Briallen Bevin and the Clocktower Guard

Chapter 8: A Pressing Engagement

Though the dungeons of Bergamot were usually quite drafty, it was always stuffy in the Potions laboratory. Briallen had shrugged off her outer robes almost an hour ago but she still felt damp, and was finding it more and more difficult to concentrate on finishing her Swelling Solution. Professor Alembic strode casually over to the lab table she shared with Toby Davis and Shane Stanton and examined each of their potions.

"Shane, did you remember to add the wormwood? Your solution is looking much too purple. It should be a pale blue... nice work Davis, aside from the fact that you're over-heating it. Remove the burner for a few seconds to get it back to normal, and remember to continuously check the temperature... Briallen... " Professor Alembic paused as she looked for something to criticize. "Hm, nothing wrong with yours... " After another brief pause, Professor Alembic walked to the next desk.

"I think she was surprised to see you know what you're doing," whispered Toby.

"She is. And it's only because I was Abe's partner last year." Briallen glanced sympathetically at Abraham Cohen, who was at the lab table across from them. His potion was giving off swirling pink smoke and smelled of eggs - neither of which was a characteristic of a Swelling Solution done correctly. "He's nice, but he's horrible at Potions. I like being his partner in Astronomy a lot better. And I'm glad we don't have share cauldrons this year. He nearly destroyed mine at least ten times before!"

"Remember last year when we made Shrinking Solution and he got it on his hands? That was so funny!"

Briallen shook in silent laughter, remembering how shocked Abe had been to suddenly have hands the size of marbles, and how annoyed Professor Alembic had been to have to escort him to the nurse's office.

"Be quiet!" whispered Shane, looking nervously at Professor Alembic. "She'll hear you!"

Briallen wiped the tears from her eyes before whispering, "Poor Abe... anything interesting like that happen in your Potions class last year, Shane? You were with Wenlock, right?"

Shane's round cheeks grew pinker than the smoke in Abe's cauldron.

"Marisol told me she was his Potions partner," added Toby. "Just last week she mentioned it... I'm surprised she didn't say anything before that."

Briallen looked over at Toby, surprised by this new information as well. "She never told me that. Was she really your Potions partner, Shane?"

But Shane ignored them and concentrated intently on stirring his Swelling Solution correctly. Briallen could just make out Shane's dimples, which was a sure sign he was smiling just a little bit.

"Is this a conversation you would like to share with the rest of the class, Briallen?" asked Professor Alembic, suddenly appearing behind her.

Briallen quickly shook her head in violent motion. "No, Professor."

"Then you shouldn't be having it, should you?"

"No, Professor."

"See me after class, Briallen."

"Yes, Professor."

For the rest of class Briallen kept her fingers crossed, when possible, hoping that she wouldn't be given a detention. She had made it almost a month without any problems, not even from Professor Stalkes, aside from her first night back, and she didn't want to break her winning streak just yet. When Potions finally ended, she stayed behind while the rest of her class went off to the dining hall for supper. She promised Toby she'd meet him there soon. Nervously she approached Professor Alembic at her desk.

"You wanted to see me, Professor?" said Briallen politely.

"Yes. I'd appreciate it if you kept off-topic conversation to a minimum in this class. Brewing potions required the utmost concentration... also, you've made tremendous progress compared to where you were a year ago in this class. Frankly, I'm surprised - and pleased. What was it that encouraged you to take your studies more seriously? If you don't mind my asking."

"Nothing really," lied Briallen. She was too embarrassed to mention any of the lectures her grandfather had given her. "It's just that I don't have Abe for a lab partner this year. I tried helping him and, well, keeping him from messing up but he's just not that good at Potions."

"I see. Normally, I don't discuss other students' grades but I think you would do well to continue helping Abraham. I'm sure he'd appreciate a friend's help, especially from a friend who knows what it is he struggles with," Professor Alembic hinted.

Briallen got the hint and nodded dolefully. "I'm busy but I'll give him a hand when I can."

"I'd really appreciate that. He's a shy but proud boy. I've told him he can come and see me whenever he wants but I think he'd open up more readily to one of his peers... and I believe your peers are waiting for you in the dining hall." Briallen grinned and nodded. Professor Alembic laughed and waved her away as she said, "Go on."

"So, what is it this time?" asked Toby when Briallen finally arrived for dinner, referring to the detention he believed Briallen had been given.

