Fourth Member
Basil stomped through the corridors with her face beat red as if she had just ran a marathon; The invisibility cloak was hiding from all the passing people, especially the Slytherin's, while the Marauders map was clutched in her hand.
"I solemnly swear I am up to no good." Basil whispered and hit the map with her wand.
The castle was shown with markings of where everyone was in the castle; McGonagall was in her office, Albus was in the Gryffindor bathing room, and Scorpius was going towards down to the Slytherin common room. Basil sneaked towards the Slytherin dungeon; it was down deep in Hogwarts with the entrance as a stone wall. Luckily, Sylvestri and Peter were opening the entrance at the same time Basil was entering.
"Anguem." Peter called, the stone wall revealed the common room.
Basil followed close behind, careful not to make a sound, and she navigated through the common room. Everything was dark with shades of grand, green furniture and elegant tapestries. Basil did not think to acknowledge her surrounding too much, as her target was heading away from his two comrades.
Peter and Sylvestri went down another hallway, probably their rooms, while Scorpius, with Albus's bag, trudged to another short hallway that had another well-designed door. Basil followed close behind, her face almost against his back, and slipped behind him as he closed and put a lock charm on the door.
As Scorpius stripped off, Basil faced the wall and closed the Marauder's map until the sound of the water splashing was clear throughout the room. Basil readjusted the cloak, making sure it concealed her whole body, and went to on all fours to crawl towards the side of the tub. The sound of Scorpius's humming droned in her ears but she trailed on, not daring to look up of course to the bag. This was until her hand met with the cloth opening of Albus's backpack. Basil peered through the cloak and saw Scorpius submerged under the bubbly water; perfect timing. Basil thought and dug through the contents of the bag until she found the key in the front pocket.
"Yes." Basil stated slightly too loud.
Scorpius shot out of the water and analyzed the room for any sign of another occupant. Basil had successfully threw the cloak over her body and sprawled herself on the ground; once Basil absolutely knew that Scorpius was submerged back under the water, she sprinted for the door. Only what she didn't know was that the ground had a layer of water on it; once Basil's food connected with slippery stone, she fell immediately with a curse.
"Basil! What the bloody hell are you doing here?" Scorpius shrieked and sank down under the water.
"It's not what you think-"
"Don't turn me to stone! Please, I didn't mean to say those things. I didn't even think you were turning people to stone, I-"
"I'm not, I swear!" Basil watched Scorpius and Scorpius did the same to her. Neither of them tried anything or say anything for what seemed like forever.
"Why are you here then?" Scorpius queried with his face growing red.
"You stole Albus's backpack! I needed what was inside it but you stole it." Basil stated bluntly as she sat herself up.
"I did? I didn't even notice…" Scorpius gazed at the opened bag on the side of the swimming pool like tub. Wait, he didn't mean to take it…
"Oh, I'm sorry then." The blood was rushing to her cheeks as the moment was becoming more and more awkward.
"Cover your eyes." Scorpius commanded as he swam towards the steps.
Basil did what she was instructed to do and focused her eyes on the stone coloring; the sound of Scorpius leaving the water and walking around was the only thing that broke her focus. After a moment of awkward silence, Scorpius moved in front of Basil with a towel wrapped tightly around his torso and his hair swirled around his head. Basil could not think of anything to say, her embarrassment and guilt were pounding in her head. I can't believe I was so cruel and angry. Basil thought as she pushed herself to her feet.
"What is that anyways? You're always whispering about it with Anna and Albus." Scorpius questioned with his hand gesturing towards the key.
"I rather not answer that, especially right now." Basil reminded with her eyes on his towel then back to Scorpius's eyes.
"Tell me now." The blond boy demanded. His eyes were narrowing on the key.
"I can't! I have to leave now anyways. I have to meet with Anna and Albus." Basil spat and gathered the map and cloak.
Scorpius didn't say another word after Basil continued her rude nature towards him. Basil threw the cloak back over herself and left the bathroom, her face still bright red, and left as fast as possible; Basil knew she would never be able to look at Scorpius the same again.
As soon as Basil reached once of the main hallways, she saw McGonagall strolling through with Aguirre at her side, both chatting about something. Sweets attempted to sneak by, her steps on tip toes, as she passed a corner she could escape from.
"Basil Sweets, what do you think you're doing?" McGonagall said in a bored voice. Her old eyes directly on Basil.
"How did you see me?" Basil squeaked as she removed the cloak.
"After the second Wizarding War, I had my glasses enchanted to see through invisibility cloaks and other disguising spells." McGonagall explained as she strutted towards Basil. Aguirre watched with a gleeful expression.
"What are you doing sneaking around?" Aguirre inquired with a rough voice. I can't wait to prove you're doing it. Basil thought evilly.
"I...I went to go visit the Gryffindor tower to visit Albus. I must've forgotten to take it off." Basil lied with her eyes trailing anywhere but the headmaster's eyes.
"How did you acquire this cloak?" Aguirre prodded at the fabric of the cloak with a smug expression.
"It's Albus's. We were testing it out to see if it worked and he let me borrow it." Basil turned her head away and looked towards the Ravenclaw tower pleadingly.
"Very well Sweets. Go to your common room, I would hope not to see you with this cloak again." McGonagall instructed with her eyes straight on the hallway behind Basil.
