Chapter 69: The Lion’s Mark
Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 69: The Lion's Mark
Friday night arrived, and the cold wind of December rattled the windows of the castle.
Two hours after curfew, the corridors were dark and silent as a tomb.
All students were locked in their common rooms, getting ready for bed. Even the inhabitants of the portraits would be snoring softly inside their enchanted frames.
But there was at least one student still awake.
Harry moved through the shadows, his presence concealed by his Invisibility Cloak. His footsteps fell silent on the stone floor, his breath steady.
He had a lot of practice doing this kind of stuff by now, but...tonight felt different.
There was something concerning him.
Daphne's words were still ringing inside his head. "Dont trust Ginny Weasley."
He had been quick to diminish her warning, but it would not go away...not completely.
'Come on, Harry...you can't start doubting her now, not after everything you have seen about her.' He reminded himself.
He had seen her kindness and shared so many of his secrets with her.
If the information he revealed to Ginny had reached the ears of the High Inquisitor, the Headmaster, or even one of the professors, Harry would have been punished already. He did not doubt it.
Unless she's playing a longer game, a small voice whispered inside his head. Unless she's waiting for the right moment.
He shook his head, banishing the foul thoughts. Unless Ginny gave him any reason to doubt her, he would trust her. He had to believe that there was good, even in a member of the Weasley family.
He arrived at the staircase leading to the painting of the Fat Lady, the one guarding Gryffindor's common room.
Non-Gryffindor students weren't supposed to know where the entrance was, but Harry did.
He scanned the area, his eyes searching for her shape. He soon noticed a pair of feet barely visible behind a column.
He approached carefully and found Ginny, nervously looking around while waiting for him.
"Ginny..." He called with a whisper, startling the girl.
She jumped, her hand flying to her chest. "Sorry... I didn't mean to scare you."
Ginny peered into the darkness, her brow furrowed. "Harry? Where are you? I can't see you."
Harry pulled her inside the cloak, the silvery fabric enveloping them both. Ginny gasped, her eyes widening in shock.
"You have an Invisibility Cloak?!" she whispered, her voice a mix of awe and alarm. "Harry, why didn't you tell me?. Those are illegal artifacts!. How did you even get one?"
"Someone gave...wait..." Harry blinked. "They are?"
"Not just cloaks, but invisibility spells are also heavily regulated," Ginny said, her voice urgent. "The Ministry controls them. You could end up in Azkaban for having this." She pulled on the silver fabric.
Harry's stomach tightened. He hadn't known that. Draco and Crabbe had never said anything, so they probably hadn't known either.
But it didn't matter now. It was too late for regrets. He was already taking too many risks, and he needed the help of the cloak more than ever.
"Then we won't get caught," Harry said with a confident smile. "Come on. Follow my steps and make sure you stay beneath the cloak. There are always a few patrols around."
Ginny hesitated for only a moment, then nodded. "Okay. Lead the way."
They made their way down to the second floor, moving through the dark corridors. On the way, they passed several patrols...a group of prefects, a pair of Junior Inquisitors, and even Filch with Mrs Norris padding beside him. But the cloak kept them hidden, and they went unnoticed.
They reached the bathroom, and Harry finally stored the cloak, tucking it back into his robes.
"Here," he said, guiding Ginny to the far end of the row of sinks. "It's that one at the end. See the lion engraving?"
Ginny leaned closer, her eyes scanning the porcelain. Her fingers traced the outline of the lion, feeling the grooves in the stone.
"By Merlin!...you weren't making it up."
"I know, it's...wait, you thought I was making it all up?" Harry asked.
Ginny chuckled mischievously. "No, of course not."
Harry frowned.
"It's beautiful," she returned her eyes to the outline. "And old. Very old. How did I never notice this was here?. I must have been in this bathroom like two dozen times already."
"It is not easy to notice, unless you were looking for it. And most people won't care about some random animal carved into the stone. This castle is filled with those kinds of details." Harry explained.
"I guess you are right. Unless you were specifically looking for a symbol that represented Gryffindor...mmm..." Ginny inspected it closely. "And now what?"
Harry shrugged. " As I told you yesterday, I already tried everything I could think of to open it before, but nothing happened. I think it needs a true Gryffindor to open it. Try putting your hand on the engraving; maybe that would trigger some hidden mechanism or something..." He could only guess at this point.
The Slytherin one was open via Parseltongue, but Gryffindor didn't have such an ability, as far as he knew.
Ginny stepped back, her expression uncertain. "Well, I'm not sure if that's me, Harry. But I'll try."
She pressed her hand against the lion engraving and closed her eyes.
Nothing happened.
She tried again, this time speaking softly. "I am a Gryffindor. I am brave. I am loyal. I am worthy, open for me..."
Still nothing.
Harry gave her a few more recommendations to try.
