The Unknown Gryffindor

The Unknown Gryffindor

By: Eric (*Scinutz*) Thompson

Chapter One

Early in the morning, outside on a large rock rests a lone boy relaxing by the lake watching the eerie calm mist that hovers above the water. Dawn is slowly approaching and the morning mist starts to fade. The boys' name is Arin Hopson and is currently a first year student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Arin stands about five foot ten inches tall with dishwater blond hair and blue eyes.

As the sun creaks in through the mountain valley and starts to reflect off the water, Arin decides to head back to the dorm. Along the way Arin thinks, "I hope my birthday card makes it to Hogwarts."

Upon arriving at the Gryffindor common room, Arin starts up the stairs. While climbing the stairs to his room, Arin remembers the words of Percy Weasley, the Gryffindor Prefect, about his housing assignment. 'Each room can hold only five students but due to the even number of male students, you will be in a room by yourself. It's at the top of the tower and is a nice room with a beautiful view. Unfortunately, you will be by yourself.' Arin nods to Percy when they reach the door and says, "No problem, I am use to being by myself."

After a few minutes of climbing the stairs and passing all of the floors of the Gryffindor student rooms, Arin arrives at his door and notices a note attached to it. Arin grabs the note and enters his room.

The bedroom is round with a very comfortable bed that stands in between two windows. Next to the bed is a small table and chair that sits under the left window that overlooks the lake. A wooden chest lies at the foot of the bed where his clothing and books are stored. Standing next to the other window is a telescope, pointing towards the sky while the view overlooks the Quidditch field. The walls are pretty bare except for two crests of Hogwarts and Gryffindor hanging on the opposite sides of the windows. After entering the room, Arin takes a seat on his bed and reads the note.

'The sunrise is a pretty sight from where you were, but please remember that students are not allowed outside that early in the morning. I hope you will come to my office after breakfast so that we can talk. Please find Professor McGonagall when you are ready and she will direct you to my office.

Professor Dumbledore.'

Arin smiles after reading the note. Arin had wondered when Dumbledore would send for him. After reading the note once more, Arin places the note on the table, gets into some of his common clothes, and heads on down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

Upon arriving at the Great Hall, Arin heads to the Gryffindor table and sit down at the end in his usual spot. He watches as the plate in front of him fills itself up with scrambled eggs and sausages. As Arin eats his breakfast, he watches a colorful bunch of students and tries to listen in to their conversations. After listening to a few conversations, Arin begins to yawn as he finds them a bit dull. Neville is talking about how much Professor Snape is scaring him and how he wishes the teacher would leave him alone. Seamus is trying to change his water into tea with his spells backfiring as usual. Then there is a Ravenclaw girl behind Arin who talking about a boy with a scar on his head and how cute he is to her friend.

After eating breakfast and listening in to a few more stories from other Gryffindor, Arin heads away from the table in search of Professor McGonagall. Scanning the Great Hall, looking down a few halls, and in a few classrooms, Arin decides to walk to Professor McGonagalls Transfiguration classroom. Along the way Arin notices a pair of twins with read hair in the corner of one of the halls while looking around as if they were guilty of something. A few seconds later, the twins' head off around a corner. Arin makes a mental note to investigate the twins later today.

Upon arriving at the classroom, Arin looks around and notices a cat sitting on the desk at the head of the room. Arin knew that Professor McGonagall likes to transform into a cat so he walks into the classroom and heads towards the desk. As Arin draws closer to the cat, he sees the cat reading the Daily Prophet before the cat looks up. Grinning, the cat jumps off the table and transforms back into human shape.

"Ah, what can I do for you, Mr. Hopson?" asks McGonagall.

Arin still grinning at the teacher's transformation starts to look serious and says, "Please. Call me Arin; I don't know if I can get use to the Mr. Hopson part. It makes me feel like I'm with my father and that you're talking to him instead of me." Arin hopes that Professor McGonagall would not be offended by his request.

"Okay Arin. What can I do for you?"

"Professor Dumbledore asked me if I could go meet him in his office after breakfast and that you would be able to direct me there."

