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Harry Potter and the Cracked Reservoir
Chapter 28: Rolling Balls
By Musings of Apathy
Chapter 28: Rolling Balls
Thank you to my Betas Donalddeutsch, Cateagle and Sparky40sw.
"Four-Hundred and Twenty-Seven have entered," the mysterious voice continued, "Six have left alive!"
Another scream echoed through the chamber.
"But, no fear," continued the voice again. "You will all be safe once you open your eyes!"
On the last syllable a bright flash spread from every corner and the entire school watched as the Chamber transformed. The grime beneath their feet seemed to melt away leaving golden hued granite. The statues creaked as the viper’s fanged mouths worked closed from their menacing pose and each statue morphed into another form, some ravens, some badgers, some lions and some, subtly, into the much tamer visage of the current Slytherin snake mascot. The giant head statue of Salazar Slytherin himself melted away to reveal a giant stage of magnificent hardwood occupied by a full band.
Upon their appearance, the band started up with a low roll of a beat from the drums and bass guitar, soon joined in soft tones of a piano and guitar. The music was timed with the walls of the chambers, lined with the mascot statues, sliding away from the students to reveal dozens of tables and chairs to each side of the once narrow chamber.
"Look," said one anonymous voice, "the ceiling!"
The students not looking up before, looked up in time to see the last of the damp, rocky ceiling obscured with the vision of the red and orange hues of the cloudy evening sky as the sun set out of the students’ view.
Unnoticed, Harry stepped up to the front of the stage. "Welcome, everyone, to the Chamber of Secrets!"
The school turned to him, in awe still from the transfiguration of the Chamber that they thought they had all just witnessed.
"If everyone will take their seats," Harry said, motioning to the tables to each side of the students, causing previously unnoticed candles floating over the tables to flare to life taking the dim surroundings and bathing them in bountiful light. "We will have a short respite to settle nerves while the band plays one or two of their favorites."
Somewhere between relieved and stunned, the students wondered around to find their friends and seats at tables.
Harry stood at the center of the stage with a smile on his face. The evening had gone off perfectly so far without a hitch. He had tables full of students, albeit with bewildered expressions on their faces, and his favorite redhead on his arm.
"Hello, everyone!" Harry said with a light Sonorous on himself. "I hope that you weren’t irreparably terrified. Just thought that we would have a bit of a fright for Halloween."
"I’ll send you my cleaning bill, Potter!" came an anonymous voice from the back of the Chamber.
Harry laughed. "Just be careful with the Evanesco in that area. Wouldn’t want any accidents. Better just stick to Scourgify instead."
A light laughter spread through the hall as the tension broke.
"We have a few minutes before dinner starts, any questions?" Harry inquired with an open smile.
"What the bloody hell was that four-hundred and twenty-seven and six thing?" asked Justin Finch-Fletchley from the middle of the hall.
Harry laughed again at the look of horror and interest spread throughout the audience.
"That," Harry said, "is the true statistics of The Chamber of Secrets. Salazar Slytherin, Tom Marvolo Riddle, Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall, Ginny Weasley, who assisted me in preparing this Chamber for your enjoyment, and myself have successfully entered and left with our lives," he said with an innocent grin, "and the rest of you are the remaining four-hundred and twenty-one."
A giggle spread through the Chamber, a mixture of nerves and relief. Harry was enjoying himself a little with the audience, but had his limits. Harry was not destined to be a stage performer, preferring not to be in the spotlight. Teaching the DA was not like this. This was more like he was performing, entertaining his guests.
"We all know the rest, but who is that Tom guy?" asked Bill Seers, a seventh year Slytherin from the DA.
"Yes, him…" Harry trailed off. "That’ll just ruin the mood of the evening. How about I tell you all about it tomorrow night at dinner? A little history lesson in hypocrisy."
Harry nodded at the murmur of assent from the students.
Harry smiled at the shift in magic, indicating the readiness of the meals.
"Ah, it seems that dinner is ready. You may, at your leisure, peruse the menu in front of you and don’t be shy."
Their Master of Ceremonies duties momentarily complete, Harry and Ginny left the stage arm in arm.
Professor Dumbledore smiled at the MC’s as they descended from the stage. The Headmaster waved his wand casually, creating a five-piece string ensemble at one end of the stage, which seemed content to play themselves from their upright positions. The music floated quite successfully to the far tables despite its dulcet tones.
Harry and Ginny sat at the table closest to the stage on the side with the stairs that they descended. After a generic greeting Harry looked around at the people he was now seated with. At the table with he and Ginny were Neville and Luna, holding hands with sweet smiles on their faces, Ron and Hermione, eyes dancing with excitement and joy, and Professor Tonks and, curiously, Remus Lupin.
