Seamus Finnigan and the Quest for the Leprechaun Gold

Chapter Three

"The usual school rules will still be enforced. There is to be no magic in corridors, and students are not permitted to enter the Forbidden Forest. Anyone caught cheating in any way will be disqualified. Understood?" Dumbledore scanned his audience once over, and then began again. "That being said, I wish you all luck. Your first clues will arrive momentarily. While we wait, I will say some funny words like that time I said 'nitwit, oddment, tweak, blubber'."

And he did just that. He had just finished off with "glomp" and "schnoogle" when the Great Hall was suddenly filled with owls as it always was at this time of the morning. But on top of the usual post this time, one member of each group received an envelope with the Hogwarts seal.

Seamus opened the envelope marked "Gryffindor Team Seven", as the rest of the team looked on. He cleared his throat and read the Limerick inside.

"There once was a man of great guile
Who came from the Emerald Isle
He used his cunning
To send the snakes running
He could speak to a certain reptile

Yes, Patrick the Saint was his name
Now's your chance to play his game
So gather your will
And use Patrick's skill

In order to gain you some fame."

"What's that mean?" Oliver asked.

"I think it means I'm supposed to use my parseltongue," Harry suggested.

"Oh. But where are we going to find a snake?" Oliver grabbed the clue from Seamus. Other groups were already starting to push out of the room.

"Well... we could just use that spell Draco used on me last year," Harry suggested.

"Oh yeah!" Ron said. "Although, should we trust a Slytherin spell?"

"Well, we can't do it in here," Oliver pointed out, as a Ravenclaw team shoved by.

"Let's get out of here then," the nearer Weasley twin said, leading the way.

They found the first empty classroom and shut the door.

"Alright. Who wants to have the snake come out of their wand?" Harry asked, brandishing his own wand like a sword.

"I'll do it," Seamus said bravely, stepping forward with his wand outstretched like a smelly sock.

"Ready?" Harry cleared his throat. "Serpensortia!"

A particularly unfriendly-looking snake burst from Seamus's wand, and everyone jumped back except Harry. Harry took a step closer, and began the hissing sounds of Parseltongue.

At first the snake only narrowed its eyes at Harry. Then, to everyone's surprise, it began to grow and change... until a spindly old ghost with a creased frown was standing in its place.

"Merlin, how long have I been trapped in that wand?" the ghost demanded, looking around. The boys just stared, awestruck. "Who are you?" he asked Harry. "You who speak the language of snakes."

"I'm... Harry Potter."

"Hmm... Sounds strangely familiar. You're not by any chance my heir are you?"

"Who knows in this fandom," muttered Ron.

Pretending he hadn't heard Ron, Oliver told the ghost, "first we need to know who you are."

The stern-looking man straightened up. "I..." (dramatic pause) "am Salazar Slytherin."

There were audible gasps all around.

Harry made an attempt to respond to this revelation. "In that case... no sir... I'm not your heir... although some people thought I was last year... and now the fandom seems to think I'm the heir of Gryffindor... what I mean to say is..."

"Not very self-assured for a parselmouth, are you boy. Yes, very un-Slytherin-like. I hope you are not in my house."

"No sir. Gryffindor house."

Salazar's ghost scoffed. "Should have known. Godric always liked the senseless heroic types. Now. What year is it?"

"Depends on your interpretation of canon..." began the twin next to Seamus.

"It's 1994," Oliver interrupted. "We are competing in a Scavenger Hunt, and our first clue told us to have Harry talk to a snake. We did. So--"

"--SO you want to know if I have your next clue, am I right? I like you, boy. You have an ambitious streak. Don't tell me you're a Gryffindor too?"

Oliver straightened up proudly. "Yes sir, I am."

Salazar's ghost chuckled, a very unpleasant sounding chuckle. "Indeed. Oh well, cannot be helped. I suppose I do owe you all a debt of honour for freeing me. Here is the only clue I can give. I left something here in the school --"

"Oh, we know about the Basilisk," Lee Jordan interrupted in a bored tone.

"Oh? Well then. What else can I tell you? Hmm... well, Godric liked to wear ladies' undergarments beneath his armour... And Rowena was a feminist, not a lesbian..."

"I knew it," snickered the twin next to Seamus, and held out his hand to his brother, who begrudgingly handed over several silver sickles.

"Ah!" Salazar's ghost lit up. "How could I be so forgetful?" He snapped his fingers, and a piece of parchment appeared in his hand. "Here it is, your second clue. Had it all along. Good luck young parselmouth." And with that he disappeared.