Was a fourth fire really going to take place on the sixth of April in Greenhouse Seven? Was that what Ruby’s message meant? Gideon reviewed the evidence again and again, trying to think of another explanation, but it all seemed to fit. If he had interpreted the message correctly, Ruby’s attacker would be striking again tonight.

Gideon glanced at the clock on the Common Room mantle. The other incidents had all taken place in the night, sometime between twelve and one in the morning. It was almost ten o’clock now. Only a handful of older students were still in the Common Room with him. Soon, they too, would head to their dormitories and the coast would be clear.

Was he really considering this, though? Was he really contemplating sneaking out after curfew to go and confirm his suspicion? Hadn’t Ruby done the same thing and ended up in the hospital? Even as Gideon thought this, another part of his brain argued that he had something she didn’t.

He had his Camostone. With it, he could sneak through the castle and observe the door that led out to the greenhouses, all without being seen. He wouldn’t even need to go outside; he could just watch the area while standing close by and invisible. Then, he would simply report his findings, if any.

So, Gideon waited up, pretending to read his notes but really going over the plan in his head. As the clock struck midnight, and the last people in the Common Room headed to bed, he went to his dormitory and quietly retrieved the Camostone from his trunk as well as his Glowglobe for good measure. The other third-year boys all appeared to be sleeping as he crept out of the dormitory.

With a nervous glance back at the empty Common Room, he uttered, ‘Dissimulo,’ and disappeared under the cloak of the Camostone’s power. Gideon passed though the passageway and began his journey. It was an odd feeling, breaking the rules by being up so late, but knowing that nobody could see him.

Still, his heart pounded, and his senses were on high alert for any sign of patrolling teachers or ghosts. If he did run into one, he would have to remember to stop dead in his tracks or risk them seeing the slight distortion that the camouflage spell generated when he moved.

This was put to the test when he happened upon a corridor with the most undesirable of occupants, Peeves the Poltergeist. When Gideon spotted the little man gliding towards him, his first instinct was to run. However, he came to a halt, held his breath, and watched as peeves floated ever closer and narrowly missed the top of Gideon’s head. For the first time in his life, Gideon was thankful for his short stature.

Soon enough, he arrived at the exit that led out to the greenhouses. It was located near the two bell towers, but Greenhouse Seven was some distance away, out and around the other side of the castle. That didn’t matter, though, as Gideon wasn’t planning on going outside. He was going to wait still and unseen in the alcove by the door.

After a few minutes of this, he saw the Fat Friar and the Ravenclaw ghost, the Grey Lady, hover past. They were looking all around but his presence went undetected. After a few minutes more, Gideon had a horrid realisation. What if the arsonist had arrived before him?

Gideon gulped, moved over to the door, and pushed it tentatively. It moved. The door to the greenhouses was supposed to be locked outside of teaching hours. He was torn. He had no wish to confront the arsonist, if they were even out there, but he couldn’t just stand by if another fire was started. For Ruby’s sake, he at least needed to identify them.

Against his better judgment, Gideon walked through the door and out into the night air. Thankfully, the light of the full moon above meant he could see his way easily enough. As he approached the corner of the castle, Gideon withdrew his wand. He took a deep breath and rounded the corner, but there was nothing. He continued down the long side of the castle to the furthest greenhouses.

Gideon’s heart was racing now, and his breathing was heavy. Despite the cold air, he could feel beads of sweat forming on his forehead. He walked around to the very end of the enclosure on his tiptoes. That’s when he saw it. A faint orange glow was emanating from the middle of the last glass structure. Something was happening inside Greenhouse Seven.

Was it a fire? Gideon couldn’t tell. He had to get closer and find a window he could peer through. However, most looked to be obscured by plants and the closest windows were blacked out for some reason. Gideon hadn’t been in Greenhouse Seven before, so he wasn’t sure why this was, but the rear door on the blacked-out end was close. Perhaps he could open it just a little?

‘Homenum Revelio,’ whispered a strange voice behind Gideon, causing him to whip around in fright. Gideon saw the outline of someone standing in the shadow of the castle wall. Their wand was raised and was glowing a soft blue. ‘I can see where you are. Reveal yourself,’ the voice commanded.

Gideon looked down at his body. What was supposed to be invisible had become a translucent blue, the same colour as the shadowy figure’s wand light. He had been caught. But by who? The arsonist? Or a teacher?

