The Noble House Of Black

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: Friend or Foe?

It was noon before Caelum left the Room of Requirement. She did not go to find her friends, instead, she took a quick pace through the castle. People moved out of her way, as they often did. Sirius, she thought, would be wandering the castle right now as well; he wouldn't know where he was going, as she did, but he stalk the halls without destination to clear his head. Caelum had dropped a bomb on him and then played it off like it was nothing. They would have to go their separate ways. He would have no idea what that meant, what it could even mean. Was she leaving? Was he leaving? Caelum could only imagine his thoughts. And yet he had simply accepted that there was some new piece of information that was suddenly making her think that they should split, despite them being by each other's side for as long as either could remember. What plan could she possibly have for them? Well, he would find out soon enough.

Caelum had come to the doors of Professor McGonagall's office.

"Come in," the professor said, quite faintly, in reply to Caelum's knock.

"Hello, Professor McGonagall." Caelum carried nothing but her wand and her small book of stories.

"Miss Black, it is a weekend, you are a student, and it is snowing outside. What could you possibly be doing in my office on a day like this?"

"I need to see Professor Dumbledore. It is of the utmost urgency." Caelum was expecting an argument that never came.

Professor McGonagall just looked up at her with an expression that, Caelum later decided, most closely resembled concern. She then pursed her lip and said, "Follow me."

Caelum followed attentively; they had taken a door out the back of Professor McGonagall's office, then went down several corridors she did not recognize before turning left, then right, then left again, and right again. The paintings scurried of their canvases as she walked by them. Unusual, Caelum thought. At last, they arrived at a large stone statue of a gargoyle that seemed to be staring Caelum down with its thin grey eyes.

"Lemon Drop," Professor McGonagall spoke in a strange manner. It made a scraping sort of sound Caelum had never heard the professor use. In moments, there was an answering scrape as the gargoyle turned, and behind him, a staircase that moved upwards on its own revealed itself.

Caelum said nothing but made her way onto the moving staircase without invite. McGonagall had already turned to walk the other way.

At the top of the staircase was a dark mahogany door with a dark stone phoenix knocker mounted upon it. Caelum ignored the knocker and instead pushed open the door.

 

"Hello, Child." Dumbledore's office was just a mysterious as he was. Chandeliers danced from the ceiling, as the shadows crept the walls, the portraits glared at her from their place above her headmaster's desk. There were crystal balls lining the shelves and books that had incorrect titles, Caelum enjoyed this detail. But above all else, what caught Caelum's eye was the chessboard he had placed in front of him on his desk. It stood out in some ways because it wasn't magical, it was just a beautifully sculpted muggle chess board. It looked old and well used. The pieces were all crafted out of a warm, sandy colored stone that reflected the light in a mesmerizing way, like the sunset reflecting off the walls of some ancient city. He had moved the white pawn forward. It took Caelum a moment to realize that he was waiting for her. He had known she was coming before she even thought to try. And now he had set up his chess board. They were playing his game, not hers. But it was her move.

Caelum sat across from him and moved the black pawn forward. "Hello, Death."

She had been ready for a reaction. Anger, astonishment, anything. But he just smiled his strange smile.