Fear of a Name

Chapter Sixteen: Integrum Opus

I stood up. It was about time I went to ask Dumbledore about going to see my father on Sundays.
"Ron, why don't you come with me? That way I don't have to walk all the way back when 'chocolate frog' inevitably doesn't work," I said.
"Yeah, sure," Ron replied. "See you later, Harry and Hermione."

We both walked out of the portrait hole and started walking to Dumbledore's office. When we got there, I said, "Chocolate frog," but nothing happened. I looked at Ron. "Your turn."
"Sherbet lemon! Liquorice wand! Fizzing whizzbee!" he started. "Bertie Bott's every flavour beans! Acid pops! Sugar quills!"
At those last two words, the gargoyle that guarded the stairs leapt aside, revealing a spiralling staircase.
"Thanks Ron," I said, smiling. "Do you want to wait here until I come back? Or would you rather go back to the common room now?"
"I'll wait," he replied. "Then we can go back together, and you won't get lost."

I nodded, then walked up the stairs to the office and knocked on the door.
"Come in!"
I walked into the room nervously.
"Ah, Miss Riddle," said Dumbledore pleasantly. "And what brings you here?"
"I have come to ask your permission to leave the school grounds every Sunday to go and see my father, sir. It was one of the conditions on which I came to Hogwarts." I replied.
"I see. Well, I shall ask Professor Lupin if he would kindly go with you to Hogsmeade, where you will be able to apparate. I believe you have your licence?"
"Yes, I do, Sir," I said, nodding.
"Then please meet Professor Lupin in the entrance hall at one pm on Sunday," he said, "and he will take you to Hogsmede, where he will wait for you to return before bringing you back here."

I nodded again.
"Now, it's about time you got off to bed. Goodnight."
"Goodnight, sir," I said, then I turned around, walked down the spiral staircase and into the corridor, where Ron was waiting.
"Hi Ron!"
"Hey Ivory! Did you get what you wanted?" he asked as we set off back to the common room.
"Yeah. But don't ask me what it was, it's private," I said.

Neither of us spoke again until we reached the Fat Lady, when Ron said the password ("Domus leonis") and we walked into the common room.
"Hi again guys," I said, walking over to Harry and Hermione. "Whatcha doin'?"
"DADA homework," said Hermione eagerly. "You should do yours too, it's better to get it done the same day you get it, that way you won't be worrying about it the night before it's due in."

I smirked a little, before turning to Harry and Ron.
"I take it you boys don't like doing your homework?"
"Nope," they both said at the same time.
"Well I'm going to teach you a cool little spell that I know. Grab some parchment, a quill and some ink."
They quickly got these items and placed them on the nearby table.
"Now dip the quill in the ink," I said, showing them, "then put the quill on top of the parchment, like this."
They did so, looking more and more confused by the second.

"Now get out your wand and use it to tap the ink pot, then the quill and then the parchment, and when you're tapping the parchment you need to say 'Integrum opus'. Got it?"
I showed them what to do, and my quill started writing all on its own, occasionally dipping itself into the ink pot.
"Wicked!" Ron exclaimed, doing it to his own ink, quill and parchment as Harry mirrored him. To my surprise, they both managed to do it first time.

"Now we can leave them," I said. "They'll write it in your handwriting, exactly as you would have written it by hand, with the exact same wording, spelling, punctuation and grammar."
"I've never heard of that spell before," Hermione commented. "For all you know, it may be extremely Dark magic. It's really very irresponsible to be using it when you don't know—"
"Hermione, it's not Dark magic," I interrupted.
"How would you know?" she shot back at me.
"Because I invented that spell, that's how," I said, before turning back to the boys, smiling slightly. "In case you try it, it doesn't work in exam conditions. It sets the parchment on fire and explodes the ink pot, thus showering you with ink."
"Thanks for the warning," said Harry, grinning.

Hermione was staring at me, her mouth slightly open.
"Something wrong, Hermione?" I question, though I was sure I knew the answer.
She's going to say, "You made the spell up? How in Merlin's name did you do that?!" ... or words to that effect.
"You made the spell up? How in Merlin's name did you do that?!" she asked incredulously.
Ha, I was right! Got it exactly!
I thought about it for a second, then answered slowly, "I'm not really sure, to be honest... I just... concentrated on what I wanted the spell to do... and kept saying the same thing over and over... and it eventually worked. It took me about a fortnight, I think."
"Now that's dedication to avoiding doing your homework," Harry mumbled, and Ron nodded in agreement.

I giggled. "I think I'm going to go to bed now, I'll see you all in the morning. And Hermione, if I'm not there when you wake up then I'll be down at breakfast already. Night!"
"Night, Ivory!" they chorused, and I turned and walked up the stairs to my dormitory. I clicked my fingers and was wearing a long sleeved Gryffindor coloured pyjama top and some comfy light grey trousers. I got into bed and drifted of to sleep, dreaming about who knows what. I rolled over in my sleep and smiled. It felt like I had found a home at last.