Scorpius stood at the top of the short stair and gazed into the room, which was dome-shaped with white walls and a gray stone floor. He did not see any furniture, equipment, or artifacts, or anything like doors or windows in the walls; the stair came up into the room through a rectangular opening in the floor. The room gave him no indication as to why it was connected to the hidden stair.
He pondered a moment, and then remembered the women following him, so he turned and hastened down the short flight of steps again to wait for them. In a few moments he saw someone descending the last few steps of the long stair — feet, robes, face. It was Rose.
–Rose!†he cried out.
–Scorpius! Is that you?â€
–I’m here at the end of this little passageway, waiting for you. We’re at the end.â€
She hastened up to him and threw her arms around him.
–Oh, Scorpius! That was so weird! Where are we now?â€
–I don’t know, but it’ll make a great story someday. Are the professors behind you?†He flickered his glance back and forth between Rose’s beautiful face and the bottom of the long staircase at the other end of the little passage.
–Yes.â€
They waited, and within a couple of minutes Professor Sinistra emerged from the stairwell into the short passage, then Professor Sprout, and the passage became filled with wand light. Scorpius was so thankful to see them that he shamelessly embraced them both, and they didn’t seem to mind.
–There’s this little stair behind me that goes up,†he said, disengaging himself from their arms, –but it’s only a dozen steps, and it opens into a room.â€
–Well, what are we waiting for?†Professor Sprout declared, and they all ascended to the room at the top of the short stair.
The room was bare. They stood there on the stone floor, looking around at the white walls and the domed ceiling overhead, turning their heads left and right, trying to gain some meaning from this featureless chamber.
–What is it?†Rose asked.
–It reminds me, in shape, of the celestial sphere classroom,†Professor Sinistra remarked. She walked up to the wall of the room and peered at it. –Look. There are dots painted on the wall. I think they represent stars.â€
They all moved out of the center of the room to examine the walls. The dots Professor Sinistra had referred to as stars were painted on the walls with black paint, and under them were words painted in tiny antique script. It took a bit of study to puzzle out the letter forms, but the words were names of stars.
Scorpius looked up, directing his wand light toward the peak of the dome. There it was — a black dot that represented the Pole Star. He looked around, located the Big Dipper, and exclaimed, –It’s the northern celestial hemisphere!â€
He took bearings off the stars of the handle of the Dipper, and his eye led him to Vega and Arcturus. Looking around him horizontally, he began to identify the patterns of the zodiacal constellations painted all around the rim of the room.
–It looks like a primitive celestial sphere classroom,†Professor Sinistra concluded. –Maybe what they used before the Astronomy Tower was built.â€
–This was their classroom?†Rose repeated incredulously.
–I believe that it probably was,†Professor Sinistra said. –You can see the advances that have been made in the new celestial sphere classroom. The stars are now lighted, the floor is transparent…â€
Scorpius interrupted her. –This floor appears to be solid stone. You can’t see the southern celestial hemisphere.â€
–Yes,†the professor agreed. –It only showed them what could actually be seen in Great Britain.â€
–Our classroom’s a lot better,†Rose remarked. Here, there was no rotating earth globe, no Magman figure. If the earliest Hogwarts students had ever had those things, they had long since been stripped out of the room when it was abandoned.
Scorpius craned his neck, looking all around the room. It would have been harder to learn celestial mechanics in this rudimentary room, he thought.
–How did the students get into this room?†Rose wondered aloud.
–I think that the stair that comes up through the floor is original,†Professor Sinistra answered. –Did you notice that the stone on the walls of that staircase is more smoothly dressed? But access to the rest of the castle was probably blocked when the new tower was built.â€
–In our celestial sphere room, the door opens from the side,†Rose went on, –like in a regular room, but when you shut the door, its inner surface becomes part of the sphere. I guess they couldn’t do that, so they had to come up through the floor.â€
–This is pretty unexciting after that long and risky trip down the stairs,†Professor Sprout said with a sigh. –It looks as if we came down here for nothing special. Your big discovery seems to have been rather a dud, children. I’ll take a few photographs of this old classroom and the passage that leads to it, for Hogwarts history, and then we can go up again. We’ll seal the top when we repair the parapet.â€
Professor Sinistra turned from examining the star patterns on the wall to face her fellow teacher.
–I would advise against haste, Pomona. As you say, we’ll probably never make the effort to come down again, so before we leave, I propose that we examine the room as minutely as possible, this being our one chance to do so.â€
–What are you looking for?†Professor Sprout asked.
