Chapter 16: The Hogwart's Ballroom

Christmas morning came with a silvery chill bringing with it fat flurries of snow that flew and twisted about, never seeming to properly land.

"Matt! Wake up!" Izzy shouted as she jumped onto his bed. He had not appreciated how much she had grown in the few short months since they had arrived at Hogwarts until this moment, but he could tell even without looking she was taller and heavier than Tip.

"Oof!" Matt said. "Who let you in?"

"Your password is tapping on a barrel, it's not hard." Izzy rolled her eyes. "Now get up. It's Christmas!"

Matt didn't need to be told twice, he threw off his quilt and jumped out of bed to find Phichit and Shoshanna waiting eagerly at the door.

"This one is for Matt and Shoshanna," Bridget said, holding up a card as Holly watched quietly. Shoshanna got to it first and slit the envelope open with a quick flick of her wand, liberating the card within.

"Look, it's from Donnie," she said, showing the card to Matt. A black and yellow explosion of smiling freckle-faced blonds all waving at the camera with the sparkling letters Merry Christmas from the Macmillan Clan shimmering from the center of the group. Matt could see Donnie in a new black and yellow scarf waving with one hand and holding a small girl with blond pigtails in his arm. She was holding a stuffed badger out and beaming. "That's his cousin, Marita. And that's Ernie Macmillan there." Shoshanna pointed two Macmillan's over to a stout, blond young man. "He was a member of Dumbledore's Army and a friend of Harry Potter."

"Donnie's cousin," Matt recalled. "He fought in the Battle of Hogwarts."

"This one is for Phichit." Bridget held up a thin box wrapped in brilliant gold wrapping paper bursting with orange, red, and silver flowers and topped with a bow as big as a cabbage. Phichit rushed over to open it, and for all his enthusiasm Matt had expected he would tear the paper to shreds and was surprised to see him expertly unbind the tape, fold the paper and put it aside.

"Chocolates!" Phichit shouted, holding up the box of expertly molded chocolates: Christmas trees, presents, baubles, candy canes, and, at the center, a large chocolate Santa riding on a broomstick with a sack of gifts upon his back.

"This one is for Matt," Bridget sent a letter floating to him with the wave of her wand. "And this one is for Izzy."

Izzy jumped up and grabbed the package out of the air, proceeding to tear the paper to ribbons, while Matt looked at his card. It was addressed from Liam McLaggen. He tore it open a pulled out a card, the front of which was almost entirely devoured by the seal of Gryffindor. Red and gold letters announced: Merry Christmas from Clan McLaggen! Something slid from the card to the floor. Matt picked it up. It was a photo of Liam smiling smugly from a makeshift throne, a cheap crown upon his head and scepter in his hand. He was resting his feet on the back of rather large, disgruntled looking young man while a sour faced young woman stood behind him holding a platter of chocolate frogs - Matt guessed these were his cousins. Draped behind him was a banner which read All Hail the King of Quidditch. Matt smirked and opened the card, reading, Hey Matt, guess what, I won! All hail the king! Doesn't my cousin Cliff look funny? Don't feel bad for him though, he got me good with a bludger. See my black eye? Matt looked again at the photo and sure enough, there was a dark circle under Liam's eye. Tell that Carrow girl I'm coming for her next year. Merry Christmas! PS: Thanks for the fizzing whizbangs! PPS: Neville says hi

Neville says hi. Neville Longbottom who stood up to Voldemort with nothing more than his words - Neville Longbottom who led Dumbledore's Army and was judged as worthy to wield the sword of Gryffindor - says hi! Neville Longbottom knew who he was!

"All mum and dad got me was a cat statue," Izzy pouted as she held up the white stone statue of a rather attractive cat with two large, blank orbs for eyes, giving it a rather creepy look.

"It's probably cursed," Matt said.

Izzy's face brightened. "Do you really think so?" She dove into the pile of gifts and rifled through it, pulling out a package that was obviously a book. "Let's see what mum and dad got you."

"I'm guessing it's a book," Matt said, holding the heavy object on top of his letter.

"Yes, but what kind of book?" Izzy insisted.

"Yeah, what book is it?" Shoshanna, her hair now loosely tied back with a dun brown head scarf decorated with pale flowers at the front, plopped down next to him and grabbed the package from his hands, he pulled it back. "Come on Matt, open it."

"Yeah, Matt." Bridget had abandoned her post of handing out gifts and was kneeling over the package. Only Phichit was otherwise occupied, watching the large chocolate Santa that was the centerpiece of his gift, fly around on a broomstick dropping miniature chocolate gifts from his sack.

"Ok." Matt tore open the wrapping paper revealing a thick, gorgeous book. The glossy front cover had four different types of runes on the front, each awash with their own color: Hieroglyphics were in sandy yellow, Suomi was in blue, Celtic was in green, and Babylonian was in red. The title, written in gold read: Deciphering the Ancients: an Intermediate Guide to Egyptian, Finnish, Irish, and Middle Eastern Ruins. Matt opened the book to a random page and ran his fingers over the silky smooth paper.

"Wow! Look at this!" Shoshanna pulled the book from Matt's grasp. "I've never seen this translation before for this statue!"

Matt gripped the cover side of the book and looked at what Shoshanna was staring at. "It says underneath it's a new interpretation by Bartleyby Faustus."

"It makes more sense; it agrees better with the accounts from the Prophets. But try getting one of those old fogies in ruin translation to actually apply what they read for once. All they do is spend hours discussing whether it's an 'and' or a 'or'."

