The morning of the Hogsmeade visit dawned crisp and brilliant, though fierce winds whipped across the castle grounds like restless spirits. After breakfast, Harry, Ron, and Hermione dutifully joined the queue forming before Filch's suspicious scrutiny, while Orli discretely tucked Harry'sInvisibility Cloak into her shoulder bag and made her way toward the familiar passage concealed behind the hump-backed witch statue.
The journey through the secret tunnel took approximately an hour—a trek that had become as routine as breathing for her by now. But when she cautiously lifted the concealed trapdoor in the corner of Honeydukes' cellar, expecting to emerge into dusty solitude, she instead discovered a figure crouched beside the passage entrance, clearly having anticipated her arrival for some considerable time.
Her heart leaped into her throat as she hastily dropped back into the tunnel's protective darkness, only belatedly recognizing the familiar silhouette above as belonging to Professor Lupin.
The trapdoor was gently pulled open from outside, revealing Lupin's kind face peering down at her with an amused smile. He raised one finger to his lips in the universal gesture for silence, then extended his hand to help pull her up from the underground passage.
Questions bubbled up inside her like a cauldron at full boil, but instinct warned her that this was neither the time nor place for explanations. She studied him with careful suspicion, her fingers instinctively tightening around her wand within the concealment of her sleeve. Observing her continued wariness, Lupin's smile deepened with understanding. He deliberately spread his left palm wide and used his right index finger to trace three distinct letters across his skin: "R-A-B".
Only then did Orli release the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, her tension dissolving as she smiled and nodded her recognition.
Lupin grasped her arm with practiced efficiency and Disapparated without ceremony. They materialized in what could only be described as a monument to decay and abandonment—a room where wallpaper peeled like diseased skin, where stains mapped unknown tragedies across the floorboards, and where every piece of furniture bore the scars of deliberate destruction. Wooden boards sealed the windows like closed eyelids, while in the entrance hall, a three-legged chair stood as a testament to the building's gradual surrender to time.
Orli followed Lupin through the deteriorating structure to its innermost chamber, past a door that hung precariously on rusted hinges, where a four-poster bed listed dangerously toward complete collapse. Two additional figures occupied this desolate space: Dumbledore, resplendent in deep purple robes that seemed to glow against the surrounding gloom, and Snape, whose black attire allowed him to blend seamlessly with the shadows as if he were darkness given human form.
"Headmaster, Professor,"Orli said with careful politeness, though her pulse quickened at Snape's proximity. She suppressed the treacherous flutter of joy that threatened to betray her composure and positioned herself precisely half a meter from Snape—close enough to feel his presence like electricity in the air, distant enough to maintain the pretense of casual indifference.
"You actually summoned her here as well?!"Snape regarded Dumbledore with an expression that hovered somewhere between sardonic amusement and genuine incredulity. "Why not simply recruit her into the Order of the Phoenix and be done with it?"
"Actually, Severus, I genuinely have considered precisely that possibility,"Dumbledore replied with the serene confidence of someone accustomed to navigating treacherous conversational waters. "Although Orli hasn't yet reached her majority, making a special exception might be..."
He paused, observing Snape's expression darken like storm clouds gathering before a tempest, then smoothly amended: "...though naturally, adhering to established protocols is undoubtedly the wiser course."
"What is this place?"Orli asked, grateful for any opportunity to redirect the conversation away from her own uncertain status. She surveyed their decrepit surroundings while silently thanking whatever forces had inspired Hermione to schedule their afternoon gathering rather than a morning meeting.
"This is the Shrieking Shack,"Lupin explained, his voice carrying the weight of painful memories. "Perhaps you're aware that during my Hogwarts years, I was... obligated to spend each full moon in this location."
"I suspected you would devise some method of reaching Hogsmeade despite official restrictions, so I dispatched Remus to locate you,"Dumbledore said with the satisfied expression of someone whose predictions had proven accurate. "He and his former companions possessed unparalleled knowledge of the castle's secret passages during their student years."
"Are you planning to dedicate the next hour to regaling her with tales of the Marauders' supposedly glorious exploits?"Snape interjected with cutting precision, his tone sharp enough to slice through steel.
"Since Severus clearly has no desire to revisit those particular memories, I suppose such stories must wait for a more receptive audience,"Dumbledore replied with theatrical disappointment, then turned his penetrating blue gaze toward Orli. "The primary reason we've requested your presence today concerns the Horcruxes. Extremely few individuals possess knowledge of this matter—only through shared intelligence can we maximize our probability of locating and destroying these abominations."
The word "Horcruxes" seemed to suck the remaining warmth from the already frigid room, settling over them like a shroud woven from darkness and despair.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
Read up to (180+ ) advanced chapters on Patre\on
Visit us here: patreon.com/DarkGolds
Happy reading, everyone!