CHAPTER 5
The girls' detention was separate, Lucy was to scrub the bed-pans in the hospital ward without the use of magic and Andrea's was to polish the school trophies. They both returned to Ravenclaw tower late that night and Lucy stayed up with Andrea until well after mid-night helping her to finish her homework.
The next morning on their way down to breakfast they passed the corridor that they had visited the day before but surprisingly there was no corridor there, only a mounted suit of armour.
"How is that possible, we walked through that way yesterday," exclaimed Lucy.
"Maybe it's a secret passage or one that you can only see at a certain time of the day" answered Andrea, with a look of intrigue. "You know we have to go back now, or I'll die of curiosity."
"Well they say that Hogwarts is full of places like that" pondered Lucy, "And I do want to know what that boy was up to. Let's go tonight after dinner."
Lucy felt a quiet excitement building throughout the day it sustained her through defence against the dark arts, where she studiously now turned her pages at the same time as Lisa who sat in front of her. It meant 10 minutes staring at the same page while she waited for Lisa to catch up, but it was better than having Hunt growl at her again.
Later that evening they tried to look casual as they reached the place where the passage had been the night before. As they stood staring at the statue wondering how to make the corridor reappear, suddenly and soundlessly the armour vanished and the end of a corridor appeared. Silently they both moved down it until the reached a door, now closed and when Andrea tried it, they discovered it was locked.
"Alohomora" whispered Lucy and the door swung open, they entered the dark room and Lucy whispered "Lumos", a small light appeared at the end of her wand, which she held above her head to light the room.
The girls looked around the room then at each other disappointedly, the room was empty. "Nox" whispered Lucy to put out the light from her wand, they stepped back out the room and hurried out of the passageway.
As they climbed the stairs to Ravenclaw tower Andrea said in disappointment "What a let down there was absolutely nothing there! What's the point of a secret passage that doesn't go anywhere?"
"We're missing something! There must be something there, otherwise what's the point and what was that Slytherin doing. Come to that where was the light coming from; there were no torches in the room?" Lucy muttered almost to herself.
"How do you know those spell by the way? Are you from a wizarding family?" asked Andrea.
"It's a long story, but no I read about them when we were in the library the other night." Lucy replied.
They settled by the fire in the common room. Lucy told Andrea of her family history. They eventually got round to analysing their failed adventure. As they spoke about it an idea came to Lucy "maybe whatever is in that room is hidden the same way the passage is, maybe you have to know what it is before you can see it or you need to cast a spell to reveal it!"
Andrea showed renewed excitement at this idea, maybe their adventure had not reached a dead end after all. The girls agreed to search the library for information on Hogwarts hidden passages and chambers. That said they settled down to finish their homework, Lucy as usual finished first and helped Andrea.
Over the next few days they spent a lot of time in the library looking for clues and coming up empty. Before they knew it, the Christmas holidays had arrived.
Lucy packed all her belongings in to her trunk and went down to the great hall for breakfast. The girls quickly ate their breakfasts and got ready to go and catch the train home for the holidays.
It was a happy train journey home as the students were in high spirits, they played exploding snap and sang slightly rude Christmas songs all the way back. Lucy disembarked to find her father waiting for her alone in the station.
"Hi, where's Mum?" Lucy hugged her father.
"She had to work today, but she'll be home by the time we get back." her father smiled in reply.
"When is the train? I don't think I can sit for another 5 hours." Lucy asked.
"Actually we're not going by train, we're going by floo powder, come on I'll explain on the way." Replied, her father.
A slightly grubby Lucy tumbled from the fire place in the living room of the family home half an hour later, coughing from the dust. "Oh my goodness" exclaimed her mother as she moved forward to hug her.
"It's awful isn't it" she said, laughing, "Daddy brought me home from the Leaky Cauldron the last time!"
Lucy nodded her agreement holding her mother tightly as her father appeared behind them, though he had managed not to fall face first out of the fireplace like Lucy had.
Over dinner that night she told them all about her lessons and life in the strange castle, then she tentatively told her father about Professor McGonagall and how she had told her about her father's real name. "It's all right sweetie Professor Dumbledore sent me an owl the first week you arrived in the school asking me if I wanted the world to know I was still alive."
Lucy looked stunned "But how did he know?"
"Well not much gets past Dumbledore, I asked him to give some more time to think about it." Des paused as though deciding how best to say the next part.
"I didn't just decide to leave, I was so badly injured that I didn't know who I was when I woke up in a muggle hospital. I was there for several weeks before it started to come back to me. I could remember my name was Des that's how I ended up with papers calling me Desmond; it was the most likely name they could think of that would be shortened to Des. At first I remembered things so bizarre that the nurses thought I might be permanently brain damaged! That's how I met your mother she was a psychology student in the hospital. Eventually I was released and I started to remember, though I didn't talk about it, I didn't feel I could face the truth. So I started to make a new life here with your mother." As he paused for breath Lucy glanced at her mother, who was smiling at him.
"There was one more thing in Dumbledore's letter he wanted me to discuss with you Lucy." Des said changing the subject. "He thinks that you should do 2nd year classes when you go back. He says he is concerned that you will become bored if not challenged enough. And I agree with him. What do you say; will we go to Diagon Alley for the books and have a look through them?"
Lucy looked shocked then slowly she nodded her head. "Will I still sit exams with my class mates at the end of the year?"
"Actually Dumbledore says you will sit first and second year exams at the end of the year"
"Cool, I've read some of their text books and they look much more interesting than ours!"
"That my girl!" laughed her father.
