-.-

Chapter Ten: Betrayal

-.-

"Someone was standing over me, I know it," Scarlett said quietly. It was a few minutes after five in the morning and she was once again sitting in a chair in Balathar's private quarters. She held a cup of hot tea in her hands and she was trembling from head to toe. "Someone was there; the same someone that's been following me around the school for weeks!" Balathar paced back and forth in front of her with a dark expression on his face, an action that didn't soothe her in the least.

"You look worried," she said after a moment. "Do you… do you know who's doing this?" Balathar stopped and turned to look at her. He shook his head.

"I really don't," he said firmly and Scarlett believed him. "It is impossible for anyone to have breached the walls of Hogwarts without the staff knowing. It doesn't matter whether they are invisible or even incorporeal. Hogwarts is impenetrable, protected by magic so advanced that even the most powerful of wizards would have tremendous difficulty overcoming it." Scarlett's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"But if that's true, why would Professor Phoebus go to so much trouble adding additional security to protect the Orbstone?" she asked. "If Hogwarts can't be broken into, the stone would hardly need additional protection, would it?" Balathar genuinely seemed thrown by that statement and it took him a moment to recover.

"Okay…" he said as last, sitting down on the edge of his bed. "Okay, it's obvious you are not a child and won't be reassured by my coddling. It's true that wizards with sufficient knowledge could potentially breach Hogwarts' defenses… but there is no reason any wizard with that much power would want to stealthily stalk a first year, even one as gifted as you are."

"So, what's going on then?" Scarlett asked. Balathar shook his head dejectedly.

"I truly don't know, Scarlett," he said quietly. "I'm sorry, I just don't. There's no evidence of anyone breaching Hogwarts' security and the front doors say that no unauthorized persons have entered the castle." Scarlett decided to overlook the fact that Balathar appeared to have had a conversation with the school's front doors.

"Then could it be someone on the inside?" she asked. "Maybe it's Zutharis! Maybe he saw me that night I caught him in the Orbstone chamber! Maybe he's trying to torment me or something because I saw him!" Balathar shook his head.

"I… don't think so," he said lightly. "Zutharis may well be after the Orbstone, but I don't believe he would be behind this." Scarlett nodded and dropped her gaze to the floor, looking quite forlorn.

"We'll figure this out," Balathar said bracingly. "I love you, Scarlett. I would never let anything happen to you. Whatever's happening we'll deal with it, I promise." Scarlett nodded.

"I'm just... scared..." she whispered.

"I know," Balathar replied softly. He sighed. "Why don't you sleep here tonight? I've got a spare room in the back that never gets used. Anyone who's after you would have to get by me first. You'll be safe until tomorrow. I haven't told you yet, but I discussed things with Phoebus earlier today. We've agreed to confront Zutharis together tomorrow night and she wants you there."

"M... me?" Scarlett asked confusedly. "You... told her about me?" Balathar shook his head.

"Believe it or not, she already knew," Balathar replied. "She knows a good deal more about what goes on at Hogwarts than even I realized. Don't worry, you aren't in any trouble. She only wants you there because you are the only person who has actually seen Zutharis interacting with the Orbstone."

"Okay, then," said Scarlett. She glanced at the door and then back at Balathar. "I guess if... if you're not using that room, I... I'd really like to stay."

"And you're more than welcome to," said Balathar. "Come on, I'll conjure you a bed for the night."

Scarlett slept quite peacefully that night, perhaps because she knew that anyone who wanted to get to her would have to sneak passed Balathar first. She wasn't sure why that made her feel so safe. She didn't have any idea how powerful of a wizard Balathar was; although she suspected he would be quiet a force to be reckoned with.

An hour before breakfast was to begin, Balathar gently shook Scarlett awake. She rolled over and looked up at him, forgetting for a moment where she had spent the night and wondering briefly why Balathar was in the girls' dormitory.

"'Morning," said Balathar with a smile. "Sleep well?"

"I did, actually," she said sleepily, sitting up in bed and stretching. "Thanks for letting me stay here."

