A Late-Night Stroll
The evening of the Halloween Ball found Gryffindor tower in a flurry. Anxious students bustled about making last minute preparations. Ron, Dean, Seamus, and Neville had all already put on their dress robes and sat lounging about, waiting until it was time to meet their dates. Of all of them, Ron looked the most nervous.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come?” he asked Harry for the third time that day. “There’s still a heap of girls who haven’t been asked. Any of them would love to go with you. We could ask Parvati if she knows anyone…”
“I’ve told you already -- I’m not going. I’ve got better things to do,” Harry said, looking up from a book he was studying.
“Listen to him. Any girl in the school would die to go with him and ‘he’s got better things to do’. A perfectly good waste of a ladies man, that’s what you are, Potter,” said Seamus as Dean snickered.
For a split second Harry felt his temper flare up. They didn’t have any idea. He’d like to see one of them have the weight of the prophecy on their shoulders.
Deciding that it would be better to get away from the teasing of his dormmates, Harry left Gryffindor tower and made his way to the Owlery, thinking as he went. It was strange to think that just the day before he had decided, even wanted, to share the prophecy. He now felt a world apart from ordinary students, who didn’t understand. Who couldn’t understand. Whatever desire he had had to share it was gone, replaced instead by an even stronger determination to study up on ways to fight and beat Voldemort. Finding out more about Rowena Ravenclaw’s diary and the mysterious blue room at the end of it seemed to be a big part of that.
The truth was, Harry couldn’t wait for the ball to be over so the school would return to normal. No more giggling girls in the hallways, no more nervous looks between Ron and Hermione, no more delays during DA meetings because of unnecessary socializing. The way everyone was acting, you would have thought there wasn’t a war going on at all. It was with these thoughts that Harry returned to Gryffindor tower an hour later.
As he stepped through the portrait hole he was relieved to see the common room nearly empty. There were a few scattered groups of first and second years (Dumbledore had limited this ball to third years and above) who seemed to be enjoying having the common room all to their selves for a change. A few of the groups had spread out on the floor and were playing gobstones. Many of them watched as he walked by, apparently surprised that he wasn’t at the ball. One boy called out, inviting him to join them for a game of gobstones. Harry just waved in response and made his way up the stairs to the dormitory.
It was completely empty as well. Harry threw himself on his bed, rolled over so he could reach his dresser, and pulled off the book he had been reading, Advanced Counter-Curses.
An hour and a half passed, during which Harry progressed only two pages in the book. Try as he might, he couldn’t get the image of the strange blue room he had seen at the end of Ravenclaw’s diary out of his head. There were so many questions: Why had it been in the diary? What did it mean? Was it a clue of some kind? And where was it located? He had searched a few places in the castle hoping to find it (the library, Owlery, unused classrooms in the bottom floors), but hadn’t had any luck. He could only think of one other place it might be, but it was very had to get to. Not to mention strictly against the rules...
He closed the book, giving up studying for hopeless. He felt restless. Thinking a little exercise might help him focus he decided to nip down to the kitchens to pay Dobby a visit and grab a quick bite. Other than Nearly Headless Nick and a few students aimlessly roaming about, the corridors were completely empty. As he passed the Great Hall he heard a low rumble, the sound of a large group of people talking, dancing, and having fun. The ball was in full swing. For a brief moment part of him longed to be there. It was a strange feeling that surprised him at first“he had spent the last couple of months annoyed with and wanting to be away from people. Doing his best to shrug it off he continued down to the kitchens.
Dobby and the other House Elves were, as usual, incredibly enthusiastic to give him whatever he wanted. After a brief chat with Dobby to see how things were going (apparently he had convinced a few of the other House Elves that wages weren’t so insulting after all), Harry made his way back to Gryffindor Tower, purposefully going the long way to avoid the Great Hall.
The dull, restless feeling returned as he entered the common room. Little had changed since he had left. The group of first and second years still sat lazily by the fire talking. Not wanting to have to turn down another invite for a thrilling game of Gobstones, Harry walked quietly along the far side of the room. He was just about to ascend the staircase to the dormitory when he stopped. Sitting in a chair next to the windows not too far from him, away from the rest of the group, sat a lone, solitary figure with vivid red hair. Curious, (there were only two students in all of Gryffindor house with hair that red, and they were both supposed to be at the ball) Harry walked over to where the person was sitting. It was Ginny.
