New chapter on Thursday.  (I certainly took long enough to get to an E'Chode explanation, didn't I?) Chapter 9.  What the Heck is an E'Chode, Anyway? 

Marie yawned.  The writing in "Hogwarts, A History" was fairly dry and she was a little tired of having to look words up.  However, students who had checked the book out before her had written helpful notations and snide commentary in the margins, so that increased the book's interest level slightly. 

She turned the page and perked up a little once the book started talking about the protective boundaries around the school.  She looked up a few more words, and came across the word 'E'Chode' written in the margin in faint pencil.  She looked that up too, only to discover that it wasn't listed.  She checked the book index on the off chance that it was there.  Nothing. 

"Hm," she said to herself. 

She set the book down and went in search of food and someone friendly who could answer her question.

The house elves in the kitchen didn't know (but Marie discovered that they made good cookies).  Neither did the students she ran into in the halls (although they were grateful for the return of their confiscated items).  She couldn't find Ron, Hermoine, or Dumbledore, but that was probably just as well since they thought she was a nuisance anyway.  Flitwick, she learned from a large man called Hagrid (who didn't know what an E'Chode was either), was supervising the bringing of more supplies to Hogsmeade, so that left Snape.  She wasn't certain she liked him, but he was right about her having no good reason to mistrust him.  Might as well give him the benefit of the doubt.  After all, it wasn't as though he could cast anything on her. 

By the time she found the potions classroom, she had walked all over the school and was extremely sore.  She walked quietly across the classroom and peeked into Snape's office. 

"What?" he snapped. 

"What's an E'Chode?" she asked, before he could throw her out. 

"A what?" he said, furrowing his brow. 

"An E'Chode.  Someone wrote it in the margins of a Hogwarts history book next to the part talking about the boundary spells, but it isn't in the dictionary and no one I've talked to's ever heard of it before." 

"Boundary spells, you said?" he asked, eyes lighting up. 

"Yeah." 

"There isn't very much that's unknown about boundary spells.  Now I'm curious," he said, brushing past her. 

She stared after him. 

He crooked his finger at her.  "Come.  Let's do a little digging."

After checking a few standard books in the main section, Snape moved over and took the rope off the restricted section. 

"Good place to hide a secret," Marie commented, brushing dust off one of the spines with a fingertip. 

"Start looking.  But be very careful about what you open," he warned.  The rest of the search was done in silence, punctuated by short phrases. 

"It bit me!" 

"Evidently that's not the right book, then." 

Pause. 

"Check this out." 

"That's horrible." 

"Maybe you could frame it and put it on your wall.  You know, Exhibit A if they misbehave." 

"That isn't such an awful idea." 

Laughter.  Pause. 

A shriek from Marie, followed by Snape slamming the book shut and stamping out flames while muttering, "Why do we even have that book?"

Finally, Marie came across a drawer at the bottom of one of the shelves.  She opened it and pulled out some scrolls. 

She unrolled one of them on the floor and stared at it.  "I can't read this." 

Snape came around and looked over her shoulder.  "E'Chode," he said, pointing to one of the words. 

"Jackpot!  Can you translate it?" she asked him. 

"It'll take some time, and I'll need a few books from my office," he responded. 

"Let's go," she said, pulling herself to her feet stiffly.

Ron and Hermoine waited eagerly in Dumbledore's office as he studied the note carefully. 

He finally laid down his glasses and asked them, "Did you just receive this note?" 

"Yes, not more than a few minutes ago," Hermoine supplied. 

"Did you have to dry it?" he pressed. 

"No.  Now that you mention it, that does seem a bit strange, doesn't it?" Hermoine said, looking out at the falling snow. 

"You mean, Harry's here?" Ron exclaimed, his face lighting up. 

"Someone's certainly here," Hermoine said darkly. 

"You think a dark wizard sent this to throw us off," Ron said, his face taking on a worried look. 

"Perhaps we should check on Miss Marie," Dumbledore said, standing up.

Marie sat on the table, swinging her feet.  They had been working on the translation for longer than she cared to think about.  Snape had set her on the books, looking up various words for him while he struggled with the rest of it.  He snarled at her a few times, but not as often as she had expected.  She had also taken the time to eat his food for him.  He either didn't notice, or didn't care.  She came across some foul smelling stuff in a bottle, which Snape snatched away and told her was for his ulcers.  She believed it; nothing that smelled that bad would be taken by choice. 

"I think that's got it," he said, setting his quill down and rubbing his eyes. 

Marie slid toward him and leaned over the paper. 

He continued, "From what I could deduce, the E'Chode is not one object, but four.  Four stones, to be exact, created by magic.  They have the appearance of large river rocks, but contain a jeweled center when cut open." 

"Like a geode." 

"Not a bad analogy.  They were created to amplify spells..." 

"Boundary spells; which is why they would be in the book." 

"They can amplify any spell, actually.  But you're correct, they were used to create boundaries in four spots around Britain: Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley, and the Isle of Drear.  And... they had protection spells around them... to make it impossible to move them once placed." 

"And they were able to amplify the protection spells too, so they were really protecting themselves." 

"Sounds logical.  Of course, all of this was done before we discovered unplottability.  There's a mention of a fifth magic location, but it doesn't have anything to do with the E'Chode specifically." 

Marie nodded absently and slid off the table.  "Thanks," she murmured. 

"Do you believe that's why they want you?  For the E'Chode?" he asked, pressing his fingertips together. 

"What do I know?" she said in exasperation, wincing a little as she took a step. 

Snape slid a bottle across the table. 

"What's this?" she said, suspiciously. 

"To dull the pain," he answered. 

Marie was about to thank him, when the door to Snape's office burst open. 

Erin was standing there with a large plate of food, a tankard of butterbeer, and a silly grin on her face.  "They have elves," she announced. 

"Out," Snape said, pointing to the door. 

"But Snapie poo, I wanted to keep you company," Erin responded with a fake pout, eyeing the breakable glass bottles of potion ingredients eagerly. 

"Out!" he repeated, removing his wand from his robes. 

"But she's here!" Erin whined, pointing at Marie. 

"Wingardum Leviosa!" Snape snapped. 

Erin zoomed up into the air and flew out the door at incredible speed. 

"You too," Snape said, waving the tip of his wand at Marie.  

"Wow, neat!" Erin's voice exclaimed from the hall. 

Snape hissed and shook his head.  "I sincerely hope Hagrid introduces her to the Blast Ended Skrewts," he muttered darkly as Marie walked slowly out.