"Yes, this way please." McGonagall leads Arin out the classroom and down a hall to a gargoyle statue. She says, "Lemon Drops" The statue starts to move and reveals a staircase behind it. "Please go up these stairs to the top where there is a door with a knocker on it. Use the knocker and wait inside the room. Please forgive me for not taking you up there directly, but I have to go to the kitchen and attend to some business." McGonagall then turns around and leaves the way she came.

"Thank you Professor." Arin says as McGonagall walks down the hall.

As Arin reaches the door, he notices that the climb to the top of the stairs is as high as the climb to his room. Upon reaching the door, Arin raises the knocker and lets it go. The door slowly opens up and Arin walks into the offices waiting room.

On the left side of the room is a window with a view overlooking the lake. A few chairs line the wall before the window and to the left. On the right is a sturdy oak door. Across from the entrance is a bookshelf with a few books with The Sorting Hat sitting on the middle shelf. A few silver items of unknown design making beeping noises are places in odd parts of the room. The walls are covered with paintings of elderly people sleeping - mostly in chairs but some were behind desks. Arin takes a seat in one of the chairs and lounges his left arm along one of the other chairs. As Arin waits for Dumbledore, a nervous feeling slowly sneaks into his stomach where his fingers start tapping a nearby chair.

A few moments pass before the oak door swings open revealing Dumbledore's office. Arin spots Dumbledore sitting behind a large redwood desk waving him in.

"Please, come in my boy. Would you like a lemon drop?" lowering his hand towards a bowl with round candy in it.

Arin walks into the room and sits down in a chair next to the desk. "Thanks, but I just ate. Maybe later."

Once Arin sits into the chair, the chair starts to mold the cushion around his bottom making him comfortable.

"Well, thank you for coming Arin, I hope you are enjoying your classes and the school." Before Arin could reply, Dumbledore continues to speak. "I was wondering how your trip to Hogwarts was. I was only able to have a few words with Hagrid and I haven't had any time to speak with him further. He said he almost missed you at the ships port, but was lucky enough to see you."

Arin wondered what Dumbledore meant by 'lucky enough to see you', but decides to tell him about his trip. "Well, let's see. First my mother and I received your letter in the mail. It was a strange letter, not in the normal paper all the other letters are written on. It was a crisp parchment with a nice hand written message in shinny black ink stating that I was accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. After reading the letter, my mother said 'Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry? What type of school is that?'

"But the letter wrote at the bottom of the parchment, 'It's a school for potential Witches and Wizards. Here they learn to control their magic.'

"My mother seemed a bit shocked when the letter replied to her question. She asked the letter a few more questions about me and if the letter was joke or not. I believed it answered all her questions cause she even went to the phone and called someone. I am not sure who it was, but all I heard was half questions she tried to ask before the person on the phone answered them."

Arin pauses for a second after seeing a glass of water on a table next to his chair, grabbing the glass, he takes a drink.

"The next day I was on a train to the coast. The trip took two days to arrive at the destination. Once I got off the train, I looked at the letter where it wrote that I had thirty minutes to catch my next transportation. It also showed a diagram to where I had to go. So, I followed it. I ran to the ship as fast as I could, which isn't that fast. I got close to the ships ramp but before I could get on it the crewman called for the ramp to be raised. I yelled while running to the ramp, but he didn't hear. I jumped on to a few crates next to the ramp and then onto it. Once I landed, I rolled to the bottom and handed my ticket to the crewman. The trip was boring, only thing to do was watch the water splash against the ships side. It was about a ten-day trip and the port that I got off at was the 8^th stop."

Before Arin could continue, Dumbledore says, "Sorry about that. Scheduling Muggle transportation is a new experience for me. It requires so much effort and I guess I'm a better wizard for it."

"No problem, I know what you mean about new experiences - I had my first broom riding class a few days ago. Umm, anyhow, I got off at the port and waited on the platform the letter showed. A bunch of people passed right by me to get to shore. I spotted Hagrid standing ten feet across from me on the other side of the platform. As I started towards Hagrid, he looked at his watch then took off walking down the pier. I made my way up to him and asked if his name was Hagrid. He looked down, startled, and said 'ah, there you are lad. You must be Arin. Sorry I didn't see you, but we should be off."

