A Quest for an Answer

Aurora walked through the professor's hallway, glancing at the name plaque outside each door. When she came to the one marked Ambrosius Umbranox, Defense Against the Dark Arts, she raised her hand to knock, but hesitated. She looked at James, who was standing beside her. They had come to ask Professor Umbranox if he had ever heard anything about the library said to house the secrets of extraordinary magic, long since forgotten. If anyone would know about it, it would be Professor Umbranox. He had traveled the world, was very intelligent, and knew a lot of things others didn't. After seeing James' calm face, Aurora found the courage to knock. Lifting her hand again, she rapped twice on the hard oak door. The sound echoed much louder than she thought it would, reverberating throughout the whole hallway. Aurora gulped. Now they would be in trouble. But before she could run away, the door swung silently open. Professor Umbranox stood in the doorway, blocking most of the light with his tall frame. His dark hair and pale skin looked scarier than ever. Aurora shrank back beside James, stammering, "Professor, we were just... just... going to a-ask you a... question."

Ambrosius examined the piece of parchment one more time in order to make sure he had not missed even the smallest detail. Suddenly, before he could reach the end of the text, he heard someone knock on the door of his office. He remained utterly immobile for a moment, fixing the entrance, as he wasn't expecting any visitors. Putting away the paper in one of his desk's drawers, he slipped his hand into the pocket of his robe to verify that his wand was there and then slowly walked towards the door.

Silently opening it, he discovered two of his students standing behind it. Ambrosius's posture projected a shade on their faces, but he could still detect nervousness and even fear in their expressions. "Professor, we were just... just... going to a-ask you a... question." the girl announced hesitantly. "Miss Finnigan, mister Riddle. Please come in." he calmly invited the children, stepping aside so that they could enter. As there was only one armchair in front of his desk, Ambrosius waved his wand and another one, identical to the first, suddenly appeared besides it. Offering the students to take a seat with a movement of his hand, he stepped to the other side of the table and sat at his own chair.

"So, how may I be of assistance?" Ambrosius inquired after staring at the students for a couple of seconds.

James followed Aurora across the hallway, until they stopped in front of the door of Professor Umbranox's office. After hesitating for a moment, she glanced at him and then knocked. The sound resonated in the corridor, and for a moment James feared that all the teachers may have been disturbed by the noise. However, the hallway remained deserted. Perhaps Professor Umbranox wasn't here after all. However, as soon as that thought crossed his mind, the door slowly swung and the next moment the imposing Defence Against the Dark Arts professor was standing in front of them.

This was the first time that James penetrated into the office of one of his teachers. It was a rather vast room, dimly lit by a series of candles along the wall. There weren't many decorations and the furniture came down to a large wooden desk, two cozy looking armchairs and a couple of cupboards. The shelves were filled with dozens of books, among which James recognized the two they used in Defence Against the Dark Arts. The rest seemed to be a large collection of volumes about defensive spells, various creatures and battling the Dark Arts in general.

Along the walls, one could see a set of portraits similar to the ones Professor Umbranox had positioned in his classroom. On one of them, there was a wizard standing with his wand pointed in front of him. A bright-white form suddenly burst out of its tip, indistinct at first, but then swiftly taking the shape of an owl. The translucent animal flew around the painting for a while, then disappeared beyond the frame. Next to it, another one apparently depicted a duel between two wizards. When James glanced at it, the first one performed a spell that sent a spark of red light towards the other, who instantly cast some sort of shield charm, deflecting the incoming threat.

As they were following the teacher though the room, James noticed a beautiful owl perched near the window. Its ink black feathers shining under the moonlight, it was intently staring at him and Aurora, as if it was analyzing them. Once Professor Umbranox conjured another armchair, they silently took a seat in front of him. Suddenly, something caught his attention. Standing on the desk, there was a picture of their Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher next to a young woman James didn't recognize. They were both smiling, something he never witnessed his teacher do before. However, before he could take a closer look, the frame suddenly lifted and flew right into one of the table's drawers. Realizing that he had accidentally seen something he was not supposed to, James directed an apologetic look at the teacher.

"So, how may I be of assistance?" Professor Umbranox finally asked. James glanced at Aurora. He had been reticent about disturbing their teacher in the first place, and now it seemed like an even worse idea. However, he mustered his courage and hesitantly asked: "We were wondering, professor... if you could tell us about the lost library. The one in the legend about the origins of magic."

