I sat on my bed. There was no way we were meeting up until after curfew. I looked down at the notebook my family and I shared. There were lines of appearing and disappearing inks. All of it coded and brief. Not as secure as the other ways we talked. However, one thing caught my eye.
The Fairy Queen has decided to give birth.
Well now, I always thought she’d cave but I never thought her partner would. It seems there is a sense of urgency even I cannot imagine. After Corriander’s snoring reached its peak I slowly slipped out of the room. The destination was the second floor girl’s lavatory.
Outside the house door my brother was waiting for me. He was wrapped in a black cloak and holding out one for me. It seems he stole my package first. I quickly wrapped it on me and followed his lead. His senses were always better than mine. Ailean was good at knowing how to avoid people. It was easier to sneak around the castle following him.
The two of us took a breath before entering. What waited for us was a group of hooded figures and not the annoying house ghost I was expecting. It was obvious who was standing in front of all of them. Even with the hoods, we could see it was Rob, Edde, Tir and Louis Weasley of all people. Representatives from four houses, huh.
As my eyes adjusted to the dim light and hooded shapes I began to recognize some of the others. Cena, Ethel, Wibert were the next easy to spot. Cena had an evil smirk that seemed to shine in the darkness. By hair color I could tell Serpens, Sulli and Ophelia were here too. That meant by process of elimination the other two flashes of green must be Honore and Cyst.
I followed my brother’s eyes over to the flashes of yellow. Miguel and Avis, huh. One seemed obvious, but the other surprising. Besides them was Ailean’s project Faolan. Standing, close to Avis was Cyrus and Isolda. They had happier smiles on their faces. Li and Orrin seemed to be by them as well.
It was Edde who spoke up first. “I told you I approved, didn’t I?” The sound of someone else entering echoed. We all turned to see Albus. He was here without Scorpius. Confusion on his face as he saw a crowd of hoods. “What is this?”
Rob clapped his hands and smiled. “Excellent, now that we are all here let us begin.” Tir raised his wand. A creaking noise as the door to the bathroom became sealed. How important was this secret of theirs? When Edde raised his wand the room became completely dark. No light until Rob’s wand lit up. Apparently, they were all into mood creations.
All our eyes on him and that sole source of light. “Welcome, you have all been chosen to be the founders of the newest secret club in Hogwarts.” You could tell who was out of the entire loop. We looked the most confused. The look on Albus’ face was priceless. One of the BLANK Gryffindors whose name I did not know raised his hand. “What secret group?” Louis smiled at him. I could see what they meant by having the ability to be charming. It was like there was almost a small vacuum that pulled you towards him. “A group to help with all the problems the school is having.”
Rob turned his wand so it lit up the bathroom sinks. The one with the snake on it calling out to me. “Do you know what this is?” Albus didn’t seem pleased. “It’s The Chamber of Secrets.” Emily smiled at him. “I knew you would know.” I should of known she was there. Why didn’t I notice her before? She was right by Cena.
He seemed to grow more agitated. “Why the chamber?” The four leaders’ eyes were on my brother and I. “Because we heard a rumor that Cadmael Yaxley was hiding an object that could help us open it.” Did they now? I wonder when and where they heard this rumor? My eyes locked with my brother’s. Who was wondering who? An evil smile flashed on his face for only a brief undiscovered moment.
Albus continued to shout. “Open the chamber! Absolutely not!” Serpens was the one to scoff at him. It was a very appropriate response. “The Basilisk is dead, remember.” He shook his head no. “There’s still no reason to open it. It won’t fix anything.” Louis smiled at his cousin. “That’s where you are wrong, Albus. The chamber is a perfect place to host a secret club.” He looked at him shocked. Louis and him never became that close, but from everything he knew about his cousin this was shocking.
Rob stepped closer towards the rest of us. “Everyone here is upset about what’s going on in the wizarding world and how it effects all of Hogwart’s students. We want to form a secret club of students from all houses that can work together in private to help the students. Outside of whatever group is being hated or not.” Some of the more confused faces looked around the room. They seemed unsure if they were happy or not with this presentation.
My brother stepped forward. “That sounds nice but even if you can keep it a secret and stop it from becoming too powerful you don’t need the chamber.” Albus seemed shocked that my brother was on his side. Edde smiled at him. “True, there are a bunch of places to meet but there’s no place more secret and hard to get into in the castle than this chamber. Even those who know about it can’t get in.”
