Chapter 94: Questionable Source

"I hope you have good news, because Jacob's not doing too well," Claire said when she reached Chiara and Charlie.

"Well, I might have a lead," Chiara said. "I ran into Charlie when I was researching dragon burns, and we both looked at Jacob's wounds before Talbott went looking for you."

"Based on what I saw, I don't think your brother was attacked by a dragon," Charlie said. "There would have been way more scorch marks if he had."

"So you think his wounds are from a spell?" Chiara guessed.

"That's what I think, but it's not any kind of spell I'm familiar with," Charlie replied. "I think I've seen the word 'Ryu' in one of my dragon books before, though it just occurred to me that 'Ryu' has the same first letter as the organization 'R' that we finished off last year."

"Actually, 'R' is still active," Claire confessed. "Mad-Eye Moody and I have been continuing to investigate them, while my brother decided to hunt down 'R''s remaining members. Now according to Fletcher, he was recently trying to obtain an artefact 'R' was after which might have led to his current injury."

"Blimey!" Charlie exclaimed. "Why didn't you tell us sooner?"

Chiara looked silently at Claire without saying a word.

"Honestly, I wanted to tell you about it during our last Circle of Khanna meeting at the beginning of the school year," Claire said. "But when you guys started talking about dissolving the group to move on with your lives, I chose not to say anything because I didn't want to drag you back into the dangerous situations I put you all in because of me."

"I understand," Chiara said, putting a hand on Claire's shoulder. "You wanted to protect us, but that won't stop us from supporting you no matter what."

"Yeah, 100 percent," Charlie added. "So if this is the work of 'R,' that means someone from 'R' might know who or what 'Ryu' is."

Suddenly, a Eurasian eagle-owl flew through the hospital doors and dropped a letter in Claire's hand. It was from Merula, and it was addressed to Claire asking her to meet her in the Great Hall during lunch. Nervously, Claire Apparated back to Hogwarts and found Merula at her usual spot at the Slytherin table.

"Good to see you made it," Merula said. "I thought you might have been inclined to ignore my owl, though you did get here awfully fast. Did you Apparate?"

"Does it matter if I did?" Claire said.

"Well, I can Apparate too, so there's nothing special about it," Merula retorted. "But I think we're overdue for a conversation."

"That you're right about. And I would like to talk to you about something as well."

Merula folded her arms. "Are we going to make this all about you again? I know you think I've been acting strange this year, though have you ever considered that you're the one who's acting strange lately?"

"Look, I don't have a lot of time and these questions are really important."

"But why come to me? Haven't you got plenty of other friends to talk to?"

"You're the only one who can help me now."

"Is this a prank?"

"No, it's not a prank. My brother's life is on the line, and he may die if I don't help him."

Hearing Jacob's name, Merula's face briefly lost its stoic expression and became concerned.

"All right," Merula said, relaxing her arms. "I believe you. Let's just get the questions done and over with."

"First, Jacob is in the hospital," Claire explained. "He's covered in severe burns, yet the Burn-Healing Paste Potion isn't working and he's getting worse. All he's muttered about is Chinese Fireballs, dragon claws, and the word 'Ryu'. Do you know what any of these things mean?"

Merula paused and then said, "Try looking in the Restricted Section."

"The Restricted Section? Why?"

"You might be able to find 'Ryu' there, and that's all I'll say."


Claire Apparated to St. Mungo's found Jae talking with Bilton Bilmes, who was now recovering from his Nose-Biting Teacup injury in his own patient room, she told him what was going on. The two of them then discussed how to get past Madam Pince at the Hogwarts Library, since Claire figured she was going to be watching her more closely than before. They decided Hiccough Sweets would be a good distraction, and the one to deliver them would be Mr. Filch. But as for backup, Claire decided to get Liz involved and Apparated back to Hogwarts after Bilmes gave her a box of Hiccough Sweets that he was hiding in his blue jacket the whole time. She found Liz in the Hogwarts Library and filled her in on the situation.

"Who told you that this 'Ryu' lies in the Restricted Section?" Liz asked.

Claire hesitated to answer. "I don't trust this person, but they've given me the best lead so far."

"Hmm, I don't like the idea of following a lead from someone you don't trust," Liz said. "But if my older sister Lana was in the same situation as your brother, I would probably follow this lead too. So what do you need me to do?"

"I need to deliver this box of Hiccough Sweets to Madam Pince, but I can't deliver them myself," Claire said, reaching into her denim jacket and putting the box of sweets onto the table. "My plan is to get them confiscated by Mr. Filch, but I want us to persuade him to give the sweets to her since he does have a soft spot for her."

Just then, Filch walked over to Claire and Liz's table snatching the box right up.

"No food allowed in the library!" Filch snapped.

"Those sweets weren't for us," Liz claimed. "I was hoping to give them to Madam Pince to thank her for her hard work in the library."

"Why should I believe you?" Filch asked, eyeing Liz suspiciously.

"In all my years here at Hogwarts, I have never gotten into trouble," Liz reminded Filch. "So why would I break that habit now?"

"But that doesn't explain Claire's presence," Filch said, glaring at Claire.

"I'm…not very good at gift-giving, so I asked Claire to help," Liz lied. "She's been running around all day, and managed to find the sweets at Honeydukes before it was sold out."

To be continued…