The Forgotten House

Her Enemy

My heart skips a beat as I read the note over a 5th time:

𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧'𝐭 𝐢 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮? 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐱𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐚𝐲.

What are they talking about? And whoever they are how do they even know we're looking into the Foxtail Family? This must be the same person Jason was hearing from. I scan the room to see if anyone is nearby but the whole library is empty. I brush it off, but before I leave, I quickly scribble on the back and fold it back up and slip it under a table leg.

Walking through the corridor, everything seems a little tense. Something really isn't right here. The clock strikes 6 and I head across to dinner and sit right back down next to Willow. Once again she doesn't seem to acknowledge me and so I just munch away at my food.
I decide to leave early as I just can't bare to be ignored. I start to make my way back to the Library when I decide to take a detour to the Astronomy Tower. I know I shouldn't go. Not without Willow. Not without Jason. Not without Liam and definitely not without Peter but I have to. I need to speak to Adelaide.

It's dark and cold outside. I should've brought a coat. The trees creak and the bushes rustle and I decide to start jogging. Suddenly a twig snaps sharply behind me. I panic, and before turning around, I swiftly sprint to the tower. I arrive and am immediately warmed by the fire torches. I march quickly around the corner and up the stairs and and across the hidden corridor. I walk hastily towards the portrait of Adelaide and she smiles excitedly.
"Ashleyyyy!!!!!! My am I EXCITED to see you!! But where are all your lovely friends?"
"Hey Adelaide. Umm its just me today and I can't stay long. I have something to ask you."
"Of course my dear! Anything for a friend of mine!"
"I was wondering if you had any enemies in your time at the castle?"
"And what makes you think I had enemies?" Adelaide asks, suddenly seeming closed off.
"I mean... everyone has enemies. Someone they don't like. Or someone who doesn't like them. I'm just curious," I press her for more information and start to leave as she doesn't seem to consider answering.
"Wait..." she pauses. "I did have an enemy once. We were friends... for a while. But her brother didn't like it. You see... she was a Slytherin. It wasn't right. Her brother did his best to get me in trouble just so she'd have a reason not to see me again but it didn't work. We found a way. Until the day she died. She accidentally tried one of my fathers failed experiments and that was that. Her brother blamed it on me and that's how we were trapped here. Our practices in magic were banned and we were forgotten."
I thought for a moment... this could be who was threatening us! "Thank you so much Adelaide and I'm sorry. What happened to her brother?"
"Oh he's long gone. Be safe Ashley. You never know who you can trust in this castle."
"Thank you. So much." I head back down the stairs once again and into the courtyard. Out of nowhere, someone calls my name.
"Ashley... Ashley... Ashley..." It gets fainter and soon fades into the night.

I arrive back at the castle just as everyone is leaving the hall. I blend into the crowd and find myself walking right beside Jason.
"I spoke to Adelaide," I whisper.
"You what?!" Jason replies aggressively.
"I had to find something out. I had to figure out who was sending the messages. She has an enemy. I think it could be him."
"Ashley really? What were you thinking? You could've been seen going to the astronomy tower. You could've been followed!"
"But I wasn't."
"Fine. Didn't I tell you I wasn't getting messages anymore?"
I hesitate, "Yes. You did. But I got one. Today. When I went to get your message."
Jason stops and pulls me aside, "Someone saw you, in the library, reading my message and sent you one of their own?"
"Yes."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"How could I? I needed to find out more and then I was gonna write to you again."
"Fine. Read my letter. I'll meet you there tomorrow evening before dinner after I've read your morning reply."
"Ok. Goodnight Jason. Be careful."
"I will," and once again, he walks away down the corridor.
I turn away and head right to the library and read Jason's latest letter:

𝕀 𝕕𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕜 𝕚𝕥'𝕤 𝕤𝕒𝕗𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕦𝕤𝕖 𝕟𝕒𝕞𝕖𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕪𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝔸. 𝕀𝕟𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕒𝕝𝕤 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕕𝕠.
𝕀 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖𝕟'𝕥 𝕘𝕠𝕥 𝕒𝕟𝕪 𝕟𝕖𝕨 𝕞𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕒𝕘𝕖𝕤 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕠𝕟. 𝕀'𝕞 𝕨𝕠𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕚𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕪'𝕧𝕖 𝕘𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕦𝕡. 𝕀 𝕕𝕠𝕦𝕓𝕥 𝕚𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙.
𝕊𝕥𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕣𝕪𝕚𝕟𝕒 𝕗𝕚𝕘𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕪 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥...
𝔸𝕟𝕪𝕨𝕒𝕪, 𝕙𝕠𝕨 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕘𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕠𝕟 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕔𝕙? 𝕀'𝕞 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕞𝕒𝕪𝕓𝕖 𝕨𝕖 𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕥 𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕕𝕚𝕗𝕗𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔽𝕠𝕩𝕥𝕒𝕚𝕝𝕤 𝕤𝕥𝕦𝕕𝕚𝕖𝕕?
𝕀 𝕞𝕚𝕤𝕤 𝕥𝕒𝕝𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦
𝕁

I smile and think of the convocation we just had. I start to form my reply on the back of the smooth parchment when another piece of parchment floats down beside me. The paper is thick and slightly torn at the edges. It reads:

𝒾 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝒾𝓃𝓈𝓉𝓇𝓊𝒸𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝑔𝓊𝒾𝒹𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊. 𝓂𝓎 𝒻𝑒𝓁𝓁𝑜𝓌 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒶𝓊𝓃𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊. 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓂𝒾𝓍𝓉𝓊𝓇𝑒𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓇𝒾𝓈𝓀𝓎 𝒾𝒻 𝓅𝑜𝓊𝓇𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝑜𝑜 𝓆𝓊𝒾𝒸𝓀𝓁𝓎 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝒾𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓁𝓊𝒸𝓀𝓎,  𝒾𝓉 𝓂𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝒷𝑒 𝓉𝑜𝑜 𝓈𝒾𝒸𝓀𝓁𝓎.

Great. A riddle. Just what I need on a Saturday night. After folding my reply back into another fox and sitting it on the windowsill, I take the riddle back to my common room and slip it into my notebook. I leave a note under Willow's pillow telling her briefly about tonight and shuffle under my covers for a good nights sleep. But the riddle sticks in my mind. It follows me through my dreams and doesn't leave my side. Everything I've ever said to Adelaide comes rushing back to me and my mind tries to figure everything out at once. What could it all mean?