Chapter 16
The Secret Room
Harry returned to the common room to find Hermione reading Ron's Potions assignment before class, making occasional groans, scowls, and corrections with her quill. It was all he could do to stumble to their table and slump down in the chair in front of them.
"You were fast, mate," said Ron. "I thought – "
"What's wrong, Harry?" Hermione interrupted, studying Harry with concern. "You look awful."
It was a great effort for Harry to open his mouth at all. When he finally did, however, he found he could not stop talking until he had told Ron and Hermione what had happened in Nevins' office. He did not, however, tell them that his Boggart had turned into Ginny. Instead, he said that it had taken the form of a Dementor.
"Bloody hell!" exclaimed Ron, his eyes wide.
Hermione looked shocked as well. "Oh, Harry, I'm really sorry," she said.
"But then." Comprehension dawned on Ron's face. "He must have had some reason for being afraid of your father, mustn't he? I mean – but why?"
"Hagrid must know," said Harry softly. "He keeps giving me hints."
Ron gulped. "Do you – do you reckon you ought to ask him?"
"No, Ron!" said Hermione. "Of course he won't tell us. But I think Nevins ought to tell Harry."
"I don't know if he can," said Harry. "I don't know how he's going to cope with this at all. He looked awful when I left his office."
"And you look awful, too, mate," said Ron. He picked up a bowl of chocolate from the table and handed a square to Harry. "Go on, have a bit of this."
Harry took a square of chocolate and started eating it. Almost immediately, he began to feel better.
"Thanks, Ron," he said. He frowned at the bowl of chocolate. "Is this someone's Valentine gift?"
Ron and Hermione exchanged looks of amazement.
"What?" asked Harry.
"Blimey, don't you know?" asked Ron. "Madam Pomfrey put these all over the common room. After what happened last night, she didn't want to take any more chances."
Harry continued to stare blankly at his two friends. "What happened last night?"
Ron and Hermione exchanged meaningful looks again. Harry suddenly realized that with all of the fuss about the Valentines he hadn't had a proper conversation with his two friends all day.
"Harry went to bed early, remember, after Quidditch practice?" said Hermione to Ron.
"Yeah, but I didn't think anyone could have slept through that racket."
"Why don't you two drag things out a little longer?" Harry suggested.
"Sorry," said Ron. "Ginny's roommate – what's her name?" he asked Hermione. "Long blond hair," he explained to Harry.
"Catherine," said Hermione, with a very faint note of reproach.
"Yeah, her. She had some kind of fainting spell last night. Had to go to the hospital wing. She's just resting today. Madam Pomfrey said she'd be all right. Bit scary though."
Hermione shook her head. "The stress must be too much for her. For all of them. It's a good thing Madam Pomfrey put out that chocolate. I think they'll need it."
"Sorry," said Harry. "All of who?"
"The fifth years?" said Hermione, looking at Harry like he was slightly dense. "The O.?"
"Or did you forget taking yours?" asked Ron.
"But," said Harry. "The O. aren't 'till the end of the year."
"You really haven't gotten out much this term, have you?" said Ron.
"I've been… preoccupied."
"They changed the O. this year," explained Hermione. "They're taking half at the end of the term but they're taking the other half right after the Easter holidays. They say it's so there'll be less pressure and more time to study, but personally I think it's going to make things worse."
"All because Hannah Abbot had to spend all summer in St. Mungo's when her brain engorgement charm misfired," said Ron.
Harry paused to consider the implications of what Ron and Hermione were saying. Jack Sloper was a fifth year, but he had never once told Harry about the upcoming exams or complained about their extra team practices. More to the point nor had Ginny. Harry suddenly felt a little guilty, then he heard Ron say:
"Ginny's been in a right state."
Harry looked up at Ron quickly, still thinking about the Boggart. He was fairly certain that Ron had failed to notice the odd look on his face but he was much less sure it had completely escaped Hermione's attention.
"She's all wound up about it and all," Ron went on. "What with Charlie and Bill and Percy being so perfect. And Mum getting in a fit about Fred and George and then there was my History of Magic failure, as if I need History of Magic, anyway."
"Totally stupid what they're doing with the test schedule," declared Hermione, shaking her head. "Totally stupid."
Harry sighed. That explained why she had been studying with the fifth years. They had obviously been testing each other. He suddenly realized he had been so frightened about what Ginny might say to him that he had hardly talked to her all term. Yet it now seemed obvious that her mind had been on something else altogether.
Lately, Harry had been retiring to bed relatively early after nights of exhausting Quidditch practice but on that evening, without telling Ron and Hermione why, he stayed up to study together with them until finally first Hermione and then Ron went to bed. Neither of them asked Harry further about his strange encounter with Nevins and the Boggart. Hermione did suggest that he should get to bed early but did not object when Harry suggested that continuing to finish his report for History of Magic would help to keep him preoccupied.
