In the dungeons, Dumbledore, Dean, Seamus, Parvati, and Lavender still remain by the table, the game board spread out behind them. For the moment, the flowers seem to keep to themselves. The other two teachers have been gone for several minutes. After several minutes, Dumbledore turns to the four players and says, "How are you all feeling?"
They all look at him as if he's just been knocked on the head with a bludger. Dean is the first to give an answer. "I mean… not… terribly, all things considered."
"Ahh, good!" Dumbledore says in a friendly voice. "I find it always helps to face even the darkest circumstances as cheerfully as you can. What about the rest of you? Are you alright?" They all nod. "Good, very good. Now, who would like to take the next turn?"
Each of the four Gryffindor students sports of look of worry at the prospect of continuing. Seamus says, "Er, sorry Professor… but shouldn't we wait for Professor Lupin and Professor McGonagall to come back?
"At this point, I don't think they'll be coming back any time soon," Dumbledore says knowingly. "I fear that these plants have most likely spread very far throughout the castle. They'll need to ensure that the rest of the students are safe, and to help the rest of the staff organize an evacuation of the school. But never fear! I'm still here, and I will do my best to make sure no harm comes to you."
As Dumbledore finishes, the four of them turn back to face the game. They very reluctantly take their seats, the chairs now wobbling with the addition of vines to the stone floor. Dean and Seamus look at Lavender and Parvati, wondering which one will one will pick up the dice and take their turn. The girls look at one another as if engaged in a staring contest, waiting for the other to give out. Finally, growing impatient, Parvati says, "Oh fine! I'll do it."
Scooping up the dice in her hand, Parvati doesn't so much roll the dice as she does toss them angrily on to the game board. Bouncing a few times on the hard surface, the dice land on four and three, and the crocodile token slides forward seven spaces. Par for the course at this point, all four look into the center to see what words will form from her roll.
While trekking down
the water's course
guard against
the river horse.
A brief moment of quiet anticipation fills the room as they wait. They strain their eyes waiting for something to appear, only for nothing to make itself evident. Then, the small, quiet trickle of water dripping down from the ceiling begins to quicken. What had started out as a mere pitter patter turns quickly into a steady stream, and from there to a raging downpour. All around it, more leaks in the stone ceiling begin to flow into the dungeon, which begins to quickly fill with water.
"I think it would be best if we were to make it to higher levels," Dumbledore says, keeping his voice low and calm. As he ushers the students out the way they came, they hear a long, loud groan coming from the closed wooden door on the opposite side of the room. "Er, quickly please, if you can," Dumbledore adds.
As Seamus stows the dice in the compartment and shuts the game, the door explodes open, and a wall of water bursts forth into the room, slamming the five of them against their hips, knocking over Seamus and Parvati. Dean, Lavender, and Dumbledore help them back to their feet, even as more water continues spilling in from then next room. With their already-heavy robes now soaked, they trudge up the stairs, fighting to keep ahead of the rising waters.
But as they make it to the next level, another violet torrent rushes down from Snape's classroom, colliding with Professor Dumbledore, knocking him onto his back as it flows over the students, pushing them downstairs, over their heads. Seamus manages to break the surface first thanks to the fact that the game board floats. Craning his neck from side to side, he struggles to see through the darkened chambers, as well as the churning waters. Dean is the nest to resurface, followed soon by Parvati.
Dean calls out over the roaring rapids. "Where's Lavender!? Where's Professor Dumbledore!?"
A few more moments pass, all three treading water and looking for any sign of either Lavender or Dumbledore. Their patience is rewarded when Dumbledore's head pops out of the water about 10 feet away from them. At first his entire face his obscured by layers of sopping hair and beard, but he parts the hair to reveal his face. He begins a strong breast stroke toward Seamus, Dean, and Parvati. This is when they see Lavender's arms wrapped around his neck. When he reaches them, he raises his wand out from under the water. He says something, though none of them can understand what it is. But when he's finished, he flicks his wand toward all of their faces. Within moments, a perfectly round bubble surrounds each of their heads. Dumbledore then motions for each of them to dive down and follow him.
When Dean submerges he finds that he does not have to hold his breath. The bubble around his head acts as a sort of makeshift SCUBA tank, giving him a supply of breathing air. It also doubles as a mask, allowing him to see clearly under the water, though the darkness is still thick, and the water murky. A small, pale light appears up ahead of him, and Dean realizes that Dumbledore has lit the tip of his wand to help guide them. Adopting his best breast stroke, Dean and the others follow Dumbledore as he leads them up several flights of stairs, until they finally reach the door to the Entrance Hall.
