CHAPTER 23: QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS...
INT. HOGWARTS CASTLE, THE HOSPITAL WING - NOON (OCT. 26TH, 1976)
All the beds in the hospital wing were full of students of every school year, while visitors were coming and going through the entrance to the hospital wing. It was unusually active with visitors and students. This was due to the fact that many of the students in the beds were recovering from injuries they had acquired from the last Quidditch match and were being visited by friends and family that had come to see the match. Severus was lying alone in the bed in the far corner of the room, sleeping off the experience that he had last night. Poppy Pomfrey, the head nurse, soon strutted over to Severus's bedside and began to gently nudge Severus awake. Respectfully known as Madame Pomfrey by both the students and the teachers, she was an older, light-skinned woman with greying hair. Pomfrey was often known as a stern, no nonsense type of woman and often took her job as head nurse very seriously. However, she was also known to be kind, concerning and considerate. In her younger years, Madame Pomfrey once had long, flowing black hair which was not dissimilar to Severus's mother Eileen's hair when she was a student at Hogwarts. Madame Pomfrey had been the head nurse for as long as Severus could remember and for all he knew, she might have even been head nurse even when his mother Eileen was a student.
"Mr. Snape," said the stern voice of Pomfrey, "You have been sleeping all morning. Surely you should be awake by now, especially when you have no excuse to sleep longer. I will not have any of my charges sleeping all day when they should be getting up as soon as possible and getting back to their studies. Now, I want you to sit up so that I can fluff up this pillow behind you. You have visitors waiting outside to see you. Come along now, sit up."
Severus groaned in disagreement as he sat himself up, allowing Pomfrey to get behind him and fluff up the large feather down pillow that he had behind him. Severus didn't want to wake up. He wanted to sleep until he felt like waking up, which would have been at least 2pm before he would have even considered waking up. But since Pomfrey was his superior, it was unwise to argue with her. Soon, visitors came to see him, some of which were acquaintances, while others were a little more then such. Soon, Edward Groset came by and began to quietly discuss about the matter of the book and the key. Since they were both in a spot in the hospital wing where they would not be overheard, it was easy for Edward and Severus to discuss things in a delicate manner.
"I want to believe you, Severus. But I still need a bit of convincing before I would consider trusting you with the key," said Edward, sitting in a chair next to Severus's bedside.
"The nerve of you, Edward, I trust you as much as my mother did. So why won't you trust me with the key? I was put in charge of it after my mother died. She told be to guard it and make sure that no one but the Guardian Of The Eighth Eye or a possessor of the Auranan could possess it if need be,"
"Which is me, Severus, if you have forgotten," said Edward, bringing his hands up to his chest, then bringing them down again, "I am The Guardian Of The Eighth Eye, appointed by those who are descended from those who once followed Auradinthia to guard the Book of Resurrections from those who sought to use it for their own evil purposes. But of course, I can't forget the roll that your family played in this back in the day,"
"Yes. And if you have forgotten, members of my family over the years have been appointed to guard the key to the Book Of Resurrections for good reason. My family has been the keepers of much ancient knowledge and many great secrets over the years, Edward. And you certainly can't fail to remember that members of my family became guardians of the key because of their gift of the Auranan."
"I know that, Severus," said Edward, "It's just that the key should have stayed in Auradinthia's family, where it could be properly guarded by her followers along with the book. But the followers of Auradinthia were not about to argue over her judgement, especially with the magical powers that she possessed. And I suppose it was for the greater good that the key and the book were separated, when it made it all the more easier to guard them since either can not work without the other."
"Quite so," said Severus as a pair of students passed, "But it also makes them all the more easier to steal and be misused. But as you say, either is useless without the other. And I have no doubt that they are safer when separated rather than when together. Don't you agree?"
"Of course, Severus. Then again, there is also the problem with your cousin Abigail," said Edward with a sigh, crossing his arms.
"Must you bring that up, Edward?" said Severus, placing his head back on the pillow behind him, looking up at the ceiling, "I know, it's both a curse and a blessing what happened to Abigail that night in the fire. But how Mapheria didn't realize that my mother was not in the fire proof cabinet is beyond me. Mapheria intended to make my parents suffer by cursing them with Morfyrathus Fire, thinking that they would be hiding in the cabinet. But instead she ended up hurting the one person that would benefit the most from being burned by Morfyrathus Fire, my cousin Abigail. Though I have no doubt that many will seek my cousin out because of her special sight given to her by Morfyrathus Fire,"
"But how does she benefit from being burned by Morfyrathus Fire? From what I've known and heard about Morfyrathus Fire, no good ever comes out of being burned by it,"
"That is normally true. But you see, Edward, certain magical abilities of my cousin Abigail possesses makes her not your ordinary witch, just as her special sight is not ordinary. Morfyrathus Fire you see not only comes from the creature that made it but also comes from the world of Spirit and anything of or related to it often tends to go North or how do you say, hand in hand with one another?"