–Why, I don’t know. A tiny dropped item, a revealing bit of graffiti scribbled on the wall centuries ago, who knows what? But we’ll never know if we don’t look.â€
Scorpius spoke up. –We looked for injured people in the courtyard, even though the odds were low of finding anyone, but we had to do it. I vote we look here too.â€
–Yes,†Rose agreed. –Then we’ll never wonder if we missed something. After all, they built the special stair for this room. Why did they do that, if it was just abandoned?â€
–You’ve convinced me,†Professor Sprout conceded. –We’ll see if we can find any clues or artifacts.â€
The students and professors began searching the walls, looking for bits of graffiti, signs of hidden cupboards, anything that didn’t seem to belong. They shone their wand lights, all four together, at the top of the domed ceiling to see if anything was odd.
Scorpius glanced at his wristwatch; it was five-twenty in the morning. He started walking around the ring of zodiacal constellations along the walls at about knee height.
–I see something. There’s a gray line through the zodiac that marks the ecliptic. No,†he said, looking more closely, –it’s not a painted line, it’s an incised groove. Let’s see if it goes all the way around.â€
He walked along the perimeter of the room, passing Rose, who was crouched down, checking the borders of the stone floor for tiny dropped artifacts but finding nothing.
–Here’s the Scorpion. You can really see how it hangs down below the ecliptic.â€
He continued until he made almost the full circle, then stopped and announced, –Here’s something. It looks like a little beetle, right on the groove that marks the ecliptic.â€
Professor Sinistra came to his side immediately and looked at his discovery, a little round piece of polished stone.
–I don’t think it’s a beetle,†she said. –I think it represents the sun, to show the sun’s apparent annual movement against the background of the zodiac.â€
–Then you think this groove was made to be a track that the beetle runs on?â€
–Or else the beetle, as you call it, has worn this groove and created this track. Quick, what zodiacal constellation is overhead at midnight right now?â€
–Scorpius,†Rose and Scorpius answered in unison. That had been a stupid question; they had been observing Scorpius through the telescope only a few hours earlier.
–So what constellation is the sun in, right now?†Professor Sinistra persisted.
–That would be six constellations away,†Scorpius answered, and he rattled them off in order. –Ram, Bull, Twins, Crab, Lion, Virgin, Scales, Scorpion…†He began counting on his fingers. –…Archer, Goat, Water Carrier, Fish, Ram, Bull… it’s the Bull. The sun is in Taurus now.â€
–And what constellation is your so-called beetle in?â€
–Taurus,†Scorpius said slowly. –Freaky…does this mean…this beetle moves? All by itself?â€
He reached out toward the bit of polished rock he called the ‘beetle’, but instantly he heard Professor Sprout’s voice.
–Don’t touch it!â€
Scorpius jerked his hand back. Rose was staring up at him from her position near the floor, wide-eyed.
–You don’t know if it’s cursed or is under the influence of any dangerous spells. Think!†Professor Sprout said forcefully. –Maybe it’s a coincidence that your beetle is sitting in Taurus right now…â€
–Or maybe it’s not,†Scorpius finished. –Maybe it makes a circuit around this room once a year. Merlin, that’s freaky! Sitting down here in the dark, year after year, century after century, going round and round, wearing a groove in the wall.â€
–How old is the castle? A thousand years? It’s been around a thousand times?†Rose asked in tones of awe.
–Maybe,†Professor Sinistra said.
–Why did they leave it here when they abandoned this room?†Rose continued. –Did they just forget to take it with them?â€
–Or maybe they left it because they didn’t need it in the new room,†Scorpius suggested. –It was just junk to them.â€
–That would be a very powerful charm that didn’t wear off for a thousand years,†Professor Sinistra said. –No, I don’t think they forgot it. It has a function.â€
–What?†Rose asked.
Professor Sprout spoke up. –I don’t know. And that’s why you mustn’t touch it.â€
–Let’s keep looking,†Professor Sinistra reminded them with a sigh.
Sobered, they continued searching the walls. Rose moved out from the edges of the floor and directed her wand light over the paving stones. Back and forth she moved, in a repeat of the search pattern she had used in the courtyard.
Suddenly she gave an audible gasp and fell to her knees, trying to speak but only able to choke out, –I…I…†The others all whipped their heads around, and Scorpius covered the distance to her side in a few long strides.
–What? What?â€
She could not speak; she just pointed.
He crouched down beside her and saw it. Embedded in the stone floor of the room was a brass tablet, about three inches by four inches in dimension. On it was inscribed â€Helga Hufflepuff. 943-1045.â€
His head swam, and he wasn’t sure whether he was awake or dreaming.
