Chapter 15: Home Again
Harry stopped just inside the door when he caught sight of her and Beth didn't like the look on his face.
"What are you doing here?" He demanded before Beth could even utter the words "Good morning."
"Doing research," she said defiantly. "Dumbledore sent me a note telling me to come here to search through some boxes." She held out Dumbledore's note for Harry to see.
Harry crossed the room, snatched the note from her hand and scanned the two lines of writing quickly. His expression changed from angry to confused before it crossed right back into suspicious.
"How do I know you're not a Death Eater?" He demanded as he thrust the note back at her.
"How do I know you're not?" She demanded, snatching it back and crossing her arms over her chest.
He glared at her for a few more minutes before he relented. "What did you find?" He asked.
"Just a few letters." She said dismissively. She would rather have revealed her find to Dumbledore, especially since Harry was being rather rude. She also gathered that Dumbledore had neglected to tell Harry about her and her research or at least he hadn't shared many details and if that was the case Beth wasn't about to start breaking the news.
Harry was glaring at her but he took a moment to glance around the room. "Which boxes have you searched?"
"Just those." She said pointing to Regulus' boxes. "I'm working with Dumbledore on Salizar's locket." She did her best not to clutch the letters tighter in her hand. Balboa had noted that they didn't seem to be moving quickly and so he settled down to watch Fawkes once again. Fawkes regarded him for a few moments before tucking his head under his wing.
Harry glanced over at the smaller pile of boxes before looking back to Beth. "Salizar's locket?" He asked.
Beth wanted to roll her eyes at him but she stopped herself. "We're trying to find the Founders' Relics." She said in an even tone. "Salizar's locket was one of them."
"You've found it? Where is it?" He demanded, taking another step towards her with a strange gleam in his eye.
Beth was grateful that she didn't actually have it. "Dumbledore has it." She said standing her ground.
Harry deflated and looked back towards the large stacks of boxes. "Do you know where the others are?" He asked after a few moments.
Beth spent a few moments staring at him. Dumbledore hadn't told him? "Yes, of course I do." She said a moment later wishing now she had an excuse to leave. He was starting to freak her out.
"You do?" He rounded on her once again. "You know where the other relics are?"
Beth took a step towards the door. "Yes, we found them."
"Where are they?" He demanded.
Beth wanted to tell him to look on the shelf where Godric's sword was sitting in plain view. "They're in the vault where the Founders left them. Dumbledore thinks they'll be safest there." She said instead, deciding that she didn't want to try the slightly insane look in Harry's eyes.
Harry contemplated this for a few minutes. "Do you know where the vault is?"
Beth could tell where this was leading. "Of course I do." She said taking another few steps towards the door.
"Take me there!" Harry demanded, staring at her with wide green eyes.
"No!" Beth almost yelled, startling a few of the portraits who were whispering to each other.
Harry looked stunned. "The relics are there, we have to go and get them!"
"Dumbledore left them there for a reason." Beth said sternly. She had thought the same thing but she wasn't going to let Harry bully her just because he was a Gryffindor. "They're safer there then they are anywhere else. The seals were intact when we found them so You-Know-Who never was able to use them."
Harry stared at her as if he didn't fully understand what she was saying. "Where are they?"
"In a hidden vault in the Owlery." Beth said. She knew that even if he knew that much he wouldn't know how to gain entrance to the vault.
"Do you know how to get in?" He pressed.
Beth had now managed to gain the door but she didn't rush through just yet. "Yes." She put her hand on the door handle. "But I won't tell you."
"Why not?" Harry demanded furiously.
"Because if Dumbledore didn't tell you I'm certainty not going to. The relics are safer in those vaults than they are with us or even with Dumbledore. If You-Know-Who wasn't able to get them back then he won't be able to get them now." Beth said as she turned the door handle.
Harry looked frustrated and turned on his heel and stalked over to his pile of boxes.
"Come on, Balboa." Beth said as she walked out the door. The cat trotted up to her with his tail held high and followed her out the door.
Beth couldn't help but feel bad about refusing to tell Harry. "He was so rude!" She said as she tried to justify her actions to Balboa was busy cleaning his claws as he sat on her bed. "Besides if Dumbledore wanted Harry to know that Dumbledore would've told him!"
Balboa purred in response.
A few moments later an owl flew through the window and landed on her nightstand. Beth knit her eyebrows in confusion as she took the note from its beak and read it.
"Beth, please come to my office immediately to share your discoveries. I have very good news. Albus Dumbledore." She read aloud to Balboa. The owl hooted and then took off out the window.
Beth and Balboa arrived at the office only a few moments later. Harry was sitting in the chair opposite Dumbledore's desk and some of the boxes had been removed.
Dumbledore smiled when he saw her. "Have a seat." He said waving his wand and another seat slid out of a shadow. "Now that you are both here I shall share the good news. The Horcrux in the locket has been successfully destroyed." He smiled at both of them. "Beth, what did you discover?"