"You mean, you're cousin Abigail has an ability that, how you say, relates to or with the Spirit world? Like what?" asked Edward, curious.
"Well, you see Edward, witches like my cousin Abigail go by quite a few names. Muggles call them Mediums, others call them Diviners, but they are often called Seers. Witches and/or wizards who have the ability to talk to and see the departed. Or in other words, see into the world of Spirit, or into the past, present and future,"
Edward's eyes widened, "Oh, I see now. Magical powers like those are technically Spirit Magic and therefore come from and are of the world of Spirit."
"Precisely. When Abigail was born, she was discovered to be the first Seer of the Prince Family in over 500 years. Of course, her powers were already honed even at a young age. Thus, being burned by Morfyrathus Fire would simply..." - Severus made a gesture into the air with his left hand then brought it down again, "...excel her abilities, making them stronger and more powerful. Of course, her special sight allows her to see more than just the departed. Her special sight also gives her the ability to seek out the most powerful sources of magical power,"
"Or in other words, she's a divining rod, pointing you to magic rather than water?"
Severus smirked, then snickered briefly, "Putting it quite humorously. But she can also see the auras of people and invisible objects, as well as see those hiding under invisibility cloaks. My cousin Abigail, if only I had the nerve to see her now," said Severus, looking towards the window next to him.
"But you don't have the nerve, do you?" said Edward as Severus turned his head slightly. Edward continued, "Suffering from a bit of survivor's guilt, are we?"
"I should have been there, Edward," said Severus agitatedly, looking back at Edward once more, "Properly been there, not just...I should have been there to stop it from happening, Edward. I would have stopped it from happening, I know I could have," - Severus then looked forward into space and continued, "But I wasn't there...properly there. There...but not properly, not physically...sort of. I was helpless, Edward. Forced to watch Mapheria kill my family, forced to watch my family die without any means of stopping it from happening," - Severus then looked back at Edward, "Can you realize how that makes me feel, Edward? To be one of the last of my family, one of the last to carry the name of Snape?"
Edward looked on sadly as he brought his arms down to his sides, "I realize how you must feel, Severus. But avoiding your cousin or what remains of your family won't help to ease your suffering. You should go visit Abigail and the Prince Family, catch up on old times perhaps? I'm sure they'd like to see you."
Severus lips suddenly curled and he sneered. He then looked back at the window again, saying nothing more.
EXT. TO INT. HOGWARTS SHCOOL GROUNDS TO THE SLYTHERIN COMMON ROOMS - AFTERNOON (OCT. 31ST, 1977)
Soon, another year had passed and Severus was once again walking out across the school grounds during break times. Even since he had broken his friendship with Verena and had lost Lily's friendship, he had been pondering and walking alone, sitting under the same tree that he had once shared space under with Verena or walking up into the Owlery where he use to join Lily to overlook the school grounds surrounded by owls that flew passed them or over their heads. Things since then had gotten very lonely for Severus and even now, as he thought about those old days with his old friends, he couldn't help but also think about those he had left behind, such as his cousin Abigail.
After walking over the school grounds alone for a while, Severus suddenly found himself in the Owlery, a lone towering structure made of stone which had a large room at the top of it. Owls of all kinds perched and rested here, some of which belonged to students, while others were mere mail owls belonging to the entire family of certain students. Fortunately for Severus, The Snape Family's mail owl, a large barn owl named Shambole, was still very much alive and well and living with the Prince Family. Shambole had came to Hogwarts with cousins of Severus who were members of the Prince Family and had came to Hogwarts School around the same time Severus did. Shambole was fairly young when he came to Hogwarts, but now he was much older. Severus was taking his job as the new Keeper of the key to the Book of Resurrections seriously. Making certain that no one would know of its existence inside Hogwarts and that it was safe deep inside a hidden compartment in the bottom of his trunk.
