Another Friendly Game of AD&D

By RaistlinofMetallica

"For the character of Raistlin "

"Sorry! We got held up by Peeves," Colin Creevey interrupted, approaching the table. Behind him were Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, the younger Creevey, Seamus Finnigan and Terry Boot.

Professor Snape gave them all a scathing glare. "Five points from each of you. Tardiness in unacceptable."

"Yes, professor," the group chorused, quickly finding empty seats at the table.

Miss Chang was still rummaging through the box, looking for the remaining character cards. Suddenly, she broke into a wide grin. "Gotcha!" she exclaimed happily, triumphantly holding up her prize.

The professor narrowed his eyes at the Ravenclaw girl in annoyance. "Could I have those please, Miss Chang?"

She paused a moment before relinquishing them to the professor, quickly counting the number of cards in her hand. Satisfied, she handed them over. "There are sixteen regular characters in this game. However, in the first module, you can find four additional player characters, and then, later you can pick up another character, bringing the total to twenty-one characters," Chang explained. "Those of you looking for a challenge should try to play the hidden characters."

Miss Granger looked thoughtful.

Pansy Parkinson slid into the empty seat next to Malfoy quietly and pretended that she had been there all along, examining her nails with a bored air.

Professor Snape chose to ignore his student as he examined the new cards, rapidly assimilating the information on them. "There is no information on these four, Miss Chang," he stated bluntly, holding up the cards in question.

The Ravenclaw nodded, not surprised. "Those are the hidden characters, professor."

"Professor, you were going to tell us who was going to play the wizard?" Malfoy piped up with a smug grin.

A headache had already started to settle in and Snape rubbed his temples in annoyance, scowling. He shot a glance at the cards in his hand, recalling his decision for the characters. "Mister Malfoy, you will play Gilthanas," he announced, handing the card to the annoyed Slytherin.

There was a very short pause as Malfoy skimmed the card and, very slowly, a triumphant grin worked its way across his face. "This will do quite nicely."

Snape had figured the finer points of the elf prince would appeal to the young Malfoy's ego. That was one character down, with twenty to go. He sighed and picked the next card. "Miss Granger, your character is Tika Waylan."

The unusually brilliant Gryffindor took the card and read it, smiling to herself. "I've got a heavy frying pan as an extra weapon," she whispered to Weasley, who chuckled a little.

"Can you cook with it as well, 'Mione?" the redhead jokingly asked. He earned a playful sock in the arm from the bushy-haired witch.

It was a pity she hadn't knocked Weasley out, mused Snape acidly. The professor then selected his next card and smiled with malicious glee. "Mister Creevey, I have just found the perfect characters for you and your brother."

The Creevey brothers both gulped nervously as they took their cards. The younger one was the first to look his over. "I've got Hugon Barker, the kender."

"I've got Tasslehoff Burrfoot. He's a kender, too," the elder Creevey said, starting to read the back of his card.

Chang smiled, "Oh, great choice! You two will do brilliantly as kender!"

The younger Creevey looked on the back of his card. "Um, professor? There's nothing on this about the character!"

Granger quickly supplied, "You've gotten a hidden character, Dennis!"

Snape glared at the students impatiently and he watched with satisfaction as the students quickly quieted down. Once again, he consulted the cards. "Caramon Majere will be played by you, Mister Weasley." With that, he flicked the card in the direction of the redhead.

Mister Weasley caught the card deftly and frowned as he read the back of it, but he wisely said nothing. Perhaps there was a shred of intelligence under that temper after all?

The professor scanned the faces of the students, mentally ticking off those that he had already assigned a character. "Miss Chang, you will play Serinda Elderwood," he decided, tossing the card to the seemingly content Ravenclaw. "And Miss Parkinson will play Laurana."

The Slytherin girl grinned smugly and took her card. She would do well with the elf girl and, perhaps, it would teach her something about herself.

Snape picked the next card at random. "Miss Lovegood will play," he paused, picking up the card. "Silvart."

"Thank you, professor," the younger Ravenclaw said politely, taking the card. She read it slowly, blinked and then grinned happily.

Counting the remaining students, the professor looked at the thirteen remaining cards. He knew that there were still a few students missing. "Mister Finnigan, your character is Aaron Tallbow."

The Gryffindor boy took the card and muttered, "A moustache?"