"Nothing!" said Briallen happily. "Professor Alembic just wanted to speak to me about how well I'm doing in Potions, and I explained Abe to her and then she asked if I would help him out a bit, you know, because he sucks at Potions. I wasn't in trouble. I mean, she did ask me to keep it down in class but that was it."

"Really! Marisol wasn't as lucky as you. She got a detention from Professor Motaleb. She's serving it right now - cleaning out his rabbit cages."

"You're kidding! How on earth did she get a detention with Professor Motaleb? He's the biggest pushover!"

"She gave Belphoebe Astly rabbit ears."

"Well," said Briallen, chuckling, "Professor Motaleb did say that she's the most talented Transfiguration student in our class."

Toby choked on his green beans because he had started laughing. Briallen had to strike him on the back several times to help him breathe normally again. "After we're done eating," said Toby hoarsely. "We can go get her."

"Alright," agreed Briallen before taking a bite of her mashed potatoes.

But Briallen and Toby ended up leaving the dining hall earlier than they'd planned, after an unexpected fight with Dante Garcia during which Briallen accidentally set his steak on fire. Not wanting to get into trouble, she and Toby disappeared by blending in with a group of noisy Almericks, who didn't even notice the sudden addition to their group as they walked into the entrance hall.

"Into the dungeons!" Briallen whispered to Toby. "They won't expect us to go that way!" The two of them cut away from the Almerick group (who, again, didn't notice) and disappeared down the stairs that led to the dungeons.

Briallen was right as Dante and his minions didn't expect them to go into the dungeons. Instead, they followed the Almerick group up the stairs and into the portrait hall. Toby and Briallen didn't see Dante and his friends go up the grand staircase however, because they were too busy running away.

When they neared their Potions classroom, Briallen slowed down. She thought she heard voices inside the classroom. She stopped and snuck to the door to see who was inside as Toby, who had not heard the voices or noticed Briallen stop, kept running.

"She's gifted at Potions, Cal," said Professor Alembic, organizing the contents of one of her storage cabinets. "In a few years she could make your potion herself."

"I'm just not sure if I'd want her to. She would ask questions, and when I don't answer them she would go and find the answers herself. I wouldn't be surprised if she owled Albus demanding answers. She's stubborn and determined when she decides she wants something," replied Cal Bevin as he took a seat in one of the student chairs. In his hands he held very carefully a cloudy vial of honey-colored liquid.

Briallen wondered if the potion her grandfather held was the one he and her Potions Professor were referring too, and she wondered who Albus was. Her grandfather was right, however: once she learned more about this enigmatic conversation, she would demand answers.

"She's just like you, you mean?" Professor Alembic smiled and patted Cal's hand in a loving way.

"Fundamentally. I don't know who else she could have gotten it from. Her father was always a content, reserved boy - never broke any rules. Well, he never wanted to but his cousin Matilda managed to get him into a bit of trouble as a child. He's a peace-loving sort of person though, just like his mother. Meda is more... I'm not sure. I'm sorry to say that I don't know her as well as I would like to, or should even, but she and Will seem to have a lot in common and I imagine she's like him in that way. Anyway, Briallen and I... we thrive on excitement."

"You're both busy-bodies, is what you are. I still can't believe you allowed Caoimhe to take her on as a student aide. That's supposed to be a job for sixth and seventh year students."

"Briallen wanted to do it, and as I just said... And I explained how much work it would be, but she enjoys it, I think. She says she does. And if you think she's good in Potions, you should see her in Elemental Magic. She does easily what seventh year students are struggling with, and she grasps its concepts extraordinarily quickly."

"Is that really all that surprising, though?"

Cal chuckled. "No, not at all."

Professor Alembic smiled knowingly and Briallen again wondered, only this time she wondered about what they knew about her that she didn't know herself. But the conversation about her had ended without any answers.

"Anyway," said Professor Alembic, closing the cabinet before taking a seat next to Cal. "I know you didn't come down here just to talk about your granddaughter. What is it you really wanted to see me for?"

"The Minister is coming, Freya."

"What? Here? He's coming to the school?"

"Yes. Not for some time, though - he's busy dealing with some issues in England at the moment. There's trouble at Hogwarts, and so he's lending Cornelius Fudge a hand."

"Because, naturally, Cornelius has no idea of what to do?"

"Of course. I can't believe he expects to make any difference, though. Albus has contacted me, for my own opinion, seeing as I was at Hogwarts the last time something of that nature occurred."

"Didn't a student die then? Has there been another death?"