Wondering what Ginny was doing back in the common room while everyone else was at the dance, Harry began to walk towards her. She looked out the windows, a faraway look in her eyes. She didn’t notice him walk up until he was almost next to her.
“Oh, hey Harry,” she said tiredly. Her cheeks looked slightly flushed as she motioned to a nearby couch. “Have a seat.”
Harry sat. “Er, what are you doing here? How come you’re not at the dance?”
“Dean and I just broke up. I suppose I could go back there, but I don’t really feel like being around a lot of people,” she said with a shrug, her voice flat and emotionless.
Silence. Harry felt very awkward, like he was supposed to say something. He thought back to the year before when Hermione had chastised him for not being nice to Cho Chang when she was crying all over him. What had she said? All he had to do was be nice to her? His mind raced, thinking of something nice to say to Ginny.
“I’m sorry,” came the triumphant product of this thought process. “Er…How are you?”
Ginny shrugged. “I’m fine. It’s for the best. I don’t think we were really that good of a match. It just didn’t click, you know?”
“Yeah,” Harry replied, thinking she had a point. Now that she mentioned it, Dean and Ginny had never really seemed like a real couple. Dean was always so quiet and awkward around her, like he wasn’t totally comfortable. He briefly wondered if telling her that would be considered ‘nice’. Deciding not to risk it, he kept his mouth shut.
Ginny looked up at him suddenly, a curious look on her face. “Can I ask you something?”
Harry nodded uncertainly.
“Is that how it was with you and Cho? It just didn’t ‘click’? I mean, you two didn’t seem to last very long.”
Now it was Harry’s turn to shrug. “I dunno. I suppose so. Though I’m pretty sure our breaking up had more to do with her thinking that I fancied Hermione.”
“Oh yes. I forgot,” Ginny said, her face suddenly breaking into a grin, “You really have a thing for Hermione, don’t you?”
“What?” Harry replied in disbelief.
“I dunno, Harry,” she said in a serious, concerned voice. “If you fancy her, you’d better make your move quick. Because after tonight you’re going to have some real competition.”
“What are you talking about? I don’t like her like that…” Harry said defensively, before realizing that she was only teasing. Ginny laughed.
“Wait, what do you mean, ‘competition’?”
“You don’t know? Ron took her to the ball tonight. From what I saw it looked like they were having a good time too. Good for them, I say, though I still can’t imagine what Hermione sees in my brother.” She said the last word with a look of disgust.
“Well it’s about time,” Harry replied, shaking his head. “Maybe now they’ll stop arguing all the time.”
Ginny looked at him amusedly. “You mean you knew they liked each other? How long have you known?”
Harry shrugged. “Since fourth year, after she went to the Yule Ball with Victor Krum. I’m just glad they finally did something about it.”
Ginny continued to look at him, her eyebrows raised.
“I’m impressed. You’re more observant than I thought, Harry,” she said.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Ginny smiled teasingly. “It just means that you, well…Boys, usually aren’t very good at noticing things like that.”
Her gaze lingered on him for a second or two after saying this, causing Harry to wonder if there was something deeper she was talking about. His train of thought was diverted Ginny giving a heavy sigh.
“They shouldn’t even bother though, it will just end some day anyway,” she said cynically as she slumped lower in the chair. “Break-ups are the worst. Now everyone will want to know what happened, and who dumped who, and all that rubbish. Honestly, like there’s nothing more important going on in the world right now than two teenagers breaking up.”
Ginny glanced over her shoulder at the common room behind her. She gave another sigh. “And the last thing I feel like is sitting around here, waiting for everyone to get back.”
Harry nodded his head in agreement. The last thing he felt like doing was going back up to the dormitory and reading that damn book. His eyes rested on the arm of the chair Ginny was sitting in. A small engraving of the Hogwarts had been set into it. The lion, the snake, the badger, the eagle. The eagle for Ravenclaw…
An idea came to Harry’s mind as he stared at the eagle. Ravenclaw. The blue room. Why not search for the blue room at the end of Ravenclaw’s diary? It was a perfect time to do it; all the school was at the ball.
