Chapter 4 – Disaster and Good Fortune
The next thing anyone knew, Dumbledore had ordered the Gryffindors back to the Great Hall, where they were joined ten minutes later by the rest of the students, who all looked confused as hell. Dumbledore explained the situation briefly, left Percy and Penelope in charge and conjured enough sleeping bags for everyone.
It didn't take long for the students to start talking about that had happened, starting with the Gryffindors telling their friends in other houses.
"Everyone into their sleeping bags!" shouted Percy, announcing that it was lights out in ten minutes.
Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny dragged four sleeping bags into the corner, followed by Andrew and Mel who were only carrying the one.
Around them, other students were speculating on how Black could have gotten in, but Andrew was too busy kicking himself.
"This was too close, Mel!" he hissed as she got into her bag, they had silently agreed to pull shifts and he was taking the first watch.
"Lights are going out now!" Percy shouted. "I want everyone in their sleeping bags and no more talking!"
Penelope noticed that Andrew was pacing around his five friends in the corner, she walked over quietly. "That includes you too," she said softly, so as not to disturb anyone.
"Not happening," Andrew answered stubbornly, causing her to give him a stern look. "I know you're in charge here, and since you're probably not aware, Mel and I have been assigned as Harry's bodyguards until Black is caught."
Penelope's look softened a little. "You feel as though you failed tonight?"
"Nearly," Andrew answered, noticing over her shoulder that Jax was having a similar argument with Percy, who sent one of the ghosts off with a message. "If we'd been in Gryffindor Tower and not here..."
Penelope shuddered at the implication, on the other side of the Hall, Snape had come in and taken Jax away with him. Percy then noticed Andrew was still awake and walked over.
"I take it you have some hair-brained assignment too?" he hissed. "That boy had the nerve to order me out of his way."
"He's ordered to kill Black if the opportunity presents itself, no time like a break-in." Andrew answered. "Me and Mel are to guard Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny. So we're taking shifts to watch over them."
The look on his face left no room for argument, so Percy and Penelope decided to leave this corner of the Great Hall to them.
Things remained quiet in the Great Hall, the teachers came in every hour to check how everything was going, Snape even attempted to get Andrew to give up his vigil and get some rest.
"Sod off, Snape!" he answered, his eyes bleary and his legs barely holding him up.
"You're tired, so I'll let that slide," Snape answered curtly, then amazingly he placed a hand on the young Jedi's shoulder. "You'll serve no purpose by working yourself to death."
Andrew sighed and, with great effort, he pushed Snape's hand off his shoulder and lifted his left wrist to look at his watch. "Mel's taking over in an hour, I can manage until then."
Shortly after that, McGonagall came in to see what was keeping Snape, only to have pretty much exactly the same conversation with Andrew. After that the two teachers left and the Headmaster came in, coaxing Andrew into getting some rest, by telling him that the entire castle had been searched, and there was no sign of Black.
The next thing Andrew knew, he was being rudely awoken by a furious Mel. She was angry that he hadn't woken her up for her turn at the watch.
"Dumbledore told me not to wake you," Andrew mumbled, turning over for some more sleep. "Said there was no sign of Black."
"Jax must be a little upset about that," Mel said, leaving without another word.
Andrew sat up then, having expected more of a telling off, he look at Mel as she walked over to Jax and started talking to him. "Something going on with them?" he asked.
Ron just started sniggering and Hermione elbowed him in the ribs. Later that day, everyone was moved back into their common rooms, which was then the talk started. For the next few days the only talk going about Hogwarts, was Sirius Black. Mainly theories on how he could get into the castle, each one getting wilder than the last.
What was becoming offensive to the Jedi, was how teachers seemed to find excuses to escort Harry wherever he went, Percy had taken to tailing him, on his mother's orders no doubt, and McGonagall had even called Harry to her office to 'inform' him why Black had escaped Azkaban.
She also went on to say she felt Harry training in the evenings was too risky, at which point, Andrew had had enough.
"Does nobody have any faith in me and Mel?" he exploded, having gone with Harry to McGonagall's office. "I know we screwed up on Halloween but..."
"No one is blaming yourself or Miss Jacobs, Payne," McGonagall said, cutting him off. "Black got past everyone that night. However there isn't anything wrong with increasing Potter's security."
Andrew let out a sigh. "You're right, I'm sorry Professor. I'm just so furious with myself!" he exclaimed as he slashed out and punched a wall.
"You shouldn't be, you can't be everywhere," McGonagall answered, noting how Andrew seemed to freeze at those worse. "What is it?" she asked.
"An assignment that went wrong," Andrew answered a little darkly. "The first time I ever failed. I was nine, and me and Master Cooper were assigned to assist the police in Glasgow."
"What happened?" Harry asked.
Andrew lifted his shirt to reveal a scar he sported just below his ribs. "Without going into all the gory details, we were tracking a serial rapist-murderer, had a volunteer to be bait." he explained.
"But?" McGonagall pressed. Andrew sighed, tucking his shirt back into his trousers.
"Turned out she had a twin sister," Harry instantly figured out where it was going. "Our volunteer got a phone call, found out where her sister was and me and my Master raced to her as fast as we could. I got there just in time to jump between the girl and the knife that caused this." Andrew finished, pointing to the spot the scar was located. "I woke up in hospital a few days later," he sighed again. "Soon as I was down the bastard killed the girl."
McGonagall chose not to scold the Jedi for his use of language. "No one is perfect, Payne." she said. "You did all you could."
"I could have killed him," Andrew growled darkly.
"That's not your way," she said, giving him a knowing look. "Your code tells you never to kill unless it's your only option."
Andrew agreed that she had a point, and the following training sessions took place under Madam Hooch's watchful eye. Sadly the weather only continued to get worse, but the Gryffindor team trained harder than ever, the only hiccough was that Andrew downright refused to train or play in goal this year.
"It's your show, Boss," Andrew had said to Oliver. "I'm not taking it from you." so he trained in all the other positions, occasionally going in goal, just to keep his skills sharp.
Just as they were about to start their last session before the first match, Wood passed on a bit of bad news. The Slytherin captain, Marcus Flint, had given some flimsy excuse as to why they weren't going to play the first match.
"But it's obvious why they're doing it." Wood told them, grinding his teeth angrily. "They don't want to play in this weather. Think it'll damage their chances.
Instead they were to play against Hufflepuff, who had a new Seeker and Captain, in the form of Cedric Diggory. The girls on the team giggled at the mention of him, Fred pointed out that Hufflepuff were an easy win and Wood nearly went berserk, saying they couldn't relax.
