Chapter Thirty-Seven

Something Sinister this Way Comes

Bonnibel, Broc, and Antonio climbed up the winding staircase with Moira and Zelda lagging behind. The lanterns in the stairwell were red and dim, and the shadows and creaking rails were altogether disturbing.

"Well come on, then. You're not scared, are you?" Antonio taunted them.

"Of course not. It's always this dark," Moira snapped. "It simply seems darker than usual to us because it's daytime and we came in from a window-filled corridor. It's lit at the same exact level as it is when we come to class at night, and the lighting is perfectly fine."

"You read that from me," Broc accused her.

"What if I did?" Moira challenged him.

"Would all of you be quiet? Don't forget that Sinistra is probably sleeping and her rooms are next to her office. You could simply think at one another, you know," Bonnibel whispered loudly.

"Don't you dare!" Zelda snapped. "I hate Aurelius Snape for cutting me off like that! It's totally unfair!"

"You shouldn't even be here," Antonio said, shaking his head disapprovingly. "You are only going to get us into trouble."

"I want that Silver Box found, and I want it found now," Zelda demanded.

"We don't even know if it's up there. We're just making sure it didn't get mixed in with the Astronomy artifacts," Moira reminded her.

"Less talking and more climbing. Not only will we wake the professor, we'll be completely out of breath if we keep this up," Bonnibel hissed, then turned to finish the climb.

Sure enough, they were all out of breath by the time they got to the top, stopping just outside the arch that led into the classroom.

"My heart... give me a moment... this can't be good for my complexion," Antonio gasped, holding his chest.

"Spare us," Moira replied.

"There are no girls to play up to, so why do you even care?" Broc snapped.

"You will need me to talk our way out of trouble if we get caught," Antonio reminded him.

"Have you even met Professor Sinistra?" Bonnibel asked him critically.

"I wouldn't call it meeting her. I've seen her often enough around the castle helping Professor Craw and Mr. Craw with security," Antonio said.

"That in and of itself should tell you something. She's powerful and she doesn't put up with any nonsense from students," Bonnibel warned.

"And she gives out way too much homework," Moira said dourly.

"So she's the serious type? I can work with that," Antonio assured her.

"Actually, I've seen her joke around with the other professors from time to time. She just doesn't do it with students," Moira said. "But she isn't keen on daytime at all, and I'm sure she'd be less than amiable if we work her up, so let's do our best to remain quiet."

"Let's just get started so we can be done and get out of here," Broc suggested, and they all filed into the room.

The classroom itself was also dark with only the twinkling stars on the ceiling. Bonnibel decided the best solution was to head up to the trap door leading outside, flinging it open and letting enough sun in that they had plenty of light to work with.

"Alright Moira, you know what to do," Bonnibel said.

All of the walls of the classroom were filled with star charts and horoscope symbols except for the outside wall, which was filled with bookshelves and a display case. Even though it was the display case they were most interested in, Moira immediately went over to the bookshelf and pulled down a list that was dangling on a chord, setting it on a wide shelf at the bottom that seemed to double as a desk.

"What is this?" Antonio whispered curiously, stepping over as she took a quill out of an inkwell sitting there.

"This is Professor Sinistra's reference library. These books are specifically for students in her advanced classes who need to look something up for their homework. She has this list here to write our names down on in case we need to borrow them during the day," Moira whispered. "It's our excuse to be here."

"Ah, I see! I wonder why she doesn't keep them in the library?" Antonio whispered back.

"Because these books belong to her, you nit, not the school," Zelda whispered venomously, going over to the cases.

"I wonder if there's something useful for our research in here?" Moira mused.

"It's the Box we want. Who cares about the research?" Zelda replied impatiently, peering in the glass cabinet. She called up another light, but the shelves at her height mostly had spyglasses, sextants, and astrolabes. "Nothing interesting on the bottom shelves. Moira, bring the ladder over here."

Moira, who was thumbing through one of the books she found, sighed and put it down long enough to take the ladder off the hook and bring it over.

"We're going to have to anchor it on the far wall over there. It's not wise to put it up against the glass itself," Moira said.

"There's no hook, but it should be alright leaning it at an angle if we put a spell on it to make it stick in place," Bonnibel decided. "Still, someone should probably watch the bottom to be safe. Broc, you climb up."

"Me? I'm not getting up there," Broc said in a voice loud enough that Moira and Bonnibel hushed him and reminded him where they were.

"Don't worry, Broc! We'll make sure you don't fall! Just think, you may be the first to find the Silver Box! Everyone will congratulate you on your accomplishment," Antonio reasoned.

"Stop trying to compel me. I know you are," Broc accused him.