"Syntax is very important, Shoshanna," Bridget said, gently pulling the book from them, she flipped over to the section headed by a bar of forest green. She pointed to a stone tablet on the page, running her fingers under the symbols as she read. "See here where it tells of the each-uisace and the kelpie. If it said or, you might think them the same creature with different names for the male and female form and then believe that simply capturing the bridle, which works to control the kelpie might also work for the each-uisace. But, one who is pure of heart and of noble blood may convince the each-uisace of Lough Hyne to take them to the lost island," she read with increasing speed. "It says here no one can get to the island except on the back of the each-uisace. He appears in Knockomagh wood to tend his flock when the full moon is at its peak. Do you know what this means?" Bridget looked up excitedly to see Matt and Shoshanna staring at her wide-eyed. Phichit and Izzy were not not paying any attention, instead they were watching his chocolate Santa fly around above their heads on his broomstick dropping miniature chocolate gifts into their waiting hands.

"No... we don't," Shoshanna said. "The caption says that tablet was written in an unknown dialect and hasn't been able to be translated."

"Oh... I've been doing some extra work with Professor Babbling on Irish runes... it's a secret project. She's really brilliant. She's hoping to publish on her findings soon."

"Why do she choose you?" Matt could feel the fire of Shoshanna's envy even from where he stood. Everyone knew she was Prof. Babbling's star pupil and clear favorite. She had exceeded even Hermione's Granger's marks.

Bridget searched for an explanation. "The village where I'm from has an dialect that is still practiced that draws its basis from this rune language."

"Like the Coptic language helped to decipher Egyptian," Matt added helpfully.

"Yes, like that." Bridget looked relieved to have anything solid to grasp onto.

Shoshanna's eyes narrowed. "Where are you from again?"

"Oh just some little island, you've probably never heard of it."

"Try me."

"Hey, look, this is a present for Holly!" Matt said. He handed the red wrapped present to Holly who smiled excitedly as she tore open the paper revealing a pair of light blue thick woolen socks with snowy white unicorns running majestically across the cuff.

She hugged them to her thin chest. "Thank you!" she said, her voice soft. Having a good look at her, Matt wondered when she had last eaten. She had always been thin, but now her figure was positively wan, her joints jutting from her pale skin.

"Don't thank me, thank my mum. When I told her about my friends she wanted to get you all something. I suppose Donnie's badger socks will have to wait." He carefully pocketed a pair of socks that were for his fictional friend Roberta. Ceelee would probably kill him for making up that name, as if her own weren't bad enough she would say between firing curses at him Squib or not, but, as much as he loved his parents, he doubted even they could overlook her family name.

"Badger socks?" Shoshanna said. "Yeah, he'll love that. McMillans' bleed black and gold. I swear, that's not a lion on the McMillan coat of arms, it's a badger."

"Here's yours," Matt tossed a pair to Shoshanna. She opened them revealing dark blue wool socks with slowly rotating stars of David on them. "Happy Hanukkah."

"Well, you're a bit late but as socks are a traditional Hanukkah gift i'll forgive you this time," Shoshanna smirked as she pulled them on. "Cool. And they don't even itch like bubbe's."

"Who?" Phichit asked, clearly hoping for his own pair.

"Grandma," Matt and Shoshanna said together and laughed.

They passed a pleasant afternoon eating sweets from the kitchen and enjoying their new presents. Come late afternoon they found themselves lounging around on the common room chairs with not much to do.

"Hey, I've got an idea," Phichit said, sliding down from a chair he was sitting upside down on. "Ow!" he said rubbing his head as he righted himself.

"What is it?" Izzy asked. The others turned their heads with some interest. Another mad adventure no doubt.

"Yeah. You remember the stories of Harry Potter's first year, right? About the Philosopher's stone?"

"Yeah, and how he defeated Lord Voldemort?" Izzy said excitedly.

"Yeah. You remember how they always talk about that secret door that was guarded by the three headed dog that led to all those challenges like the Devil's Snare and the giant chessboard and everything?"

"Yeah," Matt nodded slowly.

"Do you think it's still there?"

"You can't possibly be thinking to got there?!" Shoshanna was incredulous.

"Why not? We're an adventurer's club right? It's an adventure right?"

"It's completely mental!"

"Oh come on, you can't tell me you're not curious. Besides, it's not like we'll have to go through the challenges, I mean, they've already been beaten ages ago. Probably."

"Probably."

"Don't you want to see where it all happened?"

Izzy was positively jumping on the bed with excitement. "Come on, guys! Where Harry Potter faced Voldemort."

"We can go to the Great Hall for that," Shoshanna said.

"Yeah, but this is where he did it the first time."

"That would be Godric's Hollow," Matt interjected. Izzy shot him a withering look. "I'm just saying."

"You know what I mean."

"Don't you want to see the potion's riddle? I'll bet it's still down there."

"Well..." Shoshanna's resolve was crumbling.

"It would be an adventure..." Bridget ventured.

"We might need your help, you are the best at spells," Matt said. Even he had to admit he wanted to see the giant chessboard - though hopefully it wouldn't spring to life. He was fairly good at chess but probably not good enough to protect this many people. They'd make up the better part of the back row. He knew who he'd make the queen though; but Izzy would probably insist on the position herself.

The compliment seemed to work. "Fine, I'll go."

"Thanks Shosh!" Phichit said.

"It's only to keep you all from killing yourselves."

"Of course it is," Matt said with a smile. He could tell now that she had agreed to it she was just as excited as they were.

"We'll meet an hour after breakfast tomorrow, then. Right outside the library."

