The Curse of the GateKeeper (James Potter #2) (31 page)

"Actually," Ralph said thoughtfully, "no, we hadn't."

"But the gravesite!" Rose insisted. "That wasn't from a long time ago! Volde—er, He Who Must Not Be Named hasn't been dead all that long! But his grave was all covered with moss and vines, so it couldn't have been from the past…"

"Let it go, Rose," Ralph shrugged. "You might be right, but what would we do about it anyway? All we can do is hope Merlin's as good as his word, like Hagrid says. If he is, we don't have anything to worry about. If he's not… well, what are we going to do against a bloke that can make the earth open up and swallow whole armies?"

Rose fumed but didn't respond.

A short while later, the trio finished their teas and bid Hagrid goodbye. As they left, James peered over into the west corner of the garden. Sure enough, a very large orange- and purple-striped squash rested there on its bed of leaves, still glistening with last night's rain.

"I don't care what anyone says," Rose said gravely as they skirted the Whomping Willow, "I don't trust him. He's not what he says he is."

"As much as I don't agree with Rose," Ralph answered, "this whole thing does make our new Defence Club seem all the more important."

"How so?" James asked.

"Well, it's obvious, isn't it? If what we saw in the Mirror was true and was from the present day, then it means some really bad stuff might be coming. We might actually have an enemy to fight. I, for one, want to be ready for that."

"Ralph," Rose said in a different voice, "if I didn't find you generally thick as a brick, I'd be impressed by that."

Ralph blushed a little. "Thanks, I guess."

As they rounded a stand of bushes on the far side of the Whomping Willow, they ran into Noah, Damien, and Gennifer Tellus, the Ravenclaw Gremlin. The three were crouched just out of range of the branches, studying the gnarled tree trunk. The branches of the Willow shifted and twitched, sensing their presence but not quite able to reach them.

"Hey," Ralph called as they approached the hunkered Gremlins, "we got permission to start the new Defence Club—"

"Shh!" Noah hissed, raising a hand. "Hold on a minute."

James, Rose, and Ralph crept up behind the three Gremlins, who were rasping at each other tensely.

"A little lower," Damien hissed. "It's the big one that looks like an Adam's apple on a really skinny bloke."

Noah shook his head. "We tried that one time before last! I keep telling you it's on the other side, facing away from the castle. I remember from last year, with Ted."

Gennifer held a long stick. Biting her tongue in concentration, she held it out, reaching toward the tree trunk with the stick's tip. The tree leaned slightly and, almost lazily, whiplashed a branch at the stick. Gennifer exclaimed painfully as the stick was wrenched from her hand. It spun off into the thickets and the Willow relaxed again, almost smugly.

"I told you to hold it lower!" Noah exclaimed, stepping away from the tree and straightening.

"Look, you want to give it a go?" Gennifer replied, looking back over her shoulder. "Be my guest. But you'll need to go find yourself yet another stick."

"I can't help if you have longer arms than me," Noah proclaimed. "It's not my fault you've got the reach of a weregorilla."

"I've got another stick," Damien said patiently. "Here, give it another go, Gen. We'll hit it eventually."

James watched as Gennifer reached carefully toward the tree trunk again. The Willow swung its branches, feeling for the stick but not quite reaching it this time. James asked Noah, "What's this all about?"

"Secret passage, possibly," Noah answered, wiping moisture and grass clippings from his hands. "We've been coming out and testing it every year since I first came. It was Ted's idea. Hit the right knot on the trunk and the tree goes tame enough to get inside."

Rose's eyes brightened. "It leads to a secret passageway? But I thought all the old secret passages had been sealed off?"

"Well, there's sealed off and there's sealed off," Noah replied. "Thing is, Hogwarts being as magical as it is, the passages have ways of opening back up on their own after a while. Either that or new ones get discovered nearby. Petra discovered the Lokimagus passage just down the hall from the statue of the OneEyed Witch, and that statue was supposed to lead to a secret passage back in your parents' day."

