Chapter 4: The Headmaster's Office
Beth swallowed hard and followed Dumbledore up the stairs and into his office. It was full of the gentle noise of small silver things and the murmur of the portraits on the walls. Beth stared around for a few moments before she sank into the chair across from Dumbledore's huge claw-footed desk.
"Welcome back, Miss Burke." He said with a smile as he took his chair and folded his hands on his desk. "And I see you have a cat." He was looking at Balboa who had been staring at Fawkes, the brilliant red and gold phoenix. Fawkes did not seem troubled by the intent gaze at all.
"Yes, that's Balboa. You, uh, you wanted to see me, Headmaster?" Beth murmured trying not to stare at Fawkes who was shaking his wings and pruning his feathers on his perch.
"Yes, I wanted to continue our conversation on the Founders' Relics by bringing your attention to an interesting bit that we just uncovered."
Beth sat up a little straighter and tried to look interested, while she searched her mind for anything she knew about the Founders' Relics. She knew about Gryffindor's sword and Slytherin's locket, so of course there had to be other Relics. Dumbledore slid an old piece of parchment across the desk. "Please take a look."
Beth picked up the faded piece of paper carefully as Balboa jumped into her lap as if he were trying to get a better look as well. Most of the ink was so faded that she could only distinguish a few words, but the document appeared to be a letter from Rowena Ravenclaw to Helga Hufflepuff talking about some kind of cup and how it was going to be hidden.
"We were correct to continue our research by going through the Hogwarts' archives of the Founders' letters." Dumbledore said. "I asked Madame Pince to take on the task this summer and she turned up a number of interesting letters; this is just one of them."
Beth suddenly remembered a great deal about the four Founders and how they had been searching out special relics to assure that they weren't being used by You-Know-Who. "Have you been able to discover where it's been hidden?" She asked, suddenly excited that all her hard work and research was going to pay off. "I'll finally get something to show for all those hours in the library!" She thought excitedly for a moment before she felt confused. She hadn't been spending long hours in the library, she'd been at home, making her Halloween costume, but somehow making a costume seemed like some sort of strange dream and being in the library making up excuses to stay long after her friends had left was real.
"I have reason to believe that it is hidden within the school but I have no way of knowing if he managed to remove it when he was a student here. He is believed to have possession of Helga Hufflepuff's cup but we are still unsure about Ravenclaw."
Beth nodded slowly, her hopes suddenly falling again as she tried to decipher more of the writing.
"I intend to try and make the ink more readable with a few spells that Madame Pince thinks will work." Dumbledore continued. "I cannot believe that the Founders left their things unguarded. I think there is much more to learn from these letters. It is possible that Tom Riddle was unable to secure the cup while he was here."
Beth murmured in agreement, squinting at the parchment. "I have the feeling that something will be guarding it." She looked up and Dumbledore was looking speculative.
"Did you manage to discover anything about what the Ravenclaw relic might be?"
Dumbledore shook his head. "I have not but I haven't yet read through all of the letters and other materials that Madame Pince had provided for me."
"Could there still be a chance that You-Know-Who doesn't have it yet?" Beth asked hopefully.
"Perhaps, but we need to be able to read more of these letters first. I shall have them back on one week. Shall we meet again after dinner next Wednesday?"
Beth left the office feeling as if she had to head back to the library and dig up that book she had been reading at the end of last term. She shook her head hard and looked down at Balboa who was trotting along next to her.
"This can't be right!" She told the cat who flicked his tail but otherwise ignored her. Beth sighed as she headed back towards her room. "Maybe it will make more sense in the morning."
The only thing that really made sense in the morning was the fact that Beth found it very easy to fit in at Hogwarts. Everything she had learned seemed to be coming back to her and she even made it down to the Great Hall for breakfast on her own.
The classes proved to be even easier to get used too. Everything she studied simply popped into her head when she needed it.
"It's almost a little too easy." She told Balboa. Every hour that passed made her more and more certain that she had simply dreamt that Halloween night and the strange old man who had greeted her at the door. "It was Dumbledore of course," she told Balboa in-between one of her classes, "its funny how I dreamt about him and Halloween, I haven't been trick or treating since I came to Hogwarts."
The week went by very quickly as Beth slipped into the routine of classes, homework, and sneaking off to the Library to do more research. She poured through books on Hogwarts' history but every new lead she encountered turned out to be a dead end except for one important point. She wrote it down carefully, Dumbledore would certainly be interested to hear what she had discovered.
She ran down the hallway, skidding to a halt in front of the stone gargoyle. "Chocolate Frogs!" She panted. The gargoyle looked a bit startled as it jumped off its perch and Beth hurried through the door, taking the steps two at a time until she came to the door of Dumbledore's office. She took a deep breath and managed to knock without pounding on the wood. She barely waited to hear a voice that asked her to enter and burst through into the round office.
"Headmaster!" She panted, still unable to catch her breath. Beside her, Balboa sat regally, not looking the least bit tired.
"Right on time." Dumbledore said with a smile. "Have a seat."
Beth collapsed into the chair and pulled a folded piece of paper from her robe. She handed it to Dumbledore who unfolded it carefully. "I found that in one of the Hogwarts' History books." She said, slowly managing to catch her breath. "It suggests that Ravenclaw's relic is the Chalice and Hufflepuff's relic is actually a shield of some sort."
Dumbledore adjusted his spectacles as he read down the hastily scribbled words. "Hmm, that would suggest that Voldemort does not in fact have Hufflepuff's cup, if this is correct."
Beth nodded fervently. "And we still have a chance to get all the relics together!"
