Harry chuckled softly and nodded.
"A fidelius charm." The fidelius charm not only required a lot of power to produce, it also required a lot of skill at making the charm hide something within someone's soul. It was extra difficult when the person casting it was trying to hide the secret within himself.
Draco froze mid-stride and turned to look at Harry with a surprised expression. "You put your room under the fidelius?" Draco brought himself up short and held up his hands before Harry could reply "Wait, of course you did. Yourself as the secret keeper I presume?"
Harry nodded. "It was one of several wards and charms I put up there."
Draco chuckled softly. "Well that explains why you weren't worried about being bothered last night." He could hardly be surprised by the extent that Harry was able to hide things. Draco was forced to wonder how many skills Harry had felt necessary to learn.
Harry nodded and then leaned forward to murmur very quietly, loud enough for only Draco's ears. "The room of Ares Flamel is the last door on the right in the fourth year corridor of the Slytherin dormitories."
Draco frowned and then his eyes went wide as a door seem to pop into existence where none had been before. He was brought out of his distracted air when Harry tossed something at him. Reacting instinctively Draco caught the object and looked at it. It took a moment to realize that it was the wrist holster Harry had mentioned.
Draco smiled thankfully, immediately rolling down his sleeve to attach the holster and fit it comfortably onto his arm. Once it settled on, Draco slid his wand into it.
Harry just watched as he slid the wand in. His voice was solemn when he spoke. "That was used by one of the bravest and best people I've ever known. Don't ever give me a reason to regret giving it to you." He idly wondered if the universe was appreciating the irony of Draco gratefully accepting a wand holster once worn by Neville Longbottom.
Draco's head shot up and tilted his head curiously, wondering who Harry meant. However Harry's face was impassive and not at all forthcoming. Rather than press the issue, Draco just nodded in understanding.
Draco and Harry made their way back to the common room.
Harry was surprised to see that the issue had grown enough that not only was Snape there, but so was Professor Dumbledore and Professor Babbling, the professor of ancient runes. They were deep in conversation and for just a moment Harry couldn't prevent a brief smile of amusement at the scowl on Snape's face, as well as the consternation reflected on Dumbledore's expression.
The three of them were in discussion, and hadn't bothered to bring their voices down. Or rather Snape and Dumbledore were in discussion, Professor Babbling was casting what Harry quickly ascertained to be diagnostic spells. It was hard to tell from this angle what the results were, though Harry was fairly certain he knew what they should be.
"What do you mean the wards are beyond you?" Snape demanded of Dumbledore, surprise flickering across his features.
Dumbledore shrugged a little bit, "I am in control of the wards guarding the castle itself. These are independent of those. Therefore I can't just shut them down." "Then just dismantle them." Snape said with a scowl. "Students are trapped in there."
Dumbledore shook his head, "These are very complicated. I'm having trouble making heads or tails of them. I wouldn't want to trigger a reaction of some sort." Dumbledore was running his hand through his beard as he peered thoughtfully down the hall.
"How are we going to get the students out then?" Snape demanded.
"I suppose it's possible that Fawkes may be able to—" Dumbledore began but was cut off.
"These are absolutely brilliant!" Professor Babbling suddenly blurted out with a laugh of amusement.
Dumbledore and Snape turned to look at her with different expressions. Snape's was deeper than his normal scowl, while Dumbledore was merely curious. Bathsheda Babbling had stopped her casting and crossed her arms over her chest with a very pleased smile.
"Have you figured them out Bathsheda?" Dumbledore asked curiously.
The attractive teacher adjusted her glasses on her face before nodding. "I would love to meet whoever put these up. They are quite literally a genius." When she got no response from either Snape nor Dumbledore she continued. "The doors all have a number of wards tied in together in a way I've only seen once before really."
"Please elaborate if you would Professor." Dumbledore encouraged. He considered himself relatively experienced with wards and runs. However, Bathsheda was definitely one of the foremost in the field of both Ancient Runes and warding, because of the crossover that occurred between the two different fields of study. It also happened to be pretty much all she was adept at.
The entire common room was quiet as they listened to the Professor talk, practically hanging on her words, and the professor seemed to be well aware of it. She was practically bouncing with excitement. "First, let me test a theory." And with that she strode purposefully into the hall to the first door where one of the sixth years remained frozen. She ignored the protests from both Snape and Dumbledore as she ducked and moved around the frozen form of the student to enter the room and then came walking back out to her original position.
Nodding to herself having gotten the verification she needed. "These wards have several things tied into them. First and most easily distinguishable, is a ward that determines the intent of anyone entering. That is probably why nothing happened to anyone who investigated. It also explains why our new first years are out here in the common room, rather than trapped in their it makes me curious why these other students tripped the wards." Bathsheda narrowed her eyes as she glared at both Dumbledore and Snape.
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