The Curse of the GateKeeper (James Potter #2) (57 page)

"Yeah, Cameron," James said, walking as fast as he could. "I'm glad you like the club."

They passed a group of older students by the main doors, all of whom were dressed in jeans and jumpers or jackets, babbling excitedly. Professor McGonagall stood at the head of the queue, accepting and inspecting the small parchments each student handed her.

"Yes, yes, Mr. Metzker, no point in making a show of it," she said as Noah flourished his permission slip. "Off you go. And if I catch you with any more of those awful Peruvian ballistic beans, it'll be more than deducted House points, I can assure you. Who's next?"

"Pity you can't come, James," Damien called as James pushed past the queue, heading out into the courtyard. "Hogsmeade weekends being only for third-years and older, you know." He waggled his eyebrows and grinned. Sabrina elbowed him in the stomach.

"I wish
I
could go to Hogsmeade," Cameron said wistfully, staring after the departing students. "Still, I'm sure there's a very good reason younger years can't go."

"Yeah," James said, stopping at the courtyard gate and turning to the younger boy. "Well, anyway, Cameron, I'm sure you have other things to do today. Don't let me keep you."

Cameron shook his head happily. "No, actually, I don't have a thing to do. I was sort of hoping that—"

"James!" Rose called, panting as she ran across the courtyard to meet him. "Ralph's coming. He insisted on borrowing a Sneakoscope from Trenton Bloch, the blighter. That warning from Zane's sure got him on high alert, especially today, since… er. Hi, Cameron."

"Hi, Rose," Cameron grinned cheerfully. "What's going on?"

Rose glanced at James, frowning a little. "Oh. What? Nothing. You know. Saturday this-and- that. Same as usual. Boring, really."

"What's your friend Ralph need a Sneakoscope for?"

James put his arm around Cameron, trying to steer him back toward the front entrance. "You know, Cameron, today would be a great day to practice up on some drills and exercises. The gym's open all day. I bet you could even find some other club members to join you."

"Well, why don't you three join me?" Cameron said, ducking under James' arm. "Since you don't have any plans yourselves."

Rose cleared her throat. "It isn't that we don't have any plans exactly, Cameron. They're just, er…"

"Secret," James interjected, at exactly the same moment that Rose said, "Boring."

"Secret, er, boring plans," James went on, nodding. "Club stuff. Scheduling and counting members and… and…"

"And planning field trips!" Rose added, brightening.

"We're going to go on a Defence Club field trip?" Cameron asked, furrowing his brow.

"Sure," James replied. "It's a secret, so keep it to yourself. But we're going to go to, er…"

"Er," Rose chimed, "the Forbidden Forest, with Hagrid, to practice Artis Decerto against some…"

"Some centaurs!" James supplied. He nodded. "Yeah, that sounds about right."

Cameron looked vaguely puzzled. "Centaurs know Artis Decerto?"

"Sure," Rose said confidently. "They practically invented it. I mean, they didn't
really
invent it, obviously, but practically… Anyway, it's a big secret, so don't tell anyone about it yet, all right?"

"Hey, everybody," Ralph said as he approached, shouldering his satchel. "We're all ready to go—"

"To Hagrid's," James interrupted, nodding at Ralph fervently. "To talk about the field trip. Yeah, I suppose he'll be expecting us any minute. So, anyway, see you around, Cameron."

Cameron looked at James, Rose, and Ralph in succession, his eyes slightly narrowed, then he smiled cheerfully. "Yeah! Sure. I'll keep it a secret. I've never seen a centaur in person. That'll be excellent!"

"Centaurs?" Ralph said, turning to James. "You never said anything about—"

"Cool!" James interrupted. "Yeah, thanks, Cam. Hush-hush, right? See you later."

Cameron nodded and backed away. Finally, he turned and headed back toward the castle entrance.

"What in the world was all that about?" Ralph asked as the three students ran around the corner of the gate.

"James' secret admirer," Rose said. "We had to come up with something fast so he wouldn't tail us around all day."

