Learn From the History

Chapter 8: The beginning

"Look like you've got another present," said Tom as he entered the dormitory.

There was indeed a present lay near Alex's bed which Alex overlooked that morning when he rushed down to Tom's room. Alex picked up the present and opened the letter that attached to it.

"It's from Nicolas," said Alex.

Dear Alex,

Merry Christmas! I hope you like the present. It's another of my inventions, a stone that can be used to test your magic. Hit it with whatever spell you want, if the spell works correctly, the stone will glow red. The stronger the power, the brighter it will glow. If the spell goes wrong, it will remain green in colour.

Alex opened the present. There was a small wooden box with a fist-sized green stone in it.

Alex chuckled. "Trust Nicolas to give me something like this."

But other than the wooden box, something else was wrapped in the present. Alex picked up the thing and immediately knew what it was, although he didn't remember seeing one before.

"Invisibility cloak," Tom muttered beside him, staring the cloak in awe. "He gave it to you as a Christmas present?" he asked disbelievingly.

Alex shrugged. He looked back to the letter.

By the way, I think it's time to return this to you, the invisibility cloak. I don't know how you got hold on such thing, but you were grabbing it when I found you. Use it well.

Nicolas

"An invisibility cloak. I wonder how you get it..." said Tom.

"If only I can remember," muttered Alex.

He picked up the cloak and examined it. "Use it well, eh? Imagine how many trouble we can get into with this. We can wander around the castle after curfew, break numerous school rules without any detentions, and... "

"We can access the restricted area in the library freely." Tom finished his sentence.

Alex raised his eyebrows. "Restricted area? Without permission from the teachers? What do you want to find there, 'model student'?" he said in a mocking tone.

Tom was a model student in the eyes of the professors. But after several months of staying with Tom, Alex knew that the boy did break quite a few school rules from time to time. As Tom said, it's mostly due to his "curiosity" about the school. And the boy actually managed to find out several secrets of the old castle which Alex was certain that even Dippet himself did not know. Apart from the Room of Requirement, which Alex only found out earlier that day, Tom had also shown him some of his "discoveries" - several short cuts in the school, a secret pathway that lead to Hogsmeade and a few classrooms that would only appear at a particular time or condition. Thanked to Tom's "Slytherin nature" and the fact that the boy decided to use the Slytherins' disregard of him to his own advantage, he was never caught during his little "exploration". Alex knew that Tom was searching for something, but he never figured out what.

Tom eyed his friend thoughtfully. Finally he sighed. "Have you ever read..." he started.

Alex groaned. "For the hundredth times, I've never read Hogwarts: A History."

Tom rolled his eyes and left to take something from his dormitory. He returned with a parchment in his hand.

"I copy this from the book," he said.

Alex read through the parchment and raised his eyebrows. "So you believe it's real?"

Tom shrugged. "I don't know. But I got a strange feeling that told me it does exist. And I was meant to find it out... It's just like someone is calling me there."

Alex closed his eyes and focused on his own memories. He also had a feeling that what the parchment said was true, no, he knew it was true. But as usual, it was useless in trying to remember how he knew it. He scowled inwardly. Not for the first time since his arrival, Alex blamed Nicolas for adding the stupid memory-erasing function to the stone.

"So you think we can find more about it in the restricted area?" he said finally.

Tom grinned, not missing the use of "we" in Alex's sentence. "So you're helping me?"

"Yeah, it sounds interesting. Besides, someone needs to keep you out of trouble," said Alex.

Tom rolled his eyes at the last comment. "We still have a few days left before everyone comes back."

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So on the next day. The two Slytherins went to the library when everyone was supposed to be sleeping.

The library was dark and quiet. They could hear their own footsteps as they walked around. With only the light from their wand tips, they finally managed to reach their destination.

After nearly half an hour of searching, Alex had come across a screaming book, a biting book, several books with blank pages, lots of books about dark arts and many others with titles he had never heard of. But he still hadn't found what he wanted.

Letting out a sighing of frustration, Alex sat down on the floor beside a book shelf. He whispered, "Are you sure there's..." But he was soon interrupted by Tom.

"Take a look at this," said Tom from his position at the end of a book shelf.

Alex frowned. "I've searched that place just now. There's nothing but books of dark creatures."

"This one." Tom pointed at the empty space between two books as Alex went beside him.

"But there's nothing here," said Alex, staring at the empty space in front of him.

"Nothing?" said Tom, puzzled. He reached out and pulled out something invisible to Alex's eyes. "This one. The History of Hogwarts."

Alex blinked. Just as Tom read out the title of the book, a book with green cover suddenly appeared in Tom's hands.

"What..." he gasped.

'Someone must have charmed the book.' he thought. 'So it would be invisible to everyone but those who knew what it is. But why Tom could..."

"Alex?" asked Tom, concerned. "Are you alright?"

Alex shook his head to clear his thought. "I'm fine," he said. "Um...Tom, have you read this book before?"

"No." Tom shook his head. "I've never searched this area so thoroughly before. Why?"

Alex shrugged. "Nothing."

He looked at the book in Tom's hands. "The History of Hogwarts? In the restricted area?" he wondered.

"The author." said Tom, pointing to the name painted in silver on the cover.

"Salazar Slytherin." Alex read the name quietly.

Tom nodded. He opened the book and turned to the content page. Moving the flickering light of his wand closer, he quickly glanced through the page.

"I doubt anyone except the four founders knew these..." Tom muttered. He continued to look down the page and stopped at the bottom of it. He grinned. "Here it is."

Alex glanced at the page. Quietly, he read the out last line, "The Chamber of Secrets."