Chapter 16: Through the Trap Door
Tonks took the book and started,
"True." Harry muttered under his breath.
"It's like they don't trust us!" Fred and George chorused.
Everyone shuddered at that.
"Hermione." Remus said. "You don't need to learn about the Werewolf Code of Conduct until 3rd year and the uprising of Elfric until 5th."
Sirius and Remus exchanged fond smiles as they remembered doing that with James and Peter all those years ago.
The Weasley kids (minus Ron) gasped in shock.
"Shut up" Ron said before they could say anything.
"Not intentionally at least" Harry muttered.
"Yeah. Where?" Sirius agreed with the 12 year old Ron.
"Good points Harry" Remus mused. That issue had been playing in his mind for a while, but he couldn't see the connection until Harry had muttered that Hagid would never INTENTIONALLY betray Dumbledore.
Remus, Sirius, and Tonks were looking that way too as Moody slapped his forehead.
"It's usual for the Hog's Head" Sprout explained.
"Oh no!" Arthur groaned knowing that getting Hagrid drunk was a surefire way to get information from him. And the figure knew that too.
"HAGRID!" most of the adults shouted as Dumbledore just shook his head making a mental note to have Aberforth keep a closer eye on the guests that are around a drunk Hagrid.
"You don't know?" Sirius asked "Your Dad and I found that out our first MONTH."
"Well, I'm a bit more well behaved than you and Dad" Harry said hoping to ease the tension in the room.
"No" Remus answered. "You just have valid reasons for breaking the rules."
"Wrong answer" Sirius said.
McGonagall sighed as she leaned back on the couch she was sharing with Flitwick and Sprout.
After Dumbledore came from the dungeons with the unconscious Harry, McGonagall and Dumbledore had a talk. Apparently, everyone at the Ministry had been stunned to see Dumbledore rushing in only to turn around and leave again when he saw that nobody was expecting him. It was at that moment that the school and the students came first and foremost and the Ministry would only bother him during the summer hours. That way, this wouldn't happen again.
Or so the theory had been.
"I SO would have loved to see the look on your face!" Sirius laughed at McGonagall.
"Minerva" Sprout teased. "You should know that NOTHING is kept secret at Hogwarts."
"I should have known" McGonagall sighed.
"How much had you heard?" Hermione asked.
"Only up to when Potter mentioned that apparently I found out all I needed." Snape said.
"You more or less threaten him and expect him to have a good day?" Tonks interrupted herself.
"Just read" Snape said.
The Weasley kids laughed.
"She's taken more" Sirius confirmed.
"Quite the speech" Flitwick stated as McGonagall was smiling proudly. The boy was a true Gryffindor…like his father.
"Did you not hear yourself?" Bill asked Harry.
"It's his hero's complex" Hermione answered "If he gets hurt, killed, or in trouble, it's fine. But if someone else does, it's the end of the world."
Harry grabbed a throw pillow and threw it at her.
"Good. You're not much of a singer anyways" Ron teased.
"I'm better than you" Harry joked back.
"That was fast" Arthur said.
"Not to them" the twins chorused.
"On hindsight…" Harry said. "We MIGHT have wanted him tagging along. He might have been a bit faster with…Sprout's obstacle."
Hermione threw back the throw pillow knowing that was a crack on her 'There's no wood' line. Unlike her two best friends, she was NOT looking forward to that part.
"They'll be other times Ron" Sirius said ignoring the death glare from Molly.
Everyone's (but Harry's, Ron's, Hermione's, and Dumbledore's) jaws dropped.
"Bloody brilliant" the twins said.
"We would just curse him" Sirius added.
"What did you think we were doing? Escorting you?" Hermione asked Harry.
"Ladies first" Ron said sheepishly at the looks he was getting.
"That's awfully dangerous" Molly said nervously as she gripped Arthur's arm.
"Why am I not surprised?" Remus asked.
"Isn't there a pebble or something you could throw down?" Arthur asked.
"Didn't think of that" Harry admitted sheepishly.
"You should have done THAT in the first place!" McGonagall told him.
"He didn't get it anyways" Harry argued.
"Not helping Ron" Sirius said looking nervous at Sprout's nervous look.
"That was too easy" Remus said.
"Very close, but not quite" Sprout admitted.
"That's a big drop" Ginny gasped.
"What's wrong?!" Molly and Sirius chorused.
"Devil's Snare" Remus gasped.
Just as Harry expected, Sirius gripped his arm as if to remind himself that Harry got out of this alive.
Silence.
"Did HERMIONE just say that?!" the twins chorused as Hermione blushed redder than any Weasley.
"Especially since fires are her specialty" Ginny added smirking at Hermione.
Hermione stuck her tongue out at Ginny.
"It makes some sense" Remus said going to Hermione's rescue. "Hermione had spent the first 10-11 years of her life living as a muggle and a year as a witch. It's the same reason why she wasn't the one to levitate the club from the troll. At the sight of her friends in danger, she had temporarily forgotten that she had the capability as magic was relatively new to her."
"Anyways," Tonks continued.
"I wasn't going to make it THAT easy" Flitwick said.
"NEARLY Mum" Ron said upon seeing the horrified look on Molly's face at the knowledge of his near crash with the keys.
"No offense taken" Harry said.
"Speak for yourself" Hermione said with a pout. "I didn't take offense at the time because of the situation."
"His favorite piece" Ginny teased.
Harry winced as Sirius' grip tightened on his arm. He wrenched his arm away and threw Sirius' arm over his shoulder and leaned against his godfather hoping this way, he wouldn't loose any circulation in his body. If this worked for the upcoming scene, then he would do it again for the Chamber…maybe the graveyard scene from fourth year, but Sirius already knew the details for that.
"NO!" everyone in the room (except the teachers and the trio) shouted.
Harry and Hermione looked at Molly and then at each other. Harry then leaned towards Sirius' ear and whispered "Help Hermione pull Ron up and gently push him towards Mrs. Weasley."
Sirius snapped back to the present and saw the horrified look on Molly's face. He then grabbed Ron's right arm as Hermione grabbed Ron's left and the two pushed him up and gently towards Molly.
Ron, realizing what they were doing, rolled his eyes and joined his parents on the couch they were sharing with Ginny. As soon as he sat between Arthur and Molly, Molly had wrapped her arms around her baby boy.
"At least you didn't have to fight that one" Molly sighed with relief.
"But thanks to Ron, we knew what to do." Harry pointed out.
"It even smelt worse than the other one" Harry added. "I think it was the blood."
"I know I would be" Sirius admitted as Charlie, Ron, Fred, and George nodded. Bill looked considerate, but unsure.
Snape smirked.
"I know" Snape admitted to Sirius. "I based my obstacle off something I knew YOU and James Potter wouldn't pass."
Sirius stuck his tongue out at Snape as Remus rolled his eyes.
"You're going alone, aren't you?" Remus sighed at Harry.
"I think the one time I didn't go alone was Third Year" Harry said before clamming up wanting to keep the time traveling as quiet as possible. Maybe, with any luck, the third book wouldn't cover that.
But then again, since when was his luck good?
Snape pouted. A first year got through his obstacle.
"That's the end of the chapter" Tonks admitted.
Ron's jaw dropped.
"No Fair!" Ron exclaimed. "That chapter was a cliffhanger! Why couldn't the chapter I read be one with seeing Fluffy being the first part of the next one?!"
"Who wants to read next?" Tonks asked.
"I will. Hand it over Nymphadora" Moody said.
"Don't call me that Mad-Eye" she said, hair turning back to red.