"I remember Mum talking about that one," Rose agreed. "She said it went down to Hogsmeade. I was hoping that one still worked. I wanted to see Hogsmeade myself this year even though first-years aren't allowed to go on Hogsmeade weekends."

"Ahh, Hogsmeade," Noah sighed. "Making miscreants out of model students for as long as I can remember. Ted works down there now, at Weasleys'. We plan on getting him to buy us Butterbeers at the Triple Sticks when we go. All of us except Petra, of course."

"What's going on with Petra?" James asked suddenly.

Noah glanced at James. "Oh, nothing major. She just doesn't want to go because she and Ted used to be a bit of an item. Apparently, it all came to an end when Ted started seeing Victoire. They kept it secret most of the summer, but now the whole world knows about it. Somebody blabbed about it back at King's Cross."

"I didn't blab!" James exclaimed before he could stop himself. "Ted told me to tell! He wanted to get the word out but didn't want to make a big thing of it!"

"That was you?" Gennifer said, peering back at James over her shoulder.

James rolled his eyes. "So that's what Petra's all upset about?"

"She hasn't said so," Noah said, sighing. "Who can tell? She and Ted were never all that serious, if you ask me. I admit I expected her to end it first, though. Ted's just a bit too wild for a girl like Petra. She needs a different kind of man."

"A man whose initials are N. M., you think?" Damien called, grinning.

James felt his face heat. It bothered him that he might have inadvertently caused Petra's melancholy by revealing Ted and Victoire's relationship, even if Ted had asked him to do it. For some reason, it also bothered him that Noah might be interested in taking Ted's place. Nonchalantly, James asked Noah, "What kind of man does a girl like Petra want?"

Noah shrugged. "Well, Petra's smart. Smarter than most people know. She's going places. She needs a bloke who can hunker down and take life seriously with her. Ted, he's great and we all love him, but he's not the take-life-seriously type."

Rose interjected, "I heard Petra might get the part of Astra in the play. She'd be great for the role with her long dark hair and blue eyes."

Noah nodded. "If she can get her head around it. It's down to her and Josephina Bartlett, and Josephina really wants that part."

"It's just the thing Petra needs to get her mind off of Ted Lupin," Rose said emphatically. "She's prettier than Josephina any day of the week. I'll help her prepare for the role if I can. She has one more audition, doesn't she?"

"Later this week," Noah agreed. "I hope she gets it. I'm still hoping to land the part of Donovan."

"And Donovan and Astra get to dance," Damien sang mistily.

"That's nothing," Noah replied. "Astra and Treus kiss at the end of the play, and the script calls it 'the kiss of true and everlasting love'."

"They won't really kiss," Rose said, shaking her head. "In plays, they just press their cheeks together with their heads turned. The audience just thinks they're kissing."

"Close enough for me," Noah muttered. "How we doing with that secret knot, Tellus?"

"Don't hassle the maestro while she's working…," Damien said, still hunkered down next to Gennifer. The Willow was growing restless. Its trunk creaked ominously as it leaned, trying to lower its branches to walloping distance. Gennifer's stick weaved nervously near the leaning trunk.

Ralph was looking apprehensively at the big, swaying tree. "So you've already been down in the secret passage beneath the Whomping Willow? Where does it go?"

"As of last year, nowhere," Noah admitted. "It was all blocked off by a cave-in after a little way. That's why it never occurred to us to mark the secret knot. Still, it always seems like it'd have been a good idea when we come back the next year."

"We can't mark the knot," Gennifer said through gritted teeth. "Otherwise, everyone would be able to use it. We have to just… remember it… there!"

Gennifer jabbed the stick at the trunk, hitting a large knot near one of the tree's twisted roots. The tree suddenly straightened and went still.

"Come on!" Noah cried, bolting toward the tree. "We don't have long!"

