Chapter 6 – Fun and Games
Saturday afternoon was filled with contests, both within and between the houses. Shortly after lunch, the houses separated, each to a different area on the grounds. Each house began a chess tournament to identify a House Champion, who would then compete in the finals. The same process was also started for Gobstones.
At the same time, more old stories were swapped…the stories that were never shared outside of the house common room. While each group was reliving their own history, Harry made the rounds, talking with everyone and answering questions. He took Hermione with him and people who didn't know her already quickly discovered that she was bright, intelligent, and the perfect sounding board for Harry as he worked through issues to resolve and decisions to be made.
With each house, Harry answered their questions as completely as possible, telling them when he didn't know the answer or hadn't come to a conclusion. While with the Slytherians, he said he didn't know what should happen to the remaining Death Eaters, although he was leaning towards some sort of general amnesty. He took time to explain to Hufflepuff exactly what happened the night Cedric was killed, filling in any holes from his interview of years ago.
At Gryffindor, there weren't many questions, just congratulations for his selection. The House was already proud of his achievements, and when they heard he had told the Sorting Hat he didn't wish to be in Slytherian, their respect rose even more. In response to one question, he declined to take anyone to the Chamber of Secrets…it just wasn't a place anyone should go, and he had no wish to go again. Ginny, who was with the group at the moment, seconded his opinion that it wasn't much of a tourist place. They both maintained that it was best left alone.
At Ravenclaw, both he and Hermione relived the defense of the Ministry in their fifth year, and also explained just what happened at Gringott's as harry and Voldemort had their final confrontation. Harry was not always comfortable with these memories, but he tried to be as straightforward as possible, answering everything. The end result was that everyone in all houses felt they had a Minister of Magic who would involve them in decisions, discuss options before deciding, and, most of all, be honest with them about the issues they were confronting. Everyone sensed a tremendous change from the prior administration. It was refreshing, as if someone opened a window in a stuffy room.
Finally, the House Champions had been selected. At four, everyone gathered again, and the chess and gobstones semi-finals began. Much to his chagrin, Ron, as Gryffindor champion, found himself playing the Ravenclaw champion, Mandy's father. Mandy and her mother wisely refused to take sides, but took the opportunity to harass both of them. While these games went on, other events started.
The biggest draw of the afternoon was Impromptu Magic, a game devised by Ginny and Luna with the help of Professor Flitwick. In turn, each contestant selected a card from the pile on the table in front of them. They then had 10 seconds to perform the spell listed on the card. Dumbledore had enlisted Griselda Marchbanks and Professor Tofty, both O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. examiners, as judges.
Everyone laughed, clapped, and jeered as spells went wrong and unpredictable results abounded. Hermione's parents didn't know what to think as rabbits with tea-cup handles or fire-breathing pencils resulted from incomplete or inaccurate spells and charms. Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall were kept busy repairing the damage, chasing errant animals or figuring out how to undo partial results. The table itself seemed to be a favorite target, with legs regularly disappearing or falling off, or even bursting into flames.
One elderly Slytherian witch swore she knew the correct spell for color change, and then proceeded to change a teacup into an entire flock of purple flamingos. Even McGonagall was smiling as she rounded up the strays and tried to keep order in the chaos. The next contestant, a wizard who claimed to be a direct descendent of Rowena Ravenclaw, laughed at the spell he drew. Everyone else laughed when his attempt to create an umbrella resulted instead in a mushroom nearly twelve feet tall.
Dumbledore told Hermione he had never seen anything so funny, and there were numerous yells and cheers as one after another, witches and wizards failed at the spell they had drawn. Over to one side, there seemed to be an active pool of betting going on, but no one cared. Everyone was having fun together.
Finally, the group was culled down to two, and the serious contest began. The witch from Hufflepuff was doing fine until she had to change a dust mop into a racing broom. No one was certain just what she created, but everyone agreed they didn't want to sit on it and try to fly. That left a wizard from Gryffindor, and he looked like the sure winner until he turned over the next card and read the instructions.