"Oliver, calm down, we'll just play the same as we always do, our best!" Andrew shouted, punching the air, the team cheered and Wood relaxed, a little.
If the weather was bad in training, it was horrendous on the day before the match. The wind was making windows rattle, the rain fell harder than ever, and the corridors were so dark that the teachers had to light extra torches and lamps. Most of the Slytherin team was looking smug at having managed to avoid playing. If that wasn't bad enough, Lupin had come down ill, and guess who was covering his class.
"Now, Professor Lupin has not left any record of the topics you have covered so far," Snape started.
"Please sir, we've done Boggarts, Red Caps, Kappas and Grindylows," said Hermione quickly, "and we're just about to start.."
"Be quiet," Snape snapped. "I did not ask for information."
"You'll not get far in this classroom acting that way," Andrew called, coolly.
"Excuse me?" Snape asked, dangerously.
"Simply put, unlike your own class, you're covering here, you're not in charge."
"In that case, Mr Payne, let's pretend that you're a teacher with a little over a decade's experience. How would you proceed?" Snape asked with a sneer.
"You could do worse than to listen to Hermione, she's not only the head of this class, but she's had the best marks of any student in our year, ever since she set foot in this school." Andrew answered calmly.
"Then it's just as well that you're not teaching this class, fifteen points from Gryffindor!"
With that, Snape moved back to the desk and announced that they would be studying werewolves.
"But, sir," Hermione started, but Mel placed a hand on her shoulder, and calmly took over to keep her friend out of trouble.
"We're not supposed to do werewolves yet, Professor. We're due to start on Hinkypunks..."
"Miss Granger, Miss Jacobs," interrupted Snape with a voice of forced calm. "I believe that we have already established that I am taking this lesson, no one else. Now, I am telling you all to turn to page three hundred and ninety-four." He glanced around again "All of you! Now!"
After everyone had sullenly turned to the page he requested, Snape continued. "Which of you can tell me how we distinguish between the werewolf and the true wolf?"
Nobody moved except Hermione, who had her hand in the air. "Anyone?" Snape asked, ignoring Hermione, smiling a twisted smile. "Are you telling me that Professor Lupin hasn't even..."
"(Are you blind or just plain stupid?!)" Andrew shouted so loudly into Snape's mind that he actually staggered slightly. "(I'm only shouting because you seem to be deaf too!)"
Snape glared at Andrew, who was reading from his textbook and looking innocent, he looked up and looked perplexed. "Something the matter, Professor?" he asked, innocently.
Snape glared even harder at the Jedi, before turning to Hermione and snapping at her to give the answer.
After that, Snape had them make notes, from the textbook, on werewolves. While they did that, he went around and tried to examine the work they had done under Professor Lupin, but when he got to Andrew.
"No, you can't look at the work I did with the real teacher of this class!" he said loudly.
"Because you know I would find it appalling," Snape shot back.
"No, because I know you're not as good a teacher, and you find fault in perfection." Andrew responded, causing the room to rumble with sniggers. "Now if you don't mind, I have work to do and you're breathing on me, EW!"
That got Andrew thrown out of the classroom. He stood, leaning against the wall, glaring at the door to the class, as Professor McGonagall came by.
"And why are you not in class, Payne?" she asked.
"I pi.." Andrew stopped short and took a breath. "I upset our good potions teacher."
McGonagall sighed and shook her head, she'd heard multiple times about how Andrew and Snape had butted heads. Snape was constantly complaining about how Andrew kept trying to put him in his place, when it really should have been the other way around.
"Tell me your side," she told the Jedi, almost sounding like a mother, dealing with squabbling children.
So Andrew told her about Snape refusing to listen to anyone when they tried to tell him which topic they were on. How he ignored Hermione when she had an answer to his question, and how he was criticising the work they had done with Lupin.
"So when he got to me, I told him 'no', that he's not the real teacher, not as good a teacher. Then I told him I had work to do and … I told him to stop breathing on me," Andrew finished, blushing at how childish it had been.
So his surprise, McGonagall actually giggled. "Well I won't lie, you should have just let him have his way and avoid any unpleasantness. But I agree, his head does get too big sometimes. I'll have words with Professor Dumbledore, see if this can be the only class that Severus covers."
"Thank you so much!" Andrew cried, dropping to his knees and worshipping her, just as the class ended and came out, cracking up at the image of a Jedi worshipping Professor McGonagall like some sort of Goddess.
The next morning, Andrew got up earlier than normal, wanting to meditate and centre himself before the match. At about six in the morning, Harry came down from the dormitory, pushing Crookshanks with his foot.
"Morning," Andrew said calmly.
"Not surprised to see you up early," Harry answered, watching Andrew as he floated a few things around his head. "Does that ever help?"
Andrew smiled and came gently out of his meditative state. "Sometimes, if I don't get any visions."
They spent the next couple of hours, meditating. Andrew spending more of the time giving instructions to Harry. Every now and again having to leave Harry to it so he could stop Crookshanks sneaking up to the boys dormitory.
At about eight in the morning, Andrew suggested they head down for breakfast. After climbing out of the portrait hole, Sir Cadogan challenged them. He had been the only portrait to volunteer for the post after The Fat Lady was attacked.
"Stand and fight, you mangy cur!" he yelled at the boys. That was only one of the reasons the Gryffindors didn't like him, the other was that he kept changing the password at least twice a day.
Andrew growled, turned and pulled his lightsaber from his belt, igniting it. "You should pick your opponents more wisely, good Sir Knight." he said, dangerously.
Cadogan backed down fairly quickly and wished them a good day. Down in the Great Hall, they were half-way through breakfast when the rest of the Gryffindor team showed up.
"It's gonna be a tough one," Said Wood, looking at the sky on the ceiling.
"Stop worrying, Oliver," Alicia told him soothingly, "we don't mind a bit of rain."
"A bit?" Andrew asked, holding a hand above his eyes and squinting through the window.
After eating, and slip-sliding their way down to the stadium, the team changed into their scarlet Quidditch robes, when Wood tried and failed to speak, Andrew asked the one question that had been bothering him all morning.
"Where are you putting me, Boss?"
That helped, Andrew was to warm the bench to start off. He wanted him ready if anyone got injured during the match, and if things weren't going well on the goal scoring side, Oliver would sub one of the chasers, leaving Andrew to do his party piece.
Once outside, Andrew took the soggy bench and watched his team as they met the Hufflepuff team in the centre of the pitch. Oliver and Cedric shook hands, both teams mounted their brooms, with more than a little difficulty, and took to the skies.
