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Despite the hard floor and the thin blanket that she had managed to wrap around herself, Birdie slept like the world was at peace that night, and she hardly wanted to move when a boot kicked her shoe. She groaned and shifted, pulling the blanket around her tighter.
"Ravenclaw," a voice said sharply above her. Sadie's voice.
Birdie knew she should probably wake up. It was most likely her turn to be on lookout, and it was only fair for her to share sleeping time and awake time with Sadie. She groaned once more and tried to encourage her hands to push the blankets off herself.
"Ravenclaw," the voice, Sadie, said a bit louder.
"I'm moving," Birdie said in a muffled, groggy voice. "Give me a minute."
"I don't have a minute," Sadie said. "You've intruded in my space long enough. Get up."
Birdie sighed. She figured if she was sleep deprived and wanted a few hours of shut eye, she'd probably be just as moody as Sadie was now. She hummed softly as she sat up and stretched. She felt very refreshed for having only gotten a couple hours of sleep. Agrippa purred and stretched at her side, rising as well. Birdie looked around, surprised at how light it was in the castle. She frowned.
"Wait," she said, "what time is it?"
"Time to get moving," Sadie said, her orange and red streaked glasses covering her eyes and her staff standing tall at the ready next to her. She was wearing the green cloak once more, the hood lowered for now. "We don't have all day."
Birdie's frown deepened as she gathered her bag and threw it over her shoulders. She stood up slowly, careful not to whack her head on the low ceiling. Agrippa trotted ahead, tail fluffed out and held high while Birdie slowly stepped toward Sadie.
"I thought we were taking turns on look out?" she asked.
"As if I'd trust a stranger to keep look out while I slept vulnerably in the corner," Sadie said as she unsheathed the blade end of her staff and stroked the blade against the flatter stone surface of the crumbled wall to the side of her. She paused to stare at the sharpened edge after a few strokes on either side of the blade before sheathing the blade once more. Birdie watched her in silent amazement before clearing her throat.
"So," Birdie began, "did you get any sleep last night?"
"As much as I need," Sadie said. "How about you, Ravenclaw? I think you slept enough for the both of us."
"My name is Roberta," Birdie snapped defensively, crossing her arms over her chest.
There was an uncomfortable silence as Sadie stared intently at Birdie, who shifted back and forth on her feet after a few seconds. Then, Sadie slowly lowered her head slightly, peering over her glasses as her hand adjusted them enough to reveal her cold blue eyes.
"I know," Sadie said.
Birdie's mouth drew into a tight straight line as she bit her lower lip. Right, she had forgotten about the glasses that read everyone's names and blood status. She was rather relieved when Sadie took the glasses off and shoved them into an inner robe pocket. She did not like feeling that the other girl was constantly scrutinizing her.
"We need to start scouting for food, supplies, and water while there is daylight," Sadie explained. "As soon as it starts getting dark, we take shelter immediately. Fail to do so, and you'll be someone else's prey."
It sounded agreeable. Birdie liked the idea of having company over roaming the castle alone. However, she didn't want to get sidetracked from her main mission. She did not want to live in the mostly abandoned portion of the castle for long.
"I need to search for Sanctuary," Birdie said.
"Search on your own time. You're going to want to stock up on as much as you can before going on any kind of prolonged treasure hunt, and what you've got in that bag won't last you three days. I suggest you spend today scouting."
"You went through my bag?" Birdie asked, her eyes widening and her hands clenching at her sides. "While I was asleep?"
"You should work on raising your guard," Sadie said in a matter of fact tone of voice. "You're not hiding under the covers anymore; time to learn some hypervigilance."
"You had no right digging through my stuff." Birdie stepped closer to Sadie, glaring at her as she pointed an accusatory finger at her. "Talk about an invasion of personal privacy, you can't just go snooping in other people's belongings and expect me to be cool with it. That is against so many rules and—"
Her words were choked when her breath was knocked out of her as Sadie's staff slammed into her side, forcing her to sidestep away in a near half circle before her footing slipped and she felt herself falling backwards.
Quickly, her hands lunged forward and gripped what she could of the staff, holding on with all her strength as she leaned precariously over the cliff edge of Sadie's hideout, her sneakers struggling to maintain a grip on the rugged stone.
