Chapter 16 - Nevermore's Riddle
After the enthusiasm of retrieving Nevermore's journal, the hype was short lived as the rest of the pages proved almost impossible to crack. Tabitha was pretty much refusing to help with it, opting rather to spend her free time with Hamish and putting further strain on their friendship. And even Thomas' interest was beginning to subside, feeling the task was becoming a waste of time, though he was reluctant to tell Barney this outright.
Barney debated telling some of his other friends about the journal in the hope of bringing some fresh ideas on how to decipher the pages, but he was hesitant after both experiencing Tabitha's negative reaction and fear of word of the journal spreading around the school and attracting the attention of the teachers. For now he thought it best to persevere with the journal himself.
On Monday evening after a very boring day where Professor Grim had pretty much made them spend a double Dark Arts lesson reading seven chapters from a book on Goblin magic in silence (the whole class had almost got detention when one student dared to sneeze!) and Professor Pomperduke had taught them a charm to make vegetables glow in the dark (though no one knew what practical use this would ever have!) Barney went along to Elio's sign language class.
Though after over five years of learning sign language most of Elio's friends were now fluent in it, they had kept the class going as it was a nice way to hang out together plus there were always new students each year eager to learn.
"Tabitha not coming today?" Barney asked as he took a seat next to Thomas even though he knew the answer already as he'd seen Hamish heading down to the Quidditch pitch with his broom for some extra practice with Tabitha in tow. "What's she going to do if it doesn't work out with him? Come crawling back to us begging us to be her friends again when she's been ignoring us so much?"
"She's not been that bad. Plus they seem pretty solid," Thomas retorted, trying to be the voice of reason.
"Well either way, Hamish will graduate at the end of the year so maybe next year we should just ignore her."
Thomas didn't comment on this, hating to be in the middle of his two friends not getting along.
As the rest of the students started to arrive, Barney was surprised to see three new faces this week - Viola, Ottomaya and Conrad arrived together and Barney couldn't help but notice Thomas' face light up. Elio was on hand to greet them and Gwen was by his side to translate.
"Close your mouth Thomas, you're gawping," Barney joked and Thomas snapped out of his trance like stare.
"What? I wasn't gawping. It's just always nice to see new people want to learn sign language. For Elio's benefit," Thomas replied, sounding a little flustered.
"Yeah right. There's only one sort of language you want to be speaking with Ottomaya and it's not sign language."
Thomas gave Barney a friendly shove to shut up his teasing and Barney started to laugh as the new trio headed over to them.
"Mind if we sit with you?" Viola asked.
"Sure thing," Barney answered for the both of them, after noticing Thomas looked a little tongue tied.
Viola took an empty seat next to Barney with Conrad sitting beside her and Ottomaya sat next to Thomas. Barney hadn't had much chance to talk to Conrad even though they shared three classes together but he had certainly heard a lot about him. Mainly from girls swooning over him and singing his praises.
There was an awkward silence as no one spoke so Barney broke the ice. "Thomas was just saying he's been struggling with his Herbology assignment."
"I was?" Thomas asked sounding surprised.
"Yes you were. Remember? You're in his class aren't you Ottomaya? Maybe you could help him with it?"
"I mean sure if you want Thomas?" Ottomaya replied and again Thomas seemed to be tongue tied and didn't answer.
"That would be much appreciated," Barney said, answering for his friend.
The rest of the sign language class was spent with a lot of awkward conversations and Barney trying his best to steer Thomas towards asking Ottomaya out but to no avail. Though at least they were talking and seemed to be getting along and laughing together, which was a good sign. And Barney was glad he got chance to know Viola and Conrad a bit better, the former wasn't as stuck up as he had previously thought and Conrad, despite being a bit of a pretty boy and a hit with the ladies, was actually very intelligent and had a lot of interesting things to say.
As they were leaving Barney went to grab his bag, which was over the back of his chair, but it snagged and spilled its contents all over the floor. Viola immediately went to help him pick his stuff up and noticed Nevermore's journal, which had flung open on one of its pages.
"What's this?" she asked as she examined the symbols on the page.
"Oh that's nothing," Barney said hastily as he grabbed it off her and shoved it back into his bag.
"Well clearly it's not nothing. Let me see."
"It's just... my diary," Barney replied and thought he was getting good at lying to people.
"Why is it written in symbols?"
"So no one can read it obviously."
"Do you write a lot of juicy stuff in there then that you want to keep secret? Like who you fancy?" she said and Barney started to go red. "So what's the potion for? Is it a love potion?" she continued to mock.
"What potion?" a confused Barney asked.
"Whatever potion that list of ingredients was for in your diary."
Barney grabbed the journal back out of his bag.
"They're potion ingredients?" he exclaimed as he tried to find the page Viola had been looking at.
"Wait you wrote them in you diary but you don't know what they are? Is it really your diary?" she said sounding suspicious.
