I own neither Harry Potter nor Star Wars. I promise to do nothing with other people's characters they wouldn't have had them do themselves. Of course, for Harry Potter, I could have a quarter of the students sorted into a legal terrorist training cell at the age of 11.
"What do you mean you cannot find her, Mr Longbottom?" the Gryffindor head of house asked. Neville had been searching for Daphne all evening. Having run out of other ideas, he decided to ask Professor McGonagall for help.
"I've searched everywhere, Professor McGonagall," Neville said, his voice cracking with panic. "I checked the library, and Madam Pince hadn't seen her all day, then I checked the owlery, she wasn't there. I checked with her friend Tracy, and she hadn't seen her since their Charms exam, and Tracy said she missed dinner!"
"I have also noticed," said Professor McGonagall, "that Miss Greengrass has been having quite a hard time of it since the news of your betrothal came out, including missing some meals. Are you quite sure she isn't simply having a bit of a time out from other people?"
"That's not so unusual lately, no," answered Neville. "She's been getting teased quite a bit, by the other Slytherins especially, for being betrothed to me. She's always told me if she was going to do that before, though, and I'd bring her something to eat. She never told me this time. I even went and asked Draco Malfoy if he'd seen her."
"And what did Mr Malfoy have to say?" McGonagall asked.
"He just asked me how I thought I could be betrothed to a girl if I couldn't even keep track of her," Neville answered, glumly. "Where could she be? It's nearly curfew!"
"Calm yourself, Mr Longbottom," McGonagall said, "I will speak with Professor Snape. I'm sure she'll turn up."
"Severus," Professor McGonagall called, "I need a word!"
Professor Snape was walking down the main dungeon hallway to his personal quarters when the Gryffindor head of house caught up with him.
"Minerva," Snape said, turning to face her, "how may I help you?"
"I'm afraid I must report to you that one of your students may be unaccounted for," Minerva told him. "Neville Longbottom reported to me that Daphne Greengrass had not been seen since she took her Charms exam this afternoon. She was not at dinner, nor has she been seen by her friend Tracy Davis. I wonder, could you check her dormitory and see if she is there?"
Professor Snape immediately went to the Slytherin dormitory and instructed the prefects to perform a bed check. Gemma Farley, the fifth-year girls' prefect, started with the first-years. She immediately reported back that Daphne Greengrass was not in her bed.
"What is the status of the search?" Headmaster Dumbledore asked.
Professors McGonagall, Snape and Sprout were sitting in his office.
"Hagrid assisted me in searching the dungeons," Professor Snape reported, "but to no avail. There were no signs of her aside from a few books in her common room that were sitting on an end table, but her classmates report that this was a favourite spot of hers to sit and read. I do not believe she returned to the dormitory since leaving it this morning."
Dumbledore nodded, then turned to Professor McGonagall.
"I have searched the ground and second floors, I found nothing out of the ordinary," McGonagall said. "I've asked my Gryffindor's to report it if they see her or receive any word of her."
"I've searched all of the greenhouses and the Hufflepuff common room," Professor Sprout chimed in. "I've seen no sign of her. I've also asked my 'Puffs to let a teacher know if anyone has any information."
"Very well," said Dumbledore. "I have notified her parents, and they should be here by morning. In the meantime…" Dumbledore was cut off as one of the paintings announced that Professor Flitwick was quite agitated and was requesting entrance. "Let him in," Dumbledore said.
A few moments later, the tiny form of Professor Flitwick ran into the office.
"Professor Dumbledore, Argus Filch is also missing!" he reported, panting and out of breath.
McGonagall clutched her chest in shock, and the scowl on Professor Snape's face grew even deeper.
"Argus?" asked Dumbledore. He consulted the ward charts that he had been studying and found that Filch was, indeed, missing from the castle.
"It cannot be a coincidence," said Professor McGonagall.
"No," Dumbledore responded. "However, I was unaware of any animosity between Mr Filch and Miss Greengrass."
"I should think not," said McGonagall. "I don't believe the girl has ever received even one detention." Professor Snape shook his head to confirm that she had not.
"I saw Miss Greengrass this afternoon for her Charms exam," Professor Flitwick said, "and she seemed perfectly fine at the time, if perhaps quieter than normal," Flitwick said. "I'm afraid I could find no trace of her at all."
"I'm afraid I must conclude," Professor Dumbledore said, "that Daphne Greengrass is no longer in the castle. We will search again to be certain, of course. Please keep an eye out for any clues pertaining to Argus Filch, as well. With both of them disappearing in such proximity to each other, I fear we must assume that Mr Filch has taken her."
