Headstrong

Chapter 6

She closed her books and walked to the Hufflepuff table. She tapped Cedric Diggory's shoulder and he turned, surprise clear on his face as he welcomed her to sit down.

"Amanda, what a pleasant surprise."

"Thanks Cedric. Just wanted to tell you, Phase 1 is complete."

"What's Phase 1?"

"Embarrass Fred and George of course!"

She pointed Fred and George out to Cedric and his friends, and they burst out laughing.

"Nice one!" Cedric said.

He turned to face his mates around him and introduced them to Amanda.

"This is Luke, Sam, Declan and Sean. And why, may I ask, are you pranking your best mates?"

The group of boys stared at her eagerly. They wanted to know the answer. Amanda chuckled, "They played a prank on us, and I chucked a firework in their cauldron. I got detention and they must pay."

Two of the boys gaped at her as the other two roared with laughter.

"You chucked a firework in their cauldron?" Declan asked, in between laughs.

"Yep." She said, popping the 'p'.

She waved at them, before leaving the table. She pushed in between Fred and George while sashaying, but flicked her wand back, making them be back in their uniform, but with rainbow dyed hair.

She left the hall, hearing roars of laughter from the Hufflepuff table.

...

A while later, exams were over, and the prank war had ended after Fred and George had admitted that Amanda was the best prankster.

They were sat at the lake, tickling the Giant Squid's tentacles. Lee was back with them, after giving them a wide berth when the prank war was on.

He never wanted to be in the middle when a prank war was on.

Amanda watched as Harry, Ron and Hermione stood up suddenly and walked straight to Hagrid's hut. Soon after, she saw them race out, nearly running, to the castle. She sighed. They must have found out.

She knew the children were probably going to see Dumbledore but was almost glad when she remembered that Dumbledore had left a few minutes ago. Dumbledore informed her of everything, without anyone else knowing.

Amanda excused herself from her friends and marched up to the castle. On the way, she passed Severus and muttered as he passed, "They're on the case."

Severus nodded. They had already talked about the trio.

Amanda matched up to the Common Room to wait for the others. Eventually they came in, talking about not being able to keep an eye out for the stone.

She sighed and left.

...

That night as Amanda slept, she dreamed.

She dreamed of Harry and Quirrell in a room surrounded by fire, the Mirror of Erised stood between them.

Quirrell let out a furious scream, and Amanda abruptly woke, falling out of her bed in her hurry to make it to the room in which she had had her vision.

In a haze, she almost tripped down the stairs from her dorm, throwing on a dressing gown as she went.

Seeing Neville, she muttered a quick "sorry" as she passed, heading out the portrait hole.

She raced to the third-floor corridor as fast as she could. The children could be in danger. She saw the door open and slowly stepped in.

The trapdoor had obviously fallen shut after the children had gone through. Fluffy was awake and staring at her.

She started to hum, gently walking over to the trapdoor and opening it, continuing to hum. Fluffy had gone into a corner and its eyes were drooping.

She quickly jumped in, landing on the Devil's Snare. As soon as she landed, she quickly got up to the wall, shaking off the small vines of Devil's Snare that had already grabbed her ankles.

She headed into the Key Room and raced across, as she saw the door closing. She put her hand through the gap in the door to stop it, and heard a gasp come from the other side. She heaved the door open and saw Harry, Ron and Hermione looking at her.

"How did you know we were here?" Ron asked incredulously.

"You are actually quite easy to listen to you know." She whispered back, "You should be in your beds, leaving this up to the teachers. You could get seriously hurt."

The children shook their heads and Amanda knew, that they were going to do this with or without her.

She sighed and walked to the giant chessboard.

The four children took the places of two bishops, a knight and a castle. Amanda was in the bishop spot next to Ron, as the two would discuss what to do and lead, as they were the best at chess.

The game started and they watched as the White Queen took lots of their pieces, but they would take many pieces in return. Eventually Amanda saw, that to win, she would need to sacrifice herself, then Ron, so Harry could checkmate the King.

She said this to Ron, and he relayed the information to Harry and Hermione.

"NO!" Harry and Hermione shouted.

"That's chess!" snapped Ron, "You've got to make sacrifices!"

Amanda tuned out in what the other three were saying. She moved a few spaces diagonally and turned to face the White Queen, bracing herself for the pain, and crossing her fingers to hope that Harry and Hermione would make it.

The White Queen's hand smashed into her stomach, sending her flying into a pillar, hitting her head on the way. She fell to the floor, unconscious. 

The three children remaining watched in horror, as the Queen dragged Amanda to the pieces that were out, leaving a small trail of blood behind. Ron gulped nervously, then moved.