They all agreed that they needed to get to work. The teachers found
the spell and the names, the rest was up to them. Hermione was spending all
of her time in the library researching how to focus all of her power on to
one spell. They had come to an agreement that she should be the one to
perform it, being the most capable out of the four of them. Ron had written
down the names while they were still fresh in his mind, and was trying to
find out about their pasts. Harry's job was to go to the staff meetings
wearing the invisibility cloak, and check on the teacher's progress.
Jessica had been left to find out where the Auror's were living.
This task, easy as it may seem, proved to be exceedingly difficult. Dumbledore had been right, they didn't want to be found by just anyone. She walked dispiritedly down an aisle in the library. She had given up hope of ever finding the information she needed, but decided that she could use some exercise. As she turned a corner at the end of the row, she caught a glimpse of a table of Ravenclaws. She paid them no attention and kept walking, until she heard part of what they were saying.
"Oh, Melanie, I don't know. He's alright, I guess. But I don't think I like him that way."
"Come on, Cho. Tons of girls would absolutely die if he liked them…"
Cho? She stopped walking and slowly retraced her steps. Careful not to let anyone spot her, she peeked around the bookcase and caught a glimpse of the people talking. A girl she recognized as Cho Change was sitting at the table with four of her friends. None of them had been in the book, not as main characters anyway. The girl, who Jessica assumed was Melanie, had long straight hair, almost down to her waist. She was very pretty and looked as though she were perhaps seventeen. She was frowning and trying to explain something to Cho, who clearly didn't see it her way. The book had not been lying. Cho was indeed very pretty, but there was something about her that made Jessica uncomfortable. As Jessica watched, Cho shook her head impatiently.
"Well," said a girl sitting next to Melanie, "I know I'd be really happy if I knew the Harry Potter liked me. You're such a lucky girl, and you don't even realize it!" This new girl had long blonde curly hair.
"Really, Elizabeth Cho said, going very red, "I don't even know if he likes me for sure."
"Oh I know that he does," said the fourth girl, who had not yet spoken. There was something extraordinarily sinister about this girl. She had short blonde hair, and a pleasant face. But there was something wrong about her eyes. They were hard and cold, and even her warm, cheerful smile couldn't hide them.
"Faith, stop," Cho said, embarrassed, "You're embarrassing me…"
At this, the girl who was supposedly named Faith smiled widely. "Leave it to me," she whispered. She stood up and started walking over to the row where Jessica was standing. As she quickly approached, Jessica realized that she didn't have time to run. She reached down and picked up the closest book. She was thumbing through it when Faith came around the corner. Jessica looked up as she came closer, and gave her a small smile that Faith did not return. Quite the contrary, she gave her a very shrewd, calculating look.
"What are you doing here?" she asked in a would-be-casual voice.
Jessica blushed, and then remembering her plan, she held up her book and grinned.
"Oh nothing, nothing. Just uh…" she looked quickly down at the book in her hands. Her face fell. "Just uh, researching some stuff," she said quickly trying to cover it up.
Faith leaned forward to get a look at the cover.
"101 ways to cure dragon rot?" she read aloud.
"Ya, it's just some, um, background reading," she said simply. "Oh look at the time!" she said hurriedly, "I better be off! I'll see you sometime later, ok?"
She turned on her heel and raced from the library. That, she thought as she ran panting back to the Fat Lady, was too…close. And what was all that about Cho and Harry?, she wondered. She climbed back through the portrait hole, and found Ron and Hermione sitting in front of the fire, talking quietly.
She walked slowly over to them, clutching a stitch in her side.
Ron looked up and saw her. "Where were you?" he asked startled as she collapsed breathless in to a nearby chair. She waved her hand impatiently.
"Never mind that," she snapped, "Did you two find anything?" Ron looked at Hermione who looked back at Jessica.
"Kind of," she said timidly.
Jessica's nerves were already stretched to the breaking point. "What do you mean 'kind of'?" she asked, becoming more impatient by the second.
