Arnold's Wizarding World
Chapter 10: Reign of Terror
Sorry about the late update. We're doing final exams and uploading this chapter completely slipped my mind. You are all slowly catching up to me, the last time I wrote this story was a few weeks ago and I'm still in the process of writing Chapter 15, so I might not upload for awhile after I post Chapter 11 because I need to be at least five chapters ahead of y'all. Sorry about that, I'm just trying to avoid a writer's block. Please keep reviewing, because I'm losing inspiration and that is not good :\
Short chapter, so stay tuned.
"How in the world are we going to get out of here?" Helga asked as she kicked a chair. "Eduardo told us that Gerald and I would cause this world to glitch or something!"
"This is all my fault…" I mumbled.
"No it's not Arnold, you didn't know this was going to happen," Gerald stated, looking away from a strange object before turning back towards me.
I sighed, wiping my face with my robe and eyeing Boris, before wincing and looking away.
"Don't look over there Arnold, it'll only make it worse," Helga noted. "Come on, let's get out of here so that we can try to find a way out of this circus."
"You don't have to tell me twice," Gerald announced.
"Wait," I claimed, stopping them from approaching the exit. "You guys shouldn't go out like that, people will suspect. You should wear the other Helga and Gerald's robes."
They both looked at each other and shrugged, receiving the robes I was handing them.
We then walked out of the room, peeking out into the hallway and walking up the stairs as if nothing had happened. As we stepped out, we were stunned to discover that the Grand Hall was empty… and silent. Hogwarts was already supernatural as it was, but now it felt… lonely and deserted.
"Criminy, I feel like I'm at Eugene's 9th birthday party."
"I said I was sorry!" I exclaimed, wincing at the memory.
"C'mon Arnold, you had one job, pass out the party invitations," Gerald added.
I sighed, since when did Gerald and Helga start teaming up against me?
"So, what now?" Helga asked, sitting on one of the steps of the grand staircase.
We heard small steps, and my face lit up as Abner ran down the steps with the relic that had given me powers in his mouth.
"There you are boy!" I exclaimed, suddenly realizing that I had completely forgotten about Abner. "I'm glad you're okay."
He oinked and placed the relic at my feet. As I picked it up, I eyed it curiously.
"What is that?" Gerald asked.
"The Green Eyes sent it to me, this is the thing that gave me powers, but, I don't know why Abner would give it to me again."
"Maybe to renew your powers football head. Considering that you've run out of juice," Helga suggested.
"I don't think so," I answered. "I would have felt something by now."
Gerald took the relic from me and observed it, while Helga and I discussed what we were going to do next.
"Okay so we have your pig, we have you, and you have us, now we just need to get out of here without Sean melting us into a pile of mashed potatoes."
"Guys! Check this out!"
Helga and I eyed Gerald and watched as he walked around the room, holding the relic in front of his eye like a magnifying glass. "This room is completely empty!"
"Huh?" I asked as he handed me the relic and I took a peek for myself.
The room was completely white, and as I turned to look at Gerald, I noticed that his body exerted a lot of heat, and his silhouette was masked with a red color, as if the relic was trying to tell me that he was something real. I turned to look at Helga, same thing.
"Woah!" I exclaimed. "This relic shows us who's real and who's fake!"
"Let me see that!" Helga demanded as she snatched it and took a peek herself.
"Yeah that's great and all but how is that going to help us get out of here?" Gerald inquired as he began walking around.
"Wait, keep walking Gerald," Helga stated, causing Gerald to stop. "Walk away from me."
"Uh, okay," he answered, walking up the stairs slowly.
"Criminy! This thing is tracking Gerald's footsteps too, I see footprints, but they disappear after a few seconds. I'm even seeing Arnold's footsteps walking out of the front door!"
"Um, Helga, I'm not walking anywhere," I answered, causing all of us to freeze. I grabbed the relic from Helga and confirmed her statement.
Wait a minute, if someone's footsteps were seen walking out of the front door, then that must mean that we're not the only ones from the real world here!
"What if it's Sean?" Gerald asked.
"No, he would have made himself known by now, especially knowing that Hairboy over here doesn't have powers anymore."
"I'm following them," I concluded as Abner and I ran after them.
"Wait up man!"
"Great, this is San Lorenzo ALL over again!"
As we stepped out of the grand hall, I noticed the footsteps begin to fade faster. "They're running!"
"Well run after them," Gerald exclaimed as we chased after them.
I noticed the footsteps head toward Hagrid's hut, and I stopped as I watched the silhouette through the relic, but was shocked to discover that there was no one there when I would remove the relic from my eye.
"The relic detects someone there," I told Helga and Gerald.
"I don't see anyone! Are you sure you aren't seeing things?"