"Do you think you can remember the secret knot?" James asked, changing the subject.

Rose answered, "Gennifer marked it with a spot of green paint. It looks like moss unless you get up close. Should be pretty easy to find if you know what to look for."

As they crested the hill and came in sight of the Whomping Willow, James found a long stick beneath a birch. He smiled, showing it to Ralph and Rose. Rose nodded seriously.

"You're on secret knot duty, then, James," she said. "Just give it a good poke. We'll follow you into the entrance between the roots once the Willow goes still."

James gripped the stick and approached the tree. The Willow seemed to sense his intent. It reared slightly, creaking its roots, and whipping its thinnest branches threateningly.

"Stay low," Ralph called. "You'll need to get just inside the shadow of the tree to reach the knot. The big branches can't reach you, but those little green ones might if you're too high."

James hunkered as low as he could until he was crawling forward on his hands and knees. The tree swished and groaned over him. A whip-like green branch swung at him, trying to wrench the stick out of his hand. It missed, but James felt the breeze of its passage.

"Careful," Rose cried in a thin voice. "Just right there! Slowly!"

James reached as far as he could, staring down the length of the stick at its wavering tip. He could see the spot of green paint applied earlier in the term by Gennifer Tellus. This close up, he could see that she'd painted it in the shape of a tiny smiley face. The Whomping Willow creaked ponderously and James felt its shadow leaning over him. He lunged and poked with the stick, striking the knot dead-on.

"That's it!" Rose cried. James heard both Ralph and Rose running forward. He scrambled up, slipping on the wet grass. Clumsily, he hurled himself forward into the dark crack between the Willow's massive roots. He landed with a thud in the mossy hollow beneath the tree. A moment later, he heard and felt the entrance of Ralph and Rose. They landed on either side of him, barely missing him in the damp darkness. James laughed in relief. He began to climb to his feet when a fourth shape hurtled through the entrance, bowling directly into James. A knee bounced off his chest, knocking the wind out of him. There was a chorus of angry and surprised shouts.

"What the—" Ralph cried, scrambling up and snatching after the intruder. He caught the figure by the collar just as Rose whipped out her wand.

"Lumos!" she cried, holding it up.

The wandlight sprayed over the skinny shape of Cameron Creevey, held suspended by Ralph's grip. The boy had dirt and bits of bark on his face. He grinned gamely.

"Hi, guys," he said, panting. "Some field trip, eh?"

"I
couldn't help it," Cameron said as the four traipsed along the length of the tunnel. "I just knew you were up to something exciting! I saw you heading out toward the Whomping Willow and I remembered reading that there had been a secret passage there, back in our parents' day. They say it was all sealed off after the battle, but still, I knew you three could find a way through if you wanted. So I followed along. I was about to call out to you, but then the tree stopped moving and you all ran toward it! I did the first thing that came to mind and ran after you. It was a near thing too! The Willow came back alive just as I got under it! It swiped at me and barely missed!"

"Stupid, lazy tree," Ralph muttered.

"Cameron, that was a very reckless thing to do," Rose said reprovingly, still holding her wand aloft to light the way.

"Well, you can't blame me, can you?" Cameron protested shrilly. "I've read all the Harry Potter stories at least a dozen times! When I saw you sneaking off, I
knew
you were going on some big secret adventure! I just wanted to see it in person. I promise I won't get in the way!"

"Those stories are all rubbish, Cameron," James grumbled, not really believing it. "My dad says that he couldn't even read them all the way through. They make it all seem like an exciting romp, but it was mostly really scary and people dying and buckets of dumb luck."

"Oh, I know," Cameron enthused. "Believe me, I understand all that. I know Revalvier's books are cleaned up a little bit. I mean, they were written to be children's stories. But still, my dad says they got the main parts all right. And your dad really did fight Voldemort and defeat him, all because of the protection his mum gave him when she died to save him. That part wasn't made-up, was it?"

