NOVEL WEB Chapter 187 – Marauder’s Map
We were gathered in one of the classrooms, where I was meeting with people from every faction willing to listen to me. I had sent out an invite to Neville, Flamel, Zevron, and Hermione, to name a few, to attend this impromptu meeting. In the end, Flamel didn't show up, but he sent some teachers in his stead. I guess he was guarding the two magical items as they were sealed and placed under lockdown here in the castle after Dumbledore's surprising suggestion.
It wasn't only me who was surprised by his offer, giving up his wand and letting it be put into a glass container with the Philosopher's Stone. Then, with everyone accompanying it, the box was brought to the astronomy tower and put behind a magical ward. After leaving the classroom, volunteers from every faction were chosen, standing guard at the door, and one such volunteer was Flamel. I think he expected that Dumbledore would also act the same way, yet he refused, retreating to the Headmaster's office instead.
When the two artifacts were brought away, I received a look from Snape, who followed Dumbledore close by, telling me with that one turn of his head that he didn't know what was happening. But someone else did... because I received a whisper in my ear as Grindelwald reinforced my initial thoughts. To get everybody up to speed, I didn't stretch out our meeting, nor did I try to convince anybody about what I had to say. I just wanted to make sure they were told what we thought about Dumbledore's offer and their willingness to let go of the Elder Wand.
"Are you trying to tell us that Dumbledore will try to steal both artifacts?" Hermione asked, feeling that it was a stretch, even if she was inclined to believe me.
"That would be the heist of the century." Zevron hummed, scratching his chin while Dimitris, standing next to me, was fidgeting, believing my words from the get-go.
"I know he will. And if we don't act now, he will be gone with the two by morning."
"Act now? Do what?" McGonagall asked, looking at me with a strict, stern gaze while surrounded by Neville and multiple other people from his faction. I didn't recognize most of them, but I could feel the unfriendly looks from numerous eyes as they looked at me. As if it would make me flinch... Heh.
"Do what we all agreed on! We must do exactly what we should!" Quincy snorted, annoyed by her expression and the accusing tone she was using, even though we were trying to warn them. "Destroy the wand. Destroy the Hallows. What else would that mean? Why wait?"
"Waiting does seem to be pointless..." Neville whispered, making me smile a little, but then again, McGonagall cut in.
"Procedures need to be followed! We agreed to destroy it, which must be done publicly to appease everybody. We can't just do it willy-nilly, as we don't know what consequences it would bring with it!"
"Showing the ruined wand is enough proof." Zevron chimed in, and I couldn't help but nod towards Dimitris. They chose an excellent headmaster. I already liked him!
"Dumbledore only needs the last Hallow to have a set and became who knows what... We don't know if holding all three would give any special powers to the wizard who has them." I shrugged, making them furrow their brows.
"You say he has two?" One of the Beauxbatons teachers asked, surprised.
"We know." Quincy nodded. "He has the Invisible Cloak. Don't you see why we are so annoyed that nothing is being done? I guess not."
"Hah!" Dimitris chuckled but quickly closed his mouth after every head turned toward him. "Sorry..."
"That cape!" The giant man in the room, Hagrid, suddenly exclaimed, his booming voice making some others jump. "I knew that one was special!"
"What cape?" McGonagall asked, looking at him.
"The one that James had!" Another man spoke up, his gaunt face going from white to red because of anger, and I saw him comprehending a vital clue as understanding dawned in his eyes. If I remember correctly, when he introduced himself, his name was Lupin, and he was one of early Neville's supporters.
"James?" Quincy asked, making the man look at him. His face turned awkward and weird for a moment, and he looked at her strangely before finding his voice once again.
"James Potter. I had good friends as a kid... James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew. All of them are dead..."
"Hmph..." Quincy snorted at once, hearing Sirius's name, and her countenance went dark, but she didn't try to truly interrupt his monologue. I gently stretched out my hand, holding hers and squeezing her fingers to keep her calm.
"James had a cloak that we used multiple times to sneak out of school."
