92 Hogsmeade

By the time I made it to the Room of Requirement, I was nearly vibrating with excitement. This was it, the final step, all I needed to do was find the correct wand movement that would allow my spell to come forth and I would have created my very first spell. If I had my way, it would only be the first of many.

The first thing I did when I got to the RoR was ask it to make an isolated room that was suitable to experiment with a new spell. Dad had warned me numerous times how unstable new spells could be. That's why he has such a heavily warded circle in his workshop.

The Room of Requirement instantly complied with my request. I let out an appreciative whistle when I saw the results.

The new room was a spacious round room, easily being fifty feet in diameter. But what was really impressive was the walls and floor. They looked reinforced. The whole room looked like it was inside of a bunker, designed to withstand a long drawn-out siege.

Of course, that thought made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Just what in Merlin's name did the room expect was going to happen. Nope, not ominous at all.

The room also provided me with a heavy wooden bench in the center of the room. Seeing the set up reminded me of my father's workbench. I just wished I had learned how to lay down wards like those that surrounded his workstation. But, wards were NEWT level spells, and I hadn't got that far in my private education.

When I approached the table, I twisted my wrist, drawing out my wand from my dueling holster. Seeing the empty table, it occurred to me that I need something to practice on. Even if it took me some time to get the spell to work, having a broom on the table would help me have something for my spell to target.

Sensing my desire, the Room of Requirement made two old, dusty brooms appear. Both were missing around half of their twigs, and I wouldn't trust these old, tattered brooms farther than I could throw them. But, for an experiment, they would be just fine.

For a minute, I stood there dumbly. Now that I was finally at the last step, I wasn't quite sure where to begin. There were literally an untold amount of possible wand movements, and somehow I would have to find the perfect one. The one that would let my spell be cast. In the end, I decided that I would start with simple movements and just work my way through more complicated ones.

Concentrating on my spell, I pointed my wand at one of the brooms and gave it a shallow poke, "Nullaresistentia."

Other than a small spark that I normally felt when I normally chanted the incantation, nothing happened.

I let out a sigh. This was going to take some time. Over and over again, I changed my spell. Each time, I changed the wand movement.

On my twenty-something attempt, something finally happened.

As soon as the words Nullresistentia were uttered, blue and red sparks shot out of my wand like fireworks. Although I was a little pleased that I had finally seen a reaction, I knew not to get my hopes up. The books I read warned that seeing a reaction didn't mean you were on the right track. As it were, sparks were a very mild effect, and I knew I would probably see more magical effects in the future.

It seemed the universe decided to take my last thought and run with it. From then on, nearly every attempt produced a magical phenomenon. Most seemed harmless, often involving sparks or strange colored lights bursting out of my wand. I think the most amusing effect I had was when my wand produced what sounded like a goose honk. The sound was so amusing. I repeated the same wand movement so that I could hear it again.

Of course, there were less amusing magical effects as well. On one attempt, green slime poured out of my wand like water from a faucet and covered the floor. I gagged when I smelled the slime. It emitted a smell that rightfully belonged in a sewer. The smell was so overpowering that I emptied the contents of my stomach. Thankfully, it didn't take the Room of Requirement long to respond, and the smelly, green slime vanished along with my puke.

After the slime incident, I decided to call it a night and headed back to my dorm. I knew from the beginning that I was unlikely to succeed so soon. It was a marathon, not a sprint.

The following day at breakfast, I found my roommates buzzing with excitement. The first Hogsmeade trip was this weekend, and everyone was excited about it.

"I can't wait to see Hogsmeade," Ryan declared. "It's the only fully magical community left in Britain. I can't wait to see what it's like."

"You should rein in your expectations," Roger warned.

Butting into the conversation, William rebutted, "Don't listen to him. I'm with you on this. Saturday cannot come soon enough. The first place we should go to is Honeydukes. I've heard they're shelves upon shelves of the most succulent-looking sweets imaginable. Creamy chunks of nougat, shimmering pink squares of coconut ice, fat, honey-coloured toffees; hundreds of different kinds of chocolate in neat rows."

As Williams' voice wistfully trailed off into silence, his eyes seemed to lose focus as if he imagined himself in the store. I shook my head in amusement. Growing up, William's mum never let him eat desserts, and he had developed something of a sweet tooth after finally being exposed to treats at Hogwarts.

"Of course, that's the first thing you want to visit." Roger scoffed.

"Oh yeah," William defended, "Where do you think we should go?"

Roger's eyes narrowed, and he clenched his teeth. "I'm headed to Zonko's joke shop. A few weeks ago, Fred and George put Bulbadox powder in my quidditch gloves. My hands were covered in boils. I'm going to find something that will help me put them in their place."

