It was two in the morning, and Peter knew he shouldn't be sneaking around the library like this. But he had to be sure that there was no information anywhere in the school about the Cursed Vaults. He only had another year and a half left at Hogwarts, and he hadn't found anything for Patricia concerning the Vaults.
Peter made his way through the Restricted Section, since it was the only place he hadn't fully explored yet. "Nope…nope…nope…" muttered Peter, as he read the title of each book. "There's nothing in here about…" Suddenly, Peter saw something. Hidden behind several of the other books, and covered in dust, another book. It must have been pushed behind the books on the shelf, and hidden by time.
"What's this one?" he asked, pulling it out. "'Hidden Treasures of the Magical World'? Surely, if there's any information about them, it'll be here."
Peter spent the next half an hour poring over the book, looking for any information to do with the Cursed Vaults. He saw passages about a hidden stash of a million galleons in the Australian Outback, a magical tree in the deepest parts of the Amazon whose wood was rumoured to make broomsticks superfast, and the location of the world's last Yeti population, the fur of which was rumoured to be good luck.
Peter was just closing the book when he noticed the word 'vault' on the page he was on. Peter reopened the book, and had to suppress a gasp. "The Cursed Vaults of Hogwarts," he read. "Holy crap, I've found it."
Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot of information on the page, but Peter gathered that there were five of them, and that they were rumoured to be in Hogwarts or the surrounding areas. There weren't many stories to confirm their existence, and even the ghosts of the castle weren't sure if the rumours of these Vaults were true. But there were suggestions at least two of them were in the castle itself.
Peter scoffed, since he was sure he and the others had already explored every square inch of the castle. But then something occurred to him: on the fifth floor, near the end of a corridor, there was always a cold spot, no matter what time of day or year it was. The boys had explored the area as much as possible, but nothing showed up.
There was also the Forbidden Forest, a place they hadn't fully explored due to its size, and the immense danger within it. If someone had wanted to hide a vault anywhere near Hogwarts, surely they'd go somewhere where no-one could travel safely. Even Hagrid wasn't fully safe in that place.
Peter pulled out a piece of parchment and placed it next to the book, before pulling out his wand. "Duplici Exemplari," whispered Peter, aiming his wand halfway between the book and the parchment. The text from the book started to appear on the parchment next to it, as though the parchment was just the same page from a newer copy of the same book.
Peter then pulled out another piece of parchment, and hastily began writing out everything he knew, and everything he suspected, and addressed it to Patricia. She'd written to him over the summer, telling him about her new job as a Curse Breaker for Gringotts. Apparently she was working in an old Aztec temple right now, so he didn't expect a reply for a while, but he still grabbed James's Invisibility Cloak and began sneaking towards the Owlery.
Peter looked around at all the birds, trying to pick out the one most likely to make such a long trip, before settling on a great horned owl. It was a native to the Americas anyway, so it would hopefully raise the least suspicion.
Peter tied his letter to the bird, and sent it off on its mission. As Peter turned around to leave though, he saw an oh so familiar (and not so welcome) cat sitting outside the door. "Mrs. Lewis?" he whispered, suddenly worried. "Shoo, get out of here." Mrs. Lewis stared at him a moment longer, before turning and leaving. Peter sighed in relief as he put the Invisibility Cloak back on, only to hear a rather loud meow from outside.
"Yes, Mrs. Lewis, I saw it," came Filch's voice. "Whoever's sending letters at this time is going to be in big trouble." Peter's heart sank as Filch appeared in the doorway, a big smirk on his face. However, with Peter hidden under the cloak, Filch's smirk quickly turned into a frown. "Huh, they're quick to get away from me like this," he said, turning around to leave.
Peter held his breath until he was gone, and then slowly slunk his way out of the Owlery and back towards the castle. Unfortunately, Filch was heading the exact same way, so he couldn't go back in the same way he'd come, so Peter snuck in through a side door.
When Peter finally got back to the boy's dorm, it was nearly four thirty in the morning. "Well, today's gonna be difficult to stay up during classes," said Peter, slipping into bed as quietly as possible, falling asleep soon after.
It wasn't until a month later that Peter got a reply to his letter. "Hey Peter, who's writing to you?" asked James, trying to grab the letter.
"It's…uhh…private," said Peter, holding it close to his chest.
"Come, let us see," said Sirius, also making a grab for it as Peter moved away.
"Guys, come on," said Remus. "If he says it's private, it's private. For all we know, his parents are getting divorced. Peter will tell us in his own time, right Peter?"
"Uhh…yeah," said Peter, relieved that Remus was in his side. At least it made James and Sirius back off a bit.
The letter itself was not a long one. All it said was 'That's great Peter, I'll be in touch when I can. – P. R.'