A.N. Darn ff.net, being down so long… anywayz, I hope that you enjoy this chapter, and that you REVIEW!!!!!! Oh, and to the person who thought that the Runespoor scene was really graphic, trust me, I could've made it a WHOLE lot more gory. Anywayz, enjoy!
Malena
When Ivy and Harry were in the Common Room, everyone kept glancing over in their direction and smirking. The evening after the kiss, people were coming up to Harry and Ivy, congratulating them for getting together, even though, at that time a day ago they had been avoiding Harry and Ivy after that fiasco with the Runespoor. Harry was getting quite annoyed telling people that Ivy and him were only pretending to be together in order to make Alex jealous. Ron still winked at Harry and gave him a mischievous smile. Bye the next morning the two of them were so sick of each other that they could hardly sit next together at breakfast the next morning.
But when Alex walked in, Harry leaned over and pecked Ivy on the cheek and whispered incoherently into her ear. She gave a fake giggle and turned back to her breakfast. Alex scowled and sat down across from them, looking up ever so often. Harry heard giggles from the house tables. Harry rolled his eyes slightly, and turned to Sphinx.
"What did the new clue say?" Harry asked, putting some cinnamon onto his oatmeal.
"The clue? Well…"
"What?" Ivy asked.
"…There are three music notes." Sphinx said. "We don't know what they're for or when we'll have to use them. There's a short message at the bottom too. I've made a copy of the message for each of us."
"It's a good thing that everyone here can read music," Max said. Today she was wearing a shirt that simply said SECURITY and her hair was in wild curls around her face.
"How's Brian?" Angelina asked, looking up. "Will he be returning to our group or what?"
"The last thing we heard he only had one eye, and he has to have his broken leg healed the Muggle way," Percy said.
"I feel so sorry for him and his family," Max said. She sighed and started picking at her toast.
"Yeah, well, the Healing Department is going to get him a new eye that looks and acts just like his old one. As for his leg…. Well…"
"We get the point," Alex said. "May we see the clue." Sphinx flicked her wand and the papers appeared in front of everyone. Harry looked down at it and saw that it had the same snake-like writing.
When the werewolf howls the moon has risen at this late hour of the night.
But the beast vanishes at sun's first light.
The wall shall open at the sound of the bell, the glass, and the chime.
Hope and pray that you do this all in time…
The snake slithered to the border of the page, just as a word oozed out of the page.
Rose…
"Rose?" Ivy said. "What's that supposed to mean. "And what's with the werewolf howling, and the bell, glass and chime?"
"So far all we have is that something is going to occur this tomorrow," Sphinx said. "That's when the full moon is, hence the werewolf…"
"We also think that the bell, glass, and chime have something to do with the three notes. We have a theory that we are supposed to play the music notes on the three items, but how…"
"We'll have to call the Master of Music and Art," Harry said. "He will probably be the best at that."
"Get him over here then," Alex snapped at Harry. After Harry called him they only had to wait a few minutes until he appeared through the door of the Mission Room.
"What's going on?" He asked. "I was in the middle of a mission, what's so important?"
"We have a new clue Rob, and it involves music." Percy said. Rob, the Master of Music and Art, looked slightly more interested.
"All right, let me see," Harry handed him a copy of the clue. He scanned over it. Then he waved his wand, and a bell, a wine glass, and some chimes appeared in front of him. Rob took a fork from the table and banged it against the bell. It made a low sound.
"That is your first note," He said. He flicked his wand and the glass filled halfway with water. He dipped his finger in the water and ran it along the rim. It made a vibration that caused a note to come from the glass.
"That's your second one." Then he took the chimes and banged the fork against one of the chimes.
"There's your third. Just remember that you have to hit the bell 2/3 of the way down. The water glass has to be filled ½ and 8/19 full, or else you won't get that note. And the chimes have to-"
"Perhaps when the time calls for it you should just do it for us," Ivy suggested. Rob scowled down at her.
"I don't have the time to wait around until a-a werewolf howls just so I can play the bell and the water glass-"
"Don't forget the chime!" Angelina said.
"I have stuff to do and places to go, I don't have time to-"
"Why don't you just come back tomorrow, when it's supposed to occur?" Cedric snapped.
