"Allister?"
Aileen woke up early on the third Monday of January, and she spent her time by taking an early shower and feeding leftover muffin crumbs to Phantom. The bat jumped around its cage frantically. Aileen guessed that the bat was getting restless from being cooped up all the time, but she didn't want to let it out of its cage. It might run away again if she did. Now, she was searching around for her favorite house elf. She hadn't seen him since the day before.
"The elf isss probably getting me a hefty feasssst," Ziggy hissed.
"Yeah," Aileen told herself. "He always brings Ziggy food. That's probably where he is..."
Feeling strangely refreshed, Aileen dressed in her robes and left the dormitory. The day carried on as usual; now, Professor Crowley was talking to her regularly again, just like he used to. Her father was writing her every week, and all of her classes were going well. In the dueling club, she and Scorpius were no longer starting their duels with competitive banter. Instead, Aileen, Scorpius, Maxwell, Albus, and Rose would all meet up in one group during each meeting, swapping spell ideas and spying on Erika from afar.
"I don't understand," Rose had said when they tried to explain the situation to her. "You think Erika is working for a dark wizard? She's eleven years old. How could she possibly manage that...?"
"Who knows," Albus shrugged. "Maybe it's in her blood. I mean, Tom Riddle started his evil plans when he was still in school..."
"Yes, but I seriously doubt that Erika is going to be the next Lord Voldemort," Rose countered.
"She's not," Aileen said. "She's not the next Voldemort. She's working for the next Voldemort."
Though despite her certainty at saying this, Aileen would see no further evidence of Erika's connection with the dark side in the weeks following. When spring arrived, Aileen had yet to catch Erika sneaking out in the night again. Apart from shooting Aileen mean insults or angry looks in passing, Erika was acting as innocent as ever. At the end of March, Aileen found herself sitting on her bed in the dormitory, surrounded by parchments of unfinished homework and losing herself in thought about Xyler, unable to focus on her school work at all. She looked around, hoping to see Allister up and about, but the elf was nowhere to be seen. Allister had been missing from the dormitory a lot lately. Aileen wondered why.
Whenever she would return to the dormitory from her classes, Aileen would find a hunk of meat on her bed, and Ziggy would be feasting on it. Wherever he was, Allister wasn't missing, because he was still providing food for Ziggy every day. So then, why was he absent from the dormitories so often?
Aileen began to skim over her essay about Goblin Lore, just when a sound occurred in the distance. It sounded as though something had fallen and shattered in the common room.
"Give it to me! Now!"
"I can't! I can't!"
It sounded like an argument, and Aileen recognized both of the voices. She leaped out of bed and hurried over to the doorway, only to find that Allister was scrambling and darting away from Erika, holding a large book under one of his arms. When Allister skidded to a stop in front of Aileen, she examined him up and down, noticing that something was off; one of his ears was heavily bandaged, and two of his fingers were crooked and out of place. Not to mention, he seemed to have a deep cut on his cheek and a blackening bruise forming around one of his large eyes.
Aileen glared across the room at Erika furiously.
"Miss Erika hasn't hurt Allister! She hasn't!" Allister quickly explained. "Allister had to punish himself, Miss! He had to!"
"You did that to yourself?" Aileen asked. "Why?"
"Allister is disobeying Miss Erika's orders, Miss! And he is not allowed to disobey orders, Miss!" Allister squeaked. "But he had to, for your sake, Miss! Allister has been trying, trying so hard! He has been trying to get Miss Aileen a book from the restricted section! But Miss Erika kept stopping Allister! She tells Allister, you can't give her that book! She tells Allister, you need to stay out of my business! And she orders Allister to give her the book of the Founders' Fortunes, Miss! But Allister disobeyed her!"
Aileen traded eyes with Erika, who looked positively livid.
"So you've been intercepting Allister, huh?" Aileen said. "Thanks. Now I know for sure that you've got something to hide."
"Keep talking, Aileen. That's all your good for. Talking up a big game and acting like a hero," Erika spat in response. "Go ahead and read all about the Founders' Fortunes. I don't care. It's not like it'll make a difference anyway."
Then, Erika spun around and stormed out of the common room.
