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𝐀nd so, Hermione, Ron, and Harry ventured to the foot of the tower and peered up at the seemingly endless flight of stairs.
"Ready?" Harry asked.
"Well," Ron started, "you can't really be ready to walk up those stairs where Malfoy's waiting for you, can you?"
"We've got to do it anyway. Come on." Hermione took the first step up as did the boys.
"Why do you think Malfoy's there anyway?" Ron asked. "How did he even know?"
"Maybe he found the letter," Harry assumed. His heels clacked onto the stone and he winced. "While the box flew to me."
"That shouldn't be possible," Hermione rebutted. "There's no opening that box without you and the other person's wand."
"Maybe Harry's crush told him," Ron thought aloud. Hermione and Harry stopped walking. The ginger looked back at his friends with a confused look on his face. "What? Did your legs break or something? We're almost here."
"Harry's crush told him..." Hermione muttered. A light bulb went off above her head. "She's got to be a Slytherin!"
"Draco only hangs out with that little group of his," Harry realized. "And there's only one girl that fits the description..."
"It is Cassiopeia!" Hermione shouted.
"Who's there?!" A woman's voice cried out.
The trio jumped and frantically looked around. There was an open corridor and a pale, slightly transparent figure floated in the middle. She was beautiful, without a doubt, but her pale skin and solemn aura told them that she was beyond.
"Are you the Grey Lady?" Harry asked hesitantly. He took off the cloak to reveal Hermione, Ron, and himself.
The ghost flew close to the trio inspecting the child. "Why, I was told of your arrival, Harry Potter." Her gaze flickered to his Granger and Weasley. "And he did tell me to expect your friends."
"He?" Harry asked. "Are you sure it's not a she?"
"I am quite sure, thank you very much," Helena responded. "He had ice blond hair."
"Malfoy," Ron spoke distastefully.
"This only proves that Cassiopeia is the mysterious sender," Hermione concludes.
"Still," Harry looked at the Grey Lady hopefully, "why did she tell us to come here?"
"She wants you to hear a little story. It's well known," the Grey Lady answered. "But before that, her sender told me to relay the message: 'If you know who I am, I ask of you to help me.'"
"So the story is a hint about her predicament," Hermione realized. "Now that her identity was revealed, there's no point in the game of cat and mouse. I'm surprised that she's thought of this all beforehand." The boys nodded in agreement.
"I have to help her," Harry spoke. "Before she's gone for good." He looked at the Grey Lady with a firm resolve. "What's the story?"
Helena Ravenclaw smiled sympathetically.
"Long ago, there was a pureblood family, descendants of great clans in Korea. They flaunted their greatness and accumulated wealth beyond measure in the times of our founders, including my mother. It was an era that none could forget.
With such power, it was easy for them to expand their influence, reaching the West. As such, it was an inevitable meeting amongst the greatest."
There was a hint of fear in Helena's eyes, piquing the trio's curiosity.
"The young lord of the Sung family, showed great intelligence and remarkable in wizardry. Yet, his parents shunned him for unknown reasons. He hardly spoke, only reading and writing in a language unknown."
"I've heard of this story," Hermione interjected. "This is an old legend. The son, the heir, went rogue, possessed by dementors, and so his family sought a cure. But it was useless. Thousands of villages, wizards, and witches died from his spells. Even our founders lacked the ability to reign him in. Eventually, his parents managed to seal him themselves using dark magic. It worked, and when they returned, the people called them heroes, despite casting forbidden spells. The fame turned them into legendary figures for Korean wizards and witches."
"That is how the story is known," Helena agreed. "But it wasn't the truth."
"The truth?" Ron repeated. "My parents told Fred and George this story when they were younger to keep them from wandering at night. There aren't any records on our history books either to prove it ever happened."
"She said 'Sung'," Harry whispered.
"What was that?" Hermione turned her head.
"She said 'Sung'," he said louder. "'The young lord of the Sung family' is what she said. That's Cassiopeia's last name."
"There are thousands of people with the last name Sung, Harry," Hermione said. "It doesn't prove that the legend ever took place."
"But it did," The Grey Lady said. "They just swore to secrecy."
