None of the students have ever been in Professor Dumbledore's office before, a record they usually aren't keen on breaking. But given the circumstance, they are relieved to have made it. Even obscured by the dense layers of tropical foliage, Dumbledore's office is something to behold. Bizarre instruments of every conceivable shape and variety are strewn all over the open, circular room, lining every shelf and desk. A pair of curving stairs lead up to second level, a balcony overlooking rest of the office. All along the walls are portraits of many an aged witch and wizard, none of whom have noticed that they are covered with slithering vines because they are all fast asleep. On a perch beside Dumbledore's desk, a large, brilliantly scarlet bird sits watching them. Not far from the bird, Dean spots the school sorting hat sitting silently on the top of a high shelf, looking as much like an ordinary wizard's hat as any other.
"Can I offer you a nice toffee?" Dumbledore says, picking up a small tin from his desk and popping one in his mouth.
None of them are feeling particularly hungry, but considering all that Professor Dumbledore has done for them, it seems rude not to accept his offer, so they each take one. "I love your office, Professor," Lavender says, admiring the intricate devices and assorted paraphernalia scattered about. "And your bird is so pretty!"
"Why thank you, Lavender," Dumbledore says, bowing his head slightly. "This is Fawkes, my phoenix. Phoenixes are immensely strong, and their tears have healing powers, so he may yet prove useful as the game continues." Dumbledore clears away some space on his desk and Seamus sets the game down, opening up the board. At this point, Lavender's rhinoceros token is the only one still in its starting place. "Whenever you're ready, Lavender," he says to her.
Lavender quietly approaches the board, reaching into the compartment to pull out the dice. She holds the dice in her hand for a few seconds, before tossing them like they were something slimy and poisonous. The dice land on the board, eventually settling on a four and a five. The rhinoceros token slides forward nine spaces. Her lip quivering slightly, Lavender leans forward to read the incoming misty inscription.
Laughter fills the
silent air
But don't mistake
this grave affair.
Dean's muscles tense. Seamus' sweaty hand grips his wand tightly. Lavender and Parvati move closer together. Dumbledore remains as calm and composed as ever. That's when they hear it – coming from the upper level. It sounds superficially like a person laughing, but it's clear to all of them that it is something else entirely. The 'laughter' is joined by long, low howls and nervous yips.
"Stay close to me," Dumbledore says, wand in hand. They don't need to be told twice.
As the inhuman chortling continues, they wait for the new arrivals to show themselves. After about a minute, one of them appears on the balcony. Roughly the size of a boarhound, it looks vaguely canine, save for its wide-set, rounded ears. A pair of small, black eyes sit atop a long brown muzzle. It bears a long, maned neck, sharply hunched shoulders, and four long legs bearing small paws. Its pelt is sandy yellow with dark spots.
For a while, it just stares at them, a pink tongue hanging lazily from its gaping jaws in a manner vaguely reminiscent of a friendly dog. But they know better than to let their guard down, especially when another, larger one appears next to the first. Three more join the other two, spread out across the balcony, sizing up the five humans.
Then they begin to head down the stairs at a brisk walking pace, moving with a long loping gate. They don't make directly for the closely knit circle of humans, but instead circle them, moving erratically and changing directions suddenly, presumably to confuse and disorient Dumbledore and the students.
One of the hyenas lunges forward at Seamus, snapping its jaws menacingly. It stops about a foot away from him. Dumbledore points his wand at it and shoots a bright red stunning spell, which hits it right between the eyes. Yelping loudly in pain, it leaps backwards, shaking its head from side to side. Dumbledore has to send a few more stunners as the other hyenas attempt to take chunks out of Dean and Lavender. After stunning the fourth hyena, Dumbledore raises his wand high over his head, twirling it hand several times. As the wand spins, great streams of fire begin to dance wildly over them like a flaming halo. The flames coil around them like great serpent, shielding them from attack and driving the hyenas back.
Howling and yelping in distress, the hyenas back away from the burning wall now protecting their prospective prey. They all begin to pace anxiously around the fire, eager to attack but determined not to be scorched. But with another snap of his wrist, Dumbledore expands the fiery circle outwards, pushing it against the hyenas. He flames lap up against their furry hides, catching two on their manes. This is what finally convinces them that Dumbledore and the student are too much trouble. They all make for the doorway to the circular stone stair case leading down out of the tower.
With the flames now gone from Dumbledore's office, he breathes heavily, putting a hand over his chest. All five of them keep their eyes on the doorway for about a minute, straining their ears for any hints of laughing or yipping. Lavender is the first to speak. "What filthy animals!"
"Now, now, Lavender," Dumbledore says. "Let's try not to be too judgmental. After all, I had a few excellent strips of bacon for breakfast this morning."