"Of course," said Balathar kindly. He hesitated for a moment, watching as Scarlett ran her slender fingers through her loose curls. "Your mother used to do that all the time," he pointed out. "She was constantly running her fingers through her hair. It used to drive Michael crazy."

"Was her hair this long?" Scarlett inquired curiously. Balathar nodded. "My mum's always telling me to get a haircut, but I like it. Something I got from Alexandra, I guess."

"You got a lot from Alexandra," said Balathar knowingly. "Did you know your eyes flutter when you're asleep? Your mum's did the same thing… and she used to tug a corner of the sheet up under her chin, just like you were doing when I woke you up."

"Were you watching me sleep?" Scarlett asked.

"No," said Balathar. "I just… when I came in to wake you up, I couldn't help but… well, you always look like your mother, but there are moments… split seconds of time when I… forget that you're her daughter… and not her." Scarlett looked into his eyes and suddenly she realized something she hadn't before that moment.

"You really loved her, didn't you?" she asked in a very quiet voice. "It wasn't just an affair, you actually loved her." Balathar shrugged and nodded.

"I did," he said just as quietly. "I loved your mother very much. I don't want you to feel uncomfortable, but I… Like I said, there are those second-long moments when I first see you that I think Alex has walked back through the door."

"I'm really sorry," Scarlett whispered. "I mean, I may be her daughter, but… but you actually knew her… loved her. It seems like you lost a lot more than I did."

"Oh, I'm not so sure of that," said Balathar. "Your mother was an amazing woman, Scarlett. Whoever you are today, without her influence, you would have been that much better with her in your life."

Knowing that her friends would undoubtedly be wondering where she had gone, Scarlett bade Balathar goodbye, promising to meet him in his office at seven o'clock that evening. She met up with her friends in the Great Hall for breakfast and explained what had happened, where she'd been, and she also told them what Balathar had said about Phoebus and their meeting that night.

"So Phoebus believes Zutharis is guilty now?" Jake asked, looking quite surprised.

"I guess she does," said Scarlett with a shrug. "She's willing to confront him about it at least."

"Well, how much more evidence could she need?" Hope wondered aloud.

"She's already got a picture of the thieving git," said Lilly shrewdly. "Zutharis can hardly argue it's him. I'd bet he'll go as quiet as anything." Scarlett wasn't sure why, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to go terribly wrong.

-.-

"Hey, I'm off to meet with Phoebus and Balathar," said Scarlett, sticking her head into the girl's dormitory where Lilly lay on her bed surrounded by crumpled bits of parchment and large books later that evening.

"I'll wait up if you're gone a while," Lilly replied, looking up from her scribblings. "I want to hear what happens."

"Okay, I'll see you later then," said Scarlett. She started to leave, but paused. "Lilly, are you still working on that translation?"

"I am," said Lilly firmly. "You're about to wrap all of this up tonight, but I'd still like to know what the Orbstone is and it's not in any book I've checked in the library."

"Any progress with it?" Scarlett wanted to know. Lilly rolled her eyes.

"Not a bit," she said dejectedly. "I've tried everything I can think of and it's just… just incomprehensible gibberish!"

"Once we get all this with Zutharis and the Orbstone settled tonight, I guess I could help work on it," Scarlett offered. "Two heads are better than one, right?"

"I'd appreciate it," said Lilly happily. "And uh… Carly? Good luck tonight,"

"Thanks," said Scarlett, pulling the dormitory door closed behind her.

Scarlett left Gryffindor Tower and made her way to Balathar's office, where he and Professor Phoebus were to be waiting for her. When she arrived, however, it was only Balathar who was there.

"Hi," said Scarlett as she entered the Charms teacher's office. "Is Professor Phoebus not here yet?" Balathar, who had been tugging on his boots when Scarlett had arrived, looked up at her.

"Actually, there's been a change of plans," he told her. "It appears that Zutharis may well be making another play to get the Orbstone tonight. Professor Phoebus and I are going to attempt to catch him in the act. I want you to go back to your dormitory for now. I will come and tell you what happens after we're finished."

