Chapter 36: A Slip of the Tongue
Hogwarts Castle lay steeped in Friday night quiet.
While most students were lounging in their common rooms or looking forward to the weekend, Tamara Riddle walked alone along the fourth floor corridor toward Professor Flitwick's office.
This was her first evening at the Charms Club.
When she pushed open the oak door, a wave of warmth met her at once.
The office looked nothing like a classroom. Instead of rows of desks and chairs, it had been arranged like a cosy little parlour.
The fire burned brightly in the grate. Small glowing orbs of different colours drifted through the room. Several older students sat around circular tables, speaking in low voices.
Tamara recognised a few familiar faces immediately.
Penelope Clearwater, Ravenclaw prefect, fifth year.
Percy Weasley, Gryffindor prefect, also fifth year.
There were also several seventh years practising wordless spellcasting for their N.E.W.T.s, the Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests.
When Tamara entered, the room's conversation stalled for several seconds.
Everyone looked at the small girl in surprise. She was only eleven.
"Oh! Come in, Miss Riddle!"
Professor Flitwick, standing atop a stack of books like a set of little stairs, waved enthusiastically.
"Everyone, pause for a moment. Let me introduce the youngest member our club has ever had. Tamara Riddle!"
"A first year?" Percy Weasley pushed up his glasses and frowned. "Professor, is that even allowed? The topics discussed in the Charms Club usually involve advanced theory."
"Rules are meant to serve people, Mr Weasley," Professor Flitwick squeaked. "If you had seen Miss Riddle's control with the Levitation Charm, you would understand exactly why I made an exception. Come, Tamara, sit here."
Tamara nodded politely to the room, ignoring the curious and sceptical looks, then sat with composed elegance in the soft chair beside Professor Flitwick.
"Tonight we have a special topic."
Professor Flitwick clapped his hands, and a large brass chest suddenly flew out from behind the stack of books.
It landed with a heavy thump, and the lid sprang open on its own.
Inside were hundreds of old rusty metal keys. Each one had a pair of thin silver wings like a dragonfly's. They buzzed frantically inside the chest, trying to escape.
"Flying keys?" Penelope asked, intrigued.
"Exactly!" Professor Flitwick said, beaming. "Professor Dumbledore gave me a special task. I need to place Anti Capture Charms and High Speed Flight Charms on a whole batch of keys, but I cannot finish it alone, so I thought I would ask all of you to help."
Tamara's eyes sharpened at once.
Flying keys.
A special task from Dumbledore.
A faint smile, so slight it was almost impossible to see, touched the corner of her mouth.
So this was the third challenge guarding the Philosopher's Stone.
The first was Hagrid's Cerberus, Fluffy, over the trapdoor.
The second was Professor Sprout's Devil's Snare. Tamara had heard Sprout grumbling in the greenhouse about how troublesome it was and how badly it disliked light.
And this was plainly Flitwick's contribution.
"Professor, what exactly are we meant to do?" one of the seventh years asked.
"Simple. Catch them!"
Professor Flitwick flicked his wand, and the hundreds of keys burst from the chest in an instant like a swarm of angry hornets, zipping through the office in every direction.
"I need to test their agility. If any are too easy to catch, they are defective and must be redone!"
The office descended into chaos.
The older students snatched out their wands and tried to catch the keys with Summoning Charms or Freezing Charms, but it was not easy.
Flitwick had enchanted them well. The keys seemed to anticipate spell trajectories and dodged with nimble precision.
Percy Weasley was already sweating and had caught only two.
Tamara remained seated, in no hurry to move.
She quietly watched the keys and studied their flight patterns.
What an elegant magical structure, she thought.
The way they dodged looked almost like self awareness.
Then a large old silver key shot past her ear with a sharp whistle.
Its wings were slightly damaged, and its flight was a little unstable.
Tamara moved.
She did not use any advanced spell she had not officially learned. Instead, she lifted her holly wand in a familiar opening posture.
Wingardium Leviosa.
She did not say the incantation aloud. She only spoke it in her mind.
That was enough.
She was not trying to make the key fly. Instead, she flooded the air around it with magic and formed a powerful reverse drag field.
The silver key, which had been racing at full speed, jerked as though it had slammed into thick syrup.
Its wings beat wildly, but its body was pinned in place by invisible force, hanging in the air and unable to move.
"Come here."
Tamara gave the slightest turn of her wrist.
Guided by her wand, the struggling silver key floated unwillingly into her palm.
Snap.
Her fingers closed around it while its wings fluttered weakly between them.
"Perfect!"
Professor Flitwick clapped both hands, delighted.
"Using the Levitation Charm to create reverse drag and capture a high speed target. Merlin! That requires not only tremendous magical power, but extraordinary precision and timing. Miss Riddle, you caught the most difficult one!"
Tamara turned the key idly between her fingers and asked in a tone of mild curiosity.
"Professor, such a complicated defence mechanism... is it meant to protect something important? A Gringotts vault, perhaps?"
Professor Flitwick was flushed with excitement, and his guard was clearly lower than usual.
"Oh no, not Gringotts." He waved a hand vaguely, then lowered his voice with a conspiratorial air. "It is for... well, you know. A certain corridor on the third floor. Professor Dumbledore wants each Head of House to contribute a challenge."
Each Head of House.
Tamara caught the phrase at once.
"Yes," Professor Flitwick said casually while steering a handful of keys out of a student's face. "Professor McGonagall made an enormous set of wizard chess. Professor Snape set a potion puzzle with logical reasoning. Oh dear, I should not have said so much."
He abruptly realised what he had let slip and covered his mouth, looking embarrassed.
"Do forget what I just said, Miss Riddle. That is confidential."
"Of course, Professor."
Tamara nodded obediently, all innocence.
"I did not hear a thing."
She even used her [Harmless] skill, which made her look more innocent than ever.
But when her lashes lowered, understanding flashed in her eyes.
What an amusing little game.
"Miss Riddle?" Professor Flitwick asked, noticing her momentary stillness. "Are you tired?"
"No, Professor."
Tamara lifted her gaze and returned the silver key to the chest.
"I was only thinking that with protection this strict, whatever is being guarded must be perfectly safe."
Professor Flitwick nodded proudly.
"Exactly. No one is getting through mechanisms this exquisite."
Tamara smiled in agreement.
For the rest of the Charms Club meeting, she did not show off again. She simply sat quietly and pretended to read.
By the time she left Flitwick's office, she already had a complete route to the Philosopher's Stone mapped out in her mind.
Halloween was coming soon.
As she walked through the dim corridor, Tamara glanced out at the pitch black night beyond the castle windows.
.....
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