So Julia was sort of lost. Not the kind of lost that resulted in tears or anxious sweating of the palms, but the pleasant sort of loss that comes with wandering about a gigantic castle by one's self. She was sure that, if and when the time came where she began to feel nervous, someone or something would come along and guide her back to... well, wherever was familiar. So far she'd memorized the route from the great hall to the common room, and that was about it. Even then, there were the stairs to deal with.

That was why she was here, actually. She'd got about halfway up and been so thoroughly winded that she decided to take a break, lest she lose focus and step off the stairs into air.

When she came across The Tapestry, she stopped walking and gazed at it. There were several tapestries in her family's house, collected from auctions and charity rummage sales and such, but none of them were like this one. Not even close.

Earlier she had helped Professor Kitridge clean Peeve's mess in the library, and then she had had to run to go to Charms lesson. After Charms she had gone back to the tower and retrieved her hand mirror and changed into her typical non-school uniform black robes. Now Kitty was just wandering peacefully through the castle, happy that she didn't need to hurry to go anywhere. Perhaps later she would write to her mother or visit the Hag.

Rounding the corner, Kitty recognized Julia, the first year student who complimented her middle name with such grandiose praise. "Hi Julia! It's me Kitty." Kitty beamed at the first year student and approached her. She stopped next to her and stared at the beautiful Tapestry she was looking at. "It's beautiful, isn't it? Did you read the story behind it?" She had read all about it in her first term at Hogwarts.

Julia briefly considered greeting Kitty as Lady Dugray, but decided that until Kitty got that letter from her mum about the name she should probably hold off. Instead she answered, "Hi Kitty! There's a story behind it?"

She supposed, like most ancient pieces of art, there would be... but she had no idea what it might be. If it were something sufficiently engaging, Julia was all ears, "What is it?"

"Well one day I was reading Hogwarts a History, and three sheets of newsprint fell out of it." Kitty began excitedly before plunging right into it, talking so fast that her words almost ran together. "They were from the school news paper and were about stuff that happened a long time ago. In the newspaper it said that three professor's were injured and had to be carried off to the Hospital Wing because of some 'mysterious force' coming from behind the Tapestry. They were okay, but then later one of the students owls was injured and the Care of Magical Creatures guy was almost killed by a red beam of light when he took his class out to look for Mooncalves! Headmistress Loryen (cool name, right?) said she knew what the attackers wanted, but she couldn't tell anyone!"

Kitty was so excited that she had to stop for breath. Then she continued. "I don't know what happened next or if they ever caught the villains behind it. Hogwarts a History didn't have anything on that term. But isn't it interesting? Look at this." She approached the tapestry and gently lifted it up. "See? The newspaper said that there were dark forces behind the tapestry, but now there is only a wall. They must have sealed it up, and that means that there is a secret passageway behind this tapestry!"

Julia listened to the story with increasing interest, feeling her mouth slowly dropping open. Mysterious forces behind the tapestry? A killer beam of red light? It was a good thing all this craziness was from the distant past: it could be safely remarked over without worrying that it would happen again.

Although, Julia did flail a bit when Kitty touched the tapestry, and not just because she was worried about lingering death magic, "You shouldn't touch it! It's like a museum; you'll get in trouble!"

She could almost imagine her great aunt now, bustling around the corner and shrilling at them to keep their grubby little fingers off the antiques.

"Don't worry, I won't damage it." But she withdrew her hand and stepped backwards anyway, looking back and forth to make certain there were no teachers coming. She had just been forced to clan the library because of her involvement with the food fight, she would hate to get in trouble again.

"But wouldn't you want to know what really happened with this tapestry?" She continued excitedly. "I'm going to ask Kitridge after I visit the Hag."

"Well of course I would!" Julia exclaimed. Ravenclaw, and all that. She gazed back at the images on the tapestry, the history of the thing only adding to the admiration she felt at it. It wasn't just art, now; it was an artifact.