Dumbledore smiles as he listens to the tale. Arin takes another sip of water.

"Well, after we left the docks, we headed to the nearest town and then took the Underground into London. We went inside a pub called the Leaky Cauldron. A interesting place this was - excellent food, the best I've ever had before coming to Hogwarts." Arin remembers how great the food tasted.

After a brief second, Arin looks back down. "Oh... sorry. After we ate dinner, Hagrid and I went out the back door in to a small brick courtyard. Hagrid pulled out his umbrella and counted a few bricks before he tapped the wall. As Hagrid tapped the wall, the bricks started to move and I was amazed on how the bricks formed an Entranceway. He then took me shopping at Diagon Alley for school items. He mentioned that you were paying for the cost of the supplies.

Arin's face suddenly went blank as he realizes that he had forgotten to do something. "Oh, I'm very sorry. I forgot to thank you for all this." Arin starts to feel ashamed.

"That's okay my boy, I knew you would thank me in time. This school can be a bit overwhelming, even for me and I've been here for a very long time. Please continue."

"After getting the school supplies, Hagrid took me to the train station and led me to platforms nine and ten. Hagrid then smiled at me, chuckled as he said, "you're gonna love this," and then pushed me towards the wall.

"I braced for impact as I stumbled forward towards the wall, but I never hit it. Passing through, I tripped over my foot and fell to the ground. As I got up, I looked around. I saw the Hogwarts Express and I thought it was a beautiful train. I dusted myself off as Hagrid came through pushing my cart. He led me along the side of the train to a bench and he sat down while looking at his watch. Upon sitting down on the bench, Hagrid stood back up and called for steward to load my stuff onto the train. He said 'I am sorry, Arin. I'm a bit late for my ... umm, next pickup. I'll be late if I don't hurry.' Hagrid then handed me a ticket and told me to find a cabin to get some sleep before the train leaves tomorrow at 11am.

Quenching his thirst, Arin continues, "I watched the steward load my stuff onto the train and when I turned to ask Hagrid a question, he was gone. I then found a cabin and got some sleep. The next morning I sat in the corner of the cabin looking out the window watching the people walk by. For almost an hour I watched until three students entered the cabin talking to each other. I said 'hello' to them but they didn't reply. I just sat there listening to their conversation but I couldn't concentrate, it was rather boring. They were talking about Muggles this, Muggles that, and about their families. One of them called another Draco, but after I yawned, I decided to watch the scenery out the window. Half way down, a kid popped his head into the cabin and mentioned a person's name. I didn't catch the name, but the three jumped through the door and ran down the hall. When they left, I wondered who it could be and then realized that it didn't matter, I was just glad they had left. A bit later, someone came by telling students that they should be in proper clothing before the train arrived. So, I changed and that was the trip here. I hope that covers what you wanted to know?"

After finishing his story, Arin takes another sip of water and looks at the Headmaster.

"Yes, that does cover any questions I had about your trip." Dumbledore grabs a lemon drop and places it in his mouth. "Now if I could ask you a question or two about yourself?"

"Arin, are you aware that you are considered a rare individual at this school?" asks Dumbledore.

Arin thinks for a second about the question and nods, "Yes, Hagrid mentioned something about me being a 'rare one' and that he was happy to meet me. I wasn't exactly sure what he meant by that, but I guessed it was that I was American." Feeling unsure with his reply, Arin waits for Dumbledore to continue.

"You could say that your nationality is part of your rarity - you are an American and you are the first American wizard to attend this school." Dumbledore smiles as he continues, "Yet, that is only part of what makes you special. The other part is in your natural born talent. Do you know what I mean by that?"

Arin thinks over the question, 'natural born talent' then says, "Sorry, but I don't know what you mean."

