A/N (Drum roll...) Here's chapter 3! Hope ya like it!
Disclaimer: Even if I took polyjuice potion I would still not technically be J.K Rowling so the world of Harry Potter is, alas, not mine.
Chapter 3
Two truths and a lie
Harry awoke the next morning to bright sunlight. He sat up in his four-poster and rubbed his eyes. It seemed that all of his roommates had already made their way down to breakfast, so he was the sole one left in the dormitory.
He reached out to feel for his glasses on his bedside table. He grabbed them and pushed them up the bridge of his nose so he could see more clearly. The sunlight streamed through the window and illuminated every part of the dusty dorm. The window was slightly opened so a fresh breeze that smelled of lake water and springtime grass was wafting in. There were ominous sounds from the Forbidden Forest leering in too, but Harry ignored those.
He yawned and stretched and then opened the heavy black lid of his trunk. He pulled out his sweater with a dragon sewn into it that Mrs. Weasley had made for him in his 4th year. He then got into some jeans and set off down to the common room. He found that to be empty too, so he strode off through the portrait hole.
The fresh smell of bacon, eggs, and pumpkin juice met his nostrils. He took off down the steps, only now realizing how hungry he was. It just occurred to him that he didn't eat lunch or dinner yesterday due to their invigorating game of Hide n' Seek.
As he reached the entrance to the Great Hall, he slowed down his pace. Into the Great Hall he went and took a place at the Gryffindor table in between Ron and Neville. As he forked some eggs onto his plate and poured himself a bit of pumpkin juice, Fred and George squeezed next to him.
It just dawned on Harry that he had to think up yet another game for today. He was completely baffled as to what he could plan for them today. It was a stroke of pure luck that he had thought of anything for yesterday, so today he was in quite a predicament. Harry's face contorted in thought. Just as Fred was about to greet Harry, Luna Lovegood came striding over to the Gryffindor table. Harry took this as an escape route and quickly acknowledged her.
"Hello Luna" Harry said pleasantly
"Why, Hello Harry." Luna said in her slightly dream-like voice
"How are you?" Harry asked, biding his time
"Oh, just fine." Luna replied. Harry could hear the murmurs of Fred and George behind him.
"Is that Loony Lovegood?" Fred murmured
"I think so." George whispered back
"What in bloody hell has she got on her ears?" Fred questioned, pointing subtly to the squirming brown blobs hanging off of Luna's earlobes
"Are those Chocolate Frogs?" George gasped incredulously
"What a waste of perfectly good chocolate!" Fred gaped with mortification in his voice.
"Love the earrings, Luna" Harry threw out casually. He could see Fred and George blushing in his peripheral vision.
"Oh thank you, Harry!" Luna said excitedly, "I have a whole collection of earrings. I have ones of made of radishes, of candlesticks, of old broken up wand pieces...Some of dried Doxy wings...you know, some everyday things." Luna finished with a smile on her face.
"As much as we enjoy your company, Loo-I mean Luna, we-" Fred started but Harry cut him off.
"We would like you to join us today when we play a game." Harry said. Fred gaped at Harry as if he had just asked a blast-ended skrewt to join them for lunch. Luna smiled brightly at Harry.
"Ohh, Harry I'd love to!" She gasped
"Okay Luna, you can meet us..." Harry wasn't actually sure where they could meet. Luna couldn't come to the Gryffindor common room, and Harry wasn't so keen on having lots of intruders meddle in their groups festivities, so they couldn't play outside or anywhere very public. George, obviously over the fact that Luna would be playing with them, provided Harry with his answer.
"Well," George said, "We can meet in McGonagall's classroom if we don't need a lot of space. She went to Hogsmeade today to the Post office to purchase some more owls for her transfiguration class. I think the fourth years have to turn them into pieces of parchment."
Harry, though still unsure of what game they were going to play, agreed that Mconagall's classroom would suffice. Fred and George went to go round up everyone else, and Harry and Luna set off to McGonagall's classroom. Harry took this opportunity to think of a game to play. After about a minute, he found his brain totally fried. He could not think of a single game for them to play that would please Fred and George. But then, Harry got an idea.
"Hey Luna"
"Yes Harry?" Luna replied from beside him
"Do you know any – er – games we could play?"
