Chapter Text
‘Welcome, to our new first-year students! For all of you returning students, welcome back!’ Professor Dumbledore greeted everyone in the Great Hall with a kind smile. ‘Focus on your studies, make time for your friends, but above all else, be careful as you journey through the castle.’ His smiled stayed the same, but Jamie noticed the serious tone behind it, as the Headmaster continued. ‘Every year is an interesting one at Hogwarts, but something tells me this year holds more surprises than most. But enough of my grand proclamations and ominous warnings! Please enjoy the feast.’
As food appeared on the plates, Jamie was trying to find his friends among the tables. Rowan was at his side, being both Slytherins. Penny was easy enough to find. But Ben… was nowhere to be found. Worried, they asked around the tables, but no-one seemed to have seen him since getting off the Hogwarts Express. Asking a Gryffindor Prefect seemed a good idea, thought Jamie, and he decided to ask Angelica Cole, of whom Ben had talked about before.
The next day he and Rowan had Charms Class first thing in the morning, so during breakfast Jamie arranged for a message to reach Angelica to meet him in the Courtyard later in the day. During Charms Class, Professor Flitwick lectured them on the Engorgio charm. Ben’s absence was clear, as this was one of their classes in common, and Jamie grew more and more impatient as the lesson came to a close. After packing his books into his bag, he rushed to the Courtyard, hoping to see Angelica there. To his relief, she was indeed there, waiting for him. A bit shorter than her peers, she was only slightly taller than Jamie. Dark skinned, she had long brown hair tied back in a ponytail and brown eyes, and the red badge with a golden “P” was pinned on her robes, at chest-height.
She waved at him when she saw him. ‘Thanks for the message, James Smith. I’m starting to get worried about Ben too. It is my responsibility as a Gryffindor Prefect to make sure he’s safe.’
‘Of course. Thanks for your help.’
‘Did you see him on the Hogwarts Express?’ Angelica asked.
‘No, but Penny did. She said Ben seemed fine,’ Jamie explained.
‘Had you noticed him behaving strangely at the end of last year?’
Jamie scratched his chin, thinking. ‘No… I mean, he’s always been a bit odd, but no…’
‘I wonder if your encounter with the cursed ice has anything to do with his disappearance.’
Jamie was perplexed. ‘You know about that?’
Angelica smirked. ‘Gossip travels faster than Owl Post at Hogwarts, and the truth always comes out… Did you find anything in that room? Any clue or warning about potential threats beyond the room itself? Please be honest, I just want to find Ben.’
Jamie remembered what Rowan told him during the Start of Term Feast about his findings, and decided to share them, ‘We found a message. It mentioned an Ice Knight and Vanished Stairs.’
Angelica pondered about the answer. ‘Hmm. I don’t see how that can help us find Ben. We should search all of Ben’s hiding places for clues.’
Jamie nodded. ‘Last year, Rowan told me that Ben spends a lot of time in the Artefact Room. I’ll search there first.’
‘You aren’t going to believe this, Jamie. At first, I thought I’d translated it wrong, but I quadruple-checked my work.’ Rowan had spent most of his free time deciphering the note they found in the Artefact Room while searching for Ben. Back in their Common Room, he was about to share his results.
Jamie smiled, proud of his friend. ‘What does it say?’
‘"Your next instructions have been Transfigured into a Black Quill, and hidden in the Gryffindor Common Room. Failure to follow your instructions will result in severe punishment—R"’ Rowan read from the piece of parchment in his hands.
The translation only gave them more questions than answers. ‘Black Quill? And who is R?’ pondered Jamie.
Rowan scratched his chin. ‘I’ve been wondering the same thing. Felix Rosier? Rubeus Hagrid? Argus Filch? I can’t imagine any of them writing this…’
‘If this message was intended for Ben, we have to find that quill. We can use Reparifarge to undo the Transfiguration,’ said Jamie, remembering the subject of the next day’s Transfiguration class.
