Self-Writing Parchment
"Very few [know about the room], sir. Mostly people stumbles across it when they needs it, sir, but often they never finds it again, for they do not know that it is always there waiting to be called into service, sir."
Dobby to Harry Potter during his fifth year
"It's here, hidden in the castle in the room my mother created. If you have to ask, you will never know. If you know, you need only ask."
Helena Ravenclaw
The Room of Requirement – the Come and Go Room – Unplottable – a secret chamber located on the seventh floor in the left corridor, directly opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy trying to teach troll ballet. The room that provides what you need if you ask it to. Sentient? Maybe. Stubborn, too, if in use by another. Accommodating if you need something – except for food. Water, yes, you can have that – it will provide a sink, a faucet, a fountain and cups… but not food.
As I've said, I abhor violence and abuse toward children – anyone actually. I know that the abuse if hard to read – it is hard to type – but thank you for sticking with me.
I'm sorry for any and all typos – I'm owning up to them.
~beaweasley2
The Hunt and Seek
~ o 53 o ~
~D~
Draco cast the Disarming spell with as much force as he could, and Crabbe's wand shot from his hand towards Draco, on-point, straight toward him with the spell pulse. Draco barely felt his fingers curl reflexively around the wooden shaft before he felt the suffocating compression of forced Side-Along-Apparition from all sides of his body.
He landed in a corridor on his back, his head hitting the hard stone floor with a painful crack and the wind knocked out of him. He closed his eyes. It was quiet – too quiet. His head throbbed from its impact on the floor and his ribs hurt. Probably the impact of the spell, whatever it was supposed to be, he reasoned. Draco tried to focus on feeling the effects of any sign of a curse. Knowing Crabbe, it would have been a nasty one, considering the suggestion he'd given him through the Inception Spell before class. The full hour of the class would've been plenty of time for the thought of retaliation for Draco's betrayal to become a nagging compulsion for vengeance.
Draco inhaled deeply in relief. Thankfully, however, he didn't feel anything amiss or changed, which indicated that whichever curse Crabbe had used hadn't made a full impact due to his rescue. He raised his hand reflexively across his brow, his arm brushing against a tapestry and tapping his cheek with his wand. Not wand – wands! He opened his eyes to realize he was clutching two wands. He sagged in relief. Thank Merlin his plan had worked.
Wait. His rescue. How did Hermione…? She couldn't have. No one can Apparate in Hogwarts. Except he'd definitely felt someone grab the back of his robes and pull him away using Sind-Along-Apparition. It was impossible – but, nevertheless, it had happened. He closed his eyes to pull himself together. When faced with the improbable, the simplest explanation is most likely the right one. But in this case what can't have happened – the impossible – had.
He struggled to sit up, shoving at the tapestry to disentangle himself and stared at the depiction he knew so well. Some of the anchoring hardware had become detached from the wood beam on the wall, so half the tapestry hung over him, but there were no mistaking the ugly ballerina trolls looming over him. Siting with his back to the wall, the ugly tapestry partially hiding him, Draco stared at the blank wall he knew equally as well. Resigned, he got up awkwardly and half-stumbled over to the wall and begun pacing.
I want to go in where Hermione did, he repeated clearly as possible in his mind as clearly as possible, turning and plodding back. On his last turn, he stopped and stared at the wall.
Nothing happened.
He tried again, this time asking aloud, "I want to enter the room where Hermione went into," with the same results. Fuck it! He fought down his frustration. There was always a solution. Think you dunderhead! Think!
He tried another tactic. "I want to see my friend in the room where everyone is." But the wall remained solid rock. Damn and blast it – they must have put a restriction for entry as I did last year….
Draco leaned against the far wall and stared at the space across from him that should've revealed a door to the room he wanted. It remained resolutely blank. There was nothing for it, he'd have to wait until she came out – or someone did.
Slowly he slid back down to his haunches and sat down again where he'd arrived. His head was killing him, though, thankfully, his ribs felt better. Similar to the recovery of the Cruciatus Curse. Though what idiot uses the Crucitas in a wandfight?
He looked at the wands in his hand. Crabbe, apparently. He stowed his wand away. He pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket. "Wingardium Leviosa," he said with a flick and swish using Crabbe's – well, his new wand, to make the handkerchief levitate. It took two tries to make it flutter, three more before it properly levitated. The next few were better, albeit only slightly. He pulled out his small pocketknife and a few galleons from the gentleman's coin pouch Hermione had given him as a Christmas gift to try levitating something heavier.
Getting the wand to work for him well enough to fight Potter was going to take a lot of effort.
~H~
The sensation expansion feeling of Disapparition made Hermione feel suddenly unbalanced and dizzy, and she had to steady herself with a hand pressed against the wall of the corridor to keep from falling over as she inhaled deeply to steady herself. Looking down at Peren, she saw that her elf had opened a door and was beckoning her to go inside quickly. Hermione rushed through it before anyone saw her… and stopped short, caught off guard, facing the most remarkable – utterly amazing sight.
The room was huge, almost half the length of the Great Hall and three times as wide. The entire length of the room there were over a hundred colorful hammocks in rainbow colors and prints, and House-related colors. House banners and Quidditch posters hung from the ceiling and on the walls. There were bookshelves loaded to bursting with books and scrolls… a kaleidoscope of yellow and black, blue and bronze, red and gold… as well as various Quidditch teams…
Hermione's attention was immediately caught by the appearance of several corporeal Patronus forms which bounded about and multiple shields which floated up to illuminate the overhead beams in the middle of the room. A Fuya soared once around the ceiling of the room before disappearing, and an antelope, or a gazelle, bounded around her, making Hermione smile. A wolf-like dog merrily chased a swan.
It was an impressive sight, so many being able to produce a Patronus charm, probably because of Dementors that patrolled around the school's boarders all year, occasionally coming close to the castle's windows. She spotted Ernie and Hannah among the group of students practicing the Patronus Charm, giving them encouragement and guidance, the same way Harry had their fifth year, and spotted Charlene Weston and Stephanie Adams helping some of the students, as well.
An Alicorn appeared, taking flight, followed by an excited squeal, and to her left a sea turtle and Diricawl collided, making the two flicker momentarily before they separated.
As her gaze followed the sea turtle, her attention was drawn to a lot of students who were practicing dueling techniques and warfare magic at full strength against strongly resistant dueling dummies. Behind them, in groups of three or in pairs, others were practicing defensive spells and shields.
Besides the sparing, she saw that more groups of people, at safe distances away, were surrounding cauldrons on worktables, brewing potions. The results of previous concoctions were stored in glass front cabinets, each carefully labeled, although she couldn't read them from where she stood.
As she continued to survey across the room, she noticed that the rest of the students, not longing in their hammocks, were sitting at tables, comfortable-looking sofas, wingback and armchairs, poofs or lounging on huge, overstuffed pillows on thick rugs… reading, writing, in discussions or practicing other forms of magic next to blackboards covered in the technical aspects of various charms and transfiguration spells…
Another huge blackboard had a list of what should be covered for O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. levels and exams. While Hermione thought that it constituted cheating under normal circumstances, she was proud of them for trying to learn what they would have if they'd been able to attend their classes. Secretly she wished she could copy the Defense spell list for her own magical studies. She didn't want to fail her Defense N.E.W.T. exam either.
Alongside them near the edge of a huge rug, Hermione spotted Jannilyn, Jenny and her sister, Tinko sitting, and hurried over to see them. They were so engrossed in their discussion they didn't see her approach. When in earshot, Hermione heard Jenny say, "… but I'm a Wood duck," without any enthusiasm.
"At least you can do it! I still get my parts wrong!" Tinko stated, and Hermione wholeheartedly agreed. She was thrilled Jenny figured out how to do the Animagus transformation.
"But I'm a duck – and I'm not even pretty! I'm drab brown and grey," Jenny argued, still pouting.
"You are a girl; of course, you're going to be a female duck, and you have blue feathers on your wings and tail. I'm a snub-nosed monkey. Try blending that into a castle!"
