Chapter Fifteen
Boxing Teams
It was not long after the last class let out that Roy Lockhart braved the halls of Fishanwish, while students raced outside in a mad dash to play as much Quidditch as possible before the first snowfall. Other students seemed more eager to get to the school's year-round ice rink, a couple of them chatting in French with an accent both familiar and unfamiliar to him at the same time.
The door to Rhett's office was open, so Roy stepped in with a brief knock on the door.
"Oh, there you are. Yes, come in, shut the door," Rhett said, getting up from an over-sized desk built to accommodate him. It left very little room in the narrow little office, especially when he had shelves on every wall filled with books, Magic Items, and even and Artifact or two set inside glass cubs to keep them from activating any time a guest or student bumped into them.
"What a quaint office! Cozy," Roy added as an afterthought, thinking it might be more polite.
"I'm not sure they even had humans in mind when they set this room's proportions... they certainly didn't design it for someone of my height and build," Roy grumbled.
"Obviously not," Roy acknowledged. "Is this a typical office for this school?"
"Believe it or not, having an office this size is an envied position. Many teachers have to share office space. It's the one thing I miss about teaching at Hogwarts... they really know how to take care of their staff," Rhett commented.
"True, but I would never suffer to teach again. Writing is my calling, and if I had to do it all over again, I would refuse the position. If it hadn't been for that school, I never would have gotten myself into this current mess," Roy decided. "Speaking of which, what have you found out about the medallion? You wrote that you were finished documenting it."
"I am," Rhett said, turning his back to Roy so that he could open a small safe, bringing it out the silk-wrapped medallion. I can confirm it is in fact a key because of the enchantments that have been place upon it. There are enchantments against erosion, breaking, tarnish and one to keep all of the pieces of the medallion together... and thank goodness for that. The black marble in the center of the medallion was loose. I had to add some claw settings to keep it in place, which was tricky since I didn't want to interfere with the key's enchantments in any way. I conjecture that this key was designed to be pressed next to a negative recess of some kind."
"I have seen that on Ancient Magic doors often enough, and this medallion would probably be well suited for something of that nature. Typically, boxes and chests are sealed with crest rings and other much smaller jewelry pieces. The box itself would have to be enormous..." Roy said with a shake of the head. "It is certainly too big to open a locked jar like in the myth."
"The jar mentioned in the tale was actually very large storage jar half as tall as me, but I concur that a chest or trunk would be a much more logical conclusion," Rhett said. "There is something else that is rather odd about this medallion, and that is the carved jade itself. This sort of elaborate patterning is too advanced for it to have come from ancient Greece."
"Emil's hypothesis is that Pandora's Box was a gift, so that makes sense," Roy replied.
"That is the wrong way to look at it," Rhett warned. "It is unwise to fit facts around a narrative when it comes to researching an item. We must look at what we know, and not get taken in by speculation, especially speculation as wild as Emil Trench's claim that this is a key to Pandora's Box. It is a key, that we know. But it could be a key to anything, and we should only be eliminating possibilities at this point rather than attempting to mold it to this story of his. I also don't think you should trust a wizard whom you had thrown in the Tower."
"That was an accident," Roy said defensively. "I had no idea that he was smuggling items, and I am not responsible for the fact that he decided to pull a wand out on my Auror friend in the exchange. Obviously he is ready to make amends or he would not have entrusted me with the welfare of this key, which is surely his most prized possession since he has been looking for that box all of his career."
"Then why did he not tell us the trick to keeping that cave door open? I'm not entirely convinced that he didn't mean to lock you in there permanently to get even with you," Rhett warned. "Whether he has forgiven you for this latest incident or not, I doubt that he will ever forgive you for erasing his memories despite the cure. In fact, now that he is cured, he is more likely to hate you."
"Don't be silly, of course he doesn't," Roy said flippantly. Rhett gazed at him evenly. "Emil has forgiven me. He has even asked to stay with me for a while once he gets out of prison until he can find a place to stay."
"If he did, it is only because you have a townhouse in city limits. Personally, I think you should do everything in your power to keep him out of the next bedroom. If you feel the obligation of compensating for his arrest, pay the rent on a flat or a house for him instead," Rhett insisted.
"I confess, that does sound like a much better idea," Roy decided. "I shall take your advice on the matter."
"Good. Keep this safely out of his hands, while you're at it, and don't tell him where it is," Rhett advised, handing Roy the medallion and an envelope with its paperwork. "I will check in when I can, but I need to get back to work."
"Quite alright. If I find out where the box is, I'll simply hire an Auror to go with me. But first, I need to get a lead," Roy said with a thin smile. "It is all rather fun, isn't it? Doing my own research, that is. I should do it more often, just for the change of pace. Thank you for all of your help! Until next time!"
"Bye," Rhett said. Rhett shook his head as Roy stepped out of the door, then turned his attention to his paperwork.
