"AAAAHHHHH!"

Ron's scream wakes everyone in the boys' dormitory, as well as a few in the girls'. Afraid that the ants might have returned, everyone pulls their legs up onto their beds, worried that they might be bitten. "Is it the ants?" Harry asks Ron in a voice filled with both bewilderment and grogginess.

"IS IT SIRIUS BLACK?" Neville asks, shielding his eyes with his hands.

But Ron ignores them both. "Scabbers!"

The boys all look at Ron, kneeling on the floor looking absolutely defeated. Tears are streaming down his swollen, red cheeks. Right in front of him, just a few feet away is a small skeleton colored blood red, with little bits of muscle and fur still clinging to the bones. The sight causes all of the other boys to cringe, but Ron looks utterly heartbroken.

Another scream breaks the tension, this time from Neville, "AHHHH! TRVEOR!" Another bloody skeleton sits halfway under Neville's four poster bed, this one with the wide skull and long back legs of a toad. The handiwork of the ants makes itself even more apparent when the boys all make it downstairs and see a stark white Hermione Granger sobbing into a handkerchief. Nobody had to ask that this had to do with her new cat, Crookshanks.

Dean and Seamus both feel totally guilty , and exchange sullen looks with each other. When they get down to breakfast, Lavender and Parvati sit down in front of them, leaning forward to get close. Lavender says, "Parvati and I heard something last night. None of the other girls heard it, but it sounded-"

"Like drums?" Seamus finishes.

Out of sheer shock, Lavender reaches over and punches his shoulder lightly. "You heard it too!"

"We heard it," Dean says.

"Why does it do that?" Parvati asks.

"I dunno," Seamus says, "And I don't care. That thing is buried at the bottom of my trunk, and hopefully soon it will be sitting at the bottom of the lake." Dean says nothing, but he seriously doubts that it will be that simple.

Their first lesson of the day is Herbology, which the Gryffindor third years go into with a dark, somber air. Most of the class - especially Ron, Neville, and Hermione – are happy to begin the tedious work of picking honey berries and bathing them in acid. At first, Seamus, Dean, Lavender, and Parvati get on with the work well, until about 20 minutes in. All four of them simultaneously begin to hear something, quiet and distant at first, but which grows louder, faster, and closer as the minutes pass. They all exchange knowing, frightened looks.

The drumming keeps growing louder and louder in their ears. It soon becomes impossible to focus on their work, or to even hear anyone regardless of how close or loud they are. This is why they don't hear Professor Sprout call out to Seamus to be careful as he accidentally bumps into one of the cauldrons full of acid, which spills out onto a nearby grove of venomous tentacula. The entire class jumps in alarm as the venomous plants shake their tendrils to rid themselves of the acid.

"15 points from Gryffindor," Professor Sprout says, "Now clean it up, Finnegan!"

But Seamus can't hear her, the pounding drums too deep and loud for him to make out anything of what she says. He clamps his hands to his ears and calls out, "I CAN'T HEAR ANYTHING!"

"What?" Professor Sprout asks him superfluously. Around her, Dean, Lavender, and Parvati also cover their ears as the drums begin to pound against the insides of their heads. Confused looks begin appearing on the faces of the entire class, and Professor Sprout calls out, "What on earth is wrong with you all?"

"CAN'T… HEAR…" Lavender says, tears beginning to form in her eyes.

Professor Sprout moves from anger to confusion to concern in mere seconds. "Oh dear… I wonder if this has something to do with those sharov spores from last week. Uh, why don't you all head off to the hospital wing?" This suggestion is all but useless of course, so instead she spells out the words with her wand. Not needing any more prodding, Dean, Seamus, Lavender, and Parvati all rush out of the greenhouse toward the hospital wing.

But as they re-enter the castle, all of a sudden, the drums stop. The four of them come to an instant halt and look at one another. Lavender is the first to speak. "Wha-…what happened?"

"It's that bloody game!" Seamus says, clutching his wand with a balled fist.

"Why is it doing this?" Parvati asks.

"Because we tried to hide it," Dean says. The other three look at him, hoping he has more answers. "Don't you see? We started a game, then we stopped. Remember what it said – do not begin unless you intend to finish."

"Oh no," Lavender says, burying her face in her hands. "Are you saying we have to keep playing, or else that…that game will keep making that horrid noise?!"

"It says so right in those rules," Dean says hopelessly.

"Well…well, we can't keep playing," Parvati says. "Who knows what else might appear?"