"Get up there or I'll compel you my way," Zelda threatened.

"Fine," Broc said with a sigh, reluctantly going up the ladder.

"There, you see? My method works better," Zelda told Antonio.

"The shelves are pretty full," Broc commented before Antonio could respond. "But most of what's up here are scroll cases wrapped in cloth with tassels hanging out... probably ancient star charts. There is one box, but it's made of wood, not metal. Likely it just has more scrolls in it."

"Wait, it's long enough to hold a scroll and big enough to hold several? There could be something else in there," Zelda said. "Maybe the reason it hasn't been found before is the box is that it's within another container. Do we know how big the silver box is?"

"It's supposed to be long but shallow like a very wide wand box. That would still be small enough that it might fit into something else," Moira reasoned.

"It's behind the glass door opposite the one the ladder is next to, so I might be able to reach it if we can open it," Broc said.

"I just checked the lock, and there's definitely a hex of some kind on it... likely designed to trigger if anyone tries to open the cabinet with magic," Bonnibel reported. "We're going to need the key."

"Do you suppose it might be hidden in the professor's desk?" Antonio guessed.

"I think it might be in the hand of that golden monkey statue," Broc suggested.

"What?" Antonio asked in confusion.

"What are you talking about?" Zelda demanded.

"Maybe you can't see it well from the floor... it's on top of the book shelf Moira is standing next to... a gold monkey statue with a key in its hands," Broc explained.

"Get it then!" Zelda ordered.

"We'll need to move the ladder again," Bonnibel decided.

"Let me get down first!" Broc protested, climbing down.

"Why don't we just levitate it?" Antonio asked.

"Not without checking the statue for hexes first. If that cabinet lock is hexed, that key holder is likely hexed too," Bonnibel warned, helping Moria put the ladder back on its rail. "Make sure you run some checks on it before you grab it."

"Me again? Why can't someone else do it? Why does it have to be me?" Broc complained.

"Because you're the only person here that isn't a Truth Seeker, and while I might think twice about forcing you to do it anyway, they will," Bonnibel said, gesturing to the other three.

"I wouldn't force him. I would just ask nicely," Antonio said.

"It's just as bad and you know it," Bonnibel replied.

"I wish Stephen was here," Broc grumbled, going back over to the ladder.

"Him I'd gladly force into it," Bonnibel replied. "But he's not here, so up you go."

"Don't accidentally damage the books," Moira warned, moving the ones she had signed out.

"Whatever," Broc muttered and climbed up, pulling out his wand.

But when Broc pointed the wand at the statue and used it to run some checks on it, there was a strange glimmer, and he began to feel strange. He cried out in surprise, but his cry sounded strangely high-pitched. A bright flash filled the room, and when their eyes cleared, they found themselves looking up at a pale-faced monkey, hanging on awkwardly despite having fingers meant to grip. The monkey let out another call of agitation.

"Oh, well! Damage is done now, so you might as well grab the key since you've already triggered the thing," Moira reasoned. Broc bared his teeth in protest but managed to pry the key away and fling it at his sister. Somehow Bonnibel managed to catch it, looking it over before walking to the case. Broc let out another sound of protest.

"Calm down, you're going to wake the Professor up! I'm sure monkey noises probably travel further than human noises. We will figure out how to cure you later," Moira told him.

"Is it the right key, Bonnie?" Antonio asked her.

"It's definitely the right size and shape. It must be it," Bonnibel said, then held it out. "Here, Antonio, you put it in. I'll cover for you."

"What? Me? Did you want to be an only child?" Antonio protested with a laugh.

"Transformation hexes are completely reversible. Surely you've had enough Transfiguration to know at least that much even if you are a first year," Bonnibel informed him. "The fact that you're only a first year is exactly why you need to do it, because I know a lot more counterspells than you if something goes wrong."

"Fix Broc so and he can do it," Antonio challenged her.

"We are also on a time limit here! We need to get this done and get out before the professor wakes up, or have you forgotten? Moira, you do it," Bonnibel said.

"I can't get involved! It'd ruin my legitimate reason for being here," Moira argued, showing her the books.

"If we open that case, your excuses aren't going to matter anyway," Bonnibel said.

"Enough! Bonnibel, open it now!" Zelda commanded, and Bonnibel's arm immediately moved over to the case.

The moment the key went into the lock, a bright light flashed around her. Startled, Antonio reached in to try to yank his sister's hand away, getting caught up in the spell himself. As the light subsided, two more upset monkeys were clinging to the key, screeching out a protest when they realized what had happened.