"Ok." They all agreed.

The Great Hall was, if possible, even more breathtaking than it had been when Matt had seen it yesterday. Candles hung in the air as snowflakes drifted down from the ceiling, melting into nothingness halfway down. So many trees lined the Great Hall it almost looked like a forest covered in sparkling baubles and silver and gold garlands. In the center of the hall was a single large table. Already the half closest to the main doors was filled with Slytherins. The teachers had seated themselves in the middle, effectively separating the Slytherins from the other students. Apparently there had been issues before. Ceelee was seated next to Hagrid with McGonagal watching her from the center of the table. Definitely issues before, Matt thought to himself. Though Ceelee seemed quite content to listen to Hagrid and Rolf Scamander discuss the last letter from Newt Scamander regarding the reintroduction of the Calygreyhounds to the Oxford wilds.

As Matt passed by he dropped the pair of socks under Ceelee's chair. "Hey Carrow, you dropped something," he said in as rude a tone as he could muster.

Ceelee looked to where he was pointing and picked up the socks. They were forest green with a single golden snitch that flitted all about between them. A card fell out from in-between the socks. Ceelee picked it up, a smile she could not wholly conceal spread across her face as she watched Ginny Weasley flying across the front in her Holyhead Harpies uniform. It was her latest Quidditch card, not even out to the public yet, but Mr. Boot played gobstones with one of the men in production on Saturdays. She turned it over. On the back Ginny held her broom in one hand and waved with the other as her stats shined from beside her. Ceelee visibly fought her smile down. "What are you looking at my chair for, Squib?" she said, stuffing the items in her robe pocket.

Matt ate until his stomach felt as though it were bursting of the glorious supper and then was almost dismayed when the pudding appeared with a myriad of desserts piled high in golden bowls and on golden plates. He could see his eating companions looking equally conflicted by the fantastic meal. Only Hagrid and Darius Flint seemed to still be able to eat with the same gusto they had attacked the feast. Somehow Matt managed to put away an eclair and two cream puffs as well. No sense disappointing the House Elves, he thought, even though he knew it had nothing to do with the House Elves at all.

Matt was thankful they had agreed to meet an hour after breakfast; he wasn't sure he could have waddled his way up to the library any time before that with much of the feast still heavy n his stomach and waffles on top of that. The weather was in sympathy with their plan as sheets of sleet buffeted the castle making even the suggestion of anything other than staying inside seem mad. Matt and Shoshanna were already almost ten minutes late, having lost themselves in his new ruins book until a light "ahem" from the portrait of Helga Hufflepuff caused them to look up and notice the time.

As he and Shoshanna approached he could see Bridget and Holly were already waiting. Bridget was holding Holly's hand, something Matt was glad to see. He hated to think he was her only true friend.

"Have you seen Izzy and Phichit?" Bridget asked. "I thought they might be with you."

"No. We haven't seen them," Matt said.

"Do you think they might have gone on without us? We were a few minutes late."

"That'd be stupid of them," Shoshanna said.

"Do you think we should check?" Bridget said.

"Well, they could just be running late," Matt posited. "I mean, afterall, we only just got here ourselves." As if on cue Izzy came pelting down the hall. "See? Hey Izzy, where's Phichit?" Matt called, making a megaphone with his hands.

Izzy didn't even bother to try to stop, instead choosing to crash into her brother, causing the both of them to topple over. "Phichit... can't come..."

"Can't come?! He's the one who came up with this crazy idea!" Shoshanna said.

"Why can't he come?" Matt asked, struggling to disentangle himself from his sister.

"He probably ate too much and made himself sick."

"Always the ray of sunshine, Shoshanna," a voice from behind Bridget said, causing most of them to jump. All eyes turned to the speaker. "He's in the infirmary if you must know. Picked a fight with Darius Flint."

"What are you doing here, Carrow?" Izzy's eyes narrowed. She attempted to reach for her wand but Matt intentionally shifted, causing her to have to catch herself instead.

Ceelee tossed an apple up in the air, caught it, and took a bite from it, waiting until it was fully chewed and swallowed before answering. "I could ask you the same question. What are you lot doing here?"

"None of your business," Izzy said.

"Tough girl," Ceelee said mockingly, not even making the slightest motion to her wand, instead taking another bite of her apple. "I'm so scared." Her words were muffled by her chewing.

Izzy had managed to right herself and pulled out her wand. Ceelee didn't even flinch. "You probably told Flint to go after Phichit."

"Now why would I do something like that? Serves him right, anyway, insulting Flint's dead mum like that."

"Oh." Izzy's wand dropped some, before rising again with renewed vigor. "Well you should have stopped him!"

"After he said Flint's mum was a troll? There's no way I was getting in the middle of that. He may be slow with his wand, but his fists are another story."

"Well what did Flint say to him first?"

"Nothing. He just bumped into him."

"And you expect me to believe that?"

"Yeah I do."

Matt stepped inbetween them. "Guys, guys stop fighting."

"I can't believe you'd take this Slytherin's side over your own sister," Izzy pouted.

"I'm not taking anyone's side. But you know if you have a row outside the library Madam Pince will come out and stop it and Filch won't be far behind."

Izzy immediately shut up at the mention of Filch.

"So now then, why don't you answer my question? What are you doing?" Ceelee took another bite of her apple.

"What are we doing?" Bridget whispered to the others.

"We can't go without Phichit," Izzy insisted. "It was his idea."

"I wasn't especially crazy about the idea to begin with," Shoshanna said.

