6 Chapter Five: The Secret

Namora dusted off her robes from Herbology, not happy that she had gotten dirty. It was the afternoon and lunch was about to begin. "Hey, woah," Albus said, catching her in the hall. "What happened to your robes?" "Herbology aftereffects," she replied. Namora passed by the great hall and climbed up the stairs. "What are you doing!" Albus called after her. "Changing my robes," she said back and hurried to where her common room was.

"Gross," she said, looking back to see dusty footprints. "How could I have gotten so dirty?" Namora asked herself. She came upon the Ravenclaw secret passage. It was behind a large portrait of a king sitting on a throne. "Tell me the password and you may enter," the painting said in an unrecognizable accent. "Ever the kind, ever the brave, ever the cunning, ever the willing," Namora recited the four-lined poem and the king grimaced. "Enter Ravenclaw," and the portrait swung open. She climbed through and came upon the Ravenclaw common room. It was decorated with navy blue curtains, a picture of Rowena Ravenclaw, the founder of the house, and various bookcases and plenty of furniture. Namora smiled at the warmth radiating from the fireplace and then climbed a slight of stairs to the right and opened the door to her room. It wasn't really "her" room. She shared it with three other girls, Hemley, Sarah, and Jillian.

Namora much enjoyed Jillian's adventurous spirit, Sarah's curious mind, and Hemley's kindness, but they weren't that close of friends. Not like her and Albus were, their friendship was very strong. Namora popped open her trunk and saw her scarf. She smiled, remembering the memory from her first year. She dug deeper and pulled out some clean robes. She changed quickly, knowing that lunch would soon be over and the next class would begin.

She skipped two steps as she hurried down the stairs and out of the common room. She pushed open the back of the portrait and climbed out into the hallway, making sure to close the king's portrait behind her. "Goodbye fellow Ravenclaw," the portrait called after her as she ran down the hallway. Other portraits also said their goodbyes and hellos, just now noticing her.

She jumped the last few steps on the third floor, losing her balance from the moving stairway and used the wall to steady herself, and raced to get to the great hall. "Hey!" she heard a faint voice behind her, it was probably a portrait and not the wall. She looked back then "SMACK!" she ran into something in front of her. Next thing she knew she was falling down a moving flight of stairs. "Ahh!" she said as she tumbled onto the floor. She picked herself up, and noticed someone else beside her. Oh no, I've killed someone! Was her first thought as she looked at the boy.

He lifted his head slightly, letting Namora know that he was in fact, still alive. Namora hurried to help the boy up . He looked at her angrily and shoved her off then stomped away towards the great hall. Namora frowned, "must have been a Slytherin," she muttered as she ran to the great hall.

When she walked into the room, she could tell that she had most definitely missed something. All the years were standing, cheering and clapping. Namora searched for her table and found Jillian instead, leaning against the walls. "Jillian, what's going on?" "Oh hey Namora. You just missed Beauxbatons." "What!" " Yeah, a bunch of girls came in with dresses and did a dance for the professors." "The schools arrive today?" Namora asked. "Yeah, they do, or they did," Jillian answered back and then cheered as drums sounded throughout the hall.

"Durmstrang!" a booming voice yelled, probably from the Quidditch referee. A group of boys entered wearing heavy coats and furs. The two in the front played the drums while three others held sticks of fire. Namora gasped loudly, seeing the boy from the hallway tossing something into the air that exploded, making snow fall. Namora bet Albus was having a fairly good time, for he loved the snow.

Namora's eyes widened with wonder as it fell and the students danced and cheered as Durmstrang wrapped up their act. It ended with the blowing of torches and the fire spitted into the air and the snowflakes disappeared. Then came the last school, Ilvermorny.

A girl squeezed by Namora, holding a horn. She blew into it and a beautiful sound came out. It filled the entire room and other horns soon followed. The girl put the horn by her side and clapped along as the select few from Ilvermorny came into the hall. "That was beautiful," Namora said to the girl. "Oh, why thank you," she said, putting a hand to her heart like it was the most blessed thing she had heard. "I'm Queenie," the girl said and stuck out her hand to shake Namora's. Namora shook her hand happily.

"Are you excited for the tournament?" Namora asked. "I've heard it's the bee's knees!" Namora laughed. "What's so funny!" "I'm quite sorry, I have just never heard of the "bees knees" before," Namora said, still laughing. Queenie laughed too, a smile appearing on her face. "How do you like Hogwarts so far, they say it's the best wizarding school in the world " Namora said and tugged on her robes, proud to be a Ravenclaw. "Hogwash!..." "Not quite, the school is called Hogwarts," she said smirking at the Queenie's New York accent. "Ilvermorny is the best wizarding school," Queenie said and they both laughed.