‘The bigger problem is how we’ll get in the Gryffindor Common Room. Students aren’t allowed inside another house’s Common Room,’ Rowan pointed out, worried.
‘I’ll focus on learning that spell. You try to come up with a plan to get us in the Gryffindor Common Room,’ replied Jamie.
‘Be careful, Jamie. Whoever wrote this note sounds dangerous…’
The next morning, arriving at the Transfigurations corridor, he saw Merula standing in front of the door to the class, waiting for him. When she saw him, she addressed him in mock concern. ‘You look worried, Smith.’
Here we go again, thought Jamie. ‘What do you want, Merula?’
‘I was just wondering whether you’d had any luck finding that cowardly Mudblood friend of yours,’ she casually said.
Ignoring the insult at his friend, Jamie narrowed his eyes as he asked, ‘Do you know what happened to Ben?’
Moving around him, Merula replied, ‘I know more than you. I know that sometimes even when people are missing, they’re exactly where they’re supposed to be.’
Turning around to keep facing her, Jamie kept staring at his nemesis. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘There are worse things happening at this school that you could never begin to understand, Smith. Trying to uncover those things is going to get you killed…’
Realising what she was talking about, Jamie tried to get an answer out of her again, ‘Are you talking about the Cursed Vaults? Do you know where they are? Did Ben go looking for them?’
Shaking her head from side to side, she replied, ‘You’ll learn everything soon enough. Unless you die first…’
‘If you aren’t going to help me find Ben, then just stay away from me, Merula.’
Cutting their conversation short, he pushed the door to the classroom and entered, as he heard her say behind him, ‘As you wish, Smith. Don’t say I didn’t warn you…’
In Transfigurations, Professor McGonagall taught her students how to return transfigured objects to their original shape through the spell Reparifarge. As the lesson progressed, Jamie found himself at his element, untransfiguring with ease the cat-cauldron hybrid in front of him a few minutes into the task. Impressed, Professor McGonagall congratulated him, offering advanced extra classes in the subject, something Jamie gladly accepted. Any extra skills he could acquire would be useful in his endeavours. Back again in the Slytherin Common Room, Jamie and Rowan were studying together when Rowan asked, ‘Have you heard anything about Ben?’
‘No, but if you can work out a way to get us into the Gryffindor Common Room, that Black Quill should help us find him,’ he answered, glancing around to see that no one could hear them.
Rowan lit up. ‘I had trouble coming up with a plan until I remembered the Shrinking and Engorgement Charms!’
‘Keep it quiet… What did you come up with?’
‘The big Gryffindor versus Slytherin Quidditch match. Everyone will be at the match… except us. When the students leave the Common Room, you’ll shrink, sneak inside while the door is open, and re-enlarge yourself! It’s brilliant, isn’t it?’ Rowan explained his plan with a smile, waiting to hear his friends opinion.
Jamie smiled. ‘Sounds mad. Just like my kind of plan.’
In Charms Class, before the lesson begun, Jamie approached the tiny teacher standing atop a pile of books. ‘Excuse me, Professor Flitwick? I have some questions about the Shrinking Charm…’
The professor nodded, waiting to hear his questions.
‘Does the Shrinking Charm work on humans? Can you control how small you shrink? How does one avoid being stepped on?’ Jamie fired.
Frowning, Flitwick answered his question. ‘Using the Shrinking Charm to shrink oneself would be complicated, dangerous, and incredibly foolish.’
‘I don’t disagree’ Jamie quipped, trying to relieve the tension.
In a serious tone, Flitwick said, ‘I am going to ask you a question, and I strongly suggest you tell the truth if you wish to avoid further punishment… Are you planning to break school rules yet again, Mr. Smith?’
Jamie replied with seriousness. ‘Yes, but only because I think it might help me find Ben.’