"Oh, bloody candles and fu-"

A wooden door on the far end of the classroom slammed open with such force that Moira's cursing was effectively cut off. Even Zelda jumped back in surprise when she saw Sinistra standing there in an embroidered black dressing gown.

"What in the name of Merlin is going on in here? Who is monkeying around in my classroom?" Sinistra's voice boomed angrily.

"It's those pesky Villins, Professor Sinistra!" Moira immediately accused, Zelda nodding sagely in agreement. "I came up to get some books for class and they decided to follow me up here to snoop around!"

"And what's your excuse for being here considering you are no longer allowed to take any of my classes?" Sinistra demanded, squinting at Zelda.

"I'm just here to carry Moira's books," Zelda replied calmly. Sinistra sighed dubiously at their explanation and got out her wand, pointing it at the three monkeys jumping about until one by one they turned back into Bonnibel, Broc, and Antonio.

"Thank you! What a nightmare!" Antonio said with relief.

"Then what am I?" Sinistra asked dangerously. "Why were you snooping about my classroom at this ungodly hour?"

"They decided to follow me up here when they heard I was borrowing some books," Moira reiterated.

"We were trying to conduct research on Bedivere O'Lauren and thought we saw something in the case that could be related," Bonnibel added quickly. "We were just going to borrow the key long enough to look, that's all."

"Then you should have waited until tonight when you could ask me personally instead of taking matters into your own hands. My brass monkey has nothing to do with that display case," Sinistra told them.

"Your what?" Broc said, gawking at her.

"He is a novelty piece I picked up the last time I went to Nigeria. I leave him up there to keep him out of the draft so that he doesn't get too cold," Sinistra explained. Broc had to hold his nose to keep himself from laughing. "Now go up to the roof and fetch some buckets, brushes, and water from the storage hutch next to the telescopes! You are all going to clean this room from the observation deck to the floor. I want these tiles shining brighter than Arcturus when you're through!"

"What! But I was just getting books for class!" Moira protested with surprise.

"Oh, you are not in trouble for doing that. You are not even in trouble for snooping about, since my monkey decided to punish you himself. What you did was far, far worse than poking about," Sinistra snarled fiercely. "Because you students dared to wake me up before noon! Now, scrub!"

"Professor Sinistra..." Zelda began.

"You too, you wicked little thing! As for you, Antonio Villin, don't try flinging those mental impulses at me, you'll find I'm quite immune to them! Why do you think Dumbledore hired me for this position anyway? Get to work, or I swear you're going to be losing sleep tonight to make up for the hours of sleep you just cost me!" Sinistra snapped, marching them to the top of the Astrology Tower with her wand still dangerously in hand as the children pulled out buckets, brushes, and soap.

When Quintin and Jeremy stepped into the room ninety minutes later, they were more than a little surprised to see the Villins and Maxens hard at work; some cleaning the classroom while others were up on the observation deck. Zelda, it seemed, had gotten the honor of cleaning the tower steps.

"What are you doing here?" Jeremy asked curiously.

"Mind your own business! I could ask you the same!" Zelda snapped back.

"No fraternizing with the prisoners!" they heard Sinistra call out from the classroom.

"We're here for our appointment, Professor Sinistra," Quintin informed her.

"Come into my office, I already have coffee made. I want to give a few last minute threats to these naughty students before our conference," Sinistra said, squinting at the others as if daring them to do something questionable.

"What did they do?" Quintin asked.

"They woke me up," Sinistra said darkly.

"Capital offense!" Jeremy declared, and Quintin tugged his sleeve, the two of them stepping inside her office. "Oh look, an espresso machine... do you like this stuff straight? I'd rather have it with ice," he said.

"I think one of the Trade Elves is still around. What do you need besides ice?" Quintin asked.

By the time Sinistra stepped back into the room, she found herself staring at Jeremy as he was busy shaking a metal drink shaker.

"Are you mixing drinks?" Sinistra asked in stunned surprise.

"Relax, it's just coffee," Jeremy said, then poured out his foamy concoction of coffee, ice, sugar and cream into glasses. "American style coffee. Do you want one?"

"Certainly not! I prefer my coffee without accoutrements," she said. Jeremy and Quintin exchanged a grin.

"Come on, Professor! There's no harm in trying out another country's coffee culture, is there?" Quintin coaxed.

"Americans have culture?" Sinistra asked with surprise and skepticism. Jeremy held out a glass. "Wait, wait... let me prepare some real cups of coffee... one for before and one for after."

"Wow, Professor, you can really hold your caffeine, can't you?" Jeremy teased.

"Do you want me fully awake for this conversation or don't you? I've had a trying day already," Sinistra reminded them.

"What were they after, other than waking you up?" Quintin asked.