"Snub-nosed monkeys are small, cute and gregarious by nature – completely the opposite of being a duck," Jenny argued.
"Jenny, don't diminish the fact that at least you finally did it – you're an Animagi!" Jannilyn said excitedly. "Tink, you, too. You've almost got it; you just have to trust yourself more when you transform. Stop trying to hold yourself in and let it happen."
"But being a duck is not helpful at all. It's different for you – you're a tawny colored Kneazle! At least you blend in!"
"Only because magical families consider them cats," Jannilyn said, calmly. "Students are allowed to bring cats to school."
"No one looks at you twice! Try waddling about with your tail swishing," Jenny whined.
"But all of you can do it! Do you know how amazing—?" Hermione was interrupted as the three of them cried out, "Hermione!"
"So, what have you three been up to since I last—?" Hermione said, but her friends had immediately collectively, jumped up and hugged her.
Their questions barraged her all at once. "How are you?" – "I heard you were hit pretty bad with the Snot Cold Curse's virus!" – "Is Snape being reasonable?" – "I can't believe you're putting up with all those slag loving Slytherins!" – "Is Cillian still following you everywhere?"
Hermione laughed. "One at a time!" She answered each question, smiling happily. "So, you managed it! You're Animagi! You really did it!"
"Well, Ginny told us about Peter Pettigrew, that gormless, pathetic rat who hid in her house as a pet, getting free boarding and all he could eat food all those years just to avoid Azkaban. We thought if he could, so could we," Janilynn said.
Not wanting to think about Peter Pettigrew, aka Scabbers, Hermione changed the subject. "And your Patronus? Can you do that as well?"
"Of course! Mine's a duck – a really big duck – but it's strong," Jenny said, proudly. "Tinko's is a kind of Shug monkey – half monkey and half dog. It's impressive."
"Now that would've been a cool Animagus form," Tinko said.
"But not something you'd be able to be in most cases and not have Muggles freak out. Mine is a Kneazle – shocking, I know!" Jannilyn stated with a roll of her eyes.
"Professor McGonagall told me they don't always match. For example, my Patronus is an otter, but my Animagi form is a ferret," Hermione stated. "Various factors come into play. A Patronus matches one's character and personality or something or someone they love, and a strong attachment or traumatic event can change a Patronus form. An Animagus form is sometimes influenced by ones character and personality but it can also reflect a culture or ancestry. Once your magic expresses your form it won't change."
Janilynn said, "Seamus is an Irish fox—" but was cut off as Seamus said, "I'm a fox – Patronus and Animagi! My mam is going to be really proud of me!" She smiled at him, and he nodded his head at her in return.
"Neville's Patronus is taking form," Jenny said. "But it looks like a thick ribbon most of the time."
"I think it's a grass snake or something like it – it doesn't fluctuate as much anymore, and it's really strong," Seamus said in his defense. "I think he just needs to have a happier memory… or one that's stronger. Charlene's is an Augurey!" he said, but then his expression became serious. "Nice to see you, Hermione, but what brings you in here? Have you determined what you need to ask for?"
"No, I haven't worked out what to ask the room for yet. Crabbe and Millicent tried to get me, but Draco fought them off… until we were cornered. Peren brought me here when I asked for help," Hermione summarized. "Any luck on an alternate room or hiding place?"
"No, but Neville is working on it," he said with a shake of his head. "Ginny has kept Harry and Ron informed, and Harry is asking how you are you going to destroy it once you've found it?"
"Basilisk fang, I suppose," Hermione stated.
"Well, when you're ready to go back down there, let Ginny know," he said.
"You don't want to go with us?" she asked.
Seamus shook his head. "Nah, when I venture out it's to handle business," Seamus stated. "Going down to a snake pit is not a good idea," he looked directly at Janilynn, "for anyone in here."
Hermione understood and quickly changed the subject. "I was wondering what Ravenclaw's diadem looks like so when I do find it, I'll know it's the right one."
Tinko smiled. "Every Ravenclaw knows what it looks like – a ninth century Goblin-made silver raven-shaped coronet with a large sapphire and two smaller ones, the wings encrusted with sapphires and diamonds… and it's engraved with her most famous saying, 'Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure,'" she said. "I can show you what it looks like if you want. We have her likeness here in our corner." She took Hermione's hand and led her to a section of the room emblazoned in Ravenclaw colors.
There on a pedestal was a beautiful marble bust of Rowena Ravenclaw, and in exquisitely carved detail on her head was a depiction of a raven-shaped tiara with the words, Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure, carved delicately along the band.
~G~
Ginny and Neville stood close together in a small alcove, the Muffliato Charmin affect for privacy so they could use the mirrors to talk to Harry. However, it had been Ron who answered, and he wasn't happy to see her – with Neville. "Don't be mad, Ron, of course Neville knows we're searching for something that Hermione and I need to destroy," she said before he could close the compact. "This is too important for you to get your wand in a knot."
"You started Dumbledore's Army! It's about fighting You-Know-Who and his cronies – and we're doing that – standing up to them," Neville said loudly. "If you want it kept needs to know – we are keeping it need to know!" he added, indicating Ginny and himself, then pointed at Ginny, "and she needs my help."
Ron came back into view. "Besides, Ginny only told me and Seamus. We're here for her – whatever she and Hermione need. We're ready. Seamus and I have their backs."
"So where is Harry?" Ginny asked, then quickly added, "I don't mean as in where are you, but isn't he there with you?"
"Well…" Ron shook his head. "He's in a bad way at the moment because of his scar. It's been hurting a lot – You-Know-Who's really furious – and the pain is really intense right now."
"What? Why?" Ginny gasped. However, he glanced away again. "Ron, if it's because of You-Know-Who you have to tell me!"
"I'd rather you were not involved in this," her brother said being the stubborn git he tended to be toward her.
"Ron, I've been involved all year! You thought Umbridge was bad – the Carrows are ten times worse. You haven't seen what I have, and no one wants this to end more than we do. So, yes, Ron, I've been a part of this! Now, out with it! What is he angry about?" she demanded.
"Snape also brought five of his Death Eater cronies into the school to enforce their rules," Neville added.
Ginny wished he hadn't said that; it was You-Know-Who who had sent the Death Eaters to the school, according to Hermione, and she believed her. Besides, Headmaster Snape had done too many things over the year to help her and her friends to think he was one of the bad guys. Ginny truly believed he was still Dumbledore's man, in an impossibly tough situation doing everything he could without getting caught.
"All right. I don't like that you're involved – but all right. I'll tell you. You-Know-Who just found out about the ring.," Ron said, but he was looking off somewhere beyond the mirror.
"He knows about the ring?!" Ginny asked, her hand flying to her mouth.
"Oh yeah, I'd say he knows about the ring," he said, staring at her hard. "Apparently, You-Know-Who was ripping the floorboards up, shattering the walls, tearing the place apart, looking for it, but now Harry's shouting, 'He couldn't have known – he can't have known,' over and over."
"Tell me what happened! How did he find out?" Ginny cried out.
"This morning, Harry called out Alecto Carrow by name, and woke up shouting 'the hand' and 'why no one told him about abut the hand.' Apparently, Alecto was stammering on that Dumbledore was wandless, saying how weak he was, barely able to stand and described his hand, how it had been all shriveled, black and dead-looking between bouts of the Crucitas Curse. Then Travers confirmed how Dumbledore's hand had been contorted and dead-looking all last year. Apparently, You-Know-Who saw Dumbledore's hand in their minds – and realized it was because of his ring."
"So, he knows Dumbledore's hand was destroyed the ring," Ginny said. "Does he know it was destroyed?"
The image in her mirror shifted. "Well, he's at the shack where he'd hid it and it's gone. So, yes, I'd say he's confirmed it."
"That doesn't bode well – does it?" Neville asked and judging by his tone, he was trying to process everything Ron'd said.
Ginny didn't answer him. "Listen, I need to ask Harry something."
