They spent all afternoon in the library. Now that they knew what they were searching for, everyone was working much quicker and with more purpose, even Ron, to whom the contents of a library was practically alien.
Ginny had even managed to drag Fred, George and James out of their lair (kicking and screaming) to help them, and Al had found Scorpius easily enough. Deangelo Penzance, on the other hand, turned out to be much harder to find. It was like the grouchy, handsome wizard on the Chocolate Frog card had erased himself from all the history books, even the biggest, thickest, most ancient ones. This, of course, caused Hermione to despair, because if you couldn't find something out in a book where were you going to learn it?
At dinner, Mrs Weasley brought them all sandwiches and didn't even bother to ask why they were all in the library, because she was so astounded by the sight of Fred, George and Ron willingly flicking through the musty old pages of so many books. No one else bothered them – Teddy was working with Remus and Sirius, and everyone else had work to do either for the Order or outside of it.
When darkness started to gather in sections of the library, Hermione slumped forward onto the desk she was reading at, her book still open, and let out a groan. "He's nowhere to be found!" she wailed. "Why isn't he here? He's supposed to be one of the most influential wizards of the Founders' era!"
Seeing that Hermione was about to lose it, Ginny desperately looked around for some source of distraction. "Al, what did that Chocolate Frog card say again? Read it out to us."
Fishing the card out of his pocket, Al put his glasses on and read out, "'Deangelo Penzance, shown above, was one of the most influential wizards of the Founders' era.'"
"See!" came from the defeated shape they knew to be Hermione. Ron shushed her, making a few people look at him strangely.
"'He played a crucial role in the growth and improvement of the Wizarding world we know today, creating spells, curses and incantations that make up both the most commonly used and the most obscure spells we use today. Without him and a select few others, the world as we know it may not be as well developed as it is, though he may be better known for his alleged acquaintanceship with the four founders during the time Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was being built, though this theory has never been proved.'"
Everyone was silent for a moment. And then something clicked in Hermione's brain.
"His alleged acquaintanceship with the four founders! How did we miss that?" Sitting up straight, Hermione looked round at them all, beaming. "This is what we're looking for! Penzance's relationship with Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Hogwarts! They're the key!"
Rose let out a little, "Oh!" Everyone else, however, was still looking around at each other dumbly.
"Er, what's the key?" Hugo asked at last.
"Yes, yes, it makes sense now!" Hermione continued, as if she hadn't even heard him. Harry, Ron, Hugo and Rose rolled their eyes, knowing not to interrupt her when she was like this, while the rest looked frustrated at the lack of information they were getting. "One of the most influential wizards… Founders' era… and they needed… and he was obviously clever, if he… but what made him…"
"Hermione!" Ginny clicked her fingers in front of her friend's face, making her jump and stare at her wide-eyed. "Snap out of it! Come on, tell us what's going on in that head of yours," she coaxed.
"I was getting to it," Hermione huffed. "Rose, do you understand?"
"Yeah, I think I do," she nodded.
"Right. Well, we know that Penzance created all these spells that we still use today, didn't he?" Hermione asked the group at large. They all nodded. "And wizardry wasn't fully developed in his time – there was still so much to learn about magic, which was part of the reason Hogwarts was set up." The bushy-haired girl checked to see if they were all with her. They were. "But Hogwarts was a school. It could teach magic to pupils all it liked, but for a school to be successful there's always got to be more to learn. More spells, more curses, more incantations, which was what Penzance worked on. And teaching all this new magic would therefore develop the rest of the Wizarding world. So who did the four Founders employ to explore all this unknown magic, make sense of it all, and create spells to control it?"
"Penzance," Ron said, looking pleased when Hermione nodded. He grinned, understanding what she was getting at.
"Well… what if Penzance's relationship with the founders wasn't alleged? What if he really did work for them?"
"And what if he specialised in time travel spells?" Rose finished off. Hermione beamed at her.
"Wait… you reckon that Penzance was developing time travel spells for the founders?" Harry asked.
"Well, among other things of course," Hermione replied. "But something happened… something that made him go back on his promise to the founders and place the curse on the thirteen objects that are now scattered around the world, as Dumbledore said yesterday."
"Hang on – how do you know it was Penzance who placed the curse on the objects? It could have been anyone," Ginny pointed out.