"No! They're right there!" I exclaimed, looking into the relic. "It looks like they're trying to open the door to the hut."
Helga snatched the relic from me and took a peek, her eyebrow furrowing as she confirmed my statement. "Huh, it's like the person is invisible or something."
I watched the front door to Hagrid's hut open and close by itself, causing chills to run down my back.
"Sheesh Arnold, a wizard school? Couldn't you have been trapped in a fake world made to look like Dinoland? This place gives me the creeps!" Gerald huffed.
"Wait! I just remembered something!" I exclaimed. "When I supposedly fell off my broom last week, Boris told me that he thinks the British Ministry of Magic sent someone here to save me, I think that could be them!"
"Woah woah woah, hold the phone!" Gerald exclaimed. "You fell off a broom?"
"How is that even possible?"
"No time to explain, come on! I think the person inside the hut is good!" I exclaimed as I headed toward Hagrid's hut.
I opened the door slowly, with Gerald and Helga slowly trailing behind me.
"Hello, is anyone here?" I whispered.
"We come in peace," Gerald added.
After not receiving a response, I placed the relic in my eye again, and looked around. The silhouette was gone, but the relic was vibrating strongly when I came face to face with an item on the floor.
I grabbed the fabric, watching as my hand completely disappeared along with the fabric.
"Woah!" Gerald and Helga exclaimed in unison.
I released the fabric and it fell on the floor. This caused a small flask to roll near my feet. I picked it up and observed it, "This is the Draught of the Living Death potion I made in Professor Malfoy's class!"
"The Draught of the Living what?" Helga asked.
"If someone drinks it, they'll fall into a deathlike slumber," I explained, remembering what Phoebe had answered during our first day of Potions.
"That's fine and dandy, but what's that?" Gerald asked as he pointed at the cloak I had previously picked up and dropped.
I picked it up again, causing both of my arms to disappear. "I think it's an invisibility cloak."
"And it comes from the real world? Are you sure about that football head?" Helga asked.
"Well, the relic says it is!" I exclaimed.
"Do you think the silhouette dropped them off here so that you can find them?" Gerald asked.
"Well, I think so, these are the only two things that actually come from the real world. And I don't see them anywhere."
"Look, they left this thing too," Helga stated as she picked up a piece of parchment with a ripped piece of a scroll placed on top of it. "Looks like they wrote a few words too."
The three of us hovered over it and read the words, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."
Words began to suddenly appear on the parchment, and I opened it, revealing a map of Hogwarts.
I gasped as I noticed Gerald, Helga, and I's name on the parchment.
"Woah! We can use this to track people!" Helga exclaimed. "Look, there's Boris."
I frowned, but confirmed that Boris was still in the Room of Requirement.
"Who gave you this Arnold?" Gerald asked.
"I don't know," I answered truthfully. "But I wish I knew."
"Look, I found Sean, he's in the dungeons!" Helga exclaimed as she pointed at Sean's name, which was hovering over the Slytherin dungeons.
Suddenly, I noticed many names begin to reappear. Phoebe was in the library, Seymour was in the Slytherin restroom, Harold, Sid and Stinky were in the dining hall, and Hagrid—
"Arnold, what are you doing in me hut?"
The three of us turned and Hagrid watched us with a quizzical brow. I quickly placed the parchment and the flask inside my pocket and smiled.
"Eh, we wanted to come say hi," I answered.
Hagrid seemed pleased, and smiled before walking into his small kitchen and placing a kettle onto his stove. "Well, I'm glad you're here. I heard about the quidditch game, and I'm happy to see that you and your one eye browed friend are doing all right. I've always favored the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, though I am rather biased."
"This is Hagrid, he's a friend of mine," I whispered. "Just play along."
"I heard Headmistress McGonagall telling the other Professors that Scheck was going to receive a punishment for his behaviour during the game. He might even be removed from the team. You didn't hear it from me though. They're trying to find Draco right now to discuss his punishment, you wouldn't happen to have seen him, have you?"
I visibly winced, and I opened my mouth to respond, but was stopped as Ginny barged into Hagrid's hut, "Hagrid! Professor Boris is in the Room of Requirement! And he's dead!"
The whole school was rushed to the dining hall while investigations for Boris' passing went underway. Filch, Professor Flitwick, and Professor Simmons were ordered to keep an eye on us. It took me all the effort I could muster [and Helga's death glares] to not tell Hagrid and Ginny the truth, and I couldn't help but feel like Boris' passing was all my fault!
Helga sat at the Slytherin table, and we realized that Sean wasn't sitting there.
I was tempted to take out the map, but we were too exposed for me to be taking that out.
The Professors walked back inside, with Sean hot on the headmistress' tail. He had a smug look on his face, and when he and I made eye contact, his eyes reflected that of sadism. And it was terrifying.