Then she frowned, "Why does everyone want to go visit Professor Black before class starts? Wouldn't that just bother her?"

"I still have the original newspaper sheets in my purse in the tower" said Kitty, an idea forming in her head. "If you want I can let you borrow them so you can read the story yourself, and maybe you will discover a clue that I haven't picked up on, and in the meantime I'll be asking Professor Kitridge since after all he is the librarian." They could both try to solve the mystery

Kitty frowned when questioned about visiting the Hag. "Do you think it would bother her? I thought visiting the teachers was the polite thing to do." Besides, the Hag looked very interesting. Creepy, yes, but in a cool way.

Julia beamed at her. Solving historical mysteries? She was in!

Then she paused. She knew Kitty was a bit older than her, but she had a purse? Weren't purses for adults? She, Julia, didn't have a purse. Maybe Kitty was going to become Lady Dugray sooner rather than later, after all!

"Is it?" Julia hadn't even thought about it being the polite thing. She'd just thought of he great aunt getting crotchety whenever the children approached her too frequently. But, she supposed not all adults were the same. Another thought occurred to her, "But... don't hags eat children?"

She supposed the headmaster would have instructed Professor Black to get that under control before teaching a children full of them, but if one child were to wander over alone... and if that child weren't particularly well known to the other students or staff...

Brrr.

Julia had a point about Hags. Kitty had also been frightened when she learned that one of their teachers was going to be a Hag, but after thinking about it for awhile to herself - she decided that Professor Black couldn't be that bad. "I never met a Hag before, but I also heard that they ate children. But I don't believe Professor Black would eat any of us. If she was dangerous the teachers wouldn't let her near us, and if she was ever convicted of a crime as serious as eating a child then wouldn't the Ministry of Magic have locked her up? I bet she's perfectly safe."

"I think I'm more scared of Peeves than I am the Hag"said Kitty after a pause. "Guess where I was just a few hours ago? In the library with Haddie and Professor Kitridge cleaning the book shelves. It was our punishment for getting involved in the food fight. It was going fine, but then Peeves showed up and started throwing even MORE food at us. Thankfully he quickly bored with us and then left."

That... did make sense. Why on earth would the headmaster think it a good idea to hire a child-eater to work in a school full of children? Maybe Professor Black was the exception and had spent her whole life trying to convince ordinary witches and wizards that she liked the same food they did.

She wrinkled her nose, "I thought all the ghosts would be beautiful and dignified like the Grey Lady."

Apparently not.

"I know, right? Peeves should be ashamed to haunt the same castle as the Grey Lady. She is awesome." Kitty loved the Grey Lady, and it was not just because she was Ravenclaws ghost. During Kitty's first term the Grey Lady had approached her personally and befriended - back when she had no friends. In Kitty's eyes there was no one more beautify than her.

"Um...well I'm going to back to the common room to find the newspapers. After classes tomorrow let's meet again to plan things, okay?" Kitty reached out and hugged Julia in a loving embrace. It might have seemed overly emotional to some teenagers her age, but Kitty had never had any student friends before this term at Hogwarts. She was afraid of losing them.

"Okay!" Julia grinned, and then blinked a little when Kitty hugged her. She supposed that was what friends did, but nobody in her family hugged so she'd never been a hugger either.

She gave Kitty's back a friendly pat pat, "I'm going to come back with you, I think. I've got sort of turned around up here."

i.e. lost, but there was no need to state it so bluntly.

"Okay cool, you can come with me." Kitty turned and walked back to the Common Room with Julia at her side. It seemed Julia had gotten lost, and Kitty was more than happy to help her get un-lost.

It wasn't until they were in the corridor outside class that Haddie decided to tackle the elephant in the room. Rachel wasn't going to stop trying to get Davie and Haddie to like each other, that was obvious. She glanced around, then looked squarely at Rachel. "My issue with Davie is the fact he blew up at me for not knowing who Harry Potter, or George Weasley were at the beginning of the year. And has hated me for it ever since. It was never my issue. It was his." In fact she had liked Davie well enough up until that point. "I didn't tell you because it was obvious you had a crush on him, but I still," she shrugged, "you know, expected you to have my back as my best friend and all." She shook her head, there wasn't any point really getting into a discussion about that. "Anyway, it won't matter next year..."