"We have to go to McGonagall!" Lavender says. "Maybe there's some way to fix it?"

"Yes! Let's go to McGonagall!" Parvati says, nodding rigorously.

Both Dean and Seamus look at one another uncomfortably. Seamus says, "Well…I dunno…"

Lavender storms right up to him, getting only inches from his face. "Well why the bloody hell not?"

Seamus sighs and says, "Alright, long story short, Fred and George nicked it from Filch's office a few days ago and gave it to us to hide it for them. If McGonagall learns that we hid this-"

But Lavender cuts him off. "You listen to me, Seamus Finnegan. You and Dean are going to come with us to McGonagall's office, and you're going to tell her exactly how you two gnome-heads started all this rubbish! If you don't, then you won't have to worry about that game ruining your life!" she finishes, pulling out her wand shaving less than an inch from his nose.

The four of them move along the first floor corridor, moving to the right of the serpentine corridor as they make their way to the entrance to Professor McGonagall's office. They stand by the door, hovering wearily for a few moments. It's only when Lavender holds up her wand threateningly that Seamus manages to work up the courage to knock on the door.

"Enter," Professor McGonagall's voice calls stiffly from the other side. Seamus opens the door and leads the other three inside. Dean is about a foot behind Seamus, while Lavender and Parvati hang back behind them. Professor McGonagall looks up from the books she's reading to look at them. When she recognizes who they are, she considers them sternly. "Mr. Finnegan? Mr. Thomas? Ms.' Brown and Patil? What are you doing here?"

Seamus looks back nervously at Dean who nods at him to go on. When Seamus looks at Lavender and Parvati, they do not offer any signs of support. "Well…" Seamus begins slowly.

"Out with it, Finnegan," Professor McGonagall snaps at him.

"Professor, we… we have a, uh…we have a bit of a problem," Seamus says sheepishly.

"Oh? And what problem is this that you would come to me in the middle of your scheduled lesson?" Professor McGonagall says in a voice that mixes curiosity with irritation.

Seamus takes a moment to find the best place to begin. "Well…do you remember a couple days ago when Mr. Filch told you that Fred and George Weasley took something from his office?"

Professor McGonagall eyes him from behind her square-framed spectacles. "I do," she says simply.

Clenching his teeth tightly, Seamus continues. "They asked Dean and me to hide it for them until they'd been searched…"

A sharp glint flashes over Professor McGonagall's probing eyes. It is so effective that it causes Seamus to swallow. Taking a moment to mull over the situation as she chews her tongue, Professor McGonagall says to him, "While I am grateful that you… eventually did the right thing, I do not see why this matter is so important that it could not wait until after class."

"There's… there's more," Seamus says meekly. Professor McGonagall raises her eyebrows, instructing him to keep going. "The thing they took…it's a…well, we th-…it was some kind of… some kind of board game. Dean, Lavender, Parvati and I started playing the game, and then…we weren't sure at first, we didn't know how it... we thought it might have even been broken but… well, when Dean took his first turn… we think that's where the ants came from."

The last few words slip from his mouth swiftly, but not swiftly enough to be missed by Professor McGonagall. Shaking slightly, she clutches the edge of her desk and pulls herself to her feet. "Are you telling me," she begins in a horrifyingly quiet voice, "that that swarm of flesh-eating ants that swept through the castle last night was caused by you four?"

"It wasn't our fault!" Lavender blurts out, all eyes suddenly on her. "Parvati and I were doing our homework when Seamus and Dean came down into the Common Room with that thing! Seamus told us that he brought it from home!"

"This is absolutely outrageous!" Professor McGonagall says, slamming a fist down on the desk. "Do you have any idea the damage those ants have done to the school!? How many portraits they've ruined?! How many students' pets they've eaten?! You…idiots have put the entire school into harm's way and disrupted the entire learning process! I would never imagine students in my house would be so recklessly irresponsible!" Her voice rises and falls in swells of outrage followed by minor calms that highlight her anger.

None of them can work up the nerve to say anything at first for fear of invoking her wrath. Finally, Dean manages to pipe up, "Please, Professor. It was all Seamus and me. Lavender and Parvati had no idea where we got it, they thought we were just playing a game-"

"Silence!" she roars at him. More tense quiet fills the room as she eyes each one of them with varying levels of suspicion and fury. "Let me see that I understand this," Professor McGonagall says in as calm a voice as she can muster. "The Weasley boys came to you two," she points at Dean and Seamus with her wand, "with an item that they told you they had stolen from Mr. Filch. Now, instead of informing myself of this, you agreed to hide it for them. And then, you decided to…investigate this object on your own, with absolutely no clue whatsoever about what it was, where it came from, or whether or not it might be dangerous? Is that correct?"