Andrew watched as his team fought against the elements and the skills of the opposing team, a whole new form of trepidation coming over him as he realised the difference between a spectator and a substitute player.
He cheered with the Gryffindor fans every time Alicia, Angelina or Katie scored, not that he could tell them apart in this weather, and more so every time Oliver kept Hufflepuff from scoring. After Gryffindor scored their fifth goal, Wood called for a time-out, during which Harry pointed out that his vision was getting worse by the second.
While Hermione took Harry's glasses to place an 'Impervious' charm on them, Andrew gave Harry some guidance.
"Okay, Harry, close your eyes. Focus, listen to the Force, let it be your eyes," he told Harry, waiting for a moment while Harry concentrated.
"Wow!" Harry exclaimed when the world came into, a slightly hazy, focus. "I can see you, though you're a little blurred."
Andrew whooped and slapped Harry on the shoulder. "That'll get better with practise, but congratulations, you've taken your first step into a larger world. Keep your eyes closed and tell me how many fingers I'm holding up."
Harry scrunched his eyes up a little before answering. "Four?" he was right.
"OK, between the glasses and Harry's new voodoo, the Snitch is ours!" George crowed.
The teams took to the air again and Harry now found it easier to look for the Snitch. Andrew watched Harry as he saw something, squinting against the rain, the Jedi followed his line of sight and saw … if he didn't know any better … the same black dog from Mongolia Crescent.
Harry slipped a little on his broom and dived a few feet, before noticing Cedric going for the Snitch. As Harry shot after him, Andrew sensed them before he saw them, Dementors had flooded the pitch.
The crowd screamed and Andrew looked up to see Harry falling, Dumbledore slowed his descent and Andrew charged onto the pitch, partly to get the Dementors away and partly to catch his best friend. He called his lightsaber to his hand and slashed a Dementor through its neck, but the blade passed right through the cloak without doing any damage.
The Dementors seemed to take offence to being assaulted, and as one, turned on the Jedi, before a collection of silvery animal-spirits charged across the field and drove them off. Just as the last Dementor left the stadium, Harry hit the soggy, muddy ground with a slap.
Harry was ordered to be rushed to the hospital wing by Dumbledore, who looked livid. Cedric, to his credit, was pleading with Madam Hooch to reverse the outcome and call a rematch, but Wood simply admitted that Hufflepuff had won fair and square.
Harry was informed of all of this, when he woke up in the hospital wing. He was even told that Wood was still in the showers, presumingly attempting to drown himself.
"Did somebody get my Nimbus?" Harry asked, trying to get over the fact that he'd lost, for the first time.
It was at this point that Ginny broke down and cried. Mel put an arm around her, and Andrew sadly handed Harry a bag. "Well … when you fell off, it got blown away." Hermione said, hesitantly.
"And?"
Andrew couldn't look at Harry, "It hit the Whomping Willow." he said.
Harry was instantly reminded of what that tree had done to the shuttle car Andrew had stolen last year. He dreaded what he was about to see in this bag. He tipped it up on his bed, revealing what was left of his treasured broom.
"Professor Flitwick brought it up, just before you came to." Ron said, rubbing his sister's back as she cried.
"What gets me," Mel said, "is why your lightsaber didn't harm that Dementor."
"I asked Dumbledore about that, before I came up here. Turns out that conventional, or Muggle, weapons are useless against them." Andrew answered. "I could've thrown a bloody battle-axe at them and it'd have just passed through!"
At that point, Madam Pomfrey came along and made the five of them leave, so Harry could rest. He was kept in for the rest of the weekend, refusing to let anyone throw what was left of his broom away. His closest friends never left his side, except to sleep, and the Gryffindor team came back on Sunday morning, this time with Wood, who told Harry that he didn't blame the younger boy.
One night, Mel waited for the others to go before she sat back down next to Harry. "Something's troubling you." she said, it wasn't a question.
"Promise you won't laugh?" Harry asked as Andrew poked his head back in.
"Only if it's not a joke." he said, walking back in.
"Just before I fell, I saw The Grim again." Harry explained.
"I thought I saw something!" Andrew half-shouted, slamming his right fist down onto his left palm. "Just before the Dementors showed up."
"That's the other thing that's bothering me, first the Grim shows up twice, and twice I nearly have a fatal accident." Harry started, referring to nearly being run over by The Knight Bus. "And now, there's the way these Dementors affect me."
"You heard screaming the first time, was it any different this time?" Mel asked softly.
Harry nodded, repeating to them the voices he heard. "You … you think it was the night your parents ..." Mel couldn't bring herself to finish that sentence.
Harry nodded again, the Jedi sighed, Andrew placing a comforting hand on Mel's shoulder. "It might be an idea to ask Professor Lupin about some extra lessons," Andrew started, when the other two looked at him he elaborated. "To learn how to defend yourself from the Dementors."
Harry agreed and said he was going to try and sleep, so the two Jedi left him alone and walked back to their common room.
Once Monday rolled around, things had gone almost back to normal, almost. McCarthy had the use of both his arms again, a fact he gleefully demonstrated as he re-enacted Harry's fall during the match, when he wasn't doing that, he was making more Dementor jibes at Harry, he stopped though when Jax decided to Force Choke him during potions. He was making Dementor impressions at Harry and Ron was about to throw something at him.
"Fifty points from Slytherin, Starr, and if you ever do that again in my presence, you will be expelled!" Snape roared, shocking everyone with the fact he had taken points from his own house.
As they walked towards their Defence Against The Dark Arts class, Andrew and Ron agreed to skip the lesson if Snape was teaching it. But Hermione peeked in and confirmed that Lupin was back.
To be fair, Snape hadn't been lying when he said that Lupin had been ill, he looked pale, had bags under his eyes, like he had had flu or something. However he smiled at his assembled class and asked everyone to take their seats. This led to the first five minutes of the class being a stream of complaints about Snape.
Much to Hermione's disappointment, the essay on werewolves was cancelled. After that was settled, they finally moved onto what Snape was supposed to be teaching them, Hinkypunks. A small, one-legged creature, which looked to be made of smoke, blow and it would be gone.
"Lures travellers into bogs," Lupin said as the class took notes. "You notice the lantern dangling from his hand? It hops ahead, people follow, and..." the Hinkypunk helped Lupin finish his sentence by making a squelching sound against the glass of its tank.