"Not yet. Though, honestly, they're not sure what's going on. Albus has an idea, however... I told him I only know what the rumors were at the time. I was just a first year, after all. I'm sure it's one of You-Know-Who's followers, up to no good."

"Did you tell Professor Dumbledore that we have our own problems right now?"

"Yes. That's my main reason for coming to see you. I explained the situation to Albus, Freya, and he thinks our problems are not so dissimilar, and that the press of magic is due to..." Cal began to speak in a whisper and Briallen was unable to hear him continue. She squeezed her hands in frustration, knowing that she was missing the most important part of their conversation.

"Well, Freya, I suppose I'll be going now. We can discuss this further tomorrow, and begin preparing for the Minister's arrival. I would like to get something to eat while the food is still warm," said Cal, smiling.

"I think I'll join you. I wanted to speak with Val about a student."

Briallen's eyes widened as her grandfather and Professor Alembic made their way to the Potions room door, which was where she was crouching. Quickly, she stood up and looked around for a place to hide. Briallen had barely managed to squeeze behind a statue shoved in a nook in the wall before her grandfather and Professor Alembic left the room, locking it behind them. Once she was sure they were out of sight, she squeezed back out from behind the statue and smiled, proud she hadn't been caught eavesdropping and that she'd avoided another detention.

It was then that she realized she hadn't seen Toby for some time, and that he hadn't been next to her while she was eavesdropping. She looked around the hallway, wondering where he had gone off to and why he hadn't returned for her. She continued deeper into the dungeons than she had ever gone before. Though she had explored much of the castle, Briallen had never felt any desire to explore the dungeons. The dark, cold, spider-infested hallways being the main reason she kept away.

She peeked around a corner, making sure there was nobody there and, not seeing anybody, she began down yet another hallway that eventually led to a staircase that went down even further. Something didn't feel right - she felt as if there was someone nearby waiting for her or watching her. Briallen removed her wand from her pocket before she began down the darkened staircase.

"Toby?" she called lightly, her whispers echoing off the stone walls. "Where are you, Toby?"

Briallen was starting to feel anxious. There was no knowing what kind of creatures lurked in the deep recesses of these dungeons, and her imagination began to run wild. Her mind naturally brought up thoughts of werewolves and her scar began to burn. She clutched her stomach in pain and tried to think of something else. Passages from her favorite book, Deadly Dragons!, unexpectedly sprung to the front of her mind:

The North-American Diamond Horn

This dragon is highly sought-after, as the three large horns on its head,

though black at first sight, are actually diamond. The heat and pressure within

this beautiful beast compound to form the valuable crystal. Most horns grow

to a length of three to four feet, though there are some eye-witness accounts of horns

up to seven feet in length! The North-American Diamond Horn, because of its

fondness for deep caves, cannot be found in any dragon reservation, but witches

wizards are reminded that it is still on the endangered dragons list and the hunting

of these magnificent creatures is severely monitored.

I wonder if there are any dragons down here, thought Briallen. She began to convince herself that she was feeling unusually warm. She pulled at her necktie and glanced around nervously, thinking she could hear the low rumblings of a growl.

"Briallen?" asked an unexpected, yet friendly, voice.

She spun around, her wand at the ready, and came face to face with Lucan Stone. "Lucan! Are you insane? You can't just sneak up on people like that! I nearly hexed you to the moon!"

Lucan allowed her a half-smile. "What are you doing sneaking around near the Platt dormitory?"

"I'm not! I didn't even know the Platt dorms were down here. I'm just looking for Toby." Briallen bit her lip, knowing now there was no way her friend was still in the dungeons.

"Maybe he found the door that leads to the Astronomy tower."

"What? There's actually a staircase that goes from the dungeons all the way to the Astronomy tower?"

"I never said anything about any stairs. It's just a door. You open it, you go inside, you close it, and then when you open it again you're at the top of the Astronomy tower."

"Really? That's really neat... Where is it?"

"Right behind you."

Briallen looked behind her and then back at Lucan. "Well, uh, I'm going to go, then. I'm supposed to be meeting Marisol in Professor Motaleb's classroom."

Lucan suddenly frowned and scowled. "Yes, I saw what she did to Bella. That was really uncalled for."

"Not from what I've been hearing. Belphoebe has always been mean to Marisol."

"Marisol has always been mean to Belphoebe."

Now Briallen was scowling. "Whatever, Lucan. Goodnight."

She turned and went through the door that Lucan said led to the Astronomy tower, stuck her tongue out at Lucan, who looked as if he wanted to say something else to her, and then closed the door. When she opened it again, Briallen was pleased to find that Lucan hadn't been lying to her. She was now on top of the Astronomy tower.