Harry stayed up to study long after Ron and Hermione had gone to bed. But he was not alone in the common room. Several of the fifth-years, including Ginny, were studying in a group at a corner table, as Harry had guessed they would be. Harry watched, a little absent-mindedly, as they each got up and left in turn until finally Ginny was the only one left.
Harry waited until the last of Ginny's study partners had closed the door to her room before he got up and very slowly walked over to where she was sitting. That very same morning he would have given anything for the chance to sit Ginny down alone and have a serious, if awkward, conversation in which he explained that his feelings for her did not go beyond friendship. But that morning now seemed a very long time ago. Harry reflected to himself not for the first time that day how self-centered he had been and how stupid to let the whole question of Ginny's crush bother him so badly that he feared her more than Dementors or Voldemort.
Ginny did not look up as he approached but remained absorbed in her work. As he walked over to her, Harry watched as her eyes moved from the book open on her desk to the parchment on which she was writing, deep in concentration. He couldn't help but think how different she looked from the Boggart that had adopted her likeness. The Boggart had seemed so cold and lifeless but, although Harry wasn't sure why, in the simple act of looking at a book, the real Ginny seemed to radiate life.
And then Ginny did look up. And for the briefest of moments, their eyes met and neither said a word. Then, as if nothing had happened, Harry said:
"Hi, Ginny."
"Hi, Harry."
Ginny looked back down at her work again, perhaps assuming that Harry was only intending to greet her and then move on to bed. When he did not move after a few moments, however, she put down her quill and looked up at him again.
"Er," said Harry. "I – I'm sorry I never got a chance to thank you again for your Christmas present. I've listened to it a lot. I really like it."
Ginny smiled, a slightly tired smile, Harry thought.
"That's OK, Harry."
"You're studying for your O.?"
Ginny nodded and sighed. "Too many tests, not enough O. in the family already, apparently," she said, with a hint of sarcasm.
"Well, I – I'm sure you'll do well," Harry said, a little lamely, he thought.
"Thanks." Ginny looked back down at her book, rubbing a tired eye.
"Well, good night."
"Good night, Harry."
But Harry still did not leave. He still wasn't sure quite why he had stopped to talk to Ginny in the first place, except that he seemed to have a pressing need to make sure she was still in one piece after the Boggart incident. He had fully intended to leave after saying good night but something seemed to root him to the spot. He felt a sudden urge to move closer still.
And then Ginny looked up from her paper and their eyes met again. There was a puzzled look on her face as if she was seeing him properly for the first time that evening.
"Harry?" she said.
Harry looked away and coughed uncomfortably. "Sorry I was just lost in thought. Good night." He turned around without looking at her and walked back to his dormitory, closing the door behind him. All of his roommates were now asleep. Harry sat on the bed for a moment and sighed. His brief talk with Ginny left him feeling somewhat unsatisfied. Then he rifled through his drawer for a piece of parchment. The first one he found was red and he stuffed that back decisively. That would definitely give her the wrong idea. He settled on a slightly faded piece of off-white parchment and began to write in what he hoped was a casual scrawl:
Ginny,
I can imagine it must be really hard to take the O. in such a big family. Ron was always talking about how your mum bugged him about Percy and Charlie and Bill. But it's not really as bad as you think -
That was a lie, thought Harry, but he kept writing.
- Anyway, if you need any help you can always ask me. Good luck.
Your friend,
Harry
The next morning, Harry left breakfast early and went to the owlery to deliver the parchment to Hedwig. By lunch time, he was engrossed in a hushed discussion with Hermione about Nevins' hidden secret. She was telling him that he should owl Lupin about it to see if he knew anything when Harry spotted Hedwig flying over his head to deliver the parchment to Ginny who was just getting up from a hastily consumed lunch. Harry watched out of the corner of his eye as Hedwig flapped her wings noisily in front of Ginny in a Pigwidgeon-like manner before dropping the parchment in front of her. Ginny frowned in curiosity and then unrolled the parchment but before she could read it, Hedwig had stretched out her wing and nuzzled it against Ginny's arm, causing her to giggle. Harry had never seen the usually dignified Hedwig behave in such an openly affectionate manner to anyone before, not even him. Finally, Ginny read the letter and owl and recipient trotted slowly over to Harry. Harry fed Hedwig an owl treat and then looked up at Ginny.
Ginny held up the parchment in her hand.
"Thank you, Harry," she said. "I will."
And then Ginny bent over and kissed him on the cheek before striding briskly out of the hall.
Harry sat frozen to the spot for a moment. There was a strange tingling warmth at the place where Ginny had kissed him like the memory of a comfortable fire. But then, almost as if Harry could feel it coming, the warmth began to fade and Harry conjured the sudden image of plunging from the top of the castle on a warm summer's day down into the dark, icy depths of the lake below. The dark, icy feeling seemed to travel from his face down through his throat and settle uncomfortably in his stomach.