Dumbledore looked thoughtful. "The only problem, Beth, is the letters of both Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff. They all seem to suggest that Helga's relic is in fact a cup. It could be that the author of the history you were reading was mistaken." Beth's hopes fell once again but Dumbledore continued. "We must not discard anything yet, however, I have some letters that I have not read yet. I shall entrust you to reading them before our next meeting. We shall compare our findings then."
Beth took the packet of letters and nodded slowly. "Of course, Headmaster."
"Don't neglect your studies, however." He warned as he showed her out the door of his office.
It was hard not to neglect her studies when she had a whole packet of letters to read. Anyone of them could have the answer to the riddle of the Founders' Relics and what would happen once someone managed to get them together.
The letters though were, in short, utterly devoid of anything useful. They were long epistles from Rowena to Helga or Godric about the formation of a school and how well her students were managing today or how hard it was to hide their comings and goings from the non-magical folk. One letter from Rowena to Godric spent four pages expounding on why they all needed to move their schools to a central location away from and totally hidden from muggles.
Beth tossed another letter irritably across her bed. The curtains on her four poster were drawn and she could barely seen but for the tiny light of her wand. Balboa batted playfully at the paper as it floated down onto the bed. There just had to be something to what she had discovered in that history book! If Hufflepuff's Relic was a shield it meant that You-Know-Who had a fake relic and it could mean that he hadn't actually managed to get any of the relics!
"It would mean all his Horcruxes would be useless, at least according to that book about them I found last term. The items need to have a special meaning and if he hadn't managed to get the relics then the items are fakes and they have no meaning."
Balboa yawned and stretched out on the foot of her bed, eyes starting to close as if he were about to settle to sleep.
Beth sighed and gathered the letters she had already read and stuffed them back into the envelope that Dumbledore had given her and then started to sort through the rest. There was one, written in green ink that caught her eye. She picked it up and held her wand close. Her eyes got wider and wider as she read.
It was a letter to Rowena from Salizar in which the Slytherin founder complained about the lengthy and time consuming spells that Rowena was insisting that they all cast around their new school to keep it safe from the eyes of muggles, who Salizar noted: "Wouldn't see a hippogriff if it bit them." However he also complained about the idea to install a vault at the center of the castle. He claimed that an idea for a chamber of secrets was his own invention for his own students and powerful spells that he would have no other wizard except a pure blood learn. "I will build my chamber, Rowena, and you may build yours, if you wish, but expect no aid from me."
Beth's hands shook as she read over the letter again. It didn't state directly that the relics were hidden there but it did state that there was another hidden chamber in Hogwarts. She rummaged through her papers for the map of Hogwarts that she had used her last Copy Quill to make. She unrolled it and searched for a likely place the vault would've been hidden. She had already marked with a red x where she believed the Chamber of Secrets had been located based on everything she had been able to hear.
There didn't seem to be any large spaces that were not accounted for but magic could do wonderful things with very small spaces. She made a few notes on the map before she went back to the pile of unread letters. She didn't find anything else of interest and disappointed she went to sleep.
The next day was the first of a Hogsmede weekend. Beth wanted to stay behind but her four friends wouldn't hear of her spending a Hogsmede weekend locked up in the library, no matter how important Beth insisted it was. Knowing when she was beaten, Beth joined Hestia, Jonquil, Abby, and Helen as they rode the carriages down to the little village. Beth couldn't keep her mind off the package of letters that waited up in her room.
The other girls chatted about classes and what they intended to do in the little town before they had to head back up to school. There were plans for hot mugs of butter beer after they had bought more copy quills, boxes of chocolates and fudge from Honeydukes and Hestia wanted a new winter cloak and scarf since both of hers were thin and worn with age. They tried to ignore the presence of Aurors and the teachers around them as they made their way through the too-silent streets. Beth had almost forgotten about the war, but she knew it had never actually left her mind. The thought of death had always been at the back of her mind where she had pushed it trying to ignore it by throwing herself into her research and studies.
Beth shook her head to push dark thoughts out of her mind and tried to join in the conversation which was currently centered on the fact that Hestia wanted to buy a deep red scarf and Jonquil was insisting that she get one in the "proper colors" blue or copper. Beth sighed and waited through the inevitable argument.
Worn out by walking through the snowy streets after a day of shopping the girls finally headed into Honeydukes shop which was less crowded than it should've been. Beth ignored the argument over Hestia's new red scarf, hat and matching mittens and concerned herself with picking out several bars of chocolate and a pound of honey walnut fudge. She paid for her own things and offered to wait near the door since although Hestia was now ignoring Jonquil, Jonquil didn't seen inclined to stop pushing her point.
Beth chuckled and looked out the window, looking forward to a nice hot mug of butter beer at the Three Broomsticks. She was pulled out of her thoughts when a tall thin woman with her cloak wrapped tightly around her hurried past the window. Beth watched her with a frown, from underneath her cloak, Balboa hissed and Beth shivered as something cold passed over her.
It wasn't odd to see people hurrying through the streets with their cloaks drawn up around them but there was something about this woman that made Beth suspicious.
"I'll meet you all at the Three Broomsticks!" She called over her shoulder before she rushed out the door and followed the woman through the slippery streets.
She was careful to maintain a good distance from the hurrying woman but was surprised as the woman hurried out of the town and up a snow laden path towards the woods. Beth stopped at the edge of the line of buildings, pretending to be contemplating something in the shop window. She wanted to keep following the woman, but it would be difficult to hide in the wide open, not to mention that she was a black and grey cloak against the white snow.
She pulled out her wand and changed the colors on her cloak to a silvery white to blend in better with the high snow drifts and trudged through the roaring wind and drifting snow after the retreating figure.