Jagged breaths dried her throat and her sweaty palms slipped slightly and she tightened her grip on the staff, her face a paler color even as her heart pounded blood through her body. She glanced down at the ground far below her and then looked up into Sadie's eyes.
"Let's get one thing straight," Sadie said, holding the other end of the staff steadily. "You, rookie, are in no position to tell me what I can and cannot do. For all I knew, you were looking for victims to rob and ventured a little too far outside your domain, which is why the wolves found you. The contents of your bag told me a different story, so you've earned yourself the benefit of the doubt. You cannot blindly trust anyone in this castle now, not even me. You'll be stabbed in the back and left to rot that much sooner."
Birdie gulped as she struggled against gravity, trying hard to pull herself up onto solid ground. Her shoes slipped and she found grip quickly and stilled. Agrippa ran forward and bit the hem of her robe, trying desperately to yank her owner up into the caved room.
"You have no clue what you're doing," Sadie continued, shaking her head at Birdie. "You're weak, you're inexperienced, and you will do as you're told if you have any inclination to survive. Because believe me, Ravenclaw, I will throw you to the wolves myself if you prove to be a threat or inconvenience of any kind. Is that clear?"
Birdie nodded quickly, and like that, Sadie yanked on the staff, pulling Birdie up into the room so abruptly that Birdie staggered before falling to her knees, gasping slightly as Agrippa ran over to her and sniffed her worriedly. Birdie took a moment to appreciate that she was still alive, her roving hands feeling the hard floor beneath her.
Sadie kneeled in front of her, bracing herself against her staff with two hands.
"Welcome to the new Hogwarts," she said.
Standing back up, Sadie walked toward the entrance, allowing Birdie to recuperate. The anger that Birdie had originally felt at Sadie's invasion of her belongings has dissolved and was replaced with a sense of wariness of the Slytherin. It was strange to think that Sadie had shared classes with her—they were completely different people now. While she never really knew the Slytherin, she was sure she remembered seeing the girl smile in some of those classes. Now, she was stuck with a much-hardened version of that girl. Was that what would become of her if she remained within these walls?
Agrippa mewed in front of. The kneazle gently bumped her head against Birdie's, rubbing against her soothingly as she purred. Birdie ran her hand down Agrippa's back, feeling some tension leave her muscles with that one simple action. She slowly stood back up on shaky legs.
"Let's go, Ravenclaw," Sadie said once more. "You've wasted enough time as it is."
Birdie sent a half-hearted glare at Sadie's back before adjusting her bag on her shoulders. It suddenly felt very heavy, and Sadie glanced back at her.
"You should ditch that bag at your earliest convenience," Sadie said as if nothing life threatening had occurred between them. "It'll slow you down."
With that said, Sadie jumped off the ledge, allowing herself to fall a few feet before grabbing the vine and sliding down the ivy vine that hung outside the room. Birdie watched Sadie land and then hesitated as she reached out and pulled the vine closer to her. She stared down at the ground below, her stomach plummeting. After nearly falling as she had, she was not too inclined to jump down to her death. Sadie made it look so easy.
Birdie adjusted her bag once more, wondering if the bag really did slow her down for a moment before she patted her shoulder, encouraging Agrippa to jump up on her back and grip her shoulder with her front paws. Agrippa hid her face against Birdie's shoulder, her eyes clenched shut.
Throwing all caution and reason to the wind, Birdie pushed off the ledge and slid all the way down to the ground below, where Sadie waited with a tapping foot.
"Sorry," Birdie said, though she was unsure if she was supposed to apologize for anything or not.
Sadie jerked her head toward the hall and began walking down it, Birdie running to catch up after a second's hesitation.
Sadie moved with purpose, quiet steps hitting the ground despite the heavy looking boots she wore. Birdie tried to keep her shoes just as quiet but every now and then they would scuff the floor or let out a small squeak. She jumped and froze at each noise, waiting for the wolves to reappear, even though she knew they'd all be human by now.
"No wonder the wolves found you," Sadie muttered. "You're louder than an erumpent in a cauldron shop."
"It's these shoes," Birdie said.