Three days had passed since the Daphne had disappeared. The searches had turned up no clues, and there were no witnesses. The wards were studied by Dumbledore and McGonagall, and no sign of Daphne or Filch could be detected. The Aurors had been contacted the night the young Slytherin had gone missing, and were now scouring the country for any sign of the two. The Greengrass family had posted a 10,000 galleon reward for the return of their daughter, and a separate 5,000 galleon reward for any information that resulted in the arrest or death of the person who had taken her, presumed to be Argus Filch.
"Good evening, Master Yoda," Professor Dumbledore said. The small, green Jedi Master was sitting in a chair in front of Dumbledore's desk, with Master Kendet and Master Amani flanking him. "I trust you have been informed of the situation with the missing girl?" he asked.
"Most unfortunate, this is," said Yoda. "A tragedy for one so young to go missing."
"Quite so," said the Headmaster. "I feel I must ask if it would be possible for you to help us?" Dumbledore asked. "We have exhausted our resources, and I feel that time is running out."
"Hmmm…" Yoda hummed as he considered how the Jedi could assist. "Engaged, your local law officers, you have?" Yoda asked.
"Yes," Dumbledore answered. "The ministry has as many Aurors as they can spare searching the country for Mr Filch and Miss Greengrass. They have turned up no clues so far."
"Master Kendet," Yoda instructed, "go, with the Aurors you will. Assist, however you can."
"Yes, Master," Toma acknowledged with a bow.
"I will be lending my own assistance with the Aurors tonight, as well," said Professor Dumbledore.
"From the air," Yoda continued, "Master Amani and I will join the search. Use caution, we must. Short range, coded frequencies only can be permitted. Cloaked, our vessel must be."
"Come on, Neville," Ron whined, "it'll take your mind off of it. Just one game?"
Ron had been trying to wheedle a game out of Neville for the past three hours. He was genuinely trying to help Neville, and since Chess always made Ron forget about his troubles and obligations, it stood to reason that it would work for Neville as well. Neville and Daphne, however, had spent the last month getting to know each other a lot better as they studied and revised for their end of year exams together. He had grown quite fond of her, and no mere game of chess was going to solve his problem. Daphne had made it perfectly clear to Neville that she had no intention of taking their betrothal in any kind of physical direction for several years. Neville was the perfect gentleman about that, and, privately, was relieved to not have to be subjected to that pressure just yet.
It was just past curfew when the Weasley twins came up and saved Neville from their chess-obsessed younger brother.
"Give it a rest, Ron," said Fred. He and George had materialized behind their brother as if they were jacks sprung from their box.
"Anyway," added George, placing his hand on Neville's shoulder, "we need to have a private word with Mr Longbottom, here."
Neville allowed the twins to guide him to an empty corner of the Common Room and pulled out an old, blank piece of parchment. Across the room, Ron had switched targets and was now begging for a game from Seamus Finnigan.
"We've been thinking," Fred told Neville, whispering to keep their conversation as private as possible, "and we've decided…"
"To help you out," finished George. "Now, you've got to keep it a secret how we found out about it, but we think we've found them."
"You did?" Neville squeaked.
"Shhhh…. Watch," said Fred, as he put the tip of his wand to the centre of the parchment. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good!" he whispered, and Neville watched as spidery lines grew out from the tip of Fred's wand. At first, the lines formed handwriting.
"Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs - Purveyors of Aids to Magical mischief-makers are proud to present THE MARAUDER'S MAP."
The writing expanded to form walls and corridors, classrooms and passages, and hundreds of little black dots with names attached to them. Many of the black dots were moving around, mostly clustered in 4 rooms that Neville could tell were the house common rooms.
"This is the secret to our success," George said. "The Marauder's Map. It shows everyone in the castle, wherever they are. We've been keeping an eye out for Daphne and Filch, but it's taken a while."
"Where are they?" asked Neville. He was trying to pick her name out of the cluster of names in the Slytherin Common Room but was not having any success.
"Look over here," Fred said. He was pointing at an empty section of the castle on the third floor that Neville had never been in before. "Should be anytime now…" Fred muttered. Suddenly, two dots appeared at one end of a large chamber. They were clearly marked as Daphne Greengrass and Argus Filch.
"We've got to tell a teacher!" Neville exclaimed.
Fred and George looked at each other. They'd certainly anticipated that giving up the map would be a potential consequence of helping Neville, but they also had a lot of experience dealing with the authority system in Hogwarts. They tried to caution Neville to be careful telling anyone how he knew where the missing people were. Neville hastily agreed to be discreet and went flying through the portal and on his way to McGonagall's office.