As the class was leaving, Harry was about to leave, Andrew and Mel giving him pointed looks, when Lupin called him back. "I heard about the match," he said as he covered the Hinkypunk tank with a cloth, then he started loading books into his briefcase, "and I'm sorry about your broomstick. Is there any chance of fixing it?"
Harry almost chuckled. "That tree tore a Jedi shuttle car to shreds last year, my broomstick didn't stand a chance."
Lupin sighed, telling a story of how the tree was planted the year he had come to Hogwarts and how students would challenge each other, to see who could get the closest to it. Harry brought up the Dementors and Lupin guessed that they were the reason Harry had fallen.
"Why though?" Harry blurted out. "Why do they affect me like that? Am I just..?"
"You are not weak, Harry!" Mel said, sternly.
"She's right, Harry, this has nothing to do with weakness," Lupin added sharply. "The Dementors affect you worse than others because there are true horrors in your past." Mel looked away self-consciously.
Lupin went on to tell the three teens, about how evil Dementors actually were, how they left a person with nothing but the worst experiences of their lives. "And the worst that has happened to you, Harry, is enough to make anyone fall off their broom. You have nothing to feel ashamed of."
"When they get near me," Harry hesitated, staring at Lupin's desk, his voice straining, "I can hear Voldemort murdering my mum."
Mel was in tears now, her own memories taking over her mind, Andrew wrapped an arm around her shoulder while he listened to Harry and Lupin talk. Harry and Lupin continued to exchange words, mainly on Dementors and why they came to the match. Andrew shuddered when Lupin explained that the match was much like a feast to those … monsters.
"You made that Dementor on the train back off," Mel pointed out, being the first of the three to come around that night.
"There are … certain defences against them," Lupin answered, hesitantly. "However the more there are, the harder it is to resist them."
"Could you teach us?" Harry asked immediately, making a note to apologise to the Jedi later, for implying that they wanted to learn too.
"I don't pretend to be an expert at fighting Dementors, Harry … quite the opposite..."
"But if the Dementors come back, we need to be able to defend ourselves," Andrew chimed in. "My lightsaber was useless during the match!"
Lupin looked from one determined face to the next, before agreeing to set something up after the Holidays.
After they left the classroom, Mel suggested that she stay with Ron, Hermione and Ginny while Harry and Andrew went to practise.
Between the promise of Anti-Dementor lessons and Ravenclaw thrashing Hufflepuff, Harry's mood was soaring. Gryffindor weren't out of the running yet, but they couldn't afford to lose another match. A fact that Wood had taken to heart, as he was now training his team harder than ever, regardless of how much colder it was getting. While Harry was without a broomstick, Andrew was taking turns with him on his Nimbus Two Thousand and One.
Two weeks before the end of term, Professor Flitwick had decorated his classroom with real fairies lighting the place, and people were talking about their Holiday plans. Both the Jedi were happy to hear that Ron, Hermione and Ginny had chosen to stay for the Holidays, mainly to keep Harry company, but it helped them with their assignment at least.
Sadly, Harry's good mood was ruined, by the announcement of another Hogsmeade visit, the weekend before the Holidays. Everyone who was going, was going on about how they could get their Christmas shopping done.
This prompted Andrew into asking Professor McGonagall, if she would be kind enough to escort Harry and himself to Hogsmeade for the same purpose, but she saw through that and said that the two boys could quite easily ask Mel to do their shopping via 'that communication device of yours'.
"You tried, though, thanks." Harry said as he flicked through a borrowed copy of 'Which Broomstick', Andrew having just explained what he had tried to do.
On the morning that everyone else was heading off to the village, Harry and Andrew, having insisted that Ginny go too this time, bid their friends goodbye and made their way up the marble staircase. They were on their way to Gryffindor Tower, when Fred and George 'psst'ed' to them from behind the statue of a one-eyed, humpbacked witch.
"Okay, what're you up to and how far away should we be?" Andrew asked, pointing a thumb over his shoulder.
"You make us sound like such villains," Fred answered with mock innocence.
"Well then, how come you're not in Hogsmeade?" Harry asked, curious.
"We've come to give you a little festive cheer before we go, Harry," George answered.
"In here," Fred added, opening the door to an empty classroom. The four boys walked into the classroom and each took a desk to themselves, to sit on.
George closed the door behind him, being the last one in, and beamed at Harry and Andrew. "Bit of an early Christmas for you, well, Harry mainly."
Andrew nodded, as Fred pulled something from his cloak with a flourish and laid it out on one of the desks. It was an old, square, very worn, piece of parchment. "What's this supposed to be?" Harry asked.
"This, Harry, is the secret to our success," said George, patting the parchment fondly.
"It's hard to give it away," added Fred, "but we decided last night, your needs are greater than ours."
"Besides, we know it off by heart," said George. "We bequeath it to you. We don't need it any more."
"And what does Harry need, with an old piece of parchment?" Andrew asked, sceptically.
"An old piece of parchment!" Fred exclaimed, looking mortally offended. "Explain, George."
"Well you see, when we were in our first year, young, carefree and innocent..."
The younger boys snorted, "Yeah right!" they both said.
"..well, more innocent than we are now, we got into a spot of bother with Filch."
"On your first night I've no doubt," Andrew sniggered as they 'tagged' each other in the story-telling.
"We let off a Dungbomb in the corridor, and it upset him for some reason.." Fred explained.
"So he hauled us off to his office and started threatening us with the usual.." George continued.
"Detention, disembowelment?" Andrew asked.
"Yep, and we couldn't help noticing a drawer in one of his filing cabinets marked 'Confiscated and Highly Dangerous'."
"Don't tell me," Harry said, starting to grin.
"Well, what would you have done?" asked Fred.
"I caused a diversion, in the form of another Dungbomb, Fred whipped the drawer open, and grabbed this." George finished the story, adding. "It's not as bad as it sounds, you know. We don't reckon Filch ever found out how to work it."
"He probably suspected what it was, though, or he wouldn't have confiscated it." Fred added.
"And you know how to work it?" Harry and Andrew asked together.
"Oh yes," the twins said with a smirk. Fred continued, "this little beauty's taught us more than all the teachers in this school."
"This is a wind-up right?" Harry asked.
"Oh no, Harry," George answered, taking out his wand, he touched the tip to the parchment and said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." the effect was instantaneous.
Thin ink lines began to spread over the parchment, like a spreading spiderweb, from the point where George's wand touched. They joined, criss-crossed, fanned into every corner of the parchment. Then words formed at the top of the page, proclaiming; "Messers Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers, are proud to present 'The Marauder's Map'"
Not only did this map show every inch of Hogwarts, but it also showed the people in it, in the form of labelled black dots that were moving about. The twins then explained how it worked, and what it showed, like the secret passageways, where the teachers and prefects were patrolling at night, the passwords needed to get into passageways, literally everything.