Basil thanked her with her head pointed downwards, and then she went straight for Ravenclaw tower. We will have to make sure not to cross her tonight. Basil made note and appeared in front of the door to the common room. It took her only a minute to finish the riddle, which was another repeat, and she found herself in the common room waiting for Anna to appear.
After retelling the story twice to both Anna and Albus, Anna was muttering about how much trouble she would be in and Albus was laughing. Basil pouted and her rosy red face returned. After a minute of laughing, Albus was finally able to connect audible words.
"Can't believe how clumsy you are." Albus sneered with his classic smile. Anna elbowed him slightly.
"You could've got in trouble you know. Scorpius might be telling on you right now." Anna reminded with her feet crossed on the Ravenclaw common room couch.
"I know. That's what I'm afraid of. But we need to get ready; it could be any minute when the psychopath could strike." Basil reminded with a grim expression.
Albus placed the Marauder's Map, invisibility cloak, and key on the Ravenclaw desk; he went over the plan and muttered to himself about which hallways they should travel through, while Anna made comments, until there was the sound of the common room entrance opening.
The trio became silent and pretended to be working on assignments from the other class, hoping the Ravenclaw would go up to their rooms, only this person didn't. The person stood right in front of Basil and hit his foot against the floor as if he was waiting for something.
"Scorpius? How the hell did you get in here!" Basil exclaimed and jumped to her feet. Her face quickly turned to a shade of red.
"I had to answer a simple riddle. Now I want to know what all of you are up to." Scorpius insisted and he plopped himself next to Basil with a mischievous grin.
"No, we're not going to tell you. Why should we?" Albus spat and threw all their aids into his bag.
"Well I could just go to McGonagall and tell her everything I've seen you three do. I bet she'll be interested on Basil Sweets, the pervert." Scorpius laughed maliciously and propped his feet on the table.
"No, guys, we need to tell him. I…I trust Scorpius on this." Basil said to her friends. They looked at her bewilderedly.
"Are you insane? Malfoy will tell everyone!" Albus yelled and stood next to Anna.
"I'll make sure he doesn't! If he betrays us, I'll figure out how to do a memory charm. I trust him." Basil argued. What the hell am I doing? Basil fought with her inner self too. But…I do trust him for some reason.
"Fine, but Malfoy can't tell anyone! Or else well make sure he's the next one to get turned to stone." Anna instructed and stalked around the back of the couch and behind Scorpius. This was one of the few times that Anna actually threatened anyone.
"I won't. Now tell me Basil, what are you up to?"
"Well, all the four students that were attacked are related to a Ministry member. The spell that is used on them is the Medusa's Curse, the one my grandfather was almost imprisoned for." Basil explained then was cut off by Anna.
"We learned that someone broke into the Ministry and stole special keys and vials of magic; one of these was Basil's family magic. This is why Basil has magic when she's not supposed to. Anyways, we believe if we catch the felon then we can clear Basil's family name and save those students from dying." Anna added on.
"They're eroding correct?" Scorpius interrupted and sat up promptly.
"Yes, they have another month before the erosion gets to their brain. Once that happens, they're gone. Today we realized that Basil has some sort of seer type dream; whenever she has a nightmare, the person attacks. Basil had one last night, so the person is going to attack." Albus finished with his hands clenching the bag of necessary items.
"So do you have a plan to catch this psychopath?" Scorpius inquired and looked to the three.
"Yes, tonight we're going through these doors we've discovered. I can see these doors but no one else can; I suspect this is how the person is escaping before anyone can see him. No one can apperate in or out of the castle because of safety spells. We're taking Albus's map and invisibility cloak to help us." Basil clarified and stared straight into Scorpius's light blue eyes. He was looking at her perplexingly.
"But this man is a murderer, he can easily kill you." Scorpius reminded.
"My dad defeated Lord Voldermort before he was two. Nothing we can't handle." Albus jokingly stated.
"Your father was the chosen one, Potter. I highly doubt you three can take on this murderer." Malfoy spat.
"Getting touchy because your father was made a fool by my father when he defeated the Dark Lord? I bet your family hears that a lot." Albus mocked with rage in his voice.
"Enough! This is no time for your family drama! Someone is going to be attacked tonight; there is no time for your bickering." Anna snapped and pushed Albus down into his chair.
All four stayed soundless for what seems like years; all their eyes went in rotation to look at each other for a sign of a speech. No one dared to say another word though, possibly in fear of another lashing of screams from anyone in the room. Oddly enough, no one entered or exited the common room either.
"I'm going with you." Malfoy stated in a matter of fact tone.
"No way, why do you even want to come?" Albus fought and stood up once more.
"Many of my friends have family members in the Ministry. I rather not have one of them turned to rubble." Scorpius simply stated and looked to Basil.
Basil stared back for at least half a minute and then back to her two friends, hoping they would answer for her. Basil wanted to let him join their journey, but if it meant Albus and Scorpius fighting, then Basil rather fight a hippogriff.
"I trust him. Let him come with." Basil agreed and hung her head low.
"Are you kidding me? You're letting a Malfoy-"
"Shut up Albus. Enough of your family drama; we're friends till this is over." Basil yelled over Albus. Both boys agreed.
It took the four ten minutes to settle on their plan of action and pack all of their things. Night fall soon covered the sky and all the residents of the tower were in bed; many of them made comments about Scorpius being in the tower. After waiting another thirty minutes, they threw the invisibility cloak over themselves and left the tower and towards whatever danger they were heading into next.