The teacher looked at him with kind eyes. ‘I’m concerned about Mr. Copper myself, but the Headmaster is well aware of the situation. You should stay out of it, and you certainly should not use the Shrinking Charm on yourself. Please take your seat.’ Jamie didn’t argue, and did as he was told. Shortly after, the lesson started, and Jamie managed to get the hang of the spell.
‘Did you take care of the Gryffindor Prefect?’ Rowan asked. He had warned Jamie about Angelica’s intelligence and her suspicions that someone would try to sneak into her Common Room.
‘I tricked her into staying at the match until it ends. We’ll be gone long before then,’ said Jamie, though unsure of it.
‘Good luck then, Jamie. If anyone can do it, it’s you.’ Rowan encouraged him, and Jamie had a sudden thought. ‘I didn’t think about this, but I don’t even know what the room looks like. How will I know where to search for the quill…?’
Before Rowan could answer, they saw two Gryffindors come out of the Fat Lady’s portrait, and Rowan rushed him to enter. Without wasting a moment, Jamie casted Reducio on himself and sprinted through the corridor before the portrait closed, while Rowan kept watch.
Inside the Common Room, and after making sure there were no other students, he used the Enlargement Charm to get back to his usual size. Admiring the room, he started searching everywhere for the Black Quill. Finally, inside a drawer, he found the elusive quill. He sneaked out of the room, seemingly on time, and got back to Rowan. But his friend was not alone. Angelica Cole and Professor McGonagall were talking to him, a serious look on both their faces. When they saw Jamie come out of the portrait, he stammered, frozen in place, ‘Professor McGonagall!’
‘I tried to warn you, Jamie, but I was frozen by Professor McGonagall’s stern stare…’ Rowan whispered to him.
‘That’s enough, Mr Khanna,’ interrupted the Head of Gryffindor House. ‘Angelica returned to ensure Slytherins weren’t tampering with the Gryffindor Common Room. When she noticed Mr Khanna’s suspicious behaviour, she did the right thing, and found her Head of House. Then we find you leaving our Common Room. A place you know you are forbidden to enter. Explain your behaviour, Mr Smith.’
Jamie looked at the professor, and trying to maintain eye contact replied, ‘I only did it because I was trying to find my friend, Ben Copper. He’s a Gryffindor too.’
‘I’m aware of that, Mr Smith. Why did you think sneaking into our Common Room would help find him?’ McGonagall asked.
‘It sounds stupid, but I was hoping that he was hiding somewhere inside. I have to check everywhere. I’m afraid he might be hurt,’ tried to explain Jamie. It wasn’t a complete truth, but it wasn’t a complete lie either.
‘I assume you didn’t find him?’
Hanging his shoulders, he shook his head. He then heard the professor say, ‘Very well. Be on your way.’ He didn’t need to be told twice.
In the Slytherin Common Room, late at night, Rowan and Jamie looked at the Black Quill they had just recovered sitting on the table. Jamie pointed at it with his wand, drawing a half circle, and whispering, ‘Reparifarge.’ The quill glowed, and transformed into a piece of parchment with a message written on it. Jamie took it, and started reading, ‘“Proceed to the farthest corridor at the east end of the fifth floor. Transfigure this scroll back into a Black Quill, and return it to the Gryffindor Common Room. Failure to follow your instructions will result in severe punishment—R”’
Rowan looked frightened. ‘Severe punishment?! Is that what happened to Ben?’
‘What’s in that corridor?’ Jamie asked him.
Thinking, Rowan said, ‘Nothing that I know of. No one ever goes there... Why was he supposed to put the quill back where he found it?’
‘Maybe he isn’t the only one receiving these instructions...’
‘I have a bad feeling about this, Jamie. Dumbledore said if we found anything odd, we should tell a professor... Do you really think we should explore this corridor?’
Noticing his friends fear, Jamie offered a solution. ‘Penny is worried about Ben too. I’ll ask her to explore the corridor with me while you tell Dumbledore or McGonagall.’
