Moonlight Adventure Ⅱ

Turning around Rowan quickly holds out her hand and pulls James to his feet. "Sorry about that, but I wanted to make sure, Caretaker Filch wasn't around," Rowan apologized to James and smoothed his clothes.

"A bit of a warning would have been helpful," James grumbled, before reaching for the fallen invisible cloak.

"Come on, we are running out of time," Rowan interrupted, before hurriedly leading the way.

Unable to get another word in, James follows closely after Rowan's heels carrying his invisible cloak in his arms. Before he knows it, he begins to recognize the halls as those leading to the headmaster's office. He furrows his brow and frowns glancing apprehensively at Rowan. Even in his most wild and misfit part of his youth, he and the marauders had never dared to target the headmaster's office. They didn't have a desire to be expelled!

Around a corridor, Rowan abruptly halts, before reaching into her pocket. An intricate silver watch emerges, and she quickly glances at the time. "They should be starting right about now," she muttered, before snapping her pocket watch shut and shoving it away.

"Wha-," James's voice is drowned by an incredibly loud boom.

Loud explosive booms are heard throughout the castle as enchanted fireworks enchanted begin to move. A large red Chinese dragon roars loudly causing the castle windows to shake, before winding about the castle and attacking a loud bird cry of a Hippogriff is heard. The two beasts clashed causing many of the student body and Professors to wake up wondering what all the hullaboo is about. And some of the professors would not be taken kindly at being woken in the middle of the night well at all. No, not well at all…

Sleepy students startled out of bed peer out of the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tower, while the Hufflepuffs and Slytherins in the dungeons remain blissfully unaware of the night's events. There weren't always many merits to living in the dungeons, but this was one of them. The sound had a way of not making its way all the way into the dungeon.

Beginning to lose his patience, James opens his mouth to speak, when he feels Rowan clamp her hand over his mouth. About to remove, Rowan's cool hand from his person, he stops at hearing a loud familiar creak. Peeking around the edge of the corridor, he sees Professor Dumbledore in a matching long nightshirt and cap hurrying out of the headmaster's tower. His ankles are pale and thin with warm blue slippers on his feet. His silver hair and beard had hastily been tossed over his shoulder, before vanishing down the other corridor.

"Now's our chance," Rowan said before darting forward before the gargoyle shuts the entrance.

"Wait," James said in exasperation but hurries to keep up just as the two doors swing shut behind him barely missing him by mere centimeters. Up ahead Rowan races up the whirling staircase to climb up higher and faster. Grunting in annoyance, he races ahead until he catches up to Rowan at top of the tower and is slightly out of breath.

"Are you absolutely mad, Rowan?" James panted catching his breath. "You can't steal from Professor Dumbledore's office! He's the headmaster for cripes sake!"

"I'm not stealing anything," Rowan snapped back roughly pulling the cloak from James's arm. "Please give me some credit at least."

"Then why all the secrecy?" James firmly tugged the invisible cloak back not releasing his grip on the cloak.

The invisible cloak stretched between the two of them neither of them relenting, before Rowan finally said, "I am not stealing anything that which belongs to Professor Dumbledore, but rather I am retrieving a family heirloom."

"A family heirloom?" James intently asked hazel eyes gazing firmly at Rowan's own.

"Yes, a family heirloom," Rowan cryptically replied while her midnight indigo eyes gazed into a pair of hazel eyes.

"Fine," James finally murmured somewhat convinced before releasing the invisible cloak, which Rowan hastily donned.

Rowan vanishes as she carefully pushes open the oak door. James remains in the shadow of the door peering into the headmaster's office. The former Headmaster portraits are grumpily awake grumbling about the flashing and booming fireworks. In a corner, the fluffy chick that is Fawkes sleeps through all the noise and bustle the only way small progenies can.

Ensuring that the invisible cloak firmly covers her, Rowan approaches the shelf in the corner of the office. There sits a tattered, worn ancient wizards' hat. With care, she plucks the Sorting Hat off the shelf and sneaks it under the invisible cloak. The exploding noise outside only serves to distract the headmaster portraits who fail to notice the abrupt disappearance of the Sorting Hat.

Quickly Rowan darts out of the headmaster's office with the Sorting Hat in arms. She hurriedly pulls the door shut behind her and removes the invisible cloak. In passing, she tosses the cloak at James, who mutely stares at her in shock as he clutches the cloak and stares at the object in her hands. It only takes him a minute to snap out of it, before rushing after Rowan.

"Are you utterly mad!" James called out after Rowan. "That's the bloody Sorting Hat!"

Rowan doesn't deem a response and darts out of the whirling staircase as the wall opens up again. James leaps the last couple of steps and winces as he lands on his feet. Hurrying after Rowan he chases her down to only find her darting into a nearby empty classroom.

"Rowan-!"

"Quiet, James," Rowan threatened pointing her wand at him.

Holding up his hands in the air, James slowly says, "Rowan, what do you mean by this?" He slowly said. "The Sorting Hat is a historic item." There is a minuscule stretch of silence except for the loud explosions of fireworks outside.

"The fireworks will end soon, James," Rowan grumbled, before lowering her wand and pulling the Sorting Hat directly on her head.

Everything goes blissfully silent as Rowan hears the same voice from her first year.

"Ah, Rowan Prince, this is most unusual," the Sorting Hat remarked. "I have rarely ever met a student more than once."

"There is something I wish to know," Rowan carefully said, (thought, really). "Can you sense a vessel?"

"I know what it is that you are referring to, Prince," the Sorting Hat knowingly said. "I was forged by all of the founders, and I also know that which Salazar Slytherin feared above all else. Alas, the vessels are always forged after their sorting and never before. A failsafe by the abominable existence that which you speak of."

"Then is there nothing that Marcellus, the First Headmaster, or Godric Gryffindor left in your care?" Rowan pointedly asked.

A low chuckle is heard from the Sorting hat, who says, "I have been waiting for that exact question for many years."

All of a sudden Rowan finds herself back and pulls the hat off her head. James is staring curiously at her, but Rowan frowns, before recalling what it was that the unborn Potter had done. With a hint of trepidation, she plunges her hand into the hat, before feeling something cool. Grasping the object firmly by the handle, she begins to pull.

From inside the tattered hat, a gleaming silver sword emerged with glittering rubies the size of eggs on the handle. James lets out a shocked gasp and swore, "Shrieking Harpies, it's Godric Gryffindor's sword!"

Rowan doesn't respond as she feels the instinct to reach inside again. She had not felt just one object, but rather two. With care, she reaches inside and searches around before finding a much smaller dagger. Without even gazing at it, she tilts her hand back so that the dagger slides into her robe sleeve.