"Not while he's like this you can't," Ron said with a shake of his head. "I tried to ask Harry about the basilisk, whether he thought anyone would've removed the dead snake, but O'l Snake-face was torturing Mr. Malfoy and heard me, I think, because he became furious that the basilisk had not been destroyed. Took it out on Mr. Malfoy. I almost felt sorry for the man. So, I'm not saying anything as long as Harry is connected."
Ginny stared at her brother, worried. "The basilisk is still down there. It's rotting, but the fangs might still be good," Ginny said. This was not good. "Have Harry contact me, then. It's really important Ron, I have to talk to him as soon as possible. It's important."
"I get it – it's important. It may take a while, but I'll have him contact you," Ron promised. The reflection shifted, showing a bit of beige wall.
"It's about the Horcrux," Ginny added.
Ron's face appeared instantly. "Right, and you can't ask me?" He looked affronted.
"All right. Ravenclaw's diadem is the Horcrux. Getting to it is the problem – unless Harry has seen it – or You-Know-Who shows him where in the Room of Requirement the Horcrux is, we can't get to it to destroy it. So, if Harry sees where it is I need to know right away," she explained.
"All right, but he's never mentioned it." He looked up again. Something was definitely going on. His gaze dropped to the mirror. "I'll ask Harry and have him contact you."
"Thank you, Ron. Oh, by the way, I'm so glad to see you," she said.
"You, too. Be careful," he replied, then the mirror went black. He'd closed the compact.
"Horcrux? What is a Horcrux?" Neville asked.
"What Harry, my brother, Hermione and I have been working on. They must be destroyed in order to kill You-Know-Who, and one of them is here in a version of the Room of Requirement," she said. "That's why we have to—"
"They – there's more than one?" Neville asked, dumbfounded.
"Harry and Ron have been hunting down the others, but yes – there is another one out there and in one in here," she admitted. "Neville, you have to come up with a solution to move everyone as soon as we know what to ask for."
Neville turned his head toward the wall where the entrance appears, and she could tell he was considering the problem fervently.
~S~
The Gargoyle notified Severus that Amycus had demanded access to his office. "Enter." Severus barked coldly, pressing his fists on his desk as he stood up. The last thing he wanted this morning was to be bothered by this excuse of a professor. However, Severus controlled his irritation and asked with feigned cordiality, "Well, Amycus, what do you want?" when the wizard walked into his office.
"Alecto was Crucioed for disciplinin' your wife! She was insolent and disruptive in her class, an' she had every righ' to discipline her in her classroom," Amycus rambled, apparently expecting an argument.
"And I have allowed her to do so," Severus said smoothly.
"And that includes any of them that is a problem for her," Amycus continued, still expecting argument from him.
Severus refused to give in to the baiting. "Naturally, but be advised, you will—"
"– except I'm not allowed to discipline your Mudblood as I see fit—" Amycus snarled.
Severus cut him off; "That is correct, considering that you and your sister constantly curse, hex, and otherwise harm my wife at every possible opportunity."
Amycus glared at him in rage. "She's a troublemaker, a Muggle impersonator. Havin' stollen her magic from real witches and wizards, I have every right—"
So, Amycus is adopting the MRC's supremacist attitudes now regarding all Muggle-borns. But even if all the Muggle-borns were eliminated, it wouldn't improve or elevate his or his sister's standing in pure-blood society. They were simply to coarse and indigent to be invited to the better wizarding homes, unless by the Dark Lord's specific request. "I believe our Lord made his position quite clear," Severus snarled as he snatched up a random correspondence from his desktop. Brandishing it at him in his fist he added, "She is not to be harmed. Isn't that what the Dark Lord made perfectly clear to your sister this morning?" He slammed his fist on his desk. "You and your sister are to stop harming Hermione or I will remove her from your classroom."
"Muggle Studies and Dark Arts are mandatory subjects in this school as directed by the Dark Lord," Amycus argued.
"The Dark Lord wants her loyalty – he wants her appearing to be on our side, standing with me when he faces Potter," Severus stated, keeping his anger in check.
"She can be Imperused," Amycus sneered.
Only Severus knew that wouldn't work; Hermione was able to throw of the curse regardless how strongly he cast it on her. "She will no longer be abused – by you or your sister, and I will deal with any student that attacks her – myself," Severus said his tone dangerously low. "Now, go, I have work to do, and you have a class to teach."
Amycus stared at Severus as if not comprehending his meaning. "We still have the giblet cages in the Entry Hall and the pillories in the storage room," he said coolly. The cages still hung in the hall, only they'd been raised up closer to the ceiling and out of the way. "In addition, as you are well aware, Filch also has some rather inventive disciplinary devices, and since you and your sister consider them acceptable punishment devices, I might as well implement them—"
"You wouldn'—"
"Spread the word, Amycus. The Dark Lord is using the Cruciatus on anyone – including the fathers of the students who violate his orders – Not. To. Harm. Her," Severus said, cutting him off. "However, I will give them the choice – face the Dark Lord's punishment or hang in the giblet cages."
Amycus paled. "You'd send children to the—?"
"Yes, I would," he said, cutting him off again. Severus smiled darkly. "My floo is connected directly to the Dark Lord's grand hall at the manor. When he summons me, I can reach him directly in seconds," Severus lied. The floo was connected to the Ministry of Magic, but the magic of the castle itself made it impossible for anyone except the sitting headmaster to enter the headmaster's office that way. Besides, Severus preferred to walk to the gates and Apparate. It gave him time to organize his mind properly. But that didn't mean he couldn't create a Portkey out of one of the many nick-nacks at his disposal in his office if he needed to. "Was there anything else?"
Amycus, apparently still reeling at his declarations, simply shook his head.
"Good. You may go. I'd rather you were not late to your class," Severus said in dismissal as he sat back down in his chair.
Amycus turned to leave. "He won' like – he won'—"
"Are you certain about that?" Severus cut him off, looking up at the wizard. "I'm under orders to report all abuse towards my wife directly to him – immediately. So is Cillian Gwynek and Draco. I believe Theodore Nott reports directly to his father as does Gregory Goyle to his, which I believe your sister is now well aware of." He turned his attention to his papers.
"Gwynek was not in the Great Hall for breakfast. I didn't see him—"
"Cillian Gwynek is pursuing a lead regarding a matter of the Dark Lord's interest," Severus stated cryptically. "You are now late, Amycus. I'd run to your classroom before the students think they can leave and wander about the castle." Letting his hair obscure his face, he smirked at the baffled expression on the wizard's face as Amycus left his office.
~D~
Crabbe's yew wand had been resistant at first, and it had taken a lot of effort, but Draco was finally starting to make some progress. Draco had no idea what the core was, but yew wands had a dark reputation which suited Crabbe's personality perfectly. He doubted the core was unicorn hair like his hawthorn wand though. Crabbe had claimed it was an Ice Phoenix or a Dark Phoenix feather, both rather unlikely.
He'd tried several charms on his sneakoscope and his Muggle Studies book. He'd even managed to summon a rock and a common kestrel through the window at the end of the corridor.
The kestrel became quite irritable after several Transfiguration attempts, and now sat above him on the exposed wood beam attached to the rock wall, watching Draco with haughty disdain instead of flying away as Draco transfiguring knuts into buttons, then the buttons into small beetles and back. Next, he tried conjuring up a few small birds. The kestrel darted from his perch at one, caught it and returned to its post to eat. Wouldn't that irk his father if the bird decided to stay with him.
Owning hawks had been a symbol of status among Muggles for centuries, but in the wizarding world only Muggle-borns or those with Muggle-born parents owned them. But then his father owned peacocks, the Montagues had an aviary of magical Fuya and Freyja songbirds, and the Warrington's owned a variety of brightly colored parrots. A kestrel for a knave, Draco mused, delighted by the sight of the little bird ripping into its meal.
"Where's Hermione?" Nott asked, blunt to the point as usual. "And more to the point, what the bloody hell are you doing sitting on the floor up here?"
"Hermione's in there," Draco answered, indicating the wall with a point of his wand. His head was still pounding.
"There is nothing there but a wall, Malfoy," Adrianna stated.
