“What could they possibly take away from me?” Emily asked, pacing to and fro, “There are two ways that this task can go, it’s either they took a material thing or a thing that really... Oh blimey, a thing that really matter the most, do you get what I mean?”
Hermione shook her head, her flouncy hair bouncing as she did, “Not really, no.” She kicked at the legs of Ron’s chair, waking him up from the mass of books he made as his headrest, “What could matter the most to you that’s not a material object?”
Emily’s eyes wandered to Harry, who was reading about Herbology in hopes of finding a plant to support them with oxygen for an hour. She felt her breath being taken away from her as she saw the very image of her father in Harry, then; it hit her, “What if it isn’t a material?” Emily asked, looking back at Hermione, “What if it’s a person?”
“Don’t be absurd.” Hermione said with a dry laugh, “Think about it, do you really think Dumbledore would let students be planted underwater with creatures like mermaids and the giant octopus?”
Emily shrugged, leaning against a book case, “Harry and I fought two Dragons not 3 weeks ago, and you think Dumbledore wouldn’t let students go underwater for an hour? You’re the one being absurd, Hermione.” She said accusingly, “This task is a test in every way, Granger. How can you hold your breath for an hour underwater? Where are the hostages held? How can you ward off mermaids? What’s your plan of attack?”
Ron looked at Emily and then, to Hermione, “She does have a point, maybe put a deep sleep spell on those blokes or make them drink this potion of some sort...” He turned to Harry who in return stared blankly at him, “What do you think, mate?”
Harry sighed, closing the green leather bound book in front of him, and said, “I don’t think anything. Well, maybe something. Let’s not put what or who’s been taken from us in the equation, let’s just think about the fact that we have to go under the Black Lake for one hour. Think about that.”
“I’m sure Neville can help you,” Said Luna, coming out from the book case behind Emily, “He is rather good with Herbology and such.” She added her voice light and soft. Emily looked at her, surprised, “Were you there the whole time?”
She nodded, glancing at the tower of Herbology books, “I was actually looking for you, someone said you’d be here so, I went here. I heard Hermione saying how absurd it was for Dumbledore to let students be held underwater for an hour,” Luna looked at Hermione, her expression detached, “It’s not absurd, it’s very possible for him to do that.”
“I’m sorry, what did you come here for?” Hermione asked through grit teeth, clearly annoyed. Ron say this and muffled his laughter, she noticed this and smacked him at the back of his head with her hand.
“Oh, right! I came to give you this.” Said Luna, handing Emily a hard bound black leather book with the words Vampires and Other Shape shifting Creatures by Amelia Grace-Wellington, “That should shed some light on your problem.”
Harry walked towards his sister, glancing at the cover of the book, “I don’t mean to pry but what exactly is your problem that requires a book of Shape shifting creatures?” He asked, confused.
“Oh, you didn’t tell him.” Luna said airily, “I should get going now; I’ll see you later, Emily.” She fled from the scene with haste, not wanting to hear the soon-to-be argument of the Potter twins. Harry took the book from his sister’s hands forcefully, “Let me see that,” He then flipped through the pages, reading the notes Luna left along the margin, “You cannot be bloody serious about this, Em.”
She took back the book, tucking it in her bag, “It’s a theory.”
“Well, it’s not a very good one.”
Ron abruptly stood from his chair, sheepishly walking away from the twins, “I forgot that I have a thing to do in the common room, care to join me, Hermione?” He asked, giving a getaway card to her to escape the wrath of the Potters. She fled the scene without a second thought, Ron tailing after her.
“Just... Let me wrap my head around this,” Said Harry, clearly frustrated, “You think that your friend is a Vampire?” Emily nodded as if it weren’t a big deal, “I don’t think, I know. It all adds up, Harry. I never saw her in broad day light, she barely leaves the room and prefers to be in the dark – “
“That sounds awfully a lot like you,” Harry retorted, taking again the book from Emily, “Luna wrote here that that girl is trying to take you. What exactly does that mean?”
