Win Some, Lose More

CHAPTER FOUR - The Chapter That Is Oftentimes Ignored

Harry had decided better of telling Snape about the muttering, considering that this probably let to Julie's untimely demise, although it was rather difficult to tell what age he was. Either way, it was either untimely or haunted by unbelievable amounts of make-up and a corset that could force a camel to have a straight back.

The revelation that they probably weren't all going to get out alive meant that the additional guests, Ginny and the twins, were very eager to leave. They weren't sure how, but they'd think about that when they were at least twenty miles away.

It was Harry's third day in Smithe Manor and already he was starting to wish he was back within the safe stone walls of Hogwarts. The possibility of painful death may have added to that fact, but all in all he would have preferred it nonetheless. Nothing exciting ever happened at Smithe Manor, if you didn't count spending every waking moment fearing being tuned into stone.

"I really don't think Snape's being honest about all of this," said Harry. "I mean, why is he being so enigmatic about this?"

"Probably because he knows little more than we do," said Hermione. "What we should be asking is why he called us out here. We're only students after all."

She was right. Overcoming the Dark Lord on multiple occasions and defeating a host of evil minions was child's play. At least you knew they were there.

Currently they were in the cellars again, which was the only place Harry, Ron and Hermione could be sure of being alone. The statues of the, whatever's, victims contributed to the eeriest of morgues, but still they were quite private.

"I don't think that we should really be worrying about that," said Ron. "I think perhaps we should think about what actually caused all," he gestured in all directions, "this to happen."

"He's right," said Hermione. "Snape knows his creatures, I checked. There's really nothing that could have done this. Harry?"

Harry wasn't listing.

"Harry?"

"Hmm? Oh, sorry. I was just thinking what could've happened now that happened the last time. I mean, consider it, there had to have been some common factor, otherwise you could ask why it's been so long."

They considered it.

They spent about half an hour trying to put together the puzzle, and then Malfoy came down.

"What are you doing here?" he asked them collectively.

"We," said Ron, "are considering the matter at hand. What about you?"

"It seems that Snape wants at least you and I to remain, Potter. Everyone else may go at their leisure."

"Well I'm staying," said Hermione loyally.

"Ditto," said Ron.

"Then my suspicions are correct," said Malfoy. "You're pillocks."

"And how exactly are the others going to get back?" said Ron.

"It's not my concern, but as far as I can tell they're safe so long as no-one goes outside at night. Whatever was causing that muttering was responsible, I'm sure you can tell."

"We've had our suspicions," said Harry.

"Apart from that it's likely that no-one will be harmed."

However, as according to the five-hundred and fifty-sixth division of Sod's First Law, this fact was bull.

* * * * *

At some point in the late afternoon the party was alerted upstairs by a loud and feminine scream. Bounding upstairs and thinking of finding Julie, they instead found the twins, clutching each other in gibbering terror. Ron waved his hands in front of their faces. They didn't react.

"They're gone," observed Ron.

A random synapse twitched somewhere in what George called a brain.

"Ginny," he said.

"Yes?" said Harry. "And what about her?"

"Ginny," said Fred.

"I think we should look for Ginny," said Ron, clearly on a hot streak.

They opened Ginny's bedroom door. Ron was too shocked this time to grab hold of anyone.

Lying on her bed, solid as a rock, which is a convenient cliché, was Ginny Weasley, an expression of horror and agony on her face.

The four of them flocked around her. Ron looked close to tears.

"What's going on here?" said Snape as he appeared at the door. He looked at Ginny and said a bad word.

"Another, I see," he continued.

Ron glared at him furiously.

"That's my sister you're talking about you emotionless git!" he said aloud.

"And will anger or tears resolve her dilemma? I think not. Perhaps she can be restored when we defeat whatever caused this. There's still room in the cellars."

And with that he was gone. Everyone but Malfoy looked after him with white knuckles. Ron swore.

"I'm sorry Ron," said Hermione. "But I do think Snape has a point. If we lose our heads over this then we have no hope."

Harry walked over to the French doors that lead out to a balcony looking over the garden. The catch was off.

"Poor Ginny," he said. "We should have told her about the voice."

"I don't think that's the way it happened," said Hermione. "The doors are still closed."

"What do you mean?" "Do try to think. The only person who could have closed the doors was Ginny. Go outside and you'll see."

Reluctantly Harry opened the doors and stepped onto the balcony. He tried to pull them closed afterwards but found it to be impossible. Three was nothing he could grab hold of with enough force as to slam the sticking double doors.