Dumbledore looks at Arin. "Haven't you ever felt that people just don't notice you until you spoke to them at least twice? Or the kids at recess who never chose you to be part of their team? How about when you went into the candy store with your mother and the counter person never asked you what you wanted?"

Arin starts to remember some past memories and compares them to Dumbledore's examples. As Arin thinks over each example, his finger starts to tap the glass of water. The finger starts to tap the glass faster with greater comprehension. "Now that you mention it, yes."

"Well, that is a rare ability, to go invisible without being invisible; to hide one's presence even if you are standing in front of a person. I don't know if there is a name for this gift. I have read some stories about this but I can say that you are the first person with this amazing talent that I have met. In ancient books, the reference towards you ability is so rare that it took me several months of research to confirm that it is a natural and not at all magically related. In fact, in the story of your trip, you had described three instances where you used your ability and you were not aware of doing so.

"First, the ramp and the crewman of the ship. You were running towards the ship in plain sight and yelling, but the crewman looked around and didn't see coming or even hear you. That is why he called for the ramp to be raised. Secondly, when you met Hagrid at the port, Hagrid didn't see you even though you were ten feet from him. And third, on the Hogwarts Express, you sat in the same cabin with three Slytherin's and they never even saw you."

With each of Dumbledore's three examples, Arin's mouth slowly opened more and more until his mouth wasn't able to open any further. Feeling a bit awkward with how he was responding in front of Dumbledore, Arin takes another sip of water.

For the next ten minutes, Arin kept quiet with the glass under his bottom lip as he remembers all the times he has had to force himself to be noticed by people. Each memory that he brought up was another example of this ability. As he recalls each time he used his ability, Arin sees his mother helping him when others would ignore him. This gave Arin comfort and he started to relax a bit more in front of Dumbledore. He then places the glass onto the table and asks Dumbledore, "Can I ask you a question?"

"You can ask me any question you want."

"How is it that you know of my ability when I didn't even know that I had one?"

Dumbledore chuckles, "Ah, your father was the one who informed me of your ability when you were four years old."

Arin looks at Dumbledore to see if he was joking, but only saw seriousness. "Why would my father contact you?"

"That I am not sure of myself, but after he did, I contacted some wizard friends in the States to test your ability. After several random tests, they confirmed what your father believed, that your talent used no magic. But they did detect magic within you. From that moment on, I kept in contact with your father even though he wasn't living with you anymore. He asked if I would take you in as a student when you were of age."

Dumbledore saw Arin's face slump into confusion. He decided to wait until Arin was ready to speak. Several minutes passed while Arin mumbles to himself about his father, "My father ... why would he ... I didn't think ... cared about ... it doesn't make ..." Looking up, Arin asks, "Sir, I'm curious. Why wouldn't the American School of Witchcraft and Wizardry ask me to go to their school first?

The question surprises Dumbledore, "They should have invited you to their school, but from what I have heard, they wouldn't invite you because they thought you were a Muggle. I know this sounds strange, but their Council of Wizards never believed you could possibly be a wizard."

"I thought I was a Muggle myself until your letter arrived."

Dumbledore thought for a second before replying, "How can I explain this? All children - well, almost all children - who will become a witch or wizard, will cause something to happen when they are young. Normally when they are angry or frightened at something, they will cast a spell just from instinct. That little bit of magic is detected by the Wizard Council and is checked and then recorded. That magic marks the child to be educated when they reach the age of eleven. From what I understand, you never cast a spell before you came here, not even by accident. Even I can't answer that question."

Dumbledore pulls out a blank parchment from the desk and writes a few notes on it. After writing a few thoughts on the parchment, Dumbledore looks at a clock without any numbers. Slowly standing up from his chair, he says, "Time to eat lunch. Would you be kind as to meet me tomorrow after breakfast so we can talk some more? I have a few more questions I would like to ask and I also have a favor to ask of you also."

Smiling at the chance to talk to Dumbledore some more, Arin stands up and says, "Sure, no problem Professor Dumbledore." Arin climbs down the stairs and says "Lemon Drops" when he reaches the back of the gargoyle statue.