Professor Umbranox looked at Aurora and James for a long moment, then invited them to come in. The room was furnished much like the DADA classroom: it had many thick, leather-bound books upon several tall shelves, and pictures of defensive spell being used in combat. One picture in particular seemed to catch James' eye. It lay on Umbranox's desk, and it showed him with a woman. Both looked as if this was the best time they had ever had. "Professor, who...?" Aurora began to ask before the picture unexpectedly flew into an open drawer, which then slammed shut.

Professor Umbranox directed James and Aurora to sit in a chair before his desk with a graceful wave of his hand. Aurora looked curiously at him, wondering if he really wanted them to sit so close to each other, but then he caused another plush armchair to materialize next to the first. Aurora promptly sat down in one, while James, more cautiously, pulled his out and lowered himself into it. "So, how may I be of assistance?" the professor asked eventually.

James looked at Aurora and seemed to answer reluctantly, "We were wondering, professor... if you could tell us about the lost library. The one in the legend about the origins of magic."

"Yes," Aurora added. "We learned about it in History of Magic, and then we came across a reference in a book about Rowena Ravenclaw. We figured that you had a lot of international experience, and knew a lot about books, and Ravenclaw, and might be able to tell us if it actually exists." She decided not to say anything about her feeling that it existed. It would probably sound completely ridiculous to a learned teacher such as Professor Umbranox.

Ambrosius examined the two students for a moment, his face as impassible as ever. "Yes, Professor Clark mentioned that he shared the tale of the origins of magic with you during your first History of Magic lesson. There is nothing better than a captivating story to render the subject attractive to students." he remarked.

"You are far from being the first to seek the lost library. For ages, many wizards and witches have tirelessly pursued that quest, exploring the four corners of the world, searching for any clue of its existence. Nevertheless, however intensely they desired to find them, no sign of the mythical site was ever discovered. Unfortunately, I am afraid that my knowledge about the matter does not exceed that of these adventurers. While I have heard numerous stories about the library during my travels, none of them turned out to be a solid lead. One day, evidence of its existence would be detected in one place. The next, the same claims were repeated on the other side of the planet. Numerous charlatans took advantage of the situation and started selling old maps and ancient manuscripts to naive explorers, persuading them that they would lead them to their goal. As time passed, everyone slowly began losing hope of ever finding the treasured site, and only a few remain foolhardy enough to continue the search."

Ambrosius paused for a moment. The two students seemed disappointed by his answer, as if they too were profoundly hoping for the legend to be real. "However, does that mean that I do not believe the library exists? Certainly not. It would be foolish and extremely narrow-minded to discard everything we cannot see or find as false or nonexistent." He briefly stopped, then asked, successively glancing at the two of them: "Have any of you heard about the story of the Chamber of Secrets?"

Aurora slumped in her chair. No solid leads, that was just terrific. I guess my feeling was just that, a feeling, she thought.

"However, does that mean that I do not believe the library exists? Certainly not. It would be foolish and extremely narrow-minded to discard everything we cannot see or find as false or nonexistent. Have any of you heard about the story of the Chamber of Secrets?" Professor Umbranox asked suddenly.

"Of course," Aurora said. Who hadn't? When Tom Riddle opened it twice, before Harry Potter defeated him at just twelve years of age in it? Realizing her mistake in thinking that everyone knew about it, Aurora glanced at James, hoping he had read about it somewhere.

Just like Aurora, James was visibly discouraged when Professor Umbranox admitted that he couldn't tell them anything precise about the library. He didn't realize up to this point how much he wanted the tale to be true. The teacher then assured them that the lack of evidence didn't necessarily mean that it didn't exist, finally asking them if they had heard about the Chamber of Secrets.

"Of course" Aurora instantly replied. James remained silent, embarrassed by his ignorance about the subject yet uncomfortable at the thought of lying that he had heard of it.

As Ambrosius had expected, James Riddle had apparently no knowledge of the legend. "Miss Finnigan, would you mind briefly acquainting your friend with the story?" he kindly asked her.

"Miss Finnigan, would you mind briefly acquainting your friend with the story?" Professor Umbranox asked, after James hadn't said anything, but had busied himself with staring elsewhere.

"Um, okay," Aurora said. "The Chamber of Secrets was a hidden room that Salazar Slytherin created that only his heir could open. Tom Riddle," she winced when she mentioned James' last name, "or Voldemort, opened it twice and released a monster, a basilisk, that started killing... Muggle-borns. Harry Potter killed it." Aurora flet that she had done a bad job of explaining, but didn't want to make James feel awkward.

