Mystery

Before Amos dragged Cedric off, he called out, "Don't worry about having to inform your families of what transpired. The ministry has taken care of that."

My heart sank when I heard that, I hadn't even considered my parents reaction. I wasn't too worried about dad, but mom wasn't known for being very understanding.

On the way back to the Ravenclaw tower, I ran into the Weasley twins. Fred leaned in and asked in a conspiratorial whisper, "What happened to you yesterday? Half the school is saying that Hagrid dragged in your corpse."

After giving Fred and George the same story I gave Dumbledore, George complained, "What were you thinking... Going off and having a dangerous adventure without inviting us to tag along."

Fred winked, and added in an outraged voice, "You know George, I think he is trying to snatch our title as the biggest troublemakers."

George gasped and replied, "We can't have that. I guess we will have to get real creative to make sure we up our game."

With an evil grin, Fred replied, " George, I think you might be right."

As quickly as they arrived, they disappeared even quicker. I couldn't help but laugh and feel somewhat responsible for whomever they decide to target.

As soon as I entered the Ravenclaw tower, I ran into a tearful Jessica. Apparently, she had feared that worst after hearing the rumors. I ended up telling a watered-down version of the story to all my friends in Ravenclaw. By the time I made it to my room I was almost exhausted.

Sure enough, the following morning, our family's owl dropped off a letter. Hesitantly, I opened the letter. Surprisingly it wasn't as bad as I feared.

Alex,

I'm so proud of you! The ministry informed us you performed an excellent service, something about helping an influential vampire out a tight spot. And you were given a special award for it. That's so wonderful, I told your father that my son was destined for great things

The letter went on, gushing about how proud she was of my accomplishments. I felt relieved when I figured out that the ministry must have given her the watered-down version.

However, that feeling disappeared when another letter showed up shortly after. I could tell from the way my name was angrily scribbled in my mother's handwriting, that this letter had none of her previous praise.

ALEXANDER NICOLA FAWLEY!

I just received a letter from your headmaster. How dare you! You could have been hurt or even killed! Just wait till I get my wand on you. How could you be so irresponsible? You must get this recklessness from your father.

She went on listing the many ways she was disappointed, ultimately ignoring all the praise she gave me in the previous letter. This reaction was more in line with what I had been expecting. I'm glad she had a month and a half to cool off before I got home.

I ended up receiving yet another letter that morning and after I opened it, I realized that it was from Octavius.

Alexander,

I am sorry for my abrupt departure, as I was not able to thank you once again for freeing me from that hell hole. I'm afraid my return came somewhat as a shock to my fellow brethren. After so long in that hole, I am returning to my beloved Constantinople, or as I guess it is now known Istanbul. I still am indebted to you, and should you ever need assistance then send word, and I shall come immediately to lend you my aid.

The following week left me little free time. I spent my evenings in the care of Professor Flitwick, helping him while he graded papers. As far as dentitions go, it was fairly mild. He seemed happy to explain some of the questions that had been on my mind. Not for the first time, I was grateful that I had been sorted into Ravenclaw

Anna, on the other hand, had a terrible time in her detentions, Professor Snape made her spend hours cleaning out the dirty cauldrons with no magic. Some of the gunk that remained was downright toxic.

Now that I had my ring back, I could finally relax again. Ever since I learned about the Grendel, I had spent every spare minute practicing and preparing.

Time passed quickly, and soon it was May and almost time for our final exams. What was great about not having to worry about my ring, was that it left me free time to pursue other mysteries that had been bothering me.

I wanted to uncover the significance behind the magical formulas, runes, and symbols that randomly appeared and disappeared throughout the tower. Now that I had free time, I quickly figured out that they were questions that I needed to solve.

Most of the time, the questions appeared on the ceiling and there would be dozens of possible answers scattered throughout the tower. Once I touched the correct answer with my wand, the symbols would disappear, and a new question would appear.

I also realized that the puzzles dove into many different areas of magic. The problems also had arbitrary rules, like nothing would show up on a Tuesday. Or if I took too long to select the correct answer, sometimes more answers would show up, and sometimes questions would disappear for the day, and nothing would replace it.

What was infuriating was no one else could see them. I tried to show one to Jessica, and all she did was smile gently at me and suggest that I had been studying for our upcoming finals too much and that perhaps I needed a break.

As I answered more and more questions, I quickly realized that the difficulty was increasing well beyond what a first-year should know. Finally, the day came when the room no longer offered up any questions to solve. Later that night. I found myself all alone in the Ravenclaw common room.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw the statue of Rowena Ravenclaw move. It wasn't by much, but her arm moved, and now she was pointing towards a door that I had never seen before. I didn't know if the door had suddenly appeared or if it was always there and I simply couldn't see it.

Opening the door, I found a circular stairwell leading deep within the tower. As soon as I entered, the door swung shut behind me. Well, that not creepy at all.

At the bottom of the stairs, there was a large circular room with a giant bronze eagle statue. It stood in the middle of the room with its wings spread wide, preventing anyone from crossing to the other side. In front of the bronze eagle was a large leather binder sitting on a wooden pedestal.

As soon as I entered the room, the eagle snorted, "Finally, what took you so long? I was beginning to wonder if you were mentally deficient."