‘Reveal yourself,’ the voice commanded again, raising their wand higher, ‘or I’ll shoot!’

‘Okay,’ Gideon complied, and he tapped the ball clutched in his hand three times with his index finger. He felt the stone’s energy cease and looked down to see his body visible.

The figure stepped forwards beyond the shadow concealing their face. ‘I knew it!’ said Alex Grimsby triumphantly.

‘You really are an idiot!’ Gideon hissed softly, then gestured to the orange light inside the greenhouse. ‘Look!’

Alex swept his shaggy hair from his eyes and seemed to notice what Gideon was referring to. ‘What did you do?’ he asked quietly.

‘Nothing!’ Gideon replied in a whisper. ‘I just got here. I think the arsonist is inside.’

Alex looked sceptical, but he raised his left hand, which was holding an odd object.

‘What’s that?’ Gideon enquired.

‘Christmas present—a new type of Occurio,’ Alex informed him, ‘Instead of detecting magical levels, this one detects the location of magic. Hmm. There’s definitely something going on in there!’

‘I know that much!’ Gideon snapped under his breath. ‘Come on, let’s see if we can get a glimpse of them.’

‘Alohomora,’ Gideon uttered, and the rear door unlocked. He opened the door slowly, peered inside and saw that the blacked-out windows covered an area that was a separate room at the back of the greenhouse. Plants grew in large pots lining four tables, and beyond was a wall of blacked out windows and a door with a small pane of see-through glass.

‘Do you want to see who the real arsonist is, or are you still set on turning me in?’ Gideon asked Alex sarcastically.

‘Just go,’ the boy replied and pushed Gideon into the greenhouse. He followed close behind and they snuck up to the next door. Gideon tried to calm himself before looking through the small window. There, inside the much larger part of Greenhouse Seven, stood a dark figure silhouetted by an orange light.

‘Who is it?’ Alex demanded impatiently.

‘I can’t tell,’ Gideon replied. ‘They’re wearing a hooded cloak. I think they’re working a spell. That’s what the light is. Wait, listen. They’re saying something.’

‘I-I don’t want to. I don’t want to do this!’ the voice inside moaned. Then, there was a flash of brighter light.

‘That can’t be good,’ Alex surmised. ‘Let me see.’ As Gideon rolled his eyes and moved aside, Alex continued, ‘Maybe we should interrupt them or at least get them to turn around? Wait. I think the light is fading. Yeah, it definitely is. Would you get off me?’

‘Huh?’ Gideon replied

‘You had a turn, just let me see why the light is disappearing. I said get off!’ Alex commanded.

‘I’m not touching you!’ Gideon muttered angrily.

‘Argh!’ Alex suddenly yelped.

‘Shush!’ Gideon instructed. Alex’s cries continued as he was suddenly hoisted into the air and his wand and Occurio dropped to the floor. Panicked, Gideon looked from the boy who was being wrapped in thick, snake-like vines to the figure beyond the window.

Their hooded head was now facing them, and flames were spreading from a spot on the floor.

‘Help!’ Alex yelled from above as he struggled against the vines in mid-air.

Gideon abandoned any idea of catching the person inside and turned his attention to Alex. However, the black glass separating the rooms suddenly shattered, and the disturbance made their situation more precarious. All around, the tentacles of magical plants were flailing and whipping about in response to the falling shards. The hooded figure had scarpered and aggravated a room full of Devil’s Snare.

Gideon knew of the plant, but it was a dangerous one that they were not supposed to work with until they were older. Before he could rack his brains to remember what he had once been told about it at Middling Academy, he found himself dangling upside down. He still had his wand, though. ‘Flipendo! Stupefy!’ he recited to no avail.

Gideon watched as Alex’s mouth and throat were bound by the vines. He continued firing spells off, but nothing was working. The Devil’s Snare was resistant to magic. Then, a vine lashed at Gideon’s arm and his wand dropped. What was he thinking? Two third-years sneaking into the blacked-out area of the school’s most dangerous greenhouse to spy on an arsonist?

Wait. Why were the windows blacked out? Why were these plants in a second room? A second room that didn’t receive sunlight. The answer came to Gideon, but he could no longer reach his wand. In his pocket, however, was their salvation. He whipped out the Glowglobe and shook it vigorously.

