Chapter 11

We stood there, staring at the wall, unsure what to do or say. I looked at the inscription on the side of the pensieve:

Here lies the memories of those who built and hid the Heart of Hogwarts. Look and listen, learn about the past to save the future.

A feeling of dread came over me. "Learn about the past to save the future. Guys, what if the Heart is in danger. What will happen to the school?" I asked quietly.

All three heads of my best friends snapped around to look at me.

Frank ran to the door, trying to get out. But the door was locked. We were trapped in this room, and no one knew we were here or even where the room was.

An hour goes by really slowly when you're trying to get out of a trap. I had given Lily and Cael space to try and think of a plan (after all, they were the brainiacs of the group). Frank and I sat by the door, drawing patterns in the dirt floor.

Suddenly, a feeling came over me, one I recognized from the different times I learned things about the school. "Guys, what if we're over thinking it. We have all had a gut understanding of Hogwarts right?" I paused to look at the others who nodded. "Maybe we don't need to think our way out, maybe we need to feel our way out. You know, use our intuition to guide us." I held my breath, I wasn't sure how the others would take my suggestion.

"I think that's a brilliant idea," Lily said, running over and giving me a hug. "I mean that's how we found the Room of Requirement, and the Ravenclaw Library."

"Not to mention the Chamber of Secrets," Cael shot in, remembering our mission to the legendary Chamber 2 weeks ago.

"I say we stop thinking for five minutes, and trust our gut," Frank says excitedly, a smile on his face.

I close my eyes, tapping into my intuition as I had done so many times in my life. I felt a tug towards the pensieve. That didn't make sense, how was that going to help us.

Lily let out a frustrated sound. "All I'm getting is a feeling that the pensieve is important. I already know that."

I looked sharply at her, "I got the pensieve as well."

"Me too," Frank jumped in.

"I wonder," Cael walked over to the pensieve, studying the side of it. He reached out and pushed on the word of in the inscription. Suddenly, the wall around the door began to sink, leaving it completely open for us to leave.

We all cheered at the same time, running to get out of the room before the wall reset. We walked towards the Great Hall, gushing about how brilliant Cael was. We knew we should go the feast, but after all we had just gone through we opted to head down to the kitchens to grab something to eat instead.

After we had each gotten some food from the house elves we settled around the model tables to enjoy our meals.

"You know, I was thinking," Frank said.

"That's knew," Cael scoffed, causing us all to burst out laughing.

"Ok, I get it, I may be a bit impulsive," Frank said, trying to stop laughing. "But I'm serious, I think that this is a big problem. If this 'The Shadows' is trying to find the Heart, Hogwarts could be in serious danger."

We sobered up quickly as it dawned on us that Frank was right. If the Heart fell into darkness, all of Hogwarts could be destroyed. The school was built on the light and life of Viella, on her memory. The founders had put everything they had into creating the school, but Viella had given herself. I have no idea how the Heart is manifested, or where it is hidden, but I know that I cannot allow it to fall to darkness.

"We need a plan," Cael said as he thumped his fist on the table.

"I think we use our strengths," I put in. The others looked at me curiously. "I mean Cael and Lily, you guys are our brains, and we need you to try your best to research both the Heart and the Shadows. We need to be prepared for whatever we are facing. Once we have an idea what we are going after we will be able to find the Heart easier." The others nodded, approving of my plan.

"I also was thinking about that," Frank said. This time Cael didn't make a joke, but instead gave his undivided attention.

"When we were talking about our adventures it got me thinking. On intuition alone we found the Chamber of Secrets, which took thousands of years for anyone else to find. Same with Ravenclaw's Library. That was merely a legend, no one else in the world has ever found it until us. And the Room of Requirement. I know others had found it, but it was also a secret room, only found because it was specifically sought after." Frank explained. "What if we are the only ones who can find the Heart? We are all alone in this guys." My eyes widened as this dawned on me. We are 11 years old, we have only been in school for 2 months, how in the world are we going to be able to find and save the hidden source of power for the school?

"Slytherin. Ravenclaw. Guys, what if we're already almost there?" Lily spoke up.

We all turned to stare at her. What on Earth did she mean we're almost there?

"The Chamber of Secrets was Salazar Slytherin's secret room, right? And Ravenclaw's Library was Rowena Ravenclaw's secret room. I always thought that having a room that could give you whatever you need would have been handy for Godric Gryffindor, as he was always trying to do something big. What if the Room of Requirement was Godric Gryffindor's secret room?" Lily started to get really excited as she seemed to piece… something together. All I felt was confused. Lily looked at us expectantly, but judging by the way she rolled her eyes, our blank stares were not what she was looking for.

"Don't you see? Ravenclaw's secret room. Slytherin's secret room. Gryffindor's secret room. All of the Founders designed a room only they knew about. Which means…" Again, Lily looked at us expectantly.

"Hufflepuff's secret room. We don't know Hufflepuff's secret room, or where it is." Cael said excitedly as he clued in on what Lily had discovered. Realization hit me all at once.

Hufflepuff's secret room. Where else would they hide the essence of Viella but in a room designed, created, and hidden by Viella's own mother?

"So… If we find Hufflepuff's secret room -" Frank started.

"Then we find the Heart of Hogwarts." Lily finished.

The search has begun.

A/N: I am so sorry guys! I am an awful updater. This chapter was fighting me and didn't want to be written. I finally got something I like, but I'm still not sure. Please forgive my updating skills.

As always, I would love reviews to help me keep this thing going.

Until next time,

missmysterygirl out