"You see I have a balcony in my room that leads out to the front," said Hermione, "And they too stick before they close properly. You have to slam it," she demonstrated when Harry stepped out.

"That means that the creature's in the manor!" said Malfoy, showing the first sign of horror since he was called to the house.

"Exactly."

"Ron?" said Harry. "Ron snap out of it. She's not dead yet, I'm kind of sure about that."

"Smooth move ex-lax," said Malfoy.

"Shut up! I don't see you doing anything to help!"

"Shut up the both of you!" said Ron. "I'll be fine, alright. I just need a while. The twins need a while as well, see if you can pry them apart."

The remaining three left the room and shut the door behind them. The twins had already calmed down a little, and had gone back to their rooms to calm down a lot.

"Do you really think that she's not dead?" asked Malfoy.

"I have a feeling," said Harry. "We all thought she was dead back in our second year, didn't we?"

"Well I'd like to know what we're going to do about," said Hermione. "It's not like we even know why they're in that condition in the first place."

She leaned against a convenient wall, which rotated.

Ah, though Harry. It's one of these kinds of manors.

"Come on Malfoy," he said. "I suppose we should follow her."

He pushed the wall hard. They them walked through the gap to meet Hermione.

Every good spooky house needs a selection of hidden corridors and catacombs. It turned out that Smithe Manor was no different, although Harry suspected Julie never used them. It was too obvious for someone to live there for a long time without knowing it was there, but still, it was far to cliché to pass up.

It was dark and damp. Harry fished his wand out of a pocket and said 'Lumos', and the corridor was suddenly dimly lit by the end of his wand. It had undecorated redbrick walls and no doubt led to an ancient temple or had paintings with the eye-holes cut out on the walls.

It turned out, quite disappointingly, to lead to the front of the manor. The three of them stood up on the gravel path and looked around.

"Well that's a bloody let down," said Malfoy. "All of the hidden corridors at Hogwarts lead to somewhere interesting. I even found one that lead to a pagan shrine."

"And would you rather be at a pagan shrine?" said Hermione.

"I'd rather that I was surprised. I'd rather somewhere around here knew how to make a proper hidden tunnel."

"Oh well," said Harry. "Let's go back inside. It looks like it's coming to rain. Again. They walked to the front door. Keyless, they decided to knock, but found that there was something in the way. After a few seconds they realised what, or rather, who it was.

"Julius Smith?" said Harry. "I didn't see you there."

Few did. The black and white boy turned around and looked at them blankly.

"What are you doing here, Smith?"

"I'm a close relation to Mr. Smithe," he said, his voice impassive.

"Really? I never knew that."

"No."

"No. What kind of relation are you?"

"A nephew."

"Really? That's nice, but I must warn you that he's not quite the same as when you last saw him."

Smith blinked. Harry reminded himself to put it in his diary.

"He's dead," said Harry, not sure if this would have any effect. "I'm sorry. Mind you though, probably not as much as he is."

"Probably."

"Well."

Harry waited. This was a very one-sided conversation.

"Are you going to knock, or shall I?" he said at last.

The door was answered by Snape, who had been cooking dinner due to Julie's 'disability' and wasn't too happy to have been bothered. He made a mental note to put a lot of extra pepper on Harry's meal.

"Went out and forgot to take a key, did you?" he said spitefully. "Well I hope you three - I mean four - four? What are you doing here Smith?"

Harry turned with a start. He'd already forgotten about Smith.

"Visiting family," said Smith.

"Oh? I never knew Julie had a ?"

"Nephew."

"Oh," said Snape. There was a pause. Even Snape appeared uncomfortable in Smith's silences, which is probably why people were so good at ignoring him.

"Well then I'm going to check on Ron," said Hermione. "Since nothing new has happened I-"

"What about Smith?" said Harry.

"What about him?"

"He's turned up."

"Who has?" said Malfoy.

"I can't remember."

"Smith?" said Hermione.

"Yeah."

That was the thing about Julius Smith: he could be sitting in your boxers while you were still wearing them and you wouldn't know until someone asked you why you were walking funny.

Hermione had often considered that this might have been a magical effect. Perhaps he'd been in some sort of magical accident when he was a kid. She doubted it. It was simply that he was as common as dust.

After a few more minutes they'd all forgotten Smith and had scaled the stairs. Once at the top they walked towards Ginny's room, but then Hermione screamed.

From downstairs came considerable swearing. Clearly Hermione's sudden yelp of shock had spoiled whatever culinary delight the potions master had been working on.

Standing half way through the door was Julie, or rather Julie's ghost, standing in solid stone.

"Ron!" exclaimed Harry. He rushed to the door.