‘Okay... Just be careful, Jamie…’
‘The Knockback Jinx always shattered the cursed ice before, but it seems to have become impervious.’ A worried Professor McGonagall spoke to Professor Snape, looking at the pillar of ice encasing Ben Copper. Behind them, at the far end of the corridor, a Slytherin and a Hufflepuff sneaked into the scene, unnoticed thanks to the enormous formations of blue ice covering the room.
Snape assessed the situation. ‘Incendio would melt it away.’
‘Along with his flesh.’ McGonagall protested.
‘I never said he would survive.’
‘The cursed ice continues to spread throughout Hogwarts. Someone has clearly been tampering with the Cursed Vaults,’ McGonagall ignored his comment as she spoke.
Snape sneered. ‘It would be helpful if our Headmaster were at Hogwarts, instead of searching elsewhere for answers.’
‘We don’t need Dumbledore to safely free Mr. Copper. We will cast Incendio together, but target the ice farthest from the boy’s body. Be careful, Severus,’ said the woman, drawing her wand.
Snape did the same, muttering, ‘Fine.’
With the precision and skill of surgeons, the two teachers pointed their wands, from where flames were shot, melting the ice around Ben. When the boy was freed, they levitated him to move him safely, and marched off down the corridor. Meanwhile, Jamie and Penny, who had remained hidden behind the ice, agreed to visit Ben in the Hospital Wing to ask about the Black Quill, and parted ways for the night.
‘Is Ben going to be all right, Madam Pomfrey?’ asked a worried James.
‘I believe so. His memory is erratic, but I have seen patients in far worse condition in my time as Matron of Hogwarts,’ explained the woman.
James looked at the bed Ben was lying on. ‘He asked to see me?’
‘Many times, along with other strange proclamations and requests. I believe he’s experiencing some state of delirium.’
‘Can I talk to him?’
‘You have to understand that Mr Copper has been through quite an ordeal, and remains in a very delicate state. What exactly do you want?’
Thinking of an appropriate answer, Jamie replied, ‘I’m sure he’s feeling down. I want to see if I can lift his spirits.’
Madam Pomfrey nodded. ‘Very well, but be brief.’
The young boy approached Ben, and the Gryffindor greeted him in a sad tone. ‘Hey, Jamie...’
‘How are you feeling, Ben?’
‘Cold. Tired. Sore. Not that different from usual, to be honest,’ he said.
Jamie felt pity for his friend. ‘Is there anything I can do to cheer you up?’
Ben shook his head. ‘Seeing a friendly face is enough. Madam Pomfrey is very helpful, but she doesn’t have the most comforting bedside manner.’
‘You asked to see me?’ questioned Jamie.
‘Did I? I feel like I’m losing it...’
Jamie’s curiosity got the better of him when he started to press Ben on. ‘What were you doing in that Icy Corridor? How did you get trapped in the cursed ice?’
Ben looked down, confused. ‘I don’t remember. I can hardly remember anything at all. Madam Pomfrey thinks it has something to do with the ice.’
‘I found a letter to you in the Artefact Room. It led me to another that told you to go to that corridor.
Ben shook his head again. ‘I’m sorry, Jamie. I just don’t remember.’
Jamie was growing impatient. ‘You must remember something. Anything can help us understand what happened in that corridor...’
‘That’s enough for today, Mr Smith. Mr Copper needs his rest,’ the matron interrupted him. Jamie moved away from the bed, and when he was leaving the Hospital Wing he thought of getting Rowan to help him investigate.
Meeting with him in the icy corridor, Rowan asked him immediatly about everything. ‘Jamie! I can’t believe you found Ben frozen in cursed ice! How is he?’
‘Okay, but strange. He said he doesn’t remember anything about coming to this corridor...’
Rowan narrowed his eyes. ‘I think he’s hiding something.’
Taken by surprise, Jamie looked at his friend with wide eyes. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I’ve always felt like he knew more than he was telling. Like he was keeping secrets...’ Rowan elaborated. ‘He might just be afraid of whoever sent those instructions, or he might be trying to protect us.’