They also told them which of the secret passageways were safe to use, Filch knew of four of them, one had caved in, another was under the Whomping Willow, Harry winced at the mention of that tree, but the last one, led right to the cellar of Honeydukes, and the entrance was inside the statue of the humpbacked witch, outside the classroom they were in.
"Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs," sighed George, patting the names at the top of the map. "We owe them so much."
"Noble men, working tirelessly to help a new generation of lawbreakers." added Fred solemnly.
"Right," said George briskly, "don't forget to wipe it after you've used it.."
"..or anyone can read it," added Fred warningly.
"Just tap it again and say, 'Mischief managed!' and it'll go blank." finished George.
"Now, we figured that you two wouldn't be as good as us, at sneaking around," Fred said, reaching into his robes again.
"So when Ginny told us, about you setting fire to your permission slip," George added, turning to the Jedi. "Mark of a true friend that."
"We wrote to Jarod, told him some silly story about how we trashed it." continued Fred, handing Andrew a piece of paper.
"We asked him to send it to us, so we could return it to you." finished George.
"Great, you can tell McGonagall I insisted you go, 'I'll be safe in Hogwarts for a few hours'," Harry suggested.
"That was so convincing I almost believed it myself!" laughed Fred.
Andrew took the permission slip, not liking where this was going, but positive that Harry would go, with or without him.
"So, boys," said Fred, doing a rather good impersonation of Percy, "mind you behave yourselves."
"See you in Honeydukes." added George with a wink.
Harry and Andrew stared at each other, then Harry told Andrew where to find McGonagall and wiped the map, and Andrew ran to find her.
After explaining the story that they had agreed on, McGonagall took the slip and escorted him to the Entrance Hall, where she told Filch to add Andrew's name to the list.
He all but ran down to the village, reaching out with his senses to find his friends, who by luck were in Honeydukes. When he found them, they were shocked and annoyed.
"What're you doing here!" Jax snapped, quickly retracting his arm from behind Mel, he was about to wrap it around her waist.
"What about Harry?" added Mel, amazed that Andrew would abandon his post.
"I'll explain later, promise." Andrew said quickly, brushing past them both and into the shop, where he bumped into Ginny.
"Why are you here? What about Harry?" she asked, Andrew quickly guided her back to Ron and Hermione, just as Harry crept up behind them in his invisibility cloak.
After briefly telling them about the map, Ron and Ginny being upset that it wasn't given to them and Hermione insisting that it be handed in, which caused a short but heated discussion, they agreed to, quietly, enjoy Harry's new-found freedom.
Ron quickly showed Harry around the shop, Andrew calmed Hermione down, stating that if Black turned up, a) he'd never see anyone specific in the crowd and b) nobody could see Harry while he was wearing his cloak.
Once they were finished in the sweet shop, they stepped outside, Andrew quietly explaining everything to Mel and Jax, and Jax promising not to report Harry, but only when Mel asked him not to.
"This place is gorgeous!" Andrew exclaimed, wishing he had a camera. The others showed Andrew around, pointing out things like the post office, the joke shop, everything that they had only told Harry and Andrew about after the last visit.
Hermione nearly suggested visiting the Shrieking Shack, but Ron suggested a Butterbeer to warm themselves up with, so they went to The Three Broomsticks. They stepped inside and instantly relaxed in the warmth, Ron went to the bar to order drinks, Mel and Jax following.
They were looking around for somewhere to sit when they noticed Malfoy, sitting by himself in the corner, they took a nearby empty booth, Harry sitting in against the wall, and Jax excused himself to join his friend.
Just as the six of them were tucking into their Butterbeers, McGonagall, Flitwick, Hagrid and Fudge walked into the pub, Ron pushed Harry under the table with his drink, just in case, and Hermione used her wand to move a Christmas tree over to block them from view.
Andrew, however, was half-way out of his seat when Mel grabbed him and pulled him back. "I know you're pissed off at him, but it's not worth it." she said. Andrew gaped at her.
"Since when do you swear?" he asked.
She blushed and said something about hanging out with Jax a little too much.
Just then, Madam Rosmerta came along with drinks for the teachers and minister, who were sat at the table next to them. The six students listened in as surreptitiously as possible, the tree helping, as the adults talked about Black, McGonagall telling Hagrid off for telling people what had happened on Halloween.
While they listened in, Rosmerta complained about the Dementors killing her business, McGonagall and Flitwick backed Dumbledore on not allowing Dementors on the school grounds, and Fudge brought up the worst thing that Sirius Black had done, worse than killing thirteen people with a single curse.
"You say you remember Black, when he was at Hogwarts, Rosmerta," murmured McGonagall. "Do you remember who his best friend was?"
"Naturally," said Madam Rosmerta with a giggle. "Never saw one without the other, did you? The number of times I had them in here … ooh they used to make me laugh. Quite the double act, Sirius Black and James Potter!"
Mel gasped and Harry dropped his tankard with a clunk. The adults carried on talking about Black and Harry's Dad, making them sound like the Weasley twins, Hagrid even compared the duos to each other.
But then Fudge dropped the bombshell, Black had been James' best man, he was Harry's Godfather, and when Dumbledore had found out that Voldemort was after the Potters, he had sent them into hiding. James had trusted Black so much, that he'd made him the Secret Keeper, so by magic, nobody but Black could tell anyone where the Potters were hiding.
Black had betrayed Harry's parents to Lord Voldemort, he was the reason they were dead. It was after that fateful night, that he had been hunted down by James and Black's friend, Peter Pettigrew, and that's where he pulled the stunt everyone knew about, the thirteen deaths with one curse.
Pettigrew received an Order of Merlin, First Class, and his mother was sent all they could find of her son, his finger. After that, Fudge went on to tell of how 'sane' Black appeared to be on his last visit to the prison, when all the other inmates of Azkaban just muttered to themselves, he had seemed bored when he spoke to Fudge.
"But what do you think he's broken out to do?" asked Rosmerta. "Good gracious, Minister, he isn't trying to rejoin You-Know-Who, is he?"
"I daresay that is his – er – eventual plan," Fudge answered evasively. "But we hope to catch Black long before that. I must say, You-Know-Who alone and friendless is one thing … but give him back his most devoted servant.." a few of the Gryffindors shuddered at that thought, then McGonagall announced that they needed to get back up to the school for dinner.