Neville was nearly to his head of house's office when he heard the worst voice a student out of his common room after curfew ever had the misfortune of hearing.
"Well, well, well…" the silky-smooth voice of Severus Snape said. Neville froze. "What would a young Gryffindor such as yourself being doing out of bed at this hour?"
"Professor S. !" Neville stuttered. Even with the potions classes miles better now than they were at the start of the year, Neville had never quite gotten over the crippling fear he had developed of the potions master. Closing his eyes and screwing up his courage, he blurted out his plea for help. "I know where Daphne is! And Filch! I'm on my way to see Professor McGonagall now!"
"I see," said Professor Snape. "And where would they be?" he asked.
Neville hesitated. He didn't want to mention the twins to Snape. Who could tell how much trouble they would get into? He couldn't just abandon Daphne, though.
"The Weasley twins told me," he said, trembling. "Daphne and Filch are in the forbidden corridor on the third floor! I need to tell Professor McGonagall."
Snape looked him in the eyes and stared. Neville felt lost, like the deep black eyes of Severus Snape were bottomless pits he was falling into.
"Professor Dumbledore himself has searched the third-floor corridor, Mr Longbottom," Professor Snape said. "I will bring your concerns up with the Headmaster, but I cannot permit you to be wandering the halls after curfew."
Snape paused and looked away from Neville. There was a scowl on his face, and he was clearly fighting with his instincts to assign double-digit detentions and docking enough points to make Neville a pariah. Snape took a deep breath and calmed himself.
"In light of your betrothal to Miss Greengrass," he told Neville, "and the care you have taken to honour that obligation, I am going to go against my better judgement, Mr Longbottom. I am going to… pretend… that I did not see you out here tonight."
Neville's felt faint at the shock of this bombshell. The professor turned back to Neville and fixed him with a piercing gaze.
"This will be the only time this ever occurs," he told the Gryffindor boy. "Do not let me see you out after curfew again. Am I understood, Mr Longbottom?" The question was interspersed with deadly pauses and was meticulously annunciated.
"Yes, Professor," squeaked Neville. "But sir, the third-floor corridor…" he hurriedly said, intent on trying to help Daphne.
"Pretending is not one of my talents, Mr Longbottom!" Snape snapped. "One more word from you and Gryffindor will be in negative points until next Christmas! Now try my patience no longer!"
With that, Neville ran back to the Gryffindor common room and ducked back into the entrance portal.
Neville, Hermione, the Weasley twins and Ron were standing in a circle inside the Gryffindor common room. Upon hearing Neville's story of how Professor Snape had blocked him from reaching McGonagall, they tried to come up with a plan.
"What about the Jedi?" Fred asked. "Surely they can help?"
"They're not in the castle," answered Harry. "Professor Dumbledore asked if they could assist the Aurors in the search for Daphne. Toma is on the ground assisting the Aurors, and Master Amani and Master Yoda are providing aerial searches in the scout ship."
"Can't you call them back?" asked George. He had seen Harry use his comm unit before.
"They're running under radio silence," explained Harry. "This world hasn't made first contact yet, so it's standard procedure to run cloaked and silent, especially over populated areas."
"What are we going to do?" asked Hermione.
"We're going to go after them," Harry said. The group looked at each other.
"Tonight?" asked Neville.
"Now," said Harry.
"We're in," the twins said in unison.
"I'll come with you," said Neville. He looked scared but was not going to be left behind.
"Ok," said Hermione. Let's do it."
Ron Weasley hesitated for a moment, then said, "Ok, I'm in too."
"Ok," Harry said, "listen up. Our objectives are to find and secure Daphne and Argus Filch. Mr Filch should be considered extremely dangerous."
"But he's just a squib!" protested Ron.
"A squib?" asked Harry.
Fred and George enlightened Harry as to what a squib was. It was well known in the magical families that Argus Filch was a squib, and he had become something of a joke to students once they graduated and were no longer subjected to his cruelty. Harry was adamant that they not underestimate their opponent, though.
"It doesn't matter if he's a squib or not," he said. "He obviously has the ability to keep Daphne hidden and quiet for over three days now, and she's pretty resourceful and really smart. That can't have been easy for him, so don't relax your guard around him."
"How are we going to avoid Snape?" asked Hermione.
"Leave that to us," called out the twins.
"Harry, Hermione, you take the lead," elaborated Fred.
"And we'll go in the middle and guide you with the map," finished George. "Ron and Neville can bring up the rear and watch our backs."