James threw a look at Rose, then Ralph. Simultaneously, all three turned and ran toward the tree, following the three Gremlins. Gennifer was the first to reach the trunk. She ducked and threw herself forward, disappearing into a deep crack between two enormous roots. Damien and Noah followed. James hoped there was room inside for six since he was the last in. As Ralph scrambled into the narrow space, James glanced up. He'd never been this close to the Whomping Willow before and it looked huge and deadly as it loomed over him. As he watched, its branches began to move again. The trunk groaned ominously as it reanimated, angry and looking for something to whomp. James ducked and threw himself into the crack between the roots just as a branch swung past him, buffeting him with its passage.

"Wow," Gennifer said, clambering up, "six people with one knot push! I'd say that's a new record. Everybody all right?"

"I'll be fine when James gets off my back," Rose complained, grunting.

"Sorry, Rose. I didn't have time to look where I was landing."

Noah lit his wand and held it up. The space was low, ceilinged with the massive roots of the Whomping Willow. A stone-walled passage led down into darkness. The Gremlins began to descend it, followed closely by James, Rose, and Ralph. After about thirty paces, the group came to a halt. In the lead, Noah held his wand higher, whistling through his teeth.

"Eureka," Damien said excitedly.

"What?" Rose exclaimed, standing on her toes to see over James' shoulder. "I can't see! What is it?"

"Hogwarts finds a way," Gennifer replied. "It looks like there was a flood down here last spring. Washed a bunch of the dirt and gravel away. Look, there's room to squeeze through if you don't mind getting dirty."

"Excellent!" Noah proclaimed, his voice echoing from further ahead. There was a distant splash. "The passage beyond is completely intact! There's a little water to slosh through, and some seriously busy spiders, but the wandlight scares them away. I'd guess this goes straight on through from here."

"Are we going now?" Ralph asked. "I didn't really come prepared for any, er, journeys."

"Don't get anxious, Ralphinator," Noah answered, scrambling back around the former cave-in. "We'll go the rest of the way later. It's just good to know the passageway's back open again."

"And we're the first to find it," Gennifer added.

"So don't you lot tell anyone," Damien finished, stabbing a finger in the air and looking severely at James, Rose, and Ralph. "Especially you, Mr. Slytherin."

"Easy, Damascus," Noah said. "Ralph's loyal to the Gremlin cause. Come on, let's get back out of here."

"So where does the passage go to?" Rose asked as they retraced their steps.

"Our best guess is that it goes to Hogsmeade," Gennifer answered. "So you might get your wish about sneaking in a visit this year."

"The passage goes to Hogsmeade?" Ralph replied, a bit irked about Damien's lack of confidence. "Where does it come up? Couldn't somebody just trace it back to Hogwarts?"

"Worried that your dad missed another weak spot in the school's 'security perimeter'?" Damien asked, smiling crookedly. "Don't worry. Old Daddy Dolohov's defensive perimeter is safe. Nobody will be coming back from the other side. Except us, hopefully."

"The passage doesn't go to Hogsmeade directly, Ralph," Noah said.

They reached the bunker beneath the Whomping Willow. Carefully, Gennifer reached out and found the secret knot. The tree went still and she scrambled out.

"So where does it go to, then?" James asked as the group climbed quickly out of the secret opening.

"Our best guess is it goes to a delightful place called the 'Shrieking Shack'," Damien said, stopping outside the perimeter of the tree. "Nobody ever goes there."

"I can see why," Ralph nodded. "Does it, you know, shriek?"

"No, it's just a name, Ralph," Gennifer said, clapping the big boy on the shoulder. "It hasn't shrieked in decades. Although apparently it used to make quite a fuss, didn't it? Supposedly, the whole place shook."

Ralph looked back at James and Rose. "Are they making fun of me?"

"Yeah, Ralph," James nodded. "But it's all out of love. Don't sweat it."

Ralph accepted that and the three began to follow the Gremlins back across the wet grass. As they reached the castle, he asked, "So the Shrieking Shack didn't really used to shriek?"

James shook his head. "I didn't say that, Ralph… I just said they were making a little fun of you. It's best if you don't ask any more about it."

Rose concurred. "Really, Ralph. Trust us."

Ralph opened his mouth, considered it, and then closed it again. He sighed and the three students climbed the steps into the castle, following the smells of lunch.