Unbeknownst to Severus however, Lucius had sneaked into the castle and had found his way into the Slytherin Common Rooms. This of course was only after Lucius had heard rumors about the strange and enchanted silver tin that was said to hold the key to the most powerful book in existence. Lucius, ever interested in boosting his own powers and abilities, soon went in search of this object, tracking it down at being somewhere inside Hogwarts. While inside the Slytherin Common Rooms, Lucius pulled out his wand and then spoke a spell that could lead him to where the sliver tin was located.
Going towards where his wand was pointing to, Lucius soon found his way to Severus's trunk and kneeled down in front of it to open it. After fingering though what was inside it, Lucius then somehow managed to find where the hidden compartment at the bottom of the trunk was, something that would have been unnoticed by most others. Upon opening the hidden compartment, Lucius then pulled out the sliver tin, which was covered by a blue silk cloth. Lucius looked at the sliver tin eagerly for a moment and then looked around himself cautiously, shifting his eyes.
He then stuffed the silver tin in his robe pocket and quietly closed the trunk after, leaving everything as it was before he had been in there. Of course, Lucius did not know that the sliver tin belonged to Severus, though at this time that wouldn't have mattered so much. The only thing Lucius was interested in at this time was to take the object, then try to figure out how to open it himself so that he could use the power within it for his own purposes.
Eventually Severus would find out that Lucius had taken the enchanted sliver tin, but he wasn't about to pursue Lucius or try to get it back from him. Instead, without Lucius knowing it, Severus allowed Lucius to be the temporary keeper of the key, knowing all to well that Lucius would not be able to open it. This made it easier for Severus to protect it, since any of those who were to come looking for the silver tin would believe that Severus had it and would go after him for it rather than Lucius. Of course, they would have been disappointed in the end to discover that Severus didn't have it and thus would have wasted all their energies on Severus for nothing.
INT. THE GRYFFINDOR COMMON ROOMS - EARLY EVENING (OCT. 30TH, 2018)
Grispell had been keeping his distance from Mapheria and her cronies, trying to keep in Mapheria's good graces so that either Mapheria or her cronies would not hurt him. Of course, Grispell had been busy doing several things for himself as well as for Mapheria ever since being brought back into the service (or rather slavery) of Lady Mapheria. Though he was now older then he was when he was first brought into Mapheria's service sometime in the early 1980s, when at that time he was somewhere in his early 20s. Now however, he was 59 years old, though he had the appearance and body of someone who was only in their early 30s. Strangely, due to the spell that Mapheria had cast on him, he was aging physically much slower then he normally should have.
Grispell wondered if Mapheria had cast a similar spell on herself, since she herself was seemingly not aging at a normal rate. While sneaking about in The Hogwarts School Library looking for information for Mapheria, Grispell had manged to find an article on Mapheria in the Hogwarts biography records, which were open to the students to read. Grispell hid himself in a corner where he wouldn't be noticed. Grispell then opened the book that he was holding and silently read the page he had bookmarked:
Name: Mapheria Ann-Margarine Snape
Birthday: March 27th, 1929
Mother: Margarine Snape (nee Rowlas)
Father: Cedric Snape
Brothers/Sisters: 1 half-brother, 1 half-sister (from previous marriage of mother).
Sorted In: Slytherin House (Sept. 1st, 1940)
Graduated: June 1st, 1947
Wand: Blackthorn with Ironwood handle, core of Dragon Heartstring and Basilisk Skin.
Experience: Full details unknown, but was known to be highly experienced in the Dark Arts, Curses and Metal-Charming.
Grispell closed the book quickly when a pair of students walked by where he was hiding. Grispell quickly dropped the book and dashed underneath a nearby sofa that was up against a wall in a corner and hid under it until the students passed. Grispell had been sleeping and hiding underneath this sofa for as long as he had been hiding inside Hogwarts.
He had made a little bed underneath this sofa and had been hiding everything that he had hoarded over the weeks he had been there: A few books he had stolen from the restricted section, a couple disused wands, a small sliver pocket watch on a sliver chain, an hourglass, a small box full of small trinkets he had found, a set of small Slytherin student robes, a small blanket, a small feather down pillow and other little tid bits and curios.
Grispell soon peeked out upon hearing a familiar voice near the entrance to the school library. It was the voice of Albus Potter, who was talking to his sister Lily and his cousin Hugo. Watching Albus leave the library, Grispell quickly went back underneath the sofa once more, then coming out a moment later with the potions book he had stolen from Harry Potter when he had visited with Hagrid long ago. Grispell then quickly dashed out the entrance to the school library and followed Albus all the way to the Gryffindor Common Rooms.
