Term Fifty-Four: A Portrait of Hogwarts in Chaos
| House Point Totals |
| Gryffindor | 1948 |
| Slytherin | 1628 |
| Ravenclaw | 915 |
| Hufflepuff | 316 |
Plot summary by Lissy Longbottom
A Portrait of Hogwarts in Chaos
The day had arrived that everyone had been waiting for - Hogwarts was back and open for students once again! Predictably, since the castle had been abandoned for the past year, there was quite a lot of clean up that needed to be done. Common rooms were covered in cobwebs, layers of dust had settled on top of the furniture, and the castle was in need of some good old fashions TLC. Staff members - including newest additions Gus Rainwater, Gabriela Recard, Carwyn Eris and Mathys de Nostredame (yes, THAT Nostredame from Beauxbatons) - gathered up the students in various activities to help clean up their beloved Hogwarts. After the chaos at Beauxbatons the term before, the students stepped up to the plate and put in some elbow grease to get their castle looking good as new in just a few weeks.
However, it became clear very early on in the term that Hogwarts was suffering from a bit more than just a couple of dirty classrooms. The magic holding the portraits inside their frames had come undone, allowing some portraits to actually leave their paintings - and in some extreme cases, caused students to end up TRAPPED inside the frames! The Fat Lady accidentally swapped places with Stella Starson while trying to give a singing lesson, and Blake Ryan found himself stuck in the portrait of one particularly hormonal teenage portrait named Roberta. Whatever was going on, the swaps were all resolved within a few moments - many people chalked them up to weird accidents, but no real harm was done. Unfortunately for the staff and students, the Fat Lady and Roberta weren't the only ones who figured out they could leave their portraits...
The four Hogwarts founders - Salazar Slytherin, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Godric Gryffindor - were all spotted roaming around the castle. At first, their presence shocked and amazed everyone who came across them. In fact, many staff and students thought it was a once in a lifetime opportunity - who else had the chance to say they met their house founder? At first, they simply wandered the castle, catching up on the times, and they remained relatively harmless as they got to know the students in their houses.
As the founders lingered in the castle, it soon became clear that they weren't just there to hand out cupcakes and host impromptu duels (looking at you, Gryffindor). Rowena Ravenclaw interrupted a History of Magic class to give her thoughts on the matter and academia in the castle as a whole, and Salazar Slytherin began to question many of the Slytherin students, like Head Boy Gunnar McCarthy, on their blood status in a very accusatory sort of way. Gryffindor and Slytherin actually had the nerve to reignite their old rivalry in the middle of one of Trent's dueling club lessons, showing that they had little respect for the man currently in charge of their beloved school.
What were these founders planning? They began to act as if they owned the place, not seeming to care that hundreds of years had passed since their mortal selves had roamed the halls. One thing was also extremely clear - they were NOT planning on returning to their portraits any time soon.
It was clear what the students and staff had to do at this point - they needed to figure out a way to get the founders back into the portraits, and they needed to do so fast! The intentions of the founders were finally made known as Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin attempted to drive Professor Nostredame and Professor Fuller-Thompson from their respective huts on the grounds, announcing their intentions to take over the castle from the staff and Trent. Their goal was to get rid of Trent and the rest of the staff members and bring Hogwarts back to the "standards" they had laid out when they first founded the school. After a violent confrontation with Gryffindor, Nostredame was wounded by Godric's sword and, with the help of Healer Recard, was transported to St. Mungos for further care.
With the founders practically declaring war on the castle, the hunt was on to figure out how to get them back in their portraits. Perhaps more importantly - how to KEEP them in there once the job had been done! Trent called for an emergency meeting in the courtyard and a plan was put in to place. Three groups, led by Trent, Recard and Noble, would set up and try to find the founders, eventually leading them back into their portraits. As each of the three groups searched the areas they had been assigned, a signal was being broadcast amongst the other portraits in the castle. The empty frames that had once contained the founders had been located in the basement of the castle! The portraits ran through the castle, sounding the alarm, and everyone headed towards the basement for the final showdown.
Naturally, the founders were not going to go down without a fight. Hufflepuff attempted to distract with cupcakes, and Gryffindor and Slytherin attempted to use mind games to manipulate Trent and the others to stand down. Eventually, the Gryffindor founder even challenged the Headmaster to a duel in an attempt to take over the school once and for all. When the Headmaster threatened to cast the portraits on fire, that was all the fuel no pun intended Slytherin needed - he tackled Gryffindor to the ground, for reasons not QUITE clear (did he want to be the first to the portrait, or was he genuinely concerned that Godric would REALLY duel Trent?) and sprinted to his frame. Gryffindor grabbed his robes and ran towards HIS frame instead, turning it into a race, and the remaining two founders followed in suit. Once again, the rivalry between Godric and Salazar had been the undoing of the founder's plans, but the school was safe from their meddling once again!
Impenetrable charms were placed on all the portraits so they could no longer leave their frames whenever they pleased. Hogwarts was finally repaired from the damage of the mist, and term was coming to a close quickly. Nostredame, while he recovered from his wounds, would not be returning (can you blame him?) and the school said goodbye to the beloved Professor Simran at the End of Term feast as well. Students boarded the Hogwarts Express and went home to have relaxing summers, hoping that the next term at Hogwarts would be a little more calm and less eventful for once
Term 53 | Term 54 | Term 55