He needed to vanish just the top card on the stack. Everyone knew that Selective Vanishment was tough. So did he, but he gave it a go. At first, it looked like he might succeed, but then a large hole appeared in the middle of the table, all the remaining cards fell through, and the table collapsed. After discussion, Griselda Marchbanks declared a tie, and everyone clapped, celebrating both winners. It had been so much fun that no one seemed upset with the result, even those who apparently had money riding on the outcome.
In the meantime, Ron had advanced to the finals in chess, defeating Mandy's father rather easily. They both shook hands, and Ron got a big, wet kiss from Mandy. While they were hugging, she whispered that there were other rewards in store for him later, regardless of the outcome of the next game. Ron had to quickly wipe the grin from his face. The board was ready and he settled back down to face his final opponent, the champion from Slytherian. A crowd gathered around them, watching and critiquing every move. The game moved slowly, neither player giving away anything. Outside, the house elves prepared a great feast, again served at several sites to accommodate all the people.
About halfway through dinner, there was a loud cheer from the Great Hall as Ron finally identified a weakness and declared Mate. The two players reached over the board and the pile of destroyed chessmen and embraced, bringing Gryffindor and Slyterian closer than they had been in hundreds of years. It was a fitting end to a day of fun.
After dinner, Harry and Hermione walked her parents back to Hogsmeade and spent the evening visiting the shops in the town. At each stop, they explained even more about the magical world. Hermione made a point of pulling them into Honeyduke's, despite the fact that as dentists, they had little use for sweets shops. At the corner counter, she bought them each a bag of Self-Flossing Stringmints and insisted that they try one. Her father was quickly busy, trying to figure out how to include these in his practice with Muggles.
After hitting all the important spots, they took her parents back to Three Broomsticks, where Harry had arranged for a room for them for the night. He had explained when he booked the room that the guests would be muggles, and after a short discussion, everyone was just fine with the arrangement. Harry and Hermione left, returning to the castle and another night in their own private room. They met Ron and Mandy, who had finally escaped from her parents. After a brief discussion of the day, Ron posed a question.
"Do either of you know someplace where we can go tonight?" Harry and Hermione quickly sensed that they didn't want to return to the family tents at Hogsmeade. They looked at each other, both trying to think of someplace private. Finally, Hermione had an idea.
"There shouldn't be anyone in the Head Girl's room. Ginny is somewhere else with Neville, and she already moved her trunk out."
"That's great, Hermione," Ron said with a somewhat sarcastic tone. "And just how do we get into the Head Girl's room? Neither one of us was a Head Girl."
Hermione grinned. "Well, I was once, and I suspect that if you ask nicely, I could share the necessary knowledge." Ron looked shocked that he hadn't remembered this. Mandy was quicker on the uptake.
"Hermione, would you help us get into the Head Girl's room? My memory-challenged friend and I have some private affairs we would like to take care of tonight."
Harry laughed, and Hermione giggled as Ron looked for a place to disappear.
"Certainly, I would be happy to assist my friends in need. If you'll just come this way." All four of them walked up the steps of the West Tower and down the corridor to the appropriate door. Hermione stepped up and pointed her wand at the latch. She whispered something and the door clicked open. Then she walked in, followed by Mandy and Ron. Harry stayed in the hall; he had visited in the room many times before when he lived next door as Head Boy.
Hermione turned to Ron and Mandy. "Assuming that you don't need to leave and return, I will maintain the secrecy of the password within the sisterhood of Head Girls. Should you care, there is a Silencing Charm on the room, so no noise can escape, and whatever your 'private affairs' include, rest assured that it's all been done before in this room."
Outside, Harry grinned as he remembered what he, personally, had done in this room. He was sure that he and Hermione hadn't been the first, and probably wouldn't be the last to share their love in this space. Mandy smiled as she looked at Hermione. "Both my friend and I thank you for your kind assistance." With that, Harry and Hermione departed, each to a chair down the hall, and thence to a room of their own.