Namora smiled and brightened up, perhaps they would become friends? She seemed really nice and had a sense of humor and an accent. Namora shook her head, an accent, what a funny thing to think of. "Why thank you, you're a doll," Queenie said smiling at Namora.

"What?" Namora said, suddenly staring at her like she might have missed something. Queenie covered her mouth and gasped then looked to see if anyone had heard and dragged Namora away. The two girls stumbled through the crowds of cheering students as Ilvermorny finished their act. Queenie pushed Namora out of The Great Hall and looked around frantically for a private place. "What's wrong?" Namora asked. "I, I.." Queenie turned to face her, her hands on Namora's shoulders. "I need to tell you a secret." She didn't know how to react, but she wanted to make another friend she needed this and she knew just the place. Namora nodded, "I know just the place."...

Namora had discovered this "place" towards the end of second year. So far, that was one of the hardest years for her. Piper and Vanessa didn't miss a chance to bully her. It was especially bad in History of Magic. It wasn't the fact that professor, Mr. Binns, talked too much about half-blood families and "younger" students attending school. It was the fact that he fell asleep after thirty minutes in class. Which gave Vanessa and Piper and their posse of purebloods a good hour to tease her and one other half-blood in that class. A boy named, Gabriel Johnson. He was a fifth year and was captain of the Ravenclaw quidditch team.

Next weekend was the championships that the Ravenclaw team somehow managed to get Into. Ravenclaw and Slytherin were fighting for the win. Sadly both Hufflepuff and Gryffindor didn't make the cut. Most of the Ravenclaws suspected that the Slytherin team had cheated their way to the championships by using "trick" snitches.

One game, against Gryffindor, the Slytherin Seeker, Bobby Cratchit caught the snitch thirty-five minutes into the game. Usually it takes at least an hour or so to catch it. The Gryffindor crowd was very angry that day. There was a food fight in the great hall that same afternoon.

Namora led Queenie up the moving stairs and past the yelling portrait she had knocked down earlier in her hurry to get to the hall. Queenie marveled at the moving pictures, but they moved quickly up the steps and staircases. Finally Namora pushed her into a dark room and shut the door as quietly as she could behind her. The room was dusty and full of shelves and old textbooks. "Here it is, the room of requirement," Namora said, stretching out her arms to show Queenie.

Queenie tugged Namora behind a cabinet and they sat, facing each other, their legs crossed. "I can read minds," Queenie said, her eyes widening and her short, strawberry blonde hair jingling with delight. "No way, how can you, that's not possible. Is it possible, why have I never..." "One question at a time Namora." "Okay, okay." "I learned how to do it," Queenie said her eyebrows raised. "REALLY!" "Namora!" Queenie whispered, a finger to her mouth. "Sorry, my apologies," Namora said, her voice coming down to a faint whisper.

"What am I thinking of?" Namora asked, testing Queenie's statement. Queenie stared at her for just a second before answering. "You think that reading minds is a tall tale." Namora's jaw dropped, "No bloody way!" "Namora!" "Sorry, apologies, I think I have been hangin' around Albus a bit too much. "Who's Albus?" Queenie asked, scooting closer towards her. "My friend, my best friend," Namora said, remembering how he stuck up for her .

"If someone taught you, maybe could you, perhaps, teach me?" "I,I just don't know Namora," Queenie said, twirling her hair, a nervous habit. "The thing is, I don't exactly know how to teach you, but I do know someone who could." Namora smiled widely, "Tell me."

~

Queenie and Namora had become friends over the next week as the school prepared for the tournament. Namora noticed that Albus wasn't around much, but was grateful for Queenie's friendship. And since classes were canceled, they would have time to find a teacher for Namora.

"Is it a witch or a wizard?" Namora asked one night while they ate a plate of mashed-potatoes and roast. "I can't tell you that silly, or it wouldn't be a surprise," Queenie laughed. Namora rolled her eyes, and pushed her temper into the pits of her stomach. Trying to not let Queenie know her feelings on the subject. She had been telling Namora or "giving hints" to her all week and Namora was tired of games.

It was a Thursday night when Queenie finally gave up the games. They were sitting on one of the many balconies connected to the Ravenclaw tower, (the west tower) talking about each other's school's. "In Ilvermorny, there are four houses too! Pukwudgie, Horned-Serpent, Thunderbird, and Wampus," Queenie said, adding on proudly that she was a Pukwudgie. "Right," Namora said, her thoughts drifting to the practice of Legilimency and who would teach her.