"What she means is that we found out something that we shouldn't have found out," Ron said hurriedly.
Jessica's irritation faded to confusion. "What do you mean?" she asked faintly.
"We mean," Hermione said slowly, "That two of the Aurors had a…romantic period…"
"Two of the Aurors had twins," Ron blurted out.
Somehow, Jessica couldn't see what was so extraordinary about this.
"Anddd…" she said, her irritation rising again.
"And," Ron continued, "They were Saria Evans and Vincent Ciccone."
"Well what does that mean to me? Did it have some kind of effect on the rest of them?" Jessica asked.
"Not necessarily," Hermione said slowly, "but, something happened. After they had the twins, they couldn't decide on which name to use. Of course, they were worried their kids would be in danger if they were found out, so they decided to use each of their last names for one child. They named their kids Paul Evans, and Jeremy Ciccone." Here Hermione cast a sidelong glance at Jessica. "Do you know what Harry's mother's maiden name was, by any chance?"
"No," Jessica said blankly. What kind of question was that?
"It was Evans," Ron said slowly, "Which gives us reason to believe that you and Harry are the result of Saria Evans and Vincent Ciccone."
Jessica opened her mouth to say that that was ridiculous, but just then, Harry, red faced and panting came bursting through the portrait hole and ran toward them.
"It….didn't….work!" he panted.
"Woah, Harry, calm down," Ron said as he helped him in to a chair. "Now what were you saying?"
"I'm saying," Harry replied with some annoyance, "That the teachers tried the spell, and it didn't work! They could only get six of the Aurors to respond! The other's communicators are malfunctioning, and six isn't enough to kill even a poorly equipped Dark Wizard! They're calling the Ministry of Magic! They may have to close the school!" Hermione clasped her hands to her mouth, Ron looked shocked, however, Jessica had just made up her mind.
"I think it's time we took matters completely in to our own hands," she said quietly
The next few weeks were devoted entirely to their agreed mission. Hermione and Jessica had been researching how to create a Portkey that was the most powerful the magical world could offer. It seemed that they may have to rely on the "Equanum Portul", the seemingly most powerful one in the universe. But would it be enough? Jessica often wondered. Ron had toiled tirelessly for weeks, trying to find their locations, and finally, he had persuaded Professor Flitwick to sign a pass so he could get a book out of the Restricted Section. In it, they had found all the information they had needed.
All four of them now had to combine their power to get the Portkey to work. It would be a difficult task at the best of times, so they decided to wait until the first clear night of the month. As it happened, this night fell on February 29th, as it was a leap year.
Jessica, Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat awake in the Common Room that night. Waiting for the last people to go up to bed. None of them were speaking, they were too busy focusing all of their energy on the task ahead. At midnight, the last two girls went up to bed. Hermione nodded to them and they rose and left silently. Harry, Ron, and Hermione huddled under the invisibility cloak, and Jessica walked along beside them. They had planned that if anyone stopped them, she would say she had forgotten the way to Gryffindor Tower, and then go to the Astronomy tower as soon as the coast was clear.
In one corridor, they saw Peeves floating along, stuffing chewing gum into keyholes, but they ignored him, and he ignored them. Possibly because of Jessica's earlier threat, he hadn't bothered them in quite some time.
After what seemed like an hour, they reached the entrance to the highest Astronomy tower. They crept up it silently, and once they were at the top, Harry, Ron, and Hermione threw off the cloak and took out their wands.
The four of them stood in a circle. This task had to be performed quickly, or the wind might pick up and blow their Portkey away. They had decided to use an envelope addressed to each Auror as a Portkey, simple yet direct. Hermione raised her wand over the envelopes and the others followed suit. "Nunctam Elam Hutarm Keptor," she said quietly, then she signaled for the rest of them to follow her.
