Lily Potter and the Shadows' Misfortune

Chapter Twenty-Nine

A week had passed since the events of the Hufflepuff-Gryffindor game day, and Lily and her friends still hadn't tracked down the envelope. The task had proven impossible. Nothing. The day after the Quidditch match, the six friends scanned through the stands of the Quidditch pitch, but still found nothing. No evidence. Not a single Galleon.

"I'm glad that you've all bundled up this morning," Lily said as she sat down with her three fellow Gryffindor second years. "We're going into the forest after breakfast."

Eli dropped a slice of toast, which he had just picked up from the center of the table, "You're kidding. That's a joke. You're either joking or barking, Lil."

"We haven't checked there yet," she pointed out. "We spent Sunday searching through the Quidditch stands and haven't had the time to go check the Forbidden Forest."

"There's two feet of snow out there," Hugo said. "It's bound to have covered the envelope already."

"We're wizards; we can toss the snow around to try and see if the letter's in the forest somewhere," Lily said.

"Do I have to remind you of what happened the last time when we went running into the Forbidden Forest? Do you not remember the whole yelling-mysterious-voice-thing?" Eli asked.

"That's hard to forget," Rudy commented.

"Of course I remember that," Lily said. "It was terrifying, but we can't be scared. We have to get to the bottom of this. We're Gryffindors; we've got to be brave."

"We're twelve! We don't have to risk our lives to save the world," Eli said.

"My dad and his friends did that," Lily said. "They brought down Voldemort, and we have to bring down whatever this evil is. It's the revolution; it's the same thing as last year. We risked our lives last year, and we've got to do it again this year. I feel like I'm connected to it or something."

"I agree," a voice said from behind Lily and Rudy. It was Cassie. Nora stood beside her.

"Me too," Nora said.

"Students! Students! Please take a seat. I have an announcement to make!"

Lily looked up to the front of the Great Hall, where Professor McGonagall stood behind the magical podium. Quickly, she slid away from Rudy, allowing Cassie and Nora to grab seats to listen to their Headmistress's speech.

"Students, I would like to bring it to your attention that very important relics have been going missing from my office," McGonagall said once the talking in the hall had died down.

"Merlin," Lily heard Hugo mumble from across the table.

"I am bringing this to your attention because I know. I know that someone has been stealing things from my office. The Sword of Gryffindor is gone. Portraits of former headmasters are gone. Now, I speak directly to you, the thief or thieves. I want these valuables returned to my office. Immediately. Hogwarts will not tolerate this kind of behavior."

With that, McGonagall stepped down from the podium and walked back to her seat. Lily watched the headmistress walk, floored by what had happened.

"No way," Nora said.

"Who in their right mind would steal from McGonagall's office?" Eli asked, turning away to the second years across the table from him.

"It's insanity," Lily said. "Stealing the Sword of Gryffindor and portraits. Who would do that?"

"You don't think that it's the Sanger twins, do you?" Cassie asked, turning to Lily.

Lily shook her head, "The Sanger twins might be suspicious, but I know that they aren't thieves. I can assure you of that."