Elemental Alchemy

Chapter Six

10:30 pm - Dumbledore's Office - Hogwarts

For the next twenty minutes, Robert, Harry, Dumbledore and the others pored over the clues in the parchment.

"The clue to open this thing must be here somewhere." Robert paced, having read the poem so many times he had nearly committed it to his photographic memory. "What are the main words there?"

Dumbledore leaned over, and without touching the parchment, read, "Brilliant, star, Muggle, die, kiss...."

"No, go on. I think it's in that second stanza there."

"Clever, puzzle, power, hour, prophecy..."

"That must be it!" Robert said, "the words puzzle and prophecy occur in the same paragraph, with the threat of more deaths -- his coming in power -- between the words. That must be the key to opening the cryptex!" Robert looked at his watch. "It's now 10:30. If the poem goes as it says, there will be another death in ½ hour, so we'd better hurry. The likely victim's going to be a Hufflepuff, because that house is mentioned first."

Dumbledore stiffened, as if he were mustering up is vast resolve. He looked around the room, his eyes delving into each person in turn, including Robert. "Then we need to do all we can to ensure that nothing of the sort happens. Severus, I ask that you go inform the staff, especially those who are of Hufflepuff House - Professor Sprout, Professor Vector, and Madame Pomfrey, I believe. Gather them in the staff room and please keep them there. Watch over them, Severus. I have faith that you can guard them steadfastly, and if need be, with your life."

Snape's face hardened and he nodded curtly.

"And Minerva, please go to the Hufflepuff Common Room -- the password is "mandrake" -- and keep the students together. Take a headcount. There are seventy of them, exactly, including their Prefects, Susan Bones and Ernie MacMillan. Enlist their help if needed. The poem does not delineate between staff and students, so we must assume that even our students from Hufflepuff House will be in danger."

Dumbledore suddenly looked sad. "I cannot fathom how Hufflepuff could withstand the blow if another one of its numbers would lose a life to Lord Voldemort. The loss of their beloved Cedric Diggory three years ago still haunts many of them and many of the other students as well."

Myself included, Harry thought. Literally.

McGonagall, like Snape, showed a steely resolve in her eyes. She, too, nodded curtly, almost militaristic. Both professors turned and swiftly left the room, robes trailing in a flourish behind them.

"Paolo." Dumbledore turned. "I must first ask you to alert the Prefects and heads of houses for Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Start with Gryffindor, that would be Colin Creevey, Hermione Granger, and the Head Boy, Ronald Weasley. Make sure that there is a teacher in every common room, and that all students and teachers are accounted for. Then please, I ask that you stand watch tonight at the front entrance to the castle. Alert Mr. Filch and Hagrid, and they will help you keep watch. No one must enter or leave the castle until we can ensure everyone's safety."

"But, Headmaster," Paolo stammered. "I would certainly be of much more help here. The symbols, the clues. I can help..."

"Paolo, please." Dumbledore seemed to glare over his half-moon spectacles. "Please, do what I ask of you. You are the interim Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, and you have special knowledge and skills that Hagrid and Filch do not. The school will need guarding by more magic than they can provide."

"But sir!" Paolo protested again. Robert had never seen Paolo so nervous or upset before. Clearly he wanted to stay, but, why?

"I will only ask you one more time, Paolo. Please. Go." Dumbledore pointed a long finger at the door. Robert looked at Paolo with a questioning glance, and jerked his head slightly toward the door, as if to ask, 'what's the big deal, just do what he says!'

With a resigned sigh, Paolo pulled open the door, and left the room, the large oak door shutting slowly behind him. The only ones left in the expansive office were Harry, Dumbledore and Robert.

"Now that we have those tasks attended to, and some more privacy, we can get to the feat at hand." Dumbledore sat down behind his desk. "Robert, I must ask you for complete honesty and utter secrecy. Harry and I are about to divulge to you a secret that he, myself, and his two friends only, share."

Harry gave a startled look of surprise.

