Chapter Eleven

Cartesius, Pythagoras, and Bacon

Albus and Courtney went up a flight of stairs, then went back down the same stairs to a completely different part of the castle. After a time, they reached the Room of Requirement, where James and Natalya stood. Shortly afterward, Rose and Lynne also approached, from the opposite direction.

"Alright, guys, something's seriously up with the Room," James told them. "I was in there - don't ask why - and when I tried to leave, the Room started screaming at me. I'm not making this up. A bunch of words appeared in front of me, just floating in the air, and they said to bring, and I quote, 'A S Potter and his friends'. And then, in even bigger letters, 'Not the son of Draco'."

"Why not?" Rose asked.

"You think I know? Point is, the door was locked. The Room would not let me leave until I promised I'd bring you guys here. I don't think that's ever happened before, and later I'm going to get Hedwidgeon so I can ask Teddy and the others if they've ever heard of this happening before. In the meantime, you guys, I dunno, find out what the Room of Requirement wants so badly. If any of you have classes to get to, I'll make sure you're early later."

Lynne nodded and approached the wall. "Room, we need to know what's wrong and what we can do to help."

The door appeared with a thunderclap sound, already slamming itself open. Inside, the Room of Requirement was not nearly as bright as they were used to. A dark cloud hung over all of them, accompanied by fast winds. The Pensieve sat in the middle and a familiar portrait was on the wall.

"Children," said the portrait of Cartesius. "It's not often I come here twice in a single decade. What is happening?"

"We don't know," Natalya said. "We came here to find out. Something's wrong with the Room of Requirement."

"I see," Cartesius muttered. "Why, t'is positively poetic, wouldn't you say? After centuries of helping students with their troubles, the Room of Requirement now asks the students for help of its own."

"We were just in here yesterday," Rose told him. "It wasn't nearly this bad."

"Guys," Albus said. "Cartesius isn't the only one the Room wants us to see." He gestured to the Pensieve.

"He's right," Courtney replied. She looked at Cartesius. "We won't be long."

With that, Albus plunged into the Pensieve, and the others followed.

The sight of those faces, covered completely in bandages, still disturbed Courtney.

"We found one of them," one of the bandaged people said. "The annoying type. I doubt anyone will notice."

"Fool!" was the response. "Of course they'll notice! They notice everything! The one you found… what exactly did you do wi-"

"In the Center," the first one said. "Mercury's already gone and put him under."

"Great. Just great! Now there's no way we can get him back without them noticing us either! Now, we have to send Aleksander. To. Freaking. Hogwarts."

"Do we know an Aleksander?" Rose asked. A few head-shakes, but no spoken answers.

"I'll ask Lily later," Albus said. "There might be an Aleksander in first year."

"I doubt Hogwarts will be that bad for him…"

"It's practically enemy territory! If even one of those… things… figures out about him, then he's done for, the Light's done for, and humanity is done for."

"The Light," Natalya breathed.

"So it is real," Lynne said. "And it knows about Hogwarts. And… this Aleksander… One of the Light is in our school now."

"People who hate wizardkind on principle, in Hogwarts," Courtney mumbled. "This… is Slytherin all over again. Only worse. The other Founders knew but didn't do anything… Vector and the others don't even know about this."

"Once we leave, we have to tell Vector as soon as possible," Albus said.

"And I have to let Elijah know," Courtney said.

"Right. That still raises the question… Why doesn't the Room of Requirement want Scorpius to know?" Rose questioned.

Before anyone could offer an explanation, the scene shifted again. Albus's dad was standing in Professor Vector's office along with Vector, Professor Asmius, and a student Courtney didn't recognize.

"Is that Samuel?" Lynne wondered.

"How did you know?" the boy asked.

"Well, when Courtney talked to me after class to let me know Voldemort was back, she actually called him Voldemort," Potter said. "Never once called him 'You-Know-Who' like you did. When people start acting out of character, Polyjuice and Imperius are the go-to answers. And in this case, it looks like it was both. Not the real Courtney, and not the real Samuel either."

"Wait, Courtney as in you, Courtney?" Rose asked.

"This was from last year, it has to be," Courtney said.

"Did you expect the Head of the Auror Department to not recognize when Dark magic is being used?" Asmius asked.

"You know, Asmius is really starting to grow on me," Albus said.

There was a knock on Vector's door. James walked in and spoke to the people in the room. "There's something you should know."

The scene shifted again. The siblings that Courtney, Lynne, and Albus had seen earlier in the year were now there again. Older, but still recognizably the same children.

"Hey, give that back!" the brother shouted. No different from the first time, Courtney thought. They're still fighting over stuff?

"I will when I'm done." The sister revealed what she was holding - a wand. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

Rather than causing anything to float, a spark burst a short distance from the wand, leaving dark grey smoke coming from the tip.

"See? I can do magic, too!"

"You can't get magic to do what you want!" the brother exclaimed. "You can do magic, but you can't use it!"

"Well, why not? Just because I'm a Muggle? You're not better than me!"

"Yes, I am!"

"No, you're not!"

The brother snatched the wand from his sister's hand and started turning it wildly. "Glacius! Wingardium Leviosa! Accio! Aresto Momentum!" Ice crystals formed in the air and floated for a time. A rainbow appeared on them as they fell in slow motion. It was an undeniably beautiful use of magic.

"The Freezing Charm is a third-year spell," Natalya said. "This guy's at least thirteen and he's being this much of a brat?"

"Maybe back then they taught the Freezing Charm earlier?" Courtney suggested. "Or maybe he's not a Hogwarts student."

"This is real magic," the brother continued. "Not just taking a wand and letting it do whatever. And this kind of magic is something only a wizard can do!"

"Well, it shouldn't be!" the sister countered. "Whatever magic powers you've got inside you… There's no reason why everyone can't have them!"

"What?" Albus exclaimed.

The scene shifted again. Now they stood, once again watching the people with bandages over their heads. "We've finished with the RLG," one said. "The full name… is Beauxbatons. It's located in the Pyrenees."

"Excellent work," another said. "Our first trip will be this Saturday. We'll need at least one volunteer to go to Hogsmeade and at least one to go to Beauxbatons."

Two hands entered the air. "Alright," the second person said. "Pythagoras and Bacon are the first volunteers. If anyone else would like to go, tell me later. Dismissed."

They shot out of the Pensieve and back into the darkened Room of Requirement. James and Cartesius looked at them.

"So?" James asked. "What happened?"