I jerked up in my bed. My head whacked against another. "Ow..." I groaned, falling back onto my elbows and glancing at the other person clutching their head. Evie. "Evie? What were you doing?"

"Trying to wake you up," She sighed, removing her hand from her head to check for blood that wasn't there. "You've slept way late. You missed your first too classes. And breakfast. You missed breakfast too."

"Oh. That sucks, I'm hungry."

Evie shrugged. "Your own fault. Why are you so tired, anyway?" She walked back over to her bed, and sat down, pulling a stuffed monkey into her lap. I bit my lip.

"Depends. Can you keep a secret?"

Evie looked dismissive. "Nope." Then, her eyes widened a little. "Wait. Yes. Sorry."

I laughed. "Guess it doesn't really matter anyway, Teddy promised to clean up after himself." Evie raised an eyebrow and coughed. "Are you sick?" She nodded.

"Just a cold. Maybe it came from the literal cold last night. Anyway, you were saying?"

"Oh. Well, I hope you feel better then. Last night, Teddy Lupin, James Potter, Cliff Chamberlin, and my friend, Ace, completely froze over one of the lavatories last night. I think it was mostly Teddy, though. That's why it was so cold. Also why I'm tired. But... Can I ask you something?"

She nodded. "Sure, go ahead."

"Well, as I was heading back up last night, I was on the staircases, there was this... Disembodied voice. It said something like 'No one's safe. No one will ever be safe from the monster below'. What do you think that means?"

She stared at me blankly for a moment. "I'd say there's a monster below something that's dangerous. But that's just me. And I'm no Ravenclaw."

I sat up. Ravenclaw... "That's a good idea. This might be important, I think we should actually ask a Ravenclaw."

Evie looked like she was choking on something. "We?"

I nodded. "Yes. Don't you want to come?"

She nodded back after a minute. "I suppose. But I'm not talking. I'll be emotional support."


Evie and I found a group of Ravenclaws in the dining hall, eating a late breakfast. It didn't look like they had gotten much sleep either. They were the only ones in the hall, besides us. Evie and I grabbed some food from the Gryffindor table, and sat down next to them.

"Hello," I say, sitting down just a seat away from a boy with black hair. "I'm Riley." Evie sits down next to me, and introduces herself too.

The boy with black hair stares at me for a moment. "You aren't here to bully us, are you? I've heard Gryffindor's do that." He says skeptically.

Evie shakes her head. "Of course not. We would never."

The boy smiles at Evie. "Okay. I'm Julius, nice to meet you, Evie. You too, Riley."

Then the other three Ravenclaws introduce themselves. A boy named Tommy has brown hair, blue eyes and very pale skin. He doesn't seem very strong, and he is clutching a book very tightly under his arm, as if his life would wither away if he let go. One girl is named Dawn. She also has black hair and blue eyes, just like Julius. They look almost if they could be siblings, although they most likely aren't, because she says her last name is Branwell, and Julius says his is Rexcalibur. I notice that Dawn and Tommy are sitting rather close together.

The last girl is Rose Weasley. I don't know why I didn't recognize her at first. She's very nice, saying that she's pleased to meet us. Very humble too, considering what her parents did. I'd expect her to be like James, flaunting it like a trophy, but she isn't. She's surprising.

"You four look tired," I remark, hoping to bring up the question. "Are you okay?"

Dawn nodded. "All four of us were up late last night. Tommy lost his essay, and was nearly in tears, asking us to help find it."

Tommy looks offended, but he still smiles at her. "Dawn! I wasn't in tears! It was just panic. That essay was worth ninety percent of my grade in charms."

Rose laughs. "Maybe you should be more careful next time, Thomas." Tommy scowls.

Evie smiles. "Did you ever find it?" Tommy nods.

"That's good," I say. "Um, would it be okay if I asked you guys for advice on something?"

"Sure, go ahead." Julius says.

"See, last night, I was up late too. I was... Looking for my wand. I had misplaced it earlier, and wanted to look when it wasn't so crowded." I lie because I've been told that Ravenclaws are close with teachers, and usually tell them anything they find out. I'm not sure if it's true, but I don't want to risk it. "I couldn't find it in the common room or dormitories, so I decided to check the halls. I found it, but I heard something that might be important. I wanted to ask if you might know what it means."

They all nod, waiting for me to continue, but Evie finishes for me. "She heard a voice that sounded like it wasn't coming from a person when she was on the stairs. It said... 'Beware of the monster below'?" She looks to me for approval. I nod.

"It said no one is safe. Any ideas?" I ask.

Rose taps her chin lightly. "Well, I would say the monster has to be somewhere below Hogwarts. If it wasn't, why would the voice be here?" The others nod.

"If no one is safe, the thing must be pretty destructive," Julius adds. "And below Hogwarts must mean underground. Where else?"

Tommy looks hesitant. "Guys... Evie said she was on the stairs. And what's one of the many mysteries of Hogwarts?"

"No one knows how far down the stairs go." Dawn says, looking worried.

If they think the monster is at the bottom of the stairs, there's a problem. When you look over the railing of the stairs, there is pitch black. The stairs keep going, winding around and changing, and slowly fade out. For all anyone knows, they could go to the Earth's core.