"Time to go I think," Andrew said quietly, they silently agreed and Andrew ran over to Honeydukes with Harry, claiming he was craving something with caramel.
When Andrew later met Harry, as he climbed out of the statue, he could sense his friend's turmoil. "I'm sorry, Harry," he said as Harry removed his invisibility cloak, "I wish I had answers for you."
"It's okay," Harry responded quietly. He stayed quiet all through dinner, nobody daring to bring up what they had overheard since they were sitting close to Percy, afterwards, Harry didn't linger in the common room and went straight up to his dormitory.
Deciding to give him some space, his friends sat by the fire, staring mutely into the flames. "Poor Harry," Ginny sighed, everyone agreeing with her.
"I can't just sit here," Ron said shortly after, getting up, he too ascended the stairs to their room.
"I think I'm going to turn in," said Hermione, heading up the opposite staircase, Ginny and Mel following. With nothing better to do, Andrew went to bed too, he walked into the dormitory to find Ron looking sadly at the closed curtains of Harry's bed.
They shrugged at each other and turned in for the night. All night long, Andrew was silently cursing his senses, as he could feel Harry's hatred coursing through him. Eventually exhaustion forced the Jedi to sleep, but he resolved to spend some time with Harry over the Holidays, training him some more, so that he wouldn't act on his hatred, and turn to the Dark Side.
Harry didn't come down from his bed until nearly lunchtime the next day, he asked where everyone was, and Ron reminded him that they had all gone home that morning.
"It is so weird to see this place so empty," Mel commented, given that she and Andrew had never stayed at Hogwarts during the Christmas holidays.
"You really don't look well, Harry," Hermione said, looking worried.
"I'm fine," Harry growled, making the others worry, Andrew had already told them what he had sensed the night before.
"Listen, Harry," Mel started, looking at Andrew, "I know you're upset about what we heard yesterday.."
"And it's perfectly natural to want revenge," Andrew continued. "But believe me, you can't act on it."
Harry glared at his friends, quickly realising they had rehearsed this conversation.
"If you do, you might as well get a spare crystal from Jax," Mel finished.
"You think I'd do something that stupid?" Harry almost snapped.
"You've been thinking about it," Ginny chimed in, "loudly too."
Harry sighed, leaning on his knees and staring at the floor. "Do you know what I hear, what I see when Dementors get near me?" he asked, Ron, Hermione and Ginny shook their heads. "I can hear my mum screaming and pleading with Voldemort, just before he murdered her."
Hermione and put one hand to her mouth, and the other over her heart, while Ginny looked like she might cry. "Black's the reason I have those memories in the first place, Azkaban is no punishment for him, you heard Fudge. He needs to pay!"
"And if Jax gets his way, he will," Mel said.
"For once I'm all for Jax killing someone, leave the killing to the trained assassin, Harry," Andrew said, trying to calm Harry down, "keep your hands and soul clean."
"Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate and hate leads to suffering," Mel explained. "It's natural to have those feelings, we're only human. But if you act on any of them, you could be lost to the Dark Side."
"Fear keeps you from stepping out into traffic." Andrew took over, reciting the lessons his mentor had taught him. "And sometimes something will happen that makes you angry, like," he paused, trying to pick an adequate example, "when you hear about a politician embezzling government funds. That's robbing everyone you know all at the same time really."
"And right now, you hate Black," Mel continued, "like you said, he's the reason you suffer so much from the Dementors, why you're an orphan, you wouldn't be human if you didn't at least resent him for that."
"But, just an example, if you ever killed someone out of fear, anger or hatred, then you'll be a slave to the Dark Side, and it's not worth it … your parents will still be gone." Hermione finished.
Harry nodded and took a deep, shuddering breath, and looked around for something to do to take his mind off Black, which wasn't easy. "We haven't been to see Hagrid in a while," Harry said thoughtfully.
"I like your way of thinking, let's go," Andrew yelled as he jumped to his feet.
Hermione didn't like the idea of leaving the castle, but Andrew and Mel insisted they'd keep their eyes peeled.
So they all grabbed their cloaks and slowly made their way, through hip-deep snow, to Hagrid's snow-capped hut. When they got there, they could hear a soft moaning, so they all raised a fist and thumped on the door. Hagrid opened the door, and it was immediately obvious that he was crying.
"Yeh've heard!" he bellowed as he all but fell onto them, pulling all six of them into a soaking wet hug. The Jedi doing most of the work, they lifted Hagrid back to his feet and steered him into a chair. Hagrid had received a letter from the school governors, stating that Hagrid was not being blamed for the incident involving Buckbeak. However, due to an official complaint from Lucius Malfoy, the matter of Buckbeak was being taken over by the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures, there was to be a hearing near the end of April. In the meantime, Buckbeak was to be kept tethered and isolated.
"April 20th?" Mel asked, looking at Andrew. "Think we should go see Dumbledore?"
"To ask permission to attend the hearing?" Andrew responded, liking the idea.
"What about your assignment?" Ginny asked, the Jedi nodded, in that way people do when someone has a good point.
"Well, as long as Harry stays here with one of us to guard him, there's no reason why the rest of us can't go." Ron reasoned.
Hagrid howled and launched himself at the Gryffindors, pulling them all into bone-crushing hugs. Mel used the sleeve of her tunic to dab at Hagrid's eyes, Ron made tea and eventually, Hagrid calmed down enough to thank them verbally.
"Yer right. I can' afford to go ter pieces. Gotta pull meself together..." Hagrid said, drinking his tea.
"So, assignments," Andrew started, rubbing his hands together. "Hermione, research, you're the best at it, Ron and Ginny, get started writing a statement, just in case we're refused entry, Harry, the two of us will do that anyway; we're not going."
"I'm on escort duty," Mel supplied, "and Hagrid, keep your head and I'll help you prepare to take the stand."
With their plans laid out, Hagrid apologised for not being himself. Pointing out that nobody was enjoying his classes, he had to walk past the Dementors whenever he wanted a drink at The Three Broomsticks, and how doing so made him feel like he was back at Azkaban.
Hermione asked what it was like, and Hagrid told her all about it, reminding the two Jedi of the warnings they had just given Harry about falling to the Dark Side.
"Well, you're free now, your name's clear, and you're never going back!" Andrew said, patting Hagrid on the back.
The trip to Hagrid's hadn't been as fun as they hoped, but it got Harry's mind off Black, they quickly split up. Andrew, Ron and Ginny to Dumbledore's office, Harry, Mel and Hermione to the library.