She mentally kicked herself. Yeah, she wanted to talk to Rachel about it, ever since she'd gotten back from break, but that kinda needs to wait until after class, at least. "Nothing, never mind. Let's just find the next clue."

After a bit of searching, the found it at the tapestry. "Oh!" Haddie grinned, and pointed to the parchment. "Myers!" Her favorite Professor. "Uh, can I borrow your text book... and quill... and parchment..." Oh, Rachel was already handing them to her. It was good to have her Bestie back. Haddie flipped to chapter two. "Let's see..."

M-Y-E-R-S
4+7+5+9+1

She handed the stuff back to Rachel. "Your turn. Hey, do you think we should take the clue... you know... make sure we win?"

Rachel, having hastily grabbed her quill, ink, parchment and textbook to follow Haddie when the girl ran from the class, was about to comment that they would probably take a while to find the next clue when she stopped short of opening her mouth. She frowned. "That doesn't matter. You still should have told me.'' She blushed but ignored the part about her crush. "I'm sorry again, Haddie. I didn't side with you but I didn't side with him either. I did what I though was right.'' She still thought she was right in trying to patch things up and made up her mind to speak to David about the situation. Rachel cast Haddie a sharp look. "What do you mean?'' What was happening next year? "No, tell me, please.''

Myers? What did dear Professor Myers have to do with anything?

Oh! Haddie had found the first clue! Excellent. "What luck, Haddie. I thought we would have had to search for ages.'' Already she was holding out her writing apparatus for her best friend to take. Wringing her hands excitedly, she watched Haddie once again assign the numbers. Then, yes. It was her turn again.

Quote:

M-Y-E-R-S
4+7+5+9+1=26
2+6=8

"The eight floor.'' Did Hogwarts have so many floors? "Hadleigh Holland Denaker! We will do no such thing.'' Linking her arm firmly through the other girl's, Rachel began leading her towards the corresponding floor.

"I know the fourth floor really well," Kitty chattered excitedly as they climbed up the moving stairs on their way to the fourth floor. "And not just because that's where my common room is, but it's also the home of the library and the Tapestry. All year I've been trying to solve the mystery of the Tapestry. Do you remember months ago when you found me and Garreth in the Pathways talking about visiting the Hag?" She shuddered when she mentioned the Hag. Back then Esme had warned her that the Hag was evil but Kitty hadn't believed her until it was almost too late. "One of the reasons why I wanted to visit that foul beast was because I thought she might know something about the Tapestry. I've explored most of the fourth floor in search of clues so this should be easy." It was always to talk about the Tapestry.


They reached the fourth floor with Kitty slightly in the lead. "Ooh Esme look! Its by the Tapestry!" Kitty ran towards the Tapestry and the note on the wall. She pulled her notebook and textbook out and compared the letters to the numbers before showing them to Esme:

Quote:

M-Y-E-R-S
4+7+5+9+1

While Esme added the numbers up Kitty decided to take another peek behind the Tapestry. She knew from talking to Julia she wasn't supposed to, but it was just too tempting.

Jace lead the way this time...and searched every inch of the fourth floor's walls. The Ravenclaw kept his eyes peeled, searching for a parchment similar to what they were shown back in the classroom. The eleven year old did a double take...took a few steps back and smiled at what he saw. "Ariadne, look! It's the second parchment!" Jace tried his best to keep his excitement down, but failed. This kind of activity is so much better than just sitting in a cold classroom.

Without needing to be told, Jace got his parchment out...and did the computation.

Scribble, scribble, scribble:



Jace beamed at his work, and quickly showed it to Ariadne. "Did I get this right?"