Wanting to nip this in the bud, I said, "If you're planning to go to war with Fred and George, I think I can speak for the rest of us when I say to keep us out of it."

Around the table, all our fellow Ravenclaws nodded their heads in agreement. No one wanted to get into a pranking war with the twins. Last year, two Slytherins tried that and spent the rest of the year being Fred and George's sole focus. Needless to say, no one sane wanted to get into a pranking war with them.

Seeing the lack of support from everyone, Roger seemed to deflate but muttered something beneath his breath.

Ignoring Roger's sulking, William looked over at me, "What about you, Alex? Where do you want to go?"

A certain journalist's name flashed through my mind. I thought it was about time I met Rita Skeeter. I had a feeling that having a reporter in my pocket would be useful in the future.

Thanks to future Hermione, I had the perfect blackmail material. Rita Skeeter was an unregistered animagus. In the books, she used her animagus form, a small beetle, to spy on people. When Hermione discovered her, she trapped Rita inside a glass jar that had been enchanted with the unbreakable charm.

The only issue I needed to workout was somehow getting to Rita Skeeter. Maybe I'll take a page from Hermione's playbook and trap her in a jar until I need her. Or I could take the softer approach and gently hint that I knew her secret and would keep quiet in exchange for future favors.

I quickly realized that while I was plotting, my friends were still waiting for an answer.

"Umm. I've heard that the Three Broomsticks is supposed to be a nice place. They're said to have one of the best butterbeer brews in all of Britain."

I turned to Jessica, "You live in Hogsmeade. What's the most interesting place to visit?"

Jessica thought about it for a moment, then replied, "Tomes and Scrolls is a good store. They have a decent selection of books."

Roger rolled his eyes. "Of course you would mention a bookstore. You're as bad as William. If I wanted to read more books, I would go to the Hogwarts Library."

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with a good bookstore," I defended.

Jessica shot me a grateful smile before turning her glare towards Roger.

"Maybe you could buy a book to help you with your potion making," She remarked waspishly.

Jessica paused for a moment, then added with a sneer, "Then again, I doubt any book can help you."

A fine mist of pumpkin juice shot out of William's nose when he heard Jessica's insult.

As Roger's pale cheeks flushed red in embarrassment, the rest of us tried not to react and pointedly concentrated on our food.

Roger's abysmal potions skills were a sensitive topic in our dorm. Even more so because most Ravenclaw students tend to do fairly well in Potions class. Roger's main issue was he had a short attention span and tended to lose focus, and the main thing you need in potions is mental discipline and being able to focus for long periods.

Satisfied that she had punished Roger for his remark, she proudly turned her attention back to her meal and continued her breakfast.

As William and Ryan continued to debate where they would go, my mind turned back to the problem of luring Rita Skeeter to Hogsmeade.

I could come out and accuse her of what I know in a letter, as I did to Professor Lockart. But, I had a feeling that Rita was more crafty than him, and I didn't want to take any chances.

After mulling it over, I decided I would use Rita's weakness against her, her curiosity. If she is anything like she was in the books, then she has an overpowering need to spy on people and learn their secrets. All I needed to do is tip her off on a fake story. Hopefully, she will take the bait.

Later that night, I finished sealing the letter I had written to her. I decided to keep the contents relatively simple. Since she was a journalist, it shouldn't be too uncommon for her to receive tips about scandalous stories. All I did was insinuate that a high-ranking member of the ministry would be meeting someone at The Three Broomsticks on Saturday at noon, and if she were there, she would find a juicy story.

While I wasn't one hundred percent sure she would take the bait, I figured there was a good chance she would show up to see if she could get some dirt. And if the books are accurate, she'll probably be lurking around in her animagus beetle form.

The following morning, I got one of the Hogwarts owls to deliver the letter. Now, all I needed to do was wait for Saturday, well and enchant a glass jar.

On Saturday morning, all the third-year Ravenclaws met with Professor Flitwick in the common room. Eager and impatient looks could be found on everyone's faces as Professor Flitwick went over the guidelines for the Hogsmeade trip.

Seeing how he was about to lose the third-year's attention, Professor Flitwick quickly concluded, "Remember, everyone needs to be back at Hogwarts by five o'clock. Anyone not back on time will have their Hogsmeade privileges suspended."

Having finished laying the ground rules, Professor Flitwick shooed with his hands, "Alright, go, get out of here. Have a good time."

As my fellow third years nearly started a stampede on their way out of the common room. Professor Flitwick squeaked out a final reminder, "Remember, no magic."

Not wanting to fight the crowd, I stayed behind. I wasn't in a rush because I would be meeting Anna, Cedric, and Alicia at the Great Hall.

Athena had informed me that she was tagging along by way of refusing to leave my shoulder. No amount of coaxing could get her to budge. I tried to pull her off, but she dug her claws into my robes and wrapped her tail around my neck, and she let out a piercing caterwauling sound that sounded like she was being tortured.

