his thoughts, a girl sat down next to him. Her rough tap on the shoulder shook him out of it. A glance up revealed the girl to be his classmate Dee Mahoney. He wouldn't go as far as to call her a friend, but they were on amicable terms.

"Any ideas what is going on? I saw you talking to Grady." She smiled brightly, teeth on full display."Come on, spill." Mahoney shuffled closer, leaning in. "There's got to be something."

This girl had no sense of personal space at all. Best to answer her and get it out of the way. "He told me nothing at all. Nothing of much use, anyhow. Only to be ready, whatever that means."

"Oh my Merlin! I think my older sister mentioned something about this a few years ago." Her hands started flailing about. Briar shifted slightly to the left so he wouldn't end up with a red mark marring his face, listening intently. "She said that every few years, there is a challenge that goes back generations. She said several parts of Hogwarts become invisible and it's a game to find your way across and to your classes on time. This must be it!"

"I suppose you could be correct," Briar mused. It did make a great deal of sense. Mahoney's older sister was in her sixth year, meaning she would have likely experienced something like this before. "Well, we'd better prepare for the worst. I think there are some books in the library with spells to stop invisibility. They may be of some help. We have a free period, checking them out would be a good idea.

"Yes, that! We'll do that. I'll just go grab Shelley and Don." As she scuttled away, Briar couldn't help the groan that escaped him. While Mahoney was tolerable, her friends Shelley Baxter and Don Young were insufferable. "Alright, we're back!"

The three stood in front of him, all grinning and fidgeting. He would never understand how three idiots such as these managed to get into Ravenclaw. Wasn't the house supposed to be upstanding? There wasn't time for such rational thoughts. Right now, he needed to be worrying about Hogwarts potentially vanishing (he didn't completely believe Mahoney's theory). Having three more brains, immature as they were, would be a great help.

"To the library. And try to keep quiet." His voice was clipped as he tried desperately not to betray his annoyance. His mother hammered into him the importance of having other people like you but never liking other people. She was a Slytherin through and through. Some of her judgements he didn't agree with, but most of them he did.

"Aw, but this is so much fun. The four of us, on an adventure. We're like the three musketeers." Baxter paused slightly, chewing her lip. "You could be a horse, Briar."

"I don't know what story you are talking about. I would never be a horse. If anything, you would be the horse." He walked slightly in front of them so as to ignore their insufferable faces.

"It's a muggle story," chimed in Young. "And he wouldn't be a horse. He's too smart for that. Why can't we all be musketeers? The fourkateers? Fourskateers? Ah, I'll figure it out later."

Briar decided that perhaps Young wasn't so bad.

They finally reached the library. Briar listened to their idle chatter, often interrupting with a dry judgement of his own. For some odd reason, the other three often laughed at his comments. Their infectious laughter quirked the corners of his lips and made him want to join in on the conversation a little more often. He often found himself thinking like that, but he ignored it in favour of his mother's teachings.

"Where are those books, Briar?" asked Mahoney. "And before you say anything, yes, I love the library and come here a lot. Not all of us catalogue the entire thing, you know." Briar shut his mouth, point thoroughly refuted.

"Not that it's a bad thing," added Young. "It's actually very handy. I wish I had a memory like yours." He sighed dramatically.

Young was now his favourite.

"Hard work is all it takes." Where did that come from? "The books on invisibility are just through here. Follow me." Briar began weaving through the towering wooden shelves of books, scrolls and manuscripts. Early morning light filtered through the large windows, casting long shadows behind them. Mahoney and Baxter entertained themselves by walking like the models on the cover of the new magazine Witch Weekly.

Briar took them deeper and deeper into the maze that was the Hogwarts Library. He breathed in the familiar, musty scent of ancient books mixing with crisp pages fresh off the press. This was where he felt most at home, among the tomes, surrounded by knowledge. Here, there were no rules to follow (except normal library rules, but they didn't count), no-one to tell him what he could and couldn't do.

"This is amazing! I've never seen this part of the library!" exclaimed Mahoney as they rounded the last corner. These books were some of the more obscure ones, unknown to even some of the older years. Briar took pride in knowing the library so well. That same pride flooded him now, catching him off guard.

"Welcome, I guess," Briar said. He shook himself back to his usual manner of speaking. "The books that you are looking for are on this shelf here." He reached up and pulled a few key ones down. There wasn't time to sift through endless information. Something told him that whatever Grady told him to be ready for was coming sooner, rather than later. With a flick of his wand and a charm his mother taught him, three more floated down, settling on the desk with a flutter.

Six books sat in front of them. "Egnotiatus Invisibility," Briar said. The pages began rustling back and forth, slight puffs of wind disturbing their hair. They soon stopped on the exact chapters that were needed. "There we go."

"Where did you learn that charm? It's amazing. That would save so much time studying!" Mahoney gushed.

"Um, my mother?" Briar was suddenly feeling exceedingly awkward. "She's taught me a lot over the years, more than I probably should know. No time for that! Let's start looking at these books. I'll take these two," he gestured to the ones closest to him, "and you three can split the other four. We're looking for anything to do with Hogwarts and invisibility."