Scratching his chin, Jamie wondered about it. ‘I don’t know what to believe, but we need to figure out what’s really going on. Let’s search this corridor, and see if we can find some clues.’
Searching around, they looked for anything out of the ordinary (apart from the obvious columns of ice). Going almost brick by brick, Jamie felt something strange. Like a flow of air. But there weren’t any windows open, and the corridor was closed off. Tracing it to a part of the wall, he called out to Rowan, ‘Rowan, come here! You can feel a draught coming from this part of the wall!’
Rowan looked at the wall, and got closer. Closing his eyes for a few seconds, he finally opened them and nodded. ‘Whoa. I think I hear something too…’
‘Do you think it could be a hidden passage?’
Rowan thought about it. ‘Anything is possible at Hogwarts. The only way to know for sure is by casting Revelio.’
‘Revelio?’
‘It’s a Transfiguration spell that reveals concealed objects, and exposes the true appearance of things. It’s a really difficult spell, Jamie.’
Jamie smirked. ‘Then I’d better start learning it straight away…’
Through hard work and sheer determination, Jamie proved to Professor McGonagall to be worthy of those advanced extra classes, and to be ready to learn Revelio. And when an owl with a letter from the teacher came to him during breakfast, he was more than thrilled. The letter contained the date and time of their first advanced lessons. Meeting her in her classroom, McGonagall congratulated him. ‘I’ve been very impressed with your work ethic, Mr. Smith. You have made great progress in Transfiguration both in the classroom and in your private studies.’
‘Thank you, Professor. Do you think I’m finally ready to learn Revelio?’ Jamie asked, trying his best not to seem desperate.
‘I do. Please pay close attention…’
Their lesson went by, and by the end Jamie had a firm grasp on the spell. He untransfigured a cauldron, turning it into the original cat. He was again congratulated by the professor, and thanking her advice and lessons he returned to his dormitory to find Rowan.
‘Revelio!’ Pointing his wand at the suspicious wall, he and Rowan watched as the bricks were vanished into thin air, revealing a wide staircase going upwards.
‘Merlin’s beard, Jamie! You unvanished a secret staircase!’ said Rowan with glee.
Looking up the stairs, Jamie noted, ‘The same staircase from my vision...’ He remembered a strange dream he’d had long ago, back in his first year when he and Rowan had searched for a duelling book in the Artefact Room; a daydream of hidden corridors, icy suits of armour, and terrifying creatures.
‘And most likely the same staircase from the message we found carved in the cursed ice,’ Rowan added. ‘Where do you think it leads?’
‘I have no idea…’ he answered honestly.
‘What do you think we should do?’
‘We need to be careful. “The Ice Knight stands past the Vanished Stairs”, remember?’ Jamie said.
Rowan almost jumped in excitement. ‘We just discovered an unexplored section of Hogwarts, Jamie. Do you understand how amazing that is?!’
Agreeing with him, Jamie took out his wand and used the Wand Lightning Charm to see into the dark passageway.
‘This place is absolutely amazing…’ muttered Jamie, marvelling at the statues along the walls and the decorations in the stone. Pillars with green flames lit up the area, and the temperature had to be near freezing point.
‘And c-c-c-cold… Unnaturally cold… It feels like it’s already starting to slow down my body and mind...’ stammered Rowan
‘This must lead to one of the Cursed Vaults. My brother could be close…’ Jamie said, ignoring the fear in his friends voice.
Rowan complied. ‘Let’s hurry, and see what we can find. And come back later with a warm coat…’
Jamie pointed at the floor. ‘Footprints. Someone else was here…’
‘Who? How? When?’ asked Rowan in quick succession.
‘I don’t know. Let’s see where they lead…’
Up ahead, the footprints disappeared behind a wall of blue mist. Jamie tried to peer into it. ‘It’s some kind of mist…’
Rowan rubbed his arms. ‘It’s freezing… I don’t know if we can walk through this, Jamie.’