"Maybe we should do something else, I mean, if it hasn't been blocked off by now another few days won't hurt," Matt said.

"But what else can we do?" Bridget asked.

"Puzzle?" Holly suggested timidly.

"Now there's an idea," Matt said, instantly eager to see how far they could get today.

"It is the perfect day for it," Shoshanna agreed. "There's nothing else better to do."

"And we would have plenty of time," Bridget added.

"I'd like to see if I can finish that border," Matt added.

"A puzzle!?" Izzy whined. " But a puzzle is so boring!" She stamped her foot, crossing her arms and sticking out her lower lip.

"Do you have a better suggestion?" Shoshanna asked.

"Yeah. Anything."

"Come on, it won't be that bad," Matt said, patting her shoulder. She jerked it away.

"Yeah right."

"Aww, is the poor little Gryffindor afraid of a little puzzle," Ceelee taunted.

"I'm afraid of dying of boredom. Besides I don't see you rushing up there."

"Only because you all are taking so long. A witch could die of old age listening to you lot." She tapped her want to her apple core, causing it to levitate and burst into flames. A small trickle of ash left a miniature mound on the floor. Ceelee swept it over with her shoe. "Now, are we going?"

Izzy's eyes grew wide, she shook her head. "Oh no. You aren't going with us."

"Why not? After you were so kind as to invite me along?"

"I didn't invite you. Matt, tell her."

"I don't know, it did sound like you suggested she come," Matt said, secretly hoping that perhaps this was the olive branch he had been hoping for to bring Ceelee in.

Shoshanna grabbed Matt's elbow, pulling him aside. "You can't be serious," she whispered urgently. "I know we're Hufflepuffs and all but Ceelee Carrow?"

Bridget looked at Matt pensively, only Holly seemed unbothered by this turn of events. Probably because she was too pre-occupied watching the unicorns run around her ankles. Matt took a deep breath and plastered a smile on his face. "The more the merrier! Let's go." His pronouncement was met by undisguised groans from Izzy and Shoshanna.

Ceelee smirked. "Lead the way."

"I've got this part done," Ceelee said, pushing over a long piece of border to Matt's side.

"Looks like we're still missing some connecting pieces," Matt said, turning within the circle of puzzle border chunks around him.

"Here!" Izzy popped a small band of edge pieces into the gap.

"That looks like... Yes. It fits!" Matt said.

"Yeah!" Ceelee and Izzy high-fived and then immediately realized what they had done and backed off, back to their respective areas littered with pieces. A few meters away Bridget, Holly, and Shoshanna were piecing together little H's.

Matt's stomach grumbled. How long had it been since they had eaten last? He had been so preoccupied with the puzzle he had lost all sense of time. He went to check his watch and realized, in the hurry to get to the meeting place on time, he had left it on his end table. "Hey, Shoshanna. What time is- Woah, Holly! That's amazing!"

The other's turned from their work to where Holly was working quietly. They each had a respectable set of completed chunks, but Holly completed what appeared to be a large portion of the interior. They all gathered around to admire her work.

"Wow! How did you do that so fast?" Izzy asked. Holly just smiled her snaggle-toothed grin.

"Hey, I think we can fit the border over here," Ceelee said, pointing to a protruding peninsular part of Holly's island. They slowly pushed the large semi-circular piece of border over in three chunks, reconnecting it once they got it to the main portion. "There, you see."

"Good eyes," Matt said.

"Well, of course they're good. I wouldn't be much of a seeker if they weren't," she replied haughtily. Matt heard her stomach ruble, as did the others who all looked from the puzzle to her.

"Oh yeah, I was asking what time it was," Matt said. "I'm getting hungry."

"It's..." Bridget glanced at her watch, then balked, pulling it closer to make certain she had read it correctly. "It's half past three!"

"Oh, it's over an hour before supper!" Izzy whined.

"I'll get us something from the kitchens," Ceelee volunteered.

"No, me!" Izzy said. "I've always wanted to go to the kitchens." Matt could see the visions of sweets dancing before her shining eyes.

"It had better be me. Do you know what a bunch of Slytherins would do to you if they caught you walking the halls alone?"

"I can take care of myself," Izzy said, crossing her arms.

"Sure you can," Ceelee rolled her eyes.

"Come on Matt, tell her I can get them."

"Why are you asking me for? It's not like I'm the group leader or anything. I'm not even the oldest." He glanced around at the others who returned his look with shy glances of their own.

"Well, you are the most level-headed..." Shoshanna ventured.

"And the most knowledgeable," Bridget said.

"And you're the only one we are all friends with," Ceelee added. "Plus you're the only one this brat'll listen to." She pointed at Izzy who stuck her tongue out in return.

"What about Phichit?" he asked. "I mean we're always doing his crazy plans."

"I mean yeah, but only because you are," Shoshanna said. "I mean, Phichit does have some interesting ideas, but I wouldn't follow him to lunch. I trust you."

His stomach grumbled. "Speaking of lunch. Alright, Ceelee, see what you can get us."

"Carrow!" Izzy whined. "Over your own sister?! She probably won't come back and will leave us to starve just to be mean!"

"I'd leave you to starve," Ceelee said.

"Enough. Ceelee knows the school better and she's right, the Slytherins won't hassle her. Plus she can hold more food."

"Traitor." Izzy said.

Matt shot her a sidewise glance. "Would you like to explain to Filch where you got all that food between meals?" Izzy's eyes grew wide and she sucked her lips in. "Yeah, I thought so."

"See you guys in a few," Ceelee said, leaving the room.