He tried to open it, but Julie was not exactly light. Eventually with the combined effort of Harry, Hermione and Draco they managed to swing him aside with the door. His face on the other side was, unmiraculously, a frieze of pain.

And on Ginny's bed was the statue of Ron, trying to stop whatever it was from harming Ginny further. Like Julie his back was heavily arched, as though his torso was being pulled by so many hooks.

A horrible though hit Harry: the doors were closed. Harry had shut the only other door and locked them in with it. And now, Julie, who had probably floated in to comfort Ron, had suffered the same fate.

Who could do this to a ghost?

Who could kill a man twice?

Malfoy rushed off to find Snape. When the professor reached the top of the stairs he, Severus Snape of all people, looked close to fainting.

"Take the stone Weasleys downstairs to the cellar," he said gently. "I'll inform Julie's nephew."

"He has a nephew?" said Harry. "Really? Are you sure?"

"You said it."

"What?"

"That he has a nephew?" said Hermione.

"He does?"

"Who?" said Harry.

"Did someone call?" said Smith, who had materialised next to Malfoy somehow and had just given everyone a heart attack, although they now seemed to know exactly what they'd meant my a nephew.

"I'm afraid that something terrible has happened," said Snape. He explained everything.

"We know," said Malfoy.

"I wasn't telling you!" snapped Snape.

"Who were you telling?"

"I can't remember."

"Me," said Smith.

"Oh."

"Can we all go home now," said Malfoy again. "I don't think there's any sense in all of us turning to stone."

Snape looked at him evilly. Rumour had it that he practiced every evening in front of a mirror.

"Sorry I asked."

"Well I'm not going to abandon Ron and Ginny," said Harry.

"Right!" said Hermione.

"Are you stupid?" said Malfoy. "That thing can turn ghosts into stone!"

"Then we'll have to work harder at finding out what it is," said Hermione.

"Are you mad? Already it's taken four people in three days if you count Julie twice and we still don't know who or what did it! At this wait we'll all be dead by Friday!"

"But we can't just leave everyone here as statues!"

"Then take them with you! Someone's bound to know how to revive them at Hogwarts!"

"That'll look fine on the way back. Imagine all the muggles saying 'now that's fine statues they're carrying around. I wish I had a figure of unearthly torture in my living room'."

"Bugger you, Granger!"

"I have to agree with Malfoy on this one," said Harry. "Professor, I think we should go back to Hogwarts as soon as possible. We can't do anything helpful here."

"Indeed. This is why I asked for Malfoy. His cowardice is sometimes useful to put things into perspective."

"Get the twins," Harry said to Hermione.

"Is there a train anytime soon at the village, do you know?" Snape asked Malfoy.

"No," said Smith. "There's never a train on any days but Mondays," then he added, because people were looking at him suspiciously. "My uncle told me that."

"And I know Julie hasn't any floo powder or porcupine urine," said Snape.

"So we're stuck here?" said Malfoy, dropping to his knees.

"I'm sure we can take them all to the village and find a hotel or inn or something," suggested Harry.

"Good thinking, Potter," said Snape, loathed to say it. And then he found redemption. "I was going to suggest the same thing."

The twins, still shaken, approached he party flanking Hermione. Professor Snape explained the situation.

The twins looked at each other one he was finished, and once again grabbed hold of each other in abject terror.

* * * * *

Harry helped Snape unscrew Ginny's bedroom door later that evening. They'd had dinner, and it turned out that Snape was no genius chef. It wasn't poison, which was really a great surprise, but it was just not something Snape had a lot of practice in. And Harry's was oddly peppery, he noticed.

"Hold," he commanded. Harry did as he was asked and Snape unscrewed the top hinge.

"Hold tightly," he suggested.

Harry tightened his grasp. He only hoped he could take it. The doors were solid oak, and Julie's granite face and rock bottom weren't exactly making life easier.

"Er, Professor?" he said. "How exactly are we going to get seven stone people to the village. It's just that it's ten miles away and-"

"Are you questioning my magical skill, Potter?" said Snape, suggesting that it would be a very bad day for anyone who was, for example, questioning his magical skill.

"ER, no?"

"Good. As it happens we will be flying to town, because I have no desire to be stalked by the creature before we leave the grounds. I just hope there are enough brooms for all six of us."

"Seven," said Harry absentmindedly.

"Seven?"

"What do you mean seven? There's only six of us."

"You said it."

"What about Smith?"

"Oh, of course."

It was a lot easier actually to notice Smith these days, probably because in Julie's overly pink home he stuck out like, well, a grey blob on a pink background. But really it all depended on the shades, and for some reason Smith seemed very dark indeed.