‘We don’t have to…’ thought Jamie. Taking out his wand, he pointed forward. ‘Flipendo! ’ The jet of light went through the mist, dispersing it and revealing a light blue hallway completely covered in ice. At the end, atop a set of stairs, a huge gate closed the way, with a snowflake-shaped barrier made of the same ice blocking it. ‘It’s incredible…’ Rowan said in awe.
Jamie agreed. ‘It must be a Cursed Vault…’
‘What should we do, Jamie?’
The door exerted a strange influence on Jamie, almost like it was attracting him to it. He imagined what could lie beyond, ‘I don’t care about any curses, I have to find my brother…’ he said, reaching out with his hand. When his hand came in contact with the barrier, everything started to tremble like an earthquake, and Jamie froze in place, struck by a new vision.
‘Jamie! Are you okay?!’ he heard Rowan call out to him when he came back to his senses.
‘I had another vision when I touched the door…’
‘What did you see?’ pressed Rowan.
‘Two rooms... One was dark, and filled with books. The other one was cluttered, with a door outlined in chalk...’ he recalled.
‘Well, at least this one doesn’t seem as threatening as your last vision,’ commented Rowan.
‘There was one other thing...’
‘What?’
‘You-Know-Who.’
Rowan’s face fell, and he tried to reason with his friend. ‘We should go, Jamie. This strange coldness, this entire place, I think it’s having a bad effect on us both…’
Just when he was suggesting leaving, at the centre of the snowflake barrier a white and blue swirling formed, shooting a ray at Rowan, who quickly dodged it. ‘It must be enchanted!’ he cried, as the door shot another ray, this time at Jamie, who dodged it in time as well. ‘Watch out, Jamie!’ Rowan shouted, just as another attack hit him square in the chest and sent him tumbling down the stairs. Jamie watched in horror as his friend hit the ice floor.
‘Rowan!’
The bespectacled boy didn’t move.
Merula looked at the boy sitting next to her in Potions Class. The seat next to him where his friend usually sat at was strangely empty. She tried to talk to the silent boy. ‘I haven’t had to see much of you outside of class, Smith. What have you been doing?’
Jamie looked at her, surprised to see her talk to him at all, especially in such a... not angry tone. He decided to be blunt, for he saw no reason to hide the truth. ‘I’ve been investigating the Cursed Vaults in hopes of finding my brother.’
‘I’ve been investigating the vaults myself,’ she admitted, ‘You would never believe the things I’ve discovered… Like everything else in your life, your search for the Cursed Vaults is doomed. I’m working with someone to locate and break the Cursed Vaults before you. The vaults and their power will be mine.’
Jamie glanced at her with a curious look. ‘What makes you think you’ll open the vaults before me?’
With a smug look, she replied, ‘Because, unlike you, I’m willing to do whatever it takes.’
‘If you only knew’, thought Jamie. But she seemed very confident to him, so he had to ask further, ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘You’ll see…’
A shiver ran down his spine. Whatever she was planning couldn’t be good, especially if he was the target of anything. He saw Professor Snape come to their table, and heard him say, ‘I’ve received information that will have dire consequences for one of you. We will discuss it at the end of class.’
Wondering what he meant, Jamie continued brewing of his potion as he had been told. He noticed the teacher leave the classroom for a quarter of an hour, and Merula leaned to whisper to him, ‘You are in for it now, Smith. I wonder… will Professor Snape expel you, or murder you?’ The gears inside his head spinning, he immediately started to suspect something was afoot, and it was Merula’s doing. A while later, the classroom door opened again, and Snape returned to the classroom with a scowl on his face. As the students continued brewing their potions, Jamie could feel Snape’s eyes glancing at him from time to time with cold fury.
When class was over, Snape once more came to their seats. ‘I have just visited your dormitory, Smith.’
‘Why?’ asked a confused Jamie.
