Harry walked as quietly and as quickly as he could under the invisibility cloak, knowing that if he was caught, he'd never hear the end of it. The egg was in one hand, the map and his want in the other. So far so good. No one was out and about, and that gave him time to think about what he'd heard. The second task would involve going into the lake to recover something that had been taken from him, what that thing was, he did not know, but he was certain he wasn't going to like it. He needed to figure out a way to breathe underwater, Gillyweed was what he was thinking of using, and he'd need to think of a way to get it, he highly doubted Snape would help him. He looked at the map, and nearly shat himself, Snape was coming right at him, as was Filch and Peeves. Shit, that was going to be an explosive encounter.
Just as he thought that, Peeves whooshed into view, the Gryffindor entrance was right in front of Harry, but he couldn't move, not without alerting the damned ghost to his presence. "Wheee. Now the time has come for the school to awaken to the sound of the great chorus of bells." Peeves bellowed loudly, causing the portraits lining the wall to complain loudly.
Harry edged forward, clutching his wand, the map and the egg tightly. He heard Filch limping into sight. "Peeves, you come here right now!" The old caretaker bellowed. More complaining from the portraits.
Peeves looked as if he didn't care. "Oh come now Filchie, you know what I have to tell you would be far better than any punishment you could give me."
Filch stopped, his eyes widened. "What?"
"I know about someone who's been stealing for the professors. I know about someone who has been communicating with bad people. I know about someone who is dancing around the headmaster." Peeves taunted.
Harry listened intently then, what could Peeves have discovered? It seemed Filch was intrigued by this as well. "Well? What is it?"
Peeves blew a big bubble out into the air and watched it pop. He giggled manically. "I won't tell you, unless you promise me something."
"Why would I promise you anything Peeves?!" Filch demanded, Harry could have sworn his eyes were going to bugle out of their sockets.
"Because what I've got to tell you will make your whole life at this place seem worthwhile. Why the Headmaster will have to give you a raise." Peeves said tauntingly.
Harry could tell that Filch was torn, torn between wanting to hear what Peeves had to say, and wanting to shout at Peeves and finally bring him in for wrongdoing. Harry turned slowly under the cloak, his wand had dimmed the light on its own accord when he'd stopped, and now he was very thankful for that. Peeves was hovering right in front of the Fat Lady's Portrait, how he was going to get there and passed Peeves, Harry did not know, and it was starting to make him nervous. Eventually, Filch sighed. "Fine, out with it."
Peeves opened his mouth to begin speaking, but just as he was about to Snape appeared in a billowing tangle of black cloak and oily hair. "Argus, what is the meaning of this?" Snape asked in his venomous voice.
"Peeves here says he has something worth listening to. Says someone has been dancing around the headmaster." Filch replied.
Snape gave one look at Peeves, and Harry could have sworn the potions master saw right through him as well. "Well? What is it?" Snape demanded.
Peeves huffed, it was clear to the ghost that he'd not be able to make the same sort of demands of a teacher such as Snape, as he could Filch. "I was drifting passed the corridor on the fifth floor, you know the one with the big stairs and ugly woman guarding it, when I heard a strange voice. I went to find the source of the voice, and as I drifted nearer, I heard what sounded like a man, he was calling out all kinds of obscenities. I think he was mad. He was saying how the Dark Lord was growing stronger, and how the Dark Mark was gaining in power. He also said that his plan was nearly complete, and that soon enough Potter would be lying dead on the ground."
Harry felt his blood go cold, was there a Death Eater here? Was Karkaroff back to his old ways? Filch looked terrified, Snape's face was blank. "Did you get a look at the man?"
"No, but I did see the person he was speaking to. Or rather the thing." Peeves said.
"And? Who was it?" Snape asked.
"A House Elf. I do not know her name, for the man never said it. But she was trying to get him to avoid doing this, to avoid doing whatever it was he was going to do. He ignored her for a while, and then blasted her away when he thought she was getting quite annoying. Truthfully, I think he was mad." Peeves replied.
Snape nodded, then he turned to Filch and said. "Get the headmaster. Tell him it is urgent."
Filch trotted off to do just that, and Snape remained with his wand out, and Peeves floated in the air just in front of the Fat Lady's Portrait, Harry could feel his arms beginning to weaken from the strain of holding the cloak, the egg, the map and the wan for so long. He breathed a sigh of relief when the Headmaster appeared. "Severus, what did you want?" The Professor asked calmly.
"Peeves here, says that he has heard some disturbing things. Tell the headmaster what you told me." Snape commanded. Peeves nodded and repeated what he'd said, Harry watched as the Headmaster's face remained expressionless, only once did it change and that was when Harry's name was mentioned.