After eating lunch, Arin glances around and decides to take a stroll on the school grounds. Upon leaving, Arin sees Hagrid pulling a large log towards his home. As Hagrid moves closer to his cabin, he swings the log next to his hut and wields a huge axe. Arin walks towards Hagrid as he lifts the heavy axe and swings it onto the log chopping it in two.

"Cool" Arin walks closer as he watches Hagrid turn the log into firewood.

"Allo Arin, how have you been? I was wondering if I would ever see you again." Hagrid chuckles at what he just said.

"Hello Hagrid." Arin grins to the reference of his newly discovered ability. "I just got back from Dumbledore's office and he helped me realize what I could do." Arin helps Hagrid stack the firewood next to his hut.

"Dumbledore mentioned something about your ability when he asked if I could meet you at the docks. When you startled me, I began to understand what he meant. Professor Dumbledore always seems to know what is going on." Taking a seat on the steps to his hut, Hagrid pulls out a flute and a soft piece of cloth. Carefully inspecting his flute, Hagrid starts to clean it.

Arin sits down in the shade next to Hagrid and asks, "Is it just me, or does Dumbledore remind you of a loveable grandfather that you can't say no to?"

"He does, doesn't he? I would do anything for that man."

Hagrid chuckles as he finishes cleaning his flute. "How are you doing in school? Learn anything yet?"

Arin thinks about his classes for a second and says, "So far so good, nothing too hard yet. I would like to know where one could practice magic though. I've only heard from Percy the places you can't practice in, but he left before I could ask where one can. Do you know?"

Hagrid was about to lift the flute to his lips and paused, "If you want, you can come here and practice your spells. I'm a bit rusty though, but I believe I can help you practice. Might help me refresh what I forgot. Other then that, you need to talk to Professor McGonagall on where to practice your spells."

"Really? Cool! I might do that on the weekends. I think that Professor Dumbledore might want to talk to me more about my ability. I'll let you know tomorrow after I meet with Dumbledore again."

As Arin gets up from the ground, Hagrid lifts his flute to his mouth and asks, "Would you like to hear a song I made up for my pet dog Fluffy?" Hagrid realizing what he just said murmurs under his voice, "I should not have said that ... I should not have said that."

Not hearing what Hagrid said due to the noise of the grass rustling underneath as he got up, "Thanks, but I should go back and study for a Potions test on Monday. Someone said they heard there was going to be a surprise test in Professor Snapes class. See you later, Hagrid." Arin waves to Hagrid as he walks off towards the courtyard of Hogwarts.

Hagrid waves his flute towards Arin and says, "Nice lad there. A bit hard to understand at times... a bit harder to see." Hagrid starts to laugh, raising his flute he starts to play a cheerful tune.

Near the double doors to the Great Hall next to the courtyard, two Slytherins stand next to each other. "Did you know there is an American attending Hogwarts School?" says Crabbe in a rude voice when he mentions 'American'. "How disgusting."

"There is? Which house has this American in it?" Asks Goyle, "I hope it's not ours."

"I hear it is the Gryffindor House. I always knew Gryffindors were the lowest of the Hogwarts Houses. This proves that I was right."

"Did you catch his name?" asks Goyle.

"No, but I hear he is tall for his age, probably taller then the Weasley twins."

Just as Goyle was about to ask another question, he sees a tall Gryffindor walk by. Nudging Crabbe in the side, he points at Arin and asks, "Do you think that is him? He is tall for a Gryffindor and look at that blond hair of his."

Crabbe takes a look at Arin and says to Goyle, "I don't know, I don't remember seeing him at the Sorting Hat Ceremony nor here at school before."

"Hey! Gryffindor!" Crabbe bellows at Arin.

Arin stops and turns towards Crabbe, "Me?"

"Yeah, where are you from?"

"Me, I'm from America. Why do you ask?"

Crabbe became furious almost instantly, moving his hand through his hair and growls at Arin, "You don't belong here, filth." Stepping towards Arin. "You are ruining the great reputation of Hogwarts just by standing on its grounds, let alone attend the school." Crabbe is having trouble forming sentences as he moves towards Arin. "Go... Home... Troll"

Arin was shocked at the instant hate he was receiving from the Slytherin and took a step back.