"I wish to enter the Sanctum of the Brave," Ginny said with a confident intonation.
But still nothing.
She pushed the sink, pulled it, tapped it with her wand. She whispered spells, tried different combinations of words. The sink did not move.
Harry watched, his hope slowly fading. "Maybe it needs more than just a Gryffindor. Maybe it needs something else. A password, or a specific spell."
Ginny stepped back, breathing hard. "I don't know what else to try."
They continued to make attempts for another thirty minutes. Harry suggested everything he could think of...they even used a drop of Ginny's blood, like the blood wards that Dumbledore had created.
But the sink remained stubbornly closed.
Finally, Harry slumped against the wall, his shoulders heavy with disappointment. "I thought this was it. I really thought we'd found it. But maybe I was wrong, and this is not even the entrance...Maybe I was overthinking it, and it's just a random carving of a lion with no meaning behind it."
He was truly doubting himself now.
It made sense for him to fail to open the entrance, but he was sure that Ginny was going to succeed.
Now he didn't know what to do.
'Maybe I should just forget about the chamber...Maybe I should stop wasting my time with this.' Harry thought.
Ginny was about to agree with what he said when something caught her eye. She leaned closer to the lion carving, her brow furrowing.
"Hold on, Harry," she said slowly, "come look at this."
Harry pushed himself off the wall and joined her. "What is it?"
"Look closely beneath the lion," Ginny said, pointing. "There's another symbol. It's faint, almost worn away, and much smaller. But it's there."
Harry squinted in the dim light. Beneath the lion, almost hidden by age and wear, was a second engraving. It was smaller, more delicate, and it depicted a hand grasping a flame.
"A hand holding a flame," Harry muttered. "What does that mean?"
Ginny's eyes widened. "Harry, I think I've seen this symbol before. In one of the books in my house's library."
Harry looked at her sharply. "You have seen it? What's the book about?"
"I..." Ginny shook her head, her expression frustrated. "I can't remember. It was a very old book, and I don't think I ever read it, but I remember the symbol. It caught my attention because it was so unusual, so it stuck with me."
Harry's heart sank. "So you don't know what it means?"
"I don't, sorry, " Ginny admitted. "But in just a couple of weeks, I'll be returning home for Christmas break. I can investigate the book then. Maybe it contains a clue about the symbol...or about how to open the chamber."
Harry was disappointed, but he knew it was the best they could do.
Without more information, there was no way to open the Sanctum.
"Okay," he said finally. "Wait until Christmas. See what you can find. When you come back in January, we'll try again."
Ginny nodded. "I won't let you down, Harry. I promise."
Harry escorted her back to the Gryffindor common room, the cloak wrapped around them both. They moved silently through the corridors, avoiding the patrols with practised ease.
When they reached the Fat Lady's portrait, Harry pulled back the cloak and faced Ginny.
"One more thing," he said. "Please don't tell anyone about the cloak. Only my closest friends know about its existence."
Ginny's eyes softened. "I'm honoured that you trust me so much, Harry. I promise I'll never betray your trust."
Harry smiled. "I believe you."
They parted ways, Ginny disappearing into the portrait, and Harry making his way back to the Ravenclaw tower.
The walk back was quiet and lonely.
Harry moved through the dark corridors, his mind churning. Christmas break was approaching, and he would be alone again in the castle, with no friends to distract him from his thoughts.
He thought about Daphne and how she was also going to leave. He hoped he would at least have the chance to say goodbye before she did, but it was not likely.
Daphne probably hadn't told too many people that she was not planning on returning to Hogwarts, for fear that the Headmaster would do something to prevent her departure.
'Why would Dumbledore care if she left?' Harry wondered for a moment.
But he knew the answer. Daphne's family had been tagged as traitors. Dumbledore had allowed her to attend Hogwarts to keep her under his thumb, as a warning to the rest of her family.
She was a hostage. Just like Harry.
He thought about his own situation. He was also trapped in Hogwarts, surrounded by enemies, watched at every turn. His friends were in danger. His family was dead. And he had no way to escape.
'Perhaps instead of using my time to research that secret chamber, I should also be considering how to escape this place,' he thought.
"Because as long as I remain under Dumbledore's thumb, I will never be able to win."
He had not given up on getting his revenge. He swore to himself that he would make Dumbledore pay for what he had done to his family, but he couldn't do anything as he was right now.
And to become a more powerful wizard, one capable of standing up against someone of the Headmaster's caliber...what he needed was time, and a safe place to improve himself.
Hogwarts was definitely not such a place.
He reached the Ravenclaw common room and slipped inside, the cloak still wrapped around him.
The fire was low, the room empty.
He climbed the stairs to his private room, collapsed onto his bed, and stared at the ceiling.
'Escape,' he thought. 'I need to find a way to escape.'
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