The Chaser's Heart

Year 3: Jacob's Room

Rowan had found me mere minutes after I returned to Hogwarts following the Christmas break.

'Nora, I've worked it out!' She said, brandishing the notebook full of Jacob's drawings and writings. My heart leapt.

'Not here!' I hissed, grabbing her arm and pulling her away from the crowd of students winding their way through the Entrance Hall towards their respective dormitories.

I was grateful Rowan had kept the book during the holidays. I was sure I would have poured over it myself the entire break, which would have put my poor mother in a state. I hadn't even mentioned the book to her, knowing about it would have ruined the cheerful, if quiet, Christmas atmosphere at home.

We headed for the library. Surely there wouldn't be anyone there so soon after the holidays. I was correct, we barged inside, the heavy wood door banging against the stone wall, earning us a harsh shush! from Madam Pince. I ignored her, and instead found a table in a secluded corner and dropped myself into a chair.

'Well?' I prompted her.

'I haven't worked it all out,' she warned me. 'But I have found a clue.'

'Yeah?' I asked, willing the disappointment not to show. I was sick and tired of clues. I just wanted this whole thing worked out without having to go through seemingly endless rabbit trails.

'There's a map,' she flipped through the book and showed me a page near the beginning.

'Jacob's Room,' I read out loud. How had I missed that the first time? 'You mean, he has a secret room somewhere?'

'It looks that way,' she said.

'Where?' I asked, feeling my heart start to pound in my chest.

'Here at Hogwarts,' Rowan pointed back to the page.

It didn't look like a map though. It was a series or letters, runes and other symbols. But, if I looked at it long enough, I could see gaps in the writing that looked like a path, with a faint trail running through it, turning corners and running down straight lines.

'Ravenclaw Tower,' Rowan pointed to a spot on the map with a draining of an eagle on it where part of the faint line began.

I could see it now. The staircase directly in front of the eagle. There was even a drawing of a lion to the left of the eagle for Gryffindor Tower.

'Where does it lead?' I could make out that much, but the rest was still gibberish to me. Jacob's room could be on any of the seven floors at Hogwarts.

'The ground floor,' Rowan said, following the trail with her finger. 'Just before the greenhouses.'

'Have you seen it?' I asked her.

'No, I was waiting for you to get back,' she said. 'I didn't know what I would find inside, and I was a bit frightened. You know, there could be more Boggarts inside.'

'Possibly,' I mused.

Knowing Jacob and what we'd encountered in the first Cursed Vault, we may encounter far worse than Boggarts. But I didn't tell Rowan that. She hadn't been there.

I couldn't say if I'd ever seen the room before, but I knew the general area. I probably had countless times, but it had just blended in with the rest of the castle. I felt hope bloom in my chest. If there were answers to what had happened to Jacob in his room, maybe I wouldn't have to bother with the rest of the Vaults. That would be a bloody relief.

'Let's go,' I said, standing up abruptly.

'What, now?' Rowan exclaimed, looking quite a bit more nervous than she had a second earlier.