"The same thing as you, information for their report, only they didn't bother to ask," Sinistra said with irritation. "Yes, yes, I know those Maxens were never taught how to ask for permission. I blame their upbringing. But those Villin children know better. If they had come to me in the first place, I could have told them that searching that cabinet was futile because the Headmaster had already done so, and it would have prevented them from waking me up!"

"Dad searched the Astrology artifacts already?" Quintin rephrased with a frown.

"Yes, over the summer. You did know he had already been looking for that box, didn't you?" Sinistra asked.

"Yes. I suppose it makes sense that he would have looked here, since it's been recorded that there were astrology symbols on it. That's why we came too, we wanted to see if you had any ideas on what symbols might have been on it," Quintin said.

"Actually, I can make some guesses based on his work. Have you read any of them?" Sinistra asked.

"Yes, I've read all of his books on Symbology," Quintin said.

"His books were too much for me. I just research his personal life, background, and dig through comments his contemporaries wrote about him," Jeremy replied.

"Those opposing symbols of yours seem to make you a great team," Sinistra decided with amusement. "And you are also wise to ask for help when you need it. As it happens, I have been looking into Bedivere's influence on other subjects. When he became a Professor, Rowena Ravenclaw noticed his precise writing style and aptitude with writing and asked him to oversee the scribes who were in charge of producing books and scrolls for the students to use in their studies."

"We know all that already. It was in our first academic paper," Jeremy reminded her.

"Since he oversaw the creation of these books, he was often granted the liberty to add to subjects that often used symbolic interpretations, such as book on Augury and other Divinations, Arithmantics, and Astronomy," she explained, reaching over to the bookshelf behind her desk. "I even have an example for you to look at... where is it? Oh, I put it out on the other shelf because I thought you might come for it. I will go fetch it."

Sinistra downed her espresso and wandered out to see the students still hard at work. Moira, who had been in charge of dusting all of the books, watched curiously as the professor walked over and looked through the shelves only to notice the stack of books that Moira had pulled out.

"Ah! Here it is. I need to borrow this, Moira, but I will return it when I'm done," Sinistra told her and walked back to her office.

"Was that one of the books you pulled out for the research?" Bonnibel asked in realization.

"Yes, it was," Moira confirmed.

"Do you mean they just succeeded in getting the jump on us again?" Zelda asked from the doorway, fuming.

"Don't worry, she did say she was bringing it back," Moira said. "And now that I know that book is significant, I know which one to pay attention to."

"All the same, the fact that they're here and are going through the same book means they've probably caught up and they're more or less even with us, doesn't it?" Bonnibel said, climbing off the ladder. "I'm done with the ceilings. I'm going to the observation deck to help the boys finish up and I'll tell them what's going on."

"Who's going to help me with the floors?" Zelda complained.

"I'm almost done," Moira assured her. "Then I'll help you."

"Good, because we've wasted half the day already with this stupid detention," Zelda grumbled.

"Whose idea was it to come up here?" Moira reminded her. Zelda squinted at her darkly. "Look, it wasn't a complete waste. We did find some books."

"Who cares about the stupid books?" Zelda snapped.

"Wow, this book is gorgeous!" Jeremy said on the other side of the door. "Look at all of the embellishments around the edges... and the first letter of the text is almost a story in and of itself. Is that Aphrodite in the M?"

"No, that is Maia, the eldest of the Pleides. Do you remember which stars are those from your fundamentals class?" Sinistra asked him. Jeremy thought about it for a minute.

"They're in the Taurus asterim... near Orion," Jeremy said at last.

"Yes, that's right. And I agree, this particular volume is very beautiful... as embellished as many religious texts. And it is thought to have been embellished by Bedivere himself. He has added some added text to this volume as well," Sinistra said. "Let me have some coffee and I will find it for you. I may even try that alchemy concoction of yours."

"There's a lot of hidden symbology in here," Quintin noted, gazing at the embellishments. "It's going to take some study to decipher them all. Can we take this with us?"

"No, I'm sorry, but Moira has already checked this book out of the library and is allowed to keep it until reviews in two weeks," Sinistra said, making herself another espresso.

"They're ahead of us still," Quintin said with a sigh.

"Sure, but only by half a day, right? And maybe the text is what we need," Jeremy pointed out.

"Maybe," Quintin said unsurely.

"Your question when you came in here was what asterims might be on the Silver Box," Sinistra reminded them. "It is important to focus on one goal at a time and not get distracted," she advised, downing her coffee and then taking the book back to flip through it. "Ah! Here we are. This is one of his written additions."