Barney was beginning to get flustered as he furiously scanned through the book.
"So you're saying you could read it? What language is it?" he asked.
"Are you going to tell me what's really going on? Then I'll answer your question."
Barney thought for a second. This was the first lead he had in a long time and he knew Viola wasn't about to help him unless he told her the truth. He didn't know her well enough yet to know if he could trust her but he didn't think he had much of a choice.
"Fine but not here. Meet me tomorrow lunchtime up in the Owlery and I'll tell you everything OK?"
Viola nodded in agreement and Barney really hoped he wouldn't regret his decision later.
The next day Barney arrived up in the Owlery before Viola and was glad to see no one else was in there sending any letters. Nevermore's journal was safely in his bag but he was having second thoughts about telling her about it. As far as Barney was concerned the less people who knew about the journal the better. Could Viola be trusted to keep it to herself?
The question was almost answered for Barney when Viola arrived with Conrad in tow.
"What's he doing here?" a very surprised and annoyed Barney asked.
"I thought he could help. He's not just a pretty face you know. He's much better at languages than I am."
"I asked you to meet me. I didn't say bring a friend. How do I know I can trust him? Or even you for that matter?"
"I can vouch for him don't worry. He's trustworthy," Viola stated but Barney didn't seem convinced.
"I am right here you know," Conrad interjected as he stepped out from behind Viola.
"Look no offence Conrad but I barely know you," Barney said as he was considering leaving without telling the pair of them anything. "I knew this was a bad idea."
"What's the big secret anyway? So you've got a book with some potions in it. Big deal."
"It's a long story," Barney muttered as he started heading for the door.
"You obviously need help or you wouldn't have invited me here. So why don't you swallow your pride and let us help you," Viola called out to him.
Barney stopped in his tracks and considered for a second before he turned around to face them both. It was true. He did need help and he wasn't getting much from Thomas and certainly none from Tabitha. "Do you promise not to tell anyone about what I'm about to tell you?" Barney said sounding very serious.
Viola and Conrad looked at each other for a second, wondering what exactly they were getting themselves into or whether Barney was just being over dramatic.
"I promise," Viola said even though she was beginning to think the whole thing was absurd.
"We can make an unbreakable vow if you want?" Conrad suggested, trying to ease Barney's fears.
"An unbreakable vow? Don't you die if you break one of those?" Barney asked, looking slightly worried.
"Exactly. So you'll know we won't break it then," Viola stated.
"I don't want you to do that. Just both promise me you won't tell anyone."
"Good cos I actually don't know how to perform an unbreakable vow properly," Conrad noted. "But I promise I won't tell anyone."
Once Barney was satisfied (as much as he could be) that their word was a strong enough bond he recounted who Nevermore was, how he found the journal in the old desk, that he had deciphered two of the pages already and what he had learnt about the Endeavour Stone.
"So you're telling me this Nevermore actually had the Endeavour Stone?" Viola asked sounding very sceptical.
"Yeah. Why have you heard of the stone before?" Barney asked as Viola started to look through the journal.
"I've read about it before," she said. "But I thought it was a myth. A stone that can actually grant your wishes. I mean if we find it that would be amazing. What would you wish for first?"
Barney had never thought of the stone before as granting his wishes but he guessed that's sort of exactly what it would do if the legend was true. He had no idea what he would wish for. To think the stone might actually be able to give you whatever you wanted. It would be an unbelievable power to have.
"Here," Viola said showing a page from the book to both of them. "This is the page I saw the other day with the potion ingredients on written in old Norse Goblin."
Barney and Conrad both looked at the page.
"So can you decipherer it?" Barney asked hopefully.
"I know some of the symbols," she replied as she passed the book to Conrad. "Can you understand them?"
"Yeah I should be able to but give me a few minutes. Have you got a piece of parchment and a quill?" Conrad asked as he looked around for somewhere to sit and write.
The was a little table and stool off to one side of the Owlery where students could write their letters and Conrad sat down as Barney retrieved a quill and parchment from his bag and handed it to him.
Barney and Viola took a step back and allowed Conrad to work, who was deep in thought as he looked down at the symbols on the page and every now and again he'd write a word on the parchment before scribbling some of the words out again.
"So how's the match making going?" Viola asked as Barney they waited patiently for Conrad to finish the decipher.
"What?"
"The matching making. Between Thomas and Ottomaya. It was pretty obvious yesterday."
"Oh that," Barney replied a little embarrassed. "I thought I was being subtle."
"You were about as subtle as a troll in a tea shop."
"So do you know if she likes him?"
"We don't really talk about that sort of thing," Viola said as she stepped over to one of the owls on it's perch and stated to tickle it under it's chins and it gave a hoot of approval.
"But she's not seeing anyone back home is she?" Barney asked.
