2022
"...so that chicken boy's coming too?" Professor Snyde raised an eyebrow in derision, and Penny rolled her eyes with a smile and exhaled:
"He hasn't been a chicken for a long time. Ben's an Auror with a lot of experience."
"'Well, I'm not sure about that... He shudders when he remembers his early years."
Hermione's ears perked up as she snapped out of her reverie: talking about the past of some of her colleagues had developed a new conditioned reflex in her. Luckily, there were two of them sitting on her left at the professor's table in the Great Hall, which made it easy to hear.
"Considering what he went through back then, nothing surprising..." Penny sighed again. "You, by the way, had a busy hand in ruining his whole impression of his school days."
"Then he ruined it for me."
Charlie, sitting on the right, snorted, almost choking on his food.
"Let's be frank, you deserved it," he coughed, and Merula shot her eyes in his direction.
"I'd curse you, Weasley, but I don't want innocents to get hurt."
"I didn't realise that the most powerful witch of all generations in the history of magic is also so noble. I swear I've never noticed that about you before!" Charlie chuckled and deftly dodged a stinging jinx that flew over Hermione's head, causing her to reflexively lean her head against the table and press her hair against the back of her head with the palm of her hand. The jinx flew on, dissipating after the Headmaster's intervention - though barely noticeable to the eyes of others. But the meaningful look sent to Merula and Charlie said all that was unspoken.
"You're all professors," he would hiss contemptuously, raising an eyebrow and enunciating each syllable clearly to make sure it got through, "not bloody obnoxious children". Hermione could almost hear his voice in her head.
Did they always behave like this?
Why had Hermione never seen this kind of friendly table banter before, let alone any kind of friendship between them! Or was it just that now she knew a little more, she was starting to pay attention to it? Why did Professor Snyde's coldness and aloofness now seem like nothing more than a carefully drawn mask that occasionally cracked? What was this... goofiness in an extremely stern person who had smiled once in an eternity?
1985
"You think you can get to the Vaults before me? Not in this life, Samudra."
Those were the first words out of Merula's mouth since they had seen each other again. Last year she'd said that Arrain's brother was chasing imaginary vaults, and this year she was going to find one for herself. When they returned to the school in their second year, it seemed that much had changed since the summer holidays.
And the holidays had been filled with searching.
Getting a pile of back numbers of the Daily Prophet out of the attic before the house elf threw them away was a lot easier than going through all the crap they had spewed at Jacob. Most attention, of course, had been paid to his search for the Cursed Vaults, calling him a madman or a delusional - no one believed the Vaults were real. Neither did Merula, until recently.
"No confirmation that they exist," Arraine told her friend over a holiday feast. "Some say the Founders built them, others that some madman created them to hide his treasures. Some say the Vaults existed a long time ago and no longer exist, others say they're filled with terrible curses."
"Nothing that makes sense, huh...?" stretched Rowan thoughtfully, but suddenly turned to her, breaking away from her food. "By the way, do you remember the signs carved into the wall near the ice corridor?"
"Did they mean something?"
"They did. It's runes. 'An ice knight guards a lost staircase', that's what it said, it took me hours to translate one sentence! And then I remembered your vision last year... There was a knight and a staircase, wasn't there?"
"There was. So the vision turned out to be..."
"A prediction? Who knows... Time will tell anyway," Khanna shrugged. "By the way, I never read anything about the knights, but I did find some information about the no longer existing staircases. Nothing particularly interesting, but the fact is..."
"What if they lead to the Vaults?"
"That is not the question. The question is how to find what doesn't exist anymore."
Exactly... Jacob had tried to find something that wasn't there, and maybe he had, but he hadn't told anyone. And there were other people - there couldn't be anyone else in history who wanted to discover the secrets of Hogwarts or the ancient artefacts and treasures.
