Chapter 30 - Insight
On the first day of Christmas Break, Harry and Ron were sitting at one of the tables in the Gryffindor common room as all those who were leaving did so. Hermione was among the first and insisted that Harry and Ron take a copy of the bubble-gum wrapper dots to the library during the Break to look for some sort of wizard code or communication system there. After all, she reasoned, the Longbottoms were both aurors and would probably know all the most subtle and complex codes in the magical world.
"When in doubt, go to the Library, right, Hermione?" said Ron.
"If you have a better plan, I'd like to hear it," she replied. "Besides would you rather sit around thinking about your parents playing games in the Defense classroom?"
"That's a low blow, Hermione! Now I'll have to do something drastic to get that out of my head."
"Like going to the library?"
"As a last resort, yeah."
Just then Ginny showed up and curled herself up in an easy chair near her brother and Harry.
"Oh, Harry," said Hermione, "I wanted to ask before I go if you'd seen the essay we wrote in The Quibbler."
"Not yet," answered Harry, "I can assure you that I'd have showed it to you if I'd seen it."
"Actually it will be in the first edition in January," said Ginny.
"And you know this because …?" asked Ron.
"Luna and I share a lot of classes. She was reading a letter from her father this morning in Runes and mentioned that he had said it would be published then – front page with a byline."
"I didn't know you took Runes," said Harry.
Ginny tilted her head, arched an eyebrow, and said mysteriously, "There's a lot you don't know about me, Harry Potter."
"Oh, like it's some big deal," said Ron dismissively. "She's as much of a grind as Percy."
Ginny hit him in the arm. "If you must compare me to an industrious brother, choose Bill or Charlie!"
"Ow! Geez, Ginny!"
"Ahem!" interrupted Hermione. "I'll leave you to your childish play, then. I only have so much time with my parents before they'll be going, so I'll be on my way. Don't forget the 'project'!"
They waved good-bye to her and promised they would spend some library time, but as soon as the portrait-hole closed, they tossed the parchment on the table and started a game of wizard chess.
Ginny picked it up, turning it each way.
"Alright, you two, what's this parchment thing all about? It sounds like Hermione has you doing research, though why she'd trust you two I can't imagine."
Harry waved her to be quiet, because just then Neville walked by. He saw the parchment and asked what it was. Harry stammered a few seconds before Ron said it was a page from their quidditch playbook.
"Oh, cool," said Neville, "looks more organized than quidditch usually seems."
"Yeah, well, uh," said Ron, "these are approximations of positions. We adjust according to our opponent."
After Neville left, Ginny said, "Okay, it must be pretty good or you two wouldn't have made up a lie like that. Spill!"
"Okay," said Harry. "Hermione made these dots from the holes in the gum wrappers that Neville's mother gave me. Remember, we told you about them when I was in hospital. Hermione plotted them so she wouldn't have to look at the sick swirling pink wrappers. We just figured we shouldn't say anything to others, especially Neville."
"Because you didn't want to remind Neville of his parents' situation?"
"Yeah, or give him false hopes of recovery."
"So what have you got – or should I say, what has Hermione got, since you two lunkheads couldn't solve anything."
"Well, I like that," said Ron. "We've gotten just as far as she has."
"Yeah," laughed Harry, "nowhere."
"Well, you two go on with your game and let me see if I can come up with anything."
They were there for about twenty minutes when Colin and Dennis Creevey came by. They called good-bye to Harry and Ron, and Colin made to pat Ginny on the shoulder as he was passing. He had grown enough that he could look over both the chair back and her shoulder to see the parchment.
"Hey, who do you know who's blind?" he asked.
"What? Why do you ask?" said Ginny.
"Well, you've got those Braille patterns there," he said, "Look at this Dennis, doesn't that look like the books great-uncle Bruce used to read, except those boxes around them."
"Really?" said Harry, "I've heard of Braille but never seen it." Then he explained to Ron and Ginny, "It's a system of raised dots that represent letters so that blind people can read,"
"Well, that's what it looks like if the dots aren't raised," said Dennis, "except for those stray dots. Look at that, Colin; these have got one stray dot beneath the Braille dots. Well, if you didn't know what it was, why do you have it?"
"Our parents got us a bunch of puzzles to keep us occupied during the Break," said Ron. "They're getting all romantic, reliving their student days together, and didn't want us interrupting."
"Yeah," said Ginny, "as if we'd get within a mile of 'em like that."
Colin turned his back to them, wrapped his arms so his hands were reaching around to his back, and made smooching noises.
"Aargh! No, I can't take it," laughed Ginny. "I'll be off food for a week."
"So what do each of these represent, guys?" asked Harry.
"Couldn't tell you, Harry," said Dennis. "It's not something you generally learn unless you need to. Uncle Bruce would read to us from Braille books, but we couldn't figure it out when he did it. Sorry."
"No problem – at least you pointed us in a promising direction," said Harry. "Have a great holiday. Think those happy thoughts – I want to see your Patronuses."
"Take lots of pictures," said Ron.
And both Creeveys pulled out cameras and took a shot of Harry and the Weasleys before leaving.
As soon as the Creeveys were out the portrait-hole, Ron and Harry finished their chess game and then the three of them headed to the library. They used the 'puzzle' excuse again, without the embellishment about Professor and Mrs. Weasley, to explain to Madam Pince what they were looking for and why.
"Very clever," she said "to give young wizards a puzzle written in a muggle code – wizards would be so unlikely to recognize it. Or, I guess from what you're describing, it is more of an alphabet in itself. Curious. But I'm afraid you won't be finding any such thing here."
They left the library and stood together to think.
Ron said, "Now who do we know with access to a muggle library or bookstore?"
Ginny glared at him like he was the biggest troll in Britain until he said sheepishly, "Oh, of course, Hermione, she'd be living in one or the other given a chance. But she's long gone."
"Well, I've got a friend with wings who'd love the trip," said Harry, "unless you'd prefer to use Pig?"
"No, the weather is pretty nasty outside," said Ron. "I wouldn't want to send him ten miles, much less several hundred. Hedwig's the right size for these conditions."
They stopped by the dorm for a piece of parchment, on which they wrote, "We think the dots are Braille – send us a translation key. H, R, & G." They got Harry's owl grooming kit and several owl treats and went up to the owlery. Hedwig stooped to them as soon as she saw Harry. Unlike some years, Harry had not ignored her, finding that when the press of his visions got too intense, holding and stroking Hedwig soothed him as much as it did her. She spread her wings and twisted her neck this way and that as they groomed her for the long flight. Ginny fed her the owl treats as the boys took care of her feathers. Then they attached the parchment and told her where it was to go. She nipped Harry affectionately and took off through the owlery eaves.