Beth wasn't sure she wanted to share what she had discovered with Harry Potter but she just focused her attention on Dumbledore. "I found these letters." She said laying them down on Dumbledore's desk. "It seems that Regulus had second thoughts once he had become a Death Eater and he feared for his life. He took the locket knowing it was more than just a priceless magical relic and then conspired to hide it."
"An interesting discovery to be sure." Dumbledore was scanning the letters as he spoke. "Then Regulus did us all a great favor." He looked at both of them very seriously. "I shall need you both now. It's time to go and retrieve the relics so we may borrow their magic."
"How did you discover where the relics were located, Professor?" Harry asked as they all made their way towards the Owlery.
"I had a great much assistance from Miss Burke in locating their whereabouts. It was her hard work over the course of two terms that led us to their location."
Beth was rather gratified to see Harry looking so dumbfounded. "That'll teach him to be so rude to me," she thought as they climbed the stairs.
"You also should thank Beth since she is the one who single handedly located and returned Salizar's locket to us." He led the way into the cold, round room. The sun was just starting to set and many of the owls were preparing to take flight.
Harry looked over at her and Beth noted that he looked rather impressed. "You found the locket?"
"Yes." She said. "And I practically had to fly all over England to do it."
Dumbledore chuckled. "Now, Harry, you locate Hedwig while Beth and I attempt to locate some bricks."
Harry walked up to one of the walls and called up to his snowy owl as Beth found the first scratched brick. It was near the floor this time, tucked away and nearly out of sight. They pushed them all in short order and the door opened, this time behind them and slightly higher than Dumbledore's head.
"Ahh." He said with a beaming smile. "It appears different places every time. Well, then, up we go!"
They hauled themselves through the opening before it closed and then down the cobwebby hallway through the large gilded doors. As they stepped through into the cool, stone chamber Harry took a moment to examine the counterfeit artifacts that lined the long table. Hedwig landed on a rather tall goblet.
Dumbledore was already examining the door to Helga's vault. "Hedwig, say something for us, if you please." He said as he tapped the stone with his wand. Hedwig hooted and the door swung open. Harry was staring in disbelief as Dumbledore walked in and retrieved the large shield, handing it to Harry.
"Hedwig made it open?" He asked, staring at the shield in his hands.
"Another bit of research we owe to Beth." Dumbledore was tapping on the stone door of Rowena's vault as Hedwig set up a whole chorus of hoots. "She solved the riddle of how to open these vaults; if there is no bird call those two stone owls over there back the door will fire a rather nasty little spell." He stepped into Rowena's vault and picked up the chalice. "Thank you, Beth, for helping us retrieve the relics." He handed the Chalice to Harry. "Go and see to Hedwig, will you Harry?" Dumbledore said with a smile.
Beth was about to follow Harry out of the vault when Dumbledore spoke again. "I have one more thing for you, Beth." He said and tapped one of the strange out croppings in the wall. The stone shifted and a small opening appeared. Beth bent down to peer inside and Balboa hopped up and stared with her into the darkness. It was a small tunnel but it looked wide enough for an owl to fly through. It sloped down into darkness getting wider as it moved away from them.
"What's down there?" She asked as she stood up. "Do you want me to fly through it?"
"Yes," Dumbledore said. "I want you to fly through." He stood back and Beth noted that he hadn't really answered her question.
She shrugged and transformed, full of curiosity as to what kind of magic lay through the passage.
"Be careful." Dumbledore said as Beth hopped through the opening and spread her wings and started to glide down the passage.
Balboa jumped up to the hole and looked back and forth between the darkness and Dumbledore.
"Go on." Dumbledore waved his hand. "She'll need your help after all."
Balboa meowed and jumped into the passage.
The passage sloped downwards for a long time getting broader until Beth couldn't see both sides through the darkness. She flapped frantically as it suddenly started to slope upwards and changed her course; beating her wings faster as she felt fresh air on her face. She was about to give a cry of excited joy when a strange feeling washed over her. She suddenly felt as if she was transforming back and then everything became a blur and went dark.
Beth opened her eyes as Alanna opened the front door.
"There you are!" She said. "What took you so long? Did you hit like ten more houses or something?" She stood aside to allow Beth to walk inside.
Beth opened her mouth to say something and then closed it again as memory started to blur as if she had just woken from a dream. "I…I…sorry, I must've lost track of time." She stammered as she entered the house, noticing for the first time the weight of the bag in her hand.
"I'll say!" Alanna murmured. "Was that last house good? What did you get?"
Beth opened her pillowcase and looked inside. There were no strange letters sitting on top of her pile of candy. She reached down and picked up one of several silver wrapped candies. "A sherbet lemon." She said, reading the label.
"Weird." Alanna said and turned and walked towards the living room.
Beth walked up the stairs to her room late that night with her pillowcase full of candy in her hand. The evening had been spent trading candy and arguing over who had secured more but Beth had been wondering if it had all been a dream.
"I guess it had to be." She said to herself as she pushed open her bedroom door. She flipped on the light switch and paused as she looked at her bed.
There was a tortoiseshell cat sitting contentedly on top of a wand. Balboa looked up at her and purred, his bright yellow eyes half closing in contentment.
The End.