With a burst of red light from his wand, Dumbledore blasts the door open. The angry currents carry the five of them out into the Entrance Hall as it begins to fill with water, the first few steps of the marble staircase already below the surface. Keeping their heads above the rising tide, Dumbledore waves his wand once more, removing the bubbles from around their heads. Though water continues to fill the Entrance Hall, the rate of flow seems to decrease significantly.
But as the waters begin to quiet, they hear something else within the Entrance Hall. Snorting. Grunting. Slowly turning around to look, they all catch sight of a large, round shape sitting part way in the water. Though most of its enormous, rotund body is in the water, they can see its small ears, flickering in agitation just behind its beady black eyes, which glare at them. Out on the end of its snout, a pair of wide nostrils exhale a single breath of hot, stale air.
"The stairs," Dumbledore hisses to them. "Go,now!"
In an instant, all of them throw their bodies halfway out the water toward the marble staircase, kicking and flailing through the water frantically, their hearts pounding at full strength, sending cocktails of adrenaline to every cell of their bodies. As they do, the hippopotamus fully submerges, disappearing completely from view. Seamus is the first to reach the stairs, clambering up to stand on the steps. He sets the game down beside him and turns to help Dean and Parvati. Professor Dumbledore is the last to make it to the staircase, letting the others pull Lavender up before crawling first to his knees and then to his feet. The burden of swimming up from the dungeons with an unconscious student on his back has clearly taken its toll. Mere moments after he stands at full height, he leans over, hands on his knees, coughing.
"Professor-" Pavarti begins, only to be cut off by the sound of something gigantic erupting from underwater behind them. All they see is bright, vivid pink framed by sharp, ivory tusks. But the charging hippo collides directly with something invisible.
Looking to his right, Dean sees that Professor Dumbledore has summoned enough strength to cast a wordless shield charm between them and the hippo. "Go!" he wheezes to them.
Dean, Seamus, and Parvati follow his instruction, Seamus grabbing the game as he gets up. Dumbledore waves his wand over Lavender's limp body before picking her up by one arm with surprising ease, and hoisting her over shoulder as if she weighs nothing. The four of them begin to dash up the stairs toward the grand staircase.
The hippopotamus sinks back into the water before exploding upward again, this time smashing through the shield charm, galloping up the marble stairs toward the fleeing humans. It opens its massive jaws nearly 180 degrees, grunting loudly, and showing off its fearsome tusks.
Dean, Seamus, Parvati, and Dumbledore – along with Lavender – run through the entrance to the grand staircase, just barely missing the rampaging hippo's snapping jaws. Once through the stone threshold, they are safe. The hippo is too wide across to fit through the doorway, no matter how many times it throws its fleshy tonnage against it. When it finally understands that the five humans are beyond its reach, it snorts in agitation before turning around and trotting back down the stairs and into the water.
All four of them spend a good minute on their knees, soaking wet, and breathing in great heaves of their chests. Dumbledore lets Lavender down on the floor, which is covered in dirt and leaf litter like the rest of castle. Resting her on her back, he lazily waves his wand a few times over her, and she awakens with a gasp and a pair of wide terrified eyes. Sitting straight up she screams, only for Professor Dumbledore to place a firm, comforting hand on her shoulder.
"It's alright, alright, my dear," he says in a wheezy voice.
Lavender looks around her, seeing the Grand Staircase covered in tropical plant life, as if a rainforest had been planted inside. Most of the portraits are covered with vines and branches, must to the frustration of their occupants. Some have even managed to become dislodged from their place on the wall, whether simply hanging by a corner or two, or falling face down onto the earthy floor. "How…how did we get here?"
"I guess you nodded it off when the dungeons flooded and a hippo nearly ate us," Dean says, almost resentfully.
Before Lavender can snap back at him, Dumbledore hold up a hand and says, "Now, now, there is no need for such snark, Dean. We are all safe, and that is what is most important." But though Dean backs off, he can't help but notice that Lavender seems slightly redder than usual.
"Are you alright, Professor?" Parvati says, noticing Dumbledore's slow, weak breaths, along with his pale complexion.
He gives her a small smile and says, "Quite alright, my dear, quite alright. As you've probably noticed at some point, I'm not quite as young as I used to be. In fact, as of today, I am older now than I have ever been before." His statement earns a few quiet laughs from the four students. "So running, as well as swimming, upstairs can be quite the strenuous task for me. Not that I expect it was easy for you either, of course. Are you all alright?" They all nod. "Good, very good. Now, I suggest we find a better spot to play before Lavender takes her turn."
"Where should we go?" Seamus asks, getting back to his feet.
"A very good question," Dumbledore says, still on his knees for the moment. "I had hoped that we might pick a more secure place to play, but I fear I might have made a grave miscalculation. This game can conjure things of immense power, and which can penetrate the castle in ways I didn't think possible. To this, I offer my most sincere apologies."
