The Story So Far and Round 3 Mission Options

[evlpez]

The trio are in trouble! On one side, a massive, black dog appears to be closing in on them. On the other, they are about to be discovered by Trelawney or Hagrid or possibly another (the dangerous escapee?) How do they get out of this?

What mystery surrounds Lupin and his Holiday plans? (Hint- The Full Moon occurs three days after Christmas!) Crookshanks and Scabbers must each make an appearance in the scene.

It ends with a single, exciting moment which confirms Hermione's suspicions.

Word challenge:
mossberry, sycamine, enigma, cat, wolfsbane or wormwood.
(again, use of more than one of these in the winning submission gets a bonus prize for each additional word)

The deadline is Noon Central on Wednesday, December 10.
Polling will follow... the winner and new mission will be declared next Friday!

This round, the Mission is the same for both Canon Fodder and Wizarding Wheezes submissions. Good Luck and happy writing!

Again... The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, who sponsor this contest, would like you to know that all prizes are negotiable to some degree. Should you have no use for tea or be allergic to chocolate or find the hourglass unsuitable for your household decor... we might be able to work something out!

[evlpez]

Chapter One Winner - McGonnagal's Cat

Mysterious Happenings To Ponder


A mere two hours earlier Hagrid had been so distraught over the notice of Buckbeak’s trial that Harry, Ron, and Hermione couldn’t believe they were seeing the same person. Coming in to dinner, Hagrid seemed happy! Not only did he walk in humming to himself, but he seemed to be pleasantly lost in thought most of the time everyone was eating. Then when dinner was over he rushed back to his house before anyone had a chance to speak with him. While Hermione was glad he’d found something to take his mind of Buckbeak’s dilemma, she had discovered a bit of information in a library book that could help Buckbeak's case and she needed to talk with him right away.

Instead of heading for the Common Room after supper with Ron and Harry, she went to Hagrid's hut and knocked on the door. Hagrid shouted through the door that he wasn’t receiving visitors. Puzzled, she knocked again, saying who she was. Hagrid’s door creaked open just enough to see a tiny portion of his smudged sweaty face, and to allow a wisp of black smoke to curl out above his head. Fang clawed at the crack, desperate to escape through it, too.

Hagrid distractedly mumbled, “Go ‘way, Her-my-nee. I'm making... oops. Shunta said that.”

“But, Hagrid. I need to talk with you, I just found…” she started to say.

But, before she could finish her sentence Hagrid interrupted with, “ ’Can’ righ now. Come back t’morra , I dunno, mebby four or so.”

Startled, Hermione blurted, “But, Hagrid!..."

His door thunked shut before she could complete the sentence, and she heard rapid bootsteps rush away from it For a moment Hermione stood there with her mouth hanging open. Shocked, she hurried back to the Castle, finding Harry and Ron playing Wizard Chess in the Common Room.

“I’m really worried about Hagrid!” she interrupted, relating what had just occurred. “The last time he acted like this he was hiding Norbert’s egg! This is too suspicious.”

“Ya, I know what you mean!” Ron said as he stuffed a chocolate frog into his mouth. “I saw him carrying this humongous box right before dinner, and when he saw me he tried to hide it behind his back. It stuck out on both sides of him. Silly, really.”

Harry looked worried. “What do you think he's hiding?”

Ron shook his head and said, “Dunno, but it makes me nervous. Come to think about it, everybody’s acting a little weird. I heard Seamus say before he left, that he’d heard a couple Hufflepuff girls talking about Professor Sprout sending Snape a FLOWER!”

“What?” Harry said, recoiling at the mental image.

“Ya, I was on my way up to the Common Room and he was talking with Dean and a few others. Said he’d heard these two girls chatting outside the Girl’s Lavatory. Hmmm, wonder why he was outside the Girl’s Lavatory?” Ron’s voice trailed off, distractedly contemplating the situation.

“We’ve got to find out what he’s up to!” Hermione brought the conversation back to Hagrid. “Come on, we can talk as we walk. Harry grab your, “ she made motions to indicate the Invisibility Cloak, but the boys were being especially dense, thinking more about their next chess move. ” … cloak already! How thick can you get?”

“But we’re right in the middle of a …” both boys said in unison, loosing the momentum of their argument at Hermione’s glare.

A few moments later the trio found themselves in Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom. As their footsteps echoed off the walls, a giggle was heard from one of the stalls.

“Have you come to wish me a happy Holiday, Harry?” Myrtle said in her flirty sing-song voice as she rose above the stall door.

Startled a bit, Harry replied with a grin, “Urm, well, sure. Happy Holidays, Myrtle.”

“Yes! Happy Holidays, Myrtle.” Hermione and Ron chimed in.

Myrtle giggled again and floated over their heads as they devised a plan. They had ducked into the bathroom to figure out how best to get to Hagrid’s hut now that the sun was down. Harry unfolded the Marauder’s Map onto one of the sink tops, so they all could see it easily, without accidentally being discovered by a teacher, or worse, Filch. The trick seemed to be how best to get to Hagrid’s without anyone noticing Harry being out of the dorm and castle after dark. It was amazing to see so few dots moving around on the Map. Finally they settled on using the greenhouse exit and sticking close to the forest as they walked to Hagrid's. Myrtle interrupted them with a high-pitched shriek.

“Oh Harry, you can’t go that way!” she tittered shrilly, “There is a big black dog that lurks near those trees now, by the big rocks, the menhirs.” Zooming around the ceiling disconcertingly, she added in an airy voice, “It sits there watching the students... Except when it goes to the Whomping Willow it sings sad holiday songs and mutters about being in Hogwarts.” She zoomed around the room cackling then dived behind a stall door with a swoosh.

“Harry! It’s the Grim! We can’t let you go out there!” Hermione’s eyes were wide as saucers, panic evident in her voice.

“Aw, she’s NUTTERS, Harry!” Ron said flatly, still looking at the map. “What kind of a dog sings? I mean, really!”

Just then the door burst open and Professor Sprout briskly marched into the lavatory.

“What is all this noise?” she demanded. “Why are you BOYS in the Girl’s Lavatory?! This is highly irregular!”

Hermione, thinking quickly, distracted Professor Sprout by saying that they were curious about Moaning Myrtle and had come in to see if they could find her in this bathroom. Harry slid the quickly folded Map surreptitiously into his pocket, and smoothed his robe over the Cloak hidden beneath.

“Well, all of you, get up to Gryffindor Tower immediately. Especially you, Mr. Potter!” Professor Sprout said bruskly, but with a smile. “This is no place for students at this time of night.”

“But, Professor…. It’s not yet seven o’clock.” Harry chimed in.

“Ahem, yes, well… still… I’ve got to deliver this bit of asphodel to your Potions Master,” she indicated a lily she was carrying in her hand, “…and things are just too dangerous around here for you to be out of your Tower right now. Please go to your Common Room. And stick together!”

The trio looked from eachother to the flower and back. Professor Sprout ushered them into the hall where they dutifully head down the hallway and up the stairs toward Gryffindor’s dorms.

“What are we going to do now to find out what Hagrid is hiding in his hut?” Hermione mumbled dejectedly as they reached the Portrait entrance.

Sir Cadogan brandished his sword at them, shouting, “Ask him you scurvy nave! Password?”