He looked ahead and was surprised to see Hermione scrutinizing him. She looked very concerned.
"Harry? Are you all right?"
"I'm not sure," said Harry after a moment's pause. "I – I don't think I feel like eating any more lunch."
Hermione continued to frown at Harry for a moment. Then both of them jumped as a pile of heavy books was abruptly dropped on the table next to them.
"Are you finished with that, Harry?" asked Ron, indicating a bowl of chicken drumsticks on the table in front of him.
Harry nodded absently.
"Good, I'm starving. You two are lucky to be out of Divination, that's all I have to say. So," he said brightly, looking from Harry to Hermione. "What are we talking about?"
For Ginny and her fellow fifth-years, the weeks until the Easter holidays passed by very fast. Ginny's routine changed very little each day. She and her friends developed a rotating schedule of study for each of their subjects and spent most every day and every night reading books and sharing parchments of notes. Ginny's attitude, on the other hand, had changed a great deal since receiving the note from Harry. She did not think it suggested any romantic interest on his part and had not failed to notice that it had arrived the day after Valentine's Day, but it no longer seemed that Harry had only as much regard for her as the leg of a chair which was the impression he had given during the first few weeks of the term. Although the date of their first set of O. grew ever nearer, Ginny found that she no longer seemed filled with a sense of despair that there was so much to study and so little time. Only once did she take Harry up on his offer for help with her work but it still felt as if he was always present in the battle in her heart against the dueling phantoms of her successful older brothers. Even more encouragingly, Ginny had still not had any nightmares about Harry since the night of the Guy Fawkes ball.
Most everyone stayed during the Easter holidays, including all of the fifth years. Finally, on the last Sunday evening of the holidays, the examiners were seen arriving, along with many of the returning students, to begin the O. that Monday morning. At dinner the evening before, Ginny sat with Amanda, Catherine, and Colin, discussing their strategy for the final squeeze before the next morning's tests.
"There's no use," Amanda sighed. "We're going to have to stay up all night. There's still too many charms we haven't gone over yet."
"My mum says that if you study it all the night before, you'll forget after the next day," said Colin.
"We've not just been studying the night before," retorted Amanda. "We just have to finish."
Catherine sighed and put down her napkin. "I don't think I can eat anymore. I'll go and get a table for us in the common room."
"You're not studying with us," said Amanda decisively. "You're supposed to rest, remember?"
"But how am I supposed to take this test if I'm not allowed to study?"
"You'll do better if you're not about to faint in the exam room," replied Ginny.
"I'll just stay for a few hours then," said Catherine and got up to leave.
"Don't worry," said Ginny to Colin and Amanda, who looked a little despondent. "It'll be all right. We can go on a bakery run after everyone else shifts off to bed."
"What's a bakery run?" asked Colin.
"Fred and George used to go on bakery runs," explained Ginny. "Last minute studying was a regular thing for them. You nip out at night, watch for Filch, and then go down to the kitchens. If you get there about two or three, the house elves are just starting to bake the pastries for breakfast and they're ever so fresh."
"You can't just go nicking things from the house elves," said Colin indignantly.
"They don't mind," said Amanda. "You S.P.E.W. chaps never understand this. They like giving away things. You don't have to come, of course," she added, reading Colin's frown. "But I think it sounds like a wonderful idea."
And so later on that evening, the fifth years sat sprawled throughout the Gryffindor common room, untidy parchments and dusty tomes cluttering the desks around them. It had been several hours since Hermione, Harry, and Ron had stopped to wish Ginny good luck before going to bed. Not long afterward, Ginny and Amanda had forced Catherine to bed herself. As the long night wore on, more and more of the fifth years seemed to come to the decision that there was no use trying to cram any more facts into their heads. Ginny, Amanda, and a reluctant Colin had decided to brave the kitchens at three. As the clock passed two, Ginny felt as if someone had attached lead weights to her eyelids, but she was pleased that she had thought of going on the bakery run. The thought of a fresh, warm pastry sticking to her tongue forced her to push on. Finally, Amanda announced with delight the arrival of three o'clock and she and Ginny quickly stood up and made their way across to the portrait hole.
Amanda turned back and looked at Colin.
"You're not coming?"
Colin grudgingly stood up and followed them.
"Don't be surprised if they don't give you anything," he said as the three of them walked out of the portrait hole. "That's if we get past Filch and Mrs. Norris."
"I asked if you were coming, I wasn't asking you to come," hissed Amanda.
"Well, you wouldn't get very far without a S.P.E.W. representative, I assure you."
"Ginny's brothers did just fine."
"That was before Hermione got militant!"
