The Girl who Vanished

Chapter 8

 The next morning Lara receives a letter from Professor Fig, he says that he has discovered something in the locket they found at Gringotts. Gathering her things she checks her field guide for directions to Professor Fig's classroom.

Professor Fig's Classroom

Lara enters Professor Fig's office and finds him studying a map.

Lara: "Professor, I'm glad to see you."

Professor Fig: "And I you. Thank Merlin you're in one piece. I heard about the attack. Trolls - in Hogsmeade?"

Lara: "Sir - the trolls were wearing armour. It had that dark glow, like the dragon collar."

Professor Fig: "Goblin silver. Ranrok used it to control the dragon. But how? And why send trolls to -"

"Control, like the Imperius curse?" The Aurors are concerned, they'll have to meet with the Unspeakables when this is over and make sure that any remaining pieces of this corrupted metal are found and neutralized.

Lara: "They were there because of me. I overheard Ranrok talking with Victor Rookwood."

Professor Fig: "Ranrok was in Hogsmeade? With Rookwood?"

Lara: "The trolls were Ranrok's distraction so that Rookwood could get to me. And he would have - had Sirona and the patrons at the Three Broomsticks not intervened."

Professor Fig: "This is grave news, indeed. If Ranrok's goblins and Dark wizards are after you, they want what we found in that vault."

At the mention of the vault she asks him if he thinks any of the goblins at Gringotts are working with Ranrok. Professor Fig says he doesn't think so, while they may not be overly friendly, they do have a great deal of integrity especially after what Ranrok did to that banker. Lara then asks what he discovered from the locket.

Professor Fig: "I discovered an inscription. When I read it aloud, this map appeared. Clever enchantment. It's a map of Hogwarts, to be sure, but I do not know where it leads."

James, Sirius, and Remus smiled nostalgically, reminded of the map they made back in their school years. Although, these smiles soon became frowns when they remembered the traitor was a part of it.  "Remind me to remove his name from the map when this is over."  James whispers to his friends, they nod in agreement. "Maybe we can replace him with Lily?"  Remus suggests. "But what would her Marauder name be?" Sirius asks. "Tigrerra."  Lily says, the boys jump having forgotten she was sitting right next to them.

Lara: "It leads to the Library. The Restricted Section, to be precise. And a bit beyond. I see traces of magic there on the map."

Professor Fig: "I suspected you would see something."

Lara: "Shall we go?"

Professor Fig: "I appreciate your enthusiasm - and I'm eager to discover what we may find there as well. But if our experience at Gringotts, let alone what happened to Miriam, taught me anything, it's that the path we're on is terribly dangerous. I'd like you to work with Professor Hecat a bit, before we continue."

Lara: "But sir, how dangerous could the library be? Perhaps we're only after a book."

Professor Fig: "Perhaps we are only after a book. But we should be prepared for anything."

After spending some time learning the fire spell Incendio from Professor Hecat, Lara returns to Professor Fig's office.

"Wouldn't it be smarter to teach students the spell to extinguish fire before teaching them the spell that creates fire?"