And Then There Were None

The next morning the mail came. Harry was sort of surprised at first because mail never came for him unless it was from Sirus or concerned other matters. He hoped that it was from Sirius.

It was a brown envelope with his name neatly printed in the front. He looked around and saw that several people had gotten the same brown envelope. Ron and Hermione had gotten it too and were already opening theirs. Harry followed suite and revealed a plain red silk-like parchment. He looked on the back and inside the envelope again but found nothing except that plain silk parchment.

Ron scratched his head, "Hey, what's this supposed to be?"

Neville approached Harry and took a seat next to him and Ron.

"Say Harry, do you know what this is for?"

"Neville, you got the letter, too?" Harry said.

"Yeah, so did Seamus and Parvati. What do you suppose it is?"

"I don't know Neville. I think we're all having the same problem."

"Harry, you don't think that this is another one of You-Know-Who's plan do, you?" Ron anxiously asked.

Neville's face suddenly became very pale.

"You...you mean You-Know-Who might have given us these letters?" Neville started to hyperventilate and take big gulps of pumpkin juice.

Just then Seamus came by the group.

"Hey guys, Malfoy's got a letter, too, along with some other Slytherins. Boy, this is really something, huh?"

Harry blushed at the sound of Malfoy's name.

Neville buried half of his face in his fists, "I think it's pretty creepy if you ask me."

"Hey wait a minute if it was You- Know-Who's work, why would he give Malfoy a letter? I mean his father is, after all, the supporter of You-Know-Who," Ron said matter- of-factly.

"Hermione, do you have any idea what all of this means?" Harry asked

"I'm not exactly sure what it means, but I... well...at first I thought that this was written with invisible ink, but then I remembered from History of Magic that invisible ink wears off after five minutes when it's written on colored paper. Especially of this kind. It's like nothing I've ever seen before," Hermione said as she inspected the parchment.

Suddenly a clinking sound filled the room.

"Breakfast will be extended as of today!" Professor McGonagall announced.

Ron took a big bite out of his custard pie,

"I bet this is all going to eventually lead to You-Know-Who even though things are a bit weird right now."

"Well, I don't think that You-Know-Who's behind this one at all because even he wouldn't be stupid enough to just send letters to random people. Not out here in the open. Especially when Professor Dumbledore is around. Also, if I heard correctly, Malfoy's got a letter too, so it couldn't be him this time," Hermione elaborated.

"Yeah, and we made a mistake about that, too, in second year when we thought that Malfoy was the heir of Slytherin," Harry added hastily.

"Yeah, that year was really something," Ron said.

"Wait, I think I've got it!" Hermione's eyes glinted with determination, "Wait here, I'll be right back. I'm just going to the library for a second."

Hermione dashed off to the library leaving Harry and Ron aghast.

~~~~~~~*

Meanwhile in the dark pools of the sea, a feeble figure was visible and a much darker shadow overcame it. They were in an underwater cave that was hidden right below the mysterious place called Hikari Island. The only light source were candles with dark flames.

"Wormtail!!"

"Yes...master?" Wormtail quivered.

"Bring Nagini here. I want to have a word with her."

"But I don't know where she is, Master."

"Then find out!!"

Wormtail whimpered and ran off, looking for Nagini. She was very essential to Voldemort's plans because she had the ability she had the ability to take various appearances by night, but would transform at dawn. But with the special potion that Wormtail had been ordered to brew, he could extend her ability so it lasted for three days. When the three days were over, she had to take the potion daily, or she would regain her normal appearance. And since her ability originally worked during the night, transforming back in the evening was highly unlikely.

While he was reminiscing, Wormtail gave Nagini a slight push over to the Dark Lord and swiftly left unnoticed.

"Ah Nagini, there you are. I've found a special errand I want you to do it for me," his cackle echoed through the depths of the cave.

~~~~~~~~*

Moody growled, "I suspected something like this would happen."

"Now, now Alastor, let's try and think about what to do about this strange, yet unexpected horde of letters," Dumbledore assured him.

"There's nothing to think about!!" Moody shouted as he ran his hand through his hair all the while moving back and forth through the room. "It's clearly in front of our noses! Yet, strangely, I don't feel the same vibe as I normally do in situations like these. I don't know what it is yet but it's big and out of the ordinary," Moody mused.

