Chapter 15
As Harry woke Christmas morning, he wasn’t expecting any gifts under the tree in the Room of Requirements; or simply the RoR as Alyssa had taken to calling it, due entirely to it’s ever changing nature. But as he reached the common room, he was pleasantly surprised to find them, stacked neatly, wrapped in every color imaginable. Not only that, but there was a small buffet of breakfast set out on a table between the sitting area, and the training area.
“Bout time you got up.” Fred called from his seat, smiling as Harry headed over to the group. “Got to say this room, being the way it is, explains they the map reacts so weirdly to it.”
“The map?” Hermione tilted her head turning to Alyssa with a look. “I think we can not worry about filling people in on Sunday, and just do it now?”
“Christmas day? Hermione no. We have to get them training, and while we can catch them up a bit, and share what this all is, we should save the heavy stuff. At least until tomorrow.” Alyssa shook their head, taking a bite of sausage.
“I would like to know what this place is, and why I’m here.” Draco seemed nervous and Alyssa took his arm gently.
“You’ve been through something world changing. I have already told you my intentions with your situation, but the reason your hear is because I want you to join our adventuring party.” They smiled. “Not all of you, but I do think that all of you could expand this. Make your own team, consider this a learning area beyond what even Hogwarts can give. To not just be Wizards, but to be bigger than all that. Something like the League. Heros in the non-magical world, hero party inside of it.”
“Wicked.” George gave a nod. “Though I do have to ask.”
“Considering this seems like a friend group thing.”
“Why are we here?” The twins jinxed and Alyssa smiled. “you have something planned.”
“I think you two could be very helpful, and out of the others that were considered to bring in. Well, you two are the only ones that work full time really.”
“Were going to head off after food, but we do have a gift for Harry.” George said, pulling a piece of parchment from his bag. “I to trust that you know what it is, considering your family and all.”
“The Map.” He nodded, pulling out his wand. Remus and Sirius had told stories about it, the way that it had allowed them to get around during their time at school. “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.”
Quickly in beautiful font the map introduced itself.
Messiers Prongs, Moony, Padfoot, and Wormtail proudly present:
The Marauders Map.
Smiling slightly he flipped different parts, watching people in their travels. It would definitely come in handy for spying, but for the time being he simply folded it back. “Mischief managed.”
“Harry, if you wouldn’t mind, I’d like a go with that for a bit.”
“Of course.” Harry nodded, handing it over to his friend.
As the group finished their food, Harry faltered as a small group of fairly well-dressed beings appeared. They were short, with massive pointed ears, and large round eyes. They were intelligent creatures, Harry could tell, with life in their eyes. Dressed in black suits, their ties symbolizing one of the four houses.
“House elves.” Alyssa explained as we headed to the living room, the Twins tossing them a tip before leaving. “Unfortunately treated as second class citizens, many wizarding families still treat them as slaves. See that as normal. It was unfortunately only recently that things were changed so that places like Hogwarts have to give them pay. And while technically families do as well, it’s not strongly enforced outside of big workshops, and schools.”
“Oh.” Harry’s heart sank a bit as he watched them work.
“No need to be upset Master Queen, the school takes very good care of us.” A slightly older elf; in a blue and bronze striped tie, said, making his way forward. “And we don’t so much mind the work. We were created for it.”
“Oh, that’s uncomfortable.” Hermione shuddered. “Like… Selective breeding. I… I don’t actually want to think about that, and I don’t say that very often.”
“We are employed here, and we take our jobs very seriously.”
“Cakry, I do have a general question. It’s still a thing that you can dismiss house elves with clothing, and while that’s not really a thing under employment; and I do mean proper employment. Those working under original circumstances… How do they do the laundry?”
“Semantics and intent. It’s kind of clear when your meant to be you know, doing the laundry as opposed to being dismissed. But I guess technically passive possession. This sounds like something you could bring up with a Ravenclaw.”
“I will definitely be looking into that. Did the Kitchens get Alfred’s cookies? Because Like I said, he’s going to send way too many, I never know how he makes them all, and you all deserve something nice for the holidays.”
“Of course Master Wayne.” He gave a small bow before vanishing along with the others.
“Alright!” Alyssa clapped, tossing their jacket on the chair before Draco could claim it. “Presents!”
Quickly Alyssa and Nevil began handing them out, sorting them into piles in front of everyone before taking their places as well. As they all began unwrapping things Harry took note of what everyone had gotten.
Alyssa; ever the one for all types of magic, had gotten mostly supplies. Snape had gotten them a nice set off vials and beakers, Oliver had gotten them crystals and more wicca leaning things. Me and Hermione had both pitched in to get them more books, and Oliver had sent them an advanced Alchemist’s kit.
Of course they had also gotten several things from their family as well. This mostly game in the form of Dice, and game books, and minis for games.
