Percy read the note again beside the fire.
"Stay away, Jackson."
The words did not say what he was supposed to avoid. They assumed he already knew.
He checked the back of the page. It was blank.
A creak came from the portrait hole. The frame moved a little, then settled.
Percy stood before he had decided to follow.
He could wake Harry. He could wait until morning and report the note.
Instead, he put the parchment in his pocket and crossed the room.
The Fat Lady complained when he opened the portrait.
"Do you know what time it is?"
"Late."
"That was not an invitation to discuss it."
Percy stepped into the corridor. He knew this was a bad decision. That knowledge had failed to stop several earlier ones in his life.
A faint sound came from around the next corner.
He moved close to the wall, keeping his wand low. He did not want its light to announce him.
The hooded figure was ahead of him.
It walked without the cautious stops Percy expected from a student out after curfew. It passed a portrait without looking at it.
Percy followed at a distance.
At the next turning, the figure stopped.
Percy stepped behind a suit of armor. One metal arm moved when he touched it, and he caught it before it struck the wall.
He waited, holding the arm in an uncomfortable position.
The figure turned its head.
Percy stayed still. His wrist began to hurt.
After several seconds, the figure raised a wand. Pale fingers showed beneath the sleeve.
It said something Percy could not hear.
The air changed around it. Then the figure disappeared.
Percy waited for footsteps. None came.
He returned the armor's arm to its place and approached the empty corridor.
No door stood nearby. He checked the portraits and the wall without finding a sign of movement.
He thought of Disillusionment. He thought of Apparition, which should not work inside Hogwarts.
Neither explanation was good enough to make him continue alone.
He went back to the tower.
The Fat Lady gave him a long look before accepting the password. Percy did not argue.
In his bed, he took out the note once more. He had followed its owner and learned almost nothing.
He could at least stop pretending that keeping the matter private was helping.
At breakfast, Harry and Ron were discussing Quidditch. Hermione had a book beside her plate and was answering without taking her eyes off the page.
Percy considered telling all three at once. The note seemed more personal when he imagined putting it on the table.
He waited until they left the hall, then caught up with Hermione.
"I need to show you something."
She closed the book.
"What?"
"Somewhere quiet."
Her expression changed. She led him to an empty classroom and checked the corridor before he closed the door.
Percy put the parchment on a desk.
Hermione read it. She looked at the handwriting, then at him.
"When did this arrive?"
"Last night. In the common room."
"Who left it?"
"I do not know."
"Does Harry know?"
"Not yet."
She looked less pleased about that than he had hoped.
Percy described the figure, the chase, and the moment it vanished. He tried to distinguish what he had seen from what he thought had happened.
Hermione listened without reaching for another book.
"You followed it alone?"
"Yes."
"What if it wanted you to follow?"
Percy looked at the note.
"I considered that afterwards."
"You should consider it before."
"That would improve the method."
She did not smile.
He stopped trying to make her.
"Do you believe me?"
"I believe you saw something. The note is here. We need to find out what it concerns."
She turned the page over, checked its blank side, and set it down.
"We should keep this. And we should tell the others."
Percy nodded. He had asked for help. He could not reasonably complain when the help had opinions.
Over the next few days, they watched the ordinary movements around them. Hermione checked when teachers left lessons. Percy looked for the hooded figure without leaving the castle after curfew.
Nothing useful appeared.
That was frustrating enough that Percy had to remind himself it was also safer.
They spent more time in the library. Hermione looked for unusual movement charms and old passages. Percy examined references to the forest and the castle's foundations.
He read a page twice when he caught himself thinking about the note instead of the words.
The next evening, Hermione left early to finish an essay. Percy stayed with a stack of books Madam Pince had required him to return personally.
He opened one near the bottom.
A separate page lay between the printed leaves.
It was old, with a torn edge and faded ink. Percy lifted it carefully rather than pulling it from the binding.
One phrase remained clear.
"Beware the One Who Walks Between."
He read the lines around it. Most were too damaged to follow.
Between what? The page did not explain.
Percy thought of the figure disappearing in the corridor. He thought of John and the space between worlds.
That connection might be his own mistake. It still made him put the page down more carefully.
Someone had placed it inside the book. He could not tell whether it had been there for years or whether he had been meant to find it tonight.
He copied the title of the book and the page where the loose sheet had rested.
Then he folded the old parchment along its existing crease.
Hermione would want the details. This time, he would bring them before deciding what they meant.
A sound came from the shelves nearby.
Percy looked up.
The library was supposed to be nearly empty.
To Be Continued... Next week!
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