"Silence them!" Sadie demanded, spinning to glare at Birdie, stopping abruptly and forcing Birdie to pause as well.
Feeling her cheeks heat up, Birdie cursed her oversight at such a simple solution—she was a Ravenclaw after all, wasn't she? Pulling out her wand, Birdie cast a silencing charm on her shoes and took a few hesitant steps, glad when the charm worked. Sadie turned and began walking once more without a word, taking a right down another hall. Birdie once again had to run to catch up, Agrippa trotting at her side.
"You seem to know where you're going," Birdie said.
"Been doing this awhile," Sadie responded.
"Right," Birdie said. She studied the hall they were in, recognizing a few of the portraits. "We're on the first floor, the Great Hall is right below this hall, which means the kitchens are close."
"You think there'll be food there after all this time?"
"Pure Magic is still here, so they must be getting food from somewhere."
"They have their own kitchen, along with classrooms, a dining all—a whole quarter of this castle devoted just to them. That is where they stay, and we keep as far away from it as possible."
"And Sanctuary must have their own section of the castle. All we have to do is find it."
"Sanctuary is a myth." Sadie held her staff out at an angle, effectively stopping Birdie in her tracks before she turned the corner ahead of Sadie.
"It is not," Birdie said.
Peeking around the corner, Sadie held a finger to her lips, then motioned for Birdie to look around the corner as well. Moving slowly, Birdie slid along the wall until a single eye could see what creature or person might be down the hall. Her eyes flickered in recognition.
"Peeves," she said softly, staring at the poltergeist that was actively scribbling chalk along the walls.
"There is a storage closet downstairs near the kitchen," Sadie said. "A pantry of sorts, but with many secret nooks and crannies for the adult snacks and drinks. It was mainly locked and used by the house elves while school was in session, but it's been a free for all now. We'll have to go back around to reach it."
"Why?"
"Because Peeves is a loud nuisance. He might not be all for Pure Magic but he's not above attracting attention when he encounters the rare human. He's still a poltergeist who lives to scare and annoy."
"So we have to go all the way around this block?" Birdie frowned in thought. "Wait . . . Muggle Studies was held on this floor."
"You took Muggle Studies?" Sadie asked, quirking a brow.
"Just for a year," Birdie said. "But in the classroom, the teacher had a back door that led to her office and quarters, and another door that could get us to the opposite side of this block, then we wouldn't have to go all the way around."
"Well, well," Sadie intoned, "and here I thought I was wasting my time with you. So, you're not completely useless. I was beginning to think you were sorted wrong with how incompetent you've been thus far."
"It's hard to think clearly when you're under a lot of pressure."
"A Ravenclaw who doesn't perform well under pressure? I'm shocked."
The sarcasm sparked a flicker of annoyance inside Birdie, who bit it back and instead said, "You know what I mean. Normal pressure like exams, or essays due the next day, or quidditch games; those I can figure out how to manage. All of this is a matter of life and death, so sorry, if I'm a bit unfocused."
"Then I suggest you start clearing your head," Sadie said. "It might just save your life. That's just like a Ravenclaw; all the knowledge you desire but you forgot to pick up a basic survival book. Lead the way, but if you walk us into a trap . . ."
"I know, I know," Birdie interrupted, holding her hands up in mock defeat, "you'll leave me there to rot, right?"
"We'll see."
Birdie smirked the slightest, then walked past a few doors until she recognized the number of the Muggle Studies classroom. She tried not to let Sadie's words get to her too much. How was she to know this would be her future? Survival techniques never seemed like a topic she'd ever need to study, with Hogwarts deemed the safest school on earth and her parent's estate a close second. She had always been so sure and confident in her own security and safety she never questioned it might one day change.
She found the door to the classroom and it opened with no resistance, so she slowly pushed it open the rest of the way. Glancing around to make sure it was empty, she stepped into the classroom, then shut the door behind them once Sadie and Agrippa had slipped through.
The classroom was completely deserted. Chairs were overturned and a desk was demolished in two pieces. Several muggle equipment and objects were thrown around the room, leaving a mess the girls had to carefully shuffle through to avoid making noise. Agrippa jumped gracefully from chair to desk and desk to chair.