The only thing Harry hadn’t been expecting was the one gift that they both had gotten. A knitted sweater marked from Molly Weasley. Harry’s was a beautiful emerald green with a golden H in the middle, and Alyssa’s was a deep plum with a silver A.
“Fuck yeah! Christmas sweater!” Alyssa shouted, earning a warm chuckle from Draco.
Hermione has gotten mostly books, though that didn’t really seem to bother her at all, he was a mixed bag, and Nevil had gotten some plants.
What really caught Harry’s eye was what Draco had gotten. Or more, how little he had gotten. Snape had gifted him a similar set to what he had given Alyssa, and his mother had sent him a silver and green scarf as well as some money. But his father hadn’t gotten him anything. In fact a quickly glance showed that Alyssa had hastily changed some of her gifts to be for him, leaving him with a hand full of Dungeons and Dragon paraphernalia.
“I’m so sorry.” Harry whispered, offering Draco a sympathetic smile. “I know this cant be easy.”
“It’s fine Queen, don’t worry about me.” He shook his head, moving to hand the supplies to Alyssa. “You didn’t have to give me-“
“Fuck you, it’s Christmas.” They said, smiling warmly. “They may not originally have been for you, but I have like three copies of the players handbook already for when I actually do run things. Or I guess for if, and I have a dragon’s hoard of dice. And everyone-“
“Alright, alright.” Draco groaned, but it was clear the sound was only halfhearted. “I keep your silly gift. Thank you.”
“Oh hey, Alyssa. We missed one.” Nevil called, slipping behind the tree before returning with a purple parcel. “It’s for Harry, doesn’t say who it’s from.”
“Odd. I thought I grabbed everything.” Alyssa noted, closing their eyes as Harry accepted it.
“Well?”
“Well what?” Draco tilted his head, Nevil and Hermione both watching with equal confusion and curiosity.
“it’s definitely magical, true neutral. It’s got hints of the same magic- that was…” Alyssa fell silent, suddenly bringing the map to their chest.
“Okay.” Harry whispered, heart slightly heavy. Quickly he unwrapped it, placing the note off to the side for a moment as he held up the almost fluid silvery gray fabric of the family’s lost invisibility cloak. Nobody said a word, and Draco was the only one who dared go for the card, scanning it quickly before shaking his head.
“It’s the headmaster’s hand-“
“Figured.” Harry and Alyssa jinxed, catching the boy off guard a bit.
“Really?”
“Who else could have stolen something from the Marauders? I mean he orchestrated-“
“Not right now Al. We can tell Draco how angry we are with the bastard later.”
“They have a hole speech.” Hermione nodded. “Went off on me in a half-awake state last month. It’s… A lot.”
“Okay. That’s good to know. Do we have plans for today?” Draco asked, deciding to swap topics.
“I’m going to use the map to stalk Quirrel from a distance, and probably go from there. But for the most part I was thinking we could actually play Dungeons and Dragons. I also think it would be a good idea to write home and, maybe find you somewhere to stay. I’m sorry for the bluntness of that, but someone had to say it.”
“I get it.” Draco nodded, though everyone soon fell into a heavy silence. “Queen, I think we can both agree that the map is actually best served in the hands of Alyssa, but my question is this. How many of us can actually fit under the cloak?”
“I don’t need to I’ve got basically pass without a trace, and really strong shadow magic. Not only that but mirror walking, and the other world. I’m fine without it. And I have also been teaching Harry.”
“Okay wait. Neither a Sorcerer, nor a rouge can learn Pass without a trace.” Hermione shot Alyssa a playful glare. “You’re the one who’s saying things run by game rules, I at least somewhat expect you to follow game rules.”
“It’s not perfectly by the book Hermione.” They retorted, sending most of their things to the nothing before heading to the table, summoning the game items. “Most cant access a strange void world either.”
“Inventory/ spacial version of a bag of holding.”
Alyssa went to argue, but gave a head-tilt nod. “Fair point, and technically psi made that as well. But you know what I mean, now come on. Lets get started on a session Zero. I have a campaign that I’ve wanted to run for a while.”
Fixing his mask Harry gave Alyssa a small nod as they got ready to head into the darkness of the castle. While he planned to search the library for more information, Alyssa had a very different mission. Introduce the map to the other world and see how it reacted. It was a surprisingly powerful artifact, and while it had a bit of a hard time with certain things, Alyssa was convinced that they could expand upon it.
“You’re sure you’re okay with this?”
“Of course Al. I know your not going to do anything too crazy with it right off the bat.” He nodded, wrapping the cloak around his shoulders. “Now, same rules as before. We meet here by one at the latest, if the other doesn’t show up, we get either Snape or McGonigall.”
