Separated by Canvas

Underwater Secrets

     Once he had returned to his dormitories, he found it odd to mention his experiences, seeing as nothing actually happened. Harry made a mental note to return during the day for further inspection. If I find anything out of the ordinary, i'll let them know, but I don't wanna bother Ron or Hermione with some empty hallway, he thought.
     Several weeks had passed and he was now swamped with work. All thoughts of returning to investigate were soon overturned by the creeping sense of dread following the second task. He had gotten no closer to finding out the golden egg's secret, or at least until Cedric had nudged him in the right direction.
     "Tell you what," Cedric said, "use the Prefects' bathroom. Fourth door to the left of that statue of Boris the Bewildered on the fifth floor. Password's Pine-fresh."
     "Er- Thanks I guess," said Harry, a little caught off guard by the sudden hospitality.
     They had both begun to walk their separate ways when he saw an opportunity for answers.
     "Where does that hallway lead? The one next to Boris' statue." he blurted.
     "What? There is no hallway there. You do know where i'm talking about, right?" Cedric gave a somewhat confused glance down at Cho waiting down the stairs for him.
      Harry winced from this. Way to make yourself look stupid in front of the two people you can't even call friends.
   "Oh, yeah...Must've gotten a little confused. I'll find it though, thanks again."
    And before they could exchange any more words or worried glances, he began to sprint in the opposite direction. They're probably laughing about me right now. Oh Harry, the troubled little boy who defeated the Dark Lord but can't even figure out a silly riddle.
     His mental scolding would have to wait, as he entered back into the Gryffindor common room to find Ron and Hermione arguing. Here we go again. He couldn't stand being around either of them like this, and decided to take a nap until it was time to set off.
     Marauders map and golden egg in hand, he drafted his fathers old invisibility cloak and began making his way. Reaching the bathroom, he peered around the corner and down the hallway, which was sitting right where it was last time. How could he not see this when it's right here? Maybe he was trying to confuse me, after all, I still don't know why he would help me.
     Harry had no time to dawdle, seeing as the egg and map sat awkwardly in his arms, every second he stood staring he ran the risk of fumbling them both. The last this he needed was to set off a nuke of screams in the dead of night after curfew.
     His trip to the bath was very eventful. Thanks to the help of moaning myrtle, he had discovered the secret of the egg. There's no way I could've figured that out on my own, he concluded.

Come seek us where our voices sound, We cannot sing above the ground,
And while you re searching, ponder this:
Wove taken what you'll sorely miss,
An hour long you'll have to look,
And to recover what we took,
But past an hour- the prospect's black,
Too late, it's gone, it wont come back

     Now that he had the song, he still had no idea where to even begin. His next step was to report back to his friends and come clean about the second task. He'd have to apologize for lying and then ask them for their help. Surely Hermione would know of some water repellant spells or draught for underwater breathing.