When Andrew's group got to the gargoyle which guarded Dumbledore's office, they hit a snag. "Um, something tells me that the password has changed."
"Harry's map would come in handy here," Ginny pointed out. Andrew nodded and thought of calling Dumbledore with the Hovercam, but then he remembered he had left the device in his trunk that morning.
Just as he was thinking this, the gargoyle leapt to one side and the wall opened, to reveal Professor Flitwick coming out.
"Oh, good morning children, what brings you this way?" he asked in his squeaky voice.
"We just heard about some bad news, for Hagrid," Ginny answered.
"Needed to ask for the Headmaster's permission to attend Buckbeak's hearing," Andrew added.
"Ah, I see, well go right ahead, the Headmaster is a little busy, but he might be able to spare a few minutes." Flitwick walked away, leaving the wall open for the three third-years. They stepped onto the moving staircase and it changed direction for them.
Ron knocked on the door when they got to the top of the stairs, and a slightly curious "Enter?" was the response. The three of them stepped inside and the Jedi bowed to the Headmaster. "Good morning," Dumbledore greeted pleasantly. "How can I help you three?"
"We've just come from Hagrid's," Andrew explained, straightening up.
"Ah, you wish to assist him with Buckbeak's hearing." Dumbledore stated, they all nodded.
"Would it be possible for Ron, Ginny, Hermione and Mel to attend as witnesses?" Andrew asked, Ginny added that the others were in the library, researching cases.
"I would gladly grant permission," Dumbledore began sadly. "However, Ministry hearings do not permit the presence of minors, unless they themselves are the subject of the hearing."
"Good thing we're planning on writing statements then." Ron blurted out.
"Good thinking," answered Dumbledore, "if you supply me with them, I shall gladly read them out at the hearing. Hagrid is as yet unaware, but I intend to attend as a character witness."
Andrew nodded, but then a sly grin crossed his face as an idea came to him. He muttered a little to himself, "Could work … plenty of time ..." before he spoke up. "Professor? How would you feel about taking some Polyjuice potion?"
Once he caught on, Dumbledore laughed. "Oh yes, an excellent idea, you could be at the hearing, without being there!"
"Okay, I'm lost," Ron said loudly.
"Simple, Professor Dumbledore asks Professor Snape to whip up a batch of Polyjuice potion, the six of us provide some hair and the Headmaster reads out our witness statements, as us!" Andrew explained.
Ginny giggled. "That's hilarious!"
Dumbledore agreed to make the request of the Potions Master and sent the three of them on their way. They quickly made their way to the library to meet their friends, who told them what they had found so far.
"I found one Hippogriff case from 1722, but that one was," Hermione shuddered, "executed."
"And I found a Manticore that was let off in 1296 … because nobody wanted to go near it," Mel added.
"Okay, that one doesn't help," Andrew said to Mel.
Ginny told Harry, Hermione and Mel the bad news from Dumbledore, and Ron told them of Andrew's suggestion to the Headmaster. After they finished laughing at the idea of Dumbledore turning into each of them in a crowded courtroom, they took a break from the case research and got on with writing their statements.
What was surprising the Jedi, was how the castle was being decorated for Christmas, even though there weren't that many people staying this year. Harry told them that the thick streamers of holly and mistletoe were there each year, there were lights shining inside the suits of armour, the Great Hall was filled with twelve heavily decorated Christmas trees, and the smell of cooking food was slowly filling the castle, causing even Scabbers to poke his head from Ron's pocket and sniff the air.
On Christmas morning, Harry was woken by Ron throwing a pillow at him, and he woke Andrew up the same way.
"Oi! Presents!" Ron shouted.
Andrew got up and dug through his gifts, his parents had sent him a couple of things which would be useless at Hogwarts, mainly because there were no games consoles or televisions there, but the nicest gift he received was a collection of posters from his younger siblings, his sister had sent him a bunch of posters from Anime shows and his brother had sent him the poster of all six Star Wars movies. That and his older sisters had sent him a bag full of cards, at which he smiled.
"Oh very funny," Andrew growled as he showed his room mates.
Ron handed out the gifts from his parents, turned out Mrs Weasley still made the traditional jumpers, which they all wore with pride, and somebody sent Harry an unmarked gift.
Harry was about to unwrap it when it flew out of his hand and into Andrew's. "I'm sorry, Harry, but I'm not taking chances!" Andrew said, in a tone that left no room for arguments, he placed the gift on the window sill and told his friends to take cover. The Jedi crouched behind his own bed and used the Force to unwrap the gift from a distance, revealing…
"A Firebolt?!" Ron and Harry exclaimed.
Ron darted over and started fawning over the broomstick, Harry followed slowly, watching Andrew's suspicious expression. Just then, the girls walked in, Hermione and Mel carrying their cats, Midnight curled up on Dean's bed and snoozed, while Crookshanks stood on Seamus' bed and stared at Ron's pocket, where he'd just stuffed Scabbers.
"Oh, Harry!" Ginny exclaimed, noticing the Firebolt. "Who sent you that?"
"No idea," Harry answered. "There wasn't a card of anything with it." As Harry said that, Ron cried out as the broom shot off the window sill and into Andrew's hand for the second time.
"Which is why I'm taking this straight to McGonagall," he said, Ron gaped at him. "Think about it, nobody checks our gifts before we get them, and who do we know who'd love to see Harry fall off another broomstick?"
"He's right, Ron," said Mel apologetically. "It might have been sent by Black."
Andrew started walking to the door. "Listen, I'll tell her my suspicions and leave her to test it out, if it's clean, I'm sure you'll get it back, sound fair?"
Harry nodded, seeing the sense in it, but Ron was fuming as Andrew left the room. When he got back to the common room, Ron and Hermione were refusing to look at each other, Ginny explained quietly that Crookshanks had tried to eat Scabbers again, and this time Ron had made to kick Hermione's cat.
"Come on guys, put it to one side, it's Christmas!" Andrew said, trying to be jolly. Ron just turned his glare on Andrew.
"And you've taken Harry's best gift away, it's great." he growled, causing everyone else to sigh.
"What did McGonagall say?" Harry asked, noting that Andrew no longer had his broom.
"She's going to pass it on to Madam Hooch and Professor Flitwick for testing, hopefully we'll get it back before our next match, if it's jinx free." Andrew explained.
"There was nothing wrong with it!" Ron yelled.
"And you know this, how?" Mel asked, quickly losing patience with Ron's attitude.