"Look, Cam," James began a little angrily, but Rose cleared her throat and nudged him.

"We weren't the only ones to lose relatives in the fight against Voldemort," she said softly.

James remembered. Cameron's Uncle Colin had been killed during the Battle of Hogwarts. James sighed. "All right, Cameron, I guess you've a right to come along today as any of us. But trust me, there aren't going to be any grand adventures."

"There better not be," Ralph said darkly.

"I told you, Ralph," Rose said, "the tunnel to Hogsmeade is technically a part of Hogwarts. It's under the protection Merlin gave the castle. We're safe here."

Ralph didn't seem particularly relieved. "Yeah, well, what about when we get to Hogsmeade? Are you going to tell me that somehow the whole village is 'technically a part of Hogwarts'?"

"Arguably, it could be," she answered. "It's probably the last vestige of the fief that once surrounded the castle. But either way, there will be loads of people there. Not even… er, someone really powerful would attack us with all those crowds around. Besides, no one has seen the Headmaster for almost two weeks, have they?"

"I saw him just yesterday," Cameron piped up. "He was in the hall outside the common room, just walking along like he was on a stroll."

James glanced back at Cameron. "You saw Merlin in the castle? Are you sure it was him? I thought he was off travelling somewhere. That's what Professor Longbottom said."

"I guess he got back, didn't he?" Cameron replied. "What? I thought you all
liked
Headmaster Merlin."

"Sure, Cam," Rose said. "We like him well enough. We just, er, wouldn't want to get caught sneaking off the grounds like this."

Cameron grinned. "Oh, you three won't get caught. That wouldn't make a very good story, would it?"

James was becoming rather annoyed with Cameron. "This isn't a 'story', you know. Merlin knows when things are going on around the school. If he's here…"

"Let's not spook ourselves," Rose said soothingly. "We're not doing anything terrible. We just want to get a look around Hogsmeade, that's all. Nothing bad is going to happen. Cameron's probably right. It wouldn't make a very good story if we were all captured and horribly dispatched by some waiting enemy in the Shrieking Shack…," her voice trailed off uncomfortably. "Er… would it?"

"Depends on what kind of story it is," Ralph said gloomily.

They walked in nervous silence for awhile. Eventually, the tunnel began to slope upwards. It ended at a jumble of broken crates and bits of furniture, all covered with dust and cobwebs. Beyond was only thick darkness.

"We must be at the Shack," Rose said in a whisper. "James, can we make it through?"

"Just barely, if we move some of this rubbish around." James gingerly began to stack some of the fallen crates. Dust puffed up at his efforts, clouding Rose's wandlight. Spiders skittered on the walls.

"So we're at the Shrieking Shack, then?" Ralph asked in a quavering voice. "Should we be expecting it to, you know, start shrieking?"

Rose answered, "It doesn't do that, Ralph. It's a long story, but there's nothing to be afraid of here. At least, not anymore."

Ralph gulped. "Then why are you whispering?"

"There," James said, wiping his brow with his sleeve. "I can see through. It's really dark, but if you duck right here we can get into the next room."

James led the way, clambering through the small opening on his hands and knees. He could see that the tunnel entrance had once been larger, but the Shrieking Shack had deteriorated quite a lot in the years since the tunnel had been used. Much of the wall had crumbled around the opening and the ceiling overhead had partially collapsed.

"Whoa," Cameron said in awe as the four students dusted themselves off. "This is where it all happened! This is where Harry Potter learned the truth about Sirius Black! I bet it was right over there that Black almost killed the rat, Peter Pettigrew!"

"Thanks for the play-by-play, Cam," James muttered. "Come on, let's get out—"

Cameron gasped, causing everyone to jump. "It must have been right here that Voldemort ordered his snake Nagini to attack Professor Snape!" Cameron said breathlessly. "He probably died right where you're standing, Ralph!"

"Can you, like, stop talking about who killed who in this very room, Cameron?" Ralph exclaimed. "It's not like the place needs any more ambiance."