Into the Lion's Den

Chapter 8

Deimos follows Percy, between Harry and Ron as the head out the Great Hall and up the marble staircase. As they walk along a corridor they find a bundle of walking sticks floating in mid air, Percy goes to walk forward but gets a stick thrown at him "Peeves, a poltergeist." Percy whispers to the first years before raising is voice"Peeves, show yourself." he tells the poltergeist. A raspberry is blown in response "Do you want me to go to the Bloody Baron?" Percy asks. There's a sudden pop and a small man with dark eyes and a wide grin appears cross legged and holding the walking sticks "Oooooooh! Ickle Firsties! What fun!" he grins before swooping down at them. Everyone ducks out the way "Go away, Peeves, or the Baron'll hear about this, I mean it!" Percy warns. Peeves stick out his tongue before vanishing, dropping the sticks on Neville's head "You want to watch out for Peeves, the Bloody Baron's the only one who can control him, he won't even listen to us prefects. Here we are." Percy explains, coming to a stop in front of a portrait of a fat lady in a silk dress. "Password?" she asks. "Caput Draconis." Percy responds, the portrait nods and swings open for them letting them enter the common room. Percy leads them into a cozy round room full of squashy armchairs with a roaring fire before directing the girls one way and the boys the other way to their dormitories.

The boys walk into their dormitory to find six four poster beds with red velvet curtains and red blankets, their trunks at the end of their beds. Deimos heads to his bed which is between the door and Harry's bed, he grabs his creature case making Ron roll his eyes "Really?" he chuckles. "What?" Deimos asks. "Nothing." Ron smiles. Deimos rolls his eyes and opens his case before climbing in "Woah!" Harry smiles. "You can come in if you want." Deimos tells him. Harry nods and follows him into the case, Ron following after them. Deimos opens the door and walks into the large space, Harry looks round in wonder "This is where I keep all my creatures." Deimos explains. "What creatures do you have?" Harry asks. "I have Star my owl, Sprig my bowtruckle, Scuttle my Niffler and Serpens, Serpentis and Serpentes my Runespoor." Deimos responds. "What's a Bowtruckle, a Niffler and a Runespoor?" Harry asks. "I'll show you." Deimos tells him, leading him over to meet Scuttle first "This is Scuttle, he's a Niffler. They are obsessed with shiny objects, hence all the fake coins and gems." he says, picking Scuttle up who chirps and climbs into Deimos' hair. "He's a nightmare when he gets loose so he has to stay in his enclosure." Ron adds. "He tries to steal anything shiny." Deimos explains, putting Scuttle back and giving him his food.

They head over to the tree where Spring runs and jumps on Deimos' shoulder "This is Sprig. He's a bowtruckle, they live in trees which are good for making wands." Deimos tells Harry. He goes to put Sprig back on the tree but the Bowtruckle clings to his sleeve "Alright but you have to came back when we are in class." Deimos tells the creature who settles into his hair. They finally head over to the cave and to the baby Runespoor "Finally Serpens, Serpentis and Serpentes. They're only a baby at the minute but they'll be huge when they are fully grown." Deimos explains, feeding the creature. "Why three heads?" Harry asks. "Each head means something different. The left head, from looking at it, is the planner. It decides where the Runespoor goes and what it does next. The middle head is the dreamer, it's common for a Runespoor to remain stationary for days lost in visions and imaginations it conjures. Finally the right head is the critic, it evaluates the efforts of the left and middle heads with a continuous hiss and its fangs are highly venomous; that's why he has the cone on his head as he keeps trying to bite the others." Deimos explains before hey head back to the hut where Star is perched "Hey girl, you want to go to the owlery? Harry's owl is there." Deimos asks. Star hoots and perches on his shoulder "Come on then." he smiles.

The three of them head out the case where Seamus, Dean and Neville look at them in shock "How did you do that?" Dean asks. "It's bigger on the inside. You can see tomorrow if you want, it's where I keep my creatures. Mum and Dad got permission from Dumbledore for me to bring them to school." Deimos responds, opening the window and letting Star out. They all get changed into their pyjamas and climb into bed, Deimos making sure that Sprig is comfy in his rolled up scarf "Great food, isn't it? Get off, Scabbers! He's chewing my sheets." Ron says making Deimos chuckle before getting under his covers properly. Sprig climbs out the scarf and climbs into Deimos' hair making the boy smile as he slowly drifts off to sleep.