Allister handed the large brown book to Aileen. The cover displayed four items. On the top was a picture of the Sword of Gryffindor, but the other three items were unfamiliar to her. On the left and right sides of the cover were pictures of a beautiful shield and an elegant bow, and on the bottom were two beautiful blades with deep green handle guards carved in the shape of serpents. Aileen almost wanted to flip the book open and begin reading at once, but she stopped herself. No, she wanted to find her friends first, so that all of them could drum up conclusions together.
So, Aileen draped Ziggy around her shoulders and covered her neck with her scarf, keeping her and the snake both warm. She gave a small portion of Ziggy's leftover steak to Phantom, and the bat twittered restlessly at her.
"Sorry," Aileen said to Phantom. "I'll let you out some other time, okay?"
Phantom squawked irritably in response.
"Allister, don't hurt yourself anymore, please?" Aileen asked the elf. "Come sit on my bed. Just relax for a bit. I'll be back after a while."
Allister gratefully crawled under Aileen's blankets, and Aileen left the dormitory. She didn't find Maxwell or Albus in their usual courtyard, so, she made her way to the Great Hall and sat at the Gryffindor table, pleased to find that her friends were there as well. When Aileen arrived, she explained what little she knew about the Founders' Fortunes before opening the book. Maxwell and Albus both began to read the introduction page over each of her shoulders.
The Bow of Rowena Ravenclaw
The Shield of Helga Hufflepuff
The Blades of Salazar Slytherin
The Sword of Godric Gryffindor
Each item fashioned by the most skilled goblins of the age, the Founders' Fortunes remain nothing more than a myth to this day. The only solid evidence of their existence is the known whereabouts of the Sword of Godric Gryffindor. In a time of new ideas flourishing and conflicts brewing between the founders, each thought to prepare themselves for the worst - to fight against Salazar Slytherin's ideals of blood purity and to establish the Hogwarts that they all dreamed of from the very beginning.
The Bow
The Bow of Rowena Ravenclaw was the second of the Founders' Fortunes to be created, the Sword of Gryffindor being the first. Encrusted with the Latin phrase "In scientia et virtue" (in knowledge and virtue), The Bow of Ravenclaw is said to possess immense sacred abilities, favoring those who value perception and precision, and it is rumored that its enchanted arrows will never miss their targets - if the bow is wielded by a true Ravenclaw. Each arrowhead presents a carving of the Triple Moon Symbol, an ancient Wiccan symbol which represents the three divine powers of any goddess; creativity, intuition, and knowledge.
The Shield
The third of the Founders' Fortunes to be created, the Shield of Helga Hufflepuff is unique in the way that it is the only magical item crafted by the founders that is not a weapon. Helga Hufflepuff valued protection, loyalty, and love over everything else in the world, and while her fortune is one of defense, it can deal a great deal of rebound damage if wielded by a true Hufflepuff - especially if the attacker intends harm to the wielder's loved ones. It is said to be virtually unbreakable, and while many things are unknown about the Founders' Fortunes, one encounter in the 12th century by a wizard named Benjamin Clarence suggests that the shield was unknowingly passed down the Clarence wizarding family through a family owned antique shop, and the Clarence family was not aware of its importance until generations later. The center of the shield was decorated with the earth symbol (recognized universally among the wizarding community as a simple design, featuring an even-lengthed cross inside of a circle). The symbol carries the energy of Yin, the female life force of the universe, and it represents the "Mother Goddess" of earth and nature. It is possible that Helga chose this symbol because of her personal likeness to its meaning, and her protective, motherly nature.
The Blades
The Daggers of Salazar Slytherin are rivaled in their ruthless reputation only by the Sword of Gryffindor. In retaliation to his former friends readying themselves for battle against him, anticipating that he may return to the school to force his ideologies on Hogwarts, Salazar created his own defense against a possible wizarding war between himself and his former friends. Considering the rumored similarities to the Blades of Salazar and the Sword of Gryffindor, it is speculated that Godric and Salazar both silently shared the same anticipation, although the Blades of Salazar supposedly carry capabilities that the other Founders' Fortunes do not, such as expelling magic of its own rather than absorbing and reflecting magic from other sources. One popular rumor among wizard historians is that the daggers were the first and last wizarding weapons - apart from wands - to be forged with the heartstrings of a dragon inside, therefore granting the blades certain magical capabilities that would usually only be possible by using a wand.