"Exactly" Ambrosius confirmed once she finished telling the story. "Salazar Slytherin had built the Chamber shortly after the foundation of the school, hoping that it would help eliminate all those he judged undeserving to learn magic. Hogwarts had naturally been searched countless times afterwards, but no evidence of its existence was found. For nearly a thousand years, the Chamber remained perfectly hidden. Many were starting to doubt it was even real, and the tale slowly became legend. Until, of course, Harry Potter discovered its location."

"As you can see, sometimes mysteries long forgotten have the tendency to resurface and resolve themselves under very specific circumstances. That is why I keep an open mind concerning the fate of the lost library. Only when we cease seeking the truth can we be certain never to reach it." A brief silence followed, until Ambrosius recalled something the students had said a bit earlier. "You mentioned finding a reference of the library in a book about Rowena Ravenclaw. What did it say exactly?" he asked.

Listening to Aurora's retelling of the story, James realized with apprehension that she was aware of the significance of his last name. Very grateful that she hadn't mentioned it before and that she hadn't judged him by it, he turned back his attention to professor Umbranox, who explained them why he had brought up the tale of the Chamber of Secrets.

"You mentioned finding a reference of the library in a book about Rowena Ravenclaw. What did it say exactly?" the teacher then asked. "That she might have discovered the library during one of her travels around the world." James replied.

Ambrosius remained silent for a moment, staring at the students without really seeing them, lost in his thoughts. "Yes, I have heard about that myth as well." After a short pause, he pursued. "Some even seem to believe this formidable discovery to be the explanation behind some of Ravenclaw's greatest achievements, hence allowing her to reach the lustrous reputation she still enjoys today. All I can say is that even if she did find the library, she concealed it very well afterwards."

Through one of his office's window, Ambrosius noticed that the night was slowly descending upon Hogwarts. "Is there anything else I can do for you?" he inquired, gazing at the two Ravenclaws.

"Some even seem to believe this formidable discovery to be the explanation behind some of Ravenclaw's greatest achievements, hence allowing her to reach the lustrous reputation she still enjoys today." Professor Umbranox explained. James reflexively glanced at Aurora, surprised and thrilled at the same time, as it was exactly what he had told her in their Common Room.

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" the teacher finished by asking, as it was already getting late. James still had a lot of unresolved questions going though his mind. Did the Library really exist? If it was real, then what had become of it? Where was it? Did Ravenclaw really discover it? If she did, then what had she done with it? Did she just take the scrolls she needed and left it concealed? No, that would seem like such a waste. She certainly wanted to study all of it. After all, thirst for knowledge was one of the major traits of a Ravenclaw. But then, how would she do it, if the library was on the other side of the world? It didn't seem very practical. Unless... unless she had moved its entire content and found a new hiding place for it, somewhere much more accessible.

"I don't think so, professor. And thank you for your help." James replied, then turned towards Aurora, waiting for her to respond as well.

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" Professor Umbranox asked.

"I don't think so, professor. And thank you for your help," James responded, though it was clear that his mind was elsewhere.

"Yes, thanks," Aurora said. "I think that was all we wanted." Even if we only found out that he thinks it's real. She turned around to face the door and looked back to see if James was following her. The sun was setting, leaving the office shadowy and mysterious, and enhancing Professor Umbranox's gaunt features. He looked rather lonely, actually.

"It was my pleasure." Ambrosius replied once the students had responded. "I believe it would be best for you to regain your Common Room then, as I do not want to see you get into trouble for wandering the corridors after dark." he said, as the office was getting more and more obscure.

"I deeply apologize for not being capable of providing you with more information about the subject. And I want to congratulate you on your curiosity and your thirst for knowledge, Ravenclaws. However, please make sure to pursue such quests during your spare time, as I do not want to see it get in the way of your school work." As the students were about to leave, he added. "One more thing. If I were you, I would refrain from mentioning this tale to the other professors or using it in your homework. Not all of my colleagues are very open-minded concerning unverified legends. Good night."

"Good night, professor." James replied after listening to the teacher's final instructions. As Aurora was already heading towards the door, he stood up from his armchair and followed her. Before venturing into the Castle's dark corridors with her, he glanced at the office one last time, but Professor Umbranox had turned away from them, and was silently gazing through one of the windows while gently caressing his owl.

[continued in The Mystery Remains]