A passage to nowhere (one shot)

He was late! What a way to have been late than to be lost along the way the way he had! The day had started out so ordinary and routine by waking up and following his roommates down to the Great Hall for breakfast that one wouldn't think it would lead to quite an interesting adventure. It was as Jurian left the hall still nibbling on a pear not understanding how the Doctor could hate such a delicious fruit that it happened; he'd tripped over a raised flagstone. One that he could swear up and down hadn't been raised a moment before when he'd exited the hall. One moment the stone was flat and even with the others, then the next it was raised and tripping poor unsuspecting students such as Jurian. The boy flailed as his body ungainly tilted towards the wall, only there wasn't a wall for him to hit.

From his purposeful explorations of the castle last year and the beginning of this school term along with his accidental ones, he'd discovered quite a bit. One such thing was that the castle loved to play tricks on the student populace. There were the typical secret passages you would expect from an ancient stone castle. There were walls that pretended to be doors, doors that liked to change where they led as one day it could lead to a classroom and the next it could lead you to a different room or even become a cupboard. There was one he knew for a fact depended on the time of day of what lay behind it. Even with all that, the boy knew there was likely so much more to find. Their own Ravenclaw Common's door was a different type of door that liked to quiz the house on riddles. From what he'd heard each of the House Common room doors were different and interacted with the students differently.

Jurian therefore shouldn't have been surprised that the castle had its own sense of humor like it's doors. Or even the staircases which seemed to have a mind of their own as well. In fact, the Ravenclaw had rode them quite a few times just for fun to see where they would go last year and planned to do so again this year. Perhaps Hogwarts was bored or was feeling a bit generous, whichever mood it was in landed the twelve year old on the floor at the unexpected misstep. The only downside was he'd lost his pear which he wasn't going to pick up and eat no matter what some people try to say about however many seconds it was on the ground. The cats, rats, or whatever else, could have it!

Standing, he brushed his hands off on his cloak as he looked around with wide eyes. Where had once stood a section of wall was a quite cleverly hidden entrance to a long corridor. "An optical illusion!" Jurian happily exclaimed. The most sensible thing would have been to leave and head to his class. There was no telling if the school would want to either play with him again, or feel up to showing him this passageway again. It was something he knew he'd regret if he left now, besides it was like a great big shiny that wanted to be admired. So that was what the boy did.

The path was clear at first but quickly turned dirty with layers of dust, grime, and cobwebs. He thought he saw the sheen of wet stone and when he reached out, his hand slipped on the fuzzy rock surface. Jerking his hand away he squinted in the dim lighting. He believed it was moss...that meant he was somewhere it was damp so perhaps a different way to the dungeons? He'd come too far to turn back now though and there was no telling he'd be able to exit where he'd entered from. Pulling his maple wand he waved it as he cast lumos so he'd have some light. Raising his arm above him to give him the best light and not to blind himself, he glanced around and was proven right about the moss. Spotting something shiny off tot he side, he was naturally drawn to it and soon lout out a shriek that echoed in the emptiness. He'd walked into a spider's web! Jurian flailed about trying to get it all off and making sure that the spider wasn't on him before he shuddered as he hurled the arachnid away from as quickly as he could before a full body shudder ran through him. Normally he wouldn't have minded the eight legged things, but the feeling of something unknown crawling on him was not a pleasant feeling. It gave him the shivers.

The 'shiny' he'd seen was actually a necklace. Squatting he reached out and picked up the chain of the necklace and upon closer inspection noted that the clasp was broke. There was some kind of pendant on the chain that had a man on it. Shrugging, he secured it in his trouser pocket as he stood. It was as if the castle had provided him a keepsake for this little adventure! That was really thoughtful of it! "Can you show me a way out please? I think I'm a bit late for class," he spoke to the nearest wall. Pausing he didn't see an immediate opening, so he continued on his trek noting when it was beginning to get lighter and he was able to douse his wand and put it away. Where the passage led him was to a door with intricate carvings and no obvious handle to open it. Pushing it didn't do any good neither did trying to hold one of the carvings and pulling for all he was worth. Chewing on his lip as he stood back and studied it, he shrugged stabbing in the dark by uttering, "Open sesame?"

Nothing. Sighing, the boy stepped closer to study the door and tried to see if there was something hidden in it where you had to twist, turn, or push. Turning his head this way and that even nearly twisting to where he was upside down, he found himself stumped! A bit put out, he sat on the floor with crossed arms as he stared up at the mysterious door. He really ought to get to class, but the mystery! And who knows when he'd be able to come back to this door and figure out a way in! Besides, anything could be behind there! After what seemed like hours where the boy grew ever more frustrated for not being able to see what he was missing, he stood up with a huff. While this would drive him mad, he didn't want to die here of starvation or have his parents kill him because he missed so many classes. Grumbling, the boy stared at the door with a glare. "I'll solve you, count on it!" He'd be back! Turning, he retraced his steps and he found an exit in a plain door that led just off the hospital wing. He knew it! That door and passage hadn't been there before! As soon as he stepped into the hall, the door he'd existed seemed to disappear into the stone wall. Pushing up the sleeve of his cloak, he gaped. He was so late for Transfiguration!