Harry sat at a desk the room of requirement created for him, going through his mail as Hermione, Draco, and Ron continued to train behind him.

'It's another one,' he thought, looking at the hieroglyphics combined with the writings of a dead language. 'What do you think it is?'

"You can never tell with goblins," Merlin replied, looking at the symbols. "It probably has something to do with a treasure, though."

'A treasure? How can you be sure?' Harry thought curiously. 'They're only letting us see tiny portions of the writings.'

"Yes," Merlin agreed, "but it's what they're sending you that gives them away. These are the parts they can't figure out for themselves. I wouldn't be surprised if they're using my translations as a basis to help them decipher the rest of this."

'So why not just come out and say it?' Harry thought back curiously. 'Why keep it a secret? It's not like I'm going to steal their treasure out from underneath them.'

"Treasure doesn't mean the same thing to us as it does to them," Merlin explained. "It's ingrained into their culture and traditions to seek it out, and claim it. The more dangerous the hunt, the better. The stories they come back with are a point of pride for goblin families and elevates their status amongst the horde."

'This treasure they're looking for. It must be big, then, for the chairman to be involved,' Harry thought.

"Very," Merlin agreed. "They usually want all the glory for themselves, so they wouldn't involve our kind unless absolutely necessary."

'It's also coming directly from Gringott,' Harry thought, 'and he's gone out of his way to get on my good side. Do you think it might be dangerous? Something he would use against us?'

"Good observation," Merlin nodded in agreement. "Not all treasure is gold, and the goblins have a long history of wars, both with our kind and amongst themselves."

'Do you think we should stop translating for them?' Harry thought. 'Just to be on the safe side?'

"It's too early to tell at this point," Merlin replied. "We already have our hands full dealing with the order. Getting into a needless disagreement with the goblins will not help matters."

'Then we wait and see?' Harry thought back.

"Yes, we only have a few more months at most before the order performs the ritual. That has to remain our focus," Merlin replied.

'We haven't sensed Morgan in the last few weeks,' Harry observed. 'Not since she spoke to me. The study group hasn't tried anything either.'

"Yes," Merlin agreed, also noticing the change in their behavior. "They're still short on the number of people they need to perform the ritual, too."

'There must be something else we can do,' Harry thought, not liking the idea of sitting back passively, and waiting for them to act. 'When Morgan opened the portal, she needed a ritual chamber. They must have one somewhere close by.'

"Yes," Merlin agreed. "The magic must be stored somewhere inside the castle, so the ritual chamber would have to be close by as well."

'Then we find it,' Harry thought. 'If we can destroy the chamber, or release the magic they've stored, we can stop the ritual.'

"Easier said than done," Merlin reminded him. "There's so much magic flowing through the castle you could walk past the ritual chamber a hundred times over without even noticing it."

Harry nodded, conceding the point. He had tried using his senses to search for areas in the castle with unusually high concentrations of magic before, but it was like finding a needle within a stack of needles.

'Wait a second,' Harry thought, getting an idea. 'The ghosts. They've been around for hundreds of years, almost since the time the castle was built. What if we ask them?'

"An interesting idea," Merlin replied, remembering how Peeves had helped them before. "The poltergeist, he can bypass the enchantments that hide the order's activities."

'Yeah,' Harry thought. 'For whatever reason, they didn't factor in the ghosts when they built the castle, or their enchantments.'

"That's no surprise," Merlin replied. "Ghosts are rare, even more so in the time they built the castle, let alone corporeal ones."

'Why is that?' Harry wondered. Potter Manor was old, not as much as Hogwarts, but it was still an ancient house, and it didn't have any ghosts to speak of.

"Magic," Merlin explained simply. "Ghosts are beings of magic, and they can only exist in places saturated with high levels of magic. Aside from Hogwarts, there are very few places in the world than can support them."

'Alright,' Harry thought, putting down the letter from the goblins. 'We at least have a place to start.'