Inside the Gryffindor Common, Albus was getting dressed for the All-Hallows Eve Masquerade Ball, putting on his best dress robes and picking out a mask that was laying out upon a nearby table in the main room. As Albus was getting ready for the ball, he heard a scratching sound at the door to the Gryffindor Common Rooms. Albus ignored it at first, but as it persisted, Albus soon got curious and opened the door, which magically opened when he stood near it. He was unaware however, that who or what that had been scratching at the door had already sneaked inside upon the opening of the door. Albus peered out for a moment, looking in both directions to see who or what was out there. Seeing that nothing and no one was there, Albus simply shrugged his shoulders and then stood away from the door, allowing it to close.
But when he turned around, he was met by the sight of Grispell, who was sitting on top of a low standing bookshelf and holding the potions book close to his chest.
Albus gasped, then spoke, "Ugh! You? How did you get in here?"
"Master Albus Potter came to the door and let me in. My name is Grispell," said Grispell timidly, bowing his head respectfully, "I am honored to finally meet you on calm and peaceful terms. The younger son of the great Harry Potter, who had killed Dark Lord Voldemort and saved the Wizarding world."
"That's ancient history. You tried to take my carrying satchel earlier. Why did you do that?" barked Albus, narrowing his eyes at Grispell.
"Master Albus Potter misunderstands me," said Grispell innocently as he jumped down off the bookshelf and walked over to the nearby armchair, jumping up onto it, then looking back at Albus and continued, "I didn't intend to keep your satchel, I merely wanted to take it a moment so that I could put this in it," - Grispell lifted the book up in front of him to show Albus and then brought it back down, hugging it close to his chest again.
"Oh really? And what is that then?"
"It belongs to your father, Master Albus. It is the potions book that the wizard Severus had given to your father in his last will and testament. I simply wanted to give it back to you so that you could give it back to your father."
Albus looked on puzzlingly a moment, then spoke, "Severus's potions book? You mean that's the original potions book, the one that was stolen from my father years ago?...wait..." Albus thought a moment, then continued, "It was you who stole the book from my father in the first place wasn't it?"
Grispell gulped quietly, then spoke, "What makes you say that, Master Albus? I'm only giving back what belongs to your father."
"My father had described to me the thing that had stole the book from him. You fit that description! You stole it from my father didn't you?"
Grispell nodded and squeaked out, "Yes..." then laughed nervously with an uncomfortable grin and raised the book up in front of him, "But I'm giving it back now. Please don't hurt me, Master Albus."
"You little thief, give that to me this instant!" hissed Albus as he walked up and snatched the book from Grispell. Grispell then went "Argh!" then quickly jumped off the armchair and ran towards a nearby sofa, running underneath it.
"A bit jumpy aren't you?" said Albus, following Grispell with his eyes, "I'm not going to hurt you."
Grispell peeked out from underneath the nearby sofa, "But Master Albus must understand. If my mistress ever knew that I was here, she would surely hurt me again,"
"Again, Grispell?" asked Albus, mildly puzzled.
"My mistress would be very angry with me if she knew that I was talking to you," said Grispell, crawling out from underneath the sofa, "She is among the teachers here in the castle. Watching and waiting for the right moment to take back from you what she says is rightfully hers."
"And what is that then? What is it that I have that she wants? Tell me, Grispell."
I can not tell you that, Master Albus. You must find out on your own. I can't answer that question for you. I must go before my mistress finds me here," said Grispell as he slowly stepped his way towards the grand staircase of the Gryffindor Common Rooms, "Listen and beware, Master Albus. My mistress is among the teachers of Hogwarts. She will stop at nothing to reclaim what she says is rightfully hers and if you do not give it to her willingly, then she will take it from you, even if she must kill you for it."
Grispell then ran towards the grand staircase of the Gryffindor Common Rooms, ran up to the landing and slipped behind a set of drapes on it.
"Grispell! No, stop, wait!" cried Albus as he ran after Grispell, running up to the top of the grand Gryffindor staircase. Albus quickly pulled back the drapes and discovered that their was a hidden doorway behind it. Albus quickly ran out through it, trying to catch up with Grispell.
INT. A HIDDEN CORRIDOR, HOGWARTS CASTLE - EARLY EVENING (OCT. 30TH, 2018)
"Grispell! Stop! Wait!" cried Albus as he could see Grispell running ahead of him down the darkened and dimly lit corridor, who was facing forward and daring not looking back, "Please, will you just stop a moment and..." - Suddenly, Albus slowed down and stopped with a start upon hearing a small child's laughter, which seemed to resonate from the walls of the corridor around him. It sounded like more then one small child's laughter could be heard, coming out of the walls. At the end of the corridor, Grispell stopped and looked back, wondering where Albus was and what he was hearing.