"You don't really need one to play," Boot explained. "Some people like to dress up like their characters though, but it's really not necessary." It seemed the Ravenclaw boy had seen or played the game before.

Snape pulled the next card and smirked. "Longbottom, you'll play Tanis."

Chang and Boot both looked surprised as the slightly anxious Gryffindor took his card from the professor. Parkinson, however, looked horrified.

"Who's left?" Weasley asked, looking up and down the table.

Potter sighed, "Me."

"And me," Boot added.

The professor regarded his remaining cards and looked up. "Mister Boot, you've played this game before, correct?"

"Yes, professor," the Ravenclaw boy replied.

Pulling one of the cards from the deck, Snape raised a single eyebrow and said, "Then you won't mind playing a hidden character, will you?"

"No, sir, I rather would enjoy the challenge," Boot answered.

Snape gave him the card, which read Nightshade the Refugee.

"Excellent," said the Ravenclaw, smiling broadly. "Fighter level four."

Out of the students currently present, that left only Potter. The professor narrowed his eyes at the cards and considered heavily what he was going to do. His gaze fell on the one card he was reluctant to hand to the boy and a thought occurred to him. This game provided the perfect opportunity to drive home the point of exactly why Potter should master Occlumency. Logic, however, warned that this might not be such a good idea - especially if the boy decided to emulate the fiction.

Professor Snape decided to take his chances. "Potter, you're Raistlin."

Hesitantly, the bespectacled boy took the card.

Chang, meanwhile, had turned to the box and had resumed rummaging through, finally producing a sheaf of loose paper. "Okay, you'll each need some specific notes pertaining to your characters," she said, pawing through the seemingly disorganized papers. "Colin, Dennis, this is the information about kender," she said, handing them each a packet of paper.

"They've really thought this out, haven't they?" the elder Creevey said, flipping though the pages.

"You have no idea," Boot commented.

The Ravenclaw pulled out another pair of packets and handed them to Draco and Pansy. "This is on Qualinesti elves. Don't read anything that says 'after the war of the lance,' because that is what we will be playing out."

Malfoy began skimming the packet.

Moving around the table, Chang handed a packet to Longbottom. "This is on half-elves. It should help you with Tanis. He's a difficult character, that one." She then handed two sheets of paper to Lovegood, continuing, "These should come in handy, but don't show them to the other players yet, Luna."

"Of course," the younger Ravenclaw replied.

Chang moved on, passing out a packet to Finnigan. "This is on the Solamnic Knights. They're rather stuffy, but they're pretty good to have around in combat. You're in the order called Knights of the Crown," she explained and continued on. She pulled out another packet and flopped it down in front of Potter. "This is all the information on wizards, the information on the Staff of Magius, and the moons of Krynn. The moons are important to keep track of as your magic waxes and wanes with them."

Potter curiously started into the packet. "What about the spells?"

Returning to the box, the Ravenclaw pulled out a set of books and tossed one to him. He caught it expertly. "The Player's Handbook," she stated matter-of-factly. "For each player class there is a book describing your abilities and attributes. We have quite a few here. And Malfoy, though your card says you're a fourth-level magic user, since Gilthanas hasn't taken the test of High Sorcery, you aren't actually considered a wizard. You're considered a dabbler."

Malfoy glared at Potter. "A dabbler? Then what is he?"

Chang narrowed her eyes at him. "Raistlin has taken the test. He is a wizard of High Sorcery. It is the rough equivalent of passing your NEWTs with one subtle exception: you don't die if you fail your NEWTs. And when a wizard takes the test on Krynn, they commit themselves wholly to the magic. You would have to drop your fighter class - as well as your crown."

That shut the Slytherin boy down. He enjoyed the power of his status too much to give it up, even for magic - even if it meant that Potter got to be the only real wizard in the game. The Ravenclaw had hit the nail right on the head and effectively neutralized Malfoy for the moment.

Clever girl, Snape mused. This game could prove very interesting.

AN: There are indeed four bonus characters to be found in the first module. Not to mention the other PCs that appear later in the game. The remaining characters are: Goldmoon, Riverwind, Flint, Elistan, Sturm, Derek (another knight), Kronin-alin (a kender) and the remaining two bonus characters. I also need a few more HP characters for the players and am open to suggestions. Please review.