My left eye twitched when I heard the eagle statue mock me. Taking a deep breath I resisted the urge to bicker with a statue, that way lies madness.

"I've been a little busy," I replied through gritted teeth.

The eagle turned its head and sneered at me, and said, "Had you waited another week, you would have lost your chance forever. Only the top first-year Ravenclaw student is given a chance to pass the initial challenges. Should they fail to do so in their first year, they will never receive another chance."

Ignoring that the eagle was able to make surprisingly sophisticated expressions, I looked around the strange room and asked curiously, "What is this place?"

The eagle proudly pointed its beak to the ceiling and bragged, "This is the inner sanctum of Ravenclaw tower. You have been given a chance to complete a trial and become an heir of Ravenclaw."

Skeptical, I responded, "I've never heard about any such trial."

Gesturing towards the leather binder on the pedestal, the eagle explained, "There is no reason you should have. To attempt the trial, you have to sign the book, and it will ensure your silence."

Raising an eyebrow, I said, "And what is stopping me from leaving without signing it."

Ruthlessly grinning at me, the eagle replied, "Nothing, except for losing your chance to try and learn valuable knowledge from the Library of Rowena Ravenclaw."

No wonder word of the trial had never gotten out. There is no way any Ravenclaw student would pass up a chance to learn any secret knowledge from Rowena's library. While all the founders created Hogwarts, it was her, who laid the magical foundation for Hogwarts. Most of her enchantments have been lost to time, and some claim, it wouldn't be possible to cast the spells without her Diadem that boosted her intelligence.

A little suspicious, I inquired, "In over a thousand years, no one has passed the trial?"

Cocking its head, the eagle statue said, "What makes you think no one has passed the trial? Over the past thousand years, hundreds have attempted the trial, yet only six passed the trial. Each of them became brilliant wizards and witches who pioneered new magics and they added their knowledge and works to the Library of Ravenclaw."

At this point, I was practically drooling with greed and expectation. Seeing my expression, the eagle slyly asked, "So, what will it be? Sign and give up your chance to tell others about the trial, or will you leave the chance of gaining access to the legendary Library of Ravenclaw."

To me, it wasn't even a choice. I stepped forward and grabbed the quill and signed my name in the book. I noticed several names above my signature was my father's name. He must have been selected for the trial as well but I'm guessing he must have failed his trial

Once I had signed the book, I asked, "What is involved in this trial?"

Similar to how the Room of Requirement operates, four books appeared on a table, and the bronze eagle explained, "You have four choices to choose from, potion invention, ward crafting, enchanting, and occlumency. Each choice would tax you to your limits, and you have but a year and a day to master the subject. Choose carefully, many talented wizards and witches have tried, and the overwhelming majority have fallen short."

I glared suspiciously at the eagle, the choices it presented seemed handcrafted for me to choose. Somehow, I doubt that these are the only options available when it comes to the trial, rather it feels more like the eagle carefully selected subjects I had shown interest in before.

I had spent time researching each subject extensively in the room of requirement this year, which made me believe that perhaps there was more to the eagle than I was previously aware

Testing out the waters, I suspiciously asked, "Just how much activity in the castle are you aware of?"

The eagle smirked at me, choosing not to say anything.

Ignoring the eagle's annoying smirk, I considered the options before me. Each choice laid out by the bronze eagle seemed like a trap to me.

My time training with my mother made me aware of just how difficult crafting a new potion could be. I am not confident enough in my abilities to invent a new potion in one year.

Ward crafting seemed like an intelligent choice, considering that I had already learned how to take them apart. But, I know from my studies on the subject, that it could easily take me more than a year to be able to craft a ward. And that would only be a basic one, should the trial require a more complicated ward, there is no way I could finish in time.

I gave occlumency some serious consideration. I had always been interested in learning but, from what I've read on the subject, teaching yourself occlumency would be extremely difficult. Besides, how would you even know if you had mastered the subject?

I have to admit; enchanting seems like the obvious choice. But, there are insanely difficult enchantments out there. If the trial selects one of those, I most likely won't pass the trial.

No wonder only six students had ever completed the trials in 1000 years, expecting any students in their first and second years to complete this is insane. .

In the end, I decided on Occlumency. Not only did I think it was my best shot as passing the trial, but as well-meaning as Professor Dumbledore was, I preferred to keep my memories to myself. Feeling his x-ray like stare had been extremely unsettling.

Moving over to the book on mental defense, I said: "I choose occlumency."

The other books disappeared, leaving the book on occlumency behind. At this point, I was sure that the enchantment in this room was similar to the one in the Room of Requirement.

The bronze eagle made a dismissive motion, and said, "Take the book and leave, do not return until you are ready to complete your trial. I urge you not to attempt it too soon, as you will only receive one chance to pass the trial. Should you fail, you will never see this place again."

I grabbed the book and started to leave. Before I got to the stairs, I turned and gave the eagle one last look, and clarified, "Am I allowed to get help with training myself in occlumency?"

The eagle smirked at me and said, "It would hardly be a real trial if you could be spoon-fed the answers."

There goes my initial plan of asking Professor Snape for help. Although considering what Harry went through when trying to learn, maybe it was a blessing in disguise.