text: [Themes: Fan fiction, female protagonist, alchemy, treasure hunt, Harry Potter, fanfic]
  
  > Go downwards
  The staircase swivels dizzyingly as you descend.
  
  A long corridor with an extremely high, vaulted ceiling. It gives the impression of tall trees spreading into branches over your head, although it's all just the same grey stone. Staircases lead down and up. A strange red plastic door leads north, and a black door leads west. To the south, the corridor opens out into the Hospital Wing.
  
  > read the alchemy
  You read: The alchemists have used many symbols to encode their meanings. The following is a record of the most commonly-used.
  
  a dot inside a circle, representing gold or Sol;
  a crescent moon, representing silver or Luna;
  a female symbol, representing copper or Venus;
  a male symbol, representing iron or Mars;
  a 2 with a 1 intersecting its tail, representing tin or Jupiter;
  a female symbol with horns, representing quicksilver or Mercury;
  a curiously embellished lower-case h, representing lead or Saturn;
  a female symbol with a triangle instead of a circle for its head, representing sulfur, the connection between the high and low;
  a circle bisected by a horizontal line, representing salt--that is, base matter of any kind, including stones and crystals;
  a triangle with several diagonal lines in it, representing plant matter;
  a triangle pointing up, representing fire;
  a triangle pointing down, representing water;
  a triangle pointing down with its bottom point intersected by a horizontal line, representing earth;
  a triangle pointing up with its top point intersected by a horizontal line, representing air;
  an upside-down female symbol, representing antimony;
  a circle with a half-circle atop it, representing bismuth;
  a misshapen 3, representing cinnabar.
  
  > look at the plastic door
  It appears to be made of tough plastic, like toys for very small children, and it is fire-engine red.
  
  > open it
  You open the plastic door.
  
  > examine the black door
  Black-painted. Slightly smudged with chalk.
  
  > go north
  So this is going to be your classroom, is it? Not too posh. It's a rather small room, dominated by an oak table. Muggle Studies must not be a popular class; only ten or twelve students could fit in here, seminar-style. A poster illustrating how a light bulb works adorns the wall, and a bookcase stands in a corner. The door out is to the south.
  
  > Examine poster
  It seems to get some fundamental things wrong. As far as you know, there are not any magical spirits of "ekeltricity" living in light bulbs. Or are there?
  
  > examine the bookcase
  Oak, matching the table.
  
  In the oak bookcase are a blue book and a cloth book.
  
  > get blue BOOK
  Taken.
  
  > read it
  You read: The internet is for porn, blah blah blah, internet users often use a simple cipher known as "rot13" to keep their messages initially unreadable, blah blah blah, some wizards find it useful too, blah blah blah. Nothing shocking.
  
  > read it
  You read: The back cover informs you: This book covers all sorts of magical and Muggle means to enter homes and burgle businesses, from the familiar--combination locks--to the foreign--security systems running on ekeltricity. The book falls open to a page describing how one may turn a dial and naturally hear tumblers fall into place, allowing a combination lock to be successfully opened without any prior knowledge of the combination, or any use of magical power.
  
  > examine table
  Simple, heavy, and serviceable, worn with many years of use.
  
  > go to the south
  A long corridor with an extremely high, vaulted ceiling. It gives the impression of tall trees spreading into branches over your head, although it's all just the same grey stone. Staircases lead down and up. A strange red plastic door leads north, and a black door leads west. To the south, the corridor opens out into the Hospital Wing.
  
  > examine the black door
  Black-painted. Slightly smudged with chalk.
  
  > go to the west
  (first opening the black door)
  
  A large classroom; the defining feature is an enormous skeleton hung from the ceiling, spotlit, in the centre of the room. The professor's desk, at the front of the room, also looks interesting. A black door is on the east wall.
  
  > examine skeleton
  A very old skeleton of a horse--with wings. It's spotlighted by a Fresnel lantern. One of its hooves gleams curiously in the light.
  
  > examine the hoof
  Now, why would that be? Among the old ivory bones and black hooves of the skeleton shines a single piece of metal: one hoof made of silver. As you stand on tiptoe to get a better look, the skeleton moves and twists away from you. Not as dead as it looks!
  
  > talk to the skeleton
  "Can you understand me?" you ask. "You're a skeleton. Surely that's impossible, even with magic?" The huge creature waggles his wingtips at you. He evidently can hear you.
  
  > talk to the skeleton
  You ask the skeleton for his silver hoof in as many ways as you can: cajoling, threatening, pleading. Nothing seems to work. He tosses his noble skull and somehow manages to snort (despite his obvious lack of lungs), and drums his hooves in the air as though to urge you away.
  