"I don't see much militance," retorted Amanda.
"Oh, you just wait."
"Perhaps you'll both shut up so we're not caught," whispered Ginny as the three of them made their way down to the bottom of the staircase that led to Gryffindor Tower and out into the main hallway.
Not just on one occasion did Ginny wish they had Harry's invisibility cloak with them as they got lost after dodging several ghosts and then, right as they were almost on top of the entrance to the kitchens, found themselves face to face with Mrs. Norris who glowered menacingly at them. Fortunately, Ginny had thought to bring some cat treats with her that she had borrowed from Hermione. Mrs. Norris glared at her for a few heart-stopping moments as Ginny put the treats down on the floor in front of her, but then decided that appetite was much more important than duty and settled down contentedly to eat the snacks that Ginny had left.
Their way clear, Amanda, Colin, and Ginny opened the door that led into the kitchens. Ginny knew that Filch wouldn't be far away and had every intention of leaving with the pastries as quickly as possible and then returning to Gryffindor Tower where they could be safely enjoyed. She was very surprised when the house elves, who had been busy over several bread-loaf shaped stoves and enormous cauldrons when they first entered, yelped in surprise and quickly gathered into a tight group at the center of the room to block their path.
Ginny had been about to open her mouth to say something when each of the elves reached into the folds of the tatty aprons that formed their only garments and produced equally shabby dark green hats which they placed upon their heads. Ginny noticed that each hat had a gold star in the middle.
One of the house elves, who seemed slightly familiar to Ginny, stepped forward and cleared his throat. Spotting Colin, his eyes widened:
"Colin Creevey, sir," he said. "What an honor to have a senior member of S.P.E.W. in our midst!" He rubbed his hands together gleefully but then, very suddenly, as if wrestling with a split-personality, stepped back and folded his arms.
"And who are these?" He indicated Amanda and Ginny, his eyes narrowing and his ears twitching back and forth with suspicion. "What is their purpose here?"
Colin turned to look at Amanda and Ginny, meeting their looks of surprise with an expression of smug satisfaction.
"These are my friends, Dobby," he said, choosing his words very carefully. "This is Amanda, and this is Ginny," he said, gesturing to each of them in turn. "We are studying for our O. and we wondered if you might be kind enough to give us some refreshments from the bakery."
Several of the house elves broke into large grins. From her limited experience with house elves in the past, Ginny felt sure that Colin had been much too polite and they would soon be returning to Gryffindor Tower with enough pastries to feed breakfast to all of its sleeping occupants twice over. But as the house elves made to get the pastries, they were stopped by another elf who had emerged from the side.
"We's don't just rush off to do their bidding anytime they like now. They's not our boss. They's only children. Remember what we've learned."
This house elf, whom Ginny guessed to be female from the way she talked, was wearing a dusty green hat with a star like the others yet her apron was not dirty and disheveled and it did not look as if she had been doing very much work around the kitchen.
At her words, several of the house elves looked disappointed but most murmured and nodded and several, including Dobby, reached into the folds of their aprons and produced small identical red books with gold lettering on the front.
"We's can't be too rude, Winky," said Dobby. "This is Colin Creevey, a member of S.P.E.W."
"I'm in S.P.E.W., too," said Ginny tentatively, remembering how Hermione had harassed her into joining the mailing list two years before.
"So am I," added Amanda, earning a nasty look from Colin.
Winky folded her arms and looked suspiciously at the three of them. "Very well," she said finally. "But give them only what they need. Don't be too eager. 'Tis us, not them, who's have to answer if there aren't enough pastries for breakfast in the morning."
Dobby immediately stepped forward, along with several of the other house elves, looking slightly relieved, and beckoned Ginny, Amanda, and Colin over to a door at the side of the kitchen. Winky watched them for a moment and then she and the house elves returned to the other part of the kitchen.
"Dobby is very sorry about Winky, sir," said Dobby to Colin as he jumped up and grasped hold of a large door handle with both hands and rode on it until it had opened far enough to admit the three Gryffindors. "Winky was not interested in joining S.P.E.W. at first," he went on, jumping back down to the floor and walking in through the door, "but now it's all she talks about."
Colin turned triumphantly to Amanda and Ginny as they followed Dobby into what appeared to be a large pantry. "Winky is proof people are wrong when they say the house elves don't want good working conditions. It's just that it's all they've been told for so long, they don't know how to believe anything else."
"'Tis true, sir, 'tis very true," muttered Dobby as several of the house elves lifted down a large, very tasty looking tray of freshly baked pastries.
"Dobby," said Ginny, "what's that book you have?"
Dobby reached for the small red book that was now half-hanging out of his apron and gave it to Ginny with a proud smile.