"Right," Dean says, "my turn then?" The others look at him surprised. "What? I just want to get this over with. The sooner we finish the game, the sooner all this goes away, and we can get on with our lives"
"I quite agree, Dean," Dumbledore says, nodding to him.
They all approach the game, still laying on the table. Dean picks up the yellowed-dice and gives a quick roll. But although the dice lands on a six and a two, instead of only moving eight spaces, the elephant token slides along the path sixteen, putting him past the halfway point. "Why did it do that?" Seamus asks. They lean forward to look at the words in the center hoping for an explanation.
Twice as far,
your piece will leap
but now your guard
begins to sleep.
"Our guard?" Parvati asks. "What does that mean?"
At first, Dean is as unsure as she is. But as he mulls the words over for a few more seconds, something clicks in his head, causing him to look at Professor Dumbledore. Dumbledore doesn't look at all confused. Instead, he looks sad, his hands folded together in front of his mouth. "Professor…?" he asks Dumbledore.
Before Dumbledore can answer, he winces slightly, looking at his right hand. A fat, brown fly takes off with a high-pitched buzzing noise from Dumbledore's knuckles, leaving behind a red welt right behind his index finger. "I'm afraid," Dumbledore says, "that I won't be around to protect you for very much longer."
"What!?" a very upset Lavender says, going slightly pale. "Why?"
"Unless I am very much mistaken, this game doesn't like that I've been trying to help you. When I tried to keep us away from the rest of the students, it locked us all in and flooded us out of the dungeons. I think the game resents that you're getting help, but there's nothing in its rules that forbid it. So it is making a trade," Dumbledore says, stopping to yawn, "It's allowing Dean to move along twice as far, and will not be threatening you with anything this turn. But, in exchange…I…" and Dumbledore's eyes begin to droop slightly, his knees shaking. He staggers over to his desk, supporting himself by placing is hands on the edges. When he finally makes it to the chair, he collapses into the seat. His head lowers, and his eyes close completely.
"Professor?" Seamus asks. But it is too late. Dumbledore is already fast asleep, snoring softly at a constant rhythm.
Lavender moves over to the sleeping Dumbledore, shaking him by the left arm. "Professor, please! Wake up!"
"Weren't you listening?" Dean says frustrated. "It doesn't want Dumbledore helping us! So it's gotten rid of him."
"Will…will he be alright?" Parvati asks quietly.
"Only if we finish the game," Dean says simply. "That's the whole point. We have to keep the game going as best we can. Once one of us wins, all this will go away, it says so itself!"
"Guess it's my turn then?" Seamus says, picking up the dice. A flick of the wrist, and the dice skid across the game board until they settle on two twos. The monkey token glides along four spaces, bringing Seamus' total to fourteen. The words that begin to form read:
This will not be
an easy mission.
Monkeys slow
the expedition.
Before they can question the meaning of the rhyme, they hear something above their heads. Soft thuds begin to pound over the ceiling, most likely coming from the roof outside. They sound most like footsteps, and if the number of thuds is anything to go by, then there are many of them.
Suddenly, they hear a loud crash like shattering glass behind them. Spinning in place, they see a whole troop's worth of monkeys that look just like one on the cover of the game climbing inside Dumbledore's office. One by one, they make their way inside until the entire group of thirteen is running amok in the office, picking up Dumbledore's many unique possessions and examining with great curiosity. Shrieking and hollering manically, many of them begin to toss the items across the room at each other, and at the four Gryffindors as well.
"Oi!" Seamus cries out indignantly as one of the monkeys hurls a lunascope at his head, which he only narrowly manages to avoid.
The brown-furred, impish primates have a particular love of mischief. They toss old scrolls of parchment for the sheer pleasure of making a mess. Some of them leap up to grab at Fawke's dangling tail feathers, some of them having enough success for the annoyed phoenix to flap his wings and hiss at them. One of them finds a large stone basin filled with what looks like water, sticking its head inside only to pull it back out instantly with a high scream. Three of them sit beside the still-sleeping Dumbledore, pawing through his long silver beard and hair, looking for an easy snack.
"Get away from him!" Dean says, swatting at them with his wand. The monkeys do not appreciate his actions. Showing him its long canine teeth, one of the monkeys grunts at Dean before grabbing the wand by the tip. The two become engaged in a game of tug of war, and though Dean is about twice the size of the monkey, it puts up a ferocious fight as it yanks away from him with all its might. Suddenly remembering that he is a wizard, Dean calls out, "Incendio!"
Small orange flames shoot out of the end of Dean's wand toward the monkey. Though they are nowhere near as magnificent as the great inferno conjured mere minutes ago by Professor Dumbledore, they are still enough to startle the monkey into letting go. But when the monkey lets go of Dean's wand, it leaps up onto the desk. It closes the flaps of the game board and takes off with it toward the doorway.