"While the consensus among wizards is to use the traditional symbols and charts handed down to us from the Greeks, it is important to remind both scholar and student alike that many other cultures both human and Fae use vastly different symbols in star readings. Even small villages such as mine had its own symbols in the stars with different interpretations and outcomes. Therefore, it is important to proceed with caution and seek different opinions on outcomes of an extreme nature," Quintin read.

"Where have I heard that before?" Jeremy said and snapped his fingers. "That sounds like the speech Professor Ravenclaw gives before his classes or any other situation where students are asking about divination signs."

"It's also written somewhere in pretty much every book having to do with astrology and divination that we study at Hogwarts," Quintin informed him.

"Then it must have been pretty good advice," Sinistra said with amusement.

"But how is this relevant? Even if he was the one who first started adding that note, how could it possibly help us?" Jeremy asked.

"I think it's because this is more personal," Quintin said, tapping the book. "For one thing, it mentions 'like small villages such as mine'. Even if he signed the notation, we would never put any comments in first person in a scholarly book in this day and age. The other thing about this book that isn't something we see with modern books is all of the embellishments... miniatures, I think they're called. There's a lot of hidden iconography here, including the artwork in some of the embellished letters. In fact, there's so much of it that it'd take me hours to figure it all out."

"Well, I'm afraid you don't have hours, because I really need to return this book to Moira. Fair is fair... she checked this book out first, whether I approve of them snooping around and waking me up or not," Sinistra informed them.

"That's all right... we still learned a bit from seeing it. I think that if Rowena Ravenclaw added astrological symbols to the box, they were probably pretty personal to him... and some of them might not be the same asterims we're used to."

"Maybe all of them aren't," Jeremy said. "I don't suppose he wrote any specific books on his villages symbols?"

"Written, no. I think you might have to read between the lines on that one," she advised with a slight wink.

"How long does she get to keep this book again?" Quintin said.

"Until reviews before the holiday," Sinistra said. "But don't get any ideas of taking it over the holidays... as you can plainly see, this is an original manuscript and must stay in the castle. You'll simply have to wait until January."

"Didn't your Mother say she'd prefer we found that thing before we leave for break?" Jeremy said.

"I have another idea," Quintin assured him, closing the book. "Thank you very much, Professor."

"I'm always willing to help students who ask... and make appointments at a reasonable hour," Sinistra added for good measure. "One final thought... even if there are some unconventional star groupings on that box, I'd still be very surprised indeed if Leo wasn't on there in some way, or his birth sign for that matter."

"He was born in First Traveling month... I think that's June before the Solstice," Quintin informed her.

"Gemini then. The presence of those two asterims in the mix of unfamiliar groupings may give you further confirmation that you found what you are looking for. Of course, I'm only conjecturing," Sinistra said. "Anything else before I take this back out there?"

"Did you want to try the coffee?" Jeremy suggested.

When the door to the office opened, Sinistra was still coughing and sputtering, the two boys grinning despite the fact that she was pointing them towards the exit with a commanding finger.

"Begone, foul demons! You have contaminated my palette with your creamed and candied concoction! I expected better treatment from Professor Craw's son than entertaining such a bastardization of what had been a perfect brew!" Sinistra scolded them.

"Sorry, Professor, we're going! Thank you!" Quintin said, attempting to keep a straight face.

"Yes, sorry, thanks!" Jeremy said, not even trying to hide it and laughing the moment they got into the stairwell, the echo ringing into the room.

Sinistra shook her head and tsked disapprovingly, then turned and looked around the room and noticed all of the faces staring at her from their dusting positions.

"Yes, alright! You may go! Moira, here is the book you wish to borrow, take good care of it and return it on time, if you please! I'd like to secure it inside the cabinet before the holiday... which has nothing else of interest to your research in it, I might add. Don't forget to fetch the others from the roof on your way out!" Sinistra told them.

"Yes, Professor," Moira said, and they climbed up to the roof to join the others. The classroom door suddenly slammed shut as Sinistra displayed her disapproval of how her day was going.

"So what was that about? I take it something important is in that book," Bonnibel said.

"Then it's a good thing I signed it out before they could, isn't it?" Moira said.

"We may have the book, but we don't know what they learned from it," Bonnibel pointed out.

"Don't just stand there! Let's get back to the house rooms to see what they found out!" Zelda snapped.

"Hey, what about me?" Antonio flailed.

"You get busy finding out what they're planning to do next," Zelda snapped at him.

Antonio stood there thoughtfully a moment as the others worked their way down the stairs, pondering how he was going to do that.

"I suppose I could," he mused. "But if I do, I'm finding it out for myself. Won't that put Zelda in her place?" he said to himself with satisfaction before finally making his way out on his own.