Heart of Stone: HPHM Year 6

Helpful Hints

The following Saturday, Sarah slipped out of bed before any of the other girls awoke. Quietly, furtively, she made her way to the lakeshore. At this hour, frost still clung to the grass, and she met not a soul on her way, apart from a narrow-eyed Mrs. Norris. 

Sarah wrapped her scarf tightly around herself as the wind blew across the lake to hit her with an icy reproach. She'd spent the last days in exhaustive research on whomping willows, but no amount of time spent in the library, with Professor Sprout, or Alanza, an expert on all magical flora and fauna, gave her a clew on how to get close to the murderous plant, or how R was able to leave messages there. 

She sighed. Rowan would know what to do. 

With no alternative in sight, she chose to turn to Jacob. He'd promised to come to her if she sent up red sparks. She glanced around one last time, but she spotted no one on the grounds this early, not even Hagrid on his morning inspection of the grounds. 

"Vermilious," she said, pointing her wand into the air.

 A jet of red light shot fifty feet into the air, ending in a small shower of sparks. Sarah sat on the ground and wrapped her arms around her knees, shielding her body from the cold air with her cloak. 

Jacob had once been a part of R. Perhaps he knew about the willow. If he could tell her how to get to it, she might finally have an inkling of R's next move. The minutes stretched into an hour, but she saw no sign of him. He might still be asleep, she reasoned. She got up early so no one would see them, but perhaps going out late at night would have been better. 

She considered sending up more sparks, but she felt a bit exposed on the lakeshore, where any stray member of R or prefect could see her. She should have brought a friend with her. She'd considered asking Barnaby to join her, but she wasn't eager for a repeat experience of the last time Jacob met him. She wasn't embarrassed of him, she told herself, but she wanted to speak with her brother without any judgement or distraction. 

After another hour, she did send up more sparks. It would be about breakfast time now, but no students had dared step outside to brave the winter chill just yet. Still, she decided to take shelter in the boathouse, away from the wind and prying eyes. 

Another hour gone. Where was Jacob? He promised he'd come. Against her will, she felt her eyes sting. She sat on the wooden floor of the boathouse, trying not to feel abandoned. Perhaps he was in trouble, she thought, her heart racing at once. Suppose R found him and captured him. 

Closing her eyes, she attempted to contact him with her legilimency, as he'd done to her so many times. There was no response. Did she not have the skills, or was Jacob prevented from contacting her?

She kept straining her mind, until the countless late nights and early mornings caught up with her, and she dozed off. 

What could have been only minutes later, she was jolted from her fitful snooze by the sound of footsteps on the wooden dock. Someone was walking toward her, though she was hidden from their view by a large crate. The footsteps were slow, but purposeful. Sarah got the distinct impression that whoever had joined her also didn't want to be found. 

"Jacob?" she whispered. 

The hesitation was all she needed to confirm danger. At once, she sprang from her hiding place and thrust her wand at the stranger, just as she was met with their own wand to her face. 

"Apis Aculeo!" Sarah shrieked, just as a familiar, angry voice hissed, "Echnius manus!" 

Sarah gasped in pain as the spiny points of a sea urchin sprang form her wand hand. She fought to keep hold of her wand as the girl before let loose a string of cursing, the stinging hex Sarah had hit her with causing her nose to swell to the size of a rememberall.