Albus began to look all around himself, since the laughter was coming at him from all directions, "Hello? Who's there? Who's laughing?"
Then, a pair of voices began to talk to each other inside the wall as the child's laughter quieted a little and eventually stopped. It sounded like a pair of men talking to one another, "Is that who I think it is responding to our children?"
"Yes. It's Albus Potter, the boy who is destined to help save us and the Wizarding world."
"What is he doing in this corridor? That Verena woman is supposed to be watching and protecting the boy until he has learned what he needs to learn in order to help us."
"Verena is watching the boy, as is Abigail Prince, but Albus seems to be having trouble learning the secrets that lie within the potions book that was given to him at the beginning of the school year."
"Can't I help young master Albus, father?" said a child's voice in the walls suddenly, responding to one of the male voices, "I could teach him how to read the Aeyuel Language in his book. I know lots of Aeyuel words."
"I'm afraid Albus Potter needs to learn what lies within the potions book on his own, my boy. That's how it must be and always has been with situations like his."
Albus then looked back at Grispell and spoke, "Grispell! What is that? Where are those voices coming from?"
Grispell spoke timidly as he looked at Albus with his large eyes, "Master Albus does not know of them yet for Master Albus has yet to see them. There are demons in the walls of Hogwarts, Master Albus. They are all around you hiding within the walls, watching you...waiting."
Then a brief growl is heard near Grispell as a man's voice spoke, "We are not demons, you meddlesome, little freak of a person you!"
Grispell then suddenly went "Argh!" and then began to run away again, diving around the corner in a flash. And as Albus watched Grispell run off, he suddenly got the feeling that someone was looking at him from the wall to his right. Albus turned his head and was met by the face of a man in the wall, peering out at him. The man had fair skin, brown hair and yellow-white eyes. The man also had an elaborate and decorative canary yellow face marking on the left side of his face that started in the center of his forehead, went over his left eye, down his left cheek and ending somewhere on his neck. The face marking looked tribal in design.
"Gah!" cried Albus as he jumped away from the wall, now looking straight at the man's face with wide staring eyes. The edges of the man's face looked like they were literally merged with the wall, looking similar to how Abigail had appeared to Albus in his dream earlier. The man had a mildly disappointed look on his face and was narrowing his eyes at Albus.
"What are you doing down here, boy?" said a familiar voice suddenly as Albus quickly looked down at the end of the corridor in front of him. Standing at the end of the corridor, looking at Albus disappointingly, was Verena.
Albus was nervously casting his eyes back and forth between Verena and the man's face as Verena then noticed the man's face staring at Albus, then gracefully walked over down towards Albus and stood next to him, smiling softly and looking at the man's face, "Tofalios, is that you staring at young Albus Potter here?"
"What is he doing down here, Verena?" said the man's face suddenly, who Albus now recognized as Tofalios by name, "This corridor is off limits to students of his inexperience. He could have gotten hurt coming through here. There are those of my kind that have yet to be brought over to the side of the reformed Accusers that come down here. Luckily, none of them are here at the moment, but if their were, I wouldn't have been here to save him from them. They would have kidnapped him and taken him to Lady Mapheria. Can you imagine what Lady Mapheria could have done to him if my rebel creed had caught him and taken him to her? I was just about to pull him into the wall and get him out of here!"
"What? You we're going to do what?" said Albus nervously, who continued to cast his eyes back and forth between Verena and Tofalios, unsure of what was going on.
Verena then looked at Albus, then looked back at the face of Tofalios, "I do apologize for this, Tofalios. As one of Albus's teachers and guardians, I should have explained to him a long time ago that he shouldn't come down the hidden Gryffindor corridor. It's far to dangerous for him alone. He should have never came down here."
"But you don't understand, Professor Witchazel. I was..." said Albus, who had suddenly brought of the nerve to speak.
"That will be quite enough out of you, boy!" said Verena disappointingly as she stopped Albus in mid-sentence by bringing up her hand and then bringing it down again, "For this, I'm going to take 10 points from Gryffindor..."
"But Professor, you don't understand!" cried Albus as Tofalios looked on and smiled mischievously, saying nothing.