Once Peeves was done, the Headmaster turned to Snape and said. "Summon the other teachers to the staff room, Severus, Argus alert the ghosts and the castle armour, they are to follow protocol nine." Both men nodded and hurried off. "Peeves, I want you to get the House Elves into order down in the kitchens, can you do that for me?" the ghost nodded and disappeared. The headmaster looked right at Harry, nodded to himself and then walked off.
As soon as the headmaster was gone, Harry said the password and jumped into the common room, he threw off the cloak and placed the egg on the table. Neville came over and asked. "Did it work then? Did you figure out what the clue was?"
Harry nodded. "Yeah, you were right Nev. How did you know to go to the prefect's bathroom?"
Neville shrugged. "Just an estimated guess." Then he asked. "So, what is it you have to do?"
Harry placed his wand back in his pocket, and folded the map up and did the same with it, before picking up his cloak. "I have to go into the lake, and rescue something special of mine, from the merpeople. I'll have an hour to do it in, otherwise there will be consequences."
Neville nodded. "Well that does add up with what I know of previous second tasks. What do you think they'll take?"
"I'm not sure, the only things I've got that really count as special to me, are my cloak, my wand, Hedwig and my firebolt." He would say the map as well, but really, Neville didn't need to know about that.
"All things that wouldn't really last underwater." Neville pointed out. "Perhaps they'll take someone who is special to you then?"
"Yeah probably." Harry said, thinking he knew who might go, and feeling embarrassed about it. "Anyway," he said changing the subject. "I think Gillyweed will likely be the best bet for me in terms of getting through the task. The only question I can think of is, where to get it from."
"I know Snape has it stored away, but I don't think he'd give it to you, even if he wanted to. I mean, I could ask Professor Sprout for some, I know she has some somewhere, but she'd want to know why." Neville said.
"How long does it take to make?" Harry asked, wondering if he could rope Hermione and Ron into this.
"A long time, the second task is what, in three months? It takes a year to make it properly." Neville said.
"Ah." Harry said. He might need to ask Dobby for some help, no doubt the house elf would help him. "Nev?" He began. "How long has Peeves been at the school?"
Neville looked slightly confused by the change in conversation, but soon he adapted. "I know he was here when my gran was a student here. I think he was a troublemaker even then. I think he's been here for a long time. Why?"
"It's just that, as I was coming back, he and Filch got into it, and then he told Snape that he saw something up on the fifth floor. I wasn't aware there was a fifth floor on this side of the castle." Harry stated.
Neville's eyebrows shot up. "Neither was I. I mean I'd heard a rumour that there was a fifth floor, on this side, but I had always thought it was just that a rumour."
"What's so special about it?" Harry asked. It hadn't appeared on the map, and if anyone would've known about it, it would've been his dad and Sirius.
"I'm not sure, but supposedly, it's where the founders kept some of their darkest secrets, the things the histories only hint at." Neville replied. "Why, what do you think Peeves was doing there?"
"He said he was just floating about when he heard someone up there. Someone who was rambling about Voldemort and how the thing was getting stronger, and how soon enough I'd be dead." Harry said, in a rush. "There was a house elf there as well, trying to get the man to calm down."
"Did Peeves see what the man looked like?" Neville asked.
Harry shook his head. "No, he didn't go that far."
Neville sighed. "Well, I'm sure the headmaster and the teachers will sort it out." Harry nodded, though he had his doubts, he'd need to write to Sirius. "Anyway, Harry mate, I'm going off to bed. Night."
"Night." Harry said, he waited for a little bit, and then he got up, picked up his egg and walked up to the dorm, where he put his things back into their place, and got changed and into bed. He tossed and turned for a little while, but eventually sleep found him, it was a sweet relief.
The pages of the book were there, staring him in the face. He could not read the words, but they were there. "Wormtail, tell me what this says." His voice was high, a child's voice.
"It says that the throne was cast into stone, and the sceptre was thrown out into regions unknown, when the King died." Wormtail said.
"And where was the sword?" He asked demandingly.
"It was buried in a place where none would think to look." Wormtail replied.
"But you are sure that it is there in the Ministry?" He asked, though he already knew, Wormtail was so easy to read.
"Yes, James had mentioned it once, when he was tired off of duty. Something about Bagnold wanting it protected properly." Wormtail said.
"Ah, Millicent, she was always a good woman to us wasn't she, Wormtail?" He said.
"Yes, my lord, very good." Wormtail nodded, though he could tell the rat was lying.
"Send word to Selwyn, tell him Lucius will send three people who he expects to fail. Tell him to have extra precautions in place. We shall want the sword, before the ritual begins." He said.
"Yes my lord." Wormtail replied.
"And tell our friend that the boy needs to know more about his ancestor, about our ancestor." He said.
"Of course." Wormtail replied and then bowed and hurried off to do as he asked.