"Guys," Harry said, getting the attention of his friends. "I think I know what we need to do."

"What?" Draco asked, cutting off the magic he was sending through his arms.

"For the order to open the portal, they need a ritual chamber," Harry explained. "We need to find it, and I'm betting the ghosts might know something about it."

"That's brilliant, Harry!" Hermione said, her eyes lighting up. "They've been around for hundreds of years. They must have seen or heard something."

"There's a lot of ghosts, though," Ron pointed out. "Nearly Headless Nick, the Gray Lady, the Friar, the Bloody Baron, Peeves, Professor Binns, and that's just a few of them," he rattled off. "People are also going to take notice when we interrogate them."

"It won't be all of them," Draco weighed in. "A lot of them we can dismiss, like Professor Binns. He hasn't been a ghost long enough to know anything about the chamber. The same for Myrtle. There's also a bunch of them that can't talk."

"Draco's right," Harry agreed. "The ones we need to focus on are the ghosts that have been around for a while. The Bloody Baron, Peeves, and the Fat Friar."

"Let's split up," Ron suggested. "It'll be less conspicuous that way."

"Good idea," Harry agreed. "Ron, you and Draco start with the Friar. Hermione and I will talk to the Bloody Baron."

"What about Peeves?" Ron asked.

"We'll save him for last," Harry replied. "He's too unpredictable."

----------------------------------------

Hermione and Harry walked through the dungeons, looking for the Bloody Baron, but weren't having much luck.

"Harry, maybe we should have Draco find the Baron," Hermione suggested, as they passed by another Slytherin student who looked at them oddly. "He could at least blend in with the other Slytherins."

"That's exactly why I didn't want him here," Harry explained. "We don't want to blend in. We need to stand out."

"What? Why?" Hermione asked, confused. "I thought the whole point was to do this discretely."

"We're not going to just stumble across the Baron," Harry explained. "He's too much of a recluse for that. We need to draw him out."

"How are we going to do that?" Hermione asked.

"By now at least three or four of the Slytherin students have seen us lurking near their common room," Harry explained. "And they like to gossip just as much as any other house. Word will get back to the Baron."

"And you think he'll come looking for us?" Hermione asked.

"The rumor is he was a Slytherin when he was alive. That kind of house loyalty runs deep," Harry explained. "He'll want to know what we're doing here."

"As a way to protect his house," Hermione realized.

"Yes," Harry nodded as they rounded a corner and he came to an abrupt stop, looking at the stone wall to his right.

"What is it, Harry?" Hermione asked, wondering what had caught her friend's attention.

"You're here, aren't you?" Harry called out, looking at the wall. He could sense a magical presence near them. 'It's definitely a ghost,' he thought.

"I agree," Merlin weighed in. "I suppose it could be the poltergeist," he allowed. "But we're definitely being watched."

"Harry? Who are you talking to?" Hermione asked, looking around, confused. "There's no one here."

"Impressive," a gravely voice said, causing Hermione to jump in surprise. "It's been some time since a student has detected my presence," the Bloody Baron said, phasing through the stone wall to appear in front of them.

Harry stared at the infamous Bloody Baron. His pale skin and dark, shadowy cloak making him look more like a vampire than a ghost. The heavy chains wrapped around his body, only adding to his intimidating presence. He could see why quite a few of the first years had nightmares about him.

Hermione's face went pale, staring at the terrifying visage of the Bloody Baron. She had only seen him in passing before, and standing this close to him, she felt her knees shake. The only thing stopping her from running away in fright was Harry's presence beside her.

"What are you doing here?" The Baron demanded. "This is no place for Gryffindors."

"We have some questions for you," Harry replied, staring the baron directly in the eye.

"You're braver than most, I'll give you that," The Baron said, further impressed that a first year had the courage to look him in the eye. "But I have no interest in answering your questions. You will just have to live with the mystery of my death."

"We're not here about that," Harry denied.