These days they could, after some arguing, remember his existence even when he wasn't around. Clearly things changed. Harry said as much to Snape.

"What changes?" said Smith from behind them, nearly causing Harry to drop Julie's wooden prison. There was a knife of disdain in his voice.

"I didn't see you there, Smith," said Harry, and then he cursed himself for the stupidity of he comment. "Nothing much. I was just saying that you seem a little different."

Smith blinked.

Twice in one week, thought Harry. Amazing.

Twice in one year, though Snape. Amazing. Maybe the universe is ending.

Snape was wrong. That wasn't going to happen for months to come

Eventually Harry and Snape managed to detach Julie and carry him down to the cellar with the others. Already locked together for all eternity were the Weasley twins.

"I found them like this down here already," said Hermione. "But whatever it was must've left, because I'm still here. Nice door."

They placed Julie with the others. Snape fished his wand out of his robes and pointed it at the ghostly gallery. He muttered a string of incomprehensible Latin and then there was a flash among the statues. When Harry looked again there was a tiny white sun glowing in the centre of the room.

Snape grabbed it and the light vanished. Now in his hand was a glass sphere containing, when Harry looked closer, eight statues: the old master's three servants, Julie (twice), Ron, Ginny and Twins Together, Requiem. They appeared to be held in place by some invisible force.

It turned out to be gel.

With that the party packed their belongings, which didn't take long because they hadn't really unpacked them. Only Snape had spent any real time packing, and had written a letter back to Hogwarts to explain that they were returning 'with casualties'. Hermione pointed out that they didn't have an owl. Snape said he'd bloody find one.

And thus they left Smithe Manor, never to return.

In theory.

* * * * *

They managed to complete the journey quite quickly in less than twenty minutes. The matter of finding a hotel with vacancies was of no problem. No-one in their right minds would want to stay for any length of time in a one star English hotel, and even the greater majority of people who weren't in their right minds tended to stay away.

Snape and the statues had one room to themselves. Harry and Draco had refused to sleep anywhere near each other, and so Hermione was given a choice between the two of them. Given the choice and despite recent events, she'd decided on Harry.

"Well then," she said as she climbed into her bed. "At least we're safe now."

Harry nodded. She was certainly safe. She was wearing, under her pyjamas, every pair of knickers she owned, at least three bras and a tight shirt that she normally never wore because it chafed her neck but her parents had insisted she took with her everywhere because the embroidered bunny looked so cute. Harry wouldn't have been surprised to know that she had a penknife concealed somewhere in there.

She pulled her sheets up to her chin.

"We'll be back at Hogwarts in no time, and then no more Dick Ed! No more Hormone Danger!"

"And everything's alright?" said Harry.

"Well, I like calling Seamus 'Semen Fingering'-"

"No! I mean about Ron and the others. Do you really think that they'll be alright."

"Of course. There's dozens of teachers at Hogwarts and one of them is bound to know about all of this. I wouldn't be surprised if Dumbledore himself could save them from this curse."

"Do you really think so?"

"Of course. And Harry?"

"Yes?"

"Can you go back to your own bed now?"

There was a long silence.

"I'm ever so sorry," said Harry.

"Don't worry about it."

* * * * *

Half an hour later, in Malfoy's room

Draco removed his ear from the thin cardboard wall with the plastic wallpaper. The tree told him that the twins thought that well, it seemed pretty unbelievable. Oh well, even the Weasley twins could get stuff wrong. Actually, they usually got stuff wrong.

Obviously nothing was going to happen, though the tree had said that they were very quiet.

He returned to bed, cuddled up to his teddy bear, Mr. Snuggles, and went to sleep.

* * * * *

It turned out that it was not in fact all over. Harry got up in the middle of the night to respond to the call of nature, or rather, the one that didn't include Hermione. Since it was a one star hotel there was only one bathroom per floor. Harry considered simply doing it at the bottom of Malfoy's door, but decided otherwise.

It was dark, late and the hotel had been built like a labyrinth. These three factors, not counting the fact that the hotel locks were outrageously crap, explain why Harry went into the wrong room that evening.

It didn't involve him sleeping with Malfoy, because he'd discovered that the bed wasn't where he thought it'd been. When he had found that out he looked at who was there, and he found, clutching a stone Mr. Snuggles

Harry woke up completely. And then he screamed. Waking up has that effect on some people.

Hermione woke up and banged on the wall.

"Shut up Malfoy!" she yelled, and went back to sleep.

END OF ACT FOUR, KNOCK ON DOOR...