Aileen didn't bother reading on. The only article she didn't read was the one about the Sword of Gryffindor, but she'd already read plenty about that.
"Wow," Albus said. "That bow sounds pretty cool. I wish I was in Ravenclaw."
"A shield?" Maxwell uttered. "You can't do any fighting with a shield... I mean, unless you start beating people with it..."
They both looked to Aileen for her input, but she didn't speak right away. Her eyes continued to scan over the article regarding The Blades of Salazar, and a daunting thought loomed over her like a steadily growing storm cloud.
"I might've gotten it wrong," Aileen murmured gravely.
"Gotten what wrong?" Albus asked.
"Xyler," Aileen said. "He might not be looking for the Sword of Gryffindor at all. These daggers sound like they're much better suited for him to use."
"Yeah," Albus agreed. "You might be right about that..."
"Then how come Erika had a page bookmarked about the Sword of Gryffindor in that other book?" Maxwell asked as he returned to scooping up spoonfuls of mashed potatoes. "If she's looking for the daggers instead, then why was she reading about the sword?"
Yes, Aileen realized. In the book Mystical Magical Artifacts, Erika had bookmarked a page specifically covering the Sword of Gryffindor, but that book spoke nothing about the other three items. Perhaps her interest was in the sword, but it didn't stop there. Perhaps she was looking for all the Founders' Fortunes. Crowley had said that any good dark wizard would want to completely disarm his enemies before launching his final plans, and that's exactly what Xyler would accomplish in hunting all of the Founders' Fortunes. He would retrieve the bow, the shield, and the sword, keeping them out of the hands of wizardly do-gooders - and at the same time, he would be arming himself with the frighteningly powerful Daggers of Salazar Slytherin. It was the perfect plan.
"She used to talk about legends all the time," another voice joined in.
The three of them turned around to see Scorpius Malfoy standing behind them, eyeing the book.
"Erika likes legends," Scorpius said. "The Founders' Fortunes are considered legends, you see, because three of them have been missing for centuries and nobody is sure they even exist. She talked to me about them before."
"Really?" Albus replied. "What did she say?"
"Nothing much." Scorpius shrugged. "She'd ask me if I knew certain fairy tales and stories sometimes, whenever we would talk. We sort of grew up around each other. We didn't get on much, but she'd talk to me every now and then. She's always been interested in the Founders' Fortunes. Said her brother used to tell her stories about them."
"Founders' Fortunes?" Rose Weasley's voice joined the scene as she took a seat across from Aileen. "Now that's something I haven't read about in a long time."
"You know about them?" Albus asked her.
"Of course I do," Rose responded knowingly. "You're a Potter - how is it that you don't know about the Founders' Fortunes?"
"Just because I'm a Potter doesn't mean I know everything," Albus groused. "You know that I don't like it when people throw that in my face."
Rose, remembering this, went silent.
"Nobody's been able to find them. They're supposedly enchanted so that nobody can find them unless they present themselves to worthy wielders," Scorpius informed. "But it's weird, thinking about it... because the Sword of Gryffindor works the same way, but it's not missing like the others are."
"Maybe there haven't been any worthy wielders for a long time," Rose proposed. "I mean, think about it. Tom Riddle might have been a worthy Slytherin, but he was a bad guy, wasn't he? Maybe even Salazar's daggers had a sense of morality, and they wouldn't appear for anyone who had evil intentions. And in the last two wizarding wars, there weren't really any overly skilled Ravenclaws or Hufflepuffs participating, so maybe that's why the bow and the shield never appeared. Or, they could have appeared and whoever got them just kept it secret. I mean, there was Cedric Diggory - he was in Hufflepuff, and he was a prodigy - but he died before the war even began. The only house that was really invested in the fight was Gryffindor, and that was mostly because Uncle Harry was a part of it."
"And Professor Longbottom," Maxwell added. "He drew the sword from the hat, too."
"Professor Longbottom..." Aileen mumbled to herself.
Then, everything clicked; Professor Longbottom had provided her with something that could help her to solve this entire problem, a simple bewitched compass that would lead her to whatever destination she wished to reach.
Aileen pulled the Guidance Compass from her pocket, staring into it like it was a priceless diamond.