–Professors!†he managed to say, and time seemed to pass in slow motion as they left their places by the wall and joined him and Rose in the center of the room. He pointed to the tablet. –Look!†They bent down and stared, their wand lights trained on the gleaming tablet.
–Helga Hufflepuff….†Professor Sprout breathed. –943 to 1045. Oh, Merlin.â€
She straightened up. –Look around,†she barked at them. –See if you can find any others.â€
They all stood up except Rose and began sweeping their lights rapidly, almost frantically, over the floor.
Soon, –Here’s one!†cried Professor Sinistra, and they rushed to where her light was pointing. It was another brass tablet. Scorpius dropped to his hands and knees to see for sure what it said.
–Godric Gryffindor. 940 to 1038,†he read in a shaky voice. –Is this…is this…?â€
–Keep looking!†Professor Sprout ordered, and again the wand lights swept the floor.
Scorpius felt his heart pounding. His chest was in a vise; he could hardly breathe. His arms were shaking, and it was hard to control the sweeps of his wand light precisely; the beam of light seemed to waver and dance erratically.
–Here, here!†cried Professor Sinistra again, and he almost staggered as he ran to see what she had found. It was a third tablet, and on his hands and knees he read aloud, –Rowena Ravenclaw. 950 to 1003.â€
–Are they…?†he began.
–Buried under this floor?†Professor Sprout asked. She did not answer the question, but she had voiced what they were all thinking. It was inconceivable, unbelievable, impossible. No, no, it couldn’t possibly be.
–But no one knows where they’re buried,†Rose whispered. –They’ve always told us that.â€
–There’s a name missing,†Scorpius said. It was the founder of his House, Salazar Slytherin. They hadn’t found his tablet. He pulled himself to his feet and began to search for a fourth tablet.
–What are you doing?†Professor Sprout asked him.
–Looking for Salazar Slytherin. He must be here somewhere.†It was true that Salazar Slytherin had had a checkered career at Hogwarts and had fallen out with the three founders whose names were on the tablets they had found in the floor, and that he had eventually left the school, but he was still a founder. Scorpius’ own House was named after him. His tablet must be here somewhere.
–We can all help you look, son,†Professor Sprout said in a gentle voice, –but it’s likely you won’t find it. I don’t think he’s here.â€
–Yes, we’ll help you,†Professor Sinistra repeated, and they all swept their lights slowly and carefully over the floor, but, as Professor Sprout had predicted, they didn’t find it.
They regrouped in the center of the room, near the three tablets, and Professor Sinistra said, –Finally now it all makes sense. They built the new tower with its new celestial sphere classroom, and they turned this old one into a mausoleum, and hid it in such a way that they thought no one would ever find it.â€
–But why?†Rose asked.
Professor Sinistra explained. –Those were difficult and desperate times. There was terrible superstition and persecution of people who didn’t conform. Even dead bodies were not safe. If your enemies didn’t like what you did, or believed, or stood for, they would dig up your corpse after you had died, to punish you further by desecrating your earthly remains, such as by burning your body at the stake or hanging it from a gallows.â€
–How horrible!†Rose exclaimed.
Professor Sinistra went on. –I’m guessing that when the new tower was built, the coffins of the founders were brought here, and this floor was lifted, and the coffins were buried here under the floor, with only the brass tablets as markers. Whatever record of their previous burials that still existed was obliterated, and the official story became that no one knew where their graves were. That way, they could be protected forever.â€
–And that little beetle you found may have been charmed to be an everlasting defense. I’m so glad you didn’t touch it,†Professor Sprout added.
–Me too,†Scorpius said. Waves of emotion washed over him because of this incredible discovery.
–I gotta sit down,†he said, and he lowered himself down to the floor and sat there cross-legged. Rose sat down next to him, and he put an arm tightly around her shoulder. Everything was surreal. It had been surreal since last night, without let-up. Rose and the professors were the only real things left anymore.
The two professors managed to sit down on the floor, moving a little gingerly, and Professor Sprout said, –We need to decide what we will do now.â€
–Do you have to notify the Ministry of Magic?†Rose asked.
–I don’t have to do anything,†Professor Sprout answered. –I am Headmistress here, and what happens or doesn’t happen at Hogwarts is entirely up to me.â€
–You mean you’re not going to tell them?†Scorpius asked in wonderment.