Rob scowled again.
"Rob, you are to report here tomorrow at 6 o'clock in the evening," Sphinx said. "I'll arrange it with Sarge so you'll be excused from your Mission."
Rob gave Sphinx a nasty look and turned on his heel, storming toward the door, muttering under his breath.
"Jeez, what an S.O.B," Ivy said. "He didn't have to be mean about it." Sphinx shook her head and went back to eating her breakfast.
~*~
That evening, in the common room, Ron, Hermione and the other seventh year Gryffindors kept questioning Ivy and Harry about their "relationship".
"For the last time," Ivy said, "Nothing is really happening, it's pretend."
"Yeah, sure," Ron said. "Whatever you say."
"This is all your fault," Harry said. "If you hadn't told Alex that we were together, even though we aren't-"
"Hey! I panicked, all right?" Ivy snapped. She put her head in her hands and rubbed her eyes.
"How long do we have to keep up this charade anyway?" Harry asked, ignoring the eye-rolling of Seamus and Ron.
"Until either Alex leaves, or one of us do," Ivy said. "Stealth, let me beat you up."
"No," Harry said flatly.
"Hmm…." Ivy said, getting up. "We could fake a break up, but that would only make Alex happier…"
"And there's one thing we have overlooked," Harry said. "What about the clue. We still haven't figured out what 'Rose' means."
"Jaleesa went to Dumbledore earlier and asked him to show her where every rose in the castle is. There is a fair amount though…"
"So we're just going to walk around tomorrow night, looking at all of the roses and playing the same three notes to them?" Harry said.
"Yep! Sounds like so much fun." Ivy said, sitting back down. Harry groaned.
"Er… what on earth are you talking about?" Ron said, looking from Harry to Ivy.
"Never mind, you'll probably find out about it tomorrow anyway," Harry said. He glanced out the window at the nearly full moon…
Harry must've forgotten to take his No-Sleep pills, because at One in the morning he was awoken by Snuffles staring at him. Harry sat up and rubbed his eyes. He saw that Ivy had fallen asleep in her chair too.
Snuffles turned toward the portrait hole door. Then he looked back at Harry and nodded his head in the direction of the door. Harry got up out of the chair and followed Snuffles out the door. Snuffles led Harry to an empty classroom. Harry locked the door behind him and sat down on one of the desks. Sirius instantly changed from a dog to Harry's godfather.
"How's it going?" Harry asked. Sirius shook his head impatiently.
"We have problems," Sirius said. "Voldemort was spotted two towns away from Hogwarts."
"Really?" Harry asked. "The last we heard he was in France."
"Remember two years ago, when you were at Arabella's house and I told you about that special group that Dumbledore had put together to help fight Voldemort?"
"Yes," Harry said. That memory seemed far away now… "Yes, I can remember."
"Well, we had a meeting last night, and one of Dumbledore's spies told us that. He's getting closer and closer to Hogwarts. Who knows how long it will take him to get here."
"Well, we have people guarding the gate at all times," Harry said. "They'll be able to hold him off until we are ready."
Sirius shook his head. "There are more ways to get into Hogwarts than just the gate."
"You're right," Harry said. "Maybe I'll just suggest that we should have more people guarding the grounds…" Sirius simply shrugged.
"How're you?" Sirius asked. "How's your parents?"
"They're…good," Harry replied. He paused, wondering if he should tell Sirius about his mother…
"Er-Sirius," Harry said timidly. "I think perhaps you should sit down." Sirius looked worried for a second but sat down across from Harry, at another desk.
"Is-is something wrong?" Sirius asked.
"No… nothing's…. wrong," Harry said. "It's just that… Mum…"
"What's wrong with Lily?" Sirius asked in a quiet voice. "Was she injured?"
"No. It's just that… she's…. she's…"
"Spit it out," Sirius said.
"Pregnant," Harry finished. Sirius was silent, his eyes opened wide.
"Pregnant," Sirius repeated. "Lily's… pregnant."
"Yep!" Harry said, smiling. "Number five."
"Five," Sirius said still sounding a bit dazed. "Harry, if I faint, will you catch me?"
Harry started laughing, and it seemed to jolt Sirius out of his trance-like state.