"...if some of you explore the castle, don't hesitate to report back to the professors, even if it sounds ridiculous or impossible," skipping the headmaster's speech, Era only paid attention to his words towards the end. The hint was obvious, unlike Dumbledore's speech last year at a time when there were no dangers in the school... well, new dangers and no veiled warnings. "Now, enough words for today. Please enjoy the feast!"
The problems started on day one, not even a day - right after the feast.
Ben is missing somewhere. The same muggle-born boy from Gryffindor who, despite shaking like an aspen leaf at every rustle, had agreed to check out the cursed ice corridor with them.
The last person to see him was Penny, and that was after the Hogwarts Express had arrived. No matter who was asked about him, there were too many opinions and words and very different, frankly ridiculous fantasies. After listening to them, Penny was so worried that her head was spinning and there was not enough air, so Arrain had to take her to her common room.
On the way back, while she was lost in anxious thoughts, Merula appeared out of nowhere and followed her like a tail all the way to the dungeons, annoying by her very presence. Why did she follow so persistently, in silence, Era had no time to ask, as she was ahead of her:
"And where did you lose your mudblood buddy?"
Mockingly, enjoying the situation, the girl overtook her just before the entrance to the Slytherin common room and turned to face her. The last thing Era wanted to see, given the tension that was building around and within her, was that girl.
"Are you involved in this?" it slipped out, even though it was logically clear that it was probably not. Nevertheless, Merula chuckled:
"I know a lot more than you. Things happen at school that you will never understand, Samudra. Make sure you don't get yourself killed by sticking your nose in..."
"If you don't want to help me find Ben, then just go your own way, Merula," Era said annoyed, much more annoyed than usual - she forgot to remember her brother's advice to calm down.
"As you want. And don't say later that I didn't warn you..."
A search of the castle yielded no results.
The professors were in no hurry to make a public announcement about the missing student, and it was not long before panic set in. Instructions were given to the prefects and the school's headboy and headgirl - they found nothing, so it was decided to resume the search a little later.
But could his friends afford to go about their business in peace? Apparently not.
And while Era and Rowan were digging in the Artefact Room - where Ben often hid, waiting out the storm in the guise of Merula or Peeves - they found a small coded note. "Your next instructions will be transfigured into a black quill and hidden in the Gryffindor common room. You will be heavily punished if you do not follow the instructions. R." - That's what it said, thanks to Rowan's translation. And how did she do it so quickly?
Well, this has already become a major cause for worry. Ben's disappearance, incomprehensible instructions, some kind of quills and, finally, what kind of signature is this "R"? An initial? But the second letter was not enough to narrow the search - this letter was in the names of hundreds of people in the walls of Hogwarts.
To be honest, there weren't too many options for what to do next: go into the lion's common room and look for a quill, which, with any luck, might still be there somewhere. Thanks to Merlin, Arrain had a very clever friend who had learned a Shrinking Charm over the summer and remembered the upcoming Quidditch match. Neither of them had ever been interested in the sport, but the opportunity to sneak into the common room unnoticed while the students were tearing bundles from the stands was excellent.
It remained to be hoped that the ever-present Gryffindor Prefect would be sufficiently enthusiastic and not order a sudden inspection.
Risky or not, there were no other options. The professors did not understand what was happening to the boy, he was not attending classes even when he arrived by train, and if they were doing anything about it - well, if they were, they were keeping it a secret from the students. The Prefects searched the castle for Ben, and the general mood of the second year was one of despair and fear. The most fearful were sure that Ben had been dead for a long time, but... Era didn't even want to think about it.
They just have to look good.
Living in the same house with a bunch of noisy kids, Bill took every opportunity to stay in silence. The Quidditch match seemed like a gift: not a living soul for at least an hour, and if the Seekers delayed the game, then even longer. So he sat down with a book on the stairs leading to the boys' dormitories, his back against the wall and his feet on the handrail. He was about to enjoy every second of peace and quiet, leafing through the pages, when a sudden noise made him tense.
In the room near the fireplace, out of nowhere appeared... Arrain Samudra.
