Chapter Four

Du Heist

"Ah, yes, masterful use of the Curse of Bogies, Ms. Hemlock. A superb Body-Bind, Mr. Howe." Professor Uldred made his way through the class, admiring or critiquing their hexes and curses. He paused for a moment, a thoughtful smirk on his face. "I think I'll choose your partners for this exercise. Ms. Amell and Mr. Mallory, please step forward."

Solana and Jowan exchanged surprised and worried looks. They never partnered up in Defense because they didn't want to be forced to curse each other or receive a failing grade for the day. Solana couldn't help but wonder if Uldred had somehow found out about their investigation. Or maybe he was just bored and wanted some entertainment. Either way, the very situation they were trying to avoid was now thrust upon them.

"You first, Ms. Amell," Uldred said. "Come now, let's see what you can do."

Jowan looked really nervous now. It was no secret that Solana was one of the more powerful witches in their year—if she wasn't careful, she could really do some damage.

"Mimble Wimble!" Solana called. Jowan was struck with a purplish-blue light, but seemed otherwise unaffected by the spell.

Professor Uldred frowned. "A Tongue-Tying Spell… not particularly impressive, Ms. Amell. I would have expected more from you. Let's see if you can do any better, boy."

Jowan made an incoherent sort of squawking noise.

"Oh, right," said Uldred, rolling his eyes. "Finite!"

Freed from Solana's spell, Jowan shouted, "Locomotor Wibbly!"

A red light shot from his wand at Solana. The spell completely numbed her legs with a suddenness that was almost painful. Solana fell to the ground with a small yelp.

"Nicely done, that was one of the more powerful Jelly-Legs Curses I've seen this year. She won't be able to walk for at least an hour," said Uldred, grinning cruelly. Jowan winced and flashed Solana a guilty look. "Your turn, Ms. Amell."

Solana scowled up at Uldred from the floor. "I'd rather not, sir."

"Is that so," said Uldred. "Refusal means a failing grade for the day."

"If it must, then so be it."

Uldred shook his head. "Mr. Mallory, your opponent has given you an opening. I suggest you take advantage of it. And make it good."

Jowan didn't move or speak for a long moment. Then he raised his wand.

After class, Professor Uldred sent Solana to the headmaster's office for her 'flagrant disobedience'. Her legs were still asleep, but at least she could walk (mostly). To say that she was annoyed with Jowan would be a serious understatement.

"Please, sit down," said Irving. Solana gladly did as he asked, rubbing the pins-and-needles feeling out of her thighs. "Now, I understand that you and Professor Uldred had a bit of a disagreement during today's Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson."

"He ordered me to curse my friend," Solana said. "I refused. Are you going to tell me that I did something wrong, sir?"

"No, child, I understand your reluctance," said Irving. "But while you are at Hogwarts, you must show the proper respect to your professors—and that includes Professor Uldred."

"But he—!"

There was a knock at the door. An older girl peeked into the room. "Headmaster Irving? Madam Wynne sent me. There's been an accident in Care of Magical Creatures. You need to speak to the parents."

Professor Irving sighed. "Not another mauling, is it Petra? Excuse me, I'll be back in a moment."

He left the room. Solana looked around while she waited. Professor Irving's office was clean and sparse, and the walls were covered with shelves and shelves of books. He even had books stacked on his desk. Solana began to skim through some of them, though most of the subjects were too advanced for a first-year to understand.

She had just picked up a small blood-red book entitled Legendary Wizarding Weapons, when something metal tumbled from between its pages and fell to the floor with a clatter. Solana leaned over to pick it up and gasped.

It was a key.

Solana snatched up the key and quickly glanced back at the door, certain that Professor Irving would return at any moment. There were several little notches carved on both sides of the key. It looked as though someone had taken a heavy old-fashioned key and cut it in half down its length. Half of the key, half of the secret. Could it really be one of the repository keys?

She looked inside the book. One of the pages had been dog-eared to mark a particular place, and what she read on that page made her gasp.

The Rod of Fire: a wand used by the Dark Lord Toth, one of the original Nine Masters of Dark Magic. It is said to bestow all of Toth's power and knowledge over the Dark Arts to the person who wields it.

Solana heard someone talking on the other side of the door. She stuffed the key back into the book, slammed its cover shut, and put the whole thing back where she found it mere seconds before the door opened.