"Hey, where did he go? He was there a second ago and now he's gone." Goyle rubs his eyes and blinks in disbelief.

Crabbe's hate disappeared as fast as it appeared when Arin just vanished in front of him. Looking at Goyle he says, "Umm, I don't know?"

While Crabbe glances around dumbfounded, Arin turns towards the double doors and walks through it. He hears Goyle say something to Crabbe, "Wow, you don't like Americans do you ..." the voices fade in the background as Arin makes his way to his room.

Arin tries to recall what has happened down in the courtyard with the two Slytherins. He tries to remember each moment of the conversation, including the insults, the step back, and the weird look of surprise on the Slytherins faces. But all Arin could do is snicker at the faces the Slytherins made once he disappeared. "There is no way I'm going to figure out how I did that today if I'm just going to keep remembering the look on their faces. I might as well go study." Arin goes to his chest and gets a book out 'Herbs and Where to find them' and heads on down to the common room.

"Ah, Arin. How are you doing?" asks Percy, as Arin passes the sixth year floor.

"Oh, hello Percy, I'm fine I guess. I'm going to get some studying done in the common room." Arin slowly continues down the stairs.

"Glad to hear that you study, I wish my brothers would do the same."

"Actually I've never use to study until I came here. I just can't afford to mess up this chance." Arin says with a slight nervousness in his voice.

"I understand, that is why I set my goals high in this school... well, 'bye." Percy turns around and heads into his room.

Arin heads for his favorite chair next to the fireplace and starts to read the basic instructions on how to cut herbs for potions.

"There are many different types of potions and salves that a Witch or Wizard can make in a cauldron and we will cover a few of the basics in this chapter. The goal of this book is to help the beginner create a potion or salve. All naturally flat herbs should be cut square for maximum potency. This will also help you prevent waste and will help preserve the valuable ingredients. Herbs that are not flat in nature, such as branches or berries will have special directions within the potion instructions about how it should be handled; but for the next few chapters, will stay with the flat herbs.

"No matter what the item is - be it a leaf, grass, or even skin, we'll classify it as an herb to make things easier. When you make anything in a cauldron, the first decision is to decided upon what are you are going to make: a potion or a salve? Once you know which type you are making, use the basics provided in this chapter as your guide to creating a proper potion or salve. The effect of each depends upon how and when you use them. Yet, if you are patient with your work, you can make anything you want to make.

Potions Used For Control:

The herb should be cut no bigger than half an inch. The ½ inch sized herb is cooked in the cauldron and then strained out when the potion is done. Some potions require the herb to stay in the potion and this will be noted in the instructions. While the herb is in the mix, the liquid will filter through the herb, mixing the juices from that herb into the potion. The minimum time the herb is to be filtered for the proper effect is ten minutes. If you wait for the full duration of the potions' specified time, which will be specified within the instructions of each potion, you will get full effect of the herb's potential.

Salves That Alter Physical Shape Upon Application:

You should use herbs that are cut at ¼ inch in size or 1/8th inch if you want to make the salve quickly. Some salves require you to cut the herb, dry it, and then crush it in a mortar. The cauldron will heat the mix while you stir it into a paste. This paste can be used right away with less effect, but if you want until the paste cools down to room temperature, then it becomes a salve. Once the salve has cooled down, it will have the full potency that you expect.

Arin raises his head after reading a few paragraphs to allow the information to sink in. Upon raising his head, Arin sees the Weasley twins heading out through the portrait. Remembering the mental note he made to himself earlier today, Arin closes his book and places it next to his chair. Then heads out the door to follow the twins.

After a few minutes of traveling through the halls and down into the dungeon area, the twins start to take extra caution. When they go around a corner, one of the twins would look around to make sure no one is following them. But Arin was sure one of the twins spotted him following them but they continued further into the dungeons corridors. After ten minutes, the twins stop in front of a statue of an aged wizard. One of the twins takes a wand out of his pocket and looks around and points the wand at the statues head. "Dingus". With a flash of light the twins disappear from Arins view.