Draco rolled his eyes. Of course, she didn't know about the huge room where all manner of things had been hidden over the years…. The room was enormous, but not at all spacious between the furniture and old junk within, only alleyways, intersections and tight pathways. Also, he was sure that all manner of magical creatures lived in there as well – and none of them friendly. How hundreds of students were supposedly hiding in there stumped him, but apparently, they were.
"There's a room, hidden behind that wall," he stated. "It opens up – sometimes. You can tell the room not to let anyone else in while you're in there." He saw the Slytherins' eyebrows raise. "I've used it myself," he snapped. "And Potter and his cronies also took it upon themselves to practice magic in there during our fifth year… when we were…" he chose his words carefully, "When we were… working for Umbridge…."
"And that's where Hermione has gone?" Adrianna asked, doubt still firmly etched into her features.
"Maybe…This could be the room Hermione was looking for," Nott said. "'If you have to ask, you'll never know. If you know, you need only ask.' Isn't that what the ghost told Hermione? She must have worked out the riddle." He sat down next to Draco. "How long do you think she'll be in there?"
"Until she has to come out. She can't be in there permanently, there's too much at stake," Draco answered. Draco glanced down the hall. "What happened to Daphne and Tracey?"
"I'm not sure, Adrianna and I chased after Crabbe and Millicent. Crabbe is in a right state about you taking his wand. Millicent is calling you a blood traitor," Nott said.
Draco shrugged. "Had to – he was firing some nasty curses at us, and Hermione is wandless. The Dark Lord expects me to notify him immediately if Hermione gets hurt again."
Nott nodded. "My father told me the same. So, how'd she get in there?"
"She must have asked," Draco replied. "I got the wind knocked out of me, and I hit my head when we Disapparated."
"Disapparated? You can't Apparate in the school," Nott said.
Draco looked over at him. "I know that – everyone knows that – but that's how I, I mean we got here. Then she went in there. I can't get in, I've tried."
"This doesn't make any sense, Malfoy," Adrianna stated, confused and frustrated.
"It's the room you have to ask for, only I can't get in," Draco said, wishing she'd quiet down.
"So now we wait," Nott said with a heavy exhale as Schlinder sat down on Draco's other side, Adrianna sitting next to him.
"Now, we wait," Draco agreed, looking up at the ceiling beams. The kestrel, having finished its meal, had flown away. Draco was sorry to discover it had flown away, but there was no point in expecting to have kept it as a pet. If he took it home as a pet, even if Potter won, his father would toss it out a window. Surprisingly, that thought irked him.
~G~
When Ginny went to rejoin her friends to tell them she'd have to leave to find Hermione, she was surprised to see her sitting with Janilynn, Jenny and Tinko talking animatedly together like they used to in her dormroom before things got really bad. It was also the first time in a long time she'd seen her friends truly happy and relaxed. Well, that was about to change. When she approached her friends, their conversation stopped abruptly, and Hermione's expression turned serious, the other three looking up at her with curiosity.
"Hermione, I need to tell you something in private," she said, wishing she had good news to impart. Hermione rose to her feet and followed Ginny off to the side of the room and into an alcove that had conviently manifested. "It's safe to talk here. These alcoves have the Muffliato Charm on them."
Hermione listened to her, nodding occasionally, but Ginny knew she was mulling over everything by the contemplative look of her eyes. "So he knows. He knows about the diary and the ring," Hermione said calmly. Her gaze shifted to Ginny's face, more focused now, but she was errily calm. "My Dark Mark has been flaring, off and on, although it's not buring to the degree that Ron told you about Harry's scar," she said in almost a whisper.
"You're taking this well – almost too well," Ginny said. "Are you all right? I expected more of a reaction, actually."
"Ginny, we're in a standstill. Neither one of us knows what Riddle may have asked of this Room. We know what the Horcrux is, and we know where it is, but not how to reach it, or which room to ask for to get to it," Hermione said dejectedly. "So, unless Harry sees the Room, what we need or what to ask it for… there is nothing we can do."
"Let's try contacting Harry again," Ginny suggested as she pulled out her mirror.
This time Ron answered immediately. Harry could be heard gasping in agony in the background. "It's not a good time, Ginny," Ron said, then his eyes widened in surprise. "Hermione! It's good to see you…" His tone faltered and his expression turned to worry as he glanced away, then back again. "Look this isn't a good time, Harry – his scar – it's bad. You-Know-Who has gone to the cave… I think You-Know-Who found out about the locket," he stated.
Ginny gasped. "What? So soon? How did he find out about the locket, Ron?"
"Is it the cave where Dumbledore took Harry last year?" Hermione said, equally shocked.
"Yes. That cave. He's there. He has a kid with him. He's checking on…the locket… it won't take him long…" Harry stammered next to Ron, obviously in immense pain – even greater than she'd remembered him having their fifth year.
"Yeah, that one," Ron reaffirmed.
"How did he find out about the locket?" Hermione asked, ignoring Ginny's inquisitive expression.
"You-Know-Who summoned Runcorn and Yaxley for something, but Runcorn said Yaxley was delayed because of Umbridge, that she was still in a rage about her stolen locket. Apparently, Ol' Snake-face saw the locket in Runcorn's mind… he demanded to know about her supposed heirloom…"
Suddenly, Harry raised his voice in agony, "He's in the tunnel to the first cave – the antechamber… dragging along that Imperused kid. He'll get in… He'll know it's gone…"
Ron, although he'd looked away – apparently over at Harry, continued, "Runcorn knew what the locket looked like because she'd been wearing it – swore that Umbridge was claiming it was a Selwyn family heirloom – that it had been stolen. But You-Know-Who went into a rage and left for the cave."
"Does he know you destroyed it?" Hermione asked and Ginny's eyes widened in fear.
"I don't think so – not yet at least. Harry saw it… it's complicated," Ron replied, clearly distracted.
Harry spoke up, between gasps and groans, he said, "He's furious… keeps saying that it was a fake, that it must be a copy. He doesn't think it could… be the real one. But he does suspect Dumbledore discovered the locket is a Horcrux – may have tried to find it…."
"But so far he hasn't connected it to Harry and me," Ron said.
"Wait! Who has the ruined locket – the one you destroyed?" Ginny asked but got no reply.
Ron was looking away again since all she could see was his ear. Then Harry blurted out, "Once he gets in the big cave, to the island in the lake – he'll know. He'll know that the locket was taken…"
"Will he question Umbridge for information?" Hermione asked.
"Why would he need to – it was stolen from her. He'll likely ask Yaxley about it," Ron said and closed the compact.
Hermine turned to Ginny. "We're out of time!"
"No, we still have time. It will be okay. Once the Dark Lord knows for sure that the locket isn't in the cave, he'll try to find out how it was stolen from Umbridge. He still doesn't know that Harry and my brother had it," Ginny said.
"But when he does know it's only a matter of time before the Dark Lord finds out about the cup – he'll come here to look for the diadem!" Hermione said, looking across the room.
"I know – I get that! But as you said, were at a bloody standstill. I need to talk to Neville and Seamus!" Ginny jumped up and ran off to find them. Things were moving too quickly, and they still had no idea where to hide everyone once Harry told them what room to ask for to get to the Horcrux!
~D~
Nott, Schindler and Adrianna sat with Draco, watching him practice various spells with Crabbe's wand. "You're getting more proficient with it, but why practice with it if you're going to give it back to Crabbe?" Nott asked.
"He's not getting it back," Draco scoffed softly. "Considering how much harm he's done… Nah, he'll steal another wand anyway and maybe that wand won't do as much damage as this one already has."
Nott nodded as if he understood, but he didn't know the real reason why. "Wouldn't you rather use your own wand?" he asked.
"I need to use this wand," Draco stated, making the chair he'd conjured transform into an awkwardly balanced small table. Frustrated, he transformed it back and tried to make it into a more stable table, with better success than the previous try, although it still slanted awkwardly. "Gah, bloody stick," he grumbled.
"Why is this important, you mastering…? You are trying to master the wand, no?" Schlinder asked.
"Yes, I have to," Draco stated, managing a simple sturdy table. At least his head was feeling better – the throbbing pain had receded to a dull ache, and his ribs felt better as well.