Bill barely held back an exclamation of surprise and buried his head in his shoulders so she wouldn't notice him. It was... against the rules, to be honest. He should have called the Prefect or the Head of the House and betrayed the culprit, but he just held his breath, trying not to make a sound.
The girl was searching for something.
She had grown up a bit over the summer. She still let her hair, curled into spirals at the tips, hang freely behind her back, and in general she remained extremely recognisable.
Arrain searched every nook and cranny, crawled under sofas and armchairs and bookshelves, and he, who had retreated from his student duties, did not want to interfere, lost in watching. That's the kind of courage it takes to sneak into the common room of someone else's House, even the one whose Head of House was McGonagall! Only Snape was worse... even though he was the head of her own House.
And she did it despite all the failures - according to the professors, of course - that had been listed for her since last year. With those damned vaults...
Bill felt it his duty to study everything he could find on the topic over the summer. Historical books, biographies, schoolbooks - there was information in them... but it wasn't much. Then he asked his father - it turned out that during the years of his schooling there had been various rumours and legends, and as far as Arthur could remember, there were several vaults, and no one had ever proved their existence. But one thing he told his son with confidence, shaking his finger, was that searching for vaults was extremely dangerous. And it's not about being expelled from school, as happened to Jacob, Arrain's brother, but about the fact that the vaults are... cursed. It makes sense, judging by the name.
And why she tried to find one of them last year remained a mystery. Perhaps she was greedy for adventure. Maybe very brave. Or stupid - Bill could only guess. But when he caught the spark of interest again, and appreciated her reckless bravery in entering the common room of another House, he could not help but feel something like respect.
That's probably why he started to focus on her every time the girl came into view.
"Why didn't you take points from her?!"
That's probably what Rowan was talking about. And everything went well before that, actually! And the spell worked as it was supposed to, and she got in without any problems, and found a quill, and saw another common room with her own eyes - okay, that was not the most important thing, although it was a very interesting experience. And it was necessary for Angelica to suspect that something was wrong and to tell McGonagall!
"Because Miss Samudra, though she acted rashly, had no bad intentions. She showed courage and, despite the risks, went in search of her missing friend. A friend from our House, Miss Cole."
Looking at the disgruntled Angelica and McGonagall, whose words seemed to hurt the Prefect, because she didn't say another word, Arrain and Rowan exhaled: It seemed to go well. It was surprising, given their less than exemplary reputations and the severity of the Head of Gryffindor, for whom such offences could result in the deduction of fifty points, if not worse.
In the dormitory, with no one around, they untransfigured the quill with the help of a Reparifarge and, as expected, an instruction actually appeared in its place.
"Go to the farthest corridor in the eastern part on the fifth floor," Era read aloud. "Transfigure the note back into the quill and leave it where you found it. You will be heavily punished for disobeying. "R"."
"Don't tell me that punishment is already..." Rowan's eyes widened in horror, but Era stopped her:
"Wait, what's the corridor?"
"I don't know, but shouldn't we tell Dumbledore about this now? He said that we should tell immediately about any strange things to... um, I have a bad feeling about this, really," the friend shook her head, anticipating the words that would follow. "I know what you're going to say... Do we really have to go there?"
"I understand if you're scared," Samudra pursed her lips. "Maybe I'll ask Penny, though... actually I'd rather go alone. Ben... no one knows what's going on with him, maybe he needs help right now. I'll just go and see if he's here, and if he's not, I'll tell the professors.
Nodding, Rowan tried to calm her trembling fingers, and no matter how much it went against everything in her being, she simply could not allow Era to go into the unknown alone. Friends don't do that, right?
"The ice continues to spread throughout the school. Obviously someone is still trying to open the Cursed Vault."
That's what McGonagall told Snape as Arrain and Rowan ran to the corridor, wincing at the stabbing pain in their sides and hiding around the corner to avoid being spotted; luckily, Ben had already been rescued.