"Games like exploding snap and wizard chess?"
"Um...no. More games like, well, muggle games." Harry said. Luna gazed intently at Harry for a moment.
"Well I do know one..." Luna said finally. Harry perked up
"Really?"
"Yes"
"Well what is it?"
"It's called two truths and a lie." Luna said matter – of – factly. Harry raised an eyebrow. Luna was known for professing silly things to people. Harry was worried that this game was one of them.
"And what do you-er-do when you play two truths and a lie?" Harry questioned tentatively.
"Well it is sort of obvious, Harry," Luna said, stopping in her tracks to gaze at him, "Everyone takes a turn telling two truths about themselves and one lie. Everyone else has to get what the lie is."
Harry thought about this. It sounded interesting, but not very invigorating, such as their Hide n' Seek game had been. But what other choice did he have?
"Okay Luna, that sounds great!" Harry said. They reached McGonagalls classroom and stepped inside.
They cleared out all the surrounding desks to make an empty space in the middle of the classroom for them to enjoy their game. A few minutes later, everyone else showed up. Neville, Hermoine, Ron, Ginny, Fred and George all walked through the doorway and took seats on the cold stone floor.
"Okay mate, what've you got for us today?" Fred asked as he clapped his hands together. Harry explained the game of 'two truths and a lie'. The twins looked a little down-hearted that the game did not involve much action, but Hermoine on the other hand, looked pleased to be playing a game that was about logic and strategy.
"Okay," Harry said, "I'll start." Harry pondered for a moment. What truths could he tell about himself... and what on earth would he tell as a lie?
"Okay, I used to live in a cupboard, I love traveling by apparition, and I want to be an auror." Harry thought this should suffice. He watched everyone's pondering faces as they struggled to figure out his lie.
"Well Harry," started Ginny, "I know you want to be an auror, everyone knows you want to be an auror, I mean you taught the DA, but I can't seem to figure out which of the other two is a lie. None of us really know much about your life before Hogwarts and I'm not really sure about your preferation of traveling techniques." As Ginny said this, everyone nodded. Well, everyone except for Hermoine. She instead, got a smirk on her face.
"Well isn't it obvious?" Hermoine laughed "Harry is a superb flier, why on earth would he then 'love' to apparate? And even though we don't know much about Harry's life with his aunt and uncle, we know it can't be that good because he always dreads going back there. I guess they used to make him live in a cupboard before he came to Hogwarts." Hermoine smirked. She knew she was right, and everyone else knew it too. Before Harry could even tell her she was right, she took the liberty of saying that it was now her turn.
"Okay, I hate my bushy hair, My parents are dentists, and my best subject is Ancient Runes." She stated. Before anyone could even really think about it, Ron knew his answer.
"Duh, the lie is 'my best subject is ancient runes' because Hermoine is the best at all of her subjects!" Everyone laughed and Hermoine turned a bright pink. She laughed along with everyone else and when she had finally stifled it she said "Actually, it was a lie because Transfiguration is my best subject, but yes, you're quite right, I am best at all my subjects." Hermoine said jokingly. Another round of laughter filled the classroom and then Ginny declared it was her turn.
"Hmm..." she started, "Alright, I hate being the youngest out of all my siblings, I love Harry Potter, and I have jet black hair." Everyone stared at her incredulously. You'd have to be blind, deaf and just plain ignorant not to know her lie. Hermoine let out a snort of laughter, as did Neville. Fred, George, and Luna. Harry and Ron stared at her though. Ron spoke first
"You hate being the youngest? Why didn't you tell us?" Ron asked exasperatedly
"'Cause you would have though I was just being an annoying prat."
"True." Ron shrugged
"But yeah Gin," Fred said "You should have told us! We could've hooked you up with some aging potion-"
"Or some 'attention getting' solution-" George added
"Or even a pygmy puff!" Concluded Fred.
"Why would a pygmy puff help?" Ginny asked
"The better question is," said George, "Why wouldn't a pygmy puff help." Ginny laughed along with everyone else. Harry was still staring at her though. His mouth was slightly open and his eyes gtazed intently at hers. He looked kind of dumbstruck.