Emily’s face flushed bright red, her hands now in supporting her from standing up, “Do you remember the note Sirius – I mean, Padfoot sent us? You know, the note that you said I asked from you but I never actually did?”
“You think this girl was using Polyjuice potion to become you?” Harry asked his sister, the tone of his voice unbecoming, “That’s – That’s bloody mad!”
“You think I would have told you if I wasn’t absolutely sure?” She asked, her eyes piercing, “Besides, it all adds up. Trust me.”
He shrugged, returning the book back into Emily’s bag, “Whatever, we’ll talk about this later.” Harry took a piece of parchment and tore it in half, “In the meantime, we list the possible hostages Dumbledore is going to take.”
She didn’t question him; she only took out her quill and started the list:
1. Blaise Zabini
2. Ginny Weasley
3. Luna Lovegood
4. Draco Malfoy
5. Fred & George Weasley (could be one of them, who knows)
6. Eleanor Malfoy
7. Anabella Tennant
8. Lucian Bole
9. Minerva McGonagall
10. Percy Weasley
“Hey, why am I not in this list?” Harry asked, hurt, “I’ve put you in mine, that’s just bloody rude, Em.”
“Be logical, brother dear,” Emily said, glancing at her brother’s list, “They won’t kidnap me and put me underwater, I’m in the Triwizard Tournament if you’ve forgotten.”
“I thought you and Malfoy broke up, why is he on your list?”
“I’m being reasonable, he is the first friend I’ve had here in Hogwarts, my first boy friend, and he still is my best friend.” Emily reasoned to her brother, folding the list in quarters then placing it in her pocket, “Like what you had said before, we should focus on our tactic rather than who or what we’re going to retrieve from the lake.”
“Right, I think we should –“ Harry then paused mid-sentence upon hearing the clamouring noise of leather bound books crashing onto the floor. Emily looked back to the source and saw Neville, pink in the face, awkwardly shifting about the fallen volumes of books, “H-Hi.”
She hastened her walking pace, helping Neville pick up the books, “I thought you were in your Common Room,” Emily said, trying to start a conversation, “What are you doing with these much books anyway?”
He shrugged, struggling to put up with the heavy weight volumes in his arm, “Hermione asked me to help you with your research, well, at least that’s what she tried to ask,” Said Neville, handing a book to Emily and Harry, “This might help you find what you need.”
“Neville, what do you mean by that’s what she tried to ask?” Said Harry, his curiosity getting the best of him, “Where’s Hermione now, where’s Ron?” Neville shook his head, confused, “I don’t know exactly, Mad-eye got was pretty insisting of them to come with him to Dumbledore’s chamber. Hermione didn’t get the chance to say everything to me; Ron was already taken by McGonagall to the Headmaster by then.”
Harry cursed under his breath, dreading the ill-fated news, “Now we really have to find something to help us breathe underwater, under that sort of time limit, we might now be able to save them.” Emily scoffed, opening the book Neville gave her, and said “I doubt that they’ll be in much danger, sleeping spells or potions aren’t fatal.”
“That’s not true,” Neville muttered, “I’ve been studying your notes, like you asked me to, sleeping potions are fatal in large doses and especially in certain... situations.”
“Certain situations such as?” Harry asked, on the edge of his seat.
“Suppose that that one who took the potion was moved and placed under a different habitat, let’s say a Dragon was placed in an dome where it’s always snowing to the point the place is almost filled with the stuff, what do think will happen to the Dragon?”
The twins both looked sideways to each other, heavy hearts in their chests, “They grow weaker by the minute, then eventually they go in a deep sleep or commonly known as – “
“Limbo,” Neville interjected, looking definitely spooked by their conversation, “Getting those people back from Limbo isn’t a very easy thing to do.”
“So I’ve heard,” Emily said bitterly, “Well, enough with the chitchat. We have research to do.”