Chapter 4

Edward Wright

The meeting with Dumbledore had gone better than I had anticipated. The freedom to not take lectures was something I had not expected. Now, there was ample time for me to focus on my studies. It was my last year in these magical halls, and I plan to take full advantage of it.

I was walking slowly towards the great hall, recalling the conversation I had just had. It was a gamble, telling him about Moody. Even in my fourth year, I had been conflicted about telling him about Quirrell, ultimately I had chickened out. During that time I was still focused on firmly avoiding the Golden trio. But, in hindsight, that had been wrong.

When I first met Hermione last year, I had been ashamed of myself. They were children. Children studying at a boarding school, worried about acne and tests and all other trivial matters. It was not right to burden them with the problems of a rotten society because of some misguided notion about prophecy and the greater good.

So, I decided to act. I was better equipped. For all seven years, I had focused firmly on the practical side. To the general dismay of some of the Professors. My written work had always been barely adequate. The essays I wrote were short and concise. My marks had always suffered because of it, but after some time, upon seeing my practical work, the detentions and objurgations had lessened.

Students passed by me as I crossed the hall, and as I was coming down the stairs, I saw two friends walking towards me. A Hufflepuff and a Slytherin. Both of them were almost opposites in their appearances.

Cedric Diggory was all prim and proper, with his brown hair brushed back, buttoned uniform, and crisp robe. Talking to the boy next to him, in a hushed tone.

The Slytherin boy had a wild appearance. His hair was dyed an unnatural blue. His shirt, unbuttoned and his cuffs, folded up. Piercings in his ears and a large grin on his face, as he was busy conversing with the Hufflepuff heartthrob.

"Yes, I was just coming back," I replied. Both of them looked at each other, then Henry grinned.

"So, how did it go, did you get rid of 'that wretched badge'?" he asked me

"Well, no but we reached a compromise. The staff gave me a free pass for the lectures, given my track record they expect me to be able to keep up on my own?" There was smugness in my tone. Both of them were looking at me incredulously.

"That can not be true! You are screwing with us," Cedric said from the side.

We had now reached the Great Hall and moved towards the Hufflepuff table. Perhaps, I could find Elizabeth here? I did have to inform her about the DADA class cancellation

"Nah, I have the letter with me. It is signed by the Headmaster himself," and I waved the letter in front of them. Henry took it out of my hand and started reading it immediately. I spotted Elizabeth talking to her friend Amy at the table and moved toward them. Both Cedric and Henry behind me were still engrossed in the letter.

Amy saw me first, waving at me.

I waved back.

"Hello, Amy, Elizabeth," I said, taking the seat opposite them.

"Hi," both of them replied. Elizabeth tried to say something but was cut off by her friend.

"So, how did your resignation go? You do know that several wagers have been made regarding this, so spill the beans, Eddy," I just shook my head at her antics. I just shook my head at her antics. But I could see that both of them had been anxious about it. For completely different reasons of course.

"It was rejected. But a compromise was reached, and I will continue as Headboy. Thank you," I could see the slight relief in Elizabeth's eyes.

"No, how could it be?! You were so unwilling! You must be lying to me!" she spoke.

"No, he isn't. Check this out," Cedric said finally sitting down beside me with Henry taking the seat opposite him. He handed Amy the letter and she started reading it. After some time she spoke.

"This has to be a lie! This can not be possible!" I could see that Elizabeth shared her sentiment.

"As real as the news I am about to give you," I spoke to Elizabeth, "A special notice will be on the board any second now; all classes for DADA are dismissed for the day. Professor McGonagall will announce it as well, but I want you to tell the prefects."

She nodded but from everyone's expressions, I could tell they had questions.

"This is straight from Dumbledore. On a separate note, could you stop students from approaching Professor Moody's office? Clear the whole corridor; no student enters," I informed them.

"Why? Has something happened?" Cedric asked, for them all.

"Not yet," Ï shook my head "But I need you all to be extra cautious. It is a suspicion, but it might be something similar to last year." I said gravely. All of them nodded their heads.

Last year, the incident with Sirius Black had been a near disaster. Of course, they did not know that he was innocent. But a terrorist in a school of children had caused quite the panic.

The gates to the hall opened once more and Professor McGonagall entered the Great Hall, her face stern and serious. She approached the dais and spoke, addressing everyone.

