Albus Potter and the Mystery of Eloise Elfenben #Wattys2017

Chapter 15

Rose sat awake, reading over the clue by the light of her wand- she had recently learned the spell, Lumos, and had taken to using it instead of a lantern to read. She was pouring over the lines of the last clue-

Rowena Ravenclaw believed each question had an answer.

To find the third clue, you must ask the questions no one should.

Rose bit her lip and twirled a bit of her hair as she thought. What else had Rowena Ravenclaw left behind at Hogwarts that could answer questions? Nothing Rose knew of.

Unless they weren't the ones asking the questions...

Rose met Dahmari in the common room of Gryffindor tower the next morning. Dahmari was sat in a comfortable armchair by the fire doodling in her notebook. Rose enjoyed watching Dahmari sketch, the way her pencil flew across the page, the way her concentration was so apparent on her face, the way her hair fell over her shoulder when she leaned forward...

"Oh, hey Rose. You ready to go?" Rose was shaken out of her reverie when Dahmari noticed her arrival.

"Um, yeah. Let's go."

Albus and Scorpius were already sitting at the Gryffindor table when they arrived in the Great Hall, and had already started on a plate of pancakes. Rose and Dahmari sat down next to them, and Rose pulled out the notebook she had been using to keep track of the clues and possible theories. "So, I was thinking about the clue last night- "

"Oh, that's what you were doing! Having your light on the whole night, I could barely get any sleep- "

"Yeah, well, anyway, as I was saying, I was thinking about the clue last night and as we know the last one was found at the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room, so I was thinking about stuff at the school that Rowena Ravenclaw would have had direct involvement in making that could be asked about Eloise, and it hit me! The knocker!"

Apparently not getting the reaction she was expecting, Rose continued. "You know, the knocker on the door to the Ravenclaw common room? You knock, and it gives you a question, and if you answer it correctly you can go in? Merlin, have you never read Hogwarts, A History?"

"But how would we even get to the knocker? We can't just go up to it in the middle of the day, it would look suspicious! And it's against the rules for us to leave our dorms at night!" Scorpius looked both indignant and skeptical, an expression, Rose thought to herself, only Scorpius would be able to pull.

"Well," Rose gazed mischievously at Al, "I think James may have something we can use..."

The plan was simple. Get the invisibility cloak from James, wait until everyone had gone to bed, and sneak out of the dorms. Al and Scorpius would sneak out first, and come and get Rose and Dahmari second. Then, they would all go to the Ravenclaw common room to get the clue from the knocker.

"James, I need the invisibility cloak."

"What? What do you need it for? What could goody- two- shoes Albus Severus Potter possibly want with an item such as an invisibility cloak?" James grinned annoyingly at Al, and he felt himself getting frustrated.

"James, seriously, can I have it or what?"

"Well, let me think about it..." James pantomimed thinking seriously before his face broke into a grin. "Just kidding, just kidding, of course you can have it. I thought you would never ask! Oh, my own brother is finally growing up!" James wiped a nonexistent tear from his cheek. Growing serious, he added while handing Al the silvery material, "But make sure to give it back when you're done. I need it for," he paused. "something I'm doing later this week." Cue mischievous grin. Al nodded, turning to leave the Gryffindor boy's dorms as he heard James giggling.

A few hours later, Al and Scorpius were sitting in the common room waiting for everyone to go to bed so they could sneak out. The invisibility cloak was hidden in Al's bag and they sat together by the fire pretending to do homework. Eventually, everyone had gone to the dorms except one couple in the corner, who looked oddly familiar...

"Samaira! Kathryn! What are you doing?" Al called across the room to the redhead and dark-haired girls.

The two immediately sprang apart, Samaira looking flustered, Kathryn as if she was trying very hard not to laugh. "I- um, sorry Al, you know- let's go upstairs." Samaira stumbled over her words before grabbing Kathryn's arm and practically running up the stairs to the girl's dorms. Kathryn gave him an apologetic smile as they disappeared. Finally the last people left in the common room, they were able to slip under the invisibility cloak and stumble, giggling under their breath, out of the common room.

Rose and Dahmari sat on two chairs near the portrait hole waiting for Al and Scorpius to arrive. Rose could feel herself begin to drift off when they heard a knock coming from the entrance.

"That must be them," Dahmari whispered, and they opened the door only to have the cloak immediately thrown over them.

"Hey guys," Al whispered as Scorpius lifted a finger to his lips, shushing them. They began to slowly make their way to the Ravenclaw dorms, occasionally tripping over each other's feet and stepping on each other's toes. Eventually, they arrived at the knocker. Rose reached an arm out from underneath the cloak and knocked twice.

A feminine voice answered, coming from the knocker. "When does eternity end?"

Rose frantically looked back at the other three, not knowing what to say. However, Dahmari spoke up.

"Eloise Elfenben."

"Ah, I see you've been doing your research," the knocker replied, and the door to the common room sprang open.

The four looked nervously at each other- they had expected the knocker to give them the clue. Were they expected to actually enter the common room?

Rose, at the head of the group, took a tentative step through the doorway. Soon, the others followed. As the entered the Ravenclaw common room, they were surprised at how many bookshelves there were. Surrounding them on almost every wall were shelves upon shelves of books. However, their attention was drawn to one book in particular on the center shelf, which seemed to be glowing faintly.

Rose reached out and pulled it off the shelf. She saw words appear in beautiful, looping cursive,

The Tale and Tribulations of Eloise Elfenben