Of …MORE…Copied Dialogue

OR, The Raven has been Locked up – the LINK is Broken

A/N I've bumped up the rating to Teen because of something that I've just remembered happens in a later chapter.

I heard Sadia slide to the floor behind me and collapse in a pile.

My mouth gaped open and my heart froze with cold terror. It all flashed by so quickly – the rest of Ravenclaw skidded to a stop behind me; Slytherin, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff filled up the other two passageways. High-pitched gasps shot up from the gathering teachers. I noticed that Madame Hooch was not with them.

Somebody from the Ravenclaw crowd pushed past me and ran to the lifeless girl. I realized it was black-haired Bradley Tamble, not Bradley Labont, but Bradley Tamble. Bradley Tamble was in his second year and a beater on the Ravenclaw team. But once in my whole school year I did not think about Quidditch.

Right away, I realized that the figure on the floor was Bradley Tamble's Ravenclaw sister, Priscilla Tamble. She had been weak before, then weaker, and now here she was, lying almost dead on the school floor.

Dumbledore slowly made his way over to the girl, whose arms were tucked against her side, eyes wide and staring. Her mouth was gaped open in a gasp. Dumbledore stared kindly at Bradley, then waved his hand as a gesture to go back to the other Ravenclaws. Bradley slunk back among the Ravenclaw crowd.

Dumbledore' wispy voice made no disturbance in the silence, for he spoke in much of a whisper. "It is Priscilla Tamble."

"You'll be next, Tristont!" Dianne yelled at me from the Slytherin crowd, only to meet the stern, angry glare of Professor Snape staring at her.

"Let this accident be a reminder," Dumbledore continued softly, "that I recommend caution to all until further notice. It is as we feared, Minerva. (That's Mrs. McGonagall's first name) The Raven has been locked up – and the LINK is definitely broken."

Then, he stared at all of us; each and every one of us met his worried gaze. "All of you, be cautious in your everyday work. And do not let the Raven or the LINK be a disturbance or worry in your thoughts."

But deep in my heart, I had an eerie, haunted feeling that this mysterious LINK and the locked-up Raven would only be the beginning of the problem … it would get worse…

***

Priscilla Tamble was fussed over by every Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, lying in a small bed in the hospital wing. Her body had lay still for about a week by now, and the nurse, Madame Pomfrey, saw no sign of her waking up.

Nobody knew how the girl got to be like that, or why she was lying still. The only explanation would be fainting, petrifaction, or unconsciousness, but all of those plunged headfirst into dead ends when Madame Pomfrey tried out a spell regarding to Priscilla Tamble's weakness. But there was no proof of what she had; not enough evidence.

***

"So, all we know is: Katrina Labont falls through a window, you faint and have this weird nightmare about it, and strange things happen to all of the Ravenclaws but no other houses, including Rebecca's broom getting cursed," Sadia said.

We were walking through the hallways to the library in our free time, to study. Our arms were loaded with books and rolls of parchment, and our capes swished annoyingly at our feet. All around us, the chatter and footsteps of buzzing crowds of students filled the hallways, bouncing and echoing off the pillars that held up the passageway roof. For a week, since Priscilla Tamble had been found lifeless in the corridor, the whole school had talked of nothing but the LINK and the dark plots, and Priscilla Tamble's state. It was hard to pay attention in class, to study hard enough for exams and tests, and, in our case, to think about who the LINK might be and what the dark plots might be.

"Then add the Raven not coming when we called it, Madame Hooch getting all weak and blurry-eyed, and Priscilla Tamble lying in the hallways," Veronika added more problems to Sadia's start.

"So," I said, "All we have proof of is that there's a powerful bond that's obviously on the good side, between the Raven and somebody else – probably Rowena Ravenclaw – and they're really strong together."

"But now the Raven's locked up so they're not as strong – I'll bet anything that's why the Raven didn't come when you called, Valerina," Pansy Parkinson fitted together slowly.

"And so, the enemy wants to kill the LINK"-

"Wait," I declared wisely. "Rowena Ravenclaw's already dead, so she can't be the LINK, can she? I mean, she lived one thousand years ago – well, that's when she founded Hogwarts, at least."

"Good point there!" exclaimed Pansy brightly. "So, we don't know who the LINK is, but the enemy is trying to kill it. With the LINK gone…" her voice trailed away in terror, and her skin grew pale.