Schlinder stood up. "Let's spar. We take turns casting hexes at each other," he suggested. "A bit of dueling will make it easier for you to use, ja?"
Draco got to his feet stiffly. "No disarming. Just hexes."
"Ja, that is what I said," Schlinder replied. "Only practice."
They paced off, and Nott moved to stand over Adrianna to shield her, just in case. Schlinder went first, casting straightforward spells that Draco easily repelled. Schlinder smiled and then gave him a nod with a satisfied smirk before he started the next volley. Which came at Draco in a faster succession, becoming quickly fired pairs that evolved into a bombardment of spells, making Draco really have to move rapidly to defend himself. His determination increased and focus sharpened in order to deflect all the spells; his concentration on his enunciation and wand movements falling to instinct as the battery continued.
"Enough," Draco snapped, and Schlinder's spells stopped suddenly.
"You are doing well, I think," Schlinder said. "Now try your transfiguration of the table."
Draco stared at his housemate, then tried reversing the table into a chair and back into a table, Crabbe's wand responding fluidly. "Yeah, that helped," he allowed.
"We go again," Schlinder said, taking aim. "I not go so easy on you this time."
Draco rolled his shoulders and prepared himself for the onslaught.
~S~
Cillian entered Severus' office and strode up to his desk. He placed both fists on the surface and leaned toward Severus. "Where is Hermione? She had a bloody nose this morning, yet she went to her Muggle Studies class, where – afterwards – there was a fight in the corridor. Apparently, Crabbe attacked her and Draco, and they ran, and no one has seen her or Draco since. Shindler, Nott, and Miss Whitehall are missing as well. Goyle was in the hospital, as were Miss Greengrass and Miss Davis, but they are not there now."
"Yes, that sums up this morning," Severus said calmly, leaning back in his chair. "Hermione is safe, for now. Draco, Messrs. Nott and Shindler and Miss Whitehall are watching over Hermione as we speak. Amycus and VanHalal are seeing to the students who attacked Hermione, although I seriously doubt that they will receive acceptable punishments."
"You're okay with this?" Cillian asked incredulously. "My Mark has been burning constantly, with incremental scorching flare-ups. The Dark Lord is furious about the creature in the 'Chamber' and something regarding a locket. He left in a fit, although, Marc said no one knows where he's gone."
That did not bode well. "Was there mention of a ring?" Severus asked.
"A ring, a book, a locket and the basilisk, yes, and he's still angry about his wand. Why? Do you know what's going on? Does this have anything to Potter? Is this related in any way to Hermione?" Cillian asked.
"The book was a Horcrux. Potter destroyed the book and killed the basilisk during his third year. The ring and the locket were Dumbledore's doing as they were also Horcruxes." He omitted the part he played in helping Potter destroy the locket; Cillian didn't need to know that bit. "The wand is the Dark Lord's own hubris. But, no, these did not involve Hermione. At the moment she's safe. For now."
"For now. What exactly does that mean?" Cillian demanded.
"Events are culminating, I'm afraid," the painted image of Dumbledore interjected. "Harry and his friends are successfully doing what needed to be done."
"Destroying the Dark Lord's…" Cillian's gaze flickered between the portrait of Dumbledore and back to Severus. "Hermione is tasked with finding and destroying the Horcruxes hidden here in the castle. In a room you have to ask to enter, if you know what to ask for, and she intends on using the basilisk to destroy it, doesn't she?"
"Yes, Mr. Gwynek, she does," the painted denizen replied before Severus could speak. "And when she does—"
"I've got this old man," Severus cut him off. "You know there was a prophecy." Cillian nodded. "The Dark Lord set it in motion by fulfilling the conditions: the Dark Lord, in trying to kill Harry Potter, inadvertently marked him as his equal, which is why he hasn't been able to kill Potter since. I and the old man believe that it will culminate in a final standoff between Potter and the Dark Lord, but I'm trying to make sure it happens after these Horcruxes are destroyed."
"You think this will happen now."
"I do," Severus stated. "I believe the final stance will happen within the next twenty-four hours."
Cillian sat down heavily. Severus made a fist as his Dark Mark seared, yet again, and Cillian likewise reacted, hissing through his gritted teeth. "Tell me what I have to do," his friend said, his jaw tightly clenched.
"It is up to my witch to figure this out," Severus replied, only relaxing as the pain ebbed.
"You mean sit back and wait. Everything comes down to Hermione and that seventeen-year-old boy, Potter," Cillian stated in disbelief.
"Yes," Dumbledore's portrait stated firmly. "If all comes to fruition as I planned, and according to the prophecy, Harry is the one that will defeat Tom Riddle for good."
Cillian jumped up to his feet, saying, "I need to find Hermione, now."
Severus knew how his friend felt. "That may be easier said than done. She is currently in a room only a few may enter. So, unless you want to sit outside it and stare at a wall, I suggest you wait here. You may use my…" his words faded as Cillian began to pace. Then once again, the Mark burned. Involuntarily, he hissed. Cillian grabbed at his forearm, baring his teeth as the pain flared up his arm too.
"I need to know what's going on," Cillian said.
Severus nodded, the pain in his forearm, thankfully, receded slightly. For now. "I might suggest that you go to the manor again. Inform the Dark Lord, on my behalf, that Mr. Crabbe and Miss Bulstrode attacked Draco and Hermione. Reassure him that Hermione was not harmed; that Draco successfully protected her and helped her evade the attack. Emphasize that I have seen to suitable punishment to for both Mr. Crabbe and Miss Bulstrode," Severus stated. "Maybe you can discover what is going on and if a cup has been mentioned. But be careful, knowing about the cup could get you killed."
Cillian nodded. "I can do that. I'll be back as soon as I can."
Severus watched him leave. The problem was he felt as uneasy as Cillian did. He too wanted to know how Hermione was doing with her task. There was little news, only her location. However, she was in the right place and close to accomplishing what needed to be done, and as much as it grated him, all he could do was wait.
~G~
Ginny pulled out her compact the moment she felt the vibration. As soon as she opened it, the worried look on her brother's face made her inhale sharply. But before she could ask, Ron blurted out, "I've got bad news. You-Know-Who knows we had the locket."
Ginny gasped, her eyes wide and her face going slightly pale. "What? Already! How?" she asked.
"Yaxley told him. He'd been delayed because Umbridge was demanding to know how the investigation into her stolen locket was progressing," Ron rambled.
"Ron, he already knew Umbridge had the locket, but how did he make the connection to you? How did he find out?" Hermione asked, more levelheaded. She leaned in closer so Ron could see her as well. "Ron, tell me everything! What exactly does he know? What did Yaxley tell him?"
"He knows we stole it, of course. It was Travers – he told You-Know-Who we stole it – he identified us, except how could he? Travers wasn't there. But then Yaxley showed up and he said Harry stole it, too. You know he is the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement now," he stated.
"I know who Yaxley is and his appointment at the Ministry, Ron. I also know that Travers works for him, as an Auror Investigator," Hermione said. "I read about the breakout of the Undesirables in The Daily Prophet. You and Harry – he used his Patronus. You were seen."
"It was only three of them down there in the courtroom: Yaxley, Umbridge and Malaflda Hopkirk – and dementors – lots of dementors – and everyone set to be tried for stealing magic. We stunned them, Yaxley, Umbridge and Malaflda – or I thought we had," Ron said. Hermione rolled her finger to make him elaborate.
"I was disguised as Reginald Cattermole – Harry was disguised as Runcorn, but he had his cloak on when he'd snatched the locket. Harry said it was our Patronus shapes that gave us away – well, Harry's stag. Mine isn't well known. Yet – well, maybe it is now," Ron tried to explain. "We'd narrowly managed to escape, but Yaxley had grabbed my jacket and had been pulled along with us – well, me – to Grimmauld Place. We'd barely got out of there alive. Thank Merlin I'd learned to Apparate properly."
