Peggy hurried to Herbology, only to discover that she was once again late.
"Peg, where'd you go?" Daniel whispered, looking endearingly worried. "Yeah! We turned around and you were just gone!" Angie added. Peggy smiled at the two. "I realized I had forgotten my wand in Dark Arts and had to run back."
Just then, she heard a bitter voice behind her, clipped and disapproving.
"Miss Carter! You are tardy again!"
Peggy deflated and turned. "Yes, I've noticed." Angie giggled at this, and Professor Fry gave them both a critical look. "Regrowth spell, 5 times!" Peggy sighed, and got up preparing to recite the monotonous spell that she now unfortunately knew by heart. Why does Herbology even exist?
At the end of class, Professor Fry kept them for a moment.
"I have news from the Wizard Council, news that affects all of you. Howard Stark, the Ravenclaw, has been supplying Death Eaters with potions that he made. His failure to comply with routine questioning on the matter before the board of Wizards and Professor Dumbledore has resulted in his being expelled from Hogwarts."
There were surprised murmurs throughout the class, some genuinely shocked and others knowingly nodding, as if this was expected. Peggy looked ahead, keeping a calm face.
"If any of the student body see him, you are to report it immediately to a headmaster. If you do not, you are willingly harboring a secret of any whereabouts of Mr. Stark, therefore assisting a serious crime. If you are convicted of such, you too will be expelled at once. Is that well understood?"
Peggy swallowed, and murmured her compliance like the rest of them.
"Now- just as a precaution... has anyone made contact with Howard Stark in the past 24 hours, or know of anyone who has?" Peggy stayed silent, and Miriam Fry eyed the class, as if trying to see if anyone was hiding anything. "Good," she finally said, "Keep it as such."
Class was dismissed, and Peggy was glad to get out, as she felt extremely on edge, but had to keep her cool around her friends.
"You see?" Daniel asked, catching up with her, "I told you Howard Stark was bad news! And look at that- supplying Death Eaters with his potions!" Angie shook her head. "Wow. I'd have never pegged Howard for someone who'd… well… go dark like that."
Peggy wanted desperately to say, 'because he hasn't!' but she kept quiet, nodding. "Hm, you think you know someone," she smiled, deflating visibly. Daniel seemed satisfied at this, like he had been waiting for her to defend her friend instead.
They headed to their next class, Alchemy.
Later that night, when all classes were dismissed, Peggy slipped back to her dorm, using a spell to disguise herself as a blonde. She could never be too careful when it came to appearances and the possibility of recognition.
She put the hood of her robe up, and hurried up to Ravenclaw Tower. She knocked with the gold eagle knocker, and prepared herself for the riddle. She was smart, it shouldn't be too hard for her to figure out.
"Where do Vanished objects go?" the question came.
Peggy thought for a second, remembering this from a few years back in one of her textbooks for some class. "Into non-being, which is to say, everything," she answered promptly, and the door opened, echoing out into the vast room with midnight blue carpeting and huge walls, covered in rows of old books.
She looked around, not seeing her friend, and pulled her hood back a little, hissing, "Edwin?"
Just then, Edwin stepped out from behind a pillar nonchalantly, calm as ever. "There you are. I was beginning to think you weren't coming." Peggy rolled her eyes. Damn his exemplary organization. "How did you get in so fast?" "Howard gave me all the answers to any possible riddle." "Oh, how nice for you."
"What's the plan?" he asked her, returning to his normal compliant self. Peggy put her hands on her hips, clearing her throat. "To clear Howard's name and get him back into school, we're going to need to find who's really behind this, so needless to say, we'll have to be extremely covert."
Edwin nodded, and Peggy continued. "I can work out some sort of eagle-eye charm to keep an eye on the grounds, but we'll also have to be more observant than usual of our peers and fellow students- remember, it could be anyone doing this."
"Don't you think we could narrow it down to someone with a, "bone to pick," if you will, with Howard?" Peggy nodded slowly. "Yes, that might very well help things along. But keep in mind, it could just be someone targeting the school, and Howard was simply a decoy to infiltrate the system."
Edwin sighed. "Right... very good."
Peggy went on. "Meanwhile, we'll sneak out during nights to snoop around the libraries as well as old rooms and such, trying to find any of Howard's remaining potions that he left scattered around." Edwin looked slightly uncomfortable at this.
"What is it?" Peggy smirked, "Never done something like this before?" Edwin looked up. "Oh, quite the contrary, Peggy. Last month, I forgot my wand in Professor Ivchenko's room, and had to run back to get it after hours!" Peggy laughed, and Jarvis shuddered.
"He scares me. Goodness, he's Slytherin by definition." Peggy nodded, thinking back to the classes she had with the Slytherin professor. He was incredibly intelligent, a cunning mind, taught Alchemy, and was very serious about his work. She could understand how the timid Hufflepuff could be scared of him.
"So- tomorrow night, we'll meet in the hall, and split up. I'll go down to the potions room, you go through the dark chambers-" "Why must I be the one who goes through the chambers?!"
"Fine. I'll go through the chambers and you check out the potions. Then we'll meet up again, and review our findings." "What about Professor Dugan? He patrols the halls around there at night." Jarvis swallowed.
"Oh, you're not scared of him too, are you? He's a big teddy bear!" Peggy smiled. Jarvis didn't look convinced. "Hopefully it's him, and not Miss Fry patrolling tomorrow night," Peggy added, and Jarvis inhaled sharply. "You're quite right. Alright, we're good, we'll be fine. Just another day at Hogwarts."