"Ginny," he started, " you've never told me that you loved me before." Harry said "I mean I know we've been going out for a while but I never knew — I mean — I – feel the same way..." Harry trailed off as he leaned in for a kiss with Ginny. Their lips locked for a few seconds as if there was no one else in the room. They were then interrupted by the gagging noises made by everyone else. As they pulled apart, Harry faced murderous stares from Fred and George, an 'I told you so" look from Hermoine, baffled expressions from Neville and Ron, and a totally unfazed look from Luna Lovegood. But another had joined their group as well. Standing in the archway was none other than Professor Dumbledore, their wise old headmaster. Harry and Ginny both blushed a deep red that matched the Weasley's hair and looked down at their laps.
"Well," Dumbledore said in his old, sage voice, yet with a hint of amusement, "It is about time."
Everyone broke out into laughter except for Fred and George who still had the death stare going.
Harry met Dumbledore's eyes and the old headmaster gave him a slight nod and a twinkle appeared in his eye behind his half-moon spectacles.
"Professor," Ginny said tentatively, "Would you like to play our game with us?"
"Dearest Ginerva, I wish I could, but alas, it seems that Peeves has unscrewed the chandelier in the entrance hall and set the whole place ablaze." He stopped and looked at their shocked faces "But nothing to worry about," He added hurriedly, "Nothing a powerful Aguementi charm followed by a Reparo enchantment can't fix. However I will give you something to ponder as I leave your presence. My first name is Albus, I have horrid vision, and I am exactly 6 feet tall." He nodded subtly then headed out the way in which he came.
The young witches and wizards in the room were dumbstruck by the obviousness of his answer. Of course his first name was Albus, you'd have to live deep in the Forbidden Forest not to know that, and of course he had horrid vision, he wore those little half-moon spectacle things! And it's quite easy to lie about your height. He's probably 6'1, or 6'2 or even 5'11. After all this had been discussed between the members of the group, the game continued. Fred's turn was next.
"Okay," Fred rubbed his hands together "I own 47 Albus Dumbledore Chocolate frog cards, I dream of owning my own joke shop one day, and I am always mistaken for George." Everyone pondered this. George broke the silence
"Fred cheated." he said
"Excuse me?" Fred questioned
"Yes, you cheated! Cheater cheater pumpkin pasty eater!"
"How did I cheat?" Fred asked, utterly bewildered. Obviously he had no intentions of his answers going against the rules of their game.
"You told 1 truth and 2 lies!" George exclaimed. A bit of a grin was playing at his lips.
"No I didn't!"
"Yes you did!"
"No"
"Yes"
"No"
"Yes"
"No"
"Peanut Butter"
"..."
"What? I thought we need some variation of retorts!" George said. Fred was still very confused so George explained to his dear brother what he meant.
"Well I know the lie you intended is that you dream of owning your own joke shop-" George began
"No it's not," Ron interjected, "You and Fred..." George cut him off
"Exactly, Fred doesn't dream of owning his own, he dreams of owning one with me." George reached up and gave his twin a high-five. George looked very pleased with himself for figuring out the subtly intended lie.
"And the second lie," George continued, "Is that you own 47 Dumbledore chocolate Frog Cards. You now actually have 38 because I used the other 9 to patch up a hole that we made in our room. I then transfigured them into the wall to make it good as new."
"I was wondering why we hadn't gotten grounded by mum for that." Fred aid. George smiled.
"I don't understand," Hermoine said, rather confusedly, "You two are very bright wizards. George, you transfigured trading cards into a wall! That's some pretty hefty magic. If you guys are so smart, why did you only scrape a few O.W.L's and why do you only just get by in all of your classes?"
"Easy," replied Fred, "Why waste time, effort and brain power to brew a cheeriness potion from a headcase potion master when you can create your own in the comfort of your own home? And when am I ever going to need to know how to transfigure a hedgehog into a teacup? I mean really?"
Hermoine was surely going to bring up a valid point regarding the case of needing to turn quirky little animals into fancy containers to drink tea out of, but George held up a hand to silence her.
"Tut, tut, Hermoine, or we may just as well turn you into a Crumpled Horn Snorkack. We've trained ourselves to do that too." George said with a sly grin. He knew just as well as most everyone in the room that Crumpled Horn Snorkack's did not exist. Luna on the other hand, had different beliefs. She gasped and held a hand to her heart.