"With the LINK gone, nobody can stop all the evil things from happening, and whoever the enemy is, he'll destroy us all, and turn Hogwarts into a school for the Dark Arts, and set out the basilisks, dragons, chimeras, werewolves, and all those other monsters for the survivors," Pamella burst out quickly, making sure she couldn't think too much about the terrible things that might happen. But really, all of us were very scared. Who was this LINK? Did he or she live in the school – well, of course they did, or why else would the enemy be in the school trying to kill them? He would be somewhere else…

"Let's hope that it's just Diane who's doing all this terrible stuff. I bet her father found out how to lock the Raven up and all that stuff, and she preformed a curse on Priscilla that made her paralysed and"- Pamella began.

"Well, that's exactly the point!" I exclaimed. A brilliant idea blast into my head and grew there, blossoming until I knew Pamella was right. "Don't you see?" I exclaimed. "Guys, it all fits! Diane, the enemy!"

Veronika snorted into her cape. "Well, you know, that is pretty likely," she laughed timidly.

All of us had to giggle a little. Even without the Link of the Raven involved, Diane was our enemy.

"Don't you get it?" I erupted brilliantly. It just all seemed to fit together in my mind – we had solved this mystery, at least part of it, and we had a good point and a suspect. The enemy was really who we had to discover, then the rest of it would fall in easily … wouldn't it?

"Diane thinks all Ravenclaws are scum … that's why all the weaknesses are happening to Ravenclaws … all those times we've seen her hanging out in the hallways? I bet she really just ran into a closet or bathroom with her friends and started planning spells and charms that could lock up a raven, and paralyse people, and make people have weird dreams and get really weak and misty-eyed and stuff!" I explained enthusiastically. It just seemed so easy!

"How about we look in the library for great history books," suggested Sadia with a twinkle in her eye. "We'll pretend to be getting information from a book for our History of Magic reports, but we'll really be looking for the LINK. Sound good?"

Veronika gasped. "But – but that's lying, and breaking rules – isn't it?"

"Nah," Pamella laughed, cradling her books and rounding the corner to the library. "It's for the school's own good, anyways."

***

The library was an enormous, busy and crowded room always filled with the excitement and chatter of students researching books. The large, floor-to-ceiling windows gave a good view of the sparkling moat and the grassy fields beyond that spread to the Quidditch pitch. Giant, elaborate chandeliers dangled impressively from the ceiling, and flaming torches shot up from the walls, even though it was the brightest room in the school. The carpets were rough, lime green material covered in red rugs with lemon-yellow tassels, and there were brilliant, decorative tapestries lining the walls. The rest of the room was packed with shelves and rows of books, and tables for looking at them.

Students from every house were always all over the place there, talking warmly, and all the company made the library a friendly place to gather and study. But, however, it was not a nice place, or an easy place, to cause mischief. At the back, there was a stone wall with a door. The door led to the restricted section of the library, restricted except for seventh-year students studying Potions or Defence against the Dark Arts. It was also a meeting place for teachers.

The books in the restricted section could shriek, and the most valuable or dangerous supplies of the school were kept there. There were rumours among the first years and second years that there were ghouls haunting the restricted section: giant, troll-like ghosts but not as friendly. But the teachers had searched millions of times and found only the school ghosts and Mrs. Norris, the caretaker's scrawny cat.

The reason the library was not an easy place to cause mischief was that there were always so many people around, so when you read something in a book you weren't supposed to, you had to be very quiet. Also, the librarian, Madame Pince, had a sharp eye like a hawk's and could see every move a child made from her desk at the front of the library.

As Pamella swung the door open, Sadia, Veronika, Pansy and I strode in casually, looking normal. Our plans spread out before us, and we were going to try and lie as few times as possible.

"And what are you doing today?" asked Madame Pince. "There are so many people in their common rooms, frightened of the rumours, but you might be up to no good hanging out in the library."

We were, was what Madame Pince didn't know. Veronika, who was still scared of getting caught, pushed the fear out of her eyes and nudged Sadia in the ribs, gently, with her elbow.

"Oh, we'll just be working on our History of Magic Reports, Madame Pince, so we'll be looking in the History section of the library," Sadia said gaily, really knowing that we were going to be in the History section of the library.

"And we don't believe in that silly ghoul either!" piped up Pansy bravely. Madame Pince, who had heard the ridiculous legend of the ghoul, rolled her eyes as some of the other first-years in the library fearfully glanced at the door and then back at their books.