"But does he know it's been destroyed?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah, he assumes so," Ron stated. "I don't know who said so, but Harry kept saying, 'He knows, he knows…' You-Know-Who figured out Harry was with Dumbledore on the Astronomy Tower – the second broom – even though no one could see Harry. He was under his cloak. You-Know-Who surmised Dumbledore told Harry about the locket and told him he had to destroy it – but he couldn't understand why Dumbledore didn't destroy it himself if he'd taken the locket from the cave… He didn't know about the fake locket."
"The real one was in Grimmauld Place, the one that wouldn't open," Ginny said. "Even Mum hated that thing."
"Yes. Regardless, You-Know-Who recognized the locket Umbridge had even if he didn't know how Umbridge got her hands on it – it was his locket – and he assumes it's been destroyed. That Harry destroyed it even if You-Know-Who can't figure out how he did," Ron stated.
"So, he'll either come here for the diadem or go check on the cup, right?" Ginny asked.
"My guess is the cup," Ron said, echoing what Hermione's was about to say.
"The cup – he'll go to Gringotts, then he'll come here," Hermione said, cringing as a lump formed in her gut. "We're running out of time!"
He turned his head, listening to something, then looked at her in the mirror again. "I've got to go. I'll let you know if he sees anything else, okay?"
"Ron, wait, the diadem!" Hermione shouted. "As soon as Harry knows where it is you have to contact us. Even if it's inconvenient you have to tell us…" Ron reappeared although he looked annoyed. "In all his visions, has Harry seen a tiara or a crown, shaped like a raven, encrusted with sapphires and has a large stone at the center, two more hanging beneath it? It's made of silver…"
"A silver raven tiara with sapphires – got it. As soon as Harry sees anything one of us will contact you. I have to go," Ron said, and the compact went dark.
"We have to talk to Neville," Ginny said to Hermione.
"But we still don't know what to ask the Room for," Hermoine said, getting frustrated.
Ginny felt the same, but pacing the entrance guessing wasn't going to help and it was too risky.
~C~
The Dark Lord was not in residence when Cillian arrived at Malfoy Manor. Cillian could feel the difference: there was less tension, although, everyone present was still on edge. In the Atrium and in the large gathering room, an old female house-elf collected goblets, plates and napkins from the tables and on the floor, then disappeared. As he searched the rooms he noted that many of the occupants mingled or simply sat – mostly supporters – as if waiting, biding their time. Few people were talking and even then in hushed voices. The few Death Eaters loitering about were mostly silent, keeping their thoughts to themselves. Everyone avoided the blood and vomit stains in the middle of the floors, signs of extreme use of the Cruciatus or other brutal curses.
He scanned each room for Marc and Belinda, hoping to see his brother and to avoid his sister. In the east drawing room, Anesidora Morederk, Horrance's daughter-in-law and Bell's sister-in-law, sat with several other ladies in a seating are by the large window. Bell would not be here if she was as they didn't get along well at all.
"What are you doing here?"
Cillian turned to face Coughtery deFay. "I have business with the Dark Lord," he said, eyeing Swithin Wroithesley and Umslopagaas Macaulay who were boldly watching him. Behind the pair, his friends from school, Eugene Walsingham and Wesley Westmore, were talking with Erikson Rowe, although Rowle seemed to be doing most of the talking.
"Really?" deFay sneered. "Aren' you supposed to be which-let sitting?" his undisguised slight of calling Hermione a piglet.
"I was sent on behalf of Headmaster Snape. Is the Dark Lord not in residence?" Cillian asked.
"He is not," deFay answered, and the other two men's reactions told him the same.
"Then I shall wait. I need some air," Cillian stated and left the room. He walked through the house, across the terrace, through the break in the hedge and onto the path that ran across the large, secluded garden. He glanced around at the perfectly trimmed hedges, ornamental potted topiaries, and the variety of aromatic and night-blooming plants to ensure he was alone. This was where Hermione had Apparated from the Dark Lord's Winter Solstice party. He shook off the memory of that night and focused on producing his Patronus. The Welsh Gwyllgi, (a mythical "wild, twilight dog," beast resembling a cross between a mastiff and a large Gelert wolfhound or grey-black wolf) formed before him. He infused the words, 'The Dark Lord is not here. I'll wait until he returns, then come back to the castle,' before sending it off.
Cillian turned and retraced his steps to go look for his brother. However, Marcus was nowhere to be found in the manor.
Cillian was about to leave, having not uncovered anything of importance when the Dark Lord returned in an absolute rage, dragging two goblins with him. He immediately demanded that Bellatrix step forward. The goblins, badly battered, barely alive, were immediately chained to the floor, although Cillian was certain that they had no more fight in them. "Where is Bellatrix Lestrange!" he screamed again, his high-pitched voice cracking.
"Here, my Lord," Bellatrix said, lowering in a deep curtsey before him.
"Everyone else OUT!" the Dark Lord shouted and then everyone else made a dash for the doors, although several loitered in the halls outside the room hoping to overhear what was to happen to Bellatrix. Cillian could only make out a few words and partial bits of sentences. "Your vault… refused me – me!" "I need to know." "Your husband… Rabastan… He put… he had… taken… the sword…" then the words, "I want you to go. Now!" The next instant Cillian's Mark burned once more, although he was not the one being summoned.
~R~
Harry cried out in pain – again – rolling as if fighting on the cot. "The bank… all of the customers – he killed everyone…" Sweat beaded on his forehead and ran in rivulets down his face. His shirt was soaked, his hands, clenched in fists, were so tight his fingers were turning white, and blood seeped out beneath his fingertips. "The Death Eaters – forced everyone out… but he killed them!"
Merlin's beard – the Cup! Harry was describing You-Know-Who attacking the bank!
"The goblins… the ones that didn't get away… or killed trying to run away – trapped… in magical chains to the floor…" but then Harry said, "Some got away… He killed a dragon, a manticore, a chimera… the goblins he took – they stopped the Dark Lord from getting into the vault."
There were rumors about magical beasts guarding the vaults… not on the level of his family's vault, but bloody hell – You-Know-Who killed a dragon, a manticore and a chimera by himself?
"What did you tell me? I am Lord Voldemort. I demand you take me to the vault," Harry said, but not in his vice – in a high-pitched voice, hard and cold, full of furry and fear. "You will take me to the vault, and you will open it."
Suddenly Harry went ridged, his back arching, screaming… then collapsed back onto the bedding. Ron syphoned off the sweat and applied a Cooling Charm to refresh his friend, hoping it'd help him.
Harry opened his eyes, staring up at the ceiling, but they were unfocused, a dreadful pale color. "The one thing he feared the most… He doesn't believe it can be true – he'd taken precautions… He thinks they are lying… He wants to be sure… But the goblins insisted that I never entered the bank – I hadn't done in years."
Harry turned his head in Ron's direction. "Lestrange, Rabastan Lestrange and the boy. The goblin said they were the last to enter the vault – only they hadn't written it down."
Ron waited, hoping Harry would snap out of it so he could take care of Harry's bleeding palms where his nails had pierced the skin. This was the worst episode yet. So far Harry had said that old Snake-face was not aware he'd been projecting his thoughts and what he saw to Harry. Thank Merlin's beard.
"Lestrange had his key – his wand and his key. They didn't know. How could they? Rabastan Lestrange and the boy—" Harry said, apparently still in the thrall of the Dark Lord's connection. "Quiet." Harry said in the Dark Lord's voice, snarled, hoarsely, but then his voice returned to normal. "He can't use Legilimency. Goblins are different – he can't penetrate their minds; it's like a magical shell. Their minds naturally repel the onslaught."
~C~
From where Cillian stood in an adjacent doorway he could hear what was going on, but his vision was blocked by two other wizards. He could see enough of the pair of goblins, still bound and secured to the floor, were animated enough to be able to talk. "We didn't know. How could we? Rabastan Lestrange and the boy—"
"They were imposters!" Bellatrix snarled.
"QUIET!" the Dark Lord shouted at her. "Gringotts has ways of revealing imposters, or is that a lie?"