"We know," teased Baxter, drawing out the 'o' sound. "You aren't the only one in Ravenclaw, you know. Other people do have brains."

"Not that you use them correctly," he parried back. Young, once again, snorted. "Alright, chop-chop! These books aren't going to read themselves." He paused, then muttered to himself, "Though, that would be a wonderful spell. Maybe I should look into it."

Their research period flashed by. None of the books held any information about Hogwarts turning invisible, except for the one mention about an invisible staircase in 1472. Briar and the others followed up on the lead, managing to find a few stray mentions of invisibility over the years. Only three, though. Nothing close enough to their time for Mahoney's sister to learn about. The theory of it being a tradition kept out of books to surprise first years was discussed.

Forty minutes later, exactly an hour after the siren sounded, found the four first years deeply engrossed in a discussion about ancient invisibility charms and spells. Briar was seated on a chair, feet propped up on the supports. Mahoney and Young perched on the edge of a table, Baxter pacing back and forth. Their eyes gleamed with excitement.

Perhaps, Briar thought, there was a reason they were in Ravenclaw. The Sorting Hat did always have a reason for doing these things. He sighed to himself, glancing down at the floor. Immediately, his eyes snapped open.

"Don't touch the floor! Baxter, get on something!" He scrambled off his wooden chair onto a bench, tamping down his fear. "Now, Baxter!" She leapt up onto a table, bushy black hair falling out of its braid.

She did it just in time, too. Before his very eyes, the worn wooden floor started smoking, a deadly orange colour seeping through. Heat rose instantly, causing Briar's eyes to water. He brought his robe up to cover his mouth, coughing slightly. It wasn't on fire, though. The floor, so hot it almost glowed, moved sluggishly through the aisles. Realisation slapped him in the face.

"It's lava!"

"We can see that!" coughed Mahoney. He glanced over at the three of them, all huddled on a table. A table that was wooden. A wooden table that wasn't catching fire in the blistering heat, yet it touched the lava. That meant…

"It's not real!" Briar and Young cried at the same time. They paused, awkwardly glancing at each other. Briar took that as an opportunity to speak first.

"This has to be what the siren was on about. We were wrong with the invisibility. Mahoney, your sister is a whole idiot."

She glared playfully back, shuffling around to give more space to her friends. "It's not like I didn't already know that. All my siblings are idiots."

"How many do you have?"

"Four!"

"That's too many."

"I know that Briar, I live with them."

"Would you two shut up!" Baxter shouted, before they carried on. "This can wait until later. We have lava right now. Let's deal with that and worry about siblings later. Later, Briar." He dropped the issue. "It can't be real lava, otherwise the table would be burning."

"The whole castle would be burning," said Mahoney. "There must be no risk to use if we touch the lava."

"Not lava."

"We'll just call it lava, Briar, it's easier. Carrying on—"

"Oh my God! It's the Floor is Lava!" Young jumped to his feet. "It's a muggle game that I play with my friends. This must be the wizarding version of it. Here, look." He grabbed the book he was studying, and before Briar could yell "No!" he chucked it down into the lava.

It didn't burn. A golden light surrounded it for a split second before it disappeared in a dramatic puff of smoke. Briar blinked owlishly, taking the robe down from his mouth to taste normal air. The 'smoke' was a trick, as the heat seemed to be. Illusions. He chuckled, overtaken by the brilliance of it. This was incredible.

"—iar! Briar! Earth to Henry Briar!"

"Mmm?"

"We have class in twenty minutes and it's on the other side of the castle."

"I was half right! We have to get to class on time, I mean," Mahoney added at the incredulous looks sent her way. "Maybe my sister isn't too bad."

"We still have to get to class," Young insisted.

"Indeed we do. Without touching the floor, lest we want to disappear like that poor book. Madam Pince is going to be livid, you know." Briar stood, surveying the area around them. The four of them were deep in a corner of the library, making the distance needed to be travelled difficult. The path wouldn't be all the hard, as the benches were close together and wrapped all the way around the shelves. The real challenge would come outside of the library, getting to the dungeons.

He groaned. It was utterly typical that it was the dungeons. Some scaling of precarious surfaces would be needed. Briar suddenly found himself very grateful for the seemingly useless knick-knacks and tables scattered around the halls of Hogwarts.

"Follow me," he said, gesturing to the others. "Getting out won't be that hard. Getting to the dungeons will be the real challenge."

"We know, Briar." Baxter. Of course, it was her.

Briar ignored her and, with his bag firmly on his back, leapt across the aisle and onto the next workbench. He wobbled for a second, arms wheeling wildly. Thankfully he didn't fall. He walked around to the other side, careful not to step on the books left out by uncaring students who were currently in the same boat as him.

