Chapter 14 A secret Chamber

"To the one who walks among stars, the Chamber of Illumination awaits. Solve the riddle, find the path."

"Chamber of Illumination?" Hermione murmured. "I've never heard of it. It's not in 'Hogwarts: A History.'"

Jonathan's heart raced. He thought of the Chamber of Secrets, of the Room of Requirement. Hogwarts was full of hidden places, each with its secrets. But 'the one who walks among stars'? That sounded uncomfortably like...

"The centaurs," he said. "They called me 'star-walker.' Do you think this message is for me?"

Hermione bit her lip, her analytical mind clearly at war with the mystery before her. "It seems... too convenient. This book, just happening to fall open to this page? But then again, at Hogwarts..."

"...nothing happens by accident," Jonathan finished. It was one of Dumbledore's mantras, or would be. Time travel and foreknowledge made verb tenses tricky.

Mr. Whiskers meowed, pawing at Jonathan's leg. Looking down, Jonathan noticed the cat's eyes seemed to glow, just for a moment, with an eerie intelligence. "I don't suppose you know anything about this Chamber, do you?" he asked, half-jokingly.

The cat just blinked slowly, then sauntered off down the corridor, tail high.

"Well," Hermione said after a pause, "I suppose there's nothing for it but to solve the riddle. If there really is some hidden chamber, we should find it. It could contain valuable knowledge!"

Jonathan nodded, his mind racing with possibilities. A secret chamber in Hogwarts? It could be anything from a hidden library to... well, he'd read enough about Hogwarts' secrets to know not all of them were benign.

"We'll need to be careful," he said. "And maybe... maybe we shouldn't tell Harry and Ron. Not yet."

Hermione looked surprised. "Keep secrets? But we're friends!"

"I know," Jonathan sighed. "But Harry's got enough on his plate with his fame and all those rumors about You-Know-Who. And you know Ron, he'd want to charge in wands blazing. Let's figure this out first, make sure it's safe."

Reluctantly, Hermione agreed. They spent the rest of the afternoon in a quiet corner of the common room, poring over the mysterious book. Mr. Whiskers, having completed his daily quota of mischief, curled up on Jonathan's lap, occasionally batting at the quill as Jonathan took notes.

The riddle, it turned out, was more of a puzzle. A series of runic symbols that, according to Hermione's feverish translation, needed to be "awakened in the heart of the castle when the celestial river flows through the eye of the dragon."

"Celestial river?" Ron asked, peering over their shoulders during a break from his chess match with Harry. "Like, a magic water slide?"

"It's the Milky Way," Hermione explained, not looking up from her star chart. "And the 'eye of the dragon'... that's got to be a constellation. Draco, maybe?"

Jonathan nodded slowly. "So we need to find a place in Hogwarts, probably high up to see the stars, where these runes align with the Milky Way and Draco. But where?"

"The Astronomy Tower?" Harry suggested. He and Ron had given up on their game after Mr. Whiskers had decided the knight piece looked suspiciously like a chew toy.

"Too obvious," Jonathan shook his head. "If it were that easy, someone would've found this Chamber ages ago."

They puzzled over it for hours, the common room slowly emptying as students drifted off to bed. Even Mr. Whiskers had curled up by the fire, his paws twitching as he chased dream-mice. Finally, as the clock chimed midnight, Hermione gasped.

"The model!" she exclaimed. "In the Ancient Studies classroom. It's an enchanted model of the night sky. Professor Aldebran uses it to teach star magic to NEWT students!"

Jonathan's eyes widened. Of course! A room in the heart of the castle, dedicated to studying the very celestial movements they needed. "Hermione, you're brilliant!"

She beamed, then immediately turned serious. "We'll need to sneak in. After curfew, when it's clear. Maybe this Friday, after the Transfiguration test?"

"You want to break rules?" Ron asked, clearly impressed. "Who are you, and what have you done with Hermione Granger?"

"Oh, hush," she retorted, but she was smiling. "This is important. Knowledge, remember? And if this Chamber is as ancient and secret as it seems..."

"Then we need to find out what's in it," Jonathan finished. He glanced at Harry, who was looking both curious and a bit hurt. "Harry, mate, I promise we'll explain everything soon. It's just..."

"You're worried I've got enough to deal with," Harry said, his voice quiet. "I get it. Just... be careful, yeah?"

Jonathan nodded, feeling a pang of guilt. Secrets had caused so much pain in the books. But this was different. He hoped.

The rest of the week passed in a blur of classes and whispered planning. The Transfiguration test loomed on Friday, but Jonathan found his mind often wandering to the Chamber of Illumination. What would they find? Ancient knowledge? Something that could help in the challenges he knew were coming?

On Thursday night, as he tried to focus on turning teacups into tortoises, Mr. Whiskers jumped onto his study table. The cat meowed insistently, then hopped down and trotted towards the portrait hole.

"Not now, Mr. Whiskers," Jonathan sighed. "I've got to study."

But the cat wouldn't budge. He yowled, pawed at the portrait, then fixed Jonathan with a look that seemed to say, "Are you a wizard or a flobberworm? Come on!"

Intrigued despite himself, Jonathan followed. Mr. Whiskers led him through winding corridors, up moving staircases, past snoozing portraits. Finally, they arrived at a familiar door: the Ancient Studies classroom.

"How did you...?" Jonathan began, but Mr. Whiskers just meowed impatiently and squeezed through a gap at the bottom of the door.

Inside, the room was dark save for the glow of the enchanted model. It was breathtaking - a miniature cosmos spinning slowly, stars and planets twinkling in perfect replication of the night sky.

And there, right in the center, the constellation Draco shone bright. As Jonathan watched, a band of stars - the Milky Way - drifted into position. For a moment, it passed through the eye of the dragon, and the room seemed to hum with magic.

"Okay, Mr. Whiskers," Jonathan breathed. "I owe you a lifetime supply of Kneazle treats."

The cat just meowed smugly, as if to say, "I know."

Tomorrow night, they'd be back. With Hermione, with the book, with the promise of secrets unveiled. But for now, in the quiet of the enchanted night sky, with his feline familiar purring at his feet, Jonathan Blackwood - boy wizard, sorcerer-in-training, and now, it seemed, solver of ancient riddles - felt a sense of peace.

The world outside was full of challenges: Voldemort's whispered return, Snape's grudging respect, the weight of foreknowledge. But in this moment, under a ceiling of conjured stars, with the promise of hidden knowledge ahead, Jonathan allowed himself to feel something he hadn't felt in a long while.

Hope. Pure, simple, starlit hope.

..........

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