They all repeated this spell, and then Hermione raised her wand-free hand and said, "Equanum Portul!" For a moment nothing happened. Jessica's stomach sank horribly. They had failed. Just as she was ready to drop her wand, the envelopes glowed scarlet. Suddenly, and with a faint pop, they disappeared, leaving Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Jessica standing alone on the tower, hoping that this would all work out.
This task, easy as it may seem, proved to be exceedingly difficult. Dumbledore had been right, they didn't want to be found by just anyone. She walked dispiritedly down an aisle in the library. She had given up hope of ever finding the information she needed, but decided that she could use some exercise. As she turned a corner at the end of the row, she caught a glimpse of a table of Ravenclaws. She paid them no attention and kept walking, until she heard part of what they were saying.
"Oh, Melanie, I don't know. He's alright, I guess. But I don't think I like him that way."
"Come on, Cho. Tons of girls would absolutely die if he liked them…"
Cho? She stopped walking and slowly retraced her steps. Careful not to let anyone spot her, she peeked around the bookcase and caught a glimpse of the people talking. A girl she recognized as Cho Change was sitting at the table with four of her friends. None of them had been in the book, not as main characters anyway. The girl, who Jessica assumed was Melanie, had long straight hair, almost down to her waist. She was very pretty and looked as though she were perhaps seventeen. She was frowning and trying to explain something to Cho, who clearly didn't see it her way. The book had not been lying. Cho was indeed very pretty, but there was something about her that made Jessica uncomfortable. As Jessica watched, Cho shook her head impatiently.
"Well," said a girl sitting next to Melanie, "I know I'd be really happy if I knew the Harry Potter liked me. You're such a lucky girl, and you don't even realize it!" This new girl had long blonde curly hair.
"Really, Elizabeth Cho said, going very red, "I don't even know if he likes me for sure."
"Oh I know that he does," said the fourth girl, who had not yet spoken. There was something extraordinarily sinister about this girl. She had short blonde hair, and a pleasant face. But there was something wrong about her eyes. They were hard and cold, and even her warm, cheerful smile couldn't hide them.
"Faith, stop," Cho said, embarrassed, "You're embarrassing me…"
At this, the girl who was supposedly named Faith smiled widely. "Leave it to me," she whispered. She stood up and started walking over to the row where Jessica was standing. As she quickly approached, Jessica realized that she didn't have time to run. She reached down and picked up the closest book. She was thumbing through it when Faith came around the corner. Jessica looked up as she came closer, and gave her a small smile that Faith did not return. Quite the contrary, she gave her a very shrewd, calculating look.
"What are you doing here?" she asked in a would-be-casual voice.
Jessica blushed, and then remembering her plan, she held up her book and grinned.
"Oh nothing, nothing. Just uh…" she looked quickly down at the book in her hands. Her face fell. "Just uh, researching some stuff," she said quickly trying to cover it up.
Faith leaned forward to get a look at the cover.
"101 ways to cure dragon rot?" she read aloud.
"Ya, it's just some, um, background reading," she said simply. "Oh look at the time!" she said hurriedly, "I better be off! I'll see you sometime later, ok?"
She turned on her heel and raced from the library. That, she thought as she ran panting back to the Fat Lady, was too…close. And what was all that about Cho and Harry?, she wondered. She climbed back through the portrait hole, and found Ron and Hermione sitting in front of the fire, talking quietly.
She walked slowly over to them, clutching a stitch in her side.
Ron looked up and saw her. "Where were you?" he asked startled as she collapsed breathless in to a nearby chair. She waved her hand impatiently.
"Never mind that," she snapped, "Did you two find anything?" Ron looked at Hermione who looked back at Jessica.
"Kind of," she said timidly.
Jessica's nerves were already stretched to the breaking point. "What do you mean 'kind of'?" she asked, becoming more impatient by the second.
"What she means is that we found out something that we shouldn't have found out," Ron said hurriedly.
Jessica's irritation faded to confusion. "What do you mean?" she asked faintly.
