.....................................THE FOURTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS............................................
The next day, Jessica could be found sitting at the same table in the library as the day before. Anyone passing her would probably glance at her and be on their way. She had the side ends of her hair pulled back it a red, green, and gold barrette so she could look through books without having to push her hair away from her face or off the page or something. Nick was helping her search which looked odd but interesting to people who passed by.
"Bloody hell, I know you're here somewhere…" She could be heard muttering to herself.
A couple of first years had stopped looking at her wide eyed and frightened after one of her more colorful bouts of obscenities. She didn't even notice they were there.
Jessica was actually totally oblivious to the stares she was getting by passers by, or the threatening glares from Madam Prince. The only thing running through her head was finding some sort of spell, or even potion to find out where these gifts were coming from.
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The person in question was watching her flip through a book with unusual ferocity, laughing quietly to himself.
She's fiesty… but of courseI knew that already. he thought pleased. To bad all her effort is going to waste.
If she indeed came across a spell that should be of some assistance, she would be disappointed to find it had absolutely no effect. He had made sure to block all of those unwanted magical methods of finding something's origination. He was even aware of a spell that, if the letter is left unblocked, will tell you exactly who wrote it.
Can't have all my plans being ruined now canI? Though she may finda way around it but I seriously doubt it. ButI should remember: Never underestimatea Dumbledore. He thought. Though he didn't show it, he was worried even his plans wouldn't prove to be enough in the end.
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Jessica threw another book into the ever growing pile in front of her. "Useless…" she grumbled, switching to the next one. Even though she had absolutely no patience with this sort of thing, she was to stubborn to give up without finding what she was looking for.
She stopped fuming when she came across a likely looking paragraph.
'Sourcus' pronounced 'S-ource-US' while directed towards an object will tell you where the object in question came from, or originated. This spell can be frustrating considering it may tell you the obvious origination, not the one you are looking for. For example, preformed on wool sweater, (lets assume you wanted to know who sent it to you), it may show you a picture of a sheep rather than the information you long to receive. The reason for this being, the sweater obviously originated as a sheep (the poor thing). Immense concentration is required to get the desired results.
Good luck!
"It's worth a try, I suppose." Ignoring the rule stating plainly no magic is to be used within the confines of the library, Jessica took her wand from her pocket, while practicing the pronunciation in her head.
S-OURCE-us!......wait no......S-ource-US!.....that's it!
Closing her eyes, and directing all her thoughts to the person behind the gift giving (which wasn't difficult considering that was all she was thinking about lately), Jessica whispered the incantation out loud, pointing her wand at the small slip of parchment she had up on the table. A small beam of white light shot out of her wand (thankfully it didn't make any noise or she would be kicked out by Pince.) It hit the parchment, and at first, the paper just glowed eerily. Looking almost like a Muggle comic book thought bubble, a cloud rose, hovering over her table. Inside was the unmistakable picture of a tree.
"Arg!" Jessica scowled, using her hand to swipe the picture from in front of her face.
"Miss Dumbledore!" A shrill, unhappy voice rang out from behind her.
"Yes Madame Pince?" Jessica asked, trying to look as innocent as possible with the remains of a spell hovering over her table.
"You know magic is not permitted here, I'm going to have to ask you to leave, but not without taking off ten house points." Madame Pince then stomped away, but Jessica could still feel her beady glare from across the library. Jessica cursed to herself, picking up her things and bringing them with her out of the library.
"Source-US!" Jessica shouted for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. Once again, the annoyingly accurate picture of an oak tree rose above her head.
"Blast, well at least I know that this paper came from an oak tree…"
Jessica's thoughts stopped there when a loud 'squeak' came from the other side of the barricaded transfiguration door. (For Jessica had barricaded herself into the classroom to ensure privacy.)
"What the hell…?" She muttered, making her way to the door, levitating a desk out of the way.
When she pushed the door open, she was shocked to see four small black bats hovering in front of her.
