I Want to Increase My Wisdom!

The knowledge they had learned in their second year was very limited, so the plan for the Marauder's Map was put aside for the time being.

Rose began visiting the Room of Requirement frequently again, trying to find the missing Diadem. But by the time November arrived, her efforts had still produced no results.

In November, the weather grew increasingly damp and cold, and Rose had already forgotten when she had last seen the sun. As the Quidditch Match approached, McGu became increasingly frantic, waking everyone one by one to train while it was still pitch-dark outside.

Caradoc privately asked the seventh-years around him, trying to find out whether McGu had been dumped by his girlfriend or had recently swallowed some kind of stimulant potion by mistake.

The answer clearly disappointed him greatly. They had even just gotten engaged over the summer.

Once again, while the sky was still a pale blue-gray, the Quidditch players climbed through the portrait hole into the common room, shivering. Dew and sweat had soaked their hair and plastered it to their cheeks, and every one of them looked a mess.

"Listen up, boys and girls!" McGu tried to rally his capable teammates. "This Saturday, we're going up against Ravenclaw!"

No one had the strength left to respond to his rousing speech, but Rose, who had been staring into space, accidentally met his eyes and had no choice but to nod along exaggeratedly.

Seemingly encouraged by her response, McGu excitedly continued speaking in the common room for another ten minutes. Rose saw James sitting on the arm of a sofa, both hands gripping the handle of his Nimbus and his head resting on it. He seemed to have fallen asleep.

At last, McGu's fiancée, the seventh-year Head Girl, a beautiful and elegant lady, rescued the poor lot from him.

"I thought Smethwyck would have dumped him last year!" Caradoc said dramatically. "What on earth does she see in Dennis?"

"Perhaps-love?" Rose played along, speaking in a sing-song voice.

"If you really want to know-" Dennis McGoo appeared behind Caradoc with a dark expression, wrapped a muscular arm around his neck, and dragged him, yelping, up the stairs to the boys' dormitory. "I can tell you a little more!"

Rose watched him sympathetically.

Early Saturday morning, Rose woke up and scrambled out of bed. Lily, Marlene, and the others were still asleep, their steady, drawn-out breathing coming from behind their bed curtains.

She picked up the schoolbag and broom she had packed beforehand and tiptoed out of the dormitory.

There weren't many students in the Great Hall yet, and the Hufflepuff table was completely empty, without a single person at it.

Rose sat down at the long table, and an empty plate appeared in front of her. She took two steaming muffins, poured herself a glass of iced orange juice, and ate a few smoked sausages.

After finishing it all, she sat at the long table in a daze, as though she had suddenly lost all purpose.

"Good morning." Sirius Black sat down beside her and looked in surprise at the empty plate in front of her. "Finished eating already? You're up so early!"

Rose shook her head, feeling all jumbled up inside.

"Nervous?" Sirius served himself a large spoonful of mashed potatoes. "James is a little nervous too. He's still in the dormitory, probably checking his broom for the eighth time right now."

"But I don't have to play. I'm a substitute," Rose said in confusion. "James is on the main team."

Sirius swallowed his food and elegantly wiped his mouth with a napkin. "That doesn't make any difference. There's still a chance you'll play. McGu must hold you to the same standards as them in training, right?"

Rose nodded. Sirius put a fried egg and bacon between slices of wholemeal bread, then placed it in front of Rose.

"Eat a little more. It'll do you good," Sirius said.

This was the first time they had spoken since parting on bad terms in the Room of Requirement. James, Lily, or Marlene had always been around before, and Sirius had wanted to apologize to her, but had never had the chance.

"About that day—I mean, in the Room of Requirement—I didn't mean to make those barbed remarks." Sirius spoke hesitantly, pressing his lips together a little awkwardly as he stared at the half-full glass of milk on the table.

"Oh, it's all right. You don't need to apologize for that." Rose swallowed the sandwich in her mouth. "I forgot all about it ages ago!"

She felt much more at ease. Students began trickling in through the doors of the Great Hall, and several Gryffindors had red ribbons tied around their heads, with "Gryffindor must win" written on them in crooked letters.

The Quidditch Pitch was buzzing with voices. Amid cheers and applause, the Gryffindor Quidditch Team entered the field in their scarlet uniforms.

James and Rose stood out in the team, and Rose saw Marlene waving enthusiastically at her from the stands.

At Madam Hooch's whistle, fourteen players shot up into the gray-blue sky together. Rose sat on a bench at the edge of the pitch, squinting as she watched them without taking her eyes off them.

"Guess how long it'll take Potter to fall off his broom?" Sparrow sat down beside her, copied her posture, and spoke in a mockingly affected voice.