They managed to reach the back door uneventfully, but it had a padlock bolted to the door and frame.
"Who do you think locked this? The professor?" Birdie asked.
"She could have magically locked it from inside," Sadie guessed. "Smart because it makes you think no one is in there. Dumb because now I think there's something of value inside and might want to break in."
"What if she is in there?" Birdie asked.
"Then she's about to have some uninvited guests." Sadie hovered her hand over the lock and said, "Alohomora!"
Nothing happened.
"Why don't you use your wand?" Birdie asked.
"Does it look like I have one?" Sadie turned annoyed eyes on Birdie.
"What happened to it?"
"Why don't you use your wand?" Sadie asked evenly, stepping back, and folding her arms as she gave Birdie room.
Birdie slid her wand from her sleeve and carefully moved through the correct motions above the door before saying the incantation. Nothing happened for her either. She frowned, focusing her magic on the padlock as she repeated the incantation. Again, nothing happened. She tried a counter curse then the incantation again. The padlock remained in place.
"We'll be here all day going through every counter spell you know," Sadie said as she shouldered Birdie aside and kneeled in front of the padlock after resting her staff against the wall. "The thing I've noticed about those who rely heavily on magic is that they forget muggle tactics and don't spell against those."
Sadie pulled two bobby pins from an inner robe pocket and bit one to bend it in half and then bit the other one till it was nearly one hundred and eighty degrees. She inserted the bobby pins into the keyhole and fiddled with them for a minute before she turned both bobby pins and the padlock clicked open.
"As if I had used the key," Sadie stated proudly as she shoved the bobby pins back into a robe pocket. She waved her hand over the doorknob, and her spell worked this time and the door creaked loudly as if it hadn't been opened in a long time.
Sadie grabbed her staff and tiptoed inside, Birdie following her cautiously, feeling extremely rude for intruding into someone else's safe space, but also not willing to be left behind in a vulnerable space. A strong, acidic smell hit them as they walked inside, and Birdie covered a hand over her nose. There were no candles lit, not even a fire in the fireplace, and the lack of windows made the room eerily dark. Birdie groaned and winced when her knee collided into something sharp.
"Lumos," Sadie whispered.
Birdie gasped when the room illuminated with bright light from a crystal held in Sadie's hand. She knew it was possible to illuminate other objects with the spell, but with the convenience of wands, she had never seen anyone actually do it. Sadie moved the crystal around to get a good look at the room, revealing a large office space that doubled a living area with a couch in front of the fireplace, a bookshelf against the far wall and a kitchen to the other, and a couple ajar doors which at quick glance appeared to be a bedroom and bathroom.
They both jumped at the sight of the professor at her desk.
She was half decayed, sitting in the office chair but her upper half slouched over her desk, her eyes closed. Several potion vials littered the desk, and some were on the floor where they had rolled away to.
"Professor Burbage," Birdie murmured as tears welled in her eyes and her hands covered her mouth in shock.
Sadie stepped closer to the desk, studying the vials closely. She let go of the crystal and it floated in place with a levitation charm.
"Looks like she OD'd," Sadie said, "on a sleeping draught."
"What?" Birdie asked, her brows shooting up.
"She overdosed," Sadie clarified as she kept picking up vials and looking inside them, moving closer to the body to check the vials closer to the deceased professor. "Took the easy way out rather than living through the horrors of what Hogwarts has become. Sleeping draughts are relatively safe, but obviously too much could induce a coma. Combine it with pain killers and a dreamless sleep potion and you'll never wake up."
Sadie moved around the desk and scanned the shelves in the back, frowning as she moved around to check the side shelves. There were only books and journals.
"What are you doing?" Birdie asked.
"Looking for anything we can use," Sadie said as she checked the vials on the floor. She pointed at nothing in particular. "Do the same."
Birdie's nose crinkled as she eyed Sadie for a few seconds before looking around the living space. She didn't quite believe Sadie, but she figured it wouldn't hurt to look for food, medical supplies, or anything else of use. She ignored the disturbed feeling in her stomach that she was snooping through a professor's office, one that was dead not ten feet away from her. A sadness washed over her at the loss of a professor, but she pushed the feeling down to focus on the job at hand.
