Midnight Stories [On-Going]

Chapter Three - The Snitch & The Forest

Drip. Drip. Drip.

The group opened their eyes and felt a cool breeze around them.

Emily reached out to feel for anyone. "Nick? Hello?" Her voice echoed off the walls. "Anyone there?"

"Guys, if this is still a dream, then I'll be able to write whatever I'm thinking about!" Jenna gasped. She concentrated hard, and right above her in sparkly letters, appeared the phrase: "I hate Fizzing Whizbees."

Alex snickered a bit. "Uh, yeah! I'm here, Emily!" He called back.

Nick immediately pulled out his wand. "Lumos Maxima!" He cried. A bright light illuminated the tip of his wand. "Hey, guys! Cast Lumos Maxima now!"

The others followed his lead as the cave lit up.

Meanwhile, Alex frowned. He didn't have his wand yet. But then he remembered it all still a dream. He concentrated as a wand appeared in his hand. Mimicking the others, he illuminated his own wand.

"We're all still here, right?" Nick asked, shuffling towards the silhouette of a girl.

She reached out her hand and held his. "Here," Emily smiled. "Now what?"

The group congregated to the center of the room.

"I've no idea," Jenna sighed. "Wait. Nick, do you still have your journal?"

Nick nodded and pulled the journal out of his back pocket. Flipping to a random page, he read the dream out loud:

"All the Hogwarts students prepared for the noon time Qudditch match between Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw...."

"Who won the match?" Raven grinned.

"Hufflepuff. It ended once I caught the snitch."

The Ravenclaw sighed. "Of course you guys won..."

Alex raised an eyebrow. What does a Quidditch match have to do with us getting out... That's it, he thought. "Hey, do you think it's possible for you to actually grab that snitch?"

"Um... maybe," Nick nodded. "But we're nowhere near a—"

"No, I mean, snitches have the ability to retain flesh memories of the last person to touch it," he continued. "If you were somehow able to grab hold of one, it might contain a key of some sort to getting out of here."

"I have another theory," Jenna spoke up. "We've all had dreams. In Nick's case, it involved catching a golden snitch. Maybe the dreams are some kind of challenge we need to overcome."

At that moment, the cavern walls began to light up in streaks of blue and yellow. The sound of fluttering wings could be heard.

Nick exhaled and looked down. His clothes started changing from the simple black Hogwarts uniform to a yellow quidditch uniform.

"You ready to relive your dreams, Nick?" Jenna smiled.

"Not really. But, what choice do we have?" He chuckled.

The lights grew brighter and consumed them and slowly dimmed to reveal a quidditch pitch.

Nick mounted his Cleansweep and raced after the snitch as the other Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws continued their match with Hufflepuff leading by ten.

The rest of the group and Alex sat in the stands, cheering him on. The only one not present was Raven.

"Almost... there...!" Nick reached out with his left hand, the golden ball just inches from his fingers.

Suddenly, a jet black streak headed straight for him.

"What the...?!" Jenna exclaimed as a bludger raced after her best friend. "Who hit—"