"I just can't believe it", Rebecca said. "We've got two great leads on where to head next and we're not allowed to go in any of those directions. No, instead we're kept back here."
"Everyone's disappointed in Mr Potter's decision", Benvolio agreed, "but we cannot go against the teachers. They know what's out there."
"I don't care", Rebecca muttered and crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at the fire in front of her. When she and Benvolio had made it back to the Ravenclaw Common Room they had both been too excited about what had happened that night to go to bed and thus had decided to stay up and talk. Noticing his girlfriend's disappointment, Benvolio now placed an arm around her shoulders and held her close.
"Everything will be alright", he said. "We'll figure something out."
Rebecca sighed and nodded. They remained like that for a while before they heard the steps of someone silently sneaking up the stairs, the only clue for his or her presence the soft click of the dormitory door closing.
"It's coming from the girl's stairs", Benvolio said, indicating that he would be unable to investigate. Rebecca nodded and carefully freed herself from his arms, gave him a quick kiss and then sneaked upstairs.
As she did not meet anyone on the way, she soon found herself approaching the top of the stairs to the circular room located just below the roof. She silently raised herself on her toes to be able to see up into the room and find out who was there.
"Sandra?" she asked. The older girl had been standing with her back towards her and now spun around, revealing a large, scarlet bird with a golden tail. It now straightened up and spread its large wings. Rebecca, startled, took a step back and forgot that she was on a stair. With a scream she fell backwards.
"Arresto Momentum!" Sandra yelled, causing Rebecca to slow her decent towards the stones. Sandra used that extra time to run down and catch her.
"Are you alright?" she asked while flicking her wand to remove the charm.
"What the hell was that?" Rebecca gasped, indicating at the large bird she had seen. Sandra's lips tightened and she looked away.
"Don't play the silent game with me!" Rebecca pointed out. "Was that a phoenix, Sandra? A real phoenix inside the walls of Hogwarts?"
"Yes", Sandra eventually answered and gestured for her to go upstairs. Rebecca carefully walked up and was soon able to see the scarlet bird again. Once more it looked distressed by her presence.
"Hey, you scared her", Sandra said. "You should at least let her see you."
"You can speak with it?" Rebecca asked.
"Him", Sandra corrected. "And no, not the way you and I communicate, but somehow he seems to understand me... at least sometimes."
"You're saying it's a he?" Rebecca asked. "Sandra, you do know that male phoenixes are extremely rare? Like, the only one I know of would..."
"What's going on up here?"
They both spun around to see Molly climbing the stairs with a sleepy Hazel tagging behind her.
"We heard someone scream", Molly continued and yawned as she stepped up into the room. "Was that..."
Her grey eyes widened and she suddenly seemed wide awake as she spotted the bird by the window. Hazel grumbled as she walked into her classmate from behind. The phoenix raised his wings once more and this time he also opened his beak, letting out a clear note. Instantly the four Ravenclaws felt more courageous than earlier, as if they could strike down anyone.
"Wow", Hazel said as she noticed the bird. Sandra walked over to it and sat down next to it. He responded by climbing up her arm and placing himself on her shoulder, sitting much like her Patronus would be seen doing back in the Room of Requirement.
"This is Fawkes", Sandra said, having realized there was no point in trying to keep it all a secret. "He was Dumbledore's phoenix once and has now returned here, to aid us."
"So that was why you had a Patronus in the shape of a phoenix", Hazel said. "He's chosen you."
"Us", Sandra said. "He's chosen us all."
"Sandra, I know that you do not want to seem all that special, but look at yourself", Molly said. "You have a real, large phoenix on your shoulder!"
Sandra blushed slightly.
"He came here when I was the only one who had not been able to produce a non-corporeal Patronus", she explained. "Somehow, I think he healed me from something caused by the rashes. Since then I've gone up here every now and then to meet him. He always knows when I need to talk."
"And what was the subject tonight?" Hazel asked.
"The Backerwizz", Sandra answered, "and everything we found out in the Room of Requirement today. We need to do something."
"That's exactly what I told Benvolio", Rebecca agreed. "Question is what, and how?"
"First we have to gather everyone involved in Dumbledore's Army", Molly said. The others turned to look at her and she blushed slightly as well.
"I lay awake and thought about it", she admitted.
"How do we gather them all, though?" Sandra asked.
"Well, phoenixes can be used as messengers", Hazel pointed out. "They can apparate, of a sort."
"That might be risky", Sandra said. "We can't let everyone see that there's a phoenix at Hogwarts again, especially now that we think that we're dealing with a second metamorphmagus."
"It's worth a shot, if Fawkes is willing to do it, that is", Rebecca said. "And he only has to appear once in each Common Room; then whoever is there can pass the message on and get everyone to meet up at a designated place."
"What if someone's caught by Filch?" Molly asked. "We can't have that happen."