"Shut up, Sparrow," Rose said. "Even then, you wouldn't get to play!"

Sparrow was too angry with her to speak.

"Nice one!" Rose shouted as James won Gryffindor its first ten points.

After that, James and Caradoc worked together to score thirteen goals in a row. The students in the stands were nearly mad with excitement. Everyone except Ravenclaw was shouting James Potter's name.

"Take a guess, Sparrow. Would they rather see you or James?" Rose said.

McGu finally caught the Golden Snitch, ending the match with Gryffindor beating Ravenclaw 280 to 70. The Ravenclaw captain's face looked grimmer than ever.

The victory celebration lasted from noon until late at night. Professor McGonagall came over and reminded the Prefects to take responsibility, then left them to it—her cheerful steps showed that she was in an excellent mood as well.

The Gryffindor Common Room was hung with gold and red ribbons. Several older students lifted James high above their heads, while Caradoc gave an exaggerated account of how flawlessly he and James had worked together and shared the cookies and Pumpkin Juice he had secretly brought from the kitchens with everyone.

Rose sat on the sofa, caught up in the atmosphere, with Marlene sitting close beside her.

"You train with everyone every day, but you didn't get to play," Marlene said softly. "Do you feel wronged, or that it's unfair, Rose?"

Rose shook her head. She didn't fly as well as James, and she had no match experience. Caradoc and Belinda were both experienced Quidditch players, so they were better suited to play than she was.

"And there's one more thing now," Rose said.

At Marlene's puzzled look, she gestured toward Lily.

"Potter won fifty points for the house!" Lily said happily, looking at Potter much more kindly than before. It sent a shiver down James Potter's spine in the middle of the crowd.

While everyone's attention was on James, Rose told Marlene she had something else to do and slipped out of the common room.

There wasn't a single student in the Seventh Floor corridor. The snores of the portraits rose and fell in the darkness.

"Lumos," Rose whispered, raising her wand.

"Hey, turn that off! Who's turning on a light in the middle of the night?" Several portraits seemed to have been woken by the light and began complaining all at once.

"Oh, sorry. I'll turn it off right away." Rose had no choice but to feel her way to the tapestry of Trolls clubbing Barnabas the Barmy. She walked back and forth three times, and a large white door appeared in front of her.

She opened the door and went in, but just as she was about to close it, a large hand came down on the handle.

Rose's heart nearly leaped out of her chest. She was about to raise her wand when another hand pressed it down.

"It's me, Sirius Black." She looked up into a pair of gray eyes. Their owner raised an eyebrow at her and squeezed in sideways.

"You scared me!" Rose complained.

"Sorry—but I was right behind you the whole time. It's not my fault you didn't notice at all, is it?" Sirius said with a grin. He looked up, surveyed the place, and gave an exclamation of wonder.

"How did you come up with this place?" He picked up an exquisite black object covered in dust. "At least half the stuff in here is from the last century!" he said with certainty.

Rose slapped his hand hard.

"I told you, but you didn't seem to believe me," she said. "For the sake of your life, don't touch anything in this room!"

"This looks like a storeroom." Sirius looked around. "A place to hide things. What are you going to hide?" He turned his head and studied Rose closely.

"I'm looking for something," Rose said irritably. "Something that's been lost for centuries."

"Hmm—the Diadem?" Sirius said casually.

Rose's heart gave a violent jump. She spun around and stared fixedly at Sirius until he grew more and more uncomfortable, then hesitantly ventured, "How do you know about the Diadem? Why do you think I'm looking for it?"

"I guessed," Sirius explained, meeting her suspicious gaze. "Lost for centuries and still in the castle—the only thing that fits is Ravenclaw's Diadem. What are you looking for it for?"

Sirius Black's rebellious behavior and tragic experiences often made people forget his excellent grades as a student. It was possible for him to deduce her purpose from small details.

"I want to-increase my wisdom?" Rose said uncertainly. She always felt guilty when she lied, and Sirius found it a little funny. She didn't seem to have noticed it herself-when she lied, she blinked frequently without realizing it, and her tone was different from usual.

"All right, all right!" Sirius stopped pressing her and turned to face the room, whose far end was nowhere in sight. "How far have you gotten?" he asked, his head aching.

"You're going to help me look?" Rose asked uncertainly.

"Obviously," Sirius said briskly, walking toward the depths of the room.

"Don't just touch strange things!" Rose cautioned him. After a moment's thought, she called out, "If you die in here, I'm not admitting I saw you!"

"Please-wish me better than that!" Sirius's voice came from a distance, sounding as though he were gritting his teeth. "I know!"