Harry Potter: The Vanishing Student
Chapter 15 of my Harry Potter story, enjoy.
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Now onto the story.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or its characters.
Chapter 15
Lakshmi had been right, the trio realized, even with their worries about Jamie, they found themselves having to focus on their exams as they went through June. Ravenclaw had accomplished their miracle and ended up winning the Quidditch Cup with 400 points to Slytherins 390 and Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tying with 380. Now they had to go through their exams, each day spent studying for the upcoming exam, then the day of the exam consisting of them doing a theory test for the relevant subject in the morning and, if necessary, a practical exam in the afternoon where they had to show they could work the spells they had been taught.
Not all of the lessons had practical exams, but on those days they were expected to fill the afternoons with extra revision. Some of their practical exams included animating an inanimate object for Charms by making a pineapple tap-dance across a table. Another example was Transfiguration where they were to turn a mouse into a snuffbox, Extra points were given for how pretty the snuffbox was, points were taken off if it still had whiskers.
In Potions they had to brew a potion from memory, without written instructions, Slughorn had shown a sense of humour by electing to have them brew, of all things, a Forgetfulness Potion. Anyway soon all those exams were done along with Defense Against the Dark Arts, Astronomy and Herbology.
Finally they came to their last exam, an entirely theoretical one which meant that the afternoon that followed would be free and they'd have nothing to worry about for two whole weeks before learning their results. That last exam was History of Magic and indeed, the few students that hadn't shown much emotions about Jamie's disappearance certainly missed him here, as he had always been reliable for catching up on notes the others missed due to falling asleep in class.
But they did their best to answer the questions put before them and finally, when it was announced the exam was over and the papers were gathered up and they were let out as the exams were finally over, a feeling of relief overcoming them. But it was tempered by them still worried about Jamie.
"Well, that wasn't as bad as I feared." Jeff remarked.
Carla didn't answer, instead being deep in thought, considering to herself.
Amara replied at once however. "Yeah, well, it's over now...I'm glad too, would be cool to actually learn History, instead of Professor Binns droning on."
"History…" Carla muttered.
"Carla?" They chorused, confused.
Then she turned to them, eyes wide, gleaming. "I've got it, I've worked it out, that book, follow me, we need to go to the library."
She began to hurry off and the others followed her, Jeff shaking his head.
"Exams are over but we're still going to the library." He muttered.
Still they made their way there, Carla giving a masterful excuse to Madam Pince, allowing them to check for what Carla wanted, without attracting her attention.
Looking through the shelves carefully Carla let out a delighted, albeit quiet, noise and picked up a book not yet put in place in a shelf.
"Madam Pince must have been instructed to just leave it, that must've been killing her." She remarked. "But yes, this is the book. Mr. Warren was mistaken, it wasn't Jamie's book exactly. His name was on the inside of the cover, on the slip that showed he was the last one to check it out, see."
She showed them the book which did indeed show that.
"Alright, so this is the book that Jamie had, which held the note." Amara gasped. "So, what…?"
"What is all this about?" Jeff whispered.
He was staring at the contents of the book, namely that certain pages had been marked with tabs and had attached notes.
"Someone else was doing research into this book. This isn't Jamie's writing." Carla noted. "This is...about the Cursed Vaults, part of Hogwarts' history, namely the Portrait Vault. Hmmm, I wonder…"
"Wonder what, how does this help us find Jamie?" Jeff asked.
Amara got it however. "Of course, Jamie was looking at this before he disappeared, he must have found these notes and followed them and it lured him into a trap. No doubt from whoever was researching the book first, whoever was searching for this Portrait Vault."
"Exactly." Carla confirmed. "This makes it our best chance. Amara, c'mon, we need to make our own copy of these notes, Jeff, keep an eye out for Madam Pince."
They nodded and soon got to work, hoping against hope that this would indeed give them the help they needed to find Jamie at last.
XXXXX
It was a tense time for them but they managed to get all the notes they needed and quickly put the book back in time to slip away and leave before Madam Pince suspected anything.
"What now?" Jeff asked.
Carla then explained. "Jamie followed these clues before he disappeared, we've just gotta do the same and maybe we'll find out where he's gone...and hopefully us being together will give us a better chance of it not happening to us, we watch each other's backs."
Nodding the trio got to work and began following the clues, being led through most of the school. They still had to be careful not to be caught searching by any of the teachers who would undoubtedly question them on their actions. Finally they reached a hidden corridor and saw something lying in the middle of it, a portrait, similar to the one described in the book.
"Could that be, the portrait that acts as a Portkey to the Portrait Vault?" Amara wondered.
Clara shook her head. "No, that portrait is a portrait of the vault itself. This is somewhere different. But I've got a feeling this is a Portkey too and will take us somewhere...maybe wherever Jamie is being held."
"Well what are we waiting for. Let's grab it and hope it work." Jeff said, the girls nodded in agreement. "Okay, one."
"Two." Carla continued.
Finally Amara finished. "Three."
They then all grabbed the Portrait and felt a sudden sensation, as if something jerked them from just behind the navel and they were being taken away, to wherever the Portkey had set as its destination.
End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.
