Chapter Three

Slytherin' Around

Solana stretched as tall as she could (which admittedly wasn't far), reaching for the copy of Prefects Who Gained Power sitting just out of her grasp on a high shelf. She was about to give up and ask the librarian to summon it for her, but someone else's hand suddenly appeared, pulling the book easily from its shelf. It was Alistair.

"Thanks," Solana grumbled, taking the book and returning to her table.

"Happy to help," said Alistair. "I can also push open heavy doors, if those ever give you trouble."

"I hardly need a boy around to open doors for me," Solana said. She flipped to the book's index, scanning through the 'M's.

"Just thought I'd offer," Alistair said with a smirk. He sat down in the seat across from her. "Are you still looking for those scrolls? It's been months. Have you gone outside? Have you slept? Have you showered?"

"Of course I have," said Solana. "I've been to classes and everything."

"I know that. The Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs do have some classes together, if you hadn't noticed us," said Alistair. "I just wasn't sure you did anything else."

"I've only skipped a few meals," Solana said, waving him off. "There are plenty of references that say Merlin attended Hogwarts, but none that go into any detail about his time here. I'm terrible with history, if only J—"

Solana stopped herself, pointedly turning the book to a list of former prefects only to find that the book didn't cover anything before the eighteenth century. She sighed and slammed the book shut.

Alistair said nothing. He simply pushed a chocolate frog across the table with a hopeful expression on his face. Solana took the offered candy and immediately felt a bit better. She hadn't realized how hungry she was.

The card that came with the chocolate frog was Merlin. Of course it was. "Now he's mocking me," Solana said, glaring at the old wizard. He smirked back and stuck out his tongue.

"You're too paranoid, he isn't—" Alistair took the card. "Oh. I guess he is. That's weird."

"If I just knew which house Merlin was in, that would be something," said Solana. "But I can't find anything that—"

"Merlin was a Slytherin, in fact."

Solana and Alistair jumped. Morrigan Hemlock had appeared quite suddenly around the edge of a nearby bookshelf. She was leaning casually with her arms across her chest, as if she had been listening to them for some time.

"No he wasn't," Alistair said. "Only Dark wizards are sorted into Slytherin, and Merlin wasn't a Dark wizard."

Morrigan laughed. "How little you know."

"Was Merlin really a Slytherin?" Solana asked.

"'Tis common enough knowledge in the dungeons," said Morrigan. "I assumed that everyone knew and simply did not believe it."

"Don't listen to her," said Alistair. "She's just pulling our legs."

Morrigan sneered. "I have no interest in doing anything with your legs, Alistair, unless several curses or a bone-saw are involved."

"See?" said Alistair. "Evil. Can't trust her."

Rolling her strange, hawk-yellow eyes, Morrigan turned her attention to Solana. "So, what has inspired this sudden interest in Merlin?"

"I'm sorry, are you looking for your business? Because we're fresh out," said Alistair. "You'll have to go somewhere else for your business, I'm afraid."

"It's nothing," Solana said carefully. "Just an extra-credit assignment for Professor Duncan."

"I see," said Morrigan. "Have it your way, then."

Alistair leaned closer to Solana once Morrigan had gone. "You don't really believe her, do you?"

"It's the only lead I've gotten so far," said Solana.

"So now you know which house Merlin was in—assuming she isn't just lying," said Alistair. "How does that help you?"

Solana just smirked.

"This is a terrible idea. I've mentioned that, haven't I? I think I have…"

It was the Christmas holiday, and according to Alistair there were several other, better places they could be than the cold, damp dungeons. He had been making an extensive list of them. Yet there they were, hiding in an alcove behind a tapestry in a stonewalled corridor, shivering beneath their cloaks, and on the verge of breaking a rather important school rule.

"You're free to leave if you want," said Solana. "It is my terrible idea after all."

"No, no, I didn't say that," said Alistair. "How do you even know this is the entrance to the Slytherin dormitories, anyway? It looks like any other wall."