They went back to the puzzle, all trying to fit their finished portions to Holly's. Matt couldn't help but find himself somewhat distracted. Him the leader? They hadn't been following Phichit, but him? He hadn't even noticed, hadn't considered it even a possibility - how could he think to notice something that was so inconceivable? He didn't even have magic. How could they want to follow him? But maybe that was part of the appeal. Something couldn't be too dangerous or too crazy if even someone with magical powers would attempt it, he told himself. That had to be it. They were a mostly sensible lot, afterall.

Ceelee came back with an armful of sandwiches and pastries, though she did pretend to have forgotten Izzy's causing Izzy to nearly break down in tears before Matt gave Ceelee a warning look and she produced a sandwich and a cupcake for Izzy. They ate as they worked, discarded sandwich wrappers littering the floor behind them. Time passed all the quicker now as it seemed the end was in sight. Matt was glad to see Ceelee and the others working together almost as if they were friends. He knew, of course, that they weren't and that when the puzzle was done things would return to how they had been, but maybe they would be less prejudiced against the Slytherin. He could only hope. He secretly longed for the day he could openly be friends with Ceelee. The day she could openly be friends with anyone, really. The Adventurer's Club just didn't seem as much fun when she wasn't in it, like it was missing something only he could perceive. Well, her and Liam. But he had to keep his thoughts realistic. Those two were worse off than ever.

"This is it," Shoshanna said, holding up a tiny sliver of silver and gold. "The last piece."

"Well don't just sit there, put it in," Ceelee said. Shoshanna just sat still, not moving. "What are you waiting for? Are you afraid of it or something?"

A line creased Shoshanna's brow just at the bridge of her nose. "Actually... I mean, I don't know what will happen when I put this in. The founders created this room and it only appeared after the school was under attack. What if it's dangerous?"

"Like a weapon?" Izzy asked eagerly.

"Well, it might be defensive, like a shield enchantment," Bridget suggested, "it is circular."

"Maybe we should have a teacher come, just in case..." Shoshanna said.

"Oh for Hecate's sake!" Ceelee grabbed the puzzle piece. "There." she said, putting it into place. "See?"

The word had scarcely left her mouth before bright lines of light began coursing through the lines between the pieces.

"Woah," Matt said.

"We should have gotten a teacher," Shoshanna said.

Ceelee hardly had time to jump back as the puzzle shook and began to move, the lines now fusing. The disc slowly rose from the ground, light bursting forth from it. And then suddenly, the light ceased and it fell to the floor. They gathered around it, staring in silence.

"Well, that was weird," Izzy said.

"I don't remember it being that small," Shoshanna said. True enough, it had shrunk significantly to the size of a manhole cover. "Has it changed materials?"

Matt squatted down next to it, reaching out to touch the shining surface. It did, indeed, appear to have changed from its puzzle material into something more substantial, not unlike porcelain.

"Don't!" Izzy cried out. "It could be dangerous."

"I don't think it is," Matt said. "If it were dangerous it probably would have done something."

"It could be a portkey. I've never seen one made but maybe that's what it looks like," Shoshanna said.

"Why would the founders have made a portkey? Where could it go?" Matt asked.

"What if it wasn't the founders who put it here?" Bridget said, her face pale.

"What do you mean?"

"What if it was..." Bridget hesitated before whispering the next word. "Voldemort? What if he set it up as a trap?"

Matt's thoughts immediately turned to the famous final task of the Goblet of Fire when Harry Potter and Cedric Diggory had touched the Goblet at the same time and been transported to the graveyard where Cedric was murdered. He could tell the others were thinking the same.

"Maybe it takes you to a place where his followers could kill you," Shoshanna said.

"And how would they even know to come? I mean, it's been years." Matt asked.

"Maybe it has a charm to set of their marks."

"Or it could have been set up as an escape plan," Bridget suggested. "To Malfoy Manor or some other place."

"Some escape plan if it took three years to finish," Matt said.

"Maybe they had a particular spell to put it back together. One only they would know."

"Voldemort's dead." Ceelee said, finally.

"He was dead before and he was brought back," Holly spoke up. All eyes turned to her. She suddenly looked shy. Peering at her shoes she said, "It could happen again."

"No it couldn't." Ceelee said.

"What if they missed a horcrux?" Izzy said, a slight tremor in her voice.

"They didn't. He's dead. Look, I'll prove it's not a portkey," Ceelee said as she reached for the disc.

"No!" Matt grabbed her. She gave him a look as if she might hex him into oblivion. Realizing what he had done he released her. "Together," he said. "All of us." He looked to the others. "If it is a trap it'll be hard for them to take on all of us with as few of them as there are." He looked to the others, they slowly nodded. "Alright then, on three. One... two... Holly!"

Holly's hand shot out, touching the disc. Nothing happened. She looked up. Everyone seemed to let out a sigh of relief. "I just didn't want anyone else to get hurt," she said, innocently.

Matt couldn't help but hug her. "No one's getting hurt. Not today."

Bridget ran her fingers over the surface, no longer afraid of what it might do. "It's like marble."

"So what is it, then?" asked Izzy. She appeared almost insulted that it hadn't been a portkey.

"Dunno, maybe the bag has a clue," Matt suggested.

Shoshanna, who was closest to the bag opened it and produced a piece of parchment. "You can open many doors if you only have the key." she read.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Izzy said. "Is it a key?"

"It's be a very strange key," Bridget said.

Shoshanna turned the piece of parchment over and back again.

"What is it?" Matt asked.

"I know I've read this a dozen times," Shoshanna said, "but that's not what it says... well, said."

