A Bitter Silence (Version two of 'Silence is Music?')

17

I looked down at Moody, thinking that he'd finally lost it, gone cuckoo, absolutely bonkers.

I was hanging upside down in a cage, strapped in by iron chains.

30ft up.

Yes, it was my start of term exam, and, as far as I could see, I was screwed.

How on earth could an eleven year old get past all that? And I didn't even know what all that was!

The blood was steadily going to my head, making my face as red as a beet root, my long black hair, which I had put into little braids, was hanging above, sorry, below, my head.

I was a confused llama.

Moody had confiscated my wand, saying he'll hide it somewhere in the obstacles.

Plus I wasn't allowed to summon it.

Damn that googley-eyed guy!

Also, I wasn't allowed to explode.

Oh Merlin.

Moody finished doing whatever he was doing and stared up at me.

"You must get to the door on the other side, collecting all the objects that were shown to you before the test. Starting from..... NOW!"

He strode out the room and I groaned.

Well, first let's get me the right way up.

Feeling the chains, I noticed that on of them was slightly weaker than the other ones near my palm, and I got exited.

But then I groaned again, what would it help?

I stayed the for a moment, until I remembered something that Professor Snape said whilst teaching me potions.

"A chain is only as strong as it's weakest link."

I tugged on the metal, but to no avail.

I then shook myself all over and the tight chains creaked a bit.

I then thought, if I can't explode, why not heat it up?

So I focused all my energy on melting at least a bit of the link.

It wasn't working as well as I'd liked, but it was working.

Just as I was about to give up, the chain snapped and my hand fell free.

With much difficulty I swung over to the other chain and gave it a push.

Now only my legs were trapped.

I pulled myself up and grabbed the bars of the cage for support as my head went crazy mad.

Blrrrl I am never doing that again.

I navigated my legs free dropped to the floor of the cage.

Solid.

I felt the bars.

Surprisingly enough, there was a door handle.

But no key.

I looked up, and saw that hanging far above me was the key, it was tiny and gold.

But it was out of the cage.

I climbed to the top of the cage, the key was just out of reach.

I looked around for something to un hook it with, but no.

I put my hand in my pocket.

I pulled it out and found Pansy's hair pin which she asked me to hide this morning, after Tracy wanted to see.

I manoeuvred the key out of it's hook and it dropped into my hand.

Once I got out of the cage, I realised I was standing on a tiny ledge, which lead around to a thick rope.

I grabbed the rope and swung off the ledge, right into a giant mound of sticky gluey stuff.

I struggled to get out, but remained unmoving.

I stopped trying to move and started to slip down.

Frantically, I struggled agin, and stopped slipping.

I realised it was like this thing called weird custard where you could mould it with your hands, but as soon as you stopped moving it would slip away like water.

And so I stopped and slipped.

And stopped and slipped.

And stopped and slipped.

Until I fell down out of it into a cauldron.

Something else fell with me, I realised it was a book, and shoved it in my pocket.

Then the cauldron started moving.

I realised it was about to tip me into a vat of lava.

What the hell? I thought to my self as I flung myself over to a wooden board that happened to be floating in the middle of the room.

I leaped on, then off by accident, and realised that I was floating on air.

But it felt solid.

I scrambled back onto the board and gingerly put my foot where the invisible path was.

It was there, but weak, and I drew back, then put my foot back.

It went straight down, like there was no path there.

I felt it, it was there before.

When I started to believe that it wasn't there after all, it reappeared, I think.

So I stepped on it still thinking it wasn't there, but it was.

And my foot fell again.

It was almost as if..... as if when I believed it was there, it wasn't. And when I thought it wasn't there it was!

How on earth does Moody think up of these things?

I jumped to my left slightly and realised I was sitting on air again.

I stood up, not believing it.

And then fell, as I realised I did.

So that's how I made my way over to the wall, running falling, jumping and well, yeah.

I gripped the safe haven that was the wall like it was my lifeline.

But that didn't stop me from being pushed backwards into a vat of chicken eggs.

========================================

I walked out of the room burnt, soaked, and covered with all manner of crazy things.

Why me?

I looked around for Moody.

Nope, he wasn't even here.

I turned the corner and saw Millicent Bulstrode.

"Harmony, where've you bin? You've bin missin for two days!"

I inwardly screamed.

Two days, TWO DAYS!?

I ran to Dumbledore's office.

He was casually talking to Moody.

I slammed the objects down on the table.

Moody's eye swivelled to me, he hid a grin.

Dumbledore looked up.

"Hello, Harmony," he said calmly. "Well done for passing your test.

Oh Morgana, that's all they say.

"Your prize is Alistair's Christmas present to you."

Oh great.