"If you're going to confront him, let me come with you," Scarlett said quickly. "After everything that's happened, I… I want to be there." Balathar considered her for a very long moment before shrugging.

"Fine," he said at last, but he didn't look happy about it. "But you are to obey my every command. If I tell you to run, or hide… whatever it may be. I doubt very much that Zutharis would attempt to attack either Phoebus or myself, but anything is possible."

"Okay," said Scarlett. "Whatever you want me to do," Balathar sighed deeply, looking quite upset. Scarlett knew it was because she was going with him into a situation that was potentially very dangerous. She thought she knew the risks and truly believed that she should be there. After almost an entire school year of dealing with and worrying about the Orbstone, she felt she should be there when everything was finished. Balathar, she supposed, didn't have the heart to deny her. He stood slowly to his feet, tucking his wand into her robes.

"Well, come on then." He said with a growl. "Let's go,"

-.-

Nearly an hour after Scarlett had dropped in; Lilly was still laying on her bed, lost, quite literally, in translation. The longer she worked on translating the engraving on the Orbstone's pedestal, the more she started to think that the inscription wasn't a language at all, or at least not a very well-known one, anyway.

"Evolla noitidno cnu, laerev ahohw…" Lilly muttered darkly, reading the first few words of the inscription aloud. "Evolla… what the hell does that mean? Evolla… Evolla…" She rolled her eyes and stared mindlessly into a polished full-body mirror that stood next to Hope's bed on the opposite side of the room, but not really seeing her reflection at all. She did this for nearly ten minutes until she remembered, and it hit her.

"The answer lies in the mirror," she whispered to herself. She hurriedly leapt to her feet and seized the piece of parchment on which she had scrawled the inscription and rushed over to the mirror. She held it up in front of it and after only a moment of examining the words, she gasped.

"It's backwards…" she whispered. "It's all backwards. Not just the words, the entire paragraph is written backwards."

She knelt down on the floor and began to quickly write everything out in reverse. She quickly realized that not only was the entire paragraph written backwards, but the words were slightly mixed up, with letters from some words blended into the words next to them. It only took her about five minutes to unscramble it all and write everything down. When she was done, she held her work up in front of her and read it aloud.

"Within my core the power lives, but only few can use it. The Orbstone will reveal itself to none but those who understand the true power of love. To those who have real, unconditional love." She looked down at the paragraph, unable to believe she had deciphered it. And then it clicked.

"That's how to get passed Phoebus's protection," she said to herself. "This is it! It has to be!" She tossed all over her bits of parchment and her books into her trunk and raced out of the dormitory and through the portrait hole, on her way to find Jake and Hope, who she knew were studying in the library.

-.-

Half an hour before Lilly's miraculous discovery, Scarlett and Balathar arrived on the seventh floor and entered the restricted corridor that led to the hidden Orbstone. Scarlett looked around the dark room as Balathar closed the door behind her.

"Where's Professor Phoebus?" Scarlett asked as Balathar lit his wand tip, illuminating the darkened corridor. "I thought she was waiting for us."

"She's likely gone on ahead," said Balathar, peering down the long corridor. "If it appeared that Zutharis had already come through when she arrived, she would undoubtedly have gone on without us. Our headmistress is more than a match for Zutharis should he put up a fight."

And so they set off together down the long, dark corridor. As they walked, Scarlett noticed that the protective wards were already down. Phoebus or Balathar must have lowered them, she suspected.

"So... are we trying to catch Zutharis actually stealing the Orbstone?" Scarlett asked as they walked. "Or are we just confronting him with the proof?"

"Professor Phoebus is hoping to catch him in the act," said Balathar. "However, all we really need to do is catch him down here. Red-handed or not, he's not supposed to be down here alone and we've got your evidence as well."

"I'll just be glad when all of this is over," said Scarlett nervously. Balathar nodded grimly.

"Yes," he said darkly. "So will I."