Excitement began to well up inside him. Of course! Why hadn’t he thought of it before? While everyone was occupied at the ball, the path would be almost completely clear. He smiled.
He looked over to see Ginny looking at him curiously.
“What is it? You’ve just had an idea, Potter, I can see it on your face.”
Harry smiled sneakily. “Fancy taking a stroll?”
Harry ran back down the stairs from the dormitory, the invisibility cloak tucked into his robes. He met Ginny at the bottom of the stairs.
“What are we doing?” she asked with a look of intense curiosity and excitement on her face.”
“Shhh! Wait until we get outside,” Harry replied.
They walked past the second and first years (some of whom had fallen asleep) and exited through the portrait hole. Ginny kept shooting him questioning glances, the suspense obviously growing with every passing second. The more he thought about it, the more he got excited too. It had been a while since he had snuck around the castle, breaking any number of rules.
By the time they reached the bottom of the moving staircases, Ginny couldn’t take it anymore.
“Ok, ok, there’s no one around! Now would you mind telling me where we’re going?”
Harry glanced around the empty corridor to make sure no one was around. Seeing they were alone, he pulled out the invisibility cloak. “Well, to be honest, I’m not totally sure…”
“Oh, that sounds promising,” Ginny replied sarcastically.
“No, I mean, I know where we’re going, I’ve just never been there.” With a pang of annoyance Harry suddenly realized he had left the Marauder’s Map in the dorm room.
“Ok, so do you mind telling me where exactly that is?” she said with a raised eyebrow.
“The Ravenclaw common room.”
Ginny’s jaw dropped. “The Ravenclaw common room? Are you serious?” she asked in disbelief, though a mischievous smile began to crawl across her face. “Do you know how much detention we would get if they caught us?”
Harry smiled back, the thrill of knowing they could potentially get caught making him feel alive. “We won’t get caught. Everyone is at the dance. All we’ve got to worry about is Filch and Snape.”
“Why do you want to go there?”
Harry remembered that Ginny didn’t know about Ravenclaw’s diary or the Half-Blood Prince. For some reason he had simply assumed that she would. He would have to fill her in.
“Er…I’ll tell you on the way.”
“Do you know where it is?”
“Not exactly,” Harry admitted, his enthusiasm slightly deflated. “Well, I’ve seen it on the Marauder’s Map before. It’s in a tower in the North-West part of the castle. I reckon we can find it.”
“Don’t worry, I know how to get there. It’s a short corridor on the third floor with a statue of an owl set into the wall.” Ginny replied as she pulled her hair back into a pony tail. Harry looked at her questioningly. “Michael Corner once asked me to walk back with him after a DA class last year.”
“You’re going with me then?” Harry said hopefully as he swung the cloak over his back.
“Of course I’m coming with you!” she replied as though it were a ridiculous question. “But if we get caught you’re telling my mum you forced me to come. That’s one Howler I’d prefer got sent to you.”
With that Harry threw the cloak over Ginny and they walked down the main corridor that led to the Great Hall. While it was perfectly within the rules to be walking along the main corridors, soon they would have to take a number of smaller side hallways that, if they were found on, would definitely raise suspicion.
“This is so cool!” Ginny whispered excitedly as they passed a mirror hanging on the wall. She waved an invisible arm. Nothing. The only reflection was the sleeping portraits on the other side of the wall. As they walked Harry filled her in on everything that had happened leading up to their journey to the Ravenclaw common room: Gryffindor’s family tree in Godric’s Hollow; Dumbledore telling him the Half-Blood Prince could win the war; Ravenclaw’s diary“he told her nearly everything, though he didleave out the part about the prophecy and why he was so intent on finding Wulfric Gryffindor in the first place. They had to stop a number of times when a stray student or teacher passed, once they during his narrative, as a stray student or teacher passed, but by the time they had reached the north-west part of the castle he had covered it all.
“Wait, so how do you know this blue room is the Ravenclaw common room?” Ginny asked as he finished telling her about the diary.
“I don’t. Just a hunch, really.”
“Hmmm. That is kind of weird that Ravenclaw would just stick a picture of some random room at the end of her diary and not say anything about it.”
