Hogwarts Legacy: The Price of Power

A Thread of Hope

The trio met with Natsai, Amit and Poppy by the beast pens in the evening under the pretence that both Dracaena and Poppy were trying to fit in some extra time for their Care of Magical Creatures Lessons.

"This is concerning," Natsai murmured, her hand extended to the beasts in the pen, full of feed. "I feel this has become bigger than any of us can adequately cope with."

"I agree," Amit said, hanging back from the pens. "We need to tell someone."

"We can't," Dracaena said, leaning against the fence. "We'd have to tell them how we know, which would mean telling how we broke into the fucking Ministry, plus everything else besides. If nothing else, that would land Ominis and I a spell in Azkaban, not to mention we'd be expelled right before the end of our last year, and Sebastian..." she glanced at him, his arms folded, his glower burning a hole in the grass. "I don't even want to think about it. This needs to stay between us, but we need to find a way to stop it."

"Do you know when they might attack?" Poppy asked, crouched in the pen itself, fussing the Kneazles that pranced around her.

"We're not sure," Ominis said, his hand moving in a continual arc as he scanned their surroundings. "It could be tomorrow, it could be a few weeks from now, perhaps not at all. We're hoping to get some kind of confirmation tomorrow evening, we just need to be vigilant until then."

"This seems impossible," Natsai sighed, her brow furrowed. "We cannot set up wards without alerting the professors, nor can we afford to spend too much time away without arousing suspicion. I am at a loss for what to do."

"Us too," Sebastian muttered. "Short of cursing every fucker that comes within a mile of the castle, we're stumped."

Dracaena nodded slowly, her brow furrowed. She was still somewhat torn between telling the professors and keeping everything quiet, but her caution won out each and every time. Aside from the trouble they'd all be in, she couldn't risk anyone else knowing of the Source. It wasn't that she didn't trust her friends, but if the Ashwinders suspected they knew anything about it, she'd be putting them at more risk than they already were. She closed her eyes and sighed, praying that Fotheringham would get her letter.

She had elected to keep the contents casual, asking him to meet them at the Three Broomsticks the following evening. They'd wait until closing if they had to, and only then would they be able to decide what they had to do.

"We just need to be alert," Dracaena said. "We need to watch for any potential danger, and if there's any hint of an attack..." she drew a sharp breath. "Well. We can tell the professors then. They won't be able to fault us for spotting an attack, will they? We just need to keep ourselves safe, all of us." She eyed her friends. "I don't want you getting in trouble either, who knows what'd happen if the Ashwinders thought you guys were involved? They'd probably make up some rubbish charges about aiding and abetting just to get you out of the way too."

"I shall watch," Natsai said. "We all shall. But Dracaena, you must focus eradicating the root of this threat. I do not care if I have to make excuses for you or invent every alibi under the sun, but this sounds like the most important thing to do."

"We're trying," Sebastian grumbled.

Indeed, they had spent a good two hours standing by the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy, striding up and down, each of them trying to think of different places that Fotheringham had hidden the Source. They'd tried every possible location they could think of, caves and mansions and tiny hovels. They'd tried focusing on the Source itself, but without knowing what it looked like, they were at a bit of a loss. Thinking of somewhere to hide something only revealed the Room Dracaena had first seen with Professor Weasley, where all the lost items the castle had ever had were stored.