| Harry moved the loose floorboard out of the way, and looked each way to make sure no one was around. He peered down into the hole and saw nothing but darkness. He pulled out his wand very discreetly, whispered, �Lumos,� and instantly, a light shot out of the end of his wand. It amazed him to see a large vault, almost identical to the one that Cadence had pulled out of from under her bed. Curious, he reached in and pulled it out. He was right. It was the exact vault that he had Cadence holding, only the lace that wrapped this vault was nowhere near as pretty and fancy as what had been around Cadence�s box. He looked around, still making sure no one was looking, and the best of his curiosity overtook him. He unwrapped the ribbon, and with a trembling hand, he unlocked the box. Somehow, he got the distinct impression that whatever was in this vault was not going to be to his liking. The box opened, and a musty smell came from within it. The longer he had it out and the more he stared at it, the more he realized that it looked nothing like the beautiful vault Cadence held in her hands. Of course, Cadence�s beauty made everything she was around just as wonderful. Once the dust had been cleared and he could see and breathe, he stared at the contents of the box. It was almost completely empty except for a few moldy yellowed pictures. His brow furrowed, and he reached in cautiously and grabbed the stack of papers. They were almost crisped, as if they would disintegrate in his hands. It was almost as if some force within him was telling him to put the pictures back, that he didn�t want to learn the truth of what these pictures contained� but something stronger in his brain made him turn the pictures around to face him. His hand was shaking so violently though, that he knew whatever was on these pictures wouldn�t be seen anyway. He took a deep breath and calmed himself, closing his eyes to take a few seconds. And then on the count of three, he opened his eyes and looked down at them. His breath caught in his throat. He had never taken the time to get to know one of his fellow classmates, Neville Longbottom, but he was definitely sure that the people in the particular picture he was holding were his parents. It was evident. He had found out two years ago what had really become of Neville�s parents, and he couldn�t bear to stare at them any longer. He was almost too frightened to continue through the pile. But he did. He was horrified more and more with each picture he saw and finally almost screamed when he saw a picture of his mother and father. The pictures fell to the floor and he stood up as if there was some kind of virus on the picture he would catch. Tears welled out from his eyes and spilled over his cheeks. He wiped them away furiously and stood above them, staring at the pictures below him. He stared at his father�s face, an unbelievable resemblance to his own. The eyes, the untidy hair, the smile, and his beautiful mother on his arm, smiling at the camera. Yet there was a crudeness he couldn�t figure out that was within the picture, and it bothered him to no end to not know what it was. But then, he saw the thing that made him boil deep inside unlike anything else. Right underneath the picture of his mother and father� was the same picture of Cadence�s parents that he had seen in the frame next to Cadence. He bent over, shaking from fingertip to toes, choking on his breath. He picked up the picture and stared at it. Indeed, the same two beautiful people he had seen before, but as he stared at the picture, there was more and more of a vulgar taste that filled his mouth. Something he couldn�t explain but the feeling was strong enough to want to run from immediately. He finally composed himself, packed up the pictures, and went to put them back in the vault. He wanted nothing to do with this box� this hidden treasury that someone put under the floorboard. BOOM It hit him like a bag of bricks. A box of conquers. This was what it was. A box of accomplishments. Someone had stored a ton of pictures in a box, and got some sick sort of pleasure at looking at their triumphs, their defeats. Their victims. He shuddered, slamming the lid shut, and then noticing that something inside of the box had glinted at him, catching his eye. He slowly raised the lid again, and wondered how he had failed to see the large, round, silver object in the box. He lifted it out slowly and stared at it. It was some kind of necklace� beautiful in all its glory and he couldn�t help noticing that he had seen it somewhere before. He looked at the pictures again, seeing that in the picture of his parents his mom was wearing the same necklace� as well as Cadence�s mother. Harry gave a small cry, dropping the necklace and stumbling backward. He put a shaking hand to his mouth, staring wide-eyed at the box. He wasn�t sure how long he sat there, staring at the open vault before he got sick and tired of looking at it. Harry had put two and two together finally, and the conclusion to his sum had come up with a most horrific answer. Tears streamed down his face as he closed the vault, shoved it back into the floor, and angrily covered the gap with the floorboard. As he heard the wonderful crack that let him know the board was back in place, he swore he could hear distinct evil laughter behind him. He whirled around to see a stack of books, and a younger Ravenclaw student. �Are you alright Mr. Potter?� It didn�t surprise him that the student he had never seen before knew his name, but it did surprise him that someone else had been around while he had had an escapade. He wiped his face angrily, and bent down to grab his books. �I�m fine,� he answered gruffly, not looking up. �Do you need to see the nurse? You�re bleeding.� Harry sniffled. The hospital wing, he thought to himself. That�s exactly where I need to go. Time to get answers. Within his haste, he noticed that he had neglected to put the necklace back in the box. Instead of leaving it, he picked it up and shoved it into his pocket. It was finally time to find out where Cadence Cartwright really came from. �The nurse? I�ll go see the nurse. Thanks for your concern!� he answered in a fake cheerfulness, pushing past the Ravenclaw third year and rushing toward the hospital wing. Time to get answers. |
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