"And give you detention, Potter. You will soon learn not to go where you don't belong," said Verena coolly as she grabbed onto the back of Albus's robes and began dragging him down back towards the Gryffindor Common Rooms. Albus continued to protest as Tofalios followed with his eyes for a moment and then let out a short hiss before bringing his face back into the wall, vanishing back into it.
INT. HIDDEN CORRIDOR, GOING TOWARDS THE GRYFFINDOR COMMON ROOMS - EARLY EVENING (OCT. 30TH, 2018)
"Please, where are we going? Where are you taking me?" cried Albus, who continued to protest as Verena continued to drag him down the corridor by the back of his robes.
Verena continued to look forward as she spoke, "My children have been to easy on you when it comes to learning Aeyuel, Albus. It seems they aren't teaching you well enough as I'd like them to, a pity really. But we will see how much you've learned from them and see what you are really capable of on the evening of the day after tomorrow now won't we?"
Albus had almost forgotten that Cyrus and his siblings had been trying to teach him the Aeyuel Language when not in classes for at least a month now. From these teachings, Albus had learned some words of Aeyuel and recognized those words when he heard them, but he had yet to pronounce them properly, as well as read and write them properly.
As Verena and Albus were going back towards the Gryffindor Common Rooms, Verena suddenly stopped upon hearing a familiar voice coming from the entrance to another corridor. Verena stopped at the entrance to this corridor, looking down at the end of the corridor at Gregus Groset, a son of Edward Groset and the Head of Sytherin House, talking to an unknown man.
Verena listened as a man she did not know speak to Gregus, "It's a shame about Professor Beeblewing's relationship troubles. But I have heard that she has found interest in another man. A man from my House."
Gregus spoke to the unknown man, "Yeah. I don't know his name, but I've heard that she's been happier since meeting him. Hopefully she will be in better spirits at the ball tonight then she has been these past couple weeks. I hate seeing a woman as beautiful as Amphoria Beeblewing being in such a state of sadness and disarray."
"Indeed, Amphoria is quite a beautiful woman. If she doesn't mind, I will ask her to dance at the ball with me. I have been wanting to dance with her for a while now," said the other man.
"Oh, I am certain that she will enjoy that, Manus," said Gregus as Verena then looked away coolly and walked on, still dragging Albus along.
INT. THE DOOR TO THE GRYFFINDOR COMMON ROOMS, HOGWARTS CASTLE - EARLY EVENING (OCT. 30TH, 2018)
Once at the door to the Gryffindor Common Rooms, Verena let go of Albus and shoved him towards the door, "Get back to what you were doing. Go now, you're friends are expecting you."
Albus quickly turned around and began to protest further, "Professor Witchazel, you don't understand. I was chasing down some...thing. It called itself Grispell. I didn't go into that corridor on my own, I was chasing the creature down it. I didn't mean to..."
"You nearly got me in trouble of one of the most important and powerful beings in the Ministry of Magic just now! And you want me to forgive you for that? The nerve of you boy!" barked Verena angrily, "You should have never gone down that corridor, whether or not you had reason to. You could have been hurt just now, or worse kidnapped, even killed. Others along with myself are trying to protect you from things and forces that you can't possibly ever imagine. You are far to important to me and others to go wandering about in places where you don't belong and are bound to get hurt in!"
"Maybe I would understand what is going on and why you are so concerned of me if you would just tell me!" barked Albus in return.
Verena's mouth opened a moment, then closed again, saying nothing. She then calmed and looked at Albus in mild concern as she lowered her voice and continued, "Tomorrow night, in detention. We shall see if you are ready to know more about what is going on. But until then, your friends and the Hogwarts Masquerade Ball awaits you downstairs. If you don't want to miss the opening ceremony, then I suggest that you hurry up and get down there. Run along now."
Albus then narrowed his eyes and scowled, "Fine, I'm going. But I wish I knew more about what was going on now."
And with that, Albus spoke the password to the door and the door opened. Albus then walked through the door and the door closed behind him. Verena then looked away with a look of mild concern on her face and soon walked off, going towards the 5th Floor. But just as she was about to leave, Albus popped his head out and spoke and Verena looked back, "Another thing that was told to me. Your husband's cousin Abigail is in the cupboard wall next to the Great Hall. She's there waiting for you now and needs help getting out she said."
"My husband, Mr. Potter? Since when do you think I am married? and who is Abigail?" said Verena coolly.
Albus scowled and narrowed his eyes again as he once again vanished behind the Gryffindor door. Upon hearing that, Verena quickly changed coarse, going towards the Great Hall.
CONCLUDED...CHAPTER 24/EPILOGUE...