Peggy smiled, putting a hand on his shoulder. "To get what we want, we must be willing to take tremendous risks, Edwin. Don't worry- if we've coordinated this right, we'll be just fine."
Somewhere down below the tower, Daniel was taking a walk. He wasn't really supposed to be out this late, much less for a walk in a different house's grounds, but he just loved watching the stars over in the west part of the school.
He looked up- they were beautiful this time of night. He found himself wishing Peggy was there, on his arm…
Just then, he looked over a little, and caught a glimpse of two people up in the windows of the tower. He squinted up, resting his weight on his crutch- was that… Edwin? And there was someone else there… a blonde. She was wearing a Gryffindor robe, he noticed. Who was she?
Daniel racked his brain… who was it? It would be impossible to find a single girl with all to go on is her house and hair color. Unless it was someone in disguise… which would just make it that much harder.
He began to get suspicious. Edwin was a close friend of Howard's, before the latter got expelled. And why else but the matter of Howard's potions would he be up in the Ravenclaw Tower, secretly conversing with a mysterious woman?
Daniel started to make his way as quietly as he could up the twisting staircase of the tower. He could be the hero of Hogwarts if he found something- and while he didn't want to believe his fellow Hufflepuff had anything to do with the whole situation, he would have to find out for himself.
He got close, but cursed as his crutch made a metallic clink. He should have used a silencing spell!
Peggy and Edwin turned around quickly. "What was that?" Edwin mumbled softly. "I think someone's found us… hurry, we've got to go."
Before Edwin had a chance to tell her he forgot his wand again, she had disappeared, and he was left stuttering. "Right..." he mumbled, looking like a deer caught in headlights.
"Edwin?"
The tall boy turned, and saw Daniel approaching him. He put on a smile. "Hello, Daniel. Uh, um, lovely evening, yes?" "Yeah…" Daniel said slowly, "Have you seen a blonde around here?" "A blonde? Dear me, no, I much prefer redheads," he joked nervously, but noticing that Daniel was not joining the laugh, faltered.
"You sure?" Daniel continued, "I could have sworn I saw someone I… recognized," he lied. Edwin shook his head. "No, I can assure you. Nobody here but jolly old me, I'm afraid. Must have been the moonlight, you know how tricky the rays can get this time of night, hm?"
Daniel nodded, narrowing his eyes. "Right… well, g'night, Jarvis," he said, turning around. But as he went down the stairs, he shook his head. He knew he had seen someone else, it didn't take a genius to know that. But why was Edwin hiding it?
Something was up. And Daniel would keep his eye on it, and find out who that woman was.
The next day, Peggy was thinking about the plan in History of Magic. Angie sat next to her, and the big, burly Slytherin, Ray Krzeminski, sat in front of her with Jack. He turned around, a spiteful glint in his eyes.
"Hey Carter! How's your paper going? Run into any mix-ups so far?" he laughed, and Peggy frowned, before looking down at her essay. The words were re-arranging themselves!
She glared up at him. "I find it pathetic that you still think you're funny," she quipped, but he just kept laughing, until Professor Dugan came over, giving a stern look (or as stern as he could muster). "Problem, guys?"
Angie lashed out. "Yeah, Ray's the problem! He's just one big walking problem!" "Krzeminski, one more time, and I swear!" Ray shut up, and turned around again, giving Peggy a chance to correct her work quickly.
Daniel finally hurried in. "Hey guys," he said, taking a seat on the other side of Peggy. "Good morning, Daniel," Peggy smiled. Daniel blushed a little, then shook his head. "You're not going to believe what I saw last night!"
"You talking about that Phoenix that flew over the school around 11?" Angie asked. "No. Something much better. I saw Edwin talking to some blonde up in Ravenclaw Tower!"
Peggy felt her insides churn. It was Daniel who had seen them. But she could work with this... he was practically putty in her hands- she could convince him of anything. She went on listening.
"I talked to Edwin," he continued, "He tried to convince me there wasn't anyone there but him, but I know what I saw." Peggy clenched her teeth. She had thought Jarvis had his wand too... obviously not.
"Perhaps it was a romantic endeavour," Peggy commented breezily. Daniel frowned. "Does Jarvis really strike you as the romantic type?" Peggy gave a half-hearted shrug. "He... could?"
She swallowed. If Daniel was serious about this, it could be harder than she thought- now they would have to be extra cautious tonight.
At the end of class, Jack followed them out, and pulled them aside before they could go on. "Jack, go pick on someone else for a change," Angie sighed. Jack shook his head, lifting his eyebrows earnestly.
"I heard what you said in class. I want in. If Howard Stark's trying to slither his way back into Hogwarts after pulling what he pulled, I want to take that son of a bitch down." Daniel thought for a second, before looking up again. "Oh... well, okay."
Peggy took a deep breath, feeling a migraine coming on. This severely complicated things. Though, to lead them off the trail, she'd need to get on the inside.
"Count me in too," she said, rolling her eyes. Jack scoffed. "Seriously, Carter? You think you can handle something like this? This is pretty dangerous stuff." Peggy felt her blood boil. "I believe I am significantly more capable than you at dangerous situations, Thompson, and I'd advise you not to test me on that. Are we clear?"
Jack huffed, then put his hands up. "Whatever. Keep your eyes open- and look for blonde Gryffindors."
Peggy sighed as everyone disassembled. This was going to be a long night.