"No, it couldn't. All you have to do is look at his picture on the Chocolate Frog card to see that's he's a proud man. Proud and arrogant. He wouldn't give details of his work away to anybody. He probably went to unbelievable lengths to make sure nobody else but him would ever figure out the curse, or figure out how to counter-curse it," Hermione said firmly. She let everybody absorb all this for a moment.
"Yeah, I still don't get it," James said eventually.
Everyone else groaned loudly.
"Right. James. Listen to me," Lily demanded. "Proud and self-centred man – this guy." She pointed to a moody Penzance on the card. "Work for Founders of Hogwarts. Develop spells. Got angry. Angry. Very angry! Cast spell on objects. Revenge. We touch object. We end up here." The redheaded girl finished her lecture, which would have been appropriate for a four-year-old, and looked at her brother expectantly.
It seemed to dawn on him at last.
"Oh!" he exclaimed. "I get it!"
"Thank Merlin," Lily muttered, before turning to Hermione. "So what do we do now?"
"Find out more about Deangelo Penzance," Hermione replied simply.
Albus let out a frustrated sigh. "We've been trying to do that for the past four hours, and nothing has turned up! I appreciate that he wanted to keep his most powerful spell a secret, but did he have to make himself so bloody difficult to find?"
"We'll find him. He's got to be here somewhere," Hermione said determinedly, setting her mouth in a grim line and marching off to find more books. Ginny stifled a giggle.
After a glance around the library to make sure Ron was as far away as possible, Scorpius sidled up to Rose in one of the aisles and slid an arm around her waist.
"You know," he whispered in her ear, making her jump, "now wouldn't be a bad time to escape and have some time to ourselves. Nobody's looking… just for fifteen minutes…"
Rose tried to push his arm away. "Not now, Scorpius," she whispered back. "We've got work to do."
"Ten minutes then," Scorpius pleaded, locking his other arm around her and pulling her up to him. "Come on, Rose… we haven't been able to see each other alone since your dad found out…"
Rose flushed red at how close they were, and smiled. "Do we really have to go anywhere?"
Scorpius grinned, pressing his lips to hers. They'd both missed this.
"Ooh, slacking off, are we?"
Scorpius sighed and pulled back, resting his forehead against Rose's. She giggled, and looked over her shoulder to see who'd interrupted them.
"Just being a little rebellious, Ginny," she said cheekily, but stepped out of Scorpius' arms.
"And if Ron came round the corner?" Ginny raised her eyebrows, smirking.
"I'd run like hell," Scorpius admitted. Ginny snorted with laughter.
"Smart boy," she nodded approvingly. "Didn't look like a bad kiss, either – you were right. He's a keeper, that one, Rose." And with that she was gone.
"You were discussing –"
"No," Rose said, cutting her boyfriend off. "Why would we be gossiping about your phenomenal kissing skills? Just how much do you love yourself, Scorpius?" Winking, she slipped out of the aisle and out of sight, leaving Scorpius puzzling over that last question.
About twenty minutes later, Al shouted out, "Hey, I think I've found something!"
The group assembled round the table Al had propped a small and very tattered book open on. "It's a whole passage on Deangelo Penzance. I was just flicking through this book, and here it is."
"Where was the book?" Rose asked.
"Shoved under a chair leg to make the chair balance. No idea why," Al shrugged. "Want me to read it out?"
They all nodded, and Al cleared his throat and read, "'Deangelo Penzance, one of the most celebrated wizards of his time – or a jealous man with many secrets?'"
"Oh, Merlin, it sounds like an article by Rita Skeeter," Hermione groaned.
"I don't know, I don't think this is a newspaper article. Not from our time, at least." Al said, before continuing. "'The famous spell developer left behind a diary, which has just now been discovered by investigators at his old home in Scotland.'"
"You're joking? It was as simple as a diary?" Lily asked.
"Well, that diary is probably long gone by now," Rose said. "Who knows how old this article is?"
"No idea, but I'm betting the writer of it was one of Skeeter's ancestors," Ron said bitterly, and Harry and Hermione shuddered. Memories of Skeeter's articles last year during the course of the Triwizard Tournament were still fresh in their mind.
"'In this exciting book, Penzance reveals all there must be to know about his line of work, and even goes into detail about his controversial affair with none other than Helena Ravenclaw, daughter of Rowena Ravenclaw herself!"
The library was so silent you could have heard a pin drop.
