killer_pizza_504: Thanks

dark_lily_of_the_valley: I'm getting them from numerous sources. They include television, my science and history text books, several websites, a few apps, and a couple of people with far too much free time. I have been obsessed with factoids for years, so a bunch of these facts I know longer remember where I found them. If any of these facts seem a bit strange, I usually check it on two to three websites.

Meagan Snow: Hmm . . . interesting.

Pjo_Hp._Spells_and_words: Good ideas.

A Sky Full of Lighters: Good idea.

Daughter of Athena: Don't worry, Harry Potter will be making an appearance.

Cookie05: Cool.

I meant to update much sooner, but there was the Super Bowl (go Giants!) and then I had a bunch of tests . . . anyway, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

Some of the older students and teachers had heard rumors, but none of them could ever find the said "pet-haven". Though try they did. Umbridge had put all of the Industrial Squad on the case the second she had found out, she also brought in several students for questioning, a group of suspicious fifth-year Gryffindors appeared to be her prime suspects, but she was looking in the wrong place.

As the weeks rolled by, Harper, Chase, and Vaisey's business continued to thrive. As their pockets filled with galleons, they were able to afford luxuries for themselves as well as the animals (their employes weren't doing too shabby either, for that matter.) Annabeth had been extra careful not to appear suspicious, and always kept her expenses well-hidden. Aleron normally was fairly responsible for the most part, but even he could not resist boasting a little bit about his cool knick-knacks every now and then to impress his friends.

As for Harper . . . well, what are you going to do?

"Where did you get that?" Vaisey demanded.

"Get what?"

"You know what I'm talking about! The big, bouncy thing!"

"Oh, this? It's called a trampoline," Harper explained as he bounced up and down.

"Okay, and why, may I ask is it doing in the common room?"

"Because it wouldn't fit in my dorm, duh!"

Vaisey mentally slapped himself. How thick could you get? "Harper, remember how we had that discussion about being discreet with our money? Well, this does not fit into that category!" But Harper was not listening, he just continued to bounce, without a care in the world. Up. Down. Up. Down. Up. Down. Up Down. Up Down. Up. . . "You have to get it out of here!" he hissed, "If somebody sees it- -"

"Mr. Vaisey, Mr. Harper," came a drawling voice. It was barely a whisper, yet at the same time impossible to miss. The two first-years gulped.

Although Snape was not nearly as harsh with the Slytherins as he was with children from other Houses, most of the snakes did well not to upset him.

"What is the meaning of this?" Snape demanded, eying the trampoline as if it were a bomb that could go off at any minute.

"It's . . . it's a trampoline, sir," Harper explained. His voice was odd pitched and he was sweating like mad. Snape was one of the few people Forrest respected and feared. "It's a type of toy. You bounce on it, and- -"

"I am very well aware of what the function of a trampoline is," he hissed. "What I want to know is what this . . . this abomination is doing my Common Room. Care to explain?"

"Professor," Adrian Pucey entered the Common Room. "Profssor Snape, you're needed in a staff meeting on the fourth floor."

"Can't it wait? I am in the middle of reprimanding."

Pucey shook his head. "Sorry, sir. I don't think so. Umbridge said it was urgent!"

"Very well," Snape headed for the door, but not before giving Harper one last venomous glare.

"Thanks, Puce," said Aleron, "we owe you one." He turned back to Harper. "As for you, Mister, I can't believe you were so stupid! What part about 'subtle' don't you understand?"

"Oh, lay of it, Vase. I was just having a little fun, that's all! What did you do with your money? - -No, wait. Don't tell me, I already know. You gave it to a certain Hufflepuff, didn't you?"

Vaisey's cheeks turned bright red. "Shut up."

Harper made a kissy-face. "Come on, admit it," he said gleefully, poking the other boy with his wand, "you so fancy her!"

"I do not!" he shouted indignantly.

Harper grinned. "Yes you do!" he said in a slightly sing-songy voice, "I see the way you look at her! Come on, just admit it."

The other boy scowled. "I'm not admitting anything, because it's not true!"

"Oi, what's going on here?" came a voice. The boys looked up. Adrian Pucey was standing over them. They had forgotten he was there.