“Ooh, were specifying.” Alyssa chuckled. “But yeah of course. And we don’t have to worry about the Fat Lady. Which like deserves a better name, but…” Alyssa Shrugged.
Nodding Harry followed his ‘sibling’ out of the room, pulling the cloak completely over his head, starting in the opposite direction to Alyssa. While he hadn’t gotten as comfortable sneaking around as they had, Harry had to admit the cloak did make him feel a bit more confident. At least for the time being. He knew that their whole thing was stealth, and when he got a bit more comfortable with the layout and the shadows, he probably wouldn’t use it as often.
Heading through the halls it didn’t take Harry long to reach the library, which was pitch black. Bringing a finger to his mask Harry activated his night vision, glad that Alyssa had figured out that their technology did in fact work just fine.
Heading to the restricted section, Harry easily made his way over the rope that separated it from the rest of the library before scanning the shelves. Even without Alyssa’s abilities, he found himself highly unnerved by the books that lined the shelves, the deep evils that they held inside. The spines were far from helpful as well, either fading, being in a language that was probably long dead, or not having anything on them at all.
Heart racing Harry lifted a hand to a massive black tomb, pulling it out slowly and delicately, balancing it on a knee as he let it fall open. Quickly the book let out an ear-piercing scream and Harry slammed it shut, forcing it back into place as the wails echoed in the library.
Quickly, not waiting for any confirmation that Filch had even suspected a thing, he rushed out of the restricted area and up towards the front. As he headed out the front he narrowly managed to avoid brushing against Mr. Filtch, not really focusing on where he was going so much as getting away from the caretaker.
As Harry finally skidded to a halt he suddenly regretted letting Alyssa take the map, instead of holding on to it for the night. Even with his night-vision on, he had no idea where he was, scanning the all too narrow hallway he was in.
“You asked me to inform you directly Professor, if there was anyone snooping around at night. Someone’s been the library, the restricted section.”
Harry’s blood ran cold as he heard Fitch’s voice quickly drawing nearer.
“The restricted section? Well whoever they are they can’t be far.” Snape’s cool voice responded and Harry felt his heart sink. As much as Alyssa trusted the man; and they agreed that he could be went to if curfew wasn’t met, that didn’t mean Harry was safe. He was; in fact, snooping around where he really wasn’t meant to be. Not only that but he was still a student out past curfew. If either of them managed to catch him, he knew he would be in for it.
It did not help that the hallway was so small, if the two managed to catch up they would surly run into him.
Taking a few calming breaths Harry quickly started backing down the hall, eyes landing on a slightly ajar door. Nodding to himself he made his way in, softly closing it behind him. As the two headed past Harry removed the invisibility cloak, turning off his night vision as he took in the room. Desks and chairs were stacked along the walls, but near the back Harry’s eyes landed on it.
A massively tall, elegant golden framed mirror. At the top of the arch was a single enscription: Erised stra ebru oy tube cafry oyt on wobsi.
“Words, words.” Harry whispered to himself. “What are the words?”
Erased he knew. It was simply Desire backwards. But the spacing of everything else was making it a bit confusing.
Humming softly he pulled a small notebook and pen out o his pocket, writing the words down. Pocketing it again he let his curiosity get to him and he glanced into the mirror, wondering what he would see.
For a moment he stood alone in the mirror; confused, until a red light began glowing deep within.
This was it. This was the mirror from Alyssa’s dreams. It wasn’t where they had seen it, but Harry knew that this had to be what he was looking for.
“The Mirror of Erised.”
Harry’s heart jumped in his chest as he whipped around to face the source of the voice. Albus Dumbledore was sitting on one of the desks, his eyes sparkling despite the dim light.
“Professor, I didn’t see you there.” He said, finding his voice oddly calm as he watched the Professor. “I suppose it would be foolish to assume that Alyssa is the only one in this school that can use the shadow to their benefit.”
“Of course, you would know well enough there is more than one way to turn invisible.” He nodded. “Now, I must wonder what the mirror showed you.”
“And I must think that you probably already know.” Harry responded, collecting his cloak. “Thanks for giving this back by the way.”
“Of course, it was always meant for you.”
“I should be on my way. Now that I’ve located the mirror, I don’t doubt that you are going to put it in place, finish that silly little trap of yours. I really can’t help wondering what it is you are planning with this one, but I know you would never actually tell me.”
“A great wizard must always have his secrets.”
“Oh, trust me, I know you are hiding quite a bit. A puppeteer trying to twist fate in his hands. But that very rarely works out Professor. Take me for example, you know about the scar that I received the night my parents died. I still have it, but it’s not what it once was. You can thank Constantine for that one.”
“He dose have quite the way of getting into other people’s business.”
“I think that’s enough chat for tonight Professor. I’ll be on my way now.”
Not waiting for a response, Harry pulled his cloak over his shoulders and headed back for the RoR.