The maximum strength of the Glowglobe’s charm bathed the room in bright, warm light and the Devil’s Snare recoiled immediately. The boys dropped to the floor with two loud thuds. Gideon could hear Alex panting for breath as he continued to hold the ball of light up in his outstretched arm. They had almost been done for. There was no time to relax, though.

Gideon got to his feet, put the Glowglobe in Alex’s shaking hand, grabbed his wand from the floor and approached the spreading flames in the other part of the glass building. ‘Glacius!’ he recited with purpose. He sprayed the floor and the nearby plants with a powerful burst of icy air until all the fire was extinguished.

Gideon breathed a sigh of relief before getting down on all fours and scouring the floor. The light of the Glowglobe signalled Alex’s approach from behind. ‘What is it?’ he asked hoarsely.

‘Gimme that,’ Gideon said, beckoning for the ball of light. He took it and shone the Glowglobe into the corner of the room. It was there. A fourth kite-shaped rune had been carved into the stone-paved floor and its weak orange glow was quickly dissipating.

***

With the real arsonist gone and quite a mess around them, Gideon and Alex had decided it was best to get back to their dormitories as soon as they could and discuss things further in the morning before breakfast. Seeing as how the Hogwarts Express would be taking students home for the Easter break afterwards, it was the only chance they would have to talk.

Gideon got up early and waited for Alex in the Student Lounge with his various investigative notes and bits of parchment. He figured he might need to share some of it in order to learn how Alex had found him the previous night, something which had been nagging him. It seemed possible, even probable, that Alex knew something he didn’t.

Soon enough, Alex entered the room with a book and bits of parchment of his own and sat down at the table across from Gideon. ‘So,’ he announced, ‘thanks, I guess.’

‘Huh?’

‘For saving me… The Devil’s Snare… I should have said something last night.’

‘Oh. Don’t mention it,’ Gideon advised. It was a strange moment. The boy Gideon had once thought would be a friend had become his greatest rival, but now they were working together. ‘Anyway, I think we should compare notes. You were right about the Astronomy Tower. There was a fire there. Ruby discovered it and she got hurt or attacked.’

The brief look of smug, self-satisfaction on Alex’s face disappeared and he said, ‘I’m sorry about that. She’s always been nice to me.’

Gideon cleared his throat and continued, ‘Yeah, well, she left us a coded message telling us about last night. I barely cracked it in time, and I had a prophecy from Professor Trelawney to work with, if you can believe that. How on earth did you know to be there?’

‘I didn’t exactly,’ Alex explained. ‘I already had some theories about the fire, but they didn’t really pan out. Then, I heard some of what you and Natalia were talking about on the astronomy stairs, and I saw the marking after you left. Things started to click, and I guessed about last night.

‘I used the Occurio to see if anyone else was out of bed and check the locations of previous fires. I came across Professor Blanchard, a couple of ghosts and Professor Keane while they were out patrolling. She almost saw me! I had to hide behind a suit of armour. It was only by chance that I detected someone in the direction of the greenhouses when I was checking the Bell Tower.’

‘That thing is useful,’ Gideon remarked about the Occurio.

‘It’s pretty handy but it’s no invisibility stone!’ Alex responded. ‘Where did you get that?’

‘My Gran. I’m not really supposed to have it, though, so can you keep it to yourself?’

‘Sure. Same for the Occurio, too.’

Gideon nodded in agreement. ‘So, what exactly was the info you had that led you to last night?’

‘You first,’ Alex challenged.

Gideon bit his lip in annoyance but spread his notes across the table. Without revealing Ruby’s secret, he explained her code, Professor Trelawney’s prophecy, the lack of information on the rune and the places he had found it.

‘Seriously? I take Divination with Trelawney. We all think she’s a fraud!’ Alex commented.

‘I think she is, for the most part,’ Gideon said. ‘She didn’t even seem to be aware that she had made the prediction. Well, how about you?’

Contrary to Gideon’s worry that Alex would leave now that he knew Gideon’s information, the boy got right to business, ‘I had originally dismissed my theory, but like I said, after overhearing you guys, I revisited my notes and charts. I had been keeping track of the dates of all the fires in case there was a correlation, but they were all over the place. You guys narrowed down specific fires as being special, though, see?’

Alex showed Gideon a piece of parchment listing all of the school fires with notes. ‘I didn’t include the time in Charms where you almost lit us up,’ he advised.

