James Potter and the Crimson Thread

4. SECRET OF THE DAGGER

"To be fair," Rose said as she, James, and Ralph navigated the crowded corridor late the following morning, "I only found out about the harbor beneath the lake last year. Hagrid needed help with something, so he let me in on the secret."

James was skeptical, but pitched his voice low so not to be overheard by the between-class throng. "Hagrid needed help with something in some secret lake beneath the lake, so he comes to a fifth-year student instead of another professor?"

"Excuse me," Rose said, stopping in the hall and extending her free hand toward James, "I'm Rose Weasley. I'm sort of pretty amazing at lots of unusual and difficult spells, even better than some professors I could mention. Have we met?"

"Ah," Ralph said with a nod. "It's a secret, whatever it is, but Hagrid needed some help with some difficult wand-work."

"I bet it has to do with that boat," James agreed, then glanced back at Rose. "Does it?"

Rose continued walking, lowering her own voice to a hush. "He won it off some wizard in the Hog's Head. I warned him, nothing good has ever come from such things in the past, mysterious strangers betting dragon's eggs and entire boats over card games in dodgy pubs. And what does he say?" Here, she stood as tall as she could and adopted a rather

dopey frown, clearly doing her best impression of the half-giant: "But th' summer's are long, Rosie! One can only weed a garden so many times afore it starts getting' to 'im! I gets lonely and bored and in need o' comp'ny!"

James couldn't help smiling at Rose's impression. "So his new boat may not be exactly legal, then. What's he need your help with?"

Rose turned a corner, propelled by the noisy crowd approaching the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. "Well, it's not a wizarding boat, strictly speaking. A lot of unusual modifications need to be made to make it sea-worthy in wizarding waters. And it's not the sort of magic that one does on a day-to-day basis."

She unslung her knapsack outside the DADA classroom and rummaged in it briefly, producing a small but very thick book. The title, embossed in faded silver on green cloth, read: The Essential Seafarer's Compendium of Nautical Enchantment, Boating Bewitchment, and Ship- shape Spellwork.

"Looks..." James bobbed his head at the book. "Well. Looks like something you'd fall right into."

Ralph cocked his head. "So what makes a ship a magical ship, exactly?"

"Oh, you'd be amazed," Rose enthused, warming to the subject and flipping through the book. "Charmed hydrophobic varnish is what we've been spending most of our time on, so the ship repels water when it travels up through the lake to burst onto the surface. And then there're anti- Grindylow hexes, siren-repellents, navigational mastheads, not to mention the purely mechanical and clockwork apparatuses, like folding masts, deck domes, sea-monster harnesses--"

"Annnd I'm bored already," James sighed, bypassing Rose as he entered the classroom. "But bully for you for getting a sneak-peek at the harbor under the lake. I'm sure it was worth all the time slathering magic varnish all over Hagrid's secret boat."

"He does the slathering," Rose rolled her eyes, following James and Ralph inside. "I just charm the stuff. And unlike you, I like learning new things. One never knows when a hydrophobic spell might come in handy."

The previous class was draining from the room, still muttering and collecting their books, while the next class filtered in around them.

"Boys," Debellows said, raising his eyebrows as he settled behind

his huge desk. "And Miss Weasley. I don't believe I have you in my class until tomorrow's advanced lesson. Or am I mistaken?"