The phoenix shook its feathers as if wanting to say something. Sandra seemed to understand it.
"Maybe Fawkes can bring them", she said. "Like you said, Hazel; phoenixes can apparate, and they can bring people along. So what if we send a message that tells the designated people to gather in the Common Room within, say, ten minutes and then Fawkes will re-appear and bring them to a meeting place?"
"Best plan so far", Rebecca said. "What do you say, Fawkes?"
The phoenix coed a silent note that seemed to be an agreement. The girls then immediately set to work writing the messages; three pieces of parchment with identical information. Molly also made sure that they were fireproof, just in case.
"I'll stay here and hand Fawkes the next message every time he returns", Sandra said once they were done. "You wake up the rest of us Ravenclaws."
The three others disappeared down the stairs, with Hazel hurrying up the stairs to the boys' dormitories to wake Toby and Benjamin while Molly set for waking Caitlin.
"What is going on?" Benvolio asked as Rebecca came down the stairs.
"We're organizing a secret meeting", she answered with a smile. "I think it's up to us to decide our next step."
Benvolio raised his eyebrows at her and then watched as Hazel brought the two other male Ravenclaws from Dumbledore's Army to the Common Room. Benjamin's hair was a wild, blonde mess while Toby's somehow managed to look neat, although with more volume than his usual hairdo. Rebecca suspected that he used some sort of charm to keep it somewhat orderly so that he would not have to spend time fixing it in the morning.
"Well, that's everyone", Molly said as she escorted Caitlin downstairs. Sandra came hurrying down slightly behind them.
"Alright, everyone, hold hands!" she ordered. "Fawkes will be here any second now."
Toby blinked.
"What?" he asked. "What?"
The three others who had not been up in the room on top of the stairs looked equally surprised, but with joined forces the girls managed to get everyone to link hands. The moment after they were done, Fawkes appeared in a ball of flame in front of Sandra. She reached out with her free hand and grabbed his claws.
The next moment, Rebecca felt herself being engulfed in fire, but it did not hurt. The fire erased everything else and it was actually hard to say if they had moved from one place to another as it did not feel like when one apparated; there was no nausea or disorientation, only the fire that engulfed them all and then, when it disappeared, they were suddenly standing in the Room of Requirement.
"Wow", Benjamin said. "That was... wow."
"Could someone tell me what is going on?" Toby asked.
"We're going to talk to your cousin", Rebecca answered. "With or without the adults' permission."
Fawkes then arrived with the Slytherins, the Gryffindors and, lastly, the Hufflepuffs.
"This is one of the strangest dreams I've had this year", Brooklyn said and yawned.
"No dream, Brooklyn", Taimoor said. "We were just brought back to the Room of Requirement through a phoenix."
"Sorry for waking you guys", Sandra said, "but we thought that we needed to talk things through."
"If this is about going out without the adults' permission, I'm all in", Nick said.
"I think most of us are", Kyle filled in.
"We should have a discussion about it, though", Molly pointed out. "First, I would like to point out that this is something that's voluntary, but if some of us decide to leave, we would appreciate if the rest of you guys kept silent about it until you had no other choice but to tell."
There was an agreeing mumble coming from the assembled students.
"Question!" Jacob said and raised his hand. "Are we all going out in our pajamas?"
They all looked down on what they were wearing. In truth only a few were still wearing their regular clothes; the majority had been in bed.
"We can send one person back to each dormitory to collect clothes", Rebecca suggested. "Preferably a girl since the boys can't enter the girls' dormitories."
"I can do that", Natasha said.
"I'm the only Slytherin-girl, so I guess I'll do it", Kylie said. Next followed Hazel and Mariah.
"Fawkes has to stay with the one who's collecting clothes", Sandra pointed out, "or we won't know when they're done."
"Alright, let's send Natasha first since she volunteered first", Molly agreed.
While Fawkes followed Natasha back to the Hufflepuff Common Room, the Ravenclaws told the rest of the group of their plan.
"And the Backerwizz are still at Hogwarts?" Caitlin asked.
"Yes, I heard that they were offered a place to stay out by the greenhouses", Rebecca answered.
"Vitt probably won't mind if we go without the adults", Sandra filled in. "He seemed to care mainly about someone going out there to talk to Sinistra."
By this time, Fawkes had returned with both Natasha and Kylie and, when Sandra finished speaking, he came back with Mariah as well.
"So who's coming along?" Molly asked while Hazel stepped up to be brought back to the Common Room to collect clothes for the Ravenclaws. Everyone in the group raised a hand holding a wand as a sign of their agreement.
"I guess we're going to break some laws, then", Sandra said with a slight hint of a smile. Rebecca, on the other hand, was grinning widely as she walked over to Benvolio.
"Now this is where the fun begins", she said and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.