"What did it say?"

"I don't remember. Something about bringing lights in the darkness for those who seek but to beware."

"Beware of what?"

"Just that the children of Bellerophon, Orpheus, and Perseus should beware."

"Who are Bellerophon, Orpheus, and Perseus?" Bridget asked. "I mean, I know there's an Orpheus in the third year."

"I know probably at least half a dozen Perseus's," Ceelee said. "On account of Perseus Parkinson who tried to ban muggle-wizard marriage."

"Well, I could see Parkinsons being cursed." Izzy said. Matt shot her a look. "They are part of the sacred twenty eight."

"I think they paid for that spot. There's no way the Parkinson family is that old." Shoshanna said.

"There's a Bellerophon on the Caerphilly Catapults," Ceelee suggested.

"It would help if they were less common names," Shoshanna groused.

Matt thought for a few moments. The names had to mean something, something ancient enough that the founders would know them. But as much as he wracked his brain he could not think of any time in history he had heard the three names together. Maybe it was something to do with the names themselves. That was it! "They're characters from Greek myths, Bellerophon was a great hero who thought he should be a god and was struck down for his pride when he tried to fly to Mount Olympus and I think Orpheus tried to bring his wife back from the dead, but he was told not to look back while she followed him out but just as they were about to reach the exit he did and so she remained dead, and Perseus killed Medusa," Matt answered.

"How do you even know all of this?" Shoshanna said.

"They taught it in muggle school."

"Well score one point for muggle school then. But what does it mean?"

"Who knows?" Matt shrugged. "I mean Persues and Bellerophon were both famous heroes but what Orpheus has to do with them..." he shrugged again.

"Was he a warrior too?" Holly asked.

"No. I think he was a musician."

"That's sort of like the opposite of a warrior," Ceelee snarked.

Shoshanna picked up the disc in both hands, holding it up to her eye level. "Well that doesn't really tell us anything about this." She went to put it down.

"Wait!" Bridget said.

"What? What is it?" Shoshanna peered from around the disc.

"I know that view."

"What?"

"On the back."

"There's nothing on the back. The backs of the pieces were just plain white." Shoshanna turned the disc over as if to reassure herself. "Woah," she said. She was not staring at a plain white circle as she expected but a strange, dark, undulating pattern. "What is that?"

"It's the cavern, below the school. The one the boats float into with the first years at the beginning of term," Bridget said.

Shoshanna turned the disc this way and that squinting at it. "How are you seeing that? It looks nothing like the cavern."

"It's the view from underwater," Bridget said. Shoshanna regarded her incredulously. "I umm... I fell in, my first year."

"You pulled a Dennis Creevey?" Ceelee said, half incredulous.

"Well, it wasn't my fault. The boat struck a rock." If he hadn't known Bridget's secret, Matt might have believed her himself. She was almost shockingly convincing. It was a good lie, too. No one here was old enough to have been at the beginning of term supper to say she hadn't.

"Maybe, we should put it in the water in the cavern," Matt suggested. "Wait, what time is it?"

"It's seven," Shoshanna answered.

"Good, there's still a few hours before curfew."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Ceelee said. "Let's go."

They had very little trouble sneaking the disc down to the great hall though they were stalled a moment on the door to the small room of to the side where Matt could still remember coming in from in his first year, but Ceelee made quick work of the lock with a quick flick of her wand and an "Alohamora." Likely they didn't see much need for more security on a lock which only led to an empty room and, beyond, an underground lagoon. They had the giant squid and the merfolk to defend against intruders on the lake. Within fifteen minutes they were standing on the edge of the bank, watching the dark water lap the shore.

"So do we just float it on the water?" Shoshanna asked.

"Maybe we toss it in," Izzy suggested.

"Yeah, but if it doesn't work then it'll be at the bottom of the lake," Ceelee snarked.

"Let's just lay it on the surface and see what happens," Matt said. Shoshanna place it on the surface of the water and almost instantly jumped backward as the disc began to expand. As it grew bright lights lit up the area it was passing under. What had appeared to be stalactites with strands of moss and cobwebs strung between them instead revealed themselves to be great chandeliers of millions of crystals with strands of bright lights hanging between them. When touched by the ever expanding disc great sconces with golden arms sculpted in the shape of lions, eagles, badgers, and snakes burst into flame, revealing a door between each pair. In moments the entire surface of the cavern lake was filled by the great marble floor with its large multicolored tiles with black H's in the center. Music wafted through the air, played by unseen instruments, in some sort of waltz.

"What is this place?" Ceelee breathed, staring up at the lights in wonder.

"Ceelee! Be careful!" Matt warned.

"What?" She looked down at her feet to realize she had stepped out onto the marble floor. She stomped on it twice. "Seems safe enough."

"It looks like some sort of ballroom, but I've never heard of one in Hogwarts before," Bridget said. "Unless... There was a picture in Hogwarts: A History. It was labeled as being a depiction of the first Yule Ball in the Great Hall which would have been in the 1300's but if it were mislabeled... I knew there was something wrong with their dress robes! I wish I had that book now."

"Why not summon it?" Izzy suggested. "Accio book!" she mimed.

"We don't want anyone to know we're down here," Bridget said.

Matt nodded, "Somehow I think a random book whizzing through the halls might attract some attention."

"Oh." Izzy said.

"Well, are you guys going to just stand there all day and talk?" Ceelee said, taking a few steps further out. "Come on, let's see what's behind these doors."

"Yeah!" Izzy said, running out after her.

"Wait! We don't even know if it's safe!" Matt protested.

