The Reticulation

"I think it just got worse," Ron said sardonically. Harry ignored him and turned to Hermione.

"What's happened?" he asked her.

"He--he's transposed himself over the Reticulation!" Hermione exclaimed, sounding positively terrified. This statement might have caused everyone else to feel the same panic as her if any of them had known what the Reticulation was.

"The what?" Ron asked, confused.

"Oh, when are you going to read Hogwarts, A History!" Hermione snapped angrily. "The Reticulation is the force that controls everything within Hogwarts. You know, when doors or staircases appear and which rooms you can get to and which ones you can't. It can think, but not independently, so it's not Dark Magic. I suppose the nearest Muggle equivalent would be a computer network."

"Well, can we get him out of it or destroy it somehow?" Harry asked hopefully. Hermione shook her head.

"It doesn't exist physically," she said. "You know, of course, the Muggles have created a worldwide computer network called the Internet. The only way to destroy the entire Internet would be to destroy every single computer linked to it. Likewise, the only way to destroy the Reticulation would be to destroy the entire school completely. Besides, even if you did find a way to destroy it, the school would be destroyed anyhow. "

"Why?" Harry asked curiously.

"This entire castle is held up by magic," Hermione explained. "What d'you think would happen if we 'cut the power,' so to speak?"

"So what are we gonna do?" Ginny asked in a small voice.

"You will do as I say or else your friends will all die!"

Everyone looked up at the ceiling as though hoping to see the source of the voice. Harry couldn't believe this--why did everything have to go so wrong now?

"That's rather rude," Luna dreamily told the ceiling as though ceilings frequently spoke to her. "If you want someone to do something for you, you should ask nicely."

Suddenly, the ground shook so hard it knocked Harry off his feet. He landed on the hard floor of the dormitory and, when the shaking stopped, he saw only Seamus, Neville and Dean were in the room.

"Where're Ron and the girls?!" he asked angrily. "What have you done with them?!"

"I have taken away the ones you hold most dear. You will now do as I say or you will never see them again!"

Seamus and Dean burst out laughing.

"You hold Loony Lovegood dear?" Seamus teased. "I always knew you were a little crazy, but not that crazy."

"You don't hold me dear?" Neville asked in a small voice. Harry ignored them both and looked back up at the ceiling.

"What do I have to do to get them back?" he asked it.

"Go to the school grounds and murder Minerva McGonagall in front of the Ministry undersecretary present. Do not tell anyone why you did this or your friends will all die! If you do not follow through on any part of this, I will know. They will also die if Neville Longbottom, Seamus Finnigan or Dean Thomas say anything."

After this speech, the four boys heard the sound of a stone doorway opening and turned to see the door to their dormitory had re-materialized. Neville, Seamus and Dean had very blank looks on their faces.

"Harry, what're we gonna do?" Neville asked quietly. Harry ignored him and stood up to walk out of the room, purposefully holding his wand.

"Harry?!" Neville uncertainly yelled after him.