"Let's go," said Harry, pulling off his outer Hogwarts robe to reveal his Jedi tunic beneath. The twins checked the Marauder's Map to ensure the coast was clear, then the six students left the Gryffindor common room to find and rescue Neville's betrothed.
Even with the twins checking the map frequently to ensure they wouldn't be caught, Fred and George got them to the third-floor corridor in record time. Employing several shortcuts that none of the other students had any idea even existed, it took less than ten minutes to go from common room to the trap door.
"It's odd that a simple alohomora charm could open this door," George remarked. "If they're actually trying to keep anyone out, they should have blocked it."
"No kidding," agreed Fred. "I would have expected an anti-alohomora to have been put on it at the least." Harry opened the trapdoor with the Force and peered down into the darkness.
"What do you suppose is down there?" asked Ron, eyeing the dark hole with deep suspicion.
"Only one way to find out," Harry responded. Without further hesitation, he dropped into the hole and was swallowed by darkness.
"Harry!" Hermione yelled.
"It's ok!" he called back. It's a soft landing!" Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Boys!" she hissed. "Look out below!" she called out and jumped after him. Neville immediately followed her. Ron was still eyeing the hole and clearly didn't want to jump, but he also didn't want to be left behind. He closed his eyes and took the plunge. Fred and George looked at each other and grinned.
"Geronimo!" they yelled in unison, then stepped over the edge.
Harry and Hermione had landed on a bed of vegetation that had cushioned their fall. As the rest of the group arrived, Hermione realized the danger they were in. As each student landed, the plant started to wrap around their extremities. It wouldn't take it long to strangle all of them.
"Oh, no! This is Devil's Snare!" she called out. "Don't struggle!"
"What do you mean, don't struggle?" Ron yelled, struggling.
"Light!" yelled Neville. "It hates light!"
"Of course," exclaimed Hermione. "Lumos Solem!" she called out, and a bright light rushed out of her wand. The others shut their eyes and dropped to the ground as the Devil's Snare shrunk back from the blinding light as she waved it around.
"Is everyone alright?" Harry asked.
"Yes," they all groaned.
"It's a good thing you're so good at Herbology," Hermione said to Neville. Neville blushed.
"It's a good thing you've got a searchlight hidden in that wand," he complimented.
"Any time," she said with a smile. "Let's go."
She led the way to the only door leading out of the chamber they found themselves in. Hermione tried the Alohomora charm on it but found that it wouldn't work on this door.
"Well, I suppose that makes sense," George said. "Don't block the door to get in the trap, get someone down here, then have them get stuck between the Devil's Snare and whatever lies ahead."
"Or," said Fred, "keep going ahead by grabbing one of these keys!"
Everyone looked up. In the direction Fred was pointing, they observed a large number of winged metal keys flying through the air in a slow circle. A broomstick lay propped against the wall.
"Ok," said George, "Fred and I are on the quidditch team. We're beaters, but Fred plays a descent seeker in a pinch, and those keys aren't flying that fast."
"We're looking for an old brass one, like the lock," suggested Ron.
"There!" called out Harry. He was pointing to a key that was clearly flying slower than the others. One of the wings was bent like it had been roughly handled and then released.
"Ok," said Fred. "Here I go!"
He grabbed the broom, but as soon as his hand touched the handle, all of the keys turned and dove at him!
"This complicates things!" yelled out Ron, holding his arms around his head to protect himself from the dive-bombing keys. Fred took off on the broom and tried to catch the key. It was exceedingly difficult as he was under constant attack by the keys, who were trying to unseat him from the broom.
Harry, seeing the key behind Fred, raised his hand and applied the Force. Pulled off course, it diverted from its path and zoomed down to Harry's outstretched hand. He thrust the key into the lock and turned it.
"Fred!" called out George, "we've got it!"
"Hold the door open and get ready to shut it quick!" Fred yelled back. Once everyone else was in and George stood ready at the door, Fred steered into the next room. George slammed the door shut as soon as Fred was clear. The keys thudded against the wood of the door as they knocked themselves into it over and over again.
"Well, that was fun," George said, sarcastically. He took the map out, and the group consulted it. "Ok, we're here," George said, "in this large chamber. We've got to go straight through this room, through the next two small room, and Daphne and Filch should be right there."
"Let's go," said Harry. This time, Fred led the way as they passed through the large room. Tall statues lined the room. The smooth, marble floor was cleaner than was usual in the old castle.
"What is this?" asked Hermione, confused.
"I know what this is," said Ron in an awed tone of voice. "It's a chessboard!"