‘I received information that you have been stealing supplies from my classroom,’ the professor told him.
‘That’s ridiculous. Why would I do that?’ Jamie said, completely calm, as he had nothing to hide.
‘Because you thought it would somehow help with your foolish pursuit of the Cursed Vaults? Because, like your brother, you insist on testing the boundaries of school rules, and my patience? I have no desire to know what goes on in your warped, tiny mind. Explain why there were stolen potion ingredients in the drawer next to your bed,’ Snape said all this in a cold voice, but the anger beneath was obvious.
Making sense at last of the situation, Jamie pointed with his head towards Merula as he theorised, ‘Merula obviously put them there. She’s sabotaged me before, and she’ll do anything to get me expelled. I wouldn’t put it past her to bribe or blackmail or trick someone into helping her, or doing it herself being us both Slytherins.’
Snape turned towards Merula, raising an eyebrow. ‘Is this true, Miss Snyde?’
Merula sneered, ‘Of course not. I want to see Smith expelled, but only because he’s a disgrace, and a danger to everyone at Hogwarts.’
Snape looked at her in disgust. ‘I genuinely wish you weren’t lying.’
This took her by surprise, almost making her fall out of her seat. ‘Excuse me?’
Snape rolled his eyes. ‘Your eyes dart back and forth ever so slightly when you aren’t telling the truth, Miss Snyde. You are an absolutely atrocious liar, particularly for a Slytherin. You will stay after class every day for the remainder of this year to clean and organise my supplies as punishment for attempting to frame Smith. Dismissed.’
That afternoon, Jamie went to visit his injured friend. Entering the Hospital Wing, Jamie saw that Rowan was looking much better, though he still coughed and sneezed from time to time, and was sometimes shivering.
‘Jamie! You came to visit my sick old bones,’ Rowan greeted, smiling when he saw his friend approach the bed.
Jamie placed a few things from his school bag on the night table. ‘I brought you Chocolate Frogs, my star chart from Astronomy Class, and a book about Wendelin the Weird.’
Rowan’s smile grew even larger. ‘Ooh, she’s one of my favourite witches from the Middle Ages. Thanks, Jamie!’
Sitting at his side, Jamie asked his friend, ‘How are you feeling?’
‘Better, but not great. I think that cursed ice did something to me. It felt like the longer we were in that corridor, the more the cold drained my strength.’
‘We’ll definitely dress warmly when we go back next time…’ quipped Jamie, trying to lift his spirits up.
‘Yeah. Next time…’
Jamie could see the fear in Rowan’s eyes, and could imagine what he was going to say. ‘Is something wrong?’
‘I think I’m just tired. let’s talk about what you can do differently when you return to the Cursed Vault. Aside from dressing warmly, and learning Incendio, I’m not sure there’s much else you can do to prepare for the Cursed Vault,’ Rowan tried to deflect the question, but Jamie didn’t miss the use of “you” instead of “we”.
‘I’ll work on finding some warm clothes, and learning that spell while you recover.’ Jamie didn’t give up on trying to get Rowan to help him, ‘You should be ready to head back to the Cursed Vault by the time I’m finished.’
‘I’m not going back.’ The reply hit him like a punch to the gut.
Jamie sighed, and asked, ‘What do you mean?’
‘I want to help you, but I’ll never be strong enough to help with the Cursed Vaults. I’m only holding you back…’ Rowan answered in a sad tone.
Jamie nodded. ‘I understand, Rowan. Just get your rest, and I’ll work out a way to get inside the Cursed Vault.’
Rowan gave him a sad smile. ‘Thanks for understanding, Jamie. It’s just that confronting that door was the closest I’ve ever come to dying…’
Standing up, Jamie gave his friend a pat on the shoulder. ‘Send an owl when Madam Pomfrey says you’re strong enough to leave the Hospital Wing. It’s time for Flying Class, but I’ll keep doing what I can to prepare for another trip to the Cursed Vault…’