The Beginning of a New Competition... Yes, Again – Part 7
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N/A: Phew, I ended up making this chapter quite long to wrap up this arc. It got a little out of hand. I thought it would take three chapters at most, but I kept getting more and more ideas.
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Harry pinned another photograph onto the board before connecting it to one of the notes with another red string, while each of them debated their own hypothesis.
The inner courtyard, which was normally where students came to relax between classes, had now somehow turned into the improvised headquarters of a criminal investigation.
The unfortunate part was that Astoria and Luna couldn't get close enough to hear what they were saying, since any of them would notice them immediately.
At least they were distracted enough not to realise that two small figures were watching the investigation table from behind one of the large syrup barrels.
Luna raised her magnifying glass to one eye.
Astoria did the same.
The two of them studied Ryan's photograph, now covered in several red strings.
Then they looked at each other.
"I knew it," Astoria said with complete certainty.
Luna nodded.
"He's the prime suspect."
"If Harry and the others are already gathering evidence against him, then we have to act first," Astoria said, narrowing her eyes seriously.
"Then we need help," Luna replied at once, obviously realising that the two of them were rather slender girls without nearly enough strength to drag away someone Professor Ryan's size.
Astoria realised the same thing and looked around for a few seconds.
"Right," she said thoughtfully.
Then her gaze settled on one of the nearby windows, where several magical portraits could be seen. The people inside them seemed far too alive, constantly moving from one painting to another.
Luna looked in the same direction.
The two of them looked back at each other.
And smiled at exactly the same time.
...
Sir Cadogan proudly rode around inside his portrait, swinging his sword at a group of imaginary enemies.
"Come forth, wretches! Today you shall witness the fury of Sir Cadogan, protector of the innocent, conqueror of giants, and scourge of cowards!"
His little pony looked considerably less enthusiastic, simply grazing solemnly.
"Sir Cadogan," Astoria called from outside the portrait.
The knight stopped immediately.
"Ah! A maiden seeks my aid! Speak, young lady. What monster, villain, or creature from the depths threatens your safety?" the knight declared, bowing his head with noble respect.
"We need to capture a suspect," Astoria simply said.
Sir Cadogan raised his sword without needing to hear another word and puffed out his chest proudly.
"Say no more! This knight shall gladly lend his aid. Though unless you bring that invention of those wicked little brats, it would be rather difficult for me to set foot in the real world," Sir Cadogan added.
Astoria smiled and pointed towards one of the empty golems she had placed beside his portrait.
They were the same creations Harry and the others had used the previous year to allow some of the portrait figures to move freely around the castle.
Sir Cadogan looked at the metal body.
For a brief moment, his eyes lit up. He had wanted to experience having a real body again for quite some time.
Well... not truly real, since it was made of metal.
But it was still a body, not an oil painting.
"Armour worthy of my greatness!" he declared happily.
A few minutes later, Sir Cadogan's illusory figure was projected over the golem as it flexed its enormous metal arms.
The knight raised his sword.
"Lead me to the criminal! I shall handle the battle!" he proclaimed.
"Wait, we have to wait for the others," Astoria replied.
Before Sir Cadogan could ask who would be accompanying him on this grand adventure, a deep singing voice rang out, deafening everyone nearby—including the portraits.
"Ahhhhhhh!"
A golem arrived, projecting the image of the Fat Lady from Gryffindor, followed by Luna.
Astoria looked utterly confused by Luna's choice.
Luna seemed to notice.
"I thought we'd need someone big to carry someone big," she explained.
And judging by the illusion projected around the golem, she certainly was very big.
Still, it didn't really make sense to choose someone large, since everything depended on the golem's overall strength, not the size of whoever was inside it.
"Well... I suppose she'll do anyway," Astoria admitted, deciding it probably wasn't that important.
Meanwhile, the Fat Lady, delighted to finally leave her portrait and share her art throughout the castle corridors, kept singing, trying to reach even higher notes.
"Oh, this will be marvellous," she said as she spun around happily. "I've always wanted to see the castle from another angle."
Astoria simply accepted it, while Luna smiled in satisfaction.
Now they had a knight.
A singer.
All they were missing was someone to guard the prisoners.
...
"Red! Get down from that bookshelf this instant!"
Fleur's voice echoed throughout the library.
Several students looked up as a small red dragon sat proudly atop one of the tallest bookshelves as though declaring it his new throne, flicking nearby books off the shelves with his tail and causing them to rain down everywhere.
"Stop throwing everything around. I'm the one who has to put it all back afterwards," she complained.
Red looked at her and proudly puffed out his chest.