"No, there are precautions in place to expose imposters," the other goblin protested. "The boy carried a sword. They took – took a trophy – an inferior cup…"
The Dark lord raised his wand and killed the goblin. He turned on Bellatrix. "Go and check immediately! I want the truth. And hurry!"
Cillian already knew the answer. He slipped away from the crowd and casually walked out of the house. He had to warn Severus – and Hermione. No matter where in the castle, whatever room she was in – he was going to find her.
~H~
Hermione's Dark Mark burned. Searingly so. She wanted to grab it but knew she couldn't touch it for fear of alerting the Dark Lord to her location, intentions, or worse – her thoughts. At least that's what Severus and Draco had told her. And Theodore. 'Don't touch it – whatever you do - don't touch your arm where the Mark is.' She clenched her fists, every muscle in her body tensing.
"Hermione?"
She sank to her knees, the blood pounding in her head. She could feel hatred. Anger. Enough rage to kill… Fear. Mostly, fear and… She heard someone scream. Heard a distant echo of her name…
"Hermione!?"
"Let her alone," a male voice said.
"You shouldn't be here," growled another male voice.
"I need cold water, a towel, and Muscle Relaxant… Headache Draft… Don't just stand there, give her room," the male voice said, but she couldn't discern whose.
The floor beneath her softened considerably. She was shaking, her muscles cramping with spasms, even her joints hurt, but the pain was ebbing – then grew stronger – and lessened. She opened her eyes and stared up into a pair of wide green eyes full of concern. "Drinks this," Peren said, tipping a cup to Hermione's lips. She drank the liquid. It helped immensely.
"Peren?" Hermione asked, her voice rough.
"Yes, Mistress, I comes," Peren said, giving her more to drink and her headache receded.
Hermione sat up, realizing she was on a mattress on the floor. Behind Peren and the circle of friends, many onlookers stared down at her. Her gaze landed on Neville. "He's angry. Very angry – at me, maybe, but he… I – I don't know."
"Let me see it, Hermione."
She turned her head, too sore to do much else. Cillian was to her left, kneeling down on one knee beside her. He reached for her arm. "Let me."
She held out her arm, and with a flick of his wand, her sleeve rolled up. Multiple audible shocked gasps were followed by loud whispers. "Quiet," Neville said, his eyes riveted to Hermine's Dark Mark. The skull and snake of her Dark Mark was grotesquely swollen, and the darkest black, but the snake wasn't undulating, though it had definitely felt that it had been. That had to be a good sign.
"I don't know if it was a summons. I didn't feel a pull." That's how Severus described a summons – 'a pulling sensation and a sense of where …' "This was different, pain and anger directed at me, but… not specifically towards me…"
"It was not a summons," Cillian stated in agreement. "See, it's over. For now. Your mark is settling."
"For Now? What happens if it happens again?" Seamus asked, fear in his voice.
"As long as she doesn't touch the Mark, nothing. Except pain," Cillian said, looking at a poof that appeared near him. "Interesting. I thought Peren had given me… Huh."
"Did yours? Did he…?" she asked, still concerned about the burning in her Dark Mark.
Cillian shook his head. "Somewhat, but not as intently as yours had," he answered. "Hermione, where… is this the room you have to ask for?"
"Don't answer him," Neville said, as Seamus replied, "What is it to you, Death Eater?"
"Relax," Cillian said, his voice raised. Then he added, "If I wanted to turn you all in all I have to do is touch my Mark and He'd be here – your wards and magical protections wouldn't matter. You'd all be facing the Dark Lord and his followers." He turned his attention toward Hermione. "Did you see anywhere in particular? Feel where he was – a location?"
"No, no vision or a sense of a location," Hermione said as she shook her head. "It's here though, in the Room of Requirement – but this isn't the version that I need. I still haven't worked that out yet."
"Okay everyone, nothing more to see," Seamus said, ushering onlookers away.
Cillian nodded thoughtfully and sat down cross-legged next to her. "And what do you need to do so?"
"Ginny and I are working on that," she replied, looking about for Ginny.
~G~
The compact had vibrated in her pocket, so Ginny had backed away from everyone and hurried over to a safe distance. When she opened it, Ron's mouth and nose appeared. "Ron, what happened?"
"Besides, Ol' Snake-face going mental about the vault? But that's not why I contacted you. I asked Harry."
"He had a vision of the diadem?" she asked hopefully.
He shook his head. "Not exactly. I asked Harry about the tiara during a moment when he seemed disconnected from You-Know-Who. Funny thing, Harry started talking about his old potions book, the one that used to belong to Snape."
"Not the diadem? Ron, I need to know—"
"Yeah, I know. But he would only talk about that bloody potions book and asked me to ask you to retrieve it. He said it's on an old cabinet in the room where all the stuff is hidden. He said he'd placed an old, chipped bust of an ugly, old warlock wearing a ratty old wig and a tarnished crown on top of that cabinet, so he'd be able to find the cabinet again. He said his book should still be there, in that cabinet. Only I know it's not – he has the book in his rucksack."
An old, tarnished crown. Of course! Deflection! He'd used the bust, wig and the tiara to mark where the book was hidden. He didn't want the Dark Lord to see his thoughts, to know that he was talking about the diadem, so he told Ron about his book! "Ron, tell Harry he's brilliant!"
She cut the connection. "Hermione, I know where the diadem is! I know what to ask for!" she shouted as she ran up to her friend. She fell to her knees beside Cillian and Hermine. Lowering her voice, she said, "The room where everyone hides things! It's on an old broken cabinet on top of a chipped bust of an ugly old warlock wearing a ratty old wig! So now all we need is a safe place for everyone here to hide while we search for that cabinet!"
Peren's ears perked up and her eyes widened. "You needs place to hides everyones?" She made some soft, high-pitched chattering squeaks and wheeking sounds to the house-elves who were bringing in platters of food and pitchers of butterbeer and placing them on round tables that the room magically provided. Two stopped to listen to her.
Neville turned his head as one young, lanky male elf with bat-like ears, a bulbous tomato-sized nose and huge light brown eyes, wearing a Hogwarts tea towel around his hips, tugged on Neville's sweater while also managing to balance his tray precariously with his other hand. "Why did yous not asks us?" the elf asked in a slightly lower pitch than most House-elves.
"I'm sorry?" Neville asked, confused.
"To helps you. We helps you. We cans hides you while those girls looks for the boy's book?" the House-elf said, handing his tray to another House-elf. "Whys did you nots ask us to help?"
"Of course! No one knows the castle as they do!" Hermione exclaimed. "Is there somewhere safe for everyone to hide?"
"Yes, we can helps," the Hose-elf replied.
"How…?" Neville asked.
"In our rooms. No ones comes to our rooms. We can hides you," another, older House-elf in a Hogwarts tea towel stated.
"You can hide over a hundred of us in your rooms?" Neville asked, apparently still not understanding.
The older male House-elf grabbed Neville by the wrist and they Disapparated. Everyone looked around in shock at the sound of the loud crack with gasps of surprise, stunned disbelief, and a few in horror.
Ginny and Hermione waited with bated breath, wondering where the elf had taken Neville. Suddenly Neville and the House-elf reappeared making a second loud crack.
"Seamus, Ginny – it's perfect!" Neville cried out, all smiles as he turned seeking them out. "The kitchens have tables exactly like the ones in the Great Hall."
"Nos – nots those tables. You cannots sits there," the House-elf said. "We will hides you in our rooms. We can hides you, makes you look likes elves, so anyone looks for you – you won'ts be seen."
"It's a shield, Neville. House-elf magic. They can use a shield that revealing charms can't penetrate. Kreacher did it to me when I had to avoid Death Eaters. They can disguise everyone's magical signature, so they are perceived as House-elves!" Hermione exclaimed.
In a mass exodus, people vanished with the cracks and pops of House-elf Disapparition, which sounded like firecrackers in the huge room. Feelings of anticipation, excitement and trepidation ran high, but everyone in the room trusted Neville and Seamus, and allowed the House-elves to take them away.
Only not everyone left. The members of the D.A. who resided in the Room remained, plus several students, who all stood in a group, waiting, staring at Hermione and Neville. "All right, Hermione, we're ready," Neville said.
