Chapter 12- Getting the band together
The winter snows had begun to envelop the highland slopes. December arrived with a sudden roar, and any pretentions of getting through this period easily went out the door. Hagrid still managed to bring in enough Christmas trees to make the great hall feel festive, but one young boy wasn't enjoying the festive spirit.
"What do you think's got Malfoy in such a funk?" Ron asked Harry as they walked into the hall for dinner. "He's not even hanging with his pet apes any more." Malfoy was huddled into a corner of the entrance hall scribbling in a notebook. He looked extremely gaunt.
"Probably sick." Harry said. "I've heard being a git is a terminal illness."
"Nice one." Ron said, smiling. "You ready to meet for Cho's task force tonight?"
"I'm set for anything that can get us any answers."
"Can you get my answers too, Harry?" Piped in Vim. "I still want to know about those Dementors. If I can't leave the school without them swarming us, that will be a problem for you too. "
"That's right. I hadn't thought about that." Agreed Harry. "Fine, we'll add it to the list tonight."
"Excellent."
Fred and George had agreed almost instantly when they heard that there were secret plots afoot, and that Harry was going to be involved. They quickly told Ron that they would find a place to meet later that night, and arrive at the Ravenclaw common room to grab them. Harry, Ron, and Cho sat together waiting to hear that the Weasley twins had arrived, but were surprised to see them walk through the tower entrance without trouble at all.
"How did you get in?" Ron said.
"The better question is how do you get in here Ronald? We were always the smart ones." Said the twin on the right.
"Even if we don't apply ourselves." Said the other.
"It wasn't even difficult."
"What is infinitely long, but confined despite? Clearly a circle."
"Whatever. Can we just go?" said Ron.
"Of course little Ravenclaws. Follow your betters. We'll lead the way."
"As we always do."
The twins pulled out a large piece of parchment, and led them down the stairs, often turning down random hallways, or even leading them back upstairs.
"Where are you fools leading us?" said Cho, catching up and trying to peek over the twin's shoulders. "What is this even? A map?"
"Indeed it is."
"Our greatest discovery."
"We were going to show it to Ron sooner. If he had been a Gryffindor."
"Or maybe not. We are capricious at times."
"What is it?" Ron jumped up, huffing after walking around all of the random stairs. Harry managed to get a good look first, and the twins seemed giddy to be showing off their prize. He saw a map, as Cho had expected, but there were little squiggling lines all over the map, as if it was covered in tiny black worms. As harry looked closer, he realized that the squiggles were names hovering over dots, and that the map was Hogwarts. At the top, Harry could see the words The Marauder's Map.
"You can see where everyone in Hogwarts is on this map!" Harry was amazed. He wiggled between the walking twins to try and find their little group, until the twin on his left pointed him in the right direction.
"Yes! As you can see we are standing right here, on the 5th floor corridor on the north side, just above the empty classroom with that big dragon skeleton in it."
"Why haven't you told us about this before?" Said Ron.
"Because you're a tiny git and would have told mum."
"Would not."
"Hey! Look there!" Cho pointed at a spot in the bottom right corner. "That's Roger and Mindy in the muggle studies classroom."
"Yeah, they've been snogging there for a few weeks now."
"Ooh I am so holding this over his head at practice next week." She smiled devilishly.
"Enough with the gossiping children. Here we are." The twin gestured towards a room at the very end of the hallway. At the end of the hall was a large statue of the grim reaper, scythe in hand, and a skeletal face revealed beneath the hood. Beneath the name statue were the words, "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death."
The small group walked into the room, and saw the group Fred and George had gathered. Sitting at an unused teacher's desk was a young black man with dreadlocks and resting his feet on the desk. Another was an incredibly tall boy with hair as jet black as Harry's, and wearing several gold rings on his wrists. The last was a curvy blond girl who looked to be about 14. She was wearing beads in her hair, and had a large tribal tattoo on her left arm.
"Welcome to the 'we-don't –have-a-name-for-this-group-yet-but-it's-all-about-fixing-the-crazy-stuff-going-on-at-school-task force."