The Baron raised an eyebrow, genuinely surprised by the boy's answer. "Who are you, boy?"

"My name is Harry Potter," Harry replied. "This is my friend Hermione Granger."

"You have me intrigued, Harry Potter," The Baron replied, studying the boy carefully. He was powerful, there was no doubt about that, standing in front of him the way he was more than proved that, and it was the first time in a very long time that someone was interesting in talking to him about something other than his death. "Very well. Ask your questions."

"Have you noticed anything strange in the castle?" Harry asked. "Students that seem out of place, doing things they shouldn't be doing, while everyone else turns a blind eye?"

The Baron tapped his chin thoughtfully, his chains rattling as he did. "You're going to have to be more specific. There are a great many trouble makers that roam these halls."

"I'm not asking about students playing pranks or sneaking off to Hogsmeade," Harry clarified. "I'm talking about spells and magics that no student should know about. Doing things that are abominations to magic itself."

The Baron paused, looking at the boy critically. "Who are you, boy?" He repeated, not believing for a second that a student, let alone a first year, was alluding to what he thought he was.

"I already told you who I am," Harry repeated, sensing the growing unease from the ghost.

"NO," the Baron said, shaking his head. "You come here, alluding to things you shouldn't know about, detecting my presence when the Headmaster himself is unable to. So I ask again. Who. Are. You?" He demanding with a growl, punctuating each word.

Hermione took a step back. She could practically feel the menace coming from the Bloody Baron. She thought about running, but before she could, she felt Harry grab her wrist.

She let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding, feeling a sense of relief in Harry's presence.

"Telling him about me isn't a good idea," Merlin warned, listening to Harry's thoughts. "He's paranoid enough as it is."

"I'm not your typical first year," Harry replied, heading Merlin's words. "I've had some training that's outside the normal curriculum."

"Yes," The Baron agreed, looking at the boy suspiciously. "Training that hasn't been seen for hundreds of years."

"You know what I'm talking about, don't you?" Harry pressed. "You've seen them. You know what they're doing, don't you?"

"I do, but the more important question is, how do you know about them?" The baron demanded pointedly.

"I saw them," Harry admitted, knowing he was taking a risk admitting this much, but saw no other way to find out what the Baron knew. "The ritual they did in the Astronomy tower. I need to stop them."

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

The Baron let out a rasping laugh. "Stop them? You must be a fool, then. No one can stop them."

".. You've known all this time?" Hermione asked in surprise, finally finding her voice. "Why haven't you said anything? How long have you known about them?" She demanded.

"Listen well girl," The Baron said, glaring at Hermione, causing her to shrink back. "Nothing in life or death is ever quite that simple."

"He can't tell anyone," Harry realized. "None of the ghosts can."

".. No," the Baron admitted.

"What?" Hermione asked. "You're talking about it right now!"

"They realized their mistake with the ghosts," Harry explained. "It was too late for them to change the enchantments to include them. The castle was already built by then, but they added new ones. They aren't as good as the ones they created for the living, but they're enough to stop you from talking about them directly, aren't they?"

"Yes," the Baron admitted. "There are certain words we may not speak, but we can still see."

"Do you know how to stop them?" Harry pressed.

The Bloody Baron stared back, not saying anything.

"That's a yes," Harry realized, taking the Baron's silence as an affirmative. "But you can't tell us how to stop them, can you?"

The Baron remained silent.

"Alright," Harry said, trying to think how he could get around this. "They're storing magic somewhere in the school, a lot of magic. Do you know where it is?"

The Baron stared back, remaining silent.

Harry cursed mentally. 'It's another dead end,' he thought.

"Not necessarily," Merlin replied. "We just need to ask the right questions, ones the order hasn't already planned for."

'Like what?' Harry thought. 'They've had hundreds of years to fine tune their enchantments. What could we ask them they haven't already thought of?'

"Harry?" Hermione asked, getting an idea. "You said the place they're storing the magic is big, right? How big?"