"We house elves made it ourselves. We still can't read but we enchanted the books so that they talk to us when we open different pages. We made our hats, too, since otherwise we would be accepting clothes." Dobby still looked a little crestfallen at this but brightened when he noticed Ginny studying the cover.
Ginny's eyes widened as soon as she saw the lettering on the front, which read:
COLLECTED SAYINGS OF MISS HERMIONE GRANGER
Ginny opened the book to the first page and nearly dropped it as Hermione's voice came booming out stridently from inside:
"Oppression is complete when individual agents become the tools of production rather than the masters of it. True liberty - "
Ginny turned another page.
"House elves will never become masters of their own destiny so long as knowledge and discourse remain solely in the hands of an elite community of wizards and witches. In order to balance – "
Ginny flipped to another page.
"Ron, I really don't think we should be snogging in the kitch – "
Ginny closed the book shut with a wince and handed it back to Dobby who gingerly replaced it in his pocket.
"Dobby, what's down here?" asked Amanda, as the house elves took individual pastries from the tray and began to wrap them neatly in a small basket.
Both Dobby and Ginny looked over to find Amanda standing at the far end of the pantry. As they moved closer, Ginny could see that behind a final row of shelves was a door. The door was slightly ajar, revealing an opening that led down a long corridor. What caught Amanda and Ginny's interest most of all was that a steady light seemed to pulse at the end, far too regularly to be the flame from a lantern.
"'Tis an old room," replied Dobby. "Not much used now."
"If it's not much used now, where is that light coming from?" wondered Ginny, half to herself. "Do you mind if we take a look?"
Dobby shrugged.
"Are you really sure we ought to?" asked Colin, who had joined them.
"Yes," replied Amanda, sounding a little annoyed.
"Well, I'm staying here," declared Colin. "I don't think – "
He was interrupted by the sound of a gasp from Ginny. Unseen by all of them, Winky had bounded into the pantry and now stood in front of the door to the corridor with her arms folded.
"You's not allowed inside! 'Tis private, private room for the house elves!"
"Winky!" Dobby walked forward angrily. "'You's rude to our guests! 'Tis no such thing and you know it!"
Winky turned around to face Dobby defiantly. "They's just controlling you, Dobby. They have no respect. They's just tricking you, trying to wander around in our kitchens, do whatever they likes!"
"They's in S.P.E.W!"
"This one is." Winky pointed to Colin. "But I don't know about the others."
"It's all right, Dobby," Colin chimed in. "We don't have to go anywhere. We – "
He winced as Amanda stepped on his toe. "But we would really like to if it's possible."
Winky looked as if she was about to protest again but at that moment, while Amanda, Colin, Dobby, and Winky were engaged in their battle of words, Ginny neatly ducked past Winky and began striding down the corridor in the direction of the light.
Ginny was immediately assaulted by a dank, musty smell that suggested the corridor was, like most of Hogwarts, very old. It might have also led Ginny to the impression that the corridor had not been used for a long time were it not for the insistent light at its end. The walls and floor were almost completely black and there was no evidence of lanterns or brackets where light other than the one ahead might have shone the way. As Ginny moved further down, the light seemed to grow stronger and Ginny could see more of her surroundings. She flinched as a group of rats scurried overhead and fought back a wave of claustrophobia as the corridor seemed to narrow out and move slightly downward. She took out her wand and held it out in front of her, feeling slightly annoyed that she had not thought of doing so earlier.
She had not advanced particularly far from the kitchens when her presence was missed. She heard what sounded like the protesting squeals of Winky and the anxious cries of Amanda but she continued to press on. Finally, when the narrow corridor moved in sideways so much that Ginny had to turn her body at an angle and the ceiling fell so low that she had to bend over, it gave way to another, much larger room that seemed to be the source of the light.
Ginny straightened up and took a careful look at her surroundings. The room she had entered was fairly long, about three times that of the Gryffindor common room, but also very narrow. Ginny guessed she could walk across the width of the room at all points in about seven or eight long strides. Along one wall of the room were four large portraits. Ginny recognized one from the statue in their common room as Godric Gryffindor and guessed that the next two were those of Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and that the last, rather crooked-nosed, slightly balding wizard was Salazar Slytherin. All of the portraits seemed to be sleeping. On the other wall hung four large banners bearing the crests of each of the houses.
The ceiling of the room was also very high, almost as tall as the Burrow, Ginny guessed. Large unlit candelabras hung from the white ceiling, decorated with heavy cobwebs that suggested they had been neither used nor cleaned in some while. The walls from ceiling to floor were lined with elegant wood paneling which looked a little cleaner: the paintings themselves were spotless.
