19: Restricted Section

As Christmas approached, Hogwarts found itself blanketed in several feet of snow one mid-December morning. The lake had frozen over completely, and the mischievous Weasley twins had been reprimanded for enchanting snowballs that trailed after Quirrell, rebounding off the back of his turban. Hagrid had to nurse the brave owls that braved the stormy skies to deliver post back to health before they could take flight once more.

The Hall looked spectacular. Festoons of holly and mistletoe hung all around the walls and no fewer than twelve towering Christmas trees stood around the room, some sparkling with tiny icicles, some glittering with hundreds of candles.

"You got everything packed?" asked Alaric, as he sat beside Theodore and Blaise.

"Yeah..." responded Theodore, looking dejectedly at the floor. He planned to say at Hogwarts for the holidays, but his father had other plans. The boy didn't hate his father per se, but the constant rants about blood supremacy were the only thing he heard coming out of the man's mouth.

"Cheer up man," said Blaise, patting Theo's back. "I know your father's a prick, but it's just for some weeks,"

"You're also staying for Christmas?" asked Alaric, whilst tasting some Scottish shortbread. 'So good' he thought, his face flushing with pleasure. "I thought you and your mom got along,"

Blaise brought his hand up and pinched the bridge of his nose while shaking his head. "We do but... you'll understand when you meet her,"

Isadora had sent her kids a letter telling them she would be away for business during Christmas, so the twins choose to stay at the school.

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Once the holidays started, the twins left each other to their own devices. With the common rooms far emptier the usual, both had more liberty to do what they wanted without being bothered by fellow classmates.

Hermione and some other girls went back home for Christmas, so Hope and Lysandra were left with the dormitory for themselves.

Kneeled behind a cauldron, the Grindewald girl was practicing concocting some potions in her dormitory. The cauldron shone bright red, illuminating the levitating book that would occasionally flip a page.

Hope was lying in her bed, holding a book with the title "The Secrets of Flamel".

"Did you know Nicholas Flamel met his wife at Beauxbatons?" she rhetorically asked, before continuing to read. "Oh, he also has a statue at the French school,"

Lysandra looked at her friend. "Of all the books about the man, you had to pick that one?"

Hope closed the book, before standing up and approaching her dormmate. Sitting in front of her, she crossed her arms. "I just think we have to understand the properties of the stone in order to catch the culprit,"

"And you need a proper book for that. Not one about gossip," Lysandra sighed, looking at the book.

After thoroughly explaining to her friend the variety of reasons that showed that Professor Snape wasn't, in fact, after the stone, but merely protecting it, Lysandra proceeded to inform the rest of her group, accompanied by her brother.

Harry and Ron were skeptical at first, mostly because of the stories Harry's dad told them about Snape, but they eventually listened to the voice of reason. Ron had, of course, been suspicious of Alaric, but after being gifted some transfigured antlers, he somewhat behaved.

Having no concrete leads about the one who wanted the stone, the group decided it would be best to learn as much as possible about Flamel and his creation, hoping to eventually thin out the possible suspects.

Hearing her friend's indirect jab, Hope rolled her eyes. "This is my week with the cloak," she said, taking out a translucent robe from her trunk. "I'll go fetch some more books,"

"Just make sure Filch doesn't catch you, we're already down in the dumpsters with house point," said Lysandra.

The moment Hope wore the cloak, from her neck down, her body turned completely invisible.

She swiftly made her way out of the common room, in the middle of the night, with the library as her destination.

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[Alaric's Pov]

After saying our goodbyes to Theo before he embarked on the express, I and Blaise retired to the common room. Playing wizard's chess by the windows with a view to the black lake, with only the giant squid to make us company, night-time eventually came. Eventually, my dark-skinned friend went to sleep, tired after failing to win a single match against me.

I, however, had other plans. A week ago, when I was studying in the library, the strange pendant I had, suddenly shone. The strange whispers appeared again, and this time, it was coming from the restricted section.

I was yet to decipher a single word from the book I got from the vault. I and Daphne tried to find similarities with forgotten languages but to no avail. That sudden reaction was the first time I saw the whispers again in the last month.

I casted upon myself a high illusionary charm, that made me almost invisible, apart from hiding my smell and any sound I made.

Walking through the corridors, I made sure to not disturb the portraits or amors, to not let my uncle notice that I was sneaking around after curfew.

Madam Pierce and some prefects were still lurking around, so I had to navigate without hitting any of them.

The library remained illuminated by the soft glow of flickering candles that cast shadows across the towering bookshelves. The scent of aged parchment and leather bindings filled the air, and the silence was almost palpable.

The Hogwarts library's restricted section was a foreboding place, even at night. Making my way past some shelves, I noticed that they were made of darker wood, and the books were bound in black leather, with titles written in a gilded script that seemed to shimmer ominously in the dim light.

Dispelling my illusion charm, I lifted the necklace in the air, the silver, almost translucent piece, pulsating with light. I walked in the direction of the whispers, the pendant shining more brightly than ever. Approaching the stairs that led to the lower levels, all of a sudden, I heard the rustling of books behind me.