"Care of Magical Creatures is a breeding-ground for disaster," Professor Irving muttered, shaking his head in exasperation. He sat down at his desk. "Now, where were we, child?"

"Er—"

"Ah, yes," said Irving. "It's alright to dislike Professor Uldred, but defiance will not earn you any favors. Try to stay out of his way, and you should be just fine. You're excused."

"Thank you sir," Solana said quickly. She stood up to leave.

"Wait," said Irving. Solana went very still. He knows, he knows, he knows— "Before you go… I don't like the idea of you and that boy Jowan spending so much time together."

"I… I'm sorry, sir, but why not? What's wrong with Jowan?"

Irving waved dismissively. "Never mind, forget I said anything."

Feeling very confused and disturbed, Solana fled the headmaster's office. She almost wasn't surprised to see that Jowan was waiting in the corridor outside. "I'm glad I caught up to you. Listen, I'm really sorry about what happened in class today. If I could afford the failing grade, I wouldn't have—"

"Never mind that," Solana whispered urgently. They went to their secluded spot in the library. There she told him about what she had read in Irving's book, watching as his eyes grew wider and wider.

"No wonder Uldred wants the Rod of Fire," said Jowan. "I've read about the Nine, they were the most powerful Dark wizards who ever lived. They could turn into dragons, control the minds of a thousand men at once, summon legions of dark creatures to fight for them… If those stories are true, anyway."

"I found Irving's key as well."

"Really? Do you have it with you?"

"Of course not," said Solana. "How long would it take for him to realize it was gone?"

"I guess you're right. But at least we know where it is. Now all we need is Greagoir's key…"

"Why?" asked Solana. "Uldred won't be able to get into the repository if Irving and Greagoir are guarding the keys."

"If we were able to find Irving's key, then Uldred can too—if he hasn't already," said Jowan. "All he needs to do is wait until Irving and Greagoir aren't around, and then he can steal the keys and get to the Rod."

Solana frowned. He was right, of course. It was foolish to assume that two first-years could find something that a fully-trained Dark wizard could not. If Uldred did get his hands on such a powerful weapon… the consequences were too horrible to imagine.

"I have an idea," Jowan said excitedly. "We can steal it first!"

"What?" Solana exclaimed.

"We'll find out where Greagoir is hiding his key, then we'll take both keys, use them to open the repository door, and steal the Rod," said Jowan. "Once we have the Rod hidden away somewhere else, we'll set up a trap for Uldred. Once he's caught, then we'll have enough evidence to tell the other professors what's been going on."

Solana stared blankly at him for a long moment. "That's your plan."

"Pretty much, yes."

Neither of them spoke for a few seconds, until Solana gave him an enthusiastic smile. "Well, I like it!"

They waited, watchful, for several days while they prepared to put their plan into action. Jowan found out where Professor Greagoir was hiding his half of the key, and Solana transfigured passable copies of both keys that they could leave behind. Finally the time came when both the Headmaster and Deputy Headmaster were called away to meet with someone at the Ministry of Magic. It was just the opportunity that they, and Uldred, had been waiting for.

Each taking one of the fake keys, Solana and Jowan split up and retrieved the real keys from their hiding places. Then they met behind the statue of Eleni Zinovia once again and waited until after curfew. The statue was conspicuously silent that night.

Solana glanced up at the statue. "She was right after all."

"What?"

"'The end of the nightmare will be marked by the sign of the griffin'," said Solana. She smiled. "Well, what do you get when you combine a Ravenclaw eagle with a Gryffindor lion?"

Jowan rolled his eyes. Divination seemed to be the only kind of magic he remained skeptical about.

Once the halls were dark and quiet, Solana and Jowan emerged from their hiding place. They approached the door.

"We probably have to use both keys at the same time," Jowan said. They inserted the keys into the two holes on the door, but nothing happened when they tried to turn them. "Why isn't it working?"

"Let me see Greagoir's key," Solana said. It looked much like the one she'd taken from Professor Irving's office. Half of the key… half of the secret… She put the keys together. When combined, the notches on their sides actually formed letters and words. Solana grinned. "This must be the password!"

"Come on, let's try it," Jowan said eagerly.

They inserted the keys again and said together, "Gladium deus, lacrimus de exolesco."

There was a clicking sound, and then a handle appeared in the center of the door. This was the point of no return. Solana and Jowan nodded their heads once in silent affirmation before stepping across the threshold.