"I could find them," she determined. "I could find the Founders' Fortunes with this."
"Are you sure that would work?" Scorpius asked. "I mean, that thing is sort of... simple. I'm sure the Founders' Fortunes are protected from simple magic like that."
"It's worth a try, isn't it?" Albus said. "I mean, those little Guidance Compasses haven't existed until recently, when Professor Longbottom started making them. Maybe the Founders' Fortunes aren't protected against them. How could you ward off the detection of a Guidance Compass centuries in advance before a Guidance Compass even existed?"
"There are spells that can be used to hide anything at all costs," Rose told them. "But... it's hard to say if that compass would work or not..."
"Then the only way we'll know is if we try," Aileen confirmed. "Good enough for me."
Then, Aileen spun in place and rose from her seat, following the compass' arrow out of the Great Hall. Albus and Scorpius swiftly followed her, and Maxwell did the same after grabbing a handful of small muffins from the tabletop. Rose looked like she wasn't going to move, but seconds later, she let out an annoyed sigh and decided to follow the others.
"You're really going to try to follow that compass to the Founders' Fortunes?" Rose said exasperatedly as she jogged to keep up with the group. "They've been lost for centuries, and there's no telling if that compass will lead you to them or not! And even if it does work, who knows how far away they are? They could be hidden in Antarctica for all we know!"
"Or, they could be hidden on school grounds, just like the sword," Albus told her. "They belonged to the founders of Hogwarts, which means they might not be far from Hogwarts at all."
Aileen stayed in the lead, and the five children made many sharp turns through the extensive hallways of Hogwarts, almost knocking over groups of other students a few times, though none of them slowed down. For some reason, this very moment, all of them shared the same childlike curiosity; could a simple bewitched compass really help to locate the Founders' Fortunes? And if it could, would they really be able to get the weapons to safety before being intercepted by-
"Oy!" a shrill, irritated voice called out from behind them.
Aileen, Maxwell, Albus, Scorpius, and Rose all skidded to a sudden stop. Maxwell nearly plowed into Aileen, and Scorpius tripped over the end of Rose's robe.
An angry, panting Erika stood yards behind them, her wand drawn, her hair screwed up, and her face twisted in fury. She had followed them from the Great Hall, and now that they were alone, she intended to stir up trouble.
"I know what you're up to, and it's never going to work!" Erika snarled.
"Really?" Aileen said in a challenging tone. "Is that why you're trying to stop us?"
Aileen, Albus, and Scorpius all drew their wands in unison.
Erika, skilled as she was, seemed to read the situation and determined that provoking a duel now would be unwise, as she was heavily outnumbered.
"C-come now, let's not fight," Rose said, raising her hand calmly to Erika. "There's no reason to start a fight..."
"Shut up, Weasley." Erika spat back. "This has nothing to do with you. This is between me and the meddling ginger bitch."
"Watch your mouth!" Albus hollered. "That's my friend you're talking about!"
"Is it my fault that you have lousy taste in friends, Potter?" Erika quipped in response. "You're Harry Potter's son, and you're consorting with the slummiest kind of Slytherins that Hogwarts has the misfortune of housing. Goodness, your father must be so proud of you."
"Don't you dare say a word against my father!" Albus ordered.
"I wasn't," Erika said nonchalantly. "I just feel sorry for him. I feel sorry for all of your families, really. You all have Aurors and Ministers as parents, and their children are nothing but a bunch of underachievers, running around and looking for imaginary legends with a dumb broken compass. I mean, really... you all are nothing compared to your parents. But me? I've surpassed mine in every way possible, and I worked hard to do so."
"And I suppose that makes you better than everyone else, yeah?" Scorpius snapped.
"Of course it does," Erika told him, her cold eyes zeroing in on Aileen. "Especially you, you poor excuse for a Slytherin. All you can do is blow fire, and you can't even control it. Seriously, who invited you to Hogwarts? You don't deserve to be here. What is it that you think you're accomplishing? Investigating? Catching bad guys? Playing pretend-detective? You have no reason to do any of this childish nonsense. You're just wasting yours and everyone else's time with your speculations and your bogus theories about Xyler. You're treating an Auror's job like a make-believe game. You're not accomplishing anything. Why don't you just go home already? Nobody wants you here."