"Athena," I hissed. "Stop it, you're embarrassing me."

My face burned red as some of the older Ravenclaws came out of their dorms to see what was happening. I overheard a few of the girls whispering that I must have been mistreating Athena. More than one glared resentfully at me, muttering under their breath that I wasn't worthy of owning Athena.

Athena had done a thorough job of integrating herself with my fellow Ravenclaws over the past couple of years. She was almost the mascot of the Ravenclaw Tower.

Feeling wrongfully accused, I let go and threw my hands up in surrender. "Fine," I gave in. "If it means that much to you, you can come along."

Athena ceased her theatrics and let out a smug bleat. To really rub it in, she reached up and condescendingly patted my head.

When I got to the Great Hall, I found the others waiting for me.

Anna immediately cooed, "Athena."

She scooped her off my shoulder without any resistance and promptly began to pamper her.

I felt my left eye twitch in annoyance, and I couldn't help but glare at Athena. Oh, now you don't mind leaving my shoulder. Earlier, you were acting like staying on my shoulder was a matter of life and death.

Athena's only response was to close her eyes and let out a satisfied purr.

On our way to Hogsmeade, Alicia was nearly bouncing up and down in excitement.

"Where should we go first?" She questioned.

Without bothering to wait for an answer, she suggested, "How about we go see the Shrieking Shack? It's supposed to be the most haunted house in Britain."

Since I knew the real secret behind the Shrieking Shack, I wasn't too interested in going. "I don't know, the Shrieking Shack? It kinda sounds lame."

"Ooh. Is Alex scared of a little haunting?" Alicia teased with a smile.

I narrowed my eyes at her little taunt and chose not to sink to her level.

"Don't worry," She cooed. "I'll protect you. I'm not afraid of a haunted house."

Always the peacemaker, Cedric interjected before I could reply.

"How is the Shrieking Shack the most haunted?" Cedric questioned. "I would have thought with all the ghosts that inhabit Hogwarts that it would be considered the most haunted."

Alicia paused and brushed her hair back. "I don't know." She retorted defensively, "That's just what people say about it." Unable to refute Cedric's reasoning, she fell silent.

"I don't think the ghosts should count. They've always been more than welcome at Hogwarts. Haunting implies that it's unwanted." Anna said in agreement with Alicia.

"Really?" I snorted, "Have you forgotten about Peeves?"

Anna opened her mouth to argue, but after a moment closed it. Even she couldn't make an argument that Peeves, the poltergeist, was truly welcome at Hogwarts. Over the centuries, there had been numerous attempts to force him from the castle, but Peeves was just too strong and was deeply infused into the foundations.

The debate continued as we took the winding path that led to the Shrieking Shack. But, we all fell silent as the shack came into view.

"Ok," I admitted. "It certainly looks like the most haunted house in Britain."

Everyone nodded in silent agreement as we took in what was supposed to be the most haunted house in Britain.

The house looked like it was about two seconds from caving in on itself. The walls looked flimsy, and ivy had wrapped the house. The ivy seemed alive and reminded me of a snake squeezing the life out of its prey. Considering everything I knew about magical plants, that could be what was happening.

There was no obvious way inside because all the windows and doors had been boarded up. Considering this was the place Professor Dumbledore made for Lupin to stay at during his werewolf transformation, I was willing to bet there were other enchantments in place to prevent outsiders from entering.

If that wasn't bad enough, weeds surrounding the house gave off a rotten stench, and the house creaked and moaned as the wind moved through it. The whole effect was rather hair-raising and creepy. The only one who was seemingly unaffected was Athena, who gave the house a look, then flicked her tail dismissively.

Seeing Alicia putting on a brave face made me smirk. Remembering her earlier taunts about me being afraid made an idea appear in my head. Sneaking up behind her, I motioned to Cedric to keep quiet and not warn her. Once I was close enough, I grabbed her arm and shouted, "AHH!"

Alicia shrieked in fear and launched herself into the air, trying to get away from whatever had grabbed her.

She landed in a roll and came up with her wand out.

"I thought haunted houses didn't scare you," I snickered.

Her relief at not finding anything holding her quickly turned to anger when she saw it was just me. From the glint in her eye, I knew it was best to start backing away.

"Calm down, Alicia," I soothed while backing up. "It was just a joke."

After putting away her wand, she started to roll up her sleeves, "I'm glad you're in a joking mood. Come here. I also have a joke I want to tell you."

Understanding that discretion is the better part of valor, I turned and bolted with a laugh.

Seeing her target getaway, Alicia followed suit, swearing to get revenge. Behind her, Athena cheerfully yowled and jumped out of Anna's arms, thinking that another game of tag had begun.