Harry Potter and the Chalice of the Enchanter
Chapter Six
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Harry was sitting in the common room when Rachel came in after her meeting with Dumbledore. She looked dazed. It was evident that the conference had been important by the fact that Rachel had spent over an hour in the headmaster's office.
Harry looked up from the book he was reading and smiled at her. Rachel was so… pretty. He just couldn't think of any way to put it. She had jade-green eyes that sparkled like diamonds when she smiled, and her hair was as soft as silk. Rachel walked over to where Harry was sitting and sat down next to him.
"Would you think of me any differently if I weren't a, um, traditional witch?" her voice quavered ever so slightly. Harry didn't have the foggiest idea about what she was saying.
"Of course not! Why, are you an animagus, or something?" Harry was very puzzled. Rachel was obviously worried about something and being very discreet about it. He decided to let this strange conversation continue.
She sighed. "I wish it were that simple. I'm an omnimagus." Rachel paused; Harry didn't seem to know what that was. "I can see how magic works, all magic, except Dark Magic. I probably wouldn't be able to tell how Voldemort's spells work." She gasped and clamped a hand over her mouth. How could she be so insensitive? People hated hearing Voldemort's name; Harry would probably go ballistic.
"I'm sorry, I meant to say 'You-Know-Who's' name. I can be so forgetful."
Harry laughed. "No, its fine. On the contrary, I prefer to use his name, if we're afraid of a name, we're going to be petrified of the actual person." Rachel's features softened a little and she dropped her hand from her face.
"That's a relief. At my old school, I scared kids half to death because I refused to not say his name!"
"I wonder if being an omnimagus changes the way you see things, like Voldemort, for example. I know grown men who are afraid to say his name, and you go around using it like it was your own. Do you think that your understanding of magic interferes with your ability to be afraid of magic?" Harry looked pensive, he appeared to be trying to analyze Rachel's abilities.
Rachel stiffened at the mention of her skill. She wasn't sure she wanted to be an omnimagus. People would scorn her for being different. They had done that to Harry in the years he'd been here. She didn't think she could be as strong as he had been. There was just too much pressure involved.
Harry looked into Rachel's face, "What's wrong? Every time I talk, you look like Moaning Myrtle." Rachel smiled, vaguely, she decided to open up to Harry, he would understand.
"I just don't want to be different. I would rather be the same as any other wizard or witch. The students will shun me and the teachers will either marvel or scorn. I don't think I can handle that." Tears welled up in her eyes. She had just wanted to fit in. She was already so different, being an American.
"No one has to know. Dumbledore won't tell anyone, you don't have to either.
Rachel's smile returned. "Thanks, I knew you would understand." Rachel was standing up when she noticed something strange, the fire had gone out. Magical fires weren't supposed to go out. In fact, now that she thought about it, she couldn't sense any magic at all. It was almost a if something had absorbed it all. She pulled her wand out. "Lumos!" She saw the spell leave the wand, a silvery wisp of magic, and then, disappear. She tried again, same results. Something was soaking up the magic.
***
Harry, Ron, Hermione and Rachel were sitting at one of the large tables in the library at Hogwarts. Each one of them had a stack of books and scrolls in front of them. Hermione was frantically scribbling down notes on a roll of parchment that was easily two feet long.
"I think I finally found it!" She cried out happily and began reading from an ancient book with a worn, leather binding.
The Chalice of the Enchanter:
The origin of this chalice is unknown, as is the reason for its title. All that is known about this legendary goblet is its purpose. The Chalice of the Enchanter absorbs magic. Wherever the Chalice is held, it pulls the spells around it in, and repels the spells that are already contained inside it. It is believed that the knowledge of the entire wizarding world is held inside the Chalice.
Hermione put the quill down on the table. "The Chalice must be here! I bet that's why Dumbledore has banned the third floor corridor. That's why the magic disappeared for an instant. They must have brought the Chalice into the building. Then, the spells rebounded back to us."
"Why would they keep the Chalice here. It's never been at Hogwarts before; this book says that the Chalice has always been kept at the Museum of Magical Artifacts and Treasures." Ron was puzzled, to say the least.
Hermione sighed and looked ever so slightly annoyed. "Its obvious, someone's trying to get it. The Chalice holds all of the knowledge wizards have ever acquired. Whoever found the Chalice could control the entire world. If they were evil enough."
Rachel gasped. "Voldemort!" She cried. "It's him, it's got to be!" she looked at Ron's shocked face.
"Don't say that word." He croaked. "It scares the living daylights out of me!"
Hermione looked interested. "How do you figure."
"Well, I researched the events that took place during the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Voldemort was strong then, correct?" she looked around at the three nodding heads. "He has had all summer to recuperate. He might have an entire nation of Death Eaters backing him up! All he needs is power, he doesn't have much of that. The Chalice would help him tremendously."
Harry thought for a minute. "She's right, as far as I can tell. Who else would have a use for a national treasure."
Ron was the practical one this time. "I think that you guys are blowing this way out of proportion. We should wait until we have a reason to go an investigate."
"Always ruining the fun." Harry joked. He looked at Rachel, who appeared to be deep in thought. "What's on your mind?" she snapped to and looked at him.
"Was I daydreaming again?" Harry looked at her as if she were crazy. "Remember that discussion, this is completely related."
"Oh." Was all he said. Harry didn't want to make her upset.
"What discussion?" Hermione's' voice was a little icy. "Am I being left out of anything?" she took a step towards Harry. This girl was taking over her life! First she comes in and puts Snape in his place, then she get special attention from McGonagall and Sprout. Now she had the nerve to start having private conversations with Hermione's friends!
