22 Vanishing Cabinet

After Anna sent that devastating hex towards Ray, an unspoken truce seemed to form between our two groups. It seemed like Michael, and his friend had finally become aware that we would fight back viciously, and at most, they would only be able to achieve a Pyrrhic victory.

In Ravenclaw, a pecking order seemed to develop, with those who were achieving better grades at the top of the Pyramid. Before coming to Hogwarts, I had assumed that everyone that sorted into Ravenclaw would be amazing wizards and witches. But, one thing the books seemed to leave out was the sheer number of average students attending Hogwarts. Although I shouldn't be too surprised, in the books, it mentioned that half of the wizards who worked at the Ministry of Magic couldn't even perform a shield charm.

It seemed that if even if someone was clever, it didn't mean that they were magical talented. While most Ravenclaw students overall did well in classes, some struggled to perform as well in classes that had more spell work involved. Such as Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and in Transfiguration. However, even though most average students in Ravenclaw seemed to have one or two subjects, they performed exceedingly well in.

My grades, and the ease in how quickly I mastered spells, compared to everyone in our house. Put me at the top of the pecking order, in second place was Jessica, who always seemed to glare balefully at me because I consistently outperformed her.

In November, the evening before the first quidditch match of the year between Gryffindor and Slytherin. I spent the evening in the room of requirement practicing the fire making charm, across from me was a wooden dummy, pointing my wand at it. I chanted, "Incedio." A bolt of fire erupted from my wand and hit the target.

Deciding that I had enough practice on making bolts of fire, I switched tactics, making bolts of fire was becoming effortlessly to me. To truly increase my mastery of the spell, I wanted to make the fire more controllable rather than just blasting a fireball at something.

Concentrating on making a stream of fire, once again, I chanted, "Incedio." This time, a stream of fire flowed out of the tip of my wand, making its way through the room. Getting the flow of fire to change directions took enormous amounts of mental concentration. Slowly but surely, the fire stream turned back towards me. After it circled me three times, I cut the flow of energy off to it, and the flame disappeared, taking the heat with it.

As I continued practicing sweat began pouring down my face. Eventually, a headache began to build. Calling it a night, I headed back to the Ravenclaw common area, where I found my favorite comfy recliner free. Sitting down and leaning back, I began studying the strange patterns of stonework on the ceiling that had been bugging me since the start of term.

A loud deliberate cough distracted me, turning to see who was trying to get my attention, I saw Jessica Brooks glaring at me. Rolling my eyes, I asked, "What do you want Jessica?"

Looking like she had to swallow a bitter pill, she grudgingly asked, "How are you picking up everything so fast? I never see you practicing in the Ravenclaw practice areas."

Shaking my head, I responded, "First of all, I do practice, where do you think I am every night. Second, you need to relax, and have fun learning magic, your studying, and trying so hard to master everything, that it's becoming a chore to do so. Learning is always easier if you love and have fun with what you are learning."

"You don't understand, I have to be the best, my parents were both in Ravenclaw, and they had the number one and two spots in the house. If I don't put in an enormous amount of effort, I will fall behind." Looking slightly hesitant, she cautiously asked, "Do you think we can practice together sometime?"

Hearing her plea, I shrugged and said, "Sure, not tonight, my head is still pounding from pushing my boundaries earlier."

Falling into a comfortable silence, she took a seat on a couch near me and pulled out some homework to finish. I continued to study the strange patterns, the more I studied them the stranger they appeared to me. Eventually, I could even swear I began seeing shapes and even more complicated patterns.

Turning towards Jessica, "I asked, "Have you noticed anything strange about the ceiling."

A confused look appeared on her face; she glanced at the ceiling and said, "No, it looks normal to me."

Later in the evening, I headed back to my dorm, as I passed the statue of Rowena Ravenclaw, I noticed at the bottom, there was a small inscription, "Knowledge is all around, for those wise enough to find it."

The next day, everyone was in excited for the upcoming match. Most everyone was rooting for Gryffindor, because throughout the last couple of years, Slytherin had dominated the other houses in the quidditch matches and the house cup.

I brought Athena with me to breakfast, and afterward, most of the student body, along with the teachers shuffled out to the quidditch field. Catching up with Cedric, I said, "Save me a seat, I need to do something."\

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Nodding at me Cedric said, Fine but hurry; I don't want to be stuck in the middle of Anna and Alicia today, they both are supporting their teams. Knowing how aggressive Anna gets about quidditch, I think I'm going to need some backup, to run interference with her. With you around, she won't go to out of control."

Raising my eyebrow in confusion, I asked, "Why would you think I have a better shot at making sure she doesn't go crazy."

Shooting me a look that seemed to question my intelligence, Cedric shook his head and said. "No reason

As Hogwarts emptied, I made my way to the first floor, where the vanishing cabinet was located. Setting Athena down I told her, "Alright you're the lookout if you see anyone coming down that hallway let me know. Athena flicked her tail at me and made her way to the end of the hall. After making a slight wrist movement, my wand shot out of my sleeve and into my hand, while performing the proper wand movement I chanted, "Wingardium Leviosa."

The black nine-foot-tall cabinet rose up three feet off the ground beside me, seeing that the cabinet was almost at the ceiling I rotated my wand, and the cabinet rotated from a vertical position to a horizontal one. Athena and I made our way through the castle; all was going well until we made it to the moving staircases. Athena let out a fierce hiss, panicking, I set the cabinet down along the wall, and made my way up the Athena.