Ginny turned her attention to the source of the pulsating light. A large round table, which took up about one quarter of the length of the room and nearly all of its width was the room's only furniture. The table was surrounded by twelve chairs. Both the table and the furniture, like the surrounding portraits, were spotlessly clean. At the center of the table was a raised black dais. On the top of the dais sat a large cauldron which appeared to be empty of any potion. Suspended in the air about an inch from the top of the cauldron was a large crystal. The crystal revolved in the air like the beacon on a lighthouse and a light glowed from within, shining whenever a part of the crystal turned around to face Ginny.
As she walked slowly nearer the table, Ginny could see that the light was not completely white. There was a faint blue tinge to it, like the light from an old star she had once viewed through a telescope on the Astronomy Tower. Though Ginny was sure she had seen neither the crystal nor the light before, she could not shake the feeling there was something very familiar about them.
"Ginny," said a panting voice from behind her.
Ginny turned around startled as if breaking out of a dream. Amanda stood in the doorway to the room, flanked by a nervous looking Dobby and a disgruntled-looking Winky.
"Are you all right?" asked Amanda.
"I'm fine," replied Ginny.
"Where are we?"
"'Tis an old room," said Dobby. "'Tis the original room of Hogwarts."
"The original room?" asked Ginny.
Winky growled and murmured something under her breath.
Dobby nodded. "'Tis underground so the Muggles couldn't find it. Before the enchantments. This is where they all met: Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff. We used to use it to store food but sometimes we is forgetting and the food got old." He shrugged apologetically. "It hasn't been used in at least one hundred years, I think."
"Then what are these?" Amanda had walked over to the other side of the table. Ginny looked over and noticed for the first time that there was something on the chairs, slightly obscured from view by the sides of the table.
Ginny gasped as Amanda held up two long black cloaks with long green snakes embroidered on either side.
"They's just some old things," said Winky suddenly. "Old cloaks left by old masters."
But Ginny walked around to join her roommate and saw right away that far from being old as Winky had said, the robes looked quite new.
Winky put her arms on her hips as if willing Ginny and Amanda to defy her while Dobby merely shrugged. Ginny looked back at Amanda and saw that she did not look very convinced by Winky's explanation either. Ginny ran her hand over the snake and shuddered.
"These look like Slytherin things," said Amanda.
Ginny looked down the robes and noticed out of the corner of her eye that the table behind them was ringed with small drawers, each adorned with a small brass knocker in the shape of different animals. A drawer with a snake knocker near the chair where they were standing was slightly open. Ginny pulled it open further. The drawer creaked slightly, and seemed quite old, but there was a black velvet lining inside that looked recently cleaned.
And resting neatly on top of the lining was a mask. Ginny did not need to be told what this mask was, nor would she ever be likely to forget the horrible faces that had stood right across from her once in the Department of Mysteries and then many times since in her darkest dreams.
Ginny went very pale as she gingerly caught hold of the mask and held it up for Amanda to see.
Amanda gasped. "But those – those are – "
"They belong to Death Eaters," finished Ginny.
"Then." Amanda paused and swallowed nervously. "Th – this must be some kind of meeting place for some kind of – of group – like Death Eaters in training or something." She grimaced.
Ginny held the mask in her hand thoughtfully. She rested it in the palm of one hand. Even with her fingers outstretched, she could barely bridge the distance between the openings for the eyes and mouth.
"Not in training," Ginny said, almost in a whisper, dropping the mask back into the drawer like it was a hot coal. "These masks are too big. These are for grown-up Death Eaters."
Amanda looked very queasy. "Ginny, let's get out of here."
Ginny did not respond right away. Her gaze had moved up once again to the pulsating light and her eyes opened wide.
"Ginny?" said Amanda more urgently.
Ginny nodded slowly.
Feeling this was not quite enough, Amanda took hold of Ginny's hand and the two girls made their way quickly toward the exit, trailed closely by Dobby and Winky who said nothing. They marched back through the corridor with long strides and when they had returned to the pantry, Ginny closed the door behind her and leaned on it until she heard an old catch click into position.
"What's going on?" asked Colin, holding a neatly tied bundle of pastries in his hand. "What was down there?"
"Nothing," replied Amanda shortly. "Now let's take the pastries and go."
"But what – " Colin looked at Ginny.
"You heard her," said Ginny, almost as sharply as Amanda and she led the way out of the pantry, not saying a word to Dobby, Winky, or any of the other house elves. She felt very little like eating anything now and fed generous amounts of pastries to Mrs. Norris who was still eyeing them as they left the kitchens. She felt very, very weary and after she Amanda and Colin had returned wordlessly to the Gryffindor common room, Ginny found it almost impossible to concentrate on her studies. It wasn't long before she left Amanda and Colin, went up to her dormitory and fell into a quick but restless sleep.