"All right," Madame Pince informed, and she gestured her hand towards the rich supply of books thickly lining the many shelves.

Sadia, Veronika, Pamella, Pansy and I hurried off to the History section. There were twelve sections: Care of Magical Creatures, Beasts, Defence against the Dark Arts, Charms, History, Magical Astronomy, Transfiguration, Spells, Potions and Cauldrons, Broomstick riding, Quidditch, and Herbology. The eyes of some students followed us suspiciously as we rushed into the History section.

"Okay," whispered Sadia cautiously, who apparently seemed to be in charge of our plan. "Everybody, grab a book and bring it to a table. Search into the L section and the T section, L for LINK and T for The LINK. Now, if you can't find the LINK, get another book, and remember, it should say something about a Raven and Rowena Ravenclaw under the LINK."

I grabbed a thick, dusty green book with an ancient, musty smell. Golden writing on the cover read:

"Famous Dates in History and Who Accomplished Them"

Sounded good, I thought. I took Famous Dates in History and Who Accomplished Them to an empty table, lit an oil lamp with a magic spell, and opened the book. The pages were crispy, ripped, and yellow with age. The writing was all in capital letters, but in archaic-type writing that gave me a mythical feeling.

Slowly, but my heart racing with excitement, I leafed through the book to the L section. The best information would be who the LINK was, what it did, and who its enemies were. Oh, it would be so exciting to find out who the LINK was! Then – then, really, we would have solved the whole mystery. The teachers could go and hunt out the enemy – well, in other words, expel Diane – and set the Raven free! I just needed to find out who the LINK was! Ravenclaw might win the House Cup, or at least Dumbledore would give us extra points.

"Okay," I breathed to myself, settling my excitement, taking in long, deep breaths, but my short, huffy, thrilled ones came back. "Here I am, at the L section."

I flipped through the pages, silently gazing at each word. The L section was almost over and there seemed to be no sign of the LINK.

"Leprechaun discovery … Leprechaun Banishment from Villages … Leprechaun Day begins in muggle world … Lillipton Village is saved by Jacklyn Hummur from Dark Wizard attack … Lennie Humbot becomes Minister of Magic … Lennie Humbot is innocent but ordered to court…"

The LINK was not in Famous Dates in History and Who Accomplished them, nor in Recent Heroes and their Enemies, and there was no sign of it in Famous Wizards in History who have Bonded with Animals. (Veronika was almost sure the LINK was in that one.)

Sadia was sure the LINK would appear in Famous Bonds with Animals, but its pages were clear of it. Finally, we had to return to our common rooms, as the Library was closing down for the evening. Of all the students, we had managed to stay in the Library for the longest time, and checked through almost every one of the History books and had not found the LINK.

Sadia was scowling in anger as we approached the common room. "I was so sure that we'd find the LINK!" she complained. I had been, too. We had been so close, so close to finding out who the LINK was. It was disappointing.

"Well," Veronika began timidly, "I was so sure that we'd get into trouble, but we didn't. So … sometimes things that we really think will happen don't turn out."

Sadia glared at her, but said nothing. Then her eyebrows rose. "We might have been looking at the wrong type of books. We'll have to look again tomorrow. After our last Herbology lesson, let's meet in the Library and pretend we're finishing up our History of Magic reports. Really, do you have yours finished?" she decided firmly.

I wasn't so sure that would work, but at least it was an idea. "Yes," I answered, pulling it out of my robes. "I worked on it in the Library, so we wouldn't really be lying to Madame Pince."

"Me too," Sadia answered. "Come on, it's almost suppertime in the Great Hall. Let's meet there at 6:00, and in the meantime, let's work on our Beast essays."

As I shuffled through the portrait hole, a little bit of fear settled into my heart. I could not help thinking about the spooky, haunted predictions that were ringing about the school. What is we never found the LINK? We couldn't just report Diane to Dumbledore without finding out further information. What if Diane was only a victim of the enemy? What if … the unexpected were to be expected? This was all a mystery so far…

I was glad to finish off writing about the Snidget today, because even Quidditch had lost its excitement. Terrible things, I knew, were about to happen.