"It was nothing, don't worry, Hermione. You haven't been replaced."
Rachel smiled at Hermione, apologetically. "I just needed help with a small problem and Harry was the first person I ran into. I would have asked you, but you were in Arithmancy." Hermione's frown dissipated.
"Sorry," she mumbled, "I've just been feeling a touch of jealousy lately." Hermione stalked out of the library, to the dorm, leaving the three friends behind.
"She'll be okay." Ron stated flatly, as if he didn't believe what he was saying. "It's not your fault. She's just used to being the best at everything. It will pass." He smiled at Rachel. She smiled back. It was nice having friends like these.
***
That night, something gave Harry a very strong reason to believe that Voldemort was back; his scar hurt. It wasn't just a dull throbbing like usual, his entire head ached and a shooting pain raced through his body. He sat upright and shivered. He had thrown all of his blankets on the floor. He reached down to pick them up and heard voices. There were three, all talking down in the common room. One voice was distinctly American.
"What was that?" Hermione's voice was shaking. She and Rachel were sitting on the sofa by the fireplace, staring into the merrily crackling flames. Ron was pacing in front of them; his robes had clumsily been thrown over his pajamas. The girls were still in their nightgowns. They had just run down to the common room and seen Ron.
Harry joined the three and sat down next to Rachel. "So, why are you three up?"
"We all heard something about five minutes ago, it woke Hermione and I up, Ron was already down here."
"You were talking in your sleep again. I decided to come down here to read, that's when I heard the noise. It was a shrill scream, like one of Hagrid's beasts." Ron looked a little worried.
"I wonder why nobody else heard it." Harry mused. This was peculiar. First, his scar hurts, then a beast, which only they can hear, well his friends could hear it, is heard shrieking. And then there was the Chalice, Harry was sure that it was at Hogwarts. Where else would they store it if it were sought by evil? Certainly not Gringotts, the wizard bank was not nearly as safe as Hogwarts.
"We were the only ones who didn't drink Madame Pomfrey's hot cocoa today. They added a sleeping potion, and thankfully Rachel found out. The three of us just gave our cocoa to the other students. You obviously had a nightmare, or your scar hurt." That was Hermione, always the logical voice in the group.
"Okay, so it hurt, what does that have to do with anything?"
"Everything." Rachel chimed in. "I'm thinking we should have a scavenger hunt tonight."
"I like the way you think." Hermione agreed. "Harry, will your Invisibility Cloak cover all of us?"
"I don't know, we've only done three people at a time."
'No problem. I got one for my birthday. It was a gift from the twins. They still have a gross amount of money from your winnings." Ron laughed. The Weasley twins had developed their own line of candies, including their infamous Ton-Tongues. With the extra money, they had bought Ron and Ginny Invisibility Cloaks to keep the mischief going. Ron bolted to his dorm room and pulled the silvery cloak from his trunk.
"Why don't I go with Ron." Hermione said, slyly. "Rachel isn't as familiar with our methods, you can help her." Hermione and Ron ducked beneath the shimmery fabric and disappeared. Rachel and Harry did the same.
The four Gryffindors slowly crept from the common room, only opening the portrait wide enough to squeeze out. They didn't want to wake the Fat Lady, she would surely botch their plans.
Rachel had no idea where she was going. Mainly she held onto Harry's robes and walked. She could hear Hermione and Ron close by. Ron had just stepped on Hermione foot, for the third time, and was being chastised again.
"Why isn't Hermione mad at me anymore?" Rachel whispered in Harry's ear. She was positive that Hermione wouldn't just give up a grudge that easily.
"Oh, we talked to her and she realized that she shouldn't be mad at you just because you were better in one subject. We told her that she should try to concentrate on making friends, we already have enough enemies."
"Thanks, I don't like people being angry with me or jealous of me."
"We're here." The group stopped in front of a large door. Hermione pointed her wand at it.
"Wait!" Rachel hissed. "The Chalice is behind that door, whatever spell you cast is going to be sucked up by the Chalice and returned to you without any affect."
"That must be Dumbledore's first defense! The person trying to get by this door would have to find a way, besides their wand, to open it!" Hermione smiled triumphantly. "Wait, how are we going to get by?" her smile faded.
"I'm working on it!" Rachel whispered. She didn't want to attract attention. She looked at the door and saw a single thread of powerful magic was wrapped around the lock. Slowly, she untangled the knotted spell and pushed on the door. It opened.
Hermione and Ron gaped at the door. "How?" they both stammered.
"Just a trick I picked up somewhere." Rachel wasn't sure she wanted to reveal her secret just yet.
They stumbled into the dark room. Hermione started humming, to calm Fluffy's nerves, but the three-headed dog wasn't there. In fact, all that seemed to be in the room was a beast that appeared to be a hippogryff.
"BUCKBEAK!" Hermione cried, throwing her arms around the animal's neck. She hadn't seen him since his trial, two years ago.
Harry a smiled and approached the hippogryff. He had removed the Invisibility Cloak. Rachel crept up behind him. After Harry had greeted Buckbeak, Rachel bowed to the magnificent creature. "He's beautiful." She breathed out. Buckbeak bowed back and Rachel stroked his smooth beak.
Rachel saw something in one of the dark corners. It looked like the outline of a man. She grabbed Harry's arm and pointed. The shadowy figure walked closer to them, he was almost to Buckbeak. Hermione gasped and Ron looked pale. The man walked slowly towards the small group and they could see his face.
"Sirius!" Harry cried.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Please review! :)
~Caitie
