Chapter 11 : Festive New Year
The snow hadn't stopped falling since Christmas Day so the school was completely buried. Hagrid took it upon himself to clear the grounds so that the students could access the Quidditch pitch or the lake which was covered with a thick layer of ice which the students had fun sliding on with their shoes.
It had even become Arcturus's favourite activity, especially after Akira explained to him what ice hockey was. He had then borrowed a flying broom that he used as a hockey stick while an old book served as a puck. It wasn't the most suitable material for playing - Akira made a point of buying him some real one for his next Christmas - but he still managed to play. He was just having a little trouble controlling everything at the same time so he would often fall but get up almost immediately as if nothing happened.
Meanwhile, Akira was going to take advantage of the Quidditch pitch which had become completely deserted due to the terrible weather. She no longer needed to ask Arcturus to come and play with her since Danyl had agreed to train with her but she still had to force him to come as he preferred the warmth of the Ravenclaw Common Room rather than facing the cold wind when they flew. They managed to invent variations of the traditional game, for example using snowballs that they threw at each other and that the other had to catch without destroying it which was rather complicated. They also had fun racing around the pitch to see who was faster and Danyl almost always won due to his experience as Quidditch player.
In the meantime, the Christmas decorations that had invaded the castle had gradually disappeared. There was still the New Year to celebrate but according to rumors, a fireworks display was planned to celebrate it.
Playing Quidditch in a snow storm was fun during few days but Akira was starting to have long time. Without classes and homework that took up most of their day, it was hard to keep busy especially with the school being totally empty and the outdoor blizzard. She had already read and re-read the book Arcturus had given her for Christmas so to vary her reading a bit, she decided to go to the library which had remained open during the holidays for the students who remained at school. She borrowed "Hogwarts : A History". She remembered Arcturus telling her about this book on her first day of class. He had explained to her that it was very useful to find its way in this gigantic school so, failing to be able to explore the castle at night due to Filch and Peeves being around, Akira decided to learn as much as possible from this book.
She settled into an armchair in the Gryffindor Common Room and began to read it. It was telling anecdotes about the school that were not of great interest for Akira, such as how the magical ceiling in the Great Hall worked or why the school was undetectable to Muggles. However, one piece of information caught her attention. It was stated that secret passages were scattered throughout the school even if it was not specified where they were located because as their name indicated, they were secret.
"If Madam Hooch asks you, I never borrowed a broom to play hockey." Arcturus said to her, having just joined the Gryffindor Tower while holding a broom that was broken in half.
"What happened to it ?" Akira asked him, noticing the disastrous state of the broom.
"I hit it against the ice a little hard to send the "puck" far away and it broke under the impact. It must also be said that that broom was very old." He added, throwing the broom into the fire to destroy the evidence of his crime.
"Do you happen to know where are located the secret passages of the school ?" Akira asked him as he made sure that the broom burnt completely.
"No, but generations of students have searched for them. There are even rumors saying that some passages lead directly to Hogsmeade. Can you imagine the New Year we could organize if we had the opportunity to go there ? We could even resell merchandise to other houses."
"What do you say about a night of exploration around the castle to find them ?"
"With Filch around ? I don't think this is a good idea. In addition, he is very upset because some students have found nothing better than having a snowball fight in the hallways. I'm not telling you how long it took him to clean the slush that was all over the place."
"But we will be discreet."
"And the school is huge." Arcturus, who seemed reluctant to embark on such an adventure, added. "It will take us more than one night to find even one."
"As you wish." Akira replied, plunging back into her reading.
But she hadn't given up so fast so when the whole school had fallen asleep, she put on her sweater and went down to the Common Room where she was surprised to find Arcturus waiting for her while playing with a flashlight.
"Pretty cool, right ?" He stated, shining the light in her eyes. "I borrowed it from Muggle Studies. With it, we will be able to explore all the darkest corners of the school."
"What are you doing here ?" She asked him, lowering his hand to not have the beam right in her eyes. "I thought you didn't want to come."
"Maybe but I would hate myself if you got caught and I didn't do anything to prevent that so I'll go with you. So, now that we are both here, what is the next step of your plan to find these passages ?"
"I think the more efficient way to find them is to scour the whole school, especially since "Hogwarts : A History" doesn't give more details of their location. We will have to look behind any paintings or statues that we come across."
"In other words, it'll take a while to find one, especially if they're protected by spells." Arturus pointed out.
They stepped out into the dark hallway and Arcturus turned on his flashlight even if it wasn't discreet. They walked along the corridors and gently lifted each painting, trying to not wake up their owner. They looked behind every statue, armor, tapestry they came across but couldn't find anything conclusive.
"Maybe Arcturus is right." Akira thought as they began to both lose hope. "The passages must have been protected by spells to prevent the students from finding them and I know no spells that could reveal them."
"Akira, look what I just found !" Arctrus suddenly called out to her as he looked behind a mirror on the fourth floor.
Akira rushed over to him and took a look. A tunnel was dug right behind the mirror and went underground.
"I think we found one !" Arcturus exclaimed with excitement. "You were right to insist that we go looking for them."
"Let's see first where it goes before jumping to conclusions." Akira offered, feeling the excitement winning her too.
They both went deeper into the freezing and dark tunnel as Arcturus lit the path with his flashlight. It was sinking deep underground and Akira and Arcturus had to be careful not to slip on the wet stones. After a while, the path began to climb steadily until they reached a stone trap door.