As he said the words, torches flared into life on the walls of the room. The marble floor was now revealed to be comprised of black and white squares in a checkerboard pattern. The statues were chess pieces. The white pieces were at the far end of the room, already aligned in their appropriate starting places. The black pieces moved into position behind the children, blocking off both entrance and exit to the room.
"What do we do?" asked Hermione.
"It's obvious, isn't it?" asked Ron. "We've got to play our way across the room." He started thinking of strategies and planning his opening move.
"Perhaps," said George. "Or maybe we can just bypass it." He took a step forward and tried to slip between two pawns. In unison, all of the pawns drew a sword in each hand and clashed them in front of each other, barring the way!
"Well, that was rude," remarked Fred. I wonder if…" he said as he tried to duck under the swords to see how much leeway the transfigured chess pieces would allow him.
Unfortunately, there was apparently no leeway at all beyond the first warning. The pawn to Fred's left raised itself to full height, placed both its swords parallel to each other, and swung them at Fred's midsection!
With a snap and a hum, a flash of ruby red light flashed between Fred and the pawn. The swords went flying, clattering to the ground along with the hands and forearms of the pawn. Harry stood in a defensive position, lightsaber lit and held over his shoulder like a baseball player about to take a swing. The pawn looked as if would scream if it could, turned and tried to ram into Harry. The Jedi attacked again, and the pawn crumbled into rubble. The rest of the chess pieces, both black and white, responded by drawing swords, maces and spears. With a terrible grinding, the golems joined forces and charged against the intruders!
Without hesitation, Harry rushed into the charging stone figures. His lightsaber flew about him as he twirled and dodged like a whirling dervish. The rest of the students formed a defensive circle and assisted Harry as best as they could by hitting the chess pieces with blasting curses.
Ron was blasting away at the pieces as well, but all the while, he was yelling at the others.
"We have to play it! We have to play it!" he kept repeating.
Harry wasn't even using magic, just the Force and his lightsaber. Metal swords still gripped by stony fists were falling as fast as they attacked, but the newly unarmed pawns then leapt on him to try and crush Harry under their weight. Twice they would have overcome him if not for the efforts of the other Gryffindors.
After minutes that felt like hours, the number of opponents had finally thinned. With room to manoeuvre, Harry suddenly jumped higher into the air than he should have been capable of, performed a backflip over a knight, and landed behind the stone horse. Neville had just released a Bombarda curse on that particular knight and looked on in horror as his spell went flying towards the back of his Jedi friend.
Harry, warned by the Force, turned and deflected the curse with his lightsaber! It bounced off the shining blade and ricocheted into the face of the white queen! With a boom, it knocked the head off of the stone chess piece. The now headless piece retreated from the battlefield and joined the remains of its fellow pieces out of the way. In the meantime, Harry had decimated the knight.
Between the Jedi Padawan and the four other students, only the black and white king remained upright and whole. Simultaneously, the two chess pieces removed their crowns and threw them on the floor. The white king them stalked off the floor to find its headless queen. Harry, Fred, George, Neville and Hermione picked their way across the rubble-filled room and into the next chamber. Ron, however, stayed behind, staring at the remains of the chess pieces thoughtfully.
"Ron," Harry called out to him. "You coming?"
Ron didn't answer. The rest of the students stared back at the first-year boy as Ron kept looking around him at the chessboard.
This was supposed to be mine, Ron thought to himself. He couldn't explain the utter certainty he had in this idea, but it had fit him as perfectly as his mum's Christmas sweaters. The Devil's Snare was Neville's, he thought, this chess game was for me, and the flying keys were for the twins. It only stood to reason that somewhere up ahead would be challenges for Hermione and, of course, the last one was for Harry. But this one, he thought again, this one was supposed to be mine! Ron was separated from the group now, standing in the middle of the chessboard.
Suddenly, the chess pieces reformed themselves from the rubble that had been strewn all over the floor. Within a matter of seconds, Ron was standing in the middle of a reset game board, and was cut off from the group!
"Ron!" yelled out Hermione.
"We don't have time!" George said. "Who knows how long they'll stay in that chamber, and they'd have to have been deaf to have not heard all this."
"Listen, Ron," called Harry from behind the line of white pieces. "Get yourself out. You'll probably have to play your way back this time. Once you get through, get the broom and fly past the keys and the Devil's' Snare. Get to Dumbledore. Make sure he knows we're here, and that we're going after Daphne and Filch."
Ron nodded. The others, not wanting to abandon Ron, but left without much choice, allowed the door to close and moved on. Ron turned to the white players.
"Ok, boys," he said to the pieces. They all turned their heads and stared at him. "I'll be a knight." He climbed into the queenside white knight and began the game.