-.-

Lilly ran all the way down to the third floor and was just about to reach for the library door when the door opened, nearly hitting her in the face. She stumbled backward and fell hard onto the stone floor. Professor Phoebus stood on the threshold, looking horrified.

"My dear, I'm so sorry," she said, extending her hand to help Lilly up. "I didn't see you there! I just checked out the only copy of Spectacular Magical Desserts in the library and was on my way to my office to read it. It's a hard book to get, you see. It's typically on a three-month waiting list."

"That's... nice, Professor," said Lilly, massaging her elbow. But then a thought struck her. "Are... are you already finished meeting with Scarlett, then?" she asked curiously, surprised that everything had been resolved so quickly. Phoebus, however, looked confused.

"I was not expecting to meet with Scarlett today," Phoebus replied. "Perhaps I should, though. She is a lovely girl."

"Yeah," said Lilly slowly. "Yeah, she's great. It's just... Scarlett told me that she and Balathar were going to meet you in his office tonight." Phoebus's eyes narrowed and she shook her head.

"About Zutharis," Lilly added, not understanding how the headmistress could not have any idea about any of this. "About how Scarlett took a picture of Zutharis in the..." she paused, not knowing whether or not she should mention the Orbstone. She threw caution to the winds, however, and plunged in. "She caught Zutharis in the chamber where you're hiding the Orbstone. Balathar said he'd been telling you for months Zutharis has been trying to steal it... and I can tell by your expression this is all news to you."

"I cannot begin to guess how it is that you know about the Orbstone," said Phoebus, eying Lilly very seriously. "But I can assure you that Professor Balathar has never once mentioned that Professor Zutharis is attempting to steal the Orbstone, nor has he said that Ms. Moreau knew about the stone and has seen Zutharis anywhere near it." Lilly didn't understand this at all. Unless Phoebus was lying, and she couldn't work up a reason why she would be, then Balathar had been lying to Scarlett all along… which meant, well Lilly didn't know what it meant, but apparently Phoebus did, because her eyes suddenly went wide.

"Of course," she said in a voice that indicated she had just arrived at an amazing conclusion. "Of course, it makes perfect sense. Ms. Harcourt, where were Scarlett and Balathar supposed to be meeting me?"

"In his office," said Lilly quickly. "Professor, please, what's going on?"

"I must go," said Phoebus abruptly. "Please return to your dormitory." And she walked away, leaving Lilly both quite alone and quite confused.

-.-

"We're nearly there," said Balathar quietly as the corridor's floor dropped away into the ten-step staircase that led straight into the Orbstone's chamber.

"Good," Scarlett replied, taking the first couple of steps down. It was clear, however, without even going any further that she and Balathar were the only ones there. "She's not here," said Scarlett, peering into the very corners of the room in search of the headmistress.

"I know," said Balathar. He sounded very sad. "Scarlett, I'm very sorry about this," Scarlett's eyes narrowed with confusion and she started to turn back to him.

"Sorry about wha…?" But before she could fully turn to face him, she was struck so hard in the side of her head that she fell backward and slid down the stairs into the Orbstone chamber. She hit the stone floor hard, her head smacking the cold stone with enough force that she blacked out for a few seconds. She came to with a groan. Holding her head with her left hand, she tried to sit up, but she was instantly overcome with waves of tremendous dizziness and she slumped to the floor again.

A pair of feet entered her field of vision and she looked up to see Balathar standing over her. He appeared to begin to bend down toward her, but then he backed away as another pair of feet approached and stopped right in front of her. She tilted her head, slowly taking in the stranger's buckled boots and dark purple robes. Finally, her eyes fell on the man's face. He looked to be quite old, judging by his long gray hair and matching beard. He wore thin glasses behind which a pair of bright blue eyes glared down at her.

"Thank you very much, Mercius," the old wizard said pleasantly. "Your work will be rewarded." He knelt down next to Scarlett and rolled her rather roughly onto her back. "And now," he said directly to Scarlett. "I'm going to need your help."