The midnight air in the corridors of hogwarts was thick withsilence,broken only by the occasional snoring of a portrait or the distant scuttle of Mrs.Norris. Harry clutched the marauder's Map tightly, the golden glow of his wand illuminating the parchment.Beside him, Hermione was biting her lip, a sure sign of her growing anxiety.
"Harry, we've crossed this hallway three times already," She whispered,her voice echoing faintly off the stone walls. "The map must be malfunctioning. There is no
'Star-light chamber' in the North Tower ."
"The map never lies, Hermione , "Harry replied firmly. He stopped in front of a blank Stretch of wall between two towering Suits of armor. On the map, a tiny dot labeled Harry Potter was Standing directly on top of a room that didn't appear to have an entrance.
Suddenly, the air grew cold -- colder than the dungeons in mid--winter. Harry reached out and touched the stone. Instead of hard rock,his hand sank into the wall as if it were made of water. "Here, "he breathed.
They stopped through the wall and gasped.They were standing in a vast, circular room with a ceiling that mirrored the night sky outside. Thousands of books hovered in the air, their pages fluttering like the wings of birds. But it was the center of the room that caught their attentic.
A single, ornate desk made of dark ebony stood under a shaft of moonlight. On it a, Silver quill was moving on its own,
Scratching violently against a piece of ancient parchment.
"The shadows return when the stars align," the quill wrote. " The one who was lost shall find the key."
" It's a prophecy," Hermione whispered, moving closer to the desk. " But look at the signature at the bottom, Harry,"
Harry leaned in, his heart hammering against his ribs. At the bottom of the parchment, written in elegant, shimmering ink, was a name they hadn't expected to
See: Regulus Black.
" Sirius's brother ? " Harry looked at the floating books. " He found this place before he died. He wasn't just a Death Eater -- he was a guardian."
Just then, the floating books stopped fluttering. Simultaneously, they all turned toward Harry and Hermione, their covers snapping shut with a sound like a thunderclap. The silver quill stopped writing and pointed directly at Harry's chest.
"I think," Harry said, reaching for his wand,
"We just walked into a trap that has been
Waiting for thirty years."