"It's not funny!" He exclaimed. "One of my best friends is pregnant!" Harry kept laughing.
"Do-do you w-want me to see if I can a-arrange a talk w-with you and my parents?" Harry finally asked, still shaking with laughter. Sirius smiled. "Could you?"
"Of course," Harry said. "I'll talk it over with my parents." Sirius smiled again.
"You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that," Sirius said. Harry grinned, and then left the room. A second later Sirius transformed and followed after him.
~*~
The next day at breakfast the Agents were all discussing the clue. They still hadn't found out what rose they were supposed to play the bell, glass, and chime for. Celeste was looking bored, only perking up when Draco sent over a note or something. Ivy and Harry had their eyes peeled for Alex at every moment of breakfast. When he emerged from the Mission Room, Harry held Ivy's left hand and gave her a daisy. Sure, it wasn't the most romantic flower, but Harry knew that it was her favorite. He also knew that Alex knew this. Ivy smiled and pecked Harry on the cheek. Alex scowled and sat down across from them.
"All right, we have to figure out who is going to play the Dark Lord's game tonight," Cedric said.
"Well, if Voldemort is actually there this time…" Alex said. "I think that Stealth should go." He smirked in Harry's direction. "Or should I say… Corwin."
"No, Stealth is just fine." Harry said, returning a sarcastic smile. Alex opened his mouth to reply snidely, but he was interrupted by Cedric.
"Good idea." He wrote down 'Stealth' and said, "I think we should draw out of a hat for the next one." He conjured up a hat with everyone's name in it.
"The first name is…" He pulled out a slip of paper. "Todd." Percy smiled slightly and watched as Cedric put down his name. "And…. Ivy." Ivy groaned and said, "Well, at least I'll be with Stealth." She leaned her head against his shoulder and sighed. Alex scowled again.
"All right, I think that's enough people," Sphinx interrupted. "Okay, so as soon as the moon is out, you 3, and Rob, go in search of the "Rose" that was mentioned in this letter. Got it?"
"Yeah," Harry replied. "We got it."
"Good. Now, it's time for you to go to your posts. See you at lunch."
~*~
Rob arrived later that day, a scowl planted on his face. He kept muttering under his breath, and glaring at every student who walked by. The Minister, who was still staying at Hogwarts, tried to engage Rob in a conversation. Rob simply got a sour look on his face and Molecularized to the Mission Room. The Minister hadn't been very friendly towards the Agents. Then again, the Agents hadn't been very nice to him. Yet the Minister insisted on staying for "Security matters". What matters these were, Harry didn't know. However, later that evening, before the 4 Agents were getting ready to go in search of the Rose the Minister wished them good luck.
Harry, Ivy, Percy, and Rob walked down the quiet corridors. Sphinx had requested that all of the students remained in the Great Hall until the 4 agents had returned.
They kept stopping at pictures with Roses, and Rob repeatedly played the three items that were in the letter. Each time they were unsuccessful. Nothing happened. Harry kept glancing out of windows that faced the moon, and wondering where Lupin was if he had transformed. He hoped that Sirius was with him.
"We have been looking for 2 damn hours," Rob complained. Ivy glared at Rob, but Percy just kept on walking.
"We have to find it sometime," Percy said. "We don't know what will happen if we don't. If we don't find this Rose… well, who knows what awful things might happen."
Rob opened his mouth to reply, but Harry shushed him and kept on walking. Rob reluctantly followed.
"We have checked every damn painting with flowers in this building!" Ivy exclaimed. It was now 1 a.m. and everyone was getting extremely irritated.
"Look at it logically," Percy said. "It has to be here somewhere!"
"Unless of course, Voldemort was lying just to get 4 agents away therefore making the protection weaker around the students," Harry said. Percy's eyes got wide and he started speaking into his microphone.
"Sphinx? Is everything alright down there?" Percy asked.
"Yeah?" Sphinx replied. "Have you found that Rose yet?"
"No, not yet," Percy replied.
"Are the students spending the night in the Great Hall?" Harry asked.
"Yep. You'd better keep looking, check in later."
Harry looked around some more.