"At least the size of the quidditch pitch," Harry replied, wondering where Hermione was going with this.

"The wards only stop you from speaking. They don't compel you to say certain words of phrases, do they?" Hermione asked, addressing the Baron.

"You are correct, girl," the Baron replied.

"Is there a room the size of the quidditch pitch or larger inside the castle?" Hermione asked.

"No, there is not," the Baron replied.

Harry smiled, seeing where Hermione was going with this. "What about outside the castle, but still inside the school grounds?"

The Baron remained silent, but they could see a new level of respect in the ghost's eyes.

"Of course," Harry said, shaking his head. "I should have seen it before. How could I have missed it?"

"What?" Hermione asked, furrowing her brows. "Missed what?"

"We've already been there," Harry replied. "We just didn't realize it at the time. It's in the forbidden forest. We even slept on top of it."

Hermione's eyes widened, realizing what Harry was talking about. "You're talking about when they chased us through the forest!"

"The clearing," Harry nodded. "Even the Acromantula were too afraid to go there. I knew there had to be a reason. It just slipped my mind with everything else going on."

"It seems you have what you need," The Baron said, giving as close to an affirmation as he was capable. "But don't think for a moment this makes your task any easier," he warned, phasing through the wall as he departed.

'I can understand why it slipped my mind,' Harry thought. 'But why didn't you see it, Merlin?'

"I'm not infallible, Harry," Merlin reminded him. "There are any number of things that could have scared off the Acromantula."

'Like what?' Harry thought back.

"It could have been the territory of a stronger predator, perhaps even the wards of a forgotten structure still strong enough to ward off magical beasts," Merlin replied. "When magic is involved, there is rarely a single answer."

'Other structures?' Harry thought, intrigued. 'What are you talking about?'

"Think Harry," Merlin replied. "The founders didn't choose to build their castle here for the fun of it. Some very powerful magical ley lines intersect this area."

'You're saying there were other civilizations here before us? And the founders just built over top of them?' Harry thought, intrigued.

"It's the way it's always been done," Merlin replied. "You didn't just think that all the magical tombs were hidden away in Egypt, did you?"

'Why didn't you tell me any of this?' Harry thought, annoyed that Merlin would keep something of this magnitude from him.

"We've been through this before," Merlin reminded him. "The things I know, the places I've been, I could spend decades telling you about all of them, but if I did, you would never get anything done."

'Alright, I get it,' Harry thought, sighing mentally as he saw Merlin's point.

"I'll tell you about all of it, Harry," Merlin promised. "It's the reason I'm here with you, but we won't have time to stop the order If we have to stop every time I know more about something than you do."

"Harry?" Hermione asked. "He's gone, right?" She asked, looking around nervously. "He's not just watching us, is he?"

"He's gone," Harry confirmed.

"Good, good," Hermione replied, still nervous. "Then maybe we should get out of here," she suggested, feeling a shiver going down her spine as she thought about how many times the ghosts were just sitting there, hiding in the walls, and watching them.

"Good idea," Harry replied, cracking a smile at how nervous Hermione was.

"It's not funny Harry," Hermione snapped. "What if they… I mean, they could be spying on us all the time. This is a big deal."

"They've been around almost as long as Hogwarts," Harry replied. "If they were going to do something, wouldn't they have done it by now?"

"…I still don't like it," Hermione said adamantly, crossing her arms. "How come you can tell where they are?" she said, rounding on him. "And why haven't you taught us how to do it?"

"Who says I'm not?" Harry replied with a shrug. "You didn't think I was just teaching you how to light up your arms in case you got lost in the dark, did you?" He asked with a teasing chuckle.

Hermione's eyes light up. "I knew it! I knew there was more to it than that. What else are you going to teach us?" She asked eagerly.

Harry sighed internally, finally seeing things from Merlin's perspective. 'Shut up,' he thought good naturedly as Merlin laughed in his mind.