Arin walks up to the statue, curious as to what has happened and examines the statue. The statue is made of smooth marble. The face of the wizard has its eyes crossed and its tongue sticking out of its mouth. The clothing appears to be a standard dress robe with a few patches along the bottom. One of the wizard's arms is reaching out towards the sky with a wand in its hand, while the other arm is bent towards its head with two fingers pointing at its face.

Arin pulls out his wand from his pocket and points it at the statues head. "Dingus"

After saying the words, the statue's eyes focus on Arin and its mouth forms into a smile.

A flash of light envelops Arin and he finds himself in another room. The room is square with two doors on one wall; the others are bare. Two globes emanating light stand in the back left and right corners of the room. Above one of globes hangs a sign that says, "If you are scared, touch one of the lights. I know I would be scared if I were you." Between the two doors there is another sign, "You have found me, but are you foolish enough to go onward? Open a door and expect nothing, enter a door and you will be in another room. But remember, only a smart fool would take the right door."

Arin opens the right door and sees darkness fill the space where the door was. Closing the right door and opening the left one, he finds the same thing, darkness. "Well, the sign didn't lie." Closing the left door and reopening the right, Arin steps into the darkness.

Once entering the darkness, Arin stops and waits. Arin feels the floor vanish underneath him and falls onto a smooth metal surface. The darkness slowly fades to light as Arin rides the slide down to its destination. As Arin reaches the end of the slide and rolls into a room full of cushions, a door opens up. Standing up and working his way through the door, Arin walks into a round room with a staircase at the opposite end.

The room has one globe of light and a sign that says, "You seem to be very lucky, I hope your luck holds out. Just remember one thing, your lucky number is unlucky to a lot of people including me. So be careful."

Arin reads the sign and wonders out loud, "My lucky number is unlucky to others? I didn't know I had a lucky number. Hum." Pondering the sign, Arin looks around and decides to go up the stairs.

Arin starts to count the steps as he steps on them. "1, 2 ... 11, 12" Arin stops for a second, "Wait a sec ... 13, I remember mother telling me people find 13 an unlucky number. But I never believed it was unlucky, I was born on the 13^th. I wonder if this is what the sign meant, the 13^th step." Arin decides to step onto the fourteenth step to skip the thirteenth one. Nothing happened. Arin continues up the stairs.

"97, 98, 99... and 100. That is a lot of steps." Says Arin to himself as he notices a large door at the top of the stairs.

The door is made of redwood with minor decorative engravings on the outer edge. There is a knocker in the middle of the door but no doorknob. Arin lifts the knocker and drops it as soon as it was level. The door slowly opens up with a creak and reveals a large room on the other side.

The room is filled with paintings of sleeping witches and wizards on all of the walls. Tables randomly line the walls with chairs sitting between a few of them. The tables have bottles of all shapes and sizes with liquids of different colors and amounts. One big table in the middle of the room, the twins sit at one of the corners arguing over a parchment and a few bottles.

"No, no, no. This is the right amount - not that." George points at the amount on the parchment and writes a number on the side. "It should be this much."

"I am sure this is the correct amount; if we used that little, it won't have its desired effect," replies Fred.

As the door creaks open, Fred and George look in its direction. Arin walks into the room and George says, "Ah great. We've been found out. Who are you?"

"Umm, no one special I guess. My name is Arin. Interesting place you found here. Talk about a one-way trip and all. What would have happened if I took the left door or stepped on the thirteenth step?" Acting as if nothing special happened, Arin walks further into the room.

"Were not really sure about the left door, although we do have our suspicions..." Smiles Fred.

"And the thirteenth step sends you into the lake." continues George. "It's a great way to get a refreshing dip in the spring. Just remember not to..."

"... Step on it during the winter." Fred says with an evil grin.

George invites Arin to have a seat at the table and asks, "How did you find us? I was sure I saw you reading a book in the common room..."