"That's a bit of a mouthful isn't it George?" Said the dreadlocked kid.
"Shut your trap Lee. Anyway, you all know Fred, and me, and of course 'The Boy Who Lived', but introduce the rest of yourselves. "The blond girl jumped to her feet and went to shake the newcomer's hands.
"Hello everyone! My name is Emily Greengrass. President of the Hogwarts' gobstones club, daughter of death eaters, magical geology enthusiast, and a proud Hufflepuff." Emily said all of this with a huge smile on her face. She got to the information about her house as she shook Harry's hand extra vigorously.
"Wait, wait, wait, back that up a bit."
"Yeah everyone wants to ask about the folks. They died when I was a baby, so I managed to get my own sort of tattoo instead of a big old skull. She showed off her arm, and it turned out that the ink was a stylized image of a dragon, and it was moving slightly.
"My turn Emily." The boy George had called lee ran right up to Cho, took her hand, kissed it, and said, "Welcome my darting wasp of the pitch. You have given me quite a few fantastic moments to commentate on so far in your games. I hope we can spend some time together off the Quidditch field."
"Enough of that." The tall boy walked forward and jerked Lee back by the scruff of his neck. Cho was blushing furiously, but giggled nonetheless. "He's Lee Jordan, resident fuck up and constant joker. I'm Julius Flume. I believe you live with my fat little brother."
"Yeah, Flavius." Ron said looking up at Julius. He must have nearly 2 meters tall. "Are you sure you're related?"
"Sadly yes." Julius did not offer to shake his hand.
"Julius here is a dear comrade in the world of getting away with minor hijinks, are you not?" Fred questioned, leadingly. Harry was slowly starting to memorize a few little details to track which twin was which, but it wasn't perfect by any means.
"For a price. I'm good at memory charms. I hear that is of interest to you?"
Harry was more than a little stunned. In less than a week Cho, Ron, Fred, and George had managed to gather together all of these people with the express purpose of helping him out.
"Uh, yeah, sure." Julius looked down at Harry with a cocked head.
"You sure you killed You-Know-Who?"
"Enough with the intros. We'll be spending a lot of time together I'm sure." Lee put on his best announcer voice. " Will Harry Potter please come to the stage!"
"What, me?"
"Yes you." Said Cho. "We're here for you, the least you can do is go explain what we're trying to do and what you know so far."
Harry shambled slowly up to the desk and sat down on top, with his legs thrown out towards the classroom. He looked at the 7 students arranged in front of him, and wondered about what this would mean in the future.
"Well, um. I guess, thanks for coming everyone. Um, let's just go over what we're trying to do and what we know so far, shall we? We had a ten item list but I think we should just try to focus on those we can do now. There are 3 basic problems I want to address here. One is to figure out whatever is happening with the chamber of secrets and stop people from getting petrified. Two is to figure out whatever is going on with Snape and Quirrel. Three is to clear my name with the ministry. Wait, um, what do you guys already know?"
"That you wanted info about magic stones?" said Emily.
"That you wanted to know about memory spells." Said Julius.
"That you're some great dementor-slayer, and the ministry wants a piece of you." Said Lee.
"Ok." Harry looked around, a bit surer as time went on. "Let's just start with what we know about Snape, because that's what I know the most about now." Harry explained his encounter with the professors in the hall, finishing with "and once he said the spell, my head felt like it split open, and I went unconscious. Emily and Julius both seemed very interested.
"Are you sure he said obliviate Harry?" Asked Julius.
"We're sure." Mentioned Ron. "Cho did a spell to see what had last been used on Harry." Julius walked up to harry and looked him over. He took out his wand and pointed it at Harry's head.
"Obliviate!" A rush of slivery blue light sprung forward and hit Harry square between the eyes. Fred rushed forward to see what the heck was going on, but nothing seemed to happen. Harry looked around, and felt nothing new after the light disappeared. Julius looked stunned.
"How are you doing this Potter? Somehow, you are completely immune to my memory charm."