"I can't tell you who it is..." "Why? Why can't you tell me who?" Namora said annoyed. "I..." "Queenie!" Namora yelled angrily. Queenie shrunk back towards the door, suddenly afraid of Namora. Her eyes bulged and she was breathing heavily. "Queenie, I am so sorry," Namora said as she hopped off the rim and placed a reassuring hand on Queenie's trembling shoulder.

"I can't tell you who it is because the name means bad luck if spoken out loud where I come from. We aren't supposed to talk about him." Namora's face fell, and she wished that she hadn't been so mean to Queenie. "If you aren't supposed to see him then why are we going?" "Because, he is smart and wise and taught me what I know." "We don't have do go, it's okay Queenie." "No, I want to go, I want him to teach you," She said determined. "His name is Phineas Nigellus Black.

A million thoughts were racing through Namora's head at that moment. Her eyes widened in both shock and fear know that her teacher was the headmaster. Phineas had his "beliefs" on muggle-born students and muggles in general. He liked to tease Jillian, a muggle-born witch. He would call her mudblood while passing her in the hallways. Even Piper didn't like him. She and her friends tried to avoid him as much as they could before he would annoy them with muggle issues.

Namora gulped, "What?" "Oh no, is something a matter?" "I, uh, just didn't know that my teacher would be the headmaster," Namora said, disappointed. "It's okay though, you're a smart and ambitious, and.." "Thanks Queenie " Namora said, feeling slightly better about it. She could hear the portrait door slam open and then shut behind her. "Better get ya out of hear, it is only supposed to be Ravenclaw," Namora said and winked as Queenie turned to leave. "See you tomorrow? In the room?" Queenie asked. "Definitely," Namora replied back and smiled as she ran out the dormitory door and down the steps where she sneaked past incoming students.

The sun was setting as Namora turned, she breathed in heavily, catching the smell of trees, flowers, and grass. She hopped off her ledge and decided to practice her spells while she was waiting for Jillian, Sarah, and Hemley to return from Hogsmeade. She grabbed her spell book, wand at the ready as she flipped through the pages to find something interesting to try when a startling noise made her drop the book flat on the floor.. It sounded like weeping. Namora cautiously poked her head out of her dormitory and looked down the hallway.

The sobs grew louder and she turned left to the next dormitory. Putting her ear to the door she could hear it now. "I...am...such a...fool!" A girl's voice said between sobs and sniffles. Namora wondered if she helped the girl what would happen. A friendship? Maybe a favor? She pushed all of the incoming thoughts away though and opened the door. It was Piper.

She snapped her head around and stared at Namora with tear-stained eyes. "What do you want?!" "I just heard you crying and I..." "Have you come to make fun of me. Is this revenge?" "What? No. Piper, I don't know what you're talking about." "Right," Piper said , sarcastically as she wiped her eyes. Namora didn't say anything back, but just stared at her. "Are you serious?" Namora nodded, eyes wide with curiosity. "Well, if your not the one who did it, then who is?" Namora sat down by Piper and said: "Tell me everything."

"So you don't know who did this to you!" "Hey, I'm the victim here Namora, do not turn it all on me!" Piper snorted. "I may not know who they are, but I do know where they came from," she said, smirking. "I saw them walk into the Slytherin dormitories and you know that Slytherin is sharing their dormitory with the Durmstrang students. Namora's eyes suddenly widened, "I might have an idea of who it is."

"Come on Piper!" Namora said, as she raced out the door. Piper rolled her eyes, "Fine. But wait up please. I'm not as fast as you!" Piper screamed and started to jog after her. Namora slowed her pace and she and Piper slipped out of the Ravenclaw door. Namora shut the portrait behind her and Piper headed down the stairs with her following close behind.

When they were, at last, at the very bottom floor of the castle, the dungeons, Piper pointed to the hallway where Slytherin would be. "I hate the dungeons, they're smelly, and dark, and dirty," she said as she spied a rat scrambling across the floor. "Shh, we're getting close." "We don't have to be that quiet. Most, if not all, of the Slytherins are at the feast.

"We might have to shrink to get in, do you know a spell?" Namora said as she gave up on trying to open to the door. Piper nodded, "I have a better idea". "I am quite talented at potions if I do say so myself and I think we could use a shrinking potion," Piper said and flipped her hair. "Does it matter?" "Well.." "Let's just get in and get out, it doesn't matter how we get in." "Fine Namora. "Well, since I don't have the potion right now, I suppose I'll just have to use the shrinking spell". "Yes, alright," Namora said and pulled out her wand. "Reducio" Namora said, pointing her wand at herself. Piper also did the same and they both shrunk down to size of mice. Namora and Piper ran under the door and gasped at the Slytherin common room. "We best make ourselves large again," Namora said to Piper but she had already used the enlargement charm on herself and was walking towards the fireplace. Namora rolled her eyes, "engorgio".