Dean and Seamus look away toward the floor and nod.

"And you also decided to involve Ms. Brown and Ms. Patil in this, lying to them about where the object came from?"

All of four of them nod this time.

"I shall have to speak to the Headmaster about this," she says, mostly to herself. "But make no mistake – this is an extremely serious infringement, and may very well be grounds to have you both expelled! Do you understand me?"

"Yes, Professor," Seamus and Dean both say in equally faint voices.

Professor McGonagall breathes deeply through her nose. "Well? Is there anything more you have to say?"

"Yes Professor," Seamus says.

Preparing for yet more of her own fury, Professor McGonagall says, "Well?"

"The game, it… it…it makes a sound. Like a drumming sound," Seamus says, very unsure of how best to describe it.

"Drumming sound? What is this nonsense?" Professor McGonagall snaps, her patience long since expired.

"The game drums," Dean says, "but only certain people…us four…can hear it. While we were in herbology, the drums became so loud that we couldn't hear anything else. We think….we think the game might have…cursed us."

Professor McGonagall has let out so much rage that it is already exhausting her. Sighing heavily, she points her wand at Seamus and says, "You, boy, are to go directly to Gryffindor Tower and bring this board game to my office, do you understand me?" Seamus nods. "Good. Go." Seamus wastes no time in getting out of her sight. "The rest of you," she says, turning to Dean, Parvati, and Lavender, "are to stay here in my office until I return, do you understand me?"

"Yes Professor," they all say. Professor McGonagall moves out from behind her desk and leaves her office, going up the nearby marble stair case.

By the time Seamus returns with the game, he finds that Dean, Lavender, Parvati, and Professor McGonagall have been joined by Professor Lupin, looking typically shabby and well-worn. When he says Seamus arrive with the object in question with him, he says, "Ah, I take it this is it?" Dean, Parvati, and Lavender all nod.

Professor McGonagall clears away some space on her desk. "Here, set it down," she orders Seamus, who obeys quickly and without question. She examines the game closely with her eyes, scanning it intently. Very reluctantly, she reaches out and strokes the top with her finger before running her entire hand over it. "Hmm," she says, clearly in the midst of thought. "It's old. Very old, that much is clear." When she finds the hinges on the sides, she figures out how to open the game to reveal the board and flaps. The tokens are all still in the exact same positions as before.

"Any idea just how old?" Professor Lupin asks.

"I can't say precisely," Professor McGonagall says, peering down closely at the wooden surface. "There are clear indications of magical preservation, but then the signs of aging are clear in some places. It could very well be over a thousand years old."

"Dear God," Professor Lupin says, moving closer to the board to get a look for himself. "It's in remarkable condition, if so."

Professor McGonagall moves her attention to the tokens, wrapping her fingers around the crocodile figure. "Hmm," she says, as if feeling something in her finger tips. "But these pieces are not as old as the board. They are a much more recent addition," she says, tugging on the piece, only to find that it will not budge.

"Curious," Professor Lupin says, reaching into his bag. "May I?"

"Please," McGonagall says, gesturing for him to come closer.

Professor Lupin pulls out a long, golden device that looks to Dean like an old car radio antennae. As he gets closer to the board, Professor Lupin runs the device just a few inches over it. "This old probity probe's seen better days, but-" but before Professor Lupin can finish, the golden probe suddenly bursts into flames for a brief moment before crumbling into dust. The sudden display causes Lavender to squeak in surprise, and Professor McGonagall's mouth hangs open. "That…is not good," Professor Lupin says simply.

'What, what just happened?" Seamus asks.

"That device was a dark detector called a probity probe," Professor Lupin says. "They're supposed to reveal the presence of concealment enchantments or dark powers…though I've never seen one do that before."

"I'm going to inform Professor Dumbledore of this," Professor McGonagall says, leaving her office once more for the stairs.

As Professor Lupin examines the two flaps, he says to no one in particular, "Can one of you please tell me exactly what happened when you started playing, up to when the ants first appeared?"