----------------------------------------

"He has to be here somewhere," Ron said in exasperation. They had already searched the library, the great hall, and even the kitchens, and still hadn't found the Friar.

"He is harder to find that I expected," Draco agreed with a frown. Considering how social the fat friar was, it was surprising they hadn't run into him yet.

"I just saw him this morning in the great hall too," Ron continued as they walked up the stairs to the third floor. "You don't think he's hiding, do you?"

"I don't see why," Draco replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "I don't think he even knows we're looking for him."

"What do you think he'll say?" Ron asked curiously.

"The Friar's been a ghost longer than the Baron by at least a century," Draco said after a moment's thought. "And he's the most social of all the ghosts, so if anyone knew about the order, I would bet my galleons on him."

"Yeah, but if he knew something. Why wouldn't he warn any of us? He's had plenty of time to do it," Ron pointed out. "The Bloody Baron I can understand, keeping it a secret. Who knows what he got up to when he was alive?"

"Now that you mention it, it does seem odd," Draco agreed. "Not just the Baron, and the Friar, but all the ghosts. Some of them are almost as old as the school itself. After all this time, they must have seen something, and unless they've had it in for us from the beginning, there's no reason for them to keep a secret like this."

"Look! There he is," Ron said, pointing to the trophy room.

"Hello boys," the Friar said with a jovial smile and a wave as he floated to them. "Keeping out of trouble, I hope?"

"Hi, my name is Ron. This is my friend Draco," Ron said, introducing himself. "Can we ask you some questions?"

"Of course," The Friar said with a wide smile. "Let me guess," he said with a wink. "You want to know about the secret passages? Maybe how to sneak into Honeydukes?" He tempted.

Ron and Draco looked at each other for a moment, each thinking the same thing. 'Secret passages?'

"No?" The Friar asked, unperturbed. "Maybe what it's like to be a ghost? Or how I died? That's usually a popular one… Wait, I know. You want to know about the Hufflepuff common rooms. I'm sorry boys, but that's one secret I can't reveal. House pride and all that, you understand, don't you?"

"No, it's nothing like that." Ron shook his head. ".. Although I will have some questions later about a secret passage to Honeydukes, it's about something else."

"Alright," The Friar said with another laugh. "Let's have it then. What's your question?"

"Have you noticed anyone bringing animals into the school?" Draco asked, "ones that aren't on the approved list?" He clarified, not wanting to reveal too much in case the Friar didn't know what they were talking about.

"Hmm," The Friar said, stroking his chin. "Are you trying to sneak a pet into Hogwarts, boys? A few students have done it, but it's only a matter before the professor's catch wind of it. I wouldn't recommend it. The loss of house points isn't worth it."

"No," Ron shook his head. "Not pets, something bigger… Acromantula."

"Acro… Acroman…" The Friar trailed off, looking behind the boy, his eyes widening for a moment before he looked away. "Now why would you want to bring something like that into the school?" he asked with a laugh, trying to cover his nervousness. "They're far too dangerous to keep as pets. Everyone knows that. Why don't you talk to Professor Kettleburn? He knows all about that kind of thing."

Draco caught the surprised look on the Friar's face, and turned around, wondering what suddenly distracted the ghost, but there was only an empty hallway.

"Not to keep as pets," Draco clarified, turning to face the ghost again, watching him carefully. 'He knows something,' he thought adamantly. 'I've never seen a ghost look this nervous before.'

"Sorry boys," The Friar said, turning to leave. "I just realized I'm late for a prior commitment. We'll have to have this discussion another time."

"Wait, please!" Ron said. "You know what's going on, don't you? You have to tell us what you know. If you don't, a lot of people are going to get hurt."

"That's quite the story you have boys… quite the imagination," the Friar smiled, but this time it didn't reach his eyes. He looked panicked, even afraid, an emotion neither Ron nor Draco thought a ghost was capable of. "As I said, I'm quite late already," the Friar continued. "Don't… just… goodbye boys," he added quickly, phasing through the floor.