"Neat... " murmured Briallen as she looked up at the stars in the sky. Suddenly the clock-tower started to chime. Briallen, not expecting it to be so loud, brought her hands to her ears and winced, until the clock-tower had chimed seven times and then stopped.

Once the clock had finished, she left the tower, her ears ringing, and went down to her Transfiguration classroom. Briallen found Toby already with Marisol. Marisol was crying and pushing away Toby, who looked like he was trying to hug her.

"Thanks for leaving me in the dungeons, Davis," said Briallen sarcastically, walking over to them.

"I didn't mean to. I heard some voices and just opened a random door, hoping to hide in a room, and then when I opened it again I was on top of the Astronomy tower. I figured you would know to find me in Motaleb's room anyway."

"Yeah, right... What's wrong, Marisol?"

Marisol wiped her eyes with the sleeves of her robes. "Belphoebe Astley is what's wrong. Sh-sh-she called me some very mean names in class today and so I gave her some bunny ears. Which I thought would be appropriate considering she's always eavesdropping on my conversations anyway! I figured she'd be thankful for the bigger ears - all the better to hear with, you know?"

Briallen muffled a laugh behind her hand and glanced at Toby who was shaking his head and smiling. "Then why are you crying?"

Marisol shrugged and sniffled. "They were mean names, the ones she called me."

Toby picked up the story, realizing that Marisol wasn't going to finish it. "The simple story is that Marisol was complaining about not having a boyfriend like you, Briallen, and Belphoebe told her that she didn't have a boyfriend because you are pretty and she is ugly. She was just saying that to make you angry, Marisol. You know she thinks Briallen is just as ugly as you." Toby didn't catch what he had said until it was too late and Marisol was crying even harder. "No, that's not what I meant - what I meant to say is-"

Briallen put a hand on Marisol's shoulder and cut Toby off. "Marisol - you know not to believe that, right? You're ten-times prettier than me and Belphoebe!"

"But even Toby thinks I'm ugly!" cried Marisol, suddenly wrapping her arms around Briallen and sobbing into her shoulder. Briallen glared at Toby, who stood next to them and threw his hands in the air.

"I did not say that, Marisol!"

"Yes, you did! I asked you if you thought what Belphoebe said was true and you said," Marisol paused to use a deeper voice for Toby's words. "'No, you're alright.' And just now you said that both Briallen and me are ugly!"

Toby was visibly grasping for the right words to use to make Marisol feel better. "'Alright' doesn't mean ugly! I just - ugh - you're pretty, okay? I think you're pretty."

Marisol pulled away from Briallen and sniffled loudly again as she blinked away her tears. "You do?"

"Yes, yes, yes! I think you're beautiful!" Toby shouted, exasperated. Briallen raised an eyebrow. She was sure that the only reason Toby was saying those things was so that Marisol would stop crying, since she was also sure that Toby had never looked at Marisol in that sort of way. She felt bad for him, and the fact that he had to put up with someone as emotional as Marisol. She was sure he wished his best friends were guys just then.

Marisol suddenly grinned and lunged at Toby, wrapping her arms around him and giggling the whole time. When she pulled away she gave him a sloppy kiss on his cheek and laughed again. "Do you think Shane thinks I'm pretty?"

Toby nodded absent-mindedly as he wiped off his cheek with the edge of his robes.

"Shane?" asked Briallen. "Are you talking about Shane Stanton?"

"Yes, of course I am. You have a boyfriend, Briallen, and I want one too! I should have a boyfriend. I like boys so much more than you. Why hasn't anybody asked me out?"

Briallen guffawed, though she was slightly insulted by what Marisol had said. "Marisol - if you wanted, I'd give you Hayden in the blink of an eye. And I think you definitely have a chance with Shane, but he's too shy to ask you out. Why don't you ask him out?"

"I will!" said Marisol, suddenly excited. She then looked coyly at Toby, before stepping closer to Briallen, and whispered in her ear, "I didn't want to tell Toby this, because it's girl stuff and he wouldn't care, but I've already kissed Shane!"

Briallen believed it because Shane blushed whenever Marisol was nearby, or even mentioned. Briallen nodded and patted her friend on the back, unsure of what else to do for such a confession, and said, "Awesome."

