Secrets to be Told

Prologue

      The night before the final task. Anticipation buzzed through Hogwarts, and throughout the day even Sapphire couldn't help watching Harry walk from class to class, trying to detect if he was nervous. She had passed by Cedric once, and he had been surrounded by girls asking for his autograph.
     Now Sapphire lay in her four poster bed, a sliver of moonlight sneaking through the curtains, worried out of her mind. Sure, Harry had come out of the first two tasks virtually fine, and had truly done very well. But this task was meant to be the hardest, and she couldn't shake how nervous she felt about it.
     After tossing and turning for several hours, she decided to get up and out of the dormitory. She wrapped her night robe around her and tip toed past Hermione's bed... past Lavender's bed... past Parvarti's bed... and opened the door slowly so it didn't creak. She closed it softly behind her before transforming into an owl and flying down into the empty common room. She landed in front of the portrait hole, transforming back into a human to push it open, and once she was in the corridor she returned to being an owl.
     She flew around a few corridors, landing on statues or ledges occasionally. She wasn't paying attention to where she was going, but she had a fair idea since she had lived in the castle for so long. She debated going and surveying the maze, but even if she managed not to get caught, how would she tell Harry? He was bound to be flanked by officials all day. She perched on an extinguished torch, wishing with all her heart there was a way she could help. She stayed there for a few minutes, turning over ideas in her mind, when suddenly out of the corner of her eye she noticed a door appearing.
     She swooped down onto the floor in front of it, transforming back into a human again. She pulled her wand out of her pocket as she took a step forward. The door, now fully appeared and apparently ready for opening, was one Sapphire had never seen. She had always prided herself on the fact that she knew most of the map of Hogwarts. She took another step forward, laying her hand on the carved wood. Curiosity always got the better of her, so she opened the door.
     Behind it lay piles and piles of the most random objects. Chairs, books, tables, doohickeys, and gadgets all gathered together to make a maze. The door shut heavily behind her as she made her way into the room, which was mysteriously illuminated. Many of the piles were covered in a layer of dust, as if no one had visited the room for a very long time. A couple more turns and a small white box caught Sapphire's eye.
     It didn't catch her eye because it looked interesting, but rather, Sapphire had thought she heard someone whisper her name, and when she turned to see who it was, her eyes landed on the box. She made her way towards it, still hearing faint whispers. Her hands shook slightly as she picked it up, and she gasped as she read the small tag: "from Severus"
     It was definitely her father's handwriting. Why had he put this box- presumably, a present- in this room? She moved to open it, but paused, wondering if perhaps she should leave it alone, since certainly her father had left it here for a reason. The whispers seemed to get louder as she considered this, and though her brain told her to leave it, her gut told her to open it.
     She lifted the lid off gently, to reveal a shimmering sapphire on a delicate chain. She put her wand back in her pocket, and picked the necklace up out of the box.
     She felt dizzy suddenly- the maze was closing in around her, a shrill, cruel laugh pierced the stormy night...
     She blinked, realizing that she was sitting on the floor, the box laying beside her. She was still gripping the chain of the necklace. Her heart was hammering against her chest, and it's rapid beating was the only thing she could hear. She looked back down at the necklace, and then put it in her pocket, before turning into an owl and flying up to perch on one of the piles. She spotted the door at once, and flew over to it. The final task still weighed heavily on her mind, but now she also had another pressing issue: Why did she find a sapphire necklace addressed from her father, and what had happened when she touched it?