"NO!" Dean says, racing at the monkey, his arms outstretched. Grinning mischievously, the monkey chatters loudly before scurrying down the stone staircase, the game clutched in both hands. Without even waiting for word from the others, Dean chases the monkey down the stairs. Even when on its hind legs, the monkey moves swiftly over the overgrown floor. Dean might be able to keep up with it, if he can manage to keep from tripping over tree roots. One out of the stairway, the monkey runs down the corridor, Dean still doing his best to catch up to it.
Turning around a corner however, the monkey lets out a short, loud screech before dropping the game and scaling the walls using one of the vines. At first, Dean smiles and bends down to pick up the game. But he stops when he looks ahead and sees the five hyenas at the other end of the hall, staring at him with their beady black eyes.
Dean doesn't dare move, afraid that even the slightest motion might spur the hyenas into action. For now, they simply look him over, their mouths open just enough to allow their teeth to be seen. They pant like overgrown dogs, their ears flickering every now and again. Dean can feel beads of cold sweat crawling down his forehead and along the palms of his hands.
Dean decides to break the standoff. He turns in place before bounding off down the corridor. He doesn't bother turning back, knowing full well that the hyenas are galloping down the corridor in pursuit. In a panic, Dean struggles to think of where to go to get away from the hyenas. There's no hope of outrunning them, and stunning spells are far beyond the skill of a thirteen year old just starting his third year of magical education. With no other options, he makes for the entrance to Dumbledore's office, only to be confronted by the gargoyle guarding the way up. But before he can even begin to attempt remembering the password, he feels a harsh, strong tug at his neck. One of the hyenas has seized him by the hem of his cloak and pulled him backwards, causing him to fall down on his back. The other hyenas surround him, taking mouthfuls of his baggy school robes and shaking them vigorously, tearing them to shreds in seconds.
Dean calls out, "Help! Somebody!" hoping that the others will hear him and come to his aid before too late.
Seamus, Lavender, and Parvati appear from down the stairs, shocked at the sight of Dean being mauled by the hyenas. Lavender lets out a loud scream, but Seamus and Parvati race forward, standing behind the gargoyle and pointing their wands at the predators. "Incendio!" A few balls of fire shoot out from the end of his wand toward the hyena closest to him, ripping into Dean's pant leg. The fire balls disturb the hyena for a few seconds, but not enough to chase it away.
Parvati points her wand at another one and calls out, "Rictusempra!" A few streams of purple light flit from her wand to the hyena, which lets go of Dean and breaks out in a series of fits as a powerful tickling sensation overcomes it. It gnaws at certain parts of its skin as if biting at fleas.
Getting over the shock, Lavender joins them and calls out, "Locomotor morits!" A flash of blue light shines from the end of her wand as one of the hyena's four paws clamp together, causing it to fall over onto its side, where it struggles fruitlessly to get back up.
With two of the hyenas dealt with, the three of them reach out and grab Dean by his ankles, trying to pull him behind the gargoyle. But even their combined strength is no match for the three hyenas, which are beginning to get past his school uniform. Finally, the hyenas tug so fiercely that they pull off Dean's robes, and Dean himself is pulled quickly behind the gargoyle by Seamus, Parvati, and Lavender.
The three hyenas soon realize that there is no meet within the robe, and turn their attention to the four students. But as they begin to approach Dean, Seamus, Lavender, and Parvati, the gargoyle gets up from its perch, spreading its arms and saying, "Oh no you don't." When one of the hyenas tries to slink underneath its outstretched arms, it swat it away like a poorly-behaved cat. The hyena yelps loudly before circling away and whimpering. Once the other two regain themselves, the pack paces around the gargoyle, clearly frustrated, before turning away and running down the corridor in search of easy prey.
When the hyenas are gone, they all let out a deep sigh of relief. "Thanks for that," Dean says, turning back to them.
But Lavender slaps him on the cheek. "Why did you run off like that on your own."
Nursing the spot where she slapped, Dean says, "A monkey had taken the game! I had to get it back!"
"You should have waited for us!" Lavender says, putting her hands on her hips. "It's dangerous out there!"
"it's not exactly safe in there either," Dean says defensively.
"Dean, she's right," Seamus says. "You can't just go running of like that. Now that we don't have Dumbledore, we have to stay together. It's our only chance."
Dean looks down. "Yeah, I know. I guess that was a bit stupid."
"Well, just as long as you know it," Parvati says, giving him a small smile, which he returns.
They wait several minutes to make sure that the hyenas are definitely gone. They hear nothing but the continued mayhem of the monkeys upstairs, still amusing themselves with Professor Dumbledore's many personal possessions. Finally, moving together, they creep quietly out from behind the gargoyle, doing their best not to make much noise. Turning the corner where the hyenas had come from, they see nothing but the game, still lying where it had been dropped. With no hyenas in sight, Dean turns to Parvati and says, "Alright, Parvati – you're up."