"Yes, Harry, I know you told Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger." Dumbledore leaned forward. Harry sat in a chair and began fidgeting with the end of his robe. "But, it is fine. I expected that you would. I presume that they have assured you complete secrecy, however."

"Yes sir. They have. And I trust them with it - with my life."

"Then, the circle remains unbroken." Dumbledore looked at Robert again. "There is a prophecy..."

"Yes, Hermione began to tell me about it on the train, but my guess is she only told me part of it."

"Yes, sir. Only the part about the power the Dark Lord knows not." Harry interjected.

"Fine, fine," said Dumbledore. "What is done is done, but what matters at this very moment is how the prophecy can provide us clues to opening this cryptex. I again, Robert, ask you for complete confidence. What is contained in the prophecy is not for the ears of those who would support the Dark Lord. If the true words of the prophecy were to fall into his hands, it could be deadly for Harry - or anyone else the prophecy may refer to."

"Harry mentioned that he wasn't sure if the prophecy referred to him or not." Robert said. "Who else could it be? What is the prophecy?"

Harry, almost in a trance-like-state, began reciting the prophecy from memory.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies. And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not. And Either must die at the hand of the other, for neither can live while the other survives."

Robert stood in awe. "That is a serious prophecy. So," he turned to Dumbledore, "that means then that either You-Know-Who..."

"Robert," Dumbledore interrupted. "Use his real name in front of Harry and myself. Neither of us fear it. Neither of us believe the name should be covered up with euphemisms in fear, either."

Robert continued, "either Voldemort or Harry must kill the other or die themselves." He mused for a moment. "But who thrice defied him? Who was born in the seventh month? Robert took out a piece of parchment and began writing.

"Please do not write this down, Robert." Dumbledore placed a gentle hand over Robert's writing hand. Robert slowly dropped the quill. "Both Harry and I know it well. Harry's parents, James and Lily Potter, defied the Dark Lord three times before their deaths. And Harry was born on 31^st July."

"But, if Voldemort doesn't know the prophecy, how can it be the clue to this Cryptex?"

"Because he does know part of it. He knows only the first part. 'The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies.' That, we believe, is why Voldemort attacked Harry so many years ago. He was trying to stop Harry from being able to vanquish him as the prophecy said. But, by doing so, he actually set the prophecy in motion. As Harry probably told you, when Voldemort attacked him, the curse rebounded, and rendered Voldemort powerless."

"Okay, then, knowing that..." Robert began pacing anew. "The key words there are, power, vanquish, thrice, defied, month, and seventh. But this cryptex is only symbols again...lots of symbols, and there are only four bands...different characters from different languages - Cyrillic, Greek, Alchemaic symbols, even Hobo signs. But no letters. How do we apply those words to this cryptex?" Robert thought hard for a moment. "The first one was alchemaic. This one must be too. We need Paolo."

Dumbledore sighed. He clapped his hands twice, and Paolo appeared with a 'pop' behind Robert.

"What the? How did you do that?"

"You called, Professor?"

"Yes, Paolo." Dumbledore said gravely. "We have need of your knowledge of alchemy again. There are six words here we are working with. Do any of them have corresponding symbols in alchemy?"

"What are the words?"

Robert recited them. "power, vanquish, thrice, defied, month, and seventh."

Paolo thought for a moment. "Is there more to the prophecy? Are there more words to work with?" He looked at Dumbledore expectantly.

"Not at this moment, Paolo. That is all we have for now, and that is all we need to concern ourselves with now."

Paolo sighed. "Yes, four of them. Power, three, month, seven." Paolo took a quill and parchment and wrote the symbols down. He handed the paper to Robert. "Are you sure there isn't more? That doesn't seem right."

"No, thank you, Paolo," said Dumbledore. "That is all. Please return to your duties. I presume Hagrid and Filch will be waiting for you at the main door by now."

"Are you sure?" Paolo asked again.

"Quite." With that, Dumbledore clapped his hands again, and Paolo vanished with another 'pop."

Robert shook his head. "I'll never get used to that." Regaining his senses, Robert lifted the sheaf of parchment. "Let's try it." He picked up the cryptex and began rotating the coppery bands. First, power. The band clicked into place, an encouraging sound. Then, three. Click. Month. Click. Seven. Click.

