The Beginning of a New Competition... Yes, Again – Part 8
Ryan Foster was inside the greenhouse, having finally finished all his work for the day, and was getting ready to leave.
Just then, one of the new professors walked in.
Alice Morgan.
"Professor Foster, sorry to bother you. Are you free at the moment?" she asked with a gentle smile.
The nervous air she'd had earlier had completely disappeared.
Now she carried herself with a cold, almost dangerous presence.
Ryan turned around to face her. For a brief moment, he seemed to sense the aura surrounding Alice, making a look of confusion cross his face.
"Er... Professor Morgan, what do you need?" he asked nervously.
Alice narrowed her eyes slightly after seeing Ryan's reaction.
"Hm... so it's altered or sealed memories. It seems he was right. I'd better take him," she murmured to herself in a serious tone. "If you wouldn't mind, could you come with me to—"
Before Alice could finish speaking, a golem suddenly smashed straight through the greenhouse door.
The unexpected entrance caught both professors completely off guard.
Behind the golem came Luna, Astoria, the Fat Lady... and Red.
Astoria raised one hand and pointed directly at Ryan.
"Capture him!" she shouted, giving the order immediately.
Ryan blinked.
"I'm sorry?"
But he didn't get to say much more before Sir Cadogan charged straight at him with his great sword and thrust directly at his chest.
Naturally, Ryan reacted like any wizard would, instantly drawing his wand and casting a Protego.
But the shield shattered under the blow.
Even so, it caused Sir Cadogan's sword to bounce away, giving Ryan just enough time to dodge aside.
But mad knight or not, Sir Cadogan was still a properly trained knight.
Before Ryan could take another step to escape, Sir Cadogan lifted one foot and kicked Ryan's leg out from under him, sending him crashing to the ground.
Ryan quickly rolled to recover, narrowly avoiding another thrust that buried itself into the greenhouse floor.
Ryan's eyes were full of confusion, but then, as he sensed the danger, his expression suddenly changed.
Or rather...
It was as though something inside him had awakened.
Alice, who had been watching the whole thing without intervening, smiled faintly the moment she saw Ryan's expression and flicked her wand.
Ryan was disarmed instantly.
A puzzled look crossed his face as he turned towards the professor.
But before he could say anything, Sir Cadogan struck him on the head with the flat of his blade, knocking him unconscious.
"Wow... Sir Cadogan is pretty amazing," Astoria said as she watched the fight end in only a few seconds.
Luna pulled a length of rope out from inside her coat.
"Hm... easy," she murmured.
After Ryan's defeat, Alice looked at the two girls with interest. She took a step towards Astoria, convinced this was all one enormous misunderstanding.
"Were you sent by him as well...?"
But before she could finish, a red blur shot straight towards her.
Alice instinctively tried to defend herself, but she was too slow.
Red had already leapt onto her, knocking her to the ground before growling directly in her face, making Alice go pale.
The dragon then puffed out his chest proudly, as though boasting that he'd been faster than Sir Cadogan.
"What exactly is going on here?" Alice couldn't help asking from beneath Red.
Astoria immediately pointed at her.
"You're the accomplice, aren't you? You're under arrest too."
"I'm not his accomplice," Alice replied calmly. "I was only talking to him. Besides, I work for—"
Astoria narrowed her eyes and interrupted her.
"That's exactly what an accomplice would say."
Alice opened her mouth.
But she never got the chance to answer.
...
A few minutes later...
Ryan and Alice were tied back-to-back with thick magical ropes.
Ryan looked utterly bewildered.
Alice, on the other hand, was watching the two girls with an expression that was rather difficult to read.
Both of them had gags in their mouths, leaving them unable to speak, only able to make muffled noises in the hope someone would untie them.
Sir Cadogan slammed the tip of his sword against the floor.
"Silence, criminals!"
"Good. Now that we've got them, all we have to do is hand them over to Harry and the others. Then they'll see we've beaten them at their own competition," Astoria said happily.
Luna looked just as proud.
Just then, the greenhouse door opened again.
Neville walked in carrying a small bag of fertiliser.
"Professor Foster, Professor Sprout said I should come and collect a plant for her next..."
He stopped.
He looked at Ryan.
Alice.
The ropes.
Sir Cadogan.
Red.
Luna.
Astoria.
The Fat Lady.
For several long seconds, absolutely nobody said a word.
Neville swallowed.
"...lesson."
Ryan tried to say something, but the gag muffled every sound.
Neville decided not to ask questions.
His eyes wandered across the tables until they found several potted plants.
Professor Sprout had told him to fetch one that had been treated with Luminous Extract.
Then he spotted Hermione's plant.
It was still giving off a faint golden glow.
"That must be it," he murmured.
He walked over under everyone's watchful eyes, as though moving slowly might somehow make him invisible.
He picked up the pot.
Then slowly began backing towards the door.
Luna's eyes widened.
"The suspicious plant."
Astoria turned sharply.
"He's stealing the evidence!"
Neville froze.
"What? No. Professor Sprout told me to fetch a plant," he said immediately.
"Capture him!" Astoria shouted.
Neville looked at Sir Cadogan.
Then at Red.
Then at the two girls.
And bolted.
"Criminals always have an excuse!" Luna shouted as she ran after him.
Astoria prepared to follow her, but before leaving, she pointed at Sir Cadogan and Red.
"Take the prisoners somewhere safe and discreet. No one must find them."
Sir Cadogan struck his metal chest proudly.
