Anthony, Mac, and Bertram walked through the corridors to class when something caught Anthony's attention.
"Hey look," he said, pointing to a paper on a board. "It's our first Hogsmeade trip next weekend! I can't wait to show you the ice cream shop, and Zonko's."
"I can't go," said Bertram. "My parents don't think it's safe to wander around outside of Hogwarts."
"And my parents barely know what Hogwarts is, much less Hogsmeade," said Mac sadly.
"I'll just stay here with you lot, then," Anthony said.
There was an outburst from the two boys. "Are you kidding? You have to get us some butterbeers! And cockroach clusters!"
"Nah," Anthony said. "It wouldn't be much fun going alone anyway." By that time, they had reached the bottom of the ladder leading to Divination.
"The divination tower? Oh no, I'll be late to Herbology!" Mac exclaimed. "See you later!" he said, running down the hall in the opposite direction and dodging students as he went.
Divination was just as unproductive for Bertram and Anthony as it always was. Professor Trelawney handed out teacups and asked them to decipher the images shown in the tea leaves. After predicting another student's death, she clucked her tongue and shook her head disapprovingly at the boys when they said it was either a poisonous mushroom or a grilled cheese sandwich. At least, Anthony thought, he had Arithmancy and the stability of numbers to look forward to.
When he arrived in class, he saw that Professor Vector had written several series of numbers on the board. Some of them repeated, some got increasingly larger.
"Today," the professor said, "We will discuss patterns. Patterns of numbers can often reveal key events. Since many of you have not had formal mathematical training, we will focus today on recognizing patterns..."
Her voice faded into the background as Anthony started softly tapping the numbers on the board. He already knew all about patterns, so he allowed his mind to drift off...
The trio were walking through the portal behind the ice cream parlor in Hogsmeade, entering Muggle London. They walked down the street, Mac gesturing excitedly and pointing out cars, which all had different names. They stopped in front of a post covered in papers with still pictures on them of cats, different bands...
"Anthony. Anthony," Professor Vector was saying.
Anthony blinked. He was alone.
"Thank goodness!" Vector said. "I thought I was going to have to take you to Madame Pomfrey! Can you tell me what happened?"
Anthony was about to brush it off, but something in her face was kind and sincere. She looked genuinely concerned. He hesitated.
"How about this," she said. "I guess and you can tell me if I'm right. If I'm wrong, you can tell me to bugger off."
Anthony chuckled in spite of himself. "Ok," he agreed.
"You were drumming on the table like you usually do," she started.
Anthony nodded, a little embarrassed that she had noticed.
"And then your eyes got this far-off look. Were you drumming a particular sequence?"
"Yes I was," he said. "Repeating patterns, like you were talking about. And, um. Well, you said numbers can tell the future."
"Yes."
"I don't know if it was. But I saw something."
"A vision of the future?" Vector asked encouragingly.
"No. Yes. I don't know," said Anthony. And he proceeded to tell her about other dreams and visions, things had come true and things he simply feared.
"But Trelawney said I don't have the Sight," he finished.
"Sybil Trelawney doesn't know a teacup from a cupcake," Vector scoffed. "Does anyone in your family have the Sight?"
"No," said Anthony. "Well, my great-aunt said she did, but my mom says she was just a fraud."
"We are often afraid of things we don't understand," said Vector. "And sometimes that fear comes out as denial. I'd like you to try something tonight. Try drumming these patterns on the board and think about a question you have. You likely won't see anything right away but with practice, I think you can hone this talent you have and see some of the future."
"Talent?" asked Anthony. "You think I have a talent?"
"Oh yes I do," said Vector. "And I think you can do great things."
Anthony left thoughtfully and almost ran into Bertram, who was waiting for him outside.
"Finally!" said Bertram. "What happened? Did you get in trouble or something?"
"No," said Anthony. "Just got some extra homework is all, for daydreaming."
Bertram punched him. "Serves you right," he said. "Maybe if you practiced once in a while, you might actually do some magic."
"Maybe if I could do magic, I'd practice," said Anthony.
But they were soon interrupted by an older group of boys laughing and levitating a boy with long black hair upside-down.
"Ugh, there's James and his crew," said Anthony. "Let's find another way, I'm ashamed we're even in the same house."
"Argh, the staircase moved again," said Bertram. "Looks like this is our only way."
"James!" a red-haired girl yelled. "What's going on?"
The boy with scruffy black hair turned around.
"He knows," James said airily, running a hand through his hair and messing it up even more. His friends had a mixture of tolerant annoyance and barely hidden amusement on their faces. The short heavy boy was looking at James with open admiration. The boy dangling in the air dropped to the floor and crumpled in a heap.
"It was just a bit of fun," growled the tall thin boy with shaggy hair.
"Not my kind of fun at all, Remus, as you well know," the girl said.
James puffed out his chest a little and took a step towards her. "What kind of fun would you like to have?" he asked her suggestively.
