Upon arriving back at Hogwarts, Albus and I updated the rest of the double M group about our findings during Christmas.
"It's too bad you didn't catch the title of the book she was reading," sighed Lucia.
"You caught a page number. Did you happen to catch the name of the spell?" drilled Scorpius.
"No. I had just enough time to catch the page number," I growled.
"Maybe there is a spell that can track what books a person has touched," offered Jasper.
"That's a brilliant idea. Why don't you find out if there is such a spell?" I grinned.
"Fine by me," answered Jasper.
"We should definitely follow Ophelia and see if we can figure out who these other people she referred to are," pointed out Albus.
"Yes. Unfortunately our group is only made of Slytherins and Gryffindors," noted Lucia.
"You are right. We should also try to recruit a Hufflepuff or a Ravenclaw to help with reconnaissance," Scorpius agreed.
"I know of a Hufflepuff who may be able to help. She happens to have a lot of friends in Ravenclaw," announced Albus.
"Who?" I wondered.
"Jade Nightengale. She's two years ahead of me," informed Albus.
"We'll check her out as a group and if we all agree she'll be suitable, Albus will bring her to a meeting. Agreed?" I decided.
Everyone nodded their head in the affirmative.
The next month seemed to drag by slowly. I had followed Ophelia's movements using the map, but she did not appear back in the restricted section of the library or any place she wasn't supposed to be.
I also spent some time tracking Jade's movements. She did spend a lot of her time in the Ravenclaw common room. In fact she spent a great deal more time there than the Hufflepuff common room. Interesting . . . maybe there was a boy involved. I need to corner Albus and see what he exactly knows about Jade.
"Hey Albus!" I yelled as he left quidditch practice.
"What do you need?" Albus asked.
"I'm just gathering some intel and I was wondering if you know anything about Jade's dating life," I curtly responded.
"I don't talk about girly stuff with her. She just tutors me in charms," Albus responded.
"Dating is not girly," I noted.
"I guess," Albus shrugged.
"No need to get your knickers in a twist," I sighed.
"Look. She just tutors me. She doesn't tell me her life story," Albus informed.
"But she could and she is more likely to tell you than me," I pointed out.
"Fine. I'll see what I can do," Albus conceded.
"Great," I smiled.
We had just entered the Hogwarts courtyard when we ran into the devil himself, Scorpius.
"I need to talk to you," confided Scorpius as he pointed at me.
"Alright. Catch you later Albus," I said.
Albus nodded his head and went inside the castle.
"So?" I wondered.
"I thought you would be interested to know someone snuck a boomslang into Hogwarts," Scorpius informed.
"What! Are they trying to slowly poison someone?" I questioned.
"I don't think so," Scorpius answered.
"Who is it and how do you know what their intentions are?" I asked.
"I followed Ophelia and saw her take the snake's molted skin," Scorpius admitted.
"Interesting and do you know what she is going to use it for?" I asked hopefully.
"Of course. Boomslang skin is an ingredient in polyjuice potion," smugly stated Scorpius.
"I see. The question is why would she need it?" I thought.
"That I do not know, but one thing is for certain," Scorpius replied.
"What?" I prodded.
"The game is afoot," Scorpius grinned.
"I am not Watson and you are not Sherlock Holmes," I pointed out.
"You are right. I am much better looking and you have a hard time getting a dreadful on assignments," emphasized Scorpius.
I whacked him on the arm.
"Hey! That was uncalled for," Scorpius pouted.
I rolled my eyes at him and headed towards the Slytherin common room.
A week later everyone met in the room of requirement. I updated them on what Scorpius had told me. Jasper had also found a spell that could find all the objects a specific person had touched. Hopefully Ophelia wasn't too much of a bookworm. Fingers crossed.
Nobody had a bad thing to say about Jade and so she would be coming to our next meeting. Everything was looking up.
After the meeting, Albus drew me into a corner.
"I have the information you were so desperate to get," Albus stated.
"And?" I prodded.
"She isn't dating anyone. She has her eye on someone, but she didn't tell me who," informed Albus.