"Bloody hell," Hugo breathed.
When everybody else had closed their jaws, Ron said, "Couldn't agree more."
"Helena Ravenclaw is the Grey Lady, isn't she?" Rose asked for confirmation.
Everyone else looked at her in surprise. "She is?" Harry frowned.
"I think so. I must have read it somewhere," Rose shrugged. "But I never would have guessed… wow."
"Definitely," Ginny sighed. "Anybody else see a love story forming here? Carry on, Al."
"'According to Penzance, their steamy affair had been carrying on for over five years behind everyone's backs. And why the need to keep it a secret, you ask? Well, as if the facts that Penzance was ten years older than little Helena, and he worked for the Founders during the time Hogwarts was being built – another secret uncovered by the diary – weren't enough, Helena also had another admirer, otherwise known as the Bloody Baron, famous Slytherin ghost of Hogwarts.'"
"Forbidden love," Lily and Ginny sighed dreamily; they were clearly getting quite into this.
"Well, that's a bit of a messed up love triangle," James remarked. "I don't blame them for keeping their relationship a secret. Even I wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of the Bloody Baron."
"And that's why you send Peeves to get in trouble with him for you?" Lily asked.
"Exactly," James smiled, and Lily rolled her eyes.
"'Now, anyone who's met this ghost will know that it's a bad idea to upset him. And of course, stealing the girl from under his nose wasn't the best way to avoid doing that. But one of the most widely known facts about Penzance is that he was impatient. And if the writing in his diary is telling the truth, we have every reason to believe that he actually asked Helena at last to –'"
"Marry him!" Lily exclaimed hopefully at the same time Ginny cried, "Run away with him!" Both girls blushed when everybody stared at them.
"What? I think it's very romantic, actually, the whole secret love affair between them," Lily defended herself, while Ginny nodded.
"'finally reveal their relationship to everybody!'"
"Ooh. Not such a good idea," James said.
"Look, can I just finish reading this without everybody butting in?" Al pleaded. "Thank you."
'And what did Helena say? Well, she said no, of course! Let's face it – everyone loves an affair much more than a standard relationship, even Little Miss Ravenclaw herself.'
"Or she could just have been scared of the Bloody Baron and her mother's reaction," Rose pointed out dryly. Seeing Al's pointed look, she ducked her head and proceeded to listen to him finish.
"'This outraged Penzance – we can see his point of view, as well! Who wouldn't be offended by that? In his rage, he refused to work for the Four Founders anymore, and instead of giving his latest time travel spell to them to teach the pupils of Hogwarts, he enhanced it and made it even more powerful before casting it on thirteen objects and scattering them around the world. Sound familiar? That's because this is the much speculated about Curse of the Thirteen, confirmed in Deangelo Penzance's very own diary! What did he hope this would achieve? Perhaps we'll never know, but watch out for an all new production making its debut next year – a dramatised version of Penzance and Helena's tale, produced by the highly accredited Abra Kedabra! theatre company.'"
Al closed the book with a snap. "And that's it," he concluded.
"Well, it's obvious all that was just a newspaper article from Merlin knows how long ago, so how do we know one word of it is accurate?" Hermione said, exasperated.
"It's the only thing we've got to go on," Rose shrugged. "So I say we go on it. Anyway, it sounds pretty trustworthy, even if the author was the Rita Skeeter of her time."
"But why would creating the Curse of the Thirteen be a good revenge plan?" Al asked. "I still don't get it."
"Because he knew that if anybody touched one of those objects, they could be transported to any point of time. And of course, if you change one little thing in time travel it can disrupt the whole future. When you touched that jewellery box and necklace, if you had ended up anywhere else, you might not have known what had happened and then who knows what you'd have done? You-Know-Who could even use you to his advantage if he received news of you, and the future you come from, the future free of him, would almost certainly no longer exist," Hermione said.
"So Penzance wanted to wreak havoc in the Wizarding world, all because he couldn't get what he wanted, which was to be with Helena officially?" Ginny questioned, and Hermione nodded.
"Wow. That's one jealous bloke," James whistled.
Lily raised her eyebrows. "No kidding," she said dryly.
"Alright. So now we know why Penzance cast the curse, all we need to do now is find the counter curse, set it up, and go back home to our own time before we have a chance to actually mess up our own future," Hugo said lightly. "Should be a piece of cake."