"Safer than being talked to death," Ceelee said with a derisive sniff. Izzy laughed. "Besides, if it's as old as she says then anything dangerous should be long rusted out or dead."

"Unless it's a basilisk," Matt suggested. Izzy stopped dead, turning to face Matt with her white little face.

"Could there be a basilisk?" she asked nervously.

"He's just trying to scare you," Ceelee said.

"I am not," Matt said. "It's a real risk, who knows what could be lurking."

"In a ballroom?" Ceelee rolled her eyes.

"Fine, but just wait for us." Matt gingerly stepped onto the floor. It seemed solid enough. No one would ever guess it was floating on the surface of the lake. "Come on, guys." Holly merrily hopped onto the ballroom floor with Bridget and Shoshanna following behind.

"Shoshanna! The parchment!" Matt yelled, pointing at the piece of parchment in Shoshanna's hand that had begun to emit golden sparks.

Shoshanna yelped, dropping the parchment on the floor where golden sparks appeared to write words upon its surface. "Multuminparvo," she read as the word appeared.

"What does that mean?" Izzy said.

"It looks like a spell," Matt said.

Izzy rolled her eyes. "Well I know it's a spell, but what does it do?"

"I don't know, I think it's in Latin."

"You don't know Latin?"

"No, why would I?"

Izzy let out a frustrated "Ugh!"

"Multum in parvo," Holly said. "Much in little."

"What?" Matt turned to her.

"It means much in little."

"How do you know that?" Matt asked almost as shocked as he was incredulous. "Do you know Latin?"

"No, but Artemis does." she said as though it were the most obvious thing.

"The rat speaks Latin now," Shoshanna whispered to Matt. Matt knew Shoshanna disapproved of Holly's pet. She had spoken many times, at length, of how unhealthy her attachment to the comatose white mouse was, even going so far as to show him chapters from books on the subject. Matt was inclined to agree that it was distressing that she would choose to hide her own personal abilities by crediting them to a creature which couldn't possibly do what she claimed - it could barely even eat let alone speak Latin - but he could not help but excuse it as a result of what must have been a very sad upbringing. Afterall, even if it was costing her friends, she was happy. Or at least, she had been up until the past few months.

"Lay off it," he whispered back.

"So what do you think it does?" Ceelee said. "It better not be another riddle."

"I don't think any of the clues have been riddles," Matt began, "I think they are literal. The first was about lights in the darkness and the second said that you can open many doors if you only have the key."

"So do you think this is the key they meant?" Ceelee said. She took out her wand and aimed it at the nearest door. "Multumin-"

"Wait!" Matt pulled down her arm.

"What now?"

"What if it's a spell to reduce the floor?"

"To reduce the floor?"

"Well think about it. It was 'much in little', I mean a whole ballroom floor in a disc I could carry in one hand. And if I already knew about the ballroom and the doors, the only thing I would need to remember was-"

"The spell to return it to it's smaller size," Ceelee finished.

"If they didn't use it often, either because they didn't use the room much or they rarely took it up, they might forget," Bridget said.

"But how do we get into the doors?" Shoshanna asked.

Ceelee smirked, walked over, and turned the knob. The door opened revealing a room far larger than was possible without an extending spell which looked to be some form of performing parlour. A number of musical instruments of every type Matt could name (and some he had never before seen) sat on one side of the room surrounding a grand piano while plush chairs and couches sat in lines as though watching an invisible concert. The others gasped in admiration. "We could try the knob," she said.

"Cool!" Izzy said. "Let's see what's behind this one!" She yanked open the door and was instantly buried in books from a bookshelf that hung on the other side and did not seem to care for her rough handling.

"I think that's the library," Matt laughed as his sister shook books off of her head.

"I didn't know Hogwarts had a second library," Bridget said, picking up some of the books and reading their titles. "Why these books must be at least four hundred years old."

"It's a book on the spells of the Atlanteans!" Shoshanna exclaimed. "As told to the author by the Peryton Calix before it ate him. Notes translated to English by Phineas Burke. I wonder if he's related to Borgin & Burke's?"

"Probably," Ceelee said, putting aside a book on making a druidic staff and picking up one that had a picture of a man in ancient looking robes riding a broom and reaching for a flying golden ball. She flipped through it, "Look, it's the Galway Garrote! No wonder it hasn't worked in a hundred years, there's supposed to be a fourth man."

"Boring!" Izzy said. "I'm going to go find another door."

"Wait! Matt cried, chasing after her.

They spent the next hour opening doors. One room was filled with large couches and chairs with a large golden coffee urn in the center that had eight spigots for dispensing coffee and great golden trays clearly meant for snacks (their absence was lamented by Izzy). Another room had three dueling strips in the center of a large room with walls cloaked in scarlet and gold tapestries on one side and silver and green on the other There were a number of scorch marks on the walls and a few of the tapestries had large holes burnt in them. Much of the furniture was in pieces, even a few of the busts lay in piles of rubble. It appeared that whatever the last duel had been, it had been quite heated. Another was filled with large stuffed magical creatures that had been the subject of skillful taxidermy, while the one next to it was filled with large stuffed magical creatures that had been the subject of skillful sewing. There was a room filled with snake motifs and writing desks, looking much like some type of office. There was even a boy's room and a girl's room.

"Look here, there's a section on how to create and destroy horcruxes - that would have been useful a few years ago." Shoshanna smirked, not looking up from her Atlantean book as she walked with the others, not realizing they had stopped.