Following lunch the next day, Hermione sank into a large armchair and read over an Arithmancy parchment while Harry and Ron snatched a quick game of wizard chess before Potions. Crookshanks sat curled up in Hermione's lap and Snitch stood on the side of the chess board, occasionally trumpeting in alarm whenever a piece was destroyed. Ron looked between the two pets slightly warily but restrained himself from saying anything at first. Things proved too much, however, when Ron's queen finally placed Harry in check, however, and Snitch jumped onto the board, attempting to destroy the queen himself.
"Get away!" cried Ron.
"Snitch, get away," snapped Harry.
Snitch looked up at Harry with large sorrowful eyes.
"Get away!" repeated Harry.
"Snitch!" Hermione clapped her hands. She took a bonglewhomper from the side of the board where Harry had been feeding Snitch earlier and held it out in her hand.
Snitch looked uncertainly over at Hermione and Crookshanks, who appeared fairly docile but still had one eye open and cast in Snitch's direction. Harry made a waving motion with his hands and after a moment's indecision, Snitch hopped merrily across the board, knocking two of Ron's pawns over in the process, and landed right in front of Hermione who fed him a bonglewhomper. Crookshanks evidently thought this was beneath his attention, closed his eye, and drifted into a comfortable nap.
"I don't know what I'm going to do with that thing." Harry sighed.
"You just have to know how to take care of him," chided Hermione.
Harry looked up at Ron as if expecting an acerbic retort but when he realized none would be forthcoming, he replied:
"Bribe him more like."
Hermione shrugged and fed Snitch another bonglewhomper.
Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of footsteps approaching. The three friends looked up to see Ginny walking over to the table. She looked slightly pale and her eyes were bloodshot.
"Ginny," said Ron immediately. "How did the test go? Is it over?"
Ginny didn't reply. Instead she just said in a low but determined voice:
"I need to show you something," said Ginny. "All of you. Right away."
Ron frowned and looked at his watch.
"Can it wait? Only we've got Potions in a half hour."
Ginny shook her head. "I think we'd better go now. Please," she added as Ron looked about to object. "It's important."
Harry looked at Hermione and saw that the prospect of being late for Potions had caused her own brow to crease with uncertainty. But he got up from his chair and said:
"Well, we'd better go then."
Ginny led Hermione, Ron, and Harry briskly through the corridors and down the stairs toward the kitchen.
"Where are we going?" demanded Ron.
"I can't tell you here, obviously," said Ginny in a business-like manner, glancing around a little furtively at the throngs of students and the occasional teacher wandering the corridors during their lunch hour.
The end of her sentence was drowned out slightly by the cries of Snitch, who was peering out of Harry's breast pocket. In the rush to leave to see whatever it was Ginny wanted to show them and still make it back to Potions on time, Harry had decided to take the creature with him instead of returning it to his dormitory as Hermione had done with Crookshanks, a decision he had regretted as soon as he'd left the common room. Snitch, who seemed to be enjoying himself immensely, peered out of Harry's pocket and the eclectic stream of humanity wandering up and down the corridors around them. Whenever anyone walked near them, which happened often, he would let out a large cry like an over-sensitive proximity alarm. This attracted far more attention to the four Gryffindors than Harry sensed that Ginny wanted.
As they walked down further into the castle, it seemed for a moment that Ginny was leading them right to the Potions classroom itself, but just as they had almost reached the room, they took a sharp left turn and went down another set of stairs to what Harry recognized as the kitchen. Snitch tried to cry out again but Harry stuffed him further down into his pocket.
"Amanda, Colin, and I came here last night," explained Ginny as they reached the kitchen doors. "On a bakery run."
"Fred and George," said Ron approvingly.
Ginny nodded quickly. "But we found something else, too, something that could be important."
Before the others could ask or object, Ginny had opened the door to the kitchen and the four of them stepped through the door inside.
At first, no one noticed them come in. The house elves were running around furiously, trying to catch large piles of dirty plates that whizzed down haphazardly from large holes that opened in the ceiling, evidently from the Great Hall. One house elf suddenly turned around and saw them there, then gasped and ran forward. He was soon joined by several others who quickly moved into close formation and fumbled in their aprons for their small green hats which they placed on their heads so quickly that most of them hung at a lopsided angle.
One house-elf, who Ginny recognized as Dobby, did a half-running leap from behind an oven and landed, slightly awkwardly in front of his fellows.
"Harry Potter, sir!" he cried in an almost imploring voice, "and Hermione Granger! What an honor, what an honor!"
Dobby went on with what sounded like additional praise but it was drowned out by the sound of several plates flying from the ceiling and smashing unattended onto the floor of the kitchen.
"Dobby," said Ginny, stepping forward. "We need a favor."
"Anything, anything," said Dobby ingratiatingly.
"We need to go back into the room at the end of the corridor, the one we went to last night."
Dobby's smile seemed to fade slightly and a look of hesitation flickered briefly across his face.