***
October 20, 2003

It was 1:50 p.m., and we were in Mrs. McGonagall's classroom. The sunlight spilt in through the floor-to-ceiling windows. My heart beat as I looked nervously away from the windows, but I could glimpse them through the corner of my eye. "If I have another daydream, Mrs. McGonagall will kill me," I whispered nervously to Pamella, who was sitting beside me. But Mrs. McGonagall's alert, hawk-like eyes glanced about the whole classroom, no bit of foolishness escaping her sharp yellow eyes. She glanced threateningly at me, but didn't say anything.

Her spirits brightened for the lesson. "Your attention, students. Today we shall learn one of the most commonly used and precise transfiguration spells in the Wizarding History, to go with the routine we've been practicing. Can anybody tell me what we've been practicing?" she announced in her crisp voice.

My hand and Pamella's hand shot up in the air, but Mrs. McGonagall ignored us. Her eyes scanned the classroom, and, ignoring Parvati's waving hand, she picked Pansy. Parvati and Lavender snarled in annoyance behind her.

"The wand movements we've been practicing involve a nice, brisk, swish movement followed by a quick, downward slash."

"Excellent; five points to Ravenclaw!" Mrs. McGonagall announced brightly. "Now, as you swish and slash your wands, say Avian Transfigure!"

I stared at the pair of teal feathers I was supposed to be turning into bluebirds. I sighed and stared uncomfortably at them. Anything at all about birds reminded me of Moonridge, poor Moonridge. Still, nobody knew what her fate was, so I assumed she was dead. My mind was aching to hear more about the LINK, the Dark Plots, and the mysterious weaknesses. Priscilla Tamble had not recovered because Madame Pomfrey didn't know a cure for her state. Finally, my hand shot eagerly into the air.

"Valerina Tristont, this had better not be another silly excuse!" Mrs. McGonagall spat, but let me speak anyways. She was still disgusted at my daydreams of falling through the windows, but now that the mysterious prophecy had come into existence, she was a little frightened of the dreams.

"Mrs. McGonagall," I questioned timidly, "We were wondering if you could tell us about – about the LINK."

"Very well," Mrs. McGonagall answered quietly.

All over the classroom, students stared at each other and nervously laid their wands on the table. One boy's wand fell onto the feathers and they turned into bluebirds at the magical touch. Mrs. McGonagall watched as the birds fluttered out the window, swirling around each other.

"Now, as you all know, Hogwarts was founded one thousand and eight years ago by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age: Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, Godric Gryffindor, and Salazar Slytherin. Of three of the founders who lived quite harmoniously together, one did not," she began, wringing her hands and walking about the classroom, as if it hurt her to even think about this.

"I wonder who that might be," joked Pamella.

"Salazar Slytherin did not like the idea of Hogwarts, because before his founding, he had been persuaded to join the dark side. The idea of the Chamber of Secrets, a historical chamber which now is destroyed and gone, was one of his tasks, and now the dark side was weaker than ever before. Salazar decided to leave the school, and, pretending he had been killed, secretly fought in the Dark Army force. One day he decided to turn Hogwarts into a school for the Dark Arts, taking Hufflepuff and Gryffindor his prisoners. But Rowena Ravenclaw used her gift of wisdom to secretly escape from his clutches and discover his plot."

Some of the Ravenclaws smiled at this news.

"Rowena Ravenclaw freed Hufflepuff and Gryffindor, but they were very weak. Nobody knows why, but they think that Slytherin had bewitched them so that they grew weaker. Now, Ravenclaw restored many wizards who had been forced to join the Dark Side to their original good state, and destroyed most of the bad side, except for some who fled into the forest and stayed there. Slytherin was among those."

"Rowena Ravenclaw is dead now, you know, but she decided to leave behind a LINK who could conquer Slytherin's Dark Plans after she died. She looked into the future and bonded somebody not yet born with the Raven. Even today, we do not know who the LINK is."

"Is the LINK someone who would be found in a History book?" piped up Pansy Parkinson.

"As I don't know who the LINK is," explained Mrs. McGonagall, "I cannot inform you furthermore on anything about the LINK, Salazar Slytherin, or the evil deeds, so I do not know where information on the LINK would be fond."

"But…what are the evil deeds supposed to be?" chimed in Heather Brocklehurst curiously.