"Trust me, I spent a lot of time in the dungeons last year," said Solana. "This is definitely the place. Now we just need to wait until she leaves…"

"Morrigan would be the only Slytherin staying over the winter holiday," Alistair grumbled.

"The fact that she's alone works out better for us," Solana reminded him. "Why do you dislike her so much, anyway?"

Alistair pouted. "She turned me into a frog last year," he said. At Solana's startled look, he added, "Or a toad or something, I don't know amphibians. And I got better."

Solana snorted. "Watch it, next time she might turn you into a newt!"

"Do you really think so?" Alistair asked anxiously. When Solana burst with laughter, his brow furrowed. "Wait… You're referencing one of your Muggle things, aren't you?"

A grinding of stone against stone interrupted Solana before she could reply. She and Alistair sat completely still, staring through the crack between the wall and the tapestry as the entrance to the Slytherin dormitories opened and Morrigan emerged. She glanced down the corridor. For a painful moment, Solana thought they may have been discovered. But Morrigan continued on her way, seemingly unaware of their presence.

"Go!" Solana hissed. She ran quickly and quietly across the corridor and slipped through the slowly closing entrance. "Come on!"

Alistair barely scraped through before the wall slid shut behind them. They took a moment to look around the common room, which had a low ceiling, rough stone walls, and greenish lanterns hanging on chains.

"Are those skulls on the fireplace?"Alistair asked. "They're probably just replicas… right?"

"Now's not the time to sight-see," said Solana. "Merlin might have left some clue here when he was a student."

They spent several minutes searching through the common room, turning over tapestries and pushing furniture around. They were careful to put everything back where they found it, certain that the Slytherins would notice if anything was out of place.

The door began to open again.

Solana and Alistair exchanged wide-eyed looks before running as fast as they could down the nearest set of dormitory stairs. They darted into the first room they found. The Slytherin dorms had big windows that looked out into the lake, making the place look almost like a gothic aquarium.

"Do you think they saw us?" Alistair gasped.

"I don't know," said Solana. No one burst in to catch them for over a minute, so perhaps they had been undetected after all. "We needed to start searching the other rooms down here anyway. Do you suppose this is one of the boys' dormitories?" She sniffed the air and grimaced. "Oh, yes, it's definitely a boys' dorm."

"Hey, I resent that," said Alistair. "That's a proper manly smell. It's not our fault it offends your delicate female sensibilities."

Solana and Alistair searched the room, looking for anything and everything that may have been left by Merlin during his years at Hogwarts.

"What in this room could be that old?" Solana muttered. "The stone? The windows? The light fixtures?"

"I don't know," said Alistair. "They might have replaced everything since Merlin's day. Merlin might not have left a message here at all. Maybe we—augh!"

Alistair staggered back as something hairy skittered behind a bedside cabinet.

"What was that?" Solana asked.

"Big bloody spider! I only caught a glimpse of it as it crawled over my foot." Alistair shuddered. "Nasty thing. Just the sort of pet a Slytherin would have."

Solana peeked behind the cabinet. She saw a large purple-legged tarantula staring back at her with glittering black eyes. "Ooh, you're a pretty one! Don't worry, no one's going to hurt you. Besides, who could crush something so beautiful?"

The spider clacked its fangs together. If Solana didn't know better, she'd almost say that it looked pleased.

"You realize you're cooing at a spider, right?" asked Alistair. "Just checking."

"Spiders aren't so bad, really," said Solana. "Not if you know how to handle…"

There was something strange carved into the back of the nearest bed's headboard. Solana managed to push the bed a few more inches away from the wall to get a better look at the carving. It appeared to be a row of odd symbols or—perhaps letters in another language?

"Alistair, come look at this."

"Just warning you, I'm not touching the spider."

Solana dragged him down until he was kneeling next to her. Alistair's eyes widened. "Wait, we actually found something?"