A Peaceful Day

"Peeves really knew how to pick his moment..."

Andrew marveled at it, but he had no intention of going to the Castle entrance. He was only a first-year student. Was he supposed to go there and get himself killed?

Peeves was a spirit who had dared to say no to generations of headmasters!

He had ruled the Castle before Dumbledore arrived, and he was still happily playing pranks now.

Just wait. The war will die down...

Andrew leaned back in his chair and resumed murmuring the Shoelace Charm over his shoes. Under the gentle spell, the two laces inched along as though recovering from something. Curious, several of his roommates pulled their chairs closer and tried the rather dull charm themselves.

By the time Andrew could make his shoelaces tie themselves properly, Peeves's prank had finally been brought under control. Groups of returning upper-year students hit him several times with the bread he had thrown at them. At last, Peeves decided it was no fun anymore and left the passage, grumbling all the way.

Right. Rule one for defending against Peeves: let him make trouble for himself...

Andrew made a mental note of it, then thanked Ham, the upper-year student and junior club leader who had bought him a pile of snacks.

"Study hard. Going to the Library is a good habit—knowledge is where wisdom takes root."

Ham smiled and patted Andrew on the shoulder with the air of a leader on an inspection tour, then turned and left.

"No wonder it's the strictest club in the house..."

Hal watched Ham go with envy written all over his face. He had clearly fallen for it.

It's all an act, and I can't even say so...

Andrew kept his criticism to himself. What happened at club meetings stayed at club meetings. He had no desire to make himself a target for a bunch of upper-year students just because he couldn't keep his mouth shut.

If they were tormenting or seriously bullying anyone, he would certainly step in. But an attitude they didn't even show openly? If he picked a fight over that, even Voldemort would call him too extreme.

The nickname was an odd one, of course. But Andrew had heard that Voldemort's real name was cursed, so nobody dared say it. Besides, most of what Andrew knew about him came from hearing people talk...

As far as Andrew knew, even Mr. Noseless had plenty of followers with their own agendas, but he punished them for failing at their tasks. Andrew couldn't be more unreasonable than Mr. Noseless, could he?

Back in the Common Room, they divided up the snacks. Andrew's share was the largest, of course, but there was no point sorting everything too carefully. They piled their snacks together on the card table in the middle of the room, free for anyone to take.

"Bedtime. There might be owls again tomorrow, and I'm not letting that happen twice!"

Yet when Andrew got up the next morning, dawn had only just broken, and no owls had disturbed him.

After a minute or two of thought, Andrew remembered what he had told his roommates before bed and decided to slip out quietly. Those days of intense study had worn him out, so he had been sleeping longer than usual. Perhaps he had simply gone to bed too early last night. Now he was fully rested, and if he woke the others at this hour, he feared he might end up in the Hospital Wing.

I'll go for a run... My thesis is done, and so is my homework... I've been so busy with magic that I've let something as important as running slide...

Andrew rose quietly, dressed, and headed downstairs, taking in the Common Room in the early morning light.

Hogwarts was still a little dark at five. Most of the portraits on the walls were asleep. As Andrew passed, a figure in one or two of them yawned and glanced at him before settling back down.

Looks like hardly anyone else is up this early...

He decided to run along the Black Lake for a while. The pitch was nice, but it was bound to be occupied.

"Phew..."

After running just under half a lap, Andrew stopped beside a willow tree to catch his breath, then carried on at a brisk walk. He had let it slide for barely more than a week, and he was already a little tired.

The Black Lake looked beautiful at this hour. Better still, there were no couples around. Some couples might run together in the morning, but given that yesterday had been Saturday, even that slim possibility seemed unlikely.

Then something else unlikely happened. A Hufflepuff was pacing back and forth on the shore ahead, looking as though he might throw himself into the Lake.

"Sorry, have you seen my toad?"

Andrew hesitated only a moment before finding his excuse.

"Your toad?"

The other student paused and turned toward him. "I haven't seen one over here."

"Oh?"

Andrew looked disappointed. "It's not very big, but it's been cooped up lately. I thought I'd let it swim in the Black Lake while no one was around, but it ran off..."

"Would you like me to help you look?"

The other student had barely offered before Andrew seized on it. "Would you? That would be great, thanks..."

Keep him busy so he doesn't dwell on anything else. Then ask about how things have been lately, and try to talk him through it.

With that plan in mind, Andrew lied without missing a beat. "My roommate says it might prefer being free. I don't know. Maybe keeping it really wasn't right..."

"That's possible. Think about it—the Black Lake is huge. Living here must be better than living in a Dormitory. And they say Slytherin's Treasure is somewhere in here. Maybe it's gone to learn something."

After a brief hesitation, the Hufflepuff, whom Andrew had never met, lowered his voice. "I've read quite a few theories about it, so I've been looking into them. You know, there's been another strong piece of evidence recently."

What?

Something wasn't right.

"Actually, there's no harm in telling you. A few of us are already getting ready to take a look in the Black Lake. We've been preparing... If we see your toad on the lakebed, we'll tell it you miss it and bring back its blessing for you..."

Did he think Andrew was a child?

Wait. After that thought, Andrew realized he had gotten it all wrong.

The student wasn't thinking of ending his life. He was longing to explore the Black Lake, especially now that the story had given him more reason to believe the theories.

"Fourth-year student. Jack."

Jack held out his hand. A little embarrassed, Andrew decided to give his real name. One lie was manageable; any more would be hard to explain.

"First-year student. Andrew."

"Right, I'll remember. I'll keep a proper lookout, and if I hear anything, I'll send word by school owl. I'll check over there and look for your toad while I'm at it. Though I still suspect it's gone off to live free. Anyway, goodbye."

"Goodbye. I'll look for it over there. Maybe it's just being naughty..."

Andrew put on a worried face and pretended to search for the nonexistent toad too. In a little while, he would slip back, have some snacks, and head to the Library... He wasn't even going to the Dining Hall. This was far too embarrassing!