"But this is totally different than when Quirrel blasted me. I went unconscious."
"Well," Julius said, rubbing his wand on his head, "That's usually how it happens when someone's memory is erased. They forget everything that just happened to them, so they feel like they just woke up from a dream. But why would you be knocked unconscious, but keep your memories?"
"So you've never heard of anything like this happening before?" Cho asked, incredulous.
"No. As far as I know you'd need some magical artifact or spell to guard against the charm, but you are just immune." He started ruffling through Harry's pockets. "Do you have anything you might have picked up randomly that could be blocking the spell?"
"Hey cut that out!" Harry pulled away sharply, instinctively clutching at the hidden compartment where he kept the DeathNote.
"Don't worry about it anyway." Julius said, walking back to his seat. "If it was some artifact, it probably would have appeared as a shield, or would have absorbed the light. I'll definitely be researching this though."
Harry was thinking all over the place while he was trying to work out his next sentence. The DeathNote? Could it be why I can't have my memory wiped?
"Ok, me next! Enough of the wand work stuff." Said Emily. "Are you sure you heard that they're hiding some stone in the castle, Harry? Behind whatever is supposed to kill us on the third floor?"
"Uh, yeah, pretty sure."
"Well, let me explain a little bit about magical geology first."
"The short version, please Emily." Said Julius, exasperated. He turned to Ron and said, "I've heard this speech more than a few times in classes."
"Fine. So the gist is that there are a few basic classifications in magical stones. The first level are your simple everyday rocks that have something a bit strange about them. A stone that can skip more than 10 times on the water every time you throw it, for example. The next would be something a bit more powerful, like a gobstone crafted for a purpose, but a simple one at that. The next are almost always magical gemstones. Gemstones are kind of like words, in that they can contain more magical energy than other things. There's this one ruby a man at a convention I attended last year that was carved into a rose, and could grow any plant to twice it's size in a moment! And then there was this diamond that…"
"Short version."
"Ok! I'm getting there! But to the point, what kind of stone is worth protecting at Hogwarts, one of the safest places in the United Kingdom. Then I can only imagine that it must be something incredibly rare, and I can only think of three that are of this level, and are proven to have actually existed."
"Well, what are they?" Cho seemed very interested in Emily's rant.
"The first is the one I think is most unlikely. In Japan, there are three imperial artifacts that are owned by the Emperor. One is a Jade bead called Yasakani no Magatama. It is kept for ceremonial usage in a shrine in Tokyo, and gives the owner increased wisdom, beauty, and enlightenment. The second is more likely, but it would be odd. It's called the Lia Fail, or the Stone of Destiny, and it is said to tell who is the true king of Ireland and to give them ultimate dominion over the island. That one is supposed to be kept inside the Irish national halls deep beneath Dublin, and I can't see why anyone would want to steal it. Ireland has been part of the Ministry of Magic for centuries now. The third is the one I'm hoping we've got on our hands, but it's still really unlikely. There used to be this stone called the Philosopher's stone."
"That's it!" Harry recalled the conversation between his professor's better now that Emily brought up the name. "That's what they said was down there!"
"I knew it! I was only 75% positive but this is great! It was created by a wizarding alchemist, and can give the user immortality and infinite riches. But the last one is said to have been destroyed a hundred years ago."
"Wow, how do you know all of this?" Asked Harry. Emily looked pleased with herself.
"Just a lot of hard work and dedication. So, now we know the defense against the dark arts teacher is trying to get his hands on a philosopher's stone, but I have no idea what's going on with Snape or why they're both ok with just wiping your memory. So, where does that leave us?"
"Well, I'm seeing tasks 1, 3, and 4 basically checked off. We just need a bit more research on memory spells, but for now we know the basics about Harry." Cho started checking off the tasks on the parchment she had drawn up yesterday. "The next thing to work on is trying to see what else Snape and Quirrel are up to."
"And that's where we come in." The twins walked up and Fred said "Wingardium Leviosa". The Marauder's Map hung in the air before the group, fully unfurled to show the entirety of the school's labyrinthine halls and floors.