"Squeeaak" One of them said, this time louder without a door in the way. They all glided into the classroom uninvited, and hung upside down from the filing cabinet that Professor McGonagall had been using lately.
Jessica stuck her head outside, but there didn't seem to be anyone lurking through the corridors. "Where the devil did you come from?" She asked to no one in particular. "This couldn't be another gift could it…?" She grinned to herself. Bats had always been some of her favorite creatures and there's only one place on the grounds that they could've come from, the forest. She looked out the window at it's darkness, the trees swaying slightly in a soft breeze.
She made her way over, thinking about what she was supposed to do with these unexpected pets when she saw another red envelope. Even though they didn't seem anywhere near as predictable as the previous three presents, her hands still shook slightly while opening the envelope.
On the fourth day of Christmas,
Your true love gave to you,
Four huge walnuts.
"Walnuts?" She repeated confused, looking up at the bats doubtfully. But just as she was about to read the letter again, the bats spreaded their wings, and headed for the exit.
"Hey! Come back here!" She called after them, not knowing if it was such a good idea to leave them roaming around the school but she figured they'd find their way out eventually or hide in one of the towers. As she turned back to the filing cabinet they had hung from, and gasped at what they had left on top of it. Four walnuts about the size of her hand were sitting there. She noticed one thing about them immediately: they had hinges so obviously, they had something inside of them.
Not able to resist their pull, Jessica crossed the room and picked one up, holding it about chest level. Curiosity immediately engulfed her whole body, leaving her fingers and toes tingling with the energy of it. She slowly opened it. It wasn't a regular walnut. It was lined with blue velvet and was cradling a small red stone piece that had a pointed edge but then came up and curved back around, almost like a square but with one curvy side. Slightly puzzled, she set that one down and picked up another one. This one was lined with velvet also but was holding a long triangular piece. She picked up the third one and it was holding an identical triangular piece. The last one held a piece that was like the first one, pointed on one side but curvy on the side opposite it. She studied them for a moment, they obviously went together to form something.
That's when she saw it. Another small piece of parchment was tucked into the fourth walnut. She quickly took it out and began to read.
I suppose you're wondering why there's little red pieces in all four walnuts. They're actually left over pieces of the Sorcerer's Stone that I carved into the shape of something but then I separated the pieces so you would have to figure out what it is. If you place the pieces close enough together, they will spring together like magnets forming the shape itself. I hope you like it when it finally comes together.
No name again. Not surprising, but she was even more curious now to see what the pieces would come together to form. Her grandfather had told her all about the Sorcerer's Stone and what it did and was shocked that her 'Secret Santa' had been able to get pieces of it when she had been told it had been completely destroyed! She slowly picked up the pieces and put them close together on Professor McGonagall's desk. She slowly inched them closer together until they sprang together instantly, forming....a heart. She was surprised, giddy, and shocked at the same time. She picked up the heart. It fit perfectly in her palm and was cut like a fine diamond. It was truly beautiful, sparkling even in the dim light of the classroom. A tear escaped her eye and slid down her cheek. She was touched by this person's creativity and thoughtfulness. She slowly put the heart back into one of the walnuts and slipped all of them into her pockets. She quickly heard footsteps coming so she quickly levitated the desk out of the way and ran down the corridor, her hands over her pockets.
As she ran, she thought of the one person who could help her with this problem. It was someone right here in the castle, a friend and confidant, and also someone who happened to be deceased.
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"Oh c'mon Nick, why not?"
Jessica stamped her foot like a small child as she glared at her friend, the ghost of Gryffindor, Sir Nicholas.
"Because my dear, I don't get involved in the love lives of the students I befriend and watch over in this castle and in my tower. Besides, there's a chance that even if I did look around and observe young men for you, that I would not find the one who is sending you these gifts and you would be angry or disappointed with me, so, I am not getting involved in this. Good Luck though."
And with those final words, he glided off again. Jessica sighed and leaned up against the wall. There just had to be a way to figure this out.