She pointed in the direction of the living room and Agrippa took off to sniff around. Birdie checked the kitchen first, but there was not a crumb of food left. The sink gurgled when Birdie turned the knob, but no water appeared. She left the kitchen and moved toward the living room.
There was a table with a strange puzzle like design on the top of it. There was a drawer, but she could not make it pull out. She rested a hand on the table in thought when she felt grooves under her fingers.
Birdie studied the puzzle design closely, seeing the small grooves all along the design. Using the edge of a finger nail she plucked at a part of the table, and a small wooden square pulled out.
"This table is a puzzle," Birdie said aloud, though it was more to herself.
"Leave it," Sadie's voice commanded from the other side of the room.
Birdie ignored her. She stared at the random design on the table for a few seconds.
"I think, by the angles and lines of the design, that this is supposed to be some kind of star with a circle. The eight-pointed star, perhaps? Surrounded by the circle, it'd make sense."
"I said leave it alone," Sadie warned again, though she kept scanning more shelves.
Birdie quickly began pulling more small wooden pieces out of the table and began rearranging the design into a connected picture. Her hunch was right, the eight-pointed star fit nicely together, and as she placed the last piece to complete the symbol, she heard a small click.
Smiling, Birdie pulled the handle on the drawer, and it finally slid open, revealing a small wooden box. Birdie carefully lifted the box, only to be met with slight resistance when she almost had it freed.
There was another click, then a loud buzzing alarm went off in the quarters, startling everyone inside.
"Dammit, Ravenclaw!" Sadie growled, slamming down a book she had been flipping through. "You had to touch it, didn't you?"
Birdie yanked the box out of the drawer, but the alarm continued through the office space. Sadie grabbed Birdie's arm as she ran by her, dragging her through the professor's quarters to the farthest side of the room. Agrippa leaped after them.
There was another door in the back of the kitchen and Sadie tried to push it open, but it dd not budge.
"Students in the castle!" Peeves voice could be heard cheering, growing louder as the ghost was no doubt coming to investigate. "Live students in the castle!"
Then there were sounds of footsteps in the hall.
"Come on," Sadie pleaded, pushing against the door. Birdie tried to help her, pushing against it as well, trying every unlocking charm and counter spell she knew in hopes something might work. Sadie yanked her away from the door and stepped back. She raised a hand.
There was a loud boom, and the wood was blown to bits by the explosive curse Sadie used. The sound seemed to excite the footsteps that were coming toward them as it sounded like running steps now.
Sadie pushed Birdie through it first then jumped out the splintered hole herself before running down the hall. Birdie had enough sense to chase after her, as did Agrippa, and they ran down two halls, down a flight of stairs, and then made a sharp turn.
Birdie yelped as she was yanked into a large room with many shelves. Sadie shushed her as she shut the door behind them, then ran toward the back shelves and dropped to the floor, crawling underneath a shelf and tapping her hand against the stone in a steady beat five times.
The stone parted open.
"Come on," Sadie said as she shoved her staff along the wall under the shelf before she crawled into the revealing space.
Birdie had no time to realize they were in the storage pantry Sadie had mentioned earlier as she dropped down and crawled in after her. The stone closed around them as Agrippa slipped inside, just as the door to the storage room creaked open.
Sadie held a finger to her lips, staring intently at Birdie, who nearly held her breath. The small space they were in had an eerie glow about it, even though it was a pocket in the wall with no window or even a gap in the stone to let light in. She wondered how air even made it inside.
Slow, calculated foot falls moved through the room on the other side of the stone, and Birdie swallowed dryly as the footsteps grew louder, inching closer to where Sadie and Birdie were hiding. Agrippa's fur bristled and she growled lowly, only ceasing when Birdie laid a hand on the kneazle's back.
There was silence for a few seconds before a voice cut through the air.
"Whoever it was is long gone," a woman's voice said. "I swore I heard them go into this room."
"We'll catch them," a man's voice said. "We always do. They'll make a mistake sooner or later and then we'll have them. A feast for two."
"I get the first bite," the woman said. "I'm sick of rats and owls every night. We were promised a supply of muggles and muggleborns."
