Chapter 14

Cnorth

Credit: whitv

Beta: Winthrops Slayer

Disclaimer: All HP characters belong to JKR.

A/N: The exploration of the castle and where things are placed is based on the map of Hogwarts found on the Harry Potter Lexicon.

It was the few last days before Christmas holidays, and all the students were fidgeting their way through classes. As it was, the students were having enough trouble concentrating, and the professors, for the most part anyways, were valiantly teaching away. On this particular day, Luna and Kevin decided to lecture on defensive and offensive spells which were perfect for combat. After all, the war that everyone feared crept closer with the passing of each day. However, even this topic couldn't hold everyone's attention.

Jenny had this far off vacant expression on her face. It was obvious to Chelli, who had helped sustain an eight year friendship, where the blonde's mind was going. But when Jenny oh so subtly crossed her legs, Chelli just shook her head.

The brunette leaned over and hissed, "I don't care which one you're thinking of, but stop…Now."

This little incident went unnoticed by without anyone else noticing what was going on. When Jenny finally came back to reality, she just glared at Chelli for a second and went back to pretending to taking notes on whatever spell Luna was demonstrating now. Chelli, on the other hand, just rolled her big brown eyes before returning her attention back to the lecture.

Finally, classes let out for the week, and everyone dispersed, either to their house common rooms, or home for the holidays. Needless to say, all of the Americans were staying. For a few of the girls, being so far from home on Christmas was going to be hard. But even though there were very few people who decided to stay behind, the girls kept themselves occupied with exploration expeditions of the castle.

Lori was in the library, as had become her habit, and thanks to Luna, she now had access to the restricted section to work on a project for defense. She was trying to find ways to increase the wards on the castle, in order to keep out all people who had been branded with the dark mark. She pulled several books from the shelves that seemed to have possibilities, and then spotted a small leatherbound book that looked to be handwritten. This was quite the unusual find in this library, she had noticed, so she quickly picked it up off the shelf and carried it to the table where she had staked her claim, turning it into her own personal shrine.

On one end of the table sat the books she had just pulled down, then next to that was a tray of refreshments, and after that, a basket filled with rolls of parchment, spare quills, and extra ink so that she could take notes. Her chair, which conveniently enough had wheels, was currently dead center next to the food, but sitting down with the small handwritten volume, she moved down to the notes end of the table, opening the cover of the book, which was entitled "The Founders of Hogwarts".

Expecting just the normal spiel on the four founders, she was surprised to see that the book instead had handwritten charts of lineage. They only covered a few hundred years before stopping, ending on Ravenclaws chart with the same name imprinted in gold leaf on the front cover: Aliandra Sparrowhawk. Lori was surprised…Sparrowhawk was her great grandmothers maiden name, and while she had never traced her lineage all the way back, she knew that the family was originally from England.

Finding a spell a few pages further along that would identify the founders heirs when at least two were together, she cast it, not knowing what to expect. Voldemort was Slytherin's heir, according to everything they had been able to discover, so that meant the chances of the spell telling her she was an heir were thin. One of the two other heirs would have to be in the castle, in the same room as her, for the spell to work. And what were the odds of that? Still, it couldn't hurt.

Suddenly, she felt a warm gust of air, which was interesting since all the windows in the room were shut. She turned slowly around, and was surprised to see a ghostly figure standing behind her.

"Well met, child." A soft voice issued from the woman's shade, filling her heart with warmth and hope. "So you are my heir…well, what is your name? Don't just sit there, speak up!"

"Lori Talbot, miss. I'm sorry, but…are you Rowena Ravenclaw?" she queried, pretty sure it was, but not chancing it.

"Yes I am, Lori. You are my descendent, are you not?"

"I guess so…I didn't even know I was a witch until September, and it's only December now." Lori responded, feeling as though she could trust this woman with anything.

"You didn't know you were a witch…how is that possible? The list is supposed to automatically sense when and where any magical child is born…that IS strange."

"I'm an American, milady."

"Oh, I've read about those…it is a perk, being a founder. Even as a ghost, I can still read…how dull my afterlife would have been without that! That still doesn't explain why you weren't down for Salem Institute though," the stately and beautiful woman replied, her brow drawn in curiosity.

"Maybe it has to do with why everyone else in my family are muggles?" Lori suggested, and the ghost nodded thoughtfully.

"How did you end up at Hogwarts then, if you are American?"

"Well, the current Dark Lord is named Voldemort. I'm sure you've read about him. And somehow or other, he found out that me and a whole bunch of my friends were witches, even though we didn't know. Thankfully, Professor McGonagall, the headmistress, found out as well, and staged a rescue. Me and quite a few of my friends were transported to Hogwarts, and we began our magical education, although it is somewhat rushed."

"I would like to meet these friends of yours. Go ahead and sneak the book into your bag-if you were able to find it, that means it wanted to be found. It's not listed as being in the library anyway." Rowena whispered, before fading away as footsteps neared the table.

Lori slid the book into her bag, and cleared away all evidence that she had food in the library. Hurriedly gathering all her stuff, she rushed out of the library, pelting for the Ravenclaw tower. This was just too interesting not to share-she had to get Joe.