–I haven’t decided what I’m going to do yet,†Professor Sprout said. –It will take a lot of thought. Don’t you agree, Aurora?â€
–Yes, indeed, a great deal of thought.â€
–When will you decide?†Rose asked.
–Oh,†Professor Sprout said, –I may think about it for the rest of my life.â€
–That sounds about right,†Professor Sinistra concurred. –The rest of my life.â€
–You mean you’re not going to tell them,†Rose stated.
–What purpose would it serve?†Professor Sprout asked. –The founders have rested here in peace and safety for almost a thousand years. Nothing would be gained by changing that now. The witches and wizards who placed them here had good reasons for their actions, and I will respect their judgment.â€
They sat quietly for a few moments, and then Professor Sinistra said, –We need to know, Rose and Scorpius. Can we depend on your silence also? Are you two the sort of people who can keep a secret to their graves? Otherwise, we would have to Obliviate your memories, and I really don’t want to do that.â€
The professors gazed steadily at Rose and Scorpius. The seriousness of the situation was very clear to him. He nodded.
–I am the kind of person who can keep a secret to the grave. Rose?â€
–I can do it too.â€
–Good,†Professor Sinistra said. –You realize the great trust that we are placing in you?â€
They nodded.
The professors got up on their feet, and Rose and Scorpius followed suit.
–Are you going to take any photographs in this room?†Scorpius asked Professor Sprout.
–No,†she replied, –but somehow I don’t think I will forget what I saw.†She smoothed out her robes. –It’s time for us to be going back up. Even though it’s Saturday, the castle will be waking up soon.â€
–I think that going up will be easier than coming down was,†said Scorpius.
They crossed to the opening in the floor and began to descend the short stair. Scorpius turned his head to take one last look and burn this image of the old celestial sphere classroom into his memory forever. There the founders lay, under a dome of stars. He was glad that it was stars.
They emerged from the top of the narrow stair into the bright light and mild wind on the top of the Astronomy Tower. Scorpius breathed in deep lungfuls of fresh air and thought that nothing else had ever been so sweet. The sky was clear, and the hills were very green. It was beautiful. Even the broken chunks of rock on the pavement of the tower had their own unique beauty, with the daylight glinting off their uneven surfaces.
–What about this hole?†Rose asked, referring to the opening of the stair from which they had so recently emerged.
–Don’t worry,†Professor Sprout reassured her. –We’ll repair the parapet today, and it will be hidden again. Meanwhile, the tower will be strictly off limits. The students can see the debris in the courtyard and look at the broken edge of the parapet from down there. No one will see a thing.â€
Scorpius shook his head slowly. Unbelievable.
They went down the broad main stair, so luxuriously easy to descend, and at the foot of it Scorpius turned to Professor Sprout.
–May we go back with you to your quarters for a moment? I left my rose basket there.â€
She smiled, and Scorpius knew they were all returned to normal life again, where people could glory in the sunlight and talk about roses. As he, Rose, and Professor Sprout walked back to her rooms, he explained to her about the rose bush and how it was supposed to be a memento of an unforgettable night.
–We never expected that you would be part of it too,†he said, –but you were. I made a cutting of the bush for Professor Sinistra, and I think you deserve one too.â€
–You will have to wait a bit for it,†Rose hastened to mention. –Scorpius has been promising to make several cuttings, and we have to let the bush grow a little bigger first.â€
Professor Sprout chuckled. –I would love to have a rose bush as a remembrance, and I don’t mind waiting.â€
After collecting the rose bush in the basket, Scorpius and Rose made their way down the stairs and through the corridors to the entrance hall.
–They’re going to start serving breakfast pretty soon,†Scorpius said. –Do you fancy something to eat? We can sit together; it’s Saturday.â€
Rose shook her head. –I don’t have any appetite. I can’t face food right now. I just need to unwind. Let’s go sit outside.â€
They went out the main doors and sat on the grass a little ways from the castle. Rose leaned up against Scorpius, and he wrapped his arm around her.
–We promised never to tell anyone,†she said, staring out over the lawn, –but I’m glad that we can still talk about it with each other.â€
–And I’m glad that the professors can talk about it with each other. It’s a big secret to keep.â€
–You were brave, going down the stair first without knowing what was there.â€
–And you were brave to come down after me.â€
–I’m glad you were there.â€
–I wouldn’t have done it without you.â€
She picked up the rose in its pot from out of the basket resting on the grass beside them and cradled the pot between the palms of her hands.
–This is such a nice gift. I’ll keep this rose for the rest of my life.â€
Scorpius felt like the luckiest man in the world. –I’ll keep this one too,†he said.