"Haaah..." McGonagall exhaled but very quickly forced her stern look back on her face. I could see that her mind put many past incidents together because of Lupin's current revelations.
"That cloak was always with him and helped James many times when we fought against Voldemort, but when it was time for them to hide from the world, Dumbledore borrowed it. Of course, he let him have it; it was a potent tool and weapon! While they were hiding, waiting for Harry to be born, it was only logical to entrust it to Dumbledore! I thought it was lost when we fled the country after our defeat... Or destroyed when Voldemort found and killed them..."
"No, it wasn't. He just kept it hidden." I sighed, looking at them. "Do you get it now? He can steal the artifacts without us noticing it. Then he will only need to get the last Hallow!"
"He still needs to find it!" McGonagall exclaimed, making me stand up. I glanced at them once before pulling out the Resurrection Stone from my pocket.
"He knows exactly where it is." The silence in the room was palpable until I closed my fist, slipping it back into my pocket and letting Quincy continue.
"All three must be destroyed; this is the perfect time for us to do it. Take the wand, destroy the stone, the cape, and then the wand itself. Otherwise, he will make off with the Philosopher's Stone, rejuvenate himself, and have infinite time to wait, plan, plan, plan some more, and get his hands on it when our grandchildren have already forgotten about it."
"They are right." Zevron nodded, first to agree with us. "I guess you have plans, young ones?"
"We need to catch him with the cape on." I said firmly, "Otherwise, we won't know where it may be hidden and have trouble finding it. Plus... Don't take it personally, but we ain't trust any of you besides Neville and Hermione here. If the cape is lost, I would suspect that one of you would keep it for themselves!"
"Preposterous!" One of the Beauxbatons teachers snorted, but Zevron's laugh silenced them before anyone else could start arguing.
"I like the kid! He is right; we don't know each other well enough to have that kind of trust. We must work together to destroy them so we can't fall into temptation. Because none of us can say for certain that we wouldn't be tempted."
"Locating an invisible man... That hard. How we do? Use spells?" Krum shrugged, rubbing his forehead, but before we could say anything, Lupin stepped forward, looking at us.
"I think I can help with that."
"Can you sniff him out?" Neville asked, making him smile while I was furrowing my brows, trying to understand why he asked that.
"No." he answered, pulling a folded-up paper from his coat's inner pocket. "But I have something with me that will show us everything we need."
Spreading it out on the table, expressing a silly-sounding incantation, we watched as a map of the castle appeared, showing everyone on it. We could see ourselves gathering in the correct classroom. Scrutinizing it, we could also see Dumbledore and Snape up in the Headmaster's office while Flamel was standing at the door leading to the Astronomy Tower. He wasn't alone, of course; nine other names were there with him.
"Incredible..." Quincy whispered, and I couldn't help but agree with him.
"It was made by us, collectively." Lupin whispered, and I could detect a tinge of nostalgia, proudness, and happiness in his voice for a brief moment.
"If the others would have put this much effort into their studies..." McGonagall mumbled, but our eyes were scanning the map.
I was particularly looking for one name because if the others also notice it... Ugh. As I was searching for Grindelwald, I felt Quincy gently kicking my feet and moving her finger ever so slowly. Ah... there it was. What the hell is he doing so far out? At the owlery? Well, whatever, everyone's eyes were focused on the artifacts, so it seemed that nobody noticed him at all. Lucky me!
"What now?" Hermione asked, looking up from the map and glancing at us, making me do the same just so I could catch Krum's eyes moving from the same spot where Grindelwald's name was readable. Shit...
"We are going to keep an eye on the map." Neville exclaimed. "Watch Dumbledore. We will do it in rotation! If he moves, we do too. Agreed?"
"Fine by me." Zevron nodded, and soon everyone agreed.
Ultimately, it was Quincy who would stay there first, keeping an eye on the map and placing down a book to keep the map stretched out just conveniently enough to cover the edge where Grindelwald's name was visible. I, on the other hand... I left, but unlike the rest, who were going to rest or sleep before their turn, I was following Krum because I had a feeling he would do something stupid... Come on, Victor. Don't screw it up for us, not right now!
