Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery Year 6

Chapter 20

A week later, having pulled together as much of what was the vault squad in the Hog's Head, Ben, Dani and Merula stood in front of the fireplace and addressed the group.

"Before Rakepick came along, we had a group that worked really well together," began Dani. "But after that, a lot of us became stupid and bitter and power-hungry and tunnel-visioned, and the vault squad fell apart.

"One of the reasons the forest incident happened was because of miscommunication. Because a lot of us weren't on the same page. We can't let that cause Hogwarts any more damage."

"Besides," Ben continued, "for the past four months, we ran in circles, hitting dead end after dead end, while R inches ever closer to the final vault. Something needs to change."

Merula crossed her arms. "Right now, what Copper and Jackson are suggesting is that we resurrect what they used to call the 'vault squad'. We want it to be like we had it before: using our individual talents to beat R to the final vault. I warn you right now, it won't be easy, but I think a lot of us want to protect our schoolmates and avenge Khanna's death. Since the professors clearly won't be supportive of this, we need every hand we can get. If you're out, you can leave now and enjoy the rest of your day."

Nobody leaves their seats.

"See? We aren't a lost cause," said Ben.

"So where do we start our, erm, operations, Jackson?" asked Merula.

"We can-"

"Think about secret codes for ourselves? We didn't have those back then," suggested Barnaby.

"That would be cool," said Dani.

"Actually," Tulip chimed in, "we should probably get ourselves a new name. You know, to represent this new era, sort of?"

Dani hadn't thought too much about names, but she agreed. The vault squad was a name that fell into place for their ragtag group back in the day. But now that they were older and in a much more dire situation...

Ben interrupted her train of thought. "We can call ourselves the Circle of Khanna."

"...Not half bad, Copper," agreed Merula.

"Circles are infinite, unbroken, forever..." said Badeea.

"Like friendship should be," finished Penny.

"So it's decided," Dani clapped her hands. "So shall we start discussing our first steps?"
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While Ismelda continued to go over her notes on Rakepick's dark artefacts with Beatrice in the DADA classroom, Dani pulled Merula aside. "Are you sure it's a good idea to let the younger kids in? I mean, this is dangerous-"

"We're up against a cabal, that may or may not be even bigger than the Circle, and is made up of ADULTS. We need everyone we can get."

"Do you think we should tell-"

"BEA!"

Penny burst into the classroom.

Ismelda turned around. "Nobody told you-"

"Yes, Cedric did. But I'm not here to argue anymore."

Beatrice crossed her arms. "So what ARE you here to do?"

"I'm here to apologize," said Penny. "I should've been more understanding. You can yell at me, accuse me of smothering you, or even hate me if you want. But please, let me protect you, like a good big sister should. I lost one of my best friends here, I don't want to lose you too."

"Geez, Hufflepuff, let's stop getting sentimental here-"

"No, uh, it's alright," Beatrice cut Ismelda off. "I'm just sick and tired of fighting. Just... Let me be, can you? I know some of your friends have told you to do that." She glances at Dani and Merula.

"Maybe I can. And thank you, Bea."
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"We're working on a plan to infiltrate R," said Jae, pointing to where Tonks and Tulip are hunched over a table of contraptions with the twins.

"Honestly, that's sort of risky, but we could get valuable info if it all works out," said Dani.

"We've got all the experts in on this, and we've moved on from Zonko's products to the stuff I've got from my dealings." He looks back at the red-haired boys, who are excitedly explaining something. "Too bad we'll be graduating before these guys get to go to Hogesmeade. I hope I can teach them what to look out for at Zonko before that. They're a huge help."
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"Anywhere she likes to hang out?" asked Dani as she went with Barnaby towards the Care of Magical Creatures grove. They were looking for Hester the murtlap.

"I dunno, with the other murtlaps?" replied Barnaby.

"Where do you think-"

"We found her!" yelled Liz and Barnaby and Dani stepped into the grove. "She was hiding in a hole under a tree!"

"Thank god!" exclaimed Barnaby, jogging down to join Charlie and Liz. "I didn't want to let Rowan down."

"Liz, you said you had a plan to use magical creatures to help us get to the final vault. Can you tell me a bit more?"

"Remember when we eavesdropped on Kettleburn and Hagrid talking about how the grindylows were acting aggressively?" Liz began.

"Well, we thought we could have Hester lead an army of murtlaps to deal with them!" said Barnaby.

"That's... A long shot, but we'll need every advantage we can against R," commented Dani.

"How's the rest of the Circle doing?" asked Charlie.

"Actually, I'm impressed," said Dani. "It's coming together better than I thought it would."
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"Now that we're allowed to leave school grounds, I've been flying around the Black Lake and looking for any landmarks or clues to the exact location of the vault," said Talbott, lowering his voice so Pince wouldn't kick them out of the library.

"And I've been working on this magical map," said Badeea, showing off a beautiful aerial view of the lake.

"Looks like 'good progress' was an understatement," said Dani.

"I bet this can be useful for action plans and stuff like that," said Talbott. "Problem is, I still can't find a way to explore what's underneath the surface without swimming..."
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Friday, late afternoon, training grounds...

"So yeah, that's what I've gathered over the past week," concluded Dani. "Ben? What about you?"

Ben didn't even look at the girls as he knocked over another dummy. "I've been training all week."

"Huh?"

"I failed to protect Rowan from Rakepick. As a new co-leader of the Circle, I have to be able to protect all of us. And I'll train until I pass out if that's what it takes."

"Well-"

"You see-"

"Miss Jackson!"

McGonagall's voice rang out through the training grounds. "Professor Dumbledore wants to see you. If you hurry, you may still have time for dinner."