Marisol pulled away again. "I only did it to make Benjamin jealous, you know. We were in the dining hall and Ben was flirting with Mindy again, and so I grabbed Shane, because he was right there, and I kissed him! In front of everybody!" Toby, blushing for Marisol, was staring intently at the rabbits in the cages next to them, pretending he wasn't listening to anything his friend said. "But nobody noticed... or if they did, they didn't care. I thought it was a waste of a perfectly good kiss but Shane was nicer to me after it, so I changed my mind."

Later that night, after Toby and Briallen returned to their common room, they began discussing Marisol. Chante and Noelle eventually joined their discussion, being apparent witnesses to Marisol's strange kiss with Shane the year before.

"Why wouldn't she tell me? Like I would care," said Toby as he rolled his eyes. "She's so silly sometimes."

"That's exactly why she didn't want to tell you! Besides, there are some things that girls just don't talk about with boys, and other boys is one of those things," Briallen explained. She hadn't even shared her feelings about Hayden with Toby, though Toby knew now that the two of them were dating.

"I would tell you guys if I kissed a girl," reasoned Toby. He had been embarrassed back in Professor Motaleb's room, listening to Marisol go on about kissing Shane, but now he was acting as if it weren't a big deal at all.

"Yeah, right! You were blushing more than she was when she told her story."

"Hey, where did you disappear to earlier?" asked Toby, just now remembering that he and Briallen had been separated in the dungeons earlier that evening, and also eager to talk about something else. Chante and Noelle began their own conversation, since Toby and Briallen had stopped talking about Marisol.

"Oh, I heard some voices in the Potions room and stopped to see who it was."

"... And?"

"And it was nothing. It was my grandpa and Professor Alembic, and they just talked a bit about me, about Hogwarts, and a little bit about what's going on here, but I couldn't hear most of what they said." Briallen was being deliberately blasé, until she better understood what she had overheard, and had her grandfather fill in the holes.

"Too bad. If you did we might have something more interesting to talk about other than Marisol's crushes," mumbled Toby, sounding genuinely upset by Briallen's lack of information. He had been on her lately to have another adventure - Briallen attributed his desire for excitement to Marisol's theory that the bump on the head he got in the north word back in June made him a little crazy. Both she and Marisol had been less willing to go off on adventures since their fight with werewolves, and so neither of them understood why Toby was now so eager to re-live that nightmare.

Briallen ignored his behavior and continued their conversation about Marisol. "I know. And when did she start liking Shane Stanton? The two of us spent most of our time at her house talking about boys and she never even mentioned him!"

"I have a theory - about how to tell what Marisol really thinks about her crushes. The more she talks about them, the less she really cares about them."

"So, since she didn't talk about Shane at all that means she's really into him?"

"That's just my theory. But I'm really getting sick of you two talking about boys all the time. Abe and Dax warned me about being best friends with girls, too, and I didn't listen to them."

"If you don't like what we talk about then why do you hang out with us so much?" Briallen asked teasingly. "Maybe you should ask Marisol out!"

Toby wrinkled his nose. "She's not my type... and I'd be fine with never having a girlfriend while I'm in school. Anyway, I do like spending time with you guys... you two were the first people to talk to me and be nice to me."

Briallen gave her friend a small smile. Just then she saw Toby as he was when they first met, and not as he was now. She decided to give him what he wanted and said, "Do you want to sneak into the kitchen tonight?"

"Since you ruined our dinner... definitely!" said Toby enthusiastically.

Three hours later, once they were sure everybody was in bed, Toby and Briallen crept out of the Withers common room. If anyone had seen them just then, they would have been mistaken for twins. They both wore their pajamas, comprised of oversized t-shirts and baggy, gray gym shorts, and they both wore dark blue house slippers, more commonly worn by senior citizens, but perfect for treading silently on cold, stone floors.

They crept out of the common room without waking Sir Lawrence of Woodcroft, and snuck past Ava Hudson, who was on patrol on the stairs. They had almost made it but when they were just about to enter the armor-lined hallway, Briallen felt a breeze rustle her t-shirt. She grabbed Toby's hand and motioned to him that she wanted to go down to the communal common room. She shook her head when they reached the bottom: the door to the north courtyard was open again.

The door creaked lightly in the breeze, though it didn't move because it was caught in the grass. Cautiously, Toby and Briallen tip-toed into the courtyard, still holding hands. The moon was brighter than when Briallen had last been there on their first night back at Bergamot, and she was able to easily see everything in the courtyard. They were the only ones in the courtyard, aside from the inanimate statues.

"Come on, I'm hungry," whispered Toby, tugging her hand. "Let's go make ice cream sundaes!"