"Well, that was ominous," Ron said, looking at Draco.

"He knows," Draco stated.

"Yeah," Ron agreed. "But he's too afraid to tell us what's going on."

"I don't blame him," Draco replied.

"Maybe Harry and Hermione had some more luck with the Baron," Ron suggested. "Let's go find them."

----------------------------------------

"Andre is going to want to hear about this," Talbott said to Lucian as they watched Draco and Ron leave from under the cover their invisibility cloaks.

"Or we just deal with them now," Lucian said, drawing his wand.

"Don't even think about it," Talbott replied. "Celestia said we're just supposed to watch them, not attack."

"And do what?" Lucian hissed. "Wait for Celestia to convince Potter to join us? It's not going to happen! He's one of them!" He said, gesturing to the retreating backs of Ron and Draco. "They're the ones who've been spying on us!"

"We don't know that for sure," Talbott replied. "If we're wrong, we could screw up everything," he said, remembering his own mistake of losing his journal. "Besides," he dismissed. "They're just a couple of first years. Do you really think they're capable of something like that?

"Alright," Lucian conceded, putting away his wand. "But you heard what they said. The Acromantula. Even if they aren't the ones spying on us, they still know something."

"We'll take it to the others, figure out what to do from there," Talbott replied.

"Fine," Lucian said as they made their way to the library.

----------------------------------------

Ron and Draco returned to the room of requirement, to find Hermione and Harry already waiting for them.

"Did you guys have any luck?" Ron asked, sitting down.

"The ghosts know what's going on," Harry answered. "There's a ward preventing them from telling us everything, but they know."

"That explains a lot," Draco replied. "When we talked to the Friar, he got really nervous as soon as we mentioned Acromantula. He made up an excuse about being late and ran off."

"We know where the ritual chamber is," Hermione said. "We've already been there once."

"What? Where?" Ron asked.

"The clearing in the forbidden forest," Harry answered.

Ron's jaw fell open as he made the connection. It all made perfect sense. That was why the Acromantula stopped chasing them. They knew what it was and knew enough to stay far away from it.

"We still don't know how to get in," Harry pointed out. "The entrance isn't in the forbidden forest."

"So a secret passage, then?" Draco guessed.

"I think so," Harry agreed.

"Well, we know where the chamber is. Why don't we make our own door?" Ron suggested. "A few blasting curses should do the trick."

"It would have to be a last resort," Harry replied. "The chamber is going to be warded, so it will be tough to break through, and as soon we start blasting, they're going to be on us."

"Ok, so let's think about this logically," Hermione said. "The chamber is underground, so to get there it would make sense that the entrance would be underground as well. So that would mean it would have to be somewhere in the dungeons."

"The Friar mentioned a secret passage to Honeydukes," Ron remembered.

"That is roughly in the same direction," Harry said, thinking about it for a minute.

"It has to be a different passage," Draco shook his head. "The way the Friar talked about it, I don't think it was much of a secret. If it led to the chamber, someone would have found it by now."

"Then we talk to Peeves," Harry decided.

"How's that going to help?" Draco questioned. "None of the ghosts can tell us where the secret passage is."

"Peeves is different from the other ghosts," Harry replied. "I'm not sure why exactly, but he can interact with the world in a way the other ghosts can't. I think he can fight against the wards, preventing him from speaking."

----------------------------------------

"You're both back early," Andre said as Talbott and Lucian returned.

"We have a problem," Lucian replied. "It couldn't wait."

"What's going on?" Ismelda asked, curiously.

"We were following Weasley and Malfoy like you said," Talbott explained. "They were talking to ghosts."

"So what?" Andre dismissed. "They're first years. They always try to talk to the ghosts."

"They know!" Lucian declared.

"Know what?" Andre asked, wondering why something so trivial would cause both Talbott and Lucian to end their shift early.