Albus pointed at me. “So why do you think she can?” He really fell for traps quite easily. Dumb stupid idiot. Sulli turned to look at me. “I know she can. Hyo-Eun can ask Cadmael for a key.” Everyone turned to look at me. I could only sigh. “There is no magical key to this chamber. Whatever rumor you heard.” It was Tir’s turn to smile. “But it can be opened with parseltongue. And I heard that Cadmael may have a recording of a certain someone speak it.” Ailean and I looked at each other. Games and time tables always seemed to be changing. Besides, of all devices why such a stupid one?
I sighed. “Even if I could get such an object why should I? A secret club sounds dangerous. There are too many things that can go wrong.” Rob walked closer through me. People seemed to part like water away from him. He was determined. “Because we will come up with strict rules, make sure it stays a secret and agree to a blood vow.” The entire area was resounding shocked commentary. I had just finished doing one of my own so it didn’t really bother me. “Even a blood vow isn’t perfect.”
Rob nodded his head. “That’s true. And right now I can’t force you from telling anyone about tonight but I can ask you to take tomorrow to think about it. If you want to create this and join just come here tomorrow night. You can bring any ideas with you. Just no more people.” Albus shook his head in disagreement. “I won’t be a part of this without Scorpius.”
Louis smiled at him. “I thought you’d say that so I thought of an idea.” Everyone turning to him. “We saved four seats. Before the end of the year we will choose four more people to join us as ‘founders’. That way we can begin to set this up and figure out what proves a person is right for this.” Albus glared at him. “Why isn’t he fit for now?” Rob turned to Albus. “It’s simple. Scorpius is kind and caring but slow to think about the other side. He cares deeply about his friends and rushes to engage his enemies.” Edde nodded his head. “In other words, not everyone here is sure Scorpius could handle this secret.”
I sighed. “Cadmael may have this object but I don’t know if we can get it before we leave for Durmstrung. You may have no need for all of us to decide by tomorrow night.” Tir shook his head no. “No, we definitely need to decide by tomorrow. There’s too much that needs to be done and so little time at the castle this year.” My eyes glanced over the seventh years. They did not have much time considering the entire year they would practically never be at this castle.
Albus looked over to me. Why did he always seem like he was in pain when he was conflicted? Life wasn’t meant to only be filled with easy choices. “I’ll send a letter to Cadmael tonight. You will have my brother and I’s response on the idea tomorrow.” Rob nodded his head. “I hope all of you decide to join us. The school is too much of a mess right now.”
All of us dispersed slowly back to our houses. Albus grabbing my arm and pulling me away from my brother when we returned to the common room. “I need to speak with you for a moment.” Ailean waved his hand at us and yawned as he made his way back to his room. “What is really going on?” I could only shrug. “I don’t know everything.”
He looked at me worried. “They just said they don’t trust Scorpius.” I nodded my head and pulled my arm free from his grasp. “Not everyone is meant for certain things. Even if they are kind and true.” He looked out the windows at the Black Lake. “Even I can understand that.” Albus turning back towards me. “But I don’t keep secrets from Scorpius.”
I moved past him to sit down in one of the arm chairs that faced the lake water. It was fitting to be below such a thing. “So prove to everyone there isn’t a need to.” Albus moving to join me in his own seat. “I shouldn’t have to prove that.” My eyes looked over to his. “You can’t expect people to automatically trust another person.” His face twitched. “It sounds too good to be true.”
My eyes drifted away from him back to the water. In the darkness the seaweed almost looked like a confused swaying forest. “Most things are.” I could hear him shifting around in the chair. He was uncomfortable. “The way they talk about the wizarding world. My father. They make it sound like all of this is their fault.” Albus was way too sensitive. “This isn’t about some pure blood nonsense. It’s about real life, Potter.”
I flicked my wand. A stream of light shot through the window into the dark waters. Wherever the light passed plants and animals lit up briefly for a moment. A whole night life lit up for show. “Nothing is ever what it seems. Not the dark and not the light. The sooner you learn that the sooner you can free yourself from your father’s legacy.” Albus turned towards me. “Your father made mistakes and will continue to make them like everyone else in life.”
Albus really did sometimes look like a sad puppy. “He’s still my father and I love him.” I groaned and stood up. “Take it from the orphan then. Not everything is about the love of a parent. Sometimes it is just about survival and safety.” He barely looked at me as I walked back to my room. On the way I passed a sleepy looking Scorpius. I gently told him where Albus was. My mind was elsewhere.
I threw a note into the fire in my room before going back to sleep. Corriander was dreaming out loud about Orrin. If only she knew…
Something Wicked This Way Comes – Lordi
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