A Journey At Hogwarts

IX. An Impenetrable Door

Warnings: Reference to past drug misuse, no animals were harmed, rude gestures, threats.

Unlocking the door was the easiest part, but their biggest obstacle remained to be Mrs Norris. They had one close call and can't afford a second one. Before Juniper and Rowan knew it, the snow melted, and Spring slipped in gently and quietly. Their final tests were only a couple months away, yet they found themselves stagnant on their plan.

"I'm so over Snape's assignments," Juniper whined as she dumped all her papers and quill onto the grass. Rowan, Juniper and Ben sat in the crooks and dents of the beech tree. She hated potions, not because of the actual potion-making. No, she actually enjoyed brewing and mixing the potions. Still, she hated how Snape ruined the fun and the endless assignments.

"Me too, but he scares me too much to not do it." Ben placed his quill down in defeat, "But then I'm too scared to make a mistake because otherwise he'll fail me."

"Aye, though I think that he has some sort of beef with me." She sighed.

"He probably does but he'll be much harsher on you if you don't do the sleeping draught assigments." Rowan chimed in. The voice of reason and motivator for both of them. "Besides you managed gain back the house points and it wouldn't be worth losing them."

Juniper jokingly rolled her eyes, slowly picking up her parchments and quill, "I ken. I don't want tae face Snape's wrath again."

Draught. The word itself should seem fine on its own. Still, to Juniper, anytime she heard it, it reminded her of all the empty bottles on her mum's bedside table. How they knocked her out cold the moment, her lips touched. There were multiple times she almost wondered if she was dead, touching her pale skin and climbing into her mother's bed to ensure she was warm and still had a heartbeat. It shudders her to think too deeply about it, but they were indeed effective.

"Hold on a minute," Juniper slipped out loud.

"What is it?" Rowan perked up, pushing her glasses up from almost falling from leaning over so far.

"What if we used a sleeping draught tae knock out Mrs Norris?! Just long enough tae get past her?"

"Hmm, sounds like our best option, not that we have many and we have alohomora to unlock the door," Her hand rested on her chin, scrutinising the plan.

"And we ken the knockback jinx tae get out of a sticky situation!" Juniper excitedly added. "In case we run into something like the devil's snare."

"This sounds dangerous, Juniper." Ben grew pale, almost a sickly grey. "Aren't you worried that you'll get into trouble again?"

"Aye, a wee bit, but as long we're prepared, it'll be fine," she shrugged, keeping herself chill. Though she can't stop thinking about the thrill of finding what's behind that door. What made Jacob find to follow this trial to make him disappear so suddenly. Ben pleadingly looked at Rowan, but she showed less concern than he did. She was just as intrigued as Juniper but worried about the possibility of getting caught. A Ravenclaw dilemma of seeking the forbidden fruits.

"I don't want any part of it. I think I'll head back," Ben's face was flushed as he gathered his things.

"Hey Ben, you don't need..." her hand reached out to grab him but trailed off as Rowan stopped her gently with a soft touch to her shoulder. "I think it's best if we leave him for now."

The girl let out a big sigh. Juniper hated leaving things so awkward and undone with her friends, and it wasn't even like she had expected Ben to join them.

"I ken but I feel so bad for him."

"I feel the same but we can talk to him later." Rowan assured her. Juniper let the calm ease seep into her like a water stream. "But we need to figure out how we are getting that sleeping draught because I doubt that Snape would help us."