The Gryffindor table was packed with nearly every Gryffindor, including Harry and Ron, of course.
They were sitting there, munching on anything they could spear with a fork—bread, pastries, mushrooms—while brainstorming ways to boost their plan's chances of success. Most of their ideas were tough to pull off, but tossing them around was fun anyway.
Ron had started teaching Harry how to play wizard chess. It was just like Muggle chess, except the pieces were alive, making it feel more like commanding an army in battle.
Ron's chess set was old and battered, handed down from his grandfather like most of his stuff. But the worn pieces didn't hold him back. Ron knew them so well he could get them to do exactly what he wanted without a hitch.
Harry, on the other hand, was using a set borrowed from Sean Finnigan, and those pieces didn't trust him one bit. His skills weren't great, and the pieces kept yelling advice, driving him up the wall:
"Don't send me there! Can't you see your knight? Send him, he's expendable!"
"No way, not the knight!"
Harry rubbed his forehead, finally shooing the noisy bishop off the board.
Scattered around them were books like Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century, Directory of Notable Modern Magicians, Significant Discoveries in Modern Magic, and Studies in Recent Wizarding Developments. It looked like they were searching for someone specific.
No surprise, Harry lost the match. When he and Ron locked eyes, they both knew they were back to facing their headache of a problem.
"There's gotta be some kind of test," Ron said confidently. "Remember the Blind Alley Club? Fred and George set it up, calling it the Castle Explorers' Club on the surface, but really it was for sneaking through secret passages. Their test was running into a wall blindfolded. Nobody knew if there was actually a passage behind it. Everyone who tried said it was terrifying."
Harry remembered Fred and George winking at a young wizard outside the changing room, saying, "Yup, if you don't close your eyes and charge, you'll never know if there's a passage back there."
Determination flashed in Harry's eyes. "We'll pass the test!"
He thought to himself, What could be scarier than endless homework?
Professor McGonagall had torn into their Transfiguration essays, and Professor Snape had coldly docked five points from theirs.
At this rate, Gryffindor's House points would vanish completely.
The two exchanged a look, both seeing the same resolve in each other's eyes.
"What are they up to?" Hermione asked, snapping out of her thoughts as she spotted Harry and Ron marching over with fiery determination.
They reached the Great Hall's entrance, then slipped behind a suit of armor, waiting for something.
At the entrance, the four House hourglasses stood quietly. Ravenclaw's points had stayed firmly in first place after a wild rollercoaster ride.
Even Ron said hopelessly, "Unless we win the Quidditch Cup, we'll never catch Ravenclaw."
But he perked up quickly. "Slytherin doesn't stand a chance either."
The food on the tables slowly disappeared, and the desserts that followed vanished too.
Sean was holding The Fifth Element: An Exploration and heading from the Great Hall toward Hagrid's cabin when he noticed the two sneaking around.
"Harry, Ron?" he called softly.
"Oh! Sean!" Harry jumped at the unexpected voice. "We want to join the test, whatever group it is, we're…"
Realizing what he'd blurted out, Ron's face filled with despair.
"Alright, I'm in," Sean said, eyeing them. "You, Ron, and Harry. But you'll need to check with the others."
Sean caught on quickly to what they were after. He didn't mind, and if everyone at Hagrid's cabin agreed, he was fine with it. Plus, having Harry and Ron keeping an eye out for news about You-Know-Who wasn't a bad idea.
"Uh—you mean there's no test? Like, crashing into a wall or something?" Ron stammered, caught off guard by the sudden agreement. He steered the conversation to safer ground, growing more confident as he spoke.
His eyes got a bit misty. Sean had said him and Harry…
"Crashing into a wall?" Sean raised an eyebrow.
"Oh! Ron means we'll go ask the others right now!" Harry said, covering Ron's mouth and dragging him away.
"Ron, why do we have to crash into a wall?" Harry said helplessly. He'd never heard of anyone so eager to smash into one.
"Oh—uh…" Ron's face turned red, a mix of embarrassment and relief.
"I can't believe we made fools of ourselves in front of Sean," Harry said. They looked at each other and burst out laughing.
---
The next day, Wednesday morning, at Hagrid's cabin.
Sean was sitting by the fireplace, organizing his notes. He'd added a ton on Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts. As he placed his things in the wooden cabinet by the entrance, a charmed mirror shouted, "Neat, clean! But your style's a blasted mess!"
Sean glanced at his mismatched outfit—scarf, sweater, gloves, robe, and a new hat, all from different sources. Fair point, he thought.
He settled back by the fire, flipping through an Alchemy book since he had Professor Trelawney's class that afternoon.
A commotion came from outside.
"Mr. Finch-Fletchley, do we really not have to do anything?" That was Harry's voice.
"Oh—yeah, we don't mind…" Ron chimed in.
"What, you think this place is gonna eat you alive?" Hermione's voice was half-amused, half-exasperated.
"No, really, just one thing to remember—Mr. Owl," Justin called out cheerfully.
Harry and the others then noticed a portrait on the wall of an owl wearing gold-rimmed glasses.
"It's amazing…" Ron whispered to Harry, his voice trembling with excitement.
"Young wizards! More dimwitted young wizards! Answer my question!" the owl portrait snapped, glaring without flapping its wings.
"A talking owl—in a portrait?!" Ron yelped, nearly falling over in shock.