"Professor Lupin," Harry exclaimed with a smile. "Fancy seeing you here. What brings you to our humble little dance?"
The former DADA Professor chuckled at his friend’s son. "First of all, please, call me Remus or Moony since I’m not your professor anymore. Second, humble? Little? You seem to have your father’s flare for the dramatic with your mother’s gift for understatement of her accomplishments."
Harry smiled at being compared to his parents. He had known so little of them, even after entering the school that they attended, that he lapped up anything relating to them.
"As for why I’m here," continued the lycanthrope, "I was asked by this lovely witch," he gestured to Professor Tonks, "to accompany her to the ball as her date."
Harry raised his eyebrow with a definite smirk. "And here I believed Mrs. Weasley when she had you, Professor Tonks, and her son Charlie practically married off."
Tonks blushed furiously. "We only went on two dates when he visited the Burrow in May," she said before straightening her back and regaining composure, "hardly even a relationship. Since then Remus and I have been…well…"
Harry smiled like a cat that got the canary, "Seeing each other? Getting serious? Exploring each other’s fillings? Finding his ticklish spots? Seeing how curled a metamorph’s toes really can actually get?"
This time both Tonks and Remus blushed like tomatoes. Harry casually picked up his menu, ignoring the blushing couple. He scrutinized the choices with a casual air.
"Now, Harry," said the erstwhile professor, "don’t tease Tonks. We just may decide to get back at you."
Harry smirked in return. "You’re welcome to try."
Remus grinned in return. "From what I’ve heard, you’ve been an easy target recently. Seems you haven’t avoided one of the Weasley pranks."
Harry smiled in a predatory manner back at the Marauder. "That’s just part of my deal with Ginny. I let the pranks take place so that I can judge them at the Christmas holidays and I won’t answer them in kind until after judging."
"That’s awfully generous of you, Harry," said Ron.
Harry smirked at him, but Ginny answered. "Well, how’s he supposed to judge the best prank, if he cuts all of them off before he even knows what they are?"
"Besides," added Harry, "how can I deny any request from my Ginny?"
Ginny beamed her thousand-torch smile at her wonderful boyfriend.
Harry looked up from his menu and smiled back at Ginny.
"I think that I will have the rack of lamb," Harry said. "How about you, Gin?"
She giggled, "Didn’t you have enough of that with Charley’s prank?"
Harry laughed as a huge plate appeared in front of him with two full racks of lamb and extra helpings of burgundy sauce and mint jelly.
"Oh, boy," Harry said, his eyes wide. "Looks like I better get started if I want to dance at all tonight."
Neville perked up, "Didn’t know that you knew how to dance, Harry."
Harry’s smile shined brightly at his casual friend. "Some things," Harry said, turning his smile to Ginny, "are worth learning."
After the table had finished their respective dinners, save for Ron, who despite his rapid consumption had some left yet, Harry brought up a subject with his former professor that he had been thinking about for some time.
"Remus," said Harry, "Are you still having trouble finding work?"
Remus sighed. While this was not the most polite of conversation for the ballroom table, he knew that Harry cared for him and was curious about the direction of the inquiry. "Yes, but that doesn’t really matter with me at Grimmauld Place. With the Order activity there, I’m well taken care of and find myself well occupied."
Harry was often saddened that his father’s friend couldn’t find work. While Remus’s inheritance from Sirius made employment less of a necessity, Harry knew that Remus held pride in his work.
"Well, Remus," Harry said in an official ‘Head of the Family Line’ way, "While the wizarding world may have declared me an adult, I find that there are a lot of things that are beyond me. I know roughly how much gold I have and I know that neither I nor my family will need to work for a living; however, I don’t know about the contents of the rest of my estate. Would you agree to let me hire you to manage my estate? I imagine that I have some sort of houses or such along with my family investments."
Harry said this in as adult of a manner as he could, so as to seem the employer that he wanted to become.
"Hmm," contemplated Remus Lupin, "let me consider it, cub."
Harry laughed, "Cub? Well if you are going to call me that…"
Letting the previous ‘adult’ façade fall, Harry held his eyes wide, his eyebrows turned up in the center and his chin down in the classic ‘puppy dog’ look of pleading.
"Okay," exclaimed the graying former professor. "What would you have me do?"
"Investigate my estates," Harry said with a small glance at the quiet Ginny, "and give me your opinion of their condition and any staffing needs to get them back to running conditions. Find out what I have my money doing, if anything. Help me to evaluate charities that need funding. And help me to figure out if there are more companies like the Twins that could flourish with some assistance."
Remus laughed, "It seems that you really do want an estate manager. Okay, I accept."
"Great!"