"... And I was sure no one followed us." Fred nods in George's direction.

"Uh," mumbles Arin, frantically trying to think of something to say, "Hum, uh, just curious, what are your names?"

"I'm Fred Weasley and this is George."

Arin takes a seat at the table and says, "Well, it's a long story, or it might be a short one, I'm not really sure myself."

"Please, tell us. You know, since you're here and all, " George says as he rolls up the parchment and places it to the side.

Arin glances at the bottles next to him and then back at the twins, thinking, "They seem nice. Even after I found out their secret." Deciding to tell the twins the whole story with Dumbledore and his natural ability, Arin starts to weave his tale.

Twenty minutes later, Arin finishes telling the twin the story and rolls his shoulders for a quick stretch.

The twins look at each other grinning from ear to ear and then back at Arin, "Man, I would love to be able to have that knack. Going to the kitchen for food would be so much easier." Grins George.

"Can I ask you something? What is this place?" Arin looks around the room as he asks a question to get the subject off his ability.

"This here is a special research lab." Replies Fred.

"What type of special research?"

"Practical Jokes research. Each of these witches and wizards in these paintings are known for being a practical joke in their time. Someday our painting will hang upon these walls..."

"... And mark us as the greatest that ever lived." Continues Fred.

"We were working on a new formula for our next masterpiece when you walked in. Were going to call it...

"'Canary Cream. But we haven't gotten the formula right yet." Fred unrolls the parchment and places it on the table. "Right now all it does is add a few feathers on the head and a beak in place of the nose."

"Our hope is that when a person bites into the Canary Cream, he will turn into a canary for a few minutes and then return to normal."

The thought of someone turning into a canary made Arin giggle. "I would love to see that when you get it perfected."

Arin takes a glance at some of the paintings and sees a few of them getting food. Hearing his stomach growl, "I think its time for dinner. How do we get out of here?"

Fred and George look at the paintings, nod, and say in unison, "Yeah, Let's eat."

"Follow us and do what we do," says George getting up from the table.

The twins walk to a table in the corner of the room and pick up a wand and wave it above their heads. In a Flash of light, the twins disappear and the wands reappear back onto the table.

Doing what the twins did, Arin picks up a wand and waves it around his head. As he did this Arin hears a voice in his head, "Time to go." Disappearing in a flash.

Arin looking around getting his bearing straight, he notices the gargoyle statue that leads to Professor Dumbledore's office. "Did you know that this statue is the entrance to Professor Dumbledore's office?"

The twins looking at each other smiling and Fred says, "Yes... Dumbledore caught us appearing out of nowhere and invited us to his office. We talked to him and he knew where we just came from. He said that if no one else finds out, we could go there on the weekends to work in private."

Arin walks up to the twins, "I'm sorry about that. I will tell Dumbledore that I followed you two to the research lab tomorrow when I talk to him."

"I'm hungry. Lets go eat" George motions the others down the hall.

Arin follows the twins down the hall and says, "Thanks for being cool about this. I didn't know how you would react when I caught up to you two."

"It was bound to happen sooner or later. But at least we know you won't be followed to the room and were very careful when we go there anyhow." Fred replies with a snicker.

Arin sits down at the end of the table and watches the twins go to their normal spots. Just as soon as Arin sits down, he hears a chime from Professor McGonagall direction as she taps the wine glass with a knife.

"May I have your attention please? Professor Dumbledore has a few words before dinner."

"Thank you. Today marks the end of the second week here at school. Even though this isn't a special day, I would like to think of it as a new start for some of us. With that said, please enjoy tonight's meal." Dumbledore waves his hand a feast appears on all the plates.

Some students look at Professor Dumbledore with a bit of confusion until the feast appears in front of them. Arin looks at the twin and sees their freckled faces grinning back in his direction. Arin then turns to look at Dumbledore, only to see the Professor smiling at him also. Smiling back and raising his glass to all three, Arin looks down to the mouth-watering food that fills his plate. Sniffing the aroma of the food, Arin grabs his fork and digs in.