Hogwarts Legacy: The Price of Power

Schemes and Solace

Dracaena, Ominis and Sebastian hovered at the top of the stairs in the Slytherin common room, each of them disillusioned, waiting until a student came in or out. As soon as the door opened, they peered over their heads, trying to see who, if anyone, was guarding their common room.

"We could just go after dinner," Dracaena whispered, glowering as she saw nothing untoward in the dungeons beyond. "It's not like they can stop us walking through the castle."

"While Weasley didn't specifically say we couldn't amble about tonight, I'm not willing to risk her ire if we're caught anywhere but here," Ominis muttered.

"We can't just sit here all night and hope," Sebastian grumbled, the outline of his form perched on the old chest Dracaena had once found a magnificent House robe hidden in. "We should..." his outline tensed. "Hang on. Imelda."

"What about her?"

"Go see if she's in your dorm," Sebastian urged, removing his disillusionment and fumbling for her hand, drawing her and Ominis back down the steps. "She can check and see who's out there, maybe distract them, or confund them or something!"

"Is that wise?" Ominis asked as they crossed the common room. "She's our friend, after all, Weasley might smell a rat."

"We weren't ever really that close until recently," Dracaena reasoned. "You could even say we had a rivalry until she came up to the Room for the first time, even if it was one-sided. Weasley would be stretching if she thought Imelda was in on this thing."

"I bloody well hope so," Sebastian said, standing at the foot of the sweeping stairs that separated the seventh-year dorms. He prodded her between the shoulders, and she set off, leaving them waiting.

Imelda wasn't in her dorm, and Dracaena sighed, shaking her head. She was probably on the quidditch pitch, and they'd have to wait for hours before she showed up. With a low sigh, she sank onto her bed, then leapt up again with a small yelp as something crinkled under her behind. She grabbed the covers and yanked them back, her eyebrows rising as she spotted a small, folded piece of parchment tucked between the sheets.

Her heart leapt as she grabbed for it. Maybe this meant Fotheringham was alright! She unfolded the note with shaking fingers, then her brows drew together, her elation bleeding away.

It was a hastily written jumble of random letters, the handwriting unfamiliar to her. She pulled out her wand, tapping the parchment lightly and muttering a charm to see if there was an enchantment on it, frowning when the results proved inconclusive.

Forgetting Imelda for the moment, she rushed out.

"Well?" Sebastian asked.

"She's not there," Dracaena said, and grabbed them both by the elbow, tugging them to their dorm. Once inside, she dug the note out of her pocket and held it up, her face set.

"Fotheringham?" Ominis asked, as Sebastian pounced on it, drawing his wand and muttering several complex spells under his breath.

"Don't know," Dracaena replied. "He never showed, did he? How could it be him if he's captured?"

"He might have left it just after the last one," Ominis suggested. "It's not like you've slept in your dorm that often, dove."

She didn't smile. "But if it is from him, why's the handwriting different?"

"Spell," Sebastian said, showing her the note again. The jumble of letters remained the same, but the handwriting had resolved back into the style she was growing increasingly familiar with. "You've got a point though, why leave us this when he could have just as easily come to find us?"