*3rd POV*
"We're going to get caught!" Harriet repeated for the thousandth time as both she and Anos moved slowly underneath the cloak towards the library.
"Oh, so rationality caught up to you huh?" He asked, huddled beneath the Invisibility cloak, finding it too small and cursing the maker for cheapening out on the amount of fabric used.
"Fine but if we get caught we're both going to be punished. What if they expel us?" Harriet said, insisting on going back.
"Wait, this whole operation was your idea," Anos replied incredulously.
"And did Hermione rub off on you too much? Your worst fear is getting expelled of all things. Try falling from the constantly moving staircase while being entangled in this cloak and getting out necks broken. I swear If they heal me with blood magic or something and I have a hoarse throat I'll fling myself off the Astronomy tower myself." He continued, trying to lighten the mood as they slowly but surely made their way.
"Why does your imagination only work when there's a chance of death?" Harriet asked as she gingerly stepped onto the staircase which began to shift.
"Talking about it makes it less scary I guess." He shot back as they finally reached the ground floor.
Hogwarts was a peculiar castle in the day but it was certainly an enigma at night. The hallways were lit by torches that seemed to stretch on to no end while casting flickering shadows around as if hiding secrets at every step.
The castle was astonishingly huge already but traveling along its corridors at night was both a serene and surreal experience as the twisted hallways shifted till giving way to the library. A hall of mysteries in itself.
'Wonder how Filch acts as a guard to this whole thing. He'll probably have a heart attack running from one end of the castle to the other.' Anos mused but then thought about the possibility of secret passages and gave a mental shrug.
The possibility of such paths existing was all but guaranteed in Hogwarts so he took that theory as a possible answer for now and continued on into the library stopping at nearly every step to make sure either he or Harriet don't step out of sync and have the Cloak drop off for some stupid reason.
"Okay, so what're we searching for over here?" Anos elbowed Harriet who seemed to be in a trance as she looked at the winged books that appeared to be snoring.
"Huh? Oh, anything regarding the Philosophers stone." Harriet replied and seemed unsure of the words she spoke.
" You really didn't think this through huh? Well knowing more certainly won't hurt. Also, it's the Sorcerer's stone." He said the last part in barely a whisper.
" What?"
" Nothing." He replied and they continued on in the library passing through the Beast Tome and Creatures sections which seemed to be filled with books of massive lengths that seemed to announce their majesty by growling and sniffing and snapping their pages at the air.
Thankfully most were bound by leather though there were some that were bound in Metal Shackles.
'Wonder how many hands those have eaten.' Anos looked thoughtfully at the books as they continued in the barely lit library by the little moonlight seeping through the windows and gracing the dusty tomes.
Eventually, they stopped completely when the Windows and the moonlight stopped, now stranded in the darkness.
"I can't see anything!" Harriet said in a panicked hush and Anos just chuckled in response.
"Wow, didn't think we'll need lights in the darkness huh?" He questioned her as they stood in the dark library.
"You didn't remember either." She replied accusingly.
"That's because I can see clearly in the dark. Vampyre remember." Anos replied as he tapped his eyes over his blindfold though he doubted Harriet could see it.
"Well, why didn't you mention that before? Come on, find us a lamp or something." Harriet nudged him forward and he led her through the dark library slowly.
"Watch your step and follow along." He said in a soothing voice and walked hunched at a brisk pace as Harriet followed along.
After a minute or two in the darkness, they saw a bare flicker of a lamp and slowly made their way through the massive bookshelves towards the source of light that stood out in the darkness with vigor.
They had barely brushed past the last bookshelf standing between them and the source of light before Anos suddenly stiffened and stopped.
"Hey, why did you stop?" Harriet questioned the sudden stop on the journey.
"Shh." Anos in turn put his hand over her mouth and barely whispered next to her ear.
"Next to the bookshelf. See." The words came out as more than a brush of wind but she suddenly became worried and slowly looked over the bookshelf and stopped herself.
There next to a bookshelf with a heap of Tomes spread out next to him in a pile was their Magical Theory Professor.
The Fae was gliding his hands through his lustrous hair but his eyes looked tired as he looked from one Tome to the next haphazardly, apparently searching for something among the piles of texts.
The thing they had thought of as a lamp was actually a stone of what appeared to be pure golden light. Emitting enough of it to bathe its surroundings in a lovely golden halo including Zephyr who she had to admit looked almost too much like a part of the surroundings.
But what stood out most was the one thing out of place in that situation. A Crimson stone lying in Zephyr's lap. Barely visible over his overcoat that he usually wore with a flourish.
Harriet would swear that she saw the stone pulse like a beating heart pumping a miasma of red instead of blood.
"What's h-" she found herself speaking before Anos stopped her again and slowly dragged her back.
"We leave. Now." He whispered and Harriet slowly nodded her head. Other than the stone they were the ones who felt out of place here now. They needed to go.
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Author's Notes: Here's another chapter, 3 more will be released a bit after this.
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