While Harry Potter and the two blue robed Aurors stood around the dark oak table talking about what they should do next, Professor Flitwick arranged with the house-elves for coffee, tea, and a plate of desserts to be delivered to the little room. When the Auror’s conversation was done, Harry hunted through the heaped dessert plate until he found a treacle tart. He placed the tart on a small plate and reached over to pour coffee into a china cup. Sitting at the table, he took a bite of the dessert and relished the taste of the dish that his wife had never quite mastered.
As the Aurors sat next to Harry in their eating of a snack, the group was joined by Deputy Headmaster John Dawlish. Dawlish poured a cup of tea and absent-mindedly stirred in milk and sugar as he listened to Harry and Flitwick gave him a rundown of the facts as they knew them. Although the ex-Auror made a number of faces as he sipped the tea, he offered no opinion about the facts of the case.
After finishing his tart, Harry looked at the Headmaster and his assistant, saying, –I see four distinct possibilities: the suspect got on and later got off of the train before it left, the suspect escaped the train after Kings Cross and before Hogsmeade, the suspect slipped away at the Hogsmeade platform, or the suspect is currently on the school grounds in an area not shown on the map.â€
Flitwick tilted his head to the left and looked at his three former students who were now Aurors. –Why would someone go through all of the effort to change their identity and go to King’s Cross so they could leave the train before the trip?†asked Headmaster Flitwick. –The suspect could have walked out of the front door of the Leaky Cauldron and disappeared into Muggle London.â€
–I agree. However, what if the person just wanted to sneak something into the school through the girl’s luggage?†offered Harry to the room at large. Flitwick nodded his head as he considered the possibilities. –Headmaster, could you have a house-elf move Miss Quince’s luggage down to the Boat House? We will check it out later for any suspicious items, concealment, or curses,†requested Harry.
The Headmaster nodded and the Sterling wrote something down in his notes.
–As for leaving the train during the trip, for the safety of the students the Hogwarts Express is magically sealed from the time the train begins its journey from King’s Cross, until the conductor unlocks it as it pulls into the Hogsmeade platform,†added Flitwick.
–Really? Something about Hogwarts that Hermione didn’t tell me,†said Harry, as a grin slipped out.
–So the suspect is either in the Hogsmeade area or on the grounds. As soon as there is light, Broomwright, I will need you to search the village and the surrounding hill caves for signs of an interloper. You should also check in with The Three Broomsticks and The Hogs Head to see if anyone checked in late yesterday.â€
–Yes, sir,†said the young Auror as she wrote the instruction onto a small notebook.
–Headmaster, it is my understanding that all of the secret passages, such as the one under the one-eyed witch statue were collapsed or sealed. Am I correct?†Harry saw Flitwick’s head nod in agreement. –Sterling. You and I will check them anyway. It could be some desperate student was able to reopen them. I also request that Hagrid go to the Whomping Willow and look around for signs of recent foot prints or damage to the tree. And if he finds any signs have him stand guard outside until we come down to check out the Shrieking Shack. That leaves one place in the castle and when Neville gets back we will go there and check it out,†requested Harry.
Fifteen minutes later, Neville returned the room. Before anyone could speak to him, Neville said to Harry, –We need to check out the Room of Requirement. A lot of people found out about the Room during our last year. And while most of them were on our side, it could be they talked about how to access it.â€
–My thoughts exactly. Will you do the honor?†answered Harry.
Harry stood with his back to the familiar tapestry of tutu-clad trolls. Standing to his left was Headmaster Flitwick and to his right stood his two Auror charges. Sterling, who had learned about the existence of room during the previous Christmas break, was whispering to his rookie partner explaining about the Room of Requirement and how it functioned. Five feet away, Neville, eyes closed and a face calmed in deep thought, walked back-and-forth in front a blank corridor wall.
Just as Broomwright was questioning how such a place could go unnoticed by all of the students, a double door appeared just in front of her in the wall. Harry turned to his right, steadied his right hand which held his wand and led his two law enforcement officers into the room.