"I shall hide them in the most secret place in all of Hogwarts!"
Red nodded solemnly.
Astoria dashed off after Luna.
The Fat Lady looked at Sir Cadogan.
"And where exactly is the most secret place?"
The knight raised his sword.
"The most hidden place is the one that's right before everyone's eyes," he declared confidently.
...
BOOOOOOOM!!
One of the cannon blasts tore straight through a wall and flew over Fred and George's heads.
The twins sprinted at full speed towards the inner courtyard while hurling explosives behind them.
George launched one of his fireworks.
The rocket exploded directly in front of the cannons, filling the corridor with a massive cloud of multicoloured smoke.
"That should stop it," George said.
A cannon emerged from the smoke.
"It didn't stop it."
"I noticed."
Another blast slammed into one of the crates they were carrying.
The lid flew off.
All kinds of joke products scattered through the air.
Among them...
The Portable Swamp.
"George!" Fred shouted.
"Leave it! We'll come back for it later!"
The small object flew several metres before rolling down the corridor towards the inner courtyard, finally crashing into one of Tommy's enormous syrup barrels.
Harry and the others, who were still in the middle of their discussion, heard the commotion and turned around just as one of the walls exploded.
For a brief moment, they saw the twins running for their lives with Peeves chasing after them.
None of them made any move to help.
"This place is always full of lunatics," Daphne remarked with an amused smile.
"Hmm, yes. Sirius really should keep the students under better control," Harry remarked before the four of them went straight back to work, not even noticing that one of the cannon shots tore through the wall and flew towards the nearby barrels.
BOOOOOOOM!!
The projectile slammed directly into the barrels.
The wood exploded apart.
A gigantic wave of red syrup burst across the entire courtyard.
Harry simply raised one hand, creating a protective shield over the four of them.
Without noticing that, at that exact moment, the Portable Swamp crashed into his shield and activated, only to be forced down onto the ground by the countless litres of syrup pouring over it.
Then the ground began to sink.
The swamp's magic absorbed the sticky syrup and spread it throughout the courtyard, creating a thick current that began flowing from one side of the courtyard to the other.
Fred and George came to a halt for a second.
They stared at the crimson river.
Then looked at each other.
"That wasn't in the instructions," Fred said.
Another cannonball flew between them.
"We'll file a report later!" they shouted before taking off again.
And ran for their lives once more.
...
The syrup flooded the remains of the fountain, and the tree began absorbing it through its roots.
For a brief moment...
Nothing happened at all.
Then...
CRAAAAACK!!
The trunk suddenly expanded, and its roots tore straight through the marble as though it were paper. The fountain exploded into pieces while the tree continued growing at an absurd speed, fed by the syrup, the swamp's magic, and Billy's altered spell.
Just then, Sir Cadogan and Red arrived in the courtyard carrying Ryan and Alice.
The Fat Lady walked behind them, singing cheerfully to encourage the operation.
Sir Cadogan looked around at the students running everywhere, the explosions, the cannons, and the enormous river of syrup.
Then he proudly raised his sword.
"This seems to be an excellent place to hide them in plain sight," he declared.
Ryan and Alice looked at each other.
Sir Cadogan placed both professors onto a small island that had formed in the middle of the syrup river.
Possibly the most visible spot in the entire courtyard.
"No one shall ever find them here," he announced proudly.
He folded his arms, completely convinced he had chosen the perfect hiding place.
As he smiled proudly at his brilliant idea, one of Fred and George's rockets struck his armour directly.
BOOOOM!!
Sir Cadogan slowly turned his head.
He spotted the twins running across the other side of the courtyard.
For a moment, he seemed to recognise them.
"You! Mangy curs!" he roared as he recognised the troublesome duo.
Fred glanced over his shoulder.
"Oh no. Another lunatic."
George recognised him as well.
Sir Cadogan raised his sword.
"Insolent whelps! For years you mocked my noble steed! Today, at long last, I shall have my revenge!" he bellowed.
And immediately abandoned the prisoners before charging after them.
The Fat Lady watched him disappear into the distance.
"How noisy," she remarked before resuming her singing in the middle of all the chaos.
...
Tommy arrived in the courtyard alongside Theo.
He froze completely at the sight before him.
The barrels were gone.
His syrup had become a river.
A gigantic tree was tearing apart the fountain.
Peeves was firing cannons.
Sir Cadogan was chasing Fred and George.
Two professors were tied up in the middle of the courtyard.
Tommy stood there silently for several seconds.
Then a small smile slowly spread across his face as he realised this was the perfect business opportunity.
He pulled out a folding table.
Set it up beside the courtyard.
Then placed a sign on top of it.
VERIFIED INFORMATION
FIVE SICKLES PER CLUE
NO REFUNDS
Theo stared at the stall.
"Now?"
Tommy sat down behind the table.
"This is when information is worth the most."
"I think I'd better get out of here before the professors arrive," Theo wisely decided before making a quick escape.
Billy arrived a few seconds later.
"Mum's probably already on her way."
Tommy nodded.
Billy pulled out his book.
Sat down beside the stall.
And started reading.
...
"See? It had nothing to do with us," Harry said proudly.
Wanda and the other mothers genuinely didn't know how to respond to that.
They could only open and close their mouths, unable to figure out exactly what they were supposed to scold their older children for.
"What about Umbridge?" Narcissa asked, pointing towards the crystal coffin containing the sleeping—or perhaps dead—pink toad.
"Oh... that. Yes. That one actually was our fault," Harry admitted with a guilty expression.