The bands on the cryptex whirred and spun wildly, and the cryptex shook violently in Robert's hands. Robert dropped it to the floor, where it rolled toward the door. When it came to rest, it glowed an iridescent green for a moment, and the light faded slowly. Robert and Harry crossed to the door and bent over, staring at the now lifeless cryptex.

"Pick it up." Harry said, questioningly.

Robert did. He momentarily fumbled with the endcaps, and tried to push the center open. "Damn," he said.

"What," Dumbledore was breathless.

"Didn't open." Robert sighed. "That didn't work. Wrong clues, we've been misled again."

Dumbledore sank heavily into his chair. Harry looked expectantly between Robert and Dumbledore. "What do we do now? How do we open it?"

"We start over. We try again," Dumbledore said.

Both Harry and Robert walked slowly back to Dumbledore's desk. Robert looked at his watch. "It's 10:59. We're out of time. But, let's have another look at that..."

A bloodcurdling scream rent the end of Robert's sentence, and an eerie silence followed. All three remained in rapt attention, eyes on the doors. As the great oak doors slammed open, Dumbledore, Robert and Harry all shot to their feet.

Minerva McGonagall stood in the doorway, panting, her chest heaving, and visibly frightened. Her hair was pulled out of her otherwise neat bun, her hat was askew, and her emerald green robes had dark, reddish stains along the hemline and sleeves. There was a slash of bloodstain across her chest and a kiss of blood on her left cheek.

"Albus! Albus! There's been another murder! Come, come quickly!" She began sobbing. "It's Professor Vector, Albus, she's....she's dead! Oh, Albus, it is so horrible!"

Dumbledore pushed off from his desk with a youthful bound that Robert never thought he would see in a man his apparent age. "Where, Minerva. I thought she was with..."

"Severus said she wasn't in the teacher's lounge. He searched the entire castle for her. He found Professor Sprout and Madame Pomfrey, but Professor Vector was nowhere to be found! She wasn't in her quarters, wasn't in the Hufflepuff common room, and wasn't in her classroom! He tried, Albus, but he couldn't find her and couldn't protect her!" She sobbed anew. "Severus is beside himself with anger, and grief, and regret..."

"Minerva, I blame neither you nor Severus. There is no need for guilt, no need for regret. Whoever is behind these murders, I now see will go to any lengths to carry them out. It very well may be that we will not be able to protect anyone." Dumbledore opened the oak doors. "Minerva, you must show me where she is, show me Professor Vector. Robert, given the clues left with Professor Matado's body, perhaps you should come along."

"What about me?" Harry asked. "What should I do?"

Dumbledore gently, fatherly, placed his hands on Harry's shoulders and looked deep into his eyes. "You must return to your common room, Harry. There should be a teacher in there, I assume it is Madam Hooch?" He looked at Minerva, who nodded affirmatively. "Go there. Help Madam Hooch, Ron, Colin, and Hermione. Protect your classmates and those in the classes younger than you. Not only do I need you there, with them, Harry, but your life is too important. You, of all people, must be protected at all costs. Do you understand me? I do not want the Gryffindor in the poem to be you."

Harry was reluctant to leave, but understood. He nodded. "Yes, Headmaster." He turned and walked out the door.

Minerva led Robert and Dumbledore out of the office. The three followed Harry back to the Gryffindor common room, and breathed a sigh of relief as Harry gave the password, "flobberworm," and entered behind the portrait hole. Robert could hear other students asking Harry what was going on, where he'd been, why were they all there, and why did he have teachers with him?

The portrait hole closed. If Robert was in any other situation, on any other day, he would have taken the time to admire the painting of the fat lady guarding the Gryffindor common room. But as circumstances warranted, his attention was drawn violently elsewhere.

"This way," said Minerva. "I found her in the Arithmency hallway as I was doing my patrol." The three walked at breakneck speed through numerous hallways and up two flights of stairs, one of which, to Robert's astonishment, moved as they were standing on it.