"Attention students," McGonagall started. "It pains me to inform you that an assassination has taken place at our school, and according to one of your peers, a Professor is the culprit."
I narrowed my eyes, why would Sean tell Headmistress McGonagall that one of his own killed Boris? It didn't make sense!
"Draco Malfoy has assassinated Professor Boris, an act that will not be tolerated! And our superiors have ordered us to drop the act, and to keep Arnold Shortman, Helga Pataki, and Gerald Johanssen locked in here until further notice. That being said, lock those three up in the dungeous!"
HUH?
I suddenly noticed all the students turn and glare at me, glitching violently as their eyes turned blue. Ginny approached me and grabbed my shoulders roughly, while Sid and Harold grabbed Gerald and Hagrid grabbed Helga."
"Wait, I don't understand!" I exclaimed.
"It's quite obvious Arnold," Professor Simmons stated as his head glitched and his eyes turned blue. "And thank you for helping La Sombra recover the Corazon, we couldn't have done it without you, or Boris!"
"What?"
"Boris was a former death eater boy," Hagrid explained. "He worked for Voldemort, but fled before the Battle of Hogwarts. To redeem his courage, he agreed to work for La Sombra, to lure you into this world and guide you towards unlocking the Corazon."
I gasped.
"Not again, Arnold!" Gerald exclaimed angrily. "This is the second time La Sombra tricks you!"
"SILENCE!" McGonagall exclaimed. "Take these fools to the dungeons immediately!"
"So let me get this straight," Helga grumbled as she paced around the cell we were placed in. "Boris moved to Hillwood and faked that whole attack that one night you went to go look for your parents just to save you and gain your trust, just so that he can bring you to this world and trick you into going to the Room of Requirement and unlocking the Corazon, just so that LA SOMBRA CAN STEAL IT AND DESTROY EVERYTHING!"
I said nothing, allowing her voice to echo across the cell. Instead, I crouched in a corner and hid my face in between my knees. Fooled again? Why am I so naive? Abner, who was locked inside with us, nudged against my foot, trying to comfort me.
"I'm sorry…"
Helga sighed, "I know. But we're not going to gain anything by sitting around and sulking, come on, get up and let's try to find a way to get out of this dump. I hate this place, it looks like the set of one of those medieval romance movies Olga likes to watch."
"Maybe these things could help," Gerald suggested, holding up the map, the flask, the relic, and the cloak.
"Yeah, but how are we going to get out of here?" Helga asked, as I stood up and took the relic from Gerald.
After observing it for a bit, I approached the bars of the cell and took a peek, and the room was white again. "Ugh, I don't see anything that could help us."
Suddenly, a small, but subtle ray of heat entered my vision and I heard the door unlock slowly, by itself. I gasped and swiftly turned, watching the silhouette run out of the exit.
"The silhouette! I just saw them again!" I exclaimed, removing the relic from my eye. "We need to follow them!"
"Not so fast, bucko!" Helga exclaimed, grabbing the hood of my robe and pulling me back. "We're putting this on first!"
She held up the cloak of invisibility, and I nodded, allowing her to put it on ourselves. We then stepped out into the corridor, and scuttled across the hall until we made it back to the entrance hall. We stopped as we almost ran into a student, who simply walked by us with an angry look on their face.
"Cool! They really can't see us!" Gerald whispered.
"Okay, we got out, now what? Where's the silhouette?" Helga asked.
"We must have lost them," I frowned.
"So what exactly did La Sombra order?" McGonagall asked as she and Sean walked toward the stairs.
"To keep Arnold in here until he accomplishes his mission, after that, he'll come back and finish him off."
"And what do you presume we are going to do about Draco Malfoy? He was sent here as a spy by the real Ministry of Magic, it's only a matter of time before they destabilize this world."
"La Sombra should have completed his mission by then, hopefully. All he needs to do is kill Miles and Stella, he's probably already done it by now."
I gasped, but was roughly held back by Gerald and hassled into silence by Helga.
This caused me to drop the relic, which Helga caught before falling on the ground and making noise. She looked at it and shrugged before looking into it, gasping as she watched Sean and McGonagall head upstairs.
"What's wrong Helga?"
"Sean… he isn't real!"
Draco: What a short chapter.
Arnold: Shhh, she's studying!
Chloe: Shut up Draco, I have a final exam tomorrow!
Draco: You're going to fail it, just like you've failed in grabbing attention for this story
Chloe: That's it, no more sugar wafers for you
Draco: NOOO PLEASSEEE, I'll do anything!
Chloe: Anything?
Draco: Except take your bloody muggle exam, unless you want to fail
Chloe: *pouts*
Arnold: Don't forget to review everyone!