Freddie felt so much lighter after the emotionally-charged conversation with Ada. It felt so good to be able to share what was going on with her best friend. She helped Ada unpack her trunk, surprised at how much stuff the girl had managed to cram in there without an Undetectable Extension Charm. When they'd finished putting her clothes away they headed back downstairs to continue the tour of the house. She showed her the kitchen, told her to help herself to any food or drinks any time she wanted, then gave her a mysterious smile.
"There were no hidden rooms upstairs, but there might be one or two around here," Freddie said lightly. "Think you can find them?"
"Je peux certainement le faire!" Ada said confidently, drawing her wand. She cast around the kitchen silently, her face screwed up in concentration. A few minutes later the island in the center of the room began to move, sliding aside to reveal the descending stone staircase.
"C'est magnifique!" Ada declared and quickly headed down the stairs without waiting for permission, keeping her wand held aloft. Freddie followed her down, amused, the torches along the wall automatically lighting themsleves as they went along. They entered the basement brewing room together and Freddie breathed deeply the scent of herbs from the cabinet, the dirt floor, the pewter cauldrons that sat unused on the workstation... It had been so long since she'd brewed anything down here, she mostly worked in her office these days.
"I had a feeling there would be a laboratoire somewhere in your house," Ada chuckled, but she hadn't put her wand down yet. She moved along the brick walls, concentrating, muttering spells under her breath, some of which Freddie didn't recognize. Suddenly one of the bricks gave off the faintest glimmer and Ada glanced back at her with a grin before tapping the spot with her wand. The bricks began to shift, sliding apart to reveal the secret floor-to-ceiling cabinet that was filled with vials and bottles of potions, all labeled and in alphabetical order. Some of them were poisons, but not all of them. Some were healing potions and some were things they had brewed just for fun. Freddie had brewed over half the things in the cabinet by herself.
"Brillant," Ada said, examining a bottle of Bloodroot Poison and of course the antidote that was next to it. She turned back to Freddie, grinning. "Are there any more secret rooms or cabinets down here? I didn't detect anything else."
"No, that was it. What was that spell you used?" she asked curiously. "Severus has got it Charmed to where most spells like Revelio or Aparecium don't work, so I know it wasn't one of those."
"Oh it was Vestigi magia," she answered. "I read it in a really old book once, it reveals traces of magic like that. Pretty cool, don't you think?"
"Definitely," she agreed. "I'll have to remember that one. Never know when something like that might come in handy."
"Yes," Ada said with a nod. "Are there any more rooms to see in the house or are you ready to go? I'm so excited to see Diagon Alley!"
"We can go," Freddie chuckled. "Let's see if Ziggy wants to come with us."
Freddie closed the cabinet with a flick of her wand and the girls headed back upstairs, the torches extinguishing as they went. She closed the hidden entrance to the lab then went to look for Ziggy. They found him curled up in front of the fireplace asleep.
"Zigzag, we're going to Diagon Alley, do you want to come with us?" Freddie asked him. The kneazle's ears twitched and he opened one brilliant green eye to observe her, then slowly closed it again.
"I guess that's a no?" Ada asked, smiling slightly.
"Good guess," she chuckled. "We'll do Side-Along Apparition to get there and now that we've been here you can get back here on your own. If you ever need to get here using the Floo you just say 'Spinner's End' and it'll bring you here."
"Understood," she said with a nod. "Let me grab my bag and I'll be ready to go."
Freddie waited while Ada rushed back upstairs to get her purse. She returned a moment later with a light blue messenger bag over her shoulder. Freddie could tell from looking at it that she had at least two books in her purse, probably the ones she'd borrowed from Snape's shelf.
"We should probably go to Gringott's first so I can exchange my currency, then we can explore the village and do some shopping."
"Is there a Gringott's in France?" Freddie asked curiously. "Where do you do your banking back home?"
"There are branches of Gringott's all over the world," Ada confirmed and she got that look in her eye that Freddie knew meant she was remembering something she'd seen in a book. "But the one in London is its headquarters and it was the very first. It was established in 1474 and has remained goblin owned and operated almost the entire time. There are thousands of vaults at Gringotts, no one knows the exact number, only the goblins do, and they go miles underground."
"I know," Freddie said with a chuckle. "My vault – well, my parents' really, but it's in my name now – it's number 693 and it takes ages to get there on the cart. That place is a maze underground, but aboveground it's a really gorgeous building. It towers over everything else in Diagon Alley, all white marble and columns-"
"I can't wait to see it! Come on, let's go," Ada said excitedly, grabbing Freddie's arm.
"Alright, alright. Allons-y, Adalene."