When Quintin tracked down Bedivere's painting the next day, he finally found it hanging in the Main staircase near the fifth floor.
"I am here because the Headmaster wants me cleaned along with some of the paintings gathered around me. It makes it easier on Pyther when we're all in the same place when he comes to call," Bedivere explained.
"I'm glad you're not lost, but it did take me a minute to hunt you down. I needed to ask you if you remember your living self owning an engraved silver box," Quintin explained.
"Ah! A silver box! I believe I do know something about it. It was given to Bedivere by Rowena Ravenclaw as a present when he took over as School Chancellor. It was quite pretty, engraved with different celestial symbols," he explained.
"Celestial, I see. Do you know what was in it?" Quintin asked.
"I only saw him receive it, and his back was turned to me," Bedivere admitted. "But I did hear him comment how much he loved it, and that it contained the most powerful magical item he ever owned."
"That much we knew from Caprica," Quintin said. "In fact, she's gotten Jeremy all worked up wondering what's in it. He asked me to help him hunt down clues to try to find it."
"Caprica once told me that 'curiosity killed the cat,'" Bedivere quoted. "She said that is why she never takes the form of a cat. I hope you are careful as well."
"Does you think the box is something dangerous?" Quintin asked.
"Anything of power is dangerous. That is why magic has so many rules to follow," Bedivere replied with a smile. "I hope you find what you are looking for, but please don't let your schoolwork suffer while you are on the hunt. If the Silver Box has been missing for this long, it can wait until after your studies are done. Priorities, you know!"
"Yes, Professor, I know," Quintin assured him. "Thanks for the advice."
"I will be hanging here for the next few weeks if you need me," Bedivere offered. Quintin climbed down a flight of stairs, heading to the Dusthorn rooms.
Zelda stepped out onto the balcony above to see which way Quintin went, then slipped down the corridor towards the secret passages. She had learned to navigate them over her first year so it took her almost no time to make her way back to the Slytherin, calling her siblings into her room for a meeting. Douglas moved over a large ornate mirror and set it on the desk next to them. A moment later, Antonio appeared gazing at the others questioningly.
"Is there some sort of crisis that I need to handle?" Antonio inquired.
"Don't be ridiculous! I am in charge. You are nothing here!" Zelda snapped at him.
"I am the favorite, after all," Antonio said unapologetically. Broc turned around and rolled his eyes at his sister Bonnibel, who shook her head with exasperation. "I am also more powerful than you are, Zelda."
"As if!" Zelda snapped.
"I also have more money and I'm better looking than you," Antonio added for good measure.
"That has absolutely nothing to do with this conversation!" she immediately countered. "Besides, you're just starting school this year, and I am older than you!"
"We are the oldest," Moira and Bonnibel said in unison.
"And we're more powerful than you if we're working together," Moira pointed out for good measure.
"Care to challenge that? You may have more magical knowledge than me, but I can whip you both in a fight," Zelda threatened them, and Douglas began waving his hands.
"Please let's not fight about this!" he protested. "Antonio, our father has put Zelda in charge, so there's no reason for family politics. It's out of our hands."
"All I need to do is to tell grandfather the truth about how our mother is manipulating Father and the entire Villin family will be after all of you," Antonio reminded them.
"How about a quick vote so we can move on?" Douglas suggested. "All in favor of Zelda being in charge?"
Everyone in the room raised their hands, and Antonio gazed at them critically. Finally, he sighed.
"Fine, I bow gracefully to the majority, but it still doesn't change the facts," he said, tilting his head but without a full nod.
"What was it that you wanted to talk about, Zelda?" Douglas asked, sitting back down near Broc.
"It's about Quintin and those Dusthorns of his," Zelda said, still quite agitated. "It sounds like they're going to start trouble again. I caught them talking to a painting in the main staircase. Apparently they're looking for an artifact that is somewhere in this castle, a box that's supposed to contain significant power."
"So what? Why not just let the professors handle it?" Antonio asked.
"Because Quintin is the Headmaster's son and he gets away with everything he does around here," Zelda told him, losing her patience again.
"Oh. I suppose that's only natural," Antonio decided.
"The last time they had a research project, they wrote that damning article about Salazar Slytherin that put our house into a tailspin," Moira explained.
"Impressive, but that has nothing to do with me, does it?" Antonio pointed out.
"Quintin also commands the attention of the vast majority of student witches in this school... twice as many as you do," Broc informed his brother. Antonio was immediately stunned.
"Cazzo? Let's wreck him!" Antonio declared angrily.
"We will wreck him... by finding that stupid box before he does," Zelda told them.
"Let's do it. Bonnibel, Broc, you have my permission to go along with Zelda's plan," Antonio declared.
"I'm going to dunk your head in a bucket the next time I see you," Bonnibel threatened him.
"If you do, I'll tell grandfather," Antonio said unconcernedly.
"Enough bickering! We need to get organized," Zelda snapped, then began handing out assignments.