"I can tell you this," Mrs. McGonagall quavered worriedly, fear illuminating her wary face, "that Salazar Slytherin did not just abandon his plans to turn Hogwarts into a school for the Dark Arts. He plotted an unknown enemy of the LINK, who would lock up the Raven so the LINK was broken, then set out again to destroy the LINK so he could unleash the horror of his dark plans. They are said to have something to do with the strengthening of – of a monster."

Everybody in the room fell silent. I had never been so worried in my whole life.

***

"So," Sadia announced quietly, "Diane is the Link's enemy, we think. So we've got to find proof. Next time something weird happens … we'll investigate and look for any sign of Diane. We have to keep an eye on her."

We were in our second trip to the school library. It was quiet, because only a few students were at a table staring into books. We could be a little louder, because they were swallowed up by interest in their books, and they wouldn't hear our plans. The only one we had to be skittish around was Madame Pince.

"I don't think you've realized this," Veronika spat. "We can't be around the school at the same time, looking for Diane. Will we have to be beside each other all the time? That would be cheerful – 'Hello, Dianne. We've decided we like you and we want to stick with you and Jade and Millicent and Parvati and Lavender all the time'? When we really are suspiciously investigating her?"

Sadia rolled her eyes and let out a sigh of frustration. "I spent all of last night, if you don't realize, working out a solution to suspiciously discover what Diane's plotting. It involves"-

"Is this a plan that will get us into trouble if somebody finds out?" Veronika scowled.

"Yes," Sadia explained smoothly, ignoring Veronika's growls of complaint, "But nobody will find out. I really have this all worked out. It involves breeding two birds, a phoenix and a jobberknoll, in our common room, secretly."

"A what?" both Pamella and I exclaimed together.

"Honestly, didn't you three even do your beast reports? A jobberknoll is a small, pink and blue bird from Africa, which is silent except at death, when it repeats every word, every sound, it has ever heard in its whole life. A phoenix is a swan-sized bird with yellow and red plumage, which bursts into flames when it is time for it to die, and then the same individual bird is reborn again from the ashes. Phoenixes can't really die," Sadia beamed.

It seemed like with her, we would solve this mystery and then get expelled. I still wished that we could breed something else, because the thought of birds made me think too much about Moonridge. I almost knew she was dead, and my only hope was that she had broken free and was now journeying back to Hogwarts to find me.

"So how is breeding two illegal birds in the Ravenclaw common room going to solve this mystery?" burst out Veronika wildly.

"Shhh, keep it down, Veronika, somebody might hear you!" squealed Pamella, glancing around nervously.

"That's right, Pamella," Sadia continued. "Now, this is how we are going to get a phoenix and a jobberknoll. Remember those spells we were doing, turning feathers into birds? Well, the feathers were bluebird feathers, so that's why they turned into bluebirds. If we get a phoenix feather and a jobberknoll feather"-

"We have our birds!" Pamella giggled. This plan was spreading out before me. Now, it seemed risky, but very brilliant. I knew Sadia would pass all the end of the year exams.

"First night: we'll do this in the darkest corner of the common room, behind a tapestry, at night. When everybody's asleep, we'll sneak down to our hiding spot. Nobody will catch us because I'll do a charm that will make us invisible and inaudible. I'll do the invisibility spell on the birds, too. We'll … well, they'll mate and lay an egg, I'll make sure of it. When the egg is laid, we'll set the birds free out a window and sneak the egg into Moonridge's cage. Then you'll hide her cage in the closet and if anybody asks, say … say Moonridge likes to be alone."

"It will take a while for this egg to hatch, and when it does, the bird inside will be half phoenix, half jobberknoll. I don't know what it will look like, but we could call it a phenoll."

"Or a jobberix," I pointed out.

"When the jobberix is old enough, we'll make it invisible and set it out in the school. When it's burning day, the jobberix will die. But it will repeat everything it hears, and we'll recognize Diane's voice. It will say everything it overhears her plotting, and who the LINK is, probably, and everything we want to know. Plus, since half of it is phoenix, it will just burst into flame and then sort of … come back to life."

"And so," I questioned, "How long will it take for the egg to hatch?"

Sadia looked a little doubtful as she put the book back on the shelf, as if she was saying something she wasn't supposed to. Then she wrung her hands and answered, "A month."

My insides seized up. "A month?" My mind was spinning with confusion. "But, I don't understand. Diane could have destroyed the school by then, and the jobberix would be useless," I pointed out disappointedly.

"I know," Sadia whispered. "But it's the only chance we've got."