The Reticulation

"Impedimenta!" Hermione shouted, pointing her wand at the wall. The wall absorbed it just like it had the other twelve spells she had hurled at it.

"Hermione, face it, we're stuck in here," Ron told her.

"Well, why'd Voldemort put us in here in the first place?" Hermione asked herself. "Storage? Isn't he going to try and kill us at some point?"

"Maybe he's just planing to starve us to death," Ginny said bitterly. "That'd be just like him, wouldn't it? Maybe he thinks we'd get so desperate at some point that we'd just give him information or something."

"How d'you know he can't read our minds?" Ron asked.

"The Reticulation can't read people's thoughts," Hermione said in exasperation. "It can probably hear what we're saying, but there's no way it could read our minds...I think."

"You think?" Ginny asked anxiously. Everyone was silent for a moment.

"This mirror is beautiful," Luna said, looking at her reflection. "I wonder what it feels like..."

"Luna, don't touch it!" Hermione shouted. "You don't know what it does."

However, when Luna did touch it, they found it did nothing. She ran her hands over the jade snakes and touched the actual mirror part with her other hand.

"It's very cold," she said dreamily as the others gathered around her. Hermione looked intently at the mirror for a moment.

"D'you think the mirror might be the way out of here?" she suggested hopefully.

"If Voldemort can just create rooms at will, why would he make it so there even was a way out?" Ginny asked skeptically.

"Because he likes to play games," Hermione replied instantly. "He wants to see us try and outsmart him."

"You don't know that," Ron told her.

"A lot of criminal think that way," she said breathlessly. "In fact, some of the world's greatest criminals have committed great crimes merely for the challenge of it."

"But you don't know if Voldemort's like that," Ron answered.

"Well, the mirror's in here for some reason," Hermione said. "We just have to figure out what. Anyone have an idea what you might have to do to make it work?" Everyone thought for a moment.

"Maybe you have to speak Parseltongue at it," Ron suggested gloomily, "which is a huge help considering the only Parselmouths alive are Harry and Voldemort."

"Oh, that's not true!" Luna said instantly. "Not many people know it, but Cornelius Fudge is actually a Paselmouth."

"Sure he is," Hermione said sarcastically.

"Even if he was, that wouldn't help us much now," Ginny pointed out.

"No, it wouldn't," Luna agreed, "I just though I'd mention it."

"Harry Potter, how could you do something like that!"

Two fourth-year girls watched nervously as Dolores Umbridge led Harry into the school at wandpoint, ranting angrily at him.

"Killing a staff member, what were you thinking?!" Umbridge shouted. "Have you completely lost your mind?! You realize you're of age now and you can be sent to Azkaban for this horrible, despicable act! I never thought much of you, but I thought you were better than this!"

"Don't you think you're overdoing this a bit," Harry said quietly, glancing awkwardly at three sets of eyes staring at him--two from the Ravenclaw girls and one from the painting of Herpo the Great behind them.

"You killed Professor McGonagall!" Umbridge shouted. "How am I supposed to act? You'll be confined to an empty classroom until I, as reinstated Headmistress of Hogwarts, decide what to do with you!"