Chapter 92 – Alliances
"Thank you!" Said a 4th-year student, bowing towards Quincy as she finished enchanting her notebook, the last one that we created.
Quincy's hex was something else, and it amazed me with how much ease she performed it. For anyone uninitiated, the notebook's contents would look like nothing but a student's diary. Even if they begin to explore it in more detail, the more potent spell they use, the stronger the backlash would hit them! By her description, the spell was not countering the enemy but bending against the spell and rebounding it. If it goes over a threshold and the hex can't handle it, then the notebook would burst into flames and be destroyed. It was simple yet effective, just like how Salazar Slytherin liked it.
"No, I need to thank you!" She repeated the same thing she already told a dozen times, "You helped me escape!"
There were two stories floating around the school. The official version, which the three Headmasters personally announced, said that the spiders trapped Quincy and that it was part of the tournament. The second one was that she was kidnapped and held captive by the Beauxbatons and rescued by me. Of course, the second was coming from us, from my group, but it was never publicly acknowledged by me or her.
As to why? To cause a slight headache for our Headmaster and the Order. This alone made the Order question what happened. Did Dumbledore fail to deal with me? With my memories? Or was this a ruse? Was there a leak within their ranks? Who? On the other hand, it caused problems for Severus in navigating through it. He even called me to his office when the rumor started spreading.
"What's the meaning of this?" He asked me plainly, and I could detect an underlying coldness in his voice.
"What should it be?" I asked back, maintaining an innocent smile.
And that was it. Nothing more was said between us, and I was excused after sitting there silently for ten minutes, looking at each other. But I wasn't done.
Knowing that the Order would most likely assault the castle from an undiscovered underground tunnel, I made my decision to do the same. With Professor Lockhart's lead, we mapped those with which he knew the passwords and could disable the warnings and traps. One led directly under the lake, opening straight into the water above us. When the door slid apart above our heads, a magical field stopped the water from falling in, but I could still feel its coldness, like some dark, black ice. The second tunnel was much more straightforward, leading us into Hogsmeade, but I already knew which one I chose from the two.
"Why the lake?" Lockhart asked, clearly not happy about the idea.
"If there is a battle that breaks out, there will be chaos up on the surface. Down below the lake? Not so much. It would be our best route to escape!"