Athena Lockhart is haunted by the disappearance of her brother Jacob. With everyone thinking she's cursed too and the foul Merula Snyde willing to make her life at Hogwarts a living hell, can she survive school, find the Cursed Vaults and uncover wh...
It was the right thing to do. Being our Prefect and having so many responsibilities, it's only obvious that Chester would put his badge above everything. Not that I'm thinking that he did it to prove something or to show that he's a good Prefect. The fact the he did it proves that he's a good Prefect, because it's clear that, above everything, he was concerned about our safety.
I suppose that life isn't only the rise, but the fall as well. Balance must be kept, and Chester only did his job. It's no use to be mad at him, because, after all, I know he cares about me. He taught me how to duel, after all.
All I know is that I'm not dragging Rowan and Penny down the abyss with me. They were the truest of friends, helping me with that stupid quest that led us to more doubts and questions. If there's something that I'm grateful, is for having them as my friends. I'm thinking of them as I walk to the courtyard, with a terrible weight on my chest, and the righteous words of Chester rushing through my mind.
"I told you it's my job to know what's going on in Ravenclaw."
"I went alone," I told him.
The plan, as everything surrounding it, was flawed.
"Athena!" I hear Rowan's voice as she rushes in my direction. "I wanted to talk to you before your meeting with Dumbledore."
"I'm sorry, Row," I sigh. "But I can't ask him if he'll hire you as a professor someday."
"It's not about that," she says, smirking. "Although, if the opportunity presents itself, that would be really cool. But no. It's about the code we saw scrawled on the wall. I found an obscure book about ciphers. I think I know what it means."
I stop walking. "That's amazing, Row! What does it say?"
"The Ice Knight stands guard past the Vanished Stairs," she whispers, secretively.
"I saw stairs and a suit of armour in one of my dreams," I remind her.
"It's obviously ominous, and since we found it in the cursed ice, it must be connected to the Cursed Vaults."
I stand there, unaware of what to think. All I wanted was to find my brother and make things right again, but it only seemed to lead to more curses and more problems. I was already getting used – while walking to talk to Professor Dumbledore – to the fact that I'd have to abort this mission, but Rowan's words made me wonder where those words could lead us.
"We can talk about this later," I smile sadly, resting my hand on her shoulder.
"I want to go with you," she says. "You didn't act alone. I don't want you to get punished because of something we did together."
"I know," I say. "Penny said the same. However, we only went looking for the Vaults because of me. Because I wanted to find my brother."
"Want," she corrects me. "We won't give up, Athie."
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