The girls' detention was separate, Lucy was to scrub the bed-pans in the hospital ward without the use of magic and Andrea's was to polish the school trophies. They both returned to Ravenclaw tower late that night and Lucy stayed up with Andrea until well after mid-night helping her to finish her homework.
The next morning on their way down to breakfast they passed the corridor that they had visited the day before but surprisingly there was no corridor there, only a mounted suit of armour.
"How is that possible, we walked through that way yesterday," exclaimed Lucy.
"Maybe it's a secret passage or one that you can only see at a certain time of the day" answered Andrea, with a look of intrigue. "You know we have to go back now, or I'll die of curiosity."
"Well they say that Hogwarts is full of places like that" pondered Lucy, "And I do want to know what that boy was up to. Let's go tonight after dinner."
Lucy felt a quiet excitement building throughout the day it sustained her through defence against the dark arts, where she studiously now turned her pages at the same time as Lisa who sat in front of her. It meant 10 minutes staring at the same page while she waited for Lisa to catch up, but it was better than having Hunt growl at her again.
Later that evening they tried to look casual as they reached the place where the passage had been the night before. As they stood staring at the statue wondering how to make the corridor reappear, suddenly and soundlessly the armour vanished and the end of a corridor appeared. Silently they both moved down it until the reached a door, now closed and when Andrea tried it, they discovered it was locked.
"Alohomora" whispered Lucy and the door swung open, they entered the dark room and Lucy whispered "Lumos", a small light appeared at the end of her wand, which she held above her head to light the room.
The girls looked around the room then at each other disappointedly, the room was empty. "Nox" whispered Lucy to put out the light from her wand, they stepped back out the room and hurried out of the passageway.
As they climbed the stairs to Ravenclaw tower Andrea said in disappointment "What a let down there was absolutely nothing there! What's the point of a secret passage that doesn't go anywhere?"
"We're missing something! There must be something there, otherwise what's the point and what was that Slytherin doing. Come to that where was the light coming from; there were no torches in the room?" Lucy muttered almost to herself.
"How do you know those spell by the way? Are you from a wizarding family?" asked Andrea.
"It's a long story, but no I read about them when we were in the library the other night." Lucy replied.
They settled by the fire in the common room. Lucy told Andrea of her family history. They eventually got round to analysing their failed adventure. As they spoke about it an idea came to Lucy "maybe whatever is in that room is hidden the same way the passage is, maybe you have to know what it is before you can see it or you need to cast a spell to reveal it!"
Andrea showed renewed excitement at this idea, maybe their adventure had not reached a dead end after all. The girls agreed to search the library for information on Hogwarts hidden passages and chambers. That said they settled down to finish their homework, Lucy as usual finished first and helped Andrea.
Over the next few days they spent a lot of time in the library looking for clues and coming up empty. Before they knew it, the Christmas holidays had arrived.
Lucy packed all her belongings in to her trunk and went down to the great hall for breakfast. The girls quickly ate their breakfasts and got ready to go and catch the train home for the holidays.
It was a happy train journey home as the students were in high spirits, they played exploding snap and sang slightly rude Christmas songs all the way back. Lucy disembarked to find her father waiting for her alone in the station.
"Hi, where's Mum?" Lucy hugged her father.
"She had to work today, but she'll be home by the time we get back." her father smiled in reply.
"When is the train? I don't think I can sit for another 5 hours." Lucy asked.
"Actually we're not going by train, we're going by floo powder, come on I'll explain on the way." Replied, her father.
A slightly grubby Lucy tumbled from the fire place in the living room of the family home half an hour later, coughing from the dust. "Oh my goodness" exclaimed her mother as she moved forward to hug her.
"It's awful isn't it" she said, laughing, "Daddy brought me home from the Leaky Cauldron the last time!"
Lucy nodded her agreement holding her mother tightly as her father appeared behind them, though he had managed not to fall face first out of the fireplace like Lucy had.
Over dinner that night she told them all about her lessons and life in the strange castle, then she tentatively told her father about Professor McGonagall and how she had told her about her father's real name. "It's all right sweetie Professor Dumbledore sent me an owl the first week you arrived in the school asking me if I wanted the world to know I was still alive."
Lucy looked stunned "But how did he know?"
"Well not much gets past Dumbledore, I asked him to give some more time to think about it." Des paused as though deciding how best to say the next part.
"I didn't just decide to leave, I was so badly injured that I didn't know who I was when I woke up in a muggle hospital. I was there for several weeks before it started to come back to me. I could remember my name was Des that's how I ended up with papers calling me Desmond; it was the most likely name they could think of that would be shortened to Des. At first I remembered things so bizarre that the nurses thought I might be permanently brain damaged! That's how I met your mother she was a psychology student in the hospital. Eventually I was released and I started to remember, though I didn't talk about it, I didn't feel I could face the truth. So I started to make a new life here with your mother." As he paused for breath Lucy glanced at her mother, who was smiling at him.
"There was one more thing in Dumbledore's letter he wanted me to discuss with you Lucy." Des said changing the subject. "He thinks that you should do 2nd year classes when you go back. He says he is concerned that you will become bored if not challenged enough. And I agree with him. What do you say; will we go to Diagon Alley for the books and have a look through them?"
Lucy looked shocked then slowly she nodded her head. "Will I still sit exams with my class mates at the end of the year?"
"Actually Dumbledore says you will sit first and second year exams at the end of the year"
"Cool, I've read some of their text books and they look much more interesting than ours!"
"That my girl!" laughed her father.