Had Harry been there to read his thoughts, he would have heard:
"Do not worry, my queen. This knight shall protect you from this lofty position, where no villain can escape the sight of this great dragon."
But since Fleur couldn't understand either his words or his thoughts, she had no idea why he looked so proud of himself.
Fleur closed her eyes tightly, trying to keep her patience under control.
First there was his owner.
And then there was his pet.
Each of them managed to drive her mad in their own unique way.
She genuinely felt like giving that little villain a proper beating.
Just as she was thinking that, Luna and Astoria walked into the library, still accompanied by the two golems.
The moment Fleur saw them, her expression brightened.
The only two people who could "control" Red had arrived.
Or, at the very least, make him run away.
"Girls, could you look after Red for a while? He's been causing trouble all morning, and I still have far too much work to do," Fleur said quickly.
The instant Red heard that, just as Fleur had expected, he jumped down from the bookshelves at once, ready to flee from those evil maids.
He didn't get very far.
The moment he landed, Luna had already pounced on him.
Which was rather impressive, considering how slippery Red usually was.
It seemed the little witch had become a professional dragon hunter.
Red struggled to break free, but Luna's grip was somehow far stronger than her small body suggested.
And, as usual, Red went limp in surrender, knowing he would never be able to beat them.
Even the last time, when he'd come close, he'd still failed.
"Good. Now we have a guardian," Luna said with a smile, while Astoria nodded.
Fleur, meanwhile, looked at them in confusion.
"Dragons are good at guarding treasure. We'll give him something important to protect," Astoria said with a smile.
Red, who had already accepted his fate, suddenly seemed to perk up again after hearing those words.
Although Fleur had no idea what the two girls, two golems, and a dragon were about to do, she decided not to ask. Especially since they were taking that chaotic dragon off her hands for a while, allowing her to get back to shelving all the books Red had thrown everywhere.
Fleur let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank you. And please make sure he doesn't destroy anything."
The two girls nodded with complete seriousness.
"You can trust us," Astoria said.
The Fat Lady let out a small laugh.
Sir Cadogan raised his sword.
Red snorted proudly.
For some reason, Fleur had the feeling she'd just made a terrible mistake.
...
Meanwhile...
Fred and George were walking down one of the castle corridors, carrying several crates filled with products from their shop.
"Right, we've got everything. We even brought our new Portable Swamp," Fred said with a proud grin.
"A new competition from those lot means..."
The two looked at each other.
"The perfect time to do business," they said in unison.
Among the crates were Stink Pellets, fireworks, Darkness Powder, trick sweets, small magical traps, and one of their brand-new Portable Swamps.
It was obvious the two of them knew exactly how competitions involving Hogwarts' four most famous troublemakers always ended.
First, it would be an ordinary competition.
Then sabotage.
Until it finally turned into an all-out war.
And they fully intended to earn a few Galleons from that war along the way.
For the pair who had taught Tommy more than a few things, they seemed to know exactly what to do in times of war.
The twins were in high spirits, since they were only a few Galleons away from having enough money to open their shop.
And thanks to Daphne's connections, they had even secured one of the best locations.
Their dream finally seemed about to come true.
But just as they happily turned a corner...
Four enormous cannons floated in the middle of the corridor, aimed directly at their faces, making both twins freeze on the spot.
Peeves sat proudly atop one of them, wearing a detective's hat with a police badge pinned to his chest.
The poltergeist raised a magnifying glass to one eye.
"Aha!" Peeves exclaimed as he stared at them.
Fred and George, who had come to a complete stop, slowly raised their heads, feeling more than a little uneasy with such dangerous weapons pointed straight at them.
"Hello, Peeves," Fred greeted, trying to sound perfectly normal.
"Nice hat," George added.
Peeves pointed dramatically at the crates.
"Suspicious merchandise!"
The twins looked at their products.
Then back at the poltergeist.
"They're perfectly legal items," George replied.
"In some countries," Fred added.
But the twins' words made absolutely no difference, because Peeves suddenly began shouting at the top of his lungs.
"Criminals! Criminals caught red-handed! Detective Peeves shall arrest you at once!" he cried with an evil grin, as all four cannons swivelled together until they were aimed directly at the twins.
Fred looked at the four cannons.
"Since when do detectives use artillery?"
"You idiot, run!" George yelled, grabbing his brother just as the mad poltergeist opened fire.
BOOOOOOOM!!
The two of them shot down the corridor as the first cannon blast blew apart a section of the wall behind them.
"Stop in the name of the law!" Peeves shouted, laughing hysterically while his cannons began chasing after them.
"You're hardly the one who should be saying that!" George yelled back without slowing down.
Meanwhile, the completely unhinged Peeves kept firing cannonballs in every direction.