Harry Potter: The Missing Keys

Chapter 11 of my Harry Potter story, enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or its characters.

Chapter 11

Time continued to pass and while Thaddeus Storm showed up towards the end of November to clarify that he had finished his investigations and that things were satisfactory, he saw no reason to 'inhibit curious students' from looking at the room he mentioned anymore, all he said was for them to expect to be disappointed. The group had shared a pointed look at that, wondering if that meant he'd found something and removed it, or if he had found practically nothing like them. It was now Christmas time and with a lot of students leaving, it made it easier for the group. The other refugees were surprised and also delighted. All of them were staying at Hogwarts of course, but some went to see their families who were staying in Hogsmeade for the holiday. But they had received a good welcome and had settled in well at Hogwarts. Initial suspicions and wariness had faded and now only Pixie and her minions remained a pain for the refugees, but they quickly learned just how much of a joke the trio were seen as by the other Hogwarts Students so did not take them seriously. There were only two things that lingered on the minds of the group, concerning the mystery that they had checked out, regarding the office, Marli was still waiting for a reply from her mother about her grandmother's friend and Jamie was still not sure how to reveal his grandfather's journal to them.

It was Christmas day and Amara grinned, she had finished getting ready after a brilliant morning opening presents, about to head down with the others to join them and have fun, looking forwards to the Christmas Feast that evening. As she reached the common room however she paused, Marli was there and seemed to be looking for something, she seemed worried in fact.

"Marli?"

The girl started and turned to her housemate and gave a smile.

"Oh, hey Amara." She greeted.

Amara tilted her head. "Is everything okay, what are you looking for?"

Marli bit her lip, but quickly shook her head. "It's nothing important, c'mon, let's go."

Amara was confused and was sure there was more to it than she thought. Especially when Cameron joined them and sent Marli a discreet, although not as discreet as he thought, nod, as if confirming something. They both looked anxious but quickly schooled their features and headed down for breakfast, ready to begin Christmas Day and enjoy themselves. As they met up with most of the others they took note of the people who were still present and that was when Toru, Cameron, Marli and Ariana got an idea, politely excusing themselves, they departed from the Great Hall which confused the others, but they still sat together and began talking, although Jamie was still absent. Toru informed them before leaving that Jamie was busy with something, but he'd be up soon.

In his dorm, Jamie bit his lip as he read the journal pages before him.

"13th August 1925

It's worse than I thought, there was an attack last night and I was able to confirm it's them again, I guess these are remnants of the original group who were in hiding, either that or they are a new group with the same name, a continuation it seems. I am just lucky that Poppy and I were able to repel them, but this requires immediate action.

I have sent word to Uagadou, I hope Natty and Ben will be able to arrive in time. In the meantime however Sebastian has joined us and we're getting ready. I'm starting to think that they've changed their goal, they're coming for me now. It may be that the solution I've been considering since the first attack might be the only option left. If so I'll need to speak with the heads of Beauxbatons, Castelobruxo, Ilvermorny and Mahoutokoro as well as Natty and Headmaster Dippet. The box is ready, as are the locks, I just need to complete the ritual, but first, we must deal with this renewed threat."

Reading this he shook his head and pocketed the journal, he'd need to know more, but he wouldn't keep this hidden for much longer, his friends had the right to know.

All the same he couldn't help but worry. 'What did you get into, Grandpa?'

Swallowing he quickly got ready and left the Hufflepuff Common Room and headed for the Great Hall.

XXXXX

Once again the group enjoyed quite a happy Christmas Feast. The original four were seated at a table together, eating happily when they saw Toru, Cameron, Marli and Ariana approaching and with them, much to their surprise, was Jennifer Howells.

"Hey guys, mind if Jennifer joins us?" Ariana asked.

They all nodded happily, they had wanted to talk to and help Jennifer out, seeing how quiet, withdrawn and fearful she was. The girl gave a small ghost of a smile before going to sit with them, sitting next to Jamie who nodded politely to her. She nodded back and they began to eat. As they did so Marli looked around and leaned in.

"So guys, about that office." She said. "I got a reply from mom."

Jennifer bit her lip. "The...The office Mr. Storm was investigating, did you, did you go look at it?"

"Yup, we did, well, we four did." Jeff admitted.

"Oh…" Jennifer bit her lip, but said nothing else.

Marli continued. "Well, mom got back to me, she'd found grandma's old journals and confirmed. That office was used, not by a teacher but a former Hogwarts student…"

She paused and looked right at Jamie as she spoke.

"A student who started in their fifth year, at the same time she was in fifth year, called Jamie McIntyre."

All eyes turned to him.

Jamie sighed but nodded, smiling.

"That's my grandpa, I was named after him." He revealed. "I kinda guessed. I found this in the drawer, I wasn't sure how to bring it up but now...now I guess it's kinda easy to do so."

He showed them the journal and they were amazed.

"There's a lot in there I don't understand yet...I'm gonna have to ask grandpa next time I see him."

They all gaped at that.

"Wait, your grandpa's still alive, that's, wow…" Marli gasped.

Jamie laughed a little yeah. "Yeah, he recently celebrated his one-hundred and seventeenth birthday."

They were all amazed by that, but thankfully, after that, conversation eased into something easier as they continued to eat, finally forming a full group for all nine of them.

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.