Before he could answer, Ginny stomped her foot and stormed out, Harry following her to make sure she was alright. Andrew sighed again. "Ron, let's just drop it, okay? Surely it's better to make sure, than watch Harry get killed."
Ron crossed his arms and glared at the Jedi and Hermione, before sighing and admitting that they were all right.
They killed time until lunch with a few rounds of Exploding Snap, Harry brought Ginny back after she had had time to cool off, she had been furious with Ron's behaviour when she stormed out.
"Well, we've enough players now, so I could suggest a muggle game, but I've just decided it'll make an entertaining game at lunch." Andrew announced, before quickly darting upstairs to get the bag of cards.
The six of them made their way down to lunch, where all the house tables had been moved again, a single table sat in the centre of the Great hall, with enough seats for sixteen people. Sitting around the table already were Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Sprout and Flitwick, along with Filch, wearing a mouldy looking tail coat, and three other students. Two first-years, one from Ravenclaw and one from Hufflepuff, and a Slytherin fifth-year.
"Merry Christmas!" Dumbledore called as the six Gryffindors entered, he explained that since there were so few of them this year, he thought they would share one table for once.
"So, this isn't normal?" Andrew asked, sitting down and setting his bag next to his foot.
"Obviously," Snape drawled, clearly not happy with this set up. Just then the last place at the table was explained, by Jax walking in and sitting down, next to Mel.
"What's with the bag, Payne?" Jax asked.
"It's a surprise for later," Andrew answered with a grin. "After we've finished eating I think."
"It's good to see you stayed too," Mel said, smiling to the Sith, who almost smiled back, instead he just frowned a little less.
"Mission's not over, so I stay," he said simply.
"Crackers!" Dumbledore cried enthusiastically, offering the other end of a silver cracker to Snape, who pulled it reluctantly.
It went off with the sound of a gun shot and flew apart to reveal a large, pointed witches hat, with a stuffed vulture on top. Snape looked livid as the students fought hard not to snigger, all of them reminded of Neville's Boggart. With a grunt, Snape shoved the hat towards Dumbledore, who eagerly pulled off his own hat and placed the vulture hat on his head.
"Tuck in!" Dumbledore advised the table, beaming.
As they started to do just that, the doors to the Great Hall opened again, to reveal Professor Trelawney, who said she had been crystal-gazing, and saw herself coming down for dinner.
Dumbledore drew her a chair, literally, and Trelawney took her place between Professors Snape and McGonagall.
"So where are the other Professors?" Mel asked.
"Well Professor Lupin, sadly has fallen ill once again," answered Professor Dumbledore, to which Trelawney hinted that he was nearing the end of his life, much to McGonagall's annoyance. "Professor Sinistra had chosen to spend Christmas at the Jedi Temple, I understand she is becoming rather attached to Master Cooper."
At this, the Gryffindors sniggered a little, just then, an ebony-feathered owl soared through the high window and dropped a letter into Andrew's lap. Andrew opened it and started reading. "Oh, speak of the devil, this is from Master Cooper."
He read the letter quietly, before jumping to his feet and knocking his chair over. "NO WAY!" he cried.
"What?" asked Harry.
"Master Cooper's proposed to Professor Sinistra!" Andrew exclaimed, staring at the letter in amazement.
There was silence around the table, before McGonagall broke it by saying, "And?"
"Oh, she said 'yes'!" some of those at the table cheered, the exceptions being the first-years, the Slytherins and Snape.
"Well that certainly is good news, have they set a date for their wedding?" Flitwick squeaked.
"Nothing concrete yet, but they're hoping for sometime next December, 'Aurora said she's always wanted to be married while standing in the snow'" Andrew read from the letter. After that little bit of excitement, Andrew picked his chair back up and they got on with their meal.
While they were eating, Mel asked Andrew what was in his bag. "Oh, alright, this was meant to be a surprise, but who would like to learn 'Magic'?" he answered, everyone looked at him like he had gone nuts, so he made some space on the table and placed the bag there.
"'Magic: The Gathering'," he explained, unzipping the bag and pulling out a box, which he opened to reveal a deck of cards, "is a Muggle card game, you play the part of a 'Planeswalker' who travels the 'Multiverse' to challenge other Planeswalkers."
"Most intriguing," said Dumbledore, accepting a deckbox from Andrew, who went on.
"It's all fantasy really, revolving around Giants, Goblins, Angels, Dragons, Orcs and all sorts." Said Hermione, Andrew looked at her questioningly. "I've never played it, but I've seen them on sale in shops."
"Well, there are five main colours to Magic, white, black, blue, red and green." Andrew explained, pointing out the design on the back of each card. "White is mainly Angels and Knights, but also revolves around gaining life."
"Black is Vampires and other dark creatures," Hermione supplied. "Blue is magic of the mind. Green is mainly elves or large creatures."
"And Red is basically burning magic." Andrew finished.
They all selected a deck and had a few games, Andrew wining the first couple of times with a very complex deck, just so he could explain as much of the game as possible. After that he switched to something else, and pretty much everyone ganged up on him.
With only one card in his hand, and two creatures protecting him, Andrew frowned. Nobody wanted to attack him at the moment because both the creatures were dangerous, he drew a card at the start of his turn and grinned.
"Oh no, you've just gotten a card that's gonna make you win!" Ron complained.
"Perhaps," Andrew answered, he rotated three 'land' cards. "I pay one of any colour and two black, and I play 'Eviscerate: destroy target creature.' Destroy one of my Havoc Demons, all creatures get minus five-minus five until end of turn." the others groaned as most of the creatures on the table went to graves. "This in turn, kills my other Havoc Demon!"
The others gaped at him, he had just killed every creature in play. "And I'm not done yet," Andrew then rotated eight cards. "Six of any colour and two green, 'Biorhythm: Each player's life total becomes equal to the number of creatures he or she controls.'" he read out with a smirk.
Jax slammed his head onto the table. "I do believe that makes us all dead," Dumbledore announced with a smile.
"Just because I can't win, doesn't mean anyone else is allowed to," Andrew said smugly.
They all laughed at this, the bell tower let out a booming bell toll, and Dumbledore checked his pocket watch. "God gracious, it's five o'clock in the evening!" he announced.
So they put away the cards and had dinner served. Harry and Ron bringing up Harry's new broomstick, Flitwick was happy to explain the tests that would be performed on it and how the broomstick would remain unharmed.
"We should be done with it in a fortnight or so," he said with a hiccough, having just had a sip of his sherry.
Afterwards, the Gryffindors made their way up to the common room, had another game of Magic, and went to bed.