"They asked the Friar about Acromantula," Lucian replied.

Andre and the rest of the study group's eyes widened. The Friar had seen them when they brought the Acromantula into the school. He hadn't said anything, just ran off in the other direction. They had all dismissed it, trusting the wards to stop the ghost from talking about what he saw, but now they weren't so sure.

"What did the Friar say?" Beatrice asked.

"The Friar didn't say anything," Talbott replied. "He might have known we were there, because he got flustered and ran off."

"It was Potter!" Andre realized. "All this time it was him! I knew there was something off about him!"

"We don't know that," Ismelda said, trying to be the voice of reason. "All we know is a couple of first years asked about some spiders. That doesn't mean they're the spies."

"No, it makes sense," Andre insisted. "Think about it. Potter has been so far ahead of all the other first years, right from the very beginning. It has to be him. It's the only thing that makes sense. We'll take care of him and his friends tonight," he declared.

"NO!" Elspeth said, raising her voice. "You've been angry with Potter ever since he turned you down. You just want it to be him so you can get back at him."

She had watched Andre rant about Potter for days, and knew his anger was clouding his judgment, and the last thing they needed was to go against the orders of the Alumni.

"I'm the one that's in charge," Andre said, slamming his hand on the table, his frustration clearly showing. "It's my call, and we're doing this," he declared, standing up from the table.

"No, you're not!" Talbott said, standing up as well, glaring at his friend. "Just think for one second! What if you're wrong? What if this is just a misunderstanding? Celestia is trying to change Harry's mind. If you do this, and you're wrong, you could ruin everything. Is getting back at Potter more important to you than freeing Celestia?" He demanded.

"He is the reason everything has gone wrong with the plan!" Andre declared. "Think about it! It was only after he showed up that everything went wrong!"

"No," Beatrice shook her head. She had seen how much pressure Andre was under this year, and it had finally caught up with him. "Harry turned on us because you took a shortcut recruiting him," she accused. "If you had done things the right way, he would be right here with us. Who knows? Draco, Hermione, and Ron could still be here as well."

"You're saying this is my fault?!" Andre demanded incredulously.

"No, we're not saying that, Andre," Ismelda said, trying to calm him down before he did something they would all regret. "Look, you've been under a lot of pressure. We all have. You made a mistake with Potter, but so did we. We didn't stop you, and we should have. There were consequences for that. Let's not make another mistake now, and make things worse. Let's just all calm down and figure out what to do together, like we always do."

"Fine," Andre huffed, sitting back down. "What's your big idea, then?"

"First, we need to know what happened. Did the Friar or Draco and Ron say anything else?" Ismelda asked.

"Shouldn't we tell the Alumni about this too?" Beatrice asked.

"No," Talbott shook his head. "They told us to stay away from Malfoy and Granger, remember? If we tell them before we have proof, they're going to stop us before we even get started."

"Alright," Beatrice agreed reluctantly. She didn't like the idea of keeping something like this from the Alumni, but knew they weren't going to get the answers they needed any other way.

"Weasley seemed to think people were going to get hurt," Lucian replied. "They also talked about Potter and Granger talking to the Baron. Look guys, I'm with Andre on this one. Why else would they be talking to ghosts about the spiders?"

"We need to be sure about this," Talbott stressed. "Remember the dressing down we got from Lord Nevin after the fiasco with the tests? We need proof."

"And how are we supposed to get that?" Andre asked, exasperated.

"We exploit the weak link," Ismelda pointed out.

"What?" Andre asked. "What weak link?"

"Draco," Ismelda explained. "Lucian and I are in the same house as him. We'll question him and find out what's really going on."

"Question him?" Andre asked. "And what if he lies, or refuses to say anything? What then?"

"He won't have a choice," Ismelda said, reaching into her bag and pulling out a vial of clear liquid. "We'll find out what he knows, then remove his memories afterwards."