They were interrupted when the door swung open. Professor McGonagall entered, followed by Snape.

"Albus, what in Merlin's name is going on here?" McGonagall demanded.

"Calm down Minerva, it is clear that we have a serious problem on our hands at this moment, but it will do no good going about it the wrong way," Dumbledore calmly said.

Snape interrupted, "And what, may I ask, do you plan on doing about the letters the students received, Headmaster?"

Suddenly a loud bang rudely interrupted their conversation.

"Sorry I'm late! I just got back from Romania where I fought off some pesky flobberworms that were invading the land. It was a total massacre, with dragons flying everywhere. Rough fight, really."

Everyone had a puzzled look on their faces, except for Moody and Dumbledore.

The man looked very untidy and looked like he had not eaten for days. He wasn't scrawny, just close to mediocre. His blonde hair was all over the place but still managed to hang on the single loop of his ribbon. His clothes were those of a peasant and he wore a determined yet timid expression on his face.

"Bloody Hell! What are you doing here, Norbert?"

Norbert Owen was Moody's best mate during high school. After they graduated, Owen took up a career as a dragon tamer and worked in an institute near a village in Romania. Later on, he decided to be an auror like Moody, but he still helped out at the institute now and then. They had met on several occasions after they graduated, but recently they hadn't been in touch with each other.

"And hello to you too, Moody. I just came here to see Professor Dumbledore about some information and I wanted to see if the students had gotten their letters alright," Owen said.

"Of course they --- hold on, how did you know about the letters?" Moody asked.

"Well... because I sent them?"

"Wait a second. So you're the one that sent the letters?"

"Yeah. I sent them two days ago. I knew that it'd take more than one day to deliver them all."

"So, what did it say?" Snape firmly said.

"Well, you've got one of the letters right there so why don't you read it?"

"Neither I, nor anyone in the Great Hall can read or figure out what it says," Snape

replied as he handed him the letter.