Once back to her normal size Namora caught up to Piper. Glancing at her surroundings she was quite impressed. The fire glowed hot and casted shadows around the room. There were no windows, but there were lamps and candles. Namora sat down on a large green sofa and stretched, feeling tired. "Come on Namora, I hear something up there," Piper said, hands on hips as she looked down on Namora. "Alright," Namora said and she followed Piper towards the dormitories.

Namora turned suddenly, thinking she had heard something, but nothing was behind her. She gulped and turned back towards Piper. She was gone though. Namora breathed heavily, hating the feeling of being alone. She looked frantically left and right until she heard a deep voice. "INTRUDER"! Namora pushed a door open, running quickly down the hall. All the doors were closed. Think, Namora, think! She examined the hallway, there! There was a crease in the long rug that ran down to the hallway. She lifted a end up and smiled when she saw a hatch. "INTRUDER!" A man's voice yelled.

"Sorry, Piper!" Namora said and pulled the hatch over her head and locked it.

She sat on a step, a stair step. There was a winding, dark tunnel that seemed to have no end. Namora searched for her wand in the dark until she found it and held it up in front of her. "Lumos" A light appeared at the tip top of her wand and lighted the tunnel. She followed the stone steps downwards. As she traveled farther and farther down, she became nervous and wondered if she had missed another secret door somewhere. Examining the walls, she found them moist and moss grew in the cracks. Traveling down twenty more steps, light flooded the tunnel and she came upon a clearing. It led to a dock on the lake.

Namora heard voices and thought it might be her assailant but, they were coming from the stone walls behind her. She walked back and searched the walls. The stones were cold against her sweaty hands and she wiped them off on her robes. Putting her ear to the wall she heard the voices clearer. "Alohomora" the stones shifted and changed and formed an opening. She stepped through and saw a ladder. Climbing it, she came upon a wooden shack. Having been to Hogsmeade, she knew this was the infamous Shrieking Shack. An unnatural breeze flowed through it and the house's boards creaked under her feet. Looking out a broken window, she saw that it was night. Soon it would be time for her to head back. She couldn't be out past the curfew. Especially if she was in another house's dormitory.

She followed the voices into a small room. She could tell one of them was definitely a Durmstrang student. He had a fur coat on and heavy boots. But the other student looked familiar. They both had their wands out and the one from Durmstrang held onto a strange pendant. Namora held her wand out in front of her and with a swish both of the student's wands flew into her hand. The boy with the coat turned and Namora recognized him as the boy she had ran into on the moving staircases earlier. He snarled at her and stood defensively. The other boy stood now, his back to her and then turned slowly to face her. Namora gasped, "Albus"!

"Namora, this isn't what it looks like." "Ugh, hello?! This place is disgusting, where are you, Namora?" an all to familiar girl's voice said. Piper turned the corner. "Oh my...," she said and looked at the scene. She leaned over to Namora, "Do you know them," she said, her eyes widening and then squinting as if she suddenly decided that they were diseased. Namora rolled her eyes. "We have Herbology with him," she said, pointing to Albus. Piper looked at the boy and then narrowed her eyes. "I don't think so." Albus came towards the two girls and roughly pushed passed them. The other boy glared at them nastily and followed Albus. "Albus! Wait!" Namora said and then turned to Piper angrily. "How, did you even find this place?" She scoffed, "After you left me...I just happened upon it. You know, I'm smarter than I look Namora," she said defensively and then turned sharply and walked away. Namora rubbed her forehead in frustration. She really hoped that she hadn't just lost her best friend.

~

The next few weeks were quiet besides a sudden and unwanted friendship with Piper. She just up and abandoned her group and started to sit with Namora and Queenie at lunch. "I haven't seen Albus hardly at all," Namora told Queenie. She frowned at Namora and then put her hands around hers. "I bet he'll come around. I bet my lucky socks even." Namora still wasn't sure and leaned on her wrists lazily. "So. I just bought myself a new pair of shoes," Piper said. Namora groaned. This was horrible.

Finally, Piper went to get herself some more food and Namora and Queenie got a rare moment away from Piper. Namora asked Queenie, "So, tonight?" "Tonight? Might as well. We can't have Piper follow us. We are going to have to, eek, sneak out." Queenie said and smiled excitedly. Namora wasn't too excited for she was still worried about Albus, but decided that she needed to learn this skill. Maybe it would even get her mind off of everything. "Let's do it then."