"All of you?" she asked in surprise.
"Naturally. What'd you expect? Let's go get this thing and destroy it," Seamus stated firmly as if ready for a fight instead of a recovery search.
"We'll have to be quiet. We're not far from the Gryffindor common room and MacCavish—"
"We all know about MacCavish," Charlene stated. "We will get him before he can get any of us."
Sighing, Hermine nodded, saying, "All right," before she turned to exit the room.
Out into the corridor, all her Slytherin frineds stood up in surprise as Hermione, Ginny and Cillian lead Neville, Seamus, Breanna, Charlene, Janilynn, Jenny, Tinko, Nigel along with twelve others out of the room. Immediately, those of the D.A. drew their wands, and the Slytherins did as well, only they took a defensive stance.
Hermione's cry of, "Stop! Stop! We don't have time for this!" was nearly drowned out by Seamus', "What are they doing here?" and Charlene's shout, "It's a trap!"
"Put your wands down – all of you!" Hermione shouted, followed immediately with Ginny's exclamation, "They are not the enemy!"
"If they will – I will," Daphne stated as her wand twitched minutely, but the rest held firm.
"Get a grip!" Theodore shouted. "We've been helping all year – even when you lot went down into the dungeons and Filch's office – we knew you were there and why, so we had your backs and helped you leave unscathed."
"No you didn't," Jack Slopper stated. "We had to fight our way out."
"During class times, when all the students siding with the Dark Lord and the Carrows were in lessons or during meals, yes you did. I heard about it. But you only had a Death Eater or two to deal with, not a full gang of Slytherins. But during revision times, before breakfast or at night, when the common room was full, yes, we did," Theodore stated.
Ginny stepped forward and faced her friends. "None of you batted an eye when Mr. Gwynek appeared in the room!"
"That's because no one that sided with the Carrows can get into the room," Seamus retorted.
"I didn't know what to ask for! Besides, I'm not siding with the Carrows. I'm with her!" Draco said and pointed at Hermione.
"We don't have time for this!" Hermione shouted. "He's coming. You-Know-Who is going to come to Hogwarts, and I have to find Ravenclaw's silver raven tiara. So, either we all work together or those who won't LEAVE. Now."
No one moved, but several wands were lowered. Tinko lifted her wand upward and said, "Ostende imaginem," and an image of Ravenclaw's diadem floated in the air catching everyone's immediate attention. "It's not the best image," she said as the image faded, "but that's what it looks like," and described the tiara in detail.
"We're going into an enormous room, bigger than any warehouse I've ever been in – even my father's – full of furniture and old junk with crisscrossing alleyways and tight pathways. There are creatures in there – none of them friendly, and I don't just mean rats, snakes, pixies, and Boggarts – they are in there too, and the rats are huge," Draco said, everyone still on guard, but listening to him with rapt attention. "When I was in the Room of Hidden Things all last year, I had to deal with Maricopa spider-crabs, Cantharidin beetles, Chizpurfles, Billywigs, Viperous centipedes, Flesh-Eating Slugs, ghouls… a and I had to fight a Lethifold once. So, I hope you're well versed in Magical Creatures because things will jump out at you – or on you."
"Why don't we get in the Room and discuss this instead of standing here in the corridor?" Adrianna said, pointing at the wall where the door had vanished. Unfortunately, several people quickly raised their wands thinking she was aiming at them.
"Enough!" Cillian snarled. "Hermione open the door so we can get inside. I don't want to be seen out here, nor should any of you."
But Neville was already pacing along the wall, muttering to himself, and a double door materialized. He pulled one side open and smiled, then turned to the others. "Well, come on! We don't want to get caught out here, now do we?"
Ernie Coppersmith opened the other side. "Whoa!" he exclaimed, before some of the students cautiously entered the room.
"Oh, bloody hell, move!" Draco said, shoving his way forward, followed by Marek, Daphne and Theodore. "We were not the ones threatening you," he added disdainfully as he pushed his way to the door. As if he'd unclogged the passage, everyone followed in quickly stopping once inside, gapping in awe.
Inside, it was a massively imposing room with piles of every conceivable type of old or broken furniture and odd objects stacked like towers or in huge piles of objects hidden here for centuries by generations of the school's inhabitants. The vast room was lit by rows of high windows that sent shafts of light down on the tops of the piles, some the size of mountains, and illuminated the room – somewhat. From where they all stood, alleys and passages led off in several directions between the stuff…
"Ron said it's tarnished. We're looking for an old cabinet with an old, chipped bust of an ugly, old warlock, wearing a ratty old wig and an old, tarnished crown," Ginny said.
"A cabinet with a bust of a warlock on top of it, wearing a wig and that tiara. Got it," Seamus repeated. "Well, let's go."
"Stay groups of three or in pairs. Set off a red flare if you're in trouble and a white one when you've got the crown," Seamus stated as the door vanished behind them.
"Cillian, please protect Ginny," Hermione asked him, which he didn't like at all judging by his scowl.
"Hermione, I—"
"We need her to get into the Chamber of Secrets to destroy it once we have it. Besides, I'll be with Draco and Theodore. I'll be fine."
He grumbled but followed Ginny, Seamus, Neville and Stephanie as they ran down a main passage on their right as several others ran down different narrow street-like paths.
Jack Sloper, Demelza, Lavendar and Patil twins rushed forward through a wider path that must have become darker due to shadows, since Hermione could hear them call out, "Illuminate!"
Hermione took the alleyway directly in front of her, thinking that this was likely the path Harry would have chosen, getting a chill down her spine as she paused next to an enormous stuffed troll covered in Doxies, telling Charlene and Tinko to be careful as they took the path on their right. Several more feet in, Breanna and Ernie turned left at a huge cabinet, while Jenny and Janilynn took a narrow path to the right to cover more territory, and others went in opposite directions a short time later, leaving Hermione and her Slytherin friends to push on ahead.
It was daunting, searching for cabinets in what seemed to be a warehouse of old ratty cabinets, tables, chairs and desks, shelves and bookcases stuffed to bursting, towers of books, old maps and charts, and heaps of magical artifacts in crates or piled in and on every possible surface. Pixies, Billywigs and Chizpurfles frequently attacked them as they searched, all easily handled thanks to Professors Lockheart's and Lupin's lessons on the pests. Sounds of spell-fire, shouts and frightened cries and screams could be heard, sometimes close, other times at a distance, setting Hermione's nerves on edge.
Marek startled a pair of Bundimuns, but Adrianna quickly drenched them with a strong, although pungent, Antiseptics Scourging Charm before the Bundimuns could spit out their acidic ooze, making the greenish pests dry up and turn a greyish black. "Done. That was easy," she said proudly.
One cabinet Tracey was checking burst open suddenly, and a bogart came out, making her and Adrianna scream as a huge, grotesque clown emerged. But Theodore and Daphne drew their wands and shouted, "Ridiculous," together sending the bogart back into its cabinet. Draco conjured a lock and chains to keep it inside.
Their group stopped at another junction, not wanting to split up, but likewise needing to search both pathways. "I'll take Adrianna with me – Goyle go with Daphne and Tracey," Marek said, pointing left, and Daphne and Tracey nervously agreed.
"Watch yourselves and keep vigilant," Theodore told them as they wandered forward cautiously.
"You got this," Hermione said encouragingly, receiving an unsure smile from the girls.
Daphne and Tracey went with Goyle up the alley that angled to the left, illuminated their wands for better light.
"All right but keep alert. You don't know what will jump out at you," Theodore said, blasting a few Flesh-Eating Slugs before they could land on their heads.
They searched for what seemed hours, wands lit when the natural light from the windows didn't penetrate the shadows. They managed to slip by a ghoul struggling with a good sized Quintaped (either trying to eat it or the other way around) unnoticed and fought off a nest of nine-inch Viperous centipedes that burst from a desk Theodore accidently bumped.
Suddenly the sound of fireworks caught everyone's attention as Tinko's and Charlene's voices cried out, "We found it! We found it!"