"Excuse me, but what?" Harry asked and Penny grimaced in return.
"There was an attack, a young Gryffindor boy, Creevey from what I hear." Penny informed and Harry sat back at the Ravenclaw table in the Great Hall. There had been bits and pieces of the story flying around this morning and it seems that now, at lunch, the news had finally broken. The 'Heir' had apparently unleashed Slytherin's 'monster' on the school.
"So Hogwarts is going to close, right?" Harry asked and Penny outright frowned before she replied.
"Apparently not, though I don't know why, the Staff hasn't mentioned closing the school or sending the students home." Penny replied her pretty face twisted by her anger.
"You're kidding…" Harry was shocked. A student had been attacked and petrified by an unknown assailant or monster and Hogwarts was just going to carry on like nothing happened? "What is wrong with these people?" Penny could only shrug angrily while forcing herself to eat.
"I've narrowed down the list of potential Magical Snakes, but with petrification being the results of the attacks I'm afraid this opens the door to other 'monsters' being the culprit." Penny worried as she mentally went over her research. "No Magical Snake I've read about has the ability to petrify its victims."
"I'm writing another letter to Sirius." Harry stated as he finished his lunch. "The last reply I got Sirius told me that it could just be a prankster with horribly bad taste. Since it is right about the fiftieth anniversary of the last time the Chamber was opened. But this is an outright attack, I'm sure Sirius will be able to round up the parents of the students and get the Aurors involved." Penny nodded and agreed to write her own letter to her parents. At the end of classes that day Harry left with a quick 'goodbye' to his study buddies. His only other comment was "I've got work to do."
It so happened that on Wednesday the eleventh of November the Great Hall doors were opened just as breakfast was finishing up. The Staff were caught 'flat-footed' by the appearance of the large group of Witches and Wizards. Especially the large amount of Aurors present among them. A stern looking woman with red hair and a monocle marched forward leading the group. Harry was quick to spot Sirius among the group and Penny's father as well. Though he'd only met the man briefly.
"Dumbledore we need to talk, immediately." The stern witch in Auror robes informed the aged Headmaster.
"Of course, Amelia, if you would all kindly follow me to the antechamber." Dumbledore agreed as he stood from his chair and led the large group through a door off to the side of the Head Table. The large group steadily made their way into the room until the Great Hall was only filled with students and the Staff that weren't Heads of House.
"Well that worked better than I thought it would." Harry grinned and Penny gave him a side hug with a smile on her face. Later that day Sirius got to meet with Harry and Penny's father, Edward Clearwater, was with him since Penny was with Harry. The two adults explained what had gone on in the antechamber, besides a lot of yelling, and both Harry and Penny were less than thrilled with the results.
"What do you mean Hogwarts is staying open?" Penny questioned incredulously.
"Dumbledore and Amelia argued back and forth about it for quite a while." Edward shook his head. "But Dumbledore argued against closing the school and Amelia forced him to accept Aurors being stationed at Hogwarts."
"Aurors might help, but wouldn't it be safer to just close the school?" Harry questioned and both Sirius and Edward looked like they agreed.
"Amelia only agreed to the school remaining open so that the Aurors can search every student's belongings for illegal Magic Items, especially ones that could petrify a person. If they find said item among a student's things that student will be expelled on the spot and criminal charges will be filed." Sirius informed them.
"This is still ridiculous." Harry grumbled aggravated with the lack of sense being shown.
"We agree, but Dumbledore has a lot of influence in Magical Britain." Edward groused as he pulled his daughter into a hug. Sirius was quick to do the same while also passing Harry a small mirror.
"What's this?" Harry questioned looking the plain object over.
"One of the Marauder's best accomplishments." Sirius grinned proudly. "A Communication Mirror!"
"A what?" Harry asked and Sirius was happy to tell the story of how the pair of mirrors came to be. It seemed it was mostly Lupin's work with some minor inputs from Sirius and Harry's father, James.
"Why didn't you make more?" Penny questioned as she looked the item over. "Something like this could have made a fortune." Harry was also interested in the answer to Penny's question and looked at Sirius expectantly.
"Well…actually." Sirius rubbed the back of his head and sighed. "It was complete luck that it worked at all."
"What's that mean?" Harry inquired and Sirius went on to explain that the Marauders had gone through well over a hundred mirrors to eventually make the pair that worked. But even Remus didn't know why the pair worked out. They'd attempted to re-create the mirrors dozens of times but even with the same Enchantments and Charms, no other pair ever worked out.
"I see." Penny replied as she stared at the mirror in her hands. "A pity, it could've revolutionized Magical Communication."
"Do you think Moony still has the notes for this?" Harry asked staring at the second mirror in his hands with a near manic gleam of curiosity and interest in his eyes. They almost appeared to be glowing with how intensely Harry was staring at the mirror in his hands.
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