Owen scratched his head, "Really? I thought it might be fun for the students to figure it out themselves. It's simple, really. You just---"

~~~~~~~~*chp3

"Harry, Ron! I've got it!" Hermione said anxiously.

Ginny was running towards Harry and Ron from the opposite direction. Hermione reached the table and took a deep breath.

"Ron! Ron! I have to tell you something!" Ginny nearly tripped at the pace she was going.

Ron hastily said with the corner of his mouth, "Not now Ginny!"

"But Ron---"

"GO AWAY!"

"FINE! Never mind then!"

With that, Ginny ran away, bursting with tears.

"Now, what were you saying, Hermione?"

"Huh? Oh, oh that. You just simply hold it up to the light and you can read what it says."

Hermione handed Harry his letter.

Harry and Ron both looked at each other, held the letter by the candle and read it.

Dear Mr. Harry Potter,

You are cordially invited to the wizarding world's best dark arts resort, Hikari Island. It's a wonderful experience for both students and professors to gain practice on this 3-week vacation. There'll be many fun activities to do there including Quidditch, dueling, various studies of most uncommon plants, discovering the effects of many potions, including beauty products, training ground to whiff up your magic skills and there will also be a world-class library filled with many mysterious histories. There're many more things there that are just waiting to be discovered. It will be a choice of wit verses skill. We will leave on the 25^th of September by boat at exactly 5:00pm at the H&H harbor. I hope that you will have a brilliant time!

Wishing the very best,

Norbert Owen

"Wow, this place sounds really wicked!" Ron gaped.

"Yeah, but who's Norbert Owen?" Harry said.

"That's exactly what I was thinking," Hermione replied.

"Who cares?! I mean we could all use a bit of vacation away from all the You-Know-Who business. Besides, if it was him and he was just using this letter as a cover up, I don't think that he would have used the name Norbert," Ron assertively said.

"What's wrong with the name Norbert?" Hermione asked as she glanced back at the letter.

"Well first off, it's not like him to choose that name. He probably would have used some other potent name that'd kind of be more effective to him."

"Oh Ron! That's just what---"

Just then Dumbledore and the staff came out.

"May I have everyone's attention please? I know that this unexpected horde of letters confused some of you, but it is not a matter that requires a great deal of thought. Just to inform the others who haven't received a letter, Professor Owen here sent those and he has given some of your classmates the chance to go on a most effective trip on a distant island. Now, for those of you that have gotten the letters, would you please meet in the staff common room after breakfast?" Dumbledore finished and was seated.

"Ahem. Everyone can return to their meals," Professor McGonagall said.

There were murmurs and sounds of utensils clicking. After breakfast, Harry, Ron and Hermione went to the staff room. Neville and Seamus were already there. Draco was talking to Blaise Zabini and Millicent Bulstrode in the corner of the room and Parvati was speaking to Professor McGonagall. Professor Dumbledore came into the room and everyone settled down.

"Now, I am very aware that you are mildly confused at this stage but everything will be answered in this very room. I trust you all know who Professor Owen is by now. He will answer any questions that you may have after he finishes. Professor Owen?"

"Yes, well hello. I bet you're all wondering what this is all about. There's a simple reason, really. Now, I gave letters to particular students like yourselves because each and everyone of you that is in this room have something unique about themselves. All of you have one common quality, which is determination. That is the reason why I've picked out students from the Slytherin and Gryffindor house only. You see, even though your houses are very different from each other, they can also make a great combination. Are there any questions so far?"

It was quiet as a cricket less night as everyone was engrossed in his speech

"Right. Good. So your journey is to a distant island called Hikari, as it says in your letter."

Draco commented with a hint of annoyance, "Professor, there is a slight problem. We would've known about this earlier if we could have actually read the letter."

"And you must be...Draco Malfoy. Is that correct?"

"Yes. That's right."

"Well, hasn't anyone been able to figure out how to read it?"

Hermione's hand went straight up.

"You just hold it up to the light don't you, Professor?"

"Yes! Yes! That's absolutely correct!" Professor Owen shouted with excitement.

"And a bright young lady like you must be... Parvati?"

"Um...No."

"Oh! Oh yes, I remember now, the girl with the weird name. So sorry, I meant to say Hermione. Is that right?"

Hermione glared at the Professor, "Yes."

"Very good Hermione, you were very clever to have figured that out when your classmates could not."

"Harry and Ron read the letter too, Professor."

"Have they really? Well, excellent job, all of you. Now, back to business. Your trip will start tomorrow evening at 5:00pm and we will all begin our journey from the H&H harbor. You are probably going to arrive there in the evening around 8 or 9. You will all have separate dorms but those who wish to share a room may do so, since there are at least two or three beds in some dorms. They were each originally for the ten of you since there are ten dorms but it's really not a great deal whether you choose to share or not."

"Um, Professor?" Ron said with a hint of awkwardness in his voice, "Are you sure there are supposed to be ten people because there's only nine of us here."

Everyone looked around the room, counting the others.

"But, that isn't possible. I'm positive that I sent the letters out to ten people." Professor Owen said without doubt.

Now, let's see here: we have four boys from Gryffindor, two girls from Gryffindor, one boy and two girls from Slytherin. Hmm...who's missing? Wait a minute; I think I picked out five boys and five girls. But who was that other girl? Oh... what a way to start out your teaching career. I don't even remember what house she was in. Oh! I really should have written the names down. Okay, calm down Norbert. Get a hold of yourself. I know I'll just simply pick another girl. Yeah, and the boat doesn't leave until 5. Oh boy, I better start thinking about which house to seek my 10^th person in.

Everyone was chatting excitingly about this mysterious 10^th person that had skipped their meeting.

"Well would you look at that? A few minutes ago he was so sure of everything and now look at him. It's really pitiful if you ask me," Draco said to Blaise and Millicent.

"Yes. Very," Millicent answered with a monotone.

Blaise's voice was smooth, yet deadly, "He's just wasting time to think of more things to add in his worthless speech."

Draco smirked, "Too true."

"All right, all right. Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to solve all this by tomorrow and by the time you leave, everyone will be on the train including the 10^th person. Okay? Now, I suggest that you get to your classes and resume normal activities."

~~~

Throughout the day, all everyone could talk about was the 10^th person and who he or she might be. Just pondering about it made their day go by much faster.

Meanwhile, Owen was thinking about who to observe for his 10^th student and couldn't help wonder, at the same time, who it originally was.