Magical Journey (Merlin | Harry Potter Crossover)

Chapter VI - Night in a Library

Late evening, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Arthur and Merlin waited next to the exit of the Gryffindor common room under the invisibility cloak. The room was empty because everyone had already gone to the dormitories. The crackling of the fire was heard from the fireplace and raindrops beat windows rhythmically. Hermione had agreed with Fred and George that they would enter the common room ten minutes before midnight, and the five of them would then sneak out quietly and unnoticed into the hallway. Soon, the Fat Lady's portrait opened and the twins walked in and winked at the empty space where the trio with their medieval friends stood.

When the twins disappeared from their sight they walked out into the corridor and headed down the stairs to the library. It was going to be a nasty night because the dark corridor was suddenly lit by a flash of lightning. Accompanied by thunder sounds, they walked slowly, huddled side by side so that no one's limbs protruded beyond the invisibility cloak.

They walked around the corner and, to their surprise, they found a multitude of items scattered around the corridor. To these things joined others which were being thrown out, vigorously and with a metallic crack, from the nearest classroom. Arthur stopped, keeping the rest from moving forward, and instinctively reached his right hand to where he usually carried a sword. However, he did not find the sword, remembering that he was wearing Hogwarts school robes. The king showed Merlin and the others with gestures that he would go ahead. The warlock more or less understood him, the other three did not read his intentions very much, so when Arthur was about to go and see what was going on in the room, Hermione grabbed his arm.

"It's just Peeves," she whispered.

"Who?" Merlin and Arthur's heads turned to her.

"Peeves, the poltergeist. He always causes trouble."

Suddenly, a silvery cloud flew out of the classroom, and things began to be tossed back into the room. The ghostly cloud stopped in front of them and started to change. Soon, Merlin, Arthur, Hermione, Harry and Ron saw the face and the rest of the body of the ghost dressed in such brightly coloured clothes that hurt the eyes. Another lightning bolt lit the corridor, emphasizing Peeves' wicked, dark eyes and mischievous smile even more.

"Aha! I see you're hiding under that thing!" he laughed.

"Peeves! Just let us pass," said Hermione trying not to raise her voice, but the poltergeist had already made enough noise.

"Yeees? You're probably going to make trouble, huh?" Peeves' smile got bigger that the corners of his lips were probably touching the back of his head.

"You're the one that causes trouble. Look what you did."

"I'm cleaning up, things were not arranged as they should be," the poltergeist smirked and made a circle in the air.

"You'd better go away, otherwise we'll call for the Bloody Baron," Hermione said fiercely.

"I think you took it too far," Ron muttered, knowing what was about to happen.

Peeves puffed up his face so that if he wasn't a ghost, he would have turned red for sure. And after a second he let out a shrill, screeching scream that carried across the corridor: "STUDENTS ARE NOT IN BEDS! THEY MADE A LOT OF MESS!"

Harry, Ron and Hermione paled. Arthur and Merlin just blocked their ears to keep from going deaf. It reminded Merlin of the mandrake scream. Certainly, Peeves was heard throughout the castle.

"Run!" Hermione rushed forward, grabbing the hands of Ron and Arthur standing closest to her.

Harry and Merlin held the cloak to keep it from falling off, but they rushed so fast it fluttered like Snape's robes, revealing completely their running legs. They hid around the corner just as a door from the opposite room burst open and Snape burst out. The bizarre movement of air caused by the invisibility cloak caught Snape's attention and, being sure it was Harry, he smirked, already devising a punishment for him.