"Well it should be relatively easy to figure out. She spends A LOT of time in the Ravenclaw common room," I replied.
"I guess, but I don't see why it matters," Albus admitted.
"Everything matters. Information is always useful," I smirked.
"If you say so," Albus shrugged.
Later that night everyone met in the restricted section of the library. I checked the map and no one was in the vicinity.
"Let's get started," I announced.
Jasper began casting the spell. Four books glowed green. Albus and I went to each book and inspected them.
"I don't see it," I admitted.
"It's not here," Albus confirmed.
"Well that was a waste of time," Lucia decided.
"Not entirely. Let's see the books she has been reading and what pages she seemed most interested in," Scorpius pointed out.
Jasper, Lucia, Albus, and Scorpius each took a book and chanted the spell to point out pages that were touched by Ophelia.
"When I come by please tell me the name of your book, the spell, and the page number," I ordered.
I walked to Jasper who had opened a book that was covered in boils.
"I have the book Infectious Diseases. The spell on 703 is called The Black Plague," Jasper stated.
I nodded my head and scribbled down the information.
As I turned to Lucia, who was holding a shiny red book, she announced, "The book is Imaginary Friends and Places. The spell is Anime World. It was on page 703."
After I had finished writing down the information, Scorpius carefully opened a brittle grayish green book and stated, "It's called Undead Creatures. Page 703. Skulletor Minions is the spell."
"What about you Albus?" I asked.
Albus gulped and opened a pink bedazzled book and quickly said, "Beauty Remedies. The spell is on page 703 and it's Fountain of Youth."
"I'll say one thing. Ophelia definitely has an interest in a variety of things," Jasper commented.
"Also she has an unhealthy obsession for the number 703," Lucia noticed.
"It is very interesting that the only page in each book that glowed green was page 703. I wonder what it means," I thought.
"Don't know, but we'll have to brainstorm later," Albus pointed out.
"We should head back," agreed Scorpius.
I checked the map and advised, "It looks like Ophelia is out patrolling the hallways tonight. Let's head back before we get caught."
We put back the books and headed toward our respective common rooms.
The next couple of days seemed to drag. Most school work was not very stimulating, but I did have the added distraction of Care of Magical Creatures. Hagrid Jr. had brought in a baby Ukrainian Ironbelly. It is the largest breed of dragon and a long time ago one had picked up a boat in the Black Sea and carried it away. Talk about strength.
After class I went to sit on a bench near Black Lake so I could contemplate our next move. An hour had passed and I still had no idea what to do. Just as I was about to get up, I felt a tap on my shoulder.
"Scorpius. What brings you my way?" I asked.
"I know what book Ophelia took," Scorpius grinned.
"And what book is it?" I prodded.
"Most Potente Potions," Scorpius answered.
"That makes sense. Especially since you saw her take the boomslang skin, but I'll need to confirm it," I pointed out.
"Well you can do that right here since I took a silent picture last night when she put it back in the restricted section," informed Scorpius.
"I love silent pictures. No flash or sound is made when you take a picture. Quick let me see it," I said happily.
"Here it is," Scorpius replied as he handed me the picture.
"Yes! This is it!" I jumped for joy.
"I inspected it after I saw her leave. It was covered in gray mold. Quite disgusting," Scorpius admitted.
"It's too bad I couldn't have been there. Stupid detention with Professor Moriarti," I pouted.
"That's what you get for completely ruining your potion. You are lucky you didn't maim someone," Scorpius deduced.
"Not all of us are geniuses in potions," I shot back.
"Not everyone has the patience of a gnat," Scorpius smirked.
"I'd love to sit and throw snarky comebacks at you all day but I need to go alert everyone as to when our next meeting is taking place and hopefully we'll have a new member to our group," I said as I walked towards Hogwarts.
"And hopefully you bathe before then too," Scorpius nudged.
"Warty faced toad," I spat as I smacked him on the back of the head.
"Takes one to know one," Scorpius threw back as he laughed.
"Merlin's crusty nappy, what do I need to do to get some quiet around here!" I shouted.
Scorpius sniggered as we walked back to the castle.