Briallen shook her head and pressed a finger to her lips, telling Toby without words to stop speaking. She then pointed across the courtyard to door that led to the administrative offices. Through the glass door they could see a flickering light, like a flashlight. A few months ago, Toby would have told Briallen to ignore the strange light, or to go get a teacher, but now he suggested, "Let's take a look."

She was too curious about the flickering light to worry about her friend's abnormal behavior as they crept behind the statue of Sarosh the Blind. The light seemed to move from one office and across the hall to another, though it didn't illuminate whoever was controlling the light. In case it was a teacher or Mr Eldred, Toby and Briallen snuck closer to the administrative office's door, and hid behind the statue of The Kindly Pirate Jenkins. The light moved again, this time further down the hall, and then it turned a corner.

They took the opportunity to carefully open the unlocked door to the administrative offices, and sneak in. They crouched low as they went down the hallway, until they were at the corner the light turned.

Briallen was nervous now, convinced that it was just one of the professors, unable to sleep. She turned to Toby and whispered, "Let's just go to the kitchen."

"No! We don't know who's here!" whispered Toby defiantly. He switched places with Briallen so that he was closer to the corner. He pulled out his wand and, after a deep breath, spun around the corner.

"Who are you?" cried an unfamiliar voice.

Toby, on his knees in the middle of the hallway, held his wand held out in front of him with both hands, as if it were a pistol. If he weren't wearing a Michael Jordan t-shirt and slippers Briallen would have been frightened of him. "Who are you?" he demanded in return.

Briallen continued to just listen to their exchange, and stayed hidden behind the wall. She still didn't know if the other person was someone she should run away from, but that question was answered quickly, as the other person said, crossly, "Rudy Brodzki. You a first year? You know, you shouldn't be in here."

"You shouldn't be in here!" said Briallen, jumping out from behind the wall with a smile. Rudy didn't smile back, contrary to what she'd expected. Briallen stammered slightly as she went on, "Don't you recognize us? He's Toby, I'm Briallen - we helped save your sister from the snatcher?"

As the realization of who they were dawned on him, Rudy lowered his wand, though he still didn't grin. "What are you two doing here? Going after another hag?"

"Um, no, we were following the light, actually, to see who was in here," explained Briallen. Toby had stood up now and was looking into the room Rudy had come out of.

"Well, you now you know. So, leave now," said Rudy, stepping in front of Toby and blocking the view of the room.

They all stared silently at one another for a moment, and then a voice came from the room Rudy was blocking. "They gone yet?"

"Who's that?" asked Toby, standing on his tip-toes and trying to look over Rudy's shoulder. "What are you guys doing?"

"None of your business," grumbled Rudy, suspicious. The person he was protecting seemed to disagree, however, and he gently pushed Rudy out of the way so that he could leave the room.

"Ricky," he said, as he held his hand out to Toby and Briallen. They both shook it, politely, and then Toby repeated his last question. Ricky thought for a moment and then said, "We're, uh, we're looking for the Bergamot building plans. You know, the layout."

"What for?" asked Briallen, her brow raised. She knew both boys were Almericks, but that didn't mean they were less likely to cause trouble than anyone else, and she was suspicious of their motives.

Rudy and Ricky looked at each other, each one waiting for the other to say something. Ricky spoke first. "It's for a game. We're trying to find a room without the professors knowing." Toby opened his mouth, obviously to ask 'which room,' but Ricky wasn't finished talking. "We don't know which one yet. We just know it's somewhere in-"

Rudy cut him off. "None of their business! We got the plans so let's go." He grabbed his friend roughly by the shoulder and pulled him away. Neither of them bothered to tell Briallen and Toby not to say anything. They knew Briallen and Toby didn't want to get in any trouble either, which they would if they told on the Almerick boys since they were also sneaking around the school at night.

Briallen and Toby snuck carefully and quietly out of the administrative wing, and through the courtyard, this time not stopping until they were in the kitchen.

With several house-elves working on making a giant ice cream sundae for them, Toby spoke up. "What kind of game do you think those guys are playing?"

They were both intrigued by how nervous and mysterious Ricky and Rudy had been.

"I don't know, but if they're sneaking around in the middle of the night and don't want to ask any of the professors for help, then it's obviously something they're not supposed to be doing."

At the same time, both Briallen and Toby then said, "I want to play!"

They laughed as the house-elves pushed their ice cream sundae in front of them. As they happily dug in, they speculated about what this unknown game might be.