There was crying coming from the bathroom.
Donna, known by most as the cute red-head, ran into the bathroom holding the Sword of Gryffindor. The fabled sword had been bestowed to her while she was on her first-year boat ride to the school. Earning the sword so early was unheard of but Donna's talents were equally uncommon. Rushing across the tile floors Donna held the sword blade down, as any responsible witch would do, when she realized which bathroom she had entered. The crying was no doubt from one of the oldest students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry: Myrtle Warren, or as she had be dubbed by the men of the school, "Moaning Myrtle." The cute red-head had no time for such limiting descriptive monikers.
Bracing the sword tight, Donna kicked open the stall door to find Myrtle dry-eyed even though the crying persisted elsewhere in the room. Myrtle pointed with a shrug to the stall door opposite her. Donna, again bracing the sword tight, kicked open this door and found a lowly creature.
"What's your name," Donna asked the shriveling thing.
"Sexybeard," he said, looking up to meet her gaze.
"Oh you're that 'Crabbe and Goyle' guy. Gordon, right?" she relaxed the grip on the Sword of Gryffindor.
"Are you crying because you killed Yo-Yo?"
Gordon shook his head "no."
As if a spell had been lifted she suddenly saw the rest of the bathroom. It was a mess. Sinks bashed in with a clumsy effort, water spraying out of toilets, ancient fixtures rendered useless.
Gordon, when asked, gave up the truth that he was looking for the Chamber of Secrets.
Somehow, beyond any reason a muggle would be able to comprehend, Donna found this endearing and within moments opened the Chamber of Secrets herself. Gordon didn't understand how she did this without a hammer.
As the two young students entered the Chamber they discovered a scene already in motion. That wizard Joe Macmillan was talking to somebody down in the depths. Joe spoke with a confidence entirely absent from Gordon's life experience.
"We're not friends," Joe said lifting a book, "we're family. We'll see each other at Christmas, every other year. We'll nod to each other across the room, and after about 45 minutes of fake chit-chat and butter beer, I'll make an excuse, 'We have to be somewhere. I'm so sorry.' And when the Slytherins ask me who that tall gray stranger in the diary is, I'll remind them, that's Tom Riddle."
With that Joe Macmillan stabbed the book. Donna, not for the first time, wondered if maybe she should work with Joe but immediately dismissed the thought and decided to hitch her thestril to Gordon's proverbial carriage.
Joe didn't see Gordon and Donna as he left the subbasement and came upon a noise behind the moving stairs. People were having fun. He hadn't heard laughter for weeks, not one smile since Yo-Yo died. Turning the corner he saw her, the short-haired girl with eyes as pure as bubbles, Cameron. She was talking to house-elves and having fun doing it.
Joe, with the sleeves of his robe rolled up to 3/4 length, introduced himself and asked her about the house-elves. She explained how when they're not taking care of Hogwarts' cleaning and food needs the house-elves are "free." The word stuck in her throat, immediately realizing how captive they really are at Hogwarts. Not just herself and her mold-breaking desires, but also the house-elves who are bound to duties. She had an idea for a club called Mutiny that would explore breaking the rules of house-elves and witchcraft.
Cameron's idea gave Joe another idea. He saw the potential of house-elves' time away from Hogwarts' related tasks. He walked away thinking about what he could accomplish with the nearly limitless efforts of house-elves. If only there was a space where he could work out his plan. And then, just as he needed it, a door opened in the middle of what had just been a solid wall. It opened to a room equipped with everything Joe Macmillan required.
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