Dean decides to answer, feeling much calmer in the presence of Professor Lupin than the irate Professor McGonagall. "Seamus and I brought the game into the Griffyindor Common Room to try and figure out what it was, or.,.how it worked, or whatever. When Parvati and Lavender saw what we were doing, they decided to join us. We opened it up and saw that it was a board game. Seamus found the game tokens and dice inside that compartment. The pieces all moved directly to their spots on their own. I rolled the dice and got a three, so my piece – the elephant one – moved forward three spaces. At first, it didn't look like anything was going to happen, but then…then these words appeared in the center, there."

"What did these words say?" Professor Lupin asks calmly.

"Uh…" Dean says, struggling to remember the rhyme exactly. "I…I can't remember exactly, but it was something like 'a tiny army's on the path…beware their something something wrath.'"

"I see," Professor Lupin says, reading the rules on the flaps. "Now, before you lot put down your tokens on the board, did you all read these rules? This is very important."

"Yeah, we read them," Dean says.

Professor Lupin sighs. "That's definitely not good."

"Why, what's wrong?" Seamus asks, moving closer to Professor Lupin.

"Some of the most powerfully-magical bonds are those forged willfully. It is very hard to break a magical bond that is forged willingly between the involved parties. A person's free will is an unbelievably powerful thing, something most wizards don't truly appreciate. When a person surrenders themselves willingly to a magical agreement, it can be nearly impossible to break.

"Now, when you four read these rules, and then decided to play a game, you accepted the conditions of the game," Professor Lupin says. "You forged a magical bond with this game – a curse – that cannot be broken."

"What do you mean?" Lavender asks, distressed. "Are you saying we're going to be hearing these drums for the rest of our lives?"

"No… there is one way you can end the curse," Professor Lupin says.

"We have to finish the game," Dean says. "It's right there in the rules – 'the exciting consequence of the game will vanish only once a player has reached Jumanji and called out its name''"

"Oh no," Lavender says looking absolutely miserable.

"It'll be alright, Lavender," Professor Lupin says, moving closer to the four students. "Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, and I will all do what we can to help you through this."

"Yeah, only to get expelled when it's all done," Seamus says, looking at the floor.

"My advice to you is this" Professor Lupin says in a comforting voice, "If you don't want to be expelled, then this is your chance to do right by your house, by your school, and by yourselves. You are about to be challenged. And how you face that challenge may very well decide your future at this school."

When Professor McGonagall returns with Professor Dumbledore, Professor Lupin tells them both the exact nature of the situation. After examining the game for himself, Dumbledore nods to himself and says, "Yes, I agree with your assessment, Professor Lupin. Mr. Thomas, Mr. Finnegan, Ms. Patil, and Ms. Brown have all inadvertently entered in to a binding magical contract with this game. There is almost certainly very little hope in breaking it, and their only option at this time is to fulfill it. They must play, and one of them must win."

"Are you certain that you don't want to try breaking the curse directly, Professor?" McGonagall asks him. "This is an exceptionally powerful dark artifact. Those ants were indestructible, and there's no knowing what else it may conjure."

"As you said, Minerva, this is an exceptionally powerful dark artifact. Why, I doubt even Lord Voldemort in his prime would be able to conjure 50 million ants- or, 50 million anything really. It's a very big number after all," he says cheerfully, even though the four students and Professor McGonagall all wince at the sound of the name. "Even the Gringotts curse breakers woiuldn't be able to undo it, and I dread to think what might happen to them if they tried."

"But these are just students! Third years!" Professor McGonagall says, clearly distressed. "They are putting themselves in great danger! Not to mention, the rest of the students. I think it'd be best if Misters Finnegan and Thomas, and Misses Brown and Patil were removed from the school, to some place where they can be better protected while… playing," the last word comes out awkwardly. "Of course, we'll need to make arrangements to contact the parents before-"

But ProfessorMcGonagall is cut off as Dean, Seamus, Lavender an Parvati all let out an agonized, startled scream, shutting their ears with their hands, and falling to their knees. Their heads all fill with the bombastic poundings of the drums, now louder, faster, and angrier than ever before. Each beat feels like a smack to the brain. Not a single other sound is able to penetrate the vicious cacophony. The three professors all turn to face the students, collapsed and writhing on the floor.

And then, after less than a minute, the drums cease.

"Look, here!" Professor Lupin says to the other teachers as the four third years struggle to get back on their feet. Professor Lupin points to the black circular center, where misty yellow words spell out:

Belay the thought
of finding aid.
Jumanji will not
be delayed.

"I think," Dumbledore begins quietly, "that we have just been given a warning. We do not have the luxury of time on our side. This game has just told us that it will be played now, or these four students will suffer."