Neville intercepted Harry and asked him a question, –Since the room opened for me, doesn’t that mean it’s not currently in use?â€
Harry slowly shook his head. –No. Trelawney got into the room of hidden things while Malfoy was experimenting on his cabinet. While it probably means there is no danger, you could have just lucked into the same description of what the room was required to become.â€
Neville gave Harry a slight shrug. While he was certain that the appearance of the room meant that there was no danger present. However, he knew Harry would not rest until he was certain that the area was secure.
Neville and Flitwick stood facing the door also prepared for a possible conflict with anyone who tried to escape. Clutched in Flitwick’s hand was the map so he could check the true identities of all of the people whom exited the room. With Polyjuice potion having been used, recognizing someone’s face was not enough; the map was their one hope to truly trap the offender.
After about a half an hour of searching, the three exited the door. Neville held his wand on all three of them. Professor Flitwick checked the map against the faces and declared that there was no intruder in the group.
Harry took back the map. He pondered what to do with the item. He had thought that at Christmas, the map might accidently be slipped into Albus’ trunk. He knew from experience that sometimes a kid just needed to sneak down to Hagrid’s hut to blow off some steam. However, with an intruder on the loose, the map was just too precious to be out of his sight.
–Professor, do you have a couple of extra rooms for me and my Aurors to spend the night in? With this mystery, I think we need a presence here until we are sure that no one has snuck into the school,†said Harry to the Headmaster.
–You can use the Gryffindor Head of House suite. I commute from the Leaky Cauldron, except when I have night patrol duties,†offered Neville.
–Thanks, Neville,†Harry responded, patting his old friend on the shoulder.
Gryffindor Tower
Rose sat in the row of the soft oversized arm chairs closest to the fireplace of the Gryffindor Common Room. The room was empty except the four friends who sat in a close circle. Rose leaned her head further into the circle. Scorpius saw through the dark red tinged light from the dying embers that the corner of Rose’s left eye twitched showing the nerves she was probably doing her best trying to hide from the boys.
–Why would someone attack Margaret of all people?†asked Rose.
‘She’s a Muggle-born. An easier target, she has no witch or wizard parents to overpower,†replied Scorpius. –My question is was she chosen at random?â€
–Or was she chosen to get into Gryffindor tower?†Rose finished Scorpius’ thought.
–Who would want to get in here?†asked Jimber.
–Malaites?†offered Albus.
–Doubtful. They’d go after my parents on the Island. They’d be a lot easier targets than us,†responded Jimber.
Rose, face full of concern, said, –I was so hoping to have a nice quiet second year with no excitement. We need to get a firm foundation for our education. With the World Junior Quidditch Cup next year, I doubt we’ll get much studying done during the summer. I mean we have less than four years before we take our O.W.L.sâ€
Jimber lost focus on what was being said. He would not have to study for the dreaded O.W.L.s. Next year, he would be returning to the Island, after his father had re-opened the ‘Académie de Magie’. Jimber couldn’t wait to get back to his Caribbean home, but he couldn’t imagine leaving his Hogwarts friends behind.
Albus rolled his eyes and puffed his cheeks out at Rose’s constant concern about tests that were way off into the future. The way Albus reacted to Rose reminded Jimber of a type of tree frog back on the Island. He was unsuccessful at trying to hide his amusement.
Rose, who always struggled with Albus’ habitual procrastinating with getting around to his studies, fixed him and Jimber with one of her patented how-can-you-not-see-the-obvious looks. Sighing at the two boy’s lack of concern, she turned to talk to the one who she considered her equal.
–What worries me is that they took a bunch of hair from Margaret. When she arrives at school, we should probably pull her, Jen and Harold aside for a talk. I think we will have to set up some sort of password with her. Just in case, the intruder has any more Margaret Polyjuice in reserve,†Scorpius said looking at Rose. –As a matter of face, the four of us should come up with some kind of identifying phrase or question so we can always be sure of each other.â€
–I was thinking the same thing,†Rose replied smiling at Scorpius. If Rose had taken her eyes off Scorpius, she would have seen Jimber and Albus shaking their heads at the pair’s unneeded safeguards.