In answer, she pulled out her wand and pointed it as his backpack. "Diffindo," she said. The bag burst open and James swore. Laughing, she caught up with her friends down the hall while James hastily tried to put everything back in his backpack.
"Come on, we'll be late for class," the serious one said. They all walked down the hallway.
The boy on the floor started to pick himself up, grumbling.
"Are you ok?" asked Anthony. He noticed a worn potions book and started to hand it to him, but the boy snatched it from him.
"Give me that!" he snarled. "I don't need help from a Gryffindor." He shouldered his own bag and stalked down the hall.
"I hate this place sometimes," said Anthony.
"Hey..what's that?" asked Bertram, pointing to a piece of parchment on the floor and going to pick it up. "They must have dropped it, I'll have to give it to them when I see them." He stopped and stared at the parchment. "Whoa...look at this!"
Anthony leaned over and saw a map of the castle in perfect detail. "So we would be here...and look! Here are our names!"
Bertram pointed excitedly. "Yep, there's James' name over there towards a classroom. I think everyone's on here!"
"We don't have to give it back right away," said Anthony. "It would serve them right if they lost it for a little while. We have to show this to Mac!"
He stowed it in his backpack and they rushed to the Hufflepuff common room.
"What's wrong?" asked Mac when he saw them. "Did someone die? Who died? Or did you get in trouble?"
"No, nothing like that," said Anthony. "Is there a quiet corner we can talk? We have something to show you."
Mac led them upstairs to his room. "My mates are always out for a while this time of day, so we're ok," he said. "So what did you find?"
"You have to promise not to tell anyone," said Bertram. "One of the older Gryffindors dropped it."
They pulled out the map and all looked at it together.
"Blimey!" said Mac. "It's the castle! And look...there's us! You can see everyone on this thing. Hey, where's Regulus? I like to avoid him when I can."
"Hang on," said Anthony, "see these lines that look like they come out of the castle? There's some, and some over there. Here's one by that statue of a humpbacked witch."
"Yeah," said Bertram. "And there's one by that mirror that insults people on the 4th floor. Look, no one's there."
"No one's ever there," said Mac. "Everyone hates that mirror."
"I think," said Anthony, "these might be ways out of the castle. Let's go try it out and see where it goes!"
"What, now?" asked Mac.
"Why not?" replied Anthony. "We have some time before dinner and it's not like we'll be breaking any rules."
"Ok," said Mac, "Let's go! Bertram, are you in?"
"As much as I'd love to, I think it's better to wait until this weekend. It's Hogsmeade weekend and it won't be as suspicious."
His friends grudgingly agreed with grumbles and sighs. No one slept or ate much until Saturday morning, when each of them bounded out of bed and met each other at breakfast.
"Ready?" asked Anthony.
"Ready!" said Mac and Bertram.
The trio made their way to the fourth floor, checking the map to ensure James and his gang weren't nearby to take it from them.
They stopped in front of the mirror.
"Tuck your shirt in, scruffy!" it told them in a cheerful voice. "Did you know you have a pimple coming in on your forehead? If you comb your hair, it won't look like you just got out of bed."
"What do we do now?" asked Bertram. They looked at the map and a tiny speech bubble appeared over their heads.
"Thank you," Anthony read.
"You're welcome!" the mirror replied, and swung open.
The trio found themselves staring at a dark passageway.
"Lumos!" said Anthony, lighting his wand. The passageway was made of stone that looked like it had been smoothed down and had lanterns hanging on the walls. Mac lit them with his wand and they cautiously entered. Bertram closed the door almost to, being sure to leave a crack just in case. Soon, they found themselves in a large natural cavern, about the size of their bedroom. Some chairs had been set up by someone and there were empty butterbeer bottles on the floor. A single passage extended from the other side of the room.
"What is this place?" Bertram asked, his voice echoing slightly.
"Dunno," said Anthony. "But listen to those acoustics!" He drummed a quick rhythm on a chair and the sound reverberated through the room.
They followed the passageway into the other side, which gradually sloped up. Soon natural light filtered through and they found themselves in the midst of some trees with some large buildings just ahead. A sign read "The Hog's Head Inn."
Anthony gasped. "Do you know where we are? This is Hogsmeade!"
"Of course!" said Bertram.
"Brilliant!" said Mac. "What should we do first?"
"First place I want to go is Florean Fortescue's for some ice cream," said Anthony.
They all walked down the street, laughing and avoiding the teachers. Soon their stomachs were all bursting with ice cream. Anthony stretched and stood up. "I'll be right back," he said. "I need to check something." Mac and Bertram looked quizzically at each other, then followed him out the back door, where they found him stooping and examining the stones on the walls.
"Um, Anthony?" Mac asked. "What are you doing?"
"Found it!" answered Anthony. "I can't believe it's still here. Watch this."
He put his hand on a section of the wall, then through. As his friends looked on in amazement, Anthony grinned wickedly.
"Now," he said, "Who's ready for a real adventure?"