Three sets of footsteps thumped behind him. The others were there and hadn't fallen. Good. He continued forward, traversing the library with skill and precision. Well, as much skill and precision as he could manage. Even though he knew the lava was fake, his mind made up wild theories about what would happen if he were to fall in it. Where would he go? Who else would be there, having failed the challenge? And, most importantly, what kind of magic was used to enchant it? That was one he needed to know and would eventually find out.

The door of the library loomed near. It hung open, inviting them to dare try to step through it. Now that he could see the rest of Hogwarts, his jaw went slack.

Orange light reflected off the walls like sunlight through stained glass. Students were scaling the walls like monkeys, yelping as they fell off and disappeared in the 'lava.' The older students, sixth and seventh years, had a predetermined path planned out as they deftly hopped from table to railing. Some even hung off the edge of painting frames, ignoring the furious shouts of the inhabitants.

Put quite simply, Hogwarts was in pandemonium.

So was Briar. Between the bench he was on and the safety of a railing outside, there was nothing. No tables or chairs, the walls now suspiciously smooth. It would be impossible to get over there by leaping onto something...unless.

"I'll levitate you three across, then you do the same for me."

"Will the charm work? We're quite heavy to be lifting by yourself," asked Young.

"I suppose two of us could do it at a time to ensure safety."

"Oh my God you sound like my mum when she goes to work," moaned Baxter. "But it's a good idea. Let's do it."

And so they eventually all made it across, beginning the next step of their journey. Though they would never make it on time to Professor Slughorn's class, Briar was sure that the kindly professor wouldn't mind in the slightest if he was among the group. He was always sure to have close relationships with teachers in case a situation like this arose. His techniques paid off!

Fifteen minutes later, they jumped from a table to a slowly moving rug travelling in the general direction of the potions classroom. When all four of them were on, Briar breathed a sigh of relief. Even though these people (except Young) weren't his favourite, they needed to stick together. He would consider it a personal failure if even one of them fell into the lava now.

"That was quite the adventure," puffed Mahoney, plopping herself down on the rug. She ran her fingers through it appreciatively. "Nice to have a break, aye?"

"Yeah, something like that," said Young. He stood standing, shifting from foot to foot so as not to topple over into Briar.

"Uh, guys?"

"I have to say, you three aren't as bad as I previously thought," Briar absentmindedly said. "And you may have half a brain each."

"Such a compliment coming from you," Young chuckled.

"Guys!"

"Have we started to soften him," cooed Mahoney, making embarrassing faces at Briar. He stuck his chin up.

"No. Not in the slightest."

"GUYS!" Baxter shouted. Their conversation stopped immediately, all eyes turning to Baxter. "Thank you. Now, if you would listen, the rug is sinking."

"What? Why didn't you say something?" Young huffed. "There's a table we can jump to over there."

"There's only room for one!" Briar exclaimed. "Oh. Now there's room for none." Before his very eyes, a very familiar seventh year somehow dropped from the ceiling onto the table, light as a feather. He laughed upon seeing them.

"Rule one of The Floor is Lava, firsties. Never, ever, hitch a ride on a rug." Grady gave a gleeful grin upon seeing their panicked faces. "Nice knowing you. Might want to get out while you can, you're sinking."

"We know that," snarled Briar. In his annoyed state, he thought it was a good idea to reach down and attempt to scoop the lava out with his bare hands, ignoring the frantic shouts of Baxter, Mahoney and Young.

Next thing he knew all he could see was a blinding golden light. He was falling down, wind whipping his hair all over the place. He stopped abruptly, sitting on a soft cushion. The room around his was plush and filled to the brim with disgruntled students, moaning and groaning over their own failure. Briar cursed himself, clambering to his feet. How stupid did he need to be to try and shovel the lava with his bare hands?

Oh, Grady had it coming to him. Briar was going to make his year as inconvenient as possible and not be caught.

"Briar! Hey! Over here!"

He whipped around and saw three familiar faces smiling back at him. How...why were they smiling? Grady would have been off the table, and levitating was an option.

"What are you guys doing here?"

"We're here with you, silly. We couldn't let you brood alone. So what if we're late to class? You'd brood a hole into the wall the rate you're going." Baxter's optimism, for the first time, put a small smile on Briar's face. "You're one of us now."

"What if I don't want to be?"

"No choice. You helped us out back there, so our friendship is the least we could offer in return." Mahoney stepped forward and enveloped Briar in a hug. He froze, arms sticking out at awkward angles.

"I don't think I'm a hugging person."

"You will be," reassured Young. "The Fourkateers are here!"

"Don, that will never catch on," said Baxter.

"Watch me, it will. We're the fourkateers."

"You make us sound like cutlery!"

Briar smiled to himself. Perhaps liking people wasn't so bad. But seriously, next time he wouldn't lose.

Game on, Hogwarts.

This turned out a nice little character piece, I think. A bit longer than I thought, as well, but I enjoy reading it. Hope you did too.

My answer to last chapter's question: I would travel to Ireland, as it's where a lot of my ancestors are from. I really want to explore my past, see where I come from. The thought of it fascinates me.

Question of the Chapter: What is your favourite Harry Potter book and why?

Sincerely,
Mariadoria

:)