Post by carson hale on Mar 1, 2009 22:14:14 GMT -5
There's a monster inside my heart
He tries to tear my world apart
Detention. It wasn’t a new concept to Cari, so she never figured that it would change. Always when she had gotten into trouble before she had been sent to the Trophy Room or the Forbidden Forest where she would pay her penance and be snug in the Ravenclaw Common Room an hour or two later. Of course, Cari had never been caught doing something this bad before either. Perhaps it hadn’t been a good idea to go partying so close to Hogwarts, then again in all of her five years at school this is the first time she was caught. Maybe she shouldn’t have tried that new stronger drink that the bartender had invented special for the crowd this party had attracted. Then again, maybe Cari should have been more discreet than yelling “Geronimo!” As she had bungee jumped off of the Astronomy Tower.
So it was with a heavy heart that Cari had accepted the month worth of detentions given to her for:
1. Public Drunkenness
2. Being drunk while under the legal drinking age
3. Being in possession of alcohol (the drink had a fun umbrella and she wasn’t finished so she brought it along for the adventure.)
4 Sneaking out of bounds
5. Being out after curfew
And 6. Endangering a member of the student body. (which she doesn’t quite understand as it was only her body she was endangering and even then she had a bungee cord wrapped around her ankles and a cushioning charm on the ground so she was never really in danger.)
To her surprise, the professor had given her a new location for her detention. The Room of Requirement at 6:00 pm. They had met outside the door at six on the dot and from the smile on the professor’s face, Cari would not like this punishment at all. She was right.
Now, cleaning had never been Cari’s strong point so when the professor had led her into the room of requirement and told her of the punishment, naturally she panicked. “I have never cleaned something like this in all of my life! You expect me to…scrub…this room until it is clean? I’ll be one hundred before I even break through the first layer of grime!” She had shuddered as she argued with the professor. He had merely shaken his head, handed her a muggle toothbrush, and walked out of the room. As if in slow motion, Cari turned from where the professor had exited and looked around the Room of Requirement. “A bathroom. He just had to choose a bathroom.” Another shiver of disgust made her form tremble. Her stomach churned and suddenly she wished she hadn’t eaten before coming to detention. The not-so-kind professor had turned the room of requirement into the filthiest bathroom Cari had ever seen. This bathroom made truck and rest stops look sanitary. Hell one of those muggle Port-o-John’s would probably be cleaner than this germ infested stigh!
Mossy mold grew on the floor hiding the turquoise tiles from view. At least they looked turquoise but considering they were under literally an inch of moss (if not more) it was hard to tell. Green scum ran down the walls and hung from the sinks, little drips of goo falling to the floor beneath the wretched dregs. The doors to the stalls were closed but Cari knew that if the Room of Requirement had been able to replicate life, there would be flies buzzing over the toilets. Windows were covered in lime scale build up and, if the drips of water coming from the faucet were any indicator, the water would flow brown in the sinks. Below the porcelain basins, rust stains littered the wall from old and faulty piping.
Blue eyes looked from the mess all around her, to the miniscule toothbrush, then back to the mess. By her foot was a bucket of soapy water that she was to use while cleaning. To make sure that she couldn’t use magic, the professor had confiscated her wand. ‘Stupid professor, locking me in this filthy room to clean it. That is just cruel! How could the Room of Requirement even consent to look like this!’ The thought triggered something in her mind. “That’s it!” Cari yelled jumping into the air in excitement. “I need this room to be clean.” Cari spoke aloud pacing three times across the room with her eyes tightly closed. Afraid to look, Cari carefully peered at the room from under her lashes. Eyes met with the same filth as before, Cari cursed. “Damn it!” Angrily she began to pace the room again. After a few paces, her heel clad feet began to ache. Momentarily she entertained the thought of sitting down but thought again when she remembered the floor was covered in moss. Her shoes and the hem of her pants were already coated with the gross green matter, her shirt (which was a bit on the long side) didn’t need to be ruined as well. Though, by the end of the night, her pants, shirt, and shoes would probably be burned. Strike that. They would definitely be burned.
Heaving a sigh, Cari began her pacing anew, wishing for a chair. A noise behind her made Cari jump in fright. It seemed that Hogwarts had a sense of humor as a large plush chair had suddenly appeared. “Oh yeah! So you’ll give me a chair but you won’t clean yourself!” She grumbled, flopping into the chair. Her gaze moved to the toothbrush that lay beside the bucket on the floor. Maybe if she concentrated hard enough the toothbrush would start to clean by itself. Eyes narrowed, she just stared and stared trying to make the cheap piece of plastic move. Deep in her concentration, Cari didn’t notice a second person enter the room.
