Chapter Eighteen

Ravenclaw Tower

Courtney took her copies of The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) and A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration and dropped them in a pouch along with parchment and quills.

"Sneaking out?" Willow asked her. "You know, that's not very…" While she thought for the best word, Courtney spoke up.

"Not sneaking anywhere," she assured. "Just going to the Ravenclaw dorm to study and finish the Transfiguration homework."

"Oh, okay," Willow said. "J-just don't get in any trouble."

"So did you also invite Albus?" Courtney asked as she and Lynne walked up the stairs.

"Boys can't go into the girls' dorms here," Lynne told her. "A really messed-up ancient spell. Besides, Albus is with James and Rose at Hagrid's."

At the top of the stairwell, Lynne led Courtney to a door with a bronze knocker in the shape of an eagle on the front.

"What lies," the eagle asked in a pleasant voice, "beneath a Dementor's hood?"

Courtney had no idea. Mum had shown her pictures of Dementors before, and she supposed she knew, on some level, that there was something under their hoods, but she had always considered that hood to be an intrinsic part of them…

"The greatest mystery of them all," Lynne answered without missing a beat.

"Quite true," the eagle agreed. "In more ways than one."

The door opened, revealing a very large circular room with a dark blue carpet. The ceiling was painted, or enchanted, to look so much like the night sky that for a moment Courtney thought she was outdoors. All throughout the room there were desks, tables, bookcases, and a large statue that Courtney immediately recognized as Rowena Ravenclaw herself.

"Wow, this place is amazing," Courtney breathed. "And anyone can enter just from knowing a riddle?"

Lynne shrugged. "Ravenclaw Tower doesn't discriminate by what the Hat said. If you're willing to seek knowledge or think about a riddle, then you're a true Ravenclaw in its book. So is the Hufflepuff common room that different?"

Courtney nodded. "Less amazing, more… I guess 'comfortable' is the right word. Very warm, pleasant. And we don't have a riddle, just a secret knock."

"That sounds pretty nice," Lynne said. "I know Gryffindor and Slytherin both have passwords that change regularly, with only the Prefects knowing at first. So I guess that means that a Hufflepuff would be the only one who can leave the school for a few weeks, come back, and still be able to get into their common room, trouble-free."

"The House of loyalty," Courtney smiled. "Once a Hufflepuff, always a Hufflepuff."

Lynne clapped her hands together. "Okay, so remember while you're here to try and stay away from Ezekiel and Ursula. They've been pretty violent toward each other lately, and toward anyone who picks sides between them."

That was weird. "Why?"

"In Longbottom's class, the fourth-years are taking care of Venus flytraps," Lynne summarized. "Ezekiel fed his flytraps some of Ursula's flies, but it turned out they were lacewing flies that she was using as a potion ingredient."

"Sounds like an honest mistake to me," Courtney said.

"Maybe," Lynne agreed. "But none of the Potions classes are currently using lacewings for anything, so he had no way of knowing without asking her. She, meanwhile, didn't tell anyone what she was using the flies for, so it was easy for anyone to assume they were just flies. Neither of them was really intending anything wrong, but neither of them communicated… 'The best-laid schemes o' mice and men', you know?"

Without meaning to, Courtney compared Lynne to the girl she had met on the Hogwarts Express. She'd agreed that Slytherin was a truly evil House, and later decided with little hesitation that the Light Magic Movement was wrong because the Statute of Secrecy existed for a reason. Now here she was, evaluating exactly how neither side of a conflict was really wrong, or evil, just victims of miscommunication.

The trip through the Pensieve, the story of a man they thought was evil, had already changed Lynne in so short a time.

Courtney still had no idea what mice had to do with anything, though.

"Now that that's out of the way," Lynne said brightly. "Let's get going on the Transfiguration. Switching Spells, spells that take two objects and Transfigure them into each other."

"Twelve inches on the topic by next class," Courtney said. "Alright, so you already gave a definition. We should also get in the wand motions, incantations, and the amount of magic."

"Important," Lynne agreed. "And, since Asmius likes practicality so much, we should definitely write about practical reasons for using a Switching Spell. Like…"

"Oh! How about, like, Switching objects that are separated by a wall or something. That way, you can get both objects somewhere that they wouldn't be able to go without the spell."

"That would work," Lynne said. "Or what about switching something you need that's out of reach with something you want to get rid of?"

They continued brainstorming, and eventually had two complete essays ready.

The next morning, Courtney left Ravenclaw Tower and started walking downstairs to the Great Hall. She found Albus pretty quickly, sitting and talking with James… and Scorpius.

"So you're taking his side," James was saying with a note of incredulity. "Seriously? I'm your brother."

"Yeah, which is why I expect to trust you," Albus said. "And I'm not taking sides, especially not over something that happened so long ago. I watched the whole thing, and neither of you was being totally honest."

James sighed. "Whatever, I'm out…"

"No. Not until you apologize." Albus looked at Scorpius. "Both of you."

"I'm sorry you cannot let go of our bet," Scorpius said. "And I'm sorry you are so awful at Quidditch."

James took out his wand. Scorpius did the same. Courtney ran in between them. "Hey, what's going on?"

There was a moment of silence, and James lowered his wand. "Your buddy Albus here figures he saw what really happened in our scuffle a while back," Scorpius said. "You know the one."

"Yeah, the one from November?" She was directing this at all three boys. "Come on, you're both better than that."

Scorpius sighed. "Sorry for mocking your loss. Better?"

"Better," Albus said. Now they all looked back at James.

"Sorry your House is evil and worthless," James said.

Scorpius's hand tightened around his wand. "Come on!" Courtney shouted. "Slytherin isn't evil or worthless! Without him, Hogwarts wouldn't exist! He was practically heroic!"

"Salazar Slytherin was the first wizard to say that Muggleborns were inherently less than purebloods," James said. "There are still wizards today - Slytherins, mind you - who still think that and discriminate against them. Lord Voldemort was not only in House Slytherin, he was descended from Slytherin, and he was the worst of the worst."

This sounded so much like what Courtney had seen in the Pensieve. "Slytherin was trying to protect students from Muggleborn kids who would try to kill them! And Headmaster Dumbledore was a Slytherin-"

James laughed. "Albus Dumbledore? He was a Gryffindor."

Then he started to walk away.