"I mean she use to get lots of attention from boys at Ilvermorny but she was never that interested. She always seemed more focused on her studies."
Barney looked a little dejected.
"But maybe that was because her upbringing, she was brought up in a orphanage that was quite conservative and strict," Viola went on. "Now she's on the other side of the world she might be a bit more rebellious."
Barney really hoped so or Thomas might end up with his heart broken.
"Guys I think I've done it," Conrad interrupted them both and they quickly moved over to him and looked at the parchment over his shoulder.
"That was quick work," Barney noted as he read the list of ingredients Conrad had written out.
"Thanks. But the only thing is I have no idea what it makes. It's not a potion I know of."
Viola picked up the parchment and read the ingredients carefully.
"Can't say I know it either," she said as she passed the parchment to Barney.
"Well at least it's a start. We can go to the library and try and find the potion," Barney suggested.
"Barney there's like thousands of potions. It would take us forever to find the right one," Viola noted, realising the task at hand, despite deciphering the page, now seemed impossible.
Barney knew she was right. Unless they got lucky and found the right potion in the first book they looked at, they could be there a very long time looking.
"Maybe we could ask Artimus or Professor Slughorn?" Conrad suggested. "They'd probably know what it is."
"Lets keep that as a last resort for now. Too many people know about this journal already. I don't want the teacher's getting suspicious and finding out about it too. They'd definitely take it off us."
Viola and Conrad knew he was right. If the teachers found out they were looking for the Endeavour Stone they'd try to put a stop to it for sure. For now they were on their own.
In the end they didn't need the help of either of their Potion's professors as Viola worked the cipher out a couple of days later. Excited to tell Barney the news, she grabbed him in a corridor between lessons when he was with Thomas.
"I've figured out what the potion is," Viola beamed and took Barney by surprise.
"You have?!"
"Yes. Come on lets find Conrad and I'll explain everything."
Barney and Viola along with Thomas soon found Conrad and headed into an empty classroom where Viola couldn't wait to tell them everything. "The reason why we couldn't figure out what the potion was is because it's not complete. There's an ingredient missing," she said excitedly.
"That must be how we get the page to reveal itself. What is it?" Barney asked as he grabbed the journal from his bag and quickly found the page with that cipher on.
"Essence of Sneezewort."
"Of course! Noxvidere potion. How did I not see that?" Conrad said, kicking himself for being so slow.
Barney laid the journal out on the desk and retrieved his quill and ink from his bag and wrote the words 'essence of sneezewort' underneath the symbols of the other ingredients. As they all held their breath and waited to see what happened, words slowly started to appear on the page -
To find what is hidden one need only look,
To that which stands beside the rook.
Up from the one that wears the golden coin,
Look down to where the elements join.
Where source of the written word leaps,
East to a night where no one sleeps.
And where the Blue Fairies grow,
It is marked by stone beast's arrow.
Follow its path towards the ember,
And recite the spell used to remember.
As where the last light dies,
There my sorrow secret lies.
"What does that even mean?" Viola asked as she reread the page for a second time but was left even more confused.
Thomas and Conrad looked at the page just as confused.
"It's a riddle," Barney exclaimed. "We just need to solve it."
"I'm afraid this is where I'm out," Conrad said as he picked up his bag. "Viola asked me to help out with some language stuff. But I'm not about to start solving riddles and go on a wild goose chase. We don't even know it will lead to the Endeavour Stone or if the stone even exists. I mean it says 'my sorrow secret lies', for all we know it could be where he buried his wife's body."
"He's actually got a point," Viola said. "Doesn't exactly sound like something you'd want to find."
Thomas kept quiet but he actually agreed with them both, but he could tell Barney was feeling despondent at their lack of enthusiasm as Conrad went to leave.
"Look I'll keep my vow and I promise not to tell anyone about this but I'm already behind on my Arithmancy assignment and I've got another long essay for Dark Arts and I need to get to my Transfiguration class," Conrad said to a disappointed looking Barney. "I haven't got time for this. I wish you all the luck, but just don't get your hopes up."
As Conrad walked out the door Barney was half expecting Thomas and Viola to follow him. And as much as Thomas thought this whole thing was starting to be a waste of time he stayed out of loyalty to his friend, not because he really wanted to. Though Viola didn't know what to think. The thought of finding the Endeavour Stone made her want to believe the journal could actually show them where to find it. But she also knew how absurd the whole thing sounded. Great wizards had been searching for the stone for centuries. To think a teacher at Hogwarts had it and didn't tell anyone and just hid it seemed unlikely.
And the more Barney thought about the whole thing the more questions he had. There were still many more pages of the journal left to decipher and read. What else had Nevermore written on those pages that he felt whoever found the journal should know? And if Nevermore did indeed have the Endeavour Stone why did he go to such great lengths to hide it? He remembered back to what he had read in his book about the stone. Was it really cursed?