Harry walked up to the stage shortly after convincing his father’s friend to work for him. As he walked, he marveled at the fact that a wage was not discussed. This, in Harry’s mind, left the matter to his own discretion. Of course, he could pay the man whatever Harry wanted to pay him, but he couldn’t force Remus to spend a knut.
Reaching the center of the stage and stepping into the magical spotlight, Harry cleared his throat before applying the Sonorous charm and continuing his MC duties.
"Ladies and Gentlemen," he said, gathering everyone’s attention.
"Pothead, finally gets to be in the spotlight for real. You’re such an attention whore!" yelled a familiar voice from near the back.
Harry could see Professor McGonagall’s outline as she stood to take care of the interruption. Harry spoke again to take care of it himself.
"Please, Professor," Harry said, specifically to the Transfiguration Professor. She heard and paused, allowing him to address the problem. "Mr. Malfoy. You’re the one who won’t allow these fine students to enjoy themselves in peace. Your own head of house forced me into this position without my asking for it, so please sit down. If you don’t behave yourself, I will have you ejected."
"Oh, and what could the great Golden Boy do to a Slytherin Lord such as myself in the great Salazar Slytherin’s own Chamber?" as Draco said this, he casually drew his wand. Nobody ever said that he was the sharpest tool in the shed.
A rumbling was heard, but Draco ignored it, as he was intent on the Master of Ceremonies.
"You will find that this Chamber is protected now from all darkness and ill intent," Harry said confidently. "The students in here that harbor no such thoughts are in no danger but any ill act will be dealt with swiftly!"
Harry gestured over Draco’s shoulder, causing the tall blond Slytherin and the rest of the audience to turn and stare at the stone statue of his own house mascot moving to cover his actions, ready if his ill intent becomes ill action. A single scream was heard, but didn’t interrupt the verbal war of the two rivals.
"You’ll find, Mr. Malfoy," Harry said in a calm, cool voice, "that this Chamber is no longer the possession of Salazar Slytherin or his descendants and has not been since the end of our second year. Do not attempt anything or you will find the response less than forgiving. Now sit down or leave!"
Draco reluctantly sat, his face colored in rage. The statue silently retreated to its former position.
"Well, that was interesting," Harry jovially said. "Now, as I was about to say, tonight’s band will, once again, be the Weird Sisters," Harry’s declaration was met with enthusiastic applause and some whistling and cheering. Harry continued, "Dessert, for anyone wanting it is on the tables to my right," he gestured and several long tables faded into view heaving with sugary goodness of all varieties. "And for the Halloween traditionalists, there’s a display of traditional muggle Halloween candies at the rear of the chamber near the great doors." Harry waved his wand, canceling another illusion covering a fountain of gumdrops and waterfall filled with candy corn instead of the customary water next to a table covered in a cornucopia of muggle sweets. Sitting in a place of pride at the center of the table was a large bowl of lemon drops.
"And now, The Weird Sisters!" Harry backed to the side of the stage out of the spotlight before retreating down the stairs to find his beautiful partner waiting for him.
He spoke in her ear, as the band had started to play.
"Ginny," he whispered, tickling his breath against the curve of her ear, "have I told you a dozen times yet today how beautiful you are?"
Ginny tingled against his breath while she smiled at his sappiness.
"Maybe only a couple to go, my prince," she answered
Harry took her hand bowing to kiss the back in a formal manner. "May I have this dance, my fair lady?"
Ginny curtsied and allowed herself to be led to the empty floor between all of the round tables.
Ron and Hermione were standing at the side of the dance floor, which seemed to stretch for the entire length of the Chamber, bracketed by tables full of couples on one side and a single, nearly endless table heaving with every dessert the Hogwarts House Elves could imagine, down the other.
With Ron not yet asking her to dance, Hermione was splitting her time watching the other couples dance and staring off at the stone archway that had brought them to the Chamber. Numbers and thoughts were not adding up in her mind, as she tried to figure what was bothering her with the whole transportation scenario. It simply didn’t match any of the forms of transportation she was familiar with in the magical world. She knew that she would have to find herself in the library to research if there was a transportation method that she was neglecting to think about before her thoughts would fully settle.
She was just contemplating the thought of the vertical metallic liquid surface within the arch possibly working similar to Floo Travel, when Ron grabbed her hand and squeezed; gaining her attention over the din of the dance floor and interrupting her thoughts.
"Hermione," he said directly into her ear, "let’s go get something to eat at the dessert table before those midgets get it all." Ron gestured to the massive table opposite that was beset with the younger years trying to get their share before they were to be excused to their common rooms for the night.
"Ron," Hermione responded to him, the nuances of her exasperation washed away by the solid bass of the thumping music long before it reached his ear. "There’s plenty and don’t call them midgets."