"You do?" She gaped
"Why of course!" George said, rather a bit over dramatic.
"Oh I'll have to dell daddy, he'll be so delighted..." She trailed off and then got that far off look in her eye again.
To break the awkward silence that had engulfed the classroom, Ron said that he'd go next.
"The Chudley Cannons are my favorite Quidditch Team, I love spiders, and I've had a cauldron soot flavored jelly bean."
Harry laughed at how easy this was. Harry knew ever since their second year at Hogwarts that Ron had an irrational fear of spiders. Neville and Hermoine knew the lie immediately as well for they had been in the third year Defense Against the Dark Arts class in which the boggart, for Ron, had turned into a spider. Apparently though, the twins, Ginny and Luna were completely oblivious to the lie.
Harry said which one he thought was the lie, and Ron nodded and said that he was quite correct. Ginny looked at Ron.
"I never knew you didn't like spiders!" She exclaimed
"I'm bloody terrified of them!" Ron replied, looking around as if he might spot one of the creepy, crawly little insects on the ground.
"You know," Luna said sagely, "The only thing to really fear, is fear itself." Everyone gaped at her blankly, wondering how on earth she obtained the blind wisdom in which enabled her to say the clearest and most truthful of things, yet in a slightly eerie and creepy sort of way. The silence and awkwardness in the room was so thick you could almost brush it with your fingertips. Luna, apparently unfazed by the silence,asked Ron another question.
"So you've really had a cauldron soot flavored jelly bean?"
"Yes and it was quite gross." Ron replied with a grimace on his face. "However," he continued, "It was quite accurate. It tasted almost exactly like cauldron soot."
"Might I ask." Hermoine questioned suspiciously. "How on earth you've managed to eat cauldron soot?"
"A very long story," sighed Ron, "including pixies, a birthday cake, and those two gits." He indicated Fred and George. They smiled maliciously, but then returned their faces back to normal for they were getting curious looks from everyone in the room. Luna decided to continue onward with their game.
"I can see thestrals, I wish people would stop calling me Loony Lovegood, and I wish to be the editor of the Quibbler some day." Luna said. Everyone thought about this carefully. Fred and George actually looked a little sheepish, considering they had called her Loony Lovegood only a couple of hours ago.
Harry knew that Luna could see thestrals, It was something, possibly the only thing, they had in common. And Harry would bet loads of Galleons that Luna did not like her nickname given yo her by inconsiderate peers. But Harry couldn't figure out why her third statement would be a lie.
"Luna, I think the lie is that you want to be the editor of the Quibbler." Harry said
"Yes, Harry! That's correct!" Luna exclaimed
"But why not?" Hermoine questioned "I mean isn't your dad the editor now?"
"Oh yes, he very much is, but that isn't what I aspire to do. I want to do many different things. Maybe travel the world, or open my own jewelry shop." Luna answered. She then gazed off to her right as though she could already see her shop open for business. Everyone else gazed off into that direction too, but failed to see what Luna was so fascinated by.
"My turn!" Neville shouted eagerly, turning away from the spot that everybody was staring at. "I'm deathly afraid of Professor Snape, I'm really good at Herbology, and I like to follow Quidditch." Neville said.
"First things first," Fred replied, "We use professor as a term of respect, sometimes even endearment. Snape is not worthy of the title 'professor'; Possibly 'grease-face', or 'dragon arse', but certainly not 'professor." Laughs broke out from everywhere for no one in the room was fond of Snape or his greasy black curtains of hair.
"Oh well this is easy Neville," Ginny exclaimed, "You're fantastic at herbology and everybody knows that you're terrified of Snape! So the lie must be that you like to follow Quidditch!"
Neville nodded. Harry, Ron, and the twins looked appalled.
"What?" Neville questioned "Quidditch just isn't really my 'thing'."
The same boys still had the looks of revulsion etched onto their faces.
"Really? It's not that big a deal guys!" Hermoine huffed "Quidditch isn't all that matters!"
"It - - I - - How?- - But" Ron spluttered. He then lapsed into silence. Harry and the twins then seemed to come back to reality and gained pleasant looks back on their faces. The only person who still had yet to take their turn in the game was George.
"Save the best for last!" George said pompously.