Era scrolled through the phrase for the rest of the day, trying to figure out: who? Who did they suspect? She herself had not come close to an answer in the past year and the beginning of this one, which was why the way to the entrance of the Vaults was still closed. If someone had tried to get in there, and more than once... was it Jacob?
In any case, McGonagall indirectly confirmed the existence of these mysterious places. And Arrain's older brother was no madman at all.
It's good that everything else turned out to be a bit of blood. Well, yes, Ben suffered, of course, being chained in an ice trap, and his memory, according to Madam Pomfrey, was unstable - he could not remember any instructions, how he got into the corridor, or anything else of any use. But otherwise he was unharmed.
Only Rowan refused to believe in his sudden amnesia.
Sensing something was wrong, they returned to the corridor when it was empty. It was cold and eerie, frosty patterns spread across the floor, walls and high ceiling, and suddenly it blew...
"Rowan!" Era's heart pounded with excitement. "Listen!"
A soft, barely perceptible whistle of wind touched their ears, forcing them to look down at their feet.
"It's blowing from there!" Khanna exclaimed in surprise, pointing to the junction of wall and floor.
"Could that be a hidden entrance?"
"Are you kidding? At Hogwarts?" Rowan tilted her head sceptically. "Anything can happen at Hogwarts..."
"Exactly... Do you know any spells to... oh wait, in private lessons McGonagall taught us one, what was it...Rilev..."
"Revelio!"
Having fished out her wand, Arrain hastily repeated the spell, pointing it at the wall, and suddenly...
"M-Merlin's pants!"
... the masonry floated like a surface of water, revealing a huge staircase, a dozen feet wide, with a soft yellow-green light glowing at the end.
"Rowan, this is the..." Era whispered in amazement. "The same staircase from my vision..."
"Do you realise that we've found a part of Hogwarts that no one really knows about?" Khanna said in the same tone. "This is... unbelievable!"
The fear that had shackled her lately seemed to be forgotten under a pile of emotions at the realisation: even if a human foot had walked here, it was very, very rare. But their own feet walked freely up the stairs.
It grew colder with each step, and if Rowan's thirst for exploration kept her from retreating, Arrain was held back by the thought that her brother might be out there right now. Only now the chattering teeth were desperately begging her to return for warm things.
"Footprints," Arrain stopped, nodding to the side. "Someone's been here before."
Following the footprints, they came to a high archway, behind which was another tiny corridor, apparently made entirely of ice, with doors to the ceiling and... a spell flying from who knows where!
Arrain miraculously managed to jump away, but Rowan... Thrown several feet away, she lost consciousness. Fortunately, Era was able to reassure Madam Pomfrey that her friend had been overdoing her studies and had fainted from exhaustion, falling and hitting her head.
There was another plus one on the counter of acquired problems. Thanks for not letting anyone else find out.
And then suddenly there was one less problem.
It's just that Merula soon wanted to add fuel to the growing fire of hatred and rejection by stealing some of the ingredients from Snape and putting them in Arrain's bedside table, and then making him think certain thoughts. What was the point of her dancing with the tambourine? To keep the enemy away from the school, obviously, or, which also made sense, to attract attention.
Snape didn't want to hear anything, of course. Only when, in response to Arrain's excuses, he asked Snyde if she had arranged it, Merula lied. She lied without any talent at all, which the Head of the House noticed.
"I would like to believe you, but your eyes move around when you lie. You have no idea how to get out of what you have done. As punishment for trying to frame a student from your own House, Miss Snyde, you will stay after class to put the inventory and supplies in order. Now get out of here."
For once, Arrain finally had faith in some kind of higher justice in this world. And even McGonagall, who caught her after visiting Rowan and Ben in the hospital wing, made her doubt the reality of what was happening:
"I really want to believe in your wisdom, Miss Samudra. I see how careful you are with your friends and how respectful you are of learning. However, your inappropriate attitude to the rules does not fit in with the brilliant mind you possess."