"Of course, of course. This way." He gestured toward the pantry. "But." He turned quickly to look at the others who had already started to follow him, causing Ron to trip over the back of Harry's foot.
"Do not tell Winky," Dobby said, lowering his voice as he led them through the pantry door. "She is – she has," he lowered his voice even further so that Harry had to bend down and lean forward to hear him, "become very difficult lately."
Harry thought of his meeting with Winky earlier that year and frowned. She had seemed just as eager to please as Dobby did now.
"What's wrong with her?" he asked.
Dobby shook his head a little sadly. "Dobby does not know. At first Dobby was pleased. Winky was horribly depressed for so long but then Winky began to get bossy." He frowned in anger. "Bossing everyone around. Protective of the kitchen. Rude to visitors."
Hermione thrust her chin forward proudly. "You mean she got a taste of freedom."
Dobby was obviously not willing or not able to contradict Hermione but Harry sensed he did not look convinced.
"Where is Winky, anyway?" asked Ron as they continued to walk among the pantry shelves.
"She is taking a noon time rest, sir," replied Dobby. "Winky feels she is entitled to days off now."
"Of course she is!" said Hermione.
"Well, it's not really fair, though, is it, if the other house elves don't get them?" Ron asked, a little cautiously.
"Dobby thinks so, too, sir," said Dobby, "but Dobby does not like to say."
They had now reached the entranceway to the corridor. Ginny continued to lead the way and seemed to have little interest in the conversation going on around her. The others had to quicken their pace to keep up with her.
The door to the passageway was closed. Ginny reached forward without hesitation and tried the handle.
"It's locked," she announced.
Hermione took out her wand but before she could use it, Dobby made a motion with his hand as if throwing a ball and the door clicked open. He folded his arms and looked back proudly at the four students.
Without stopping to acknowledge Dobby, Ginny pushed open the door and started to walk down the corridor, holding her wand out in front of her. After a few steps, she realized that she was alone. She turned around to beckon to the others.
"What's down there?" she heard Ron ask, a little fearfully.
"You'll see," said Ginny impatiently. "Now come on!"
But the others still did not move.
"Is this some kind of April Fool's prank?" asked Ron, uncomfortably aware that his voice was echoing off the walls of the otherwise silent corridor ahead of them. "Did Fred and George – "
"I wish," replied Ginny curtly. She beckoned them once last time with her hand before turning and walking down into the corridor itself. After a moment, she heard the reluctant footsteps of the three sixth-years behind her. She had moved a few more steps forward, however, when she could see that something was wrong. It took another moment for her to realize that the corridor was lit only by the light of the kitchen behind them. The area ahead was pitch black.
"Lumos," said Ginny and the others shortly followed suit.
Ron's wand illuminated an overweight black rat scurrying just beside them on the wall.
"Should have known there were rats down near the kitchens," he remarked.
The corridor sloped down further. Ron complained about the distance but Ginny ignored him. Finally, Ron and Harry had to bend over double to fit through the small opening at the end before the four of them finally emerged into the room Ginny had visited the night before.
"Whoa," said Ron as they made it inside. He, Harry, and Hermione looked all around them, taking in the high ceiling and the large portraits on the walls.
Ginny, however, made straight for the table at the middle, holding her wand light out in front of her. As soon as she had reached it, she could see that the cauldron and the crystal that had sat there the night before had now vanished. She quickly moved around to the other side of the table. There was nothing on the chairs. She opened the drawer that she and Amanda had examined the night before but it, too, was empty.
"I don't understand," said Ginny, exasperated. "They were here last night. They must be here somewhere." With a cry of frustration, she opened all of the drawers around the table in quick succession but there was nothing to be found.
Ron, Hermione, and Harry approached the table where Ginny was standing, their wand lights casting not over the robes and masks of Death Eaters but the plain wooden table and the silk-lined shelves of the open drawers.
"What was here, Ginny?" asked Hermione in a tone a parent might use on a child who continued to stubbornly insist on her erroneous explanation.
"Death Eater things!" Ginny replied, hitting her fist on the table. "Robes and masks and – " She sighed and looked from Ron to Harry to Hermione imploringly. "Amanda was here! She saw it, too, and – and Dobby."
"Well, the place looks recently cleaned, doesn't it?" said Harry, trying to be helpful.
Just then, Snitch jumped out of Harry's pocket, landed on top of the table, and broke into an ear-splitting scream.
"Stop it, Snitch!" said Harry, annoyed as the others plugged their ears with their fingers. "Stop it!"
But Snitch did not stop. He continued to trumpet with his growing trunk and jump up and down, his round eyes filled with alarm.
"Snitch!" cried Harry again.
"You should listen to the stupid thing, Potter," said a voice from somewhere behind them. "It's trying to tell you something."
Even before he had turned around to face him, Harry knew all too well the voice's owner.
It was Draco Malfoy.