"Oh puh-lease," sighed Fred "Everyone knows I'm ten times more gorgeous than you." Fred added dramatic affect by flipping his shaggy hair. Everyone laughed, including the twins and then George resumed his turn.
"I like Cauldron Cakes, hate Celestina Warbeck, and I'm going to ask Angelina out on a date tonight."
"Oh good for you, George!" Ginny cried "You've waited long enough!"
"Oh but Ginny, how do you know that's not my lie?" George asked with an eyebrow.
"Oh puh-lease" Ginny replied, imitating Fred, "You've had your sights set on her since you were like 11."
"How would you know?" Asked George incredulously.
"The better question is, How wouldn't I know?" Ginny said cleverly.
"Touche, little sister, Touche..."
"What in Merlin's name are you doing in here!' cried professor McGonagall, for she had just strode into the room to find 8 young witches and wizards randomly in her classroom. During the game, people had moved about the room, so Luna was currently laying across 3 desks pushed together, While the twins were sitting behind McGonagall's desk, fiddling with a tiny silver sphere, and Harry and Ginny were sprawled out on the floor, with Ginny's head lying on top of Harry's chest, Ron and Hermoine sitting on each their own desk, while Neville was still in the same place he had started, on the floor.
"Professor!" cried Hermoine "We were just...just" she couldn't think under pressure. Surely McGonagall would not accept the excuse that they were playing Muggle games. They would look like fools!
"We were going to set up for your surprise party!" supplied George. Everyone groaned. That was a totally lame excuse. Professor McGonagall smirked at George's ignorance. But her smirk quickly changed into a grimace.
"All of you out! Now!" They all marched out of the classroom and Fred called back
"Professor McGonagall, just to let you know, you're 3rd best on our list!"
"Shut your trap, Weasley." Barked McGonagall. Which gained snickers from the rest of the group. Fred waved sheepishly as they filed out of the room into the stone corridor.
"So George, was the lie that you like cauldron cakes?" Asked Ron
"Yes it was!" exclaimed George. The game was now finished and they headed down to the Great Hall for dinner. Just as they reached the entrance hall, Angelina came striding by.
"Excuse me folks." Announced George. He made his way over to Angelina to ask her out on a date. The 7 of them slowly crept up behind the two to hear what was going on.
"...with me to Hogsmeade?" George asked nervously
"Of course!" cried Angelina. They both smiled broadly. "Do you want a cauldron cake, George?" Angelina asked, taking one out of her pocket.
"Sure." George replied. He took it, unwrapped it, popped a bit into his mouth, and when Angelina wasn't looking he shoved the rest into Colin Creevey's schoolbag. Everyone snickered as they took their places at the Gryffindor table.
At that moment Dumbledore came past, his long dark blue robes billowing around him. Everyone who had played the marvelous game earlier, and who had witnessed Dumbledore's turn, tried to get his attention. He stopped and looked over at the motley crew.
"Professor," Harry said, "We figured out your lie!"
"Really my boy," Dumbledore chuckled, "Well then tell me, what is it?"
"It is that you are exactly 6 feet." Hermoine said eagerly
He looked at them all intently and then said "But, alas, no it is not my dear pupils. Though you used your knowledge and deducing skills to figure that it would be quite easy for me to lie about my height, you should find yourselves incorrect. I am, in fact, exactly 6 feet tall, no more, no less." The children all stared at him curiously.
"But you did in fact guess right on the fact that my name is Albus, that I cannot deny. Yet my vision is not that of something horrid." He leaned in a little closer to the group. "I wear these fascinating things," He pointed to his half-moon spectacles "merely for the show." He stood up and gave them all a twinkling smile, and with a nod of his head, he continued on towards the staff table.
The group at the Gryffindor table all smiled uncertainly, but then found themselves being immersed in uncontrollable laughter. Though they gained awkward glances from surrounding peers, they did not care. Finally they stifled their laughter as food began to magically appear on the plates in front of them.
As they all dug into their delicious supper, George looked over at Harry with raised eyebrows. Harry nodded, knowing what George had meant. Tomorrow, after classes, they would again invest themselves in playing a simple, yet quite amusing, muggle game.
A/N: R&R please wonderful readers. I hope to have chapter 4 up within a week!