Birdie gasped. Vampires? In Hogwarts? Sadie closed her eyes at the noise Birdie made, and Birdie realized her mistake when she heard footsteps stop moving. There was silence for a long moment, then movement once more as they heard the two creatures walk away from the closet. There was silence in the dark pocket space for another minute, but as the fear subsided, Birdie realized a new problem.
She was getting very hot, and her breathing was coming in a bit sharper. She remembered her though on how oxygen got into the space and realized a terrible thought: it didn't.
Birdie tapped on the stone urgently, but nothing happened.
"What do you have?" Sadie asked.
"Sadie, air," Birdie pleaded, pounding the stone once more. Her throat constricted as it struggled to force air into her lungs. "Please."
"What was so important that you nearly cost us our lives? Show me."
Birdie fumbled with the box she had pulled from the drawer before holding it out to Sadie, anything to appease her and have her free them from the pocket space draining of oxygen quickly.
"Open it," Sadie said.
"Sadie," Birdie exasperated, wondering how on earth Sadie could be so calm. She could see the sweat on the other girl's brow, and her chest was starting to expand a bit more rapidly, but Sadie's indifferent face waited expectantly.
Defeated and a bit lightheaded, Birdie looked at the box and gently unlatched it and lifted the lid. Inside was a single piece of parchment that read: If you're ever in need of hope . . .
Below the words was the eight-pointed star symbol. Birdie closed her eyes, tears welling in them as she set the box and parchment down. She had risked all of their lives over some piece of memorabilia or sentimental letter from a loved one of the former Muggle Studies professor.
"I'm sorry," Birdie whispered. Her chest was starting to hurt.
Sadie's eyes narrowed, but she reached out a hand and tapped a specific pattern on the door, and it slid open once more.
The rush of cold air hit Birdie hard, nearly drowning her lungs, but she sucked it in desperately. Birdie quickly crawled out, then Sadie, then Agrippa just before the stone closed on her.
The girls took in several deep breaths, ignoring the other for a moment.
"I don't ever want a repeat of this," Sadie growled, "or you'll be on your own again. We'll see how long that Ravenclaw curiosity keeps you alive."
"I'm sorry," Birdie repeated. "I thought it might be something that could help us."
Sadie pulled her staff out from under the shelf and slowly stood up.
"Look around for food," she said. "Scan the walls with your wand for hidden pockets. The tapping patterns to make the walls open are different for each one so just keep hitting the wall until the pocket opens. If we're lucky, we might finally be able to have a decent breakfast."
Birdie's stomach growled at the mere thought. She thought about digging into her bag but if Sadie was right about the food lasting her only a few days, she figured it would be best to eat it sparingly, maybe even pull out an item when they found something else to eat with it in this pantry closet.
Sadie turned away, using her hand to scan the wall while also shoving torn boxes aside to see if any food lingered in the back of the shelves.
Agrippa meowed at Birdie and pawed a small parchment on the ground. Birdie picked it up and realized it was the message that was in the box. She sighed and shook her head.
"It's nothing, Agrippa. It won't help us."
"Mreow," Agrippa replied.
Birdie sighed and shoved the parchment in a robe pocket. She stood up and began to scan the opposite wall from Sadie. Every now and then, she'd glance back at Sadie to see her either using her hand to scan the wall or she'd be using her staff to scan higher places she couldn't reach. It amazed Birdie how much Sadie could do without a wand, and she cleared her throat.
"May I . . . ask a question? Without having my head ripped off?"
"I would never do something so mundane when I know thousands of curses that could keep your head spinning on your shoulders for weeks," was Sadie's lovely response.
Birdie rolled her eyes, though she wasn't sure if Sadie was serious or not.
"I'm just really curious about what happened to your wand," Birdie said. "Did you lose it? A long time ago? You seem pretty used to wandless magic. And good at it. Like you haven't had a wand in a long time."
Sadie kept scanning the walls, and Birdie wondered if she would even answer her question or pretend like she never heard it. Sighing, Birdie turned back to her side and began scanning again.
"It was snapped," Sadie finally said.
Birdie swung her head back around.
Sadie's head was lowered slightly with a pained expression taking over.
"By Pure Magic."
Birdie's eyes widened.