FIRES

Slytherin Third-Year Dorm + Charms Classroom — Sunday 9 October * Halloween — Monday 31 October Student Lounge — Tuesday 1 November Castle Door — Saturday 19 November Bell Tower — Thursday 8 December * Professor Binns — Tuesday 10 January Astronomy Tower? — Sunday 5 February (Ruby Williams injured?) * Thursday 6 April??? *

‘Check the dates with the stars. Those are the ones you and Natalia mentioned. See anything interesting?’

Gideon looked over the list, but he was perplexed. ‘Err, not really. What’s the connection?’

‘Well,’ Alex began smugly, ‘I realised they’re all almost exactly two months apart. That’s when I added them to the charts Professor Kenyatta’s been having us do.’

‘Astronomy isn’t my subject,’ Gideon volunteered.

‘That’s probably why you didn’t notice,’ Alex hinted.

‘Notice what?’

‘Each of those dates was also the night of the full moon!’ the boy revealed. ‘When you factor in the rune you found at each location, we’re talking about ritual magic. Dark stuff. The kind of thing that you won’t find in the typical library books. If you happen to have a note from a teacher, though, and the right kind of swagger…’

Alex presented a note signed by none other than Professor Trelawney, and turned over the book he had brought with him. It was titled, Ancient Runes and the Darkest Arts. The author wasn’t listed. It looked very old.

‘Trelawney didn’t even check what book I wanted, as I knew she wouldn’t. It doesn’t go into much detail about how the different runes can be used but it lists lots of them, including,’ Alex started before opening the yellowed old book to a specific page, ‘The Eye of Fire!’

Drawn clearly was the kite-shaped rune with its four connected points, that had now appeared at four separate locations.

‘Of course!’ Gideon cried, grabbing the piece of parchment he needed. ‘That part of Trelawney’s prediction wasn’t a metaphor. “the eye of fire” she was referring to is the name of the rune! According to this, if one more location, the “fifth point” is marked, “the eye of fire will open”. That must refer to the ritual’s completion. Whatever the runes are for it will happen then. But when?’

‘Haven’t you been paying attention?’ Alex teased. ‘Your prophecy says so, but thanks to me, we can be more specific. The other runes have been placed two months apart, so if we factor that into my chart… The next full moon around then will be on Sunday the fourth of June!’

‘The fourth of June,’ Gideon repeated. ‘That fits with “as the summer sun dawns”. How do we know where it will be, though? We don’t have a clue this time and we can’t rely on getting lucky with your Occurio.’

‘I’ve been thinking about that,’ Alex said as he took a piece of parchment out of the book. It was the very basic map of Hogwarts that students received in their first year. His was rather tattered and numbers from 1-4 had been scrawled on it. ‘These are the locations of the four marked fires. What if…?’

Alex dipped a quill in some ink and drew a line from the Charms Corridor to the Bell Tower. Then, he drew another from that point to Greenhouse Seven, another from there to the Astronomy Tower, and one final line back to the Charms Corridor. The lines formed a square shape. Alex drew two more lines and Gideon gasped. Alex had drawn the Eye of Fire.

‘What if the middle point where the crossed lines intersect is where the fifth mark goes?’ Alex proposed.

‘That’s got to be it! Nice one!’ Gideon exclaimed and looked closer at the map. ‘That puts it in the courtyard in two months’ time!’

‘So, what now?’ Alex asked. ‘We’ve solved it haven’t we?’

‘Not quite. I was going to suggest that we go to the teachers with everything we know but there’s a problem.’

‘Yeah, we’ll probably be expelled, and they’ll cancel the last Quidditch match!’ Alex suggested.

‘No, something worse than that,’ Gideon stated in a grave tone. ‘I’ve been thinking for a while that one of the teachers might be involved. The magic that’s being used seems too advanced for a student and there’s no way an outsider is getting in over and over. Since there was a rune, I thought it might be Professor Rebus. Now that we’ve come up with these answers, though…’

Alex lowered his voice and asked, ‘You think you might know who’s doing this? Who the hooded person was?’

‘I don’t want to believe it but after everything I’ve been through in the past year or so, anything is possible.’ Gideon stated.

‘You don’t mean you da—I mean—Professor Maxwell?’ Alex suggested hesitantly.

‘No, not him,’ Gideon said with disdain, then whispered, ‘There’s a ritual magic specialist working at the school right now—Professor Dandridge!’