"Shoshanna, look." Matt said. They were standing in front of a door that appeared nothing like the others. It was old and knotted with the four house animals carved into it with decorative lines carved all around them, uniting at the center beneath a handprint.

"There's no knob or handle," Ceelee said, running her hands over the surface. "Not even a hidden one. Alohamora!" she said, pointing her wand at where a lock might be. Immediately the spell rebounded off of the door, knocking the wand from her hand. She raised an eyebrow and went to retrieve her wand.

"Well how are we supposed to get in?" Izzy groused, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Maybe we're not," Matt said. "The founders hid this place for a reason. It might very well be behind that door."

"I think I know," Ceelee said. "Bridget, come with me." Bridget looked confused but followed Ceelee to the dueling room. The others followed behind. "Stand on the other side of that dueling strip. Don't worry, I'm not going to hex you." Ceelee answered Bridget's worried look. "Wand out, like you're going to duel. Ok, now I'm going to go to the other side, see." The moment Ceelee stood on the strip and drew her wand the tapestries changed. New green and silver ones unfurled from the one side and blue and bronze from the other. "I thought so," she muttered. Bridget stood at the ready, clearly she did not trust Ceelee. "You can relax, I told you, I'm not going to duel you." Ceelee lowered her wand and looked around the room. "So this is the place."

"What place?" Bridget asked, thoroughly perplexed, her wand still raised.

"Where Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor had their final duel."

"I knew they fought, I suppose I did hear that the sorting hat had mentioned dueling," Bridget said, finally lowering her wand. "But I didn't think there was an actual place."

"It would make sense though, wouldn't it?" Ceelee said. "If there's something behind that door that they were trying to keep from him and his heir that would make it almost impossible for him to access if the ballroom were shattered and concealed until such time as the heir of Slytherin was dead."

"But why allow it to reappear at all?"

"I don't know," Ceelee said. "But we're going to get that door open and find out."

They spent the next ten minutes examining the door for any sign of a lock. "Oh it's hopeless!" Shoshanna cried. Just then a blue light lit up the Ravenclaw eagle. They all looked to where a wand was sticking into a hole between the Eagle's beak and it's throat to where Holly stood, holding it. "I thought it might fit, she said with a crooked smile."

"Here, let me have a look," Ceelee pushed toward the snake, sure enough, within its mouth was another divit shaped perfectly for a wand. She placed hers in the hole and the snake was instantly lit with a green light.

"Shoshanna, Izzy, see if you can find one for Hufflepuff and Gryffindor," Matt said. In seconds the door was lit with green, yellow, blue, and red, all trailing to the center where the handprint was.

"Do you think it needs Godric Gryffindor's hand?" Matt asked.

"Don't be stupid," Ceelee said. "He'd be holding the wand in that hand, he couldn't do both at the same time. And why even make it then if he just wanted it to die with him?"

Matt bristled. He wasn't keen on being called stupid. "Well, what else could it be?"

"Why don't you put your hand there?"

"What?" Matt looked at her, bewildered.

"Yeah. It needs a member from all four houses to open. Slytherin and Riddle would have been able to figure that out pretty quickly. But they would never think that they might need a non-magic user to open it, not in a million years. I doubt they'd even know one they could use. Try it."

"Alright," Matt rolled up his sleeve, preparing to be blasted back like Ceelee's wand. "Here goes." He placed his hand on the handprint. Suddenly a great white light came from the hand and traveled outward turning the lights from the other houses white as well until the entire door was bathed in the pale light. And then, it opened. They stared into the dark room.

"Lumos," Ceelee and Izzy said in unison. They led the way into the room which seemed to be lit by a strange pale blue aura that appeared to ripple like light cascading off water.

"Incendio," Ceelee said, lighting a torch that hung from the wall. In the light the contents of the room could now be seen more clearly. Magical artifacts littered what appeared to be some sort of workshop hewn into the stone side of the cavern.

"Matt check these out," Izzy exclaimed showing off an armful of swords.

"Izzy don't touch that!"

"But look! This one has the Deathly Hallows carved onto the hilt."

Sure enough, when Matt looked at the hilt of the large battered and chipped sword he could see the telltale line bisecting the circle and triangle of the deathly hallows.

"Do you think..." Shoshanna began. "Do you think this might have belonged to one of the Peverells?"

"I don't know," Matt said. "There are a lot of weapons here, it's quite a collection. And look over here, there's an alchemic circle, no, dozens of them."

The low loud sound of a horn in his ear cause Matt to stand straight up, shaking. "Look what I found Matty," Izzy said victoriously from behind a massive curling horn. It looked like that of a mountain goat except somewhat crumpled.

"That better not be what I think it is," Shoshanna said.

Bridget ran her hand over the surface. "So she wasn't crazy." Suddenly something seemed to catch her eye.

"Who wasn't crazy, Bridget?" Matt asked absently, peering over at a Nebra Sky disc that sat above a round stone table which had a strange alchemic symbol carved into the surface of it. "Bridget, what is it?" he looked up to see Bridget walking toward a solid grey stone structure near the center of the room, just beyond a large armillary sphere. Even from this distance he could see the surface was heavily carved. He could just make out a faint blue light being emitted from it. "Bridget!" he called. The others turn to look to him and then to where he was looking. She did not even acknowledge him but kept walking slowly toward the object as though in a trance. "Bridget!" He rushed toward her, the others close behind. "Bridget!" He grabbed her arm just as it reached toward the silvery mercury-like substance that rippled like water in the heart of the rectangular stone basin.

She didn't respond, the strange blue light reflecting off her face. She only whispered, "The Sampo."