"This is SOOO COOL!" Ariadne said as she bounced along beside Jace. "Scavenger hunts are awesome! I just wish we were looking for something more interesting than more calculations to do. Don't get me wrong. The professor has a great lesson, but Arithmancy isn't really my thing." She was THINKING about changing her mind after this scavenger hunt, though. She joined Jace in searching the corridor for any clues. Within seconds, though, he was ON IT and had the calculations figured out and all.

She peered over and checked his work. "That's right! But...eighth floor? We don't even have one of those," she said, her eyebrows wrinkled inward in confusion. "You want to just head on up to the seventh floor and see what happens?" On that note, she headed toward the staircases, because right or wrong floor, they at least needed to head upward.

Jace nodded along as he stuffed the parchment back in his bag, knowing where the next clue is. "It is! Well, maybe the professor has a surprise for us in the end?" Because walking up and down the stairs is hard work. Maybe they'd get cool prizes after figuring everything out. Jace did wish it had more brain stretching questions though, just so his cogs would work faster.

"The professor said that the ground floor counts as zero...so eight minus one is seven." he said tilting his head...also trying to make sense of what he said. It sort of...just came out of his mouth too.

The Ravenclaw snapped out of his reverie, when Ariadne walked past him and headed for the staircase. "It's definitely somewhere in the upper floors." Jace shrugged and followed her lead. Maybe this time she'll do the computation next?

So they are looking for another parchment that’s been squirrelled away somewhere around here.

But where oh where could it be?

Tenacius started flipping open suits of armor from its armpit or its breastplate-- because that’s only as far as he could reach "HEY PARCHMENT ARE YOU IN HERE???" he yelled. Much to the sentient armors' annoyance for sure.

"If we're supposed to search the ENTIRE castle we might never finish." he told their group. "You guys have any idea how big this castle is? And that’s just the stuff we can see. I've been going around and seems to me theres just as much hidden passageways and corners and rooms as the legit ones. Maybe even more so." Its like it was another castle wrapping and twisting its way around this castle.

Prizes sounded AWESOME! Ariadne hoped it was something really worthwhile, like an ice cream sundae or a TON of house points! First, though, they had to find the next parchment. "If the ground floor is zero, then the first floor is one, and so on. That still means the seventh floor is number seven. Let's just head there first," she suggested. Maybe there was some kind of clue or something. Reaching the stairs, she started the journey upward. To where? She had no idea...

Mel nodded at Ace and grinned. “YOU ARE A GENIUS ACE! I COULD” she paused awkwardly “hug you.” Obviously that was the word she had almost said. Obviously. “We should map out the castle while we’re doing this project!” She grinned over to him.

“I already have my entire bag Tenacius Astor Salander” Mel whined at him as she raised her bag and shook it at her friend. “Sorry about him” she muttered toward both the Armor and Sabbath.

Tenacius was Tenacius.

“OH MY GOSH A PARCHMENT!” she squealed and ran forward jotting the numbers down. “This doesn’t work.” She groaned.

“Meyers…see” she pointed at the work she had just jotted down. “See if we view the ground floor as 0 then the seventh floor is the seventh floor…there is no eighth floor…but wait…” she paused, “if we view the ground floor as the first floor then the seventh floor would be the eighth” she grinned. “c’mon lets go find things!” She grinned.

Quote:

Originally Posted by work

MYERS – 4+7+5+9+1 = 26 = 2+6 = 8

As Kitty talked away, Esme couldn't help but raise her brow. Tapestry? What had she missed? She was utterly fascinated by all this. "I remember that day." Hard not to frown at the mention of the Hag, but somehow she managed to keep a straight face. "I don't really know anything about the Tapestry." Maybe they could solve the mystery together - after they finished the scavenger hunt.

The second clue involved her Head of House and Kitty quickly worked out the numbers. All Esme had to do was add them together and they would know where to go from there:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Esme's Notes

4 + 7 + 5 + 9 + 1 = 26
2 + 6 = 8

"Is this correct? I am confused because there isn't an eighth floor at Hogwarts." Was she missing something here?