"Looks like we've arrived." Arcturus announced, trying to lift the trap door but it was too heavy for him. "And I think that's the end of the journey for us." He added with annoyance.
"Leave it to me." Akira told him as she walked past him.
She managed to lift the block of stone with ease and she pushed it aside as Arcturus watched her with dumbfounded eyes.
Akira glanced over to see where they had landed. From the freezing wind that was reaching them, the passage must led to outside but it was so dark that it was difficult to tell where exactly they were.
Akira extricated herself from the underground and helped Arcturus to do the same. The latter then lit the surroundings and they found out that they were in a narrow and dark alley between two buildings. They moved forward until they reached a snow-covered street surrounded by houses.
"Cool…" Arcturus exclaimed as he lit a sign in front of a store that read "Zonko's". "We have arrived at Hogsmeade ! So the rumors were true, there are secret passages leading there."
"What exactly is Hogsmeade ?" Akira asked him because she heard the name once or twice but she had no other information about that place.
"It's a village where only wizards lived. It's right next to Hogwarts and when you arrive with the Hogwarts Express at the beginning of the school year, you get off at Hogsmeade Station." Arcturus explained. "It's the only place outside of Hogwarts where students are allowed to roam around, but only when they are in third year."
"Does that mean we're not allowed to be here ?"
"Exactly. We're in first year, we don't have a signed authorization from our parents and we are in the middle of the night on a day where no visits were planned but since we made all the way to it, we might as well visit."
Arcturus and Akira walked along the main street which was deserted. No light came from the houses and no noise reached them apart from the snow crunching under their feet. Hogsmeade must have been a very welcoming village when it was crowded with people but now it looked rather austere. Especially since, with all the shops and pubs closed, there was nothing to visit apart from the cold street.
"We've made it to the best store in the village." Arcturus said suddenly while rushing to a window as Akira followed him.
He lit the interior with his flashlight and Akira discovered that it was a candy store. Jars, each more colorful than the next one, were spread out on shelves and barrels filled to the top with candies were scattered throughout the store.
Akira recognized only the treats she had the opportunity to taste on the Hogwarts Express but most of them were completely unknown to her.
"When we get permission to visit Hogsmeade in third year, this will be the first store I stop by." Arcturus announced enviously.
Akira also looked forward to visiting all of these stores. This village reminded her of Diagon Alley that she loved to visit with all the magical and uncommon objects the shops were selling.
But Akira and Arcturus were soon interrupted by a light coming from the first floor of the candy store. The storekeepers must have spotted the light from the lamp Arcturus pointed in their store or have heard them speaking.
Akira quickly threw herself on Arcturus to snatch his lamp from his hands and she turned it off immediately. That was a close call because someone was starting to walk down the stairs to reach the ground floor and see what was going on outside the shop.
Akira and Arcturus fled until they reached the secret passage they had just discovered. Akira pushed Arcturus unceremoniously inside before sneaking into the tunnel and then she pulled the block of stone that closed the passage back in place.
"That was close." Arcturus said, catching his breath while turning his flashlight back on. "We would have been in big trouble if we got caught dragging out of Hogwarts in the middle of the night. We could have been banned from school for good."
"Yes, I think it's enough for tonight." Akira agreed. "Let's go back to the Common Room withought being caught."
"It's already pretty good that we found one secret passage." Arcturus said as they turned back along the tunnel. "Especially one that brings directly to Hogsmeade even though we might get in trouble if we go there without permission."
They reached the castle and made their way to Gryffindor Common Room without bumping into Peeves or Filch. Then they returned to their respective dorm after wishing each other a good night.
They didn't have time the next day to search the school for an other secret passage because it was New Year's Eve. Exceptionally on that day, the students were allowed to walk around the school until midnight before reaching the Great Hall for the countdown. Dr Filibuster's fireworks awaited them on the tables in the Great Hall and they grabbed them as the countdown of the New Year began.
"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one… HAPPY NEW YEAR !" All the students and some Professors yelled at the same time as they ignited the fireworks which ricocheted all over the walls of the Great Hall, sending sparks all over the place and producing deafening detonations. While watching the colourful fireworks going everywhere, Akira made a good resolution for this new year which was to not get into trouble and act more reasonably but she knew it would be difficult for her to keep that promise.
After the students had enjoyed the fireworks one last time - some of them including Arcturus had even stuffed fireworks in their pockets to light them in their Common Room - they returned to their beds. Arcturus couldn't help but light the fireworks in the Gryffindor Common Room before going to bed so he and Akira heard small explosions noises all night long which woke them up from time to time.
The next morning, the fireworks were still ricocheting slowly on the ground of the Common Room as Akira woke up. It was the Friday before back to school so the students who had joined their families for the holidays returned to Hogwarts at the end of the day with the Hogwarts Express. It let them a whole weekend to get back into the atmosphere of the school before returning into classes. Due to the fact that there were more people at school with the end of the holidays, Akira and Arcturus decided to postpone their nighttime exploration of the castle to find other secret passages.
Hello dear readers and happy New Year !
Let's hope this new year will be better than the old one ! So that's it for the Christmas holidays celebrations at Hogwarts and it's time to go back to school with all the homework that comes with and the Quidditch matches planned.
I plan to post a new chapter per month to cover the major events taking place at Hogwarts until the end of the school year and then we will see what second year has in store for Akira.