A Shallow Grave

Chapter 11

A week had come and left swiftly.

Seven days since I had sent my owl, carrying my response to Rookwood, to find him and deliver the message. I prayed that it hadn't been intercepted by someone else and was relieved once the bird had returned in one piece. I did feel a lot safer if I wanted to leave the castle grounds, knowing that if Rookwood had read my letter and seen that I had 'accepted' his offer, assuming that he would not attempt to attack myself or my friends if we were spotted heading to Hogsmede or somewhere in the local area.

All I could do is sit tight and hope that Rookwood would fall for this trick and leave me alone for the next ten months. That should be more than enough time to figure out a plan. Someway to deal with him. And on top of all of that, I still had Ranrok's loyalists on my trail. Goblin camps and dig-sites were popping up all over the Highlands, students would share rumours throughout the hallways, common rooms and classrooms. Tensions were high to be sure, no one knew what they were up to and no one dared to question it.

And then Sebastian came to me.

We had spent at least eight hours a day together since that night in the Undercroft. I constantly had this strange feeling when I was around him, not the bad kind. A sense of calm. It was comforting despite everything that was happening around me.

I was walking with Natty, our plan had been to head to the library to catch up on some Divination work that Natty's mother had assigned our class. We were chatting away, discussing Professor Ronen's particularly colourful Charms lesson that morning when suddenly I felt a hand grab my own and pull me away from Natty's side.

I stumbled, surprised at this sudden event. Sebastian was leading me in the opposite direction quickly, I was having trouble keeping up. He kept his pace as he turned his head the tiniest bit to call back to Natty.

"Apologies, Natty! Urgent Potions work!"

I watched Natty as she stood completely bewildered at the sight of me being seemingly dragged away by Sebastian. I saw he chuckle to herself before rolling her eyes and smiling, turning away. She would still continue to the library.

"Care to explain please?" I asked Sebastian as we bounded through the Astronomy Wing.

He was panting excitedly, still walking at a great speed whilst he responded.

"I've found something brilliant!"

Once we hit the Defence Against the Dark Arts tower, I knew where Sebastian was leading me. Sure enough, we finally arrived at the entrance to the Undercroft. I waved my wand and the door swung open. I quickly took a double take, making sure there was no one around and watching us enter the secret chamber. We both hurried inside and I heard the door close and lock behind us. We reached the end of the narrow tunnel in good time. Every time I'd been in the Undercroft since Sebastian showed it to me, I had been keeping a record of how quickly I could get from the start of the entrance, to the end of it.

Twenty-four seconds. A new record.

Sebastian immediately rushed over to a small side table that had been piled high with old books. I saw a large beige coloured map spread out in the middle of the table with various ink marks and scribbles surrounding circled areas on the paper. I followed him over to it, glancing at the drawn towns and hills. It was a map of the Scottish Highlands, depicting everything from Hogwarts and Hogsmede, to towns such as Keenbridge and Irondale. I stared in wonder at the extremely detailed map, mentally noting six locations that had ben circled roughly.

"I've been doing some research," Sebastian exclaimed, trying to catch his breathe while also rushing out his sentences, "Into Anne's sickness."

He reached over the table and grabbed a small silver goblet, slamming onto the dark wood which caused the table to shake. I was also quite shaken up at Sebastian's sudden gesture. His hand remained twisted around the stem of it.