“Actually it did say something. Once it showed me the tall bookcase a voice said, Acclaronius.”
“What’s that, a spell?”
“Must be. I’m not sure.”
“Hmmm,” Ginny bit her lip as she thought. “And Dumbledore didn’t say anything when you asked him about it?”
“Nothing. He just blew it off.”
“Definitely peculiar. It’s got to be some sort of clue. Maybe when you see the bookcase you have to say the words and it reveals a secret passage or something.”
“Maybe. But first we’ve got to find it.” After walking a few more minutes and taking a couple of wrong turns they suddenly found themselves in a short hallway.
Ginny stopped abruptly. “This is it!” she whispered excitedly.
Harry studied the hallway a little closer. A couple of tapestries hung on the wall. About halfway down there was a statue set into the wall, but other than that it looked like a completely normal corridor.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. Look, that’s the statue I told you about.” She led him to the halfway point of the hallway where a life-sized statue of an owl was engraved into the right-hand wall. Apparently this was the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room. Ginny looked at him expectantly.
“Well this is it. How are we getting in?”
Looking at it Harry realized another oversight he had unfortunately made: They didn’t have the password to get in.
“Er…Michael Corner didn’t tell you the password by chance, did he?”
“You mean you don’t have a plan for getting in? Brilliant Potter.”
“Well, I didn’t really think about it…”
Just then they heard footsteps approaching. They quietly stepped away from the statue and pressed themselves against the opposite wall. Looking down, Harry made sure the cloak was covering them completely. A voice could be heard.
“…frankly I don’t feel she’s quite up to snuff. Sure she’s the head of Hufflepuff house, and I am the last person to criticize our professors, as you know…
The voice had a scholarly, self-important tone to it that sounded familiar. The voice grew louder as its owner walked around the corner. It was Dunston Marlowe, the pedantic Ravenclaw who had been trying to convince everyone that Voldemort only wanted to have his voice heard by the government and that they should respect his views. He was accompanied by Mindy Tippets, another member of the DA, who looked tired and slightly irritated.
“…but there are so many fascinating species of plant that we’ve never even discussed. Fustius Didactus, Egrigious Pomposus, Burmese Water Sprouts, just to name a few. Frankly, I wonder if Professor Sprout even knows about them…Ha Ha Ha!” Dunston laughed in his pompous, superior manner.
The feeling of irritation that typically accompanied hearing Dunston Marlowe talk was expelled immediately as Harry realized their luck. They could simply wait until he and Mindy Tuppets said the password and follow right behind them. He looked at Ginny, who nodded back, realizing the same thing.
“Oh yes, I agree,” said Mindy Tuppets absently.
“Well, here we are,” Dunston said with unnecessary formality. “Allow me.” He turned to the owl.
“Gratis Romile.”
Thinking the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room would follow the same pattern as the Gryffindor and Slytherin ones had, Harry was surprised when, instead of an opening appearing in the wall, the stone owl opened its large stone eyes and blinked and began to speak.
“What is the name of the wizard who founded St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, and in what year was he born?” It asked in a gravely voice.
Harry and Ginny exchanged an incredulous look. The Ravenclaws had to answer a test question to get in their common room?
“I’d take the fat lady’s singing over that any day,” Ginny whispered. Harry nodded, having been thinking the same thing.
“Ah, yes, St. Mungo’s…” Dunston thought out loud “…that would be Mungo Bonham, born in 1560!” He replied triumphantly, grinning smugly at Mindy.
Apparently the answer was correct as the owl gave a low hoot, shut its eyes, and the wall next to it began to move. The giant stone bricks slid back and sideways revealing a doorway. Dunston stood to one side to let Mindy enter, then followed her into the darkness.
Waiting a second longer to make sure they were well through the doorway, Ginny grabbed Harry’s wrist and the two of them walked swiftly across the hall and through the opening just as it began to close. They found themselves in a short, dim hallway that ended in a small staircase. The stones behind them began to grind back into place, drowning out the voice of Dunston, whose feet had just disappeared over the staircase. Waiting another few seconds to make sure Dunston and Mindy Tippets were out of the way, Harry and Ginny climbed silently up the stairs and stepped into the Ravenclaw common room.