I immediately turned around, just to find, nothing. Some books had fallen to the floor as if someone stumbled against them. I readied my wand, prepared to obliviate anyone who saw me.

Stealthily walking, the floor sounded underneath my boots.

I tried to focus on my hearing, taking every single sound, as minute as it was, in. Stopping in the middle of some bookshelves, I heard rustling behind me again.

A silent stunner left the tip of my wand, hitting its target, and causing it to fall to the ground. Yet, when I closed in on the spot where I had something, there wasn't anyone.

'Am I hearing stuff?' I thought. I was sure I hit something with the spell. Illusions were somewhat useless against me, my magic sight allowing me to see past them.

Reaching with my hand to the floor, I searched around, trying to see if I was missing something. Abruptly, I caught a comfortable-to-the-touch cloak on the ground, although this cloak was different than normal. It was completely translucent.

Only after grabbing it could I see its silhouette, showing that someone was underneath it. Pulling it at once, I was puzzled. "What are you doing here?"

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[Hope's Pov]

After Dad gifted us the invisibility cloak, I and Harry decide we would get turns each week. Conveniently, in the first Christmas week, the artifact would be in my possession. After Alaric and Lys told us about Nicholas Flamel and debunked our idea that Snape was after the Philosopher's Stone, we decided it would be best to investigate for leads.

We tried to warn Hagrid, but the half-giant said that it was in good hands with the headmaster. If so, why weren't they doing anything?

Hagrid would get in trouble if we informed the other professors. They would be suspicious of how we knew about the stone, and the giant man, being the softie he is, would immediately accuse himself.

Even so, the signs of a forced entry were present all around Fluffy's room. Who knows, maybe the culprit had already found a way to get past the three-headed dog.

Lost in my thoughts, I made my way to the library, to pick a better book, as Lys said. How could she blame me? Who wouldn't be interested in an almost seven-hundred-year-old alchemist's private life?

Madam Pince was doing whatever she does during the night, so I easily stole the keys to the restricted section, where most of Flamel's books were.

I came to an abrupt stop when I reached the gates that separated the library from its forbidden part. They were already open.

My steps now had a touch of weariness, as I walked past the darker bookshelves. When I approached the F section, a silver light caught my attention. I tilted my head from the corner of the shelf. Spotting the figure, my eyes widened. In the rush of the moment, I knocked down some tomes, causing the silver-haired boy to look back at me.

On his right hand, was his wand, and on his left was a strange shining silver pendant. The necklace, apart from being a beautiful piece of jewelry, appeared quite bland, but Alaric was looking at it with a focus I'd never seen him show.

He was, by far, the best student in our year. Even then, I never saw him showing such an expression in class.

Alaric used the pendant as a form of compass, and I trailed behind him stealthily, trying to muffle the sounds of my footsteps as much as I could.

He stopped for a moment, startling me, and I ended up making more noise than I should have. In an instant, a red spell shot toward me, and I fell paralyzed on the ground.

For a few seconds, I watched him struggle to find what he had hit, until he yanked off the cloak off me.

"What are you doing here?" I saw his confused face slowly turn into a disgusted one. "Are you stalking me?"

I... this piece of...

I tried to talk, but the stunner spell stopped me from opening my mouth, and only muffled sounds came from it.

"Oh, yeah, sorry," he said, scratching his cheek. He pointed his wand at my head before I was finally able to give him a piece of my mind.

"NOW LISTEN HERE YOU-" I started to shout before Alaric put his hand over my mouth.

He looks over his shoulder, afraid that Madam Pince might have heard me, "No need to wake up the whole castle," he says, turning back to me.

I tried to calm myself, breathing in and out. "First of all, I. AM. NOT. STALKING. YOU. Second, I need another book about Flamel, the other one didn't have anything useful..." I said, whilst crossing my arms, still annoyed by the boy in front of me.

He looked at me, before chuckling. "That's how books written by Skeeter normally are,"

"Want to tell me why are you also snooping around?" I curiously asked. Alaric looked at the pendant on his hand, pondering for some time.

When he was about to open his mouth, his expression turned serious. He pushed us both against the shelf and quickly covered us with my cloak.

A moment later, Madam Pince appeared from the other corner, an oil lamp floating in front of her. She looked at the section we were in for a bit, before walking to the next one.

'Too close!' I looked to my side, and Alaric's chest was glued to my face. He was quite tall for our age, so he towered in comparison to most of the boys in our year.

My face turned hot, and my cheeks reddened. I was about to shout at him again in the midst of my embarrassment, but he shushed me again, his finger over his lips, signaling me to stay quiet.

We stayed like that for some time, before he sighed and dropped our cover. He waved his wand, and the cloak landed on me.

"Make sure you're not caught," he said, a blank expression on his face. "If you're expelled, Lysandra will be sad,"

Alaric turned around to leave, casting on himself an... invisibility charm?

I didn't move from my spot for a while. I hugged my cloak, while a hand crept up to my face, touching it. I shook my head, trying to get rid of the feeling, before going back to the common room.

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A/N: The First year won't take that much to end, but I'll go in-depth during the summer holidays. I got some fun stuff planned.

Hope you enjoyed!