"Professor," Era smiled, "rules are not for brilliant minds, otherwise they lose all their brilliance."
"As your teacher, I have to take away twenty points from you just for thinking about a possible violation of the rules in the future and for this excuse of yours. I hope you understand," the woman sighed heavily and adjusted her glasses. "However, as a former Gryffindor, I would like to reward you with the same amount for your efforts."
"Professor!.."
"You will be punished for any further deviations from the rules of the school. Know that I am not encouraging your actions," Minerva clicked sternly, interrupting her, but then added, lowering her voice, "But I admire them."
...
When one of the vaults seemed so close and accessible, it was simply unbearable not to go through those doors that spat curses. Full of hope, Arrain expressed one idea and assumption after another, sitting next to her friend's bed, completely oblivious to her depressed appearance.
"And when you get better, we'll go back there..."
"I'm not coming back," Rowan interrupted quietly, looking a little guilty. After she fell silent, Era turned her gaze to her, not daring to answer. "I really want to help you, but... I will never be strong and brave enough to overcome all this. I will hold you back..."
"No, you..."
"Era," Rowan reached out and took her hand, "I'll do anything to help you decipher any ciphers, find any information, anything, but... I'm not going back there."
Samudra squeezed the girl's palm in response, nodded, and lifted the corners of her lips slightly.
"I get it... Well, don't worry. Just gather your strength, and I'll figure out how to get there."
"Era, I'm really sorry. I feel so useless..."
"Stop it. After what happened, I fully understand your state of mind, and you never had to take part in everything I keep dragging you into."
"I wanted it myself."
"Right, and now you have the right not to. Rowan," Samudra moved from her chair to the bed to embrace her, "you help me by being alive. Thank you. Thank you for everything."
When McGonagall spoke of brilliant minds, she probably wasn't referring to Arrain, but to Rowan. How else to explain the breadth of thought and comprehensiveness with which she approached every case?
"Here, look," a few days later, after she had recovered, the girl left the hospital wing and joined everyone for dinner, having run into the dormitory before. She handed Era a short list of names written on a piece of paper. "I have spent hours trying to find the strongest students in the school. Skills in duels, magical potential, strategy - for every taste... although there are not so many of them".
"And are there any of them who could help?"
"Ben is one of the most obvious. He's good at Charms, but I doubt he wants to get involved right now. Merula is really strong in many ways, but trusting her... no way, you know. And there's someone you've never met. Someone who is much stronger than Ben and Merula. Probably even stronger than you..."
"Any of the older students can be a hundred times stronger than me," she thought dejectedly, but just asked:
"Who?"
"Bill Weasley!"
"Oh, I... haven't heard anything about him."
"Are you kidding?!" an exclamation from Rowan's mouth caused even her glasses to slip off in surprise. "You don't know anything about him?! He's one of the most popular boys at school! He is the strongest in the whole fourth year! You'll see, people like him always become Prefects, and then Head Boys! I can't believe it... ask anyone - he's the bravest of all the students!"
"And you seem to like him very much," Era giggled, getting a poking in the side from her friend and her reddened cheeks as proof of her rightness. "Okay, it sounds like there's no one more perfect for this."
"Because he is! The question is, how can we ask him for such help? We are complete strangers to him, he has hardly heard of the Vault, and he is also a Gryffindor student".
That's a problem... Not only did Arraine have no idea what he looked like, but there was Gryffindor, the Prefect of which already had a grudge against her.
"I'll try to talk," she said, shrugging her shoulders as if to say what else can we do. "Perhaps it will be possible to interest him in something..."
"Anyway, I've often noticed him at the training ground, where he practises his spells. Good luck, Era. Big, big luck, even though I'm so sure it's going to work out," Rowan smiled. After a minute of silence, she leaned closer and added quietly, almost conspiratorially: "Because if he becomes your friend, then he becomes mine!"