Chapter 5
“That’s it?” Ron asked, hovering above a large crowd of people gathered around a roped off area. Several men dressed in uniforms stood guard just inside the barrier. “One painting. I thought there was a prince here or a famous artist.”
Lowering himself back to the floor, he walked through several people working his way back towards the exit.
“It’s not just any painting, it’s the Mona Lisa.” Miss Nothing floated above him, slowly following his wake. “Muggles find it incredibly fascinating. It was created by one of the most famous Muggles, Leonardo Di vinci.”
“If it’s so famous, why isn’t it bigger? It’s about the size of my Chuddly Cannons poster. The least it could do is move.”
Above him, Ron her heard sigh.
“It’s a Muggle painting. Muggle paintings don’t move. Actually, they think it was originally bigger, like those portraits we saw on the second floor. Over time it has been cropped down to it’s current size.”
Ron paused and glanced up at her. “I still don’t understand the interest in it?”
“Other than it’s famous?” Miss Nothing inquired.
“Yes. What is famous about it besides the artist?”
“Isn’t that enough? Why is the Sistine Chapel famous? Because of the artist and the way he painted it. It’s the same with the Mona Lisa.”
Realizing he wasn’t getting anywhere with this, he held up his hands. “Whatever. We were going to go look at the statues for a while, weren’t we?”
“Oh, yeah.” Miss Nothing dropped to the ground. “I know which floor they’re on!” Grabbing his hand, she took him there immediately.
Looking around, Ron decided that this was art he could understand. One statue reminded him of the horse from the giant chess set he’d become the knight in. That had been one of his proudest moments. He’d played an excellent game of chess that day and had made sure Harry and Hermione had gotten safely through that trap. True, he’d ended up injured when the queen had attacked him, but it was worth it. Harry had found the Philosopher’s stone, Voldemort had fled and Gryffindor had won the House Cup. He’d never expected any of that to happen during his first year.
He was going to miss Harry and Hermione. Now that he was Nothing, he wouldn’t be able to do anything with them. He wouldn’t be able to do anything with his family either. Ron wasn’t sure which he was going to miss the most.
“Hey, look at me! I’m a knight!” Miss Nothing sat on the horse, pretending hold a shield and sword. “Come squire, we have to save the day.”
“I’m not a squire.” Ron sniffed.
“Oh, then what are you, good sir?”
He puffed out his chest and put his hands on his hips. “I’m a knight. I’ve proven myself of the battlefield of chess.” Pressing his lips together, he tried to keep from laughing.
“Ah, then I bow to you sir knight.” Sliding off the stature, Miss Nothing paused then bowed at the waist, her braid falling over her shoulder. Suddenly Ron couldn’t keep it in any more. He busted up laughing.
“You’ve proven yourself most worthy. Pray, pick a steed and we shall ride off on quest together.” She winked at him, which sent him into another round of laughter. This was the most fun he’d had in a while. Why not play along?
“All good knights need a damsel in distress,” he said through giggles. “There must be one around here?”
“Then let’s find one!” She turned and headed for the exit. Still snickering, Ron followed after Miss Nothing as she bolted from the room.