All four of them, Dean and Seamus especially, feel a horrible twinge of guilt. "Please, Professor," Dean says, "you don't need to apologize. It's our fault that any of this is happening."
"Well, technically, it's Fred and George's fault, really," Seamus says, only for Dean to give him a nasty look.
"A perfectly innocent mistake," Dumbledore says. "Or, a mostly innocent one at any rate. I made far, far greater mistakes in my youth, and even greater ones in my old age." He looks down away from them.
"We'd never have made it out of the dungeon if not for you, Professor," Seamus says.
Lavender nods, "That's right. I'd have drowned if you hadn't pulled me out of there."
"And the rest of us would be hippo food," Dean adds.
Dumbledore looks at them with a beaming smile, the twinkle returned to his eyes. "I suppose there is little point in debating blame. I think I shall take you to my office to continue the game." He chuckles suddenly and says, "My apologies - that was not meant to rhyme."
He gets to his feet and leads them up the grand staircase toward the Headmaster's Tower. With every floor they pass, they see more and more of Hogwarts overtaken by the jungle plants. The twisting, tangled vines bind the moving staircase preventing them from switching positions. This presents a challenge, as the stairs aren't in a path that leads directly to the Headmaster's Tower, forcing Dumbledore to conjure new steps for them to take. As they move, the portraits lining the walls call out to Dumbledore, demanding to know what's happening.
"Please, everyone, please," Dumbledore tells them. "As you can see, a very powerful dark force has overtaken Hogwarts. We are doing our best to undo it. We will let you know more once the situation has been resolved."
When they reach the entrance to the fifth floor corridor, they see a crowd of students shuffling past. When one of them – a Ravenclaw first year – sees them passing by, she hollers, pointing at them. "Look! It's the Headmaster!"
Soon, all the students around her stop to look, word traveling quickly among the group. They abandon their path to move closer to Dumbledore, who pauses to allow them to approach him. He holds up his hands and says, "Yes, yes, alright, settle down, settle down."
But before anyone else can say anything more, a stern voice rings out over the crowd. "Let me through, let me through!" Professor McGonagall squeezes her way through the horde of students, with Professors Lupin, Snape, and Flitwick. "Albus!" she says, partly shocked partly overjoyed. Seeing the four students with him, she gives a soft laugh in relief. "Thank goodness you're all alright!"
"Indeed, Minerva," Dumbledore says, "Though unfortunately, as a result of…the last turn-" he says cryptically, taking note of all the students around them, "Everything from the dungeons to the Entrance Hall is flooded. And there's a particularly temperamental hippopotamus swimming around down there, so I wouldn't recommend anyone go for a swim."
Most of the students can't tell if Dumbledore is joking or not. Professor McGonagall says, "We've been searching through the castle to try and find a way out, but so far we have had no luck. The vines have grown over every exit we've checked so far, as well many of the secret passages."
"I see," Dumbledore says. "It seems there is a good chance that we may all be stuck within the castle until the curse is finished." At the mention of the word 'curse' the students all begin to ask various questions, none of which are able to rise about the din and make it to Dumbledore's ears. "Please, please, I understand you are all very confused and upset. And please know that all will be made clear once the danger has passed. But for now, I must insist that you stay with your professors and do your best to look out for one another."
"Headmaster," Snape says, standing next to Professor McGonagall. "I must insist that you tell me what is going on inside this school." His voice is calm but firm.
"As I said to the students, Severus," Dumbledore says, "time is very short. Explanations are best left for after the crisis is over."
Though Snape clearly resents Dumbledore's dismissal, he says nothing. Professor McGonagall asks, "Where are you going?"
"Up to my office," Dumbledore says. "For now, do your best to gather as many students as you can. And if you do manage to find a way out of the castle, that would be rather lovely as well."
"Yes, Headmaster," she says with a curt nod. "Everyone, follow me," she says, returning to the path through the fifth floor corridor.
When all of the students have finally left, Dean looks to Dumbledore and asks. "How come you didn't mention anything about us, Professor?"
"Because you are as much victims of this as anyone," Dumbledore says. "The last thing you all need right now is more blame thrown at you from your fellow students. But I was also being sincere when I said time was short, so let's be off."
After finally climbing past the seventh floor and to the entrance to the Headmaster's Tower, they see a stone gargoyle overgrown with vines. When he sees it, Dumbledore says, "Peppermint imps," which prompts the gargoyle to attempt hopping to one side to let them pass. However, the vines growing over its stony hide are so thick and tangled that it can't manage to move at first. It takes the gargoyle several tries before it finally manages to break free from its botanical bonds and allow Dumbledore, Dean, Parvati, Seamus, and Lavender to enter the circular stone staircuse that leads directly into the Headmaster's office.