"If you will draw your attention here," Said George, pointing his wand and illuminating a small point in the very bottom of the map, "you will see greasy haired hook nosed in his room in the dungeons, likely crying over his lack of a love life."
"And over here," said Fred, "Is the grand turbaned one himself, likely sleeping. Now, you can all see that our glorious device here is perfect for tracking all sorts of twisted fiends who would dare assault our dear Mr. Potter. Now we won't be able to watch over them or the rest of the school all of the time, but we will alert the group immediately upon any clear skullduggery not Weasley approved."
"Check on task 2." Cho looked up. "Is there anything else you'd like to bring up now Harry?"
"Yes." He had been thinking about how to approach this topic for a while now, and though he had come to a good spot. "You all know now that the most of the school and the ministry seem to think I'm the one who's petrifying people across the school."
"All present who believe the eleven year old dark lord/heir of slytherin is out to get us, raise your hands." Ron called out, and managed to get a quick laugh from his brothers and Lee, and even a smile from Harry.
"Well, thanks. Clearly, I have no idea who is doing this, but I do have a hint."
"Well what is it?" asked Julius.
"I've been hearing a voice before each attack. Except on the night that I was knocked out. Maybe they couldn't find anyone that night."
"What kind of voice?"
"It sounds all deep, and keeps saying that it wants to kill."
"Not much nuance in our heir of Slytherin, is there?"
"But what could be making you hear that voice and nobody else?" The whole group seemed stumped and silent for a few moments.
"At least it's a start." Said Lee. "Better than nothing, and we can spend some time working on that."
"Exactly." Said Ron. "And before you know it, we'll have Hermione back and we can put the brains of the operation back on the task."
"Perfect timing to stop anyway everyone." Called out Fred. "Filch is on his way to this corridor." Everyone snapped to attention, realizing it was far past the curfew time.
"Everyone, to the statue outside the classroom. Please form a single file line and try not to panic."
"What's going to the statue going to do for us?" asked Ron.
"Patience Ron. You'll see in a moment." George stuffed the map back into his robes, and led them out of the room. He walked up to the scythe the statue was carrying and tapped his wand three times of the stone blade. Suddenly the wall behind the statue began to melt away, and a small passageway heading down some hidden stairs opened up.
"Try not to take too long everyone. Or you'll be losing your house some very meaningful and totally important points." The twins led the way down the cramped passageway, and once Harry and Ron entered, the wall behind them quickly rematerialized.
"Where does this go?" Asked Emily. She was standing right behind the twins and Lee.
"This is one of the most useful passageways in the school. Filch knows nothing about it, and it connects to a central hub that then separates out to each of the four common rooms. Just tap three times on any of the entrances, and off you go." Soon they all came to the central hub, which had 5 passageways heading out. The four dormitories had the house crest drawn above their tunnel, and the one they had emerged from had a large skull over the arch. They said their goodbyes for the night and turned towards their tunnels. Julius surprised the three Ravenclaws when he turned towards the Badger marked tunnel with Emily.
"Is he a Hufflepuff?" Harry asked, not even beginning to understand how such a surly tough guy could be in the most laughed at house.
"He's a tough worker that man. Does the job well. Not afraid of toil and all that." Lee gave them a wave before heading off down the lion tunnel, leaving the three Ravenclaws to return to their beds alone. They walked most of the way in silence, as they were getting exhausted from the long day and tiring meeting. When they were just about there, Harry stopped his friends.
"Wait for just a second guys. I wanted to say something." His friends turned around.
"What is it Harry?" He walked forward and grabbed both of them into a group hug.
"Thank you for getting all of this together. I feel like we can actually do something about Quirrel, Snape, and the Heir with all of us together."
"Don't mention it mate. I just did a bit of organizing. It's Cho who really made it all happen." Said Ron, a little awkward but wrapping one arm around his friend's head. Cho responded with a warm hug as well, and smiled.
"And hey, we may even get a stone of immortality out of this if we play our cards right."