Racing with the Enemy
Official disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter series or The Amazing Race.
A/N: The Amazing Race is used merely as a plot; any of the rules from the program are subjected to change by the authoress (me).
Chapter One – The Rules
"Dumbledore is officially nuts," Ron announced as he and Harry prepared for bed.
Harry shook his head as he listened to his friend continue to rant. He had to admit, he wasn't so sure of the idea himself, but he couldn't complain. How could he, when he might be travelling to places for free? That is, if he was chosen.
All those times spent leaning against the door of his cupboard, trying to at least listen to what was showing on the television; he had caught onto the basics of the reality T.V. show 'The Amazing Race'. He was knocked from of his reminiscence however, when Ron shoved him none too softly onto his bed.
"Hey mate, what were you thinking about just then?" Ron asked.
"Oh, nothing much," came Harry's reply, "Just what Dumbledore was talking about before. You know, I wonder how he's going to choose us."
Ron frowned. "I guess…" he muttered. "Do you really think this is safe though? The whole race thing, I mean."
Harry was surprised. "Why wouldn't it be?"
"I mean, the thing about racing against each other. Shouldn't we be spending more time working together rather than working against each other?"
If Harry was surprised by his friend's sudden burst of thoughtfulness, he did not show it. Instead he merely grunted and turned over on his bed, sleep settling in on him.
0o0o0o
"What do you think about this race Hermione?" Parvati asked.
Hermione pondered over the question, as she brushed her unruly hair. "I guess it will be a great opportunity for those who are chosen to have a chance to travel to other parts of the world."
Parvati waited impatiently for the 'but' to come. She wasn't disappointed.
"But don't you think what Dumbledore is doing is going against what he has been promoting to us these past two years? I'm not trying to oppose to what he's saying, but the race seems to be encouraging us to work against each other rather than together."
"Not necessarily," Lavender piped in, "Dumbledore did say that we will be working in pairs, so I guess that means we'll have to put aside our grudges from the Great War, and work with whoever we are paired with."
"Yeah, I think so too," Parvati said, always ready to agree with her best friend.
Hermione simply shrugged, and slid into bed.
0o0o0o
The pairs taking part in the race will be announced officially on this Friday at breakfast in the Great Hall.
Those wishing to watch the choosing of the students may attend. Please arrive at the Great Hall by 8:30pm sharp Thursday.
The following is a rules sheet for the race. It is taken from the muggle reality show, with few changes made by the Professors and myself.
Rules for "The Amazing Race"
Teams must purchase economy class tickets for airfare. Teams are allowed to be upgraded to first or business class by the airline, as long as they only paid an economy fare. Airline tickets must be purchased using the team's credit card (provided by your Head of House), rather than money on hand. The credit card cannot be used for any other purpose.
When stated, teams may not help other teams in challenges. Otherwise, teams may assist one another in completing tasks.
Teams may be forced to submit their backpacks and possessions to searches by staff at any time.
Teams must not take shortcuts when the clue tells to take a specific route.
Violation of any of these rules may result in disqualification from the race.
Signed,
Albus Dumbledore
Once again, the notice caused much stir within the whole student body. Even those who could not participate in the race were excited. Never had such an event occurred in Hogwarts before.
Classes were disrupted, and the Professors had trouble in teaching their students. Many Professors like Flitwick and Slughorn gave up on teaching, and let their students talk among themselves. Others though, like McGonagall and Binns were adamant, and had much quieter classes (although for Binns, it was mostly because his class was asleep).
The following two days went by much too slowly for both the students and the Professors. Finally, though, Thursday arrived.
The day crawled by, but finally, it was 8:00. By 8:30, the whole of the school had settled in the Great Hall, waiting for their Headmaster to make his appearance. It seemed everyone was interested in the procedure of the choosing. Those who were unwilling were dragged in by their friends. The Hall had been filled with chairs. It seemed the Professors had predicted rightly on the number of students coming.
As Dumbledore walked up the podium, where the teachers' tables normally sat, the crowd of students quieted. They sat in their seats, waiting eagerly for their Headmaster to announce how the choosing was to undergo.
"I understand many of you are wondering how the contestants will be chosen. Impatiently." Dumbledore smiled at this.
"So without further ado, I shall allow Professor McGonagall to explain it to you."
McGonagall stood up from behind the Headmaster, and began to explain.
TBC…
Disclaimer 2: The rules from above are taken from Wikipedia.
A/N2: Sorry for the shortness of the chapter; it seemed an appropriate place to end. Please review, it really inspires me to write more.