𝐑𝐄𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒-ℍ𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕪 ℙ𝕠𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣❥

𝐆𝐎𝐅 𝟐𝟐

Harry had no idea how long a bath he would need to work out the secret of the golden eggs, he decided to do it at night, Emily insisted on coming since he had lied to her. Reluctant though Harry was to accept more favors from Cedric, he also decided to use the prefects' bathroom; far fewer people were allowed in there, so it was much less likely that they would be disturbed.

Harry and Emily planned there excursion carefully, because they gad been caught out of bed and out-of-bounds by Filch the caretaker in the middle of the night once before, and had no desire to repeat the experience.

The Invisibility Cloak would, of course, be essential, and as an added precaution, Emily thought she would take the Marauders Map, which, next to the cloak, was the most useful aid to rule-breaking Harry and Emily owned. (Being the daughter of two and the son of one had its privileges)

The map showed the whole of Hogwarts, including its many shortcuts and secret passageways and, most important of all, it revealed the people inside the castle as minuscule, labeled dots, moving around the corridors, so that Emily and Harry would be forewarned if somebody was approaching the bathroom.

On Thursday night, Harry and Emily sneaked up to bed, put the cloak over them, crept back downstairs, and, just as Harry had done on the night when Hagrid had shown him the dragons, waited for the portrait hole to open.

This time it was Ron who waited outside to give the Fat Lady the password ("banana fritters"), "Good luck," Ron muttered, climbing into the room as the two crept out past him.

It was awkward moving under the cloak tonight, because Harry had the heavy egg under one arm and the map held in front of his nose with the other. Emily did the same with hers under her arm and listening to the instructions on where to lead them.

However, the moonlit corridors were empty and silent, and by checking the map at strategic intervals, Emily was able to ensure that she wouldn't run into anyone she wanted to avoid. When they reached the statue of Boris the Bewildered, a lost-looking wizard with his gloves on the wrong hands, Harry located the right door, Emily leaned close to it, and muttered the password, "Pine fresh," just as Cedric had told Harry.

The door creaked open. The two slipped inside, bolted the door behind them and pulled off the Invisibility Cloak, looking around.

"Holy shit." Emily scoffed viewing the room.

Her immediate reaction was that it would be worth becoming a prefect just to be able to use this bathroom. It was softly lit by a splendid candle-filled chandelier, and everything was made of white marble, including what looked like an empty, rectangular swimming pool sunk into the middle of the floor. About a hundred golden taps stood all around the pools edges, each with a differently colored Jewel set into its handle. There was also a diving board. Long white linen curtains hung at the windows; a large pile of fluffy white towels sat in a corner, and there was a single golden-framed painting on the wall. It featured a blonde mermaid who
was fast asleep on a rock, her long hair over her face. It fluttered every time she snored.

Emily moved forward, looking around, her footsteps echoing off the walls.

Magnificent though the bathroom was - and quite keen though Harry was to try out a few of those taps - now he was here he couldn't quite suppress the feeling that Cedric might have been having him on. How on earth was this supposed to help solve the mystery of the eggs? Nevertheless, he put one of the Huffy towels, the cloak, the map, and the egg at the side of the swimming-pool-sized bath, then knelt down and turned on a few of the taps.

He smiled at Emily seeing her face light up by the detailed bathroom. As weird as it sounded he loved looking at her, he could tell how she was feeling just by how she was standing or how she was breathing.