"We should check the Chamber of Secrets," Harry said suddenly. "Because Voldemort is the-"
"Heir of Slytherin," Percy finished. "Good idea. But first, let's check the Common Rooms." After checking Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, and Ravenclaw, the four of them went to the Slytherin Common Room.
A fire was flickering in the fireplaces, casting weird shadows all over the room. It was strangely eerie.
"Do you see any roses anywhere?" Ivy yawned.
"Nope. Let's go check the dorm rooms," Harry said. He climbed up the steps and into the 7th year dorm room. It had 4 dark green beds, and a fireplace that sent even more shadows everywhere. Harry walked over to the walls and started looking for anything that so much as resembled a rose. He was just about to exit the room when he heard Ivy's voice in his ear.
"Uh, Stealth…"
"What is it?" Harry asked, running his hand along the cold stone wall.
"You'd better come see this."
"Where are you?"
"The seventh year girls' room." Harry Molecularized to the dorm room, and found that it was not green, but pink.
"All this pink is making me get a headache," Harry said.
"Shut up and look at this," Ivy said. She pointed to a picture of a young girl who smiled down at Harry, but didn't say anything. She then pointed to the inscription at the bottom. Harry's eyes widened as he read the inscription.
"Todd, Rob," said Harry into his microphone. "I think you'd better come see this." A second or so later the two other Agents had Molecularized beside Harry. Ivy pointed to the picture, and read the inscription out loud.
"This is the portrait of Rose Slytherin," She said softly. "Daughter of Salazar Slytherin. She slept in this dorm when she came to this school. This dorm room shall forever be known as the Rose dorm…"
"I think this is it," Percy said breathlessly. Rob took out the bell, the glass, and the chime and played them in order. Suddenly, the floor opened up and Rob fell through a large hole.
"AARGHH!" He screamed as he fell down. Ivy leaned over the edge of the hole and yelled, "ROB!" There was an enormous splash and Rob yelled out in surprise. Harry could hear him cursing.
"Rob, is it okay to come down?" Harry asked. "And what was that splashing sound?"
"This place is flooded with water," Rob snarled up at him. "Yeah, yeah, it's okay to come down."
Ivy slipped down into the hole and landed with a splash.
"Darn," she said. "It's only two feet deep." Harry jumped down after her, and he was closely followed by Percy.
"Where are we?" Percy asked, looking around the dark, damp chamber that they were in. Harry lit his wand and held it high. He tried to ignore the scurry of rats and bugs when they saw the light.
"I have no idea," Harry said. He held his wand up higher, trying to see further. He nodded his head to his right, and started walking in that direction. There was a long corridor, and the water got deeper and deeper. When it was up to Harry's waist the 4 of them reached a door. There was a Slytherin Crest on the wall.
"I think that Slytherin had way too much time on his hands," Percy said, lighting his wand as well.
"Should we open the door?" Ivy asked.
"I don't know, anything could be behind it," Harry replied. Rob gave a whimper.
"Oh shut up you big baby," Ivy snapped. "Well, I'm not opening the door. You do it."
Harry looked warily at the door. He pulled out his sunglasses and pushed the X-ray vision button. The room was flooded with water, but there seemed to be nothing threatening in there.
"It looks safe," Harry said, taking off his sunglasses and returning them to his pocket. Percy pushed open the door and slowly walked into the room. He raised his wand high into the air and looked around. There was a low sound that echoed around the chamber.
Percy spun around.
"Who did that?" He demanded. Ivy and Harry looked uneasily at one another. Rob gave a strangled cry and ran in the direction they came from.
"Where the hell are you going?" Harry yelled after him. Rob didn't answer. He had almost reached the end of the corridor when he was tackled from behind. A massive black animal had jumped from the ceiling, and it was now pinning Rob under the water. Even though it was dark, Harry could Rob struggling to get out of the water. Harry pointed his wand at the animal and bellowed, "Avada Kedavra!" The spell hit the animal in the shoulder. It stumbled and toppled into the water, but it got up.
Harry instantly realized what it was. It was a Nundu. A Nundu was a massive black leopard, who has breath that could wipe out entire villages by spreading its awful diseases. It was also very strong, and Harry suspected that Voldemort had helped him along with that. The Nundu was panting hard, and Harry could see blood trickling down its shoulder and dripping into the water.
