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In this chapter, McGonagall is brought up to speed at what has been going on undetected at Hogwarts. We find out a little about why Medusa was creeping around Azzura's bed. James, Lysander, Albus, Lily and Azzura now have more evidence to research, thanks to the display at the Great Hall, and the documents Azzura found and copied in the Chamber of Secrets. Although it seems that they're catching up to the culprits of all these recent threats, it hasn't prevented anymore threats from happening, and if you think Azzura's freaked out – James is even more frightened.
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Ravenclaw_Illusions
…
Sitting in the Head Mistress' office….
I swung my feet back and forth as I sat on the rigid chair staring up at the portrait of former Head Master Dumbledore. Something was amiss. He usually seemed quite amused and cheerful in his frame on the wall behind the Head Mistress' desk. The twinkle in his blue eyes flickered unsettlingly behind his half moon spectacles.
"There must be an emergency if all of you are out of bed at this hour." The Head Mistress rushed into the office in a grey duster – a dark green tartan shawl wrapped around her shoulders.
"There is Professor McGonagall," James solemnly replied.
"Ah, Mr. Potter, it is you and Mr. Scamander that are the only two I'm not surprised to see." She sat down behind her desk. "You boys must have been out in the corridors searching for another detention." She tugged her shawl tighter around her shoulders. "Now what were the rest of you doing?"
"Head Mistress, my brother is telling the truth. This is an emergency," Albus said honestly.
"Then what is the matter?" She asked.
"We have reasons to believe that students or faculty – someone," Albus cleared his throat.
"Odds are the same 'someone' that is responsible for the display in front of the Great Hall," Lily continued.
"Has been planning something dreadful," James began to speak over his sister.
"Whoever it is, knows of my history, and they're plotting something out of a nightmare in the chamber of secrets!" I blurted out.
"Excuse me, my dear?" She stammered. "Explain yourself," She regained her stern composure.
"Albus had mentioned the disappearance of the students he had followed into Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. I had a hunch that the Chamber could be involved. Then after this morning…"
"We had to see for ourselves," James finished my sentence for me.
"I understand the concern, Ms. Di Napoli, but I don't see the emergency."
"Well, you see," I twisted my hands together in my lap. "We went into the Chamber of Secrets."
"What?! Good heavens, what were you all thinking? That was when you should have come to see me."
"The emergency is," Albus interjected. "We found some things that shouldn't be there."
"What did you find?" Her eyes were wide – I don't know if it was the shock to hear that a bunch of students went into the Chamber of Secrets, or that we found something strange.
"Eggs," Lily stated.
"Basilisk eggs," Albus added.
…
McGonagall said she'd have Hagrid check out the eggs, and remove them from the Chamber. She also warned all of us not to go back into the Chamber, or continue to go looking around for the people responsible for all the threats. She assured us that Hogwarts is the safest place in the world and that we are all well protected while we're inside the castle or on the grounds.
We didn't listen to her.
…
In all of our free time that week we had been meeting in the Room of Requirement, looking through library books, re-reading our evidence, and the prophecy: trying to make sense of it all. We had a lot more to go on, now. The aggressors have made public action, and we had their notes.
A Doe is no longer a symbol of purity; A Stag is the protector no more.
Betrayal, bonds that hold no sanctity; Foolishness is the true quality of Gryffindor.
Now stronger than ever, yet, unseen and unknown, it is the time to fear.
For Lions are no match when it's just a fool, and Italy's Scandal Seer,
That are legacies of the deer, and what happened to them, will happen again.
It is foolishness that is mistaken for heart, which seals the fate of them.
I read over the bloody message left in front of the Great Hall. "Everything goes back to your grandparents." I sat beside James on the sofa.
"And Rome," He added. "And us… why us?"
"I don't know – why your grandparents?" I smirked.
"Because of that prophecy," James scratched the side of his head. "Otherwise it would've been Uncle Neville."
"That's the answer to why your dad, sweetie." I leaned my head on his shoulder.
"Then you tell me, because you're better associated with all this than I am."
"Your grandparents were extremely talented and powerful, they had a matching patronus that connotate with purity, and protectiveness. They were madly in love. James was a pure blood wizard and Lily was a muggle-born. That made James a blood traitor. All of that made them the perfect target, especially with the war they were fighting in."
James fidgeted. "You know I can't help but notice that there are a lot of similarities that we have with them."
"Which answers the question why us," I sighed.
"Azzura," James said quietly.
"Yes, James?"
"You don't think that this has anything to do with pureblood supremacy…do you?"
I picked my head up from leaning on his shoulder, and looked him the eyes.
"It could be," I answered. "What made you think that?"
"My family is known for being blood traitors, and when you said that my grandparents were a pureblood and a muggle-born I realized that I was born into the wizarding world, and you were not." He rambled, "It all connects."
"The scandal I'm known for," I started. "When I discovered that the Church knew about the existence of our society, we had found out that it had some of our kind under their employment. Although we never had concrete evidence, there was a rumor that the witches and wizards hunting me down worked for the Church because both groups wanted keep our worlds separate. Many of us believed that before I revealed this connection, that these witches and wizards were tracking down muggle-borns through the muggles from the Church and even some Political arenas, and killing the muggle-born children before they're educated on their abilities. This way the muggles weren't associated or brought into the world of magic because of their child, or sibling, and that way the magical world maintained its distance from the muggle world."
"No wonder they want to kill you," He said grimly.
I held onto his hand, "In case you haven't noticed, love, I'm kind of difficult to kill."
…
The following day…
Entering the castle from Care of Magical Creatures, I separated from Bianca and Fae. I was headed for the library, to look for more reference books with Albus.