"DADA classes will be canceled for the day. Everyone present should inform the rest of the school. A formal notice has been posted on the board. The fourth-floor corridor with the DADA professor's office is also sealed. No student is allowed to enter it. Anyone who tries to enter it will be punished severely."

There were some 'whoops and hurrahs', but it seems the gossip mill had gained a new topic to keep them busy.

0000

The Room of Requirement had been my constant companion. Despite the various theories, the room was much less impressive than expected. It could not generate copies of materials in the castle, nor did it have any sophisticated training dummies. The room was just one thing, a place for the storage of objects lost throughout the castle.

Various objects, that had been lost through the centuries, had been placed in the room by the house elves tasked with the maintenance of the castle. This included lost books, letters, manuals, worksheets, money, jewelry, and many other such things lost by the students.

It was not the time-altering, omnipotent room many theorized it to be, but was just a never-ending storage room. Over the course of seven years, I had gone over a large portion of its contents, and I had found a decent amount of change. A few pieces of jewelry were also found, in an old wooden box, though most of them were ancient and had fetched me a small fortune from some rather shady places.

Yet the biggest gain had been the books. Though none of them were like tomes of ancient and powerful magics, getting those books from the market would not have been easy or cheap. I looked at the book in front of me as I tried to study but my thoughts continuously moved on to other matters.

The whole castle had been gossiping about the DADA classes. Notice for their suspension had gone up some time ago and this had just inflamed the conspiracy theories. Dumbledore had not addressed the students, though a few of the students had reported that they had seen the Headmaster leave the fourth-floor corridor furiously.

I closed the book and got up, picked up the bag from the side, and exited the room. I started walking towards the first floor. It was time for the meeting with the prefects again.

As I was walking I heard my name being called out.

"Edward! Edward, wait!"

I stopped and turned to see Elizabeth rushing towards me. She seemed quite angry.

"Where have you been?! I have been looking for you all over the castle!" she asked indignantly. Her face flushed and her breaths quick.

"Oh. I am sorry, I was just reading up on something. What happened? There is still some time in the meeting, right?" I inquired. Had I lost track of the time?

"Yes, there are still thirty minutes until the meeting. I just wanted to ask you something." She said as both of us started moving towards our destination at a slow pace. I nodded my head and gestured for her to ask away.

"What happened with Professor Moody? No one is telling us anything. The staff just say that he had to leave for personal reasons. But they clearly are trying to hide something, right?" she said in a single breath.

"And?" I inquired. This was not something completely new.

"And the last person to see Dumbledore was you. So, the person with the greatest chance of knowing something is also you. So tell us something," she asked me seriously. Her voice was filled with worry and anxiety.

"Hmmm. I cannot give you a definite answer. Let's just say; the issue is quite similar to the one we had last year. I don't think the staff wants to announce it; because with the other schools coming, and with the Tri-Wizard Tournament happening, they don't want things to get out of hand," I replied and she nodded her head. Her face had gone white, and she seemed a little shaken.

"But, don't worry. I have already planned. The patrols will be done in pairs and I will hand these out during the meeting," I said tossing her a coin from my pocket.

She caught it in her hand and started examining it. Her eyes widened as she understood the implication of what I had made. Not invented. Made.

"So, you finally completed modifying the protean charm!" she exclaimed.

And yes, I had claimed that this was possible during class in the fifth year but had been rebuffed by a couple of students. Them believing it to be impossible. But, I had known that it was possible and when I had been free for some time during the last term I had made them as a pet project. Who knew I would have to use them this year?

She tried to hand the coin back but I stopped her.

"You should keep it. This is the master coin. You can program it and send messages to all the other coins. With you making the roster you should have it."

She nodded her head and once again started observing the charm and rune work. It was quite impressive if I say so myself.

I had not needed to disguise it as a galleon. So, I had more room, and once could send a short text on it. There was space for only about fifty to eighty words but this was enough. It would be like a text message. And in case of an emergency, you would just have to break it and it would alert all the other coins. They would heat up and could also guide a person towards the specified area. Kind of like an SOS GPS signal. I could see her struggling to make it work.

"Here let me help you. For writing, you just rotate …"

I have to compensate Hermione for it, I thought to myself.

After all, it was originally her idea. Perhaps a nice rare book from my collection. Hm, yes that should be enough. After all, I did stop them from learning defense under a renowned terrorist.