Harry heard Percy yell out, "Avada Kedavra" As well. The Nundu gave a low growl, and jumped onto Percy, knocking him into the water. Ivy took out her wand quickly and yelled, "Avada Kedavra!" The spell distracted the Nundu, and it started to charge toward Ivy now.
"Ivy!" Harry yelled. "Look out!" Ivy jumped out of the way just in time. The Nundu went flying… into the wall. It looked a little dazed, but it recovered quickly. Harry knew what he had to do. Before the Nundu could attack Ivy again, Harry yelled out the Killing Curse again. The Nundu jumped at him, but he took aim and yelled out, "Komanogusa." The Diablo Curse.
The fatal curse hit the Nundu right in the eye. The Nundu was knocked back into the wall. There was a cry of pain and the Nundu collapsed into the water. Harry didn't want to see what happened, so he turned his attention to the two Agents who had been attacked.
Percy was lying in the water, barely keeping his head above the water. His face was pale green, and Harry could tell that he was trying to keep from fainting. He was ill, and Harry had to put a special spell on him to keep him from being contagious.
"What the hell happened to them?" Ivy asked, loading Rob onto a stretcher.
"Nundu," Harry muttered.
"Pardon?" Harry rolled his eyes.
"You skipped that class, didn't you?"
"More that likely-" There was a soft hissing sound behind Harry. He spun around, and saw that the water was bubbling at the spot that the Nundu had fallen.
"What the hell-"
Parts of the water turned green, and a Dark Mark appeared. Then the numbers 211.
"211?" Ivy asked. "What the hell does that mean?"
"I don't know and I don't care right now," Harry said, bending over Percy. "We'd better get him to the Healer. The don't look so good."
"Yeah," Ivy agreed. They both Molecularized to the small Hospital wing in the Mission Room. Healer was waiting in a chair. She pointed to two of the beds, and the two injured Agents floated onto them. Ivy and Harry left the Mission Room and went out into the Great Hall.
Sphinx was sitting at the Agent's table. It was dark, but Harry could see the outlines of the hundreds of slumbering students.
"You're all wet," Sphinx said.
"Oh really? We hadn't noticed," Ivy said sarcastically. She plopped down in the chair beside Sphinx.
"Did you find out what the next clue is?"
"Yeah, 211," Harry said. He waved his wand and he was instantly in dry clothes.
"211?" Sphinx said. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"We don't know," Ivy said. "Listen, can we go to sleep? We had to take down a Nundu, and we've been walking for ages."
"Sure, whatever," Sphinx said, waving her hand in a dismissive way. Harry went into the Mission Room and plopped down onto one of the beds that were near the walls. He pulled off his shirt, and his bracelet. He instantly felt his face changing back to his regular one. He didn't bother to change into his pajamas, he was so exhausted that he just plopped onto his the bed and fell asleep instantly.
~*~
A week or so passed, and nothing happened. Percy had been sent to recuperate at the Order of the Phoenix. A 25 year old man named Doug had been sent to replace Percy.
They hadn't figured out what the two numbers 211 meant. They were all sitting around the Agent's table, discussing the clue, when there was a slamming sound outside of the Great Hall. There was absolute silence as everyone turned to look at the door.
"What the hell was that?" Angelina said.
"I don't know…" Harry said. There was a soft and slow sound from outside. Tap. Tap. Tap.
"Stealth," breathed Sphinx. "What's today's date?"
"It's the eleventh, why?" Harry asked. Sphinx's face paled slightly. Harry suddenly realized what was happening. It was February, the second month. And it was the eleventh day… 2/11
"Ivy," he hissed suddenly. "I need you to go put force-fields around the students tables. Jaleesa, go secure the Minister and the teachers."
The two girls got up and slowly made their way to the tables. The room was still deathly quiet. The only sound was the quiet tap, tap, tap…
Harry and Sphinx both got up out of their seats and slowly started walking toward the closed door. They had barely gotten into the middle of the room when the door burst open and a tall figure dressed in black was standing in the middle of the doorway. Harry couldn't see his whole face, but when he saw the two glowing red eyes from underneath the hood of the cloak he knew exactly who it was. Voldemort…