  > give the jelly beans to the skeleton
  The skeleton turns its skull away. Apparently it isn't interested.
  
  > look at the lantern
  A Fresnel lantern, glowing, but with no obvious source of power. Looks almost steampunk.
  
  > take it
  The Fresnel lantern is too high to reach.
  
  > Brush skeleton
  What do you want to brush the thestral skeleton with?
  
  > Brush
  What do you want to brush?
  
  > examine the brush
  A standard looking sort of scrub-brush.
  
  > Brush skeleton witscrub-brush
  The skeleton twists nimbly out of your reach. That's not difficult; you're pretty short.
  
  > examine the desk
  A low, much-embellished chestnut affair, with a single wide drawer. It's kept very neat.
  
  > open the drawer
  You open the wide drawer, revealing a journal.
  
  > Examine journal
  A small journal bound in soft leather, with the initials R J L on the cover. It appears to be a record of classroom affairs--detentions given, supplies used--but there's a section about the skeleton.
  
  You read: The new thestral skeleton I purchased for the classroom appears to be animate. I had not realized until this morning, but he seems to have merely been scoping out his new situation, waiting to make himself known. He has more or less managed to communicate to me that he would like his silky black mane back; he seems to be rather vain, and quite proud of the silver that I used to replace his split hoof. (Thank heavens that part of the curse is a Muggle myth; not being able to handle Sickles would be quite frustrating.) As a wig would spoil the effect of the skeleton, and the beast is quite rude about it, I'm apt to let him stew in his own juices until he becomes more polite.
  
  > Go east
  A long corridor with an extremely high, vaulted ceiling. It gives the impression of tall trees spreading into branches over your head, although it's all just the same grey stone. Staircases lead down and up. A strange red plastic door leads north, and a black door leads west. To the south, the corridor opens out into the Hospital Wing.
  
  > go south
  A room with a high ceiling and white walls, sterile and institutional. Iron-framed beds stand in rows, and an enormous medicine cabinet dominates the far wall. To the north is a gothic-arched corridor.
  
  > examine the medicine cabinet
  A large cabinet made of chestnut with a thick glass front. A built-in combination lock is part of the frame.
  
  In the medicine cabinet are a vial of mercury and a bottle of Pepper-Up Potion.
  
  > get all
  You can't use ALL in this story. Sorry.
  
  > examine the lock
  A large, gaudy combination lock. Instead of numbers, the dial shows moon phases, inlaid with mother-of-pearl. You can turn it right or left. An engraved arrow points to the first quarter moon.
  
  > listen to the lock
  The hospital wing's so quiet, it will be easy to hear tumblers falling when you TURN the lock RIGHT and LEFT.
  
  > turn the lock right
  You turn the dial of the moon lock right; now the arrow points to waxing crescent moon.
  
  > turn the lock right
  You turn the dial of the moon lock right; now the arrow points to new moon.
  You hear a soft click of tumblers falling into place.
  
  > turn lock left
  You turn the dial of the moon lock left; now the arrow points to waxing crescent moon.
  
  > turn lock left
  You turn the dial of the moon lock left; now the arrow points to first quarter moon.
  
  > turn lock left
  You turn the dial of the moon lock left; now the arrow points to waxing gibbous moon.
  You hear a soft click of tumblers falling into place.
  
  > turn the lock right
  You turn the dial of the moon lock right; now the arrow points to first quarter moon.
  
  > turn the lock right
  You turn the dial of the moon lock right; now the arrow points to waxing crescent moon.
  You hear a soft click of tumblers falling into place, and the medicine cabinet's door springs open.
  
  > look in the cabinet
  In the medicine cabinet are a vial of mercury and a bottle of Pepper-Up Potion.
  
  > get the Mercury
  Taken.
  
  The mercury in the vial is silvery. Sangita had a chemistry kit with mercury in it. Kind of strange, since she never was any use helping you with science curricula. "I use it to make inks for the printshop," she said when you moved in together, but you never saw her do it, and anyway, can't you buy printer's ink? And wouldn't she be doing it at work?
  
  > look at Potion
  A red glass bottle labeled "Pepper-Up Potion" in a spidery hand.
  
  > examine the beds
  Uncomfortable looking.
  
  > look at Mercury
  A crystal vial containing a silvery liquid.
  
  > check what you're carrying
  You are carrying:
  a vial of mercury
  a cloth book
  a blue book
  a ciphered book
  a prefect's badge (being worn)
  a long-handled scrub-brush
  a scribbled note
  a book of herbs
  a book of alchemy
  a medallion
  an iron bell
  a piece of purple parchment
  a Hogwarts brochure
  a contract
  a handful of yellow Jelly Babies
  an identity card