𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞 - 𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫

11 - 𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙬𝙚𝙞𝙧𝙙 𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨

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There was a huge table in the room, with multiple surrounding tables scattered around it. The table in the centre emitted a dim blue light, making the light on the walls flicker with their shadows. But of course, what's a creepy room without dust? There was dust everywhere. James was sure the light from the centre table was actually pretty bright, but was hidden behind the thick layer of dust that coated it.

There was a deeper chamber behind the first room. In James' head, he saw the shape of the room like a bottle, with a wide neck and an even wider middle and then a circular bottom. The bigger chamber had all sorts of potions equipment that made Professor Slughorn's room look like a playground in front of a theme park. James went after Aquila, who went to the centre of the room and called out an Incendio, making all the torches that lined the walls wake up with a roar of fire.

"Alright, welcome to Doom's Alchemic Freaks. This is like heaven for potioneers. This place has been abandoned for, like, a hundred years or so," Aquila said, glancing over at him to gauge his reaction.

James cleared his throat. "Not that this isn't fascinating, but i think i have a questionnaire that you'll need to answer. What is this place? Is it used by people or just by you? What was that table? Are these ingredients still in use? Is this where you're planning to create an untraceable poison and kill everyone? Because if so, I'd like to get out of here. Who discovered this? How do the teachers not know about this? Is this a Slytherin secret? Is there a nest of snakes here? Because I, for one, am terrified of snakes and I would really mind if you were planning on trapping me here. Are you going to murder me here?" he spoke so fast and all in one breath, leaving him gasping at the end of his sentence.

Aquila let out a laugh. "Never thought I'd see a Gryffindor pissing his pants," James scowled at this. "Don't worry, Potter, I will not murder you. This place was like an esteemed club for talented potioneers, who were known as Alchemists. It was founded by Augustus Doom, who so innovatively named it Doom's Academy. Trust me, i did not want to bring you here, and I am trusting you to not tell anyone about this. We are not going to put this room or those tunnels on your map, because it is strictly a Slytherin secret, and I'm sure you don't want to go back to your parents in a bag," she said nonchalantly.

She went in further in the room and traced the dust on one of the cauldrons. "Reg seems to have some odd sort of trust in you, to which there's no basis, unless you two are secretly best friends," she looked at James through narrowed eyes, who looked confused at the statement. "No, that's not possible."

James looked offended. "Why is it so hard for me to befriend Regulus? For your information, we are friends."

Aquila slightly raised an eyebrow, looking at him.

"Acquaintances," James corrected.

She raised her eyebrow higher.

"Schoolmates," he followed up.

She tilted her head.

"Strangers," James admitted, hunching his shoulders.

Aquila snorted. "As I was saying, Reg seems to have trust in you, so that means I trust you too. But, however, I do not trust your babbling mouth. So, only you and Lupin will see this room, not Sirius and Peter."

James looked outraged. "Why not Sirius and Peter? They're my brothers!"

Aquila shrugged. "Consider it a test for whether you can keep my trust or not."

"And why only Remus? Do you like him or something?" James asked, putting his hands on his hips.

Aquila laughed. "No, I don't like Remus. He is, however, pretty good at drawing and tracing, if i'm not wrong?" she asked.

James shook his head. "You are wrong, actually. Peter is the best at arts."

She held up a finger. "No, he's best at painting, but I've seen Lupin's sketches in Herbology."

"Why do you need a drawing person anyway? Want a tattoo in exchange for the charm? Or do you want Herbology sketches? Because you can ask Sprout for them, she'll tell you some pretty easy tricks for 'em," James said.

Aquila grinned. "I'm not lacking in Herbology, Potter, no need to worry. I might actually take you up on the Sprout advice thing, though."

"Why do you want an arts person, then?" James asked. "Explain it to me like I'm seven."

Aquila sighed. "Your map will have the whole structure of Hogwarts, including an obviously scaled down version of everything human and partly human portrayed."

James tapped his chin. "Explain it to me like I'm five."

"You need someone to draw Hogwarts," Aquila said bluntly, "all the corridors and all the secret passages, the whole grounds from Hagrid's hut to beyond Whomping Willow. The Homonculous will only let you access to people's live locations."

James nodded. "But what does it have to do with this creepy room?" he asked, looking at the bluish tint on the walls.

"That, I'll show you, only if you promise not to tell anyone about this," Aquila said.

James drew a cross over his heart. "I solemnly swear it. Cross my heart, hope to die. Hope to die if I tell a lie,"

"You really want to die, huh?" Aquila said, furrowing her eyebrows.

James looked appalled. "What? No, of course not. They are phrases if you swear to -"

Aquila rubbed her forehead. "Merlin, Potter. I'm not daft. Of course I knew what you were talking about. I just -" she drew a long breath, "just, forget it."

"So, about this room...?" James asked, back on track.

"Oh right, yes," she said, as a wicked smile made its way up to her face. "I might just be your saving grace for this one, Potter. Follow me!" she laughed, and entered further into the chambers.

It was similar to the first one, except, instead of just one table letting out the slight blue light, there were multiple tables that emitted the light.

Aquila stopped at a table. "During the old times, people were really obsessed with finding a cure for everything. They thought they could battle old age, put a stopper to death, even wake up the dead," she said in a somber voice. "Well, none of these things could be done with ingredients provided by a school, so this guy, Doom, he found some suppliers that gave him illegal materials through these," she said, raised a hand over the table and cast a Scourgify, leaving the table free of dust.

James peered onto the table, and found a watery sort of map floating on the surface. It displayed the North Tower, where he could see a line going out of place, where red arrows led to the top of the tower.

"What's this?" he whispered, tracing the air above the arrow.

"This, James Potter," Aquila began, "is perhaps Doom's greatest achievement. I think he somehow managed to cast the Homonculous Charm on the walls and staircases of the castle."   

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james gives me michael scott vibes sometimes

hence the dialogue

i am so fucking annoyed at james herondale and cassandra clare and just everyone responsible for making my bb cordelia hurt

who do you ship more in chain of gold series - james and cordelia or matthew and cordelia?

till then, please vote, comment and share as much as you can, till then, mwah

༻hy༺