Pucey was a seventh-year. He had been a prefect for both his fifth and sixth years for Slytherin House. He also was a chaser for the Slytherin Quidditch team. And although he technically no longer had a position of authority, he was still one of the most respected members of his House. He was smart and crafty, and was also unusually patient compared to most of his other House-Mates. This made him a favorite among the younger students.

"Vaisey fancies this girl, but won't admit it!" Harper announced. His tone of voice appeared to be whining, like a small child tattletaling, which, incidentally, was exactly was he was doing.

"Harper won't mind his own business and leave me alone!" Vaisey countered.

A small smirk appeared on Adrian's face. "Which girl?" he asked slyly.

Harper answered before Vaisey could protest. "A Hufflepuff girl named Rose Zeller!"

"Shut up!" he growled. "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Vaisey put his hands on his ears, "I can't hear you! La la la la!"

Pucey snorted. "Oh, come on, Vaisey. Having a girlfriend is nothing to be ashamed of- -well, I mean as long as her blood lineage is respectable."

"But she's not my- -" Aleron stopped, realizing that he was not going to convince anyone. "You know what? I don't care. You can believe whatever lies you want, but that doesn't make them so. I'm going to go talk to someone who will actually listen to me."

"Okay," Harper replied, "tell Rosie Posie I said hi!"

Grumbling under his breath, and trying his best to ignore his House-Mates, Aleron Vaisey exited the Common Room.

He ran up the staircase and out of the dungeons, into the main hall. He wanted to be as far away from Harper as possible. The Room of Requirement, that's where he would go. It was somewhere were he could be alone.

Without looking where he was going, Vaisey accidentally slammed into an older student, knocking down all of his stuff. He looked up, and staring back at him was none other than Harry Potter himself.

Annabeth held out the sheet of parchment. "Did you charm it?" she asked.

Nott shook his head. "Why would I do that? I mean, think about it, what would I possibly have to gain?"

"My annoyance?"

"Oh, Annabeth, Annabeth, Annabeth," Theodore made a clicking noise with his tongue in disapproval, "Poor, naive, little Annabeth. When it comes to my actions, it is for myself, and myself only. I am the priority. Others are there purely to do my bidding."

"So you only act based on your own personal greed?"

"Now, now. We mustn't put it so harshly. There's no good and evil. It's like they say, every man for himself."

Annabeth nodded, trying to hide the disgust on her face. Though as much as she didn't want to admit it, Theodore's logic sort of made sense. Life would be so much easier if one just casted the fact that others had feelings aside. It was survival of the fittest taken to the extreme.

While Chase knew in her heart that she often prejudged people herself, she still recognized them as people. True, Annabeth was particularly snobby when it came down to intelligence- -only associating with those clever enough to have a sophisticated conversation with her- - but this, this was more than just that. Nott seemed to think of the world as some big chess game. Every loss was a minor setback, but it didn't truly matter as long as he won the game in the long run. If someone was of no use to him, he would throw them aside, they were only a pawn in his game of life. Everyone was a tool to him. Was that what he thought og her as? Merely a tool to help him reach his goal?

He was a true Slytherin at heart, loyal to only one person: himself - - or so he claimed.

But Annabeth knew in her heart that wasn't true. Otherwise why would he be spending so much time trying to decode a message from his long, dead mother? Unless of course there was an ulterior motive- - could that be it? Was Nott really that selfish?- - No, Annabeth refused to believe it. Nobody was truly evil at heart. Were they?

So to recap: Aleron Vaisey is being cranky when he runs into Harry Potter; Annabeth is mentally debating human consciousness; Theodore Nott has a twisted mind; Nigel and Dennis still need to get the spell; and now, thanks to a certain Forrest Harper, the Slytherin Common Room now has a trampoline!

What will happen next?

Feel free to comment. I especially want to hear your input on what should happen between Vaisey and Harry. But please note that it cannot be some something that will change the overall course of the OOP.

HP fact: J.K. Rowling's parents met at King's Cross Station.

Random Fact: New Zealand was the first country in modern times to grant women the right to vote in the year 1893.