Peering around the corner, I saw a scrawny dust-colored cat with large yellow eyes, frozen in place. "Shit," I whispered. "That has to be Mrs. Norris, Argus Filch's cats. Luckily she appeared to be frozen in fear, Athena let out another hiss and seemed to communicate something to Mrs. Norris. In response, Mrs. Norris rolled onto her side and closed her eyes. Athena shot me a smug look, demanding praise for her good work.

Scratching her head, I laughed and said, "You know, pride cometh before a fall." Once I got the cabinet back up, and we started again. As we made it to the seventh floor, I assumed we were home free when all of a sudden, a burst of water hit me in the face. Sputtering, I looked for the offender so that I could unleash my wrath upon them.

From above me, I heard a sing-songy voice ring out, "Look at the little wizard, squirm like a worm." Glancing up, I saw floating towards the top of the room, a small individual that could be mistaken for a child. He had on a blue jester hat, with matching pointy shoes. His orange shirt covered in stars clashed horribly with his blue and red striped pants. He gleamed maliciously at me, pulling back his arm to throw another water balloon at me.

I sputtered, "Don't you dare, Peeves."

He laughed and pelted me in the face again, "I'm not doing anything, I am just helping you wash your face." Appearing on his face was a grin so big it distorted the rest of his features. Behind him was a pile of floating water balloon, seeing the number of ballons he had, I took off at a run.

Running down the hall with the cabinet behind me, by the time I made it to the room of requirement, Athena and I were thoroughly soaked, Athena was less than amused the situation. She glared balefully at the small floating jester, her eyes tracking his every move. Smirking to myself, I reached down and unsnapped her collar, right when her wing unfurled she launched herself at him with a loud yowl.

While Peeves and Athena chased each other in the air, I got the room to open, by thinking I needed a place to hide something where no one could find it. As I opened the door and got the cabinet in, I shouted, "Athena." Right on cue, she bolted my way after swiping her claws across Peeves face, with a howl of fury, he followed right on her tail. As soon as she passed, I slammed the door in Peeves face.

I could hear Peeves shrieking in anger at being denied his revenge; Luckily, the room was so heavily enchanted, that he was unable to follow us in. Glancing around the room of requirement in shock, what was normally a small room was a giant-sized room filled with stacks of old objects that reached towards the enormous ceiling.

Picking a spot near the entrance, I set the vanishing cabinet down. I couldn't help but grinning, I had secured one possible entrance to Hogwarts, all I needed now was to get the pair from Borgin and Burkes, and I could have a passage all to myself.

Wanting to make sure the cabinet still functioned, I opened the door and stepped inside. Closing the door behind me, I felt the familiar surge of energy that indicated I was on the other side, cracking the door open, I saw a poorly lit shop. Slowly closing the crack, I turned and faced the opposite direction and made my way back to the room of requirement.

Staring at the exit door, I asked Athena, "Do you think he is still out there?" She flicked her tail in anticipation, Laughing at her response, I said, "It would be nice if we could get the door to let us out on the ground floor, so we wouldn't have to deal with him.

To my shock, when I opened the door, it was near to where the vanishing cabinet had on the first floor. Athena brushed past my legs looking for Peeves, seeing that he wasn't there she chuffed and climbed up to my shoulder. Rubbing her head, I said, "Oh, this is going to be bloody useful, no more running madly back to the Ravenclaw room trying to make it back before lights out."

The more I considered the endless possibilities of the ways I could use the room, the more impressed I was with whoever had come up with this enchantment. I imagine that it was Rowena Ravenclaw herself that laid the enchantment, after all, she is credited with many of the more complex enchantments throughout Hogwarts, such as, the moving staircases.

By the time I made it the quidditch pitch, the match was heating up, with Slytherin and Gryffindor were neck and neck. I found Cedric sandwiched in between both Anna and Alicia looking helpless, as both had forced scarves representing Slytherin and Gryffindor onto him. When he saw me, his face lit up like he had seen a lifeline. Cedric wildly motioned me to join them, to help take some of the pressure away.

As soon as I arrived, Anna furiously questioned, "You're supporting Slytherin right." Not waiting for my response, she thrust a Slytherin scarf towards me, clearly expecting me to take it. Her eyes narrowed when I didn't say anything.

Thinking back to my new rule not to make Anna upset, I quickly nodded and defended, "Of course." Grabbing the scarf, I wrapped it around me to show her my support.

Hearing my response, Anna shot Alicia a smug look, Alicia rolled her eyes. The rest of the match was enjoyable, and it ended with a Slytherin victory. The way back in, Anna taunted Alicia so much, one would have thought Anna won the match by herself.

Wanting to give Alicia a break, I asked, "Are any of you going to try out next year for your house teams."

Cedric nodded and replied, "Yes, my goal is to play seeker. I want to help Hufflepuff win the quidditch cup; we haven't come close to winning in years."

Anna not to be outdone chimed in, "I'm pretty sure if I didn't, my dad would kill me."

Alicia nodded as well. Looking them all over, I said, "Well, all three of you trying out makes me feel a little awkward for not wanting to do it myself."

Confused, Cedric asked, "Why wouldn't you try out, whenever, we play a pickup game of quidditch, you play the best keeper."

Shaking my head, I asked, "Is playing quidditch something you would like to do when you are older?"

Cedric shrugged and said, "What does that have to do with anything."

Shaking my head, I informed him, "We only have seven years at this school; I do not plan on wasting several hours each day practicing for something I will never play outside of Hogwarts. There are many different branches of magic that I wish to study, while I am here and playing quidditch would slow me down."

Nodding his understanding, we all headed back to the castle, eager to get back to the warmth.