James arrived in the dim library and wandered through the aisles and shelves until he found Ralph and Rose, who were deep in conversation. He plunked his satchel onto the table and sat down next to Rose.
'We spoke to Zane a little while ago,' Ralph announced. 'He popped up right here in the library. Made Professor Heretofore ten shades of mad. She refused to let us zap him with any spells to maintain his projection, but he did give us a quick message.'
James leaned in. 'What was it?'
'Apparently he went to see Madame Delacroix in person,' Rose said in a low voice. 'She's pretty dotty, but he got some useful information out of her about what the wrong people might be able to do with your voodoo doll.'
'What?' James asked fervently. 'Tell me!'
'Exactly bupkis,' Ralph replied, curling his hand into the shape of a zero.
'More or less,' Rose added, glancing at Ralph. 'Your dad was right, James, when he said that voodoo wasn't like what the Muggle films show. It's apparently mostly psychological. Pinning a voodoo doll in the heart doesn't kill the subject, but it might make them sad or lonely.'
'Or give them heartburn,' Ralph quipped.
Rose rolled her eyes. 'The point is no one can physically hurt you with a voodoo doll. They may be able to make you believe you feel pain, or certain emotions, but that's all.'
James breathed a huge sigh. 'Well, that's a big relief, I guess.'
'Still,' Ralph asked, 'who do you think might have it?'
'Probably nobody,' James answered. 'It wasn't with the Cloak or the map. It was just on my mum's bedside table. It's probably just lost at home like my dad said.'
'Maybe Tabitha has it!' Rose whispered conspiratorially. 'Maybe she doesn't know she can't hurt you with it! She's probably going mad wondering why it isn't working!'
James shook his head. 'That's daft, Rose. Tabitha wouldn't have any way of getting it even if she knew about it. I never told anyone other than you, Ralph, and Zane about it. Besides, Tabitha doesn't need a voodoo doll to get at me. She could've fought me that night in the hall. Obviously she's not meaning to attack us with magic or anything.'
'At least not yet,' Ralph muttered. Suddenly, a low whistle pierced the air. It wasn't particularly loud, but it was noisy enough to disturb those studying nearby. At the next table, Ashley Doone glanced up curiously, looking for the source of the whistle.
'What's that?' Rose rasped. 'Ralph, I think it's coming from your bag!'
Ralph scrambled around in his seat, retrieving his bag. As soon as he unzipped it, the noise grew louder.
'It's Trenton's Sneakoscope!' Ralph said, pulling the instrument out of his bag. The noise was increasing both in pitch and volume.
'Mr. Deedle!' a voice called stridently. James turned in his seat and saw Professor Heretofore approaching along the aisle, her sharp features pinched into a scowl. 'How many times must you insist on disrupting this library?'
'Sorry,' Ralph said, still fiddling with the Sneakoscope. 'It must be malfunctioning. I can't see how to turn it off!'
Professor Heretofore shook her head in disdain. She produced her wand and flicked it deftly. The Sneakoscope emitted a sudden squawk and fell silent.
'There,' she said venomously. 'It's off. Now please vacate yourselves from the library, the three of you. If I see you in here again for the rest of the day, there will be deducted House points, even if you are a member of my house, Mr. Deedle. Now off with you.'
'Stupid hunk of junk,' Ralph muttered as they threaded toward the door. He stuffed the Sneakoscope in his bag and shouldered it.
'It wasn't malfunctioning,' a voice drawled. James glanced up as Scorpius fell in line with them, walking out of the library. 'It was doing exactly what it was meant to do.'
'Getting us kicked out of the library?' Ralph asked derisively.
Scorpius lowered his voice. 'No, Deedle. Alerting you to the presence of untrustworthy people.'
James frowned at Scorpius. 'What do you mean?'
'Not here,' Scorpius said. 'Follow me. I'll tell you what I can along the way.'
For several minutes, Scorpius led James, Ralph, and Rose through the halls silently. Eventually, they came to an old part of the castle which was rarely used. It smelled vaguely moldy. They passed no one else in the halls.
'I understand you had a rather illuminating conversation with 'Tabby',' Scorpius finally said, glancing at James as he walked.
'How do you know about that?'
'I hear things,' Scorpius replied vaguely. 'Tabitha has somehow come to believe that I am a Slytherin in disguise. She thinks that I detest the lot of you and am therefore on their side.'
'You had me fooled for awhile too, you know,' James admitted. 'My bed still has the words 'Whiny Potter Git' on it.'
'Where are we going, Scorpius?' Rose asked suspiciously. 'It looks like we're headed to the same place where we found the Mirror of Erised.'
Scorpius nodded. 'That's the spot, Weasley. Nothing gets past you.'
'Scorpius,' James said, narrowing his eyes, 'if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were nervous.'
Scorpius stopped suddenly in the hall. He turned to face the other three. 'What I'm about to do, I do against my better judgment,' he said in a low, serious voice. 'If my grandfather knew what I was about to show you, he'd probably kill me, and that's not an exaggeration.'
'What, Scorpius?' James asked, lowering his own voice to match the pale boy's. 'Do you know something?'
Scorpius looked away. 'Remember when I told you that I hadn't seen my grandfather for years? That he was in hiding, even from the rest of the family?'
James and Rose nodded. James said, 'It's not true? He's not in hiding?'
'Yes, he's in hiding. But it isn't true that I haven't seen him. I've seen him plenty.' Scorpius sighed and looked at James, Ralph, and Rose. 'It started two years ago. I hated the way my father had turned his back on his upbringing. The reason he'd begun studying the founders was to find out the truth about Salazar Slytherin. He'd been raised to believe that Slytherin was a revolutionary thinker and a hero, but the more my father studied, the more he began to believe that Slytherin had simply been a vicious, power-hungry madman. When I was quite young, Father and Grandfather had a serious row about it. They ended up wand to wand, although neither actually cast a spell. It disgusted me that my father would deny his family heritage. Once Grandfather disowned my father and moved into hiding, I determined to join him and prove my loyalty. My mother helped me locate Grandfather Lucius. He was quite happy to have me visit him in secret. He told me of his plans. Yes, I know about the Gatekeeper and how it came to descend into the world. I know that my grandfather believes he is carrying out the final solution of Salazar Slytherin, finally bringing about a world of pureblood perfection. But the more I listened to my grandfather, the more I realized he'd gone completely mad. Both he and his partner, Gregor Tyrranicus. Gregor was once wizarding royalty in Romania, but he lost power and was kicked out by his own family. Both he and my Grandfather Lucius will do anything to get that power back, and more. They truly mean to be rulers of a new pureblood kingdom with the Gatekeeper as their strong-arm.'
'So they really do think they can control it,' Rose breathed. 'They are mad!'
'They're mad, yes,' Scorpius answered. 'But who's to say they can't control it? If they can possess both halves of the Beacon Stone, they may indeed be able to protect themselves and their kingdom from the Gatekeeper, although it will hate them all the more for it, and will destroy them all the quicker if they get