They lit from the staircase and stepped onto a large landing. Behind a series of columns Robert saw a large, slumped pile on the floor. "Is that her?"

Minerva sobbed again. "Yes. She's there." She pointed.

Robert and Dumbledore left Minerva and strode over to Professor Vector's lifeless body. What Robert saw horrified him. Moreso than any of the murders of any of the Vatican Preferitti Cardinals he saw a year ago.

"Minerva, please go inform the Hufflepuff prefects, and Professor Sprout."

Professor McGonagall left without a word and headed back down the moving staircase.

Professor Vector was a slight woman with long, auburn hair, and from what Robert could see - as her head was turned to the side and she was on her stomach -- brown, sullen eyes. From the immense pool of blood around her body, Robert immediately surmised that she had bled to death. As Robert surveyed the body, he did not immediately see any trauma to her body, evidence of injury - that is, until he and Dumbledore turned her over.

As Professor Vector was now lying on her back, Robert saw the exact cause of death. It was exsanguination all right, but the cause was her hands being severed from her arms, just above the wrist. The remaining stumps of her arms were tied in front of her with a bright yellow cord. Robert could feel the bile rise in his throat, and a wave of nausea overtook him momentarily.

He looked further down her body and noticed that her feet had also been tied with the same yellow cord. Whoever did this, cut off her hands and left her immobile so that she could only bleed to death where she lay, and could not run for help.

Robert looked above Professor Vector's head, and saw her hands. They were clasped together, seemingly in prayer. But, they were holding something....the tail of something - a furry animal of some sort.

Dumbledore stepped gingerly over Professor Vector's middle, and walked to the spot where the animal lay. "It's a badger, and it is dead, as well." He stood up. "I fear we have our Hufflepuff death. The badger is the Hufflepuff animal."

Still wracked with nausea, Robert backed away from the body, leaned against a column, and sank down slowly. Again, his mind started reeling with the symbols that lay before him. A badger, the color yellow - symbols of Hufflepuff House.

"Yellow," Robert mumbled. His mind continued reeling. That color - it has conflicting symbolism. On the one hand it denotes happiness and joy, but on the other hand it's the color of cowardice.

Robert remembered that yellow ribbons were worn as a sign of hope as women waited from their men to come marching home from war - abiding love and loyalty. The badger, too, carried great symbolic meaning...passion, perseverance, control, earthiness, groundedness, wisdom.

The meanings in both the color yellow and the badger - loyalty, earthiness, happiness...led Robert to one conclusion. The earth element.

Robert's head was swimming in symbols and meanings now. Slytherin - water; Gryffindor - Fire; Ravenclaw - Air; Hufflepuff - earth.

Ravenclaw - Professor Matado's head - intelligence, intellect, strategy, wisdom. Hufflepuff - Professor Vector's hands - earthiness, work, dedication, the hands are the Irish symbol for loyalty. What would the Gryffindor death be? The heart?

Robert's irritation and aggravation grew. He felt helpless, useless to figure all of this out. It must mean something, Robert thought to himself, but what? Why murder one from each house? Why faculty members? Why these cryptices? What could someone, Voldemort, presumably, possibly want so badly that he is killing - systematically - playing these games for it? If Voldemort wanted Harry so badly, why kill these others?

Robert buried his head in his hands, and raked his fingers through his graying hair. He rested his elbows on his upturned knees. He was tired, sick, and the guilt was beginning to rack at him. This death could have been prevented, he thought, if he had only been able to open that cryptex. How could he have been so blind? How could he have been so horribly misled?

"We have all been misled, Robert," Dumbledore said. "Do not take the blame all on your own. It is not yours to carry. Don't worry, we still have time. There is one more death to prevent. I should be most grateful if no one from my own house, Gryffindor, should die tonight." Dumbledore knelt beside Robert, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Come now, let's give that puzzle another try."

Robert looked at his watch. It was now 11:35. He knew that if he didn't engage his brain soon, Dumbledore, and another house, would be in mourning again in a mere twenty five minutes.