"We mean," Hermione said slowly, "That two of the Aurors had a…romantic period…"
"Two of the Aurors had twins," Ron blurted out.
Somehow, Jessica couldn't see what was so extraordinary about this.
"Anddd…" she said, her irritation rising again.
"And," Ron continued, "They were Saria Evans and Vincent Ciccone."
"Well what does that mean to me? Did it have some kind of effect on the rest of them?" Jessica asked.
"Not necessarily," Hermione said slowly, "but, something happened. After they had the twins, they couldn't decide on which name to use. Of course, they were worried their kids would be in danger if they were found out, so they decided to use each of their last names for one child. They named their kids Paul Evans, and Jeremy Ciccone." Here Hermione cast a sidelong glance at Jessica. "Do you know what Harry's mother's maiden name was, by any chance?"
"No," Jessica said blankly. What kind of question was that?
"It was Evans," Ron said slowly, "Which gives us reason to believe that you and Harry are the result of Saria Evans and Vincent Ciccone."
Jessica opened her mouth to say that that was ridiculous, but just then, Harry, red faced and panting came bursting through the portrait hole and ran toward them.
"It….didn't….work!" he panted.
"Woah, Harry, calm down," Ron said as he helped him in to a chair. "Now what were you saying?"
"I'm saying," Harry replied with some annoyance, "That the teachers tried the spell, and it didn't work! They could only get six of the Aurors to respond! The other's communicators are malfunctioning, and six isn't enough to kill even a poorly equipped Dark Wizard! They're calling the Ministry of Magic! They may have to close the school!" Hermione clasped her hands to her mouth, Ron looked shocked, however, Jessica had just made up her mind.
"I think it's time we took matters completely in to our own hands," she said quietly
The next few weeks were devoted entirely to their agreed mission. Hermione and Jessica had been researching how to create a Portkey that was the most powerful the magical world could offer. It seemed that they may have to rely on the "Equanum Portul", the seemingly most powerful one in the universe. But would it be enough? Jessica often wondered. Ron had toiled tirelessly for weeks, trying to find their locations, and finally, he had persuaded Professor Flitwick to sign a pass so he could get a book out of the Restricted Section. In it, they had found all the information they had needed.
All four of them now had to combine their power to get the Portkey to work. It would be a difficult task at the best of times, so they decided to wait until the first clear night of the month. As it happened, this night fell on February 29th, as it was a leap year.
Jessica, Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat awake in the Common Room that night. Waiting for the last people to go up to bed. None of them were speaking, they were too busy focusing all of their energy on the task ahead. At midnight, the last two girls went up to bed. Hermione nodded to them and they rose and left silently. Harry, Ron, and Hermione huddled under the invisibility cloak, and Jessica walked along beside them. They had planned that if anyone stopped them, she would say she had forgotten the way to Gryffindor Tower, and then go to the Astronomy tower as soon as the coast was clear.
In one corridor, they saw Peeves floating along, stuffing chewing gum into keyholes, but they ignored him, and he ignored them. Possibly because of Jessica's earlier threat, he hadn't bothered them in quite some time.
After what seemed like an hour, they reached the entrance to the highest Astronomy tower. They crept up it silently, and once they were at the top, Harry, Ron, and Hermione threw off the cloak and took out their wands.
The four of them stood in a circle. This task had to be performed quickly, or the wind might pick up and blow their Portkey away. They had decided to use an envelope addressed to each Auror as a Portkey, simple yet direct. Hermione raised her wand over the envelopes and the others followed suit. "Nunctam Elam Hutarm Keptor," she said quietly, then she signaled for the rest of them to follow her.
They all repeated this spell, and then Hermione raised her wand-free hand and said, "Equanum Portul!" For a moment nothing happened. Jessica's stomach sank horribly. They had failed. Just as she was ready to drop her wand, the envelopes glowed scarlet. Suddenly, and with a faint pop, they disappeared, leaving Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Jessica standing alone on the tower, hoping that this would all work out.