Aileen frowned.
Then, something soared through the air, flying past Aileen's head and missing only by inches.
A muffin landed squarely in the middle of Erika's face, breaking into crumbs and sprinkling all over her brand new robes.
Maxwell reared back and threw all of his muffins at her until he ran out. He stomped to the front of the group, his expression no longer shy or kind, his scraggly bangs no longer hiding his shiny, dark-green eyes, which looked far angrier than usual now, burning a fiery emerald behind his rectangular glasses.
"Nobody wants YOU here!" Maxwell screamed at Erika.
Erika revealed a sneering smirk, raising her wand to Maxwell.
"Pertifi-"
"Expelliarmus!"
Albus shot off a disarming spell - one that his father was particularly notorious for - and Erika's wand flew from her hand.
"Hominem Exumai!" Scorpius chanted, launching a spell that hit Erika directly in the stomach and sending her flying several feet backward.
Rose drew her wand shakily, fearing that she might have to intervene, but it was Aileen who rushed to the front of the crowd next. Albus and Scorpius had both throttled and disarmed her, and now, it was Aileen's turn.
Erika lay on her back, and she made a very nimble move; she rolled to the side and dove for her wand, but Aileen shot off a bolt of red light from her Sycamore, hitting Erika's fancy wand and making it bounce off the nearest wall and fly down the hallway. Then, Aileen stepped on Erika's outstretched hand, the wand of Leviathan pulsating beneath her grip, almost as though it longed for her to strike now, while her enemy was down, while she had the chance to keep Erika from interfering with her plans... besides, she deserved it after all the terrible things she'd said to them...
"Don't," Rose Weasley said timidly from somewhere behind her. "Aileen, just... just... please don't."
Aileen pressed her foot down harder, pleased to see Erika wince in pain as her fingers became crushed under Aileen's shoe. Her breath was rapid, slicing through her grinding teeth as she held her wand at the ready, wanting more than anything to enact some kind of revenge on Erika.
Erika glared up at her, waiting for her to make a move.
Aileen returned the look of hatred, then, she turned her head, just enough to see her four comrades standing nearby. Albus, Scorpius, and Rose all had their wands lowered. Maxwell still looked furious, but he hadn't drawn his wand at all. Rose had a particularly worried look on her face, and Albus and Scorpius both appeared somewhat anxious.
"Fine," Aileen said, removing her foot from Erika's hand. "We have something more important to do."
At once, Aileen darted off, and her friends followed closely behind her. She wanted to get out of the hallway as quickly as possible; the last thing she wanted was for one of the teachers to catch them fighting again. Besides, she was on a mission to find the Founders' Fortunes, and nothing would get in the way of that.
And so, off they ran. Aileen followed the arrow on the compass around corners and through hallways until appearing in one of the courtyards outside. The arrow was swiveling around much more than usual, but it seemed to be pointing towards Hagrid's hut. Aileen and the others jogged across the grass under the night sky, wondering what, if anything, they would find tonight.
Take me to the Founders' Fortunes, Aileen thought very vividly. Take me to the Sword of Gryffindor, or the Blades of Salazar. Take me to whichever one is closest!
Once they were within a rock's throw of Hagrid's hut, the arrow on the compass began to jolt in all directions. Aileen walked west, then southwest, then north, then east. The compass couldn't seem to make up its mind of where it wanted to lead them.
This continued for several minutes.
Maxwell, Albus, Rose, and Scorpius all gave up on trying to follow Aileen, because now, she was basically merely walking in crooked circles.
"Why is this happening?" Aileen said, growing frustrated. "The compass isn't working anymore..."
"The Founders' Fortunes must be protected by certain spells and enchantments," Rose told her. "We aren't going to find them this way."
"Figured as much," Scorpius sighed.
"It's not fair!" Aileen grumped. She was counting on the compass to take her to her destination. Apart from using the Guidance Compass, she had no other way to find the Founders' Fortunes. If the compass wasn't going to work, then what on earth would?
"Aileen..." Maxwell muttered, yanking on the sleeve of her robe.
Aileen turned to him, noticing that his eyes were fixating on something in the distance.
Further down the way, part of the night sky appeared to be moving, jerking and contorting like a ghostly shadow.