It was the day before Halloween and I was feeling a little happier than I had been in the past week or so. I loved Halloween, for some reason it had always been my favorite holiday. Of course, I was also excited for the dance tomorrow evening.
I turned down the corridor, and past a classroom and then I was dragged into a broom cupboard. It was dark, but I was more than happy to kiss my boyfriend. He sucked and nipped at my neck and then our lips met … something was off. I broke the kiss.
"Are you alright?" I asked.
"Yes, but you shouldn't be," A husky voice growled at me in amusement.
I felt like I was plummeting from the top of a sky scraper. I shook my head frantically, "You're not James." I went to grab for my wand but it wasn't where I usually kept it.
Whoever it was grabbed me by my hair, and got uncomfortably close, to the side of my face.
"It seems that you've stolen three precious things of ours," The voice barked. "You'll pay for that. Now listen carefully, seer, if you don't start listening to the threats, and stop all your little research – all those helping you will die first. We'll make you watch each one of them be tortured to death, and then it'll be your turn."
I knee'd my assailant in the groin and grabbed hold of one of his arms, twisting it behind his back.
A group of people huddled in a corner of the Chamber of Secrets. All in school robes, none of their faces exposed. I noticed that they were mostly Hufflepuffs, and a few Slytherins. Among them was one Ravenclaw.
"Sister W, you have the responsibility of taking out the seer, petrify her, and bring her here. She needs to be interrogated and then brought to The Mother."
The Ravenclaw nodded her hooded head in agreement.
When I came back to reality, I was on the floor in the hallway, my wand returned to my inside robe pocket and my attacker nowhere in sight.
…
I entered the library half way through the period. I didn't even notice the librarian, or any other students, I just kept walking. I was barely breathing, as I made my way to the study table I usually shared with Albus, Scorpius and Rose.
"What happened? I thought you were going to meet me here at the beginning of the period." Albus said over his shoulder as he reached for a volume on the top shelf.
"I…Uh…I…No…Broom closet… Not James…Not James…" I couldn't articulate what had actually happened.
Albus turned around, and immediately put the volume onto the table, and walked towards me.
"Azzura, are you alright?" He placed a hand on my shoulder.
I shook my head rapidly. "N-N-No," I stuttered.
"Come, sit." He led me to a chair. "Do you need to go to the infirmary?"
"I don't know," I tried to control my lower lip from quivering.
"What happened?" His forehead creased and his eyes filled with worry.
"Someone pulled me into a broom closet," I managed to get out, before I stopped breathing again.
"Deep breathes," He reminded me. "Who was it?"
"I thought it was James, 'til he kissed me." My eyes were teary to the brims. "He took my wand, and threatened me, told me I'll pay for Hagrid taking the eggs. That if we don't stop researching, you're all going to be killed in front of me, and then I'll be killed as well."
"Then what happened? Did he hurt you?" Albus gripped my shoulders.
"I don't know," I shook my head. "I tried to fight him off, to get my wand back, but when I grabbed his arm I had a vision." I wiped a stray tear from my cheek. "By the time I came out of the vision, I was on the floor in the hallway, my wand back in my pocket."
"You don't remember?" He asked.
I shook my head.
"I'm going to check out this book and then we're going to head over to the infirmary, I believe the healer can help you remember, okay?"
I nodded.
…
I sat on a cot in the infirmary, while Albus spoke to the healer. She brought out a potion for me to drink.
"It'll burn but it stops once you remember," The healer explained.
She handed me the vial, and I poured it down my throat. It left a burning sensation as it made its way to my stomach.
I knee'd my assailant in the groin and grabbed hold of one of his arms, twisting it behind his back. I pulled my wand from his hand, and held it to the back of his head.
"Who is The Mother? Why are you working for her? What do you want from me?" I demanded.
"Wouldn't you like to know," He muttered.
"Then I have no choice but to send a message." I growled. I casted a special cutting charm and had the words "Next time I kill the messenger" carved into his skin all over his body. I then kicked him out of the closet. He ran before I could see his face. When I walked out of the broom cupboard I passed out.
"Well?" Albus asked.
"It appears that I did the hurting."
He raised an eyebrow at me.
"I feinted after I defended myself." I explained. "Can you please keep this between us, I'd like to pretend everything's fine, at least until after the dance tomorrow."
Albus' mouth screwed up into a straight line. "It's kind of too late for that."
"Ugh, the coins," I asked.
Albus held up the false galleon, "Yup."
"Albus," I whined.
"Hey, you're his girlfriend, and he ought to know," He said sternly.
I rolled my eyes at him.
…
James came in a few minutes later. After I retold my closet abduction, he looked terrified.
"Thank Merlin, you're alright." He clutched me close to his chest.
"At least now we know what Medusa was up to."
"About that," He broke the embrace. "Maybe it's not a good idea for you to sleep in your dorm just yet."
"What?" I scoffed, "James, where do you expect me to sleep - the sofa in my house commons?"
"No," He bit his lower lip. "I was thinking the room of requirement."
"Love, think about it. In my dorm room, I have four other witnesses. Whereas, in the R.O.R, I'm alone."
"No you're not, I'll be there."
"I'll think about it," I replied.
"We'll sleep on separate sofas. I just want you safe."
"That's not why I said I'll think about it," I scrunched my face at him.
"Then tell me," He said.
"I don't want this controlling my life. To be afraid to go to sleep in my own bed," I admitted.
"Just this once," He pleaded. "This way I know you're safe."
"Fine, but tomorrow night I'm back in my dorm room."