Chapter 43 - Oh Look, More Fun, Yay...

The three turn in for the night after Richard placed the tracking spell on the Basilisk.

" I need to tell Louie about what we found, so you'll have to go back to the dorms without me. " Annie says, bidding the two boys goodnight, heading to the forbidden forest.

" Why is Annie heading to the Forbidden forest? " Neville asks once he realises her destination.

" Explaining why will be too troublesome, how about I just bring you to the forest tomorrow morning before classes start, sound good? "

Directing Neville away from the forest and back to Gryffindor's dormitory, Richard lets a tired sigh out for all he wants is to just lie on his bed and sleep his problems away.

• • •

Louis and Draco were having the best time of their lives enjoying their visit on Narvana, the homeland of the Unicorns.

The first official day was spent exploring as many of the sights and markets as they could.

And if asked whether they spent too much time shopping for gifts for their family members like shopaholics, they'll never admit it.

On the second day, Louis received Annie's message in the early hours of the morning.

" So what do you suppose we have in store for today? " Draco asks looking around the palace with wide, curious eyes.

" We could go down to the market again, I think I missed a couple of things yesterday due to all the excitement. " Louis suggests.

" Maybe we could take a break in the springs at one of the mountains later. Meister says that the properties of the water is able to make us feel more in tune with nature. " Agreeing with the idea, the two head out the palace doors to begin another fun day in Narvana.

With the boys having a swell time up in Narvana, a particular group of pirates were having a meeting on their next course of actions.

" Cap'n, ever since we saw 'hat Griffin 'hat brat was riding, I've 'een thinking, what if all 'hose 'fairy tales we been told as kids are true? " The man dressed like a knight suggests, getting lost in his own thoughts.

" Who cares, we have our goal, and that goal is to steal them untold treasures that lie waiting up there in the sky. " Their captain says, pointing a finger up.

" But what if the island has more of them Griffins? " A crew member asks, the horrors brought from the visit the boy and Griffin paid them still fresh in his mind, especially the Griffin.

" We've 'ot our guns, cannons and swords all on deck, flying beasts 'ot nothing on us. " The man dressed as a pineapple says full of confidence.

" The only question is, how do we even get up there? " He questions looking out across the sea for clues.

And as luck would have it, the captain notices an island far off into the sea that's not on their map.

• • •

A shiver passed through Louis when they reached the springs, making him drop the towels he was carrying onto the floor.

Picking up the towels before patting off the dirt, Draco gives a raised brow at Louis asking " What was that? "

" The shivers. " Louis answers eyeing a peculiar mountain up ahead from their destination. "Right..." Draco drags out the word, looking at the mountain.

Finding nothing wrong with it, he shrugs his shoulders and continues walking, " Draco, I dont think it's a good idea to stay near that mountain. " Louis says, stopping Draco, eyes narrowed on the mountain which gave him the shivers.

" If we're not going to the springs, what are we going to do? Head back to the capital? " Draco wonders, have snacks and explore their food culture? He is getting peckish.

Seeing Louis hesitant about the springs, the young boy swings the towels over his shoulder and turns back to the capital with a new goal if acquiring some food.

Louis following behind him, but both stop when the ground beneath their feet starts to tremble.

" An Earthquake? In the Sky? " Draco exclaims incredulous, " Close enough. " Louis answers, directing Draco's attention to the mountain.

With the cause of the tremors figured out, the two grab for something sturdy and attached to the ground to stabilise themselves.

As the Seconds tick by, the tremors become more brutal and intense to the point the mountain's surrounding becomes a sight of collapsed trees with cracks littering the ground.

The tremors stopped abruptly when the mountain split into two and moved to widen the gap between the crack.

At first, the voices were hard to decipher, being just a jumble of noise, it wasn't till they saw heads coming from the ground were they able to understand the voices, " Haha, who'd have guessed that that small island would be the key to head into the sky! "

" I can't wait to get me hands on the treasure. "

" You idiot, the treasure belongs to captain. We get the leftovers, have ya forgotten? "

With the way the conversation is going, the two boys didn't bother to continue eavesdropping, the conversation was going to stay the same anyways.

" Got your wand? " Louis asks Draco who's tossing the towels on a tree brunch nearby, " I'm wearing nothing but swimming trunks, what do you think? " Their wands are in their guestroom, back in the castle.

" Let me rephrase that, Do you want me to get your wand? "

" Please and thank you. "

With a wave of a hand, the two wands appear in the palm of Louis' hand. " Wait, how am I going to use magic, the ministry will find out. "

" Those old coots will find out nothing, trust me. "

" I thought your mother works for the ministry? " " Correction, she works for herself, she's only working with the ministry not for it. And besides, the majority of those working for the ministry are horrible at their jobs, they couldn't even be able to find their way out of a paper bag. "

" Alright then. " With a nod of his head in acceptance, Draco takes his wand from Louis, and the two approach the situation with a mixture of excitement and calmness filling the air.

• • •

In the wee hours of the morning, Richard was bright and awake, marching to and fro in the dorm room invisible.

Neville had taken to being dead to the world until the school day started once more.

" I need to head to the library. " Ignoring the fact that a Basilisk is roaming around on school ground, Richard has been feeling a lack of confidence due to the fact that his knowledge from his books have not been exactly useful for him.

And if he wants to be able to keep Louis out of as many dangerous situations as possible, he's going to need to absorb all the information he can.

His mind made up, Richard heads out of Gryffindor house and is on his way to the library.